When ‘Dirt’ Meets Doctrine: Examining the Gospel Message in Modern Preaching

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Hey, before we get to today's message, I want to make sure that you know that Elevation Nights is coming your way.
[00:00:05] We're out here on tour.
[00:00:06] I've got John Sal, I've got Abby, I've got Jenna.
[00:00:09] We've got the whole crew here, and we might be coming to a city near you.
[00:00:13] It's such an amazing time.
[00:00:14] We get to worship God together.
[00:00:16] We get to hear a word from Pastor Steven.
[00:00:18] So, Abby, tell them where we're headed.
[00:00:21] We're going to Hershey, Brooklyn, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Knoxville, Columbus, and Chicago.
[00:00:29] Okay, so we're coming your way.
[00:00:31] We want you to join us.
[00:00:32] Johnson, where do they go?

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Yes, elevationknights.com and grab your tickets.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Grab your tickets.
[00:00:37] We can't wait to see you there.
[00:00:38] We'll see you soon.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Now let's get to today's message.
[00:00:48] Come on, somebody help me lift the name of Jesus.
[00:00:49] Come on, let's lift the name of Jesus.
[00:00:53] of Jesus, Blessed Redeemer, Jesus, Beautiful Savior, Jesus, Glorious Lord, Emmanuel, God with us, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, King of Peace, and Lord of Lords.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Healing in the name of Jesus.
[00:02:00] Salvation in the name of Jesus.
[00:02:03] Freedom in the name of Jesus.
[00:02:05] No other name but Jesus.
[00:02:08] The only name that saves.
[00:02:12] Father, I thank you today that when I don't know what to do, I know who to call.
[00:02:16] I ask you today, Lord, show up for your people.
[00:02:23] They've called on you.
[00:02:25] They've cried to you.
[00:02:27] We believe in your word.
[00:02:29] Your word says that if we call, you'll hear us in the day of trouble.
[00:02:36] I pray right now, Lord, that for every storm that may be happening, whether it's a physical storm that the weatherman was talking about or whether it's an emotional storm that no one knows of, that you would speak peace to it.
[00:02:56] Peace.
[00:02:57] Be still.
[00:03:00] Peace.
[00:03:02] Be still.
[00:03:04] Yours is the voice that doesn't need a sound system.
[00:03:10] Peace.
[00:03:14] Be still.
[00:03:17] Yours is the power that never goes out.
[00:03:20] Peace.
[00:03:23] Be still.
[00:03:26] Would you reach around and hug seven people and tell them this?
[00:03:32] The Lord is going to give you extra blessings for being here today.
[00:03:37] Those of you online, how are you doing?
[00:03:41] God is with you, mighty warrior.
[00:03:43] Get out of the winepress.
[00:03:45] Stop worrying about it and worship through it.
[00:03:48] God is with you in this storm.
[00:03:51] Yeah, I don't care what the enemy is.
[00:03:53] The Bible says he'll prepare a table in the presence of your enemies.
[00:03:58] Our God is great and greatly to be praised.
[00:04:03] Everybody say, My God is great.
[00:04:06] Come on, either say it with your lips or type it with your fingers or use your thumbs.
[00:04:10] Put it in the comments right now.
[00:04:11] Say, My God is great.
[00:04:15] Tell them, Yours is great too.
[00:04:17] Come on, tell your neighbor, We've got the same God.
[00:04:21] Tell him, he likes me better, but we're both his kids.
[00:04:25] How many secretly feel like you're one of God's favorites?
[00:04:28] Just slip your finger up right here.
[00:04:35] I want to welcome everybody that's a part of our church, our global eFam around the world.
[00:04:40] Let's welcome all those who are joining us online today.
[00:04:45] You know, it's an interesting dilemma.
[00:04:48] We've been hearing weather reports of
[00:04:52] Apocalyptic Storm
[00:05:22] If anything, we can't cancel it.
[00:05:26] If anything, we have to sneak up on the Devil a day early.
[00:05:39] That's what we're doing.
[00:05:40] We gather together.
[00:05:42] About 1,500 of the most saved, sanctified people in the Carolinas.
[00:05:49] Some from Virginia.
[00:05:51] Watch this.
[00:05:53] These are Holy Ghost-filled believers in the room today.
[00:05:58] that's right that's right we checked all the u-version bible reading plans in the church and the people with the perfect streaks got to come to church today so we're sharing this with you a little early the lord is in this place and it's been an interesting day here in the room it's been interesting not only do they say a storm is coming but something happened that's never happened in the 20 years of this church the entire sound system went out
[00:06:26] like 500 times while we were trying to transition into the sermon and we kept on having to sing the third and fourth and fifth verses of songs that only have two verses that was interesting as well and i started thinking about all of that and i thought you know lord well maybe you didn't want us to bring this message today
[00:06:51] Maybe you didn't want me to preach today all these distractions and all these hindrances and all these obstacles.
[00:06:58] Maybe you didn't want me to have this service today.
[00:07:02] Maybe you didn't want me to preach this work today.
[00:07:03] And something inside me said, no, maybe the Devil didn't.
[00:07:13] See, we misinterpret when things go wrong.
[00:07:15] Now, I don't even know if my mic's going to work for this whole sermon.
[00:07:19] But I need every prayer warrior praying that this word would reach right where it's supposed to go.
[00:07:26] We welcome you into the presence of the Lord today.
[00:07:29] Wherever you are, whatever you're going through, God has a word for you, and no word from God will return void.
[00:07:38] Isaiah 55 says, As the rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth and causes it to flourish, so will God's word be that comes forth from his mouth.
[00:07:50] It will not return unto him void.
[00:07:52] It will accomplish what he sent it to do.
[00:07:55] How many are excited about the word today?
[00:07:58] Come on, clap your hands on your couch.
[00:08:02] Roll call, everybody.
[00:08:03] Put your name in the chat.
[00:08:06] Open your Bible, please, to Matthew, chapter 13.
[00:08:12] Matthew, chapter 13, verses 31 and 32, and Matthew, chapter 13, verse 44.
[00:08:19] I'm going to share a little Scripture today with you.
[00:08:24] that is really going to help you in your life.
[00:08:27] And if while I'm preaching the microphone pops and struggles and strains underneath the weight of this anointing, I will scream so loud that the dude in the back row will fall down the stairs from the shock until my voice is raw.
[00:08:49] and the Lord will speak now listen to this this is Matthew chapter 13 verse 31 and 32 and Matthew chapter 13 verse 44.
[00:09:00] Jesus told them another parable he said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field though it is the smallest of all seeds yet when it grows it is the largest
[00:09:19] of Garden Plants, and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches.
[00:09:29] Verse 44.
[00:09:31] The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
[00:09:36] When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
[00:09:46] I have a word from the Lord for you today.
[00:09:48] The Lord told me to tell you it's worth the dirt.
[00:09:58] Father, these moments in your presence are precious.
[00:09:59] We pray for your protection and a hedge of your glory around each of your children today so that they can receive what you speak.
[00:10:07] However it comes out, this is your word and your church.
[00:10:11] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:10:14] Touch your neighbor and tell them it's worth the dirt on your way to your seat.
[00:10:20] I know you had to wait for this sermon, but it's going to be worth it.
[00:10:25] Now, I have a feeling that this microphone is not going to hold up today, but I think what I'm going to do is I'm just going to preach this as awkward as it needs to be preached, unless that becomes so distracting that we can't take it.
[00:10:38] If somebody wants to run to Target and buy me a megaphone, I'll preach through that as well.
[00:10:44] God is so good.
[00:10:47] He teaches us to discern in different seasons of our life whether or not something is worth it.
[00:10:56] Maturity is learning to see when something will be worth it and embrace it, and when it's not worth it, to walk away.
[00:11:06] That's what maturity is.
[00:11:08] Being mature in your faith is about recognizing when it's worth it
[00:11:14] And when it isn't worth it.
[00:11:16] And not only recognize it, but walk away when it's not worth it.
[00:11:21] Tell your neighbor, just practice real quick, say, It's not even worth it.
[00:11:26] It's not even worth it.
[00:11:28] Some things are.
[00:11:28] Some things aren't.
[00:11:31] For years, when I would go watch Graham Russell, usually I would spend my Saturdays in a sweaty gym that smelled like boy.
[00:11:38] It smelled like the worst parts of a boy.
[00:11:40] By about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, it would be cooking in that oven.
[00:11:43] The reason I know it was worth it is because the first time he ever won a big wrestling tournament, I said to him afterwards, man, I'm so glad I was here to see it.
[00:11:53] The reason I almost wasn't there was because I had to bring in a guest preacher to preach for me.
[00:12:00] in order to be at his tournament.
[00:12:01] There was a part of me sitting there like, man, thousands of people that need the gospel, and then my son's wrestling.
[00:12:07] I don't know what to do.
[00:12:08] Is it worth it to not preach to go watch him in this tournament?
[00:12:11] So, he wins the whole thing, right?
[00:12:13] We're sitting at Pizza Hut, where all of my food addiction issues began with the Book It Club.
[00:12:25] I'm serious.
[00:12:25] All of my food reward issues…
[00:12:28] It started in the fourth grade reading The Babysitter's Club and getting pizza for it.
[00:12:33] I shouldn't have confessed that.
[00:12:36] Well, we're sitting there at Pizza Hut celebrating his gold medal, and I said, Man, I'm so glad I came.
[00:12:41] What if you'd have won the whole tournament and I hadn't been here to see it?
[00:12:43] He said, Well, if you hadn't been here to see it, I probably wouldn't have won it.
[00:12:50] If you hadn't been here to see it, I probably wouldn't have won it.
[00:12:54] So every time I'd be hauling my butt into a gym with some boy's feet propped up on the bleachers behind me… I mean, at a wrestling tournament, they turned the whole gym into a locker room.
[00:13:04] It's awesome.
[00:13:05] It's incredible.
[00:13:07] And in a room full of half-naked men packed to the gills and me sitting there in the middle of all of it with my OCD, I'm going, It's worth it.
[00:13:14] It's worth it.
[00:13:15] It's worth it.
[00:13:15] It's worth it.
[00:13:17] Not just because he's going to go to the Olympics, but because he told me it's worth it.
[00:13:21] Tell somebody, Sometimes it's worth it.
[00:13:25] Sometimes you have to preach with the mic popping because it's worth it.
[00:13:30] Sometimes you have to come out to church a day early on a Saturday because it's worth it.
[00:13:37] Sometimes it's worth it.
[00:13:39] Wisdom is knowing when it's worth it.
[00:13:43] Wisdom is the ability to hear that little whisper God will give you from time to time and say,
[00:13:54] I had a moment the other day, and it happened when I was bending down to tie my shoes.
[00:14:22] Holly was in the other room laughing at me.
[00:14:25] She said, "'Babe, you're tying your shoes like you are 88.'"
[00:14:27] I said, "'I know, babe.
[00:14:31] I can't help it.
[00:14:31] That's the price I pay for this physique.
[00:14:37] It just comes with soreness.'"
[00:14:40] She said, "'Yeah, but the trade-off.
[00:14:41] You look great, but do you really have to go that hard on leg day that you can't tie your shoes?'
[00:14:49] I had a moment standing there in the closet listening to my wife mock me.
[00:14:55] A moment of maturity where I decided, you know what?
[00:14:57] She's right.
[00:14:58] This is not worth it.
[00:14:59] Even though that lady at the gym 15 years ago made fun of me and said, Do you ever do leg day?
[00:15:04] and created a complex inside of me while I was wearing my shorts.
[00:15:08] I was bending down to tie my shoes, and something just hit me real quick like, You know what?
[00:15:12] Nobody is looking at your hamstrings.
[00:15:16] Not even Holly wants to see your hamstrings.
[00:15:19] So, just wear some sweats and cover your quads.
[00:15:23] What are you, trying to be a quad model?
[00:15:25] That was the last day I ever did heavy squats, because it's not…
[00:15:30] I came to set somebody free from leg day today.
[00:15:34] You're too old for that now.
[00:15:36] You're not supposed to be going down that deep.
[00:15:39] If the Lord would have made you to bend down like that, he'd have put hinges on your hips.
[00:15:44] It's not helping anybody, and nobody is looking at your calves.
[00:15:48] Cover them up.
[00:15:49] It's not worth it.
[00:15:52] Wear some baggy jeans.
[00:15:54] Tie your shoes and be happy.
[00:15:59] In Matthew, chapter 13, Jesus is giving a very important lesson to his disciples on what's worth it, because he knows there will be a time soon to come when he goes to the cross and their commitment to him will be challenged by that cross.
[00:16:25] See, they left a lot to follow him.
[00:16:28] They left their fishing businesses.
[00:16:29] They left their tax collecting agencies.
[00:16:32] Many of them even left their family's approval to follow this wonder-working rebel priest named Jesus of Nazareth who was considered a heretic by many.
[00:16:43] At the moment that he could have called the legion of angels to get him down off the cross and didn't, I wonder, did they wonder, was it worth it?
[00:16:52] I wonder who I'm preaching to today that wonders, is it worth it?
[00:16:58] Is it worth it for me to keep serving God?
[00:17:01] It doesn't seem to be doing me any good.
[00:17:04] Is it worth it for me to keep being pure as a teenager?
[00:17:07] Everybody else is having more fun than I am.
[00:17:10] Is it worth it for me to be the weird kid that doesn't get invited to the parties because I have a standard of purity and I have a direction of destiny?
[00:17:20] I have learned at this stage of my life how important it is that we are not driven by external and
[00:17:28] Others focused metrics of what matters.
[00:17:33] You have to decide what is worth it from within.
[00:17:36] You have to, or else you'll jump on every trend, or else you will burn yourself out and then ask God to light your fire.
[00:17:46] But God can't light a fire when you don't have the priorities to put his presence first in your life.
[00:17:56] I think this is your year to decide what's worth it to you and to commit to what is and to walk away from what isn't.
[00:18:06] This is not permission to quit your job.
[00:18:10] I bet you like that check.
[00:18:11] That check is kind of worth it.
[00:18:13] It's kind of worth your boss's bad breath, isn't it?
[00:18:17] That health insurance is kind of worth it.
[00:18:18] That dental insurance makes you put up with a lot of stuff.
[00:18:23] See, I think it's very difficult for us in the moment to know, is it worth it?
[00:18:26] It's easy to look back and say, that wasn't worth it.
[00:18:29] It's easy to look back and say, that was worth it.
[00:18:32] Where the Holy Spirit comes in is to look at something and to realize, this is worth it.
[00:18:37] The Lord will whisper, it's worth it.
[00:18:39] I know it doesn't look like much, but it's worth it.
[00:18:42] I know it's hard for you and nobody is appreciating you, but it's worth it.
[00:18:45] I've called you to it.
[00:18:47] Then the Holy Spirit will whisper to you sometimes, it's not worth it.
[00:18:50] I know you want to tell them off.
[00:18:55] Save your breath.
[00:18:55] It's not worth it.
[00:18:58] I know you want to put them in their place, and you can do it, but it's not worth it.
[00:19:04] You're going to be sore tomorrow if you go off today.
[00:19:08] Now you're going to have to apologize and create more work for yourself.
[00:19:13] Just put it in the comments.
[00:19:14] It's not worth it.
[00:19:16] I learned that about leg day, but I'm still learning it about life.
[00:19:21] I'm learning that it is not worth it for me to respond to every criticism.
[00:19:26] Let's be honest.
[00:19:27] I've had my fair share of practice.
[00:19:29] How many of y'all that go to this church have ever heard somebody say something bad about me?
[00:19:34] How many of you wanted to punch them in the mouth?
[00:19:36] I love y'all.
[00:19:38] That's our real church right there.
[00:19:41] One of my friends asked me one time, he's like, Pastor, don't you feel like the staff you got around you is too saved?
[00:19:46] Don't you feel like you need a few barely saved, just out of prison ministry staff around you, just to handle the nonsense?
[00:19:53] I thought, no, it's not worth it.
[00:19:56] Peter didn't get this.
[00:19:57] When they came to get Jesus, he started cutting off ears, and Jesus said, what is this?
[00:20:02] It's not...
[00:20:05] Nothing can stop me from going to the cross because that's what God sent me to do.
[00:20:10] It's not worth it.
[00:20:14] That phrase right there will set you free.
[00:20:16] It's not worth it.
[00:20:19] If I defend myself to a critic and I win, what have I won?
[00:20:28] A critic who changed their mind?
[00:20:30] What prize do I get for changing their mind?
[00:20:33] If I change your mind, I get what?
[00:20:35] See, I might win an argument, but it's too expensive because it cost me my peace.
[00:20:43] So I'd rather keep my peace than win an argument.
[00:20:48] Jesus is helping his disciples to discern what's worth it and that's what he's doing in your life right now he's allowing some things to be pruned he's allowing some things to be moved he's allowing some people that were in your life to move to a different circle it's not that you don't love them it's just that you can't invest in everybody in this season of your life and so god graciously moves people into different seasons so that you can focus on what's right in front of you so god can show you what's worth it
[00:21:16] That's why God let you have that really bad hangover so you could realize this is not worth it.
[00:21:21] I don't want to pass this crap on to my kids.
[00:21:24] I don't want them to have to struggle with this addiction because it's not worth it.
[00:21:30] In Matthew, chapter 13, we get two parables of seven that are mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
[00:21:37] They are the mysteries of the kingdom.
[00:21:40] One of those mysteries is the mystery of the mustard seed, and one is the treasure in the field.
[00:21:46] What they both hold in common to me is not apparent on the surface.
[00:21:50] He told them another parable.
[00:21:51] The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.
[00:21:57] That's a beautiful scripture to me because a mustard seed is indeed the parabolic smallest seed that was known at the time.
[00:22:05] Not technically, but it was commonly accepted to say it's as small as a mustard seed.
[00:22:12] Go on.
[00:22:13] Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.
[00:22:27] To me this speaks to the temptation that I feel so often in my life to dismiss something that God is doing because of a small beginning.
[00:22:39] Because of a small beginning.
[00:22:41] I can think of so many examples in my life where it was little until it wasn't.
[00:22:51] A little thing that almost seemed so inconsequential and it was little
[00:22:57] until it wasn't.
[00:22:59] I found out when God speaks to us, he usually speaks little things to us.
[00:23:03] It's worth it.
[00:23:05] It's little until it isn't.
[00:23:08] What's the first thing Jesus told Peter to do?
[00:23:11] Not, leave your nets and follow me.
[00:23:13] He just said, put down the nets for a catch.
[00:23:17] That's something Peter did all the time.
[00:23:19] It was little until it wasn't.
[00:23:23] because when Jesus told him to do the little thing, put down the nets for a catch, Jesus had a big thing in mind.
[00:23:30] Somebody say, God's got something big for me.
[00:23:34] Come on.
[00:23:35] You have to say that with some volume now.
[00:23:36] God's got something big for me.
[00:23:39] Say it again.
[00:23:40] God's got something big for me.
[00:23:43] It starts as a seed, and if you dismiss the seed, you miss the thing.
[00:23:51] The kingdom of heaven.
[00:23:52] What's it like, Jesus?
[00:23:53] Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like.
[00:23:55] It's like the smallest sea.
[00:23:57] It's almost microscopic, but it can be miraculous, and it just takes time.
[00:24:04] It's worth it.
[00:24:05] It just takes time.
[00:24:08] It matters.
[00:24:09] It just takes time.
[00:24:11] I have a phone full of proof that everything God does big starts small.
[00:24:17] I have a phone full of voice notes that have songs we sing in our church that started as a little melody idea we hummed into the phone.
[00:24:27] If you heard it, you would think I was having a nervous breakdown.
[00:24:30] It doesn't sound like a song.
[00:24:32] It doesn't sound like anything.
[00:24:34] It sounds like a mumble.
[00:24:36] It sounds like a mustard seed.
[00:24:38] but God turned some of those mumbles into anthems that people can sing when they're looking at mountains so now I remember watch this it's little until it isn't
[00:24:52] It's little until it isn't.
[00:24:55] One day David was told by his father to carry some cheese and bread to the battle lines to his brothers.
[00:25:01] That's a little thing.
[00:25:02] All he's doing at this point, I can tell, is doing an Uber driver's job with the king's anointing.
[00:25:09] but David sets out to do a little thing and he takes his little cheeses and his little breads from watching his little sheep with his little self the smallest brother and he shows up little but when he gets to the battle lines he hears the shout of a big giant this giant is nine feet tall so now all of a sudden what was little that morning take this meal to your brothers turned into the biggest opportunity of his life because it's little
[00:25:38] Say it.
[00:25:39] It's little until it isn't.
[00:25:42] This side say, It's little.
[00:25:45] This side say, Until it isn't.
[00:25:47] Elijah the prophet told his servant, go check the sky.
[00:25:51] I hear the sound of the abundance of rain.
[00:25:54] It's getting stormy.
[00:25:55] I know there's been a drought in the land.
[00:25:57] The servant came back seven times and said, there's nothing there.
[00:26:01] On the seventh time, not the sixth or seventh, he came back and said, well, I see a cloud, but it's little.
[00:26:07] It's just the size of a man's hand.
[00:26:10] Elijah said, well, you better tell Ahab, hitch up his chariots, because it might be little now, but it is loaded.
[00:26:17] I came to preach to somebody's life.
[00:26:20] It might be little now going back to get your degree.
[00:26:23] It might be little now having integrity on your job.
[00:26:27] It might be little now making your first appointment with a trainer.
[00:26:31] It might be little now putting the Word of God in your kid's heart, dragging them to church.
[00:26:36] It might be little now reading a verse a day.
[00:26:39] It might be little now, but little as much of God is in it.
[00:26:47] Jesus was preaching one day.
[00:26:50] The crowds were hungry.
[00:26:51] He told the disciples to feed them, and he asked them, What do you have?
[00:26:56] They said, Just a little bit.
[00:26:58] There's a little boy with a little lunch and a big crowd with a few loaves, and what we have is little, and it's little till it isn't.
[00:27:08] When he touched it, what was little became leftovers, because it's only little till it isn't.
[00:27:17] Come on, give God a little praise.
[00:27:23] I see a cloud the size of a man's hand.
[00:27:28] I see it rising in your life.
[00:27:33] I see a cloud the size of a man's hand, and I see a seed the size of a mustard seed.
[00:27:41] Jesus said some of the most significant things God will do in your life will be some of the smallest things when they start.
[00:27:50] If I sent y'all home right now, I think it was worth it.
[00:27:55] Just to encourage you with that much.
[00:27:57] It's little until it isn't.
[00:28:00] Can I break that down a little more, though?
[00:28:02] I want to make it worth your while.
[00:28:04] Tell somebody, it's worth it.
[00:28:06] It's worth it to come to church.
[00:28:08] It's worth it to put on your uncomfortable shoes and your pants that don't have an elastic waistband and get in the house of God and get in a place where you can hear.
[00:28:17] It is worth it to devote yourself to the Word of God.
[00:28:20] I'm going to tell you something right now about the mustard seed that became a tree.
[00:28:27] I don't know if you can make this jump with me.
[00:28:31] It's not only true about the kingdom that it's little until it isn't, but it's also true about compromise.
[00:28:48] It's little until it isn't.
[00:28:55] Is one glass of wine until you go through something that makes you need three?
[00:29:02] I wish y'all would look at me like that.
[00:29:07] I'm not allowed to have a standard in my life.
[00:29:11] I'm not telling you not to drink.
[00:29:13] What I am saying about this is that I had people make fun of me almost every year of my teenage and adult life when they found out that I have chosen, I can't handle alcohol.
[00:29:26] They're like, What?
[00:29:28] Do you think it's a sin?
[00:29:30] I'm like, No, I don't think it's a sin.
[00:29:32] I just think for me it's slippery.
[00:29:39] It's slippery, because I know me, and I am already addicted to enough stuff.
[00:29:48] I do not need to invite chemical demons into places.
[00:29:52] where I already have plenty of dysfunction.
[00:29:55] I'm not inviting a gang of demons into my life when my dad struggled with it and his dad struggled with it.
[00:30:04] The Lord gave me a real revelation about this one day.
[00:30:06] I was watching a famous celebrity, and they were on a talk show, and they were celebrating 17 years of sobriety, and everybody clapped for them.
[00:30:14] Everybody clap.
[00:30:14] 17 years sober.
[00:30:15] That's amazing.
[00:30:16] Everybody clap for them.
[00:30:17] Everybody was clapping.
[00:30:19] The whole studio audience was clapping.
[00:30:20] I thought, that's crazy.
[00:30:21] They will clap for that, but if a teenager decides, I'm not going to drink, everybody will make you feel like a fool.
[00:30:29] So why do we celebrate after they have made such a mess that they need a miracle to make it right, but we can't celebrate when you put the measures in your life to keep you from the evil in the first place?
[00:30:43] If we can celebrate recovery, we can celebrate pre-covery.
[00:30:49] It means I can make some little decisions in my life that might keep a guardrail up for the future.
[00:30:57] It's little until it isn't.
[00:31:04] You're saying, What does this have to do with dirt?
[00:31:08] You said it's worth the dirt.
[00:31:10] That's your title.
[00:31:11] What does dirt have to do with decisions?
[00:31:19] I was looking at these parables.
[00:31:21] The one I preached about a few weeks ago was the wheat and the weeds.
[00:31:26] I preached about that, how the Enemy will always do something right beside whatever God does in order to try to get you discouraged and get you to give up.
[00:31:36] I do feel like I'm preaching to a lot of people today who are discouraged either by the seeming insignificance of what God has called you to do… I mean, good Lord, what parent in the room has not been discouraged to think none of this matters?
[00:31:49] all the little things you do for your kids all the things they don't say thank you for all the little pieces of advice you try to give all the little things that you may do that go unnoticed all of the little ways you try to correct there's nobody in here who hasn't felt the idea of this isn't worth it or at the very least this isn't working and it's not worth it because it's not working it's not it's not nothing's getting better but notice something about the mustard seed it became
[00:32:18] what it was in an unseen place notice the mustard seed was very small the smallest of all seeds yet verse 32 says when it grows it is the largest of garden plants now i just need to preach this like it's bible study okay i'm gonna talk to y'all not like you're a sunday morning crowd i'm gonna talk to you like you're a seminary class
[00:32:47] It doesn't say when it grows it becomes the largest of garden plants.
[00:32:54] It says when it grows it is the largest of garden plants.
[00:32:59] That means it already was when it went in the ground.
[00:33:02] It just needed somewhere to grow.
[00:33:12] What made the difference between the mustard seed being this big and being this big?
[00:33:18] What made the difference was the dirt.
[00:33:23] We don't like dirt.
[00:33:27] We like shine.
[00:33:29] We don't like dirt.
[00:33:30] We like dreams.
[00:33:32] We don't like dirty churches.
[00:33:36] We go around to churches, and if one church has a problem with it, we'll leave that church and go to another church.
[00:33:43] Some of us are going from church to church looking for dirt, and we are drawn to the church because that church helped me and that church blessed me.
[00:33:53] But stay around any church long enough.
[00:33:55] You'll find dirt.
[00:33:57] I mean, even the purest church, even the church that says, like, we're the real church, we preach the real gospel, we preach the real truth, they got dirt.
[00:34:06] They've got dirt.
[00:34:07] I promise you, I have lived to see the days when some of the most judgmental people I ever met in my life turned out to be the most jacked up people I ever met in my life.
[00:34:20] The reason they were so mean is because they were so messed up.
[00:34:24] Rather than admit they were messed up, they just decided to be mean.
[00:34:27] Let me go ahead and save you a lot of trouble.
[00:34:29] This church has dirt.
[00:34:32] The person you're sitting next to has dirt.
[00:34:35] The person you're sitting next to has some things they carry with them they're not proud of.
[00:34:41] If you meet them in the wrong place, they might not have a good response.
[00:34:46] Notice in the passage that it was the dirt.
[00:34:50] I'm not glorifying sin, but it was the dirt.
[00:34:53] It was something we tried to remove.
[00:34:56] It was something we don't value that made the mustard seed become something you would not see on the surface.
[00:35:05] This trial you're going through, this shame you're dealing with, this issue you're pushing through, whether or not you grow from it depends on how you interpret the dirt.
[00:35:20] Because if I see the dirt as a place to avoid, I will never go through the processes that will make me grow.
[00:35:27] I'll run from church to church looking for a church with no dirt.
[00:35:31] But can I tell you something?
[00:35:32] You grow in the dirt.
[00:35:34] You grow in community.
[00:35:36] You grow when you have to work through conflict.
[00:35:39] Quit switching people and start letting God change you.
[00:35:45] it can't grow if it never gets planted you can't grow if you never get planted and yes there come times to leave jobs and yes there come times to leave relationships and yes there comes time to leave churches but i want to tell you that some of us never produce our potential because we are never planted in our purpose and sometimes you just have to decide this is worth it
[00:36:13] Devil, you can't have it.
[00:36:14] This is worth it for fighting for me.
[00:36:17] Now, that might not be… Devil, you can have that.
[00:36:20] I'll pay you to take it.
[00:36:22] This is not worth it, but this is worth it.
[00:36:29] The word of the Lord for somebody is, this one is worth it.
[00:36:32] This one is worth it.
[00:36:33] I know it's small.
[00:36:34] I know you don't see it right now.
[00:36:36] I know it's taking longer than you thought.
[00:36:38] I know the momentum is tricky right now.
[00:36:39] I know the winds are against you, but this one is worth it.
[00:36:43] This is not just anything.
[00:36:44] You cannot keep this cycle up of running from things.
[00:36:46] When they get hard, you will never grow that way.
[00:36:49] This one is worth it.
[00:36:51] I know it's dirty.
[00:36:52] I know it's messy.
[00:36:53] I know it's sloppy.
[00:36:55] I know it will be easier for you to just hide, but this one is worth it.
[00:37:01] It's worth the dirt.
[00:37:03] That's where it grew.
[00:37:05] It's worth the dirt.
[00:37:07] That's where it learned to break through.
[00:37:09] It's worth the dirt.
[00:37:13] And yet there's another parable.
[00:37:17] Another parable that Jesus told about dirt.
[00:37:21] He talked in Matthew 13, 44 about how the kingdom of heaven is also like.
[00:37:27] Now watch this.
[00:37:29] In the first parable, he's talking about a tree that has to go into the dirt to become what it already is.
[00:37:38] In this parable, he's talking about a treasure.
[00:37:42] that is hidden in the dirt, but it does not lessen its value.
[00:37:47] For he said, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.
[00:37:54] When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy he went and sold everything he had.
[00:38:02] He was happy.
[00:38:04] He was putting everything on eBay and happy, because the kingdom of God is like this.
[00:38:09] It's so precious.
[00:38:10] It's such a priority.
[00:38:12] The kingdom of God is such a treasure.
[00:38:15] When he found it, he sold everything he had and bought the treasure.
[00:38:20] Right?
[00:38:22] Wrong.
[00:38:24] It does not say he bought the treasure.
[00:38:28] He bought the field.
[00:38:32] The last time I checked, fields are made of dirt.
[00:38:36] The last time I checked, in Genesis 1, verse 7, you are made of dirt.
[00:38:47] When God created you, he reached down into the dirt.
[00:38:53] God didn't make you from stars.
[00:38:55] God reached down into the dirt.
[00:39:00] and when he breathed on what was dirty the breath of what is holy in Genesis it says that the man became a living being because God says the dirt is worth it when I breathe on it it's worth it when I speak to it it's worth it Matthew 13 44 taught me about marriage
[00:39:27] It says that a man found a treasure.
[00:39:29] The kingdom of God is like a man who found a treasure.
[00:39:32] He was so happy about the treasure that he sold everything he had.
[00:39:36] Number one, it taught me that marriage means I'm going to be broke, buying stuff I don't even want.
[00:39:41] Number two, it taught me that when I bought Holly her ring… Y'all didn't know where I was going with that.
[00:39:52] What kind of marriage do y'all have?
[00:39:55] Y'all, when I bought a ring, I spent every dollar I had on the ring.
[00:39:59] $3,000.
[00:39:59] $3,000 in 2002.
[00:40:02] Adjust that for inflation.
[00:40:06] Big money to your boy.
[00:40:08] But I did it.
[00:40:09] I was happy to do it.
[00:40:11] I met with this shady dude up in a pawn shop somewhere.
[00:40:14] I said, now, how do I know it's real?
[00:40:16] He showed me all these papers.
[00:40:17] I believed him.
[00:40:20] Now, I've upgraded her ring for every decade.
[00:40:24] that she has dealt with me just to remind her that it's worth the dirt.
[00:40:35] Get that diamond a little bit bigger just to remind her.
[00:40:39] In case she forgets, I'm sure she doesn't.
[00:40:43] I've been looking back on that.
[00:40:43] Is anybody engaged in the room today?
[00:40:46] Anybody engaged to be married?
[00:40:49] For real, we are.
[00:40:51] Congratulations.
[00:40:53] Do you really have a fiancée?
[00:41:02] Is that part true?
[00:41:04] Show me.
[00:41:05] Good job.
[00:41:08] I'm so happy for you, but this is one thing I want you to understand.
[00:41:12] I really want to use this as an example for everybody in the room.
[00:41:17] When I put the ring on Holly's finger… I got down on one knee at Furman University.
[00:41:25] She said, I do, but she didn't say, I do to the diamond.
[00:41:32] She said, I do to the dirt.
[00:41:36] I just want to say you're saying, I do to the dirt, because the man didn't buy the treasure.
[00:41:44] He bought the field that the treasure was at.
[00:41:50] So when she said, I do, she was saying, I do to the dirt.
[00:41:54] That would have been easy at that point in our relationship for her to say, I do to my anointing, because she'd seen me operate in ministry.
[00:42:02] She had seen me go and minister and I would preach just like I preach now.
[00:42:06] I was always passionate.
[00:42:08] I was always edgy.
[00:42:10] I always said things that I went back and thought later I shouldn't have said it like that, but I always had heart.
[00:42:15] She would see me try to break through a room and give people an opportunity to meet Jesus where they were.
[00:42:20] and I know that's one of the reasons that she fell in love with me and I know that she was saying I do to my anointing because she felt like God had called us together to minister and it was a lifelong thing and I know she said yes to my anointing my treasure but she was also saying I do to my anxiety because what she never could have known is that behind the anointing to preach is the anxiety that is the constant companion of God's call
[00:42:51] When she said, I do to the diamond, she was saying, I do to the dirt.
[00:42:59] The woman who has sat on the front row to hear me preach and the woman who has been around the world to hear me preach and the woman who has gotten two upgrades on her diamond goes home and accepts the dirt.
[00:43:17] Not that I'm a hypocrite.
[00:43:19] Not that there is a darkness in my life that is the result of me not knowing God.
[00:43:24] But everybody has a treasure and a field.
[00:43:30] Everybody has a diamond and a dirt.
[00:43:34] You know what she said to me last night?
[00:43:35] I said, babe, I'm all out of whack.
[00:43:37] I'm preaching a day early.
[00:43:38] I don't know why I feel anxious.
[00:43:40] I'm sorry I feel anxious so much.
[00:43:42] She said, stop apologizing for it and tell me how I can help you.
[00:43:47] What's she saying?
[00:43:49] She's saying, I do the dirt.
[00:43:53] We need some people.
[00:43:56] Whether it's husbands, wives, staff members at Elevation Church, we need some people, Christians, believers, moms, dads, students.
[00:44:08] We need some people who will say, You know what?
[00:44:11] I don't just run around from field to field when it gets dirty.
[00:44:14] I don't just run around from trend to trend chasing stuff to fix my life.
[00:44:19] I'm not a quick-fix Christian.
[00:44:21] I do dirt, and you will find me praising God.
[00:44:27] You will find me fulfilling purpose.
[00:44:29] You will find me on my post, because I didn't just say I do to the diamond.
[00:44:35] I don't just show up when it's shiny.
[00:44:37] I show up with a shovel.
[00:44:39] I do dirt.
[00:44:42] If the sound goes out, I'll say it again.
[00:44:45] If the snow comes down, I'll preach it early.
[00:44:48] If hell breaks loose, I'll come out on fire, because I do dirt.
[00:44:54] If I go broke, I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
[00:44:58] If they hate me, he loves me.
[00:45:01] I do dirt, because God does dirt.
[00:45:06] God does dirt, not only in creation but in incarnation.
[00:45:12] For God saw man in his dirt, in his filth, in his blood, in his works, in his salvationless state, in his worst moment, and God from heaven sent Jesus from a throne to a cross.
[00:45:28] Who would pay such a price for the sin
[00:45:33] of the World.
[00:45:34] Here's your King crucified.
[00:45:37] What's he saying?
[00:45:38] I do dirt.
[00:45:45] When Jesus paid for you on Calvary, he didn't just buy diamonds.
[00:45:50] He bought dirt.
[00:46:01] I'm thankful.
[00:46:03] For a God who does dirt.
[00:46:08] I'm grateful that he looks at me covered in all of the things I should have cast off and said, It's worth the dirt.
[00:46:17] It's worth the dirt.
[00:46:19] It's worth being misunderstood sometimes.
[00:46:22] It's worth the dirt.
[00:46:24] This right here, this one is worth it.
[00:46:28] This one ain't.
[00:46:31] This one is.
[00:46:33] When God whispers, it's worth it.
[00:46:38] It's worth the dirt, like a treasure hidden in a field.
[00:46:48] You can't see it on the surface.
[00:46:50] Write this down.
[00:46:51] You don't trip over treasure.
[00:46:55] You dig it out.
[00:46:59] Stop looking for God to put stuff on the surface.
[00:47:02] This one he dug for.
[00:47:03] It was hidden.
[00:47:08] If it ain't buried, it probably ain't treasure.
[00:47:14] That's why in this season of your life you're having to fight through some difficulties.
[00:47:19] You're having to fight through some dirt, but the dirt served a purpose.
[00:47:24] It made the mustard seed branch out.
[00:47:28] Notice the baby seed was so small you couldn't see it, but in the end of the parable Jesus said, This seed that is not big is little until it isn't.
[00:47:41] By the end of this seed's time in the dirt it had branches coming out of the ground.
[00:47:47] Show them verse 32.
[00:47:48] I want you to see it with your own eyes.
[00:47:50] He said, And the branches are so big that the birds come and perch in the branches.
[00:47:56] I don't know if you can receive this or not.
[00:47:59] But the battle you have been going through in your life, the battle is for the branches.
[00:48:08] Because when the tree gets done growing, it's going to be like this.
[00:48:15] Now it's like this.
[00:48:17] You've been wondering, why is the Devil picking on me?
[00:48:20] I'm nobody.
[00:48:21] Why is it so hard for me?
[00:48:23] I'm nothing.
[00:48:24] It's because of your branches.
[00:48:31] It is because God wants to use you to bring generational blessing to people who will come after you.
[00:48:40] That's what the battle is about.
[00:48:44] I look back on this time in our church when the Devil was after us when we were young, and I know why he came after us when we were young.
[00:48:52] Because of you.
[00:48:55] If we died while we were young, we never would have reached you.
[00:49:00] If this church did not exist, if he could have snatched the seed , if he could have taken the seed and scorched it with the sun , if he could have taken the seed and choked it out with the worries of this life, it would not be spreading to the earth today.
[00:49:19] I would not be able to look into this camera and tell you that Jesus saves and Jesus cleanses and God does dirt and the cross is God saying,
[00:49:32] The battle was for the branches.
[00:49:35] Is that not true of you?
[00:49:38] Did God not know what was in you when he put you in the situation?
[00:49:43] You have to trust that it's worth the dirt.
[00:49:48] See, because I've seen God move mountains, I've seen God make ways, and now that I've seen what a tree can be, I understand what I am fighting for.
[00:50:00] I understand that the battle is for your branches.
[00:50:03] You've got to get free.
[00:50:05] You've got to get back.
[00:50:08] You've got to bounce from this.
[00:50:10] You've got to recover.
[00:50:11] You've got to move forward.
[00:50:13] You've got to show them what it looks like when we do it anyway.
[00:50:16] You've got to.
[00:50:17] The battle is not over your seed.
[00:50:20] The battle is over your tree.
[00:50:22] The battle is over your branches.
[00:50:28] When I see what God is doing in this church, even when I see it in my own family, do you understand that the Devil has fought me so hard through the years?
[00:50:40] So many times I've wanted to quit.
[00:50:42] It's not worth it.
[00:50:44] I know you felt that way too.
[00:50:46] If a preacher feels that way, surely you feel that way.
[00:50:51] I preach to souls for a living.
[00:50:53] Sometimes all you feel like you do is organize chaos.
[00:51:00] One night this summer, I was walking through our house, and Elijah and Graham and Abby were there upstairs.
[00:51:10] Down at the bottom of the stairs on a Sunday night, there was this picture I want to give you.
[00:51:22] I don't know if you can see it real good, but that's shoes.
[00:51:31] That's the shoes of about 100 teenagers.
[00:51:36] Those shoes smell.
[00:51:40] Like wrestling gym on a Saturday afternoon.
[00:51:44] Same smell.
[00:51:47] All these shoes at the bottom of my stairs and all this noise in my house.
[00:51:53] Downstairs were the shoes, and upstairs in our house was Graham, Abby, Elijah is over there somewhere.
[00:52:04] My wife is downstairs.
[00:52:05] The shoes are at the thing.
[00:52:09] With some kids.
[00:52:09] Now show them the video.
[00:52:12] Jumping, singing, praising the Lord.
[00:52:29] The ceiling was shaking, too.
[00:52:33] The ceiling was shaking.
[00:52:40] It was shaking.
[00:52:42] I walked upstairs and said, y'all have to get out.
[00:52:45] This is not the New Testament.
[00:52:46] I know they tore off the roof in the New Testament, but my homeowner's insurance doesn't cover it.
[00:52:51] Go outside.
[00:52:53] But I got the picture.
[00:52:56] Downstairs was the dirt, and upstairs was the worship.
[00:53:10] And downstairs was the dirt And upstairs was the worship And downstairs was the process And upstairs was the praise And I'm trying to get you to see that you can worship God because the dirt is worth it.
[00:53:39] God
[00:53:41] I prepared this word today hoping that it would go out online to our entire church community all over the world but if one of you today needed to hear the whisper of God saying it's working then it's working
[00:54:12] Everybody does the diamonds.
[00:54:17] God does the dirt.
[00:54:21] With your head bowed and your eyes closed, receive the mystery of the parable of the mustard seed and the treasure in the field.
[00:54:28] It's that God does dirt.
[00:54:32] No matter what the Enemy has thrown on your life to try to stop you from growing, it won't work.
[00:54:37] It's only going to grow you more.
[00:54:41] Yes, Lord, I'll say it again.
[00:54:42] It's only going to grow you more.
[00:54:47] Whatever it is.
[00:54:50] It's worth the dirt.
[00:54:51] It's worth you going through a season of repentance to live a life healed.
[00:54:59] It's worth the dirt.
[00:55:01] It's worth God stripping some things away so he can bring some things forth.
[00:55:09] There is treasure inside of you.
[00:55:12] I know people don't like it when I preach like this.
[00:55:14] They say, Oh, well, tell them how sinful they are.
[00:55:16] You know that already.
[00:55:17] I came to remind you God does dirt.
[00:55:22] He breathes on brokenness.
[00:55:26] It's worth it.
[00:55:28] Jesus stretched his arms because it's worth it.
[00:55:31] I encourage you today.
[00:55:32] Say, I do to the dirt.
[00:55:34] Make a commitment in your life, Lord, no matter how long it takes me, I believe you can wash me clean.
[00:55:39] God, here I am again, dirty again, disappointed again, but I heard you do dirt.
[00:55:45] I heard you came from heaven, lived in a little town called Nazareth, and died on a cruel cross with splinters in your back and the lashes, the wounds in your side, the nails in your hands.
[00:55:59] I heard you do dirt.
[00:56:01] Father, would you take my life today?
[00:56:04] All that I am, all that I'm not, my little loaves, my little mustard seed, life, and bring branches forth from them.
[00:56:16] Father, I pray today for those who are feeling alone or abandoned or forsaken.
[00:56:22] Maybe they've even buried their hope.
[00:56:25] As I pray to you, Lord, I'm reminded that the seed appeared to be buried, but it was indeed planted.
[00:56:33] That means it served a purpose.
[00:56:36] I thank you that the dirt is serving a purpose in each of our lives.
[00:56:40] And I thank you that there is a treasure that the world cannot touch.
[00:56:45] We thank you that the kingdom of heaven is that treasure.
[00:56:48] You're worth it, Lord.
[00:56:50] Not just what you do for us, but who you are to us.
[00:56:52] You are worth it.
[00:56:54] You're worthy of our worship.
[00:56:57] You're worthy of our praise.
[00:56:59] You're worthy of our lives.
[00:57:03] Now, God, I commend these treasures in a field to you, the diamonds and the dirt.
[00:57:10] I thank you that you know what you're doing.
[00:57:13] You know where you planted them.
[00:57:15] I thank you that they're growing by grace.
[00:57:18] Thank you for this word we received today.
[00:57:21] We will never be the same.
[00:57:23] With heads still bowed and eyes still closed, there's somebody who's hearing this message today, and you need to give your life to Jesus Christ.
[00:57:31] You don't have to clean yourself up to come to God.
[00:57:33] That's why God came to you.
[00:57:35] He does the cleaning.
[00:57:37] You do the coming.
[00:57:38] You come to him like you are, and you won't leave that way.
[00:57:42] Jesus will change you.
[00:57:43] Jesus will save you to the uttermost.
[00:57:46] Call on the name of the Lord, and you will be saved.
[00:57:51] I'm going to pray a prayer right now.
[00:57:53] If you want to give your life to Jesus, repeat this prayer after me.
[00:57:56] We're going to pray it out loud in the room for the benefit of those all over the world who are coming to Christ in this moment.
[00:58:03] Repeat after me.
[00:58:04] Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and today I make Jesus the Lord of my life.
[00:58:24] I believe he died.
[00:58:26] that I would be forgiven was buried and rose again to give me life.
[00:58:34] I receive your life.
[00:58:37] Here's mine.
[00:58:39] I am a child of God.
[00:58:43] I am a new creation.
[00:58:46] on the count of three if you prayed that prayer shoot your hand in the air one two three or if you're watching online just put it in the chat say i receive jesus come on let's thank god all over the world all over the globe everybody who just prayed that thank you jesus for new beginnings
[00:59:11] Hey, thank you for watching The Elevation Church YouTube.
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[00:59:34] Thanks again.
[00:59:34] I'll see you next time.