WEBVTT 00:12.140 --> 00:18.103 [SPEAKER_01]: Genesis chapter 13, we're going to read starting in verse 5, and we're going to read down through verse 17. 00:18.144 --> 00:20.885 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's a little bit of meat here. 00:20.925 --> 00:22.546 [SPEAKER_01]: I just want you to follow along with me. 00:22.946 --> 00:35.874 [SPEAKER_01]: Genesis chapter 13, starting in verse 5, says, now a lot who was traveling with Abram also had flocks, heards, and tents, but the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together. 00:37.240 --> 00:41.763 [SPEAKER_01]: For they had so many possessions that they could not stay together. 00:42.924 --> 00:47.987 [SPEAKER_01]: And there was a quarreling, some of your versions may say an argument or a disagreement. 00:48.708 --> 00:55.493 [SPEAKER_01]: There was a quarreling between the herdsmen of Abrams' livestock and the herdsmen of lots livestock. 00:55.553 --> 00:59.876 [SPEAKER_01]: At that time, the canonites and the parasites were living in the land. 01:00.476 --> 01:10.007 [SPEAKER_01]: Verse 8, then Abram said to a lot, please, let's not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. 01:10.688 --> 01:14.312 [SPEAKER_01]: Isn't the whole land before you separate from me? 01:15.153 --> 01:17.476 [SPEAKER_01]: If you go to the left, I will go to the right. 01:18.397 --> 01:20.380 [SPEAKER_01]: If you go to the right, I will go to the left. 01:21.310 --> 01:29.799 [SPEAKER_01]: Lot looked out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley as far as our was well watered everywhere like the Lord's garden in the land of Egypt. 01:30.079 --> 01:32.622 [SPEAKER_01]: This was before the Lord destroyed Sodam and Gomorrah. 01:32.642 --> 01:35.605 [SPEAKER_01]: So lot chose the entire Jordan Valley for himself. 01:36.126 --> 01:40.130 [SPEAKER_01]: Then lot journeyed eastward and they separated from each other. 01:41.421 --> 01:47.326 [SPEAKER_01]: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but lot lived in the cities and the valleys, and set up his tent near Sodom. 01:48.146 --> 01:52.090 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the men of Sodom were evil, sitting greatly against the Lord verse 14. 01:52.930 --> 01:56.173 [SPEAKER_01]: After Lot had separated, everybody say after Lot had separated. 01:57.719 --> 02:14.201 [SPEAKER_01]: After Lot had separated from him, the Lord said to Abram, look from the place where you are, look north, south, east, and west, for I will give you and your offspring forever, all of the land that you see. 02:15.222 --> 02:30.714 [SPEAKER_01]: I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if anyone can count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted, get up and walk around the land, though it's lengthen with, for I will give it to you. 02:30.814 --> 02:32.095 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody say amen. 02:32.995 --> 02:41.421 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're taking notes this morning, the title of today's message is, when fellowship changes, when 02:44.043 --> 02:46.505 [SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah, Hallelujah. 02:47.365 --> 02:48.106 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Lord. 02:49.066 --> 02:49.547 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's pray. 02:50.908 --> 02:51.968 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, Father, we love you. 02:53.049 --> 02:53.569 [SPEAKER_01]: We love you. 02:54.210 --> 02:55.371 [SPEAKER_01]: We love your presence today. 02:56.351 --> 03:04.797 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Lord, I pray God that you would speak to us in just a supernatural divine way like only you can do. 03:06.563 --> 03:12.728 [SPEAKER_01]: We not only want to leave here full of your word, but God, we want to leave here changed. 03:13.929 --> 03:18.553 [SPEAKER_01]: We want to leave here transformed, marked by you, God. 03:19.454 --> 03:23.097 [SPEAKER_01]: In Lord, this message may be hard for some to hear. 03:24.018 --> 03:26.440 [SPEAKER_01]: It may be difficult for us to receive. 03:27.041 --> 03:29.182 [SPEAKER_01]: But Lord, we know it's necessary. 03:29.943 --> 03:32.745 [SPEAKER_01]: And so Father, I pray that you would challenge us this morning. 03:33.590 --> 03:40.232 [SPEAKER_01]: that you would open up our eyes, that you would give us ears to hear what you would speak unto us this morning. 03:41.072 --> 03:58.816 [SPEAKER_01]: And God, that we would grasp a hold of what you are speaking to us, and the direction that you're leading us, Father, and we would be obedient to it, Father, but also Lord, Lord, we would be acceptant of what you are doing in our lives in this hour, that we wouldn't question your hand. 03:59.276 --> 04:01.236 [SPEAKER_01]: We wouldn't question your direction. 04:01.256 --> 04:02.897 [SPEAKER_01]: We wouldn't question your move. 04:03.337 --> 04:07.718 [SPEAKER_01]: And I thank you, Father God, or that you God are doing a supernatural thing. 04:08.078 --> 04:13.259 [SPEAKER_01]: Lord, not just in our right now, but God, you're doing a supernatural thing in our tomorrow's. 04:14.099 --> 04:28.062 [SPEAKER_01]: In our days ahead, in our upcoming weeks, in our upcoming months, in our upcoming years, in this next season that we are stepping into God, Lord, that you are doing supernatural things that God, we can't even see it, we don't even know yet, 04:29.142 --> 04:36.928 [SPEAKER_01]: inkling or understanding yet, but God, we know that you are already in our future, and you are lining all things up for our good. 04:37.168 --> 04:48.736 [SPEAKER_01]: So if that means that certain things have to change, if that means certain people have to go, if that means that there's certain separation that has to take place, God, take us into that place, God. 04:48.997 --> 04:56.222 [SPEAKER_01]: So we could be totally obedient to you, Father, and that we can follow your voice and be exactly where you need us to be. 04:57.968 --> 05:07.812 [SPEAKER_01]: So, Father, we receive your word now, and we thank you, Father, for speaking to us loud and clear, in the name of Jesus, everybody said, amen. 05:07.832 --> 05:08.293 [SPEAKER_01]: Amen. 05:08.893 --> 05:09.573 [SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah. 05:10.213 --> 05:17.557 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I wanna begin this morning by really sharing this important truth of our walk with Christ. 05:18.377 --> 05:24.560 [SPEAKER_01]: That in every season that we journey into, people will come and they'll join us. 05:25.860 --> 05:32.325 [SPEAKER_01]: But in every season that we journey into, we need to know that not everybody is able to go with us. 05:34.888 --> 05:37.269 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I know that none of us want to hear that. 05:38.511 --> 05:47.038 [SPEAKER_01]: None of us came this morning to hear the preacher preach a message that some people will be a part of your life, and some people are going to go. 05:48.104 --> 05:49.685 [SPEAKER_01]: I know we don't want to hear that. 05:50.366 --> 06:01.654 [SPEAKER_01]: I know we all want to imagine in our lives right now that all of the people that were connected to and the people that were doing life with together right now are the ones that are going to be with us forever. 06:02.535 --> 06:05.797 [SPEAKER_01]: Are the ones that we're going to do life with until our last breaths? 06:06.358 --> 06:11.021 [SPEAKER_01]: But the reality is with this walk with Jesus, that is not truth. 06:11.802 --> 06:15.205 [SPEAKER_01]: That is not exactly how God lines things up. 06:16.130 --> 06:21.594 [SPEAKER_01]: He takes us in and out of people's lives, and he takes others in and out of our lives. 06:22.595 --> 06:40.208 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a hard reality of this walk with Christ that people would have to be removed or that we would have to be separated from certain people in order to successfully make it into our next season in order to be successful in our next season. 06:40.529 --> 06:44.372 [SPEAKER_01]: It's important that we understand that not everybody can go with me. 06:46.778 --> 06:49.560 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a tough thing and it's a hard thing. 06:49.600 --> 07:00.589 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're wanting to be very relational, if you're wanting to be very outgoing and connect with people and all of that, you know what it's like when people are no longer with you. 07:03.023 --> 07:04.584 [SPEAKER_01]: You know how bad it hurts. 07:05.665 --> 07:11.630 [SPEAKER_01]: You know the pain that is attached to somebody no longer being a part of your life. 07:11.670 --> 07:12.651 [SPEAKER_01]: And we've all been there. 07:13.051 --> 07:14.252 [SPEAKER_01]: We've all experienced that. 07:14.272 --> 07:20.798 [SPEAKER_01]: Whether it was via death or any other avenue of people no longer with us, it hurts. 07:21.418 --> 07:22.359 [SPEAKER_01]: And I get it. 07:22.479 --> 07:24.261 [SPEAKER_01]: And we've all experienced that. 07:24.521 --> 07:26.783 [SPEAKER_01]: But here's what I want to say right off the bat this morning. 07:28.104 --> 07:30.166 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not that God is removing people. 07:31.217 --> 07:34.738 [SPEAKER_01]: It's more of God showing you who can't go on this trip with you. 07:36.119 --> 07:39.920 [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of times we say, well, God removed this God took this person out of my life. 07:39.980 --> 07:43.641 [SPEAKER_01]: No, maybe he didn't remove him, maybe he showed you that they couldn't go. 07:45.141 --> 07:56.765 [SPEAKER_01]: And if there's anything I know about my journey with the Lord so far, it's this that there are seasons when I look at the ones that used to be by my side and they're no longer by my side anymore. 07:58.285 --> 08:00.446 [SPEAKER_01]: And here me today, that's okay with me. 08:01.694 --> 08:02.554 [SPEAKER_01]: That's okay with me. 08:02.734 --> 08:02.974 [SPEAKER_01]: Why? 08:03.275 --> 08:06.056 [SPEAKER_01]: Because not everyone is called in a quip to go where you're going. 08:07.916 --> 08:09.737 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody is called to go where you're going. 08:09.837 --> 08:20.181 [SPEAKER_01]: You are called to go where you're going, but that doesn't mean that the person that you are connected to right now or the group that you're connected or whatever it may be are called to go in the direction that you're going. 08:21.001 --> 08:29.684 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's understanding that revelation and that reality that I'm okay if the ones that I'm with right now won't be with me tomorrow. 08:31.630 --> 08:33.792 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's like, man, I know it hurts. 08:34.252 --> 08:36.114 [SPEAKER_01]: I know it pulls on our heartstrings. 08:37.696 --> 08:44.402 [SPEAKER_01]: But Abram understood in order for me to inherit the entire land. 08:45.423 --> 08:47.885 [SPEAKER_01]: I can no longer be attached to a lot. 08:48.826 --> 08:52.410 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's a big deal because a lot was a family member. 08:54.717 --> 09:11.561 [SPEAKER_01]: and Abraham understood that if I'm going to go into the land that God has promised me, if I am going to see my descendants and those that are I'm inheriting from the East North South and West, I cannot take this man with me into my next season. 09:14.661 --> 09:17.942 [SPEAKER_01]: And if Abraham and Father Abraham, 09:18.970 --> 09:34.425 [SPEAKER_01]: One that was so close to the Lord and cherished of the Lord and used by the Lord and that time and that season, unlike anybody else, understood that I've got a drop lot to get to where God has taken me to go. 09:35.426 --> 09:38.830 [SPEAKER_01]: Man, we've got to understand that revelation today. 09:40.105 --> 09:52.151 [SPEAKER_01]: We got to grasp that revelation today because there are so many times when people are no longer a part of our lives and we'll cry out to God and we'll say, God, why, why did they have to go? 09:52.231 --> 09:53.572 [SPEAKER_01]: Why did they have to leave God? 09:53.652 --> 09:54.213 [SPEAKER_01]: Why this? 09:54.293 --> 09:54.793 [SPEAKER_01]: Why this? 09:54.853 --> 09:55.453 [SPEAKER_01]: Why that? 09:56.674 --> 10:00.996 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's as simple as the Lord just saying, they couldn't go where you're going. 10:02.815 --> 10:04.276 [SPEAKER_01]: They couldn't go where you're going. 10:04.897 --> 10:06.798 [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, I don't listen to me. 10:07.158 --> 10:10.221 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to drag anybody into my next season. 10:10.241 --> 10:11.402 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not meant to be there. 10:13.292 --> 10:21.177 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I don't need anything to distract me or hold me or pull me back from what God is trying to do in my next season. 10:21.438 --> 10:28.182 [SPEAKER_01]: So if that means that he has to eliminate somebody that I don't want him to eliminate, I have to be okay with that. 10:28.202 --> 10:32.986 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have to say God, I trust you in this season because I know where I'm going. 10:33.266 --> 10:35.007 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody can go. 10:37.389 --> 10:38.469 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody can go. 10:42.748 --> 10:54.721 [SPEAKER_01]: a harsh reality of the walk that we're in, but if today you can really come into the full understanding and revelation of this and this aspect of fellowship, I promise you you'll be way better off. 10:55.201 --> 10:56.122 [SPEAKER_01]: You'll be way better off. 10:58.424 --> 11:04.150 [SPEAKER_01]: By a show of hands, just at a curiosity without anybody saying anything, but by a show of hands. 11:05.101 --> 11:14.866 [SPEAKER_01]: How many of you can say that as you're living life and as you're journeying in these seasons of your life right now and going into next seasons that your circle is shrinking? 11:16.127 --> 11:16.547 [SPEAKER_01]: Is anybody? 11:18.208 --> 11:27.313 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, and now let me tell you this, if you lifted your hand, I got good news for you, that is good news. 11:29.597 --> 11:40.823 [SPEAKER_01]: People look at, you know, oh, man, my friend's a group or a shrinking, my, this is shrinking, I don't have as many relationships and all that, and God is saying, that's exactly where I want you to be. 11:43.744 --> 11:58.252 [SPEAKER_01]: And so, be encouraged this morning that although your circle may be shrinking, and although you may have less relationships or friendships that you once had, know that that is not a bad thing, that is a God thing. 11:59.267 --> 11:59.987 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a God thing. 12:00.448 --> 12:08.151 [SPEAKER_01]: That is a great sign because the more you see what you're supposed to see, the more people leave who can't go. 12:08.171 --> 12:12.313 [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, we put God to work a lot. 12:12.453 --> 12:16.995 [SPEAKER_01]: We put God to work a lot, helping us deal with people that we should have never allowed in the first place. 12:18.735 --> 12:25.538 [SPEAKER_01]: We have to tap on him a lot to help us to deal with the people that we should have never allowed in our lives anyways. 12:25.938 --> 12:36.202 [SPEAKER_01]: We have to tap on him to help us to say, God help me with this relationship of somebody that we forcefully dragged into the next season of our lives. 12:37.702 --> 12:42.364 [SPEAKER_01]: And we put God to work for things that he don't even need to be put to work for. 12:43.654 --> 12:50.358 [SPEAKER_01]: And can I tell some of you in love today that you can't stay where you're at just because of a person? 12:52.560 --> 12:55.221 [SPEAKER_01]: You can't stay where you're at just because of a friend. 12:56.022 --> 13:05.788 [SPEAKER_01]: Let me help you because this is gonna be mind blowing for some of you and it's gonna be a harsh reality but you can't stay where you're at just because of family. 13:08.487 --> 13:21.426 [SPEAKER_01]: Abram understood this is my family but he can't go with me and sometimes God is going to take you into a season in a direction that hey some of your family members aren't going to even understand. 13:22.467 --> 13:25.090 [SPEAKER_01]: Some of your family members aren't gonna even want. 13:25.771 --> 13:30.335 [SPEAKER_01]: Some of your family members are gonna say, that's ridiculous, why are you doing that? 13:30.636 --> 13:32.017 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't agree with that. 13:32.297 --> 13:33.719 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't agree with that decision. 13:33.819 --> 13:35.201 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't agree with that direction. 13:35.421 --> 13:40.766 [SPEAKER_01]: And you know what, we can say confidently and boldly, I don't need you to agree because you can't go. 13:41.816 --> 13:45.657 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody, that you may not be able to go with me. 13:46.698 --> 14:00.943 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we have got to keep moving in the last thing that you and I need to try to do as the Lord is elevating us and promoting us and taking us to the next level is try to bring somebody, thank you so much, that's not supposed to go. 14:02.755 --> 14:04.516 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, you may say, well, that's sad, pastor. 14:04.536 --> 14:05.677 [SPEAKER_01]: That's disappointing, no? 14:06.637 --> 14:08.798 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm telling you today, it's all part of God's plan. 14:09.879 --> 14:10.939 [SPEAKER_01]: It's all part of God's plan. 14:11.620 --> 14:13.561 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a discouraging thing. 14:13.621 --> 14:18.484 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a disappointing thing that some of the people are not going to be with you in your tomorrows. 14:18.724 --> 14:20.545 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not a sad or discouraging thing. 14:20.565 --> 14:21.785 [SPEAKER_01]: That's a part of God's plan. 14:22.466 --> 14:28.229 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I want to help some of us in the room this morning with this that it's okay if they were once with you, but they're no longer with you anymore. 14:29.218 --> 14:29.779 [SPEAKER_01]: It's okay. 14:31.100 --> 14:33.102 [SPEAKER_01]: Turn to somebody next to you and say, it's okay. 14:37.226 --> 14:42.111 [SPEAKER_01]: Tell them, it's okay if the person that was once with you is no longer with you anymore. 14:42.131 --> 14:43.091 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, tell them it's okay. 14:43.692 --> 14:45.794 [SPEAKER_01]: Because see some of us really need to hear this today. 14:46.955 --> 14:47.436 [SPEAKER_01]: It's okay. 14:51.019 --> 14:52.340 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, pastor, it just hurts. 14:53.835 --> 14:59.580 [SPEAKER_01]: Pastor, we used to be so close, the enemy came in and he broke our relationship apart, hear me. 15:01.221 --> 15:02.742 [SPEAKER_01]: What if it wasn't the enemy? 15:04.023 --> 15:13.209 [SPEAKER_01]: And what if it was God protecting you from something in the next season that the other person cannot be capable of handling, unlike you come on? 15:13.610 --> 15:25.678 [SPEAKER_01]: I want us to look at this through the lens of protection and not through the lens of the enemy because we blame the enemy so many times and listen to some people that can't go with you, it's a God thing, come on somebody. 15:25.978 --> 15:34.705 [SPEAKER_01]: And I want to give God the glory in the praise for not allowing him to take some people with me where they could never go in the first place. 15:40.109 --> 15:40.829 [SPEAKER_01]: They can't go. 15:40.849 --> 15:43.671 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm okay with it. 15:45.012 --> 15:46.573 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm okay if they can't go. 15:47.234 --> 15:47.954 [SPEAKER_01]: Will it hurt? 15:48.054 --> 15:49.416 [SPEAKER_01]: Will it sting a little bit? 15:49.696 --> 15:50.696 [SPEAKER_01]: You're better believe it. 15:51.637 --> 15:53.719 [SPEAKER_01]: Because if you're like me, you love big. 15:54.519 --> 15:55.300 [SPEAKER_01]: I love big. 15:57.025 --> 15:57.986 [SPEAKER_01]: I love real big. 15:58.386 --> 15:59.847 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes I love too big. 16:01.247 --> 16:02.088 [SPEAKER_01]: It's what Robert told me. 16:02.128 --> 16:03.268 [SPEAKER_01]: Pastor Robert told me one time. 16:04.089 --> 16:07.691 [SPEAKER_01]: Pastor Robert said, he said, man, I'm just gonna tell you this because I love you. 16:08.311 --> 16:11.753 [SPEAKER_01]: But sometimes, he said, yeah, he said, he's the word trust. 16:11.773 --> 16:13.994 [SPEAKER_01]: He said, sometimes you trust people way too much. 16:14.014 --> 16:15.235 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. 16:15.255 --> 16:15.915 [SPEAKER_01]: And too fast. 16:15.955 --> 16:16.795 [SPEAKER_01]: And I said, yeah, you're right. 16:17.576 --> 16:17.896 [SPEAKER_01]: You're right. 16:18.897 --> 16:20.157 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, over a waterburger. 16:21.358 --> 16:21.958 [SPEAKER_01]: He told me that. 16:22.879 --> 16:23.519 [SPEAKER_01]: Over a waterburger. 16:24.359 --> 16:25.360 [SPEAKER_01]: We weren't even out in and out. 16:32.675 --> 16:33.256 [SPEAKER_01]: in and out is better. 16:36.664 --> 16:41.875 [SPEAKER_01]: So anyway, so, you know, if you if you love big like me, you know, 16:46.988 --> 16:50.129 [SPEAKER_01]: If you love big, like me, it stings when people are no longer there. 16:50.609 --> 16:53.489 [SPEAKER_01]: It stings when people leave or whatever it may be. 16:53.849 --> 16:54.710 [SPEAKER_01]: It hurts the heart. 16:55.250 --> 16:59.711 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it hurts everybody, but if you're a lover of people, it really, really hurts. 16:59.791 --> 17:04.452 [SPEAKER_01]: But then you have to come to the realization that God was protecting me from something. 17:05.292 --> 17:06.532 [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't see it right now. 17:06.612 --> 17:08.933 [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe I will never see it in the future. 17:08.993 --> 17:10.193 [SPEAKER_01]: That's OK with me. 17:10.553 --> 17:11.873 [SPEAKER_01]: God was protecting me. 17:11.933 --> 17:12.734 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, somebody. 17:13.694 --> 17:14.354 [SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah. 17:15.186 --> 17:16.506 [SPEAKER_01]: You remember that old song? 17:16.546 --> 17:20.687 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember when, oh gosh, what's his name? 17:20.788 --> 17:42.093 [SPEAKER_01]: Brother Jerry Hobbs, remember last year, but Brother Jerry Hobbs came and ministered here at the church, organized for some of the great revival of the day, and Catherine Coolman and some of them, and he came, and he ministered to us, and he ministered and song, and he also ministered and in Word, and the title of his message was, though, no one go with me, still I will follow. 17:42.733 --> 17:46.675 [SPEAKER_01]: based off of that old song that we used to sing and church back in the day. 17:47.356 --> 17:48.116 [SPEAKER_01]: You remember that song? 17:48.436 --> 17:53.379 [SPEAKER_01]: Though none go with me, still I will follow. 17:54.019 --> 17:59.282 [SPEAKER_01]: Though none go with me, still I will follow. 17:59.702 --> 18:00.362 [SPEAKER_01]: Not that slow. 18:00.622 --> 18:05.265 [SPEAKER_01]: No, gonna go with me, still I will follow. 18:05.925 --> 18:10.908 [SPEAKER_01]: No turning back, no turning back. 18:11.847 --> 18:36.523 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I know we don't sing songs like that really too often in church anymore, which we should, I mean, some of those are, you know, those are good, those are good classics, you know, you know, those are, those are, those are great, but it's such a, it's such a relevant message to us that not everybody's going to go with me, but yet still I will follow, still I will follow, and so you have got to understand that not everybody is assigned to go where God is taking you. 18:37.803 --> 18:58.188 [SPEAKER_01]: And so there's two things that I want to teach you this morning if you're taking notes and I hope you're taking notes because we are at note taking church and note takers or world changers and note takers are powerful people because I don't need a text message on Wednesday saying, Pastor, what was it that you said again about that? 18:58.628 --> 19:02.829 [SPEAKER_01]: If you would just ride it down, you wouldn't have to ask any questions, okay? 19:03.469 --> 19:06.610 [SPEAKER_01]: And not that I would not answer you, but, 19:08.070 --> 19:17.986 [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, you need to be taking notes, you know, I mean, whether it's in your phone or piece of paper or whatever, you know, because we got to go back and remember what God was saying, right, it's important. 19:18.126 --> 19:22.934 [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, so two facts about divine separation that I want to teach you this morning. 19:23.774 --> 19:29.716 [SPEAKER_01]: Divine separation because, you know, often times we don't like separation, we don't like the word separation. 19:30.417 --> 19:35.299 [SPEAKER_01]: We don't want to be told that we're going to have relationships that might separate. 19:36.179 --> 19:40.861 [SPEAKER_01]: But there is a difference between separation and divine separation, right? 19:41.261 --> 19:46.663 [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, so the first one is this number one is that sometimes God calls you to leave what's familiar. 19:48.284 --> 19:51.925 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes God calls you to leave what's familiar. 19:52.833 --> 19:56.438 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think oftentimes I just leave that up there for a minute because people need to write it down. 19:56.878 --> 20:03.848 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think so many times we get to a place where we get so comfortable with being comfortable. 20:05.672 --> 20:17.315 [SPEAKER_01]: We get to a place where we're comfortable with the familiar airity around us, and the relationships around us, that when something changes or something is moved or altered a little bit, it kind of freaks us out. 20:17.395 --> 20:19.776 [SPEAKER_01]: Stairs us up, kind of shakes us to our core. 20:20.596 --> 20:26.898 [SPEAKER_01]: And we should never be caught off guard when God wants to come in and change things up a little bit, right? 20:27.678 --> 20:28.299 [SPEAKER_01]: Shouldn't it phase us? 20:30.119 --> 20:36.823 [SPEAKER_01]: This was probably the third Sunday in a row that the worship team practiced certain songs that never ended up happening today. 20:37.723 --> 20:42.146 [SPEAKER_01]: We didn't even open up this morning with the song that we were supposed to open up with. 20:42.166 --> 20:42.326 [SPEAKER_01]: Why? 20:42.346 --> 20:45.868 [SPEAKER_01]: Because God came in and he changed something. 20:46.128 --> 20:48.149 [SPEAKER_01]: But we weren't like, oh, God, what do we do? 20:48.189 --> 20:49.429 [SPEAKER_01]: And oh, is that okay? 20:49.449 --> 20:50.830 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, whatever, all this kind of stuff. 20:50.870 --> 20:53.632 [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's stepping back and saying, yes, Lord. 20:54.912 --> 21:08.679 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we have to do the same thing with our relationships and we have to do the same thing when we're talking about divine separation that we cannot become so familiar with people that when things change we get shook. 21:10.520 --> 21:17.004 [SPEAKER_01]: And Abraham in Genesis 12 and the chapter before what we read in verse 1, God says to him, 21:24.886 --> 21:35.374 [SPEAKER_01]: leave leave from here and I will show you now this is huge because because Abram couldn't remain where he was at while still trying to obtain what God promised. 21:36.635 --> 21:42.579 [SPEAKER_01]: In other words God gave God gave Abram a promise but his promise wasn't found in the land that he was currently in. 21:43.620 --> 21:47.823 [SPEAKER_01]: But watch this his promise wasn't attached to who he was also with. 21:49.740 --> 21:55.580 [SPEAKER_01]: So it wasn't just about the location of where Abram was, but it was also about who was with Abram. 21:56.658 --> 22:02.741 [SPEAKER_01]: because that, because what I didn't read to you was the rest of Genesis chapter 12 verse one. 22:02.841 --> 22:07.324 [SPEAKER_01]: I read you the first part of verse one, but we got to also remind ourselves of what's in between that. 22:07.364 --> 22:10.285 [SPEAKER_01]: He says, leave from the land and I will show you where to go. 22:10.666 --> 22:20.051 [SPEAKER_01]: But in between there, he says, leave from the land and watch this depart from your relatives and from your father's house and I will show you the land. 22:22.075 --> 22:42.533 [SPEAKER_01]: So when all of a sudden, the very next chapter, Abram and Lot get into it, it doesn't catch Abram by surprise, because God just spoke to him a chapter before, and God said, you're going to have to leave what is familiar to you to possess the land that I am taking you in. 22:42.993 --> 22:52.217 [SPEAKER_01]: little did he know that days or weeks later he would get into an argument with the closest person to him and that they would come to a mutual decision. 22:52.337 --> 22:54.758 [SPEAKER_01]: You go this way and I'll go that way. 23:00.821 --> 23:01.702 [SPEAKER_01]: Hear me this morning. 23:03.743 --> 23:08.685 [SPEAKER_01]: Oftentimes you cannot carry what's familiar into what God is calling you to. 23:10.888 --> 23:13.670 [SPEAKER_01]: You cannot carry what's familiar into what God is calling you, too. 23:14.791 --> 23:18.855 [SPEAKER_01]: So much like Abram, you might have to leave some family behind. 23:20.256 --> 23:22.999 [SPEAKER_01]: You might have to leave some relationships behind. 23:23.479 --> 23:29.184 [SPEAKER_01]: You might have to walk away from some familiar relationships to step into your next season. 23:29.544 --> 23:32.227 [SPEAKER_01]: And again, I'll say it, and I'll keep saying it over and over. 23:32.407 --> 23:35.890 [SPEAKER_01]: That's OK. That's OK. 23:36.994 --> 23:37.514 [SPEAKER_01]: That's okay. 23:38.054 --> 23:39.955 [SPEAKER_01]: Because watch this, I want you to write this down. 23:40.855 --> 23:43.736 [SPEAKER_01]: Some separation precedes new revelation. 23:46.017 --> 23:50.438 [SPEAKER_01]: Some separation precedes new revelation. 23:51.939 --> 24:02.362 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to say it for the third time, for the people towards the back, if you can't hear me, some separation precedes new revelation. 24:07.408 --> 24:15.711 [SPEAKER_01]: Side of that separation is a new and divine holy ghost revelation that you would have never seen before. 24:17.191 --> 24:18.792 [SPEAKER_01]: On the other side of that separation. 24:20.552 --> 24:29.455 [SPEAKER_01]: It could be God taking you into something that you would have never been able to go into on the other side of that divine separation. 24:30.616 --> 24:34.677 [SPEAKER_01]: And so this is true because we see in Genesis 13 that God tells Abraham, 24:35.506 --> 24:38.429 [SPEAKER_01]: Look to the east, to the west, to the north, to the south. 24:39.350 --> 24:40.531 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to give you all of this. 24:42.933 --> 24:45.795 [SPEAKER_01]: But what happened after him and lot separated? 24:47.677 --> 24:48.858 [SPEAKER_01]: That's when God spoke. 24:50.359 --> 24:56.685 [SPEAKER_01]: God didn't speak and say, look to the north, southeast, and west, I'm going to give you all of this, and then they got into a quarrel. 24:57.746 --> 25:01.950 [SPEAKER_01]: They got into a quarrel, separated, and then God spoke. 25:04.022 --> 25:15.563 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, I know we want it to be the other way, we want it to be the opposite, but in order for God to show Abram and to take Abram, he had to remove lot. 25:17.252 --> 25:29.958 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm telling you this morning that you may think it's disappointing, but on the other side of that letting go of certain people is a hidden blessing of God's goodness and God's glory. 25:30.738 --> 25:36.461 [SPEAKER_01]: There is a hidden blessing of God's goodness and God's glory on the other side of that separation. 25:36.801 --> 25:38.501 [SPEAKER_01]: So don't get it twisted this morning. 25:38.582 --> 25:42.323 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying all relational separation is a good thing. 25:42.603 --> 25:43.504 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not saying that. 25:44.644 --> 25:45.965 [SPEAKER_01]: I want you to really hear me today. 25:47.056 --> 25:51.639 [SPEAKER_01]: But many times it's a God thing when he's taking you into the next season. 25:52.620 --> 26:01.927 [SPEAKER_01]: So don't be surprised that the people that you're with now in Egypt aren't with you when you arrive in the Promised Land. 26:03.887 --> 26:12.131 [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't this all the same people that walked away from Pharaoh's rule and reign in authority over their life to go into the promise. 26:12.212 --> 26:16.594 [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't the same exact people that left there that got to go into the Promised Land. 26:17.094 --> 26:19.916 [SPEAKER_01]: Many of them, let me tell you, got left behind. 26:20.816 --> 26:27.380 [SPEAKER_01]: They either died, they disobeyed, you know, whatever it may be. 26:28.656 --> 26:29.997 [SPEAKER_01]: And not everybody can go. 26:30.898 --> 26:32.519 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just here to tell us this morning. 26:33.100 --> 26:34.341 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody is going with us. 26:35.702 --> 26:36.783 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody is going with us. 26:37.523 --> 26:41.286 [SPEAKER_01]: So separation, let me tell you, is not rejection. 26:42.407 --> 26:49.032 [SPEAKER_01]: Because the enemy would come in and he would whisper lies to us saying that that separation is rejection. 26:49.413 --> 26:51.494 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the separation is not rejection. 26:51.775 --> 26:54.537 [SPEAKER_01]: The separation, let me tell you, is redirection. 26:56.277 --> 26:57.278 [SPEAKER_01]: It's redirection. 26:57.838 --> 27:04.642 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the Lord getting a hold of your life and getting a hold of your relationships and saying, I need to redirect some things. 27:04.862 --> 27:08.184 [SPEAKER_01]: I gotta have some of these separations so I can redirect you. 27:09.165 --> 27:12.466 [SPEAKER_01]: And many times we say, oh man, this is just rejection. 27:13.047 --> 27:18.430 [SPEAKER_01]: Rejection from the people that don't want to do this thing with me and don't wanna do life with me. 27:18.490 --> 27:20.091 [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's not rejection. 27:20.471 --> 27:21.532 [SPEAKER_00]: It's redirection. 27:22.512 --> 27:23.493 [SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody say amen. 27:24.110 --> 27:28.494 [SPEAKER_01]: So number one, is that sometimes God calls you to leave what's familiar. 27:29.514 --> 27:30.675 [SPEAKER_01]: And number two is this. 27:32.236 --> 27:37.501 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes, Godly people go in different directions. 27:40.363 --> 27:42.885 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes Godly people go in to different directions. 27:45.247 --> 27:51.272 [SPEAKER_01]: You may argue that and say, well, if we're believe it in the same God and we're running after the same things, 27:54.678 --> 27:55.478 [SPEAKER_01]: No, not always. 27:57.139 --> 27:57.619 [SPEAKER_01]: Not always. 28:01.321 --> 28:05.023 [SPEAKER_01]: My grandpa used to say, different strokes for different folks. 28:06.483 --> 28:06.723 [SPEAKER_01]: Right? 28:07.264 --> 28:07.964 [SPEAKER_01]: You heard that before? 28:09.424 --> 28:17.268 [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, not every, not every place that you're going is going to be the same as the person that you think is going. 28:17.348 --> 28:21.070 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the person that's linked up to you or whatever it may be. 28:21.110 --> 28:23.951 [SPEAKER_01]: So sometimes, godly people do go in different directions. 28:25.678 --> 28:35.742 [SPEAKER_01]: And can I tell you, when that happens, let's not get scared, let's not get nervous, let's not get fearful, let's not get worried. 28:36.562 --> 28:39.103 [SPEAKER_01]: But let's just say thank you, Lord, right? 28:39.563 --> 28:40.323 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Lord. 28:41.284 --> 28:44.285 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, let's look at a whole another story, Acts chapter 15, 28:46.478 --> 28:52.459 [SPEAKER_01]: Paul and Barnabas, we're not going to read it, but you can go back and read it later Acts chapter 15, okay? 28:53.079 --> 28:56.320 [SPEAKER_01]: But Paul and Barnabas, they had been doing a lot of ministry together. 28:56.980 --> 29:04.542 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, they're going out, they're going literally from city to city to city to city, seeing amazing things take place. 29:04.562 --> 29:09.803 [SPEAKER_01]: They are literally flowing under this annoying thing and the work of the ministry is happening with both of them. 29:10.463 --> 29:12.645 [SPEAKER_01]: as they're doing ministry together, okay? 29:13.006 --> 29:16.149 [SPEAKER_01]: So they're doing life together, but they're also doing ministry together. 29:16.649 --> 29:20.213 [SPEAKER_01]: And God just showing up and doing amazing things in every city that they go into. 29:20.994 --> 29:26.479 [SPEAKER_01]: Well then the Bible tells us, and Acts chapter 15, that Paul and Barnabas get into an argument. 29:29.162 --> 29:33.647 [SPEAKER_01]: And they got into an argument after they just had gotten done ministering. 29:36.066 --> 29:38.967 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's an enemy likes to show up that way, you know? 29:39.327 --> 29:44.029 [SPEAKER_01]: It's like trying to rob away from the people of God what God did. 29:44.850 --> 29:47.691 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and so what happens is it's Paul. 29:48.865 --> 30:08.015 [SPEAKER_01]: Paul says to Barnabas, hey, now let's go back and circle back around to all the cities we just went to and let's check on everybody to make sure that what we just ministered and what we just experienced is still happening and God's still moving and people are still doing the things that they need to be doing and that the churches are growing and thriving and all that kind of stuff. 30:08.275 --> 30:09.756 [SPEAKER_01]: So Paul tells Barnabas, let's go. 30:10.216 --> 30:14.078 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's go and circle all the way back around again after they just did it, right? 30:14.418 --> 30:15.759 [SPEAKER_01]: Barnabas says, well, 30:16.559 --> 30:21.241 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I really don't want to do that, but if we're going to do that, I want to take my buddy John Mark with us. 30:23.042 --> 30:25.662 [SPEAKER_01]: And so he tells Paul, I want to take John Mark. 30:27.143 --> 30:29.524 [SPEAKER_01]: And so Barnabas is adamant about this. 30:29.644 --> 30:32.725 [SPEAKER_01]: And Paul says, he doesn't need to go with us. 30:34.606 --> 30:35.386 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a Paul tells him. 30:36.086 --> 30:45.230 [SPEAKER_01]: And the Bible says, after Paul told Barnabas, we don't need John Mark to go with us, the Bible says that they had a sharp disagreement. 30:46.716 --> 30:52.277 [SPEAKER_01]: a sharp, so not just the deal, not just the deal with this agreement, I'm like, why does that to be a sharp disagree amount? 30:52.698 --> 30:55.698 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I mean, this was a knives were coming out, y'all. 30:56.799 --> 30:57.559 [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I'm saying? 30:57.579 --> 31:00.720 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, this was a big deal, okay? 31:00.980 --> 31:02.500 [SPEAKER_01]: This was a sharp disagreement. 31:03.860 --> 31:09.162 [SPEAKER_01]: And so they get into this sharp disagreement and the Bible says that they parted company. 31:10.622 --> 31:13.803 [SPEAKER_01]: In other words, watch this, they broke fellowship. 31:16.487 --> 31:17.768 [SPEAKER_01]: They parted company. 31:19.429 --> 31:24.272 [SPEAKER_01]: Now their disagreement resulted in total separation from one another. 31:25.673 --> 31:29.596 [SPEAKER_01]: Barnabas took John Mark, and he went one direction. 31:30.877 --> 31:37.922 [SPEAKER_01]: And Paul says, well, I need someone like Barnabas, so I'll just pick somebody else and Paul chose Silas. 31:39.363 --> 31:44.026 [SPEAKER_01]: And Paul picks up Silas, and they go in the opposite direction. 31:45.056 --> 31:47.198 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I want you to catch this this morning. 31:48.299 --> 31:50.361 [SPEAKER_01]: These were two people who loved God. 31:52.382 --> 31:54.744 [SPEAKER_01]: These were two people who served God. 31:55.485 --> 32:01.290 [SPEAKER_01]: These were two people who did the work in the ministry for the kingdom of God. 32:02.811 --> 32:04.393 [SPEAKER_01]: They were doing life together. 32:05.213 --> 32:10.478 [SPEAKER_01]: But yet, they still find themselves going in different directions. 32:13.113 --> 32:23.737 [SPEAKER_01]: But although Paul and Barnabas separate and they go a different direction, watch what happens, both of their ministries go to the next level. 32:26.458 --> 32:35.361 [SPEAKER_01]: It is right immediately after their argument where they separate that we see an explosion of a whole new level of Paul's ministry. 32:36.471 --> 32:43.115 [SPEAKER_01]: Barnabas goes somewhere else and we see an explosion of the move of God through the hands of Barnabas in the mouth of Barnabas. 32:43.975 --> 32:55.622 [SPEAKER_01]: So we may look at that at first and be like, man, those were the dudes that were supposed to do this thing together and keep going after the kingdom and keep getting people saved and healed and all this kind of stuff. 33:10.598 --> 33:14.681 [SPEAKER_01]: So listen, church, everything has a season. 33:16.882 --> 33:18.843 [SPEAKER_01]: Every relationship has a season. 33:21.605 --> 33:27.709 [SPEAKER_01]: It makes me giggle sometimes, and those that are older, you will remember this. 33:28.569 --> 33:37.875 [SPEAKER_01]: When you were in high school, you thought the people that you were hanging out with, you were gonna just, you were gonna be friends for your whole life. 33:39.347 --> 33:43.656 [SPEAKER_01]: Those were the ones that we're going to, we're going to go to college together. 33:44.868 --> 33:50.752 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to get married in different times and we're going to raise families together. 33:51.192 --> 33:52.493 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to do all this stuff. 33:52.513 --> 33:57.756 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to go on trips together and do all of these things. 33:57.936 --> 34:03.880 [SPEAKER_01]: We put so much time and effort into our relationships, even in high school, all to probably find out. 34:04.160 --> 34:09.304 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're anything like me, after everybody through the cap, you really never saw anybody ever again. 34:12.054 --> 34:13.615 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe rare occasion. 34:14.135 --> 34:17.478 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you're connected to maybe one, maybe two, you know? 34:18.258 --> 34:29.526 [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, once that thing was done and you crossed that stage and you got that piece of paper in your hand, it's almost as though those relationships that you thought were going to be with you forever. 34:31.427 --> 34:31.627 [UNKNOWN]: Poof. 34:36.430 --> 34:39.232 [SPEAKER_01]: That's one example of mini, you know? 34:41.377 --> 34:55.499 [SPEAKER_01]: There's times when you'll be working somewhere and you'll come into close connections with people that you're working with and all of a sudden you're no longer there or they're no longer there and the person that you saw every single day. 34:59.520 --> 35:01.220 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, sometimes it's a praise the Lord. 35:06.481 --> 35:09.622 [SPEAKER_01]: That's one of the only times when we're like, thank you God for divine separation. 35:12.213 --> 35:16.114 [SPEAKER_01]: I remember one time I was working a job, I'm not going to say where or anything like that. 35:22.496 --> 35:24.337 [SPEAKER_01]: But before the kingdom, of course. 35:25.717 --> 35:34.479 [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember a man, I'm praying in Jesus' name that my boss is no longer my boss. 35:35.520 --> 35:38.020 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm praying right, Lord, please. 35:39.021 --> 35:39.601 [SPEAKER_01]: Next thing you know, 35:42.365 --> 36:08.100 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you know, I mean, just gone, I said, thank you, Lord, you answered a prayer that was what was needed, glory to God, and then my next boss, not 10 times worse, 25, 50, 100 times worse and I said, Lord, 36:09.820 --> 36:11.561 [SPEAKER_01]: I thought you answered my prayer. 36:12.381 --> 36:14.281 [SPEAKER_01]: I thought you were taking care of me. 36:14.801 --> 36:20.683 [SPEAKER_01]: I thought that you were just coming in at the right time and just making everything work out for my good. 36:22.244 --> 36:23.404 [SPEAKER_01]: And then someone else. 36:24.064 --> 36:26.625 [SPEAKER_01]: And I thought, oh my God, now I have to pray again. 36:28.185 --> 36:30.206 [SPEAKER_01]: This time I might have to probably pray harder. 36:30.226 --> 36:34.287 [SPEAKER_01]: And then whole time it was a challenge. 36:35.007 --> 36:37.268 [SPEAKER_01]: And I prayed and I prayed and I said, 36:39.573 --> 37:06.760 [SPEAKER_01]: You removed one, I know you can remove a second, and the next thing you know, I thought, man, prayer really does work, the third boss comes in, worse than the first, and definitely worse than the second. 37:08.134 --> 37:11.636 [SPEAKER_01]: And I thought, my God, this is whatever. 37:15.398 --> 37:17.700 [SPEAKER_01]: Pastor Melissa said, maybe it's you. 37:27.085 --> 37:28.206 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it is interesting. 37:30.867 --> 37:32.128 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I got to think about that. 37:32.653 --> 37:33.394 [SPEAKER_01]: No, you know what? 37:33.514 --> 37:58.749 [SPEAKER_01]: I learned in our identity class this morning that when people try to put labels on you You don't have to accept it because we only have to believe what the Lord says about us in Jesus name That was just the intro class this morning eight thirty a.m. so you better be there next Sunday That's a commercial 38:01.700 --> 38:06.163 [SPEAKER_01]: But you know that third person came in and I said, this time I ain't praying, I'm just going. 38:06.844 --> 38:11.007 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and so I made the choice to go. 38:12.347 --> 38:14.949 [SPEAKER_01]: But you know, it's okay. 38:15.990 --> 38:22.675 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, God will bring certain people in your life and you know, some of the people that come into your life really do stretch you. 38:24.636 --> 38:29.420 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, how many you can say, I've got some people in my life right now that are stretching me. 38:30.481 --> 38:33.622 [SPEAKER_01]: That when I get around them, my Lord, I am stretched. 38:34.282 --> 38:35.402 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, let me rephrase that. 38:35.422 --> 38:36.202 [SPEAKER_01]: Let me rephrase that. 38:36.903 --> 38:39.583 [SPEAKER_01]: When I'm around them, I got a really bite my tongue. 38:40.323 --> 38:43.284 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, do I have any, are there's already real people in this church today? 38:43.304 --> 38:45.925 [SPEAKER_01]: I know we all love Jesus, but can we be real? 38:48.806 --> 38:49.946 [SPEAKER_01]: It's hard sometimes. 38:51.457 --> 38:53.539 [SPEAKER_01]: It's hard being around certain people sometimes. 38:53.599 --> 38:57.922 [SPEAKER_01]: It's hard to experience some of the relational things that we do. 38:57.962 --> 39:01.945 [SPEAKER_01]: And then God will remove people or he'll bring people in. 39:02.366 --> 39:05.688 [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, I just, I just have to see it this way. 39:06.709 --> 39:12.894 [SPEAKER_01]: I have to see myself on the grand chess board of God. 39:14.995 --> 39:20.620 [SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes they're going to be other characters that they got to go. 39:22.375 --> 39:25.117 [SPEAKER_01]: And then, other times, I'm going to advance. 39:26.779 --> 39:29.601 [SPEAKER_01]: And other times, when I advance, somebody else is going to advance with me. 39:30.562 --> 39:37.227 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and maybe I advance quite some ways, but then all of a sudden, boom, that person goes. 39:37.828 --> 39:41.331 [SPEAKER_01]: But I have to see myself on the chessboard of the Lord. 39:42.071 --> 39:51.259 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have to be okay that wherever he puts me, and whoever he surrounds me with, I'm going to thank him for it. 39:52.676 --> 39:58.560 [SPEAKER_01]: So if that means my circle is very small and slim, and then, okay, that's all right. 40:00.001 --> 40:06.365 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I'm going somewhere, and I wanna encourage all of us in the room this morning, and you're going somewhere. 40:08.186 --> 40:10.568 [SPEAKER_01]: Come on, do you believe that about your life or do you not? 40:11.728 --> 40:17.692 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you could say, maybe for that super spiritual person on the left side of the auditorium, I mean, I'm maybe for them. 40:17.712 --> 40:17.772 [SPEAKER_00]: No. 40:19.743 --> 40:23.766 [SPEAKER_01]: Do you, do you really believe that you're going somewhere? 40:27.428 --> 40:28.489 [SPEAKER_01]: You all thought it was this left? 40:28.529 --> 40:31.150 [SPEAKER_01]: I was talking about this left, I was okay. 40:33.272 --> 40:46.660 [SPEAKER_01]: Stage left, or stage right, no, it's all of us, but you know, these things are important for us to understand, and if I'm, if I'm going somewhere, 40:47.860 --> 40:49.641 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to get to my destination. 40:51.281 --> 40:51.881 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to get there. 40:53.102 --> 40:55.902 [SPEAKER_01]: By the way, are you all okay that I wore a hat on a Sunday morning and preached in it? 40:58.363 --> 40:59.904 [SPEAKER_01]: Now that Melissa walked out, I can say it. 41:00.084 --> 41:01.264 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just kidding. 41:02.124 --> 41:04.205 [SPEAKER_01]: This morning, I got ready and I put on my hat. 41:04.985 --> 41:05.365 [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, babe. 41:10.867 --> 41:14.488 [SPEAKER_01]: I put on my hat and she said, you're wearing a hat to church. 41:15.172 --> 41:16.794 [SPEAKER_01]: I said, yeah. 41:18.135 --> 41:20.437 [SPEAKER_01]: And she was like, you've never preached in a hat before. 41:20.718 --> 41:22.119 [SPEAKER_01]: I said, I know. 41:23.540 --> 41:24.641 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm like, are you sure that's OK? 41:25.783 --> 41:26.403 [SPEAKER_01]: It's OK with me. 41:26.603 --> 41:29.246 [SPEAKER_00]: It's OK with me. 41:30.527 --> 41:32.890 [SPEAKER_01]: So I wanted to put a hat on today for this jersey Sunday. 41:32.910 --> 41:35.312 [SPEAKER_01]: But I'm representing the Lord Towns Commirals. 41:35.352 --> 41:35.713 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm glad I came. 41:39.484 --> 41:42.866 [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, after service, scan the QR code if you want one of our amazing hats. 41:42.966 --> 41:44.426 [SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean? 41:44.726 --> 41:46.167 [SPEAKER_01]: Anyways. 41:46.647 --> 41:52.470 [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, in our lives, people are going to come, people are going to go. 41:53.290 --> 42:01.614 [SPEAKER_01]: And if we're going a certain place and we're trying to get to where God has called us to go, we may look around and see nobody. 42:03.167 --> 42:10.652 [SPEAKER_01]: We may look around and see a lot of, you know, we may look to the right and the person that was once running with me to the right is no longer there anymore. 42:12.033 --> 42:18.178 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's coming to the understanding that I'm okay with that as long as God has got me. 42:19.099 --> 42:24.623 [SPEAKER_01]: If his hand is on me and he's taking me somewhere, I've got a trust his plan. 42:25.663 --> 42:30.587 [SPEAKER_01]: I've got a trust his purpose and I've got to know that not everybody can go. 42:33.223 --> 42:40.985 [SPEAKER_01]: And what I've come to discover is that time reveals whether people share the same passions as you. 42:43.345 --> 42:46.906 [SPEAKER_01]: Time reveals whether people share the same convictions as you. 42:49.587 --> 42:56.009 [SPEAKER_01]: And time ultimately reveals whether people share the same direction as you. 43:02.813 --> 43:06.375 [SPEAKER_01]: and genuine shared commitment are not the same thing. 43:07.816 --> 43:13.619 [SPEAKER_01]: So just because someone is currently connected to you, doesn't mean they're connected to your convictions. 43:14.879 --> 43:20.862 [SPEAKER_01]: Doesn't mean they're connected to your vision or your purpose in life, just because they're connected to you. 43:21.603 --> 43:27.606 [SPEAKER_01]: So you can be, watch this, you can be physically present but yet spiritually disconnected. 43:29.787 --> 43:34.628 [SPEAKER_01]: That's why it's important that we understand about being equally yoke to with one another. 43:35.108 --> 43:36.188 [SPEAKER_01]: Can I just tell you something? 43:36.548 --> 43:37.909 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not just for marriage. 43:37.929 --> 43:42.109 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm about to wrap it up. 43:42.129 --> 43:42.749 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'm about to wrap it up. 43:42.769 --> 43:45.930 [SPEAKER_01]: That's for all of our relationships. 43:46.370 --> 43:48.351 [SPEAKER_01]: I refuse in my life now. 43:48.511 --> 43:55.472 [SPEAKER_01]: I've come too far to allow a relationship that's going to pull me backwards. 43:56.800 --> 44:03.302 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, pastor, we're supposed to love people and accept that, I love them, but that doesn't mean they're running with me. 44:05.303 --> 44:07.663 [SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't mean they're running with me, okay? 44:08.084 --> 44:16.166 [SPEAKER_01]: And if somebody cannot share the same convictions that I have, I'm sorry, but you just don't belong in my life. 44:18.347 --> 44:20.407 [SPEAKER_01]: Because I am not going to be 44:26.158 --> 44:34.972 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to be swayed by the enemy to try to bring me into something that I know at the end of the day is not who I am. 44:36.515 --> 44:40.641 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a part of me, it's not a part of me, let me say any more. 44:41.667 --> 44:58.428 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm not gonna allow the temptation and the lie and the deception of the enemy to take me into a place with any kind of relationship that is contradictory to who I am, what I believe and what I'm becoming in Christ Jesus, come on somebody say amen. 45:04.613 --> 45:08.537 [SPEAKER_01]: So connection as I taught a few weeks ago is revealed through proximity. 45:08.577 --> 45:09.558 [SPEAKER_01]: Remember when I taught you that? 45:10.039 --> 45:14.904 [SPEAKER_01]: But let me tell you, commitment is demonstrated through convictions and action. 45:16.205 --> 45:18.187 [SPEAKER_01]: You will know if they're committed to you. 45:18.708 --> 45:21.391 [SPEAKER_01]: When you tell them, hey, I don't do those things. 45:23.015 --> 45:41.319 [SPEAKER_01]: And if they get offended by that, if they walk away because of that, if they get hurt because of that, then in that moment, we need to say, glory to God, glory to God, because God, you protected me from something that the enemy was cunningly trying to put before me. 45:41.639 --> 45:47.220 [SPEAKER_01]: He was about to dangle the carrot and thank God, he didn't, but Lord, you removed them out of my life. 45:49.140 --> 45:54.002 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is why, let me tell you, watch this, discernment is so important. 45:56.723 --> 45:59.664 [SPEAKER_01]: The spirit of discernment is huge. 46:00.805 --> 46:09.549 [SPEAKER_01]: There are times where, oh, I'll connect with somebody, and I'll know, no, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. 46:10.929 --> 46:12.810 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have to step back. 46:14.655 --> 46:20.099 [SPEAKER_01]: There are times when you discern that that person and you got to be connected, right? 46:21.140 --> 46:21.880 [SPEAKER_01]: There's times of that. 46:22.721 --> 46:33.249 [SPEAKER_01]: But there are equally important, more importantly, there are times when that discernment alarm will go off 46:34.432 --> 46:51.135 [SPEAKER_01]: And if you do not follow the voice of God in that moment, I'm telling you, that's when people get in trouble, that's when people fall, that's when people make mistakes, that's when people get hurt, that's when people get backstabbed, all that kind of stuff. 46:52.115 --> 47:01.737 [SPEAKER_01]: I have allowed people into my life that that alarm was going off and I said, it's okay, God will take care of it, God will use me, 47:02.097 --> 47:08.663 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, whatever, and that thing was going off, and I ignored the spirit of discernment only to get hurt. 47:12.186 --> 47:14.989 [SPEAKER_01]: So we've got to discern our relationships. 47:15.509 --> 47:18.532 [SPEAKER_01]: We got to discern our connection and listen to me. 47:18.732 --> 47:19.974 [SPEAKER_01]: We're talking about fellowship. 47:20.014 --> 47:22.576 [SPEAKER_01]: We got to discern who we're fellowshiping with. 47:24.017 --> 47:24.618 [SPEAKER_01]: We've got to. 47:26.205 --> 47:32.089 [SPEAKER_01]: because you've got to know, and you've got to discern who shares in your assignment. 47:33.170 --> 47:35.752 [SPEAKER_01]: Not everybody is attached to your assignment. 47:37.433 --> 47:40.075 [SPEAKER_01]: And again, that's okay, but you got to discern that. 47:41.016 --> 47:42.417 [SPEAKER_01]: Because the enemy would like to come in 47:43.802 --> 48:11.045 [SPEAKER_01]: rob you of the direction that you're going because you couldn't discern or you couldn't listen when you were discernent you couldn't listen to the voice of God and so part of spiritual maturity is knowing how to honor people even when their assignment takes them somewhere else listen church some people are part of your journey now but not everybody is a part of your destination 48:13.029 --> 48:18.193 [SPEAKER_01]: Some people are a part of my journey now, but not everybody is part of my destination. 48:21.375 --> 48:23.196 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening to today's message. 48:23.517 --> 48:26.899 [SPEAKER_00]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard. 48:27.519 --> 48:32.163 [SPEAKER_00]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City Podcast. 48:32.763 --> 48:37.487 [SPEAKER_00]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith. 48:38.267 --> 48:46.796 [SPEAKER_00]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com. 48:47.537 --> 48:51.481 [SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.