0:02

Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of

0:04

Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

0:06

I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

0:08

this inspires you. Hope it builds

0:10

your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to see God

0:13

is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

0:17

I know y'all don't want to stand up anymore, but

0:19

will you stay standing for this scripture because

0:22

God gave us a good one today. Ah,

0:27

God gave us a good one today. You

0:30

know how you were debating whether to come or not? Can

0:33

I go or not? You did the right day,

0:36

You did the right day, You did the right thing. God

0:39

gave us a good one today. I

0:42

shared on this topic with our kids Tuesday night,

0:44

and I was glad to and I thought it was just for them. And

0:46

I went back after I preached and a few

0:48

of my friends were here and

0:50

all my friends were crying and they're grown

0:52

ups, and they all said,

0:54

that was for me. That was for me. That

0:57

was for me. And

0:59

then when I prayed what the Lord would have me share

1:01

with our church today, he

1:05

told me to give you this. So

1:07

I'm going to share this with you today from Exodus chapter

1:09

three,

1:11

and well, okay,

1:14

okay, okay okay.

1:21

Exodus chapter three, verse

1:25

nineteen. Are

1:28

you ready? But

1:30

I know that the King of Egypt will not let

1:32

you go unless a mighty

1:34

hand compels him. So

1:37

I will stretch out my hand and

1:39

strike the Egyptians with

1:41

all the wonders that I will perform among

1:44

them. After that, he'll

1:48

let you go. I

1:55

will read this again and

1:59

you will respond or appropriate letter. So'll

2:02

make me come through that screen. I'll come through that screen

2:05

and snatch you right out of your pajamas

2:07

and make you shout. But

2:09

I know the Lord says

2:11

it's to Moses. Moses is eighty years old,

2:14

and I appreciate this to the youth because

2:17

I'm hoping they can get early

2:19

when it took Moses his whole lifetime to

2:21

understand. And

2:26

he's telling Moses the

2:28

ambiance of a burning bush that isn't

2:30

burning up. It's on fire, but it's not consumed.

2:34

And he's telling him, I want to use you to set my people

2:36

free, and have an assignment

2:39

in mind with your name on it. But I

2:42

know that the King of Egypt will not let

2:44

you go unless

2:46

a mighty hand compels him. So I will

2:48

stretch out my hand and

2:50

strike the Egyptians with all the wonders

2:53

that I will perform among them.

2:55

After that, he

2:58

will let you go. Now, if

3:00

you have

3:04

something in your life today and

3:07

it feels like it's got a hold of you and you need God's

3:09

help, it could be it could

3:11

be depression, it could be anxiety, it

3:14

could be a situation that's out of your control,

3:17

but something that's got a hold of you, like Pharaoh

3:19

had a hold of the children of Israel, and

3:21

you need God's help with it. If something's got a hold

3:23

of you, we don't have to say what. I'm not going to make you say

3:25

it on the microphone. Don't be nervous. I'm not going to

3:27

ask you to name it. But if there's something that

3:29

has a hold of you and it feels

3:32

like it won't let go, and you need God's help today,

3:34

I want you to raise your hand right now. No,

3:37

the other hand, the

3:42

other hair. That's actually what I want to preach

3:44

to you about today. This

3:46

message is called the other hand, the

3:49

other hand. God,

3:55

I thank you that your arm is not short. You can

3:57

reach everybody under the sound of my

4:00

voice. Do it now, Lord in Jesus'

4:02

name, Amen, Maybe

4:04

see it. Oh,

4:08

I was thinking, Chris, you

4:10

know how we did in quarantine where y'all woud stay up here on the stools,

4:12

and so I wouldn't fill a lonely up here preaching where to go by

4:14

myself? Can y'all come like for y'all

4:17

where you can bring with you? Are the stools

4:19

still back there? Did the

4:21

youth X steal it and throw

4:24

them through windows for a segment or something like that.

4:27

I don't know what they've been doing right here. Just bring some

4:29

people back. You want to come to Scott, you should

4:31

come, he should come, Skot coming

4:33

fresh. I did it during quarantine. I don't know if you're

4:35

watching it online. Did y'all stay connected during quarantine or just

4:37

watching that flips? And

4:42

I would always have the worship leaders

4:44

stay up here. And it wasn't an

4:46

aesthetic. It was just survival, man,

4:49

because y'all are so good to look at while I'm preaching,

4:51

most of y'all and

4:53

then I would say, well, I can't just do this without

4:56

someone to talk to. I can't talk to a camera. So they

4:58

became they replaced you for a

5:00

little while, but now y'all are back. But I

5:02

thought it'd be cool if y'all came out, so

5:05

come on. We won't wait

5:07

for him. We'll just get started by ourselves.

5:09

I want you to go back in your mind, you're sixteen years

5:11

old. Close your eyes, you're sixteen.

5:14

I do this when I'm preaching to the youth. Before

5:17

I preach to the youth, I always put on the music I listened

5:19

to when I was sixteen, Pearl

5:22

Jam, No Code

5:26

and Okay, so now open your eyes.

5:28

So sixteen years old, you're sixteen years old. I

5:31

like to tell this story when I speak to

5:33

the students about one of the most significant

5:35

things that was spoken to me when I was

5:38

that age. Now, the coolest thing that ever happened to me

5:40

when I was a teenager is when Billy

5:42

Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day, called

5:44

me on stage to play his guitar at the North Trustan

5:46

Coliseum. And my best friend is

5:48

here to verify that that really happened. That

5:51

was the coolest thing, Georgia, your dad was freaking

5:53

out. But the

5:55

most important significant thing that happened

5:58

to me, at least this would be in the top three, was

6:02

Well, it's been twenty five years and I'm still telling

6:05

you about it. This is how big of a deal this

6:07

is that somebody

6:10

saw something in me. Pastor Mickey, Pastor

6:12

Mickey White, I called him the

6:14

other day and I said, I'm still telling this

6:17

story of when you came over to

6:19

our house twenty five years ago

6:21

when I was sixteen, because Pastor

6:23

Mickey had just taken

6:25

the job as the pastor of Santie

6:28

Circle Baptist Mission and he

6:30

needed a youth pastor, and

6:32

he asked me to come work with his youth And

6:35

I think my mom kind of thought that Pastor Mickey's church

6:37

might be a cult. Oh

6:40

y'all have thought the same thing about elevation. You're

6:42

sitting right in a church you used to think that about,

6:44

So I'm going to look at me like that. But Pastor

6:49

Mickey said, well, I'll come over and talk to your mom.

6:51

And he used to be in the autoparts

6:53

business, so he was a good salesman. So

6:56

he has to convince my mom for me to

6:58

leave the Methodist church and

7:01

come over to the Baptist church and be his youth

7:03

pastor at this little church that was meeting

7:05

in a Woodman of the World building. And

7:08

what made it more dramatic is big, big

7:10

guy pastor Mickey's what six six sixty seven, he's

7:12

in his seventies now. But he sat

7:14

down on the middle of the floor. There's like

7:16

plenty of seats open in the house, so I guess he can

7:19

at a Gandhi flow going on the floor. So

7:22

and he sits down, big old guy,

7:24

and he tells my mom, I've

7:26

worked with youth, I've worked with kids

7:29

for twenty years, and God

7:32

has his hand on Stephen twenty

7:35

five years ago. I can see it, can

7:37

you. I can see him sitting on the floor

7:40

saying, God has his hand on

7:42

Steven. He

7:45

said in a way I've never

7:47

seen his hand on any of the kids that I've ever

7:50

worked with. And

7:54

it did the trick. My mom let me do it,

7:56

and I served as his youth pastor. And I'm thinking at the

7:58

time, like, and this is a little

8:00

thick. You're laying it on a little thick right now? Does

8:02

it really take all that you know the most?

8:05

But

8:07

but what I felt when he said that, I

8:11

mean, on one hand, that felt cool, But on the other

8:13

hand, it kind of was

8:16

kind of scary. It

8:19

felt like maybe it felt maybe

8:21

like I'm special, Like, oh, God's hand is on

8:23

your son. But on the other hand, I'm

8:25

like, and what exactly does that mean?

8:29

And yet when he said it, y'all, I can't

8:31

exactly explain this to you, But

8:34

inside I thought, Oh, that's what I'm

8:36

feeling. That's

8:39

what I'm feeling. Because

8:41

I had made my personal commitment to

8:43

Christ, not the one where your parents make a commitment

8:46

to raise you so that you can meet Christ, but where

8:48

you decide to follow Jesus for yourself. I

8:50

had to make that commitment, and

8:52

I sensed, you know, something is different. And

8:55

so here's this man who

8:57

has been in ministry for many years,

9:00

and he says something like God's

9:02

hand is on Stephen. And when I told this story

9:05

to the young people Tuesday, I looked right

9:07

at him as many of them as I could in the eyes,

9:10

and I said, God has his hand

9:12

on you. Because

9:16

a lot of them never had

9:18

Pastor Mickey sit on the floor chrisscross applesauce

9:21

and say that when they were sixteen,

9:24

and maybe a lot of them never even had

9:27

anybody say something like I believe in you,

9:29

you know. And I

9:31

think, what a difference would it make if

9:34

they get the revelation right now, not that they're going

9:36

to be a preacher or a pastor one day. That's

9:39

not what Pastor Mickey meant.

9:41

That was a part of my pack. But he

9:43

meant something different when he said God

9:46

has his hand

9:49

on Stephen. I

9:52

want you to say that out loud, or put it in the chat,

9:54

whatever the case may be. But say God,

9:57

Wait, hold on, don't say my name, say your name God,

10:00

God has his hand

10:02

on y'all said

10:05

that so quiet. It

10:08

was terribly unconvincing how you said

10:10

it. You said it with

10:12

the wrong voice inflection. Say it again, God

10:15

has his hand

10:18

on God

10:25

has his hand

10:28

on Graham.

10:36

One more time. This time, get the name of the person

10:38

next to you. This might be good for like little

10:40

Starbucks after church if you're single or whatever,

10:42

but I'm not using it for that music for illustration. Get

10:44

their name real quick, and now say their name. Look I'm right

10:47

in the eyes, and say God has

10:50

his hand on Whoop,

10:54

whoop, whoop, whoop.

10:59

You need to hear that. You hadn't been feeling like that

11:01

lately. I know you hadn't been

11:03

feeling that lately. It doesn't make it any

11:05

less true. He wasn't talking

11:08

about a feeling. He

11:10

wasn't talking about something that necessarily

11:13

has a physical sensation. I'm seeing it in

11:15

the chat. God has his hand on Dawn. God

11:17

has his hand on Leanna. God has his hand

11:19

on Esther. God has his hands on Say. God

11:22

has his hands on Adam. God has his hand

11:24

on Peter. God has his hand on me. It's

11:26

his hand on me. It's his hand on me.

11:29

I'm glad Paster Mickey took

11:31

time out of his very busy life

11:34

to sit down on my floor and

11:36

say something that bowld. I

11:38

wonder where would I be if I didn't believe

11:41

that God had his hand

11:44

on me? And

11:48

now I know he

11:50

was right, because

11:54

now I know that

11:56

the things that I've seen God do through

11:58

me had nothing

12:00

to do with me. So

12:04

I don't mean to preach this early, and I plan

12:06

to pace myself, but I'm excited

12:09

to have some of y'all back in the room with me

12:14

my testimony that

12:18

it was his hand. I

12:21

didn't know what he meant. It sounded good, it sounded

12:23

profound. God has his hand on Stephen. I

12:25

thought that many just wanted me to come over and be talk

12:28

to the youth and work with the youth. But twenty five

12:30

years later, I don't have to just believe

12:32

it. I've seen it. I've

12:35

seen it, and sometimes it

12:38

was confusing because God's

12:41

hand didn't always feel like a Swedish

12:43

massage. Do you

12:45

understand what I'm saying. God's

12:48

hand didn't always feel like you know, I've experienced

12:51

God's hand in so many different ways,

12:53

like the hem we growing up. Great

12:55

is thy faithfulness, Oh

12:58

God, my Father, There's

13:00

no shadow of turning with thee. All I

13:02

have needed, Thy hand

13:04

has provided. And

13:08

so many times I've seen God's hand like this,

13:12

offering me what I needed in the moment. All

13:15

I have needed, all

13:18

I have needed, Thy hand

13:21

provided. You'll know I'm gonna come out of retirement

13:23

and do a hymns project one day. Great is

13:25

our faith on this I know all four verses

13:28

of every hemn zeke you can sing harmony. I'm

13:30

gonna take the lead on those. Great

13:32

is our faith on us. All

13:35

I have needed, not all I wanted, not

13:40

all asked for. Thank God. One

13:45

of the things I've become grateful for in the last twenty

13:47

five years. Did he said, God's hand is on you is for

13:49

what he withheld. You

13:52

know, you start off thanking God

13:55

for when his hand does this, and

13:58

then you live a little while and

14:01

you learn to trust in Him with

14:03

all your heart, so you

14:05

appreciate when He does this

14:07

too. I'm

14:10

talking about his hand, because

14:14

yes, He's provided for me. I can tell

14:16

you days and I bet you've had them too. We're down

14:18

to the dollar. God came through for me, down

14:21

to the dollar. I'm talking. God didn't even

14:24

round down. It was down to the dollar,

14:26

down to the decimal. There have been times

14:28

in this ministry where down to the

14:31

decimal God has provided.

14:33

And it's not just money, and it's not just

14:35

stuff. And if you still think it's about

14:37

bags and sneakers, you need to be

14:39

back at youth x because you haven't grown up

14:41

enough yet to realize that some of

14:43

the greatest things God will give you

14:46

in your life. God better not preach

14:48

me on this front. Row some

14:50

of the greatest things. Now we're talking

14:52

about God's hand. And

14:55

sometimes it's like

14:57

this, and he'll bring

15:00

the right person into your life at the right

15:02

time, and you'll think, how did God know

15:04

that that's who I needed to meet at this

15:06

point in my life.

15:10

And yet the same hand that

15:13

did this, well sometimes

15:15

do this. They

15:19

stopped shouting Scottie

15:23

hand like

15:26

job said he gives and takes away. Blessed

15:28

be the name of the Lord. Have

15:32

you realized that God's

15:35

hand that does this, it's

15:37

just as capable when he's

15:40

doing this. I

15:42

was on the front road of the Lord told me, make sure you tell him

15:44

I'm a gardener, and

15:50

that the same hand that plants also

15:54

prunes. Make

15:59

sure you tell them that the

16:02

same hand that plants the seed

16:04

of all that you're meant to be and all that your life is

16:06

meant to contain and do for his glory. It's for his

16:08

glory. It's for his glory. That's why Pastor

16:10

Mackey said, God has his hand on you. Don't

16:12

you think that God gave you a gift so that you could

16:14

use it for your glory. It's God's hand

16:17

on you. So it's God's glory through you,

16:19

and it's God's purpose. But

16:22

the same hand that plants do

16:25

you all know the scripture John fifteen, It

16:27

says that every branch that bears fruit he prunes

16:32

same hand. The

16:34

same hand his

16:36

hand does this. His hand sometimes

16:38

does this taking

16:41

opportunities that you

16:43

you thought, well, that's it right there,

16:45

and then God goes, nah,

16:50

I know stuff all

16:53

right, So praise him. How you praise him

16:55

when he does this, when he gives you an opportunity praising him.

17:01

Now, I'm

17:04

gonna lift your hands like you lift your hands. Can

17:06

you lift him when he does this? God's

17:14

hand. Say it again. God's hand is on

17:17

say your name, God's

17:22

hand. And that's what

17:24

the Lord told Moses. He said,

17:26

I see my people suffering. It's

17:29

been four centuries, and I've

17:31

chosen you, the fugitive

17:33

murderer who has forgotten

17:35

who he really is, if he ever

17:37

really knew. But

17:40

I've seen my people suffering,

17:43

and I know that it's not

17:45

going to be easy. So I'm

17:47

gonna stretch out. I'm going to show you the verse again because

17:50

I learned a few things about God's hand. I learned

17:52

that God's hand is provision. I

17:55

learned that God's hand is protection. But

17:58

I also learned God's

18:00

hand is power. He

18:04

said, I know that he will not let you go

18:07

unless a mighty

18:09

hand Verse nineteen. A mighty

18:12

hand compels him, A

18:14

mighty hand, and the

18:17

mighty hand of God in the judgment

18:19

of the Ten Plagues against Egypt, was

18:21

what God used to release his people

18:24

into ultimate freedom. A mighty

18:26

hand. And the Lord tells Moses,

18:28

it's not going to happen in your own strength.

18:31

It's not going to happen in your own intellect.

18:33

It's not going to happen in your own ability or your

18:35

strategy. It's not going to happen even

18:38

in the leadership gifts that I've given you. It's

18:40

going to take another hand.

18:44

And the thing about it is, this is what God showed me.

18:47

I was looking at the passage, and I looked at

18:49

it again a few times after I ap preached it the other

18:51

night, and the Lord said, you miss something. I said, what did

18:53

I miss? And he said, you missed the other

18:55

hand? I said, what's the other hand? Look at him verse nineteen.

18:57

He said, I know that the king of Egypt,

19:00

that's Pharaoh, will not let

19:02

you go. He'

19:04

see it. I didn't see it either. He

19:06

won't let you go. That

19:10

means your enemy thinks he has you

19:12

so strong in his grip, and

19:15

he won't let go unless

19:21

unless there is

19:23

another hand that has

19:25

stronger than his hand. So

19:28

while you feel like the devil has you like

19:30

this, you know, let's be honest. A

19:32

lot of the chains in this room are forty two years

19:35

old. These are not saplings anymore.

19:37

These are oak trees that go down deep.

19:39

I mean there's some real deep stuff that's

19:41

holding you in here. It's got you like

19:43

this. I mean by the throat, I

19:46

mean it's got you. It won't let you breathe. You

19:48

try to move, you can't move. You try to move

19:50

up, you can't move up. You try to step into

19:52

a new opportunity, you can't do it with a free

19:54

heart. It's got you like this, It's

19:57

got you so strong. But God's

20:00

to tell you about the other hand.

20:03

And this is what Moses needed to know. It's

20:06

no different for everybody in the room

20:08

today that your father

20:11

is stronger than your

20:13

pharaoh.

20:21

So like with Graham. With Graham, he wrestles

20:24

me. In fact, since you're here, you want to do it

20:26

real quick, just illustrated. Come here, real quick, come here,

20:28

Come go ahead. I'm gonna show you. He

20:30

hates when I do this because he's

20:32

strong. Graham is so strong. He's

20:35

thirteen. He won the state championship

20:38

for hold on for freestyle wrestling. It

20:40

was a small tournament, but it was still state championship.

20:43

And I won a state championship

20:45

when I was in eighth grade too, But

20:48

there was nobody else in the weight class, and so I

20:50

won the state championship. So we'll have battles,

20:53

and I'll say old man versus young

20:55

man, South Carolina versus

20:57

North Carolina state champions And

20:59

he's so quick and he's so good. But

21:02

what I do. I got old man moves. I

21:05

got old man moves. I got pressure points I

21:09

can do right here, see right there, right

21:12

there, that spot right there,

21:14

right there, in

21:17

my hands, I

21:19

can stop him. All

21:21

I need is this anointed

21:25

forty one year old thumb, and

21:28

all of a sudden, watch this. It doesn't

21:30

matter how much youth you have. I

21:33

will put my thumb in his tech right

21:35

there. If he now, I'll let him wrestle

21:37

me. But if it gets too rough, because he's getting

21:39

too strong for me to play with him, I can't play

21:42

with him anymore. He'll get on my legs so quick,

21:44

and I'm not gonna go out like that. I don't

21:46

know who's videoing this. I don't know if this

21:48

is Instagram live. So sometimes I got

21:51

fup. Just put him right there, all right, all right, you're done,

21:53

go back down there. They want to fight right now.

21:55

I saw it. I saw him getting in his status. I'm

21:57

not getting taken down in front of the world. Ah

22:03

ah, God said, I know where to put

22:05

the pressure. See that's why I'm

22:07

God. I've been doing this a

22:09

long time, and I'll see

22:11

your enemy shoot it in on

22:14

you. But when I use

22:16

my hand, I got

22:18

a mighty hand. I got

22:20

a strong hand. I don't

22:22

even have to flex I'm God.

22:32

So Pastor Mickey didn't tell me that part. He

22:34

told me God's hand was on me. I

22:36

thought it meant God is my provider. I

22:38

didn't know that the same hand that brings provision

22:41

also brings pressure. And

22:45

how God will use the

22:48

pressure of life to

22:50

bring me into freedom.

22:54

I know it won't let you go unless a mighty

22:56

cant. A mike can't mighty

23:00

hand. Twenty five

23:02

years later, I can tell you that God

23:05

has a mighty hand. Ten

23:07

plagues later, Moses and Pharaoh knew

23:09

it's a mighty hand. It's

23:12

a mighty hand. It's

23:14

a mighty hand. It's a

23:16

mighty hand. It's

23:19

a hand that you can't

23:21

always feel it, you can't always see it. But

23:26

see, Moses was well acquainted with this hand,

23:28

whether he knew it or not, because

23:31

when he was a baby, all

23:33

the little Hebrew boys were getting killed

23:36

by Pharaoh, not him.

23:40

His mom made a basket and

23:42

put him in the Nile River. This is ect of this chapter

23:45

two, and the Bible

23:47

says that that basket floated to

23:50

the daughter of Pharaoh, and she saw the basket and she

23:52

drew it out, and she felt sorry for Moses

23:54

because he was crying, and she took him

23:57

and God raised him. As

24:00

a matter of fact, as

24:02

I thought about that basket floating down the Nile River,

24:04

I thought about your life and my life,

24:07

because what are the chances did

24:09

a basket could float down

24:11

the Nile River and

24:14

miss all of the alligators unless

24:18

there was a

24:21

hand. I'm

24:30

grateful for God's hand how he guided me past

24:32

certain attacks. You know, the same hand that did this sometimes

24:35

does that, and sometimes God just did

24:37

that with his hand. Anybody

24:41

grateful for the times God did that and

24:50

anxiety came for your life.

24:52

You thought about ending your life,

24:55

and the gators almost got you, but God's

24:57

hand died that. We

25:01

don't really even know how to praise God.

25:03

When I say praise God, and I say,

25:05

you know, what do you have to be thankful for? You

25:07

don't even know the things

25:10

that God did this and

25:13

if he didn't do this, you wouldn't be here. I'm

25:17

thankful that he provided. I'm

25:19

thankful that he pruned and took some things

25:21

out. I'm thankful that he protected

25:24

with his mighty hand and an

25:26

outstretched arm. God

25:28

said, I see your struggle, and I know that

25:31

it won't let you go easily. And

25:33

so since you've been doing it in your own

25:35

strength, making bricks without straw,

25:37

doing everything that you know to do to be free,

25:39

but never finding freedom,

25:42

it's time for my hand to

25:45

work in your life. In fact, the

25:47

scripture says something powerful in

25:50

Peter. He says, humble yourself.

25:52

What a thing for Peter to say. He's

25:54

not exactly mister humility and the senior

25:56

superlatives if you read the yearbook, but

26:00

he's learned. Now humble

26:02

yourself under God's

26:05

mighty hand. Say that phrase,

26:08

God's mighty hand.

26:10

How's Pharaoh gonna let you go? God's

26:13

mighty hand. How in the

26:15

world is it gonna happen this time? You don't even

26:18

know the mess I'm in. I know you feel like Moses

26:20

right now, But God came to reveal

26:22

to you that his hand, what is it?

26:24

It's a mighty hand. God's mighty

26:27

hand. Pharaoh's got a strong hand.

26:29

God's is stronger. God's

26:32

mighty hand. How many

26:34

praise God for his mighty

26:37

hand. God

26:39

doesn't try to do anything. God

26:43

does not intend to do anything. He can't

26:45

do God's mighty

26:49

hand. But

26:52

that's not what I came to preach about today.

26:57

I want to preach about the

26:59

other man. See,

27:03

it seems like Moses didn't

27:05

have a lot of trouble believing that God was

27:08

mighty. He didn't argue with God

27:10

at all. God said, I am, the God of Abrahan,

27:12

the God of Jacob. And all Moses wanted to know is what's your

27:14

name? And God said I am. And I'm sure Moses waited

27:17

around for a little bit more detailed, but God said, you better

27:19

leave it blank, because I'm gonna do so much you will not be able

27:21

to quantify me by one word, not a agative,

27:23

not a verb, not an adverb, not a So the

27:27

Lord, the very essence of true presence

27:29

and being, says I am. And after

27:31

he gets on telling Moses what he's gonna do and

27:33

how he's gonna set the people free in a mighty hand and all of

27:35

that. See, Moses doesn't argue

27:39

with God about

27:41

what God can't do. Now

27:43

here's where I need to just talk to you. Can

27:45

we just talk like we've

27:47

known each other all our life? How many of y'all you'll

27:50

feel sometimes when I'm preaching like we know each other.

27:52

I feel that too. So I was praying

27:54

about this message, and God said,

27:57

it's not me. They doubt most

27:59

of the time. They

28:02

believe I'm big, they believe

28:04

I'm powerful, and they believe

28:06

I can do great things through

28:09

others. Moses

28:13

didn't say, how will I know that your hand is strong?

28:15

How will I know that you're great? How will I

28:17

know that you're stronger? How will I know? No, he

28:20

didn't doubt God at all.

28:23

And that's what I want to preach to you about. Because

28:26

after God told Moses what he would

28:28

do, Moses

28:31

answered, And I'm only sharing

28:34

this with you because I relate to Moses,

28:37

not in the sense that I can deliver a nation

28:40

or anything like that. I

28:42

don't want to change jobs with Moses. I'm

28:44

just saying how he feels I felt,

28:48

because you can know that God's hand is mighty.

28:52

But watch this, he answered Verse

28:54

one Exodus. For what

28:57

if they do not believe me or

29:00

listen to me? And

29:02

what if they say, the Lord did not

29:04

appear to you, Let

29:07

me give you a a little hand. When he's talking about they,

29:10

it's not really their doubt that he's dealing

29:12

with a

29:15

lot of times when we try to identify

29:18

what the obstacles are of

29:20

us being who God called us to be.

29:23

Because look what the Lord asked him Verse two. The

29:26

Lord said to him, what

29:28

is that in

29:31

your hand? Whose

29:34

hand? We

29:37

talked about God's hand. We

29:39

shout about God's hand. We

29:42

need God's hand. It's a mighty hand. See

29:45

for me, it's

29:47

not that hand that gets me in trouble. It's

29:53

the other hand, my

29:57

hand, the mighty hand,

30:00

that one my hand. That's a different story,

30:02

because what's just Moses said, how

30:04

are we going to do this? And God said, what is

30:06

that in your hand? So now

30:09

after God tells him what he's going to do with

30:11

his hand, he points to Moses's hand.

30:14

Now I think this is where I think this is where

30:17

we should spend a little time today

30:20

talking about the other hand. Oh

30:23

God is awesome, and he's so great? And how great

30:25

does our God? Sing with me? How great is our God?

30:27

And all will see how great, how great is

30:29

our God? That's

30:31

not the part I have a problem with because

30:35

twenty five years ago, when Pastor Mickey said that

30:37

God's hand was on me, he

30:39

only told me half of it. You

30:43

know, God's hand can be on you in a great way,

30:46

but if you don't believe it, if

30:49

you don't receive it, do

30:52

you know God can put you in position. That's one

30:54

thing about his hand. The Bible says that

30:56

if you humble yourself under the mighty hand

30:58

of God, he will listen you up in due

31:00

time. You don't have to do it yourself.

31:03

You don't have to position yourself. You don't

31:05

have to show off what you can do. God will

31:07

do amazing things through your life if

31:09

you stay under his hand. Yet, the

31:11

hard thing for me has not been God's

31:14

hand. I can trust his hand, I

31:16

can believe in his hand. I can see the

31:18

evidence of his hand. Only he listen

31:21

to me. I'm from Monks Corner, South

31:23

Carolina. The things God has

31:26

done for me in my life, the places

31:28

He has taken me are so far

31:30

from where I started. I know it had

31:32

to be him. In fact, even the

31:34

people that mistreated me, they didn't

31:37

know it, but God was using their

31:39

hands to get me

31:41

where I needed to be. Y'all don't believe

31:43

me, Joseph.

31:47

Joseph told his brothers, you

31:49

intended to harm me, but God

31:52

meant it for good. You

31:54

sold me, but God sent me.

31:57

How's that possible? Even

31:59

what their hand did, even

32:02

what they did to you or did not do

32:05

for you, has to pass through God's hand.

32:07

By the time it's over. It's

32:13

not his hand I struggle with. It's

32:17

the other hand. Are

32:20

you all really on my second week back from vacation

32:23

on the summer gonna look at me like you don't have another

32:25

hand? What

32:28

you're talking about here, Pastor, for me

32:30

is pretty like I just you know, I am

32:32

called, I am chosen, I am anointed,

32:34

I am blessed and highly favored. You

32:39

got another hand? I

32:41

know you got it in your pocket right

32:44

now. Oh, Jesus went to church one day. You'll

32:46

know this. Jesus went to church one day. In Matthew

32:49

chapter twelve, Jesus went to church one day,

32:52

and while he was there, he noticed

32:54

something nobody else saw. This is an amazing

32:57

scripture, and I'm bringing it right now

32:59

because I think it represents

33:01

how a lot of us came to church or

33:04

logged on this morning. It says, going on from

33:06

that place, he went into their synagogue.

33:08

Next verse, police and a man with a

33:10

shriveled or some version say withered

33:13

hand was there and looking for a reason

33:15

to bring charges against Jesus. They asked

33:17

him, is it lawful to heal on the

33:20

sabbath? Now? He said to them,

33:22

if any of you as a sheet and it falls into

33:24

a pit on the sabbath, will you not take

33:27

hold of it and lift it out?

33:30

So Jesus is saying that,

33:34

just like you would take your hand and something that was valuable,

33:36

you would pull it out. That's what he wants to do for

33:38

this man. He

33:40

wants to take you where you are,

33:43

in the place that nobody else can see that

33:45

you struggle. Because

33:48

here's the problem. All of

33:50

us have one hand that looks just

33:52

fine.

33:56

All of us have one hand, and it's

33:58

an amazing miracle because Jesus

34:00

skips over the hand that's working to

34:03

get to the one that won't work. He

34:06

said to the man, this is such a crazy thing

34:08

to say to somebody. Stretch out

34:10

your hand. So

34:14

he stretched it out and it was completely

34:17

restored, just

34:19

as sound as the other. The

34:22

Lord showed me something in this sermon it's kind

34:25

of warm to wear a jacket, but I needed it to show

34:27

you this that a lot of us walk

34:30

around showing

34:33

people the hand we want them to see it.

34:37

I am coming for your other hand today,

34:41

the one that won't work. And

34:45

don't feel bad about it, because everybody

34:48

that you're sitting next to has

34:50

another hand. There's

34:53

the one that they show you, and

34:55

there's the one that they know about and God

34:58

knows about, but they've learned how to keep it

35:00

very carefully contained. So

35:03

nobody other than the ones who live with them

35:05

know about their anger issue because they're nice to

35:07

the server at the restaurant. The

35:11

other hand, nobody

35:13

knows about the thing that they struggle within their

35:15

own emotions because they make a lot of

35:17

money. Nobody knows about the tears

35:19

that they cry over, the things that they can't get

35:21

straight in their mind, because in their life

35:23

everything looks fine. But Jesus

35:26

didn't want that hand. They

35:29

wanted the other hand. And

35:32

when the man stretched his hand out, the

35:35

Bible says that it was completely

35:39

restored. His

35:43

hand has always been on you. It

35:47

was his hand. How

35:50

you just all of a sudden you

35:53

felt like you could stand after thinking you had

35:55

collapsed and something picked you up. That

35:57

was his hand, That

36:00

was his hand. It was his hand.

36:06

But now it's time to stretch your hand because

36:09

you still don't believe that. You

36:12

still don't believe that you're the one He

36:14

chose for that situation. You still

36:16

don't believe you have what it takes. You still don't

36:19

believe that He in you is more than nom. You still don't

36:21

believe that you have a spirit without measure. You still don't

36:23

believe that the gifts that you have are the ones that you're meant to have, and

36:25

if you will grow and develop those, you will be able to accomplish everything

36:27

God's called you to accomplished. You still don't believe that

36:29

you still in the other people's hand, but you're looking

36:31

at their good hand comparing it to your bad hand. The

36:39

way this works in scripture is

36:41

that Jesus is healing a man on the Sabbath,

36:43

which is work, who has a condition that renders

36:45

him unable to work. His entire

36:48

identity has been consumed by this one

36:50

issue, and

36:53

God did a miracle for him. Can't

36:57

he do the same thing for me? The

37:00

other hand? The

37:03

other hand, I

37:07

said, Lord, let's talk about the mighty hand. But

37:11

then he told me to talk about my hand, because

37:14

to sit here and tell you, oh, God has had his hand on me,

37:16

that makes it sound like God just makes it easy, like

37:18

he just no.

37:26

You know how many times I've almost called Larry Bride

37:28

on a Saturday night to tell him, I'll bet you got to hope you got

37:30

your backup sermon ready. And

37:32

you think like, oh, well, you don't have much faith, you don't trust God.

37:35

I trust God. This

37:38

what's in my hand? I'm

37:41

so glad y'all are up here. They're real judgmental, they're

37:43

on judgment level ten today. What's

37:46

that in your hand? He said, a staff. I'm

37:50

kind of going back and forth between the man and the synagogue

37:53

and God, and I know it's kind of confusing as I'm

37:55

moving here. But you got to see Moses on

37:57

the far far side of the wilderness, tending

38:00

sheep for his father in law named

38:02

Jethro, with

38:05

a staff in his hand. And

38:07

God said, what's said in your hand? And he said

38:09

a staff? But when he set a staff, there's

38:11

more symbolically contained in this answer

38:14

than on the surface, because this is

38:16

more than a stick. The

38:20

only reason Moses is even holding a staff

38:22

to begin with, is because

38:24

of what he did forty years ago

38:27

when he killed an Egyptian for

38:29

beating one of his brothers. Because

38:32

God's hand was on his life then, but he did not handle

38:34

it. Yet. You

38:37

understand that when God wanted to show Moses

38:40

who he was and what he could do, he

38:42

points to something that is in his hand that

38:44

is a symbol of the mistake that he

38:46

made that landed him in this place. And

38:51

watch what he does, because this is the hand we need

38:53

to talk about. You're holding on the stuff so

38:55

tight. Some of you have such a

38:58

death grip. Your knuckles are white, holding

39:00

on to your staff, holding on to your

39:02

identity that you've told yourself this who I am,

39:05

This who I'm gonna be. This is what I did.

39:07

Yeah, you did it. Nobody's

39:10

hands are cleaning here. None

39:12

is righteous, no, not one.

39:14

Nobody lifted their hands because

39:17

they don't have any blood on them. I lifted

39:19

my hands because his blood will

39:21

cleanse me of all unrighteousness

39:23

if I confess it and own it and

39:26

give it to him.

39:29

So it's not about God's hands. You've

39:32

got more than enough aptitude, You've

39:34

got more than enough experience, You've

39:36

got more than enough height. You got the

39:38

right feet, the right inches, you got

39:40

the right genetics. It's all right there.

39:43

It's never been about his hand. Before

39:45

you were born, he knit you together, before

39:48

you were conceived, he set you apart. It's

39:51

never been about his hand. God said, what's in

39:53

yours?

39:56

Before God could use him,

40:00

I really wanted to use him.

40:02

He had to do what we all have to do. He

40:05

had to take what was in his hand, not

40:08

God's hand. God's

40:11

hand is already He's already got the plagues

40:13

loaded. He's already ready

40:16

to unleash. That's not the question anymore.

40:20

But when Moses said his staff, God told

40:22

him what to do. Throw

40:24

it on the ground.

40:28

And he threw it and it

40:30

became a snake. And he

40:33

ran from it because he wasn't

40:35

an idiot. I heard preachers.

40:37

I heard preachers here say, and Moses

40:40

ran because he still had not

40:42

recognized the sovereignty of God. No,

40:44

he ran because it's a snake, and

40:49

run from snakes. How

40:52

stupid do we have to be to

40:54

think that? Now, this makes

40:56

it even more powerful with what God tells him to do next.

40:58

Right, So he

41:01

has to release what's familiar, and

41:06

then he ass to watch this. Reach

41:08

out Who's

41:10

hand? Come

41:13

on, y'all. I put it on the screen. Reach

41:15

out your hand. And I

41:17

know you're praying about God's hand,

41:20

but God is saying, reach out your

41:22

hand. Do you know there's nothing God's hand

41:24

can't do. But there are some things God's hand won't

41:26

do. God

41:30

did not pry Moses's

41:32

fingers from the stick. He

41:35

didn't do it. He won't do it. It's

41:37

in your hand. Now. There

41:39

are some things that need deliverance.

41:41

There are some things that need discipline.

41:45

God will let you use your hand

41:47

to lift a spoon with ice

41:49

cream on it, or you can curl a dumbbell.

41:52

It's in your hand at that point,

41:54

there are some things God will not. Come

41:57

on Moses. He

42:00

throws it down, and then after he releases

42:03

what's familiar. This is the process for

42:05

me, for me because God has his hand on

42:07

me, and I know that that's not the question.

42:09

It's a mighty hand, but my hand.

42:12

Sometimes what's in my hand? And

42:16

now you have to release what's

42:18

familiar, and

42:20

he has to reach for what he's afraid of. And

42:24

in whose hand

42:26

Moses's hand a miracle

42:28

happens. So

42:33

what are you telling me preacher, you

42:35

said the other hand, You

42:38

said God's hand, then

42:40

you said my hand. All

42:43

right, well, the Lord

42:45

said, everybody

42:47

in here is going to need both

42:49

hands in order

42:51

to move forward. But the problem is the

42:55

problem is you

42:58

won't bring God. What's really wrong with you?

43:04

You keep stretching out that good hand.

43:07

You know what I never noticed after

43:10

Moses' stick became a

43:13

serpent, and then the serpent became a stick, and all

43:15

these awesome things that happened when we let go and God transforms

43:17

our greatest fears into instruments of faith, that he would

43:20

go on to part the Red Sea with that staff. I

43:22

know, I know all that I appreciate before. But

43:25

watch what God told him to do next, because he's saying,

43:27

what if they don't believe me? What if I don't believe me? God,

43:29

I believe you? What if I don't believe me? What if they don't believe

43:32

me? Look what the Lord said, verse

43:35

six, Please

43:40

be nice to detect people. They're tired. What's

43:43

just most holding his staff? Remember

43:46

it was a snake a minute ago. Ah, it's a staff.

43:48

Now it's going to part waters. Wow, watch what God can

43:50

do. He could change your greatest mistake into the instrument

43:52

of your greatest miracle or

43:56

no pastor. I've heard these cliches before.

43:58

Your setback is sit up, shout

44:01

all this stuff. Now I'm telling you what daily

44:04

I have to experience in my life

44:07

is picking up the thing I was afraid of. After releasing

44:09

the thing I was familiar with, what is

44:12

in your hand? But then

44:14

he tells, Moses, put

44:16

your hand inside your cloak. So

44:20

how's he going to do this? He's got the staff in

44:23

his hand. How's

44:25

he gonna ohi's

44:29

the other hand. The

44:32

staff represented what he did, but

44:36

the other hand represents who you think you are.

44:42

Put your hand in your cloak, he said. Moses

44:46

put his hand in his cloak, and when he took it out,

44:50

the skin was lepros. What

44:53

do you know about leprosy? Keeps

44:56

you isolated, makes

44:58

you ashamed, just

45:01

like Moses has been for

45:03

these forty years because

45:06

of what he did.

45:11

The other hand, nobody

45:14

touches lepers. Remember

45:17

the leper in scripture. Everybody

45:20

would tell him six feet back, six feet back, six

45:22

feet back. But one day when Jesus walked up,

45:25

it was the first time that he

45:27

saw this. See,

45:30

because nobody touches lepers that's

45:32

what I see God doing. We're all standing

45:35

at a distance from what God gave us to do. I

45:37

don't know if it's raising your kids. I don't know if it's

45:39

fully entering into the life that

45:41

God has given you right now or being content.

45:44

But God said, put your

45:46

hand back in your cloak and

45:49

pull it out. And when he pulled his

45:51

hand out next verse, it

45:54

was restored like

45:58

the rest of his flesh.

46:01

God wants to restore your other hand. Your

46:06

other hand, you know the one

46:08

nod at me if you know the hand, and you

46:10

hope I don't mention your specific issue

46:13

in front of this whole August body of believers,

46:17

know the one stretch that one

46:19

forth. I

46:22

see God restoring your hand today

46:26

because His hand has always been on you. Holly

46:30

preached an amazing message about the voice

46:32

of God last night to our youth. But let me tell

46:34

you something that she said that I

46:36

really believe, and I wrote

46:38

a song about it when I was sixteen. It was the first

46:40

Christian song I ever wrote.

46:43

Before that, I was writing some songs

46:46

that well,

46:48

let's just say we won't be singing them on the arena

46:50

tour and putting it on a project

46:52

on Spotify. It was some songs

46:55

that never need to

46:57

be heard by anybody, but I wrote one that said

47:00

out of someone thirty nine, if

47:02

I take the wings of mourning, or dwell within

47:04

the sea, even there, your

47:06

hand will lead me and

47:08

your right hand will hold me fast.

47:13

Who is it for today that

47:16

the Lord said, I want to restore your hand? Did

47:21

I see what you're grabbing onto that you identify

47:24

yourself with? And the signs

47:26

that God gave Moses were for God's glory,

47:28

not for Moses. But before God's

47:30

glory could be revealed, Moses

47:33

had to release something, and

47:35

so do you. And

47:38

when he brought his hand back out,

47:40

it was restored. It

47:44

was restored. God wants

47:46

to give you your hand back today.

47:50

God wants to give you your hand back today.

47:52

God wants to enable you to do

47:54

by faith what you can't do in your own effort.

47:58

God's hand is still on your life. And

48:00

in case you have something in here that is

48:02

bigger than you, I want you to know that

48:04

is a job for God's hand. But God

48:07

has given you a hand, and

48:10

symbolically, right now, I want you to see

48:12

the hand of God that has always been on

48:14

your life in your hand

48:16

that is holding onto What if you don't let go of

48:18

it, you are never going to receive

48:20

what you need for the season

48:23

that you're in. And all over this auditorium,

48:26

I want you to lift your hands to God, both of

48:28

them.

48:31

In fact, stand up on your feet. We

48:34

started this way, We're going to end this way.

48:41

What is that in

48:45

your hand? We

48:48

can stand here the rest of our life on the far

48:50

side of the desert, Lord, clutching

48:54

onto mistakes we made and things we did.

48:59

But like you do for that man who has mentioned

49:01

in Matthew chapter twelve, I believe you want to do

49:03

for men and women under the sound of my voice today

49:06

and restore their hand just

49:09

like the other one.

49:13

I thank you for the signs of your provision and faithfulness

49:15

and protection on my life today. But I believe God

49:18

that there are some people that because of shame, they're hiding

49:20

in isolation. They feel like a leper

49:23

themselves. They don't feel like they can do it. In fact,

49:25

they've considered giving up. Today.

49:28

You sent your word to heal them

49:30

and restore their hand. With

49:33

your hands lifted, just pray

49:35

it out loud, God, restore my hand, restore

49:39

my hand. I'm stretching it out now. I'm

49:42

stretching it to you no

49:44

other help. I know. I

49:47

need your hand God for

49:50

what has me in it script. I need your hand God

49:53

for what I can't get away from

49:56

from the memories and the thoughts and the fears. God,

49:58

you know what they are. But I need your hand. Here's

50:01

my hand. Here's

50:04

the one I don't show anybody else. Here's

50:07

the resentment I can't get let go of. Here's

50:11

the thing I can't forgive. Here's

50:14

the thing for which I can't forgive myself. That

50:17

hand. Stretch it out

50:19

right now, in God's presence. I

50:22

believe God is restoring hands. He's

50:26

gonna give you the ability to take hold of your

50:28

calling again. Looks

50:31

like a snake right now, but it's gonna turn

50:33

back into a staff in your hand. I'm

50:40

telling you, man, I'm telling you,

50:43

you reach out and take that by the tail, and you trust

50:45

him, and you're gonna watch it transform

50:47

in your hand, in your hand,

50:49

in your hand. The miracle is in

50:52

your hand, not the good hand,

50:54

not the look how great I am, how smart

50:57

I am, how together I am?

50:59

That other hand and that we can't that

51:01

hand that hasn't been able to do it God

51:04

said today, I'm touching that hand,

51:07

that hand, that

51:09

hand. Thank

51:13

you Lord. When

51:16

you showed me this message, I cried God,

51:18

because you showed me that somebody is going

51:20

home with the other hand

51:22

working. I

51:36

don't know who it is, God, but you do. You brought

51:38

them here today. You

51:40

wanted them to know they

51:43

don't have to hide their head. You

51:47

wanted them to know that your hand is still on

51:49

them. You're not afraid to touch them.

51:56

You wanted them to remember that you have a mighty

51:58

hand and

52:01

that even if their hand is withered, if

52:05

they will stretch it out, then

52:08

it'll be made home. Oh

52:12

God, I feel so stupid right in front of

52:14

these people right now. Oh

52:21

God, And

52:26

I know what it feels like to

52:30

believe that your hand is strong, but to know that my

52:32

hand is weak. And

52:36

yet you've taught me that

52:39

what Pastor Mickey told me, it's

52:42

true

52:45

God's hand. It's

52:48

all my life. Thank

52:51

you for joining us special thanks to

52:53

those of you who give generously to this ministry.

52:56

Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

52:59

You can click the land and the description to give

53:01

now, or visit Elevationchurch

53:03

dot org slash podcast for more information

53:06

and If you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

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53:16

Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.