let's see our epham reunion tour

our teams have been visiting cities

across the united states this year

and i wonder if they're coming to you

next now put it in the chat

where you want our e-fam reunion tour to

come next

and put it in the chat and why they

should come give us a good reason

do you have good barbecue is there a

mighty spirit of revival brewing in your

city

is there a really cool bowling alley i

don't know but some reason

that we should come so far we've been to

tampa

houston atlanta and philadelphia over

600 volunteers have showed up afterward

to serve

over 1 000 hours with our outreach

partners

135 people have been baptized

at our pop-up watch parties

[Applause]

[Music]

next week they're headed to phoenix but

we don't know where next

so you'll have to help us decide just

put it in the chat

where should we show up

next but i know

that whether they show up or not god is

right there with you right now

so we're not waiting for next week

somebody say i need a word from god

right now

right now right now right now right now

right now

i'm excited to share with you today from

the scripture that god has given us

in hebrews chapter 11

of all of the scriptures that god could

have picked for us to study

i believe he picked this one for us

today in hebrews 11

23

through 29

you ready

by faith moses's parents hid him for

three months after he was born

because they saw he was no ordinary

child

and they were not afraid of the king's

edict

by faith moses when he had grown up

refused to be known as the son of

pharaoh's daughter

he chose to be mistreated

along with the people of god rather than

to enjoy

check out this curious construction

of words the fleeting pleasures of sin

he regarded disgrace for the sake of

christ

as of greater value

of of higher worth

than the treasures of egypt because he

was looking

ahead to his reward

by faith he left egypt not fearing the

king's anger he

persevered he persevered because he saw

him who is invisible

by faith he kept the passover and the

application of blood

so that the destroyer of the firstborn

would not touch the firstborn of israel

by faith the people passed through the

red sea as on dry land but when the

egyptians tried to do so

they were drown now let me lift these

two verses

so we can get into our topic for today

this a word from the lord today

it says in verse 24 by faith moses when

he had grown up

and then it says in verse 27 moved down

he persevered

and so the message god gave for today i

don't know if you like it or not this is

a broccoli kind of bible passage today

this is not briars this is broccoli but

if you're mature enough to receive this

word and you've got all your molars and

you could chew it

the lord told me to talk about too groan

to give up

too groan to give up

we need your help with this message lord

so give them the faith that they need

the faith comes from you

the faith comes from you even the faith

comes from you not just the grace

even the faith must come from you impart

it right now

to every believer in jesus name amen

be seated

pretty legendary story in our family i

think it was about seven years ago

me and graham were watching some music

on tv and i told him if you name that

song

that that man is singing right now i'll

give you a thousand dollars

and i was bluffing because it was in the

middle it was a jimi hendrix song and he

was

already playing the guitar solo and it

wasn't on the screen the name of the

song

so i thought it was safe and he goes

fire

and that was correct

it's created an interesting dilemma

my integrity as a dad or my money

and then i thought well maybe there's an

option c and i was shocked he got it i

was shocked you got it i was like how

did you know

that the song was called fire said i

just guessed i still know to this day

how he knew

it's a mystery but what happened next

is the stuff of legends

i said what if i buy you a clemson

jersey instead

[Applause]

and he said yes

and i bought him a jersey and i came out

about

960 ahead

it wasn't a real jersey he was only six

from time to time he will still say just

out of nowhere

ah he's 13 now ah

i can't believe i took the jersey

i could have had 10 jerseys and i don't

know exactly what stirs it up in him

this deep sense of regret this

bitterness toward me but

he'll sometimes put it in my face as an

accusation some kind of like

a parental judgment of how could you

take advantage of

a six-year-old like that but it's pretty

common he'll bring it up he'll bring it

up all the time

because then he'll say i was too young

to know

what i was doing and you took advantage

of me

and i'm like no i was just teaching you

as a lesson it was actually

teaching you to value something

the problem is sometimes you don't

really know

what's valuable

you know also said don't know what you

got until it's gone i would say you

don't know what you've got until you're

grown

you know you don't in in the passage

that i read you what got me thinking

about it is that

it mentions moses as a baby

and the reason this scripture is so

significant in hebrews chapter 11 that

this particular book of the bible

is because the author is writing to an

audience of believers who are in many

ways

babies in their faith and so now

he uses the example of baby moses i

don't know if you saw that in verse 23

let's look at it again

it talks about how when he was little

and the pharaoh had

issued an edict to kill all the

firstborn of israel because

while they were living in egypt they

became very powerful and he

knew that if they became too powerful

they would no longer serve his purpose

therefore he he set up a system by which

the midwives when they were delivering

these hebrew babies

would kill all the firstborn children

moses parents had the the faith

to see the purpose of their child or the

potential of their child

when he was still just a baby and that's

a beautiful thing

if you've ever had someone see potential

in you

before you saw it in yourself that's a

beautiful thing

how many of you have ever had somebody

that you just borrowed some of their

belief in you

yeah it's a it's an awesome thing people

like aunt jackie who told me god has a

very special plan for you

he has a really special plan for you and

at the time when she was saying that to

me right because

that's something that sounds really good

it's something that

maybe you know if you hear that in your

own right you could you could fill that

with your own preferences of what that

plan is

but she said it to me but the beauty of

it was that she

saw it in its baby form

she saw it in its baby form she believed

in what was in me

in baby form and see moses's parents

had the faith to see the significance

in what was hidden

so i want to spend just a moment right

now this is not the whole message but

it'll set up the context

i want to talk about hidden significance

significance and how some of the things

that are most significant

are hidden for the very reason that they

are significant

in moses's case he was hidden until he

was three months old

so that he could stay alive and god

often hides the most significant things

in order to protect the potential of

that thing

until the time is right now we know

moses as the red sea partner we know

moses is the prophet who commanded

plagues we know moses

as the one who brought water out of the

rock we know moses is the man who saw

god face to face

but his parents saw it

his destiny when he was in diapers

and they had the good sense to hide

what was significant so that it wouldn't

be

killed before it had the chance

to develop into what it was destined to

be

[Applause]

one of the things that i teach my son

about creativity is

don't show people things that you're

working on too early

while you're working on them don't post

everything that you are creating out of

a need for instant validation

because it will short-circuit your

creativity to see what it could be i

have this rule about sermons i never

tell

anybody what i'm preaching about ever

the reason is

because if i show it to them before i

really know it for myself

the look on their face you know there's

this look that people get when you're

trying to tell them you know

i was going to talk about hebrews 11 and

you got to grow up and all this stuff

and moses and the pharaoh and all that

and they look at you kind of like with

this polite kind of confusion it's a

very

specific look they get in their eyes

like i'm sure you'll do something with

this

it's like a look that you give to

something it's like a house that's just

like dilapidated and it's like i'm sure

somebody could fix it up

i'm sure the bones are good you know and

they look at you that way so i taught my

son i said

never show your embryos

when god is doing something significant

in your life it is good for it to remain

hidden for a time how many would agree

moses was a significant figure in the

history

of god's people yeah a pretty big deal

maybe the most significant figure in the

history of israel

maybe maybe i mean hebrews 11 mentions a

lot of them

mentions abraham it mentions jacob

it mentions how uh you got enoch who

didn't even

die god took him up because he was

pleasing to god it says without faith it

is impossible to please god because he

who comes to god must believe that he

is it's like yeah but do you really

and that he rewards those who diligently

seek him

that's an amazing scripture and the

author of hebrews you have to understand

he's giving us a picture

of those who did not quit

on what god called them to do

and to give us a picture of those who

didn't quit

he shows us someone who was almost

killed before he even had an opportunity

to be called

the thing that i that i want you to know

is that everything significant that i

ever did in life i was tempted to quit

i am preaching this message to somebody

today

who is tempted to quit

on something god called you to do

and i understand how people love to take

a sermon

and put their initials on it for

whatever they want it to mean

trust me i've seen it happen over and

over and over again so you haven't

smoked in three weeks but then i

preached on don't quit

and you go get a pack right after i

preach because the pastor said don't

quit

i know how y'all are y'all are real

shifty sometimes with these scriptures

real slippery sometimes with these

scriptures

real manipulative sometimes with these

scriptures but please let us reason

together at the mercy seat

i'm talking about quitting on what god

called you to do and the picture

is of a man that god called to deliver a

nation

but he was almost killed before he even

had the opportunity

to be called and this helps me

understand

why some of the people who have the most

significant purpose to accomplish

for the kingdom of god go through the

heaviest attacks

at the formative stages of their life

[Applause]

so his parents had the had the

oh man the faith that says they had

faith everybody shout

faith now i'm concerned in the church

that we have con confused childlike

faith

which is what jesus told us to have

with childish faith

[Applause]

and these hebrew believers remember they

were just babies

they were still being weaned off the

sacrificial system

that moses instituted

see in in moses sacrificial system you

may know a little bit about this i'm not

going to go into great depth about it

but their sin was atoned for by the

blood of bulls and goats

their sin was atoned for by the offering

that was made by the high priest who had

to do it

every year and so the theme of the book

of hebrews

is that jesus christ is superior

to the mosaic covenant to the mosaic

commandments

to the mosaic customs

so we're looking at a group of believers

who are learning

a brand new way to do things

and in their embrace of jesus christ you

know

in in order to in order to walk in this

new way of life that christ

offers it involves a letting go

of what they have known now that they

have a new identity see they're

they're transitioning their identity

from being justified

by the law which doesn't work it doesn't

work

you can't even keep the speed limit

please don't look at me like you can

keep the law

be holy as he is holy so the law was

just designed to blink bring us to the

place

where we would know our need for grace

and receive it

right so that you would quit

trying to keep the commandments in your

own strength so that you could receive

the grace of god through the person of

jesus christ

and this is the gospel and it still

works today

and you can be forgiven of your sin

without a bull

without a goat without eternal dove i

don't need another high priest

i don't need somebody to change their

mind about me whoever calls on the name

of the lord

will be saved you can be forgiven right

now

not seven steps not three classes not

ten years of sobriety but right now he

can save you

[Applause]

right now

and yet they are being tempted as

god is birthing the church into the

world

to return to the thing that they were

set free from

okay we talked about hidden significance

let's talk about

conflicted identities

[Music]

it's when you're not used to the new way

of doing things enough

so you return to what you knew k-n-e-w

because what is new in that moment

is costing you it's costing you

the example of moses is a perfect

illustration

of maturing enough can i preach about

maturity

it seems like every sermon people want

to click on these days

is you know miracles but what about

maturity

[Applause]

what about maturity to know what to do

with a miracle when god gives it to you

so you don't mismanage it

[Applause]

and in hebrews 11 there is a a picture

of a prophet moses was a prophet

he's not your typical prophet in fact i

thought the writer of hebrews was pretty

nice to moses when he explained

his story and i want to show you that

now

because there's there's a lesson even in

this

you know all i'm deciding to do is

figure out what not to tell you today

because there's so much good stuff in

here

so let me give you a contrast this this

will be good in verse 27 by faith moses

when he had grown up i read you this but

i'm reading it again for for a reason

he refused to be known as the son of

pharaoh's daughter

he chose to be mistreated along with the

people of god rather than to enjoy

the fleeting pleasures of sin

i can't stop there 26. he regarded

disgrace for the sake of christ

as of greater value than the treasures

of egypt because he was looking ahead

to his reward okay this

is a description or a picture of

maturity

in acts chapter 7 it tells us that

moses was 40 years old when he made the

decision

to be identified with god's children

not the egyptians that were oppressing

them now there's a lot of great stuff in

the back story that won't make time to

get into the message today about how his

parents floated him

down the nile river in a basket the same

nile river he would turn into blood

80 years later he floated on to survive

when he was a baby and i thought about

preaching faith to float

because sometimes you feel like you're

you're floating between two things

waiting to see what it's going to be

and i thought about preaching that but i

have discipline

and i'm only going to preach one message

today and

and this message is about how one day

moses makes the decision to be

identified

not with the egyptian who raised him

but with the parents that birthed them

this is not primarily a racial text

this is not primarily a nationalistic

text

conclusions could be drawn in those

directions

but what's really happening here is

about

moses choosing what he will be

defined by and i want you to realize

in your life today that you have a

decision

about what you will be defined by

even though his early life was defined

by

an assassination attempt even through

the trauma

of floating through a basket

some of us end up in therapy because our

pampers were slightly too tight

this man was floating down a river in a

basket coated with

tar and

even though his life began with trauma

he made a decision in this moment

[Applause]

that i will not be defined by

something that i have become bigger than

and this is where the significance of

the text is in the detail

it says when he grew

up when he

grew up i wonder

are there some things that god is

waiting

for us to outgrow that we are praying

for him to remove

and the challenge of moses's life is

in order to become what he really was

he had to outgrow everything that he had

ever known

you see it in the text he was raised as

an egyptian

but he was born as a hebrew and yet

there came a moment of decision

i will not be defined by my environment

i will not be limited by my experience

i will not be affiliated with the events

that brought me to this point

there is something that god is calling

you

to outgrow in this moment

and i wonder what it is see because

until you grow

past the point of needing god to change

things

until you grow past the point some of us

have to outgrow the need for everybody

to like us

or validate us in order to see what god

has really put in us

he chose

to be mistreated

he chose to be lonely

he chose to be a weirdo

he chose the uncomfortable space

of growth you know what

growth is chosen

not change change will slap you right in

the back of your head

change will kick you right you know how

you know anyway

change will kick you in the uh shin

i'm editing as i go i'm editing the

sermon for consumption for the mass

market

but growth is chosen

growth is chosen and in the moment he

has a decision to make and so do you

and so did the hebrew christians

do we outgrow what we've known

so we can become who we really are

and moses didn't even do it the right

way

in fact in acts chapter 7 it tells us

that one day when he was

40 years old this is stephen giving us

this information

he decided to visit his own people the

israelites and he saw one of them being

mistreated by an egyptian

so he went to his defense and avenged

him by killing

the egyptian well that's one way to do

it

you know he feels something on the

inside he knows that he's not what he's

around

he understands that there's something

different in him than the people the

culture he's surrounded in

so he does something out of his impulse

that is really an indication of his

destiny

and he kills an egyptian and verse 25

really got my attention

moses thought that his own people would

realize that god was using him to rescue

them

but they didn't so now

we understand what it means to say that

moses

chose to be misunderstood

rather than to give up who he was

[Applause]

grow up grow up

why are we still in seventh grade

and we are 53 years old

and we still filter the majority of our

decisions

through what will other people think

about this

we spend money with that filter

we say things with that filter we don't

say things with that filter

now i think it's important to consider

what others will think about things i do

i think that's why you brush your teeth

that's why you make sure when you go out

in the morning like there's

there's a smile on your face that's a

good thing to think how your life is

affecting others but i don't think you

should be controlled by it

not as grown as you are

are you really so grown in your body but

so

small in your spirit that

one person's opinion can move you off

your purpose

you are much too grown at this stage in

your life

to be taking your cues from a culture

that doesn't even know christ

[Applause]

and our growth has been so stunning and

i'm going to tell you why

because mostly what we have been taught

is sin suppression

we have not been taught transformative

thinking

we have been taught push it down and and

don't do that

where anybody can see you and don't tell

anyone how it really is

so so we push things down we never deal

with them

we never really know how to bring it to

jesus and we've heard a lot about

forgiveness of sin

but what about freedom from sin

[Applause]

what good is it for god to forgive me of

sin

if i'm going to live running back to the

same thing that he brought me out of

so now i want to get into a section of

the message this is going to go on my

youtube channel as i stand alone

this is a little mini message within the

message i've been promising this for a

long time and i'm going to preach it

right now

i want to talk to you about sins with

benefits sit down and listen to this

in verse 25 it says he chose

the reproach of god's people or we could

say

he chose the inconvenience of purpose

over the pleasure of sin anybody who

says sin doesn't feel good didn't do it

right amen

everybody quotes this verse to talk

about how sin runs out

but here's the thing i've i've learned

about we could call it egypt we could

call it the place where we go to have

our needs met

if you do not appreciate and acknowledge

the need that a sin is meeting

you won't know how to get that need met

in god and you will come right back to

it

now i know how that sounds appreciate my

sin

my sin killed jesus how can i appreciate

my sin

i'm not talking about appreciating the

consequence of it

i'm not talking about willfully

rebelling against god

even the apostle said where sin

increased did grace that much more

increase

but shall we continue in sin that grace

may abound god forbid how shall we die

and sin live any longer to it

but

is the message that we're preaching in

churches really helping people get free

quit sinning just put it on the church

sign

yeah quit sinning

quit cussing

you know what i would rather you keep

cussing

and not quit growing

[Music]

than thinking that the whole point of

the christian faith

is is behavior modification

[Applause]

i would rather you now

this may suff this may separate some of

us because some of us

may be so addicted to the gospel message

of

quit sinning quit sinning quit sinning

quit

quit quit quit quit but today i want to

talk to you about the sin

of quitting

[Music]

the sin of quitting did you know that

quitting is a sin i'm not telling you

not to put your resume out maybe you do

need another job

i'm not telling you stay in an abusive

relationship that's foolish i want you

to be safe

but to quit on what god gave you to do

and the deposit that he called you to

guard is the greatest sin of all

and sometimes i've had to keep

crying while refusing to quit

sometimes i've had to keep wrestling

we have an epidemic in our world today

it is the epidemic of quitters

quick quitters there is no value in what

is lasting

the priority is what is seen so we will

quit

something to appear knowledgeable rather

than staying and becoming wise

it's an epidemic we quit everything so

quick

if it doesn't get 10 likes in 10 minutes

we delete it

i'm too grown to give up that easy the

bible said moses was grown enough to

know

this is not who i am this is not all i

am

and yes it's nice like he wasn't giving

up

a life of poverty and failure

he was known as the grandson

of pharaoh the most powerful man in the

world

he said i would rather give that up

for what god has for me i would rather

give that up

because he was grown enough

to discern what's really worth it

that's what graham is saying you tricked

me out of my money

before i was grown enough to do a

cost-benefit analysis

so there's a contrast let's study this

for a moment

the lord's been dealing with me to teach

a little deeper lately so i'm gonna try

to do that

uh is it 25 give me 25.

uh-huh that's it he chose

he didn't chose who he was born to

he didn't choose what he went through

chose his response and he focused on his

reward because he knew that the

pleasures of sin were fleeting

next verse disgrace for the sake of

christ

was of greater value than the treasures

of egypt

[Applause]

we really believe that

the treasures of egypt the way that the

world defines your worth you know all

about it

it's status oriented

it's uh it's all the visible stuff it's

all the external stuff

he chose something that he couldn't see

because he saw something that others

didn't

it said he persevered because he saw him

who is

invisible so his values didn't come from

something that was

visible now

the more tempted that you are to quit

the greater the significance

nothing i ever did in my life of

significance that i wasn't tempted to

quit

now when i am tempted to quit

on something that god gave me to steward

i realize that the temptation to quit

is an indication of the significance

see a lot of us are addicted to quitting

you talk about addicted to pills

addicted to porn addicted to the bottle

addicted to this addicted to that

what about the addiction that we have to

quitting

i'll tell you what that looks like in my

20s

i was reflecting on this with holly the

other day

i had this almost like mafia mentality

with people in my life and the way i

operated was

and this will sound really weird to some

of the people who i've been friends with

for

for almost all my life because i am a

loyal person

but i went through a stage where in my

immaturity

at the first sign of conflict i would

quit a friendship

that was a protective mechanism

i believe it was something that i saw

modeled many times

i believe that some of that has to do

with just

you know like how my dad grew up and and

you see things and

i do believe that's part of it i also

believe that i was immature

and i believed that i was insecure and

so the moment that a friendship i'm

using this as an example

the moment that a friendship would have

conflict associated with it

it was easier for me to quit

or to flee from the friendship than to

face

what i needed to face

many of us the moment that a

relationship starts getting really

intimate

we quit getting closer

and we will even design drama

in order to be a defense mechanism

from us really having to push past the

surface and really let someone see us

i was too insecure and too immature

to know that the richness of intimacy

is worth the willingness to push past

the insecurity and god is changing me

now

because i'm growing i'm growing

and you know the funniest thing about us

is we celebrate

so much when someone quote unquote steps

out in faith to do something new

but i was thinking the other day

sometimes the reason

that we're always stepping out to

something new is because we don't want

to stay

and really change and i know this sounds

weird because the passage

is about moses leaving egypt but it is

written to hebrew christians

who have to stay in their faith he is

using the example of someone who

left something that was not really true

to them

in order to encourage us to stay with

what's really worthwhile

[Applause]

and and when you're tempted to quit

here's what happens

you only see the benefit of quitting

because the devil knows how to hide the

price tag

that's how temptation operates and we're

not mature

we're not grown up we're still look at

this in hebrews chapter 5.

i got to show you this hebrews chapter

five hebrews chapter five because you

can't quit

you can't quit you can't quit you can't

quit you can't quit

you can't quit you can't you can't quit

because of this

look what he says in verse 11. we have

much to say about this

but it's hard to make it clear to you

because you no longer try to understand

you quit trying to understand the moment

it doesn't make sense

sometimes if we hear a sermon and it

doesn't rhyme and they don't tell us

exactly what to write down

we don't even listen anymore

frustrated about it i'm not but the

writer of hebrews was

you stopped trying to understand in fact

though

by this time you ought to be teachers

you need someone else to teach you the

elementary truths of god's word all over

again

he said it i didn't you need milk not

solid food

anyone lives on milk still being an

infant is not acquainted with the

teaching about righteousness

but solid food is for the mature watch

this who by

constant use have trained themselves to

distinguish good from evil

constant use you can't quit

every time it doesn't make sense and for

the love of paul mccartney

you can't quit every time you don't

understand something

i don't know why i said paul mccartney

his name popped in my mind

that was a deep connection i didn't

follow it i didn't either but listen to

me

he's talking about moses

the infant that god protected and how

god protected

certain things in your life in an infant

stage

because he saw potential for this moment

don't quit before

you get to see it he persevered

moses did because he saw something

that was not apparent to the naked eye

the treasures of egypt

the benefits of sin i know it sounds bad

but certain sins meet certain needs

don't you love to judge people i love it

i'm just being honest with you i love

judging others it is the greatest

escape from having to reflect on myself

it is amazing i do not recommend it

because it's got a surcharge

the surcharge of shame

it's the hidden expense now watch what

the devil would do

he'll try to get you he'll tempt you

with something right i'm not just

talking about tempting you with

something that you heard about in youth

group

i'm talking about the temptation to quit

the temptation to stop short of all that

christ has for you

and in that moment when you're tempted

to quit he

he highlights the benefit

and hides the expense

because if you quit showing up if you

quit trying here's what you can expect

to experience

relief

[Applause]

but relief is not freedom

we don't know the difference

we don't know the difference so we run

around quitting everything

that would change us running from

everything that would revolutionize us

and resisting everything that god sends

to grow us

it feels like freedom

[Applause]

but it's really just temporary relief

sexual immorality is temporary relief

with the price tag of permanent bondage

[Applause]

gossip oh that was a quiet one right

there

did you hear all of the dryness in the

atmosphere the flowing of the amens just

received

ah

the immediate vacation from having to

deal with yourself

what moses did he had the ability even

though he didn't do it perfectly

y'all he murdered a man

and god called it faith

god does not frame our mistakes

like we frame our mistakes

the process of maturity is learning to

get

from your father what you used to get

from pharaoh

that every need that sin is meeting

in your life god can meet it in a better

way

that every need that manipulation is

meeting in your life

god can meet it in a better way when we

manipulate things do it in our own

strength do it without praying about it

do it without caring about others

do it without considering the

consequence do it without being true to

the integrity of who we are

when we manipulate something we are

trying to meet a need

the need is for us to be certain faith

can meet that same need

faith can be certain that no matter what

the outcome is

all things are working together for my

good

so i don't have to control anything i

can trust god in everything

and moses chose and you have a decision

to make

will i be identified with what i've

known

will i be known as where i came from

or will i in this moment of my life in

this seat

he was 40 when he got there but you

don't have to be 40.

you can do it when you're 14. you might

be 80 you can do it

if you make the decision in this moment

i will not be defined by my environment

i will not be defined by the events that

happen to me

he persevered because he saw

he saw what others couldn't see

therefore looking unto jesus

who is the author and finisher of our

faith who despised the shame of the

cross

but endured it for the joy set before

him

and i believe god is calling us into a

season of greater faith

than needing to see the reason i believe

god is calling us to deeper faith

than giving up the first time it doesn't

work out

i believe god is calling somebody that

you cannot give up on yourself

because he has not given up on you yet

because even when he had to track down

moses in the wilderness

40 years later and bring him back to

egypt

to deliver the people before moses

chose god god chose moses

so i don't think you get to quit

you don't get to quit

it's not an option the blood bought you

the grace of god called you

there's a hand of god on your life his

grip is stronger than yours

to grown to give up i've seen god do too

much to give up

i've been too developed he should have

killed me when i was a little kid

because i know too much about god to

walk away now

you know how many times i've had to

fight to get to this pulpit

to say something to you and it would

have felt better not too

you know how many times jesus wanted to

call a legion of angels to deliver him

from the cross and it would have felt

better not to

moses didn't make it all the way to the

promised land

so the author of hebrews wanted you to

know when you're tempted to quit

and i want to minister in this moment

have you been tempted to quit uh not

necessarily quit

like how people see quit

but usually you quit inside

and you quit in increments

i took greek for two weeks in college

after two weeks i realized god did not

call me to speak greek

and i went to the registrar and i got a

drop slip and i walked to hal freeman's

office

and the moment he saw me walk in the

door he goes

ferdic and he laughed this diabolical

laugh

he said that didn't take long he saw the

drop sled

and he tried to convince me to keep

taking greek but i quit

i had to take it again in college i mean

in a seminar cemetery seminary three

times

three times i finally finished

he said that didn't take long

because i would never really committed

to it

and i think it's shocking one time paul

told the galatian church

i'm shocked how quickly you turn away to

another gospel

i'm shocked how quickly you'll stop

believing what i've spoken over you

because of somebody else saying

something different

you feel something different because it

doesn't happen overnight

it took moses 40 years to grow to the

point and then 40 more before he said so

i come to pass

but you're too grown to give up you need

faith and patience faith without

patience is

childish faith

so good sir god sent me

to tell somebody

you can't quit

there's too much connected to you to

quit

i know it would be momentary

relief but can you see past the expense

to see the benefit

the psalmist said praise the lord of my

soul and forget not all

his benefits who forgives all your sins

heals all your diseases redeems your

life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion

and i would rather go through a season

of temporary uncertainty

then compromise the truth of my identity

you're making a decision right now and

you've been really tempted to quit

stand stand

[Applause]

you know what it shows me that you've

been tempted to quit

it's significant what god gave you to do

i know

the stronger the temptation to quit the

greater the significance

you know how many times moses wanted to

quit once he started leading god's

people out of egypt

you know how many times he wanted to one

time i think he was ready to ask god to

kill him

to kill to kill them or kill him but we

can't i can't keep up with this anymore

one time he got so burdened and

overwhelmed

because he was trying to do everything

himself

he was trying to do more than he was

made to do a pastor came to visit me

three years ago and he came to tell me

that he was quitting

the ministry i thought that he had

had sex with somebody that wasn't his

wife but that wasn't the case i thought

he had maybe had a financial

impropriety but that wasn't the case

but the temptation to quit

was from the strain and the burden of

maintaining what he had built

and i think everybody can relate to that

i really

do

so i said why did you come tell me that

you wanted to quit he said

because i wanted to see if you could

convince me not to

so he said how have you done it 15 years

or at the time i guess it was 12 he said

and

you didn't quit

and i wish i could have told him because

the joy of the lord is my strength

and it is a blessing and a privilege to

serve the mightiness of his

splendiferous grace and i just look unto

him who is the author and finisher of my

faith

but i had to be honest

i said every time that i was tempted to

quit not only did

i realize after the fact that it was an

indication that there was something

significant there is something

significant there is something

significant

they wanted to kill those hebrew babies

because of the

significance and the strength that they

represented so after realizing that

every time i wanted to quit i realized

it was time to shift

[Applause]

and that to keep doing what god had

called me to do

i needed to shift how i was doing it

and he didn't quit not all stories have

a happy ending but the dude still went

back and did it

because

[Music]

he didn't quit he shifted

i don't know what you want to quit today

maybe you just want to quit trying but

keep your body present

maybe you want to quit really trying to

love people

and just become this bitter cynical

person that never tries again because

people

suck could you tell that was coming from

a deep place inside of me when i said

i felt possessed for a minute

um god said don't quit shift

shift when moses was overwhelmed later

in his life this was not the last time

that he would have to make the decision

when he was overwhelmed because there

were too many people and he was running

on empty and they were asking him for

everything

and his father-in-law jethro came to see

him with his two daughters

and he said i see what you're doing and

you're spread too thin and it's not

gonna work

you've got to shift how you're doing

this you don't have to quit what god has

called you to

you have to shift how you're doing it

and i sat there with that pastor and we

listed everything that he was doing that

somebody else could do

or everything that he was doing remember

maturity is first and foremost the

ability to discern what is worth it

and i bet we found seven or eight things

that were worthless on his list

that he needed to be weaned from so that

he could have the strength to continue

in what god has called him to do

don't quit shift

shift into a new way of doing it and

this is the challenge

to choose to go through a season of

struggle

instead of embracing the relief he

persevered because he saw him

who is invisible do you always need

results

do you always need compliments

do you always need a quick hit or can

you get an ugly dub every once in a

while

i told elijah not every win is going to

be pretty sometimes it's an ugly dub

moses didn't do it just right but he

didn't quit

and neither will you

god didn't bring you here to hear this

so you could just quit

in increments you know slowly

withdrawing yourself from your own life

until there's really nothing of you left

slowly withdrawing from your

relationships

until there's no real intimacy just the

illusion of it

slowly withdrawing your expectation from

the gates of heaven

until you no longer pray expecting

anything to really happen because you

don't believe that he is or that he

rewards those who diligently seek him

we grow in increments we quit in

increments

and today the lord said to tell you

you're too grown to give up

i want to pray for you now stand up all

over all over the

auditorium all over lake norman all over

matthews all over riverwalk

all over winston-salem all over all over

right there in your home why don't you

stand right now

i want the enemy to see you standing

i wanted to know that you're still going

to be standing tomorrow and the next day

and the next day and the next day and

the next day and the next day

[Applause]

i don't know i just hear the lord saying

you're too grown and i've done too much

and i've been trusted too much and

you've survived too much to give up

over this

father right now by faith like moses

we want to see him who is invisible what

a paradox

let's see what we can see

to believe what we can't understand

lord your ways are higher than ours

i bring before you all of your children

one by one

the ones you have called by name the

ones you have chosen the ones that you

have protected from their birth until

this moment and you saw their worth from

the moment of their birth you did not

see it when the world conferred it upon

them

it is not contingent on any behavior or

performance but their worth is great in

your eyes

and yet they are quitting on themselves

giving up on themselves

we choose in this moment the riches of

christ over the treasures of egypt

[Music]

we choose in this moment the

uncomfortable growth in our lives

over the convenience

and the relief of sin

[Music]

i thank you lord today that you have

given us this message of freedom

we bring it all before you now because

we're standing between two identities

too

and we need your help in these moments

god that we would not hide

that we would not run that we would not

take discomfort as a sign that it's time

for us to

to leave but god that we would stand in

this place

have need of perseverance

you have need of faith so god we're not

asking you to take away all of our

problems because i don't think that's

the prayer you'd answer it'd be nice but

it's not going to happen

instead increase our faith

we want to outgrow our insecurities

until greater is he that is in us than

he that is in the world

we want to outgrow what we've worried

about as we worship you

no created thing no created thing is is

no created thing has control over you or

your will and so god right now we just

we declare in the name of jesus the name

that is above

every name the one whom we are

identified with the one who is seated in

heaven we declare that our identity is

in him

it is in you and it is by you and it is

for you

[Music]

we thank you for this word right now i

want to give an invitation for somebody

to receive jesus christ

as the lord of your life right now

you've never trusted him

for your salvation you've never you've

never trusted him for the forgiveness of

your sin

the bible says that if you confess with

your mouth that jesus is lord

and believe in your heart that god

raised him from the dead

you will be saved you will be saved

you will be set free you will be made

new

if anyone is in christ he is a new

creation

and i believe this is a defining moment

in your life you've been running from

god

you've been running from truth you've

been running from yourself

but god brought you to this moment the

situations and circumstances of your

life

have all aligned to bring you to this

moment to place your faith in jesus

christ

not by a pledge to do better but by an

open heart that receives the grace of

god

so right now if that's you right where

you are i want you to repeat this prayer

after me

out loud and god will hear from heaven

and he will forgive your sin

and he will cleanse you of all

unrighteousness now repeat after me all

across the church

everybody praying out loud for the

benefit of those who are coming to god

heavenly father i am a sinner

in need of a savior and i believe

that jesus christ is the son of god

and the savior of the world and today

i make jesus the lord of my life

i believe jesus died that i could be

forgiven

and rose again to give me life

i receive this new life

this is my new beginning

on the count of three raise your hand if

you just prayed that prayer one

two three in the chat say i receive

jesus

i receive jesus i believe

that i receive the grace of god

[Applause]

and i'm walking in a new beginning i

said i'm walking in a new beginning

[Applause]

[Music]

know who my father is my sins are

forgiven and we decree and declare over

your life

the old has gone the new has come

let's give god a great shout of praise

for all the souls coming home

to the father's arms

god bless you by faith moses persevere

and by faith you're gonna make it too i

believe with you that you're gonna make

it

you're not gonna die in a low state

you're not gonna die with your gifts

undeveloped because of your fear

but you're gonna walk through your own

red sea and god's gonna use you in a

great way but you can't quit

you hear me you gotta keep coming back

to the presence of god

you gotta keep coming back to the right

thoughts no matter how many times it

takes

you might have to fall like the

righteous men seven times but you might

have to get up eight times

and that's okay i just want you to know

that god is patient with you

god is patient with you and because you

know him who is invisible and he lives

inside of you

you have the power through the holy

spirit to persevere

i just believe that over your life today

i want to hear from you this week how

the word ministered to you i want to

hear specifically here in the comments

and make sure you subscribe make sure

you share the message

for someone you know who's tempted to

quit tempted to quit on something

important

tempted to miss an opportunity because

of discouragement tempted to quit on

themselves because of a mistake

you just remind them that when we are

faithless god is faithful he can't deny

themselves

and share this word i still feel like

preaching it it was very strong in my

spirit today and i trust that means

that it was for someone and maybe that

was you what an honor to share god's

word with you

thank you for partnering with us in the

gospel thank you for

giving generously so that we can

continue to exist and not only that

but flourish and bear fruit all over the

world i pray this word finds you well

today

and i pray that god will make you better

as you go

love you