It’s Time For Miracles... Again // It’s Time (Part 4) // Charles Metcalf

I don't know if you've ever seen this happen in your life, but there are some moments that mark you because it was a miracle. And I'm about to talk to you a sermon out of the book of Joshua's chapter three and four about this miraculous moment that the children of Israel experience where they walk across what was once a river bed on dry land. And I wanna pull out five things that are really a part of how we see a miracle in our life. And I believe that they're gonna be encouragement to your soul, they're gonna give you clarity. How to continue to walk in faith, trust in God. And here's my hope is that you would begin to see the tiny miracles that are happening all throughout your day. And I wanna take a moment right now and even pray for you as you hear this word and what sparks something in your spirit to believe God again for miracles. Would you pray with me? Lord God, I thank you for my friend. I pray even as they prepare, they would open their hearts to hear this word, to hear what you have to say to them in this moment. Speak to them and God, I pray that we will see the miracles that you're doing every single day. And Jesus, they don't pray, amen. It's time to purify. Now, if I would've said it's time to get paid,

I would've heard. (congregation cheering) And if I would've said it's time to find your partner. It would've been like, yes, yes, yes. But it's time to purify yourself. If God tells you, hey, clean yourself up 'cause I'm about to do things, eyes have it seen. Ears have not heard. You've never written it down in your journal, but things that I have planned for you. You've never had the level of influence you about to have. You've never had the platform that you're about to have. You've never had the level of connection. You've never had it before. This is a promise that God's about to bring you in a new territory. The only prerequisite is clean it up. The reason it's time to purify is because God's on the inside and he's trying to do something so the whole world can see. But he has one caveat, you've got to purify. What area in your life right now do you know is out of order? Are you willing to give up the great miracle because you like this secret moment? This is the last days that some of y'all look at certain things. This is the last day. You might have to go through some drawers and throw some stuff away. This is the last day that you smoke that, drink that. You don't need a cabinet of those substances anymore.

Somebody say this is the last day 'cause tomorrow God wants to do a great wonder in my life. But today I gotta purify myself. God's promises always come with a price check. Do what you gotta do to live fuel 'cause the promised land is waiting just for you. - Man, our pastor, y'all don't even know how good of a preacher he is. And he got the new Usher Cut. Come on, y'all, y'all understand? (audience cheering) He look clean, man. He did. I saw it, this is hilarious. This is how deep friends went. He came around the corner when he first got his haircut. I said, "Oh, shoot this Mr. Still, yo, girl." I was like, "It's it." (audience laughing) That's how he look when Pastor Natalie met him for sure. I was like, "You look clean, brother." All right, we're gonna read some of the Bible today. You got your Bibles. If you got your Bibles, get 'em out. If you don't got it, don't worry. The team will put it on the screen. We've been in the book of Joshua. We've been in Joshua and we're gonna read a little bit of chapter three and a little bit of chapter four today, okay?

So I'm gonna jump around. I always say this as a caveat. If the scripture is not on the screen, it's my fault, not the production team's fault because sometimes I don't be giving them all of the stuff and I'd be getting over there, scribbling my Bible stuff. It's like, oh my gosh, they need to throw that. They probably don't have it and be like, "Just, Charles, it's such a dummy." That's what you can think. Okay. Here's what the Bible says. Joshua chapter number three, it says this, "It was the harvest season "and the Jordan was overflowing its banks, "but as soon as the feet of the priest "who are carrying the ark, "touch the water at the river's edge, "the water above that point began backing up "at a great distance away at a town called Adam, "which is near that Z word that you can read for yourself." (congregation laughing) Come on, get out of here, man. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the river base was dry, then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. Meanwhile, the priest who were carrying the ark of the Lord's Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the river bed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation

had crossed the Jordan on dry ground. I'mma jump to chapter number four, I'mma read a little section, verse 21, it says this in chapter number four. "Then Joshua said to the Israelites, "In the future your children will ask you, "what do these stones mean?" And you can tell them this is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the river bed right before our eyes. When he dried it up until we had all crossed over, he did this so that all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord's hand is powerful and so that you might fear the Lord your God forever. The title of my sermon, if you're taking notes today, write this down at the top. It's time for miracles again. It's time for miracles again. It's time for miracles again. Dear Jesus, we need you again. We are back not because you are insufficient or you didn't do enough for us last time, but somehow we worked ourself into another position that we cannot seem to get out of. But God, I thank you that you are a God who does miracles again. You're not just a God who will meet us one time, but over and over. Your grace will meet us every single time. So Jesus, we are here because we need miracles again. It's in the beautiful name of Jesus, we pray. And everybody said amen, amen, amen. All right. Now, traditionally when I preach, I have like an introduction and it's like a setup. And usually I'm kind of letting you into my brain, I preach it sometimes. So I'm always going to do, I have like seven things that are like a part of my sermon and once I get these seven things, the sermon is pretty much done. So I'm working on these seven things all week. One of them is the introduction. How am I going to do the introduction? And usually it's like a funny story. Maybe I, you know, tell you about some beef I got with my wife. No beef, it's all love, but a funny story about my kids, my crazy kids. I have four wild kids to our life skin, to our white. It's not a big deal. It's whatever. Stay calm. But today I couldn't, not I couldn't think of. I have an introductory question, but it's kind of crazy. Okay? So just hear me out and, you know, if you're like, that's crazy, I'm telling you. So this is, you got to prepare your spirit. Okay, here's the question, introductory for the setup of a great sermon and this will not be weird at all. Have you ever read the book of that relations?

Hear me out. This spooky one at the end. It's the last one. Come on. You know, like, they made movies in the 90s about it. You know, left behind, you know, if you grew up in church, you thought you were going to be in a service like this and then someone's clothes were just going to go. And then you're like, what is happening? You know, like, I thought I had friends that used to lay their clothes out at sleepovers and then wake people up and run out. And then they wake up and they're like, oh my God, I've been left behind! Like, I really thought that was, it might happen that way. I don't know. The clothes link dropping out of your clothes, it's not in the book. But, um, revelations is funny because it's one of those books that are like, it's just interesting. And honestly, I grew up in church. You got to know this. Caveat, I'm a seventh or sixth generation preacher. So like, it's in my bones. It's in my DNA. I didn't have a choice. I, you know, I thought I was going to do something else and God was like, nah, bro, this is what you're doing. So I grew up in church and all I heard, like, there was just, revelations was just like the spooky book. You don't really go back there. You know, it's kind of like the attic. It's like, we only go up there when we have to. You know what I'm saying? Just get a couple things, get out. You don't know what's up there. But the book of revelations is not as spooky as you think. Um, and I would encourage you to read it. It's actually really, really good. And the reason some people get freaked out by the book of revelations is because there's all these allegories and stories and there's a beast and people are coming back and there's 86 lamps and there's different churches and dragons. And I mean, it's like reading like a book of Narnia or something. It's crazy. But let me summarize it for you. The first verse of revelations tells you you do not have to be afraid of this book. And a lot of believers are terrified of the book of revelations. And this sermon is not even about revelations, but it's my introduction, so just stay with me. Revelations one, verse one. Dear friends, I think I gave it to you. Could you throw it up on the screen for me? This is what the whole book is about. This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave to a sermon. So they may soon take place. He's sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant, John. Keep going for a little bit. I think there's a little bit more. Oh, this is the next verse. Okay, pause right there. The first book, it doesn't let you get two, four, five words into the book without telling you, this is a revelation about Jesus Christ. That's all you need to know. Now, some of you are like, talk, but what about the dragons? What about the thing? Here's the thing. Anytime you find yourself at a moment, I have realized the point of that is for you to be like, you know what, there's probably some stuff

I just probably shouldn't know. There are some things that I, this is a scripture, David says this in the book of Psalms. He says, I have not lifted my head too high and I haven't concerned myself with things that are far too grand for me to understand because if the God I serve, I can understand he's not greater than me, he's just like me. And if God is just like me, I don't know about you but that's a bad God. I need a God who's greater than me. The Bible says that his ways are not your ways, his thoughts are not your thoughts, greater than how the heavens are above the earth than God's thoughts are above yours. That's a very poetic way of saying, you're not as smart as you think you are, you don't need to know everything, so calm down. Now, why you should read the book of Revelations is not so you can know when the world is gonna end because that's ridiculous, I'm trying not to go on a rant but anybody who tells you they know when the world's gonna end, they're lying. They literally don't know, it's not, it's Jesus. It's like, only God knows what Jesus said. Okay, anyways, Revelations one verse eight. This is why you should read the Revelation. If you only read the first chapter, this is why you needed it because there's an introduction that is given that is so integral to your understanding

of who God is and if you don't ever go to the book, you'll never understand this part of God which is so important. And look what the Bible says, I am, so we got that introduction in Exodus, we just read it. But look what he says, the alphabet in the minute, the beginning and the end says the Lord, I am the one who is, who always was and is still to come. This is God giving it, he said, I'm the God who was, who is and is to come. He's trying to explain to you something about his nature that will give you a substantial amount of faith to stand on. I'm the God who was, who is and is to come. I'm the God who was, who is and is to come. What is he saying? I was here before you, I'm here with you and long after you gone, I will still be who I said I am. And you have to understand this about God because if you think God is only working with your current circumstances in the time you're working with, you are madly confused. I appreciate your sermon, you're gonna have to go watch for yourself but this was the thesis of the sermon and I'm not gonna lie to you, it's one of my favorite sermons and one of the most gangster preaching lines ever. You're ready for this? It says God was standing outside of time and then he created time and he placed you in time so that at the right time you would be on time

because God always has an appointed time. It's important for you to understand this about God because some of the most frustrating things in your life are about time. You feel like you don't have enough time. You feel like your marriage is running out of time. You need more time with your kids because you haven't taught them everything, you need to teach them and they're about to graduate high school and you're wondering if they're gonna make the right choices and you're realizing that time has gone by like quicker. You thought you had more time to start the business and now you're realizing life is passing you by and you're not maybe walking in the purpose you thought you were, you've realized that man, I don't know if I have as much time, I don't know how much time I have but here's the piece you can have, God is outside of time. And in his love he created time for you and for me. Why? Because the Bible says his mercies are new every morning. What is that? Every 24 hours he gives you a reset. If there was no day you would be stuck in that anxiety for eternity. Y'all ain't tracking with me. God's grace created time. 24 hours in a day, not for him. He created it for you because you get in that argument with your wife, you done blew up your own spot.

(audience laughs) Well the dumbest thing we husbandly don't, we're blowing up our own spot. Oh yeah, well you ain't never. That's how you know. If you are saying absolutes in an argument, just don't, well you, yeah, okay anyway, so it's a separate. But God's grace, he gave us time. Now this is important today because we're gonna read a story about God doing miracles. And his whole sermon today, I'm gonna warn you, it's about miracles. And I know you're like, "Miracles, what in the world?" Yes, just track with me. But here's why this is important. Bible says he's the God who was, who is, and it's to come. And I'm afraid that somewhere along in our church and in our faith, we have developed a theology or an ideology where we have more faith in what God did than what he can do. It's slight, it's subtle, but many believers, you read the Bible by man, that was crazy. The Red Sea, I mean he's raising people from the dead. I mean people are getting healed in the New Testament. People's shadows are healing people. And we read that like a fictional story. stuff like I ain't never seen it. And here's my problem with you. I ain't never seen it. There's a lot of stuff you ain't never seen that doesn't mean that it ain't real. I ain't never seen Mount Everest. So yeah, that's a picture that could be AI. You don't know what they doing out here, but I ain't never seen it. You ain't never seen it. So that's the limit of your life. What you

have seen, what you have felt, what you know and prove by yourself. That's how you're going to build a life. Let me tell you, friend, your life's going to get small quick because there's a lot of stuff you ain't seen that God has done, is doing, and will keep doing. Our God does miracles. And let me tell you, friend, if he does it, we are all crazy. Let me, let me, okay, I'm not, I'm so out of order on my sermon, but I got to get this. If Jesus, Jesus doing miracles was what clarified and identified him as the Messiah, that was the thing. There's tons of prophecies. He shows up. All these things happen, but one of his friends is in jail and he's doubting God. And he says, hey, go to Jesus and tell him, are you the one we've been waiting for or should we look for another? Jesus' response. Go tell him what you've seen. The lame walk, the blind scene, the deaf here. It was his miracles that confirmed he was God. And I'm afraid a lot of us, we read the miracles for our devo time, but you don't expect God to show up in the middle of your cubicle and do a miracle. And if he's not doing miracles today, what are we in here for? There was a lot of great teachers. There's a lot of people who wrote poetry in an old book that you could go buy and read today. What separates Jesus from the Odyssey is that there's miracles in there that were confirmed by over 500 people that people saw him crucified on a cross and they saw him get back up after three days. If we don't believe God does miracles, what are we doing? Now I'm not saying that to believe miracles isn't so difficult and ridiculous. And we have to address this because I grew up in church. I get it. The Bible is weird. It's weird, man. Like, you know, we say we were just yelling into the sky about blood. Blood, blood, blood. And it's just like, yes, the blood. That's crazy. Your first time, you're like, I'm going to go to church and they're like, the blood will never lose its power. Come in here on October 31st, we sing about blood. It get real spooky. I mean, we got nobody acknowledge this when I grew up in church. We're just singing stuff, like, yeah, super casual. And then I grew up in church. You go to Sunday school and they got the felt board and they're like, yeah, so Noah, you know, God created everything. Then he's going to pretty much drown them all. But, you know, it's little animals and it's cute. And he's kind of like a rainbow goes across the sky and we, what? Ain't nobody got questions about that? We're just going to accept, like, he created, but what happened? Why is he, why the flood and the boat and it's go for wood? And it's like, okay. I want to give it to you. The Bible is pretty crazy. There's some wild stuff in there. A dude gets swallowed by a whale and a three days later, he's like, there you go, right,

where you wanted to go. What are we talking to? This is like, you just read that and the people are like, I've got some questions about my faith and you're like, you better believe God. The devil is alive. It's like, yo, you've never thought about it. That's why you ain't got no questions. You just like, yeah, my mama believed it. I believed it. You ain't never read the book. You get to Genesis 6 and the sons of God, these angels are falling out the sky, they're sleeping with people, they're making giants. Hercules was a real person. The Bible will be saying it. This is... Okay. Y'all going to think I'm crazy. But here's the thing about the crazy things in the miracles of the Bible. The more we live, the more scientists are having to deal with some of their scientific methods because the earth is starting to show up with some proof that God has always been God. Let me show you something that I've known for a while, but there were some big movements in this week and you're going to think this is crazy. So the Bible in Genesis, it tells us that Noah's ark, it came to rest on Mount Arad. This is a place in terms of the real thing. This is why you know the Bible is not just like a mythical book, but it's actually historical. There are actual locations. You can read other history books and they're writing about the children of Israel and the God of Yahweh. This is not some ethereal faith, like floaty butterfly thing. This is actually historical facts. So the Bible tells us in Genesis that Noah's ark came to rest on Mount Arad. You got to picture Mount Arad. This is the mountain that the Bible says that So good luck explaining that to four kids But years ago someone was walking in Mount Arrat right at the foot of this mountain And if you could go to that next picture they saw this figure that they started questioning what it what it was they saw this They're like that's such a weird rock shape. Why would that be there? And then someone was reading the Bible and they realized Oh, it said that Noah's art came to rest on Mount Arrat and it said that Noah's ark was three hundred cubits Which is five hundred and fifteen feet and then they measured it and it's exactly Five hundred and fifteen feet and then they drilled into the ground and found different Compartments that were segmented and tons of acacia wood randomly in this part of the city where it's never been before I Some of you are like I don't even he probably chat GPT that picture You have chat GPT a lot of pictures. We see you on Instagram anyways Oh, man, I'm so sorry, but

Here's what I'm saying As time of the development was on Friday They got clearance to start drilling into the camp. They have done whole 3d scans of this and it is a massive boat Buried underground exactly where the Bible said Noah's art came to rest So I get it Noah's art sounds crazy I can't get four kids in the car much less two by two of every animal It's crazy, and what are you gonna do about that? Explain that to me Explain to me why we have more historical copies of the Bible than every other ancient Manuscript ever written we have more history about Jesus than we do Caesar then we do the Odyssey then we do Abraham Lincoln We have more written confirmed documents of Jesus And all I'm saying is you can wrestle on the science side You can wrestle on the faith side, but God still does miracles He does stuff nobody can explain he does stuff that no money can do he does stuff that a doctor can't do He does stuff that nobody else can do and this is why he's worthy of worship I refuse to build a theology where I have more faith in what's in the book than what can show up in my life I pray to him because I think he can actually change my heart I worship him because I've seen things happen and nobody could explain I've seen too much for myself not to be convinced of him I gotta tell you this story and it's about to get tested only time And don't worry I'll have you out of here on time because I can get through my sermon quick But I was eight years old racing BMX and I crashed cracked my shoulder blade all the way down We went to the doctor's office. They put the scan on the screen bam. There's a crack all the way down Then we're sitting in bed late two days later I'm sitting on the end of my parents bed and of course I told you I grew up in a churchy house So there's some man on the screen praying in tongues right back. I tell y'all talk and I'm watching the screen And all of a sudden he says somebody is watching this right now, and you've got a cracked shoulder blade and God's gonna heal you Now some of you are like this is ridiculous. You go ask my mama go ask anybody you want to I am not lying

I'm eight years old. Why would I lie about this? That didn't make me look cool. It makes me look weird So why would you lie about something that makes you lame anyways? I'm watching it. I have my hand in a whole cast situation Cuz I said I'll be and I'm watching it and I turn around to my mom and dad. I go mom dad He's talking about me. I feel like mom. He's talking about me and my mom and they're like stop moving stop I'm like no no no. He said somebody was watching and the shoulder blade was caught and he talked about me No line. I promise on everything we go to the doctor that night They put the picture of oh two days ago up and the picture right there. There is no crack. It is perfectly healed. God does miracles I've seen it with my own eyes And you will rob yourself of a beautiful life if you limit your life to what you've seen This is why the church is so powerful because you can get up in here and maybe you ain't seen it But the person next to you has seen it. I Gotta tell you this a couple weeks ago My friends Brie and Aaron went up one here and Brie was doing a transition and Aaron was singing and there was a moment where they looked At each other and they were worshiping God and that seems like a small moment until you realize what they've been through These are people who lost their child and are on stage singing to that God about Get out of here, God don't do miracles. Can't no money do that. Can't no counseling do that. God did that. He still does miracles. (congregation cheering) I'm not saying it's not hard to believe. I'm not saying it's crazy, but let me tell you friend, we're past crazy. You're talking about what's crazy? The world is crazy. Instagram is crazy. Your kids are crazy.

And all of a sudden you wanna get to the Bible and be like, I don't know about that. It seems a little weird. Your family is weird. So get like, what? We just don't use the same logic. Like we'll go to a boss and be like, yeah, we're gonna put you on a trajectory to really blah, blah, blah, blah, and you put all your faith in this boss of how the purpose of your life is gonna come to fruition because he's gonna see your gifts and promote you and give you a couple extra dollars. And that's how you know you're gonna make it. But then you read the Bible and God says, I have a plan for you to prosper you, not to harm you. And you're like, I don't know, I don't know if he can do it. What? I'm just telling you, man, if he doesn't do miracles, what are we doing in here? If he can't help you with that anxiety, why are we in here? If your marriage is on the rocks and he can't restore it, what are we doing? I don't wanna rob you of that, but don't waste your time if you don't believe he can actually do miracles. It's the waste every time I know that's kind of harsh. Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't read your, all I am saying is if you are reading this

as something that is back in the past and stuck there, you're missing the point. The key claim of this book is that a 33-year-old Jewish guy died and then three days later got back up. It's a miracle that is the hinge point of our faith. And he still does them today. So I'm gonna walk you through Joshua chapter three and four, of five different, there's no real way to like, I was trying to think of a header, of like what these five points are. And like, you know, somebody who was trying to like, look cool or like sell you a class, would be like five ways to get your miracle. And that's just not, you can't get a miracle. You know, like it's not like a one plus one, two plus two, that's not the way it works. And I just wanna say that because even the idea of like a human who's only been alive for a couple of years on the planet, trying to explain an everlasting God and how he does supernatural miracles is kind of ridiculous in and of itself. But I'm gonna give you five things that are like ingredients. You know, like if you're gonna, I was sitting, I was writing the sermon in bed and I was talking to Abby, I said, babe, what do you need to make a cake? What do you make a cake with? And she's like, well, flour, you know, milk, egg, sugar, dip, stuff. And I was like, me telling you these five points,

it's kind of like a couple of eggs and some sugar, but the flour of this thing is that God is a supernatural, wonder-working God that does stuff that you can't explain and you can't calculate him into a formula. So I just wanna say this, 'cause some of y'all gonna go home be like, I did the five things and God did not change my husband, he's still ugly and he still looks ridiculous. (audience cheering) I was just a joke, calm down, no shots to your husband. Like, come on, man. I'm just saying, people do that. Like I did what you said and they didn't give me more money. It's like, that's not how it works, okay? These are just five different things. All right, we're gonna get to the Bible. Here we go. I think I gave the team this aisle, five movements to a miracle. So these are five different parts of five things. The first word you're gonna need and the first thing we see in the scripture is there is a start, there is a start. Everybody say start. The big thing I have to say here is miracles don't start with you, they start with God. Miracles do not start with you. It doesn't start with your good behavior. God doesn't do miracles for you

because you've done good things for him. So he gives you back a miracle. That's not how it works. That is the casino and you put some money and you get some stuff back. God is not Santa Claus. God is not a genie. You don't get three wishes. It starts because before you were in your mother's womb, before you were thinking about him, he was thinking about you and he chose to include you because that's how much he loves you. Miracles start with God. It always starts with him. This story, you open it up. God creates everything. He's the originator. Then there's this guy named Abraham that is not a follower of Jesus and is a part of a random people. And God just for some reason says, "I wanna talk to Abraham." Why? Because it always starts with God. And this is important because some people think that miracles are like this trade of good behavior. It's like you get out on parole and you get out early because I've done some good things. That's not how miracles happen because God starts them. The Bible says he's the author

and the finisher of our faith. All miracles start with God. it starts with his mercy, and I'm saying this to you because this is why you can't control God because he's the one who has the plan. Miracles start with God, and in Joshua three, it starts that way. We've been talking about this, but Joshua, he's like the second in command of the children of Israel. Moses dies, God comes to him and says, "Hey, yo, you're up, bruh, you up?" The first, this is that I was watching college football and it's like when people get hurt and the second string that was never planning on being in, they up. This is what happens to Joshua. Why? Because God had a plan for Joshua. God knew there was something in him, and here's what I'm telling you today. God has a plan for your life. He cares about you. You matter to him, and not because of what you do, not because you're such a good person, but because you're his. Miracles start with God. Now, we're gonna go to the next one. The next thing that happens is a miracle, is there's always a step. There's always a step.

So in Joshua three, paint the scene, there's a promised land. And in between the promised land and God's people, there's a massive river. And the Bible is so gangster because it includes this detail. It says that the river banks were overflowing, which is to paint the picture that this is the most inopportune time to cross the river. This is not like that thing they call a river. We got down on Riverside here in Tulsa. It's the halfway, come on. They backed it up a couple years ago, so we feel good and we could be in there with boats. But it's like, you go one mile down. It's like, you can walk across right there, there you go. (congregation laughing) Overflowing river. Now, this is so interesting because the children of Israel have seen God split waters before. This isn't their first time at a river they gotta go across. The last time, in fact, it wasn't a river, it was a sea. Moses, he's there, the children Israel leading Egypt. He takes his staff, he holds it up. You've seen the movie, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. See, it's testing how Christian you are. But he puts his staff out, bam, the water splits. They walk across on dry grain, which another thing, fun fact.

I'm so much like my son Arlo, I got so many fun facts, it's ridiculous. At the bottom of the Red Sea, guess what they find down there? Egyptian chariots. Go look it up for yourself, bro. I'm not messing with you, and you can argue with your mama. Go chat GPT right now. (congregation laughing) It's real, this book is real. But this is their second time at the water. And in the last miracle that they were against water, one man just had to stick out the stick. But in this one, the instructions are very different. It says you have to get the Ark of the Covenant, which the Ark of the Covenant pastor Michael did an incredible job teaching on this last week. It is the presence of God. And what they says is the priest have to step into the water. And there are some miracles where you don't just get to point your hand at it. You have to be the one to actually step. There are some miracles where you can just lay your hands and sing your prayers, but there are some miracles God doesn't start until you step. There are some stuff that you have to put your foot where you say your faith is. You have to actually step out.

You have to actually look crazy for a second. You have to actually say, "I really believe that he can do this, "so I'm gonna start the company "even though we ain't got no money." Well, that don't make sense. That's what you didn't go to school for. I know it don't make sense. That's why I'm stepping out. I know it looks crazy, but there are some miracles friend. I'm telling you, you're gonna have to step. And there are some, maybe early in your faith, you just had to stretch your hand. And then you start thinking, "What's wrong with me?" "I'm not praying enough. "I've stretched my hand." And this time God's saying, "No, no, no, you can stretch your hand, that's fine." But this time I need you to step. This time I need you to, it's gonna feel weird, it's gonna feel uncomfortable. But I'm not good enough, but I'm not qualified. But what if he doesn't work? No, no, no friend, there's some stuff you only find out. When you step. Everybody makes fun of Peter because he fell in the water. You know, he's walking on water.

Jesus calls him out. But how many times, raise your hand if you walked on water. That's what I'm talking about. I love you. Everybody wanna talk about it, but you ain't never stepped. He's the only one who had the faith to say, okay? All right, you can come out there on a, okay. Hold on, let me, okay, let me. Hold on, I'm coming, just give me a... There's always gonna be a little awkward part of when you're trying to step out in faith. There's always gonna be a part where it feels a little uncomfortable, where you look, and if you don't look crazy, you probably ain't doing it, right? And I have this successful business. But I feel like God's called me to start this little thing. Because, and it doesn't make any sense, I'm gonna lose money doing it. Okay, okay. My friend has this saying, he says, "Follow the nausea." And that's just something where I it's like, if I feel a little uncomfortable, that's how I know. I'm gonna need God to get out here. I'm asking him to do some stuff that ain't on my resume, that ain't in a plan. I need him to show up in a supernatural way. So here's my question, where do you need to step? I don't know what your step is.

I know what my step is, but I can't tell you your step. And this is why you gotta read the Bible for yourself. And this is why you gotta worship for yourself. I'm so glad you're here and also watching online, but I may not have your step. You got a book for yourself. And you can open up this thing Tuesday on your lunch break. And God just said, I want you to step out and go pray for that person next to you at lunch. God, I don't want to be a weird Christian. I don't even know if they believe. I don't know, you have no idea. That last night they were like, God, if you are real, please. If you could do anything, if you would just show me somehow that somebody cares about me, that somebody sees me, and God is trying to get you to step. And it's gonna feel weird, it's gonna be crazy. But the Bible says that they step into the river with the Ark of the Covenant. And here's the second one, this is where I love the Bible. It says, the next one you gotta write down is you gotta start, you gotta step, and then you gotta stay. Here's what the Bible says, here's what the Bible says, here's what the Bible says. The last time they stepped into water, the Bible says it, bam, shot up like a wall. That's not what it says in this one. What it says in this one is that in Adam, the water, okay, I gotta go read to you, I gotta read to you, 'cause okay, let me read it, let me read it, where we at?

This is what the Bible says. It says where we at, but as soon as the feet of the priest who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance at a town called Adam. Now, I know you didn't do the research, I did the research, that's why I'm here to help you. Adam is 18 miles away. You gotta think about it, they step in the water. (audience chattering) The y'all, we supposed to, Joshua, we supposed to, okay. And 18 miles away, water is starting to stack up like a wall. 18 miles away, it says the water stopped and began backing up and then it all began to drain towards the Dead Sea, which means if you are going to see a miracle, there's some stuff you go have to step and then it's gonna take some trust to stay long enough until the miracle hits you. And there's a lot of miracles, we short change because we say stuff like, God, I did it, where you at? But you have no idea. Here's the beautiful thing. Oh, thank you, Jesus, because this means that the children of Israel weren't the only ones to see a miraculous thing happen that day. There were some people in Adam that were thinking, what in the world is going on? Oh, I ain't never seen nothing like this. It has nothing to do with you. Sometimes God is doing a miracle that you have to stay

long enough 'cause there's a lot of other people He's trying to help. There's a lot of other people He's trying to show Himself to. There's a lot of other people He's trying to say, I care about you, I care about you, and I care about you. You go have to step, but you go have to stay long enough. 18 miles, I don't know how long that takes, but it wasn't five seconds. They stepped and they had to stay long enough. And I wish I could tell you that all miracles happened when you prayed at the altar and you walked out and you were flying, it don't work that way. I wish it did. I can feel it, man, it's so tough sometimes. We'll be down here at the altar and I've prayed for people and I can tell they're coming up, they're like, would you just pray for me? And I'm praying and I know God can do a miracle. And I know there's been times in my life where He met me so quick. I couldn't explain it, but I also know. There's been times where it felt like, God, where are you at? I stepped out here. You said, if I would do this, you would be with me and I am knee high in water and I look ridiculous. Where are you at? And no people don't want to talk like that, but you say it under your breath and that's why you don't lift your hands in worship.

And that's why you've got questions because the truth is sometimes you step and nothing moves at first. And we got to talk about this because so many people deconstruct their faith and walk away from God because someone told them, oh yeah, you did this one thing tomorrow. I promise you, everything will be better. And they did it and guess what? We got to acknowledge the reality. I did the thing. I stepped out and I'm out here. And the business is losing money. God is not afraid of your questions, friend. Church people might be. Your small group leader might be. Your mom and dad might be. But God is not afraid of your questions. Sometimes you got to step out there and you got to stay. Because you have no idea. When you'll be standing on dry ground. Sometimes it takes time. And nobody told me that. I thought miracles were like, "Fad up, bad!" And it was just like, "Wow, everything's great." And I woke up and me and my wife were fighting. No, you can pray at the altar and wake up and give them the fight tomorrow. But that doesn't mean that 18 miles away. God is not starting to soften their heart.

It doesn't mean that God's not starting to change those lies that have been in their mind. It doesn't mean that God's not working on it slowly. It may take some time. And believe us, we get frustrated because we think it's only a miracle if it happens just like that. And some stuff does happen just like that. Let me tell you, I've seen him do it. And sometimes 18 miles away. And it's just like, "Man, I don't know when he's going to do it." But here's the next thing about a miracle that's crazy. Because eventually the water dries up. And this is where I'm like, "Oh, dang, that's dope. That's so cool. You've got to start. You step and you stay." But then the Bible says, "The priests have the Ark of the Covenant, which should jog your memory, has two tablets, stone, with the Ten Commandments written on them. And something tells me they're not light." It's a solid gold box with stones, a staff, and mena. And here's the part that got me. They have to stand there while two million people walk across this dry water. And this one is not about faith. It's not about trust. It's about endurance. It has nothing to do with it. I know you have faith because I saw you step. I know you trust him because for a while it didn't work. But some of our testimonies have fallen short because you never finished.

You didn't have the endurance to be at the finish line having done what he asked you to do. In some miracles you're going to have to stand for a long time. You're going to have to watch other people walk by and you're going to have to stay strong. You're going to have to watch your kids walk by and you're going to have to stay strong. And this is what we know about the Levitical priests. There are four of them. And this is why it's beautiful. It's why the Bible says two are better than one. This is why tribes are not just a graphic. You should actually have friends because when you're standing out there doing what God told you to do, you're going to get tired. And you're going to say, "Man, I don't want to do this no more. And I don't want to stay married no more. And I don't want to keep following God no more." And you need somebody that's on the other corner that's saying, "Bro, come on, man. We out here. These other people are waiting on us. They need us. Man, I don't know if I can do it. I'm getting tired. Here, let's rotate. Just turn a little bit. I'll help you. Okay. You hold on to me. This is why you need people. And there are some miracles in your life that is amazing, that it happened, but now you've got to stay. And now you've got to stand. It's beautiful to see the miracle of how God brought you all together. But building a life and a marriage is a lot of standing.

It's a lot of endurance. And it's a miracle that you find your person. We celebrate. You get engaged. You have like four parties and four months. And you all get married. And then nobody's throwing parties. That's where you get your party to engage with. A party for the wedding. A party maybe for the one year. If you're special. And then it's like, "Okay, cool. We'll see y'all." And nobody tells you marriage a lot of times. It's just like, "Whoo!" You got it? Man, I can't stand these kids. No, baby, I'm playing. I love you. Whoo! I can't stand them though. And this is what happens. I'll say this to you. Because whenever you get tired. You're easily agitated. So this is why people start just bickering in their marriages and why you start not liking your job. It was a miracle God gave you that job. You prayed so hard for that job. You prayed.

You was in 21 days praying and fasting. Laid out on your stomach. You had 10 journals talking about God met me. you're standing and you're tired don't forget this is still a miracle this is still a miracle that you are even out here I know you're tired I know it's frustrating I know you're wondering if you're gonna get the job I know you've been working really hard and you have no control over the outcome let me remind you friend it's still a miracle how much time I got left nine minutes and 23 seconds perfect all right miracles start with God then you're gonna have to step you're gonna have to stay you're gonna have to stand and the last one we read it at the very end so gangster something is gonna be a part of the miracle is stones stones now I'm not talking about stones like getting like people throwing stones at you like opposition because I know some of y'all yeah the haters gonna hate on no calm down the Bible says everybody walks through and the miracles done but at the same time it's not because the miracles not over until you get the proof that you went through it so the Bible says the priests are standing there and they're holding the thing and everybody walks through and they're like yo Joshua we good and Joshua says wait a second and he picks 12 men from each try and he says here what you're gonna do you're gonna go back in where the ground is dry and where would usually be the bottom of the lake and I want you to get 12 stones each of you get one stone and you're gonna bring it out because what we're gonna do is we're gonna get these stones from the bottom and we're gonna make a memorial so that when our kids pass by this place and they say dad why are them stones stacked up there they'll say oh baby there's this one time where God met us and we didn't know how he was gonna get out but he he started backing up the water and here's when the miracles over the miracles over when you go back and get what you were supposed to get from the bottom this is why and I'm starting to get excited I got to calm down and make sure I say it right this is why I talked to some people and people will ask me like Charles you seem very confident and you

seem like you're really sure of yourself I say I wasn't always but I got this confidence at the bottom of a dry river bed and if you wanted it you couldn't go back and get it for yourself because it's covered up with water now you're gonna have to go by yourself you couldn't get this if you wanted it not because God's not hanging out but I walked through my own river and I got it myself and here's what I'm saying friend if you don't get the stones from the miracles you have no fuel to believe he can do it again you have no proof to believe that God can do what he's already done so God instructs them before this river feels back up and the peace you needed the strength you needed the identity you needed the security you needed some of you and this is the beautiful thing because we describe seasons of our life as dry seasons dry seasons are where you get stones friend dry seasons are where you find out who you are dry seasons are where you figure out who your friends are dry seasons where you figure out what you're building your life on dry seasons are where you figure out what you gonna give this kid that God gave you dry seasons or where you find out what you're made of don't despise the dry season because it also might be proof that a miracle happened and there's water standing up on both sides and so if God sends you back into a dry season maybe saying I'm not punishing you I'm making sure you get your proof they get the stones and they walk out and they form this memorial and it acts as a moment to make sure they don't ever forget you wasn't gonna be able to get past that river yourself and here's the beautiful thing because some of them they've only heard stories of the Red Sea party think about it Egypt they come out of Egypt they go through the Red Sea it says to all the generations are disobedient so all their great grandfathers died they've heard stories that God can part waters but God says you gonna go this one yourself because I want you to have the stones to remember we're about to get out of here but keys and stuff y'all can play I this sermon I was thinking about this sermon and honestly because I've grown up in church it's just kind of weird to say but it's very easy to preach a sermon that is good but not helpful like there are

sermons where you're like yeah Like I grew up in a church where you run laps. Some of every 18th Sunday, we run laps here, but you missed it, just play. (audience laughing) I grew up watching my dad run laps. So it's just like, you come on, if God's brother just take off, just. (audience chattering) Just. (audience chattering) But I was thinking, I was like, I don't want people just having like, okay, I gotta step, I gotta stay, I gotta start, I gotta, okay, I see they all start with the ST, I see what you're doing, okay, just get the, I wanted it to be real and helpful. And I was talking to my friend, and I was thinking about stones. And stones can be different for everybody. I don't know what your stones are, I know what mine are. I know sometimes pictures in my phone act as stones. There's sometimes I've scrolled back in my camera roll. I remember how I was feeling, and nobody can see it, but I can, I can see it. This one might be getting me canceled by the religious people I love you, but for me, it's gonna be like, I have tattoos and sometimes some of my tattoos are stones.

I gotta tattoo on my arm that says ACE, and that's a stone for me to remind me that God, God can do anything, but I was this week, no life. I was going through my wallet and I found a stone. And it's this little piece of paper that my friend Aaron gave me, and it says, "You can call me right now." And I told the story a billion times, but I was really depressed, like not wanna be here. Kinda depressed, and one night I was having a panic attack, and it was lasting for like hours. And I was shaking and couldn't catch my breath, and I just fell asleep, and I woke up at three in the morning and all my friends were in my room. And it was so embarrassing, if I'm honest with you, because I wanted them to think that I was this guy. But I was curled up in my room, shaking, having panic attacks, and depressed and trying to fight to live. And they all started writing these little notes, and they wrote probably like a hundred of 'em, and they just stuck 'em all over my house. And it was like months and months and months later, and I was doing a lot better. And I opened up my coke closet, and in the back of my coke closet was this note. And I keep this in my wallet, and actually my wife,

she, after we kinda, things got better, and we started working through stuff, she got all the notes. And she put 'em in this frame, and this hangs in my bathroom right next to my sink. And there's a lot of days that I looked at these of just a reminder that God still does miracles. And all I'm saying is I just want you to have your own stones. I just want you to have your own proof that like, I know, I get it, like miracles are crazy, God is crazy, there's a lot of questions in life, and maybe you're trying to figure out your faith, and I'm like, I don't know about this. And all I'm saying is, if you would let him, he'll give you some stones, he'll give you proof. This is my proof, this is why when I get up and sing, I know who I'm singing to. This is why when I'm screaming, yelling, and preaching, and thinking, am I crazy? I think I'm a little crazy, I might be just a touch. Crazy, but then I'm like, no, you good, bro. Like, it's because I know what it feels like to have no hope, none, none. I know what it is to feel like there is no reason for me to be right here right now. I have nothing, and I can't do it, and I'm so tired, and I have nothing to give. And I know what it is to find out who I am and who God is. At the bottom of a river, babe, and all I'm saying is,

I know it's dry, I know it's weird, I know there might be other people around you who feel like they're doing fine, but it's not, but I promise you, I promise you, I promise you, God still does miracles. He can do stuff that you cannot explain. Everybody take a deep breath in. Breathe out. You know how much of a miracle that is? I could nerd out. Me and my son are both nerds we love. I did all the research to figure out how quick a deep breath happens and the billions amount of things that are coordinated at the same time for you to take that breath. It's a miracle. You know, the fact that you're still here, not just that you're breathing, but that you're like, you're still here, you're not perfect. But after what you went through, the family you grew up in, the neighborhood you're from, and you're trying to talk to me, you don't know if God does miracles. Look in the mirror, friend, you are a miracle. And all I'm saying, we can get out of here. Everybody, stand to your feet, we about to get out of here. All I'm saying is... We about to get out of here in two minutes, all I'm saying is, is if there's some area of your life where you've got questions, if there's some area of your life where you need to show up supernaturally, there's a story in the Bible where there's a woman at a well. And Jesus meets her and she runs back into her town and says, "Come meet a man." And all I'm saying to you is, I kind of feel like that one where I'm saying, "Hey, like, I know you have an experience, maybe the miracle, but I know somebody who can do something you can't believe of. And if you need a miracle today, I'm talking any type of miracle. Maybe it's physical, maybe there's something going on in your body. You've gotten a doctor's report.

Maybe you're trying to have a baby and they said you can't. Maybe it's something they try to diagnose you with something and say that you'll always have this thing. And let me say this real quick, this is just my last rant, I think. A little note, I have friends who dedicate their life and went to school to become doctors because they love people and they want to take care of people. And sometimes church people, when we pray for miracles, we'd be like inadvertently cooking doctors. Like, I don't care what that doctor, we don't, we ain't got no doctors, the great physician, wait, okay? What if God spoke to the doctor and gave them the knowledge to help you? So, like, faith isn't being ignorant of the facts. I just want to say that, we do serve the great physician and I have friends that love Jesus and they became doctors because they wanted to be like the great physician. So, we can't be like stupid doctors. It's like, what, what, medicine? So, I just had to get that out because I had the mic. Okay. I want to ask that writer guys and close your eyes. And I'm going to pray for you. And here's the thing, this is the best part. It's going to be a super natural prayer. Super natural. And what I mean by that is if you need a miracle in any regard of your life, maybe you just put your hands in a posture like to receive or just to focus, close your eyes. And I'm just going to pray that the God who does miracles, Jesus, would meet you right where you are, whatever it is you need.

If you need provision, if you need healing, if you need faith, maybe you're struggling with your faith. Like, I don't even know if I mess with God. Perfect. The greatest miracle of all time is you becoming aware of the creator of the universe and accepting his grace. God, right now, I am praying to the God of miracles. I believe you and I know it and I've seen it. God, you can do miracles. And I pray for everyone right now under the sound of my voice, that you would meet them in such a way that the miracle, whether it's of your presence, the miracle of an answered prayer, the miracle of a marriage taking a step, the miracle of finding security, the miracle of finding peace. I speak whatever they need, I pray I am, would meet them right where they are. God, we believe you can do miracles. We believe you're a wonder-working God that you can do. And I pray this week, Lord Jesus, that you would show us the tiny miracles that we skip over every single day. the miracle of the friendships we have, the miracle of the job you've given us, the miracle to look out at a sunset and see your mercy and your grace. God help us to see your miracles and to believe that you can do miracles again. Every head bowed, every single eye closed. If you're in this room and you have never experienced the miracle, that is salvation. There's a lot of bad news in the world, friend, but no matter how bad the bad news gets,

the good news gets even better. And the good news is there's a God who is real and he loves you. And the pain you're going through is a result of our own doing. The Bible calls it sin, it means to miss the mark. What it says is we all make mistakes that hurt ourselves. And when we do that, that separates us from God. But Jesus, he lived a sinless and perfect life so that you could accept his grace. It's not performance, it's not doing good things. It is a free gift from God that can only be accepted. And when you accept that grace, it changes your life. Your eternity is secure in heaven and your life is transformed on earth. And if you found the end of your rope, if you are at the end of yourself, you've tried it all, you've done it all and you are realizing I need help. I'm not smart enough to raise these kids by myself. I'm not confident enough to run this business by myself. If you need a savior, I wanna introduce you to the only one who is true and tested time after time. He's the God who was, the God who is, and the God who is to come, and his name is Jesus. And if you wanna accept Jesus as your Lord and savior, here's what we're gonna do. Every single head bowed, every single eyes closed for the privacy and for the beauty of this moment. If you are in this room or you're watching online and you wanna accept Jesus as your Lord and savior,

I'm on count of three. And on the count of three, you're gonna raise your hand. And when you raise your hand, it is you solidifying on the outside what God is doing on the inside. This is not that you gotta raise your hand to be saved, but you do have to show your body. Hey, we're making a new decision today and we don't run the show. We're giving our life to Jesus. And I'm gonna count to three and I believe in this room. There's a couple of people you know it to you. Don't even argue with it, quit fighting with it. There's a voice trying to tell you this ain't you. It is you, you know it. This is your moment. One, God loves you too. Today is the day of salvation. Don't wait another day. Three, right now, all over this room, I want you to raise your hand. Come on, raise your hand. I see you, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you. I got you right here. I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you, so proud of you. I see you up there, my God, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. I'm so proud of you.

Hey, listen, everybody, if you just raised your hand out loud, we're all gonna pray this prayer together. I want everybody to say, Dear God, I love you. I admit, I am not perfect. I need you. I give my life to you. I will follow you all the days of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Hey, can we cheer and celebrate for the people who just made that choice? (congregation cheering) Hey, that's the best choice you can ever make. I'm so proud of you. You did just make that choice. If you text the word save to 8-2-8-2-8-2, it's a phone number, they'll put it on the screen. We just wanna send you some stuff to help you follow Jesus. Listen, we love you so much. Our worship team is gonna sing. If you wanna stay in worship, you can. We're gonna have some people up here at the front and in the back that if you need prayer for anything for a miracle, we would love to pray with you. Hey, listen, I think the team already said it. Make sure you grab your tickets for conference. Make sure you come back next week. It's gonna be beautiful. I'm gonna pray for you. Lord, I pray they have a blessed week.

We thank you that you are the God of miracles. And I pray that you will meet us like never before. We love you so much in the name of Jesus we pray. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen. (bell ringing) Thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]