You Can Change The End

I do have a word from the Lord today. I want to share with you today and pick right up from where we left off last week standing at the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his chariots are behind us, and an impossible-looking obstacle is in front of us. Last week I preached a message called It Still Works. I said that I was referring to the rod, the stick, the staff that Moses held in his hand. I was sharing just as we closed and we ran out of time how he had seen that the stick could turn into a snake when he threw it on the ground, but he was about to find out that it'll work in water too. My message to you was don't be afraid when you face a new challenge, because what God gave you back then is good enough to get you through this too. I do want to encourage somebody today. You'll get through this too. You've been through a lot of things, and you'll get through this too, but I want to get much more specific today. I'm going to share from Exodus, chapter 14, verses 10-16, and then one more verse as well. I'll give you the title in just a moment, but read with me here. The people of God are looking forward to a brand-new beginning. God has sent them a deliverer named Moses. He has unleashed ten plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptian households. God's people are no sooner out of Egypt than Egypt starts trying to get back into them. I have found out that it's one thing for you to let Pharaoh go. It's another thing for Pharaoh to let you go. Sometimes Pharaoh lets you go, and you still don't let him go. Sometimes God sets you free from something, but it has an effect in your life. You're thinking, Man, I thought I was starting over. I thought this was a fresh beginning for me. Just as they are moving forward into their fresh beginning as the people of God and staring

at the Red Sea, they hear a familiar sound of the chariots of the armies of Pharaoh. Watch their response in verse 10. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. That verse, verse 14, is complicated, because half of it is correct and half of it is misleading. The Lord will fight for you, but that second part, you need only to be still. The Lord speaks up and corrects it in verse 15. Now listen to this verse, because this is the hinge for my message. Then the Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff. Touch your neighbor and say, It still works. It still works. Raise your staff, the same staff that worked with the sheep, the same staff that turned into a snake, the same staff that turned the Nile into blood, the same staff that called down hail from heaven. That same staff. Raise it now and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Now drop down, please, to verse 21 and 22. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. What a story. One more verse. Romans, chapter 8, verse 31. You're going to like this one. You're going to be tempted to get a tattoo of this one. Ask your parents first, though. You might want to set your alarm to 8.31 a.m. tomorrow morning so you can remember this one when the alarm goes off. See what you think about this verse. What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? I don't know where you're at in this story. I don't know what chapter you're stuck in, but the title of my message is You Can Change the End. You can change the end. I don't know how much time you've wasted, but you can change the end. I don't know if you like what it looks like today, but you can change the end. I don't know if you've been a good Christian in high school, but you can change the end. You can change the end. Father, give us faith to receive the impartation of your Word. In Jesus' name, amen. Touch three people. Say, change it, on your way to your seat, because you can change the end. You can change the end. Boy, what a thought.

You can change the end. Because a fresh start is technically impossible. I know we all want one. I know we may need one, but the experiences of your past don't evaporate as you move into your future. You know that. You know that. It doesn't keep us from praying. God, just give me a reset, like if it was a video game. Just go back and do that again. You can't really have a fresh start, but what I want to try to show you today practically is that you can't get a fresh start, but you can take a forward step. We have three responses, essentially, in this passage I just read you to an impossible obstacle. I'll break them down for you as we begin. The first response is the response of God's people. Their response, to be summed up in two words, is, it's over. We've only been free for a few days, and here comes Pharaoh to drag us back, and it's over. That's their response. Not only are they responding, it's over, with desperation, but their desperation leads to anger with Moses, specifically because they are afraid they get angry. The anger is a response to the fear, because rather than just feel the fear and move forward, they stop in a place to place blame on the person whose fault they think it is. Any time you see someone who is angry, including yourself, ask the question, what are they afraid of? Because the anger is usually a masquerade for the fact that they're afraid. That's the response of God's people. It's over, and they're afraid. They start doing revisionist history. Moses, we told you to leave us alone. No, you didn't.

You begged him to bring you out. We told you we were better off in Egypt. No, you didn't tell us you were better off in Egypt. You're adding that part back. I found out that oftentimes our version of the past is just as imaginary as our version of the future. We go back through things, especially when we're feeling paralyzed, and we project things onto the past that never happened. That's the situation with God's people. Everybody say, It's over. Put it in the chat. It's over. That's their response. Response number two is Moses, and Moses is trying to bring some calm. He's like breathing everybody, box breathing everybody, four in, hold it four, four out, downward dog, upward dog. Whatever y'all need to do to chill out, be still. God's got this. He's saying the thing that it would be appropriate for a leader to say in this situation. His response is, Stand still. But there's a third response in the passage that we want to talk about for a few moments today, and I want to apply directly to your life and the situations you're facing that seem impossible, and the past is threatening to drag you back, and it looks like it's over. God's response says, Move on. There are three responses for us to consider here today. One is desperation followed by fear, and then manifesting in anger. It's over. The second one is the response of Moses, where he says, Stand still. God's going to do it. It's going to be fine.

Then the third one is God's response, and spoiler alert, God's right and Moses is wrong. I wish I could teach a leadership session off of this text because I would really love to. I think it's an appropriate thing to teach as a leader, for those who work closely with me especially. I always train this. I say, Big doors swing on little hinges. I didn't make that up, but I say it all the time. I'm trying to get them to understand when I say that to them. You may think this really doesn't matter. but big doors swing on little hinges. It matters to me how we run our eKids ministry. If they feed your kid a rotten animal cracker and they get sick in the emergency room or something like that and you sue the church, or if they choke back there, that could be a big door to a lawsuit that swings on a little hinge. So, I'm like, let's be safe in the children's ministry. Even little things. I mess up things sometimes, and I have to tell myself, you know, slow down, because big doors swing on little hinges. In the case of Moses, you might ask the question when God gives him the command to stretch out his staff over the sea, what good is something so small stretched over something so big? How could something as small as a stick affect something as big as a sea? Well, big doors swing on little hinges. Or you might say, big seas open with little sticks. That would be a good leadership sermon. Even just the other week… I didn't tell you this yet, LJ, but I messed up. I texted Tiffany that I wanted her to do her new song, and I wanted her and Daveed to sing it. When I sent the text, I said, We need to try it in church one Sunday. This was on a Saturday night, and I wasn't going to be at church the next day. I was off that weekend. So, I texted her. I said, Hey, we need to do that in church. We haven't done it in church yet. We need to do it in church one Sunday. Well, I turned on church online, and they were doing it the next day. I thought, Wow, what a turnaround time. What an inspiring, motivational leader I am. They did it that quick. I mean, I thought maybe they would get everybody ready and let the band rehearse. They turned that thing around quick. I thought, Well, that's kind of strange. They should have given the band more

time to learn it and maybe the singers and everything like that. So, I pulled back up the text, and I said, Man, why was Tiffany so overeager? We didn't have to do it within 12 hours. We could have done it next week or something like that. I pulled back up the text that said, We need to do it one Sunday. Or so I thought I texted, but what I actually texted was on Sunday. So, big inconvenience for them because of one letter for me. Now everybody is scrambling to learn a song. I didn't mean we have to do it tomorrow, but one letter. One word. Just one word. Now everybody is having to pull out chord charts. You have to understand that big doors swing on little hinges. Good marriages die by little eye rolls. Big problems, big addictions begin with little curiosities. By the same token, great joy can erupt from small praise. And by the same token, just a small decision, the smallest decision you make can be a hinge to the biggest event. I prove it to you from this, the Exodus narrative. Exodus means exit. This is to be the defining, distinguishing miracle of the people of God for centuries to come. It starts with a stick, because big doors swing on little hinges. But it matters in this moment for Moses, what response will you give when the results are not under your control? This is the separation we have to make for the decisions of our life too. When God corrects Moses in this passage, because the people are crying out and asking him to do something about their enemy, and he says that what you have in your hand is enough for what I've called you to do next… Remember, something as small as a stick, little hinges, something as big as a C, big door. What is that picture for you today? I need you to stop and think about it so we don't dislocate our application by going back into the past of the history of the text and realizing you yourself are standing at hinge moments every day. That's what I call them, hinge moments. It's the moment where you decide, go back, go forward, stand still. It's the moment where you decide, continue to blame and become more and more bitter or forgive and be set free for my future. It's a hinge moment. You say, well, it's not that big of a deal. It is a big deal, because the smallest of offenses can become the most unforgiving prisons, and it matters what you do in this moment. Moses

The children of Israel have a perspective on this miracle we do not have, because they had to respond in real time. This is the challenge, not that we would respond to God's goodness with praise on Sunday. My goal for you when you leave this sermon today and every Sunday is that your real-time response would reflect what God spoke to you in the service. That means that when you get bumped by life, the word you receive from God comes out of you instead of the other stuff, because there is some other stuff that comes out of us. I got an encouraging testimony from Lindsay, who serves on our staff. Thank you for the message you preached last week. It really helped me. You talked about how sometimes you have to do it doubting, and the Lord really confirmed something for me. I said, Well, what was it, if you don't mind me asking? She said, I have been feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities that my boss, who is Chad, and he's also here today, has been asking me to fulfill. She was texting me this. She was saying, I've been feeling overwhelmed because he's been asking me to step up, and I have been shrinking back. Not only does she have a very young and growing family, but she said, I was comparing myself to the other leaders and how they did it. I was comparing myself to people who I think are more confident, but the Lord really spoke to me that I need to step up in my area of responsibility, and he used the word you preached to confirm that. She was thanking me for the word, and then I started thanking her for her thank you. I'll tell you why. I said, Lindsay, thank you so much for this text. It's so refreshing. Do you know how many times I've preached sermons and people have used them as an excuse not to step up in responsibility but to bail out on their responsibility? I remember one time there was somebody who told me I was preaching about when the Israelites

left Egypt, and I was preaching specifically how they had to leave before the yeast had a chance to rise. They were listening to me preach, and what they took from that message was, God is calling me to quit my job. I don't have another one lined up. I don't have health insurance, and I have kids. My husband doesn't have a job. We don't have another thing to step into, but Pastor, when you said, Leave Egypt before the bread has time to rise, I just decided to quit. The organization they were quitting was Elevation Church. Now I'm thinking, Am I Pharaoh in this analogy? If you're going to play the whole thing out… Last time I checked, you were getting a check. This is not exactly a situation for you to escape. I texted Lindsay back something, and the Lord told me to put it in my sermon for you today. Beware of any word from God that pulls you toward an escape from reality rather than an embrace of responsibility. Shall I say it again? I want you to get this. Beware of any word from God, because we think we get a word from God. Beware of any interpretation of a word from God that pulls you toward an escape from reality rather than an embrace from responsibility, because sometimes we confuse freedom with relief. Sometimes we will believe God is saying something to us because it is what we have already decided we wanted to hear. Sometimes it is not the word of God. It is confirmation bias that makes us think we heard the Lord say something. But the Lord did not tell you to leave somebody you committed your life to. The Lord did not tell you to just hop around from church to church every time you get offended

by one person. The Lord wants you to stay long enough to learn how to work through an offense in the place where you are so you don't end up in the prison of always having to run from place to place. It is a good way to discern a word from God. Am I just trying to get out of something, or am I going toward something? If you don't even know what you're going toward, it may not be God's Word. It may just be your wish. Who among us doesn't want to escape a situation? But I have found that in many cases, by trying to escape a situation, you end up in a worse prison than you were in to begin with, because now you have imprisoned yourself to the flippant decision you made to walk away from something God was calling you to step up in. step up. We're always looking for God's Word to get us out of stuff. I'll give you another example. I really want to break this down. You're like, he's just fussing because people leave the church. No. I mean, you can leave if God tells you to leave. I'm just trying to get you not to leave things God has called you to be loyal to. There's a reason we love the Red Sea miracle. It's because they're getting out. We love that kind of story. We're getting out. Did you miss the fact they had to go through? And even when they got through, guess where they landed? The wilderness. Now you have to go through that. So, here's an example. I've heard so many sermons and preached many myself about how when people leave your life, it's just God getting you ready for the next level. You know that chickens can't fly with eagles, so tell them goodbye and go to the next level. I want to ask you a question. If every three weeks you need a message about everybody leaving your life, is there a leak in your life that is causing everybody to leave? Because if all we give you is an encouragement that God has somebody better and better and better, you will look beyond the people God put in front of you for the better one they tell you is coming. But even if God sends the better one, if you don't get better at relationships, they'll leave too. Now you're leaking the next relationship, because I'm going to the next level. You're not going to the next level. You are leaking love. So, it's important that you get this message so you get the right response in real time so you

can come to what looks like the end, and there can come seasons in your life where you think, "'It's totally over. I've totally blown it. This is it. I will never be happy again. I will never have joy again. My best is behind me.'" Now, if you've ever thought any of those thoughts in your life, wave at me so I don't stand up here in my purple shirt looking like Barney the Dinosaur all by myself. Wave at me. Here's the phrase. Put it on the board, please. The end. Okay, so let's act it out. Children of Israel. The Bible says they went out of Egypt marching boldly. I love that part. They were marching boldly until they heard something behind them. You know how you get all cocky while you're in church. Tell the Devil, you messed with the wrong one. But it's 6 p.m. tonight. God, why is the Devil picking on me? Now you go from, "'Bring it,' to, "'God, please get me out of this. God, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again, Lord.'" So, as they're leaving and they're moving toward a fresh start, remember? Then they hear a familiar sound, and they come to the end of the road. The end. We're going to die here. It's over. This is the end. This is it. It looked like that, and it feels like that. Can I be honest? There have been so many times in my ministry where I have thought my effectiveness and my relevance has seen its greatest season, and now I'm going down. There were times where people criticized me publicly, and I thought, I'll never recover from this. There have been times where I lost my own joy, and I thought, I don't know how I'm going to get it back to preach. I've been in seasons like this before, and it feels like the end. Moses' response is very tempting here. The people are like, "'It's over! The end!' Moses is like, "'Just be still!' God is like, "'You're going to die!' Graham said last week, "'Every Stephen Furtick sermon ends the same way. You're going to make it.'" So, I thought I'd change it up this week. You might not. Not if you don't respond right in this moment. I'm not saying you're automatically going to have a better tomorrow just because God is with you today. So, for the first time ever at Elevation Church, touch your neighbor and say, "'You might not make it.'" Stephen Furtick told you that. It's on a Stephen Furtick podcast. You might not make it. If they did what Moses said, they would have died, because you have to move on. You might not make it if you keep listening to all of the sad songs

and never listen to a happy one. You might not make it back next Sunday. If you keep feeding yourself all the stuff you've been feeding yourself… So, I thought I would uplift the people of God and edify the saints by telling you the message. You might not make it. It all depends on your response, because when you are standing at the end… Watch this. The end of the dream. The end of the vision. The end of the relationship. The end. The end. The end. There are so many unmentionable situations in this room today that are so deeply painful that if I said them right now, it would take you out of the rest of the sermon, because you'd go, "'That's me. That's where I'm standing. I am paralyzed. I'm like the people. I'm angry because I was afraid. I'm afraid because I'm desperate, because it looks like the end.'" Which is why verse 15 of Exodus 14 is the hinge of this entire lesson God has given us, where the Bible says, "'Then the Lord said to Moses…' That what you need for this next season is in the feet of the people moving forward into what looks like an impossible situation. Then the Lord said to Moses…" So, my announcement today is if you are standing at the end of something, standing looking at something that looks impossible for you to navigate, and you don't know how, the Lord said to tell you, "'You can change the end.'" Change it, Jared. You can change the end. Come on. Y'all have to do better than that. I worked on that. I worked like a dog to show you that. Go back and do it again. They missed it. I'm going to give you another chance. I know you woke up late. I know you put on those shoes that are half-sized too small. I know your throat hurts a little bit. You have that pollen thing going on. It hasn't been raining enough in Charlotte. I know you just weren't ready for it, but the Lord said, "'I know it looks bad. I know it looks dire. I know you feel desperate. I know you're kind of angry. I know they let you down. I know they walked away. I know it's been a rough night. I know it's been a rough year. I know it's been a rough season. I know they abused you. I know they left you. I know they abandoned you, but what I put in your hand…' When my word comes, change it, Jared. You can change the end, because then the Lord said to Moses, "'Move! Move! Jump to your neighbor and say, "'Move!' I'll give you a little push start. I'll give you a little jump start. Move! Move!" Come on. Shove five people so hard they get scared and say, "'Move!' because you might not make it if you don't move. But if you will take what's in your hand…" I said, if you will take what's in your hand,

it's good enough to get you through this too. Somebody take a step and say, "'Move!' Take a step and move. Take a step and move. Take a step and trust God. Take a step and pray about it. Take a step and praise him again. Take a step and raise that baby. Take a step and go back to the doctor and say, "'I'm going to do the treatment, but I trust God.'" Move! The people say, "'Why?' Moses says, "'Stand!' God said, "'Move!'' And you have to learn how to respond in real time. You might need to put this message that I preached, that one part, as your alarm at 8 31 tomorrow morning. Remember Romans 8 31. I don't know if y'all forgot it already. It's pretty powerful. The Romans 8 31 kind of is my whole message. What then… Justin, help us teach today. Circle the word then. What then shall we say in response to these things? He goes on to name them danger, pestilence, nakedness, famine, sword, trouble, anything you can name. Paul says, "'What then shall we say in response to these things?' What then…' Show them again. It looks like the end. It looks like it's over, but what then shall we say in response to these things? That's my question to you today. What then…?' Do you need to say, in response to these things… Because if you don't get to then, you don't make it. You might not make it if you don't get to then. So, it looks like this. My dad pulled me aside when I was a young boy. He said, Son, alcoholism runs in our family. It is a genetic disposition for you to be an alcoholic. My father was an alcoholic. I struggle with alcoholism. As far back as I can see, there were alcoholics on the Furtick side of the family tree. But, Son, you have the opportunity to do this differently. So, what he's saying is, even though I made some mistakes, you don't have to make the same mistakes I made if you get to then. What then? Look at your neighbor and ask them nicely. Say, What then? What then? That's what the children of Israel have to decide in a moment. I know you don't like the chariots chasing you. I know it wasn't fair how your story got started, but you can change the end. What then? There you go, Jared. Change it, change it, change it. What then needs to come next in your life? There are no fresh starts, but there are forward steps. What then? You know that's the only thing you have to figure out in this season

of your life is where to put your foot next. What then? Not three years from now. Three minutes from now. What then? Not three minutes from now. Three seconds from now. What then? I see people getting tattoos all over this church that just say, What then? See, because you are a story that is still unfolding. You are a masterpiece in the making. There is something God is doing in your life that your eyes have not seen and your ears have not heard and it has not entered into your heart, the things God has planned for them that love him. What then shall we say in response to these things? Because one day your story will be told. What then do you want to be in the story when you tell it? Because it doesn't have to end like it is right now. You can change the end. You can't fix the beginning. You don't have to. Jesus died for that. He took nails in his hand so you would never have to pay for your sin. But now we are in a moment in your life where it's not what's in his hand, it's what's in yours that's going to make the difference. What then? So, you may be talking to somebody about this thing you're going through. What then shall we say in response to these things? Going through some things right now. It doesn't look like chariots. Sometimes it looks like a child custody battle. Sometimes it looks like a child in your home that's struggling. Sometimes it looks like in your own heart you don't even want to be around anymore. What then is the question shall we say in response to these things? So, maybe we want to think about when you're telling the story one day. What then shall you say in response to these things? The children of Israel say, "'It's over.'" Moses says, "'Stand still.'" God says, "'Give it to me again, Jared.'" It's not the end. Then. When the story was told, the real hinge isn't what the Lord said. It's what Moses did. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind. Lord, I want a strong east wind. Drive it back. Drive back the debt. Drive back the bankruptcy. Drive back the depression. Drive it back. God said, "'What will you do while you're waiting for me to drive it?' Because God only drove it when Moses did it." What then? Oh, this is going so good. Thank you, Lord, for this word. What then? That's what you have to answer. What then? Not what them. It doesn't matter about them. It matters about you. What then? What now? What me? Change me. Holly made a whole Bible study called Mrs. Betterhalf for married couples who are just married, and the entire premise is, when I change me, I change we. What then? Not what them.

she can fix me? You think she can fix this? This is unfixable. But she can love me. She can accept me. She can be my partner." See, what then? That's what you're always deciding in a relationship. Oh, they cuss me out. What then? How do you want the story to go? When the boys were real little, we went to see this Christian movie one day. I'm telling you it's a Christian movie because it makes the story even that much more embarrassing for me. I'm going to put myself out there in hopes that it might help you to find your own story as well, because your story is not over. Your story is not over. There is a next chapter for your life, but the way it goes, the story you tell depends on the then that you live right now. That's what you don't understand. You're living it in real time. You're not just reading about it at the Red Sea. You're living it in real time. Like when I was pulling out of that movie, the boys were real little too. I reckon Graham was 8. Elijah was 11. I'll never forget. That movie was so boring. I was already in a bad mood because it was a boring movie. Why do the Christian movies have to be boring so often? You know what I'm saying? I'm mad at us as the kingdom people of God that we can't make a better movie. I'm backing out the parking space. The man honked at me because I was backing out too slow. He goes, "'Hey, buddy, we need your spot.'" You need my spot? Well, I rolled down my automatic window. That's what I did then. He yells, then I rolled down my window. Now, I didn't roll down my window before he yelled. That's what I did in response, as a consequence for his action, to set a good example for my boys. Nobody gets to honk at you in a pickup truck without you rolling down the window of your Maxima and letting them know it's not the size of the Maxima, it's the size of the crazy inside of me. We can get it on right outside. I don't even care if it's the Ballantyne church parking lot and I just preached. The Christian movie didn't save me that good. I said, "'What?' That's what I said." I could have said some other four-letter words. Y'all ought to be glad it was, "'What?' There were some other four-letter options circulating at that point in time. I said, "'What?' Then he said another four-letter word back to me, "'Now I'm out the car.'" Now, at this point, I know, officer, this is bad. You almost got called to the movie theater this day, officer. I said, "'What are we going to do?' Because I really didn't know either." But we're going back and forth, and I'm trying to intimidate him, because I really don't want to fight him, and I'm trying to intimidate him. I'm not playing

any of this out in my head too much. I'm just doing it. It's a Red Sea of sorts. Okay. A little bit of a downgrade for the miracle. But I'm back and forth with this guy, and all of a sudden, I see Graham right beside me. He has now gotten out of the car and joined his father in this foolishness and this volley. It's a generational curse. Graham is standing there staring at the guy. When the guy saw Graham, he kind of sobered up. He's like, "'Hey, man, you know what? Let's just go our separate ways.'" I was like, "'All right. All right then. That's what I thought then.'" I got back in the car. I said, "'Graham, what were you going to do? Why did you come out of the car?' He said, "'I was going to see what happened.'" I said, "'Well, what if he wanted to fight? Then what would you do?' He said, "'I was going to kick him.'" He specified where, and it wasn't the shinbone. He was eight. Y'all pray for him. He said, "'I would kick him.'" I said, "'Huh?' Elijah was listening, and he goes, "'The better question is, Dad, what were you going to do?'' The voice of reason, right? I'm like, "'I don't know, son. The Bible talks about prayer and the laying on of hands, and they are both biblical.'" I'm misinterpreting the text. See? I do it too. He asked the question, "'What were you going to do then?' He said, "'Did you even think about that if you got in a fight we were going to be in the news, the church was going to be in the news because you got in a fight? And then did you ever think about that you might go to jail? And then did you ever think about that we might grow up without a dad?'' See, because he's thinking then… Watch this. All I'm thinking is this. It took an 11-year-old for me to be like, "'Let's go get some Mexican food, boys, and forget that ever happened. Don't tell your mom. I'll buy you queso. Just don't mention this.'" Now I'm telling you as an example… You see, it's not always going to be some huge Red Sea moment that you're you're responding to, it's going to be not a Red Sea but a parking lot, a traffic jam, a bill that comes across, something the doctor saw on your lungs that they weren't planning to see. What then? The knowledge that your marriage is not really doing so good and now that the kids are on their way out of the house, maybe you don't really have much to build on.

What then? The way I like to picture it for myself is like this. It's like if we're telling our story one day and we're like, you know what? I went through a horrible time, 2026 or wherever you're watching this in the future. I'm going to be honest with you. I got really disappointed in some people, and I let it fester. Then I stopped going to church. Then after not being in church for a little while, I filled the vacuum with other wrong people in my life, and then it was drinking, but I always thought I could handle it. Or then I started spending so much money as I tried to fill the vacuum. Then I fell so far from God. Then… Put it back up. How do you want this to end? Because you can change the end. You could say, that was the hardest time in my life. I got really hurt by some people. Then you get to pick the then that you live next. I was going to church. I got hurt by some people, but at Elevation, it's amazing, because they have like five million campuses, so if you want to leave the church, you can leave the church without leaving the church. You just go to another campus and meet some other people. I went to another campus. Then I joined the greeter team. Did y'all not see the testimony today? The lady said, I felt like called to volunteer. Then my husband volunteered. Then one of my kids got baptized. Then another one got baptized.

Then another one. Then another one. Then another one. So, which then? The Bible says, then Moses. You can change the end. I can't change the fact that Pharaoh is chasing me, but I can stretch what I have, and I can take a forward step. Which then will you tell? When you tell the story one day, which then? Will it be they walked out of my life, and then so I just shut my heart off, and then I never loved again, and then I never trusted anyone again, and then I just gave up? What story did I want to tell you today? The church was going good, and then they started criticizing us, and it was 2013, and week after week they kept talking bad about us. Then I decided, you know what? Forget y'all. If y'all don't appreciate my anointing, I'm out of here. And I walked away from the church, and that's why I don't even preach anymore, because y'all can't stand Christians. Or do you want to say, and then they told the story of how we faked our baptisms, and then I stood up in front of the church one Sunday morning in 2013 and said, tonight we're going to have a special baptism service. And then we baptized 400 people that night, and then we baptized 1,000 people again the next year, and then, and then, and then, and then. It could have been the end. Put it on the board. The end. The end. The end.

It could have been the end, but then. But then. It could have been the end. They could have died right there. You could die in your disappointment. Change it. Then. You can change the end with a then. Something as simple as a then. And if you don't believe me from the life of Moses, perhaps we should call on David. David, who was the man after God's own heart, but in the middle of his life he started to become a little bit distracted by things that he saw and weary from battles that he had endured. One day he's walking around his roof and he sees a woman who's bathing on her roof. He takes her, which he has the right to do as a king legally, but it's wrong to God. In the process of covering up that sin, he sins again, has her husband murdered, and the prophet comes to David and says, what you did is wrong. God doesn't like what you did. God is displeased with what you did. God does not see this as your true potential, and so the baby is going to die. David starts fasting. David starts praying, and it looks like the end, and it is. The baby does not live. And at this moment, David has a decision. It is a hinged decision. The baby did not live. The consequences happened. His prayer was not answered, and perhaps that's where you are in your life today and why God led me to preach. change the end, because in 2 Samuel 12, verse 20, the Bible says something very powerful.

Then David got up, and I see you getting up today, because I see you making a decision that I will not let this event define the rest of my life. I did it. It was wrong. I repented. I wept. I'm sorry. Create in me a clean heart, O God." Then David got up… Circle the word then, please, so I can drive this home. David got up from the ground, washed, put on lotions, changed his clothes, went to the house of the Lord, and worshiped. When he worshiped, then he had the strength to go to his house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. Verse 24 is even better, because after he got up and washed and went to the house and worshiped and ate, the Bible says again, then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her, and she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon, and the Lord loved him, and that king went on to be the greatest, most wise king that Israel had known from David's worst decision. Then he got up. Then he went in, and I came to let you know today you don't have to stay stuck in your regret another day if you don't want to. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Then David got up. Make eye contact with your neighbor. Say, Get up. Get up. Repent and get up. Wash your face and get up. Change your shirt and get up.

Say you're sorry and move forward. Perhaps if you don't believe David, you'll believe Samson. Maybe if you don't believe me and you don't believe Moses and you don't believe David and you feel like this is the end for me, maybe you'll believe Samson, who got the most expensive haircut in the history of humanity. Talk about a hinged decision. A haircut turned into his eyes being gouged out and the loss of his strength because of the breaking of his vow. And Samson, with his eyes gouged out, is standing in the column as they worship Dagon, the false God, and they're mocking him. Perhaps you feel like that right now, like, Man, I just feel so embarrassed. I feel so humiliated. And Samson, at his lowest moment… You listening to me? I'm telling you, you can change the end. The Bible says in Judges 16, 28, then Samson prayed to the Lord. Pray about it, baby. It's not over. He prayed to the Lord, Sovereign Lord, Remember me, please, God. Strengthen me just once more and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes. And then Samson reached… You missed it, Justin. When Samson reached, I'm telling you that you get to pick your next then. You get to pick your next then. You don't get to control the result, but you control your response. You get to pick your next then. The result belongs to God. The response belongs to you. And Samson, mocked, can't see, blind, humiliated, defeated, disgraced, embarrassed.

Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood, bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one, put it on the screen, the end, and his left hand on the other. The Bible says change it. Watch this. Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple of the false god. And down came the verdict over his life that it was over. And down came the temple. And thus he killed more when he died than when he lived. It's not too late for you. Then, then, then, what then shall you say? Then I gave up, or then I stepped up. Then I stayed down, or then I got up. Maybe if you don't believe me or Moses or David or Samson, maybe you believe Peter. Peter denied he even knew the Lord. He sat down by the fire and acted like he wasn't even a follower of his best friend. You can feel like you disappointed God sometimes so bad you'll never get up, but I thank God for the day of Pentecost. I said I thank God for Acts, chapter 2. I thank God for Romans 8.31. What then? Because Acts 2.14 says, Then Peter stood up. Everybody stand up on your feet right now. This is your part in the message. Hit your neighbors. Say, Stand up. God's not done with you. Get up. It's not over.

Get up. It's not gone. Get up. It's not lost. And Peter preached so good that 3,000 people got saved because he stood up. Maybe if you don't believe Peter, you'll believe the thief who was hanging on a cross. He didn't do anything right to deserve to be saved. His friend was mocking Jesus, but he had a little bit of faith, just a little bit of faith, not enough to get his act together. He didn't even have long left. For all of you who think there's not enough time, you can change the end. The Bible says that while one hurled insults and one said, "'Save us if you're really who you say you are.'" There was one thief on the cross, and there was one then that he spoke, and this is the message. Then he said, "'Jesus, when you say Jesus…' I don't care what you've been through. When you say Jesus, when you call on the name…' Come on, somebody, help me preach this. When you say Jesus, demons flee. When you say Jesus, waters part. When you say Jesus…' He said, "'Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.' Jesus looked back and said, "'Because you said then, I say to you truly. I tell you today you will be with me in paradise, and the Egyptians you see today you will see no more because of this then.'" Now the word of the Lord has come with power and velocity and great personal application to you today. What will you do with this word? You are responsible for it. That in real time, the familiar sounds of Pharaoh behind you… That's the old life. The unfamiliar terrain of the life of faith that awaits you…

This is a hinge moment. What then shall you say? I spent years away from God. Then one day I went to church, and the preacher was preaching, and it got to this moment, and I realized I need God. I needed God, and I lifted my hands to him, and I began to worship him, and I began to praise him. I said, "'God, I'm sorry for what I did. I repent of my sins, but God, can you raise me up?' Because of that then, it changed the end, and that's why I'm here today. That's why I'm lifting both of my hands. Pray, God, I'm just grateful. That's why I'm lifting both of my hands, because he gave me chance after chance after chance." Come on! This is not the end! Get up like David and worship! Brace yourself like Samson and push! Like Peter, stand up and preach! Like the people on the cross, say, Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!