Transcription
You are about to, you're about to be. I want to say inspired, but sometimes we use that word incorrectly. We think it just means to have a feel-good feeling. You were about to hear an incredible word from God, from someone who I greatly respect in ministry, Pastor Robert Madu. He's gonna come and share with us in just a moment. He is one of the, let me think, I want to say this now, one of the, one of the, sometimes you get people who are good preachers, and sometimes you get people who are nice people, and sometimes you get both in one package. He is both, and I thank God for he and his wife, Taylor. God is using them all around the world. Pretty much any, any given day that you wake up, you can guarantee that somewhere he's blessing somebody in a different time zone than you. God has taken him all over the world, but he is, he is a good person. Don't you like good people? Yeah, it's good. And he's very committed to this thing that we do, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What I told him was that at 11:30, the, the real Christians, the people with extra Bible depth and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit of God, come to church. And I said, if you want to just save all the good stuff for 11:30, they'll be ready for you at 11:30. So can we make some noise at all of our locations? Elevation, let's welcome to the stage, Pastor Robert. Wow! Come on, Elevation! Can we make some noise for Jesus today? Oh, come on! This is the day that the Lord has made! Come on, across everyone, can you say Hallelujah? Hey, will you do me a favor before you take your seat? Would you just look at your neighbor? Are you tired of talking to your neighbor yet? Come on! Do you like the person you're standing next to? Come on, get in their face, get in their personal space. Across every campus, and just say, neighbor, I've got a feeling that this is gonna be a good service. Just, just in case their neighbor was stuck up, find another neighbor. Come on, say, other neighbor, you're my second option, but I want you to know, I've got a feeling this is gonna be a good service. Come on, if you believe that thing, give God one more standing ovation of praise. Hallelujah! You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Don't get comfortable, you might be back up again. Come on, come on. I'll say what I always say, I'm not just excited to be at Elevation Church, I am Red Bull excited, express, so elated. I've been waiting, I've been waiting to give my chocolate face back in the place. I, I absolutely, hear me, positively love, love, love this church. I'm from the great country of Texas, but, but Elevation Church will mess you up. Elevation will have you looking on Zillow and trying to find a house in Charlotte. Come on home. You know you are ridiculously blessed to be a part of this church. This is absolutely amazing. And not only that, you're a crazy blessed to have Pastor Steven Furtick and Holly Furtick as your pastors and your leaders. A couple, y'all can do better than that. Come on, across every campus, I want you to make some noise. As you know, God loves you so much. And I know preachers always say stuff, and this is not a platitude for me. There's so many things I could say. His, he's one of the greatest communicators of the gospel on the planet, an incredible leader, writes songs that reverberate around the nation. But I think the thing I love the most about Pastor Stephen and Holly is that they're amazing up close. You know what I mean by that? Some people you love from a distance, but man, I'm telling you, when you get up close, it's amazing to see their hearts for people. And he can have anybody on planet Earth in this pulpit. So I'm extremely honored, and it ought to be a pastor appreciation minute at Elevation, 'cause y'all are crazy blessed. Come on, one more time, would you let the bar, but you love them, how much you appreciate them? Thank God for y'all.
I am here with my super-duper fine wife, Taylor Madu, is in the building. I preach it better when she's here, so it's gonna be good. And this is almost like a honeymoon for us because our three kids are at home. Hallelujah! They are with the grandparents. And I know how some preachers, they always put up pictures of their kids 'cause they think they got the cutest kids and they want to buy to see how cute their kids are. I am NOT that preacher. It's about me preaching Jesus, not you seeing my kids. They ain't gotta worry about me putting them on the screen. We good. We good. That's not true. If y'all don't put my kids on a screen up in here. Hey, come on, Elevation! I made that. Come on, that is my four-year-old daughter, Evie. That is my two-year-old son, Robert Madu the Third, my man-child. And our newest and last addition, hello, Remington Elaine. She's just one year old. I'll put up the picture all the time because fatherhood is the best of it. There's just nothing like being a dad. But I'm excited to share the word. I want to jump straight into it. Do you have a Bible with you? Come on, we got a Bible. Would you wave it in the air like it's just do care? Across every campus, every location. Awesome. Some of your Bibles are glowing. You're charged up. Here, buy a book today. I want to look at Mark chapter 5, if we can. Mark chapter 5, verses 21 through 43. Quite a bit of scripture, but I need all of it for you to get the context of where we're going. Mark chapter 5, starting at verse number 21, and then we'll land at verse 43. When you're ready to read it, say, "Yeah." You need some time to find us. Oh, it's a desperate hold-up. I'll wait for you. Verse 21, that says, "When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders named Jairus came and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, 'My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.' So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and has spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was free from her suffering. And once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him, he turned around in the crowd and asked, 'Who touched my clothes?' You see the people crowding against you, his disciples answered, 'And yet you ask, who touched me?' But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.' While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. 'Your daughter is dead,' they said. 'Why bother the teacher anymore?' Overhearing what they said, one version says, ignoring what they said, Jesus told him, 'Don't be afraid, just believe.' He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. And when they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, 'Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.' But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha koum,' which means, 'Little girl, I say to you, get up immediately.' The girl stood up and began to walk around. She was twelve years old. At this, they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this and then told, 'Don't just stand there and look at the girl, go to Chick-fil-A and get us something to eat.'"
About somebody that is good all by itself, all by itself. In full sermon prep disclosure, almost titled this message, "Get Up." That's a good sermon title, "Get Up," because I thought that was the culmination and the climax of the miracle when Jesus told this little girl to get up. But on further reflection, I realized that was a premature title, premature, and I had to back that thing up biblically. Two verses 40 and 41. I want us to hone in on verses 40 and 41, 'cause remember, Jesus walked in and says, "This girl is not dead, she's just asleep." The Bible says that they laughed at him. They, who is "they"? The negative, doubting, hating, unbelieving, faithless, cantankerous people in the room. You know those people that light up a room when they walk out? Those people that for every solution, they're gonna find a problem. That's "they," okay? They laughed at him. And it says, "After he," that's Jesus, "put them all out." Wow. The Greek suggests that he physically put all of them out. I don't want to mess up with your theology or your Christology today, 'cause you might think that Jesus is just kind and sweet and loving and caring, and he is. But this text lets me know, don't get it twisted. He is so, so gangster. 'Cause all of those negative, doubting, unbelieving, faithless people, he said, "All y'all gotta get out." You ain't gotta go home, but you gotta get out of here. Savage Jesus, huh? I love it. So before she got up, for some people had to get out. Elevation Church, what if the power of a miracle is not just in the miracle itself, but rather in the atmosphere and the environment that surrounds your miracle? You've been telling some things to get up, but perhaps this is the season of your life to check your environment and start telling some things to get out. I feel like preaching in here today. Come on, would you just look at your neighbor and tell them, "My title"? Just say, "Get out." Oh, come on. Look at another neighbor like you gotta add to it. I'm saying, "Get out." Not now, but, but later. Come on, let's pray. Long prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Speak to us today. Amen.
"Get Out." The divine intersection and collision of characters in this text today immediately gave me a nostalgic parental fatherhood flashback to November 2014. I remember it quite vividly because I was getting ready to leave our home in Dallas to go preach at a conference, which isn't anything unusual. I often leave to go preach at a conference, except this time, everything was different. Everything was different because I was not just leaving the house as a husband. Now I was leaving the house as a father. Our firstborn daughter, Evie, had just entered the world, and I was in that emotional, precarious predicament of leaving my firstborn daughter for the first time. Come on, every parent here will attest to the fact that things are different with your first child. Oh, come on. There are things that happen with your first child that none of your other children will ever experience, okay? Like now, now Taylor, now we have three kids plus a demonic doll. So when I leave the house now, I leave like I got warrants for my arrest, and I take the long route home, okay? Often, often Taylor will call me with chaos in the background, be like, "Babe, where are you?" I'll go, "I'm in traffic." She's like, "No, you're in the driveway. I see you. Come and help me." But what is your first is different. It's different. Your emotional tears are going this way, your socks are going the other way. Like, did it? I can't purchase so much. I mean, I was a mess. I get to the conference. I get to the conference. I think it was in Florida, and I'm about to get up to preach, and a guy by the name of Eddie James is leading worship. And of all songs, of all songs, he's actually singing, "You're a good, good father." Just the medicine. I don't think I preached. I just put up a picture of my daughters, at this point, one, two, and three, and got in the green room afterwards. And the worship leader, Eddie James, comes up to me, says, "Robert, congrats on your daughter. She's beautiful." I said, "Thank you. I made her." I then said, "Hey, Eddie, you know my daughter Evie might not have ever been born if it wasn't for you." Eddie looked at me like I had lost my mama. I said, "Eddie, you probably don't remember this, but in December 2006, you were scheduled to lead worship and preach at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. But en route to Christ for the Nations, your van broke down on the side of the road." And he goes, "I remember that night." I said, "You picked up the phone and you called a man by the name of Adam McCain and you let him know that by the time your van would be fixed, there was no way you would make the service. So regrettably, you had to cancel." And Adam McCain got off the phone with you and looked at a roomful of people and said, "Eddie James just canceled for a Tuesday night Bible College Chapel. Who in the world can we get last minute to fill his spot?" And in that room was a man by the name of Brian Maine. He lifts up his hand, says, "I just heard this young guy named Robert LeDoux preach. He's local. Maybe he can do it." All of a sudden, my phone rings. Emotional other line says, "Is this Pastor Robert Madu?" I said, "Yes, it is." Since, "Robert, I know this is last-minute. This is crazy, but we've just had a cancellation for our Tuesday night Bible College Chapel. Is there any way you could come and speak to your young people?" Now, keep in mind, during this time of my life, I myself am a Bible College student at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. So I said to Adam McCain, "You know what? It seems like yesterday I was a Bible College student myself. What an honor it would be to come and impart to your young people." Drove from SAGU to CFNI. And I, I'm about to get up and preach. Before I get up, they say, "It's Tuesday night, so it's time for our Tuesday night testimony video. We're gonna show a video of a student in our body whose life has been changed about Jesus Christ." And all of a sudden, on the screen comes the finest girl with the strongest Arkansas accent I have ever heard, and she starts telling her story of Jesus changing her life. I don't meet the girl. I meet my school the next day. A girl taps me on my shoulder. She goes, "Hey, Robert." I said, "It's Pastor Robert Madu." Now she goes, "Was that you that I saw last night at Christ the Nations getting up to preach?" I said, "Yeah, they called me last minute. They had a cancellation." She goes, "Oh my goodness. Oh my good. Did you see the girl on the screen telling her testimony before you preach?" I say, "Yes, I did." She said, "I've known her for years. I've known you for years, and I always thought that you two would be perfect for each other, but I never said anything. But the fact that you're there preaching and they showed her video, you two have got to meet." I said, "That the next week, that girl and I went on our very first date at the illustrious International House of Pancakes." I said, "Eddie, to make a long story short, that girl's name was Taylor Mitchell. Is now Taylor Madu." We did what married people do. Evie is the evidence of that. Eddie, I am so glad your van broke down on the side of the road. And I share that story today, first of all, get some hope to the single people. Um, but also to say, who in the world would have ever thought that Eddie and my Evie were connected? Because their connection is not one that is easily seen on the surface. But once you begin to peel back the layers and dig down deep into the archaeological value of a person's life, it becomes so clear that none of us get to live our lives in autonomy with just me, myself, and I. But how do you know? All of us are connected. We are deeply connected. Miracles merge with miracles. Testimonies touch each other. Our stories intersect. Whether you like the person sitting next to you, man, all of us are deeply and intrinsically connected. Oh, yes. Our lives are not straight lines. Our lives are actually links. We are all connected. And then it frustrates you when people you love don't understand this premise, and they got the nerve to tell you, "Don't worry about me. Don't worry about me. You do you. I'ma do me. You do you. I'ma do me." And you want to look at them and say, "Well, you do you, it's affected me." 'Cause all of us are deeply, we're connected. It's connected. So don't find this strange.
Mark chapter 5. Mark begins by talking about the synagogue leader by the name of Jairus. But in the middle of Jairus's story, we're abruptly interrupted with the story of a woman with the issue of blood. And the reason Mark has strategically sandwiched these two stories together is because the two of them are connected. Deeply connected. In fact, to talk about Jairus, the synagogue leader, and never discuss the one with the issue of blood is really to do an injustice to the integrity of this text because the two of them are connected. So connect. Now, not on the surface. Oh, not on the surface. If you just look at the surface of their lives, they cannot be more opposite. Come on. If you look at the surface, one of these things is not like the other. Come on. Let's just, our biology 101. Jairus is a man, she is a woman. Hello. Jairus is named in the text. The Bible don't even give us this woman's name. Jairus was honored and respected. This woman has been shamed and rejected. Jairus is a ruler in the synagogue. This woman can't even come near the synagogue because her sickness has made her ceremonially unclean. Jairus is actually a fluid, he's got some money in the bank. This woman is broke, busted, and disgusted, and it's been all she had on worthless physicians who had made her worse instead of better. And to bring the text to the 21st century, Jairus is driving a Benz. This woman is riding the bus. They have nothing in common on the periphery. But yet, life has put them in the exact same place, posture, and position because they both have been hit with something that they cannot handle. How many know life will do that? Life has a way of evening the playing field. Life is an equal opportunity employer. Life will hit you upside the head with some stuff that'll make you scratch your hair, that'll take your breath away. Life will hit an atheist with some stuff that'll make them throw up their hands and say, "The Lord is in this." My life will hit you with some stuff you cannot handle. And might I suggest that if life has hit you with something that you cannot handle, how many know that thing is a job for Jesus? Top of your hand. Oh, look at Jairus and this woman. Nothing in common on the surface. Both ended up in the same place, having to push people out of the way to get an appointment with Jesus. I love it because now, one of them had a pretty pathway with rose petals to Jesus. They both had to physically push people out of the way to get an appointment with Jesus. Just push. You know, Jairus is a pastor. You're not supposed to push people. I can see people come to John saying, "Yeah, I really love just saying the other day." He's like, "You did good." This woman is ceremonially unclean. She's not supposed to be touching people. She touched her body. People, oh, you know how they're pushing. I'll tell you what I'm pushing. They're pushing because desperate people do desperate things. Oh, come on, help me know. When you are really desperate for God to do something in your life, you come to church differently. You approach God differently. When you are desperate for God to show up, you don't care what the traffic is. You're being here before the countdown video. When you are desperate for God to show up in your life, you will lift up your hands, you will sing the songs and laugh. You don't care who's. You hear me? God will often use desperation to push you into your purpose. God will offer you desperation to push you into your destiny. In fact, watch this. Desperation is the door that breakthrough walks through. Whoa. I'm gonna say that again. Desperation is the door that breakthrough walks through. Some people wonder, "How come I ain't got my breakthrough yet?" Sometimes 'cause you hadn't got downright desperate enough for God to do it in your life. Because desperation will open up doors that complacency will keep shut. I'm tellin' ya. I'll travel. People often ask me, "Robert, where's your favorite place to preach?" Your favorite place to preach? Oh, to be honest, I struggle to name a place because I want to articulate to them that the effectiveness of preaching and ministry has little to do with an address or a destination of a place, but everything to do with the attitude and the disposition of the people that are in the place. Come on. I would rather preach in a basement with three desperate people than preach in the Bahamas with thousands of bougie, set-up people who act like they don't need God to do anything in their life. But if you give me some desperate people, mirror right. If you give me desperate people, signs and wonders will suck. If you give me desperate people, the atmosphere will shift and change, and God will show himself strong and mighty. When you're desperate, you're desperate. And it was the rolling tides of desperation that brought Jairus and this woman, watch this, both at the feet of Jesus. They both ended up at his feet. I love it. Nothing in common on the surface. Both ended up at the same place, at the feet of Jesus. This is a picture of the gospel and the power of the church that we can come and hear today across every location. But all of our differences on the surface, but we all end up at the same place, at the feet of Jesus, saying, "There's something I need you to do in my life." Are you bored yet? Because I would love to delve into the details of their desperation. Jairus gets to Jesus first. Center boy, is he desperate. He's desperate because his baby girl, his little daughter, is dying. She is dying. So when he gets to Jesus, he is talking to Jesus with a vocal intonation of a 9-1-1 caller. He's saying, "Jesus, I don't just need you to come to a house. I need you to hurry up and get to the house." This woman is just as desperate, but her situation has been going on for a while now. It's chronic. This bleeding, this hemorrhaging in her body. And watch how much Mark, the gospel writer, wants us to know that the two of them are connected because it just so happens that Jairus's little girl, who is dying, is 12 years old. And this woman with the issue of blood has been dealing with it now for 12 years. They're connected. So you got a 12-year-old dying daughter and a 12-year-old disease. A 12-year-old dying daughter and a 12-year-old disease. So that means chronologically speaking, the same year that this little girl was born was the exact same year that this woman was diagnosed with her disease. That means cinematically speaking, if Mark chapter 5 was a movie, the producers of "This Is Us" or "Making a Movie," this is the scene in the movie where it was flipped from the feet of Jesus and say, "12 years earlier," and it would go to a hospital and coming out of the hospital would be Jairus, his wife, and them, holding a brand new baby girl, smiling ear to ear with the full elation of parenthood. And then perhaps walking out of that same hospital, here's a woman, tears coming down her face, because she's just been diagnosed with the disease the doctors don't even know what to do about it. And maybe they were in the same hospital that day, but didn't even see each other. Come on, church. And there's just like life sometimes. In life, you can be so preoccupied with your promise or so preoccupied with your personal pain that you don't even see other people around you. You can be so excited about what God has done in your life or so disappointed about what hadn't come to pass yet that you are oblivious to other people around you. And can I suggest in this narcissistic, individualistic, selfie-saturated society in which we live, we have forgotten Romans chapter 12? It says, "You got to rejoice with them that rejoice, but also weep with those that weep." And don't be so concerned about you that you miss other people around you. Oh, come on. Thank God for Jesus, 'cause the two people that didn't see each other at the hospital were forced to see each other at the hem of His garment. And now the two 12s are touching. Somebody say 12. I'll say like you had your coffee, say 12. How many know you don't need a Bible college degree? You don't have to be a student of biblical numerology to know there are some numbers in the Bible that God has given you biblical clues. These numbers are a big deal, okay? 12 is one of those numbers. 12 is a big number to God. You remember that when God began his covenant with his people, a covenant that commenced with the call of Abraham, continued with Isaac, but culminated in Jacob. You remember that Jacob had not one, but 12 sons representing the power and the authority of God's covenant with his people. Those 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel, representing the power and the authority and the strength of that nation. You remember in the Old Testament, whenever the high priest was going to the Holy of Holies on behalf of the people of God, he would stand there with a breastplate. They had 12 precious stones representing those 12 tribes of Israel, and he would stand there in power and authority. Come on. You know our New Testament high priest, who is Jesus. The first time we see him teaching in the temple is at the tender age of 12, and they marveled at the wisdom and the power and the authority. Mouth of a 12-year-old. You remember when that 12-year-old turned started and they got ready to pick his crew, his road dogs, his disciples? If it was me, I would have stopped at 11. But not Jesus. He said, "I need a hater to come on power and authority to heal the sick and the cast out." Even 12 is the number of God's power. 12 is the number of God's authority. Do you know what Jesus is trying to teach us with the 12? He's trying to teach us what he's been trying to say since the moment he landed on planet Earth. God says, "I don't care whether it's a blind eye, a deaf ear, a withered hand, an issue of blood, a diseased demon possession, or storm, or even death itself. There is absolutely nothing that you're facing that is not under the jurisdiction." Oh, somebody ought to give God some praise today. Thankful there's no matter what comes against you, he's got the power and the authority to fix it. Hop up your neighbor, say, "He's got the power. He's got the authority." Why is that important? Hear me today. That's so important because your awareness of his authority, his authority, will determine how much you receive from him. Your awareness of God's authority will determine how much you receive from him. See, after we reduce this text just to faith, 'cause he said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." So we tell me, "You gotta get more faith. Get more faith." And faith is important. Come on. It's the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. You need faith. Faith is our anchor. But nobody takes an anchor and just throws it in the water. You're gonna lose that anchor. You better connect that anchor to something. And my faith is connected to his authority. The authority of his word. The authority of his power. That's what my faith has got to be connected to. If you don't believe he's the ultimate authority, how many know your faith is gonna struggle? Some of you think you got a faith problem. Now, your faith is good. You just need an awareness of his authority. Because if you don't believe he's the ultimate authority, your faith is gonna struggle. Give us some structure for that, Robert. I'll give this to scripture. You remember the disciples, no one not on the boat, and the hurricane is going crazy, and Jesus is chillaxing in the boat, just just sound asleep on the boat. And the disciples, they have on panic attacks. And I love Jesus. He gets up in a hurricane, cool, calm, and collected, with sovereign swag, and gets up to the edge of the boat in a hurricane, just, hmm, "Be still." And the winds and the waves are still in a moment. And all the disciples' jaws were on the floor. They go, "Who is this man? But even the winds and the waves obey Him." They marveled at his authority. And what did Jesus say to them? "Oh, you of little faith. Your faith is little 'cause you didn't have an awareness of my authority. If you knew who I really was when I was asleep on the boat, who is with you, don't got a problem." You got an awareness of his authority problem. When you know he's the ultimate authority, your faith can go to a whole 'nother level. You think the doctor is the ultimate authority? You think your friend is the ultimate? But you think your cousin and them are the ultimate authority? Oh, but once you know he's the ultimate authority, your faith can go to a whole 'nother level. Oh, I got to hurry. What's this? Jairus got a house call because that was his awareness of his authority. Remember, he works in the synagogue. He's a pastor. He approaches Jesus as a classic pastor. He said, "Jesus, please, my daughter's down. You gotta come to the house." Hallelujah. Here below, it's already playing in the background. You got a card, you gotta lay hands on. You spin a console too. He said, "You gotta lay hands. Talk." Because that's the way it works. That's my awareness of your authority. So Jesus goes, "Okay, I'll go." Because that was his awareness of his authority. This woman had a whole 'nother awareness of his authority. She had been in the synagogue, so she said, "Jesus, nah, you ain't gotta come to my house. Ain't got time for that. All I gotta do is touch the hem of your garment. If I just touched him, I'll kill Carmen. I know I'm gonna be made whole." And she just touched the hem. That was her awareness. That's what she got. But how many know a Centurion, Matthew chapter 8, that had a whole 'nother awareness of his authority? That soldier went up to Jesus, said, "I'm a man in authority and under authority. He says, 'My servant is sick at the house, but I'm not worried for you to come to my house. If you'll just speak the word.'" Because somebody understood. Oh, and what did Jesus say to that Centurion? "Never have I seen a faith like this in all of Israel." He marveled. And he said, "Jesus, why you marveled at his faith?" Because he's got an awareness of my authority. This woman goes for 12 years. 12 years I've been approaching people with no authority. I mean, it's just so important because if you don't believe somebody's the ultimate authority, you'll doubt the validity of their words. If I don't believe you're the real authority, I will doubt the validity of your words. Come on, think practically. Been on there, you've been on the phone with somebody that you knew was a mid-level employee, and they're telling you something that's contradictory to exemplary customer service. After you get frustrated, you feel like, "Can I put, can I please speak to your manager? Can I speak to your supervisor?" Y'all do that. Y'all super saved here, okay? I seek to manager. This happened to me not too long ago. I had, I had a reservation at the hotel that had been booked for a while, and the girl behind the desk was like, "I'm sorry, Mr. My Dear, we're fully committed. We're sold out." I troubles. They say that's a ha ha. I said, "This has been booked for several months." She's like, "No, I'm sorry. We're fully committed." That was nice about it. I can't just speak to your manager. Can I speak to your supervisor? The manager comes behind the door. She goes, "To remove, I'm so sorry, Mr. Madu. She's new here. It is right here. Here's your reservation. I'm so sorry for your trouble. We don't upgrade you to an executive suite." How did I go from about to be on the street to doing the executive suite? Somebody with some power and some authority. The bus, he's got the power. He's got the authority. He's got the final say. This woman goes for 12 years. 12 years I've been speaking to mid-level employees. I demand an appointment with the supervisor to touch the hem of his garment. Immediately, she's made whole. Somebody plays softly behind me. I'll make this sound a whole lot more spiritual. Watch this. Her, her healing, as awesome as it was, don't forget it was actually an interruption to Jesus's journey to Jairus's house. Don't forget who got to Jesus first. Jairus did. I said, "Jesus, I can see exactly how it went down. It's like, Jesus, please, please, can you come to my house? My baby girl is dying." Jesus says, "Yes, I'll go." Can you imagine the joy that filled Jairus's heart when Jesus said, "I'll go"? The text is clear. There's a crowd of people there that day, a huge crowd, and time is of the essence. So Jairus's challenge is to get Jesus through the crowd to his house so his daughter can be healed. I see how when, you know how it is on there's a crowd of people, you're in already like, "Just give me, excuse me, excuse me, it's just most, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, sir." And he checks back to make sure Jesus, "So you still okay? Good. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, sir." No, I got to him first. Mold. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, screaming. All of a sudden, the text would suggest that he loses Jesus in the crowd and finally finds him in a crowd of people talking about, "Who touched me?" And just now, you're serious right now? 21 questions, but you don't act like you've never been there before. Don't act like you never told Jesus, "This is an emergency. You need to hurry. They're about to take my car. You better hurry." And he just takes it. "Who touched me?" We'll wait, wait. Wow. Jairus is standing there, who knows how long it takes for this woman to finally sheepishly come through the crowd and says, "It was me." And Jesus, the compassionate Savior, takes his time to talk to her. Who, while Jairus is waiting. The Bible says that she told him the whole truth. Another version says she told him her whole story. She told him, "I love you." But let me tell you, her hos. Oh, don't be in a hurry. Get to a comfortable seat. House. Get a dude to tell you this whole story. He'd be like, "I'm good. How long is this conversation?" And I can see the steam coming off of Jairus's forehead like, "Are you serious? Go get so healing and go O.P. Nayyar. One of your mappers. Be a good time to tell your boy to hurry." Armed. Oh, ain't that frustrating? God makes you wait. Not only that, he had to watch her get her miracle. It's not frustrating enough to wait on your miracle. What do you do when you're waiting on your miracle and God makes you watch somebody else get theirs? You got that fake smile on your face like, "Oh, you got here. We go. It's funny. Tell us." You're waiting to be healed, watching other people get healed. Waiting to have a baby, watching other people post pictures of their baby on Instagram. What do you do? You've got to wait on your miracle and watch somebody else get theirs. And that fell. God will often, often make you watch a miracle while you're waiting on a miracle. Not to discourage you. No, he's a good, good father. But to encourage you to let you know that if God did it for them, oh, come on, he can do it for you too. He is not a respecter of persons. And God blessed him, he can bless you too. That's why you are my hate on anybody. Don't be jealous of anybody. The same God that did it for them is faithful to do it for you. That's good news. I'm glad you clapped at that. I'm a preacher. I set you up for that clap. I'm sorry. Because we say that a lot. "If God did it for me, he'll do it for you too." And it's true. But I think there's an erroneous ideology attached to that. 'Cause often what we say, "If God did it for me, he'll do it for you too," we think that means he'll do it in the same way. So if God blessed you with a house, he's gonna bless me with a house in the same neighborhood and with the same square footage. And I'm a measure of Jesus, so keep it even. They do it for you too. But often they won't be in the same way. Because Jairus and this woman, hear me, both wanted the same thing. They both wanted healing. Jairus didn't get a healing. He got a resurrection. Which sounds awesome. Don't flap. So do you remember that the prerequisite for resurrection is death? So can you imagine how Jairus's heart sunk in his chest while he was waiting and watching? They tap him on the shoulder and says, "Jairus, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your daughter is dead." Oh, I felt Jairus's pain. But I realized Jairus has horrible friends. Terrible friends. Hashtag the worst friends ever. Not because they told him his daughter was dead, that was the facts. It was the commentary they added to the facts. They said, "Jairus, why bother the teacher anymore? Your daughter's dead." Jairus, your daughter's already dead. In essence, Jairus, this is the time to give up. Jairus, this is the time to throw in the towel. Watch out for people in your life that are so quick to tell you to give up. Oh my gosh, spoke in your spirit on the promise he gave you. How you gonna tell me to give up? This is not your daughter. And how you gonna tell me, "Don't bother"? Sure, you don't have an awareness of his authority. He's more than a teacher. He's a healer. He's a way maker. He's a miracle. Wow. 'Cause I think when Jairus got the news, he was so dazed, could even want to move anymore. And finally, Jesus speaks to him. Says, "Jairus, don't be afraid. Just believe." Don't be afraid. Just believe. I think that's when the journey switched. I think that's when Jesus started leading Jairus, saying, "Thomas, come on. I know you think it's over, but probably come on. Jairus, I need you to walk with the same enthusiasm that you're happy, but it's not. Oh, come on, Jairus. I know where you live. Come on, follow me. This is the way it's supposed to be. You're never supposed to be leading Jesus. He's supposed to be leading." What's in the house? Started the funeral. He said, "Why y'all crying? The girl's not dead. She's just asleep." And they laughed. So you think that's funny? Every single one of y'all that laughed. Yeah. Oh, no. I thought you're laughing. Kids. Oh, unbelief will always laugh at the language of pain. Yes. Oh, somebody needs to serve an eviction notice on the enemy today. It's gonna tell us something. Take it out. Oh, come on. Fear. Get out. Get out. The question. Get out. Some things won't get up till something's first get out. God just sent somebody today to check your environment so that the dead things can come to life. That's every head bowed, every hobby closed, across every campus. Can I pray for you? Father, thank you for your word. Lord, I thank you that you have power, you have authority. And I also thank you that you've given us power and authority. So today, we check our atmosphere. Lord, we speak to ideas, we speak to mindsets, we speak to people in our lives, or they need to get out so the dead things can't get up. And I thank you that you are the resurrection and the life. You can do it today. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Everybody said, "God bless you." Hey, thanks for watching the Elevation Church YouTube channel. If you enjoyed this message, take a minute, click the subscribe button on your screen. That way you won't miss a single video. 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