A Spiritual Shifting Season - Pastor Sandra Roach

Welcome to the Summit Church Podcast.

Thank you for joining us as we share weekly sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Our prayer is that today's message encourages your faith and helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus.

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Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.

Thank you, Lord, that we are in a season, a spiritual shifting season.

And you may not understand fully what that is, but we're going to try to get there.

For the last few Sundays, we've been leading up to this point of are you, remember when when we talked about the power of your yes?

But there also has to be something else that goes with the power of the yes, and that's the willingness of the yes.

Are you ready to say yes?

So, beloved, God rarely, if ever, allows his sons and daughters to stay comfortable where you are.

Man, some people just like to stay comfortable right where they are.

You see, there's a divine restlessness that comes when we're not moving forward with him, and he is preparing you for change.

So we were praying about this in the prayer room, about this divine restlessness.

And uh Brother Darrell said these words, and I hurriedly wrote them down.

And he said, restlessness, energy without purpose.

Isn't that good?

Energy without purpose.

So some of you right now are feeling that, that energy without purpose, that divine restlessness.

You know that God is doing something in you that will bring about change in your life.

Can anybody in here relate to this?

God is doing something in you.

God brought you here for a purpose today, as you hear these words.

God has you here today because he has got divine counsel he is releasing for you today.

Praise the name of the Lord.

You see, that's what it means.

What I'm talking about, that's what it means to be part of the apostolic ministry and the kingdom of God.

It could be a broadening of your call or a change of job or sometimes a change of location.

And we have sent people from this church to other locations, but we've also prayed people through to new types of work and doing new things, new work in the kingdom of God.

And so that's what's happening right now.

And God uses a holy restlessness to get our attention.

Comfort can breed complacency.

When you get comfortable, you know, I'm just comfortable.

I'm just comfortable where I'm at, don't want anybody bothering me, feeling good about where I'm at.

And if you're at the destination God has you, praise the Lord.

But I'm telling you, when God takes you, when He takes you where you are destined to be, there is an assignment there.

It's not a time to just sit and go, yeah, this is good.

This is good.

No, it isn't.

It's an assignment God has for you.

Some of you have been waiting on your assignments.

Hold on.

You're getting to be ready to be released.

Hallelujah.

You will never receive what is next if you refuse to leave the comfort of what is now.

I want to say that again because I want that to get down in you.

You will never receive what's next if you refuse to leave the comfort of what is now.

Hallelujah.

Beloved, think about what I just said as I read this scripture, okay?

Because when the Lord gave me this, I thought, oh, this is this is so good.

And my mind just started seeing what it was like when this happened.

In Genesis 12 and 1 through 4, the Lord said to Abram, Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to a land that I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation.

I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.

All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

So many times when we read these scriptures in the Bible, we think that these people are so much different than we are.

That they have this, they have this ultra angel singing kind of experience instead of God coming and saying, Abram, I want you to get up, I want you to pack up, and I want you to go to a land you don't know.

Just do it.

I want you to go to a land you don't know.

And so one day Abram heard that and he said, Okay.

See, I don't believe it was that easy.

I don't believe it was just a okay.

I believed that there had been a divine restlessness inside of Abram.

He knew that his life had purpose because he knew God.

He knew there was something in him that must be accomplished, and he had no idea what.

Something was changing.

It had become the fullness of time for Abram to move forward.

Anyone here ready to move forward?

Come on, let's interact today.

Let's not just sit and listen to a lecture.

Preaching always has corresponding action.

I preach, you go, yay, God.

I say, yes, God.

Get out of my way.

I need the altar.

Come on.

That's what preaching is supposed to do.

His first steps pack up and move to a land where I created you to make it a great nation.

Now I'm thinking of this in line of scripture.

This is in Genesis.

This is in Genesis.

And he doesn't know, you know, let me tell you what these people are going to be like.

And he just says yes.

Do you realize your yes takes you places you have no idea what's going to be there for you?

Do y'all hear that?

And and your yes, if it's God, yes.

Now some people say yes, and it's just an open door that God didn't open.

So you have to know him.

You have to know his voice.

Instead of knowing others' voices, you have to know his voice and move through the open door.

Hallelujah.

See, God is forming in you his desire and his plan for your life.

Your heart and your priorities are changing.

Your heart and your priorities are changing from what they are now to what God is working out in you right now.

Some of you may think, well, I missed my time.

You know, I'm just I'm just too old for this.

I miss my time.

But it says here that Abram was 75 years old.

Quit complaining.

Quit saying.

God, we started this church when we were 50.

Wow.

Yeah.

We really did.

We, I mean, you know, I'm telling the Lord, okay, I'm a woman and I'm 50, and what?

I was actually 49.

No, I wasn't.

I was 50.

It was right after I had my Jubilee year.

We went to church that Sunday, and I had I had heard people uh sound the shofar, and I thought that's really neat.

And so I remembered that 50 is Jubilee, and I said, Lord, on my Jubilee year, when we go to church today, could I hear the shofar sound?

And it did.

And I'm thinking, is that real?

Is that am I really hearing it?

But you could feel the wind of the Spirit blowing.

Praise the name of the Lord.

Okay.

So Genesis 12 tells us that Abraham, even though up in here, said yes to God, whatever your circumstance is, it's not too late.

Whatever your financial ability is, it's not too late.

Whatever your educational background is, it's not too late.

That's right.

Just say yes to the Lord.

Hallelujah.

Acts 13, 1 through 3.

Listen to this.

Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon, called the black man, Lucius from Cyrene, Menaeon, the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas and Saul.

One day, as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Appoint Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I've called them.

So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid hands on them and sent them on their way.

Glory to God.

You know, I think this is beautiful.

Saul, who became the apostle Paul, began what God had need over his whole life.

The one who persecuted Christians, the one who wanted him taken out, moved out of the way, and all the heresy that they were preaching, had an encounter with Jesus and became Apostle Paul, who wrote all of this portion of the New Testament that's glorious.

So not everyone will be sent to another location, but we are all called to move forward in what God has for us.

Do you hear this?

God is saying it's time for you to prepare to move into your next assignment.

Hallelujah.

So what's the process of a spiritual shift?

I just love that.

I'm getting a little help preaching here today.

And it doesn't bother me, it actually encourages me.

Praise the Lord.

So if the baby can, you all can.

Amen?

Hallelujah.

So what is the process?

Number one, change requires walking by sightless faith.

Wow.

It's not faith if you have everything set before you.

All the work has been done for you, and you just take it.

That's not faith.

Faith is stepping out and not knowing what it's going to be like, but knowing that God has called you.

Amen.

Hebrews 11 and 8 says, it was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.

He went without knowing where he was going.

I love this.

He went without knowing where he was going.

Beloved, what a step of faith.

That God said, come on, I want you to go to a land that will be your inheritance, a land that you will make into a nation, not just any nation, a great nation.

Hallelujah.

See, this would really trip us up.

Come on, you all know it.

This would really trip us up.

But this is a picture of the church that is always moving forward in what God is calling us to do.

The church that is moving forward is always moving by faith and not by sight.

Can you say amen?

Hallelujah.

So God never calls us to be static.

Holy Spirit said this to me the other day as I was praying about this word, and he said, you know, uh God never called you to be static.

And so I thought, oh, let me make sure.

I understand what being static is, okay?

It's staying the same.

In one place without moving, changing, or growing.

Can you imagine that?

Staying in one place without moving, changing, or growing.

The static Christian has no desire to move forward.

I'm okay.

I'm good where I'm at.

Come on.

Many want to look like they're moving forward, on fire for God, and doing a great work for the Lord, yet they're static.

Nothing, and and here's the beauty of it.

Don't ever look at someone and say, I think they're static.

And I'll tell you why.

Because sometimes God is moving in the wait.

The process of being woven into Him, He's not just moving you forward, He's changing you.

He's working stuff out inside of you.

And it's glorious.

You're not there yet, but you're on your way.

Come on.

And it's not until He works this out in us.

But the thing about it is, someone who's static doesn't want change.

They don't want change within themselves.

They just want someone to fix things for them.

And see, that's not what the church is.

The church is a living organism of God made in his image.

When it comes time to move, a static Christian will stay in place and always in a place that seems comfortable and without work.

Safety.

They see it as a place of safety.

Let me tell you something.

There is no safer place than to be moving with God.

There's no safer place than to live in his presence.

What did the Lord say about Summit Church?

This is my good ear.

It's a habitation of God.

A habitation of God.

It's a place of his presence.

While we were in prayer, he told us that.

This is a habitation.

This is a place of my presence.

Live as if when you come in here, live, act, move as if you stepped in to a habitation of God.

It's not a place to play, it's a place to pray.

Come on.

It is holy.

It's holy.

What God has called us to is holy, beloved.

We can't see it any other way than holy.

Hallelujah.

And then there comes a time of separation.

Now listen to this.

It's healthy.

Separation is healthy.

You could not have moved forward into all that God called you to do had you not separated from that which was holding you back.

Do you hear this?

There are things that will hold us back.

Do you know that you can hang out with people who don't want to move with God and it'll hold you back?

You know, you can have things in your life, you can have toxic things in your life that will hold you back.

You can also have toxic relationships that will hold you back.

Come on.

Hallelujah.

To be an apostolic ministry, you must always be ready for change, movement, and separation from codependent relationships.

Y'all know what a codependent relationship is.

Anybody in here say, yeah, Pastor, I know what a codependent relationship is.

Okay, good.

Then I'm not just talking to people who've never experienced it or been around it.

And uh you know those relationships that make you believe you cannot do what God has called you to do without them.

You'll never move forward without me.

Listen, it doesn't depend on me or you, it depends on him.

He's the one.

He's the one.

Keep your eyes on him, the author and finisher of that faith that he's put in you.

Oh, come on, beloved.

Or maybe it's a toxic habit or environment in your life that has held you back.

I just got one thing to say.

Get out.

Move.

Move away from that which is toxic.

And if you're sitting there and realize maybe I'm the toxic one, you're in the right place on the right day.

We believe in deliverance.

Oh, yeah, we believe in it.

You see, God's heart is for more movement in his church than we're willing to heed.

I saw this as he was speaking to me.

I saw the church moving, and they were moving by the Spirit, not just all this radical moving, just wherever trying to get things done, play in church.

I'm talking about when we follow the Holy Spirit, we're moving forward.

When we're praying, we're moving forward.

See, where where we are right now, the Lord said the prayer meetings in this house will lead summit to where he's taking us.

We can't get there without meeting for prayer.

Because in those prayer meetings, we begin to pray God's will on earth as it is in heaven.

We co-labor with Jesus in these prayer meetings, and every time I leave, I see that we've taken another step.

Oh, hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord.

Praise you, Lord.

In Acts 13, they were worshiping and fasting, and God said, appoint Barnabas and Saul for the spiritual work to which I have called them.

So what if the leaders there had said something like this we love them too much to send them out?

We need them here more than you need them, God.

You know, that happens all the time.

You can't be a sending church if you hold on to God's people too tightly.

Do you hear that?

God has an assignment for each one of us.

You may go out the doors of this house today, go to lunch, and there is one of the greatest assignments you will ever have.

Someone is there who needs to hear about the one who loves them.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord.

This is what God is doing in this day.

This is where we are.

He said, This is where you are.

Hallelujah.

He is moving because He said, we said to the Lord, your will be done.

Lord, we take our hands off of doing it our way, your will be done.

We've prayed, and we're trusting you.

And whatever you tell us to do, we will do it.

Do y'all believe that?

Can you say that sounds like that sounds like God?

Yes.

Hallelujah.

Then comes relocation.

And when I say that, you think of moving to another location.

But this is where your new destination lies between the old.

Are you ready?

The old and the place where your character has been reshaped for the future.

Oh my.

It's not we we think of, oh, I'm getting ready to launch out into this big thing.

But what God is doing, when he relocates you, he has been working on you so you will step right into what he has for you.

Hallelujah.

So what in the world is God wanting to do through Summit Church in Severe County?

What is he wanting to do?

He's not wanting to.

He is building a habitation for his presence.

A place, a dwelling place for God.

You see, this relocation, this place called relocate.

It's where you learn to press in and depend on God for everything.

Huh?

Come on.

It's where you learn to depend on God for absolutely everything.

Before this, you could preach about faith.

You could teach about faith.

You could talk to your friends about faith, but the experience of living by faith changes completely when you step into what God is saying.

This is where I'm taking you.

I've been building this in you forever.

For years.

Many times you didn't know it.

Quit thinking about what you think God is calling you to and say, Lord, what's your will?

You see, this is a place of nothing is impossible with God.

It's also a place where you speak to mountains and they'll move.

Hallelujah.

When we talk, when you hear me preaching this sermon, I want you to understand this.

God doesn't measure what he's doing like we do.

There are many in the church who will argue with you about that.

We think we've got the edge on measuring what God says.

This, this is what I've called you to.

We think it, well, is it a small ministry or is it a big one?

Because Lord, I'm just really wanting a big one.

One day in heaven, we will know what God says when we obey the Lord.

We step out into what the Spirit is leading to.

We will know one day, but right now we walk by faith and not by sight.

Have you ever had anybody say to you, well, I'll believe it when I see it?

Yeah, a lot of people say that.

And a lot of those people are in church.

You know why they say that?

Because they've not read the full counsel of God, that He is a God, that His people moves through by faith.

Hallelujah.

Romans 4 and 17 described Abraham in this way.

That is what the scripture means when God told him, I have made you a father of many nations.

This happened because Abraham believed in God who brings the dead back to life.

Are you all hearing that?

Who brings the dead back to life and creates new things out of nothing?

Oh my goodness.

Do you see with God eyes what he's saying?

He's the one what you call dead.

He's gonna show you I'm bringing it back to life.

And those things that you don't see, what kind of materials?

Well, how are we gonna do this?

He'll do it out of materials from heaven.

I love that.

This is God, he's so not like us, yet we're made in his image.

You know what that says?

He's God.

I have to line myself up with the one I was created to be like.

I have to I have to live like him.

I have to move like he moves, and he's given me a pattern through his son Jesus.

And so that's where we're going.

We're moving into our future.

It's time to embrace the new.

Are y'all hearing this?

It's time for us to embrace the new.

Embracing what God is doing now means our static mindset has to go.

We can't think like we used to.

We can't think comfort.

We can't think, well, if God's not going to do it, maybe I need to do it.

Because you get empty results when you do that.

If you're looking for comfortable stay, to stay the same, you're in the wrong place.

If you're looking for comfort, you're in the wrong place.

This is the place that embraces the new.

Beloved, I'm telling you, you may not see it with your eyes, but I'm telling you, the Lord is moving us into the new.

And it may not be like you think it should be.

It will be exactly as he wants it, as he says it will be.

His presence is always with you when you're moving forward into the new that he has for you.

His presence, you want to be in his presence, you want to experience his presence all the time.

Obey him.

Move with him, move in the spirit.

Amen.

Listen, you are hearing this.

You are here.

Beloved visitors, you are here because God is doing this in you.

He's doing this in you.

And you may not realize it, but today, today, you are hearing the Lord say, where you were is not where you're going to stay.

Where you are right now is not where you're going to stay.

But I am moving you into my new.

Will you give me yes?

Hallelujah.

You see, this is an exciting time.

This is so exciting, and God is moving at a faster pace than ever before.

He is moving quickly.

Do you not feel that?

Do you not feel like God is sort of things are speeding up and he's moving quicker and things are changing?

Every day things seem to be changing.

And you say, well, when did that happen?

Yeah, things are changing, but don't be caught off guard because we should know before they happen.

We're sons and daughters of God.

We should know.

Be ready to say yes.

We're told in John 1 and 16, for from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

God has given you an abundance of grace if you will receive and move in his glorious grace.

Somebody say with me, new assignments.

How does that feel when you say new assignments?

See, when I say that, I go, yay, God, new assignments.

A year from now, we will not look like or be like we are now.

New assignments are coming if we'll give him yes, if we'll give him a yes as a church.

New assignments are coming.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord.

With a new spiritual shift comes a deeper understanding of who you are in Christ and all that he desires to do through you.

Hallelujah.

So it's time to evaluate.

Are you ready to evaluate?

Listen, Steve and I used to be part of a group, a church group, and after every event, we would have to fill out an evaluation.

And people would go, oh.

I hate filling out the evaluation papers.

Well, I don't like filling out papers, period.

That's Steve's job.

Steve would get him a pen.

He has an evaluation paper to fill it out openly and honestly.

But it taught me something.

How are we not going to progress to greater if we never look at what we might be making a mistake in?

We uh looking at have what have I missed God?

Have I got off?

And do I need to change some things?

So it's time to evaluate the spiritual restlessness you are currently struggling with.

It's time to evaluate it.

Hallelujah.

Some of you that I know in this room are working on a new assignment, and you're moving with such speed that it actually gives you pause, and you think sometimes, is this really God?

And God, how are you moving in this?

And the word he spoke is trust.

The process.

Oh, come on.

God will take you through a process.

He will refine you, he will change you, he will make you exactly as you need to be.

Hallelujah.

So the process is surrender.

Pack your bags spiritually and release your old grip on the old things.

Drop them.

Release it.

God will not move you into your future with your baggage.

Coming along, dragging all the baggage, dragging all the baggage.

And let me tell you something.

Baggage sometimes comes with spiritual woundedness, emotional woundedness.

And you carry that and you try to go into your future and you're carrying your baggage.

And you know, you might have really nice baggage.

It could be Louis Vuitton, it could be great things, and people will go, Oh, I love your baggage.

It's so stylish.

It's so fashionable.

Listen, we can perfume it up, we can put it in fancy bags, but it's still baggage.

And it will hold you back.

So the Lord is saying today, if you're carrying around some baggage, today is the day to release it.

Drop it right here.

If you'll drop the baggage, if you'll drop, God, you said it was going to be this way, but it's not.

Drop the baggage.

This is not a place of hurt again.

This is a place where He is moving and working in you and creating in you something that will last for eternity.

Hallelujah.

Thank you for that one clap.

I really appreciate it.

Praise the Lord.

So step forward in obedience.

God is already in your tomorrow.

Isn't that good?

He's already there.

He knows the beginning and the end, and he's already in your tomorrow.

Refuse worry and fear.

Isn't that refuse worry and fear?

Come on.

Genesis 22 tells us that when Abraham took his son Isaac to sacrifice him, God provided a ram in the thicket.

And Abraham called it Jehovah Jireh.

My God will provide.

Oh, hallelujah.

Have you ever been at the place of Jehovah Jireh because you obeyed the Lord?

Hallelujah.

I live there.

It's comfortable, but uncomfortable.

He brings comfort, but it's uncomfortable.

It's waiting for provision every week.

That's okay.

So it's time to evaluate what God is really doing in you right now.

And so where are you on that evaluation spectrum?

Where are you?

Have I been faithful to what God has called me to now?

Am I faithful to do what God is calling me to do now?

Or am I complaining because I've got my sights on something and I want to go to a place called there instead of working and moving and following the Holy Spirit right now?

That's where we are.

Come on.

Have I been doing what God placed before me instead of trying to rush the process?

We all do that.

Or maybe you're feeling as if you're done with this current assignment.

You know, God, I'm done.

It didn't turn out like I wanted it to.

It's just hard.

It's really hard.

God should see you're moving and ready to move on because this one is too hard.

Beloved, let me tell you when your next assignment is.

When you quit complaining about too hard it is, and just put yourself to doing what God has called you to do.

Oh, come on.

Just moving forward with him.

Hallelujah.

He's still waiting on you to embrace the now because the now is preparing you for the future.

Be faithful, don't complain.

Man, that's hard, isn't it?

Be faithful and don't complain.

And we say, and here's what I do.

I try not to complain so much to people.

I just complain to God.

Lord, what are you doing right now?

Lord, I don't see things moving.

And you said there was movement, and I'm I'm waiting.

Yeah.

You're waiting, and I'm working something in you in the wait.

Hallelujah.

Is prayer another thing you do when you evaluate your life?

Is prayer a priority?

Come on.

Is prayer a priority?

How can I just move something really crazy on my computer?

Okay.

So how can we get God's answers for this divine restlessness if you're not willing to listen and talk with the one who gives the assignment?

Prayer is essential, beloved.

Prayer is essential for you to move forward in your life.

That's where you get instructions.

You're not gonna, you just want God to come down, give you a one to ten piece of paper and say, here you go.

No, that's what you get in college.

You go to college and they give you a syllabus and you work it out, you do these things, and then you either pass or fail the class.

But God isn't that way.

He's giving things, he's doing things in you as you pray.

Make prayer a priority.

And number three, move forward.

Move forward.

Are you acting on what you know right now with the tools you have?

Oh, that's good.

Are you moving right now with the tools you have?

Why would God give you more if you're not using what you already have right now?

Listen to this, Philippians 3, 12 through 14.

Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

That is so beautiful.

That I'm pressing in.

I'm pressing in, and I'm gonna lay hold of the things that He already laid hold of me.

He already planned and destined my life.

He already grabbed hold of me.

He never let me go.

Sometimes I feel like it.

I'm pressing in.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

I press forward to the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Pressing forward to the upward call.

To that which he already laid hold of me.

I knew you before the foundation of the world.

I knew you before you were in your mother's womb.

Now grab hold of that.

I knew you, Jeremiah says in chapter one, I knew you before you were in your mother's womb and called you.

That beautiful.

But he also knew us before the foundation of the world.

Oh beloved, what a God and what a call.

Now we have a choice.

We can move forward with him.

We can say yes, Lord.

I know that we're in a time of shifting and it's coming quickly.

And whether you believe it or not, that's the word of the Lord today for you.

It's coming quickly.

Are you willing to say yes?