THE EXODUS: Keep Going

Welcome to the Celebration Church or the Lando podcast.

We are so glad you joined us, and we hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Alright, alright, alright.

Church, how's everybody doing?

You guys doing good?

Oh man, I've missed you so much.

I've only been gone for a week, but it seems like forever.

So I'm so, so glad that y'all decided to come back.

I really am.

I'm so glad that y'all are with us.

I'm so glad that um we had an incredible time over in in Zimbabwe and saw God do some amazing things um over there.

So uh we'll be sharing stories about what God is doing there and just ways that we can continue to get involved.

Um, but this series has been absolutely amazing.

I'm actually I'm actually a little bit sad that we're we're wrapping it up because I can't think of a more dramatic thing to preach after than that message intro.

Like I feel like it sets the perfect atmosphere.

I feel like a superhero when I come out here and preach with that.

So we may continue to use that intro, um, even though we're talking about something, it'll be Christmas time.

We're gonna have that still playing in the background, just because it gets, it just feels right.

I feel like I'm just beating a villain right now.

But uh but we've been excited about what we've seen God do um just over the past couple of weeks as we've been in this incredible series.

And and what I truly believe is that everything up to what we've been experiencing, it's been leading us to where we are uh right now.

You know, as we prepare to close the series out, we we knew that there would be no way that we could truly exhaustively give us like a step-by-step breakdown of all the things that God did in the Exodus narrative.

We could spend an entire year just unpacking the miracles and the way that God moved.

However, we wanted to highlight just some of the critical things that we think would be anchors for our faith, but also wanted to provide you with a resource that hopefully would would often give you some handlebars to kind of look in and go on to a little bit of a journey of your own.

So even though the the series is over, I want to encourage you to continue to read through some things, continue to use your journal, connect with what God was doing in the Exodus narrative because it's truly from the Exodus narrative that everything we understand about salvation, everything we understand about freedom, it's all built on a foundation of what God did through this narrative.

It's often referred back to in the New Testament.

So it gives us context of the activity and power of God.

So if you have your Bibles, um, I want to invite you to join me in um the book of Joshua, chapter 10.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

Joshua chapter 10.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

While you're turning there, I want to highlight um our our theme, our theme passage.

We've been reading it virtually every every week, just kind of unpacking um the big picture of where we were going because we've been on this, we've been on this journey.

So so here in Exodus chapter, on Exodus chapter 3, verses 7 and 8, it's kind of been our theme.

Exodus 3:7

It says this.

It says, Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cries because of their taskmasters, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and bring them to a land that is good and broad, a land flowing with milk and honey, a place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Parasites, the Hittites, and the Jebusites.

What we're seeing is that from the very beginning, God had a place that he wanted his people to be in.

And we understand that the promised land was a location that was already occupied by some other people.

So this was no surprise that as we went through the narrative, that they found themselves at places that were occupied by some other people, but we knew that God was also calling them to take that land.

That's that's what we've seen through this this entire journey.

And so so far what we've talked about, just want to give us a quick recap.

If you missed any of the messages, go back and check it out.

But just so we can see how it all was leading to this.

So far, we've talked about identity, the importance of knowing who we are, but also knowing who God is.

We we talked about compromise and understanding that God doesn't want us partially free, and we have to be uncompromising and not recognizing that God is truly leading us to a place of total freedom.

We we talked about commitment with this dedication and investing in what God is calling you to do.

What does that look like practically?

Perspective.

Two weeks ago, we talked about having the the lens of faith.

So we look at things through the proper lens and we can have the proper perspective.

And then even last week, can we get up for Pastor Justin for preaching such an incredible message last week?

He did such such a good job.

But just talking about just just just winning.

All we do is win, and and I love the idea that we fight from victory, not for victory, because God has already told us that we're going to be victorious.

Understanding who we are and what God has already given us.

So it's with that understanding that after they walked around the Jericho as a city, the walls came down, and now they're beginning to lay a hold of all the things that was talked about in Exodus 3.

We find ourselves here at Joshua chapter 10, looking at verses 8 through 14.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

And here's what the scripture says it says this it says, And the Lord said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands, not a man of them shall stand before you.

So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal.

And the Lord threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon, and chased them the way in the ascent of Beth Horan, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makeda.

Verse number 11.

And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down to the ascent of Beth Horan, the the Lord threw large stones from heaven as far as Azekah, and they died.

There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

At that time, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day.

And when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, he said in the sight of Israel, Sun stand still at Gibeon, and moon in the valley of Agilon.

And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.

Is it not written in the book of Jasur?

The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day.

There has not been a day like this before or since when the Lord heeded the voice of man, for the Lord fought for Israel.

What a what a powerful image.

What what what powerful words.

I want us to skip down a little bit further and and and and land at verse number 42 because what we see here is that even after that whole incident we just read, Joshua and his team, they continue to fight, they continue to take more ground, they continue to take more land.

And looking at verse number 42, I think that it's a perfect, it's a perfect picture of how they were able to be successful.

So at verse 42, it says this and Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel.

We see that emphasized twice in the same passage, and seeing that even though they had insurmountable odds, even though they had some incredible obstacles, and what in the natural should have not been possible, that they were able to grab a hold of what God told them they were going to have because the Lord fought for them.

I can't think of a of a of a better narrative in all of scripture that perfectly illustrates what it looks like when the faith of man connects itself with the will of God and we see what God truly has for us because God fights for us.

My my assignment today, what I really feel like I'm called to inspire, encourage, and challenge us in today, is around this idea of how God is leading us to get more.

He doesn't want us to be comfortable with where we are.

So if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down.

Keep going.

Just keep going.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you so much for what you've been showing us throughout this series.

You've been revealing your heart's desire for your people to truly experience freedom.

You've been leading us from a place of captivity to a place of promise, God.

So, Father, we seek your blessing in our time today, God.

We pray that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

We pray for open ears that we can hear your truth, God, and we pray for open hearts that we can receive exactly as what you want to speak to us today.

Father, we pray and declare and believe it all in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

I think it's I think it's fair to say that we could classify this entire passage of scripture as as a miracle.

Now, now I realize that when we make that statement, that we all have different understandings and parameters on how we would define a miracle.

You know, me being uh an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan, I I I know that two years ago when we crushed the Patriots in the Super Bowl, that I knew that it was going to take a miracle.

I did, because I truly believe that that the Eagles are God's team.

I believe that with with every ounce of my heart.

In fact, this is not just me speaking as a fan, this is scripture.

I've looked, I've exhaustively studied scripture.

Look, there are more than 40 references in the Bible about eagles, but there are zero about patriots.

I just want to make that clear that I don't see patriots anywhere in the Bible, but I do see that he says, I will mount you up on eagles' wings.

I do see where he says I come with healing in my wing.

I'm just trying to help you to understand that I am on the God's side, so you need to pick and choose whom you shall serve.

Anyway, so so when when the Eagles beat them, yes, real talk, I was like, man, it's a miracle.

It's a miracle because I didn't feel like they had what it took to be successful.

So I used the word miracle when I thought about the Eagles who seem to be outnumbered that could actually defeat the Patriots.

Now, for some of us who were parents and you have children, especially those who are like in that teenage demographic, you know it's a miracle for you to ask your kids to do something and they actually do it without expressing any disdain or frustration.

It's a miracle.

It's a miracle when you can say to your child, hey, um, clean your room, and they actually say, Yes, sir.

Like it's it's a miracle.

It it literally is the hand of God getting involved, touching the heart of these children and helping them to be obedient and submitted to the heart of their father.

Where's my son at?

I'm trying to talk to him.

What I'm saying, what I'm saying is it's a miracle.

And so we use these phrases, like, man, it's a it's a miracle.

It's a miracle if I can ever preach a message that's not at least 45 minutes.

It'll be a miracle.

It's a miracle.

So we're all understand that there's this framework where we say, like, man, that that that that is that's a miracle.

Now, let now let me give us a definition of what I mean by miracle so we can make sure we have the proper context when we talk about miracle.

See, uh, here's here's what it says a miracle is an event that occurs that is not bound by the natural or scientific laws.

Like, it's just something beyond the parameters of basically things that you can see or do in your own strength.

It's it's divine intervention, even.

We see these moments in these statements where we're like, man, like that's that's divine intervention.

That never that never happens.

We we see miracles in that sense.

It it's it's when we have these moments when it appears that the tangible hand of God had to get involved in a situation.

So now when we have that framework, we probably can think of moments where, man, it's it's a miracle that I got saved.

It's it's a miracle when when when I didn't get killed in a car accident.

Like somehow, like God had to get involved.

Like, I don't understand how I'm here today.

Like, we begin to understand the framework of what it talks about when having a miracle.

I I like to define miracles this way, especially in the context of scripture.

Miracles happen when the faith of man attaches itself to a move of God.

We we see miracles.

When you somebody has faith on believing in what God is doing, if you stay long enough, you'll begin to see miracles, you'll begin to see things take place.

And here's the thing with me just coming back from Zimbabwe, you can only imagine how fired up I am because there's miracles all around.

Everywhere you look, everywhere you turn, you're just seeing the activity of God in these environments, and you're like, wow, like that's that's a miracle.

It's a miracle that a country that has 95% unemployment, yet the people are still filled with joy and they're passionate about Jesus.

Like, I can't imagine like not having those resources, but yet these people are fired up for God.

Like it's a it's a miracle when you look and see the faith that exists there.

There's so many things that we could talk about when we begin to talk about the context of miracles.

And so I will we'll unpack some of those things in in the weeks to come.

But but I'll say this as it relates to Zimbabwe.

It is a miracle that I even made it on a plane.

Let me give you some context and explain to you what I mean.

So our flight coming back from Zimbabwe, it went from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to JFK in New York, and then from there here to Florida.

So that was like our whole flight plan.

So when we got to Johannesburg, we had a seven-hour layover.

We all we we get it, we have a seven-hour layover.

So we decided, my wife and I, we decided, hey, we're gonna hang out in the in the lounge for a little bit, we're gonna we're gonna get caught up on email, we're gonna relax a little bit.

Then when it's about an hour or so before we need to board the plane, we're gonna go ahead and hop on um the plane, we're gonna do some shopping, and then we'll get on a plane.

That was our plan.

It was brilliant.

I thought of it myself.

I knew it was perfect.

So so everything was going according to plan.

Now, the interesting thing was when we checked into our flight, everywhere we turn, they will constantly tell us, hey, listen, in Johannesburg Airport, we do not call out the flights.

We don't say what flights are taking off, so you gotta be mindful, you gotta pay attention to the clock, you gotta know where you are because you won't hear an intercom with anyone saying, hey, this flight's about to take off.

There is no final call, so just be be ready.

Cool, I got it.

But everywhere we went, they kept emphasizing, hey, we don't, we don't, we don't let y'all know, so you better be ready.

I get it.

I was gonna order me a cheeseburger.

Cool, you want a cheeseburger?

How do you want it done?

Medium well, cool.

Hey, we don't let you know when the flights take off.

Like everywhere I went, they constantly wanted to remind us, like, bro, be on time.

Got it.

So I look at my ticket, it says that the flight boards at 8.05.

So I'm like, all right, cool, I know what we're gonna do.

So my wife and I, it gets to be about 7 o'clock.

I'm like, hey, let's start more making our way down to the little mall, the shopping area.

Let's go ahead and buy some gifts for the kids, the grandkids.

It's gonna be great.

We're wandering through, we're shopping.

It's about 7:38.

I tell my wife, like, hey, let's get ready, start wrapping this thing up.

Let's uh let's start moving a little bit.

About seven, about 7.50.

It's all good.

You know, now where we are, it's about a 15-minute walk to get to our gate.

As we're walking and we're just mosing, enjoying ourselves and enjoying the culture, she says, Hey, I want to stop in here and pick up one more thing.

I'm like, girl, we're in Africa.

You could do whatever you want.

Go ahead and get that.

So I'm standing outside.

I'm standing outside waiting, but then there was like this uneasiness that began to hit me.

I didn't know where it came from, I really don't.

So I took out my ticket, and when I looked at my ticket, I had realized that I was looking at the wrong part of the ticket the entire time.

The flight did not board at 8.05, it left at 8.05.

That means that they had been boarding for the past 30 minutes and we had completely missed the window.

And on the ticket, it tells you you have to be boarded 20 minutes before the flight departs because they have to do all their check systems.

So in my head, I realized we just missed this flight.

And and so a sense of panic.

I'm not sure if you've ever seen a movie where like something zooms in, it's like a moment of panic, and like everything is like terrifying.

Like it was like one of those moments.

So I turn, I look, and I see my wife.

She has her credit card in her hand about to purchase this really cute Zimbabwe African skirt.

It was so nice, but I ran into the I ran into the store.

I was like, we gotta go! I literally grab her by her hand and we start running.

So we're running full speed through the Johannesburg um airport.

Now, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking to myself, there's no way we're gonna make the flight.

It boards at 8.05.

I mean, it leaves at 8.05, so we're we're not gonna make it.

It's 8.03.

Like they've already closed the door.

They're already literally going through the process of hearing the pilot on there saying, Uh, thank you so much for joining on our flight.

Uh we're gonna be traveling about 15 hours, and uh we got our flight attendants are gonna be taking care of you.

Like, I mean, they're doing that right now.

So I've already I've already missed the window.

So I'm thinking to myself, why am I even bother trying to run any further?

They're already basically taxing down, they're already ignoring the flight attendants and their safety rules.

Like, that's already taken place.

We're we're running for for for no reason, but I'm running full speed.

I'm not talking about a cute little trot that sometimes you see somebody like, oh, excuse me, I'm running a little bit late.

I'm talking about full-fledged sprint.

I'm I'm stiff-arming kids, I'm doing Heisman poses, I'm jumping over stuff, like I'm doing everything, but meanwhile, in the back of my mind, I'm saying, bro, you missed a window.

There's no way you're gonna make it to this flight.

But then, to make matters worse, we're doing all of this, and my wife broke her toe.

Right.

Now, now now let me let me give you some context because watch this.

So the night before, somebody left their luggage in the middle of the floor in a hotel.

Me.

Um, and and believe me, I'm paying for this right now.

So I I left I left the luggage out.

So when she was packing up her stuff in haste, she runs directly into the wheel on my luggage and breaks her toe.

Now, okay, relax.

Um so so so here's the thing.

My wife, because she used to work in the medical field, anytime there's any sickness or something, she immediately goes to like the worst diagnosis there is known to man.

Like if you cough in front of her, she's gonna be like, mm, that sounds like tuberculosis.

You might have two weeks left of.

Like, it's always like the worst case scenario.

So understanding there's a history of her over-exaggerating.

Y'all see what I'm trying to do.

She feels a history of over-exaggerating.

So when she stubs her toe, I'm like, listen, you're fine, relax, it's gonna be okay.

She said, No, I broke my toe.

No, you didn't.

It's gonna be okay.

I know I'm a terrible husband and I'm I'm taking care of it right now.

But I'm I'm doing all of that.

Now take that information because we didn't know her toe was broken then, and now put it in the context of us running full speed through the airport.

So as we're running, there are moments where she's like, I don't, I don't think I can go any further.

My foot's hurting.

I'm like, girl, we gotta keep going.

We gotta keep going.

There is no grace, there was none of that.

I was like, man, it's gonna be fine, keep going.

So as we're running and running, it's about a mile and a half of just running.

I have not ran a mile and a half since ever.

So, so I'm so I'm way out of my element.

I'm breathing heavy, but then as we come around the corner and I can see that we finally make it to our terminal, but we're at gate 15, which is still another quarter of a mile away.

I'm running, I'm huffing, I'm like, I feel like I'm about to die.

I have like a stress-induced panic attack and asthma, but I'm thinking to myself, I don't want to miss this flight, even though I know the flight's already gone.

I'm not sure if you've ever had that moment where you you you feel like there's no way possible that this is gonna work out.

So you're already working through the resolution of what you're gonna do, but you're still trying to move forward and just give a good effort.

So as I'm moving forward, I'm thinking my luggage is gonna end up in New York and it's gonna get stolen because it's New York.

And and I and it's not like I can just cop on the next flight two hours later, like it's a 15-hour flight.

That's once a day, and the other flights may have already been booked, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm never gonna make it back.

Like, so that's that's the level of panic that I'm feeling right now.

But as we finally get to our our terminal and I and I see people off in a distance, I get there and and and I'm and I pause because I see that the flight has been delayed.

No, no, I want you to I want you to hear me because this is this is where it gets this is where it gets good.

They told us over and over again that this particular flight never leaves late because it's leaving Africa and going to New York, and there's too many other connecting flights that are attached to it.

So if it's late here, it creates a domino effect in other places.

So they kept emphasizing this flight is never late.

Be there on time, we're never late, we're always on time.

But on this day, the flight was delayed by 30 minutes because it just so happens that our flight was selected as a random security search, which meant every person that was getting on their plane was gonna have to have their bags checked again.

They never do it for that flight, ever.

But what would have frustrated me if I was there on time actually turned out to be the very delay that we needed to make it to the destination that we felt like we were supposed to go.

It's it's crazy, and I would classify that as a miracle because it never happens.

Now, here's the thing some of us will say, Man, that's that's just a coincidence.

That's you just got lucky.

But here's the thing I've exhaustively studied the Bible and I have yet to find the word coincidence in it.

I have exhaustively studied the Bible and I have yet to find the word lucky in it.

But what I have seen is how God will get involved and change everything to make sure that his people can make it to their destination.

But the key thing is this we would have never seen the miracle that God had waiting for us if we didn't keep going.

There were moments when I felt as if it didn't make sense, we missed the window, it's no way we're gonna make the flight, but we had to keep going.

There have been times when I was like, the flight is already gone, but something told me that we have to keep going.

Listen to me, I know that sometimes when we're looking at our situation, we're thinking that it's not going to work out, so we often will stop, but you will never see the miracle unless you keep going.

Sometimes you're gonna have to walk on your brokenness and push through the pain, but that's how you're gonna get your miracle, so you gotta keep going.

Sometimes you gotta drop everything and change directions and run as fast as you can, but you gotta keep going.

There's gonna be times when you don't have the breath in your lungs to praise God, but you know that on the other side of your praise is your breakthrough, so you gotta keep going.

Every now and then you don't have the strength inside of you, but when you recognize that unless I keep going, I won't see the miracle, it'll give you the strength to keep moving.

Church, listen to me.

You may be tired, but keep going.

You may not have seen it worked out, keep going.

I truly believe that your miracle is on the other side of your perseverance, but you won't see it if you don't keep going.

We have to, we have to keep going.

You see, I believe in order for us to experience these miracles that God truly has for us, we got to keep going.

See, this is what I've seen.

I've seen that when The faith of man attaches itself to a move of God, it creates an unstoppable momentum that we call a miracle.

But we gotta, we gotta keep going.

You see, I want you to write this down.

If you want to see a move of God, you have to move with God and keep going.

If there's anything that you take away from this series, if there's anything that you take away from today's message, if there's anything that I want you to have tattooed on your arm and then put at Keith Pittman on there, you can just show me some love.

If you if you want to if you want to do that, I'll show you some love for it.

But if you want to do anything, this is what I want you to write down.

Miracles happen when we keep going.

Imagine letting that be the narrative of your life.

Miracles happen when I keep going.

I will see the breakthrough if I can just keep going.

And if there's anything that I believe that this incredible story, not just what we're seeing right now, but the entire Exodus narrative was about.

It's about people of faith attaching themselves to a move of God and experiencing miracles, but they had to make a decision to keep on going.

See, I believe that when we look at this narrative right now, there's a bunch of people that have been wandering in the wilderness for about 40 years.

They're finally getting into the promised land that we've heard about in Exodus chapter 3, that God told Abraham about in Genesis 12, 15, and 17.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

This constant reference of this place of milk and honey, this place of favor and blessing, this place of the promises of God.

Now, let me pause for a moment because the land was not just blessed for no reason.

Please understand that the blessing was with the people, the land was just the case, the place that could sustain the blessing that was on their lives.

I want you to hear that.

The blessing wasn't the land, the blessing was the people.

The land was just a place that could sustain the blessing that was on their lives.

Let me say that one more time.

The blessing isn't in the location, the blessing is with the people.

The location is just a place that can sustain the blessing that is on their lives.

There have been many of us that we've been thinking that I will be blessed if I can just get here.

But please understand, you're blessed right here.

There is just a place that can sustain the blessings on your life.

So when you're in Egypt, you're blessed.

When you're in the wilderness, you're blessed.

You don't have to get to a location to be blessed, you're blessed right now.

But that's not what I came to talk to y'all about.

What I want you to understand though, we have these people that have been on this journey trying to experience the blessing of God and are finally getting to the destination that they had heard about.

The place that their ancestors talked about, the place that Moses came and told them about, the place that Joshua had now led them into.

They're finally there.

But now they're at this spot where they have a critical decision to make.

They have to keep going.

Because even though they made it into Jericho, God had other areas that he wanted them to conquer.

There was other land that he had for them.

There was other things that they still had to do.

And it's in this moment that we often wrestle with the tension of, is it good enough?

Do I need to go any further?

Here's what I believe.

I believe that there's sometimes that being in the proximity to the promise can create the illusion of fulfillment.

That when we're that we're in proximity to it, that we feel like, well, man, I've I've made it because I'm I'm close enough to it.

I I love how Jim Collins says it here in his bestseller, good to great.

Good is the enemy of great.

And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great because we're content with things being good.

Man, I don't I don't need a great marriage, I got a good marriage.

I don't have a great business, but I got a good business.

I don't have great kids, but I got good kids.

We become content when things are good and we miss out on the greatness that God truly has for us.

But here's the question that we have to ask ourselves What if God has more for you?

What if where you are right now, whether it be good or bad, you really begin to think through the filter, but God has more for me.

My business is doing good, but I know that God has more for me.

My marriage is strong, but God has more for me.

My family is good, but God has more for me.

We have to develop a mindset that says this I don't want anything more, but I won't accept anything less than what God has for me.

Unfortunately, we get content with where we are and we miss out on all that God has for us.

But the key ingredient is that we have to keep going.

There's a couple of points I want to share with us before we go back into worship and pray, believing that God's gonna do something powerful in the remainder of our service.

But there's three thoughts that I want to share with you that I think we see in this text that if we can if we can allow it to attach itself to the way that we process things, I believe it can change our lives.

Here's the first thing promises inspire us to keep going.

The promises of God should inspire us to keep going.

In Joshua chapter 10, looking at the text that we just read a few minutes ago, looking at verse number eight, it says this God tells him, Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands, and not a man of them shall stand before you.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

God promised them that they are gonna be victorious.

God promised them that you got nothing to worry about, like we're gonna literally defeat every single person, not a single man's gonna stand.

That's a promise from God.

But look at look at Joshua's response to that at verse 9.

But Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal.

Let me let me give us let me give us some context right here.

It was it was unheard of for soldiers to march all night long.

At night was a time for rest, even when you didn't know if you're gonna win the war.

You rested at night and then you would battle during the day.

So why would why would Joshua implement a radical strategy when he knew that God had already given him the victory?

Joshua recognized that he still had a part to play.

That even though that God had given him a promise, that he still had to keep going.

He didn't want to sit back and wait for God to do it.

I want you to put this in your spirit.

Don't let the promises paralyze your pursuit.

Don't don't let because God said that you have victory make you believe that you don't have to fight.

Don't don't let don't let because God says that your marriage is blessed make you think you still don't have to do the work and do date nights.

What I'm saying is that when we work in conjunction with what God has already said, that's when we experience the miracle.

But we have to make sure that we keep on going.

We have to keep on going.

So so let's let's go a little bit further.

As we look at this idea of God partnering with us, the promises don't remove responsibility, they should inspire mobility.

It doesn't remove the responsibility.

God's speaking blessings over your life.

The things that God's word says about you, it doesn't remove our responsibility in the part that we have to play.

We just have to now be activated to move in the direction of what God said He's going to do.

Joshua walked all night long uphill.

It's literally like an old school story when your parents was like, I had to walk to school 12 miles uphill in the snow, both ways.

Like, it's Joshua literally had to walk about 25 miles uphill at night.

This was this was completely unheard of.

But what Joshua knew that if they got there early, the enemy would not be expecting them.

And when they got there early that morning, because the enemy wasn't expecting them, God used that to send fear through the camp and the enemy began to panic.

Let me simplify it a little bit.

The enemy did not expect Joshua and the team to be there.

Powerful things happen when you show up in places that the enemy doesn't expect you to show up.

Amazing things happen when we begin to do things that the enemy doesn't expect us to do.

Let me put it to you this way: the enemy didn't expect you to show up today because there was something going on in your life that gave you every reason why you shouldn't come, but you decided to come anyway.

So what it does is God uses that to confuse the enemy and send them off into a panic.

God has this ability of using when we show up in unexpected places to confuse the adversary and send them off into a panic.

God doesn't expect you to show up early on Sunday mornings to help us with setup and teardown, but when you show up in the unexpected places, God uses that to diffuse and to confuse the enemy.

But you got to keep showing up.

You got to keep going.

God doesn't expect you to worship God when it seems as if everything is falling apart, but the adversary can see that God will use that to silence the activity of the enemy.

God, the enemy doesn't expect you to show up at small groups and begin connected to people that are gonna help you to be vulnerable, but to now lead on God and be surrounded by a community of people so you can be made strong.

The enemy does not expect you to show up at equipment when you can actually be strengthened and developed.

But when you show up in those unexpected places, God meets you there and it confuses the enemy.

I'm not sure who I'm talking to, but there's somebody in here that needs to take a next step, and the enemy does not expect you to do it.

But if you can step into the unexpected, God will confuse the enemy, God will defeat the enemy, but you gotta show up in the unexpected places.

In other words, you've got to keep going.

Let me talk to someone plain.

You've been going to counseling and you don't see the results right now, you keep going.

You've been going to those places that deal with addiction, but you are still struggling with addiction, you keep going.

You've been praying and you haven't seen the results, but you keep praying.

You've been serving, but you don't feel as if you're getting your breakthrough, you keep serving.

You've been giving and you don't see the financial breakthrough just yet, you keep giving.

What I'm saying is when you've been coming to church and you still don't feel as if it's translating from Sunday to the rest of your week, you keep showing up.

The miracle is on the other side of you continuing to show up.

Don't let the adversary convince you to stop showing up.

He doesn't expect you to have faith, he doesn't expect you to persevere, he doesn't expect you to serve, he doesn't expect you to give, he doesn't expect you to get involved, but you when you show up in the places that the enemy doesn't expect, God will use that to put a panic around the enemy's camp.

It's amazing how God can use those unexpected things to defeat the enemy.

But there's another thing that I want us to recognize that happens in this text, and I want you to write this down.

Not only do we see that promises inspire us to keep going, but prayer invites God to move, but we must still keep going.

Let me let me walk us through this real quick.

Because looking at verse number 12, when when when they show up and the battle begins, the text tells us that that they're that the enemy's camp is literally being ransacked, they're being defeated, they're running away.

So so so Joshua has this bold, ridiculous prayer where he says, Sun, stand still.

Now, that's that's um that's a that's a massive prayer.

It's it's it's incomprehensible to consider what he was truly asking for.

Now, he doesn't understand at that time that like the sun doesn't move, but it's the earth that moves.

But but let me give us a framework of what we're talking about.

When God created all that we have a chance to be a part of right now, we don't live in our own separate ecosystem, we're part of the universe.

And so God created the universe, the galaxies, everything that we're a part of with such perfect rhythms that everything plays its part.

We rotate around the sun 365 days, 24 hours to turn on its axis, all of those things are finely tuned.

So when he's saying sun stands still, he's ultimately saying, Is I want the earth to come to a complete stop?

Now understand this.

If the earth comes to a complete stop, it'll send a ripple effect that damages everything that's around us.

So, in other words, what God needed to do to answer this prayer is he literally had to stop everything.

He had to bring all of existence to a stop so that the ripple effects wouldn't be as significant.

Now think about that for a moment.

Have you ever been at a spot where you've been so desperate that you said, God, in order for this thing to work out, you're literally going to have to change everything.

Have you have you ever been so desperate where you've looked at all the variables around you and you've said the the only way this can work out is that God would literally have to get involved and fix 20 different pieces in order for this to work out.

This isn't an isolated thing.

God would literally have to change everything.

This is the this is where we find ourselves at.

But what's interesting is the text tells us that God does it.

That God pauses everything so that they can experience the victory.

So what it says in the in the passage is says that there had not been a day before or a day after where God had heeded the voice of man.

Allow me to explain this for just a moment because it gets me fired up when I consider what we're talking about here.

That word heeded in the Hebrew is the word Shema.

Now, a couple of weeks ago we talked about that word Shema, and Shema means to listen and to obey.

You can't separate the two.

So here's what it's saying that God obeyed the voice of man.

There are every time we see the word Shema in scripture, it's always our responsibility to be obedient to God.

There is literally only three passages in the entire Bible where it says God obeys our voice.

The first one is found in Numbers chapter 21, verse 3, where when the children of Israel are going into the promised land and they pray, God, allow us to have victory over the Canaanites.

Numbers 21:3

And the scripture says, And God obeyed their voice.

The second time we see it is in the passage we're looking at right now.

Son stand still, and God obeyed their voice.

The third time we see it is in 1 Kings chapter 17, looking at verses 22, it says that when Elijah came into the room where the widowed woman's son had died, that when he prayed and said, God allowed this boy to come back to life, it says that God obeyed it.

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

Are you seeing a pattern here?

That when prayers are prayed, that ask God to do something so that he can be glorified to it, through it, he does it.

See this, God, we're going into the Canaanite land where there's where there's false worship, where there, where there's idolatry, where there's human sacrifice.

God, we want to get victory in that land, not for our own strength, but we want to make a place where your name can be glorified.

God says, I'm all about that.

God, we're we're we are battling and we have the most perfect conditions in order for us to be victorious.

So, Lord, we're asking for you to get involved, not so that we can get the glory, but so that your name can be elevated.

God says, Okay, I can get on board with that.

Lord, we have a boy who has died.

The mom has no hope.

So we're asking for you to resurrect this, not because we want to display how spiritual we are, but so that your name can get the glory.

God says, I'm all about that.

The pattern that I'm trying to help you to see is when you start praying prayers, not that's gonna bring relief to you, but that exalts the name of God, you will find that God will get involved in it.

I dare you to start praying prayers where you say, God, I want you to change the atmosphere at my job, not just so I don't have to be frustrated with my co-workers, but I want my job to be a place where your name can be elevated.

God's gonna get on board.

When you start praying prayers like, God, I want you to be glorified in my marriage.

I don't want you to fix it just so I can feel better about myself, but I want my marriage to be an image of what it looks like to have people who are pursuing after you.

God says, I'll do that.

When you say, God, will you bless my finances?

Not so I can go and buy a brand new car, but so my finances can be a resource to advance your kingdom, God gets involved in that.

What I'm saying is, when we start praying bold prayers that invite God to be exalted and not to bring us to a place of comfort, God begins to get involved.

Can you take your initiatives and connect them to the heart of God and watch God begin to do miracles through them?

But you've got to keep going.

When I was in um Zimbabwe, our pastor had kind of taken us around the land there.

And um 75% of the country is undeveloped.

75% of the country is kind of what we would consider to be rural.

The other 25% is cities, just like what we we have here.

And so as Pastor Dixon was taking me through, he said that God had put a burden on his heart to put churches in those places where nobody else would go.

So all the churches that exist in Zimbabwe, they're they're in the cities because that's where the people are that have jobs.

And we understand that in order for a ministry to operate and to function, it takes money, it takes resources.

So people that plant churches, they typically plant them in areas where the resources are.

But but God gave the pastor there a vision.

I want to plant churches right next to where the cults and the animal sacrifices are, and they had a vision for that.

But they said, but we don't have any resources.

The people out here, they don't have jobs, they don't have any income.

So God, the only way that we can plant churches in these remote locations is if you literally give us the land and if people just start sending us money because we we don't have the ability to do it on our own.

That was his version of a sun standstill prayer.

The government contacted them and said, We see that you have a heart to reach the unreached people, so we're going to start giving you land all across the country, wherever you want to be, because we want to be a part of what God has put on your heart.

From then, places all over the states have started sending them money.

So when they prayed that ridiculous prayer of God, the only way that we can fulfill the vision that you have for our life is that they're gonna have to give us land and you're gonna have to send us money.

That's a sun standstill prayer.

But when you start praying sun-standstill prayers where the name of God can be exalted, don't be surprised when doors start opening.

Don't be surprised when people start giving you things, don't be surprised when the resources start coming up.

It's not about me, but it's because we want to see God glorified through it.

We're seeing God do some incredible things in Zimbabwe because it started with someone saying, God, we can't do it in our own strength.

We need you to do it.

That's what happens when we invite God in, but you know what?

They still have a part to play.

We have got to keep going.

Here's my my third and final point power is experienced when we keep going.

Power is experienced when we keep going.

So so so let's let's let's look at where we are.

Promises inspire us to keep going, prayer invites God in, but we must keep going.

Power is experienced when we keep going.

See, when we look at the text at Joshua chapter 10, and then you look at verses 11 and 13 separately, there's a there's amazing things that are happening.

Joshua 10 · chapter mention

Looking at verse number 11, it says that God literally uses hailstones, he throws stones from the sky and it kills more enemies than the children of Israel did with the sword.

Put a pen in that.

Then we get to verse number 13, where Joshua recognizes that they're winning.

So when he says, I want the sun to stand still, it's still early morning, it's dusk.

So what many commentators believe is that for Joshua and his team, they had visibility, but their enemy didn't.

So he was like, I want to keep the enemy in the dark, and God did it.

He literally stopped time so that the children of Israel could be victorious.

So let's look at these ingredients again.

There's a storm, God uses the storm to defeat the enemy.

There's a delay in time, and God uses the delay in time to defeat the enemy.

Because hell comes from storms, it's literally just frozen rain.

So those storm conditions had to come in, and somehow God used the storm to defeat the enemy.

God stopped time so that the enemy would be in a proper position for them to be defeated.

The storm defeated the enemy, the delay in time defeated the enemy.

But it makes me scratch my head sometimes because in my own life, the moments when I feel the furthest away from God is when there's a storm and when there's a delay.

But but what if, what if, what if the storm was not to bring destruction to you, but God was going to use that storm to destroy the enemy.

What if, what if the delay that you're experiencing right now was not about you wondering when God's going to show up, but about making sure that the enemy is in the proper place so that you never have to deal with him again.

It's changed the way that I look at time and the way that I look at storms when I understand what God has done through the children of Israel.

Because when God defeats the enemy, he doesn't do it in secret, it's always a public display.

See, when the when Jesus was on the cross of Calvary, the Bible said it was an open display, and you know what was there?

Thunderclouds.

It was a darkness outside.

And through our own filter, we would say, There is a storm right now, and why is there another storm?

But through the death of Christ, this public display that God uses that storm to literally defeat the enemy, because the Bible said that if the enemy truly knew that they were crucifying the Lord of glory, they wouldn't have done it.

So God used that storm environment to defeat the enemy.

Now, when we look at the children of Israel, they're standing on the edge of the Red Sea.

Do you remember that moment?

They're wondering where God is.

God could have opened the Red Sea at any moment, but he chose to wait until the Egyptians were in the exact spot they needed to be in.

So when the Red Sea parted and they went through, they pursued them there.

And the Bible says that Moses tells the children of Israel, stand still and see the salvation of God, that the enemy that you see today, you will never see them again.

What if God was using the storm in your life to destroy the enemy?

What if God was using the delay in your life to put the enemy in the proper place so that you never have to deal with him again?

Your responsibility is to keep going.

I know that right now you feel weak.

I know that you're in the middle of a storm and you're wondering if you can survive.

But maybe the wind is to blow away the debris of the things that you shouldn't be holding on to anyway.

But when the wind is gone and when it comes calm, the adversary won't be there anyway either.

God is using that storm in your life to get rid of the enemy, and you never have to deal with it.

It again, but you have to make up your decision that I am going to keep going.

Maybe you're weary in yourself right now, and you're wondering to yourself, God, I don't know where you are right now.

Why haven't you moved?

Why haven't I got my breakthrough?

Why haven't the chains been broken as of yet?

You stand still and see the salvation of God, that God is getting the enemy in the proper place so that you'll never have to deal with it again.

You'll never have to deal with that addiction again.

You'll never have to deal with that fear again.

You'll never have to deal with depression again.

That God has the ability to use the struggles in your life to defeat the enemy, but that you never have to deal with it, but you have to keep going.

I know that you're tired, but keep going.

I know that you don't have any strength, but keep going.

I know that you're weak, but keep going.

I'm gonna keep going.

I'm gonna keep going.

I am not gonna give up.

I'm gonna keep going.

I don't have it in me, but I am going to keep going because God has more for me.

He's not done with me yet, and I have made up in my mind that I am going to keep going.

Keep going, church.

I don't I don't know where you are right now, but keep going.

You you won't see the miracle that God has for you if you stop where you are, just keep going.

We've all we've all been the beneficiaries of when people keep going.

You know, 20 plus years ago, Pastor Stovall and Pastor Kerry had a vision to go and plant celebration Jacksonville.

Their vision was, man, maybe we can have a church that has about 100-200 people.

That was that was their dream.

But when they saw God moving, they attached their faith to what was God was doing.

And now 22 years later, 10,000 people later, countless salvations later, a massive life change later, because they kept going, their lives were radically changed.

12 years ago, in in Zimbabwe, Africa, a man named Dixon said, Man, like no one's reaching those people that live in those villages.

I would love to go and plant churches in these environments and try to help people who are caught up in ancestral worship and and paganism and idolatry to show them that God truly loves them.

They planted one location, they planted two locations, and 12 years later, 18 locations later, 6,000 people later, feeding 60,000 kids per day later, because they made up in their mind, I see where we are, but there's still more needs out there, so we're gonna keep going.

We're gonna keep going.

We're not gonna stand still when we know that people still need the gospel.

We're gonna keep going.

Last week we we celebrated our our fifth year.

Powerful.

You know, ministry, it's it has a shorter lifespan than a player in an NFL.

Seriously.

Churches are planted and they're typically dead within three years.

So we hit a milestone.

And five years ago there was a vision.

Like, man, like we really feel like God has a work for us to do in Orlando.

There's a lot of great churches, but we feel like God is calling us to do something in the city of Orlando five years ago.

So the family in Jacksonville said, Well, let's let's let's pull our resources, let's pray, and let's see if God's provision is there.

Five years ago, the church in Jacksonville raised one million dollars so we can plant this church in Orlando.

Five years later, thousands of people later, countless salvations later, we see what God does when you have a vision and you make up in your mind that we're gonna keep going.

And listen, these past five years have been absolutely amazing.

But guess what?

We're gonna keep going.

We're gonna keep going.

Because we know that there's still more people to reach, so we're gonna keep going.

We believe that this next generation needs to experience the gospel, so we're gonna keep going.

We believe that God wants to give us our own permanent building so we don't have to do set up and tear down anymore, so we're gonna keep going.

We believe that God wants us to create space where chains can be broken and where marriages can be healed, and people can find their spouses, and that people can find forgiveness, and they can experience the love of God.

So, because there are still needs, we are going to be a church that decides that we are going to keep going.

As long as there's breath in my lungs, we're going to keep going.

We're going to get everything that God has and we'll accept nothing less because we are going to keep going.

That's who we are, church.

We're entering into a season right now as a church.

We call it our heart for the house season, where we begin to really pray and think about what is the things that God wants us to do.

We've made it to the promised land.

This church right now, this is our Jericho.

But we also recognize that there's still 10 other cities that God wants us to conquer, and we're going to keep going.

So watch this.

On October 20th, as a church, all across all of our global locations, we're going to bring an offering and believing that the vision that God is giving us, He's going to give us the provision.

And in the same way with the children of Israel, we saw this in Exodus 25.

Remember when the tabernacle was built?

He said this gather the people, give them the vision, and everyone as our heart is stirred, let them give to where God is leading us, and we'll watch it be blessed.

We're not going to prompt and push anybody, we're going to lay out vision of what God wants us to do, and we're believing that God's going to stir your heart.

And on October 20th, we're going to receive an offering that makes a statement to the adversary that your time is up.

You have no place in the city of Orlando.

You have no place in Zimbabwe.

You have no place with the next generation that we're going to radically take the name of Jesus everywhere that God has given us access.

In other words, we are going to keep going.

As we wrap this series up, if you have your journals, if it's at home, that's fine.

If you don't have it, it's fine.

You can download it from the website.

But but on the back page of it, we have a section on there that says my prayer.

We intentionally put that there because we wanted you to think about your son stand still prayer.

What is the thing that you're praying for that you know that God has to change everything in order for it to come to play?

Maybe it's God, I need a son to stand still on my marriage.

You're gonna have to change everything if we're gonna survive.

God, I'm I'm praying a son standstill prayer over my child.

They're so far from you, I don't know what to do with it.

You're gonna have to get a home.

God, I'm praying a sun-standstill prayer over my health.

You're gonna have to change everything in order for us to survive.

The list goes on and on.

We want you to fill that out.

We want you to cut that out, we want you to attach the scriptures to it, and we want you to put it on your refrigerator, take it to your workplace.

When you begin to pray those sun standstill prayers and root them in the word of God and keep going, you will see a miracle.

As a church, our sun standstill prayer are the things that I laid out to you.

God, we it's time for us to get a permanent building.

God is time.

It's time for us to get our own spot.

God is time for us to create spaces where the next generation can experience the truth of who you are.

It's time, it's time for us to upgrade our technology so we can take Sundays and expand it beyond that because we know that you need encouragement during the week.

We know that you need encouragement, so we want to do some things here to allow us to equip you while you're there.

That's our son's standstill prayer.

But what I realize is that in a room of this size, right now, there's many of us that need God to move right now.

So with every head bowed and with every eye closed, I want to ask you this question.

Maybe right now you can think of what is that thing that you need God to get involved in.

What is that thing that you know that God, I need you to do it, and if you don't do it, it won't get done.

Maybe it's a job, maybe it's finances, it could be anything.

But if you're in here with us today, I want to pray for you and you know that you need God to move in something that you can't do in your own strength.

I want you to boldly lift your hands up on a count of three, believing that the power of God is going to move in this moment.

One, two, three.

You need God to move.

Hands up literally everywhere.

Mine too.

Because I'm always believing God has more for us.

You go ahead and put those hands down.

In a moment, we're gonna go back into worship and I'm gonna pray.

And I'm believing that God is beginning to put some things in place and is gonna allow those storms and those delays to be the very thing that defeats the enemy.

But I also know there's another group of people in here with us today.

Y'all have to pardon me, I'm a couple minutes late, but I believe that when God begins to move, we can't let this moment pass us by.

If you're in here with us today and and you would say this, Keith, I'm away from God.

My next step is to simply say yes to Jesus.

So if you're in here with us and you want to commit or recommit your life to Christ, before you can keep going, you gotta first take that first step.

Okay.

If that's you, we want to create the space for you to do that.

So on the count of three, boldly put your hand up saying yes to commit or recommit my life to Christ.

There's a promised land that God has for me, and I won't accept anything less.

One, two, three.

Hands up.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you, amen, amen, amen.

Church, let's dig deeper, let's celebrate for those who are coming home.

Welcome home.

God bless you.

We are so glad to have you as a part of our family.

After worship, Pastor Justin is gonna come out and give us some instructions, especially for those who are saying yes to Jesus.

We want to equip you with you need to take those next steps.

But right now, while I feel it right now, we're gonna pray.

I'm praying that God is gonna cause the sun to stand still in your situation.

So if you don't mind, can you put your hands up as a sign of surrender, believing that God is gonna meet you where you are?

Spirit of the living God, we thank you, Father, for your spirit, we thank you for your grace, we thank you for the anointing, and we thank you that you are for us because you are fighting our battles.

So, Father, you know the burdens on our heart, you know the troubles that we have, God, but we say, Lord, Sun stand still.

Not because we want to believe it, but because we want you to get the glory.

So God's son stands still over our family.

Sun stands still over our families, sun stands still over our finances, sun stands still over our minds in the name of Jesus.

We committed the sun to stand still.

You're defeated, you have to lose your grip, you can silence in the name of Jesus, God, get your glory to our store, get your glory to our delight, and we forever will give you the price.

We've seen you do it before, and we know that you're gonna do it again, and we count it as done.

Son, stand still, but we are going to keep going in Jesus' name.

Let's worship together, church.

Thank you for tuning in to today's podcast.

For more information about Celebration Orlando or to get in touch with us, please visit celebrationorlando.org.