Radical Life | Part 4 | Radical Faith

Thank you for listening to today's

message from Grace Summit Church. We

hope it encourages you to walk out your

faith this week. If you're in the Fort

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Have a blessed week and we'll see you

next time.

Hey, welcome to Grace Summit Church

podcast. We're so glad you're here.

We're all about helping people know

Jesus, grow in their faith, and live out

his love every day. No matter where

you're at in your faith journey, our

prayer is that this message helps you

know Jesus more and live with greater

purpose and conviction. Let's jump in.

>> Hallelujah.

Grace Summit Church, how are we feeling

today?

>> Good,

>> man. You guys ready for the word?

>> Man, I got to tell you, uh, Miss

Lindsay, you knocked it out of the park

last week. Can we celebrate Lindsay?

>> And that was some good stuff. Praise the

Lord. Hey, we're in a series called

Radical Life. And we know that uh what

seems radical to us is actually normal

when we're serving God. Amen. So, we're

going to keep diving uh deep into the

idea of radical life. This morning, I

want to talk to you about radical faith.

Say faith.

>> Faith.

>> Radical faith. Would you pray with me?

Father, I thank you, Lord, for revival.

>> I thank you for a stirring God. Father,

I thank you, Lord, that we don't come

and sit and hear words from men, but

Father, I'm thankful that we sit at your

feet and we hear you speak. Father, our

spiritual ears are listening, our

spiritual eyes are looking to see.

Father, I pray not only for uh a word

today, but Father, I pray and ask for an

impartation of grace into our souls

today. Father, stir us up, Lord, that we

would leave here better equipped to

serve you.

So, Father, we trust you with it now in

Jesus name. I thank you for the

anointing that breaks the yoke of

bondage today. In Jesus name. Amen.

>> Well, hey, I'm feeling some kind of way

today. Uh, you know, typically the

normal mode is preach and teach, which

I'm going to do. Uh, but I uh feel a

strong sense of prophetic ministry uh in

my heart today. And so, I'm going to be

uh teaching and preaching, but I'm also

going to be uh prophesying. If that's a

new idea to you, uh, you know, we serve

the same God. He's the same yesterday,

today, and forever. And there are

certain seasons and certain times when

God has a word specifically for you,

specifically for this season. And I

believe there's several uh prophetic

words that God wants to give you today.

As we look through the word of God,

we're talking about radical faith. And

really what we want to define today or

share is what radical faith is.

What is it? You know, we talk about I

hear uh people in Christian circles talk

about our journey of faith. Anyway, we

we use the word faith and just have

faith and just believe and all these

things. Well, what is that? What does

that mean? So, we're going to unpack

some of the scriptures today and look at

uh what radical faith is.

And here's the sense that I have

for many if not all of you in this room

is that impossibilities are coming into

your life so that your radical faith can

show off.

>> Amen.

>> Impossibilities

are coming into your life that you're

going to be standing there face to face

with something you go, "Man, I I there's

no way like I don't get it. I don't

understand. There's no there's no

possible way to make it through." And

it's coming specifically for the purpose

for you to tap in deeper to God. It's an

answer to your own prayer. You've been

desiring him for you to dig into God and

pray in such a way with such a faith

that God shows up the way that only God

can do

>> to show off

what I've learned serving God. Many of

you have learned this.

In Christ,

impossibilities come not to stress us

out,

not to see us fail. Amen.

>> But impossibilities will come

so that your faith can shine. I want to

share with you what I mean. First Kings

18 is where we're going to be kind of

hanging out for the first portion of our

time together today. And uh man, I don't

know if it's cuz I uh grew up watching

cowboys and westerns and and kind of

love that, but First Kings 18 is is what

a lot of people call the showdown. Say

the showdown.

>> Showdown.

>> Man, this is some radical faith stuff

happening here. Uh this is uh uh with

Elijah and kind of a showdown between

the 450 prophets of Baal. Everyone say,

"Boo."

>> Yeah. Like talking about Notre Dame.

Boo.

But I just lost half of you right there.

Hallelujah.

It's a showdown not only between the 450

prophets

of Baal and Elijah, but it's a showdown

between the God that they claim and the

God that Elijah serves. Amen.

>> Say showdown.

>> Showdown.

Sometimes in our lives when we're faced

with these oppositions or demonic things

or impossibilities,

uh sometimes we get to get in that place

of all right, devil, let's have a

showdown.

>> Amen.

>> Let let's see what's what because the

enemy will speak one thing and and tell

you one thing. It's impossible. It's not

okay. It's not. AND I SAY, "SHUT UP,

DEVIL."

>> HALLELUJAH.

because I serve the one true living God

and my God is bigger than you. Amen.

>> So, devil, you better back on up. And

that's what's happening in First Kings

18. Elijah's calling these guys out and

he says, "Hey, why don't you guys go

ahead and go first? Let's just see what

you got. You got all these grandiose

claims and and all this stuff." So, so I

want you to build an altar and call call

fire down from heaven and let your let

your God

show up.

You guys go first. First Kings chapter

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

18. I want to start in the middle of

verse 26

says, "They called on the name of Baal

from morning until noon time." Man,

these guys are devout

shouting, "Baal,

answer us."

H but there was no reply of any kind.

No surprise, huh?

Baal,

answer us. I watch in our society.

We have the one true living God, but I

will tell you, we are a culture and a

society of idolatry. Amen. And we have

lots of little gods out there that

people serve.

And they're running and crying out to

their God going, "Oh, help me. Help me.

help me.

No reply

of any kind. Then they danced.

Yeah, they having some church getting

out there dancing for bed.

Then it says hobbling around the altar

that they had made. I don't think they

were good dancers if they're hobbling

around, right?

>> Bunch of weirdos. 450 of these guys

hobbling around and dancing and crying

out to this God ain't even real.

>> Yeah, weirdos.

So, they're having a hard time.

Uh,

what does the man of God do?

I want to help redefine Christianity a

little bit to you.

About noon time, Elijah began mocking

them.

And we're coming out of this seeker

sensitive seeker. If you've been a

Christian for a long time, uh, where

everybody's nice and we live out the

nice culture, can't say this, can't say

this, not politically correct, and all

this stuff. Can I just say this?

Sometimes God uses men of God to say

what needs to be said.

>> He could have been nice. Oh, it's okay,

guys. I know you're It didn't work out.

Why don't you go sit down?

Says Elijah starts making fun of these

dudes, right?

>> Yeah. About noon time, Elijah began

mocking them. He says, "Hey guys, you'll

have to shout louder." He scoffed. "Uh,

for surely he is a god."

Says, "Perhaps he's daydreaming."

This is my favorite. Or is relieving

himself.

Yeah, that means going to the bathroom.

Guys, you got to you got to do better

than that. Maybe go a little louder.

Maybe he's falling asleep. Maybe I think

I think your God might be in the

bathroom.

>> Elijah

I want to shake that guy's hand when I

get to heaven.

>> Yeah,

perhaps he's daydreaming or is relieving

himself. Maybe he's away on a trip or is

asleep and needs to be awakened. Verse

28. So they shouted louder. Elijah's

mocking them and they're hearing this

stuff. So they they go all in, man.

They're going, "Hey, let's get louder,

guys.

>> Shout louder." And following their

normal custom, listen to these weirdos.

They cut themselves with knives and

swords until blood gushed out.

>> Uh, wacko. Hello.

Not only are you crazy enough to serve a

fake god,

>> right? But now you're you're cutting

yourself bleed. What kind of demonic,

pagan, ridiculous confusion is going on

in these guys' head? Do you ever look

out into society and go, "What kind of

demonic confusion, ridiculous is going

on in society, in these people's heads?

What's going on?" Amen.

>> Yeah. I'm getting old, man. I'm starting

to sound like an old guy. Back in my

day, we didn't do it.

Back in the 90s, Hallelujah.

>> Yeah. I just heard all the old people go

90s7s.

Yeah.

knives and swords until blood gushed

out. Verse 29, they raved all afternoon.

I don't know if that was the kind of

raves from the 90s.

>> No. Okay. They raved all afternoon until

the time of the evening sacrifice. Catch

this. But still there was no sound. No

reply and no response.

No sound.

No reply.

No response. If you've been seeking

solutions or answers in all the other

places,

how many times do we get to the end of

that and we get no sound, no reply, no

response, no solutions, right? Everyone

claims they have the answer. Fix your

marriage and seven steps of this. I'll

fix your bank account. All

listen, if you don't get on your face

before God, all of it is vanity.

If

>> if you're not led of the spirit of the

living God, all of it is meaningless.

Amen.

>> We have one resource.

I call him dad.

>> Our father in heaven. Through the blood

of Jesus Christ, we gain access to the

creator of the entire universe that is

for us and in us and through us. And he

is the only one with the answer.

>> Stop looking everywhere else.

>> Oh man, I almost started preaching.

Hallelujah.

Sorry, I yelled at you.

>> Carla said she needs it.

>> Mocking them.

Maybe your God's in the bathroom. Maybe

he's taking a nap. Shout a little

louder. He says,

"Is that mean? Sound mean to you?

Is it mean or is it confidence?"

Let me put it this way. You know, it can

sound mean, but Elijah's standing there

with such confidence in God, the one

true God, that he's looking at this and

he's mocking them and he's going, "Man,

you you put no, you can't trust in that

stuff."

His mocking is coming through the

confidence that he has in the one true

God.

He's mocking the idea that anything

could compete with God.

Amen.

>> Radical faith isn't arrogant.

It's certain.

Two guys can say the same thing. One can

have the right heart. One can have the

wrong heart. Amen. You can be mocking

and ridiculing with all with the wrong

spirit, critical spirit, and be just

mean to me being be mean. Amen.

But Elijah is sharing this standing on

radical faith, radical confidence, not

arrogant,

but certain in the God that he serves.

Verse 30, then Elijah called to the

people. He says, "Come over here." Now,

I was digging a little bit in the Hebrew

uh for that one phrase, "Come over

here." It's kind of slang, but it's the

idea. There's a there's a heart behind

it. Okay. Um, I'm the in my family I'm

the and some my friend circles I'm the

get over here, you got to see this guy,

right? Because I get I get like excited

for some reason. You tell I'm a little

animated as a person, right? So I get

excited about something. I'm like YOU

GOT TO GET YOU GOT TO GET over here and

see this. That's the heart behind this.

He He says Elijah calls the people says,

"Hey, you guys you guys you got to come

see this, right? These these dorks,

they're done.

Not working

now. Get over here. You got to see this.

I want you to get this in your spirit

this morning.

Elijah tells the prophets of Baal

to come over here and watch this. He

tells the people of Israel, "Come over

here and watch this."

Number one in your notes is that radical

faith is visible faith.

He says, "Hey, this is out in public.

Hey, all you pagans, you got to see

this. Church family, people of God, you

got to come see this." Amen. Radical

faith. Can I tell you to live your faith

out loud, not in secret?

I'm not some undercover agent for Jesus.

Yeah.

I pray in secret.

I fast in secret. I give in secret. I'm

not letting my right hand know what my

left hand's doing. But I live my faith

out loud, visible for all to see.

Let your light so shine before man.

Amen. Like a city on a hill. Man, I want

you to see the goodness of God in my

life.

Yeah. I hang out with some sometimes

Christians become weirdos. I hang out

with some that are conspiracy theorists.

You guys been around these guys? Yeah.

And like, you know, we watch technology

change uh over the years. No longer in

dialup

days, but I remember even the Christians

in those days were like, it's the devil,

you know. It's called the worldwide web.

You know what I mean? Like it's getting

weird and it's like whatever, dude.

You're being a weirdo. Now, now we have

uh people that that put tape over the

camera on their laptop because they're

watching us.

>> Yeah. And your phone's always listening

to I know my phone's listening to me.

We'll be talking about something. The

very next ad that I see on social media

is for that thing. I'm like, they're

listening again.

And people like, yeah, this conspiracy

theorist like, man, I don't want to

listen to my stuff. I don't want to tap

into my stuff. I'm not going to do. And

I go, I'm thinking about my own life

going, "What if they listen? What's

going to happen?"

>> They might get their little butts saved.

Hallelujah.

>> They might get stirred up in the faith.

They might get healed. I don't know. But

they're going to evaluate the love of

God and the faith of God. So, watch

away.

>> Listen all you want. Amen. That wasn't

in my notes. That was for free.

Live my faith out loud.

He says, ' Get over here and watch us.

Matthew Matthew 10:27, Jesus said this.

Matthew 10:27

He said, 'What I tell you in the dark,

say in the light, and what you hear

whispered, proclaim it on the housetops.

One translation says, "Shout it from the

rooftops."

Shout it from the rooftops the goodness

of God. Testify. Amen.

>> Publicize the goodness of God. Radical

faith is visible faith.

Remember when I first got saved and man

it was radical transformation and

cut off. I came out of addiction and all

the craziness atheism and all. So I just

found myself surrounded by church family

and like building new relationships and

I said all I'm around Christians a lot,

right? been saved for a little while and

then all of a sudden I'm in public and I

ran into a old friend from high school

that only knew the old me before I got

saved, right? And like they don't know

the new me. And I remember feeling some

kind of way, like a weirdo, you know,

like like to other Christians, I was

good like, "Oh, yeah. Praise God. God

bless you, sister." You know what I

mean? Like I learned Christian ease

pretty quick.

Yeah.

Amen. Hallelujah. God bless.

But that felt weird. And I remember

having these see I look back and I'm

grieved about I have these seasons of

going I'm I don't want to share that

because that feels weird. What are they

going to think of me? Man, I'm thankful

I was saved when I'm thankful when I got

full of the Holy Ghost. I'm sorry. What

year is it? Holy Spirit.

I got full of the Holy Spirit and I and

I I got saved. You ever you ever feel

like you keep getting saved? The Bible

says God moves you from glory to glory.

>> Yeah. You get you get saved again

another level and and man, I remember

just like unashamedly.

I think of Paul if I could just testify

to the gospel of God's grace. I'm

excited. Yeah. I chase people down in my

hallelujah. Hey. Hey. Do you know I'm in

church now? Hey little pagan, get over

here.

>> Yeah. Let me pray for you right here in

the aisle. I'm the weirdo, right?

Unashamed.

Radical faith is visible faith. Catch

this here with Elijah. This is a public

space. Radical faith is public faith.

Radical faith is faith that is so

expecting, so confident in God that it

gathers the crowd to watch. Amen.

Pagans and believers alike, he gathers.

He says, "Get over here and watch this."

Not, "Get over here and watch me."

Not, "Come see how talented I am.

Get over here and watch this.

Get over here and see what God can do."

I want to say this. When God gets ready

to move, uh, he doesn't need perfect

conditions.

He doesn't need big bank accounts. He

needs one person with faith enough to

trust him.

Are you that person of faith? Somebody

needs to receive this today. First Kings

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18 and verse 30. Then Elijah

called to the people. Come over here.

They all crowded around him as he

repaired the altar of the Lord that had

been torn out. He took 12 stones, one to

represent each of the tribes of Israel.

Then he used the stones to rebuild the

altar in the name of the Lord. Then he

dug a trench around the altar large

enough to hold about three gallons of

water. He piled wood on the altar, cut

the bowl into pieces, and laid the

pieces on the wood. Then he said, "Fill

four large jars with water. Pour the

water over the offering and the wood."

After they had done this, he said, "Do

the same thing again."

And when they were finished, he said,

"Now do it a third time." So they did as

he said and the water ran around the

altar and even filled the trench.

At the usual time for offering the

evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet

walked up to the altar and prayed. Now I

want you to see the radical contrast

here uh between what the prophets of

Baal did hobbling and dancing and crying

on and cutting themselves

compared to the confidence. Listen, uh,

Christians,

old saints, new saints, you can be full

of the Holy Ghost. We'll go old school

on you. And you don't have to be a

weirdo.

Quit being weird.

Amen.

Yeah. He just prays this simple prayer

of faith

because I believe there's more faith in

a simple prayer than the crazy

charismaniac

pleading. And anyone been in those

meetings?

Yeah.

walked up to the altar and prayed, "Oh

Lord,

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,"

listen to the word. Prove today that you

are God in Israel and that I'm your

servant. Listen to the word again. Prove

that I have done all this at your

command, oh Lord. Answer me. answer me

so these people will know that you, oh

Lord, are God and that you have brought

them back to yourselves. Number two in

your notes is radical faith is proving

faith.

It's proving faith. And I want you to

see the why behind the what here. It's

not calling on God, fire from heaven,

and all this stuff is a party trick.

It's to show the non-believers and maybe

even the spiritually dry believers that

God is. That God's still alive today.

That God's still active today. God's

still doing this thing. Prove yourself.

That's Elijah's prayer. Prove today that

that you're still God. Let them see you.

Let them see what only God can do. And

he's radical with this thing, man. Fire

from heaven. He's going, "Hey, let's get

some water. Dig a trench around it.

Let's get some water, guys. Fill a large

drawer. Fill fill it up." And they're

probably all going, "Whoa, she's

serious. It's not even dry wood." He

says, "Hey, uh, do it again.

Whoa,

it's getting serious." Hey guys, just

for funsies. I picture Elijah talking

like this. Just for funsies. Let's do it

one more time.

Yeah.

Let's get more water

because when God shows up, I want you to

have proof. Say proof.

>> I want you to have proof that this God

is.

No way that men could have done it.

I want you to leave here today with a

different type of prayer.

Amen.

Hebrews 11:1, faith is the substance of

Hebrews 11:1

things hoped for.

It's the evidence. Say, evidence.

>> It's the evidence of things not seen.

Evidence is proof.

It's the proof that God showed up even

when you didn't see it, right?

I mean, randomly, did fire just fall

from heaven and do this for Elijah? Hey,

you don't you don't see. But there's

proof. There's evidence that God did it.

And there's not one person standing in

that circle that could have denied

what God did.

proof

that I have done all this at your

command. Verse 37 again, he says, "Oh

Lord, answer me.

Answer me." Listen, so these people will

know that you, oh Lord, our God and that

you have brought them back

to yourself.

Watch this in verse 38. Immediately.

Say, immediately.

>> Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed

down from heaven, burned up the young

bull, the wood, the stones, and the

dust. How do you burn stones, man? How

hot do we got to get?

Burned up the young bull, the wool,

wood, the stones, and the dust. And

listen, it even licked up all the water

in the trench. And when all the people

saw it, they fell face down on the

ground and cried out, "The Lord, he is

God. Yes, the Lord

is God." I'm praying that I live a life

of radical faith in such a way that

people evaluate my life and they fall on

their face and say there is a God. There

is a God. There's no way that we could

have accomp.

Amen. Impossibilities are coming to your

life for a specific purpose and it's for

radical faith to shine that others would

evaluate and give their lives to Jesus

Christ. Amen.

>> I don't know how to be an evangelist. I

don't know how to talk to unsaved

people. You don't have to live a life of

faith. Amen. Live a live a radical

faith, a visible faith, approving faith.

Just live it out before men

and watch people be impacted

for the kingdom of God.

And he gets all this water, digs the

trench, all this water. He's stacking

the odds against himself, isn't he?

>> That's faith.

Faith doesn't just believe that God can.

Faith positions themselves in such a way

that if God doesn't show up, I look like

a fool.

I'm praying. I'm trusting. I'm fasting.

I'm believing. People are evaluating.

I'm going so far out there that if God

doesn't do what I know God's going to

do, I'm going to look foolish. That's

what Elijah's up to here. When was the

last time you prayed a prayer that you

knew only God could answer it?

And I'm not talking about your neat

little morning devotional prayer time.

I'm talking about sharing it visibly and

publicly of I'm I'm believing God for

this thing. And people are like, "Hey,

have you lost your mind?" Yeah, maybe.

But I'm believing God for this thing.

I'm believing God to restore my

marriage. I'm believing God for the fear

and anxiety and depression to go. I'm

believing God for finances. I'm

believing God for I'm believing God. I

want to I want to publicize this because

I know I I got confidence. I I'm

believing God in such a way I I I think

he's going to come through.

>> Radical faith. Radical faith. Not safe

prayer. Not backup plan prayer.

Trench digging.

Water pouring. If God doesn't show up,

it won't get done type prayer.

Verse 40. Then Elijah commanded. Elijah

don't play games. Listen to this. Elijah

commanded seize all the prophets of

Baal. Don't let a single one escape.

So the people seized them all. Elijah

took them down to Kishan Valley and

killed them there. Look at your neighbor

say, "Whoa,

man. Elijah is not playing games here."

We've had other gods that we've been

serving, other uh areas we've been

looking for the answers. Not God, it's

the other things.

Whether it's your addiction, substance

abuse, whether it's pornography,

whatever it is, eating

nowadays, the list is so long of all the

other stuff that we can go to.

Listen, we pray in such a way that God

shows up miraculously.

In those moments, what we do like Elijah

here, he finds the demons in the crowd

and says, "Size them, take them down in

the valley, and kill them."

We have to get to a place where we have

radical faith of I'm not wrestling with

my flesh anymore. I'm not playing with

that devil anymore because he WHO THE

SON SETS free is free indeed. And I am

free and I am filled. I am bloodbought

and and my God made me better than

dealing with that stuff.

>> I think you're going to get freedom in

this house.

>> I think if you're watching online,

you're going to get freedom in your

living room.

Hallelujah. If you're driving your car,

you might want to pull over. God's about

to set some people free.

>> Yeah.

I didn't come to preach a cute little

sermon to you today. Jesus loves you and

let's go to the buffet.

I came to stir you up. I came to share

and part of what God put in me. I want

to give it to you. And I still feel so

full of God. I want to reach out and

touch you. Hallelujah.

We serve a good God.

A good God

came to stir you up, speak into your

life, call dead things back to life.

This first Kings 18

portion of scripture we're going to

continue in it. It's a season of

drought. They've been the land has been

in a drought for three and a half years.

And you know that mentalities change,

life changes in a drought season. Uh you

don't have crops. I mean the agriculture

is their livelihood, right? In this

culture,

man. It's it's a different day when you

don't have enough to feed your family.

It's a different day when you don't even

have a job to go to. They're living

three and a half years in this drought.

It's a drought season.

And the very next scene is when Elijah

prays for rain. Number three in your

notes is radical faith is persistent

faith.

Radical faith is persistent faith. First

Kingsapter 18:41.

Then Elijah says to Ahab, "Go get

something to eat and drink, for I hear a

mighty rainstorm coming." Say, "I hear a

storm."

>> Oh my goodness. So Ahab went to eat and

drink. But Elijah climbed up, climbed to

the top of Mount Carmel, and bowed low

to the ground and prayed with his face

between his knees. Then he said to his

servant,

"Go and look out toward the sea."

Servant went and looked. Then returned

to Elijah and said, "I I didn't see

anything." Seven times Elijah told him

to go look.

Finally, the seventh time, say seven.

>> Seven.

>> His servant told him, "I I saw this

little cloud about the size of a man's

hand rising out of the sea."

Then Elijah shouted, "Hurry to Ahab and

tell him, "Climb into your chariot and

go back home. If you don't hurry, the

rain will stop you." And soon the sky

was black with clouds. Heavy wind

brought a terrific rainstorm. And Ahab

left quickly for Jezrael.

Then the Lord gave special strength to

Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his

belt, ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all

the way to the entrance of Jezrael.

I want you to catch this first. Elijah

heard the rain before he saw the rain.

Amen. There are things that God is

speaking into your life, promises that

he's released. There there's things in

your spirit if we we could tap into

spiritual realm a little bit. There's

things in your spirit that God has

spoken over you. Freedoms that you're

supposed to be living in. Things that

that that we we've heard it. He heard

the rain before he saw the rain.

And he heard the rain

and he goes up and prays. Gets

away from the crowd

praying on Mount Carmel.

Tells the servant, "Hey, go check things

out, man. I've been praying a while. Go

see if there's any rain. Nope.

Seven times he doesn't. I I love this.

Uh the faith of Elijah is pretty

stinking radical. Amen.

Comes back the seventh time. He says,

"Uh, I do see this little cloud. It's

the size of a man's hand way off over

there coming up above the sea." ELIJAH

SAYS, "HURRY UP. YOU GOT TO GO.

You got to run, man, because the rain is

coming like you've never seen before.

And you got to go get the You got to go

get the king and get in a chariot, and

you got to run to Jezel before this

thing wipes you out.

Faith hears what sight hasn't seen yet.

Faith hears the rain before the cloud

appears. Faith hears the promise before

the fulfillment.

Elijah

stays persistent. Can I tell you

Christian, don't stop praying.

Don't stop believing.

>> You might be on round four, round five,

you knew that God spoke it to you. Round

six,

>> the enemy would love for you to bail out

on round six. That's his favorite.

>> I won't get into numerology with you.

Love for you to bail out on number six.

But he goes and prays the seventh time.

He goes and prays the seventh time by

the Bible. The number seven is the

number of completion.

It has the idea of po of Elijah praying

until completion.

The old saints knew something. They knew

how to pray through.

Amen. They knew how to pray unto

completion.

Let me share what I've seen in the ins.

God will share something. man, they're

passionate about get stirred up, think

this is what God's doing. God's leading

me this way and they'll pray and then

they'll step out and they get one no and

they go, "Well, that must not be God. I

guess I'll just go back over here. I

mean, I thought it was, but but they get

one no and they give up on the word that

God spoke to them."

What did God speak to you?

Gifts and callings of God are without

repentance.

Elijah's saying, "I hear you, sister."

Amen.

It's okay.

Hallelujah.

Jesus, you good? Okay.

Elijah says, "I'm not leaving this

mountain until I see what God promised."

Persistent faith, radical faith. He

doesn't stop at the first nothing.

P persistent faith doesn't quit until

the promise

is complete.

Elijah's

funny

little cloud size of a hand sees this

one little sign that God's God's coming

through on the promise and yells at him,

"Go get go, man. Hurry up." And in this,

God touches Elijah. Couple weeks ago, we

talked about gerting up your loins.

God touches Elijah. He's like a kid in

the candy store, man. He sees the

promise and he gets all full of the Holy

Spirit. God touches him. He packs up his

stuff and he runs 17 miles from Mount

Carmel to Jezrael and he outruns the

king's chariot and horsemen.

I picture these guys, right? They're

like, "What? I don't know." Elijah said,

"Go." And I see this little clown. And

so they're heading to heading to

Jezrael. And I picture almost like a

cartoon character. Elijah's little old

dude, man. He tucks it in, gets his

skirt up there, and he's like, and just

runs past these dudes.

Like, man, I'm stirred UP. I GOT FAITH

YOU KNOW NOT OF, BROTHER.

>> YEAH. And it's about to rain.

Hallelujah. He's preparing cuz the

rain's coming. He's preparing because

the rain's coming. He has supernatural

strength because the rain's coming.

God's hand is upon him.

>> When God touches you, man, you'll get

some energy.

One little cloud. Elijah says, "Run.

It's coming in hot."

Some of you in here are in a drought.

In a drought, praying for rain. Not

natural.

Look out the window and see we're not in

a drought.

Spiritual drought. I've been there.

I just want to speak to you Christians

for a minute in the dry season. I think

there's a lot of you, not because I'm

evaluating your life, because that's

what God's putting in my spirit for you.

You love God.

You just don't feel God like you used

to.

You believe his word.

Come to church, you lift your hands, you

still serve on your team, smile.

People ask you, "I'm blessed. I'm

blessed. How are you, sister?" "I'm

blessed. I'm blessed." "You're blessed.

Kids are good. We're blessed.

On the inside, you're tired,

worn out, and dried up.

Not like you once were

in Christ.

I've been there multiple times in my

walk with God.

And while I've been there, I refuse to

settle there.

I refuse to settle there. I'm preaching

to myself now. I'm not okay with I'm

just okay type faith. Amen.

I'm not going to settle until I got I

get stirred up, man. I'll I'll praise I

keep going back. I'm going to I'm going

to st I'm going to preach myself happy

if I got to.

I'm only settling for revival,

resurrection power, miraculous,

radical faith.

That's what I'm settling for. It changes

the relationships I have. It changes the

place that I go. Changes the way that I

use my money. changes everything because

because I'm so radical about it. I got

to chase after this thing, man. I'm

serving the one true God. And this life

is but a mister a vapor in the eyes of

eternity. And I got one chance to make

it big, baby.

>> And I and I'm willing to go all in.

It's just been years since I've really

felt the presence of God. Man, chase

after God.

>> Amen. Amen.

>> Chase, why are you settling

for status quo and okay

when there's so much more to be had

man?

Prayers feel dry. Worship feels dry.

Bible reading feels dry.

Just wondering, Lord, when's it going to

rain on me again?

When's it going to rain on me again?

It's going to rain when we get

persistent

in in prayer. When we get radical with

our faith, look at your neighbor and

say, "Get ready.

>> It's going to rain."

Oh, man. Only half of you got that one.

We're going to speak it by faith. You're

in a dry season. Preach to yourself

today. Say, "Get ready. It's going to

rain.

>> There's revival coming. God's going to

stir me up."

Faith doesn't wait for the rain to start

before it gets ready. I got four kids at

home and uh I can't keep up with my

backyard sometimes.

Shed door gets left open. Don't know how

that happens cuz you ask all four of

them. Nobody knows.

>> Basketballs, soccer balls, footballs. I

can usually narrow that down.

>> I got one more.

There's stuff out. There's hammocks in

the yard. There's all this stuff, right?

And well, well, you know, 10 days of

sunshine. Don't have to worry about it.

All of a sudden, the rain starts moving

in or I'm looking at my weather app and

I'm going, "Okay, we got to let me let

me just look out back for a minute." And

I'm like, "Golly, guys, we got to we got

to get the whole we got to go get ready

for this stuff, right?"

>> Yeah. So, we go out and we prepare

because we know the rain's coming. We

know the rain's coming. I have faith in

my weather app. Even though sometimes

that joker's wrong.

>> Yeah.

Have faith in God.

>> I'm sharing a prophetic word with you.

Rain is coming.

>> Hallelujah.

>> And I and I'm sharing it with you so you

can go out and get ready for the rain.

Amen. Get ready for the revival. Get

ready for the breakthrough. Get ready

for the healing.

>> Amen.

I came to tell somebody

that maybe the reason it's been so hard

lately is because God's about to show

off.

>> Maybe the reason every natural option

has dried up is because there's a

supernatural option waiting for you

>> where God can show off.

Sometimes God allows things to get

impossible.

So when he does it, it becomes

undeniable,

>> that God is God.

Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and

Matthew 19:26

said, "With man, this is impossible, but

with God all things are possible." Some

of you just need to preach that to

yourself. Need to preach that to your

circumstance. With God, all things are

possible. With God all things are

possible. I can do all things through

Christ who gives me strength. Sometimes

we just need to preach the word. We're

talking about prophetic words, man. I'm

just talking about this word. Amen. Just

believe this one. Just proclaim this

one. Just get excited about this one.

Amen.

>> It says, "I'm removing every explanation

so I can show off in your life." I want

to transition off Elijah and jump on to

Ezekiel for a minute. Ezekiel 37. We're

talking about a drought, spiritual dry

season. Ezekiel 37 says, "The hand of

the Lord was upon me, and he brought me

out in the spirit of the Lord and set me

down in the middle of a valley."

Sometimes, not only is it spiritually

dry, but it's spiritually low.

It says it was full of bones. And he led

me around among them. That's creepy,

Lord.

valley full of dead people, dried up

bones, and God starts leading them

around this. I'm sure Ezekiel's going,

"What in the world are we doing?"

Led me around among them, and behold,

there were very many on the surface of

the valley, and behold, they were very

dry, which means they've been dead for a

minute. Very dry.

And he said to me, "Son of man, can

these bones live?"

And I answered, "Oh Lord God, you know."

Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these

bones and say to them, oh dry bones,

hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the

Lord God to these bones, behold, and I

will cause breath to enter you, and you

shall live."

Somebody in this room needs to hear this

message today.

You've been in a drought.

And it's deeper than that. You've been

in a valley

and not only have things been dead

recently, but they've been dead a long

time.

The bones are dry. I want to give you

the remedy, the solution. Take it or

leave it.

Number four in your notes is radical

faith is speaking faith.

Radical faith is speaking faith

standing in the valley, dry bones, dead,

dried up remains all over him.

God asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones

live?"

God is asking you maybe your dry valley.

Oh, you've been married for a long time,

but it don't feel like it. The spark's

been over.

Maybe God's asking you, "Can this

marriage live?"

Some of you have unsaved children

been gone out serving the world for so

long, you go, "Man, can can they ever

come back? Can they ever will they ever

get saved?" Some of you have been

struggling in this dry place for so

long. You're you're going, "Man, can it

can it God's asking can it?" And and the

response of Ezekiel is God, you know,

you know,

says, "Lord, you know,

as the idea of, Lord, I don't know how

you're going to do it. I don't know when

you're going to do it. I don't know who

you're going to use to do it, but Lord,

I know that you're going to do it."

And then God says, "Prophesy to these

bones.

Prophesy to these bones. Speak faith

over these bones."

He doesn't say, "Oh, sit down and have a

counseling session with these bones.

Just grab bone bone by bone. Just sit

down and talk to them a little bit.

Maybe they'll come back to life. Explain

to these bones what's actually going

on." And

why do we do this to our problems, to

our circumstances, to our situations?

So speak to the bones. There are some

things in your lives and our lives that

we have talked about long enough. It's

time to talk to them.

Amen.

>> You've talked about it long enough.

You've talked about the fear long

enough. You've talked about the anxiety

long enough. You've talked about the

struggle in mar. You've talked about the

addiction long enough. Now it's time to

get some radical faith. look that thing

in the eyes and say, "I'm going to speak

some life into that circumstance, and

I'm going to trust and believe, AND I'M

GOING TO CLIMB UP ON MOUNT CARMEL IF I

GOT TO, AND I'm going to I'M GOING TO

FALL BEFORE THE FATHER IF I GOT TO,

SEVEN TIMES, eight times, 100 times. I

don't care. But I'm believing God for a

breakthrough."

>> Amen.

>> Radical faith. Radical faith.

Romans 4:17, God who gives life to the

Romans 4:17

dead and calls those things which do not

exist as though they do. Look at your

neighbor and say, "Speak to it."

>> Speak to it.

>> Not because your words are magical, but

because our God is faithful.

>> Speak a word of prophecy over those

things that look dead.

And the condition that you're in may be

dry, maybe dead, but the word of God is

still alive. Amen.

>> We know the story. Ezekiel prophesies

over the bones. They come together bone

to bone, flesh to flesh. Skin comes on

them. And it's interesting. There's

still no breath in them. And God says,

"Prophesy to the breath."

The word breath means spirit or wind.

Prophesy to it.

Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might, nor

Zechariah 4:6

by power,

>> but by my spirit, says the Lord." You've

tried might.

You've tried power. I'm pleading with

you today to try the spirit. Prophesy

the spirit over that thing.

Yeah.

I want to close with this.

Radical faith is testimony faith.

Radical faith

is testimony faith.

I have share my testimony. I have a

pretty radical testimony

initially getting saved, but I got to

tell you, it doesn't end there.

I got radical testimony after radical

testimony. I love sharing them.

Sometimes I my memory gets bad. My wife

reminds me of the radical. Do you

remember that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do. Now

I can tell the story.

Oh yeah, we got so many. We could just

spend the next several weeks just

sharing radical testimonies.

We had four kids in four years.

Hallelujah. What were we thinking?

>> A pastor's budget. We didn't know what

in the world we were doing in our 20s

trying to figure things out. And I'm

getting paid peanuts to preach and got

these four little kids with packing

plays and diapers and all this stuff. We

had three in diapers for like a lot of

years.

>> Yeah.

It's a whole thing, right? And we get

seasons where the church couldn't even

pay me week in week out, week in week

out. And I'm going, "What in the world

are we doing here, God?" Yeah. And I had

opportunity, trust me, the flesh would

try to rise up,

say, "Is it really worth it? What What

are we doing here?" Something in me

said, "My wife and I would pray God

didn't bring us this far just to leave

us." Amen. So So God, I don't know when.

I don't know how. I don't know who

you're going to use, but God, we're

we're believing you for the

breakthrough. And when we least expect

it, man, the groceries, they get a knock

on the door. We didn't have ring cameras

back then.

Groceries just be sitting there. We'd

stand there and weep. Couldn't pay the

bills. Out of nowhere, the check would

come in.

Same amount.

Testimony after testimony after

testimony. I'm getting ready to go to

Israel in a couple weeks.

Thinking back to last year when I was in

Israel before we're about the same time

it was two weeks before I went to Israel

that an ambulance carried me out of my

kitchen floor because of back pain

weeping on my own floor felt like a

knife was st I got healed in Israel and

I haven't had the same pain since

medically verified

doctor verified miracle of healing in my

back and I'm living it out

>> testimony. Can I say this? If you're

willing to live with radical faith, you

will end up with a radical testimony.

You will end up sharing over and over

the goodness of God. The Bible says it's

impossible to please God without faith.

That impossibility in your life is so

God can shine.

Give you that testimony.

We need people in the church to testify.

Again,

one of the things I miss in the old

church models, testimony sermons,

testimonies. Look what God did. Look

what God did. We've been praying for her

son for week in and week out and we got

the testimony of the goodness of God. We

get to hear that, man. That stirs me up.

They overcame by the blood of the lamb

and the word of their testimony. We get

to hear that. We used to sing songs that

were testimony songs saying, "Look what

the Lord has done."

Man, don't make me grab a guitar.

Look what the Lord has done.

Yeah.

Testify.

Testify. You can't testify to what you

haven't experienced.

Stand to our feet all over this house.

Ask the worship team to join me up here.

Radical faith give you a radical

testimony.

Some of you going to testify like

Ezekiel. I spoke to these dry bones and

they came to life. Amen. I was in a

drought, but the rains came. I was in a

valley, but God breathed on me.

H.

So,

you're in a drought.

That's okay.

You're in a valley. In just a moment,

we're going to transition to worship and

we're going to transition to this altar.

And I know as God's been speaking to you

today, there's been different things in

your life you're going, "Yeah, this is a

dry spot. This is a dead spot. This is a

struggle spot. This is a thing. and

whatever God is revealing to you. This

is what I'm going to ask you. Take it or

leave it. But I'm going to challenge you

to speak to those dry bones

live.

Amen. Hear the word of the Lord. And I'm

going to challenge you to speak faith

today over those things. Whe whether

you're sitting right in your seat,

whether you come to this altar and fall

on your face and weep before God,

whatever God's doing in your heart and

in your life, I'm going to ask you to

engage

with the Holy Spirit and God. Dry bones,

hear the word of the Lord. Marriage,

hear the word of the Lord.

Body,

hear the word of the Lord. Addiction,

hear the word of the Lord. Depression,

hear the word of the Lord.

Somebody in here has been struggling

with suicidal thoughts. I don't know who

you are, but but today is the day to

speak to those things and say, "Get up

and get out. I'm believing the word of

the Lord today that that God is for me,

not against me." Amen.

Praise you Jesus.

Praise you Jesus. Father we thank you

for breakthrough in the spirit.

Lord I pray is that you have brought us

to this place by your spirit. I pray

that no one would leave this place

without doing the business of heaven

that needs to be done before they leave

here.

And I thank you for freedom, for

breakthrough, for power.

Praise you Jesus. to you. The sun sets

free. He's free indeed. Father, I thank

you for your freedom over this house.

So Lord, as we worship you,

I'm believing you in confidence, radical

faith that you do what only you can do

in the hearts and the minds and the

souls of of this people. We thank you

for it now in Jesus' name. And God's

people said, "Amen."

Thank you for listening to today's

message from Grace Summit Church. We

hope it encourages you to walk out your

faith this week. If you're in the Fort

Wayne area, we'd love to meet you in

person. Join us for a Sunday service at

9:15 or 11:00 a.m. on East Duvant Road

or connect with us online anytime at

graceummiturch.com.

Have a blessed week and we'll see you

next time.

Heat.