It’s Time For Miracles… Again // It’s Time (Part 4) // Charles Metcalf

Welcome to Transformation Church Podcast, where we represent God to

the lost and found for transformation in Christ. We're so

glad you're here, and wherever you're listening from, we believe

God will transform your life through today's message.

It's time to purify.

Now, if I would have said, it's time to get paid,

I would have heard, woo! And if I would have said,

it's time to find your partner, it would have been.

Like, yes, yes, yes, yes.

But it's time to purify yourself.

If God tells you, hey, clean yourself up, because I'm

about to do things eyes haven't seen, ears have not heard,

you've never written it down in your journal, the things

that I have planned for you. You've never had the

level of influence you're about to have. You've never had

the platform that you're about to have.

You've never had the level of connection. You've never had

it before.

This is a promise that God's about to bring you

into new territory.

The only prerequisite is clean it up. The reason it's time.

To purify is because God's on the inside and he's

trying to do something so the whole.

World can see. But he has one caveat. You got

to purify. What area in your life right now do

you know is out of order?

Are you willing to give up the great miracle because

you like this secret moment? This is the last day

that some of y'all look at certain things.

This is the last day. You might have to go

through some drawers and throw some stuff away.

This is the last day that you smoke that, drink that.

You don't need a cabinet of those substances anymore.

Somebody say, this is the last day. Because tomorrow, God

wants to do a great wonder in my life. But today,

I've got to purify myself.

God's promises always come with a price tag. Do what

you gotta do to live pure, because the promised land

is waiting just for you.

Man, our pastor, y'all don't even know how good of

a preacher he is.

And he got the new usher cut. Come on, y'all.

Y'all see? He look clean, man. He did. I saw it.

This is hilarious. This is how deep friends were. He

came around the corner when he first got his haircut.

I said, oh shoot, it's Mr.

Steal Your Girl. I was like, is it?

That's how he looked when Pastor Natalie met him, for sure.

I was like, you look clean, brother.

All right, we're going to.

Read some of the Bible today. You got your Bibles?

If you got your Bibles, get them out. If you

don't got it, don't worry.

The team will put it on the screen.

We've been in the book of Joshua. We've been in Joshua,

and we're going to read a little bit of chapter

3 and a little bit of chapter 4 today, okay?

So I'm going to jump around. I always say this

as a caveat. If the scripture is not on the screen,

it's my fault, not the production team's fault, because sometimes

I don't be giving them all the stuff. And I'd

be getting over there scribbling my Bible stuff. It's like,

oh my gosh, they need to throw that. They probably

don't have it and be like, just Charles is such

a dummy. That's what you can think.

Okay. Here's what the Bible says. Joshua chapter number three.

It says this.

It was the harvest season and the Jordan was overflowing

its banks. But as soon as the feet of the

priest who were carrying the ark touched the water at

the river's edge, the water above that point began backing

up at a great distance away at a town called Adam,

which is near that Z word that you can read

for yourself.

Come on, get out of here, man.

And the water below that point flowed on to the

Dead Sea until the river base was dry. Then all

the people crossed over near the town of Jericho. Meanwhile,

the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord's

Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the

riverbed as.

The people passed by.

They waited there until the whole nation had crossed the

Jordan on dry ground. I'm going to jump to chapter

number four. I'm going to read a little section, verse 21.

It says this in chapter number four. Then Joshua said

to the Israelites.

In the future, your children will ask you, what do

these stones mean?

And you can tell them this is where the Israelites

crossed the Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your

God dried up the riverbed right before our eyes. He

kept it dry until we were all across, just as

he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up.

Until we had all crossed over.

He did this so that all the nations of the

earth might know that the Lord's hand is powerful, and

so that you might fear the Lord your God forever.

The title of my sermon, if you're taking notes today,

write this down at the top.

It's time for miracles again.

It's time for miracles again. It's time for miracles again.

Dear Jesus, we need you again. We are back, not

because you are insufficient or you didn't do enough for

us last time, but somehow we worked ourselves into another

position that we cannot seem to get out of. But God,

I thank you that you are a God who does

miracles again. You're not just a God who will meet

us one time, but over and over. Your grace will

meet us every single time. So Jesus, we are here.

because we need miracles again. It's in the beautiful name

of Jesus we pray. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen.

All right.

Now, traditionally when I preach, I have like an introduction

and it's like a setup. And usually I'm kind of

letting you into my brain of preaching sometimes. So I'm

always going to do, I have like seven things that

are like a part of my sermon. And once I

get these seven things, the sermon is pretty much done.

So I'm working on these seven things all week. One

of them is the introduction.

How am I going to do the introduction? And usually,

it's like a funny story.

Maybe I, you know, tell you about some beef I

got with my wife.

No beef, it's all love.

But a funny story about my kids, my crazy kids.

I have four wild kids. Two are light-skinned, two are white.

It's not a big deal. It's whatever.

Stay calm.

But today, I couldn't, not I couldn't think of, I

have an introductory question, but it's kind.

Of crazy, okay?

So just hear me out, and, you know, if you're like,

that's crazy, I'm telling you.

So this is, you've got to prepare your spirit.

Okay, here's a question, introductory, for the setup of a

great sermon, and this will not be weird at all.

Have you ever read the book of Revelations? Hear me out.

The spooky one at the end. It's the last one.

Come on, they made movies in the 90s about it.

Left Behind, if you grew up in church, you thought

you were going to be in a service like this

and then someone's clothes were just going to go. And

then you're like, what is happening? I had friends that

used to lay their clothes out at sleepovers and then

wake people up and run out.

And then they wake up and they're like, oh my God,

I'm in Left Behind! Like, I really thought that was,

it might happen that way. I don't know. The clothes length,

dropping out of your clothes, it's not in the book.

But Revelations is funny because it's one of those books

that like, it's just interesting.

And honestly, I grew up in church.

You got to know this. Caveat, I'm a seventh or

sixth generation preacher.

So like, it's in my bones. It's in my DNA.

I didn't have a choice. I, you know, I thought

I was going to do something else. And God was like, no, bro,

this is what you're doing.

So I grew up in church.

And all I heard, like, there was just, Revelations was

just like the spooky book.

You don't really go back there, you know? It's kind

of like the attic. It's like, we only go up

there when we have to, you know what I'm saying?

Just get a couple things, get out. You don't know

what's up there.

But the book of Revelations is not as spooky as

you think.

And I would encourage you to read it. It's actually really,

really good.

And the reason some people get freaked out by the

book of Revelations is because there's all these allegories and

stories and there's a beast and people are coming back

and there's 86 lamps and there's different churches and dragons.

I mean, it's like reading a book of Narnia or something.

It's crazy. But let me summarize it for you.

The first verse of Revelations tells you you do not

have to be afraid of this book. And a lot

of believers are terrified of the book of Revelations.

And this sermon is not even about Revelations, but it's

my introduction, so just stay with me.

Revelations 1, verse 1. Dear friends, I think I gave

Revelation 1:1

it to you. Could you throw it up on the

screen for me? This is what the whole book is about.

This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave

to his servants.

So they may soon take place.

He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant, John.

Keep going for a little bit. I think there's a

little bit more. Is there a little bit more? Oh,

that's the next verse. Okay, pause right there.

The first book, it doesn't let you get two, four,

five words into the book without telling you this is

a revelation about Jesus Christ.

That's all you need to know. Now, some of you

are like, Charles, but what about the dragons? What about that?

Here's the thing.

Anytime you find yourself at a point reading the Bible

where you don't understand, I have realized the point of

that is for you to be.

Like, you know what?

There's probably some stuff I just probably shouldn't know. There's

just some things that I, this is a scripture. David

says this in the book of Psalms. He says, I

have not lifted my head too high and I haven't

concerned myself with things that are far too grand for

me to understand. Because if the God I serve, I

can understand he's not greater than me.

He's just like me.

And if God is just like me, I don't know

about you, but that's a bad God. I need a

God who's greater than me. The Bible says that his

ways are not your ways. His thoughts are not your thoughts.

Greater thou the heavens are above the earth than God's

thoughts are above yours. That's a very poetic way of.

Saying you're not as smart as you think you are.

You don't need to know everything. So calm down.

Now, why you should read the book of Revelations is

not so you can know when the world is going

to end, because that's ridiculous. I'm trying not to go

on a rant, but anybody who tells you they know

when the world's going to end, they're lying.

They literally don't know. It's not, it's a Jesus. It's

like only God knows what Jesus said.

Okay, anyways, Revelations 1 verse 8. This is why you

Revelation 1:8

should read Revelation. If you only read the first chapter,

this is why you need it. Because there's an introduction

that is given that is so integral to your understanding

of who God is. And if you don't ever go

to the book, you'll never understand this part of God,

which is so important.

Look what the Bible says. I am So we got

that introduction in Exodus. We just read it. But look

what he says. The alpha and the omega, the beginning

and the end, says the Lord.

I am the one who is, who always.

Was, and is still to come.

This is God giving an introduction.

He said, I'm the God who was. who is and

is to come.

He's trying to explain to you something about his nature

that will give you a substantial amount of faith to

stand on. I'm the God who was, who is, and

is to come. I'm the God who was, who is,

and is to come. What is he saying? I was

here before you, I'm here with you, and long after

you've gone, I will still be who I said I am.

And you have to understand this about God because if

you think God is only working with your current circumstances

in the time you're working with, you are madly confused.

I preached a sermon. You're going to have to go

watch it for yourself.

But this was the thesis of the sermon, and I'm

not going to lie to you. It's one of my

favorite sermons and one of the most gangster preaching lines ever.

You ready for this?

It says, God was standing outside of time, and then

he created time, and he placed you in time so

that at the right time you would be on time

because God always has an appointed time. It's important for

you to understand this about God because some of the

most frustrating things in your life are about time. You

feel like you don't have enough time. You feel like

your marriage is running out of time. You need more

time with your kids because you haven't taught them everything

you need to teach them, and they're about to graduate

high school, and you're wondering if they're going to make

the right choices, and you're realizing that time has gone

by a lot quicker. You thought you had more time

to start the business, and now you're realizing life is

passing you by, and you're not maybe walking to the

purpose you thought you were. You've realized that, man, I

don't know if I have as much time. I don't

know how much time I have, but here's the peace.

You can have.

God is outside of time. And in his love, he

created time for you and for me. Why?

Because the Bible says his mercies are new every morning.

What is that? Every 24 hours, he gives you a reset.

If there was no day, you would be stuck in

that anxiety for eternity.

Y'all ain't tracking with me.

God's grace created time 24.

Hours in a day. Not for him. He created it

for you because you get in that argument with your wife.

You done blew up your own spot. Oh, the dumbest

thing we husbands be doing. We be blowing up our

own spot. Oh, yeah? Well, you ain't never. That's how

you know. If you are saying absolutes in an argument,

just don't. Yeah, okay, anyways, that's a separate. But God's grace,

he gave us time.

Now, this is important today because we're going to read

a story about God doing miracles. And his whole sermon today,

I'm going to warn you, it's about miracles. And I

know you're like, miracles?

What in the world? Yes, just track with me. But

here's why this is important.

The Bible says he's the God who was, who is,

and is to come. And I'm afraid that somewhere along

in our church and in our faith, we have developed

a theology or an ideology where we have more faith

in what God did than what he can do.

This is slight. It's subtle.

But but many believers, you read the Bible like, man,

that was crazy.

The Red Sea. I mean, he's raising people from the dead.

I mean, people are getting healed in the New Testament.

People's shadows are healing people. And we read that like

a fictional story and think that was so cool what

he did. I don't know if he can, you know,

we say something like I ain't never seen it. And

here's my problem with you ain't never seen it. There's

a lot of stuff you ain't never seen that doesn't

mean that it ain't real.

I ain't never seen Mount Everest, so that's a picture.

That could be AI. You don't know what they're doing

out here.

But I ain't never seen it. You ain't never seen it,

so that's the limit of your life. What you have seen,

what you have felt, what you know and can prove by.

Yourself, that's how you're going to build a life.

Let me tell you, friend, your life's going to get

small quick because there's a lot of stuff you ain't

seen that God has done, is doing, and will keep doing.

Our God does miracles.

And let me tell you, friend, if he doesn't, we

are all crazy.

Let me tell you, okay, I'm so out of order

on my sermon, but I got to get this. If Jesus,

Jesus doing miracles was what clarified and identified him as

the Messiah.

That was the thing. There's tons of prophecies. He shows up.

All these things happen.

But one of his friends is in jail and he's

doubting God.

And he says, hey, go.

To Jesus and tell him, are you the one we've

been waiting for or should we look for another?

Jesus's response. Go tell him what you've seen. The lame walk,

the blind see, the deaf hear. It was his miracles

that confirmed he was God. And I'm afraid a lot

of us, we read the miracles for our Devo time,

but you don't expect God to show up in the

middle of your cubicle and do a miracle.

And if he's not doing miracles today, what are we

in here for?

There was a lot of great teachers.

There's a lot of people who wrote poetry in an

old book that you could go buy and read today.

What separates Jesus.

From the Odyssey is that there's miracles in there that

were confirmed by over 500 people, that people saw him

crucified on a cross, and they saw him get back

up after three days.

If we don't believe God does miracles, what are we doing?

Now, I'm not saying that to believe miracles isn't so

difficult and ridiculous. And we have to address this because

I grew up in church.

I get it. The Bible's weird. It's weird, man. Like,

you know, we say, we were just yelling into the

sky about blood. Blood, blood, blood. And it's just like, yes,

the blood. That's crazy. Your first time, you're like, I'm

going to go to church. And they're like, the blood

will never lose its power. You're like, oh, my God.

Come in here on October 31st. We sing about blood.

It'll get real spooky.

I mean, nobody acknowledged this when I grew up in church.

We're just singing stuff like, yeah, super casual. And then

I grew up in church.

You go to Sunday school, and they got the felt board,

and they're like, yeah, so Noah, you know, God created everything.

Then he's going to pretty much drown them all. But,

you know, it's little animals, and it's cute, and it's

kind of like a rainbow goes.

Across the sky.

What?

Ain't nobody got questions about that? We're just going to accept, like,

did he create it? But what happened?

Why is the flood and the boat and it's gopher wood?

And it's like, okay.

I want to give it to you. The Bible's pretty crazy.

There's some wild stuff in there. A dude gets swallowed

by a whale, and then three days later, he's like,

there you go, right where he wanted to go.

Come on. What are we talking about? You just read that.

And people are like, I have some questions about my faith.

And you're like, you better believe God. The devil is alive.

It's like, yo, you've never thought about it. That's why

you ain't got no questions. You're just like, yeah, my

mama believed it.

I believed it. You ain't never read the book.

You get to Genesis 6 and the sons of.

God, these angels are falling out the sky. They're sleeping

with people. They're making giants. Hercules was a real person.

The Bible be saying it. This is, okay. Y'all going

to think I'm crazy.

But here's the thing about the crazy things in the

miracles of the Bible. The more we live, the more

scientists are having to deal with some of their scientific

methods because the earth is starting to show up with

some proof.

That God has always been God.

Let me show you something that I've known for a while,

but there was some big movements in this week, and

you're going to think this is crazy. So the Bible

in Genesis, it tells us that Noah's Ark, it came

to rest on Mount Ararat. This is a place, this

is a real thing. This is why you know the

Bible is not just like a mythical book, but it's

actually historical. There are actual locations. You can read other

history books, and they're writing about the children of Israel

and the God of Yahweh. This is not some ethereal

faith like floaty butterfly thing. This is actually historical facts.

So the Bible tells us in Genesis, that Noah's Ark

came to rest on Mount Arrak.

You got a picture of Mount Arrak.

This is the mountain that the Bible says that Noah's

Ark came to rest on. Now, beautiful mountain, it's in Turkey,

which my kids thought were hilarious. They didn't understand Turkey

was not food. So good luck explaining that to four kids.

But years ago, someone was walking in Mount Ararat right

at the foot of this mountain, and if you could

go to that next picture, they saw this figure that

they started questioning what it was.

They saw this.

And they're like, that's such a weird rock shape.

Why would that be there?

And then someone was reading the Bible, and they realized, oh,

it said that Noah's Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat,

and it said that Noah's Ark was 300 cubits, which

is 515 feet. And then they measured it and it's

exactly 515 feet. And then they drilled into the ground

and found different compartments that were segmented in tons of

acacia wood randomly in this part of the city where

it's never been before. Now some of you are like,

I don't even, he probably chat GPT'd that picture. You

have chat GPT'd a lot of pictures. We see you

on Instagram anyways. Oh man, I'm so sorry. Here's what

I'm saying. As time, the development was on Friday, they

got clearance to start drilling into the gown. They have

done whole 3D scans of this and it is a

massive boat Buried underground exactly where the Bible said Noah's

Ark came to rest.

So I get it Noah's Ark sounds crazy.

I can't get four kids in the car much less

two by two of every animal.

It's crazy. And what are you gonna do about that?

Explain that to me Explain to me why we have

more historical copies of the Bible than every other ancient

manuscript ever written. We have more history about Jesus than

we do Caesar, than we do the Odyssey, than we

do Abraham Lincoln. We have more written, confirmed documents of Jesus.

And all I'm saying is, you can wrestle on the

science side, you can wrestle on the faith side, but

God still does miracles.

Amen. He does stuff.

Nobody can explain. He does stuff that no money can do.

He does stuff that a doctor can't do. He does

stuff that nobody else can do. And this is why

he's worthy of worship. I refuse to build a theology

where I have more faith in what's in the book

than what can show up in my life. I pray

to him because I think he can actually change my heart.

I worship him because I've seen things happen that nobody

could explain.

I've seen too much for myself not to be convinced

of him. I got to tell you this story, and

it's about to get testimony time.

And don't worry, I'll have you out of here on

time because I can get through my sermon quick. But

I was eight years old, racing BMX, and I crashed,

cracked my shoulder blade all the way down. We went

to the doctor's office. They put the scan on the screen. Bam,

there's a crack all the way down. And then we're

sitting in bed. Two days later, I'm sitting on the

end of my parents' bed. And, of course, I told

you I grew up in a churchy house.

So there's a man on a screen crying. Praying in tongues.

And I'm watching the screen. And all of a sudden,

he says, somebody is watching this right now. And you've

got a cracked shoulder blade. And God's going to heal you.

Now, some of you are like, this is ridiculous. Go

ask my mama. Go ask anybody you want to.

I am not lying. I'm eight years old. Why would

I lie about this? It doesn't make me look cool.

It makes me look weird. So why would you lie

about something that makes you lame? Anyways, I'm watching it.

I had my hand in a whole cast situation.

Because they said I'll be, and I'm watching it, and I.

Turn around to my mom and dad. I go, mom

and dad, he's talking about me. I feel it. Mom,

he's talking about me. And my mom and dad are like,

stop moving, stop. And I'm like, no, no, no. He

said somebody was watching, and the shoulder blade was cracked,

and he's talking about me. No lie. I promise on everything.

We go to the doctor that night.

They put the picture of two days ago up and

the picture right there. There is no crack. It is

perfectly healed. God does miracles. I've seen it with my

own eyes. And you will rob yourself of a beautiful

life if you limit your life to what you've seen.

This is why the church is so powerful, because you

can get up in here, and maybe you ain't seen it, but.

The person next to you has seen it. I got

to tell you this.

A couple weeks ago, my friends Bree and Aaron went

up on here, and Bree was doing a transition, and

Aaron was singing, and there was a moment where they

looked at each other, and they were worshiping God, and

that seems like a small moment until you realize what

they've been through.

These are people.

who lost their child and are on stage singing to

that God about how good he is, how he'll bring

you through. Get out of here, God don't do miracles.

Can't no money do that. Can't no counseling do that.

God did that. He still does miracles. I'm not saying

it's not hard to believe. I'm not saying it's crazy.

But let me tell you, friend, we're past crazy. You're

talking about what's crazy? The world is crazy. Instagram is crazy.

Your kids are crazy. And all of a sudden you

want to get to the Bible and be like, I

don't know about that. It seems a little weird.

Your family is weird. So get like, what? We just

don't use the same logic. Like we'll go to a

boss and.

Be like, yeah, we're going to put you on a

trajectory to really blah, blah, blah, blah.

And you put all your faith in this boss.

Of how the purpose of your life is going to

come to fruition. Because he's going to see your gifts

and promote you and give you a couple extra dollars.

And that's how you know you're going.

To make it. But then you read the Bible and

God says, I have a plan for you to prosper you,

not to harm you. And you're like, I don't know.

I don't know if he can do it.

What? I'm just telling you, man, if he doesn't do miracles,

what are we doing in here? If he can't help

you with that anxiety, why are we in here? If

your marriage is on the rocks and he can't restore it, what.

Are we doing?

I don't wanna rob you of that, but don't waste

your time if you don't believe he can actually do miracles.

It's a waste of your time. I know that's kinda harsh.

I'm not saying you shouldn't read your, all I am

saying is if you are reading this as something that

is back in the past and stuck there, you're missing

the point. The key claim of this book is that

a 33-year-old Jewish guy died and then three days later

got back up. It's a miracle that is the hinge

point of our faith. And he still does them today.

So I'm going to walk you through Joshua chapter 3

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

and 4. Five different, there's no real way to like,

I was trying to think of a header here. of

what these five points are. And somebody who was trying

to look cool or sell you a class would be like,

five ways to get your miracle. And that's just not,

that's just.

Not, you can't get a miracle.

It's not like a one plus one, two plus two,

that's not the.

Way it works.

And I just wanna say that because even the idea

of a human who's only been alive for a couple

years on the planet trying to explain an everlasting God

and how he does supernatural miracles is kind of ridiculous

in and of itself. But I'm going to give you

five things that are like ingredients. You know, like if

you go, I was sitting, I was writing the sermon

in bed and I was talking to Abby.

I said, babe, what you need to make a cake?

What do you make a cake with?

And she's like, well, flour, you know, milk, eggs, sugar,

different stuff. And I was like, me telling you these

five points, it's kind of like a couple of eggs

and some sugar. But the flower of this thing is

that God is a supernatural, wonder-working God that does stuff

that you can't explain, and you can't calculate him into

a formula. So I just want to say this, because

some of y'all are going to go home and be like,

I did the five things, and God did not change

my husband.

He's still ugly, and he still looks ridiculous. That was

just a joke. Calm down. No shots to your husband.

Come on, man. I'm just saying people do that. Like,

I did what you said, and they didn't give me

more money. It's like, that's not how it works.

Okay?

These are just five things. Different things. All right, we're

going to get to the Bible. Here we go.

I think I gave the team five movements to a miracle.

So these are five different parts of five things. The

first word you're going to need and the first thing

we see in the scripture is there is a start.

There is a start. Everybody say start.

The big thing I have to say here is miracles

don't start with you. They start with God. Miracles do

not start with you. It doesn't start with your good behavior.

God doesn't do miracles for you because you've done good

things for him, so he gives you back a miracle.

That's not how it works.

That is the casino, and you put some money in,

you get some stuff back.

God is not Santa Claus. God is not a genie.

You don't get three wishes.

It starts because before you were in your mother's womb,

before you were thinking about him, he was thinking about you,

and he chose to include you because that's how much

he loves you. Miracles start with God. It always starts

with him. This story, you open it up, God creates everything.

He's the originator.

Then there's this guy named Abraham that is not a

follower of Jesus and is a part of a random people.

And God just for some reason says, I want to

talk to Abraham.

Why? Because it always starts with God.

And this is important because some people think that miracles

are like this trade of good behavior.

It's like you get out on parole and you get

out early because I've done some good things.

That's not how a miracle, miracles happen because God starts them.

The Bible says he's the author and the finisher of

our faith. All miracles start with God. It starts with

his goodness. It starts with his grace. It starts with

his mercy. And I'm saying this to you because this

is why you can't control God because he's the one

who has the plan.

Miracles start with God. And in Joshua 3, it starts

that way.

We've been talking about this, but Joshua, he's like the

second in command of the children of Israel.

Moses dies. God comes to him and says, hey, yo,

you're up, bro. You up?

This is that I was watching college football and it's

like when people get hurt and the second string that

was never planning on being in, they up.

This is what happens to Joshua.

Why? Because God had a plan for Joshua. God knew

there was something in him. And here's what I'm telling

you today. God has a plan for your life. He

cares about you. You matter to him.

And not because of what you do, not.

Because you're such a good person, but because you're his.

Miracles start with God. Now, we're going to go to

the next one. The next thing that happens is a

miracle is there's always a step. There's always a step.

So in Joshua 3, paint the scene, there's.

A promised land.

And in between the promised land and God's people is

a massive river. And the Bible is so gangster because

it includes this detail. It says that the riverbanks were overflowing.

Which is to paint the picture that this is the

most inopportune time to.

Cross the river.

This is not like that thing they call a river

we got down on Riverside here in Tulsa.

It's halfway, come on.

They backed it up a couple years ago so we

feel good and we can be in there with boats,

but it's like you go one mile down, it's.

Like you can walk across right there, there you go.

Overflowing river.

Now this is so interesting because the children of Israel

have seen God split waters before. This isn't their first

time at a river they gotta go across. The last time,

in fact, it wasn't a river, it was a sea. Moses,

he's there, the children of Israel are leaving Egypt. He

takes his staff, he holds it up. You've seen the movie,

Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

See, it's testing how Christian you are. But he puts

his staff out, bam, the water splits.

They walk across on dry ground, which, another thing, fun fact,

I'm so much like my son, Arlo. I got so

many fun facts, it's ridiculous. At the bottom of the

Red Sea, guess what they find down there? Egyptian chariots.

Go look it up for yourself, bro. I'm not messing

with you. And you can argue with your mama. Go

chat GPT right now.

It's real.

This book is real. But this is their second time

at the water. And in the last miracle that they

were up against water, one man just had to stick

out the stick. But in this one, the instructions are

very different. It says you have to get the Ark

of the Covenant. which the Ark of the Covenant.

Pastor Michael did an incredible job teaching on this last week.

It is the presence of God.

And what they say is the priests have to step

into the water. And there are some miracles where you

don't just get to point your hand at it. You

have to be the one to actually step. There are

some miracles where you can just lay your hands and

send your prayers, but there are some miracles God doesn't

start until you step. There's some stuff that you have

to put your foot where you say your faith is.

You have to actually step out. You have to actually

look crazy for a second. You have to actually say,

I really believe that he can do this, so I'm

going to start the company even though we ain't.

Got no money. Well, that don't make sense. That's what

you didn't go to school for. I know it don't

make sense. That's why I'm stepping out. I know it

looks crazy, but there are some miracles, friend.

I'm telling you, you're going to have to step.

And there are some, maybe early in your faith, you

just had to stretch your hand. And then you start thinking,

what's wrong with me? Am I praying enough? I stretched

my hand. And this time God's saying, no, no, no,

you can stretch your hand. That's fine. But this time

I need you to step. This time I need you to,

it's going to feel weird. It's going to feel uncomfortable.

But I'm not good enough.

But I'm not qualified. But what if he doesn't work? No, no, no, friend.

There's some stuff you only find out when you step.

Everybody makes fun of Peter because he fell in the water.

You know, he's walking on water. Jesus calls him out.

But how many times, raise your hand if you walked

on water. That's what I'm talking about.

I love you.

Everybody want to talk about it, but you ain't never stepped.

He's the only one who had the faith to say, okay,

all right, you said come out there?

On the, okay. Hold on, let me. Okay, how are

we going? Okay, let me. Hold on. I'm coming. Just

give me a.

There's always going to be a little awkward part of

when you're trying to step out in faith. There's always

going to be a part where it feels a little

uncomfortable where you look.

And if you don't look crazy, you probably ain't doing

it right.

But this is where I went to school for it,

and this is what I've always done, and I have

this successful business, but I feel like God's called me

to start this little thing, because, and it doesn't make

any sense, I'm gonna.

Lose money doing it.

Okay, okay, my friend has this saying, he says, follow

the nausea, and that's just something where it's like, if

I feel a little uncomfortable, that's how I know I'm

gonna need God to get out here. I'm asking him

to do some stuff that ain't on my resume, that

ain't in a plan, I need him to show up

in a supernatural way. So here's my question, where do

you need to step? I don't know what your step is.

I know what my step is, but I can't tell

you your step. And this is why you got to

read the Bible for yourself. And this is why you

got to worship for yourself. I'm so glad you're here

in Tulsa and watching online, but I may not have

your step.

You got a book for yourself. And you can open

up this thing Tuesday on your lunch break.

And God just said, I want you to step out

and go pray for that person next to you at lunch.

God, I don't want to be a weird Christian. I

don't even know if they believe. You have no idea

that last night.

They were like, God, if you are real, please, if

you could do anything, if you would just show me

somehow that somebody cares about me, that somebody sees me, and.

God is trying to get you to step. And it's

going to feel weird. It's going to be crazy.

But the Bible says that they step into the river

with the Ark of the Covenant.

And here's the second one. This is where I love

the Bible.

It says the next one you got to write down

is you got to start, you got to step, and

then you got to stay.

Here's what the Bible says. Here's what the Bible says.

Here's what the Bible says. The last time they stepped

into water, the Bible says it, bam, shot up like

a wall.

That's not what it says in this one. What it

says in this one is that in Adam... The water, okay,

I got to go read to you.

I got to read to you because, okay, let me

read it.

Let me read it.

Where are we at?

This is what the Bible says. It says, where are

we at?

But as soon as the feet of the priests who

were carrying the ark touched the water at the river's edge,

the water above that point began backing up a great

distance at a town called Adam.

Now, I know you didn't do the research. I did

the research. That's why I'm here to help you. Adam

is 18 miles away. You got to think about it.

They step in the water. Y'all, were we supposed to, Joshua,

was we supposed to, okay.

And 18 miles away, water is starting to stack up

like a wall.

18 miles away.

It says the water stopped and began backing up, and

then it all began to drain towards the Dead Sea,

which means if you are going to see a miracle,

there's some stuff you're going to have to step, and

then it's going to take some trust to stay long

enough until the miracle hits you.

And there's a lot of miracles we shortchange.

Because we say stuff like, God, I did it.

Where you at? But you have no idea. Here's the

beautiful thing. Oh, thank you, Jesus.

Because this means that the children of Israel weren't the

only ones to see a miraculous thing happen that day.

There were some people in Adam. that we're thinking, what

in the world is going on? I ain't never seen

nothing like this. It has nothing to do with you.

Sometimes God is doing a miracle.

That you have to stay long enough, because there's a

lot of other people he's trying to help.

There's a lot of other people he's trying to show

himself to.

There's a lot of other people he's trying to say,

I care about you, I care about you, and I

care about you. You're going to have to step, but

you're going to have to.

Stay long enough.

18 miles.

I don't know how long that takes, but it wasn't

five seconds. They stepped and they had to stay long enough.

And I wish I could tell you that all miracles

happen when you pray at the altar and you walked

out and you were flying.

It don't work that way. I wish it did. I

can feel it, man.

It's so tough sometimes. We'll be down here at the

altar and I've prayed for people and I can tell

they're coming up.

They're like, would you just pray for me? And I'm

praying and I know God can do a miracle.

And I know there's been times in my life where

he met me so quick, I couldn't explain it.

But I also know There's been times where it felt like, God,

where are you at? I stepped out here. You said

if I would do this, you would be with.

Me, and I am knee-high in water, and I look ridiculous.

Where are you at?

And no, people don't want to talk like that, but

you say it under your breath, and that's why you

don't lift your hands in worship, and that's why you've

got questions, because the truth is sometimes you step and

nothing moves at first.

And we got to talk about this because so many

people deconstruct their faith and walk away from.

God because someone told them, oh, yeah, you did this

one thing. Tomorrow, I promise you everything will be better.

And they did it. And guess what?

Their marriage fell apart. What are we talking about? We

got to acknowledge the reality. I did the thing.

I stepped out and I'm out here and the business

is losing money. God's not afraid of your questions, friend.

Church people might be, your small group leader might be,

your mom and dad might be, but God is not afraid.

Of your questions. Sometimes you got to step out there

and you got to stay because you have no idea

when you'll be standing on dry ground. Sometimes it takes time.

And nobody told me that.

I thought miracles were like, and it was just like, wow,

everything's great. And I woke up and me and my

wife weren't fighting. No, you can pray at the altar

and wake up and get in the fight tomorrow. But

that doesn't mean that 18 miles away, God is not

starting to soften their heart. It doesn't mean that God's

not starting.

To change those lies that have been in their mind.

It doesn't mean that God's not working on it slowly.

It may take some time.

And believers, we get frustrated because we think it's only

a miracle if.

It happens just like that. And some stuff does happen

just like that. Let me tell you, I've seen him

do it.

And sometimes 18 miles away and it's just like, man,

I don't know when he's going to, I don't know

when he's going to do it.

But here's the next thing about a miracle that's crazy

because eventually the water dries up.

And this is where I'm like, oh, dang, that's dope.

That's so cool. You got to start. You step and

you stay.

But then the Bible says the priests have the Ark

of the Covenant, which should jog your memory, has two tablets, stone,

with the Ten Commandments written on them.

And something tells me they're not light.

This is a solid gold box with stones, a staff,

and manna. And here's the part that got me. They

have to stand there while two million people.

Walk across this dry water. And this one is not

about faith. It's not about trust. It's about endurance. Has

nothing to do with it.

I know you have faith because I saw you step.

I know you trust him because for a while it

didn't work. But some of our testimonies have fallen short

because you never finished. You didn't have the endurance to

be at the finish line having done what he.

Asked you to do.

Some miracles you're going to have to stand for a

long time. You're going to have to stand for a

long time.

Time.

You're going to have to watch other people walk by

and you're going to have to stay strong. You're going

to have to watch your kids walk by and you're

going to have to stay strong. And this is what

we know about the Levitical priests. There were four of them.

And this is why it's beautiful. It's why the Bible

says two are better than one. This is why tribes

are not just a graphic. You should actually have friends

because when you're standing out there doing.

What God told you to.

Do, you're going to get tired and you're going to say, man,

I don't want to do this no more.

And I don't want to stay married no more. And

I don't want to keep following God no more.

And you need somebody that's on the other corner I'm

not saying, bro, come on, man, we out here.

These other people are waiting on us. They need us. Man,

I don't know if I can do it. I'm getting tired. Here,

let's rotate. Just turn a little bit. I'll help you.

Okay, you hold on to me.

This is why you need people.

And there are some miracles in your life that.

Is amazing that it happened, but now you got to stay.

And now you got to stand. It's beautiful to see

the miracle of how God brought y'all together. But building

a life and a marriage... is a lot of standing.

It's a lot of endurance.

And it's a miracle that you find your person. We celebrate,

you get engaged, you have like four parties in four

months and y'all get married.

And then nobody's throwing parties.

You get a party for the engagement, a party for

the wedding, a party maybe for the one year if

you're special, and then it's like, well, okay, cool, we'll

see y'all.

And nobody tells you Marriage, a lot of times, is

just like, whoo! You good?

Man, I can't stand these kids!

No, baby, I'm playing. I love you. Whoo! I can't

stand them, though! And this is what happens.

I'll say this to you. Because whenever you get tired,

you're easily agitated. So this is why people... start just

bickering in their marriages and why you start not liking

your job, it was a miracle God gave you that job.

You prayed so hard for that job. You was in

21 days prayer and fasting, laid out on your stomach.

You had 10 journals talking about God met me, hallelujah,

look at manna from heaven.

And now you're in a job.

And all I'm trying to say is just because you're

standing and you're tired, don't forget this is still a miracle.

This is still a miracle that you are even out here.

I know you're tired. I know it's frustrating. I know

you're wondering if you're going to get the job. I

know you've been working really hard and you have no

control over the outcome. Let me remind you, friend, it's

still a miracle.

How much time I got left? Nine minutes and 23 seconds.

Perfect.

All right. Miracles start with God. Then you're going to

have to step. You're going to have to stay. You're

going to have to stand. And the last one, we

read it at the very end, so gangster. Something that's

going to be a part of the miracle is stones.

Stones. Now, I'm not talking about stones.

Like people throwing stones at you, like opposition, because I

know some of y'all are like, yeah, the haters going

to hate on.

No, calm down.

The Bible says everybody walks through. And the miracle's done.

But at the same time, it's not. Because the miracle's

not over until you get the proof that you.

Went through it.

So the Bible says the priests are standing there and

they're holding the thing and everybody walks through and.

They're like, yo Joshua, we good? And Joshua says, wait

a second. And he picks 12 men from each tribe.

And he says, here's what you're gonna do.

You're gonna go back in where the ground is dry

and where would usually be the bottom of the lake.

And I want you to get 12 stones.

Each of you get one stone and you're going to

bring it out because what we're going to do is

we're going to get these stones from the bottom and

we're going to make a memorial so that when our

kids pass by this place and they say, dad, why

are all them stones stacked up there? They'll say, oh baby,

there was this one time where God met us and

we didn't know how we was going to get out,

but he started backing up the water And here's.

When the miracle's over. The miracle's over when you go

back and get what you were supposed to get from

the bottom. This is why, and I'm starting to get excited.

I got to calm down and make sure I say

it right. This is why I talk to some people

and people will ask me like, Charles, you seem very

confident and you seem like you're really sure of yourself.

I say, I wasn't always, but I got this confidence

at the bottom of a dry riverbed. And if you

wanted it, you couldn't go back and get it for

yourself because it's covered up with water now. You're going

to have to go by yourself. You couldn't get this

if you wanted it. Not because God's not handing it out,

but I walked through my own river and I got

it myself.

And here's what I'm saying, friend.

If you don't get the stones from the miracles, you

have no fuel to believe he can do it again.

You have no proof to believe that God can do

what he's already done. So God instructs them before this

river fills back up and the peace you need, the

strength you need. the identity you needed, the security you needed.

Some of you, and this is the beautiful thing because

we describe seasons of our life as dry seasons. Dry

seasons are where you get stones, friend.

Dry seasons are where you find out who you are.

Dry seasons are where you figure out who your friends are.

Dry seasons are where you figure out what you're building

your life on.

Dry seasons are where you figure out what you're going

to give this kid that God gave you.

Dry seasons are where you find out what you're made of.

Don't despise the dry.

Season because it also might be proof that a miracle

happened and there's water standing up.

On both sides.

And so if God sends you back into a dry season,

maybe saying, I'm not punishing you.

I'm making sure you get your proof.

Get the stones.

Get the stones. They walk out.

And they form this memorial and it acts as a

moment to make sure they don't ever forget. You wasn't

going to be able to get past that river yourself.

And here's the beautiful thing, because some of them, they've

only heard stories of the Red Sea parting.

Think about it.

Egypt, they come out of Egypt. They go through the

Red Sea. It says that all the generations are disobedient,

so all their great-grandfathers die. They've heard stories that God

can part waters. But God says, you're going to go

this one yourself because I want you to have the

stones to remember. We're about to get out of here,

but keys and stuff, y'all can play. This sermon, I

was thinking about this sermon, and honestly, because I've grown

up in church, It's kind of weird to say, but

it's very easy to preach a sermon that is good

but not helpful.

Like, there are.

Sermons where you're like, yeah, oh, yeah, and everybody's screaming

and running laps. I grew up in a church where

you run laps. Every 18th Sunday we run laps here,

but you missed it.

I grew up watching my dad run laps.

So it's just like, come on, if God's been.

Brother, just take off.

But I was thinking, I was like, I don't want

people just having like, okay, I gotta step, I gotta stay,

I gotta start, I gotta, okay, I see they all

start with the ST, I see what you're doing, okay,

just get the, I wanted it to be real and helpful,

and I was talking to my friend, and I was

thinking about stones. And stones can be different for everybody.

I don't know what your stones are, I know what

mine are. I know sometimes pictures in my.

Phone act as stones.

There are some times I've scrolled back in my camera roll, Man,

I remember how I was feeling. And nobody can see it,

but I can, I can, I can see it. This

one might be getting me canceled by the religious people.

I love you. But for me, you know, it's going

to be like, I have tattoos. And sometimes some of

my tattoos are stones. I got a tattoo on my

arm that says ace. And that's a stone for me

to remind me that God, God can do anything. But,

but I was this week, no lie. I was going

through my wallet and I found a stone. And it's

this little piece of paper.

That my friend Aaron gave me. And it says, you

can call me right now.

And I've told the story a billion times, but I

was really depressed, like not want.

To be here.

Kind of depressed and one night I was having a

panic attack and it was lasting for like hours and

I was shaking and couldn't catch my breath and I

just fell asleep and I woke up at three in

the morning and all my friends were in my room

and it was so embarrassing if I'm honest with you

because I wanted them to think.

That I was this guy.

But I was curled up in my room shaking, having

panic attacks and depressed and trying to.

Fight to live.

And they all started writing these little notes and they

wrote probably like a hundred of them and they just

stuck them all over my house. And it was like

months and months and months later and I was doing

a lot better And I opened up my coat closet,

and in the back of my coat closet was this note.

And I keep this in my wallet.

And actually, my wife, she, after we kind of, things

got better, and we started working through stuff, she got

all the notes.

And She put them in this frame.

And this hangs in my bathroom right next to my sink.

And there's a lot of days that I looked at

these of just a reminder that God still does miracles.

And all I'm saying is I just want you to

have your own stones. I just want you to have

your own proof that like, I know, I get it.

Like miracles are crazy. God is crazy. There's a lot

of questions in life. And maybe you're trying to figure

out your faith.

And it's like, I don't know about this.

And all I'm saying is, if you would let him,

he'll give you some stones.

He'll give you proof. This is my proof.

This is why when I get up and sing, I

know who I'm singing to. Yeah. This is why when

I'm screaming and yelling and preaching and thinking, am I crazy?

I think I'm a little crazy. I might be just

a touch crazy. But then I'm like, no, you good, bro.

It's because I know what it feels like to have

no hope.

None.

None. I know what it is to feel like there

is no reason for me to be right here right now.

I have nothing and I can't do it. And I'm

so tired and I have nothing to give. And I

know what it is to find hope.

Out who I am and who God is at the

bottom of a riverbed.

And all I'm saying to you, friend, is the first

thing is, is you're not alone at the bottom of

that riverbed.

I know it's dry. I know it's weird.

I know there might be other people around you who

feel like they're doing fine, but it's not. But I

promise you, I promise you, I promise you, I promise you,

God still does miracles.

He can do stuff that you cannot explain. Everybody take

a deep breath in. Breathe out. You know how much

of a miracle that is? I could nerd out. Me

and my son are both nerds.

We love like I did all the research to figure

out like how quick a deep breath happens and the

billions amount of things that are coordinated at the same time.

For you to take that breath. It's a miracle.

For you to just, the fact that you're still here.

Not just that you're breathing, but that you're like, you

still here.

You're not perfect.

But after what you went through, the family you grew

up in, the neighborhood you're from, and you're trying to

talk to me, you don't know if God does miracles?

Look in the mirror, friend. You are a miracle. And

all I'm saying is, We can get out of here. Everybody,

stand to your feet. We about to get out of here.

All I'm saying is.

We about to get out of here in two minutes.

All I'm saying is, is if there's some area of

your life where you've got questions, if there's some area

of your life where you need God to show up supernaturally,

there's a story in the Bible... where there's a woman

at a well and Jesus meets her and she runs

back into her town and says, come meet a man.

And all I'm saying to you is I kind of

feel like that one. I'm saying, Hey, like I know

you haven't experienced maybe the miracle, but I know somebody

who can, who can do something you can't believe of.

And if you need a miracle today, I'm talking any

type of miracle.

Maybe it's, Physical, maybe there's something going on in your body.

You've gotten a doctor's report.

Maybe you're trying to have a baby and they've said

you can't. Maybe they've tried to diagnose you with something

and say that like you'll always have this thing. And

let me say this real quick. This is just my last.

Rant, I think. A little note.

I have friends who dedicate their life and went to

school to become doctors because they love people and they

want to take care of people. And sometimes church people,

when we pray for miracles, we be like inadvertently cooking doctors.

I don't care what that doctor, we ain't got no doctors.

The great physician, wait, okay.

What if God spoke to the doctor and gave them

the knowledge to help you?

So like faith isn't being ignorant of the.

Facts, right?

I just want to say that we do serve the

great physician and I have friends that love Jesus and

they became doctors because they wanted to be like the

great physician.

So we can't be like stupid doctors. It's like, what?

So I just had to get that out because I

had the mic.

OK.

When I say write about it doesn't close your eyes

and I'm going to pray for you. And here's the thing.

This is the best part. It's going to be a

super natural prayer. Super natural.

And what I mean by that is if you need

a miracle in any regard of your life, maybe you

just put your hands in a posture like to receive

or just.

To focus, close your eyes.

And I'm just going to pray that the God who

does miracles, Jesus, would meet you right where you are.

Whatever it is.

You need, if you need provision, if you need healing,

if you need faith, maybe you're struggling with your faith.

Like, I don't even know if I mess with God. Perfect.

The greatest miracle of all time is you becoming aware

of the creator of the universe and accepting his grace. God,

right now I am praying to the God of miracles.

I believe you and I know it and I've seen it. God,

you can do miracles. And I pray for everyone right

now under the sound of my voice that you would

meet them in such a way that the miracle, whether

it's of your presence, the miracle of an answered prayer,

the miracle of a marriage taking a step, the miracle

of finding security, the miracle of finding peace. I speak

whatever they need. I pray I am would meet them

right where they are. God, we believe you can do miracles.

We believe you're a wonder working God, that you can do.

And I pray this week, Lord Jesus, that you would

show us the tiny miracles that we skip.

Over every single day.

The miracle of the kids in the house, the miracle

of the friendships we have, the miracle of the job

you've given us, the miracle to look out at a

sunset and see your mercy and your grace.

God, help us to see your miracles.

And to believe that you can do miracles again. Every

head bowed, every single eye closed. If you're in this

room and you have never experienced the miracle, that is salvation.

There's a lot of bad news.

In the world, friend, but no matter how bad the

bad news gets, the good news gets even better. And

the good news is there's a God who is real

and he loves you. And the pain you're going through

is a result of our own doing. The Bible calls

it sin. It means to miss the mark. What it

says is we all make mistakes that hurt ourselves. And

when we do that, it separates us from God. But Jesus,

he lived a sinless and perfect life So that you

can accept his grace. It's not performance. It's not doing

good things. It is a free gift from God that

can only be accepted. And when you accept that grace,

it changes your life. Your eternity is secure in heaven

and your life is transformed on earth. And if you

found the end of your rope, if you are at

the end of yourself, you've tried it all, you've done

it all.

And you are realizing I need help. I'm not smart enough.

to raise these kids by myself.

I'm not confident enough.

To run this business by myself.

If you need a savior, I want to introduce you

to the only one who is true.

And tested time after time.

He's the God who was, the God who is, and

the God who is to come, and his.

Name is Jesus. And if you want to accept Jesus

as your Lord and Savior, here's what we're going to do.

Every single head bowed, every single eyes closed for the

privacy and for the.

Beauty of this moment.

If you are in this room or you're watching online

and you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior,

I'm going to count to three.

And on the count of three, you're going to raise

your hand. And when you raise your.

Hand, it is you solidifying on the outside what God

is doing on the inside. This is not that you

got to raise your hand to be saved, but you

do have to show your body, hey, we're making a

new decision today and we don't run the show.

We're giving our life to Jesus.

And I'm going to count to three, and I believe

in this room, there's a couple of people you know

it's you.

Don't even argue with it. Quit fighting with it. There's

a voice trying to tell you this ain't you. It

is you. You know it. This is your moment. One,

God loves you. Two, today is the day of salvation.

Don't wait another day. Three, right now, all over this room,

I want you to raise your hand. Come on, raise

your hand. I see you. I'm so proud of you.

I'm so proud of you. I got you right here.

I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you.

So proud of you. I see you up there, my guy.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I

love you. I'm so proud of you.

Hey, listen, everybody, if you just raised your hand out loud,

we're all going to pray this prayer together.

I want everybody to say, dear God, I love you.

I admit I am not perfect. I need you. I

give my life to you. I will follow you all

the days of my life. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Hey,

can we cheer and.

Celebrate for the people who just made that choice? Hey,

that's the best choice you could ever make. I'm so

proud of you. If you did just make that choice,

if you text the word SAVE to 828282, it's a.

Phone number, they'll put it on the screen. We just

want to send you some stuff to help you follow Jesus.

Listen, we love you so much. Our worship team is

going to sing. If you want to stay in worship,

you can. We're going to have some people up here

at the front and at the back that if you

need prayer for anything, for a miracle, we would love.

To pray with you.

Hey, listen, I think the team already said it. Make

sure you grab your tickets for conferences. Make sure you

come back next week.

It's going to be beautiful. I'm going to pray for you.

Lord, I pray they have a blessed week. We thank

you that you are the God of miracles. And I

pray that you would meet us like never before.

We love you so much. In the name of Jesus,

we pray. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen.