Kev’s guys eGroup on-line eGroup sermon notes Sunday, 2/2/2020 – 9:30 AM Worship experience Ballantyne Campus Pastor Furtick Sermon Title: Kingdom Clout Part 4 – The Secrets of Kingdom Stewardship – or “Flip the Bag”

Elevation Worship: • God So Loved • - • - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxTc98K9OeU • Hallelujah Here Below - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWpSa_fKt84 • Graves to Gardens -

Today’s Scripture: Mathew 25 – The Parable of the Talents - The Parable of the Bags of Gold - 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more. 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Sermon notes - Kingdom Clout Part 4 – The Secrets of Kingdom Stewardship – or “Flip the Bag” by Pastor • Welcome our newest campus – Elevation Orlando FL – our 20th campus.

1 • is touring again. See www.elevationworship.org • Opening Prayer: Lord we lift our hands in your presences. We lift our palms upward – and we welcome you into the recesses of your imagination. You rule and reign over every continent right now – We give you glory – Give Him a great shout of praise while you still have the chance – Tomorrow is not promised – give Him a praise right now. God gave us an opportunity to praise Him. We should not waste our praise – since we give praise to the wrong things sometimes. God says this: If I am for you – I am more than the whole world against you. What is God worth to you – on the level that he blessed you – according to his excellent greatness? We love His presence. We love church and we love being here – we are blessed to be here. And we invest in what we value. I am so grateful that you felt that God’s house was worth investing in – for a couple of hours of your time today. God is glad that you are here. Thank you for your enthusiastic attention to the word of God. • How many are excited about Kingdom Clout – part 4? Recall that Part 4 was the best of the Rocky Balboa movies. • I have been trying to tell people during this series that they matter – and I am sick of people ending up dead because they think that they do not matter – or ending up discouraged because they think they do not matter – and I am trying to come up against the sprit that tries to size you up against the wrong standard – and for you to really understand that. Because of this divine deposit, there is no limit to the potential in you – but you have to open your heart to believe that – since we are so surrounded by indications that make us feel so small and so insignificant. • See Mathew 25: 14 to 30 • This particular passage of scripture is always one of my top 10 – and when God puts this passage on my heart to preach it to you – my response is – Ok God - let’s go! • You might have heard it called the Parable of the Talents. • A parable is a story that explains a theological concept using common objects or familiar imagery – to help us see a divine reality – and parables like this are really fun to preach because they provide us a theological concept – and at the same time give us practical instruction. • And there is a concurrent way these parables allow us to see how big God is – but then also allow us to see God in the small situations – so that we know that God is active in our lives. • The Kingdom is what you care about – The Kingdom is not only what you consider to be epic – The Kingdom is about the everyday – The Kingdom pertains to grocery bills and student loans – chemistry tests – auto transmissions that are broken – arthritis and achy knees – migraine headaches – relational conflict and all of that. • It matters to God because he has his eye on the sparrow – and so he was surely watching you this week. • Jesus is using money to convey a deeper message – He is not really talking about Money – He is referring to something beneath the surface. • And when I was preparing this message, I had dream about our start as a church at the Levine Senior Center in Charlotte – NC back in 2006 – where we had a meeting to decide to double – when we added a second worship time – many thanks to Iris Devour (sp?) who let Elevation Church get its start at this Senior Center.

2 • Some of you started to come to Elevation Church after we increased to a larger size – and did not see how we got our start. • When we decided to go to two worship times, it seemed like the biggest decision in the world at the time – and today (2/2/2020), we welcome 20 physical campuses + eFamily – and for some of you here today - this is not very big deal. • However, it was a big deal to double our worship times when we were just getting started – and there were concerns that we did not have a sufficient number of volunteers to handle two services. • What if we had stayed at one service time? • Clap your hands if you are glad that we decided to double our service times in 2006 when the church was very small – or golf clap if you sort of appreciate this fact that we decided to double the deposit. • Here is my thought for you today: What is on the other side of your decision to double what God has given you? • In this passage of Mathew 25, there are two people that are not given names – who made a decision to double their deposit that their master entrusted to them. • And Jesus said, this is what the Kingdom is like - This is what deciding what to do with God’s gifts is like - This is what is deciding what to do with the only life that God has given you is like – when no one is watching – and the decisions that you make in small spaces – have compound interest – and create destinies. • I am glad that the servant that was given 5 bags of gold doubled what was given to him – instead of playing things safe after the master left. • It is tempting in everyday life to arrive at a station where we do not want to risk anything. • When you hear God speak to you, you have got to do things quickly – before the enemy talks you out of it – because in that space that you delay a lot of stuff. See vs. 16. The man that received 5 bags of gold went at once to put his money to work. • Let’s talk about two things in this verse: He received - and he went at once. The servant received = He got it from God. • The remarkable thing about the man that hid his one bag of Gold is that it was not his to hide – the servant hid something that was not his to begin with. • And the big flip in your life is when you come to discover that this isn’t really your life – because you do not get to decide how long it lasts – you do not really know how much you have been given – so the decision to double starts with the expectation that it is Gods to begin with. • When I preach to you, you are not my people. You are God’s people – and you need to consult with the boss – and not me. Kev bonus comment from an old preacher story – when a person asks his pastor for favorable golf weather – here is the pastor’s response: “You need to take this concern up to management – I am just the salesman.” • We are trusted – just like the master entrusted his wealth to the three servants. • While you hear sermons about trusting God – and yes this is biblical - and true and scriptural and foundational – also consider this question: It is possible that God has trusted you more than you have entrusted him?

3 • The God who can speak one syllable and form a seed inside of you – and from your belly will flow rivers of living water. • He (God) gave you the bag – you do not need to get the bag – you already got the bag – and we need to ask this question: What am I going to do with what I already got? • And this is tricky. • When we consider this parable of the servants with 5, 3, or 1 bag of gold, which one are you – on the basis of what you have been given – your time – your resources – what God has given you? • Are you a like the servant with five, two, or one? • I see myself as one bag because I have been preaching since the age of 16 and have not had a lot of time to do a lot of other stuff – and it is embarrassing to me how much stuff that I do not know how to do. • Now, I do not have one bag now – because I have discovered this kingdom secret of stewardship – it is not how many bags that you start with that determines how much of a difference you can make in the world – it is not how many bags that you have – it is how quick that you flip what you are given. • Here is the major mistake that some people make in this church – they listen to the sermon they hear on the weekend and do not think about again. • Recall from the parable of the seed: As soon as God provides the seed, the enemy will come to try to snatch the seed immediately after it is sown – before the seed takes root in your heart or in your life. • As soon as God speaks to you in the form of encouragement, instruction, correction, or comfort, you have to snatch the seed back – and sow it forward – and don’t let the devil diminish the gift that God put on the inside of you. • Say this: Flip it. • The best thing that you can do with this word that I am preaching is to share it before you go to sleep tonight – in between bits of chips and dip on Superbowl Sunday – and buffalo flavored spiced cheese – share this word with someone – and not just consume it - and it is going to multiply forward into your future. • If we take this message and share it (or flip it), you sowed it – and you ministered it to someone else – you then take yourself out of the position of entitlement – and now you see yourself as entrusted. If you flip it, your faith increases. • The servant with one talent was not rebuked because he only had one talent – God is not mad at you for the time that you do not have – God can speak to you in three minutes and still change the next 30 years of your life – the master’s happiness was for his servant to turn it into something – the master was angry at the servant for doing nothing with what he was given. • Only three servants got something. • It is a blessing to be trusted with anything. • A lot of people did not make it to your age - and it is a blessing just to have breath. • If you do the math, it is just a blessing to be here. • It is a blessing to be saved and we need to shout over that. • I don’t know why we get so entitled – when we start off really grateful.

4 • It is probably due to our comparison to others. • The servant with one bag was probably happy at first – call him “one bag Billy” just to give him a name – Any one bag Billy’s in the house? – and he did not go to an Ivy league school – and he barely passed biology. • And Billy was probably happy with his one bag of Gold until he ran into two bag Timmy and five bag Freddy. • Did you ever feel good about what you had until you went on Instagram? A Pastor Furtick Classic: One bag Billy went on Instagram – and he as happy until he saw two bag Timmy and five bag Freddy. • And God told me to tell you this very succinct statement that I want you to get into your spirit right now: It is going to take a little math – If we live to 71 (and perhaps we can do this if we stop watching CNN and Fox news and scrolling our tweeter accounts), we will draw 750 million breaths. • Sometimes you feel good about your vacation until you see someone else on Facebook or Instagram – and we start feeling good about our physic until we notice someone better looking. • Can you handle a real sermon - or do you still need to see angles flapping around today? • The Kingdom is here and now - and His servants received a lot. • One bag = one talent (a unit of measurement) = 6,000 days (20 years) of a day labors wages. We are crossing cultures hairs and this was an ancient measurement – and it depends on how you count it as to how you perceive its value. 6,000 days (20 years) of a day labors wages = about $1M USD in today’s dollars – not exactly a clean conversion between ancient Palestine to Elevation Ballantyne – but you get the point. • Maybe a $1M is not a lot to you – but it is for me. • Isn’t crazy how the enemy makes you think that you have a little – when in reality you have a lot – because we measure incorrectly. • It is still a million. • I bet that you have at least a million things to thank God for. • In our culture, we worship the bag and we never see what is in it. • We are so carnal that we only see flesh – and thus, we only see followers – and we don’t pay attention to the favor of God in your life. • Ever since you were a child, God has been with you – God is with you - one word from God brings things to life – permit me to say it another way – one drop of the blood of Jesus can cover your sin and remove your shame – and cancel the adverse record. • If you have forgiveness in your life - shout this fact – and for everything that has breath - praise God. • It is still a $1M. You are still here. He still loves you. • Write down your blessings so that you do not take them for granted. • The devil operates in generalities – to keep you from seeing the treasure in your temple. • Some of you think that you are stuck with what you started with. • Some of you are such great listeners – they get promoted at work for what they do not say. • Double down on the good things that you do possess. • Flip the bag and work that shy gift – in fact – you might event get a wife for being shy.

5 • During a recent visit to my mom’s house – I got a good look at the Platinum record that Elevation Church received for “Oh Come to the Alter” – which started as a voice memo to an iPhone – that was fully developed by Chris, Mac, and others. • When I consider the talents that my Mom put to work in raising me - it was right that this Platinum record resides in her home. Permit me to explain. My mom was the one that worked it out so that I could take guitar lessons – she does not play guitar – however, she took her talent to arranging free haircuts from my Dad to pay for my guitar lessons. My mom was the one the flipped the gift. When I needed a new guitar teacher named Jack Crib (a local legand from Mocks Corner SC), my Mom didn’t have the money to pay for it – so she would take pinecones in the yard and dip them in scented wax – and sell them at Christmas time as decorations. • And here is how I now look at this: She turned pinecones in to Platinum – perhaps a new verse for the new Graves to Gardens song??? • And I don’t know a lot of cords on my guitar, however, the cords that I do know - I put them to work. It is not the number of cords that I know – it is what I do with them that makes you feel it. • You may think that you do not have a lot – however - there is something right now that you can dip – there is something right now that you can do – there is something right now that you can double – God is telling us this – you are not stuck – you should take what he has invested in you since you have no idea what he has in store for you (or what He will put on your wall). • Take the breath that he has given you and invest back into His presence. Some of you don’t know the difference that you are making right now. • And it is still amazing to me that pinecone Christmas decorations can pay for guitar lessons – that can turn into platinum records. • And for those that feel like one bag Billy – flip that bag – work that gift – stand on what you know – trust me on this – I can’t do much – and if you gave me a chain saw I would probably sever my fingers – and God will give you people that that are good at what you suck at. • We are so self-righteous – look at your neighbor and tell them that they probably suck at a few things – and this might be hard to hear. • Flip the bag – and this starts with how you see God. If you think that God is stingy and did not give you enough – He is enough. Trusting on God makes you realize that if He trusted me with it, He does not regret where He made His deposit. You have what it takes to be do what you are called to do. • Do your thing 5-bag Freddy! • Don’t cry about your 2 bag Timmy – because you might be a 1 bag Billy today, but I can turn 1 into 2, 2 into 4, 4 into 8, 8 into 16, 16 into 32, 32 into 64, 64 into 128. • Can I show you the power of double right now? • Let me ask you a question: Would you rather have a $1M today or a penny today that would double every day for the next 30 days? • We are talking about compound interest to prove what God can do by doubling something. • You are responsible for your own deposit – and no one else is.

6 • Take a penny and double it every day • After 10 days, I have $10 – and if I keep working the word – working the pattern – working the pattern – listing to who God says I am – thinking new thoughts – replacing the old mindset with a new mindset – growing into the new creation – memorizing one scripture and then another. • God is doubling some things in your life and he is not done yet. • If you stop right now and don’t do the math, you will think that your life will not matter. • It is not much when you start - and it is not meant to be much in the beginning. • Ask the disciples about multiplication when Jesus fed the 5,000 with only a happy meal. • You don’t need a lot at first – you just need to put it in the hands of the right one. • It is not about how much you have – or your level of intelligence. • It is not about IQ – it is about your ability to believe that God gave what you need for the space that He put you in. • God is not done with you. God is not finished with you. You might not have as much as the other person to start – but you are a son or daughter of a great king. • We are a holy nation. We are a royal priest hood belonging to God. • I got what he gave me – and I am enough. • Back to the question: Would you rather have a $1M today or a penny today that would double every day for the next 30 days? How much did a penny grow over 30 days if the value doubled every day? Answer: 536,870,912 cents or $5,368,709.12. • Did you see what God can do with a Penny? Can you imagine what he can do with the $0.12 spare change? • Imagine what God can do with the whole you? • I am passionate about his because my life has been about doubling it. • When I say flip it back, I am referring to money, time, or your God given gifts – I want you to think about what the servant got wrong – what he got wrong is what he believed about his master - that caused him to hid what was not his to begin with. • So the first thing that we need to flip is this message – we should not sit on the word of God – be excited about the word of God since it never returns void. • When you think that God is asking something of you that he did not give you, you always experience your reception of God – regardless if it is true or not. • You experience what you think God is like - So, the first thing we need to flip is our belief about God – and I believe that God is able to do immeasurably more than what we ask or imagine. I believe that if He asks for it from me – I believe that the demand from God is a sign of the deposit. I believe that the greater the challenge gets, the greater the impact will be. • I believe that what God gave me is enough for this season. • Come on you one-bag Billys – give God a praise – because praise becomes joy and praise increases His presence – praise increases power – Give him a praise. • Closing Prayer: We probably will not create a new hymn that says that God turns waxed pinecones into Platinum. God is working in your situation right now. Lift your hands to the Lord of the harvest. We are honored that you give us this moment to praise you. Everything comes from you. We came today to offer back to you what you already gave to

7 us. Show us what is in our bag this week – the divine power that works in us. You are an able God. And we pray today for the one that hid their bag and hid themselves – and we want to collaborate and cooperate with you Holy Spirit – help us get up and avoid a wasted day – we believe that you are the God that can rebuild – We bring you our bag today – and we ask you to work on our minds – to help us to believe that you are good God that gives good gifts to his children. Amen

• Additional comments by Charles Spurgeon: There are no needs in the furrows of celestial fields. It is a source of deep joy to realize that the wilderness journey of our earthly pilgrimage will end and we will inherit heaven. But let us make sure that we are not just dreaming about the future and thus forgetting the present. Let all thoughts of future serve to make us useful in the present. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most powerful force for producing virtue; it is a fountain of joyful endeavor; it is the cornerstone of cheerful holiness. Those who have this hope in them go about their work with vigor, for the joy of the Lord is their strength. They fight hard against temptation, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. They can work without immediate reward, for they anticipate a reward in the world to come.

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