In this message, the message centers on gradually, then suddenly. Some of God’s greatest works happen gradually before they appear suddenly. Explore faithfulness, patience, and trusting God through unseen seasons. Rather than treating the passage as abstract theology, the sermon traces what these truths reveal about God, the gospel, and the way followers of Jesus are called to live.
The sermon follows the biblical text into practical discipleship, connecting doctrine with identity, character, and daily obedience. It challenges listeners to examine the assumptions shaping their lives and to allow the truth of Scripture to renew the way they think and respond. The emphasis is not merely on understanding the passage, but on becoming the kind of people whose lives are formed by it.
Along the way, the message engages themes including gradually, then suddenly, trusting god unseen seasons, thank. These ideas help place the primary passage within the larger story of Scripture and show how its theology speaks to real spiritual formation. At its heart, the sermon helps answer questions such as: What does the Bible teach about gradually, then suddenly? It also considers how does gradually, then suddenly affect everyday discipleship?
For someone studying this passage, exploring the Christian faith, or looking for practical biblical teaching, this sermon offers a clear path from the text to everyday discipleship. The invitation is to hear what Scripture says, receive it with humility, and take the next faithful step in following Jesus.
What does the Bible teach about gradually, then suddenly? | How does gradually, then suddenly affect everyday discipleship?
gradually, then suddenly, trusting God unseen seasons, then suddenly
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I am I am thrilled to be here today. And uh uh for those of you who I haven't spoken to or seen for uh quite quite some time, my name is uh Nick Serban. I happen to be the the father of the now present pastor and uh I just wanted to be public. I am thrilled. I am so proud of Nicholas IVth and Britney Serban are doing a fabulous, unbelievable, amazing, ridiculously good job. And um I've I oftent times I I'll come on a Sunday if I'm not traveling somewhere and uh I've just sat here um in view of heaven this past series they've gone through and I'm just like, "Wow, just amazing." And so uh I I I see that you're being fed well. And uh so I'm very very uh thrilled about that. But I brought a I think I have a picture of my my the whole family. Do I have There they are. And uh I'm the short guy in the back. And uh those are those are the the sons and the daughter and loves and uh the grandchildren. And there's all of them are there. Four. Oh, there. I was missing I was missing uh Benjamin up top there. And uh and so I'm I'm just I'm just thrilled. Uh we pastored here for uh 20 just over 20 years. We we were here for 22 years. Uh my dad uh pastored for a couple years be before that. And so it's it's been a really cool transition. People ask me what I what I do now. And so I might as well just tell you what I do. I uh helped to oversee about 20 something churches. Sometimes it's 202. It's like the stock market. It goes up and down. Uh there's 202 churches or there's 199 churches or or whatever it is. And um I help oversee 740 something pastors, credential holders, those who uh feel called into ministry and they're teaching somehow or they're preaching at churches. And some of those are lead pastors. I kind of classify myself. My official title is executive secretary of of the Assemblies of God for Tennessee. But I I I like to call myself I'm a hope dealer. I just I deal hope to people. And uh so I I'll get a phone call a typical week is I'll get a phone call from a pastor saying, "Man, Sunday was tough, rough." And I I talk them back into staying for another week. And uh uh how many know that happens sometimes? And and so uh it's kind of a kind of a neat thing, but uh what else do I do? I oversee a school of ministry and um in the school of ministry there there are people uh moving towards their credentials and this past month there was approximately 220 students uh then they meet on a weekend last weekend they met and then they'll meet a month from now and so they have to go through a process and so if if God's stirring your heart whether you want to do it for fun or you want to do it for the to follow a call in your life uh happy to walk walk through that with you and um The ministry that we we help a part of is called the Assemblies of God. And uh there are do you know there are 89 million people that are a part of Assemblies of God churches all around the world? >> 89 million really. Now most of them are in foreign countries. We're like we're like 10% of that of that slice of that pie. But uh there are 437,000 ministers uh all across the world. And so uh there's pockets of revival that are uh popping up all over the place. And so for the last I don't know how long it's been like over over a year if I'm not here um I will tell you every every now and again I'm tempted to stay home and and watch something on television but I don't uh if I'm not if I'm not here usually I'm out uh sharing the gospel and preaching somewhere uh filling in for a pastor or they've invited me to come in and share. And so one of the one of the cool things is is is when I go to a church um and it happens here too and it's happened here but um I don't know if it's because there's an outsider that comes in or maybe just uh faith engaging or whatever but people will come up and ask me to pray for them. People have bring their children ask me to pray for them and I've seen more healings. I've seen more salvation in the last year than I probably saw in 5 years pastoring here which is not bad or good but it's really cool what God what God's doing. And uh so uh being a part of that is is exciting. And uh that's pretty much that's my boring life. And uh and so I I no longer I no longer uh uh work here. Kim, Miss Kim still works here. And uh but she doesn't work for me. And uh I I and some people ask me, "How's that working?" And I tell people this, and it's it's both faith and and truth. My marriage is better than ever right now. My marriage is better than ever uh right now. And uh so but I think that's about it. God causes all things to work together for good. But uh I love what God's doing here. I just want you to know that. I'm sure some of you may be wondering, you know, I wonder what the pastor, former pastor thinks or whatever. I love what God is doing. I I believe you guys are closer to moving forward uh building wise. I think I I love what God's doing uh with new families and and how many how many people um are new within the last year here at the church. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that great? I love [applause] it. Glad you're here. Now, listen. If you don't like if you don't like this week and this is your first week, come back next week. I promise you, please. Please come back. But, uh let me let me just do something real quick and and I'm not going to be forever long. How many give me a couple hours? I was just during worship and I know I don't want to overemphasize this but I just felt I felt like in the room and and uh you know sometimes we think we got to stir things up or things have to be at a certain level. Listen, God is here right now. >> He's desirous to to do whatever he wants to do and um often times it takes our faith. It be according to our faith. And I was I was reading uh just felt led uh Luke chapter 5 uh verse uh 12. while he was in one of the cities uh Jesus there came a manful leprosy and when he saw Jesus he fell on his face begged him Lord if you will uh you can make me clean so here's a guy here's a man who had heard the renown of Jesus and heard that he could heal heard that he could touch him and uh he fell on his face begged him uh if he could heal and Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying I will Yes. >> Everybody say, "I will." >> I will. >> I will. And he said, "Be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priest. Make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded for a proof to them. But now even more, the report about him went abroad, and the crowds gathered to hear him, and to be healed of their infirmities. But then he withdrew to a desolate place and prayed. And I just kind of wanted to put the cherry cherry on the top of where we were in worship. But uh [clears throat] again, this is a hit and run. I'm I'm preaching next week, but I just felt like cancer was being healed today >> in the house. >> And I felt uh I know this is crazy and and for for those of you who are not desiring this um be it according to your faith, but I felt like wombs were opening. and uh if there was a desire for uh ch a child or children here in the house and uh and then the last thing that was on my on my heart was uh about the area of anxiety and uh you know I you know I know we live in a a unique world and years ago I would say you know anxiety wasn't a big thing you know get over it type of deal but when you've actually experienced moments where um you've been on platforms for years and then all of a sudden just something overcomes you and uh um in you around you on you or whatever it is. Um there were these moments, but I just wanted to pray uh just a final prayer uh in this moment and I believe God can touch you right now where you're at. And I think uniquely the leper and we're not going to use this as the the actual perfect example. Um the we probably get into the the deeper meaning of the word uh begged him. Um you know, Jesus says all we need to do is ask at this point. And uh but we do need to ask. And you [clears throat] know, I can look I can look at Randy and he may think he knows what I'm asking, but unless I say it out loud, he's not going to know. And uh that's kind of a practical thing. Well, God knows my heart. God knows whatever. But I just felt led for this moment in this my one moment in time this this year on the platform is that uh if you if something is resonating maybe I didn't maybe I didn't say it out loud but there's something that maybe you need healing in a marriage or a relationship maybe there's a financial crisis that you're in. I believe that right now before we go any further into this uh incredible the word of God we're going to get into that you need God to turn something around right now. I mentioned a little earlier I'm I'm a kind of a hope dealer. All right. I'm I I I I want to give you some hope here today. And on this Labor Day weekend of 2026, could you believe that you could leave here free, >> delivered, >> healed, changed, >> but it's going to be according to your faith. >> And so, uh, no music. We'll have music at the end, but, uh, here we go. Here's what here's here's what it's going to look like. I want you to stand if that's you today. There's something that you're desiring. And I just want you to tell the Lord what it is. You don't you can whisper it, but get it past your lips. Get it past your teeth and just tell him right now. Just tell him what it is right now before. Just tell him what it is. He's here in this house right now. He's here in this house right now. Maybe something just jumped inside you. Just something is jumping inside you right now. He's in this place. He's a healer. He's a healer. He's a healer. Now offer up some offering to him with a worship. Thank you, Father. Just thank him right now. Lord, we love you. We thank you, Lord. We use this, Lord God, as a just a a circumstance, Lord, in your word, Lord, that a leper was healed because you wanted to do that. And Father, today we know that you want to be a healer in our lives. You desire to heal. So, we we join our faith together with you right now in this moment on this day at Axio Church in 2026. Labor Day weekend and I thank you that cancer is gone. I thank you for freedom that takes place. I thank you for deliverance. I thank you Lord for melding hearts together. I thank you for open wombs father. I thank you for children. I thank you for legacy and blessing. And I ask Lord God that you would seal the name of Jesus that we call on right now that mountains move in the name of Jesus right now. And so Father in this moment, in this time we thank you for the finances that will come in. We thank you Lord for the relationships that will be mended. We thank you of the forgiveness that will be released. Father, we thank you today in this time in this moment. We join our faith with you in the mighty mountain moving name of Jesus we pray. Amen. And amen. Come on. Thank the Lord in this place. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You may be seated. You may be seated. Hallelujah. I was telling somebody earlier that uh I was if I knew I was going to speak this morning, I wouldn't started my military calisthenics like two days ago. Oh my goodness. If I drop something, I don't think I can get down or get back up. But uh a number of years ago, I I love this series that uh uh Nick and Britney have been in uh in View of Heaven. And uh oh my goodness, if you haven't if you didn't watch the whole thing, go back. It should be online. Powerful. We we never really kind of talk about heaven and in the future. It's coming soon. I'm I'm I'm you know, I turned 58 this year. Uh 36 years married. I'm you know, maybe the older you get, the more you think, you know, he's going to come. I'm telling you, he's going to come. He's coming soon. It could be morning, night, or noon. And we need to be ready. And uh that if we're not focused on what God wants us to do, it's all going to those things are going to burn up. But the things we do for Christ will ch will change things. But a number of years ago, I I I decided the reason I I started the military calisthenics is I'm a few months out from my annual turkey trot, if you know what I'm saying. And uh yes, how many Anybody want to run it with me? Just one. All right, anybody else? Come on. And so uh it takes a while to get this body, but you know, I I kind of like uh go in hibernation for like 9 months and then I come back out. So I got a few months to get ready. And um so I haven't actually hit the hit the walking yet. I'm just trying to get mobility. And so, but a couple years ago, probably four or five years ago, I decided to run it. And if you've heard the story before, God bless you. I'm going to share it again. And uh it was it was impactful. It it it changed my world. And I think it'll it could change your world, too. But the boys were in town, the Suns that you saw a little earlier. And uh we ran the Turkey Trot. It's an annual 5K race here in Franklin. And uh it's pretty official. I mean, you get you get tags and everything. And and so I decided that I'd run it a few years, but I decided that I wanted to break 30 30 minutes in this 5K. And so that's a pretty uh pretty quick mile for this girth of a guy, right? And so and so here here I am. I'm I'm training. I'm I'm I'm walking fast. I in fact I probably walk half the race before instead of running it. And that's probably one of the problems. But uh so we're at the starting line. The boys are all there. And um I maybe Nick might not have been there. I think he might have slept in that morning. And uh if you're watching today, Nick, I'm sorry you're not part of this. And so and so uh the the the three uh Garrett, Lucas, and Jacob, they decided they were going to they were going to uh run with me. And so, but when we got that got to the start, they decided every man for themselves, right? And uh except for Jacob, the youngest, the tallest. And so he uh he said, "Dad, I'll run with you." You know, he wasn't out to beat him. He knew in his mind he could beat his other brothers, but he said, you know, I'll run with you. And so, uh, I'm like, oh, that's great. You know, and I was, in my mind, I was like, you know, he didn't know I've been training, you know, but age and and and youth are >> so we started running and I mean that first hill, I mean, I'm like I'm like sucking wind. I I you know, where's the ambulance? You know, and I had trained for this thing. It's kind of like what in the world anxiety and and and all this and and he's just running and and so I I would be running and then uh I would then I would just walk quick. So I would never stop. I would never stop and uh I could walk probably as quick as some as you can run. And I learned that from my dad. He and so Jacob is like always like uh I guess milit on my six. He's always he's always kind of be behind me or around me and I but I've got noiseancelling earbuds in so I can't hear anything other than music and I know like I have five songs to run this thing. Each song's a certain amount of minutes. So I'm I and uh I would slow down, he would slow down, I'd speed up, he'd be right next to me. And then we're coming up towards the end and uh I'm I'm watching my time and I I knew what song we were on. I knew I got a few more minutes and I'm just done. I'm just done. just just done. I want to go back for breakfast. We're gonna have turkey, right? And and uh [clears throat] and all of a sudden, we're kind of going up this last hill. And uh I kind of look I kind of looked and he and Jacob runs next to me and I I see his mouth moving. God, and but I got these earbuds in. I can't hear anything. And I and I pull the earbud out and he and he and I'm looking at him like, "What?" He's like, "How bad do you want this?" [laughter] And everything in Simon is like, "Son, I'm done. I mean, I can just go ahead, you know, type of deal." And he says, "Dad, if you won't stop, I'll be here. I'll be right here with you. If you won't stop, you can do it." And I I mean, everything in my flesh is like, I don't care. I don't I don't I'm done. I'm done. I don't know why I do this. I do this to myself every year, you know. And uh he's like, "How bad do you want this?" And uh he's like, "Just keep running." And so I put my earbud back in and we kept on running. It kept on running. And uh I mean, every step was was was excruciating. I mean, it was it was horrible. Everything about it was horrible. Everything. I'm telling you. You know that there are people cheering on the way in. I'M LIKE, "DON'T LOOK AT ME." YOU KNOW, I'm like, you know, I'm I'm I'm barely Finally, I cross the line, the the ticker goes off and I beat my best time and I beat 30 minutes on that day because Yeah. Come on. Hallelujah. Right. And here in the here in this moment, you know, after it was all done, it's kind of like, that's right. That's right. I'm going to share as an illustration on Labor Day weekend in 2026, how great I felt after I did it. And I ate all the turkey I wanted and the breakfast and all that kind of stuff. And it's kind of like, yeah, I did it. But I was ready to quit in the middle of it. I mean, I was just done. I could I could I could give you excuses. I could tell you why I didn't have to keep there. Who was I doing it for? Nobody. Nobody cared. And often times that's the way it is in our relationship with the Lord. We have someone who cares, >> but often times we look for others to maybe help us, which is called the body of Christ. But often times there are moments that where we're on this race and we've put a lot of work into it, it gets hard. It gets strenuous. You know, we get home uh late from work or we have a long weekend. It's kind of like, I don't need to go. You know, thank God for technology. I can I can watch this. I can I can do these things. I just want to implore you today as a former pastor for 20some years here at this church. The body of Christ is purposeful. The body of Christ, the church is the hope of the world. And I want to encourage you to keep going to find um um uh relationship, find hope, uh find that with others, and don't give up. And so I ask you the question this morning as I I if I were to I think I put a title on this. There it is. Gradually I don't have any notes today. Uh I have no points. No point. There's no points of this this morning. All right. Uh gradually that gradually then suddenly but that you would decide in your heart whatever age you are, however new you are to the to to the uh the body here that you would purpose in your heart that you know what you will do everything it takes in view of heaven. You will do everything it takes in a relationship. You will do everything it takes biblically. You will hear the voice of God. You will lean in. You will pray. You know, I was I saw a uh a Tik Tok, a podcast, an Instagram. I I don't know what they are anymore, but it's kind of like, you know, uh people are like, you know, I don't like reading my Bible. Just read your Bible. I can't. I I you know, I'm going to start tomorrow doing a devotion. Do a devotion. There are thousands of them out there. Type in, go to chat GBT. I'd like to do a devotion today. Let something come up and start today. Live for God today. Be a hope dealer today. Fix your relationship today. Anybody with me this morning? Right. How bad do you want this? >> How bad do you want this? In 2 Samuel 6 uh 10-11 there's a story about uh uh Oed Edom the Gitite and the story about the ark of the ark of the covenant and you can go back and read it on this Labor Day weekend in your in your free time but let me give let me let me summarize the ark of the coven covenant uh kept the the the presence of God and it was so reverent it was so holy that you couldn't even touch it. There were certain parameters that took place in moving and keeping this and people uh there were wars fought over finding this thing and keeping this thing and they've got raiders of the lost arc you know you know kind kind of going that mentality there's something powerful about this and uh there was [clears throat] there was a moment where the ark of the covenant uh Usuza was struck down for touching the ark and King David was fearful and so he wanted to hide the ark for a while and so he left it in the hands of Oed Edom the house >> [clears throat] >> And in 2 Samuel 6:10 it says this. He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the city of David. Instead he took it to the house of Oadim the Gitite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house uh for three months and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. >> The Lord blessed him and entire and and uh again just a hit and run this morning. I'm just going to tell you, if you will take what you've been fed here at this church, if you'll take the word of God and you will hold it close to your heart, what what would you say if I told you in the next 3 months, God is going to bless your socks off like maybe you've never experienced before? You say, "Well, pastor, that's that's kind of prosperity. That's kind of, you know, uh self-help. That's that's wishful thinking." Let me just tell you something. God looks to and fro to this earth to see whose heart is completely his. And those things that you may do in the dark, those things that you think no one else sees, God sees. Begin to shift that and change that and watch how he will bless the things in your life. You may have more money than you know what to do with. You may have more time. I don't have any time. You'll have more time than you know what to do with. Well, I'm tired. You'll have more energy than you know what to do with. Watch what God can do. Is anybody got faith in the house? If he's a healer, if he can change blind lies, if he can heal things, he can change your circumstance and your situation. And let's just watch be the place where the Lord may someday say, you know, I they hid the word of God in their heart. They cradled it in their lives. They ate from this. Watch what he'll do. A number of months ago, there was a guy here. His name is Rex Crane. Any remember Rex? >> I mean, he's like, talk about a machine gun, right? He said this. I've heard it down. I've used it a few times. It works. If you smile for 5 minutes, you will boost your metabolism. Anybody want to lose weight this morning? All right, start smiling right now. Okay, I'm going to start timing you. All right. Uh, if you smile for 5 minutes, you will boost your metabolism. Um, over 64 times in the word of God, it refers how people uh hold their faces. And if you smile for five minutes, it will release so much dopamine in your brain right now. How many need a little dopamine in your brain? Right. Come on. I'm almost done. Right. Uh he says something. I I I feel uncomfortable saying this, but I've never done it before. I don't want to do it. He says he says though it releases so much dopamine to your brain. It's like a it's like a hit of cocaine. Um and yeah, it's Yeah. I I wouldn't know. I I don't know. All right. All right. And then he then he then he said this. She's like, you know, coming to church is like having free healthcare. >> Isn't that great? That'll preach right there. Come on. How many you need some little free free healthcare >> from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, right? Because he's a healer and he changes things and he makes things makes things well. I'm thankful today that I stand here because my greatgrandfather went to a Billy Sunday crusade >> as a Jehovah's Witness with like seven I don't know if he had seven kids, 10 kids. He had a lot of kids. Sorry. And because he went to a Billy Sunday crusade under a tent, he got saved. Radically saved. My grandmother got saved. Because my grandmother got saved, my mom got saved. And because my mom got saved, she she backslid for a little bit and married my father. And uh and uh but because of that, guess what? He got saved. >> And because he got saved, he ended up having three kids. And they got saved. And those three kids married uh godly uh a man, a woman, and they loved the Lord and got saved and their children and their children's children. [clears throat] My father radically uh got saved uh [clears throat] and then he proceeded to drag me to tent crusades uh all all throughout the Northeast growing up. one after another here. We'd hear those gospel singers, you know, and and uh it's kind of wild. There wasn't a whole lot of video or or or or uh phones back then, but uh it's amazing what God has God has done and God does and God will continue to do. Somebody said this one time, decisions and moments through you uh through your lives uh connect either a change, they determine your destiny. And um there's a story from a number of years ago just is is a true true account. This isn't the scient uh uh in science. It's uh it's about an MIT meteorologist. His name was Edwin Loren. He made an accidental discovery while attempting to code a computer program that would simulate and forecast weather systems. By the way, we had one of the worst winters we ever had with an ice storm this past year. Anybody remember that? How many just hope the temperature drops 3 degrees, right? It's so stinking hot around here. A few weeks ago, a month or so ago, a tree got hit right across the street here, blew up with lightning uh in the atmosphere. Loren was in a hurry one day and you you need to catch this. He was in a hurry one day and and said in discovery. So instead of entering the number he had used in an earlier uh simulation and the number was and I think we have it on the screen 0506127 that was the that was the uh the number okay I barely passed high school and college okay so uh just just work with me here in this but this was this was part of his discovery that he um this is the number he came up he was in such a hurry though before he left he rounded the number down 2506. So he left off 127. Loren didn't think that a tiny difference, a 100th of a 1% would make a difference. Some some of you are sitting there like it's calculating right now. You you've been dreaming for this moment here, right? Dreaming for it. [clears throat] Lorent thought wrong, though. When Lorenz returned to his lab an hour later, he discovered a significant change in the sim simulated weather conditions. How significant could it be? It was only off by a few numbers. I mean, when we round, you know, would you like to round your your uh your uh retail purchase up, your food purchase up, you know, to the nearest dollar? I mean, it's just a few. I mean, it means seemingly means nothing, right? He said this. He said how significant this was. Lorent equated it to a tornado in Texas that started in Brazil. The amazing thing, the cataclysmic change in weather conditions was caused by a minuscule modification that the Rens likened to a puff of wind created, and this is crazy, by a butterflyy's wings in Brazil. the Texas catching what I'm throwing this morning? Just a little change. In fact, the story goes on that to share. Uh it suggests a small change is the initial condition like a a butterfly flapping its wings can ripple out to alter major events such as causing a distance tornado. The quantum butterfly effect describes how small disruptions in a quantum system propagate and scramble information similar to classic chaos but with unique often contrary properties. So in 1972, this is a true story. You can go look it up. In fact, there's a movie, it's not quite about this, but the butterfly effect. In 1972, Loren gave a speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science titled predictability. Does the flap of a butterflyy's wing in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas? Go look it up. The butterfly effect is the idea, simply put, little things, say this with me, little things, >> little things >> make a >> big difference. >> Little things >> make a >> big difference. It's the little things that we do. It's the little moments. I I I'm here today. It wasn't quite a little moment, but a greatgrandfather of mine made a decision, >> right? >> Faith decision, healing decision that as for he and his house, they were going to serve the Lord. >> And I stand here today because of the decision that was made. What decisions are we making today? Make it a little more personal. What decisions are you making today that will affect the future and the outcome? Somebody said one time, you're born looking like your parents, but you die looking like your decisions. >> Oh, she's so cute. Oh, he's so handsome. But we die looking at the decisions we make. Every one of us have a have the ability and opportunity to make a decision and time is the key [clears throat] exponent in this equation. This book is filled with moments. >> This book is filled with gradually then suddenly. [clears throat] Ephesians 4 says, "Make the most of every opportunity." I have no idea what God has called you to, but faith is taking the first step before God reveals the second step. It's headlamp ministry. Uh over over the 20-year period, I probably pulled out a flashlight once or twice, turned the lights off of the room, and I said, "This is the way this is the way life is. We have our light, and you can only see so far." If I had my my phone and my light on, you can only see so far. But it's going to take faith to move forward. And the more forward you move, the more you can see. The more you move forward is the more you can see. Let me liken to it this way. The further you go in the word of God, the more that you'll see. >> The more that you go in your worship, the more you'll experience. >> The more that you'll you you'll come to that place where you know, you feel, you sense, you hear, you desire. I love it. Luke Luke 2:13. And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying glory to God in the highest. Uh it's great great text to preach around Christmas. And suddenly I thank God for the suddenly moments. I thank God when when uh I'm praying for the sick and I will lay hands on and healing takes place and they say, "Pastor, I can feel something that manifestation. I I I sense something. I feel something." and then then they go back and they get a doctor's report or or or something happens that way. But it doesn't always necessarily happen that way. I bring news to you today on 2026 Labor Day weekend. It doesn't always happen that way. Some of us will struggle and we'll go through times and we'll be growing during those times and we'll be groaning during those times >> because it's gradual moments. >> I can't explain it all. I will stand. I'll be in the line of questions uh when when when when I get to heaven. And I say that positively. I hope you know I'm going to make it right. >> Thank you. >> My heart my heart feels so much better right now. But here in these moments, you know, we don't know why, but we're called to go before him and still ask >> and still BELIEVE AND STILL WALK in those moments. Gradually moments. I am sure of this. Philippians 1:6. Here's your here's your text today for gradually. You ready? Philippians 1:6. Not on the screen, I don't think. I am sure of this. That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. >> Amen. >> There's your gradually. >> There's your gradually. None of us have arrived yet. It's called sanctification. I'll let your pastor deal with that. All right. sanctification. We get sanctified when we're saved, but it's a gradual sanctification. We will not be completely sanctified until we stand face to face with him one day. >> We can try. We will purpose in our hearts, but you know what? It's not about sitting back and saying, "Well, I'm not sanctified, so I can do that. I'm not sanctified yet, you know, so I can dabble in that." No, no, no, no, no. You take the word of God and you put it in. And then you walk in this gradually and then before you know it, it's taking place. For more context of God's gradual step-by-step process, Proverbs 4:18, "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter." Headlight ministry, right? The further I go, the further I see there, there's your gradual, right? He who began a good work in me is faithful to complete it. >> It's gradual. Uh shines brighter and brighter until until the day is full. Sanctification. I don't know how to turn that off. I got it on. There we go. Second [clears throat] Peter uh uh 3:8. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. Reminds us that. It reminds us that when we're trying to think at gradually, here's here'
