Jedidiah | AKA (Part 6)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Travis Rutland Podcast. Travis Rutland is a spirit filled pastor and ministry leader who has been featured on International Christian Television. He serves as lead pastor of Liberty Square Church in Cartersville, Georgia and as President of Global Servants. His sermons focus on clear biblical teaching, practical truth and encouragement for everyday life. Each message is designed to strengthen your faith and draw you deeper into God's word. This podcast is brought to you to you by Global Servants. For more information about Global servants, please visit globalservants.org now here's Travis Rutland. [00:00:41] Speaker B: Well, good morning again. It is great to see each and every one of you and I'm excited to continue this series on name changes in the Bible AKA so we have worked our way through that. We've talked about Old and New Testament and this morning we're going to be in an Old Testament one. You probably are not familiar that the name change and you probably don't know the new name that was changed and it's only used in the name change event. So this is one where we're just kind of using this name change as a jumping off point for something else that happened in his life. So turn if you will to 2 Samuel chapter 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12. As you're turning there. Wasn't it amazing to see all of those graduates on our stage? Man, that was just fantastic. I loved it. And I loved all the different colors of the robes and all the plans ahead. I love graduation Sunday just to hear where those kids are headed, where those young adults are headed. And the next season, the next phase of ministry. It's an exciting time this morning. 2 Samuel chapter 12. We're going to begin reading with verse 24. We're going to talk about Jedidiah this morning. Jedidiah, but you probably don't know who that was. And he's only called it in this one verse that we're going to read. You're going to be more familiar with his birth name. So 2 Samuel chapter 12 beginning with verse 24. So David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went into her and lay with her, so she bore a son and he called his name Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, referring to, yes, God loved David. But in this verse it's specifically referring to the baby. And the Lord loved him, Solomon. And he notice that's capitalized. It gets a little confusing in the Old Testament with all the pronouns. But God is sending word. Okay, so God loves Solomon and God sends word by the name of Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah because of the Lord. And Jedidiah means beloved of the Lord. So God is marking this baby as something special and different and spectacular. David calls him Solomon. He's known as Solomon. But to the Lord, he is beloved of the Lord. Now we're going to read one other verse and be there. Turn if you will, to 2 Chronicles, chapter 6. That was when Solomon was born. Now Solomon has become king, David has passed away, Solomon has become king, Solomon has built the temple. And this is where we're going to be this morning is the dedication of Solomon's temple. 2 Chronicles, chapter 6 and verse 12. 2 Chronicles 6 and 12. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. For Solomon had made a bronze platform, 5 cubits long, 5 cubits wide and 3 cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court. And he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. Let's pray. God, we ask in the next few moments that you will speak to each of us, all of us. We want to hear your word for us this morning. We thank you for what you've already done in this service, and we give the remainder of this service to you. Bless us, guide us, speak to us, challenge and convict us. Jesus name we pray. Amen. I read a study recently that they do every year on they take a quiz, a poll of fourth grade students, and ask fourth grade students what they want to be when they grow up. And it is a lot of what you would assume fourth graders would say, professional athlete, astronaut, teacher, doctor, all the things that you would normally expect fourth grade kids to say they want to be when they grow up. One that was unexpected to me. I should have thought of it, but that was unexpected to me and goes up every single year. Is social media influencer, fourth graders. So about 15% of the fourth graders [00:04:42] Speaker C: in this poll that was conducted wanted [00:04:44] Speaker B: to be a social media influencer. And I mean, why not? That's as fun as being a professional athlete, except a lot less work, right? You don't have to have any physical skills to be a social media influencer as opposed to playing center in the NBA. You've got to have, you've got to win the genetic lottery if you want to play in the NBA. And that's just a fact. [00:05:01] Speaker C: So I just thought it was interesting. And the poll said that every year, the percentage of people that want to [00:05:06] Speaker B: be social media kids that want to be social media influencers goes up. [00:05:10] Speaker C: Now, I know what you're thinking. [00:05:11] Speaker B: Everybody over the age of about 45 rolls their eyes, right? We go kids these days, I understand that's not what this is about. This isn't about kids these days. This isn't about social media, how it's bad or good or however you feel about it. That's not what this is about at all. It is in fact actually to open your eyes to the fact that all of us are influencers. More specifically, all of us have a platform. [00:05:33] Speaker C: All of us have a platform. [00:05:35] Speaker B: We all have a platform in life. And what is God saying to us? How are we supposed to use our platform? [00:05:43] Speaker C: What is it supposed to be used for? How are we supposed to operate with it? What are we supposed to do with it? But all of us have influence. Every single. You say, oh, but I don't have [00:05:53] Speaker B: the influence that the President of the United States would have or the governor or something like that. [00:05:58] Speaker C: But all of us have levels of influence. You have influence in your family, you [00:06:02] Speaker B: have influence in your, in your faith community, in your church. [00:06:05] Speaker C: Right? You have influence at your work, you have influence in all these places. You do have it. You do have a platform. And the problem is because many of [00:06:13] Speaker B: us don't feel think of it in that way. We don't think of having influence, we don't think of having a platform. [00:06:18] Speaker C: We are not intentional about what God has called us to be about. [00:06:22] Speaker B: I want to make clear this is not some kind of wishy washy self help type sermon. [00:06:28] Speaker C: That's not the stuff that I do. And I don't want you to think [00:06:30] Speaker B: that that's where I'm going with this. [00:06:32] Speaker C: God has given you influence. This is not earned through an iPhone [00:06:38] Speaker B: or social media following. God has given you influence. [00:06:41] Speaker C: He has given you a platform. And if you're not intentional about it, [00:06:46] Speaker B: you will be using it in the [00:06:47] Speaker C: wrong way to the wrong people. This, there is something God wants you [00:06:51] Speaker B: and you specifically to do. And of all the places Solomon himself in. This gives us an amazing template for what influence and platform should look like. [00:07:03] Speaker C: So turn back if you will. [00:07:04] Speaker B: We're going to stay in verse 13 and we're going to look at some different places. Look at the beginning of verse 13. For Solomon had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high. The first thing about influence is this. Our platform makes us visible. Our platform makes us visible, all of us. When you are on that platform, you are more visible than you were on the ground. It's the reason that churches have a platform, not going to come down there, but it's harder, it's impossible, by the way, because the sight lines in the balcony are crazy terrible. So it's impossible for anybody in the balcony to see me if I was standing down there, right? [00:07:49] Speaker C: So that's what we have. We have this platform because it helps make whoever is up here singing specials, musicians, choir. By the way, the choir has their own little platform, right? So they can get a little bit higher so you can see all the people in the choir. The platform makes you visible and you need to be aware of that because here's the problem. [00:08:08] Speaker B: What we think is that we can [00:08:10] Speaker C: do anything we want, anytime we want, [00:08:13] Speaker B: because nobody is watching us. But you are always on your platform and the platform was built up off the ground and it makes you visible. Years ago, I got invited to do the mission service at a large church in Phoenix, Arizona. And so we, I'd never been to Phoenix and so I took Courtney with me and the two of us flew out to Phoenix, Arizona. The church picked us up at the airport and they drove us to a little rental house that the, that somebody in the church owned and allowed us to stay in, like an Airbnb type thing. So we stayed there and when they [00:08:46] Speaker C: dropped us off, they said, hey, the [00:08:48] Speaker B: church also owns a car and that car is parked in the driveway. So you don't need to rent a car. They told me this ahead of time. You don't need to rent a car. We're not going to pick you up. [00:08:56] Speaker C: You guys just do whatever you want. [00:08:58] Speaker B: Enjoy Phoenix through the weekend. I was preaching there a couple of services on Sunday morning. They said, just enjoy the car. They said, one thing, we want to warn you about that car. [00:09:07] Speaker C: They said there's a bumper sticker on [00:09:09] Speaker B: the back that, that has a bumper sticker of the church on it. [00:09:13] Speaker C: And there's also another bumper sticker that [00:09:15] Speaker B: says, how's my driving? And there's a number underneath it and [00:09:18] Speaker C: it goes straight to the main church office. Now I'm going to tell you, this is what they told me. They said, last year we had a guest speaker in and he was driving this car and he got involved in a road rage incident and gave the other guy the finger from the church owned car. He was the guest speaker. He was the guest speaker. Are you ready for this? So the church made him publicly apologize from the platform before they would let [00:09:47] Speaker B: him preach on Sunday. I would have just gone home. [00:09:50] Speaker C: I would, I would have said, look, I'll pay you Guys, I'm going to [00:09:53] Speaker B: get on my flight and I'm leaving. [00:09:56] Speaker C: Do you understand what I'm saying, though? Your platform makes you visible. You need to be the same person on the platform that you are everywhere else. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. If you treat people shabbily, don't tell them you go to Liberty Square. You understand what I'm saying? If you can't leave a nice tip this afternoon after church, you tell them you go to Crosspoint, don't tell them you come to Liberty Square. Right? You see what I'm saying? We. We. People are watching us. And you go, nobody's watching me. I don't have a platform. I don't have influence. Yes, you do. Every single person has a platform, and it is built up off the ground. It is high. And there are people that are watching you. You say, well, people aren't watching me. I'm not the president. No, sir. There are people watching you. Your grandch are watching how you interact with other people. Your kids are watching how you treat others. Your. Your children are watching how you, as a married couple, talk to each other. You are setting the template to show them how they treat their future spouse. And you need to be aware of that. We all need to be aware of that. The boys know that I smooch on Courtney all the time because I want to set a template for how they should love their spouse, wives when they get married, how they should treat their wives, how they should treasure and value their wives. I want to set a template for the things that I can set a template for. I remember one time when I was in high school, a friend of mine came over to the house and we [00:11:31] Speaker B: were playing basketball together, actually, two buddies. So me and my dad were playing two on two against them. This is when dad was pastoring in Orlando. And afterwards one of my friends said, man, your dad is so cool. And I was like, I do not see that at all. [00:11:46] Speaker C: So. Because you don't when you're in high school. And I said, okay, why do you think that? [00:11:53] Speaker B: He said, because he's the same guy at your house that he is at church. I never forgot that. I never forgot that you have a platform, and your platform makes you visible. You need to be aware of the actions and behavior and thoughts and speech that you are modeling to the people that are watching you, even if you're not aware that they're watching you. Now back to that same verse. There's so many things there that we're seeing. For Solomon had made A bronze platform. We Talked about it 5 cubits long, 5 cubits wide, 3 cubits high, and set it in the midst of the court. And he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven. And he said, look at verse 14. And he said, and then he begins talking. The second thing is this. When you're on the platform, your voice becomes amplified. So our platform makes us visible, but our platform also makes us louder. Our platform makes us louder. And you go, I don't understand what you're talking about. It is this. When you think you're talking, but you're on the platform, it actually may sound to people around you like you're screaming. [00:13:14] Speaker C: You have to be aware of how you talk to the people around you. [00:13:18] Speaker B: And I'm not just talking about volume, I'm talking about the fact that everything when you're on the platform is amplified. It makes us louder. So the things you have to learn how to deal with the people around you. Everybody in here that has more than one kid knows exactly what I'm talking about. When the boys were in trouble, I had to yell at Mark, our oldest had to yell at Mark to get his attention. Scream at Mark. I could just talk to Owen, our second son, our youngest son, Liam. I just have to look at him. [00:13:55] Speaker C: He's woo hoo, right? If I yelled at Liam, he would have thought he had done some horrible thing. But everybody is different. Do you see what I'm saying? We have to be careful that the words that how we behave. It is not just that we are visible, it is that everything about us is amplified on the platform. So we have to be conscious of that. We have to be aware of that and make sure. Look at what it tells us in Proverbs. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Look at Proverbs 12 and 18. You know this verse, Proverbs 12, 18. [00:14:27] Speaker C: There is one who speaks like the [00:14:28] Speaker B: piercings of a sword. [00:14:30] Speaker C: But the tongue of the wise promotes health. When you're on the platform, make sure that you're tongue, your speech is not [00:14:38] Speaker B: piercing like a sword. [00:14:40] Speaker C: But wise people promote health, right? We encourage, make sure that the platform, as it amplifies your voice, what do you want it to amplify? You want it to amplify words of encouragement, you want it to amplify words of, of congratulations. You want it to amplify forgiveness and not anger. Everything on the platform is louder. Everything on the platform is amplified. There are people that look up to you that you do not imagine how they admire you. And a Harsh word pierces their soul [00:15:14] Speaker B: to an extent that you cannot comprehend or understand unless it has happened to you. [00:15:19] Speaker C: Be careful that your words, what, what you want to be doing on the platform is operating in the fruit of the spirit, operating in the gifts of the spirit. So if you're speaking love, they're going to hear amplification of love. People need to feel like they are forgiven. If you're speaking words of forgiveness, it's going to be amplified. Forgiveness, more forgiveness than they could ever need or want. They're so grateful for it. They're so thankful for it. Words of love, words of affirmation, peace, patience, joy. All of the fruit of the spirit coming off of you on your platform, amplified to the ears of the people around you. You can talk and pierce their soul [00:15:58] Speaker B: like a sword, or you can use wise words and promote health. Our platform makes us visible. We are seen. Our platform also makes us louder. And we have to be careful how we allow that to be amplified. What is being amplified? Now again, back to 13. For Solomon had made a bronze platform. Solomon had made a bronze platform. The platform is not made of wood, right? So that termites are going to eat it or that the weather is going to destroy it. Solomon builds a bronze platform, sturdy. It's going to last. The next thing is this. Our platform is made to last. It is made to endure. The things that you say and the stuff that you do on your platform last longer than you could ever think of or imagine. So you need to be careful about what it is that you're saying and doing from your platform, because there are [00:17:03] Speaker C: things that you might do or say that you forget about 10 minutes later [00:17:08] Speaker B: and that stay with someone for the rest of their life. [00:17:12] Speaker C: Now, what kind of words do you want to be saying from your platform that somebody remembers for the rest of their life? Now, my hope as a pastor now, I have to speak truth and I have to speak conviction. But I don't want people leaving here. I don't want people in my church. I. I talk to so many people all the time, and they go, oh, I just experienced this church hurt. I went through this. We went through that. Listen, I'm not always going to get it right. I'm going to screw up. [00:17:37] Speaker B: I'm going to make mistakes. [00:17:38] Speaker C: I know that. But the words that I speak to the people that God has given me, to the sheep of which I am the shepherd, I am determined, if at all possible, all the time, that is possible, I'm going to speak words of encouragement and love because I want them in 30 years to be saying to some other pastor, I used to go to a church, and I didn't want to. I didn't like church, and I didn't want to go back. And the pastor at that church poured into my life and encouraged me and loved on me. And that is the reason that I'm still in church now. I don't want to be the guy [00:18:09] Speaker B: that somebody's complaining about 30 years from [00:18:11] Speaker C: now that they got church hurt and that the pastor did this or said that and they'll never go back to church again. Do you see what I'm saying? Our platforms are built to last. [00:18:21] Speaker B: It's not a wooden platform. [00:18:22] Speaker C: It's bronze. It's going to be there. The words that you speak, once they're out there, the stuff that you do, once it's done, it's done. Now, there are levels of forgiveness and you can change and all that stuff. [00:18:36] Speaker B: But I'm telling you, once it's said, once it's done, it's done. It's there. What are you pouring into the lives of people around you? I remember, as I've talked about it many times, I won't go through it all again. The first church that I pastored was just very difficult, very tough. And I remember one day I was just in my office, we're in the middle of a church split, and I was just. I was probably crying in my office, to be honest with you. [00:19:00] Speaker C: So I'm just sitting in my office at my desk. It's just long, and secretary comes and [00:19:05] Speaker B: says, hey, Lee wants to come in and see you. And Lee was this guy. [00:19:08] Speaker C: He was just this big, like, rowdy guy. [00:19:12] Speaker B: I just loved him, but he was just. [00:19:14] Speaker C: He was just everywhere, all the time. [00:19:17] Speaker B: But I loved him. And she said, lee's here. He wants to see you. Well, I didn't know. At that moment in my ministry, everybody that wanted to talk with me told me they were leaving the church. So I was like, oh, God, another one, right? I said, okay, let him in. So Lee came in my office. He said, I know you're busy. I know you got stuff. I'm not going to take five minutes. He said, travis, I love you. I believe in you. You're my pastor, and I support you. He gave me a hug, and he left. Took 30 seconds. [00:19:48] Speaker C: I've never, ever forgotten what Lee poured [00:19:51] Speaker B: into my life in that moment. [00:19:52] Speaker C: I desperately needed somebody to get on their platform and tell me that they still believed in me as their pastor. I just needed somebody to minister to me. That's been 15 years ago, and I never forgot it. Years later, I was at another church. Lee passed away. And his family called me and asked [00:20:10] Speaker B: me to do his funeral. And I told that story at his memorial service because that is who he was to me. [00:20:16] Speaker C: How simple was that? Probably two minutes after Lee left, a week after he left, a month after he left. He probably forgot that he ever even said that. He probably forgot about the thing altogether. He probably has no. Had no memory of him encouraging me with that. But he did. Our platform is built to last. And if you're going to spew toxicity, that's what people are going to remember about you. That's what I want to beg you. Don't pour your trauma and your pain into the lives of other people. You need to again be operating in the gifts of the spirit. Be pouring out love and joy and peace and patience. That's what people are going to remember. Your kids and your grandkids, your spouse, your co workers, the people you go to church with. The stuff we do and say is [00:21:03] Speaker B: remembered much, much longer than we could ever think of. It's not a platform made of wood. It is a bronze platform made to endure, made to last. And you need to be careful what's coming off that platform. The final thing is this. We're not going to be in that. We're going to skip forward, same chapter. Look at verse 34, right after what we were reading. Beginning in verse 14, Solomon begins to pray a prayer of dedication for the temple. We're going to look towards the end of this prayer. Look at 2 Chronicles 6 and 34. Solomon is still praying. He says, when your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you towards this city which you have chosen and the temple which I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause when they sin against you. For there is no one who does not sin. And you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near. Yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried, and repent and make supplication to you in the land of their captivity, saying, we have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness, and. And when they return to you with all their heart, with all their soul, in the land of their captivity where [00:22:21] Speaker C: they have been carried captive, and pray [00:22:23] Speaker B: toward their land which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and towards the temple which I have built for your name. Then from heaven, then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. Now, my God, I pray, let your eyes be open. Let your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place. What happens in that prayer? Solomon builds that temple. [00:22:52] Speaker C: He's visible. His voice is amplified. [00:22:55] Speaker B: The platform is made to last. But when Solomon gets on his knees and begins to pray, what does he pray? He prays for the people. See, that's what this current generation of social media influencers don't understand. The platform is not made for yourself. The platform is made for others. [00:23:17] Speaker C: The platform is made for others. He doesn't pray. God bless me. He doesn't pray. God, strengthen my hand. He doesn't pray, God, look at this wonderful temple that I made. Look at all the great things that I have done. Solomon gets on his platform and he uses his platform to intercede for the people. He says, when they battle, when they go through difficult times, God give them victory. God help them to be triumphant. He says, when they sin, for all of us will sin. He says, when they sin, hear their repentance, forgive them of their sin, bring them back into the land. Do you see that? Everything about the prayer is not for him. It's for others. It's for others. That's the most important element and aspect of our influence and our platform is. The platform is made for others. It's made so that you can intercede for others, so that you can forgive others, so that you can love others, so that you can operate in the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit that you can pour as people are watching you, as your voice is amplified. It's not to say, look how great I am. Look at how amazing I am. That's not what an influencer is supposed to do. That's not why the platform is constructed. It is made so that as your voice is amplified and as you are visible to the people around you, you can tell them, I love you. [00:24:38] Speaker B: Jesus loves you. [00:24:40] Speaker C: You're forgiven. You are redeemed. You are purchased at a great price. You have a destiny. You have a purpose. You have a future. I'm not just standing up here saying words. I believe everything that I have just said. Do you see that? I want you to hear me. If you don't hear anything else, you have a unique destiny and purpose. To those graduating that were up here, I don't know what they're going to be. I don't know where they're going. I don't know the lives that they are going to influence. But I say to each one of them, as I say to you, you have destiny and purpose. This platform is not made so that I can sell books or be on television. This platform is here so I can pour into your life. This. This is. This is literally my platform. This is literally. It's a weird sermon to preach because I'm literally standing on a platform, right? But listen to me. You have a platform. Your platform at work. You have one. It is this. It's wide and tall, right? Just like what Solomon built. You have it. You may not see it. It may not be a literal platform like mine is, but you have one. What are you pouring into the lives of the people around you from your platform? What are you saying to them? What are you modeling to them? How are you behaving? How are you acting? Thing? [00:25:57] Speaker B: We've got to pour into the lives of others. Look at what Jesus tells us in John. And we're almost finished. John, chapter 13, verse 35. Jesus is speaking here. John 13 and 35. Jesus says this. He says, by this, all will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. We. We duplicate who we are. On the platform, you say to yourself, I want. I want to see a world that's more loving and more forgiving. [00:26:35] Speaker C: Okay? [00:26:35] Speaker B: Be more loving and forgiving on your platform. That's how you replicate. [00:26:40] Speaker C: You replicate. [00:26:41] Speaker B: You don't replicate who you are on the ground. You replicate who you are on the platform. [00:26:46] Speaker C: That's what you duplicate. [00:26:49] Speaker B: I've talked about it before. One of my favorite books, probably, maybe my favorite book. When I was a little kid, I didn't particularly like Dr. Seuss, but I loved Horton Hatches an Egg. I loved Horton Hatches an Egg. And we'll close with this. Horton hatches an egg. There's this bird that has an egg and a nest. But she wants to go off. She wants to go to Miami Beach. Remember the story? She wants to go to Miami beach on vacation and have fun. And so she convinces Horton, an elephant, to climb up in this tree and sit on this nest and watch her egg. And Horton sits there, and all the animals come by and make fun of him. And it's raining, and it's cold and it's hot. Horton never leaves the nest. He never abandons the egg. Finally, months later, years later, however long it takes, the egg finally begins to hatch. And then when the egg hatches, you remember this? It's a bird but it has an elephant's face because it looked like Horton. It's a bird that has an elephant's face. It looked like Horton. Listen to me. There is a lot of truth in that. [00:27:58] Speaker C: You say to yourself, the world doesn't have enough love and forgiveness. [00:28:03] Speaker B: What I say to you is, are you modeling it from your platform? Platform? [00:28:08] Speaker C: You say the world needs to know about Jesus. I agree. Do you look like Jesus on your platform? Are. Are your co workers shocked that when you tell them you go to church? I want to challenge how you think. Are your co workers shocked when you say you go to church on Sunday? If you want the world to look more like Jesus, then you got to look like Jesus on your platform. You see what I'm saying? We want. I. I wish people would forgive me. Then you have to start forgiving people from your platform, replicating yourself. So then the world around you begins [00:28:45] Speaker B: to be more forgiving. [00:28:47] Speaker C: Do you see what I'm saying? [00:28:50] Speaker B: The words, the words and the actions and the stuff that we do on the platform lasts longer than we could ever think of or imagine. If I asked you in here, think of a time when someone said or did something that wounded you horribly. Every person in here could raise their hand. And some of you might be remembering something that happened 20 years ago. Some of you might be remembering things that happened to you when you were a child. In the same way as we remember that, we can't help it. As humans, we hold on to that pain and that trauma much more than we should. In the same way, if I said I want you to think of something that encouraged you, somebody that poured into your life, all of us in here could raise our hands as well. So then the question is, what do we want our platform to look like? Who do we want to be on our platform? What do we want to be saying? What do we want to be acting like? Who are we influencing? How are we using our platform? Use your influence the way God intended. He made you for a purpose and for a destiny. He created you to do something. You have influence. You have a platform. Use it wisely. Use it in a godly manner and use it to transform the world. World that desperately needs it. Use your platform wisely. Let's pray. God, I thank you for this moment, this opportunity to gather and to hear your word. God ask that you would be with every person here. Got every person here, no matter the [00:30:33] Speaker C: age, from 8 to 88, no matter [00:30:35] Speaker B: the age, no matter the place, no matter the job, no matter the situation, [00:30:39] Speaker C: every person in here having a platform. [00:30:41] Speaker B: Every person in here having influence from [00:30:44] Speaker C: the back of the balcony to the front row. I pray over every life represented that we would become intentional about what we [00:30:50] Speaker B: do from our platform. [00:30:52] Speaker C: That we would become intentional about what we say and how we behave. That we would use our influence for [00:30:57] Speaker B: good and for God. [00:30:59] Speaker C: That we would pour into the lives of others. We would not use it to make ourself famous. We would not use it for our own gratification, our own glory, but that [00:31:08] Speaker B: we would pour into the lives of others. [00:31:11] Speaker C: God, help us to remember you have [00:31:13] Speaker B: given us influence and a platform. [00:31:15] Speaker C: Help it to use it for your kingdom. God, we want. We want to be a church of [00:31:22] Speaker B: influencers that influence this community and this nation. To turn back to you. God help us to use our platform as you show us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. [00:31:37] Speaker C: God bless you everybody. Have a great week. Use your platform wisely. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to the Travis Rutland Podcast. If you enjoyed this message and you're in the Cartersville, Georgia area, we invite you to join us at Liberty Square Church. You can also watch online and connect with us on Facebook and YouTube. We'll see you next week for another message from Travis Rutland.