(Breath of Life Theme Music) 00:00:01.10\00:00:06.80 Sermon #B635 -Trust the Process 00:00:06.84\00:00:22.25 Pastor Byrd: The Word of God says to us in Isaiah 64, verse 00:00:22.28\00:00:31.89 number 8, "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; 00:00:31.93\00:00:42.70 we are the clay, and thou our potter; 00:00:42.74\00:00:52.11 and we all are the work of thy hand.” Today I want to speak on the subject: Trust the process. 00:00:52.15\00:01:06.43 Father bless us now. We give you praise. We give you Hallelujahs. 00:01:06.46\00:01:14.37 But now Lord in your word, we need You to speak. So, make this word relevant to your people 00:01:14.40\00:01:25.51 today. And through this message, that your people would hear your voice. In the name of Jesus we 00:01:25.55\00:01:41.46 pray, Amen. You all know, and if you don't know, let me help you know that I am an avid 00:01:41.50\00:01:52.37 basketball fan. It is this time of year that I really enjoy sports, specifically basketball 00:01:52.41\00:02:03.45 because as you know, it's March madness time and after March madness, we're going to get 00:02:03.49\00:02:14.66 ready for the NBA playoffs. Now, if you're a basketball fan, you know the phrase, “Trust the 00:02:14.73\00:02:24.84 Process,” has been made popular in recent years by the Philadelphia 76ers. 00:02:24.87\00:02:32.98 Now for those of you, who do not follow basketball, let me give you some background. 00:02:33.01\00:02:42.02 For years, the 76ers were bad. For years, the 76ers were awful. 00:02:42.06\00:02:55.90 Cellar-dwellers in the NBA. Worse record in the NBA. No excitement since Dr. J. 00:02:55.94\00:03:09.38 No excitement-- young people y'all know who Dr. J is. That's 00:03:09.42\00:03:14.26 all right. Before there was LeBron James and a Michael Jordan there was a Dr. J. 00:03:14.29\00:03:20.50 No excitement since Dr. J. No excitement since Moses Malone. 00:03:20.53\00:03:30.71 No excitement since Charles Barkley played for the 76ers. 00:03:30.74\00:03:37.25 No excitement until the answer, Allen Iverson has played for the 00:03:37.28\00:03:45.35 76ers. And so in this process, fans got weary. Fans got discouraged. Fans got tired with 00:03:45.39\00:03:59.73 the team. But in the midst of turning the franchise around, there was a gentleman by the 00:03:59.77\00:04:08.81 name of Sam Hinkie, general manager of the Sixers, who told fans don't give up on the 00:04:08.84\00:04:17.22 Sixers. It was going to get worse before it got better. I wish I had a witness in his 00:04:17.25\00:04:25.29 place. So, those who follow basketball know that for the Sixers, even with high draft 00:04:25.33\00:04:34.80 picks, it got worse. Even with making trades, it got worse. Losing more and more games. No 00:04:34.84\00:04:46.35 excitement. No energy. Ticket sales were falling. Empty seats were everywhere in the arena. 00:04:46.38\00:04:53.32 Fans were getting restless. But Hinkie assured fans that there was a reason that they were 00:04:53.3