March 16, 2025 • 43 mins
Have you ever found yourself shrinking your spiritual gifts just to make others comfortable? That's exactly what Pastor Michael challenges in this powerful message about breaking free from small-minded thinking.
With humor and nostalgic references to $750 DVD players from 1997, Pastor Michael weaves a profound truth: "Don't stay small because they think small." He unpacks how our thinking literally shapes our spiritual reality, and when we allow ourselves to be defined by others' limited expectations, we inevitably fall short of God's design for our lives.
Drawing from scripture passages like Isaiah 54:2-3 ("Enlarge your house... for you will soon be bursting at the seams") and 2 Timothy 1:7 ("God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity"), Pastor Michael exposes how fear-based thinking keeps believers trapped in comfort zones when God is calling them to expand their territory. He confronts the dangerous attachment to nostalgia that keeps churches looking backward instead of forward, making it impossible to effectively minister to today's broken world.
This message will challenge you to examine what vision God has placed in your heart that seems too ambitious or uncomfortable. What would happen if you stopped shrinking that vision to match others' expectations and instead allowed it to grow to the size God intended?
Ready to break free from small thinking? This message will equip you to recognize and reject the lies that have kept you playing small when God has called you to something greater. Share this episode with someone who needs to be reminded that God's plan for them is bigger than their current circumstances.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So we're going to talk through what just happened
a little bit, mainly becausewhen we did announcements this
morning, you guys were superflat right.
It was rough in this place thismorning and I went back to the
sound booth and I said, lord,whatever you're going to do,
just do it, I'm not going toworry about it, right?
So I was back there minding myown business, just minding my
(00:21):
own business, and Lizzie comesover to me and she goes Pastor
Mike, just minding my ownbusiness, and Lizzie comes over
to me and she goes PastorMichael, do you feel like
there's something that's juststopping the spirit from moving?
I went, yeah, I said I'mwaiting for Holly to turn around
and like, come on now.
The next thing I know Holly'sstanding there tugging at the
side of my shirt.
I'm like see Lord, I knew youwere going to do it.
See Lord, I knew that you weregoing to do it.
So I hope you guys are excited,as I am, for what God is doing,
(00:43):
because I'm going to tell youit wouldn't have started so slow
if it wasn't going to be sogreat.
Amen, amen, because I'm going totell you that God is preparing
us.
I want you to look around andnotice how empty this place is
today compared to last week.
I don't know what attendancewas last week exactly, but we
were pretty close to 100 lastweek.
It's light this week, right,but God knew who needed to be
(01:05):
here today.
Amen, god knows who's going tolisten to this later on too.
Amen, all right.
So here's what I want to startwith.
I want to start with a littlegame.
Okay, young adults who are inour group chat you're going to
know how this message gotstarted, okay, and if you're a
young adult who's not in ourgroup chat and you want to be,
hey, just hit us up.
We'd love to add you becauseit's a lot of fun.
(01:27):
We talk about lots of crazystuff, specifically nostalgia,
right, because nostalgia isreally what we thrive on,
because it makes us not feel soold.
Amen.
I mean, some of you guys werearound when you were counting
with abacuses, around when youwere counting with abacuses,
(01:47):
right, roger, linda, that wasn'tme, linda, that wasn't me, it
was not me, listen.
So nostalgia when we startthinking about old-timey things,
it starts to get us excitedabout where we've come in life.
Our best friends visited us ona whim the other night.
We had no idea they were coming.
They just showed up at ourhouse.
Jenny and Marcus were there, wewere hanging out, we were
chatting, and somebody knocks onthe door and Alyssa and I both
(02:07):
look at each other like why issomebody at our house at like
eight o'clock at night, right,because normal people know
that's bedtime.
Yeah Well, and that was myfirst thought.
It was Beth.
Like I must have missed a calland Beth had shown up.
So I peeked through the doorand I see the husband standing
there and I open the door andthey've got all of their kids
and they just pour in and thenthey scatter like cockroaches.
(02:29):
They've never been to thishouse before.
But the next thing, you know,the kids are all just gone and
we started reminiscing aboutwhere we had been in life and
the first house that theyremember us living in and all of
the things and how far we'vecome.
Life somehow is attached tonostalgia and joy is attached to
nostalgia.
Amen.
How many of you remember yourfirst DVD player?
(02:51):
That's been a minute, right,okay?
Does anybody know what year theDVD player was released in the
United States of America In the90s?
Anybody remember what year?
1997.
Yeah, but 97 doesn't even feellike that long ago, does it?
(03:14):
It's been a minute, y'all, it'sbeen a minute.
Try an 8-track.
Yeah, okay.
So DVD players were released in1997.
Does anybody know how much a DVDplayer costs in the United
States in 1997?
Probably over $100.
Yeah, that's a great guess.
It is in fact, over $100.
(03:34):
Anybody else?
Yeah, so this is a generalprice.
This would be the MSRP, becauseI thought that you know if you
get it at Walmart versus Kmartor wherever.
Oh, these things weren't atGoodwill back then.
They came out in March of 1997.
They were $749.
You can buy a DVD player andthey were this big right, this
(03:59):
wide, this thick, and the littleslot was just a tiny little
thing.
Right in the middle they had aremote that was like this long.
It took four hands to use it.
Now you can buy one on Amazonfor $20.
The remote is this big for itand you can get it in two days.
That was top of the linetechnology back then, right?
So do any of us remember gettingour first DVD player?
Yeah, did anybody remember howmuch they paid for their first
(04:21):
one?
No, okay.
So my first one.
I'll never forget it as long asI live.
My first one came as aChristmas gift for my parents.
Now, I don't know what year Igot it.
I'm guessing it was long after1997 because, let's be honest
with each other, they werespending $750 on one gift.
My parents bought me a DVDplayer.
(04:43):
I remember getting it an oldtube TV to boot.
Like we got the TV, I got theDVD player and I got two DVDs
with it.
I'll never forget that as longas I live.
Matter of fact, I still ownboth of those DVDs because
there's something about thenostalgia attached to those
discs that I can't give up.
Now there's going to come atime when we can't even watch
(05:05):
those anymore.
Amen, because we stream itdigitally.
The first two DVDs that I gotand we are getting to a point
here I promise we're gettingsomewhere.
The Grinch with Jim Carrey.
You guys like that one?
Let's argue that.
Whether or not that is the bestGrinch movie hands down.
Let's argue that.
(05:26):
Whether or not that is the bestGrinch movie hands down, it is,
tina.
I don't care what you say it is.
Now here's the deal.
Why is it the best Grinch movieto me?
There's nostalgia attached toit and there is joy in that.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I like the original cartoon aswell, because I remember
watching that as a kid growingup.
Don't give me none of that lamecrap they're making today.
Right, because I want theGrinch story, right.
(05:49):
And now the new ones are allkinds of crazy and I don't
really fully understand them.
Amen, okay, the other moviethat I got, this is gonna.
Maybe we might pass judgment onmy parents for this.
Okay, because I was a child,maybe preteen.
The Patriot with Mel Gibson, thePatriot with Mel Gibson it was
(06:13):
a little gory for a child slashpreteen, right?
Do you guys remember that movie?
It's a little on the brutalside.
I watched it many years lateron television, like back when
cable was a thing and youactually watch TV, tv.
And there's a lot of blood inthat movie and they turned it
brown to make it look like mudso that it wouldn't be so gory
(06:35):
and graphic for television.
My parents bought that for meas a kid.
Folks, that's probably not agreat decision.
You watched it in school.
Even better, even better.
But here's what I realized.
I went back and I just did somenapkin math.
Do you know what that $750would be today?
In today's money?
$1,450.
(06:57):
That's a lot of money, wouldany of us pay $1,450 for new
technology today?
How many of you have an iPhone16?
Yes, exactly, but we don't knowwe do it.
Why don't we know?
We do it Because we makepayments on it.
Right, we're not going to getinto Financial Peace University
folks.
I want to, but we're not goingto.
(07:18):
The fact is that the older youget, the more you lean into the
nostalgia and you don't need thenew and fun and fancy and
flashy things, right?
Listen, I've gotten to thepoint where I'm almost too old
to use my own cell phone, and Ihate to say that because I'm
starting to get up there withRoger.
Right, I know where mine's atand I can find my glasses, but
(07:39):
my phone will do things I willnever use it for.
My wife makes fun of me.
I got three.
I don't have my phone with me.
I got three cameras on the backof my phone, right?
How many of your phones arelike that?
I have like 42 pictures in myphone and most of them are of
either Pokemon cards that I'mselling or Elvis jumpsuits.
Ask me how many pictures of mykids I have on my phone.
(07:59):
The answer is zero.
I don't use my phone and Idon't take pictures with my
phone at all, it's just notsomething I've ever done.
And so I have this fancy thingthat's supposed to do.
You give me a Polaroid and I'dbe just as happy.
That bad boy just pops rightout and now I've got something
physical I can hold.
How many of us are starting tofeel that way that whenever we
want to get something, we wantsomething physical that we can
(08:20):
hold?
How many of our kids playRoblox or Fortnite or any of
those stupid games, right?
And they want you to buy Robuxand whatever the Fortnite
dollars are.
I don't even know what thoseare.
V-bucks, there we go.
Holly even knew, so that meansgrandma's been suckered into it
a time or two.
Here's the thing that money,once you've spent it, is gone
(08:41):
forever.
And what do they have to showfor it?
Nothing.
And my kids are like well, Icould sell my Fortnite account
for a lot of money right nowbecause I have these skins that
nobody else has, I said untilthey stop supporting the game,
and then it's worthless Becauseyou can't ever use it again,
right?
How many of you had like a 1995Windows PC, right?
Okay, thank you.
(09:01):
Everybody else was like 1995,what's that Windows 95 PC.
Hook that thing up today andtry to use it.
It's not worth anything, unlessyou've got an old game that you
want to install on it.
That PC is useless today, right, and that's what happens to
technology.
So we are somehow attached tothe nostalgia.
So here's what I want to talkabout, all of that.
(09:25):
To say this all right, we getto this point.
There was a line and, by the way, I've memorized both of those
movies Hate, hate, hate, doublehate, loathe.
Entirely right, we get that waywhen we watch something so many
times.
I watched the Patriot and theGrinch so many times because
movies were $30.
I didn't have my own money togo to Walmart and buy a movie.
(09:51):
So I watched those two nonstop.
And there was a line in thePatriot that always struck me in
such a way that I've justalways thought about it.
It's one of those lines thatyou just like it runs through
your head.
And at the beginning of themovie, mel Gibson's character is
teaching his son how to shoot agun and he says to him aim
small, miss small, aim small,miss small.
Now in that moment the son islearning how to shoot a gun.
(10:13):
He has no idea what he's comingup to.
And the next thing, you know,he finds himself fighting in a
war and he repeats to himself inthat war aim small, miss small,
aim small, miss small, aimsmall, miss small.
And when I was sitting down andI was thinking about this
message, it came to me and thisis going to hurt for a second.
(10:35):
Okay, aim small, miss small.
And then God said to me butdon't stay small because they
think small.
God said to me but don't staysmall because they think small.
Don't stay small because theythink.
What does that mean to you See,aim small, miss small is easy.
(10:55):
If I aim short, I'm going tomiss the shot, right.
But why should I stay small?
Because they think small?
What does that mean?
It means that if you havedecided that you are going to be
complacent with what otherpeople think about you, you will
always fall short of what Godhas in store for your life.
(11:16):
He never wanted us to becomplacent.
He did not design us to sit ina seat and do nothing.
He designed us to grow thekingdom, to be forever on the
move for the mission of growingthe kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Amen, that's all he's evercalled us.
It's the only thing he asks ofus, that is the great commission
, to love one another like heloved the church.
(11:39):
This should be simple, butwe've made it complicated.
And why have we made itcomplicated?
This should be simple, butwe've made it complicated.
And why have we made itcomplicated?
Because we hold on to thenostalgia of what the church has
always been.
Right Now, I'll tell you thatI'm not a fan of megachurches
because I don't think thepastors can really know their
people.
Now, done right, done right.
I'm sure there's successfulmodels where they have lots of
(12:02):
people who manage lots of groupsof people.
I'll be honest, this churchgets to 150 people.
I'm not going to be able tominister to every one of those
on a personal level right Now.
I'm not going to say I don'twant that because I want the
kingdom of God to grow.
I'm not worried about organicchurch growing, right, I just
want the kingdom to grow.
If it grows here, wonderful,I'm excited about that.
Look at last week there wasalmost nowhere to sit last week.
(12:24):
Amen, come to the Lentenservice.
In two weeks there will benowhere to sit in here.
Last year we were draggingchairs in at the last minute
because we filled up so quickly.
God is going to do somethinggreat, whether it's here or
somewhere else.
Amen.
Last week at Bethel they seat ahundred people and they were
dragging up chairs, foldingchairs, from the basement.
Whenever I walked in, I endedup standing for most of the
(12:46):
service back towards the back,because there was simply nowhere
to sit.
God is on the move.
God is on the move.
This isn't about us, really.
So I mean, there were peopleeverywhere Like we were stacked
on top of each other, like itwas crazy, and Pastor John
(13:08):
Stevens said hey, if anybodysees the fire marshal, just keep
him busy for a minute so we canall sneak out the side door,
because we were definitelybreaking fire code at that point
.
But God had something plannedfor that night.
Amen and man, were we excited tobe part of that, to be
represented in body here, ourpeople who showed up, and then
to be represented in the wordthrough Pastor Holly.
(13:30):
That was amazing.
It was such a great feeling tobe able to be there.
But we were that church, thatgroup of people, that body of
people.
We were not attached to thenostalgia of our own church in
that moment.
Yes, if you want to see it,you're going to want to be here
early.
Um, we were not attached to thenostalgia of our own church.
(13:50):
Listen, they sang songs that Iwas like, man, this is weird, so
did I, but it was such a changefrom what we do.
They were singing old campsongs, right, and it was
wonderful in them.
I'm standing in the backsinging.
I'm like I didn't even know.
I knew this song Because Godwas doing something in that
place, but I wasn't holding onto what this church was supposed
(14:11):
, what would have been doing,right?
I didn't go in there with aclosed mind going, oh well, they
aren't going to do worship likeus, right?
How many of you have been tothose things at a Presbyterian
church where they do call andresponse Holy smokes, right.
But let me tell you, god hasplaced us there for a reason he
wants us to see and experiencewhat the body is doing.
(14:34):
Amen, okay, off topic, got toget back on here.
Come on, don't stay smallbecause they think small, right,
don't stay small.
You cannot be small because thepeople around you think small,
right.
What does think small mean?
They keep you in a box, right?
(14:55):
If I said to Pastor Holly youknow, pastor Holly, when you
pray for people, you make thepeople sitting in the
congregation uncomfortable.
Or if I said no, no, no, Idon't want you to get the billow
out, because if you do thatit's going to make some people
uncomfortable.
Where's Holly going to end up?
Small?
Now, she's a strong person andshe can process that.
(15:18):
But still, at some point, whenpeople are telling you that
nonstop, you start to loseconfidence in what God has
called you to do.
You start to think about man.
If that's true, should I notpray for people anymore?
And then you find yourself inWalmart knowing that you're
supposed to pray for somebody,and then you don't do it.
And then you know you've gotthat guilt that you're carrying.
(15:40):
Listen, I won't be small,because the people around me
think small.
Amen, okay, all right.
Now we're going to talk aboutsome scripture to back this up.
Okay, we're going to go toProverbs 23.7.
We're going to jump around alot, so write them down.
You can go there if you movefast, but we are going to jump
quite a bit.
We're going to read this onetwice.
We're going to read this in NewLiving Translations and we're
(16:02):
going to read it in King JamesVersion, proverbs 23.7.
They Well, that seems like aweird scripture to try to back
that up.
So let's read it in the KingJames Version.
It says but his heart is notwith thee.
(16:35):
That passage of scripturesuggests that our thoughts shape
our reality, right?
So if my thoughts are that,praying for people, I was like
who's blowing me?
Kisses, the baby was eating.
I was like, ooh.
It suggests that our thoughtsshape our reality.
(17:04):
So if we believe that we aresmall, we will only ever operate
small, right?
So if your thoughts are well,prayer doesn't change my life,
you won't pray.
If you don't believe thathaving hands laid on you is
going to make a difference inyour life, then you will never
(17:25):
come forward for a healing andyou will sit there and think
well, that's not for me.
Amen, all right, matthew 25,that's not for me.
Amen, all right, matthew 25.
It's 24 and 26.
Now, we've already covered thisone.
We're going to cover it again.
Then the servant with the onebag of silver came and said
Master, I knew you were a harshman, harvesting crops you didn't
(17:47):
plant and gathering crops youdidn't cultivate.
I was afraid I would lose yourmoney, so I hid it in the earth.
Look, here is we're going tostop there?
I guess I apparently didn'tplan that one out all the way.
(18:09):
All right, the passage warnsagainst fear-based thinking.
Right, I was afraid that youwould punish me if I X, right?
So now we're thinking smallbecause we're afraid of
everything that happens in ourlives.
Well, if I X, we'll talk abouttithing on this one.
(18:31):
If I give 10%, will I be ableto pay my gas bill?
If I give 10%, what wouldhappen if I need extra groceries
?
We already know we can't outgive God.
We already know it.
So why do we operate in fearall of the time?
We operate in fear because wethink small.
(18:54):
We're only focused on the thingthat is in front of us and not
the world that is around us.
See, we aren't kingdom-mindedanymore, we're fleshly-minded,
and we're so obsessed andworried about the things of the
flesh that we can't get past andget into the spirit.
Some of you are like PastorMichael.
I pray every day, Do you,though, when you go to God, do
(19:17):
you say to God Lord, whatever itis, let your will be done.
Or do you say, lord, I reallyjust need a new car today, right
?
Are we asking for selfishdesires?
Are we saying, god, here I am,use me Right.
You ever found yourself prayingagainst somebody?
Woo-hoo, lord, have mercy, allright.
(19:39):
Hebrews 5.12.
You have been believers so longthat now you ought to be
teaching others.
Instead, you need someone toteach you again the basic things
about God's word.
You are like babies who needmilk and cannot eat solid food.
(20:06):
Small-mindedness limitsspiritual growth Amen.
Mindedness limits spiritualgrowth Amen.
So when I sit in my seat and Ithink, well, I'm offended
because I know he's talkingabout me.
I'm upset because I think he's.
(20:28):
I think somebody told himsomething that I said listen,
shut up.
It's not about you, right?
If you're feeling that way,that's called conviction, right,
and what that means is youprobably need to be at the altar
praying for your heart setright, because the spiritual
condition of your heart is alittle bit on the hard side, and
maybe you don't know that.
Maybe I'm telling you that forthe first time.
(20:49):
That's okay, don't be upsetabout it.
Sometimes we don't allowourselves to be pliable to the
things that God would want tohave happen in our lives.
Sometimes we want to putourselves into that small
thinking box so that we don'thave to.
Is it really 1021 or 1121?
Oh guys, I'm sorry, can we go alittle bit late.
(21:09):
Can you give me five minutes,are you guys?
Okay?
If you have to leave, that'sfine, I understand, but I can't
stop, okay, all right, what wasthat?
What were we on just now?
Hebrews, I've got like a bunchmore guys, I'm sorry.
Isaiah 54, 2 through 3.
Oh, listen, listen, listen.
(21:32):
Enlarge your house, build anaddition, spread out your home
and spare no expense.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Let me tell you that doesn'tjust mean the storehouse, that
means your own house.
Right, we should be expandingour footprint.
Why?
Because if we expand ourfootprint, god's footprint gets
(21:54):
bigger.
Right, let me tell you that wecannot continue to be
little-minded about the bigthings that God is doing today.
Amen, for you will soon bebursting at the seam.
Do you remember what I saidabout this place last week?
There wasn't a seat left inhere.
Listen, we cannot continue tothink small.
We have got to start thinkingmuch larger than anything that's
(22:17):
happening today.
Look around, there's lots ofempty seats today.
Right, that's okay, because youguys are the ones who need to
hear it.
Why do you need to hear it?
Because you're the ones thatshould be behind the vision.
Those other people are the oneswho are visiting.
Right, they're the ones thatwe're trying to love into the
kingdom.
But if you're sitting here weekin and week out, you should be
catching a vision.
(22:37):
Right, you should be going,lord, have mercy, lord.
Have mercy, lord.
Whatever it is that you wouldhave happen in our house, let it
happen quickly.
Let it happen quickly becausewe want to love the people who
can't be loved anywhere else,and I'm going to tell you we
love a lot of people that wouldnot be loved anywhere else.
I'm one of those people.
(22:59):
I'm a lot to deal with.
Right, you send me over toDenison Foursquare.
Pastor Rod's going to be likePastor Michael, you're going to
have to go somewhere.
Right, pastor Michael, I loveyou, but, man, you just need to
take it down a notch, pastor,but listen, john Stevenson said
last week at the Lenten serviceshe was a quiet little thing
(23:21):
until she wasn't, and that wasthe truth.
I don't know what happened.
I was sitting in the front rowand I was, like you could tell
she was a little bit nervous.
That's fair Bunch of peopleshe's never met Some people that
she's met in past ministry, andshe's sitting there and she
just had this little bit of ashake to her hand while she was
talking and I'm like, lord, justgive her peace, give her
strength.
God, lord, just keep moving.
(23:41):
And I'm sitting next to JohnStevenson, who I know can hear
me, and I'm okay with that.
And then all of a sudden, boom,there she is.
Everybody's hair blew back fora second.
They were all.
But you know what?
God did something in that place, right.
But see, we can't continue tothink small, because if we think
small, there will never begrowth.
(24:02):
Listen when your pastor say toyou hey, you really need to move
into or you need to try, or youshould do this, isn't us saying
we want you to serve here.
We're saying God is telling usthat you need to move, right,
god is saying let's go, becauseif we continue to think small,
we will continue to live small.
Amen, okay, where's my?
(24:23):
Is that right?
I always get nervous now when Ido the first and seconds because
I'm like did I screw that oneup?
I did figure out what I did,though that was my bullet point.
One that was and I read it thatway four times.
(24:47):
That was embarrassing.
Anyhow, after I realized that Iwas good, for God has not given
us a spirit of fear andtimidity, but power, love and
self-discipline.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
Fear keeps people thinking small, right, if I'm afraid I won't
(25:09):
do, if I fear I can't have youever said, oh, I can't do that,
right, oh, I no, I can't do that.
I could never do that I can't.
I remember Tina Bober told meshe couldn't be on council and
then all of a sudden she was.
She needed to pray about it andwhen she realized that she
(25:34):
didn't have to be perfect tohave that seat, right, that's
what matters.
If we operate in fear, we willnever be good enough to do what
it is that God has called us todo.
Amen, all right, what was that?
It was Isaiah.
No, that was Timothy.
It was second Timothy.
All right, jeremiah 29, 11.
Oh, for I know the plans that Ihave for you, says the Lord.
(25:57):
They are plans for good and notdisaster, to give you a future
and a hope.
Come on church.
If we can't get excited aboutthe fact that God has already
ordained our footsteps today,amen, listen, I don't have to
think small because God hasalready seen it.
Amen, he's already done it,he's already got it in plan.
(26:21):
Listen, here's what I believe.
I believe that God is going tohave somebody write this church
a check.
I don't know who it is yet.
Tanya, I'm looking at you.
No, I'm just kidding, but Iknow that something big is going
to happen here Now.
Here's the thing that I'm notsitting.
I'm not sitting on my hands,pretending like it doesn't take
(26:42):
some work on my part too.
Right Like I.
If I don't go out and tellpeople about who Jesus Christ is
and about the building that Iserve in, how will they ever
know that we're here?
How will they know where towrite the check?
Right?
They got to know whose name toput on the top of that check.
Amen.
And so that is part of themission that God has put me on
to continue to grow thisbuilding right.
(27:04):
That's why I'm here.
He's placed me here for such atime as this, right Now.
Listen, we built a brand newsanctuary off the back of the
building and he could strike medead the next day.
That might be the only planhe's got for me, I don't know,
but I'm going to fulfillwhatever vision he has put into
my brain.
Amen, amen.
Okay, where are we at now?
Jeremiah 29 11.
(27:25):
Thank you, romans 12 2.
Thank you, romans 12.2.
Right, like we're just hittingthem all right.
But this is the point is thisis all reaffirming what we
already know about who God is.
I'm not giving you scriptureyou've never read before, right?
We've all seen these before.
It says don't copy thebehaviors and customs of the
(27:47):
world, but let God transform youinto a new person by changing
the way you think.
Are we catching on yet, folks?
This is about the way that wethink.
If we think small, we staysmall.
God has never designed us to bethat way.
Alright, that was Romans 12 2,ephesians 3 20.
(28:11):
Now, all glory to God, who isable, through his mighty power
at work within us, to accomplishindefinitely more than we might
ask or think.
Listen, I walked in here thismorning, tired, right, and I
(28:33):
said Lord, I'm going to need youto give me a little extra boost
.
He said have a coffee.
And then I said no, lord,that's not what I mean.
And he said don't you worry,I've got you and I know that
every time I step into thepulpit, he's got me.
I never worry about myself, Iworry about allowing him to work
through me.
But see, if I think small and Imake it about me, I will always
(28:57):
be small and it will always beabout me, amen.
And then what do you gain fromthat?
Nothing, except for the world.
And I don't think any of uswant that.
Matthew 17, 20.
You don't have enough faith,jesus told them.
(29:18):
I tell you the truth if you hadfaith, even as small as a
mustard seed, you could say tothe mountain move from here to
there.
And it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.
The lack of faith in who God islimits our thinking.
Amen, we all say.
(29:42):
Well, I don't think I couldreally move a mountain If you
believed you could.
You could, because that's whatthe Bible says, right, and we
talk about.
Well, I have my own Goliaths.
You're right, you do.
But I'm going to tell you, if abig enough giant walked up to
you, you could slay it in themighty name of Jesus.
In the mighty name of Jesus,you can do anything.
(30:04):
Right, it sounds crazy, butit's true.
It can be done.
But you limit our faith in God.
We think small, so we are small.
We act small.
We talk small.
Okay, 2 Corinthians 9.6.
Remember this a farmer whoplants only a few seeds will
(30:29):
grow a small crop, but the onewho plants generously will get a
generous crop.
What we put in determines whatwe get out.
That's a basic concept, right?
If you think big, you receivebig.
If you think small, you receive.
(30:51):
You guys already got this.
Why am I even up here?
I'm up here because today youget it.
You leave this place and it'sgone, right, and we start
putting God back in the box andwe start thinking small again.
All right, 1 Corinthians 3, 1and 2.
Is that right?
(31:13):
What did I give you?
Or did I just skip that one?
Well then the Lord says we'reskipping it.
The next one you have is James 1.
Is that right?
Okay, but when you ask him, besure that your faith is in God
alone.
Amen, your faith is in Godalone.
Do not waver, for a person withdivided loyalty is as unsettled
(31:37):
as a wave of the sea that isblown and tossed by the wind.
Such people should not expectto receive anything from the
Lord.
Their loyalty is dividedbetween God and the world, and
they are unstable in everythingthat they do.
Amen Again.
This is an easy concept.
We cannot be split between theworld and our relationship with
(31:59):
Christ.
I have to live in this world,my flesh has to live in this
world, but my spirit wantsnothing to do with it.
My spirit wants to live inharmony with God, right, and
that means knowing who he is andhaving faith big enough to know
that he will do all things.
Amen.
Okay, what was that?
(32:21):
That was James.
Philippians 3, 13 and 14.
No, dear brothers and sisters, Ihave not achieved it, but I
focus on this one thingforgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead.
Oh, that hurts the nostalgia,right, doesn't it?
(32:45):
Stop thinking about the thingsof the past and look forward to
the things ahead.
I press on and reach the end ofthe race and receive a heavenly
prize for which God, throughChrist Jesus, is calling us.
See, when we live in thenostalgia of what the church has
always been and what it shouldalways, listen.
The new, the new age churchdoesn't have it all figured out,
(33:07):
but neither did the otherchurch, right, the church has
grown and developed becausethat's what God has called us to
do, amen.
Let me tell you something.
You go to a Methodist churchthat's still stuck in its 1887
ways and it feels like you're inthe 18, like you got to put on
your prairie dress, and you knowwhat I mean.
Right, I'm not saying anythingbad about the Methodists, but
(33:28):
I'm saying that there aredenominations, there are
churches, there are bodies ofbelievers who don't think that
the church should move forward.
I'm going to tell you somethingI cannot look back.
I have to look forward, becauseif I'm looking back, I'm
missing what God wants to do.
Right, because back then theyweren't serving drug addicts
like we are today.
Back then they weren't servingprostitutes like we are today.
(33:51):
Right, the church has to be aplace where everybody can come,
walk through the door and feelwelcome.
I don't know how we do it.
I haven't figured it out yet,because if I had, this place
would be full every Sunday.
But let me tell you, he's givenit to us a little bit at a time
and we're going to keep workingon it and we're going to figure
(34:14):
it out.
But we're not going to lookback on the things that the
church used to do.
Amen.
We've got a foundation.
We know that Jesus Christ isthe base of all things that we
do.
We look to him and only to him.
Amen.
John 10.10.
The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.
(34:37):
My purpose is to give them arich and satisfying life.
What does that mean?
That means that if we think big, we receive big.
If we think small, we receivesmall.
I do not want to be inrelationship with the devil
because he's going to kill,steal and destroy every good
(34:57):
thing in my life.
That's what he's going to take.
And can I tell you something?
When you speak it out loud,that's when he takes it right.
Whenever you say well, you knowwhat.
My wife and I have a rule inour house, and this is not a
joke, I'm going to share thiswith you guys.
Like, if you want marriageadvice, this is tip number one.
Okay, don't ever use the worddivorce.
If I walk up to my wife and Isay to her I want a divorce, you
(35:20):
know what she's going to sayDone, whether that breaks her
heart or not, whether that ripsher insides out or not, because
if I've said it and that's whatI want, then there is no love in
that relationship.
Right, that we are not equallyyoked and man has pulled apart
what God has brought together.
Amen, that is not.
It's not a joke.
Now don't get me wrong.
If she, like, goes toMcDonald's and gets something
(35:41):
for the kids and doesn't getanything for me, I'm going to
tell her well, I'm going to keepthat up.
That's, that's divorcinggrounds and things like that.
But we know that there's anever in an argument.
Would I ever leave the houseand tell my wife I'm just, I'm
going to file for a divorce?
I would never, ever, and I knowthat if I did that, I know
where I'm going to be Divorcecourt right, because in the heat
(36:05):
of the moment I will thinksmall.
I will think small and I willnot receive what God has put.
Listen, life is hard, folks, andit doesn't get easier.
The more you know Jesus, theharder life seems to get right.
The closer in relationship youcome with him, the harder life
becomes.
(36:25):
Because if it were easy, if itwere easy, then the enemy
wouldn't exist at all.
Right, because he wouldn't havea hope.
He listens to the things thatyou speak out loud, he hears the
words that you say and then heruns with it.
You know what I'm not worthy ofserving.
I'm not worthy, I'm not capable, I'm not whatever.
(36:48):
You're right Now.
You're not, because the enemyhas taken that and it's taking
root in your life.
It is taking root in your life,all right.
The last one Deuteronomy 1, 6and 7.
It says when we were at MountSinai, the Lord, our God, said
to us you have stayed at thismountain long enough.
(37:09):
It is time to break camp andmove on.
Go to the hill country and tothe Amorites and all of the
neighboring regions the JordanValley, the hill country, the
western foothills, the Negev andthe coastal plain.
Go to the land of theCanaanites and to Lebanon and
(37:30):
all the way to the greatEuphrates River.
Think small, be small.
If you stay in one placeforever, you will never
experience what God has for you.
I have an Amish friend.
I'm going to share this storyand it's a little bit.
It might feel emotional orchaotic, but in the Amish
(37:51):
community a lot of times thegirls are very naive to what
happens in the world around thembecause they have a very close
family right.
And I have a girl who works forme.
She's a wonderful girl.
I've met all of her sisters.
I've met her family.
I used to take them back andforth to work and recently her
youngest sister got a job at asmall grocery store and while
(38:11):
she was working there, a girlconvinced her that her family
was abusive.
Now I'm not part of theirfamily.
I don't know if that's true ornot, but do you know what she
convinced her to do Move toIndiana.
This girl's 16 years old,because at 14, they're
considered adults, they're donewith school, they're making a
(38:34):
decision to become part of theAmish church, so this girl who
convinced her to leave helps herpack up and moves her to
Indiana.
Now this is all in the cover ofdarkness.
The family is not aware ofwhat's happening and just one
morning she's gone and they'vetried to reason with her and
they've tried to explain to herthat this is not safe for you.
(38:57):
Now she's part of anon-denominational church and
she believes that she should bespreading the gospel to all of
the corners of the earth.
But the problem is that allsounds good on the surface, but
they're doing this to more Amishgirls in other communities
where they're taking them fromtheir families.
What does that sound like toyou?
(39:18):
A cult?
It sounds very dangerous,doesn't it?
And the unfortunate part is isyou can't change that mindset
once somebody's gotten thatfoothold.
Think small, live small.
Now I ask pretty regularlyhow's your sister?
Have you heard from her?
And we pray for that sisterregularly, just that she would
be able to see what's happeningand that she would be able to
(39:39):
break away and come home.
That's scary, right?
That could happen to any one ofus and any one of our children
at any given time.
Because that's how the enemyworks, right?
He will guise what it is thatyou're doing with something that
looks shiny and looks fruitfuland looks healthy and happy,
until you get there and yourealize, oh boy, oh boy,
(40:01):
shouldn't have been there,shouldn't have done that.
All right, don't stay smallbecause they think small.
If you stay in places wherepeople don't understand you,
then you will eventually shrinkyour gift to a size that they
can stand.
Amen.
(40:24):
I'm not shrinking my gift forany of you.
I'm not.
You don't like it, that's okay.
I don't need you to like it,but I need you to know that God
has ordained that and if that'swhat he's calling for me, then I
am going to do it.
You will find yourself trappedin anxiety and depression and
stress, stress all because youhave allowed yourself to be told
that you are small.
Can you imagine having so muchJesus inside of you that you
(40:48):
feel like you're going to burst,and yet you can't let it out
because you're afraid of whatpeople will think?
Not me, not me.
I'm not going to be that way.
If you are not, I'm notshrinking my vision because you
can't catch up.
God has ordained the footstepsof this pastor, this body, this
building and because he has saidit, I know that he will.
Amen, because he has said it, Iknow that he will.
(41:11):
I will not reduce our footprint.
I will not slow down the changethat God has called and put
into my heart just because wemight not feel comfortable doing
it.
It's not about comfort, it'sabout growing the kingdom.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, I thank you for a mightymove of the Spirit in your
(41:32):
house today.
Father, I pray that you justcontinue to speak into the
hearts of the people who arehere and allow them to live big
for you, jesus, that as we arecontinuing to move to the future
of what God has ordained,father, allow us to be in one
accord.
Allow us to pray in unison thatyour vision may come to pass.
(41:53):
Father, not that we will getwhat we want, but that your
vision will come to pass.
Father, your plan B is greaterthan our plan A and we never
want to slow you down.
We want to stand in agreementin all of the things that you do
.
Father, I thank you for thisbody of believers who continues
(42:16):
to pour into this house.
Father, I thank you for thosein leadership as they help to
make hard decisions for thebenefit of your kingdom.
Lord, continue to lead us,guide us, direct us, put us on
the path that is narrow, so thatwe can focus our eyes on you
(42:39):
and never look back.
Father, the nostalgia in ourhearts is just that.
It's nostalgia.
It doesn't change who you are.
Lord, I thank you and I praiseyou.
I give you all the honor andglory in the mighty name of
Jesus, and the church says amen.
(43:00):
Love you guys.
We'll see you Wednesday night.
So we're going to talk through what just happened
a little bit, mainly becausewhen we did announcements this
morning, you guys were superflat right.
It was rough in this place thismorning and I went back to the
sound booth and I said, lord,whatever you're going to do,
just do it, I'm not going toworry about it, right?
So I was back there minding myown business, just minding my
(00:21):
own business, and Lizzie comesover to me and she goes Pastor
Mike, just minding my ownbusiness, and Lizzie comes over
to me and she goes PastorMichael, do you feel like
there's something that's juststopping the spirit from moving?
I went, yeah, I said I'mwaiting for Holly to turn around
and like, come on now.
The next thing I know Holly'sstanding there tugging at the
side of my shirt.
I'm like see Lord, I knew youwere going to do it.
See Lord, I knew that you weregoing to do it.
So I hope you guys are excited,as I am, for what God is doing,
(00:43):
because I'm going to tell youit wouldn't have started so slow
if it wasn't going to be sogreat.
Amen, amen, because I'm going totell you that God is preparing
us.
I want you to look around andnotice how empty this place is
today compared to last week.
I don't know what attendancewas last week exactly, but we
were pretty close to 100 lastweek.
It's light this week, right,but God knew who needed to be
(01:05):
here today.
Amen, god knows who's going tolisten to this later on too.
Amen, all right.
So here's what I want to startwith.
I want to start with a littlegame.
Okay, young adults who are inour group chat you're going to
know how this message gotstarted, okay, and if you're a
young adult who's not in ourgroup chat and you want to be,
hey, just hit us up.
We'd love to add you becauseit's a lot of fun.
(01:27):
We talk about lots of crazystuff, specifically nostalgia,
right, because nostalgia isreally what we thrive on,
because it makes us not feel soold.
Amen.
I mean, some of you guys werearound when you were counting
with abacuses, around when youwere counting with abacuses,
(01:47):
right, roger, linda, that wasn'tme, linda, that wasn't me, it
was not me, listen.
So nostalgia when we startthinking about old-timey things,
it starts to get us excitedabout where we've come in life.
Our best friends visited us ona whim the other night.
We had no idea they were coming.
They just showed up at ourhouse.
Jenny and Marcus were there, wewere hanging out, we were
chatting, and somebody knocks onthe door and Alyssa and I both
(02:07):
look at each other like why issomebody at our house at like
eight o'clock at night, right,because normal people know
that's bedtime.
Yeah Well, and that was myfirst thought.
It was Beth.
Like I must have missed a calland Beth had shown up.
So I peeked through the doorand I see the husband standing
there and I open the door andthey've got all of their kids
and they just pour in and thenthey scatter like cockroaches.
(02:29):
They've never been to thishouse before.
But the next thing, you know,the kids are all just gone and
we started reminiscing aboutwhere we had been in life and
the first house that theyremember us living in and all of
the things and how far we'vecome.
Life somehow is attached tonostalgia and joy is attached to
nostalgia.
Amen.
How many of you remember yourfirst DVD player?
(02:51):
That's been a minute, right,okay?
Does anybody know what year theDVD player was released in the
United States of America In the90s?
Anybody remember what year?
1997.
Yeah, but 97 doesn't even feellike that long ago, does it?
(03:14):
It's been a minute, y'all, it'sbeen a minute.
Try an 8-track.
Yeah, okay.
So DVD players were released in1997.
Does anybody know how much a DVDplayer costs in the United
States in 1997?
Probably over $100.
Yeah, that's a great guess.
It is in fact, over $100.
(03:34):
Anybody else?
Yeah, so this is a generalprice.
This would be the MSRP, becauseI thought that you know if you
get it at Walmart versus Kmartor wherever.
Oh, these things weren't atGoodwill back then.
They came out in March of 1997.
They were $749.
You can buy a DVD player andthey were this big right, this
(03:59):
wide, this thick, and the littleslot was just a tiny little
thing.
Right in the middle they had aremote that was like this long.
It took four hands to use it.
Now you can buy one on Amazonfor $20.
The remote is this big for itand you can get it in two days.
That was top of the linetechnology back then, right?
So do any of us remember gettingour first DVD player?
Yeah, did anybody remember howmuch they paid for their first
(04:21):
one?
No, okay.
So my first one.
I'll never forget it as long asI live.
My first one came as aChristmas gift for my parents.
Now, I don't know what year Igot it.
I'm guessing it was long after1997 because, let's be honest
with each other, they werespending $750 on one gift.
My parents bought me a DVDplayer.
(04:43):
I remember getting it an oldtube TV to boot.
Like we got the TV, I got theDVD player and I got two DVDs
with it.
I'll never forget that as longas I live.
Matter of fact, I still ownboth of those DVDs because
there's something about thenostalgia attached to those
discs that I can't give up.
Now there's going to come atime when we can't even watch
(05:05):
those anymore.
Amen, because we stream itdigitally.
The first two DVDs that I gotand we are getting to a point
here I promise we're gettingsomewhere.
The Grinch with Jim Carrey.
You guys like that one?
Let's argue that.
Whether or not that is the bestGrinch movie hands down.
Let's argue that.
(05:26):
Whether or not that is the bestGrinch movie hands down, it is,
tina.
I don't care what you say it is.
Now here's the deal.
Why is it the best Grinch movieto me?
There's nostalgia attached toit and there is joy in that.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I like the original cartoon aswell, because I remember
watching that as a kid growingup.
Don't give me none of that lamecrap they're making today.
Right, because I want theGrinch story, right.
(05:49):
And now the new ones are allkinds of crazy and I don't
really fully understand them.
Amen, okay, the other moviethat I got, this is gonna.
Maybe we might pass judgment onmy parents for this.
Okay, because I was a child,maybe preteen.
The Patriot with Mel Gibson, thePatriot with Mel Gibson it was
(06:13):
a little gory for a child slashpreteen, right?
Do you guys remember that movie?
It's a little on the brutalside.
I watched it many years lateron television, like back when
cable was a thing and youactually watch TV, tv.
And there's a lot of blood inthat movie and they turned it
brown to make it look like mudso that it wouldn't be so gory
(06:35):
and graphic for television.
My parents bought that for meas a kid.
Folks, that's probably not agreat decision.
You watched it in school.
Even better, even better.
But here's what I realized.
I went back and I just did somenapkin math.
Do you know what that $750would be today?
In today's money?
$1,450.
(06:57):
That's a lot of money, wouldany of us pay $1,450 for new
technology today?
How many of you have an iPhone16?
Yes, exactly, but we don't knowwe do it.
Why don't we know?
We do it Because we makepayments on it.
Right, we're not going to getinto Financial Peace University
folks.
I want to, but we're not goingto.
(07:18):
The fact is that the older youget, the more you lean into the
nostalgia and you don't need thenew and fun and fancy and
flashy things, right?
Listen, I've gotten to thepoint where I'm almost too old
to use my own cell phone, and Ihate to say that because I'm
starting to get up there withRoger.
Right, I know where mine's atand I can find my glasses, but
(07:39):
my phone will do things I willnever use it for.
My wife makes fun of me.
I got three.
I don't have my phone with me.
I got three cameras on the backof my phone, right?
How many of your phones arelike that?
I have like 42 pictures in myphone and most of them are of
either Pokemon cards that I'mselling or Elvis jumpsuits.
Ask me how many pictures of mykids I have on my phone.
(07:59):
The answer is zero.
I don't use my phone and Idon't take pictures with my
phone at all, it's just notsomething I've ever done.
And so I have this fancy thingthat's supposed to do.
You give me a Polaroid and I'dbe just as happy.
That bad boy just pops rightout and now I've got something
physical I can hold.
How many of us are starting tofeel that way that whenever we
want to get something, we wantsomething physical that we can
(08:20):
hold?
How many of our kids playRoblox or Fortnite or any of
those stupid games, right?
And they want you to buy Robuxand whatever the Fortnite
dollars are.
I don't even know what thoseare.
V-bucks, there we go.
Holly even knew, so that meansgrandma's been suckered into it
a time or two.
Here's the thing that money,once you've spent it, is gone
(08:41):
forever.
And what do they have to showfor it?
Nothing.
And my kids are like well, Icould sell my Fortnite account
for a lot of money right nowbecause I have these skins that
nobody else has, I said untilthey stop supporting the game,
and then it's worthless Becauseyou can't ever use it again,
right?
How many of you had like a 1995Windows PC, right?
Okay, thank you.
(09:01):
Everybody else was like 1995,what's that Windows 95 PC.
Hook that thing up today andtry to use it.
It's not worth anything, unlessyou've got an old game that you
want to install on it.
That PC is useless today, right, and that's what happens to
technology.
So we are somehow attached tothe nostalgia.
So here's what I want to talkabout, all of that.
(09:25):
To say this all right, we getto this point.
There was a line and, by the way, I've memorized both of those
movies Hate, hate, hate, doublehate, loathe.
Entirely right, we get that waywhen we watch something so many
times.
I watched the Patriot and theGrinch so many times because
movies were $30.
I didn't have my own money togo to Walmart and buy a movie.
(09:51):
So I watched those two nonstop.
And there was a line in thePatriot that always struck me in
such a way that I've justalways thought about it.
It's one of those lines thatyou just like it runs through
your head.
And at the beginning of themovie, mel Gibson's character is
teaching his son how to shoot agun and he says to him aim
small, miss small, aim small,miss small.
Now in that moment the son islearning how to shoot a gun.
(10:13):
He has no idea what he's comingup to.
And the next thing, you know,he finds himself fighting in a
war and he repeats to himself inthat war aim small, miss small,
aim small, miss small, aimsmall, miss small.
And when I was sitting down andI was thinking about this
message, it came to me and thisis going to hurt for a second.
(10:35):
Okay, aim small, miss small.
And then God said to me butdon't stay small because they
think small.
God said to me but don't staysmall because they think small.
Don't stay small because theythink.
What does that mean to you See,aim small, miss small is easy.
(10:55):
If I aim short, I'm going tomiss the shot, right.
But why should I stay small?
Because they think small?
What does that mean?
It means that if you havedecided that you are going to be
complacent with what otherpeople think about you, you will
always fall short of what Godhas in store for your life.
(11:16):
He never wanted us to becomplacent.
He did not design us to sit ina seat and do nothing.
He designed us to grow thekingdom, to be forever on the
move for the mission of growingthe kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Amen, that's all he's evercalled us.
It's the only thing he asks ofus, that is the great commission
, to love one another like heloved the church.
(11:39):
This should be simple, butwe've made it complicated.
And why have we made itcomplicated?
This should be simple, butwe've made it complicated.
And why have we made itcomplicated?
Because we hold on to thenostalgia of what the church has
always been.
Right Now, I'll tell you thatI'm not a fan of megachurches
because I don't think thepastors can really know their
people.
Now, done right, done right.
I'm sure there's successfulmodels where they have lots of
(12:02):
people who manage lots of groupsof people.
I'll be honest, this churchgets to 150 people.
I'm not going to be able tominister to every one of those
on a personal level right Now.
I'm not going to say I don'twant that because I want the
kingdom of God to grow.
I'm not worried about organicchurch growing, right, I just
want the kingdom to grow.
If it grows here, wonderful,I'm excited about that.
Look at last week there wasalmost nowhere to sit last week.
(12:24):
Amen, come to the Lentenservice.
In two weeks there will benowhere to sit in here.
Last year we were draggingchairs in at the last minute
because we filled up so quickly.
God is going to do somethinggreat, whether it's here or
somewhere else.
Amen.
Last week at Bethel they seat ahundred people and they were
dragging up chairs, foldingchairs, from the basement.
Whenever I walked in, I endedup standing for most of the
(12:46):
service back towards the back,because there was simply nowhere
to sit.
God is on the move.
God is on the move.
This isn't about us, really.
So I mean, there were peopleeverywhere Like we were stacked
on top of each other, like itwas crazy, and Pastor John
(13:08):
Stevens said hey, if anybodysees the fire marshal, just keep
him busy for a minute so we canall sneak out the side door,
because we were definitelybreaking fire code at that point
.
But God had something plannedfor that night.
Amen and man, were we excited tobe part of that, to be
represented in body here, ourpeople who showed up, and then
to be represented in the wordthrough Pastor Holly.
(13:30):
That was amazing.
It was such a great feeling tobe able to be there.
But we were that church, thatgroup of people, that body of
people.
We were not attached to thenostalgia of our own church in
that moment.
Yes, if you want to see it,you're going to want to be here
early.
Um, we were not attached to thenostalgia of our own church.
(13:50):
Listen, they sang songs that Iwas like, man, this is weird, so
did I, but it was such a changefrom what we do.
They were singing old campsongs, right, and it was
wonderful in them.
I'm standing in the backsinging.
I'm like I didn't even know.
I knew this song Because Godwas doing something in that
place, but I wasn't holding onto what this church was supposed
(14:11):
, what would have been doing,right?
I didn't go in there with aclosed mind going, oh well, they
aren't going to do worship likeus, right?
How many of you have been tothose things at a Presbyterian
church where they do call andresponse Holy smokes, right.
But let me tell you, god hasplaced us there for a reason he
wants us to see and experiencewhat the body is doing.
(14:34):
Amen, okay, off topic, got toget back on here.
Come on, don't stay smallbecause they think small, right,
don't stay small.
You cannot be small because thepeople around you think small,
right.
What does think small mean?
They keep you in a box, right?
(14:55):
If I said to Pastor Holly youknow, pastor Holly, when you
pray for people, you make thepeople sitting in the
congregation uncomfortable.
Or if I said no, no, no, Idon't want you to get the billow
out, because if you do thatit's going to make some people
uncomfortable.
Where's Holly going to end up?
Small?
Now, she's a strong person andshe can process that.
(15:18):
But still, at some point, whenpeople are telling you that
nonstop, you start to loseconfidence in what God has
called you to do.
You start to think about man.
If that's true, should I notpray for people anymore?
And then you find yourself inWalmart knowing that you're
supposed to pray for somebody,and then you don't do it.
And then you know you've gotthat guilt that you're carrying.
(15:40):
Listen, I won't be small,because the people around me
think small.
Amen, okay, all right.
Now we're going to talk aboutsome scripture to back this up.
Okay, we're going to go toProverbs 23.7.
We're going to jump around alot, so write them down.
You can go there if you movefast, but we are going to jump
quite a bit.
We're going to read this onetwice.
We're going to read this in NewLiving Translations and we're
(16:02):
going to read it in King JamesVersion, proverbs 23.7.
They Well, that seems like aweird scripture to try to back
that up.
So let's read it in the KingJames Version.
It says but his heart is notwith thee.
(16:35):
That passage of scripturesuggests that our thoughts shape
our reality, right?
So if my thoughts are that,praying for people, I was like
who's blowing me?
Kisses, the baby was eating.
I was like, ooh.
It suggests that our thoughtsshape our reality.
(17:04):
So if we believe that we aresmall, we will only ever operate
small, right?
So if your thoughts are well,prayer doesn't change my life,
you won't pray.
If you don't believe thathaving hands laid on you is
going to make a difference inyour life, then you will never
(17:25):
come forward for a healing andyou will sit there and think
well, that's not for me.
Amen, all right, matthew 25,that's not for me.
Amen, all right, matthew 25.
It's 24 and 26.
Now, we've already covered thisone.
We're going to cover it again.
Then the servant with the onebag of silver came and said
Master, I knew you were a harshman, harvesting crops you didn't
(17:47):
plant and gathering crops youdidn't cultivate.
I was afraid I would lose yourmoney, so I hid it in the earth.
Look, here is we're going tostop there?
I guess I apparently didn'tplan that one out all the way.
(18:09):
All right, the passage warnsagainst fear-based thinking.
Right, I was afraid that youwould punish me if I X, right?
So now we're thinking smallbecause we're afraid of
everything that happens in ourlives.
Well, if I X, we'll talk abouttithing on this one.
(18:31):
If I give 10%, will I be ableto pay my gas bill?
If I give 10%, what wouldhappen if I need extra groceries
?
We already know we can't outgive God.
We already know it.
So why do we operate in fearall of the time?
We operate in fear because wethink small.
(18:54):
We're only focused on the thingthat is in front of us and not
the world that is around us.
See, we aren't kingdom-mindedanymore, we're fleshly-minded,
and we're so obsessed andworried about the things of the
flesh that we can't get past andget into the spirit.
Some of you are like PastorMichael.
I pray every day, Do you,though, when you go to God, do
(19:17):
you say to God Lord, whatever itis, let your will be done.
Or do you say, lord, I reallyjust need a new car today, right
?
Are we asking for selfishdesires?
Are we saying, god, here I am,use me Right.
You ever found yourself prayingagainst somebody?
Woo-hoo, lord, have mercy, allright.
(19:39):
Hebrews 5.12.
You have been believers so longthat now you ought to be
teaching others.
Instead, you need someone toteach you again the basic things
about God's word.
You are like babies who needmilk and cannot eat solid food.
(20:06):
Small-mindedness limitsspiritual growth Amen.
Mindedness limits spiritualgrowth Amen.
So when I sit in my seat and Ithink, well, I'm offended
because I know he's talkingabout me.
I'm upset because I think he's.
(20:28):
I think somebody told himsomething that I said listen,
shut up.
It's not about you, right?
If you're feeling that way,that's called conviction, right,
and what that means is youprobably need to be at the altar
praying for your heart setright, because the spiritual
condition of your heart is alittle bit on the hard side, and
maybe you don't know that.
Maybe I'm telling you that forthe first time.
(20:49):
That's okay, don't be upsetabout it.
Sometimes we don't allowourselves to be pliable to the
things that God would want tohave happen in our lives.
Sometimes we want to putourselves into that small
thinking box so that we don'thave to.
Is it really 1021 or 1121?
Oh guys, I'm sorry, can we go alittle bit late.
(21:09):
Can you give me five minutes,are you guys?
Okay?
If you have to leave, that'sfine, I understand, but I can't
stop, okay, all right, what wasthat?
What were we on just now?
Hebrews, I've got like a bunchmore guys, I'm sorry.
Isaiah 54, 2 through 3.
Oh, listen, listen, listen.
(21:32):
Enlarge your house, build anaddition, spread out your home
and spare no expense.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Let me tell you that doesn'tjust mean the storehouse, that
means your own house.
Right, we should be expandingour footprint.
Why?
Because if we expand ourfootprint, god's footprint gets
(21:54):
bigger.
Right, let me tell you that wecannot continue to be
little-minded about the bigthings that God is doing today.
Amen, for you will soon bebursting at the seam.
Do you remember what I saidabout this place last week?
There wasn't a seat left inhere.
Listen, we cannot continue tothink small.
We have got to start thinkingmuch larger than anything that's
(22:17):
happening today.
Look around, there's lots ofempty seats today.
Right, that's okay, because youguys are the ones who need to
hear it.
Why do you need to hear it?
Because you're the ones thatshould be behind the vision.
Those other people are the oneswho are visiting.
Right, they're the ones thatwe're trying to love into the
kingdom.
But if you're sitting here weekin and week out, you should be
catching a vision.
(22:37):
Right, you should be going,lord, have mercy, lord.
Have mercy, lord.
Whatever it is that you wouldhave happen in our house, let it
happen quickly.
Let it happen quickly becausewe want to love the people who
can't be loved anywhere else,and I'm going to tell you we
love a lot of people that wouldnot be loved anywhere else.
I'm one of those people.
(22:59):
I'm a lot to deal with.
Right, you send me over toDenison Foursquare.
Pastor Rod's going to be likePastor Michael, you're going to
have to go somewhere.
Right, pastor Michael, I loveyou, but, man, you just need to
take it down a notch, pastor,but listen, john Stevenson said
last week at the Lenten serviceshe was a quiet little thing
(23:21):
until she wasn't, and that wasthe truth.
I don't know what happened.
I was sitting in the front rowand I was, like you could tell
she was a little bit nervous.
That's fair Bunch of peopleshe's never met Some people that
she's met in past ministry, andshe's sitting there and she
just had this little bit of ashake to her hand while she was
talking and I'm like, lord, justgive her peace, give her
strength.
God, lord, just keep moving.
(23:41):
And I'm sitting next to JohnStevenson, who I know can hear
me, and I'm okay with that.
And then all of a sudden, boom,there she is.
Everybody's hair blew back fora second.
They were all.
But you know what?
God did something in that place, right.
But see, we can't continue tothink small, because if we think
small, there will never begrowth.
(24:02):
Listen when your pastor say toyou hey, you really need to move
into or you need to try, or youshould do this, isn't us saying
we want you to serve here.
We're saying God is telling usthat you need to move, right,
god is saying let's go, becauseif we continue to think small,
we will continue to live small.
Amen, okay, where's my?
(24:23):
Is that right?
I always get nervous now when Ido the first and seconds because
I'm like did I screw that oneup?
I did figure out what I did,though that was my bullet point.
One that was and I read it thatway four times.
(24:47):
That was embarrassing.
Anyhow, after I realized that Iwas good, for God has not given
us a spirit of fear andtimidity, but power, love and
self-discipline.
Hallelujah, thank you, jesus.
Fear keeps people thinking small, right, if I'm afraid I won't
(25:09):
do, if I fear I can't have youever said, oh, I can't do that,
right, oh, I no, I can't do that.
I could never do that I can't.
I remember Tina Bober told meshe couldn't be on council and
then all of a sudden she was.
She needed to pray about it andwhen she realized that she
(25:34):
didn't have to be perfect tohave that seat, right, that's
what matters.
If we operate in fear, we willnever be good enough to do what
it is that God has called us todo.
Amen, all right, what was that?
It was Isaiah.
No, that was Timothy.
It was second Timothy.
All right, jeremiah 29, 11.
Oh, for I know the plans that Ihave for you, says the Lord.
(25:57):
They are plans for good and notdisaster, to give you a future
and a hope.
Come on church.
If we can't get excited aboutthe fact that God has already
ordained our footsteps today,amen, listen, I don't have to
think small because God hasalready seen it.
Amen, he's already done it,he's already got it in plan.
(26:21):
Listen, here's what I believe.
I believe that God is going tohave somebody write this church
a check.
I don't know who it is yet.
Tanya, I'm looking at you.
No, I'm just kidding, but Iknow that something big is going
to happen here Now.
Here's the thing that I'm notsitting.
I'm not sitting on my hands,pretending like it doesn't take
(26:42):
some work on my part too.
Right Like I.
If I don't go out and tellpeople about who Jesus Christ is
and about the building that Iserve in, how will they ever
know that we're here?
How will they know where towrite the check?
Right?
They got to know whose name toput on the top of that check.
Amen.
And so that is part of themission that God has put me on
to continue to grow thisbuilding right.
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That's why I'm here.
He's placed me here for such atime as this, right Now.
Listen, we built a brand newsanctuary off the back of the
building and he could strike medead the next day.
That might be the only planhe's got for me, I don't know,
but I'm going to fulfillwhatever vision he has put into
my brain.
Amen, amen.
Okay, where are we at now?
Jeremiah 29 11.
(27:25):
Thank you, romans 12 2.
Thank you, romans 12.2.
Right, like we're just hittingthem all right.
But this is the point is thisis all reaffirming what we
already know about who God is.
I'm not giving you scriptureyou've never read before, right?
We've all seen these before.
It says don't copy thebehaviors and customs of the
(27:47):
world, but let God transform youinto a new person by changing
the way you think.
Are we catching on yet, folks?
This is about the way that wethink.
If we think small, we staysmall.
God has never designed us to bethat way.
Alright, that was Romans 12 2,ephesians 3 20.
(28:11):
Now, all glory to God, who isable, through his mighty power
at work within us, to accomplishindefinitely more than we might
ask or think.
Listen, I walked in here thismorning, tired, right, and I
(28:33):
said Lord, I'm going to need youto give me a little extra boost
.
He said have a coffee.
And then I said no, lord,that's not what I mean.
And he said don't you worry,I've got you and I know that
every time I step into thepulpit, he's got me.
I never worry about myself, Iworry about allowing him to work
through me.
But see, if I think small and Imake it about me, I will always
(28:57):
be small and it will always beabout me, amen.
And then what do you gain fromthat?
Nothing, except for the world.
And I don't think any of uswant that.
Matthew 17, 20.
You don't have enough faith,jesus told them.
(29:18):
I tell you the truth if you hadfaith, even as small as a
mustard seed, you could say tothe mountain move from here to
there.
And it would move.
Nothing would be impossible.
The lack of faith in who God islimits our thinking.
Amen, we all say.
(29:42):
Well, I don't think I couldreally move a mountain If you
believed you could.
You could, because that's whatthe Bible says, right, and we
talk about.
Well, I have my own Goliaths.
You're right, you do.
But I'm going to tell you, if abig enough giant walked up to
you, you could slay it in themighty name of Jesus.
In the mighty name of Jesus,you can do anything.
(30:04):
Right, it sounds crazy, butit's true.
It can be done.
But you limit our faith in God.
We think small, so we are small.
We act small.
We talk small.
Okay, 2 Corinthians 9.6.
Remember this a farmer whoplants only a few seeds will
(30:29):
grow a small crop, but the onewho plants generously will get a
generous crop.
What we put in determines whatwe get out.
That's a basic concept, right?
If you think big, you receivebig.
If you think small, you receive.
(30:51):
You guys already got this.
Why am I even up here?
I'm up here because today youget it.
You leave this place and it'sgone, right, and we start
putting God back in the box andwe start thinking small again.
All right, 1 Corinthians 3, 1and 2.
Is that right?
(31:13):
What did I give you?
Or did I just skip that one?
Well then the Lord says we'reskipping it.
The next one you have is James 1.
Is that right?
Okay, but when you ask him, besure that your faith is in God
alone.
Amen, your faith is in Godalone.
Do not waver, for a person withdivided loyalty is as unsettled
(31:37):
as a wave of the sea that isblown and tossed by the wind.
Such people should not expectto receive anything from the
Lord.
Their loyalty is dividedbetween God and the world, and
they are unstable in everythingthat they do.
Amen Again.
This is an easy concept.
We cannot be split between theworld and our relationship with
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Christ.
I have to live in this world,my flesh has to live in this
world, but my spirit wantsnothing to do with it.
My spirit wants to live inharmony with God, right, and
that means knowing who he is andhaving faith big enough to know
that he will do all things.
Amen.
Okay, what was that?
(32:21):
That was James.
Philippians 3, 13 and 14.
No, dear brothers and sisters, Ihave not achieved it, but I
focus on this one thingforgetting the past and looking
forward to what lies ahead.
Oh, that hurts the nostalgia,right, doesn't it?
(32:45):
Stop thinking about the thingsof the past and look forward to
the things ahead.
I press on and reach the end ofthe race and receive a heavenly
prize for which God, throughChrist Jesus, is calling us.
See, when we live in thenostalgia of what the church has
always been and what it shouldalways, listen.
The new, the new age churchdoesn't have it all figured out,
(33:07):
but neither did the otherchurch, right, the church has
grown and developed becausethat's what God has called us to
do, amen.
Let me tell you something.
You go to a Methodist churchthat's still stuck in its 1887
ways and it feels like you're inthe 18, like you got to put on
your prairie dress, and you knowwhat I mean.
Right, I'm not saying anythingbad about the Methodists, but
(33:28):
I'm saying that there aredenominations, there are
churches, there are bodies ofbelievers who don't think that
the church should move forward.
I'm going to tell you somethingI cannot look back.
I have to look forward, becauseif I'm looking back, I'm
missing what God wants to do.
Right, because back then theyweren't serving drug addicts
like we are today.
Back then they weren't servingprostitutes like we are today.
(33:51):
Right, the church has to be aplace where everybody can come,
walk through the door and feelwelcome.
I don't know how we do it.
I haven't figured it out yet,because if I had, this place
would be full every Sunday.
But let me tell you, he's givenit to us a little bit at a time
and we're going to keep workingon it and we're going to figure
(34:14):
it out.
But we're not going to lookback on the things that the
church used to do.
Amen.
We've got a foundation.
We know that Jesus Christ isthe base of all things that we
do.
We look to him and only to him.
Amen.
John 10.10.
The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.
(34:37):
My purpose is to give them arich and satisfying life.
What does that mean?
That means that if we think big, we receive big.
If we think small, we receivesmall.
I do not want to be inrelationship with the devil
because he's going to kill,steal and destroy every good
(34:57):
thing in my life.
That's what he's going to take.
And can I tell you something?
When you speak it out loud,that's when he takes it right.
Whenever you say well, you knowwhat.
My wife and I have a rule inour house, and this is not a
joke, I'm going to share thiswith you guys.
Like, if you want marriageadvice, this is tip number one.
Okay, don't ever use the worddivorce.
If I walk up to my wife and Isay to her I want a divorce, you
(35:20):
know what she's going to sayDone, whether that breaks her
heart or not, whether that ripsher insides out or not, because
if I've said it and that's whatI want, then there is no love in
that relationship.
Right, that we are not equallyyoked and man has pulled apart
what God has brought together.
Amen, that is not.
It's not a joke.
Now don't get me wrong.
If she, like, goes toMcDonald's and gets something
(35:41):
for the kids and doesn't getanything for me, I'm going to
tell her well, I'm going to keepthat up.
That's, that's divorcinggrounds and things like that.
But we know that there's anever in an argument.
Would I ever leave the houseand tell my wife I'm just, I'm
going to file for a divorce?
I would never, ever, and I knowthat if I did that, I know
where I'm going to be Divorcecourt right, because in the heat
(36:05):
of the moment I will thinksmall.
I will think small and I willnot receive what God has put.
Listen, life is hard, folks, andit doesn't get easier.
The more you know Jesus, theharder life seems to get right.
The closer in relationship youcome with him, the harder life
becomes.
(36:25):
Because if it were easy, if itwere easy, then the enemy
wouldn't exist at all.
Right, because he wouldn't havea hope.
He listens to the things thatyou speak out loud, he hears the
words that you say and then heruns with it.
You know what I'm not worthy ofserving.
I'm not worthy, I'm not capable, I'm not whatever.
(36:48):
You're right Now.
You're not, because the enemyhas taken that and it's taking
root in your life.
It is taking root in your life,all right.
The last one Deuteronomy 1, 6and 7.
It says when we were at MountSinai, the Lord, our God, said
to us you have stayed at thismountain long enough.
(37:09):
It is time to break camp andmove on.
Go to the hill country and tothe Amorites and all of the
neighboring regions the JordanValley, the hill country, the
western foothills, the Negev andthe coastal plain.
Go to the land of theCanaanites and to Lebanon and
(37:30):
all the way to the greatEuphrates River.
Think small, be small.
If you stay in one placeforever, you will never
experience what God has for you.
I have an Amish friend.
I'm going to share this storyand it's a little bit.
It might feel emotional orchaotic, but in the Amish
(37:51):
community a lot of times thegirls are very naive to what
happens in the world around thembecause they have a very close
family right.
And I have a girl who works forme.
She's a wonderful girl.
I've met all of her sisters.
I've met her family.
I used to take them back andforth to work and recently her
youngest sister got a job at asmall grocery store and while
(38:11):
she was working there, a girlconvinced her that her family
was abusive.
Now I'm not part of theirfamily.
I don't know if that's true ornot, but do you know what she
convinced her to do Move toIndiana.
This girl's 16 years old,because at 14, they're
considered adults, they're donewith school, they're making a
(38:34):
decision to become part of theAmish church, so this girl who
convinced her to leave helps herpack up and moves her to
Indiana.
Now this is all in the cover ofdarkness.
The family is not aware ofwhat's happening and just one
morning she's gone and they'vetried to reason with her and
they've tried to explain to herthat this is not safe for you.
(38:57):
Now she's part of anon-denominational church and
she believes that she should bespreading the gospel to all of
the corners of the earth.
But the problem is that allsounds good on the surface, but
they're doing this to more Amishgirls in other communities
where they're taking them fromtheir families.
What does that sound like toyou?
(39:18):
A cult?
It sounds very dangerous,doesn't it?
And the unfortunate part is isyou can't change that mindset
once somebody's gotten thatfoothold.
Think small, live small.
Now I ask pretty regularlyhow's your sister?
Have you heard from her?
And we pray for that sisterregularly, just that she would
be able to see what's happeningand that she would be able to
(39:39):
break away and come home.
That's scary, right?
That could happen to any one ofus and any one of our children
at any given time.
Because that's how the enemyworks, right?
He will guise what it is thatyou're doing with something that
looks shiny and looks fruitfuland looks healthy and happy,
until you get there and yourealize, oh boy, oh boy,
(40:01):
shouldn't have been there,shouldn't have done that.
All right, don't stay smallbecause they think small.
If you stay in places wherepeople don't understand you,
then you will eventually shrinkyour gift to a size that they
can stand.
Amen.
(40:24):
I'm not shrinking my gift forany of you.
I'm not.
You don't like it, that's okay.
I don't need you to like it,but I need you to know that God
has ordained that and if that'swhat he's calling for me, then I
am going to do it.
You will find yourself trappedin anxiety and depression and
stress, stress all because youhave allowed yourself to be told
that you are small.
Can you imagine having so muchJesus inside of you that you
(40:48):
feel like you're going to burst,and yet you can't let it out
because you're afraid of whatpeople will think?
Not me, not me.
I'm not going to be that way.
If you are not, I'm notshrinking my vision because you
can't catch up.
God has ordained the footstepsof this pastor, this body, this
building and because he has saidit, I know that he will.
Amen, because he has said it, Iknow that he will.
(41:11):
I will not reduce our footprint.
I will not slow down the changethat God has called and put
into my heart just because wemight not feel comfortable doing
it.
It's not about comfort, it'sabout growing the kingdom.
Amen, let's pray together.
Father, I thank you for a mightymove of the Spirit in your
(41:32):
house today.
Father, I pray that you justcontinue to speak into the
hearts of the people who arehere and allow them to live big
for you, jesus, that as we arecontinuing to move to the future
of what God has ordained,father, allow us to be in one
accord.
Allow us to pray in unison thatyour vision may come to pass.
(41:53):
Father, not that we will getwhat we want, but that your
vision will come to pass.
Father, your plan B is greaterthan our plan A and we never
want to slow you down.
We want to stand in agreementin all of the things that you do
.
Father, I thank you for thisbody of believers who continues
(42:16):
to pour into this house.
Father, I thank you for thosein leadership as they help to
make hard decisions for thebenefit of your kingdom.
Lord, continue to lead us,guide us, direct us, put us on
the path that is narrow, so thatwe can focus our eyes on you
(42:39):
and never look back.
Father, the nostalgia in ourhearts is just that.
It's nostalgia.
It doesn't change who you are.
Lord, I thank you and I praiseyou.
I give you all the honor andglory in the mighty name of
Jesus, and the church says amen.
(43:00):
Love you guys.
We'll see you Wednesday night.
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