Stretch And Reach

What if God is asking you to make room before you see any reason to? Today we open Isaiah 54 and hear a clear charge: enlarge the tent, stretch the curtains, do not spare, and drive the stakes deep. The message moves from the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 to a harvest that demands preparation, inviting us to act on God’s word before results show up.

We unpack how faith prepares ahead of time—like setting extra places at the table because you trust the guests are coming. On the personal side, that looks like praying bold prayers, obeying when it’s costly, and trusting God to work in your heart, relationships, and calling. For ministry, it means planning for new people and new leaders, creating space where the lost are welcomed, the saved are formed, and the sent are equipped. We talk frankly about the danger of chasing growth without depth, and why roots must precede reach if we want fruit that lasts.

Then we turn to the stakes that keep a life and a church from blowing over: Biblical preaching that feeds the soul, sound doctrine that holds when culture shifts, prayer that refuses autopilot, intentional discipleship, humble leadership, and honest righteousness. Our confidence is not in a strategy but in the gospel. Jesus was pierced so we could be planted, crushed so we could be commissioned, and raised so we could move in resurrection power. We’re launching new groups, multiplying leaders, expanding space, and laying out a three-and-a-half-year mission plan—not to look impressive, but to be faithful to what God is doing among us.

If you’re ready to stretch by faith and strengthen your foundation, this conversation will give you language, courage, and next steps. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find the message. Where is God asking you to make room today?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Series Context
• 0:22 Isaiah 54: Call To Prepare In Faith
• 3:36 From The Cross To Harvest
• 6:59 Stretching Faith Before Fruit Appears
• 12:05 Practical Ways To Stretch Personally And In Ministry
• 18:15 Gospel Foundation For Bold Expectation
• 22:13 Strengthen Your Stakes: Deepen Foundations
• 28:40 Roots Before Reach: Doctrine And Discipleship

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Ministry of Pastor Timothy Madd and Providence Church or Providence Church is a local assembly of followers of Jesus Christ dedicated to helping people become committed and mature followers of Jesus Christ. Now, here's Pastor Timothy Mann teaching the word.

SPEAKER_01: 0:22

Isaiah chapter 54. If you are new, we're in the middle of a series. This one that we're in right now really has a lot to do with the directional life of the church, but also ourselves individually. We've been calling it Growing God's Way. Isaiah 54. We're going to be reading verse 2 and 3. The Bible says, Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited. We'll stop here. This is God's word. Have you ever sensed that God was preparing you for something? I mean, even before you saw any evidence of it. Sense that God was preparing you for something even before you saw any evidence of it. Maybe it started as kind of a stirring in your soul, or maybe just a growing sense that change was coming. Because that's exactly what Isaiah 54 is all about. God calls his people in Isaiah 54 to prepare in faith before the blessing arrives. He calls his people to prepare in faith before the blessing arrives. Now let me give you the context here of Isaiah in general, where we are. Isaiah 53, very famous passage in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 53 has just revealed the suffering and the triumph of the Messiah, Jesus, the servant who would be pierced for our transgressions. And now Isaiah 54 shifts focus. It goes from the cross, the harvest begins. From barrenness comes fruitfulness. And God gives a call here to his people. He says, Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. I would say to you this morning that these are not poetic musings at all. They're actually prophetic imperatives, prophetic commands. God says, get ready for more. Get ready for more. Stretch. Lengthen. Strengthen. Prepare. Provenant church, I believe that's where we are as a church. We're not coasting, we're climbing. We've seen that the last few years especially. We're not just maintaining, we're multiplying. And as your pastor, I want to tell you very plainly this morning: now is not the time to play it safe. In our lives individually. Now is not the time to play it safe in your life individually and as a church. It's time to step out in faith and prepare for what only God can do. And this passage encourages us to embrace a spiritual and missional vision for growth in our lives and as a local church. This passage actually urges us to expand our perspective, strengthen our foundation, and live with kingdom expectation. Not because we're impressive, but because God is faithful. I would say now is the time to pray bold prayers and to make courageous plans and open wide the tent flaps for those God is bringing. Not for our fame, but for the glory of Christ and for the good of others. So let's lean into this call this morning for a few minutes. In other words, let's stretch. What we need is we need to believe God for more. We need to deepen our foundation, and we need to expect God to move in our lives and in the church. Let's look at this. Isaiah 54, the first part of verse 2. Enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Very clearly, what the Lord is telling his people here is you need to believe me for more and stretch your faith. So God here is not offering some kind of gentle suggestion, but he is issuing a divine command. Enlarge, stretch. Those are two words that are verbs, action, words in this verse. Enlarge, stretch. These are directives. These are not optional choices. And these words were spoken to a people who had experienced devastation and who had experienced exile. Because Israel had faced barrenness and loss and sorrow. And yet God is speaking to them as if abundance is already headed their way. Isaiah 54, I didn't read this verse, but Isaiah 54, verse 1, you might look at it in your Bibles there. It actually begins with a very surprising invitation. Chapter 54, verse 1 says, Sing O Baron. B-A-R-R-E-N. Sing O Baron. Now that's not exactly what anyone expects to hear from someone who's faced infertility and despair. But God says, sing now. Go ahead and sing now, because fruitfulness is on the way. And he says, then he says, enlarge the place of your tent. That's tent language. That's, I believe it's tabernacle language. It takes Israel back to their days of journeying with God in the wilderness. We're going back to Exodus again. It takes God, for those of you who are new this morning, everybody's chuckling about that because I preached verse by verse through the book of Exodus, and it only took us two years. So I believe this language here takes Israel back to their days of journeying with God in the wilderness after God had brought them out of Egyptian slavery. So when they moved, when he moved. When his manifest presence moved, they moved. And they lived with mobility and dependence and expectancy. And in Isaiah 54, God tells them to prepare for more. More people, more presence, more mission. But I want you to notice what comes first. It doesn't involve manpower, it doesn't involve money, it doesn't involve methods. It actually begins with faith in God's word. Faith in God's word. One thing I've noticed through the years is God's pattern throughout Scripture is to speak before the work becomes visible. He called creation into existence with a word. He gave Abraham a promise before revealing the land. He told Joshua that the walls of Jericho would fall before they did. He spoke to Mary about Jesus before she ever felt a single kick in her womb. That's how God works. He speaks, and then he calls his people to respond in faith. Romans chapter 4, verse 17 tells us that God, and I quote, calls those things which do not exist as though they do. He's God. He can do that. And I believe that's what he's doing here. He's telling his people to prepare for something they hadn't seen yet. To enlarge the tent before the first guest arrives, or before the first generation is born. Faith, what faith does is faith responds to God's word even when the work hasn't yet become visible. And Providence, I believe, this is the kind of faith that God is calling us to. I believe he's calling you to that kind of faith as an individual. We don't wait until we see the harvest to start building barns. We prepare ahead of time. We believe before we see. Let's not retreat into spiritual survival mode. As a church or individually. God is not calling you to comfort. He's calling you to courageous faith. He's saying about your life. Make room. I'm not done. I'm about to move. In your life. Make room. I'm not finished. I'm about to move. But if we're honest, we often do the opposite, don't we? You know what I mean? We shrink the tent. We lower our expectations. We pray safe prayers. We do ministry, if we do any at all. That doesn't require much faith. We hedge our obedience. And we call it wisdom. Or if we want to sound real spiritual, we call it good stewardship. Good stewardship. Let me ask you. Are you honestly expecting God to move in your life? Are you honestly expecting him to move in your life? Are you honestly expecting him to move in your service to him? Whatever that might be. Are you, when you came here this morning, when you arrived on the parking lot, did you walk into this room today and start greeting other people having already had the had the full honest expectancy that God was going to be moving in our church? We have to be the kind of people who stretch. Not because we're strong, but because he is faithful. So let's get practical. What does it mean to stretch your faith? Well, let's talk personally first. Personally. Are you trusting God for deeper growth in your walk with Christ? Are you trusting God for deeper growth in your walk with Christ? Alright, let's take it to the next level. Are you actually asking God to work in your own heart and in your own mind? Is that a regular prayer? Are you asking God to work in your heart and in your mind? Are you asking him to work in your relationships? Are you asking him to work in your family? Are you asking him to work in your calling as a Christian? Are you actually praying boldly and believing God will use you where you are? In ministry? Are you helping lead people or your ministry area if you have responsibility? Are you helping lead people and your ministry area with kingdom expectation? Are you actually preparing for new people, for new leaders, for new disciples? Are you creating space for the lost to be found and the saved to be sent? As a church, these are questions I'm asking. Are we preparing our schedules, our structures, and our budgets for the growth we pray for? Are we creating environments that actually welcome the broken, disciple the saved, and equip the sent? Because stretching faith in my life and in your life, stretching faith involves obeying during difficult times. It involves giving when resources are limited. It involves serving despite the cost. And it involves trusting even when the result isn't visible yet. That's what stretching faith is. Faith stretches before fruit appears. Obedience comes before the outcomes. Preparation precedes provision. I mean, it's like the widow in 1 Kings chapter 17 who made a cake of bread for the prophet Elijah before the flower multiplied. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read 1 Kings 17. Or it's like Peter casting his net again after a fishless night. Or it's like the disciples handing out loaves of bread before the miracle. We're actually called to step out in faith and trust the God of the harvest. Imagine you're setting up your house for a big dinner. You pull out extra chairs, you set more plates, and you extend the table, and maybe someone walks in and says, Are you having company? And you smile and say, Not yet, but I've invited them. I believe they're coming. That's the kind of faith that Isaiah 54 describes. You actually stretch before the guests arrive because you believe that the God who calls is the God who brings the increase. We'll talk more about that next week. So why is it that we actually can live with such kind of bold expectations? I would say this, it's because Isaiah 54 follows Isaiah 53. See, the prophetic call here to enlarge the tent comes after the suffering and the atonement of Christ. Jesus was pierced so we can be planted. He was crushed so we could be commissioned. He rose so we could walk in the power of the resurrection. And our boldness to follow in faith is not rooted in our strength or even in some kind of great church strategy. It's actually anchored in gospel certainty. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2 says, looking unto Jesus. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He starts it, he sustains it, and he will finish it. And so the call to stretch doesn't begin with our effort. It starts with Christ's finished work. Because he died, we live. Because he rose, we reach. And because he is returning, we stretch. God is calling us to believe him for more in our lives and in this church. Not just for numbers, not for people's applause, but for the sake of souls and for the glory of Christ. For the mission of God in our community and beyond. This is not about being impressive. It's about being faithful. So I want to ask you, will you pray like revival is possible? Will you? Will you serve as if souls are at stake? Will you actually participate or even lead like eternity matters? Because we're not just building our own lives. American Christians are so selfish, so self-centered. We've been taught to be that way. We're not just building our own lives, or buildings for that matter. We're building people. We're not just managing ministries, we're making disciples. We're not just dreaming, we're depending on God to do what only God can do. So, Providence, folks, this year and in the coming year, we're going to stretch as a church in some very real ways. That's going to be launching new Bible fellowship groups, expanding, or at least beginning to, expanding ministry and worship space, multiplying leaders and disciple makers, and also unveiling a three and a half year strategic mission plan soon. But none of it matters if our faith isn't being stretched along the way. So let's respond to the call. Stretch your faith. Prepare the tent. Make room for the move of God in your own life. And our church. What else do we see, though? The second part of verse 2. The word says, Do not spare. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. So the Lord here is telling us, and he told Israel, strengthen your stakes. That is to say, deepen your foundation. Deepen your foundation. The imagery shifts here. After the call to stretch, God gives a command to strengthen. Because I want you to hear me very clearly, one without the other is dangerous. One without the. What I mean is this: you can't extend a tent outward if the stakes aren't driven deep into the ground. You can stretch the fabric, you can lengthen the cord all you want, but without firm anchors, the whole thing collapses in the wind. That's true in church life, and listen to me, it's true in your spiritual life. Absolutely true in your spiritual life. It's not enough to look like growth is happening in your life or as a church. It's not enough to look like growth is happening. We must have the depth to sustain it. And so the longer the cords, the deeper the stakes must go. God here isn't just calling us to expand, he's calling us to deepen. To build a foundation that lasts. To prepare for growth, not just in numbers, but in health and in maturity and in spiritual power. We all need that. We need spiritual health. We need spiritual maturity and we need spiritual power. So we have to deepen our stakes. Throughout Scripture, we see a clear connection between spiritual fruit and deep roots. Psalm 1. Psalm 1. You should read it and study it if you never have. Psalm 1 describes the righteous as a tree, and I quote, planted by rivers of water, and one that brings forth fruit in its season. Colossians chapter 2, verse 7 urges believers to, quote, be rooted and built up in him, meaning Christ. Ephesians 3.17 speaks of, and I quote, being rooted and grounded in love. See, fruit without a root doesn't last. Expansion without depth doesn't endure. And so if we're going to stretch wide, we must first go deep. And that's true for you as an individual. That's true for your family. That's true for ministries. That's true for churches. Well, what are the stakes? In Isaiah's day, obviously, tent stakes were hammered deep into the ground to keep the tent from collapsing. And spiritually, the stakes represent our foundation in Christ. Those core elements that anchor us when life gets stormy. Because it will get stormy. Also, those stakes that anchor us when ministry gets stormy. Because that happens in church life sometimes. So what are the spiritual stakes that must strengthen? Well, first of all, I would say biblical preaching and teaching. We have to ask ourselves: are we receiving and are we proclaiming Christ-centered truth that feeds the soul? Another stake is sound doctrine. Sound doctrine. Are we grounded in biblical theology that actually holds up when the culture shifts? Prayer. Are you seeking God's presence or are you running on spiritual autopilot? And then discipleship. Are you personally seeking to be formed as a mature follower of Jesus or just being an entertained attender? Which are you after? Biblical leadership. That has to be a stake in the ground, too, that goes deep. Biblical leadership. I'm talking about are we as a church raising up shepherds and leaders who serve with integrity and humility? Righteousness. Righteousness. Are you personally pursuing repentance and accountability? Not just reputation and trying to be relevant? See, if the stakes are shallow, then everything we build in our life and in the church is vulnerable. If our stakes are shallow. But if our stakes are strong, I'm talking about deep, I'm talking about tested, I'm talking about anchored in Christ, then we then can actually stretch wide with confidence. Because of that. See, growth without depth isn't health. There's a quiet danger in chasing growth. We can actually prioritize size over strength. We can prioritize activity over maturity. We can prioritize visibility over stability. And I got to remind myself and I got to remind our pastors and other church leaders on a regular basis, even a BFG leader. Jesus didn't say build crowds. He said, make disciples. Make disciples. Not build crowds, make disciples. Because a class, a church can get bigger while getting weaker. That's not what God wants. And that's not what we want in Providence. We want gospel growth. We want authentic health. We want real transformation. And that takes time. That takes depth. That takes commitment. Broad reach with shallow roots leads to collapse. Deep roots lead to lasting fruit. That's why we preach biblical doctrine. That's why we want to disciple intentionally. That's why we want to walk slowly and wisely when it comes to leadership and also ministry multiplication. Because if we don't strengthen our stakes, the tent won't hold. I mean, just picture two tents set up on the beach. One is stretched wide and it looks impressive and it's cool. It's got the logo and all that stuff, you know, but the stakes are barely pressed in the ground. The other might be smaller over here, looks maybe older a few years back, and but man, it's anchored deep and those cords are pulled tight. And then the wind kicks up, which it always does eventually. And that one, oh, what happens? You ever been on the beach and you see somebody easy up rolling down the beach? You know what I'm talking about? Maybe that happened to you. Anybody that happened to you before? Yeah. Bruce, you're the only honest man in the room. God bless you, my friend. It collapses. It's damaged now. And the anchored one stands. Listen, Christian. Listen, church. We're not called to just look strong. We're called to be strong. To dive this, drive in the stakes of doctrine and discipleship and righteousness deep into the ground of God's word and the Holy Spirit. Only then can we weather the storms of life and the storms that come in ministry? Well, what does this look like for us? Let me go the other way. Let me start church and go down from there. I think this is a call to strength, this call to strength and really applies at every level. As a church, I'm asking questions with the other pastors and the rest of the ministerial stuff. Are we actually building deep foundations through teaching and Bible fellowship groups and leadership development? We're going to focus really on that a lot the next three years. Are our ministries more about spiritual maturity than they are surface activity? And are we preparing structurally and spiritually for sustained growth over the long haul? Then as leaders, we have some leaders in the room. Are we actually raising up others? Are we just doing everything ourselves? Are we training leaders who are doctrinally sound and spiritually mature? But on a personal level, are we modeling the kind of death we want to see in others? That the Bible says ought to be there. And then as individuals, let's make it personal. Thinking about these tent stakes. Are you rooted in the word? I'm not talking about your pet favorite verses that you pull out. I'm not talking about the kind of on coffee cups and plaques on the wall, taken out of context. Are you really rooted in the word? I'm not talking about some kind of systematic doctrine that somebody somewhere taught you. Are you rooted in the word of God? Are you part, actually part of the community in this local church? And are you walking in practical righteousness, not perfection? We all need massive amounts of grace and mercy. Can anybody witness? We all need massive amounts of grace and mercy. But are you walking in practical righteousness, not perfection? You're yielding to God's word and the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus. And are you being sharpened by others? So you can't stretch far spiritually if you're not anchored deep.

SPEAKER_00: 28:43

The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of God stands forever. That's Isaiah 48. Thanks for tuning in to the Foundations of Truth Podcast with Pastor Timothy Mann from Providence Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. Join us next time. And until then, keep building your life on God's eternal truth.