Sunday July 19th: Little is Much

Do you ever feel like you are not enough? Do you ever feel like you're not good enough? On Sunday July 19th, Pastor Tommy spoke a prophetic word into the house to build and encourage the church.

Transcript

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Thank you for joining us for another life-giving message at Generations United Church.

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Be the center of it all. Reset us. Refocus us.

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Adjust every area of my life and our life. And let us not live by human effort. But let us live by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the name of the Father, the Son, and our dear friend the Spirit, we pray. Amen. You can be seated this morning. It's the band's just going to hang around. Just keep the house slice down, guys. The band's going to hang around. First, thanks to the ushers for the audible. I told Pastor Nathan right before we started this service, I said, hey bro, we're running a different play. You're taking up the offering. And the ushers are going to come up. So that was a very unusual offering moment of the day. The ushers, if you miss the offering and you want to participate, the ushers will be by the door on the way out, and they're armed in case you don't give. Sometimes in doing church, we get so focused on doing church that we lose focus on like Jesus. And I'm so grateful that Pastor Nathan and Brittany and and the team just centered our hearts on Jesus this morning because I needed that. Didn't you need that? I just want to speak tenderly to you this morning. I just want to speak to you a word from the Holy Spirit. And as your pastor, I've I've given you lots of sermons. This is not a sermon. This is a word from the Holy Spirit. And so the the sermon I preached in the first service, they they got something of this word, and then they got a sermon, but you're just, we're going right in this morning. You know, there's a moment in Jesus' ministry where his cousin is killed. His cousin John is thrown in prison. And uh he got on the wrong side of power. He got in trouble for telling the leader that he shouldn't be having an affair uh with basically, I think it was his brother's wife or something like that. And then there's a birthday party, and you know, I'm just connecting the dots here even now. There's a birthday party, and there's uh a girl, young girl that dances, probably in some seductive form. And it so pleased the ruler that he said, What do you want? What do you want? And his her mother said, Tell him you want the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And so she goes to the ruler and she says, Give me the head of John. So they go to the prison and they cut John's head off. And they bring the head of the greatest prophet that ever walked the face of the earth back to the king on a platter. But even though they could cut off John's head, they couldn't stop John's message. Even though they could stop John's word, they couldn't stop the living word. And so Jesus is just heard that John is beheaded. And the disciples came and they took away the body and they buried it and they went and told Jesus.

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The disciples came and they took away John's body. They buried it and they went and told Jesus. And when Jesus heard it, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the multitudes heard of it, they followed him on foot from the cities.

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And when Jesus went out, he saw a great multitude, and he was moved with compassion for them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away that they may go into the village and buy themselves food. And Jesus said to them, They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat. And they said to him, We have here only five loaves and two fish, and he said, Bring them here to me. And he commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples. And the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and they were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. And those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. We're in the middle of something that I think if we'll be faithful in following the voice of the Holy Spirit, that we will look back on and we will say, it's just unbelievable what God did. You know, I think the Holy Spirit is going to be poured out on this house. And I think that thousands and thousands of people are going to come through this place. And it's not going to be by human effort. It's going to be when people are tired of showing up to parties where the word of God is just silenced. Where they silence the prophets. People are sick of watching all the dancing just to see the word of God cut off. People are sick of the show of religion. People are sick of the show and the charades of American Christianity. People are sick of celebrities. They're sick of what has become a worship industry. They are sick and tired of watching the prophetic voice of God be cut off so that people can dance stupid dances and play stupid games and stupid parties. He was before this world was made. Try and stop Jesus. He will have his way. And the people that are hungry will find him. They'll find him in the highways and the byways. They'll find them here and there. They'll find him in the weirdest places, the places nobody else would look. There's Jesus. Where's Jesus? He just goes to get some rest. He's tired. Jesus was tired. He was a man. He was tired. He was bone tired. They had just cut off his cousin's head. He was probably next. And so he gets away, and his disciples are with him, and all of the people will not leave him alone. They will not let the poor dude just relax. And they go to him out in the middle of nowhere because they were sick, because there was nobody at the other party that could help him, because the ruler of the other party was being seduced. And when all the powers of the world had fallen short, when all of the government opportunities and initiatives had fallen short, when there were no men and women of God who could hear the voice of God and act with the power of God, the people just went to where Jesus was. Because the people know that when Jesus is in the room, he can do whatever he wants to do, and he is not bound by stupid, petty games. Jesus is the center of the party. It's the center of the party. Our team has been going really hard lately. It's like two a day practices right now, if you work with me. We're just going hard. Our team was just tired. And to be honest with you, I get a little tired here and there too. I'm a man just like Jesus. And I sometimes it's hard to get away. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I don't read my Bible. Sometimes you wake up in the morning and you don't read your Bible. Now I try and listen to it on 1.5x speed on the way to work. Because I got meetings, you know. Sometimes I don't want to pray. Can I be really honest with you? My mind doesn't like to pray real long. I never pray for real long, but I never go for real long without praying. My mind likes fifty, it likes 15-second prayers. That's about all it can handle. God, you made this mind, so if you want to fix it, fix it. But otherwise you're gonna get 15, you're gonna get tweets from me all day long. That's what you're gonna get. It's the best I've got. Last week I was just tired. And I I was just, as the kids say, I was cooked. Now don't go, listen, I I'm fine. If you want to buy me a massage, I'm here for it. But other than that, I'm I'm fine. I'm fine. Save me the emails. I love you. Fine. And I uh I just was like, God, where, where? I know the way back to you. I know it's gotta be centered and simple and silent and clear and calm. I know that you're not in all of the you just I know if I could just find, I just, where are you? I just gotta get away. I just need to find you. I need to find you, I need to find you, and I just need to find you. Can you help me find you? I don't, I I want you. And I went to sleep in the middle of my dream. In a dream, I was throwing one of my kids a birthday party. How many of you know whenever you throw your kid a birthday party, it's nothing but work for you so they can have fun? You're welcome. And in the dream, I actually my Aunt Tina was there. So cool what God's doing in their life. And um we're getting ready for the party, and we have all of the accoutrements. And then people start showing up for the party. Oh hey, oh hey. But then the strangest thing started happening. People that we didn't invite to the party started showing up to the party.

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And I was just like, who are you? Where have you come from? Why are you at my party? Like, you weren't even invited.

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They just kept they just kept coming, kept walking in, and then the next thing I know, these big double decker buses start coming in, like the San Francisco party buses. People are hanging out of the windows. They're like, we're here for the party. I'm like, you weren't invited to the party. And then at the top, there's no roof on the second level of the bus. They're like, We're here, we're here to party. These people just want to party. And I'm like, I didn't invite them to the party. And then I started to panic. And I turned to my Aunt Tina and I said, What are we gonna feed all these people? Like, how am I supposed to feed all these people? And then in the dream, the Lord said to me, son, that's the church. And I've already fed them. You don't have to worry about what you're gonna feed them. I've fed them. I've got them. I'm like, but I should run to Publix and get some. It's like they're fine. They're going to be fine. That's the church. They're just coming. Busloads of them just coming in. I'm like, how do I even? They're fine. I'm gonna feed them.

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They're fine.

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You know, I don't know how your Bible reads. But when I read Matthew chapter 14, Jesus just needs to get away from everybody.

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They just killed his cousin. He's like, I gotta get away. He just takes his close friends. He's like, we gotta get out of here. Somebody launch the boat. Matthew's gassing up the boat. They launch the boat.

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They're halfway to Crab Island. And nobody should be out there this time of day. All of a sudden, everybody just starts coming in, just boats from everywhere. And the disciples are like, it's getting late. How are we gonna feed all these people? And Jesus turns to him, he's like, Well, looks like the Chick-fil-A boat's already gone. It looks like Yeah. Why don't you give them something to eat? And they're like, Jesus, we didn't pack a lunch. And Jesus looks over and there's one little kid up on the hill by himself over there, just crowds of party boats everywhere. He looks at the kid and he has to say, Hey, that kid's got something. We'll see what he's got. The disciples go over there. They say, Hey buddy, what do you have? He says, All I have are some of these cheddar biscuits from Jim and Nick, sir. I also caught two mullet. Uh five cheddar biscuits and two mullets, sir. And then Jesus says, whenever they come to him, he's like they're like, he doesn't have much of anything. And Jesus is, Jesus just says to him, hey, hey, just give me what you have. Just give me the five cheddar biscuits and the two mullet. Just give me the five loaves and the two fish. And the little 13-year-old little Billy is just like, sir, why are you taking my lunch? And they say, Jesus, Jesus is about to do something. He's like, what is Jesus gonna do? They're like, we have no idea, but he does the craziest stuff, trust me. And then Jesus says, everybody sit down. And Jesus starts doing Jesus stuff. Every time he takes bread, he takes it and he blesses it and he breaks it and he gives it. Whenever Jesus handles bread, he takes it, he blesses it, he breaks it, and he gives it. And by the time it was done, it was more than enough. Here's what I want to say to you this morning. God is gonna pour out his spirit on this church, and they're going to come in like double decker party buses. And it's not about what we can feed them, it's not about what we can give them, it's not about any show, it's about none of that. It's about the fact that nobody else has a party worth attending, but the kingdom of God, when Jesus is the center, is a party that is worth showing up to all the time, every time, every day of the week. And we're not prepared for it, we're not ready for it, and we can never have our game together enough and enough supplies. All we can do is say, Jesus, we're going to throw a party. Jesus, you're going to be the center of the party. Jesus, we want you at the party. You are the point of the party. And if you'll make Jesus the center of the thing, then he will bring the people to the party and they will have more than enough for what they need. But I want to say something to you. I want to say that maybe you're like me. Maybe like me, you feel like what you have is not enough sometimes. Maybe like me, you wake up in the morning and you're like, I know I'm supposed to read my Bible, but it's Tuesday. And Tuesdays are always buzzsaws. Maybe you're like me, and you know where you should be, and you know where you are. And the space between where you are and where you should be is what you focus on. And what Jesus wants to say to you is I'm not worried about how much space is between where you are and where you think you should be. All I'm concerned about is what you have. Jesus, all I've got are a couple of prayer tweets. Tweet it and I'll retweet it. Jesus, all I have is just a little desire. The eloquent language of the Holy Spirit is desire. Jesus, I don't know what to say, I don't know how to pray. Give me your heart and I'll multiply what you have. Don't focus on where you're not. Offer him what you have. Jesus only wants. I'll deal with him. Jesus, I'm not like what she is. I'll deal with her. What's that to you? For you, just give me what you have. And some of you walk in so much shame and so much condemnation, but I'm here to tell you, listen to me. The moment Jesus showed up to the party of your life, the condemnation has to stop. If you're in Christ, you're a new creation. You are enough because he is enough. You have enough because he has everything. You don't have to measure the gap and figure out how to close it. You just say, Jesus, I'm right here, I'm right now. Jesus, I'm addicted to porn. And Jesus says, Son, I know. I'm aware. Been here the whole time, sat with you the whole time. Not afraid. I'm not ashamed of you. He meets you right where you are. Jesus, my marriage is falling apart. I don't know how to fix my marriage. He's like, Good. Glad you finally came to that realization. I do. What do you have? I not much. Actually, I don't like her very much. Okay, fine. Sometimes she's not very likable. I agree with you. Also, you're not very likable. But you're lovable. So why don't you start just by offering her the love that you have rather than looking at the marriage you think you ought to have? God, my kids are driving me nuts. Okay. Completely understandable. I'm aware of your children. What do I do? What do you what's the first step? I just feel like I'm supposed to pray for them, but I'm tired of praying for them. Just pray one more day. I just feel like I'm supposed to spend more time with them. Then get off your phone. Don't measure the space between where you are and where you think you should be. Focus on what you have. I've got five treader biscuits and two mullet. Muy bien. Give me what you have. So I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you're going through. But my guess is you see where you could be and you know where you are, and all Jesus wants you to give him is the little bit that you have. And in his hands, little is much when God is in it. And in his hands, little can be multiplied to not only give you everything that you need, but to give all of the people around you what they need to. You don't have enough to throw the party that God wants to throw with your life. God has a destiny for your life that is bigger than you, sir. And you're like, but I'm only this, and Jesus is like, perfect. Let's start there. I said something earlier. The eloquent language of the Holy Spirit is desire. So all he wants is the yearning of your heart.

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Join us next Sunday at 9 and 11 a.m. You can also connect with us on social media or online.