WEBVTT 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.320 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:25.359 MetaCurch, how you guys doing? 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:26.320 Yeah. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.039 Welcome into week three of our barrier to entry series. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.640 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.719 I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:41.200 We have been focused on the vision that God has given us for the next five years of our movement. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:48.719 It's a vision of kingdom expansion, and it's rooted right out of Jesus' instructions right before he ascended back to heaven. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:50.960 We find this in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. 00:00:51.119 --> 00:01:01.920 Jesus said this, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:23.040 What we find in Jesus' instructions about his movement that we're still a part of is that there should be an expectation of expansion, that the good news of Jesus, what we call the gospel, is not something for us to keep for ourselves, but we are supposed to do whatever it takes to get that gospel to as many people as possible. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:30.159 We took these instructions in Acts 1.8, and we see this concentric strategy that they started in Jerusalem. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:31.439 That's exactly where they live. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.920 And in the next five years, we're gonna focus right here on where we live in the San Antonio area. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.599 And so we have a big, God-sized, audacious vision. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:40.879 We've been saying it like this. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:48.719 In the next five years, we will have a meta church venue within 20 minutes of every person in San Antonio. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.920 I'm fully convinced the Holy Spirit will lead us to accomplish this. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:59.280 Realistically, that looks like starting somewhere between two and four new locations here in our city. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:05.599 And we plan to start this year by opening our second location in the Hilotus area. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:09.439 The staff here at MetaCurch, who just helps organize our movement. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.319 We've been working behind the scenes on this for quite some time. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.439 However, the staff alone is not the movement. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:21.199 It takes all of us, and for us to see this vision through, all of us have to be ready to move. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:36.159 2024 will be a massive year for us, but anytime you have this size of a vision, and anytime you make plans to advance the kingdom of God at this rate, you can be sure that you land directly on the devil's radar. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:40.000 He will throw any and every obstacle he can in our way. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.759 That's why we're in a series called Barrier to Entry. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:46.159 Now, this series is operating on two levels. 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.199 It's operating on the level of our movement and how we can move forward with the vision that God has given us. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.000 It's also operating on the individual level. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:03:11.120 You know that we believe you were created on purpose, and God created you with purpose, and in your individual life, living a life of power and purpose and impact, you will have your own barriers to entry, obstacles and things holding you back from all that God has called you to be. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:18.159 The verses that we're looking at throughout these four weeks speak to us as both a movement and as individuals. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.080 Now, last Sunday we dove in. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.719 It was a reminder for those of you who are a part of MetaCurch. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:29.840 And if you're new, something that you'll learn quickly is I see it as part of my job to always be upfront with you about what's going on in our movement. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:40.080 We celebrated the fact, and that's very rare, we have everything we need here at Metachurch to make a massive impact in our city and beyond our city. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:48.159 I've been in ministry for 17 years now, and I've never seen a movement of people so positioned and so primed to do something significant. 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:50.719 We have people and we continue to grow. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.080 We have passion, like just heaps and heaps of passion. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:55.520 We have missional clarity. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:56.719 We know why we're here. 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:59.439 It's not to sit in a service and check a religious box. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.800 We are here to do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.120 We have passionate people with missional clarity and a massive vision to organize ourselves around. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:16.639 We were also very honest that we have one barrier to entry here in our metachurch movement, and it is our finances. 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:19.680 I told you that in the last three years, we've more than doubled in size. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:29.199 In fact, we've grown by about 150%, and in that same time span, in those three years, our annual budget has grown by less than 20%. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.000 Obviously, that's not okay, and that could be a major barrier keeping us from where God has called us to go. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.519 So we decided to do something about it together. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.279 We are literally tearing down that barrier to entry brick by brick. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:47.920 And we're gonna keep it going today with a message I'm calling nothing except. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.279 Nothing except. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:50.399 Would you pray with me? 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.000 Jesus, we love you, we thank you for your great love for us. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:07.279 We recognize that when we step out with big steps of faith, that there will be obstacles, there will be barriers, impediments to our path. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:15.920 And we're just here learning how to trust you, even when it seems like things are impossible, even when we can't quite see the way forward. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:24.399 That we can trust you, that you've given us what we need, and that if we give it back to you, you will use it to move us past our barriers and into our destinies. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:26.079 And so teach us again today. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:27.920 We love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.920 And everyone said, Amen. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.519 We're gonna be in the Old Testament. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.959 Last week, if you were here, we were in the Gospels of the New Testament, looking at the feeding of the 5,000, really more like 20,000. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.480 It was just 5,000 men. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.680 Today we're gonna see another miracle of multiplication. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:50.800 This story in 2 Kings happened about 900 years before the feeding of the 5,000. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:52.959 And yet you'll see many of the same themes. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:00.079 In 2 Kings 4, it says, One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, Your servant, my husband, has died. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:05.519 You know that your servant feared the Lord, and now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:07.759 And Elisha asked her, What can I do for you? 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:09.759 Tell me, what do you have in the house? 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:15.040 And she said, Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:20.800 And then he said, Go out and borrow empty containers from all your neighbors, do not just get a few. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:27.279 Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these containers, and set the full ones to one side. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:33.920 And so she left, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers and she kept pouring. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:37.279 And when they were full, she said to her son, Bring me another container. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.560 But he replied, There aren't any more, and then the oil stopped. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:47.519 And she went and told the man of God, and he said, Go and sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:53.279 This is the second week in a row that we see a story of miraculous multiplication. 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:59.839 Last Sunday we saw Jesus take a few loaves and a few fish and feed like 20,000 hungry people. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:05.199 And we focused on the disciples who were looking in the wrong place and were focused on the wrong things. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.639 That was a story of an inconvenience. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:17.360 It was a story of a crowd of people, and it was kind of past dinner time, and the real issue is they were getting a little bit hangry, you know. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:26.879 Like that was the biggest problem of the day, is their tummies were rumbling a little bit, and if they couldn't find some food to eat, then they would probably leave, and Jesus wasn't done with his sermon. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.600 And so Jesus cared for these people, and it's not that it didn't matter, but those were the stakes. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.680 Nobody was gonna die of starvation. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.839 People were just kind of hungry. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:37.839 Today is a different story. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:45.040 Today is a story of sheer desperation, a story where truly lives are on the line. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:52.399 I want you to understand the stakes and all of the barriers to entry that the widow was facing in 2 Kings. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:59.439 In verse 1, we read: one of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, Your servant, my husband, has died. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.600 And you know that your servant feared the Lord. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:05.680 Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:07.360 So what's going on here? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:12.000 In this one verse, if you're paying attention, there's so much pain. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:15.120 Let's talk through the widow's barriers to entry. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:20.319 Number one, she's a woman in the ancient world, which is a barrier all on its own. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.839 In a real sense, she's more or less a second-class citizen. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.680 She has very few rights, she has almost no means of producing income. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:29.839 Also, her husband has died. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.200 So she's a woman in the ancient world who is now a widow. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:38.000 Not only is she a widow in the ancient world, she also can't make ends meet. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.559 And she has two children to take care of. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.879 And if all of that isn't bad enough, they don't outright own their home. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:54.399 And so the creditor is coming, he's gonna take away her sons as bondservants and hold them in order to pay off her debt. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:09.360 Now, she doesn't have to give her kids up, but if she doesn't give her kids up, then she will lose everything, including her home, which would make her homeless, her and her children homeless, and put them in a very, very difficult position. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.159 She's in the definition of a lose-lose situation. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:17.360 Either she loses her home and all her possessions, or she loses her sons. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:21.840 Now, just one of these problems would be enough to overwhelm anyone. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:27.919 Putting all of these problems together in one circumstance is almost impossible to fathom. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:32.480 Now, wisely, she turns to the great prophet of God, Elisha. 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:35.919 In verse 2, Elisha asked her, What can I do for you? 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:39.279 Tell me, what do you have in the house? 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:41.360 Such an interesting question. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:43.600 What do you have in the house? 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:51.039 Remember, I told you that this is about 900 years before Jesus and the feeding of the 5,000. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:55.600 But they both stand in harmony in this one crucial way. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:01.840 Remember, last week the disciples, struggling to figure out how to feed the masses, were looking in the wrong place. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:06.159 They were looking to what the leadership had or what the big donors had given. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:12.639 But the miracle started by something that was found in the crowd: one little boy's lunch. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:20.879 Likewise, Elisha says, this miracle, and it is gonna take a miracle, is going to come from what you already have. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.759 What is in your house? 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.279 What resources do you have that God could use for the miracle that you need? 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.000 What has God already blessed you with? 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.320 What is he already put in your hands? 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:39.279 What do you have that God could use to move you into the new season he's called you into? 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.919 And her answer is so instructive. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:50.080 And I think it gets to the heart of how so many of us feel when we sense a calling from God on our life. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:52.879 Elisha asked her, What can I do for you? 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:54.080 What do you have in the house? 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.080 And she said, Your servant has nothing. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:01.759 She's going to Elisha for help. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:03.840 She's going to Elisha for resource. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:05.840 And he kind of turns it back on her. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:06.960 What do you have? 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.039 And she's quick to say, I have nothing. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:17.919 She doesn't realize that God is wanting to use what little she has as the catalyst that she desperately needs. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:26.960 She can't even comprehend that she might have something of worth, something of value, something that's useful, something that could change things. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.279 She is honest though. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:33.120 And she figures if I'm gonna lie to anyone, I better not lie to the prophet. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:37.919 So she says, your servant has nothing except. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:40.320 Now, what does accept mean? 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:45.519 Accept means I have already decided that this doesn't count. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:49.120 I've already decided that this is useless. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:54.720 I have nothing except a small jar of oil. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:02.480 This is like if you forget your wallet at the dinner, and then they look to you to pay the check, and all you have is a pocket full of coins. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:07.200 You might say, sorry guys, I have nothing, you know, except a little bit of change. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:14.000 Except means I know it won't work, I know it's not enough, I know it doesn't measure up, I know it's not a value. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:21.039 I have nothing except oil, which is another way of saying that oil is basically nothing. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:26.320 I've already ruled it out as an option of something that could be useful. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.600 This oil is not even helpful oil. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.559 It's not the kind that you can cook with. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:36.240 This was a certain kind of oil that was used for bathing. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.480 It was a luxury when what she really needed was sustenance. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:45.200 A true barrier to entry is having nothing. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:48.240 But that's the problem. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.159 She doesn't have nothing. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:56.399 She's just already counted out the very source for the miracle that God is counting on. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:06.240 And so I wonder in your own life, what you have already counted out, set aside, put on the shelf, predetermined, that God could not use. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:10.320 What part of your story or your hardship, what pain from your past? 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:19.759 I wonder what gifting or talent or part of your personality that you have already set aside and just decided, you know, I don't really have anything except for this. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.240 And obviously God couldn't use that. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:31.279 You know, another way that we talk about this, the way that we belittle the blessings that God has put in our life is by putting a just in front of them. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:39.200 Like I'm just a mechanic, or I'm just a middle manager, I'm just a college student, or it's just a crazy dream. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.320 It's another way of saying nothing except. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.240 I don't know how many times I've asked women, well, well, what is it that you do? 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:51.120 And they say, Oh, I I I do nothing except I'm a mom. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.799 I'm just a mom. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:02.559 I do nothing, you know, except raise the next generation of leaders, except manage an entire household, except keep my husband from burning the house to the ground. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:10.559 Like, like you put a just where God has asked you to trust, that He has blessed you with something, that you have something of value. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:16.240 We count the things out that God is counting on to do miracles in our life. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:22.399 Someone somewhere along the way convinced you that what you have is not enough. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:34.879 You have false narratives that run through your head, convincing you not to take that step of faith, not to try, not to believe in yourself. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.840 What if we are just a local church? 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:42.879 We don't have enough? 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:44.639 We've already seen that. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.960 What if we stop there and lose faith? 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:59.679 So many of us have already limited what God wants to do in our lives because we believe that the something that God wants to use is actually a nothing. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.080 What do you have in the house? 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.840 And she said, I have nothing to accept. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.240 And here's what her story teaches us. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:15.840 If you can trust God with your accept, then he will use it to do something exceptional. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.480 What do you have to heal your marriage? 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:19.679 I have nothing. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:25.440 What do you have to reconnect with your kids, to advance in your career, to impact the people around you? 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:28.000 I have nothing to accept. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:34.720 And maybe God can take the thing that you see as an exception and use it for something exceptional. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:41.759 In verse 3, Elisha said, Go out and borrow empty containers from all of your neighbors. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.480 Do not get just a few. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:49.120 And now we're moving to the nuts and bolts of how the miracle is actually going to proceed. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.879 At this point, she has no idea why she needs these containers. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.879 She doesn't yet know the miracle, but she acts in obedience anyway. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:03.200 Now remember, last week the problem was people were getting a little bit hungry. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:07.679 This week, the problem is that lives are on the line. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:12.639 She's either going to lose her sons or she's going to lose her home. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:17.120 Either way, she is going to live in heartbreak or homelessness. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.639 She is desperate. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.519 And she begins to act with desperation. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:26.399 It's interesting that Elisha doesn't give her a number. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.679 Go get some empty vessels. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:31.919 Go find some containers. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:33.440 How many? 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.120 He says, Do not get just a few. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:39.919 Now, for me, I'm a planner. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.720 For me, I'm a strategist. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.240 You know what I want? 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:46.080 I want a number. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:50.240 I need you to get 117 Tupperwares. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:52.000 That's what I want to hear, right? 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:53.759 I want to know the plan. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:55.519 Look, here's what's gonna happen. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:17:01.440 The oil's gonna keep coming out, and you're gonna keep filling them up, and then I can put it into a formula, right? 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:06.480 All right, so my mortgage is this much per month, and then I need about seven months to get by. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.680 MSRP on oil right now, on resale value. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:16.319 I can get a formula together, I can make a plan, I can execute the plan, and I can move forward. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:21.599 And sometimes we want the formula and God just wants to stretch our faith. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:33.039 Sometimes we want to know the end and every step in between before we're willing to go knock on one door and see if we can borrow some pots and pans. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:37.039 We want to know the full picture before we will take a step in faith. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:53.839 And if you're waiting to have every single blank in your formula filled out before you're willing to start taking steps of faith, following God into the unknown, walking into your purpose, understanding a life of impact, then you might spend the rest of your life standing still. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.440 God desires our faith. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.400 Elisha doesn't give a number. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.880 There's no quota, there's no formula or equation. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:11.200 He says, get some containers, don't just get a few. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:21.039 And she acts, and her sons act in the desperation that is necessary for the situation that they find themselves in. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:27.599 They act in desperation as if lives are on the line because lives are on the line. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:30.720 They're knocking on every door. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:35.119 You know, some of your neighbors, you like them, y'all smile at each other. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:40.720 You know, you you drop off Christmas gifts, and then some of your neighbors, you just gossip about them and they gossip about you. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.359 And the neighbor next door and their dogs won't stop barking. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:45.039 I'm getting kind of personal about my own life here. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:47.680 And and and then you got the neighbors all the way down the street. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:55.359 They shoot fireworks at two in the morning when the new year is at midnight, and after midnight, you got a 15-minute window, then you gotta shut it down because I got kids trying to sleep. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.160 You know, every neighbor begging them, and you don't even know what to tell them. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.000 I just look, this is crazy. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:05.440 I just need your pots, your pins, your Tupperwares, your bowls, your cups. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:06.400 I need your vases. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.960 If I could get your bathtub, I don't know if your bathtub comes out. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.440 I need all your containers, and I might give them back. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:12.640 I might not. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:17.599 Every neighbor, desperately, as many containers as possible. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.599 Let me tell you why I like this story for what we're doing here at Meta Church. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.039 Last week we saw the feeding of the 5,000, and it's a beautiful story about trusting God with what little you have. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:33.200 But the problem was a little bit of hunger. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:37.119 In this story in 2 Kings, lives are on the line. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.000 And that's a great analogy to what we're doing here as a movement. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:52.160 At the core of our faith, at the core of the gospel, is that our sin has separated us from God both here and in eternity. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.000 And God is the source of all that is good. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:07.599 And so what we are risking when people do not know the good news of what Jesus has done for them is eternal separation from their heavenly Father and therefore from every single thing that's good. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:11.839 Lives are on the line. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:28.799 And when the church forgets that lives are on the line, we grow content to stay put and to sit in a service and check a box and feel like we did something because we sang some songs and heard a sermon. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:45.759 Forgetting that the mandate is to go to the ends of the earth and to do whatever it takes and to lay our lives on the line and to live lives of sacrifice that mirror the life of sacrifice that Jesus Christ Himself lived as the example for us. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:21:04.720 We should be moving towards our vision, and we should be moving towards removing any barrier to entry in the way of our vision with the kind of urgency and desperation that shows that we understand that lives are on the line. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:07.599 God has given us what we need. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.400 The oil is in the house. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:12.400 It may not seem like much. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:16.240 You know, I got I got other pastor friends in town, you know. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:22.000 Some of them are in more churchy church settings, maybe, you know. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:23.920 They do a good job. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:27.359 We'll talk, talk shop, you know. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:31.599 They're blown away of what we're doing with what we have. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.519 They'll look at our annual budget, and they will try to kind of hold back their laugh. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.119 It's not much. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:40.720 You know what? 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:59.519 Even if we just have a little bit of oil in this house, even if we just have a little bit of oil in this movement, if we're desperate, and if we can be open, and if we can find empty containers, if we can make room for the oil of God to continue pouring out in our movement, pouring out in our life, and pouring out in our city, pouring out the gospel on people who are living without the hope of Jesus. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:10.559 We can see miracles with the little bit of oil that we, as broken, jacked up people have, giving it back to God, taking steps of faith and seeing Him do miraculous things in this movement. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:11.359 Amen. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:18.240 So let's see the miracle in verse 4. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:25.200 Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons and pour oil into all these containers, set the full ones to the side. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:26.319 And so she left. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:31.359 And after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing her containers. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.960 And she kept pouring a little bit of oil, miraculously, just keeps filling, keeps filling, keeps filling. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:44.720 They keep bringing containers, and as long as there are containers, the oil continues to flow. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:48.799 And when they were full, she said to her son, Bring me another container. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.359 But he replied, There aren't any more. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.279 And then the oil stopped. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:00.000 And she went and told the man of God, and he said, Go sell the oil and pay your debt. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.640 You and your sons can live on the rest. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:08.880 The provision continued as long as empty vessels were available. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.400 The oil was her exception. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:17.599 I have nothing except a little bit of worthless oil. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.599 But to God, she had exactly what she needed. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:27.039 I told you last week, other than finances, there is nothing holding us back. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:33.440 You may not see it, but God has positioned us with everything we need to take this movement to the ends of the earth. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:39.440 The oil is here, the Holy Spirit is with us, the gospel cannot be stopped. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:42.880 I've been in church ministry for 17 years. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.799 I've never seen a movement so ready to do something significant. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:49.839 We have passionate people and clarity of vision. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:51.279 So rare. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.880 So what do we need? 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.119 We don't need to win the powerball. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:05.279 We don't need to compromise the mission to try and entice in some big donors. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.359 What she needed was already in the house. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.400 What we need is already in the movement. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.880 And all we have to do is be open vessels. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.799 All we have to do is be open vessels. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:22.559 Empty containers. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:28.960 All we have to do is make room for what God wants to do in our lives. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.799 I told you this week we were gonna see desperation. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:37.039 This woman and her sons are moving with purpose. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.799 They're moving like lives around the line. 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:43.119 And the same is true for us. 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:54.640 A world is desperate for hope, is dying in darkness, and Jesus called us the light of the world, and he put the hope of the world in us. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:58.000 How many containers did Elisha need? 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:01.599 We do not just get a few, is what he said. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.640 How many bricks do we need? 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.119 I don't exactly know. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.599 I don't exactly care. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:23.359 What I'm confident of is as long as we are willing to make the sacrifices, to make room, to open ourselves up as empty vessels, the miracle will continue multiplying among us. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:33.039 A little bit of oil can't open a new metachurch location or get the gospel into new parts of the city unless it's in the hands of the Almighty God. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:39.200 In God's economy, your sacrifice will be miraculously multiplied from here to eternity. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:41.200 That's just how God works. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:42.480 We saw it today. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:49.440 If you can trust God with your accept, then He will use it to do something exceptional. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:56.240 In the next five years, I believe we're gonna start two to four metachurch locations here in the city, but it starts today. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:06.640 It starts with the little bit of oil that we have here at MetaCurch, and it gets multiplied by you choosing to make room for what God wants to do and be an empty vessel. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:08.799 We have everything we need. 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:13.359 Here's what we need to allow God to remove our barrier to entry. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:14.480 We saw this last week. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:22.160 We must commit to incremental increase in our giving, to allow God to bring exponential impact to our movement. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:26.559 We must commit to incremental increase in our giving. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:34.720 We have seen where we have fallen short over the last three years, and you guys have already spoken loudly that you want to do something about it. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:46.000 We started with 800 bricks on this stage, and just last week, in our first of three weeks, you guys removed 250 of these bricks. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:46.880 Amen. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:55.839 For those of you who are joining us for the first time, let me explain what we're doing. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.119 I like to make things visual. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:01.519 I asked the team to build me a giant brick wall, 800 bricks. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:10.480 And the way this is working is every brick represents an incremental increase of$50 a month in your giving. 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:12.640 $50 a month. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:27.759 At the end of each service, the band will play and you'll have the chance to commit to that incremental increase of$50 a month by coming up, grabbing a brick, and then scanning the QR code that's on the back of your seats, it'll be on the screen as well, and setting up a recurring gift. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:32.960 There are well over a thousand adults who call MetaCurch their movement. 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:42.000 That means if every adult over the next three weeks could make room for$50 a month, we would actually remove this entire barrier. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.480 The money is out there. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:47.200 We have everything we need besides that. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.200 It's the one barrier. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.319 And so I'm asking you to make room. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.400 As long as there's room, the oil continues to flow. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.240 You guys know there are all kinds of things that cost$50. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:06.079 Nowadays, you can't go out to eat without spending$50, and that's not at a sit-down, that's at a drive-thru. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.400 Like things are escalating. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:16.079 I saw this week that the average car payment in 2024, the average car payment, is now over$500. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:20.400 Yeah, let me tell you how lost I am in this series. 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.839 I've been studying on it for a couple months. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:27.200 I'm so lost in the series, I got tempted to trade in my 20-year-old truck, and you know my first thought? 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:28.799 That's 10 bricks. 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:30.880 That's my first thought. 00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.279 Like there's room out there. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.359 And if we can make room, the miracle will continue to flow. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:40.480 Being an empty vessel means you're available. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:44.960 It means you're making room for what God wants to pour into you and into your movement. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:53.119 It means maybe one less shopping spree per quarter, maybe some more discipline on Amazon.com, maybe brewing some coffee at home. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:59.039 Little simple sacrifices that in God's hands becomes a miracle. 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:00.799 So let me be as clear as possible. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:06.160 I'm asking everyone who can to make an incremental increase of at least$50 a month. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:12.960 If you're not giving consistently right now, then start by grabbing a brick and setting up a recurring gift for$50. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.559 Now, not everyone can do that right now. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.640 Maybe this isn't your season. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.119 Maybe you're like way over your head financially already. 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:29.759 I want to ask you to keep praying with us, to keep showing up, keep serving, keep moving with us. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.480 Some of you may be on the other side of that where God has blessed you with a lot of resource. 00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:40.240 Perhaps it's been a while since you've really looked at what you're giving in the offering. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:45.119 For some of you, realistically, you could increase$200, maybe$300. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:53.440 If that's you, if you can go up$200 more a month, incremental increase, I want you to come and grab four bricks. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.119 It's visual. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:02.319 We're moving the barrier step by step, brick by brick, empty vessel by empty vessel. 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:08.319 If you're joining us online, we've had so many people online who have participated in this already. 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:16.960 We're gonna have a link that you can set up your recurring gift and simply put in the chat one brick, three bricks, whatever you're going to commit to, and we will pull those bricks for you. 00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:20.480 If you get a brick, I'm asking you to set up a recurring gift. 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:24.000 Inconsistent giving is very hard to plan off of. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:32.079 Recurring gifts we can forecast off of, which means we can plan off of, which means we can start taking steps towards the vision that God has given us. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:34.799 Let me show you what it looks like when you scan the QR code. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:36.640 It's gonna come up on recurring. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:43.680 If you want to give once a month, then just hit every month, set your day, and every day of the month, it will automatically be taken out. 00:30:43.839 --> 00:30:45.519 You can also give off every paycheck. 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:51.200 If you're gonna give 50 bucks, you can do$25 and either do every two weeks or 1st and 15th. 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:57.839 Listen, God used the very thing that the widow was counting out when her life was on the line. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:06.079 He used empty vessels, and the miracle did not stop until there were no containers available. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:16.160 As long as we are open and obedient, as long as we make room for what God wants to do in our life and in our movement, the miracles at MetaCurch will not stop either. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:25.359 I want to encourage you as the band plays to ask God how you can make room and if it's your time to come and get bricks. 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:26.400 Let me pray for you. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.079 Jesus, we love you. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:33.039 We're so overwhelmed by the generosity that's already been shown by your people. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:45.599 We're so overwhelmed by what you've done in the first five years of MetaCurch, how you've moved among us, the lives that you have touched, the families that you have healed, the purposes that have been revealed. 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:52.000 And we're believing for even more, even greater things ahead, even more impact. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:59.680 Holy Spirit, we are committing to not be content to just sit in a service and check a box. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:06.079 We are taking seriously your call to take your gospel as far and as wide as we possibly can. 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:07.839 So help us to that end. 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:08.480 We love you. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:10.480 We pray these things in your name, Jesus. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:11.359 Amen. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:17.599 Thanks so much for listening to the message today. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:22.960 If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.079 You can rate and review or share it with your friends. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:32.960 If you want to get connected further with what MetaCurch is doing, you can go online to metachurch.tv. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:35.440 There you can learn how to take next steps. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:43.440 You can learn where our different venues are at if you ever wanted to visit, and you can also give financially to help push this movement forward. 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:47.119 Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.