Kevin Wallace's Message on Spiritual Growth

Hey everyone, I'm Kevin Wallace, pastor of Redemption to the Nations Church, and listen. Today I'm going to be bringing a message that I trust will bring life and hope and peace to your heart. We need peace in these troubled times. We can find it in the Word of the Lord. I want you to call your friends, your family, let them know that this message is getting ready to be preached. I want them to join in and be blessed by it as well. Now hang on to the end. I'm coming back to pray for you and your need. Can't wait to see you then. May the Lord bless you. Let's jump into the Word today. Philippians chapter 1 verse 3. I want to preach a message this morning with the help of God called growth warfare. Look at your neighbor and tell them growth warfare. How many can testify that spiritually growing things have warfare? prayer that accommodated. And I want to talk about that today. I want us to go to the first chapter of Philippians and the third verses where we will launch from and we will read through verse number six. When you have it, say amen. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident. This is what I want to preach here. Being confident. Somebody say confident. Being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it, accomplish it, perform it. it. Make it happen. Get the job done until the day of Jesus Christ. How many know that's good news right there? Let's read it together one more time. Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for the promise of your word, for the strength that supplies, for the hope that we have because of you. of the truth of your word. And today I pray that even though the grass may wither and the flower may fade, the word of God abides forever. Let the word of God find entrance into our heart today, for at the entrance of that word, there is life. And we thank you for the explosion, the overflow, the release, the manifestation of kingdom life in all of us. Come on, lay hands on your heart right now. I pray for the kingdom of God to explode on the inside of us today. Let our mind Come open. Let our hearts come open. Let a spirit of wisdom and revelation rest on us. Change us and move us from glory to glory, even by your spirit through the preaching of the word today. And we will never, ever cease to give you thanks, for you are good all the time. And all the time, our God is good. In Jesus'name. And the family shouted amen. On your way down, tell your neighbor, say, neighbor, we're in a season of growth. Season of growth. You can. You can be seated in the presence of the Lord. So the book of Philippians is a very precious book. It's one of my favorite New Testament books. It is the apostle Paul writing to a church that was very dear to him. You know the story of the birth of the church of the Philippians. It was birthed in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts. And it happened as a woman who was demon-possessed and full of a spirit of divination. And she was a psychic who told people their future. And she's there in Macedonia. and her things. She's got her owners. She's making them lots of money. She starts following Paul and the band of believers. And Paul puts up with her many days, the Bible said, he endured her. And one day he turns around to this demon possessed lady and says, in Jesus name, come out. The woman gets delivered from a spirit of divination and all of her owners get mad at Paul and they tie him up and they beat him and they throw him in prison. And at midnight, Paul and Silas, come on, talk to me. Paul. Paul and Silas begin to praise God and they break out in a praise. And when they break out in a praise, God broke them out of a prison. How many know praise will get you out of a prison? Somebody say amen. And so they all break out of the prison and the jailer is about to commit suicide because all the prisoners have now been set free. And Paul says, do thyself no harm. We are all here. And it starts right there with a woman who was full of the devil and a jailer who was suicidal. All of them got saved and joined the Church of Philippi. And it is this move of God in a prison that launched the birth of the Philippian Church. And that group of people became a very precious group of people to the Apostle. Paul. In fact, we are told here in, and you don't have to turn me down. I'll move. I need that back. But thank you. But what we are told in the third verse of Philippians chapter one is that Paul enjoyed his fellowship. fellowship with the people at Philippi. Write that word fellowship down because it's important. That is the Greek word koinonia, and it means a spiritual connectivity. It is this idea that Paul and the Philippian people, the people in the Philippian church, they had more than just a surface connection. There was a spiritual connection that caused the relationship to be neutral, and both of them received from each other. Paul poured out the word. They poured in resources and helped him expand the gospel. They helped him do the work of the ministry. And they stood with Paul and stuck with him. And they supported him and they helped him in the most critical times. And he never forgot their fellowship. He never forgot that they stood with him. He never forgot that they invested in the assignment that was on his life. And he says it's more than just even a partnership. This is a spiritual fellowship. There's a connection between. He would go on to say, and don't miss this, he would go on to say that our God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. How many ever heard us quote that scripture before? Our God shall supply all of our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I tell you that because sometimes we quote that without recognizing that scripture was to a group of people who were not just seat of the pants, fly by the night. kind of support. These are people that stood with Paul through the thick and the thin, and Paul wanted them to know because you've been faithful to advance the kingdom, God is going to make you know. He's going to make you to know his provision in every situation. How many are thankful that when you put the kingdom of God first in your life, God will bless everything connected to you, and God will remember you if you remember him in his kingdom. Come on, somebody say amen. He's talking to a group of people who mean something to him, and he says to them, I want you to know that the work God started in you, God has the power to finish what he started. Now, this is interesting to me because I want to make sure you understand what he is saying and what he is not saying. When it says the work that he began, we need to know that that work began on the day those people got born again and were saved by grace through faith. Thank you. How many know the day you got saved, God began a work in you? Come on. We used to sing a song growing up. He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be. When did that work begin? That work began in you and it began in me the moment we said yes to Christ. And can I tell you, and I've said this the last two weeks, but I feel like God is wanting me to say this for the people of God and to encourage you in this. The day you got saved, God called you righteous in Christ. he did not say you're going to get righteous. He said you are righteous now. Now I need to preach on this for a moment. This is going to lead me to where I'm going. But I need to let you know and make sure you understand that when you got born again by the Spirit, and God saw Christ's blood applied to your life, in that moment, God said, you are righteous. He did not say, you are kind of righteous and one day you're going to get more righteous. He called you righteous the moment you said yes to Christ. How many have ever had a day where you didn't feel righteous? Come on, don't lie. You'll go to hell. That's unrighteous, right? Uh-huh. But listen to me. On days when you don't feel righteous, God doesn't change who you are in Christ. You are, I'm going to say something right now. I'm going to get some emails on it, but I'm ready for it. You are as righteous today as you will be 30 years from now. You can't get more saved than saved. Well, what about becoming more and more like Jesus and I get holier? That's called sanctification, but it's not called righteousness. Righteousness is a free gift God gives to you as you trust his plan of salvation. His plan of salvation is that fallen man. and needed a way back to God. So instead of us getting back to God, God said, I'm going to put on what you got on and become a man. And the son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men could become the son of man. sons of God. That is righteousness. And he calls you righteousness the day you got saved. He calls you the righteousness of God in Christ the day you got saved. And you say, Pastor, I don't feel as holy today as I'm supposed to be. Let's all agree on something. We are not yet what we are all going to be. But we are sure enough not what we used to be. And righteousness is the gift from God in which he calls you right in Christ before him, and then he trusts the Spirit to work out the righteousness until you... And I are conformed into the image of his dear son. That work began for you the day you got saved. Within the work of God saving you is also. the work of God's purpose. Write it down. God's purpose. Okay. So the work of salvation includes a purpose. That work is an ongoing process that unfolds as you walk with Jesus. And the work of God on the inside of you, it takes some time. Righteousness is an immediate free gift that you receive as you step into Christ. But the purpose for which he put you on this planet is an unfolding purpose. us. That work is a process and you go through some things as you try to find out. See, the greatest day of your life is the day you get born again. The second day of your, the second greatest day of your life is the day you find out why he saved you. There's a work going on in you, and Jesus says that work is a work that will happen until Christ returns or you die and go to heaven. You're not, and I, this is a reason to not be discouraged, we are not there yet. We're in process. That work is something that God put. Every person who's saved needs to be sensitive to the purpose, the dream, the promise, the prophetic word that God plants inside of you because it gives you clues as to the work you have been called to. When God starts talking to you about your future and gives you a passion and gives you a dream, he's talking to you about your purpose. Please hear me. The church has buried so many dreams by trying to sound religiously important. Well, we don't care what you're interested in. We don't care what you're interested in. Get your eyes on Jesus. I got my eyes on Jesus. But you got to recognize sometimes that the passion he puts inside of you is connected to the reason he puts you on this planet. You can't just sit up in here and say, I'm saved. Now what? You're saved. Now find out why he saved you. The first and most important reason he saved you is because he wants fellowship and intimacy with you. But then he wants you out of that intimacy to reproduce and manifest. what it looks like to live in a kingdom that is not of this world. And that is something that you manifest not as in church or behind five walls on Sunday and then go out and act like you don't know who Jesus is. If you're really a kingdom citizen, you come in here and get blessed, but you walk out there and demonstrate the life you received here so that the world sitting in darkness can see a great light. Are you following me? And Paul says to you, I need you to know this, that the work God started in you, he will finish it. I need to preach on this today. That the work God started in you, he will complete it. That work goes through various seasons. You can teach it and preach it however you want. These three seasons I'm going to give you today are seasons that I believe every purpose in your life and every promise in your life and every prophetic word over your life, It goes through this season of maturation. I hate calling it a process almost because it sounds mechanical. It's not really mechanical. I'm just trying to provide verbiage and vocabulary for what some of you are going through. And everyone in here who's really saved and loves Jesus, the work of salvation, the work of righteousness is done. The work of who you are and what you are becoming is still going. And he will not stop working on you until he perfects what he started in your life. so what do you do when God starts planting seeds of passion and purpose and he starts putting things on the inside of you I found out that those purpose seeds and those works that God, the work God is doing on the inside of me, number one, you'll go through seasons of birthing it. Number two, I'm going to go back and preach all these, but I'm giving you a heads up. It's a warning. Here we go. Number one, you will birth it. Number two, you will build it. Number three, you will broaden it. Birthing, building, and broadening. I want to talk to people who are experiencing a birthing thing, a building thing, or a broadening thing. Because every time God does something in your life, it will require birthing or building or sometimes it will be broadening. In every one of those chapters of your life, in every one of those seasons of the work that God is doing in you, there is a warfare that accompanies the growth that is happening in every season. You need to start making sense of the warfare and stop thinking, what is wrong with me? Why is the devil picking on me? Crazy? He hates you. And you got to... to stop thinking it's an arbitrary bully picking on an insignificant little somebody. You got to start understanding that everything connected to you stands in the position and posture of being blessed. If you ever step into your purpose, everything connected to you is going to get blessed, which is why Satan's trying to kill the work of God in your life because he knows if it ever happens, God is about to open up and blow the roof off your home, your marriage, your child. children, your business, your education, everything about you. This is why you have been going through warfare. And we have been dealing with some warfare. And if you haven't been dealing with no warfare, we thank God you are here, sister. Yay, yay, brother flip-flop. We are so excited you came, but the rest of us got the chips and the t-shirt and we got the journal and we got the backpack and we know what warfare is about. Why have I been dealing with this? You have not been walking. through this because you are insignificant and you are nobody and the devil just found somebody to pick on you are going through this because you can't see what's up the road but the enemy has already heard enough about your life to know if I don't stop them they'll wreck everything I'm trying to do so birthing touch your neighbor tell them birthing The birthing of the work, the purpose, the plan of God, the birthing of it is, boy, what a season. When you go through a birthing season, a birthing season always comes because of an inception that's already happened. I've got to be careful here. My wife has had four children biologically. None of them were surprised on the day that they came into this world. It wasn't like, Deb was like, something's happening. I don't know what's going on. I'm having a baby. Oh no. That little lady, she walked around nine months. In the summer, hot. Eating Mexican, pickles, and cheese. Somebody asked me why Devin has so many kids. Because I love Mexican. And every time she got pregnant, she loved Mexican. So I kept her pregnant. True story. I just, I said. Lord, have mercy. The only way she eat queso and chips is if she's with child. Come on in here, Debbie. We got to get you. Yeah, we got to have some more Mexican. I'm horrible, but she's not here, so praise the Lord. Here's the deal. Here's what I want to tell you. Nobody giving birth ever found out about it accidentally. Birthing always starts with an inception and when something, a conception, and when something is conceived and incepted, inside of a lady, she carries it with her. And watch what I'm getting ready to tell you. It grows inside before it ever grows outside. You can never, you can never have a baby. that just comes as a nine-month-old right out of the womb. It had to grow inside of mama's belly, pull on mama for the nutrients, and get every bit of strength that mama could give it. That's why when ladies are with child, the doctor will always prescribe certain vitamins and certain kind of food and certain kind of nutrients. Why? Because that mama is not just feeding herself. That mama is feeding herself and everything on the inside. God, some of you are terrible. And this season is demanding more prayer. It is demanding more time with God. It is demanding more word life. Why do you feel the pull to prayer like you never felt before? Because you're not just carrying something for you. You are eating for something that's inside of you. You are taking in more nutrients, not just because of where you are, but because of where you are. because of where God is taking you to. Look at your neighbor, tell them it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it. I know that carrying a child has to be a challenge for a lady. I remember when Devin was praying. Y'all got to ease into this with me, and I'm trying not to be... weirdographic, but I remember every time my wife was pregnant, she'd say, you got to rub my back. I need a back rub. I said, why do you need a back rub? And the doctor said, because all of that baby growing inside of her is pulling on the muscles in her back and it's making her hurt. Some of you have been going through stretches and pains and you've been going through some warfare and you wonder why. And all I'm doing is just, I just got this little dream of a ministry. or a 501c3 or a new business adventure. I just got this little idea for my house, my family, my marriage, my job, my people. I just got this little idea and I feel like I'm fighting hell over this little thing. Yeah. But if you keep feeding it, it won't stay little. It's about to grow into something that is going to shift your whole house, which is why the enemy is assigned to destroy it. Watch. Watch the world. Warfare of a birthing season is destruction. I'm going to give you a Bible before you panic. When Israel needed a deliverer, God said, I'm going to raise up Moses. Pharaoh said, I'm killing all the baby boys. Why would Satan kill the babies? Because he understood if I kill the babies, one of those children would grow up to become the deliverer. so I'm going to kill and destroy everything in an infant state to keep it from becoming what would threaten me and my kingdom, said Pharaoh. If that ain't enough for you, flip over to the New Testament. When God put a star in the sky, the wise men, can I preach this like I feel it? The wise men came from the east and they said, where is the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the air. the east and we have come to worship him. Do you know what Herod said? Herod said, tell me where the king is. And the Lord gave him a dream and they went a different way. But it made Herod mad that a baby had been born. What did he do? He said, kill what? All of the infant boys in Israel because I got to get rid of the promised king. If that's not enough, flip over to Revelation 12. Revelation 12. there is a woman. She is on a birthing table getting ready to have a baby. And who is standing at the end of the birthing table? None other than the dragon. Now in the book of Genesis 3, he was a snake. In Revelation 12, he's a dragon. Somebody has been feeding that joker, but it is the same spirit that showed up in the garden trying to steal Adam's purpose. And now he's in Revelation 12 trying to kill them. the baby when it comes out of the womb. But I came to preach today that if God said it was going to be born, I don't care how big the dragon is. I don't know what he's been threatening you with. But if God be for me, who can be against me? And I felt like God told me to tell this house that the last half of this year, this is not just a church building. This is a labor and delivery room. God is about to bring some things to pass. God is about to bring some prophecy to pass. And I need you to praise him like what you've been carrying is about to come. And you are about to have joy. Touch your neighbor, say congratulations. Tell them you went through all that. You were about to have it. You carried it. You were about to burst it. You went through the hell. You were about to be full of joy. You will laugh twice as much as you cried. Hold on. For all the sophisticated people, looking at me funny, put this scripture up from Isaiah 66 verse 9, please, Isaiah 66, now do y'all got time for this? Isaiah 66, now, this is God speaking, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I Now, I love you, shall I bring, shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? I see Dr. Curley here, and I remember with three of our children who Devin had, all of them had scheduled births. He said, they said, uh... You get here on this day, in the morning at 7 o'clock, we're going to have a baby. So we go, and Devin, you know, you can tell when the sisters have a set time for a birth. On the pictures, you can tell. Nails, hair, earrings, eye stuff. Y'all look so fine. Your toes are all dead. Come on, y'all. You can tell them sisters that had it arranged. But you can tell them sisters, too, that was at home and water broke. Y'all don't know. Y'all don't want us to be real. You brothers are afraid to say anything right now. I remember when that happened, and it was craziness. was, oh my God, where's the bag? I don't know where the bag is. Get in the car. She went from talking like Devin to Darth Vader. Get in the car. I'm like, Father, I don't know what came on her, but I bind every work of the devil in the name. I speak life. over my wife. Listen, listen. When God says it's your time to deliver, you better get to the delivery room. You better get to that. This is why us coming together is not just inconsequential. It's not just, you know, do I feel it? You are carrying something. You have no clue when your spiritual water is gonna break in a house like this on a Sunday morning, a Wednesday, whenever. And you walk in here and all of a sudden, and the spirit of God started moving and the water breaks and you said, my God, I've been carrying it for years. I've been carrying it for months. I've been carrying it for weeks. And now it is time. And the Bible said through the prophet Isaiah, shall God bring you to the moment of birthing and not cause delivery? Look at the next question. Shall I cause delivery? Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? In other words, God said, I put the child, I put the promise, I put the purpose, I put the purpose. I did the work inside of you all for the right season. And when that season comes, will I shut up the womb? Well, I say, we're not going to do that. I tell you right now, the only one trying to shut up the womb is the one nervous about what you're carrying. And you got to make up your mind. God started it. And God's going to see this thing all the way through. So here's what I'm going to just prophesy. The last half of this year, We are going to celebrate the birthing of promises, prophetic words, the fulfillment of things that God started. I'm not telling you it's all going to happen in the next six months, but significant things are coming to you in your house that are in keeping with your purpose and his plan for your life. Doors of opportunity. Doors of increase. Doors, even shut doors that clarify. When God opens a door, a door, it's an opportunity. When God shuts a door, it's clarity. I said something right there by the Holy Ghost. I said, when God opens a door, it's an opportunity. When he shuts a door, it's clarity. Well, I wanted that door. Don't cry over it. Thank him for clarity. You are taking my options away and I'm grateful for the simplification of this situation. I don't have to lay up at night wondering if I was supposed to marry her. Oh yeah. I dropped bombs right then. I don't have to wonder if I was supposed to marry him. If they walked off and left me, they are not going where I'm going. I got to move on. Number two. In a birthing season, Satan comes to destroy it because he doesn't want it to grow. Rewind. Let me pause real quick, real quick. Do you know why new business startups fail? Do you know why new church plants fail more than long established churches? Watch this. I believe Satan attacks them in their infancy. Because he doesn't want them to grow up and become what God has created them to be. So he tries to destroy them in the infancy. If you're a business, this is not just for preachers. This is for everybody in the room. Preachers, ministers, CEOs. CEOs, entrepreneurs, listen to me. When God puts a dream on the inside of you, an idea, a concept, a thought, when he plants it there and he births it in your life, listen to me, Satan wants to destroy it in its early years. Because if it ever takes off and starts growing, the devil can't talk you out of something that's already growing. You say, it ain't living. And you say, yeah, it's in a 2T instead of a newborn diaper now. Mama's caught that. Number two, birthing seasons. Number two, building seasons. Building, building, building. Look at your neighbor and say, building, building, building, building. We can shout over birthing. I have found out in my journey, building is much more difficult to shout about. In fact, here's the thing. Here's what I have found out, Dr. John, about building. I like things that come finished. Y'all gonna hate on me and I'm gonna get some kind of, you know, you're so bougie. I'll get something like that, but listen to me. I will pay $10 for Ace Hardware to put my grill together. I'm gonna tell you why. I learned a lesson about nine years ago when I bought. A playground for my children for Christmas. It came in nine boxes. This should have been, actually it come in six boxes, which is the number of Satan. So I said, I should have known something's wrong with this, but it wasn't, it wasn't done doing Satan. It was me. And then people would put it, yeah, never mind. So, boxes came, 9,000 pieces of wood, 12,000 screws. A pathetic manual. What couldn't even be read, had no words, just pictures with arrows. Page two, my sanctification was running so thin, it was virtually non-existent. I came out, Devin came out there, four hours in, we don't have nothing. Christmas is in 48 hours. I turned around, I said, woman, Job's, okay. When I got through with it, there were 100 pieces of wood left. And Devin said, what is all this? I said, extras. It was extra. I would have paid money for somebody to come and put it together. But they trusted me with the parts to build what they knew it could become. I need to talk to some people who have all the pieces and you have all the parts, but you have to be committed to building. Seasons of birthing encounter an attack from the enemy to destroy, but seasons of... building, the warfare is different. Take a note, write it down. The warfare involved in a building season is not destruction because Satan come too late to tell you it can't grow. The assignment of warfare against you in a building season is discouragement. Talk to me, Nehemiah. Nehemiah. Talk to me, Nehemiah. Nehemiah 4.1. Can we throw that on the screen? Nehemiah 4.1. Look at this. And it happened when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding. Look at somebody say building, building, building, building. Building the wall. That he was furious and... very indignant and mocked the Jews. Can I tell you something? People who were not mad in your birthing season will show up indignant, mad, and enraged in a building season. And if you're not careful, you won't understand why. they're hating on you so bad in the building season? Because here's what I have found about building seasons, family. Building seasons aren't particularly, they don't seem fruitful. They seem tedious. When you're in a building season, you don't get a lot of things, a lot of satisfaction through the eyes. It's the heart that you know you're doing the right thing. When you're in a building season, you are building structures. You are building people. You are developing culture. You are creating blueprints for the future. future. When you're in a building season, it's not all the excitement. Well, the baby's here. The promise is here. The business has been launched. The ministry, the church, the 501c3. Well, we lost. That's the birthing season. The building season, very few people will accompany you in a building season. And the enemy will send people to discourage you while you are building it. This applies for businesses, churches, 501c3s. If you've got some kind of business in your life and you've been thinking about the future, if you're building your portfolio for your future, I know people don't want to talk about this in the church because it ain't spiritual, but you would be amazed how many people in the church have no plan for their future. I want all of you, I don't care if it's $10 a week, I want you to start saving money for your future. You say $10 a week is not much. Yeah, but you're building something. Build. Set it aside. Even if it's just, just start setting it aside, saying, I'm not touching that. I'm not going after that. That's for my future. Have enough excitement about your future. Care enough about yourself that you say, Pastor, you know, you shouldn't think about tomorrow. Tomorrow is a word only in a fool's vocabulary. First of all, that's not in the Bible. Secondly, tomorrow belongs to those who know who holds tomorrow. And we were in a church growing up, we were so rapture ready, we were not ready for the future. If Jesus comes, we're ready to go. Watch. I'll leave this planet right now. I need to calm down a little bit. We're rapture ready, but you need to be ready to go, but have a plan if he lets you stay a while. Build. In a building season, they come along and mock them. Next verse, verse two, watch this. Is this helping anybody? Verse two, watch this. And he spoke before his brethren. Listen to what Sambalat says. What are these feeble Jews doing? Listen to the discouraging nature of this man. What are these? feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifice? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned? A discouraging report. Nehemiah has been called to build the wall and these men show up to discourage. What do you think you're doing? These are all burnt up stones. What are you going to do with a bunch of rubbish? Next verse. Look at this next dude, Tobiah. What a guy. Listen, he says, whatever they build, even if a fox goes up on that wall, he'll break down their wall. wall. Discouraging. Have you ever had a voice come to you and say, what are you doing? Who do you think you are? What are you doing? You're wasting time. What are you doing? You're not doing it right. What are you doing? What you're doing is not going to work. Why don't you go do something for real? Why don't you do something? Why don't you find your real calling? Discouragement. You're building something that can't even stand. If a fox were to try to cross the top of it, it would fall apart. Can you imagine hearing that? And you look up at it and you know you're not a builder, you're a cupbearer. And you're like, shoot, man, what if I'm not doing it right? What if this... falls apart. Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a building season and something come along to discourage you? Have you ever been trying to build your family, build a marriage, build a business, build a career, build a future? And you felt like, man, this is It's not working. And then you get a voice that comes alongside of you, beside you and says, it'll never work. You stink. You're not able to do this. You're not educated enough. You're not brilliant enough. You're not bright enough. Come down off the wall, Nehemiah. Do something else. You know what Nehemiah said? This is what I need to say to y'all. Nehemiah said, why should I come down off the wall and have a conversation with you? It is obvious to me that you are not. This is the Wallace Unauthorized Translation, by the way. It is obvious to me you are not a part of the building project or its future. you got to learn how not to accept invitations from people who you didn't solicit the invitation from excuse me excuse me you want me to come down i don't remember asking you if if you were a part when god called me it wasn't a boardroom that he called me in and i didn't get your vote he called me and i'm gonna do what he called me to do i'm gonna build this and it wasn't a it wasn't a a big A big group of people who called me, God called me. So. Nehemiah says to the people, after they start talking trash and trying to discourage him, he looks at them and says, don't come down off the wall. Keep one hand on the sword and one hand on the hammer. Work, work, build, build. And if the devil shows up, pick the sword up and tell the devil, I didn't pick this fight, but I'm picking to finish it. I didn't say fixing to, I said fitting to. I didn't start this, but I'm going to finish this by the grace of God. I'm a peaceable man, but if you roll up on me. See, some of y'all can't handle this side. That's the problem with the modern church. We have become polite to our own destruction. The enemy walks up, starts talking trash, and we get confused and discouraged, and we get heavy. We lose our joy. And somebody looks at you and says, why did you quit building? Imagine the insanity of this. Somebody said, why did you quit building? And you say, they're talking about me. I dare you the next time you hear a voice that is questioning what you're doing, that is mocking you for building, that is talking about how it won't last, I dare you to tell the devil, I'm talking. to my head because I can't be listening to the report of my enemy while I'm trying to do the work of my God. I've got a hand. I feel like preaching right here. I've got one hand on my sword and another hand on my hammer. I will work while it is day but if the enemy shows up I know what to do with the sword. I'm thankful I've got a sword. Anybody got your sword this morning? I just want to encourage some builders. Keep building. If you're a church planner and you're here, don't get discouraged. I told this story in Cleveland today. You are sitting in the product of 24 years of building. There's a few faces that have been with us for a while. Y'all remember the 24 people on the first Sunday? Y'all remember the first Easter we went into the gymnasium? None of y'all would be here had you came on that Sunday. Sunday. Can I testify? I'm going to whether you want me to anyway. I'm just trying to make you feel like you're a part of my sermon. I remember the first Easter Sunday, we went out of the old sanctuary up by the road over the old Udawah campus. We had just built the gym. We were packing the sanctuary out and everybody, we got in a big staff meeting and I said, I got an idea. Let's go into the gym for Easter. And everybody was like, yeah. my God, what was I thinking? Okay. Everything went amazing. John and Jim, y'all remember this. It was incredible. Everything was perfect. The only problem was we never put everything together till the morning when the service started. We just moved everything in, built the stage, put all the instruments in, all the microphones, but we never had a run through until service started. Actually, we did have a run through. The musicians went first. The singers went second, but never put it all together until the service started. And when the singers and musicians began to play on that morning, it fried the electrical system. Not just of our building, but the whole half of Udawaringo Road, the lights went out in Georgia. We shut the whole thing down. Pastor Jim was up there playing. All of a sudden, somebody starts singing while everybody's playing. And it went like this. And the lights went out. Everybody went. It's jam-packed, 600 people. people. And this woman walks up to me and goes, I see a snake on the sound booth. I looked at Deb and said, I'm going home. I am done. I cannot handle this today. Somehow we pulled it all together and we continued to have service with no power. We put choir risers on the stage and didn't think we better probably with kids singing on risers, we need to have something to keep them from falling. So we had this sweet little princess on the the top row of the risers who decides she's going to do the moonwalk and starts walking backwards and falls off the back. Randy and Lavonda, you remember this. She falls off the back of her risers. Her daddy, who had one tooth in his whole head, stood up, ran down the middle aisle screaming, my baby, my baby, jumps over the risers and finds his daughter laying there crying. I fall down, daddy. I fall down, daddy. I looked at Devin. I said, you finish this. I'm out of here. I'm out of here. I can't handle it. of this. We got all this craziness going on. What were you doing? Building. Building. Do you know what I did after that moment? Do you know what I started from that moment forward? We did it, and they'll tell you this day, the team on this church will tell you, we have cycles of service. What's a cycle of service? We put ourself in the role of a visitor who walks in, and we make sure everything from the day they get out, the moment they get out of their car, to the moment they get back in their car, we have crossed every T and dotted every I. Why do you do that? Because little Sally fell off the back row, and the power didn't work, and in a building... season, you got to take really good notes. You will find out who you can trust in a building season. You will find out who you want with you in a building season. You will find out what works and what doesn't work in a building season. Write down what you learned in a building season. building season. Why? Because if you will remember it and act on the knowledge and the wisdom you gained in a building season, you will be able to sustain the next season, which is broadening. Hear me and I'm done. In birthing seasons, destruction is the warfare. In building seasons, discouragement is the warfare. Take your notes, write it down. Number three, in broadening seasons, when you're getting bigger and wider and expanding, distraction is the warfare. Please explain. Thank you, I shall. When you come to a broadening season, you start blowing up, growing, you start expanding and increasing. And if you're not careful, in a season where it looks like you can't fail, you will interpret your success... As an invitation to step outside of what you're called to do. And get distracted by what you want to do. And if you're not careful, watch this. If you're in your purpose, there's grace on your life. And grace makes me and you look better than we really are. But I have seen people who are really good at their purpose while they're operating in God's grace, and they get distracted by something they want to do outside of their purpose. And they think, I did real good in this. I can run over here and be real good at this. And you get distracted. And in a season where you ought to be expanding, you start having to work harder. to sustain what you birthed, rather than resting and enjoying the grace that he provides in what he birthed. Am I helping anybody right now? Don't look at your neighbor and say, Neighbor, don't be destroyed by weapons of mass distraction. Well, what about weapons of mass destruction? I'm far more concerned about distraction. Because if you'll stay focused on your lane, well, I want to do what they're doing. God didn't call you to that lane. This is why you have to be so careful, family, that you don't absorb somebody else's passion. Because if you don't have a real understanding of what you're on this planet for, there are people who will sabotage and hijack your influence for their own personal passion. Oh, they look successful. Let me sabotage their success and use their success to meet my needs. I am telling you right now, if you get in the right house, and I know there's so many of you who are in this house, you're connected. We couldn't do what we do without you. There are people, however, in this room and watching online that are still, they're like, where did? these people come from? We're just checking y'all out. We didn't even know y'all was here. I need to tell those people who are checking us out, I need you to hear me. The greatest gift you have in your life is the ability to connect to something. that has nothing to do personally with your personal dream coming to pass, if you begin to submit to that wherever it is, watch this, your willingness to engage in submission to somebody else's vision. will then cause other people to come and be a part of your mission. You can't have a mission accomplished in your life until you help other people accomplish their mission. That happens by submission. Sub meaning under mission. So you get up under someone else's mission, and God then says, these people have the right kind of heart. But the reason some people go to 69 different churches and never plant and grow, I'm making so many unnecessary enemies right now, is because you keep going somewhere waiting on someone. to fulfill your vision. When God is waiting on you to submit, and I'm not just talking about here, if you don't believe me, I invite you, if you're in that season, find the right church if this is not the right one. But get submitted to a vision, a mission, a purpose somewhere else, and in so doing, you find pleasure in it, and then God begins to trust you, and he trusts me. This is how it happened. I served other people's visions for years before I ever started a church. Because God is far more interested in us having the right heart than he is having a big ministry. I feel like things are sinking in. So you have a purpose, family. Help me, Jules. You have a purpose. You have a work going on inside of you. I don't know if you're in a birthing season, a building season, or a broadening season. And let me just bless you before we go. Can we put up Isaiah 54, two and three before we go? This is what a broadening season looks like. Can I tell you it comes on the tail end of warfare? Go read Isaiah 53. Go read Isaiah 51, I mean, 53. Go read Isaiah 53. It's about what? The suffering what? Servant. The suffering servant. Then you flip the page and you come into this epilogue in Isaiah 54. It comes on the tail end of suffering. And then after the suffering, enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch the curtains of your dwellings. Why would I stretch the curtains of my dwellings? Because your family's getting ready. to grow. Everything in the house is getting ready to expand. Watch this. Lengthen and strengthen. I love that. Lengthen and strengthen your cords. God says, I want you to understand something. Next verse, you're about to break out on the left and the right. Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor, if you don't want, come on, talk to your neighbor and say, neighbor, if you don't want to experience the breakout, you better not sit by me next Sunday. Tell them because this thing is breaking out on my left. I feel like preaching right here. This thing is breaking out on my left. And this thing is breaking out on my right. Everywhere I turn around, I feel expansion in my future. Oh, God, I've got to quit because I feel a shift coming right here. But I feel like somebody is about to experience an enlarging of territory. Oh! Come on in here and talk to me, Jabez. Jabez means sorrow. Jabez means pain. But your Bible said Jabez prayed one prayer. Here's what he prayed. Oh, God, that you would bless me indeed. That you would enlarge my territory. We got to go. I know it's vacation week. But I wish somebody who's not ashamed to be blessed would stand up and throw up your head. and say, Oh God, Oh God. Somebody call on his name like you know him. Somebody call on his name like you love him. Somebody call on his name like he's faithful. Somebody call on his name like you know he's not through with you yet. Say, oh God, bless me indeed. Open up your mouth right now and praise him for the enlargement. Praise him for the increase. No, really go to praising him for it, right? It's breaking out on my left. It's breaking out on my right. It's breaking out in my marriage. It's breaking out in my children. It's breaking out in our church. It's breaking out in our business. United Kindred Hospital. JoJo is about to break up. Somebody say yay. Touch your neighbor. We got to go but hug somebody. Shake some hands and tell everybody. in your role. It's about to break out. We're moving from building to broadening. It's about to increase. God is about to breathe on the business. God is about to breathe on the entrepreneurs. God is about to breathe on the business owners. God is about to breathe on the bishops. God is about to breathe on the preachers. It's about to break out. It's about to break out. It's about to broaden. It's about to get outside the boundaries. Somebody who feels an expansion going on. Forget about who's sitting next to you. Just take 21 seconds and praise God for the increase, Throw both hands up. Throw both hands up high. I don't want you to say this out of a routine of what I'm saying. And if I say it and you don't feel it, put your hands down and don't say it. But I want you with faith in this moment. I feel... something in this moment. And I'm not just saying it because I didn't do this at the last two campuses, but I'm doing it in this one because I feel it right now and it's online and it's in this house. I want you to open up your mouth while your hands are lifted to the heavens and I want you to say Say, Father, in the name of Jesus, bless me indeed. Enlarge my territory. Make me to be a blessing. Say, in the name of Jesus, the warfare is accomplished. I'm not staying where I've been. I'm breaking out. Breaking out. I'm breaking out. Breaking out. I'm your prophet, Simon. I'm breaking out. On the left. On the right. My house. My family. My children. My business. My job. It's breaking out. Break. Break. Not see yet. I hear rain. I can't see it, but I hear, I hear rain say, I cannot see it, but I hear, I hear rain say, I cannot see it. Blood out, I hear rain, be out Oh, you're my shoulder, you're the most safe Say I cannot, but I sing it to hell! No time to slide! PEDROID! WHAT?! I am not seeing What I need I am not seeing Ya ya, hold the button! We're going to go! But to go! Family, to go! For the... God, he surprises right here, with his blood, he has, anybody saved by the power of the blood this morning, with his hand, he has raised me, to God, be the glory. For the things For the Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Yeah yeah yeah most of the time Oh shit can't come out of the most of the time For the things He had That Put your hands up and just fill this room with worship, come on. We're going to be gone this week and you're going to spend time with your family, but I want you to seal it on the last Sunday of the first half of this month by giving him a wave offering of praise this morning. No, no, no, no, no, my son, no. I want you to shake hands with four or five people right there and tell them, neighbor, I want to speak this over your life. The last half is going to be filled with fulfillment. Come on, tell them, and a release of joy is coming on you and your house. I want to do something. If you got to go, we love you. Peace. Have a great fourth. But I want to do something that I don't ever do hardly. Very rarely. I felt this when I was in this room right now. I feel like there's some people in this moment who need to say, I'm not just giving. Out of thanksgiving. That's a wonderful reason to give. How many know we give for that reason? Somebody say amen. I'm not just giving even to meet a need. How many know we do that in this house? And in fact, just a few weeks ago, we took up an offering for single parent mothers in Cleveland and blessed Cleveland and Athens and we blessed Tullahoma because this house believes in generosity. Somebody talk to me and say amen. But there are moments when we share in the word by saying I am attaching this seed to that projected harvest. And here's what I want. I'm not telling you an amount because if I told you an amount, it might be entirely too small for the kind of harvest you're believing for or entirely too large for where you are living. I'm just telling you right now. In this moment, somebody is saying, Bishop, I am believing for something significant in the last half of this year. And I am actually going to, I am going to address this seed and put by faith. faith, I'm going to attach my expectation to this offering I'm getting ready to give. And I'm saying, God, I'm giving this one in faith for this. I don't know if it's your business. I don't know if it's somebody trying to adopt a baby and you're believing God for it, but whatever it is, if it's a ministry, if it's a church, if you're online, if it's a 501c. Three, if you're thinking about broadening and expanding to another location, whatever it is, if there's a promise on the inside of you that you know you need God to get involved with, I want you to get an offering in your hand and say this word for me right now. my faith to this message and I am believing it is for me in my house in my future I don't care whatever the best you got is if it's a dollar bill whatever it is I want you to say God I am claiming harvest on this seed today day that expansion and broadening are a part of my future. I want you to decide what you're going to give. And when you get it in your spirit as an act of faith to God, I want you to lift it in the air. If it's online, you can lift your phone. If it's a piece of a dollar bill, whatever it is, a piece of money, if it's a check, whatever it is, whenever you get it, I want you to lift it right now. I'm believing for this kind of harvest in my future this year. I'm asking you to lift it. I'm asking you, God, if you have faith, I'm talking to you. If you feel obligated, I'm not. If you have faith to believe that God can do it, I'm talking to you. But if you feel obligated, I'm not talking to you. There is no pressure to give in this house. But if you're in this house and you say, Bishop, you're talking to me, and I'm believing for increase, expansion, and broadening, I'm believing it'll break out. I'm believing it'll come to birth. I'm believing in a building season that the best is yet to come. And I'm trusting the God of the Bible. Bible to meet my need and to provide this in my life and to finish what it started. Throw your hands up when you get this offer, whatever it is, throw it up. You're giving online, giving by check, giving in cash. I just want you to come. And even if, listen, I know this is an instruction I don't ever do, but hear me. If it's, if it's offering, I want you to come put it on the altar. If it's a check, I want you to come put it on the altar. If it's giving by technology, I want you to come touch the altar with your phone. And I want you to say, God, this seed has a target. I am believing you. to finish some things that you are working in my life. Ready? Let me bless it. Father, bless our house. Bless our people. And as we give with faith into the promises of your word, we cannot buy this blessing. We are simply saying as we give, I trust you and I sow toward the harvest that I'm trusting you for. In Jesus'name, amen. I want you to come right now. Just as you're moved on by God, no pressure at all. Just as you're moved on by God, I believe in you for this. Amen. In Jesus'name. You can't beat God giving. No matter how hard you try. Just come on, give with joy. We're just coming and giving with joy to say thank you God for the opportunity to sow seed into a moment. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Play that song, Julia. You can't. Be God-giving. Thank you for blessing every seed. Thank you for blessing every seed. I bless every seed, Lord. I bless our people as they give in the name of Jesus. The Lord in heaven above. Thank you Lord God bless you God bless you God bless you Thank you for blessing our people Everyone lift your hands Let me seal this And we're going to go home Father we thank you for this day for our people and for their families. I bless them with a wonderful 4th of July week. Keep us safe. I'm asking you to watch over the whole family. Protect us. Be with us and bless us in Jesus'name. Everybody said amen. I love your family. Go in the peace of the Lord. We'll see you next Sunday at God's house. Well, I trust that the Word of God is working in your heart in this moment. I know the Word works. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Maybe something said today has touched your heart and maybe you feel like you are so far away from God. How could I ever get right? right with God. Friend, I want to tell you, there is a way to get right with God. It's through his son, Jesus. Today, if you'll turn your heart and your life over to him, I don't care what you've done and how bad it was, how long you've been doing it and how messed up you feel. Jesus is a friend to sinners. He'll come into your life. He'll turn it all the way around and change it. I believe by the Spirit of God He's doing that right now. Let's pray. Open your heart and say, Dear God, come into my life and forgive me of all my sin. Lord Jesus, I need you to wash me and make me new. I confess that I've been a sinner. And today I want to follow you for the rest of my life. Turn my life over to you, Lord Jesus. Come in and be the king of my heart. In Jesus'name I pray. Amen. Hey, friend, if you pray. prayed that prayer, I want you to know today's not the finish line. It's just the beginning. Go to KevinWallace.tv. Just drop us a line on our prayer request area. Let us know that you got saved. You gave your life to Christ. We want to make sure you have a Bible. We want to make sure you get plugged into a good Bible-believing church full of the Spirit of God. Listen, the journey has just begun, and the best days of your life are in front of you. We're praying for you here at Kevin Wallace Ministries. Can't wait to see what God does in your life. We love you all. God bless.

We can find it in the Word of the Lord. I want you to call your friends, your family, let them know that this message is getting ready to be preached. I want them to join in and be blessed by it as well.

Now hang on to the end. I'm coming back to pray for you and your need. Can't wait to see you then.

May the Lord bless you. Let's jump into the Word today. Philippians chapter 1 verse 3. I want to preach a message this morning with the help of God called growth warfare.

Look at your neighbor and tell them growth warfare. How many can testify that spiritually growing things have warfare? prayer that accommodated. And I want to talk about that today.

I want us to go to the first chapter of Philippians and the third verses where we will launch from and we will read through verse number six. When you have it, say amen. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy.

For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident. This is what I want to preach here. Being confident.

Somebody say confident. Being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it, accomplish it, perform it. it.

Make it happen. Get the job done until the day of Jesus Christ. How many know that's good news right there? Let's read it together one more time.

Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for the promise of your word, for the strength that supplies, for the hope that we have because of you. of the truth of your word.

And today I pray that even though the grass may wither and the flower may fade, the word of God abides forever. Let the word of God find entrance into our heart today, for at the entrance of that word, there is life. And we thank you for the explosion, the overflow, the release, the manifestation of kingdom life in all of us.

Come on, lay hands on your heart right now. I pray for the kingdom of God to explode on the inside of us today. Let our mind Come open. Let our hearts come open.

Let a spirit of wisdom and revelation rest on us. Change us and move us from glory to glory, even by your spirit through the preaching of the word today. And we will never, ever cease to give you thanks, for you are good all the time.

And all the time, our God is good. In Jesus'name. And the family shouted amen. On your way down, tell your neighbor, say, neighbor, we're in a season of growth. Season of growth.

You can. You can be seated in the presence of the Lord. So the book of Philippians is a very precious book. It's one of my favorite New Testament books.

It is the apostle Paul writing to a church that was very dear to him. You know the story of the birth of the church of the Philippians. It was birthed in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts.

And it happened as a woman who was demon-possessed and full of a spirit of divination. And she was a psychic who told people their future. And she's there in Macedonia.

and her things. She's got her owners. She's making them lots of money.

She starts following Paul and the band of believers. And Paul puts up with her many days, the Bible said, he endured her. And one day he turns around to this demon possessed lady and says, in Jesus name, come out. The woman gets delivered from a spirit of divination and all of her owners get mad at Paul and they tie him up and they beat him and they throw him in prison. And at midnight, Paul and Silas, come on, talk to me.

Paul. Paul and Silas begin to praise God and they break out in a praise. And when they break out in a praise, God broke them out of a prison. How many know praise will get you out of a prison? Somebody say amen.

And so they all break out of the prison and the jailer is about to commit suicide because all the prisoners have now been set free. And Paul says, do thyself no harm. We are all here.

And it starts right there with a woman who was full of the devil and a jailer who was suicidal. All of them got saved and joined the Church of Philippi. And it is this move of God in a prison that launched the birth of the Philippian Church.

And that group of people became a very precious group of people to the Apostle. Paul. In fact, we are told here in, and you don't have to turn me down.

I'll move. I need that back. But thank you.

But what we are told in the third verse of Philippians chapter one is that Paul enjoyed his fellowship. fellowship with the people at Philippi. Write that word fellowship down because it's important.

That is the Greek word koinonia, and it means a spiritual connectivity. It is this idea that Paul and the Philippian people, the people in the Philippian church, they had more than just a surface connection. There was a spiritual connection that caused the relationship to be neutral, and both of them received from each other. Paul poured out the word.

They poured in resources and helped him expand the gospel. They helped him do the work of the ministry. And they stood with Paul and stuck with him.

And they supported him and they helped him in the most critical times. And he never forgot their fellowship. He never forgot that they stood with him.

He never forgot that they invested in the assignment that was on his life. And he says it's more than just even a partnership. This is a spiritual fellowship. There's a connection between. He would go on to say, and don't miss this, he would go on to say that our God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

How many ever heard us quote that scripture before? Our God shall supply all of our need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. I tell you that because sometimes we quote that without recognizing that scripture was to a group of people who were not just seat of the pants, fly by the night.

kind of support. These are people that stood with Paul through the thick and the thin, and Paul wanted them to know because you've been faithful to advance the kingdom, God is going to make you know. He's going to make you to know his provision in every situation. How many are thankful that when you put the kingdom of God first in your life, God will bless everything connected to you, and God will remember you if you remember him in his kingdom.

Come on, somebody say amen. He's talking to a group of people who mean something to him, and he says to them, I want you to know that the work God started in you, God has the power to finish what he started. Now, this is interesting to me because I want to make sure you understand what he is saying and what he is not saying.

When it says the work that he began, we need to know that that work began on the day those people got born again and were saved by grace through faith. Thank you. How many know the day you got saved, God began a work in you?

Come on. We used to sing a song growing up. He's still working on me to make me what I ought to be.

When did that work begin? That work began in you and it began in me the moment we said yes to Christ. And can I tell you, and I've said this the last two weeks, but I feel like God is wanting me to say this for the people of God and to encourage you in this. The day you got saved, God called you righteous in Christ.

he did not say you're going to get righteous. He said you are righteous now. Now I need to preach on this for a moment.

This is going to lead me to where I'm going. But I need to let you know and make sure you understand that when you got born again by the Spirit, and God saw Christ's blood applied to your life, in that moment, God said, you are righteous. He did not say, you are kind of righteous and one day you're going to get more righteous. He called you righteous the moment you said yes to Christ. How many have ever had a day where you didn't feel righteous?

Come on, don't lie. You'll go to hell. That's unrighteous, right?

Uh-huh. But listen to me. On days when you don't feel righteous, God doesn't change who you are in Christ.

You are, I'm going to say something right now. I'm going to get some emails on it, but I'm ready for it. You are as righteous today as you will be 30 years from now. You can't get more saved than saved. Well, what about becoming more and more like Jesus and I get holier?

That's called sanctification, but it's not called righteousness. Righteousness is a free gift God gives to you as you trust his plan of salvation. His plan of salvation is that fallen man. and needed a way back to God. So instead of us getting back to God, God said, I'm going to put on what you got on and become a man. And the son of God became the son of man so that the sons of men could become the son of man. sons of God.

That is righteousness. And he calls you righteousness the day you got saved. He calls you the righteousness of God in Christ the day you got saved.

And you say, Pastor, I don't feel as holy today as I'm supposed to be. Let's all agree on something. We are not yet what we are all going to be.

But we are sure enough not what we used to be. And righteousness is the gift from God in which he calls you right in Christ before him, and then he trusts the Spirit to work out the righteousness until you... And I are conformed into the image of his dear son. That work began for you the day you got saved.

Within the work of God saving you is also. the work of God's purpose. Write it down. God's purpose. Okay.

So the work of salvation includes a purpose. That work is an ongoing process that unfolds as you walk with Jesus. And the work of God on the inside of you, it takes some time.

Righteousness is an immediate free gift that you receive as you step into Christ. But the purpose for which he put you on this planet is an unfolding purpose. us.

That work is a process and you go through some things as you try to find out. See, the greatest day of your life is the day you get born again. The second day of your, the second greatest day of your life is the day you find out why he saved you.

There's a work going on in you, and Jesus says that work is a work that will happen until Christ returns or you die and go to heaven. You're not, and I, this is a reason to not be discouraged, we are not there yet. We're in process.

That work is something that God put. Every person who's saved needs to be sensitive to the purpose, the dream, the promise, the prophetic word that God plants inside of you because it gives you clues as to the work you have been called to. When God starts talking to you about your future and gives you a passion and gives you a dream, he's talking to you about your purpose. Please hear me. The church has buried so many dreams by trying to sound religiously important.

Well, we don't care what you're interested in. We don't care what you're interested in. Get your eyes on Jesus.

I got my eyes on Jesus. But you got to recognize sometimes that the passion he puts inside of you is connected to the reason he puts you on this planet. You can't just sit up in here and say, I'm saved. Now what?

You're saved. Now find out why he saved you. The first and most important reason he saved you is because he wants fellowship and intimacy with you.

But then he wants you out of that intimacy to reproduce and manifest. what it looks like to live in a kingdom that is not of this world. And that is something that you manifest not as in church or behind five walls on Sunday and then go out and act like you don't know who Jesus is. If you're really a kingdom citizen, you come in here and get blessed, but you walk out there and demonstrate the life you received here so that the world sitting in darkness can see a great light. Are you following me?

And Paul says to you, I need you to know this, that the work God started in you, he will finish it. I need to preach on this today. That the work God started in you, he will complete it. That work goes through various seasons.

You can teach it and preach it however you want. These three seasons I'm going to give you today are seasons that I believe every purpose in your life and every promise in your life and every prophetic word over your life, It goes through this season of maturation. I hate calling it a process almost because it sounds mechanical. It's not really mechanical.

I'm just trying to provide verbiage and vocabulary for what some of you are going through. And everyone in here who's really saved and loves Jesus, the work of salvation, the work of righteousness is done. The work of who you are and what you are becoming is still going. And he will not stop working on you until he perfects what he started in your life.

so what do you do when God starts planting seeds of passion and purpose and he starts putting things on the inside of you I found out that those purpose seeds and those works that God, the work God is doing on the inside of me, number one, you'll go through seasons of birthing it. Number two, I'm going to go back and preach all these, but I'm giving you a heads up. It's a warning.

Here we go. Number one, you will birth it. Number two, you will build it. Number three, you will broaden it.

Birthing, building, and broadening. I want to talk to people who are experiencing a birthing thing, a building thing, or a broadening thing. Because every time God does something in your life, it will require birthing or building or sometimes it will be broadening. In every one of those chapters of your life, in every one of those seasons of the work that God is doing in you, there is a warfare that accompanies the growth that is happening in every season. You need to start making sense of the warfare and stop thinking, what is wrong with me?

Why is the devil picking on me? Crazy? He hates you.

And you got to... to stop thinking it's an arbitrary bully picking on an insignificant little somebody. You got to start understanding that everything connected to you stands in the position and posture of being blessed. If you ever step into your purpose, everything connected to you is going to get blessed, which is why Satan's trying to kill the work of God in your life because he knows if it ever happens, God is about to open up and blow the roof off your home, your marriage, your child.

children, your business, your education, everything about you. This is why you have been going through warfare. And we have been dealing with some warfare.

And if you haven't been dealing with no warfare, we thank God you are here, sister. Yay, yay, brother flip-flop. We are so excited you came, but the rest of us got the chips and the t-shirt and we got the journal and we got the backpack and we know what warfare is about.

Why have I been dealing with this? You have not been walking. through this because you are insignificant and you are nobody and the devil just found somebody to pick on you are going through this because you can't see what's up the road but the enemy has already heard enough about your life to know if I don't stop them they'll wreck everything I'm trying to do so birthing touch your neighbor tell them birthing The birthing of the work, the purpose, the plan of God, the birthing of it is, boy, what a season.

When you go through a birthing season, a birthing season always comes because of an inception that's already happened. I've got to be careful here. My wife has had four children biologically. None of them were surprised on the day that they came into this world.

It wasn't like, Deb was like, something's happening. I don't know what's going on. I'm having a baby. Oh no. That little lady, she walked around nine months.

In the summer, hot. Eating Mexican, pickles, and cheese. Somebody asked me why Devin has so many kids.

Because I love Mexican. And every time she got pregnant, she loved Mexican. So I kept her pregnant.

True story. I just, I said. Lord, have mercy.

The only way she eat queso and chips is if she's with child. Come on in here, Debbie. We got to get you. Yeah, we got to have some more Mexican.

I'm horrible, but she's not here, so praise the Lord. Here's the deal. Here's what I want to tell you.

Nobody giving birth ever found out about it accidentally. Birthing always starts with an inception and when something, a conception, and when something is conceived and incepted, inside of a lady, she carries it with her. And watch what I'm getting ready to tell you.

It grows inside before it ever grows outside. You can never, you can never have a baby. that just comes as a nine-month-old right out of the womb.

It had to grow inside of mama's belly, pull on mama for the nutrients, and get every bit of strength that mama could give it. That's why when ladies are with child, the doctor will always prescribe certain vitamins and certain kind of food and certain kind of nutrients. Why? Because that mama is not just feeding herself. That mama is feeding herself and everything on the inside.

God, some of you are terrible. And this season is demanding more prayer. It is demanding more time with God. It is demanding more word life. Why do you feel the pull to prayer like you never felt before?

Because you're not just carrying something for you. You are eating for something that's inside of you. You are taking in more nutrients, not just because of where you are, but because of where you are.

because of where God is taking you to. Look at your neighbor, tell them it's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it.

I know that carrying a child has to be a challenge for a lady. I remember when Devin was praying. Y'all got to ease into this with me, and I'm trying not to be... weirdographic, but I remember every time my wife was pregnant, she'd say, you got to rub my back.

I need a back rub. I said, why do you need a back rub? And the doctor said, because all of that baby growing inside of her is pulling on the muscles in her back and it's making her hurt.

Some of you have been going through stretches and pains and you've been going through some warfare and you wonder why. And all I'm doing is just, I just got this little dream of a ministry. or a 501c3 or a new business adventure. I just got this little idea for my house, my family, my marriage, my job, my people.

I just got this little idea and I feel like I'm fighting hell over this little thing. Yeah. But if you keep feeding it, it won't stay little.

It's about to grow into something that is going to shift your whole house, which is why the enemy is assigned to destroy it. Watch. Watch the world.

Warfare of a birthing season is destruction. I'm going to give you a Bible before you panic. When Israel needed a deliverer, God said, I'm going to raise up Moses. Pharaoh said, I'm killing all the baby boys. Why would Satan kill the babies?

Because he understood if I kill the babies, one of those children would grow up to become the deliverer. so I'm going to kill and destroy everything in an infant state to keep it from becoming what would threaten me and my kingdom, said Pharaoh. If that ain't enough for you, flip over to the New Testament.

When God put a star in the sky, the wise men, can I preach this like I feel it? The wise men came from the east and they said, where is the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the air. the east and we have come to worship him. Do you know what Herod said?

Herod said, tell me where the king is. And the Lord gave him a dream and they went a different way. But it made Herod mad that a baby had been born. What did he do? He said, kill what?

All of the infant boys in Israel because I got to get rid of the promised king. If that's not enough, flip over to Revelation 12. Revelation 12. there is a woman. She is on a birthing table getting ready to have a baby. And who is standing at the end of the birthing table? None other than the dragon.

Now in the book of Genesis 3, he was a snake. In Revelation 12, he's a dragon. Somebody has been feeding that joker, but it is the same spirit that showed up in the garden trying to steal Adam's purpose.

And now he's in Revelation 12 trying to kill them. the baby when it comes out of the womb. But I came to preach today that if God said it was going to be born, I don't care how big the dragon is.

I don't know what he's been threatening you with. But if God be for me, who can be against me? And I felt like God told me to tell this house that the last half of this year, this is not just a church building.

This is a labor and delivery room. God is about to bring some things to pass. God is about to bring some prophecy to pass.

And I need you to praise him like what you've been carrying is about to come. And you are about to have joy. Touch your neighbor, say congratulations. Tell them you went through all that. You were about to have it.

You carried it. You were about to burst it. You went through the hell.

You were about to be full of joy. You will laugh twice as much as you cried. Hold on.

For all the sophisticated people, looking at me funny, put this scripture up from Isaiah 66 verse 9, please, Isaiah 66, now do y'all got time for this? Isaiah 66, now, this is God speaking, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I Now, I love you, shall I bring, shall I bring to the time of birth and not cause delivery? I see Dr. Curley here, and I remember with three of our children who Devin had, all of them had scheduled births.

He said, they said, uh... You get here on this day, in the morning at 7 o'clock, we're going to have a baby. So we go, and Devin, you know, you can tell when the sisters have a set time for a birth.

On the pictures, you can tell. Nails, hair, earrings, eye stuff. Y'all look so fine.

Your toes are all dead. Come on, y'all. You can tell them sisters that had it arranged.

But you can tell them sisters, too, that was at home and water broke. Y'all don't know. Y'all don't want us to be real. You brothers are afraid to say anything right now.

I remember when that happened, and it was craziness. was, oh my God, where's the bag? I don't know where the bag is.

Get in the car. She went from talking like Devin to Darth Vader. Get in the car. I'm like, Father, I don't know what came on her, but I bind every work of the devil in the name.

I speak life. over my wife. Listen, listen. When God says it's your time to deliver, you better get to the delivery room. You better get to that.

This is why us coming together is not just inconsequential. It's not just, you know, do I feel it? You are carrying something. You have no clue when your spiritual water is gonna break in a house like this on a Sunday morning, a Wednesday, whenever.

And you walk in here and all of a sudden, and the spirit of God started moving and the water breaks and you said, my God, I've been carrying it for years. I've been carrying it for months. I've been carrying it for weeks.

And now it is time. And the Bible said through the prophet Isaiah, shall God bring you to the moment of birthing and not cause delivery? Look at the next question.

Shall I cause delivery? Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? In other words, God said, I put the child, I put the promise, I put the purpose, I put the purpose.

I did the work inside of you all for the right season. And when that season comes, will I shut up the womb? Well, I say, we're not going to do that. I tell you right now, the only one trying to shut up the womb is the one nervous about what you're carrying.

And you got to make up your mind. God started it. And God's going to see this thing all the way through.

So here's what I'm going to just prophesy. The last half of this year, We are going to celebrate the birthing of promises, prophetic words, the fulfillment of things that God started. I'm not telling you it's all going to happen in the next six months, but significant things are coming to you in your house that are in keeping with your purpose and his plan for your life.

Doors of opportunity. Doors of increase. Doors, even shut doors that clarify.

When God opens a door, a door, it's an opportunity. When God shuts a door, it's clarity. I said something right there by the Holy Ghost. I said, when God opens a door, it's an opportunity. When he shuts a door, it's clarity.

Well, I wanted that door. Don't cry over it. Thank him for clarity.

You are taking my options away and I'm grateful for the simplification of this situation. I don't have to lay up at night wondering if I was supposed to marry her. Oh yeah. I dropped bombs right then. I don't have to wonder if I was supposed to marry him.

If they walked off and left me, they are not going where I'm going. I got to move on. Number two.

In a birthing season, Satan comes to destroy it because he doesn't want it to grow. Rewind. Let me pause real quick, real quick. Do you know why new business startups fail? Do you know why new church plants fail more than long established churches?

Watch this. I believe Satan attacks them in their infancy. Because he doesn't want them to grow up and become what God has created them to be.

So he tries to destroy them in the infancy. If you're a business, this is not just for preachers. This is for everybody in the room. Preachers, ministers, CEOs.

CEOs, entrepreneurs, listen to me. When God puts a dream on the inside of you, an idea, a concept, a thought, when he plants it there and he births it in your life, listen to me, Satan wants to destroy it in its early years. Because if it ever takes off and starts growing, the devil can't talk you out of something that's already growing.

You say, it ain't living. And you say, yeah, it's in a 2T instead of a newborn diaper now. Mama's caught that.

Number two, birthing seasons. Number two, building seasons. Building, building, building. Look at your neighbor and say, building, building, building, building. We can shout over birthing.

I have found out in my journey, building is much more difficult to shout about. In fact, here's the thing. Here's what I have found out, Dr. John, about building.

I like things that come finished. Y'all gonna hate on me and I'm gonna get some kind of, you know, you're so bougie. I'll get something like that, but listen to me.

I will pay $10 for Ace Hardware to put my grill together. I'm gonna tell you why. I learned a lesson about nine years ago when I bought. A playground for my children for Christmas.

It came in nine boxes. This should have been, actually it come in six boxes, which is the number of Satan. So I said, I should have known something's wrong with this, but it wasn't, it wasn't done doing Satan. It was me.

And then people would put it, yeah, never mind. So, boxes came, 9,000 pieces of wood, 12,000 screws. A pathetic manual.

What couldn't even be read, had no words, just pictures with arrows. Page two, my sanctification was running so thin, it was virtually non-existent. I came out, Devin came out there, four hours in, we don't have nothing.

Christmas is in 48 hours. I turned around, I said, woman, Job's, okay. When I got through with it, there were 100 pieces of wood left. And Devin said, what is all this?

I said, extras. It was extra. I would have paid money for somebody to come and put it together.

But they trusted me with the parts to build what they knew it could become. I need to talk to some people who have all the pieces and you have all the parts, but you have to be committed to building. Seasons of birthing encounter an attack from the enemy to destroy, but seasons of... building, the warfare is different.

Take a note, write it down. The warfare involved in a building season is not destruction because Satan come too late to tell you it can't grow. The assignment of warfare against you in a building season is discouragement. Talk to me, Nehemiah.

Nehemiah. Talk to me, Nehemiah. Nehemiah 4.1.

Can we throw that on the screen? Nehemiah 4.1. Look at this.

And it happened when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding. Look at somebody say building, building, building, building. Building the wall. That he was furious and... very indignant and mocked the Jews.

Can I tell you something? People who were not mad in your birthing season will show up indignant, mad, and enraged in a building season. And if you're not careful, you won't understand why. they're hating on you so bad in the building season? Because here's what I have found about building seasons, family.

Building seasons aren't particularly, they don't seem fruitful. They seem tedious. When you're in a building season, you don't get a lot of things, a lot of satisfaction through the eyes.

It's the heart that you know you're doing the right thing. When you're in a building season, you are building structures. You are building people. You are developing culture. You are creating blueprints for the future.

future. When you're in a building season, it's not all the excitement. Well, the baby's here. The promise is here.

The business has been launched. The ministry, the church, the 501c3. Well, we lost. That's the birthing season. The building season, very few people will accompany you in a building season.

And the enemy will send people to discourage you while you are building it. This applies for businesses, churches, 501c3s. If you've got some kind of business in your life and you've been thinking about the future, if you're building your portfolio for your future, I know people don't want to talk about this in the church because it ain't spiritual, but you would be amazed how many people in the church have no plan for their future.

I want all of you, I don't care if it's $10 a week, I want you to start saving money for your future. You say $10 a week is not much. Yeah, but you're building something. Build.

Set it aside. Even if it's just, just start setting it aside, saying, I'm not touching that. I'm not going after that. That's for my future.

Have enough excitement about your future. Care enough about yourself that you say, Pastor, you know, you shouldn't think about tomorrow. Tomorrow is a word only in a fool's vocabulary. First of all, that's not in the Bible.

Secondly, tomorrow belongs to those who know who holds tomorrow. And we were in a church growing up, we were so rapture ready, we were not ready for the future. If Jesus comes, we're ready to go.

Watch. I'll leave this planet right now. I need to calm down a little bit. We're rapture ready, but you need to be ready to go, but have a plan if he lets you stay a while. Build.

In a building season, they come along and mock them. Next verse, verse two, watch this. Is this helping anybody?

Verse two, watch this. And he spoke before his brethren. Listen to what Sambalat says.

What are these feeble Jews doing? Listen to the discouraging nature of this man. What are these?

feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifice? Will they complete it in a day?

Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish, stones that are burned? A discouraging report. Nehemiah has been called to build the wall and these men show up to discourage. What do you think you're doing? These are all burnt up stones.

What are you going to do with a bunch of rubbish? Next verse. Look at this next dude, Tobiah. What a guy. Listen, he says, whatever they build, even if a fox goes up on that wall, he'll break down their wall.

wall. Discouraging. Have you ever had a voice come to you and say, what are you doing? Who do you think you are?

What are you doing? You're wasting time. What are you doing?

You're not doing it right. What are you doing? What you're doing is not going to work.

Why don't you go do something for real? Why don't you do something? Why don't you find your real calling? Discouragement.

You're building something that can't even stand. If a fox were to try to cross the top of it, it would fall apart. Can you imagine hearing that? And you look up at it and you know you're not a builder, you're a cupbearer.

And you're like, shoot, man, what if I'm not doing it right? What if this... falls apart.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever been in a building season and something come along to discourage you? Have you ever been trying to build your family, build a marriage, build a business, build a career, build a future? And you felt like, man, this is It's not working.

And then you get a voice that comes alongside of you, beside you and says, it'll never work. You stink. You're not able to do this.

You're not educated enough. You're not brilliant enough. You're not bright enough. Come down off the wall, Nehemiah.

Do something else. You know what Nehemiah said? This is what I need to say to y'all. Nehemiah said, why should I come down off the wall and have a conversation with you? It is obvious to me that you are not.

This is the Wallace Unauthorized Translation, by the way. It is obvious to me you are not a part of the building project or its future. you got to learn how not to accept invitations from people who you didn't solicit the invitation from excuse me excuse me you want me to come down i don't remember asking you if if you were a part when god called me it wasn't a boardroom that he called me in and i didn't get your vote he called me and i'm gonna do what he called me to do i'm gonna build this and it wasn't a it wasn't a a big A big group of people who called me, God called me.

So. Nehemiah says to the people, after they start talking trash and trying to discourage him, he looks at them and says, don't come down off the wall. Keep one hand on the sword and one hand on the hammer. Work, work, build, build.

And if the devil shows up, pick the sword up and tell the devil, I didn't pick this fight, but I'm picking to finish it. I didn't say fixing to, I said fitting to. I didn't start this, but I'm going to finish this by the grace of God.

I'm a peaceable man, but if you roll up on me. See, some of y'all can't handle this side. That's the problem with the modern church.

We have become polite to our own destruction. The enemy walks up, starts talking trash, and we get confused and discouraged, and we get heavy. We lose our joy.

And somebody looks at you and says, why did you quit building? Imagine the insanity of this. Somebody said, why did you quit building? And you say, they're talking about me.

I dare you the next time you hear a voice that is questioning what you're doing, that is mocking you for building, that is talking about how it won't last, I dare you to tell the devil, I'm talking. to my head because I can't be listening to the report of my enemy while I'm trying to do the work of my God. I've got a hand.

I feel like preaching right here. I've got one hand on my sword and another hand on my hammer. I will work while it is day but if the enemy shows up I know what to do with the sword. I'm thankful I've got a sword. Anybody got your sword this morning?

I just want to encourage some builders. Keep building. If you're a church planner and you're here, don't get discouraged.

I told this story in Cleveland today. You are sitting in the product of 24 years of building. There's a few faces that have been with us for a while. Y'all remember the 24 people on the first Sunday?

Y'all remember the first Easter we went into the gymnasium? None of y'all would be here had you came on that Sunday. Sunday. Can I testify?

I'm going to whether you want me to anyway. I'm just trying to make you feel like you're a part of my sermon. I remember the first Easter Sunday, we went out of the old sanctuary up by the road over the old Udawah campus.

We had just built the gym. We were packing the sanctuary out and everybody, we got in a big staff meeting and I said, I got an idea. Let's go into the gym for Easter.

And everybody was like, yeah. my God, what was I thinking? Okay.

Everything went amazing. John and Jim, y'all remember this. It was incredible.

Everything was perfect. The only problem was we never put everything together till the morning when the service started. We just moved everything in, built the stage, put all the instruments in, all the microphones, but we never had a run through until service started. Actually, we did have a run through. The musicians went first.

The singers went second, but never put it all together until the service started. And when the singers and musicians began to play on that morning, it fried the electrical system. Not just of our building, but the whole half of Udawaringo Road, the lights went out in Georgia. We shut the whole thing down.

Pastor Jim was up there playing. All of a sudden, somebody starts singing while everybody's playing. And it went like this.

And the lights went out. Everybody went. It's jam-packed, 600 people. people.

And this woman walks up to me and goes, I see a snake on the sound booth. I looked at Deb and said, I'm going home. I am done. I cannot handle this today. Somehow we pulled it all together and we continued to have service with no power.

We put choir risers on the stage and didn't think we better probably with kids singing on risers, we need to have something to keep them from falling. So we had this sweet little princess on the the top row of the risers who decides she's going to do the moonwalk and starts walking backwards and falls off the back. Randy and Lavonda, you remember this.

She falls off the back of her risers. Her daddy, who had one tooth in his whole head, stood up, ran down the middle aisle screaming, my baby, my baby, jumps over the risers and finds his daughter laying there crying. I fall down, daddy.

I fall down, daddy. I looked at Devin. I said, you finish this.

I'm out of here. I'm out of here. I can't handle it. of this. We got all this craziness going on.

What were you doing? Building. Building. Do you know what I did after that moment? Do you know what I started from that moment forward?

We did it, and they'll tell you this day, the team on this church will tell you, we have cycles of service. What's a cycle of service? We put ourself in the role of a visitor who walks in, and we make sure everything from the day they get out, the moment they get out of their car, to the moment they get back in their car, we have crossed every T and dotted every I.

Why do you do that? Because little Sally fell off the back row, and the power didn't work, and in a building... season, you got to take really good notes. You will find out who you can trust in a building season.

You will find out who you want with you in a building season. You will find out what works and what doesn't work in a building season. Write down what you learned in a building season.

building season. Why? Because if you will remember it and act on the knowledge and the wisdom you gained in a building season, you will be able to sustain the next season, which is broadening. Hear me and I'm done.

In birthing seasons, destruction is the warfare. In building seasons, discouragement is the warfare. Take your notes, write it down.

Number three, in broadening seasons, when you're getting bigger and wider and expanding, distraction is the warfare. Please explain. Thank you, I shall. When you come to a broadening season, you start blowing up, growing, you start expanding and increasing. And if you're not careful, in a season where it looks like you can't fail, you will interpret your success...

As an invitation to step outside of what you're called to do. And get distracted by what you want to do. And if you're not careful, watch this. If you're in your purpose, there's grace on your life.

And grace makes me and you look better than we really are. But I have seen people who are really good at their purpose while they're operating in God's grace, and they get distracted by something they want to do outside of their purpose. And they think, I did real good in this.

I can run over here and be real good at this. And you get distracted. And in a season where you ought to be expanding, you start having to work harder.

to sustain what you birthed, rather than resting and enjoying the grace that he provides in what he birthed. Am I helping anybody right now? Don't look at your neighbor and say, Neighbor, don't be destroyed by weapons of mass distraction.

Well, what about weapons of mass destruction? I'm far more concerned about distraction. Because if you'll stay focused on your lane, well, I want to do what they're doing.

God didn't call you to that lane. This is why you have to be so careful, family, that you don't absorb somebody else's passion. Because if you don't have a real understanding of what you're on this planet for, there are people who will sabotage and hijack your influence for their own personal passion.

Oh, they look successful. Let me sabotage their success and use their success to meet my needs. I am telling you right now, if you get in the right house, and I know there's so many of you who are in this house, you're connected.

We couldn't do what we do without you. There are people, however, in this room and watching online that are still, they're like, where did? these people come from? We're just checking y'all out. We didn't even know y'all was here.

I need to tell those people who are checking us out, I need you to hear me. The greatest gift you have in your life is the ability to connect to something. that has nothing to do personally with your personal dream coming to pass, if you begin to submit to that wherever it is, watch this, your willingness to engage in submission to somebody else's vision.

will then cause other people to come and be a part of your mission. You can't have a mission accomplished in your life until you help other people accomplish their mission. That happens by submission. Sub meaning under mission. So you get up under someone else's mission, and God then says, these people have the right kind of heart.

But the reason some people go to 69 different churches and never plant and grow, I'm making so many unnecessary enemies right now, is because you keep going somewhere waiting on someone. to fulfill your vision. When God is waiting on you to submit, and I'm not just talking about here, if you don't believe me, I invite you, if you're in that season, find the right church if this is not the right one. But get submitted to a vision, a mission, a purpose somewhere else, and in so doing, you find pleasure in it, and then God begins to trust you, and he trusts me.

This is how it happened. I served other people's visions for years before I ever started a church. Because God is far more interested in us having the right heart than he is having a big ministry.

I feel like things are sinking in. So you have a purpose, family. Help me, Jules.

You have a purpose. You have a work going on inside of you. I don't know if you're in a birthing season, a building season, or a broadening season.

And let me just bless you before we go. Can we put up Isaiah 54, two and three before we go? This is what a broadening season looks like.

Can I tell you it comes on the tail end of warfare? Go read Isaiah 53. Go read Isaiah 51, I mean, 53. Go read Isaiah 53. It's about what? The suffering what? Servant. The suffering servant.

Then you flip the page and you come into this epilogue in Isaiah 54. It comes on the tail end of suffering. And then after the suffering, enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch the curtains of your dwellings. Why would I stretch the curtains of my dwellings? Because your family's getting ready.

to grow. Everything in the house is getting ready to expand. Watch this. Lengthen and strengthen.

I love that. Lengthen and strengthen your cords. God says, I want you to understand something. Next verse, you're about to break out on the left and the right. Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor, if you don't want, come on, talk to your neighbor and say, neighbor, if you don't want to experience the breakout, you better not sit by me next Sunday.

Tell them because this thing is breaking out on my left. I feel like preaching right here. This thing is breaking out on my left. And this thing is breaking out on my right.

Everywhere I turn around, I feel expansion in my future. Oh, God, I've got to quit because I feel a shift coming right here. But I feel like somebody is about to experience an enlarging of territory.

Oh! Come on in here and talk to me, Jabez. Jabez means sorrow. Jabez means pain.

But your Bible said Jabez prayed one prayer. Here's what he prayed. Oh, God, that you would bless me indeed. That you would enlarge my territory.

We got to go. I know it's vacation week. But I wish somebody who's not ashamed to be blessed would stand up and throw up your head.

and say, Oh God, Oh God. Somebody call on his name like you know him. Somebody call on his name like you love him.

Somebody call on his name like he's faithful. Somebody call on his name like you know he's not through with you yet. Say, oh God, bless me indeed. Open up your mouth right now and praise him for the enlargement.

Praise him for the increase. No, really go to praising him for it, right? It's breaking out on my left.

It's breaking out on my right. It's breaking out in my marriage. It's breaking out in my children.

It's breaking out in our church. It's breaking out in our business. United Kindred Hospital.

JoJo is about to break up. Somebody say yay. Touch your neighbor. We got to go but hug somebody. Shake some hands and tell everybody.

in your role. It's about to break out. We're moving from building to broadening. It's about to increase.

God is about to breathe on the business. God is about to breathe on the entrepreneurs. God is about to breathe on the business owners.

God is about to breathe on the bishops. God is about to breathe on the preachers. It's about to break out. It's about to break out.

It's about to broaden. It's about to get outside the boundaries. Somebody who feels an expansion going on. Forget about who's sitting next to you. Just take 21 seconds and praise God for the increase, Throw both hands up.

Throw both hands up high. I don't want you to say this out of a routine of what I'm saying. And if I say it and you don't feel it, put your hands down and don't say it.

But I want you with faith in this moment. I feel... something in this moment.

And I'm not just saying it because I didn't do this at the last two campuses, but I'm doing it in this one because I feel it right now and it's online and it's in this house. I want you to open up your mouth while your hands are lifted to the heavens and I want you to say Say, Father, in the name of Jesus, bless me indeed. Enlarge my territory. Make me to be a blessing. Say, in the name of Jesus, the warfare is accomplished.

I'm not staying where I've been. I'm breaking out. Breaking out. I'm breaking out. Breaking out.

I'm your prophet, Simon. I'm breaking out. On the left.

On the right. My house. My family. My children. My business.

My job. It's breaking out. Break.

Break. Not see yet. I hear rain.

I can't see it, but I hear, I hear rain say, I cannot see it, but I hear, I hear rain say, I cannot see it. Blood out, I hear rain, be out Oh, you're my shoulder, you're the most safe Say I cannot, but I sing it to hell! No time to slide! PEDROID!

WHAT?! I am not seeing What I need I am not seeing Ya ya, hold the button! We're going to go!

But to go! Family, to go! For the... God, he surprises right here, with his blood, he has, anybody saved by the power of the blood this morning, with his hand, he has raised me, to God, be the glory. For the things For the Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah Yeah yeah yeah most of the time Oh shit can't come out of the most of the time For the things He had That Put your hands up and just fill this room with worship, come on.

We're going to be gone this week and you're going to spend time with your family, but I want you to seal it on the last Sunday of the first half of this month by giving him a wave offering of praise this morning. No, no, no, no, no, my son, no. I want you to shake hands with four or five people right there and tell them, neighbor, I want to speak this over your life.

The last half is going to be filled with fulfillment. Come on, tell them, and a release of joy is coming on you and your house. I want to do something. If you got to go, we love you.

Peace. Have a great fourth. But I want to do something that I don't ever do hardly. Very rarely.

I felt this when I was in this room right now. I feel like there's some people in this moment who need to say, I'm not just giving. Out of thanksgiving.

That's a wonderful reason to give. How many know we give for that reason? Somebody say amen. I'm not just giving even to meet a need. How many know we do that in this house?

And in fact, just a few weeks ago, we took up an offering for single parent mothers in Cleveland and blessed Cleveland and Athens and we blessed Tullahoma because this house believes in generosity. Somebody talk to me and say amen. But there are moments when we share in the word by saying I am attaching this seed to that projected harvest. And here's what I want. I'm not telling you an amount because if I told you an amount, it might be entirely too small for the kind of harvest you're believing for or entirely too large for where you are living.

I'm just telling you right now. In this moment, somebody is saying, Bishop, I am believing for something significant in the last half of this year. And I am actually going to, I am going to address this seed and put by faith.

faith, I'm going to attach my expectation to this offering I'm getting ready to give. And I'm saying, God, I'm giving this one in faith for this. I don't know if it's your business. I don't know if it's somebody trying to adopt a baby and you're believing God for it, but whatever it is, if it's a ministry, if it's a church, if you're online, if it's a 501c.

Three, if you're thinking about broadening and expanding to another location, whatever it is, if there's a promise on the inside of you that you know you need God to get involved with, I want you to get an offering in your hand and say this word for me right now. my faith to this message and I am believing it is for me in my house in my future I don't care whatever the best you got is if it's a dollar bill whatever it is I want you to say God I am claiming harvest on this seed today day that expansion and broadening are a part of my future. I want you to decide what you're going to give.

And when you get it in your spirit as an act of faith to God, I want you to lift it in the air. If it's online, you can lift your phone. If it's a piece of a dollar bill, whatever it is, a piece of money, if it's a check, whatever it is, whenever you get it, I want you to lift it right now. I'm believing for this kind of harvest in my future this year.

I'm asking you to lift it. I'm asking you, God, if you have faith, I'm talking to you. If you feel obligated, I'm not.

If you have faith to believe that God can do it, I'm talking to you. But if you feel obligated, I'm not talking to you. There is no pressure to give in this house. But if you're in this house and you say, Bishop, you're talking to me, and I'm believing for increase, expansion, and broadening, I'm believing it'll break out.

I'm believing it'll come to birth. I'm believing in a building season that the best is yet to come. And I'm trusting the God of the Bible. Bible to meet my need and to provide this in my life and to finish what it started.

Throw your hands up when you get this offer, whatever it is, throw it up. You're giving online, giving by check, giving in cash. I just want you to come. And even if, listen, I know this is an instruction I don't ever do, but hear me.

If it's, if it's offering, I want you to come put it on the altar. If it's a check, I want you to come put it on the altar. If it's giving by technology, I want you to come touch the altar with your phone.

And I want you to say, God, this seed has a target. I am believing you. to finish some things that you are working in my life. Ready? Let me bless it.

Father, bless our house. Bless our people. And as we give with faith into the promises of your word, we cannot buy this blessing.

We are simply saying as we give, I trust you and I sow toward the harvest that I'm trusting you for. In Jesus'name, amen. I want you to come right now. Just as you're moved on by God, no pressure at all.

Just as you're moved on by God, I believe in you for this. Amen. In Jesus'name. You can't beat God giving.

No matter how hard you try. Just come on, give with joy. We're just coming and giving with joy to say thank you God for the opportunity to sow seed into a moment. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Play that song, Julia. You can't. Be God-giving.

Thank you for blessing every seed. Thank you for blessing every seed. I bless every seed, Lord. I bless our people as they give in the name of Jesus.

The Lord in heaven above. Thank you Lord God bless you God bless you God bless you Thank you for blessing our people Everyone lift your hands Let me seal this And we're going to go home Father we thank you for this day for our people and for their families. I bless them with a wonderful 4th of July week.

Keep us safe. I'm asking you to watch over the whole family. Protect us. Be with us and bless us in Jesus'name. Everybody said amen.

I love your family. Go in the peace of the Lord. We'll see you next Sunday at God's house.

Well, I trust that the Word of God is working in your heart in this moment. I know the Word works. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.

Maybe something said today has touched your heart and maybe you feel like you are so far away from God. How could I ever get right? right with God.

Friend, I want to tell you, there is a way to get right with God. It's through his son, Jesus. Today, if you'll turn your heart and your life over to him, I don't care what you've done and how bad it was, how long you've been doing it and how messed up you feel.

Jesus is a friend to sinners. He'll come into your life. He'll turn it all the way around and change it. I believe by the Spirit of God He's doing that right now.

Let's pray. Open your heart and say, Dear God, come into my life and forgive me of all my sin. Lord Jesus, I need you to wash me and make me new. I confess that I've been a sinner.

And today I want to follow you for the rest of my life. Turn my life over to you, Lord Jesus. Come in and be the king of my heart. In Jesus'name I pray.

Amen. Hey, friend, if you pray. prayed that prayer, I want you to know today's not the finish line. It's just the beginning.

Go to KevinWallace.tv. Just drop us a line on our prayer request area. Let us know that you got saved. You gave your life to Christ.

We want to make sure you have a Bible. We want to make sure you get plugged into a good Bible-believing church full of the Spirit of God. Listen, the journey has just begun, and the best days of your life are in front of you. We're praying for you here at Kevin Wallace Ministries.

Can't wait to see what God does in your life. We love you all. God bless.

Transcript for:Kevin Wallace's Message on Spiritual Growth

Transcript for:
Kevin Wallace's Message on Spiritual Growth