A Little Goes a Long Way- Chris Lindberg

Good morning, men and women. It's an honor to be able to speak to you again on the Pando app. Technology is amazing. Um right here from Life Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas. We love you. You're part of our church family. We're so grateful for you for for choosing our church um to to get edified by Jesus. I love you. I love you. My name is Raymond Williams. My TDC number is 1490218. I got four numbers after that. I went round and round and round in the system on drugs and crime and and and all that stuff. Never thought that um there was anything better. There was anything different. I just kind of gave up and thought this is just going to be my lot in life, man and you know, when I was 45 years old, Jesus got a hold of me. I'm telling you, I don't care what the situation is. Anything is possible with god and I just wanna encourage

you to seek after him, chase after him like with the desperation of a drowning man because he is your lifeline. He's been that way for me. Um he changed my life. He'll change yours. I promise but we have to get all in. Hey, you can tell your friends and family. They can download the same Pando app on their phone. You can watch the same videos. You can watch the same stuff. You can talk about it when you see him in visitation or when he's talking on the phone. You know, I know you don't, the phone calls are not that long. I know but you know, take three, four, 5 minutes and just talk about talk about god. Talk about spirituality. Talk about what you saw on the Pando app. You know, I know you don't have much time when you're in when you're in visitation but man, maybe take a few minutes in and try to be the spiritual leader of your family men and try to be um a spiritual example to

your kids. Women like it's not over. I know you think that well, my kids are growing up without me and I'm here in prison. It's not over. God is a god of restoration. He's a god that loves to heal families. He loves to restore families. So don't don't buy into the lie that it's just over for you and your family. You can still lead them. You can still do that but but have them download Pando and y'all watch the same stuff. I don't care if it's live fellowship stuff or not. There's 150 churches on there. There's the chosen on there. The Bible recaps on there. Find a way to do this thing together. It's possible. It's possible. Um so I was reading James and I love the book of James because he's just so straight up. He's straight up. He's just so real talk and um in James, he starts with saying, this letter is from James. I'm reading the NLT version. A slave of god and of our lord Jesus Christ. I mean,

that's just so incredibly weighty, right? He's saying, man, I'm completely sold out to to Jesus and to what he did on that cross and in that empty tomb. I'm a slave of Jesus. I don't care what that means. I don't care what that entails. I am completely sold out to him. I'm all in. No strings attached and then he says, I'm writing to the twelve tribes, Jewish believers scattered abroad. So, see James after the resurrection. See before the resurrection, James didn't really, we didn't hear much of James and what we did hear uh from James, you know, because he was Jesus's half brother. Um but before the resurrection and he ascended to heaven and all those things we love to talk about. Uh we saw a little bit of James but he thought Jesus was crazy. He thought he'd lost his mind. He you know, cuz think about it. If your brother came to you and said, hey, check it, bro. I'm the savior of the world. You

know, like your response would be, man, get off the gas, bro. Like, we got the same mom. Like, I I know you like and that's kind of what we saw from James and the scriptures were so real. You know, I love that about that because he was like, hey man, somebody's gotta go get somebody's gotta go get Jesus man. Like he's telling everyone he's the savior of the world. Um but you know, there's nothing like resurrecting from the dead and walking out of an empty tomb, right? To to prove your point that that you are the savior of the world and so after the resurrection, we saw what what we saw was Jesus meeting with James. James that used to think he was out of his mind because he was his brother but now he's meeting with James and becomes a ferocious contender for the for the kingdom of God and so he's he's writing this right during a time of intense persecution for the church um and it's it's

not persecution like we would think persecution like I know um in many of the places that you guys are at You guys get some pushback, you know, you hear a lot of the, oh, they're just sitting at the table reading the Bible because they don't really want to get down. They're scared. They don't want to get down with a gang or they don't want to get involved in this. So they're just hiding over here behind a Bible. I know that there's a lot of that in there, but in Rome in the first century, like it was a little bit different. Like they had people that would torture you to death. Like they would literally be sitting there eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while they just breaking you in half. Okay, so persecution in first century Rome was a little bit different than it is now. And if you were a follower of Christ, if you were a follower of the way back then, it probably meant your life. And it probably meant your life in a very brutal way. In fact, we see that shortly after, not long after James wrote this letter, it says that James was thrown off the temple, which was about 30 to 40 feet, thrown off the temple where he didn't all the way die.

And then they all ran down there and they stoned him to death until he did die. So there was some persecution. That's the reason they were scattered abroad. They're scattered because they're running for their lives. They're running for their lives. But as they're running, they are, it's amazing. Like the church can't be stopped. They're planting churches behind them everywhere they go. It's an incredible time for the church. And so James, what he's gonna do is he is going to very profoundly in five chapters, he is going to highlight and bring up and he's going to just make known anything that could potentially infiltrate and destroy the bride of Christ from the inside out. And so he starts it off just, he just drops bombs, y'all. He starts it off by talking about trials. And he said, hey man, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it joy, consider it an opportunity for when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be perfect and complete and not lacking anything. And so that's like a whole nother perspective on trials that we go through, right? Because I know many of you are going through trials right now, many of you are in dorms or runs that are absolutely crazy. Some of you aren't, some of you have other trials

coming against you. Maybe you're sitting in county jail and they're offering you 50 years. And you're like, man, what am I gonna do? We can look at trials differently, as James is saying, because it can actually be a thing that develops us. But he knows it's gonna be difficult because he says, if you need wisdom, just ask and he'll give it to you without reproach. That means we don't have to beg, we don't have to negotiate, we don't even have to be righteous. We just ask for wisdom and he gives it to us. But he says, but don't waver for a person who is, but when you ask, be sure your faith is in God alone. Don't waver for a person who's divided. Loyalty is unsettled as a wave of the sea, it's blown and tossed about. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. So when we ask God for the wisdom, we need to have faith in him and not some other system, right? If they're offering you 50 years, you need to ask God for the wisdom and then have faith in God and not maybe your lawyer. Well, maybe I need to go get another lawyer. Maybe I need to go try to, God has got you and he's got the perfect plan. And then he goes on in verse 12 and he talks, now he was just talking about trials,

now he's gonna talk about temptations. And he's saying, God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterwards they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. That sounds good, but what's the crown of life? Like that's gonna come what? When I die, when I'm at that Bema seat or when I'm, you know, like I want a blessing now, right? Like I want some money, I want a financial blessing, I want a new car, I want a new job. These are the things that our mind tells us, but he's saying be patient, right? And wait because this crown of life, these eternal blessings are much, much, much better than anything that we can get on earth. And he says, remember when you're being tempted, don't say God is tempting me. God never tempts, tempted to do wrong and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So he's saying, man, God's not tempting you, that's coming from you. That's coming from your selfish self-centered self that wants what I want when I want it, however I got to get it. And he's saying, man, be patient

and endure these temptations. Then he goes on in 17 and says, whatever is good and perfect as it. gift coming down to us from God, our Father, who created all the lights in heaven. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. So all our good gifts are coming from God and he never wavers. We have to trust in his plan because sometimes we'll compare ourselves to other people and say, oh man, you're blessing that person. Why aren't you blessing me? Or look at these people. Social media is terrible about that. We can get into this comparison thing, but God's gifts are front. We need to be patient. Every good gift comes from him. And then man, this is the point I wanted to make. He's like shifting gears now in verse 18. He was talking about trials. He's talking about temptation. He's talking about this walk that we're doing and all that we're gonna endure. And then boom, in verse 18, he's like switching gears. He says, he chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, we, you, me, everyone that's watching, out of all of his creation, all of his creation became his prized possession.

But think about that, man, all of his creation. Let's just think about his creation. You know, one of the things I remember about being in prison, in one of the very few positives is they're all in the middle of nowhere here in Texas. I don't know where you're watching from, but they're all in the middle of nowhere. And when we go to chow in the morning, or when we go to get our clothes to change them in, we're always doing that at like two in the morning, four in the morning. It's dark outside, but it's the middle of nowhere. And so as you're walking down that run, sometimes you can look up and if it's a clear night, man, the sky is amazing. You can see all the stars. You can see the Milky Way. You can see the Big Dipper. You can see the planets. You can see the moon. It's just amazing, God's creation. But he's saying more than that. He's saying more. I don't know if you've ever been to Colorado before, and you've been up maybe on one of those ski lifts, and man, it crests the top of one of those mountains, and man, the view is just amazing. There's no words for the snow-capped mountains with all these aspen trees.

It's just amazing. But he's saying more than that. He's saying more than the oceans. I don't know if you've ever been to the oceans of like Florida, where it's just so blue. It looks like colored water, and it's just vast till the eye can see. He's saying more than that. He's saying more than the glaciers up in Alaska. Man, that must be an amazing sight. I've never been there, but I've seen it on TV. It must be an amazing sight to see. He's saying more than that, more than anything in creation, more than the elephant, more than the giraffe, more than the woolly mammoth or the dinosaurs that don't even exist anymore, more than anything in all my creation. Guys, we can't read too fast past sentences like that. He's saying, yeah, anything in all of creation, he picked us. We are his prized possessions. You are his prized possession. You're the most important thing to him. Yeah, the stars are cool, man. I just spoke those. I just spoke and they appeared. You're awesome. Fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm 139 says. The NIV version would call it

the first fruits of all his creation. It points to the same thing. You're very important to him. So he's saying church in Jerusalem, and he's saying to you guys and to me, as you're going through these trials, as you're going through these temptations, as you're fighting for your faith, as you're being sanctified one degree of glory to the next, whatever that looks like for you as you're going three steps forward and one step back, or maybe you're going four steps forward and 10 steps back, he's saying in the midst of that, you need to know that as you fight, as you wage war against your sin, you need to know that you're his prized possession, that he adores you, that he's not just up there tolerating you, okay? That our relationship with him is not this transactional deal, where if I do this and this and this, then he'll love me. You're his prized possession. You're the most important thing to him, even on our crappiest of days. And I need to realize that because I have a jacked up view of my father and it manifests, I'm fighting against it, but there are still moments when I'll be like, you know, dang man, I didn't do any Bible studies last week.

So he's not gonna love me as much as two weeks ago when I was doing Bible studies. See, that's not the case. He adores us, we're his prized possessions, even on our worst days. So I don't know what it is that you've done that you think you can't be forgiven for. I don't know what it is that you think about your father. how it projects onto the face of God. But I just wanted to bring that up that, guys, where's price possession? Because when we can get that, not just as information, but revelation, and we can walk in it, it's gonna change everything. It's gonna change everything. So let me pray for you guys. Heavenly Father, I love, love, love your word. I love how, man, your word just convicts. And there's so much truth in there that we miss, and then when, just when we need it the most, we see it, God, and you just illuminate it. God, I pray that you would just bless every one of the people that are watching right now, and that you would put a desire in their hearts to wanna read your word, and to wanna find these nuggets, and to wanna have a realization that, wow, you are, we are your price possession. That's why you left 99 to come after us. And so I, so God, I pray that if there's anyone watching that maybe doesn't feel like you've left 99

to come after them, that you would show them that your Holy Spirit in their heart could have a moment this week, and you could show them how much you love them, and how you just wanna meet them right where they're at, whatever that is, in their crappiest of moments, and take them and embrace them. God, they can lay all that down at the feet of Jesus. And that's what I pray, man, that repentance would take place today, that salvation would happen. So God, we thank you for all your blessings. I ask that you bless their families as they're gone, that you would just love them, and just let them know. Give them a sign, show them a song, something on Pando, something on the TV, some kind of sign to let them know how much you love them, and that they are your price possession. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Whose house? God's house. Let's give him some praise. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I want to read us a scripture. It comes from Psalms 27, verse 4.

And it says, The one thing that I ask of the Lord and the thing that I seek most is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His temple. And so as we begin worship today, I want to challenge you guys to take a moment to just focus on Jesus. Make this a year of you and Jesus, and let's create a space to realign our hearts with the Lord and start this year off focusing on Him. So let's create a moment to just kind of have with you and the Lord in this moment. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Oh, I want to see you, I want to see you. Come on, let's sing, to see you high. To see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory. To know your power and love as we sing holy, holy, holy.

I want to see you, I want to see you. I want to see you, I want to see you. Would you reveal yourself to us? Would you reveal yourself to us? We want to see your beauty, Jesus. We want to gaze at your face, yeah, oh, yeah. We want to see your face, Jesus. Come on, lift your heart today. Come on, let's press into this moment. Oh, would you open the eyes of my heart? Come on, lift your voice and sing it out, come on. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see you. I want to see you. Come on, I want to see you, Jesus. I want to see you. Would you open the eyes of my heart, Lord? Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. We make space to see you. Open the eyes of my heart. Would you reveal yourself? I want to see you. I want to see you. Come on. To see you, I lift it up. Come on, shining in the light. Shining in the light of your glory. Would you pour out your spirit? Pour out your power. Let's raise the holy.

Let's raise the holy. Come on, everybody, lift it up. Come on. To see you, I lift it up. Oh, shining. Shining in the light of your glory. Would you pour out your power, Lord? Pour out your power. Let's raise the holy. Let's raise the holy. Oh, to see you, I lift it up. To see you, I lift it up. Shining in the light. Shining in the light of your glory. Would you pour out your spirit? Pour out your power in love. As we sing holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. I want to sing. Can I sing holy? You are holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. I want to sing. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy. It's all in this space for me. Holy, holy, holy.

I want to sing. I want to sing. Focus all of your attention on Jesus, come on Church. Focus all of your attention on Jesus, come on Church. Focus all of your attention on Jesus, come on Church. Focus all of your attention on Jesus, come on Church. Can we sing holy? Jesus. The precious fountain from Calvary's mountain Flowing down to you and I It washes us clean, oh what a mystery That red blood makes me wild Isn't it wild? Doesn't it make you wonder How something so profound Could be so simple? The blood, the blood, the blood Oh the wonderful blood Your love, your love, your love Oh the marvelous love Let the redeemed sing a song Praises belong to the Son The blood, the blood, the blood Oh the wonderful blood My precious Jesus Oh I'm so thankful For the day you saved my life As I remember My heart grows tender Tears begin to fill my eyes

And isn't it wild? Doesn't it make you wonder How something so profound Could be so simple? And isn't it wild? Doesn't it make you wonder How something so profound Could be so simple? The blood, the blood, the blood Oh the wonderful blood Your love Your love, Your love, Your love All the marvelous love Let the redeemed sing a song Praises belong to the shine The blood, the blood, the blood All the wonderful blood Oh, we shall thank you for your blood Your blood that washes clean Thank you for your blood That blood, that blood that washes all the rest That cleanses us The world's you did establish All of our sins forgiven And now we get to live The wonder of the working blood The cross was your decision But death was not the ending You rose and now we're risen The wonder of the working blood The world's you did establish All of our sins forgiven And now we get to live The wonder of the working blood The cross was your decision But death was not the ending You rose and now we're risen The wonder of the working blood The wonder of the working blood The blood, the blood, the blood All the wonderful blood Your love, Your love, Your love All the marvelous blood The blood, the blood, the blood All the wonderful blood Your love, Your love, Your love All the marvelous love

Let the redeemed sing a song Praises belong to the shine The blood, the blood, the blood All the wonderful blood The world's you did establish All of our sins forgiven And now we get to live The wonder of the working blood The cross was your decision But death was not the ending You rose and now we're risen The wonder of the working blood The wonder of the working blood And God precious is the flow God makes me wide and slow I'm not worried, I'm tired Nothing but the blood of Jesus And God precious is the flow God makes me wide and slow I'm not worried, I'm tired Nothing but the blood of Jesus Nothing but the blood of Jesus prepare the elements. You know in 1st Corinthians the Bible talks about Jesus and the disciples and they're in the upper room for the Passover meal. And I like to imagine what that may have looked like. So I can just imagine Jesus and all the disciples sitting at a big table and this is quite a celebration as well as a remembrance. And they go through the Passover meal and somewhere in that in that process Jesus stops and I can just imagine him saying, hey guys pay attention, focus, listen to me for a minute. And he takes out the bread and he breaks it and he hands it to the disciples. And he says, this is my body. He doesn't say this represents my body, he says this is my body. If I'm one of the disciples I'm probably wondering what is he, what's he saying? And then he goes on to say it's broken for you. I believe there's a parallel in the broken body, the broken bread, to another scripture that says, by his stripes we are healed. So we're going to take communion this morning. If you would go ahead and take out the bread. But we're going to start with remembering. Remembering what this means. I believe there's many in this room who need a physical healing in your body. What a great way to start 2026 by taking communion and receiving the gift

that Jesus gave you to heal your body. And if it's not you, maybe you have a family member or a friend who needs a physical healing. I want you to speak their name as you take communion this morning. I want you to speak health into them, life into them, healing into them. So I'm going to pause here for just a second and I want you to in your mind have somebody's name, family member, friend. Maybe yourself, who as you take this bread, you're going to accept the healing of Jesus in your body today. So let's break the bread. Thank you, Jesus. The word goes on to say, likewise, after they had finished the bread, he took the cup and he said, this represents my blood. This is my blood, is what he says, that is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And I know in my life I have family and friends who need to know Jesus. I believe there's people in this room that have decided, 2026, I'm going to go all in with Jesus. So as you're doing that, as you take communion today, this is for the forgiveness of your sins. Do you realize Jesus would have done that if it was just you? Jesus would have done that if it was just me. So before we take the juice, think of a prodigal in your family or a friend who needs to know Jesus and speak their name and declare 2026, Lord, let them know you. Thank you, Jesus. Let's take the juice. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for this opportunity to remember the incredible price that you paid for each one of us. Thank you that your bread represents so many things, but one of those things is the healing of our physical bodies. Lord, I speak health and healing into those in this congregation and those watching online. And Lord, I thank you for the juice that represents our forgiveness, your forgiving our sins. So we thank you for that, Lord. And we give you all praise, honor, and glory in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. We're going to continue in worship with another worship song and continue in the service. Thank you for the cross, Lord. Thank you for the price you've paid. Bearing all my sin and shame, in love you came and gave a man a new life.

Thank you for this love, Lord. Thank you for the nail piercings. Wash me in your cleansing flow. Now all I know is your forgiveness and embrace. Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne. We crown you now with many crowns. You reign victorious. You are high and lifted up. Jesus, Son of God. The darling of heaven crucified. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Come on, can we sing worthy is the Lamb one more time? We sing worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne. We crown you now with many crowns. You reign victorious. You are high and lifted up. Jesus, Son of God. The darling of heaven crucified. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. You are so worthy, Jesus. You are so worthy. Worthy is the Lamb. You are so worthy. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb, seated on the throne. We crown you now with many crowns. You reign victorious. You are high and lifted up. Jesus, Son of God. The darling of heaven crucified. We sing worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb. Jesus, Jesus, Son of God. You are so worthy. You are worthy to be praised. We adore you and we love you this morning. There is none like you, Jesus. We love you this morning. What an honor it is to worship you. Thank you for all that you're doing and that you're about to do in this new year. In Jesus' name we pray, church. Amen. We say amen. Life Fellowship, God bless you. Thank you for worshiping Jesus with us. You may be seated in his presence. I just can't seem to get it right at home, at work, anywhere. No wonder my boss won't promote me and my wife doesn't respect me. I get discouraged I judge too fast. I shut down when I should actually step up and I feel stuck. I'm frustrated with myself and Maybe this is just who I am But yet something in me says this isn't the end that God's not done with me And maybe the change doesn't start big. Maybe it starts small and through Christ's strength. I can overcome I can be the man. He has created me to be because big wins are Built on small choices and if you've ever felt like that before I want to encourage you that 2026 is going to be the year of incredible opportunity for you Well, hey everybody good to have you in service with us today a big God bless you to you

I know that we have some folks that are in the back here that are trying to find some seats and I do seek some Seats available and so you guys can just scoot in just a little bit and some of these folks will be able to grab those Seats, I know there's probably those also in the lobby. So those of you in the lobby, please come back in Glad that you're with us big welcome to you as we kick off this brand new year Want to say hello to our church online family And we want to give a big shout out to all the men and women in all of our Department of Corrections around America Come on, everybody. Would you put your hands together? Would you make them all feel welcome today god bless you guys Well, hey while you're pulling up your message notes that are available on your life fellowship app I've got to be obedient to the Lord. I've got to say something here Bernie when I gave you a hug a second ago I just I've I know that God when this whole thing happened in Venezuela just the other day. Were you there? Yeah, just the other day I know that there's been this heart that you had and man when I hugged you I felt the Holy Spirit say that it's going To happen that you're gonna do a crusade in Venezuela There is going to be tens of thousands of people that are going to be a part of that We're gonna bring the gospel to that nation and life fellowship is going to be a part of that to see the nation come to faith in Jesus Christ, and I feel like God is going to use you as a Just kind of like a wedge that's going to begin to open the door to the gospel in Massive ways and he's giving you a gift and a calling and anointing on your life And so man I just I just felt that in my heart and I just had to be obedient to the Lord to speak it out to tell You that God's in the middle of all that and we're gonna see something massive happen I might even go with you. It might be it might be fun. I might Well everybody I don't know about you, but I Love the new year. There's just something about it We're kicking off a new four-week message series that we've entitled a little goes a long way It's four weeks at the end of it We're gonna go into a six-week series going verse by verse through the song of Solomon I've got all new content for you. And so whether you're single

single again married Married having some challenges Like this is gonna be key for you, and I'm just challenging you. Let's pack the house bring somebody with you. It's gonna be Incredible it really is but the reason why I love the new year is because there's almost this fresh Optimism all around that real lasting change is possible, and I don't know what it is for you I don't know if this is the year that you say I'm finally gonna get in shape. I'm gonna get healthy Maybe for you. It's I'm gonna start eating right? Maybe I'm going to I'm gonna grow spiritually Maybe for you you're gonna finish that degree that's been sitting on the shelf Maybe for you you're gonna get your money working right and smart so it's working for you not against you Maybe for you you're gonna finally get rid of that annoying habit that you have in your life I'm just telling you that no matter what it is I'm Praying that this would be your year that God's presence and power Would show up in your life, and you would see the reality of that come to pass because there's something about a new year that brings new hope and honestly There's a part of it. That's psychological right because you can change whenever you want Right God's not waiting on the new year for you to get changed. He's ready to go whenever I mean That's why nobody starts a diet the week before Christmas Okay So Whenever you want to start seeing change there is the temptation to look at other people and you see them you think wow Like they're so far ahead of me, and I could never I could never catch up to something like that But I've got good news for you today, and here's this the life everyone dreams of so the life that you're dreaming of is built by the small choices that nobody else sees So let me give you some examples of this so years ago There was a man that I so admired he had a walk with God that was like none else

I mean he was spirit-led he had when he prayed you knew that it came from a deep reservoir of a Relationship for years with the things of God like he knew scripture backwards and forwards, and so I stopped him and I said hey Tell me the secret tell me what's the one big thing that you do that's created all of this And he said well, it's simply said 25 years ago I just made the decision that I'm going to read through the Bible every single Year, and he said I've done that for the last 25 years I Said well, no wonder I can see you know I can see that depth in you I said I could I could never do that. I said that's way too big for me. He said no No, it's actually really small. It's really simple He said all I do is spend 15 minutes a day in God's Word and if you read for 15 minutes a day You can read through the entire Bible in a year And so it was at that point that I began to develop this habit in my life to read at least 15 minutes in God's Word and it's produced massive results in my life interesting enough 87% of Christians have never read through the entire Bible one time 87 so maybe this is your year, or I'll give you another example um I've worked out for 35 years 35 with little really to show for it But there's a couple in our church. He is Jacked Ripped Both him and his wife, and I'm not and so I said how do you guys do that? Like what's the secret behind that? What's the big thing that you do and his wife who's a trainer? She said well, it's not really something big. We just we're in the gym five days a week. I said wait not seven Five she said yeah five five days a week. I said well I bet you're working out two three hours a day. She said no about about an hour a day I Said what about your diet? Well, I just track my macros. I make sure that I eat a high protein low carb diet

I said wait a second. Let me get this straight You've got five days a week about 60 minutes each time Just keep a low carb high protein diet track your macros and so for the last two years now coming up Tatum, and I we have I've been consistent in that and now my waist is back down to where it was in college and Tatum can't stop kissing me Come on somebody Because I would tell you today, thank you very much what I would tell you today Is that when you do the small things consistently over time they will produce big? Results that you've always dreamed of I'll give you another example. I was I was with my counselor recently And I asked him I said what's What's one of the most important things that a Christian married couple can do? He didn't even hesitate He told me said pray consistently every day pray together I I said for like like an hour He kind of smiled. He said no just pray consistently He said it could be 30 seconds a day up to a 30 minutes a day Just do it every day whether you're driving in the car You're praying over your meal, and you pray you put you pray over each other you bring your needs before God Whether it's at the end whenever just make sure that you do it because there's something that happens when a married couple Prays together you get connected spiritually, and it's very hard to be angry at somebody That you're praying with And so it was about a month ago now that as Tatum, and I were planning out our 2026 I said honey. I want to let you know and and as I lead our family It's my responsibility to do this so I looked at her, and I said honey I know that we pray together about a lot of things but in 2026 I'm making a commitment to you that we will pray every day together every day and

When I told her that I mean her eyes filled up with tears And she smiled she said I would like that a lot When you do the little things Sometimes the unseen things over a period of time consistently It'll produce for you the results big results in your life. So here's where I want to go today I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a foundation out of Zechariah chapter number four And then I'm gonna give you a directive. It's gonna be simple. It's gonna be doable It's gonna be the Spirit of God speaking to you And I believe that by the end of this service today Every one of us has is going to have heard God's voice. He is going to give you a word For your life, it's gonna be custom. It's gonna be unique. It's gonna be exploration. It's gonna be incredible I've been praying that's gonna happen today Because if you'll do the little things Consistently over time It will produce Massive results that you've been looking for And so let me give you a little context on Zechariah chapter 4 before we get into this So Zechariah was written in a time when Israel was at one of its lowest points in all of its history The temple had been destroyed. The people have been taken into exile. They were hopeless but about 538 BC Zerubbabel takes a small remnant back to Israel and they were there for about 18 years when God speaks to him and says rebuild the temple And so let's pick up the story this is what it says Zechariah chapter 4 This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel When you rebuild the temple It's not by force It's not by strength, but by my spirit

Says the Lord of of heaven's armies so here's the thing some of you have tried to fix that one thing in your life for years and You can't Because it's never going to be fixed by your own human effort It's only going to be fixed by the power of God showing up in your life And that's what it says there because nothing not even mighty mountains will stand in Zerubbabel's way It'll become a level playing Before him in other words when God calls you to do something There is no force on this earth that can stand in God's way Nothing And when Zerubbabel set the final stone of God of the temple in place the people will shout may God bless it May God bless it and I love that that before the work ever even begins God sees the end So in other words before you you ever were obedient to do the thing that God has told you to do He already sees how your surrender is going to produce incredible results And then he says this I love this He says then another message came to me from from the Lord Zerubbabel Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundations of the temple and he will Complete it So quick time out here Eyes up here everyone look at me for a second. I'm going to give you a little backstory on this verse before we continue on I did a little study for you Here's what I found out when Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple It was a really awkward construction To the point that the book of Ezra says that the people came to see the temple and they cried Now some scholars believe they cried tears of joy But most scholars and theologians believe people cried because it was so unimpressive They were so embarrassed by it And I don't know maybe that's how you feel sometimes about your your life, you know, maybe for you you're thinking okay

This is the year. I'm gonna finally get in shape. I've got a lot of weight to lose So you get into the gym you give it everything you've got three weeks later you step on the scale And you've only lost two or three pounds and you think Well, that feels like I've been just wasting my time And you think well that feels like i've been just wasting my time Thing is small beginnings Can feel very embarrassing In fact, I get really emotional every january Because it was 15 years ago this month That in a small little building on the other side of ellen I walked into a service and I preached with seven people in total attendance and I was one of the seven And i'll never forget what the enemy said to me when I was trying to speak he said you are so pathetic He said this is never going to be a real church And yet I look out now and I see what god is doing and I think man only god could have done this Only god could have done this And i'm here to Remind you everybody that we are not a great church. We just happen to serve a great God. That's the reality of it. And then watch this. The verse continues on. I want you to see this here. This is so encouraging. Notice what God says. He says, Do not despise these small, embarrassing, what seems like to you, beginnings. For the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. One of our biggest struggles that we have is that we see everybody else's highlight reels and we compare it to our behind the scenes and we get really intimidated.

I mean, we see a guy like David and he's out there killing giants and we're like, well, I want victory like that. And we forget that he was in the field for years, tending the sheep, fighting lions and bears. Why? Because God was teaching him that if you're faithful in the small things, it's actually preparing you for the next level. And so it's massively important we understand that. In fact, there's an incredible book on leadership called Wooten on Leadership. John Wooten was one of the greatest basketball coaches that ever lived. In fact, he was the mentor for John Maxwell. He won 10 NCAA championships. He won seven of them in a row. Unbelievable. And in his book, he writes about how the very first day of his practices are not like any of the other coaches. So you would think that they would sit down with the team and he would teach them how to shoot free throws and how to do drills. He sat them down on the first day of practice every year, taught them how to put their shoes and socks on. Because he said, I want to teach you how to do this right so you don't get blisters, so you don't sprain your ankle. I want to teach you that to this team, the details, they matter. This is what John Wooten said, I quote him, it's the little things that are vital. The little things make the big things happen. The life that everybody in here is dreaming of is actually built on the small decisions and choices that you make every day. So here's where we're going in the next three weeks, and I want you along for this journey. Next week, we're going to talk about our thoughts. Because as a man thinks in his heart, so you are becoming.

Change your focus and you'll change your feelings. And week number three, we're going to talk about our words, because your words are not inconsequential. The Bible says there is power of life and death. When God wanted to create something, he spoke. I'm going to show you how your words are creating, framing a future for you that you might not even realize. We're going to talk about that. And then week four, we're going to talk about our habits, because what you do daily is creating a future that you love or a future that you'll love to hate. So here's why. Habits, thoughts shape words, words shape actions, actions form habits, and habits determine our future. We're going to make small changes in how we think and speak and live. And the reality is, is that a lot of those changes are going to be unrecognizable by other people. They might not even notice them. I believe with all of my heart that if you'll do what God's Word says in these areas, you're going to see results that you've always dreamed of. Because a focused mind, a focused heart, a focused person is a blessed person. But when you are not focused, it leads to disaster. The only reason why people fail is broken focus. We miss so much when we are distracted by everything all around. So I think about in Luke chapter 10, Jesus, He goes over to where Mary and Martha are at. And Mary sits down at the feet of Jesus the Master to listen to everything He says. And Mary, or Martha, is wigging out. She's like, oh my goodness, the tea is cold, and the plates, they're not matching, and the napkins are dirty, they need to be washed, and I need to make sure, man, where's the silverware go, where's the silverware?

And Jesus kind of, He just, He calms her down and He says, He said, Martha, Martha, you sure are upset about a lot of things, but you missed out on the most important thing. Mary knows what it is, but you've been so distracted by all the things around. found that you're missing what's right in front of your very eyes. I think about the story of the rich young ruler. Here's this young, wealthy businessman. He shows up to one of Jesus' meetings and says, he basically says, Hey Jesus, I want to join your team. Problem was, is that he loved his possessions more than he loved obeying God. So Jesus looked at him and said, Hey my man, you lack one thing, one thing. You get this one thing right, man, I'm going to use you to change the world. Go sell all of your possessions and come follow me. You think about this, if the man would have done what Jesus asked him to do. Think about the legacy he would have had. Think about the impact. Think about the adventure he would have gone on. But Scripture says he walked away sad because he was unwilling to do the one thing that would have changed the trajectory of probably not only his life, generations after him, the generational tree. See when you do the small thing repeatedly over time, it will produce massive results for you. So here's your assignment today. I'm going to make it very simple, very doable, very direct. I need you to get focused right now because this is going to be the moment that I believe that God's about to step into this place and he's going to speak to you. So I need you to get really focused. Don't, I don't, listen, don't come tell me all of your New Year's resolutions. You tell me three of them, you will do none of them. You're already way too distracted. I need you to focus on the one word that God has for your 2026 and he is about to speak

that to you in this place. The one thing. And then when God gives you that one word, I'm going to challenge you to anchor it to a verse because what is going to happen in this year is not going to be done by your human power and your human effort. You're going to need the strength and the might and the power of God's word in your life to see it take place. You have no, you haven't even scratched the surface, you don't even know how one word from God can change the course, the direction, the decisions, the favor of God on your life. So here's the one word that I believe as I've been praying that God has given to us as a church in 2026 and it's this word right here. It's strengthen. And I'll tell you why. Reason is, is because the last few years we've seen a lot of growth. I mean we're now in four services, we've launched a second campus in Anna, we're in all kinds of correctional facilities around America which is incredible. On top of that we're doing all kinds of outreaches and I could just go on and on. I've had a number of you that have come to me that have said, Pastor Chris, what are we going to do? Like our optimum service times are full. Like where are we going to put the people? On our Christmas Eve services we were utilizing our overflow places that are in the church because there just wasn't places to put folks. And so the reality is, is that we have been seeing growth over these last few years. But where I am very concerned of as a pastor is that just because we've seen numerical growth I'm concerned that we haven't seen the spiritual depth of growth keep up. Listen, a crowd doesn't mean depth. It just doesn't. And I don't know if you've felt it, but there is an attack. There's spiritual warfare that's happening right now, like in ramped up ways.

People are doing crazy things. Like marriages are under attack, people are financially strapped. There is an attack upon this next generation. The enemy is trying to just rob this generation and just beat them up. People are deconstructing their faith. I mean you're seeing the unholy reach of the enemy in culture. So I'm going to tell you that this word strengthen has nothing to do with building a bigger church. Has everything to do with building stronger people. Building you stronger. So I feel like God's given us this word for this year. And this is the verse that God gave me that I'm anchoring to it. Isaiah 54 says, enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch your tent curtains wide. And I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love this. Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords. And what? Come on everybody. And what? Strengthen. In other words, if your influence is going to grow wider, your roots have to grow deeper. And I'm just telling you, as much as I know that my name is Chris, I sense this. I feel this. That God is wanting to expand. I feel like it's coming. I feel like the Lord is saying, I need you to get this root deeper. I need you to get this stronger. Because I am about to bring expansion at an accelerated pace in the days to come. And you won't be ready for it. The tree won't be able to sustain itself unless you've got deeper roots.

So grow strong. Grow deep. Strengthen the roots of what is here. Because I'm about to expand that influence. He said, strengthen your stakes. So what does this mean practically? Are you ready for this? In 2026, we're going to take our north campus and we're going to finally put them in a permanent debt-free home location, planted, established to reach Sherman and Howe and Van Alstyne and Anna and beyond. 2026 is going to be a year that we are going to strengthen our staff and our systems so that we can be a church that is growing healthy, that we can continue to serve you better. Because I do not want to be a mile wide and just an inch deep. No, no, no. We're going to be a church that we're going to be strong enough to carry you through every season of life. We're not going to just be focused on filling up rooms. We're going to be focused on filling up people with the presence and the goodness and the anointing of God. We're going to be a place that depth is going to happen in our over 100 life groups where people are going to find community and family and discipleship, and they're going to get grounded in God's word. 2026 is going to be a year that we are going to double down on our commitment to reach into this next generation, like we're going to establish them firmly into God's word. We're going to take them to camps and retreats and on missions trips, we're going to expose them to the miracle working power of God that's happening around the world right now. Because we believe in the next generation here. In fact, I'll say it like this. If you want to know the strength of our church, it's not in our weekend services. It's what's happening in the next generation.

They are the most fired up, passionate, evangelistic, let's charge the mountain, let's take on new ground for God, people that I've ever met in my entire life. And they inspire me, and I want to open the door wide. I want to give them the tools, the encouragement, the opportunity to make a difference for Jesus. 2026, we're going to strengthen our serve teams, our prophetic teams, our prayer teams, our teaching teams. In fact, in 2026, I felt the Lord really encourage me. This coming fall, in fact, I'm about to graduate in April with my Master's in Executive Biblical Leadership with a 4.0 everybody right now, hallelujah. But I've already applied, been accepted to go on to my doctorate that I'm going to start in the fall. Because I want you to grow stronger and deeper in God's word. Amen, everybody? Like we're going to grow, and we're going to strengthen. Now that is the word that I felt for our church, but God gave me a different word. In fact, it's an annoying word. And it's this word right here, rest. I'm like, God, come on, couldn't you give me like conquer? Or like you know destroy or take over like I know it's two words, but I'm fine with that Lord take over That'd be fun. That'd be good and instead. He gave me this annoying word rest And I know I kind of have an idea why he did that It's because this last year I went way too hard way too fast and And it doesn't mean hey take more days off it means Find rest rest in your relationship with God rest In that one-on-one connection with Jesus Like don't be distracted. Don't miss it. I mean Jesus said this in Matthew he said come to me all you who are weary and Burdened and I will give you Not just physical rest I

Will give I will I will let your soul rest So I prayed and God gave me this annoying word Rest kind of popped in my mind So I told you that I read the Bible every single day So God knew that before the foundations of the earth Before that ever what happened he knew that I would be in my office early one morning Reading God's Word, and when I did there would be an annoying verse that would come across and Here's the verse Hebrews chapter 4 verse 9 this is what I read So there is a special rest And when I read that I thought to myself Crap And it's waiting for the people of God for all who have entered into God's rest have Rested from their labors just as God did after creating the world. So let's do our best to enter that Rest Now if I could just be Real with you. I'm kind of goofing with you as much that I don't really like that word. Honestly, I'm excited about it Because I have a lot of curiosity God what could you do through somebody? Who has entered into that kind of rest with you that is physically strong Standing in character Focused on the future of your what you are doing And I look into the future with incredible optimism So here's my question for you today

What's your word? What's your word? So here's what's going to happen In just a few moments the team's gonna come on out and they're instrumentally they're just gonna begin to play And I've been praying for the last two weeks that this would be an open an open heaven over this service I Believe with all my heart that God is gonna speak to you You say well, I don't know if I can hear God's voice. Don't make it so complicated It his voice is so He knows how to speak to his people Some people think well, it's got to be this Supernatural explosion and lights happening all around and the voice of God coming down saying Chris Chris Chris Chris No, let me break it down as simple as I can When God speaks it's a supernatural thing But sometimes we miss the supernatural because it's so natural I've been praying that the that God's super would already be here. That's the Holy Spirit The natural part is gonna connect with his super and he's going to speak to you and here's the great thing He's gonna give you this word he's gonna give you this one word and The amazing thing is that when he does it it's gonna build your confidence So you'll know that if God can speak to me about this he can speak to me about other things God's voice is not just for pastors like me. It's for you. You have the Holy Spirit living on the inside Of you so it's about to get very custom It's about to get very you're gonna go on a journey and the exploration And I don't know what God's gonna speak to you. I don't know if he's gonna say healing faith love Generous. Commitment. Family. Hope. I don't know what it is. I don't know the word that God is going to give you, but He's going to speak. And when He gives you that word, here's

the next step I'm going to ask you to do. I'm going to ask you to go find your verse. So let me make it very simple for you. Here's what I want you to do. Go home today. Get on to ChatGPT or Gemini. Get on Google and say, give me 10 verses, give me 20 verses with that word in it. Hit enter and there's going to be a list of all these verses that come up. I want you to start reading through those verses. And there will be one of them that when you read it, it's like you wake up just a little bit on the inside. You've got to be sensitive. You'll like wake up just a little bit and you're like, oh, I kind of like that. Read it again. Read it again. That's your verse. That's your anchor. So you grab your lipstick, ladies, and you write it on your bathroom mirror. You grab your phone, you get it on your wallpaper, you put it on the dash of your car, you put it on your refrigerator. Some of you all, if you need to, put it on a tattoo right there, baby. Maybe not that, but for others of you, you may want to print it out and put it in a frame and put it somewhere maybe on your desk that you see it. And here's what I can promise you is going to happen. As you walk through this next year of 26, there is going to be moments and seasons that you're going to look over, you're going to see. Don't just hear it today. Put it down. Find it out. You're going to look at it and you're going to go, God, I needed that. And it's going to bring direction and guidance in your life in amazing ways. Let me just be honest with you today. We have a lot of work to do at this church. We have not arrived. We have a lot of work to do, and I'd love to have you join us. But here's what I can tell you. We're not perfect. I'm not perfect. But a year from now, I can promise you, we're going to be a heck of a lot stronger than we are today. And I have so much wonder, wonder, God, what are you going to do in this next year to strengthen these roots? Because I'm telling you, as much as I know my name is Chris, I'm telling you, there is an acceleration that's happening. God's saying, hey, get ready for it. Get ready for it. I'm just, I feel like T.D. Jakes. Get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready. The life that everybody wants is actually a result of the small things, the choices that you're going to make every single day. So do me a favor all across this place. Why don't you just, why don't you bow your heads? Close your eyes. And I want you to create a little safe, sacred space around you. Why don't you turn off your notifications just for the next few moments? And the Lord's going to speak to you. So whatever that word is, as much as you might go, wow, is that

really God? Take it. Take it. Take that word and run with it. So Holy Spirit, I just pray that over this service, your voice would become so clear to your people. I pray, God, that our hearts would be filled with fresh faith and hope and optimism. I pray, Lord, that this would be a moment that your people would hear the voice of the Spirit of God. In Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ by following the instructions on the screen or you can text give to 51010. You can also drop your tithes and offerings off in the offering boxes as you leave the auditorium or around the building. Well, if you would stand, I'm going to pray a blessing over you and you will be dismissed. Our prayer teams will be here at the front. Again, we'd love to pray with you. The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his great face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his countenance to you and give you peace today and in throughout 2026. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. You are dismissed.