Do You Have Kingdom Character?

So listen, my upbringing was filled with an unusual amount of cultural tension. I'm gonna explain it to you. I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is the real buckle of the Bible Belt, Midwest USA, a little bit country, a little bit city, a little bit Southern, a little bit not. Went to public school. My public school was quite a diverse place. We had people from all walks of life, white, black, brown, yellow, all of them were in the school. And so then, when I went home, I went home to my parents who were immigrants from Zimbabwe, Africa, okay? So our home was reminiscent of the motherland, all right? Of the motherland, and so from the food that we ate to the foreign language that was spoken in my home, there was a lot of cultural tension, right? The contrast of these two realities that I was living in created this tension where sometimes I didn't feel like I belonged, and I think that this is the reality for a lot of people who are first generation American or who are immigrants to this nation who have come and are culturally assimilating themselves into this beautiful land we call America. But amidst the tension of this upbringing, one of the things that my parents did was they taught me that more than my birthplace and more than my bloodline, the identification that supersedes all of those is my citizenship in the kingdom of God. I grew up hearing my mom consistently declare, son, this world is not our home.

Son, this world is not our home. And you know, at first I didn't understand what she was talking about, but what I've come to know is that my parents were conditioning me to understand that we are not of this world, as Jesus says in John 17, and that our citizenship is in heaven, as Philippians 3.20 says, and scripture even goes as far to say in 1 Peter 2.11 that we are aliens or sojourners in this earth. And then as a college student, I served at a church in Michigan, in Detroit, Michigan, and I discovered a book by Dr. Miles Monroe called Rediscovering the Kingdom of God. And that book transformed my life and transformed my whole paradigm of Christianity as he laid out the realities of the kingdom of God. And the book is built around one central argument, and it's that the primary message of Jesus was not religion, but it was the kingdom of God. As modern day believers, I think that it could be a little bit difficult for us sometimes to understand this concept, why? Because we live in a democratic republic, right? And we have a president, we don't have a king. So if we don't like what our president's doing, a lot of times we vote them out, right? Nonetheless, Jesus's public ministry began, continued, and ended with the announcement and the proclamation, everybody say proclamation. Proclamation.

Of the kingdom of God, amen? So this is the kingdom framework that we must understand. Are y'all ready for this? God is king, he ain't president. God is king and heaven is his domain, right? Kingdom, king domain. God is king, heaven is his domain, and earth is the territory he wants to influence by heaven. Amen? Believers, you and me, you and me. Look at your neighbor and say, he's talking about you. Believers are citizens and ambassadors of heaven. Right, right? And the Bible functions as the constitution of the kingdom. Come on, are we all on the same page? Are we getting this? God's will is the law and the Holy Spirit is the governor sent to represent the king in this colony called earth, right? We are not from this world, we are not of this world. We may be in it, but we are not of it. We are citizens of another land. Everybody say, I am a citizen of another land. Listen, our ability to discern, understand, and pursue the kingdom of God is vital because if we fail to do so, we will inevitably drift into cultural assimilation and we'll lose the sacred distinction that God has entrusted to us. Did you know that when Christians

started being called Christians, it was a derogatory term? Right? Because they weren't considered from the same. land they were people of another land amen okay so with that context are we ready to dive in i'm so excited today we are going to be examining and talking about the parable of the talents go ahead and stand up with me as we read the word of God now i did everything that i could to try and shorten it but i just felt like we needed to read the whole parable because we need the whole context for the point that i want to present before you to make sense is that okay so we're going to read a lot of scripture oh there's no obligation to read with me if you want to read with me that's fine but no obligation to read with me all right y'all ready for the kingdom of God will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted them everybody say entrusted them to his property to the one he gave five talents to another two to another one to each according to his what to each his to his ability then he went away he would receive the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more so also he who had the two talents made two talents more i want to stop right here because me and my wife were chuckling as i was telling her about this message and about the revelation that God was giving me it's like i love how scripture uh tells us how the one with five talents made his money he was a trader right but the second one is so ambiguous it's like we have no clue how he's made how he made his money does anybody have a friend like that does anybody have a friend who you're like yo you got money but i don't know how you don't ever go to work but you got those balenciaga boots and you got that louis vuitton purse but you never go to work how do you make we were chuckling because we have a friend like that who is like yo the best thing he could be described that is a is a vagabond he's just traveling to and fro but man i'm gonna tell you he will pull up in a mercedes-benz whip like it's nothing and i'm just like how are you making this money anyways that's what i thought of whenever i was reading that so also he who had two talents made two talents more but he who received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying master you delivered to me

five talents here i have made five talents more his master said to him well done my good and faithful servant you have uh you have been faithful over little i will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and he also who had the two talents came forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here i have made the two talents more his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little i will set you over much enter into the joy of your master he also who had received the one talent came forward saying master i knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you have not scattered seed so i was afraid and i went and hid your talent in the ground here have what is yours but his master answered and said you wicked and slothful servant you knew that i reap where i have not sown and gather where i have not scattered seed when then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming i should have received what was my own interest so take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 for to everyone who has more will be given and he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth can we thank the lord for the reading of his word this morning you may be seated so the parable of the talents comes to us as part of an extended discourse that jesus is having with his disciples about the end times jesus is having an eschological conversation about his uh with his disciples about what's gonna happen in the end times now the parable the chapter in 25 does not begin with the parable of the talents it actually begins with the parable of the 10 with the parable of the talents it actually begins with the parable of the 10 virgins okay so in the parable of the 10 virgins there's a warning that is given to us that we need to be prepared for the return of the bridegroom amen while the parable of the talents teaches us how we are to function as we wait for his return come on how many of you know that there's a way that we ought to function as we wait for the return of the bridegroom now i want to talk to you a little bit about the talent because when i was younger i thought that they were talking about skills and abilities but actually they're talking about currency in fact one talent Equals 15 to 20 years of day laborers wages. I must say that one more time because I don't think everybody got it. A talent equal 15 to 20 years of a day laborers wages which

puts into proper perspective the gravity of the responsibility that is being given even to the servant with just the one talent and I think it also helps it helps us make sense of the the grave judgment that was that was put on him. Amen. We all on the same page, but you know the more that I ponder this passage and the more that I I think about you know, the intricacies and the layers of it the more that I'm convinced that the master's judgment wasn't just about lack of stewardship. I think it was about a deficiency of Kingdom character. So the thesis that I want to present before you today is that in addition to the parable of the talents being a lesson in stewardship. It's also an analysis of Kingdom character because before that before we can have Kingdom stewardship. We have to have Kingdom character. Amen today. I would love to have a conversation with you about your character. But before I dive into that I want to speak prophetically over you. Is that okay? Because as I was playing I feel like the Lord gave me a prophetic word for today and he actually put a picture of two people who are representatives in our church of this word and they just so happen to be here. I'll name who they are after I give this prophetic word because I think it's for a number of people in this room. This is the prophetic word even as we expand our understanding of the kingdom.

God is commissioning Kingdom leaders from our house into every realm of culture. Into the business realm into arts and entertainment into finance into education into government into family and into religion. I heard the Lord say that from our house culture will be shaped and created from this house. From this house that you're sitting in right now culture will be shaped and created. Is there anybody in the room who bears witness with this word? Is there anybody in the room? Just raise your hand. I want to see who I'm talking to this morning. Seriously, if there's anybody in this room who bears with keep your hand up keep your hand up. Is there anybody in this room who bears witness that I believe that in this season of my life God is forming and fashioning me to be a kingdom leader. Amen. I believe it as well. Well this message that I'm about to give to you is a paramount importance because kingdom leaders must have kingdom character. The two people who the Lord put in my heart gave me the picture of was the Romero's. Can y'all stand up real quick? There were Matt and Kendall Romero. I don't know and I'm gonna take time to do this. I don't know if you saw but Kendall was just on American Idol and she finished in the top seven top top eight of American Idol but Kendall I'm moved by the way that you represented the

kingdom. I'm moved. I was moved every single time. I saw American Idol put a clip of you clip of you glorifying God in that space. And so I just felt the Lord say and then Matt owns a company that is literally supplying most of the entertainment at the hotels bars Etc in all of Nashville. And so I just heard the Holy Spirit say that he's about to use you to to create culture in this city and in the world to come. I know you're getting ready to go on tour. So can we stretch our hands out to them right now father God? I thank you for what Matt and Kendall represents. I thank you for the kingdom leaders that you're building God and I thank you for the kingdom character that they have to be able to carry the weight of the responsibility that you have for them father. I pray Lord Jesus that you will give them more influence that you will give them more opportunity that you would open divine doors that nobody can close divine connections father God. I pray Lord Jesus in the name of the every door that is to be opened. It will be open every door that is to be closed. It will be closed in Jesus mighty name. I pray amen. Amen. This word is not just for them.

This word is for some people in this room people whom God has called to be a kingdom leader in this hour. This word is for you. I'm not looking for an amen today. What I'm looking for is someone to receive this impartation that God is pouring out. That's really what I'm after today. Amen. So the title of my message is really a question. Do you have kingdom character? Do you have kingdom character? Let's pray. Father in the name of Jesus. I come to you in humility asking. that you would use these lips of clay to bring forth the word in season. Father, I pray that this word would not fall on hard ground but that it would fall on hearts that are ready to receive and are ready to be transformed into who you have called them to be. In Jesus' name, Lord, we just come against distraction. We come against the spirit of distraction as tried, Lord, to place a stronghold over this generation. I come against mind-binding spirits in the name of Jesus. Confusion, go in Jesus' name. Judgment, go in Jesus' name. I pray that our hearts will be open to receive that which you have to say. In Jesus' name, and everybody shout it. Amen.

Amen. Well, four years ago, I stepped into my role as executive pastor here at Legacy Nashville. And I'll admit that it's the highest level of leadership that I've ever been called to. And I quickly began bumping up against the ceiling of my leadership. Problems started, problems started, problems and situations started to get very complex. And I was having trouble being able to solve them. So what I did is I knew that I needed help breaking through the ceiling that I was currently bumping up against. And so in addition to, you know, calling all the executive pastors who I knew and asking them for help, I also enlisted the help of a Christian leadership coach. Okay? So I'm meeting with him and he's, and this is our first meeting. And during this session, I'm venting about all the issues I was facing and all the troubles I was experiencing. And then I stopped and I waited for him to affirm all my troubles and tell me that he was sorry for all of the things that I was going through. Instead, he just looked at me and he said, Brian, you currently don't have the character capacity to carry the responsibility that you have been given.

Now, there's a difference between a coach and a counselor. I'm gonna tell you right now. And I said, excuse me, I did not pay you to tell me that. I'm just kidding, I just thought that. But he continued and he said, if you're going to be able to lead and steward this season well, you're gonna have to grow in your character. In my heart of hearts, I just knew that he was right and what he was saying was from God. So we went on a journey and began asking questions such as, do you have the character to support the fruit that you desire to see in your life and in your position? And we were asking the question, do you have the character to support the commitments that you have made in this season? Your commitment to be a husband, a father, a son, a pastor, a friend, and all of the rest of the things. And so for four years, the last three years, we've gone on this journey of me strengthening my kingdom character. And I just wanna let y'all know right now, I'm not the same person that I was back then. Because of this kingdom character formation journey that I have been on for the last four years of my life. Now, I wanna dive into this conversation about kingdom character. As I dive in, I wanna make a very important delineation. We are not talking about character as the world describes it.

We're talking about kingdom character, right? So I wanna define the two to make sure that we're all on the same page and we're tracking as I talk through this message. Is that okay? So the definition of character as described in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is that character is the collection of moral and ethical qualities that distinguish an individual serving as a moral compass that determines how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Kingdom character is the inner life of a disciple, formed by the values, nature, and ways of who? Of Jesus. So that what they do, desire, decide, and steward reflects the culture of the kingdom rather than the culture of this world. Are we all on the same page as it pertains to this delineation that we're making? You know, I'm so incredibly grateful for the increase in conversations that we as a charismatic church and we as a body of Christ in America are having about spiritual formation. Does anybody here, there's a lot more conversation that's happening in the grapevine about spiritual formation because for years, charismatic church majored on spiritual experience and minored on spiritual formation. But what we came to find out is that if we major

on spiritual formation, you'll have people who are in the faith for 30 years and still, and only drink milk. They know how to have an experience in his presence, but when they leave. that place, they don't have the character to be able to walk it out. But people like John Mark Comer are doing such a phenomenal job of sounding the alarm that Christians don't go spiritually by accident. There needs to be a path of formation that we go on, which enables us to grow into who we have been called to be. Can I get a good amen on that? Because this is the reality, friends. Spiritual formation without kingdom character formation is not spiritual formation at all. And there's a difference between spiritual formation and kingdom formation. And that's what I want to talk about today. Because spiritual formation is the process of being shaped into Christ-likeness. But kingdom formation is the evidence of that process becoming visible in how we live, decide, steward, lead, respond, and obey. Does anybody bear witness with this this morning? So listen, as your spirit is being renewed, your kingdom character should be transforming as well, right? The internal manifests in the external, right? But the gap that we are experiencing right now, everybody say, the gap. The gap that we are experiencing right now is that people's lives are being transformed legitimately spiritually, right? But then they're not being adequately taught how to move that spiritual formation into kingdom character formation. So when adversity hits, they revert back to their old ways because they haven't had the kingdom character formation to be able to withstand trouble. And this is the promise from Jesus, in this life, you will have trouble.

Kingdom character keeps us. Kingdom character keeps us. So when you are saved, one of the evidences of your spiritual transformation is your character beginning to look like Christ's. There are few things worse than an anointed jerk. They can sing, they can preach, they can prophesy, they can tell about the mysteries of heaven, they can serve like nobody else, they can build, they can build businesses, they can make money, et cetera, but they're a jerk. One of the threats to the kingdom that we currently have as it pertains to kingdom character formation is our obsession with talent and gifting. We've gotten things backwards. The first question that we ask when God gives an assignment is generally, do I have the talent or the ability that it takes to accomplish this task? But the first question we should actually be asking is, do I have the kingdom character to hold the weight of this assignment? Because without kingdom character, we will crumble under the weight of kingdom assignments. This is the danger. We'll crumble internally where no one can see. And so we'll still be effective externally to the world. It'll look like we're good, but on the inside, our internal world comes crashing down. And usually, we don't find out until they die. God's will is that our kingdom character is able to uphold the weight of the assignment He gives us from season to season. Do you have kingdom character? Please look at your neighbor and ask them, do you have kingdom character? I want to let y'all know. I want to let y'all know. I can't even imagine the answers that y'all got. I need to let you know that the entry into every new season that God calls you to is a kingdom character test.

Jesus in the wilderness, He's inaugurated into ministry at the Jordan River signifying the beginning of a new season for Him. Immediately he's sent into the wilderness and 30 years of kingdom character formation is tested in the wilderness, encapsulated in three tests. Number one, bow down. Number two, turn the stone to bread. Number three, throw yourself off this mountain. Jesus passes each test of his kingdom character and it launches him into three of the most effective years of ministry in human history. 30 years of preparation for three tests that launches him into three years of the most effective ministry. The reason you and I are sitting here today. The entry into every new season is a kingdom character test. Now, I feel the need, I feel the need, I feel the need to stop right here and to talk to you about adversity. Because like I said earlier, character is formed in one season and then it's, that's why you gotta take your season seriously. No matter what you're doing. You may hate what you're doing in this season, but you just need to know you're preparing for a test. Character is formed in one season. And it's tested in another season. And guess what? The test of character is adversity. Adversity will expose your kingdom character

for better or for worse. Let's look at a biblical example. Abraham, Abraham, leave your land. Where are we going, God? Don't worry about it, just go. I'm gonna make you a father. But I'm 75 years old, Lord. That's okay, trust me. 25 years later, boom, Isaac is born when Abraham is 100 years old. And then the adversity test comes. The testing of his kingdom character comes. Why? Because God had to know that Abraham's kingdom character was so strong that nothing would compromise him. So God shows up to Abraham and he says, Abraham, Scripture, I love what Scripture says. Scripture says that Abraham loved Isaac so much. What do you love so much? What do you love so much? And is it inhibiting you from being able to walk out your kingdom beside me? So he comes to Abraham and he said, Abraham, that son that you love so much, sacrifice him. Take it to the altar. Take him to the altar and kill him. And Abraham passes the test. He passes the test. He brings Isaac, places him on the altar, ties him up,

and has his hand ready to slaughter his own son. And then a ram in the thicket comes. And then Genesis 22 verse 16 to eight tells us that, it tells us God saying to Abraham, because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants, all nations, somebody said, all the nations. All the nations of the earth will be blessed. That means you and me are blessed because he passed the test. Because this is the reality. Your character test ain't just about you. Your character test is about everyone who God has called you to reach for his kingdom. We're so individualistic in our callings. And as it pertains to our callings, it's like, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna do this? But the question we need to ask is, who's gonna be impacted on the other side of my character test? Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed all because you've obeyed me.

All because you passed the character test. I need to let you know this morning, that some of the adversity that you're facing, God is allowing. God. allowing the adversity that you are facing because he understands that what you are walking through has a purpose, and when you make it through because you're gonna make it through, your kingdom character will be strength, will be strengthened. Let's consider Job for a moment. In Job 1, verse six through eight, it says, one day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, where have you come from, Satan? Satan answered the Lord, from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth. Then the Lord said to Satan, not Satan said to the Lord, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant, Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. God proceeds to allow everything to be stripped from Job's life. Yet through it all, he passes the kingdom character test, and he blesses the name of the Lord. And it says after he passes this test

that the Lord restored his fortunes. I'm prophetically speaking right now, somebody's fortunes are being restored. I don't know what the enemy stole from you, I don't know what was taken from you, but the Lord is getting ready to return it back to you. The Lord is getting ready to do something that you've never seen or imagined. You thought that you had something in that prior season? Look, it ain't nothing compared to what he's getting ready to do in your life. It says that the Lord blessed the second half of his life more than the beginning. I need to talk to all my people who are 50 and above who've been through things. You wear your scars on your back. I need to let you know that your best days are ahead of you. I need to let you know that what you did back then will pale in comparison to what you're getting ready to do in your life. It says that he lived to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. We dedicated babies at the 8 a.m. service. Job got to go to four generations of baby dedications. I'm trying to help somebody understand this morning that there is purpose in the adversity. One more example that I want to give you, the early church, it says in Acts 11, verse 19 to 21. Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed

traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Somebody needs to know that the Lord's hand is with you in the adversity. The Lord's hand is with you in the trouble. The Lord's hand is with you in the persecution. Adversity and persecution became the instrument that God used to globalize his church. Thank God that they had the kingdom character to withstand and not give up on the faith, or you and I wouldn't be sitting here today. Romans three, verse three through five, says not only so, but we also glory in our suffering. We glory in adversity. Why, because we know that suffering produces what? And perseverance produces what? Woo! And character produces what? Hope. Woo, I don't know about you, but I'm filled with hope because of the things that I've gone through and the things that he's brought me through. I can rejoice in everything that I'm going through and I've gone through because I know

that it is forming my character. I wanna return to Matthew 25 with a few minutes that I have left, and I wanna talk to you a little bit about inhibitors to kingdom character. Inhibitors to kingdom character. And then I wanna give you four kingdom character traits for you to leave with. We're gonna get practical up in here, amen? Okay. The first inhibitor to kingdom character is fear. Fear, fear, fear. Verse 24, he says, master, I knew you to be a hard man and it goes. and it says in the next verse that, I was afraid. I was afraid. If there's any spirit that is trying to take down our generation right now, it's the spirit of fear, sometimes expressed as anxiety. The spirit of fear seeks to infiltrate our thoughts and manipulate us into believing lies. Your life always flows in the directions of your dominant thoughts, so the enemy's tactic is to fill your mind with a narrative of fear, and your life ultimately becomes paralyzed by fear. The spirit of fear choked out all ability of the servant to be fruitful for the master. Similarly, the spirit of fear will always inhibit us from being able to be fruitful for the kingdom of God. We must guard ourselves against the spirit of fear.

The believer has an obligation to fight against the spirit of fear. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 tells us, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and of self-control. The second inhibitor to kingdom character is laziness and apathy. The wicked servant chose the path of least resistance, which was to quickly draw a conclusion about his master and then live from that conclusion until it came time to settle accounts. Choosing a path of least resistance might feel good momentarily, but there will always be a day of reckoning where your kingdom character will be examined. I'm currently teaching my sons how to clean their room, and they think they're slick, because what they do is I leave for 30 minutes, I come back, it's clean, and then I examine it. And I'm like, mm, bed looks good. Other bed looks good. Clothes all picked up in the hamper, wonderful, wonderful. Crowns precisely placed, wonderful. Now, let me go to the closet. And I go to the closet, I open it up, and I'm overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed by all the stuff that they threw in the closet, because they took the path of least resistance. Laziness, apathy, inhibitors to kingdom character.

This one is really tricky, because the danger that we have as Christians in a Western culture is that we will hustle in our careers, and by the world's standards, we'll be considered hustlers, hard workers, money makers, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da. But be lazy in our calling, lazy in our spiritual life, and ultimately, when we stand before the Father, He calls us wicked, because we hustled in every area, except the areas that matter to Him. Fear, laziness, apathy, inhibitors. As we're closing, I wanna quickly give you four kingdom character traits. Number one, humility, humility. In verse 20, the servant said, master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more. In Matthew 25, the faithful servant stands before the master and says, you entrusted this to me, and here's what I did with it, master. I don't know about you, but I hear the humility in the servant's voice. I hear the gratitude oozing for his heart, because he knows that he has been entrusted. It's reminiscent of John 17, where Jesus stands before the Father and says, you entrusted me with these people, and I have kept them, guarded them, and revealed your name to them. Humility is the way of the kingdom.

The kingdom is allergic to pride. If you have any questions about that, ask Satan. The best definition of humility that I've ever heard was from John Vermeer. He said, humility is not the absence of confidence, but it's the recognition of your source. I'm not asking you to be weak businessman. I'm asking you to go make that money. But remember who your source is, artists. When God gives you a national platform and you stand before millions, remember who your source is. Number two, obedience. Obedience, the second kingdom character trait from Matthew 25. Verse 16, he says, he who had received the five talents, what did he do? Oh, come on, help me. He went at once. He didn't wait for three prophetic words to confirm what he should do. He didn't question the master's intention. He heard the word and he went at once to ensure the vision that he had received will be multiplied. Radical obedience. Ah, Lord, you say the word and I'll move at once. Number three, courage. Everybody say courage. Courage.

In verse 16, it says, he went and traded with them and he made five talents more. It takes courage to take a risk for the kingdom of God. This is the reality. Nothing great happens in the kingdom without taking a risk. And taking a risk for the advancement of the kingdom takes courage. In Joshua 1, 9, we're commanded, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The kingdom of God demands that we walk in courage. It demands that we walk in courage. It demands that we not shrink back. Come on, we're living in a world that needs us. We can't afford to have Christians who shrink back in this season. It takes kingdom character to push forward in the spirit and to take territory for the kingdom of God. Number four, trustworthy. The number four character trait, trustworthiness. Verse 21, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful serving. You have been faithful over little, I will set you over much. Funny thing, all we're entrusted to are trustworthy. Worthy of trust. Most of the dialogue that we have as Christians is about whether we can trust God.

But I think it's time we flip the question and ask, can God trust me? I've stopped, this is the thing, he's the God of the ages and I'm convinced of that. So no longer am I worried about if I can trust him. I'm not worried about whether I can be trusted by him. Write this question down and think about it this week. Can God trust me? Can God trust me? Humility, obedience, courage, trustworthy. Four kingdom character traits. As we close, I wanna close with a quote I heard this week. It says that your life is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God. We have been given the ultimate entrustment, life. Check your pulse for me real quick, are you alive? Hallelujah, you have been given a gift. You have been entrusted with something called life. Now this is the reality, each of us have different circumstances in our lives. Just as each of the servants had a different measure, we come into life with different sets of circumstances. Regardless, the mandate is to use what God has given you for his glory and the advancement of this kingdom. And to do that, it takes kingdom character. This message today is about who we are becoming so that God can use us for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom. God is raising up kingdom leaders who have kingdom character, stand to your feet with me.

I want everybody to close their eyes. Is there anybody in this room who would say, Lord, I need you to refine my kingdom character. I just want you to lift both hands. If that's you, you're like, I'm standing in this room, I'm listening to you speak, and I know that I'm in a character test right now, and I need the Lord to refine my character. I need him to help me. If that's you, come on, lift your hands all across this room. Father God, in the name of Jesus right now, I pray for every single person who has their hands raised. God, may we be found as a church who is strong in kingdom character, and as a result, we advance your kingdom forward. In the name of Jesus, come on, let's sing. Let's sing, come on. ♪ Clean my hands, purify my heart ♪ ♪ I will not beg, please, only please ♪ ♪ Only please take my life as a sacrifice ♪ ♪ I won't beg, please, only please take my life as a sacrifice ♪ Come on, come on, come on, surrender. Surrender, surrender, surrender, surrender. Yeah. Come on, come on. Come on, come on, you got it, come on. You got it. I wanna pray for three groups of people. The first group of people I wanna come up, I wanna pray for is people who are

dealing with the spirit of fear. If you're dealing with the spirit of fear that has you paralyzed in your purpose, I wanna pray for you. If that's you, just lift both hands up right now. Don't even be afraid, come on, we gotta deal with this. We just gotta deal with this, we gotta deal with this. If that's you, you're dealing with the spirit of fear, raise your hand. I also wanna deal with, I wanna talk to people who are dealing with the spirit of comparison and jealousy. That's inhibiting you from being able to walk in the purpose of God. If that's you, lift both hands, come on. Everybody keep your hands up. If that's you, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Just lift your hands. And then I wanna pray for people who are dealing with a spirit of generational poverty. Generational poverty, your mindset, stinking thinking has been flowing through the generational line. You haven't been able to think like a king, someone who has kingdom character. If that's you, raise both hands all across the room. The last group of people is people who God has called to be kingdom leaders. If you know that God has called you to be a kingdom leader in this hour, I want you to lift both of your hands.

Father God, in the name of Jesus, as we close this service, I come against the spirit of fear that has no authority. I agree in the name of Jesus with the dictates of heaven that the spirit of fear has no, that perfect love casts out all fear. In the name of Jesus, Father God, in the name of Jesus, I pray for anybody dealing with the spirit of comparison and jealousy. I pray that you will remind them who they are, that you will remind them that they are children of the most high God. I pray for anybody who's dealing with generational poverty. I pray that the chains of poverty will be broken in our minds. In the name of Jesus, that we will be able to walk in the reality of the kingdom, in the abundance of the kingdom. And Father God, I pray for every single person in this room who is called to be a kingdom leader in this hour. Oh God, I thank you for this great commissioning. I thank you for this great commissioning. I honor you, Jesus. You are worthy of the glory and you are worthy of the honor. Can we just give Jesus a great shout of praise all across this room? Come on, give Jesus a great shout of praise.