Made for More

Ephesians chapter four, verse one, let's say this together with conviction, "Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God." Come on, grateful that you're still called. You're still called. - Well, I'm excited for today. I'm excited every day we get together together. But I think today's gonna be especially significant. So why don't you take a seat and pull out your Bible and thank you, team. You like the person you're sitting next to? I hope so, 'cause we gonna be here for a while, child. (audience cheering) I had to find, I had to get my wife's Bible from when she was in high school. 'Cause I wanted the new King James version. And I've been, you know, I usually do, they help, but I was like, I need some oil. We're gonna go old school. We wanted an old testament. So it's all taped up. I heard a quote though, it says, "A tattered Bible reflects a complete life." And a clean Bible reflects an incomplete life. Meaning if your Bible is dusty and pristine and clean, that's probably 'cause you haven't opened it much. But if it's being held apart by duct tape, that means that your life is being held together

by his hands. And I'd rather have a broken Bible that's reflecting, that's reflective of a life that has been shaped by my Creator. Amen? So go with me to Numbers chapter 13. And you see, we got the new legacy quarter zip, so I was feeling sophisticated. I was like, "Bring me a chair." You know, we drink matcha. We wear quarter zips now at Legacy Church. I can't be running around yelling at them tomorrow. I need to be sophisticated and just sit down and need to calm down. We'll see how long this chair lasts. Numbers chapter 13, we're starting a new series that was not planned three months ago, but I just felt Holy Spirit doing a shift. And so we're starting a new series called Made For More. If I say Made For More. And I really believe that this is a prophetic declaration, both for us, communally, as a church, but also for you individually as a part of the body. And I really believe that, I don't know how long we're gonna be in this series. This may go through Christmas. This may go into 20, 20, I don't know. But I really do believe that God wants to do a work on the inside of us to make this not just a mantra, but a bit of belief.

And once it changes our beliefs, it'll change our behaviors. And once it changes our behaviors, it'll change our life. And so say again, say I'm made for more. So the person next to you, they didn't say a lot enough. Say you are made for more. Tell the person you ignored on the other side. I don't know why you chose that person, but there's a whole other person. So the person you ignored the first time, say neighbor. You are made for more. Hey, man, look at y'all preaching. A bunch of preachers, I love it. Numbers chapter 13, I was trying to give you enough time to get there 'cause I know a lot of y'all ain't been in numbers and for a girl like, "Well, that's a book." Numbers 13, I'm gonna start at verse one. This is what it says. "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. For each tribe of their fathers, you shall send a man, everyone a leader among them." Everybody say, "Leader." I'm gonna jump down to verse 17 for this sake of time. "Then Moses sent them out to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, 'Go up this way into the south and go up to the mountains and see what the land is like,

whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many, whether the land they dwell in is good or bad, whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds." I'm gonna jump down to verse 25. "And they returned from spying out the land after 40 days. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Peron at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him and said, "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey. And this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak bear, the Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the cellulites, all dwell in the mountains. (audience laughing) the people before Moses and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well-labeled to overcome it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go against the people for they are stronger than we." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone is spies, is the land that devours its inhabitants." And all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants. The descendants of Anik came from the giants.

And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. I want you to think about this statement. What you see and how you see it are not always the same. Say it again. What you see and how you see it are not always the same. The 12 spies that were sent up were given a clear direction and instruction for Moses. Moses said, "Hey, I need you to go and tell me what you see. Give me a good detailed report and be of good courage and tell me what you see." They came back to him not just telling him what they saw, but also how they saw it. And because of their report of not just what it was, but from their perception how it was, it spread fear, not faith, into the rest of the congregation. The theologian John Tyson, pastor in New York, he says this statement that I like. He says, "Every person is giving a report of either the promises of God or the problems of life." What is the report that your life gives? Notice this. This is the first time we see in scripture anybody like spy movies, mission impossible, 007, and you know, me too, and we see spies that go out, but the spies were only required to do one thing, provide information, they saw the facts as they saw. Here's the problem with many of us. We allow the facts not to just give us information, but to give us formation. Facts are great for informing you, they are terrible for forming you. Because if you form your life off of the facts of life, there's no reason to not always live in fear. There's no reason to not always be paranoid. There's no reason to not always be pessimistic or critical, because the facts paint a picture. But Moses told them in advance, "I need you to be a good courage so that when you are telling me what you see, you are doing it not from a lens that is limited by facts, but from a lens that is rooted in faith." Tell the person next to you, be a good courage.

Courage matters. The only time you need courage is if you are facing something that threatens to make you afraid. You don't need courage for things that you already think you can do. You need courage to go into a place that you might lack clarity in, that you might lack confidence in, that you might like experience in, that's why you would need courage. But I hope you noticed something, I know we read a lot of verses because I was thinking they probably haven't read the Bible this week so we don't make up for it on Sunday. I stereotyped you and I'm not sorry. But as we were reading that passage, almost 30 verses, and we heard the report of the spies and how they are facing the Amalekites and Jesuitsites and Cellulites and all the things, I hope that in reading verses 25 through 30, you didn't forget verse 1. The Bible said in verse one, "The Lord said to Moses, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel." Meaning this was not Moses' idea, this was not the spies' idea, this was God's idea. God just needed you to collect information because He had already formed it for your good. So the problem becomes, when I allow what I see to eliminate what I've heard. And I wonder how many of us are living lives that are predicated on the facts of what we see, not the faith of what we heard. Because if they would have started off from the premise of no matter what I see, I know what I've already heard, I'm not looking at the giant and interpreting how I think they see me. I'm looking at the giant and interpreting how God sees it. Because notice the languages said at the end of verse 13, it said, "We were like grasshoppers in our sight and the same in their sight." How do you know what they see you like? You don't got chat. You don't got claw. You don't got the sort of optometrist to even do the technology to help you see through

the lens of a giant. That was your insecurity speaking. That was your fear speaking. I'm just not qualified. I don't know if I can do it. I just don't. Says who? Well, my resume, your resume, boy, if you don't run that thing through quad and get some, that wasn't in my notes, my bad. But why would you let the resume be the lead to your inheritance? Here's what's interesting to me. In chapter 13, verse 1, it says, "The Lord spoke to Moses saying," everybody say, "The Lord spoke to Moses saying," and then he says, "thin men to spy, send them, go." And then when you get to the end of verse 13, I'm sorry, chapter 13, the spies are no longer concerned with what the Lord spoke or what Moses spoke. They're so focused on what they see that it paralyzes them and they're saying, "We can't go forward." How many of you have ever encountered a thing in your life where you just realistically and factually felt or saw that, "I can't go forward"? Come on, anybody over the age of 12, she'd be able to raise her hand. How many of you have also had a desire to experience more or to see more or to receive more? So then there's this disconnect between what I want and what I see. And we call that disconnect, the distance between what I know I want and what I see what I can do, the unknown, what I don't know. So then, if you're like me, when there's something like, "This is what I really feel or what I want or what I believe," but I just don't see how I can do it or I don't see how I can get there, God give me clarity. Who's ever done that? God just give me clarity.

I think the clarity prayer. Because I feel like I heard something at one point that's saying, "I'm made for more," but I see a lot of options and I don't want to make the wrong decision. And how many of you have people depending on you to make the right decisions in life? Cool. So coming into this year, I felt this, I felt like Holy Spirit was expanding certain things inside of me and in our church and I was like, "Okay, God, I see lots of opportunity. I see lots of potential. I knew we were moving into a new building," but I was like, "But I don't fully know what that'll mean and what that means for me," and then there's, we moved in, but then there's another 25,000 square feet available that's connected to us. I was like, "God, I just, I need clarity like what to do," and all these different decisions. So I was like, "God, give me clarity. Give me clarity." That's when I say, "Hey pastor, how could I be praying for you?" I'm like, "Hey, ask God to give me clarity because I got, I see potential, I'm like, I need clarity." And I was doing that for all 10 months and I'll say a couple of weeks ago, as I was praying, I was like, "God, give me clarity," and I felt the Holy Spirit say, "Why do you keep praying for clarity?" One, you don't believe I've been giving it like, "How do you keep praying for this?" It's been 10 months. You keep saying, "I'm going to go like…" [BLANK_AUDIO] Because the opposite of faith is, no, it's not fear, it's certainty. Peter walked on water afraid. He still walked. The Bible didn't say, "Why did you fear?" He says, "Why did you doubt?" And that's what we're conditioned to believe is, "If I'm afraid, I need clarity. I need faith." No, no, no. You can do things afraid. Jesus was on the cross like, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Before he even got there, he was like, "Oh, there's any other way." He was sweating blood. He did he not have faith? He was faith.

But here's what I recognize. So many of us use the prayer of asking for clarity as a justification to stay seated and wait for God to show up. And clarity has become our excuse for complacency. I'm just waiting for clarity. I'm just waiting for clarity. I'm just waiting for clarity. It's been 40 days. I'm just waiting for clarity. I'm just waiting for clarity. I'm just waiting for clarity. It's been 40 years. And this is what Holy Spirit showed me this week. We went traveling. We went to New York and on our way there because my wife doesn't know how to pack for a three-day trip. We had to get all this luggage. Where's my people that are like, "I refuse to check it back and I don't trust them. I don't trust these people. They don't throw myself away." Yeah, yeah, yeah. The few, the proud. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. But she didn't see over pack. Then I over pack. I was like, "Man, maybe I'm making this." And now we got all this luggage that I'm carrying. I was excited because I knew when we got to the hotels, it's going to be great. But to get to the hotel, you got to start at Feeding Scott Harbor. Anybody ever been in Feeding Scott Harbor? Okay. So here's what I found interesting. Every time I go to a nice hotel, there's a bellhop way and say, "Hey, sir, can I help you with your bags?" Hey, Mr. Hamilton. And they bring a little luggage cart in it. You know, when you go to Feeding Scott Harbor, they don't even have a bellhop. Ain't nobody there to help you with your bags. So I'm just struggling holding all these bags. And I'm trying to carry out this luggage. And ain't nobody coming to help me. And I'm at the door. And at the, at the hotel, you leave the bags with the bellhop. And then you just go through a little rotating door, you know? And it's all good. But this is how I realized. Hotels are designed for you to stay. So they got to have a bellhop because they want you to feel comfortable so that you'll stay. Airports aren't designed for you to stay. Airports want you to get in and get out. So they get more people in and out. They trying to take off. So when you show up to a hotel, everything is designed for your convenience. When you show up to a airport, everything is designed for your next destination. And when you show up to the doors of Feeding Sky Harbor Airport, they don't open until you walk close enough for it to detect motion. There's no bellhop to open the door. You catch it when I'm putting down, you know, only one in 945 that understands God works a lot more like Feeding Sky Harbor than he does at Hilton. Because while you're waiting, I'm just waiting for clarity. I'm just waiting for clarity.

I'm just waiting for God to open the door. God's like, I wish you would bring them back to the door. Because if you would have some motion with your faith in your prayer life, the door don't open until you walk up. And maybe the door hasn't opened for you to leave Egypt and to go into the promised land because you're still sitting well as comfortable. It has been 40 days. I'm just waiting. And if you would take 40 steps, you will be a lot closer to where God has. Who am I talking to at 945 in the morning? Tell the person the door moves when you do. The door moves when you do. The door moves when you do. Sit down, Justin. You're supposed to be calm, and sophisticated, and you were a quarter zip. Where am I? I need macha. I need to, like, commit to this. Where the Bible at? Let's get back to the Bible. So listen to this. Listen to this. Listen to this. Verse, chapter 14. We read a chapter. Can we read another chapter? We might as well just keep this Bible study now. So 10 spies give a negative report. Caleb is like, no, we could do it. They're like, you're crazy. So then verse chapter 14 says it. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried. And the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained, they ever say, complain against Moses and Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness, Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword that our wives and children They bring kids into it, he's trying to kill God. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, let us elect a leader and return to Egypt. Should I priestess you want me to keep reading? Why is it so easy for us to be moved by what we've experienced the past 40 days and forget what God did the past 400 years? For 400 years, the people of Israel cried to leave Egypt, cried to escape Egypt. They were like, I'm tired of getting beat. I'm tired of my kids getting killed. I'm tired of not being able to be and do what God's created

me to and I'm having to just please Pharaoh. And I'm like, this is slavery, this I can't keep this, I can't do this anymore, I gotta get out of here. So God says, I'm gonna get you out and he gets them out. And he gets them out of Egypt, but then he didn't get Egypt out of them. Because after 40 days of a spy telling them what they couldn't do, they forgot what God had already done. They forgot that they didn't have to walk on water, they walked through water. They forgot that there was plagues that were killing. Everybody else's crops and property and they were just weak killing. They forgot that even if the economy tanked, God was their provider. They forgot that even if everybody else left, God was with them. They forgot that their ancestors and grandparents and great-grandparents for 400 years have been praying for them to walk in freedom and the moment they taste freedom and deal with like free decisions and free problems, it's like, no, no, no, take me back to Egypt. How do you want to go back to Egypt? Why would you want to go back to Egypt when the promised land doesn't fit your perspective? When the thing you prayed for doesn't fit your vision board? All of a sudden you're tempted to go back.

Well, I know he was crazy, but that YSL bag was so nice and I know I had no peace, but she'd been in a gym doing glue workouts, so. I know I had no joy or fulfillment in that position, but I was able to post better vacation picks on the gram and people respected me because of my title and I. Whisper to the person next to you, don't go back to Egypt. Don't go back to Egypt. I don't care if Egypt got a BBL, don't go back to Egypt. I don't care if Egypt got a raise, don't go back to Egypt. I don't care, don't go back to Egypt. Don't you go back to Egypt. I don't care if he said he'll change, he'll do better. Don't go back to Egypt. He better leave Egypt and find you in the promised land 'cause you ain't going back to Egypt. You ain't going back to Egypt. I ain't going back to Egypt. Well, this is how I cope. You better live off of bread or in manna. You ain't going back to Egypt. So this is what happens. They said let's find a leader in return Egypt, meaning that if you're looking for a voice to take you back it is justify your sin or justify, you'll find a voice. It's not hard to find a voice. It's not hard, it's not hard.

It's not hard to find a Tiktoker. It's not hard to find, it's not hard to find some facts that back your... It's not hard to find a leader that will lead you back to what God delivered you out of. Let's keep reading. And Moses and Aaron, double on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. But Joshua, the son of none, and Caleb, the son of Jephineh, who were among those who had spied out the land toward their close. And they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel saying, the land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. A land which flows with milk and honey, only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection is departed from them, and the Lord is with us, do not fear them. I wanna preach that next week. The barrier is really your bread. The thing that's breaking you is really your bread. The thing that broke your heart is really your bread. But that's next week. And all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle meeting before the children of Israel. The thing about that. Ten spies changed the heart of an entire community. Two spies speak a deal. But because the facts of this situation had already inflicted the people with fear, they're ready to kill the voice of faith and follow a leader that would lead them back into suffering. Hey, just 'cause you don't like what I'm saying, don't throw a stone to me. Just 'cause you don't like how I got answered the prayer. Just 'cause you don't like the process. Don't be so quick to throw a stone just because it goes against the crowd. You know what I've found interesting about that passage? They start complaining. They start criticizing. They start finding a leader to help them justify their complacency. And verse five, put it verse five, it says, "Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces "before all the assembly of the congregation "of the children of Israel, "but Joshua and Caleb, "who had spied toward their clothes." Moses and Aaron, the leaders of the children of Israel, the priest and the prophet. People are complaining, criticizing and crying. They fall down before the people.

No, come on, come on guys, let's not do this. Come on, guys. They fell down before the people, Joshua and Caleb stood up to the people and toward their clothes. Which begs the question, what voice are you falling for? Moses and Aaron fell before the people. Joshua and Caleb fell before the Lord. What does it look like to fall before the people? It means that you're so focused on the voices of complaints, the voices of criticism, the voices of complacency, that you try to cater to those voices instead of leading those voices out of where they're at. Moses and Aaron should have never fell before the people. They should have been like, what is wrong with y'all? It's been 40 days, y'all. I forgot. Okay, let's not judge Moses and Aaron. Well, I really wanted to go to church with my kids, my teenagers, you know, they're that. I just want to force them, they're just fighting me. So you're going to listen to the voice of a undeveloped mind. And you're going to allow an adolescent voice to determine the future. You're going to listen to someone that doesn't even like showering after practice. You don't listen to the one, then wants you to buy them a BMW before they get a driver's permit.

That's the voice you're listening to. Well, my spouse, you know, I'm trying but my spouse isn't into it and so I'm just gonna wait. You ignored that spouse when they came with shoes to buy. We're back to buy. You, that voice, you filtered that voice, clear out. That spouse didn't want to move to Arizona. You hear anyway? Notice how quickly we will placate to the voices of fear because we don't have the faith to actually be who the leaders got called us to be. You know what leader? It's not one that waits for people to follow. It says, hey, follow me as I follow Christ 'cause I'm going this direction. You know, Jesus didn't beg Peter. Hey, would you please just follow me? Would you come on? I'd really appreciate it. Like I just want your support in this decision. He said, hey, this is where I'm going. You want to follow me? I'll make you a fisherman, but this is where I'm going. And then the moment Peter got out of line and tried to lead him, he said, get the behind me, Satan, Satan. Meaning it's not even that you're the enemy. It's that you're a stumbling mark. I'm trying to move forward and you're trying to stop me.

So you can get behind me and follows too, but I'm not going back to Egypt and I'm not waiting for you to be ready. I'm going to the promised land. (congregation applauding) But you know why we play Kate? 'Cause we don't want to be stoned. We don't want to be the bad guy. Well, I just want to be empathetic and I just don't want to force them to, you force them to go to school. You force them to clean the room. I hope you force them to clean the room. Like you, we, you know, we don't call it, we don't call it forcing them to call it parenting. We call it leading. Man, I'm the head of this house. So you don't have to, you got to submit. So when it comes to what you want to buy, you're the head of the house. When it comes to how you're supposed to lead in faith, well, she just, we're just not aligning and we're just, I'm just waiting for her to get clarity and discernment and walk to the door with your bucket baggage. Sometimes you just got to carry the baggage with you. Like I'm going through this door. I'm not going to let the baggage lead me. I'm going to carry the baggage and I'm walking through this door. Everybody with baggage that I meant.

(audience clapping) Let's just read numbers 14 again. So the congregation wanted to own the most notes. Let's jump down to verse 20. Verse 20. "Then the Lord said," because now Moses is like, "God, don't be mad at them, they don't know what they're talking about. I'm sorry. We're sorry." Okay. So then the Lord said, "I have pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, because all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have put me to the test now these 10 times and I'm not heeded my voice. How many of y'all had a grandma? I was like, "You got one more time. You got one more time. And I wonder if God is looking at us and saying to us, "You got one more time before I just decide to use somebody else because you won't." Because slow obedience is no obedience. And he's like, "Look, my word can't return void." So if Saul won't listen, I'll find a David. If Moses won't listen, I'll find a Joshua. If Aaron won't listen, I'll find a Caleb. Don't be the person that is in the arena watching the miracles of God when you have an opportunity to step on the court. Verse 23. "They certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit," somebody say different spirit, "because

he has a different spirit in him and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land where he went and his descendants shall inherit it." I want to wrap this up as efficiently as possible and make it very practical and bottom shelf for you. Here's the thing I need you to write down. Caleb had a different spirit. You have the Holy Spirit. So the person next to you, you look like Caleb. That's the compliment, ladies. That's about the inner part. Caleb had a different spirit and it allowed him to experience something that I want us to experience. Write this down. To experience the more you were made for, you have to choose to live different than what is normal. To experience the more you were made for, you have to choose, everybody say choose. That's why Joshua will later on will say choose this day who you will serve. As for me in my house, we're going to serve the Lord, meaning I know it's not common. I know it's not normal. I know it doesn't feel natural, but I'm trying to live a supernatural life. So I can't do what common men do. I can't do what everybody else does. I can't live how everybody else does because I'm different. So what does it mean to be different? Four things. Write this down. Number one, you need a different perspective, a different perspective, meaning that when I look at something, I'm not just looking at it from the lens of what the facts are. I'm looking at listening to what is faith telling me though. It's a different perspective.

It allows me to not just be moved by what I see, but in the natural, but what I've seen in the supernatural. It's a different perspective and you need a different perspective when you're inundated with not just facts, but fear. I hope you know the algorithm is designed to keep you engaged, to keep your anxiety up, to keep you informed about things that will threaten to form how you live, how you view, how you move. And so if you're allowing the facts or the feelings or the culture or the voices of the crowd to form you, then they will be the lid to what God does through you. So you need a different perspective, but not only that, you need a different obedience, or say obedience. Remember, delayed obedience is disobedience. So every time I tell myself, man, I really should have or I want to, but all I'm saying, all I'm doing is coming up with reasons to justify my disobedience. And the Bible says to him who knows what is right and doesn't do it, to him it is sin. They might not be sinning. They're just stupid. You're sinning because you know what God told you to do and you're, well, I'm just waiting. I just don't know. And I just need clarity. No. You need courage. Be of good courage and be obedient because there's grace on the other side of obedience. There's blessing on the other side of obedience. And some of us just to borrow obedience, but it's like, well, I just don't want it. I just, I want it. I know it's what I want, but I'll make a sacrifice because I want them to be, no, no, no, listen, the Bible says obedience is better than sacrifice. So you justifying why you can or why you want because you don't want to make them or you

don't want to push them or you don't, no, no, no, you're, you're justifying sin. Here's the third one. You need a different influence or this influence. You got to be careful what voices are shaping you. Because the Bible says that there was 12 spies and they were responsible for leading. They were representatives of leaders of the entire congregation, the community. And out of those 12, 10 were like, uh-uh, we can't do it. Uh-uh. We shouldn't do it. Uh-uh. That looks like my bread. I look like a lunch to me. I smell fear in those giants like I want it. And because the congregation was influenced by the 10 instead of the two, those 10 cost the congregation their inheritance and they spent 40 years wasting time and dying out because that was what was normal at the time. And they were influenced by what was normal, what was practical. So you need a different influence, but here's the next thing you need. You need a different perseverance. Everybody say perseverance. Come on, we're my season staying. So that actually persevered through some things. You like child, if you only knew, you know what I love about Caleb? When the Bible, I didn't have the time, but it broke down the lineage of the 12 spies and where they came from and their fathers and all the, and all the things. And most theologians agree that Caleb was actually an outcast. He was the outsider from the, from the people of Israel. He was different. And Caleb's name is interpreted as dog. How amazing that the one who had that dog in them had a different perspective

than everybody else. He had a different perseverance than everybody else. And he spent the next 40 years remembering what God told him. And he was waiting. He was like, listen, I'm going back. You need a perseverance because sometimes what you hoped would take 40 days, actually takes 40 years. And it's not that God forgot or that God delayed is that you quit too early. So don't you dare quit before God gives you everything he promised you. 40 years before you need perseverance. And what happens when you have a different obedience and a different perspective and a different influence and a different perseverance, you get a different inheritance. How many want a different inheritance? I don't want just what my parents can give me. I don't want just what I've inherited biologically or financially or relationally, I need a different inheritance from myself and from my legacy. And because Caleb had a different spirit, he got a different inheritance. I want to, uh, I want to read you a letter that I received recently that really, uh, really spoke to me. And, uh, this is what it says. August 17th, 2026, dear pastor, Jay. Hi, pastor Justin is me, Gabe, Jackie son. First off, I want to say thank you for showing up at my sentencing hearing and supporting me. I know you're probably a busy person and it means a lot that you took time to do that really. I want to say thank you. Thanks for thinking of me. Honestly, I've been going through a rough time lately and I can honestly say I've never been so close to God ever in my life as I have been this last year.

I noticed a couple of days ago you posted a few videos on the Pando app and I think that's so cool. I grew up without mostly a father as well. I'm in isolation right now, but when I get back on the yard, I can't wait to show everybody your videos and tell them, but I go to that church and that pastor came to my court and that he's got swag. I'm a bit of a sneaker head too. I've kind of fallen off with collecting shoes, but I'm into all that too. My favorite Jordans are the Concord 11s. Me too. The cement force, the cement threes, the last shop, 14s and the Chicago ones in that order. I was huge on trading and selling and restoring and et cetera. By the way, when I get out, I'm going to definitely need some legacy church gear for show. I can't wait to get out and attend church with my mom again and take it a little more serious this time. Last time in church, you saw me. I was not at my best, but I was trying and willing. Five or six years ago, ish, my mom really, really found Christ before then. She was a totally different person. I like her. Used to think she was more fun, but she's really been rubbing off on me and convincing me there's a better way of life. Pastor J. I've done so many bad things and said and thought horrible things for so long. I've been living an unrighteous life my entire life. I'm tired of it. I've been wanting to change for so long, but it's hard. And it's, it's kind of like trying to learn a new language for me, but a really

hard one like Japanese. But I do believe I do. I really do. And I do love and trust him. My biggest thing is I just wish you would help me have the same desires for doing the good stuff as I do. That makes sense. I like and respect you because my mom does and my mom is my everything. It's always just been me and her. And she's always talked so highly of you and your wife and your church and your word, which is why I decided to go in the first place. Anyway, I'm gonna be tuned in on Pando and sharing it around the prison as much as I can. I can't wait to see you in a tenure church again in three years, Gabe. (paper rustling) Gabe, I just want you to know I'm proud of you. I want you to know that even though you feel like you're in prison and you literally are in prison, there's people that only wish they were as free as you are on the outside. You're more free than half the people in the rooms that I speak to every Sunday. Because you have this awareness that even though I'm inside of a place that I do not want to be, that place does not define me. And you're still sharing the gospel. You're still preaching to your inmates.

You're still leading a life worthy of your calling because you're still called by God. And Gabe, I wanted to remind you that you're made for more and God did not deliver you just so you would die in this desert. God still has a plan for you. God still has a purpose for you. And since God still using you, I want you to know you're inspiring me and I'm on the outside but I'm making a decision to live with the face of you that I'm going to try to reach everybody that's inside of Egypt, inside of prison. And guess what, when you get out, I got some Jordan's wait for you, bro, I promise. And I got some people waiting to hug you and celebrate you and thank you. Now because of your faith, they can still trust that God can use their life. And I don't know who else needs to know that because even though you might not be in literal physical isolation, you've been isolating yourself. You're in a self-inflicted prison and you place yourself back in Egypt even though you have freedom available to you through Jesus Christ. And maybe, maybe today is a reminder that this isn't a motivational speech. This isn't just to hype you up. This isn't a TED talk.

This is a word of God reminding you that before he formed you and placed you in your mother's womb, he knew you. And he had a purpose for you and a calling for you. And then he placed a different spirit inside of you, Caleb. You were not meant to die. God did not deliver you to lead you. God did not deliver you for it to abandon you. God did not deliver you so so you could die in the desert when you were made for more. When I just had this thought that if God can use legacy to reach gave in prison, what more can God do? And this is what inspired me to do. I want you to look at this video. - Hey, legacy. Well, we've always said we didn't just start a church to start a church. - We are so excited to announce that in February of 2027, legacy will be launching its second campus at Combs High School in the Santana Valley. And in 2027, we are advancing the kingdom. We are taking territory because we really believe that legacy was made for more. So come on, we wanna give you a sneak peek of what the next home, the extension of legacy church is gonna look like in 2027. So even in this lobby, one thing I love about our Chandler campus is the lobby is full every Sunday

with people just meeting and connecting. And sometimes they, you know, the next experience goes on to the next is built. People just not even leaving, it's beautiful. And I just can't wait for this lobby to be built with families. And friends that build relationships and learn how to follow Jesus for themselves, but not by themselves. - We're gonna have this beautiful theater for people to experience God. - Can't even imagine all that God's gonna do in this space, but I do know one thing. Like you see, welcome to your second home. (upbeat music) - I just figured why stop in Chandler. Why stop in Chandler? Like if God's gonna move, like let him move, let's make more room for God to move. And if he can move in Chandler, he can move in East Mesa, he can move in Apache Junction, he can move in Queen Creek, he can move in Santa and Valley. Why? 'Cause we were made for more. And I'm not gonna settle for just listening to the voices of giants. I'm not gonna settle for just hoping people come to Chandler. I'm gonna say God if you can use me, if you can use my family, if you can use my voice, if you can use my hands, if you can use my feet, then use all of my feet. But I'm excited because as we were doing the research, as we were identifying the out of the thousands of people that come to legacy, hundreds of them drive 40 plus minutes to get to church every Sunday.

And I said, you know what, if they're so invested in what God is doing in Chandler, why can't Chandler reinvest in what God wants to do in their community and in their life? And I'll be honest, chat told me, don't do it. Claude told me, don't do it. I said, go to Gilbert. It's smarter. I said, no, I want to go where the spirit of God is leading us. And I'm not going doing this out of convenience. I'm not doing this just to avoid another experience. I'm doing this some more people can experience God. And if it means that we get to take territory, you know, the closest church to that school is a Mormon temple. So I said, if dead Joseph Smith is the closest thing about thousands of kids, I better give them a living Jesus. I better give them a living God. I better remind them that God sees you and it is not based on your behavior, it is based on your belief that God loves you, that he has a plan and a purpose for your life. And I've seen a move in a YMCA. I've seen a move in Chandler. I've seen a move in prison. So stay in your valley. Yes, what Jesus is coming and we're just going to prepare away. We're just going to make a way. Hey, if you're still watching at this point, I believe that it's not an accident. And I believe that if you're feeling something in your spirit, that is God trying to get your attention and invite you into a deeper relationship with him. And so if you're ready to take that step, I want to I want to walk you through what that looks like. It's simple. We're going to say a prayer together and it's just you acknowledging that

you believe that Jesus is who he says he is and that you're willing to commit your life to following him and learning what it means to be a son or daughter of God. So repeat after me, if you can, Jesus, here I am. I believe that you love me, that you died for me and that you want a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I need a savior and I'm committing to learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. If I mess up, I will not quit because you've never quit on me. I invite your Holy Spirit to lead me and guide me and your truth from today on. In Jesus name, amen. Hey, we're proud of you. That's a huge decision and we don't want you to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own from this point. We have a value, a legacy that says we follow Jesus for ourselves, but not by ourselves. So I would invite you to text the number below, follow the instructions. And we're going to, we're going to send you resources so you can learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus and be on this journey of faith. Congratulations. Your life will never be the same. Thank you for watching. Hope you enjoyed the online experience. Hey, if this message impacted you, make sure you like, comment, subscribe, and share it with the friends so we can continue to share the gospel. Hey, here at Legacy Prayer is our priority. You have any prayer needs, you can send them to [email protected]. If you'd like to financially partner with Legacy, you can text any dollar amount to 84321. You can also download the church center app, visit our website at LegacyAZ.church.

Click on "Waste to Give." You'll find links to support Legacy Church. You can find us on social media. Otherwise, God love you and be like Jesus. We'll see you next week.