Maintenance or Multiplication

- Good morning church. Let's all stand and let's pray for God. So thank you for all that he's done for us. ♪ More we thank you ♪ ♪ Love ♪ ♪ I'm shaking on the heaviness ♪ ♪ I'm dancing out of my regrets ♪ ♪ I'm throwing caution to the way ♪ ♪ So I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ So much hands foolishness ♪ ♪ But I say it's worth the risk ♪ ♪ I can't forget what Jesus did ♪ ♪ No I am not ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Where there are those chains that won't tell me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gonna get it ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Go get what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing out dance 'cause I'm guilty ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ They cut off three ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ I found freedom never quits ♪ ♪ No one loves as good as this ♪ ♪ And I don't care what anyone says ♪ ♪ I'm never being ashamed to praise like this ♪ ♪ Where there are those chains that won't tell me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gonna get it ♪

♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ Go get what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll sing out dance 'cause I'm guilty ♪ ♪ Thank God I'm free ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You sent your blood now the sinner can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is good ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You sent your blood now the sinner can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is good ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪ ♪ You'll shine your blood ♪ ♪ All of that is paid and my record ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ All of that I could do it ♪ ♪ All of that I could do it ♪ ♪ All of that I could do it ♪ ♪ All of that I could do it ♪ ♪ All of that I could do it ♪ ♪ Where all those chains I want to tell me ♪ ♪ I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free ♪ ♪ My sin is gonna get in my head ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it when the Lord has no ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'll see my tears 'cause I'm in love ♪ ♪ They cut off me ♪ ♪ You took the cross and you broke your body ♪

♪ You said your blood, now the city can't see ♪ ♪ My dead is paid and my record is clean ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ I took the cross and you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it so you did it for me ♪ ♪ I couldn't do it now ♪ ♪ Only can't choose it ♪ ♪ Only can't choose it ♪ ♪ Only can't do it ♪ ♪ Only can't do it ♪ ♪ Only can't do it, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ Look at what the Lord has done ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ ♪ I'm never going back to the way I was ♪ (audience applauds) (gentle piano music) ♪ How I live for the moments ♪ ♪ Where I'm still in your praises ♪ ♪ All the noise dies down ♪ ♪ Lord speak to me now ♪ ♪ You have all my attention ♪ ♪ I will linger, listen ♪ ♪ I can't miss a thing ♪ ♪ So I know my heart ♪ ♪ Once more of you ♪ ♪ My heart wants something new ♪

♪ So I ♪ ♪ To render all ♪ ♪ And all I want ♪ ♪ Is to live within your love ♪ ♪ Be undone by who you are ♪ ♪ 'Cause my desire is to know you deeper ♪ ♪ And Lord, I will open up again ♪ ♪ From my fears into the wind ♪ ♪ I am desperate for a touch of heaven ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ You're the fire in the morning ♪ ♪ You're the cool in the evening ♪ ♪ Breathe in my soul ♪ ♪ You're the life in my bones ♪ ♪ There is no hesitation ♪ ♪ In your love and affection ♪ ♪ It's the sweetest of all ♪ ♪ Lord, I know my heart ♪ ♪ If he wants more of you ♪ ♪ My heart wants something new ♪ ♪ So I ♪ ♪ To render all ♪ ♪ And all I want ♪ ♪ Is to live within your love ♪ ♪ Be undone by who you are ♪ ♪ My desire is to know you deeper ♪ ♪ And Lord, I will open up again ♪ ♪ From my fears into the wind ♪

♪ 'Cause I am desperate for a touch of heaven ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Open up my heart to you ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you now ♪ ♪ To do what only you can ♪ ♪ Jesus, have your way in me now ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you now ♪ ♪ To do what only you can ♪ ♪ Jesus, have your way in me now ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you ♪ ♪ I open up my heart to you now ♪ ♪ To do what only you can ♪ ♪ Jesus, have your way in me now ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Don't have your way, don't have your way in me now ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I open up my heart, yeah ♪ ♪ I know you deeper in thought ♪ ♪ I will open up again ♪ ♪ Throw my fears into the wind ♪ ♪ I am desperate for a touch of heaven ♪ [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] [♪♪♪] I feel like some of us this week really are desperate for a touch of heaven. Whether that be medical, something that's on your mind, something that's in your heart, something you're afraid to do, afraid to take a step out, a leap of faith, the Lord wants to touch you. He wants to give that to you in your life. Sometimes it just takes being desperate enough to reach out and ask for a touch from heaven. [♪♪♪] Lord, I just thank you for this moment. I thank you for this morning. I thank you for your servants here, Lord. Lord, I just pray that you have been your way in their lives, in our lives. Lord, I thank you. Jesus, name I pray. Amen. [♪♪♪] [applause] So I actually believe we're not quite done yet, and you guys can sit down for this, but I believe with my whole heart that today somebody came in here desperate for God's touch. And I don't know your name, I don't know who you are, but what I do know is my God is faith. He is a healer, he is a provider, and when we come before him desperate, there's something that shifts in the atmosphere. So I just want to say today, if you came in here desperate, if you came looking for God's presence, let me guarantee something. He is going to meet you, and he's doing it as I'm talking right now. I believe that the Lord is affirming your desperation as we speak. And I know some of you guys have come in and you just touched on something. There has been a lot of health events in our church here recently.

But you know what else there's been? Healings. Some of our worship team, it's funny, the people on the stage that everybody sees. There's two individuals that are connected to the worship team recently that God has seen a miracle take place. I heard a story this morning of somebody that the doctor was frustrated because they didn't have something. I love that. So what I have to say today is this, the blood of Jesus is still alive and will. It still holds its power. It still holds its authority. And let me tell you something, disease has no authority over your life. Satan has no authority over your life. So we declare right now in the name of Jesus, every sick person, come on. Reach up to heaven right now in desperation. Every sick person in this room right now, in the name of Jesus, we claim healing over your body right now. Every inch of your body. We say to cancer right now, be dead in the name of Jesus. We curse you and we speak healing. name of Jesus. We plead the blood of Jesus, hope of your mind right now, even online. This is for you. We speak right now to the dead dreams in this room. We speak life to them in the name of Jesus that today you will find your purpose and you will be sparked to life again. We speak to the dead jobs in the room today, the financial ruin and God we ask right now that you would send increase upon your people, people that have been burdened and chained down because of something that Satan tricked us into. Lord, would you turn it around for our good? And we speak to the people today that have dead faith. We ask you to spark it to come alive right now in the name of Jesus. God let your presence fall upon them again. Lord, where people have felt like you've been absent. God, we ask right now under the sound of this prayer that they would start to feel your presence again. God, we give you all the glory and the honor and we give you all the credit in Jesus name. Amen. Come on. Let's praise him right now. Hey, are you guys glad to be here today? Choo, I'm glad to be here today. So, hey, listen, there is about to be a fire message today. By Pastor

David Morgan, he is got it going today. The Lord has laid an incredible word on his heart. So get ready. Everybody say get ready. Choo, come on. All right, let's get the business, right? So today, just a couple things we have. Connect one down to the pavilion at 1130. And this is a moment. If you're a first time guest with us, which I met some of you today, we've got some incredible first time guests here today. So can we just give them a round of applause? Thank you for being with us. But if you're a first time guest or you've been attending for a while and you haven't met our pastor, his wife Connie, if you haven't met our staff and you just want to know more about us. Today's the day, 1130 at the pavilion. There's Cracker Barrel, biscuits and gravy, my personal favorite. I say it every Sunday, but I mean, it is, right? So the reality is if you need to be connected today, today is the day for that. So make your way down there. Also, this Wednesday is Worship Night. Yup. So excited about that, but it's not just any worship night. It is our new members ceremony worship night. Yup. Yup. And listen to this. Y'all hold applause for a second because this is awesome. Listen to this. Over 60 new members are going to be introduced to the congregation. This Wednesday. Incredible. Incredible. So if you guys get a chance, if you haven't signed up yet, make sure to go on our website and sign up for that. If you are a new member, you just missed it. And if you're already a member, come and celebrate your brothers and your sisters and cries and your new family. Amen? All right. And then if you're a first time visitor with us, we would also, maybe you're not ready for connect, but we would love for you to fill out the connection card in the back of the seat and drop it in the bucket on the way out. We want to connect with you. Listen, it is vitally important that you connect with the church. The Bible tells us that you have a gift that God has given you that is necessary for the body of Christ to function properly. So we want to make sure we plug you in and get you started. And then if you make the best decision of your life today and you accept Jesus as your savior, we have a free Bible for you out in the lobby. Make sure to stop and get that. And also, did you guys know we have a school here? Okay, through through eighth grade, we're working on a high school right now. It's getting wild up in here. I just want to say that with all of the discipleship and all of the incredible stuff that's going on inside of our school inside the walls, did you guys know that we have sports teams? And those sports teams are championship level. Come on, somebody.

So we just want to congratulate our football team. They won their bracket. They won the championship. Here's, here's the crazy part about it. They lost all year long, but they grew together. Listen, let me tell you something. Our, our mascot is the warriors. You don't become warriors without a little struggle. You know what I'm saying? And they struggled. Listen, and they came in the tournament and they blew through it like nothing. It was Also, I just want to say we have a volleyball team as well. And if you guys get a chance, you need to go to the RCA Warriors Facebook page. Make sure you look at the video. We got some highlight videos going on. I am impressed by our volleyball team. They are incredible. And so God just continues to do more in our school. I want to ask you guys to continue to pray for the school. We need to send your prayers that way because God is doing something amazing in our midst. We don't just have a church. We have an incredible school and we're grateful for it. And so lastly, we're going to worship some more. Is that okay with y'all? But we're going to worship in a different way. We're going to worship in our giving. So I'd like all of us to stand our feet right now. I'm going to share a Bible verse with you guys. 2 Corinthians 9, 6-7, it says this, "Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop, but the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully." So today, I want to let you know something. When you give your tithes and your offerings, you're not giving a revolution church. You're giving them to the Lord.

If you give for any other reasons, probably not going to be great for you, right? So today, the Lord is asking you, decide in your heart today what you will give. And I believe with all my heart, there's some people in here that can give huge amounts. And there's some people in here that can give two sins. But I believe that God honors the heart behind that. Sometimes that two sins is seen more highly by God than all the money in the world because it's about sacrifice. Listen today, our worship, true worship, is being a living sacrifice to God. That's what the Scripture tells us. And so today, will you give God the financial part of your life? Seriously. God doesn't want a piece of you, He wants all of you. And so today, as we pray and as we worship, we release our gifts to God, we have several ways for you to do that. Tap tags on the back of the seats. We got buckets in the back, we don't pass the plate, nothing like that. We're not trying to pressure you. But what we do want you to do is give. You can give online, app, whatever it may be. And I believe that God will not just bless you, but He will bless you abundantly according to your gift. All right. So let's pray together as we give Heavenly Father God, we worship you today. We worship you with our giving. We give you honor, we give you praise. And God, today, some of us have little ability and some of us have massive ability. But regardless of what it is, Lord, you don't ask us for the amount you ask us for obedience. And so today, God, we ask you, Lord, to triple quadruple these gifts that are given today. As we release to you, God, would you do more with it than we ever could in the minding image?

Jesus, we pray and everybody said, Amen. Hi, I'm Whitney and this is Holly. Welcome to Revelation Church. We are so excited that you're with us today. If it's your first time visiting us, please fill out a connect card or go to the church center app. Also, stop by the tables and the foyer. We would love to give you a free gift and need to you. Also, if you are a new believer, we would love to give you a free Bible and talk about next steps. So please stop by the foyer at the tables as well. And this Wednesday is worship night. It will be at 7 p.m. We will also be having our membership celebration night. They will be giving out certificates, snacks, and we will be having prayer to bless all of our new members here. So just come out for a night of worship and celebration. We also have connect too. It is next Sunday. Lunch will be provided during the third service at 11.30. They will talk about the church who we are and our beliefs and you'll actually also get to discover your spiritual gifts and where you can apply them and get connected in our church. So to register, please go to our website or you can go to our church app. Then we also have an exciting event. There's going to be a married couple event. It's called Happily Ever After Marriage. It will be dinner on November 6 from 6.30 to 9. You can join us for a candlelight dinner, some marriage tips, and some other fun things that night.

So please register or go to the church app. If you would like to be part of that night, please register by October 30th. It's not too late to host the trunk, so go to the Church Center app for that. We also, after 3rd service on October 18th, have child dedication. Snacks will be served, go to the Church Center app to sign up. We are also very excited to announce our father-daughter dance. It's our first one ever. We'll be held next month on Saturday, November 7th. Go to the Church Center app to sign up. You will not want to miss it. Yep, and that'll be great. We also, if you mean prayer, our prayer team is here for you after the last worship song or after service. If you've missed anything, make sure you go and scan that QR code. Go to the Church Center app, and we hope you enjoy the rest of the service. Good morning, Revolution. It is great to be in God's house. Can you say amen to that? Well, let's give the Lord a praise offering today. He's worthy of praise. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen, amen, amen. Well, I am so glad to be here with you today to have the privilege and the opportunity to share God's Word. I thank you, each and every one, for being here. We are so excited about our first-time guests that are here. Let's give another hand of appreciation to our first-time guests. Amen. And 945 correctional facilities joining us right now. Thank you, amen. Thank you, thank you. We are so glad that you're here with us today. We believe God has something very, very special for us. Today, we're in part three of our sermon series from John Bevere's book You Are Called. What a wonderful series it's been. Pastor Pacer has shared two incredible messages with us over the last two Sundays. Sermon number one is connecting the dots.

When you take purpose, grace, and effectiveness and put it together, you see God do incredible things and use men and women for His glory and for His honor. Last week's message was about stewardship. What is stewardship? It's careful and thoughtful management of the gifts of God in your life. God has called us to be stewards of what He's deposited in our lives. This morning, I'm going to share with you some thoughts from chapter five and six from the book You Are Called. And I'm titling this today, maintenance or multiplication, maintenance or multiplication. I believe that God's plan, master plan, is the building of His kingdom. And He gives us gifts that enable us to do our part in building the kingdom of God. I want you to know something today. You're not here just taking up time, filling space. God's called you. God's called you. Everybody say God's called me. He's called you to be kingdom builders, to be building the kingdom of God. And He wants to use you in a mighty and a wonderful way. I will have three points I want to share with you this morning. Number one, all good gifts come from God. All good gifts come from God. I love what the word says in James chapter one verse number 17. It says, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows." There's two words in that I want to emphasize. Every good and perfect. Good. God gives good gifts. How many of you are glad we serve a God who gives you good gifts? But not only are there good gifts, they are perfect gifts. What does that mean? That means that God has the perfect gift for you. That God in a personal way, in a unique way, in an individual way, wants to deposit a divine gift in you so that you can be effective in building the kingdom of God. Matthew chapter seven verse number 11 says, "If you then, even though are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask?" You know, that verse of scripture has always intrigued me a little bit. It says, "Even though you who are evil." Everybody say evil. Is God calling us evil there? Well, if you look at that in the original, what it might say even in a better way, even though you who are carnal, even though you who are natural, even though you are human. What's the word saying? You being And human know how to get good gifts. Do you know the reason that some of us don't receive the gift of God in our life is because we're not asking for it.

And there are a lot of reasons that people don't ask for the gift of God. We feel unworthy. We feel like God doesn't really want to use us. Well, I want you to know that you need to change your mind today because we're not worthy in ourselves, we're worthy because of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are worthy to receive the gift of God because of Jesus today, not because of you. So we need to begin asking God, deposit your gift in my life that I might make a difference in this world for your kingdom. You know, I've been very blessed and fortunate in my life. I've done over the years, I've received some wonderful gifts. How many of you have been the recipient of a wonderful gift at some time in your life? You know, husband, it would be a good time to look over your wife right now and go, "Yes, Lord, I've received a wonderful gift." Christmas when I was 12 years old, I was probably the happiest boy in East Tennessee. I received a Remington 970 20 gauge pump shotgun. I'm telling you, come on right now, how many with me? I'm telling you, I thought I was a king of the world, chuck, chuck, with my shotgun. I blasted old cans, cup bottles, I mean, anything that's sitting still, squirrel, bam! Oh, thank you, Jesus, cuck, cuck. When I was 15 years old, my parents bought me a 103 CC motorcycle. That's probably smaller than a lawn moor engine, but I thought it was Harley Davidson. I mean, I was all over the place on that little 103. Whoo, what a wonderful gift. Well, I have no idea where that shotgun is. That motorcycle's probably in a junk pile somewhere. Those were good gifts, but the gifts that God give us have eternal power. They have eternal ability in our lives. Let me tell you something today, God wants to put something in you that will enable you to do far more than you can ever do on your own. God using you is not about your natural ability, it's about you embracing the gift of God

in your life. It's about allowing God to use you to flow through you, to work through you. God has given good and perfect gifts for us. Point number two, God gives different gifts to different people. I mean, you know, that every one of us in this room is different. How many of you know there's--anybody have that family member, you know, holidays, you just kind of pray and they don't show up? You know, if you don't have one of them, you are that one. You go, "Well, tell me about them, well, they're different." Well I want to tell you, we're all different. We really are, and God has different gifts for different individuals. You know, sometimes I look at the hand of God in people's life and I go, "Lord, that is awesome. That is absolutely incredible." You know, right here today, right here right now, God has deposited gifts in the lives of many of you that God has enabled you to do things that I could never do because he's uniquely gifted you. Romans chapter 12 says this, it says in verse number six, "We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us." Romans goes on to say, "Some are giving the gift of service and some teaching and some encouragement, some giving, some leadership, some mercy, but they're all for the same purpose, for the building of the kingdom of God." Let me tell you today, there is not one gift that is more important than the other gift. There really isn't. You know, Pastor said it so well last Sunday, we focus on the platform gifts. Let me tell you something, the platform gifts are no more important than the parking lot gifts. The platform gifts are no more important than the Sunday school gifts. The platform gifts are no more important than you as a business owner using the gift of God to build people up and to encourage people and to let God flow through you.

God gives different gifts to different people. But sometimes, we want somebody else's gift. How many of you have ever seen God really work in somebody else's life and you go, "Oh, I want to do that." "Oh, I like that. I want to do that." Well, God probably hadn't called you to do that. You know, I was thinking back over the last couple of weeks, over the last, now 50 years, I've written thousands of sermons. And I believe that part of God's gift in my life is preparing messages and sharing the Word of God. And I've learned to really lean into that and be grateful for that and appreciate that so very, very much. But I'll be honest with you, for a long time, I wanted to write songs. I really, really wanted to write songs. And I'd sit down with my pad, you know, or if I had a thought, I'd scratch it down and think, "No, I think I can do something with that." The problem is, every song I've tried to write sounded just like a song that had already been written. It was so frustrating. Let me tell you what I mean. I mean, if I had have written amazing grace, it would have sounded like this, "Amazing Grace, I'll sweep the sound." ♪ Let's say I'd read like me, are you getting my drift here now? So a number of years ago, I had this Christian artist come to the church. He was very well known, wrote great songs, a wonderful singer, and he did about four songs that Sunday morning, and then I did the sermon. I took him out to lunch after church, and we're sitting there, and he said, "Pastor, in the middle of your sermon, something really clicked in me, and I wrote a song." I'll be honest, I wouldn't have to punch him right there.

I'm going, "Come on, Lord, this is not right!" But you know what I've learned? Songwriting's not my gift. You know what happens when you try to function outside of your gift? Frustration, aggravation, disappointment, but when you lean into the gift of God, you see, some of you right now, God has given you the gift of encouragement. What does God want you to do? He wants you to lean into that gift and speak life into people. He wants you to speak blessing into people. Some of you, God, is given the gift of wisdom. What does he want? He wants you to speak help into people's lives. He wants you to speak counsel and advice into people's lives. When we lean into the gift of God, that unique gift that God has given us, it brings fulfillment in our lives and it advances the kingdom of God. Somebody say amen to that today. You know, how many of you know that your strengths can also be a weakness? I did that personality profile next Sunday morning. I have the opportunity most months of Leading Connect 2 and we do a personality test called disc and it talks about the different makeup of your personality and I'm a very strong ID and that means that I kind of take charge and I've had to fight that in the past. I wanted to be on Survivor. I think I told you this before. I stood in line two hours and forty-five minutes. This was thirty years ago. I had my spiel all laid out. I've been in the jungles of Africa. I've slept on the ground in Haiti. I've eaten food that would kill you. You know, I had it all, two hours and forty-five minutes.

Finally, there's like three people in front of me. I'm going to go in and do my interview and I hear this little voice going. You go on that show, you're going to lose your job because you got to manipulate people and I thought, "Oh Lord, that's probably you." One of my strengths... I just, I see everything. And it's also a weakness because I see everything. And over the last three months, I've really been doing some observation here at the church. And I wanna share this with you. I believe God laid this on my heart. About four months ago, Pastor called me, and he told me the elders had made a decision that Pastor Chris was gonna come back from Texas and become the campus pastor. And he started explaining to me what that meant. And I'll be honest, I thought, wow, that's a lot. That's a lot. It's gonna lead the staff. It's gonna be a liaison with the school. He's gonna be in charge of day-to-day operations here at the church. He's gonna be responsible for a whole lot of stuff. And here's what I've seen in the last three months. I've seen the gift of God operating in Pastor Chris's life. Yes, I have. (audience applauding) I've seen God work in his life, and he stepped up and be and is being the man of God, the campus pastor that God has called him to be.

I've seen new life in our staff. I've seen changes in the relationship between the school and the church. I've seen a calmness around the campus, and that is the gift of God operating in someone's life. Let's give God praise for that today. Amen. Thank you, Lord. Point number three, God expects multiplication. God expects multiplication. Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 and 15, say it again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one, he gave five bags of gold to another two bags to another one bag, each according to his ability, then he went on his journey. If I understand this parable that Jesus shares, the master here would represent God and the servants would represent us, and the master expected growth. Let me say that again, the master expected growth. If the master represents God, do you know what that tells me? God expects growth. I believe that not only does God expect growth, God expects multiplication. Do you know one of the reasons that we put so much emphasis on small groups and discipleship here is because that's where multiplication takes place.

Multiplication takes place in discipleship. It takes place in life group. The master gave one individual five bags of gold, another two bags of gold to another one bag of gold, and it said he did it according to their ability. What God gives you is what God knows can work in your life and what you can use for his glory. The one with five made 10, the one with two made four, the one with one buried it in the ground because he was afraid. Let me tell you. God does not give you gifts to bury in the ground. God does not give you gifts so that you can operate in fear. God gives you gifts so that you can operate in faith and see God do awesome, amazing things through the gift of God. Now when the master returned to the first two, he said an incredible thing. The one he had given five who now had 10, he said well done, good and faithful servant. Oh, those are words we wanna hear, isn't it? Come on, how many of you wanna hear those words? Well done, good and faithful servant to the one that he had given two that now had four, he said well done, good and faithful servant, but to the one that he had given one bag of gold who buried it in the ground and dug it up and brought it back and said, here, I still have what you gave me, it's all here. He said you lazy and worthless servants.

Whoo, whoo, you lazy and worthless servant. I didn't give it to you so that you could just keep it or maintain it, I gave it to you so that you could multiply it. My question to you today is, are you in the maintenance business or are you in the multiplication? God has equipped you to go beyond your ability. He has empowered you to multiply That's God's plan for our lives is to multiply What he is deposited within us Now to Sunday's ago pastor had his chainsaws up here, you know, he's that mountain man The chainsaws Once on the eye expect him to ride in on a horse, you know He rides in on a horse, I'll have to ride in one little scooters Well, I don't have any chainsaws, but I got two beautiful buckets, I mean think those are beautiful buckets Nobody thinks they're beautiful buckets. I'm not getting paid by the Home Depot. That's just what I had in my garage So my question to you today is what's in your bucket? What's in your bucket? Well bucket number one here. It's got some stuff in it Got a hammer. I mean think a hammer is a good thing to have Hammers good Got pliers. That's good Flashlight. That's good Screwdriver, that's good Maybe the most important thing of all duck tape Yep, you got it got to have duck tape Yeah, you know what all those good things are for Maintenance Maintaining

Keeping it together Keeping it going You know can't fix it any other way wrap it up a duck tape We'll get another day out of it, but in the other bucket. I got just a couple little things I got a little bag here of champion radishes In my hand, I Don't know if you can see those just tiny tiny little seeds. I've got another bag It's mustard seeds Another bag that's lettuce Do you know what a farmer does when he plants seed? He expects a harvest You put just some seed in the ground and you expect to harvest This scripture came to me last night 2nd Corinthians 9 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food Will also supply Increase and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness Do you know what god wants you to do? He wants you to take the seed that he is deposited in your life And he wants you to sow it that he might give an increase You see when the farmer puts just a few seed in the ground He's not expecting just to receive a few items of growth He's expecting multiplication You know you can plant a handful of seed and harvest a wagon load of produce Because god established the principle of multiplication all the way back in genesis God said the fruitful and multiply God has called us to the multiplication business But i'm frustrated today i'm going to be honest with you Because it's very likely that the majority of churches across the united states of america Are not in the multiplication business

They're in the maintenance business Let's just try to keep our numbers steady Let's just try to maintain the status quo Let's just try to Survive God has not called us to survive God has called us to thrive God has not called us to hold on he's called us to advance the kingdom of god And it's not just our churches it's a believer How many believers today are no further advanced than they were five years ago Come on i'm going to let you sit on that one for a minute How many believers today haven't grown in the last decade Well i'm hanging in there of God within you. Let God use you in a way that He hasn't used you before, because it's not about you. It's about Him." In 1980, I was asked to pastor a small assembly of God church right outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'm home on a Saturday night. It's about 11.30 at Saturday night. My senior pastor calls me up and he said, "Hey, there's a little church on the other side of Pittsburgh. They don't have a pastor. They need somebody to preach tomorrow morning. Can you go to Carnegie?" I said, "Sure. Where's Carnegie?" And he goes, "Well, I don't know exactly where the church is. Call this man tomorrow morning." I called him up. He gave me directions. I went over and it was sad. I mean, I'll be honest, it was a pitiful mess. The building was awful. Carpet literally is in shambles. There was not two matching windows in the whole building. And in the middle of the sermon, I heard the voice of God in my spirit. You see, I'd been a youth pastor the last four years. God had, I loved being a youth pastor. Back then, I had full access to the schools. I could be on campus before school. I could be there at lunchtime. I could be there after school. I could be there for the athletic practices. And our youth group had really blown up. We had almost 200 in our middle school, high school youth group. And I loved doing that. And right in the middle of that sermon that Sunday morning, I heard the voice of God in my spirit say, "This is your place." And I'm having a conversation with God in the middle

of that sermon. I said, "No, Lord, I don't want this place. I'm telling you right. I like the place I'm at." But I knew I heard from God. I went back and I told our senior pastor, I believe God spoke to me that I'm supposed to pastor that church. Three months later, April the third, 1980, I became the pastor of that little assembly of God church about 30 people. Like a lot of small churches back then, they supported about 12 missionaries at about $25 each. And I mean, I'm a kid. I didn't even know what I didn't know. But I knew in my heart that I didn't want to just help maintain something. I wanted to build something for God. And so after a year, I sat down and I wrote a handwritten letter to all 12 missionaries. And I told them it has been our joy to support you these past years. And we will continue to support you for the next six months. But after that, our support is going to stop. Because I wanted God to lead me to one or two individuals that we could pour into, that we could build something with. And almost two years went by and I began to think, Lord, did I make a mistake? And one day, one of the members of the church called me up and he said, there's a young man from Haiti visit in Pittsburgh. I think you really need to meet him. I met him at Howard Johnson's. We spent about two hours together. And at the end of that two hours, I knew it was a divine appointment. And God had brought that young man into my life. Over the next 30 years, I poured into him. I shared with him everything I felt like God had shared with me. I tried with the help of God to mentor him and encourage him and develop him. When I first went to Haiti to see the mission he was working with, they were about 50 children in a day school. Today, now 40 years later, there are five schools with over 4,000 children in those schools. There are seven churches that he has raised up pastors for. I've had the privilege of going back and ordaining those pastors. That's like ordaining your spiritual grandchildren. That's multiplication. About 1984, my secretary said, there's a young man in the four-year, he really likes to speak to you. So I went out and introduced myself to him. He was from Nairobi, Africa. And invited him into the office. We talked for about an hour. And in the natural, I thought, this guy is kind of abrasive. I mean, he's coming on a little strong here. But in my spirit, I felt this is an appointment from God. He had just come over from Africa, was attending a tiny little Christian school in Pittsburgh. And we began to support him. I began to pastor him and mentor him.

Over the next six years, I poured into his life just like I had pastor Piers, everything that I felt that God had poured into my life. He graduated with a master's degree from Asbury University in Kentucky. He went back to Nairobi. We bought a hundred foot tent for him to start a ministry in. I went over and did a crusade in that hundred foot tent. It was wonderful but tiny, but we had deposited seed into his life. Now almost 40 years later, he pastors the church whose sanctuary is larger than ours with multiple services, has established six churches out of that church. That is spiritual multiplication. And I'm not telling you that because it's about me. I was just a kid who had faith that God wanted to build something. I didn't know what it was going to look like. I didn't know what it was going to turn out. But I was determined to be faithful to the call of God. That's what God is looking for in our lives. Now in 1980 when I began to pastor that church, I'd never sit in on an elders meeting. I knew nothing about pastoring a church. I had no staff. I had no support. I mean, I left a youth ministry that I had a whole volunteer team that worked with me every week. I mowed the grass. I took the trash home to my house. I cleaned the bathrooms. It wasn't the way I would have chosen it. But I made a decision from the very beginning, "God, I'm going to be faithful and I'm going to believe you to do something in this place." Fast forward about 15 years, we had grown about 100 people a year. One of the men on my staff came to me one day and he said, "Pastor, I feel God's called

me to plant a church somewhere here in the area." My first thought is, "You mean somewhere way down the road?" And he said, "Well, actually we've located a building that I think we can rent. It's about four miles away." I sat down and spent about an hour and a half with him the next Sunday morning I stood before our congregation and I said, "Our staff member is filled by God to plant a church. I'm looking for 12 families that will go with him and help establish that church." One of the other people on our staff came to me after service and he said, "You're actually asking 12 families to leave the church." I said, "No, I'm trying to plant something else. I'm trying to build something for the kingdom of God." Over the years we did that two more times and every time I stood before the congregation and asked people to leave and go plant another work, God gave great increase into our church. Why? Because that's a principle of God, sowing and reaping. I want to challenge you today to move from a place of maintenance, to move from a place of the status quo, to move from a place of I'm okay to a place of I'm going to do something for God. I'm going to build something for the kingdom of God. I'm going to use the gift of God in my life. Whatever that gift looked like, let God use you to multiply the kingdom of God. You have no idea. I had no idea all those years ago what God might do, but God did and you know what he was looking for? He was looking for somebody just to show up and be faithful. Can I challenge you today? Let's move away from maintenance. You are not called to be the maintenance person. You are called to multiply. You are called to multiply where you are.

Some of you need to start multiplying in your neighborhood. Some of you start need to be multiplying in your workplace. Some of you need to start multiplying in your family because that's what God has called us to. Would you stand with me please? I'm going to ask the prayer team if you would come forward at this time. If we have some de-concere, I want to also ask you to come forward and help us with the prayer team. Amen. If you're ready today. Just as the declaration and let one of these individuals pray with you and for you to affirm I'm ready to make a shift I'm ready to move from a place of maintenance to a place of multiplication Or if you're here today and you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior Today is your day Today is your day today is the day for you to say father forgive me of my sins Lord Jesus. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I turned my life over to you That's the greatest decision. You'll ever make in your life Or if you're here today or maybe you're in a correctional facility and you're saying well There was a time that I know God called me to something, but I am so far away from that Had a conversation with a young man yesterday Who said when he was 14 years old? He felt God called him to be a youth pastor, but he had walked so far away from that I looked him in the eye and I said I want to tell you something the gifts and callings of God are without repentance If God's called you to something in the past and you've moved away from it turn around today Turn around today come back to that place that God wants you to be Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus. I thank you for this time today. I thank you for your word I thank you for this spirit of God That is drawing men and women unto you. I thank you Lord that you're calling us away from Maintenance and you're calling us to multiplication May we embrace and press into the gift of God in our lives

Lord, I pray that this your word will find good soil in our hearts In Jesus name The worship team is going to lead us in the song. I invite you to come and pray right now in Jesus name Father God, we give you all glory and honor today Holy Spirit, would you rest on our hearts? All the saints and angels I'll be for your throne All the elders cast their crown before the Lamb of God and sing You were worthy of it all You were worthy of it all But from you are all things And to you are all things You deserve that glory Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all the saints and angels Thou before your throne All the elders cast their crown before the Lamb of God Come on sing it, you were worthy of it all Make that your cry this morning, you were worthy of it all Born from you are all things And to you are all things You deserve that glory He deserves your highest praise You were worthy of it all Yes you are my God You were worthy of it all For from you are all things And to you You deserve, you deserve Your work is not circumstantial You are the worthy world, you are the Lord

Day and night, you're worthy Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise Yes, God, day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise Day and night, night and day, let it in since the rise Day and night, night and day, his name is Lord Day and night, night and day, his word, you are the worthy world Day and night, night and day, his word, you are the worthy world You are worthy of it all, every day my God You are worthy of it all, Lord from you are all things And until you are, you deserve, you deserve it all You are worthy of it all It's a joy to worship you, you are worthy of it all From you are all things And until you are, you deserve it all Listen to me again, you are worthy of it all Jesus, you are worthy of it all For I promise you are all things And until you are all things You deserve the glory You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things And until you are all things You deserve the glory God, you are worthy of it all When it doesn't look good, you are worthy When things are great, you are worthy You are worthy of all of our praise All of our love, all of our adoration Our commitment to you, Jesus, you are worthy God, thank you for every soul here

It is not by accident that they walked into this room It is not by accident that they heard this message Lord, I just want to speak to every gift inside every person God, fan into flame The things that have been kind of snuffed out I believe that you have fanned into flame giftings and callings this morning That we would walk out of this place bold, Father God, in our faith And that we would exercise our faith today in Jesus' name Let us do something today that we've never done out of fear Holy Spirit, you are worthy Thank you for your sweet, sweet presence Thank you for loving us and calling us and equipping us, Jesus Help us to be good stewards of the things that you've put inside of us, Father Also that you get glory in the end God, you are worthy, you are worthy. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much for joining us today, the service. We just pray that this message has been a blessing for you and encourage you. This week, let the Word speak to you, let it become alive, and please join us next weekend. We'll be back here again. It's 8.30, 10 o'clock at 11.30, Eastern Time. God bless and have a wonderful rest of the day. [MUSIC]