Make Space Week 2: Space | Pastor Bryan Jarrett | Northplace Church

Hello, my name is Brian Jarrett, and my wife Haley and I have had the privilege of pastoring North Place Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for almost 20 years. We're one church that meets in multiple locations, even on multiple continents, and today you are one of those locations. The church is not about buildings, it is about people, and we have the privilege today of sharing the hope of the gospel with you right where you are. There is no way I can know exactly what you're going through or dealing with right now, but for almost 30 years I have preached about a God who I know, I am confident, knows you, your struggles, knows the very hairs on your head and the thoughts that you think before you think them, and He is passionately in love with you. And our prayer today is that in our time together you feel our love for you and His presence. And we pray that this time together gives you hope. Church, come on, are you glad to be in the house this morning? Come on, anybody excited to worship Jesus? Come on, get those hands up! Come on, let's sing this out, here we go. And I've got a river that's flowing inside, it's full of life, it's ever growing, I've got a fire and it's always lit, it won't go out, it's always burning. You've given me joy, it's unspeakable, joy undeniable, unexplainable, I've got the joy of the Lord. I've got a river that's flowing inside, it's full of life, it's ever growing, I've got a fire and it's always lit, it won't go out, it's always burning. I've got a river that's flowing inside, it's full of life, it's ever growing, I've got a fire and it's always lit, it won't go out, it's always burning. You've given me joy, it's unspeakable, joy undeniable, unexplainable, I've got the joy of the Lord. Come on, sing it down in my heart. Sing it down in my heart, sing it down in my soul. Uncontainable, it's untamable, I've got the joy of the Lord.

Come on church, can you get those hands up this morning? Come on if you have the joy of the Lord. And I've got joy on the inside, it feels like fire, I can't keep it in yet. I keep praising in the midst, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on, can we sing it this morning? I've got joy on the inside, it feels like fire, I can't keep it in yet. I keep praising in the midst, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And I've got joy on the inside, it feels like fire, I can't keep it in yet. I keep praising in the midst, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And I've got joy on the inside, it feels like fire, I can't keep it in yet. I keep praising in the midst, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on, let's sing. And I've got a river that's flowing inside, it's full of life, it's never broken. I've got a fire and it's always burning, it won't go out, it's always burning. Come on, let's sing it. You give Him His joy, it's unspeakable. Joy, undeniable, unexplainable. I've got the joy of the Lord. Come on, sing it, it's down in your heart. Down in my heart, deep down in my soul. Undeniable, it's undeniable. I've got joy on the inside, it feels like fire, I can't keep it in yet. ♪ I keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪ ♪ And I've got joy inside me ♪ ♪ And it feels like I can fly again ♪ ♪ I keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪

♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is rushing in me ♪ Come on, does anybody have joy in this place today? It's a joy that is not based on circumstance, but that is based on who He is. His mercies are new every single morning, so He is good yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And it's why you and I can celebrate and rejoice with joy today. Come on, can we just sing this with hope? ♪ And o'er that rugged cross ♪ ♪ The selfless pain He bore ♪ ♪ He breathed His final breath ♪ ♪ That I would be restored ♪ ♪ By His body that was broken ♪ ♪ Precious blood, it's freely shed ♪ ♪ This spotless Lamb of Heaven has forever called ♪ Come on, no matter what you're facing, can we just sing this with joy today? ♪ That Jesus is my healer ♪ ♪ He's everything I need ♪ ♪ He alone has triumphed over sickness and disease ♪ ♪ So fear, where is your power? ♪ ♪ Oh, the cross is your defeat ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer ♪ ♪ He has won the best reign ♪ ♪ How great a love to my man ♪ ♪ He walks with me through valleys ♪ ♪ Understands my suffering ♪ ♪ Every joy and every sorrow ♪

♪ Every triumph, every loss ♪ ♪ I know everything is covered by the shadow of the cross ♪ ♪ The shadow of the cross ♪ ♪ Oh, and everything is covered by the shadow of the cross ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer ♪ ♪ He's everything I need ♪ ♪ He alone has triumphed over sickness and sin ♪ ♪ So dear, where is your power? ♪ ♪ Oh, the cross is your defeat ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer ♪ ♪ He has won the victory, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer ♪ ♪ He has won the victory ♪ ♪ We thank you ♪ ♪ Oh, that we have the victory in your name ♪ ♪ In the mountain or the valley, I can call on your name ♪ ♪ Everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ Everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ Sickness, darkness, chains break out ♪ Come on, I'm praying this over people who are in this room right now. You can sing it with me. ♪ Everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ Everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ Sickness, darkness, chains break out in me ♪ ♪ Oh, everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ Everything bows at his name ♪ ♪ He bows in His name ♪ ♪ Sickness, darkness, chains break at the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ He bows in everything, bows in His name ♪

♪ Everything bows at His name ♪ ♪ Sickness, darkness, chains break at the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ And the whole little house, everything bows at His name ♪ ♪ Everything bows at His name ♪ ♪ Sickness, darkness, chains break at the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer, He's everything I need ♪ ♪ Heal all my trials, all my sicknesses, He will heal me ♪ ♪ He will restore power, hold the cross, it's your decree ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer, He has won a victory, oh Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer, He has won a victory, oh Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus is my healer, He has won a victory, oh Jesus ♪ Come on, anybody grateful that our Savior has won the victory this morning? Come on, even because of the finished work of the cross, and now we can enter in boldly and worship the King of kings. Come on, the one that is worthy, come on, let's sing this out. ♪ And the precious fountain from Calvary's fountain ♪ ♪ Flowing down to you and I, it washes us clean ♪ ♪ Oh, what a mystery, that red blood makes me white ♪ ♪ And isn't it wild, and doesn't it make you wonder ♪ ♪ How something so profound could be so simple, oh ♪ ♪ Simple, oh, and the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the wonderful, your love, your love, your love ♪ ♪ Oh, the marvelous love, let the redeemed sing a song ♪ ♪ In praises for love to the Son ♪ ♪ And the blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful love ♪ ♪ My precious Jesus, oh, I'm so grateful ♪ ♪ For the day you saved my life ♪ ♪ As I remember, my heart goes silent ♪ ♪ And tears begin to fill my eyes, and isn't it wild ♪

♪ And doesn't it make you wonder how something so profound ♪ ♪ Could be so simple, oh, and the blood, the blood, the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, and the blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful love ♪ ♪ Oh, your love, your love, your love, oh, the marvelous love ♪ ♪ Let the redeemed sing a song in praises for love to the Son ♪ ♪ And the blood, the blood, the blood, oh, the wonderful love ♪ ♪ Yeah, we're grateful for the blood of Jesus, yes ♪ Come on, church, let's sing this, here we go. ♪ And the work you did is with us ♪ ♪ All of our sins forgiven, and now we get to live it ♪ ♪ We get to live it, and don't wonder how the work he did ♪ ♪ And the cross was your decision ♪ ♪ But death was not the ending and you rose again ♪ Come on, sing it out, church. ♪ And don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ The working dead is finished ♪ ♪ And all of us is forgiven ♪ Now we can sing. ♪ Yeah, now we can sing ♪ ♪ And don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ And the cross was your decision ♪ ♪ But death was not the ending and you rose again ♪ ♪ And don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ And don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ Don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ Don't wonder how the working blood ♪ ♪ And good blood. Good blood. Good blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the wonderful one ♪ ♪ And Your love, Your love, Your love ♪ ♪ Oh the marvelous one ♪

♪ And good blood. Good blood. Good blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the wonderful one ♪ ♪ Your love. Your love ♪ ♪ Oh, the marvelous one ♪ ♪ Let the redeemed sing a song in praise of the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, the marvelous one ♪ ♪ And good blood. Good blood. Good blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the wonderful one ♪ Come on, let's sing. ♪ And the work You did is finished ♪ ♪ All of us is forgiven ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Yes Lord Jesus be praised ♪ ♪ In Him arose and now He reigns ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ There's power in the blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ ♪ Your wonder of the working blood ♪ Come on Church, all together we sing. We're singing. ♪ Oh precious piece of love ♪ ♪ God blessed in His glory evermore ♪ ♪ Oh there's no other bound I know ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ We're singing. ♪ Oh precious piece of love ♪

♪ God blessed in His glory evermore ♪ ♪ Oh there's no other bound I know ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ From our campuses and locations and services into the room today, I wanna do something unique. I always take this moment to celebrate some kind of life change so that you understand your ROI. You know, where, when you serve, when you give, how's that making a difference? And I want you to know that because it's happening all around us. Probably you've never shared a moment as unique as the story that I'm about to tell ever, but I think it's important for you to know. I hesitated whether I ought to share it or not, but I'm just gonna try to get kind of what I felt in you. So this week at our Garland campus, we were trying to, all over, we were trying to come back after the storm and work in the flower beds a little bit. And one of the guys that was working in the flower bed in front of our Garland campus found something that was unsettling, took some pictures of it and sent them to Pastor Drew. And he said, this is creepy, Pastor Drew, and took some pictures of it.

And somebody had buried a beheaded black chicken in the flower bed of our Garland campus. And if you know anything about witchcraft, you know, Santeria, voodoo, that was an attempt to put a curse or a hex of some sort on our church. And so, When they sent me that, Drew said, it's kind of creepy, Pastor. I said, praise the Lord. And they were like, huh? I'm like, the minute I saw that, I got excited. And let me tell you why. I felt sorry for the chicken. I don't mean that, honestly. But I got excited about the significance of this. Because normally when I talk to you about life change and I'm telling stories about people getting baptized and what we'll do at vision night, it's numbers, it's understandable in the natural. But what we're talking about is territory being taken in the supernatural here. When something is happening in a community that people that are involved in witchcraft are so bothered by the advances the kingdom is making through a place that they're nervous enough and bothered enough that they have to try to put some kind of curse on you to stop what is happening. I don't know if somebody among this person or persons, somebody in their family has come to Christ

or somebody's on the verge of coming to Christ. I really don't know what's going on. I just know this is driven by fear to try to stop the advance. But I know what the Bible says, that the gates of hell cannot stand against the advance of the Lord's church. It's not gonna happen. And so I got excited because I'm like, they know. Somebody that is praying to unholy spirits knows what the Holy Spirit is doing through this body of believers. And to me, that's as much validation as I need when the enemy's camp is stirred up because the kingdom of God is advancing. And I've got news for them. Not only do I, I'm like, do I share this? I talk to, do I share this with people? I don't wanna make them nervous or freaked out or people think they don't understand this stuff. They're weird. Look, I've been to Africa, I've been to a lot of different places where this stuff is practiced. It's real, I don't deny it's reality. But what I do know is we just sang about it a moment ago. There is, everything is subject to the name of Jesus. Everything bows at his name and the power of the spirit and the blood of Christ breaks every curse. And the power of the enemy cannot cross the bloodline over those people at New Garland, over your life,

over North Place Church. And I'm just praying, God, help us keep taking more territory. And what I'm praying is, we've been looking through security footage and trying, I just wanna know who I'm sick in the hounds of heaven on. I wanna know who I'm praying the Holy Spirit after because what I'm praying, if they come back, when they kneel down to bury that thing in the dirt, that the spirit of God overtakes them, that the love of God consumes them, that they have a revelation of who Jesus is and it pushes back the darkness. I'm telling you this because I'm just announcing to you, if you didn't know, we're taking territory. We're expanding the territory of the kingdom in the world where God has given us influence. And I'm really excited about it and I'm glad they know it. I'm glad they're afraid. And so I'm just, yeah. Let's keep advancing the kingdom, just one more changed life at a time. Keep serving, keep giving, keep loving and keep helping us be what we are as a church in our communities. The ways to give are on your screens. If you have a physical gift with you today, you can place it in an envelope. There are giving centers at the exits

of every sanctuary today. And Lord, I do pause to pray for the people, the person or persons that targeted us with some kind of witchcraft. They think we're the evil ones, Lord, and they're trying to stop whatever is happening through our church. I pray for them. I pray that the spirit of God would pursue them. You would overtake them. If you have to reveal yourself to them in dreams and visions that you would, that they would be overcome by your love and your compassion, and that you would draw them into relationship with you. Lord, the greatest testimonies I've ever heard missionaries tell is when the witch doctors in the tribe encounter Jesus and are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what I pray for these people. Lord, that you would encounter them with your power, fill them with your spirit. And may we hear a testimony someday in this church. We'll look back on this story on this day, on February the 8th, connect the dots and thank God for the power to save. And I just pray that, Lord, open our hearts today. Lord, open our hearts today to your word. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Hey, if you're a guest with us this weekend, you're joining us on an amazing journey

where we're studying this concept woven through the entire storyline of the Bible, how an honoring heart toward God and people can literally create more space in your life for God. Hence the title, Make Room and Open Heaven for an Honoring Heart. The world that we live in is so divisive and people have shorter fuses than ever and they're lashing out more. more quickly than ever. And this principle of biblical honor may sound far too simple for these divisive times, but I promise you, if we will learn to walk in biblical honor, it has profound implications for our lives. It will impact how we approach God and how we treat people. So if you're looking for community or you just wanna grow spiritually, you're not late to the party. We just started our first week of small groups last week and studying this material. This is our guide. We have some of these available today for your personal devotion or for your group study. I promise you, it's not too late. There are groups that are available and open and would love to welcome you into their group. We have some of the guides at the Resource Center in every lobby of every campus.

You can get them today. You can also connect with a group if you're not in one at the Resource Center. And all of this is online. The opportunity to connect with the group, all the small group videos, the past sermons for you to catch up. It's all at our Make Room landing page, northplacechurch.com forward slash Make Room. Now let me do something. I ask you permission to do something before we jump into the sermon. I just wanna briefly revisit something we launched last week. It is an expansion initiative in our church and everybody doesn't come to church every single weekend. And I just wanna take as many of our people along on the journey as I do. And before I address those details that are in these booklets that were in the seats when you came in today, let me just say this. If you're a guest or you're relatively new to North Place or for one reason or another, we have not earned your trust. You're welcome to the booklet, but this conversation isn't for you. We would never place any type of giving expectation on somebody that's new or somebody that's a guest or somebody that's a spiritual seeker trying to find their way. So just give me a minute to have a conversation

with the people that are a part of the spiritual family. They are in covenant with us and North Place is their home church. If that's you, this conversation is for you. Over the last few months, we have experienced a season of explosive growth that has created some significant space challenges, even preventing some people from attending our services. Last fall, I watched in heartbreak as people became frustrated with the 40 minutes it was taking them to go a half mile to try to get in our parking lot and they just turned around and left. Or when they did get in the parking lot, they drove through, didn't find a spot and then they would leave. And then worse, I'm preaching, they waited through all that. They come through the back doors, stand along the back wall, look as a whole family trying to find a place to sit together, not find it. And then they would turn around and leave. Listen, somebody has been praying for those people, maybe for years to encounter God and God is at work in their life. And now they've made the effort to get to church and then they leave before they hear the gospel because we weren't ready for them. And that's just not acceptable

when people's eternity is at stake and we can't let that happen again. We added more services in order to relieve some of the pressure and it has helped temporarily but we have to prepare ourselves now for the future. So this two year make room initiative that I talked about last week is a comprehensive multi-campus plan creating more space and more opportunity for more people to encounter Jesus. It's not the final solution but it is the next fateful step to make sure we can keep reaching people in an integral and a frugal way. We've prayed and asked the Lord for direction to find the least expensive way to make room for immediate growth with the goal of taking on no new long-term debt. And we're gonna do several things across our entire campus family. At the Garland Campus, we're gonna do several things but the most significant is we're gonna expand our children's ministry space there because it's one of the most significant growth barriers at that campus. At our Wiley Campus, we already have incredible outreaches to the additional needs community, especially into the school district but we currently don't have a program to serve them on Sundays.

So we're gonna make room for these children and their families at the Wiley Campus by launching our champions ministry there which is gonna require more staffing and design of spaces to accommodate these children. We're also gonna add some creative pieces with some new technology that has come out that's gonna allow us to transform the lobby in Wiley as on an as-needed basis into multi-purpose meeting spaces for discipleship, small groups, hospitality and relational connection. Here at the Saxon. and most of what is in this book is about what's happening here at the Sachse campus. We're gonna be adding 200 additional parking spaces. We're also gonna be purchasing a new style of theater seat chair that will allow a different configuration of this room that will increase our seating capacity by 200 to 250 more seats per service, which at four services a weekend gives us 1,000 new seats every single weekend. Additionally, connected to the lobby, there's gonna be a 4,000 square foot patio venue that is gonna serve as an overflow space so people don't have to come in and leave anymore. We actually have a place to put them. It will seat up to 350 people, and it will be a fully equipped, like a campus, with audio, visual, and everything

that all of our campuses have. Beyond that, it's gonna be a vital space for hospitality and discipleship ministries like Discover 101 and Grow 201. Grow 201 is happening today, and these gatherings have become a primary way we're bringing new people into the life of our church. So many people are coming to faith this way and being discipled this way, and we don't have the space to accommodate the demand. We could justify building a lot more than what we're talking about, but we're trying to do this frugally and integrally and without any new debt. I'm confident if every person in this family that calls this church their home will pray about this and participate in this, that God is gonna see this through us. The goal is that all of us that are in covenant together would be a part, not necessarily equal giving amounts. That's not gonna be the case, but if we can match each other in our level of sacrifice, we're gonna reach more people, we're gonna serve more families, and more children and youth are gonna be impacted for the cause of Christ. All these details are available in the little booklet that was left on your seats. Please take one of these per family. The information, more of this is online.

I showed an incredible video last week of the vision behind all this is a moving video. That video is online at NorthPlaceChurch.com forward slash make room. The sermon from last week. Catch yourself up if you weren't here. Inside the booklet, quickly, right before I move on, inside the booklet is a stuck in card. One side of that is just a random giving ladder of what it would take for us to reach the goal, to pay this in full, and over a two year span, again, it's a two year span. On the back of it is a commitment card, and that card may look like a simple piece of paper, but if you'll take this journey with us, it'll be so much more than that. Take the next few weeks as a family and pray about how you and your family can help us create more space for more people to meet Jesus. And then when we gather back on Sunday, March the 1st, we're calling that commitment weekend where our spiritual family is going to bring their two year commitments. Like, Lord, what did the Lord say to you? You write it down, and then we turn those in on March the 1st. The reason that's important, our bank is willing to extend us a line of credit so that we can begin construction right away. And if the commitments come in strong enough

on commitment Sunday, March the 1st, they're gonna open the line of credit and we can begin construction on the parking lot on the first week of March. Ultimately, at the end of the day, this is not a funding journey. It is a spiritual formation journey that has been proven in my family. My kids are 22, 26, and 28. And when Haley and I look back on our parenting journey, we can honestly say, I mean, with all of our heart, nothing has shaped the spiritual growth of our own children more than cards like the one stuck in the front of this book because every time we've been to a moment like this in our church, we gathered around this card as a family. We prayed as a family, God, will you speak to us, lead us? And our kids saw the numbers we wrote on those cards through the years, numbers that were outrageous, numbers that didn't make sense, that were beyond our capacity, but we wrote down what we felt like God said to us. And then we prayed throughout the course of the whole journey that God would supernaturally provide. And every time he proved himself to our children, he honored our faith in front of them, and it shaped who they are today. Every one of them are adults that are faith-filled, risk-taking, all-in, generous followers of Jesus Christ. And they will tell you those little cards, walking this out as a family,

created the space for God to prove himself in their life, and it marked who they are. So don't miss the moment or overlook the potential in this little commitment card. It can be a foundational tool for shaping a spiritual journey, learning to hear the voice of God. responding in faith and then watching God provide. And the best thing is seeing people come to Jesus and knowing you were a part of helping make that happen. Now, that's part of the story, but let me talk to you. This is for everybody. Now, let me talk to you about how creating space is so much more significant in Scripture than creating physical space for people to meet Jesus. There is a core theological claim in Scripture that God fills what we intentionally make space for. Over and over again in the Bible, making room and clearing space is how people welcomed the presence and the power of God. And so over the next few minutes, I want us to understand three things. Why space matters. Number two, why God waits for you to make the space before he comes. And three, what making it, what making space reveals about your level of faith. Look at those in order. Number one, why space matters. And let me start with this theological paradox

that you find in the Bible. You don't have to look long till you find it. It's in the whole Bible. God is omnipresent, but he is relationally selective. In other words, he is everywhere, but he doesn't dwell everywhere. The Bible affirms God's omnipresence when Solomon says in 1 Kings 8, the heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. And yet God says about himself in Exodus 25, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. Do you see the tension? God is everywhere, and yet he chooses specific places to manifest his unique, powerful, relational presence to a person or a significant, or a group of people. The theological word for this is God's manifest presence. God is omnipresent in his essence, but he is selectively present in his manifest glory. He shows up in specific ways, in specific places where he is welcomed, where space has been prepared, where people are hungry for him. This is why space matters. It's not that God needs our permission to exist somewhere. It's that God honors our efforts and our desire. He enters where he is invited. He dwells where he is welcomed. Look at how this plays out from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis 2, God walks in the garden with Adam and Eve, not because he couldn't walk anywhere else,

but because the garden was a prepared space for intimate fellowship with humanity. The garden was designed for encounter. He walked where there was a cultivated, ordered, prepared space. Think back to that verse we read a moment ago from Exodus 25. God says to Moses, have the people build me a sanctuary so that I can dwell with them. Notice the order. They make the space, and then God fills it. The tabernacle wasn't built to attract God's attention. It was built to prepare a place for him to relationally dwell. In 1 Kings 8, Solomon builds the great Solomon's temple. And the moment that it is finished and dedicated, the glory of the Lord fills the temple so that the priest cannot even stand to perform their duty. Why? Because it was a prepared place, intentionally, sacrificially, and with expectation. In John 1 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. The word dwelling here in the original language means tabernacled among us. Jesus made his home among us. He didn't come to visit. He pitched his tent. He took up space in human history. He made room.

God made room here for humanity so that humanity could make room in their hearts for God. Think about Acts 2. The disciples are gathered in an upper room. It has become a 10-day prayer meeting where they are preparing space. They are being set apart. It is filled with expectation. And the Holy Spirit fills the house, the room, not the temple courts. He fills the room of the house because space was made in that place. But more than anything, space was made in their hearts. And it was a defining moment for all of history. Now, look at the end of it all. Go all the way to the end of your Bible. In Revelation 21, it says this. Look, God's dwelling place is now among us. the people, and He will dwell with them." This is at the culmination of all things, at the end. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. The entire arc and storyline of Scripture, from the garden all the way to the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21, is this reality, that God is wanting to dwell permanently with His people in a prepared and eternal space. Here's the pattern. God fills what we intentionally make space for, not because He's limited, but because He respects the posture of our hearts. He comes where He's wanted. And here's what we have to understand. If we don't intentionally make space for God, something else is going to fill the space in our life, because space never remains neutral. If you don't create margin in your schedule for prayer, hurry will fill it. If you don't protect time in your schedule for Scripture, entertainment will fill it. If you don't build rhythms of rest and worship, the demands of this world are going to consume every available moment you have, and it's going to fill you with

anxiety and exhaustion. If you don't make space in your budget for the things that matter to God, the demands of this life are going to fill your budget, they're going to drain your budget, and there's never going to be enough. The tragedy of modern times is that most of us are living completely full lives. Our calendars are packed, our minds are cluttered, our hearts are overcrowded with a thousand competing loyalties. And we wonder why we don't sense the presence of God. We wonder why our prayers feel hollow. We wonder why there's no spiritual power in our life. It's not because God is withdrawn. It's not because there's no room. This is why space matters. You have to purposely make room for God in every arena of your life. Here's the second why. Why does God wait for us to make the space before He comes? I'm going to point you to a passage. I'm not going to read the whole context because it's so familiar, but because it's so familiar, I think we read it every year, and we miss the truth that is here. It's a part of the Christmas story. Luke 2, and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Listen, that's not just a historical detail. That is the spiritual diagnosis of the human heart. The end wasn't hostile. The end keeper wasn't evil. There is no villain in this story. The end was just full, occupied, crowded. There was no space. And so the king of the universe, the creator of all things, the long-awaited Messiah, is born in a barn. Not because people outright rejected him, but just because people were too busy to make room. Let that sink in. The greatest missed miracle in history wasn't caused by rebellion or sin. It was caused by distraction, by overcrowding, by fullness. There was no room. And here's the haunting question. How many times has God been knocking at the door of your life, ready to enter with power and presence and purpose, but there was just no room? And this condition of the human heart is addressed again in Revelation 3. Jesus is speaking to the church in Laodicea, don't miss that. He's talking to church people here. And Laodicea happened to be a church that was wealthy and comfortable and self-sufficient. And listen to what he says to them in Revelation 3. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with me. Notice where Jesus is. He's outside. Not because he left, but because the church stopped making room. The church became so full of itself, its programs, its comfort, its self-reliance, that Jesus was on the outside

knocking trying to get back into the church. It's one of the most sobering images in the Bible. The church is functioning. The lights are on. The crowd has gathered. It's full. But Jesus is on the outside waiting to be invited back into his church. Why does God wait? Why doesn't He just force His way in? Because God has honored us with the capacity to choose. He doesn't override our will. He doesn't violate our autonomy. He waits because He wants to be wanted. Listen, the manifest presence of God is a gift, not a right. We can't earn it, but we do position ourselves for it. We never manipulate God into showing up, but we do create the conditions where His presence is welcomed and honored. Think about it in relational terms. If you invite me over to your home and every room of your house is cluttered, every chair is occupied, every conversation I try to have is interrupted, and you as the host never make any time to sit with me, it's gonna feel like before long I am an unwanted guest in your house even though you made the invitation. I may be physically present in your house, but I'm not really dwelling there because I don't feel honored, I don't feel welcomed, I don't feel at home. That's what happens when we don't make space for God. He's omnipresent, He's there, but He's not dwelling. He's not manifesting His glory.

He's not moving in power because we haven't made any space for Him. So God is asking us, clear the room, make the space, not because He's weak, not because He's distant, but because He respects the invitation. He wants to fill the spaces we prepare. He comes where He's wanted. Now today we're trying to answer two why questions or two why statements and a what. Why does space matter? Why does God wait for the space to be prepared before He shows up? And three, here's what making space reveals about your faith. And this is where the conversation gets really practical and also challenging because throughout Scripture, space is created before the outcomes ever appear. Making room for God is belief in advance. It is an act of faith. Listen to these stories in the Bible. In Genesis 6, Noah builds an ark before a single drop of rain had ever fallen. His obedience was an expression of faith. He's making space for something. He's honoring God by making space for something He's never even seen. He's preparing for a promise God has spoken, but not yet fulfilled. In Joshua 3, Israel steps into the Jordan River before the waters ever part.

Joshua tells them when the priest, their feet, the feet of the priest touched the water, it will stop flowing and the Jordan will part. They didn't wait for the miracle to step in. They stepped in and then the miracle happened. They created the space and God showed up. In 2 Kings 4, there's a remarkable story about a woman from Shunem. Elisha the prophet frequents her hometown regularly and she said to her husband in 2 Kings 4, I am sure this man who stops in from time to time is a holy man of God. Let's build a small room for him on the roof and furnish it with a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp. Then he will have a place to stay whenever he comes by. And they did that. They created the space. They made the room. And years later, when their son dies, Elisha raises him from the dead in the very room they created for him. The resurrection happened in the space they had prepared in advance. Do you see the pattern? Making space is faith embodied. It's not passive belief. It is an act of honor towards God. It is active trust. It is you saying, God, I don't see the outcome yet, but I believe you're gonna move.

So I'm gonna make room in advance for you to fill this space with your power, your presence, and your purpose. Now, let me show you the miracle on the other side of you making room by pointing you to one of the most powerful stories in the gospel. In Mark 2, Jesus is teaching in a house in Capernaum. And the text says that the house is so crowded that there is literally no room. I mean, it's spilling out the door. Four friends arrive at this house carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They wanna get this man to Jesus, but there's no way in. The house is so full. Every inch of space is occupied. And here's what they do. They climb up on the roof. They hoist their paralyzed friend on the roof. They tear the roof of the house open and they lower their friend right down in front of Jesus. Jesus. Now think about what that required. It was costly, it damaged somebody's roof, it was disruptive. Imagine being on the inside of the house, listen to Jesus teach, and debris starts falling on your head, and all of a sudden the house opens up and this man starts being lowered down through a hole from above.

It was inconvenient, it wasn't easy, it was risky. They could have been thrown out, rebuked, or even humiliated. But they desperately made a space that before didn't exist, and look what happens. Mark two, verse five, seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, my child, your sins are forgiven. And then he healed the man, when you read the story. Notice what Jesus responded to. Not the paralyzed man's faith, Jesus responded to the faith of his friends. They were willing to make room and tear through obstacles so that somebody else could encounter Jesus. Don't miss this, sometimes faith looks like making space so somebody else can get to Jesus. And here's what you have to see. The crowd in the house wasn't sinful. They weren't doing anything wrong. They were there to hear Jesus teach, they were interested and engaged. But the room was full, and because it was full, there was no room for a miracle. Crowds often fill spaces to admire Jesus, but faith clears the spaces so friends can get to Jesus. Do you see the correlation? This is exactly what we're trying to do. We're trying to make space, literally, more parking, more seats, more room for people

to encounter Jesus, but it's not about parking spaces and seats, it's about our faith. It is our version of tearing off a roof so people can get to Jesus who may not get to him without our faith. This isn't about funding a project, it's about creating space for future stories, making room for miracles somebody else is gonna get to experience. Now let me give you this really quick before I close. Let me give you this, three things that reveal what making room says about your faith. Making room reveals expectation. You don't prepare space in advance for something that you don't believe is coming. And when you make space, you're declaring, God, I'm clear in this because I believe you're gonna show up. Second, making room reveals priority. It requires sacrifice. It's gonna cost you something. You gotta let go of some things to make room. You gotta say no to some good things to say yes to some God things. Third, making room requires dependence. When you make room before you've ever seen the outcome, you're admitting that you can't manufacture the result and you know that you can't force God's hand. So all you can do is prepare the place and trust God will fill it.

God, I can't do this on my own. It'll never happen without you. So in faith, I'm gonna clear the space with expectation that you're gonna do what only you can do. I'll make the space, you fill it. So let me ask you, where do you need to make space? In your schedule? Do you need to create more margin for prayer or scripture or silence or worship? Because right now, every moment is consumed by productivity, noise, entertainment and distraction. In your home, do you literally need to create an altar? A space where you can get shut in with God and be alone with him and his presence fill your home every day. Or maybe a space for spiritual conversations or a space to offer hospitality to people in Jesus' name. Is it maybe your heart you need to create space because you've let your heart get crowded with worry and bitterness, control and fear. Maybe you need to tear open the roof of your heart and let Jesus into the paralyzed places that you've been trying to manage on your own. God's not limited by space, but he honors it and he fills what we prepare. He comes where he's welcomed and he's wanted if we'll just make the room. From the garden to the tabernacle to Solomon's temple to the upper room, the early church

in the New Jerusalem, God's story has always been about coming to dwell in prepared places. And the question for each of us today is, are we making space? Or are we so full, crowded and busy, there's no room for God to move in our life? I hope this conversation has helped you see that throughout history and throughout the Bible. Every time people made space intentionally, God showed up. And I believe he's waiting to show up in your life. So make room in your heart, your schedule, your budget, your home, in this church, and watch what God does when he is purposefully has a space prepared for him to fill. Would you stand with me across the room today? Would you stand with me across our campus family today? And I'm gonna ask our prayer teams at every location to make themselves available today, because here's what we're doing right now in this moment. Every time we do this, especially today, we're making space for God to do a miracle in your life. That's what this moment is. We're not just showing up at church, hearing a little sermon, and going on about our way. We believe this stuff is real. We believe it's real. And we believe God shows up in people's lives, in marriages, and physical bodies, and in circumstances, mountains that are too big for you to climb. And that's what this prayer moment is

at the end of every service. Especially today, we're gonna do what we, God, we're gonna make space. I know you're busy. I know that we're two minutes past normal time. But for somebody that needs something from the Lord today, you're gonna say, Lord, making room in my life is more important than hurrying out the door. I need to pray with somebody about this miracle. We're creating that space right now. Lord, the most significant space that will ever be created is opening our hearts to Jesus. And if there's somebody listening to me today, online, in a prison, in this room, at a campus somewhere, that has never made space in their life for Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, it is the most significant space for God that will ever be created. So I pray right now, Lord, they humble themselves before you. They confess their need for you. They ask for your forgiveness of their sins. They call upon you as the Lord of their life. And God, I promise them, because I know you're faithful, if they will do that, you will fill that space in their life. And as these people pray in the altar today, will you fill that space with miracles that only you can do? Bless them, keep them. Make your face shine down upon them.

Be gracious to them. Turn your countenance their direction today and give them peace. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. These altars are open. Hey friends, I just wanted to spend a second with you at the end of this message today and just encourage you. If in some way you've made a spiritual decision, maybe you've given your life to Christ today, you've recently given your life to Christ, you wanna talk to somebody about giving your life to Christ, our team would love to help you. We're on the Pando app and have several ministries into various prisons because God has called us to you. We have a heart for forgotten people and forgotten places. And that means we serve widows and we serve orphans and we serve special needs kids. And God has given us a heart for men and women in the prison system, because I believe Jesus died for you. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. And we wanna help you know that and discover that. There is an address on the screen that you can communicate with us. We have a team of people that would love to hear from you, especially if you've made a decision to follow Jesus so that we can resource you and point you to tools that can help you grow. Just know that we're praying over you and we're genuinely honored that you've taken time

to watch our channel and these messages from North Place Church.