The Secret Of The Story | Pastor Emma Mullings

And some of us are cancelling our harvest with our mouths in our waiting season. We're sowing with our hand and we're uprooting it with our words. And this is where people get it wrong, we're looking for fruit in this season but we've got no seed in the ground or we've sown the seed but then we've spoken death over it. But welcome to the last week of our Vision Builders series. Over this series we've learnt the secret of the seed. We've learnt the secret of the soil. We've learnt the secret of the sower last week. And so today as we come to the last week I wanted to kind of tie all that together and talk to you today about the secret of the story. The secret of the story. And let me say it to you like this, when you sow in a scene that you're in right now, God uses that to write a better story. So what I have learnt with parenting for children and pastoring people and sitting with married couples is when they present to me the scene and they tell me, you know, their side of the story, it's often not the whole story. It's just the scene. And if I make a permanent decision based on the scene that I'm presented with, I can be making the wrong decision because it's actually not the whole story. We have cameras in our house and we have four children and if they're in an argument and they're calling me and they're saying, no, that's not what happened, mom. That's not what happened. Check the cameras. That is a consistent line you hear in our house. Check the cameras, mom. Check the cameras. He hit me first. And I actually do check the cameras. But let me tell you, these kids are confident. They call my bluff.

They think I'm not going to take the time to look up the camera app, but I do. And when they've been lying, oh, they're in double trouble because they lied. But what I have learned is that the seed that you sow in the scene that you're in is what God has to write a better story. So let me start this message by telling you about a little scene which was part of a bigger story, but it was a seed sown. The year was 1982. I was one year old. My older brother was three and my parents' church, they had started a Christian school as part of the church. They were passionate about providing a Christian education, which was pretty rare where my parents' church was at that time. Actually, it's still rare now. But the only way to keep everything running, my dad was the only staff member, only person, he was the lead pastor of the church, the only person paid by the church. The only way to keep everything running was for him to go off wages, to go without any pay for three months. That was the solution to be able to just get everything up off the ground. But he was passionate about it. And as he tells the story to me, he's saying they didn't tell anyone that he was going off wages, that he was not going to be receiving any income for three months. They also didn't have a plan, okay? But they didn't tell anyone. But he said the provision just supernaturally came. People would just show up with groceries. People, it just came from the left into the right. But after the three months was up, the provision stopped. And here's the thing, if you zeroed in on that scene at that time, you might have thought this is a bit of a dire situation. Two little kids at home, a church trying to start a school, and now you're going off

no income at all for three months. But he knew that it was a seed sown in a scene that was going to be part of a bigger story. The church would continue to grow, and he pastored it for 43 years, just retiring a few years ago. Scene, seed, story. Fast forward to another scene in 2019. We're sitting on a plane about 12 hours into a 24-hour trip with four children. And I was holding Kingston, our youngest. He was six months old at the time, and he had a really heavy cold. And the only way to stop him from crying on the plane was to keep holding him. Some of the parents know what that's like. Terrence was navigating our rambunctious two-year-old who we named Israel. You know, names are prophetic. Israel is a female version of the name Israel. And God's chosen people, but also strong-willed and stubborn. But anyway, save that for another message. Hosie and Jerry are there, and I am so overtired. I'm holding this baby, and the only way I can keep holding him is to keep staying awake. So I'm having coffee after coffee after coffee. And you know when you get really sleep deprived, you start to lose your mind. Everything that we own, that is left, because we've given most of it away, is on that plane. I've just left my two dream jobs. If you zeroed in on that scene, it might have looked a little crazy. But I knew that we were sowing a seed, and God was writing a bigger story. Scene, seed, story. When we arrived here the first year, Terence's mum unexpectedly passed away. We'd only been here for, I think, six weeks at the time, and he had to go back to Australia. We didn't have enough money for us all to go back, but Kingston was still very sick. When we landed, he just continually got sick, and we're brand new in the country. Legally, we had visas, okay.

But we didn't have any health cover, and I was still learning how everything worked here. I wasn't really sure how it all worked, and I felt like Kingston needed antibiotics, and I'm trying to figure it out. I remember someone told me about these free health vans that go to different areas, and you can go with your children, and they can get free health care. I look up where it's going to be. Terence is back in Australia. We've been here for six weeks. I don't know where anything is, and I see that there is one of them in Opelika. But here's the thing. I'd heard of Opelika, because Terence lived here for a few years when he was a kid, and he lived in Opelika. So I'm like, you know, things that are familiar feel safe. It's psychologically proven, all right. So I'm like, I know that name. I've heard of that. Let's go. I say let's go to me and my three children. So I drive out to Opelika, and I find the location. I'm following a map everywhere, and I pull up, and there was a lot of people out on the street. And I remember sitting in my car, and I called my husband, but it was the middle of the night in Australia, and he did not answer. I've got Kingston crying in the back. He's all congested. And I'm like, well, I'm going to get my son some antibiotics, or I'm going to die trying right now. This is the moment. So I'm like, just do it afraid, Emma. I get out of the car.

I go to the van. People started following me, like, as soon as I got out of the car. It was honestly like a scene from a movie. I knock on the door. I'm like, I really hope someone's in there. She opens it up, irritated that someone is there for health care, and she's like, just wait here, and then slams the door, and I'm just standing there. But here's the thing. It was a scene, but I knew that it was part of a bigger story. The reason that we could plant this church, and many of you have heard the story, is because we saved for so long. We thought we were saving to buy a house. Houses are very expensive in Sydney. And I remember, actually, our pastor at the time coming to see where we lived in Sydney, and it was a two-bedroom apartment. We had all the kids there because we were saving. We didn't want to pay any more rent. And I remember him saying, how do you guys live here? He didn't have a filter. But we knew that this was just a scene, and we were sowing a seed for what was going to be a bigger story. I mean, at the time, we thought the biggest story was the house, but the biggest story was the church. Because it's that deposit that we could then use to build God's house. Fast forward. You'll like this one. The scene is 2019. We have just started family dinners.

That's how we started the church. We came here, our prayer was, okay, God, this was your church, this was your idea. We asked God for one divine connection a day, and he brought one divine connection a day. I remember we're having family dinners. That's what we would call it. I remember going to Walmart and buying chairs, and I was so surprised that the chairs were $20. I should have gone to Costco. See, I was still learning where everything is here. And I remember counting the money in our bank account, but I knew that I was sowing seed. This was just a scene. It wasn't always going to look like this, but one of the people that were at the family dinners was Hector and Jessica, who lead some of our marriage groups. And I remember saying to Hector, we would have prayer meetings. By the way, this church was birthed in prayer, and it will only be sustained in prayer. And I remember Hector was always the first one there and the last one to leave. And I remember pulling him aside and saying, Hector, you're such a blessing. You give your time, your talent, your treasure like you're a faithful servant. We're so grateful for you. And he looked at me, he said,

Emma, you put your address on Instagram, and you tell anyone to come to your house. And he pulled back his jacket to show me that he was carrying. He's like, I am always going to be the first. first one here and the last one to leave as long as you continue to put your address on the internet and say come and pray with us we're going to plant this church he's still our unofficial security just so you know here's the thing Hector just looking at that scene might have thought that we were a little crazy we were a little bit Hector knew that this was just a scene but as he sowed his seed it was going to be part of a bigger story and God was writing a bigger story and then COVID hit and then everything shut down and for some reason the SEO on our website was very good and people that were married were about ready to kill each other okay they had had enough of being home together and we started to getting getting overwhelmed with these requests for marriage counseling now me and Terrence in Australia we had a relationship podcast which hopefully is offline now but somehow that came up in everyone's SEO and they were reaching out as they were googling and asking can we come for free marriage counseling we're like we are not marriage counselors but we have done a lot of marriage counseling we can just tell you what we learned for free is that helpful so they would come over to our house and we would continuously have these people here we realized this was a need in the community this is a felt need right now especially in the middle of COVID so that's when we looked up the marriage course curriculum we found a great seven-week course the marriage course that we ran back then and have run every year since then and it's like if you looked at it back then we were just trying to find something that would help people it was a scene but it was a seed sown I still remember counting the numbers in our church account to make sure we could buy all the marriage course books but now how many years later about four or five years later we've had almost 200 people go through the marriage course it was a scene but it was a seed sown and God was writing a bigger story as we started pop-ups in 2021 we were doing groups and we were doing the marriage course and FPU and freedom course but we only did pop-ups once a month but we had to pay the rent we couldn't get a school like this

yet they weren't open yet after and doing leases after COVID yet but we had to pay the the rent where we were doing pop-ups every Sunday night so we used the time to gather the worshipers worship is something that is so much of our heart and our DNA and we would just gather people who are worshiping we teach them how to find the song in the prophetic and people would come and just sit in the worship rehearsals and I remember Justin Lemmer was there Justin who leads worship here most weekends and I remember he was just sitting in this seat he wouldn't sing he wouldn't get up and I walked over to him I'm like Justin do you sing he's like nah man but something told me this is the scene but that is not his story and now you see Justin up here leading worship most weeks you see if you judge an entire story by the scene that you're in you could be limiting the hand of God and I give you just a little bit of background to tell you that this scene right now is just a scene but God is writing a bigger story and I tell my kids this all the time I say to the kids this is not normal you need to know that this is not normal because they're so used to seeing consistent growth and I'm like this is not normal just so you know they're so used to hearing stories of people being healed of diseases they're so used to hearing stories of people who haven't been able to have a child for so many years yet they come in to the house of God and get prayed for and now they're with child they're used to hearing stories of people's marriages being restored they're used to seeing people's lives transformed and I have to keep telling them you need to know that this is actually not normal I need you to know that this is not normal because you are actually living in revival we are in a moving miracle of God and I don't want you to miss the miracle because you've come become so familiar with it I say to them I don't want you to miss the miracle because you're so familiar with miracles you know I told you a few weeks ago my dad when I tell him some of the challenges and problems he's like listen you just thank God for the problems you have I prayed for those problems too many people and not enough space I prayed for those problems Proverbs 14 for where there are no oxen the manger is empty church we are standing in a move of God and I want to encourage you to a lot to stop looking for some white what some might perceive as as normal because this is not normal it wasn't normal for Mary to have a virgin birth. It wasn't normal for Sarah and Abraham to have a baby. It wasn't normal for Noah to build an ark. The bar of normal is far too low for someone who wants to pursue the call of God on their life. The Bible game changers were not normal. And I want to encourage

you, church, don't chase normal. And you know what, church, this is how it looks now. But I want you to understand the scene that you may have walked in on is not the whole story. It's not the whole story. Whenever you pursue the call of God on your life, it's going to require sacrifice. It's going to require dying to flesh because God places you in a season of preparation. And what does God have to do to build your faith? He has to send you some resistance. So you actually have something that you have to dig into faith for. Either fight in faith or run. If you go to the gym and you need to get strong, you need some resistance. You actually need some pushback to be able to build your faith. You see, the resistance to what God was doing is actually what built our faith to plant the church. The resistance started way before 2019 when we landed. The resistance actually started, the attack of the enemy started back in 2015 when we knew that we knew that we knew that God had called us. There was pushback against the call of God. It was relentless. It was strategic. It was demonic. And God sent two prophetic intercessors to us personally to call it out, to expose what was happening. And you don't hear us talk about that much in those four years between 2015 and 2019 very much. In fact, I don't think I've ever mentioned it because his word says that he is our vindicator. And sometimes you just have to sit back and let the fruit speak for itself. And even at that time when the attacks were coming and the words of discouragement was coming, I don't, don't go and do that. That's a stupid idea. You guys can't plant a church in America. I knew that this was a scene, but it was not the story that God had. And I couldn't let myself get stuck in a scene. I had to keep my eyes focused on the biggest story. Right now we are in a scene church and the story is still being written. And I think in 10 years, in 20 years, we're going to talk about way back when we had to do three services at the school and we didn't have room for destiny steps. And we'll tell our kids and our grandkids, we'll tell them, we're like, that was the scene as we stand in our building that we own. Amen. Hallelujah. We'll tell them, we'll say, that was the scene. We had to do set up, pack down. You should have seen how early we had to get in to set everything up. That was the scene, but it wasn't the whole story. So the big idea this morning is what you are living in right now is a scene. And with what you sow in this scene, God is writing your story. The kingdom of God works in seasons. There's sowing in one season, reaping in another season. When

a farmer plants a seed, the scene on the day that he plants the seed almost looks like a loss because the seed goes into the ground and disappears. But that's not the whole story. Under the surface, things are moving. Things are growing. Things are shifting that we can't see. Don't judge God's faithfulness by your current scene. Judge it by his story. Genesis 8.22, as long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest will never cease. Galatians 6.9, in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Due season means that this isn't the whole story because there is a due season. Psalm 126, those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. And I think where people sometimes get it wrong is that they're looking for the harvest, they're looking for the fruit in this season, but they don't have any seed in the ground. We're asking God to fill the basket, but our hands have never opened to sow the seed. And the kingdom actually just doesn't work like that. You sow in one scene and you reap in another scene. You can't pray for a harvest that you've never planted. So I want to show you this. I've broken this down into four scenes for the note takers in the room, and that should be all of you because note takers are history makers. And remember, you're the 930 service. You're the real Christians, so you take notes. Amen. Hallelujah. I want to show you this from what has become one of my favorite Bible stories. I'd actually never even preached on this story until our daughter's conference last year. And I hope one day I can preach that message again. This is not that, but this week God showed me some revelations. from the story of the Shunammite woman when it came to sewing in one scene and reaping in another scene. Let's start in 2 Kings 4, 8 to 10. It says, One day Elisha went to Shunamm and a well-to-do woman was there who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by he stopped there to eat. She said to her husband, I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us. Let's make a small room on the roof. She chose to build and make room. She chose to sow a seed and create space. She built the bed, the table, the chair, and the lamp. And this is what I think they represent. The bed represents rest in God. Identity over activity. The table represents word, strategy, divine downloads. The chair

represents alignment. You sit and serve before you lead. We say here if you're too big to serve, you're too small to lead. The lamp represents revelation. We read this in Psalm 119, 105. Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. The woman chooses to build a room. She chooses to sow her resources to build a room for the man of God. So enter scene one. She makes room and she sows her treasure. Scene one. She makes room and sows her treasure. This is the first scene. She doesn't know that she's actually stepping into a miracle moment. She's just making room. She's sowing her treasure. And sometimes church, it doesn't feel like a miracle. It just feels like making space, writing a check, serving, building a room. But that's the scene that God uses to write a bigger story. She thinks that she's building a room for the prophet, but heaven knows she's building a room for her future miracle. She sows in this scene. Her finances, her hospitality, and doesn't even realize that she's putting seed in the ground that is going to speak to her in another season to come. Verse 11. Let's pick it up there. It says, one day Elisha came. He went up to his room and laid down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, call the Shunammites. So he called her and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, tell her you have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army? She replied, I have a home among my own people. She's like, I'm good. What can be done for her, Elisha said. Gehazi said she has no son and her husband is old. Then Elisha said, call her. So he called her and she stood in the doorway. About this time next year, Elisha said, you will hold a son in your arms. No my lord, she objected. Please man of God, don't mislead your servant. But the woman became pregnant and the next year about the same time she gave birth to a son. Just as Elisha had told her. She didn't have a list. Her mentality was everything's God's. I'm just giving back to God. I'm just making room for God from everything that he gave me. This is scene one. She makes room and sows her treasure. Let's continue the story. Verse 18. The child grew and one day he went out to his father who was with the reapers. He said to his father, my head, my head. His father told his servant, carry him to his mother. I've got a lot to say

about that but we'll save it for the relationship series. Be an active parent. Okay, verse 20. After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon and then he died. Verse 21. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God then shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said, please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Why go to him today, he asked. It's not the new moon or the Sabbath because it was customary at that time for you to go to see the prophet on the new moon or the Sabbath. This brings us to scene two. Scene two is she takes faith steps when it looks over. The promised son dies in her arms and this is actually a dark scene. If you just freeze-frame this part of the story on this scene, it actually looks like a loss, a dead promise, a failed harvest but remember this is just the scene. It's not the whole story. Some of you right now are in a scene and God wants to remind you today it's not the whole story. It's not the whole story. She doesn't bury her promise in a field. She carries it back to the room that she built. She takes faith steps in a scene that looks like failure. Saddle the donkey, she says. I'm going to see the man of God. You know, sometimes the scene immediately after you sow looks worse than before. You've given, you've served, you've obeyed, and it feels like the promise has died in your arms. Don't judge the harvest by one scene. Keep taking faith steps. Keep going back to the God that you made room for initially. She says, saddle the donkey. She takes faith steps. But what did she do before that? Let's read verse 21 again. It says, she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.

She lays him in the prophet's room, not the grave. What have you called dead in your life that God is actually not quite done with yet? Is it your marriage? Is it your relationship with your child? Is it the dream that you once had in your heart? Some of you feel like God gave you a promise, but it's not working right now. You feel like God sent you that husband, he sent you that wife, but you're in pain, you're fighting, you're hurting. I wanna encourage you, don't put it straight to the grave. Bring the promise back to the one that gave it to you in the first place. Back at the feet of the father who gave it to you in the first place. She says, saddle the donkey. I'm going to see the prophet. Faith takes action. This isn't like Ikea faith. I think people want Ikea faith. They're like, give me the flat pad box, I'm gonna put it together, and then we're good, and then I've got faith, but that's not how it works. I don't see anyone handing down Ikea furniture to the next generation. If you want faith, you want faith that brings generational blessing, you have to do the digging. You have to dig the wells.

That's the kind of stuff you hand down to the next generation. It's when you lean into fast. It's when you sow when you've got nothing to sow. It's when you give when you've got nothing to give. It's when you choose to die to your flesh and no one knows about it except you and God. It builds your faith. It builds that muscle, and that's the faith that brings generational blessing. You know, the church building that our grandkids are gonna come to and discover Jesus in starts with us, the now generation, sowing right now in this scene today. Generational blessing. Verse 24, she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, lead on, don't slow down unless I tell you to. So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When she saw him, when he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant, Gehazi, look, there's a Shunammite. Run to meet her and ask her, are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? Everything is all right, she said. This is the second time that she hasn't actually said what's going on because she didn't tell her husband what was going on either. And this brings us to scene number three. Scene number three is she's careful who she speaks to.

In verse 26, everything is all right. In the New King James version, she says, it is well. When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away. But the man of God said, leave her alone. She's in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why. Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? She said, didn't I tell you? Don't raise my hopes. It's only when she reached Elijah that she actually said what was going on. She's careful who she speaks to. She doesn't process her pain with people She doesn't process her pain with people who can't fix it. She says it is well to the people on the way, but she gives her real cry to the one that actually carries her miracle. And some of us are cancelling our harvest with our mouths in our waiting season. We're sowing with our hand and we're uprooting it with our words. And this is where people get it wrong. We're looking for fruit in this season, but we've got no seed in the ground, or we've sown the seed, but then we've spoken death over it. The Shunammite woman guards her confession in the in-between scenes.

She knows this is a painful scene, but I don't think it's the whole story. Her confession, it is well, we see twice in the New King James. In verse 23, she says, it is well. And then in verse 26 again, and she answered, it is well. This is not denial, it's actually alignment with God's word. Because the power of life and death is in the tongue, Proverbs 18, 21. She's not in denial, she's not in la-la land. She is be careful with her words to align them with what God says. She had enough discernment to know who could help her and who might unintentionally speak against the promise. Do you have the same discernment, church? I said this to you a few weeks ago, I said, church, who are the closest three people in your world? Because proximity leads to intimacy and intimacy leads to fertility. And so some of you are birthing Ishmaels when God has actually called you to birth Isaacs because of the proximity that you've given people in your world. Who are you connected with? There were many faith steps that we had to take before we came here with four young children. And I learned very quickly to be careful who I spoke, what God had shown me, because the truth is, church, and I've got to be careful to say this, but the truth is this is not a surprise to me because I saw you back in 2015. I asked God, give me your heart for the people. Let me feel the weight that you feel. Give me the burden.

I want to feel what you feel because that is what is going to be my motivation to give everything and go and plant this church. Let me see the church, God. And he did, and I saw all of you. So that's why this is not a surprise to me. But I realized very quickly in 2015, 2016, that I had to be careful who I spoke that to. She had enough discernment to know who could help her and who might unintentionally speak against the promise. When people spoke against the promise, I realized this is sacred and I can't give people access to speak against what God is doing. Scene three is so important. And some of you actually just need to make more room for God. So when opposition comes, you know the word enough to say, it is written, it is written, it is written, just like Jesus did to the enemy. It was her wisdom. It was the wisdom of the woman that concealed it. She concealed it from any manner of opposition to her faith. And I know you love your auntie. And I know you love your friend who's still working out their faith and they're super cynical and they've got, you know, lots of hurt from bad experiences. But you need to know who you have given proximity to in your world. Charles Spurgeon says, discernment is not knowing right from wrong, it's knowing right from almost right. You need to know who will help and who will hinder. I want to encourage you church, don't listen to the cynical voices. Don't go out on the altar. The ones that tell you don't go out on the altar, don't respond, don't sow a seed. Your friend is there telling you not to tithe. She's selling feet pics online.

She's got no harvest in her life. You sowing a seed is between you and God. God will hold you accountable. I'm sorry, but she ain't going to be there at heaven's gates. He's going to say, what did you do with the gifts, talents, abilities that I gave you to when I gave you the prompting of my Holy Spirit to sow into that future building where your future grandkids were going to come and meet Jesus? What did you do? Who did you listen to? Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. Let's go back to the scene. Verse 28. Did I ask you for a son, my Lord? Didn't I tell you don't raise my hopes? Elisha said to Gehazi, tuck your cloak into your belt. Take my staff in your hand and run. Don't greet anyone you meet. And if anyone greets you, do not answer, lay my staff on the boy's face. But the child's mother said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So he got up and followed her. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, the boy has not awakened. It wasn't so crazy to ask him to lay the staff on his face because, I mean, this is what Moses used to part the Red Sea. This is what God had done miracles with in the past. It represented how God had done a miracle before. And I think sometimes we can look at what God has done and how God has done it for someone else and think, well, this is how he's going to do it, or this is how he did it for my

parents. But for you to reap the harvest that God has for you, you have to sow your own seed in the scene that you are in right now. You can't live off your parents' seed. You can't live off your parents' giving. You can't live off your parents' revelation or your parents' relationship with Jesus or your parents' anointing. That's theirs, not yours. You're grown. Sow your own seed. You know, our 15-year-old, our second born, he just... started earning money on TikTok. HollyTalksJerry, you can look it up, I think. I don't actually screen all of the videos, okay, but people seem to think it helps them with Jesus. But as soon as he started receiving money, he tithes. He tithes every time and he sends me a screenshot. And I love that because he knows that he is sowing seed now for his future harvest. He is very aware that he cannot live off the seed that myself and Pastor Terrence have sown. He has to sow his own seed. And for some of you, you sowed once, you received the harvest, and then you've never sown again. For some of you, the level of your prayer life worked. It worked in a previous season, but God wants to promote you and your current level of prayer is actually not enough to sustain it because the spiritual warfare is going to come with the higher levels that he wants to take you. So your prayer life needs to rise. She went to see Elisha. When you get stuck in a scene, go back to the one who gave you the story to begin with. She was persistent. She's like, my story cannot end like this. And I want you to be persistent. Give again, believe again, pray again, because whatever is barren in your life can still bear fruit. It can. Whatever dream has died can be reignited with the breath of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit. If you started in your own strength, you're going to have to sustain it. But if you let God bring it, he is compelled to finish what he starts. Verse 32, when Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on the couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. And he stretched himself out. The boy's body grew

warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, call the Shunammite. And he did. When she came, he said, take your son. She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out. He lays on the boy and stretches out and initially he doesn't wake up. What have you given up on right before your breakthrough was coming and you were so close? Forgive them again. One more time. Choose to try for a baby. One more time. Choose to give one more time. Choose to sow a seed. One more time. You know, as we read that, it says the boy sneezes seven times in verse 35. If you can put the verse 35 back up. Why does he sneeze seven times? Why does he sneeze seven times? In Proverbs 6 31, it says, yet if he is caught, you must pay, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. If someone was caught stealing, they have to repay it sevenfold. The devil, the Bible says that he is the thief. He has come to steal, to kill, to destroy. And whenever the breath of God is breathed into you, the devil has no choice but to leave. Every place light enters, darkness has no choice but to leave. Ezekiel 37 5 says, this is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones. I will make breath enter you and you will come to life. See, when you sneeze naturally, you expel things from the body. He sneezed seven times and his word says sevenfold, I will return it to you. But your breakthrough church requires alignment. He was nose to nose, mouth to mouth. Your breakthrough requires alignment with his word and with his bride. His bride is his church. This is the one he's coming back for. Galatians 6 9 says, let us not become weary in doing good. For the proper time, you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. Your breakthrough requires alignment. You're asking God for a tree and he's giving you a seed. And you might think that that's the end of the story, but actually scene four, the final scene is the most important. Scene four, she reaps because of what she sowed in a previous scene. You see, there's actually two harvest scenes in this story. There's the immediate harvest of her son being raised from the dead. And then there's the later harvest, years later in chapter eight, she reaps what she sowed in chapter four. Let me read it. It says now Elisha had said to the woman whose son who had restored been restored to life Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can because the Lord has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years

the woman proceeded to do as the man of God said she and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years at the end of the seven years She came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her house and land The king was talking to Gehazi the servant of the man of God and that said let me tell you about Tell me all about the great things that Elisha has done Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to appeal to the king for her house and land Gehazi said this is the woman my lord The king and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life the king asked the woman about it and she told him Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him give back everything that belonged to her including all the income from her Land from the day. She left the country until now She reaps in multiple seasons from the same seed She reaps a son But then she reaps restoration in her land and all of its produce This isn't a coincidence, this is how it works. This is how kingdom currency works This is how God works the seed that she sowed in the builder room scene is still speaking years later in the famine and Restoration scene one act of obedience in one season turned into a miracle in the next season This seed that you so build stories and it rewrites other people's stories Here's the thing church I started by telling you the scene of us coming over on the plane and it was a seed sown it was part of a bigger story But I don't want you to think that this is all about us or me because the truth is if I was just looking at myself It probably would have been easier for me to stay in Australia Church planting is hard Probably the hardest thing I've ever done and some of you know my story. I've done a lot of hard things But let me tell you it is so much more blessed to give than to receive as the word says and When I hear stories like we heard last week of Sam coming into the house of God meeting Jesus who leads our outreach team having her life transform when I see the stories of Kijan who leads our production team who who we met when we first moved here And I see him now walking in his purpose in his identity and his mom now got an award yesterday

serving on the host team at our dream team celebration when I hear this story and I see when I see Anna and it came to one of our first family dinners and I saw her and something something told me there's something special about this girl This Is a scene but I have a huge story ready for her Would you help pull her into your into her purpose and her destiny? When I hear your story about finding Jesus and finding freedom It's all worth it church It's all worth it walking in obedience to God seeing people's lives changed. It's the greatest Satisfaction that you will ever experience. I want to ask you today. What scene are you in? Are you in scene one making room sowing your treasure scene to taking faith steps in three? You need to be careful who you speak to and seen for she reaps because of what she sowed in a previous season and I want to ask pastor Terrence to make his way up here. And actually I think our kids are gonna come up here You know church some of the most painful Disappointing scenes in our life are actually set ups to the greatest miracles The reason that I can tell you to be careful when you speak to your cynical friends is because I was the cynical friend. I Wasn't the one that was spoken to I was the one doing this speaking Some of you know my story, you know, I am a pastor's kid, but I left church when I was 14 I deconstructed the whole church before it was popular to do so on tik-tok. I Had a lot of questions for God. My mom had died. My sister had died I was sexually abused by the son of a woman in our church who would babysit me. I was so angry at God I would say I hated the church with a passion the very thing that God had called me to build the enemy had Distorted and I had a deep hatred in my heart the scenes that I would have skipped over in my life And now the scenes now that God has redeemed and restored that brings so many people to Christ Some of you are in a scene right now And you're like, I don't want this scene. But I want to tell you, Romans 8, 28, he works all things together for good, for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. He loves you.

He is calling you. And if you give him access to your story, he will turn it all around. So I'm going to hand over to Pastor Terrence, and we're going to lead you in this next portion. We're going to have our ministry team come and the baskets come, if ministry team, if you can bring those. You have a Vision Builders envelope in the seat in front of you. I want you to take that out right now. And I want every single person to feel something out on this. Remember, it's not equal giving, it's equal sacrifice. And I actually want to ask, the baskets are going to come, if the team can bring those baskets. Our ministry team are going to just touch and agree with you, touch and agree with you. But I want every single person to get out of their seat. It's a prophetic act. I am not going to sit here and continue in the scene that I'm in. I am going to get up and I'm going to sow seed for future generations. So as you prepare to give and as you start filling those out, I do want to do something really quickly before I hand it past to Terrence. I just want to give you an opportunity, maybe you're visiting here today and you actually don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. I just want to give you an opportunity to invite Him into your heart. It says in Romans, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that you will be saved. And this is a decision that I made at 22 years old, which changed the trajectory of my life. So just to respect the privacy of those around you, just take a minute, just close your eyes, bow your head. I know some of you are filling out the envelopes, but let's just leave a little bit of space for those who want to make this decision. If you want to make that decision and pray that prayer to invite Jesus into your heart, would you just raise your hand right now?

Just while every eye is closed, every head is bowed, just raise your hand in your seat. Thank you. I see your hand up there. Thank you. I see your hand. Thank you. I see your hand up in the back there. I see your hands, but heaven sees the posture of your heart and heaven is celebrating. Church, let's pray this prayer together. Say, Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me. Today I commit to follow you. I invite you into my heart. I declare that today I am saved. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So if you prayed that prayer today, what God has just done is written you into the book of life. That is a scene that continues for eternity. And we want to say for those who prayed that prayer, we're so proud of you. This is why our church exists, to see people, their stories rewritten. Stories that were ending in hell are now going to be ending in heaven. This is why we give. As you're just sitting there, just taking a moment, and we've got a little time left in the service. Can we just thank Pastor Emma for that incredible word? Absolutely phenomenal. So as a family, we always want to go first, and so, and we're still not exactly sure where we're going to land financially in this gift. But each year, it's always sacred. It's sacred because of the stories that get shifted. It's sacred because, you know, the woman that we're talking about, this, is it Shunammite woman? Is that? The Bible says she was a well-to-do woman. So she had what we all would call success. She had money. I mean, she could literally renovate her house and build a whole story. She could have done it for herself. But she built a story for God to come and occupy. And the miracle of the story is that because she built something for God's house, literally

on her house, she built God's house. God can then turn up in her weakest, darkest moment. Not just provide the first miracle of the child. Can I tell you, when you invite Jesus into the scenes, He will revive the dreams. And there's some people here today, and your scene is that you're prospering in one area, but there's an area where you need God. So today, believing for that. There is miracles that happen in moments like this, and I don't want you to miss the moment. And the miracle is, when you sow, that's how you shift the scene. That's how you invite God. It's called vision builders for a reason. You are building God's vision as you sow financially. And don't get it twisted, there is always has to be a seed before there's a harvest. I love what Pastor Emma said. Some of you are praying for a harvest, and you've never sown seed. How can you believe that marriage to get better when you've never sowed the seed of an apology? How can you ever expect your kids to be raised in the house of God when you've never sown the seed of demonstration, of going first, of bringing them into the house of God and saying, you're gonna get up on this stage, and you're gonna give, because you have to, because when I'm not here,

I need you to know there's Jesus for yourself. I'm not sowing just for me, I'm sowing for my children's children. They need a house of God where miracles happen. They need a place where they can come and find hope, and they can find healing. This is not just about us, we're good. But you need to sow because you need the miracle that God has for you, because we're most like God when we give. And so here's what we're gonna do. This is not giving under compulsion, but I know the stories of marriages in this place where they're about to give up on 13, 15, 18 years of marriage until they found the house of God and realize there's hope. There's hope in the house. So just take a moment. This is us building our life on a firm foundation. I wanna tell you, stories get rewritten because of your generosity. I don't know what scene you're in, you might be in a prosperous scene like this gentleman, my woman, you might be the woman who I spoke about two weeks ago where she literally, her husband had died, she had nothing left except a little bit of hope. And she had a little bit of hope, and she had a little bit of hope, and she had a little bit of hope,

and she had nothing left except a little jar and a little oil. As Pastor Emma said, it's not the amount, it's the amount in relationship to how much God has blessed you. So the woman who gave a little was the only one Jesus recognized, even though a lot of people gave a lot, but they had a whole lot more. She gave out of abundance. And so I want you to give as God has blessed you, but just ask God, what should you give to see life's redeemed, restored, stories rewritten? And I'm gonna ask you to come, and all we're gonna do right here, while the ministry team is here, they're gonna pray and just lay hands and say, I agree. Let it be, it is well, just like that scripture. So if you're in this side of the room, we're gonna stand in a minute, and we're just gonna worship gently. And I want you to come, and you come this way, and then you're gonna make your way back that way. If you're on this side, if you would come and just go to this basket here, if you're over there, would you just come either down that side or the aisle, or come right down the edge, close to the seats? And when you do, just do a U-turn, and then go right down the middle,

just like the Israelites, when God split the Red Sea, they went through on dry land, amen? Oh, Emma, there was just so much in that message. So let's just stand, let's stand, let's stand. And so you just start to come, and I want you to give that gift. Some of you will give $1,000, some will give $10,000, some may give $100, and that's what you've got. But I want you to come, I don't want you to miss out. You come. Father, I thank you for the miracles that are happening in her life. Thank you for the miracles. Father, I thank you for open doors. Come save me. If you're giving online, I still want you to fill out something so you can come and ministry team, bless them. Bless them as they come, bless, bless. Increase over your life, increase over your family in Jesus' name. Increase, increase, blessing. Just lead them back down the aisle, team. Send someone, come here, and just make sure they can get back down. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Blessing, blessing, blessing. This is you building your house on a firm foundation. Once you give, don't go straight away, don't go straight away, just give a moment to bless at the end.

Just go back to your seat and just wait for God to speak as well. So what's this baby's name? Diane. Okay, just listen to this. Listen to this. What's your name? Mellie. Mellie, you came last year to Daughter's Conference and you joined the church right after and you were believing for a baby. And this baby is named after the message where we talked about JL, which means bee. Is it bee? Honey? And she's literally named the daughter and holding the miracle in her hand that she came into the house of God. Father, continue to keep your hand of blessing over this family. God, may this baby bring you joy all the days of your life. Increase, increase for the favor of God upon you in Jesus' name. She's going to tell me more of the story later. Thank you Jesus. Bless her, bless her, bless her. Father, blessing over every family, over every home. God, I thank you for the sacrifice that those who have given sacrificially believing for what you have promised. God, may you revive dreams in this place. Lift your hands to heaven. God, I'm declaring that the spirit of the sovereign Lord is in this place. And Father, you said that where our treasure goes, our heart will follow and our heart is now safely in heavenly places with you because we're building the house of God. We're building a place where the prophet can come, the prophet Jesus can come and rewrite stories in our life.

And so over families, I declare restoration. Over homes, I declare breakthrough. Over businesses, I declare blessing. Over jobs, I thank you God for promotion. God, I thank you for investments, God, that they multiply, increase supernaturally. God, divine checks to come, blessings to come over people. Those who believe in that baby God, may you supernaturally just set the environment, the womb of their life, God, the womb, God, may be fertile, fertile soil, fertile soil for increase. God, blessing over families, blessing over my family, blessing over my daughter, blessing over my daughter, blessing over my son. God, as he leads people, God, I pray that you would increase the word of God, the revelation that you place in his life, that the word of God would come upon his life, that he would speak the word of God. And God, you watch over that word to perform whatever he speaks, God. May you stand, watch over that word to accomplish it in people's life. People, God, who are unholy become holy as they hear the word of God. People who are living a life far from you come closer to you because of the word that you are speaking through his life. God, may the anointing of God come upon these children, the anointing, the blessing, God, the seeds that we've sown, bless them, bless them, lay hands on your own life, lay hands on your own family. The presence of God is here and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is breakthrough, marriages being restored in Jesus' name. The love is coming back in Jesus' name. Forgiveness is flowing in Jesus' name. Strength is coming back in Jesus' name. His name is wonderful. May the wonder of God be flowing over your life, an open heaven over your life, an open heaven over your home.

His name is wonderful. His name is counsellor. His name is mighty God. When you need strength, strength is coming back in Jesus' name. When you need strength, strength is coming back in Jesus' name. For God hasn't given me a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, a spirit of love and he's given me a sound mind. God, open the doors of influence, open the doors of breakthrough, pour out your spirit, pour out your spirit. Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, come into this place. I'm going to make it through. My house is built. I'm going to make it through. Oh, yes. Rain came when blue was built on you. Bless this worship team, God. Bless them. I'm safe with you. Bless him. Let his dreams be satisfied in Jesus' name. I'm going to make it through. Rain came. They came with blue. My house is built on you. I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make it through. The lady in the blue shirt with the leopard print. Come here, come here. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it. So lift your hands to heaven. My house is built on you. My house is built on you. The Bible says this about Jesus, that he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah means praise. And sometimes you've got to praise before God performance. Because your praise is what welcomes his presence.

And I hear the Holy Spirit saying that as you continue to praise, as you have praised, his presence has been released. And the assignment of heaven that God has planned before he formed you in your mother's womb, before he formed your children in your womb, it will stand. No weapon formed against you will prosper. And so every assignment of the enemy right now has to be broken in Jesus' name. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. So when the imitation lion comes and tries to devour your family and devour your children, God is the God who shuts the mouth of lions. And I want to declare that every attack and every assignment on your life and over your children, broken right now in Jesus' name. We release the blessing of God. We release the strength of heaven to fight on your behalf. You do not have to fight this battle on your own. I don't know who else is in this place fighting a battle, but you need to know there is one who has won the battle on the cross. His name is Jesus. His name is wonderful, counsellor, mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. You need to declare that over your life. In Jesus' name. Why don't you lift your head. Pastor Em, I'm just going to ask you to pray one last blessing over the people. That the seed, and here's what we're praying. Listen to me very carefully. The seed that you sowed this year, by this time, by this time next year, there will be testimonies and stories of what God did not just in you, but through you. And let this be the room that you built for the miracle worker, to allow him to come in and do a miracle exceedingly abundantly above. Lift those hands to heaven. Whatever you're believing for this time next year, we're going to come and agree. In Jesus' name. Lord, we just lift up every single person in this house,

every single person with their hands raised to heaven. God, I thank you that you know their story, you see their story. God, you know exactly the struggle. You know exactly the dreams that they're believing for. You know exactly the questions they have. And God, you have a solution. You have an answer. You have a God strategy to every single thing that might seem like opposition. God, I just pray for an outpouring of your presence. I pray for an outpouring of your blessing. God, that your blessing would come from the left to the right. God, it would pour out from heaven. Supernatural blessing. God, that your blessing wouldn't just come in the financial provision, but that your blessing would come in areas of their life that seem dry. Areas of their life that seem dormant. God, where they've been seeking you. They've been seeking you and asking you, God, reveal more of you to me, God. I pray that you would. I pray that you would just reveal things to them that they haven't seen before. I pray for those in the room that don't know your voice, that they would know your voice, God. God, they would know the promptings of the Holy Spirit. God, I pray for those in the room who are believing to be able to move in the spiritual gifts, the gifts of the Spirit. God, I pray that you would pour it out on them, Father God. I pray for those that are believing for just the fire of healing to come on their hands and they would have faith to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. They're asking you, God, would you just use me?

Would you make me clay? God, I believe your word that says by your stripes we are healed. I pray that you would increase their faith. I pray that you would pour out the gifts of the Spirit. I pray for those who are believing to pray in tongues, to pray in a heavenly language. God, that they would just start to pray in tongues. They would just start to speak out your word. That deep would start to cry out to deep. God, I pray to those that are sitting in your presence at home. Not even in front of anyone else, they would just be you and them. God, they would know the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit. God, that you would awaken them with signs and dreams. God, that with wonders from heaven, Father God, I pray you'd allow them to start to see things in heavenly realms. God, that they would start to have discernment beyond their ears. They would start to have insight, Father God. God, you would wake them up with songs in their spirit. God, you'd wake them up with Scripture in their spirit. They would know that you are speaking, and you're not just speaking, you're declaring. And they would then start to declare what you've dropped in their spirit. And God, I pray that it wouldn't just be for them. God, I pray that it would be for other people, that they would start interceding for other people, that you would give them a word for someone else. You would give them a prophetic word for someone else. And God, I pray for those in the room who have felt the opposition to even take a step of faith in something like this. God, I thank you that the opposition, the pushback is what strengthens our faith, because we have two choices.

And God, I thank you for those who have chosen to lean in, who have chosen to strengthen their faith muscle. God, I just thank you that you never, you never let us down. God, I pray you would spoil them with your presence, spoil them with your whispers in Jesus' mighty name. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen, amen, amen. Amen, amen. And hey, heaven is celebrating and we are celebrating with you. And we want to walk this journey together. So if you prayed that prayer or you just want to know more about Jesus, follow the prompts that are on the screen right now. We are so proud of you. And honestly, God's vision for you is to see you live that better story, epic and eternal. We say like this, to see you holy, healthy, happy and bring in heaven to earth. And if you're watching and you want to help others find Jesus like that, you can partner with us and together we can make that epic difference. Hey, giving details are coming up on the screen. And we just say, God's blessed you. You can be a blessing to other people as well. And hey, if you're here in the South Florida area, we'd love to see you in person. Check out the description below for times and the location where you can come to a service. We would love to see you soon. This is History Makers Church where friends truly become family. See you soon.