Win The Day (4)
Win The Day • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 9 viewsHow you do ANYTHING is how you will do EVERYTHING! We claim to have faith... to be stepping out in faith... but.... How we do things reveals the truth! How we act when we face that mountain reveals where our faith is! -- Abraham had to step out of his home town... -- Peter had to step out of the boat... -- Cornelius had to step out across cultural divides! God promises to do powerful things in our lives... to help us "WIN THE DAY", but... We have to step out! We have to start the work! We have to "Fly The Kite!"
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Fly a Kite
Fly a Kite
How you do ANYTHING is how you will do EVERYTHING!
We claim to have faith... to be stepping out in faith... but....
How we do things reveals the truth!
How we act when we face that mountain reveals where our faith is!
-- Abraham had to step out of his home town...
-- Peter had to step out of the boat...
-- Cornelius had to step out across cultural divides!
God promises to do powerful things in our lives... to help us "WIN THE DAY", but... We have to step out!
We have to start the work!
We have to "Fly The Kite!"
On November 9, 1847, Charles Ellet Jr. was commissioned to build a bridge across the Niagara gorge.
The question, of course, was how do you get the first cable across an 825-foot chasm with 225-foot cliffs on either side?
Enter Theodore Graves Hullet.
Hullet suggested, of all things—Flying a kite!
I’m not joking! His idea was to have a kite flying contest… The winner would be the first one who could fly a kite all the way across the gorge.
A 15-year-old boy named Homan Walsh won the $10 cash prize for flying the first kite across the chasm.
The day after that flight, a stronger line was attached to that kite string. Then a rope. Then a cable consisting of thirty-six strands of ten-gauge wire.
That wire would become the world’s first railway suspension bridge, strong enough to support a 170-ton locomotive.
It all started with one kite! It always does.
If you do little things like they’re big things, God will do big things like they’re little things.
Turn in your Bibles to Zechariah 4.
While you’re getting there, can I speak honestly for a minute?
I know people who say they’ll give more when they make more. Listen, I love you but let’s be honest… If you aren’t generous with a little time, talent, and treasure, you won’t be generous with a lot.
Generosity always starts right here, right now.
I know people who say they’ll serve more when they have more time. Yeah, no!
You don’t magically find more time. You make time.
I know people who say they’ll step up when the big opportunity presents itself… When the pastor shares a big enough dream… a dream that makes their heart “feel good”…
I beg to differ. If you aren’t seizing the small opportunities that are all around you, all the time, right here, right now… You won’t seize them later!
Here’s the bottom line: How you do anything is how you’ll do everything.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
If you’re faithful with a little, you will be faithful with a lot.
So, go ahead and dream big… But then PRAY BIG! GIVE BIG! SERVE BIG!!!
We need to… Go after dreams that are destined to fail without divine intervention.
But we can’t just dream big… We have to start small and think long.
That… is what flying the kite is all about!
Look at Zechariah 4.
This is Zechariah’s fifth vision…
Let me set the scene.
Zerubbabel is the leader of the remnant that return to Judah with a God-sized vision—rebuild the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.
Half a century later — 50 years after Zechariah and remnant arrived back in Jerusalem, Look what the Lord says to Zerubbabel as he looks over the ruins.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
It’s not by might nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT says the Lord.
Now, I want you to picture this…
Zerubabbel is surveying the ruins… He’s looking at the mess… at all the things that have to be done… AND… He is overwhelmed!!!
The shear size of the task that lays before him is immense… it seems impossible… (at best they have laid the foundation, but nothing else!)
Have you ever faced a task so big… so overwhelming… so seemingly impossible… that the shear size of it made you tremble?
That is where Zerubabbel was!!!
He’s looking at the shear amount of work that has to be done, and he is completely overwhelmed!
“Where do we start?!”
“How will this be accomplished?!”
Look at God’s answer…
Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
Let me be the first to say: “Without the Holy Spirit, I am below average.” Anybody else?
Jesus tells us:
John 15:5 (NIV)
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
But here’s the good news!
God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, you can do anything.
Why? The Holy Spirit is the x factor.
The Holy Spirit is the difference between the best you can do, and the best God can do.
Let me let you in on a little secret — God wants to do things in you and through you that are beyond your ability, beyond your resources, beyond your imagination.
Why?
So, He gets the glory!
When God does BIG THINGS through us… He gives us a TESTIMONY!
How does He do it?
By His Spirit.
Gen 1… Everything that happened in the creation of the universe happened through His Word, and His Spirit… And He has give both of those to us!!!
Let me ask you:
“What are those monumental tasks you face?”
“What are those mountains in your life?”
“What is it that seems impossible for you to do?”
Now… Look what God says to them…
Zechariah 4:7 (NIV)
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
“What are you, mighty mountain?”
There comes a moment when you have to stop talking to God about your mountains, and start talking to the mountains about your God.
Flip the script!
Declare His power, His grace, His peace, His love, His glory, His goodness, His healing over that mountain.
You don’t deny the obstacle or the odds.
You confront it with brutal facts, and you do it with unwavering faith.
You exercise your authority as a child of God — as a citizen of the Kingdom of God!
Do you know what happens when you do that?
You start allowing God to talk to that mountain!
Look at verse 7 again…
Zechariah 4:7 (NIV)
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
This is God speaking! Not Zechariah… Look what He says to the mountain!
I have no idea what mountain is staring you in the face—the mountain of anxiety or addiction or anger.
The mountain of injustice or unforgiveness.
The mountain of depression or frustration or fear.
It might seem like a mountain range.
BUT… Let me tell you…
God is still God!!!
God is still the God who makes sidewalks through the sea.
God is still the God who makes the sun stand still.
God is the God who turns water into wine.
God is still the God who moves mountains.
AND… now listen…
You are still His Child!
If you have given your life to Him… If you have placed your complete and total trust in Him… If you are holding on to Him with every ounce of faith you have…
God is still there!!!
(Everybody say that)
Have you heard the Brandon Lake song “Same God”?
Listen to the lyrics of the bridge:
Bridge
You heard Your children then
You hear Your children now
You are the same God
You are the same God
You answered prayers back then
And You will answer now
You are the same God
You are the same God
You were providing then
You are providing now
You are the same God
You are the same God
Bridge
You moved in power then
God move in power now
You are the same God
You are the same God
You were a healer then
You are a healer now
You are the same God
You are the same God
You were a Savior then
You are a Savior now
You are the same God
You are the same God
Bridge
You freed the captives then
You're freeing hearts right now
You are the same God
You are the same God
You touched the lepers then
I feel Your touch right now
You are the same God
You are the same God
God is the same God… He did it before, He WILL do it again!
He did it for Zerubabbel… He’ll do it for you! Trust Him!
If you’re taking notes, jot this down.
Testimony is prophecy.
What does that mean? Pretty simple.
If God did it before, He can do it again.
If God did it for me, He can do it for you.
Why?
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
And He Loves You!
Listen to what God says ABOUT Zerubabbel, because He says the same about you!
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’ ”
(translation)
“Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way. It will become a level plain before him!”
You’ve got several habits in this one passage.
You flip the script... by speaking to the mountain.
You play offense by exercising your authority.
You declare the will of God, the glory of God.
You kiss the wave. By stepping out in Faith.
The obstacle is not the enemy. The obstacle is the way.
You don’t go around the mountain. By faith, you let God take you through the mountain.
And you’ll be a bigger, a better person because of it!
You have the authority to move mountains.
Matthew 17:20 (NIV)
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Who has the authority to move mountains?
You!
How? With faith as small as a mustard seed.
Have you ever seen a mustard seed?
How can something so small move something so big?
Because… When we do small things like they’re big things, God does big things like they’re small!
BUT… You have to eat the frog.
It’s those high leverage habits that have a domino effect over time. But you have to take the first step.
Drop down to verse 10.
This is where we “Fly The Kite.”
10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
(translation)
“Do not despise the day of SMALL BEGINNINGS, for the Lord rejoices to see the work BEGIN, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
What is a ‘plumb line”?
It’s a tool, just like the kite in the first story…
A plumb line was an ancient measuring tape.
Think about this. God is rejoicing before they even begin building.
They don’t even have permits yet.
They haven’t even broken ground.
All they have is blueprints, and yet, God is giving them a standing ovation.
WHY?
God celebrates the small steps of faith.
We want to do amazing things for God, but that isn’t our job.
God is the One who does amazing things for us!!!
Our job is to consecrate ourselves to God, one day at a time.
If we do our job, God will do His.
If we fly the kite, God will build the bridge.
All we have to do is give it to Him… take a step of faith… Fly A Kite!
We are easily overwhelmed by the size and scope of our goals and dreams. Amen?
That’s why 75% of new year’s resolutions fail.
Did you know that 83% of people want to write a book? Very few do.
Why? Well, you cannot finish what you do not start.
You have to “Fly The Kite” like Homan Walsh.
There is a parable told, about the three bricklayers.
After the fire of 1666 that leveled most of London, Christopher Wren was commissioned to rebuild St. Paul’s cathedral.
One day in 1671, Wren was watching three bricklayers on the same scaffold working.
He asked them “What are you doing?”
The first bricklayer said, “I’m laying bricks.”
The second bricklayer said, “I’m building a wall.”
The third bricklayer said, “I’m building a Cathedral to the glory of God.”
Same task. Very different mindset.
We don’t “Win The Day” by looking at the mountain.
We “Win The Day” by looking at God-sized dreams, and realizing that it is the small daily tasks that acheive them.
I’m not sure what goal you’re going after, what problem you’ve trying to solve, what habit you’re trying to break or build, but you have to fly the kite.
You can’t finish what you do not start.
Dream big, but start small and think long.
There are decades when nothing happens, and there are months when decades happen.
What kite do you need to fly?
Maybe it’s a God-sized dream…
Maybe it’s strength to overcome fear…
Maybe it’s taking that step, giving yourself COMPLETELY to God for the first time in your life…
Maybe it’s recommitting yourself to His direction for your life… or committing to it for the first time!
What are you waiting for?
(altar call)
Winning the day starts right here!
Let's pray together.