Transcript of a published sermon by Levi Burcham, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Ready to go to heaven
- He opens with a question: is anybody ready to go to heaven one day? If you are not ready today, he says, you can be ready before you leave the building.
- No sin will enter in, he says — but the blood Jesus shed on Calvary covers the sins in a life, whatever a person's age, past, gender, or race.
- Preaching on the church's 67th-anniversary Sunday, he says he is honored to be the fourth pastor here, following great men — Brother Frazier, Brother Hodum, and Brother Josh, under whose ministry he sat from 2014 — and he leads the church in thanking God for them and for the building, which is paid for.
- He tells the media team upstairs that he has completely changed directions and did not know what he would preach until a few minutes ago — they will have to fly with him.
Go to Zarephath: the reading
- He announces his text: the book of First Kings, chapter 17, beginning with verse 8.
- In the reading, the word of the Lord sends the prophet to Zarephath, where God has commanded a widow woman to sustain him.
- At the gate of the city the prophet finds the widow gathering sticks; he asks her for a little water in a vessel, and then for a morsel of bread in her hand.
- She answers that she has no cake — only a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse — and is gathering two sticks to dress it for herself and her son, that they may eat it and die.
- From her answer he takes his title: "I've just got a little, but I believe that it is enough" — then prays for the anointing to sweep the house and for every mind and heart to receive what the Spirit would say.
Scriptures: 1 Kings 17:8-12
You don't have much to bring to the table
- He feels someone has walked in feeling inadequate and small before God, feeling they do not have much to bring to the table — like a dinner guest who brings paper plates, paper cups, or a bag of ice because he does not want to come empty-handed or be seen as a moocher.
- The prophet was living in a famine, but so was the widow: even the man of God goes through trouble, even the finest preacher in the world goes through trouble — you are not in this battle by yourself.
- The devil paints the picture that you are the only one with financial trouble or marital issues; but God has seen your sorrow, has not forsaken you, and is here for you today.
- You thought you had to give God a bunch of something for Him to give you a little bit of something; instead He wants just a little bit of you, and wants to give you all of Himself — and when you get all of Jesus, that is all you will ever need.
- For himself, he says: just give me Jesus, just give me this old-time message, just give me the word of God — and that is enough for me.
She gave all that she had
- He asked the widow what she had; she had only a handful of meal and a little oil she meant to feed to herself and her son — and God said, that's enough for me.
- He recalls the poor woman Jesus watched at the offering: rich men threw in out of their abundance, but she cast in her few mites, and Jesus said she had given much more than they, because she gave all that she had.
- You may not have much to offer God, but He is wanting all that you have — all the pain and turmoil you are going through — and He will give you something a therapist, a doctor, a pill, or a bottle cannot give you: something from heaven.
- God has given us the opportunity not just to live life but to have life more abundantly; some are living part-way, regular life, and it is high time the church stopped just living life when God has called us to abundant life.
- Whatever friends, family, or society have told you, he says, they are liars: God says He has called you with a holy calling — a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people.
- If you have been struggling with sin week after week and cannot shake it off, quit giving it to a counselor or a friend — give it to God, who will cast it as far as the east is from the west and bury it in a sea of forgiveness.
Give God a little bit of thanks
- Before the widow ate, the prophet said, let me eat first: God must be taken care of before we worry about ourselves — we must enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
- God is tired, he says, of our sitting in a corner talking about our problems all the time when we have never thanked Him for waking us up, for a job, for a family, for a church.
- We have become a generation of groaners and moaners; God has called us to be a generation of thankers and praisers, despite what we are going through.
- Quit worrying about things you cannot fix and give them to God; He told us to cast all our cares on Him — all our weight and all our sins — and all He has called us to be is a creature of praise.
- An overcomer praises God on a good day and a bad day, on Monday and on Sunday, when the going is rough and when it is good: let everything that has breath praise the Lord — not if the bills are paid or everything is figured out, but if you have breath.
- In the house of God we hear enough bad news from the media; here we should testify of the goodness of God among the congregation — this is a place of fortitude and help, where God does the miraculous.
Healed — and made whole
- When the ten lepers besought Jesus, He told them they were healed and to go show themselves to the priest; but one, seeing himself healed as he went, turned back and worshiped Him.
- Because that one worshiped, God said He would make him whole: God wants to heal your infirmity today, but He does not only want to heal you — He wants to make you whole before you leave this house.
- It will take some worship and some praise — something inside you that says I do not care what my neighbor is doing or who is looking at me; I have praise inside of me, I need a healing, I need a miracle, and God is able to do it today.
- Do not say, I don't have much, so I won't give anything. Say instead: I have a little bit of energy, a little bit of voice, a little bit of strength — and I am going to give it to You today.
A God of little things
- It may be a little problem you do not even want to bother God with, but He is the God of little things and of small things: if it is bothering you, it is bothering Him — present the little need to God and watch how much He cares for you.
- Whatever your little bit is — a little money, a little time, a little prayer — give it to God; if all you know how to say is "God, save me from hell" or "God, I need a healing in my body," say it, and do not leave this house without telling God the little thing you need, because a little thing left carried out of the house turns into a big thing.
- He points to the line he credits to Solomon: it is the small foxes that spoil the vine — the small little things that get into your fruit and your lifestyle; the small things have to be gotten under subjection, and small prayers do damage on the adversary in heaven.
- Peter promised to go with Jesus to the end, but denied Him three times, and when Jesus looked at him Peter felt the pain; good intentions are not enough when the same little sin keeps coming back week after week — you have tried to tame it, handcuff it, nail it to the wall, and prayed at the altar, and it is still there.
- There is no sense in a little sin keeping you out of heaven; if you will give it to God today, He will throw it far away from your life and give you deliverance.
- He remembers 1954: a little place, a little bit of people, a little bit of prayer, just a little move of God — and look at us here 67 years later, what a little thing has done. We are told not to despise small beginnings.
- Take a small step toward God today: you may have just a little faith, but God has a whole lot to pour into you; you will go back to the same world, the same family, the same depression and financial troubles — but not as the same person. He will make you a new creature, an overcomer, and nothing is impossible with God.
Bake me a cake first
- The prophet told the widow, just bake me a cake first — just use what you have.
- He recalls a different instance he tells of, where a widow with just a little bit of oil was told to gather vessels and keep pouring the one little bit she had, and God took care of the rest.
- The lady who came to Jesus had only some expensive ointment, her hair, and her tears to wash His feet with; the disciples asked why she would waste it, but Jesus said she had washed his feet with her tears when no one else offered — and God understands tears.
- You may not feel adequate today, but His arms are open: what do you have to bring to God? If it is tears, a few words, or a simple prayer — just pray what little you have, let God take care of the rest, and come and pray.
Scripture index: 1 Kings 17:8-12.
well praise the lord everybody is anybody ready to go to heaven one day if you're not ready today before you leave this building you can be ready to go to heaven the bible says there'll be that no sin that enters in no sin that enters in and i'm going to tell you if you got sin in your life i know a man by the name of jesus that is able to clean you up before you walk out of this place
because he did something special special on a hill called calvary one day when he shed his blood for every one of us here no matter of our age our past our gender our race he said i'm gonna shed this blood for you and no matter the sins that you currently have in your life today my sin can i mean my blood can cover your sin let's give the lord a handclap of praise here today
so thankful to see you in the house of the lord on this sunday this special sunday as we celebrate 67 years and i'm honored to be the fourth uh pastor am i the fourth i'm the third and i'm the fourth pastor here and i'm so thankful to uh you know to be among these great men i don't consider myself a great man but i have i'm following some great men and i've loved to see what they have done
i wish i had the opportunity to meet brother frazier but i never did and uh brother hold him brother josh i said under their ministry since 2014 and they i'm going to tell you they put a lot in me that i'm using today those are great men brother hold up and brother josh both great men and they had done some great things for us here at this church
i want to know everybody everybody to know that brother hodam and brother josh did great things here at this church they did things that heaven will only know the implications that they made and i believe we need to give brother frazier and the hodom's a hang clap for all the great things that they've done
i'm so thankful for the beautiful building that we have here today and everything is paid for as they have said and i just believe god's got great plans for our future and i just don't say that to say that i honestly believe it so good to see all of our guests are here today so good to see you brother anthony and sister catherine fraser able to be in church with us today let's give them a hand clap for being here so honored that they would come and be here today
i'm going to tell you guys upstairs you're not going to have any of my stuff i i've totally totally changed directions didn't really know what i was going to preach on today till a few minutes ago so y'all hang with me i'm i'm just flying today y'all go with me i'm going to be preaching out of the book of first kings chapter 17 beginning with verse 8.
i do believe god has a word for somebody here in this house and that he is wanting to speak to somebody today i know you may be in a hurry to get down and eat some good food but there's some heavenly manna here waiting on somebody there's some water which you can drink of today that you will make you never thirst again and uh that downstairs will keep you for a few hours but god can give you something today that'll keep you for the rest of your life
first kings chapter 17 verse 8 and the word of the lord came unto him saying arise get thee to zarephath which belongeth to zidon and dwell there behold i've commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee so he arose and went to zarephath and when he came to the gate of the city behold the widow woman was there gathering of sticks and he called to her and said fetch me i pray thee a little water in a vessel that i may drink and as she was going to fetch it he called to her and said bring me i pray thee a morsel of bread in thine hand
and she said as the lord liveth i have not a cake but a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruise and behold i'm gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die
this morning i like to preach with a title i've just got a little but i believe that it's enough just got a little but i believe that it is enough pray with me today lord god you're the god of the harvest you're the god of the good times the god of the bad times lord you know every soul that's in this building today and i pray for the next few minutes that your anointing power would sweep across this house god i don't know everybody's intention what they're here for but i know you're here for somebody and i pray for your anointing power to go forth in this house
god i pray you'd anoint every mind and every heart to receive what the spirit would say to the church today god i pray the holy ghost would fall in this place today i pray your spirit god would have dominion over every opposing force in this house today that somebody would leave here god change forevermore we'll give you the praise the glory and the honor in jesus name we pray amen and amen you may be seated in jesus name thank you for standing for the reading of the word
i'm going to tell you what i feel here in this house today for somebody is that you have walked in feeling inadequate you have walked in feeling small before god and we should you've walked in feeling that you do not have much to bring to the table today it's almost like somebody invites you over for dinner and you want to bring something you don't want to come empty-handed
you don't want to be that moocher that everybody always sees they only come when you have food and so as you're approaching you maybe you bring some paper plates or some paper cups or a bag of ice or just something small but you want to bring something you want to bring something
and i need you to understand today that this was a prophet who was living in the days of a famine but god had told him i want you to go to zarephath and there's going to be a widow woman there that's supposed to sustain thee now i need you to understand something that although this man of god was going through a famine so was this widow woman going through a famine
i wonder if i'm talking to anybody in this house today that's going through some stuff you walked in here going through some battles you're going through some hard times you're going through some tough situations and it seems as you are the only one who are dealing with an issue
but i come to tell you even the prophet goes through trouble even the man of god goes through trouble even the finest preacher in the world goes through trouble you're not in this battle alone this morning the devil may have pushed you in a corner today and he may be making you think that you're going through this battle all by yourself but i come to tell you in the holy ghost today you're not in this battle by yourself we got a god in heaven today who is for you and he's not against you
the devil loves to paint us a picture that we me we think that we're the only one who's dealing with certain situations and we're the only one having financial trouble and we're the only one that's having marital issues
but with although we may feel that way there may be some other people out in the world who are struggling with situations and they are different than you today why because they're not here under the preaching of my voice today and god has come here today for somebody to tell you that he knows what you're going through today and he's seen your sorrow he's seen what you're facing and here at 1624 glover drive this morning on on sunday september the 5th 2021 he wants you to realize that he's not forsaken you he's not giving up on you but he's here today for you
but you don't have much to bring to the table you don't have much to give god today you thought that you had to give him a bunch of something for him to give you a little bit of something but i come to tell you he just wants a little bit of something for you and he wants to give you a whole lot of something he wants just a little bit of you today and he wants to give you all of him and when i tell you when you get all of jesus that's all that you are ever going to need we'll let this world go on and pass away
just give me jesus just give me this old time message just give me this acts 2 38 message just give me the word of god and that is enough for me he asked her he said what do you have that you can give me she said i don't even have a cake all i got is a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruise and i was going to make that for myself i was going to feed that to my sons that's all that she had left to give god said that's enough for me that's enough for me today
you remember in the new testament there was a woman and she came and jesus was watching their giving and these rich men were throwing in a lot of things they were throwing in their abundance but there came this little poor lady up and she put i believe two or three mites in and she cast it into the offering and jesus immediately said you see this woman here she has given much more than you because she has given all that she had i
come to tell somebody today you may not have much to offer god but he's just wanting all that you have this morning and if you are willing to give him all that you have this morning all the pain you're going through all the turmoil you're going through he's going to bring something inside of you that man cannot give you he's going to give you something that a therapist can't give you something that a doctor can't give you something that appeal can't give you something that a bottle can't give you he's going to give you something from heaven
i need you to understand today that god has given us each the opportunity not to just live life but to have life more abundantly it's time and high time for the church to stop just living life when god has called us to live abundant life some of us are living part way life we're just living regular life listen everybody else in the world they're living life too god's called us to live abundant life
if you've walked into this house today depended upon things in this world i come to tell you to throw those things away give it to god and he's going to take what you have today and he's going to make you into somebody who can be used for the kingdom of god you may feel inadequate today but i come to tell you god's got a purpose for you god's got a plan for you
i don't care what your friends have told you what your family's told you what society has told you they're liars from the pits of hell i need you to hear what god's telling you today and he says i've called you with a holy calling
you're a chosen generation you're a royal priesthood you are a peculiar people the devil would love to beat us down today and make us think that we've got to just live week by week we gotta live paycheck to paycheck no god has not meant that to be this for this church and especially for you today if you've been struggling with things in your life i want you to give it to god today
if you've been struggling with sin week after week and you can't seem to shake it off you need to give it to god quit giving it to a counselor quit giving it to your friend you need to give it to god today because the bible says that he'll cast it as far as the east is from the west he'll bury it into a sea of forgiveness for you i just got a little bit of hole i just got a little bit of meal he said okay we can use that
but first before you eat you need to let me eat before you worry about you you need to take care of me the bible tells us that we must enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise
can i tell you god's tired of you sitting in a corner talking about your problems all the time and you've never thanked him just for waking you up in the morning you've never thanked him that you got a job you've never thanked him that you got a family that she loves you and a church that comes to i come to tell somebody if you start to just give god a little bit of thanks he'll take away what you're dealing with if you'll give him a little bit of praise he'll take what you're dealing with and transform you
we've become a generation of groaners and moaners but god's caught us to be a generation of thankers and praisers despite what we're going through i come to tell somebody in this house today i don't care what you're facing but if you can get some thankfulness on your lips today if you can get some praise in you god's gonna take that little bit you got and he's gonna do something for you
you need to quit worrying about things that you can't fix and you need to give them to god you need to worry about what you can't what you can fix and let god worry about what you can't fix we spend so much time trying to figure out situations and work them out ourselves when god's sitting up in heaven and saying why don't you just give them to me i told you to cast all your cares on me i told you to give me all your weight all your sins and i'll take care of those all i've called you to be is a creature of praise oh
i'm going to tell you an overcomer i'll show you an overcomer an overcomer is somebody that'll praise god on a good day and on a bad day you'll praise him on a monday and you'll praise him on a sunday you'll praise him when the going gets rough and you'll praise him when it's good you'll praise him all the time the bible says let everything that hath breath praise he the lord he didn't say if all the bills were paid he didn't say if you had everything figured out he just said if you got breath you need to praise the lord
can i get a little bit of praise in here today can i get a little bit of praise among the brethren we hear enough bad news in the news we hear enough bad news in the media when i come into here i want us to testify of the goodness of god among the congregation i don't want us to talk about everything we're going through we need to testify of the goodness of god this is a place of fortitude this is a place of help this is a place where god does the miraculous for somebody
i've been to some churches i'm not preaching on any church bear with me don't read me before i say something i've been to some churches my lord and it felt like a funeral you ha you couldn't hear if your pen dropped on the floor you'd jump up out of your seat because that's the only sound that you're hearing it seems as though it's a disappointment or it's a dread to come into the house of the lord
but i have found in the word of god where when ten lepers come and besought jesus he said you're healed go sow yourself to the priest they besought god with their problem they told god about their issue they had an incurable disease but god said you've been healed go show yourself to the priest
but there was that one who as he was going he saw himself being healed and he immediately turned around and ran back to god and worshiped him and god said because you've worshipped me now i'm gonna make you whole i come to tell somebody today god wants to heal you of your infirmity but he just don't want to heal you he wants to make you whole before you leave this house but it's going to take some worship it's going to take some praise it's going to take something inside of you that says
i don't care what my neighbor's doing i don't care if my mama's looking at me i don't care if my dad is looking me i got to praise inside of me i need a healing i need a miracle and god's able to do it today for me i just got a little bit of meal i just got a little bit of whole oh beautiful me when we come before god god i don't have much to bring so i'm not going to give you anything i ain't got much so i'm not going to give you anything
you should be saying today god all i have is a little bit but this little bit i got i'm going to give to you i ain't got much energy but i got a little bit of energy and i'm going to give it to you today i don't have much voice but when i open my mouth i'm gonna bless your name i don't have much strength but i'm gonna stand on my feet in this service today and the little bit that i have i'm gonna give it to you this little bit i have i'm going to give it to you
come on somebody i need you to realize today god's just wanting a little bit of praise there's hard times we're dealing with we're going through turmoil in our nation but the church ain't put in a corner today the devil wants to make us think that we're in a corner and we ain't got much pool that we may have just a little bit and if we got a little bit we're giving all of that little bit to god i may not have much to give but i'm giving it to all to god
i come to tell somebody here today yes it may be a little problem that you're dealing with today and you may not even want to bother god with it but he said i'm the god of little things i'm the god of small things and i know you think it's small before me but if it's bothering you it's bothering me if it's terming you it's storming you somebody today needs to present a little need to god and watch how much that he cares for you just a little bit so like god that's enough
just a little bit's all i got brother tanner but it's enough oh i feel today i don't know exactly what god's trying to say i'm going to be honest with you today but he's just wanting a little bit of something i don't know what you got
if it's a little bit of money if it's a little bit of time if it's a little bit of finances if it's a little bitty prayer but you need to give it to god if all you know how to say is god save me from hell that's all you need to say today if you just need to say god i need a healing in my body that's all you need to say today
but you better not leave this house without telling god the little thing that you need i would hate to leave the house with a little thing you keep leaving the house with a little thing and before long it turns into a big thing
what does the bible say solomon was writing and he said isn't it the small foxes that spoil the vine isn't it the small vice uh small little things that get into your fruit they get into your lifestyle we got to get the small things under subjection today wednesday night i preached
if god's been dealing with you on getting rid of some small things you better just go ahead and get rid of them if he's been dealing with you on praying some small prayers you just need to go ahead and pray them yes they may seem small to you but in heaven when they're going up they're doing damage on the adversary because god uses the small things
i wonder today in this house if i've got anybody who remembers what god did for them so long ago we find where peter he told god he said god i'll go with you to the end i'll always walk with you but the bible says when the day of temptation was when they came to the garden of gethsemane and they took jesus away they took him the bible says after peter after peter denied god the third time the bible says jesus looked at him and when he looked at him can you imagine the pain that peter felt when jesus looked at him
maybe you have good intentions today maybe you've had good intentions but that same little thing keeps coming up in you week after week after week that same little sin keeps coming up in your life week after week after what you've tried to tame it you've tried to put handcuffs on it you've tried to nail it to the wall you've come to the altar several times and asked god to deliver you from it you you've asked your brethren to help you pray about it but it's still coming back week after week after week
i come to tell you that god wants to take that sin away from you today there's no sense in a little sin keeping you out of heaven what did i say at the beginning of the service but the bible says that no sin shall enter in yes it may be a little sin today but god's saying if you'll give it to me i want to take it and i want to throw it far away from your life it's got you bogged down and held down i want to give you deliverance today
we serve a god of little things this morning i want you to think with me 1954. they didn't have much little place probably outside i don't know if they had pews they had chairs just a little bit of people just a little bit of prayer just a little service just a little get together just a little move of god look at us here 67 years later what a little thing done the bible says tells us to despise not small beginnings
the small things you may think that your effort today coming down here to this altar is not going to amount to a hill of beans but i'm going to tell you today god is a god of small beginnings
and if you'll just take a small step today if you'll just take a tiny step towards god today he wants to do something miraculous for you if you want to just step out by faith today and say god i don't have much faith i got just a little i don't really believe in all this crazy stuff but i do believe you created the heavens and the earth i do do believe you're the son of god i got a little faith today and god's saying today
if you got a little faith i got a lot of something to give you this morning if you just got a little bit to bring me today i got a whole lot of something that i want to pour into you today i need somebody to understand if you can that today at this very moment in this church service that you can be forever changed in your life if you will allow god to take care of your life
you may not understand it now you're thinking my if i come down to the altar today when i leave this building i'm going to go back into the same world i'm going back to the same family i'm going back to the same situation but you're not going back as the same person needs you to hear me you're not going back as the same person the bible says he'll make you a new creature
i'm going back to my same depression i'm going back to my same financial troubles yeah you're going back but you got a new spirit in you you got a new power in you god has now made you an overcomer god has put his spirit in you he's put his blood on you and since you have become a son and a daughter of god he's told you that though these things may not be possible with you that nothing is impossible with god
stand to your feet this morning he told us the prophet he said just bake me a cake first just use what you have bible says she went and she baked him a cake and he had told her one place in the bible in a different instance here i believe that it was to go and to gather all these vessels and though this woman had a little bit old just a little bit old he said just keep pouring one little bit that you have and i'll take care of the rest
what do you have to pour out today the lady that came to jesus and watched his feet she just had some ointment that was his expensive ointment she said jesus all i've got is my hair i've got my tears i've got some ointment that's all i got that's all i got to give you i want to wash your feet the disciples didn't understand they said why would you waste such precious ointment why would she do these things to you jesus and he said i came into your house and your place you never offered to wash my feet she said she was washing them with her tears
she didn't have a pot of water but she had some tears now a lot of people wouldn't understand the tears but there's something beautiful about god he understands tears now i want to tell somebody in this house today you may not have much to bring to jesus today if it's tears if it's a few words it's just a simple prayer
but i believe today that he's willing to do something for somebody in this house that don't have much to bring to him they don't feel adequate but he's got his arms open today he's saying just give me what you have what do you have to bring today what do you have to bring what do you have to bring to god if you just praying what little you have let god take care of the rest i wish you'd come and pray today somebody needs a touch from god
Scripture references as spoken: 1 Kings 17:8-12.