Small Yet Significant

there is a deep work of the holy ghost here i do believe that with all of my heart and we have a part in that we get to participate in that and we are going to do that now we've done it through worship and song and we gonna do that now by looking to his word and just continue to cooperate with god be on his team tonight for what he wants to accomplish and maybe your neighbor somebody sitting beside you maybe in yourself i just want to be on god's team and help him get accomplished in this room what he wants to accomplish that's what it's all about i'm going to read my text from luke 21 it's the first four verses and i'll read it in the new living translation luke chapter 21 first four verses thank you praise team for taking us into the presence of god and helping us to feel him and connect with him luke 21 verse 1 says while jesus was in the temple he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins what kind of coins were they small verse three i tell you the truth jesus said this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them for they have given a tiny part of their surplus but she poor as she is has given everything she has on the outside to the onlookers luke wrote she gave two small coins but what jesus saw in her small effort he described it as she had given more than all the rest of them because he had seen deeper than the two small coins he had seen deeper than the smallness of the effort or the smallness of the contribution he had seen deeper than that and he had seen that she had given everything that she had had didn't measure up to what the others had given maybe on the outside wasn't monetarily as valuable as what others had given but she gave everything she had and everything she had was small but yet it was significant so with this story as my launching pad i want to share with you this thought small yet significant i want us to pray before we're seated and i want you to open your heart i don't know who in the room the lord wants to talk to but i know that there are individuals in the room that the lord wants to speak to tonight and so i just ask that if you think it might be you or even if you don't think it's you because it may be i want us just to open our hearts i'm going to open my heart because as i deliver this the lord has spoken to me as i've prepared this but i want him to continue to speak to amber personally as i speak his word so can we do that right now lord i open my heart and i open my spirit to the message and the principle of your word that though it may be small there is significance in small things and i pray that you would help our hearts tonight help our minds and our spirits i pray that the thought that small means insignificant would be banished from this room right now banished from every mind and from every thought process and every reasoning method right now and i pray that you would help us to see and value things in the way that you see and value things lord help us through the power of your word and the power of your spirit in jesus name i pray amen amen and you can be seated tonight small doesn't mean insignificant small doesn't mean insignificant it's not a synonym for insignificant now if you look in webster's dictionary you google it you may find that thought there but the point that i'm making tonight is that small doesn't mean insignificant let's say you're on a flight from los angeles to new york city and just before you take off as the stewarding team is telling you that your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device the pilot adjusts the course heading just three and a half degrees south such a small change barely noticeable at takeoff and still imperceptible as you receive your bag of pretzels and beverage of choice however instead of touching down in new york city you end up 225 miles from that original destination and you now find yourself in washington dc because small doesn't mean insignificant one degree in direction significantly impacts where we end up james clear wrote a book called atomic habits if you have not read it i encourage you pick it up and read it i quote from him a very small shift in direction can lead to a very meaningful change in destination and it's not just true for navigational degrees because one degree in temperature significantly impacts the ice cube and aren't we thankful for ice cubes the past couple of days i just wanted yesterday i took my nephew and austin mcguire to six flags why in the world i did that on the hottest day of the year i wanted to be sitting in a bathtub of ice cubes imagine you have an ice cube sitting on the table in front of you the room is cold you can see your breath it's 25 degrees slowly the room begins to heat up 26 27 28 ice cube is still sitting there 29 30 31 still nothing has happened and then 32 degrees fahrenheit let me add the ice begins to melt a one degree shift seemingly no different from the temperature increases before it has now unlocked a huge change breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions which build up the potential required to unleash a major change the consistent sustained increase of just one it seems so small but the consistent sustained increase of just one combines to produce the effect and melt the cube because small doesn't mean insignificant ask you a question i have do not have the answer for why is it that we assign great importance and significance to a small mistake but fail to celebrate the small things that we're doing right i'm not offering that we should flip them around and that we shouldn't pay attention to small mistakes we should give attention to mistakes and how small negative actions can influence our character but we should balance it out to recognize the value and significance of the right things we do perhaps this is why jesus drew attention to the poor widow's two small coins she was doing the right thing she was doing what she could and jesus response is that yes it's small but it's significant she wasn't required to match the contribution of anyone else that gave her effort wasn't disregarded because it wasn't an earth-shattering effort her story shows us that in order to be meaningful or valuable an effort doesn't have to be large it can be small yet significant i'm going to repeat that her story shows us that in order to be meaningful or valuable an effort doesn't have to be large it can be small so i would say tonight don't underestimate the significance of a small action there are other scriptures that underscore this scripture tells us that little foxes spoil the vine i almost use this as my text but it's song of solomon chapter 2 verse 15 and i didn't want anybody to get up and walk out because she's about to preach from song of solomon what the world is going to happen song of solomon it's the inspired word of god and there's a beautiful beautiful story in that book that is worthwhile to us and this one piece of that of that beautiful story chapter 2 verse 15 says catch us the foxes the little foxes that spoil the vines for our vines have tender grapes i see in this scripture a warning not to underestimate the significance of a small action for good or for bad don't underestimate the significance of a small action also in zechariah chapter 4 verse 10 this theme is there though that the effort or the gesture the action or the contribution may be small there is significance for zechariah 4 10 says do not despise these small beginnings for the lord rejoices to see the work begin the work he's talking about is the rebuilding of the temple and it was small it was seemingly insignificant when compared to the other temple that solomon had built this new one that was being built in its place because that one had been destroyed uh some of the elders or some of the the old-timers were looking at that and saying but we remember we heard weird stories about solomon's temple we heard all of this great and grand all about all of this and they were despising in essence the smallness of this new venture this new uh effort that was being given and the lord speaking through his prophet says don't despise these small beginnings because god is rejoicing just simply to see the work begin he knew that he was going to be the one to help them get it to fruition in fact earlier in that same chapter it says not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord because the spirit is what makes up the difference when our effort just doesn't seem to match the situation it's the spirit it's not our work it's not our might it's the spirit that makes up the difference it's god his influence and his work along with our work we partner with him that takes it from small seemingly insignificant to significant and so this principle is throughout the word of god you will see it all throughout it so this lesson is an effort to encourage each of us that though our efforts or contributions may seem small like a drop in the bucket compared to what needs to happen or or what should happen god notices small efforts and god uses small efforts so don't disqualify or disregard an action or an effort because it's small and certainly don't discontinue it though it may be small it's small yet significant small yet significant and this message is for individuals in this room or watching online or that may watch months weeks down the road individuals that have beat themselves up that maybe sit under the condemning weight of not doing enough or not being enough that that have been tormented by thoughts that tell you that your contribution is too small to matter the lord sent me tonight to say it's small yet it's significant god notices small efforts and god uses small efforts the woman with the issue of blood in the new testament her story is recorded in a couple of the gospels she touched the hem of jesus's garment and that small seemingly insignificant action or effort yielded a very significant very meaningful particularly to her result it was a small gesture but jesus noticed it it got god's attention this year the pentecostals of alexandria did what they've done many times before they did the messiah a production of jesus's life i don't know if you're able to watch it online i did i purchased an online ticket and we watched it on easter night that's when it was airing and i was sitting on the couch and watching and guys i've actually i've preached from this scripture before the woman with the issue of blood i one of my first messages at gateway for like a class was this scripture so when this happened i was like how in the world did this happen so i'm watching jesus had just done one miracle and he was on his way to go to another miracle just like it is in in the gospels and all of the sudden i thought something had gone wrong in the production i thought somebody's microphone had messed up or somebody's like a light had gone out because jesus is walking along and all of a sudden he's like whoa and i was like oh no what happened like this is like live to like thousands of people it's the poa they just don't make mistakes yes they do but i was like man my goodness what in the world and then he was like who touched me and i was like oh it's the story of the woman with the issue of blood and then i got to thinking i missed it i didn't see her crawling through the crowd i didn't see the people that she may have pushed aside i totally missed it while i was watching it being displayed on the screen i totally missed the woman with the issue of blood and what i what dawned on me is that what i missed jesus didn't miss not in that moment but certainly not in the live moment when he was literally walking down the street and that that woman who was so ill and had done all that she could do to get better from everybody else just reached out and simply touched the hymn of it it was an imperceptible gesture for me but it was not imperceptible to god it got god's attention and so that the point that i'm making is whatever imperceptible thing that you are doing maybe imperceptible to others but god does not miss that small measure of faith god does not miss that small word spoken in praise god doesn't miss that small contribution that you give in a sunday school class in a connect group or in a worship service as we pray around the altars or you reach over and just simply put a hand on a neighbor it's small it may be a moment that anybody else in the room may miss but god doesn't miss because god notices small efforts it was quick it was small nothing about the woman's gesture drew attention particularly in the drama there was no lighting change there was no crescendo of music and i missed it but god didn't miss it on that day when jesus and sandled feet walked down that road and she reached out and touched just the hem of his garment you know what it says to me beyond what it says about my perceptible ever watchful god it says to me that we don't have to do large wild extravagant things to get god's attention or to please him he sees the small stuff that we do he notices these things and sometimes we can get discouraged because we don't see the results of our efforts and it may seem that because they are small and incremental that they have been wasted but god did not waste the reach of her arm and the touch of the hem of his garment he didn't waste that effort because god notices small things think back to the ice cube it may seem like the increase from 31 to 32 is the only increase that was significant but the significance is in the consistency of small efforts quoting james clear author of atomic habits again all big things come from small beginnings consistently faithfully weekly daily hourly doing small right things it matters it's significant to god he notices small efforts it's already been mentioned tonight but the faith as a grain of a mustard seed small super super super small but god notices small faith what's that old song say you don't need a whole lot just use what you got the woman with two mites didn't need a whole lot she just had to give everything that she had and god noticed it even though it was small your faith may not be large and boisterous and extravagant tonight or in the past or maybe in the future it may be small but the word of the lord tells us that small is still significant and when it comes to faith it's not in our faith that we have faith it's in our god that we have faith and so our small faith is put into a big god and therefore it is significant because of who our faith is in not because we have faith but because of who our faith is in and our trust and our confidence god notices small efforts he notices the steps that we are taking towards him it comes in the form of just pausing in our day to remind ourselves that he's there small but it's significant because we can get so wrapped up in life and we can just go through motions and we can then begin to just work on things on our own but just pausing and gathering ourselves and our thoughts all the different places that they are just pausing remind myself lord you're here this work that i'm doing whatever it is maybe it's my job maybe i'm with family or whatever this work this thing before me that i'm doing i'm doing it as an act of worship seems small and it may seem insignificant but it is very significant as we re-center and we refocus our thoughts and our actions to put him first he notices our small steps towards him we don't have to make leaps and bounds and large steps and try to keep up with the joneses whoever they are our small step our small faltering step because this is new and we're we're just we're kind of just learning how to walk with the lord our small steps toward he notices those and he loves those and he wants those and he places great significance on our small steps to our small acts of devotion certainly he wants us to participate in in the big acts of devotion and for the sake of this i'm just going to call out our church prayer and fasting because we just had that that that seems significant to me who likes food that seems very significant a week of prayer and fasting but you notice they don't ask us to do that every week they don't ask us to do that even every month we do it quarterly together i believe it's been taught to me we should practice you know one day a week giving that unto the lord in fasting and so we could try to do that it's our small acts of devotion god honors those big things if you will but he honors our small everyday acts of devotion to he he wants those just as much as he wants you to to come and be faithful to a church service and to participate in worship and to give and to all of that stuff but he he wants the small acts of devotion that we do every single day maybe in our car or in our cubicle at work or wherever we may be he wants those small acts of devotion and he sees and notices those as well not just what goes on here but he sees and he notices small efforts that we make in other places as well sometimes we can feel outmatched by the what needs to be done and i was thinking of this in terms of our transformation being transformed into god's image that seems huge okay it seems massive to me because i know i'm here and he's like way up there and the distance i i'm outmatched by the distance that i need to go one of the old songs says i got a long way to go to be like the lord i do i got a long way to go and sometimes i feel outmatched by how far i have to go to be like him but he notices small efforts and he he honors small efforts that i make towards him as little by little i surrender to him and transformation happens in me one small decision at a time this decision to not say that or pray before i do this or make sure to read god's word before i read anything else god notices small acts of devotion and that transformation to be like him happens one small decision at a time and sometimes i just want to go from here to there boom we're done it's all great but what i have noticed about the lord is that he is very slow and he loves being slow he's very purposeful in his slowness he does incremental things i'm not saying he can't do the big snap your fingers everything changes he can but if you'll notice he does things slowly methodically incrementally and my personality type just doesn't like that if i see something i know that it needs to be done i know how to do it boom i'm going to do it we're going to get it done my walk with god doesn't happen like my transformation doesn't happen like that it happens one grace-filled mistake at a time and he looks with grace and he helps me recover and i learn what i shouldn't do and what i need to do next time and and then i do it the next time and there's something else i may have to tweak and because i get wrong he helps me and it's just one step at a time my walk with god happens one step at a time this is to encourage you tonight you don't have to try to make up the difference that you don't that mismatched how far we are from how far we have to go we don't have to do that in one service we don't have to do that in one day or one week or even one year this is just as long as i'm making slow and steady progress remember that ice cube it was just one degree difference every time but it kept climbing to the point that it was then able to melt the ice cube i'm just going to walk with him one day at a time one decision at a time and before i know it i'll be able to look back and i'll be able to measure the difference from where i am now to where i used to be because god notices small efforts and as i'm wrapping this up god not only notices but god uses small efforts it seems to me that what each miracle in scripture has in common is that the individual being used recognized they were only responsible to do what they could do and the major part was up to god david and goliath it was a small smooth stone seemingly insignificant but david did what he could do and then god did what david couldn't do and that is in his own power and in his own might he brought down goliath and he gave victory to israel that day marching around jericho one step at a time one circle for six days and on the seventh day seven circles around the city guys as a military strategy that was really small and insignificant i know that we all realize that that was not a news flash for anybody but walking really really god you're going to use this small insec yes because those that are being used understand i'm doing what i can do i'm being obedient i'm being faithful to what he has said and it may seem small but god attaches great significance to my obedience and my faithfulness and when i'm obedient and when i'm faithful then he comes through and brings down the walls of jericho moses lifting a rod to split the red sea really small the red sea is vast it's wide it's deep and moses has a rod and he's like and the waves roll back because moses was doing what he could do and leaving the major part up to god moses did the small thing because that's what god had asked him to do and he realized when i do this god's going to do something better i don't know what god has asked of you to do i don't know what he's been tugging on your heart what small effort or contribution that he's been nudging you about or what small next step to take but here's what i'm saying when we do what we can do god will do what only he can do and that's what a miracle is made of is us recognizing and understanding that all i can do is what i can do and though it may seem small it's not in what i do it's in what he can do and he is greater he is above it all god will do the rest there's an old song that says little as much when god is in it i love that song i think sister pound used to sing that song my mom's pastor from back in north carolina days i pulled it up on youtube a couple years ago and i listened to the gaither vocal band sing it and man it was awesome the verse is incredible does the place you're called to labor seem so small and little known it is great if god is in it and he'll not forsake his own because little is much when god is in it another verse are you laid aside from service is your body worn from toil and care you can still be in the battle in the sacred place of prayer i thought of our elders as i read that verse but i didn't only think of our elders our elders may may not feel that they can do as much as they once did but elders let me encourage you small isn't insignificant your faithfulness to god's house your contribution to to your connect group or your your sunday school group or your circle of friends your your connection and your uh contribution is significant but also in that verse i thought of those that may feel beat down by the pressure of your situation the stress and the strain of your circumstance are you laid aside from service body worn from toil and care you've given and you've given to your situation you're trying to make a significant difference and it seems like everything you do falls flat and you're worn from that toil and care you're feeling outmatched when you look at maybe what others are doing or outmatched by the magnitude of what needs to happen in the situation but remember god uses small efforts pray again believe again trust god again it may feel small and it may not yet feel significant but there is great significance and god notices your small efforts don't lock yourself in a box thinking oh i've got to do this big and grand thing or wild and extravagant thing to to reach my lost son or daughter to to work out this situation in my family no small things are very significant and if we'll do those small things that god is calling and nudging and drawing us towards he sees those and he uses our small efforts i invite you to stand as i close with this scripture galatians chapter 6 and verse 9 and let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart my whole point tonight is to encourage you those of you that feel that what i have to offer seems so small maybe it's to the kingdom of god maybe it's just to your particular situation maybe it's in your efforts you're trying to live for god and trying to be more like him and the smallness of the actions that you are taking just feel insignificant and undervalued but don't be weary while doing good be encouraged that small doesn't mean insignificant and unimportant lord i thank you for your presence here i thank you for your word thank you lord that you notice every small effort that we give to you and every small effort that we give to our relationship with you and our transformation into your image into our relationships with others i thank you that you notice every single one of those and lord that you then use our small efforts that they're outmatched by the magnitude of maybe what others are doing or or what the enemy may be trying to accomplish but lord you see our small efforts and you use those small efforts to do great things i thank you for that and we just renew our faith and our confidence in your work lord it's not in our work but it is in your work lord so we give these to you and we make up in our minds we commit god i'm going to continue my small acts of devotion i'm going to continue and be consistent in those small things because i know that the persistence of those small things are going to yield great significant results and we're gonna leave that up to you we're gonna trust in your word we're gonna trust in your promise we love you lord can we give him another time can we give him praise and thanks for his great work that he does through our small meager efforts thank you lord