Stops, Starts and Habits

I just want to read if you would bear with me for just a moment I want to read our key verse that I've kind of taken as the as the key passage for our study on expansion and growth if you would for just a moment again I give honor to Pastor I appreciate the opportunity to come and open the word and teach about growth and how to grow what growth is and then some things that need to happen in our life if we're going to grow so I want to turn our attention this evening again to II Peter chapter 3. where it reads ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these things before beware unless she also being led away with error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness but grow in Grace grow in Grace grow grow grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever amen one more time can we just lift our voices and thank God for his presence we feel and ask him to touch and speak to us tonight father in the name of the Lord Jesus God we thank you again that we have this opportunity to come into your house Lord and open your word God to glean what your word would teach us God about life about growing and knowing you Lord Jesus becoming very knowledgeable about who you are Lord Jesus and how you care for us how you create us God and how you mold us to be what you need us to be God I pray in the next few moments God you'll speak in our hearts and you'll speak in our lives God and let your word fall upon fertile soil this evening in Jesus name amen thank you you can be seated thank you brother Duron and Ian man I'm telling you what I love seeing these young people involved in worship and helping with the music and praise team and sound and lights and everything else that goes oh sorry nope lights are different the media crew in the back we don't want to forget them I think we've got another young person training back there tonight we've had several training on Sunday so we're excited about what God is doing both in the young people the young adults The Hyphen just our church as a whole God is doing some amazing things amen and we're thankful to be a part of that but growth is a process it's a process we talked about last week about how growth has these ups and downs these Ebbs and flows now imagine with me that we all watched little [name redacted] y'all know who I'm talking about right y'all know that kid y'all know that young lady let's just imagine we watched her Sunday right and she's this little what two years old now not quite two almost two this little two-year-old bundle of joy and energy bouncing Here There and Everywhere owning the place and then all of a sudden she comes in tonight and we see her when she when they arrive she climbs out of the driver's seat of the car I'm not trying to make her grow up that fast brother Deron I promise but she climbs out of the driver's seat of the car I would say she chugs a big cup of coffee but if you know her you know she does that anyway walks in here throws her driver's license down shows who she is pulls out a debit card gives her tithes and offerings all these kinds of things and it comes down runs all over the place gets up here on the keyboard just since Sunday gets air on the keyboard and replaces her dad wouldn't you guys think that's a little bit odd I know by just a few people who would think that would be odd but from that very very very odd like very odd now granted and we all know brother durron's gonna blink and it's going to be here um but the reality of it is is like just think about how odd that would be most wouldn't view it in that sense and maybe even concerning that all of a sudden in three days she went from being not even two to all of a sudden driving a car buying her own coffee we'll say it like that you know and taking over her dad's position and responsibilities and all that fun stuff yet when it comes to growth the perception is often that we should be accelerating our growth at that same kind of rate and yet if we were to see it happen in real life we would be a pretty weirded out and yet a lot of times when we look at growth and we think about expanding who we are and developing and growing into everything God has for us and everything we need to have for ourselves we want that same kind of growth rate but that is not the process of growth growth is Ebbs and flows anybody ever tried to lose weight I know everybody's going to raise their hand okay maybe not everybody maybe some of y'all need to try I don't know just kidding um try the Starbucks up the road come on don't go there um but no the fact of the matter is is when you when you lose weight in a healthy way it is not something you drop 50 pounds in two weeks not if it wants to be sustained the same is true in our process of growth is that if we are growing the most healthy growth is going to have some plateaus it's going to have some big highs and it's going to have some low lows if you've ever followed any kind of diet plan weight plan you might know what a no nsv is I didn't say a sickness but an nsv does anybody know what that stands for I guess I'm the only fat one I got it all right non-scale victory it means there wasn't weight loss the ultimate goal I was shooting for didn't necessarily happen but you know like I did last week I went and bought two brand new belts because I can't wear my other ones anymore yeah thank you for those of you that are celebrating with me I appreciate that but the fact of the matter is is that growth is a consistent steady process but we have to know where we are wanting to be in the future if we are going to grow to that level the focus that we should place is not necessarily upon this exact moment where we are but we should always be looking at who we want to be in the future Hal hirsfield a UCLA psychologist found in one of his studies that when we focus on who we want to become it will change how we live and grow today so if we look to our future and we look to where our goals are and our dreams are and our aspirations are what we want to do and accomplish for God what we want to do and accomplish as individuals if we look to that and keep that Focus it will allow us to change our today pretty powerful when we think about if we know we're going there I can course alter today and change the trajectory of my growth continuing again the understanding that we spoke about last week that this is a great competition that we're in and that competition right now is not with anyone else except for the man I was yesterday so I am constantly striving to be that person while understanding I've just got to be better than that person notice I'm pointing behind me if anybody listens to this later I'm pointing behind me not some random person building on last week though if we are going to take that one more step than we took yesterday there are some stops and some starts we need to practice like that weight loss philosophy I was talking about there's going to be times where we're doing everything we need to do we're moving at a great pace and then there's times we've got to stop and then there's even some specific things that we need to stop doing if we are going to grow if growth is going to happen there are going to be some starts or some stops and there's definitively and definitely going to be some starts we need to practice these so the first stop I want us to address tonight is we need to stop making excuses stop making excuses for our growth because the reality is we can always have an excuse doesn't mean it's the same as a reason but we can always have an excuse John chapter 5. verses one through seven we read the story of this man and I want to read this to you after this there was a great feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem verse two now there is at Jerusalem by the Sheep Market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five porches in this way a great multitude of impotent folk of blind halt withered waiting for the moving of the water they were waiting for an opportunity to change their circumstance that's what they were waiting on for an angel verse 4 went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water whosoever then was the first after the troubling of the water stepped in and was made whole of whatsoever disease he had sounds like some pretty powerful experience doesn't it like the ability to step in the water and all of a sudden any problem you have is gone and we need to we need to get some of that pool over this way but it goes on to say in verse 5. a certain man was there which had an infirmity 30 and eight years so doing the math he was he had been there 38 years there we go 38 years this man had been there dealing with this problem when Jesus saw him Live Verse 6 and knew that he had been now a long time in that case he saith unto him wilt thou be made whole notice what Jesus asked him was not why can you not get in the water Jesus didn't ask him why do you still like why are you still sitting here after all this time that's not the question he was asked the question he was asked was wilt thou be made whole and the man was so caught up on his excuses that he didn't even realize first of all who was in front of him and second of all he didn't realize the opportunity that was being presented to him by the question Jesus was asking he missed a tremendous growth opportunity in that moment because he didn't realize it he began to explain in verse 7 he says sir I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool first excuse because if there's a desire for growth that there's a desire for change are you going to be held back by the fact that there's no one else there to move you there but while I'm in coming incoming excuse me another steps down before me everybody always beats me there they're faster than me I'm slow I'm crawling I mean if I really really really really wanted to be in that pool I'm biting somebody's ankles I'm untying their Jerusalem 12s okay whatever I got to do to make sure I get there and he makes excuse after excuse and you know the same is true with growth like God offers us opportunity after opportunity he says to us in essence wilt thou grow and a lot of times we think of all the reasons why we cannot grow we at we think of all the reasons why we're still stuck in the same spot we've always been stuck in we those things like just permeate throughout our brain and we start thinking about all those excuses I I can think of tons of my own justifications why growth has not happened for me in various points of my life I know excuse after excuse after excuse I can do all of that I can blame people but the fact of the matter is is if we're going to grow we have to stop making excuses the top excuses that people give for not growing as we should or growing into who we should be number one there is not enough time see the reality is is everyone has the same amount of time in a day I don't think anybody's watch gives you an extra five minutes does it unless you kill the battery like I mean you don't literally get five extra minutes okay just because you like set the clocks faster doesn't mean you know you're getting there early you're just getting there on time you know we use that excuse of there's not enough time we use the excuse of I can't grow into who God wants me to be and who I need to be because I don't have enough money I can't buy what I need I can't do what I need but the truth of the matter is is that we find the money and we find the resources for the things we want to spend it on I mean if somebody came to me and said I will I got this really nice Glock 45 I'm gonna I'll sell it to you for a hundred bucks you want my right kidney or my left I and then I'll spend the extra money on AR or some or bow or something hunting related but the fact the matter is is we find the money for the things we want and yet we often relate to this as an excuse of why we can't do and grow into what we need to be another excuse number three on the excuse list is I don't have the skills you know we talked a little bit about this last week right I bragged about my prowess on finding the YouTube video and changing a thermostat little thing with a grommet on my washing machine right there the I don't have the skills is not an excuse because the reality is is we can find the skills you know what if and here's the crazy thing if reading is an issue and you say you can't grow because you can't read guess what almost every Community Center offers opportunities at a even like peanuts or even free to teach people that don't know how to read know how to read but I don't speak the language okay again Community Center opportunities there is an opportunity to grow if we will stop making excuses we can make excuse after excuse oh I I don't have the skills or here's here's a good one I don't know what to do man I'm gonna tell you what some of some of the places I've been um working in churches and different things like that and other capacities I get this one a lot like we get I love this about Cornerstone is the fact that I forget the exact percentage but um it's a very very high percentage of our people that call this your church that are involved and actively engaged in various aspects of ministry it's phenomenal is phenomenal but I've been in a lot of places where there's thing is the reason they say they can't grow as well I don't know what to do to grow myself I mean there's always an opportunity to uh pick up a toilet brush and I know we always go to that but there's an opportunity to take what skills you do have I mean I I know like don't don't let brother Dan say something else that he does because you know it'll be it'll be used at the church before long like to do something right it's it's a fact of the matter is is find something to do within your skill set God has created you as an individual stop using that as an excuse for not growing there's opportunities there's ways to get involved get plugged in you know we're we often are are handicapped by this thing of like how we grew knowledge back even when I was a kid I'm about to show how old I really am but I mean you know I'm back in the days of dial-up internet and that was still my teenage years like what was internet was what I asked myself when I was a kid and now I see kids with iPhones iPads all kinds of all these gadgets I mean Dorian somehow picked up our old Apple watches so here she is 14 years old with an Apple Watch where she can do all kinds of random things send messages and walkie-talkie man we had to use next tails foreign you know like we're handicapped oftentimes too like with this excuse we say we well we don't know how to do this or we don't know what to do like the skills and what to do and all we've got to do is open up an internet browser hey go to Google and we can find what to do we can find how to do it another excuse the fifth excuse people give for why we don't like change or I'm sorry I just gave that one away but uh why we struggle to grow into what we need to grow into and that's that I don't like change I don't like change so why should I change well I mean how do you argue against that that that excuse because you know I I forget where it came from I heard this a few years ago and it's another statement cliche so to speak that stuck with me but change only happens when the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same and so if I don't like change and I refuse to grow and that's my excuse I'm not going to grow because I don't like chains well you sit there and be a bump on a log all the rest of us are going to grow into some amazing things that God's going to do some of those amazing things in our life and all that you're going to look back five years from now you'll be like man they all Pass Me By because you don't like change I know change is not easy let me be clear change is not easy but avoiding change just because you don't like change and avoiding growth because change hurts and it's uncomfortable is not a good excuse another excuse the sixth excuse that people use for why they don't grow is what if I fail anybody ever been challenged by that fear the fear of failure I don't I don't want to put myself out there in this scenario because if I fail I'm not so sure I can take it I'm not sure that I would be able to come back from this fear of failure or what if I fail is is a question and excuse that I I don't want to try something new I don't want to grow I don't want to I don't like change because I'm afraid I might fail I I I don't have the skills and I don't want to learn it and I don't want to know what to do because what if I fail can I tell you guys that just let me be a teacher for a moment I encourage my kids to fail I encourage my students to fail you know why because we learn from failed ways more so than we do when things go right I love when I get one of those students that's been a straight A student their whole educational Journey I mean everything Chris they're used to 100 percent A's A's A's A's and then they get to my class and they're like I think my a got fat and grew a belly because I want them to know look everything in life is not going to be perfection now granted do I tank their grades no before this goes out on them like no that's not what I'm saying but I want them to know that failure is okay and failure in the controlled environment guys I would much rather fail at something and attempting to grow than I would to be a failure because I never attempted anything I would rather fail because I gave it my all and I messed up and I didn't do it quite right then I would because I sat there as that proverbial bump on the log and just let everybody else Pass Me By the seventh reason why or excuse not reason they say the time is not right for my growth they don't make it a priority that's why time is an issue there's never a right time to make a step and take a leap of faith and grow there's never a right time it is never an easy step to say you know what yeah go ahead and go ahead and till up the garden of my heart God go ahead and like rip me to Pieces a little bit I know something amazing is going to come out of it but go ahead and let that rotary tiller do its job I don't think there's a good time for that but the fact of the matter is is when we allow that to happen and we stop making the excuses of this and just allow it to happen then life Springs out of us amazing things come from us and even better as we begin to nourish those around us the eighth excuse that people give is I need to have a plan they're afraid to take a step because they don't have a plan what they're really saying is I need direction I lack direction or worse I'm Paralyzed by that fear and so since I don't have a plan I'm not going to take the step and grow and then the ninth one is probably if you don't get caught by all these you get caught by this one all right here it is the number one excuse people give of why they will not grow it's just not going to work little Mr or Miss pessimist can I tell you today the glass when we're growing in God is always half full the glass of growing and God is always always half full and if God's in the equation and I'm working it will work it will work it may not work out like I wanted to but it will work it will most definitely and definitively work I have to believe in myself by believing in myself I understand by believing in myself I'm placing my faith in God that says God you know this is my limit this is where I can get to on my own so you know that with me it won't work but I know without a shadow of a doubt that if I will place my faith and trust in you then it's going to be okay it will work exactly like God wants it to exactly like God wants it to so the first thing we have to do guys if we're going to grow is to stop making the excuses the second thing we need to do we need to stop if we're going to grow is to stop dwelling on the negative stop dwelling on the negative we can look at all the world around us and find negativity negativity negativity negativity negativity negativity I could come to church guys and I can nitpick and I can focus on some negative things I can even look at how God has operating in somebody else's life and I can look at it with negativity but if I'm going to grow I've got to stop dwelling on the negative because here's a reality if I'm dwelling on the negative I'm never going to grow Beyond being a big baby because what do babies do they look at the negative and they complain and they whine and they fuss and they never grow and they never achieve what God wants for them they never achieve what they need to do in their own life because their babies and they're dwelling on the negative I have seen more churches more revivals killed because of somebody and more than and a lot of times it starts with one person that dwells on the negative like well this is wrong you want to know why we don't have testimony Services very much because instead of being testimony service it became sister Ethel's negativity well the devil's been beating me down this way we'll praise God praise the devil I mean no way we've got to stop dwelling on the negative because there's a power beyond that and if we look at the negative guys are there negative things in our life that will happen absolutely but if we dwell on the negative instead of looking at how God is using the negative to alter the future then we're going to miss out on the growth that God has for each and every one of us Numbers Chapter 13 is a perfect example of the negative listen to this numbers 13 31 but the men that went up with him said we are not able to go against the people for they are stronger than we and they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched now keep in mind for those that don't know the background this is the Promised Land God has said this land is yours you are going to take this land you are going to possess this land you are going to grow to a mighty mighty mighty mighty nation and in Numbers Chapter 13 we hear about the people not named Caleb and Joshua that came back and brought a majority negative report and all doubted God and everything else and an entire generation was cursed because of their negativity because they couldn't see past where they were at right there instead of looking to what God could do and what God wanted to do they were looking and dwelling on the negative and they killed a generation's promise an entire generation never got to see the Promise God had outlined for them when they left Egypt they never got to see what God had spoken to them when Moses came and said hey I've come to set you free they never got to see it because of the negativity of a few negativity cost an entire generation isn't it interesting that when negativity exists it is blinding to everything else around think about times you have found yourself being negative how hard was it for you to focus on something positive I grew up man you know I know I like to tell my own stories I figure if I'm gonna embarrass anybody it better just be me but I was that person you know one of my favorite songs growing up is nobody likes me everybody hates me guess I'll go eat worms bone thin slimy ones big fat juicy ones oh how the wiggling squirm I grew up in this whole concept of negativity and I never saw the fact that I had a great family I I'm not that I never saw it but it was harder for me to see that I had I had a loving family I had a family with a tremendous heritage but all I dwelt on was the fact that oh I'm the I'm the middle child I'm a middle children say Amen are there any middle children here if not we got to deliver some of those it's all the middle children like you know is I became so blinded because of the negativity that I could not see the blessings that were in my life and the same is true with all aspects of things guys if we focus on the negative if we focus on sister so and so didn't shake my hand or Pastor made a joke about me and the fact I'm going bald or brother Vandy called me old last week I mean you know all those things that we could focus on the negative right we miss out on seeing the awesome things that God is doing day in and day out day in and day out negativity is blinding therefore we have to stop the negativity if we are going to grow sour grapes don't grow guys sour grapes don't grow and you know we have to stop looking at negative because we will never grow or mature if we focus on instead of what we do have we focus on the negative aspects of what's not right you know it's interesting that certain animals but only grow to the size of their environment that the things that keep them from growing are the things they allow to Blind them to the outside world fish snakes other amphibians oftentimes what's called is they're called indeterminate Growers which means they have the potential to be much bigger and to grow to much healthier statuses and and and and and processes much better but because of their environment they don't grow to what their potential is it's like negativity and just a little another another little nugget with this before I move on is you know we choose what story we want to believe two people come and tell you the same story one of them tells it this way one of them tells it this way who do you believe well you make a choice and a lot of times guys we dwell on the negative and we want to hear the negative now I wonder how many individuals and Christians have become indeterminate Growers who possess the ability to grow but they allow the negativity in their life to cage up their growth because they don't kick aside the negativity they keep the negativity going instead of stopping it that's why we struggle to grow we struggle to grow because of excuses we struggle to grow because of negativity and we also need to stop there's a third one stop ping stop it stop it the stopping yeah it's Second Kings we read the story of of um it's one of the Joes I want to make sure I say it right here hold on of course it's not in my notes it disappeared off my ah all right Joe Ash or joab or one of those Pastor help me out I'm drawing a blank right now Joe we'll just call him Joe because then we're safe but we pick up his story Elisha's on his Deathbed and he calls for him and he says hey look bring your bow I want you to shoot arrows and he shoots out the arrows he puts his hand on the boat with Elisha open the window shot at Eastward and then Elijah said uh you know that's the arrow of the Lord's Deliverance the arrow of deliverance from Syria and thou shalt Smite the syrians and afic till thou have consumed and then he said this in verse 18 He says take the arrows and he took him and he said unto the king of Israel Smite the ground and he went I'll pop that din out later pastor he he smote the ground three times just three he's already been told what the arrows represents and he goes smack smack smack that's it he stopped he stopped and the man of God verse 19 was Wrath with him he was angry at him he was angry at him because he stopped just short of where he needed to be to allow the promise to grow and the and the promise to develop and the growth of the Israel and the nation of Israel to happen as it was intended and designed because he stopped he said you should have smitten the ground double because if you had you would have consumed every bit of that the problems that exist in in in the Middle East now might very well have disappeared and this man not stopped when he should have been going so can I tell you this afternoon or this evening stop stopping when you're on the verge of promise you may not know it but stop stopping stop stopping when you're when you're sitting there and you're like I feel like I'm about to give up I feel like I can't take it anymore I feel like I'm at my Breaking Point can I tell you I know I'm getting a little preachy right now but can I tell you stop stopping God has a promise God has a blessing keep on going do not stop don't grow that God is operating in your life because there's something amazing there's something phenomenal and better yet there is a promise a Divine destiny that is waiting for you if we just stop stopping now anybody know what these are crutches see I had a I had a personal knee replacement in 2020. you know I got to develop these y'all are just waiting just a minute I'm gonna fall flat on my face y'all gonna laugh we're gonna call the ER go hang out with some people let them poke and prod some more but what is the purpose of crutches where's my medical professionals Christian aren't you a medical professional what's up what a crutches why why do we walk on crutches why do we use them what's the purpose take a pressure off of what to take the pressure off of the affected air I could have said that better myself man I need to get a Nursing degree yeah like the purpose is to take it off take the pressure off the affected area you know what happens the longer you use crutches too the muscle begins to get weak y'all know what that's called atrophy see crutches crutches are a problem for us we need to stop using crutches see crutches represent us trying to protect the hurts of the past the heart breaks the pains the wrongs we've had done to us see so many things is hurting the crutches are affecting I want to make sure I'm not putting too much pressure on that I want to make sure I'm not focusing too much on that because I want to keep moving and I want to get stronger but I just can't do it see the crutches the crutches hurt us they hurt us yeah I feel like looking in Matthew chapter 15. we read the story of the Canaanite woman that came to Jesus and he came to Jesus she came to Jesus she's crying out to him now understand the Canaan Canaanites were not thought of well by the Jewish by the Israelites there have probably been some wrongs I mean we've got to imagine and consider the fact that the Israelites had this elitist mindset if you weren't Jewish you weren't Israelite in Hebrew then you know you gotta imagine all of these things are in her mind and she comes and she says some have mercy on me O Lord thou son of David my daughter is grievously vexed so she comes to the one person that could save her daughter says but he answered her not a word and his disciples came and besought him saying send her away I could just imagine like emotionally the the crutches she's coming carrying you know the time she's been wronged by the Jewish people you know she's she's favoring that affected area because guys I'm gonna be real nobody can hurt you like a church person can hurt you I mean being completely honest here but the fact of the matter is is at the bot at the end of the day we're all people Nobody's Perfect we all make mistakes but here's this woman most likely carrying every burden every pain every insult every problem that's ever she's ever suffered at the hands of the Hebrews she comes to Jesus bearing this asking for him for help because it's the only way she knows out of the situation she comes to him and her decide his disciples he ignores her his disciples are saying hey send her away she's hollering at us she won't leave us alone and he looks he turns around and he looks at her and says I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel you talk about this man just imagine that crutch being kicked out from under she already was battling favor in that area favor in that affected area he says I'm not sent but to the last The House of the law the sheep of the Lost house I'll get it right in a minute the house of Israel but then she came and worshiped him she worshiped him in spite of her ailment she worshiped him in spite of one of these extreme insults she had just suffered at his hand ignoring her but then he looked or you know he said unto her like let me get my stuff back up here so I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel then she came and worshiped him saying Lord help me but he answered and said it is not me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs I I don't know about you guys but I have never seen an insult cast at somebody calling them a dog that was complimentary as a matter of fact in my house my older brother made that mistake one time referring to my mother and um you know thank God DCS was not as active as they were as they are now then because I literally heard my brother getting pop for about 10 solid minutes my dad come out having an ice his shoulder like but I am thankful and and here it is looking at this is calls her a dog but she doesn't use her crutch anybody there knew exactly what was being said to her knew exactly her background knew exactly her experience knew every ailment she was battling with knew it all every bit of it and she heard they heard Jesus say hey it's not for me to cast this to the dogs but she looked at him and said of a truth Lord the dogs even eat the crumbs that fall from the Masters table yes I'm hurting I'm affected I'm trying to favor this but the reality is is I refuse to allow it to stop me from growing into what you have for me my daughter is sick I need a miracle my daughter is dying I need Deliverance I need something and someone that can come and save it and save her see growth comes when we stop making excuses when we stop stopping when we stop using our crutch and we stop dwelling on the negativity can I have 10 more minutes now we got to talk about what to start because we've talked about all the things we need to stop and the reality is guys I grew up old school Pentecost and we were told too many things not to do without things to replace it so we got to stop these things but we got to start some things too we got to start some things the first thing we need to start is we need to start moving see my pastor growing up again like on wisest man I've ever had the privilege of knowing said one Wednesday night Wednesday night you can learn tremendous and gather tremendous nuggets on Wednesday night Wednesday night bible study he just threw this in his his message less than that I don't even remember what the title of the lesson was but he put this little nugget in there and it has stayed with me my doing God's will today will determine my knowing God's will tomorrow in other words if I'm progressing towards the future and I'm operating in this moment where I need to be operating and I'm moving towards God if I'm going to grow to where I need to be tomorrow I have to grow today if I'm not growing today I'm not going to get there and I'm not growing if I'm sitting I've got to start moving I wish I had more time for this but look the next thing we've got to start doing is we've got to start challenging ourselves okay like you know who thinks they can lift 10 pound barbells but Shane I know you got this right every day like you know if I said this was my workout every day one two three four five six seven eight nine ten whoa all right all right that's my workout am I being challenged all right let's get real now all right all right count them with me one all right well 15. all right Whoa man I feel it now I got my workout going is that much of a challenge for me what value am I getting out of that I do look good I mean it's the white headband what what what value am I getting out of that am I getting more muscle mass in that little workout no and if I'm going to grow I have to challenge myself Ian come here buddy quickly quickly quickly quickly come here come here all right y'all ready for this we're about to get real now all right I got eight minutes come here Ian Y'all Gonna count them with me as I do the curls Ian curls see Ian curls all right here we go Kevin whoa if my wife was in here I'd tell her go ahead and get the ibuprofen ready the fact of the matter is guys if I'm gonna grow I've got to challenge myself like lifting lightweight things doing what comes easy that's not gross I'm not going to grow so if I'm going to grow I have to start challenging myself it's uncomfortable it's not easy there's a reason why they say when you're working out it's called feeling the burn has nothing to do with Bernie Sanders all right it's about feeling the burn in your muscles as your muscles are literally tearing and then growing back together we have to challenge ourselves if we're going to grow struggle reveals who you really are it reveals your genuine strengths and make and it makes areas of improvement that you need very very very clear I can tell you right now I need to do more curl exercises before I ever try that again but weightlifting and weightlifting always doing what easy what comes easy adds no value it's like if I just held a curl bar and I say oh I'm making strong biceps I'm getting no value from that I'm not growing I'm not growing the next thing we need to start and this is the most important thing is we need to start developing a growth mindset Carol deweck wrote the book called mindset if you are interested in Reading I challenge you to read that book I call it challenge because it is literally a challenge but it is about the difference in a fixed mindset and a growth mindset it's the mindset that we need to develop in ourselves of of looking beyond the present situation and saying this is all I can be this is all I can do see mindset matters in change and growth if the mindset is self-preservation like the man with the one talent in the parable of the talents you're not going to grow self-preservation and growth do not go hand in hand it requires you to take some risk it requires it requires you to realize look where I'm at now is not the only place I need to be I've got to develop a growth mindset two thoughts I want you to think about which mindset most consistently connects to you all right two statements think about it bad things always happen to me I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands or the other thought I'm an overcomer because when challenges arise I kick them down and keep moving see the second one is a growth mindset that first one is a fixed or victim mindset it means you know what I'm never gonna grow because the universe hates me oh this always is going to go wrong I'm never going to be better than where I am right now because the universe hates me so we have to start in changing our mindset if growth is the goal our mindset has to change I'm going to say that again if we're going to grow our mindset has to change and a lot of times we struggle because we don't understand who we are we have a problem with our identity we we know who we want to be but in reality every time a situation comes up we find ourselves shrinking back into that identity to which we identify ourselves instead of in instead of looking at what God has identified us as I want to give you guys an encouragement today that you can grow you can have a growth mindset because you have an identity that goes beyond anything you have down inside of you you have an identity that comes directly from the King of Kings and the Lord of lords you have an identity let me tell you what that identity is you can follow along on the handout it they've handed it to you if not they'll get you one but you you cannot you can follow along with this because you need to understand I want you to put this somewhere where you look at it because you need to understand that you are sought after by God you have an identity that says you're sought after you're precious in His sight you are a new creation in him you are not condemned you are forgiven you are loved you are accepted you are a child of God you are these things this is an identity that we can place our trust in you can build a house on this and you can grow your life you can grow your future on these principles because God has made us these things he has identified us as a child of his we has identified us as his friend I am the temple of God I am God's treasured possession I am complete in Christ and somebody needs to hear it tonight I am chosen it doesn't matter your past it doesn't matter failures it doesn't matter when you've let go of your growth process you are chosen by God you are called you're an ambassador of the most high God and hear this you are God's masterpiece you are God's Masterpiece so when you struggle with a challenge and you look at negativity in your life and you look at all these failures and all these problems that want to stop you from growing we got to remove those barriers of the stops and understand who we are because if I know who God is and who I am to God I am his masterpiece I am able to do all things through him that gives me strength I am more than a conqueror through Jesus who loves me can you stand with me tonight if we're going to grow what God wants us to be our mindset has to be an understanding and I'm casting aside the crutches I'm not gonna quit I'm gonna put aside the negativity and the excuses I'm gonna place my trust in a God that sees me as all these things it is crucial to understand that changing and growing into the identity that is not who I was but who I am going to be is the number one rule of growth oh has anybody felt God identify you as one of these elements of identity I just read have you ever felt the love of God if you have it I challenge you if you've never felt like you are the chosen one of God hear it tonight you are chosen you are destined for growth renew your mind stop the excuses the negativity stop the stopping and the using of crutches and start moving toward the destiny and the goal start challenging yourself beyond what you have done to this past this point and I'll leave you with this pastor if you could come start developing a mindset of growth that stems from your god-given identity and Promises you have an identity and that identity gives you the authority and the power to grow beyond measure you have that identity it's not this and it's not these little weights but it's casting these to the side and saying God I need more challenge more I need to know who I am I am a child of God I'm his Masterpiece can we lift our hands right now and thank him