(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

We are honored that you came today.

Today is a special day at Valorous Church because we have some encouragers in the house who are gonna speak to us today.

Anybody need encouragement today?

Come on.

Yeah.

Pastor Troy and Steph Gramling from South Florida, they're here with us today.

And Pastor Troy's gonna be speaking today for us.

And he has a great word of encouragement for you and your family.

And I do believe that God's gonna do amazing things in this message today in the heart of our church.

And I wanted to give you a little background of who Pastor Troy is before we bring him up to encourage us today.

But Pastor Troy and Steph are actually on our overseer board here at Valorous Church, have been on that board for over a decade.

They've helped shape a lot of what you see here at Valorous Church today.

They speak into our life here at Valorous Church.

They regularly, them and their church, regularly pray for Valorous Church and believe in the vision and mission God has given us in this community, constantly speaking words of encouragement into us.

Pastor Troy also pastors a church in South Florida in Fort Lauderdale.

The name of the church is called Potential Church.

They're also in Pensacola, Florida, and they're in Lima, Peru.

And again, we're honored to have them with us here today.

He and his wife, Steph, to speak into the life of our church today.

And then he's also just recently released a new book called Potential.

It's an incredible book, has some incredible leadership principles.

Those are gonna be available out in the atrium on your way out today.

He's gonna be out there signing books.

I wanna encourage you to possibly go by and get one of those books on the way out today.

But more so than the book and just him writing the book, I've had the opportunity to walk alongside of Pastor Troy and him speaking into my life for multitudes of years.

And so what he writes about in the book is actually has flowed into the leadership of our church and the life of our church and what you see here today.

And so it is an honor to have him here today.

You're gonna be greatly encouraged.

So I'd love for you, if you don't mind, just to stand to your feet, help us honor and welcome Pastor Troy Gramling to the stage today to speak to us.

Come on.

All right, you may be seated.

It is an honor as always, but especially today to get to be here.

And it's so amazing the last couple of times we've been here, cause you're in this new facility.

We're here for the grand opening in May.

And I just always reminded of how faithful God is and the journey to get here.

I don't know how many of you have been here since the beginning, you know, in the living room, but I know the theater and it's just so important that we always take the time to honor our pastors, to honor Pastor Clay and Kim and the sacrifice is that they've made over the years and perseverance.

You know, there are a lot of pastors, preachers in this world, but you guys have some incredible folks that are leading you guys.

They really, really do.

Now I know, I know some of you are kind of new here or maybe this is your first time and I'm glad you're here, but we can still do better than that because they deserve more honor than that.

So let's let them know how much we appreciate them.

Yeah, I wanna, I wanna pray for them, but, and you may be seated, but it's just important to, it's so easy along the way to quit.

It's so easy along the way to give up or to screw up, to make a bad decision somewhere along the way.

And yet, through all the different challenges and all the different struggles, you guys have been faithful and it's an encouragement to me and to staff and, and here's the thing, was 21 years ago or something like that, none of, there was no church.

Now you're a part of something that will be here a hundred years from now.

I mean, is that not incredible that you and I get that opportunity?

So if you would join me in praying for Pastor Clay and Kim.

Father, we thank you for their lives.

We thank you for Cole.

We pray that you would just bless them.

I pray that you'd touch Pastor Clay's body, continue to bring healing upon his life.

And I just pray you'd bless this church, God, that it would continue to be known in this community as a church that is making a difference and changing the world.

We're humbled, God, and encouraged to just see what you've done and how you can take something that many people doubted and turn it into something that honors you.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Amen.

All right.

Well, like I said, I am glad you're here.

It's an honor to be here.

Have you ever noticed how sometimes it's easy to get so focused in the moment you miss the bigger picture?

Has that ever happened to you where you just, you're so looking here and you don't see the big opportunity maybe that's in front of you?

Years ago, when Steph and I first got married, I don't know, probably four or five years after we got married, we got our first house.

And I was so proud and one of the things that made me so proud to have this home is, now this is a long time ago, so we had our first alarm system.

Now I know today everybody has alarm systems, it's no big deal.

But back in the day, you know, we grew up in the little town of Arkansas and you'd leave your doors unlocked, let alone have an alarm system.

And it made me feel as I have arrived as a man to have this alarm system.

And so the high point of my day was the end of the night when we'd get ready to go to bed.

And I'd be like, hey Steph, don't worry about it, I'll set the alarm.

And I just felt masculine.

I don't know why, walking over there and go, deet, deet, deet.

Now it's safe, sweetie, we can go to bed.

And then you get up in the morning, you know, and you gotta go and, you know, turn off the alarm clock.

Well one morning, I'm in the shower and all of a sudden I hear the alarm go off.

And I think, oh, Steph has opened the door to let the dog out and set the alarm off.

Anybody ever set your alarm off accidentally?

You know what I'm talking about?

You start running around frantically and I think, oh my gosh, and she doesn't know how to set it off, shut it off.

She needs a hero.

And I just happen to be one, OK?

And I thought, you know, there's no time to get dressed.

There's not even time to grab a towel.

She needs me, alright?

And so I jumped out of the shower and I took off running.

I could hear the Eye of the Tiger music from the old Rocky movies in the background, right?

And I'm gonna save the day.

And I round the corner and when I do, I come face to face with the cable man.

I was like, what do you say in that moment?

We were expecting you.

I mean, it's a weird situation.

But I got so focused on what was in front of me, I missed the bigger picture.

And I wanna talk about that in the book that Pastor Clay mentioned.

It's actually the story of how God's people go from being enslaved in Egypt to the Promised Land.

Because that's the same journey that we're all on.

And along the way, they kinda learn the difference between legacy and destiny.

The difference between being focused just upon my life and being focused upon something much bigger.

Now, if you remember the story, they have been enslaved for like 350 years.

They've been in Egypt probably for over 400 years.

And then God sends Moses, you have the 10 plagues, then they leave and they go the roundabout way, kinda like driving to Valorous Church.

Y'all kinda have the roundabout way to get here, don't ya?

It's crazy, right?

Y'all are just like the people of God, so, in the book of Exodus.

But they get to the Red Sea, Pharaoh's like, oh, let's go get him, and he chases them, and God divides the Red Sea, and they go across the wilderness, and they end up at the Jordan River, but there are giants on the other side, so they freak out and decide not to go.

And God's like, OK, don't wanna go, you don't have to, and they wander for 40 years until all those who didn't have the faith die.

And then, they get back to the Jordan River, this time Joshua's in charge.

It's a brand new group of people.

And God has the priests go in with the Ark of the Covenant, which represents God.

The river stops, it's in flood stage, they cross over on dry ground.

And God tells Joshua to have 12 different dudes, one from each tribe, to go back in, get this big rock, put it on their shoulders, and bring it out, because they're gonna build a memorial.

And he tells us in Joshua chapter 4, if you wanna turn your Bible, it's up on the screen, I think, as well, but look what he says in verse 21, he tells them why he wanted to build this memorial.

He says, then Joshua said to the Israelites, in the future, your children are gonna ask, what do these stories mean?

And he says, then you can tell them, this is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

For the Lord your God dried up the river right before their eyes, and he kept it dry until you were crossed.

Just like he did, as we talked a moment ago, in the Red Sea, when he dried it up, until everybody had crossed over.

Then I want you to notice what he says in verse 24.

He says, he did this so that all the nations on the earth might know the Lord's hand is powerful and, so there's two reasons he did this, and so that you might fear the Lord.

In other words, he says, first of all, this is more than just about you.

I did the miracle of stopping the Jordan River, but it wasn't just for those people in that day.

He says so.

He says, it's not just your destiny, but it's legacy for all the nations on the earth.

And then he says, I did it so you might fear, might not fear.

So he said, I did it for you, that's your destiny, but I also did it for something much larger, all the nations.

And over and over in Scripture, we see the differentiation between legacy, something bigger than us, and destiny, something that is about us.

And it's not that one is evil, but it's that God's calling us to something bigger.

When I was reading your website, Valorous' website, talking about who we are, here's what it said.

It said, we are a gathering of people who desire to live out our unique purpose, right?

That's your destiny, you're unique, the Bible says.

You're God's masterpiece, created on purpose to do something of significance.

You were born for such a time as this.

But it doesn't stop there.

Look what it says, and pursue something greater than ourselves.

That's legacy.

Destiny versus legacy, and sometimes we can get so focused on our destiny that we miss the idea of legacy, because we live kind of in a world that's pretty self-focused, have you noticed?

I don't know if you've noticed, have you noticed all the articles that are about folks who are single, not called, they're not single so they can focus on what God's called them to do, they're single because they don't want to deal with another person.

They write articles about it.

I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it, and I don't want somebody telling me what to do.

I've also noticed there's a lot of articles of people who go ahead and get married, but then they don't want to have children.

And the reason they don't want to have children is because, well, they want to do what they want to do when they want to do it.

And I don't know if you know, but if you've ever had children, you know once you have children you can't do what you want to do when you want to do it, because they have what they want to do when they want to do it, right?

And we get self-focused, we live in a world that's very self-focused, let's even get passionate about what our lives is about, but God has called us to something bigger.

Notice the very last words of Jesus in Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

In other words, God says I'm going to do something in you, but it's not just for you.

He says, and then you're going to be my witnesses everywhere in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

So God wants us to embrace our destiny so as to bring about our legacy.

But it's easy to get stuck in our destiny.

So many folks get so focused on their destiny that if it's not going well, they take their own life.

I mean, suicide's on the rise, and it's on the rise, why?

Because somewhere along the line, they forgot that their life was about more than themselves, that it was going to impact more than just them.

They got focused just on their destiny and they made a bad decision, or they got some kind of illness, or something happened in their world where they thought, my life is not worth pursuing anymore.

But they forgot about our calling to leave a legacy.

They forgot about Acts chapter 1.

You know, I was telling our church not too long ago that legacy is why we do a lot of the ministry that we do.

Legacy is why about 18 months ago, we raised some money so that we could rent a train in the Ukraine that went into Russia and rescued, I can't remember, about 700 kids who had been kidnapped and brought them back to their homes, okay?

It didn't buy seats at potential church, it didn't help us with our next event, it didn't pay for the mortgage or the electrical bill, that was just about legacy.

That was about being a part of something that was bigger than us.

It's the reason I shared with our church that we built schools in Syria and churches in Cuba and have a campus in Peru and connect groups in Columbia.

It's the reason we started churches in New York, Kansas City, Minnesota, and Nashville in recent years.

None of those things have a direct impact on us, but it's part of our legacy.

It's a part of being a part of something bigger than just us, and I'm sure that here at Velourus you hear about things all the time that are bigger than just you.

And sometimes it's hard to get passionate about that because you got your kids or your dating relationship or you got your report you gotta write, you got your job that's driving you crazy, you got all these things going on in your destiny, and it's so easy to think somebody else will take care of the legacy.

So how responsible then are we for impacting the future?

I can tell you one thing as Christians, I don't know if you're, you know, just investigating the claims of Christ or you are a Christ follower or you're just like, I don't believe any of that, but I can tell you as somebody who's been a Christ follower since age 12, one thing we're really good at and that's complaining.

Have you ever noticed, I mean, we can complain about the culture and we can complain about a whole lot of stuff.

So how responsible are we for the future?

Is it already predetermined and we just, well, let's look what the scripture says.

The Wisdom writer says in Proverbs chapter 13 that as parents you're at least responsible for three generations.

It says a good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children.

And the word inheritance there doesn't just mean money, it means values.

In other words, you and I are responsible not just for our own life but to live our own life in such a way that our kids' kids are impacted by it.

Psalms goes even a little further.

It says, let this be recorded for future generations.

Why?

So that people will, people not yet born will praise the Lord.

And so I had to ask myself this question and I'll ask you guys today.

What is being recorded about your life that will impact the lives of people who haven't even been born yet?

In other words, how are you living your life in such a way that the folks who haven't even been born yet 50 years from now are gonna be praising the Lord because of the way you've lived your life?

What kind of legacy are we leaving?

What kind of impact, what kind of future are we, are we building?

See, our church, Potential Church, was started by a church further east called Sheridan Hills Baptist Church.

And one day the pastor got up and out where we're located, out further out west, there was nothing out there.

Flamingo Road, the road we're located on, was a dirt road.

And yet he challenged some of the most engaged people in his church to go out there to that dirt road and start a church.

They had to sacrifice.

I don't know if you were here in the early days, but can I tell you something about church plants?

They don't have the most happening youth ministry in town when they first start, nor do they have children's ministry or men's ministry or women's ministry.

They have a vision and a passion and a calling.

And that's what these people did.

They went out there and they started it in 1978.

My life, my family, along with thousands of other people have been impacted by their legacy.

But you know, we have several different buildings and one of them has a stained glass window.

It's the only one on the campus.

And I've asked a lot of people, well, what's the story behind it?

I mean, there's only one, it's there, what's the story?

Why did it get put in?

And nobody's been able to tell me.

Over the years, it's been lost.

And often when it comes to legacy, it doesn't get passed down.

That's the reason Joshua said, hey, I want you to go out there and get those stones and I want to build a memorial because I want people in the future to be impacted by what God's done in the present.

So let me give you real quickly three realities when it comes to legacy so that you can not only build your destiny, but that you can leave a God-honoring legacy.

And here's the first thing I jotted down in my journal is that stories like the stained glass window or how you guys went from, you know, a living room and all the journey to get here, meeting out in the parking lot, meeting in the foyer, all the sacrifices that have happened to create something that 25 years ago was non-existent and today it's something that's gonna be around for hundreds of years.

Often those stories get lost and God's faithfulness gets forgotten.

Look what it says in chapter four and verse 18 of the story.

It says, as soon as the priest carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant came upon the riverbed, so the river stops, they cross over and it says, then they climb out, right, after everybody's passed.

It says the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks once again.

In other words, once the priest stepped out and everybody was across, if you would have just taken four or five steps and turned around, there would have been nothing you saw that gave evidence to the miracle that just happened.

In other words, God had stopped the river and thousands, tens of thousands of people had walked across on dry ground, but just a few minutes later, if you'd turned around, you wouldn't have seen anything that gave evidence to that.

Because miracles are temporary.

I mean, God may heal somebody from the most disastrous disease, but they're gonna die.

And have you ever noticed how easy it is to forget today what God has done in the past?

I mean, you see God do something and then you're marching forward and you come up against something else, you doubt.

It's so easy for the stories to get forgotten.

It's one of the reasons when Steph and I were in Arkansas, we started a church there.

And so we started putting up memorials because I wanted future, I wanted our legacy to be remembered, not so as to give us glory, but to give them faith.

And so one of the things, the last thing Steph and I got to be a part of was buying some land, I think it was 15 or 20 acres.

And so we planted a magnolia tree, and magnolia trees are pretty trees, it was a little seedling tree and beautiful blooms, and they're evergreen trees.

And so I went there a few years ago, I mean a few weeks ago, to speak, and the church is no longer little, right?

It's quite small.

And we put a plaque underneath it, and I wanna read that to you.

Here's what it says.

This property is dedicated to be used with the whatever-it-takes mindset to enlarge the kingdom and glorify God, May the 7th, 2000.

And then it's Psalm 1-3.

They delight in doing everything the Lord wants.

They're like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail.

Their leaves never wither, and all that they do prospers.

In other words, I wanted folks, when they walked onto that property 50 years from now, to be reminded that there were a group of people that had a whatever-it-takes mindset that sacrificed so as to purchase that property, and because God was faithful then, he'll be faithful today, right?

It's not just about gratitude.

I mean, I think in my own life, when our oldest, and Steph got pregnant, and she was teaching first grade at the time, and she had trouble.

Her blood pressure shot up, she got toxemia, she was in the hospital, and Tyler was, his heart would stop.

And they'd come, you know, put her in the hospital, and then they'd come rushing in, and they'd put her on oxygen, and all these kind of, and we were young, you know, and anxious.

And eventually, the doctor's like, we're gonna have to induce you.

And so, he was like six weeks early, so they had to stick that long needle in to see if the lungs would work, and all that kind of stuff, and I thought it was sad that Steph had to go through that, but I was cheering her on the whole way, alright?

But it was a scary time, and eventually, her blood pressure goes up, his heart rate stops, the inducement doesn't work.

She doesn't go into labor, so they decide they're gonna do a C-section when her, his heart rate stopped, and her blood pressure shot up, and so they rush her in there, and they cut her open, and the little head comes out, looks like alien, and I remember the doctor said a couple of things.

One is he said, you know, these preemies just sometimes don't want to breathe, which freaked me out.

But then he told us this later, he said, you know, when we induced her, had it worked, the baby wouldn't have survived, because the cord was wrapped around his neck.

In other words, the fact that the inducement didn't work, the fact that Stephanie went through what she went through, really was a miracle that saved our son's life, alright?

And yes, you can applaud that, alright?

Here's the sad thing, is often, knowing that God's done that in the past, I'll find myself being anxious about the present.

Because it's so easy to forget what God has done.

And if we're gonna build a legacy, it's important that we remember, whether it's to set out those memorials, or whether it's to share the stories.

Don't ever get tired of sharing the story of what God has done in your life, that what God has done here at Valorous Church throughout the years.

Here's the second thing that I jotted down as I was thinking about this narrative, is the future is impacted by those who have the faith to create it.

The future is impacted by those who have the faith to create it.

In other words, we have a responsibility to stop complaining, and actually lead out in transformation.

But in order to do that, we have to believe in God's promises.

Now, that shouldn't be too much of a stretch for those of us who are Christ followers, but look at what it says in Joshua chapter three.

It says, meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the ark of the Lord's covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the river.

People go by.

Notice what it says, this, don't miss this.

They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed on dry ground.

Then in chapter four, verse one, it says when the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan River.

Now, when you read that, here's the thought.

A nation?

Really they're a nation?

They don't have a military, they have no organization.

They've been wandering nomads, ex-slaves for 40 years, and they're a nation now?

They go from no homeland, no government, right?

To now being a nation that's crossing the Jordan River.

This was God reminding them of the promise he made to them and to their forefathers.

And if you and I are going to impact the future, we have to do it by a faith in what God has promised.

And Jesus himself said that he would build his church.

Again, sometimes we forget that.

I mean, have you talked to people lately at the coffee shop?

People are freaked out.

Oh my gosh, the world is in chaos.

Can you believe what's going on over here?

And can you believe what these people will think?

And man, what happens if this person doesn't win the election and got all of this stuff going on in their minds when it's, oh, wait a minute.

There's no politician that's going to determine the future.

Jesus said it was the church that would determine the future.

See, you got to understand that as a Christ follower, the way you and I live our lives and the decisions we make is much more important than any mayor, governor, or president makes.

The church is not a man's idea.

Jesus created the family, the church, and the government to create an environment in which the church can create the future.

Jesus said it.

He said upon this rock, upon this proclamation that I am the savior, I will build my church and what?

The gates of hell will not prevail.

That is not a defensive stance.

We're not building a wall to protect ourselves.

The wall was built by the enemy.

And he goes in and he kidnaps our marriages and he kidnaps our dream with addiction and brokenness and suicide.

But we are the church of the all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere, one-time God.

And he said there's no wall we can't tear down.

There's no gate we can't open and rescue those who are broken and addicted and discouraged and depressed.

We are the ones that will determine what the future is and no one else.

We got to embrace the promise.

That's the promise you have.

That's the power you have.

And yet so many times as the church, we're freaked out even by technology.

Have you ever noticed that?

Listen, I'm old enough.

I remember when we got scanners in the grocery store.

Some of you have no idea what I'm talking about because you've had them.

But it used to be they had to go deet, deet, deet, deet, deet and put in the price.

Now you just scan it.

I remember our grocery store in our little town got scanners and the next weekend our preacher told us it was the mark of the beast.

The world was coming to an end.

I'm 56 years old and can I tell you, this election is the most important election of my life.

And every election I've ever been a part of is the most important election of my life.

That's what they tell me every single year.

And I'm not trying to say that elections aren't important.

What I am trying to say is that God said you, the church, get to create the future, not some politician somewhere in any part of the world.

But now I understand the applause is not real good there because as the church, we tend not to believe that.

We tend to walk around afraid that if the wrong person wins this or the wrong person does that or whatever, that somehow we're not going to be able to reach our destiny or leave a sense of legacy.

Joshua is reminded here, this is a nation that's crossing the Jordan River.

Because God promised it to Abraham a long time ago and he's just reminding them as they go into the new land, hey, you are a nation, you are empowered.

Even though you might have to do it differently.

In verse 13 of chapter 4, look at what it says, it says, the priest will carry the ark of the Lord, which represents God's presence, and as soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of the water will be cut off.

And there'll be this big wall of water and they'll walk across on dry ground.

Now if you remember in the Red Sea, that's not the way Moses did it, Moses used a stick.

He raised that stick and the Red Sea divided.

And you gotta know, right, because these are religious people, you gotta know that when Joshua said, okay, guys, here's what we're gonna do.

The priest's gonna take the ark of the covenant and they're gonna walk up and they're actually gonna put their foot, now don't worry, I know it's flood stage and the river's rushing, don't worry about the priest, because the moment they touch that water with their foot, it's gonna stop and divide.

And you know there was somebody there said, now, Joshua, I mean, I love Jesus, but that's not the way we do it here, all right?

Because you've probably heard, remember Joshua, you were Moses, that's not the way Moses did it.

And Moses just held up a stick, Joshua, you sure you wanna do that?

Because again, we forget the scripture says God puts new wine in new wineskin.

Well, the truth is reliable, right, the truth doesn't change, but the way in which God wants us to speak it into the community does.

And we shouldn't be afraid of that, right?

We get to create the future.

You get to use your gifts and your abilities, whether they be in technology or be in art or be in athletics or academics, you are who you are because God intentionally created you.

You didn't fall out of a tree and you didn't wash up on the shore.

God didn't see you be born and say, what in the world am I gonna do with this one?

No, before you were ever visible, he were invisibly in the heart and mind of God and he knit you together for such a time as this so that you could succeed, so that we could transform the world, not be afraid of the world, not to be afraid to step in.

So many times the church is behind, afraid, go to the coffee shop, go to Walmart, Walmart's a good place to go and hear what people think, right?

You'd think as Christians we'd have a great sense of confidence that all of this stuff that's going on in the world is important, but God's empowered us to dream the future.

God's empowered us.

But we gotta believe what he actually says, even when it's scary.

Because notice in verse 10, it says, and the people hurried across.

Isn't that kind of funny?

I mean, you know, I'm kind of thinking, like, this is a once in a lifetime deal, right?

The river's stopped, it's dry ground.

I've kind of been like, yeah, look at me, I'm all, that's right, God loves me.

But then the Bible says they were running across there because they were scared.

I, hey, I heard what happened to the Egyptians.

They got to the middle and it crashed down on top of them.

And I don't, I don't want that to happen, I don't want that to happen to me.

It was scary, but they were still obedient.

Then you get down to verse number five and it says, they all get across.

And then Joshua gets, you know, this idea that these twelve need to go back and get a rock.

He says, then Joshua said to them, cross again to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take a stone, put it on your shoulder and bring it back.

Can you imagine what those twelve were saying?

Like, Joshua, we already made it to the, you really want us to go back?

Do you see how high that water is?

Are you sure it's God speaking to you, Joshua?

I mean, there's some really good rocks right here on the shore.

See, I think that one of the reasons God wanted them to go back in is He wanted to remind them, look, this is not just about you, this is bigger than you.

I didn't just dry up the Jordan River so you could cross it.

I dried up the Jordan River so that in the future, people will be inspired to follow me by my faithfulness to you.

And that can be scary at times.

There's things that God asks us to do.

We do live in a scary world.

There are scary things happening.

But that doesn't mean that we don't have to run in fear.

I can, in my own life, when God nudged me and Steph to go into ministry, that's scary.

That's not what I planned on doing.

I mean, I planned on being a coach, she was a teacher, her dad was a superintendent, that's an easy way to get a job.

You know, we had it all kind of figured out and planned and all of a sudden, God nudges our heart.

It's like, ah, that's scary.

And then I remember when God nudged our hearts to go to South Florida, we didn't know anybody, can I tell you?

South Florida's incredibly different from Arkansas, all right?

I remember when we were moving, people in Arkansas said, you know, if you make a wrong turn in Miami, they'll kill you, you know, so it's scary.

All of a sudden, it cost so much more money that we didn't have, we didn't know what our role was gonna be.

When I wrote the book that Pastor Clay was talking about, that's scary to me.

It took me a long time to get obedient in that area.

All the different thoughts that roam through your mind when you do something like that.

They, see, if we're gonna create the future, we have the, have the faith to believe that God keeps His promises.

And I, I just, even though it can be scary, let me remind you about the early church.

Have you guys heard of the New Testament?

You know what I'm talking about?

In the Bible there, it's the second part?

Where the church kind of gets rocking and rolling?

You remember what happened, right?

God takes 12 people, and He changes the world.

But let's think about how He does this, because remember who these people were.

These early Christians were almost slaves to the Romans.

I mean, really, they couldn't do what they wanted to do, they had to pay money to the Romans, and Romans were really in control, even though they had a little bit of freedom, you might say.

And yet, God takes these people living in poverty, having to listen to what the Romans say and do, God took them and changed one of the most powerful nations that's ever existed on planet Earth.

Rome became a Christian nation.

You think about that.

And you know what?

It wasn't because they elected the right person into office.

It was because some poverty-stricken people actually believed that God does what He said He would do.

That He can take an ordinary, average fisherman, and the truth of His Word can change the world.

It's the same God, and they were just people, just like you.

You are the one that God wants to use, but you gotta believe that, man.

You gotta believe that the Holy Spirit that indwells you can bring about change.

What if Myrtle Beach, which is known for a lot of things, golf, the beach, right, but what if Myrtle Beach was so transformed, like Rome was, that it became known as a place where Jesus couldn't be ignored?

Right, the atheists would be afraid to send their kids on vacation here.

Ah, don't you go to that Myrtle Beach.

You know, I heard, yeah, you know, I was listening to a guy talk about pagans, and he was talking, you know, we talk, think about pagans as those who don't trust Christ, but originally the word pagan means country person, rule person.

And the reason pagans weren't Christians is because the early Christians transformed the most difficult places, the city.

Rome was chained, transformed first of all, in Rome.

What if Myrtle Beach became one of those places?

Oh, that could never happen, not in 2024, why not?

God's still God.

He's done miracles in your life, He's been faithful to you.

So why can't He do that?

Why can't He use you?

Why can't He use me?

Why can't it be this city?

In order for it to happen, though, and I'll end, is to impact the future, you have to be willing to fight for it.

That's the thing as Christians sometimes we struggle with, isn't it?

Look at the narrative, Joshua chapter three, verse 16.

So the water's above and it backs up, right?

So now they're walking across on dry ground.

Look at that last sentence.

Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.

Why?

Is that where you would cross over, Jericho?

Remember, it was in chapter eight, where you got the high walls, tightly shut up, military, that's the enemy of all the places in which to cross.

Why did they choose Jericho?

I mean, if you read chapter four, look what happens, it says the armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed, about 40,000.

And they were ready for what?

Not at all.

What would you have been ready for?

What would I have been ready for?

I mean, think about it.

After 350 years of enslavement to the Egyptians, after the 10 plagues, after the excitement of saying we're out of here, only to find yourself going in the roundabout way to eventually get to the Jordan River, all the land of milk and honey, you can see it, but then there are giants, and then you end up wandering for 40 years, and it's not even your fault, it's your parents' fault that you're out there wandering around in the desert for 40 years.

And finally, you get back to the Jordan River, you have enough faith to cross over it.

I need a break, that's what I need.

I deserve a break.

Let's take a little time off for goodness sake, right?

God, you understand, I've been through a lot, because we love that in the church, don't we?

It probably doesn't happen here at Valorous, but I can tell you at Potential Church, I'll talk to folks, they'll say, yeah, we've been here for a couple of years, we just sat in the back, because we needed to take a break.

Well, while you were taking a break, the enemy was creating the future.

Right?

See, the reality is that if we want to change the present and create the future, we gotta fight for it.

We gotta stop talking about how we've been hurt and I just need to take a break and I'm just gonna sit over here for a while.

I mean, listen, if you're here for the first time, I'm honored, I know Pastor Clay and Kim are honored you're here, if you're investigating the claims of Christ, take as long as you want.

But if you are a Christ follower, and the most spiritual thing you ever do is sit in that chair, God's not impressed with that.

The fact that somehow you got out of bed and you made it here today, or you're watching online, that's great, and I am glad, hear my heart, I am so glad that you're here.

But there's so much more to it than that.

God's given you gifts and He's given you talents, He's given you skills, He's given you experiences.

Some of you have been through some really tough stuff, and the enemy's kept you quiet.

You're only here for your destiny.

I need to hear the right message, I need to get the right song.

Man, I hope this person's teaching and this person's singing.

No, no, when's the last time — let me just ask you this.

This week, have you prayed more for what you need God to do in your life, or what you've been praying God would do through your life?

Man, it's easy to get passionate about our own lives, isn't it?

You gotta fight for it.

Because one day we're all gonna stand before God, and I don't think He's gonna be that impressed with all the excuses we give Him for why we never took on the power that He's given us to create the future as Christ followers.

I don't think He's gonna take it when we blame church hurt, and we blame some political party, and we blame a lack of finances, and we blame all — oh God, I would have done so much.

God's like, what do you do?

You gotta engage.

We gotta engage, the future's at stake.

And you and I have been empowered by God for such a time as this to make a difference.

And when I say engage, this is what I mean, and I'll shut up, it's how you serving?

What ministry are you a part of?

How you using your gifts and your skills and your talents?

I'm telling you, I'm sure the preschool needs some folks.

It doesn't take a lot of skill to be able to change a diaper and love on those kids and let them know that God created them on purpose to, to do something of significance.

Almost anybody here could do that.

Maybe it's to help the children, maybe it's to run this technology.

Maybe it's to mow the yard or park the cars or sing songs, but you gotta engage.

Don't complain about this election if all you do is sit in that chair.

Don't get upset that somebody didn't win.

Sometimes I just think, man, we, we don't realize what God wants to do to your life.

The enemy does, that's why he keeps you distracted and discouraged and defeated, that's why he tells you, you're just average.

You're just ordinary.

You don't have a gift.

You don't have a talent.

You're nothing special.

When the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords got individually, intentionally involved in your creation.

Engage with your finances, because I can tell you this, there are a lot of businesses that are building here in Myrtle Beach.

They think this is the place to be.

They think there's value to be here.

There's not a one of them doing it without money.

All those subdivisions, guess what?

Those contractors are spending money.

So why should we get tense when we come to church and the pastor or someone else says, hey, you need to be generous here.

If you believe in creating the future, it's gonna take some sacrifice.

Man, I talk to, I talk to investors all the time that take that last little bit and they put it all down on that house or they put it all down on whatever it is that they're, that business that they're trying to start.

But then we cross our arms and we get mad when the preacher talks about money at the church.

Let's change the future.

Be who God created you to be.

Myrtle Beach needs you.

South Carolina needs you.

The United States, the world needs and it can start anywhere.

Can I pray for us?

Father, I thank you for the story of the people of God and I thank you for how they remind us and give us the principles, God, as we wrote about, about how to, how to get to our destiny and leave a legacy.

I pray for Valorous Church.

I pray for Pastor Clay and Kim and I pray for every believer that's here.

If you need to engage, will you commit right now?

Maybe you need Christ to say, Jesus, I need you forgive me for doing life my own way.

He's tapped you on the shoulder.

We're not talking about religion.

We're talking about transformation.

Maybe you need to follow him in baptism.

Maybe you need to finally engage in a ministry or just be faithful with your money.

Would you tell him?

What's he nudged your heart to do?

God help us to believe again in the power of your people to change the world.

In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Amen.