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Let's Level Up

Pastor Eric Burton - January 26, 2025 Isaiah 28:10-13 He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!” So now God will have to speak to his people through foreign oppressors who speak a strange language! God has told his people, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen. So the Lord will spell out his message for them again, one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there, so that they will stumble and fall. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.   Key Verse Today: Isaiah 28:10-13   Main Announcement: Today we launch Connect Groups!   We like to start at the finish line. We normally experience life from the vantage of big experiences and completed projects, but life is constructed of small things: It's making your bed, lending a smile, a penny saved, simply saying no or yes.     Today we're going to encourage you to start. Start with the small things and allow God to continue doing the small things in your life.    Context of Isaiah 28: There's a city of proud drunks that believe their city is indestructible because of its location. They have made a deal that has hedged them against death. They don't like that God speaks to them like children, telling them things over and over, one line at a time... a little here and a littler there. They've built their lives on a foundation of lies.    They are told a hailstorm will destroy it all; God lets them know a catastrophe is coming that is going to destroy you.     Instead, (God loves to offer a better option) God offers a solution by laying a firm foundation of truth that they can build on and anyone that builds on it will be safe.   Psalm 127:1   Psalms 127:1 Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.   God builds people and His kingdom out of small things. He instills His principles through the process of here a little and there a little.    Is it Nagging or Nudging?   Building a brick wall is the same material layered up one level at a time.  Nagging is when you're still on the same level the first time it was told to you. Nudging is when you are further along than the first time it was told to you.    Don't mistake the instruction of God for nagging when He simply wants you to level up!     Things we nudge about around here at The Sycamore: Next Steps Serving  Salvation Baptism Connect Groups We hope by saying it enough one day you will catch on. ;)   God is a Builder, not a Destroyer.   It's easy to tear things down. Anyone can demolish, but it's a skill to build. To build people and churches and ministry and a marriage...   God doesn't want to hear himself say the same thing over and over. It's actually a way of building. God CAN build things quickly, but most often he chooses not to.   God builds with lines:  So you develop So you don't collapse under pressure So your gifting doesn't outpace your character   One line by itself isn't that strong but put lots of lines together and you have fortification.   You may feel discouraged because you are just starting out in your faith. But God is building you one line at a time to make you strong when storms come, and they will come.   Small things got us in this position.   Proverbs 6:10-11 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.   Small things end up making a big difference. Little choices and little steps got us where we are.   Good choices build strong lives. Zechariah 4:10, Don't despise the day of small things.   Things that started small:  God's kingdom, seen as a stone that was tumbling Anointing starts out as a stream and turns into a river Our church   Don't be afraid to start with small beginnings   The construction is the objective. We are not being built to be finished in this life time: God is building us to develop us for the life to come.     You don't have to be perfect to begin. When God created the world, it was a mess. When God found me, my life was a mess. You don't have to be perfect to begin walking with Jesus. "We don't get good to come to Jesus. We get Jesus to get good"   What you need to do today: Start a relationship with Jesus. Let Jesus continue building you up. Join a Connect Group today.