This sermon emphasizes the significance of seemingly small things in our spiritual life, highlighting how even the tiniest seed of faith or sin can have a profound impact. It urges listeners not to despise small beginnings or overlook small sins, as they can hinder the fullness of God's purpose. The message stresses the need for humility, repentance, and surrender to God in addressing these areas to experience transformation and fulfill God's intended plan.

This morning I would like to talk to you about something, a word that the Lord has laid on my heart, especially for this morning. And it's called, small things are big things. Small things are big things. And if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. I hope by the end of this message, when it comes to speaking and understanding about spiritual things, you and I will be, will remember to say there is no such thing as small things. There is no such thing as a small thing when it comes to our spiritual life. And the Word of God and the words of Jesus bear this out. And it is something that the enemy wants to obscure in our hearts. But today, through looking at his word, the Lord is going to implant upon us. And it's going to bring forth such fruit in our lives. When we remember there, small things are big things. You know it says in Zechariah, there's a verse in that chapter in the Bible. And it says, for who has despised the day of small things? And that's a question the Lord asked because it's, it can be found very much in the heart of humanity to despise small things. Because it's very much to want to despise it in the sense of ignoring it. Or there is a contempt if things start small or things are small or things are given to us in a small measure. And there is a almost like a disregarding of it. And we can ignore it. But the Lord is asking, who has despised the day of small things? He goes on in that verse to say, don't do that. Because there's going to be, there is a day of small beginnings that I use that will, can turn my house absolutely upside down. And a word to the wise throughout this whole message is, do not discount, do not have contempt, do not scorn small things. And this is why. If we look in Matthew 13, we see a very familiar scripture. And it is talking about where Jesus is now trying to step by step, little by little, line upon line, build into his followers, his disciples, what he means by the gospel. What he means by the good news. And the only way that he can truly convey it is to use pictures and words. And it's still effective for us today. And we're, many of us are familiar with what Jesus says. He says, he puts this forth to them. The kingdom of heaven, verse 31, is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. And here is Jesus very clearly telling us that when the kingdom of God comes to your heart, comes to the heart of any hungry heart, when the kingdom of God comes, first the Holy Spirit comes. And it says, if when I visit you and you feel just a seed, just a morsel of stirring, just an opening, a very small opening in your heart or your life that wants faith and wants to know God in a deeper way, it says don't despise it because this is how the kingdom of God is. That a very, the tiniest of seeds can be planted in the earth, or the tiniest seeds of faith or longing can be planted by the Holy Spirit into the heart of a seeker or a believer, and it will in time become the greatest of the herbs. That the smallest can become the greatest. When Christ, even the smallest measure of his life, a smallest measure of faith is put, that which is true, which is truly Christ, just the tiniest amount in our heart can become the greatest of all the herbs. In fact, it says it becomes a tree. It just even moves out of the herb realm. And that tiny seed moves out of that which, you know, it could become the greatest seed of all the herbs, but it says no, even in God it can move beyond that potential and become a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodge in it. In other words, come and build a life in it. And this is what, this so vividly contrasts the size of the seed with the magnificent result it produces. This is a picture of when Christ is truly brought into our heart, even in the smallest of measure, if there is an honest and true longing for God. And we say, Lord, reveal yourself. And Jesus Christ, his son, in the smallest of measure, with the tiniest amount of faith, is calling his name. God says, that is enough. He says, this is the kingdom of God. That you receive it and you have it in the tiniest of measure, but you wait on me because it is the seed of God. It is the seed of heaven. It is eternal. It is incorruptible. It will never break down. It will only continue to grow. If you have the right seed, you can, your life can become not just a mighty herb, but a tree that others can come and live and lodge in and build a life upon. It is Jesus speaking to his disciples and think now when he's speaking this, he alone, on the face of the earth, understands the gospel, understands his mission, understands who he is. He is one man, God clothed in flesh, and in humanity he is one man with a full understanding. And now he's communicating this tiny seed of truth that is going to be communicated to 12 disciples that eventually would grow in numbers, in power, and in influence to encompass the whole earth, and is still growing. And that is what, when Jesus spoke this, what was happening? Just a tiny seed contained in one earthen vessel, and yet it's communicated and it has the power still to break powers of darkness. That seed of his life in us is able to bend unbelief, and darkness, and strongholds, and oppressions, and depressions. He is still Lord of it all, and when we invite the Lord maker of heaven and earth to come into our heart, even in the smallest of measure, he is showing us that he is able to bend everything at his will, and that you and I can grow up into a life that others can build and nestle upon. Because it's not just a gospel for ourselves, where you and I get restored, and we get healed, we get delivered, we get made new, we get a new mind, and we get a new heart. But God says no, I'll create that your life become not just a good herb, where we're the best we can be, but we move into being a tree, where others can come and build and find sustenance, see beauty, receive shelter, find nourishment. That's the purpose of the gospel, not just for ourselves in a great herb, but move into a tree where others can build a life upon. Hallelujah. So it is with this soul that unites with Christ, the tiniest of faith, our life, a picture of our life to come. And do not despise beloved, even the smallest measure of the cry of your heart. Do not despise even the tiniest measure of faith, where it's, you can believe a little bit for one thing, but it seems impossible to believe for the darkness and for the mountain before you and I. Christ is able to take that mountain apart piece by piece, to subdue it, to level it. We can, He, we do not despise, we are not a people who despise a day of small beginnings. We recognize the power of whom we are dealing with and what faith in Him, even in the smallest measure, can accomplish and grow into to transform our lives. And it tells us once again that this, this, not just Jesus is trying to explain the kingdom of God and right after the mustard seed parable, He says in verse 33 of Matthew 13, He says, don't look, I'm going to try to tell it another way to you, because I know the human heart resists this truth. It seems too good to be true. It says, another parable spake he unto them, the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. And Jesus is saying, here's, here it is, here's your life. You invite a very small part in the sense of, because your faith is only to grasp a little part of what I'm offering you. Your faith or your belief can only grasp part, but you invite it in. And beloved, leaven is a, is a, in this, it's a, it's a picture of yeast, which is a living substance and is able to break down and work through all the dense dough, till all that dough, all that lump has been worked through with the yeast. And we invite Christ into our life. Believe me, even in the smallest of measure, He is such a living life force that He is able to work through this lump of clay, your lump of clay. He is able to work through His life into every part of death, every part of the lump. He is able to work His life through till the whole lump is leavened, till the whole part of our life is riddled through with His life. This is His purpose for us. This is the gospel. This is the good news. He says, when you invite me into your life and I unite with your spirit, you become a quickening agent, because I am in you. And I work out the death. I work out your unbelief. I work out where you're not able to believe me. Hallelujah. I take you on a journey of faith. I challenge the death and the unbelief and the fear in you, till you in your heart begin to cry out, Oh God, I believe, but help my unbelief. And He quickens us, because He is a life-giving force. He is the leaven that's been introduced into our mind and our heart and our soul. And greater is He that is in us than he who has found any place else. Hallelujah. Whether it's our own self on the throne, whether it's the world pushing in and has marred our image or given us a wrong way of thinking, God is able to overcome it all, because He is the Lord of Lords. He is the King of Kings. He says, walk with me with an honest heart and I will prove to you that you will not just become a great herb, you'll become a tree. You won't just be a lump of clay dead in in unbelief and fear, but you keep crying out to me and I will be that leavening agent. Work through your life. I will break through into the darkness and the unbelief. I will break through and I will make you something you could not be without me. But keep looking to me, for I am God and nothing is impossible with me. Hallelujah. So you and I in faith can present areas of our heart that seem impossible to us and do it with joy. For if Christ is in you, there is hope. If Christ is in you, there is power. And nothing, no, no stronghold of Satan, no stronghold of flesh, can withstand Him when He's invited in. Beloved, you know one thing I've found, Jesus always comes where He is wanted. He always comes where He is wanted. That's why if you have the smallest measure of His life and there is a cry in your heart, oh Jesus confront the darkness in me, confront the despair in me, He will. He will. And He will prove Himself strong and faithful. And just like that leaven, when it's worked through us and the heat comes in the trial and tribulations, we rise with Christ. Because that's what leaven does. And gives nourishment, that bread of life living in us. And He has worked His life through us. And we rise in tribulation and and He who is the bread of life lives in us. And we're able to give words of life. We're able through our experience, through the victory He has given us. Because in a little bit of faith, with a true cry, He has come through and says prove me if this is not true. That the kingdom of God is like the tiniest of seed, planted in your life able to produce a magnificent result with your life and my life. I was raised in a family that was unsaved. And when I was growing up, basically I and my mom and my father, we all got saved within a short period of time. But when I was raised, I saw firsthand a marriage that fell apart. I saw a marriage that did not work and it was broken. My parents marriage. And it produced in me when I became a young woman, that one thing I did not want was marriage. And I I sought school. School came easy to me. Books came easy to me. And so I sought my identity and my refuge in learning. And the end result was that by the time Christ found me, I was a young woman in my early 20s, who because of the brokenness in my parents marriage and and the real depth of depression and despair that was in our household, I was very emotionally distant and unavailable to people. Now if you had met me, I could truly be the party girl. I could always give the impression that I could be personable and that I cared about people. But if you took one step too close into my circle, I shut down so completely. I did not know how to emotionally connect to people. I did not know how to trust. I did not even know how you went about even bloody times having basic relationships. I just knew how to play the game of social, but I could never deliver into a satisfying being a satisfying friend or any kind of emotional attachments. And if you cannot emotionally connect to people, you know that you are a stronghold of depression. You are a stronghold of not able to trust. And it's like you just move through this world when you're young many times being able to give off a one impression but the reality is very different. And because school came easy to me and I, you know, I excelled at it, it was like my covering and so I had this huge pride when it came to, you know, if you wanted to debate or if you wanted to have an intellectual conversation, I love that because then we never had to have any emotion involved in that. And so, you know, that's the way I operated with people. But it, between the depression and the disconnect in the pride, I can't think in some ways of a harder heart for the gospel to reach. Because it looks like if you have to surrender, that would truly mean that if you just made yourself vulnerable to God and you don't know how to do that on any level with any living person, and yet so riddled with pride and the Scripture says that God resists the proud, truly I was a candidate in the natural that God could not visit. Except underneath all the darkness and underneath all the struggle of my heart was a cry. A cry for Him that only He heard. If you had met me at 22, you would not identify or recognize me as a young woman with a desperate cry, but I was. And God knew. And He visited me. And with the tiniest, tiniest seed of a cry, and wondering really could God accept me? Because there were times being raised in a religious home, I had tried to do things right, knew I was an utter failure at it, and really didn't think. I thought really religion is for another kind of person, but not like me. I'm no good at religion. I can't do it. And by the time I came to Him so broken and so completely convinced, I can't, I can't live a good life. I could be a good partier, but I can't live a good life. And yet Jesus knew that. And He came to me. And a tiny little seed of His life was deposited in my life. And the depression, and the lostness, and the the sense of lack of identity, and the pride proved to be nothing to Him. Proved to be absolutely no obstacle to Him whatsoever. And little by little, in His incredible love for me, He said, I'm going to take you on a journey, my daughter, because I love you. I have chosen you. I have seen and heard the cry. I'm depositing just a mustard, tiny little seed of faith in your heart. Now watch what I can do. And I can tell you, after over 30 years, even though I have most part been of little understanding, little faith, little trust, by His mercy, most of the time, there has been an honest cry for God. And I found out that's all I need. That Jesus is enough. I can truly say to you, He will leaven the whole lump. And He did leaven this whole lump. Not that I have arrived, but I can tell you, I have changed. I have family in this audience today. They will tell you, oh yes, she has changed. I have friends who will tell you, without a doubt, that woman has changed. I just heard the small family down there. Hallelujah. That's why I have come never to despise small beginnings. For I knew how small my beginning was. And I knew how faithful Jesus is. I know there is no darkness He does not overcome. I know that He is able to cause the smallest of things given to Him. When His life is truly received, He says, give me time. I know what I'm doing. I know how to confront the darkness and the unbelief in you. Don't ever pull away from me. Don't despise it. Don't say, it's too little to give to you. It's too small. It's too riddled in unbelief. There's just too many mountains before me. Too much blackness, too much despair. Beloved, that's a lie from the enemy. It's never too little put in His hand. Never. That's why there's a battle for faith, where the enemy goes, that's not good enough. Do you know who you are? You know how you can't believe. You know how you doubt. You know how you forget God days on end. You know who you are when you go home. You know what you're like on Wednesday. Beloved, I want to let you know that Jesus does know all that, and He is walking with us on Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. He gives, He says, give to me that which you're ashamed of, and that's what you failed. That where you think it's impossible. That where you're weary in. That where it seems so hard. I am a quickening life. Call on my name. I will be faithful to you, and I'm going to work through your life, my life, till the whole lump is leavened. Till the whole lump has life right through it. And that is the principle on which the kingdom of God is built and advanced. Small is not small. Small is never small. Small is always a great thing when put honestly into the hand of God, and say, Lord, I thank you with this smallness. I will continue in your word. I will continue in your leading, and I will continue trusting you. Because you know, beloved, the smallest of things, even when we give to Him from our emptiness or our lack, Jesus notices it. And if you will just turn quickly with me to Mark 12. I just want to show you this. In Mark chapter 12, in verse 41, here is when we seemingly are giving to Him such a little offering, but done with an honest heart, a cry for Him. In Mark 12, it talks about a woman, and she, let me just turn there, the widow's offering, it talks about how people were, Jesus and His disciples were at the treasury, and they beheld how people cast money in, and many were rich. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites. And He called unto Him, disciple, He says, look, I say to you that this poor widow has cast in more than all which they have cast into the treasury, for all they did cast in out of their abundance. But she in her want, she in her need, she in her lack did cast in all that she had, even all her living. And beloved, you know, that is so true, because so many times, when against faith and against hope, when it seems so pitiful, what we're asking God to come and take in our want, in our insufficiency, Jesus takes notice of it. Jesus said, you know, when you do that in some ways, that's true faith. When I pitifully give to you what I seem to so lack in, but I just in faith offer it to you. Jesus says, I take notice of that, because you know something, you're throwing your life in behind that. You're saying, I should be kept from giving this to you, Jesus. It looks so little, it looks so insignificant, it looks so, so, like I have not kept my end of the bargain, and just I'm in such need and want, but the tiny I have, I give it to you. And beloved, Jesus said, that's like throwing your whole life in behind it, because the enemy would want us to shut down and say, what good it should it be if I ask him to do this for me? Who am I? What matters, what does it matter, God, if you begin to, to convict me? If you begin to move on my heart, I seem to have so little to offer you. This scripture is telling us Jesus takes notice, and he says, when you in an eye by faith, because sometimes it takes a lot of faith and a lot of humility to go and give the very little we have, because it's not in our abundance, not that we have it all together with God and spiritually riding a high, but when we feel the lowest, when we feel the most unworthy, when we feel like we shouldn't even come to church today, at those moments, when we feel so defeated in our thought life, where everybody else is going ahead of us, that is when we need to give the smallest of offerings. For Jesus says, I take note of it, and in her want, in her lack, Jesus took notice and was about to do something amazing, and she was about to be immortalized. I know what this is, you know, I was raised in a Catholic home, and I never ever knew what Sunday school was. I never knew what women's meetings were, and about five years after we were saved, the Lord began to move on my husband and I heart that we should have a Bible study, and after a Bible study, a few years later, a church grouped around us, and can I tell you, talk about lack, talk about not knowing how to do this, talk about having absolutely no framework in which to draw from, by even saying, well, I guess church looks like this. We didn't even know that in large measure, and how to lead it. I remember the very first ladies meeting. I have to, our church at that time was 13 people, so thank God we could start with small beginnings. It was a blessing for everybody, and we felt, well, we need to have a women's meeting, so all right, well, I guess we'll have the women's meeting in my house. What do you do at a women's meeting? I have no idea, but I'm supposed to lead it, so what did I do? I made sandwiches, of course. I made sandwiches, and we invited women, and 22 came. Almost double the church, and I didn't know what to do, literally, and in the middle of it, my baby started crying, so I had to go get my baby daughter. I had to sit there, nurse my daughter, lead the meeting, wonder what to do, and then feed everybody in my kitchen. Trust me, there was a lot of lack. I didn't have a book. I didn't have a format, but I had Jesus, and in my lack, He supplied, and when I didn't know what I was doing, He knew what He was doing, and He knew how to touch the heart of these women, and He knew what it is He wanted to say to them, and He knew by His Spirit how He wanted to enter into the depths of their heart and bring a word to them that would revive them and start to put them on their feet, start to have them return to live a life that was calling on the name of Jesus to see the miracles start to happen in their heart and in their family's life. God knows what He's doing. When He says, give to me the little, give to me the little that you have. I can do much with it, but now, beloved, I just want to, as time is quickly away, I want to talk about the other side of little, the other side of small, and that is this, where it says, do not despise, do not have contempt, do not ignore small beginnings. In like measure, what an incredible and magnificent work Christ does in a heart that invites Him in and has so little to give Him but asks Him anyway, and gives it to Him. In like manner, how, how, what folly it is to despise and have contempt for small disobediences, and so-called small sins, and so-called small areas in our heart that have walked with us and been part of our character for so long. What folly, and the scripture is saying, do not ignore these small areas that seem so-called small to us. You know, there's a scripture and it says, dead flies causes the ointment to send forth a stinking savor or smell. So does a little folly for Him that has a reputation for wisdom and honor. In like manner, this, this ointment is the quality, is the quality of our life with God. And it's saying that small things, just like a fly, that don't seem very important to us, that because we can so easily excuse, you know, certain things do, they're just grudges, offenses with people, pride issues. We, we, we're, you know, we're so touchy about things, where we, where we secretly, we cannot rejoice if others are being blessed. Where we, they're the secret places of envy, where we are, that are so readily covered up to people around us, because as believers, many times the gross sins, the obvious sins, they fall away. And yet these hidden sins of the spirit and the heart. God is saying, do not be equally deceived, and to think if I can do much with little, but do not be deceived, as flies are in the ointment, as are these what so-called small things that you want to call inerrant, but they are death in your testimony. They are, where we want to say, no, that's really no big thing. The fact that they bother me, or the fact that I can't have peace in my heart concerning these people, where I am so easily take offense with this person, where we just want to dismiss it as a small thing, but beloved, it's something dead and decaying in the testimony, and it is causing our influence to be rejected. Our life in Christ, that's a precious ointment, but isn't it those that have to deal with us, those that would dip their hand in this ointment and be able to refresh themselves, if they open the jar and there are the flies, the whole thing will be rejected. No matter how sweet-smelling the savor, no matter how with the ability this ointment could use to soften and bring refreshing to people, it will be rejected because of the flies. You know when we turn in our spirit, when we grow critical and we grow judging, and we feel like we have every right to do it, and we have our reasons, and we have our excuses, but beloved, when it doesn't go away, may I tell you, that is in things of faith, small never remains small. May I tell you in things of sin, small never stays small. Small never stays small. That's why small things are big things. That's why the smallest of things, when our peace and our harmony with Christ are disturbed, we must, no matter how small it seems to us, we must come to the light. You know what has been my experience, is that these small things really have very deep roots into us. They really are much bigger than they appear. These things may seem small to us, but I would say that God sees it very differently, because everything is uncovered before the eyes of the Lord. And what seems small to us, this grievance, this constriction in my heart, this bitterness, as we heard a magnificent word yesterday, when we have to learn to call rebellion, rebellion, when one very free woman was telling other women our attitude towards our husbands and how it shows up. And we don't want to call it that, because, beloved, we want, it's just a small thing, so we won't make it a big thing. It's a small thing. But beloved, you know, small doesn't mean insignificant. Try walking a day around New York City with a small, sharp stone in your shoe. You won't go all day. Small, but must be dealt with. And so many times, small things, where we don't want to deal with it. Is there this sense, I don't want to go there, because it really is connected to something so much deeper. And beloved, when we understand who Christ is, and the promise of life that He gives us, and how He is committed to leavening our whole lump, to bringing our whole life right through with His life, and yet, we will not deal with the small, which are so-called small, which are resisting the Holy Spirit, which is resisting the life-giving force. Beloved, know this, that these sins, if undealt with, have a way of eating out our testimony. The scripture says it's the little foxes that despoil the vine. Think about that. Spoil the vine. Eat through, so that there is no harvest. The harvest is what God has intended your life to be. The harvest is what the plan God has purposed and provided for, for your life, and mine. But the little foxes can spoil it, and the little foxes, the little things can eat right through, that cancels the harvest. You know, foxes, we have them where I grew up. Foxes, for the most part, are a very cute animal. Foxes are almost impossible to catch. Foxes are kind of synonymous as a clever and deceiving animal. There could not be a better word. Because sometimes that we want to excuse, you know, it can just look like a very cute trait. That's just my personality. That's just what, you know, I'm known for. Is it eating out your testimony? Is it taking you down a path of taking your testimony and lessening influence? Is it just impossible to catch? It seems like in this one little area I'll keep it hidden and covered, because you know, I don't know something, it's impossible for me to catch it. It's impossible for me to overcome it. So I'll just keep this part of my life hidden. I'll just keep it hidden from anybody knowing what's going on and what's happening in my heart. Beloved, the little foxes are going to cancel the harvest of what God intended for you. Small things are not small. Clever and deceiving. You know, it's interesting when the scripture says, you know, a fly in the ointment causes a stink. If we think of that picture, one thing that struck me is that a fly in the ointment, that fly is so easily removed. It's not a big thing to reach in and take out a fly out of the ointment. And beloved, so many times when the Holy Spirit will be faithful to quicken us and say, this is a problem, this attitude, this thing you don't want to call rebellion, this thing, the rolling of your eyes, this thing that's leading you into gossip, this thing that is leading you to always become an unsafe person with unsafe speech so that people from all over can come now and speak to you things that shouldn't be said. And beloved, you're becoming a traitor in the army because you want to receive and give gossip because you're afraid of what it's going to mean to stand alone or shut someone down. Beloved, Christ is with you. Learn to shut it down. Say, God, forgive me and cleanse me and go deep. Why am I so insecure? What is it about me that fails before men, that I tremble before their face? Beloved, for a season you may have to walk alone, but be the more with God for he wants to make you a tree. God has a plan and a purpose for you. God has a plan and a purpose for this congregation and this testimony. And some of you are turning traitor in the army. You're speaking things and you're repeating and something dark is getting a hold of your spirit. And yet you say, I live, I dwell in a place where I hear the word and it's good leadership. Beloved, what is that to you? Don't let the little foxes eat your harvest. Don't let the intended purpose for you. You are called not to be a nerd, but a mighty tree. And that is the promise of life given to you in Christ Jesus that you and I access by faith. But these attitudes, this thing of heart, this turning in your spirit, this much speaking, this contempt, this rebellion, this turning. And I know better. And they're not going to tell me this lack of humility where we can't seem to work with each other, even though we call each other brother in Christ. There is more at stake than you know. There is a plan for you. There is a plan for this church, but we must stay united because united, we plunder the enemy's house. United, we move onto his ground. But if he can come and divide us, is that not the oldest trick in the book? Is that not divide and conquer? However, any world conqueror or leader has come against his enemies. You divide and you conquer. And beloved, some of you are a feeding ground and a reproducing ground of the enemy's voices and attitude. And the little foxes spoil your harvest. It will be you that will suffer, not the church. The testimony of Christ will go on. But beloved, it will be you that will suffer, and it will be the generation you are called to influence and the people that are looking to you and your influence that will suffer. We don't live in isolation, called to be a tree that many can build their lives in, that can come and abide in. And yet the enemy is so deceitful because you know it's just a little thing. It's just a little thing. But that little thing left is decaying. It stinks and it's rendering the testimony unusable. You know, when Christ is in our heart and we call on His name, you know what He shows us very clearly? Sin is sin. There's no big sin and there's no little sin. Because sin is the wages of death. And no matter how little, it's still paying us in death. It's still blocking His life. It's still blocking His purpose for you. It's still blocking His deliverance for you. It's still blocking the freedom He died to give you. It's still blocking the influence that He has purposed to give you, no matter how small your faith or weak the testimony. Christ has committed Himself to you and I to make us victorious with Him. We rise with Him. But He needs access to every place of our heart, every thought in our heart, every heart attitude. This is a serious thing. And we must never ever count the little things, the grudges, the offenses, where I feel like in my heart, I just enjoy pushing them away and keeping them out and letting my mouth be unbridled. Oh no, beloved. Christ died for a much greater thing than that. I want to finish with one thing. A few years ago, I was speaking at a pastors conference in Spain and I was going to speak one session. I was traveling alone from Madrid to Valencia and I had to take the local airline. When I got to the counter, almost no one spoke English. Very, very little English. And it turns out my bag was overweight by one kilo. One kilo. So in broken Spanish, I understood I needed to go and buy another bag to distribute the weight. So I did. So I spent all my euros, bought a bag, came back, shifted the contents, same old weight, shifted it, brought the two bags, in which point they made me to understand now I needed to pay for the extra bag because I'm flying with an extra bag. I have no currency and they will only take euros. They point me to a line, a very long line where I need to exchange money. And it didn't take long to realize that when I looked at that line and knew I had to change money, get back in this line, pay the excess weight, and board my plane, there was not enough time. And I was going to miss the conference. And I remember nobody could, we couldn't communicate. Nobody spoke in a way we understood each other. And I remember stepping out of that line and I remember feeling like such a fool. I remember thinking, you know something, the whole purpose and intent of my journey is going to be missed. I'm going to miss it all. A little bit of extra weight, just a little bit of carrying too much. And yet the whole purpose of my journey is going to be missed. You know that conference is going to go on and my one session someone's going to step in and take my place and they're not going to be none the wiser or suffer for it. But I will. And I'll have to miss the whole purpose and the whole cost and the whole reason I set out in the first place. Beloved, is that not what a little weight, a little sin can potentially do? Will you and I miss the whole purpose and the intent of why you were saved and called? Will we miss? Will you miss through a little bit of sin, what we call little, what we call insignificant, just a little bit over? And miss the whole purpose because our testimony gets eaten out because we would not submit to the word when God says this is an issue with me. This is an issue with me. You call it small. I say it's an issue that's working death in you and I died that you may be free. You have no reason to live like this bound. But I have to be able to speak to you about the lack of humility. I have to talk to you about your pride. I have to talk to you the way that what goes on in your heart and your life. I have to talk to you about your speech. I have to talk to you about these things that no one knows to the extent and the depth that is there in you. But it is eating the harvest in your life. There is no thing, nothing small. There is nothing small in spiritual matters. Will you stand with me? Just as the musicians come, much of the whole service is planned to bring us to this moment. The worship, song, everything. Not that someone speaks to you, but God speaks to you now. Let's shut away with him. You let him speak. He always speaks life and he always speaks hope, but he speaks truth. He knows the issues of our heart. As the musicians come, there's something you know. You need the humility. You need to bend your knee. It's a small thing, but it has roots. And you know that there's more of a life for you in God than what you have. And you're shut down and constricted and you have areas of freedom, but you know this thing is growing. And if you don't get a hold on it, your sanity, your testimony, everything is at stake. So we just invite you now. It doesn't matter what people think. Trust me, it doesn't matter what they think. You just come forward as God is speaking to you. God has a place now of deliverance at this place, of going to the core and the root of things. But you come and let God deal with you as he needs to. Let all he has intended for you, which is greater than you could think or know. Let that go forward in your life, but let him deal with the issues he's speaking to you now. Come as the musicians are playing. Nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou has died. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice and it told Thy love to me. Girl, I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer to Thee. I want to leave time for us to be able to rejoice, because those that have come forward, the antidote, of course, is offering God that little thing, which is not so little, and letting him go deeply and speak to those areas we've shied away from because of what it meant. Now we know we just have to bring him a little faith and a little saying, Oh God, I am weak, but you are strong. I am poor, but you are rich. We just have to bring that little bit. God says, I cleanse to the depth. I break the power of it. Bring that little because I will transform you. I know how you are shaped and why this predisposition, why this bitterness in your soul, why this rebellion, why this speaking, why this unable to rejoice in others' good fortune. I understand that, but I'm making you a new creature. I'm going to have you able to love like you've never loved before and rejoice. I'm going to let heaven invade your spirit and your mind and make you new, that you're going to long for my glory, and your eyes are going to be off yourself, and it's going to be turned to other people. You will be that mighty tree that others can build their life in and upon because Jesus is able. He takes our little and our want, and he transforms us, and you have done the right thing today by saying, Search me, oh God, and I am convicted by that, but I thank you. Do all you have to do. I'm not ashamed of any of it. I'm coming to be delivered. I'm just bringing it all to the light, and if you need to call something by a name, I'm going to agree with you. And if I hold these things in my heart and I've pushed people away, I thank you, Jesus, you never did that to me, and you live in me. It's a new beginning for me. The great thing is the antidote to little is little. You know what I'm saying? Even things that look small but have the power to paralyze our testimony, it just takes a small amount of faith in Christ to turn the whole thing. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now the Lord understands and loves you, and he's committed to your total and utter deliverance, not just a little corner, but you know when we give him the little, he knows how connected it is to other things that were there from childhood, that were made deposits because of the way we were raised or the lack thereof, but I thank God Jesus celebrates in lack. He says, I love it when you give me your lack, and out of your little you give it to me. I take notice. I love you, and I'm committed you behold, and he's committed I behold, and there's my hope every day, and there's our hope every day, and you are going to fulfill the call in your life. There's no going to be an eating away of your harvest. No, we come to Christ, and we watch him leaven the whole loaf, rife with his life through and through. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Let's just raise our hands and give him thanks for this too. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord, we receive your word. Let it go deep. Small is never small. Small is always big. Small faith that transforms us. Small sin that you can so easily deal with. I thank you, Lord. You know how to keep your people because you love us, and you don't condemn us. Lord, I ask now that your people, Lord, would tuck this truth away in their heart and use it as a mighty weapon against the lies and the condemnation of the enemy. I pray now we would honor you, Lord, by rejoicing in what you have said this morning, where our hearts are truly set free, Lord, by what you do in our lives. That it's not up to have a great big faith. No, we just give you the little we have, and much, much is accomplished. For this, we give you thanks, Lord, for those who are struggling now. Lord, I thank you the struggle has ended. That is speaking, Lord, that these attitudes of heart, the enemy will not dominate them any longer. That, Lord, you have come now, and we've been made to understand how great you are, how so little of you in some ways we need to start the journey, and how you've committed yourself to multiplying yourself in our lives with an honest walk with you. Thank you, Lord. It much has changed this day because you love us, and we give you the praise. Give him the glory, beloved. You believe it. You thank him, and rejoice in his truth. Amen.