More Has A Method

Honor the Pastor

Honor Ryan for 10 years of faithful leadership.

Countless triumphs

Countless trials

Countless moments of wanting to quit

EVERY MOMENT OF WANTING TO QUIT HAS BEEN MATCHED WITH A DETERMINATION NOT TO.

Now, it’s time for more...

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James 1:2 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

Our conceptualization of more

You are entering into a season wherein “more” is the focus. {WE GET EXCITED}

We all believe that more means we are getting more of the good stuff.

the bigger house…

the nicer car…

the better marriage…

more well behaved children…

Often these things are products of a more season…

Product carries with it the implication of produce...

Produce: make or manufacture from components or raw materials.

A product is made from a combination of materials through a process...

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Seeds and Fruit are only separated by process

We are about to enjoy pumpkin everything...

Ain’t nobody ordering a pumpkin seed latte...

We like the product of the pumpkin…but the pumpkin starts with the seed...

THE ONLY VARIABLE THAT SEPARATES THE SEED FROM THE PUMPKIN IS PROCESS...

We all desire the product of more….but few actually experience “more” because the product is not available absent the price of the process.

Today I’m preaching to you about a few processes that we need to be aware of as we seek to experience more.

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TR: We call the end result that we see in someone’s life…favor.

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1. Favor Has a Formula

Have you ever seen someone with favor on their life?

Everything they touch is blessed.

They can’t seem to lose no matter what they do.

They eat four helpings and their body fat percentage decreases...

These are the people that we sort of hate but also can’t help but notice that God has blessed them significantly.

Often we would say that the favor of the Lord is on their life.

When we say the word favor…you understand we are simply saying….”I THINK THEY ARE GOD’S FAVORITE.”

We find ourselves blaming their success and our lack thereof on some arbitrary system of selection that God employs.

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God absolutely has favorites

Often times people make the assertion that God does not have favorites...

They use Pauls assertion that God is no respecter of persons

BUT I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW TODAY…THAT GOD DOES HAVE FAVORITES.

He is just not like you and I…we choose our favorites..

God allows us to choose who his favorites are.

If you want to be God’s favorite…you absolutely can because

Favor has a formula…

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Obedience Insured God’s Selection

He chose a group of people to be his favorite based on a the calling of one man.

He told Abraham to leave his homeland and his comfort

Abraham’s obedience made room for him to enter a covenant with God and live out a lineage that would be God’s favorite...

On down that line…

God gave stipulations to a man named Moses outlining how these people could maintain their standing as God’s favorite.

Deuteronomy 28:13 NLT

If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.

What is the formula for favor...

Listen and obey...

THE KEY WORD IN THAT COMBO THAT ELUDES MANY OF US IS OBEY...

TR: The root cause of a shortage of more in many of our lives is not obstacles…it’s a lack of obedience.

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Satan or lack of Surrender…who’s the culprit?

Some of us are facing situations in our life that are a simple act of surrender away from being resolved.

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to walking in the blessing of God.

We desire the favor of the Lord but are unwilling to surrender to the will of the Lord...

Obedience is the greatest form of worship we can offer.

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SIDE NOTE

Amos shows us a group of people who are singing songs, holding festivals, and acting religious while walking in disobedience...

GOD SAYS KEEP YOUR SONGS…I WANT YOUR HEART!

Often we are guilty of singing a song to the Lord but yielding our worship to our own flesh...

The recipient of our worship will be the source of our blessing.

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Satan is innocent in many cases...

We know that scripture refers to Satan as the accuser of the brethren.

Sometimes I think he’s just matching our energy.

He’s the accuser of the brethren because the brethren are the accusers of Him

“THE DEVIL MAD ME DO IT!”

I don’t think anyone on earth gets blamed for more things they have nothing to do with than the devil.

We deal with lust issues - it’s the devil

We lose our temper - it’s the devil

We lie in big or small ways - it’s the devil.

But the truth is most of my sin issues are not the result of the activity of the devil but the affinity of my flesh!

James 1:14 NLT

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

Some of our addictions are not rooted in anything else than a lack of willingness to tell ourselves no.

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Deliverance by Discipline

WE COME TO THE ALTAR AND SEEK FOR SOMEONE TO LAY HANDS ON US AND SET US FREE...

You want to know how to get free from pornography…pray about it and then when you have the desire to go to the site…don’t

You want to know how to break alcoholism…Don’t have a drink

GOD WILL NEVER DO FOR ME WHAT I CAN DO FOR MYSELF

It’s easy to manipulate our belief in the gifts of the spirit as a means whereby to ask God to enable our laziness.

Philippians 2:13 NLT

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

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When we walk in obedience…blessing is a direct byproduct.

If you don’t believe me…I encourage you to try it...

IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT…THE ENEMY HASN’T REFUSED ANYONE COMING BACK YET.

FAVOR HAS A FORMULA!

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We can get settled to soon in favor.

Sometimes we are attentive…Sometimes we are obedient…and we still face situations that are less than idea.

This is confusing because we believe favor means life is always fun.

But even walking in favor is characterized by seasons of less than ideal experience...

IN PARTICULAR SEASON SIN WHICH GOD IS GIVING US MORE...

And just like favor has a formula…MORE HAS A METHOD.

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I submit to you that there are two things that when inserted into your life will result with an experience of more...

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1. A Practice of Submission

We are prone to carry the American dream.

We want the promotion

We want the title

We want the salary

WE DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO CLIMB THE CORPORATE LADDER...

But we are called to a posture shift in order to experience a heaven sourced level of more.

1 Peter 5:6 NLT

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

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The posture shift that we must experience in order to experience more is we must become characterized by submission!

Peter tells us that the key to elevation is to take the posture of submission.

Many of us are commited to the climb in a kingdom that has called us to kneel.

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Submission requires disagreement

Well, pastor Tyler I submit to my boss, my pastor, my husband, my team leader…whenever I agree with them.

Submission is not submission until it goes against my opinion.

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Submission often looks like a surrender of ambition.

If you are like me…one of the things you want more of more than anything else…is opportunity.

We want to be seen We want to be known We want to be discovered.

We live in a society wherein a platform can be gained overnight.

Sixty year old man on tiktok = 2M views on his first post, 200k followers, 1M Views next

It’s not uncommon for people to start with what used to take years to acquire.

THIS SEEMS LIKE A POSITIVE THING…

BUT WHEN YOU GET THE PRODUCT WITHOUT THE PROCESS…

you don’t steward it well.

You steward well what you struggle for!

Submission is the most beneficial struggle you can find.

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What I wanted was behind what I needed I wanted to pastor a church of 150 five years ago…

I thought it was time…I was aware of my gift...

But we went through a VERY TUMULTUOUS MINISTRY SEASON

I tried to send resumes to multiple churches…

THEY WERE ALL MET WITH A RESOUNDING NO!

But then I got an opportunity…but my opportunity wasn’t a step up…but rather a kneel down.

My road to the product that I was desirous of led through stepping down from pastoring into youth pastoring.

The church I was desirous of…the position I was looking for…The success I craved was hidden behind a decision to submit...

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO POSITION YOURSELF TO STEP INTO MORE…LEARN TO BE A PERSON WHO SUBMITS.

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2. A Problem Surplus

If we want to know how to gain more…James gives us a pretty summed up method to experience more.

James 1:2–4 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

How is your accounting?

The first thing this scripture lets us know is that when our problems show up…we all have come book keeping to do.

In accounting…there are two primary columns of merit.

Assets

Liabilities

An asset adds to my worth.

A liability takes away from my worth.

When James is speaking about the moment that problems show up in the lives of believers he tells them their first job is to “count it.”

When your problem makes you a jerk

When your problem makes you worry

When your problem makes you doubt

When you try to avoid your problem

…that’s an accounting error.

James tells us to count our problems as an opportunity for joy because of this one reason.

Problems are meant to be productive!

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1. Our Problems Produce A Change in Our Dependence.

What if my dependence is in the right place?

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2. Our Problems Produce a Change in Our Direction

Opportunity =

Ob = In the direction

Portus = The harbor

The origin of the word opportunity is when the wind would shift in the direction of the harbor

It was an opportune time to be sailing when the wind was driving you towards your intended destination.

Opposition =

Opponere = set against

If a sailor was sailing into opposition it would mean that they were sailing in a direction that the wind was set against.

The only variable that separates opportunity from opposition is the direction I am going.

Why should I count it joy when problems show up?

Because God in his grace might be allowing the wind of the storm to set against me so that I know I’m heading in the wrong direction.

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When God doesn’t get us out of the problem…it’s because he want us to get something out of the problem.

so our prayer shouldn’t be I need you to get me out of this..but rather I need you to help me get out of this what I need.

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3. Our Problems Produce a Change in Determination

James 1:3–4 NLT

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

The primary purpose of our problems according to James is to develop endurance.

You don’t need endurance to do easy things.

Endurance is only necessary for those who do difficult task.

Being exceptional is only accessible to those with endurance.

When you survive a season of problems…you teach yourself that it can be done.

You’re not ready to give up nearly as early in the next season of problems.

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Conditioning developed endurance

Basketball season started with conditioning…every day the laps got easier.

Wind sprints got easier

And at the end of the day we won a championship because when the fourth quarter came we were ready...

BECAUSE THE PROBLEM OF OUR CONDITIONING CREATED IN US ENDURANCE.

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Wealth requires problems

We went over this verse as a family the other night

I asked them what would you call a person who is living the reality of the end of this passage.

“perfect, complete, needing nothing.”

Perfect = Mature

Complete = Whole

Needing Nothing = the absense of lack

This is a mature and holistically wealthy person.

James tells us that the pathway to maturity, wholeness, and wealth…is going through troubles.

So next time you have a problem arrive…make sure you do your accounting right.

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Joseph didn’t let working for someone he disagreed with cause him to shut down…he used it as a tool to get even closer to His Father.

Joseph shows us this truth…

Our problems can serve as propulsions into our purpose.

______________ IF YOU WANT FAVOR…YOU NEED OBEDIENCE

IF YOU WANT MORE… YOU NEED SUBMISSION AND YOU CAN EXPECT PROBLEMS

If you’ve got problems in your life right now…Speak the name of Jesus over them, cancel the assignment of the enemy…and if their still present

KNOW YOU’RE NOT DEALING WITH A DEVIL…YOU’RE DEALING WITH DEVELOPMENT.

Romans 8:18 (NKJV)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

My problem is simply a process to produce a product.

I can count it all joy…because I know more has a method.