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

As I was listening to that last song we sung this morning, it reminded me of Ephesians chapter two, where the Bible says we were once dead in our trespasses of sin, but we've been made alive in Christ Jesus.

And it's not a reward for the good things that we have done, but it is a gift from God.

Anybody thankful for Jesus coming down on a cross, forgiving us of our sin, and making us alive in Christ Jesus.

And that's really what we wanna talk about today is how to be a people living the life that God has created us new in Christ Jesus to live.

And one of the life verses of Valorous Church is Ephesians 2 10, and the Bible states this.

It says, we are God's masterpiece.

Come on, somebody.

It says, we are God's masterpiece.

Plural, not just I'm God's masterpiece, but we.

We together, we as a people are God's masterpiece.

We are God's masterpiece created anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things that God has created us to do.

And again, I think that is very important for us to grab hold of as we move into this new year, that we're made alive in Christ Jesus so we can do the good thing that God has created us anew in Christ Jesus to do.

And God makes us alive in Christ Jesus.

He forgives us of our sin, not just so we can wake up and live life and one day go to heaven.

But the Bible says he gives us a good work to do.

He has created us to do great things in this earth.

And I wanna talk about that a little bit today because I do believe that you are here and you can make a difference.

And you don't have to wait until, you know, another year passes by to make a difference.

You can begin to make a difference with your life right here, right now, if you'll make that commitment to believe, come on, that God has designed you to do a good work in this world.

And then begin to focus on that good work.

But understand that God didn't call you to do the good work by yourself.

The Bible says that God has called us out of darkness into the wonderful light.

We are people who have been called out of the darkness of sin, the bondage of sin.

We have been placed in Christ Jesus, anew in God's family.

And we're to begin to share the good news of who God is and who Jesus is around the world.

So God calls you to be a part of something bigger than yourself.

And it's called the local church.

It's a people that have various gifts and they're pulled together to begin to shine the light of Christ in the world.

And so I invite you to commit your life to be a part and do your part and watch God do greater things in this world than we ever dreamed about, think about, or ever imagined.

God is going to do a good work.

He is going to do a good work through you and he's gonna do a good work through me.

And so today I wanna look at a short story in our Bible about a man named Shamgar.

And Shamgar is a man that's found in our Bible in Judges chapter three and Judges chapter five.

And the Bible doesn't have a whole lot to say about this man named Shamgar who lived in the period of the Judges.

It was after Joshua the great leader had brought the people into the promised land.

Moses brought them out of Egypt.

Joshua was a man who brought God's people, the Hebrew people into the promised land.

And then there's a period where the people were back and forth about what God had done in their life.

And again, God had brought this Hebrew people out of bondage and they were to continue to move forward and shine who God was in the world to begin to be enlightened to the nations.

And the people kind of went back and forth.

There was a battle inside of these people's life.

And this man named Shamgar comes along during that particular period, the period of the judges.

And he does something remarkable.

And I'm gonna share it with you today because not only did God do a great work through this man named Shamgar, I want you to know that God wants to do a great work through you and through me.

But you have to begin to apply yourself, your new life in Christ Jesus to the good work that God wants to do through you.

So let's look quickly at what the Bible says about this man named Shamgar in Judges 3, verse 31.

And it will come up on the screens for you.

The Bible says, after Ehud, Shamgar the son of Anaph rescued Israel.

In other words, he loved God and he loved God's people and he loved God's plan.

And the Bible says this man named Shamgar rescued the people of Israel.

How did he do it?

The Bible says he once killed 600 Philistines with an ox gut.

You see, when the people came out of Egypt, it represents, Egypt represents bondage or it represents slavery and our spiritual life today, that represents our life before Christ.

And the Bible says that the people were in bondage for 400 years, but they came out of that, they were salvaged, but once they came out of that slavery, out of that bondage, that sin in their life, they continue to have battles out in front of them along life's journey.

And I want you to know today, just because Christ has forgiven you of your sin, it doesn't mean that once he forgives you, that life is always easy.

There's always gonna be a battle.

The Bible speaks of the old man and the new man, the old woman and the new woman, the old person being the person before you met Christ, the new person being the person you are becoming since you met Christ.

And so there is a fleshly man and there is a spirit man.

And the Bible speaks of our conflict or a conflict going on in each and every one of us.

In other words, you have to begin to let the spirit man dominate the flesh man.

And the Bible says that we have to continue to put our old self to death and let the new self become alive.

And so as we look at these Old Testament stories, whenever they came out of Egypt, that represents salvation, but there were always battles out in front of them.

And the Philistines represent the conflict after salvation.

Because you've got a conflict going on.

Every single one of us have this conflict with the old man and the new man going on.

But the Bible says we can put to death that old man and we can achieve the great things that the new man or the spirit man can achieve in this world.

But you have to make a conscious effort to begin to put the old man to death.

The Bible says that Shamgar, he once killed 600 Philistines with an ox goat.

An ox goat simply being a tool that a farmer would use to prod the ox in his field to make the ox move forward.

The Bible says the Philistines come against the Hebrew people and now Shamgar meets 600, 600 Philistines at one time and takes them out with an ox goat.

In other words, a farmer becomes a warrior.

And the Bible says this in Judges chapter five, verse six, the only other verse that mentions this man named Shamgar.

In the days of Shamgar, son of Anaph, and in the days of jail, people avoided main roads and travelers stayed on winding pathways.

And so what this verse helps us understand is in the days of Shamgar, that the people of Israel, they lived afraid.

They were hiding.

They were fearful of what might happen to them.

And Shamgar is a farmer and the Bible says that he uses what he has in his hand to defeat 600 Philistines to make a difference in the people of Israel's life.

And what I want us to understand is God can use us in the same way that he used Shamgar.

But what we have to do is learn some lessons from this man named Shamgar if we're gonna really be alive in Christ Jesus.

We once were dead in our trespasses as in, but we've been made alive in Christ Jesus.

Why have we been made alive?

According to Ephesians 2.10, we've been made alive so we can do the good things that God created for us to do in the world, come on.

And so today I wanna talk about how to do that by looking at the life of Shamgar.

Shamgar, he started where he was, come on.

He didn't wait till another year went by.

He didn't wait till he had a PhD.

He didn't wait till he went to seminary.

He didn't wait for the next job.

He didn't wait to get in the right position to be used by God.

The Bible says that Shamgar, he started where he was.

And if you're gonna make a difference with your life, you need to start where you are.

Start where you are.

You are where you are.

And God has you where you are for a significant purpose.

And he didn't wait until he had a position.

He didn't wait till he had a title to become helpful to the people of God.

No, he started right where he was in a field being a farmer.

And again, you can start right where you are, but you have to make a conscious effort to start where you are.

I hear it said all the time, I'm gonna do great things when I get that job.

I'm gonna do great things when I enter into that perfect relationship.

I'm gonna begin to represent God whenever I get to this particular level.

No, no, no, start where you are.

I can remember when I came to Christ in 1998.

And again, I had surrendered my life and at that particular time, I owned a little small business.

I had a little landscape business, a little garden center.

And I had been just doing life like many of us are doing life, going to work, doing my thing, but God radically came in and saved my life and forgave me of my sin.

And I didn't have a lot of Bible knowledge though I had a Bible, you know, laying in my house, in my living room.

I never read it.

And so I didn't really understand that God had a purpose for my life, that God wanted to do significant things in me and God wanted to do significant things through me.

I'd never put together that the word of God was there to remind me of who Christ Jesus was and that I could have salvation in Christ Jesus, but beyond that salvation that God wanted to work in me and work through me and do great and powerful things.

But what I did is once I got saved, I began to go, you know what, this God that has come in and saved me, I wanna share it with the people around me.

And I started right where I was.

I can remember the first person I ever began to share who Christ was with me was a little guy, I didn't even know who he was.

And it was in a carwash, I was washing off my little bulldozer, my skidster is what they call them, but my little thing, I was in a carwash washing all the mud off and this guy came up to me, began to talk to me and he was just asking me all kinds of questions and somehow, some way, I just led into, you know what, I just recently gave my life to Christ and somehow or another I used that carwash and what I was doing in there to begin to talk to him about who God was, about how I was washing off that old dust and dirt off of my machine and that's kind of what God had done in my life and I began to use this analogy in a carwash to share what God had done in my heart, in my life with a guy and again, I didn't have all this understanding or knowledge but God gave me the wisdom of how to speak to that person that I didn't even know in a carwash about who Jesus was by using a carwash.

Come on, somebody.

And me washing a bulldozer or a little skidster in a carwash to share the good news of who Christ was.

And I started where I was and I continued to use what I had and start where I was.

I didn't know that eventually God was gonna call me into full-time vocational ministry.

I was gonna go off to seminary.

I was gonna end up in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I was gonna start a church in 2003, 2004 with a group of people.

But all I knew to do was begin to share what God had done in my life, where I was.

And you know what?

God began to show up in a powerful, powerful way because I started where I was.

I wasn't waiting on perfection.

I, you know, I didn't have all the titles and, you know, pastor there.

I didn't know what I was.

But all I knew is I was a person that had been radically changed by the love of God.

I finally understood what it meant for God to forgive me personally of my sin, and I put my faith in him personally, and things began to change in my life because I started where I was.

Second Timothy, chapter four, verse two says this.

Paul tells Timothy, preach the word, be prepared, in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.

Why do I share this verse today?

Because this is a word picture that Paul is giving young Timothy, and he's basically saying, be ready, be steady, and at hand.

It's a word picture of a soldier with his hand on the hilt of his sword, being ready at all times for what is in front of him, being ready for the opportunity, being ready for the battle.

And again, if you're gonna start where you are, you need to understand, you need to always be ready to share the truth of who God is, no matter what your background is, where you come from, always be ready for the opportunity.

You know, people who defeat the odds of life in the difficult moments, they often overlook this simple truth.

Start where they are.

They're oftentimes waiting on something else.

It's gonna get better when I get that house.

It's gonna get better when I move to that neighborhood. going to get better when I marry that special someone.

No, no, no.

Stop looking at life in all ways when it's going to be.

When I move to that city, it's going to get better.

When I make this change, it's going to get better.

No, no, no.

Start where you are with what you have.

If God has you in that neighborhood, start where you are.

If God has you on that job, start where you are.

If God has you in retirement, start where you are.

Wherever you are in life, start where you are.

If you're in the, listen, if you're in a school, start where you are.

Wherever you are, start where you are.

Believe that God has saved you, brought you out of bondage, and wants to do great things in you, and he wants to do great things through you.

You are not, you know what, just a nobody.

You are somebody.

You are a Shamgar.

You might be a farmer, but you don't consider yourself to be a warrior.

Start where you are as a farmer, and maybe God is going to make you into a great warrior for his kingdom, and he's going to do great and mighty things.

We have to start where we are.

Make a difference in our neighborhood.

Make a difference in our school.

Make a difference in our workplace.

You know, and again, when everybody else is following their fleshly desires, you say no, I'm fueled by a different source.

I'm not fueled by what I used to be fueled by.

I'm fueled by the spirit of the living God who is alive in me.

You may say yes to those things, but I have a new spirit and I'm fueled by the word of God as he feeds my new spirit.

And again, you can be fed by the word of God.

If you will begin to come alive in Christ Jesus, begin to apply yourself and watch what God wants to do through you.

Shamgar teaches us that you don't have to wait until another day, you can start a two day.

The second thing I wrote down about his life is he used what he had.

Again, he didn't have a bunch of war tools.

He didn't have all the shields.

He didn't have all the armor.

He didn't have the great spears.

He had an ox goat.

He had a tool to prode oxes with.

The Philistines come against him, 600 of them in his field, and he used what God placed in his hand.

He depended on God.

He believed in God.

He believed in God's purpose for God's people.

Come on somebody.

He believed and he trusted that God wanted to work through the Israelites and change the world.

And so he began to use what was in his hands.

The Bible tells us this in Romans chapter 12 verse six.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

And it's speaking of spiritual gifts.

The Bible says in Romans 12 that, you know what, you don't have to want the gift that somebody else has.

God has given you a gift to do certain things well.

And again, we have to use what God has placed in our hand.

But not only our gifts, our resources, the things that God has placed in our hands.

You know, who would have ever thought that God could use a living room and barefoot resort to begin to start a church as big as ours is today in a little small living room over in Barefoot Landing.

See, some of you are on the journey with us and you just came into the journey and we're grateful for that.

But understand this, that back many, many years ago, 2003, 2004, we started our living room with just a few people and inviting our neighbors over to begin to share a vision that God wanted to start a church and reach the world through this church.

And again, the world wasn't reached, but we began to use what was in our hands, a living room.

My wife had something called a flavor wave oven, little small oven.

And again, we didn't have a lot of things, but it was one resource that we had.

Whoever understood the magnitude of a little flavor wave oven.

And what my wife would do is my wife would cook something we used to call a big fat pancake.

And our friends would come over and my wife would cook breakfast in the morning in this flavor wave oven, a big old pancake about that big around.

And then she would begin to put the favorite things that people like in the pancakes, like blueberries and that kind of stuff and all.

And we would cook breakfast and then we would begin to share who God was, what God wanted to do through us.

But again, it was the fellowship around this big fat pancake in a living room that began to change the world because we were willing to use what was in our hand.

My wife was willing to use what was in her hand and the gift that God had given her.

She had the gift of hospitality.

And what that meant is she was kind to people using the resources so that people would turn from their sin, know who God was and turn from their sin and become a part of his family, not only turn from their sin, but begin to do the good work that God created for them to do.

And she used a big fat pancake to begin to speak to those people.

It's why we got a kitchen in this new facility today, because we carry that idea.

And again, we have to cook for more people, a lot more fat pancakes and what we call those things, them burrito things they cook, breakfast burritos and all that kind of stuff.

But why is that so important to us here at Valorous Church?

Because God started with that gift of hospitality, using that food ministry to begin to feed people so that they could turn from their sin.

Did you know the Bible says in the book of Romans, because of God's kindness, people turn from their sin.

And so you can just simply show the gift of kindness to people and they can turn from their sin and become a part of what God is doing in the world.

We use a little small living room.

We were ready.

We were standing looking for the opportunity.

Again, we didn't have some buildings, some fancy lights.

We didn't have, you know, the stuff and the resources we have today.

We had a living room and a big fat pancake and a heart that loved God.

Listen to this and love God's people and believe that God didn't only want to do a good work through us, but he wanted to do a good work through them.

See, again, this is the secret is to show hospitality to people and encourage them to walk in the fullness of who God says that they are so that we can begin to change the world.

And again, it's not about, it's not about you using what they have.

It's about us pulling our resources together and beginning to do great things in the world.

So what do you have?

Do you have a flavor wave oven?

Maybe you have a van, come on, a eight passenger van.

Maybe you got one of them big old SUVs, come on.

Maybe there's some people in your neighborhood that needs a ride to church so that they can meet God and maybe they just need to get to the grocery store.

Maybe you could show kindness to them and carry them to the grocery store.

I don't know what you have in your hand, but I know this, every single one of us have something that we can offer up to God so that people can meet God and change the world.

And what would it look like, what would it look like if we pulled all those resources together and our mission was to love people in the name of Jesus and bring them to Christ so that, so that, so that, so that they could become all God created them to be and use their gifts to change the world.

God wants you to use what you have, start where you are and make a difference in this world.

We are created anew in Christ Jesus, forgiven of our sin, created anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good work that God created us to do before the foundation of the world.

Have you ever asked God sincerely, God, what is the good work you want to do through me?

And can I commit myself to it today?

Can I start where I am and begin to use what I have?

Have you asked God what he's placed in your hands to make a difference in the world?

Do you selfishly hold on to the good things that God has given you to make a difference in the world?

Or do you offer them back up to God to change the world?

I'm here to tell you that you cannot outgive God if you'll begin to share the resources he's placed in your hands to make a difference in the world for his name's sake.

He will show up in a great and powerful way.

He resources you so you can be a resource in the world and make a difference.

But you got to see, some people are waiting, you know, until they get to a certain level financially.

Start where you are.

Start where you are.

Again, and begin to watch God work in a powerful, powerful way.

He will do great and mighty things.

Next week, we're going to kick off a new whole teaching series where we as a church are going to move into a season of 21 days of prayer and fasting.

Fasting, you know, putting away or putting aside some things that tend to dominate our attention, our thought processes, and give ourself over to God and begin to pray for Him.

And again, you can go on trips and participate in this.

You can do all these kind of things, but this is what I'm asking you to do personally, is to enter that journey with us.

Starting next Sunday, we'll begin it on the 12th of January, and begin to literally ask God, God, how do you want to use me to change the world?

God, what do I have?

What resources do I have?

And again, some of us have more resources than others.

It's not about the amount of resources you have.

It's about the heart you have with the resources that are placed in your hand.

And again, God can do great and mighty things if you will leverage that and change the world.

Your ultimate goal should be to help people know who your Heavenly Father is.

The Bible says that we're to do good works.

We're to share and help people so that they can know who our Heavenly Father is.

In Matthew 5, it tells us that we're the light of the world and we're not to hide our light underneath a basket.

We're to let our light shine so that people will know who our Heavenly Father is.

And so the way to let your light shine is use what you have.

Start where you are and use what you have.

But not only use what you have, do what you can.

You know, that's a really important concept.

Shamgar, he was a farmer.

He had an ox goat and he did what he could do.

He used his ox goat to defeat 600 Philistines.

He did what he can do.

And so we have to do what we can, not what somebody else can.

Do what we can.

Do what God has called us today.

I had this fascinating revelation a few years ago that I don't have to be Jesus to the world by myself.

Can I tell you something?

That was one of the most freeing thoughts I ever had in my life.

I have to just do my part because God has not called a single one of us to be Jesus by ourself.

The Bible says we are the body of Christ.

In other words, we are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, using our various gifts, putting them together and being Jesus to the world so that people can meet our Heavenly Father.

And so I have to be focused on what's been placed in my hand, but I have to put those gifts with other people and do what I can.

In other words, again, I'm inviting you to do what you can.

And some people say, well, you know, I've got to be all of it.

No, no, no.

Use your gift.

And again, whatever your gift is, put it in the recipe.

Again, you don't make a cake, a fantastic cake by using just one thing.

You put all those things together, you mix them all up, and then you serve like my wife serves a fantastic red velvet cake.

Come on somebody.

And again, it's about mixing those things together in order to serve something greater to the world around you.

But you might be the sugar.

Come on, honey.

That's awesome.

Be the sugar.

But maybe you're the starch.

I don't know what you are, but this is the deal.

Stop worrying about who somebody else is and be you.

The God made you.

The God who created you.

And again, it's about doing what you can, but calling other people to do what they can.

Putting all those things together and believing that we together are a masterpiece.

I love that verse.

We are God's masterpiece.

And again, I'm not just a masterpiece by myself.

I'm not just a reflection of God in this world by myself.

Be freed up today as a Christ follower.

You don't have to do everything.

You just got to do your thing and do it well.

Come on somebody.

I think about a few years ago when we began to dream about putting a facility on this property, 60 acres.

And this, in case you're new to the area, used to be a swamp.

And, you know, God began to give us a revelation in 2012 about this property and that he wanted to put a building on this property and a campus on this property and do great things through this.

And so back in 2019, we began to raise resources to start this project.

And so we were able to put together enough resources to begin to kind of clear the ground and start thinking about building this building.

And along that journey, as we began to build up the property and stuff and all, things were kind of overgrown around here and all this kind of stuff.

And I remember one day talking about using what you have.

I drove up and it was a couple of guys, Kevin Sard, who is our ground maintenance guy here, and the team that serves alongside of him.

Come on, let's give him a hand clap.

It's amazing.

But I remember driving up one day and they had a little weed whacker out on a fence row and a little push mower, pushing a push mower around to cut down the little weeds and grass on the thing.

And I'm just like, are y'all going to make this place look good with that $40 push mower that you got and that weed whacker?

And they were out there working like crazy.

And I'm just thinking, what in the world?

But actually a couple of workers drove by and said, Pastor, why you got those guys out here with a push mower?

There's a lot of land out here, a lot of grass and weeds to cut down.

And what in the world?

I'm like, I didn't put them out there.

They're just using what they had.

And they're starting where they are and they're doing what they can.

And what's remarkable about that story to me is after time went on, we began to build, build and put the school buildings over here and stuff and all.

Eventually I show up one day and Kevin Sarge riding on a little small John Deere riding mower.

I'm like, Kevin, where'd you get that mower from?

I'm just using what I had.

I found this thing, this little John Deere riding mower on Facebook marketplace and bought it for $400.

And I'm like, well, you're going to cut all this land with that little riding mower.

And Kevin just kept on using what he had.

Next thing I know is somebody shows up and gives him another blower, a yard blower.

Next thing I know, somebody shows up and gives him a weed whacker and people begin to show up and help him on these pond banks and all this kind of stuff.

Next thing I know is all of a sudden this zero turning radius shows up.

I come up one day and Kevin's out there a few months later on a zero turning mower and I'm like, what in the world?

And so Kevin started with a weed whacker and a push mower and a bunch of weeds out by a fence row believing that this campus could be something significant.

Next thing I know is somebody comes along and gives us a Kubota tractor with a bush hog.

Come on somebody, a finishing mower, all of these kinds of things.

And they're out there riding around on a brand new Kubota tractor and all because somebody caught the vision that somebody was trying to make the campus into what it could be using what they had in their hands.

And they're like, well, I can offer something else.

And can I tell you something?

This church is full of yard maintenance tools because somebody came along, used what was in their hands, began to change the world.

And I can tell you something, when I ride on this campus, I love because they keep these grounds the way that they should be kept to represent God and most excellence.

Why do I share that story?

Because some of us are saying, can I make a difference in this world with what God's placed in my hands?

Absolutely.

But you got to be willing to use what you have and start where you are and do what you can with what you got.

You know, just a while back, all of a sudden, I ride up one day and on the campus and, and all the day I left, there wasn't no mulch in the beds.

And I come back the next day and all of a sudden somebody had showed up with a whole crew of people and all of this mulch because they own a mulching company.

And they said, the church needs to be mulched.

And they, they come alongside of Kevin and brought all their helpers over here and mulch all of our beds at the church because they needed to be mulched.

Come on.

Why do I share this?

This is a physical way for you to understand.

If you will use today, what God has placed in your hands to make a difference in the world for his kingdom, God will take every step of faith you take and he will build on it and he will bring the resources around you that it's needed to make a huge difference in the world.

But see, there's a lot of us in this room today.

We think that we're too far gone, that we're too old to be used by God.

And by the way, Kevin Sard's an old man.

But God's used him in a powerful way.

And why do I share that with you?

Because my friend, you're not too far gone.

You're not too young and you're not too old, but are you willing by faith to believe in the son of God?

And he brought you out of bondage into the wonderful light to make a difference with your life.

You got to trust that.

And you got to believe it.

And you got to submit yourself and do what you can all the days of your life.

If you do, my friend, you will be amazed at what God doesn't only do through you, but what God does through us in this world.

I want to read to you the story today in a closing of a remarkable story of a lady who used what she had to make a difference.

And it's found in your Bible in Mark chapter 14 verses 1 through 9.

The Bible says it was two days before Passover and the festival of the unleavened bread.

The leading priest and the teachers of the religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus and secretly kill him.

But not during the Passover celebration, they agreed, or the people around us may, they may riot.

Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.

And while he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of nard.

She broke open the jar and she poured the perfume over his head.

Some of those at the table, they were indignant.

Why waste such expensive perfume?

They asked.

It could have been sold for a year's wages and the money given to the poor.

Other words, they had an idea of how this woman could have used that alabaster jar in a different way because the alabaster jar was full of expensive perfume.

The Bible says it was worth a year's wages.

That's a lot of money.

The Bible says she breaks it open and she pours it over Jesus.

But the people around her was like, what is that?

Why waste that expensive perfume?

You could have fed hungry.

You could have fed a lot of poor people with that money.

And I want to read to you what Jesus's response was.

The Bible says, Jesus replied, leave her alone.

Come on, somebody.

Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?

Did you know God has created you a new in Christ Jesus to do a good thing?

You have always, he says, you will always have the poor among you and you can help them whenever you want to, but you will not always have me.

Look at this.

Verse eight, she has done what she could.

Wow.

Do what you can.

She has done what she could and she is anointing my body for peril ahead of time.

He says, I tell you the truth, wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, the good news about a resurrected Jesus is preached throughout the world.

This woman's deed will be remembered and discussed.

Why did Jesus say that?

Because she did what she could with what she had in her hand in order to prepare him to go to a grave and do what he came to do.

In other words, this lady used what was in her hand to advance the gospel, to advance the good news, to advance the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.

And yes, she could have fed the poor people, but what she did is she said, no, what I'm going to do is I'm going to take all of my resources.

I'm going to pour them out on Jesus and anoint his body for burial because I know, you know what, somehow, some way that's what he came to do.

And eventually he'll resurrect from a grave.

And though all the people around her were indignant saying, why would you spend your resources that way?

There's a whole lot better way to spend your resources, lady.

And Jesus says, you know what?

Stop criticizing her because she did what she could do with what was in her hands and prepared me to do what I came to do, which was to die, go to a grave and be resurrected from a grave.

Here's my question for you today.

Are you going to be like the woman in Mark chapter 14 and do what you can with what is in your hand to advance Jesus's name in this world to do what Jesus's name is to do?

And again, there's a lot of other good ideas, but you got to do what God's telling you to do.

And there'll be a lot of opinions about how you use your resources.

Stop letting the opinions dictate the great work that God wants to do through you.

Come on and begin to listen to the voice of your heavenly father and advance his name in this world to change the world, because it is the good thing that you were created anew in Christ Jesus to do.

Come on church, give him a hand clap.

Believe him today.

Trust him by faith.

Father God, I thank you for every man, woman, boy, and girl underneath the sound of my voice.

And God, as a family, as a church, we prepare to move into 2026.

God, I pray you would speak to our soul today.

Speak to our spirit.

And God, help us have the courage to be like Shamgar and put the deeds of the flesh to death and let the spirit of the living God become alive and use our life to do what it's designed to do.

And it's to be a masterpiece alongside of others to change the world.

God, I pray today that people wouldn't second guess who you've made them to be, where you've placed them, what you've put in their hand, but God, they would see it.

And God, they would leverage the opportunity.

God, they wouldn't wait another day.

They wouldn't wait another week.

They wouldn't wait another year.

They wouldn't wait until everything got to be just right and all the stars line up.

God, they would know that as they build their life on the foundation of Christ, that God, it is not shaky sand, but it's rock solid.

And God, as they do that, you're going to do great and mighty things in them and through them.

It doesn't mean that trouble's not going to come our way, God, but it does mean that you know what, your spirit is alive and well in us and we're going to press forward and we're going to believe you for greater things in this earth in 2026 than we've experienced in 2025.

So God, I pray you'd speak to every person in a unique way and you would remind them of who you are today.

God, if there's one here today that's never put their faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection, may they start that new life today.

We were all once dead in our trespasses of sin, but Christ, through the free gift he has given us, has made us alive in Christ Jesus to do a good work.

And God, if there's one here today that needs to put their faith in that Jesus, God, I pray they would, right where they sit today, God, they would surrender to you.

If that's you today, just say, God, today I'm ready.

I repent of my sin and I trust the work that Christ did on that cross and the resurrection to give me new life.

Tell God, thank you for forgiveness.

And you're going to turn away from that.

You're going to repent of your sin and you're going to believe God for greater things.

Tell God, thank you for that gift.

My friend, it's so much more than just praying a prayer.

It's beginning to be who God's designed you to be.

I invite you to become something greater.

Begin to start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.

God, I pray for us to be a people in this community to do what our assignment is.

God, you've given us an assignment.

I pray that we would walk that assignment out and and believe you for greater things.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.