I want to start off this morning with a question: What keeps you from building something great?

Remember last week, that doesn’t mean a big building or some massive project. It could be a business, your family, yourself. For most people, there are certain things that will keep them from taking the chance.

Over 1500 times in the Bible do we see the word, “Go.” Go means movement, but the problem is that so many of us get paralyzed, which causes us to stay in one spot, unfulfilled, rather than going and building what God's called us to.

I spent some time this week, thinking through the entire process of building this facility. There were ups and downs, trials and triumphs. It was difficult and overwhelming and frustrating. There were also easy moments peaceful ones, happy ones.

But no matter what trouble we faced, we always kept moving forward. Our time schedule would not let us be content with stagnation. There were even times when it seemed like nothing was moving I would make phone calls to contractors, staff members, to figure out why things were stalled. It made me think about all the things that kept us, or tried to keep us, from building what God told us to build.

What about you? What keeps you from building something great?

I want to share with you some things that are keeping you from stepping out into what God has for you. But I want you to be careful that you don't receive this as condemnation, but rather that you are challenged, convicted, even, to change.

There are some things God wants to put in you that you will need to be effective. I want to share with you today four topics that need to be worked out of you and order to be effective.

1. Fear and Doubt
Fear of failure, rejection, or the unknown can paralyze action. Moses hesitated when called to lead, doubting his abilities. Abraham tried to do it on his own. Peter tried to power his way through. You have to trust God’s strength over personal weakness.

Personal weaknesses - Do you know you have weaknesses? Do you know what they are? Most people can get paralyzed into thinking that they have to solve their weaknesses before they follow God’s call to build something great.

But we serve a God who is renown for using our weaknesses.
We learned that last week about Peter. Even Paul knew this.
2 Corinthians 12:9
My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

We often take that to mean when I am too weak to do something, but the older I get the more I realize it also means whenever I am deficient, God’s grace can cover me.

Are you afraid to do what God asked? Do you doubt? Afraid to fail, afraid to let God or people down, afraid to succeed? Afraid of the unknown, afraid to be responsible? Afraid of the pressure, afraid of what it’s going to take? Doubt your ability to do or God’s to provide?

If yes, why? What is the root of it all? What is the why behind the fear and doubt? Until you deal with the root, you’ll always have to deal with the fruit.

Jonah 1:3
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

You probably heard the story before, and if you're like me, Jonah has always been a cowardly, rebellious character. But whatever he was, he clearly did not want to do what God told him to do. But I learned some things this week while studying that have changed my perspective. You have to do research on what God was asking Jonah to walk into before you make a judgment against him.

Nineveh was ruled by the Assyrians, who were known for their wickedness and extreme brutality. Assyrian kings were renowned for their extreme brutality against their enemies.
- Essentially think of the absolute worst ways you could torture and kill someone, and the Assyrians did it.
- It was believed there were over 30,000 skulls hanging from the walls of the city.
- On King Sennacherib’s prism inscriptions (late eighth century b.c.e.), the ruler bragged about creating so much blood from torturing and killing his enemies that his horses waded through it like a river.
- Nahum 3:1 - The Woe of Nineveh
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.

Why am I bringing all of this up?
This was the kind of terror faced by enemies of the Assyrian Empire, of which Israel was one, at the time of Jonah. By default, Jonah, too.

No wonder Jonah was fearful of carrying God’s warning message. It was a death sentence. God was asking Jonah, an enemy of Nineveh, to go to a city that was geographically about the size of the 610 loop, 120k ppl,
who were renown for not only performing, but celebrating, the most repulsive and dehumanizing torture and violence upon their enemies. So much so that God was going to destroy them over it. Jonah was to tell them that the city would be destroyed in 40 days unless they turned away from their fish god and turned to the one true God.

He wasn’t running because he was rebellious. He was terrified.

Is that you?
You might not have actual terrorists wanting to torture you like Nineveh, but are you allowing fear and doubt to terrorize you into rebellion rather than obedience? Paralyzation rather than mobilization?

An amazing side note: Jonah ran and ended up in the belly of a great fish. I read Jonah to see what he said that made such an impact. Jonah 3, “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” They turned to God and believed. WHAT?!?! Jonah’s running (his sin) led him to a great fish. The Assyrian’s God was Dagon, a god-fish. God can even use your sinful mistakes if you’ll let him.

When it comes to building something great for God, are fear and doubt stopping you? If so, just like we find the root with Jonah, what is the root with you?

What are you so afraid of? You might fail? You might take the wrong step? You might lose? You might get hurt? I get it. Freedom was my second attempt. I played it safe the first time with Oxygen.

You might not fail. You might not take the wrong step. You might not lose. You might not get hurt.

In fact, you might succeed. You might take the right step. You might win. You might heal.

The only difference between fear and faith is your focus. Fear will give you every reason why you're going to fail, and then lock your focus in on those reasons. Faith doesn't mean you're fearless, but it means that you are putting your focus on God. This doesn't mean you don't have personal responsibility and agency. It doesn't mean you just sit back and do nothing and "let God do everything." But it does mean that you refuse to allow fear to dictate your actions, and instead embrace a lifestyle that puts God at the center of that which you’re building.

And I have some news for you that is actually wildly encouraging: You're going to fail at times. You're going to mess up. You're going to take a wrong step. You're going to get hurt at some point. Satan wants you to focus on these as reasons not to build. God wants you to focus on him even if these reasons are valid.

Don't be tricked by the smoke and mirrors:
Fear and doubt are just forms of idolatry. Fear and doubt demand you know the full picture, but faith defined is believing God even when you don't have the full picture. There's not a single Bible character other than Jesus himself that knew the whole picture. Not one. Every single one of them had to take a step out of what they knew and into uncertainty. They had to step in faith. Not knowing that God would do what he said, but believing God would do what he said.

I need to stop here for a moment because this is huge:
Faith is not in the knowing, it's in the believing. In fact, you can’t call it faith if you already know! Faith is what happens when you DON’T know! You are rarely ever going to know how things work out. Faith requires that you believe God.

Some of us believe in our ability to fail more than we believe in God's ability to be faithful. We Believe the lies that have been spoken over us, we believe we aren't enough, don't have what it takes, etc. If God asks it of you, he will give you everything you need to accomplish it. Don’t let your lack of faith stall the progress.

James 1:6-7
6 …be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

So if you feel stagnant right now in your growth, you don't see God moving, you don't feel like you are receiving anything, take a minute and check your faith.

At the end of the day, fear and doubt are nothing more than you putting your faith in something other than God and his ability to see you through.
Faith and fear are opposing forces. Faith offers a path towards hope and strength, but fear leads to stagnation and anxiety.

What has your focus to the point where fear and doubt are keeping you from building something great?

2. Sin and Distraction
I am sure you understand that sin will keep you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. The obvious way is that anytime you sin, you are being separated from God.

Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

Sin is not something you get to just keep on doing intentionally! You need to Stop It Now! How we do that is through time with God, time in his Word, getting with God’s people to help you. (Alpha, Questions, DGroups)

And just a word to you about sin:
You are never going to be free of sin on this side of Heaven. I wish that weren’t the case, but we are going to constantly mess up. The issue is INTENTIONAL sin, or iniquity.

Romans 6:1-2
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

If you have intentional, redundant sin, here is your sign to stop hiding it, and share it with someone who can help you. You’ve hid it this long: how’s that working out for you?

But the other part sin is that it keeps you in a constant loop. Sin loops happen when you mess up, then ask for forgiveness, then repeat. You are constantly using your time with God to ask forgiveness. How would your conversations with God be different if you didn’t have to spend the time confessing your habitual sin? He’d have more time to tell you about building something.

The sole purpose of sin is to separate you from God, and ultimately from your purpose. Satan uses distractions to do that.

Genesis 3:1-5
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Distracted. A little manipulation, a little justifying it, and we’re into sin. Distractions tempt you into sin and keep you from your purpose.

What are you being distracted by right now that is keeping you from building? I realize you might not have a serpent in your ear trying to get you to eat an apple, but what lies is he distracting you into sin with right now?

- I’m not getting what I need at home so I’ll get it elsewhere.
- I know I supposed to be pursing God but all these extras have me exhausted.
- I am supposed to be in ministry, but that last church hurt me.
- I know I need to be moving the Kingdom but I have work to do.

Every single time in my life when God was about to do something big, satan sent a distraction. Every time.

Selfishness, pride, chasing fleeting pleasures, ungodly desires,
they all pull us away from higher purpose.

If you are struggling with a sin and you don’t know how to get free of it,
go to www.freedomdl.com/helpme

The first step is telling someone. Otherwise, you’ll keep dying.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Don’t let worldly worries and desires choke out potential. Distractions will get you into sin. that’s why we seek Jesus first. Sin will ruin you. That’s why we cling to Jesus. Don’t let sin and distractions destroy what God is building in you.

3. Comparison and Envy
I only want to spend a minute here, but measuring yourself against others can breed discouragement or resentment. You’ll almost always do one of two things: You will hate you or hate them.

Hating yourself will make you nitpick everything about you.
Mark 12:30-31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Satan will whisper every flaw into your ear. He’ll even make some up to lure you deeper. Hating yourself will lead you into discouragement at the least and depression at the most.

Hating others, well, we know what the Bible says about that.
1 John 4:20
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

God loves us so much he died to save us. Don’t hate what he loves.

Getting stuck in comparison and envy can sap motivation to pursue your unique calling. The only person you are allowed to compare yourself to is who you were yesterday. Progress is measured in the space between who you were yesterday and who you are today.

One of the best tools of the enemy is to get you wrapped up in the notion that you aren't far enough along, that other people are doing better than you, that you are behind in the spiritual development curve.

Galatians 6:4
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Do you see how comparison can be devastating in terms of building something great? Not only can it rob your joy in your own process, it will drive you to take shortcuts. Those shortcuts will cause you to build poorly, and when the rains and the winds come, because you didn't take the time to develop a strong secure foundation in your life, but rather chose to build on sand because you were trying to keep up with the person next to you, great is the fall.

Galatians 6:5
For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

We are all going to have to answer for what we've done. This is a setup for the Easter message. Can’t wait to share it! You don't have time for comparison and envy!

4. Comfort and Complacency
Matthew 13:10, 13-15
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

This exchange comes on the heels of the parable of the sower where Jesus explains the problem I am talking about here with comfort and complacency:

Matthew 13:22
Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

And this is it: unfruitful, refusing to build anything. Refusing to step into your calling, into obedience.

Why? We’re too comfortable
- We don’t need to stress about tithing because our company supplies our finances every 2 week, I just have to show up and work.
- We don’t need the word because the preacher uses enough scriptures on Sunday to last us the week.
- We don’t need DGroups because we can’t be bothered to do a SOAP.
- We don’t need to deal with our past because things are going ok now and that is enough for me.

We become so content and so comfortable that we would rather live mediocre lives where we don't build anything rather than risking it all to build something great for God. And if you think I'm just talking about church stuff, you're missing my point.

Your spouse, your kids, your family and friends around you need more from you than mediocre. God has put more than just mediocre inside of you. But we've gotten too comfortable.

The fact that we have to convince people to come to church, or get in meetups, or let us help them deal with issues in their lives is evidence. We have it so good that it's nearly impossible to convince somebody to taste and see that God is better.

Listen, I'm not trying to hurt feelings and upset people, but we've become too comfortable and too complacent because we've been too blessed.

The pull of a safe, predictable life can outweigh the risks of building something great. Jesus called disciples to leave nets walk away from family, from their businesses, away from comfort. He asked them to step into the unknown. They had no clue what was before them. Peter, Andrew, Philip crucified. Thomas, Matthew, Jude stabbed. Matthias, Paul, James beheaded. Bartholomew, flayed alive. They went into regions that were full of spiritual darkness, they faced mobs, trying to persecute them, they were beaten and stoned and abused. I have an entire book of people who were tortured to death for the sake of Christ.

And what's funny is even me saying that right now, none of us want that! None of us want to even consider the notion of God asking us to go into something that would create that level of crazy. We've been taught for too long that all God wants for us is peace and happiness, and prosperity, but that's only a half truth. God does have plans to prosper and bless you, but following Jesus was never about comfort and complacency. It's about commitment and consistency.

This is what Jesus was saying in Matthew 13 about the Pharisees. It's not that they couldn't see Jesus or hear him, it's that they were too comfortable and complacent in their own wisdom to acknowledge him, to listen to him, to realize who he really was.

The truth is, the Pharisees, then and so many people today have one thing in common: They think don't need Jesus. They had their religious law and we have our comfort and complacency. The result is they forfeited their souls.

Would you still come if we had to meet in the open air with no seats?
Would you start that business God put in you if it meant walking away from a cushy job to start it? Would you stop that addiction or deal with past to see your family succeed? Or like the Pharisees, are you just too comfortable with what you have?

But there are those who do acknowledge and listen to Jesus as he calls them out of comfort and complacency into something great.

Matthew 13:16-17
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Are you seeing and hearing Jesus as he’s calling you to build something great?

He never promised safety, but he did promise satisfaction. He never promised to meet all your wants, but he did promise to meet all your needs.
Whether it is your family, yourself, a business, the kingdom, he's calling you out of the harbor out to sea. Can you see him? Can you hear him?

Look, I know I am being hard on you today. I am not trying to be hard on you, but you have to know that mediocre or less was NOT God’s plan for you.

God’s plan is not for you to be paralyzed by fear and doubt driving you to anxiety. His plan is not sin and distraction that keeps you separated. His plan is not comparison and envy that make you bitter and angry. And his plan is not comfort and complacency.

I don’t know what God’s called you to build, but what is it that is keeping you from it?

Is it fear? Sin? Comparison? Complacency?

So what am I asking you?
I'm asking to abandon fear and doubt.
I'm asking you to deal with your sin and distraction.
I'm asking you to stop comparing yourself to others and being envious.
I'm asking you to love obedience more than you love comfort and complacency.

Every single person in this room has something that's keeping them from building what God called them to build. I'm asking you today to respond. Maybe it here at the altar praying with somebody. Maybe you just need to come up and get before the Lord and repent. Maybe you need to talk to somebody today or let us know at freedomdl.com/helpme

I don't know what it is, but I do know this: What God called you to build is waiting on the other side of your willingness to let go of these things today.

How do you need to respond?

Let's pray

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?