So, Jesus, we just choose to become aware of You today. We thank You for this journey that we're on that is full of Your goodness and grace. Thank You that You are in this room, not because we deserve it, but because You love us. Thank You for the great privilege of being Your disciple, of being Your follower, of being on mission with You. Thank You that You have chosen us to be Your ambassadors and Your re-presenters on this earth. And so, Holy Spirit, give us eyes to see. Give us ears to hear. And give us a heart to receive the revelation that You are offering us. Holy Spirit, You are welcome in this place. Do that which only You can do.

Welcome to Valley Creek. We're so glad that you are here with us today. And we are in a series called Missional Move: Create the Future. It's not really a series; it's more like the next chapter, the next season of who we're becoming as a church. And we said it's kind of a six-week-long series where I'm just kind of painting the picture for you to tell you what we believe is next for our church. We want to create a future that doesn't exist by faith, and we're starting to move towards it as a people. And so, we've spent a little bit of time talking about our story, telling you where we've been. Because wherever we're going is better than where we've been. But to know where we're going, you have to understand where we've been because we learn from the past. We live in the present. We look towards the future. The past creates the present, and contained within the present is everything we need for the future. And so, I've just been telling you our story. Story is incredibly important because contained within story is origin and destiny, vision and values, culture and ethos. Contained within the story is the sacred and supernatural, our scars and our celebration. And if you lose your story, you lose your identity. You lose your ability to create the future. And so, we've been talking about how none of us has created our own lives. Like every person that's in this room, you're here because someone else created a future that didn't exist that became the present you now enjoy. For example, you were born into a body you didn't create. You were born into a family that you didn't start. You went to a school that you didn't build. Your first job was at a company you didn't start. You live in a city you didn't build, and you're a part of a church that you didn't plant. None of us creates our own life. Other people have created a future that didn't exist that becomes the present that we now enjoy. And we've talked about on this journey, what if the people of Valley Creek stopped one dot before you joined? What would you have missed out on? But because people lived with faith, hope, and love in the dashes, they were able to create the next dot. And so, here we are, altogether, 2025. It doesn't matter when you got here; we're all at the same place, and we get to decide what kind of future we were going to create together. And to whom much is given, much is required. And the reason the story matters is because there are certain mandates, callings, and commissions on this church that we must understand to create the future that is in front of us. And so last week, I shared with you what we believe is the future in front of us. Biggest thing we've ever done. Some of you, I probably sucked all the air right out of the room when I told you we want to do five things in the next five years. We believe that God wants to restore the years the locusts have taken. It's been five years since COVID. Five is the number of grace. It's 2025, which means grace upon grace. We believe that God wants to invite us to do these five things in the next five years. So, as a reminder, the first thing is we want to create a prayer center. A prayer center on the Flower Mound Campus, a sacred space that is devoted to the Lord. A place where God's presence resides 24 hours a day, where people from all over the city can come in to pray, to worship, to intercede, to minister to the Lord, and to each other. A place where people can come, and the moment they pull in the parking lot, they know God is in this place. A place where young adults can go to get a word from God, where single parents can go when they're burned out on life and just need some peace in the storm. A place where business people can go to get wisdom from God on what to do next. A place where the people in our church who just want more of God or the people in this city that are looking for God can go morning, noon, and night because somebody created a sacred space to say the presence of God resides here. Come and meet with Him. We believe the future will be built on prayer. The second thing is we want to start a training center. We want to create a space for Valley Creek Leadership Academy to become Valley Creek College, where young adults can earn two or four years of their fully-accredited degrees in a variety of career or degree options. And while they're pursuing their academics, we are going to help them grow in spiritual formation, leadership development, relational skills, and missional living. In a world that overvalues academics and undervalues discipleship, a world that overvalues knowledge but undervalues character, we want to lift the discipleship and character up and use the pursuit of academics to become a formation point to create leaders who will be able to create the future. It will also allow us to create the Valley Creek Leadership Experience for adults of all ages who want to grow in their own leadership journey and experience. We want to create leaders who can create the future. The third thing is we want to start our Argyle Campus. We have 33 acres on 407 and 35. We want to put a Jesus-focused, Spirit-filled, Life-giving harbor of hope in that region for those families. The fourth thing is we have two acres across from the UNT Welcome Center. We want to start our University Campus to reach a lost, lonely, and broken generation. And then, the fifth thing is we call it the 7 Continent Strategy. We want to identify a strategic partner on each of the seven continents, great people who are doing great things, and we want to resource them with relationships and finances and opportunities and send wave after wave of opportunity to create a strategic impact for the decades to come to make a difference in that space. Jesus calls them people of peace. We want to find a person of peace on each of the seven continents. We're North America. Pastor Koshy, our partner in India, is in Asia, but then we're looking for Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, and the Oceania area, and instead of Antarctica, we're going to Israel in Jesus' name.

So, the Missional Move: Create the future. Five things, five years. Biggest thing we've ever done, and I'm just going to be super straight with you. This is a Missional Move. This is a Missional Move. What does that mean? That means we're taking the next step for the sole purpose that somebody else might take their next step. A Missional Move means it's not about us, and it's not for us. It's about them. Yeah, God's going to do some great things in us as He does things through us, but make no mistake about it; this isn't about us. So, when I invite you to create the future, I have nothing I can offer you in return. I can't give you any comfort or convenience or any personal value add to your life in this immediate near future. No, this isn't about us. The only thing I can offer you is the opportunity to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus. The only thing I can offer you is to actually live like a disciple of Jesus. I offer you the opportunity to be a new creation in Christ and to live as though God were trying to reconcile the world to Himself through you. I offer you the opportunity to live like God is here, like God is real, like God is good, and that He has given you and entrusted you with His name, His Spirit, and His kingdom. That's what I offer you. You see, Missional Moves are activation points and dividing lines. They activate some people's faith, and they wake up to the journey that's ahead, and they become dividing lines for other people, and they say, "I'm not interested in that. This is where I get off the bus.” And I know that. And when you get to a Missional Move, the tone changes. The urgency changes. The gravity changes. Why? Because this is the mission of God. We are on a mission for a lost, lonely, and broken world that's on its way to hell. I mean, we are on a mission. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." We're seeking and saving the people place things in areas of life around us that are lost, that need to be restored and found, and redeemed in Jesus' name. God tells us to seek the peace and the prosperity of the city to which He has carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you will prosper. We're trying to seek the peace and the prosperity of the city. We want to be people of peace and people of presence. And the Lord has placed us here for such a time as this. So, we're crying out to the Lord for the city. And if we will create a future for others, we will create a future for ourselves. Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded us. We're responsible to go and make disciples – students, learners, followers, those who become like Jesus. Immersing them in the life of God and teaching them to follow with everything that they've got. This is a mission, so this isn't like, "Oh, that's cute. That's cool. That's fun. Oh, that's cool. They are going to start some new buildings, and they are going to do some new campuses.” No, we. There is no they in this church unless we're talking about the world. We're a we. We are on a mission, and we're moving, which means we're going into enemy territory, which means this is spiritual warfare, which means we're going into darkness, and darkness doesn't want to let go. Make no mistake about a Missional Move. This is war on the kingdom of darkness. In fact, this is why the Bible tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We are not fighting against people, places, and things. We are fighting against the demonic powers, the demonic principalities, the spiritual realm, and the demons that control the people, places, things, and areas of life, and they don't want to give up their territory. So, we are engaged in a very real battle, not against people, not against places, against demonic powers that want to hold on to everything they've got. In fact, this is why Jesus says, "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you." Do you know that verse is in the Bible? That Jesus says, "You're engaged in a very real battle," but let me make it very clear to you. He says, "I've given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, the demonic powers, overcoming all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you." Like, you don't have to be afraid, but you need to be wise. Don't be ignorant. Don't be ill-informed. Don't be naive. 

There is a really very real battle that is taking place, and what do you do when you come up against snakes and scorpions? You don't play with them. You don't pretend like they're not there. You don't think they're cute. You take authority over them. You destroy them, and you move forward in Jesus' name. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. But make no mistake about it, there are snakes and scorpions that we will fight. We already are fighting as we missionally move to seek and save that which is lost. In fact, Jesus Himself says the thief. Jesus knows Satan is real. And if He knows Satan is real, we need to act like Satan is real, but not because we're afraid, but because we need to understand he's come to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus has come that they may have life and they may have it to the full. See, Satan, a very real enemy, wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

Here's what I want to say to you. Satan wants to keep you trapped in your past, distracted in your present, and afraid of your future. That's what Satan wants to do. He wants to keep you trapped in your past, distracted in your present, and terrified of your future. He wants to keep you trapped in your past, in the worst moments, in the worst situations, in the shame, in the brokenness, in the pain. He wants to make you so distracted in the present that you're not even here today, this morning, because your brain is in 10,000 other places, overwhelmed and busy and anxious, about 10,000 other things, and he wants to make you so terrified of your future that all you do is worry and fear and have stress and anxiety and are constantly overwhelmed. But Jesus has come, and He has forgiven your sins and remembers your wickedness no more. He is your Prince of Peace in the present, and there is no fear in love, for love casts out fear, so we don't have to be afraid of the future, because our future is full of hope in Jesus' name.

Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus wants to give, resurrect, and build, and all we have to do is look to Him. See, let me be real clear about this. Here's what we believe about spiritual warfare in this church. We don't engage in spiritual warfare by chasing demons. We engage in spiritual warfare by following Jesus. The way you deal with darkness is to turn on the light, and the darkness flees. Here's what's amazing. The Bible has very little to say about spiritual warfare. There is very little in the Bible that gives us what to do, how to do it, and when to do spiritual warfare. You know what the Bible is full of? Saying, "Fix your thoughts on Jesus. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Turn your heart to Jesus. Turn your affection to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Have faith in Jesus." So, spiritual warfare is not about looking at darkness because whatever you look at grows. It's about looking to Jesus, throwing off everything that hinders, the sin that so easily entangles, and running our race because our eyes are fixed on Him.

So, we engage in warfare by looking to Jesus, not getting enamored or consumed with darkness, because darkness wants to draw attention to itself. So, let me just help you out here. The mission will move. Create the future. Satan is an opportunist, and he will bring the opposite spirit. So, if you want to pursue unity, he'll bring division. You want to pursue joy. He'll bring despair. You want to create the future? What does he want to do? Take you to your past. When Satan comes to tempt Eve, what does he say? Did God really say? Past. He took her to the past. She was supposed to be creating the future for a world that needed her to create a future, but Satan took her to the past, and because she went back to the past, she lost.

So, make no mistake about it. As we attempt to create the future, Satan's going to want to try to take you to the past. That's the spiritual warfare play. I'm giving you. I'm loading you up so you know when it comes. So, if you find yourself all of a sudden falling into old habits, old patterns, old behaviors, old relationships, or old thoughts, if you find yourself getting consumed with shame and brokenness and pain of the past, that's Satan trying to keep you from creating the future by bringing you back to the past. Now that you're aware of the snake and scorpion, you take authority over it and say, "Nope, I'm not going there. I'm looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith who has a future full of hope, and I look to Him in Jesus' name." See, when the Israelites moved on from Egypt to the promised land, what did Pharaoh want to do? He wanted to go and get them and take them back to the past. And so, we have to know that that's the play, and we have to take authority over that. So, this is a Missional Move. We are on a mission, and we are moving forward in Jesus' name.

So, this is like an activation point or a dividing line. You either activate and you realize this is all real. All of it is real. And I'm moving forward with Jesus, or you have 10,000 reasons why this is your dividing line and where you get off the bus. Whatever choice you make, that's fine. I just want you to be fully informed on the reality that's taking place all around you, right here and right now. So, would you like to see what the five things look like? Would you like me to show you what the five things look like? Okay, ready? This is the prayer center. Ready? This is the training center. I like this one. This is the Argyle campus. University.

Do you like it? I like this one too. This is one of my favorites. And then, here's the seven-continent strategy. So, the question is, can you see it? Can you see it? You say there's nothing on there. I know. You know why? Because it hasn't been created yet. And if we don't create it, that's what it's going to look like. If we don't create it, that's all it's going to look like. Why? Because if we don't create it, nobody else will. God isn't asking anybody else to do it. He's asking us to do it. He's inviting us to do it. That's the dream He's put in our hearts. Right now, it's just a dream in our heart and an idea in our imagination. If we don't go and do it, it isn't going to happen. See, here's the journey that we've been on, right? And we're at that dot. So, the future of Valley Creek just looks like that. That's it. You realize if we don't live by faith and keep moving forward, this is the end of Valley Creek. It stops. Like Valley Creek could stop today. All of it.

If we just decided we're done. We're good. It's what it looks like. But right now, what we can see, and what I can see, what I believe you're starting to see is an unimaginable future beyond us that has this incredible dynamic to it. See, for it to be created, somebody has to dream it. Somebody has to see it and visualize it. Somebody has to design it, actually sit down, and put the design elements together. Then somebody has to fund it, actually bring the resources that are required to build it. Then somebody has to build it, actually put the pieces together so it can happen. Then somebody has to steward it, actually live in it, maintain it, and serve it so it can accomplish its full vision. Right now, it's just an idea in our imagination and a dream in our heart. But if you can see it, it can be so much more. Why? Because we were created to create the future. You were created to create in Jesus' name. I think this is one of the most important revelations that we've set around here in years. You were created to create. The first line in the Bible is, In the beginning, God created.

The first thing God tells us about Himself is He's a creator. The first thing you tell somebody about yourself, maybe not the most important thing about you, but it's the most important thing about you that you want them to know. He tells us he's a creator. We know that God is love and God is good, which means creativity is an act of love. Love is goodwill. God's will for us was good, so He created a future that didn't exist to become the present that we now enjoy, not because He needed it, but because He wanted to bless us and create us to enjoy His presence. And we watch all through Scripture as God just, in the beginning of creation, let there be, let there be, let there be, and it was so, and it was good, and then He makes us. His image and His likeness, He scrapes Adam together from the dust of the ground, breathes life into Him. Adam opens his eyes. The first thing he sees is the face of love. And the first thing God says is the humanity.

God blessed them and said to us, to you. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it using all its vast resources in the service of God and man. I just want you to see. This is Genesis 1. First thing God says to Adam, to humanity, is, "Hey, go create the future. Fill the earth. Adam, what's in your heart? What are you dreaming about? What ideas do you have? What's in your imagination? Adam, let's go create something that doesn't exist together, and I put you in a garden with all these resources." He made Adam as a man, not as a child where He had to tell him everything to do. He made him as a mature man, and He put him in a garden with resources. He didn't put him in a home. He didn't put him in a neighborhood. He didn't put him in a city. He didn't put him in a nation. He put him in a garden with a whole bunch of resources and said, "Now dream, ideate, imagine, create that which does not exist, and I have blessed you for that purpose.

To be blessed by God means you have supernatural favor working on your behalf. It means God has given you a supernatural anointing in this era of time, in this place in history, to create a future that does not exist with the resources of the garden that He has placed you in. And this is why it's so important to become people of love because love is goodwill. I have to become a person of love, and I have to know I'm loved if I want creativity to explode out of my life because creativity is an act of love, and I know right about here I lose most of you. I lose most of you because I've already been hearing it now for a couple of weeks. I'm not creative. We kicked the ground a little bit. I'm not creative. I'm not an artist or a musician. I'm not creative. One more time. I'm not creative. And it's like we've reduced creativity to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Nashville.

So, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, they're creative. Silicon Valley, they make all the good tech. That's creative. Nashville, they make my favorite songs. They're creative. And it's like the people of God have given up our authority to create, and we're waiting for the world to create, and we sit around, and we let the world create the future, and we're just waiting for the world to tell us where to go and what to do and who to become and how to dress and how to live, but the world is not supposed to create the future for the church. The church is supposed to create the future for the world, which means we have to wake up to what we're actually called to do. And so, whether you like it or not, you're a creator, and you are creative. That's your identity. You might not live in it, but it's who you are. Come on, ready for this? When you were a kid, do you know how creative you were? Just think about this with me for a second. Think of the favorite picture your mom has of you as a child. You would sing. You would dance. You would play. You would design. You would imagine. You would create. You would do tea parties, and you would make tree forts, and you would play army, and nothing was impossible.

You were unbelievably creative as a child, but as you grew, the world knew the power of that creativity, so it formed you into its mold to steal it away from you and to make you think that only Hollywood and Nashville and Silicon Valley can create, but you were created to create, and not just art and music, but things like opportunities and atmospheres and environments to create relationships and family and friendships to create teams and groups and cultures to create design and gardens and projects to create things like meals. Yeah, I guess I do make some meals. Yeah, even the most Black and White person that's in this room. I'm not creative. You create order, systems, and processes. Because you're so black and white, you put everything in order.

You are actually creating, whether you realize it or not. You were created to create. You're created to create things that are beautiful and holy, things that are significant and meaningful, things that bring joy to people, and things that serve people, things that glorify God. And you're not creating in competition with anybody else, and it doesn't matter if anybody likes what you create. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as unto the Lord. In other words, whatever you create, create it with all your heart as unto the Lord, because it is for Him that you are creating, and He will then use it in the lives of the people around us. See, if you're a man, you're in the line of Adam, and Adam named the animals. Do you understand how creative that is? You come up with the name hippopotamus on the spot. You come up with rhinoceros and narwhal.

That's incredibly creative. If you're a woman, you're in the line of Eve. Her name means the mother of life, and that doesn't just mean biological children. It means everywhere she goes, she creates and brings life. If you're a follower of Jesus, you're in the line of Jesus, which means you're a new creation created in Christ Jesus to do good works, to create good things in the here and now. You can't tell me you're not creative, and that's our problem. Our problem is it's not that we're not creative. Our problem is that we're not nearly as loving as we think we are. If creativity is an act of love, the problem is not that you're not creative. The problem is we're not as loving as we think we are. To love is to create. This is why the Bible says this is how we know what love is, that Jesus Christ laid down His life that we might become a new creation in Him.

To love is to create. The problem is not that you're not creative. The problem is that we're all way more self-focused than we care to admit. Jesus says, "There's a new command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

How did He love us? Created us, and then recreated us. He loved me by creating a future that didn't exist to become my present. When I blew it up, He came back around and created another future for me that was even better that didn't exist, that is now the present that I live in. When He tells me the command is to now love others, not as my neighbor as myself, as He has loved me, that means I am now literally biblically commissioned and called to spend my life creating a future that doesn't exist for those around me because it's been reestablished in Jesus' name.

You think Satan doesn't want you to hear this message? That's what I'm trying to tell you. Some of you are like, "I'm just here today. Do we have to talk about building, building?" This is your life purpose. This is why you're on this earth. The whole battle is for creating and consuming. Go back to the garden. Ready for this? About 10 of us are really excited about this revelation. This is a life-changing revelation in Jesus' name. That's why I started by praying for you, that you might receive it. You go all the way back to the beginning of the garden. The battle is for consuming or creating. Satan comes, and he tempts Eve to do the one thing she's told by God not to do, to consume the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And it says, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and she ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked. So, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." Here is the problem.

The problem is cravings of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It's the same problem all throughout Scripture. All throughout Scripture, you will see at every chapter, at every turn, in every people group, with every person, the temptation is the cravings of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Satan is trying to get us to consume instead of creating. And when we consume, we take it, we eat it. What happens? They made coverings for themselves, and they hid among the bushes. We think consuming things is going to draw us closer together in intimacy. It actually separates you and makes you feel even further away from the people that God has placed in your life.

And this wasn't just in the Garden of Eden. This is the story all throughout Scripture. So, I want you to see in 1 John, towards the end of your Bible, John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. And if creativity is an act of love, then John understood the point of creating versus consuming. He says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust or the cravings of the flesh, craving for sensual gratification, and the lust of the eyes, greedy longings of the mind, and the pride of life, assurance in one's owns resources or in the stability of earthly things. These do not come from the Father but are from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." So, here it is. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. When she saw that it was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. You say, "What's the lust of cravings of the flesh?"

It's literally like my flesh, my desires, my needs, my wants, my emotions, my feelings. I'm going to get it, and I'm going to gratify myself now. Lust of the eyes. Lust of the eyes is looking at things to take advantage of them for your own good. Love is goodwill for others. Lust is I want to use you for my good and accomplish my will by taking advantage of you. And the pride of life, the sense of I'm taking Jesus out of the center, I'm putting myself in the center, and everyone and everything is meant to serve me. This is a life of consuming. And we were never supposed to live with the cravings of the flesh. We were supposed to walk in the character of the Spirit. And we're not supposed to walk around with lust of the eyes, but a vision to see what can be in the midst of what is. And we're not supposed to be people with pride of life. We're supposed to be people of humility who put Jesus in the center and use everything we have to create a future that doesn't exist for the good of others and the glory of God. And this is all over Scripture. In fact, this is Jesus' three temptations by Satan.

He comes to Him and says, "Tell these stones to become bread," craving of the flesh. He shows them all the kingdoms of the world and says, "Bow down to me, and I'll give them to you." Lust, showing Him what He could have, and then says, "Throw yourself down from this temple." Do something spectacular to put yourself in the middle so everyone draws attention to you. But Jesus had His face set like flint towards Jerusalem, and He was so focused on creating a new creation through the cross that He didn't have time to come down and consume because He was on a journey and a mission of creating. Here's what I want you to see. If anyone loves the world, if anyone's consuming, the love of the Father is not in them. Read the words carefully. It does not say love for the Father. It's not in them.

Love of the Father. It does not mean that we don't love God. That means that I am not opening myself up to receive His love. When the love of the Father is not in me, I will spend my life consuming this world to try to meet that need of feeling loved in my soul. But when I open myself up to the love of the Father, I am now free not to consume but to create, to walk in the character of the Spirit with vision to see, with a humility to serve, and everything changes. See, here's what I want to say to you. Your life is as big as the love you receive. Your life is as big as the love you receive. You say, "What does that mean?" Well, we are told that God's love is how high, how wide, how deep, and how long is the love of God for us. Well, your life is as high and wide and deep and long as the love of God that you open yourself up to.

Your life is as small as the love you resist. Adam and Eve were supposed to have a wide, big, old life changing the world, but their life got real small real fast when they became consumers. They were hiding in a bush when they were supposed to have vast resources and a vast garden and a vast future with God. How big is your life? And I'm not asking you how much money or possessions or influence you have. How big is your life? The question is, how big is your soul? Because what good is it for you to gain the whole world, consume everything that's consumable, and lose your life? The man who does the will of God lives forever. Not only do we live forever, but the things we create live forever. They become gold, silver, and precious stones. They become part of the garden city in Jesus' name.

That's life-hanging. We were created by God to create. He has given humans and only humans language. He created everything by saying, "Let there be. Let there be. Let there be." Now He's given us language with the ability to say, "Let there be." We get to decide what there will and will not be on this earth. The only question is how well are we stewarding it? Your words matter. "The tongue has the power of life and death. Your words shape and create the future." They shape and create the future. Words spoken create a future. Words spoken by faith create a kingdom future. And this is why the Bible is so big on your words. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. You will give an account for every reckless word that you say. You will be acquitted by your words, and you will be condemned by your words. Why? Because they have so much power. Why? Because we were given the creative power of God to create the world around us.

This is why Jesus says things like, "Speak to this mountain and it will be thrown into the sea." This is why He tells us, "Ask and it will be given to you. Whatever you ask of me in my name, I will do it for you." This is why we're told, "Prophesy to the dead bones and they will rise." This is why we're told, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." This is why we're told, "Whatever two or three agree on in Jesus' name will happen and be done for us." Our words have tremendous power to create a future that does not exist. So, today when we say, "Let there be passion," let there be passion. My tongue has the power to create that in me. So, in Jesus' name, let there be passion in me. Not, let there be passion. And then, I sit down and check out the message. Words and actions, words and actions.

A king rules his kingdom with words and actions. He says it, then he does it. Let us not love with words and tongue, but in actions and in truth. Like, we say it, but then I do it. Don't say let there be passion and then turn around and be unpassionate like 30 seconds later. Then don't say it. There's nothing worse than the church using significant language and not filling it with faith because we're teaching the world. Our words don't have power. But when I say it, when I say last week, let there be signs and wonders. By golly, this week, pray for a sign and wonder then. Act like someone's going to get healed through your hand when you walk into the room. Why? Because I said it, so I believe it. So, I'm going to create it. We got two choices here. I got two choices. I can give you this rest of the message, and we're going to go five minutes long, or I can end it here and save it for next week.

Half of us are like, "Oh, please, please." But if I say it, I'll be so embarrassed. Let me do my best because I think it fits better in this message than trying to break it. There are three things about this creativity that I need you to understand. And I think it'll really make sense if you just let me get to the end of it. Three things about this creativity that you need to understand. These aren't like three points like this, but this first thing is this. Creativity demonstrates wisdom. Creativity demonstrates wisdom. What does that mean? What is wisdom? Wisdom is the mind of God. Wisdom is the thoughts of God. So, to have wisdom means I think like God thinks. I see how God sees. I hear how God sees. I perceive how God perceives. And I know and understand some of the things God knows and understands. And I put those two things together to act, and therefore it is wisdom. And creativity is a demonstration of the wisdom I possess. In fact, in Proverbs, wisdom, talking, first person, I, wisdom, personified, "Wisdom was there when He set the heavens in place, when He marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when He gave the sea its boundaries so the waters would not overstep His command, and when He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was the craftsman."

Wisdom created at His side. And I was filled with delight and rejoiced. Wisdom created creation. And it takes wisdom to create and do things like set out, mark out, establish, fix, give, mark out, and so on and so forth. And when we engage in creativity, there is a delight and a joy because that's what we were created to do. Creativity demonstrates wisdom because it takes wisdom to create. I mean, have you ever just looked at the creation of God and been amazed?

A sunrise, a mountain, a lake, an animal, a forest, a river, the ocean. How about just a great friend that sometimes you just look at and you're just blown away by the creativity of God in their life that shows His wisdom, that wisdom shows His glory. Creativity is a demonstration of wisdom. And when I see something that's been created, that person has to have had wisdom. And if they have that kind of wisdom, it gives them immediate glory. And it shows us His goodness and His grace. Wisdom creates. Or how about this? When God was creating the tabernacle, it says the Lord spoke to Moses and said, "See, I have called by name Bezalel, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship to create." He was given wisdom by the Spirit to create artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, and in the cutting of stones for the settings and in the carving of wood so that He may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.

[01:10:12]

JOHN STICKL: Here's what I want you to understand. God filled a man with the Spirit of the living God in the Old Testament. The Old Testament Spirit only comes on people. It's the first reference in all of the Bible where somebody is filled with the Spirit of God for the sole purpose of filling him with wisdom to create that which mattered to God. So, He has called you by name, and He has filled you with the Spirit of wisdom to create all kinds of things for the good of others and the glory of God. He's given you wisdom to create that meal, to create that culture, to create that team, to create that family, to create that home, to create that business, to create that moment, to create that atmosphere. That is the wisdom of God operating in your life. Think of Solomon. Other than Jesus, the most wise person to ever walk on the face of the earth. When we read about Solomon, what is he known for? Creating things. 

He created the temple and a palace and gardens and singers and poetry and music and culture and business and strategies and structures. He was known as a creator because he was so full of the wisdom of God. Wisdom creates. Foolishness consumes. Creativity is a demonstration of wisdom. Consuming this world is a demonstration of foolishness because it takes wisdom to create. This is why it says, "By wisdom a house is built. And through understanding it's established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." It takes wisdom to create and fill it with rare and beautiful things. Listen to me. It takes wisdom to create a home and fill it with the Spirit of God. It takes wisdom to create a relationship and fill it with faith, hope, and love. It takes wisdom to create a church, a family, and a business and create them with the culture of the kingdom, which means it takes wisdom to create a prayer center and fill it with the presence of God.

It takes wisdom to create a training center and fill it with young adults who love Jesus. It takes wisdom to create campuses and fill them with the culture of the kingdom. Creativity demonstrates your wisdom. So, if there's no creating in your life, that means you're consuming, and it demonstrates your foolishness. The second thing, real quick, is that creativity is evidence of a Spirit-filled life. Creativity not only demonstrates wisdom. It's evidence of a Spirit-filled life. Remember, Jesus died, resurrected, and we're a new creation in Christ, and He pours out His Holy Spirit upon us. In Acts chapter two, "In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." So, He pours out His Spirit, and we have the ability to prophesy again, prophesy, hear from God, and speak to people.

In other words, we were reinstated and restored our authority to say, "Let there be in Jesus' name for His kingdom to come and His will to be done." But the immediate result of the Spirit being poured out is that people will see visions and dream dreams. Evidence of the Spirit being poured out in your life is you're a person of vision and dreams. You can't create a future that you first haven't seen. So, when we talk about creating things, I can't create something I don't have a vision for. I can't create something I don't dream about. So, the first thing is I have to have a vision for it, and I have to dream about it. And evidence of the Spirit in my life is that I will see visions and dream dreams. You say, What is a vision? A vision is the ability to see what can be in the midst of what is. And it so compels you that it becomes guardrails that keep you focused to go after that thing with everything you got. And a dream is seeing God's kingdom come where His will is not currently being done.

And evidence of the Spirit in my life is that I see visions and dream dreams. It is not reserved. Visions and dreams are not reserved for people with certain talents or abilities or giftings or callings. You don't get the right as a follower of Jesus to say, "I'm not a visionary and I'm not a dreamer." Why? Because if the Spirit is in you, you might not be, but He is. And evidence of His work in your life is you'll see visions and dream dreams. And I love that it says young and old. It says young and old. Young people usually have too much foolishness to have a vision. And old people, life has passed them by, and they no longer dream dreams. And Jesus picked young people who by the Spirit of God could see a vision of God's kingdom on this earth as disciples, Peter, John, and James. And old men like Caleb, 85 years old, say, "Don't give me the easy ground. Give me that mountain territory because I'm still alive and vibrant because I see a future in front of me and I'm dreaming about what can be in the midst of what is."

So, hear me, you are as young as the future you see. And you are as old as the past you try to hold on to. I don't care what your biological age is. I don't care if you're 16 right now or you're 86. You are as young as the future. You see in front of you, and you are as old as the past you try to hold on to. If you try to live in glory days or bitterness, you are so old. If you see a dream in front of you, you see God's kingdom come, you see what God wants to do, you see a future worth creating, and you are a child in the kingdom of God. Vibrant and spry and young and bouncing. And I just declare over your life in this series that ideas and imagination are beginning to flow, that dreams and our hearts are beginning to come up, and that you'll start seeing the invisible in the visible. You'll start seeing the superior in the midst of the inferior.

You'll start seeing possibilities and ideas and solutions and dynamics. Why? Not because of you, but because the Spirit in your life promises that you'll see visions and dream dreams in Jesus' name. Come on, this is why Jesus says, "Unless you are born again, you will never see the kingdom of God. I have to be born again." What happens? I believe in Jesus. Spirit comes into my life. My eyes open. I now see the kingdom of God. In Him was life, and that life was the light of man. So, the more I walk with Jesus, the more His life lights up the way. So, I now start to see. I start to dream. And this is what happens. The path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter until the full light of day. Are you catching me? It's not a gift, a passion, or a talent. It's a work of the Spirit in your life in Jesus' name. And this is why alcohol is a big deal. You're like, "Boom, I didn't see that one coming."

Should have voted to end it early. You can only be influenced by one thing at a time. God is not against you having a good time or enjoying your life. His love is better than life. But what does alcohol do? It influences me. What does the Spirit do? It influences me. Well, I can only be influenced by one thing at a time, which is why the Bible says, "Don't get drunk on wine. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Why? Because when I'm influenced by alcohol, I become blind and I'm full of nightmares. But when I'm influenced by the Spirit, I see visions and dream dreams. So, if you looked me in the face and said, I struggle seeing visions and dreaming dreams. One of the first questions I would ask you is, "Tell me about your relationship with alcohol." This isn't me preaching against alcohol. You do whatever you want to do with the Scriptures. I'm just telling you that when you're influenced by alcohol, you are blind, and you see nightmares. But when I'm influenced by the Spirit, I see visions, and I dream dreams.

The question is, do you want vision and dreams? I do. Creativity is evidence of a Spirit-filled life, which means consuming is evidence of a flesh-filled life. Last thing in this one, super important for the day. Creativity is an act of spiritual warfare. Every time you create, it is an act of spiritual warfare. You are literally saying Satan, darkness, demons. You are not welcome. You are not wanted here in Zachariah. I'm about to give you a minor prophet. I know we're long to stay with me. You don't even know these guys are in the Bible, but they are, and they have some good things to say from time to time. The people of God have rebelled against God. They were exiled. They just got brought back from their exile, and they're supposed to rebuild all of the things that belong to the people of God, but they got apathetic, and they kind of gave up and sat down. Kind of sounds like the people of God, COVID 2025. Then I looked up. This is Zachariah, the prophet talking to God.

And there before me were four horns representing demonic powers and principalities, authorities, and rulers in the spiritual realm. And I asked the angel who was speaking to me, "What are these?" He answered, "These are the horns, the powers, principalities, and dark forces that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, the people of God from their purpose, from their kingdom, from their homeland." Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen, four creators, four creatives. And I asked, "What are these coming to do?" He answered, "These are the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to terrify them, throw down these horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people." He has this vision, this conversation. And basically, it's saying, "Hey, the spiritual warfare that's taking place for these demonic powers and principalities, God's saying, I'm bringing creatives. I'm bringing creators." Why?

Because creativity is an act of warfare and the demonic has scattered the people and he has caused them to bow their heads. And I'm sending creatives to create and lift up the people of God's head once again. Creativity is an act of warfare. And you might say, "Man, God does war weird." He sure does. One time He just had people walk around the city for seven days. Another time He sent the worship team in front of the army into battle. Another time He had 30,000 troops. He said, "Too many. Let's do 300." I don't know that you could ever have too many troops, but to God, you can. Another time He sent a shepherd boy against the giant. This time, He sent creators against the spiritual realm. Why? Because that's how God has established dominion on this earth to work. Every time you create, you lift the head of the world around you to see the goodness and the glory of God.

Every time you make a meal, you create a culture, you create an environment, you create an atmosphere, you create a campus, you create a building, you create a family, you're lifting other people's heads. If you're creating with God, not for yourself, with God, you're lifting people's heads because this is an act of warfare. See, go all the way back to the garden. You go all the way back to the garden. God put Adam and Eve in the garden. Probably one of my favorite verses in the Bible. We've already done it. Here's what He says. Subdue it. Subdue the garden. He says it's the Garden of Eden. There's no sin yet, right? Okay, well, what's happened? Well, Satan has rebelled against God. Make no mistake about it. Satan is an opposite and equal of God. He was created by God. All things have been created by, in the beginning, God created. All things, including Satan, were created by God. He is a fallen angel who rebelled against God. He wanted to be worshiped. And so, make no mistake about it, Satan doesn't have the ability to create.

You do. So, God, in His wisdom, threw him to the earth, and He said to humanity, "I'm going to make you in my enjoyment and my likeness. And through a people who are going to worship me with love and obedience and joy and delight, who I'm going to walk through this world with, I'm going to let them subdue that darkness, because they have authority over it, by using all the resources I've given them to create a future that doesn't exist." And as one couple would become a family, and that family would become a home, and that home would become a neighborhood, and the neighborhood would become a city, and the city would become a nation, and nations would become nations, eventually there would be no place left for darkness on this earth, because every time they created, they subdued darkness and moved it further and further and further away. God wanted to come and crush Satan under our feet, the Bible says. That's what creativity does. Satan can't create. Satan can deceive. Satan can accuse. Satan can intimidate, and Satan wants to get you to say, let there be things he wants, or he wants you to forget that you have the authority to say, let there be things that God wants.

So, no wonder Satan wants to make you think you're not creative. Because this is God's plan to destroy him. Man is made in His image and His likeness, creating things for the good of others and the glory of God with the resources He has given them until there's no place left for Satan on this earth. Every time you create, you're saying, "God's kingdom has come, and God's will has just been done." You make a meal for your family after your students have a long day at school, and when they come home, you just say, "God's kingdom has come, and darkness is not welcome in this place." You create a culture for the people you work around, and they walk into your office. Yep, you just created culture because you say, "God's kingdom has come and His will is done and darkness is not welcome here." And so, people know, don't bring that gossip, that slander, that nonsense into your office. Why? Because you've already subdued the darkness that belongs there. Take the analogy and pull it out as far as you want it to go. No wonder Satan wants to get you to check out. No wonder Satan wants you to consume.

Why does he want Adam and Eve to consume? Because they are the only ones who can subdue him. So, if I can just get Eve to go after the cravings of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, I got her. Satan can only have what's been given to him. He has no ability to take it. He has no ability to create that which does not exist. He has to get it from your hand. Jesus got it all back. All authority now belongs to Him, which means Satan has none, but he's still doing the same old game of trying to get you and me to spend our lives consuming this world so we won't subdue him and the other powers and principalities alongside him with the resources God has entrusted to us. Hear me, you don't have to create anything. God won't make you create anything, but just be super clear about it. He also won't let you live in the past. So, you're in the present, and the present is quickly becoming the past.

So, you have to decide what kind of future you want to create. So, as we go after a Missional Move: Hope for the City, yeah, it's big, $50 million. We have 25 million. We own all our buildings. We're a debt-free church. $50 million, vast resources that belong to God that have been entrusted to us to subdue darkness. Every campus, every building, and every international partner is an act of spiritual warfare, subduing the darkness around us. So, I've asked you to do three things. One, to decide that this is my church, because you can't create a future you're not committed to. And if all this doesn't inspire you, we'll help you find a great church around here. Because this inspires the heck out of me. And this is what I'm giving my life towards. The second thing, we've asked every family to make a two-year significant gift above and beyond what you already give. Why? Because what you currently give funds the present. Missional Move giving creates the future, bringing our resources in a significant way. March 2nd is our financial commitment weekend, where we're going to respond to the Lord to subdue the darkness around us.

And the third thing is to take one next step every year for the next five years so you can become the kind of person who can actually steward the future we are creating. It's so good. It's so good. And you might be like, "This dude likes his own messages." It's the revelation of God. No wonder Satan wants you to consume. No wonder he wants to distract. I don't know if you came in here today with hope, joy, engagement, attitude, disappointment, or frustration. I don't know, but I promise you, darkness does not want you to understand that you and only you have the authority to say, "Let there be on this earth. God is waiting for you to wake up and create a future that doesn't exist. And Satan is trying to keep you asleep so he can hold on to that, which we have already given Him. Jesus has taken the authority back up. So, now we go and we crush Satan under our feet in Jesus' name.

This is what it looks like. Can you see it? So, Jesus, we're out of time. Holy Spirit, work in our hearts. Campus pastors, get up, go, go, go. Amen.