We are on the backside of spring break, and we are moving forward in Jesus' name. And you are moving forward in Jesus' name. And you are growing. And you are changing. And I've been watching firsthand as some of you with trembling hands are beginning to lead your family forward in the name of Jesus. There are dads that are prophesying over their kids. There are wives that are contending in the secret place for their husbands. There are students who are the only one in their family following Jesus. And they're doing it full of faith. And they know that the Lord is with them. And they're setting a new course and charting a new course in their family. And so, I speak to the hearts of some of you right now. And I say if you are feeling weary, do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Do not give up. Keep going. There's a harvest of righteousness, peace, and joy coming into your life. I speak a fresh wind in your soul. I speak a fire in your bones. I speak a passion in your heart. I speak fresh hope in your life and dreams into the future of your family. You're moving forward in the name of Jesus. And we are moving forward in the name of Jesus. 

So, welcome to Valley Creek. And I am so excited to share with you today just a word that's on my heart. It's something I feel like the Lord has been speaking to me a lot over these past few months, and it's just this: It all matters. It all counts. Everything in your life matters, and nothing in your life doesn't matter. And everything in your life has a ripple – a ripple effect into the lives of other people. About seven years ago, we taught a series called "The Ripple Effect." And in the last 60 days, I kid you not, I've heard it like probably 10 times just out of nowhere. Somebody's like, "It's like a ripple, like a ripple effect.""There's a ripple effect." And I was like, "Yes, Lord? Yes? What do you want to speak to me?" And so, I feel like the Lord has a word for us today that He wants to speak about the ripple effect of our lives. So, Holy Spirit, we invite You in. Would You teach us? Would You reveal to us? Would You heal us? Would You remind us of what's good and true and right? Would You just even change the atmosphere as we just are together as the church today? In the name of Jesus. 

All right. So, a ripple effect. What's that idea? Okay. So, it's the idea that what Jesus sets in motion stays in motion. So, just think about it. A word once spoken continues to be spoken. Every plan of the Lord will come to pass. When Jesus said, "Let there be light," light literally rippled through the universe and it's never stopped. A ripple effect. And because in this world we are like Jesus, then the same is true for us. Every word, every action, every decision – it ripples through our lives into the lives of other people and out into eternity. Think about a rock dropped into the water. A rock gets dropped in – bloop – and it goes in a ripple, concentric circles, over and over and over. Your life is kind of like that. But even more than being like that, your life is like an epic rock-skipping contest. I'm talking ESPN: The Ocho Rock Skipping Championships coming at you live from Mackinaw City, Michigan, where you toss those things and they skip across, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, your whole life. In a line from when you're born all the way to the end of it, every word, every decision, every action has a ripple effect. It ripples from your life into the lives of other people and out into eternity. 

So, I just have three things I want to share with you regarding the ripple effect of our life. And the first one is this: It all matters. All of it. Do you remember the story of the woman that anointed Jesus's feet with perfume, with oil? A seemingly insignificant moment from a seemingly insignificant person. In fact, the people in the room were quite happy to judge her as so. Somebody with no worth, somebody with no value. What's she even doing here? And sees Jesus and she's overwhelmed. And she decides she's going to extravagantly worship Him. So, she brings and she breaks that perfume on His feet. And she worships Him. And she anoints His feet with her perfume and cries on His feet and wipes it with her hair. And Jesus says, "There it is. That's a moment. And that moment really matters. In fact, it matters so much that truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her." Including right now. Including right now, as I say it out loud, for 2,000 years, that moment in time has been spoken about in memory of her. Now, listen. Why don't we think about our lives in a similar way? See, we miss the moments of our life that really do matter for eternity. So, what if we just thought that this verse could just as easily say, “today Dave unloaded the dishwasher at his house. And he did it quietly without trying to make any loud sounds as he placed the dishes into the cabinetry, so the rest of the family would know that he unloaded the dishwasher. And then, he kissed his wife goodbye on her way to work and said, ‘I love you.’ I tell you the truth, throughout the world, the story of Dave will be told.” How about this one? “Laura got her kids ready for school today. Did it with peace in her heart. And she did it with this hope and this expectation for their day. She even talked her middle schooler into wearing pants when it was 30 degrees outside, which is incredible. She did that full of the love of Jesus. Throughout the world, Laura's story will be told in memory of her.” “Taylor went to school today, and Taylor did it with an energy and enthusiasm. She carried the peace of Jesus with her through the hallways. She spoke encouragement into her classmates, into her teacher. I tell you the truth, that Taylor, in the name of Jesus, lived her life worthy of her calling. Throughout the world, her story will also be told.” Why don't we believe that? Now, I think part of the reason it's difficult to believe that is because our life sometimes feels mundane. We walk it out and we don't see a lot of those moments. We don't hear a lot of those things. But what if I told you that it not only matters in this life, but it matters where it really matters in the life to come.

Check this out. Out of the Amplified Bible. For we believers will be called to account and must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may be repaid for what has been done in the body, whether good or bad. That is, each of us will be held responsible for actions, purposes, goals, motives, the use or the misuse of time, opportunities and abilities. That's an incredible verse. That's incredible. Now, when we read that, if you're like most of us, your mind, your eyes automatically go to the word bad. Okay. We're like, "Bad. I'm going to be judged." Remember that we are seen through the grace of Jesus, and the finished work of Jesus pours all over our life. So, that's great because that's the lens in which we will be judged. But make no mistake about it, we will hold account for our life, for good or for bad. You know what? I'm actually excited about this because I'm excited about the opportunity for the good to be able to say, "Here's what I did with my time. And here's what I try to do with my life and the opportunities that were in front of me." That's an amazing opportunity. So, whether for good or for bad, we will have to face that. We will have to face the realities of that. I think when we think in terms of the bad, we let that come into our mind and we can only think, "I'm so bad, it's so bad, I'm so bad." And that's where we have to remind ourselves of the grace of Jesus because it's so good. And He's so good. And I do think that we have to take stock of the ripple effect of our actions and our words and our decisions, both for those that were selfish and self-motivated and prideful and for those that were full of faith and hope and love. We talk about here the sins of the fathers to the third and the fourth generation or the blessings of God to thousands of generations of those that love and fear the Lord. We say, "Yeah, my grandpa was like that and his great granddad. It's always been like that in my family. I'm going to break out of that." That's awesome. Here's my question for you. How do you know you're not the first generation? How do you know you're not the first generation that is either setting something in motion that you do not want to set in motion, or you're the first generation that, I don't know, just uses Scripture to guide your life or worships God like He's real and He deserves worship, or makes decisions based off of what He tells you to do because God gets to guide and lead your life? You could be the first generation and that's incredible. Your whole life has next-level meaning and purpose. All of it. All of it matters. And so, I want to say to you, you are not too young to have a voice or a spirit-filled platform, and you are not too old to start dreaming new dreams and declare life into the next generation. Let's go. And by the way, if you are by chance part of the older generation, we like to refer to you as super adults. You're a super adult. You got all the wisdom and the hope of heaven to carry into the rest of your life and into the next generation. So, your life matters. It counts. I just want to speak this over to somebody. You matter. You count for something. And your life matters. And it has next-level purpose in every area of life. Do not believe the lie that you are an insignificant creature doing insignificant things. You're not in Jesus' name. You are significant. And you're living a profoundly important life to the glory of God. So, may it all count for something in Jesus' name. So, there you go. It all matters. That's number one.

Here we go. Number two. Let's keep rolling. We belong to each other. We belong to each other. Our life is not our own. And the reason that your life is not your own is because you're not the one that paid for it. And I'm not the one that paid for it. We got songs like, it's my life. Good song. Not true. We belong to each other. We belong to each other. Check this out. Don't you realize your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. If He bought you with a high price, it's because you're highly valuable. If He paid a lot for you, you actually count for something. You're valuable. And you don't belong to yourself; you belong to God. We honor God with our life, our whole life. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. The reason I decided to make the second point “we all belong to each other” is because the Bible says we all belong to each other. So, I don't just belong to myself. I don't just make all my own decisions. We all could just as easily say our time, our finances, our words, our physical state, our actual physical health, our calendars, our future, our emotions. I don't own any of it. I don't belong to myself. I'm part of a body. And because I'm part of a body, I actually owe it to "the body" to live this healthiest life that I can live, to be as healthy as I can be. And you know this is true, that every part really does matter in your body. Because the next time that you stub your toe on a metal bedframe at your house, you're going to quickly understand that every part really does matter a lot. The next part you get an amazing massage, you're like, "That feels great on my back." You're right, the whole thing is connected. It's not disconnected. So, just think with me for a second. Why would a disciple of Jesus do something like work out? To look good for Instagram? No, it's way bigger than that. It's that I can actually be healthy, and I can have energy. And because I have energy, I can live a life of purpose, and I can have all the energy for the life that God's called me to. So, I keep my physical body healthy because that's what I've been called to do as part of a body of Jesus. Why does a disciple of Jesus budget to steward money? For me, myself, and I? For more money in my bank account? For a faster retirement? No. Because as part of a body, I leave margin in my life for people that are hurting and need some help. Because in the early church, there were no needy persons among them. And so, in order to do that, I have to actually budget. I have to actually have finances available to give to the people that need them. That's why I do it as a disciple of Jesus. Why does a disciple of Jesus hold my tongue? Because my words hold the power of life and death. And I don't want to speak a word into somebody's future when I speak it to them, and they pass it to their daughter, and their daughter, and their daughter, and their daughter, on and on and on. I want to speak life for generations to come. That's why I think about the words that I'm speaking. So, I challenge you with this question. Who in your life has the right to tell you, "Don't do that?" You're like, "My spouse tells me that all the time." Okay. How about who in your life, who maybe just isn't your spouse, that quite frankly when they say that, you probably get in a fight with each other. Who in your life has the right to say, "Don't do that? It's a really bad idea. I think God has so much more for you." And have you invited them in to say it? I think we have an opportunity to invite people to have a right to speak into every area of my life. Not everybody, not everybody, somebody. Not all people – those with the wisdom of the Spirit of God – to speak the wisdom of the Spirit of God into my life, and I actively invite that, and I encourage them to come in and tell me, “What do you see in me? What do you think about? I'd like you to weigh in on.” Who is that person? Honestly, I feel like it's a little bit strange sometimes how private we are and how many secrets we keep. I just got to speak to you honestly. Hopefully, I'm speaking to you honestly the entire time. Privacy is interesting, right? Because it's like, I got these little compartments of my life that are disconnected from everybody, and once again, not the person that just spews their life over everyone, but at least somebody in my life knows everything about me. It really is wide open, because I'm not a segregated person, I'm integrated. All of my life is integrated together. I don't want to keep secrets because I want to be wide open to the Lord, and to the people that love me, and in every area of my life. So, I challenge you, look for those people, invite them in. I want you to tell me, speak to me, weigh in on what's happening inside of my life, because plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed. Plans fail for lack of counsel. It's so interesting, we have things like financial advisors. We have physical trainers. How about this, how about a parenting advisor? How about a “how I'm going to fill up my calendar” advisor? How about a “what do you think about my friend circles” advisor? Because if it says plans fail, it could just as easily say all of life fails. If my plans fail, my whole life failed. But you know what the awesome part is? With many advisors, they succeed! So, I can have a life that's prosperous and successful, because I'm inviting people in, because I don't belong to myself. We belong to each other. Man, may all of our plans succeed in the name of Jesus, because we've invited so much godly counsel into every area. What if we all lived our life like it wasn't ours, because it's not? What if we all lived our life like it wasn't ours? It's not, we belong to each other. 

There's a great story in Mark, Chapter 5 about a man who's demon-possessed. And Jesus and His disciples go across the lake for the very first time to an area called the Decapolis, the 10-city region. And they go over there, and one single lonely man who lives among the tombs and is just screaming out and literally running around naked, and he's just disheveled, and he is full of the kingdom of darkness greets them when they arrive on the shore. One guy. And Jesus spends about 30 seconds in the conversation with the demons, and He's like, "You've got to get out of here." And the man is free for the first time. He's tasting freedom. His eyes are awakened. And he's like, "Jesus, can I go with you? Can I go be a part of what you're doing? This is incredible." And then, Jesus does something super unexpected. He looks at the man and says, "Go home to your own people. Tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you." So, the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed. Okay, so this man has just gotten out of a season of living hell on earth: alone, purposeless, no identity or idea of who he's supposed to be or who he actually is as a child of God. Jesus frees him, and He tells him, "No, no, it's time to live like heaven on earth. It's time to live like heaven on earth. It's time to live a life of productive beauty and purpose and tell people your story. So, here's what you're going to do. You're going to go to your own people, and you're going to tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you." And I can almost imagine the guy's eyes open, and he'll be like, "It's not about me. I don't belong to myself. We belong to each other. So, I got to go. I got to go home to my people." And the very next chapter, Mark, Chapter 6, the second time they go across the lake, look what it says. As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. How? Well, let's see. Because the man went, and he got outside of himself, and he went to his town, and he started telling people about this incredible thing that had happened. Because it wasn't just about him anymore. He wasn't living by himself among the tombs. He was living life outside of himself, sharing his story, being like, "Man, my life is going to have a ripple effect. And I'm going to go tell everyone what Jesus has done for me," and he did, and people were blown away, and they recognized Jesus. That's incredible. And so, my question for you is, who in your life do you need to tell how good God has been to you and how He has had mercy on you? What extended family member? What co-worker? What neighbor? Who in your life do you want to speak of the goodness of God because your story really matters? Because your story is not just your story. It belongs to them because we belong to each other. So, it matters. We belong to each other. And there are no small things. You know the phrase don't sweat the small stuff? Nice phrase, also incorrect. There are no small things. There's no small things.

All of it, when you live a kingdom life and understand what we're actually doing, all of it really matters. Now, that's not something to get neurotic and nervous about. That's something to be celebrated because it's starting to awaken my life to the ripple effect of my life. There are no small things. So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. So, that lunch is not a small thing. That coffee is not a small thing. What I take into my body, that's not a small thing. I can do all of it to the glory of God. I can do all of it with next-level purpose and hope in my heart. Look at this one. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the God the Father through Him. Word or deed. So, my words are not a small thing. Unloading that dishwasher is not a small thing. I can do all of it in the name of Jesus, and I can do it with gratitude in my heart. That's incredible. I can live my whole life as unto the Lord, realizing that everything I do actually matters. There are no small things in life.

Look at this pattern in the Scripture. Faith like a mustard seed can move a mountain. James says, "The tongue is like the rudder of a ship. It can steer the big ship wherever it goes." James also says that the tongue is like a small spark that can start a giant forest fire. Small becomes big. Get it so far? Jesus says, "The least in the kingdom will be the greatest." And three small words, let there be, created everything that ever was. There are no small things in life. So, nothing we do is small. Nothing we do is insignificant. Nothing we do doesn't matter. There are only big things that are kingdom things. Look at this one. Do not despise the small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. A question that I would ask is, where in your life are you despising the small things? The mundane, the routine, the commute, the things that always seem to be the way that they always are. Is there anything about your life where you're like, "Yeah, I'm kind of just despising the small things right now. I'm not valuing them like Jesus sees them and like they should be valued." I felt really strongly that I wanted to say this. I want to say this to the young moms here at Valley Creek. Here we go. You're doing a really good work. And that diaper, and that walk, and that praying, and that loving your little ones, there's no small things. So, Jesus sees you, and He loves you, and He's proud of you. And we see you, and we love you, and we're proud of you. And no matter how routine that might feel, that walk, that playtime, that going down to bed, that humming a song or praying over them when they go to sleep, it's not a small thing. It's a big thing. And you're pouring into the next generation, and you're building them up, and you're declaring an atmosphere of faith, hope, and love around them. And so, we're so proud of you. And we're so proud of everybody that does their life to the glory of God. All of it, your whole life. Because the whole life is important, and all of it has a ripple effect. 

What's the ripple effect of saying something like, "I'm sorry for"? What's the ripple effect of prophesying a good word into your kids? What's the ripple effect of being like, "You're so loved. I'm so proud of you." What's the ripple effect of just genuinely looking at a spouse you've been married to for a really long time and being like, "I love you. And I'm so glad that God gave you to me." In the name of Jesus, giving thanks. What's the ripple effect of that? 

Our VCLA team recently got back from Uganda. Oh, man, this is incredible. While they were there, they got to just talk to just a ton of school children. And one of the things that they didn't know was going to happen was that the primary school kids, think of elementary-age kids, they didn't know English as well as our team thought they were going to. And so, they knew that they still wanted to interact with them and declare some things over them. And they started to realize, "Oh, no, English is going to be a barrier. We're not going to be able to say these things." Except for the English language is not a barrier in the spiritual realm. And so they just decided, because there's no small things and because the prophecy that they can declare over these kids is going to ripple through their lives, they basically made a decision that they were just going to go start blessing the children and declaring things over them as they would meet with them. So, they would just see any given child and they would ask the Lord for a word. They'd be like, "I declare you're going to be a pastor. And you're going to pastor a church someday. And that church is going to be led by your love for the Lord. I declare you, you're going to teach. You're going to teach an entire generation, both educate them and educate them in the things of God. I declare over you, you're going to be a business person. You're going to use kingdom resources to build the kingdom of God. I declare over you, you're going to be an evangelist. You're going to talk about the gospel in an entire region of Uganda and things are going to change because of the word that you've been spoken." The kids are just sitting there receiving it. They don't even know the words that are being spoken, but there are no small things. There's only prophesying that's going to declare the future. And so, you know what I want to do? I want to go back to Uganda in 20 years and I want to see the breakthrough from those declarations over their life. Because there are no small things. And because a word once spoken continues to be spoken, and it ripples into the lives of those kids and everybody else that's going to experience the prophesying that was done over them. That is incredible. 

So, my question for you would be, what's the ripple effect of things like I'm going to worship God today? He's worthy of worship, and I'm just going to go for it. And maybe my hands are going up like this and I'm going to believe by faith. The person behind me, they just need to see a people who are awake and alive and passionate about the presence of God. What's the ripple effect of that? What's the ripple effect of being a person that goes to the internet with integrity? In what I look at and what I post on and how I dogpile or don't dogpile onto political posts because I'm going to believe that there's a ripple effect of that that really matters. What's the ripple effect of being someone that says, "Yes and amen," during a message? Because the word of God is worthy to be valued and raised up. And so, through us, by us, the amen is spoken to the glory of God. What's the ripple effect of that? What's the ripple effect of being a passionate person in a world of apathy? Of being like, "I'm awake, I'm alive. I'm passionate in the name of Jesus." How does that ripple out from my life into the lives of other people? What's the ripple effect of being a person of peace in a chaotic family? And every time it gets a little crazy, I'm the one that is the peacemaker. I calm it with my presence, with my words of life, with my prayer, with everything that I interact with in my whole family. I'm that person of peace. You see, there are no small things. The great moves of God are fueled by seemingly small obedient acts of faith. There are no small things. A ripple effect is not just a catchy phrase. It's a kingdom reality in the name of Jesus. It all matters, we belong to each other, and there are no small things in life.

One more verse for you. "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt it in their heart but believes that what they will say will happen, it will be done for them." Mountain, think of giant rock, thrown into the sea, whoosh, the ripple. So, I feel really strongly to declare over you that the mountains that have held you back are supposed to be thrown by faith into the sea and watch the ripple of the movement of Jesus from those things. Somebody in Jesus' name has a mountain of shame, and you've been buried under that for a long time. And so, in Jesus' name, it's time to, by faith, take that giant rock of shame and throw it into the sea. Whoosh, and watch the ripple effect of your new beloved son, beloved daughter, identity in Jesus' name come and awaken in you. No more shame. We wipe it off in the name of Jesus. Somebody here has a whole mountain of fear of the future, and you've been thinking a lot about it, and you just can't stop thinking about it. And the worst part about a fear of the future is it gets us thinking in terms of one week and one month when we should be thinking in terms of 10,000 years and a million years in the future. So, that mountain of the fear of the future, we in Jesus' name call it up and we say, "By faith, we're going to take it and we're going to throw it into the sea and watch the ripple." Whoosh. And watch the ripple effect as you courageously and boldly step into the rest of your life knowing that Jesus is going with you in all of it. No more fear in Jesus. His perfect love drives out your fear. That mountain is gone. Somebody else has a mountain of mental chaos. Your mind is in a fog. It's hard to think. It's hard to make decisions. You've just been all over the place. We take that mountain, we lift it up by faith and we throw it into the sea by the power of Jesus and we say, whoosh, whoosh. And we release wisdom, and we release clarity of thought, and we release a sense of hopefulness for your future because you actually know where you're going in the name of Jesus. We take that mountain, we toss it into the sea by the power of Jesus. That rock will create a ripple for generations to come in your family. And by the way, this is what Jesus did. He faced every mountain that we couldn't climb, and He made the high places low, the rough places smooth, and He threw those mountains into the sea, and there was a ripple that came because of it. He took the mountain of sin, and through His words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He threw it into the water, whoosh, and released a ripple of forgiveness that we now live in. And we say things like Jesus has forgiven me because we believe that that was the ripple effect of the life of Jesus. He took the mountain of death and He threw it into the sea and it released life and resurrection life with a rolled away tomb. Now, we live in this place of the resurrection life of Jesus all the time. Jesus took the mountain of separation that separated us from God, and He took it, and through His death, burial, and resurrection He tossed it. As far as the east was from the west, He tossed it away and that curtain was torn in two, and He released all the separation that separated us from being with our Creator, from our Father that loves us so. And He made a way for us, and He threw that giant rock into the sea and the ripple of love has rippled all the way from then to right now and it's pouring over each one of us. Jesus did all those things for us. His life had a ripple effect. You see, it all mattered to Him because you mattered to Him. And He realized that His life was not His own. We belong to each other. And He gave up His body that we would be a body. And there were no small things for Him. If you were the only one, He would have still done it. Nothing was small, and that's the ripple effect of the life of Jesus. So, may we live our life like it actually matters, like we actually belong to each other, and there are no small things. May we live it out in the name of Jesus. 

So, would you pray with me? So, Jesus, thanks for a word that You've been speaking to us. We hear Your voice. We want to respond to it. So, I just declare by faith that some of the things that have been spoken into the atmosphere, they will stick like a seed that falls on good soil and they will produce a harvest of righteousness in the lives of the hearers. That we who have ears that we would hear, and not just hear, that we'd walk it out and believe it. And by believing it, we would experience even more life in Your name. Thank You for your church. Thank You for our lives that matter and are important. Thank You for what's happening among us and how You're moving and Your goodness to us. We're so excited to walk it out by faith and see this beautiful future that's in front of us. You're good. We will not stop talking about how good You are and how You've had mercy on us. So, awaken us, Jesus. Awaken us to what really matters. Awaken us to the ripple effect of our life. We love You. In Your name, amen.