Stake Your Claim: Faith Beyond the Tent

• Faith and the 'Stake Your Claim' Metaphor 00:01:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the concept of 'staking a claim' from Hebrews 11, explaining that faith involves claiming territory or promises before seeing the physical evidence, similar to gold rush prospectors.
• Living in a Tent vs. Dreaming for a City 00:07:47 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the tension between current reality (the tent) and future hope (the city), using Abraham as an example of someone who dreamed of a city while living in a tent.
• Obedience Over Understanding 00:11:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that believers should not wait for circumstances to make sense before obeying God, using the analogy of a child trusting a parent's direction without knowing the route.
• Surrender of Control 00:13:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to surrender their need for control, illustrating this with an exercise of sitting in the passenger seat to acknowledge God's sovereignty.
• Vision vs. Current Conditions 00:15:24 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation not to let their current mundane or difficult circumstances prevent them from seeing God's ultimate dream.
• Small Faithfulness 00:16:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that big visions do not excuse a lack of faithfulness in small, everyday tasks or 'tent' seasons.
• Building Foundations 00:17:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of building foundations to explain that spiritual and personal growth requires time and stability, warning against rapid, unstable growth.
• Relationships Over Results 00:20:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor highlights that God prioritizes building relationships (like Abraham with Isaac and Jacob) over immediate material results or structures.
• Staking Claims by Faith 00:25:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to take active steps of faith, such as 'driving a stake' into the ground, to claim God's promises.
• Staking Spiritual Claim 00:27:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to actively claim their spiritual inheritance and God's promises through faith, using the metaphor of staking a claim on land.
• Surrender of Heart 00:30:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses those whose hearts are occupied by selfishness or foreign influences, calling them to surrender their lives to Jesus and let Him take control.
• Childlike Faith and Trust 00:32:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor encourages the congregation to release control issues and adopt 'childlike faith,' trusting God to drive them to their destination rather than trying to control outcomes themselves.

• Sermon Illustration 00:01:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the historical practice of 'staking a claim' during the gold rush, where prospectors would mark land with stakes before finding gold, illustrating faith as acting on hope before seeing results.
• Sermon Illustration 00:04:28 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about using a 'purple crayon' to draw visions of God's plans for his church property, which he does every morning in the lobby.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of booking a hotel room via Expedia or Orbitz, where the actual room often looks different from the picture, to illustrate the gap between God's promises and current reality.
• Sermon Illustration 00:08:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of ordering a hamburger where the physical burger does not match the menu picture, to explain the tension between divine dreams and earthly circumstances.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of falling in love with the idea of marriage or parenthood but struggling with the reality, to illustrate how people often abandon God's dreams when the 'tent' of reality becomes difficult.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a physical exercise where the congregation holds their right hand (obedience) higher than their left hand (understanding) to demonstrate prioritizing obedience over comprehension.
• Sermon Illustration 00:12:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a child in a car who trusts the driver (parent) without knowing the destination, to illustrate trusting God without understanding the path.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to perform an exercise in their cars: sitting in the passenger seat to surrender control and acknowledge that God is in charge, not themselves.
• Sermon Illustration 00:13:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes an exercise where people sit in the passenger seat of their car to surrender control to God, contrasting this with the illusion of being in the driver's seat.
• Sermon Illustration 00:18:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his own skepticism regarding things that grow too quickly, linking it to the need for strong foundations, and mentions a teaching by Pastor Steve on the weaknesses of the apostolic personality type.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of Dennis and Donna Pisani, pastors in Washington D.C., who drove a stake into the ground for land they prayed for 25 years prior, which eventually became the site of the Museum of the Bible.
• Sermon Illustration 00:32:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a car ride to illustrate surrendering control to God, describing the believer as climbing into the back seat of a 'good God' to enjoy the ride while God drives to the destination.

• Pastoral Charge 00:11:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to perform a physical gesture with their hands to visualize holding obedience higher than understanding.
• Pastoral Charge 00:13:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs specific individuals to perform a physical surrender exercise in their car to acknowledge God's control.
• Pastoral Charge 00:13:27 ▶️ 📄
  > Perform a physical exercise of sitting in the passenger seat of a car to practice surrendering control.
• Pastoral Charge 00:25:29 ▶️ 📄
  > Take a tangible step of faith (such as visiting a property or workplace) to symbolically claim God's promise.
• Pastoral Charge 00:27:58 ▶️ 📄
  > Close eyes and mentally stake a claim over their dream and promise in prayer.
• Pastoral Charge 00:28:06 ▶️ 📄
  > Close eyes and mentally/prayerfully stake a claim over God's promises for their life, family, and future.
• Pastoral Charge 00:29:24 ▶️ 📄
  > Raise hand by faith to indicate acceptance of calling to stake a claim.
• Pastoral Charge 00:30:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift hand high to surrender life to Jesus, following a count of three.
• Pastoral Charge 00:31:24 ▶️ 📄
  > Pray a specific prayer of surrender and forgiveness aloud with the church.
• Pastoral Charge 00:32:00 ▶️ 📄
  > Lift hand to heaven and verbally release control to God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:33:55 ▶️ 📄
  > Give praise to God.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Lift up a shout of praise to the King above all kings.
[00:00:05] Amen.
[00:00:06] Amen.
[00:00:06] God bless you.
[00:00:08] You may be seated.
[00:00:09] We may be seated.
[00:00:11] Hey, just curious, how many of you have tomorrow off to honor Dr. King?
[00:00:17] How many of you have off tomorrow?
[00:00:19] That's awesome.
[00:00:20] So you're committing... You see what I did there?
[00:00:31] Get somebody to agree with you in that debate tactic.
[00:00:35] So I'll see you at 6 o'clock a.m. Tell your neighbor, I'll see you at 6.
[00:00:38] I'll see you at 6.
[00:00:40] Hey, and in honor of Dr. King, tomorrow, free coffee.
[00:00:45] Free coffee.
[00:00:46] Verb, we're gonna open a tab from 7 to 7.30.
[00:00:50] Don't walk in at 7.30 and try to get a latte if you haven't been there for prayer, but we will see you.
[00:00:56] It's just been an amazing, amazing time.
[00:00:59] Of course, God hears us when we pray individually, but there is something about agreement when two or three
[00:01:08] Are gathered and it has been just so encouraging to see elementary students and middle school students and high school students and young adults and young marrieds and older adults and just the generations coming in this house and praying together.
[00:01:25] Join us this last week.
[00:01:27] It is an amazing time together.
[00:01:30] We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 11 this morning.
[00:01:32] Hebrews chapter 11.
[00:01:35] There's a phrase that you may have heard before and the phrase is stake your claim.
[00:01:43] Stake your claim.
[00:01:44] And so the origin of that phrase comes from taking a wooden stake and marking out land.
[00:01:50] So in ancient and medieval times, land boundaries were often marked by physical stakes that were driven into the ground.
[00:01:58] A stake in those times and in those days, it actually was not symbolic.
[00:02:03] It was like legal, visible proof.
[00:02:07] And it marked three things.
[00:02:08] It said, number one, this land is occupied.
[00:02:11] it said number two this land has an owner and three this land has a future this land is occupied this land has an owner and this land has a future to stake something meant to plant yourself in it even if nothing had been built yet so even though this practice was already in operation and a lot of the frontiersmen as they began to
[00:02:36] To leave the eastern colonies and go and begin to stake their claim into the western territory really came into prominence during the gold rush and as people left what was familiar they left their community they left their homes they left their their small school systems and the things that they all in a chance at discovering something greater and so they would go out into these western places and nobody had
[00:03:03] Yet own this land and and it wasn't like the gold was just already wasn't like they were tripping over gold nuggets what they would do is they would go ahead and stake their claim even though they had not discovered anything yet they had left what was
[00:03:19] I think that there's a lesson for us in that because really it ties into Hebrews chapter 11, doesn't it?
[00:03:38] That's what faith is.
[00:03:40] Faith is not responding to something that you already see in your life.
[00:03:44] That may be good, but it's not.
[00:03:47] Faith.
[00:03:47] The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11, now faith is the manifestation of things hoped for, the evidence of things, what?
[00:03:57] Not seen.
[00:03:59] If everybody could see it, it would be easy.
[00:04:03] If everybody could see it, it wouldn't be faith.
[00:04:05] That's why when you prayed, God elevate my faith, He began to put dreams in your heart, and you began to take out that purple crayon, and you began to draw things that may not make it in a museum because of their art quality, but they may make it in a hall of faith someday because they are so much greater than something that you could ever dream or imagine on your own.
[00:04:28] I hope you've been praying with that purple crayon this week I've got mine and I keep it in my backpack and every morning after the devotion so we'll begin with worship and then somebody will bring the devotion on the name of God and I will grab that purple crayon and I'll walk out into the lobby and I'll walk out onto the front of this property and I'll just say God show me what you have for this property show me what you have
[00:04:50] I can tell you it was a little bit easier to do two weeks ago when it was 65 degrees in the morning than when it's 35 but by faith I may not be out there long but by faith I'm out there for a little bit and we are believing we're absolutely believing the anointing of Harold upon you come on the anointing of Noah upon you that God is gonna show you something that you're gonna draw something that he's gonna give you this vision he's gonna give you this picture
[00:05:19] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of the things that are visible.
[00:05:27] 2 Corinthians 5-7 says that we walk by faith and not by sight.
[00:05:34] So God gave Noah a dream.
[00:05:36] God gave Harold a dream.
[00:05:39] Okay, maybe God didn't give Harold the dream, but he had a dream with that purple crayon.
[00:05:44] Let's take the next step in this.
[00:05:46] What do we do next?
[00:05:48] What do we do next after we have that dream that God has placed on our heart?
[00:05:52] I want to go to Hebrews chapter 11 to Abraham.
[00:05:56] Beginning in verse 8 it says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.
[00:06:07] And he went out not knowing where he was going.
[00:06:11] By faith he went to live in the land of promise as in a foreign land.
[00:06:17] living in tents with Isaac and Jacob heirs with him of the same promise for he was looking forward to a city he was looking forward to a city he was looking forward to a city but he was living in a
[00:06:37] Tent.
[00:06:38] He was looking forward.
[00:06:39] Come on, have you ever been there?
[00:06:42] Can you identify with Abraham just a little bit this morning?
[00:06:46] I believe that Abraham saw, I can't prove this biblically, but my hunch is that Abraham saw just a little bit.
[00:06:54] Why?
[00:06:55] Because the Bible says that
[00:06:56] I believe that Abraham saw just a little bit of a glimpse of that city.
[00:07:06] I believe that he took out his purple crown.
[00:07:08] I believe that he began to draw those buildings and dream of a land where his
[00:07:12] grandchildren and great-grandchildren and we're gonna run around and they were gonna play in the streets and it was gonna be a safe place I believe that maybe just maybe the Holy Spirit gave him a prophetic vision of the temple that Solomon was gonna build and the glory cloud that was gonna descend on that and so Abraham was dreaming and Abraham was drawing but then Abraham while he was dreaming of the city he woke up and he looked up and
[00:07:40] And he was not in a city, he was sleeping in a tent.
[00:07:45] Here's my subtitle for this.
[00:07:47] Here's how you dream for a city while you're living in a tent.
[00:07:51] I'm not saying that God played this cruel game of bait and switch with Abraham, but that is the reality that God will give us a dream for the future, but there is also the current reality of the circumstances in which we live.
[00:08:07] And if we don't learn how to live in a tent while we still dream for the city,
[00:08:12] Let me put it like this.
[00:08:14] Have you ever been on vacation and took a step into a hotel room and the picture that you pulled up on Expedia didn't look...
[00:08:30] The carpet on Orbitz didn't look...
[00:08:33] I mean, I'm sure the carpet looked like that at one point.
[00:08:38] I'm sure the bathroom fixtures worked at some point, but sometimes we will walk into places where there is a great difference between the picture and the product.
[00:08:54] Have you ever ordered a hamburger?
[00:08:57] On a Sunday afternoon and you unwrap that cheeseburger and the picture that you're looking at on the menu that is 10 feet away from you doesn't exactly match the picture.
[00:09:10] I mean, I know that the people behind the counter greatly cared for those two all-beef patties.
[00:09:16] I know that they woke up that morning and said that it is the divine design of my life to put the special sauce together and make this for you.
[00:09:26] sometimes sometimes that's life sometimes we're living in the the tension of of holding this dream that we believe that is from God authored by God that God we believe that this city is from you and yet we're living in this tent if we're not careful some of us will fall in love with um the idea of
[00:09:53] So let me explain what this means.
[00:09:55] Some of you like the idea of being married better than the reality of being married.
[00:10:02] Because when you realize that the reality of being married means that you didn't get to hang out with your buddies every Friday night, you had this picture, and it got quiet in here, and I'm going to send you all to Aaron and Chelsea's group, and they can work all of this stuff out, or the other marriage group that meets in Switzerland.
[00:10:20] We're going to get you.
[00:10:21] But we do, right?
[00:10:22] We like the idea of...
[00:10:25] We like the idea of, some of you like the idea of being parents until you realize that two o'clock in the morning does not belong to you any longer.
[00:10:34] Some of you like the idea of becoming an author until you realize that authors write books and didn't just come up with good titles.
[00:10:43] And you have to do the work of the thing that was behind the dream that God gave you.
[00:10:49] That's the tent.
[00:10:53] And if we don't learn how to live
[00:10:55] In the tent, then we'll never get to the city.
[00:10:58] So let me give you these things from Scripture this morning, how to live in a tent and still dream for a city.
[00:11:04] Number one is this.
[00:11:05] Don't place understanding over obedience.
[00:11:08] Don't place understanding over obedience.
[00:11:10] So I want you to do a little exercise with me this morning.
[00:11:13] Take your right hand, and I want you to just hold your right hand like this, and I want you to pretend that that is obedience in your right hand, okay?
[00:11:21] And then I want you to take your left hand and do this with your left hand.
[00:11:24] And I want you to pretend that that is understanding.
[00:11:26] So you're holding obedience and you're holding understanding.
[00:11:31] Now there's nothing wrong with understanding.
[00:11:32] There's a whole book in the Bible about understanding.
[00:11:35] It's the book of Proverbs.
[00:11:36] The Bible says that we are to seek after understanding and wisdom and all of those things.
[00:11:42] But faith in your life, here's what faith is.
[00:11:44] Faith is leading with obedience.
[00:11:47] Just take your right hand and move it a little bit further, a little bit higher than your left hand.
[00:11:54] While there is nothing wrong with understanding, if you worship understanding,
[00:11:59] You will wait for the circumstances to be perfect in order to step out and do what God said.
[00:12:03] You need to move when God speaks, not when it makes sense.
[00:12:08] And some of you are waiting for it to make sense, and what you're doing is you're actually worshiping your own mind and your own understanding.
[00:12:15] Obedience, the Bible says that Abraham went out
[00:12:20] Not knowing where he was going.
[00:12:24] I felt like the Holy Spirit prompted me to tell somebody this this morning to remind you and to encourage you you're not lost.
[00:12:31] you're not lost you may have absolutely no clue where you're at or what you're doing but you're not lost let me explain it like this when you see you did this all the time when you were a kid and somewhere along the line we we began to put our understanding over our obedience but when you were nine years old and your parents said go in the car we're going
[00:12:54] We're swimming or we're going to the lake or we're going to the beach or we're going to grandma's house and when you hopped in the backseat of that car and put on your lap belt maybe or you were facing backwards in the station wagon or whatever was the method of transportation, you had no idea where you were going.
[00:13:13] You didn't know the directions.
[00:13:14] You didn't know that this was where you turned left and this is where you got on the interstate.
[00:13:19] Why?
[00:13:20] Because you trusted in the person that was driving the vehicle in order to get you to the destination.
[00:13:27] Some of you need to do this exercise this afternoon and I want you to do it in your own driveway when it's dark and nobody's watching because people will look out, your neighbors will look out and say you're crazy.
[00:13:39] but some of you need to do this some of you need to go sit in your parts car in the driver's seat for a moment and then you need to get out of the driver's seat and close the door and you need to walk over to the passenger side and open the passenger side and you need to close that door and you need to sit there OCD first born person that thinks that you're in control of your own life
[00:14:03] And you need to sit there until it's uncomfortable?
[00:14:07] And you need to sit there and say, God, I surrender?
[00:14:10] Here's why faith is not working for you in your life, because you think you're in the driver's seat.
[00:14:17] You think that you are in control and you're waiting for things to make sense and you're waiting for you to hop back over and grab that steering wheel and God is reminding you that you were never in control in the first place.
[00:14:31] The dream is not yours, it's His and so you just begin to surrender.
[00:14:35] God, I surrender, I surrender.
[00:14:38] That's the promise of dreaming a dream that is bigger than you anyways.
[00:14:42] God, I take myself out of that place.
[00:14:47] Some of you are driving yourself insane because you think that you're in control of everything in your life and you're not in control of everything and you're not even in control of the people that live in your own house because no matter how many times you tell them they won't even put things in the dishwasher where you want them to go.
[00:15:08] Just release it.
[00:15:12] I may or may not be preaching to myself.
[00:15:17] Number two, don't allow your current living conditions to keep you from seeing the ultimate dream.
[00:15:24] This is why it's so important that you draw that picture.
[00:15:28] The Bible says that Abraham was looking forward to the city.
[00:15:33] You need to remind yourself that while you're walking through the ordinary, while you're walking through the mundane, while you're walking through the sacrifice, parents, you're not just changing a diaper, you're raising a world changer.
[00:15:48] Author, you're not just slugging out words on a page, you're writing something
[00:15:52] that's going to encourage somebody.
[00:15:55] You're not just doing a spreadsheet.
[00:15:57] You are putting together a budget that is going to break the cycle of poverty in your family and set your children up for generational blessing.
[00:16:08] You're not just going to Financial Peace University.
[00:16:12] You are changing your family tree.
[00:16:15] Don't allow your current living conditions to keep you from seeing the ultimate dream.
[00:16:21] And also, here's the next one, understand that big vision doesn't excuse small faithfulness.
[00:16:28] Big vision never excuses small faithfulness.
[00:16:32] Well, pastor, I would serve in the tent, but you see, pastor, I'm called to the city.
[00:16:40] Pastor, I have a city anointing and so I can't serve in kids ministry because I have a city anointing.
[00:16:49] And I carry a city mantle so I can't come up early and set up a chair because that's tent work.
[00:16:57] See, what you have to understand is that how you learn to serve in the tent says everything about the person that you're going to become when God gives you the city.
[00:17:06] And you're never going to get to the city if you don't have to learn to serve in the tent.
[00:17:11] We need to appreciate our tent season.
[00:17:14] God, I don't know exactly what you're doing during this tent season, but I'm going to be faithful.
[00:17:20] I'm going to set up the tent.
[00:17:22] I'm going to serve in the tent.
[00:17:23] Whether there's two people in my group or ten people in my group or whether I'm on a platform or behind the scenes and nobody ever brings me on stage, it doesn't matter, God, because I'm serving faithfully in the tent.
[00:17:40] The next thing is to realize that you're setting foundations.
[00:17:44] Verse 10b says that this city has foundations.
[00:17:52] Every personality type has strengths and weaknesses.
[00:17:56] I told Pastor Steve, what an amazing teaching on Wednesday.
[00:18:01] What a deep and rich and powerful teaching, except
[00:18:06] When you were talking about the weaknesses of the apostolic, I was wishing that you would move on quickly.
[00:18:14] It was getting a little uncomfortable in the first row.
[00:18:21] Here's what I know about Doug Witherup is I love ideas and I love to dream and I love to believe in things and I love to believe in people and I will always see the best and sometimes that's good except when their motives are not right and it will lead to a little bit of
[00:18:40] Sometimes I'm realizing there is a need for at least a little bit of a dose of skepticism.
[00:19:03] Just a little bit of, and so a lot of times I won't operate with skepticism, but here's one thing in my life that I have become very skeptical of.
[00:19:15] I am, and God, maybe I'm wrong on this.
[00:19:18] If I am, forgive me.
[00:19:20] I'm skeptical of things that grow too quickly.
[00:19:24] I am whether that's a business whether it's a ministry whether it's a I mean just feel whether no matter what it is because I feel like the Bible teaches that no matter what is built has to have good foundations Abraham was dreaming for a city that had strong foundations and builders you know this builders you know this foundations don't get built overnight
[00:19:50] And if a building goes up too quickly, you may say something like this, that building may look fancy and it may look flashy, but when the storms come,
[00:20:01] That building may not be there.
[00:20:03] I want to encourage you in your life, build stuff that has good foundations.
[00:20:09] Build a marriage that has good foundations.
[00:20:11] Build a home that has good foundations.
[00:20:14] We want to build a church that has good foundations, strong foundations, so that when storms come, and they will, our foundation is built upon the rock
[00:20:25] of Jesus.
[00:20:26] Number five.
[00:20:27] What's God doing?
[00:20:29] You're dreaming for a city.
[00:20:30] I'm living in a tent.
[00:20:32] God builds futures.
[00:20:34] God often builds futures through relationships before results.
[00:20:40] What a what a good point to preach when we're emphasizing our groups.
[00:20:46] I saw this about Abraham that while he was living in a tent, he was living with who?
[00:20:55] With Isaac and with Jacob.
[00:20:58] And I think that sometimes God wants to remind us that it's not about the building, it's about the people.
[00:21:04] It's not about the project it's about the relationships and what if we get so in a hurry of I want to rush to the city and I want to see the towers and I want to see the skyscrapers and I want to see the temple and we get enamored we get enamored with the vision but maybe while you're living in the tent there are some key and strategic relationships that God wants you to build in that moment
[00:21:30] If Abraham hadn't lived in that tent with Isaac and with Jacob, he wouldn't have passed on his faith.
[00:21:36] He may have passed on a building, but he wouldn't have passed on his faith.
[00:21:41] And sometimes it's in those small places.
[00:21:44] Sometimes it's on those family vacations when the car seems awfully small or the hotel room seems awfully small or you're dreaming of the 3,000 square foot house, but you got your little 800 square foot
[00:21:57] Starter Home and the place seems small but it's in those times where God is merging and forming and building relationships in your life that are gonna carry the vision further than you could ever carry it on your own because God builds futures through relationships.
[00:22:17] Abraham understood this.
[00:22:18] Abraham lived temporarily but he believed permanently.
[00:22:23] Abraham didn't confuse current housing with ultimate.
[00:22:26] Inheritance.
[00:22:28] There's two pastors and they pastor in Washington D.C. Dennis and Donna Pisani and they pastor a church called Capital Church in Washington D.C. Donna was actually in one of the the classes that I taught for Southeastern a couple of years ago so I got to know her but 25 so they planted this church 25 years ago and as you can imagine land
[00:22:53] and buildings and property in Washington DC does not come cheaply and so they were in rental spaces they were renting different facilities but it was the desire of their heart they said god we we're not just here as sojourners like we want to we want to we want to pastor this city we want to we want land we need some property so about three years into planting their church somebody came up
[00:23:16] The Lord is with you.
[00:23:38] for a piece of land for a piece of property in this city and pray about that and he said I want you to go and he said I want you to drive that stake into the ground as a step of faith for that land and so they did they prayed fasted they walked circles around the city and and prayed around that area and there was a particular piece of land and by faith they drove that stake into the ground and and they waited and they waited
[00:24:05] And so they were saying things like, God, did you even hear my prayer?
[00:24:30] Or God, did we mishear you?
[00:24:32] Did we believe something that was false?
[00:24:34] And fast forward 25 years later.
[00:24:39] Twenty-five years later, they drove by the place where that stake was in the ground and the property still was not theirs, but it's several blocks from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and today it's where the Museum of the Bible was built.
[00:24:58] and if you ask Dennis and Donna if you said is that why they would say look that's above our pay grade we don't know exactly but they said here's what we do know that when you step out in faith God is always writing a story that is bigger than you I believe that there was a connection there I believe that there is listen some of you be careful where you do this don't don't get caught for trespassing and then call me I'm not going to come bail you out so do this wisely okay
[00:25:29] But some of you need to take a stake.
[00:25:33] Some of you need to walk into a piece of property.
[00:25:37] Some of you need to walk into a cubicle or a classroom.
[00:25:41] Some of you need to walk into a locker room.
[00:25:44] Some of you, by faith, you need to drive a stake in a piece of land or a piece of property that is a representation of the vision, that is a representation of the dream that God has given you.
[00:25:58] Some of you need to begin to put feet to your faith and begin to stake
[00:26:03] Your claim in the spirit.
[00:26:05] Can you imagine Abraham?
[00:26:08] He left not even knowing where he was going.
[00:26:12] Think about what he left.
[00:26:14] He left his business connections.
[00:26:16] He was a wealthy individual.
[00:26:18] He left his protection because remember there were no countries like we know countries and so your protection was based upon your relationship with your neighbors.
[00:26:27] So he left his protection.
[00:26:29] He left what was familiar.
[00:26:30] He left all of his business contacts.
[00:26:33] He left his land and he stepped into a foreign land.
[00:26:36] Why?
[00:26:37] Because the Holy Spirit was drawing him, was calling him to something higher, to something bigger, to something better.
[00:26:46] And the first thing that Abraham did, this was a risky move because he's in this foreign land surrounded by foreigners.
[00:26:53] They didn't know him.
[00:26:54] They didn't know his intentions.
[00:26:56] They certainly did not know his God.
[00:26:59] and so this was a risky move when Abraham took that tent and when he would have taken that first stake and put that stake in the ground and I imagine I just imagine that there's probably a little bit of fighting going back in his spirit of God did I God did I hear you correctly God you called me to a city but I'm living in a tent but by
[00:27:23] Faith Abraham began to stake his claim.
[00:27:28] He began to stake his claim.
[00:27:30] That's what you need to do in the Spirit.
[00:27:33] You need to begin to stake your claim over new territory.
[00:27:37] You need to begin to stake your claim over your spiritual inheritance.
[00:27:42] You need to stake your claim over the promise that God has given you in your life.
[00:27:48] And so would you stand today?
[00:27:50] I gave you a crayon last week.
[00:27:53] I thought about giving you a stake this week, but I didn't, and that was probably the right decision.
[00:27:58] That was probably wise.
[00:28:00] But I wonder today if by faith you can just begin to stake your claim.
[00:28:06] Come on, just with eyes closed, would you do this?
[00:28:08] What is that dream that God has given you?
[00:28:10] What is that promise that God has for your business, for your family, for your future children, for your grandchildren?
[00:28:19] What is that land that He is calling to you?
[00:28:22] What is that step of faith that He is calling you to take and maybe just in these moments begin to
[00:28:28] stake your claim God by faith I'm dreaming for a city but I'm not too good for a tent God I'm not too good for a tent I'll walk through my tent I'll stake my claim I'll live here I'll pass it on to Isaac I'll pass it on to Jacob God I'm gonna stake my claim in the spirit in the name of Jesus
[00:28:56] Head still bowed and eyes still closed.
[00:29:01] If you're here this morning and you would say, Pastor, that resonates with me.
[00:29:05] I know the property.
[00:29:07] I know the land.
[00:29:08] I've got a picture of the property and the land of whether that is a tangible thing or whether it's just a representation of the thing that God has called you to do.
[00:29:18] But you would just say, Pastor, that's me.
[00:29:20] I know that I know that I am called to stake
[00:29:24] Acclaim in some land would you just by faith raise your hand right now I want to pray over you Father in the name of Jesus whether it's physical land or whether that's a metaphor for a ministry whether that's a something that is in the future that God wants to do through your family I pray the anointing of Abraham upon your people in the name of Jesus I pray that there would be some stakes driven in the spirit this week
[00:29:52] In Jesus name.
[00:29:54] In Jesus name.
[00:29:55] One more question.
[00:29:56] You can put your hands down with heads still bowed and eyes still closed.
[00:30:03] Some of you are here this morning and the land that needs to be claimed is actually the land of your own heart.
[00:30:14] You would say something like this, Pastor, there's all kinds of foreign influences living in my life.
[00:30:22] It's my desires, my selfishness, other people.
[00:30:31] Jesus is not Lord.
[00:30:33] And you need this morning to surrender your heart
[00:30:38] and to tell Jesus, Jesus you can stake your claim over my heart.
[00:30:42] I surrender my life to you.
[00:30:44] I'm not in control over you.
[00:30:47] You are in control over me.
[00:30:49] And so if that's you in this house, I'm just going to count to three as a point of reference.
[00:30:53] When I get to three, I don't want you to hesitate.
[00:30:55] I don't want you to hold back.
[00:30:57] I want you to lift your hand by faith and just surrender your heart and surrender your life to Jesus today.
[00:31:04] One, Pastor, I'm living for myself.
[00:31:06] Two, Pastor, I don't want to do that any longer.
[00:31:08] Three, I want to surrender my life to Jesus.
[00:31:11] If that's you, just lift your hand high and you can put it right back down.
[00:31:15] As I pray this prayer out loud, would everybody in the house just join their faith with those who are going from death to life today.
[00:31:24] Come on church, let's pray this prayer together.
[00:31:26] Say, Dear Jesus, I come to you today and I ask you to forgive me.
[00:31:33] of all of my sins dear Jesus I surrender my life to you dear Jesus I ask that you come into my heart come into my life and help me to live wide awake to the love of God and fully alive to my purpose
[00:31:58] In Jesus name there's there's I said that was the last question there's not there's one more I feel this strongly somebody and you you know it was funny at first but now it's not funny any longer you know that you've got control issues you know that you've got control issues and right now you just need to lift your hand to heaven and say I release control God I get out of the driver's seat right now
[00:32:20] I am driving myself insane because I'm trying to control everything in my life and I'm trying to control other people that I can't control and they're making decisions that I don't agree with but I can't control it and God I don't even know where you're leading me I don't know where I'm going but I trust you God I trust you
[00:32:39] I trust you I trust you I'm climbing into the back seat I'm not God I'm not even getting into the passenger seat with childlike faith I want to activate childlike faith within you that you're climbing into the back seat of the car of a good
[00:32:55] God that says don't worry about it.
[00:32:57] You look out the window.
[00:32:59] You enjoy the ride.
[00:33:00] I'm gonna drive you to the destination of where I called you.
[00:33:05] Don't worry about it.
[00:33:07] You just trust me.
[00:33:08] You activate your faith with your surrender and your childlike trust.
[00:33:17] Childlike trust.
[00:33:19] Some of you lost that trust because there was an adult in your life that betrayed that trust and God says, I'm going to restore the trust that was broken in your life as you surrender to me.
[00:33:32] I'm going to get you to that destination.
[00:33:34] in the name of Jesus.
[00:33:36] Father, I bless this house as a house of faith, as a house of trust, because we're not trusting in a circumstance or a situation.
[00:33:47] We're trusting in a good God.
[00:33:51] We trust you.
[00:33:52] Come on, if you believe that, can you say amen?
[00:33:55] Can you give Him praise in this house?
[00:33:57] If you trust Him, can you give Him praise?
[00:34:00] If you love Him, can you give Him praise in Jesus' name?

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Well, I hope today's service made a real difference in your life.
[00:34:10] My name is Noemi, and I just want to thank you for joining us today.
[00:34:14] It truly means so much that you chose to worship with us online.
[00:34:17] If you made a decision to follow Jesus, we are celebrating with you.
[00:34:21] That's the best decision you could ever make, and we would love to walk alongside you as you take your next steps.
[00:34:27] A great way to get connected is by downloading the Multiply Concord app and tapping Next Steps.
[00:34:32] You'll find resources, encouragement, and a team ready to support you as you begin this journey.
[00:34:37] Also, a reminder that 21 Days of Prayer is still going on.
[00:34:42] We meet Monday through Saturday at 6 a.m., both in person and online.
[00:34:46] Whether you've joined us already or are jumping in for the very first time, we'd love to have you.
[00:34:52] Thanks again for being part of today's service.
[00:34:54] We can't wait to connect with you soon.