Warren Taylor - Born to Soar - Sunday, June 7, 2026

Let's pray.

Precious Father, your presence is so overwhelmingly beautiful up here.

We thank you for the worship team.

What they've done.

Father, we ask that you would renew our mind.

We ask that you would soften our hearts, that we would become like butter in your hands, and we you would revitalize our spirit, and that you would give your servant wisdom for the good of us all.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

I feel led to examine the qualities of an eagle and how it has similarities in our Christian life.

The eagle is used a number of times in scripture.

There are some amazing features of the eagle.

The mother has a clear system to nurture and to train the eagles to fly.

The eagle loves to fly at high altitudes.

The eagles love storms.

I believe the Lord wants me to talk on the following points.

I've used the word born to a few times.

Number one, how can discouragement rock our destiny?

Number two, born to be trained.

Number three, born to rise up.

And number four, born for God's purpose.

Number one, how can discouragement rock our destiny?

I have noticed in the kingdom of God that there is a warring that goes on.

One minute it seems like we're flying with God, then there is potentially a slowing down, almost like a roadblock, it seems.

I certainly don't believe that God has pulled the support and encouragement of us.

It can be Satan tainting the path, and it can also be God teaching us how to act when we're confronted with criticism and discouragement.

In Ephesians 6.12, it says, For we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against evil's rulers and authorities.

I believe there are at least two ways where there is a warring that goes on against our destiny or calling God.

Firstly, it may be surprisingly, sometimes the discouragement and disillusionment can come from our family and even from brothers and sisters in Christ.

David's brothers were fighting against the Philistines.

The Israelites and the Philistines were on opposing hills.

Jesse, that's David's father, sent David to take food to his brothers and sisters from home.

When David arrives, Goliath, a Philistine, is staring down the Israelites and taunting them.

It was his daily ritual to mock the Israelites.

As soon as the Israelites see Goliath, they ran in fear.

Maybe David was too confident, too exuberant, or maybe David and his brothers had some family history.

But David was not warmly welcomed by the older brothers.

So different from the people here, this wouldn't happen to you, lovely folk.

In 1 Samuel 17, 26, this is David speaking.

What will a man get for killing the Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel?

Who is this pagan Philistine anyway that is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?

The word allowed was true, but put a knife into the hearts of the Israelites.

It stirred his brothers, it angered his brothers.

David's oldest brother, Elo, speaks.

Maybe he thought he could silence David in 1 Samuel 17, 28.

What are you doing here anyway?

What about those fused sheep you're supposed to be taking care of?

I know about your pride and deceit.

You just want to see the battle.

Eli attacked the integrity of his brother.

He questioned his dependability.

He demeaned David.

You look after only a few sheep, not like us.

That attack would have rocked me.

And maybe it did for a short time with David, because David says, What have I done now?

Sounds like some family history there.

David may have thought that it was a menial task to take food to his brothers, but now David realizes there is a call for a supernatural fight.

Maybe he rejects the words of his brothers spoken over him, perhaps quietly.

He declares inwardly that he is a royal child of the King of Kings.

He knows that God has prepared him for this supernatural battle.

And David knows the truth of the scripture.

If God is for me, who can be against me?

Secondly, the warring against our destiny or calling can come from the lies that we believe about ourselves.

In Judges 6, the Midianites raided the Israelite towns, stealing their crops, stealing their livestock.

The Israelites were so fearful of Midianites that they hid in caves and in the mountains.

Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of the wine press to hide the grain from the Midianites.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Midian.

In Judges 6.12 it says this The angel of the Lord appeared to him, that is Gideon, and said, Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.

Gideon was doing it tough and declared that the circumstances of his life and the lives of the other Israelites didn't line up with this statement.

Gideon challenged that he was a hero.

Gideon challenged that God was with him.

If God was with him, he shouldn't be suffering at the hands of his enemies, should he?

Gideon didn't feel like a hero, hiding from his enemies.

Heroes were surely victorious.

In Judges 6.13 it says, Sir, Gideon replied, If the Lord is with us, why has this happened to us?

And where are the miracles our ancestors told us all about?

Then the Lord turned to Gideon and said, Go in the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites.

I am sending you Gideon.

Gideon didn't realize how much supernatural strength had been imparted to him.

Maybe he thought he didn't have much strength for the task that he was being sent to do.

It seems foolish and ill-advised.

For Gideon quickly spoke in Judges 6 15.

Is Gideon saying, I'm just not good enough.

You picked the wrong man.

Sounds like the words that Moses said to God.

Maybe the account of trust in God in Gideon and Moses was still developing, still rising.

The Lord didn't retreat from Gideon, didn't give up on Gideon.

The Lord didn't say, I've made a mistake, let's go to plan B.

In Judges 6 16, the Lord said to him, I will be with you, and you will destroy the Midianites, as if you were fighting against only one man.

Eventually Gideon came to trust the power and authority of God's word.

Gideon came to believe he indeed was a mighty warrior, for God declared that he was.

Gideon realized in time that what he believed about himself was not the truth, but a lie.

I still hear those lies in Christian circles from time to time.

My prayer doesn't have power.

My faith is shaky.

If God only knew what I was like, he would want nothing to do with me.

These are lives crafted by Satan to disempower and deceive us.

These lies war against the high calling of God on over our lives.

You have been given supernatural faith.

You are formed in God's image.

If you read more from Judges 7, God chose Gideon to lead the Israelites.

God had already called Gideon a warrior.

Now Gideon received this calling over his life.

Gideon led the Israelites in miraculous victories over their enemies.

Certainly makes powerful and inspired reading if you want to go later.

Gideon came to believe through all that happened in his life that God had led and prepared him for this time.

He came to believe he was a supernatural child of promise.

He was supernaturally empowered and sustained by God.

Secondly, born to be trained.

The eaglet, when born, cannot regulate its own body temperature.

Sounds like many young.

In Scripture, I can lead, read, sorry, the longing of God's heart to do the same.

In Matthew 23, 37, it says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers.

How I often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.

When the eaglets have matured, the mother eagle starts training the eaglets to fly.

She begins this task by disrupting the nest, removing the soft grass and feathers and leaving the sharp twigs.

She wants to make the nest uncomfortable for the young ones.

She then uses her large beak to push the eaglets out of the nests and to the edge of the cliff.

As the eaglet falls off the edge of the cliff, we think it's headed for destruction.

We start calling the mother eagle a bad mum.

The mother eagle swoops down, spreads out her wings, and saves her relieved baby.

This process is continued many times.

Each time, each launch, the wings of the eaglet get stronger.

Their delight in flying is nurtured.

This is a picture of how God works in our lives.

God is far more concerned with our growth than he is with our comfort.

God knows that what that faith is like a muscle.

It is only developed and strengthened when it is used.

We often get impatient in our journey with God, don't we?

We're often so concerned with the speed of the journey with God.

We want to get to this certain place.

I often said that we want to take a jet to get from point A to point B, but God has in mind a camel.

God's concerned with the journey, not with the destination.

Moses and Joseph had a high calling in their lives, but were in training for a long period of time, possibly 30 years.

Same can be said of David, from the time that David was anointed king by Samuel to the time he took up the office of king was a considerable delay.

We can complain and moan.

We can ask God, why are you holding us back?

And he can reply, You are in training.

God knows what we think are our limits physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

He wants to stretch us.

He wants to create in us the capacity for more growth.

I believe this scripture speaks the truth.

This is from John 16, verse 12.

John 16:12

There is much more that I want to tell you, but you can't bear it.

Number three, born to rise up.

The eagles can fly higher than any other bird.

Jets have seen them 10,000 meters above the ground.

I've read that the crow is a natural pest to the eagle.

Although the eagle is bigger and stronger, the crow is more agile.

The crow can turn more quickly, maneuver faster.

Sometimes the crow can follow right behind the eagle to pester it.

The crow is so close it pecks at the wings of the eagle, trying to cause him trouble.

Do you have people in your life that annoy you and irritate you?

People that you resent and try to avoid.

The eagle could turn around and attack the mismatched crow with all its strength and power.

It doesn't try to do that.

It doesn't try to outmaneuver the crow by moving from left to right.

Instead, the eagle, when tired of dealing with a crow, it goes higher.

It goes to where the crow can't go.

The crow can't hide, can't handle the high attitudes.

In life, there'll always be crows.

You have may have crows at work.

You have may have crows at neighbors.

You may have crows sitting next to you, and you may be looking at a crow.

Don't say a thing, Peter.

Even families can have crows.

There'll always be people who get on your nerves.

It almost seems that these people have a high calling in their life to push your buttons.

And before we get too prideful, let's face it, we do the same to others.

As you remain at their level, you will get upset.

You will want to release your anger and frustration out of them.

Remain bitter and offended.

Isn't that your God given right?

Be like the eagle.

Rise up.

Take the higher position that God is calling to you.

Live in forgiveness.

Live without judgment.

Love those who are not loving to you.

Number four, born to soar.

When storms come, the eagles love it.

Under the intense dark clouds, there are thermals to ride, thermals in which they can soar higher and higher.

They have large wings, but don't flap them in storms.

They release their wings outward.

Now the thermals assembled under their wings call the eagles to float higher.

When faced with storms and trials in life, we can go into survival mode.

I call it flapping our wings.

To make decisions, to take actions that will lessen the pain that we're facing.

We almost say that this trial is meant to defeat me.

This trial is meant to pull me down.

It can't be a joyous experience.

It's just about barely survival.

Something that we have to get through.

Is that how God views trials in our lives?

In 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, it says this there is a wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.

These trials will show your faith is genuine.

It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold.

Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold, so when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring much praise and glory and honor on the day that Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

I've been told the qu the question that you should ask in trials is not, why is this happening to me, Lord?

But Lord, what do you want to teach me about you and your character in this trial?

In this way you position yourself to soar with God, not to be crushed, not to be destroyed by the trial.

In the trial you may experience the tender love of God in a greater measure.

In the trial you may experience the power and authority of God above all things.

I believe the Lord wants you to soar and prosper with him in life.

My reference is the following verses Isaiah forty thirty-one.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, and they will walk and not faint.

And the second one is Jeremiah twenty-nine, eleven to thirteen.

This is the Lord speaking.

For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord.

They are plans for good, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

In those days you'll pray and I will listen.

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you'll find me.

I am so reassured that in the midst of trials, even when it seems dark and misty, I will always be able to find God if I search for Him.

Born for God's purpose.

I couldn't go through his sermon without telling a story.

I'm sorry, I hope you enjoy it.

And inspires you.

On visiting a chicken farm, a naturalist one day saw the strangest sight he'd ever seen.

As he watched the chickens play in the one small yard.

A larger bird, an eagle, strutted around.

It thought it was a chicken and was stuck there on the ground.

The farmer said, Oh yes, that's right, it's an eagle, sure enough.

I found it as a baby bird in some rocks, grass, and stuff.

I couldn't see where it belonged, or what sort of bird was it, smum.

So I put in with the mother hen, and that's how it began.

It's downright sure it's a chook, and a chook it will now stay.

I don't see that big bird even wants to fly.

But it's not a chook.

It isn't right, the naturalist protested.

It's meant to fly.

High in the sky.

Of birds, this is the best.

The king of birds.

Its dignity demands we let it f free.

We must not keep it cook cooped up here.

It has a destiny.

I don't agree, the farmer said.

It's just a chicken.

Just leave it be.

It's happy here.

It's found a place, you know.

Then would you let me come each day and give this bird my best?

So it can be what it was made to be, and its nature is fully expressed.

The naturalist said, Oh sure.

Farmer explained, waste your time for all your worth, but that eagle has settled into life as a chicken on earth.

The naturalist reached into the pen and placed the eagle on his arm.

Now fly, O king of birds, he said, in a voice both soft and calm.

He lifted it towards the sky.

The bird looked up, unsure, and then hopped back into the pen again and joined the chalks once more.

The next day when the naturist returned, he carefully took the bird and carried it outside the coop.

He spoke a true and gentle word.

You don't belong in chicken poo.

You're meant to fly, you know.

God made you for the thermals, bird.

So please off you go.

He gave the bird a gentle push.

His arm raised up again.

The eagle glided down to earth and ran back to the pen.

I won't give up.

You cannot be a chook, you silly bird.

I'll be back tomorrow yet again.

But the bird hadn't heard.

His true identity had been lost.

You knew it had become another chook that clucked around that pecked at its own poo.

The naturalist did not give up.

And the next day tried again.

He took his friend one thousand kilometers away from the awful chicken pen.

He took his front on a mountain top up high in the clouds.

He spoke once more, so true, God made you to fly, my beautiful bird.

Do what you're born to do.

The bird of prey stretched out its wings.

A small tremor crossed its eye.

Then it swept off in the gentle breeze and rose into the sky.

With grace it glided to and fro, majestic in the air, with wingtips stretched, it soared and soared.

Its jaw belonged up there, and then it found a thermal and rose out of sight.

The naturalist just smiled and smiled.

His friend was now alright.

The eagle's eyes were shining, and now we could see far below a chicken coop where it used to be.

A shudder passed across its frame.

The familiar called it back, but it felt the wind beneath the wings and gave one powerful flap.

It floated off, and a sense of joy filled the eagle's breast.

Its home was here among the clouds.

Our birds had it had been blessed.

There were so many similarities to that story with the story of Gideon.

So many similarities.

Gideon could have stayed in that wine press, hidden from the enemy.

Maybe he was a reluctant hero, but he stepped out of the winepress, ready to soar with God.

That is so true of us.

God wants us to soar, not crippled and crushed by the circumstances of life.

You are a supernatural child of extraordinary promise.

As I read scripture, I'm in awe of the extravagance of the Trinity of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In John 16, verses 13 to 15.

John 16:13–15

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth.

He will not speak on his own, but he will tell you what he has heard.

He will tell you about the future.

He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me, and all that belongs to the Father is mine.

This is what I said.

The Spirit will tell whatever he receives from me.

If Warren can loosely explain it in his limited knowledge, the Holy Spirit guides you in all truth, not some truth, all truth.

He glorifies Jesus by telling or giving to you all that Jesus shared with the Holy Spirit.

And all that belongs to the Father also belongs to Jesus, and Jesus gives it to the Holy Spirit.

What a beautiful picture.

In summary, God has a high calling or destiny for our lives.

He doesn't want us to allow ourselves and others to deflate or disempower our calling.

He is calling us to submit wholeheartedly to his training.

God wants us always to the high, take the higher ground in relationships, to love abundantly, forgive freely.

When we encounter storms and trials, God desires that we seek his wisdom, seek his direction, seek his impartation.

For you were created to be a warrior in him.

You are a supernatural child called to reign with God.

And I'll leave you with the last one.

When God is for you, who indeed can be against you?

Thank you for this.