Make Room: For Purpose | Ps Ben Moir

Last week was Vision Sunday. And Vision

Sunday is the the Sunday of our of our

year that our lead pastor, he announces

our prophetic word for the year. The

word that is being spoken over our

church, the church, the word that we're

going to be praying over, we're going to

be learning about. The word that we

believe that will direct the next 10

months of our year. And last week, as a

few people have already mentioned, if

you've seen the banners outside, you're

already aware, the word for 2026 is make

room. Everyone say make room. Make room.

And one way that we have made room uh at

church because we want to make room both

in our church and we want to make room

in our lives. Well, one way we've made

room is you can now access all the

sermon notes on the Uver app. I know,

riveting, but there are in there are

instructions behind me. You can jump on

the Uver app. Uh you can go over to

more, which is down the bottom, click on

events, and if your location services

are on, uh you uh you'll come up. If

not, you can search Elevation Church

Hills, and you'll find it. Uh if not,

you can tap that mini red spot in front

of you, go to events, and you'll find

the sermon notes already already

prepared, and you can take them and you

can leave right now because you know

what I'm about to talk about. It's

great. How good is that? Church has

ended one hour. I'm joking. Please stay.

Um, but you can jump on and you can take

those sermon notes and read through them

as we go through the message. But make

room. This word comes from Isaiah 50

54:es 2 and 3 where it says, "Enlarge

the place of your tent and let the

curtains of your habitations be

stretched out. Do not hold back.

Lengthen your cords, strengthen your

stakes, for you will spread abroad to

the left and to the right, and your

offspring will possess the nations and

will people the desolate cities. That is

our word. We believe that this year is

the year that that we're going to see

vision. We're going to have larger

dreams this year. We believe that this

year we're going to become more like

Jesus. This year we're going to face

fear and we're going to say not today.

This year we're going to see the kingdom

of God come and this year we will go

deeper and will draw closer to him and

he will draw closer to us. That is what

the that is what we are talking about

when we are talking about make room. And

I believe that while this is a word for

our church, this is not just a word for

the corporate church. this is a word for

you that you can take this word home,

believe over it, pray over it, allow it

to direct you, and and maybe you are a

guest in this place today and you're

like, I'm going back to my other church

next week. I still believe that this can

be a word for you that if you take it

and pray over it, pray through it, I

believe that you will see God move in

your life. But last last week, if you

haven't heard the message, go jump on

our YouTube, jump on our podcast. I

encourage you go listen to it. But

Pastor Miles who talked about the the

how and the what of what does this word

mean? But this week we get to go and

understand the the why. We are unpacking

that threeletter word that every parent

loves five hours into that car trip that

your child just keeps asking you why.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Today we're talking

about why do we make room? Why do we

make room for for for God? Why do we

make room for him? And the the simple

answer is we make room because we want

to see him move, right? We want to see

God move in our lives. But when we say

that, what what do we really mean by we

want to see God move? We're going to

make room so God can move. What do we

what are we expecting of God when we say

that? When we make room for God, we make

room so God's purpose can be worked

through our lives. Not just for our

lives, not just for us, but through us.

So today we are going to go through

Isaiah 54 1-8

and we are talking about make room for

purse because when we make room for

God's purpose, we will see him move. So

Isaiah 54:1, sing, O barren one who did

Isaiah 54:1

not bear. Break forth into singing and

cry aloud, you who have not been in

labor. For the children of the desolate

one will be more than the children of

her who is married, says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let

the curtains of your habitations be

stretched out. Do not hold back.

Lengthen your cords, strengthen your

stakes, for you will spread abroad to

the right and to the left, and your

offspring will possess the nations and

will people the desolate cities. Fear

not, for you will not be ashamed. Be not

confounded, for you will not be

disgraced, for you will forget the shame

of your youth and the reproach of your

widowhood. You will remember no more.

For your maker is your husband. The Lord

of hosts is his name. And the Holy One

of Israel is your redeemer. The God of

this whole earth he is called. For the

Lord has called you like a wife deserted

and grieved in spirit. Like a wife of

youth when she is cast off, says your

God. For a brief moment I deserted you.

But with great compassion I will gather

you. In overflowing anger for a moment I

hid my face from you. But with

everlasting love, I will have compassion

on you, says the Lord, your redeemer. As

I said, the title of my message is make

room for purpose. Let's pray. Lord, I

just pray as as I preach. I I pray that

it is not my words, Lord. It is yours. I

pray that you tell me what to say. You

stop what needs to be stopped and

translate what needs to be translated.

Lord, I pray as I preach that nothing

falls upon deaf ears.

Open our ears to hear. Open our eyes to

see

the wonders in your word.

Speak for your servants are listening.

And your mighty name. Amen.

Well, me and my wife, we just finished

uh the second week of our son Lucas. our

son Lucas second week of kindi. Who do

we have any firsttime kindi parents as

well? One, two, two other ones. Awesome,

guys. We We're doing it. We're getting

through it. We're going to make it. I

promise. Um so, end of second week. It's

been phenomenal. Um we've had ups, we've

had downs, we've had awesome days, and

we've had challenging days. Uh, and on

Thursday,

uh, I I was I was getting my kids ready,

my my son ready for school, my daughter

ready to go over her friend's house. Uh,

and I I got all of his food ready. I

filled his bottle up. I And but then I

was like, "Luca, you need to pack your

bag because I need to get your sister

ready." Every parent already knows where

this is going. So I said, "Luka, you

pack your bag. I am going to deal with

your sister." And all the while I'm

trying to get uh his sister ready and

I'm just hearing basketball just the

whole time. Just basketball.

I I I believe I believe he's doing it.

We get downstairs. It looks like he's

packed his bag. So, put them all in the

car, send them off to school with mom,

and that's around 7:30. And I'm like,

great, I've got the day. 7:30. go out,

do some gardening, you know, start

working, start writing this message

around 2:00. I walk back past the

kitchen counter and there is his drink

bottle and I'm just like, so good. It's

2:00. There's no point. I can't It's not

even I can't even get it to him. So, I

just whatever. I'll wait. There's a

bubbler, right? Who remembers bubblers?

I'm pretty sure they're like trying to

remove them, but bubblers are

our parents saviors. Anyway, um

so he gets home just after 3 and he has

the gall to say to me, "Dad, I am so

thirsty. You forgot my drink bottle." I

was like, "No, sir. I told you to pack

your bag." Anyway,

we are all learning. He's learning to

listen. I'm learning not to trust a

5-year-old. Um anyway, we we Anyway, but

when I thought about it, I was like he

he did listen to me. He you know the

things that he wanted in his bag that he

was like I know I need this in my bag

were in his bag. His food was in his

bag. His iPad was in his bag. He was

like I'm good to go. Right. So he kind

of listened. He just chose the parts

that he wanted to listen to. Not only

that, he really wanted to play

basketball. So he kind of let his own

wants and needs get in the way of really

listening and outworking what I asked

him to do.

But if we're honest, that's how we treat

God's purpose in our life. We hear it

every Sunday. We we we read it in the

word. But when it comes to outworking

it, we kind of go, "Well, I need this,

so I'll do this, but I don't really want

to do that, so I'm not going to do

that." or we allow the the the noise of

our life, the distractions of our life

to shift our focus and we go, "Well, I

can't really do that right now. I'll get

I'll get to it later." But then we go

about our day. And we come home and we

complain and we go, "God, why am I

thirsty? You forgot my drink bottle."

That's how we treat God's purpose and

that's how we treat God. But God's like,

"No, no, I told you. You just didn't

listen."

And when we come into Isaiah 54, the

passage that we read out earlier, that's

where we find Judah. They have the

scriptures. They have the prophecies of

past. They were like they knew what God

wanted them to do. Yet they were not

doing it. The prophet Isaiah, they he

had seen the destruction and the exile

of the northern kingdom of Israel. And

now he was watching the same thing

happen to the southern kingdom. Judah

wasn't just walking away from God. They

were walking out of alignment with his

purpose.

And that's where they find themselves in

this chaos, in this all these armies

crowding in on them. But in that moment,

God doesn't declare anger on them. He

doesn't scold them and cast judgment on

them. No. No. Isiah 54:1.

Sing, O baron one. In the midst of

chaos, in the midst of things not

looking right, God has a prophecy of

hope.

Sing, O baron one, you will have more

children than the one who is married.

How could this be? Israel's like, what

is going on right now? you are we do you

not see what is going on

but come on who needs some of that hope

in their life

that you're looking around everything's

looking hopeless but God's calling you

to sing

but Isaiah 54 one of the extraordinary

things about this is it's actually uh

echoing and reflecting the the prophecy

and promise God gave to Abraham and

Sarah that Sarah also though baron would

have a child and they would have

descendants as numerous as the stars and

through their descendants the nations

will be blessed. We see a preview of

this in Genesis 12:2. And I will make of

Genesis 12:2

you a great nation and I will bless you

and make your name great so that you

will be a blessing. I God will bless

those who bless you and him who

dishonors you I will curse and in you

all the families of the earth shall be

blessed.

But when Abraham and Sarah receive this

promise, receive this word from God,

they have a choice. Do we listen and do

we follow it or do we not?

They receive the word but they have a

choice.

Obey or not.

And if you read the rest of the book of

Genesis, you'll see that they chose to

do both. They sometimes were walking in

the promise. They sometimes were not

walking in the promise. But after many

bad choices and some words from God,

they started walking in the purpose of

God for their life. And when when they

walked in the purpose of God in their

life, they saw two things happen. They

experienced blessing.

And God receives glory. When they walked

in purpose, they received blessing and

God received glory. Through the baby of

Isaac, they received blessing. But from

Isaac, it led to Israel. It led to

Moses. It led to David. And it led to

Jesus. God was also glorified through

them walking in purpose. And that's the

pattern we see time and time again

throughout scripture. And it is still

the same today. When we walk in purpose,

we will see blessing from heaven, but we

will also be given glory back to God.

Because at the end of the day, our chief

goal, the chief end of man, the

Westminster Catechism says, is to

glorify God.

But not only that, Isaiah 54 comes

directly after Isaiah 53. Who would have

thought? But Isaiah 53 is not just any

chapter of the Bible. It is the

clearest, most loudest prophecy looking

forward to Jesus.

So Isaiah 53 is talking about Jesus and

then Isaiah 54 is talking about a time

when uh there would be an enlarging of a

kingdom.

So yes, it is talking about the

redemption of Israel, but because it

comes after the prophecy of Egypt of of

Jesus,

what it's actually looking towards is

the birth of the church. The enlarging

of the tent is you and I.

We are living in the fulfillment of this

prophecy. If you are here today and you

say, "I am a Christian. I believe in

Jesus." You are a part of the

fulfillment of this prophecy coming

forth. But let me tell you something.

God's not done. God's not done saving

people. God is is not done healing

people. God is not done with the

prodigals. He is not done with the

barren. He is not done with the hurting.

God is not done with the lost and the

broken. He is not done with you. He is

not done with me. And he is not done

with enlarging the tent. So, if you're

here today and you're wondering if this

is for you, it is. God is not done

because he doesn't work his purpose

around his people. He outworks his

purpose through his people. He outworks

it through you. He outworks it through

me. And his purpose on earth is very

clear. Salvation. He wants to see people

saved. He wants to see heaven on earth.

He wants to see this nation become the

great great southland of the Holy Ghost.

That is God's purpose and he wants to

outwork it through you and through me.

So yes, it happens on a Sunday. It

happens when we are gathered here on a

Sunday. So invite people, be bold,

invite them into the purpose. But it

also happens at that business meeting on

a Tuesday morning. It also happens at

that Bible study you started at your

school, that prayer meeting you started

at your university. It also starts and

happens in that cafe that you go to

every day. It happens at that that

barber you go to, the salon you go to.

Whatever you do, wherever you go, Monday

through Saturday,

it also happens there.

But

we need to make room

for God's purpose. Because it's not just

us going to the cafe that allows God's

purpose to take place. It's us making

room in that cafe that we go to for God

to move and his purpose to take place.

So we need to make room.

So, how how do we make room for God's

purpose in our lives, in our church?

Number one, we need to align with God's

priorities.

Often, if we if we're honest with

ourselves, we kind of just do what our

priorities are and then hope that God

will bless them in the aftermath, right?

We we we we never go first to God and

say, "God, what's your priorities? What

do you want to do in our life? What do

you want to do through my life? We kind

of just do what we want and then after

the fact, we kind of just yell out,

"God, help us. We made a mistake. Please

help." But if we had gone to God first,

if we had brought God in at the start,

that's what it says here in Isaiah 54:2.

Isaiah 54:2

Enlarge the place of your tent. When

everything in Judah was looking like it

was getting smaller, God says, "Get

bigger. Let the curtains of your

habitations be stretched out. Don't

don't hold back. Lengthen your cords.

Strengthen your stakes. For you will

spread abroad to the right and to the

left." And they're probably thinking,

"How is this possible when every side

there is an army?"

But God here, he is not giving them a

new prophecy. He's calling them back

into alignment with the word they

already knew. In Genesis, multiple times

it was spoken, go take dominion, go be

fruitful, go multiply, go take Israel,

expand the borders. But they kept

walking out of alignment with his

priorities. In this moment, God is

calling them back. But they have to

respond. They have to decide. They have

to say, well, do I stay on the current

course or do I shift and follow God's

priorities?

And God is saying the same thing to you

and I today. It's the same same question

to you and I today in Ephesians 2:10.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in

Christ Jesus for good works, which God

prepared beforehand, that we should walk

in them.

We are created for good works. God has

prepared us for good works. He has a

plan. He has a purpose for us. But we

need to choose to walk in it. That's

what Ephesians 2:10 says. It's there.

Ephesians 2:10

But will you walk in it? Will you choose

to follow what God has called you to?

And this is both macro and micro, big

and small moments, right? Like are we

inviting God into every every small

decision, every small moment in our

life? Or are we just rushing from moment

to moment? Are we rushing from

appointment to appointment, from sports

thing to sports thing? Are we just

rushing around or are we taking a step

back and inviting God in?

How many small moments, micro moments,

have we missed because we're not

focused? We're distracted. That moment

at the cafe we missed because we just

needed to get to the next place. That

moment at the barber with that that

conversation you missed because you were

just too distracted and focused on

something else. How many moments have we

missed making room for God because we're

just focused on our own priorities?

And not only that, what about our big

decisions? Are we inviting him him in or

are we taking that job, moving that

house, moving to that city and then

hoping God will follow us and bless us?

Are we are we inviting him in first or

going to him last? And I'm, if I'm

honest, I've been there when before me

and my wife were uh pastors, we were

musicians. We we were we were touring

around Australia every other week. We're

in a different city. Our our music was

being played all over TripleM, Triple J,

around Australia. It was awesome.

But if I'm honest,

I was what I said to myself was I'm

doing this for God, but realistically, I

was doing it for me and hoping God would

come along.

I was like, God, if you make me famous,

I'll make you famous.

How many people know that doesn't work?

That's not what God's priority was for

my life. I was like, if you give me

this, I'll do something for you.

But then in 2018,

I remember at the start of the year, my

wife came to me. She's like, I just feel

like God is is telling us to lay down

the band. To which I responded, not my

God.

But then just Long story short, over the

next few months, two prophetic words

went to our our denomination's

conference, which we're invited to. I I

remember feeling that God was just

pressing on our hearts, but I still

ignoring.

And then this one Wednesday morning in

the car on the way to work, and I just

remember God going, "It's time to take a

step. Take a step out. Lay the band down

and I will bless you." And I didn't know

what to do.

But exactly two weeks from that

Wednesday, we had accepted our role as

worship pastors here at this church. And

if I am honest, I would not be changing

a single thing since that moment because

from that moment, that was me deciding,

yes, God, I'm coming into alignment with

your priorities. I've tried to do me

things my way. I've tried to do focus on

my priorities and hope you would help me

with them, but no, no, God, I'm focused

on yours. And time and time again over

the past eight years, I've seen God move

in miraculous ways because I came into

alignment with his priorities and I made

room for purpose.

So we make room for purpose when we

when we align with God's priorities. The

second thing is we need to walk in God's

authority. Some of us lack confidence,

lack the the the I guess maybe the

willingness to walk in God's authority.

Maybe it's out of fear. Maybe people's

opinions.

Maybe it's just knowledge about mistakes

in our past. But we allow those those

things to define who we are and dictate

what we are able to do.

But when we do that,

we do we are walking in our own

authority. We're walking in our own

ability. But God is saying, "No, no, no.

Walk in my authority. Walk in my

ability." We see that in verse four.

Fear not, for you will not be ashamed.

Do not be confounded, for you will not

be disgraced. For you will forget the

shame of your youth and the reproach of

your widowhood. You will remember no

more. For your maker is your husband.

Even here it's looking forward to Jesus.

The Lord of hosts is his name. And the

holy one of Israel is your redeemer. The

God of the whole earth he is called. For

the Lord has called you. Fear not. Why?

Because I'm with you. Fear not. Why?

Because I am for you. Fear not. Why?

Because God is right by your side. As

you walk in your life, you don't walk in

your authority. You walk in his. You

don't need your ducks all lined up to to

to have God's purpose worked out in your

life. No, you just need to be willing to

make room. Willing to make room for him.

Hebrews uh 13:6 says, we can confidently

say, "The Lord is my helper and I will

not fear. What can man do to me?"

because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Because of the sacrifice that he made,

because he paid the price that we could

not pay, he bought victory for you and

I. So we do not we do not fight for

victory. We get to fight from victory.

God has given us the victory. We just

need to take it and walk in it.

There is victory available to you today.

So when we pray for our families,

believing for them, Lord, I pray that

they will come to know you. We don't

pray in our strength. We pray in his.

When we're inviting that work colleague,

that friend, that that schoolmate,

inviting them to come to church, we

don't invite in our power. We invite in

his authority. when we when we're trying

to raise our children in the ways of God

and when we are looking to to media on

on social media and we going every week

just looks darker than the last. When

culture is telling us to not think about

God, not pay attention to God, we don't

try and raise our children our way. No,

we raise them in the ways of the Lord,

in the house of the Lord by the

authority that God has given us. That is

how we are to raise our children. We

don't do it in our strength. We do it in

his.

So we make room for purpose when we

realize that it is not our strength. It

is not our wisdom. It is by his spirit

that is in you and I. That's how we

walk.

And the last thing is we need to trust

in God's timing. If society tells us

anything, it's that we can get anything

at the touch of a button. But when we

walk in the purpose of God, when we come

into alignment with God,

making room does not equal instant

gratification. That's not how God works.

Abraham walking in the purpose of God

waited 25 years to see Isaac born. Are

you willing to wait 25 years?

Are you willing to wait for that promise

just because

God said

our time is not God's time. And you

might be feeling frustrated.

I get it. But you're not frustrated

because God's unfaithful. You're

frustrated because you've placed your

own expectations on him.

The promise is not that he'll move in

that instant. The promise is that he

will move. We read about it in verses

seven and 8. For a brief moment I

deserted you, but with great compassion

I will gather you in overflowing anger.

For a moment I hid my face from you, but

with everlasting love I will have

compassion on you. And how do we know

that this promise is for us? Because

you're like, yeah, well, like he's

saying to Judah, I will. How can that be

for me? Because it's saying with

everlasting love. And that everlasting

love when you read the Bible is the same

love that is for you and for me. It's

the same love that placed Jesus on the

cross. It's the same love that God said

that I I will send my son in order to

save you. That same love that would

leave the 99 to come after the one. That

same love says I will move. Because God,

you might have walked in this room today

and you've been like, "Well, how could

God move in my life? You don't know what

I've done. Why would God want to move in

my life? You don't know what I'm

thinking about." God's not in the

business of throwing away. He He's not

in the business of of forgetting. No,

he's in the business of redemption. He's

in the business of faithfulness.

Wherever you're at today, whatever

you're walking through, God's for you.

And we read about that in Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God,

all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to

what? His purpose.

When we walk in his purpose, when we

outwork his purpose, when we see his

purpose working through us,

God is for us. God is good. And

sometimes we can look around like like

Judah and be like, I don't think you

know what my life is looking like. It

doesn't look very good right now. But

let me tell you, when we walk in in the

the purpose of God, we will see

blessing. And now when I say blessing,

I'm not saying prosperity.

I'm saying your life will flourish. And

that will look different to every single

person. But God is for you. God is for

you. We just need to make room. We need

to make room for him to allow him to

move in our life. So, in a moment, we

are I'm going to open up the altar. I'm

going to open up the front because I I

believe there are people in this room

that that need prayer. Maybe you're

struggling with one of these points.

you're like, "Yeah, I don't really know

what God's purpose is in my life, or I

just don't know what God's purpose is in

general." We have a prayer team that

want to pray with you and for you. Maybe

you're believing

and but you're just like, "How do I walk

in God's authority?" Well, you need a

fresh touch of the Holy Spirit and we

want to pray with you. Or maybe you're

just waiting on God's time. You're like,

"How? Where? How does that work? I'm

frustrated." Well, we want to pray peace

over you. We're going to pray comfort

over you and just the knowledge that God

will move. So, in a moment, we're going

to open up the altar. We're going to

pray. But right now,

I don't know if this is the first time

that you've heard about Jesus. Maybe

it's the hundth time. Maybe today you're

just like,

I need this Jesus. I need what you are

talking about. My life is not looking

the way I I thought it would. What I

need is what you're talking about.

In a moment, I'm going to give you an

opportunity to respond to Jesus.

Because we are all sinners, separated

from God. We all are sinners, separated

from God. We've all fallen short. We've

all made mistakes.

But God, in his goodness, in his

kindness,

sent Jesus to die and pay the debt that

you could not pay.

And now we get a choice

to come back into relationship with him,

to receive salvation from Jesus,

that we can step into his purpose, that

we can step into his authority, and we

can live with him forever and ever in

heaven.

So with eyes shut across the room, if

that's you this morning, maybe you to

respond for the first time or maybe

today you're like, "No, no, I need to

respond because I just know that maybe I

haven't heard the gospel spoken like

that before."

If that's you in this room today, on the

count of three, I'm going to ask you to

boldly raise your hand. If you need this

Jesus, if you want to respond to Jesus,

the one who came to die, that we can

repent. Yeah, I see that hand already.

Come on. Yeah. If that's if that's you

in this room, just lift your hand. If

they're across the room, if that's you,

if you want to make a decision for

Jesus,

if you want to say yes, he's loves you

so much. Yeah, I see that hand as well

over to the side. Come on.

If there's anyone else in this place

that want to join these two amazing

people, if you want to say yes to Jesus

this morning,

so good. Well, church, let's say this

prayer together because we are a church

that does life together. Jesus, I give

you my life.

I give you my all. Thank you for dying

for me. I pray that I walk in your

purpose and in your mighty and majestic

name. For the saint said, "A