Make Room: Vision Sunday | Ps Miles Paludan

uh welcome you today. If you're new, my

name is Miles. I get the great honor to

serve as pastor and uh it's a pleasure

and an honor to have you with us today.

Every year we seek the Lord at the

beginning of the year for a word, a word

that we would be spiritled, a word that

God would guide and direct our church, a

a word that could come from God to sort

of head us on a pathway. I pray you

would do that for your family.

Do you have a word from the Lord? Do you

have a vision? Do you have direction? Do

do you have something that God has laid

on your heart that he wants to do in and

through you this year? This is a great

discipline to seek the Lord so we may be

spiritled. Our word for the year is two

words. It's make room. Can we celebrate

our words for the year? Make room.

Come on, let's go. Make room. Make room.

I want us to declare that over our lives

as we make room for God in our lives, in

our church. We're going to say it

together. Make room. Let's all say it

out loud. We're going to make room.

Let's say it again. Make room. One more

time. Make room. We get this from Isaiah

Isaiah 54:2

54:2. Enlarge the place [music] of your

tent. Stretch your tent curtains wide.

Don't hold back. Lengthen your cords.

Strengthen your [music] stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and

the left. Your descendants will

dispossess nations [music] and settle in

their desolate city. What's this verse

and chapter all about? The context here

is Isaiah in chapter 50. You know, in

chapter 54, Isaiah [music]

is a prophetic word for Jerusalem.

And the image is a barren woman. And God

calls her to step out although she's

still barren. and enlarge the size of

her tent. The Hebrew word for tent is a

hell. It means dwelling place, a place

for family and domestic [music]

stability. So though her tent is empty,

she is to stretch out her dwelling as

though it was overflowing. It'd be like

if you're home, no kids at home, but

there's this sensing to [music] build an

extra bedroom, to add on a granny flat.

She needs to make room. Why? Because God

is about to do something new and

powerful in her life. This promise

given thousands of years ago in God's

holy word is actually a promise for you

and I that we too would be fruitful and

blessed. That we would expand, that we

would enlarge our lives for the kingdom

of God, for the glory of God. that we

would enlarge our influence with our

families and our depth of [music]

conversation with our children. That we

would enlarge our capacity to love and

to serve. That we would enlarge our

wisdom on our lives and the gifts and

talents God has given us. That we would

enlarge. That we would stretch. That we

would have more impact for God for his

kingdom. And here in lies one of the

most important keys of faith. We need to

act before we have the evidence. We need

to make room for the miracle.

We need to make room for God to move. So

faith isn't blind optimism or wishful

thinking. It's a confident reliance on

God's character and his promises. I love

the word of God. It's living. It's

alive. And the promises are for you and

me today. And we're going to take hold

of one of these great promises and make

it our declaration for the year. We're

going to make room. We're going to make

room. Let's unpack this scripture.

Enlarge the place of your tent. This

speaks of dreaming. Where the vision of

the Lord can come alive in your heart.

Where you look through the eyes of

faith. What are you believing for? How

big is your dreams? What is the vision

for your life? Maybe it's a vision for a

new job, new career, to get married,

have kids, sell a house, buy a house.

Well, what is your vision? What is your

dream? It all begins with a vision. With

a dream. Enlarge the place of your tent.

Stretch. This is tough. Thanks, guys.

This is tough stretching because this

means we got to grow. It means we can't

continue to do things in our own

capacity or our own ability or how we've

always done them. This thing is about

stretching us, stretching our capacity

to love, uh becoming more sanctified, uh

following the ways of the Lord, becoming

holy, seeking him, being transformed by

the renewing of our mind, dying to

selfishness, killing the flesh, coming

alive to the spirit and the things of

God. This is hard work.

Stretching follows the dreaming. We all

love the dreaming. Let's dream big,

baby. Let's go. Come on, God. We believe

you. And we dream. But then the next

word is stretch. Then the scripture

says, "Don't hold back." This speaks of

fear. You know, fear stops us. Over 365

references to fear in scripture. In

fact, my my wife, she's doing a daily

Monday daily every Monday, a fear not

verse every week. And she's equipping us

as a church. How do we overcome fear?

How good was Bonnie yesterday? She just

lit the room up. She brought the fire,

the word of the Lord. She was a what a

woman of God. My goodness. I I got to

run to keep up with her. God is moving

on her life. There is a gifting and

anointing. It was beautiful to see her

minister at team conference. But fear

holds us back. And this is something

that God knew and that he puts in his

word. Fear not. Don't let

disappointments of the past. Don't let

failures hope deferred. Don't let

labels, don't let things that people say

about you stop you from being obedient

to the Lord. Don't hold back. Next, the

Bible says to lengthen

lengthen your cords, lengthen your

ropes. This is to make a plan. Write it

down. Start studying. Seek counsel. Send

the do something. This is practically

outworking the vision, the dream that

God has for you. We don't just sit at

home and wait for God to move or wait

for the check to come in the mail, you

know, wait for that deposit to drop in

the bank account. No, no, no, no. We

seek the Lord. We move forward. We

prepare. We we we we grow. And finally,

we strengthen our stakes. We go deep in

God. We we go deep into his presence. We

make room for him in our lives, in our

schedule. We seek his face. We read his

word. We worship him. We we desire. We

long. We go deeper in our relationship

with our God. Now, what's significant

about this prophecy in verse two is it

comes off the reality of verse one. This

is where I sometimes see myself. I love

verse two. Let's go listen. But I kind

of live some days in verse one. Sing, oh

childless woman, you who have never

given birth, break into loud and joyful

song, O Jerusalem, you who have never

been in labor, for the desolate woman

now has more children than the woman who

lives with her husband. To be childless

in ancient world was a disgrace for a

woman. It also brought great financial

poverty because families depended on

children to provide labor for their

agricultural business so the elderly

could be looked after in their latter

days. And and Israel was living in

shame. They were the laughingstock of

the surrounding nations. The women and

children had been stolen. All their

wealth had been taken. and and they were

defeated like a childless woman. Hang

on, God. How can you be prophesying this

great promise when the nation was broke,

bankrupt, defeated, you know, decimated

by another country. But here's what I

love about the promises of God. And

here's what I love about the future for

you and I today. That God isn't limited

to our current circumstances.

God isn't limited to just what we're

going through today. That there are

promises in his word that when we make

room for him, his power, his presence

can move. God's prophesying into the

future of his people. That God would

permit her to have many children. Uh

that would change her mourning into

singing. And he's prophesying that over

your life today. Maybe you're broken and

hurting. You're feeling barren and dry.

Maybe the spirit of God seems like it's

just a distant dream knowing him and

walking with him that you're not sensing

his love or his vision. You're

struggling to get through life. You're

in survival mode. You just come to

church. I don't know much about church.

I don't know much about God. Can I tell

you and remind you today, God has a

promise for you. G God has a future for

you. It's a good future to be blessed,

to be used for his glory, for his

kingdom. You think, "I'm uneducated,

Miles. I'm inexperienced. I'll never

succeed in my career. I'll I'll never

have a big paying job." When you make

room for God, he can do things in your

life you never thought possible. Maybe

you've made mistakes and and you think,

"How can I ever overcome these bad

decisions? You can't go back in time,

but you can make room for God to move in

your life to hang on to his word and his

promises by faith. Maybe you've been

bankrupt or divorced or you've got this

injury incurable or you've got this

disease on your life and you think

you'll never be fully recovered. God

still can move in your life as we make

room for him. It is not over. There is a

future. There is a destiny. You got a

broken relationship. It seems imperable.

I love this is the story of scripture

that God steps into mankind though he's

broken to bring his life through Jesus

Christ to heal you and make you whole to

restore you. And I'm here to remind you

today, God's promises are yes and amen.

Our God is bigger and greater than

whatever we face. He's bigger than our

darkest fear. He He's bigger than the

labels that people have put on us. He's

bigger than our mistakes. Why? Because

we have a God who's faithful. He's

loving. He's kind. He He's just just in

He loves you more than you could ever

think possible.

He He's pursuing you. He You think I

just wandered into church said, "No, no.

God is orchestrating. He's leading. He's

guiding." Someone needs to hear this

today. You matter. God God knows you.

He knows how many hairs are on your

head. He knows your thoughts. He knows

your struggles. He's been there. He came

in human form. He lived through what

you're living through. All God, yet all

man, he's with you in your corner. Knows

what you're going through. But he's

gently reminding you, don't stay there.

There's more that God has for you. You

might feel barren and desolate. You

might wonder, "Where is God?" Here's the

promise. Make room for him. How do we

How do we make room when we're just

busy? Plates are spinning, things are

happening. We we How do we How do we

make room? Well, rather than give you a

list of to-do, I want to speak to your

heart through a a a great principle that

Jesus taught in Matthew 9:17. He says,

Matthew 9:17

"No one puts new wine in old wine skins,

for the old wine skins would burst from

the pressure spilling the wine. and

ruining the skins. New wine is stored in

new wine skins so that both are

preserved. What does this have to do

with making room? Well, in biblical

times, new wine wasn't kept in glass or

clay jars. It was kept in wine skin that

was sewed, sorry, goat skins that was

sewed around the perimeter to create a

watertight bag.

As the new wine fermented, it expanded.

Well, the goat skins would expand with

the wine. It would stretch and grow. And

after the wine had aged, then the skin

became brittle. It it it became rigid

and inflexible.

And if you were to pour new wine into an

old brittle wine skin, it would ferment,

expand, and then burst and it would be

lost.

The new wine is Jesus and we are the

vessels. And Jesus uses this description

to explain that he didn't come to patch

up the old religious system of Judaism

with its rules and traditions. His

purpose was to bring something new.

Something new is the gospel. It's where

Jesus came in human form to live a

perfect life, died, and rose again to

have a relationship with us. That he

came to do something new and fresh in

your life. Not a one-time event, but an

ongoing relationship. The good news, it

didn't fit into this old religious

legalistic system that the Jewish

leaders were promoting. Jesus' message

brought a fresh start that something

that would expand and stretch and grow

and [snorts] change

people. Will you allow God

to do something new in you? Will you

allow God to do something new, something

fresh in your life? Will you be open and

teachable and flexible?

or would you just sort of fall back into

becoming sort of rigid, hard-hearted,

sort of closed, sort of just going

through the motions. If I can be honest

today, I can get stuck. I can get rigid,

hard-hearted. What happens is I just can

go through the rhythm, just go through

the routine. I love systems and

processes and I I can hang on to those.

But what happens? I become detached. I

become indifferent. I become distant

and then I just to be real vulnerable

then then I go go I become critical and

then the next thing I'm being suspicious

and this this this this vortex of

badness of thoughts. So this year I've

had my heart open. God do something new

and fresh in me. Would you start in me?

And and I I went to Uver the Bible

reading plan. It's not new but I found

this one read the Bible through in a

year. I often do a plan like that. But I

found Bible Recap and they do a seven

minute devotion explaining the chapters

that you're about to read, just

unpacking it and it just sort of brings

scripture alive for me as I listen then

I go through the scripture. I do this

while I walk just so I can not be

distracted. And so my plan is as I walk

20 30 minutes later or whatever it is, I

I actually turn around once it's ended

and I pray all the way back. Now, I'd

love to say that I'm praying for you.

[laughter]

And I I wish maybe Jif's praying for you

because we need to have pastors that are

praying for you, but I ain't praying for

you. I'm just praying, God, help my

heart to be open, God. I I just want to

be with you. I I I just thank you that

you love me and that I can spend this

time with you today, God, that I can be

in your presence and just amazed that

you still love me even though I mess up

and blow and I'm just having a

conversation. I'm just so and and I'm

alive in these last couple weeks. I'm

just I I I I've kind of thought I'll

start there with that prayer and then

I'll move on, you know, to believe for

revival and great awakening and but I I

just keep getting stuck just praying for

God in a good way. Stuck in a good way.

uh because it's new and fresh just

talking to my God and just he loves me

that he wants to spend time with me that

it's kind of the highlight for my day

and it's the highlight for his. It's

hard for me to say that.

Can you say that it's God's highlight to

spend time with you? It's true. It is.

He loves you. He wants nothing more than

just to spend time with you, just to

walk with you, to be with you. God wants

to do something fresh this year as we

make room for him. We're looking for

God. Would you do something fresh? I

want you to be open. I want you to have

a heart that's, "Okay, God, what is that

for me?

Maybe God's going to surprise you. Maybe

there's going to be an idea, a dream

that's going to place in your heart.

There's a mentoring. There's a

relationship. There's something new,

something different, something fresh,

something that you didn't expect."

Right? That's what I love about our God.

It's kind of this adventure because

you're handing over the reigns of your

life to the living God who has a plan

and he'll do something different that

you didn't expect. He might stretch you

and it might be uh you know

uncomfortable, but I love that God new

wine. He wants to do something new,

something fresh so we can be passionate

for him and in love with him. So we're

going to make room for God and we're

going to do something new in our life.

That's the first thought. Something new

in our life. What what is it for you

this year? Would you seek the Lord?

Would you allow him something fresh?

Something new? the new wine skin in

James 4:8. Come close to God

James 4:8

and God will come close to you.

Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify

your hearts for your loyalty is divided

between God and the world. It's such a

powerful big verse. You could preach a

whole message on this, but I love how it

starts, come close to God. Notice it

didn't say God will come close to you,

so come close to God.

The first

act is we make room and move towards

God. When we choose to shake off shame

and regret and failure and sin and the

past and when we say, "Okay, God, I'm

I'm stepping towards you because you

love me just as I am. Even though I'm a

sinner,

God, you love me." When you

come close to God,

I love this. He'll come close to you. Th

this is for anyone. You you you you may

have just made the worst decisions ever.

This may be your first day in church.

You may be a pastor been following the

Lord for 40 years, 60 years. This verse

applies to both because we're both

sinners. And if we take that step, God,

I just draw close to you. I love how our

God will come close to us. There's a

synonymous poem that just sums up the

struggles that I go through. Two natures

beat within my breast. One is foul, one

is blessed. The one I love, the one I

hate, the one I feed

will dominate. What you feed will

dominate. What you make room for, you

will become.

You make room for playing golf and

becoming a better golfer, then you're

going to get a better score. You make

room for getting flying lessons, getting

your hours up, you're going to become a

pilot. You make room for singing

lessons. You're in front of that mirror.

You're doing the makeup. I I want to be

on the stage and sing. There's no

guarantee you'll be singing on the stage

because you do need talent. But when you

make room for God, you don't need

talent. You just need a heart

to come close to him. That we can all

come close

to God. You don't need talent

to draw close to God. You don't need

years of following him. You don't need

to know everything. You don't need to be

a Bible scholar. You don't need to be a

prayer warrior. I love both of those.

They're powerful.

But we just have to make a decision to

draw close to him. What does that mean?

Open your heart. Say, "God, help me. I'm

here."

Just just It's a decision. I'm going to

draw close to you. It's amazing. In

church, you can have people in worship

or in the message. Some of you are drawn

close to God right now and some of you

aren't.

That we can be in a room. Doesn't mean

we're all the same close to God. It's a

decision that each of us make to to open

our heart. God, help me. God, let let my

criticalness, my fears, Lord, let my

hurts, whatever the church hurt or past

or what God, don't let it stop me from

drawing close to you. I I I want to be

close to you, God. Why? Because he wants

to be close to you. Because he loves

you. There is an invitation to everyone.

Would you make room in your life for

him? Would you make room for God to do

something fresh, something new, new wine

skins?

We're going to make room for God to do

something new in our lives. We're going

to make room for God to do something new

in our church. Let's go. Let's go. Here

we go. Psalms 132. Let us go to the

sanctuary of the Lord and let us worship

at the foottool of his throne. This song

was sung by pilgrim travelers going to

the temple in Jerusalem. They remembered

and understood David's heart of worship

for God's house and it inspired them.

This is a call for the gathering of

God's people to intentionally come and

make space, make room for the presence

of the Lord.

Every time Isaac

moved into a new territory, he would

open up the wells. Three times he moved,

three times he opened up the wells. We

see in Genesis 26:17 that he moved to

Genesis 26:17

the Gira Valley and he set up their

tents and they settled down and he

reopened the wells of his fathers had

dug and the Philistines had filled them

and each time [snorts] Isaac moved he

would dig the well. My heart is that we

would have the wells here open. What

what's the well? We got some free water

being is it sparkling? Is it still

what's what's going with the water in

scripture reveals the spirit of life?

Jesus said in John 4 14, the water I

give, you'll never be thirsty again.

Become a fresh bubbling spring from

within them, giving them eternal life.

We want the presence of God. As a

church, we're intentionally making room

for his presence. his presence to move

in our kids' church, in our youth, in

our life groups, in our mission. We we

want the presence of God. I just had

this picture that people are so dry and

and people are just going through life

just on empty and and they're just they

get hard. You know, when something gets

dry, the soil, the moisture goes out, it

starts to crack. And people are just

sort of good people going through life

just dry and and yet the of God just

brings life. Presence of God fills us.

Brings joy. You know what it brings? It

brings forgiveness.

It it it brings grace. It It just draws

his presence.

And our heart this year as we declare

all year long to make room that we would

make room for his presence.

And God, we make room right now for your

presence

to fall in this place. We open our

hearts and we draw close to you and say

God would you fill us? Would you move?

We've been planning

this words make room for about three

months. It's been on my heart and it'll

be our anthem for the whole year. Make

room for God in our lives. Make room for

God in our church. You're going to get

sick of me. I'm going to say it so much.

It's going to be filtered all through

our messages. It's going to be what we

hang on to. And the team wrote a song,

wrote a song

about our words for the year, make room

specifically just for our church.

And I just sense God is all over this

song. In fact, I said at the last

service, this is the first time we've

publicly sung [music] it in a church

service. It went off that there's

something on it because it's not us

trying to be clever or creative. It's

it's coming out of the heart of the Lord

that he's drawing his people to him. And

it comes out of this prophetic word that

God God wants us to make room. And so

we're going to sing it right now. We're

going to make room. But as we sing it,

it's not just a song, something we do.

It's the cry of our heart. God, we make

room for you. We make room for you in

our life. We make room for you in our