Pastor Brodie Kalamen | Gates Don't Attack | June 7th, 2026

I'm not gonna pray that it rains after you wash your car on a Friday so that when you get here on Sunday, it it could just be a quick wash for the kids.

Um we really love the uh camp and uh I believe that there's uh a great opportunity for the kids to be able to uh serve and and uh be ministered to at camp during the during that time uh in the summer in August.

So you got lots of time.

Great opportunity to serve.

Um before I begin, uh just I was ascensing on the well during our time of worship, uh the the Bible talks about in the Old Testament as almost being a shadow of what was to come.

It was to give the people, uh particularly the Jewish people, the Hebrew people, opportunity to experience what was going to come through Jesus.

And of course, we're on the other side.

How many of you are grateful for that?

We're we now have Christ and we have his spirit and we have it alive in the church.

And uh before that there was the temple, and people would gather at the temple and they would begin to uh they would begin to sing, they would begin to wreck because the presence of God was there in that one singular place, and people would minister before the Lord and they would minister in song, they would minister in worship, and we look at at the scripture, and in the scripture there are certain repeated expressions and repeatable uh messages that came before the Lord in in their times of worship, and their time of celebration or their time of worship would sometimes last for hours, and the scripture says they would repeat similar things over and over again.

And I felt like today this morning that the Lord was just wanting to speak over you and over your life some of those same messages so that we don't forget today.

And that one of the messages was that the Lord's love endures forever.

He loves us, his love is over us, his one of his names is his name is Jehovah Nisi.

He means the Lord is our banner, and not only does it mean the Lord is our victory banner, he's our victory, like as they would go into battle and they would win victory, he would become their victory.

The Lord is our victory, he is Jehovah Nisi.

But not only that, the scripture says his banner over us is what?

His banner over us is love, love, love.

And I just want you to know today that God is a God of love and that God loves you.

His love is over you, his love is your victory, that it doesn't matter what other people are saying or what you may be experiencing, the fact in the matter is that God is love over you.

And perfect love casts out all fear.

And when God is with you, the two of you are a majority, and you don't need anybody or anything else.

You can stand in your on your two feet, you don't have to hunch over, you don't have to feel ashamed and down.

You can raise your head up, you can pull your shoulders back and say, I'm loved by the one that matters most.

Amen.

His banner over you is love, his love endures forever.

The scripture says the steadfast love of the Lord, it never ceases.

It is steadfast, day after day after day.

It doesn't wane like our love wanes.

You know how our love wanes?

It's like I love you today because I'm committed to you.

Verses like, I love you every day at a hundred percent.

That is the love of God.

It's unconditional.

You are his, he loves you.

The other scripture that he said was um that his uh, oh man, I'm not I'm thinking, thank you, Natalie.

I love you so much.

The scripture says, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.

Imagine saying that for four hours.

He is good, he is good.

I think some of us just need to take a moment this week and just walk with the Lord and just go for a walk, and just you may not come back and just be like, just go for a walk, and all you have to say, and this becomes your prayer, he is good, he is good, he is good to me, he is good, and his love endures forever over me.

He is good to me, he is good to me, and actually like imprint that message on your heart.

Do you know that there's a message in the world today and in the church today that says the Lord is good, but he's gonna cause you to go through massive suffering and obstacles and opposition, and you're gonna feel small and beaten, but keep holding on because heaven is coming.

You get to die.

And it's like, well, to die is gain.

We all know that.

To be present with the Lord, absent of the body, present with the Lord, it's a good thing.

But that's not our mission here.

Our mission here is the Lord is good, He is good to all, He is good to us, and His love endures forever.

It's going to be good to you.

The Lord is good.

There's a reason why in the church there was a continued sound, resonating sound that God wanted his presence to be recognized by the fact that he is good.

The Lord is good, the Lord is good, the Lord is good, the Lord is good, he is good to me.

I don't know what you may be going through.

How many of you need to know the goodness of God in your life?

The goodness of God, that other word for that word, goodness, is the glory of God.

Where you're walking and you're not just walking in his goodness, you're walking in his glory.

There's a presence about you, and there's a presence in you, and there's a presence moving through you that's like the glory of God is with me.

The goodness of God is with me.

It's like a crown that when you walk into a room, and how many of you know that I should have done this this morning, walk in the room with a crown today?

How many of you know that I would have got some attention?

You would have been like, What?

What's going on with this church?

It's like just like just as an announcement, no, God is good.

When you walk into a place with a crown, it's about an announcement that God is good.

He crowns you with mercy and crowns you with loving kindness and crowns you with a new opportunity.

And when the world says no, God says, Yeah, you can do it.

With man it's impossible, with God, all things are possible.

And where your limitations are there, yes, I understand.

You're Brody, you're just merely dust.

Right?

You're merely dust, but with me and my grace, it's sufficient for you.

And in your weakness, I'll make you strong.

And in your in your poverty, in your in your lack, I will become your abundance.

And I can walk with that glory in my in my spirit that says, No, I can walk as how many of you you gotta lift your head.

Don't let your crown fall.

Don't let the crown fall.

Don't bow down and suffer.

No, you don't let your crown fall.

You lift your head up, you pull your shoulders back and say, Yes, Lord, I am a king's kid.

I am a king's kid, I'm an heir of the father.

I am his son.

You're his daughter.

You know what that means?

We're in his family.

I am family.

Family.

Family.

I love family.

Family.

Family looks out for one another.

Family takes care of each other.

And when dad is in the house, I just hold on to his big hand.

Dad's here.

No fear because I am his.

And he is mine.

And everything he has belongs to me, and everything I have belongs to him.

And I don't say, Lord, how much is it?

How much can I keep?

You know, how much can I give?

The Lord says, like, how much do you need to do what I need you to do?

And that's the heart that we have.

And so in the Old Testament, we can't throw away the message for today.

The message for today has not changed.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He does not change.

He's immutable.

He does not change.

And that same message is loud and clear for each and every one of us.

The Lord is good, and his mercy and his love endures forever and ever and ever.

It's steadfast, it's available.

It's my portion today and tomorrow, forever.

I can drink of it and I can receive it fully now, as much now today as it was the day that I made a decision to follow Christ.

He's mine and I am his.

Amen.

Amen.

Father, we thank you.

We don't have trumpets today, we don't have harps and drums.

Well, we do have drums, but they're in a cage.

But we say today, Lord, if we could speak it out loud enough, we would say, the Lord is good.

The Lord is good.

The Lord is good.

We use our voice today and we demonstrate, Lord, you are good.

You are good, Lord.

Yes, Lord.

You are good, and your mercy and your love endureth forever.

It is steadfast towards me.

You raise me up, you lift me up.

I don't forget your benefits today, Lord.

I don't forget, Lord, how you've taken care of me, how you've removed my sin as far as the east is from the west.

That's how far you've removed my transgressions from me.

You like deal with it into a pit of forgetfulness, Lord.

We thank you that you're so powerful you can even forget.

You forget the things, Lord, of my past.

And you have me on a new purpose, a new mission, a new trajectory.

We thank you, Lord.

We are not alone.

We are with you.

Hallelujah.

You're building something in us, Lord, that we don't even have the eyes to uh to see or the mind that can even conceive all the good things and all the plans that you have set inside of me, prepared for me.

And we give you glory, Lord, today.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

That is a good message.

That's a good message.

We used to have a pastor from Louisiana, and he would come up to Canada.

He was totally out of his element.

Big red face, and he'd be, he'd, he'd have a he'd be like hot dog, it's Sunday morning.

And every time I put on this shirt, I think I should bring out that Louisiana kind of like fire.

That's just like, Lord, we just want to thank you that there's a Sunday morning.

We want to thank you that there's a blessing today.

There's rest today.

There's a Sabbath today.

Lord, you take care of our soul today.

You lift up the weary, we can lift up the weary soul and you fill it with good.

We're like a container, and we just say, Yes, Lord, all of you, less of me, more of you, less of me.

I empty out so you can spill in.

Lord, I want to be in you today.

The best place to be is found in Christ.

The Bible says that my life is hidden with Christ.

That means it's hidden.

I am untouchable because of him.

My life, as long as I'm positioned in Christ, my life is hidden.

And I am in the center of who he is and where he wants me to be.

The enemy cannot touch me.

Enemy cannot touch me because my life is hidden with Christ in God.

And that we need to understand that we are created for something bigger and better and greater than we can even that we even think about.

Like every now and then you just get a glimpse of it.

But Lord, open our eyes to see.

He who has eyes, let him see, he who has ears, let him hear.

What plans like what God has planned, what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Because there's a bit, there's a greater, greater plan for the church.

Amen.

Amen.

I don't even know where we go today.

Yeah, that's good.

That is good.

We are in a unique season.

I feel like the wind is changing.

And the the wind is changing.

God is moving, and a wind is changing, and I can just feel the effect of it.

The ruach, the ruach of God.

It's that it's that punch power of the Spirit of God.

It's like, I'm gonna move the church forward.

It's like you've been sitting, you've been just waiting, you've been watching, I'm gonna start moving you forward.

And how many of you know sometimes change is uncomfortable?

And you've just got to like trust the process and say, okay, Lord, you lead, I'll follow.

You're the good shepherd, you've got you've got green pastures and still waters prepared for me.

You've got a table, even if I have to go through a valley of my enemies, you're gonna just prepare a table before me, and you're gonna fill it with good things for me.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Yeah, how many of you know like he's got a rod and a staff and they comfort you to comfort you, not to hurt you.

The rod and staff, some people have a view of God that he's gonna use his rod to hurt you.

No, the rod in the staff was to like keep you, keep you on this, on the path, and his staff, and his rod, his staff was his rod was like a club, not meant for the sheep, but meant for the enemy.

And his and all they have to do is we used to, you know, all he has to do is he's just like show the club and back off.

Show the club.

Like, look what's happened in the past, look what you tried to do in the past, how'd that work out for you?

Like, it's that question, no, I'm fine.

Danny's like, no, I'm good.

The Bible says the devil, the God doesn't even have to lift his finger anymore.

He disarmed the Satan.

Colossians says he he made a parade of the enemy.

He disarmed them.

That all the enemy has is a growl.

You hear the roar of the enemy, but the it has no teeth.

I've heard a lion roar, it's scary.

It causes you to have like that that sense of like, oh man, I'm I I gotta step back.

But when you know that there's no claws and no teeth, it's it's a different process, it's a different experience.

You can walk with confidence knowing that he's a good shepherd.

The Lord is our shepherd.

We don't need to want.

Just be like, Lord, just take, let me experience your mercy, let me experience your goodness and your grace towards me.

Amen.

Amen.

This is the church that we're a part of.

Matthew 16, 18 says that, and it's it's a really unique scenario here is that uh uh Jesus takes his disciples to a place where they're serving the God of Pan.

In uh in Caesarea Philippi.

I believe it's Caesarea Philippi.

Is that correct, Bill?

Yes, okay, I got my theologian down there, good.

Caesarea Philippi.

And he takes them into this place where they're serving gods, like terrible things are happening and being experienced in this place.

And Jesus is a rabbi takes his disciples to this place on purpose.

And I went and I visited this place.

It was a really unique experience because you could see the ruins were still there and the caves were still there.

There were there was human sacrifices, there were all kinds of uh evil things that were happening in this place.

And Jesus stops and he says, I will build my church.

I will build my church.

He says, I will build my church, I will build it up, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

And that's such a power, like that's a statement we need to like get in our spirit today that God is building his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Gates don't attack.

Gates don't attack, gates are stationary, they are are defensive, and they were they were the place of governance, they were the place of authority, they were the place of judicial power, and and Jesus is saying, I will go after that place against the enemy, and I will move my church, I will build my church, and those gates will not prevail against the church.

That the enemy will have tactics and and and uh uh plans and strategies against us as the church, but the enemy will not prevail against the church.

And so we are in the in that same image as the church.

We are the ones advancing, we are the ones attacking, we are the ones moving, and yet Jesus is promising this to the to his disciples, and so virtually his message to them is this you can go and and move the church forward, and the church itself will be unstoppable.

It is part it is an unstoppable church.

And my concern is when I say that to you today, you half believe it.

Because you look at the world and you see the world and you see the church similar to a uh like a place of shelter or a place of of uh of uh refuge, and you sit back and you're like, okay, I'm we're just gonna wait for all this this chaos to come to be over with, and then the Lord will rescue us.

Instead of Jesus, who was announcing, he says that I will build my church and I'm building it to advance the kingdom, and instead of it being a defensive place, I'm building it to be a launching pad to actually move and advance the kingdom of God, to move the church, amen.

So it's not about holding on, holding on to Jesus.

There are times in our life we do, we need to hold on, but this isn't about the church holding on.

This is the question is the church stopped moving and stopped acting like the church is supposed to act.

So when we build the church, the church is being built to advance the kingdom.

So Jesus, when he moved through his Ministry, moving with his disciples, going from city to city and town to town, speaking in synagogues and public squares and visiting places to pray.

The gospel of salvation is repent, be baptized, turn from wickedness, turn to Jesus, find salvation.

But Jesus said, I've got more work for you.

Like more than just salvation.

There's a gospel, there's a message of the kingdom of which you are ambassadors for.

And this kingdom advancement happens because the church is built and moving and strong.

So Jesus said, I will build my church.

It's not about a might build his church or he will in you know in time.

He says, I'm I'm building my church.

And so the question is like, where are we going?

And are we allowing that spirit to actually move us forward?

And are we positioning ourselves to say yes to God and no to other things?

How many of you know that you can say life is full of things you can say yes to?

But your no is sometimes more important than your yeah, than all your yeses.

In order to say yes to the one thing, you you've got to know what that one thing is, and then everything else is a no.

Because we can be so easily distracted and our energy so easily uh dispersed that we don't have the energy to actually do the thing that God has called us to do, and not placing our attention on the things above that one thing to go and and uh complete that.

Uh number one, we were made for dominion.

We were created for dominion, and when I say this, people think it's some kind of like, wow, this is a this is a pretty uh like incredible response to like our creation, and maybe it's radical to see that we're like created for something that that grandiose, but the reality is God created us for dominion.

We were not created just to survive, we were created to advance and to take authority before the fall, before the law, before the cross, before any of it.

Uh, the very first instruction to humanity was not to be humble.

How many think humility is a good thing?

It is, but we weren't called to be humble, we weren't called to be careful or survive, we were called to have dominion, to take dominion.

The word in Hebrew is the word rada.

I'm sure there's a different way to say that in Hebrew, but that's the way it resonates with me.

It means to tread down, to rule, to exercise authority with intentionality.

That means what is your intention?

My intention is to rule, to have dominion, to do the thing that God has called me to do with the authority, to walk with that authority today.

And God's purpose and his original design for us was to be active, engaged, powerful, uh, and taking authority over creation.

Not let life happen to you, but make something out of your life.

Make an impact, make a difference in the world, and creating that.

It's not passive in our stewardship, it's advancing and it's not reluctant, it's moving, it's kingdom dominion.

It's a posture that many Canadians are unfamiliar with.

We loved, I I know like most of the world are S personalities.

69% of the world are stable, steady, don't rock the boat.

They get into an elevator and they just after you, after you, after you.

How many of you know this?

Maybe live with someone like that?

Like only 2% of the world are like that.

I happen to be surrounded by them and our staff, and our, which is really exciting for me because I'm a steady person.

And it takes something for the rest of us to say and to believe that God has called us to move and advance and to take dominion.

Oftentimes we're waiting for someone else to step up, where God has called you to step up and to step in.

Someone else will do it, someone else will take care of it, someone else is going to manage this.

And I'll just sit back and pray.

When God's saying, I've called you to take dominion.

I've called, and that's not to diminish prayer.

I'm saying we can't use that as an excuse.

To just pray.

You were redeemed to exercise dominion, kingdom authority now in your city, in your industry, in your family, in your business, in whatever ecosystem God has placed you into, to go into it and declare dominion.

Not now, don't go into your office.

I am dominion, like declaring dominion in this place.

It's like you don't have to walk around, you just like contrast, you're allowed in you to shine through you and an authority that the world can't give you, the world can't take away from you.

And so it's called the favor of God.

It's called wisdom that crowns you.

And you walk in wisdom that other people begin to favor you and call you and and recognize you.

You the Bible even says, don't even look for the seat at the head of the table.

Just sit down and let other people recognize what God is doing in and through you.

Don't don't throw your title at me.

Or your resource or your whatever you've done.

Like I know God's ways are different ways.

And God works with people in a different, in a different method, and a different methodology.

And God's ways are are not our ways.

Let's just put it that way.

I'm coming into the season where everyone where kids are graduating and people are are uh you know, students are moving on in life and taking next stages in life, and it's such a great experience to watch them grow into that next place.

And I don't want them to move into something small.

The church ought to be thinking greater.

There's a growing narrative in our culture that shrinking is kind of virtuous, that ambition to be ambitious is dangerous, that wanting to build, to own, to influence, it's going against the norm.

In fact, the the kind of like you've heard the global, and I don't want to get into a conspiracy place here or trigger anyone, but it's like own nothing and you'll be happy.

That is not dominion.

That's opposed, like property, personal property.

Why do you think in the Ten Commandments God says do not steal?

It means someone else has to have something that they own for you to steal it.

God is not against personal property.

Don't covet what?

Another man's possessions.

A man possesses things.

Don't covet that.

God's purpose in the world is for you to take dominion.

And I'm gonna push up against like a political narrative, a social narrative, a place where the church can actually slip into this view that we are somehow a uh a small, we need to be a small uh organization, we need to be a small body, a small church, a small lower sea church when God has called us to be the church, to build and go and advance against the gates of hell and tear them down and move in and take dominion and take authority and move into places of influence, advancing the kingdom of God.

Jesus was killed because he was advancing the kingdom that was opposed to Roman and Jewish structure, they had built an architecture around man, and Jesus was proposing a different structure, and the world didn't want it.

He said it's the church, and you don't have to go through all these challenges, you can go to the Father yourself.

In fact, I'm gonna give you the Spirit of God that's gonna give you authority, but they're just fishermen.

Can't give a rowdy fisherman authority, and yet what were they doing?

They were turning the world everywhere they went, they were turning the world upside down until the world was like, what are we gonna do with them?

Well, throw them in jail to start.

That's what they did to Paul.

Throw them in jail, like quiet them.

If you can't quiet them, kill them.

And we know that the kingdom and what happened with Paul in prison, he began to worship, the bonds broke, the doors flew open, no one moved.

How many of you know if you were in a Roman prison, you'd like, I want out of here, but people were like, I'm safer here than I am.

Like, that's the power of God demonstrated in that moment.

We forget that our Father gives you the power to make wealth.

Amen, Brody.

He gives you the power to make wealth.

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he causes us to prosper, he reminds us, he says in the scripture, don't you know that all the silver and gold are mine?

That's biblical, guys.

That's not me preaching like prosperity gospel, kind of like just name it and claim it stuff.

It's not.

I'm just telling you the scripture.

We need to see from this perspective.

God says all the silver and gold.

Do you think a cow would exist because you?

All the cattle on a thousand hills, they belong to him.

If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't be there.

If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have breath in your lungs.

If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be able to create or recreate.

If it wasn't for him, you'd have nothing.

He causes you to prosper, he causes you to experience pleasure and love and life and joy and peace and kindness.

It comes because of a fruit of the spirit that comes from him.

Nothing comes other ways.

There's nothing else that can come to you from another way.

It comes because of him.

Scripture I've been listening to lately, it's been he delights in the prosperity of his servants.

My God delights in the prosperity of his servant.

And I I like I was I was with Natalie the other day, that's my wife, and I was with her, and she was like, Brody, I want you to take me out.

And I'm like, okay, where do you want to go?

And she's like, a coffee and a cinnamon roll.

I was like, hey man, I made the right choice when I married you.

Like, it's a good date.

Went to this place, and I as we're parking, I I go, I said, Man, can I share with you what I'm thinking about?

She's like, Yeah.

And she goes, I delight.

I said, look at read the scripture.

It says, God delights in the prosperity of his servants.

Isn't that good news?

Isn't that good to you that God delights when He when you get a coupon that saves you 50%?

Isn't that good that God that you're healthy and you're strong and you can drive a vehicle that has four good tires and like you can get from A to B and we have kids that are healthy and strong?

Aren't you grateful that God we serve a God who delights in us?

He delights, he's like, Yeah, look at the way he's prospering.

I'm so happy.

Uh, what can we do more for him?

How can we bless him?

How can we shower blessing over him?

He's the giver of every good and perfect gift.

It comes from above.

He's the father of every good gift.

Comes from God and he gifts it to you, gifts it to you, gifts it to you, and he delights in the prosperity of you.

That means he doesn't delight in your suffering.

He's there with you, but it's not like he's delighting in your suffering.

That's the wrong narrative.

Oh, the church got pushed back.

That is not God.

The church is to be built and advanced and pursue the kingdom of God.

Anything otherwise is not from God.

He doesn't give you a spirit of fear.

God has not given you a spirit of fear, he gives you love, power, sound mind.

So you just lean into that.

Lord, thank you for delighting in me and prospering me and blessing me.

Thank you, Father, that I am your son who you delight when I get blessed.

Man, who what dad doesn't get delighted when their son gets blessed?

Amen.

God does not have small plans for you or for the church.

God has no small plans.

No small plans.

That should have been the title of this message.

No small plans.

It's not what God told Abraham.

He said, I'm gonna give you land.

As far as you can see, Abraham, look, look.

How far can you see?

How far?

Can you see Abraham?

Abraham's looking.

It's all yours.

Is that a small plan?

Look how far.

Look how far.

Look, look.

It's yours.

Look over there.

That you that too.

Close your eyes.

Open your eyes.

What do you see?

That's yours.

That's yours.

God was trying to teach from the origin of Abraham, the father of all nations, lay under the stars.

See the stars?

Count them.

I can't.

It's too many.

I could I could spend a lifetime doing this, God.

That's all yours.

That's your future.

That's my plans for you.

And God, and Abraham experienced it.

There was a city that needed to be run, taken on.

And Abraham's like, just use my personal guard.

All people from his own household.

300 men.

Just use my personal guard.

Go and take it.

It's yours.

Joshua.

It's not what he told Joshua about small plants.

He said, Joshua, every place the sole of your foot will tread, I have given it to you.

Every place your foot touches, it's yours.

In fact, you see that city?

All you need to do is shout.

Shout, and I've given you the city.

You know how odd that would have been?

Shout, Joshua.

Like, I don't want to make a scene here.

I don't want to make it.

Don't shout and I've given you the city.

Make a noise before God.

I've given it to you.

Everywhere you touch, there, there, there, there.

I want you to see every time you're walking, that belongs to you, that belongs to you, belongs to you, belongs to you.

That belongs to you.

I want you to think about it everywhere you go, every step you take, I'm giving it to you, Joshua.

I want you to see that that's my view for you.

That's my mindset for you.

Everywhere your foot touches, everywhere your sole of your foot will touch, it's yours.

I want you to think about it when you wake up and you put your feet out of your bed.

I want you to think about it when you go to the bathroom.

I want you to think about it when you're walking and talking with people.

My plan is to bless you and cause you to receive.

It's not what he told his disciples.

He said, All authority has been given to me, and now I'm telling you, Jesus said, Go.

Go.

Face the obstacles, face the oppositions, face the enemy, face anything.

I'm giving you all authority, carry it, all dominion, carry it, go out and be my ambassadors.

He said this in Luke 19, 13.

He said this, occupy until I come.

Occupy until I come.

Occupy is not a passive word, it's a word of presence.

It's like an ambassador goes in and occupies a space, occupies a place.

God is not calling you to just endure, just to survive.

He's calling you to occupy.

Occupy.

You're not saved to shrink back.

You're saved to actually steward and move forward and to occupy.

That's the plan that God has for you.

Amen.

I'm going to invite the team to come forward, and I just want to share with you just a little story.

I remember being uh uh serving in the church.

It was a time when the church was like a number of years ago, I won't tell you how many years.

But I was serving, and I actually was uh serving as a as a support to our junior youth director.

And the junior youth director realized working with junior youth isn't easy.

How many of you know that?

Like 11 to 13, 14 year olds, they're just not easy.

Um, and he's like, I think I'm done.

I'm called to like bigger stages and places.

And I said, Oh, really?

And I was left to take care of these junior highs, and I fell in love with junior highs.

How many of you know you capture like a kid's heart at like 12?

They're just like, you become their coach forever.

Yeah, they're either mentor, they're disciple.

I remember discipling kids.

Some of the kids I meet with at 7:30 in the morning now are pastoring churches that are thousands of people come to their church.

Like big, like, and God has just miraculously led them like national.

And uh, and I'm doing all this while living in my parents' bed parents' not bedroom, parents' house in my home bedroom.

Single bed, bed I grew up in.

Um, so like just a small bed, uh a desk, and a dresser, a closet that was about this big.

That was my life, much my Parents chagrin, I still have stuff in that closet that they've asked me to get rid of for like the last 30 years.

It's still there because it's safe, right?

Hockey cards and like all of my precious commodities.

And uh I remember being there and and the Lord began to speak to me.

He said, You you need to begin to to like move on from here.

And I was just serving because but I wasn't making any money.

Like I was going, I had gone to university, Bible school, had about five years of like post-secondary education, but just like felt called to the ministry.

And the ministry just it was never about making money in the ministry, it was just about serving the Lord and just doing what God has told you to do.

So my my resource wasn't heavy.

And yet the Lord, I'm out I'm out with a friend.

I'm driving in his new truck.

I just bought a house.

And I was like, he's like, Brody, whatever I've got is yours.

This is a good friend.

I got a quad, it's yours.

I got a boat, it's yours.

I got uh stuff, it's yours.

Whatever you need, it's yours.

And I know, I'm like, Lord, you really are taking care of me.

Like you you whatever I want.

I didn't need it, but Lord, you're giving it to me.

He says, it's all yours.

And uh I remember seeing with him in the truck, he goes, You need to build a house.

I'm like, are you kidding?

I'm in my own little house.

I'm in my parents' bed, like in his bedroom.

My parents' space.

And I'm like, I mean, I can't build a house.

I've never built a house.

He says, you need to build a house.

So I went to Indigo uh bookstore and I bought a book, How to Build Houses for Dummies.

You ever see those yellow books pre-internet?

I said, well, if I'm gonna build a house, I better figure out how to build a house.

Never built a house.

I should have figured out how to do that first.

And so I spent my time and I literally took a highlighter and I went through every page on how to build a house for dummies.

And I was like, okay, where do I want to live?

So I went up this mountain and I found a lot that was available, and I was like, huh.

And I'd been dating Natalie at the time, and I thought it'd be really nice to actually build a house and actually begin to move into this house with like a family, like to a family that I could live with, right?

There.

And so I started putting stuff together and went to this property, and I just kind of thought watched the property and looked at the property.

And then my my buddy, you know, my everyone needs a buddy, says, pulls out his phone and calls the real calls the developer on the mountain.

Can you meet me down here at this property?

And I'm thinking, where where is this going?

The developer drives down the mountain because he lived on the mountain, drives down, pulls up to my this property, says, Yeah, it's available.

Um, let's work out some financing, like how to figure out how to pay for this, and like took it out of my hand.

Next thing you know, I'm figuring out how to actually get into this property.

So Natalie and I went to the bank.

And I laugh because she's working part-time at Starbucks, and I'm working part-time at the church, and we go into the bank, and the bank's like, Yeah, you've got enough here.

I'm like, What?

We can get you into that property.

So my friend starts to say, Well, let's figure this out.

We'll start building you some plans.

I know a guy who does some plans.

All of a sudden, like, literally, step by step, following God, moments of written, moments of advancement, moments of occupation, moments of dominion.

Because I believe in ownership.

And I said, Lord, you've caught if you're calling me to to grow in a city, you're calling me to put roots in a city, I'm I've got to find a place.

I don't know how.

And a little bit of or a lot of ignorance.

Thank God for ignorance sometimes.

Don't talk yourself out of God's blessing.

And you said, I said, Lord, would you do that?

And within six months, uh, I I took Wilfry, Natalie's dad.

I took him up to the property.

I said, Hey, I own this property.

I'd like to marry your daughter.

And what dad can say no, I kind of put him up to it.

Plus, you're a plumber, and I need a really good discount after this.

And the Lord has been faithful when we take steps to occupy.

Sometimes we don't know how the results will come, but we need to leave the results in God's hands and say, Lord, uh, my job is to have dominion, take steps and have no small vision as you've called me to greater vision.

Amen.

Would you stand with me?

Amen.

Father, we just give you thanks.

Why don't you just raise your hands and just say thank you?

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord, that there's a there there's no small plan for me.

Thank you, Lord, that you've called me to be a builder.

Thank you, Lord, that you've called me to advance the kingdom.

Thank you, Lord, that you I'm not alone, but that you are with me.

I want to thank you, Lord, that your love endures forever and that you are good and you're steadfast and you're faithful and your mercy continues and continues and continues towards me, never runs out.

I want to thank you, Father, that we are not alone in this time and in this place, but that you are with us.

And we give you thanks today, Father.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

No small plans.

No small plans for us.

Would you just leave us today as we close and then let me pray for you?