Built To Last - Week 2 - David Dawkins & Damon Moore - May 3, 2026

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of God, of all ages.

Welcome to the City Place Church Podcast, wherever you are in the world.

We thank you for making the time to tune in.

Take a moment to get focused.

Clear your mind, close your eyes, open your heart and receive what God has for you on this day.

This morning we're gonna continue our series Built to Last, and so just object lesson so that you won't forget.

Look at the blocks right here.

Come on, shout out to Josiah.

Built it, built, built it secure.

Um, I, I wanna highlight a couple of things, um, for, for the next few weeks that's gonna be, uh, very special to our church.

All the ladies in the house say yeah.

Yeah.

Did every lady say it or just a few? Come on, all the ladies in the house say yeah.

Yeah.

There it is.

Next Sunday is your Sunday.

We celebrate moms, but we also celebrate sisters, and mentors, and aunties.

And so we, uh, are gonna have a day just for you next Sunday.

And so invite that special mom, and it's gonna be for the fellas as well.

We- y'all, if you've been here before, any after party includes every single person.

But we want you to know that next Sunday is, uh, your day.

And then men, in June it's ours.

All the men say yeah.

Yeah.

That's what I'm talking about.

June the 21st is Man Cave Sunday.

It's Man Cave Sunday.

And so right now I'm just gonna take the next five minutes and talk about Man Cave Sunday.

Yeah.

Just, I'm just playing, I'm just playing, I'm just playing, I'm just playing, just playing.

But, uh, so next Sunday's gonna be special, and then on May the 17th, uh, Cityplace is gonna take a courageous step.

It's gonna be our Commitment Sunday, where we are going to bring our commitment of what we're all gonna sow together.

We're not gonna sow on that Sunday, but we're actually gonna bring our commitments for our, uh, acquisition of a property.

And so I thought, for those of you who may not have been here, I wanted you to hear some of the stories of impact of what we're stepping into, but how just this season of a courageous season has been impacting others inside of our church.

And so I asked David Dawkins if he would come up real fast.

Would you please welcome David Dawkins to the platform? David David may have greeted some of you out in the parking lot.

Uh, David has been, uh, serving.

He, he h- uh, hosts our man cave at his home.

And over just the last three years, behind the scenes, David and I have been dreaming and sharing vision.

And, uh, I share with you, if you've been here since the early part of the year, we've been talking about how s- God has called Cityplace to move from cautious to courageous.

And three years ago, I was sharing with him everything that God had put on our heart.

I was like, "I know God wants us to have a permanent home."

And his response was, was like, "Let's go for it."

And I was like, "Well, hold on.

Hold on."

And every year he's been like, "Let's go, let's go."

And so we gathered seven people around the table.

It was a part of our prayer request.

He said, "The first thing that we need to do is pray."

And then he said, "We need to build out a group of people."

And so God sent seven people over the last year to sit around the table and to dream about this, but also make practical.

But then there were some times you and I spoke, and you just was kinda sharing what God was doing in you, even as we were talking about this courageous season.

So I just ask David to just talk a little bit about it, but then also make it practical for us.

And so who'd give him five minutes? Come on, five minutes.

Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40.

Just playing y'all.

If you've been here, you shouldn't fall for that twice.

But just share a little bit about just this courageous season that Cityplace is in.

Thank you, Pastor, and thanks for the opportunity to share.

Pastor already told you the story about...

Has it been three years already? Yeah.

You were taking a long time.

Um, but w- we, we started meeting to plan for the future.

And the first thing that I, I...

that was crystal clear to me back then when we started meeting was this idea.

I'd done a Bible study many years ago called "Experiencing God," written by Henry Blackaby.

In "Experiencing God," Henry Blackaby says that God is at work all the time doing God things, and that when God shares with you His vision, that's His invitation for you to join.

And it became very clear to me when I started meeting with Pastor about it that that was my invitation to join.

And, uh, thank you for the opportunity.

And what's the invitation? The invitation is God has called us to build Him a home.

Think about that.

Like, God is doing what God does, and God says, "Look at this.

Build me a home."

I don't know if you all get to see it, but every Sunday that I, I'm in here, I get to sit over here, and over in this corner, a group of young people meet.

I've been in church my whole life.

I've never been in a church where every Sunday a group of young people come and sit together.

And last Sunday in particular, I just glanced over And what I saw brought tears to my eyes.

I saw a group of young people, hands raised, tears running out their face, praising God that we- we're a part of that.

And, um, early in this journey we had together, um, I learned about this idea of going from cautious to committed to courageous.

And what I wanna share with you about that is that, um, you know, when Susan and I decided to come to Cityplace Church, I thought we were committed.

Uh, we made a decision that this was our home, uh, church.

We made a decision that this is where we're going to spend our time and invest our time, and we were committed in terms of how we were giving.

And as we talked about building this building for God and learned about this idea of being cautious and being consistent and being committed, it, it became very clear to me that I was not courageous.

I was not being courageous.

I was not...

Thank you, Lord, for including me in your vision, yeah, but I wasn't, I wasn't being courageous, and God called us to be courageous.

And so, this morning I just, I just want you to dream with me for a second.

We're at a church that builds dreams.

I just want you to dream with me for a second.

God is building a home for Himself, building a home for His name, building a home for His testimony, building a home for His people.

Not just the ones sitting here today, His people who will come and be Cityplace Church in the future will give to the future.

All of us grew up somewhere connected to a church.

That church exists because somebody else committed.

That's good.

And you had a home to go to.

M- maybe on the 17th, Patrick will show you the pictures of when Cityplace began 10 years ago.

If you see yourself in that picture, I doubt you will.

But just think about there were people 10 years ago who decided to follow God and build a church called Cityplace Church, and we were not a part of it.

But because of their decision, we get to sit in a place today where we are a community, and we get to see the future right before our eyes.

Amen.

That's good.

What does the rest of the future look like? That's good.

Think about that.

And God is calling us to be courageous, not because He needs us.

He's gonna do what He's gonna do.

Yeah.

He's done it for 10 years, and now He's saying, "Build me a home."

What's gonna be your part in it? Are you gonna go about it cautiously and wondering, are the leaders doing the right thing? Are you gonna go about it consistently and say, "You know, I'll, I'll give them a couple dollars a week"? Are you gonna go about it committed and say, "Yes, this is my goal"? Or are you gonna give like God is calling us to give? Are you going to commit yourself to the work like God is gonna ask you to do? And I'm just gonna tell you that that's what Susan and I hope to do and plan doing, God willing, and I'm looking forward to the completion.

Amen.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Good.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So as you leave today, as you leave today, um, you're gonna get a one-sheet, okay? It's a one-sheet.

It talks about the journey that we're on.

It talks about what the 17th will be.

It gives us our faith goal.

We have two faith goals.

The first one is that we'd have 100% participation, everyone taking their next step in their level of generosity.

And so if right now you're a cautious giver, we want you to move to consistent giving, where you're just like, "God, this is my commitment to you where I am."

Some of us need to step into becoming committed, where we're tithing, giving God the first 10%.

And then many of us are gonna move to that courageous level, where it's over and above our tithe, where we still trust the Lord with our first, but we say, "God, this is even above that."

And so, uh, we're gonna take that journey together.

Our second faith goal is to, uh, save, through this, uh, these next few years, $1.5

million.

And so if you've been here on the journey, I shared with you just what God's doing already.

Just organically, CityPlace, you've already saved, uh, $375,000.

Yeah.

Isn't that awesome? Yeah.

And then, uh, I shared some secrets, I shared some secrets with the dream team earlier.

I'll just give you a part of the secret, okay? A part of the secret.

I already told you that, uh, another $100,000 had been committed already.

Yeah.

But there's more that I'm not gonna share with you now.

There is more.

There has actually been more commitments even above that.

But I'm just gonna tell you that one group of people have already committed $100,000.

That includes your leaders that are leading the area departments.

The leaders have already gone first.

Ty and I have committed.

And so on the 17th, we're gonna bring those commitments together, and let's just see the journey that God takes us on.

And then in the fall, there'll be a giving Sunday, okay? So our commitment is to the Lord, and then in the fall, we'll bring our giving.

Now, just so you know, 'cause some of you are like Ty and I, and some of you have already asked me, "Can we start giving?" The giving portal is open.

As the Lord would have you give, if you're stepping into your tithe, you can jump in right now and trust the Lord with your first and your best, uh, today.

That's totally fine.

But what we wanted to do is we wanna just keep vision in front of you- We also wanna tell you the things that God is doing, uh, over the next few weeks.

Is that good? Yeah.

Are you ready for the word of God this morning? Yeah.

If you're ready, say let's go.

Let's go.

Last week, Ty and I, we were in North Carolina.

We went back to the church that sent us, uh, Wave Church, and we had such an amazing time.

We preached a message on Saturday morning, and then we did three services back to back on Sunday morning.

It was so good to see everybody.

It was so good to see the church of Jesus, uh, move forward.

Uh, David just talked about, um, just what it looks like to have a generation running ahead of you.

Ty and I, we hadn't been there in nine years, and to see what God has done.

They-- When we left, I think they were at two services.

Now they're at, like, three services, building another property, and it's just good.

And then the leader, who is now the campus pastor, we've known them for 15-plus years and got a chance to speak life into them.

And so it was good to see the fruit that was sowed over, you know, for us, it was 20 years ago since we moved there, but 10 since we've been away, just to see what God's doing.

And so I want you to know that you are loved by a church in North Carolina.

And, uh, it was just a great weekend.

And then I wanna give a shout-out to Shawn.

Yeah.

Come on.

She preached last Sunday.

Let's go.

And she, she set a new standard.

Like, 'cause I, I, I watch the messages 'cause I want my spirit to be spoken to as well.

But there was a couple of things that she said that we gotta autocorrect.

The first thing it was, was that last week, she said that, "Don't worry, I'm preaching this week.

Your blanks will be filled in."

Oh.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

I, I just want y'all to know that I did not, I did not pray New Testament scriptures over Shawn.

I prayed Old Testament scriptures over Shawn.

Kind with like when, when, when, when, when, when the prophet who was bald, like, was walking around, and people were like, "Oh, there's the bald prophet," and the bears came out and consumed him.

I, I, I was trying to find verses like that.

Father, Father, we are away, and thy servant is ministering upon thy people in North Carolina.

Father, be thou aways, and thou raisest up another in thy places.

Old Testament sort of language.

And I said, "Lord, be thou with upon her in thy absence."

I'm just playing.

For those of you who are not here, the Lord's still working on me.

No, but can we celebrate Shawn? She brought the house down last week.

Shawn, you knew I was gonna do that.

I knew.

You told everybody I was gonna do it.

I did, yeah.

Shawn is actually like a, a sister to, uh, to Shawn and I, and so we poke fun.

But if you have your Bibles, uh- She say what? She-- Not no more? No.

You said Shawn's like a sister to me.

To us.

Okay.

Hey, listen, everyone.

Okay, all I need y'all to say is amen.

Amen.

Okay? Let's get some order in here.

And if you haven't been here before, security.

Okay? Let's...

All of this talk back in church, I don't know where this is coming from, but it's too much.

It's too much up in here.

Who-- I don't know who's running this thing today, but if they can get some order.

Holy Spirit, do your thing, please.

And these people-- No, I don't know what I said, but, but everybody loves Sean.

All right, all right.

So, hey, save all the dates.

There's some things happening.

On your seat, there's a calendar card.

We've got some pl- uh, things planned for you.

Like, uh, if you haven't been to the Cityplace offices, we got a nickname for it.

We call it HQ.

We've got some fitness classes for you.

We've got finance classes for you this summer.

We've got man cave events, sisterhood events, all happening for you because we want your soul to be full this summer.

And so take a look at those things, and we will, uh, see what God wants to do.

But can I pray this morning and jump into God's Word? Yes.

Let's pray.

Father, in Jesus' name, we just thank You that we can lean into, uh, Your presence, um, just lifting up our hands, singing from our hearts unto You.

God, I thank You that You are a risen Savior and, uh, we can come boldly to You and not have to put on a show, but to just tell You how much You mean to us.

Father, as we jump through, uh, Your Scriptures today, I pray that Your Word would s- become so alive to us that we will be charged, we will be challenged.

And actually, Father, I pray that we would fall in love with Your Word and that we'll be able to hear Your voice so clearly for ourselves, not just because I'm speaking, but because Your Holy Spirit speaks to us.

So Holy Spirit, do what only You can do.

Let Your Word be alive in us today.

In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.

If you're ready, say, "Let's go."

Let's go.

So several weeks ago, uh, I started a, a miniseries entitled Built to Last, and, uh, I just wanna continue that thought.

If you have your Bibles, we've got a, um, a Scripture that we've been quoting every week.

Sean quoted it to us, Joshua 1.

This is our declaration for the year.

God is calling us to move from cautious to courageous.

In Joshua 1:9, I don't know if we have that, if you can put that up.

Joshua 1:9

Uh, we just put our name in front of it, and we, we, we wanna say it together.

We say, "Damon, have I not commanded you, be strong and of good courage."

And so this has been our declaration that God has spoken to us, that we are moving from being cautious to courageous, and we will accomplish what God wants us to accomplish.

We will see what God wants us to see, and we will become who God wants us to become.

And so we're just declaring every single Sunday when we gather that we will be strong, and we will be courageous, and we're gonna tell ourselves on a weekly basis.

So on the count of three, I just want you to put your name in front of that Scripture verse and yell it out as loud as you can until you believe it.

Are you ready? Yes.

If you're ready, say, "I am."

I am.

One, two, three.

Damon.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage.

Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go Look at the person beside you, say, "Without Him-" Without Him- can't do nothing."

can't do nothing.

"But with Him-" But with Him- anything can happen."

anything can happen.

He said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

God is taking us on this journey to build us to last.

Yes.

And so over the next few moments, we're gonna take a rhythm through scripture.

I'm gonna give you some thoughts.

We're gonna fill in every single blank this morning.

Come on.

Okay.

Unless the Holy Spirit sees otherwise.

Psalms chapter 127.

Psalms 127 · chapter mention

Psalms chapter 127 says this: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

Psalms 127 · chapter mention

Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for He gives His beloved sleep."

Yes.

Unless the Lord builds it, you working 40-plus hours in vain.

Unless God is included in what you're trying to build, you just running in circles.

That's good.

Unless the Lord is a part of the process, when you stay up late after you put your kids to bed, all you're doing is sleeping, uh, later than what you were supposed to be sleeping.

Like, unless He's leading the way, you're doing it all in vain.

Isn't that a surprise? That you work so hard only for God to go, "You haven't moved an inch towards what I have for you yet."

That's crazy to think about how we grind and, and how we're trying to build whatever it is, and God's like, "Man, I haven't been included yet.

You working too hard.

But man, if you would let me build what I've placed in you to build, the building process will be easier."

And I, and I, and I wrote this down, and I just want you to think about this.

The builder always had a s- has a set of the original architectural plans.

Right.

The builder always has a set of the original architectural plans.

That seems so spiritual, doesn't it? Like, I asked Josiah to build this masterpiece that you see.

Here's the thing.

Watch now.

Josiah built it the way he saw it.

Yeah.

He set the foundation, and off of the foundation, he built it to the height that he saw that he wanted it to be built.

I did not have my hands in the process.

I said, "Here's what, here's what I'd like for the visual to be."

And he built it based on what he saw.

He was the architect, he was the designer, he created all of the thing, the elements, except for the bricks.

They was given from kids ministry.

Come on, kids ministry.

But it was in his heart.

He had the plan, and he built it.

See, God has a plan for you, and when God builds it, He starts building it just brick by brick.

Sorry, Josiah, I'm taking you apart.

But notice, the foundation part can sometimes be devalued- Mm because of what we see above the foundation.

Right And so the thing that's above the foundation, we go, "Ooh, that's gorgeous.

That's beautiful."

Sometimes we compare, "They have it, and I don't."

But the strength is all in the foundation.

Yeah.

The foundation was laid by the same designer and the architect and the builder.

The builder builds from the plans of the original architect.

That's good.

God is not placing emphasis on what is seen.

He's placing emphasis on the foundation that's being built.

That's good.

It's the only way we will last.

It's the only way that the gorgeous part that God showed us is accomplished.

But God does his best work at the foundational piece.

That's good.

This is the part that if you've ever built a house-- Ty and I built a house, uh, here before we moved to North Carolina, and what would happen is, is the builder would call us out and say, "We wanna show you the progress."

And so we would drive out there, we'd be excited, and it would be cement.

And they would say, "Now, we need to show you because this is where the piping going in, and we want you..."

This is what they would say, "We want you to take a look to make sure nothing is off."

I'm thinking, "I wouldn't know."

But the builder says, "Come into the process.

Take a look at the foundation to make sure that it's sure.

That way, if you have any questions before we start building, you can ask it at the foundational level."

That's good.

That's good.

Unless the Lord builds the house, you labor in vain that built it.

Unless the Lord keeps watch over it, you watch it in vain.

Yeah.

Like, God, because He is the original architect, is also the builder, and He's like, "Let me guide you through the process that I'm trying to build in you.

But I do want you to come and take a look at what I've started.

Any questions?" See, as God begins to build us, He gives us an opportunity to ask more questions.

Hebrews 3:4.

Hebrews 3:4

Did everybody fill in their first blank? Yes.

Amen.

Look at the person beside you, say, "He's doing good today."

He's doing good today.

We might get these things filled.

Sean set a new standard.

Hebrews 3:4 says, watch now, "Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything."

Hebrews 3:4

Y'all see that? Yeah.

Every house is built by someone, but God is the one that gave the trees- Yeah for the wood.

God is the one that gave the elements of the rocks for the cement.

Yeah.

Like, we can credit Lamar Homes or Lenoir, whatever it is, and go, "Man, they sure did build me a house," but God is the builder of everything.

Amen.

Like, even when I wanna give the credit or take the credit, let's go back.

Unless He builds it- Yeah.

Yeah you laboring in vain.

Yes.

So as God is trying to build this to last, we have to just go, "No, you're the builder of everything."

Jeremiah 29:11, familiar passage of scripture.

Jeremiah 29:11

Look at this now.

It says, "For I know the plans I have for you.

Plans to prosper you, not to harm you.

Plans to give you hope and a future."

Look at this now.

Now I know the plans.

I know that they are to prosper you.

Detailed plans.

Look at verse 12.

"Then you shall call on me.

Come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart."

So watch now.

I know the plans I have for you.

They're plans to prosper you and give you a hope.

But here's what'll happen.

You start conversing with me.

I will listen to you.

You will seek me with your whole heart, and you will find me.

God's like, "Hey, as the original architectural guy and the builder, I know what I have for you.

It's to prosper you and to give you a hope.

You and I should talk about it.

I wanna show you the foundation.

Any questions?" Jeremiah 29's like, "I know the plans.

You, we should talk about it."

Remember I just gave y'all the example? I'm building the foundation.

Let me show you.

Any questions? Like, God's like, "I know the plans.

I'm the designer.

I'm the builder.

We should converse about it.

You come close to me, I'm listening to you.

You play hide and seek with me, don't worry, I'm not hiding behind a tree and not saying nothing.

I'm like, I'm right here wide in the open.

You just keep coming."

Yeah.

Like, God is so strategic in trying to build this to last, but He's not just gonna build something that's beautiful.

He's trying to build this foundation that's built on Him.

Yeah.

And so we said this several weeks ago, if we're going to build life to last, it's gonna require courageous devotion.

Yeah.

Courageous devotion.

And if you were here over the last few weeks, we said that God meets us in our comfort.

Like, my devotion takes the same steps as my discipleship, the same steps as my generosity.

Like, God will meet me in my comfort, and He pushes me.

Like this morning when we pushed a little bit further in worship, some of us in this room were probably cautious.

I don't sing too well.

If I raise my voice like the pastor asked me to, I, I, I...

This whole row will leave Have you ever been there? When you're like, "I wanna give Him the glory," and you're like, "Oh, snap, everyone's leaving from the row," in the middle of the song.

Right? So you may have been a little cautious, like, "I don't know.

People may hear me.

I, I'm not even worthy to just give Him that glory if, if, if, if they knew what I did last night."

I'm...

Like, so God meets us in our comfort, and we start taking these steps that are cautious, and then we become more consistent, and then we become committed, and then we become courageous.

But it's all because of our connection.

Yeah.

Like, our connection to Him gives us access to Him.

Yeah.

So therefore, we-- He continues to move us closer to Him.

And so what we want is we wanna have this c- c- uh, courageous devotion to God.

Like, "God, I'm committed to you through every step of the process.

I know you're drawing me closer to yourself.

I know you keep calling me higher, and I'm going to keep coming."

Yeah.

See, if we're gonna build this thing to last, it's not about the visible.

It's about what God's doing at the foundation.

Yeah.

And at the foundational level, it's gonna be my devotion to Him.

Yeah.

I fall in love with Him at the foundational level.

I learn more about Him at the foundational level.

He's changing me at the foundational level.

I'm a work in progress at the foundational level.

I don't look beautiful at the foundational level until the foundation is sure.

Yeah.

That's good.

Built to last.

And He keeps calling me closer.

He's calling you closer.

And the more we come, the more we become more like Him.

Yeah.

Y'all, can I give you a couple of things? And you got a big open space there.

Here, there, there's some things that will disrupt our, our devotion to Him.

I'm just gonna spit them out.

The first one is this.

The first one is our comfort.

We stay too long in the familiar.

These are not, these, these are not up there, just so you know.

We stay too long in the familiar.

"I'm good here.

It don't take all of that."

Have you ever said that about your relationship with the Lord? "It don't take all that."

I don't know why they turned and flipped up there.

"It don't take all that."

I, I'd be careful that if it's something spiritual, and we start saying stuff, "It don't take all that," that that's not a place of comfort, where we feel like we've given Him enough.

When throughout Scripture, we see that there's a passion level that just opens us up to more of who He is and learning more about Him.

So comfort.

Comparison can be a place that, that kinda stops our devotion because once we start comparing, then I get a little bit more frustrated at God.

Like, "God, they just got here, and now they getting a promotion.

I've been here for 10 years.

I tithe.

I give.

Why them?" And then it kinda pulls us back.

We get more angry at God versus approaching Him with grace and compassion and love towards Him.

Y'all looking at me funny.

Y'all good? Yeah.

Another thing that interrupts our devotion is complacency Complacency.

I just don't have time.

Number four, number four, constraints.

You feel limited.

I don't know, uh, the Bible like you do, Damon, so I just don't take a step.

I was in my small group, and I heard people talking so much scripture that I had...

I just couldn't say because I was overwhelmed.

I didn't know anything, and I felt...

Sometimes we feel a constraint.

And then the last one is we just feel caution.

Feel caution.

Those are the things that when God is calling us to be courageously devoted to Him, those are the things that can slow us down from pursuing Him in a way where we just go, "No, I'm coming.

I'm coming."

Joshua 1:8 says this, because we're talking about courageous devotion.

Joshua 1:8

It says this.

This is God speaking to Joshua.

"Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you."

Look at this rhythm here.

"Do not turn to the right or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

This book of the law," watch now, "shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall," watch, "meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do all that's written therein.

Then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

Like, this courageous devotion, God's like, "Don't turn to the left.

Don't turn to the right.

Keep the word of God in your mouth, and if it takes all day, start in the morning and finish at night."

Yeah.

"Then your way will be made prosperous.

Then you will have good success, but your courageous devotion to Me will produce more than what you can imagine."

Yeah.

"But focus on the foundation, your devotion, My word.

Let it be important to you."

Matthew 7:24-25.

Matthew 7:24–25

Remember I told you we were gonna get tons of verses.

"Therefore," Jesus is speaking, "whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and dom- and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on the rock.

The rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock."

Jesus is like, "Hey, if we will spend more time on the foundation and allow my word to be your foundation, when the rain comes and the wind blows or the enemy attacks, you will not crumble because your foundation is Me."

Right.

Remember, the original architectural plans focuses on the foundation.

God says, "Come on, let Me show you what I'm doing.

Any questions?" If we say, "God- Question one.

Question two, God's like, "Okay, let's work with you at this level," because He's building you and I.

He's drawing you and I closer, and the more we fall in love with the Word of God, Jesus is like, "My word creates a firm foundation, so when things come against you, you don't crumble."

Built to last.

Built to last.

Can y'all handle a little bit more? Yeah.

I got, like, eight pages, and we'll be out of here, okay? So just let me have a little bit of time.

Sean, how many pages did you have last week? Uh-oh.

Not that many.

You ain't had that many? Actually.

Sean, we, we got foundations class that happens before service.

No, look, look, look, look, look, look, look.

Write this down.

Write this down.

So if, if, if we're gonna be moving towards our relationship with God in a courageous way, courageous devotion, then we have to be intentional to build spiritually first.

We have to be intentional to build spiritually first.

Not just taking a class so that I can improve and make more money.

No, let me build the spiritual so that I can know if I'm still at the foundational level, if He's starting to build this new season brick by brick.

Like, am I still at the foundational stage where God is continuing to grow me, which we will always be tightening and checking the foundation? But God, are you starting to build upon the foundation now? So I keep going back to you because I'm spending time with you because you are the builder of everything, Hebrews chapter 3.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

Psalms 127, "Unless He builds it, I'm laboring in vain."

So I go back to Him to make sure that what I'm co-laboring and co-working with Him is being built the correct way.

So God wants us to begin building intentionally, spiritually first.

I wrote this down, and it's a couple of blanks, and it's a long sentence, but if the life God gave us is spiritually built to last, we live eternally focused and generationally engaged.

Long sentence.

But we will live eternally focused, that I'm, I'm gonna spend eternity with Him, and so I realize what I'm building actually has an eternal impact.

But then I realize that, uh, because at some point someone else is gonna grab the baton of whatever it is I've currently been car- carrying, then I'm not just building it for me so that I can enjoy it all.

I'm actually building so that when they get an opportunity...

David talked about the, the young leaders worshiping over here on the sideline.

I was once a young leader, and now I'm holding a microphone that someone else held.

You- You may be increasing in age and now God's giving you more and more responsibility.

So as I'm building my life spiritually, I'm thinking eternity, but I'm also thinking about who can I bring with me, discipleship, along the way so that they can run further, faster, and not have to start at point zero? But if I start bringing them along, maybe I can give them the baton and let them run spiritually further, faster in this current season.

First Co- Corinthians chapter three, verse nine says, "For we are coworkers in God's service.

You are God's field."

Look now, "God's building."

We're co-laborers in God's service.

You are God's field, God's building.

Like, God's building us, and I'm being built.

It says, "By God- by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation."

Look at Paul, "I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it.

But each one of us should build with care, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Christ Jesus."

Paul says, "Hey, I'm building as a contractor, and I'm building and strengthening on the foundation that He's already laid, and someone else will come behind me, generationally, and they will build upon it.

But as you build upon what's already been built, build it with care."

But I just want you to know, I'm not building my own thing.

Ty and I are not building Damon and Taisha's thing.

Someone else is gonna grab this thing and they gonna take it further and faster.

We saw it in North Carolina just a week ago.

Like, someone's gonna grab the baton of whatever it is that God's called you to in your life.

If we think eternally and generationally, it won't die with you.

Paul says, "I'm building it off of the foundation, and someone else is building upon it.

I'm just telling them to build it with care."

Which leads me to this: building anything that lasts requires courage.

Building anything that lasts requi- requires courage.

It's gonna require courage.

Anything that God asks us to do that's gonna outlive us is gonna require courage.

It's gonna require God moving us from our comfort zone, moving through the steps of being cautious to consistent, from consistent to being committed, from committed to being courageous.

God is not gonna ask us to do something that is just gonna be self-centered.

He's gonna ask us to do things that's going to impact the Kingdom of God.

I love this verse, y'all, 'cause remember I said building anything that lasts is gonna require courage.

Look at First Peter 2:7.

1 Peter 2:7

The writer is actually, uh- Quoting Psalms 1:18, it says this: "Now to you who believe, the stone is precious.

But to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

Jesus actually quoted this as he was speaking to some religious leaders, and he was literally saying that, "I'm in front of them, but they're actually going to reject me.

But what they don't realize, that I am the foundation.

I'm the one that you start building off of."

If we're going to build something that's last, we are not going to be able to toggle between two belief systems.

Either He is or He is not.

Jesus is, but the world will tell you that He is not.

And so the foundation is to be built on Him as the solid foundation and solid rock, the Word of God that I mentioned earlier, and it's gonna take courage.

Last few thoughts.

Last few thoughts.

If we're gonna build this thing to last, one, we gotta partner with God.

We gotta partner with God.

And the other one is...

And the blank, the blanks look the same, so you're gonna have to cross out God.

We're gonna have to partner with others.

We're gonna partner with God, and we're gonna have to partner with others.

Partner with God, partner with others.

Like, God's gonna ask us to do some things that's gonna require us to be His co-laborer, like Paul talked about, but then we're also gonna be partnering together.

I, I, I love these scripture verses, and Ty, you can come on up.

Matthew 28:18 says this: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.'"

Matthew 28:18

Now watch the partnership.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them all things that I have commanded you."

Jesus is like, "Hey, I have the authority.

I'm giving it to you.

I need you to be my partner, not just here locally, but around the world."

Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in Jud- Judea and Samaria, to all the earth."

Acts 1:8

The Holy Spirit, become His partner and change the world.

Stand up in the middle of an atmosphere and say, "I have the presence and power of God."

See, you and I partner with God, and all of a sudden the natural thing becomes supernaturally possible when we become His partner.

1 Chronicles 29:14-17.

1 Chronicles 29:14–17

I love this because we're talking about what God is gonna have us do as a church through generosity.

Look at David.

Oh, this is so good to me.

David in 1 Chronicles 29:14 says, "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?" Watch now.

1 Chronicles 29:14

"Everything comes from you."

We have given you only what comes from your hand.

Like, we're building your house, but you're our partner.

You're our angel investor.

So since you've given it to us, we partner with you to build your house.

Like, if we're gonna build something to last, we have to partner with God, and then we partner with others.

What could God do in this season if we partner with Him and we partner with others? Y'all, I heard this phrase, and I want you to write it down in your notes.

It says this: "What if we worked as if it depends on us, but we pray and fast as if it depends on God?" Write that in your notes.

What if we work as if it depends on us, but we pray as if it depends on God? Thanks for joining us.

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Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next time.