El Shaddai - Week 2: What’s In Your Hand?

We're so excited to uh get into the word today.

I'm excited about it because today is week two of a series that we're calling El Shaddai, the God of More Than Enough.

And last week, Bishop led us as we declare war on something that we call the not enough mentality.

It's a mindset that views life through the lens of light.

There's never enough time, never enough money, never enough love, help, energy, ability, or opportunity.

And then we also met El Shaddai.

We met El Shaddai, meaning he is the Almighty God who is all sufficient, who nourishes who cannot be moved.

Can you thank God that we serve a God that cannot be moved?

I know you see the gas prices, but God is still gonna be faithful.

I know you see the bills stacking up, but guess what?

God cannot be moved.

He is still more than enough.

And so one of the things that I took out of the message most last week is El Shaddai shows up at the end of you.

Shows up when you have tried plan A, plan B, plan C.

He shows up when all the options run out.

He shows up when the doctors have done all they could do, when your connections can't help you.

Basically, when you've done all you can do, that's when God steps in and he does only what he can do.

That's El Shaddai.

And the problem isn't that we don't have enough, the problem is that we forget who is enough.

We forget the God who is enough.

God doesn't just give us enough, but he is enough.

And this week, we're gonna explore that God's more than enough usually starts with something small that's already in our hands.

So today we're gonna be preaching from the topic, what's in your hands?

Look at your neighbor and say, Neighbor, I got a question for you.

What's in your hands?

Now look at your other neighbor that you completely ignore and say, Other neighbor, I know you're my second choice, but I still got a question for you.

I need to know what's in your hands.

The not enough mentality, it has a favorite question.

That question is, What am I missing?

It counts what's absent, it measures the gaps, it looks at everything that you don't have, it rehearses the shortage.

But all through scripture, when people stood in front of a not enough moment, God asks a different question.

He asks, What do you have?

God doesn't multiply what we don't have, he multiplies what we surrender to him.

I love what 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 10 says, It says, Now may He who multiplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.

2 Corinthians 9:10

Watch that in the text.

It says, He multiplies the seeds you have sown.

Not the seeds that you still holding on to, not the seeds that you wish you had, but the seeds that you have sown.

I reminded of the story of the feeding of the 5,000.

Jesus had been teaching and healing all day, and he goes to a town called Bethesda, and a massive crowd starts to follow him.

And, you know, they had church.

You know, they had church, they saw healing, miracles, signs, and wonders.

And now it is time to eat.

You know, it's nothing like a good meal after you don't have some good church.

Come on, after you don't have good church, it's nothing like some fried chicken.

Come on, thank God for the cafe out there.

But I've I praise God when I was growing up, we had, you know, a kitchen at my church, and we used to have chicken after the three o'clock pastor anniversary service.

We had that red Kool-Aid, that pound cake.

That's called repass food, y'all.

That's repass food.

It's not like a good repass plate.

But in our text today, they ain't got no repass plate.

There's no food and there's nowhere to get food.

The Bible says that's about 5,000 men, but listen, family, that does not include women and children.

So many theologians believe it was about 15,000 people that was actually there.

But they don't have enough food.

They don't have no grocery store, there is no restaurant, there's no dockside seafood, there's no Captain D's, there's no Publix, everybody is hungry.

You know what we find ourselves in in the text?

It's a classic not enough situation.

It's a not enough situation.

So, what do we do in a space of not enough?

What do we do when we don't have enough, when we find ourselves facing a not enough moment?

Number one, we gotta stop calculating the shortage.

Let's look at the text, John chapter 6, 5 through 7.

John 6 · chapter mention

Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, seeing a great multitude coming towards him.

He said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?

But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would already do.

Aren't you grateful we serve a God that already knows what he's gonna do?

Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient, it's not enough for them that everyone may even have a little.

Jesus asked Philip this question on purpose.

He wasn't asking him this for information, but what he was asking him for, he asked him this question so that he can get Philip's perspective.

He wanted to see where his mindset was.

And so he knew the area because Philip actually, his hometown was Bethesda.

That was his hood.

That's what that's where he was from.

He was from Bethesda.

So he knew the prices, he knew the resources, he knew how much people could eat.

So Daenerys was actually a day's worth of pay.

So the Bible tells us that he says, hey, it would actually take about eight months of income to feed all these people.

And with eight months of income, that still would not be enough.

And Philip's best case scenario is if we had that money.

Even if we had it, it wouldn't be enough, and everybody would just get a little bit.

But even in his solution, it still wasn't enough.

Jesus already knew what he was going to do.

The question was not for information, but it was to challenge Philip's perspective to see if he had the not enough mentality.

So Jesus asked Philip this question how we gonna feed all these people?

And Philip does what most of us tend to do.

We start calculating, we start doing the math.

Now he didn't have a calculator, but I can only imagine he probably went over to the calculator and he probably said 15,000 times five.

That's not enough.

Many times that's what we do.

We go to the calculator and we say, I don't have enough, I don't have the qualification, I don't have the experience, so it's not enough.

But maybe you're looking at this and maybe the math is not wrong.

Maybe you really don't have enough.

Maybe the math is actually mathing.

Maybe you don't have enough, but the problem is that the problem is not that you don't have enough.

The problem is maybe you did the math a little bit wrong.

Maybe you forgot somebody in the equation.

Maybe you forgot El Shaddai.

Maybe when you find yourself in the corner where I don't know what else to do, and I done ran out of option.

When you hit El Shaddai, guess what?

I need to tell you something.

He's more than enough.

Come on, there is no lack in El Shaddai.

In my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory.

So when I don't have enough, when I'm down to nothing, that's when God is up to something.

I wish I had about five people that would give God praise to know.

You gotta know that he's more than enough.

So, so Philip, he isn't operating out of stupidity, he's actually operating out of logic.

But sometimes we gotta get out of logic and tap into faith.

Now, I'm not preaching against wisdom, I'm not preaching against budget or planning or doctors or facts or reality, but what I am preaching against is not letting the facts become the final authority.

Jesus is the final authority.

So when you leave God out of the math, the answer will always be not enough.

Money doesn't add up, opportunity doesn't add up, your ability doesn't add up, your connections don't add up, your experience doesn't add up.

And maybe the math isn't wrong, maybe you just forgot El Shaddai, the God of more than enough.

I remember when I was in college, and one semester, I really just didn't have any money to pay the balance due on my account.

And so at my church, we had something called a consecration offering.

And so we were supposed to bring that offering to church.

And I had done everything that I could do.

I went to the financial aid office, I took out a loan, still didn't have enough.

I think my mom even took out like a parent plus loan, and it still wasn't enough.

Now that college was very expensive.

Now that I'm like, I think I got scammed or something.

But anyway, it still wasn't enough.

And I remember getting an email from the financial aid office saying, hey, if you don't pay this balance by Monday, then you're gonna have to get out.

You have to unenroll from all your classes.

Basically, you know, it's over for you.

Go somewhere else and then come back once you get the money.

And I said, Well, I didn't have enough money, and I only had the seed that I had set aside for the offer.

So I went to church.

I said, Well, this seed is not even enough to pay it, so I'm not even gonna put that towards the balance.

I'm just gonna sold the seed.

So I went to church, I sold the seed in faith.

I praised God, I thank God, and guess what happened, yo, after I sold the seed?

I still had a balance due.

It was the balance was still due.

I even checked my account.

I was like, let me see, because you know, my pastor, he said, God's gonna do something big.

And I looked, I said, it still ain't in there.

I checked the mailbox, there wasn't no check in the mail, nothing like that.

But on my way out of church, a lady stopped me and she said, I don't know why, son, the Lord has put it on my heart to put a seed in your hand.

He's telling me I need to give you some money.

I said, He did.

She said, Yes, but I don't even want to do it.

She said, I don't know why.

God knows I don't want to do it, but he's telling me to do it.

She said, I don't even know what to say.

I said, I do.

Cash or check?

Can I tell you, friends, that lady put in my hand the exact amount down to the cent that I need it?

Can I tell you when you put your faith in El Shaddai and you stop calculating about what you do not have?

Come on, God can make a way where there seems to be no way.

When you're trying to figure it out, guess what?

God has already worked it out.

Can I tell you, He'll make people bless you that don't even want to bless you?

Woo! He'll bless you.

Can I tell you I after that semester I never lacked again?

In fact, God was giving me so much increase, I was able to sow a seed to somebody else.

He will give seed to the sower.

We're talking about El Shaddai.

What's in your hands?

Second point I want to tell you how we can operate in the space of not enough is we cannot despise what is small.

We cannot despise what is small.

John chapter 6, 8 and 9.

John 6 · chapter mention

Let's continue to read.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There is a lad here, a little boy, who has five barley loaves and two small fish.

But what are they among so many?

What are they among so many?

Barley bread was actually the bread of the poor.

It wasn't like no fancy bread, it wasn't sourdough, it wasn't an English muffin, though.

This was poor bread.

So it wasn't a lot.

And probably the two fish that he had, the Bible says they were small fish, they probably were dried out, probably pickled.

But this was a little boy's lunch.

Nobody in the crowd would have called this a resource.

Nobody in the crowd would have said, hey, that will feed 5,000 people.

Andrew's question is the theme song of the not enough mentality.

What is this among so many?

What is this little bit of money against all these bills I got?

What is my one gift in a church this big?

What is my small business against all these major companies?

What is my one prayer against this big problem?

I love what Zachariah chapter 4, verse 10 says.

It says, For who has despised the day of small things?

New Living Translation says, Do not despise small beginnings.

Jesus multiplies the little boys' lunch and feeds over 5,000 men, plus women and children.

How did he do it?

Only El Shaddai know.

Small in our hands become seed in his hands.

What seems so little to us, God can take the little that we have and he can multiply it.

Maybe you're in this room today, you say, I don't really have much.

God loves a space of not much because he can take not much, he says, I can work with that.

I can work with your faith.

If you bring me a little something, I can work with it.

I came to prophesy to somebody in this room that God's getting ready to work.

God's getting ready to move with your little.

So as we look at this, we gotta know that small in our hands become seed in his.

I remember during COVID, the Lord put on my heart to start posting on social media encouraging clips.

I'm like, God, I don't know about that because there's a lot of TikTok prophets already out there.

There's a lot of people already posting clips.

You know, there's people with thousands of followers.

I don't even got that many followers.

But the Lord said, go ahead and do it.

So I started doing it.

I've been doing it for a long time now.

So I'll just, every time we do 21 days of prayer, I get in front of the camera and I be praying.

I'm like, God, you know, thank you for day two of 21 days of prayer.

And I do the prayers, I share the gospel, I post a little bit of clips here, and I said, Okay, God, I'm doing it.

And I said, Well, you told me to do it.

I remember one day getting a message from this lady in Africa.

She says that she was in this village in Africa and she had watched one of the videos that I had posted, and she said she had given her life to Jesus Christ.

And not only did she give her life to Jesus Christ, but once she gave her life to Jesus Christ, she began to share the good news of Jesus Christ in her village, and her family had gotten saved, and her friends had gotten saved, all because a small yes, a small obedience, what I thought was too small, God began to use.

Then she sent me a message and said, We would love to have you over here to Africa.

I said, I ain't going to Africa, but I can't send you some more videos.

El should I?

It's more than enough.

I'll send you some more videos.

I ain't coming.

I'll send Lydia over to South Africa.

She'll go.

What am I saying there?

Don't look at the small thing and think God can't use it.

Also, something that stands out to me in the text is notice who God used there.

He used a young person.

That lets me know if you're a young person in this room right now, God can use what you have.

Maybe you think I don't have a lot right now.

Yes, you do.

What's in your hands?

What's the skill that's in your hands?

What is the message that God has given to you?

What are the friendships that God have put you around?

Your campus, your job, your team, your gift, your story.

It all has power.

And to every parent, every grandparent, to every leader in the room, don't overlook the kid in the crowd.

The next miracle in this church may be from a kid.

May be from a child.

There is no junior Holy Spirit.

The same spirit that lives inside of you lives inside of that child.

Lives inside of that teenager.

God can use your child.

Let me just go ahead and tell you, don't you give up on your child.

Don't you give up on that teenager?

God's hand is on them.

I'm not sure who that's for.

That's not even in the notes.

But I'm telling you, God wants to use your child.

They have a gift, they have a calling that God has placed in their hands.

So we gotta start with what we have and not what we're lacking.

Start with what you have, not with what you're lacking.

Let's transition to another text, 2 Kings chapter 4.

2 Kings 4 · chapter mention

We meet a poor widow in this text.

Her husband was actually among the prophets of Elijah, and he had ended up dying.

And so when he died, back in that time there was no GoFundMe.

So he had some debt that he had accumulated.

And when he accumulated this debt, back then they will actually come and take your kids as servants.

So she had two sons and they were getting ready to come take her kids.

Now I know what some of y'all are thinking.

If it was like today, some of y'all probably would say, Come on, get them, come get them.

But we're not living in that day today.

But in this day, they will come and they would, the creditors would take your relatives and make them a servant until the debt was paid off.

So this woman who had just lost her husband was on the stage of losing her sons.

Let's read 1 Kings chapter 4, 1 and 2.

1 Kings 4 · chapter mention

A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophet cried out to Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband, is dead.

And you know that your servant feared the Lord, he loved the Lord, he worshiped the Lord, and the creditors is coming to take my sons to be his slaves.

So Elisha said to her, What shall I do for you?

Tell me what you want me to do.

And then he asked the question, What do you have in the house?

In other words, what's in your hands?

And she said, Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.

Wait a minute.

She said she has nothing but she has a jar of oil.

That means that she does have something, but she's treating her something as nothing.

Because she don't believe it's more than enough.

See, what we see as nothing, but God sees as a starting point.

What we see is I don't really have nothing right now, but God says, Oh yeah, you do have something.

Let's keep reading.

Verse 3 through 6.

Then he said, Go and borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors, empty vessels.

Not vessels that are filled, but empty.

Because when you're empty, God can pour into you.

He says, Go bring me empty vessels.

Do not gather just a few.

Why did he tell her that?

Because he wanted her to have some God-sized expectation.

He wanted her to have some El Shaddai type faith.

More than enough.

And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your son.

Listen, all your friends and neighbors, they can't join in on your miracle moment all the time.

Sometimes you got to shut the door.

You ain't got to post everything on social media.

You ain't got to call everybody and let them know what God is doing.

Sometimes you just gotta shut the door and watch God work.

Then pour into all those vessels and set aside the full ones.

So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her son, who brought the vessels to her, and she poured it out.

Now it came to pass when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, Bring me another vessel.

And he said to her, There is not another vessel.

So the oil ceased.

Now notice the oil didn't multiply in the jar, it multiplied when it was being poor.

She had released what she had before she saw what more could come.

The oil didn't stop because God ran out.

The oil stopped because she was out of vessels.

She didn't have any more room for it.

The limit was never God's supply, it was her capacity and her expectation.

Can I tell you, friend, the limit is not God's supply?

There is no limit, there is no lack.

The limit is your expectation.

What are you expecting?

Your availability, your availability, what you have, your capacity.

God will fill as much as we make room for.

Let's continue to read.

Verse 7.

Then she came and told the man of God.

And he said, Go and sell the oil and pay your debt.

He didn't say, Go shop.

Don't go to Fashion Nova.

Don't go to Amazon.com.

Don't go to the avenues and run up a check.

Don't go take another cruise.

He says, Go and pay your debt.

And you and your son will live off the rest.

What is that?

That's El Shaddai.

That's more than enough.

She had enough to pay all of her debt and enough left over.

Not just enough, just to pay the debt.

Enough to pay the debt and live off the rest.

El Shaddai more than enough.

Last point I want to make today.

Remember, surrender and gratitude comes before multiplication.

Surrender.

And gratitude comes before multiplication.

Let's go back to the story of the feeding of 5,000 in John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

Let's see how Jesus did this.

John chapter 6, verse 10 through 13.

John 6:10–13

Then Jesus said, Make the people sit down.

Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000.

And Jesus took the law.

And when he had given thanks, he distributed it to the disciples.

And the disciples to those sitting down, and likewise of the fish.

As much as they wanted, as much as they want it, as much as they want it.

So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, so that there is nothing lost.

That's good stewardship.

That's not being wasteful.

Therefore, they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.

That was more than enough.

Jesus took it.

He gave thanks for it.

And he passed it out.

Then it multiplied.

Listen, the boy's lunch is nowhere in the world that that lunch was gonna feed 5,000 plus people in his basket.

It only multiplied once he let it go.

Once he surrendered it.

What are you holding on to that God has been asking you to surrender?

Asking you to give up.

So let me ask you what's in your hand.

Maybe it's the gift that God has placed, and you've been sitting on that gift.

Maybe it's a little bit of money you've been holding on tight to.

Maybe it's your voice, your story, your testimony.

God has given you a powerful testimony and you won't even share it with nobody.

What are you holding on to?

Maybe it's an idea, a business, a ministry God has put in your heart years ago.

Maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's a friend that God has put in your life.

Jesus gave thanks for the five loaves before there were 5,000 meals.

He thanked the Father for not enough as though it was already more than enough.

Every now and then we should start thanking God for what we do have before it turns into more than enough.

Maybe the reason some of us haven't fully seen what God can give is because we haven't sufficiently thanked Him for what we already have.

Some of us are so consumed with what we are missing that we become blind to what's right in front of us.

We're asking God for another door, but what about the door he's already open for you?

We're asking God for more money, but what about the bills that he's already paid?

Come on, we're asking God for a bigger house, but why don't we just stop and thank God for the house and the roof that's already over our head?

Come on, we we we keep coming to God.

We ask God, give me new people in our lives, but we haven't thanked God for the ones that have been by our side this whole time.

We keep praying for our husbands, our wives, but we haven't been faithful to our friends.

We haven't been a good friend yet.

We haven't been thankful for them.

So before we thank God for anything, before we ask Him for anything, let's just do what the boy did.

Let's just surrender.

Everybody just lift up your hands real quick.

Lift up your hands as a sign of surrender.

Lift up your hands.

And when you lift up your hands, just do it like this, like you're getting ready to offer something to the Lord.

Now I want you to get something on your mind that's in your hand that you know it's time to surrender, to give to Him.

Now we say today, God is not much, but it's yours.

I open my hands, take it, bless it, multiply it.

Jesus took the loaves, then He gave thanks for it.

So now that we've given it to Him, let's just thank Him.

Lord, I thank You for putting this in my hand.

And Lord, I ask that you multiply in Jesus' name.

So say this confession with me.

Say in the name of Jesus, I declare, my God is El Shada, He is more than enough.

I reject the not enough mentality.

I will not despise small beginnings, I will not be limited by what I see.

What God has placed in my hands has purpose.

When I surrender to Him, He is able to multiply.

So my faith is rising, my expectation is increasing.

My hands are open, my heart is surrendered.

God is my source.

I say, God is my source, God is my source, God is my provider, and I trust him with what I have, and I will thank him for what is to come.

I don't serve a God of just enough.

I serve El Shada, El Shada, not El Chip, but the El Shada.

Who is more?

In Jesus' name, come on and get the bigger give us the floor, right?

Come on in your little words, Father.

We magnify you, Lord, we thank you.

That you're more than another father.

Oh, we bless you today, God.

Oh, we thank you, Lord.

Oh, come on, we lift you up, we magnify you, we exalve you, God.

We thank you for meeting every need, God.

We're grateful today.

We're grateful, people.

In Jesus' name.

Come on, church, give up one more praise and now.

Come on, you may be seated.

Listen, we're getting ready to do the most important thing we've done all day.

If you're in this room and you don't know Jesus, we think today is a good day to know Jesus.

If you don't know Jesus, we're not saying that you're a bad person.

In fact, there's a lot of people in hell right now because no one loved them enough to tell them that being good is not good enough.

But you have to accept Jesus Christ.

He's not asking you to be perfect, he's not asking you to make a list of all the things that you promised to stop doing.

No, no, no.

He's asking you to come to Him just as you are.

Let Him take you by the hand and let Him show you the way to go.

The Bible says if you believe in your heart, you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.

Listen, friends, it's not enough just to believe in God because the devil himself, he believes in God.

It's not enough just to say the words Jesus is Lord and not believe it in your heart.

But the Bible says if you believe in your heart, you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, what does that mean?

That He's ruler, He's master, He's in control.

That means I'm no longer gonna try to control my own life, but I'm gonna put my life in the hands of the one who has created it.

So if you're in this room and you don't know Jesus, I'm gonna have everybody just close their eyes, bow your head.

We're not gonna call you to the front, we're not gonna make you get on the microphone and say anything, but right there in your seat, this is a personal decision between you and God.

In just a moment, I'm gonna count the three.

And once I count the three, I want you to reach out in the seat pocket in front of you.

There's a small card that says say yes to Jesus.

In just a moment, when I count the three, I want you to grab that card.

And when I get the three, I want you to raise that card up as high as you can get it.

And say, Today I want to say yes to Jesus.

Today I want a new day.

Today I want to encounter the God El Shaddai, the God more than enough.

If you're watching online, listen, I want to give you that same invitation today.

Our team is gonna put a poll on the screen.

It's gonna ask you, do you want to say yes to Jesus?

Just go ahead and hit yes.

Say yes, I want to say yes to Jesus.

As soon as you hit yes, when I count the three, just go ahead and lift up your hands.

Are you ready in the room?

Ready?

One, the Bible says that today is the day of salvation.

Two, don't miss a moment.

Don't let the devil talk you out of this.

Today is a brand new day for you.

Three, raise your hand, raise that card up.

Raise that card.

I want to be there.

See that card there?

Beautiful.

You're not alone.

Another card there.

Cars are going up all over the room.

Thank you.

Thank you there.

Another one there.

Thank you.

Online, go ahead.

Raise that hand.

Beautiful.

Well, the Bible says, if you believe in your heart, you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

You will be saved.

So what we're gonna do as a family, we're gonna join in all together and we're gonna say this prayer.

We're gonna believe by faith that today is a brand new day for you.

Are you ready?

Let's pray.

Dear God in heaven, thank you for loving me.

Thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place.

He paid the price for my sin.

And I know you raised him from the dead, and he's alive right now.

So, Jesus, come into my heart, save me, forgive me, make me brand new.

I surrender, I give up my whole life to you for the rest of my days, and according to the Bible, I am right now born again in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Come on, church, let's slip up a shout of phrase in the room.

Did you just make a decision for Jesus?

Welcome to the family.

We're so excited.

Trust me, we're clapping for you, and we believe that you've made an important decision today.

We'd like to help you on your journey.

So if you'll follow the directions that are on screen, there is a free book you can download.

It's gonna take you five to ten minutes of your day for the next seven days.

But our pastors have put together some amazing resources that we believe will help you in the journey ahead.

If you don't want it, nobody's going to email you, text you, bother you, anything like that.

We just want to make sure you are successful in your walk with Jesus.

Now, let me tell you, one of the things you should consider is baptism.

And if you're in the Jacksonville area, we do baptism after our first weekend service every month, and you can just scan the QR code that's on the screen, sign up for that.

I'd love to be a part of that journey with you, or any of our ministers would.

If you don't live in town, we do believe you should find a Bible teaching church and at least go get baptized, even if you're still gonna watch our service.

But download that book, it's free.

We're excited for your journey ahead, and we can't wait to be a part of that.

Now, this is a part of the service where we also demonstrate our generosity.

If you're just checking us out today, you don't feel any pressure to give.

But for those of you, this is your church, you know that we are generous is one of our core values.

And so you can give online or you can give through our app, which I really like.

You have the Apple Pay option right on our app.

Just go to your Google store or your Apple store, download the We Are Impact app.

It's also a great way to study notes that um come from the sermons that you watch on here.

And there's a lot of events on there as well.

But you can give through that app.

It's super easy, and we're just grateful that you partner with us week after week.

Well, we're so excited you joined us today.

Hope you have an amazing weekend, and we'll see you next time.