Start Strong, Finish Stronger

Like, we’ll get it. Thanks, buddy. Well, good morning. Welcome to Salt Church this morning. I’m Pastor Carl.

We’ll get it. We’ll get it. Before we get started, I do want to start off with a couple announcements and some business. This Thursday at 6 o’, clock, we are going to be meeting here at 7 and. And we are going to be joined in a night of prayer.

We believe wholeheartedly that this church is focused around two things. One is prayer. The other one is the presence of God. Without it, we can’t move forward, we can’t grow. So I want to encourage you that if you need prayer or if you want to just come and join us in prayer, we’d love to have you at 7 o’ clock on Thursday.

That’s the sixth. Secondly, number two, for the next three Sundays, we’re going to be. I’ll be speaking and we’ll be delivering this message called Stay strong, Finish Stronger. And we’ll be doing that. And after that, our senior Pastor Hans is going to be opening up a new series for the Christmas holidays.

I am so glad. I forgot to mention, I’m so glad to see you all here. You guys got an extra an hour of sleep. You guys look great. You look great.

You look wonderful. Awesome. Well, yeah, you look fresh. You know, I heard somebody say they got up at 2. Somebody said, yeah, there you go.

She said. She goes, yeah, I went to bed at 6, got up at. And we’re like, well, really? You got up at three. Okay.

But that’s, that’s awesome. That’s absolutely awesome. So Pastor Hans is going to be delivering a message via livestream and then we’re going to start off our Christmas holiday season also too. We have it confirmed, we will be doing Christmas Eve service here on Christmas Eve, which is Wednesday the 24th. And we will be doing it right around 6 o’.

Clock. We will have kind of a modified childcare, but the way Mikayla said we’re going to set it up is for from zero to three can go back there. From three up, we can have it in here. If you have a child with special needs or sensory issues, that’s fine. She said she’ll make accommodations and we’ll do that.

But we’re just going to come through a night of just family faith fellowship. Afterwards, we’re going to do some cookies, some hot chocolate, some cider, and we’re just going to have a great time. All right. Amen and Amen. We are the leadership team here at salt.

We are excited because our next Two months. We’re literally. We’re going to be getting together in December. We’re going to be planning for 2026. How many is ready for 2026?

Amen. Okay. We’ve been talking. We are going to hit the ground and we are going to run. We are going to run.

We are going to start. Just. Just so you guys know, we start our 21 days of fasting in January, and we’re going to believe God to do some really, really good things. And I’m excited. I’m excited to see what God has planned to do.

I think that other than this, which is the most important, we just got done with worship. But another way that you can worship is through your tithes and offerings. The Bible tells us that we bring a tenth into the storehouse. That tenth goes in, and it helps us not only run the ministry, but we can reach the surrounding community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Three ways that we can give is online, by mail, and in person, and we would love for you to do that.

We. We don’t collect the offering here. As you guys leave and go out the doors, you can feel free if you have checks or money or whatever. There’s a box outside the front of the door. You can drop everything in there.

If not, you can go online or. Yeah, online or. We’re working on some QR code. It’s been updated. Okay.

So the method of updating has been given. That’s what I’m being informed. So check that out. Are you guys ready? I’m ready.

All right. I love this. This is awesome. So when I found out and I made an announcement last week and I said, okay, what we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be following our parent church in a new series. Well, Monday, it got dropped to me that they said, hey, we’re not going to have the technology ready and be able to do that.

So you got this, right? And I’m like, yeah, I can do this. I said, we can get this done. So when I met with Pastor Leon on Wednesday, he goes, you know, man, this would be a great time for a series. And I go, I already got it.

He goes, like, great mindstick alike. So we’re on this. I went to bed Monday night and I’m like, God, what do you want me to do? I guess I can go and I could try to pull something out of my repertoire, see what we got going on. And God dropped it in my heart.

And here we are in the last two months of the year. Okay. And he dropped this phrase, start strong, finish stronger. And I was like, really? So I got up, got out of bed, went in my office, and I was there till 12, 1 o’ clock in the morning.

And God just began to download into me things that he wanted not only for my own life, but for your lives as well. Because so many times what happens is that, you know, as we’re heading into the holidays and we’re getting to the final two months of the year that most of us have forgotten about the resolutions or the promises or changes we’ve made to ourselves at the beginning of the year, let’s be honest, how many people go, I’m going to start working out. Okay? For me, that lasts about two days. Okay?

It’s two days. I’m going to be honest. Okay? But then we go, you know what? I’m going to work to get out of debt.

And by the time we get to the end of the year, we’re like, I’m still in debt. Okay? We want to do these things, and we get to the end of the year and we’re like, man, we want to make these changes. But here’s the thing. We started this year looking back at 2024, which was the culmination of some of the roughest four years that we’ve had and we’ve been for.

In our. I know, in my lifetime. I don’t know about yours, you know, but we went through, like, we went through four years of economic turmoil. We went through the plandemic. I’m sorry, pandemic.

We went through the shutdown, we went through the economic crisis. And we’re like, by the time 2025 hit, we were just like, I just want to move on. I’m ready to go. You know? But during that time, we figured out, well, you know what?

We got a government that’s more against the people than it is for the people. We figured, how can I live? How can I. What am I going to drive? Where can we go?

Four years of feeling like we’re living through an Orwellian experience. It’s like we wake up and we’re like, okay, what’s next? What’s next? So in some ways we have, and in other ways, you know, we get to 2025 and we’re like, okay, things are going to change. And in some ways they have, but in other ways they haven’t.

But we look back and the one thing that I can honestly say for myself, and I’m probably for you, is like, God, I’m never going back. That way. I don’t care. I don’t care if they shut me down. I don’t care if they shut me up.

I’m going to continue. I believe as a church in 2025, we’ve been given a mandate that God says, look, this was only a test run. This is only a test run of what the enemy’s gonna do. Where are you gonna stand? What are you gonna do?

You think your faith got tried? Then guess what? Okay, so as we begin. We begin to do this, we start our year and we go, you know, God, I’m gonna really. We started 2025, okay, I’m gonna do this.

And we hit. Inevitably, we hit setbacks and roadblocks. By the time we get to the end of this year, a lot of us are probably like, you know what? Just get me through the last two months. That’s all I want.

Just get me through the last two months. Because we become distracted, we become discouraged, we become distraught. A sense of failure overtakes us. And as the holidays approach, we begin to feel a sense of being overwhelmed. I’m no longer.

I’m no closer than where I was when I started this year. And the time of this year where it’s supposed to be the most joyous time that we’re supposed to have wounds up being the most stressful time because we get stressed, because we’re like, okay, I’ve got two more months. I’ve got January. And then we’ve got oh, my Lord. Then we got Thanksgiving, and then we got to be around family that half the time, I don’t want to be around.

Okay. And then we got Christmas, and you go, hey, look, I’m a grandparent. So I’m like, well, we got to buy. My wife goes, well, we got to get this one for this one and this one for this one and that one for this one. And I’m like, where?

How. Where’s the money coming from? Okay, so we get the. So the thing is, it’s like, into the plans, I’m going, God, I really wanted things done differently this year, but I’m no longer. I’m not even close to where I felt like I wanted to be.

And you know, the funny thing is, is that God brought me to this scripture and it says in Jeremiah where it says, for I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not disaster, to give me a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11. And the king James says it this way, for I know the thoughts that I have towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you an expected end. See, a lot of us grew up.

If you grew up reading the Bible, being a church, we heard that, you know, we’ve heard that scripture. I have my plans. These are my plans. But the one thing that God began to show me, he goes. You know, he said, the problem is he goes.

Most of us don’t go further in our reading because in verse 12, it says, in those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you, says the Lord. Now get this, hold on to this, because we’re at the last two months of the year. It says, I will end your captivity and I will restore your fortunes.

I’m going to give you back what the enemy has taken from you. Okay? And a lot of us, let’s be honest, a lot of us, that kind of seems like, well, that’s a big task, God. That’s a big ask. So if you remember my sermon a couple weeks ago where I said, we sincerely seek him.

But see, if we sincerely seek him wholeheartedly and begin on a daily basis to understand that it’s not who we are, but it’s whose we are. See, the fact of the matter is, it doesn’t matter what you think you are. Doesn’t matter if you think that you can make it. It doesn’t matter if you think that, well, I can do this or I can do that. I can do this through my strength.

See, the reality is, whose do you belong to? Who are you going to stand up and go, he’s my God. He’s my Jehovah Jireh. He’s my Jehovah Nissi. He’s my Jehovah Rapha.

He will give me everything. And see, when you begin to understand and put it into play, where it says, I have a plan for you and it’s for you to prosper, okay? See, the thing about it is that our greatest opportunities lay not just in front of us, but they’re right here and right now. If we don’t change our mindsets, we’re doomed to forever keep repeating it. It’s going to be a hamster wheel.

So guess what’s going to happen? So if I stand, God gives me the ability and the privilege to stand up here in 2026, we’re going to be right where we are. Well, how do we do that? How do we start strong but finish stronger? See, I believe wholeheartedly that God’s Plans for us is not just to start strong, but finish even stronger.

Because the thing is, is that the strength that you have for today is the strength for today, okay? So if you go into the Old Testament, where God would provide manna for the Israelites as they were in the wilderness, you do a little bit of study. That manna was only good for that day. Why? Because God says, you’re going to rely on me.

That’s for me today. Okay? So the strength that you have for today is to build your muscles up so you can have strength for tomorrow. And you build on it the day after, the day after, the day after. Stop thinking about.

Stop trying to live your tomorrow on yesterday’s manna. Stop trying to live it on yesterday’s faith. Because your faith is new and everlasting. When you get into the word of God and you begin to say, God, I know the plans that I have. I know you’re going to give me everything back.

See, it’s like going to the gym. My wife is just absolutely. She is like, how I married this woman. God, I am blessed. Blessed.

Blessed. Beyond blessed. Every day I get, she goes, you gonna work out today? No. Are you gonna work out today?

No. Are you gonna work out? But the thing is, is that what she teaches me is she says, you know, every day you work out a certain muscle group, but you work it out for so long, and then after a while, that muscle group then kind of gets used to that, but then you want to boost it up some more. And she says, she used to tell me, she said, when the pain stops, it means you need to get more weight. You need to have more weight.

And it’s the same thing with God’s promises and with his plans, is that today’s strength is only for today. When you get up and get into the word, you’re getting more strength for today. So what happens is that when the enemy comes into you like a flood, you. You go, I got this. I got this.

Okay, So I believe this is what God kind of laid on my heart to talk about three areas, and there’s probably more, but there was three areas that God really laid on my heart. He says, look, he goes, I really want you to convey this, that I believe that there are three areas that can really help push through this year so you guys can finish stronger. Because I wholeheartedly believe that 20, 26, the heavens are going to open up and God’s going to do something that he’s never done in the past. Right now, for those. There are people out There.

Go. Well, revival’s coming. Revival’s coming. I got news for you. Revival’s here.

Revival’s here. So what I’m going to tell you is that you can be good wading through revival on your ankles, or you could say, you know what? I’m going to step in a little bit more. And I’m going to step in a little bit more. And I’m going to step in a little bit more, because I could tell you what’s coming in 2026 is going to far exceed what God did in 2025.

And what God needs is God needs his people ready. He needs his people ready. And those three areas are one, in faith and power and the anointing. Today we’re going to talk about faith. Okay?

We’re going to got to tap in to a couple of these things on faith. Now, Hebrews is like, if you haven’t figured this out, Hebrews is my favorite book of the Bible. I love it. It’s a faith chapter. So it says in Hebrews 11:1, it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.

But what I want to focus is I want to tweak this a little bit, and I want to focus on the word substance. Somebody pointed this out to me, and I was like, wow, that. That’s an interesting study. So the Greek word for substance is translated, and I’m gonna butcher this, okay? So bear with me.

I’m not as educated as Pastor Leon, but, you know, I’ll try to get through this. But the Greek word for this is hoopostasis, which literally means that which stands under. It conveys a meaning of foundation, support, and firm assurance. In this verse, it applies, the faith is the very foundation for things hoped for, providing a solid assurance of what is not seen. See, in Second Corinthians 5, 7, it says, for we live by believing, but not by seeing.

Amen. See, that’s what our faith is. That’s what our faith is about. Okay? So when we have an understanding that the substance is what we stand on is what we believe, then we can get into the other portion of the scripture.

It says, when we look at it and it talks about now faith, now for years. I know I don’t know about you, but I always looked at it and went, now, comma, faith. Now, comma, faith. Well, that’s not it. It’s now faith.

It’s the faith that you have right now, okay? It’s not yesterday’s faith. It’s not tomorrow’s faith. It’s not even the faith that you had a minute ago, okay? It’s the faith that you have right now.

See, things are things. When things are going great, it’s easy. It’s easy. It doesn’t take a whole lot to have faith when things are going good. But it’s far more difficult when things aren’t going as planned or when tragedy comes unexpectedly or the struggle becomes real.

That’s when it’s hard to really dig down and you really got to find your faith. What am I standing on? See that now faith, that’s when. Now faith is required. It’s when you begin to take an inventory of your faith and you make the determination to stand.

When you feel like folding, it’s when you’re not enough becomes his more than enough. It’s a belief that no matter what hell I’m going through, I currently walk through, he has already been there and he has prepared a way. That’s what it’s about. And I want to look at three different, what I call types of faith. And we’re going to walk through this a little bit and like I said, we’re going to take this together because I’m preaching to me as much as I am to you because I honestly believe over what we’ve been through.

Faith really has to play a part in our daily living. And if it doesn’t, then what are we living for? Okay, so the first faith I’d like to talk about is a childlike faith. See, in Matthew 18:4, New Living Translation says, then he said to them, speaking of Jesus, it says, I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sin and become like these little children, you will never get into the country kingdom of heaven. See, as little children, you know, watching my kids grow up, their faith was simplistic in the nature it ever trusted.

No matter what the circumstances, they came with humility. It’s a giving over. It’s saying, God, I trust in you explicitly. It was very easy. But as we get older, we become very callous.

We become very skeptical. We kind of believe that the only way that we can make it is, is on our own, that I can change what I want to do. I can kind of, I can have control over my destiny and where I’m going to go. Or this problem is only going to get solved if I try to solve it. But childlike faith says, no.

I am in complete reliance on the goodness and the promises of God. And see, the great part about childlike faith is that it only takes a little bit of faith to accomplish big things. Because why? It’s pure and it’s absolutely uncompromising. See, in Matthew 17:20, it says, Jesus again saying, I tell you the truth.

If you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move so from here to there, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible. Again, let me reiterate, that kind of faith says, when I don’t have enough, he’s more than enough. When I say I can’t, he says he can. When there doesn’t appear to be an answer, he has all the answers.

This is a surrendering kind of faith that says, I give it all to you. I submit all to you, wholly to the will, like a child to a parent. See, in our skepticism in our older age, we have a tendency that we don’t look at that. The reality is that God says, I’m here. I have all the answers.

Let me help you. It’s that childlike faith that when your world is falling apart, that you can sit there and go, God, I’m just gonna submit myself to you, because I don’t have a clue as to what’s going on. But I know that you do, and I want your help. So the second is called an abiding faith. This is a faith that is unwavering.

It’s steadfast. In the midst of trials, tragedy and suffering and uncertainty. It holds fast to the promise of God and his uncompromising faithfulness. See, in First Peter 1, 6, 7, it says, so be truly glad. There is a wonderful joy ahead.

Even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials would show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies. Gold through your faith is far more precious than gold. So when your faith remains strong though many trials, it will bring praise and glory on the day when Christ Jesus is revealed to the whole world.

This faith, I believe, is through Scripture. We could read throughout Scripture that it’s exhibited in multiple ways, but there are three that I just kind of look at and that were kind of brought to kind of my memory. And one back when my wife and I were. We’re really going through some things God brought to me. If you haven’t read through the Book of Job, I want to encourage you.

Read through the Book of Job. There is no one in the Bible that I could. That I’ve looked at that. This man literally lost everything. He lost everything he had.

He lost his riches, he lost his children, he lost his land. The only thing I really couldn’t Understand is he didn’t lose his wife. I don’t know. But you know what? We’re just going to leave that where it is.

Okay? We’re just going to leave that where it is. No, just kidding. Because, see, you know, it’s. I found out this past week that, you know, the wife is the one that refines me.

And I heard a preacher say this, and it is so true that the wife is the one. The woman is meant to refine me as a husband. It’s not a lot of times, and I digress, but a lot of times we look at our wives or our spouses and we go, you know what? They’re just. They’re trying on my last nerve.

Now, my wife, being from New York, would look at me and go, oh, please don’t give me your last nerve. But the fact of the matter is, is that we are a team. We are a team. But I digress. So if you look at Job, but the one thing that I want to read.

And I found this this morning, which I thought was really good. If you read in the last couple chapters of Job, Job is really just kind of. Before, he had kind of really gone after God and said, God, you know, why am I going through this? What’s going on? Well, the last.

The last two before the very last chapter, God really lets Job have it. He just like. He like, unloads on job and in 42. And I just want to read this a little bit, and they don’t have it, but I just. I saw this this morning, and here’s Job’s reply to God, which I thought was just really astounding.

And it said, job replied to the Lord, I know that I cannot do anything. I know no one can stop you. You asked, who is that? Questions my wisdom and such ignorance. And this is Job’s response.

He said, it is I. And I was talking about the things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, listen, and I will speak. And I have some questions for you, and I must answer them. I had only heard of you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

And I take back everything that I said. Job said, God, you are my abiding faith, no matter what I went through. And if you read on through that Scripture, you’ll see that Job got back everything that he lost. Everything he got back a double portion. God blessed him like nobody’s business.

The second is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And that kind of faith right there is the kind of Faith that says, I’m going to stand no matter what. I’m going to stand no matter what, because I’m going to abide in the faith that I have for Jesus Christ. And when they were challenged by the king, and the king said, you must bow down for me. And Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, no, I’m not.

I’m not going to bet. You know, I heard something this week on a Twitter page, and it said that. So Islam was trying to make its way inroads to Japan, and they spent millions and millions of dollars and about six years doing so. And out of that six years and out of the multimillion dollars that they spent, they got one convert in six years. That convert wasn’t even Japanese.

They failed. Why is that? Because that culture decided to stand for what it believed. Okay? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in their midst of certain death.

They knew they were gonna die, but yet the fact of the matter is, they were willing to. They put their whole belief. See, today, in today’s society, are you willing to do that? Am I willing to do that? Most of us can’t even go to work.

And we see it. I see it on the news. A matter of fact, I saw a high school teenager that was given a parking spot, and she wrote a scripture on it, and she was literally lambasted for putting a scripture on her parking space. She wound up taking the school to court, and she won. But how many of us would really just kind of buck up and go, no, no, he’s going to take care of me.

He’s my steadfastness. I’m going to abide in him. I don’t care what your career is. I don’t care who your friends are. The fact of the matter is that they’re looking to you anyway to see if you’re going to stand.

And I think that that’s important. The third is the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8 and 43 and 49. Or, I’m sorry, 43 and 48. This is a woman that has dealt with a health issue for 13 years. Okay, I’m a man.

I can say this. I have a cold for 13 minutes, and I turn into an absolute baby. Ask my wife. She will tell you, okay, the fact of the matter is, you can cut my arm off. I’m fine.

You give me a cold, and I turn into a baby. Don’t know why. Haven’t figured that one out. But the fact of the matter is, here’s a woman who’s been dealing with an issue, medical issue. She’s given every expense financially.

She’s lost her integrity, she’s lost her representation to the point where she gets to this point and she just says, you know what? I don’t care because Jesus is my steadfastness. He is my promise. And she threw all inhibitions away and she was willing to get on the ground and crawl on her hands and knees and. And she had such a belief.

She said, if I but touch the hem of his garment. If I but touch the hem of his garment. I heard a story a long, long time ago, and one of the pastors where I went to school said he taught. He actually knew the lady and her son was involved in a gang. And the son was killed.

And not only was he killed, but his body was burned. And the mother was a born again Christian. And she believed in God and she believed that God was going to do something. She went to the morgue and she told the morticia, she said, you’re not touching my son. I’m going to spend all night with him.

And she literally prayed. Now, I’m going to tell you this is true. I’m not making this up. I heard. I was like, this is astounding.

She prayed all night. She said, God, I believe that you called my son when he was a little boy. And God, you’ve got a calling on his life. She prayed and prayed and prayed all night long hours, wee hours into the morning. As she’s praying, she hears a moan from underneath the sheets.

She pulls the sheets back and there’s her son. Where 90% of his body was burned, there was one section of his body that wasn’t healed, and it was right here. And it was sent as a reminder that God did this. This man went on, and I think Colleen could remember with me, but this guy went actually on to start a ministry within New York and began to save thousands. See, the thing about it is, is that when we have that abiding faith, when we sit and we talk with God and we live out God’s message in our lives, are we willing to say, God, I’m going to believe in you, God, I’m going to believe that you’re going to heal.

I believe that this sickness that I have, whether it be autism, whether it be anxiety, whether it be depression, no matter what it is, God says, I have the answ. Now, look, I’m not sitting here telling you that you need to go home to your medicine cabinet and throw all your medicine. I’m not saying that. Okay? I’m not going to do that.

But what I am going to tell you is that how many times do you spend more going to the doctor and listening to the doctor instead of getting into your word and listening to the promises that God has that says, I’m your healer, I created that body that you have. I know better what’s in that body than the doctor does. So the fact of the matter is, is that when we get sick, when the rubber hits the road, who do we tend to go to first? Because I have a lot of people that come to me and go, pastor, pray for me. Great, I’ll pray for you.

Did you pray for yourself? Because the last time I checked, the same spirit that works in me, works in you. The same God that I can call upon, you can call on too. See, you come to me. My job is to agree with you in something that you’ve already agreed upon.

If you’re going to sit here and decree and declare it, then I’m going to come to you. And the Bible says, wherever two or more are gathered, it doesn’t say when two or more are gathered and then they’ll agree with you. The fact of the matter is that you have to decree and declare it within your own closet when you decree and declare it in your own closet. Because here’s the one thing I know. What comes out of here goes into the atmosphere.

And when it goes into the atmosphere, it sets a precedent to the supernatural and to the. To the enemy of the air. And he says, you know what? They’re praying. I don’t know.

I don’t know. We’re going to try a little bit more discouragement. But then the fact of the matter is, is that when that person who was already declared and believed, and they go get another brother and sister, and they declared they’re going, o Lord, oh Lord, I am sick and tired of mamby pamby Christians that don’t realize the power that they have in front of them. This woman throughout everything crawled on her hands and knees and said, if I but touch the hem of his garment, I know that I can be healed. How many mothers, let me put it this way.

How many mama bears who get up in their spiritual grill and say, I’m going to stand and I’m walking into that hospital, or I’m walking into my son or my daughter’s bedroom pleading the blood of Jesus? You know, when my wife and I, every house that we’ve ever been in, the one thing that we’ve always Done is we go through the house and we anoint every door and we anoint every window with oil. Why? Because that house belongs to the Lord. Before we built the house that we currently live in, my wife and God love her father, because if you saw her father, father had a bum leg and could barely walk.

But he did it with us. We, Jericho, marched around the entire property. It was five acres. And we anointed every corner of that and we said, we serve notice to the enemy. This is God’s property.

Maybe some of you, what you need to do is you need to walk into your house and say, today, I’m starting a new chapter today as a family. We’re going to walk in and we’re going to anoint every door post, we’re going to anoint every window and we’re going to say, satan, you’re not allowed in here anymore. Because remember, it’s the faith of a mustard seed that could say, this mountain, be ye moved, Be ye moved. The third and the final, which I’ll get into is called Bold Faith. We are given example of Bold Faith through the life of David.

We’re aware of the story and how he slayed Goliath. But what I want to focus on is what he did just prior to the victory. See, in 1st Samuel 17:40, it says that he picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in the shepherd’s bag. And then he turned, armed only with his staff and sling, and started across the valley to fight the Philistines. It didn’t say he turned and went away.

It says he turned and walked towards the fight. Okay, See, David’s faith wasn’t in the stones, and it wasn’t as an ability in his ability to defeat the enemy. It was in God’s ability to do the impossible. Because, see, David had David. It wasn’t about the impossible because he had already experienced the possible, because God already did the unfathomable.

He already had the ability. He already knew what God can do. See, David, if we go further, in 1746, it says, this day. And now he’s speaking to the Goliath. He’s speaking directly to the giant that’s in front of him.

And he says, this day will the Lord deliver thee into my hands. I. I will smite thee. I will take thine head from thee. I will give the carcass to the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and into the wild beasts of the earth, and that all the earth may know that there’s a God in Israel.

See, a bold faith displays less about your circumstances and more about the God that is in you. Your actions speak louder than words. Bold faith, says I, I’m walking towards the fight, not away from it. Because the God I serve is greater than the devil that I, that I see. See, David wasn’t just facing Goliath, though.

See, he was facing criticism from those even closest to him. His own brothers were looking at him. In Samuel 28, 1728, it says, but when David’s oldest brother, Elab, heard David talking under the man, he was angry. He’s looking at him, he’s going, what are you doing here anyway? He demanded, what about those few sheep that you’re supposed to be taking care of?

I know about your pride and your deceit. You just want to see a battle. See, the thing about it is, is when you lean, when you. When you press in on your faith and you lean into God and his ability, the enemy is going to be there to discourage and distract. He’s going to begin to remind you of your inefficiencies, your failures, your weakness.

But yet, bold faith leans into self doubt. It steals with strong spiritual legs and says, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. That’s what bold faith does. See, the thing about it is, is that even Saul, when he heard about David, he began to question David. But yet what’s kind of odd is he looked at David and he goes, but I’ll give you my armor.

It’s like, what was that about? So I kind of take it. And David turned around and gave him a quick response. And he said, in verse 37 of the 17th chapter, it says, the Lord who rescued me from the lion and the bear will rescue me from the Philistines. See, to David, this was a reality.

It wasn’t just a thought or a good idea. See, the thing about it is, is that when the world begins to see you pressing in, they’re going to be there to give you their thoughts. You know, look at Job. When we look at Job and we talked about Job a little bit, Job is his friends. Well, you know, Job, you really screwed up.

You probably did something really wrong, you know, or you get into the bold faith and they go, well, you know, I heard this person say that if you do this, or I heard about this doctor over here, or, you know, maybe if you do some refinancing and do some creative refinancing and do this, you could do that. The fact of the matter is, when God’s people are solely Focused on their faith in a God that is greater than all they could be going through based on a word that is not just off the page, but it’s in your DNA. The world will watch in awe and witness the strength and determination that is unwavering. This kind of faith can move mountains, it can destroy strongholds, and it can cause demons to writhe in fear. So you got to understand something.

People around you are watching you. They’ve heard you say, well, I’m a Christian, or maybe they haven’t, maybe they should. The reality is, the fact is that they’re not looking to whether you lean left or you lean right. What they’re looking is to see if you’re going to stand. See, see right now, in a society today we care about which way do you lean?

You lean left, you lean right. No, I stand. I stand on the word of God. I believe everything that is written in these pages and I’m going to stand on this word and I’m going to believe in this word because this is what I follow. I’m not going to bend to every whim and whisper.

I’m not going to believe every ideology and everything that comes either from the news or from somebody that gives me. Because this right here is my rock. It’s my promise. I’m going to stand on this and to this I will take to my grave. That’s what God is looking for.

Those people that are around you are looking to see what happens, what comes out when you are squeezed. See, I grew up in construction, being in construction. And I’ll admit, unfortunately, being in construction, we have a tendency, we have a mouth. So when I’m squeezed, guess what came out? And my wife would always remind me and she said, hun, she says, I love you.

She said, but I know that that’s not the man of God that’s in you. And I said, you’re right. So the fact of the matter is, is that when I’m squeezed, what comes out? See, the fact of the matter is, is that those that are around you, when they see, when they see that you’re in panic mode, but yet do they see praise? See when there’s an anxiousness, do they expect to see a peace that passes all understanding?

When there’s fear in your eyes because of something that you’re going through, but yet they see a righteous anger within you that says, devil, I’m about to become your worst nightmare because you dare to mess with a child of God. That’s called bold faith. We talked about the strength of Tomorrow builds on the strength of today. Fear says no more. But faith says, bring it on.

We must on a daily basis, continue to be in God’s word. I cannot stress this enough. I cannot stress this enough. Stop listening to the voices around you. I want to challenge you.

They say it takes 30 days to break a habit. I’m going to give you a 30 day challenge. Today’s November 1st. First. Yeah.

Today’s the first. Second. Second. Okay, we got 30 days. I’m gonna challenge you.

Take your Bible. Before you do anything, read a scripture, read a chapter every day here on out. Pick an axe, go through the book of Job, pick Hebrews, do it every day, make it a habit. And I will challenge you. And I can guarantee you, you’re going to watch God do things in your life that you’ve never seen him done before.

Because the fact of the matter is, is that this needs to get from here to here to here. Because when it comes into here, then what happens is as you start to go through trials and tribulations, you go, wait a minute, Scripture, scripture, I’m standing on this. This is the promise of God. This is what God promised he can do. This is good.

And the devil can’t combat it. Because what happens is you begin to believe it. Kenneth Hagin in a book called the Believer’s Authority. And I would challenge, I would ask you, if you haven’t read this book, it’s an older book, Google or Amazon, it’s called the Believer’s Authority. Wonderful, wonderful book.

He said, your level of faith is directly related to the degree of God’s word dwelling in your heart. That is the word that is reality to you and in which you are daily walking. Okay. The more you walk in that word, we begin to take this and we begin to. Isaiah talks about it where we take the scriptures and we begin to chew on it and it’s like honey in our mouth.

But when it gets into our spirit, it becomes foul. Because what happens is that what that scripture is doing, that scripture is now beginning to work through us and it’s beginning to show us these things. In closing, I want to say this. We over the past several years have been exposed to what true evil looks like and how it’s active in our daily life. We need to hold fast to the faith that is within us.

I ask that you would take inventory of your faith. What level are you at? See, it’s one thing salt church. And I said this this morning to the leadership team. I don’t want to be a church that people can come in and have a good time.

Although that’s nice. I want Salt church to be known for two things, prayer and presence. That’s what I want. Because the fact of the matter out there, there’s enough hell going on out there that when we come into here and we get into the very presence of God, that we know that that presence doesn’t just stay here. It goes out with us.

And we carry it through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and we can come in on Sundays and look at one another as our brothers and our sisters and go, you wouldn’t believe what God did to me today, what God did for me this week. See, I want you to understand something. Our faith not attributed, what comes out of Congress. It’s what came out of Calvary. Calvary determined it.

And see, Satan would love nonetheless to sit here and remind you that he beat him. But the fact of the matter is you need to remind Satan of his future. Over the next couple Sundays, we’re going to be talking about power and we’re going to be talking about anointing. And I think that these are things that we can come together. Because here’s my goal, not just for me, but for you guys.

I want you guys to finish stronger than you started this year because God’s got a plan in your life. See, God says to you, every one of you in scripture, I have plans for you. There are those of you that are here that have lost a lot over the last couple years, whether it be finances, through family, through health, whatever. I’m here to tell you, God’s told me, if you rely on me, I’m gonna give you back everything the enemy took from you. Stand with me, would you?

Here’s what I want. If you’re here today, every eye closed, every head bowed, if there’s something in your life that you could look over the last two years and say, God lost this. I’m tired, God. My faith is withered away. I just don’t know.

But God is saying, I want to help you get that childlike faith back. I want you to get that abiding faith back. I want you to have bold faith because I have plans for you. And those plans are for you to be successful. It’s for you to get back everything that the.

The day end of took from you at the forefront of your mind. What I’m going to ask you to do is I want everybody to hold their hands out and in the palm of your hands. I want you to envision what you’re placing into God and Saying, God, I lost this. And what you’re going to do is you’re going to give it to God. You’re going to give it to him and we’re going to agree, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Heavenly Father, I just pray right now for those that stand in front of me. I pray, Father God, that the battles that they’ve won, the things that they’ve lost, Lord God, that, Father God, that they would get them back, Father, I pray that you would build their strength up. I pray that you would hold them together, Lord Jesus, in the palm of your hand. I pray that as they lay their head down at night, that they would sleep peacefully. Father God, I pray, Father, that you would give them visions, Lord God, I pray that as they determine themselves in and among, as they get with you and get in your word, I pray that this thing that they hold, Lord God, right now, that you would take it from them, press it down, shake it together, and give it back to them tenfold.

Bless them right now in the name of Jesus. Thank you for them right now in the name of Jesus. As every head is bowed and every eye is closed. If you’re here today at the sound of my voice and online and you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ or you don’t have an understanding of this faith that we speak of, I want to pray right now for those. Because God says that if you but confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord and Savior, that he’ll save you, he’ll forgive you of your sins and he’ll save you.

Let’s pray with me. Heavenly Father, I pray right now. I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that you are my Savior. I repent of all my sins. I ask that you would come into my life, Father, that from this point on, I will live my life out for you.

Today is a new day. Today is a new chapter. Today I turn my life over to you and will serve you from here on out. Amen and Amen. All right, I love you guys.

Tell your friends and family, bring them back next Sunday. We’re going to continue this series. And I love you guys. You guys have a great week. God bless.

Go with God.