Part 2: An Audience of One

Posted on June 19, 2026 by growintheword

The Power of Worship

Part 2: An Audience of One

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

June 14, 2026

Scripture: Revelation 4:9–11 (NKJV)

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

I.  INTRODUCTION

Watch the full sermon: https://www.youtube.com/live/5UJhCtaVI5g?si=UdBZRU_jPI140jm7

One of the greatest struggles in worship today is that many of us have become too aware of the audience in the room, and not aware of the God on the throne. We live in a culture that constantly trains us how to perform, how to present, and how to be noticed. Social media has exacerbated that, conditioning us to measure our value by visibility, applause, and affirmation.

But worship was never designed to be performative for people. Worship was always designed to be directed toward God. The challenge many of us experience is that we can be in a worship service and be more concerned about what people think of us than the actual glory God receives. When worship becomes horizontal and no longer vertical, we lose sight of the power worship brings into our lives.

Worship happens when we shift our focus away from the crowd and become fixated on the One who is on the throne. At that moment, when you begin to realize that authentic worship is not about sitting in the pews looking around to see who is here, everything begins to change — how you sing, how you pray, how you serve. Worship stops being about impressing people and becomes about honoring God.

The book of Revelation chapter 4 gives us a glimpse of heaven and the throne of God. Many of us approach Revelation as an apocalyptic book about the end of days — and that is true. However, if you look closer, you begin to realize that before John sees any of the judgments of God, the battles of history, or the events of the last days, he is taken to the throne room of heaven. Before there is a revelation of events, there is a revelation of worship.

The central image of Revelation is not a beast. It is not a dragon. It is not a battle. It is a throne. Forty times throughout the book of Revelation, John references the throne of God — reminding us that even though the earth we live in may be in chaos, even though the world may be going crazy, there is no chaos in heaven. God is still seated. God is still reigning. God is still worthy.

John saw one throne, and one seated on the throne. God does not share space with anyone else. John also saw a sea of crystal before the throne — representing peace, tranquility, and the truth that the closer you get to God, the more clearly you see yourself. The reason so many people cannot see themselves is that they are too far from the throne. The closer you get, the more you see your purpose, your vision, and who you truly are.

John then saw four living creatures around the throne, full of eyes — one with the face of a lion, one with the face of an ox, one with the face of a man, and one with the face of an eagle. Biblical scholars have noted that these four creatures symbolize the four Gospels:

  • The lion — the Gospel of Matthew, presenting Jesus as King of kings.
  • The ox — the Gospel of Mark, presenting Jesus as the Servant who dwelt among the people.
  • The man — the Gospel of Luke, presenting the humanity of Jesus, including the parable of the prodigal son welcomed home by his father.
  • The eagle — the Gospel of John and the Holy Spirit, presenting the divine, heavenly nature of Christ.

Each of the living creatures had six wings. With two they covered their faces — representing that in the presence of God, His glory is so powerful that even heavenly beings cannot behold Him in full. With two they covered their feet — representing great humility, that there is no room for pride in the presence of God. And with two they flew — representing that at the word of the One on the throne, they were freed and ready to fulfill any command at a moment’s notice.

There were also 24 elders around the throne, representing the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the New Testament. These elders had crowns on their heads, but at the throne, the Bible declares they laid down their crowns and began to sing in unison: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty — the whole earth is full of His glory.”

II.  TRUE WORSHIP BEGINS WHEN YOU PLACE EVERYTHING YOU VALUE AT THE FEET OF GOD

A.  What you are willing to lay down reveals who truly rules your life.

The elders casting down their crowns before the throne is one of the most powerful pictures of worship in all of Scripture. Crowns represent authority, influence, accomplishment, and recognition — everything that society says gives a person significance. Yet the elders in heaven take the very thing that represents their status and lay it down before God.

That action reveals a powerful truth about worship: you cannot truly honor God while still holding tightly to the symbols of your own greatness. Worship requires humility, because it acknowledges that everything we have, ultimately comes from God. The elders understood that whatever they possessed was only possible because God allowed it. They did not diminish their role — they simply positioned themselves properly in reference to God.

When you truly understand who God is, you stop clinging to the things that make you look important. God is not impressed by your title. He is not impressed by your degree. He is not impressed by where you live or what you have. Worship is an act of returning glory to the One who made it all possible. What you are willing to lay down reveals who truly rules your life.

The elders did not place their crowns beside the throne — they cast them before the throne. That detail matters. It demonstrates that there was no competition in glory. They understood that whatever honor they possessed could never rival the One who gave it. The crown represented influence, authority, and accomplishment — but they knew the crown was never the goal. The One on the throne is the goal.

Most of us are willing to give God our failures, but we struggle to give God our success. We surrender our weakness, but we hold tightly to our accomplishments. We trust Him in hardship, but when the blessings come, we say, “God, I’m good — I’ve got this.” Yet the greatest test of your spiritual maturity is not what you do when you have nothing. It is what you do when you have been blessed with something.

B.  Worship dies whenever something competes with God for your devotion.

What begins as a blessing can eventually become a substitute for the One who blessed us. Distractions slowly become devotions — not through intention, but through neglect. Consider the pattern in Scripture:

  • King Saul started out pleased with God, but eventually became more concerned about protecting his position than obeying God’s voice. When confronted by Samuel, Saul admitted in 1 Samuel 15:24: “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” The crown that destroyed Saul was the need for people’s approval.
  • Samson’s strength was a gift from God, but he became more captivated by his own desires and lost sight of the God who empowered him. What God intended as a blessing became a distraction, and his appetite became greater than his calling.
  • Martha in Luke 10 was busy doing good things for Jesus but neglecting time with Jesus. She was serving Him but not sitting with Him. Her activity for God began competing with her intimacy with God.

Our crowns may look different, but the principle remains the same. Consider what crown may be competing for your devotion:

  • Your career. There is nothing wrong with success — but when making money becomes more important than maintaining your relationship with God, the crown has become your competitor. We work long hours, skip worship, neglect prayer, and sacrifice family on the altar of ambition.
  • Recognition. We become addicted to applause, affirmation, and validation. We go through an existential crisis if people don’t affirm what we’ve done. But there comes a moment when you have to do what you do not on demand, but on calling. I don’t do it for certificates or applause — I do it to hear two words: “Well done.”
  • Relationships. You can become so emotionally attached to a person that their opinion outweighs the Word of God. I have seen people faithful in God get into a dysfunctional relationship, and the voice of that person moves them away from church, away from God — until that opinion becomes greater than their relationship with God.
  • Control. We want to manage every detail of our lives, every outcome, every relationship, every situation. We trust our plans more than we trust God’s purposes. Yet worship requires us to release control and trust the One who sits on the throne — to lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge Him, and let Him direct our path.
  • Self-sufficiency. Perhaps the most powerful and subtle crown. We become successful enough, educated enough, connected enough, resourceful enough — and prayer becomes our last resort. We stop depending on God because we have it all worked out. Until God pulls the rug from under us, and all of a sudden wex find ourselves flat on our back — in a hospital, broken and without options. And that’s when somebody can testify: that’s when God got real for me. It was at the bottom, when my money couldn’t do it, my education couldn’t do it, my friends couldn’t do it — I found out there was nobody else.

III.  WORSHIP FLOURISHES WHEN WE REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GOD

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV): “Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

God is not merely the One who starts a thing — He is the One who sustains it and brings it to completion. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. No matter what transition you experience, always know: God will fill the exact space that was left open.

Many of us get stuck in the middle. God is the beginning of a thing, and God brings it to completion — but in the middle, we panic. The bill hasn’t been paid yet. The tuition hasn’t come in yet. You haven’t heard back yet. But you must remember: if God began a thing, stop worrying about the details in the middle. Just throw your hands up and worship Him, because if He started it, He is going to bring it to pass.

Remember when Jesus told His disciples, “Let us go to the other side” — and then went to sleep in the back of the boat? Jesus, being God, knew the storm was coming. But He established the destination before the storm arrived. When the storm hit and the disciples panicked, Jesus said, “O you of little faith” — meaning: why are you letting what’s happening in the middle frustrate you? Have you forgotten that I said we are going to the other side? If I am on your ship, we are going to get there.

God is always preparing before He provides. He is always arranging before He reveals. He is always working before you can see it. Consider the pattern throughout Scripture:

  • Noah — God gave him instructions to build an ark before a single drop of rain had fallen. The provision (the ark) was prepared before the storm arrived.
  • Abraham — God called him to a land he had not yet seen, but God had already chosen it. The destination was prepared before Abraham took a step.
  • Moses — God prepared Moses in the wilderness for 40 years before sending him to lead Israel out of Egypt. The leader was being formed before the mission was revealed.
  • Joseph — Every betrayal, every pit, every prison was preparation. By the time Joseph stood before Pharaoh, God had already arranged the outcome. What his brothers meant for evil, God had already turned for good.
  • Peter — Jesus told Peter, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” — but He also said, “When you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” God had already prepared Peter’s restoration before the failure happened.
  • Jesus — “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Everything He prepares is ready before you walk into it. He will never drop you into a blessing without preparing it first.

A.  The reality of creation constantly points us back to the Creator.

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created. – Worship is rooted in this truth: God is both the Author and the Sustainer of all things. Everything that begins with Him and exists because of Him ultimately finds its fulfillment in Him.

Have you ever come home after a hard day at work, stepped outside, and just started noticing small things — the tree, the little bird, the quiet — and turned your phone off for a moment? Have you ever planned a trip to the beach, and the moment you got to the water, all your pressure just left? That’s God’s creation doing what it was designed to do — point you back to the Creator.

Every morning the sun rises and the moon hangs in its place. The tides know where to stop. The seasons change without a committee meeting. Your heart beats while you are asleep. Your lungs keep breathing without you thinking about it. We are surrounded by miracles that have become so common we hardly notice them. But creation is constantly preaching a sermon:

  • God put heat in the sun.
  • God put rhythm in the waves.
  • God put frequency in the flowers.
  • God put breath in your lungs.
  • God put a beat in your heart.

The same God who holds the Earth in orbit — keeping it close enough to the sun that we don’t freeze, and far enough that we don’t burn — is the same God who holds your life in His hands. If God can manage the entire universe, do you not think He can handle your situation?

Creation is a witness stand. Every sunrise declares God is faithful. Every mountain declares God is powerful. Every season declares God is consistent. Every newborn declares God is still creating. God left the evidence of Himself everywhere. And if you need evidence, just look in the mirror — because you are evidence. If someone saw you five years ago, they would know how great God is. You do not even look like what you used to be.

 

 

B.  Giving God the credit restores the priorities our culture distorts.

The elders did not celebrate themselves. They did not compare their crowns. They did not discuss their accomplishments or how they arrived. They directed all the glory back to God — bringing us to a place where we stop being guilty of cosmic plagiarism, taking credit for what God has done.

Our culture is obsessed with self-promotion. We celebrate so-called self-made people. We applaud individual achievement and reward self-sufficiency. But the more you become a true worshiper, the more you understand one principle: there is no such thing as a self-made person.

Who gave you the mind to think? Who gave you the strength to work? Who opened the door? Who connected you to the right people? Who woke you up this morning? Who protected you from dangers you never saw coming? Who kept you alive long enough to become what you became? If it had not been for the Lord on your side, you would not be here today.

That is why they cast down their crowns — because they understood that everything they were was a result of what God had done in their lives. And worship, when it becomes a consistent lifestyle rather than an occasional event, keeps success from turning into self-sufficiency. It reminds us that we are only stewards of what God has entrusted to us.

IV.  WORSHIP BECOMES POWERFUL WHEN IT BECOMES A CONSISTENT LIFESTYLE RATHER THAN AN OCCASIONAL EVENT

A.  Daily worship changes how you see God.

Notice something striking in the Revelation text: there was no worship leader prompting the living creatures. There was no praise team encouraging their participation, no announcement that said, “Now let’s praise God.” The living creatures cried “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” day and night without ceasing, because they never lost sight of the One who is on the throne.

When you know who is on the throne, you do not need someone to pump you up. You do not need to wait for your favorite worship leader or your favorite song. You come to church not to be entertained — you come to worship. Some of you are already worshiping in your shower in the morning. Some of you are worshiping in your car on the way here. Some of you worship on the job. You do not need all the extras — when you think about who is on the throne, it is more than enough.

Some of us only worship from about 11:15 on Sunday morning until about 1 o’clock, and then we turn it off and go back to our regular scheduled program. But if He is worthy in the sanctuary, He is worthy in the boardroom. If He is worthy during the song service, He is worthy while you are sitting in traffic. If He is worthy when things are going well, He is worthy when life becomes difficult.

Daily worship changes how you see God — and how you see God changes how you see everything else. My problems looked so big because I had taken my eyes off of Him. I was amplifying my problems, magnifying my situation, telling people how bad things were. But when I became a worshiper and saw the One on the throne in His full majesty and power and authority, I began to realize how small my problems really were. When you keep your focus on Him, your problems are not as big as you thought they were.

Before David faced Goliath, he did not go straight into the battle. He first reflected on the lion and the bear — he recounted what God had already done — and he worshiped God before he ever picked up a stone. When you are about to go into the battles of your life, begin by reflecting on what God has already done. Keep a record of God’s faithfulness. And every time you go into a battle, give God glory in advance — because you believe it is already done.

B.  Worship doesn’t stop when life gets hard.

Life is going to get hard. There are going to be things you never anticipated, things you did not expect. But just because that happens does not mean your worship has to stop. If He is worthy in heaven, He is worthy on earth. Your worship should never change because of your circumstances.

Some people’s whole disposition changes when circumstances change. They walk around bitter and walk around depressed. But consider what Job was trying to show us: Can you worship God when life goes left? Can you worship God if you lost everything, because you recognize who God is in your life?

Job — knowing his friends were watching, knowing his wife said “Curse God and die” — sat down in ashes, put on sackcloth, and declared: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” When you are a worshiper, you are the kind of person who can sit back and declare: “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll — whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well with my soul.”

When you are a worshiper, you can lift your hands and declare: I’ve had good days and bad days, hills and clouds, but all of my good days still outweigh my bad days — and I won’t complain, because God has been good to me. It does not matter what happens in your life. You are not giving God glory for applause. You are not chasing validation. You are not after the opinions of people. This is for an audience of One.

Worship has a Stance.

You can always identify a worshiper by their humility. People who are true worshipers carry a posture of humility wherever they go. When I come to this pulpit, I come in great humility — in awe that God would use somebody like me, when He could have chosen anyone. That is why, every time God gives you a platform, you always give the glory to Him.

Worship has a posture. You ought to be the kind of person who speaks to everybody around you. You should not be sitting in your seat, unavailable to the people next to you, acting as though no one can approach you. When you become a worshiper, the pride breaks down. The spirit of narcissism and arrogance has no place. A worshiper is accessible, humble, and present.

Worship has a Surrender.

The elders laid down their crowns and said, in essence: whatever everybody else is holding on to, we are giving it to You. Nothing will compete for Your glory. I am at a point in my life where nothing is going to compete for God’s glory. I may be a bishop, I may pastor a great church — but none of that competes with God’s glory. Because at the end of the day, I know that God can get this done without me.

God can get it done without you too. Lay it down today. Lay down all of the stuff you have been walking around posting and flexing about. Can you say: God, it’s not about my car. It’s not about my house. It’s not about my education. It’s all about You. I never would have what I have, I never would have the opportunities I have, if it were not for You.

Worship has a Sound.

The Bible declares: “Holy, holy, holy — the whole earth is full of His glory.” When you are a worshiper, you cannot sit there with your tongue tied. There is a sound that cannot be stopped. Even when you are bleeding, even when you are hurting, you have faith enough to still say, “God, I believe You are going to turn this around.”

When you have the sound of worship, it gets on the enemy’s nerves. Praise intimidates the enemy — because when you are worshiping, you are declaring that God made a way. God turned that situation around. Forget about protocol. Forget about who is sitting next to you. Lift your hands to the One on the throne. When you lift your hands, you are joining the angels and all of creation: “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

I declare that this is a generation that refuses to do church as usual. This is a generation going through transformation. When we worship, things break. Things shift. Heaven responds. This is your moment — lift your hands to an audience of One.

Have a blessed new week with the Lord! ❤️

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The Power of Worship

Posted on June 11, 2026 by growintheword

The Power of Worship

Part 1: When Glory Occupies the House

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

June 7, 2026

Scripture: Isaiah 6:1–8 (NKJV)

¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

² Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

³ And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

⁵ So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.

⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

I.  INTRODUCTION

Watch the full sermon: https://www.youtube.com/@mtzionnashville/streams

Worship has many expressions, and many people have only a limited understanding of what authentic worship really looks like. We are products of our denominational upbringing and cultural context. But let’s be very clear: worship is more than music. It is more than a moment. Worship is more than an emotional experience that fades away.

Worship is the environment where heaven interrupts earth, and where God reveals Himself to His people in ways that human hands could never produce. Worship is divine disruption — God coming in and literally creating access points between glory and earth so that His will can manifest in the world. “Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

Too often our culture looks at how we produce stages and spaces, and we lose sight of the power of presence and Spirit. God is not just concerned about the house being full — He is also concerned about the people in the house being filled. God is concerned about us moving out of moments of religiosity and into a pure relationship with Him.

It is important to understand the difference between glamour and glory:

  • Glamour entertains; glory transforms.
  • Glamour impresses; glory invades.
  • Glamour draws attention to people; glory draws attention to God.

The glory of God is the manifested presence of God — the character, the weight, the excellency of God. The Hebrew word translated “glory” literally means the idea of weight, substance, or significance. God wants that weight to fall in this place and in your life. When it does, everything that’s crooked will be made straight, everything that’s sick can be healed, and everything that’s broken can be repaired.

II.  REAL WORSHIP BEGINS WHEN YOUR VISION OF GOD BECOMES BIGGER THAN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

A.  When God reveals His holiness, it confronts our casual view of Him.

In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw something he had never experienced before. Uzziah had reigned for 52 years — everybody in the kingdom had grown up knowing nothing but him. But now the king was dead, the nation was in transition, and people were wondering what would come next. It was in that moment of uncertainty that God stepped on the scene and gave Isaiah an encounter.

Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.” The train of a king was symbolic of the breadth and length of his kingdom. The longer the train, the greater the kingdom. What Isaiah saw was a King whose train filled the entire temple — every single crevice and space — suggesting that God was in control of everything.

The Seraphim crying “Holy, holy, holy” emphasized the absolute purity and uniqueness of God. Even the heavenly beings covered their faces and feet in His presence. We must be careful not to allow familiarity with sacred things to cause us to lose our reverence for God. We know the songs, we know the language, we know the rhythms — but we must not let routine rob us of the fear of the Lord.

Consider the contrast: we stand for presidents, but sit for the Almighty. We scream for entertainers, but whisper in worship. We travel hours for a game, but complain about traveling to church. We spend hundreds of dollars on concerts, but struggle to give our time to God. The problem is not that we don’t know how to celebrate — we just don’t know who to celebrate.

B.  When God reveals His glory, it shakes what we thought was secure.

The text tells us that the posts of the temple shook at the voice of the heavenly beings. This shaking is not random — it is a physical response to the weight of God’s glory. The posts represent access points and anchor points: things you have depended on and leaned on.

God shakes those things so that you will know where your real help comes from. You’ve been depending on your career, your degree, your title — and God causes a situation in your life where none of those things can bring you out. Only God can. What you are experiencing may be the intentional shaking of systems and things you have leaned on, so that God can show you where your real help comes from.

Whatever is over your head is still under His feet. The cancer is under His feet. The unemployment is under His feet. Whatever you are dealing with is under His feet — and if you could just stop looking at your problem as a big thing and start looking at your God, you will begin to recognize that He has it all M

III.  WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER GOD’S PRESENCE, IT EXPOSES WHAT MUST CHANGE IN YOU

A.  The presence of God exposes what familiarity has allowed us to ignore.

Isaiah’s vision did not lead him to celebrate himself — it forced him to confront himself. There is a difference between a religious experience and a spiritual encounter. Religious people say, “I know what’s wrong with you.” People who have had a spiritual encounter say, “God has shown me what’s wrong with me.” You cannot get into the presence of God and not see yourself for who you are.

Worship is more than inspiration — it is transformation. Many of us have begun to evaluate worship by our preferences instead of by God’s presence. We ask: Did they sing my song? Was it loud enough? Did they do it the way I like it? But the question of worship has never been whether we enjoyed it. The question is whether God enjoyed it.

Worship is like a mirror. You can try to squeeze into something that doesn’t fit, but the mirror will not lie. I don’t care what you post on social media or what you put on Facebook to try to convince others — what will not lie is worship. When you worship, God is going to show you who you really are.

Isaiah admitted: “I am a man of unclean lips, dwelling among a people of unclean lips.” The glory of God made him aware that he had been living in a place and among days he did not want to confront. God doesn’t show you yourself to condemn you — He shows you yourself so you can experience transformation.

Smoke does three things:

  • Chokes — Smoke chokes out whatever cannot stand to be in that atmosphere. This is why some people get uncomfortable in certain rooms. When glory gets on you, some things and some people cannot stay in your presence — and that’s not about you. It’s what’s on you. Glory chokes out everything that isn’t right.
  • Climbs — Smoke rises. It doesn’t stay at one level. Anything that gets in the atmosphere of smoke has no choice but to go up. Put your marriage in the glory — it’s on the way up. Put your resources in the glory — they’re on the way up. Put your career in the glory — it’s on the way up. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
  • Clings — You can’t hide smoke. There is no Lysol strong enough to mask it, because smoke lingers. Just like in the natural, when you’ve been in the glory, it clings to you. You can’t deny it. People will look at you and say, “You don’t look like you belong where you used to be.” That’s because glory is on you.

B.  The grace of God always meets us at the point of our confession.

At the very moment of Isaiah’s confession — when people might have condemned him or canceled him — grace showed up. One of the seraphim flew to him with a live coal from the altar, touched his lips, and said: “Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged.” Just like that, grace met him at his place of confession.

You cannot out-sin grace. The job someone has is not because they’ve been so good — that’s grace. The car they drove here in — that’s grace. The food in the pantry, the clothes on the back — those are grace. It’s amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I was lost, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see.

IV.  A TRUE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WILL ALWAYS MOVE YOU FROM WORSHIP TO PURPOSE

A.  God’s voice always calls for someone willing to carry His mission.

After the encounter, after the confession, after the cleansing — Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Notice the pronoun: “Whom shall I send” — and then “who will go for Us?” This is a revelation of the triune nature of God.

God who is Father is the One who commissions — He gives the instructions. God who is Word gives you the directions on where to go. God who is Spirit gives you the power to fulfill what you have to do. He never sends you somewhere without directions, and He never allows you to do it without His Spirit. Whatever God gives you as a directive, you don’t choose it — it chooses you.

God is not calling you because of your ability — He is calling you because of your availability. You may be scared because you don’t feel adequate. You may feel like your flaws disqualify you, or that you don’t have enough resources. But God would never give you an assignment without also giving you the anointing to carry it out.

There is something God wants you to do. I know you’re scared. I know it sounds crazy in the natural — but that’s how you know it’s God. It’s not something you would do for yourself. You have to have the courage to step out and do what God has called you to do, because when you’re doing God’s job, God always blesses it.

B.  The most powerful response in worship is a surrendered life.

God doesn’t need your money. The Atlantic Ocean will not run out of water because you stopped giving. The sun will not run out of energy because you stopped attending. God wants you here so He can bless you. That’s your covering. The only thing you can actually give God is worship — and worship equates to surrender.

There is one word God has been waiting on from you. One word that will shift everything in your life: Yes. You don’t have to figure out all the details. Just say yes to His will, yes to His way, yes to what He has called you to do. That’s what worship does. It makes your will so yielded that, like Isaiah, you say: “Here am I — send me.”

Several years ago, a major airport experienced a system outage. Hundreds of planes were lined up on the tarmac. Pilots were trained, passengers were seated, destinations were programmed, fuel tanks were full — everything necessary for the flight was present. But one thing was missing: the control tower had not cleared their takeoff. For hours, those planes sat there — tremendous potential, sitting still — because they had not received authorization to leave the gate.

Then the signal came. One by one, those planes pushed back from the gate, moved out to the runway, and launched into the purpose for which they were built. The plane was not designed to live at the gate. The gate was only a place of preparation. The runway was a place of transition. The sky was the place of the assignment.

That’s what Isaiah 6 is about. The temple was Isaiah’s gate. The altar was his runway. The nations were his assignment. God filled the house with glory because He was preparing somebody for departure.

Maybe that’s why God filled this house today — not so you could shout and stay, not so you could dance and stay — but because somebody needs clearance to take off. The glory did not just come to bless us. The glory came to commission us. It did not just come to make us comfortable — it came to push us into something we would otherwise not do for ourselves.

This is your season. Go do what you have always prayed about doing. The teacher needs to leave this room and impact the classroom. The business person needs to leave this room and impact the boardroom. The mother needs to leave this room and impact her family. The young adult needs to leave this room and impact a whole generation.

Have a blessed rest of your week! ❤️

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Podcast Episode: Faithfulness In Little Things

Posted on June 8, 2026 by growintheword

Pip: Growintheword’s Blog is running a sermon series about smallness — which, in a world obsessed with scale, is either countercultural wisdom or the most underrated productivity advice you’ll find on a Sunday morning.

Mara: This episode follows that series closely — we’re in the territory of stewardship, faithfulness in small things, and what it actually means to trust God with what you already have before asking for more.

Pip: Let’s start with the question the series keeps putting on the table: can God trust you with little?

Lessons In Stewardship

Mara: The thread running through this series is a single, uncomfortable diagnostic: how you handle what you already have is not a warm-up for your real life. It is your real life, already being evaluated.

Pip: The anchor text here is Part 4, built on Luke 16:10, and the sermon doesn’t bury the premise. It opens with this: “More does not transform you. It exposes you.”

Mara: That’s the whole argument in five words. What you are right now gets amplified when more is placed in your hands — the habits practiced in private show up in public, the character carried when nothing is at stake is the same character that shows up when everything is on the line.

Pip: Which means the quiet assumption that we’ll get serious once the opportunity gets bigger is, to use the sermon’s phrasing, a fantasy about a future version of ourselves that doesn’t exist yet.

Mara: The sermon organizes this around three movements. First, faithfulness builds capacity — not as a reward, but as a training mechanism. Small assignments are described as intentional, not incidental. God starts small, the text says, not to restrict you, but to refine you.

Pip: And then it gets specific about what blocks that process — entitlement. The sermon draws a sharp line between people who treat small opportunities as inconveniences and people who treat them as investments.

Mara: Right. The third movement is obedience, and this is where the sermon lands its most practical claim: “Discipline drives destiny.” It distinguishes between wanting a breakthrough and actually doing the daily, unglamorous work that positions you for one.

Pip: There’s a line in Part 4 that deserves to sit on its own: “The Holy Spirit will not do for you what discipline is supposed to develop in you.” That is not the sentence a congregation expecting a straight motivational sermon is ready for.

Mara: It’s a deliberate tension the text holds. The sermon is deeply pneumatological — it frames faithfulness as a fruit of the Spirit, not a personality trait — but it refuses to let that become an excuse for passivity. The Spirit empowers; discipline is still the human side of the equation.

Pip: Part 5 picks up exactly there, shifting from the question of whether you’ll be faithful to the question of whether you’ll let go.

Mara: Part 5 — titled “It’s Enough For God To Use” — works through the feeding of the five thousand in John 6. The central move is reframing scarcity: “The danger is that we don’t lack resources — we just lack an understanding of what to do with what God has already given us.”

Pip: So the problem isn’t the size of what you’re holding. It’s that you’re still holding it.

Mara: Exactly. The sermon identifies three reasons people resist surrender: focusing on limitations instead of lordship, fearing loss instead of trusting multiplication, and wanting understanding before obedience. The miracle in John 6, it argues, begins not at the multiplication but at the moment the boy hands his lunch over.

Pip: And Part 5 closes with stewardship — the twelve leftover baskets after the feeding aren’t a footnote. They’re framed as legacy: “Your leftovers should leave a legacy.”

Mara: Both posts are asking the same underlying question from different angles — Part 4 through the lens of character under obscurity, Part 5 through the lens of release and multiplication. Together they make the case that the small thing in your hand right now is already the starting point.

Pip: Which brings us right back to where we started — and probably to wherever you’re sitting right now.

Mara: The throughline across both posts is that smallness isn’t a waiting room. It’s the actual arena where character, faithfulness, and readiness are being formed.

Pip: Next time, we’ll see what else this series surfaces — because a sermon sequence willing to say “discipline does what the Spirit won’t do for you” probably has more ground to cover.

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Part 5: It’s Enough For God To Use

Posted on June 4, 2026 by growintheword

Lessons in Little

Part 5: It’s Enough For God To Use

Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

May 31st, 2026  •  May 2026 Sermon Series

Scripture: John 6:5–13 (NKJV)

5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”

13 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.

I.          INTRODUCTION

One of the things that keeps so many people stuck, living beneath our God-given potential, is this idea that what we have is not enough. We wonder: If I had more money… if I had more connections, more influence… if I had just more of anything, my situation might be a little different. Rather than focusing on what we have, we always focus on what we don’t have. But I need to tell you that the blessing of the Lord over your life today begins with you shifting from the posture of complaining about what you do not have, to recognizing the blessing in what you do have. There is potential, there is blessing, tied to what you do have.

Understand this: the kingdom of God is not about human sufficiency. The kingdom of God is about divine multiplication. God has never needed a whole lot in order to perform a miracle. He never needs abundance to perform a miracle. God just needs a willing vessel. God takes small things and He does big things with them.

Consider all the ways God has worked with little:

  • Job’s oil sustained a widow and paid her debt.
  • A rod in the hand of Moses brought liberation to God’s people.
  • David’s slingshot brought down Goliath.
  • God used a handful of meal and a little oil in the time of Elijah to bless him during the famine.
  • God used a jawbone to defeat Samson’s enemies.
  • God used a tiny little cloud in the sky to bring an abundance of rain.
  • God used Gideon’s 300 against thousands of troops coming against him.
  • God used the mustard seed to teach us about the power of faith.
  • God used a borrowed donkey to usher the Son of the living God through the streets of Jerusalem as they cried, “Hosanna!”
  • God used two fish and five loaves to feed 5,000.
  • God used a little servant girl to point Naaman toward his healing.
  • God even used an empty tomb to change the course of human history.

The danger is that we don’t lack resources — we just lack an understanding of what to do with what God has already given us. Too many people are waiting for more while sitting on what God has already given them to use. And the truth is, what you’re holding on to may look small to you, but in God’s hands, it is more than enough to meet what you need today.

I want you to understand the power and potential that reside in the thing that God has already given to you. The question is not whether you have enough — the question is actually: Are you willing to release what God has given to you?

In this Gospel of John, Jesus is surrounded by a multitude of people who are following Him. They are hungry — yes, spiritually hungry, but also physically hungry. The scripture tells us that their physical hunger could not go unnoticed that day. Jesus had compassion on those who followed Him. As the day progressed, Jesus raised a question to Philip about where they could buy bread. But the text makes clear: this is not about information; this is about investigation. Jesus already knew what He was going to do, but He wanted to expose how they were thinking. Because before God changes your situation, He has to evaluate your mindset to relocate you into a different space. With an old mindset, it’s like getting you out of Egypt, but not getting Egypt out of you.

Andrew finds a boy with a small lunch. Philip calculates and says, “We don’t have enough — this is just not gonna be enough.” Andrew sees a boy with a lunch but dismisses him. And what we see is the tension between human limitation and divine possibility. The disciples are focused on what they lack, but Jesus is focused on what is available.

What is often missed in many of our lives is that this is the place where the miracle happens. At the very moment when you’ve concluded you don’t have enough, when your back is up against the wall and it looks like nothing can be done — you are in the perfect place for God to show up. That’s when the adventure happens.

So, I hope you understand something: what God is after is not your abundance — He needs your agreement. He is asking: What are you willing to release?

II.          SURRENDER SETS THE STAGE

The turning point of this story is not the miracle — it is actually surrender. It is the very moment where the boy hands over his lunch to Jesus. The miracle did not start when the lunch was multiplied. The miracle started at the point of surrender.

Many of us ask God to do great things in our lives, but we hold on so tightly to the very thing God wants to use — because fear tells us to hold back, because of what we might lose. But faith tells us to surrender to God, because whatever you surrender to God will always be multiplied.

The miracle does not begin when Jesus breaks the bread. It begins at the moment of release. God does not multiply what you hide — He only multiplies what you hand over. So if you keep holding on to it, that’s all you will ever have. But the very moment you release it, that’s when transformation takes place.

The reality is that many of us are just one act of surrender away from the biggest blessing we have ever experienced in our lives. The small thing you’re holding on to could be the seed of significance that turns your entire situation around. Surrender to God is not weakness — surrender to God is the gateway to the supernatural.

A.   Surrender Silences Scarcity

Scarcity talks. When you don’t have much, that little voice will show up on you. Scarcity will tell you to hold on, to protect, to preserve, to play it safe. But surrender says: If I release this to God, I’m declaring that God is not just my supply — God is my source.

Because God is my source, I can always get another supply. If I lose my supply, I don’t lose my mind, because I know where my source comes from. Job said, “I came out of my mother’s womb naked, and shall I return there? The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” If you think your job is your God, your supply is your source — you’ve missed it. But when you recognize that God is your source, you can look at a job loss and say, “I’m not worried about that, because God is mine.”

3 Reasons Why We Struggle With Surrender:

  1. Focusing on limitations instead of lordship.
  2. Fear loss instead of trusting multiplication.
  3. We want understanding before obedience.

1. Focusing on Limitations Instead of Lordship

The lad could’ve looked at his lunch and said, “This is not enough.” But instead, we hold back because it seems too small, too insignificant, too inadequate. We measure our resources against the size of our problem, versus measuring our problem against the size of our God. So what looks little in your hand becomes limitless in God’s.

2. Fear Loss Instead of Trusting Multiplication

You’re playing it safe. “That’s all I got. I can’t afford to give that away.” Because it feels too risky, you hold on to your time, your talent, your treasure, your opportunities. But the miracle only happened after it was released.

3. We Want Understanding Before Obedience

“It’s got to make sense. I need more details. Give me more explanation and I’ll do it.” But you have to trust God even when you can’t trace God. You have to lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and let Him direct your path.

And pay attention to this: all the adults in the room were calculating the situation — and a little child is the one who offered up his lunch. You wonder why Jesus says, “Become like little children”? Because children have not yet been corrupted by the experiences many of us have had. Our experiences of dysfunction and disappointment have put on layers that cause us to have suspicion about trusting God completely.

Matthew 18:2–4 (NKJV)

2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 19:14 (NKJV)

“But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’”

III.          OBEDIENCE OPENS OVERFLOW

Everybody wants a breakthrough. Everybody wants a miracle. But nobody wants to obey. Obedience to God is better than sacrifice. Many of us don’t realize that Jesus was giving specific instructions that must be obeyed. You may be wondering why something isn’t happening in your life — because you are one simple act of obedience away from the thing occurring. Your breakthrough is on the other side of your obedience. Your miracle is on the other side of your obedience.

What did Jesus do? The text says: Jesus told the multitude to sit down. Maybe your biggest problem is that you keep trying to figure everything out. Would you please just go somewhere and sit down? Because when you sit down, that means you’ve learned how to be still and know that He is God. You’ve learned how to move from activity to trust, which allows God to do what you cannot do.

1. Gratitude Grows The Miracle

Before Jesus multiplied the food, He paused. Don’t miss this. Gratitude is not a reaction — it is a requirement. For something that appears insufficient, a natural perspective says, “This doesn’t even make sense.” But a spiritual perspective: gratitude shifts your focus from what’s missing to what’s present. It aligns your heart with God’s provision.

You may be blocking your breakthrough because you always complain about what you don’t have. But would you just sit down and reflect on what you do have? Somebody would love to have what you have — the car you’re complaining about, the job you hate going to, the very house you walk in. Gratitude declares: God is still good. God is still present. And if He is present, He is able to do what I don’t even think can be done.

A. Thanksgiving Triggers Transformation

Jesus gave thanks — and nothing had changed yet. But everything was about to. You have to learn that thanksgiving triggers transformation.

Biblical examples of thanksgiving that preceded the miracle:

  • Jesus — gave thanks before multiplying the loaves and fish (John 6:11)
  • Paul and Silas — sang praises in prison before the earthquake set them free (Acts 16:25–26)
  • Jehoshaphat — appointed singers to praise before the battle was won (2 Chronicles 20:21–22)
  • Jesus and Lazarus — Jesus gave thanks before raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:41–43)
  • One leper — returned to give thanks and was made whole (Luke 17:15–19)
  • Jonah — gave thanks from the belly of the fish before his deliverance (Jonah 2:9)
  • David — gave thanks and praised God before seeing his victories (Psalm 34:1)
  • Jesus — gave thanks at the Last Supper, before His sacrifice and resurrection (Luke 22:19)

B. Distribution Demonstrates Dominion

Watch how Jesus keeps the food. He gives the food to the disciples and instructs them to distribute it. The miracle does not just happen — it flows. It moves through their hands as they serve others. That is the most powerful way God works.

The miracle was not simply that Jesus multiplied the food. Jesus could have fed everybody directly — but He chose to feed them through the disciples. Why? Because often God exercises divine power through human participation.

We spend so much time asking God to send provision to us, while God is asking whether we are willing to distribute what He has already put in our possession. God has not called you to be a reservoir of selfishness — He has called you to be a channel of blessing. “Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

IV.          STEWARDSHIP SECURES THE SURPLUS

After everyone is fed and satisfied, Jesus does something else. He says, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” After feeding as many as 20,000 people, Jesus instructs them to gather the leftovers. Those twelve baskets represent legacy.

A. Stewardship Sustains Success

Miracles open the door. Stewardship keeps it open.

The twelve baskets are evidence of God’s provision. If you waste what God has given you, you diminish your capacity for more. But if you store it well, you position yourself for continued overflow. Stewardship is not just managing resources — it’s honoring the source.

Many people who have never had anything, and they finally come into something, make the mistake of spending it all on themselves trying to prove they have it. Without wisdom, the moment they come into something, they squander it, with no legacy to leave — because nobody taught them that their leftovers should leave a legacy.

God did not bring you out of “not enough” to “just enough” for you to squander it. Take those twelve baskets and put them somewhere useful.

B. Leftovers Leave a Legacy

The twelve baskets represent legacy. The first generation may see things pass through their hands — but because of your stewardship of your gifting, your vision, your dream, and the things God has deposited in your life — your values can be passed on to generations that haven’t even been born yet.

Behind you will be a trail of generosity, a trail of blessing. Someone you don’t even know is going to give God glory because you recognized that with a small thing, you trusted God, God multiplied it, and because God multiplied it, you came to a place of legacy.

Take a seed and put it in your hands. You might minimize that seed and say, “It’s nothing.” And in your hands, you may be right — until you release it into the soil. Once you release it into the soil, that’s when potential happens. That seed gets into the earth, it begins to break, it begins to multiply, and it becomes all it was supposed to be.

Even when people told you that you were not enough — something transformational happens when you put your life in the hands of Jesus. Whatever you turn over to God, He multiplies. And the person sitting next to you: they said you would be nothing. But you turned it over to Jesus, and He multiplied your life.

Make this declaration:

“I am the blessing.”

“You are enough.”

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