Hi everyone, my name is Renee Evans and I am the Senior Leader of Bethel Church in Austin, Texas. I want to welcome you to God Today. I want to talk to you about how celebration brings increase.
Zechariah 4:10, it says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” I believe that we are even to take it one step further, and not only not despise the days of small beginnings, but learn how to celebrate them. Learning to celebrate our small beginnings can oftentimes be a big indication of how God can trust us with the big things.
See, celebration enables us to be thankful in every season because God is always working. If we would just shift our focus onto the things He is doing, instead of on to the things He hasn’t done yet, then we would begin to see there is always a reason to celebrate.
I remember as a new church, we didn’t have a building, we didn’t have any sound set up. We didn’t have anything, but we did have the Holy Spirit and a bunch of people who were hungry for the presence of God. I remember one day we were given a second-hand microphone – our very own microphone. I remember hearing the Lord say, “If you can learn to celebrate the small things as though they were the big things, then I will trust you with increase and I will do more for your church than you can imagine.
So the next Sunday, we took time as a church to celebrate, and praise God for our one microphone. We shouted, and we sang, and we praised, and you would have thought we had just been given $1,000,000 dollars. But it was just a microphone. We were so thankful for this microphone. And now today we have been blessed with increase. We own more sound equipment than I ever thought we would less than a year into our journey as a church. We are preparing to acquire much more this coming season.
In Luke 16:10, it says, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.” See, God is so attracted to our thankfulness and our faithfulness, that I believe He is just waiting to release Kingdom resources to those who know how to celebrate. To celebrate in the good times, and the bad times. The times of trial and in times of favor. We have to learn to celebrate in all things. We are not only called to celebrate small things, but to be faithful with them also, and to prepare ourselves for increase.
I want to pray for you today and believe with you that as you learn to celebrate in the small things, that God is going to bring increase into your life. Lord, we thank you for the gift you have placed on each of our lives. I thank you for the small beginnings that you give us. I ask, Lord, we will be found faithful in our stewardship. We will learn to be extravagant in our celebration of our thankfulness. I thank you for your goodness and I thank you for your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.