Core Values:
Jesus is our message
People are our priority
Development is our Focus
Unity is our pursuit
Team is our structure
Excellence is our standard
Generosity is our privilege

We have already covered Jesus is our message and people are our priority. We firmly believe that everyone of these core values are paramount to Authentic Relationships, Real experiences and Lasting Freedom.

Today we are going to dive head first into development. Because we all have Good works in us to walk out.

What is development?
- to grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

So lets take a quick self assessment:
Have you grown as person spiritually, mentally, or physically over the last 90 days?
- Has that growth been consistent or would the chart look more like a rollercoster?

A lot of people measure their life in highs and lows. To do this it would look like a a bell curve, the ups and down. This is a reactive lifestyle. This is a life that is a life lead by misappropriated values. A proactive life style is a life lead by God given values. Pastor Jason said this in the first message: "A value dictates how you operate."

The problem with development is that it relies on your belief that you can be more than what you are now.

We all have potential. We can see the potential but the problem with potential is untapped potential is wasted. The more we are developed the more potential is met. Undeveloped potential will have flashes of purpose but developed purpose will see your potential is met.

So you can have the generational change inside of you but if you decide to sit on it nothing will happen.

Theodore Roosevelt said it this way:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

A lot of times we hinder our development because of what if. A possibility keeps you from something great because at the end of the day you can either succeed or fail forward.

Lets look at Ephesians 2:8-10:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

There are good works in us that we need to walk out. Because we have encountered the message of Jesus we now know that people are the priority for us to focus on so we need to be aggressive in our pursuit of development so we can walk in the position of the kingdom that God has for us.

We have to trust and believe that God has a plan for our lives that is greater than the monotony of the American lifestyle.

Because we have a simple decision infant of us: Development or apathy.

Development will lead you to a place where the fulfillment in the kingdom and to those around you will appreciate, but the apathy of indecision will cause the potential of fulfillment to depreciate.

Proverbs 1:29-33
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,30 would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, 31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.32 For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

3 enemies of Development

1. Potential
- The enemy of development is a focus on potential
- Potential doesn’t require change or action on your part. Do not focus on your potential or others potential.

2. Isolation
- The further you are from community the easier it is for you to fall into a rut of apathy.
- The more you are isolated the more likely it is that the message God has stirred in you won’t be delivered to the next generation

3. Delusion
- We have to make sure we are self aware. The more we have puffed ups who we are or allowed a negative narrative to steal what God has said over us, the further into apathy we will fall.

The scariest thing about development is addressing past failures and current weakness.

This can cause us to be overwhelmed by past hurts, anxiety and fear. I want to say this lovingly, while we are not responsible for the hurt or trauma, we are responsible for what we do with it. We can not allow the hurts to dictate the fulfillment of our purpose.

Lets Look at the life of David:
He had three phases of Development:

1. The Field
1 Samuel 17:34-37
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Before David was anointed king he spent time in the field as a shepherd. He learned to fight things that were bigger and stranger with His sling. But more importantly he cultivated a relationship with God.

Before he Encountered Saul though His brother said this:
- His brother whom was present during His anointing to be King
- 28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
- When Saul gave the okay for David to go Saul tried to dress David in his Tunis and armor. But God had already provided David the tools. We must understand that we can’t wear or use someone else’s tools to complete the purpose God created us for
- 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

2. The Cave
After he was anointed and King Saul was trying to kill him fled and went cave to cave but as he we in the cave men began to follow him. During these moments he was being developed to lead.

1 Samuel 24:3-7
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” 7 With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

In this moment David was tested with the fulfillment of Potential and Purpose. He was already anointed King, He was already recognized as king by the men following Him. And in this moment it seemed that everything was set up for him to take the throne. But He knew that God would make the way. Not Him.

3. The Throne
He drifted due to pride but remember what he learned in the field and was able to set up the kingdom for the next generation.

When you are being developed pride can creep in a create a narrative about that situation which will cause you to build a defense before you are even corrected

David made sure to empower Solomon by acknowledging Him as King. Your development can have a greater purpose when you make sure to pass it along to the next generation.

So we are at a point where we know what development can do and what lack of initiative will do to your development cycle.


2 points:
1. Surround yourself with people who care
Find people that know god, know you, love god, love you, and have your best interest in mind. These people will push you to pursue the things that the enemy tells you can’t be done. You can either surround yourself with people who talk about your potential or call out your purpose. Pastor Jason said something great the first message a value dictates how you operate.

2. Create times for development
Development happens in community. The more we find ourselves in the depths of community we will have the pressure of influence to move us toward the goodness of God. The thing I love about men's group is the fact that we all get together and we are able to chip in on other peoples' lives and we are able to receive advice from the wisdom of others.

All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.
Calvin Coolidge

The Development Challenge:
1. Reach out to some one that knows God, Knows You, Loves God, Loves You, and has your best interest in mind.
2. Make it to a meetup with the expectation of vulnerability.
3. How can you add value to someone today?

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?