Dharius Daniels - Whatever You Say

I want to talk about this subject this Christmas. Here’s a topic: whatever you say. Whatever you say. Clap your hands. Change, family! On the day, we’re concluding a series of sermons, a collection of preaching presentations that is part of our Advent series. We have each week reminded and reiterated—we’ve rehearsed this truth—that the word «Advent» means «coming.» It has roots in the Latin word «adventus,» and it is a season where people of faith celebrate and express intentional appreciation for the coming of Jesus. The Easter season is the time we celebrate Him getting up, but the Christmas season is when we celebrate Him coming down. I am telling you, I am glad He came down. Yes, His incarnation—God putting on flesh—is a powerful picture of possibility for you and for me. We’ve argued that the coming of Jesus is not just an indication of God’s desire to save us from sin; the coming of Jesus is also an indication of God’s desire to rescue us from the ordinary. Yes, He is an usher who wants to lead us out of the ordinary into the extraordinary. Because out of all the words the Bible uses to describe the believer, «normal,» «regular,» and «ordinary» are not among them. I don’t know who I am talking to on this Christmas celebration, but I just need to remind you that you are not regular. Don’t you talk regular. Don’t you settle for regular. Don’t you accept regular. Don’t you box yourself in. Boxes are for things; they are not for people. You don’t need the anointing to be regular; God has called, equipped, and commissioned us for greater. Somebody say «greater!» But here’s what we’ve established, family: we don’t get to experience greater because we want to; we get to experience greater because we choose to. You don’t get the life you deserve; you get the life you decide. Did you hear what I just said? Greatness is a result of a decision that you make to refuse to waste any potential that God put on the inside of you. A Quaker Christian named Elton Trueblood put it this way: he said, «Intentional mediocrity is sin.» It is saying to God that you could have taken some of the ability you gave me and given it to somebody else who would have done more with it. But I believe I’m talking to a people who have gone through enough seasons in their lives where they realize, «I’ve wasted potential in the past, ” but that does not mean I’m going to waste it in my future. I believe I’m talking to some people who are not even waiting for New Year’s Eve yet, and you are sitting on ready right now. You are waiting for 2023, because the devil has no idea what’s about to be unleashed on him this next year! I’ve got some people that refuse to settle for regular, and you’re going to step into your potential. If I’m talking to you, make some noise in the room! Yes! We don’t experience greatness because we want to; we experience greater because we choose to. We can’t choose greatness, family; we can only choose to adopt the traits, habits, and practices that produce greatness. I’m going to say it again: you can’t choose greatness; you can only choose to adopt the traits, practices, and habits that produce greatness. You can’t choose peace; you can only choose to do the things with your mind that produce peace. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah! Yeah! You can’t choose joy; you can only choose to establish the boundaries you need to set, where you need to set them, and how you need to set them to protect your joy. John Maxwell puts it this way: this is powerful, family. He says, „You don’t pick your future; you pick your habits, and your habits pick your future.“ So we’ve been throughout this series identifying traits that we can choose, and if we choose these traits, we experience greatness, right? Am I making sense so far? So on week one, we said you’ve got to choose patience. Week two, we said you’ve got to choose gratitude. Week three, we said you’ve got to choose flexibility. Last week, we said you’ve got to choose awareness. And today, in these 15 minutes I have left, I’ve got one more for my change family. Now, if you’re satisfied with part of what God has for you, then you can play Temple Run right now. But if you want absolutely everything God’s got for you, I want to know who wants the last one. Who wants the last one? Okay, here it is! Here it is, family! We not only need patience; we not only need gratitude; we not only need flexibility; we not only need awareness; you know what else we need? Here it is: greatness requires grit. I’ve never seen anyone great who does not have grit. Watch this! What’s grit, Pastor Darius? Angela Duckworth talks about it in her book. She says grit is passionate and sustained persistence. See, that’s the Angela Duckworth definition, but I want to give you the Darius Daniels definition. The Darius Daniels definition of grit is this: grit is long faith. Are y’all okay this Christmas? I said grit is long faith. „Dr. Darius, what do you mean by long faith? I’ve heard of strong faith.“ Okay, well, strong faith speaks to how big can I believe. Long faith speaks to how long I can believe and keep on believing when it seems like believing is not working. James puts it this way in James chapter 1, verse number 3: he says, „Because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.“