More than anything, we should want to want to be faithful.

Let's ask God to help us want to want to be faithful in the waiting, in the delays, detours, and discouragement, in the fight, even when we fail, and above all, in our relationship with him.

More than anything, we should want to be found faithful. Psalm 101:6 says that the Lord’s eyes will be on the faithful so that they may dwell with him. The Lord is looking for faithful people to be in a relationship with him. Jesus says that when we are faithful, then we will abound with blessings (Proverbs 28:20).

Imagine going to a dinner party, and there is no food left or a place to sit. Does God experience the desire to serve us the meal of a miracle, but then finds that there is no room for him at the table?

Jesus tells us himself that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Yet, it is our natural inclination to enjoy receiving more than giving. Often when we give, we expect to be blessed for it, but sometimes the blessing doesn’t look how we think it should look.

About eighteen months ago, City Church realized the vision to expand its role as growing stewards of the city of Chicago. We have grown beyond our current space, and we have a heart to provide even more for this city. We are the youngest median age congregation of any stewardship group we sought out. We are now working with Impact Stewardship on the Beyond Campaign to build our vision to go beyond for God.

City Church is in the middle of a miracle. God has moved supernaturally since our very first service. However, in this season, God is going to provide beyond our wildest imaginations for his purpose and his plan.

Last week we studied the calling of Moses to build a sanctuary for the Lord. In this passage, the children of Israel are no longer nomads. They are in the promised land, postured to flourish. God asked David to have his son Solomon build a sanctuary for him. The greatest privilege we will ever have is to be asked by God to do something for God.

Today we are launching the Beyond campaign. This passage details the first capital campaign in scripture. In this passage, God is asking for an offering, for a dwelling place.

We don’t need a building to see God move. God does not need a building to reveal his character and nature. But when God asks us to do something, it is the greatest privilege of our lives to do it.

Discouragement is a destructive power. If we do not move out of discouragement, it can become extremely toxic--in our lives, our relationships, and in our callings. Discouragement works through a questioning spirit, the “why” in discouragement.

When God is working and moving, we try to impose our systems of measurement onto God. We tend to measure ourselves out of miracles. We tend to measure ourselves out of blessings. We

tend to measure ourselves out of God’s purpose. We tend to measure ourselves out of God’s plan.