Our God is alive and He is moving. He is not sitting in heaven saying “what will be, will be”. When we come to church, we need to expect to get something from God.

Luke 5:4-11 - story of Peter letting his net down on the other side of the boat. The great thing about Peter was that he was the “first” disciple. He was prominent throughout the gospels. Peter was zealous and excited about whatever Jesus asked him to do. Peter was the one who always ran in first. He was always the first one to jump, and often the first to fall. He had all the humanity that we have. As we try to achieve what God has for us, we can relate to Peter because we don’t always get it right.

When Jesus asked His disciples who the people said He was, Peter spoke up first and said that He was the Son of the living God. Jesus’ response was (paraphrased), “Way to go, Peter - you got a God-revelation”. Just a few minutes later, Jesus tells His disciples that He will be crucified, and again Peter speaks up first and says, “No way, I would never let that happen to you!” Jesus’ response is, “Get behind me, Satan!” So, in the span of a few minutes, Peter gets a “way to go!” and a harsh rebuke. As Christians living in the south, we sometimes have trouble receiving the “way to go” from Jesus and we live in the rebuke. We feel like we need to be perfect, which is not required from us.

Jesus asked Peter to come to the mountain and pray and he fell asleep!! Not what you want to be doing when Jesus asks you to pray with Him! God shows up and as Peter wakes up, he quickly says, “Should I build an alter??” They ignore him, which is pretty much the worst thing that could happen. All of us know that when we are the lowest person on the totem pole, we don’t speak. Peter didn’t take that into consideration, but his heart was for the kingdom, and he wanted to do the right thing. We are all Peter…we have heart.

When Jesus is walking on the water, Peter is the first one out of the boat. Even though he sank, he had the right heart. In the garden of Gethsemene, Peter cuts off the soldier’s ear in an attempt to save Jesus. He ends up creating more work for his boss because Jesus healed his ear! That was not the desired response for Peter.

Peter set himself apart with his zeal, passion, and faith. Even when he screwed up, he kept going. Even when we have no people showing up to our connect groups, we keep persevering. Peter kept going even into Acts. He waited in the upper room and was there for the Day of Pentecost. He was the one the stepped forward and addressed the crowd and 5000 people got saved. He now had the Holy Spirit resting on him, and things started to happen. He healed the paralytic man at the temple. Now, it’s not just Peter…it’s Peter plus the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:12 - Peter SAW his opportunity. Now, instead of Peter just being a guy that was doing his best and not always hitting the mark, Peter had a revelation of who God was. He knew it wasn’t about him anymore. It was about God moving through him. Even if Peter stopped speaking, he said that the rocks would cry out and praise God.

Peter was an average Joe with a heart and a spirit after God. Peter died, and now we are all Peter. We can’t wait any longer for someone else to step up. We know who we are…and now we need to know who God is in us. God will build His church ON us because WE are Peter.

Mark 8:14 - 21 – In this scripture, Jesus is angry at his disciples because they are focusing too much on what they have and what they see and are missing the revelation Jesus is trying to give them. Jesus says, beware of the yeast of the Pharisees – (yeast in the Bible represented sin because you only needed a little to enlarge the whole loaf). Beware of the sin of the Pharisees. The Pharisees had no faith. They couldn’t equate Jesus and his deity, so they tried to explain away his miracles. But instead, all the disciples could think about was the fact that they did not have enough food.

Jesus replied, why are you so worried about having no food? Why won’t you learn or understand? Can’t you remember what I just did (referring to the miracle of feeding the 5000)? I wasn’t talking about bread – I was trying to give you a revelation.

But the disciples missed it, because their minds went straight to the food. If all you think about is what you have, you can miss the revelation of what you really have – what you have in God. Things are different when you get them in the hands of Jesus. God will something small and transform into something that is huge. It looks small to us when we think that is all we have. But that’s not all we have – it’s all we have if it stays where it is and we keep it – we have to get it into the hands of God.

This is especially true with tithes and finances. It may not seem like a lot to you, but if you get it into the hands of God, it has multiplying power. What you have in your hand is like your life. Jesus says stop worrying about what you have – I have proven to you what I can do with a little – I have proven to you that I can transform a little into abundance, as with feeding the 5000. What you have will only ever be what you see as long as it is in your hands. When you give it to Jesus – the high priest - it can be something else. Every time we give – we tithe, give to building fund, give offerings – we take something that is finite, that is tangibly in a boundary, and we break the boundaries over whatever that thing is. In the hands of Jesus, it becomes miraculous. It can multiply and do things that it never could if it stays in your hand.

I never want to be in God’s house and not participating on every level – involved spiritually, physically and financially. I want to always have my heart engaged. Jesus is always teaching us something. He wants to get us involved in our miracle – wants to grow us, not do it all for us. Between lacking and abundance there is a plan that God wants to bring forth in your life so he gets you involved.

Mountains in our lives are there to be climbed. They are obstacles meant to be conquered. Once we climb the mountain, we can reach higher and see farther. If we don’t climb the mountain, we never gain the knowledge and understanding in it, and we never see the answers God wants us to see. Mountains aren’t there for us to just look at or go around. They aren’t there to scare us. God is waiting for us at the top of the mountain to give us revelation and prepare us for the next step in our journey.

Mountains are very specific things. They are things that we need to overcome in our lives, and they help us build our trust in God and walk in faith. That is why it is so important that we face them and not go around them. If we never climb the mountain and never conquer it, we will never have the power of God released into that area of our lives, and it will continue to hold us back. You can go around it, but you will never grow in God or learn to see farther than what is in front of you. God will always provide for us, whether we face our mountains or run from them, but we will never receive the revelations he has for us and we will never live the big life and the big destiny he has for us when we are living in fear.

God isn’t just on top of the mountain - God is also in the mountains. God is is the journey. The Bible says to count it all joy when you face trial. Sometimes God sends the trial and, oftentimes, God sends trial to those on which he has favor. It is an honor to have a mountain to overcome because is preparing you for something he wants you to do and preparing a revelation for you. He is also preparing a meeting between you and him on the mountain. God is always in the mountain and on the mountain. You just have to find him and his answer. Every time you climb another mountain, you become stronger.

Exodus 24 - God is ALWAYS doing something. Even when He is resting, He is doing something. Even in the summer when we are resting, we are still building relationships and stirring our vision. We are focused on lifting and raising the level of the leadership in this church.

If we want leadership in any area of our lives, we have to climb the mountain. As a leader, we want the ability to influence people in our jobs, our families etc. There will be times when we are in the forefront and WE have to make a decision - its just us and God and sometimes God won’t even say anything! He is waiting for us to decide - He directs our STEPS, not our standing.

“The leaders went up the mountain” (Ex. 24:9) - leaders are able to exert themselves. Leaders do things that are difficult. There are “mountains” in the kingdom that you have to be able to climb as a leader. For any Christian, the first mountain to climb is prayer. Then, we have to climb the mountain of God’s word…otherwise, we are being spoon-fed. We have to get to the point where we are feeding our spirits. Children can feed themselves by the time they are one year old - we must learn to do things for ourselves and not always rely on our pastors or leaders to feed us. We have to climb the mountain of attitude - pick any kingdom principle you want to conquer and that is a mountain.

God lives on the mountain. When we climb the mountain, we find God. When we are down here, we are living our daily lives - God doesn’t care about what color shirt we wear. He wants us to exert some energy and get to the top of the mountain where He is. God isn’t just ON the mountain - He is doing supernatural things.

Its always good to go up the mountain with other people (they shared a meal together - Ex. 24:11). We are people of the table - we eat and fellowship together. After we go through things together, we have a new sense of bonding - it changes your life. This church is about building a community of people that are doing life and discovering life together. This building that we are building is like a mountain that we are climbing together. God is building us through this project. The transfer that goes on in the lives of the people doing something together is powerful.

Exodus 24:13 - Moses and Joshua went further up the mountain - God had something more for them up higher. This isn’t a life where we sit back and think we’ve arrived. God is ALWAYS going to be calling us higher. Moses & Joshua had a meal in the presence of God and still went higher. God will visit us and give us instruction for our lives. Moses went even further up the mountain and a cloud covered him for 6 days. He stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights - no food, no water. There are lots of supernatural things going on in the natural - Moses was sustained on the mountain.

While Moses is with God, the followers down at the bottom were getting restless. They created a golden calf and began to worship it. They wanted something they could SEE - idol worship is about not having enough faith to believe in God that we can’t see. 3000 people died that day, and coincidentally, 3000 people were saved on the day of Pentecost. Don’t be a person that doesn’t have faith to start climbing the mountain. If we don’t climb the mountain, we look to carnal things.

The people crossed the Red Sea, which is symbolic of our salvation experience. Even in the wilderness, God still fed them manna and provided for them. There was still more water to cross - the Jordan River. We don’t actually possess anything until we go through the Jordan and get to the Promised land. God didn’t stop the Jordan until they STEPPED in. Leaders are constantly stepping out and trusting a God that they can’t see…except when we climb the mountain, and see God - our faith and trust comes from our mountain experience. Climbing the mountain will change us.

Mark 1:9-11
Jesus came from Nazareth into Galilee was baptized by John in the Jordan River. When Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens split open and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you.”

This event marked the beginning of God’s earthly ministry and ultimately of His interaction with His creation. The three years following the baptism of Jesus were a culmination of a plan for unity and connection between man and God. The plan was set in motion when the Holy Spirit came like a dove upon Jesus. The heavens were torn open and God was reunified with man through Jesus. The baptism was the beginning. Through the ministry of Jesus over the next three years, God revealed His character, will, and desire for all mankind.

Mark 15:35-39
At Jesus’ crucifixion, some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a stick so he could drink. “Leave him alone. Let’s see whether Elijah will come and take him down!” he said. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”

This event marked the end of God’s earthly ministry. When Jesus breathed out his spirit, it entered into the temple and ripped the eighty foot curtain - separating the holy of holies from the rest of the temple - from top to bottom. The tearing of the curtain signified that the barrier and separation between man and God is broken. Just as the Heavens were split open during the baptism of Jesus, the curtain tears at his death illustrating that freedom and liberty were to be implemented. God was now for everyone. A Roman guard, a gentile, received the prophesy and spoke it out. Everything that had kept people from God had been removed.

Colossians 3:1
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.

We now have the ability to communicate face-to-face with God. We are seated right next to Him and share a new intimacy with Him. We can come close to God because Jesus made us Holy. We have been elevated and raised up into communication with Jesus who allows us to feel, see, and hear at a whole new level. We no longer have to doubt who we are or feel inferior because we have been elevated. We let Heaven fill our thoughts. Live a real life, but keep your thoughts on Heaven. God has a vision for your life. You still have to deal with life, but you no longer have to run from it. When God came to Earth and dismantled the barrier it no longer mattered who we were. God received us and transformed us. God is never content to leave you where he found you. He deals with your issues as you allow Him to. What you imagine is what you become. Let your thoughts dwell on Heaven. Stay close to Jesus. Remain seated with Him and slowly become renewed.