LIVING A LARGER LIFE.
Announcements:
YOUNG ADULTS WORSHIP NIGHT
Thursday, January 29th 6:30pm
KIDS BOWL
Sunday, February 8th
Icebreaker — “Living Small or Living Large?”
Where have you noticed yourself playing it safe lately?
What’s one area where you’ve felt stretched (in a good way) recently?
“Living small or large doesn’t start with our circumstances. It starts with what we make room for on the inside.”
3 Principles That Help Us Live Larger.
Genesis 26:22
1. Honor – What Do I Carry?
2 Corinthians 6:12a [MSG], Matthew 13:55-58, 2 Samuel 6:6, 2 Corinthians 3:18 [NKJV], 1 Peter 5:7 [AMP], Isaiah 61:3 [NIRV]
Honor isn’t indicative of perfection or familiarity, but it does reflect recognizing spiritual weight. Paul reminds us that God didn’t fence us in, but when honor is lost, our capacity shrinks. The people of Nazareth couldn’t receive Jesus because they reduced Him to what felt familiar instead of what was holy. Liekwaise, Uzzah mishandled the Ark because good intentions replaced reverence. What we dishonor, we eventually mishandle. What we honor brings transformation. Living a larger life begins when we stop casually carrying what God has entrusted us with and start carrying it carefully. This means surrendering our burdens, choosing praise over heaviness, and allowing honor to restore the weight of glory in our lives.
Reflection Questions:
Where is familiarity dulling your honor for God, people, or spiritual things?
What are you currently carrying that needs to be surrendered to God? (1 Peter 5:7)
How has praise created room where heaviness once lived in your spirit? (Isaiah 61:3)
2. Humility – How Do I Carry It?
2 Corinthians 6:12b [MSG], James 4:6 [NLT], Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 22:4, 1 Peter 5:6 [NKJV], Hebrews 2:7 [AMP], Luke 14:8-11, Matthew 16:13-15, John 1:19-23
The smallness we feel doesn’t come from God withholding from us. It comes from our internal resistance to surrender. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, but thinking rightly about God and rightly about yourself at the same time. Pride quietly shrinks our perspective while humility expands our capacity to receive grace. When we fear the Lord, we position ourselves for wisdom, alignment, and elevation in God’s timing rather than our own. Jesus teaches us that choosing the lower seat isn’t loss, but trust. A larger life opens when striving stops, identity settles, and we allow God to do the lifting instead of trying to carry ourselves.
Reflection Questions:
Where do you sense internal resistance to humility right now?
What does “taking the lower seat” look like at home, at work, and in ministry in your current season?
How has pride ever quietly limited your growth without you noticing?
3. Hospitality – Why Do I Carry It?
2 Corinthians 6:13 [MSG], Ephesians 2:6–8, Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 14:14-18 [NCV]
Hospitality is the outward evidence of an enlarged heart for people. Because we have already been seated with Christ, we serve others from a sense of belonging not from a need to achieve it. God’s grace always creates space before it assigns responsibility, and Jesus models this by refusing to send the crowd away when He fed the multitudes. Instead, He invites His disciples into participation, reminding them that what they already carry is enough when placed in His hands. Living a larger life is evident when we open our lives, our time, and our resources so others can encounter the same grace that made room for us. Expansion in God’s Kingdom is never self-focused, but always overflows toward others.
Reflection Questions:
Who has God been asking you to make room for — relationally and/or emotionally?
What excuses keep us from generosity when Jesus says, “YOU give them something to eat”?
How does remembering where you’re seated in Christ change how you serve others?
WEEKLY DECLARATION:
“This week, I will not live limited by fear, pride, or familiarity. I believe God has made room for me, and I choose to flourish. I will walk in honor instead of casual faith, humility instead of self-reliance, and openness instead of guarded living. I will carry what is holy with reverence, make room for others as God has made room for me, and live openly, freely, and expansively — in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
