When We Were Small…Large Dreams for Small Businesses, Small Churches, Small Beginnings.

Life Church Knoxville is on the rise.  Attendance is up, giving is up, and hope is up.  Having said that, we are still a small church.  I am not used to being small.  I left a large church in a small town to  pastor  a small church in a large town.   I moved to Knoxville with dreams of a great church in our great city.  I recently took a group of volunteers to Church of the Highlands in Birmingham Alabama that has tens of thousands of members that meet weekly in multiple campuses. We all returned with renewed dreams in our hearts that we have not yet scratched the surface of all that God is going to do through our congregation.  Having said this, God loves us when we are small!  If you lead a small business, attend a small church, or find yourself in small circumstances, this word of encouragement is for you.

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We all know that God gave a huge vision to Abraham who was told that his descendants would be like the sands of the sea and the stars of the sky.  God gave them a fertile promised land that flowed with “milk and honey.”  What God reminded me  recently, however, i that God gave that big hairy audacious dream when they were small.

Deuteronomy 7:7 says, “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!

In poetic form the writer of Chronicles recounts God’s expansive promise made when Israel was few in number:

18 “I will give you the land of Canaan

    as your special possession.”

19 He said this when you were few in number,

    a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. (1 Chron 16:18-19)

This concept is important enough that it was sung in the book of Psalms, Israel’s hymnal.

9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham

    and the oath he swore to Isaac.

10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

    and to the people of Israel as a never-ending covenant:

11 “I will give you the land of Canaan

    as your special possession.”

12 He said this when they were few in number,

    a tiny group of strangers in Canaan. (Psalm 105:9-12)

It will be easy to recount God’s promises when we reach whatever “Promised Land” God has in store for us.  Be encouraged, however,  that God made his biggest promises in small places and in lean times.  Don’t wait for prosperous times to recount the promises of God.  Don’t be discouraged by smallness.  God rejoices in seeing the work begin.
About the Author
I am the husband of Melanie who is my best friend and partner in life and ministry. We have three passionate world changing children named Natalie, Kristiana, and Noah. I am the Lead Pastor of Life Church Knoxville which is a dynamic, growing, life-giving church. We welcome people of every race and socio-economic background. We seek to be a small taste on earth of what the church will be like in heaven.
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