UNLIMIT YOUR POTENTIAL

The building picture names Encourage Church as a place with an establishing gift, a place where scattered and even burnt stones get brought back into the wall. Peter’s language of “living stones” gives the church a clear picture of petros people and lithos people, rough rocks and worked stones, and God uses both in the build. The wall may not go up as fast as everyone wants, because God is still leveling, digging foundations, checking the blueprint, and shaping stones that can carry weight. The master builder is not making a quick home improvement with drywall. God is building something that can stand when the Sandballs and Tobias come, something more like Cologne Cathedral, slow, strong, and still standing after the bombs.

The call to “unlimited your potential” begins with a simple question: what would a person attempt if failure was off the table? Romans 8 answers that God is for his people, that Christ justifies, intercedes, loves, and makes them more than conquerors. God’s people are not fighting for victory; they are fighting from victory. Abraham’s promise shows that God invests blessing into ordinary people so that blessing can move through them to families, cities, churches, and nations.

God’s choice rests on future, not on polished credentials. Jeremiah 1 and Ephesians 1 say that God knew his people before the womb and chose them before the foundation of the world. Predestination does not make people robots, because that would be predetermination. God’s plan is intentional, and God still allows choice, but like Jonah, a person may find that God knows exactly how to lean when love needs to get someone back on the right road.

Adoption shows the weight of the Father’s love. In the Roman world, an adopted child could not be unadopted, and that picture gives force to the gospel. God’s children are not muddy leftovers outside by the puddles. First Peter calls them a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, called out of darkness to proclaim his praises.

Ephesians 2 says God’s people are workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. James says faith without works is dead, not because work earns salvation, but because saved people get to partner with Jesus. Paul plants, Apollos waters, and God gives the increase. Seeds carry DNA, but discipleship waters, weeds, fertilizes, and brings people to maturity in the church, not as lonely bits and bobs by a fireplace.

The Holy Spirit breaks the ceiling called normal Christianity. Acts 1 promises power, not for a feel-good moment only, but for witness, scattering, planting, healing, prophecy, discernment, faith, and the establishing of churches wherever God sends his people. Joseph’s storms show that God wastes nothing. Rejection, prison, misunderstanding, and delay can fashion forgiveness, maturity, and authority, until creation sees sons of God revealed in shops, schools, varsity, and ordinary conversations.

Key Takeaways

• 1. God builds slowly, not cheaply The building gift does not chase a quick pop-up structure that looks impressive for a moment. God shapes rough stones, digs foundations, and follows a blueprint that can carry future weight. A church that lasts may feel slow while God is making it strong enough to stand when the bombs come. [04:34]
• 2. Victory is the starting point Romans 8 places God’s people on the side where God is already for them. Opposition may still be real, but the deepest story is not defeat trying to become victory. Christ’s people fight from victory, because the end of the story is already the Bridegroom returning for his bride. [09:08]
• 3. Adoption cannot be undone The image of Roman adoption gives deep weight to belonging in Christ. An adopted child was not a second-rate family member and could never be unadopted by law. God’s adoption speaks a stronger word than shame, background, instability, or the feeling of being left outside by the puddles. [17:07]
• 4. Saved people get to work Good works do not purchase salvation, and God is not crossing people off a list when they struggle. Ephesians 2 puts work on the other side of grace, as the privilege of partnership with Jesus. Faith that only stares in the mirror at its own identity has not yet moved into the field God prepared. [20:11]
• 5. The Spirit breaks normal ceilings The Holy Spirit did not come only to give the church a lovely moment of spiritual excitement. Power came because scattering, witness, healing, discernment, and bold faith would be needed in real places with real pressure. God’s people become atmosphere changers when the Spirit warms rooms that have gone spiritually icy. [28:28]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:24] - Submission to Church Leadership
• [01:28] - A Building Gift for Encourage Church
• [02:35] - Living Stones and Strong Foundations
• [04:34] - Not a Quick Pop-Up Church
• [07:41] - Unlimited Your Potential
• [08:24] - God Is For His People
• [12:13] - Chosen Before the Foundation
• [14:06] - Predestination and Free Will
• [17:07] - The Strength of Adoption
• [19:16] - Chosen to Proclaim His Praises
• [20:11] - Created for Good Works
• [22:41] - Planting, Watering, and Increase
• [28:28] - Breaking Through Normal Christianity
• [35:21] - Storms That Shape Sons of God
• [39:48] - Invitation to Surrender and Breakthrough

1. 1 Peter 2:5 — “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” [02:45]
2. Romans 8:31 — “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” [08:49]
3. Ephesians 1:4-6 — “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” [12:32]
4. 1 Peter 2:9 — “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” [19:16]
5. Ephesians 2:10 — “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [19:45]
6. James 2:17 — “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” [20:11]
7. 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 — “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.” [22:41]
8. Acts 1:8 — “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” [28:54]

1. In the picture of the church as a building, what kinds of stones were described, and what kind of work needs to happen before they fit well into the wall? [03:26]
2. According to Romans 8:31 and the language around it, what are some of the things God is said to do for his people? [08:24]
3. In 1 Peter 2:9, what two big truths are held together about God’s people: who they are, and what they are called to do?
4. In the picture from 1 Corinthians 3, what different roles do Paul, Apollos, and God each play in the growth of a person or a church? [22:41]

1. If believers are “living stones” being built into a spiritual house, what might that suggest about why shaping, patience, and strong foundations matter so much in church life? [04:34]
2. If God chose his people before the foundation of the world and predestined them for adoption, how should that shape the way a person views their worth, their future, and their belonging? [17:07]
3. James says faith without works is dead, while Ephesians says good works come after being created in Christ. How do these passages help explain the difference between working for salvation and working from salvation? [20:54]
4. Acts 1:8 connects the Holy Spirit’s power to witness. What does that suggest about why the Spirit was given, and how does that challenge a small view of “normal Christianity”? [29:19]

1. God builds slowly, not cheaply. Where has impatience been creeping into a person’s heart lately—in personal growth, in church life, or in prayer—and what might it look like to trust the Master Builder instead of demanding quick results? [05:44]
2. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Where does a person most often live as if opposition is the main story? What would it look like this week to act from victory rather than scramble for it? [09:08]
3. Adoption into God’s family means a person is not outside by the puddles, forgotten or second-rate. When does someone still tend to think like an outsider—because of shame, background, failure, or insecurity—and what truth from these passages needs to be believed more deeply? [18:58]
4. Believers are created for good works. What is one specific good work, act of service, or step of obedience that may already be prepared in front of someone right now, but has been delayed or avoided? [19:45]
5. Planting is only part of the work; watering, weeding, and helping people grow also matter. Is a person more drawn to starting things or staying with people over time? How could that person become more faithful in the part God has actually given them? [25:42]
6. The Holy Spirit breaks the ceiling called normal Christianity. What ceiling has started to feel normal—fear, passivity, silence, unbelief, or spiritual comfort—and what would it mean to ask for fresh power in that area? [28:32]
7. God wastes nothing, not even storms, rejection, delay, or misunderstanding. Looking back at a hard season, where might God have been shaping forgiveness, maturity, courage, or authority? How could that painful place now become part of someone’s witness? [35:21]