Today I’m going to be speaking on the title of our new book, our new book which is called It Takes a Team: Lead Together, Win Bigger.

And I wanted to just encourage you to support, help us out if you can, just by spreading the word. We received an email this week from a pastor in Australia thanking us for the book, and he just mentioned, he said, “I know you’ve written other books, but this is my favorite so far.” And there are church teams that are going through it, leaders that are going through it, posting about it. So we’ve been hearing from them—church teams, business teams, even military teams—that are looking at the book, going through the book together.

So I just want to make you aware at our own home church that you can go to kevinjgerald.com. You can get your copies, or at our locations, of course, you can pick up the copies. And if you order in bulk, it’s definitely best to order through us. There are some bulk numbers available. I don’t even know what all that is. But basically, I’m doing what I’m told to do—to tell you about the book.

We also started a podcast from the book that you can watch on YouTube. And so anyway, lots of good stuff going on. Let’s just keep on learning and growing and getting better for the kingdom of God. Amen.

So today we’re going to continue in our series on It Takes a Team and I’m going to talk out of one of the chapters—I think it’s chapter nine—on the topic called “Mindset Matters.”

Say it with me: “Mindset matters.” Say it again: “Mindset matters.”

Okay, say this out loud:

“Lord Jesus, today I ask you to help me to hear your word—your right-now word for my life. I’m leaning in. I’m learning. I’m growing. I’m getting better. I want to please you. I want to be good at teaming—for your honor. In Jesus’ name.”

Everybody shout, “Amen.”

You know, I think heaven likes that prayer. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed and he said, “Make us one. Make us one. Father, make us one.”

So let’s begin in Philippians chapter 2, verse 2 with one line that the Apostle Paul wrote—similar verbiage. He said, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded.”

Now, he’s writing to a local church at Philippi and he’s saying, “Okay, you guys are amazing. You’re awesome. You’re doing well. Still got some things that you’re not on the same page. I would really appreciate it—it would honor God and you would make my joy complete—if you would be like-minded.”

Now, if you’ve been on a team at work or if you’ve been on a team at church, you’ve been on even a sports team, and you’ve got people all going different directions, it’s no fun, is it? If you’ve got people that are arguing, people that are debating, people that are petty, people that, if it’s not their idea, then they don’t like the idea—if you’ve got all that stuff going, it’s no fun.

A real key to making teams successful is mindset. And it’s being what the Bible calls here like-minded. Say that with me: “Like-minded.”

As we talk about mindset today, let me begin by defining it for you. I think everybody has a general idea, but mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you see yourself and the world around you.

One of the most known stories in the Bible is the story of the Exodus, when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. You might remember this. And they prayed to God, “Deliver us, God, from our slavery and our bondage.” And God heard their prayers, and he sent Moses to lead them out of Egypt into a land of opportunity where they could occupy the land, where they could be free to be landowners and build houses, plant crops, and raise livestock, raise their children, have a lasting legacy from generation to generation.

Now, some people, when they hear the story of the great Exodus and God telling them about a promised land, assume they just kind of walked into this beautiful place where the crops were already growing and the houses were already built, and there was no adversity and there were no challenges. But actually the land was wild, and the land was dangerous.

And when they got close to the land of promise, Moses sent out spies to see what kind of challenges were facing them between where they were and the land that they were moving into.

The spies came back with two very different reports. And here’s what Numbers chapter 13 says about that. Verse 30:

“Then Caleb, who was one of the spies, quieted the people before Moses, and he said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession of the land, for we are well able to overcome it.’”

Somebody shout, “Let’s go!” Basically what Caleb was saying to everybody is, “Let’s go. We can do this.”

“But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘No, we are not able to go up against the people that are in the land. They’re stronger than we are.’ And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out.”

Mindset matters. Say that with me: “Mindset matters.”

You see, they saw the same problems. Caleb, Joshua, all the 12 spies saw the same problems. They saw the same giants. They saw the same obstacles. But they processed it two different ways. There were two different mindsets, which literally created in the story two different outcomes.

So I’m just going to call them teams. You’ve got one team with ten on it. You’ve got another team with two on it. Two teams, two mindsets. Team Ten had what we’re going to call—I’m going to explain it to you—a fixed or a fear mindset. And Team Two had what we’ll call a growth or a flourishing mindset.

Are you with me? Are you tracking?

So while Team Ten focused on the problem in the opportunity, Team Two saw the opportunity in the problem. But here’s the big part that I want you to understand about this story: Team Ten, who saw the problem in the opportunity, died in the wilderness. All of them. Each and every one of them.

And Team Two, who saw the opportunity in the problem, reached the promised land—even in their old age. In other words, God raised up a whole new generation who would have a different mindset. And Team Two were obviously the leaders of that, the influencers of that.

And the mindsets determined the outcome.

Are you thinking about your life right now? I hope you are. Are you taking what I’m talking about and personalizing it? I hope you are, because I know many of you today—you believe with all your heart that it’s all about the circumstances. It’s all about the situation. But I’m here today to proclaim to you that mindset matters.

Some of you are like, “Well, whatever will be will be. Whatever God wants will happen.” No, no, no. Mindset matters.

God wants your marriage to be strong, but mindset matters. God wants your family to be united, but mindset matters. God wants you to overcome and win against every adversity in your life, but mindset matters.

Like you, I’ve been in some tough places in life. My wife and I know, our team knows what it is to make mistakes, to have setbacks. Our church didn’t get where we are just walking into it all.

We know what it is to have to have faith for something. We’re building a new building in Yakima right now. We’re taking land. We’re taking territory. And we’re walking by faith to be able to do it.

We know what it is to not have the money to pay the bills. But God has never failed us. And God’s Word promises us that he is with us, that he will never leave us, he will never forsake us.

And in the same way that God promised Joshua—you may or may not be familiar with this verse of scripture—but God promised him, he said, “Wherever you walk, I will be with you. Wherever your feet steps, I will go with you.” And they saw that happen. They stepped into the water and the water parted and they crossed in on dry land. God said, “I’ll be there. You’re going to have to fight. You’re going to have to be strong. You’re going to have to have courage. But I want you to understand you’re not alone. I haven’t forsaken you. I am with you.”

So even though, as I talk about us and like you, we’ve dealt with a lot of things and had struggles along the way, God’s never failed us. But many times God has waited for us to get our minds right—especially me.

Waited for me to stop sulking. “Why does this have to happen? Who do they think they are?” Waiting for me to stop thinking about killing somebody—that’s a joke!

Waiting for me to just stop being mad, angry, blaming, all of that.

And I want you to understand that God’s favor is not because he has favorite people. God doesn’t have, like, favorite people—they get his favor, the others don’t. God’s favor is for everybody.

But God is not compatible—his work, his open doors are not compatible with every mindset. Your mindset can close a door that God has promised you would be open for you. You can be defeated by an enemy that God has promised you can take. You can do this. You can win this battle.

And so sometimes God waits for us just to get our mind right, because mindset matters.

Say it again: “Mindset matters.”

“Pastor Kevin, you don’t know what I’m dealing with.” Mindset matters.

“You don’t know the people I’m trying to team with.” Mindset matters.

Simon Sinek said this: “There are two kinds of people in the world—people who see the things they want, and people who see the things that prevent them from getting the things that they want.”

All right. So let’s talk about those two different mindsets that I mentioned already. We’ve got a graphic going up on the screen, and you can see one side is growth/flourishing mindset. The other side is a fixed and fear mindset.

A fixed and fear mindset is rooted in limiting beliefs. It causes you to believe that your potential, your ability, your intelligence, your talent is set in stone—like, “It is what it is, and I just can’t. I’m not able. There’s a lid on it. Other people are fortunate, but I’m not. You don’t know what it’s like to grow up being me—my family, my background, my skin color, my education.” That’s a fixed, fear mindset.

Let me explain it a little more. All of us who are parents have helped our kids push past a fixed fear mindset when they believed they couldn’t learn something new. They’re learning math or English and they’re like, “I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this. I’m not smart. I don’t get it.” And you help them through that.

They’re learning to ride a bike and they’re falling and they’re crying, and you’re helping them through that. You’re saying, “You can. Come on, buddy. You can do this.” They’re learning to swim and you’re saying, “You got this.”

That’s what I’m talking about. That’s a fixed fear barrier that we deal with even as we grow older in life. You help them through when they say that the other kids at school are a certain way and they’re letting it bother them, and you’re helping them like, “Hey, don’t let that hold you back. Don’t let that bother you.”

Well, that’s what fear/fixed mindset looks like early in life, but all of us deal with it throughout our lives.

I hope I’m helping you. I hope you’re paying attention. I hope right now we are breaking down some barriers in our minds.

So that’s a fixed fear mindset. On the other hand, if you see yourself and the teams that you’re a part of as having potential to get better at what you do and to improve beyond where you are and to become more aligned and effective, then that’s what we call a growth or flourishing mindset.

A growth/flourishing mindset believes that you and the people around you are meant to grow. You’re meant to improve. You’re meant to move forward. You’re meant to learn new habits. You get saved—you’re not supposed to be in the same life you were in. You’re meant to learn new habits: when you wake up in the morning, what you do, where you go, what you think—new habits. What music you listen to—new habits.

And a lot of people, the enemy tries to convince them, “You can’t do this. You can’t overcome.” But you can. You can be a champion. Your life can change. You can break bondage through your mindset. Ultimately, it’s God that does that—he gives us the power to do it—but mindset matters.

That’s why the Apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He doesn’t just say, “Okay God, this is all up to you.” No—he has a mindset that says, “I can do this. I can overcome. I can win. I can face the challenges. I can grow in God’s grace through the one who strengthens me.”

The first step to a flourishing mindset is to know that God wants you to grow and never stop growing.

He wants you to grow. God wants you to grow. Just like he wants the grass to grow. He wants the tree to grow.

I like to tell the story of one day pulling into our front yard and seeing a piece of plywood. It was springtime and grass is growing; we’re having to mow extra. But a piece of plywood was laying there, and I went over, took the plywood off that little area of grass, and everything underneath it had died. The plywood was hindering what was supposed to be happening.

God wants you to grow. He created us to keep the growing going in our life. If you’re not dead, then God’s not done. Greater things are still to come.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” That is not just for a 14-year-old. That’s for a 64-year-old. That’s for a 75-year-old. “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.

Don’t you ever stop or hinder or put a lid on the process. Because if you’re not dead, God’s not done.

So step number one is to know in your heart—get it settled—God wants me to grow and never stop growing.

Now let me just say this for our church. We’re growing right now. Our church is growing. We’re adding—I think we had over 50 babies being dedicated to the Lord at just this one location today. And then we’ve got the four other locations. So I’m not sure how many we have being dedicated. But our church is growing and people are coming in. People are getting saved. People are coming back to God. It’s a great time for the kingdom of God right now. It’s a great, great time.

But I also want you to understand that we have things like today—we have something called Church Essentials that is intended to help us all be like-minded, because we’re coming from different places. We’re coming from different ideas and outlooks and family backgrounds, even church backgrounds. And one of the things that’s really important is that we not just grow in number, but that we are like-minded.

Yes, we’re still going to have individuality and different gifts. One has different gifts than the other person has. God created us unique, right? But it’s important—because the Bible says a house divided against itself cannot stand—it’s important that we become like-minded.

Mindset matters. Say it with me again: “Mindset matters.”

But we have to individually make a choice and know that God wants me to grow, never stop growing. And the second step is exactly what I just said: the second step is to choose a growth and flourishing mindset.

So God wants you to have a flourishing mindset, but it’s up to you to choose it. We have to choose it. We have to be like, “Okay, my idea—the way I think—may not be the right way, the only way.”

I love—I think it’s Dr. Phil; you may or may not know who he is—he had a TV program and he talks to people and he has this one little line that’s stuck with me now for years. He’ll listen to people and they’ll talk about life and how it’s not treating them well, and he’ll say something like, “Well, how’s that working for you?”

And I would just ask every stubborn-minded person today who’s holding on like, “This is my, this is how I look at it, this is the way I see it”—how’s that working for you? How’s that working in the teaming areas of your life? How’s that working in your marriage? How’s it working in your family? How’s it working as a father?

“Well, my dad taught me this, and that’s the way I’m going to be with my kids, and I’m going this way with my kids. And that’s kind of dad I’m going to be, and I don’t care…” You say, “Well, you don’t understand, my kids—they need a good whooping every once in a while.”

How’s that working for you?

What are you saying, Pastor Kevin? I’m saying that for us to keep the growing going in our life, we have to choose an openness and a receptivity and say, “You know what—talk to me. Tell me why.”

There are some key verses that I want to show you that’ll inspire you to have a growth or flourishing mindset. Have a look on the screen if you would—key verses.

Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, stands in the way of sinners, sits in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…”

You see the picture—the word picture—that brings forth fruit in its season, and everything that he does will prosper. Blessed is the man who chooses the direction, the thoughts, the mindset of God.

David wrote this in Psalms: “I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God.” I love that verse, because you can think today, “I am like an olive tree dying. I’m not going to make it.” Or you can have a mindset that says, “I am like an olive tree. The storms come, the winds come—I’m flourishing. I will always be flourishing in the house of the Lord.”

The Bible says in Luke 2:52, “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Key word: he grew.

Now, this is the Son of God. He grew in wisdom, stature, and favor.

It’s choosing, is what I’m talking about—choosing to flourish.

Scripture says about the church in Acts 16, “The churches were strengthened in their faith and they grew larger every day.” I just pray Champion Centre is this way—that we just have a mindset that is growth-minded, having to do with the work that we do and the services that we have.

You know, there’s a lot of—unfortunately, there’s a lot of Christians who put a lid on. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people come to Champion Centre and say, “The church is just too big.”

And I want to say, “Well, wait a minute. Is that you, or is that God?” Because last time I checked, he was not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance.

So where do we get this piece of plywood on top and feel like, “Well, this is just how I like it. I like this and I like that. I want my potluck supper with our forty people in our church—us four and no more. I just kind of like it like that.”

I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just saying we need to examine the attitude and the mindset that we have and ask, “Is it collaborating with the mind of God and under subjection to him?”

I mean, we ought to celebrate when somebody else is in our seat, somebody else is in our chair. They didn’t know you sat in that chair for twenty years. They did not know. They did not mean to offend you. They just came to church, found a seat, and you’re grumpy.

“The churches were strengthened in their faith and they grew larger every day.” I want our church to be a faith-filled, big-thinking church. That’s who we are.

We’re going to do Legacy Offering in November. We’ve been doing this for years. And man, God has been good—not only to us as a church, but to the people who have got in the habit of giving a special offering every year annually, praying over it. We’ve seen God do miracles every year through our Legacy giving.

But you know, there’s a lot of people that are still really small-minded. They don’t even join in. They’re like, “I can’t… I don’t…” Well, that’s a fixed mindset. Everybody can do something.

Our children get more excited than a lot of the adults. Our children fill the piggy banks and they give everything they can, and they go work and they do some chores and they get excited to come to church because they know, “Oh, we’re going to get new toys. We’re going to get a new classroom. We’re going to get paint on the walls.”

They’ve watched it for years. The chairs you sit in are here because of Legacy Offering. The floor you’re walking on is here because of Legacy Offering. The children’s ministries of our locations—they’re there because of Legacy Offering. It’s a forward-thinking concept: unselfish, generous. “We can do this. Oh, there are giants in the land, but we can do this.”

And I just promise you, our church is not blessed today and growing because of me. It’s not because I can preach or speak. I think I’m pretty good, but it’s not because of that. And it’s not just the songs that we sing. It’s the heart of faith in the people of God who have had a flourishing mindset year after year after year that says, “We can do this. Let’s go. Let’s take the land. Let’s occupy the territory.”

I wasn’t done, but I’m going to be done—because it just feels right.

So, you’ve got to come back next week to hear what I call six beliefs of a flourishing mindset. Because I’m not done with this chapter yet. I want to talk about these six beliefs of a flourishing mindset. I want to set you up to win. I want to set you up to overcome. I want to set you up to be a champion.

I want us as a church to not have fear, to not have a fixed mindset. That’s another thing I’ve heard people say: “When are you going to be happy, Pastor Kevin? Like, we got a new building, we got new chairs, we got new this, we got new that. Isn’t that enough for you?”

Well, ask God that. This is not my mission. It’s a Kingdom mission. And we’re just going to keep going with faith and confidence that the Lord is with us, that he wants us to occupy the land.

And when we have battles and we have giants and we have enemies, we’re not going to get discouraged and quit and stop. We’re going to just keep on having faith, keep on having confidence, be like-minded, and take the territory and the land that God is giving us.

I speak good things over your family today, over your home today, over every team that you are a part of. I just declare that whatever team it is, whatever size it is, I declare that this word will not return void.

I especially wrote this book to the church because that’s my heart. I believe that the church is the light of the world. I believe that the church is the hope of the world.

I kind of feel right now a little bit of Charlie Kirk on me, like: “Prove me wrong.” All the other stuff isn’t working. It’s not working—the other kinds of programs, everything from politics all the way through. But the Kingdom of God is the hope of the world. Jesus is the hope of the world. Salvation in his name is the hope of the world. Not just getting saved, but taking on the ways of God and learning the ways of the Kingdom of God is the hope of the world.

And so my goal is to just see every person who walks under the banner of Jesus and declares yourself part of the Kingdom to be teaming with those around you who are going the same direction.

If you have little petty things, set them aside. This is not the time for you to argue over, you know, “I don’t like the green… why we got that astro turf, this little thing, we’ve had that for two or three months. When are you going to take it off?” I don’t know, I’ll ask somebody for you, I’m not sure.

But I’m just trying to tell you—we get so caught up in divisive, silly, goofy things, and it’s really hurt the church. It’s really hurt the Kingdom of God when people allow God’s house to be divided.

It’s a setback. And that’s why the Apostle Paul’s like, “Make my joy complete. Be like-minded. Come together in unity. Have a spirit of faith, flourishing. Concentrate and focus on the things that I want to do in your life and in the life of the church. Don’t get distracted. Don’t get caught up in all the other things that are going on around you.”

But mindset matters. Mindset matters. Mindset matters. Speak and pray over our church rather than finding fault with the church.

Oh man, I just feel like right now there’s people—I know you come from places where it wasn’t right, you got offended. I understand. I’ve been in this a long time. Church is not perfect. I’m not saying it’s perfect. It’s imperfect. There’s humans involved. That makes it imperfect.

But I’m just saying, for his glory, lay aside, set aside whatever it is that would cause you to hold back, drift away. And let’s come together and let’s be like-minded for the Kingdom of God.

Let’s fight. Come on. Let’s fight for our children. Let’s fight for our future.

Every head bowed, every eye closed. Today I want to invite people who have been away from, or you’re not connected right now—really connected in the house of the Lord, you’re not connected to Jesus today. You may have come to church with some condemnation, guilt in your life. And I want to invite you to receive forgiveness and grace from him today.

If you’re a person who says, “I want a new start in my faith. I want to find the right path, Pastor Kevin. I feel like God’s drawing me to him and I want to receive that. I want to answer yes to that today.” Just raise your hand, whoever you are, whatever location. On the count of three, just raise your hand. Are you ready? 1, 2, 3.

Raise your hand up in the air. Man, I see hands going up all over here at this location. Good, good, good. I’m believing there’s a spirit of surrender and openness and hunger for God in the house today.

Keep your hand held up high if you would. I’m just allowing time for somebody else to have the courage and the boldness—this is your moment, this is your time, this is your day. Maybe it’s a couple; it’s a husband and a wife—to be fully surrendered to Christ, his will, his plan, his purpose.

Thank you. Okay, great. Keep your hand held high if you would. I’m going to invite everybody, everyone—I’m going to ask you to pray this out loud with us in support of those whose hands are raised. Are you ready? Say with me:

“Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Forgive me of all my sin. Come into my life and make me a new person. I receive you now as the leader and the Lord of my life. And I boldly declare, by faith, I’ll never be the same again. I learn your ways. I receive your ways. I walk in your ways and your will. In Jesus’ name.”

I want to welcome every single one of you who prayed that prayer. I welcome you today. Welcome to the Kingdom of God. We love you. God loves you.