Vital Mindsets for Greatness

TRINITY HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH

 

SUNDAY SERMON

JOSHUA GENERATION’S YOUTH CONFERENCE: THE PRICE OF GREATNESS

3rd of November, 2024

Topic:                         Vital Mindsets for Greatness

Preacher:                   Pastor Kunle Olufolajin

Text:                           John 1:12 – 13

 

MESSAGE

This morning, we are still considering the theme that says the ‘Price of Greatness’ and what I will do this morning is to bring to our consciousness, by the spirit of God, what I believe to be the underpinning mindset that is critical to a life that can be defined as great. Now, those that spoke before me had taken great pain to define and to explain the concept of greatness. So, my message presupposes that it is not necessary to go in that direction. Also, I will be building on the accurate assumption that most of the people listening to me are born again, so I won’t be going into a lot of that, those that spoke before me had done that. What I will be speaking on is, if you will… this building for instance, is standing not necessarily because of what you can see but by what you can’t see. This building is standing erect and stable today, not necessarily because of what can be seen but by what cannot be seen. For instance, this building has got a foundation, it has also got pillars. You may not necessarily see all the pillars in this building but I can assure you that there are pillars. You can’t see the foundation but it doesn’t take away the truth that there is a foundation and that is why this building is considered a safe place to be. So, what I will be speaking on this morning is what I term the ‘Vital Mindsets for Greatness’. The critical mindset that greatness cannot survive on outside of it. So, that is what I am going to be focusing on this morning and I have about 5 points. If you are taking note, please write this down as the first critical mindset. Now, when I say critical, I don’t mean to criticise, I mean a vital, an important mindset that cannot be done without.

The first mindset that every child of God must have in order to achieve greatness as defined by the Word of God, as defined by the Author of Life, is the mindset that you are not an accident walking on God’s earth. It doesn’t matter the circumstances of your birth, your coming to this earth was necessitated by a vision that God had for a role that He needed somebody to play in the overall plan. I say that again, God has a plan and the plan of God is transgenerational, it is constant, it does not change, however, at different times and different seasons, God brings to the stage of life, different men and women to play a role and a part in His blueprint for humanity. God did not create you by mistake. I mean, it isn’t that He sat down and scratched His head wondering now that we have made this person, what do we assign to him or her? That is not how God sees you. The way it works is that God looks at His plan and there is a demand for a particular type of person with particular skillset, understanding and peculiarities that are necessary to fulfill this portion of God’s plan and then what God does is that He reaches into His creativity and brings forth a person to play that role in His plan. So, you came to the earth not as an afterthought or a product of just something sensual, but as first, as John 1:12 – 13 say, ‘Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Hallelujah! So, it tells you that regardless of the circumstances around your birth, your background, where you hail from, your point of entry into this world, you are God’s idea. And if you live life, and approach your destiny with this vital understanding that you are God’s idea, it will fortify your mind with confidence that you cannot get anywhere else and that you cannot get anyhow else.

I encourage you, when you get home, to read through Psalm 139; in this Psalm, David makes it clear that, ‘Ever before I was formed, you wrote down my days in your book,’ meaning that God’s plan for you precedes your birth, that is why Jeremiah 1:5 says, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’ How do you know somebody before you formed him? It’s because the idea of that person’s creation does not start with that person but with God. Therefore, the responsibility for finding out the plan of God for your life cannot be outsourced. It can’t be outsourced to a prophet, a friend, or any other person. You must take up the responsibility of downloading the plan of God for your life. It is a responsibility that must be undertaken by the owner of the plan. In fact, God has no business of sharing it with other people, at best, He will send them to confirm His plans for you. So, you can’t go to a prophet to help you see tomorrow, even if he sees it, how about the interpretation? Therefore, write this down: there are four prayers in the New Testament that will help you in the journey of discovering the plan of God for your life. Listen, God will not reveal everything to you at once but as you follow Him, but he may reveal the end to you, like He did to Joseph. So, God can show you the big picture but the details of His plans for your life will be gotten in your day-to-day fellowship and by an intentional quest to know. When my kids started getting to the point of entering Higher Institution, I got a book for my first son titled ‘Following God’s Plan for your Life’ by Kenneth E. Hagin. That book is recommended for everyone trying to find out the plan of God for their lives.

The second critical mindset that you must deliberately acquire… Why am I emphasising mindset? I want you to realise this: Culture is stronger than strategy. No matter how fantastic your plan is, if you don’t have the right mindset, your habit will destroy your plan. So, culture is what I define as your mindset. It is what you practise at a level that you are not even thinking about it. It is what you do without thinking; what comes to you as a result of years of programming. You’ve been so programmed that you do those things without thinking. How many of you after getting into marriage discovered these cultures because we discovered that we married someone not familiar with the culture? Before I married, I could not sleep without having bright lights on, but my wife could not, so we had to compromise with bedside lamps.

Number two is: Let’s go to Luke 22:24 – 26, ‘Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”’ The background to this is that there was a contention among the Apostles; there was an argument among them about who should be the greatest, and Jesus overheard them. As a matter of fact, the mother of John and James actually came to Jesus to negotiate that when He gets to heaven, her children should be the ones who sit at His left- and right-hand side. Jesus gives an important answer that I want you to pay attention to. Jesus says the person that would be the greatest is the one that serves. We usually think this means being an usher or washing the toilet in the church, of course, it may mean those things, but let’s look at the root word ‘serve’. The real meaning of this word is the one that solves problems for other people. The real pathway to greatness in this life is actually the number of important and necessary problems that you can solve for people in your area of interest. I want you to take note of that.

Let’s look around the world at the people and companies we define as great. The greatest, richest African is Dangote. Have you seen that he only solves important problems for people? You want to build a house? Cement. You want to eat? Rice. You want to drive your car; fuel your generator? Diesel. He built the largest single refinery in the world not to solve a niche problem but a vital necessity. If you really want to be great, says Jesus, you must have the mindset of a problem solver. And this scripture actually solves the issue about money. Money can be demystified if you understand this scripture because money is called currency, that means it flows. Money flows in the direction of problem solvers. You want to be great? Understand that greatness means serving others. While you may do it as an usher in church, a protocol for pastor, a security officer, the truth is, whether in business, career, etc. you must understand that the more vital, necessary problems you solve for people, the greater your influence over territories.

The more problems you solve, the greater your influence. The more problems you can solve, the more necessary you become. The more problems you can solve, the more necessary your brand becomes. Some people were shouting when they were giving Dangote money to build refinery that why was the government supporting him. He is solving problems for 200 million people, why won’t they support him? Elon Musk also is solving problems for people in a mind-blowing manner. Jesus is the greatest problem solver. If you are sick? He heals you. If you are possessed? He delivers you. Why do you think Jesus was followed by the multitudes? Because, even Jesus is a problem solver.

Problem solving is a pathway to every definition of greatness. Whether you define it as amassing great wealth, you can only get there by solving problems. Whether you define it as having massive influence, you can only get there by solving problems. As I round off, listen, the mindset of solving problems begins all the way from very little to the very top. That means, as you journey through life, be like Jesus. Develop an understanding of embracing challenges. If I ask us this morning and say, ‘Who loves challenges here?’ I doubt I will see three or four hands that will go up. That is, asking if you like troubles, crises, storms, etc. I am sure nobody does, you know why? It’s because we have not understood clearly that there is an unbreakable link between greatness and challenges. Jesus said, in this world you will have tribulations, that means you can bank it, take it to the bank and use it for fixed deposit, but why did Jesus make that statement? It’s because according to 1 Cor. 10:13, ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’ What’s this scripture saying? It’s saying, ‘Listen, when challenges come, first rejoice because it came with God’s permission and it is custom-made for you,’ that’s what it means by ‘it’s not greater than what you can bear’. Hidden in that challenge are things that can propel you to greatness. If you have the right mindset to look at the challenge and go through the process of learning to overcome it, what it does for you is that it takes you through a unique process to be able to solve that problem for people going through it. However, for a lot of us, when a challenge comes, we look for how to dodge it, going from pastor to pastor, prophet to prophet, meanwhile, God is saying, ‘I am using it to equip you and give you a set of skills.’

Let’s be honest, challenges are not interesting. They are not palatable but inside them, if you will go through the process, you will unlock things. How many of you have looked around the world and you find out that many people who are invited to speak globally are riding on the strength of the challenges that they solved? How many of you have heard about Joyce Meyer? What made her peculiar? She gave her life to Christ at 80. Her biological father raped her about 200 times. In fact, once a policeman caught him, he offered her to the policeman to be raped as a bribe. But today, Joyce Meyer is a sought-after pastor and conference speaker globally. Why? She learned through fellowship with God how to overcome. She did overcome, built a ministry that has global niche and today, she is the number one resource person for abused women and also a billionaire in dollars, because she solved that problem. So, be armed with that mentality that you will have challenges but you need to be uniquely positioned as a problem solver.

Prayer

The first thing I want you to do is to close your eyes and be in fellowship with God; just concentrate on Jesus. Lift up your hands and say, ‘God, give me a conqueror’s mindset. Give me a problem solver’s mindset. Let me stop running from the challenges you bring to make me great. Help me to stop dodging the things you permitted for my growth; to stop running away from the things you allowed for my sake. Help me, dear Lord.’

Call to Salvation

Jesus still gives grace for greatness. The question always is, are you permitting Him in your life? Today is the day you should give your all to Christ. Come into His fold and receive His lordship today. Do you want to surrender your life to Jesus? Say this prayer: Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my life. I surrender to you. Take this heart and use it for your glory. Empower me for greatness. Write my name in the Book of Life. In Jesus mighty name I prayed. Amen. Welcome to fold of Christ!