HOW TO BUILD IN 2021: PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – SUNDAY SERVICE, 27TH DECEMBER, 2020
ONLINE SUNDAY SERVICE MESSAGE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA)
TOPIC: HOW TO BUILD IN 2021.
DATE: 27TH DECEMBER, 2020
TEXT: LUKE 14:28-29
Amen! – Let us rise together wherever you are (or reading on the Label of DMC) as we make our DECLARATIONS OF EXCELLENCE, in this Year of Excellence.
… Are you READY?
SAY WITH ME:Out of Zion, the Perfection of Beauty, God shines forth. The Lord my God causes the righteous to shine forth as the Sun.
His Awesome Hands has formed me; His Creative Spirit inspires my mind. He skillfully guides my hands.
Therefore, I boldly declare: I am Set Apart for Excellence. The Ruler of the Universe has exalted my horn among the Nations. He sets my feet on high! In His Strength, I rise!
By Faith, I Press forward towards the Prize of my Highest Calling.
I believe in my heart, and confess with my mouth: that Jesus is Lord! He is the Vine, I am the Branch; in Him I abide, in Him I Blosom.
As it is written: God, who commanded Light out of darkness, has shone His Light in our hearts.
We have His Treasure in Earthen Vessels. That the Excellence of the Power may be of God, and not of us!
In this Year, I commit to EXCELLENCE, I commit to EXCEPTIONALISM, I commit to do the EXTRAORDINARY.
In Jesus Name – Amen! – Hallelujah!
… Please be seated!
My Message today is titled: “HOW TO BUILD IN 2021.
And my major Text is taken from Luke 14:28-29 (NKJV).
And my focus will actually be on the Verse 28.
… And this is what it says:
28 For which of you, intending to build a Tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it.
29 Lest, after he has laid the Foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him.
… Not only the ‘him’s’ are mocked; the ‘her’s’ are also mocked sometimes.
Jesus spoke this Parable, in reference to what is required of His Disciples.
Prior to saying this, He had talked about taking up the Cross and follow Him.
And He teaches that: For us to follow Him, we must count the costs – It’s a full commitment. And that is the main Message of this Parable of Jesus.
And in Teaching about how to show commitment to our Christian Life, Jesus Christ taught timeless Principle that apply to other areas of our lives.
So, today for the Purposes of the Season we are in, I am not going to use this Verse to apply to Christian Commitment in a General sense; but I am going to talk about Committing to something SPECIFIC to do in 2021.
… And we are going to use the Principles of Jeus to address that!
In a Year of Fruitfulness, HOW SHOULD WE PLAN OUR LIVES? How do we face the next Year?
Some People would say: Well, because of how turbulent 2020 has been, I’m not even going to make any attempt to Plan.
It’s important to Plan because it’s only in turbulence that your Plans become effective.
It’s almost like a Sea Pilot who is Piloting a Ship – When he is Piloting a Ship; the Ship is on turbulent water, there are waves.
The Pilot of the Ship cannot say: Oh, because of the tueblence of the waves, I’m not going to stir this Ship again!
It is because of the TURBULENCE that you need to stir the Ship.
So, because we live in uncertain times, and you cannot Predict what each Year has, we have to be Purposeful about our lives.
Because that is the only way we deal with the tueblence that comes to us.
So, I’m going to us this Statement of Jesus to give us: FOUR (4) STEPS FOR BUILDING SOMETHING GREAT AND USEFUL IN THE YEAR 2021.
And after I finish speaking, I’m going to give each one of us an Assignment – I’m going to give you Two (2) Assignments and you are going to do those two (2) Assignments and they will be marked next Year 2021 at this time!
By the end of 2021, we would see whether your Assignment was worked on, or you just took the Assignment to your home; and when you are asked: “Why haven’t you done the Assignment?” You would say: “But the Rat chewed my Assignment!”
… May that never be your excuse – Amen!
So let’s listen again to what Jesus said in Luke 14:28-29:
“For which of you, intending to build a Tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him.”
If we are going to BUILD IN 2021, if we are going to live a Fruitful Life; I MUST DECIDE WHAT I WANT TO DO.
… Everybody say: “I MUST DECIDE WHAT I WANT TO DO!”
This is where we all start: We start with a DECISION.
- You start with what YOU HAVE;
- You start with what YOU WANT;
- You start with HOW you want things to END UP FOR YOU!
… You start with a VISION.
Jesus Christ is talking about a Person who is trying TO BUILD; and Jesus says you start by: DECIDING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
So, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO IN 2021?
For you to be able to do that, you have to imagine how 2021 would look like; and the things that you want; how it will look like!
In this Parable, Jesus is talking to His Disciples, and to the crowd around Him.
And He asked them a very simple question: “WHICH OF YOU (wanting to build a Tower)”
In other words, this is what the People He was speaking to, could achieve.
“… Which you wanting to build a Tower.”
If you want to do something UNIQUE in 2021; you start by DECIDING what you want to do.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?
To start, you have to imagine how it will look like.
In this Parable, it is somebody trying to build a Tower!
- The FIRST(1ST) STEP is: TO KNOW WHY YOU WANT TO BUILD IT.
WHY DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE THIS PARTICULAR THING IN 2021?
… It must serve a rare Purpose!
The Tower that is in this Parable is not ‘Tower’ as we imagine it now!
Now, when we think of Tower, you may think of Electrical Tower, or Communication Pilon, or maybe a very, very tall huge monument.
… That’s what we see as Tower!
But a Tower in the time of Jesus; for the People He was talking to, when He said ‘Tower’ – that’s not what He was talking about – He was talking about a STORE HOUSE.
So, these are Farmers, and Jesus says: if you want to build a Store House – A Tower to store your Products from the farm.
So, everyone of them understood it.
This was something that was needed – If you are a Farmer, you need a Store House!
“… Which one of you intending to Build a Tower!
And then, He didn’t say: which one of you intending to Build “TOWERS” or Bridges but “A Tower” – one thing!
The most important thing for each one of us; for every Year, there must be one (1) Predominant thing we want to do!
I know there are a thousand things you want to do; ten thousand things – If I ask you: “What’s your Vision for 2021?”
Some of you would writes a whole manuscript of what you want to achieve.
But I want you to freeze all the things that you want to do into one (1) thing.
If I have to challenge you for one (1) thing you want to see next year (2021) in your life, WHAT WOULD BE THAT ONE THING?
You can also listen to the audio here: How To Build In 2021 – Pastor Mensa Otabil
Not ten (10), not twenty (20), not three (3), one (1) – A Tower, a Building, a Program, an Idea. Something Singular that you want to achieve.
What is the Singular most important thing you want to achieve in Year 2021?
Do you know that one (1) thing? If you don’t know it, start thinking about it before you get into 2021.
You don’t get into 2021 and start thinking of what you want to Build; you think about it before you get there – One (1) thing!
What is that Tower you want to Build? What is the Project you want to finish? What is that idea you want to accomplish? What is that Mission you want to accomplish?
What is that one (1) thing that you want to stand at the last Sunday of 2021 – In a time like this and say: “Oh, I achieved something in 2021.” Yes it might be turbulent, yes it was difficult but this one (1) thing, this one tower, I was able to build!
What is that One Tower? You must decide what you want to do!
- The SECOND (2ND STEP: YOU MUST INTEND TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
It is one thing deciding what you want to do, it is another thing is “having an INTENTION to make it happen.”
Jesus said: “Which one of you INTENDING…”
You have to INTEND to make it happen.
How do we do that?
We must be Intentional about our choices – Be INTENTIONAL!
What does it mean to be ‘Intentional?’
It means to be PURPOSEFUL – To do things because that is what you want to do.
That means, whatever we have to do to build that Tower, we must INTEND it. We must be Intentional about it.
We must be Intentional about how we want to use our TIME – You can’t just use your time anyhow and hope that by some Divine Purposes, 2021 will work out well.
The One Who Rules the Universe says you have to be Intentional.
.. “Which one of you INTENDING”.
Be intentional with your CHOICES:
We must be Intentional about what we listen to, we must be Intentional about what we read, we must be Intentional about who is in our Inner circle, we must be Intentional about where we go to.
… We must be Intentional about how we live our lives.
You are going to have a lot of opportunities to do many things in Year 2021, but you have to ask your self: “Do these things help me to build the Tower I want to build?
The way I use my TIME, does it help me to build my Tower?
The People around me that I talk to every time, I have conversations with every time, whose wisdom I live on – Do they help me to build my Tower?
The things I listen to, the things I read, the music I listen to, the Stations is Tune to, the Sermons I listen to, the Speeches I listen to, the Magazines I read, the Online Portals that I go to read information; do they help me TO BUILD the Tower I’m intending to build?
If they don’t, you have to be more INTENTIONAL – Don’t just go through life hoping that things would happen.
… You have to be Intentional about your CHOICES.
And you have to be intense about your ACTIONS.
To be intense about our ACTIONS, that means that we have to be Passionate.
We have to be emotionally involved in what we are doing. We have to invest Emotion!
PASSION is the FUEL to drives everything! – It’s your Petrol, it’s your Gas, it’s your Diesel.
If you use an electric car; it’s your battery! – Without it, nothing is driven.
So, if we have to be Intentional, we have to be INTENSE.
Everybody say: “I MUST INTEND TO MAKE IT HAPPEN”.
So you ask yourself: WHAT AM I INTENSE ABOUT?
What gets my blood boiling? What makes you sit up and focus on, without getting tired?
Anything you can do, and do for a long time; without getting tired and feeling bored; that’s your PASSION.
For some People, their Passion is Football – They can watch their Football Team whether it is Manchester United (because these days nobody support Local Leagues). We have all become British and Spanians. It could be Barcelona, it could be Aston Villa (Laughing)!
What’s your Passion?
If you can sit down and watch a Football Game for three (3) hours; and watch another one for three (3) hours and not feel bored; that’s your Passion.
For some People, their Passion is Politics – They can eat Politics, drink Politics, swallow Politics, roast Politics, cook Politics, salted Politics, grill Politics, barbecue Politics, eat Politics and NEVER be tired!
That’s their Passion!
If that’s what you do, that’s your Passion.
But the question you have to ask is: This Passion that I have, does it help me to BUILD the Tower I want to build for 2021?
Some People’s Passion is Social Media Postings -:Every time they are Posting something. They eat something, they Post it. They smile, Post it!
It’s a Passion – You do it and do it; you never get tired!
But, is it helping you to build the Tower you want to build?
… You have Passion for it; but is it helping you?
If you do what I call “AN ENERGY AUDIT”; you will find out what you are using your energy or your Passion for?
And you may find out that in 2021, you were so Passionate and so Energetic; but it didn’t give you ANYTHING.
You cheered People who were earning one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) for Playing Football.
You cheered People who were earning twenty million Pounds (€20,000,000) for Playing Football.
You cheered People who were achieving something, you cheered somebody to win an Election but, you didn’t acheive anything.
Why? – Because your energy was not focused in the right direction.
If you are going to build, you must know what you want to build. And you must INTEND to build it.
And the way to intend to build is to be INTENSE with your Action, with your Passion.
- THIRD (3RD) STEP: I MUST COUNT THE COST FOR DOING IT.
You must KNOW what you want to do, you must INTEND to do it, and you must COUNT THE COSTS for it.
Everything worth having has a PRICE TAG on it.
This is not something new, you know it already.
The most Precious thing that God gave to us is our Salvation through Christ and it is free. But salvation came at a cost. It cost the Precious Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, the “Precious Salvation” was bought with the “Precious Blood”.
Everything worth Anything, cost Something.
Following Choices is the best journey in the world but it is going to cost you taking up your Cross and following Him.
In the same way; everything we want to achieve has a Price Tag!
During this Christmas I know that most of you did some shopping but one of the refrains that most traders is that People are moving but they are not buying.
The Cities are full of People in the market and in the shops. The roads we are choked with Vehicular Traffic but no sales.
How can People be moving and going round shops but no sales?
The shop owners were complaining and what they said is: People come to the shop, they examine an item for a very long time and when they are told the Price of the item they would say in Ghanaian English: “I am going to come” (Laugher!)
They knew what they wanted they went close to it but they didn’t have what is required to get it so they said: “I am going to come!”
And many times in life we know what we want, we go close to it, we are Passionate about it. But when we are told what it will take us to achieve it we say: “I am going to come!”
So, if you know what you want; you have intended you are going to get it, you have to know how much it costs. And to do that you have to assess if you have what is needed.
Do you have what it takes to build that Tower? Do you have it do you have the qualification for it? The education for it? The relationship for it? Do you have the finance for it?
Do you have it?
I do an assessment – Not that I decide not to Pursue the dream. No, no, no! But I look at myself, I assess myself and I say: “I can do it.” Not that you will abandon it!
You have to be like the Ghanaian – “I am going to come!”
In other words for now, I don’t have it but I am going to Prepare myself and the next time I come to the shop I will be armed to buy what I saw.
So, you are going to do an assessment to see that: There are some things you have, there are some things you don’t have which you need.
And that is why I am doing Assessment – You have to learn to MOBILIZE for what is NEEDED.
I don’t have it now but I am going to mobilize to have it.
When you fall short of resources, you mobilize for more resources.
*So, if you want to build something: It may be building a business, it may be building a Good family life, building a Good Marriage. building a Spiritual Life, building a Prayer life.
Or maybe it could be a Physical building you want to build – Maybe your own home, maybe a facility for your business, maybe you need to expand your business from one (1) operation to ten (10) operations or five (5) operations.
That is what you want to do!
But then you realised: I don’t have what it takes!
Don’t just discourage yourself because “I don’t have what it takes!”
You have to go and mobilize: go around and find ways to build capacity, to fulfill your vision.
Everyone who has achieved anything in life at one point didn’t have what it took.
The dream is BIG, but capacity small. Don’t abandon the dream because Capacity is small – Mobilize, Talk to People, learn, develop yourself. And like the Ghanaian: “You will go to come!” You will come back.
- So, you know what you want, you are intentional about it, you have done your assessment; the fourth (4th) and Final Step: Jesus says after you have done all of that: YOU MUST COMPLETE THE BUILDING.
Building something or anything requires a lot of focus, requires a lot of hard work.
Jesus says: If we don’t complete what we started we will be a laughing stock.
Have you ever laughed at someone who failed to complete something? Have you ever laughed at someone who failed to achieve something?
… To be honest you have, and I have!
We laughed at the Person who started a race very enthusiastically and ended up hopelessly last.
Don’t we laugh at them? Even after fifty (50) years I still laugh at them.
I still remember a gentleman in my Middle School who used to run the mile. He was our Champion Miler. The man then in our School was the right (8th) round.
And he beat everybody in our School.
When we had a School competition and other People came in. And this Guy had in very very unique style. He goes very slow and opens up speed in the end. And in our School it works for all of us but in other School it didn’t work.
So, we had our inter School competition in the Middle School and he ran and he was going very slow and we are very comfortable: Oh this guy will just speed up in the lap, he will just beat everybody.
Before we realised it, he had been overtaken one (1) round. We said, it has never happened before, we hope it’s Good? And he was overtaken more than one round. The last minute he did what he could, but the other People too had speed at the end. And he was hopelessly last.
Our Champion was hopelessly last.
But up to this moment; it has been more than fifty (50) years or so; but I still remembered him and laugh.
Jesus said if you start and don’t finish; your People would laugh at you.
Are you ready for People to laugh at you for fifty (50) years? – No!
…. So when you start finish it well.
You laughed at the Boxer who bragged so much about winning a fight, and got badly beaten and knocked out! And years after that we joke about him.
We laughed at the Person who set out from his house dress to impress, and later fell into a gutter.
Don’t we laugh at them? – We do!
So, one day would somebody laugh at you: Oh, he said he would make it in 2021. But look at what happened! Oh, he said he would build; but look at what happened!
Please save your dignity don’t let anybody laugh at you – So what you start to build, you must Finish.
So that Year 2021, next year about this time when I say let’s check our assignment, you will come and say: “This is what I intended to do and IT IS DONE”.
So, work and keep working.
We must continue working when things are going well, we must continue working when things are hard.
We must continue working when People encourage us; you must continue working when People discourage us; you must continue working when you feel on Top; we must continue working when we feel so Low.
If you want to be Fruitful and build that Tower you must keep working at it!
And you must stay on course till it becomes a reality.
Next Year by this time, you would have achieved something substantial, something Great – Amen.
You will look back and say: Look what I have achieved, look to the level I have come to.
And it’s because you had a clear Vision – “ONE THING” you want to do. – Not ten (10), not twety (20) not fifty (50) – One Thing!
You were Intentional about it, you applied your Passion to it, focused on it, applied your Passion and you stayed until you completed it.
…. That’s the MESSAGE
NOW ASSIGNMENT:
I want you to WRITE this and READ it every day in 2021;
FIRST (1ST) ASSIGNMENT:
According to Luke 14:28; THIS IS THE TOWER I AM BUILDING IN 2021 …..
(And this is a dotted line there) and I want you to write what it is:
It could be Spiritual, Marital, Physical, Mental, Health, Academical – ONE (1) THING – not ten (10), not twenty (20).
What ONE (1) THING do you want to build and Testify to the Lord about; by the end of Year 2021?
Just “One Thing”, not TOWERS; not something beyond your Power.
The People Jesus spoke to were People who could BUILD the Tower He was talking about – So you have to write down something you can build.
With some efforts, with some energy, with some force, with some drive and you will achieve it – It is within your means to achieve it.
It’s just that you need to arrange resources Properly and target it.
So according to Luke 14:28: This is the Tower I am building in 2021 ……
So, though I’m giving you an Assignment; it is an assignment to yourself.
SECOND ASSIGNMENT:
I am going to give you a Prayer Topic to Pray daily in 2021: From January to December; every day you are going to Pray this Prayer
… And this is the Prayer you will read daily:
HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE ME THE WISDOM AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO BUILD THE VISION YOU HAVE GIVEN ME FOR 2021.
…. That’s Assignment number 2.
And you are going to use this Assignment to become Fruitful in Year 2021 – Amen.
Everyone of us will bear Fruit, there will be something you will hold in your hand Next Year about this time and say: “Look at what the Lord has done with my life; this is what I set myself to do and see what God has done!”
Everyone of you will have a Testimony; Covid or no Covid. Vaccine or no Vaccine you will achieve this – Amen!
We cannot Predict everything that will happen in the world; but we can Predict what we will do with our Lives, with our time with our energy with our Vision with our Purpose.
So, Next Year by this time you will not complain how hard the world has been; you will Glorify God for what He has done in your life – Amen.
And instead of People laughing at you you will be laughing and thanking God for what He has done for you – Amen.
Lift your hand with me everybody – As with the Heavenly Father, from today I determine to build for your Glory – Amen.
And I ask You Lord:
GIVE ME THE WISDOM AND THE RESOURCES NEEDED TO BUILD THE VISION THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME FOR 2021.
AND I DECLARE LORD THAT I WILL RETURN WITH TESTIMONY, WITH MY TOWER OF WHAT I HAVE BUILT I WILL GIVE YOU GLORY FOR IT.
AND ALL THE WORLD WILL REJOICE WITH ME BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE WITH ME AND THROUGH ME
IN JESUS NAME – AMEN AND AMEN!
AND EVERYBODY SHOUT: I WILL MAKE IT IN 2021. I WILL ACHIEVE THIS ONE THING AND GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED IN JESUS’ NAME – AMEN!!!
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