2026 Year of Expansion and Overflow
Expansion means enlargement and in 2026 there must be an enlargement of our spiritual capacity. An enlargement of our own spiritual capacity by intentional decision and choice to abide in Christ. During the life of Jesus on earth, He said to His disciples “follow me”. When He was about to leave for heaven, He told them “abide in me” which speaks of having an intimate relationship with Jesus.
As followers of Jesus we trust Jesus as our Saviour, we are loved, forgiven and we have the Holy Spirit in us but we fall short of a fullness and overflow that is necessary for ourselves, our families and those in our community. John 15:4-5 says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
We need time to grow into Jesus the Vine, do not expect to abide in Jesus unless we will give Him that time. It takes a day by day time with Him and not a hurried ten minutes. We all know the need of time for our meals each day, every person who works claims his 45 minutes or an hour for lunch, they will not hurry in five to ten minutes, they want their full time. If we are to abide or live in Jesus, we must feed on Him, John 6:57 “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” Feed on Jesus may seem a strange idea but Spurgeon says this, “In eating and drinking, a man is not a producer, but a consumer; he is not a doer or a giver forth; he simply takes in. If a queen should eat, if an empress should eat, she would become as completely a receiver as the pauper in the workhouse. Eating is an act of reception in every case. So it is with faith: just simply receive.” So in faith we read God’s word and receive from Him, in faith we praise and worship and we receive from Him, we pray in faith and we receive from Him. And so it is in faith we live and abide in Jesus, our spiritual capacity will enlarge, we will hear God’s voice more clearly but we also have to learn to yield, surrender, submit to Him and obey. As James 1:22 says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says”.
Expansion of our spiritual capacity will determine and influence how much we overflow to others. To overflow is to go beyond filling something with a liquid, so that it gushes over the edges. During heavy rainstorms, rivers sometimes overflow their banks and flood the surrounding land. We often see this with the River Don, there is an overflow which causes a flood. We all need an overflow of the Holy Spirit from us to the surrounding community, our city and our county of South Yorkshire. This year in 2026 we are going to lift high the name of Jesus, as this is also the year for church expansion, Isaiah 54:2-3, “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left …”. Yes, we want to grow in numbers but we don’t just want followers but disciples so our foundational course Kingdom Living is essential for us all to do. The last Friday in every month we will have a prayer and fasting day. In February, I will teach on the Holy Spirit so that we all flow together in an overflow of the Holy Spirit, moving in the power of the Holy Spirit and producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
In conclusion, George Bernard Shaw once wrote that: ‘Some men see things that are and say why? I dream things that never were, and say “Why not”?’ In response to God giving us a vision for this church, can we loudly declare, ‘Why not!’ Is anything impossible for the Lord? Is anything too hard for Him? Absolutely not!
