I Can't Stay Here: Dare to Take the First Step

Introduction

This message was preached by Earl McClellan, pastor of Shoreline City Church in Dallas, invited to preach at Elevation Church. The key text is 2 Kings 7:3-9: four lepers, sitting at the gate of a besieged city, make a decision that will overturn a situation they don't even have the means to understand. The thread running through the sermon fits in one sentence: "I can't stay here." Staying where you are, refusing the step God is asking of you, is already dying a little. Moving, even when it makes no sense, is opening a space for a miracle you'll never see by staying seated.

Message Outline

1. Interesting, essential, informational: it's still not enough

• Earl begins with a simple distinction: something can be interesting without being moving, essential without being personal, informational without being transformational.
• He takes the example of the sun (S-U-N): it's the greatest star in our galaxy, our planet depends on it, but hearing about it changes nothing about your Sunday. It's interesting, essential, informational, but it doesn't move you.
• Today, he says, we're not going to talk about the sun but about the Son. Colossians 1 reminds us that the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, and that in Him all things hold together.
• The prayer that opens the message: "God, may I not leave the way I came. Move me today."

2. We are all somewhere : and even a good place can become a tomb

• You are somewhere physically, but also emotionally, financially, mentally, professionally, relationally. No one escapes this "somewhere."
• Some are in a good place: finances are solid, the emergency fund is there, everything clicks. Earl warns: a good place can become a tomb if you stop growing. A marriage you preserve without continuing to nurture it withers. A business in "protection mode" ends up stagnating.
• Others are in a hard place: debt, exhaustion, depression, lukewarmness, family drama. The cry is the same: "I can't stay here."
• This cry is not a complaint; it's the beginning of a decision.

3. The lesson of the four lepers: look at what you can do, what you have

• 2 Kings 7:3-4: four lepers, excluded at the city gate during the Syrian siege, say to each other: "Why stay here until we die?" Three options: the city (famine, we die), stay here (we die), the enemy camp (we might die, but maybe not).
• They choose the third. Earl loves these men because they don't stay stuck on what they don't have and what they can't do. They ask themselves: "What do I have? What can I do?"
• The question he turns back to the reader: what small group is there for you, what pastor, what friend, what community that you can't even see anymore because you're obsessed with what's missing?
• Sometimes God isn't looking to change your situation first: He wants to change something in you before changing your place.

4. "At dusk": you take a step here, God acts over there

• 2 Kings 7:5: "At dusk, they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans." 2 Kings 7:7: "At dusk, the Arameans had fled." The same moment. They move here; God causes the sound of a great army over there.
• Earl uses two images to make this concrete. The first: the Nest app. From his phone at Elevation, he can change the temperature in his home in Dallas. He acts here; the heat changes over there. It's also an image of prayer: a mother on her knees here, a child at a party over there whose drink starts tasting different.
• The second: their adoption. He and his wife fill out the paperwork, and when they reach the line "How will you pay the $30,000," he simply writes "by faith" and signs. The next morning, at a men's meeting at his church, a man approaches: "My wife and I heard you're going to adopt. We've never been able to have children, but we just sold a piece of land and we want to be part of your story. Here's a check for $5,000."
• They had taken a step here. God was already working over there.

5. It's not just for you: the ripple effect of your walk

• 2 Kings 7:8-9: the lepers enter the abandoned camp, eat, drink, hide silverware. Then one of them reconsiders: "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we're keeping it to ourselves."
• Earl sees a picture of the Gospel. We were like the lepers: excluded, sick, with no right to enter. We came to Jesus convinced it would be our end, and we found a table set, an abundance, a "I can finally breathe." Impossible to keep that to yourself.
• Your walk has a cascading effect: a business, a teenager, a grandchild, a generation may be on the other side of your "yes." Elevation Church, he says, was born because Pastor Steven and Pastor Holly accepted a step. We are its heirs.

6. Don't look for steps; enter an experience

• While preparing the message, Earl asked the Lord for practical "steps." The answer he says he received: "Don't give them steps. Invite them into an experience."
• He quotes Ezekiel 2:2 and Ezekiel 3:24: "The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet." Then Acts 1:8: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." Finally Acts 2: the day of Pentecost, a sudden sound, a wind, tongues of fire, Peter standing up.
• The word that keeps coming back: "suddenly." The drought will end suddenly. Strength will return suddenly. What you're waiting for can shift in an instant, but you need to be standing, available, out of the camp of stagnation.
• The sermon ends with a long prayer welcoming the Holy Spirit over each person, each campus, each stage of life.

Key Takeaways

• There is a radical difference between being informed by a message and being transformed by the presence of God. The second depends on your willingness, not the quality of the preacher.
• A good place can become a tomb. Growth is not a luxury; it's your protection against slumber.
• Don't stay stuck on what you don't have and what you can't do. Look at what God has already placed in your hand, however small, and take the next step.
• The miracle is only seen after the step, never before. God doesn't show you the scene so you'll move; He moves because you dared to take the first step.
• Your obedience is not just for you. It opens a space where others will be fed, sometimes people you'll never see.

Personal Application

1. What is God asking you to stop today, in what's keeping you "here" when He's calling you further?
2. Is there a "good place" in your life (marriage, work, service) that you're preserving instead of continuing to grow?
3. What is the small, concrete step you can take this week (a call, an appointment, a gift, asking for forgiveness), that you keep putting off because you're waiting to "see" before you act?
4. What are you focusing on: what you don't have, or what God has already made available to you (a community, a pastor, a friend, an ability)?
5. To whom could you share this week the good news you've been keeping to yourself for too long?

Scriptures Referenced

• 2 Kings 7:3-9 · The four lepers at the gate of Samaria
• Colossians 1:15-18 · The Son, image of the invisible God
• Hebrews 4:12 · The living and active Word
• Ezekiel 2:2 · The Spirit entered me and set me on my feet
• Acts 1:8 · You will receive power
• Acts 2:1-18 · The day of Pentecost

Frequently Asked Questions

What biblical text is Earl McClellan's message based on?

The central text is 2 Kings 7:3-9, the episode of the four lepers sitting at the gate of besieged Samaria. The sermon also draws on Colossians 1 to introduce the Son, and concludes with a passage on Acts 2 and the experience of the Holy Spirit who lifts you to your feet. It's a message that weaves together human decision and divine intervention around a single moment: "at dusk."

What does "I can't stay here" mean when my situation isn't that bad?

Earl McClellan insists precisely on this point: a good place can become a tomb if you stop growing. "Staying here" isn't only staying in suffering; it's also staying in a comfort that no longer asks anything of your faith. The step God asks isn't always an exit from crisis; it's sometimes an exit from a comfortable zone so you can continue becoming the person He wants to shape.

Where does this sermon come from and why is it translated into French?

This message is translated from an English sermon by Earl McClellan (pastor of Shoreline City Church in Dallas), preached as a guest at Elevation Church and broadcast on Elevation's YouTube channel on June 23, 2024. The French translation remains faithful to the content and pastoral tone of the preacher. The biblical references are cited from the Louis Segond version (LSG) for a French-speaking reader.