Derek Dunn

27/08/2026

We serve the God of suddenlies.

But understand this:

Suddenly does not mean God just started working.

Joseph spent years in places that looked nothing like the promise.

The pit.

Potiphar’s house.

The prison.

Then one day Pharaoh sent for him.

He changed his clothes.

Stood before Pharaoh.

Interpreted a dream.

And suddenly the prisoner was governing Egypt.

His position changed in a moment.

But the man who stepped into the palace had been prepared for years.

That is how God often works.

We see the suddenly.

God sees the preparation that preceded it.

Don’t misinterpret a season where nothing appears to be changing.

God may be developing your character.

Increasing your capacity.

Sharpening your discernment.

Preparing relationships.

Positioning circumstances you cannot see.

Because when God’s appointed moment arrives, He does not need years to change your season.

Hear me prophetically:

Do not quit because preparation is taking longer than you expected.

Do not abandon what God spoke because your present circumstances contradict it.

And do not mistake God’s silence for God’s inactivity.

The prison was preparing Joseph for the palace.

God was building the man before He changed the man’s position.

Stay faithful in what is in front of you.

Let God finish what He is forming in you.

Because what takes years to prepare…

God can shift suddenly.

Genesis 41:14
“Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.”

27/08/2026

Join us this weekend at Alive Church Orange County in-person or online!

We’re excited to welcome Glenn Bleakney! 🙌
Get ready for a powerful time of worship, encouragement, and a timely word as Glenn joins us as our guest speaker.

Come expectant. Come ready. Come believing that God has something for you!

📖 One word from God can change everything.

Invite a friend and join us — we can’t wait to see you there!

26/08/2026

The greatest counterfeit Christianity is not Christianity that denies Jesus.

It is Christianity that still uses His name but no longer has Him at the center.

The church at Ephesus had doctrine.

They had discernment.

They had endurance.

They worked hard.

They even exposed false apostles.

Yet Jesus looked at this seemingly successful church and said:

“You have forsaken your first love.”

That should shake us.

Because it means we can get many things right and still lose the One everything is about.

We can preach for Jesus.

Build for Jesus.

Serve for Jesus.

Sing about Jesus.

Defend truth about Jesus.

And somewhere along the way become more consumed with the work of the Lord than the Lord of the work.

Hear me prophetically:

Jesus will never accept being a supporting character in the Church He purchased with His own blood.

He is not part of our message.

He is the message.

He is not one priority among many.

He is preeminent.

The Church does not exist to make our ministries famous, build our platforms, or advance our names.

We exist to reveal Jesus.

Maybe the greatest revival we need is not another event.

Maybe it is the Church falling in love with Jesus again.

Back to His presence.

Back to His voice.

Back to His Word.

Back to His lordship.

Back to our first love.

Church, come back to Jesus.

Put Him at the center again.

And let everything we build, preach, carry, and become point to one Name: JESUS.

Revelation 2:4
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

25/08/2026

Let’s be a people that are after the GLORY of God.

This is what it’s all about.

25/08/2026

I believe we have normalized a version of Christianity that the Book of Acts would not recognize.

We know how to organize, communicate, create excellent environments, preach good messages, and do church.

But we still have to ask:

Where is the power?

Paul warned of those who would have “a form of godliness but deny its power.”

It is possible to retain the appearance while losing the reality. To keep the language while losing the authority.

That is not the Christianity Jesus gave us.

Jesus preached the Kingdom and demonstrated it.

The sick were healed. Captives were delivered. Demons were cast out. Broken lives were restored.

Then Pentecost came.

The Holy Spirit filled ordinary men and women, and the Church became a supernatural people carrying a supernatural Gospel.

That is still our inheritance.

Hear me prophetically:

We cannot reduce Christianity to what human ability can produce.

If everything happening in our churches can be accomplished through talent, technology, strategy, and personality, where is our dependence on the Holy Spirit?

And I’m not talking about hype or manufactured manifestations.

Power is not performance.

The power of the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, transforms lives, breaks bo***ge, heals the broken, confronts darkness, and confirms the Gospel.

Church, we don’t need a more impressive form.

We need the Holy Spirit.

It’s time to stop explaining away what Jesus told us to walk in.

Return to the pattern.
Preach Jesus.
Walk in the Spirit.
Demonstrate the Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 4:20
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”

24/08/2026

We have created versions of Christianity where Jesus can be Savior without being Lord.

We want forgiveness without repentance.

Blessing without obedience.

Promises without process.

Resurrection without crucifixion.

A crown without a cross.

But that is not the Gospel Jesus preached.

Jesus looked at those who wanted to follow Him and said:

“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”

He did not hide the cost.

He did not lower the standard to increase the crowd.

He did not redefine discipleship to make people comfortable.

He called them to die.

Die to self.

Die to the right to be your own lord.

Die to the life you insist on controlling.

Die to anything that competes with His authority.

The cross is not an accessory to Christianity.

It is central to Christianity.

We must be careful that in our desire to communicate grace, we do not preach a grace that Jesus never preached.

Biblical grace doesn’t give us permission to remain unchanged.

Grace empowers us to become what we could never become without Him.

And surrender is not legalism.

Surrender is what happens when Jesus actually becomes Lord.

Hear me prophetically:

If the Jesus we preach never confronts our flesh, challenges our desires, corrects our thinking, demands obedience, or calls us to surrender, we need to ask whether we are preaching the Jesus of Scripture or one we created to accommodate ourselves.

The Gospel is free.

But following Jesus will cost you everything.

Not because He wants to destroy your life.

Because the life He has for you cannot be lived while you remain lord of your own.

The Cross still stands.

The call still remains.

Deny yourself.
Take up your cross.
Follow Him.

Don’t settle for counterfeit Christianity.

Follow the Jesus of Scripture.

Luke 9:23
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

23/08/2026

There is a counterfeit Christianity that knows how to look Christian without becoming like Christ.

It knows the language.

It knows the songs.

It knows the Scriptures.

It knows how to worship.

It knows how to post the verse.

It knows how to say all the right things.

But where is the transformation?

The Pharisees knew Scripture better than most people around them.

Yet when the One the Scriptures revealed stood directly in front of them, they rejected Him.

They had information without transformation.

And that same danger exists today.

We have never had greater access to sermons, podcasts, books, conferences, Bible studies, and Christian content.

Yet access to truth is not the same as submission to truth.

Hear me:

Truth you refuse to obey will never transform you.

The Gospel did not come to make the old you more religious.

Jesus did not die so you could add Christianity to the life you had already chosen.

He came to make you new.

Real Christianity confronts you.

It corrects you.

It changes your desires.

It changes your priorities.

It changes how you speak.

It changes how you forgive.

It changes how you love.

It changes what you tolerate.

It changes who sits on the throne of your life.

Because when Christ becomes Lord, you lose the right to remain who you used to be.

We must stop measuring spiritual maturity by how much Scripture someone can quote.

The question is:

How much of Christ can we see in the way they live?

The evidence of an encounter is not how hard you fell, how much you cried, or what you felt in the room.

The evidence is what changed when you got back up.

Church, we don’t need another generation that merely carries the name of Jesus.

We need a generation that looks like Him.

Don’t settle for the language without the life.

Information without transformation.

Religion without regeneration.

Don’t just carry His name.

Become like Him.

Galatians 4:19
“Until Christ is formed in you.”

22/08/2026

23 years ago, this young man made me a dad for the first time, and life hasn’t been the same since. 🎂

Ethan, watching you grow into the man you are today has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. You changed my world the day you came into it, and you’ve been making it better ever since.

I couldn’t be more proud to call you my firstborn son. We’ll celebrate together Wednesday, but I wanted the world to know today just how much I love you.

Happy 23rd Birthday, son! Love you! ❤️

22/08/2026

You can build something successful and still build the wrong thing.

You can gather crowds.

Build influence.

Create something impressive.

Have people celebrate it.

And yet Heaven never asked for it.

Babel was impressive.

The people were unified.

They had vision.

They had resources.

They were building something enormous.

But listen to their motivation:

“Let us make a name for ourselves.”

That one statement exposed everything.

They weren’t building for God’s glory.

They were building their own significance.

And that same temptation still exists today.

Especially in ministry.

We can become so consumed with building something people notice that we stop asking whether Heaven actually commissioned it.

Hear this:

Not everything that grows is God.

Numbers don’t automatically validate an assignment.

Visibility does not equal significance.

Applause does not equal approval.

And success in the eyes of people does not necessarily mean faithfulness in the eyes of Heaven.

Paul said that one day every person’s work will be tested.

Not our gifting.

Not our popularity.

Our work.

What did we build?

Why did we build it?

What foundation did we build upon?

And whose glory did it ultimately serve?

Apostolic builders don’t build to make their name great.

They build so His name is known.

I believe God is raising a generation of builders who are no longer impressed by what merely looks successful.

They want what Heaven commissioned.

They want what carries eternal weight.

They want what remains when everything built for human applause has disappeared.

So before you spend your life building something, ask:

Did Heaven ask for this?

And if He did…

Build it with everything you have.

Build with integrity.

Build with excellence.

Build for generations.

Build for eternity.

And when it is finished, make sure only one Name receives the glory.

1 Corinthians 3:10,13
“Each one should build with care… their work will be shown for what it is.”