Tim Timberlake - Stretched (01/03/2026)
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Summary:
In this energetic message titled «Stretched,» the preacher draws from the story of Elisha raising the Shunammite woman’s dead son in 2 Kings 4:32–37. He encourages the congregation to «refuse» circumstances that contradict God’s promises, declaring that miracles often grow in adversity. By aligning mouth (speaking the Word), eyes (seeing beyond the natural), and hands (working faithfully), believers can see dead things revived. Emphasizing persistence—"stretch again"—he prophesies breakthrough in 2020 (a leap year of added significance), calling people to the altar to stretch their faith for resurrection in marriages, businesses, families, and dreams.
Opening and Humor
Amen! We love the bishop. How many of you love Pastor Stovall? He called me yesterday and said, «Hey man, we need to shoot a video.» Instead of a video, I said, «Well, we can call some professionals to do that; it’s too late.» All right, meet me at IKEA next time. We’ll just do the video thing then. How many of you are ready to get in the Word this morning? Oh, come on! We can do better than that. How many of you came prepped, primed, and ready?
All right, come on! Let’s scream like the Jaguars are going to the Super Bowl this year! All right, you say that’s impossible. I’m not screaming for that! Oh ye of little faith! If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 2 Kings, chapter 4. I’ve been wrestling over this passage of Scripture, and I told my wife I didn’t want to preach this, but the Holy Spirit punched me and said, «You will do what I tell you to do, boy.» So I’m just going to be obedient this morning.
Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 4:32–37
All right, 2 Kings chapter 4. We’re going to pick up at verse 32. If you don’t have it, the team’s going to throw it on the screen. It says, «When Elijah came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them, and he prayed to the Lord. Then he went up and laid on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. He stretched himself upon him, and the flesh of the child became warm. Then he got up again, walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him again. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. Then he summoned Gehazi and said, 'Call the Shunammite woman.' So he called her, and when she came to him, he said, 'Pick up your son.' She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out, less afraid.»
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you, God, that we can come and worship you in freedom and in liberty and in joy. So God, we ask today that you would speak to us. We ask, God, that we would be changed by your Word. In Jesus' name, we pray. All those that agree, say Amen!
Message Title: «Stretched»
I want to talk to you this morning from the subject of «Stretched.» Everyone say «stretched.» Come on! Let’s say it like we really mean it: «stretched.» How many of you like to stretch? Just like stretch for no reason and go nowhere? You ain’t running; you ain’t doing no activities. Just wake up in the morning to stretch. I can’t stand stretching. It’s painful! My body doesn’t work like it used to. I used to be able to get up and just play basketball, and now I have to play basketball after about 45 minutes of stretching. By the time I finish stretching, I’m just as tired as I would be had I played basketball! So I just go ahead, unlaced my shoes, and go back home. After I stretch, I’m sweating. I am stretching! We’re going to talk about stretch today.
Illustrations: Food Orders, Amazon, Furniture
I mean, if we’re to be honest, you can find out a whole lot about a person by what they order when you go out to eat. Come on! You can find out if you’re with somebody that you consider yourself hanging with. You can hang with them for a while. Or, you know if you go out with a person on their time of fasting, you’re like, «Okay, this person is very interesting. They just ordered some almonds, some water, and some salt and pepper for some reason.» But like right now, I’m not the best person to go out with because I’ve been on water fasts. I’ve been fasting, and I’ve been on this thing where every time dinner rolls around, it just drives Jen crazy. I’ll put on the Food Network because I like to envision what I am going to eat after I come off the fast. I mean, I am a student of The Cooking Channel! I got my notebook; I’m taking out recipes. I mean, it is like Bible study for me! I am just digging deep into the Food Network and The Cooking Channel because I’m making preparations for what I’m going to consume after I make this sacrifice. Can I get a good Amen on that?
But you can also tell a lot about a person by their online orders. You know people say you can tell a lot by people’s kids, and you can tell a lot about a person by their spouse. I say you can tell a lot by what people order off Amazon. You look at somebody’s Amazon history; you can tell a whole lot about a person. How many ever ordered something, and when you got it, it came differently than what you thought it would? Oh man! You ordered something off Amazon, and it’s some clothes. You ordered a large, and it shows up as a medium. And you’re like, «What size is this? This doesn’t even fit me! This isn’t what I paid for!» They might say so, so you send it back.
Jen and I were in the furniture store looking at a couch, and you know, in this season, we like to do some window shopping. We’ve been looking at this couch for the last two years, and so finally we went into the store. Stop living like weird people! We started talking to the person, and he said, «Yes, if you order this couch and it shows up differently than how you ordered it, you can refuse it.» I was like, «Wow, that’s interesting. I never thought about refusing something that I ordered!» He said, «Yeah, if it comes too small or if it comes too big or if it doesn’t fit your room the way that you want it to, you can refuse what we deliver.» That was like, «Wow, that’s pretty amazing!» So you mean to tell me you’re delivering it, but based on how it fits my life, I can refuse it? He said, «Yeah.» I said, «Hey, I think we better get this couch.»
Context: The Shunammite Woman
The Shunammite woman, she has a son that’s been delivered by God. Let me give it some context. The prophet Elijah has been coming to this couple’s house off and on for years. So much so that they built a room onto their house to accommodate this prophet. How many of you know the pastor has to come by your house a whole lot for you to build a whole nother room on the top of your house for that? Can you imagine me coming by your house so much that you say, «Hey, no, in fact, PT, we’re just going to build you your own room. You have overstayed your welcome in our house, and we’re going to build you a whole nother section to accommodate your travels.» If I’m the pastor, it ought to dawn on me, maybe I stopped by too frequently without making a deposit here.
So this prophet, Elijah, tells his servant, «Ask them what it is that they need. Ask them what it is that they have need of. Ask them what it is that they want.» He goes to the Shunammite woman and her husband, and he asks them, and they don’t say anything. Then he says something intriguing and interesting to me. I took notice that they did not have a son. So the prophet Elijah tells them, «Listen, by this time next year, you will be holding your son.» So the following year, at the same time, God delivers to them a son.
Fast forward now, some years later, the son is in the field working with his father, and it says that the son complained that his head hurt, and he passed out and died. The father takes the son back to the house, dead, and the mother takes this dead boy up to the prophet’s room and lays him on the prophet’s bed. Something that she had hoped for is now dead. Something that she was anticipating and expecting is now dead. Something that she had believed God for—that He would deliver—did not come the way that she had ordered it. So she did what every good mother would do: she refused it. She refused what had been delivered because if what God delivers shows up differently than what He promised, you can refuse it.
One of the things that I’ve learned in my faith journey is God does not always live up to our expectations, but He always lives up to His Word. He said, «My words shall not return to me void,» which means that if what He has spoken looks differently than what I’m seeing, then I can refuse what I see until what He said manifests. Oh, I wonder if I’m talking to anybody this morning that may be looking at something differently than what God said. You know what God is saying to you, so you’ve got to refuse what you see.
It says she refused it. There was no phone system, no walkie-talkie, no GPS, but somehow, some way, she found the prophet where he was. Oh, you mess with a mama? Oh, she’ll find you! She found this prophet, and it says that she went and told him, «Come with me.» The prophet was busy, so he told her, «Here, take this rod.» She said, «A rod didn’t promise me a son; you did! You need to come with me!» Now, this is the TMV version—Tim’s Message Version—but the prophet got his stuff and followed the mother.
Elisha Raises the Boy
It says that when he got in the house, he saw the boy lying dead on his bed, and he closed the door. Look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor, «He closed the door.» When God has a serious interest in you, He closes the door. There are some things that you’ve been crying about in 2019, coming into 2020. The truth is that it was supposed to be an open door, and God closed the door because He is still developing what’s on the other side of the door so that when you get a hold of it, you can retain it.
Listen to me, you’re not blessed by what you receive; you’re blessed by what you retain. And so God is preparing something for you. You thought God was busy ignoring you? No! He’s busy preparing something for you. You thought God had forgotten about you? No! God is preparing something for you. And so when He has an interest in something or someone, He closes the door so that you don’t get distracted by outside voices.
Then what seems like some craziness begins to happen. It says the prophet went over to the bed, and he got on top of this dead boy. He puts his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. The first time I read this, I said, «God, that’s nasty! I’m not… This is—I’m full of faith; I believe God can do all things. I’m not getting in the casket for nobody. I’m not getting in the casket for my daddy! I want him to come back! I’m not putting my mouth on that corpse! Those lips are purple, Jesus! I’m not doing that! This is crazy! Why would he do that? What in the world would he do that for?»
By this time, I’m pretty sure this boy is different colors. He’s smelling! Rigor mortis is kicking in, and I’m just asking God, «Why? Why in the world would he do this?» And if you’re taking notes, I want you to write this down as point number one before we get into the meat of some stuff: The seed of a miracle is often planted in the soil of adversity.
Point 1: Miracle in Adversity
The seed of any miracle is often planted in the soil of adversity. We oftentimes pray and ask God to see miracles—to be a part of miracles. «God, perform a miracle in our life!”—but we don’t want to go through the adversity to get the miracle that we need. See, if it’s not a dire situation, if it’s something that you can handle in your own power, then it doesn’t take God’s power. If it’s something that you can handle in the natural, then it doesn’t take the supernatural. If it’s something that you can do without coming to the end of yourself, then it doesn’t take Jesus stepping in.
But Jesus only wants to do things in your life that He can get the credit for. So if you can get credit for it, by all means, take credit for it! But when you come to the end of your rope and you know that you can’t perform another thing for yourself and you can’t wake yourself up in the morning and you can’t even lay yourself down to sleep with peace at night and you need Jesus to step in—that’s when He steps in and says, „Now that you’ve moved out of the way, I can step in the way so that I can be who you need me to be in your life.“
Mouth on Mouth: Speak the Word
See, the prophet Elisha has a sneaky suspicion that it’s going to take me doing something unfamiliar and strange to see something that I’ve never seen before. So he puts his mouth on the dead boy’s mouth. And this is what I believe: in this year, 2020, if you’re going to see some things return back to life again, you’ve got to start putting your mouth on the right thing, and you’ve got to start pointing your words in the right direction. Life and death are in the power of your tongue! There’s power in your mouth! If you release it… Oh, I need you to hear me this morning! I said, „There’s power in your mouth if you release it!“ You hold the master key to every door that stands in front of you!
You want your marriage to be better? Ah! Then start speaking the word over it! You want your kids to act better? Ah! Then start speaking the word over them! You want your body to line up with what God has promised you? You’ve got to speak the word over it! Because he understood that there’s power in my mouth. God has given me a word, and I can declare and decree that word over this dead body. I believe that what I say can come to pass because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!
Is there anybody in here that believes that you have the all-sufficient One at work inside of you and there’s some power that is working inside of you that you can release through your words? Oh, come on! I dare to stamp the gift of God that’s only inside of you and release a hallelujah!
Eyes on Eyes: See Differently
You didn’t just stop there! It says that he put his eyes on his eyes.
And I said, „Well God, what is it that you want us to do this year, 2020?“ And this is what I believe He wants us to say: number one, you’ve got to release the word. When we put our mouth on something, we have to release the Word. If you’re going to see things differently, you have to say things differently.
He put his eyes on his eyes. I believe he put his eyes on his eyes because he was trying to see something differently than what he saw. If your eyes are always fixed on the problem that’s in front of you, it will always be a distraction from the promise that’s inside of you. I’ll say it again: if your eyes are always fixed on the problem that’s in front of you, it will distract you from the promise that is at work on the inside of you.
How many of you got a promise from God this morning that you’re holding on to—that you are squeezing firmly to—that you are believing God for? This is what I believe: your expression should be an example of what you are believing for. And so when you are anticipating victory, you begin to act like you already got victory! I can’t say I have victory and act like I’m defeated! Are you following me this morning? Because whatever I’m expecting, there should be an expression of expectation!
In case some of you are hungry this morning, and your body is expressing hunger through sound, because it is expecting to eat—even your body knows when we expect, we make noise! So listen, I don’t know who is expecting in here, but if you’re expecting God to do something, if you’re expecting God to do something, if you don’t know if you’re expecting God to perform a miracle, then you can perform—that’s why I want you to give God about 20 seconds of a real good praise! Come on! Look at this place!
See, when you see things, it should excite what you do because you see differently! You ever get something in your eye, and you get it out? You’re a little bit happier than you were when your vision was blurry because you see clearer. See, we listen in and we tune in to the Word of God because it shifts our vision and it helps our focus. And so when God says something and God releases something, God says, „My word can’t return to me void,“ which means that if God is big enough to say it, I’m crazy enough to believe it!
And so I don’t know how big your promise is. I know some of the things I’m believing God for, and I can’t remain silent when I think about what God has already spoken! And when I think of the goodness of Jesus and some of what He’s done for me, I can’t help but shout hallelujah! Thank God for saving me! Is there anybody here grateful that He brought you out of eternity, out of the muck and the mire, and saved you with His grace and His mercy?
He puts his eyes on his eyes because he has to see what he can’t see.
And in this year, 2020, if you are focused on what you see, you’ll miss what God is trying to show you. So you know the number one cause that keeps us stuck as we go into a new year? It’s familiarity. We got the same family; we got the same car; we got the same clothes. And so although we come into a new year, we still look at some of the same things, and the enemy would have you believe that this year is going to be just like last year. But I’m telling you, this is not just a new year. Listen to me; this is not just a different year. This is not just a significant year; this is a year of great significance!
Are you listening to me? Not just any type of significance, a great significant year! And not only is it a great significant year, it’s a leap year, which means that God is adding on time to do a little bit more than what He’s done in years past! If you’re expecting God to do something in this leap year, why don’t you leap up on your feet and take it before you see anything changed? Before you feel anything change, before it changes around you, say, „God, I believe in my faith that this year is going to be my best year yet!“ If you believe that, holler at your boy!
Hands on Hands: Work on It
All right, let’s try to get through this thing! Let’s try to get through it. His eyes are on his eyes; he’s seeing what he can’t see. He’s seeing beyond what he sees so that he can see what God showed him. This is what I believe: in this year, 2020, in order for you to walk into this season of newness, you have to see the season of newness before you walk into it. If you think this year will be just like every other, this year will be just like any other.
But if you think that this year is going to be drastically different, then you have to start visualizing what it is that God desires to do in and through you differently than He’s done in years past. So he puts his eyes on his eyes. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, „But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.“ How many of you believe that God is preparing something for you?
And so number three, we have to see clearly. See clearly! And then it says he put his hands on his hands. If you know anything about the Word of God, you understand that hands represent work. Hands represent work! He puts his hands on his hands. Psalm 90:17 says, „And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. Establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes, the work of our hands establish our way.“
And in this year, 2020, listen to me: you’ve got to work on it! Oh, I said you’ve got to work on it! There have been some things that you thought were dead that God is calling you to pull back up and work on it again! There are some things that you thought would never happen and never manifest for you, and God is calling you to try it again! You’ve got to put your hands on it again. You’ve got to try it again! It is not dead! God is going to resurrect it back to life if you have the faith enough to believe that God can do a great thing, and you are willing to put in the work to work on it!
God says, „I’m able to do it! How many of you believe He’s able?“ Let’s look at what happens next in the scripture. It says that after the prophet did these things, it says that the boy got warm. It doesn’t say the boy got up. It doesn’t say the boy stood up. It doesn’t say the boy opened his eyes. It just says that the boy got warm.
And there are some things that you have tried in times past that God is calling you to try again. There are some things that didn’t work out the way that you thought that were going to work out, and God is calling you to try it again. There are some things that didn’t go the way that you expected and anticipated, and God is saying to you, „Try it again!“
Getting Warmer and Stretching Again
And it says the prophet got up and he walked once across the room and right back, and it reminded me of this game that we used to play. You see, growing up, we didn’t have a lot of video games, and my parents would tell us to get outside and go play! That’s how you go get some water from that hose! So, you know, you started getting creative. You just started making up games! Fill that hose with mud, make you a mud pie frisbee, get you a stick and some rocks, and I’m Barry Bonds!
But as a game that we used to play, one of my siblings would hide something, and I used to have to guess where they hid it. They’d tell me based on my proximity, „You’re getting hot!“ and I’d go a little further the opposite way. They’d say, „You’re cooling down!“ I said, „What about now? You’re warming up!“ What about now? „You’re really hot!“
I came to announce to you this morning that some of you have been in the wrong section in the wrong place for too long, and now you are in proximity to your breakthrough and your blessing, and you’re getting warmer! You’re getting hotter! If you can just release a good hallelujah, and if you can release a good Amen, if you can release a good „Thank you, Jesus,“ guess what? God says a greater party is grateful!
We serve a true literary! It says, „And he stretched again.“ Tell your neighbor, „We gotta stretch again.“ It didn’t work the first time, second time. And it said the boy sneezed seven times. I don’t know about you, but where I’m from, when somebody sneezes, you say, „Bless you!“ I came to announce to you today that God is about to bless you—season of blessings!
Come on, come on! Stand to your feet all over this room. Stretch your hands towards heaven! Come on! It might not have happened on the first stretch, but I’m a firm believer that God can do more in your second stretch than you ever thought was possible!
See, your first 20—it may not have happened, but in your 2020, I believe that God is about to show you a new season of breakthroughs and wonders. God is so good!
Altar Call and Closing Prayer
So, I just want to pray for those this morning that have been staring at a dead thing in the face. You’ve been wondering and praying and asking God, „God, when will this thing rise again? When will my business bounce back? When will my marriage stop putting me through so much pain? When will my kids return to you?“ I’m telling you, this is your day that God brings back that thing that you thought was dead.
So if you would like us to agree with you in prayer, I just encourage you right now, get out of your seats! Come on! Meet me at the altar! Come on, from wherever you are in this arena, come on! Flood this altar right now! Come on! Will you come? Stretch those hands towards heaven. Thank you, Lord!
You know, in baseball, when you’re on third base and you’re rounding third base, they say you’re on your home stretch. And I came to tell you today you have rounded third base, and you are on your home stretch. This stretch right here is going to break you through some things that you’ve been praying and believing for! This stretch right here is going to push you out of the season that you’ve been stuck in! This stretch right here prepares you for the Word in the name of Jesus!
Somebody shout, „Stretch!“
Heavenly Father, we set ourselves in agreement with your sons and your daughters that are here, who are believing that what was once dead can be raised to new life. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is at work on the inside of us. So, Father, we are stretching our faith right now to believe, and we believe, therefore, we act like we believe. We believe because we act! We believe, Jesus! We thank You, and we give You all the glory! We give You all the praise! We give You all the honor! In the name of Jesus!