Now What?May 3, 2026

Tarry

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IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 1 IMAGINE CHURCH USA NOW WHAT? SERIES | WEEK 4 OF 6

TARRY NOW WHAT? — Week 4 Luke 24:49 / Acts 1:4–5 (ESV) | May 3, 2026

BIG IDEA — REPEAT THROUGHOUT

"The most powerful thing you can do right now is refuse to move without God's power."

OPENING HOOK [ Walk up slow. Let the room get quiet. ]

I want to teach you a word today. It's an old word. A King James word. You don't hear it much anymore. But I believe this one word could change everything about the season you're in. TARRY.

Tarry means to wait. To stay. To linger. To remain in a place longer than feels comfortable.

To not move — even when everything in you wants to. And Jesus used this word specifically — when He talked to the disciples before He ascended. Luke 24:49 "But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 2 The word in the original text is TARRY. Stay. Wait. Don't move yet.

These are men who had been on the move for three years. Always walking. Always going. Always doing. And now Jesus looks at them and says — Stop.

Wait. Tarry. And I wonder how many of us are in the same position today. You've been going. You've been building.

You've been trying to make things happen. And God keeps saying — "Not yet. Wait. Tarry."

Today I want to show you why the tarrying is not weakness. It's not laziness. It's not a lack of faith. Tarrying is one of the most powerful things you will ever do.

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 3 THE TEXT [ Read both passages slowly. Let every word land. ]

Luke 24:49 (ESV) "And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Acts 1:4–5 (ESV) "And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."" [ Look up. Long pause. ]

Not many days from now. Jesus knew exactly how long they had to wait. He knew Pentecost was ten days away. He knew the fire was coming.

He knew what was on the other side of the waiting. And STILL He said — tarry. Because what was coming required people who had learned to wait.

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 4 POINT 1 Tarrying Is Not Inactivity. It's Preparation. [ Build fast. Hit the contrast hard. ]

The biggest lie the enemy tells you in the in-between is this — "Nothing is happening." You're sitting still. You're waiting. You feel stuck. And the enemy whispers — you're falling behind. Everybody else is moving.

You're wasting time. But watch what the disciples did while they tarried. Acts 1 says they were — praying together, worshiping together, choosing Matthias together, reading Scripture together, preparing together. They weren't doing nothing. They were doing the most important thing. They were getting ready.

Hear me. You cannot receive what God has for you if you're not prepared to hold it. You can't pour water into a cup that hasn't been made yet. You can't carry a treasure in hands that haven't been strengthened yet. You can't walk into your destiny in shoes that haven't been broken in yet. The tarrying period is when God is making the cup.

Strengthening the hands. Breaking in the shoes. The fire of Pentecost didn't fall on people who were unprepared. It fell on 120 people who had spent ten days getting ready. "Tarrying is not inactivity. It's the most active preparation you'll ever do."

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 5 PREACHING MOMENT "Some of you have been frustrated because you can't see what God is doing. But just because you can't see it doesn't mean nothing is happening. God is preparing you RIGHT NOW.

In the waiting. In the quiet. In the stillness. He's doing something in you that can only happen when you stop trying to make things happen yourself."

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 6 POINT 2 Not Every Door Is Your Door. [ Direct. Urgent. This one is going to hit. ]

One of the reasons God says tarry — is because not every open door is YOUR door. Not every opportunity is YOUR opportunity. Not every invitation is YOUR invitation. The disciples could have left Jerusalem. They could have said — we've waited long enough. Let's go back to Galilee.

Let's start preaching on our own. Let's build something. And they would have missed Pentecost. They would have been in the wrong city when the right thing happened. Impatience costs you positioning. When you leave the room before God releases you — you end up in the right season — in the wrong place.

Some of you right now are being tempted to move. To take the offer. To open the door. To say yes before you've prayed. [ Slow and deliberate. ]

And God is saying — "Wait. That's not your door. Your door is coming. But it requires you to be in THIS room when it opens."

"Impatience costs you positioning. Don't leave the room before God releases you."

PREACHING MOMENT "I want to ask you a hard question today. What are you about to do that God hasn't told you to do yet? What door are you about to walk through just because it's open — instead of because God said go? Open doesn't always mean GO. Sometimes open means — not yet."

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 7 POINT 3 Tarrying Produces Unity. [ Warm. Build into fire. ]

Here's something I love about the upper room. 120 people. Ten days. One room. And Acts 1:14 says they were in one accord. Unified.

Same heart. Same direction. Same spirit. You know what ten days in a room together does to people? It breaks down walls. It exposes pretense.

It builds real relationship. It creates trust. It forges community that can withstand anything. Pentecost didn't just fall on individuals. It fell on a community that had been refined by waiting TOGETHER. Hear me.

Your waiting season is not just about what God is doing IN you. It's about what God is doing BETWEEN you and your people. The connections being made in the waiting room. The friendships forged in the fire of uncertainty. The trust being built in the season where nothing seems to be happening. That community — those relationships — those connections — are going to be the foundation of everything that comes next.

"The waiting room is where God builds the team that carries the mission." PREACHING MOMENT "Who are you in the room WITH right now? Because the people you are tarrying with — are the people you will do Pentecost with. Don't take those relationships lightly. God put them in your room on purpose."

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 8 THE CLOSE — DECLARATION [ Bring it all down. Quiet. Then build to full voice. ]

I want to talk to somebody today who is tired of waiting. You've been tarrying. You've been staying. You've been holding on. And it's costing you. It's costing you comfort.

It's costing you certainty. It's costing you the feeling that you're in control. And I want to tell you something today. That cost — is exactly what God is using. Because the disciples didn't tarry because it was easy.

They tarried because Jesus told them to. And ten days later — the room shook. The fire fell. The wind came. And 3000 people were saved in one day.

Three thousand people. In one day. On the other side of ten days of tarrying. [ Rise. Full voice. ]

Don't move before God says go.

Don't open a door God hasn't unlocked.

Don't leave the room before the fire falls.

Because Pentecost Sunday is coming. Two weeks from today — the fire is falling in this room. And I need you to be here. Positioned. Tarrying. The most powerful thing you can do right now is refuse to move without God's power.

[ Say the Big Idea. Ask the church to repeat it. Say it again. Lock it in. ]

IMAGINE CHURCH USA | NOW WHAT? SERIES — WEEK 4 | MAY 3, 2026 | im.im Page 9 ALTAR CALL / RESPONSE MOMENT [ Soft. Spirit-led. Take your time. ]

Right now I want to give you an opportunity. If you've been moving in your own strength — if you've been running ahead of God — if you've been opening doors He didn't unlock — I want to invite you to stop. To tarry. To surrender the timeline back to God. Lift your hand right where you are. And if you've never given your life to Jesus — today is your day to stop running and start tarrying WITH Him.

He's in the room. He's waiting for you. Lift your hand. [ Pause. Honor the moment. ]

Salvation Prayer: "Jesus, I believe You died and rose again. I stop running today. I surrender my life to You. Forgive me.

Lead me. I'm Yours. Amen."

Prayer for the Room: Father — we choose to tarry. We refuse to move without Your power. We will not open doors You haven't unlocked. We will not leave this room before the fire falls. We are positioned. We are ready.

We are waiting on You. Come Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen. PRACTICAL APPLICATION — WHAT DO I DO THIS WEEK?

1. IDENTIFY WHAT YOU'RE RUNNING TOWARD. What are you about to do that God hasn't confirmed? Write it down and put it on hold this week. 2.

TARRY DAILY. Ten minutes every morning. In your room. Still. Quiet.

Waiting on God. 3. INVEST IN YOUR ROOM. Reach deeper into your community this week. These are your Pentecost people.

4. COME BACK NEXT SUNDAY. Week 5: 10 Days of Prayer. We're almost at Pentecost Sunday. Don't stop now.