1
00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:04,840
It's an interesting that we know
the Lord is in this place and we

2
00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,160
sing that the Lord is in this 
place, but then we ask him to 

3
00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:13,040
meet us here again. 
By the way, His answer is yes. 

4
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,520
He draws near to those who draw 
near to Him. 

5
00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,960
It's not a question of the 
physics of God because He's 

6
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,840
everywhere at all times, but out
of all of His creation, you have

7
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,800
the ability to reject Him. 
You have the ability to say no. 

8
00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,040
I was talking about that with my
daughter this morning. 

9
00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,960
Not that that's ever the advice.
He has given you the ability. 

10
00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:40,960
And when you cry out for him and
when you invite him in, it is 

11
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,080
something special and it is 
powerful. 

12
00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,920
And that is where life change 
truly begins. 

13
00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,200
Amen. 
Amen. 

14
00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,600
Y'all can, y'all can be seated. 
The care team come forward and 

15
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,560
just want to thank you for being
here tonight. 

16
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,360
It's the state of the church. 
Let's just talk about how we're 

17
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,760
how we're doing this year and 
where we're going next year. 

18
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:10,720
And we had a meeting this 
afternoon with our financial 

19
00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,880
Advisory Board and just went 
over some things and you'll hear

20
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,480
about a bunch of them today. 
But I want you to know, not just

21
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,360
in the the financial aspect, but
things have been very good. 

22
00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,120
The Lord has been so good. 
He's provided us with such 

23
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:29,400
opportunities, such people, and 
I think it's only poised to be 

24
00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,440
even more so next year. 
So, I mean, y'all are here on a 

25
00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:36,400
Wednesday, then you're probably 
here on a Sunday. 

26
00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,320
Let me just thank you for being 
consistent. 

27
00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,120
Thank you for being generous. 
We went through a government 

28
00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,040
shutdown recently. 
I don't know if you noticed 

29
00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,760
that, right? 
A government shutdown. 

30
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:53,000
And this is on a year where we 
had to replace two major facets 

31
00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,440
of this place. 
We were out in the community. 

32
00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,040
I don't want to preach it before
I get to it, but you guys are 

33
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,720
amazing. 
You're amazing, and I'm so 

34
00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,080
grateful for every single one of
you. 

35
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,560
God, we just ask that you bless 
this time of giving. 

36
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:08,919
Everything you've given us is 
yours anyway. 

37
00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:11,200
So thank you for teaching us how
to steward it. 

38
00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:13,760
And we just pray that it returns
back to your Kingdom in the name

39
00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:19,440
of Jesus, Amen. 
Well, you can turn to Ephesians 

40
00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,800
4 if you'd like to, But the 
reality is, while I do have some

41
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:27,240
scriptures here, it's mostly 
because I can't help myself. 

42
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,000
And I was talking to a couple of
people today and I said, I'm so 

43
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,760
glad you're here. 
It'll probably be the driest 

44
00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,080
sermon of the year because it's 
not really a sermon as much as 

45
00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,320
it is just following up on some 
things. 

46
00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,880
And this is if you've ever been 
to maybe the old school business

47
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,680
meetings of a church, this is 
more like a family meeting. 

48
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,840
This Is Us just talking about 
things and just us being 

49
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:50,800
transparent. 
If there's anything you have 

50
00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,640
additional questions for, man, 
if we have time at the end, I'll

51
00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,280
just take some questions and if 
we don't have time, then we'll 

52
00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,920
make some time and we'll set up 
a time and you can call me or 

53
00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:01,240
something. 
But while you're going to 

54
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,240
Ephesians, 4I shared this last 
year and I couldn't help but 

55
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,280
share it again. 
It's a story about 3 brick 

56
00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,560
layers who are working on this 
massive cathedral. 

57
00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,840
And the first man, who's a brick
layer, he's working and somebody

58
00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:15,400
walks up to him and says, what 
are you doing? 

59
00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:18,840
And he said, what does it look 
like I'm doing? 

60
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,480
I'm laying bricks one after 
another. 

61
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,360
It is hot. 
It is boring. 

62
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,480
And if my back doesn't give out,
my sanity will. 

63
00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,240
And the man said, OK, I caught 
you at a bad time. 

64
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:32,480
So he moves on to the second 
guy. 

65
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:33,800
And the second guy, he says, 
what are you doing? 

66
00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,680
And he said he's a little 
cheerful. 

67
00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,320
He straight up, he said, well, 
I'm building a wall. 

68
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,280
You see the section right here? 
I'm building a wall. 

69
00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,480
And it's my responsibility. 
And it's hard work, but at least

70
00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:44,760
I can say I'm building 
something. 

71
00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,720
So you can already see there's a
different perspective. 

72
00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,480
So then he goes to the third 
bricklayer and before he can 

73
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,480
even say anything, he just 
looked at me and said, I heard 

74
00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:54,720
you ask them. 
And I'll just go ahead and tell 

75
00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,920
you I'm building a cathedral. 
And what he understands is that 

76
00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,320
he's building something that's 
bigger than what he can build by

77
00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,000
himself. 
And a lot of times, if you and I

78
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,520
are both being honest, sometimes
even in a ministry that we 

79
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,880
generally love, it feels like 
we're that first guy. 

80
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,600
We're laying a brick. 
Sometimes it feels like whatever

81
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,959
we have done doesn't really have
a huge pay off. 

82
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,000
We're just another cog in the 
machine. 

83
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,600
Here I am doing this. 
Hey, can somebody help me? 

84
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,720
Nobody great. 
OK, I will teach 39 children on 

85
00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,080
my own or whatever. 
That doesn't happen, by the way.

86
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:28,280
We have one to one 
accountability. 

87
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,400
But what what the point is, is 
how you look at what you do 

88
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,080
matters a great deal. 
And the second guy kind of was 

89
00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,120
on the right track. 
He said, I'm building a wall. 

90
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,320
He understood the wall belonged 
to something, but this is the 

91
00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,200
area he was concerned with. 
But it was only really the third

92
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,280
guy that had the big picture. 
And he said there's something 

93
00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:51,240
that is bigger that's being 
built here, and I'm part of it 

94
00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,640
and I get to be a part of it. 
It's really the right 

95
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,920
perspective to have. 
Yeah. 

96
00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,120
Hey, Jake. 
Thanks for bringing that. 

97
00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,120
I assumed to bring my Bible just
in case because I've got all my 

98
00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,280
scriptures written down. 
But then I thought, I don't know

99
00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:04,680
what questions you might have at
the end. 

100
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:10,920
And I got to be armed, right. 
So I have spent half of my life 

101
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,120
at this church. 
I didn't realize that until like

102
00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,640
a month after my birthday. 
You know this earlier this year.

103
00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:22,880
I'm I'm 42, soon to be 43. 
I was 21 when I got here and 

104
00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,280
I've not been doing this job for
21 years. 

105
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,720
You'd see a little more Gray 
hair, but I remember so much 

106
00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,240
about this. 
And one of the things that is 

107
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,240
kind of hard is when you're 
dealing with things that have a 

108
00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,160
lot of people, sometimes you 
just can't make everybody happy.

109
00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:38,240
I don't. 
That probably surprises you. 

110
00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,880
When I came here at the the era 
where I first arrived here and 

111
00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,800
this church ingrained itself and
me and changed my life, It was a

112
00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,360
church for the 21st century. 
And I say that because that's 

113
00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,200
what it said on the sign and the
coffee mugs. 

114
00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,000
And it had this little swoosh 
under the cross. 

115
00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,960
And and it was interesting 
because the 21st century 

116
00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,680
started. 
Anybody know in what year 2000? 

117
00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,160
I started coming to this church 
in 2004. 

118
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,080
And so I have been afflicted 
with sarcasm. 

119
00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,600
And I remember when I first got 
to have a chat with Pastor Tom 

120
00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:12,880
and, and I said, why did you 
choose that slogan? 

121
00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,040
And he was like, well, we want 
them to know like we are 

122
00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:16,400
relevant for today and all of 
that. 

123
00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,000
And I said, if a church exists 
today, they're all for the 21st 

124
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,120
century because it's the 21st 
century. 

125
00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:24,960
And he didn't think it was as 
funny as I did. 

126
00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:30,080
But eventually we changed the 
logo, and he changed it to the 

127
00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,040
tagline of experience Kingdom 
life. 

128
00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:35,600
And when it was experienced 
Kingdom life, I remember every 

129
00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,240
so often we would have somebody 
call us and ask us if we were 

130
00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,200
Jehovah's Witnesses. 
And what we realized, it's 

131
00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,240
because Kingdom Hall is where 
Jehovah's Witnesses meet. 

132
00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,080
Well, it's not Kingdom Hall, but
that's what it said. 

133
00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,960
And then for a while we played 
around with the idea of now 

134
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,640
you're home. 
But we opted not to go with that

135
00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,160
because who am I to tell you if 
you're home, you can decide if 

136
00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,840
you're home. 
What we've landed at is your 

137
00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:02,400
seat at the table. 
One of the great things about 

138
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,920
this church. 
And tomorrow when we go through 

139
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,840
our Next Steps class on a random
Thursday at 2:00, it's part of 

140
00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,440
what we go through is what is 
your spiritual background? 

141
00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,520
What is it you're looking for? 
What is the baggage you bring to

142
00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:15,920
the table? 
And what is the hope and the 

143
00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:17,120
vision that you bring to the 
table? 

144
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:21,040
Because the, the, the core of 
liberty will always be Jesus. 

145
00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,440
It will always be worship. 
It will always be the Holy 

146
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,960
Spirit. 
But the flavour and the way that

147
00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,680
it looks, it changes a great 
deal dependent on who is here 

148
00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,360
and who is throwing in their 
gifts and their willingness to 

149
00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,800
help build the Kingdom. 
In the same way that you read 4 

150
00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,160
gospels and they all come 
through a different perspective 

151
00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,840
and a different personality. 
The flavour of what Liberty is 

152
00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:43,640
able to bring is flavoured 
through you guys and some of you

153
00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,240
have really weird personalities.
So I'm really excited for the 

154
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,800
next year. 
I'm so grateful for Pastor Tom, 

155
00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,120
so grateful for the fact that he
poured into me and that he saw 

156
00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,680
me in the roughest time in my 
life and he grabbed a hold of me

157
00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,000
and didn't let go and he saw 
something that I didn't see. 

158
00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,760
So grateful for Pastor Marsha. 
I'm grateful that she was able 

159
00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,760
to find a way to play that 
tambourine no matter what the 

160
00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:08,600
song was. 
Those of you who are here, you 

161
00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,120
remember. 
And Pastor Marsha, who was not 

162
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,680
to be trifled with. 
She was a tough lady, but if you

163
00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,560
were in a crisis and you said I 
need you, she would drop what 

164
00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,600
she was doing and she would talk
to you like that. 

165
00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,000
So grateful to have a safe, 
spiritual mother and father to 

166
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,480
raise me up in Ephesians chapter
4. 

167
00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,240
I'll just start in the and the 
first verse and we'll read the 

168
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,600
first 16 verses. 
Paul says this. 

169
00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,640
He says therefore IA prisoner 
for serving the Lord beg you. 

170
00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:44,120
He said, I beg you to lead a 
life worthy of your calling for 

171
00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,320
you have been called by God. 
He says always be humble and 

172
00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,480
gentle. 
Be patient with each other, 

173
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,400
making allowance for each 
other's faults because of your 

174
00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,520
love. 
By the way, every time I have 

175
00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,360
trouble making allowance for 
somebody's fault, I look at this

176
00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,240
verse and I question if I'm 
loving them. 

177
00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:06,840
Make every effort to keep 
yourselves united in the Spirit,

178
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,840
binding yourselves together with
peace, binding yourself together

179
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,640
with peace. 
That means you cannot get out of

180
00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,440
it because you are bound. 
You are determined to be at 

181
00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,280
peace with one another, for 
there is one body and one 

182
00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,400
Spirit, just as you've been 
called to 1 glorious hope for 

183
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,480
the future. 
There is one Lord, 1 faith, one 

184
00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:32,280
baptism, one God and Father of 
all, who is over all, in all and

185
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:39,160
living through all. 
However, He has given each one 

186
00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:42,120
of us a special gift through the
generosity of Christ. 

187
00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,960
Isn't that encouraging to you? 
He has given each one of us a 

188
00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:48,800
gift, and this is very 
important. 

189
00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,600
Through the generosity of 
Christ, this is Jesus. 

190
00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:54,640
He could have said the Father, 
He could have said the Holy 

191
00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,160
Spirit. 
There's a list of gifts that the

192
00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,480
Father gives you and they're 
listed in Romans 12. 

193
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,600
And 1st Corinthians talks about 
the miraculous gifts of the Holy

194
00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,960
Spirit right here. 
He says Jesus has given you each

195
00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,520
a gift. 
And then he goes on to say this.

196
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:11,600
That's why the Scriptures say 
when he ascended to the heights,

197
00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,480
he led a crowd of captives and 
he gave gifts to his people. 

198
00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,400
Notice that it says he ascended.
This clearly means that Christ 

199
00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,640
also descended to our lowly 
world. 

200
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,600
And the same one who descended 
is the one who ascended higher 

201
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,960
than all the heavens so that he 
might fill the entire universe 

202
00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:33,240
with himself. 
Now verse 11 here is what we 

203
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,480
call 5 fold ministry and it 
threw me off for a long time 

204
00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:41,280
because some people teach that 
only some have these gifts and 

205
00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:42,880
I'm convinced that that is not 
correct. 

206
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,240
I'm not the only one. 
So so you know, I'm not the only

207
00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,400
church. 
That's like No 5 fold ministry 

208
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,880
matters because what we just 
read in verse 7 is that this is 

209
00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:57,800
how Jesus has gifted you. 
Why did Jesus gift you? 

210
00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,360
We'll get to it. 
Verse 11 says these are the 

211
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,600
gifts that Christ gave to the 
church, the apostles, the 

212
00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,200
prophets, the evangelists, the 
pastors, and the teachers. 

213
00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,840
Their responsibility is to equip
God's people to do His work and 

214
00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:15,760
build up the church, the body of
Christ. 

215
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,160
This will continue until we all 
come to such unity in our faith 

216
00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,120
and knowledge of God's Son that 
we will be mature in the Lord, 

217
00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:27,480
measuring up to the full and 
complete standard of Christ. 

218
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,560
Couple questions for you before 
I read just the last couple of 

219
00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:32,840
verses. 
Do you believe that we have 

220
00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,320
measured up to that full 
standard? 

221
00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,000
Are we there? 
Have we arrived? 

222
00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,560
I don't think we've arrived yet.
I think we're on our way. 

223
00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,920
One of the things I push back on
this is if it's their job to 

224
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:49,440
equip God, to equip, to equip 
God's people, are they not God's

225
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,760
people? 
There is no distinction here. 

226
00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,440
We are a royal priesthood, all 
of us, every one of us. 

227
00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,800
The apostles need the prophets, 
the prophets need the 

228
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:00,640
evangelists and so forth and all
of that. 

229
00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:03,600
We need each other. 
I won't even go through my hand 

230
00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,520
illustration I learned from my 
spiritual grandfather. 

231
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,160
I don't have time tonight, but 
if you don't realize that you've

232
00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,360
been, you have been given a 
specific gift to build the 

233
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:13,560
church, you know what you won't 
do? 

234
00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,440
Build the church. 
And maybe, maybe on occasion 

235
00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,440
when somebody is really in need,
you will help, but you'll just 

236
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,520
be laying a brick and it'll be 
hot and your back hurts and you 

237
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,240
don't know why you're doing it. 
And you don't know if you're 

238
00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:33,120
seeing what happens when we all 
come together and do this, says 

239
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,080
then we'll no longer be immature
like children. 

240
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:38,040
We won't be tossed and blown 
about by every wind of new 

241
00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,480
teaching. 
We will not be influenced when 

242
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,000
people try to trick us with lies
so clever they sound like the 

243
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,480
truth. 
Instead, we will speak the truth

244
00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,160
in love, growing in every way 
more and more like Christ, who 

245
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,400
is the head of his body, the 
church. 

246
00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,920
He makes the whole body fit 
together perfectly. 

247
00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,600
As each part does its own 
special work, it helps the other

248
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:05,720
parts grow so that the whole 
body is healthy and growing and 

249
00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,840
full of love. 
So this is really about two 

250
00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,080
things when it comes to you. 
It's about your calling and it's

251
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,680
about unity. 
Many of us want to find our 

252
00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:15,240
gifts. 
We want to find how we are 

253
00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,080
designed to serve the church. 
But it's crazy. 

254
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:19,800
Some of us, we don't serve the 
church. 

255
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,520
And it doesn't just happen in 
this building or in another 

256
00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,360
church building. 
The church is everywhere. 

257
00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:28,240
But if you find your gift, 
you'll also find the fact that 

258
00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:31,280
you cannot find a single 
spiritual gift, not from the 

259
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,440
Father, the Son, or the Holy 
Spirit in any of those three 

260
00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:36,680
books I just mentioned. 
Not one of those gifts is ever 

261
00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:41,520
given to you, for you. 
Every gift is designed for 

262
00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,240
someone else. 
Why would your gift of prophecy 

263
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,840
be for you? 
So you can prophecy to yourself?

264
00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,960
Why would your gift of 
leadership be for you? 

265
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,640
So you could lead yourself. 
Every gift in every form is 

266
00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,440
designed for someone else. 
And every time that you take 

267
00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,800
your gift and you throw it to 
the side, you're not the one 

268
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,800
missing out somebody else's. 
But when they use their gifts, 

269
00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,160
you'll have everything that you 
need. 

270
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,880
And this is how Christ is 
knitting His body together. 

271
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:14,840
First thing I'll just take a 
look at is what we've 

272
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:21,440
accomplished in 2025. 
I want you to know that this 

273
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,840
year's really been a testimony 
to God's faithfulness and really

274
00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,080
the power of a United Church. 
In Matthew 5, it talks about how

275
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,400
we're the salt of the earth. 
But what good is salt if it's 

276
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,560
lost its flavor? 
Can you make it salty again? 

277
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,520
And the answer is implied, it's 
no. 

278
00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,560
So don't try. 
Then he says you're the light of

279
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,600
the world. 
You're like a city on a hilltop 

280
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,520
that can't be hidden. 
And no one lights a lamp and 

281
00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:47,640
then puts it under a a basket. 
Instead, a lamp is placed on a 

282
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,160
stand where it gives light to 
everyone. 

283
00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:51,960
In other words, you notice when 
you bite into something and 

284
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,280
there's salt, You notice when 
you walk in somewhere and 

285
00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,480
there's light. 
And we're supposed to be noticed

286
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,520
not for our own sake, but for 
what we carry within us. 

287
00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:08,240
So as we look back on 2025 
Liberty Church, I don't want to 

288
00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:10,240
just celebrate activity in the 
things that we've done. 

289
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,560
What I want to celebrate more 
than any of that is the 

290
00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,120
obedience that you all have had 
to the Lord. 

291
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,400
Scripture reminds us again and 
again that faith is not proven 

292
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,760
by your intentions. 
It's proven by your movement. 

293
00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,160
It's proven by the works. 
And James tells us that even 

294
00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,440
faith without works is actually 
dead, not because the works save

295
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,000
us, but because faith always 
shows up somewhere. 

296
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,880
And So what we've done this year
mattered because it reflected 

297
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,560
the heart of God. 
So let me talk about a few 

298
00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:42,800
things that really mattered. 
We continued Conquer ministry 

299
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:48,080
and this ministry matters. 
And I understand if it's not 

300
00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,160
something that's really close or
near and dear to you, you might 

301
00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:51,920
be like, oh man, you guys talk 
about it a lot. 

302
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:53,720
Well, we talk about it a lot 
because it's not something you 

303
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:56,640
can jump into in the middle. 
There's a set starting and 

304
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:58,440
ending point to it. 
And when there's a chance to 

305
00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:00,760
jump in, we want you to be able 
to jump in. 

306
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,880
I think anybody who's been a 
part of the Conqueror ministry 

307
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:04,880
will tell you it's not just 
helped with the obvious things, 

308
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,080
with the search for sexual 
purity for men and things like 

309
00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,000
that, but it also really does 
help just in how you interact 

310
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,800
with other other human beings in
general. 

311
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,880
It helps breakdown baggage that 
you've picked up. 

312
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:17,760
And I'm just going to tell you 
all right now, we all want to 

313
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,680
make a difference, But the 
second thing that we believe 

314
00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,800
here is to find freedom. 
You have to find freedom on your

315
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:24,920
way to discover your purpose and
to make difference. 

316
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,680
The problem of pornography and 
sexual immorality is so 

317
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:32,040
prevalent because it's so 
normalized in this world today 

318
00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,440
and certainly in this country. 
So to speak out against it, even

319
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,320
in a church is taboo. 
The first time we did conquer 

320
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,480
ministry, had a couple people 
come to me and say, you were so 

321
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,040
brave to stand up there and talk
about it. 

322
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,160
And I said was I, I'm not in the
group, I'm not leading the 

323
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:46,680
group. 
I think those guys are brave. 

324
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:49,320
But apparently it is offensive 
to some people. 

325
00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,240
Well, this group has man, it's 
blown up to what, like near 30 

326
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,800
people, something like that, I 
think who have gone through it 

327
00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,760
some of them a couple times 
because sometimes we're, we're 

328
00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:00,400
stubborn, right? 
It takes us a few times to get 

329
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,960
through it. 
Anybody who's been involved in 

330
00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,480
it, I want you to know I believe
the Lord is proud of you. 

331
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:11,839
Take a stand, address what you 
need to address and grow. 

332
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,760
When we stepped in a jump start 
prison ministry earlier this 

333
00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,440
year, which what an unexpected 
blessing that was. 

334
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,640
We are living out the words that
Jesus said in Matthew 25 where 

335
00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,119
he said I was in prison and you 
visited me and that is not meant

336
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,880
to be a poetic verse there. 
It's something that can be made 

337
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,840
practical. 
That was Jesus identifying 

338
00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,600
himself with forgotten and 
confined and withdrawn and 

339
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,520
written off people. 
And every time our team showed 

340
00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,400
up at the prison there in 
Newport, we're not just bringing

341
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,880
Jesus with us. 
We were Jesus to those people. 

342
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,600
That's what he's asked us to do.
And it didn't end there because 

343
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,280
over the course of that year, 
Jumpstart was so successful that

344
00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:52,920
they worked their way into 
Pamlico. 

345
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,880
So we now have volunteers that 
are serving in two different 

346
00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,960
prisons on Mondays. 
And I'm going to tell you what, 

347
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,520
seeing them graduate last week 
was one of the most, it was one 

348
00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,080
of the most gratifying things 
I've ever seen. 

349
00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,280
To watch these guys walk in with
caps and gowns to earn their 

350
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,880
coin for what they did for a 40 
week program. 

351
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,680
You know, I think conquers a 
long program, 40 weeks for 

352
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,720
Jumpstart Prison Ministry and 
they're starting their training 

353
00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,080
now and we've got at least 4 new
people from Liberty that are 

354
00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:28,120
involved with it. 
It's been so, so wonderful. 

355
00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:31,440
Legacy ministry was also 
something that started this 

356
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:33,600
year. 
Legacy ministry is something 

357
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,360
that matters for a similar 
reason. 

358
00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,680
Psalm 92 says the righteous will
flourish like palm trees and 

359
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,480
still bear fruit in old age. 
Serving the seniors in Morehead 

360
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,240
City is not a charity for us. 
It's an honor and for us to be 

361
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,960
able to do this and once a month
go in there, bring them a meal, 

362
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,280
bring them some worship music or
go and just bring them some 

363
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,000
fellowship and some 
conversations. 

364
00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:01,040
I know life is busy for us, but 
for some people it's not so busy

365
00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,240
and they desperately need us and
I just think that it was a very 

366
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,440
honourable ministry. 
It's us saying to them that 

367
00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,480
their age does not disqualify 
their purpose and that no season

368
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,080
of life is invisible to God or 
to His church. 

369
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:18,440
We also got involved in more 
community events this year, like

370
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,800
the Chili festival. 
We were there for National Night

371
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:22,480
Out. 
We actually got the really cool 

372
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,880
opportunity. 
We were contacted by the city to

373
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:29,920
ask if we could please cook the,
the hot dogs for everybody at 

374
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,440
National Night Out. 
And they said we have 

375
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,400
everything. 
We just want to know if you have

376
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,600
guys that like to grill and 
grills. 

377
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,880
And I said, oh, well, that that 
we've got. 

378
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,080
And then of course, we just 
talked about it on Sunday, but 

379
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,480
we got to be in the, the parade,
the Christmas parade, first 

380
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,400
place. 
Jane Trevor, man, how cool was 

381
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,480
that? 
Do you know why events like that

382
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,480
matter? 
I know sometimes it's hard to 

383
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,040
say, like, ha, you're a church, 
why does it matter to be there? 

384
00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:01,280
They matter because they're 
hospitality to our community 

385
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,160
with a purposeful intention. 
Romans 12 tells us to practice 

386
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,000
hospitality. 
And just so you know, it's not a

387
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,680
suggestion. 
A believer is to practice 

388
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,720
hospitality. 
OK. 

389
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,160
And that can be done in a couple
different ways, but it is 

390
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,280
another calling. 
So creating a space where people

391
00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,240
feel safe and welcomed and seen 
is always the first step towards

392
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,600
healing a heart that would never
make it in here. 

393
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,680
Unless they first encountered 
somebody there and we want them 

394
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,840
to know that this city and this 
area matters to us and we claim 

395
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,600
it for Jesus. 
Thanksgiving time, we got to 

396
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,280
provide the turkeys. 
We didn't provide the actual 

397
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,680
birds, but they said, hey, do 
you have anybody that could 

398
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:39,840
cook? 
Do you have anybody at your 

399
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,080
church that knows how to cook a 
Turkey? 

400
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,680
And once again, this church can 
cook. 

401
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,680
So cooking all of these turkeys 
and providing them on the week 

402
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,160
just before Thanksgiving was an 
act of obedience. 

403
00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,920
It makes me think of Proverbs 
22, which says whoever is 

404
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,000
generous to the poor lends to 
the Lord. 

405
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,880
This year, the partnership that 
we have over with the Gathering 

406
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,360
Place actually deepen. 
The leadership expanded there. 

407
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:07,960
Multiple people in your church 
are involved in the leadership 

408
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,320
of the Gathering Place, and I 
expect great things for the 

409
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,760
Gathering Place in the new year.
We also ran out of our Angel 

410
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,880
Tree families in record time. 
So in the realm of taking 

411
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,920
complaints, some of my favorite 
complaints have been I wanted to

412
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,560
sponsor a family but they were 
all gone and I said get some 

413
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,840
running shoes for next year. 
I don't want to tell you because

414
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,640
the Angel Tree had local needs 
and had kids internationally. 

415
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,080
Also, our missions work this 
year I think really reflected 

416
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:44,040
the heart of Acts 18. 
We were witnesses locally, but 

417
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,240
also regionally and globally. 
We sent A-Team for our 

418
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,400
construction in February to 
Guatemala. 

419
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,920
That was a good reminder that 
love often speaks through hands 

420
00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,120
that are willing to build and 
put in some sweat equity. 

421
00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:00,080
A little bit later on, we sent 
our very own Jake. 

422
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:01,680
It's Jake's birthday, by the 
way. 

423
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:03,600
He spent his birthday here. 
Happy birthday, Jake. 

424
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,680
Did you hear that clapping? 
That was your gift. 

425
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,840
Jake's gone down there. 
He served half of his one year 

426
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,920
internship in Guatemala and 
decided to take a year of his 

427
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,200
life and go spend it serving the
people in Guatemala. 

428
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:22,720
He's not the first one from this
church and I venture to say he's

429
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,400
probably not the last one, but 
we're very proud of what Jake is

430
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,600
doing. 
And then of course, later in the

431
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,720
year, we took our first full 
trip to Albania, 15 people, full

432
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,520
trip to Albania. 
I'm going to tell you what, I'm 

433
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,920
not downplaying Guatemala. 
I've been to Guatemala way more 

434
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,920
and it has my heart, but there's
something about a team of 15 

435
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,440
people that are willing to cross
an ocean to go be the hands and 

436
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,040
feet of Jesus on another 
continent. 

437
00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,920
I want you to know, like how 
cool it was for me to see I was 

438
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:57,080
the only one out of the 15 
people that had been to Albania 

439
00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,480
on a mission trip before. 
And watching the other 14 take 

440
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,560
it all in and serve well was 
watching them step into the 

441
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:06,520
story of the gospel in real 
time. 

442
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,240
And so spiritually, those 
mission work opportunities 

443
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,640
mattered because we chose to go 
where it wasn't familiar. 

444
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,320
In the next year, we're going to
have a few people go down and do

445
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,720
construction in February, but 
we've got 17 people that are 

446
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,160
going in August to Guatemala 
again. 

447
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,960
And I don't have dates for 
Albania, but I have to get dates

448
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,360
for Albania because you all are 
making me get dates for Albania.

449
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,760
Over the last year. 
We also had Next Steps classes 

450
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,000
all throughout the year. 
They always help people discover

451
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,400
their place in the body here, 
just like Paul describes to us 

452
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,600
in First Corinthians 12. 
And as I talked about on Sunday,

453
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,320
we're going to have a class at 
2:00 tomorrow. 

454
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,960
So if you know anybody who needs
to go through Next Steps, hey, 

455
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:53,120
here's a great opportunity. 
And sorry if it doesn't work for

456
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:54,560
you. 
It normally doesn't work for 

457
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,320
anybody, but it works for a lot 
of people this time. 

458
00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:03,000
So we also had Renewed Mind 
Bible studies start this year, 

459
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,000
and that took Romans 12 
seriously to, to be transformed 

460
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,240
by the renewing of our minds and
not conform to the patterns 

461
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,120
around us. 
To look at the scripture and see

462
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:13,240
what it really means and how it 
really applies to us. 

463
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,240
We'll be bringing back Renewed 
Mind Bubble's studies in a 

464
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,480
couple of months. 
We're revamping it a little bit,

465
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:19,760
but we're excited to bring it 
back. 

466
00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:24,960
We taught a Bible college course
here on world religions that 

467
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,800
wasn't about just inflating your
head with new knowledge. 

468
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,360
It was about learning 
discernment because Scripture 

469
00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:34,280
warns us to test the spirits and
tells us to equip leaders to 

470
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,520
recognize the truth of the 
gospel. 

471
00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:40,040
We had internships that happened
through the Bible college, and 

472
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,040
those mattered too, because Paul
never discipled Timothy at a 

473
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,440
distance. 
Tom Hines, Michael Fletcher, Joy

474
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,240
Barnett all did a great job this
year. 

475
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:51,280
We're going to have at least two
internships happening next year.

476
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,240
We expanded small groups into 
homes and neighborhoods to try 

477
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,680
and reflect kind of the early 
rhythm of the church in Acts 

478
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,640
Chapter 2, where faith wasn't 
confined to the synagogue or the

479
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,560
church. 
And then the teaching this year 

480
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,040
wasn't accidental either. 
Sometimes people don't remember 

481
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,720
everything that was packed into 
one year, but we started this 

482
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,680
year with the whole theme of 
trust in God, trust also in me. 

483
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,440
So as we launched into 2025, we 
had a series that was called 

484
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,520
Trust Issues because we all have
them. 

485
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,560
Over the last year we had 
different series which you may 

486
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,120
or may not remember. 
If you don't remember, don't 

487
00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,200
tell me you hurt my feelings 
like all along. 

488
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,560
Looking at the Christophanies, 
how Jesus has been there all 

489
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,320
along, the devil's playground, 
ways to fight back against the 

490
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,120
enemy. 
We covered the Way of Wisdom and

491
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:39,440
went through the book of 
Proverbs and the Change series 

492
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,360
reminded people that 
transformation is something that

493
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,200
is always expected for a true 
believer. 

494
00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:47,760
Second Corinthians tells us that
anyone in Christ is a new 

495
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:51,120
creation and that is meant to be
a promise to you. 

496
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,560
When you belong to Christ, you 
are a new creation. 

497
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,200
In the brand new year 2026, the 
theme is grace. 

498
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:01,680
It's Second Corinthians 12/9 and
we'll be talking about grace not

499
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,720
just for the first few months, 
but we'll be talking about it 

500
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:07,240
the entire year. 
And we will still not completely

501
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,240
cover everything about grace. 
I can promise you that. 

502
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,360
But the opening series in the 
new year will be called Grace 

503
00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,400
for the Moment. 
Now that being said, we also had

504
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,480
other speakers and teachers over
the last year. 

505
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,240
Not only did we have our interns
speak and they really did an 

506
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,240
incredible job. 
So proud of every single one of 

507
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,960
them. 
We had Pastor Carl Vinson here 

508
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,640
just a few months ago. 
Bob Sorgate joined us for 

509
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,440
Resurrection Sunday. 
Jared did his first sermon here 

510
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:34,960
on a Sunday while I was in 
Albania. 

511
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,960
I'm so proud of him too. 
This last year also saw the 

512
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,320
return of Pastors Drew and 
Carrie and they help strengthen 

513
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,600
our kids ministry and just 
reflect Jesus's heart when he 

514
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,080
says let the children come to 
me, you try and keep the kids 

515
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,880
from running to carry. 
They've been such a blessing. 

516
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,560
Investing in children is not a 
future focused ministry, despite

517
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,800
what some people think. 
It is a present focused 

518
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,040
ministry. 
And Elevate Student Ministries 

519
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,320
has also been thriving because 
not only is Elevate Student 

520
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,880
Ministries been making some new 
friendships and doing things, 

521
00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:09,320
they've been expanding in new 
ways. 

522
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,320
Went on a retreat at A at a 
different camp and when they 

523
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,360
came back, it wasn't just the 
kids that were talking about it.

524
00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:18,320
It was our youth leaders that 
were talking about how much it 

525
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,200
changed them. 
Men's and women's ministries. 

526
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,680
Men, we've been meeting, you 
know, faithfully once a month 

527
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,120
for the entire year. 
And next year is going to be the

528
00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:29,440
year that we end up having a 
men's event of our own. 

529
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,360
And we're not going to call it 
the men's encounter because just

530
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,160
sounds a little different when 
you when you flip that, not 

531
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,520
bashing the ladies encounter, 
but ladies, I mean, man, Melinda

532
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,440
took over. 
She's done a great job, hasn't 

533
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,160
she? 
Come on. 

534
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,520
Ha ha, weird bird noise that I 
don't get. 

535
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:51,440
But you guys do it all the time 
now. 

536
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,080
But you know, we've done some 
things that we've done for 

537
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,600
several years, like the 
community baby shower, hosting 

538
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,360
it in the in the parking lot and
making sure that those moms in 

539
00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:04,320
need get get things that they 
really do need. 

540
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,680
Blessing families. 
We also do different things. 

541
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,120
She said she wanted to have a 
ladies tea event and I said I 

542
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:11,600
like tea but I didn't know what 
it's going to look like. 

543
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,120
That thing was packed. 
You guys, you love to get 

544
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:16,520
together and it's been 
wonderful. 

545
00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,040
N the 50s had a lot of faithful 
events too. 

546
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,280
I mean y'all are not afraid to 
try new things. 

547
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,760
They have had everything from 
gatherings outside of the church

548
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:26,440
to potlucks. 
I try to make sure I show up on 

549
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,760
soup night because I want to 
make sure that you guys are 

550
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:31,480
eating well. 
It's not poisoned. 

551
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,800
They even had a murder mystery 
dinner at north of 50. 

552
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,560
Anna was the murderer. 
I could have called it. 

553
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,240
I'm just kidding. 
And that was cool because if you

554
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,000
haven't noticed, Anna's not 
north of 50. 

555
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:52,120
But that was a blend of north of
50 with our C2 ministry so that 

556
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,200
the different generations can 
get to know each other and 

557
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,320
interact. 
Beautiful moment. 

558
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:58,440
C twos met twice a month the 
whole year. 

559
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,080
They're thriving. 
Half of their meetings are 

560
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,400
fellowship, half of them are 
Bible study and edification, and

561
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,640
even behind the scenes, I mean, 
the work matters so much. 

562
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:08,760
You all have no idea how much 
work that the tech team puts in 

563
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,400
to make things thrive here. 
They work so hard. 

564
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:21,280
Seriously. 
Last year I told you guys that 

565
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,640
we were working on something 
brand new for our finances. 

566
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,840
We had just been a couple months
into this partnership with a 

567
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:27,920
program and a company called 
Parable. 

568
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,160
Parable is done for ministers by
ministers who have financial 

569
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,440
degrees and have that vision. 
And so we were working with them

570
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:37,840
and it had just been a couple of
months. 

571
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,360
But they make sure that not only
is everything accountable, all 

572
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,920
the T's are crossed, the IS are 
dotted, but they also make sure 

573
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,520
that you are in line with your 
goals. 

574
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,640
If you say, hey, we're missions 
focused as a church. 

575
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,240
And then you know, they look at 
the end of the year and they're 

576
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,880
like, well, 1% went to missions.
Are you, are you, are you 

577
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,120
spending where you want to? 
Like they hold you accountable 

578
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,280
and there's monthly touch points
for that. 

579
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:03,960
So I want to say that parable 
has been a huge success. 

580
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:05,760
You guys have been very 
generous. 

581
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,000
And like I said earlier, in the 
middle of a military shutdown, a

582
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,440
government shutdown in the 
middle of of times that were 

583
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:13,800
hard for a lot of different 
people. 

584
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,000
We have a brand new roof on this
building. 

585
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:18,920
Every time I drive through this 
building, I'd never paid 

586
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:20,520
attention to the roof until this
year. 

587
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:26,040
I look at it every time now, 
every time because the roof on 

588
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:30,400
this building and in mid January
when the carpet gets put in, I'm

589
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,720
always going to see these and 
just know that this is something

590
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,520
that will far outlast anybody 
who works at this church or 

591
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,520
attends this church, including 
me. 

592
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,920
And that makes me really proud 
to know that we did that 

593
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,280
together and we did that while 
also being generous. 

594
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,640
So if you would go ahead and put
the next slide up, what I've got

595
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,800
here is just a little bit of a 
breakdown for you on percentages

596
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:56,440
about where things went. 
So for operations, this is 

597
00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,520
staffing, this is different 
insurance, this is all the 

598
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,080
things that it takes to make a 
church function. 

599
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,720
About 52% of it went there. 
Now the way I've been taught, 

600
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,120
you always want to keep your 
personnel and operations and all

601
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,400
of that right around 50%. 
Now that being said, we're a 

602
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,960
little bit over, but this 
includes not just our staff, but

603
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,880
for the interest of Full 
disclosure, it also includes the

604
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,600
final year of a four year 
retirement plan for our previous

605
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:26,520
pastor, Pastor Tom Roberts. 
And so we, we had an agreement, 

606
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,600
we had a document to take care 
of him as he eased into his 

607
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,280
retirement. 
So that is also including a 

608
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,000
paycheck for our previous 
pastor. 

609
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,440
If you'd like a copy of this, 
we're going to hand them out 

610
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,920
when you leave because we want 
to be in Full disclosure for 

611
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,240
you. 
When you continue to look at 

612
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:46,320
this, you can see under 
facilities, these are things 

613
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,640
like maintaining things, 
repairing things, upgrading 

614
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,600
things, all of those 
administrative, it's pretty much

615
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:54,600
what it sounds like. 
It's what it takes in order to 

616
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,640
print, you know, for the ink, 
for all of the different 

617
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,320
materials and curriculums. 
Then you've got missions and 

618
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:04,040
outreach, which is at 9.2%. 
This does not include what you 

619
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:06,440
guys give directly to Living 
Water, Adopt A Child, or 

620
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,040
anything like that, but it does 
include how we support our 

621
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,640
missionaries. 
Stephen Anna McDaniel, the 

622
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,320
church has sponsored kids, 
things like that, and then 

623
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,400
ministry right there at the 6.4%
that is talking about different 

624
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,680
investments, like to get people 
to ministry programs, 

625
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:23,120
opportunities and things like 
that. 

626
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,880
Now, all of that being said, 
what's really cool about this is

627
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:30,960
when you actually look at all of
this, 89.5% was spent on 

628
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,000
ministry missions and 
operations, and we were able to 

629
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,400
have about 10.5% saved for 
sustainability in future 

630
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,680
ministry. 
We're still believing God that 

631
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,400
this land right here is going to
come open at some point. 

632
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,040
We're planning for the future. 
We're trying to be wise with 

633
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,720
this, and so we are trying to 
plan for the future on that as 

634
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,600
well. 
But I'm going to tell you, being

635
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:57,840
able to accomplish this while 
also talking about this roof and

636
00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:02,480
this carpet, it's phenomenal. 
So I just want to take a moment 

637
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,160
to thank you because you guys 
have really shown me this year 

638
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,360
what faithfulness looks like. 
And even though I had seen it 

639
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:13,640
day by day, seeing it on a pie 
chart, it does something. 

640
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,360
So all of that being said, I 
just want you to know what this 

641
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,040
says. 
This says that you go to a 

642
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,960
church that does not hoard its 
resources. 

643
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:24,960
We're a church that releases 
them. 

644
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,440
And you gave faithfully. 
And because of that, I want you 

645
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,320
to know that lives were touched,
people were trained and equipped

646
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,800
for their future in ministry, 
buildings were strengthened, and

647
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,800
the gospel has gone further than
it's gone in any of the four 

648
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,000
years that I've LED here. 
Scripture says that where your 

649
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,560
treasure is, your heart will be 
also. 

650
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,000
And I want you to know that this
year you're giving revealed our 

651
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,440
heart. 
And I could not be more proud. 

652
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:53,000
At the end of the year, I took 
two days to pour into the staff.

653
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,040
They spent time pouring into me 
too. 

654
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,960
That wasn't the plan but just to
try and have a heart for unity. 

655
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,800
Really wanted to do it also 
because as this year wraps up, 

656
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,720
obviously Pastor Anna wraps up 
her 10 year leading our worship 

657
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,520
ministry but y'all got to 
understand her heart. 

658
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:10,679
I pick on her so much because 
she really is like my sister and

659
00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:15,679
not only does she expect it now 
but it also masks how sad I am 

660
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:17,280
that she and Jed are moving next
year. 

661
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:19,480
But you guys have like a half a 
year with them so get your time 

662
00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,840
in. 
OK, but how beautiful is the 

663
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,800
heart that she said? 
Even though we're leaving in the

664
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,440
middle of 2026, I want to make 
sure there's time where I can 

665
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,840
step down and let Cassie step up
and I can be a support to her so

666
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,280
that it's a smooth transition 
and the heart of worship is 

667
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,040
never lost at this church. 
Thank you, truly. 

668
00:34:46,969 --> 00:34:49,650
Even though you won't be on the 
staff anymore, I do expect you 

669
00:34:49,650 --> 00:34:51,530
to preach at least one more 
sermon before you leave. 

670
00:34:53,170 --> 00:34:57,130
I will roast you and also make 
you cry more in a good way. 

671
00:34:57,890 --> 00:35:01,600
So before I move on, I just want
to say this. 

672
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,480
Most of us go through life using
things that we rarely think 

673
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:07,160
about. 
I have two examples for you. 

674
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:10,400
One of them is a bridge. 
Take a bridge for example, with 

675
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,240
with a few notable exceptions, 
most people don't think about a 

676
00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:16,320
bridge and say, oh, how 
beautiful is this bridge? 

677
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,280
There are a few that you visit 
and you want to take pictures 

678
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,120
of. 
We don't think about them other 

679
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:23,480
than see if we can hold our 
breath the entire time we're 

680
00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:28,160
going over them, because we're 
not worried about them for the 

681
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:29,960
most part. 
I know some people have issues 

682
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,840
with bridges. 
There's always exceptions, but 

683
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,120
their job isn't really to be 
noticed. 

684
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,800
Their job is to carry weight. 
We don't say thank you to 

685
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,680
bridges. 
We don't even notice that 

686
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,120
they're there sometimes unless 
something goes wrong. 

687
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:48,880
But a good bridge is meant to be
trusted. 

688
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:53,720
It carries weight safely and 
consistently so people can get 

689
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:56,360
where they were going. 
The other thing I want you to 

690
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:58,880
think about when I talk about 
things we don't always notice 

691
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,960
take for granted as a backpack. 
Have any of you ever done like a

692
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,560
hike, had to load up your 
backpack when you go for a hike?

693
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,560
You especially do this when you 
go to Guatemala. 

694
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,680
But when you do that, at first 
you kind of notice the weight 

695
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:14,000
and then you get used to it, 
unless you've over packed, but 

696
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,800
you kind of get used to it. 
But if you were to try to carry 

697
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:19,680
all those things here, it would 
be a little awkward, wouldn't 

698
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:21,800
it? 
The weight doesn't disappear, 

699
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,680
but you grow strong enough to 
carry it when it's in a 

700
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:25,320
backpack. 
And I want you to know that I'm 

701
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,000
using these two examples because
that's what faithfulness looks 

702
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,160
like when I look back on the 
things that we accomplished this

703
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,400
year. 
And I can see, and I and I 

704
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,720
remember the stories of people 
that I've met and I can see the 

705
00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:38,120
way that you'll have given and 
served and travelled and all of 

706
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:40,800
that. 
I don't feel like our church 

707
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:42,280
really chased attention last 
year. 

708
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,000
I feel like we built strength. 
I feel like we were not trying 

709
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,120
to impress people. 
We were just showing up where we

710
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:53,960
could, and we endured. 
And because of that, I feel like

711
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,480
we've become a bridge for others
and we've become people that are

712
00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,280
capable of carrying more 
responsibility. 

713
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,120
Faithfulness today always 
becomes responsibility tomorrow.

714
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,560
And so when we serve families 
that are in need and we invest 

715
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,360
in people and their spiritual 
gifts, and when we steward our 

716
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,600
finances wisely and we take good
care of the resources that we 

717
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:14,960
have. 
When we're willing to send some 

718
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,600
of our very best to another 
country to serve the gospel, 

719
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,680
When we're ready and willing to 
give to send students that can't

720
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:25,480
afford it to spiritual outings 
and things like that, it doesn't

721
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:27,560
feel like that big of a deal 
because they're all small. 

722
00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:30,200
But when you put them all 
together, it may feel steady, 

723
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,160
but don't you want your bridge 
to feel steady? 

724
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,280
This is a place that is a 
launching point for so many 

725
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,720
people and what they need. 
And again, if a bridge is doing 

726
00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:42,240
its job well, nobody notices it.
If your backpack fits well, you 

727
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:45,040
don't notice it over time, but 
it doesn't mean that nothing's 

728
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,080
happening. 
And so the question becomes 

729
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:52,120
this, how do we end up carrying 
what God has built together into

730
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:56,080
what comes next? 
Well, the question is not if 

731
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,680
God's been faithful. 
The question is what are we 

732
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:00,800
going to do with what He's 
entrusted to us this year? 

733
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,080
And in Acts 6, I'll just 
paraphrase it, but the first 7 

734
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,440
verses they talk about the 
forming of the first deacons. 

735
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,080
Seven men chose to serve is what
it says. 

736
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:13,440
It's Act 6 if you're taking 
notes. 

737
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:16,440
But what I love about this is 
they realize we can't do 

738
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:18,600
everything on our own. 
Other people have gifts. 

739
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,360
And so because of that, it says 
the believers rapidly 

740
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:22,800
multiplied. 
There were rumblings of 

741
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:24,680
discontent. 
You know why? 

742
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,480
Because the believers were 
multiplying rapidly. 

743
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:30,200
And you had 11 guys, maybe 11 
and a half. 

744
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:35,320
One of them was real new, trying
to do it all on their own, and 

745
00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:38,000
instead of doing that, the 
solution wasn't to have better 

746
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,240
sermons, stronger personalities,
more programs. 

747
00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:44,520
The solution was shared 
leadership, spirit filled, 

748
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,440
people stepping forward to carry
what God had placed in their 

749
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,440
heart, and the result was 
absolutely powerful. 

750
00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,000
It was incredible. 
One of the things we did for the

751
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:57,880
first time earlier this year was
our ministry roundtable, and 

752
00:38:57,880 --> 00:38:59,600
we're bringing it back on 
January 11th. 

753
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:00,760
I hope that you all will be 
here. 

754
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:04,400
A lot of the things I just 
mentioned that we did are 

755
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:06,480
because they were written on 
that whiteboard at the ministry 

756
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,240
round table. 
We said what is in your heart, 

757
00:39:08,240 --> 00:39:11,720
not just what is in your heart, 
What is in your heart so deeply 

758
00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:13,240
that you're willing to help make
it happen? 

759
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,240
We'll equip you, we'll help you.
We'll get people to serve 

760
00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:18,320
alongside you. 
You can't do it all on your own,

761
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,520
but we can't do everything. 
So how can we do this together? 

762
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,000
So much of this poured out of 
what we did. 

763
00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:26,960
I just had a meal tonight with 
somebody who was bringing me 

764
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,840
ideas that they wanted to do and
I said I love it. 

765
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,480
Please, come January 11th, one 
thing that's different this year

766
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:36,280
is right after church, we're 
going to have a meal over next 

767
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,160
door and people who are lonely, 
people who need to find friends 

768
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,680
or community or groups, we're 
going to have different stickers

769
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:45,720
that they can just pop on them. 
And if it's like green or 

770
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:47,080
something that means I need 
friends. 

771
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,000
You just walk up, start talking 
to them. 

772
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:51,160
If it's red, they need a group. 
Something like we're going to 

773
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,840
figure this out so we can go 
over there, we can break bread 

774
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:57,160
and share a meal and get to know
one another because it is so 

775
00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,560
hard to do it in here. 
And then we're going to come 

776
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,800
over here and we're going to 
have the ministry roundtable and

777
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:04,240
we're going to project forward 
what we're looking to accomplish

778
00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:07,120
in the new year. 
I want you to understand 

779
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,120
something. 
The gospel continued to spread 

780
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,040
because they were willing to 
share the leadership and they 

781
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:13,920
were willing to let other people
take ownership. 

782
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:16,800
That's why the gospel is 
spreading right now too. 

783
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:18,880
But it does require a few 
things. 

784
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:20,920
The first thing it requires is 
prayer and discernment. 

785
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,320
So please be in prayer between 
now and then, especially. 

786
00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:26,080
It's not about filling slots or 
recruiting volunteers. 

787
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,160
If you go to the ministry round 
table, it's not going to be like

788
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,240
you'll have received a ticket 
when you came in. 

789
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,600
If it ends with A5, 
congratulations, you're now on 

790
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:36,040
our kids ministry. 
Although that is an idea, that's

791
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,760
a thought. 
This is about what's in your 

792
00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,080
heart because you'll burn out if
you're serving in an area that 

793
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,440
you're not passionate about. 
But the second thing it does 

794
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,520
require is participation. 
You got to do something. 

795
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:50,720
You got to do something if this 
is your people, if this is where

796
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:53,000
you're getting fed, if this is 
the community that's holding you

797
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,160
up, you got to find a way to 
contribute to your family. 

798
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,680
And the third thing it requires 
is a relational investment. 

799
00:40:59,720 --> 00:41:01,920
I talked a lot about that on 
Sunday, but it's hard to be 

800
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,480
involved without being known. 
And I should probably add, it's 

801
00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:10,200
going to also take trust. 
But there's a very popular verse

802
00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:17,880
in Habakkuk chapter 2. 
The first couple verses says it 

803
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:21,120
says this, it says I will climb 
up to my watchtower and stand at

804
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:24,440
my guard post and there I will 
wait to see what the Lord says 

805
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,160
and how He will answer my 
complaint. 

806
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:28,880
How many of us have done that? 
That's our prayer time. 

807
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:30,920
Lord, I need to see how you're 
going to answer my complaint. 

808
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,440
It's OK, Take him to him. 
And then the Lord said to me, 

809
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,760
write my answer plainly on 
tablets so that a runner can 

810
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:39,640
carry the correct message to 
others. 

811
00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:43,120
This vision is for a future 
time. 

812
00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,560
It describes the end and it will
be fulfilled. 

813
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,920
And this is so important. 
If it seems slow in coming, wait

814
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,880
patiently, for it will surely 
take place. 

815
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:55,960
It will not be delayed. 
The Lord is not late. 

816
00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,240
God gave Habakkuk a clear vision
and told him to write it down so

817
00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:01,800
everyone could see it and run 
with it. 

818
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,280
About one year into being the 
lead pastor here, I had somebody

819
00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:10,240
say, I just just want to know 
really what is what is the 

820
00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:13,560
vision of the church? 
I don't know if it's clear and I

821
00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:23,080
went like this. 
And granted, I don't say all 

822
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,320
four of them in every sermon, 
but I want you to know, when I 

823
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,600
talk to our staff, when I talk 
to our leaders, every single 

824
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,680
thing we're involved in, I want 
it to fall under one of these 

825
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:33,680
things. 
Why are we doing it? 

826
00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:38,360
One of the things I thought was 
a great idea, for example, after

827
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:41,240
Pastor Tom retired, you know, it
used to be that the men, some of

828
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:43,320
you have been here, file. 
We got together about once a 

829
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:45,040
year. 
It was the Super Bowl party. 

830
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:48,640
We'd get together, We'd watch 
the game mostly quietly. 

831
00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:52,800
Most people would leave about 
half time. 

832
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:56,360
About a third of us would stay 
for the end of the game quietly,

833
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,200
and that would be that. 
And I said, you know what, we 

834
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:02,760
need to do this for the church. 
In that first year, we had an 

835
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,760
incredible Super Bowl party and 
we held it right here in the 

836
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,760
sanctuary. 
Man had a whole row of table of 

837
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,760
food right there and we were 
having a great time. 

838
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,000
It was so loud in here. 
And I thought, this is a place 

839
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,760
for people to gather. 
It's not just a place for 

840
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:17,040
worship. 
This is where his people come 

841
00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:18,120
together. 
I loved it. 

842
00:43:18,720 --> 00:43:23,160
And then and then the halftime 
show happened and that year was 

843
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:27,080
Doctor Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem 
and $0.50. 

844
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:30,920
We had some people right about 
here that knew like every single

845
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,080
word. 
We had some people in the back 

846
00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:38,000
like this and I thought, huh, 
But it was so well attended. 

847
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:41,720
Second year, we did it again. 
That year, the halftime show was

848
00:43:41,720 --> 00:43:44,760
Rihanna didn't know what she was
going to show. 

849
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:49,240
So instead of the halftime show,
we had activities instead. 

850
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:53,880
However, we had about half the 
people show up that next year. 

851
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:56,320
And you know what? 
I realized the people that 

852
00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:01,280
really wanted to watch the game 
were very annoyed by all of the 

853
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,360
antics of everybody else. 
And the people who were just 

854
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,800
looking for social gatherings, 
well, they can do it at home 

855
00:44:07,120 --> 00:44:09,080
where they don't have to pay 
attention to and it's not so 

856
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:12,600
loud, but there are some people.
I love you all that if the 

857
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,040
church hosts an event, you'll be
there. 

858
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:17,840
But even if most people leave, 
somebody's going to be here at 

859
00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:21,240
the end of the night cleaning it
up at 11:00 PM for the Super 

860
00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:23,520
Bowl. 
And after that year, I said 

861
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:25,840
didn't work out, let's do 
something else. 

862
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,200
We moved on. 
It didn't fit. 

863
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:31,200
It wasn't something that was 
practicing hospitality. 

864
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:33,440
It wasn't creating unity. 
It was just another thing to do.

865
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:35,560
I'm going to tell you all I want
us to be busy, but I don't want 

866
00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:38,120
us to be busy with things that 
don't make a difference. 

867
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:41,160
OK, I still watch the Super 
Bowl. 

868
00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:43,800
I just don't watch it in here 
and don't have to vacuum up 

869
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:49,880
pizza sauce the next day. 
What I would say is this, you 

870
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:52,200
probably heard me say this 
before, but one of my favorite 

871
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:53,520
books of all time is called The 
Road. 

872
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,920
It's in the dystopian future. 
There's a movie that they made 

873
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,640
about it too, Viggo Mortensen, 
he's from Lord of the Rings. 

874
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:05,320
And that in the Marine Corps, it
always gets something, see? 

875
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:10,280
But in it, you have a father and
a son, and he's trying to get 

876
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:12,880
his son somewhere safe. 
But in this dystopian future, a 

877
00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:14,400
lot of the people are not 
trustworthy. 

878
00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:17,880
And the son asked his father 
repeatedly, we're the good guys,

879
00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:19,520
right, Dad? 
He says, yeah, we're the good 

880
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:21,800
guys. 
And he said, you remember why 

881
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:23,160
we're the good ones? 
And he said, we carried the 

882
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:26,400
fire. 
We carried the fire. 

883
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,720
There's a lot that's really 
wrong out there, guys. 

884
00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:30,760
There's a lot that's really 
wrong in the world. 

885
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:33,400
And it's not like we look at it 
and we feel like we can't do 

886
00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:34,720
anything. 
We can do something. 

887
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,320
We are the ones that carry the 
fire. 

888
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,200
We have to travel the road. 
I'm not trying to make people do

889
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:43,200
things that they're not 
passionate about, but I am 

890
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:45,400
trying to wake people up and say
there's got to be something 

891
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:48,080
you're passionate about and 
let's do it together. 

892
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,920
So all of that being said, as we
set foot into that new year, 

893
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,960
this is our brand new Bible 
reading plan for next year. 

894
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,080
My grace is sufficient as we 
launch in. 

895
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:02,840
For those that are willing to 
take this journey, it's going to

896
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,600
be a challenge. 
Bet you all would like to have 

897
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:07,120
this. 
We're handing it out next week 

898
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:12,440
at the Christmas Eve service. 
This is our chronological Bible 

899
00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:16,040
reading plan. 
Let me read a few days to you. 

900
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,160
January 1, Genesis 1 and 2. 
That's it. 

901
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,720
Y'all can do that right? 
But this is really cool. 

902
00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:29,560
January 2nd is Psalm 8 and Psalm
104 and John 1 verses one 

903
00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:32,960
through 3, because it talks 
about in the beginning was the 

904
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,360
Word and the Word was God and 
the Word was with God. 

905
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:39,440
So it's chronological. 
Then we're back in the Genesis. 

906
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:42,800
You know, where it really gets 
interesting is when you get to 

907
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:46,320
the life of Jesus. 
That's where your columns start 

908
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:51,520
to look like this, but you're 
going to actually get to read 

909
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:55,000
the sequence of events, what 
happened scripturally, not just 

910
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:57,760
in the life of Jesus, but from 
Genesis through Revelation. 

911
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,120
You're not going to then get to 
Second Chronicles and say this 

912
00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:03,680
sounds familiar. 
And then yeah, it sounds 

913
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:06,120
familiar because it was also in 
Second Kings, but it gave it to 

914
00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:07,240
you from a different 
perspective. 

915
00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:09,440
You're going to be able to tie 
these together and we will have 

916
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:12,320
devotionals also set up to help 
not only tie them together, but 

917
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,400
also highlight the grace of God 
that has been present not just 

918
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:17,440
since Jesus, but from the 
beginning. 

919
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,440
So this is something that we're 
handing out next week. 

920
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:22,320
I hope that y'all will be here. 
It'll be about a one hour 

921
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:24,280
service where we're going to 
have a special time of 

922
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:27,880
communion, where we're going to 
have Christmas Eve, the 

923
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,600
Christmas story will be shared 
and then we'll let you all go 

924
00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:33,360
home to do your stuff with your 
families and all of that. 

925
00:47:33,360 --> 00:47:36,080
I'm so excited and it will be 
our last midweek service at 6:00

926
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:39,120
PM as we move to 7:00 PM in the 
new year. 

927
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:43,800
So that being said, in about 20 
minutes, if anybody has any 

928
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:45,480
questions, if you have any 
questions about things that 

929
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:46,360
happen where we're going.