1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:01,960 All right, everyone, and welcome back. 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,320 Welcome back. If you're watching online this 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,680 morning, hello to you and grateful that you joined us. 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,480 And we invite you to come be with us in person at 115 E Main 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,200 Street, right in the old historic part of Gaylord. 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,280 And our services are at 9:00 and 10:30 on Sunday mornings. 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,280 You're invited. Would love to see you sometime 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,640 soon. All right, if you have your 9 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,120 Bibles or your device, please take and turn to the book of 10 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,120 Habakkuk, which is not an easy book to find. 11 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,440 I will prepare you. If you have a table of contents 12 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,200 in the front, maybe use it or go to the New Testament, which is 13 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,080 Matthew, and then kind of go a little bit a couple pages back 14 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,240 from there and you can find it. We're going to be in Habakkuk 15 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,800 chapter 2, and this may be a passage that you were familiar 16 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,240 with. And again, notes are available 17 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,400 on the back table. If you'd like notes to the 18 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,160 message, you can pick them up now or grab them on your way 19 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,160 out. All right, Habakkuk chapter 2 20 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,880 and I'm going to read to you from verse 2. 21 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,960 Habakkuk 2, verse 2. And the Lord answered me, 22 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,520 meaning Habakkuk. And the Lord said, write the 23 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:09,080 vision and make it plain on tablets so he may run who reads 24 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,440 it for still the vision awaits it's appointed time. 25 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:13,200 It hastens to the end, and it will not lie. 26 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,920 If it seems slow, wait for it. It will surely come and it will 27 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,920 not delay. This morning I want to talk to 28 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,280 you about why we church, which is an interesting title, why we 29 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,760 church and let me pray for us before we jump in. 30 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,080 God, thank you again for the stay and thank you for your word 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,480 and help us in these next few moments to even the more grow in 32 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,600 our appreciation and understanding about the vision 33 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,600 of our church and the mission and what is important to us. 34 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,720 So our hearts are open, our minds are open. 35 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,720 Jesus speak to us, we pray and ready us even the more God to 36 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,560 fulfill your callings and purposes for us as a church 37 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:56,840 family. We pray this in Jesus name and 38 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,360 everyone said Amen. Now each year there are certain 39 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,200 weeks where you know, it's kind of under, you know, it's 40 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:07,920 understood. I on Christmas Eve, I will 41 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,440 preach and teach about the birth of Jesus, right? 42 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,000 It's it's, it's, it's scheduled right on Easter Sunday. 43 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,640 I'm going to talk about the resurrection of Jesus on Good 44 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,400 Friday, about the death of Jesus, not in quite the same 45 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,560 way, but similar. Each year around this weekend, I 46 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,720 usually try to do a message that articulates the vision of our 47 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,200 church. And I want you hopefully at the 48 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,640 end, I'll prepare you. I want you to be able to do like 49 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,200 an elevator version of what I'm going to give it to you. 50 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,520 Now, what is an elevator version? 51 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,480 Well, let's say, let's say if you're, if you get in an 52 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,240 elevator and you have like 4045 seconds to explain, if you were 53 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,800 to tell somebody, oh, North Life Church, what, what's, Oh, let me 54 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,680 tell you about my church. What I'm going to tell you now, 55 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,880 you can tell it in about 45 seconds. 56 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,640 I'm going to take much longer this morning, but you could tell 57 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:55,440 it in that brief of time. And I want you to be able to 58 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:00,480 know it and carry it and be able to tell others and you yourself 59 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,640 resonate with, OK, This is the mission and the purpose and the 60 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:07,760 reason for our church. And according to Habakkuk, who 61 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,000 is a minor prophet, in the end of the Old Testament, God spoke 62 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,840 to him and he said, write the vision and then put it on 63 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,000 tablets where people can see it and that are running. 64 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,160 And in this way, it doesn't mean like, oh, I have the vision and 65 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,040 run with it. It's more like make it so clear 66 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,040 that just in passing, you'll be able to see the vision. 67 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,360 It's so clear. It's so just easy to get. 68 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,240 OK? So in our lobby you'll find when 69 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,640 you go out to your right, some of you are familiar with these, 70 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,320 there are three canvases like poster of sorts and they say 71 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:38,600 what I'm going to teach you this morning. 72 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,200 They have these 3 mission statements that we value. 73 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,280 And so I want you to be able to memorize it. 74 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,760 And while you're passing through the lobby, it just glanced at it 75 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,600 week by week. And so this morning, it's been a 76 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,800 while since I've, I've visited these ideas with you. 77 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,400 So you might not know them for one or may you may have 78 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,160 forgotten them. So this morning when the worship 79 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,200 team was practicing, I asked them, OK, how many of you can 80 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,200 say what is on the wall back there? 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,200 And a couple of them were were mostly able to say it, but I 82 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,520 want you to be able to clearly say it and tell others about it. 83 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,280 OK, so this morning's about vision is why we church and I'm 84 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,560 turning church into a verb, right? 85 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,240 Usually a church is a person, place or thing. 86 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:21,640 But this morning I want to I want to act like, Hey, when we 87 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,640 get together, we church. And it's kind of a Southern 88 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:25,960 saying, having grown up in Texas, you know, sometimes 89 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,320 people go to church and other times people have church, right? 90 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,600 We want to have church when we get together, we want to turn 91 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,200 church into a verb and it's action and it's us being the 92 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,640 church. OK, so then what is the vision? 93 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:42,600 What is what is the purpose of North life? 94 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,520 Our three statements that we have in the lobby, you can find, 95 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,880 and I want you to memorize are these three statements. 96 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,760 It's let's encounter, let's equip, and let's go. 97 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,640 Let's encounter, let's equip and let's go. 98 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,080 And I want to unpack for you what that means in detail, but 99 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,800 those are the three things that I'm encouraging you to memorize. 100 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,040 OK? Now, when I became the lead 101 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,920 pastor 3 and some years ago, we had this idea that we find in 102 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,000 Exodus chapter 33. And it's a story of Moses and 103 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,680 the children of Israel. And it's the time for them to 104 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,400 move on into a new season, into a new chapter. 105 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,440 And God and Moses have a discussion. 106 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,320 They have a conversation and I, I feel like I've had this 107 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,320 conversation with God. And if you can also adopt what 108 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,440 Moses says to the Lord in verse 13 of Exodus 33, it says now, 109 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:33,920 therefore this is Moses speaking. 110 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,720 He says, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me 111 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,400 now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in 112 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,520 your sight. Consider too that this nation is 113 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,440 your people. And he said, meaning God said, 114 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,480 my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. 115 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,720 And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do 116 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,560 not bring us up from here. This is Moses saying, God, I 117 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,240 need your presence. God, if your presence doesn't 118 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,400 go, then I don't want to go forward. 119 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:04,840 And and God says I will be with you. 120 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,440 And then just to be sure says God, because if you don't, then 121 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:09,520 I said, I don't want to move forward. 122 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,200 I don't want to go into the next season and verse 16. 123 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,160 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight? 124 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,200 This is still Moses and I and your people, is it not in your 125 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,520 going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people from 126 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,440 every other people on the face of the earth? 127 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,200 And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken 128 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:34,160 I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know 129 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:38,360 you by name. And then Moses said, please show 130 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,280 me your glory. So this conversation, this is 131 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:45,120 this is our posture as a church. It's like God, we want you to 132 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,240 speak clearly to us about what is our purpose and what is our 133 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,920 mission. And we do believe as church 134 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,800 leaders that this idea of let's encounter, let's equip, let's 135 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:53,480 go. We feel like this is what God 136 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,600 has prompting on our heart as we're moving forward. 137 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,240 And we're like, God, this is you speaking to us. 138 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,800 It's your presence prompting us in this way. 139 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,640 And so then we cry out like Moses, we say, God, show us your 140 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,840 glory. Show us your glory and let your 141 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,360 presence be with us. OK, so that's from that posture 142 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,680 that we gather these ideas of let's encounter, let's equip and 143 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:16,120 let's go. I'm going to say it several 144 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,600 times in this message because I want you to be able to repeat it 145 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,400 when you go home. OK, so the first thing, what do 146 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,240 we value? What is our mission? 147 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,200 What do we want to see every time we're together as a church? 148 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,600 Well, we want to encounter. In other words, we want to meet 149 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,600 with God. And in your notes, spell check 150 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:39,240 kicked in and it says unelected. Well, that's there's theological 151 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,240 ideas that I won't go into, but it wasn't supposed to say 152 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:42,840 unelected. It was supposed to say 153 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,640 unexpected. And so when we think about 154 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,040 encountering or meeting with God, sometimes the meetings or 155 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,120 the moments that we have with God are unexpected and their 156 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,640 surprises. I believe that when we come to 157 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,320 church together that we can have unexpected beautiful moments 158 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,520 with the presence and Spirit of God. 159 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,480 And when we come with that expectation, it changes the way 160 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,400 that we do church coming believing that we are going to 161 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,600 meet with God. And so in that way, coming to 162 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,160 church is completely different than like going to see a movie, 163 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:14,800 right? You can go to see a movie and 164 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,160 maybe in the lobby see people that you know and recognize. 165 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,280 You can get some snacks and go in and do the show and then walk 166 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,160 out, maybe see someone you recognize and go to your car. 167 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,160 See, that's not church, is not meant to be that way. 168 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:27,520 And some people don't understand that. 169 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,360 So they come to church with that mentality. 170 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,920 It's like, OK, I'm going to go have a snack or two, see some 171 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:36,200 people watch a show and go home. No, when we gather together on 172 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,720 Sundays and Wednesdays, anytime that we're together as a church 173 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:43,600 family, our expectation is that we are going to together, meet 174 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,200 with God and encounter him. Jacob has an experience like 175 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,280 this in the book of Genesis and you remember Jacob was the 176 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,480 grandson of Abraham. So Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac 177 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,480 begat Jacob and Esau twins and watched in this. 178 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,800 The context of this Genesis 2816 through 17 is when Jacob has a 179 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,280 dream and he sees a stairway into heaven. 180 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,400 You maybe thought Led Zeppelin came up with that idea. 181 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:11,520 No, it wasn't Led Zeppelin. They got it from the Bible 182 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,360 interestingly enough. OK, so so Jacob sees this 183 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,320 stairway into heavens with with angelic beings coming back and 184 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,840 forth and this is what he says when he woke up verse 16. 185 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:28,000 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, surely the Lord is in 186 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,200 this place and I did not know it and he was afraid and said, how 187 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,480 awesome is this place. This is none other than the 188 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,320 House of God and this is the gate of heaven. 189 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,200 And he renames this place where he had his, his dream, this 190 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,840 vision, he renamed it Bethel or Bethel, which means like God is 191 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,880 here. And I like the way that he says 192 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,000 surely the Lord is in this place. 193 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:53,640 If you look closely at our poster out in the lobby, this is 194 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,720 let's encounter there is a verse, not this one, it's 195 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:57,840 another verse, but it says surely the presence of the Lord 196 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,080 is here. But we misspelled it when we 197 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:01,600 ordered it. And so it's supposed to say 198 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,080 Shirley and it came out surly. OK. 199 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,760 So you know what surly means? Surly is like bitter, mad, 200 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,360 angry. So when you read that, just know 201 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,720 that we don't really think that, but it was, you know, it was 202 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,640 costly to replace it. So it's still surly, OK, But we 203 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:20,040 mean Shirley, OK. We mean Shirley, not surly. 204 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:26,360 OK, so so the presence of the Lord, we're come expecting it to 205 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,800 be with us. When we come together, we're 206 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,360 going to meet and counter God. And that's the expectation and 207 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800 the principle of expectation is so important in the way that we 208 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,680 have a relationship with God and the way we do church because I 209 00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:42,320 love this. Ephesians 320 through 21 says 210 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,280 now to him who was able to do far more abundantly than all 211 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,800 that we may ask or think according to the power at work 212 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:54,080 within us to him be glory where in the church, any Christ Jesus 213 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,440 throughout all generations forever and ever, Amen. 214 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,240 When we come to church and when we have the right expectations, 215 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,480 God can exceed our expectations and that's what faith is. 216 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,800 We come and it's like he's able to do exceedingly abundantly way 217 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,880 above all that you could ever ask or think or imagine. 218 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,040 One translation says so when we come to church, my encouragement 219 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:19,120 to you is come in the car while you're driving with your family. 220 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,480 Maybe your prayers. God, I'm expecting today to 221 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:23,920 encounter you and I'm going to encounter you. 222 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,360 I'm going to meet with you. Maybe it's even in a surprising 223 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,360 way. God, you're going to show up. 224 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:32,000 And that is my expectation. And God, I believe you're able 225 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,560 to exceed what I expect. So I put my faith and I put my 226 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,800 expectation out. And when I do, Jesus is 227 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,640 glorified in the church. God's able to do more in every 228 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,560 area of our lives. And leaning into that truth, it 229 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:49,360 makes a big difference in our relationship with God. 230 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,280 So we want to be a church that gathers to seek God. 231 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,200 And the expectation is that when we seek him, we will find him. 232 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,120 Jeremiah 2913, God says this to Jeremiah, You will seek me and 233 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,760 find me when you seek me with all your heart. 234 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:08,080 So we show up at church, the expectation is God, we're going 235 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,840 to meet with you. We're going to encounter you and 236 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,520 God. We are going to do this with all 237 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,720 of our heart. Several months ago, I did a 238 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,920 series on Kononia. You can go back and see these 239 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,280 messages online at our church podcast. 240 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:24,240 But I taught three weeks on this idea of Kononia is a Greek word 241 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,720 and it translates fellowship. And so we as a church, we have 242 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,760 fellowship with one another, but but fellowship isn't quite, it 243 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:32,400 kind of misses. It's kind of lost in 244 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,520 translation. The Kononia is this unique 245 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,760 experience that we as the church have when we're together, but we 246 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,640 also have fellowship with God and fellowship with the Holy 247 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,640 Spirit. That is the expectation. 248 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,240 So when we come together, we're going to fellowship, meet, be 249 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:51,240 with God, and that's what we're looking for, meeting together 250 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,240 and gathering. It's important as a church. 251 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,160 Hebrews 10/24 through 25 says, and let us consider how to stir 252 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:02,480 up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet 253 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,040 together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one 254 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,720 another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 255 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,720 So what is our first mission was the first thing that we are 256 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,280 we're all about. We're about encountering the 257 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:20,440 presence and the Spirit of God when we're together #2 what else 258 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,720 are we about as a church? When we're church, when we're 259 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:25,440 being the church, what are we about? 260 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,560 Well, I want you to know that we're about equipping and this 261 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:32,720 is a big part of the church. Ephesians 4 says, and he gave 262 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,320 meaning. God gave the apostles, the 263 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,320 prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip 264 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:41,840 the Saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the 265 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:46,080 body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith 266 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,840 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to 267 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,120 the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 268 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,200 Paul is saying on this occasion that God has given leaders in 269 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,040 the church. But the leader's role is not 270 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,200 just to do the ministry. The leader's role as your 271 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,640 pastor, my role is to equip you to do the ministry. 272 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,920 And So what I get excited about is when someone has a sense of 273 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,520 calling or purpose and we connect and we talk about it and 274 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,840 and then they go thrive in a certain ministry. 275 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,160 And it could be with your family, It could be being a 276 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,440 parent, it could be your job. It could be the way that you 277 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,000 love your neighbors. Or maybe it's a really unique 278 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,640 idea. And I love, I love this saying, 279 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,600 I'll say, I'll let the Lord use you. 280 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,800 And it's kind of said in the Southern accent when I say it to 281 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,240 people, they're like, man, I think our church should do this 282 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,520 great idea of something. And I'll say that's a great 283 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:37,960 idea. Let the Lord use you. 284 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:42,240 If God has put it on your heart, then my job is to equip and stir 285 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,920 and and ready you to go and do that ministry. 286 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,120 So I want you to know when you come to church, the expectation 287 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,120 is you're going to be equipped and we're going to challenge you 288 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,080 and equip you. And when I think about 289 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,920 equipping, I think about gear, right? 290 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,240 I'm a gear guy. How many of you are gear guys 291 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,720 are gear girls, right? So some of like for you, it 292 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,440 might be tools, it might be guns, bows. 293 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,240 For me, it's guitars. I like books, even books are 294 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:11,720 kind of like gear to me. So what happens is that, and I 295 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,760 have like my, our daughter was just with us and she was teasing 296 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,120 because I have, I have shoes like for everything. 297 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,520 I got a pair of shoes that I ride bike, that I ride a bike 298 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:20,960 in. I've got a pair of shoes that 299 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,120 are like my water shoes to go in the water with. 300 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,840 I've got like 2 pair of really nice slippers at home and for 301 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,160 different seasons. I have all these different like 302 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,600 shoes for certain events, right? Because I like they're, they're 303 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,120 geared to me, right. So what happens is a is a 304 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,280 church, we want to gear you up. You know, at home, I have a big 305 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:40,800 bin and I've got all my camping gear in it. 306 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,120 We're going to guys, we're going to go camping again in October. 307 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,480 We did this last year and had like, I don't know, 15 or 20 308 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:49,400 guys from the church go. And so I love this big bin. 309 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,440 And when I open this thing up and get ready to go out and be 310 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,760 in the, you know, way out in the middle of nowhere for a couple 311 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:55,440 days, I get really excited about it. 312 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:00,360 And I've got all this gear that I have in order to go do camping 313 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,920 as I like. So you as a follower of Jesus 314 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,080 need to be equipped to fulfill whatever God has called you to, 315 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,520 to the stature of the fullness of Christ. 316 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,120 But when I wanted to be clear that we're about equipping and 317 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:19,480 we're not about educating or entertaining, then let me unpack 318 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,280 that idea for you. Is, is if, if teaching and 319 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,920 preaching and studying God's word is only for knowledge sake, 320 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,600 then what happens is we get puffed up and prideful. 321 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,800 And you probably know Christians that are puffed up and prideful. 322 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,800 They know a lot about the Bible, know a lot about the word of 323 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,600 God. And yet if they don't love and 324 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,880 they're not serving and they're not fulfilling the calling and 325 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,720 purpose for their life, then they just get mean and 326 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,880 judgmental. And you know, Christians like 327 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:48,240 this. And Paul addresses this in First 328 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,240 Corinthians chapter 8. In First Corinthians 8, he's 329 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,520 having a discussion about, oddly enough, eating meat that had 330 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,360 been offered to idols, which is a very foreign, strange idea to 331 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:01,800 us. But in Corinth, in the ancient 332 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,920 world, they had a lot of Pagan gods and statues and, and weird, 333 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,680 weird Pagan worship, right? So here's what's happening is 334 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,720 that these Christians are coming to Jesus and some of them are 335 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,560 still eating the meat that had been offered as sacrifices to 336 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,560 idols. And so watch what Paul says. 337 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,400 He's going to tell them it's not the best idea. 338 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,880 I'm paraphrasing, it's not the best idea, but he gives them 339 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,040 permission to still eat animals that have been offered up to us 340 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,040 false gods. OK, But watch what he says. 341 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,000 The most important thing now concerning food offered to 342 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,120 idols, he says we know that all of us possess knowledge. 343 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,760 This knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 344 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,640 He's saying, let's, let's say you get to the knowledge and say 345 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,760 probably the best thing to eat meat that's been offered to 346 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,520 idols. OK, not the best thing, but when 347 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,040 you get that knowledge, then if you're not careful, it could 348 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:52,800 puff you up like other knowledge. 349 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,160 And this goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, right? 350 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,480 What was the the the tree that they were not to eat of? 351 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,640 It was the tree from the knowledge of good and evil. 352 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,480 And as our knowledge grows about what is good and what is evil, 353 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,360 if we're if we're not careful, if we can miss it. 354 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,640 So we're not just about educating you, right? 355 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,760 Because a lot of Christians, they learn all that's wrong to 356 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:14,160 do and that's wrong to do and that's wrong to do. 357 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,840 Before you know it, they've lost heart and they've lost love. 358 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:22,560 Because I got puffed up in pride about all that they know. 359 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,920 So we want to equip you. And when you come to church 360 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:27,880 knowing that's OK, I'm going to go to church and they're going 361 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,160 to challenge us and they're going to equip us and they're 362 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,760 going to give us the gear and the goods that we need in order 363 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:34,720 to fulfill God's purposes and plans for life. 364 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,040 That's the point. And hopefully you sense that and 365 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:41,320 know it. Then thirdly, the third thing 366 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,640 that I would say that's on our poster outside is this. 367 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,840 Let's go. Every week when you come to 368 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,240 church, my hope and prayer for you is that you sense being 369 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,760 commissioned to go and fulfill your purpose and whatever that 370 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,600 might be in your job, with your family, in your neighborhood, 371 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,720 whatever, wherever you are, God has again, things for you to 372 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,880 accomplish for His glory and honor. 373 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,160 So every week I want you to feel a sense of being commissioned. 374 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:08,920 It's like we're going to go out in the world, we're going to 375 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,120 make a difference. We're going to fulfill God's 376 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,800 purpose for our lives, whatever that might be. 377 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:17,640 Jesus commissioned his disciples at the end of Matthew, Matthew 378 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,360 28, verse 16. And maybe you know this passage. 379 00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,680 Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to 380 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,920 which Jesus had directed them, and when they saw him, they 381 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,840 worshipped him, but some doubted. 382 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,040 Just a curious thing. Jesus is going to Commission 383 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,280 here and he's going to Commission his disciples that 384 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:36,600 were some worshipping but some doubted. 385 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,000 So he doesn't disqualify them when he senses their doubt. 386 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,320 No, what does he do? He commissions and sends them. 387 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:47,080 And Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on 388 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,680 earth has been given to me. Go, therefore go, go, therefore 389 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,960 go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the 390 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,960 name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 391 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,200 And this occasion again, we're being encouraged to baptize. 392 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,160 The day we're going to baptize, I don't know, 15 or more people 393 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,080 that are, they're putting on display what God has done inside 394 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:10,560 of them. They've been cleansed to the 395 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:12,920 blood of Christ. They've been resurrected in 396 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,760 Jesus washed clean. They were going to fulfill what 397 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,600 was Jesus's Commission. We're doing it to this day. 398 00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:21,720 So this is this is how Jesus commissions his disciples. 399 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,120 He sends them and he sends them at the end of Matthew. 400 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,680 And I think it's so apropos that at the end of service, I hope 401 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,040 that you feel sent when I say the blessing at the end of our 402 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,840 service and I say you are salt and you are light. 403 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,680 Go now and be solved and light into the world. 404 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,520 I'm hoping that you have a sense of like, I'm commissioned, I'm 405 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,440 being sent to make a difference in the world for God's glory. 406 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:46,920 So we want to have a commissioning every time that we 407 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,360 gather together. Ephesians 2 says this, For by 408 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,600 grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not 409 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,400 your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a 410 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,200 result of works, so that no one may boast. 411 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:04,040 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good 412 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,880 works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk 413 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,160 in them, right? So in this occasion, Paul said 414 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:11,640 we're not saved through our works. 415 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,640 No one can boast about how great your works were, all that you 416 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,280 did, all that you've accomplished. 417 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,200 But we understand that God created us. 418 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,600 He we're his workmanship created for good works. 419 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,680 And when you know that and and we send you out with that 420 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,160 knowledge, it's like, OK, you walk out going OK, I am made by 421 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,520 God to go change the world, to change my family, to change 422 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,480 those that I come around. It's like I'm going to leave 423 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:37,560 with that. I'm going to leave church with 424 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,920 that commissioning every time I'm there. 425 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,200 My, my encouragement to you is expect a go. 426 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:46,400 Like Jesus says through the disciples, go. 427 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,000 Therefore go. You should come to church 428 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,600 expecting that you're going to get a go. 429 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,240 Go make a difference. You were commissioned each and 430 00:21:55,240 --> 00:22:00,000 every week. Now in order to do these three 431 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,920 things, what are we going to emphasize? 432 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,200 Because now it's like, OK, those are great ideas, but what are we 433 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:08,920 going to focus on? Because if we focus on 434 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,720 everything, then we'll miss it. We can't give an explanation, 435 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,040 point to everything, right? Exclamation I noticed that the 436 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:18,080 young, young, younger people will use lots and lots of 437 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,880 explanations, but so old people, my mom, if you're watching, I've 438 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,520 teased her about this before, but she loves using caps and 439 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,520 lots and lots of like exclamation points, right? 440 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,200 I'm like, mom, that means you're yelling. 441 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,480 If you say that it means that you're yelling, you're screaming 442 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,240 it right? So you have to be careful if 443 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:35,920 you, if you give everything an exclamation, okay, even in the 444 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,240 church, if we say, oh, everything is important, we need 445 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,200 to do this, we do that. What do we know? 446 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,960 What are we going to focus on? What are we going to give 447 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,960 exclamation points to? Let me tell you, first of all, 448 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,200 we are going to focus on proclaiming God's Word. 449 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:53,600 We believe that God's Word is the authority for our lives. 450 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,240 We want to grow in it. We want to learn it, we want to 451 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,920 honor it, we want to receive it. And so we're going to focus in 452 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:00,840 this service. We're doing it. 453 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,880 They're doing it upstairs right now with the wildlife and the 454 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,960 5th and 6th grade, the younger wildlife and your kids right now 455 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,600 are teachers that are serving so wonderfully. 456 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:11,520 And the kids area, what are they doing? 457 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,160 They're teaching God's Word and when that when you know that's 458 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,040 the expectation you'll come to church hungry and ready to 459 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,440 receive it. We honor and look to God's word 460 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,320 and I will tell you that that's not true not to compare, but 461 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,360 it's not true of every church. There's some churches it's like 462 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,800 they treat the word of God as if it's just some good ideas and 463 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,360 some old fable stories of the likes myth. 464 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,680 But no, it's not. What does the Bible say about 465 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,640 itself. Hebrews 412 says, For the word 466 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:43,200 of God is living and active, sharper than any 2 edged sword, 467 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,080 piercing to the division of soul and the spirit of joints and of 468 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,400 Morrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the 469 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,520 heart. And then Paul writes to Timothy 470 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,440 in second Timothy 3 verse 16. He says all Scripture is 471 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,560 breathed by out by God and profitable for teaching, for 472 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,440 reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness, that 473 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:09,240 the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 474 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,200 How do we get equipped? We get equipped by focusing and 475 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,800 valuing and honoring the Bible, God's word #2 what are we going 476 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,200 to do if we're going to fulfill God's calling and purposes for 477 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,000 us? We're also going to focus and 478 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,800 put a lot of attention towards worship. 479 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,360 And This is why at our church, I'm so grateful for our 480 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,280 musicians and our worship team and those who serve up in the 481 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,640 booth doing sound and and other things to serve you and your 482 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,000 expression of worship on a Sunday morning. 483 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:39,120 And when you come. And I love this about our 484 00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:42,520 church, this is so our culture. It's not a spectator type thing. 485 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,400 We don't call this a stage, we call this a platform. 486 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,200 It's just semantics. But the point is that you're not 487 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,600 coming just to watch on Sunday morning, but but we won't 488 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,560 encourage that. You come to participate and 489 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,360 engage and sing and, and, and, and encounter the presence of 490 00:24:57,360 --> 00:24:58,640 God. Not just watch other people 491 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,000 encounter God, but no, you're encountering him also. 492 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,640 So we're going to promote the idea of worship and we do it. 493 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,800 Worship is not just music, of course, but it but it is in a 494 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,000 service in a Sunday morning. It's a big part of us worshiping 495 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,160 God. But of course with every aspect 496 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,520 of your life, you bring honor and worship to God. 497 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,080 So we're going to focus on it. John 423 says, but the hour is 498 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,360 coming and now is here. This is Jesus speaking to the 499 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:28,760 woman at the well. He said when the true 500 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,560 worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for 501 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,880 the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 502 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,680 God is seeking out true worshippers and we want to be 503 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,720 all about that. God is spirit for those who 504 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,480 worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. 505 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,640 We're going to focus and give a lot of attention to us gathering 506 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,800 together as a family and giving God honor in worship. 507 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,120 And in doing so, we are going to encounter God's presence. 508 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,680 And then thirdly, what are we going to emphasize? 509 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,120 We're going to emphasize and give a lot of attention and 510 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:09,520 effort to children and youth. And we're going to do it at the 511 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,960 sacrificing of some other programs that some churches do. 512 00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,240 OK. And I'm so proud of those who in 513 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,720 our church who are older than I am. 514 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:22,560 OK, I'm 55 and soon I'll be soon 56. 515 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,560 But many of you who are older than I am, I'm so grateful that 516 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,440 you're not selfish and you're not coming to me and complaining 517 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,480 like, oh, we need this program and this program and this 518 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,600 program. Instead, our church we really 519 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,240 get because we can't do everything. 520 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:36,840 We're a smaller church, but what can we do? 521 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,360 Well, we could put as much energy as we can towards our 522 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,600 children and our young adults, our young young people, our 523 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:44,880 students. And why? 524 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,360 Because we believe that we're raising up the next generation 525 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:50,880 to honor and love Jesus. And if we get distracted with a 526 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:53,560 whole bunch of other things, well, then it could be to the 527 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,080 detriment of of what we do with our children. 528 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,240 And again, for a church our size, I'm so grateful for those 529 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,400 who serve in our children's area, Grateful for Taylor, she 530 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:06,200 leads that department, man, for church our size, I'm, I'm really 531 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,920 grateful for what we do with our children. 532 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,360 And I encourage you to get involved and to serve. 533 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,640 If you're not, if you've not found a place you have to serve, 534 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,000 you can serve in the children's area. 535 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,320 It would be really great. There's lots of opportunity 536 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,880 there. So I encourage you to know that 537 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,920 we're going to emphasize our children and our youth. 538 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,840 And then finally, the last thing that we're going to emphasize is 539 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,160 we are going to emphasize serving and outreach. 540 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,840 When you come to church, again, it's not just entertainment or 541 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,760 education or just come and hear the nice homily or a nice story 542 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,200 or the likes. No, we are going to focus on 543 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,880 getting you plugged in somewhere either inside of the church or 544 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:48,240 outside where you're sensing purpose and meaning and calling 545 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,000 by serving. And last week I talked on on why 546 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,720 we serve. The whole message was on why we 547 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,040 serve. And I encourage you find a place 548 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,960 in the church or outside of it where you can do like Jesus who 549 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,320 washed the feet of the disciples. 550 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,720 He is the ultimate servant who modeled for us serving. 551 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,800 We're going to challenge and encourage you to do it. 552 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,080 Now I mentioned the start of the message that I would, I would 553 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:14,040 hope that you get to a place where you can give this message 554 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,840 in an elevator ride. 45 seconds. What is North Life church about? 555 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,600 Oh, you're, you've got a minute with somebody like, oh, I want 556 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,760 to tell you about our church. At our church, we really value 557 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,880 encountering the presence of God. 558 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,600 It's an expectation. So we get together, we're going 559 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,440 to meet with God in surprising ways. 560 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,040 And then our past is really about equipping us. 561 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,520 He's not just the one doing ministry, but our pastor wants 562 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,040 to equip us to do the work of the ministry and be God's 563 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,640 workmanship, finding out what God has for us to accomplish. 564 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,760 And then at our church, we, we, we sense a commissioning. 565 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,640 We sense that God is sending us out to make a difference in the 566 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,000 world. And that's every week. 567 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,800 And you can tell it just like that when you're telling people 568 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,600 about North life, you can summarize it and that way. 569 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:59,480 And that is my hope and dream for our church. 570 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:06,000 Let me pray for us, God. I'm so grateful for this time 571 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:12,760 together and thank you that you have given us a calling and 572 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,080 purpose as a church. And we thank you for the other 573 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:21,480 great churches in our city and other great works in Northern 574 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,240 Michigan that we get to partner with. 575 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,080 And at the same time, God, we have a unique calling and you 576 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,040 have unique plans and purposes for us. 577 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,800 So as we raise the flag and raise the value of encountering 578 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,480 and meeting with you regularly, God in there the expectations, 579 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,760 you're going to surprise us. God, we thank you that you will. 580 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,160 You will exceed our expectations. 581 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,640 So we look for you to do it and then God equip us and then send 582 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:54,280 us to honor and glorify and exalt you always. 583 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,880 We thank you for it. And Jesus name and everyone 584 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,080 together said, Amen, Let's all stand together. 585 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:02,400 Thank you again so much for coming. 586 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,960 I can't wait to see you at the picnic today. 587 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:05,920 Remember, 3:00 is our start time. 588 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,720 We're going to eat at 3:30 so you can get there, just kind of 589 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:10,480 get settled in. It's going to be a really great 590 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,000 time to meet people. If you're new to our church, 591 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,720 this is a you don't want to miss it. 592 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,880 This is a time to sit around tables and to eat together. 593 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,160 And I, I'll try to introduce you to as many people as possible, 594 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:22,800 right? So, so that, you know, I have 595 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,520 this discipline that I have where I love to introduce 596 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,160 people. I love introducing people. 597 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,800 So I might introduce you to somebody else and I'll give you 598 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,520 something to talk about. I'll say, oh, this is so and so 599 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,880 and this is so and so. And you have this common 600 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:36,560 interest, right? I, I try to do this. 601 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,280 So if at the picnic I see you, I might say, hey, let me introduce 602 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,360 you to so and so I'll give you something to talk about, then 603 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,440 I'm out, OK. And now it's up to you to 604 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:45,160 connect. All right. 605 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,760 So look for me to be working that today, OK? 606 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,560 I can't wait to introduce as many of these, many of you as 607 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:52,720 possible. All right, before you go, I do 608 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:57,280 want to say a blessing over you, if you will prepare your heart 609 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,720 to receive this blessing. And now may the Lord bless you 610 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,040 and keep you, and may He make His face to shine upon you. 611 00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:11,160 And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of glory 612 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,760 made a bound to you. And may the peace of God that 613 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:18,880 passes all understanding, may it surprise you in the midst of all 614 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:20,440 of the challenges that life brings. 615 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,480 And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the 616 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,240 forgiveness of God, That's new every morning, maybe especially 617 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,120 new to you now in your mornings to come. 618 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,640 And now may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your 619 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,560 mind. You were salt and your light. 620 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,120 Go, go, go now and be salt and light unto the world. 621 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,200 You are blessed. We'll see you again soon.