Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast.
We hope today's message is encouraging to you.
Today we're starting a brand new series that is intended to
unfurl in you a part of God's design that may be laying
dormant in you. It is a superpower that God has
given you. When it's utilized, there is
fulfillment unlike any other. You can't find it anywhere else.
And not only that, you will produce repeatedly healthy fruit
out of your life that you can't accomplish any other way except
through this design that God has given you if you're utilizing
it. On the flip side, much of the
angst that you feel in your life could be might be because you
aren't living as you were designed to live, specifically
in this one area. This essential ingredients of
your identity. If it's left untouched,
unutilized on you're performing lots of UNS unfulfilled.
It can leave you in one of the most dangerous, vulnerable
positions that a human can be. It's called isolation.
Good things typically don't happen when we're isolated.
The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he
may devour. And it's easier for him to
devour the one who is isolated. So let's turn to the Bible.
Genesis chapter 1 is where we're going to be the very first book
in the Bible. If you need a Bible, raise your
hand. Our ushers will bring you a
Bible, Amazingly. Do we have Bibles?
Yep. Oh, you're waving at me.
Hi. Yeah.
Bible. Bible.
Bible, Bible. They're going to come to you as
they're coming. Genesis chapter 1 is where we're
starting today. We're also going to be later in
Genesis chapter 1. But if you want to put a
footnote in Galatians chapter 4, we'll end up there eventually
with some pit stops in the way up in the mezzanine.
We we need Bibles. I see you.
We're coming. Thanks, Natasha.
She's on it. 2 claps for Natasha.
OK, that was poor. When I say 2 claps, it's just
like this. See this guy's hands ready 2
claps for Natasha. Just like that.
Genesis chapter one, verse 26 is where we're starting.
Lock in. We need Bibles down here in a
very front row. We're coming for you, young man.
Here he here he comes. Look, Javier is literally
running for you. Or then will he?
As soon as they said it, he stopped.
There we go. Any others?
Any others Allison weren't you in wasn't something wrong with
one of your legs this week and here you are running in the name
of Jesus healing Genesis chapter one verse 26 everyone ready?
I like to wait till everyone you guys are waiting just waiting.
I see you Eric waiting here we go then God said verse 26.
Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that
they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the
sky, over the livestock and all, over all the wild animals and
over all the creatures that move along the ground.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God.
He created them, male and female.
He created them. God blessed them and said to
them, be fruitful and increase the number, fill the earth and
subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that
moves on the ground. God says, I'm going to create
humanity in a specific way in our image, the Imago day.
The image of God being created in God's image means that you
and I are God's walking, talking billboards on the earth.
You and I are to reflect His goodness on the earth.
We're to reflect His authority on the earth.
We are together to reflect His character by the way that we
live. He says you are created in our
image. What's the image?
Goddess Spirit, which you can't see.
So how do we see the image of God?
Look up earlier in Genesis chapter 1 and you will see in
the very first 3 verses of the entire Bible the image of God
written out for us. Genesis chapter one verse one.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty.
Darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God
was hovering over the waters and God said let there be light and
there was light. Right here the first 3 verses of
the Bible we see the person of God, the Spirit of God and the
word of God. John chapter 1 says the word
became flesh and dwell amongst us, meaning that the word is the
Son of God. So here we have the person of
God, the Spirit of God and the Son of God.
To say it another way, we have Creator, we have presence, and
we have agent, all three persons working together in one.
Historically and theologically, this is called the Trinity.
Everyone say Trinity. Yes, this is the image of God, a
communal God, God existing eternally in community.
Which leads me to the point of our entire series is putting the
front right out here at the beginning.
We are created for community by community dot dot dot, not
written so that we will continue to make community and the
community. This DNA identity that God has
implanted on us is the superpower that He's given to
all of us in His image that may be laying dormant in you.
You don't yet fully understand or have engaged or grasped or
benefited from the power of the image of God, the community of
God in your life. In our image, he says, in our
likeness. What is God like?
He's like community. You and I were created in the
image of community. And yet, if we were being
honest, most of us tend to live isolated, insulated lives.
It's risky to love people because they may hurt you.
So better to stay in plasticky acquaintances at a distance,
what Facebook calls friends. Let's be real, I have 2600
friends on Facebook. I just looked.
I couldn't name 50 of them probably.
Maybe I could. I'm just kidding.
It's ridiculous. We were at dinner the other
night and Christine goes hey, look around the restaurant and I
looked around and 100% of the people not at our table all look
like this. Sitting together as family is
right next to a loved one. I pray and they're like this
tech neck. I couldn't believe it 100%, not
like 1 table. It was 100% of the people in the
restaurant like this isolated, segregated out from each other
plastically. But we everybody, believer or
not believer in Jesus, doesn't matter.
We were made from community so that we may live in community.
As soon as God made Adam, he looked down and like, well,
that's not right. And then he created woman.
And when he created woman, he created community right from the
get go at the beginning, to understand what real community
looks like, we need to, with our finite minds, try to grasp this
relational, communal nature of God's existence in the Trinity.
We're going to do our best to do this.
But you understand, we're trying to describe the majestic,
incomprehensible nature of God. This is how God exists.
This is his nature, and this is the DNA that he's put on each of
us. Three things.
Because it's a Trinity. You know, we could do thousands
probably, but number one, always belonging.
Everyone say belonging. Yeah.
In the Trinity, they belong to one another so that there is
never, and I mean never, any loneliness.
And when there's no loneliness, there's no resultant neediness
that leads us into behaviors that we don't really like.
Based out of my need to feel loved and accepted, I may do
things that I don't really like. My dad was in the Army and we
moved a bunch, but by the time I was 13, I had moved nine times,
right? And so that's a lot of time
showing up as the new kid. Oh, by myself, yeah.
I started a little high when I was in 8th grade.
I moved to Florida 198739 years ago, which is crazy because I'm
only 35. I have premature grain in my
beard. When we moved here, I moved into
a neighborhood where all the dudes, and I mean like all the
dudes my age were skaters. And I don't mean like ice
skaters, like the national hockey team that just won gold.
I'm talking about this kind of skateboard.
You know what I'm talking about. And I was so lonely that I
thought I I could care less about skateboarding.
Not enthused by it. I don't like falling on the
asphalt and skinning up my knees and my head.
But because I'm lonely, I'm going to do something I don't
like. So I went and bought a Billy
Gruff deck. That's the wood.
Got some grip tape, some trucks and wheels.
I grew my hair down like this. I did skate or die.
My hair is in my eye. And I don't know why you don't.
You never heard this. Yeah.
I became a skate rat not because I wanted to, but because I was
lonely. And when you're lonely, you do
things you don't like just to be accepted.
Yours may not be skate rat. And maybe other things that you
have done just to feel like you belong.
Anybody. Don't raise your hands.
But this is the opposite of what happens in the Trinity.
In the Trinity, the Godhead exists with always a welcome to
one another, always communicating between the three
of them. You belong here, you are valued
here. You are one of us, and we are
one of you. Always belonging always occurs
in the Trinity, and that's the DNA that you have #2 always
honoring everyone. Say honoring to be honoring
means that we're that the Godhead is always for each
other. They practice the joy of mutual
deference. You first.
No, no, no, you first, no, no, you first, right?
Just goes. They just defer to each other
constantly. Philippians chapter 2 tells us
that the Father exalts the Son. John chapter 17 tells us that
the Son glorifies the Father. John chapter 16 tells us that
the Spirit glorifies both of them.
Mutually deferring everyone in the Trinity is giving honor
always. No one is under.
No one is lesser in the Trinity because they're always honoring.
There's not first class. And then coach, you know what
I'm feeling? You ever get on the airplane and
you're not in first class, which is me, always, And you have to
walk through the shame of being a poor person.
Hi, y'all, I'm going. I, I must be a lesser human
being than you, because I'm going to go sit next to the
toilet with the stewardess, right?
In heaven, there's none of that because no one is less than
anyone. Everybody is first class in the
Trinity, everyone. And we're just talking about the
Trinity. Everyone in the Trinity is equal
to each other, perfect, honoring no one, lesser, always
belonging, always honoring the last one, perfect unity in
diversity. Each of the persons of the
Godhead, all three of them, are glorious in their own way, but
they're not threatened by the greatness of each other, right?
There's no isms. As a result, when we compete
against each other and look at our differences as reason to
describe how we're different, instead of appreciating the
difference, we get all of our isms.
Racism, sexism, ageism, Republicanism, and Democratism
In the Trinity, there's none of that because there's perfection
in their unity despite the diversity.
Instead of being competitive with each other, they appreciate
each other. I'm wondering if you appreciate
the people in the room who the world tells us we need to
compete against. So this is the picture, small
and in our finite thinking as we can, that describes how the
Trinity exists, the nature of God always belonging, always
honoring, always perfect in unity in the midst of their
diversity. And it helps us understand first
John chapter 4, verse 8, which says God is love.
This is not an emotion, but a state of God's being.
This is how he exists because of belonging, because of honoring,
because of this unity, it's always this love.
And here's what happens, Community.
And this kind of love begets, generates more community because
of love. It's the overflow of the heart.
I want to love more. I want to draw in more.
I want more people to be involved in what it is that we
are experiencing because I love. It's just it's not an emotion,
it's who I am. And so from this community of
Trinity, more community is made, specifically humanity, you and
I, and the DNA is laid on you, created in His image.
This is then how we are to be. 3 things that won't surprise you
#1 we with the DNA of God in our community should always create a
place of belonging. We in our community should
always create a place of honoring.
We in our community should always be perfect in unity,
despite A myths right in the middle of our diversity.
That's what community is for God in the Trinity and for us who
bear His image, belonging, honoring unity amidst diversity.
Romans chapter 12, verse 10. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Check out this word.
Outdo yourselves and honoring one another.
You're not competing against the person next to you.
You're competing against yourself.
How'd I do today? Tomorrow I'm going to do better.
I'm going to outdo what I did today and do it better tomorrow
in the way that I love people and serve them and honor them
above myself and draw them into unity.
I'm going to do better tomorrow. I'll do better today.
Why wait till tomorrow? Philippines chapter 2, verse
three. Do nothing out of selfish and
ambition or vain conceit. This means don't do nice things
so that you look better. Rather, in humility, value
others above yourselves. Let me ask you, did you take the
best parking spot today? Did you hold the door?
Did you open the umbrella? Let yourself get soaked?
Do you even know the people sitting behind you or in front
of you? Do you value them?
Because God does. And something tells me if we
understood Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 right, we would value
the people sitting right next to us that we don't even know.
It's how the Trinity operates. It's the DNA that's been placed
on you and I right here and right now.
Loving becomes a state of being. Love is not what we do, it's who
we are. This is the DNA that we have.
It may be laying dormant in you. That's the point of the series,
to waken it up and unleash it on the world in Jesus name.
The result? If we live out this way,
community is God created out of community.
Then he blessed humanity to go and do the same.
And since we are like him, we will produce what God produces.
And God produced community more and more community, he says be
fruitful and increase in number. In other words, go make more
community. Community replicate the image of
God on the earth and the image is community.
Have you heard that term community, community, community
belonging, honoring, unified, though we are diverse.
So let's take a little measurement today, shall we?
Some introspection and ask ourselves, God is the standard
in his trying nature. How do we as a church, how do
you as an individual, how do the world around us, measure up to
what he has given us as the standard, The Trinity,
belonging, honoring, unified, though we are diverse.
Originally, you probably know this, we were crushing community
in the garden. In fact, community was so great
it has a scripture. Brace yourself.
Genesis chapter 2 verse 25. The man and the woman were in
the garden naked and unashamed. Don't let your mind go to
depravity here because naked in this sense has nothing to do
with sexuality. Naked in the sense has I have
nothing to hide, I am unashamed. Why are they like this in the
garden? Let me tell you why.
Because with God and with each other, they belonged.
They were honored. With God and each other.
They were in perfect unity, though they were diverse, male
and female, a little bit different, a lot different.
I heard a man say, Amen. I hope you're not sitting next
to your wife. OK, just kidding.
Yeah. And then something happened.
For the first time in human history a human felt that they
lacked something because the devil came and said you are
lacking something. To God really say that you
shouldn't eat from this tree which has good and evil.
He has something you don't have and out of the need the lack
humanity send and the results are devastating to community.
Genesis chapter 3 verse 23. So the Lord God banished him,
which is male and female from the Garden of Eden to work the
ground from which he had been taken.
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the
Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and
forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Sin then and sin now breaks community.
That's what happens when we live outside of the design.
When we live outside God's communal design, we end up
living within the devil's playground.
He's got us right where he wants us.
When the breakdown of community happens because of sin, things
like isolation happen, loneliness, or think of these
words pride. That's a breakdown of community
because pride says I don't need you, or self-sufficiency, which
says I can do this on my own. This is the devil's playground.
It speaks of isolation, anything short of community.
Again, belonging and honoring and unity is living outside the
design and it causes the community to break down.
We just seen it in the garden biblically, but the entire Old
Testament is rife with the stuff.
The very first set of brothers, 1 kills the other, and on it
goes throughout the Old Testament.
Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Moses and his
siblings, David and his brothers.
Then David's children's sin continually breaks down
community. We recognize it in the Bible,
but we probably also recognize it in our own lives.
It's one of the greatest roots of all of our harms.
You don't need to be a pastor. You don't need to be a licensed
mental health counselor to know that many of our issues have
resulted from relationship wounds.
Don't raise your hand. Unless you're home watching
online, then you can. Anyone here?
Oops. Don't raise your hand.
Father wounds. Father wounds are the result of
community broken the image of God in US, broken mother wounds.
I used to only say father wounds until some people came and say
why do you always leave out the mothers?
Rejection, divorce, These are the outflow of sin, which breaks
down community. And because we have broken
community, we have pain, and that leads us often to all sorts
of misbehaving to medicate the pain, to make it go away.
The constant breaking of community.
What if God could and would restore the community to heal us
as God does? God makes a way.
Amen. Amen.
The point of this series is to help all of us to live within
God's communal design, His communal nature.
It's how you were wired in the womb from birth.
Fulfillment and healthy fruit arise from community.
So let's figure out God's way to heal it #1 God creates a way to
community. That's what He does.
Pastor Kim's just talking about. He's the waymaker.
I don't know what you do when you feel disconnected or
isolated. Where does your mind go?
Where's your heart go? What do you actually do?
Is there something you can do? Sometimes we are isolated from
others because of the actions of others.
We have been the recipient of somebody's harm, abuse.
They perpetrated something against you.
And there's distance. And other times there's distance
between US and other people because we ourselves are doing
the wounding and pushing away with the way that we speak, the
way that we behave. We shove people away, and this
is what happens by shoving people away.
We make the clouds and then later we complain that it's
raining. I know that we do this to each
other because we do this to Jesus.
No one has loved us more perfectly or purely than Jesus.
And we said to Jesus by our words and by our actions away
from me. That's what sin communicates to
Jesus. I don't want a part of you and
your life so and we move away from community.
So if it's true that God can restore us through to excuse me,
is it his? What am I trying to say?
Is it true that God can restore us to Jesus and relationship and
take away our sins and certainly he can restore us to one
another. If it's true and you and I know
that it is true that God has made a way to restore us to the
heavenly community. Look at Galatians chapter 4,
this beautiful scripture, verse 4, Galatians 4.
But when the right time came, and it has come, God sent his
Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law,
so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his
Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out ABBA Father.
Now look at verse 7. I hope that you know that if
you're a believer in Jesus, this exchange has happened for you
and you are no longer a slave, but now you are God's own child.
And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
This isn't correct theology, it's not a 100% match, but I
can't help but think of Little Orphan Annie and she's make
believe but you know that she represents many who live outside
of community. The orphan spirit.
I'm unlovable, I haven't been loved, I'm over here alone.
And Daddy Warbucks is a horrible representation of the Lord our
God because at first he can't stand the girl right?
But his heart warms up to her, and she moves from living in the
orphanage to living in the Father's house with extreme
wealth. Now, God, I don't think is
concerned as much about material riches as he is with the riches
of heaven, which are grace and mercy and love.
And we go from being under the law, condemned to death, and
through faith in Jesus, restored to God, where the riches of
heaven are at our fingertips. We're heirs to the throne of
God. Just meditate on that one
morning. What?
What does that mean for you? And if God has done this for us
in the greatest relationship that between US and him, can He
also restore relationship between humans?
Can't He also restore relationship between humans?
Anybody believe with me? Yes.
So he creates a way to community.
And secondly, in tandem, it's almost the same thing.
He places the lonely in community.
One of the most beautiful scriptures in all the Bible,
Psalm 68 verse 6 says that God sets the lonely in families
those especially in biblical days, and you'll hear about this
in the upcoming weeks. Family mattered so much.
And then sometimes people would lose their family, death,
disease, abandonment, whatever, and they're all by themselves.
And God through his mercy would say, I'm putting you in a family
where there's shelter, where there's support, where there's
belonging, honoring and unity. Even though each part of the
family is diverse. Don't think of just biological
family. For us, Ingram's a few months
ago, way back in the like 2025, I don't remember when, it might
have been September, October, I don't remember.
But one Sabbath morning, which for us is Saturday in our house,
which is usually this joy filled daytime of rest, kick back,
relax, read the scriptures, just enliven each other with the
Spirit of God, good food, watch some sports.
I mean, it's such a great day. But this particular Saturday,
Kristen and I both woke up feeling a little, a lot
depleted. Relationally, we were great.
Wasn't a marriage issue, but man, just like so much hard
things happening, we experience loss, we experience some
frustrate. All this stuff is going on.
And you know, sometimes in a relationship, somebody's up and
the others down and then they pull you up and then the other
and then it goes like this, you know, back and forth it goes.
You know what I'm talking about? What happens when you're both
like this? Then what do you do?
I got nothing to give you and you got nothing to give me.
Then suddenly some friends are at the door.
They come into our house and they listen to our hearts and
they covered us in prayer for hours.
They sat with us and though we couldn't lift each other, these
neighbors came and went like this.
Now check it out. They don't have our same last
name. We're Ingrams.
They're not. But they are 100% family.
They are 100% community and things that can't happen when
we're by ourselves can happen when we live in community.
The strengthening, the growth, the shelter, the belonging.
You were not meant to be isolated and lonely, but to be
in community. Here's how to join the family.
Here's how to get in community. I'm going to give you some three
things. Number one, you got to engage
the community. Everyone say engage.
Yeah, I want you. I'm inviting you.
I'm instructing you as the pastor of this church to begin
or to join intentional relationships inside of this
church family. Which means you're going to have
to turn around or turn forward to the people around you that
you don't know and be intentional about it.
The book of Acts starts the beginning of the church and how
it flourished. And the way that it flourished
is because the biblical community from the very
beginning was very intentional about community.
Very intentional. Look at Acts chapter 2, verse
42. They devoted themselves to the
apostles, teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and a prayer. Everyone was filled with all the
many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give to anyone
who had need. Every day they continue to meet
together in the temple courts that broke bread in their homes
and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people.
Now look what happens because of their intentional community
living as the DNA of God. The Lord added to their number
daily those who are being saved. This is the ideal picture.
This is the image of God on display beautifully through the
people in the book of Acts in their community as they loved
one another and served one another.
The church grew, the Kingdom of God advanced.
It's no wonder the devil is against community.
It's no wonder the devil is trying to divide us, to burn
bridges, to take my ball and go home.
You know, I'm talking about I'm not playing with you anymore.
We're done as friends. We're done as family.
That's why the writer of Hebrews says.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love
and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in
the habit of doing, but encouraging one another all the
more as you see the day approaching.
Intentionally engaging, refusing to sit back and not be a part of
the community of the church. It's a famous story.
Maybe you heard it before, but a man went over to, well, not a
man. A pastor went over to a man's
house who hadn't been at church in a while, knocks on the door
and the man opens the door. They don't say anything to each
other. They just kind of look at each
other, like the man looking at the past is like, I know why
you're here. Doesn't have to say a word.
Invites him into his house with a hand gesture.
No words are exchanged. They go and sit at these two
seats that are right in front of the fireplace.
And the fire has in it this burning orange, beautiful
crackling fire. Can you see it?
They don't say anything to each
other. They sit there in the chairs and
eventually the pastor stands up and he grabs the fire tongs or
like this, it's go Gators just. And he reaches into the fire.
The pastor does and he takes out one of the burning embers and he
moves it over here to the side on the fireplace and sets it
down. And then he sits down and he and
the pastor, he and the other man look at this ember and of course
they watch it. Burnout.
It goes from bright burning ember to this charcoal Gray
nothingness right in front of their eyes and they just sit
there for a second. Then the pastor stands back up.
He grabs the tongs, takes the ember and he places it back into
the fire and sits back down. And almost instantaneously, this
burnt out charcoal ember wood thing catches back the fire.
It lights up orange. It starts crackling itself.
Beautiful. Pastor stands up, heads to the
door, gets to the door and turns around.
And the man finally speaks. He says, Pastor, I understand
the message. I'll see you at church on
Sunday. Amen.
Yeah. Anyone heard this before?
I've heard this 1000 times. Yeah.
Anyone else heard this before? Yeah, I heard it so many times
and I thought, well, it's an interesting story, guys.
Like, hey, when I was just praying, I was like, I, I want
you to focus on something different in the story.
People focus on the the fire and the the pastor and the man and
what's being said. But he said have the people
focus on the tongs this morning. I want you to consider what it
is that caused you to disengage instead of the fire.
That's what these tongs represent.
Something has taken you from being in community to being out
of community. Certainly this could represent
another person that's wounded you and they've taken you out of
community. You put up a wall.
I'm not going to. I'm not going to engage anymore.
I'm putting distance between us. I'm done with it.
Or these tongs, maybe you, you're the one who's put up the
wall and made the distance by your own actions.
No matter what has taken you out, the same answer for what
takes you in for both. Forgiveness.
You may need to forgive
somebody, or you may need to ask somebody for forgiveness.
I don't know why I'm pointing at you with fire.
Toms goes down so nobody loses an eye.
If we do not forgive each other, the Bible calls it a root of
bitterness will grow and that root of bitterness will
intertwine up into your spirit. It will impede the way that you
think and see people because all you can see is the hurt, the
bitterness, and you're like, I'm done, get out.
No more forgiveness moves us from being isolated and alone
back into the community where we burst back into flame.
You have to engage the community.
They say there's three kinds of people that go to a movie
theater. When you go as a group, I don't
know if you've ever heard this before, when you go as a group,
you'll notice that one person will run down in front and sit
in a row and then just wait and see who's going to come and sit
next to him. Because they're thinking to
themselves, I'm going to run up the front and sit down and see
if I matter enough to anyone else to come and sit with me.
And they wait and everyone sits 3 rows back.
They're like, nobody likes me. Then you have the other people
who come into the theater who aren't thinking about anything.
They, they're just, well, I'm here to see a movie and they
just sit down wherever. They don't care about who they
sit next to and why it matters. And then you have the third
person who walks in, typically last, and they're looking, is
anybody alone in my group? I'm not talking about you're
there to date somebody like, oh, she's by herself.
I'll go sit with her, right? You're in a group, right?
Everyone goes in and you're like, OK, who can I sit next to
to make them feel included, loved, seen?
Let me ask you, of these three kinds of people, which one is
Jesus? The third one, this is the DNA
of God placed on us, and most people are going through life
and vividly, ignorantly, I don't know what's going on.
I'm not paying attention to the mission.
I'm not looking about who's hurting.
I'm just sitting down to watch my life.
And then there's others who are sitting down.
Does anybody love me? But Jesus would be in the seat
of I'm going to make sure that everybody here feels loved.
That goes to the second point, which is to create community.
Create community to place the lonely in your family.
If God places lonely people in families and He's put His DNA in
US and it is up to us, it's on our spirit to also then place
the lonely in families. Stick around in the series.
We're going to teach you how to do that.
I hope you will. But for now, reach out to
someone who feels isolated or alone and invite them in.
That's what we see in the book of Acts, the sharing of life.
The invitation to the community causes the Kingdom to grow.
It worked then and it still works today.
Let me show you how. I got some friends that I
invited to come up on platform. You know who you are.
And if you're here, come up right now and come quick.
Here they are. Come on.
Would you just give these people a round of applause?
Let's go. Let's go.
Here they come. Come on.
Terrell here running. Well, they're taking wash.
They're going to have to cough some more.
Hey, stand a little closer. Stand closer this time.
Leslie, make sure they're all up here.
Come on. I'm going to tell you the story
as quick as I can. And it's just an incredible
story that's happening right here in front of our eyes.
This is William and Chanel. Wait.
Chanel's hiding. William and Chanel wait.
Everyone say hi. They have three kids.
You can guess which one. This is Thea.
James and William also there say hi.
They're from Ireland. So you say, how do you say hi in
Ireland? What about you?
What about you?
Right. They're living in Ireland.
They realize that if we keep growing our kids up in Ireland,
all they're going to know is Irish white kids.
That's it. And that is not what the Kingdom
of God looks like. And it grieved their hearts that
they wouldn't know the full expanse of the Kingdom of God.
I said we got to move somewhere where there's all sorts of
nations gathered together and all the world comes to Orlando.
So in their wisdom, what happened?
Did you do a hidden Mickey? OK, so they moved here to
Orlando last year just to understand the beauty and the
diversity of God's creation. Incredible, right?
So as it goes, they just happened to meet some people,
some great people. James.
Then all of a sudden in your heart, because of your parents
upbringing, you have this evangelistic nature in you and
what, what do you go about doing?
Just kind of fill us in. Wait, wait till you hear his
voice. Oh, it's so good.
So basically I was just like out with my friends and we were all
talking about like going to church the next day.
And then Andrew, this guy right here, he was sitting and he
wasn't talking. I was like, Andrew, do you go to
church? He said no, there we go.
He said no, he doesn't go to church.
I invited him to church and I sent him the link to come to
Illuminate and then he came and then he invited Terrell, then
Terrell invited Kenneth, and then they all got baptized with
the. This is so beautiful what God is
doing now. Here's Terrell.
We had a phone conversation this week.
Andrew, thanks for inviting Terrell so that we could hear
the story. Terrell, before Illuminate, was
studying in the mosque, studying Islam then.
But this guy was so brilliant and the Spirit of God was
speaking to him even before he really knew God, that something
in here is not right at the mosque.
Something wasn't making sense connecting.
So he left and went home and started praying in his room.
And Terrell, with the mic up near your mouth, what happened?
I was just sitting down in my dark room.
I guess I was sitting down. I was like, let me just go into
prayer. Let me go pray to Jesus and see
where my heart was at. And I was sitting there.
I was praying. I was like, you know, Lord,
please, I, I don't know what I'm doing.
And then, you know, I was praying.
And then I finally opened my Bible that I got from a work, a
coworker at work because I asked her and I was like, hey, do you
got a Bible? And she was like, yeah, gave me
the Bible. Next three days.
The next three days I work again.
She was on the schedule and she left and I feel like she was an
Angel. I was.
Definitely an Angel. And then there's a lot of people
in here. And then I was like, I opened
the Bible and I open up to Proverbs.
The first, the first thing I opened up to that I was just
open it. And I open up to Proverbs 35 and
then say, do not trust on your own.
Do not trust in your own understanding, but trust in the
Lord passed in his direction. And that that meant something to
me and that meant a lot to me. And I was like, Oh Lord, you got
me. And he and I heard a voice in my
head and and the Lord was like, Son, I got you and I was beyond
blessed from there. And now I'm still on my journey
and growing in a man of faith. Yeah, come on, Blessing.
Can I can I can I can I pray over everybody because a.
Little Let's go he's. On fire right now.
He's on fire right now. All right.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for another day and thank you
for another blessing. And today we don't know what is
planned, but we know that you got great plans and great
blessings for us, Lord. And I pray in Jesus name that we
all submit to your direction in your path, Lord, in Jesus name,
Amen. Come on.
Hallelujah. OK.
All right, I got it. I'm I'm not even done telling
you the best part. Like in case you missed it, this
is what happened last Sunday. Now look, the Matusa's here are
part of our Life Step 2 leadership and they met the
weights in Life Step 2 and formed community together living
in the design of God, right? And through this whole process,
the weights, the Medusa's getting to meet Kenneth on the
end, Andrew here and Terrell who just prayed over us like brand
new believer already praying. Step up your game is all I'm
saying. Together, all of these people
work together to see this incredible thing happened last
Sunday. And this is what I'm trying to
show you in the book of Acts, the book of Illuminate, right?
When we do community, right, the Kingdom of God advances mightily
on the earth. And check this out, right?
Our world today says that this white man and this black man and
this brown man, they're not supposed to be friends.
Am I making this up? Isn't that?
I mean, when I open social media, it tells me that I'm
supposed to stay in my white lane and you're supposed to stay
in your whatever lane and communing together.
This is exactly what the enemy is trying to divide and exactly
why we're doing this series so that we can come together as one
Unity 1 Lord of all. Will you give a big half for all
of them? Thank you guys.
Bless you. Well done.
I love that story. So good.
Hey, James is 16 and he's invited people to church.
What's your excuse? What?
I love it. All right, last thing, join the
forever family. Join the forever community.
I'm asking you to engage. I'm asking you to create.
I'm asking you to join the family.
Some easy, simple steps are #1 get the Life Step 1 next week,
March 1st. It's where community begins
here. Life Step 2 follows after and
you'll be in a group of people. When we were doing these
baptisms last week, a bunch of them are from Life Step 2.
And when those people went down in the waters their entire life
step two groups around them cheering for them, strangers
before they started, now sharing this incredibly special moment
together. Get yourself the Life Step 1 #2
use our digital discipleship that we are creating for this
series. There's going to be AQR code up
here. Oh, it's already there.
If you click on that QR code or go into the church app every
single Monday, you can get resources downloaded to your
e-mail inbox so that you can understand how you can live out
to the design of God, the inmate imago day of God in your life.
So jump in and jump in quick. Don't delay.
The last thing is this men. I have seen strangers terrified
to come to men's conference, but projecting an air of confidence,
just really faking it, showing up to men's conference and
lifelong friendships bonded over the blood of Christ sealed by
the Holy Spirit come out of men's conference.
The Lord wanted you here today to hear you.
Men especially do not do this life alone.
No more solo artists, right? We're meant to do life together.
I'm inviting you in. And finally, the most important
thing is as you recognize your need for commit community that
you and me, all of us. It begins with a relationship
with Jesus Christ, becoming a child of God in the household of
faith where you will be welcomed, you will be honored
and you have unity with the Father in this supremely
wonderful, diverse household of faith people different than you.
All you have to do is say yes, yes to the invitation and begin
a life with Jesus Christ. So we're going to pray right now
and give you the opportunity. Everyone bow your heads, close
your eyes, repeat nice and loud after me at home.
You can pray this as well online saying, father, come on a father
in the name of Jesus. I recognize that I am a Sinner
in need of a Savior, and today I confess and I believe that Jesus
is Lord. I receive you Jesus as my
Savior. Now come into my heart and live
your life through me all the days of my life.
Just take a little moment here between you and the Holy Spirit
to pray. And if you just made that prayer
for the first time, the biggest of congratulations to you.
Welcome to the family. I'm going to have you do one
thing that's bold. I'm going to count to 3.
And if you've prayed that prayer for the first time today,
receiving Jesus, you're going to raise your hand up as high as it
can go when I count to 3. And I need you to do this
because I have something I have to get you.
I want to give it to you today before you leave.
Hands are already going up, so let me count 123.
Anyone believing today for the first time, hold it nice and
high. Our ushers are moving quickly to
you a bunch. Right up here.
We got you in the mezzanine. Come on.
In the middle back. We're coming to you as well.
Any others over here? Come on.
If you got somebody raising their hand next to you, we don't
want to miss anybody. I see you, my sister.
We're coming to you. Anyone else?
Come on, if somebody's missing, if we're missing, we don't want
to miss nobody where back left. See, Lord loves people on the
left. I'm going to say Amen Church and
then I want you to rejoice with the sound of heaven over those
being saved and joining the community today in Jesus name,
Amen. Thanks for joining us today.
We hope God is speaking to your heart through this message.
If you'd like to connect with us, you can text connect to
407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot church.
Have a great week.