WEBVTT 00:00:00.809 --> 00:00:04.250 I want to introduce you to somebody some of you 00:00:04.250 --> 00:00:06.450 may know some of you may not but we're excited 00:00:06.450 --> 00:00:11.810 to To have him here today He's got an awesome 00:00:11.810 --> 00:00:15.470 awesome haircut and we're just really really 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:19.089 glad that he's here today David Nelms is the 00:00:19.089 --> 00:00:23.030 is the founder of TTI the Timothy initiative 00:00:23.030 --> 00:00:26.710 and TTI is is we have supported TTI for many 00:00:26.710 --> 00:00:30.120 years and and just one of the best church planting 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:32.759 movements I've ever seen and so David's going 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:36.979 to come tell us how our resources are being used 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:38.640 around the world and how people are coming to 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.240 faith around the world and he's just an awesome 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:43.920 guy and I hope you'll get to know him a little 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:48.399 bit better today. As you can see I have a question 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:51.640 for you David because you've always said over 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:53.659 here so every church you go to you're like I 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:59.229 got to sit on the right side. just curious we 00:00:59.229 --> 00:01:00.890 all have our we have our comfort zone so right 00:01:00.890 --> 00:01:03.469 side of the church is your love it well please 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:10.170 welcome David thank you so much thank you you 00:01:10.170 --> 00:01:13.489 know I love this place I think this is my third 00:01:13.489 --> 00:01:17.430 time here I believe which is really special for 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:20.170 me because I rarely get invited back anywhere 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:23.829 all right so I'm like really excited to be here 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.680 Thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:30.280 just I spent 17 years in Iowa over in Des Moines, 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.640 passionate church there, raised our kids here. 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:38.840 We love Iowa. I'm a big Iowa Hawkeye fan. I love 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.920 Caitlin Clark. Amen. I hope she runs for governor 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:47.780 one day. She'll probably win if she does. But 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:54.349 we got my coworker here. Think they're back there 00:01:54.349 --> 00:01:57.109 somewhere Abraham and Bernice. Are you guys here? 00:01:57.569 --> 00:02:00.870 Okay, I see you there Abraham. You have a TTI 00:02:00.870 --> 00:02:04.650 haircut also, okay Yeah, when you work with us 00:02:04.650 --> 00:02:07.510 you end up looking like this, but you guys have 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:11.870 been great partners this church Your pastor has 00:02:11.870 --> 00:02:17.250 an incredible vision If you will just get in 00:02:17.250 --> 00:02:19.430 line behind him and do what he's asking you to 00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:23.409 do God may be using this church to plant more 00:02:23.409 --> 00:02:28.449 churches around the world then maybe I Mean any 00:02:28.449 --> 00:02:32.150 church I know of in the state Okay, and I think 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:33.870 you'll understand a little bit more what I'm 00:02:33.870 --> 00:02:36.250 trying to say in just a moment But I want to 00:02:36.250 --> 00:02:38.110 thank you Daniel. Thank you for letting me be 00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:40.409 here Thank you guys for your partnership for 00:02:40.409 --> 00:02:45.310 those of you not familiar with TTI. We make Disciples 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:48.569 who make disciples some of them in turn plant 00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:52.419 churches We work primarily among what's called 00:02:52.419 --> 00:02:55.340 unreached people groups. To be an unreached people 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:57.159 group means you're born, you live your life, 00:02:57.219 --> 00:02:59.840 you die, you probably never hear a clear presentation 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:03.199 of the gospel. You may never hear his name, okay? 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:07.060 So think you're Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animus 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:10.659 parts of the world. For some reason, God has 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:15.449 seen fit to smile upon what we're doing. to bless 00:03:15.449 --> 00:03:18.110 what we're doing, has nothing to do with the 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:20.270 organization, has nothing to do, certainly nothing 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:23.069 to do with me, I can promise you that. But God 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:27.069 has seen fit to bless. Last year we saw a new 00:03:27.069 --> 00:03:30.789 church started every 13 minutes, alright? And 00:03:30.789 --> 00:03:34.069 this year, the number of church planters, we 00:03:34.069 --> 00:03:37.370 call them Timothes being trained, is right at 00:03:37.370 --> 00:03:41.840 167 ,000. church planters. Now, I was having 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.020 a hard time sleeping last night, so I started 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:47.099 Googling stuff. Kid, somebody taught me how to 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:49.020 Google about five years ago and I can't stop 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:52.539 now, okay? I finally figured out how to do it, 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:57.219 all right? And so, I Googled the seating capacity 00:03:57.219 --> 00:04:00.460 for your Kinnick Stadium, and if I remember correctly, 00:04:00.539 --> 00:04:04.439 it was about seven, just under 71 ,000, I think 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.840 that's right. And so, picture putting a church 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.719 planter in every one of those seats and then 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:14.240 doing it again and then there's still 25 ,000 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.860 more left outside that can't get inside. That's 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:18.939 how many church planters are being trained this 00:04:18.939 --> 00:04:21.560 year and you guys are part of that and you're 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.759 a critical part of it and I want you to go home 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:27.439 today understanding that God is using this church. 00:04:27.779 --> 00:04:30.889 He's using you. you are helping to make that 00:04:30.889 --> 00:04:34.370 happen. You guys have actually been a part of 00:04:34.370 --> 00:04:38.230 funding hundreds of churches over the last few 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:40.810 years. Now we talk about churches here in the 00:04:40.810 --> 00:04:43.290 states, we think of beautiful buildings like 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:48.850 this and fans and gymnasiums and parking lots 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:51.870 and all of that. That's not the way we're doing 00:04:51.870 --> 00:04:53.769 it where we were. Let me show you a couple of 00:04:53.769 --> 00:04:56.269 pictures. Chuck, put up the first one. This is 00:04:56.269 --> 00:05:00.709 a typical church not too far Abraham from your 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:03.769 neck of the woods. This is what we call a mountain 00:05:03.769 --> 00:05:06.569 church. Okay, mountainside church. Six months 00:05:06.569 --> 00:05:09.170 earlier these folks were all Hindus worshipping 00:05:09.170 --> 00:05:13.970 all kinds of gods and goddesses and Timothy brought 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:17.209 the gospel to them and look at that view. Isn't 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:20.160 that something? Up in the Himalayas there. And 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.800 by the way, if you keep climbing another 30 minutes, 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:24.920 you'll find another little church has been started 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.779 also. So when we talk about you guys starting 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:29.699 churches, that's what we're talking about right 00:05:29.699 --> 00:05:32.220 there, okay? Look at the next picture. This is 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:36.339 a house church and many thousands, tens of thousands 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:39.319 of these things have been started. Tens of thousands 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:41.730 of them will be started this year. for that matter, 00:05:42.129 --> 00:05:45.930 and they're just all over the world. Look at 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:48.649 the next one. This is my favorite one, a tree 00:05:48.649 --> 00:05:52.310 church. I love these tree churches. We've started 00:05:52.310 --> 00:05:55.529 so many of them. The whole village sometimes 00:05:55.529 --> 00:05:57.689 comes to Christ. You can see the little huts 00:05:57.689 --> 00:06:00.550 where they're living in the background there. 00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:04.189 It's just special. They're not rejecting Jesus. 00:06:04.350 --> 00:06:07.269 They don't know who He is. How in the world can 00:06:07.269 --> 00:06:09.860 you call on somebody you've never heard of? to 00:06:09.860 --> 00:06:11.899 say, you can't. That's what Paul said in Romans 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:15.439 10, you can't. somebody's got to tell you and 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.720 so we train these guys and they go out and they 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.360 just crisscross the countryside and so many times 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:25.620 just seems like practically everyone in some 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:27.540 of these villages not all of them by any means 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:30.860 but some of them come to Christ this is all possible 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:35.439 because of partners like you TTI is not an organization 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.540 TTI is a group of people all over the country 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:43.240 individuals churches pastors who come together 00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:46.180 and say, we're going to make an impact on this 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:48.560 world. We're going to reach some people. And 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:51.720 so on behalf of many, many, many people that 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.819 you guys are responsible for getting the gospel 00:06:53.819 --> 00:06:58.519 to, I just want to say thank you. Today, I want 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:00.939 you to understand that every one of you have 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:05.279 a part in advancing the kingdom of God. This 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.740 is not like an option for you. It should be the 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:12.740 very top of your priority list. Everyone in this 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:15.060 room, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:18.459 everything you have, everything you've got, everything 00:07:18.459 --> 00:07:22.560 you are, should be devoted 100 % to bringing 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:26.839 glory to God, to advancing His kingdom. You have 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:31.100 a part to play. We could even say it's our turn 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:34.490 to do that, to advance God's kingdom. I want 00:07:34.490 --> 00:07:36.629 to begin very quickly in a verse, Revelation 00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:40.350 5 verse 9. This is a place, this setting here, 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:42.910 you will be there one day where this verse is 00:07:42.910 --> 00:07:44.750 talking about, if you're a follower of Jesus. 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:47.610 One day there's going to be like this massive 00:07:47.610 --> 00:07:50.209 worship service in heaven. Matt will be on the 00:07:50.209 --> 00:07:53.490 guitar and I think your drummer may be playing. 00:07:53.569 --> 00:07:55.829 He's pretty good, okay? But there's going to 00:07:55.829 --> 00:07:58.269 be this massive worship service and all the saints 00:07:58.269 --> 00:08:00.629 of all the angels are going to be gathered together. 00:08:01.159 --> 00:08:03.779 around the throne, and it says that we're going 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:06.939 to sing a brand new song, saying, worthy are 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:09.920 you to take the scroll and open its seals, for 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.139 you were slain. That's talking about the cross. 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:13.920 In a moment, we're going to observe communion. 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:16.079 We're going to remember the shed blood of Jesus 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:19.379 on the cross. We'll worship Him and we'll say, 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:24.680 Jesus, you were slain, and by your blood, you 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:29.500 ransomed people for God. I love those two words. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:32.919 Can you all say it out loud with me? For God. 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:37.480 You know why Jesus paid your ransom to deliver 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.019 you from sin and from Satan, from the evil one? 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.799 The ransom was his blood. He paid that to set 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:49.700 you free. He set you free for God. You say, I 00:08:49.700 --> 00:08:51.320 thought he saved me so I could go to heaven. 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:55.139 Heaven is like the cherry on the top. It's a 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:58.360 fringe benefit of salvation. But I don't think 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.600 He saved us primarily for us to go to heaven. 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.279 Salvation is much more than a fire insurance 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:07.100 policy, okay? You say, well, I thought He saved 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:09.320 me so I could have a brand new life and a new 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:13.559 start. That's part of it, yes, amen. But I don't 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:16.639 think that's the main part. Jesus shed His blood 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:21.100 for you so that you would live your life for 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:26.799 God. Everything you are, everything you have. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:31.139 all your influence, your family, your children, 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:34.299 your grandchildren, your resources, your intellect, 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.320 everything, your business, everything you are. 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.399 He paid for it so that you would live your life 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.799 for God. Now who are these people that are going 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:48.440 to be gathered around the throne one day? He 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.659 goes on to say they will come from every tribe 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:57.139 and language and people and nation. When you 00:09:57.139 --> 00:10:00.240 get to heaven and you're gathered around his 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.159 throne worshipping the lamb Listen, they're gonna 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:06.100 be people there from everywhere. It'll be every 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:10.080 color every culture every country They will be 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:13.600 there from everywhere and on that day the Great 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:16.350 Commission task If you're not familiar with that 00:10:16.350 --> 00:10:18.730 phrase, great commission, before Jesus went to 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:20.529 heaven, he told us to take the gospel to the 00:10:20.529 --> 00:10:22.909 whole world, every nation, every tribe. That's 00:10:22.909 --> 00:10:25.549 what we call the great commission. On that day, 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:29.950 the great commission task will finally be completed. 00:10:30.110 --> 00:10:34.370 It'll be finished. But how? How do we get from, 00:10:34.549 --> 00:10:37.230 in that day, almost no one on the face of the 00:10:37.230 --> 00:10:40.330 earth having ever heard the name Jesus, to one 00:10:40.330 --> 00:10:43.299 day there being so many people around His throne 00:10:43.299 --> 00:10:46.059 from everywhere that you can't even count them. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.500 What is the progression? That's what I want to 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:50.700 talk to you about this morning. It all began 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.879 with Jesus Christ. First of all, it was His turn. 00:10:54.259 --> 00:10:58.080 He got the ball rolling. 1 John 4, 14, the scripture 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.080 says, the Father sent the Son to be the Savior 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:03.379 of the world. And so that's why Jesus came into 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:06.509 this world. He came in to die. And from the moment 00:11:06.509 --> 00:11:09.470 he was born in Bethlehem until the moment he 00:11:09.470 --> 00:11:11.470 ascended back to heaven from the cradle of the 00:11:11.470 --> 00:11:14.529 cross and then through the empty tomb all the 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:17.509 way Jesus did what his father sent him to do 00:11:17.509 --> 00:11:20.350 his father sent him Yes, he preached and yes, 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:23.529 he healed and yes, he loved people Yes, he he 00:11:23.529 --> 00:11:25.990 took care of little children and lepers and all 00:11:25.990 --> 00:11:28.970 of he did all of the above But the father sent 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:33.629 the son to be the Savior of the world and he 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:38.039 did his part perfectly he was the sinless sacrifice 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:41.940 the spotless lamb of God there's an interesting 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:44.539 verse in Hebrews it says when Jesus entered this 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:47.480 world he came in this world saying I delight 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:51.179 to do your will oh my god let me tell you something 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:54.860 he didn't just do his father's will he delighted 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:57.299 to do his father's will you know what the word 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:00.139 delight means it means he was like really happy 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:03.639 about it really excited There's an old song, 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:06.559 when he was on the cross, I was on his mind. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.519 When he hung on that cross, he was hanging on 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.840 that cross for you. And his attitude was, and 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.019 why do I have to die for those people? His attitude, 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:19.539 for the joy that was set before him, the Bible 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:24.980 says, he endured the cross. He delighted in the 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.710 cross. That's how much he cares about you, but 00:12:27.710 --> 00:12:29.830 even more than that that's how much he cares 00:12:29.830 --> 00:12:33.549 about his father I Delight to do your will oh 00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:36.529 my god He never violated his father's will in 00:12:36.529 --> 00:12:39.889 any way at all and when he had shed every single 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:42.490 drop of blood that needed to be shed to ransom 00:12:42.490 --> 00:12:45.090 people from every tribe and every nation only 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:48.870 then did he cry out in a shout of victory it 00:12:48.870 --> 00:12:54.470 is finished first It was his turn. He got things 00:12:54.470 --> 00:12:59.990 moving Then it was their turn. That early church, 00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:03.350 those apostles, we call it the apostolic or the 00:13:03.350 --> 00:13:05.789 New Testament church. After his resurrection, 00:13:05.830 --> 00:13:08.649 Jesus got the apostles together in that upper 00:13:08.649 --> 00:13:10.970 room and he said, as the Father sent me, I'm 00:13:10.970 --> 00:13:14.049 now sending you. We just learned the Father sent 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:17.590 the Son to be the Savior of the world. What what's 00:13:17.590 --> 00:13:20.049 happening here is Jesus is saying just as the 00:13:20.049 --> 00:13:22.470 Father sent me to be the Savior of the world 00:13:22.470 --> 00:13:25.110 So I'm sending you to tell the world that the 00:13:25.110 --> 00:13:27.990 Father sent me to be their Savior The plan for 00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:30.590 the world to hear that the Father sent me to 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:34.629 be their Savior We have one plan. It's you it's 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.409 plan a there is no plan B The Father sent me 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:40.110 to be their Savior, but they don't know Somebody's 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:42.990 got to tell them that somebody is you guys. As 00:13:42.990 --> 00:13:47.029 the Father sent me, now I am sending you." Let 00:13:47.029 --> 00:13:48.590 me tell you something about that early church. 00:13:48.909 --> 00:13:51.250 They were not perfect. They had all kinds of 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:54.230 issues. But let me tell you this, those early 00:13:54.230 --> 00:13:57.070 believers, they got the job done. My goodness, 00:13:57.070 --> 00:13:58.990 they got the job done. Let me run you through 00:13:58.990 --> 00:14:01.129 some verses in the book of Acts to illustrate. 00:14:01.470 --> 00:14:05.009 Acts 5 verse 28 says that they filled up Jerusalem 00:14:05.009 --> 00:14:07.269 with their teaching. Wouldn't it be something 00:14:07.269 --> 00:14:11.429 if you guys filled up Eldridge? and I'm kind 00:14:11.429 --> 00:14:13.850 of mixed up here, my GPS isn't working good, 00:14:14.950 --> 00:14:18.629 but filled up Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, 00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:21.289 wouldn't it be something if you just filled up 00:14:21.289 --> 00:14:24.029 this whole area with your gospel? Wouldn't it 00:14:24.029 --> 00:14:26.289 be something if when people drive down that road 00:14:26.289 --> 00:14:28.409 out there, they look at this church and say, 00:14:28.450 --> 00:14:30.450 oh, that's where those people come from that's 00:14:30.450 --> 00:14:33.389 always talking about Jesus? Wouldn't it be something 00:14:33.389 --> 00:14:36.889 if just everywhere you went in this Quad City 00:14:36.889 --> 00:14:42.629 area, The gospel is just being proclaimed. That's 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:46.149 what happened in Jerusalem. Look at Acts 5 42. 00:14:46.570 --> 00:14:50.190 It says every day. I mean every day. They did 00:14:50.190 --> 00:14:52.629 not cease. You couldn't shut those people up. 00:14:53.149 --> 00:14:55.990 They would not stop talking about Jesus Christ. 00:14:56.350 --> 00:14:59.090 Listen, when you love Jesus, why would you not 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:02.070 want to tell somebody that you love him? If he's 00:15:02.070 --> 00:15:04.149 the most important thing in your life, why would 00:15:04.149 --> 00:15:08.480 you not want to talk about him? Can I get an 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:13.299 amen? I? Mean he's he's he's our savior They 00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:16.019 would not stop look at acts eight verse four 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:18.679 persecution came some of them were were killed 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.039 some of them were put in prison others ran for 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:23.320 their lives But as they were running for their 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.240 lives as they were scattered here and there They 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.559 were preaching the word of God. I mean these 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.580 people you could not stop them act 17 6 By the 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:34.179 time we get about halfway through the book of 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:36.679 Acts about 15 20 years down the road It says 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:40.000 they had turned the entire world upside down 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.409 nothing stopped them not even the gates of hell. 00:15:42.690 --> 00:15:44.409 You say, David, they must have had an awful lot 00:15:44.409 --> 00:15:47.090 of tools and resources and had a lot of stuff 00:15:47.090 --> 00:15:48.970 at their disposal. Let me tell you what they 00:15:48.970 --> 00:15:50.509 did not have. I'm going to tell you what they 00:15:50.509 --> 00:15:52.350 did have, but let me tell you first what they 00:15:52.350 --> 00:15:56.009 did not have. They had no seminaries, no sanctuaries, 00:15:56.309 --> 00:16:00.549 no denominations, no college degrees, no commentaries, 00:16:00.850 --> 00:16:04.649 no computers, no cell phones, social media, no 00:16:04.649 --> 00:16:08.409 automobiles, no airplanes, no AI, no buildings, 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:10.990 business meetings, bylaws, Bible... colleges 00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:13.909 they did not even have a complete copy of the 00:16:13.909 --> 00:16:17.710 Word of God all of the Apostles except John died 00:16:17.710 --> 00:16:20.690 before the Bible was even completed have you 00:16:20.690 --> 00:16:23.950 ever thought about this st. Peter never held 00:16:23.950 --> 00:16:28.289 in his hand a completed copy of the Word of God 00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:31.389 most of us have four or five maybe ten Bibles 00:16:31.389 --> 00:16:35.289 at home Peter never had a single full copy of 00:16:35.289 --> 00:16:38.389 the Word of God they had none of that stuff that 00:16:38.389 --> 00:16:41.409 we had You say, David, how did they get the job 00:16:41.409 --> 00:16:43.470 done? Let me tell you what they did have. Acts 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:47.090 1 and verse 8. The very last verse Jesus spoke 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:50.389 before he went back to heaven. He said, but you, 00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:53.590 he's talking to his followers, but you will receive 00:16:53.590 --> 00:16:56.509 power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and 00:16:56.509 --> 00:17:01.129 you will be my witnesses here, near, and far. 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:03.309 I was looking at that verse the other day and 00:17:03.309 --> 00:17:05.430 I saw something, Daniel, I'd never seen before. 00:17:05.690 --> 00:17:08.970 The word you is in there three times. Jesus said, 00:17:09.630 --> 00:17:15.450 you, you, you, my followers. The Holy Spirit's 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:18.150 gonna come and live inside of you. And notice 00:17:18.150 --> 00:17:20.289 he connects the dots there. As a result of the 00:17:20.289 --> 00:17:22.809 Holy Spirit coming, you will have the power you 00:17:22.809 --> 00:17:26.869 need to be my witnesses. And may I remind you 00:17:26.869 --> 00:17:30.150 in their day, they turned the world upside down, 00:17:30.150 --> 00:17:32.930 but in their day, the entire world was an unreached 00:17:32.930 --> 00:17:36.210 people group. Nobody had any clue. who Jesus 00:17:36.210 --> 00:17:40.109 was. So first, it was his turn. He got it started. 00:17:40.190 --> 00:17:42.789 Then it was their turn, that early church. Well 00:17:42.789 --> 00:17:47.289 guess whose turn it is now? It's our turn. It's 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:52.809 our turn. We get to have a turn. Second Corinthians 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:55.170 5 verse 20, Paul makes an amazing statement. 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:56.930 He writes to the church at Corinth and he says, 00:17:57.250 --> 00:18:00.210 we are ambassadors. See, here's what's happened 00:18:00.210 --> 00:18:03.769 in the American church. We think the pastor or 00:18:03.769 --> 00:18:05.769 the missionary is the ambassador and the rest 00:18:05.769 --> 00:18:09.289 of us are embassy workers. You are not an embassy 00:18:09.289 --> 00:18:12.410 worker. You are an ambassador. How many of y 00:18:12.410 --> 00:18:15.690 'all know Jesus? Talk to me. Do you know Jesus? 00:18:15.809 --> 00:18:20.410 Amen? Yeah. If you know Jesus, the Holy Spirit 00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:22.069 lives inside of you. Do y 'all know who the Holy 00:18:22.069 --> 00:18:26.190 Spirit is? The Holy Spirit is God. Are you hearing 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:32.740 me? God lives inside of you. God has appointed 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:36.180 you to be his ambassador. That church at Corinth, 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.079 they were kind of messed up in some ways, okay? 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:41.599 Paul didn't look at them and say, you people 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:44.660 are all messed up, I'm the ambassador. That's 00:18:44.660 --> 00:18:48.099 not what he said. Paul said, we are ambassadors. 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:51.099 He went on to say, God is making his appeal through 00:18:51.099 --> 00:18:54.880 us. In other words, God's using us to tell the 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.119 world that they can be reconciled, brought back 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.910 into a righteous relationship with God. In other 00:19:00.910 --> 00:19:03.549 words, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, 00:19:04.309 --> 00:19:07.710 you're one of his ambassadors. You've got a sign 00:19:07.710 --> 00:19:10.289 out in your lobby that says every Christ follower 00:19:10.289 --> 00:19:12.970 is a disciple and every disciple is a disciple 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:17.970 maker. Don't just read that sign. Actually believe 00:19:17.970 --> 00:19:23.799 it and put it into practice. It is now our turn. 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:28.039 We are the ambassadors. We're not of this world. 00:19:28.119 --> 00:19:31.579 We're in it, but we're not of it. We're aliens. 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:35.680 We're just passing through our inheritance and 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.240 our citizenship, the Bible says, is above. In 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.240 other words, it's now our turn to take the gospel 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:46.519 to the ends of the earth. Now the task is just 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:50.480 enormous because it's a big world. 42 % of the 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:54.150 world is classified as unreached. That's over 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:57.150 3 billion people. It's about 3 .4. Let me put 00:19:57.150 --> 00:19:59.390 that number in perspective. Take every single 00:19:59.390 --> 00:20:02.269 person in Canada. Add to it every single person 00:20:02.269 --> 00:20:04.829 in the United States. Add to it every single 00:20:04.829 --> 00:20:07.799 person in Mexico. Add to it every single person 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:10.799 in all of the Latin America or Central American 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.420 countries Belize and El Salvador and Guatemala 00:20:13.420 --> 00:20:16.259 and Nicaragua and Honduras Costa Rica Panama 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:19.039 but take every single person there add to it 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.779 all the people on all the islands of the Caribbean 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:27.039 Jamaica Haiti Cuba the Dominican Republic the 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:30.319 Aruba st. Croix st. Thomas all the islands then 00:20:30.670 --> 00:20:33.630 Take everybody on the entire continent of Africa, 00:20:33.890 --> 00:20:37.529 54 nations, the entire continent, then add to 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:40.029 that every single person that lives on the entire 00:20:40.029 --> 00:20:43.890 continent of Europe, 44 nations, put it all together, 00:20:44.349 --> 00:20:48.589 throw in Australia, you're still not up to 42 00:20:48.589 --> 00:20:51.549 % of the population of the world. That's how 00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:55.809 many people are born, live, go into eternity. 00:20:56.109 --> 00:20:59.650 In most cases, they will never hear a clear presentation 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:02.750 of the gospel, and by the multiplied millions, 00:21:03.309 --> 00:21:07.470 they will never even hear his name. Paul asked, 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:10.009 how in the world can you call on someone to save 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:12.549 you that you've never heard of? And the answer 00:21:12.549 --> 00:21:16.589 is, you cannot. Ladies and gentlemen, the task 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.259 is enormous. May I show you a map that pictures 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:24.180 where the unreached people groups primarily live, 00:21:24.420 --> 00:21:27.539 that red area, that's mainly where we work, not 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:31.420 exclusively, but mainly. It is very possible. 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:34.740 I was talking to a couple from your church that 00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:37.960 works in one of those red areas earlier and made 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:40.220 this statement in the last service that most 00:21:40.220 --> 00:21:42.779 of these people, 80 % of them, will never know 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:45.119 someone that believes like you. And they said 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.339 to me, you're exactly right. They said almost 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:50.720 everybody we know in the country we work in, 00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:54.680 until they met us, had never met anyone that 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:59.019 was a follower of Jesus Christ. I'm sitting there 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:01.319 this morning listening to your worship. You guys 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:06.579 are just so precious. I mean, I just love this 00:22:06.579 --> 00:22:09.000 place. I'm going to go home and tell my wife 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.230 we need to move back to Iowa. She's gonna say 00:22:12.230 --> 00:22:14.650 David. Have you forgotten about the winters? 00:22:15.589 --> 00:22:19.509 Okay And she will win because we got grandkids 00:22:19.509 --> 00:22:23.009 there. Okay, but this place is so precious you 00:22:23.009 --> 00:22:28.150 have God has smiled on you There's a sweet spirit 00:22:28.150 --> 00:22:32.410 here I Fall in I love all these kids on the front 00:22:32.410 --> 00:22:42.450 row There are billions of people there that will 00:22:42.450 --> 00:22:44.930 never a single time experience what you've already 00:22:44.930 --> 00:22:48.329 experienced today. And oftentimes we take it 00:22:48.329 --> 00:22:54.289 for granted. The task, it's enormous. And yet 00:22:54.289 --> 00:22:57.450 it's doable. And one way we can get the job done 00:22:57.450 --> 00:23:01.269 is through partnerships, working together. There's 00:23:01.269 --> 00:23:02.970 an old African proverb that says if you want 00:23:02.970 --> 00:23:06.089 to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, 00:23:07.009 --> 00:23:10.839 go together. We... Can get the gospel to the 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:12.819 whole world we can cross the finish line of the 00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:16.480 Great Commission it can be done We can do what 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:18.539 we call achieve achieve achieve is an acronym 00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:21.299 for a church in every village everywhere We can 00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:25.700 achieve achieve if we partner together you say 00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.079 well David what what specifically do we do? What's 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:31.180 our plan? Well first Corinthians 11 and verse 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:34.430 1 Paul made a statement. He said he said He said 00:23:34.430 --> 00:23:36.609 to that early church, you guys imitate me or 00:23:36.609 --> 00:23:39.869 follow me as I follow Christ. So picture Jesus 00:23:39.869 --> 00:23:43.029 out front. Paul jumps in behind Jesus and wherever 00:23:43.029 --> 00:23:45.730 Jesus goes, Paul just follows right behind him. 00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:47.950 And then Paul says to the church, again, the 00:23:47.950 --> 00:23:50.490 church at Corinth, he says, as I'm following 00:23:50.490 --> 00:23:53.390 Jesus, you follow me. Now, if I deviate from 00:23:53.390 --> 00:23:55.869 Jesus, don't follow me. But as long as I'm following 00:23:55.869 --> 00:23:58.750 Jesus, you follow me. So picture in your mind, 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:01.569 Jesus is out front. Paul and the apostles are 00:24:01.569 --> 00:24:04.730 behind him. And then that That first church, 00:24:04.869 --> 00:24:07.130 that apostolic church got behind the apostles 00:24:07.130 --> 00:24:10.150 and as the apostles followed Jesus, they followed 00:24:10.150 --> 00:24:13.309 the apostles. I'm suggesting let's just get at 00:24:13.309 --> 00:24:16.849 the back of the line and let's imitate that early 00:24:16.849 --> 00:24:20.769 church as they imitated Paul, as he imitated 00:24:20.769 --> 00:24:24.230 Jesus Christ. In other words, let's live like 00:24:24.230 --> 00:24:27.410 Jesus lived. Let's live like that first church 00:24:27.410 --> 00:24:30.400 lived. Now that includes a lot. And I don't have 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.720 much time left. So specifically, you say, David, 00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:35.039 what does that mean? It means, number one, we 00:24:35.039 --> 00:24:38.220 must be devoted to prayer. And I mean serious 00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:41.400 prayer. Not a little, now I lay me down to sleep 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:46.119 prayer, but serious devoted prayer. The Bible 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.740 says in Acts 1 right before Pentecost, right 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:51.259 before the Holy Spirit descended, those believers 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:53.799 were together in that upper room. They were in 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.660 one accord and they devoted themselves to prayer 00:24:57.660 --> 00:25:00.559 and they prayed for days. We must be devoted 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:04.359 to prayer. We need prayer more than we need anything. 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.700 If somebody walked up to me after church and 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:10.940 said, would you rather me give you $10 ,000 to 00:25:10.940 --> 00:25:13.079 plant churches or would you rather me join your 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:18.460 prayer team? I would say can I please have both 00:25:18.460 --> 00:25:22.920 okay and if you say Nelms you are one greedy 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:27.019 missionary then I would say all right fine forget 00:25:27.019 --> 00:25:30.440 the money join my prayer team however I also 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.099 hope you have a flat tire on the way home okay 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:39.700 but seriously seriously I would take the prayer 00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:43.400 hands down and if you don't believe me try me 00:25:44.529 --> 00:25:47.170 Prayer. You say, why is prayer so important? 00:25:47.609 --> 00:25:49.190 There are things going on in this world. All 00:25:49.190 --> 00:25:53.210 the money in the world won't change. Two or three 00:25:53.210 --> 00:25:55.609 weeks ago in the Congo, 70 precious Christians 00:25:55.609 --> 00:25:57.710 were rounded up, herded into a church. They cut 00:25:57.710 --> 00:26:00.769 every one of their heads off. We're all over 00:26:00.769 --> 00:26:07.730 the Congo. Ever heard of boy soldiers? That's 00:26:07.730 --> 00:26:12.390 one of the places you find them. This week, awful 00:26:12.390 --> 00:26:16.180 earthquake. I think it was a huge earthquake 00:26:16.180 --> 00:26:19.000 in BMR. We had many of our, I was reading a report 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:21.759 this morning, many of our Timothes lost everything 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:25.839 they had. They lost everything. We just had somebody 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.660 martyred a couple of weeks ago, two or three 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:30.680 weeks ago. I read a report this morning before 00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:33.579 I got out of bed, Southeast Asia, one of our 00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:37.460 Timothes was kidnapped this week and was finally 00:26:37.460 --> 00:26:41.539 released. We need prayer. And you guys have been 00:26:41.539 --> 00:26:44.539 so helpful. And many of you are on our prayer 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:47.480 team. I'm going to be right over here by this 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:50.240 big box thing. What is that, a speaker? I'm going 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.759 to be there when the service is over. Please 00:26:52.759 --> 00:26:55.099 come see me. Get on our prayer team. We need 00:26:55.099 --> 00:26:57.839 your prayer so desperately. And not just us, 00:26:57.900 --> 00:26:59.640 but every one of the missionaries you support 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:02.579 need your prayer. So how do we get the job done? 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:05.299 We must pray. Number two, we must live spirit 00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:09.079 -filled lives. Ephesians 5 verse 18, the Holy 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:11.960 Spirit... was given to help us witness, but not 00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:14.740 only to help us witness, he was given to help 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.839 us live right, to live lives that honor him. 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.559 There will be so much more power to your witness 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:22.619 if you're actually living like Jesus when you 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:25.799 talk about Jesus. And so by yielding to the Holy 00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:28.680 Spirit who lives inside of you, that's where 00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:31.660 that spirit controlled living comes from. The 00:27:31.660 --> 00:27:34.119 Bible says, not by might nor by power, but by 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:37.099 my spirit says the Lord. Scripture says except 00:27:37.099 --> 00:27:39.160 the Lord build the house they labor in vain that 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:42.259 build it Jesus said you can't do anything apart 00:27:42.259 --> 00:27:45.539 from me The proverb says some trust in horses 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:48.000 some trust in chariots We will trust in the name 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.220 of the Lord our God the old songwriter wrote 00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:57.220 spirit spirit of the living God fall fresh on 00:27:57.220 --> 00:27:59.880 me You say, David, what's the plan? How are we 00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:01.539 going to complete the Great Commission? How can 00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:03.900 we get to every man, every woman, every boy, 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:06.140 every girl on the face of the earth? How can 00:28:06.140 --> 00:28:08.299 we have a church in every village, everywhere? 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:12.740 How do we cross that finish line? Well, we've 00:28:12.740 --> 00:28:14.900 got to be devoted to prayer, and we've got to 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:18.220 live spirit -filled lives. And finally, we must 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:22.059 obey the Great Commission, our Lord's final command 00:28:22.059 --> 00:28:24.819 to take the gospel, to make disciples of every 00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:28.529 nation, all nations. Ladies and gentlemen, that's 00:28:28.529 --> 00:28:31.930 not a request. There's no please in that verse. 00:28:33.069 --> 00:28:35.609 Jesus isn't saying, hey, can you make this like 00:28:35.609 --> 00:28:38.009 one of your top 30 priorities? That's not the 00:28:38.009 --> 00:28:41.829 idea. The Father sent the Son to hang on a cross 00:28:41.829 --> 00:28:45.710 and die for the sins of the world. He got it 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:49.690 started. That first church said, you want us 00:28:49.690 --> 00:28:51.609 to go tell the world? We'll tell the world. We'll 00:28:51.609 --> 00:28:54.519 tell our part of the world. And now it's our 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.240 turn. First it was his turn, then it was their 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:59.400 turn. Now it's our turn. It's our turn. This 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:01.559 isn't something you have to do. Some of you are 00:29:01.559 --> 00:29:03.180 thinking, oh man, I knew I shouldn't have come 00:29:03.180 --> 00:29:06.140 to church today. No. You're looking at it wrong. 00:29:06.259 --> 00:29:08.880 You don't have to do this. You get to do this. 00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:15.539 God has given you the honor of representing Him. 00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:22.079 What an honor that is. Almighty God. We get... 00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:24.539 to make disciples. You say, David, how do you 00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:27.240 make disciples? By your going and by your giving. 00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:30.740 Going where you live, work, study, shop, play, 00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:32.960 tell people about Jesus, fill up Eldridge and 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:35.819 fill up this Quad Cities area with the gospel. 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:39.299 Talk about Jesus everywhere you go. But not just 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:42.460 your going, also your giving. You see, ministry 00:29:42.460 --> 00:29:45.779 costs money. That light right there costs money. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:48.660 That fan that's twirling up there costs money. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.839 That parking lot you just parked on costs money. 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:55.539 Ministry costs money. We're able, we've got it 00:29:55.539 --> 00:29:58.019 down to where we can plant a church for around 00:29:58.019 --> 00:30:01.440 400 bucks. So you guys have sent in a lot of 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:03.900 money over the years and every $400 you've sent 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:06.740 in, we've been able to plant churches with it. 00:30:07.259 --> 00:30:09.440 In a moment, Pastor Daniel's gonna talk to you 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:11.380 about some little church boxes out there, little 00:30:11.380 --> 00:30:13.819 cardboard boxes or cheap little things. They 00:30:13.819 --> 00:30:16.599 cost like a nickel each, okay? They're not very 00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:19.319 expensive. We want every family in this church 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:22.819 to take one home. Fill it up, bring it back. 00:30:23.539 --> 00:30:26.000 Let's plant churches with those things. We want 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:28.880 you to get your children involved. My parents 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.799 taught me to give to missions when I was seven, 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.680 eight years old. It made an impact on my life. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:37.900 If you've got children at home, grab one of those 00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:41.730 boxes, sit down tonight, pray over the box. And 00:30:41.730 --> 00:30:44.029 say to your children, we want you to be a part 00:30:44.029 --> 00:30:46.289 of this. Mom and dad, we're going to put some 00:30:46.289 --> 00:30:48.490 money in it, but we want you to be a part of 00:30:48.490 --> 00:30:50.710 it. You say, how can they do it? Give them chores 00:30:50.710 --> 00:30:54.769 to do. Let them have chores, and then let them 00:30:54.769 --> 00:30:57.150 give as they feel led to give in that little 00:30:57.150 --> 00:31:00.650 box. I've got a 10 -year -old kid I know up in 00:31:00.650 --> 00:31:03.950 upstate New York, Schenectady. He took a box 00:31:03.950 --> 00:31:07.009 home, told his mom and dad, said, I want to plant 00:31:07.009 --> 00:31:09.670 a church. 10 years old, he weighed like 50 pounds. 00:31:11.070 --> 00:31:12.930 And he said, but I don't want you to give me 00:31:12.930 --> 00:31:14.890 the money, mom and dad. I want to earn it. I 00:31:14.890 --> 00:31:17.609 like this. I like this kid. He said, I want to 00:31:17.609 --> 00:31:19.650 earn it. He said, will you give me some extra 00:31:19.650 --> 00:31:22.109 chores? Well, it's connected. It snows like almost 00:31:22.109 --> 00:31:25.190 as bad as Iowa. Okay. And so there's a lot of 00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:27.529 snow to shovel. So they said, you'll be the, 00:31:27.529 --> 00:31:30.849 uh, the, uh, the snowblower and you'll shovel 00:31:30.849 --> 00:31:33.910 the snow. And also they told them you can scoop 00:31:33.910 --> 00:31:37.920 up. dog poop there must be a lot of dogs in Schenectady 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:41.799 okay that kid raised enough money to plant 14 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:45.539 churches five thousand six hundred dollars a 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:48.539 ten -year -old kid by the way after you plant 00:31:48.539 --> 00:31:50.460 raise enough money for five churches he said 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:52.420 to his mom mom will you pray with me I need to 00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:56.920 repent she said son what do you need to repent 00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:01.940 of he said lack of faith He said, I thought God 00:32:01.940 --> 00:32:03.700 wanted me to plant five churches, but I didn't 00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:05.880 think I could do it, so I said only one. But 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:08.619 now I've got enough money for five. I need to 00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:13.099 ask God to forgive me. And mom got on her knees 00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:15.339 with that 10 -year -old boy and he repented. 00:32:16.420 --> 00:32:18.380 And he got up off of his knees and raised money 00:32:18.380 --> 00:32:24.630 for nine more churches. Can I get an amen? He 00:32:24.630 --> 00:32:26.569 inspired his little cousin, seven -year -old 00:32:26.569 --> 00:32:28.309 cousin. The seven -year -old cousin just sent 00:32:28.309 --> 00:32:33.470 in $800 to plant two churches. A little note 00:32:33.470 --> 00:32:36.789 he wrote. The kid can barely write. Wish you 00:32:36.789 --> 00:32:39.890 could see it. You know, when a seven -year -old... 00:32:39.890 --> 00:32:44.289 That mom and dad, they're doing a good job. What 00:32:44.289 --> 00:32:46.150 would happen if every child in this room said, 00:32:46.210 --> 00:32:49.329 Mom and dad, let me shovel snow. Let me scoop 00:32:49.329 --> 00:32:51.859 up dog poop. I got so excited about that kid, 00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:53.859 I went out and bought him a brand new pooper 00:32:53.859 --> 00:32:56.880 scooper. Okay? I'm serious. I bought him a brand 00:32:56.880 --> 00:33:00.319 new pooper scooper. What would happen? That's 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:03.779 what we want. The whole church. Everybody. Everybody. 00:33:05.779 --> 00:33:09.180 Cornerstone. Just plant churches everywhere. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:12.680 Brothers and sisters, are you willing to say 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:19.900 it's our turn? We get to have a part. It's our 00:33:19.900 --> 00:33:26.180 turn You know I Mentioned Caitlin Clark. Hope 00:33:26.180 --> 00:33:29.940 I get to meet her one day. I Get excited watching 00:33:29.940 --> 00:33:32.460 her shooting those logo threes or whatever you 00:33:32.460 --> 00:33:35.720 call them And we'll probably play basketball 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:39.119 in heaven But I don't think that's gonna be the 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:43.210 big thing up there I think the big thing up there 00:33:43.210 --> 00:33:45.650 is going to be just worshiping Jesus and wouldn't 00:33:45.650 --> 00:33:48.289 it be something if one day Jesus called you guys 00:33:48.289 --> 00:33:51.829 all together said let me show you how how many 00:33:51.829 --> 00:33:55.710 people are here because of you and they open 00:33:55.710 --> 00:33:59.109 the doors and here they come just running in 00:33:59.109 --> 00:34:02.950 by the thousands by the tens of thousands won't 00:34:02.950 --> 00:34:09.230 that be something it's your turn I get to work 00:34:09.230 --> 00:34:13.219 with Giants all over the world. One of them, 00:34:13.300 --> 00:34:16.599 his name is Omar. Always has a big smile. Met 00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:19.639 him in a refugee camp in northern Kenya. He had 00:34:19.639 --> 00:34:21.679 started a bunch of churches there, very poor 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:26.500 people. They had fled, lost everything, war everywhere 00:34:26.500 --> 00:34:29.239 in that area of the world. He said to me, Dr. 00:34:29.300 --> 00:34:32.500 David, I want to go up north, up north of Kenya. 00:34:32.579 --> 00:34:35.480 I want to start TTI there. I said, Omar, that's 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:38.539 under Sharia law. He smiled real big and said, 00:34:38.719 --> 00:34:40.639 yeah, I know. I said, I don't think you're listening 00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:43.000 to me, buddy. They won't like you making disciples 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.920 and planting churches there. Big smile. He always 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:50.420 smiles big. He said, yes, I know. I said, Omar, 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:55.380 you're not hearing me. They'll kill you. And 00:34:55.380 --> 00:35:00.920 he said, yes, I know. That big smile. I said, 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:04.539 OK. He's been there now for several years. That 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:07.559 motorcycle. It's been stolen out from underneath 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:10.820 them by bandits. He's been shot a couple of times 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:13.119 Left on the side of the road with malaria out 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:14.840 in the middle of nowhere. I'm talking about ends 00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:18.960 of the earth nowhere just just Suffering with 00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:21.260 malaria while he was sick with malaria just laying 00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:24.280 there in the sand His father dies back home. 00:35:24.280 --> 00:35:26.420 He can't get home to see his father's funeral 00:35:26.420 --> 00:35:29.760 But the last I checked I saw him a couple of 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:32.380 months ago in Nairobi that guy God has used him 00:35:32.380 --> 00:35:36.980 to plant in that country over 1 ,400 churches. 00:35:40.139 --> 00:35:42.039 You know what Omar would say to you guys if he 00:35:42.039 --> 00:35:45.719 was here? He would look at you and he'd say, 00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:53.460 it's our turn. It's our turn. Can I tell you 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:57.159 another story? Look at the next slide. This guy 00:35:57.159 --> 00:36:01.800 is Abraham. He's not far from you. In the army, 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:04.929 wife dying, Christian lady prayed over, God saw 00:36:04.929 --> 00:36:08.670 fit to heal her. He got excited. He turned away 00:36:08.670 --> 00:36:11.289 from gods and goddesses that were nothing but 00:36:11.289 --> 00:36:14.849 basically demons and he began telling people 00:36:14.849 --> 00:36:19.230 about Jesus. He joined our ministry. God has 00:36:19.230 --> 00:36:23.050 used that man and his son to start over four 00:36:23.050 --> 00:36:29.769 thousand churches. Four thousand. He's been beat 00:36:29.769 --> 00:36:35.659 up, shocked, Put in jail Put in jail more times 00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:37.980 than I can remember one time when he was in jail 00:36:37.980 --> 00:36:40.099 when he got out of jail He went home and found 00:36:40.099 --> 00:36:42.500 his house had been burnt to the ground He assumed 00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:45.619 his wife and kids were burnt alive And so he 00:36:45.619 --> 00:36:48.480 sat down in the ashes and he began just weeping 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:50.820 and a neighbor came running over called him By 00:36:50.820 --> 00:36:52.940 name and said your family safe. We got him out 00:36:52.940 --> 00:36:57.039 in time. We've got him to a safe place This guy 00:36:57.039 --> 00:36:59.519 he's been in my home. He wakes up every morning 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:04.329 at 4 a .m prays for two hours. He prays for a 00:37:04.329 --> 00:37:07.170 person of peace, someone that he can share Christ 00:37:07.170 --> 00:37:09.849 with. When he gets up off of his knees, the first 00:37:09.849 --> 00:37:12.030 person he sees that he doesn't know who they 00:37:12.030 --> 00:37:14.750 are, he assumes they're the answer to the prayer 00:37:14.750 --> 00:37:17.849 and he tries to tell them about Jesus. Somebody 00:37:17.849 --> 00:37:20.329 asked me one day, how do you plant 4 ,000 churches? 00:37:20.670 --> 00:37:22.789 You get up every morning at four, you pray for 00:37:22.789 --> 00:37:25.829 two hours for a person of peace, you get up and 00:37:25.829 --> 00:37:28.489 then you talk to the first person you find that 00:37:28.489 --> 00:37:31.710 you don't know. That's how you do it. If this 00:37:31.710 --> 00:37:33.550 gentleman was here today, you know what he would 00:37:33.550 --> 00:37:35.630 say? He would look at you guys and he'd say, 00:37:36.130 --> 00:37:42.210 it's our turn. It's our turn. First it was his 00:37:42.210 --> 00:37:44.530 turn, then it was their turn, but now it's our 00:37:44.530 --> 00:37:48.429 turn. We get to do this. Can I tell you another 00:37:48.429 --> 00:37:55.449 story? This gal can't read or write. She's about 00:37:55.449 --> 00:37:58.769 as poor as you can be. If she were here today, 00:37:58.769 --> 00:38:01.769 she would feel so intimidated. She would see 00:38:01.769 --> 00:38:04.369 all those nice cars in the parking lot, and she'd 00:38:04.369 --> 00:38:06.849 walk into your beautiful building. This place 00:38:06.849 --> 00:38:09.190 is beautiful. And she'd walk in, she'd see all 00:38:09.190 --> 00:38:11.530 of you beautiful people, and she'd feel so out 00:38:11.530 --> 00:38:14.210 of place and so intimidated. She can't read, 00:38:14.210 --> 00:38:16.909 she can't write, but in the first four months 00:38:16.909 --> 00:38:20.130 of the training, she led over 80 people to Jesus 00:38:20.130 --> 00:38:25.789 Christ. 80? 8 -0? In four months? She can't read 00:38:25.789 --> 00:38:30.309 or write! If this precious sister were here today, 00:38:30.789 --> 00:38:33.650 she'd be very shy and very timid, but if we could 00:38:33.650 --> 00:38:36.389 get her to stand up here and look at you, I think 00:38:36.389 --> 00:38:39.710 what she would say is, brothers and sisters, 00:38:40.130 --> 00:38:47.449 it's our turn. It's our turn. Can I tell you 00:38:47.449 --> 00:38:51.789 another story? These guys are blind. They're 00:38:51.789 --> 00:38:55.550 two brothers. They're hilarious. They walk around. 00:38:56.480 --> 00:39:00.480 big city, Asia, with their canes. Can't see a 00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:03.159 thing. They carry these little audio Bibles we 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:06.579 gave them. It's got the Bible in their language 00:39:06.579 --> 00:39:09.039 on it. When they can hear that there's a crowd 00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:12.219 around, they will push the little button and 00:39:12.219 --> 00:39:14.699 people can hear the Word of God in their own 00:39:14.699 --> 00:39:17.900 language for the first time in their lives. They 00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:20.920 can hear the Gospel. They lead people to Christ. 00:39:21.059 --> 00:39:24.739 They disciple them. They're blind! These two 00:39:24.739 --> 00:39:26.880 blind brothers were here today. They would say 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:32.500 it's our turn We get to do this you want to hear 00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:38.039 another story This gal's name is Gita Abraham 00:39:38.039 --> 00:39:41.340 you can figure out where she's from She owns 00:39:41.340 --> 00:39:43.659 a little sandal shop. It's not much bigger than 00:39:43.659 --> 00:39:48.460 that drum cage sells sandals flip -flops She 00:39:48.460 --> 00:39:50.400 took one of those audio Bibles, and she put it 00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:53.579 on the shelf in her shop She plays the scriptures 00:39:53.579 --> 00:39:57.719 all day. People come in to buy a pair of sandals. 00:39:57.900 --> 00:39:59.659 You know how here in the states people play background 00:39:59.659 --> 00:40:03.780 music? She plays the Word of God. She's seen 00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:06.400 two people come to Christ. She's chased off a 00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:09.679 lot of customers, lost a lot of business. But 00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:14.000 she's seen two people come to Christ, too. If 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:24.789 Gita were here, she'd say, it's our... One more 00:40:24.789 --> 00:40:30.809 I'm already late so a bunch of widows in Africa 00:40:30.809 --> 00:40:32.690 every one of your churches take care of a widow 00:40:32.690 --> 00:40:37.670 or an orphan These widows live out in the middle 00:40:37.670 --> 00:40:39.909 and know where there's no roads. There's no electricity 00:40:39.909 --> 00:40:42.510 They got to walk down to the river to get their 00:40:42.510 --> 00:40:44.769 water and ever try to carry water in buckets 00:40:44.769 --> 00:40:47.230 Imagine if there's no sidewalk and then imagine 00:40:47.230 --> 00:40:53.250 if you're if you're blind Kind of hard to do 00:40:54.320 --> 00:40:56.880 One of our churches adopted these widows and 00:40:56.880 --> 00:40:59.179 lined up the teenagers to go to the river every 00:40:59.179 --> 00:41:02.199 day to get their water. So the teenagers carry 00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:04.059 the water back for them. That gave the widow 00:41:04.059 --> 00:41:05.840 some time because it took about half their day 00:41:05.840 --> 00:41:08.719 to go to the river and back blind to carry water. 00:41:10.340 --> 00:41:12.199 So what those widows did was they joined one 00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:14.619 of our training centers and now they hold hands 00:41:14.619 --> 00:41:17.760 and somehow they make their way through the brush 00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:21.000 and they find other little groups of houses or 00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:23.860 villages. And they start telling people about 00:41:23.860 --> 00:41:29.579 Jesus. A bunch of blind widows. And a bunch of 00:41:29.579 --> 00:41:34.000 churches have been started. East Africa. If these 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:36.000 blind widows were here today, they would say, 00:41:36.099 --> 00:41:42.460 brothers and sisters, it's our turn. You say, 00:41:42.519 --> 00:41:44.679 David, are you trying to make us feel bad? You 00:41:44.679 --> 00:41:49.940 know, maybe. But I think we kind of need to feel 00:41:49.940 --> 00:41:54.139 bad. I do, Daniel. Back in my day they used to 00:41:54.139 --> 00:41:57.860 say the church is at ease in Zion We've become 00:41:57.860 --> 00:42:02.280 complacent we have God has blessed us so much 00:42:02.280 --> 00:42:05.300 Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he blessed 00:42:05.300 --> 00:42:09.059 you to be a blessing That maybe he's blessed 00:42:09.059 --> 00:42:13.039 you for a reason he is blessed this church Will 00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:16.719 you let God use you like you never thought before? 00:42:18.139 --> 00:42:23.579 Understand this morning. It's our turn And what 00:42:23.579 --> 00:42:28.880 that really means is, it's my turn. We're going 00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:32.119 to receive communion. That verse where we started 00:42:32.119 --> 00:42:36.539 says that Jesus ransomed us by His blood for 00:42:36.539 --> 00:42:40.719 God. As we remember the cross, as we think about 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:43.659 His broken body as shed blood, understand why 00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:46.440 God saved you. He loves you, He sent His Son 00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:50.989 to die for you, but He saved you for God. If 00:42:50.989 --> 00:42:52.929 there's anything in your life that's not right 00:42:52.929 --> 00:42:56.469 with Him, get it right today. All God's people 00:42:56.469 --> 00:43:10.849 said, thank you. I was at a TTI conference in 00:43:10.849 --> 00:43:13.690 November, forgive me I don't remember who said 00:43:13.690 --> 00:43:16.789 it, but he said it and it struck me and I thought 00:43:16.789 --> 00:43:20.630 about it almost every day since. This is the 00:43:20.630 --> 00:43:22.869 first generation on the face of the earth that 00:43:22.869 --> 00:43:26.789 is going to have a decision to make. And if we 00:43:26.789 --> 00:43:29.969 can't get the gospel to every single person across 00:43:29.969 --> 00:43:32.610 the world, this generation, it's because we just 00:43:32.610 --> 00:43:34.869 choose not to. It's not because we're not able 00:43:34.869 --> 00:43:38.030 to. We're choosing not to. And so there are, 00:43:38.050 --> 00:43:42.349 there's boxes, little boxes out there. And each 00:43:42.349 --> 00:43:44.949 box represents a church planted. And we're asking 00:43:44.949 --> 00:43:48.110 you to, you could write a check and put a check 00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:51.570 in there. But we want to you know over the course 00:43:51.570 --> 00:43:54.510 of a year we we plant about 28 churches as a 00:43:54.510 --> 00:43:58.929 church through TTI 28 churches just just from 00:43:58.929 --> 00:44:03.670 what we give to TTI through our budget This time 00:44:03.670 --> 00:44:08.690 three years from now in April of 2028 We want 00:44:08.690 --> 00:44:11.170 to be able to say we planted an additional 1 00:44:11.170 --> 00:44:15.429 ,000 churches And my hope like maybe I need to 00:44:15.429 --> 00:44:18.500 I might have to repent soon David Because maybe 00:44:18.500 --> 00:44:22.320 the Lord wants more. Because He can do far more 00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:25.380 than we can even think or imagine. But it's going 00:44:25.380 --> 00:44:28.280 to require all of us. I don't care how young 00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:30.619 you are and I don't care how old you are. We 00:44:30.619 --> 00:44:33.980 all have a responsibility to help spread the 00:44:33.980 --> 00:44:37.780 gospel. Let's turn that red section of the globe 00:44:37.780 --> 00:44:41.619 green. And we can do that together. And so please 00:44:41.619 --> 00:44:45.250 take a box. We have more. we have more. So I 00:44:45.250 --> 00:44:47.030 know a lot got taken after first service, but 00:44:47.030 --> 00:44:50.070 please take a box home, pray over it, and then 00:44:50.070 --> 00:44:51.690 bring it back. And when we bring them back, we're 00:44:51.690 --> 00:44:53.369 going to celebrate together that the Lord has 00:44:53.369 --> 00:44:58.070 planted another church through us. And the only 00:44:58.070 --> 00:45:00.269 way we're going to hit that thousand goal, thousand 00:45:00.269 --> 00:45:03.710 church goal, is if we keep our eyes off of us 00:45:03.710 --> 00:45:07.670 and put them on Him, the author and perfecter 00:45:07.670 --> 00:45:10.789 of our faith. And one of the best ways that we 00:45:10.789 --> 00:45:14.219 can keep our eyes not on us is by celebrating 00:45:14.219 --> 00:45:16.420 communion and putting them on him.