WEBVTT 00:00:11.539 --> 00:00:31.940 Today. Today. We're celebrating five years. Celebrating 00:00:31.940 --> 00:00:38.500 five years. Now, if you meticulously know our 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:41.140 history, you know that we started the first week 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:45.140 of April, not the second week. But how many of 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:47.460 you know we had plenty going on last week being 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:50.719 Easter that we shouldn't throw in a five -year 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.140 celebration on Easter too, right? Because it 00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:57.509 was happening around here last week. Even more 00:00:57.509 --> 00:01:00.770 than today. But today we're celebrating five 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:07.549 years. I forgot the percentage, but a lot of 00:01:07.549 --> 00:01:11.189 church plants don't make it. I think it's about 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:13.950 30 % of them never make it to the five -year 00:01:13.950 --> 00:01:17.090 mark. So we're here. Look at the person beside 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:19.930 you and say, we're here. And then go ahead and 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:22.329 tell them this, we're just getting started. We're 00:01:22.329 --> 00:01:24.590 just getting started. This is not the end. We're 00:01:24.590 --> 00:01:27.209 just getting started good. It took us five years 00:01:27.209 --> 00:01:32.650 to get started good. Now, how many of you believe 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:35.069 it's always important to be aware of who you 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:42.469 are and where you're going? Who you are and where 00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:46.290 you're going. Those are two very important things. 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:49.530 Now, when I was a kid, I was a preacher's kid. 00:01:50.769 --> 00:01:55.700 Somebody say, I'm sorry. I've shared this before, 00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:57.840 but most of you haven't heard it. When I went 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.640 to get my driver's license, when I was doing 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:05.560 my driving test, I did okay on the written test 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.159 where it was just, you know, multiple guests. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.780 I did okay on that. But when I took the driving 00:02:11.780 --> 00:02:16.020 test with a patrolman, I'm sorry, children's 00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:21.860 church, I just get to go on and forget. All right, 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:29.550 back at it. When I took my driving test with 00:02:29.550 --> 00:02:33.509 the patrolman in the car, he talked to me while 00:02:33.509 --> 00:02:35.949 we were driving. And he says, what does your 00:02:35.949 --> 00:02:38.530 mom do? I said, well, she's a school teacher. 00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:43.009 He said, what does your dad do? I said, he's 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:47.810 a pastor. And I did not make this up. He looked 00:02:47.810 --> 00:02:50.750 at me at the end of the driving test and he said, 00:02:50.849 --> 00:02:55.939 normally. You made too many mistakes to get your 00:02:55.939 --> 00:02:59.280 driver's license today. But then he said, but 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.539 you need to get out of the house. That's what 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:07.819 he told me. I'll never forget that. So I'm a 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:10.120 preacher's kid, and just about every time, when 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:12.259 I got my driver's license and started going out 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:15.379 with my friends and going out on my own, my dad 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:18.099 would always say this before I left. He would 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:22.219 say, remember who you are? Remember who you are? 00:03:25.129 --> 00:03:30.270 Now, why would my dad say that? Because every 00:03:30.270 --> 00:03:34.990 decision that I made, everything that I did would 00:03:34.990 --> 00:03:41.090 reflect on more than just me, right? It would 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:45.430 reflect on my dad because I represented my dad. 00:03:45.550 --> 00:03:49.990 I represented my family. It wasn't just representing 00:03:49.990 --> 00:03:53.939 myself, right? I represented the church. Being 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:57.740 the preacher's kid, I represented the church. 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:01.039 And whether I would have been a preacher's kid 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:06.580 or not, I would be representing God. So my dad 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:08.879 would always say, Hey Dean, remember who you 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:10.860 are. That would be the last thing he would tell 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:14.360 me. Now my mom would say, Be careful. Right? 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.920 But my dad would say, Remember who you are. Before 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:22.959 I walked out the door. And we need to remember 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:28.879 who we are. Right? Every day we need to remember 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:33.259 who we are. If you're in Christ today, you're 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:39.480 a new creation. You're righteous. Not based on 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.939 your ability to perform, but based on what Jesus 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:45.199 did on the cross. You are right with God. And 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.639 get this, you won't be any more right with God 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:49.660 when you get to heaven than you are right now. 00:04:51.149 --> 00:04:53.649 You're righteous. You're complete. You're filled. 00:04:53.889 --> 00:04:58.449 You're well supplied. You're satisfied in Christ. 00:04:59.089 --> 00:05:02.189 Now, if this doesn't describe you, then you're 00:05:02.189 --> 00:05:09.410 missing out on who you could be in Christ. Because 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:11.870 Jesus has already made all this available to 00:05:11.870 --> 00:05:17.269 us. Satisfied. Redeemed. Ransomed. Justified. 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:20.720 You're dead to sin. You're alive to God. You're 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:27.480 free from guilt, shame, and condemnation. You're 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:31.959 free from the law of sin and death. You're loved 00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:37.480 and accepted by God. You're a gifted part of 00:05:37.480 --> 00:05:44.120 the body of Christ. You're a gifted part. God 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:50.860 has gifted you to function in the body. You're 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:53.199 a gifted part of the body of Christ. You might 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.980 not know what that gift is. But it's not because 00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:58.779 God's holding out on you. It's because you're 00:05:58.779 --> 00:06:03.060 not pressing in. Gifted part of the body of Christ. 00:06:03.339 --> 00:06:07.259 You are sanctified. You are a saint. You don't 00:06:07.259 --> 00:06:09.759 have to wait until 40 years after you die for 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.500 somebody to say that you're a saint. The Bible 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:16.879 says you're a saint. You're alive unto God. You 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:20.779 are established. You are anointed. You are sealed. 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:28.420 You're an equal child of God. Don't ever look 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:30.660 at somebody else and say, well, you know, they're 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:36.819 just a better child of God than I am. We're all 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:42.040 equal. Now, we might not... You know, you may 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:46.449 be ahead of me spiritually, and I may be... head 00:06:46.449 --> 00:06:48.629 of you spiritually, but that doesn't make us 00:06:48.629 --> 00:06:55.050 unequal. We're equal. You're an equal child of 00:06:55.050 --> 00:07:01.449 God. I hadn't fully figured this out yet, but 00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:03.689 I'm seated with Christ in heavenly places and 00:07:03.689 --> 00:07:05.490 so are you, because that's what the Bible says. 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:16.459 So we should live our lives from heaven. In the 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:19.879 earth. I mean, I could preach a whole message 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.220 over every single thing that I'm saying, and 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:27.180 I have. But not today. But you need to know who 00:07:27.180 --> 00:07:33.379 you are. If we know who we are, then our life 00:07:33.379 --> 00:07:35.939 is not going to be some kind of roller coaster 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:40.560 all the time. If we know who we are, and we're 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.819 standing in it, and we're established in it, 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.000 we're not going to be like, whoo! All the time. 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:51.800 We're seated with Christ in heavenly places. 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:59.720 You are God's masterpiece. And you're close to 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:04.899 God. Every bit of that is available to everyone 00:08:04.899 --> 00:08:08.879 in the room if you're in Christ. And that's where 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:16.839 God wants you to live. Today and every day. Standing. 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:22.060 In that reality. Because it's a spiritual reality. 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:29.379 So we need to remember who we are. When we face 00:08:29.379 --> 00:08:31.860 challenges in this fallen world. We need to remember 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:36.840 who we are. When I faced challenges out with 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.860 my friends. It was important for me to remember 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.019 who I was. That I'm the preacher's kid. And I 00:08:42.019 --> 00:08:45.720 represented. My dad, my family, the church, I 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:50.580 represented God. I wish I could tell you that 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:56.279 I always remembered it. But I tell you what, 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:00.240 if I would have, it would have been better for 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:08.259 me. Hello? See, I thought when I didn't remember 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:11.129 it, it was better for me. But now that I'm older 00:09:11.129 --> 00:09:13.230 and I'm looking back, it would have been better 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:17.509 for me in every single one of those situations 00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:22.210 if I would have remembered who it was. So I'm 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:24.590 going to go ahead and extrapolate. I think that 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:26.690 will apply here. I'm going to go ahead and extrapolate 00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:28.409 a little bit. I don't normally use big words 00:09:28.409 --> 00:09:31.690 like that. But it will be better for you tomorrow 00:09:31.690 --> 00:09:37.610 if you remember who you are in Christ. It will 00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:43.210 be better. And it won't be as good if you don't 00:09:43.210 --> 00:09:47.570 remember who you are. I'm sorry, but it won't 00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:53.950 be. So we need to remember who we are. Who are 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:59.450 we as Elation Church? Every church has an identity. 00:10:01.129 --> 00:10:03.470 Have you figured that out? Has anybody ever been 00:10:03.470 --> 00:10:05.990 to a different church and every church has like 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:09.269 their own identity? It's kind of an identity. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:13.100 There are three things that are very important 00:10:13.100 --> 00:10:20.399 from our foundation. And some churches that I've 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.899 been to, it seems like that this is all they're 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:28.519 about, is fellowship. But I'm going to go ahead 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:32.080 and tell you, we're about fellowship. We're about 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:34.179 fellowship. I can't tell you how many people 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:35.960 have come up to me and said, this is the friendliest 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.080 place I've ever been, going to a church. I mean... 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:43.330 So many people have told me that recently. And 00:10:43.330 --> 00:10:47.690 that's not just on me or Gayna or Jeffrey or 00:10:47.690 --> 00:10:51.730 Caitlin. I mean, that's us. The church is us. 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:55.889 And one thing that we always need to be about 00:10:55.889 --> 00:11:00.769 is fellowship. Now, that doesn't mean that we 00:11:00.769 --> 00:11:03.570 are a religious social club and that's all that 00:11:03.570 --> 00:11:07.299 we're about. But we are about fellowship. Acts 00:11:07.299 --> 00:11:11.720 2, 42 says this. All the believers devoted themselves 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:14.559 to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. 00:11:14.740 --> 00:11:19.679 Everybody say fellowship. And to sharing in meals. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.220 I've been in some churches, Irv, that if they 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:29.659 say we're going to have fellowship, it always 00:11:29.659 --> 00:11:32.279 meant we're going to have food. But fellowship 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:35.580 is bigger than food. But it includes food, right? 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:37.899 And to fellowship and sharing in meals, including 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:41.379 the Lord's Supper and the prayer. Now that word 00:11:41.379 --> 00:11:46.000 fellowship, the Greek word is koinonia. And it 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.539 means more than food. It means partnership. That's 00:11:51.539 --> 00:11:53.419 what fellowship is. Fellowship is partnership. 00:11:54.740 --> 00:12:01.059 It's participation. Fellowship isn't just coming 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:04.850 on Sunday and taking all you can Never given 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:08.570 anything. I'm not talking about money. I'm talking 00:12:08.570 --> 00:12:14.509 about yourself. Partnership. Participation. And 00:12:14.509 --> 00:12:18.529 it does mean social relationships. It does mean 00:12:18.529 --> 00:12:23.470 that. It means connections. It means giving. 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:29.850 Communicating. Communication. Communion. Distribution. 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:34.350 And fellowship. That's what that word means. 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:39.289 So it's bigger than just social relationships. 00:12:40.250 --> 00:12:45.070 It's us coming together and working together. 00:12:46.169 --> 00:12:57.129 Right? Together. Being connected. And in koinonia, 00:12:57.230 --> 00:13:01.570 it's very important that we find unity in koinonia. 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.840 It needs to be unity. That we're rallying together 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:13.039 around a single purpose. And these are our purpose 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.139 statements. Everybody say fellowship. But it's 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:18.639 more than fellowship. It's not just fellowship. 00:13:18.659 --> 00:13:22.500 It's also teaching. Everybody say teaching. Now, 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:24.419 if you want to be real spiritual and biblical, 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:26.259 we could use the word discipleship. Everybody 00:13:26.259 --> 00:13:32.289 say discipleship. Teaching. I use the word teaching 00:13:32.289 --> 00:13:37.149 because we have people all the time that have 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:41.250 never been to church or they went to church a 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:47.350 little bit. So teaching is important. Can anyone 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:52.970 in the room say that you have grown spiritually 00:13:52.970 --> 00:13:55.470 and learned a lot since you've been coming to 00:13:55.470 --> 00:14:01.059 Elisha Church? You've been discipled. And you've 00:14:01.059 --> 00:14:07.820 grown. Right? Matthew 28, 19. It's a commandment 00:14:07.820 --> 00:14:11.179 of Christ. He said, go and make disciples of 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:16.080 all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:20.720 the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:26.440 the first thing is making disciples. That word 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:31.740 disciples is... You can pronounce it however 00:14:31.740 --> 00:14:35.279 you want to. And here's what it means. It means 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:41.120 to become a pupil. To be a student. To disciple. 00:14:41.820 --> 00:14:48.519 To enroll as a scholar. To instruct. To teach. 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:54.220 So that's what we're about. It's not just the 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:57.460 social and the partnership. It's about growing. 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:03.419 It's about spiritual growth. Becoming a follower 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:10.320 of Christ at a greater level gradually. Not just 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.960 stepping up once, but stepping up on a regular 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:24.580 basis. And then we're about the gospel. We're 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:27.710 about the gospel. Everybody say gospel. Everybody 00:15:27.710 --> 00:15:31.149 say good news. Good news. We're about the good 00:15:31.149 --> 00:15:38.250 news. Luke 2 .10 says this. I bring you good 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:43.789 news that will bring great joy to all people. 00:15:45.169 --> 00:15:47.870 Now this is the angels talking at the birth of 00:15:47.870 --> 00:15:52.129 Christ, announcing to the shepherds. And the 00:15:52.129 --> 00:15:56.250 angels said, I bring you some good news. Jesus 00:15:56.250 --> 00:16:06.750 coming is good news. His entire life was to bring 00:16:06.750 --> 00:16:10.990 us some good news. From being born in a manger 00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:15.870 to being resurrected from an empty tomb that 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.809 we talked about last week. The entire process, 00:16:18.909 --> 00:16:25.519 the entire plan. was to bring us some good news. 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:32.379 That God loves us. God wants to be in a relationship 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:39.440 with us. Sin has separated us from God. But Jesus 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:43.820 came to die for our sin and our place so that 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.639 we could be in relationship with Him, so that 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:52.740 we can have eternal life. This good news brings 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:57.539 great joy. If you look at the original language, 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:05.400 it says mega great joy. Mega great joy to all 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:11.980 people. Good news. Evangelizo. Here's what it 00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:14.539 means. It means to announce good news. Especially 00:17:14.539 --> 00:17:21.759 the gospel. To evangelize. To bring. to declare, 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:28.660 to show good news, to preach the gospel. And 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:31.119 every week when we talk about the 100 ,000 people 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:35.160 plus the visitors that are here, we're talking 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.099 about this mission. We're talking about what 00:17:38.099 --> 00:17:42.940 we are about. I've been in so many churches. 00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:46.480 I know most of you probably don't believe this, 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:49.240 but we've been in over 800 churches. We've ministered 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:55.220 in over 800 churches. And so many times, people 00:17:55.220 --> 00:18:00.660 got comfortable. And we just like our fellowship. 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:04.779 And we're not really interested in reaching out 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:09.079 to anybody else. And if anybody even tries to 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:16.259 come, they better not sit in my seat. I mean, 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:24.140 we were the visiting ministers. And somebody 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:27.819 moved all of Gayna's purse, and it was when Jeffrey 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:29.920 was little, had a diaper bag and all that kind 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.220 of stuff. Somebody moved it. I mean, what did 00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:36.799 that person think when she stepped down off the 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.220 platform from singing and went to try to find 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:44.599 her stuff, and it was gone? So she was looking. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.440 And the lady that moved it looked at her and 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.059 said, was that your stuff? That's what she sounded 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:53.200 like. I'm not making fun of her. I mean, was 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.440 that your stuff? And here's what she said. I 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:00.799 could hear from, and I'm about to preach. What 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.640 do you think I want to preach about at that point? 00:19:06.539 --> 00:19:09.759 Was that your stuff? And then she said this, 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:15.079 your stuff was in my seat. So I moved it. And 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:16.660 she didn't even tell her where. She said, I put 00:19:16.660 --> 00:19:25.220 it back there. If that ever happens at a Lation 00:19:25.220 --> 00:19:27.119 church, you're going to find out what the word 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:34.240 church discipline is about. Somebody tells me 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:38.619 that. Look at the person beside you and say, 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:42.660 he's a nice person. But you don't want to push 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:49.009 me to that point. I'll still be nice. You just 00:19:49.009 --> 00:19:50.970 won't like what I say, but I'll still be very 00:19:50.970 --> 00:19:57.910 nice in the way I say it. I'll say it with a 00:19:57.910 --> 00:20:09.609 smile and with all the love in my heart. So that's 00:20:09.609 --> 00:20:12.670 who we are. Everybody say fellowship. Everybody 00:20:12.670 --> 00:20:18.529 say teaching. Everybody say the gospel. You know, 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:23.809 that's what Elation Church is about. That's what 00:20:23.809 --> 00:20:27.430 we're about. And if you don't want to be about 00:20:27.430 --> 00:20:29.430 that, then this is probably not the place for 00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:33.849 you. But that's what we're about. So, my dad 00:20:33.849 --> 00:20:35.869 would ask me, he would tell me, remember who 00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:39.450 you are. Everybody say who you are. And then 00:20:39.450 --> 00:20:44.190 he would ask me, where are you going? Where are 00:20:44.190 --> 00:20:48.769 you going? They wanted to know where I was. I 00:20:48.769 --> 00:20:53.569 mean, no such thing as a cell phone. No such 00:20:53.569 --> 00:20:58.970 thing. No. Did not exist. No way to get in touch. 00:21:00.210 --> 00:21:04.029 No little GPS tracker, you know, like on my wallet. 00:21:04.150 --> 00:21:08.069 None of those little trackers. I'm just leaving 00:21:08.069 --> 00:21:11.450 my house in a car, and they would say, where 00:21:11.450 --> 00:21:19.779 are you going? I wish I'd always told the truth. 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:25.440 Looking back on it, I wish I'd had a cell phone 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.880 and I wish I'd had a tracker. It would save me 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:34.359 a lot of heartache. Save me a lot of regrets. 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.099 Can anybody witness to what I'm talking about? 00:21:38.380 --> 00:21:40.940 Anybody? Come on, go ahead and raise up your 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:46.390 hand. On up to it. On up to it. Did you ever 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:48.450 tell your parents you was going one place and 00:21:48.450 --> 00:21:57.529 then you went somewhere else? So I had to tell 00:21:57.529 --> 00:22:01.069 them where I was going. It's important to know 00:22:01.069 --> 00:22:04.809 where you're going. Tolkien said this, not all 00:22:04.809 --> 00:22:12.660 those who wander are lost. I mean, if you're 00:22:12.660 --> 00:22:15.339 just walking around, I don't even know. I don't 00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:21.640 even know how I can support that statement. He's 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:28.039 like a famous guy from a long time ago. Is that 00:22:28.039 --> 00:22:31.839 a good enough explanation? Famous guy from a 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.180 long time ago. Writer. He said, not all those 00:22:38.180 --> 00:22:43.029 who wander are lost. And the more I think about 00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:45.210 that, the more I had to come up with my own saying. 00:22:45.549 --> 00:22:48.269 And at one time it was on a bumper sticker on 00:22:48.269 --> 00:22:52.650 some people's cars outside. Here's what, here's 00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:57.150 my saying. If you're going nowhere, you've already 00:22:57.150 --> 00:23:07.750 arrived. We need to be going somewhere. Right? 00:23:08.170 --> 00:23:11.109 Where are you going? If I'd have told my parents 00:23:11.109 --> 00:23:13.069 I'm not going anywhere, they'd say, well, sit 00:23:13.069 --> 00:23:16.230 back down on the couch. If you're not going anywhere, 00:23:16.369 --> 00:23:18.490 why do you need to get in your car? If you're 00:23:18.490 --> 00:23:23.250 not going anywhere, you're going somewhere. I 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:25.529 never was brave enough to say, well, I'm just 00:23:25.529 --> 00:23:29.390 going to go wander around. I wouldn't have been 00:23:29.390 --> 00:23:30.910 able to leave the house if I'd have told them. 00:23:30.990 --> 00:23:33.569 I'm just going to go wander around in my car. 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:36.680 See what I can get into. How many of you know 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:38.380 you can probably get into some things you shouldn't 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:40.599 get into? If you're just wandering around with 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:45.099 no purpose, no destination. So if you're going 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.319 nowhere, you've already arrived. I'm going to 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:53.079 tell you this. Where are you going? Where are 00:23:53.079 --> 00:24:01.000 you going in life? Unless you're completely satisfied. 00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:06.509 exactly where you are right now, you need to 00:24:06.509 --> 00:24:10.990 be going somewhere. Because if you don't have 00:24:10.990 --> 00:24:13.970 any plans or goals or vision, you know what? 00:24:14.029 --> 00:24:15.789 You're just going to be exactly where you are. 00:24:17.630 --> 00:24:21.069 Then you wake up. If there was no goals or vision 00:24:21.069 --> 00:24:23.829 for Elation Church, we'd wake up at 10 years 00:24:23.829 --> 00:24:27.150 and we'd just be... We probably wouldn't even 00:24:27.150 --> 00:24:35.500 be what we are today. With no direction. Proverbs 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:41.000 19 .18 says this, Where there is no vision, the 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.480 people perish. Now, I always have to share the 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:49.339 context when I say this, because we can just 00:24:49.339 --> 00:24:52.819 pull this completely out of context. What it's 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:58.779 saying is this, where there's no instruction, 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:02.240 where there's no law, if you look at it in context, 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.099 Where there's no law, a completely lawless society, 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:11.440 where there's no rules, where there's no law, 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:18.000 when that's not communicated, the people will 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:23.039 perish. Let's break down the rules, the words. 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:27.079 Where there's no vision. If you look up that 00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:29.240 word vision, it means this. It means mental sight. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:35.670 It means dream. It means revelation, and it also 00:25:35.670 --> 00:25:41.509 means prophetic word. Where there's no mental 00:25:41.509 --> 00:25:44.549 sight, where there's no dream, where there's 00:25:44.549 --> 00:25:46.950 no revelation, where there's no prophetic word, 00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:53.809 the people, which is a congregated unit, a tribe, 00:25:53.829 --> 00:25:59.349 or a flock, we could even say family, the people 00:25:59.349 --> 00:26:04.549 perish. And that word perish is like things are 00:26:04.549 --> 00:26:07.529 bound together, but then they begin to be loosened. 00:26:09.349 --> 00:26:14.890 It's loosened, dismissed, falls apart, where 00:26:14.890 --> 00:26:21.150 there's no vision. I mean, how many of you could 00:26:21.150 --> 00:26:24.769 easily think that if we lived in a lawless society, 00:26:25.009 --> 00:26:28.529 completely lawless society, that everything would 00:26:28.529 --> 00:26:35.519 just fall apart? Well, in context, that's what 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.720 it's saying, but when we look at these other 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.900 words, it's still saying, I believe it's still 00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:47.480 talking about a vision for a people, or a vision 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:50.579 for a family, or a vision for even personally. 00:26:51.980 --> 00:26:54.279 Remember, if you're not going somewhere, you're 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.359 already there. So if you're completely happy 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.839 where you are today, then you can just go to 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:02.420 sleep during the rest of this message. But I'm 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:06.880 going somewhere. I'm going somewhere. Does anybody 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:12.980 say, I'm going to go somewhere? I mean, I'm content 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:18.420 in God and I'm satisfied in Christ, but I'm going 00:27:18.420 --> 00:27:26.099 somewhere. Where there's no mental sight, no 00:27:26.099 --> 00:27:30.220 dream, no revelation, no prophetic word, the 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:35.710 people will fall apart. So I'm going to ask you, 00:27:35.769 --> 00:27:38.369 has anybody ever been to like a leadership thing 00:27:38.369 --> 00:27:40.369 where they say, all right, I want everybody to 00:27:40.369 --> 00:27:42.490 write down your goals. Do you have a one -year 00:27:42.490 --> 00:27:46.769 goal? What's your goal for one year? I've recently 00:27:46.769 --> 00:27:51.930 been encouraged by Jordan. Jordan's on, I mean, 00:27:51.950 --> 00:27:54.589 he's on Facebook and he's saying, well, write 00:27:54.589 --> 00:27:59.789 it down every day. I start out my day by writing 00:27:59.789 --> 00:28:02.930 out my goals. And he's encouraging other people 00:28:02.930 --> 00:28:10.480 to do that. What are your goals? Where are you 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:15.680 going? Where do you look to go in one year? Does 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.059 anybody see your life? Is there a mental sight 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:20.500 of your life being different a year from now? 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:27.059 Y 'all are thinking way too hard. Just go ahead 00:28:27.059 --> 00:28:30.920 and smile and make it easy for me. Where are 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:32.700 you going five years from now? Where are you 00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:34.950 going ten years from now? Has anybody ever been 00:28:34.950 --> 00:28:36.750 in a meeting where they had you write those things 00:28:36.750 --> 00:28:38.950 down? Raise your hand if you've ever been in 00:28:38.950 --> 00:28:41.750 that meeting or a meeting like that. Only half 00:28:41.750 --> 00:28:45.710 of us. But we need to think about it. Where are 00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:49.349 we going? Where are we going? What are your personal 00:28:49.349 --> 00:28:51.509 goals? Then I'm going to ask you this. What are 00:28:51.509 --> 00:28:53.849 your spiritual goals? Does anybody in the room 00:28:53.849 --> 00:29:02.690 have a spiritual goal? Because I think it's just 00:29:02.690 --> 00:29:05.190 as important for every single one of us to have 00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:08.589 a spiritual goal as is to have a worldly goal 00:29:08.589 --> 00:29:12.890 or a natural goal. What's your spiritual goal? 00:29:14.930 --> 00:29:17.910 Listen, if you don't have a goal to share your 00:29:17.910 --> 00:29:20.690 testimony with somebody, chances are you will 00:29:20.690 --> 00:29:24.809 never do it. Because you will miss it when the 00:29:24.809 --> 00:29:27.089 opportunity comes because you're not looking 00:29:27.089 --> 00:29:35.150 for it. Because that's not a goal. If you don't 00:29:35.150 --> 00:29:37.769 have a spiritual goal to invite somebody to come 00:29:37.769 --> 00:29:40.269 to church, a neighbor, a co -worker, or something 00:29:40.269 --> 00:29:42.450 like that, if you don't have a spiritual goal 00:29:42.450 --> 00:29:45.170 to do that, chances are when the opportunity 00:29:45.170 --> 00:29:52.210 arises, you will not do it. Because you don't 00:29:52.210 --> 00:30:01.130 have the want to built up as a goal. Does anybody 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:04.569 have a goal to actually not just get the text 00:30:04.569 --> 00:30:08.150 on Monday, but to actually read five chapters 00:30:08.150 --> 00:30:11.750 in the New Testament every week to complete the 00:30:11.750 --> 00:30:14.349 New Testament? Does anybody have that as a goal? 00:30:15.829 --> 00:30:18.089 If it's not your goal, it doesn't matter how 00:30:18.089 --> 00:30:21.569 much information you get. Because if it's not 00:30:21.569 --> 00:30:24.009 your spiritual goal to read through the New Testament, 00:30:24.069 --> 00:30:29.569 then you're not going to do it. You won't do 00:30:29.569 --> 00:30:40.960 it. My pressure won't make you do it. Just make 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:47.359 it available. But it has to be your goal. Does 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:51.559 anybody have a goal to not miss a Sunday? I mean, 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:55.180 back in the day, man, they would give you a pin 00:30:55.180 --> 00:30:59.400 if you came every Sunday. Anybody remember that? 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.359 If you came every week, man, you would get a 00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:08.279 pen. And I've been in churches, in those churches 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:10.460 we've been in, people come to church and they 00:31:10.460 --> 00:31:13.259 just got a big old thing with a bunch of pens. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:18.119 They ain't missed a service. In probably 20 years, 00:31:18.380 --> 00:31:25.759 had all them pens lined up. If it's not your 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:34.299 goal, you know. When anything else, when there's 00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:38.039 an opportunity for anything else, it's like, 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:55.880 oh, church don't mean more than this. Does anybody 00:31:55.880 --> 00:32:01.829 have any spiritual goals? If you don't have spiritual 00:32:01.829 --> 00:32:07.130 goals, you won't wind up accomplishing them. 00:32:08.710 --> 00:32:14.750 It has to be a goal. Those are just a few. But 00:32:14.750 --> 00:32:17.250 do you have a spiritual goal? Do you have personal 00:32:17.250 --> 00:32:24.609 goals? Goals are important. When we have goals, 00:32:24.809 --> 00:32:26.849 all of a sudden we have a course and we know 00:32:26.849 --> 00:32:34.220 where we're going. When we have goals. Philippians 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:43.920 3 .14 is a very amazing text. I mean, there's 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:45.900 a lot of amazing texts. I'm not going to say 00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:49.259 it's my favorite or anything like that, but Philippians 00:32:49.259 --> 00:32:58.619 3 .14. Paul knew something about goals. This 00:32:58.619 --> 00:33:01.700 is breathed by the Spirit of God through Paul 00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:06.259 for me and for you today. Here's what he said. 00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:10.900 He said, I press toward the mark for the prize 00:33:10.900 --> 00:33:18.799 of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:22.299 press toward the mark for the prize of the high 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:27.420 calling of God in Christ Jesus. That means he's 00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:32.640 going somewhere. He's pressing. Look at the person 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:35.539 beside you and say, he's pressing. He's pressing. 00:33:35.579 --> 00:33:40.420 He's going somewhere. I press. That word press 00:33:40.420 --> 00:33:45.619 means he's putting out some maximum sustainable 00:33:45.619 --> 00:33:52.240 effort. Maximum sustainable effort. Not just 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:57.789 a flash here and a flash there. Everybody say 00:33:57.789 --> 00:34:03.710 consistency. Consistency. We have to have consistency 00:34:03.710 --> 00:34:06.509 to reach our goals. We have to have consistency 00:34:06.509 --> 00:34:09.449 to reach our spiritual goals. There has to be 00:34:09.449 --> 00:34:16.329 a consistency. I mean, put it this way. I can't 00:34:16.329 --> 00:34:19.250 have a goal to get back to my high school fighting 00:34:19.250 --> 00:34:27.340 weight of 183 pounds. I can't have a goal to 00:34:27.340 --> 00:34:31.159 get back to 183 pounds and just say, well, that's 00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:38.239 my goal. And then I'm not doing anything. I'm 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:42.260 not putting forth any effort, no sustainable 00:34:42.260 --> 00:34:47.619 effort in any area of my life to get there. I'm 00:34:47.619 --> 00:34:50.480 just thinking that one day, I mean, God, can't 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:56.379 you just zap me and make me 183 pounds? Instead 00:34:56.379 --> 00:35:06.800 of 230 none of your business? Right? How many 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:08.599 of you know I've got to have some sustainable 00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:15.940 effort in order to see that? That's not my goal, 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:21.820 but I was just giving you. There has to be some 00:35:21.820 --> 00:35:27.420 effort. In our goals. And Paul says, I press. 00:35:27.539 --> 00:35:31.980 And what's he pressing towards? He says, I press 00:35:31.980 --> 00:35:36.559 toward the mark. Everybody say the mark. We need 00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:42.360 to look at the mark as intermediate goals. So 00:35:42.360 --> 00:35:44.960 if I wanted to get to 183, how many of you know 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.300 I'd have to get to 220 and 210 and 200 and 190 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:57.900 before... I could get to 183. Unless I go have 00:35:57.900 --> 00:36:03.039 some kind of liposuction and just suck it all 00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:10.880 out and tie it all up. But if I got it the easy 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:15.900 way, I would lose it. Unless I put forth the 00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:20.900 maximum sustainable effort towards it. Because 00:36:20.900 --> 00:36:26.340 when Jeffrey was born, I'd gone from where I 00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:34.599 am now, and I was wearing 31 jeans. That's my 00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:36.659 high school fighting weight right there, wearing 00:36:36.659 --> 00:36:42.420 31 waist jeans. So there's got to be some intermediate 00:36:42.420 --> 00:36:48.159 goals. Where are you going? You can't say, oh, 00:36:48.219 --> 00:36:50.500 I want to be a millionaire in 10 years and not 00:36:50.500 --> 00:36:53.179 have any intermediate goals in between here and 00:36:53.179 --> 00:36:58.460 there. It's not just going to happen. It's going 00:36:58.460 --> 00:37:00.780 to have to be some effort and some planning and 00:37:00.780 --> 00:37:12.440 some... So what are your intermediate goals? 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:17.300 Do you have any? Well, if you don't have a goal, 00:37:17.380 --> 00:37:19.119 chances are you don't have any intermediate ones. 00:37:21.340 --> 00:37:24.440 I remember talking to Robert. It's like, I had 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:27.480 a goal to get to a certain number, you know. 00:37:28.579 --> 00:37:31.679 It's like, I think we started at like 1 ,200, 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:38.579 didn't we? We wanted to get 1 ,200 a day at the 00:37:38.579 --> 00:37:43.280 restaurant. And then after we hit 1 ,200, I started 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:47.940 praying for 1 ,500. Now their goal is only 1 00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:50.179 ,400, but I started praying with them for 1 ,500. 00:37:51.579 --> 00:37:54.119 And the last I saw for the whole month, it was 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:57.099 like 1 ,800. So you know what I need to start 00:37:57.099 --> 00:38:01.480 praying now? 2 ,000. Because there's intermediate 00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:05.179 goals, right? We need to get to 2 ,000 a day 00:38:05.179 --> 00:38:12.000 in order to grow the restaurant. And it's not 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:19.010 just... Don't just look at Robert and Alyssa 00:38:19.010 --> 00:38:21.849 and say, well, yeah, this applies to them, but 00:38:21.849 --> 00:38:26.570 does it really apply to me? It depends on what 00:38:26.570 --> 00:38:30.889 your goals are. Somebody smile or something. 00:38:32.130 --> 00:38:35.050 So what are your intermediate goals? What are 00:38:35.050 --> 00:38:37.949 your marks? Where do you see yourself next year? 00:38:38.090 --> 00:38:40.130 Where do you see yourself in five years? Where 00:38:40.130 --> 00:38:42.550 do you see yourself in ten years? What are your 00:38:42.550 --> 00:38:45.449 spiritual goals? Maybe your spiritual goal, the 00:38:45.449 --> 00:38:47.869 first mark is just to invite somebody to church 00:38:47.869 --> 00:38:50.150 and make sure Pastor Dean knows he needs to share 00:38:50.150 --> 00:38:51.710 the gospel because I don't know if this person 00:38:51.710 --> 00:38:56.610 is a Christian or not. Maybe that's your first 00:38:56.610 --> 00:39:00.150 mark. Leading to your second mark of even sharing 00:39:00.150 --> 00:39:02.789 your testimony with somebody. Leading to a third 00:39:02.789 --> 00:39:05.809 mark of you actually sharing the gospel with 00:39:05.809 --> 00:39:08.809 them and lead them to Christ before you even 00:39:08.809 --> 00:39:19.070 bring them to church. What are your goals? Over 00:39:19.070 --> 00:39:21.610 the last six months, we've averaged 36 and a 00:39:21.610 --> 00:39:23.329 half people. That's why I say shake hands with 00:39:23.329 --> 00:39:27.590 five and a half. We've averaged 36 and a half 00:39:27.590 --> 00:39:33.250 people. But ever since we started, our goal has 00:39:33.250 --> 00:39:38.349 been to reach 50. At least have 50 every week. 00:39:38.869 --> 00:39:40.869 Now, some of you may not know that this is a 00:39:40.869 --> 00:39:45.070 goal if you haven't been coming that long. Just 00:39:45.070 --> 00:39:48.550 really want to get to have 50 every week. Every 00:39:48.550 --> 00:39:51.550 week. Jeffrey keeps saying, well, we're going 00:39:51.550 --> 00:39:54.070 to have to have about 70 or 80 to have 50 every 00:39:54.070 --> 00:40:01.869 week. Last week was very encouraging to me. I 00:40:01.869 --> 00:40:05.110 mean, we didn't have a room filled with all the 00:40:05.110 --> 00:40:08.849 tourists and all the visitors. But last week 00:40:08.849 --> 00:40:12.010 told me something. And I was very encouraged. 00:40:13.070 --> 00:40:16.630 Because if the people who live here and are connected 00:40:16.630 --> 00:40:19.590 to Elation Church would all come every Sunday, 00:40:19.670 --> 00:40:25.750 we'd have over 50 every Sunday. So I was encouraged. 00:40:26.869 --> 00:40:29.690 But our average over six months has been 36 and 00:40:29.690 --> 00:40:32.530 a half. See, we've got to get to 50 before we 00:40:32.530 --> 00:40:36.630 can get to our second mark of 100. And I've got 00:40:36.630 --> 00:40:39.449 a friend who has been involved in planting several 00:40:39.449 --> 00:40:42.300 churches. And he said this, he said, Dean, the 00:40:42.300 --> 00:40:46.099 hardest number to get to is 50 every week. He 00:40:46.099 --> 00:40:48.320 said, and then after you get 50 every week, it's 00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:51.159 a whole lot easier to get the next 50 than it 00:40:51.159 --> 00:40:57.699 was the first 50. That's what he told me. And 00:40:57.699 --> 00:41:01.239 I'm crazy enough to believe it. Right? First 00:41:01.239 --> 00:41:07.219 mark's 50. Second mark is 100. Third mark for 00:41:07.219 --> 00:41:09.980 me should probably be 250, but I'm going to go 00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:13.360 ahead and throw out 300 for the third mark. Go 00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:19.000 from 100 to 300. Because what I showed you last 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:22.199 year at our anniversary service, that banner 00:41:22.199 --> 00:41:24.219 out there, we printed it. It's been up for a 00:41:24.219 --> 00:41:26.519 year now. And every time we come into worship, 00:41:26.599 --> 00:41:30.420 we look. You know what? One day, one day, we're 00:41:30.420 --> 00:41:32.980 going to have a place of our own. And guess what? 00:41:33.699 --> 00:41:36.039 That's only the first mark of a place of our 00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:39.860 own. That's not the final. One day we're going 00:41:39.860 --> 00:41:42.420 to have a place of our own. And that room will 00:41:42.420 --> 00:41:48.760 hold 300 people. I believe when we hit that 100 00:41:48.760 --> 00:41:50.739 mark, it's going to be a whole lot easier to 00:41:50.739 --> 00:41:52.679 get that building. And when we get that building, 00:41:52.780 --> 00:41:54.320 it's going to be a whole lot easier to get to 00:41:54.320 --> 00:42:06.530 300. But 300 is not the final. Mark? It can't 00:42:06.530 --> 00:42:09.489 be, can it? Because there's 100 ,000 people. 00:42:13.909 --> 00:42:17.650 The fields are wide under harvest. There's 100 00:42:17.650 --> 00:42:19.889 ,000 people who need to be in a relationship 00:42:19.889 --> 00:42:23.690 with God through Jesus. There's 100 ,000 people 00:42:23.690 --> 00:42:25.769 that need to be connected to a faith family. 00:42:29.969 --> 00:42:36.920 Why could we ever be happy with 300? Oh, I'll 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:43.260 be happy. But I won't say we're done. And some 00:42:43.260 --> 00:42:45.360 people get really wigged out when you start talking 00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:49.159 about numbers. It's like, well, he's just about 00:42:49.159 --> 00:42:54.699 numbers. I talk about this once a year or whatever. 00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:58.460 He's just about numbers. Well, get this. Numbers 00:42:58.460 --> 00:43:01.519 are important. Because numbers represent our 00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:04.559 mission because our mission is people. And if 00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:06.969 you've read your Bible lately, There were 12 00:43:06.969 --> 00:43:09.809 disciples. There were 72 that Jesus sent out. 00:43:09.869 --> 00:43:12.389 There was 120 at the upper room. Why did they 00:43:12.389 --> 00:43:16.630 count them if numbers aren't important? There's 00:43:16.630 --> 00:43:19.349 3 ,000 coming to Christ and 5 ,000 coming to 00:43:19.349 --> 00:43:28.710 Christ. Numbers represent people. And I'm one. 00:43:31.909 --> 00:43:35.820 I'm one. Friday morning, vacation Bible school. 00:43:36.500 --> 00:43:41.579 I'm one of those numbers. My dad had a vision 00:43:41.579 --> 00:43:47.480 to baptize 2 ,000 people over the life of his 00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:51.119 ministry. He started out with that being a vision 00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:56.920 to reach. And he made it right before he was 00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:00.800 done and went to heaven. He made it at some interim 00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:04.030 churches that he was at. actually made it to 00:44:04.030 --> 00:44:07.909 that number that had been his ultimate goal and 00:44:07.909 --> 00:44:13.809 vision for his ministry outreach. Why do we need 00:44:13.809 --> 00:44:18.170 to have 300? Why do we need to have more than 00:44:18.170 --> 00:44:22.670 50? Why do we need to have more than 100? This 00:44:22.670 --> 00:44:27.250 is just... You can take this any way you want 00:44:27.250 --> 00:44:31.780 to. 7 out of 10 people who regularly attend church, 00:44:31.860 --> 00:44:35.400 7 out of 10 people who are in church today across 00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:39.320 the United States go to churches who average 00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:48.780 250 people or more. Now, 50 % of some denominations 00:44:48.780 --> 00:44:51.539 have 50 people or less, 50 % of all the churches. 00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:58.000 But 7 out of 10. choose to go to a church that 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:00.739 has 250 or more people. Why? Because it's comfortable. 00:45:00.980 --> 00:45:03.039 I mean, you can slide in and slide out and nobody 00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:07.119 will ever notice you or miss you. Nobody will 00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:10.300 ask you to do anything. Nobody will ask you to 00:45:10.300 --> 00:45:13.780 volunteer. You can just slide in and slide out 00:45:13.780 --> 00:45:18.079 whenever you want to. When there's 50 people 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:22.579 in the room, everybody sees everybody. Right? 00:45:24.039 --> 00:45:26.659 You might get asked to do something. It's just 00:45:26.659 --> 00:45:29.219 comfortable. When there's that many people, you 00:45:29.219 --> 00:45:31.639 can have facilities. You can have more programming. 00:45:31.980 --> 00:45:34.099 You can offer more programming, different age 00:45:34.099 --> 00:45:36.900 groups, different demographic groups, all those 00:45:36.900 --> 00:45:45.659 kind of things. So, I want you to think about 00:45:45.659 --> 00:45:51.039 this. As a church, as a body, everybody say, 00:45:51.099 --> 00:45:53.900 we are the church. Everybody say, I'm the church. 00:45:55.320 --> 00:46:01.880 This isn't Dean's church. This isn't the Forest's 00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:05.619 church. Even though God called us here to start 00:46:05.619 --> 00:46:14.139 it, it's not our church. It's our church. And 00:46:14.139 --> 00:46:18.000 the way that we're headed is, we're going to... 00:46:18.300 --> 00:46:20.860 Do the maximum sustainable effort to share the 00:46:20.860 --> 00:46:24.800 gospel, to see people come to Christ, to teach 00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:27.000 believers, the people who are here, to grow in 00:46:27.000 --> 00:46:29.739 their faith and to walk with God. I mean, really 00:46:29.739 --> 00:46:33.659 know God and walk with God. Not just have religion, 00:46:34.019 --> 00:46:39.079 but have a relationship. And we're going to continue 00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:41.659 to be a constantly growing and welcoming family. 00:46:44.019 --> 00:46:49.009 Got to keep everybody has to play a part. where 00:46:49.009 --> 00:46:51.010 more and more people will come up to me and say, 00:46:51.050 --> 00:46:52.690 you know, this is the friendliest place I've 00:46:52.690 --> 00:47:01.690 ever been. I believe we can be. I believe we 00:47:01.690 --> 00:47:04.309 are. Habakkuk 2 .2 says this, write the vision. 00:47:05.869 --> 00:47:10.369 Jordan's writing it every day. During this time, 00:47:10.389 --> 00:47:14.989 in the Old Testament, you could think about it 00:47:14.989 --> 00:47:19.980 as a stone. Writing on a tablet. Write the vision. 00:47:20.059 --> 00:47:25.980 Make it plain on tablets. So you got to scratch. 00:47:26.239 --> 00:47:29.099 How do you write something on stone? You got 00:47:29.099 --> 00:47:31.860 to scratch it. Can you just scratch it one time 00:47:31.860 --> 00:47:33.260 and write on it? Is it going to be there long? 00:47:34.820 --> 00:47:38.420 Somebody help me out. You got to keep scratching. 00:47:39.159 --> 00:47:41.559 Reach over and scratch the person's back. Tell 00:47:41.559 --> 00:47:44.719 them you got to keep scratching. You got to keep 00:47:44.719 --> 00:47:48.380 scratching. Write the vision, make it plain on 00:47:48.380 --> 00:47:56.500 tablets. Every day. I've really been encouraged 00:47:56.500 --> 00:47:59.239 over the last month. Every day, Jordan's like, 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:03.119 write it down. Let that be one of the first things 00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:04.920 you do before you do anything else. Write it 00:48:04.920 --> 00:48:14.039 down. Write it down. It's not just good professional 00:48:14.039 --> 00:48:25.130 advice. That's biblical advice. Hello? Write 00:48:25.130 --> 00:48:30.409 the vision. This was said way more, way earlier 00:48:30.409 --> 00:48:33.929 than any business help book was ever written. 00:48:34.010 --> 00:48:40.670 This was written. Write the vision and make it 00:48:40.670 --> 00:48:44.050 plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. 00:48:44.650 --> 00:48:47.110 If you don't know what we're about and where 00:48:47.110 --> 00:48:53.690 we're going, then you can't run with us. If you're 00:48:53.690 --> 00:48:56.730 in business, if your employees don't know who 00:48:56.730 --> 00:48:58.869 you are and where you're going, then the employees 00:48:58.869 --> 00:49:05.829 can't run with you. Right? If you're the head 00:49:05.829 --> 00:49:11.440 of your family spiritually, Unless people know 00:49:11.440 --> 00:49:13.460 who you are and where you're going, the family 00:49:13.460 --> 00:49:19.739 can't run with it. Are you with me? If the church 00:49:19.739 --> 00:49:21.420 don't know who we are and where we're going, 00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:23.840 then we can't run with it together. We can't 00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:34.380 run together. And here's the deal. Without a 00:49:34.380 --> 00:49:36.320 vision, the people perish. Remember, it was mental 00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:42.800 sight. It was a dream. You have to see it. How 00:49:42.800 --> 00:49:47.460 do you see it with your mind when you can't see 00:49:47.460 --> 00:49:52.219 it with your eyes? How do you see it? You have 00:49:52.219 --> 00:49:54.739 to use your God -given glorified imagination. 00:49:59.659 --> 00:50:08.070 And I want to ask you, can you see it? That's 00:50:08.070 --> 00:50:11.230 why we put that banner up there, so that you 00:50:11.230 --> 00:50:14.750 could see it. It would help you. But can you 00:50:14.750 --> 00:50:17.510 see it? Right now it just has a bunch of empty 00:50:17.510 --> 00:50:21.789 chairs, but can you see it filled? Can you see 00:50:21.789 --> 00:50:25.210 a Saturday service and three Sunday services, 00:50:25.309 --> 00:50:29.269 and it's just all packed? Can you see people 00:50:29.269 --> 00:50:33.329 coming to Christ every weekend? Can you see us 00:50:33.329 --> 00:50:35.769 even having to leave up our baptistry pool because 00:50:35.769 --> 00:50:39.130 we're baptizing people every week? Can you see 00:50:39.130 --> 00:50:47.550 it? Can you see it? Because it's going to take 00:50:47.550 --> 00:50:50.429 more than just me seeing it before we can see 00:50:50.429 --> 00:50:58.309 it. We've got to see it. We have to see it. Imagination 00:50:58.309 --> 00:51:05.889 without truth is just fantasy. If it's not connected 00:51:05.889 --> 00:51:09.989 to anything. And I want to tell you what I see 00:51:09.989 --> 00:51:14.769 is connected to a promise from God. And connected 00:51:14.769 --> 00:51:20.050 to the word of God. We have to see it. Imagination 00:51:20.050 --> 00:51:25.409 with truth leads to hope and it leads to faith. 00:51:28.349 --> 00:51:31.469 Hebrews 11 .1 Now faith is a substance of things 00:51:31.469 --> 00:51:36.050 hoped for. The evidence. of things not seen. 00:51:39.449 --> 00:51:43.510 Faith is the substance of the things hoped for. 00:51:46.010 --> 00:51:49.769 Remember hope? Y 'all remember what the definition 00:51:49.769 --> 00:51:57.369 for hope is? Have confidence. Because it's founded 00:51:57.369 --> 00:51:59.909 on something, it's established on something that 00:51:59.909 --> 00:52:03.190 God has said, or God's Word, or the Holy Spirit 00:52:03.190 --> 00:52:07.820 has spoken, And now because you've heard, you 00:52:07.820 --> 00:52:14.139 have confidence even before you see it. Faith 00:52:14.139 --> 00:52:18.420 is a substance of things hoped for. And you can 00:52:18.420 --> 00:52:21.260 go ahead and get happy about it. We have to see 00:52:21.260 --> 00:52:24.639 it with our imagination. We have to see it through 00:52:24.639 --> 00:52:27.440 hope. We have to see it through faith before 00:52:27.440 --> 00:52:32.719 we will see it reality. All those things have 00:52:32.719 --> 00:52:35.210 to happen. And I'm not just talking about the 00:52:35.210 --> 00:52:37.110 church, and I'm not just talking about the building, 00:52:37.170 --> 00:52:40.849 I'm talking about every area of your life. Your 00:52:40.849 --> 00:52:48.010 family, your business. You have to see it. You 00:52:48.010 --> 00:52:51.550 have to see it first. In your imagination and 00:52:51.550 --> 00:52:53.449 hope and faith before you're going to see it. 00:52:56.130 --> 00:52:59.550 Now, one thing I always said, even before we 00:52:59.550 --> 00:53:03.960 ever planted this church, I said, you know, I've 00:53:03.960 --> 00:53:05.960 talked again to Jeffrey and Caitlin about it. 00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:09.739 I said, you know, when we plant a church, one 00:53:09.739 --> 00:53:14.980 of the big things is I don't want our church 00:53:14.980 --> 00:53:20.500 just to be local focused exclusively. I want 00:53:20.500 --> 00:53:24.900 us to be world focused. And I've said a long 00:53:24.900 --> 00:53:28.320 time, years and years before we ever came here, 00:53:28.460 --> 00:53:36.969 that I believe our church, would come to a point 00:53:36.969 --> 00:53:42.190 where the sun never sets on the ministry of our 00:53:42.190 --> 00:53:45.829 church. Now, if you're here on a regular Sunday 00:53:45.829 --> 00:53:47.650 and there's 36 and a half people, you're like, 00:53:47.730 --> 00:53:55.349 how's that going? I still see one day that we 00:53:55.349 --> 00:53:58.469 will actually strategically plant churches around 00:53:58.469 --> 00:54:01.530 the world and we'll support pastors and build 00:54:01.530 --> 00:54:03.269 buildings. We don't even have our own building 00:54:03.269 --> 00:54:05.719 yet. But I think we're going to build at least 00:54:05.719 --> 00:54:08.059 four churches strategically around the world 00:54:08.059 --> 00:54:10.840 where the sun will never set on our ministry, 00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:20.699 on our church. Through technology, I don't know 00:54:20.699 --> 00:54:24.880 what has happened. Did anybody see the ad that 00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:29.440 we did on Monday? It's just a targeted ad. I 00:54:29.440 --> 00:54:31.820 didn't send it. It's not even a post. It's just 00:54:31.820 --> 00:54:37.329 an ad. And the ad says this. It says, How can 00:54:37.329 --> 00:54:40.110 a church meeting in a gymnasium in Davenport, 00:54:40.329 --> 00:54:44.489 Florida, reach 46 countries around the world 00:54:44.489 --> 00:54:50.550 and 47 states? That was Monday. Since Monday, 00:54:50.650 --> 00:54:52.789 Jeffrey and I have had to update this artwork 00:54:52.789 --> 00:54:55.969 three times. I don't even know what's happening. 00:54:56.550 --> 00:54:59.690 I don't know why it's happening. Other than, 00:54:59.829 --> 00:55:02.610 I've been praying for open doors. Everybody say 00:55:02.610 --> 00:55:04.820 open doors. I've been praying for open doors, 00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:06.980 and not just here in our community, but open 00:55:06.980 --> 00:55:09.659 doors to the world. I've been praying for open 00:55:09.659 --> 00:55:13.099 doors, and guess what's happened? Just since 00:55:13.099 --> 00:55:16.320 Monday, I mean, like two weeks ago, it was like 00:55:16.320 --> 00:55:20.500 36 countries. On Monday, it was 46 countries, 00:55:20.579 --> 00:55:25.360 or 43 countries. And now, this isn't even correct, 00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:35.559 and we did this last night. I mean, I've never 00:55:35.559 --> 00:55:39.300 met people from these places. But they're listening, 00:55:39.440 --> 00:55:42.219 they're downloading the podcast, and this is 00:55:42.219 --> 00:55:45.260 certified. This is not just, if you just click 00:55:45.260 --> 00:55:48.099 on it, it shows up. No, it's a certified download 00:55:48.099 --> 00:55:50.920 through a third party, not even the people that 00:55:50.920 --> 00:55:53.800 we do our podcasts through. Certified downloads. 00:55:56.039 --> 00:55:58.960 There's 47 states in the United States, even 00:55:58.960 --> 00:56:01.139 though Fawn, does everybody know Buffy's friend 00:56:01.139 --> 00:56:06.039 Fawn? She said her son listened to it in Alaska 00:56:06.039 --> 00:56:10.619 because we're missing Alaska, Wyoming, and Washington. 00:56:12.760 --> 00:56:15.900 But it didn't show up, so it's not as certified. 00:56:15.920 --> 00:56:18.260 I'm not putting anything up here that's not certified. 00:56:18.320 --> 00:56:21.719 My sister listened to my podcast in Turkey, but 00:56:21.719 --> 00:56:25.340 Turkey's not on the list. These are just the 00:56:25.340 --> 00:56:28.900 certified downloads. 47 states in the United 00:56:28.900 --> 00:56:32.079 States, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, 00:56:32.219 --> 00:56:34.190 Bahrain. I didn't even know where a lot of these 00:56:34.190 --> 00:56:36.590 places were. I had to look them up. Bangladesh, 00:56:36.829 --> 00:56:41.469 Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, 00:56:41.730 --> 00:56:44.590 Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 00:56:44.909 --> 00:56:48.690 Egypt, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, 00:56:48.989 --> 00:56:54.190 Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, 00:56:54.489 --> 00:56:59.099 Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon. Malaysia, Mexico, 00:56:59.480 --> 00:57:04.260 Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan 00:57:04.260 --> 00:57:11.760 has blown up this past week. Philippines, Romania, 00:57:12.139 --> 00:57:17.760 Russia, Rwanda, Scotland, Senegal, Singapore, 00:57:18.019 --> 00:57:23.000 South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, 00:57:23.219 --> 00:57:28.750 Tunisia, United Arab Emirates. Uruguay, Uzbekistan, 00:57:29.050 --> 00:57:35.449 Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and there's one that 00:57:35.449 --> 00:57:37.369 we didn't get the words on there, and then Paraguay 00:57:37.369 --> 00:57:39.670 came up this morning when I looked. It was Paraguay. 00:57:39.710 --> 00:57:42.130 I had to look at where it was. It's kind of down 00:57:42.130 --> 00:57:49.010 here, you know, in between Brazil and, I don't 00:57:49.010 --> 00:57:56.829 know, near Uruguay. Yeah, Paraguay. Uruguay. 00:57:57.550 --> 00:57:59.590 They must have used to been friends. I don't 00:57:59.590 --> 00:58:07.269 know. But anyway. I had to look them up. I had 00:58:07.269 --> 00:58:10.429 to look up some of them. But from right here. 00:58:11.570 --> 00:58:15.510 See, you can, from this free throw line, you 00:58:15.510 --> 00:58:26.949 can get anywhere in the world. And we're a part 00:58:26.949 --> 00:58:35.150 of that. You're a part of that. I'm just blown 00:58:35.150 --> 00:58:39.469 away. And then the picture of the building. It's 00:58:39.469 --> 00:58:42.309 who we are. It's where we're going. You need 00:58:42.309 --> 00:58:47.210 to see it. So I've tried to make some pictures 00:58:47.210 --> 00:58:50.599 so you can see it. But we need to see it. But 00:58:50.599 --> 00:58:52.860 you also need to see 50 people in these seats 00:58:52.860 --> 00:58:54.920 every Sunday. You need to see 100 people. You 00:58:54.920 --> 00:59:02.840 need to see 300 people. You need to see it. And 00:59:02.840 --> 00:59:06.480 we all need to have marks towards getting there. 00:59:06.719 --> 00:59:10.340 We don't see it like I see being 183 pounds in 00:59:10.340 --> 00:59:13.019 six months when I don't plan on doing anything 00:59:13.019 --> 00:59:26.000 about it. Hallelujah. I press toward the mark 00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:30.059 for the prize of the high calling. So we have 00:59:30.059 --> 00:59:35.539 intermediate marks, but the prize is the high 00:59:35.539 --> 00:59:38.079 calling of God in Christ Jesus, and that's different 00:59:38.079 --> 00:59:41.460 for every single person in this room, but it's 00:59:41.460 --> 00:59:44.920 together corporately, but it's your business. 00:59:44.960 --> 00:59:48.260 There's different high callings that God gives 00:59:48.260 --> 00:59:51.219 each one of us high callings for our families, 00:59:51.360 --> 00:59:54.440 high callings for the church, for each church 00:59:54.440 --> 00:59:58.039 in this area. But we've got marks to get there. 00:59:59.239 --> 01:00:01.960 But the high calling is when the vision is fulfilled. 01:00:06.360 --> 01:00:10.059 And I don't see my high calling being fulfilled 01:00:10.059 --> 01:00:14.659 until 1 ,900 people are worshiping God. I don't 01:00:14.659 --> 01:00:16.989 care if it's in one building or... or multiple 01:00:16.989 --> 01:00:21.449 buildings, to 1 ,900 people being at Galatian 01:00:21.449 --> 01:00:25.710 Church on a regular basis. That's my high calling, 01:00:25.789 --> 01:00:28.690 that I've worked out with God, that He's laid 01:00:28.690 --> 01:00:33.570 on my heart. And you might say, you're a fool. 01:00:34.590 --> 01:00:40.090 I don't care if you call me a fool or not. That's 01:00:40.090 --> 01:00:48.099 where this bus is going. So that's a high calling, 01:00:48.199 --> 01:00:53.559 is when the mission is accomplished. So again, 01:00:53.719 --> 01:00:59.679 where are you going? Look at the person beside 01:00:59.679 --> 01:01:02.300 you and say, where are you going? Where are you 01:01:02.300 --> 01:01:08.480 going? And what are you doing to get there? What 01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:11.929 are you doing to get there? What are your goals? 01:01:12.010 --> 01:01:14.250 What are your spiritual goals? I encourage everybody 01:01:14.250 --> 01:01:17.250 in the house to have some spiritual goals, not 01:01:17.250 --> 01:01:19.429 just personal goals, but have some spiritual 01:01:19.429 --> 01:01:25.610 goals. What are they? And then what are you going 01:01:25.610 --> 01:01:27.670 to do about it? What are the steps that you're 01:01:27.670 --> 01:01:29.969 going to take to accomplish those goals? Because 01:01:29.969 --> 01:01:34.690 it's not just having a goal. It's pressing toward 01:01:34.690 --> 01:01:39.940 the mark that's leading you to the goals. Let's 01:01:39.940 --> 01:01:43.000 pray. God, thank you for today. Thank you for 01:01:43.000 --> 01:01:46.619 your word. Thank you for what you're doing and 01:01:46.619 --> 01:01:52.340 what you have done. Thank you for what's ahead. 01:01:53.539 --> 01:01:55.820 And we pause to say thank you for where you've 01:01:55.820 --> 01:01:59.800 brought us so far. Oh, I can remember the days. 01:02:03.400 --> 01:02:09.920 God, if we could just have more than 12. It'd 01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:14.780 be amazing. God, if we could just have 20, it'd 01:02:14.780 --> 01:02:17.059 be amazing. God, if we could ever hit 30, boy, 01:02:17.079 --> 01:02:24.380 that would just be... And we thank you. Because 01:02:24.380 --> 01:02:33.179 it's been you. It's been you. So we pause to 01:02:33.179 --> 01:02:38.380 say thank you for where we've come from. to where 01:02:38.380 --> 01:02:47.179 we are today. God, we thank you that people are 01:02:47.179 --> 01:02:48.940 saying we're the most friendly place they've 01:02:48.940 --> 01:02:51.300 ever been. God, we thank you for that. Thank 01:02:51.300 --> 01:02:59.179 you for working in us and through us. God, we 01:02:59.179 --> 01:03:08.190 thank you for where we're going. In Jesus' name, 01:03:08.369 --> 01:03:13.269 amen. This online worship experience was brought 01:03:13.269 --> 01:03:15.789 to you by the friends and partners of Eulation 01:03:15.789 --> 01:03:16.190 Church.