Well, good morning, church. Good morning. It
is so good to be with you guys this morning.
I wanna welcome everyone here. I wanna welcome
those of you in Prescott Valley that are with
us. I'm so glad that we get to come together
as one family. We get to worship God. We get
to celebrate God. We get to celebrate what God
is doing in our church, around the world, and
we get to see life change right in front of us
today as we celebrate baptism, which I'm super
excited about. But man, I'm still reeling from
Easter last week. That was incredible. Did you
guys have a good time out there? That was so
fun. First year we've ever ran out of parking
at Watson Lake. It's estimated over 6 ,000 people
were there last weekend that got to hear the
gospel. So, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And
that is a huge celebration. We want to celebrate
that. And one of the reasons we celebrate is
because it's a way for us to remember what God
has done. In fact, at Heights, we are... we say
that there's some things that we are for. If
you're going, what is heights all about? There's
some things that we go, this is what we are for.
We are not gonna deviate from this. This is who
we are. And one of the things is we are for celebration.
We're for celebration. And the reason is because
in Philippians 4, 4, it says, rejoice in the
Lord always. And then he says, I'll say it again,
right? And usually when he says it again, it's
like, okay, we gotta lean in here. And he says,
rejoice. We should always be rejoicing in the
Lord. In the Old Testament, it was. It was said
this way, that when the Israelites were going
through the wilderness and they were seeing God's
provision in different places, God would say,
hey, I want you to build an altar. And they were
called altars of remembrance. And the altar of
remembrance was so that when they looked back
at it, they could remember what God had done.
And the way that we build altars of remembrance
is by repeatedly talking about the things that
God is doing in our life and celebrating God.
And so this is celebration weekend. And so this
weekend, we are going to celebrate what God is
doing in our church, what God is doing around
the world. We're gonna celebrate all those things.
And there's this tendency to come in on a day
like today and go, okay, so I'm not gonna get
anything out of this. And I don't want you guys
to have that mindset because here's the thing,
we can be encouraged by what God is doing. Just
because we're not gonna hear a full sermon, you're
gonna hear from multiple people that are telling
you of amazing things that God is doing. This
is what families do. This is what the family
does is we lean into the celebrations and we
celebrate by building these altars of remembrance
and realizing, man, this is how good God is.
This is what God has done. And it can be an encouragement
to us. as we celebrate together as a family.
And so first I want to start by celebrating just
locally and celebrating with some folks who've
been a part of the family for a long time, and
they are actually moving away. And they're in
this service right now, Van and Debbie Putman.
This is their service, and we want to celebrate.
Yeah, we can celebrate them right now. But we
want to celebrate their faithfulness. to live
out what God has called them to. And they've
served in so many different ways in this church.
They've served in women's ministry through prayer,
through planning events, through teaching. They've
served as life group leaders. They've served
as handyman ministry. They've served in kids
ministry when needed. They've served in setting
up chairs. They've served in every way possible
in this church. And I want you to just hear from
them. And I want them to have an opportunity
to be able to teach you and that you can be encouraged.
God has given us gifts so that we can serve him
with those gifts. So not only celebrate them
and what they have done, but also celebrate as
a family what God can do through you. And so
I'd love for you to just turn your attention
to the screens and watch this. Each of you should
use whatever gift you have received to serve
others as faithful stewards of God's grace in
his various forms. If anyone speaks, they should
do so as one who speaks the very words of God.
If anyone serves, they should do so with the
strength God provides so that in all things,
God may be praised through Jesus Christ. We serve
because we want God to be glorified and God to
be praised through what we do. For me, it's never
been an obligation. I've always felt compelled
to serve. My father was a minister, so I was
one of those PKs that was at church early and
often. One of the reasons that I am so passionate
about any men is because we moved 15 times in
nine years when I was growing up. The homes that
we lived in were parsonages provided by the church,
and all of them needed fixing up. And because
of that, I had to learn how to do stuff. And
so that brought me an education, but it also
brought me great joy working side -by -side with
my father. stilled in me the drive to just help
do stuff for people. What I've learned in everything,
especially in the gifting that I have, teaching,
I have to rely on the Holy Spirit. It's very
easy for me to know I'm a good teacher, so just
to plan and do whatever. My teaching is thousands
times better when I remember to pray first. I
don't have a gifting for... talking to people
I don't know, and yet God called me to be a chaplain
in the hospital due to the lessons I learned
when my daughter was ill. And so I go and do
that, and I have to pray in order to go into
those rooms. I have to rely on the Holy Spirit.
There's no other way to do anything with a heart
of joy if you don't have the Holy Spirit prompting
you and if you don't obey that voice. I've actually
been doing the Handyman ministry for probably
about 35 years. As time went on, I grew and grew
and grew because the Holy Spirit was grooming
me, I think, to come here and start a ministry
here. And for the last couple of years, I've
been praying that God would raise up some leaders
that could take over. continue the ministry so
that it would be a seamless transition and so
that it would not suffer. Well, we did our most
recent workday just last week, and we had 46
volunteers, and we did 14 jobs on that workday,
and it's the largest number of volunteers that
we've ever had. And it's the largest single number
of projects in the field at one time as well.
That occurred not because I'm great. It occurred
because the Holy Spirit is raising up leaders
and team leaders and guys that are willing to
shepherd other men in the field. And that is
purely the Holy Spirit. There's no other way
to put it that God is seeing it through. And
I would say to anybody that still has no idea
what should I do, what should I do? I would recommend
that you find out what your spiritual gifting
is and then look into ministries where you can
do that. Usually you're going to need to step
into a small role and let it expand as God leads
you. But don't think, well, I don't have any
gifts. I can't do anything. There are so many
different ways to serve. And also don't feel
that you have to do everything. I certainly can't
do it all. There are things that I'll think,
oh, I could do that. And God says, and when will
you find time? And how will you minister to this?
Well, else we'll let go. So don't always say
yes. We aren't designed to do it all. It's the
body. And we need to wait and see what God has
for us, but we also can't live our life in waiting.
We need to take action and serve God. When it
comes to serving, just do it. Just step in. Everybody
can serve coffee on Sunday morning or Saturday
night. That's how you get started meeting people.
and becoming part of the church family. And if
serving coffee isn't your cup of tea, then as
you've gotten to know people, they'll say, hey,
why don't you try greeting at the door or handing
out the communion cups? Or we need somebody that's
going to be backstage doing whatever it is. But
you have to start somewhere. And the place to
start is by joining something. It doesn't matter
if you know anybody, you'll get to know them
really fast. It's worth the effort. It's worth
the time. Serving coffee will only take you a
couple hours a week. You can find that time.
Give up something else instead. It's worth it.
There's a place for everyone. If you don't know
which end of a screwdriver is up, we'll still
find you a place to work. We'll still find you
something to do. We feed our men twice, breakfast
and lunch. So food is part of what we do. There's
all sorts of stuff to do. You might think of
it even as there are a thousand different jobs
to do to make the team go forward, to make the
kingdom work successful. And all of these different
things have different opportunities for everyone.
It doesn't matter how little or how much you
bring to the table. It's all part of the family
of God. When I teach my Bible study, because
it's designed to teach women how to study God's
Word, I put together a notebook of study materials,
and then I teach them how I personally study.
sometimes are overwhelmed and their comment is,
well, how do I do this like you? I said, you
don't want to be like me. You want to be like
Jesus. And ultimately that's where ministry is
going. We are learning to become more and more
like Jesus through how we serve. We want the
people that we serve with and the people that
we serve to, to become more and more like Jesus.
So I've seen it as though when you step. on the
sand of the beach. Your footprints don't last
very long. They're filled in again by the water
and eventually by the sand. And it makes it a
seamless journey. That's what this is. We didn't
come here to make a name for Van and Debbie Putman.
We came here to glorify God. And we're leaving
knowing that he will continue because this is
his church. These are his ministries. You all
are his people. And he loves every single person.
He will not let you down. I can guarantee that.
Thank you, God, for all that you're doing. Because
nothing we do is important. Everything God does
is important. And whatever we've done, it's all
to the glory of God, not to the glory of us.
And Van and Debbie will always be a part of our
church family. They're moving states away, but
they're part of our family. And it's incredible
not only what they have done serving wise, but
that they want to continue to share that with
us so that we can, as a church, be encouraged.
And, you know, exactly what they said. God has
given you a gift for a reason. What is it that
God is pushing you? to step in and do. It's incredible
that we get to celebrate locally and we get to
celebrate what is happening within the church
and through people serving in the church. But
we also get to celebrate globally. And Heights
is incredible because we don't just have an impact
here locally, we have an impact globally. We
have an incredible global department that has
partners all around the world that we work with.
And we actually got to send teams recently to
two different locations. And so we wanna celebrate
some of these. We want to celebrate what happened
on a trip that was taken to Jordan and a trip
that was taken to the Dominican Republic. And
so the leaders of those teams want to just share
with you, hey, this is what some of the amazing
things that happened and give you a peek into
that so that as a family, we can celebrate those
teams. We can celebrate the work that's being
done globally. We can celebrate the lives that
are being changed around the world and the role
that we get to play in it. So would you just
help me welcome the leader of our Jordan trip,
Pastor Ben. Good morning, church. A couple weeks
ago, y 'all got to hear a little bit about the
Jordan trip. I was able to share a piece out
of when we visited Azraq, but that was just one
day of the trip. We spent nine days in Amman.
It's a city of about 2 .4 million people. And
we just got to experience so much that God was
doing through not only Jamel's organization,
but also other organizations we partnered with.
So I just wanted to share some more pictures
with that. And the first picture I got is right
here. And this is at their community center.
So many of you know this, but I just always want
to share it because it's near and dear to my
heart. is we partner with Jamel and this community
center through our Park Collective initiative
down in Prescott Valley. So out of our vision
fund, we give 10 % of that to Jamel's organization.
So the community center in Prescott Valley is
directly partnered with Jamel's community center
in Amman. And what you'll see here is they're
holding up some certificates, but they have created
these skill sets, and they teach them trades
and computer software. candle making, barbers,
barbershop salons, and they're teaching them
trades. Like they're empowering them to be able
to go and make their own living, make their own
money to be able to support their families. And
these are all refugees. And so within that, they're
able to also do Bible studies throughout the
week. And one of the amazing things about this
is that Jordan knows Jamel's a Christian, but
it's one of the top five organizations. In Jordan,
that helps refugees. And what the government
did was is they made those certificates official.
So just like you could get a certificate through
a university that's not a degree but still education,
the government recognizes these. So God is just
breaking down barriers that even though it's
a Christian organization, the government says,
hey, we're going to work with you. We're going
to recognize these certificates. And we're going
to do what we can to support these refugees.
And so it's just an amazing thing that Jamel's
doing out there. We also have a couple pictures
of a Syrian refugee camp we visited. And what's
amazing about this is we partnered with a ton
of humanitarian organizations that weren't just
Jamel's organization. We had doctors go out there.
just how small of a world it is, is when we met
somebody from the embassy that was dropping some
stuff off, they go, I heard you were from Arizona.
And we were like, yeah, yeah. And they go, I
graduated from Yavapai Community College. I was
like, shut up. And he goes, yeah, I went and
got my master's somewhere else, but this is a
guy that worked at the embassy, and we're having
a conversation in Amman, Jordan. And he went
to Yavapai Community College, so go Rough Riders.
But this is a Syrian refugee camp, and we were
able to go visit them. It was a camp when I went
last year of about 400. It was down to about
150. They moved for a variety of reasons, but
they were able to get medical attention. We were
able to hand out food and toys to kids. And just,
again, just trying to be the hands and feet of
Jesus, just meeting people where they are at.
One of the most special things about going there
was, so you get to experience these home visits.
Like that's a lot of what you do. So your first
time home visits, you're not praying with them.
You're not sharing Jesus with them. The country
is 99 .9 % Muslim. So your first home visits,
you're just establishing a foundation. You're
going there with food, food bags. You're going
there with medication, vitamins, kids' vitamins,
things like that. And so these first home visits
are just an introduction, and you're really getting
to hear all about their story and how they got
there. And all the stories are the same from
the refugees. They are leaving these countries
that have just been worn torn. Or they've been
pushed out by ISIS, which in their language is
dash. And you'll hear that in every story. Dash
this, dash that, dash this. Because if you're
not an extreme enough Muslim, they'll try to
kill you just like they will a Christian. And
so what I got from that was, man, these are just
normal people that want their kids safe. They
want to raise their kids in a safe place. They
don't want bombs going off. They want to be able
to protect their husband or wife. These are just
normal people. These are just people that want
to live a safe life and have their kids get an
education. And all these people had to leave
from they were dentists or carpenters or they
had real jobs and real life. But because of war,
because of ISIS, they've had to push out. And
they're in really tough situations. And that's
what I love what Jamel's doing. And I love that
we partner with him because we made these shirts
a few years ago for people. And we're for all
people. And what that means is we're going to
accept people right where they're at. But that
doesn't mean we approve. of their choices. It
doesn't mean we approve of their belief system,
but like Jesus came full of grace and truth,
that's what we're going to do. And we're going
to love people right where they're at. I was
able to meet a couple that, husband and wife
couple that started a prison ministry, and they
did not see anyone come to Jesus for 10 years.
They were only allowed to get into one prison
for several years. They were only able to meet
with one or two guys within this prison. Ten
years, they didn't see any fruit. But they knew
God was calling them. They knew God was calling
them to these prisons in these Muslim countries.
And then they started to see a little fruit.
And then they started to get into several of
the prisons. And I'm just here today to say,
if you have been chasing a dream or something
you know God has called you to, don't stop. Keep
pushing forward. Trust that you're doing what
God has called you to. And he's in charge of
that timeline. God does not move slow as we like
to think about it, you know? It says that one
day is like a thousand years to him and a thousand
years is like a day. If God's put something in
your heart that's good and sharing the gospel
and it's moving too slow for you, trust in him
and press forward because we celebrate our God
and everything he does. But we didn't just visit
Jordan over this year, this beginning of this
first year. We also got to visit DR. And with
that, we're gonna have Pastor Bob share some
things. Good morning. I had the privilege of
leading a team of 12 to Dominican Republic last
month. And what we've been doing down there,
we have a connection down there. His name is
Nelson Paulino. And Nelson was working with Vision
Trust. But about five years ago, a little over,
he felt he got a vision from God to start this
new ministry, which is called Casa Misionera.
So what Casa does is Nelson goes to every church.
In Dominican Republic, where he has a connection,
he will ask the youth pastor there, give me your
top two or three kids that are graduating high
school that are on fire for the Lord. Then he
says, I'll pay for their college for four years,
but they have to do a four -year leadership program
with me. His goal is to raise up leaders in various
fields in the country with the idea of we're
going to change this country with this younger
new generation. So we have the privilege of going
down there, and it was amazing. We worked beside
the CASA students. So we'll go with these students,
do whatever mission it is with them, and then
they take the ministry over and run these kids.
So I want to show you a quick video, and I'll
explain a couple things while the video is going
on. First of all, the only tough part about doing
Dominican Republic... We're getting out of this
bus after 24 hours of travel with very little
sleep. This is one of the churches in the Dominican.
That guy is handsome. Don't know. So what they're
doing here, that is Nelson Paulino. So he's going
to introduce this group of students that are
in Casa Misionera, and then they will tell you
what their major is in college and how they expect
and hope to change the country. We're coming
in here. This is pretty interesting, and I'll
tell you a little bit more about it after. That's
a public school, so we give a gospel message
in a public school. The next kid up in the white
shirt, pay attention to him. That boy, I'll tell
you about him in a minute. We had so many students
accept Jesus Christ that day, and that is our
team and their team praying with them. And then
those kids will follow up and get them plugged
in to local churches. So it's amazing. So I want
to tell you that boy in the white shirt, this
is a very, it's such a God story. So I was in
Dominican with Casa Misionera two years ago,
and we were in that public high school. They
kind of rushed us out at the end. We had to get
to the next thing. So I literally took a picture
with one boy. He came up and he didn't speak
English. So never got his name, gave him a hug,
took a picture, went on. This past December,
Todd and I went down there because Casa Missionero
was graduating their first four -year class.
So we went to the graduation, really fell in
love with what they're doing. It is amazing,
this idea of changing a country with these young
people. So anyway, we got back and I called Nelson
up and I said, hey, I would really, me and my
wife have been talking, we want to sponsor one
of the kids through college. And so he said,
okay, well, you're normally, you were in Nagua.
Most of the stuff you're going to do missions
-wise will be in Nagua. So he said, I'll find
a Nagua student. So he sends me a name, and I
said, that's great. We'll sponsor that boy. So
this time, when I went down there last month,
they go, do you want to meet the boy you're sponsoring?
So I did, and I met him, and I gave him a hug,
and his name is Yendi. And I go, I'm talking
to him. I go, Yendi, wait a minute. I pull out
my phone. I said, I was in Dominican two years
ago at a public high school. And I showed him
the picture. I go, is that you? He goes, yes,
I accepted Jesus that day. And now I am in Casa
Misionera. Yes. And the amazing part now is Yendi
and I talk literally every day. Yendi is discipling
five boys right now. And so I kind of try to
help him with that from our end. And then I want
to show you some of the other stuff we do while
we're in DR because I think pictures and videos
speak better than I could. So if you could show
that next video. So in the villages near the
churches, they know who is needy and who needs
money or food and prayer. So they send our teams
in there. And then we bring them food. You'll
see the kids bringing it in, and we pray with
them. And then the church makes the connection
with them after that. We had a couple building
projects they let us do with people to make that
connection to the church too. So we got to put
a roof on, and we got to do cement work, which
was really fun. You recognize a lot of these
people on that team from church. This is one
of the church service they did in the village
outside. And when they party during a church
service, they really get into it. It's amazing.
We also went to four or five other schools. Gave
gospel messages and kids were coming to Christ
everywhere. And then the CASA students will connect
them in. So they continue to keep going. So amazing
to see what God is doing in Dominican Republic.
And the privilege we have. It's a continual involvement.
So literally our team of 12 has been in touch
with these Dominican students on the weekly,
keeping in touch, helping them grow and encouraging
them. And now Pastor Todd will lead a trip down
to Dominican in June to run a high school camp.
with Casa Missionary students. So we are just
amazed at what God is doing, not just here, but
globally. So one of the things about that, we
say it all the time, we couldn't do these things
without your support and your generosity. So
thank you, because you're a part of this celebration
too.