WEBVTT 00:00:01.749 --> 00:00:04.049 Well, good morning, church. It is so good to 00:00:04.049 --> 00:00:06.469 be with you guys this morning. I wanna welcome 00:00:06.469 --> 00:00:08.289 you. I wanna welcome those of you at our Prescott 00:00:08.289 --> 00:00:11.109 Valley location as well. Welcome. So glad that 00:00:11.109 --> 00:00:13.830 you get to join us this morning. I hope you guys 00:00:13.830 --> 00:00:16.449 had an incredible Thanksgiving. I hope you didn't 00:00:16.449 --> 00:00:19.449 fight with your families too much. Some of you 00:00:19.449 --> 00:00:21.070 laughed because that's not true. That's not what 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:23.829 happened at your gathering. But man, we're just 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:26.030 so glad that we made it through Thanksgiving. 00:00:26.089 --> 00:00:28.910 And now I can officially say Merry Christmas. 00:00:29.089 --> 00:00:32.179 Merry Christmas to you guys. Some of you, though, 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.380 you've been celebrating for a while, right? Because 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:37.359 you break the laws that God set in place that 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:38.840 you're supposed to wait till after Thanksgiving. 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:41.740 And you know my stance on that. I'm not okay 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:45.240 with that. But this year was a little different. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:48.100 My wife and I decided that this year we were 00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:51.119 gonna get our kids for Christmas their very first 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:54.820 puppy. And so we were searching and we're going, 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:56.159 we're gonna find this puppy and we wanna get 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.899 this puppy for our kids. And so we finally found 00:00:58.899 --> 00:01:01.700 a puppy, but they said, you gotta take it. now, 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:04.379 and so we took the puppy about a week ago, and 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:05.659 we brought the kids together, and we're like, 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:07.439 okay, I know we're not supposed to celebrate 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.000 until after Thanksgiving, but we got to break 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:10.739 our own rule. Here's your Christmas present right 00:01:10.739 --> 00:01:13.420 now, and so this is what he looks like. This 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:17.560 is him. Yeah, he's absolutely adorable. The kids 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:20.719 lost their mind. They love him so much, and here's 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.239 the thing. He's half poodle, half chihuahua, 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:27.680 okay? Like, I don't know how that happened. I 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:30.859 try not to think about it, but so like, That's 00:01:30.859 --> 00:01:32.519 what he is. And I don't know what he's gonna 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:34.939 look like when he gets older. And so I had to 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:36.579 Google and I'm like, what's he gonna look like, 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:39.180 right? And so like, this is option one. There's 00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:40.859 two very clear options, okay? This is option 00:01:40.859 --> 00:01:43.680 one. He could be super cute. And this is option 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:49.060 two. Okay, so like, it's a flip of the coin, 00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:50.379 all right? We don't know what's gonna happen 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:52.359 here. Like it could be this mangy little guy 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:54.459 or it could be really cute. You can go ahead 00:01:54.459 --> 00:01:57.700 and take that down, man. But you know what? Christmas 00:01:57.700 --> 00:02:01.379 is an exciting time, and we love Christmas here 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:04.120 at Heights. Christmas is a big deal, and here's 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:08.319 why, because Christmas is good news. Christmas 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.400 is good news. And we get to proclaim that good 00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:13.699 news this Christmas. And we're excited about 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:15.740 this good news. So as we walk through Advent, 00:02:15.900 --> 00:02:19.259 as we lead up to Christmas, as we lead up to 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:21.219 this good news, we're gonna be talking over the 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:23.159 next couple of weeks about what we as a church 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:27.379 can do to prepare for Christmas, to prepare for 00:02:27.379 --> 00:02:29.620 the good news, right? That's what Advent is, 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:32.639 is it's preparing for. what's coming, which is 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.500 Christmas, which is this good news that we get 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.319 to proclaim. So we as a church get to step into 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:39.979 that and be a part of what God is doing as we 00:02:39.979 --> 00:02:42.939 lead up to Christmas. A couple of years ago, 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:45.180 I took my family on a vacation and we went to 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:47.960 Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe is beautiful. And we 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.180 were so excited about our vacation there. And 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:52.759 as we were coming around the mountain, the last 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:54.860 little dip before you go into Tahoe, our car 00:02:54.860 --> 00:02:58.280 broke down. and we're like, this is just wonderful 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.379 timing. Right on the side of the road, we pull 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:02.539 over, and we have to call a tow truck that comes 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:05.560 and gets us and takes the car to the shop to 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:07.860 get fixed, drops us off at the hotel, and we're 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:09.719 like, okay, well, hopefully they can fix the 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:11.699 car while we are on vacation at the hotel. So 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:14.199 we went through the week, incredible vacation, 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:16.400 incredible time, and we get to the end of it, 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:18.500 which means the hotel is done being paid for, 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:21.669 but the car's not done yet. And so we're like, 00:03:21.689 --> 00:03:23.210 we have a problem because I don't have any money 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:25.229 left to pay for more nights at the hotel, but 00:03:25.229 --> 00:03:28.530 the car's not done. And so I called up a guy 00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:30.569 that was interning for me at a church that I 00:03:30.569 --> 00:03:32.530 worked at, and he was living in Reno, which is 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:35.129 a little over an hour away from Tahoe. I said, 00:03:35.189 --> 00:03:37.050 can you come pick us up? So he comes and picks 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:39.189 us up, and we go to stay at his house. Okay, 00:03:39.189 --> 00:03:41.030 we scheduled a beautiful vacation in Tahoe, and 00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:43.569 I ended up in Reno. Now, I'm not hating on Reno, 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:46.909 but it's not where I originally scheduled my 00:03:46.909 --> 00:03:49.060 vacation. You know what I'm saying? It's not 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:52.080 my idea of a nice place to be hanging out. So 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:54.280 as we're in Reno, we're at their house, I have 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.099 a choice to make, right? I'm like, I don't really 00:03:56.099 --> 00:03:58.900 wanna be here. But the choice that I have to 00:03:58.900 --> 00:04:01.419 make is, do I just sit here and waste the time 00:04:01.419 --> 00:04:04.139 that I'm here or do I kind of explore? Do I take 00:04:04.139 --> 00:04:05.860 the family around? Do we make the best of the 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:09.520 time that we have with where we're at? So I think 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.039 the question that I have for you is this. The 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.340 question is, what if God has put you exactly 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:18.319 where he wants you for a reason? Wherever you 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.860 find yourself in life, what if God has put you 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:27.259 exactly where he wants you for a reason? When 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:29.740 I was in college, if you guys know my story, 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:32.360 I played baseball growing up and I played baseball 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.560 at a junior college in San Diego. And when I 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.980 played baseball there, my goal was to play at 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:38.759 the next level, to play at a four -year university. 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:40.980 And I had the opportunity to sign with a four 00:04:40.980 --> 00:04:43.379 -year university. And when I did that, I'm like, 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:46.519 man, I arrived, I made it. I've been working 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:48.459 towards this my whole life and I've crossed the 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:50.560 finish line. I've done it. I've made it. And 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.920 what I was sorely mistaken on, what I did not 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:55.079 understand is that that's when the real work 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:57.879 started. I didn't cross the finish line. That's 00:04:57.879 --> 00:04:59.500 not when it was over. I didn't arrive. That's 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:01.480 when I actually, the real work started. And I 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:03.339 think for some of us, when it comes to our faith 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:06.120 journey, for some of us, when it comes to our 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:07.800 faith journey, we put our faith and trust in 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:09.300 Jesus and we crossed the finish line because 00:05:09.300 --> 00:05:12.529 we were now a child of God. And we've made it. 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:15.050 We gotta get into heaven free card. And we've 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:16.750 made it. We've crossed the finish line. And what 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:18.569 you need to realize is you just crossed the starting 00:05:18.569 --> 00:05:21.829 line. That's it. When you said yes to Jesus, 00:05:21.930 --> 00:05:23.829 when you became a part of his family, you didn't 00:05:23.829 --> 00:05:26.009 arrive. You didn't make it. You just began the 00:05:26.009 --> 00:05:29.569 journey. You just entered into the mission that 00:05:29.569 --> 00:05:31.750 God has given you. This is when the real work 00:05:31.750 --> 00:05:33.550 starts. It's not just showing up to church. It's 00:05:33.550 --> 00:05:35.589 not just coasting through. It's saying, man, 00:05:35.610 --> 00:05:37.389 yes, I'm a follower of Jesus, which means that 00:05:37.389 --> 00:05:41.370 I've been put on mission. All right, here we 00:05:41.370 --> 00:05:44.709 call it kingdom mission. It's living out kingdom 00:05:44.709 --> 00:05:48.449 mission wherever you find yourself. That's what 00:05:48.449 --> 00:05:50.610 you've on. That's where when you said yes to 00:05:50.610 --> 00:05:53.089 Jesus, yes, Jesus, I want, because of your death 00:05:53.089 --> 00:05:55.050 on the cross, I wanna be a part of your family. 00:05:55.470 --> 00:05:57.290 And you've been adopted into his family saying, 00:05:57.410 --> 00:05:59.750 awesome, you're now on kingdom mission. Kingdom 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:01.990 mission is finding yourself wherever you're at. 00:06:02.629 --> 00:06:04.850 It's loving the people around you, man. Would 00:06:04.850 --> 00:06:07.769 people around you say that you're loving? All 00:06:07.769 --> 00:06:10.480 right, it's serving. Are you serving the people 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:12.199 around you? Are you taking your time and saying, 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:15.060 hey, I wanna serve others with my time, right? 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.639 It's giving. We just talk for weeks about the 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:20.639 generous life, your time, your talent, your treasure, 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:23.500 your finances to say, hey, I wanna give these 00:06:23.500 --> 00:06:25.319 things because that's what kingdom mission does 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.339 is it gives, it's giving, right? It's sharing. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.160 Are you sharing Jesus with the people around 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.860 you? Because if you're on kingdom mission, you're 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:35.300 sharing Jesus, right? It's inviting. It's saying, 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:37.160 hey. Would you come check it out? I wanna invite 00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:39.300 you to my church. I wanna invite you to check 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:42.540 out what Jesus is doing. That's what kingdom 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:44.439 mission is. And that's the mission that every 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:46.339 single one of us has been called to. If you're 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:48.000 a follower of Jesus, you haven't crossed the 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.079 finish line, you crossed the starting line and 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:52.680 it's your job to live on kingdom mission. It's 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:55.100 your job to push the mission forward because 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:57.720 wherever you find yourself is an opportunity 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:02.300 to fulfill the mission. If you're taking notes 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.139 today, write this down. Your circle. is often 00:07:05.139 --> 00:07:08.980 your assignment. Your circle is often your assignment. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.540 We're gonna be in the Old Testament today and 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:16.399 we're at the time of Xerxes who ruled over 127 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.100 provinces. A massive rule for King Xerxes at 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:23.120 this time is he's over 127 provinces. He had 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.259 a lot of power. And at this time, the Jewish 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:29.759 people, they're in captivity in Susa. under King 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:31.819 Xerxes. Now, King Xerxes, with all the power 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:34.699 that he has, King Xerxes can do kind of whatever 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:38.480 he wants. And so one day, King Xerxes, he summons 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:41.660 his queen. His queen, I'm gonna summon you. And 00:07:41.660 --> 00:07:44.139 the queen goes, no, I'm not going. I don't wanna 00:07:44.139 --> 00:07:47.360 come see you. And so this made King Xerxes pretty 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:48.779 upset because he's like, you don't know who I 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:50.699 am. I'm King Xerxes. I'm over 127 provinces. 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:52.439 I said, come, you come. And she's like, nope. 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:55.120 And so he's like, we got a problem, right? So 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:58.660 he got his wise counsel together. Okay, I say 00:07:58.660 --> 00:08:01.079 wise counsel because all this dude did is all 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:02.480 he did. He brought his boys together and he was 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.600 like, hey, we got a problem. All right, like 00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:06.939 I picture it like this. He's in the garage with 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:08.519 a pack of Coors Light, right? And he's like, 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.220 hey, come on over. We need to talk. All right, 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.060 we need to talk. He got his boys together, right? 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:15.319 He gathered as many idiots as he could to come 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.839 up with some great ideas. And why I say that 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:21.639 is this, Esther chapter one, verse 19. It says, 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:23.240 therefore, this is their great advice, ready? 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:25.800 Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:28.180 a royal decree. and let it be written in the 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:31.220 laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:33.740 No one can take this away. That Vashti, right, 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:36.200 the queen Vashti, is never again to enter the 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:39.799 presence of King Xerxes. Also, all right, I see 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:41.820 him like take another sip, and he's like, also, 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:45.220 let the king give her royal position to someone 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:47.980 else who is better than she. All right, I can 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:49.460 picture him in the garage. He like punctuates 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:50.879 it. He throws the dart at the dartboard, and 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:53.700 he's like, give it to someone else, right? And 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:55.600 the king, obviously, he's sitting there with 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.909 his boys. He called all the idiots together and 00:08:57.909 --> 00:08:59.370 he's like, I love that idea. That's great, get 00:08:59.370 --> 00:09:02.330 rid of her. And then he's like, now I'm kind 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:04.929 of lonely. I don't know what to do now. So you 00:09:04.929 --> 00:09:07.110 know what he did? He called the boys back together. 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:08.870 He's like, boys, I need another brilliant idea. 00:09:08.909 --> 00:09:11.190 Come get me something. I got another 30 pack, 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:13.950 come on over. All right, so he gets there. And 00:09:13.950 --> 00:09:16.470 Esther chapter two, verse two, it says this. 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:18.190 Then the king's personal attendants proposed 00:09:18.190 --> 00:09:22.490 this. Let a search be made for beautiful young 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:26.029 virgins for the king. Let the king appoint commissioners 00:09:26.029 --> 00:09:28.730 in every province of his realm to bring all these 00:09:28.730 --> 00:09:31.629 beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel 00:09:31.629 --> 00:09:34.690 of Susa. Let them be placed under the care of 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:37.230 Haggai, the king's eunuch, who's in charge of 00:09:37.230 --> 00:09:40.169 the women. And let beauty treatments be given 00:09:40.169 --> 00:09:43.870 to them. Then let the young women who pleases 00:09:43.870 --> 00:09:47.870 the king be the queen instead of Vashti. And 00:09:47.870 --> 00:09:49.149 you know what the king did? He's like, brilliant 00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:52.509 idea. I love that. All the beautiful women of 00:09:52.509 --> 00:09:54.169 the town, that's amazing. Of the whole province, 00:09:54.210 --> 00:09:57.570 everywhere we find them. He says, this advice 00:09:57.570 --> 00:10:00.049 appealed to the king and he followed it. No, 00:10:00.049 --> 00:10:04.289 duh, he followed it. Did you hear the advice 00:10:04.289 --> 00:10:06.169 of the boys? They were like, hey, go find all 00:10:06.169 --> 00:10:08.009 the pretty ladies, every one of them, and then 00:10:08.009 --> 00:10:10.049 you can pick the one you want. He's like, great 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:13.190 idea. Of course he followed it. He's like, that's 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:17.090 brilliant. So at this time, there's this guy, 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:20.710 his name is Mordecai. And Mordecai, he adopted 00:10:20.710 --> 00:10:23.789 this lady named Esther. And Esther became his 00:10:23.789 --> 00:10:26.029 daughter. And Esther became one of the people 00:10:26.029 --> 00:10:28.570 that was in this beauty contest, right? She was 00:10:28.570 --> 00:10:31.110 a very attractive young woman and she became 00:10:31.110 --> 00:10:33.889 a part of what they were doing. And so King Xerxes 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:36.529 was like, okay, this is a part of the lineup 00:10:36.529 --> 00:10:38.210 of people I see. And this is what we see in Esther 00:10:38.210 --> 00:10:40.990 chapter two, verse 17. Now the king was attracted 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:43.509 to Esther more than to any of the other women. 00:10:43.750 --> 00:10:46.789 And she won his favor and approval more than 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:49.929 any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown 00:10:49.929 --> 00:10:53.950 on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 00:10:54.830 --> 00:10:58.370 She wins the beauty contest. And Esther goes 00:10:58.370 --> 00:11:01.370 from just being Mordecai's daughter, just a Jewish 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:03.090 person living in this community, remember living 00:11:03.090 --> 00:11:06.409 in captivity, to all of a sudden being the queen. 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:10.789 And so during this time, then Mordecai, I heard 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:12.769 dad, Mordecai gets into some trouble, right? 00:11:12.809 --> 00:11:14.289 But not some bad trouble, some good trouble. 00:11:14.409 --> 00:11:16.610 I mean, the consequences are bad because he was 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:19.289 gonna get killed. But the reason he got into 00:11:19.289 --> 00:11:21.190 trouble is because he wouldn't bow down to the 00:11:21.190 --> 00:11:22.889 second in command, whose name was Haman. Haman, 00:11:22.990 --> 00:11:24.649 who's the second in command, goes, hey, you gotta 00:11:24.649 --> 00:11:26.950 bow down to me. And Mordecai's like, hey, I'm 00:11:26.950 --> 00:11:28.529 not gonna do that because I worship God, I don't 00:11:28.529 --> 00:11:31.490 worship you. And so the second in command guy, 00:11:31.570 --> 00:11:34.350 he gets a little upset. He gets a little upset 00:11:34.350 --> 00:11:36.070 because he didn't do what he asked him to do. 00:11:36.129 --> 00:11:38.269 And so he goes to the king and he goes, Xerxes, 00:11:38.350 --> 00:11:40.950 we got a problem because this dude over here, 00:11:41.029 --> 00:11:43.730 Mort, right? Mort didn't bow down. And he's like, 00:11:43.769 --> 00:11:46.090 so I wanna kill Mort, but not just Mort, I wanna 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:49.009 kill all of his people too. The Jewish people, 00:11:49.210 --> 00:11:53.269 aka God's chosen people. All right, so now we 00:11:53.269 --> 00:11:55.929 got a problem. And so Mort is going, okay, we 00:11:55.929 --> 00:11:57.590 got a big problem here. Not only do they wanna 00:11:57.590 --> 00:11:59.570 kill me, but they wanna kill all my people and 00:11:59.570 --> 00:12:01.330 we gotta do something about it. And then he remembers 00:12:01.330 --> 00:12:05.830 what Esther's position is. So he goes to Esther. 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:08.389 He goes to Esther and he tells her all about 00:12:08.389 --> 00:12:10.190 the problem and he's going, hey, the second in 00:12:10.190 --> 00:12:11.509 command wants to come kill me and I don't know 00:12:11.509 --> 00:12:13.169 what to do because now he's gonna kill all of 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:14.870 God's people and we gotta do something about 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:18.470 this. And she goes, hey, hold up. Dude, what 00:12:18.470 --> 00:12:19.850 am I supposed to do about it? Do you remember 00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:21.429 the last queen who just didn't come when she 00:12:21.429 --> 00:12:22.950 was called and all of a sudden she was gone? 00:12:23.769 --> 00:12:25.330 Like, how am I supposed to stop this big deal? 00:12:26.230 --> 00:12:29.169 And so Mort gives her a pep talk. He's like, 00:12:29.250 --> 00:12:30.549 okay, yeah, this isn't gonna work. Let me give 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:32.409 you a pep talk then. Okay, and this is what he 00:12:32.409 --> 00:12:36.889 says. In Esther chapter four, verse 12. When 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:39.269 Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:42.129 sent back this answer. He said, do not think 00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:43.889 that because you are in the king's house, you 00:12:43.889 --> 00:12:46.740 alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:49.639 remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance 00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:52.639 for the Jews will arise from another place, but 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.779 you and your father's family will perish. He 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:58.759 says this, and who knows, but that you have come 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:03.179 to your royal position for such a time as this. 00:13:04.139 --> 00:13:07.639 For such a time as this. Man, that's important. 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:09.980 I want you to remember that. For such a time 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:14.120 as this. And so Esther, she goes to the king. 00:13:14.490 --> 00:13:17.129 She goes to King Xerxes and she tries to set 00:13:17.129 --> 00:13:20.649 up this banquet with him and the second in command, 00:13:20.850 --> 00:13:23.250 right? This Haman guy, this guy who's a mess. 00:13:24.169 --> 00:13:26.350 I know there's a lot of details that go on in 00:13:26.350 --> 00:13:27.830 this story that I would love for you to read. 00:13:27.850 --> 00:13:29.409 You can go to Esther and you can read more about 00:13:29.409 --> 00:13:31.690 it, but I got like 15 minutes to unpack the entire 00:13:31.690 --> 00:13:34.529 book of Esther. So you can read the details for 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:36.529 yourself. There's some more things there. But 00:13:36.529 --> 00:13:38.230 she goes and she asked for this banquet to happen. 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:40.909 And so this banquet happens with them. And when 00:13:40.909 --> 00:13:43.129 Esther is there, she asked for her people to 00:13:43.129 --> 00:13:46.190 be spared. She says, this is the decree that 00:13:46.190 --> 00:13:49.990 went out. This is what Haman tricked Xerxes into 00:13:49.990 --> 00:13:51.950 to send out to kill all these people. And she 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:53.789 goes, can this be repealed? Can this be taken 00:13:53.789 --> 00:13:57.250 away? And so he takes away that. He spared her 00:13:57.250 --> 00:13:59.409 people. And then the second in command, Haman, 00:13:59.450 --> 00:14:01.590 the bad guy, he got what was coming to him. Again, 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:03.070 there's a lot of details there that you need 00:14:03.070 --> 00:14:05.230 to go read, but he got what was coming to him. 00:14:06.649 --> 00:14:09.049 He got what was coming to him instead. And this 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:13.200 is what it says in Esther 8, verse 11. The king's 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:16.200 edict granted the Jews in every city the right 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:19.279 to assemble and to protect themselves, to destroy, 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:22.720 kill, and annihilate the armed men of any nationality 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.259 or province who might attack them and their women 00:14:25.259 --> 00:14:27.980 and children, and to plunder the property of 00:14:27.980 --> 00:14:31.559 their enemies. He's going, hey, you can defend 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:33.419 yourself. If these attacks come against you, 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:35.200 you can defend yourself. He's saying, you don't 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:36.519 have to just roll over and take it. You don't 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.340 just have to be killed. He issues this decree, 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:41.850 but that's not all. Haman, the bad guy, he takes 00:14:41.850 --> 00:14:43.830 his position away and then he gives it to Mordecai 00:14:43.830 --> 00:14:45.809 instead, right? This is what it says in Esther 00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:50.350 8, verse 15. When Mordecai left the king's presence, 00:14:50.610 --> 00:14:53.710 he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, 00:14:53.909 --> 00:14:57.110 a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine 00:14:57.110 --> 00:15:00.649 linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 00:15:01.269 --> 00:15:05.149 For the Jews, it was a time of happiness and 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:12.620 joy, gladness and honor. See, Esther, Esther 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:17.200 found herself in a place. Esther found herself 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:22.500 in a position. Esther found herself around people 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:26.980 where she had a choice to make. Do I just float 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:30.379 through or do I use where God has put me for 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:34.740 his purpose? And Esther in that moment realized, 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:38.320 man, the place that I am. The position that I 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:43.720 hold, the people that I'm around. You guys have 00:15:43.720 --> 00:15:47.200 places where you're at, right? Your job is a 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.240 place where you find yourself. You find yourself 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:51.480 in this place. That's your job. That's where 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.000 you find yourself. Some of you, you find yourself 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.240 at a school. Your school is where you find yourself, 00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:59.399 right? Your neighborhood is where you find yourself. 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:01.960 It's the place you're at. Some of you parents, 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:03.879 you find yourself at school pickup and it's not 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.549 where you wanna be. Like this place is terrible, 00:16:06.629 --> 00:16:10.570 but that's where you're at. You have positions 00:16:10.570 --> 00:16:12.590 that you hold. Some of you, when it comes to 00:16:12.590 --> 00:16:14.769 your employment, you have positions that you 00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:19.909 hold within your job. Some of you, you hold positions 00:16:19.909 --> 00:16:23.549 like you're the HOA president, right? If that's 00:16:23.549 --> 00:16:25.370 you, you need to chill out. I'm just telling 00:16:25.370 --> 00:16:28.629 you right now. If that's you, you need to chill 00:16:28.629 --> 00:16:30.750 the heck out, especially if you live in my neighborhood. 00:16:31.909 --> 00:16:34.809 Just chill out, all right? I mean, some of you 00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:38.970 hold positions and maybe you're a coach. I don't 00:16:38.970 --> 00:16:40.669 know what position you hold, but you hold a position 00:16:40.669 --> 00:16:43.429 and God has put you there for a reason, right? 00:16:43.490 --> 00:16:45.909 You are around people. There are people that 00:16:45.909 --> 00:16:47.730 you rub shoulders with, whether it's just the 00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:50.649 other parents on the soccer team, whether it's 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:53.470 the people that you work with. Your neighbors, 00:16:53.669 --> 00:16:56.009 wherever you find yourself, you are in a place 00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:57.990 and I need you to know that you are there for 00:16:57.990 --> 00:17:01.110 a reason. Just like Esther said, man, where I'm 00:17:01.110 --> 00:17:03.629 at, where God has placed me is exactly where 00:17:03.629 --> 00:17:06.210 God wants me. And you know why? Because you are 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:11.210 the only one that can do that mission. The place 00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:13.730 that you've been put, that's your mission and 00:17:13.730 --> 00:17:19.480 only you can live that mission. When I was younger, 00:17:19.539 --> 00:17:22.019 I worked for an excavation company and when I 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:24.180 was working for them, there was different positions 00:17:24.180 --> 00:17:26.319 and I was a laborer, which meant that I held 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:28.619 a shovel while everyone else got to do cool things 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:31.420 in giant machines and got to do cool things in 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:33.220 the great equipment because they were certified, 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:35.680 because they went through the training. And I 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.119 would be there with my shovel and I would look 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.700 at their cool machinery and I would be like, 00:17:38.740 --> 00:17:40.579 man, just walking close to it and my foreman 00:17:40.579 --> 00:17:41.819 would come over and he's like, uh -uh, I don't 00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:44.200 think so, buddy. You pick your shovel up and 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:46.119 get back over there, right? I'm like, but I just 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.000 wanna be there. I just wanna do that. And he's 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.619 like, no, that's not your job, man. This is your 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.000 job. See, I think some of you, when it comes 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.339 to you living on kingdom mission, you look at 00:17:55.339 --> 00:17:57.119 other people's positions and you go, but if I 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.700 was in their position, I could really make a 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:00.980 difference. But if I lived their life, then something 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:02.680 could actually happen. And listen, you need to 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:04.500 understand that God has put you where he's put 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:08.400 you for a reason. That's your job and no one 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:10.559 else can live it. What I mean is this, I can't 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.680 walk into your work or your job and start sharing 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.700 Jesus with your coworkers. You know why? That's 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:18.799 weird. They'd be like, listen, get that bald 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.319 guy out of here. That's weird. What's he doing? 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:25.220 But you can do that. Just like you guys can't 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:26.740 go hang out with the whole Embry -Riddle baseball 00:18:26.740 --> 00:18:28.799 team, but I can because I coach there and that's 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.180 my job. That's not yours, that's mine. Just like 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:34.990 your mission is not my mission. God has put you 00:18:34.990 --> 00:18:37.450 on a mission and he's put you around people and 00:18:37.450 --> 00:18:39.430 he's given you a position and he's put you in 00:18:39.430 --> 00:18:41.430 a place for a reason. And here's the thing, you 00:18:41.430 --> 00:18:45.250 might not even like where you're at. You're like, 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:48.109 I don't even know how I ended up here. I don't 00:18:48.109 --> 00:18:49.609 wanna be where I am. You might not even like 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:51.069 where you're at, but I know why you're there 00:18:51.069 --> 00:18:57.890 for such a time as this. You know, we live in 00:18:57.890 --> 00:19:00.490 a time and a generation where people are coming 00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:03.759 to Jesus more. than we've seen in hundreds of 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.880 years, where people are open to the gospel. Where 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:09.700 people are coming, and this is all across the 00:19:09.700 --> 00:19:11.299 country, where people are interested in it. We're 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:13.519 seeing people influential on social media, on 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:16.119 TikTok, on Instagram, that were living a very 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.019 public, sinful life that are now going to Jesus, 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:21.200 that are now opening their Bible, that are reading 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:22.859 to their millions of followers and saying, hey, 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.039 I think Jesus is the answer. It's not the parties, 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:26.940 it's not the sexuality, it's not the things that 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:28.680 I've been chasing, but Jesus is the answer, and 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:30.319 that's the time that we're living in. You've 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:33.619 been put where you're at for such a time as this. 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:37.000 That's why you're here. That's why you exist 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:38.920 is for the kingdom mission that God has put you 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.779 on and your circle is yours. It's only yours, 00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.599 which makes what you do in your circle, which 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.700 makes what you do with your opportunity so important 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:52.000 because it's only yours. If you're taking notes, 00:19:52.059 --> 00:19:54.460 write this down. God often uses natural relationships 00:19:54.460 --> 00:19:59.000 to create spiritual impact. God often uses natural 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:03.700 relationships to create spiritual impact. We 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:06.279 like to think of people that are in the position 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:07.779 they're at like they've always been there. We 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:09.259 don't remember their past, right? We think of 00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:10.900 athletes and we're like, you've just always been 00:20:10.900 --> 00:20:13.440 at a professional level. And there was a process 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:16.019 before that. We think of that when it comes to 00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:18.339 Christians, pastors on stage, or even famous 00:20:18.339 --> 00:20:21.059 Christians. The most famous Christian probably 00:20:21.059 --> 00:20:23.240 of our generation is Billy Graham. Billy Graham 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.079 would pack out stadiums and he would preach the 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:27.400 gospel and hundreds of thousands of people came 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.539 to Jesus because of Billy Graham. Billy Graham 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:33.069 wasn't always a Christian. He was a farm boy. 00:20:33.849 --> 00:20:36.369 And one of the farm hands on his farm invited 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:38.549 him to church, and that's where he met Jesus. 00:20:40.509 --> 00:20:43.309 C .S. Lewis, one of the greatest minds of our 00:20:43.309 --> 00:20:45.190 generation or of any generation when it comes 00:20:45.190 --> 00:20:48.089 to Christian thought, C .S. Lewis wanted nothing 00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:50.690 to do with Christianity, wanted nothing to do 00:20:50.690 --> 00:20:53.529 with God, but he had friends that were persistent 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:57.410 with him. In fact, his quote that C .S. Lewis 00:20:57.410 --> 00:21:00.710 says, He says that I was the most reluctant convert 00:21:00.710 --> 00:21:05.710 in England. He's like, you can't get me. But 00:21:05.710 --> 00:21:07.089 he had a bunch of friends that were persistent, 00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:11.910 that wouldn't give up. And he met Jesus. There's 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:13.529 a guy named Craig Groeschel and Craig Groeschel 00:21:13.529 --> 00:21:18.210 was a college athlete and a frat guy. And he 00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:20.109 was friends with a sorority girl and the sorority 00:21:20.109 --> 00:21:21.890 girl invited him to church and he met Jesus. 00:21:21.970 --> 00:21:24.369 And now currently, right now, as we speak, he's 00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:26.309 a pastor of one of the largest churches in the 00:21:26.309 --> 00:21:31.160 world. Because their friends decided that their 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:33.240 circle, that their natural relationships could 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:36.539 have spiritual impact. They said, hey, I'm just 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:38.440 gonna invite you. I'm just gonna have you come 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.700 check it out. I mean, I love this when Jesus 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:43.640 is walking around and he's calling his disciples. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:45.759 He's calling his disciples and he's like, hey, 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:49.599 come follow me. Hey, come follow me. And he meets 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:51.480 this guy named Andrew and Andrew starts following 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:53.160 Jesus. He starts hearing about Jesus. He starts 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.019 staying with Jesus. And then immediately, this 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:58.000 is what it says he does. In John chapter one. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.740 Verse 40 says, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.700 was one of the two who heard what John had said 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:06.180 and who had followed Jesus. And then it says 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:09.519 the first thing Andrew did, the first thing Andrew 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:10.960 did, he didn't go to church and go, I'm just 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:12.400 gonna sit here. I gotta make sure I know everything 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:14.960 first. I'm just gonna wait. I just gotta check 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:16.420 it off my list and go to church every Sunday 00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:17.579 for the rest of my life. No, no, no, what do 00:22:17.579 --> 00:22:18.859 you do? What do you do? What do you do? First 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:22.400 thing he did was he was to find his brother Simon 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.579 and tell him we have found the Messiah that is 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:28.910 the Christ. We found him. I love that. And then 00:22:28.910 --> 00:22:31.250 what does he say? And he brought him to Jesus. 00:22:31.329 --> 00:22:33.150 He's like, hey, we found him. I'm gonna tell 00:22:33.150 --> 00:22:35.289 you about this and then I wanna bring you to 00:22:35.289 --> 00:22:37.970 see him. I wanna invite you to come check him 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:40.829 out. This is what he does. And what he does that 00:22:40.829 --> 00:22:42.910 I think is so beautiful is Andrew's ministry. 00:22:43.529 --> 00:22:45.650 He meets Jesus and then immediately he starts 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:47.210 in ministry, right? Because when you meet Jesus 00:22:47.210 --> 00:22:48.950 and you're put on kingdom mission, and when he 00:22:48.950 --> 00:22:51.390 was on kingdom mission, what did he do? He didn't 00:22:51.390 --> 00:22:55.589 start with strangers. We have this weird picture 00:22:55.589 --> 00:22:58.329 of evangelism. We gotta go to a street corner, 00:22:58.410 --> 00:22:59.750 right? We gotta get our box. We gotta set our 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:01.789 box up and we gotta get on our box and make sure 00:23:01.789 --> 00:23:03.369 our sign tells everyone they're going to hell 00:23:03.369 --> 00:23:04.890 and we gotta get a bullhorn and we gotta yell 00:23:04.890 --> 00:23:06.490 at everyone, right? Because that's evangelism. 00:23:07.490 --> 00:23:11.289 And that's a picture we have in our head. All 00:23:11.289 --> 00:23:12.650 right, sometimes we think it's a program. We 00:23:12.650 --> 00:23:14.549 go, no, listen, you need to do evangelism. How 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:16.269 come this church doesn't do evangelism? We need 00:23:16.269 --> 00:23:19.309 to go out onto the Prescott Square every Friday 00:23:19.309 --> 00:23:20.769 night. We need to go have random conversations 00:23:20.769 --> 00:23:22.390 with people because that's evangelism. No, it's 00:23:22.390 --> 00:23:26.079 not. No, it's not. Yeah, that's telling people 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:27.539 about Jesus, but you need to understand that's 00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:29.740 not what evangelism is. If it starts with the 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:31.460 natural relationships that you have, what did 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:35.460 Andrew do? He went straight to his brother. The 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:37.619 natural relationships you have can have spiritual 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:43.799 impact. Who has God placed next to you? It's 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:46.680 important, and here's why, because 75 to 90 % 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:50.720 of Christians say that they came to faith because 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:54.900 of a friend or family member. That's almost all 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:58.700 of them. That's almost all of you in this room. 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:01.019 Think about it. You came to faith because of 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:03.079 a friend or family member. That's why you're 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:07.000 where you're at right now. The statistics are 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:11.700 in our favor. This is crazy. 80 % of non -churchgoers 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.599 say that they would go to church if someone that 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.579 they knew invited them. We're afraid to invite 00:24:18.579 --> 00:24:20.569 because we're like, what if they say no? But 00:24:20.569 --> 00:24:22.289 the statistics say that eight out of 10 of them 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:25.509 are just waiting for you to invite them. Eight 00:24:25.509 --> 00:24:27.430 out of 10 of them are going, man, if someone 00:24:27.430 --> 00:24:32.109 that I know invites me, yeah, I'll go. But here's 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:36.630 the sad part. Church, this is not okay. Is that 00:24:36.630 --> 00:24:38.849 most Christians don't know anyone who's not a 00:24:38.849 --> 00:24:42.690 Christian. Our statistics say that 27%, that's 00:24:42.690 --> 00:24:44.990 one out of four of us, one out of four of us, 00:24:45.049 --> 00:24:50.710 say they don't know a non -believer at all. And 00:24:50.710 --> 00:24:52.490 the statistic goes even further than that and 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:55.069 says 80 % of Christians say that they don't have 00:24:55.069 --> 00:24:59.869 a close relationship with non -Christians. They 00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:01.490 don't have a close relationship with non -Christians. 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:04.950 We insulate ourself, we isolate ourself, we go, 00:25:04.990 --> 00:25:06.569 okay, the world is so bad, I gotta insulate, 00:25:06.630 --> 00:25:08.490 I gotta isolate, I gotta move away from, and 00:25:08.490 --> 00:25:09.890 then we don't know anybody that we can shine 00:25:09.890 --> 00:25:11.549 our light to because there's nobody around us. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:15.160 He said, you are a light. Don't hide your light. 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:17.140 Go shine your light. Go tell people about Jesus. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:18.720 But if you don't know anyone who doesn't know 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.859 Jesus, you can't tell them about Jesus. Listen, 00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:23.579 I'm not telling you to get in with the wrong 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:25.500 crowd. I'm not telling you to be influenced by 00:25:25.500 --> 00:25:26.980 them. I'm not telling you to be dragged down 00:25:26.980 --> 00:25:29.359 by them, but I'm telling you this. If you don't 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:31.880 know anyone who's not a follower of Jesus, you're 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:33.480 not living on the kingdom mission that God has 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:36.940 put you on. I'm gonna say something that's gonna 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:39.740 make some of you pretty mad. If that's you and 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:42.059 you don't know anyone that's not a follower of 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:47.190 Jesus, You're living in sin. I know that upsets 00:25:47.190 --> 00:25:49.650 some of you, but here's the truth. Sin is disobeying 00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:51.869 what God has said. And when God has said, go 00:25:51.869 --> 00:25:53.589 and make disciples, when God has said, hey, listen, 00:25:53.690 --> 00:25:55.170 I want you to be a light, when he said, hey, 00:25:55.170 --> 00:25:57.470 use your natural relationships to make spiritual 00:25:57.470 --> 00:26:00.170 impact, he's saying the people in your circle, 00:26:00.289 --> 00:26:02.869 the people around you are people that you can 00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:05.690 go and use your influence with because your influence 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:09.750 is strongest with those who know you, with those 00:26:09.750 --> 00:26:12.509 you know. That's where your influence is the 00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:14.369 strongest with those that you know. And for some 00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:16.730 of you, just that sentence freaks you out because 00:26:16.730 --> 00:26:18.769 you're like, uh -oh, if they know who I am, they're 00:26:18.769 --> 00:26:20.829 not gonna wanna come to church. Then you probably 00:26:20.829 --> 00:26:23.630 need to change the way you live. If you invite 00:26:23.630 --> 00:26:25.309 someone and they go, oh man, if you're a Christian, 00:26:25.369 --> 00:26:26.730 then I don't wanna be a Christian, then you probably 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:30.410 need to change the way you live. Because the 00:26:30.410 --> 00:26:32.390 truth is, is that your influence is strongest 00:26:32.390 --> 00:26:36.210 with those who know you. So are you living in 00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:38.710 a way that those who know you want what you have? 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:42.200 Are you living in a way where they see your light 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:47.019 and go, man, I need some of that light? Okay, 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:48.420 Todd, I get it. We're supposed to invite people, 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:50.279 but why does it matter so much? Why does it matter 00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:54.819 so much? Here's why. Because we have good news. 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.680 Not just good news. We have the greatest news 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:01.180 the world has ever heard because these angels 00:27:01.180 --> 00:27:03.519 showed up. And these angels announced that this 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:06.460 baby was born and it was a party and it was incredible, 00:27:06.539 --> 00:27:08.519 but that baby did not stay a baby. That baby 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:11.420 grew into a man who never sinned, who did what 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:15.140 you and I could never do. We mess up daily. We 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:17.099 mess up hourly. Some of you have sinned 10 times 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:20.799 just sitting here right now. Jesus never sinned, 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:24.680 but Jesus willingly went to a cross for you. 00:27:25.590 --> 00:27:27.730 And he said, I know you can't do it on your own 00:27:27.730 --> 00:27:29.710 because of your sin, but because I've never sinned, 00:27:29.730 --> 00:27:32.150 I will go on a cross for you. And he stood in 00:27:32.150 --> 00:27:36.029 my place and he stood in your place. And Jesus 00:27:36.029 --> 00:27:38.509 died on a cross for your sin. And that is good 00:27:38.509 --> 00:27:40.910 news. But just dying on a cross, there was a 00:27:40.910 --> 00:27:43.450 lot of people that died on a cross. Jesus didn't 00:27:43.450 --> 00:27:48.109 stay dead. Jesus rose from the dead. And when 00:27:48.109 --> 00:27:50.250 he rose from the dead, he conquered sin, he conquered 00:27:50.250 --> 00:27:52.210 death, and he made a way for you to have a relationship 00:27:52.210 --> 00:27:55.549 with God forever. And that is good news. That's 00:27:55.549 --> 00:27:57.509 why this matters. That's why where you have been 00:27:57.509 --> 00:27:59.890 placed matters. That's why your circle matters. 00:28:00.089 --> 00:28:02.710 That's why wherever you find yourself is so important 00:28:02.710 --> 00:28:04.470 because we have good news that we wanna share 00:28:04.470 --> 00:28:09.170 to the world that desperately needs it. And church, 00:28:09.269 --> 00:28:11.490 you have been placed wherever you have been placed 00:28:11.490 --> 00:28:19.809 for such a time as this. So who's in your circle? 00:28:21.750 --> 00:28:30.990 Who's in your circle? As you leave today, you're 00:28:30.990 --> 00:28:33.569 gonna be given this. It looks like a Barbie newspaper, 00:28:33.869 --> 00:28:36.470 right? My kids are gonna play Barbies with it 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:40.569 later. It says Heights Church News. It says good 00:28:40.569 --> 00:28:44.109 news. And then there's lines here. What these 00:28:44.109 --> 00:28:47.640 lines are, are for you to write names of people 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:50.319 that are in your circle that God is bringing 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:53.680 to your heart, bringing to your mind, that is 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.400 your mission to bring with you to Christmas. 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:01.359 This is your ticket out. You can't leave today 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:02.460 until you get one of these. They're gonna be 00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:03.740 at the doors. You're gonna get it on your way 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:06.220 out and you can't leave until you get one. And 00:29:06.220 --> 00:29:09.079 I want you to take time to think through who 00:29:09.079 --> 00:29:11.319 is God putting on your heart? Who is God placed 00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:14.640 in front of you? Because of the place that you're 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.220 at, because of the position you hold, because 00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:18.240 of the people you're with, who has God put on 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:19.640 your heart that you're saying, I'm gonna write 00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:21.980 their name down. I'm gonna pray for these people. 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:24.799 I'm gonna invite these people. I want you to 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:26.299 write their names down. I want you to keep it 00:29:26.299 --> 00:29:28.019 in front of you. I want you to put it in a visible 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:30.779 place in your house, in your car, where you see 00:29:30.779 --> 00:29:32.799 it, where you are reminded that this is your 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.319 mission and God has put you where he wants you 00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:42.230 for a reason. For such a time as this. Let's 00:29:42.230 --> 00:29:48.730 pray. God, thank you so much. God, that you choose 00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:55.789 to use us. God, you don't need us, but you choose 00:29:55.789 --> 00:29:59.789 to use us, God. God, thank you that you sent 00:29:59.789 --> 00:30:04.009 your son, that we celebrate the good news of 00:30:04.009 --> 00:30:06.150 your son coming this Christmas, but God, there's 00:30:06.150 --> 00:30:08.509 so much more than that. It's that you sent him 00:30:08.509 --> 00:30:14.440 to save the world. Lord, we thank you. We praise 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:19.880 you for that. God, we are so grateful for salvation. 00:30:20.180 --> 00:30:22.400 We're grateful that you allow us to be a part 00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:26.299 of your story. God, I pray that you would give 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:28.359 us courage, that you, through your spirit right 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:31.640 now, would lay names on our minds, God, that 00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:33.859 you would lay the people on our hearts that you 00:30:33.859 --> 00:30:36.740 want us to reach out to, that you want us to 00:30:36.740 --> 00:30:40.779 participate in mission with. God, that you would 00:30:40.779 --> 00:30:42.539 give us boldness to live on kingdom mission. 00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:48.099 We praise you, Jesus. We are so grateful for 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:50.119 everything that you've given us, everything that 00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:53.220 you've blessed us with. God, I pray that we would 00:30:53.220 --> 00:30:58.720 be generous with it. We love you, Jesus. We pray 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.299 this in your name. Amen.