Finished | Jacob Jester

When you hear the word 'missionary,' what images spring to mind? Pastor Jacob Jester joins us to shatter those stereotypes and reveal the raw, transformative essence of true mission work. He brings stories from the heart of Africa and advice for those feeling the pull towards such a profound life path. Our discussion opens up a world where mission is not just an act of mercy but a complete spiritual overhaul, aiming for an eternal ripple effect rather than fleeting triumphs. Listen to how Pastor Jester articulates this deep-seated calling, and you might just find the courage to rethink your own journey.

Through the powerful testimony of a Muslim convert's baptism, we touch the very core of what it means to embrace discipleship, regardless of the cost. Ponder on the profound significance of 'tetelestai', the last word Jesus uttered, and see how it signifies the completion of a mission that has been handed down to us.

Lastly, we underscore the crucial role every Christian has in the global mission field, equipped with the authority Christ has granted us. We emphasize the need to step out, engage, and share the peace of Christ with all. As the episode winds down, join us in a prayer that seeks to embolden believers with the Holy Spirit's anointing, arming them with confidence to live out their faith. Tune in for a soul-stirring call to action that will leave you contemplating your place in God's grand design, and culminate with a prayer for blessings upon our Cornerstone community.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Amen. Well, good morning. We are so very blessed to be able to worship together here. If we haven't met, my name is Jay and Celeste and I have such an amazing opportunity of leading here at Cornerstone. We are very much about that. We want to love God, make disciples and reach the world. We see ourselves wanting to be those who are more like Jesus. That's our ambition to be more like Jesus.

Speaker 1: 0:22

Today we have such an honor of having a guest speaker with us. It's someone who we support as a missionary. They're someone who's served as an evangelist internationally as well as a church planter here in Phoenix. And then he and his family took on the challenge of missions, of spearheading the work of Africa and being missions-minded in Africa, that work of recruiting people towards that endeavor and being a spear point for that, and they've taken on that challenge for these many years. In the same way, they've also been elevated and asked even the next level of seeing more new missionaries get involved through all of Assemblies of God, world missions. We're very blessed today to have with us Pastor Jacob Jester. Please welcome to the stage today.

Speaker 2: 1:07

Please welcome to stage day. Amen, good morning, how are you? It's really good to be here. I'm excited to be able to be with you and spend some time with you this morning, but I want you to know how much I and my family love the Browns. We are very excited about the Brown family and what the Lord is doing in them, through them, in this community. The truth is, there's no one, since my family and I have been missionaries, who's been more kind, generous and helpful than the Browns. So we have been very privileged and very blessed and you are as well. So it's an honor for me to be able to be back here today, to be in the West Valley. My family and I spent a number of years here planting a church up in North Glendale. My youngest daughter, indy, was born here in the West Valley, and so it is always a joy to come home, and so I am very privileged to be able to be with you this morning here.

Speaker 2: 2:13

I want to talk to you about missions. I want to talk to you about what I believe the Lord has put on my heart for us this morning. That relates to you and I and the call of God that the Lord will put on our hearts and continue to put on our hearts as it relates to missions. So if you have your Bible, would you turn with me to the book of John, chapter number 19. The book of John, chapter number 19, verse number 28, should be on the screen. The book of John, chapter number 19, verse number 28. This is what it says. It says later, knowing that everything had now been finished and so that scripture would be fulfilled, jesus said I am thirsty. A jar for wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on the stalk of the hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he received the drink, jesus said it is finished. And with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I call this message finished. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be this morning in church. God, I pray that you would speak life to us this morning here at Cornerstone. I pray that the anointing and the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit would rest upon each and every one of us in this room, god, that before we leave this room, we will know that we have been in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, have your way in our lives, have your way in our hearts, and we give you praise for what you're getting ready to do, god, because we know that this is a moment that will mark us for eternity. Have your way. In Jesus' name, we pray and everyone said Amen.

Speaker 2: 3:53

While I was working on this message, it struck me that, as a missionary, this was the first message that I've ever written on the subject of what is missions. Honestly, it also struck me by how long it took me to write a message about what is message and actually to ponder the answer to the question. So I felt it best to answer the question from the onset of the message and to get that out of the way, because it's easier to say what missions is not. We've seen the dissemination of a concept of missions being anything that is done in the name of Jesus, and those who complete those actions are now calling themselves missionaries. One leader that I follow claimed that missionaries were merely influencers, and if that's true, then according to that definition, missions is just the spreading of one's influence, but missions is not mercy. We call missions that is mercy related, creation care the care of the creation that we've been entrusted with, and creation care appeals to our emotions, it causes our heart to flutter and it gives us a sense of accomplishment. The care of God's creation is blessing, feeding, care for widows and orphans, righteousness and even the act of work in the name of Jesus, and I will submit to you that these are powerful activities done. Let's go further in that In Scripture, in Genesis, chapter number 12, the mandate was given to demonstrate justice and righteousness in a corrupt world. In Genesis 18, to exhibit humility and mercy In Micah 6, set the captives free. In Luke, chapter 7 and Isaiah 61, to care for widows and orphans. And in James, chapter 1, and even exhibit work ethic in Matthew 5 and Colossians 3.

Speaker 2: 5:30

This is great commission work and it's work that every single believer should be involved in. It's work that shows that there is a world in need and a world in need can see that we serve a God who sees. But this isn't why the Great Commission works. It's the outflow of work done for the purposes of the Great Commission. But a church that engages only in one's current state rather than their internal state will miss the marker of what it means to be missions-minded. In other words, each and every one of us in this room have been called to be those who work the Great Commission. It's a part of my responsibility as a son of God, it's a part of your responsibility as sons and daughters of God, to show the world in need that we do serve a God who sees.

Speaker 2: 6:14

There's nothing more life-giving than being people who understand who we are in the light of what God has done for us, representing Jesus to a culture and a society that's constantly feeling the tension of not being sure where we are headed, and because you and I live in a broken and in a fallen world, and we see that the world in front of us, in the world that we are surrounded by every single day, seems to be living in seasons of uncertainty. There is something very powerful about being followers of Jesus who have a certainty about us, who have a certainty about what God has done in our life. See the way that you and I look on a daily basis in our workplace, in our family, in the places that we come in and in the places that we go in, we are surrounded by people who have an uncertainty about who they are and about where they are and about what they are doing. But the power of being followers of Jesus is that we have a certainty that is not defined by our culture. We have a certainty that's not defined by circumstances. We have a certainty that's not defined by the political map or the system. We have a certainty that is defined by our understanding that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith, who has perfected all of it, and we follow Jesus and there is a certainty about that. And because we have a certainty about who we serve, we project that into the world. And there is power by being followers of Jesus and the certainty we have in him. There's something powerful about being certain in who we are and certain in the Father, the God that we serve.

Speaker 2: 7:48

So, in other words, mercy ministry is not missions, but mercy exists because God has called his church to work the great commission. But missions work has a foundation from where all missions activities are born In church planting, in biblical education, in all the work of mercy. What's the foundation of mission's work? It's not kindness. We don't work to see the church planted because we're kind. God doesn't call people to leave everything that they have and everything that they are and walk away from comfort simply because of the joy that it brings. We don't engage in evangelism purely to put smiles on the faces of people who now accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. No, but missions need to have a biblical mandate, and that is it.

Speaker 2: 8:38

That doesn't mean that I'm done. It means that, no, that the work of missions is found in what Jesus said on the cross. He said it is finished. So, buried in the content of what it is is what the basis of missions is. Just before Jesus took his last breath on the earth, just before he dropped his head to his chest, he made a statement. He said it is finished. And it is finished is the reference to an act or a plan that is now at its completion. And I want to let you in on one of the greatest things about serving Jesus you and I are now getting to be a part of the plan that Jesus commenced and ended at the moment that he dropped his head to his chest and said it is finished. You and I, as followers of Jesus, now get to be a part of what God is doing around the world, because we take part in the great commission Every single day by following him, by serving him and by allowing the Holy Spirit to use us regularly, don't? Didn't you just love, covid, that entire season?

Speaker 2: 9:50

At first it was a season of unknown and fear, uncertainty, and then we found some peace there. We ate more dinners at home, spent more time with our families, we grew gardens. We were forced to do projects around the house or maybe I was forced to do projects around the house. My wife decided that we were going to build a patio in the backyard. See, for you to understand what was being asked of me, you need to understand that I'm not handy at all. I've never been handy. Everything that I've learned to do has been through watching other people do it or through YouTube videos. I wasn't born handy. 10 years ago, there was a TV that I bought that came with the screwdriver, and that was the only screwdriver that I owned for probably a decade. I've done a lot of projects around the house with a red and white screwdriver that came with the TV. I've done a lot of projects around the house with a red and white screwdriver that came with the TV. So I've been fortunate in that, because I'm not handy. But yet my wife decided that I was going to create, build a patio from scratch in the backyard. And do you know what all of that entailed? It entailed digging out around three feet of dirt in my backyard. It entailed laying gravel onto the ground and then putting pavers on top of it.

Speaker 2: 11:07

I nearly lost my salvation three times while building that patio. But then there was a moment that I stepped back and I looked at what had happened. I stepped back and I looked at what had then been finished. After all the blood, the sweat and the tears, I was able to look at what had been started and then completed. See, because when it was finished, I was able to look at the work that my hands had put into the project. When it was finished, I stood at a distance and looked at the fulfillment of a plan. When it was finished, I saw and was grateful that I had been asked to start something.

Speaker 2: 11:47

And see, when God asks you and allows you to work on the plan that he has put in front of you, when God allows you the privilege of working on his plan, when he calls you to join him in working on his plan, when he invites you into the journey, then put your hands to the task and do not take your hands off of the task until it is finished. We have, as sons and daughters, been given the opportunity to work with God on the great commission that is the plan of God that he instituted from the founding of the world. There's no greater joy than being asked by God to work with him on the plan of seeing people experience life change through Jesus Christ. Here's what I want you to be able to see. The finished plan of God is what missions is. Missions? Is you and me telling broken people about a plan that became long before they could contemplate it, A plan that involves them but did nothing to influence, a plan that was worked and cultivated and bled over? Missions is a plan that is now completed, a plan that is now finished, and yet, when men and women accept this plan for them, their lives are changed forever. You and I get to be a part of the finished plan of God, and yet there's a responsibility that we have into continuing to perpetuate it.

Speaker 2: 13:07

A couple of years ago, a member of our team went to northern Ghana to begin to dig a water well in the red sands of northern Ghana. They were going to dig a water well because Africa is the most water-scarce continent on the planet. What we like to say in Africa is that water is life, but we also say water is death. Some of these water-scarce villages and some of these desolate places. You'll find young boys and girls who've lost limbs. They'll take colorful buckets, go down to the water to draw water from and just below the surface there's a crocodile waiting for them and they've lost limbs. So water is death. We've seen villages experience dysentery because they will go to draw water from a water source that's been trampled over and over by animals and they will take the water back to their home, take the water back to their family for cooking, for drinking and for cleaning, and then their village will experience dysentery, because water is life and water is death. So whenever we were to go and dig a water well, the entire village and sometimes the entire region will come to see the moment that the spigot is turned on for the very first time and the celebration and the jubilance that comes upon their faces when they see clean water at a fresh source for the very first time. But we will always plant a church in conjunction with digging a water well, because we will not give them physical water without also leaving the living water as well.

Speaker 2: 14:48

So when this particular water well was dug, a church was established and a man by the name of Timothy became the pastor. A revival began to break out. People began to experience Jesus and it wasn't long before the church building was full. A few weeks after the church was full, there was a knock at Pastor Timothy's door. He pushed the door open and there, standing in front of him, was a man who had recently converted from Islam. The man told Pastor Timothy he would like to be baptized. And when he told Pastor Timothy that he was overjoyed this is what they'd been praying about, hoping for, expecting, anticipating. So Pastor Timothy said we're going to have a baptism service in a couple of weeks, if you would come back. Then the man pushed the door open and said no, I would like to be baptized now.

Speaker 2: 15:42

Pastor Timothy didn't see a water source. There was no pool, there was no baptismal, but he saw a recently dug water well. So he went over to the water and he turned it on and the water began to spill onto the ground, making mud with the sand and the red clay. He looked at the man and said lay down. And the man laid in the mud. He told him to roll around, and the man began to roll around in the mud and he said I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. See, what you and I don't always understand is what was happening in that moment was that this man was making a public declaration of faith as a Muslim man, as a convert from Islam. He was showing the entire community that he had made a decision to follow Jesus, one of the greatest decisions that he'd ever made, but also one of the most dangerous decisions that he'd ever made. He was saying publicly to the community that the entirety of his patriarchal society, the history and the legacy of what he'd experienced as a Muslim man, was now being abandoned for the sake of following after Jesus Christ. Some would say that now he was opening up his family to retribution by uncles and by brothers because he'd made a decision to follow Jesus.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Following Jesus will cost you and me everything that we have. Everything that we have is laid at the feet of Jesus, and because you and I are called by his name, god has also never called us to comfort in His name. The great misnomer of Western Christianity is that we think that when we follow Jesus, that everything falls into a line. That means from now on I will have no more difficulty. And yet, when I follow Jesus, there sometimes will be difficulty. That follows me because when I follow Him, I've not been called to comfort, I've been called to His will. In fact, the Scripture says, when I follow Him, that he will be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It doesn't mean that he will show me the entirety of the journey. It means that when I follow Him, the next step will be illuminated as I follow him. And sometimes, for you and I, the great journey is that we take one step and put one foot in front of the other, knowing that, as God calls me, I'm leaning into him, I'm leaning into his promises, I'm leaning into his plan. And when I follow Jesus, he shows me that there is a path for me to follow.

Speaker 2: 18:20

See, jesus said it is finished. And what Jesus said there in John chapter number 19 is only found in John chapter number 19. It's the ending, but it's also the beginning. The Greek word translated from it is finished is tetelestai, and it's an accounting term. That means paid in full. Paid in full, jesus was saying my obedience is finished and perfect and you need it. My suffering is finished, but you needed it. I finished removing the wrath of God from my people. I finished the plans of the enemy. I have established a new covenant and you need it.

Speaker 2: 19:03

My son, jude, is 16 years old and I've learned that he enjoys my money. In fact, I've noticed that he enjoys what money I have and he's always asking for my money for food, for various things. And then he got a job. Got a job at a restaurant as a host. He'll come home late at night, sometimes frustrated by how many people were there and he was alone at the hostess station. And now he likes his money.

Speaker 2: 19:39

The other day he texted me a picture of boots cowboy boots and said I'm going to buy these boots. I said you, do you Enjoy those boots? And then 10 minutes later he texted me and said I'm going to buy this cowboy hat. And then I said well, what's happening to my child? Because my son, who had been very sporty, is now starting to wear cowboy boots, tight Wrangler jeans and a cowboy hat. So he had bought boots and he'd bought a hat. And not 20 minutes later he texted me and said can I have some money for McDonald's? I said what do you mean? You just spent all this money on your hat. You spent all the money on your boots. I said what do you mean? You want my money for McDonald's? And he said well, I've spent too much. Now Can I spend your money?

Speaker 2: 20:28

You know what I love about Jesus? I love that when Jesus sees me, he sees when I've spent too much. He sees when I've cried too much. He sees when I've been hurt too much. He sees when I've been empty too much and there are times when I've been empty too much and he steps into the moment of my pain. He steps into the moment of my agony. He jumps in between me and my mistakes and he says son, daughter, you've spent too much, but don't worry, because it is now finished. You don't have to pay any more because it has been paid in full it. You don't have to pay any more because it has been paid in full. It is finished. And because it is finished, then missions can begin. Where it ended is where we now begin.

Speaker 2: 21:07

We all wish that Jesus had remained with us, that he was still here, but Jesus needed to go so that I could go, so that you can go. Jesus had to be missed so that missions could begin. And what is so amazing about missions is that it happens through you and me. It happens through you and me serving God and being called according to His purpose. So, cornerstone, I want you to look around you for just a moment this morning and look at what God has given you Before the service this morning and look at what God has given you Before the service this morning.

Speaker 2: 21:43

I walked into the staff area and looked at the timeline draped across the wall to see that Cornerstone has given over two million dollars to missions since your founding. To see that you've sent dozens and dozens of missions trips around the world, that you have sent out men and women to pastor churches across America. The foundation and the legacy of what God has done and what God continues to do is perpetuated through you continuing to say yes to His purpose and to His plan. Look at what you walk into every Sunday morning. Look at the visibility that God has given your church. So my question is what are you going to do with what God has given you? What are you going to do with the blessing that God has placed upon your shoulders? What can you do for missions from the seat that you now sit in, because the heart for missions didn't begin in the American church or the Western church.

Speaker 2: 22:50

Missions is not the mandate of the white church or the black church or the Latino church. It wasn't meant for only the rich to be received by the poor. Missions began in the heart of God and he crafted a plan to let His one and only Son finish it. And he took one step further. He allowed you and I to be a part in helping fulfill the plan of God by calling people just like you and me to be participants in the plan of God. See, we, as a church movement across this nation, have spent too many years spectating in the plan of God. We are not called to be spectators. We are called to be participators. We are called not to watch what God does, but to take a step into the plan of God and be used by the anointing in the hand of God, to watch as God uses me and you. But what I love about Cornerstone is you've not been spectating, you've been participating from the foundation of your church.

Speaker 2: 23:51

In John, chapter 20,. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you In Hebrews, or in John 13, 20,. Whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one I sent. Jesus took 12 disciples and he sent them 12 average men fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, bigots. Simon Peter tried to kill a man, matthew stole from the poor and needy, and yet Jesus sent them. Jesus sent them across cultures, passing through lands unknown, hungry and displaced, unsure, where they would end up with one purpose to establish his church Cornerstone. God is asking the same thing of you. It's always been what God has been asking of us. It's always been what God has been asking of us.

Speaker 2: 24:54

Whether or not you stay in Avondale or Glendale or Peoria or Goodyear or Phoenix or Arizona, whether you stay or whether you go to foreign lands, the message is the same as the Father has sent me, so he has sent you. See, sometimes we stay and we remain comfortable. Other times we stay, and yet we continue to remain on mission. There is a coworker who sits close to you that still does not know that there is an opportunity for her to be forgiven of the past that she's walked through. There is a co-worker that you have, a man who's constantly frustrated and irritated you, and he still does not know that there is a place for him to worship on a Sunday with hands lifted high. There's a sister, there's a brother, there's a neighbor that, if it were not for you, may not know that Jesus Christ is Lord. And yet, for some of you, it's impossible for you to stay. It will be impossible for you to stay and be in the will of God, because the will of God for you is to go to places you've never been to before, to go to languages and cultures you've never been to before, and when you do, you will experience an anointing that you have not experienced here. By staying, you will step into a fresh anointing by going.

Speaker 2: 26:27

There are three things I want you to know about missions in the few moments I have left. The first thing is that missions has a nature, and I'm going to ask someone to come play this keyboard, heidi. Missions has a nature In Matthew, chapter 28, verse number 19. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The nature of missions is going, and making. The most uncomfortable you will ever be is when you are doing something you don't think you can do. But that's why we go. We go because we know that we cannot do what he's calling us to do.

Speaker 2: 27:12

Missions send you across lands and cultures to go and make disciples, but what can you do about that right now? What can you do for the people of Guinea in West Africa? What can you do for the broken and the hurting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? What can you do for the lost tribes of the Amazon? What can you do for peoples of the Navajo Nation and indigenous tribes here in Arizona? What can you do in people across the border to our south? What do you have the ability to do? But, more so, what do you have the opportunity to do?

Speaker 2: 27:54

Sometimes we have an ability, but we do not seize the opportunity. Sometimes God has given us an ability. He's given us a generosity. He's given us an opportunity to pray. He's given us an opportunity to read his word and know his heart. But what would we do if the opportunity came? Ability and opportunity are not the same. I have an ability every single day of my life to tell people about Jesus, but do I seize every opportunity given to me? I have an ability to pray for missionaries around the world. I have an ability to give to missions projects around the world. But what do I do when God gives me an opportunity that stands in front of me? I'll know the plan, I'll know the mission, but I won't know His will until I step into the opportunities. I'll know that he's pushing me, I'll know that he's prodding me, I'll know that he may be even drawing me, but I won't know what God could do through me until I'm willing to step into His opportunities.

Speaker 2: 28:55

Missions has a scope. Number two missions has a scope Into all the nations. The Greek word here is ethne. This word doesn't mean nations with borders. It means peoples, tribes, tongues, the disciples in Jesus' day. These Jewish men understood that to mean to the Samaritan, to the Greek, to the Egyptian, to the Gentile, to us, we are the Gentiles that, if it were not for Jesus sending out missionaries to you and I, this means to the Hausa, to the Zulu, to the San, to the Afrikaan, to the Fulani, to people that you've never laid eyes on before, to the Navajo, to the Arab, to the Pashtun. The scope of the mission that God has called you to is to the nations of the world. It is across the street and around the world. Did you know that today, on the continent of Africa, there are 867 unreached people groups, but around the world, there are 7,400 unreached people groups around the world today, people groups that do not have an indigenous community of believing Christians among them, and if you are willing to go to them, you are now going on mission Number three.

Speaker 2: 30:23

Missions has an authority. Matthew, chapter 28, verse number 18,. Jesus said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go. My two sons, 16 and 13,.

Speaker 2: 30:49

From time to time, on occasion, they argue with one another over who should be able to play the video game next. I can hear them in my son's room saying no, it's my turn. No, it's my turn. No, you've been playing for two hours, it's my turn. Whenever I begin to hear the shuffle of feet, I know that something is wrong. Maybe there's a scuffle taking place, maybe one is trying to grab the controller and use and play the video game for themselves. But then, when I start to hear the stomping of feet, I know usually that something is getting ready to happen. One of them is coming to talk to me and Cruz comes to me and he says Dad, jude won't let me play, it's my turn. And then, when I determine whose turn it really is, I'll say, cruz, what I want you to do is I want you to go to Jude and tell him that it's your turn to play, but he won't listen to me, but he won't listen to me. He won't listen to me. Tell him, dad says that it's your turn to play. So when Cruz goes back to talk to Jude, he says Dad says that it's my turn to play.

Speaker 2: 32:10

And even begrudgingly, my oldest son now knows that he has to obey the word that was given in that moment. Very simply, because there has been an authority passed in that moment. See, the word that my son gave to his older brother was not an authority carried by him. It was my word that I took and placed upon his shoulders. It was my authority as the father, as the spiritual and the physical head of the home, that I placed upon my son, cruz's shoulders and said you now have the authority to go and say dad told me that it was now my turn to play. And because I gave him the authority, now my oldest son has to obey the authority given to my middle son.

Speaker 2: 32:52

What you and I need to be able to understand is that we do not go to the darkest places around the world. We do not go to the broken and to the hurting. We do not go to the downcast and the destitute under the authority that belongs to me. We go under an authority that has been given to me by Jesus Christ himself. We go under an authority that has been placed upon my shoulders as a son of God, as a daughter of the most high king. I go under the authority that belongs to Jesus Christ himself. So when I say to the broken, be healed. When I say to the lost, you can be found. When I say to the dark place, let there be light, it is not my word, it's a word that belongs to God, and the authority that rests in him by saying it is finished now resides upon me and can reside upon you. The power given to you and me, therefore, all authority has been on heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go been given to me. Therefore, go. See, the responsibility of people who have authority is that we are called to go. The inherent responsibility with authority that comes from going was not meant to be easy. Going should not be easy. See when missions has lived out across the world, when a new church is planted in Burundi or when a team of new workers pioneers a work in West Africa. When a bible school new workers pioneers a work in West Africa. When a Bible school is filled with pastors, when the church in Indonesia begins to rise up, when lost tribes of the Amazon begin to be established and hear that Jesus is Lord. Missions has been given and it's been played out by people just like you and me who've had the authority of Jesus placed upon us. Therefore, we get to go. Therefore, we get to go.

Speaker 2: 35:11

It's my hope that every single person in this room would pray. Pray for missionaries around the world. It's my hope. It's my hope that every single person in this room would pray. Pray for missionaries around the world. It's my hope. It's my hope that every person in this room would pray. It's my hope that every person in this room would give to kingdom builders, to give to missions projects around the world. It's my hope. But more than anything else, my hope is that there would be somebody in the room this morning that would say all authority, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me, therefore, I can go. All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore I can go. See the implications of what Jesus was saying was extremely powerful. The implications was that all authority on heaven meaning the very backing of the power of God himself to establish the kingdom of God and establish the church around the world has been given to you and me. But not only all authority on heaven, but all authority on the earth, which which means that every kingdom, every principality, every strong man, every ruler now has to be subject to the power of God that rests on sons and daughters who are willing to go. All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to us. So, therefore, we can go, but more so, we are mandated by God to go. We are mandated by His authority to go.

Speaker 2: 36:46

How will you go? That's the question, isn't it? How will you go? Will you go for a moment? Will you go for a moment? Will you go for a lifetime? Will you grow on a mission strip? Will you go by sending someone else? Will you go by praying? For some of you in the room I feel this in my spirit, pastor Jay for some of you in the room. It is high time that you start going to the people in your life that make you uncomfortable, that you are willing to have conversations with people who don't look like you, or that you are willing to have conversations with people who don't look like you or talk like you, even act like you, people who think differently than you, people who vote differently than you.

Speaker 2: 37:55

As the church of Jesus Christ, the mandate that we have is not that we go to those who look like us. That's not missions it might be a call of God but missions is that sometimes we are willing to go to people who look at and think differently than us, and that becomes the mandate of God. And that's when we walk in the authority of the Holy Spirit that we, as broken men and women, with the testimony of Jesus Christ about how he has saved us and healed us and redeemed us and bought us, now we get to go to people who are in the same broken state and say I have an authority by the God who rescued me. You can know that it is now finished. It is finished and I am broken today, standing here in Avondale, arizona, to know that there are still tribes and peoples around the world that do not yet know that Jesus told them. It's finished for you. It's finished for you.

Speaker 2: 39:01

I'm broken to know that here in Arizona today, there are men and women that you know that didn't and may not understand. It's finished. I'm broken to know that there's men and women around the world who are striving every single today to fill their bank account, and yet their heart is still emptied. I'm broken. I'm broken to know that there are sons and daughters of moms and dads in this room today who would have loved Katharamabhash to see their son sitting with him in a almost said pew. We don't have pew sitting in a chair. I'm broken. So I'm asking you, cornerstone, do you see what you have and do you see the legacy that you are now standing upon? Maybe you didn't know, but 38 years ago, the Brown family helped establish this church in their home.

Speaker 2: 40:07

What I love about this is that Jesus finished it, but for you it's not finished. For you, the message is yes, jesus finished it, so I can continue to go to be sent Because I have an authority in Jesus' name. My children like to say that I'm eccentric, I accept it, I do, I receive it and Pastor, I'd like to do something just a little bit slightly different. What I want to do for the next couple of moments is I want to pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit to rest upon you to go to the people that God has called you to, or to the people that you know I should have a conversation with. I want to pray that, if there's anybody in this room who says I feel like the Lord is calling me to lands I've never been to. I want to pray that the anointing of the Holy Spirit rests upon you to do that, but I'm going to do it very formally, so I'm going to ask you to stand to your feet with me.

Speaker 2: 41:25

All over the room, all authority has been given to you. That should be confidence building the authority of God, who flung the stars into the sky. He's given me authority. Amen, indeed, he has. He has given you an anointing and authority and power that inherently wasn't yours, but he gave it to you.

Speaker 2: 42:02

Now that you're a son and a daughter, would you just stretch your hands out just like this, just kind of stretch them in front of you, almost as a sign of receiving as I begin to pray for you, if you have people in your world that you can sense that the Holy Spirit is calling you to have a conversation with, to get out of your comfort zone. I want you to begin to pray for that person, as I begin to pray for you. As I begin to pray for you, I want you to begin to pray that God would open your hearts to missions in a way that you haven't seen before, and that, if you're called to go, that you haven't seen before, and that, if you're called to go, that you will do that under the obedience of Jesus. Father, I pray for Cornerstone and I pray for every person in this room right now. In Jesus' name, father, I pray that you begin to speak life and encouragement into them in ways that they have never seen or never known. In Jesus' name, father, I pray for conversations to begin to take place out of this body right now. In Jesus' name, father, I pray for conversations to begin to take place out of this body, right now, in Jesus' name, as they begin to go to their neighbors, their coworkers, as they begin to go to family members who do not know you as Lord and Savior.

Speaker 2: 43:07

In the name of Jesus, lord, I pray, father, that you begin to give anointing and authority to men and women in this room to begin to step out into seasons of the unknown and say God, I will go to the place that you've called me to, even though I don't understand why, I will be willing to do that and I embrace that in Jesus' name. So now, father, I pray. As Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, lord.

Speaker 2: 43:32

I pray that these men and women would receive the authority that belongs to them in Jesus' name, that they would receive the authority that belongs to them as sons and daughters of God. That they would receive the anointing of God that belongs to them as believers in Jesus. That the Holy Spirit, even right now, would begin to descend upon them one by one and fill them with the power of the Holy Spirit, so that, as they open their mouth, they would say I know this isn't me, this anointing isn't me, this wisdom isn't me, this word isn't me. There is something about serving Jesus that has filled me with an authority that doesn't belong to me. In the name of Jesus, I pray Now. I want you to go ahead and begin to lift up your voice to the Lord and begin to say Lord, here I am In the name of Jesus, I'm here, I'm available, I'm open, I surrender. What can you do in my life? How can you use me in Jesus' name? How can you use me in Jesus' name?

Speaker 1: 44:29

Man, what a powerful time of being together today. Would you say amen to that? And how many people had such a great time at Spring Family Day last week. Wasn't it a great time together? Thank you so much for all of you that participated, that made it happen, for serving. Thank you so much for being a part of it. It was a blessing to reach out to our community and I know many new people came were a part of it, so thank you for doing that.

Speaker 3: 44:51

Next Sunday, right after second service, we are going to have a wedding. In fact, we don't have one couple. We have two couples that are going to get married next Sunday, and so we want you to come have a party with us. It's going to be at 1 o'clock. It's going to be here in the sanctuary following the Second Service. So come, rejoice with those who are going to exchange vows with one another, and we're going to celebrate their union, and it's going to be just a great day. I also want to let you know if you are a guest or we have never met you. We're going to have party with the pastor. It's going to be on the east side of the building, down the hall, right after this. It's very informal. There's food. You love food? Come on. So we just want to meet with you. We want to be able to say hi and meet you in person. So just come and join us. If you have children, grab them first and then come and join us in that room.

Speaker 1: 45:37

Before we go, I want to pray this blessing over us tonight. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord, make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. He will lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. God, do you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this we love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.