SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about something today that's been on my mind and my heart for a few weeks in light of all the victories that we're seeing about around Kingsland.
SPEAKER_00: You know this is not normal, right?
SPEAKER_00: God's been so good to us.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the great dangers of any church in a season like this is that we would settle for what we have or what has already been, rather than asking the Lord to do whatever it is that he has for us, even if it's uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_00: And so thank you for stepping outside of your comfort zone here at Kingsland during the season.
SPEAKER_00: But more than that, I want to ask the question in each of our lives: what does it take to have courageous faith?
SPEAKER_00: To take that courageous step.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're going to talk about today.
SPEAKER_00: Would you turn your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 13?
SPEAKER_00: In your Old Testament, the book of Numbers, if you don't have a Bible with you, they're available all around the room in the seat backs in front of you.
SPEAKER_00: And so you don't have a, if you're in the back row, somebody else can hand you one.
SPEAKER_00: But it sure is nice to look on even as we look at God's word.
SPEAKER_00: As you're turning, I want to mention a couple of items.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, men.
SPEAKER_00: Wednesday, September the 9th, we will gather for a meeting of the men right here in the worship center on that Wednesday.
SPEAKER_00: And that will kick off our shaped at home emphasis that involves a series of sermons and also some men's Bible studies and our community group lessons.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm really looking forward to that.
SPEAKER_00: But I want to encourage you, clear off the calendar, stop whatever else you're going to do, be with us Wednesday, September the 9th.
SPEAKER_00: Ladies, if you have a man in your life, give him a strong elbow and say, hey, you need to be there, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Encourage him to be with us on September the 9th.
SPEAKER_00: And second, I'm grateful for this little brochure you can pick up in the lobby today that says every seat has a story.
SPEAKER_00: I've been telling you for the last few weeks that I've just been praying for the new worship center and the new courts, which will be in here in terms of the seats and those who are going to sit in those seats and asking the Lord to provide.
SPEAKER_00: So would you pick this up and consider and pray through your part in the miracle that's taking place around us?
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you the context of Numbers chapter 13.
SPEAKER_00: Israel has spent centuries waiting for this moment.
SPEAKER_00: God has delivered them from bondage in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: God has carried them through the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: God has sustained them in the wilderness, and now they stand on the very edge of the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: This land that God had told them would be theirs.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses sends 12 leaders out into the land to spy out what is there.
SPEAKER_00: They're going to scout.
SPEAKER_00: That's when we find ourselves in Numbers 13, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: You look on as I read.
SPEAKER_00: Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.
SPEAKER_00: Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the Lord's command.
SPEAKER_00: All the men were leaders in Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Then allow me to summarize the next part for now.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 4 through 16 list the names of those twelve who are sent.
SPEAKER_00: And then in verses 17 through 25, Moses sends them to survey the land.
SPEAKER_00: Forty days later they return, and they're carrying incredible fruit and evidence of the land.
SPEAKER_00: But the report has two very different perspectives.
SPEAKER_00: There are 10 that give a majority report that's negative, and two that give a minority report that says we can go.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know that the majority isn't always right?
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's what we see here.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 27.
SPEAKER_00: They reported to Moses, We went into the land where you sent us.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit.
SPEAKER_00: It should have stopped there.
SPEAKER_00: There's the end, but it doesn't, because we have this terrible word.
SPEAKER_00: However, in verse 28, however, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified.
SPEAKER_00: We also saw the descendants of Anak there.
SPEAKER_00: The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev, the Hephites, the Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country, and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, Let's go up now and take possession of the land, because we can certainly conquer it.
SPEAKER_00: But the men who had gone up with him responded, We can't attack the people because they are stronger than we are.
SPEAKER_00: So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they scouted.
SPEAKER_00: The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size.
SPEAKER_00: We even saw the Nephilim there.
SPEAKER_00: The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilium.
SPEAKER_00: To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.
SPEAKER_00: So, we summarize chapter 14.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 14, the people were in full panic mode, so much so that they longed for the quote, good old days back in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: They said, if only we'd have just died in Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: Then they say, if only we just died in the wilderness, be careful what you ask for, because that's exactly what is going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua and Caleb try one more time in chapter 14 to convince them, and then the deal is done.
SPEAKER_00: The children of Israel miss the blessing.
SPEAKER_00: How is it that 10 can come back with such a negative report, and two can experience the very same thing and come back with a positive report?
SPEAKER_00: How is it that two people can experience the same set of circumstances in life?
SPEAKER_00: One ends up responding in a positive way, and one in a negative, destructive way.
SPEAKER_00: All 12 men walked the same road, ate the same fruit from the same vineyard.
SPEAKER_00: They stood in the shadow of the same giants, but ten came back ready to quit, and two came back ready to conquer.
SPEAKER_00: What separates the faithful from the fearful?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question we have to ask today.
SPEAKER_00: And more practically, in your life, when you consider those places that God is telling you to go, what does it really take to walk in courageous faith?
SPEAKER_00: I want to share with you what I see in this passage are four variables that always determine the level of courage in the life of a believer.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the first variable.
SPEAKER_00: The first is the most important.
SPEAKER_00: The first is your theology.
SPEAKER_00: Theology is a fancy term that literally means the investigation of God.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's a study of God.
SPEAKER_00: The more you know of God, the more you're gonna have courage.
SPEAKER_00: So A.W.
SPEAKER_00: Tozier put it this way: what you think of God is the most important thing about you.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's true.
SPEAKER_00: The ten failing spies, they didn't miss the promised land because the giants were too big.
SPEAKER_00: They really missed the promised land because their God was too small.
SPEAKER_00: It's still the greatest danger in the life of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: The number one factor that will measure your courage will come down to what you believe about God.
SPEAKER_00: Something jumps off the page to me at the very beginning of this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: In verse one, the very first phrase, it says, The Lord spoke to Moses.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this entire exercise began with God speaking.
SPEAKER_00: He was guiding, he was making a way for his people.
SPEAKER_00: That word Lord that you see in your Bibles should be written in all caps.
SPEAKER_00: You see, uh, small caps for O R D.
SPEAKER_00: That's not an accent, it's not a typo.
SPEAKER_00: That is an expression of the translators to say, this is the word Yahweh that's being translated here.
SPEAKER_00: It is the word that uh is the personal covenant name of God to his people.
SPEAKER_00: It's connected to God's revelation to Moses when he said, I am.
SPEAKER_00: He is the God who simply is.
SPEAKER_00: He is eternal, self-existent, dependent on no one.
SPEAKER_00: He is supreme, he is holy, he is God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what started this whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: The mission didn't begin in the mind of God, or the mind of men.
SPEAKER_00: It began in the hearts of God, of Lord God.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, long before you ever stand before a giant in your life, what you believe about God's power, about God's love, and about God's wisdom will determine how you attack your problems.
SPEAKER_00: Your theology is not an academic exercise, it's going to be the sealing of your courage.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why if you want to take those steps of faith, you need to invest time in knowing him better.
SPEAKER_00: Not just Bible study, but I'm talking about prayer time before God, knowing him personally.
SPEAKER_00: The more you know him, the more you'll grow in courage.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I've been married to my wife Lana for almost 35 years.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the fun things about being married to Lana is I still discover new things about her all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if Lana were up here, she'd tell you she figured out everything about me in about 90 days.
SPEAKER_00: I'm still learning.
SPEAKER_00: That's really probably not true, but she thinks so, right?
SPEAKER_00: But that's one of the glories about it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm still getting to know her.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's true in a relationship, a marriage of 35 years, how much more is it true when we consider the infinite, almighty God that we serve?
SPEAKER_00: We want to know him more.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this is the heart of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: If you're just checking out the things of God, you know.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't know of God, if you don't really investigate who he is, how could you possibly come to a place of salvation?
SPEAKER_00: Because you have to know he's holy, you also have to know he's loving, that he paid a price so that you could be brought back into relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that's why the scripture says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: You have to know him.
SPEAKER_00: So the first question is never about the problems you're facing, is it?
SPEAKER_00: The first question is whether the God you serve is bigger than the problems you have.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news your view of God is not fixed.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you can continue to change that, it can grow, and there's a 0% chance that somehow you're gonna overestimate him.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you're gonna find out more about him, and he's gonna become less.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the way it works.
SPEAKER_00: The more you know of God, the more magnificent he becomes.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first variable, theology.
SPEAKER_00: And it leads directly to the second variable, and that is perspective.
SPEAKER_00: The way you view your problems will determine how you deal with them.
SPEAKER_00: Look back at verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities were large and fortified.
SPEAKER_00: We also saw the descendants of Anak there.
SPEAKER_00: So there are giants in the land, and for ten of the spies, apparently they see those giants as bigger than God.
SPEAKER_00: They might have been big, but they're not that big.
SPEAKER_00: This, you see how this builds on theology?
SPEAKER_00: If your giants are bigger than your God, your God is too small.
SPEAKER_00: The small view of God had distorted the size of the problem.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to note that Joshua and Caleb in this passage did not ignore the challenges.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't come back and say, Oh, there's no giants in the land.
SPEAKER_00: Being courageous is not the same thing as being naive or pretending that problems don't exist.
SPEAKER_00: We don't ignore problems, but we see them differently because of Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: So when fear is our guide, it determines whether we'll obey.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the way it's supposed to work.
SPEAKER_00: We don't live by that imperfect perspective.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever seen uh uh a magnification of uh something very small, like an insect or an ant?
SPEAKER_00: You see a magnified face of an ant, and it looks like a monster.
SPEAKER_00: Until what?
SPEAKER_00: Until you zoom out and you recognize that it did look like that, that's a true picture, but it's so much smaller than you imagine.
SPEAKER_00: And that's that's a picture of what we see happening here.
SPEAKER_00: Fear is a zoom lens.
SPEAKER_00: You see something that might be real, but you blow it up.
SPEAKER_00: See, the fear didn't necessarily lie about the existence of the giants, it fear lies about the proportion of the problem.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 2, when God sent the spies, he told them to evaluate the land.
SPEAKER_00: It said, Send men to scout out the land of Canaan, I am giving to the Israelites.
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying them to bring back an opinion at all, he's sending them to bring back a strategy.
SPEAKER_00: They're not sent to determine whether they should go, but how they should do it.
SPEAKER_00: And focusing on the size of problems can not only be paralyzing, but something else happens when you have that perspective.
SPEAKER_00: Something irrational happens where you start imagining the fear beyond what it really is.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 33 again.
SPEAKER_00: We even saw the nephilium there.
SPEAKER_00: Now stop right there.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what the nephilum are?
SPEAKER_00: Go back to Genesis and the account of Noah just before the flood, and what had happened, we don't fully understand, but as best as we can tell, demonic powers were having relations with humans and with an evil offspring.
SPEAKER_00: It was never meant to be this way in God's design, and God said, enough.
SPEAKER_00: There is no evidence that these are demonic powers or offspring that are living in the land at this time.
SPEAKER_00: None.
SPEAKER_00: They're using this as an exaggeration.
SPEAKER_00: They see large people and they say, Oh, this must be the Nephilium.
SPEAKER_00: No, so this is their picture in their minds.
SPEAKER_00: It's not true.
SPEAKER_00: The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: How do you know this?
SPEAKER_00: To ourselves, we seem like grasshoppers, and it gets worse.
SPEAKER_00: Watch this.
SPEAKER_00: And we have seemed the same to them.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when it talks about a grasshopper, it's not just an expression, I don't believe, of a small insect.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about food there.
SPEAKER_00: It would be the smallest expression, maybe a snack of nutritional sustenance.
SPEAKER_00: That may sound gross to you, but they'd eat grasshoppers at the time as a source of protein.
SPEAKER_00: Some people still do.
SPEAKER_00: Remember John the Baptist, he lived on locusts and honey.
SPEAKER_00: He was eating grasshoppers.
SPEAKER_00: He was eating dates out in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: And so what they're really saying is, we seemed a snack food to the giants.
SPEAKER_00: But it went even farther than that.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they're not just reporting of how they related to the size of the giants, they're actually reporting the opinions of those giants.
SPEAKER_00: They said, and we seemed that way to them.
SPEAKER_00: How in the world do they know what the giants thought of them?
SPEAKER_00: Did they interview them?
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, sir.
SPEAKER_00: I just wonder, when you see us, what insect do we remind you of?
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that conversation ever took place, but it did in their minds, and they so exaggerated the problem that they found themselves here.
SPEAKER_00: Fear doesn't just magnify problems, it manufactures problems.
SPEAKER_00: So, according to the report, God was too weak, they were too small, the task was too hard, and the giants were too big.
SPEAKER_00: It's a grasshopper mentality.
SPEAKER_00: You say no when God says go.
SPEAKER_00: But in the midst of this vision failure, there are two men of faith, Joshua and Caleb.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the contrast.
SPEAKER_00: They had a vision of victory with the same set of circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: When you're confident in God, even the problems look like opportunities.
SPEAKER_00: It's so interesting that all these spies traveled the same route, had the same view, but saw two totally different things.
SPEAKER_00: One saw opportunities, the other saw obstacles.
SPEAKER_00: One group saw the grapes, the other group saw the giants.
SPEAKER_00: One group saw the blessings, the other group saw the burdens.
SPEAKER_00: The only difference was the lens through which they saw what was happening.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the reasons, incidentally, we gather for worship.
SPEAKER_00: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_00: We gather and we worship a holy God because He's worthy of our worship.
SPEAKER_00: We were designed to worship, but something else happens when we gather for worship.
SPEAKER_00: You see, when we see God as he is, high and lifted up, it changes our perspective about everything.
SPEAKER_00: You might consider a worship service perspective adjustment therapy.
SPEAKER_00: That's what God's doing when we sing together.
SPEAKER_00: We say, wait a second, all those problems I walked in with, they didn't go away.
SPEAKER_00: But man, they shrunk when I saw the size of my God.
SPEAKER_00: Perspective changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Most of life will be determined by how you view your problems.
SPEAKER_00: The variables of courageous faith, theology, perspective, and then conviction.
SPEAKER_00: This has to do with your confidence in God's ability to carry out his promises, to trust what God says over what you see.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it this way: theology lets you see God before you fight the giants.
SPEAKER_00: Perspective lets you see the giants accurately in light of God.
SPEAKER_00: And conviction is what makes you walk toward the danger.
SPEAKER_00: Conviction comes from knowing what God has already said and deciding that he meant it.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you know I grew up around airplanes.
SPEAKER_00: My dad ran an airport in our hometown.
SPEAKER_00: And so when I wasn't in school, I was usually working for him, and we'd work those days, and then wasn't unusual in the afternoons.
SPEAKER_00: He'd say, Go uh put some gas in the 172 or one of the other planes there and let's go fly.
SPEAKER_00: And I'd have a lesson there at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_00: And what I remember the most that my dad would say to me when we were in those flying lessons is he would say, Get your head out of the cockpit and look at the horizon.
SPEAKER_00: What he meant by that is you can get fixated on just whatever's happening in here, but the only thing that really matters is to see the horizon because the horizon doesn't change.
SPEAKER_00: Now you're in a storm, you have to look at the instruments, but the whole point is your mind and your body will lie to you in an airplane.
SPEAKER_00: Your whole senses will think I'm flying straight in level, but you look out at the horizon and realize, oh, I'm actually gonna dive, or I'm climbing, or I'm banking.
SPEAKER_00: So you can't trust your instincts, you can't trust your gut.
SPEAKER_00: You look out and you see what's absolutely true.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what needs to happen in our faith, you see.
SPEAKER_00: That's where conviction comes from.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter how you feel, it doesn't matter what your gut says.
SPEAKER_00: What matters is what God has promised.
SPEAKER_00: Trust what was reliable over what feels true.
SPEAKER_00: There will be moments when everything you see tells you God cannot possibly do what he said.
SPEAKER_00: And that's when faith looks for what is sure.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing should bolster your faith more than looking through God's word and recognizing that he has a perfect record for keeping his promises.
SPEAKER_00: Think about Abraham and Sarah as they waited on Isaac.
SPEAKER_00: I think about how God uh redeemed and delivered Israel.
SPEAKER_00: I think about this story.
SPEAKER_00: I think about the coming of Christ Jesus the first time.
SPEAKER_00: And you can trust his promises because he keeps his promises.
SPEAKER_00: Numbers 13, 2 tells us Joshua and Caleb had specific promises that they were counting on.
SPEAKER_00: God said, Send men to scout out the land of Canaan and watch this three words.
SPEAKER_00: I am giving to the Israelites.
SPEAKER_00: It's not up for grabs.
SPEAKER_00: He's not saying, hey, you know, cross your fingers and hope it works out.
SPEAKER_00: Just why don't you go check it out?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gonna work.
SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
SPEAKER_00: That's not what he says.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I've already given it to you.
SPEAKER_00: The difference between Joshua and Caleb and the other ten spies is Joshua and Caleb knew God had already promised a land.
SPEAKER_00: Their job wasn't to manufacture a promise, but to trust the promises God had actually made.
SPEAKER_00: Biblical vision is picturing what God says that he says will be.
SPEAKER_00: So in order to trust and understand, it does not is not based on how I feel.
SPEAKER_00: That's biblical vision.
SPEAKER_00: To say, okay, God's called me to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know exactly how it's gonna go, but I'm gonna walk in obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 30 of chapter 13.
SPEAKER_00: Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, Let's go up now and take possession of the land, because we can certainly conquer it.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Caleb was saying, Stop measuring them against us and start measuring them against God and let's go.
SPEAKER_00: That's why there's a difference between bravery and courage.
SPEAKER_00: Some people get the wrong idea that courageous faith is finding something irrational to do and just doing.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's not that's not biblical courage at all.
SPEAKER_00: It might be brave, but it doesn't necessarily need to be blamed on God.
SPEAKER_00: People do crazy things and blame them on God.
SPEAKER_00: No, God's not calling you to do that, He's calling you to walk in faith even when you don't feel like it.
SPEAKER_00: Lana and I were in Switzerland last week.
SPEAKER_00: We had an opportunity to go to the Swiss Alps with her parents, and it was beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: And we just hike through the mountains.
SPEAKER_00: But you know there's a sport in Switzerland that is fascinating to me.
SPEAKER_00: It's called base jumping.
SPEAKER_00: So what they do is somebody will go up on a cliff and they'll jump off the cliff and then they'll throw out a parachute, and they're irrationally low to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: And then they fly in.
SPEAKER_00: It's actually illegal, I think, in most of the states, the U.S., but they do it all over the place there.
SPEAKER_00: And it is the craziest thing.
SPEAKER_00: We're sitting at a bus stop one day in the Louder Brunin area, and we'd just been up in the mountains, and I look up and I tell Lana, is that an eagle?
SPEAKER_00: I just see something flying with it's black with a white head, and then I realize, oh, that's a dude, like right there.
SPEAKER_00: And he throws out the parachute.
SPEAKER_00: I'm that's crazy.
SPEAKER_00: And one after the other, they're doing this.
SPEAKER_00: So I Google on my phone when I'm sitting there, what's the fatality rate of base jumping?
SPEAKER_00: And it's estimated to be one in 2300 to one in 2500.
SPEAKER_00: So these guys may have bravery, but they're not good at math.
SPEAKER_00: Like that's really bad odds to be jumping off a cliff.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's nuts, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, what I want you to understand is God is not calling us to that kind of bravery.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua and Caleb were not thrill seekers saying, let's just go for it and see what happens.
SPEAKER_00: No, they're interpreting what they see through what God has said.
SPEAKER_00: And they're standing on conviction.
SPEAKER_00: That's where courage comes from.
SPEAKER_00: Then Caleb quieted the people and he called them.
SPEAKER_00: They were convinced God had spoken.
SPEAKER_00: When you know the deed is already in your pocket, because God has made the promise, you stop asking whether you can, and you start asking where to begin, which leads us to the final variable theology, perspective, conviction, and finally response.
SPEAKER_00: This is so important.
SPEAKER_00: So many people have a misconception that biblical courage is what you feel or what you say.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about words, it's about obedience.
SPEAKER_00: That's what demonstrates biblical courage.
SPEAKER_00: There comes a point in any endeavor when it's time to act on what you know and believe.
SPEAKER_00: Opportunities always have an expiration date.
SPEAKER_00: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_00: When you know what God is calling you to do, you need to do it.
SPEAKER_00: And what's true for the believer is also true for the church.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus gave us a great commission to go and make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: But then at Kingsland, I love that he's given us a very unique way to carry that out.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about our mission statement often.
SPEAKER_00: If you've been here more than a week, you've seen it written on the walls.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about it here because we're inviting all people to experience true fulfillment in Jesus Christ one home at a time.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, the centerpiece is true fulfillment in Jesus Christ because you cannot have true fulfillment apart from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So we want to invite people to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We do that with what I'd call the bookends of that mission.
SPEAKER_00: Inviting all people, that's missions, one home at a time.
SPEAKER_00: That's home.
SPEAKER_00: So what we're doing at Kingsland is taking dead aim at family and mission.
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to mission, we're going to go to the hard places, locally and globally, to share the hope of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to address real needs so we win the right to share the hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then when we do all these things, we're going to do it in the framework of home, of family.
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of your season of life, your home has shaped you, informed you.
SPEAKER_00: And you need to understand that.
SPEAKER_00: So when we reach people that way, then everything changes.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand how countercultural those two particular callings are for our church?
SPEAKER_00: There's easier ways to do ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Missions and hard places is difficult.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason a lot of people don't go there.
SPEAKER_00: It's a reason they take the easy road.
SPEAKER_00: It's counter-cultural.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to focus on family in a culture that's forsaken family.
SPEAKER_00: We recognize that God has called uniquely man and a woman to raise their children and to be the biblical faith trainers there.
SPEAKER_00: That's countercultural.
SPEAKER_00: We don't do it because it's easy.
SPEAKER_00: We do it because of what God's called us to do.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see?
SPEAKER_00: The obstacles are worth the inconvenience.
SPEAKER_00: Go beyond to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we do it.
SPEAKER_00: Because God called us to.
SPEAKER_00: It's why we're praying for a million seven homes to be transformed by the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I'm praying specifically that it would happen by 2030.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that far off.
SPEAKER_00: It's why we're building a new worship center and a new courts so we can welcome our neighbors and they can hear about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's why we have the empowered homes ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's so many others who are longing to see transformation in their homes.
SPEAKER_00: These are hard things, they're countercultural things, but they're things God has called us to do.
SPEAKER_00: The question is never, is it difficult?
SPEAKER_00: The question should be, has God called us to do it?
SPEAKER_00: Because if He has, our job is to obey.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm praying that each of us, if you're a part of Kingsland, would take ownership of reaching the seven in that million seven.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to say, let's just ask God to do something extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: It's something much more personal to say, could in your lifetime God use you to see seven households transformed?
SPEAKER_00: And how are you gonna answer that call?
SPEAKER_00: How are you gonna be in on what that is?
SPEAKER_00: I'm praying that the collective missions that we have would be personal to you.
SPEAKER_00: What is that gonna mean for you?
SPEAKER_00: For some, that means investing in others to win the right to share.
SPEAKER_00: For others, it means that you're gonna answer the call.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna raise your hand and say yes to what God's leading you to do in ministry, whether it's a ministry here at the church or it's a mission with one of our partners.
SPEAKER_00: I love that right now as we gather down the hallway, there are hundreds of people serving our children and our preschoolers, our special needs individuals and others teaching God's word, faithfully serving.
SPEAKER_00: What is God calling you to?
SPEAKER_00: I love that right now as I preach, there's an army of Kingsland people working in disaster relief outside of Joliet, Illinois, where they've had unbelievable floods and storms and tornadoes and a chainsaw team's up there sharing the love of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: How cool is that?
SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to answer the call for what he called you to do?
SPEAKER_00: For some, it's gonna mean you're raised up and called to go to a new work, whether that's the mission field or another local church, not just by leaving, but being deployed by Kingsland to advance the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: This week, last week, next week, hundreds of our students will go off to their next job or school and they're looking for a new church.
SPEAKER_00: But they don't get to just land at a church.
SPEAKER_00: They're commissioned by Kingsland to go and see homes transformed.
SPEAKER_00: But it might be more personal than that what God's calling you to do.
SPEAKER_00: What actionable step of obedience do you need to take that you've hesitated on before now to demonstrate biblical courage to trust what God has called you to do?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gonna be to overcome some obstacle in your life, whether it's fear of rejection or fear of not having enough financial resources or fear of losing your job.
SPEAKER_00: What is God calling you to do?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's clearing your calendar every week for five meaningful meals with the ones you love.
SPEAKER_00: Or moms and dads, taking ownership of blessing your children and discipling them.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gonna mean forgiving that person who hurts you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gonna mean confessing the hidden sin in your life to a trusted friend and taking steps of repentance.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, for some, if you don't know Jesus, it means following Jesus, forsaking everything else, and trusting your life to Him?
SPEAKER_00: I know that some of those things that are gonna come to mind for you right now might seem overwhelming.
SPEAKER_00: But I know every one of those steps is aimed directly at something he's already told us to do, do you see?
SPEAKER_00: So let's ask God for something great in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Before we close, I want to ask you a question.
SPEAKER_00: Do any of the following names ring a bell to you?
SPEAKER_00: Shammuah, Shapat, Egal, Palti, Gadiel, Gadai, Amiel, Sether, Nabi, Gul, anybody?
SPEAKER_00: You have any cousins at the family reunion by those names?
SPEAKER_00: If you think that's the name of a law firm, you're wrong.
SPEAKER_00: Those were the names of the spies that were sent out with Joshua and Caleb and came back with a negative report.
SPEAKER_00: The critics missed out on the promises of God.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm curious about something else.
SPEAKER_00: Just by a show of hands, how many of you know someone named Joshua or Caleb?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's unanimous.
SPEAKER_00: All of us.
SPEAKER_00: Thousands of years later, we're still naming our sons after them.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because their legacy outlived them.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the opportunity that we have.
SPEAKER_00: The decisions we make now to walk into the hard places where God has called us will determine our legacy.
SPEAKER_00: That's what's so interesting about this particular passage as we apply it today, is I know that the Holy Spirit of God has to speak individually to your heart because it's going to be different all over the room for different people.
SPEAKER_00: What is it that God's calling you to do?
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be that step of faith and courage.
SPEAKER_00: And are you willing to take it?
SPEAKER_00: Because the reality is, let's be honest, if we shrink back, it's not because of the size of the problems, it's because we've made our God too small.
SPEAKER_00: Let's bow together.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pray for us and then we'll have an opportunity to respond.
SPEAKER_00: But I wonder right now, if you'd invite the Lord to show you maybe a step that you need to take of courageous faith.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd say, Pastor, I know right now what it is.
SPEAKER_00: I know there's something I need to do.
SPEAKER_00: When I walk out this door this week, I need to make that phone call.
SPEAKER_00: I need to talk to that neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: I need to step into service, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: Just let me know by raising your hand right now, just so I know to pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: I know what it is.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for me.
SPEAKER_00: All over the room.
unknown: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, thank you for the power of your word.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray now, Lord, that you reveal to each of us what we need to do.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray that if there's one man or woman who's present today or watching online who's never trusted you, that they would take that first step of faith, setting everything else aside and resting in the grace that you've offered.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, call us to courageous faith.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you would not allow us to settle for anything less.
SPEAKER_00: We pray these things in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, Pastor Ryan Rush here, and I just want to thank you for being with us in Kings Among Line today.
SPEAKER_01: What an honor.
SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you what would be even better.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to see you get connected with the physical church in the days ahead if you haven't already.
SPEAKER_01: And that means maybe if you're local in the West, we'd love to see you.