WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.080 Yeah, I grew up and I was fortunate enough to have a great dad. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:10.960 Um but as a teenager, he got on my last nerves. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:23.679 I think it's just hardwired in teenagers' DNA that they think that their parents are the dumbest people on the planet for those few years, and you know, maybe years later you come to realize that you didn't know everything. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.960 Um but my dad used to do things and try to help us be successful, my brother and I. 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:36.960 And one of those things that he would do with us as a teenager is that he would make us practice introducing ourselves to him. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:47.359 And so, you know, so that we, you know, be prepared for that job interview, or so that we'd be prepared for that college uh internship interview, whatever those things were. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:54.079 And so my dad would walk up to me and he'd put his hand out and he'd say, Hi, I'm Byron Coleman, nice to meet you. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.439 And then I'd have to shake his hand and introduce myself. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:58.719 I'm Forrest Coleman. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.640 It was just the worst thing ever. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.480 It was so annoying, so embarrassing. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:11.439 And so what's funny is uh I'm started doing the same thing, but with my three-year-old. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.000 And because right now, like she still thinks that you know, me and my wife that we hung the moon as parents. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:19.760 Like everything we do, we have a good time. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:22.480 She tells me that I'm her best friend, like we have a great relationship. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:23.920 Parents, you all know what I'm talking about. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:24.959 She's three, okay? 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:26.400 She's not in that time yet. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:27.840 And so I'm trying to soak it up. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:32.799 So I'll walk up to Ember and I'll say, uh, hey, uh, I'll say, nice to meet you. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:33.680 I'm daddy. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:39.120 And then she'll stick out her hand and she'll say, Nice to meet you, I'm Ember, which is really sweet. 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:48.239 But uh recently, Emily uh taught her to say in this introduction, uh, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:58.640 Now she can't really articulate the words completely, but what what's funny is that she'll even like put her hand out like this, like she's a princess, and say, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:03.200 And so the other night we were our small group went to Da Vinci's Pizza to hang out, and we were there. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:14.080 And uh uh I was introducing Ember to Troy, who's in our small group, and uh I said, and this is my daughter Ember, and she looked at Troy and she said, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:18.400 And we all started dying laughing because she can barely say it. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.719 Um you think about uh meeting someone new. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.120 Uh, whenever you're in the introduction, you know, it can be uh awkward at times. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:27.919 What do you say? 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.280 You know, did you shake the hand? 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.039 Did you get fully in with the handshake? 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:32.080 Did you just grab the fingers? 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:32.719 Oh, it's awkward. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:36.400 Can you never talk to that person again because the handshake was weird? 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:43.919 And, you know, um, we're getting into this new series today called Nice to Meet You. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:54.080 And really, it's an opportunity for uh us to introduce and reintroduce ourselves as a church as we get into this brand new series. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:03:05.199 And so if you're here today and you're new, if you're a new guest or you can consider yourself new, there's never a better Sunday for you to be here and starting off this series of nice to meet you. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:10.000 Because it's in in part, it's an introduction about who Multiply Church is. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:11.840 And to be honest with you, we're brand new. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:15.919 And so we've just tried to get to know who we are as a church. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.759 It's it's kind of like uh my seven-month-old Magnolia. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.159 I think I had a picture of Magnolia. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:25.039 Um she's just the sweetest. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:32.639 Uh, you know, at seven months though, um, you know, she smiles and lights up our world, but she can't really, she can't talk yet. 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:38.319 She can't like we're getting to know Magnolia, but we don't really know Magnolia's personality yet, right? 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:39.680 She's seven months old. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:44.639 We're getting to know her, we're getting to know her as an infant, but it's gonna take some time. 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:50.159 It's gonna take months and months and and years to actually get to know who she is. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:59.280 And and in the same way, uh for us, it's it's kind of taken a while to figure out who we are as Multiply Church. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.599 Now, this was a very intentional decision. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:08.639 At the beginnings of of planting this church, and so uh just to introduce myself, I'm Forrest Coleman, my wife Emily. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.960 We came here to Frankfurt and joined with a group of people to plant Multiply Church two years ago. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.680 We launched just over a year ago here at Multiply. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.360 So glad to meet you. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:45.839 And in the early days of the church, some coaching and instruction that was given to me that I thought was so great was as we were starting to think about the values of multiply church and what we were going to be like as a church, certain coaches said, Hey, why don't you take some time and instead of uh doing what most and a lot of planters do is go find the church they love and go to their website and copy and paste all their values and things and put it onto their uh church. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.959 Because, you know, that's the I like that, so maybe that will be that. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:57.040 But instead for us to discover who we are so that when we talk about who Multiply Church is, it's from a place of authority and also honest. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:07.839 Because, you know, two years ago, we could have said, like, hey, hey, we're gonna be a generous church, and we could have put that on the website, but that's only proof in the pudding whether you actually are generous or not. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.199 Whether you actually are embodying the things that you say that you are. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:28.879 And so that's led to us over the last year, and really this sermon series has been two years in the making, but intentionally uh a year in the making, even six months in the making, to really say, okay, what are we truly like? 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:36.720 Let's discover what that is and then what we truly value and what people are going to experience. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:44.000 You think about it in your own life when you are introduced to someone, what do they experience in you? 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:48.480 What are the things that you truly value as a person? 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.079 What do it be like for you to write those things down? 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:59.600 Of what the values that you have, or what stories are connected to it? 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:11.360 And so asking the question what do you want others to experience and what what they will truly experience when they come to be a part of Multiply. 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:20.560 Now, the part of the discovery and figuring this out was, you know, when you do values, you can just have a big long list of words, or you could do different things. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:27.920 And, you know, I've tried to be very intentional, our leaders have tried to be very intentional for us not to copy anybody else. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:29.120 You want to know why? 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:34.879 It's because God's doing a unique thing here at Multiply, us as an expression of the local church. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:43.439 And if we're gonna uh to copy anybody else and to take from anybody else, we would always be the Diet Coke version of somebody else. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.639 So why don't we just be who God made us to be? 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.519 And who God is making us into now? 00:06:49.759 --> 00:07:02.560 And it's exciting for me to think about the who we are as a church and the things that we value, that those things were created in this time right now when the church was could literally meet in one living room. 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.439 When the church right now is meeting in the movie theater. 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:10.639 One day we're gonna have a big building, and and if Lord willing, we'll have lots of people who come to be a part of our church. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:15.519 But what we value started right now, started right here. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:27.519 And so, again, for you who are in the room today, maybe you've been around for a while, and maybe you haven't, this is a perfect time for you to get to know what in the world you're a part of. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:37.519 Because here's the thing multiply church is not a building, it's not just a pastor, it's not just a staff, it's all of us. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:40.240 It's all of us. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:51.040 As we think about embodying and what we embody and what we value as a church, that means that you and me, as we go have gone through this process, say, okay, what does it look like? 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:52.879 What who are we? 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:59.920 And as we go through and look at some of these values that we've that we've boiled down into very small statements. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:01.519 Now, why we do that? 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:12.639 We can just put a list of words, generous, uh, all integrity, uh what we chose to do is to do some simple statements that are connected to story because that's more relational in my mind. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:16.720 Connected to who we are completely. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:28.959 And so, as an introduction today, and as you think about what the things are that you value, we're gonna take a look at Jesus and who he was and who he valued and what he valued. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:37.360 Because ultimately you've stepped into a church who loves Jesus and looks to Jesus as our model and our God. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:46.799 And the truth is that we don't just believe that the message of Jesus was divine, but also the methods of Jesus were divine as well. 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:58.559 His example, how he treated the disciples, how he treated people as the stories of the scripture and what he did to help chart a course for us as we step forward as a church together. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:04.240 And so over the next three weeks, we're gonna break down and go through these 10 value statements. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:08.960 Um, and so I'm gonna overview them now and then we're gonna hone in on three of them today. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.000 And so uh we'll we'll we'll just jump right in. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:16.080 So the first one is this, and and you all have heard these some of these statements before. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.639 We see a need, we feel a need, we look to sacrificially serve one another. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:22.960 Number two, we embrace the tension. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.480 We love the truth of God's word and his limitless grace. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.559 Number three, we do for one. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.240 We do for one what we wish we could do for everyone. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.840 Number four, we know it's crazy. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.879 Multiply it's crazy in all the best ways. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.720 Number five, we bring our best. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:44.960 You've heard me say that a million times. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:49.039 We get to bring our best because God brought his best to us. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.600 Number six, we are trailblazers. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:55.279 We blaze a trail of faith together, collectively. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:57.600 Number seven, we fuel the fire. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.480 We want to be a blessing to others. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:02.559 Number eight, we are builders. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:04.720 We are builders, not a building. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:07.440 Number nine, we find the X factor. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.879 We want to discover your gifts and deploy them for your purpose. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.440 And number 10, we take others with us. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.519 Our church is meant to be a team sport, not a solo assignment. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:25.440 Woo! So we're gonna dig into some of these today, starting with this statement. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:27.360 We see a need, feel a need. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:37.279 Now, this statement was first said uh by one of our uh team leaders here at Multiplies, Shannon Lee, wherever Shannon is in the house. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:43.679 Bringing the trailer, getting things set up, and out of overflow of Shannon. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.480 Now, this has been over a year ago, probably now. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.200 Out of an overflow of service, he said to a group of us, he said, you know what, we see a need, we feel a need. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.919 And and what that looks like is that we take uh we take we look for opportunities to sacrificially serve one another. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:03.919 We're the hands and feet of Jesus inside and outside the walls of the church. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:10.480 We won't wait for someone else to step up, we take action to meet the needs of those around us. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:28.480 We're gonna see from Jesus' ministry and a story from Christ in Mark chapter 2 that there was this group of people who were had all come to see Jesus, and and and Jesus was teaching inside of this house, and the house was slam full with people. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:40.480 So many people that people were pouring out the doors, pouring out the windows, and there were so many people that that were there that that not everybody could even get a seat and get in. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:50.240 And there were these four guys who had a friend who was paralyzed, and and they did something that not everybody else was willing to do. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:12:00.639 If you see in Mark chapter 2, verse 2, soon the house where uh he was staying was packed with visitors, and there was no more room even outside the door. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:06.720 And while he was preaching God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:20.320 They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, and so they dug a hole through the roof above his head, and then they lowered the man on his mat right down in front of Jesus. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:34.960 And when that man came down in front of Jesus, Jesus not only forgave him of his sins, but he told him to stand up and walk, and he did. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:40.879 And he picked up his mat and he walked out of the house praising God. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:13:02.080 We see a need, we feel a need, we see a need, and just like these four guys who were unnamed in the story, they don't get the glory, but these four guys, they did everything that they could to get their friend in front of Jesus, and we want to do the same here at Multiply. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:20.159 We want to be a people that thinks about how in the world can we get somebody and invite somebody so that they can get down in front of the feet of Jesus and they can have transforming life change that only God can do that we can't do for ourselves. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.600 You say, Forrest, you know, I can't I can't really relate to this story. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.639 I don't really know anybody like that. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:37.600 Uh you know, all I have around me is really just, I don't know, my family, like you know, we're all Christians, all believers. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:38.799 I don't know. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:44.799 I mean, I I don't really see somebody who's who's paralyzed and think, you know, what am I supposed to do about that? 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:55.039 And Jesus makes a statement about what we see and who we see in Matthew chapter 25. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:02.559 Jesus says, For I was hungry and you didn't feed me. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:06.000 I was thirsty and you didn't give me a drink. 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:09.360 I was a stranger and you didn't invite me into your home. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.320 I was naked and you didn't give me clothing. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.919 I was sick and in prison and you didn't visit me. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:24.639 Then they reply, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and not help you? 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:29.039 And he will answer, I tell you the truth. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:36.879 When you refuse to help, the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:50.480 I told you last Sunday that I got invited to go into um see and talk to the staff of the Simon House, now the only homeless shelter in Franklin County. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.720 Some others have closed down. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:59.279 And so on Wednesday, uh I got to go over and to meet the staff, and there's two different locations. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:04.080 There's a downtown house that can house five families with children. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:14.240 And then there's a second location that uh is in the old sheriff's department building, and they've transformed this building into a shelter for people. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:26.559 And in the basement, they have 16 beds that are there and available for people who are uh single, don't have kids that need a place to stay to get back on their feet. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:32.960 I went and got to meet the staff, and these people have absolute hearts of gold. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:42.720 And what they told me is they said, Forrest, we have so many people right now who we're serving that there's literally a waiting list to get in. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.879 And I asked them, I said, Who who are these folks? 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:57.120 Like we walked and saw, and we saw some people and and and met some folks, but but I just said, are these people who are like coming from out of town that kind of find their way into Frankfurt? 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.200 Or are these people who are from Frankfurt? 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:10.240 And they said, by and large, these are people who are here in Frankfurt, these are people of Franklin County that have found themselves on hard times, don't know what to do. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:27.039 And so they described, they told us, they said, you know, right now in the in the shelter, you know, what's recommended is that people can stay for 30 days, but they said, For us, we can't even get people a new ID card or a social security card that they've lost because they've been living on the streets in a tent. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:31.440 Like so, so they allow people to stay to up to three months in both locations. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:39.519 And as I went through and I walked through and I saw and saw the hundreds of people that they are serving here in Franklin County, I just said, we've got to come alongside them. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.480 We gotta come alongside them. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.559 They said that you know there's hundreds of people who uh are are homeless here in Frankfurt. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.919 We don't see a lot of them because they're out in the woods in tents. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:02.799 They talked about that during COVID that they uh that during COVID that they opened up the the Frankfurt High School gym in downtown Frankfurt. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:13.200 I wasn't living in Frankfurt at that time, but apparently they opened the gym during COVID times to allow people who were were homeless to come and to be in the gym, and apparently the gym was packed out. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:22.720 And they said, Force it was the first time that Franklin County really saw the homelessness that's actually here and the problem that it is. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:46.559 And so Jesus tells us that when we refuse to love, to see the need, and those least of these, we're refusing to help Jesus himself. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.480 It's intense words. 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:52.559 It's intense words. 00:17:52.880 --> 00:18:10.000 And I think about for us, I I I know we're gonna be we're gonna be coming up with some ways that we can go and be a blessing at the Simon House that'll be coming soon so that we can continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus outside the walls of the church. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:11.519 We see a need, we feel a need. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.720 Amen, church. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:21.359 The next one is we embrace the tension, we're bold about grace and truth. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:25.200 We love the truth of God's word and his limitless grace. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:29.519 We have tough conversations and we call each other up to the next level. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:36.720 We will be bold and filled with humility when it comes to resolving conflicts swiftly and completely. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.880 Matthew 5, 23 through 24. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.160 Jesus tells us this in Matthew 5. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:54.000 So if you're presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:00.000 Go and be reconciled to that person, and then come offer your sacrifice to God. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:16.400 That's a strong word from Jesus to tell us that our and your heavenly worship isn't right until you've embraced the tension of your earthly relationships. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:30.640 That when we worship God, that it's not just a vertical relationship, but also our worship, it's impacted by the relations that we have here horizontally here on earth. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:37.359 And that we are gonna be people who embrace the tension of grace and truth. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:38.640 You wanna know why? 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.759 Because Jesus himself embodied both of those things. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.359 John 1, 17. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:45.440 So the law was given through Moses. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:49.119 Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 00:19:50.079 --> 00:20:08.079 Scott Nichol, who preached here a few weeks ago, he's actually a preacher and a pastor, and he actually has the word grace tattooed on one arm and truth tattooed on the other arm, to remind him as he preaches the gospel that we should embody both grace and truth like Jesus did. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:14.000 That we're gonna be a people that loves people well. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:26.000 That though we have the truth of God's word and that we know what's right, that we're not obsessed with being right all the time. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:32.880 That we're able to be in relationship with people so that they can get right with God. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.480 We know the truth of God's word, but we're not gonna compromise it. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:43.440 We're also not gonna treat people without grace and without love. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:50.880 When they come through the doors of multiply church, they're gonna experience the grace of Jesus. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:21:06.400 2 Peter 1, 2, it tells us that we should multiply the grace and peace of God according to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:17.599 And I want for this place to be a place that as we multiply, that we multiply the grace and peace of God for others. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.279 Why should we do that? 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.720 Because we're gonna be blessed because of it. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:38.319 Our ultimate posture in our relationships will be to be one of making peace, not just keeping peace. 00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:41.039 You know, there's a difference. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:57.200 There's a difference between being a peacekeeper with the tensions that are in our families and that are in our workplaces, and and and and even some of you have have have even said before, you know, I'm just I'm just the peacekeeper of our family. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.759 Just try to make everything, just smooth everything. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.119 Over so that we can get through it all. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:08.400 And ultimately that means you take a big broom and you're sweeping things under the rug. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.640 But Jesus doesn't call us to be a peacekeeper, he calls us to be a peacemaker. 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:23.759 In Matthew 5, 9, Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:26.799 So be a peacemaker. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:30.319 Be a peacemaker. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.079 We're going to live in attention of grace and truth. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.480 We're going to preach the word of God. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:38.960 And we're going to stand on God's word. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:49.359 And we're also going to have a posture of humility and of grace and of love so that people who walk through the door can find the peace of God. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:53.039 We're going to embrace attention. 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:58.480 But that's okay. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:00.559 Because we're going to embrace it. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.920 The next one is we do for one. 00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:12.000 We do for one person what we wish we could do for everyone. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:17.279 We know one invite, one blessing can change someone's life forever. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:22.079 Jesus left the 99 to go after the one, and we will too. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:24.000 Luke chapter 15. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:30.720 Jesus tells us this parable of in the chapter of Luke 15. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:36.720 There's three different stories: one of a lost sheep, one of a lost coin, and one of a lost son that we talked about a few weeks ago. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:45.440 In chapter 15, tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:46.559 That's verse 1. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:47.920 Verse 2. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:57.839 This made the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people, even eating with them. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.759 Can you believe it? 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:02.799 Verse 3. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:06.000 So Jesus told them this story. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.759 If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:18.559 Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go search for the one that was lost until he finds it? 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:24.640 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:33.039 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me because I found my lost sheep. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:44.720 In the same way, there's more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over 99 others who are righteous and haven't strayed away. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.960 This is a powerful teaching. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.839 This is a powerful teaching. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:13.680 That there may be 99 people who are righteous and know Jesus, but the one that is lost, we have a God that will go and search and find that one because he loves and cares about them and he's calling us to do it. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:18.079 We do for one what we wish we could do for everyone. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:23.279 This is a mantra and something that Emily and I have tried to live out for a long time. 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:30.000 We can't give everybody a place to stay in our house, but we could do it for one person. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:40.720 We can't pay everybody's bills, but maybe for one person we could step up and do something and do what we wish we could do for everybody and do it for one person. 00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:46.559 And that involves and includes an invitation to be in relationship with God. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:57.920 A few weeks ago, somebody here in our church told me one of our teachers, we have some amazing teachers in multiply. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:00.880 One of our teachers told me a story. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:06.240 This do for one is something you've heard me say many times over the last few months. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:09.279 This is a team of tried to embody. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:26.240 And one of our teachers came to me and told me a story, and she said that there was somebody that was uh in her classroom that she got wind of and found out that this family was struggling, struggling so much that they had this hundreds and hundreds of dollars electric bill that they were unable to pay. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:38.000 And so they came to her asking if there was any resources, and she was trying to figure out what to do and if she could get assistance somewhere, and she said, you know what, we just decided that we just wanted we just stepped up and we paid it. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:39.599 Me and my family. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:44.079 And then she said, Because we do for one. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:27:00.160 She connected the story of that generosity and for them being called to help this one family that they can't pay for everybody's electric bill, but for this one child and this one family. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.920 They said, you know what, we we'll we'll do for one. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.279 And when when she said that, it just it blessed me. 00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:08.880 It blessed me. 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:13.680 It blessed me because it was true, true generosity there. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:21.599 And going outside of the walls of the church to love someone well, and we're gonna be known by our love. 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:32.000 Jesus tells us that as disciples, that the world they're gonna know us by the way that we love one another. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:41.440 There's so many things that we can focus on, so many different principles from the scripture, so many different principles for the ministry and life of Jesus. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:45.119 But if we miss love, we've missed it all. 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:54.960 If we miss that Jesus calls us to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as ourselves, we've missed it. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:59.759 And so we get to do for one. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:05.359 It makes me think about the early days of our church. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.240 Two years ago, now, a little over, a little, a little under two years ago now. 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:17.039 Our church was just beginning to meet in a living room. 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:25.759 We were beginning to do some service things in the community, try to come alongside some folks and fuel the fire. 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:33.839 And when I say like this is the beginnings, I think that we had like less than 20 adults who were a part of multiply at the time. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:38.559 We were a long way away from having Sunday morning services or anything like this. 00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:44.400 We didn't have any of this equipment and all that, none of that stuff, trailer, none of those things. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.920 All it was just literally a living room. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.480 And some people saying, hey, we're gonna see God do something from nothing. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:06.640 And we, in connection with one of our partners that we have gotten to serve many times, the Wanda Joyce Robinson Foundation, we got connected to this grandmother who was taking care of her grandchildren because the parents were incarcerated. 00:29:07.359 --> 00:29:25.119 And she found herself in a state because of uh of an illness, an infection in her leg that had taken over, and that she was coming up for a surgery that she she so desperately needed, but she was literally homebound in a house north of town. 00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:36.079 Now we got wind of this that she needed to uh she needed to be able to get to these doctor's appointments, and she literally was locked in her house. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:39.039 The steps down, she couldn't traverse them. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:46.960 And so the Wanda Joyce Robinson Foundation came to us and said, Hey, what would would you guys, would y'all be able to like do something for this grandmother? 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:50.240 Like, could you maybe like build a wheelchair ramp? 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:53.680 And I'm like, How are we gonna build a wheelchair ramp? 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:58.400 Like, we just got like a small group of us, just a few guys. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.400 And I just said, Yes, yes, we can. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:03.839 We're gonna do that. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.640 I really had no business saying yes at the time. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:14.960 But the Lord just presented a need in front of us, and and it was like, hey, could your church do this? 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:18.559 And I was like, hey, where there's a will, there's a way, like, let's figure this out. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:24.559 And so we went and and and met her, and I was just I was just recruiting everybody. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:29.599 I I recruited my neighbor, I recruited my my neighbor's landlord to help us out. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:53.759 He did the drawings, and I was just recruiting all these different people, and a couple guys came from Southland, and and one guy came from another church here in town, and we we we ended up scrounging together like 10 guys, went and got the materials, and we went out and built this wheelchair ramp for Miss Tammy. 00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:06.079 And I'll never forget when she came wheeling out the back door in her in her wheelchair and just a huge smile on her face, and she said, Can I go down it? 00:31:06.799 --> 00:31:08.559 I said, Yeah, for sure. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:14.960 Like, let's let's test this thing out, you know, fingers crossed, kick it, you know, it's this thing standing. 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:38.880 And so she wheeled down it and wheeled back up it, and you would have thought that like she was at Disney World because she had been having to come out of her house up front, and she'd had to scoot down on her bottom each stair to somebody at the bottom to help her get her back into her chair to get into a car, and now she was able to get her wheelchair down. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:53.680 And I'll never forget, I went back into her room where she was laid in her bed, it was dark in there, and she just said, Thank you all so much for doing this for me. 00:31:55.200 --> 00:32:08.160 She said, Years and years ago, we were attending a church, and my son at the time there ended up being this kind of abusive situation that was going on in the church, and so we've never been back. 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:09.839 I've never been back to church since. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:14.160 And honestly, to be honest with you, I've I've kind of given up on God. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:25.119 But she said, You all coming here today and building this wheelchair ramp, it's restored my faith in God, that God sees me. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:30.319 I said, Hey, Miss Tammy, God loves you, He loves you so much. 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:42.400 And I bent down by her bed and got to pray over her, pray over her circumstances, her surgery, pray for God's miracles and modern medicine. 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.799 And she ended up getting well. 00:32:49.359 --> 00:33:00.240 And all the way back then, almost two years ago, before most of us even were in this room, we would do for one. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:08.000 Because Jesus, all that he's done for us. 00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:24.480 You know, I I I met Jesus a long time ago now as a teenager here in central Kentucky, and I want to see more people meet Jesus here in central Kentucky. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.240 Maybe think about what Jesus did for us. 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:52.559 Jesus saw us in need, and when he saw the need, he filled the need, and despite the difficulty of going to the cross, he embraced the tension of the call of God on him to go and to sacrifice himself in our place, that he would come after us and that he would do it for one of us. 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:54.799 That's what Jesus did for us. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:02.559 And we get to follow his example as a church, and we get to follow his example in our families. 00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:13.039 We get to see God change this community, beyond this community. 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:16.000 I believe he's gonna do it. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.320 I know that he's doing it. 00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:25.760 That the baptism water is gonna continue to be stirred here at our church. 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:28.480 Because people are meeting him. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:33.119 I know some of you all here today, this is your first time ever being here. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:41.840 You don't even know what I'm talking about, but I just need you to trust me that this group of people that you've stepped into, what I've talked about today, this is not something that just is aspirational. 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.760 This is who we are, and this is who we're gonna who we're gonna continue to be. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.519 So join with us. 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:48.880 Join with us. 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:50.000 We need you. 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:51.440 We need you. 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.119 We need you to step in. 00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:55.119 We need you to say, you know what, yeah. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:35:01.440 I'm gonna pick this up and I'm gonna I'm gonna go after what God's called me to do here in this place. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:03.840 And I believe he's gonna do it. 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:18.079 Maybe for some of us in the room today, maybe today is the day for you that just like Miss Tammy, you've you've just you've just lost your confidence and your faith in God that even sees you and cares about you. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:18.719 Can I know? 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:22.079 Can I just tell you today Jesus loves you so deeply? 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:34.559 He knows every hair on your head and he loves you so much that he wants nothing more than to be in relationship with you, for you to believe in him so that you can be with him in paradise for eternity. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:37.199 Today can be your day of salvation. 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:38.400 Receiving him. 00:35:39.199 --> 00:35:41.039 Can I you bow your heads with me right now? 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:43.440 Father, I pray, Lord, right now in this place. 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:50.000 God, I thank you, Lord, for the people that God, you have uh brought here today, God, on purpose. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:36:06.159 God, I pray right now, Lord, that any person in this place, God, that is not yet right with you, has not yet received you as their savior, that's lost their way, that today, God, that that they would know that you are here, God, that you want to find them. 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:14.639 That out of the hundred sheep, the one that strayed, that God, you're coming right for them today. 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:26.320 So, God, I pray, Lord, all over this place, if there's anybody in the room today, God, that needs to receive you as Savior, that they would pray to you right now, God, would say, Jesus, save me. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:31.440 I believe that you're the Son of God and that you are alive. 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:40.159 I give my life to you as you gave your life for me. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:44.800 Thank you for saving me. 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:48.079 Wash me as white as snow. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:51.280 In Jesus' name. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:53.280 Nobody looking around, multiply church. 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:58.800 Today, today is the day that you prayed that prayer to have God save you. 00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:03.760 Would you just very quickly, just so I can see you and pray for you, would you just raise your hand up? 00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:04.880 Just raise it high. 00:37:05.039 --> 00:37:08.159 I see you, I see you, I see you too. 00:37:08.400 --> 00:37:15.679 I want to pray right now, God, these two that have made this step today, God, to receive you as their savior. 00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:20.000 God, I pray right now, Lord, that that you would seal that prayer. 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:30.000 God, as they step into right relationship with you, God, that it's not gonna be easy and it won't be perfect, but God, they're gonna have you walking with them. 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:37.360 So, God, I pray, Lord, for grace and peace to descend on their heart and mind right now, Father. 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:40.320 Now and into eternity. 00:37:40.480 --> 00:37:43.280 We thank you, we praise you in Jesus' name. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:43.920 Amen. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:52.719 Celebrate together, celebrate together, celebrate together.