WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:10.800 Well, we're in this series X Factor looking at what it looks like for your gifting and where that intersects with your greater purpose. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.359 And I'm excited as we jump into this second week. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:23.039 And I was thinking about over this last week and specifically talking about our work lives outside of what we do on Sundays. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:25.359 Most of us have some kind of work that we do. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:45.920 And I was thinking to the last week of all the different conversations that I had over the last week with individuals as we talked about not just what's going on in their life spiritually, because a lot of times that uh conversation comes up, but also what that looks like in their workplace, because inevitably people's work comes up in conversation. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:01:08.879 And so in the last week, I talked about uh how the Lord was working in these individuals' lives and in their workplace with a personal trainer, a mayor, a basketball coach, teacher, principal, nonprofit leader, ministry leader, church planner, somebody in manufacturing, somebody a lawyer and legal, football players, cars and a car salesman, all in the last week. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:15.120 All about what it looks like for their career to intersect the kingdom of God. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:20.560 We got all kinds of professionals and everybody who's in our church, lots of different jobs and roles. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.439 Uh, we've got lots of people in the medical field, nurses. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:29.599 I met last Sunday, a nurse who's in our church, who's an ER nurse, who's been an ER nurse for 11 years. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:30.640 We were having a conversation. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:46.159 I was thinking to myself, you know, if I had some type of medical emergency and showed up to the emergency room, and if I had the choice between a skillful nurse and a skillful nurse who can pray, I'm gonna choose the one who can pray. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:53.920 I can choose the one that would say a prayer for me in the midst of the work that she's doing there in the ER. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:02:04.079 So as we look at what it looks like for our life and the work that we do and how it intersects with our relationship with God, with our worship. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:05.920 Today we're gonna deep dive into it. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.680 So hopefully you're okay with me getting in your grits a little bit about your job and your workplace today. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.560 The title of the message is Worship While You Work. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:23.280 So whether you're a homemaker, you're a realtor, whether you work on Wall Street or Walmart, there is a better way for you to view what you do. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:47.439 So in your room today, maybe you're in the room, you're in government, you work for the state, you're in construction, you work in flip houses, whatever it is that you do, maybe you're in the room, you're retired, you're taking care of kids at home, whatever it is that you do, there's a better way for you to view it because there's a theology in the scripture, in and around the work that we do. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:03:00.479 And us being this X factor and having God be a part of it, and there's a theology in and around your work and what it looks like, and for us to learn from the scripture, and the devil does not want you to know what it is. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.080 The enemy wants to keep it hidden from you. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.360 This theology in and around your work. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:16.080 See, because oftentimes we think about our work and immediately we kind of think about, hey, I gotta make that money, gotta get that bread. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:20.159 I'm out here just, you know, to get the cheese. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:27.280 And that's there's sometimes where we can think about that's all our work is. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.520 And that our work is just kind of this ambition of our life. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:39.439 That we're gonna grow, that we're gonna climb the ladder, that we're gonna get more, that we're gonna we're gonna make more of all these things, that we're gonna get in these different accolades. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:48.560 And we end up getting into a place of selfish ambition when God's calling us into accomplishments that are selfless. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:04:02.080 See, when we get into the rat race, there it's a temptation for us to think about our work and for us to just for us to be successful, and that's what it's about. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:19.680 Or maybe for for you to be known, for you to be looked to as an expert in your field, for you even maybe to be famous, and your feelings and the amount of work that you're doing, and you're working hard, and sometimes there's even a disconnect. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:32.399 That you may be happy about the effort that you're giving at work because you're working hard, you're busting your tail, and you're happy about the effort that you're giving, but you're not happy about the results that are happening. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:38.720 You're thinking, Lord, I'm working my tail off, I'm working like crazy, and I just cannot get ahead. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:49.120 I can't make the promotion, I can't get that pay raise, I can't get into this other role, and I'm working so hard, Lord. 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:50.399 What's the deal? 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:54.000 And so we're gonna dive into the scripture today and we're gonna look all the way back. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:05:06.959 We're gonna start all the way back at the beginning of Genesis, where God creates the world, and then he creates a garden, and then he puts Adam and Eve, the first people, into this garden. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:19.279 And in all of the days of the work of the week, starting in Genesis 2, 2, on the seventh day, God had finished his work of creation and he rested from all his work. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:35.759 And then in verse 15, he tells us that he put Adam and Eve in the garden and placed them in the garden for them to tend to and to watch over the garden. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:37.600 Basically, they had a job. 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:47.199 They had a job to garden, to grow it, to be fruitful and multiply, to care for the animals, and they were called to work. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:58.639 Not just in the Old Testament in the beginning, but also Jesus, he says in John 5 17, Jesus replied, My Father is always working, and so am I. 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.399 Here's the deal: God is working in and through our lives. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:07.680 And he invites us and has a role for us to play in our work as well. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:09.920 See, we're created in the image of God. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:23.759 We're told that God created us in the image, in his image, male and female, and we are created, and in the fact that we're created and we want to be like our creator, we have a desire then to create as people. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:40.639 See, we're gifted and we have gifts and talents in different ways for us to walk in, be productive, to create, because we have been created and God has put his spark inside of us that we would walk with him. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:07:08.480 And it starts, and kind of review from last week, it starts for us as we're following him, walking with him, being discipled and making disciples with him, starting in our hearts, and then into our homes where we be and make disciples of those who are in the four walls of our homes, and then to our home church, where everybody has a part to play, and then and then lastly, our homeland, where we are salt and light to the surrounding culture. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:17.439 And that all is based on the fact that you and I, as we step into whatever it is our job, our calling is, the word is vocation. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.839 The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to call. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:31.040 So it doesn't matter what industry you're in, it doesn't matter if you stay in that industry or not, you are walking out a calling in some way or another. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:38.000 And we have the choice to look at our work as either a calling or a curse. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.639 And what I want to zero in on right now this morning is some actual curses. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:56.720 See, Adam and Eve were given a role, they were given a job for them to produce. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.279 But you know the beginning of the story. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.120 That they just had one rule that they didn't have to break. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.680 So mad at them for that. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:07.759 He had one rule. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:11.920 Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:27.920 And they were tempted by Satan, and they fell the temptation, and they ate of the tree, and sin entered into the world, and because of that, the curse of sin didn't just touch them, but everything in the world, including us. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:36.559 And God gives and tells them in Genesis chapter 3 some of these curses that are come because of sin. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.200 And so we start in verse 15 in Genesis 3. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:51.120 And God is talking to Satan the serpent and says, Uh, you that I will cause hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:55.279 He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:06.000 This this scripture right here is the very first time in the scripture that we see that there is a good news that a Savior, He, is gonna come and crush the serpent Satan. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.320 Scholars call it the proto-evangelion. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:13.120 It's the first time in all the scripture that we see that God had a plan of redemption. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:17.039 And then he goes on with more curses about uh men and women. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:22.639 He says, He says, and then he said to women, I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:25.840 You will desire to control your husband, and he will rule over you. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.279 And then to the man he said, Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of fruit, I commanded you not to eat. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:33.279 The ground is cursed because of you. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.639 All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:41.600 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:49.759 But the sweat, but by the sweat of your brow, you will have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:55.279 You were made from dust, and you will, and to dust you will return. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.000 See, we're created in the image of God. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:04.080 And because we're created in the image of God, we have an innate desire in us for us to then create. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:16.159 See, it was God's call over the people and Adam and Eve, and their job and what he gave them was that they would be fruitful and that they would multiply, that they would produce and that they would reproduce. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:18.879 But then there was a curse. 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:20.720 There was a curse. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:27.519 And we're tempted at times to think about a work that we do of having to put food on the table for our family. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:31.519 And we're tempted at times to think about the work as the curse. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:39.360 But the work is not the curse because we see before the fall of man, before sin even entered in the world, they were already working. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.600 God was already working. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:50.960 He was calling them to work and for them to be fruitful and multiply, for them to produce and the curse, and what the curse is is the thorns and thistles. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:52.720 Everybody say the thorns and thistles. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:11:11.120 You got some thorns and thistles in your workplace, and some of y'all are already thinking about your boss or that coworker that gets on your last nerve and has been, and at one point they said they were gonna move on to another job, and then they didn't, and then they're still there. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:13.200 Y'all know who I'm talking about. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:14.720 Maybe some of y'all do. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:15.759 I know. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.600 Well, I know what I'm talking about. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:18.960 I'll tell you this. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:29.919 God gives us a call and an assignment for us to work out in and through him with him. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.960 We see it in 1 Corinthians 7 17. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:41.679 He says, only each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, to which God has called him. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.360 This is my rule in all the churches. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.519 See, whether it's our own hearts, it's in our homes, our home church, our homeland. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:58.080 We're walking out a calling that God's placed on our lives. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:00.720 And he's given you an assignment. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:09.440 And so you can view that assignment as a curse, or you can partner and work with him. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:18.399 There's no better story, I think, that illustrates this point than the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:30.720 Now, the story of Joseph is still in Genesis, but in the latter part of Genesis, and it the story spans from Genesis 37, chapter 37, all the way to chapter 50. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.120 It is 13 chapters long. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.639 I could not possibly read this story to you because we'd be here all day. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.399 Nobody would get any lunch. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:45.360 But are you okay with me telling you the story of Joseph and just giving you some of the cliff notes? 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:46.960 The highlight version? 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:48.480 Is that okay with y'all? 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:53.440 Well, so the story starts with Joseph at the time that he's a teenager. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.080 He's a young man, and he's been very gifted by the Lord. 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.679 God's given him this specific gift that he's able to interpret dreams. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:10.639 And he's able to interpret dreams even as a young man, and he uh very quickly he has favor over his life, and it's seen that there's favor and godly favor over his life, and so he becomes the favorite. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.399 He becomes a favorite of his father. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:28.159 If you grew up in Sunday school, you know that that it was his father who gave Joseph the coat of many colors, this beautiful gift, and it wasn't very uh very soon later that Joseph's brothers, he was one of 12, began to get jealous. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:43.360 And the jealousy only increased because in his silly teenage brain he had a dream, and the dream, the interpretation of the dream was that his brothers would one day bow down to him, and he actually told his brothers that story, which was probably a bad idea. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:56.240 But you know, he's a teenager, and they're getting more and more jealous, and they've got to we've got to get rid of Joseph, and so they devise a plan to kill him. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:02.159 They throw him into a pit, and they're in the pit, and one of the brothers say, We can't kill him. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:04.000 This has gone too far. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:14.000 We need to do something else that's a little bit less than killing him, and so just a little bit less than killing him, they decided to sell him into slavery. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:20.960 A caravan of traitors were coming by and heading to the land of Egypt. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:29.200 They devised a plan that they would dip that coat of many colors into blood and tell his father that he was killed by a wild animal. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:38.000 And so Joseph, as a teenager, is whisked off into slavery. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:44.000 And he enters into Potiphar's house, his home in Egypt. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:49.120 And while he's there, Joseph works really hard. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:52.480 And he gains favor with his master. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:57.919 So much so that his master puts him in charge of the whole household. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.519 But there's one thing in the house that he's not able and not put in charge of, and that's Potiphar's wife. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:11.440 But Potiphar's wife had an eye for Joseph and wanted to take what wasn't hers. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:18.399 And she made advances on Joseph multiple times that he turned down and her jealousy raged. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:27.200 So much so that she took his cloak and she accused him of raping her, and he was falsely imprisoned. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:31.919 He went from the shackles of slavery into the shackles of imprisonment. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:44.799 And in the prison, which he ultimately ended up in prison for over a decade, 12 years, during his time in the prison, he worked hard as well. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:46.799 He worked hard. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:54.399 He worked so hard that the warden of the prison took notice of him and the favor that was over his life. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:02.240 And then the warden actually put Joseph in charge and in administration across the entire prison while he was still a prisoner. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:19.840 In a twist of fate, he ended up being in a cell or close to two other inmates, one being the cupbearer of the Pharaoh, that the one that would taste the wine to make sure it wasn't poison, and also a baker from the royal court. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:27.279 And these two had a dream, and Joseph interpreted the dream for them. 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:37.200 And the dream was that one of them would be restored, the other would go to their death, and both of them left prison as Joseph said that they would. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:52.159 And his only request to them, his only request, and if falsely imprisoned behind bars for over a decade for something he did not do, his only request to them was remember me. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:54.639 Remember me. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:58.879 When you get into the royal courts, remember me. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:02.000 And so with another twist of fate. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.279 In the royal courts, the Pharaoh has a dream. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:15.680 He has a dream that all those in his court, the wise men that he had around him, were not able to interpret the dream. 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:21.119 And so Joseph got remembered. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.680 And so they brought Joseph from the prison to the palace. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.799 And he heard the dream of the Pharaoh. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:33.839 And he accurately predicted the outcome of the dream. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:43.839 And see, what the dream was was that Pharaoh had this dream that there were seven fat cows and seven skinny cows, and the skinny cows ate the fat cows, but they didn't get fatter. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.039 They stayed skinny. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.599 And then he had another iteration of this dream. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:54.240 And Joseph heard the dream, and under the favor of the Lord, he interpreted the dream for the Pharaoh correctly. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:58.240 That what the dream meant was that there was a coming seven years of famine. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:11.920 But not only did he interpret the dream, but also because of his work and what he had done and how he had developed, he also gives the Pharaoh a plot and an ability and a strategy for them to be able to save the land of Egypt. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:23.920 He tells them to put back grain for a number of years, so then many of the people and the millions of people that would be under the Pharaoh's rule that they would not starve to death. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:32.880 And so Pharaoh, because of the favor on his life, places Joseph as second in command of the entire country. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.279 Sometime later. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:46.480 Famine is raging in Joseph's homeland. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:48.799 His family is starving. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:59.039 His brothers devise a plan that they're going to go to Egypt and to go and try to get grain for their family. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:10.079 And again, by another twist of fate, the brothers of Joseph end up standing before him in the royal court. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:14.880 They don't know that it's him, but he knows that it's them. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:36.079 And they go through a series of back and forth of Joseph beginning to reveal who he was, and ultimately Joseph revealed to his brothers his identity, and his brothers were scared to death. 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:44.319 They thought, surely, Joseph Joseph is now going to kill us for what we've done. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.319 But that's not what happened. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:54.960 Joseph saved his family too. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.160 And all the hardship and all the challenges that he went through. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:11.440 It comes to a head and a conclusion of how Joseph thought about his life's journey in Genesis 50, 20. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:20.079 And he's talking to his brothers, and he said, You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:28.640 He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:33.599 His family included. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:37.440 So what are some lessons that we can take from this? 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:42.079 All the way back to Genesis in the beginning and into Joseph's story. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:50.240 What can we take this practically for our lives as we are working in the workplace or wherever the assignment is that God has given you? 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:54.559 How in the world do you walk out and be the X factor that someone else needs? 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.200 And we got a few of these that I want to share with you. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.640 This would be good for you to write down. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:03.759 The first one would be that you would cultivate the common good through the work that you do. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:11.200 See, hopefully, the work that you do is producing good things in other people's lives. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.720 Even if that's that you're producing a product. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:18.079 Or maybe you're selling cars. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:29.519 And a family's come to you with the this is the biggest decision that they've made in a long, long time, and they need to find a good car, and they need to find an honest car salesman, don't they? 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.680 We need more honest car salesmen, don't we? 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:32.720 Can I get an amen? 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.039 Amen. 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.279 Because you're helping the common good. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:54.559 Maybe it's the fact that you're serving and you're volunteering in some kind of organization or nonprofit that's here locally, and that you're getting to work for the Lord, and the work itself is the reward. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:59.759 What you're doing, and the common good that you're creating through what you are doing. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:14.799 Doing with your hands, with your mind, that you're getting to serve others and the service that you're giving, that you are getting to serve the Lord by serving the work that you're doing day in and day out to improve people's lives. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:30.000 Now I'll say this: if you're in a role and you know that you're taking advantage of people, you know that there's dishonesty, that you're not creating good, the common good for individuals, you may need to rethink if that's the right role that you need to be in. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:37.759 It may be time for a change up, maybe time for you to get into the place that you are cultivating good. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.680 And it's for the service of the Lord and not for ourselves. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:50.960 You know, we can even, with all the things that we do, all the things that we do in serving, and maybe you serve outside of the church, and maybe there's nice and good things that you do for the common good of man. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:56.640 There's even a temptation at times for us to do that service, but it's for it to be about us. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.759 For it to be about what we get out of it, how good we feel. 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:07.039 Truly serving our community is doing it for those who cannot say thank you. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:15.519 When you're not doing it for the applause, but you're doing it for the common good. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:23.359 The next thing in your roles and the spaces that you're you're in, you get to create Christian camaraderie. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:41.440 See, there's probably somebody who's just waiting for you to out yourself and stop being a secret agent Christian and to say, hey, you know, I go to this church. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.079 Or I'm a Christian. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:54.640 There's probably somebody waiting just to find some other ally that's at your workplace or the people that you know, just so somebody expose them so they can have a friend. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.400 This happened to me when I was in college. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:58.000 I played football at Cumberland. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:04.000 I was a freshman, got on campus, and a football team at the time God had called me into ministry at 18, and so I'd gone. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:22.559 I was playing football, I was going into ministry, a lot of things are going well, but I got on campus and I was really struggling because it seemed like a lot of the guys around me they weren't being real serious about their faith, and I was trying to find some friend that I could make that could help me, we could help each other, that we could have some camaraderie, that we could have some community as we follow God. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:43.839 And I remember way back when, and this was the spring, this is the very beginning of football season, it was this July, we're all going to the cafeteria, nobody else is on campus, just a football team, and I sit down to eat my tray of food in the cafeteria, and across sitting from me is a guy that I have not really talked to, I've not really met him, but he bowed his head to pray over his food. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:48.720 And he popped his head up and I said, Hey, are you a Christian? 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.680 That's a forward question, isn't it? 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:55.359 He said, Yes, I am. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:00.160 And no joke, the next thing out of mouth my mouth was, let's be friends. 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:09.279 That friend was David Sandlin, who a decade later moved with us to plant the work of multiply church, he and his family. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:16.160 Somebody may just be waiting on you to say, hey. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.599 Have you tried, church? 00:25:21.839 --> 00:25:26.079 Have you tried a different route? 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.519 Is there something I could do to pray for you? 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:35.680 You're creating a community that God wants you to walk in. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.240 The last thing is to construct confidently. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.440 See, my wife, Emily, she's a pharmacist. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:46.880 And I know this for sure. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:53.279 People do not care if she is a Christian, if she messes up their medicine. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:56.720 I know. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:01.359 We have all kinds of conversations in my house about customers. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:05.440 And Emily used to work for Walmart, so there's some dooziest stories. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.359 Here's the thing. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:18.160 Christians, we should make places and make things better than we found them. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:29.440 As believers in Jesus, we should be a part of the redemptive story of God. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:32.640 And we need to be good at what we do. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:36.799 Last week we saw Ecclesiastes and said, whatever you do, do it well. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:39.759 Because there's not a whole lot of time left. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:42.160 Do it well. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:48.240 Because if people know that you're a follower of Jesus, well then they're gonna expect you not to be lazy. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:58.319 And they're gonna expect for you to make some things good as we should. 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:05.839 I feel the same way about the work inside of Multiply Church in this way. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:17.680 And what we do at the beginning of this church planning process, this question haunted me, and it still haunts me, and I'm telling it to you, so it'll haunt you too. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:27.039 Is this if multiply church was to disappear tomorrow, would anybody care? 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:30.880 Outside of the walls of the church? 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:35.599 Yeah, there'd be plenty of people who maybe say, you know, well, I gotta multiply. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.160 I would hate if multiply, you know, if all of a sudden it disappeared. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:47.359 But would there are people in our community, in our town here in Frankfurt, that they would genuinely miss the work of multiply church if all of a sudden it went away? 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:59.119 And that's why, for me and you, we are stepping forward and trying to seed and help Frankfurt flourish in the work that we're doing, not just inside of these walls, but outside of these walls too. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:00.640 And we're not done yet. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:03.200 We're very far away from being done. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:21.279 There are many more people, places, and spaces in this town that I want for if all of a sudden we disappeared, that they would actually care, that they would be impacted, that some things would not be getting done, some folks would not be getting loved, some generosity wouldn't be received. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:28.799 We gotta make things better than we found them. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:36.160 It's illustrated very well by a story that happened years ago. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:53.119 In 1989, Captain David Cronin, who was a veteran, a 38-year veteran pilot, on flight 811, that was leaving from Honolulu to New Zealand. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:06.079 When they got off of the runway and they were about 100 miles from land, suddenly, out of nowhere, the cargo door of the jet blew open, immediately killing nine people. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:35.039 Despite the fact that the plane was too heavy to land because it had all this fuel to prepare for this long journey from Honolulu to New Zealand, Captain Cronin turned the plane around, knowing that he would be coming in for an emergency landing at almost 200 miles an hour, more than the recommended 170 miles per hour that he's supposed to. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:48.079 And that day, thinking of the souls that were on board, Captain Cronin made one of the smoothest landings the rest of the crew could remember. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:54.480 Aviation experts said that the landing was miraculous. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:30:02.480 Days later, Cronin was interviewed and was asked, what was the first thoughts that he had after the loss of the cargo door? 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:03.759 And he said this, listen to this quote. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:04.720 This is what he said. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:10.000 I said a prayer for my passengers momentarily, and then I got back to work. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:33.599 We get to join God and what we do inside and outside of these walls, to be the X factor, to be in the equation, to make a difference. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:54.400 And so, because of that, the work that you do right now, no matter what it is, your work, it's your prayer, your work, it's your worship, your work, it's your witness outside of these walls of how you do it and joining with Jesus. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:31:10.240 See, Joseph, because he was walking in God's favor and was confident and did what he did well, he was able to save the lives of millions of people from starving, including his own family. 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:11.680 And watch this, watch this. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:26.559 His 12 brothers, it ended up becoming the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel that Jesus Christ ended up coming from, the Messiah one day was the ones that he saved back then, his own brothers. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:48.960 And he'd take bread like the baker, and he'd break it, and he said this he said, Remember me. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:56.319 The same thing that Joseph had said centuries before. 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:06.799 So as we walk out of these walls and out of these doors, Jesus is looking at us and saying, Remember me, remember me. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:29.039 And today may be the day for the very first time for you to walk out of this space, knowing that you're called, that there's a purpose, that you're assigned, that you're appointed, and that God is wanting to join with you in what you do. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:35.759 You may be in the room today and you've not even started this journey because you've not yet received the blood in the body. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:41.039 You've not yet received the blood that was poured out for you on the cross 2,000 years ago. 00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:59.200 You've not received the broken body of Jesus that was broken for you on the cross in your place to forgive you of the curse of sin that started way back, way back in the beginning of Genesis, that we're having to deal with today. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:05.359 And today could be the day that the curse is reversed and you are forgiven and free. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.680 Today, would you bow your heads, Father? 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:21.359 I pray right now, all across this room, Lord, as we step out and we see, God, that we are assigned and appointed, Lord, that you have purpose for us. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:43.680 Lord, whether we're working in nine to five, whether we're in a retirement home, whether we're in a school, whether we're a teenager, whether we're an administrator, whatever role that we're in, God, help us join you, Lord, in it. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:55.920 Father, as to see our work as a worship, and an offering to you, and a witness to you for the love that we show. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:23.280 God, I pray right now, all across the room, if there's anybody in this place who's not received you as Savior, who's not been forgiven and free by the blood of Jesus, by believing in Christ, receiving his salvation and forgiveness on the cross, that today would be the day of their salvation, that today would be the day that they move from death to life, that they're forgiven and free, that they are they they are made new in and through you, Jesus, because they give their life over to you. 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:30.000 God, I pray today, Lord, that if there's anybody in the room that that's where they are right now, that God, they would pray to you, Jesus, save me. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:38.719 I believe that you're the Son of God, that you are alive, that you died on the cross for my sins, and that you are Lord. 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:44.960 Forgive me, cleanse me so that I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:49.519 I give you my life as you gave yours for mine. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.559 In Jesus' name. 00:34:53.039 --> 00:35:00.960 Nobody looking around, head bowed, eyes closed, today was your day for you to pray that, to receive Christ, to be forgiven. 00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:03.199 Today was your day for that, Lord. 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:10.079 For you to say Jesus is Lord and for you to take a step to be saved. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:12.000 Today was that day for you. 00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:13.760 Want to pray for you. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:16.960 If that was you today, I want to acknowledge you. 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:20.239 So if that's you today in a count of three, I'm gonna I'm gonna count to three. 00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:26.320 I want you to raise your hand up as a sign to the Lord of a decision you're making today, so I can pray for you. 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:28.079 If that's you today, pray. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:32.079 And you made that prayer that today, right now, in the count of three, you'd raise your hand. 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:32.400 Ready? 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:33.760 One, two, three. 00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:36.079 Yep, right here, right here, right here. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:37.920 Yes, over here, I see you. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:40.000 Sis, keep your hand up. 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:44.400 Father, for the hands that are raised right now, Father. 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:45.440 You can put them down. 00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:56.159 For the hands that are raised, Father, I pray, Lord, right now, God, that you would, right now, the decision that they're making, Father, to follow you, to be saved, to be forgiven, to be set free. 00:35:56.400 --> 00:35:59.840 That, Father, today would be the day of salvation for them. 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:02.480 That it would be from a genuine place. 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:06.400 Lord, as they give their life and heart over to you. 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:10.079 God, we pray, Lord, that you would seal their prayer. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:17.039 That God, today that their eternal address is changed to eternity in heaven with you. 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:18.800 God, we thank you for it. 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:20.239 We praise you for it. 00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:21.920 In the strong name of Jesus. 00:36:22.159 --> 00:36:23.519 Everybody said, Amen.