Forrest: Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast.
Forrest: Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life.
Forrest: We're so glad that you've taken time to join us for this week's sermon.
Forrest: And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe and follow us on social media so you never miss a message.
Forrest: Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.
Forrest: We're in this series called Faithful as we look at values of our house.
Forrest: We have 10 values around here, and we're looking at the four of them that center on faith and our faith in God.
Forrest: And today we talk about what it is to uh trailblaze, be trailblazers, um, the spirit of what even began this new work, this new church here in Frankfurt.
Forrest: We got to see God create and start and plant, and now four years later.
Forrest: And so if you're here today, you're new, uh glad that you are here.
Forrest: It takes a lot to take a lot to step out and to do something new.
Forrest: And so glad that you're here this morning.
Forrest: I'm Forrest Lee Pastor here at Multiply.
Forrest: And um, I had that uh spirit of a starter and a church planter.
Forrest: You know, I want to be a good Christian, but also you know, I like taking risks.
Forrest: Sometimes it's like, you know, rules are meant to be broken.
Forrest: You know, I'm on the road.
Forrest: I'm not talking about like I'm not talking about sinning or anything.
Forrest: I just a lot of times ask the question, like, is it is it a rule or is it a law?
Forrest: You know, if I'm looking at some while I'm driving, I'm like, is this actually a law right now?
Forrest: Or can I actually enter into this spot?
Forrest: Or can I actually park here?
Forrest: Like, is this is this a law that I can't park here?
Forrest: I end up pushing brown just like that all the time, but you know, that spills over into our mentality of you know, we we we want to see God reach people, and we want to do and be a part of his will and anything short of sin, we want to see people be saved.
Forrest: And so that means like for here, like what's the dress code here at Multiply?
Forrest: The dress code is wear clothes here.
Forrest: And you know what?
Forrest: If you if you don't wear clothes, we have some clothes in the back, we'll give them to you.
Forrest: You can put on, just wear clothes.
Forrest: Uh other mentalities around here that we want to see people reach with the gospel of Jesus and have that spirit about us that we want to see God move and see faith blaze a trail with us together.
Forrest: Yeah, I I get into uh history, I'm into history.
Forrest: I like uh Kentucky history too.
Forrest: I've been getting into Simon Kenton and Danny Boy Boone and those who created the wilderness road.
Forrest: Uh-huh.
Forrest: That one day, you know, turned into this estate.
Forrest: Also the the trailblazers and the Underground Railroad, that this was a spot right on the Mason-Dixon line, and the people who were put in the state penitentiary here in Frankfurt, many people who helped many people get into freedom, that then were in this city or flowing through our town.
Forrest: And as you think about these trails that were blazed, a lot of times we remember people's names, but the real value is in the fact that a trail was blazed that other people could get through.
Forrest: And maybe for you, maybe you're blazing a trail of faith for your family.
Forrest: Maybe there's a whole, you're writing a whole new story of faith from your family, because maybe you didn't grow up in church or I'm gonna do a little, will you humor me with a little thought experience right now?
Forrest: Will you humor me?
Forrest: Here's what I want to do this.
Forrest: I want to just put a show of hands.
Forrest: Uh, if you you grew up in church, if you uh if you grew up Baptist, would you just throw your hand up?
Forrest: All right, there's all the place.
Forrest: My hands up here.
Forrest: Uh what if you if you grew up Methodist or AME?
Forrest: How's my parents grew up Methodist?
Forrest: Anybody, a few Methodists in the house?
Forrest: Uh any Catholics?
Forrest: Catholics, yeah, we got Catholic people.
Forrest: I love our Catholic people.
Forrest: Um if you grew up Christian or disciples of Christ or Church of Christ, anybody there, a few around?
Forrest: Yeah.
Forrest: Uh how about if you grew up Pentecostal?
Forrest: Look at them all day, so we know y'all.
Forrest: I love you.
Forrest: What if you grew up you grew up something else?
Forrest: Something else, okay.
Forrest: There's a yeah, all over the place.
Forrest: You know, some of y'all y'all are trailblazing right now because you're you're going to a non-denominational church without stained glass and a steeple, and you're blazing a new trail of faith for your family.
Forrest: And I also want to just celebrate.
Forrest: Did anybody not grow up in church?
Forrest: I want to celebrate you.
Forrest: Can we put our hands together right now for those who didn't grow up in church that are writing a new story for their family and faith and blazing a trail?
Forrest: Man, I love that.
Forrest: Praise God.
Forrest: I love that.
Forrest: We're blazing the trail of faith.
Forrest: We are trailblazers.
Forrest: This is what our value is.
Forrest: We are trailblazers.
Forrest: We aren't afraid to go first.
Forrest: We know God has a plan for us as we blaze a trail of faith together.
Forrest: Say together.
Forrest: We will worship authentically, share boldly, and practice radical generosity.
Forrest: We are carriers of the kingdom to a world that desperately needs the good news of Jesus.
Forrest: Acts chapter 1, verses 7 and 8, which is where we're going today.
Forrest: We blaze a trail of faith together.
Forrest: And some of you are blazing that trail of faith for your family and the fact that maybe you're the first Christian in your family.
Forrest: Or maybe you're the first person in your family to go to church.
Forrest: Or maybe you're the only Christian in your workplace with all those annoying co-workers.
Forrest: And you're blazing a trail because you're walking with God, and it's so uncomfortable at times to walk into the unknown and what we don't have answers to.
Forrest: We love this thought of knowing where we're going, don't we?
Forrest: Having a plan.
Forrest: What God, what are you doing in my life?
Forrest: God, you have a plan for me.
Forrest: I want to know what's next.
Forrest: I want to know what's happening.
Forrest: Even in our value, we say here, we know God has a plan for us.
Forrest: As we're seeing the good news of Jesus be made known across our area.
Forrest: But it begs the question, you're thinking, okay, God, what is my plan?
Forrest: What is the plan that you have for my life?
Forrest: What do you want me to do?
Forrest: And how do I fit into this story of faith and what you're building in my life and for my family and for my future?
Forrest: And oftentimes we get to this place where, yeah, we want the plan, we don't know the plan, and we're asking God, where do I fit?
Forrest: Where do I fit?
Forrest: See, Jesus has empowered us for us to blaze this trail of faith and for us to advance the kingdom.
Forrest: Our value says, to be carriers of the kingdom, to carry the kingdom of God to a world that desperately needs the gospel.
Forrest: And we're the ones that God has empowered us for us to be the ones to carry this kingdom.
Forrest: What is this kingdom?
Forrest: This is the kingdom of God, that we have a king, Jesus.
Forrest: That when you're bought and paid for and you've given your life to Christ, you are now a son or daughter of the one true king.
Forrest: And once you're the son or daughter of the one true king, your identity is changing.
Forrest: Now you've entered into the kingdom of God that is here and also not yet.
Forrest: The fact that if you're a follower of Jesus, if you're in Christ, that means that even though your body dies, you will never die.
Forrest: Then when you accept Christ as your Savior, that's the first day of your eternity.
Forrest: And you're in this new kingdom.
Forrest: But we fall into this mindset where we think about this kingdom of God and our position in it, and we think to ourselves, especially in our call for us to carry the kingdom and expand the kingdom and advance the kingdom, we think, well, God, I'll I'll advance the kingdom when things get normal in my life.
Forrest: And don't you don't you don't you know, God, like I got a lot of projects at work right now?
Forrest: God, don't you know I'm raising all these crazy kids?
Forrest: Do you have any idea?
Forrest: All that I've got on my plate.
Forrest: And once once things slow down, you know, once I'm done dealing with this financial issue, well, then I'll be generous.
Forrest: Or once I'm done with this medical issue, well then I can truly advance your kingdom.
Forrest: It's like we haven't even read the Bible at all.
Forrest: The disciples and Paul, they're advancing the kingdom of God while they're actively being beaten, jailed, and arrested over and over again.
Forrest: You're dealing with a court case.
Forrest: God, I'll I'll I'll advance your kingdom later.
Forrest: They're literally being arrested and jailed over and over again and ultimately are martyred for the faith.
Forrest: And we get so so comfortable with just consuming Christianity and Christian content and sermons and events, and we turn what is supposed to be us advancing the kingdom of God, in which we are now citizens of sons and daughters of the king into this spectator activity.
Forrest: Everything that has to do with our faith in God is all about us and inward, about our comfort and having comfort in our boundaries.
Forrest: What we're gonna see today in our text is that we're gonna look through Acts chapter 1 that are values from.
Forrest: This is what's really happening.
Forrest: Jesus has died, he's risen, and he has now spent 40 days appearing to his disciples and teaching them about the kingdom of God.
Forrest: He's appeared to them multiple times, the upper room.
Forrest: He's appeared to some 500 witnesses that have seen the risen Jesus.
Forrest: There's 500 eyewitnesses of Jesus that are still alive at the time that the scripture is written.
Forrest: For those of you who are wondering about evidence of the faith, faith eyewitness account, 500 witnesses, one of the cornerstones of our justice system is eyewitness testimony.
Forrest: And Jesus now looks at his disciples after these 40 days, and he tells them, I want you to stay in Jerusalem.
Forrest: The Father is sending what he's promised, and you're about to be baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Forrest: And that's where we start in Acts chapter 1, starting in verse 1, going through verse 11.
Forrest: If you have your Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 1.
Forrest: If you have the Bible on your phone, pull it out.
Forrest: I'm gonna be in the NLT.
Forrest: I want you to see these verses.
Forrest: We're gonna go through this whole section of scripture here, a big section of scripture.
Forrest: Y'all ready for some Bible this morning?
Forrest: That's what I'm talking about.
Forrest: Starting in verse one.
Forrest: In my first book, I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.
Forrest: During the 40 days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and he proved to them, he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive.
Forrest: And he taught to them about the kingdom of God.
Forrest: Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift.
Forrest: Everybody say gift.
Forrest: The gift he promised.
Forrest: As I told you before, John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Forrest: Verse 6.
Forrest: Some of the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, Lord, has a time come for you to free Israel and restore his kingdom?
Forrest: Verse 7, he replied, The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.
Forrest: Telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Forrest: After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they can no longer see him.
Forrest: As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly appeared among them.
Forrest: Men of Galilee, they said, Why are you standing here staring into heaven?
Forrest: Jesus was taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go.
Forrest: We talked about this last week where the disciples are watching Jesus he ascends into heaven.
Forrest: They're just looking at him with a like they're looking at a fast food menu with their mouth open.
Forrest: And then these angels show up and say, What are y'all staring at?
Forrest: It's time to go.
Forrest: What are you doing still here?
Forrest: Jesus has already told you what's going to happen.
Forrest: He's already promised to you this gift.
Forrest: The Holy Spirit's gonna come and for them to then carry this kingdom of God that Jesus has been teaching them for 40 days.
Forrest: And as they're standing around Jesus before he ascends, the disciples keep asking him this question, apparently over and over.
Forrest: Lord, has a time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?
Forrest: Now that's not a stupid question.
Forrest: It's actually an incredibly biblical question.
Forrest: These disciples, they were aware of the prophet Jeremiah and Ezekiel and what Jesus had already stated and the language that he had already connected to these Old Testament promises of the fact that God was gonna gather his scattered peoples and he was gonna bring restoration to their land and a new covenant, a cleansing, new hearts?
Forrest: And God was gonna place his spirit into his people, that Israel was being reunited, that the Messiah was gonna reign over this restored people of God.
Forrest: And now they're standing right beside the resurrected Messiah, and they're asking him over and over again Is has the time come that you're gonna restore our kingdom?
Forrest: Is it now?
Forrest: Tell us.
Forrest: Man, we love that God has a plan for our lives, don't we?
Forrest: God has a plan for us.
Forrest: It's ultimately kind of the same kind of question that these disciples are asking right now.
Forrest: They're saying, God, what's gonna happen for us?
Forrest: Is the kingdom gonna be, is this, is our nation gonna be restored?
Forrest: Is it time now?
Forrest: What are you gonna do?
Forrest: Is it is this time happening here that the the kingdom is, is it finally time of everything that you had talked about?
Forrest: And now Jesus had just spent 40 days discussing with them this kingdom that he was establishing.
Forrest: And they ask him this question, apparently over and over, and Jesus just looks at him and says, This is not for you to know.
Forrest: This kingdom of God is being inaugurated, it's beginning.
Forrest: And he looks at him in verse 7 and he says, For the Father alone has authority for those days and times.
Forrest: It's not for you to know, and then he says, but he doesn't even answer their question.
Forrest: He says, but, and then he turns the conversation and redirects the conversation and talks about what their role is gonna be in the kingdom, which is witnesses.
Forrest: See, the disciples they wanted the timing, and Jesus gave them the mission.
Forrest: They ask and are asking, God, what are you gonna do?
Forrest: And Jesus told them who they were going to become.
Forrest: Because they were wanting to know, God, what's gonna happen to us?
Forrest: What's gonna happen to our kingdom?
Forrest: What's gonna happen to me, God?
Forrest: What's my calling?
Forrest: What's my purpose?
Forrest: God, what's my my breakthrough in my next season?
Forrest: God, what are you doing for me?
Forrest: What are you doing for me?
Forrest: And then Jesus just widens the story in the view.
Forrest: And he tells them that they're about to be caught up not in their story, but in his story as witnesses.
Forrest: That they're gonna be the carriers of the good news.
Forrest: That they're gonna be the ones that while they're asking God, what are you gonna do with my life?
Forrest: Jesus is telling, hey, what are you gonna do in my kingdom?
Forrest: And here's where you're gonna fit.
Forrest: He says, In verse 8, but you will receive power.
Forrest: Everybody say power.
Forrest: You receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.
Forrest: In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth, and Jesus tells them, he doesn't answer their question.
Forrest: They want to know, God, what do you what are you what are you gonna do here and now, right now?
Forrest: Answer our question.
Forrest: Are you gonna restore our our nation, our kingdom?
Forrest: And Jesus is looking at them and saying, You're about to be a part of the breakout of a kingdom that's gonna expand so far that one day a group of people in Frankfurt, Kentucky are going to be a part of this kingdom, and you have no idea what you're about to be a part of.
Forrest: You're asking me about the here and now, but what I'm about to do is let you walk out as carriers of the kingdom of God that's gonna transform the world.
Forrest: And God invites them into his story with his power.
Forrest: But so often time we think about spiritual power as just, man, what a powerful service.
Forrest: Man, I really felt God today.
Forrest: I really received something today.
Forrest: But Jesus connects his power to his purpose as witness, not just for them, but this kingdom that has begun, this new covenant that has been inaugurated, that is forming in this people, that they're gonna receive power, and then they're gonna have this incredible encounter with the Holy Spirit, and the the outcome is that they're going to be witnesses to the ends of the earth, and the power turns to purpose, and they're carriers of the kingdom.
Forrest: God places his spirit within his people so that the witness of God can move through his people.
Forrest: Just like what we say around here, we're carriers of the kingdom to a world that desperately needs the good news of Jesus.
Forrest: The last few weeks we've been talking in this series about the God that fuels the fire that's within you.
Forrest: To see that fire be multiplied and pour gas and pour fuel onto the fire.
Forrest: Then our belief that God can do beyond what we can even see or ask or imagine by his mighty power.
Forrest: And then that God, what he has given to you, now moves through you, not because of anything that you've done, but what he has gifted to you in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Forrest: And what we have to remind ourselves of is the fact that God gave you, and what God gave you was never meant to stop with you.
Forrest: It wasn't just for you.
Forrest: You were meant to be a carrier of the kingdom, not just a consumer.
Forrest: That there's this this power that's connected to the purposes of God in your life for you to be a witness to those who do not yet know Jesus.
Forrest: Let me ask you this.
Forrest: Who else needs to know Jesus because you know Jesus?
Forrest: Who in your life needs to know Jesus because you know Jesus?
Forrest: And oftentimes the enemy just wants to shrink everything down to these very inward thoughts.
Forrest: Like, well, you know, did I get fed today at church?
Forrest: Did the worship move me?
Forrest: Are my kids enjoying it?
Forrest: Something that I received, did something speak to me?
Forrest: Am I growing?
Forrest: And these aren't bad questions, but Jesus is looking at us saying, Who knows Jesus?
Forrest: Because you know Jesus.
Forrest: You're gonna be my witness, you're gonna be a carrier of the kingdom of God that's not just gonna stay yourself.
Forrest: And the spirit of Jesus that's coming is now then empowering you for the mission that He's called you to.
Forrest: And that's for all of us for the accountant and the mom.
Forrest: Right now, and teenagers and athletes and teachers and somebody who's retired and a mechanic and business owners and those introverts that don't want to ever talk to anybody, let alone about Jesus.
Forrest: He's calling you to be a witness.
Forrest: And it doesn't mean you have to become a pastor.
Forrest: You don't have to become forest.
Forrest: Praise God for that.
Forrest: But Jesus is sending you with the good news that He's called you with, that He's filled you with, He's included you in His kingdom.
Forrest: Now you are now becoming a carrier of the kingdom of God.
Forrest: And so for us here at Multiply, we're not just asking, okay, God, what can I receive here?
Forrest: But listen to me, asking this question, what am I carrying out of here?
Forrest: What are you carrying out of here today?
Forrest: What are you carrying with you out of here today that something that is said or something that you've experienced or something that God laid on your heart that's not even for you today, it's for somebody else for you to be a witness to.
Forrest: Now, this passage is about to get deeper.
Forrest: Are you okay?
Forrest: Y'all good with right now?
Forrest: We're gonna go deeper.
Forrest: Jesus says that you're gonna be my witnesses.
Forrest: In Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the ends of the earth.
Forrest: And at first, when you hear that, it sounds like a like a mission strategy.
Forrest: You know, something like real cute.
Forrest: You'd see like on a graphic, or whoa, you know, Frankfurt, Franklin County, Kentucky, United States, the world.
unknown: Right?
Forrest: Y'all seen that before?
Forrest: It's really sweet, you know, local, regional, national, global, you know, these big circles out there.
Forrest: But there's so much more that's going on.
Forrest: Because Jesus says, You're gonna go to Jerusalem.
Forrest: I'm like, okay, that's good.
Forrest: That's home, we know how you work.
Forrest: You're Judea, okay.
Forrest: Yeah, well, we're still good with that.
Forrest: And then Jesus says, Samaria.
Forrest: Now, for those of you who know your Bible, you know that Samaria is the outlier here.
Forrest: Because Samaria carries this history with it.
Forrest: A division, this northern kingdom, these scattered tribes that were connected as northern kingdom, and now because of intermarriage and false god worship, there's a religious conflict, there's a division with Samaria, there's ethnic hostility, there's distrust, there's so much distrust that actually Jews they would travel when traveling north or south, they would actually go all the way around the region of Samaria just so they wouldn't possibly go into that region because there was so much hostility and hatred.
Forrest: And Jesus looks at him and says, You're gonna go to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
Forrest: I'm sure they're sure they perked up.
Forrest: We're gonna go to Samaria without you.
Forrest: This kingdom of God that's breaking out is also going to be a kingdom of God that crosses across border lines and crosses lines for the sake of Christ and the sake of the cross, across boundaries and hostilities and assumptions and across culture, and not just gonna stop and where we're comfortable, but for you and for me, for the sake of the gospel, we're going to be ones that are going to break barriers.
Forrest: We're gonna break barriers.
Forrest: Now, let me just open up the book of Acts to you a little bit here for the proof of what Jesus said was gonna happen and called them to and how that did happen later this fall.
Forrest: We're gonna be going through the book of Acts much more in depth.
Forrest: But after chapter one, then we watch these barriers start to fall.
Forrest: And the gospel explodes in Jerusalem in Acts 2, and the day of Pentecost, and 3,000 people come to know Jesus as Savior, and then persecution comes and they begin to scatter, and then listen to me.
Forrest: Philip then goes to Samaria and encounters an Ethiopian eunuch on the road who's reading the book of Isaiah and doesn't understand, and the Holy Spirit prompts him to go up to the chariot and he says, Do you understand what I'm reading?
Forrest: He said, How can I know what I'm reading?
Forrest: And Philip shares the gospel with him, tells him to be baptized.
Forrest: He says, There's water here, why shouldn't I be baptized?
Forrest: The eunuch gets down, the Ethiopian official gets down and is baptized right then and there, and the gospel then is carried to Ethiopia, an entire continent that now is one of the most ancient churches in Ethiopia, because Philip went to Samaria.
Forrest: And then Peter, and who's a Jew, is told to go to Cornelius' house, who is a Gentile, and all of a sudden the spirit of God and the gospel goes beyond one nation and now is both Jew and Greek, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, and the gospel explodes as people are receiving the spirit and goes to Antioch in Turkey, which is this multi-ethnic expression of the kingdom of God.
Forrest: And Paul is planting churches all over the known world and Asia Minor and then to Greece and then to Rome, that at one time was burning Christians alive and feeding them to lions in the Colosseum, and their whole empire gets rocked, and the gospel of Jesus spreads to the end of the earth.
Forrest: The boundaries just kept expanding.
Forrest: The Spirit of God just pushed, kept pushing through another boundary and another boundary and another boundary.
Forrest: And trailblazers, we are people who are willing to let Jesus break barriers in us so then we can carry his kingdom across the barriers around us.
Forrest: Across the barriers to say we're taking the gospel and the love of God to people who are like us and people who are not like us.
Forrest: To people who understand us and don't understand us.
Forrest: For people who vote like us and don't vote like us, people who look like us, don't look like us, people who are already understanding what church culture is, and what it is to be a part of the body, and people who can't stand the church or what they think it is.
Forrest: And that we'd be carriers of the kingdom that we would see barriers be broken down.
Forrest: I just want you to think about this for a second.
Forrest: I feel like so much of the church is about building something in these walls and then expecting everybody else to cross every single barrier in order to reach us and to come here.
Forrest: Can you see how that's the absolute reverse direction of what we just saw in the book of Acts?
Forrest: Jesus says, you go, you go, you go and take the good news, and you're gonna take it and you're gonna cross barriers, and you're gonna you're gonna do things that are uncomfortable and not what you want to do, but I'm calling you to step out and not not to just do anything, there's boundaries you're not taught to sin, but do anything short of sin for us to see people come to know Jesus as savior.
Forrest: And so, what does that mean for us?
Forrest: What does that mean for us?
Forrest: Where are the barriers that we want God to help us to continue to break through in our world?
Forrest: And for us not to stop at our comfort zone.
Forrest: It would be a kind of church that refuses to let unnecessary barriers dictate who gets reached.
Forrest: I know one of those things is that we want, as Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is this beautiful, multicolored, multi-ethnic tapestry of people from all nations that are a part of this kingdom of God.
Forrest: And what that looks like is not every church has the opportunity to be multi-ethnic because their community is not, but that's not Frankfurt.
Forrest: And so what we're gonna do is we're gonna continue to see God band together and see God break down barriers that we're not gonna be held back by tradition and by racist stuff and all these other things and history.
Forrest: We're going to say, God, you have built this beautiful, multicolored, multi-ethnic, beautiful kingdom of God, and we're gonna walk in it because that's our context, that's our Jerusalem.
Forrest: We love what God is doing with our brothers and sisters, we love what God is doing.
Forrest: Okay, gosh, we love those students because they God has literally brought them here into Jerusalem for them to receive the power of the gospel.
Forrest: And whether they've come from whatever other city or here in this country or outside of the country, they have the opportunity then to receive the gospel of Jesus and for it to explode in their life and write a whole new story for their family and for their kids and for their future.
Forrest: For our students, for our youth who are meeting here at the building for the first time tonight, praise God.
Forrest: Man, we're believing over these students.
Forrest: So many of these students and high school and middle school students that don't go to church anywhere, and God got a hold of my life as a high school junior, and we want to see God get a hold of students' lives over and over and over and over and over again for the kingdom of God.
Forrest: Go to church, the next generation that's the generation now.
Forrest: For us to continue to break down barriers to what we're doing with Frank for Ford and say, you know what, we're gonna go into places rich in a place in the city, we're gonna come, we're gonna serve places before that were literally nose.
Forrest: We don't want to be any association, and now we're gonna step in and say, Hey, we would love to help, we would love to show up, we would love to serve, and also we're gonna bring a plate with us, or we're gonna do something to serve, and we're gonna walk in what we talked about as radical generosity, because sometimes people do not care what you have to say until you they know how much you care about them.
Forrest: And so for us to walk in the kingdom of God that we see him, the literally the kingdom is expanding, and the generosity is gonna flow from this house, and we're going to continue to see open doors for the gospel and not say, Oh, well, you know, it's just too hard.
Forrest: Can I be real with y'all for a second?
Forrest: We knew we moved to Frankfurt and I told I told different friends and Christians here in the community that here in here in Frankfurt that God had brought us and start this work and to reach the city and KSU.
Forrest: And you know what they said?
Forrest: Well, KSU, good luck.
Forrest: It's a hard nut to crack.
Forrest: That's the that was the quote.
Forrest: Hard nut to crack.
Forrest: And I'm just one of these crazy people who are like, if you tell me no, I'm like, how can we turn that to a yes?
Forrest: And this isn't just some good idea, this is God's idea.
Forrest: And God's proven that over and over and over again.
Forrest: And I wonder what God's gonna do as we see God plant other churches and other capitals and other places to see God move, empower, and for other paths to be made known and open for the gospel.
Forrest: Ultimately, with being somebody who breaks barriers and somebody who's a trailblazer, somebody's gotta go first.
Forrest: Who's on that other side of the barrier for you?
Forrest: That God sees them on the other side of it.
Forrest: Somebody at work, somebody in your family, at your school, on your team, in the neighborhood.
Forrest: Even somebody who's a different background, different race, just a different generation, different income, different politics, different church background, different worldview.
Forrest: Just imagine with me for a second, hundreds of us.
Forrest: As we left this building every Sunday, we're thinking about I'm carrying the kingdom of God with me as I go.
Forrest: Just imagine with me as we just depart from here and we all the work places that are represented here in the room.
Forrest: That have people that are hurting and have religious baggage or church hurt, and for them to experience the love of God through us, that barriers be broken down.
Forrest: And that the good news continues to spread.
Forrest: And doesn't just stop with us.
Forrest: We're trailblazers, we aren't afraid to go first.
Forrest: We know that God has a plan for us as we blaze a trail of faith together.
Forrest: We're gonna worship authentically, we're gonna share boldly, we're gonna practice radical generosity.
Forrest: We are carriers of the kingdom.
Forrest: Don't let the kingdom stop with you.
Forrest: Think about what the barriers are that are around you.
Forrest: And how you can be one of the ones to show the love of God and spread the love of God and to say, okay, God, I'm gonna trust you.
Forrest: I'm gonna step first at the good news of Jesus.
Forrest: I I'm just being real today.
Forrest: You know, one thing that I one thing I worry about is we've seen God move so powerfully in the last four years.
Forrest: And I wonder, we moved across all these barriers.
Forrest: And and at times I wonder, it's like, okay, God, we got into this place.
Forrest: Are we gonna get comfortable?
Forrest: Are we gonna get complacent now?
Forrest: Because things have, you know, so things have gotten a little bit more comfortable.
Forrest: It's like, are we gonna get complacent?
Forrest: And what I believe is that that's not what's gonna happen.
Forrest: What I believe is that God's gonna continue to expand his kingdom and the love of God in this whole area because of the transformation that's happened in the lives of his people here in this house.
Forrest: And what that's gonna require is it's gonna require for you to look at me and say, Hey, Michael, for you to look at me and say, keep going.
Forrest: And I'm gonna look at you and say, keep going.
Forrest: And Andrew, I'll say, keep going.
Forrest: Let's keep going.
Forrest: Let's keep going, let's keep the love of God, let's keep his kingdom expanding, let's keep encouraging one another, keep walking with one another.
Forrest: And there are some of you right now that there is a barrier in your life right now, there is a wedge in your life.
Forrest: Because, one, you've never given your life to Jesus, you've never experienced the freedom that Jesus bought for you on the cross with his blood, that you put your full faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the one true king.
Forrest: And today for you is the day for you to become a son or daughter of the kingdom and accept Jesus as your Savior.
Forrest: For others of you, there's some barrier, there's some wedge of sin in your life that's just the enemy is just pulling you away from God and pulling you away from God.
Forrest: And it's time for you to repent, to crucify that sin, to receive forgiveness, and to walk in freedom.
Forrest: And you need God to forgive you and restore you because you feel so distant from him.
Forrest: Can we see some barriers be broken today in the name of Jesus?
Forrest: Because he's the one who can break every chain and all bondage.
Forrest: And so I'm gonna ask you right now to stand to your feet as you bow your head and I pray over every single person in this place and every family represented.
Forrest: God, we thank you, Lord, that you're the King of kings, you're the Lord of lords, that your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Forrest: Today, Father, we ask, God, that in this space right now, in this place, in this moment, that God you would restore, that you would redeem, that you would forgive, that you would heal, God, that you would crush the yoke of sin and slavery and replace it with new life.
Forrest: And so right now, I pray, God, that for those people who are Christians and following you, God, that are right now they're entangled, and there's a there's a wedge right now between you and them that right now, God, as we're praying that God they would confess it to you right now, that they would ask for your forgiveness and for your healing.
Forrest: And if that's you right now, I want to pray for you.
Forrest: And so if you need prayer right now, I want to pray for you, acknowledge you.
Forrest: You're a believer, but you're something in your life that you need prayer, something that's blocking you and God.
Forrest: I want you to just throw your hand up right now so I can pray for you up here in the back.
Forrest: Anyone else right here up front, all over the place, Father?
Forrest: Right now, I pray, God, the your mighty hand that Father would reach in right now, and God, you would have your people that, Father, you would restore in them the faith, the joy of their salvation right now, Father, that you would restore in them right now, God, that you are faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness.
Forrest: So, God, right now I pray, Father, for repentance and justice to overflow your love to your people.
Forrest: You put your hands down.
Forrest: If you're in the room right now, you've not received Christ as your Savior, you've never been saved, you've never trusted Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and you've never given your life to Jesus, that today would be the day that you'd do that.
Forrest: That you would pray in your heart and mind, Jesus, save me.
Forrest: You do it now from a genuine place.
Forrest: Jesus, save me.
Forrest: I believe that you died on the cross for my sin and that you walked out of the grave.
Forrest: Forgive me, cleanse me so I can be in heaven with you one day.
Forrest: I repent and turn to you.
Forrest: I give you my life as you gave yours for mine, now into eternity.
Forrest: Thank you for saving me.
Sallie: We're so grateful you joined us for this week's message.
Sallie: At Multiply, we believe life was never meant to be lived alone.
Sallie: If today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we'd be honored to walk with you on this journey.
Sallie: Visit multiplyky.com to let us know.
Sallie: We love you and we'll see you again soon.