SPEAKER_06: I suppose I should say bienvenidos a todos.
SPEAKER_06: Yeah?
SPEAKER_06: I don't speak Spanish all that well.
SPEAKER_06: Took it in high school.
SPEAKER_06: Pero, kidney.
SPEAKER_06: Quiero aprender español.
SPEAKER_06: I want to learn Spanish, okay?
SPEAKER_06: So I need somebody's help to do that.
SPEAKER_06: Alright.
SPEAKER_06: Hey, welcome to church.
SPEAKER_06: We're back in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_06: Uh I echo everything that Kyle said about Osvaldo and his leadership in worship.
SPEAKER_06: Osvaldo, you make me love Jesus more, if you can hear me.
SPEAKER_06: I love worshiping under your leadership, man.
SPEAKER_06: I want to worship Jesus like David, dancing.
SPEAKER_06: I love it.
SPEAKER_06: I'm thankful for you.
SPEAKER_06: Okay, all that to say, we're back in the book of Acts today.
SPEAKER_06: We had baptism last week.
SPEAKER_06: How incredible was that! Man, what a cool service we got to watch.
SPEAKER_06: But we're back in the book of Acts today.
SPEAKER_06: So you can, I'm just gonna uh tell you where we're going.
SPEAKER_06: Acts chapter 13, but we're gonna start in the last verse of chapter 12.
SPEAKER_06: So you if you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, you can start uh turning there, and we're gonna read that here in a minute.
SPEAKER_06: Uh but we're back in the book of Acts today.
SPEAKER_06: This week has been crazy.
SPEAKER_06: I've learned that every time Kyle asks me to preach, stuff goes wild for me in my life.
SPEAKER_06: Okay, so like I show up on Friday and they're for an event that was here, and just like tons of stuff was just different, and like with the AVL system, and I'm just running around with my hair on fire trying to figure out what's going on.
SPEAKER_06: And and I don't know what happened.
SPEAKER_06: Like, maybe somebody was just walking through clicking buttons for fun.
SPEAKER_06: Um, if that was you, let's talk after the service.
SPEAKER_06: Um I'm kind of kidding.
SPEAKER_06: Um but no, that happened, and then also on Thursday, our air conditioning unit broke at our house, which is it's fine because it's only a thousand degrees outside lately.
SPEAKER_06: So we luckily we have a backstop in our life.
SPEAKER_06: We're staying at my in-law's house whose air conditioning is running, and that helps us sleep at night, which is great.
SPEAKER_06: Uh, but I was, as we were there, the first night we were there, uh Griffin woke up in the middle of the night and was, it's the kind of thing where you fall asleep in a place where you're unfamiliar with, or like you forgot that you're not in your own bed.
SPEAKER_06: Have you ever had that before?
SPEAKER_06: I think that happened to him because he woke up at midnight and was just like in the hallway, crisscross applesauce, crying.
SPEAKER_06: And he's all the way upstairs, I'm all the way downstairs, and so I hear it on the monitor and I run upstairs, and when I get to the middle level, I start talking, and Griffin, hey, it's all right, buddy, I'm with you.
SPEAKER_06: And immediately when I start talking, he was fine.
SPEAKER_06: And it was all good, and we went back to bed and everything was fine.
SPEAKER_06: And as I'm thinking of that, what caused him to stop crying and feel comfort and feel like, okay, everything's alright, is not just the words I was saying.
SPEAKER_06: It's not just uh the words coming out of my mouth that it's okay.
SPEAKER_06: If he was in the hallway crying and he heard some random voice, hey Griffin, it's okay.
SPEAKER_06: He might quiet down for a second, but obviously is not gonna feel safe in peace and at home.
SPEAKER_06: He was comforted because he knows my voice, right?
SPEAKER_06: And what we see in the passage today is a church who is well familiar with the voice of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: They know when the Spirit is speaking, and they are immediately obedient.
SPEAKER_06: We're gonna see a church that is sold out, surrendered to following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and that's because they know his voice.
SPEAKER_06: And I pray that's true for us.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that we would be able to hear and recognize the voice of our good shepherd.
SPEAKER_06: So let's dive into this passage again, Acts uh 12 25 through 13 12.
SPEAKER_06: If you've got it open in your Bibles, say I'm there.
SPEAKER_06: Okay, that's good.
SPEAKER_06: That's a little bit better than last time.
SPEAKER_06: Uh we got more people with Bibles.
SPEAKER_06: By the way, if you don't have a Bible, we have free Bibles.
SPEAKER_06: Okay, so talk to somebody at our info booth.
SPEAKER_06: We've got free Bibles.
SPEAKER_06: We also have these Acts journals that everyone's going through.
SPEAKER_06: It's got the words on one side and a pay a place for notes on the other.
SPEAKER_06: Those are available out in the lobby.
SPEAKER_06: But let's dive into this and then we'll pray and we'll unpack what the Lord is communicating to us today.
SPEAKER_06: Acts chapter 12, verse 25.
SPEAKER_06: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
SPEAKER_06: Chapter 13.
SPEAKER_06: Now they were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers.
SPEAKER_06: Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menaeon, a lifelong friend of Herod the a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.
SPEAKER_06: While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
SPEAKER_06: Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
SPEAKER_06: So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
SPEAKER_06: When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had John to assist them.
SPEAKER_06: When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar Jesus.
SPEAKER_06: He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
SPEAKER_06: But Elimas, the magician, for that is the meaning of his name, opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
SPEAKER_06: But Paul, who was also but Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
SPEAKER_06: And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.
SPEAKER_06: Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.
SPEAKER_06: Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
SPEAKER_06: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_06: Holy Spirit, we pray that you would speak clearly here among us.
SPEAKER_06: As we pursue you, as we read your word, as we learn about your action here, I pray that you would translate that to our lives, that you would do the work of teaching us how to be different and how we should change our ways, repent, and turn to you to look more and more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_06: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_06: Amen.
SPEAKER_06: Alright, so let's talk about this here for a second.
SPEAKER_06: I don't know if you know this.
SPEAKER_06: Well, let me just start here.
SPEAKER_06: Have you ever had a friend who tells you a story with all the wrong details first?
SPEAKER_06: And they spend all this time talking about details that don't really matter to you, and then they realize that they've been talking for a little too long, and so they just like skip through the important parts.
SPEAKER_06: It's probably your mother-in-law.
SPEAKER_06: I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_06: Just joking.
SPEAKER_06: Love a good mother-in-law joke.
SPEAKER_06: I'm joking.
SPEAKER_06: Joy, if you're watching, I'm joking.
SPEAKER_06: But that's how I read this passage, or at least verses one through three.
SPEAKER_06: Like when I get to heaven, I feel like I say this every time I preach.
SPEAKER_06: When I get to heaven and I see Luke, I'm gonna be like, dude, you are a brilliant writer.
SPEAKER_06: But Acts 13, 1 through 3, why did you talk about the details you talked about and not expect like you didn't want to take another sentence to talk about this other?
SPEAKER_06: Like, let me just let's think about this.
SPEAKER_06: He went through a lot of times talking about nicknames, cities of origin, upbringing of the people who, by the way, may or may not be related to the the what comes after.
SPEAKER_06: Think about this phrase, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting.
SPEAKER_06: Okay?
SPEAKER_06: While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, did they do this every day?
SPEAKER_06: Was this at their monthly encounter nights?
SPEAKER_06: Was this at their annual church conference?
SPEAKER_06: But he talked about the prophets and teachers at the very beginning.
SPEAKER_06: So was this just with the prophets and teachers?
SPEAKER_06: Like, did this happen at a church staff meeting?
SPEAKER_06: Is that where I need more details?
SPEAKER_06: The Holy Spirit said, the Holy Spirit said, said audibly to everyone through the prophets who were there, through a reading of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_06: Like, what do you mean?
SPEAKER_06: I I want more detail about what the Holy Spirit said, not the fact that so-and-so was brought up with Herod the Tetrarch.
SPEAKER_06: I've got questions.
SPEAKER_06: After the this one's super interesting.
SPEAKER_06: So after they fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
SPEAKER_06: We've done missionary send-offs here on this stage.
SPEAKER_06: And as I would describe that, if I were Luke, I would say we placed our hands on them, then we prayed, and then we sent them off.
SPEAKER_06: Just imagine, step into my imagination here for a second.
SPEAKER_06: They prayed and fasted, then they were like, put their hands on them and just leave.
SPEAKER_06: Like, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_06: Did they pray for them while they put their hands on them?
SPEAKER_06: Was this a thing that they always do for the people they send out?
SPEAKER_06: What does this mean?
SPEAKER_06: I'm looking for more of a detailed description because I want to apply the details to my life.
SPEAKER_06: But here's the fact of the matter.
SPEAKER_06: Verses one through three, it's a vague description of exactly the kind of church I want to be a part of.
SPEAKER_06: Because all we know from this passage, we don't know exactly how the Spirit spoke to them.
SPEAKER_06: We don't know how long it took them to obey.
SPEAKER_06: We don't have much detail about this.
SPEAKER_06: All we know is that obedience followed the word of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: All we know is that when God spoke, the people obeyed.
SPEAKER_06: They didn't negotiate with God, according to this text.
SPEAKER_06: I mean, God asked them to separate Barnabas and Saul.
SPEAKER_06: These are two key leaders of the church.
SPEAKER_06: They didn't go, hey, okay, God, that's really cool advice, but maybe we just send Barnabas.
SPEAKER_06: Uh, or maybe we just send Saul.
SPEAKER_06: Saul can go alone because if Barnabas goes, he's gonna take his cousin John, John Mark.
SPEAKER_06: So we don't want to lose all three of those guys.
SPEAKER_06: Like, they didn't bargain with the Lord, they didn't drag their feet in obeying him.
SPEAKER_06: All we know from this passage is that the Spirit speaks and the people obey.
SPEAKER_06: And I pray that that's true of our church.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that's true of us as an organization.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that that's true of me as an individual.
SPEAKER_06: When the Spirit speaks, the people obey.
SPEAKER_06: These were people who, I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_06: They had to be well familiar with the voice of God, with the Spirit speaking among them.
SPEAKER_06: Because if it was like audibly to everybody, that would have been normal and part of what they did.
SPEAKER_06: We don't know that.
SPEAKER_06: If it was through one of the prophets, which is the likely answer, one of the prophets among them said, Hey, the Lord is telling me this, that would have been normal among them, and the people wouldn't have had any thoughts or questions.
SPEAKER_06: Man, are we familiar enough with the speaking of the Holy Spirit that we as a church would be like, if God said, Hey, separate from me Kyle and Stephen for the work I have for them?
SPEAKER_06: Would we have the trust in God to say, Alright, let's send them out.
SPEAKER_06: Let's do it.
SPEAKER_06: Would we have the ability to trust?
SPEAKER_06: Think about it as an individual.
SPEAKER_06: If the Lord said to you, separate from me your finances, separate from unto me this aspect of your life.
SPEAKER_06: Do we have the trust to say, yes, God, you you can have all of it?
SPEAKER_06: And send away key leaders and all in all of that, like what we saw in the passage.
SPEAKER_06: What we see in these first three verses is a fully surrendered, no hesitation, obedient church.
SPEAKER_06: So we keep moving in the story.
SPEAKER_06: Verses 4 through 12.
SPEAKER_06: Guided by the Spirit, Barnabas and Saul and John go to the island of Cyprus.
SPEAKER_06: Now, I love biblical geography because it's so different than the geography we're used to as Americans.
SPEAKER_06: I always thought, growing up, of like the missionary journeys of Paul.
SPEAKER_06: That's what we're talking about in this passage, is kind of the beginning of his first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_06: I always thought of those as like big, giant, international.
SPEAKER_06: He spent long time going to this faraway land where they didn't speak the language and all of this stuff.
SPEAKER_06: But Antioch to Cyprus and where they went is about 140 to 150 miles.
SPEAKER_06: Like in the in the geography of this story, they were sent from Antioch.
SPEAKER_06: It would be like going from Denver to Buena Vista.
SPEAKER_06: Or Buena Vista.
SPEAKER_06: Sorry for you, Buena Vista folks.
SPEAKER_06: It's like their whole journey is Denver to BV and then go to Grand Junction and take the long way home.
SPEAKER_06: That's the route.
SPEAKER_06: Paul's first missionary journey wouldn't have even left, leave Colorado.
SPEAKER_06: This feels a lot like an RWYA missions trip, more than like this massive international move, because the first thing we see is they get to the island, and where do they go first?
SPEAKER_06: To the synagogues.
SPEAKER_06: They go to the synagogues to preach the gospel message.
SPEAKER_06: I was reading a commentary that talked about this as a uh this was actually a strategy of this missions trip to go to the synagogues first.
SPEAKER_06: Obviously, if you read Romans, Paul talks about the gospel being first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, and there's theological things there, but this actually could have been a missions strategy that they're gonna go to the people who are most receptive to their message.
SPEAKER_06: They're gonna go to the synagogues.
SPEAKER_06: Why?
SPEAKER_06: Because the synagogues are filled with people who already believe and affirm the Old Testament scriptures.
SPEAKER_06: They already affirm the Messiah that they're looking for, they already affirm all the foundation of our belief, which is the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_06: And so all they have to do is go to the synagogues and preach the gospel message that Jesus is the Messiah they're looking for.
SPEAKER_06: Paul and Barnabas sought out first the people who would be most likely to receive their gospel message.
SPEAKER_06: Have you thought about in your life through that lens, the people who don't know Jesus?
SPEAKER_06: That you know?
SPEAKER_06: Have you thought through that lens and looked at maybe your list of friends who don't know Jesus and you go, man, have you thought about who's most likely to receive, who's most open to that conversation and go there first?
SPEAKER_06: I hadn't thought about that that way, and that's something that the Spirit pointed out in my life of man, think about the people who are most likely, who are already open to the gospel conversations and go and take the gospel to them.
SPEAKER_06: So as they go and as they're moving across the island of Cyprus, they encounter a man named Bar Jesus, meaning son of Jesus or Son of Joshua.
SPEAKER_06: One commentary I was reading called that name or title to be, it would have been understood as son of the Savior.
SPEAKER_06: I'm guessing, we don't know it from the text, it's not explicit in the text.
SPEAKER_06: I'm guessing that this man, this Jewish magician, is in some ways tying himself.
SPEAKER_06: He's riding on the coattails of this thing that's happening in Judea through a guy named Jesus.
SPEAKER_06: He's he's right, he's tying his horse and trying to tag along, but what he's doing is twisting the truth.
SPEAKER_06: And the reason that he was able to have, like you think of Jewish magician, why on earth would they have any sort of influence with the regional leader on the island of Cyprus?
SPEAKER_06: Roman culture would have held Jews in high esteem on spiritual matters.
SPEAKER_06: In the Roman pantheon of gods and all of their different gods that they worship, they would have held the God of the Jews as somewhat legitimate.
SPEAKER_06: They wouldn't obviously hold him as the only and true God, but they would say, oh, you know, the Jewish people and their form of worship, they have they got something to say.
SPEAKER_06: When they speak, we should listen.
SPEAKER_06: And so that's why he might have gained steam.
SPEAKER_06: His message might have gained steam among the Romans and among the Roman world, but he would twist that through deception.
SPEAKER_06: He would twist that through.
SPEAKER_06: He was a magician, a sorcerer.
SPEAKER_06: Now, he likely wouldn't have been like a rabbit out of the hat kind of guy.
SPEAKER_06: He wouldn't have been the you know the sleight of hand what you see in in Las Vegas.
SPEAKER_06: He probably would have would have functioned more like an occult leader with Jewish roots, who has wild claims about God, and people hear these wild claims and go, ooh, he must know what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_06: I don't know if that sounds relatable to anything happening today, but maybe not.
SPEAKER_06: Barnabas and Saul, they they receive the opposition to their message because the true gospel that they're preaching, that they're bringing to the island, the truth of God, actually undermines what this man, Bar Jesus, is saying.
SPEAKER_06: It undermines, and really what that means is it undermines his position.
SPEAKER_06: One of the commentaries I was reading had this to say about maybe Bar Jesus' uh motivations for this, for opposing them.
SPEAKER_06: He said, Two reasons people oppose the gospel are pride and materialism.
SPEAKER_06: Many people arrogantly refuse to admit they are wrong, they refuse to humbly repent and say the gospel is true and salvation is in Christ alone, and many others refuse to give up their materialistic lifestyles to follow the path of discipleship.
SPEAKER_06: The gospel confronts idols, and when collisions happen, heated opposition sometimes ensues.
SPEAKER_06: It's kind of like in Lord of the Rings.
SPEAKER_06: Okay?
SPEAKER_06: I'm just kidding, I won't go there.
SPEAKER_06: I can feel my wife's eyes rolling somewhere.
SPEAKER_06: But it actually is like part of the story.
SPEAKER_06: You can ask me in the lobby and I'll tell you.
SPEAKER_06: Paul confronts this opposition.
SPEAKER_06: Now, listen, in our day and age, in our day and age and in our culture, in Western society, it's easy for us to view confrontation as bad.
SPEAKER_06: Paul sounds really judgmental right there.
SPEAKER_06: Who's he to judge?
SPEAKER_06: And we can think that speaking the truth and coming in opposition to people who oppose the truth can be this like bad thing that we shouldn't do.
SPEAKER_06: Oh, and there's no way Jesus would do that.
SPEAKER_06: Jesus was loving.
SPEAKER_06: But Luke is very intentional in pointing out the fact that Paul is empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit before he speaks this judgment.
SPEAKER_06: Before he opposes the one opposing them.
SPEAKER_06: He's filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit is the motivator of his words and his judgment and his harsh word.
SPEAKER_06: The the first, there's two reasons I think that this harsh word is included in this passage.
SPEAKER_06: It serves two purposes.
SPEAKER_06: First, it's another reminder that Paul is being led by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: Because if if that wasn't in there, it would be easy for us to go, oh man, we just need to be harsh against the people who judge us or the people who oppose us.
SPEAKER_06: We need to pronounce judgment and cause blindness.
SPEAKER_06: That's not the call of the passage.
SPEAKER_06: Let me be clear.
SPEAKER_06: The call of the passage is the reminder that Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit, even in the words that he's saying in confrontation.
SPEAKER_06: He's filled with the Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: He's obedient to what the Spirit is telling him to say.
SPEAKER_06: The second reason I think this exists is that it's a miraculous sign that God opposes those who are against him.
SPEAKER_06: And this miraculous sign causes this man of influence, the proconsul, to believe the truth.
SPEAKER_06: It gives legitimacy to the gospel message that Paul and Barnabas and Mark are bringing to the island.
SPEAKER_06: So let's just recap the story here, real quick.
SPEAKER_06: Paul uh sends out, or the church sends out Paul and Barnabas, who bring Mark with them.
SPEAKER_06: They go to Cyprus, they preach the gospel in the synagogue, their message gains traction, so much so that they're summoned to the regional leader.
SPEAKER_06: As they're preaching to him, the man comes against them, Bar Jesus comes against them, and they cause blindness, harsh message, and then the proconsul is moved, if you noticed it, by the message.
SPEAKER_06: He's moved by the word of their testimony, and he believes the gospel.
SPEAKER_06: So what do we do with this for us here today?
SPEAKER_06: Obviously, the call is not to just like, you know, cause blindness in people who oppose us.
SPEAKER_06: This passage isn't just an outline for how churches should send out missionaries.
SPEAKER_06: I think what we're gonna see is three targets, and here's why I say targets.
SPEAKER_06: Recently I've had uh the opportunity to go with my dad to a shooting range, a gun range, and I'm telling you, it is so fun to aim at something and hit it.
SPEAKER_06: It's a blast.
SPEAKER_06: Pun intended.
SPEAKER_06: It's a blast.
SPEAKER_06: I love doing it.
SPEAKER_06: And let me tell you something, when I first went to the range with my dad, and I've got this little 22, and we're just plinking around and aiming at a target.
SPEAKER_06: When I hit the bullseye, I didn't go, I've achieved target shooting.
SPEAKER_06: All done.
SPEAKER_06: There's no need to ever do that again because I have hit the target.
SPEAKER_06: No, I hit the target and was like, I want to do that every time I pull the trigger.
SPEAKER_06: I want to do that every day.
SPEAKER_06: That is so much fun to hit what you're aiming at.
SPEAKER_06: I think Paul even uses this.
SPEAKER_06: Analogy in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 5.
SPEAKER_06: He's talking about whether we're in heaven with God or away from home in our bodies, and he says, whether we're at home in heaven with God or whether we're away, we make it our aim to please him.
SPEAKER_06: And so I want to take that concept and from this passage pull out three targets that we can put up in our lives and aim at every day.
SPEAKER_06: Because the fact of the matter is this passage calls us to more than just, hey, let's create this system at our church of how we send out missionaries.
SPEAKER_06: It calls us to more than just, I'm going to think about this once and move on.
SPEAKER_06: This passage calls us to a lifestyle change, which is surrender to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: The first target that I want to paint in our lives is the Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: How do I say it on here?
SPEAKER_06: The Spirit will guide my worship and prayer.
SPEAKER_06: Write that down if you're a note taker.
SPEAKER_06: Take a picture of it if you want to with your phone.
SPEAKER_06: I want that to be the bullseye in my life that as I pray, as I worship, the spirit is guiding all of it.
SPEAKER_06: Romans talks about where when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit prays for us.
SPEAKER_06: He'll tell us what to pray.
SPEAKER_06: When you come to pray and worship, when you pray in this room in our weekly gathering, when you pray and there's a prayer time, or maybe we say pray silently.
SPEAKER_06: I would guess that plenty of people, myself included, sometimes are going, I don't really know what to pray right now.
SPEAKER_06: Did you know that the God of heaven has opinions on what you should pray for?
SPEAKER_06: Did you know that he guides our prayer?
SPEAKER_06: He guides our worship?
SPEAKER_06: The spirit is the guide of all that we do.
SPEAKER_06: We see this as an institution in the passages, they send out all and bargain.
SPEAKER_06: No hesitation, no bargaining, no delay.
SPEAKER_06: They obey as a church.
SPEAKER_06: And honestly, the more I think about it, I'm glad that there's not a specificity to that whole part of the passage.
SPEAKER_06: Because if there was, we would again just create this system.
SPEAKER_06: This is how we do it, and we're never going to think about it again.
SPEAKER_06: The passage forces us to go, wow, the spirit guided their worship as a church.
SPEAKER_06: I hope that the spirit's guiding our worship as a church.
SPEAKER_06: That's target number one as a church, as an as uh an organization, but we also see it as individuals.
SPEAKER_06: These men are separated unto the spirit.
SPEAKER_06: If you read different versions of the Bible, the set apart for me Paul and Barnabas when the Spirit speaks in their worship.
SPEAKER_06: So many other versions of the Bible will say separate for me.
SPEAKER_06: Separate for me Paul and Barnabas.
SPEAKER_06: What does it mean to be a person who is separated unto the Spirit?
SPEAKER_06: Kyle gave me a book this week by a guy named Andrew Murray.
SPEAKER_06: He was talking about this exact thing, and here's what he said.
SPEAKER_06: A person who is separated unto the Holy Spirit is one who can and does sincerely say, Father, may the Holy Spirit have full dominion over me.
SPEAKER_06: In my home, in my character, in every word of my tongue, in every thought of my heart, in the feeling towards my fellow man, in every feeling towards my fellow man.
SPEAKER_06: May the Holy Spirit have entire possession.
SPEAKER_06: That was true of Paul Barbara in the story.
SPEAKER_06: They were fully surrendered when the Spirit speaks.
SPEAKER_06: Again, not a lot of details in this passage.
SPEAKER_06: When the Spirit says, separate from me Paul and Barnabas, I don't know that.
SPEAKER_06: Did they even know where they were going?
SPEAKER_06: Did they know they were going to Cyprus?
SPEAKER_06: Because the Spirit didn't say, hey, separate Paul and Barnabas because I'm sending them to this place to do this thing and do that.
SPEAKER_06: He said, separate me unto them.
SPEAKER_06: And the Spirit is the guide.
SPEAKER_06: In the next verse in verse 4, being sent by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: The Spirit is with them as they go, telling them where to go next.
SPEAKER_06: The Spirit is the guide for their journey.
SPEAKER_06: And man, I want that to be true of our life.
SPEAKER_06: I've shared this before from stage.
SPEAKER_06: I come from a family of pastors.
SPEAKER_06: It's kind of weird, but like my grandpa was a pastor, my dad's a pastor, I'm a big pastor.
SPEAKER_06: And I remember my grandpa telling me a story.
SPEAKER_06: He was an army chaplain on an army base, and he was saying, Man, we were out there and we just were seeing revival on our army base.
SPEAKER_06: The Lord was working in incredible ways.
SPEAKER_06: He said, One day I'm on base, driving from my house to this other side of the base, and I just felt the spirit say, pull over your car.
SPEAKER_06: He's like, pull over my car.
SPEAKER_06: Okay, I guess I will.
SPEAKER_06: And so he pulls over to the side of the road.
SPEAKER_06: And a couple minutes later, the private is walking, walking from one side of the base to the other, and he goes, Hey, you're the preacher, aren't you?
SPEAKER_06: You're the chaplain.
SPEAKER_06: I want to give my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_06: Don't you wish it was that easy?
SPEAKER_06: My grandpa told me that story, and I was like, dang, dude.
SPEAKER_06: I wish it was that easy.
SPEAKER_06: It's incredible.
SPEAKER_06: The point of that, for me, as I reflect on that story, is that my grandpa was obedient to the Lord literally in his whereabouts.
SPEAKER_06: The Spirit said, pull over and you pulled over.
SPEAKER_06: I don't have to have answers for why.
SPEAKER_06: I don't have to know all the reasonings.
SPEAKER_06: I didn't, hey, the Spirit didn't say, hey, pull over because this other person's going to come up and give their life to Jesus, and I've got a plan for that.
SPEAKER_06: He said, pull over.
SPEAKER_06: And he was open to the work that God had brought in.
SPEAKER_06: And I pray that that's true for me.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that's true for you.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that's true for us as a church.
SPEAKER_06: The last target that I want to hang for us here today.
SPEAKER_06: Spirit will guide my word.
SPEAKER_06: Paul and Barnabas went to the synagogues as they went to the different places around the island of sure as they went before the proconsul to preach the good news to him.
SPEAKER_06: I promise you, they were going into that going, Spirit, I need help.
SPEAKER_06: I don't know exactly what to say.
SPEAKER_06: I don't know the right inroads to you know making the gospel presentable to this person.
SPEAKER_06: I need you to speak through me.
SPEAKER_06: And they did that as they shared the gospel.
SPEAKER_06: And many people came to know the Lord.
SPEAKER_06: Again, the passage doesn't lay out every detail of what they said.
SPEAKER_06: We don't know Paul's evangelistic strategy.
SPEAKER_06: We know that they were obedient to the Holy Spirit, even in their words.
SPEAKER_06: And so for us, our takeaway are these three targets to allow the Lord, I want to hit this target, that God would guide my prayer and how I pray.
SPEAKER_06: God would guide my approach to Him, that He would be the leader here among us as we worship as a corporate body, but in my own worship day to day, that He would lead me and guide me in my worship and prayer.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that God would guide my whereabouts.
SPEAKER_06: Maybe you're a person today going, man, I I feel like a job change is coming up and I'm just not sure.
SPEAKER_06: And you need the Spirit's guidance and you need to surrender to Him and what He's asking you to do and where He's asking you to go.
SPEAKER_06: And maybe you're a person who's going, Man, I would love for the Holy Spirit to guide my words.
SPEAKER_06: Think about this.
SPEAKER_06: As a parent, are there any parents in the room?
SPEAKER_06: Have you ever had a, you know, spirited discipleship with your kids?
SPEAKER_06: Where you, you know, there's a conflict and we gotta resolve it in the home.
SPEAKER_06: If you've ever had that, think about this the next time that happens for you.
SPEAKER_06: It's it might be on the car ride home from church.
SPEAKER_06: But I want you to think about the words that come from your mouth as a parent, the God of heaven who created you and who created your kids has opinions on how you're supposed to parent them.
SPEAKER_06: He has practical advice on the words you're supposed to say.
SPEAKER_06: Maybe you need that in your marriage.
SPEAKER_06: You might be on the car right home, and maybe it's not with your kids, maybe it's with your spouse, and there's a disagreement.
SPEAKER_06: The holy God of heaven is with you in that moment, going, here's what you need to say.
SPEAKER_06: Here's how you need to respond.
SPEAKER_06: Can you imagine?
SPEAKER_06: Imagine that in that moment, this God is in bodily form right next to you going, hey Grayson, listen.
SPEAKER_06: Here's how you need to respond to what your wife just said.
SPEAKER_06: Here's how you need to respond to what your kids just said.
SPEAKER_06: Can you imagine me going, uh, okay, God of heaven, creator of all things, thanks for the advice.
SPEAKER_06: I'll consider it.
SPEAKER_06: And yet that's what we do.
SPEAKER_06: So often we just we rest on our own uh habits and our own tendencies of how we respond in situations and how we parent and we don't go into every conversation, every day at work, every meeting at work, the interactions with our spouse and our kids, going, God, how do I need to show up here?
SPEAKER_06: What influence do I need to have?
SPEAKER_06: God, give me the words to say in this moment.
SPEAKER_06: All of this is just acts of surrender in the different areas of our life.
SPEAKER_06: We need to surrender to the spirit just like every person we see in this passage.
SPEAKER_06: If we want to experience the power and the movement of the Spirit as a church and as individuals in our lives, we need to be fully surrendered.
SPEAKER_06: And here's the thing about surrender and surrendering to the Lord.
SPEAKER_06: I think it's a consistent thing that we need to do.
SPEAKER_06: Growing up in church, we always talked about recommit your life to Jesus, recommit your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_06: And that was, I always view that as like a one-time thing that you just recommit your life to Jesus and then you're done.
SPEAKER_06: What if we as a church recommitted our lives to surrender to the Spirit on a weekly basis here in this room?
SPEAKER_06: What if that was our aim?
SPEAKER_06: How would God use us?
SPEAKER_06: How would our lives change?
SPEAKER_06: How would the city change if we went into every week from Sunday going, hey, I surrender to the movement of the Spirit in all these three areas of my life?
SPEAKER_06: A few years ago, we my wife and I purchased a house, we renovated the house.
SPEAKER_06: Part of that process was asbestos removal.
SPEAKER_06: And that was fun and it was great.
SPEAKER_06: I got to do that myself, got to wear the full face thing, and you gotta cut the stuff out.
SPEAKER_06: And every night through that process, I would like wipe down every surface.
SPEAKER_06: You gotta clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, make sure everything gets out of there.
SPEAKER_06: So I mop the floors a whole bunch of times.
SPEAKER_06: Now imagine that today, when we go home, or whenever our AC is fixed, when we go home, my wife says, Hey, will you mop the floors?
SPEAKER_06: And I say, Oh baby, I've already mopped the floor a thousand times.
SPEAKER_06: We're good.
SPEAKER_06: I've already, I do you remember that two years ago?
SPEAKER_06: I mopped the floors a whole lot.
SPEAKER_06: We don't need to mop the floors anymore.
SPEAKER_06: That would be silly, right?
SPEAKER_06: I can hear my wife saying amen somewhere.
SPEAKER_06: Of course that's silly.
SPEAKER_06: And I think that for me, that's a picture of our heart towards surrender to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: We need to continually come back and surrender these areas of our lives.
SPEAKER_06: Because the fact is, even when we're on the right path, so often we stray.
SPEAKER_06: And when I'm hit when I'm target shooting, I hit a bullseye, and then I get excited and I pull this way, and then I miss the target.
SPEAKER_06: And we need to come back and surrender and surrender and surrender as a daily mindset for all that we strive for.
SPEAKER_06: And so today I want to ask us to do something.
SPEAKER_06: We're gonna have a little time of response here.
SPEAKER_06: If you, if any of those three targets stick out to you, and you go, man, I need to surrender to the Lord in my worship and prayer.
SPEAKER_06: And I want to recommit to that today.
SPEAKER_06: Or maybe I want to surrender to the Lord in my in my movements day today and where I go, and maybe there's a job change for you coming up or a big movement in your life, and I want to surrender to God's leading.
SPEAKER_06: Maybe you want to surrender to God's leading in your words, in your marriage, as a parent, as an employee, as all of these things that we do in life.
SPEAKER_06: We want to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: If any of those relate to you or stick out to you, and the Spirit is pressing on that in your life, hey, you need to surrender your words to me.
SPEAKER_06: You need to surrender your movements to me.
SPEAKER_06: If that's you, I want you to come forward to the crosses to pray.
SPEAKER_06: We're just gonna leave some moment, and all you got to do is walk forward to the cross and say, I want to surrender to you, Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_06: Would you move in my heart this week?
SPEAKER_06: I want to re-surrender.
SPEAKER_06: And if you do that today, and I hope everybody in the room does it, if you do that today, I hope you do it next week too.
SPEAKER_06: And I hope you do it the week after that.
SPEAKER_06: Take three weeks to every week as you come to worship, come and resurrender to the Holy Spirit in your life.
SPEAKER_06: Resurrender, resurrender.
SPEAKER_06: We need to surrender to Him in our worship and prayer and where we go and what we say in where we go.
SPEAKER_06: I'm gonna pray for us and leave some time for us to just respond to the Lord.
SPEAKER_06: Our prayer team is gonna be available.
SPEAKER_06: If you're on the prayer team, go ahead and move to the sides of the room.
SPEAKER_06: If you need prayer in this, if you want prayer in this, you can go up to any of those people and say, Hey, I want, would you pray for me?
SPEAKER_06: I want to surrender to the Spirit today.
SPEAKER_06: God, I pray that you would move in the hearts of your people.
SPEAKER_06: I pray that you would move in us to follow you.
SPEAKER_06: To not just think about this one thing on for one hour on Sunday, but to truly surrender every minute and every moment to you, the God of heaven, who has a plan and a purpose for us.
SPEAKER_06: That we would bring your gospel to the people who need it most.
SPEAKER_06: I'm just gonna say this as we worship, as we sing this next song, and we all stand.
SPEAKER_06: Would you all stand right now?
SPEAKER_06: Let's just do this.
SPEAKER_06: Would you all stand as we sing this next song, and you want to surrender your heart once again to the movement of the Spirit?
SPEAKER_06: Would you come forward to the cross and pray and respond?
SPEAKER_06: Get out of your seat and move.
SPEAKER_06: There's something about physically moving that I think matters.
SPEAKER_06: There's something about physically moving to say, God, I'm gonna follow you with who I am, with every minute of my week.
SPEAKER_06: As we worship, would you respond to the Lord and what he's speaking to us today?
SPEAKER_02: I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind.
SPEAKER_02: I speak Jesus.
SPEAKER_03: I just want to speak the name of Jesus, every addiction starts to break.
SPEAKER_03: Your name is Hour.
SPEAKER_06: Amen.
SPEAKER_06: God, I pray that you would empower us as a church as we surrender to you more and more that the name of Jesus would spread, the hope of Jesus would spread.
SPEAKER_06: As we join you in your work.
SPEAKER_06: We love you, Lord.
SPEAKER_06: We pray this in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_06: Amen.
SPEAKER_06: We uh we have our family meeting happening here in a minute.
SPEAKER_06: We're running a little behind, but we've got our family meeting.
SPEAKER_06: Before that happens, we want to dismiss because we know that not everybody's gonna stick around.
SPEAKER_06: So many people have to go.
SPEAKER_06: If you're a member of our church, you're gonna want to stick around.
SPEAKER_06: Kyle's gonna talk about where we're headed as a church to give some vision for what's happening if Future, and then we'll have some other details on things that the Lord is doing here among us on our campus and in our church.
SPEAKER_06: But before we transition to that, we want to make sure everybody hears this.
SPEAKER_06: Would you lift up your hands and receive a blessing?
SPEAKER_06: God the Father sent Jesus to save us, to redeem us, to be the hope of our lives.
SPEAKER_06: And then he sent all the part of it to go on mission.
SPEAKER_06: And now he's sending you to live in love like Jesus, surrendered to the Spirit in every moment.
SPEAKER_06: We love you.
SPEAKER_06: We hope you have an awesome, awesome week.
SPEAKER_06: Stick around for family meetings starting in a minute.
SPEAKER_05: All right.
SPEAKER_05: Alright, alright, all right.
SPEAKER_05: Check, check, check.
SPEAKER_05: And there's check, check, check.
SPEAKER_05: Check, check.
SPEAKER_05: Oh, thank you, Ben.
SPEAKER_04: All right.
SPEAKER_04: Family, as people are walking out, family meetings are gonna literally start right now, just because we're running a little bit behind.
SPEAKER_04: Um, I'm joined on stage by Stephen Henson and Mike Adoole.
SPEAKER_04: And uh so this morning, uh we have think about it like this we have basically kind of a bridge update, uh an operational update that Steven will bring, as well as a revive update, primarily about vision and what to expect here in the next few months.
SPEAKER_04: So um I am just so blessed that Micah Dooley is on our team.
SPEAKER_04: If you haven't had an opportunity, yeah.
SPEAKER_04: If you haven't had an opportunity to meet Micah, or if you haven't had an opportunity to come to a bridge show and tell presentation where Micah just does a great job of sharing about the vision of the bridge, hey, come and do that.
SPEAKER_04: Micah, we've been blessed to have Micah.
SPEAKER_04: She is in many ways a relational glue that the bridge really needs.
SPEAKER_04: And I'm always thankful for Cam Kenyon and how he helped in the beginning launch the bridge.
SPEAKER_04: And I'm really thankful that Micah is here as well because she really, from a relational standpoint, comes alongside partners, listens to them, hears them, and just provides uh a place for processing and care.
SPEAKER_04: And so thank you, Micah.
SPEAKER_00: I'm pregnant, so emotionally unstable was not prepared for that.
SPEAKER_00: Give me a second.
SPEAKER_00: Best boss ever.
SPEAKER_00: Cool.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Revive Church, it's a joy with you, it's a joy to be with you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to share just a couple of updates with you this morning about the amazing work that's been happening at the bridge.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Kyle uh spoke to it earlier at the beginning of service.
SPEAKER_00: We have Eagle Lake coming next week, and we're super excited.
SPEAKER_00: But I also just have to give a huge shout out to Pastor Scott.
SPEAKER_00: He was burdened with this idea of inviting Lionheart kids, the Trailblazers, um, to be part of Eagle Lake.
SPEAKER_00: And so he made it happen.
SPEAKER_00: He reached out, he's had the meetings, and so this year, for the first time, we get to host all 40 plus trailblazers from Lionheart here on our campus next week, and they get to fully participate in camp.
SPEAKER_00: So, shout out to everyone involved with that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we spoke about the amazing work that the Lord is doing that we get to see through cross-purpose, but we're also seeing that with Lionheart and our partnerships there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so just super excited to see what the Lord has in store for us coming out of next week with that partnership.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, PK just announced it, but wanted to highlight it for you once again.
SPEAKER_00: We have another show and tell coming up.
SPEAKER_00: You know, many of us have been around a while and we know the story of the bridge, we know the ins and the outs.
SPEAKER_00: We've been able to testify to God's goodness and what he's been doing on this campus.
SPEAKER_00: But many of us have not gotten the chance to know that story or to take ownership of that story.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are unfamiliar with the story of the bridge, if you want to know more about how the bridge works, if you have any questions, I would love to invite you to our next show and tell happening August 9th.
SPEAKER_00: It's in-between services up at Cross Purpose starting around 10:15.
SPEAKER_00: So bring your kids, we'll be in and out.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you come to first service, you can make it down there.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't come to first second service, which you all come to first service, it'll be, you know, you can still make it to second service if that week you happen to be at the next service.
SPEAKER_00: Also wanted to give a huge shout out to our hub directors and food pantry directors, Bob Brossman and Kathy Paxton.
SPEAKER_00: They're both here.
SPEAKER_00: You guys can stand up.
SPEAKER_00: You can stand up, Kathy.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: We do incredible work, and the Lord is inviting people onto our campus.
SPEAKER_00: But Bob and Kathy are the ones who are taking time to individually meet with people, know their stories, and care for them hands-on directly.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the ways that they have just championed that hospitality, that care for others, is by providing an opportunity on Tuesday mornings for seniors who don't have community, seniors who don't have the resources to feed themselves, to come and experience community through volunteers who show up.
SPEAKER_00: They get to experience the relational peace and prosperity, they get to know who Jesus is, and then they also get to be fed.
SPEAKER_00: Every Tuesday, we have about 30 seniors who are stepping foot onto this campus.
SPEAKER_00: We launched the vision of the bridge to hit the demographic of the single mom.
SPEAKER_00: And in so doing, we have also been able to reach this other vulnerable demographic.
SPEAKER_00: So we're just really grateful for the incredible work that Bob and Kathy are doing every single week to feed people both relationally and physically.
SPEAKER_00: Last up, uh, wanted to share something exciting with you all that we have coming up later this August.
SPEAKER_00: Kitchen one for one, how many of you were at Encounter or at the any, like we have experienced Kitchen One for One, and they are great tacos.
SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't, then starting August 11th on Tuesday afternoons and evenings from about 4:30 to 7:30, they're gonna have their food truck in our parking lot.
SPEAKER_00: So wanted you to have the update there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, come get some tacos, bring your family, bring your friends.
SPEAKER_00: The beautiful part about Kitchen One for One is when we buy a taco, they're able to give a taco.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're not in a position where you can feed your family on a Tuesday, they'll feed you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in a position where you can feed yourself and another family, they'll make sure that that happens.
SPEAKER_00: So we're grateful for the partnership with Kitchen One for One.
SPEAKER_00: God is moving at the bridge, and it's a joy and an honor to be able to testify to his goodness.
SPEAKER_00: And with that, I'm gonna turn over to Stephen for some more logistics.
SPEAKER_01: Great, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, so I was uh I was struck by Grayson's message this morning when uh he was just describing that the Holy Spirit spoke and the church responded, and there wasn't a whole lot that was going on behind the details of that.
SPEAKER_01: And uh as I was thinking about that, and I was thinking about our update today, uh, I was reminded that our church has been on a journey, and largely it's a fairly unique vision that God has given us here at Revive.
SPEAKER_01: And I just feel grateful about how He provides.
SPEAKER_01: He provides in so many different ways, but the foundation of that provision comes through your faithful generosity.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to say thank you for that, and I want to be open to what God wants us to do in and through this church, and so I'm excited to kind of share with you kind of where we are mid-year.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, as you can see on the chart behind me, uh the numbers are all good.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not sure how to interpret them, they're just they're all good, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Um the net income for the second quarter was just under$50,000.
SPEAKER_01: And if you look at the net income through the first six months of the year, it's just under$88,000.
SPEAKER_01: And you can look at that, and you can see those red numbers to the right of those net income numbers are what we budgeted for the first half of the year.
SPEAKER_01: Our church budget is budgeted to break even for the year, which is which is a strategic and conservative move.
SPEAKER_01: And our spending code is not break even throughout the year.
SPEAKER_01: So we have seasons, so we budget in seasons and cycles.
SPEAKER_01: And so I just wanted to give you some context for that.
SPEAKER_01: What this really means is that we're doing really well, and God is continuing to say, hey, I've got stuff going on at Revive, and I want you to stay connected to it, and you all are responding.
SPEAKER_01: So, really, just from the bottom of my heart, um, I just want to say thank you.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you should be really excited about these numbers, maybe a clap.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: But uh, you also may know that uh we have a number of projects that are going on around the campus, but at the end of 2025, I mentioned to you this project about the worship center.
SPEAKER_01: And as you can tell, nothing has happened in the worship center.
SPEAKER_01: But I promise you the work is going.
SPEAKER_01: And uh we are really excited about what uh we're gonna be able to do at the worship center.
SPEAKER_01: I had no idea how long it takes uh to do some of these things, but on the third and fourth quarter, we're gonna start to see a lot of transformation in this space.
SPEAKER_01: And that transformation will be uh it will be a complete refresh, and it will it will help us kind of create a place in this room so that God can continue to do the things that He wants to do in the lives of the people who come here.
SPEAKER_01: We're grateful for how when God shows up that we benefit, and that when we show up where God is, we still benefit because of God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: And we want to create an environment that allows us to create space so that the hospitality of who God is can manifest in and throughout everywhere on this campus, even in this room.
SPEAKER_01: So with that, I'm gonna turn it back over to Kyle and let him share a little bit more about some vision that's going on.
SPEAKER_04: It's important that I know how much time I have.
SPEAKER_04: Since I don't preach in the month of July, this could become a sermon.
SPEAKER_04: Three minutes.
SPEAKER_04: Okay, three minutes.
SPEAKER_04: How many of you love really good hospitality?
SPEAKER_04: Like there are places that you go to, whether it's a restaurant or somewhere for entertainment, or you just have really good friends that when you walk into their house, they thought of you before you arrived.
SPEAKER_04: Um, I love really good hospitality.
SPEAKER_04: I went down to Alabama a few years ago and I experienced some incredible hospitality in the home of some of my friends that blew me away.
SPEAKER_04: We are right now as a church, we are in this vision season, and this really began with our encounter conference.
SPEAKER_04: We are in this vision season where we are wanting to become a present-centered church filled with present-centered people.
SPEAKER_04: That is a group of people who say, we want the presence of God more than anything.
SPEAKER_04: And we actually believe that when you look at the 66 books of the Bible, there's one mega theme in the Bible, and it's this God desires to be with us.
SPEAKER_04: So it's not like we're pursuing a God that's not pursuing us.
SPEAKER_04: We're pursuing a God that is pursuing us much harder than we're pursuing him.
SPEAKER_04: Now, what's interesting about the Bible is as you look at the 66 books of the Bible, it is absolutely true that God desires to be in relationship with us, but there's something else that's true when you look at the Bible throughout from the beginning to the end.
SPEAKER_04: God prepares a place for us to experience his presence.
SPEAKER_04: I don't know if you knew this, but in the beginning there was a hospitable God.
SPEAKER_04: God did not need us, but he desired to be in relationship with us.
SPEAKER_04: So in creation and in the Garden of Eden, what we see is a God of hospitality who says, I'm gonna create everything in this world before you arrived for your pleasure so that you can experience me.
SPEAKER_04: And the rest of the Bible unfolds in that manner.
SPEAKER_04: He creates the Garden of Eden and then the tabernacle and then the temple, and then ultimately gives us his very presence in Jesus Christ that we might experience God in the form of flesh and blood.
SPEAKER_04: And then the end of the story in Revelation, guess what?
SPEAKER_04: God's presence will come and we will need nothing else.
SPEAKER_04: We won't even need the sun because God's presence will overwhelm us.
SPEAKER_04: Listen, we as a church want to be a place that prepares for people to come and experience God right where they are.
SPEAKER_04: Whether they're walking into this room or into our lobby or into our early childhood space or into our kids' church, into our students, whether they're walking around the bridge and experiencing the love of our partners.
SPEAKER_04: And so we are trying to imitate the hospitality of God.
SPEAKER_04: We're trying to look at our community and say, hey, we thought of you before you arrived.
SPEAKER_04: This is what we've done with single moms.
SPEAKER_04: We've thought about in the bridge what single moms need to go from barely surviving to thriving.
SPEAKER_04: And guess what?
SPEAKER_04: It's happening.
SPEAKER_04: And so in late August, early September, we're gonna launch a brand new vision series called Prepare a Place.
SPEAKER_04: And I'm gonna talk about the hospitality of God and how the hospitality of God and his heart for us is actually our model of what it means to host really well on our property, but not just on our property, right where we are, to love people really, really well in our workplaces, to love people under the roofs of our homes, to love people on our HOA, to love people no matter what.
SPEAKER_04: And we're also going to talk about how here's what's amazing: this same God of hospitality, who in the beginning was hospitable, this same God, guess what?
SPEAKER_04: He invites us to house him.
SPEAKER_04: We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_04: God is inviting us to prepare a place so that the Spirit of God can reside in us.
SPEAKER_04: And when we do that, when we live, as Grayson said, with absolute surrender, preparing a place for God to live in us and to work through us, man, we will see revival.
SPEAKER_04: We will see people encounter Jesus Christ and we will see our own lives live to the fullest.
SPEAKER_04: So I want to make sure that you mark your calendars.
SPEAKER_04: End of August, beginning August 30th, in the next three weekends, we're gonna look at this series Prepare a Place.
SPEAKER_04: We're gonna talk about worship center renovations, we're gonna talk about some other projects that we have on our campus where we're committed to prepare a place so that God can revive people and also revive some of these places and spaces.
SPEAKER_04: So, hey, thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna pray over our time and then we're gonna dismiss.
SPEAKER_04: There's no way that was three minutes, but I did the best I could.
SPEAKER_04: Father, we thank you that you are a God of hospitality, that you're a God who thought of each of us, not just as a human race before we arrived, but Psalm 139 says that every single person in this room, you wrote their DNA code.
SPEAKER_04: That while they were in their mother's womb, you thought of them.
SPEAKER_04: You've created us uniquely, purposefully, with your intended design to carry your presence with us.
SPEAKER_04: And so would we be a church that not just hosts your presence well on this campus or in this room, but everywhere we go, right where we go, would we carry you wherever we are?
SPEAKER_04: It's in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_04: Amen.
SPEAKER_04: Love you guys.
SPEAKER_04: Thanks for staying.