Truth to Life
Truth to Life exists to help people take the truth of God's Word beyond Sunday and live it throughout the week.
Truth to Life
United | S3E1
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Truth to Life is back!
We’re kicking off a new season with a new name and the same heart: taking the truth of God’s Word beyond Sunday and into everyday life.
In this episode, we look back at our UNITED series—One Gospel, One Power, One Voice, and One Mind—and talk about why biblical unity matters as Life Church steps into an exciting new season. Plus, we look ahead to our upcoming study through Nehemiah.
We are so back. But while being back, we ended up changing the name of the podcast from deeper to life or deeper to life to truth to life. So I don't really know. Deeper to life. This is a great start. Deeper at life. And now we're at truth to life. We're not going deeper. We are, though. We are going deeper, so it's a combination of biblical truth. This is a great start. This is who we are. Welcome back to season two. Yeah, truth to life. I think there's a lot of reasons why we changed it to truth to life and um biblical truth being the anchor of that. And so we're still going deeper in the word from Sunday. Andrew, take it away. Take it away. I'm gonna butcher this. And hold it all day.
SPEAKER_00Welcome. Uh new room, not new room, same room. Uh new setting. So it doesn't look like we're being interrogated by the cops this year, this season. So that's good. But TV's different. So if you're watching on YouTube, uh things look a little different, hopefully better. And with that, you know, we need a new a new name. So not really new. Truth to life is uh what we call the ending of all of our sermon points, like the the bringing it all together and that truth to life. So there are several ways in which we've explained that bringing the truth of God's word to life, right? So we want it to be not boring and stale and wooden and dead. We want it to be alive, which it is, right? We want it to we want to do honor to that, and then uh we want to bring that truth to bear on the life of the people that we serve, whether it's through podcast or Sunday sermon. And then the name of our church is life. So we are bringing the truth to life.
SPEAKER_01So there's a entendre.
SPEAKER_00You do. There's like a three-dimensional, a three-dimensional impact to that name. And so it just became obvious that hey, we we need to name the podcast Truth to Life. We are attempting to bring the truth to life in all three of those ways. So, primary audience, you know, if you're listening and you don't come to our church, we're glad we want you to listen. But our primary heart is that we would help the people of life in their discipleship to go deeper. That's why we called it deeper at life, but to go deeper into God's word and help understand. There are things that we can't cover in a sermon. Sermons are 40, 45 minutes. Can't cover everything in that time, even though you think I covered everything you possibly can cover because I went 45 minutes. We can't. And so we want to go deeper, explain more, make more application. And this season's it's all a lot more of the same. So pretty excited to be back. Summer was good, summer's over. Summer was good. Feels like summer still, but it's over.
SPEAKER_02It was fast.
SPEAKER_00It went fast.
SPEAKER_02It was fast. I feel like we were just in the last episode of the season. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And now we're so hopefully everybody listening had a good summer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But we're back.
SPEAKER_02So and for everybody listening, it's the same voices. Unfortunately, you're not watching, but it's looks nice in here.
SPEAKER_00I'm hoping they can make my voice sound a little more masculine in this season, deeper.
SPEAKER_01That doesn't work for me.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_01So you got some software stuff. We'll work on that. We'll work on that.
SPEAKER_00I want the Darth Vader-y kind of you know, sound. Something. Oh no, like uh James Earl Jones. That would be great.
SPEAKER_01That's cool. I think Disney has his voice patented now. Like they own literally own his voice. Really? To have your voice owned as well.
SPEAKER_02Okay, let's get into it. We're gonna go, we're gonna go off on a tangent. But um, this is an interesting episode because we're starting the season off wrapping up the series of United. So uh this was a four-week series, and before we transition to the next series, we won't we felt it'd be important to cover um somewhat of these these messages were very powerful and kind of the meaning behind why we chose this, why you chose this. Um and yeah, let's get into it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so just to give kind of an understanding, this is maybe under the hood a little bit, but we run we run our church ministry calendar from July to June. So that's what we would call obviously our fiscal year. So um there's some reasons for that I won't get into, but as we look at the calendar, uh there are these certain months that just fall um in kind of a pivotal point of our ministry year. So one would be in the the January season. That's the beginning of the calendar year. A lot of people are making New Year's resolutions. Uh, it's kind of the launch of a of a new calendar year. So most of the time, we will start the year off with some kind of a short series that just kind of gives biblical direction to uh making those resolutions and starting strong in the new calendar year. And then come August, it's really kind of the launch of ministry. Small groups are going back together, uh getting back together. Studies are starting to happen, men's and women's gatherings are starting to gear up. And so we really kind of treat July like prep, and then August is really when we start moving. And so that's a natural time for us just to speak into from God's word, church culture, some things to think about as we come and start the ministry year. And so United uh was uh kind of um motivated with with by that. It was a heart. The heart behind it was to say, hey, we're starting ministry year, August is kicking off small group studies, men's gatherings, and women's gatherings. And so uh, what do we need? What do we need to lean into and focus in on in order for the ministry year to be a successful ministry year? And obviously, unity is a part of that. So there was not a cleverness to it. It was one of the most talked about things when it comes to church life in God's word, is uh be unified, be together, be of one mind, be of one spirit, be of one heart. And and again and again and again it's mentioned. And so yeah, just felt like, hey, let's start there. With that, um, we believe that we don't believe, we know that we are entering into a pretty significant season for the life of our church. And there's some things that we're excited to announce soon, um, especially if you got like invites or you think here hear about the talk of this vision meetings, come to those, you're gonna hear what's happening and what God's doing. And they're just some a little kind of a little little uh sneak peek or a little uh teaser, I guess. There's some cool things happening um with just what God's doing here and then just in ministry and impact around the world. And so we want to share that. But with as we enter into seasons of faith and advancement and growth and development, the the thing that could derail all of that the fastest is division. And we don't want that to be the case. So as we enter into a ministry season, as we enter into a significant uh kind of a big chapter of our church family, uh unity is obviously so important. And so that's where, and really, it wasn't just me sitting around thinking this, I think this is what we need. It was conversations, it was our preaching meetings that we have every week where we're saying, I think this is a good direction we should go. Let's beat this up a little bit, let's talk about this. And this is where we settled. So long answer that's good to the short question.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I think walking through message by message has been such a powerful series. I mean, I just think the gospel has come to bear in such a powerful way, moving from the first one of one, you know, faith and one gospel into prayer, just those first two to start out with. Like I just remember so vividly in the second sermon, you were you were talking about movement and and not just hey, I'm gonna pray for you, but praying for you right now. Yeah. And talk about the importance of that, not only in just prayer, but like the gospel. We you don't just show up on a Sunday, and especially going into this season where you're saying, you know, a lot of these things are happening. Let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So I think one of the things too that happened here to speak to that is we did we just did some quick looking through scripture and passages that were focused on the church that specifically or clearly explicitly said, be of one mind. Be of one, be one. Those are the passages we latched on to. So, like for instance, Philippians, you know, 127. It it talks about um, you know, being uh one mind, united together, striving together for the faith of the gospel. And then um was talking in Acts where they were of one mind, they were together praying to the Lord. And then obviously um Chuck dealt with uh Romans where they were with one mind and one voice praising God, and then Philippians um was the idea of being of one mind and let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So that idea of oneness together, united, was in every one of these texts, so clear. And they all dealt with things that are clearly what we should unite around. So, like just start with the gospel, right? Standing firm for the faith of the gospel, striving side by side, striving together for the faith of gospel, standing firm. You know, there's this um this real vital element of church unity that has to be gathered around the common core belief that Jesus Christ lived, died, rose, the gospel, life transformation. So if we're united as a church around something other than the gospel, what ends up happening is we become united around preference. And if you're watching on the video, um, this is where we are. We are in Lake Tahoe, I think is where we are.
SPEAKER_02So that's pretty nice for you. That's pretty good.
SPEAKER_00That's pretty good. I mean, I kind of like that one better, but screensavers.
SPEAKER_02I kind of love not being cookie cutter, dude. Yeah, dude. We're working through it.
SPEAKER_00Screensavers. It's gonna be great. It's great. Okay, back to but yeah, just if it, you know, if we're uniting around something else, we begin you that's when we begin having churches that are more very preferential, um, or or united around race or united around something else when that becomes the thing. And um, I I just never wanted that to be what we were. I I feel like God's church, the church gathered here at this place, should be a church that has one thing that unites us, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's I I kind of say it is that's that's the fire we're all warming our hands at. Yeah, that's good. Gathered around there. Just, yeah, that's where we are. Oh, you're here too. Cool. Let's let oh yeah, you let's go. We're we're here together, you know? Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00And then that kind of goes right into you know, the power. Like we, we, we are united under one power. Like we're all we're all connected to the same source of power. And if we're not desperate for that power, then we are not going to be empowered. We're gonna be powerless, you know. So that's why we pray together. Prayer together isn't us gathering together to convince God to do something he's hesitant to do, right? It's us to gather together to declare our own brokenness and inability to handle the life that he's called us to live. And so we're all saying, we, me and you, and me and you, and me and you, we need the power of God. So let's go to him together in this topic for this purpose and just seek his heart. And then obviously, with the gospel being what unites us and we stand firm in one faith, the faith of the gospel, and we gather together in dependence and submission and brokenness before the one power, then we with one voice sing the glory, sing the praises of our God. And and Chuck did a great job unpacking that with even the context of Romans 14 and the difficulty of that passage, and then bringing it all together to talk about how we we can't live, we cannot worship with one voice if we're living in division, if we're living in, you know, preference or my rights, you know, kind of a thing. And then ending it with Philippians, you know, two, the whole Kenosis passage where Christ models for us what it means to um not defend his own rights, to defend his own ways. And uh what he's modeling for us is humility, to not think only or to not only be interested in your own things, but to be interested in the things of others, to to consider them first. So humility. So if you think about like gospel kind of is the faith we unite around. Prayer is is all about seeking the power that unites us. Uh, living in worship and and uniting with one voice in worship is all about where our attention is focused. And then the thing that makes that continue is having this one mind, which is humility. Like we cannot enter into a united relationship together if we're living for ourselves, we're living for one another. So that's kind of like the 40,000-foot view of what we're going for in this. There's other things that unite us for sure. Um, but those are some of the big things that scripture clearly says this is one mind that I want you to have or unity I want you to have.
SPEAKER_01So that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That makes me think of uh one of the banner verses here for a long time has been John 17, 3. This is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God and Jesus Son. And in that prayer, the high priestly prayer, he is praying for us. Yeah, that they may be one, even as Jesus and the Father are one. You talk about uh supernatural unity, yeah. Like what a what a powerful image.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and he also says in there that this is how they'll know you're my disciples. Yeah, like the world, the the world outside of the gospel, the unbelieving world will know that you are my disciples by how you unite together, which clearly is the will of God that we be a united people so that we make the gospel glorious. Yeah, that that they could look at us and be like, you two are on the same team, you two love each other, you're enemies. Now you love each other. Like, holy cow, there must be something to this gospel that we need to look into. And that's the hope, you know. So only God could do that. Only the only the gospel could do that. So we may we may need to figure that out, you know, kind of thing. So yeah, it's good. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Man, I was gonna, I don't really know what to ask, to be honest, because you just really crushed that uh summary. But yeah, maybe like maybe talking about some highlights that have happened, but was something that comes to mind just during this series and has been going on, I think, even past First Corinthians, is just like the the unity of our church. And thinking about like a Sunday morning where new people have come in and just felt welcomed. And that's just like such a special thing to be a part of, yeah, because we have to be united for that to be, and obviously it all comes from from the Lord, but that that is so special to hear from that. To have I I've invited people and they're feeling that way too. So many stories. But just that we're we're going into this season, kind of, yeah. First Corinthians was was a lot, and then now into this summer of Proverbs was incredible. But but actually kind of having that united and seeing it Sunday morning and now going into small groups and study. I mean, this is the season, this is the ministry season of why it's so important to be for ministry to be united too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. What makes me think that I think I think one of the reasons why um I I would say so I don't want to have a false you know, put on a facade as if like we're united if we're not really united. Like I don't want we we have this thing where we talk about being genuine and genuine communication and being real and being honest. And and if we we were divided, then then I think we should be honest and be like, hey, we're we're in a season of division. But United series didn't come out of a recognition of division, it it really, I believe, did come from a a sense in which we feel like and that I think the church has got a synergy to it right now, and so I think that um that is a testament to I I would argue the leadership. I think God's developed a pastoral team here. You know, I don't know if you know this, but um, if you're listening, we're we're a church of plurality, which means there's a pastoral team that cares for the church family. And um, we are not uniform by any means. Like we are a group of six guys that are unique and diverse and have differing views on different things and and not necessarily the big things, we got those lined out, but differing views on how maybe something should happen. And so there's not uniformity, but there is, I would, I would say, and I think I can say this, Matt's part of that team. I would say there is a unity on that team. Yeah, that there is a genuine care. There is a sense in which we we can disagree in unity, we can wrestle with things in unity, we can say, let's let's be together on this. And even if somebody disagrees, there's a sense in which we respect and honor their their viewpoint in that. And that unity uh from the plurality, from the pastoral team that oversees and cares and feeds the church, uh, is there, which means it trickles down to the church family. Because if the family, if the leadership isn't united, then the church isn't gonna be united. And and you think about that in your home, right? If you and your wife are at odds, you know, your your kids aren't, they're not united, they're just gonna be at odds. Dying to be at odds with one another. And if you and your wife are at odds, they're like, that's license to beat him up. Let's go. You know, and then there's there's this sense, and so I just think that we could probably do better, but I think we want to, we want to model that. We want to put that out in front and say, and so what I'm trying to do here is say, God has built a team here of of leaders and pastors who genuinely model what it means to be humble and united around these things. We want to be united around the gospel. We pray together, knowing that we as pastors can't do this. We we want to live in humility and raise our voice for the worship, all of that. We this isn't a board of uh of directors, this is a team of pastors that are united around these things. And I think that is evidence, uh, evidenced in the church family. And yes, I do think and I'm grateful that people come in and feel welcomed here. I'm grateful for that. And we want that to always be the case. Listen, the truth of the gospel, we've said before already, is offensive enough. We don't need to add to that by being jerks to one another. Um, and so I do think that that's something that we love and value in our church is that unity that is real, is present, you know.
SPEAKER_01So I like how you say in those meetings, we don't group think, we group speak. Yeah. You know, so there's a commitment to unity there. I think something that's uh with with everything you're saying about we're we're heading into a busy season and there's momentum, there seems to be synergy there. That was obviously on the forefront of of why this series was kind of materialized. But what I what I'm seeing in hindsight here as we're um wrapping up is there are people coming from all over the place. And you don't know where they're coming from or what they're bringing in, or what kind of hurt or how new this church culture, like there's a lot of other stuff that people just carry in with them. So for them to be here in this moment to hear what a unified church looks like. I this wasn't the analogy, but in when in Chuck's message, he talked about he had a music analogy, but I've heard it said like this before. If you were to tune a thousand pianos to the first one in sequence, by the time you got to the thousandth piano, it would be a disaster. You couldn't even recognize it as music. But if you tune all of those to one source, to one standard, um, they'll they'll all be in in perfect match with one another. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Which is what these things are, yeah. These these things are the the what are they the tuning forks? Yeah. This is the these are the tuning forks, the gospel, yes, the power of God that we're all dependent on, the glory of God that we're all after, and humility. Yeah, if we seek those things, again, we could probably make a case, and I'm sure there is that there's other things that could be put there. But if those four things, the gospel, dependence on the power of God, the glory and praise of God, and humility, I don't I just don't think that there's many, if any, that can divide that. That's it, that's a strong force, and there's no telling what kind of impact that can make. You know, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's kind of an interesting question, but I asked Matt this the other day, and I'd love him to answer again. But um it was it was what are you most excited for this ministry season? And I don't know, that doesn't necessarily have to be from a pastoral level. I think it can be from any any level, but because the fall is a this is a big is a big time. Obviously, you had mentioned we had stuff coming, but I think it's an exciting question, and then to potentially move into what's coming up. So I don't care who answers first.
SPEAKER_01I can go first or what am I most excited about? Is that that's the question for this ministry? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, pick a category. We we've been uh, you know, kind of nervously laughing about the ministry year ahead. It is going to be one of the busiest of all time, but also one of the most exciting um and in any area. So just watching the staff level up in their um areas of responsibilities, what having you guide us in that kind of in this this pivot has been uh uncomfortable. Let's say At times, but good. So good. And um, man, I just in every area of ministry. This is such a blanket answer because I don't know how much you can say specifically. Yeah, it was so funny because we were even talking about it in the house.
SPEAKER_02We're painting the room. And I was just, it was kind of quiet. I think we we might have had some songs on while we were painting, but I was just like, oh, this question popped up. And I honestly, I was just thinking of one thing, and you did like 47 things, which made me more excited because then my answer was more uh, you know, 50 things. So I just thought it was an interesting question. God's doing some unbelievable things. I mean, last week we had six people get baptized, four of them being students. We have people on deck for baptism. I mean, we have just like the buzz, and we've already talked about that with the buzz, but just seeing what this fall is gonna be is just encouraging.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I think about the the thing that I would say it without me saying specific things is um the strengthening of faith that we're gonna experience. I don't so I'm at a point, I'm at a point my my uh my athletic career where there isn't one. There hasn't really ever been one. There's still some eligibility left though, right? Yeah, I mean fifth year. But uh but the uh the the the dread I feel right now if I were like, hey, I'm gonna go work out in the morning. I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go to the gym and start exercise. Like I'm now getting like these videos that come through my reels. It's like, here's how to work out when you're in your mid 40s, less aggressive, less weight, more mobility. And I'm like, yes, that's what I need because I'm like, I know it's gonna hurt. The other day I was in a meeting and I turned my shoulder wrong and I cringed in pain. I'm just like, so, but there comes a point, there comes a point when you are faithful working out, uh, that you long for the stretching and breaking down of muscles, right? You're like, I just got God, I can't wait for it, right? I feel that way about this season we're about to go into, where where I think, I think my faith and our faith is going to be, it's gonna be stretched in a good way. Like one of those ways where it's like, that's gonna be like, are we sure? Like thing we just talked about, things are really good right now. Like, like we're there's unity. Let's just ride this wave. And I think it's at that moment where I think we become uh susceptible to um division or distraction. Um, and so in all of this, as God prepares us for this moment, there's some things that he rose up from among us that are a big deal that we're pretty super excited about. Pretty super excited, very super excited, super excited. Extra, super exciting.
SPEAKER_02I absolutely love that you just said that in four different ways.
SPEAKER_00Super duper excited. So that we are entering into a season. And again, it's just gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun to see what God does. It's gonna be fun to be at the other end of kind of the next couple years and just look back and think that that was cool. Let's go. And I think all of that uh stretching of faith strengthens our faith for the next thing God wants to do. And it's just it it feels to me like God is at work in the ministry of life in in Las Vegas, and and we get to be a part of, I feel like we have a front row seat. Like, and and he's calling us, he's like, All right, let's go. And we're like, wait, what? I mean, I'm comfortable right here, but I really I really want you to do something, God, but I want to sit on the front row and watch. And he's like, No, I'm gonna do something, but you're coming with me. Let's go. Yeah, and that's what we're about to do. We're about to go into something pretty big where our faith is gonna be stretched and you know, our workload is gonna increase and all of that. And so I'm kind of pumped about that in a weird way. That's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be great. Yeah, which, which, let me add, makes us, it should make us unite in these ways. Where I think about um one power, right? The the the reality of our faith being stretched and the bigness of what God is about to do should only drive us to our knees together to say, God, we need you. Like we're about to, we're about to step out, we're about to do some things, we're about to send some things, we're about to, we're we're gonna go. We're about to, we're about to jump out of an airplane and we're gonna fly, and we're trusting that you've got a plan here, right? And uh that's us united together in prayer, dependent upon one power, the power of God that only is the only way that we actually succeed in doing what he's called us to do. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's good. You want to talk about what's coming next as far as series?
SPEAKER_00I do. Yeah, we're going into Nehemiah. So Nehemiah, um, I'm in this, like, I'm this is the the the war of you know, teaching pastor role, where Nehemiah is awesome. Um, but now I'm like studying it out and I'm like, man, we should do Ezra too. Because Ezra and Nehemiah, in they used to be one book in kind of the old way of structuring things. So Ezra and Nehemiah do go together. But Nehemiah has some nuances where um it was actually months ago, uh, we just stepped out and said, let we think Nehemiah, we want to go Old Testament. We felt like that was good. We think the faith that Nehemiah um showed and displayed in following the Lord to rebuild the wall, um, and then the the people all gathering together and saying, Let's go, let's do that. You know, uh uh so obviously we want to get the biblical uh um approach that we want to expound it properly and make it come to bear on our lives in every way, but we think it has a unique relevance to the season we're going into um and what we're kind of stepping out to do. We want to step out by faith, we want to step out knowing and trusting that we're doing the a good work, not to get distracted to go down into the fields and you know, do us the people who want to do us harm and hinder us and the unity of the church all coming together. And and so Nehemiah is leading us into setting the pathway for us uh to enter into this new season full of full of faith and unity, kind of coming on the heels of the United series. So pretty excited about it. Yep. That's pretty good. Yeah, do you have you preached through Nehemiah before? I have, yeah, yeah. Years ago in Colorado, I preached through Nehemiah, um, old series. I called it a rise and build, you know, just that's what they did. They rose up and said, you know what, we gotta go. Let's do this. And the cool thing is I think there are some um, there are some spiritual implications to the wall. Because that's what Nehemiah is doing, right? He's he's in captivity, he gets word from his homeland that the the city is not sealed, the wall of the city is not sealed. And in our day, we're like, who cares about that? Like, build a wall. Who cares? In that day, that was significant. We're gonna talk about that in our series, but that was a big deal. The wall was a sign of protection and stability. It kept robbers out, it kept, you know, the the invading armies out, it kept things in. It was a big, big deal. And so there was, and for God's people, it signified the blessing of God, the protection of God, um, just doing some things that they needed to do uh to set up some things. And there's some other references in scripture that make that connection that I'm super pumped to uh to pull out. And so Nehemiah was frustrated, he was sad, he was sad, he wept over the fact that the wall wasn't done, which meant the people of God were open to invasion, they were susceptible to um the pagan world coming in and taking them over. And that was a problem for him. And so he's like, and and what it really comes down to is, and without giving away too much here, is he he he was um he was overwhelmed with the need to make some big decisions and moves in order to protect his people from spiritual attacks, physical attacks. And really the call is going to be that we as a church and then even families, that there would be some men in the church who would be like, there's some walls that I've neglected that have opened my family up to attack and to division and to and I'm grieved by that and I'm done with that. I'm gonna step out by faith and fix this thing and get this right. So that's kind of the heart behind it is let's go, let's get that done, let's accomplish this. And and making it come to bear on the church, and then but I'm there's tons of application in our own lives individually. Where there might be some walls that we've not put up that need to be put up to protect us from brokenness, you know. So that's where we're going. It's awesome.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I just want to run through a quick wall actually right now and then. No building back wall. Build it back up, but I gotta run through one after that. Free game speech right there, you know. Um, and it seems like a pretty pretty great series to roll into after United. You know, there's a lot of locking arms there when they're building the wall and stuff. Yeah, totally. So sick. Yep. Um, I know you already touched on the vision stuff, but I don't know if you wanted to kind of cast that a little bit more. You just barely touched on it as we wrap.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so so really um you you've heard uh kind of a a mention of that on Sunday. Um, we're gonna be sending out, and maybe many of you have already seen an email that came out inviting you to a vision meeting. Let me let me put a plug there for that. Um that we believe that there's a handful of things that God is leading us to to do, to step out in faith and do. Um and and big enough and uh significant enough that we want to um we want to share that vision with the church family in smaller contexts so that we can receive questions, so that we can have kind of a family meeting conversation around it. So if we if we did this on a Sunday morning, let's say, um, you know, there's nobody's gonna answer ask questions. There's not a whole lot of conversation. I'm just gonna stand up and tell you, and this is what's gonna happen. And that's not what we want here. We want maximum engagement and involvement here. And uh then also we don't want to call a special big meeting on a Sunday night. So we're inviting you if you receive the email. And even if you didn't receive an email, maybe you did, maybe you missed it, maybe your email. The invitation's there, and you you can you're gonna be able to go on to our events page, you're gonna be able to see it. And all throughout the valley, there's 10 different vision meetings. And uh there's we tried to do a couple in every region. We don't really have one in Henderson, but we do have one in southern, the southern kind of the mountains edge area and down there. So that might be an easy one to get to. Um, North Las Vegas, not the city of North Las Vegas, but up, you know, up in the anyways, if wherever you are, uh we think there's one. And and then every night of the week, Monday through Friday, for two weeks, there's opportunities for you to gather, uh, come and hear uh the vision that we believe you need to see and hear and ask questions about. You know, the pastoral team and the staff team has been praying about this and laboring over some of these things. There are some things already in motion that I just want to tell you about that are awesome with uh just reaching more people, uh, reaching more nationalities and expanding things for the purpose of just making the gospel, you know, impact huge in Las Vegas. So come to a vision meeting, sign up, don't miss it. It's important. It's it's going to be a significant milestone in our church life. We talk about sometimes piles of rocks, right? Every time God did something significant in the Old Testament, the people build a pile of rocks. They just piled up some rocks. And um, and that was meant to be a memory, a monument to what God did in that season. I think we're entering into a season where we're gonna want to pile some rocks and we're gonna want to say God did this in 2026 and 2027, God did this. Let's go. We're in, and we're gonna celebrate for years what God did through life church in this next season. So that's good.
SPEAKER_02Let's go. Uh yeah. I mean, I think, yes, I don't have anything to say, to be honest. The intentionality behind it, it's excited to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00So that's what I would say. So so the challenge I would say, just to I don't I you know, wrap the thought up is united, united around the gospel. Because if we if we step out and do crazy things, but the gospel's not united, uniting us, we're not if we're not doing it for one faith, uh, then we're building our kingdom. And we're not here to build our kingdom, we're here to build his kingdom. We're not, and I often call it the difference between building an empire and building his kingdom. Building an empire is me building my empire or us building our empire, promoting our name, promoting our our stroke or whatever it would be. We we're not here for that. We're here to to advance and build his kingdom. And so um, if the gospel is not what we're united around, then we will be tempted and drawn into building our empire rather than building his kingdom. And if we're doing it in dependence on ourselves, um, in our own ability, there's a limit to that. And and we can only go so far. There is no limit to what the power of God can do in the life of his church. We have not seen the end of it. We have not seen the end of the power of God poured out upon the the church, and we want that. So we're gonna live united, united on our knees, independence on him. And we're doing this for the glory of God, so that we would, in unity, in selflessness, we are one voice, harmonizing, not in unison, but harmonizing for the glory of God. That's our heart, Romans 15. And we make sure that the the culture, that the feel of that is humility. So as we enter into this, excited about what God's doing, let's keep those things at the forefront, united. Hand me another brick. That's what Nehemiah's like. Give me another brick, let's go. We're gonna add to this wall, we're gonna continue to build for God's people something that God will be glorified by. That's our heart. That's good.
SPEAKER_02So let's go. Yeah, I mean, I don't really pray us out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, man. Absolutely. Yep. Well, Father, thank you for uh what this is. Um, this gathering around the table to talk. And um thank you for the privilege we have to kind of speak some clarity into some things. Thank you for the united series, more than uh really so much more than a clever sermon series. It's it was scripture clearly laid out for us that we as a church should be one mind, united together around these things. And I pray that that would be true of life, that you'd protect us from division, that you'd protect us from pride, protect us from self-exaltation, protect us from empire building, protect us from uh just the things that would derail what what you're trying to do here at this church in this town. And as we enter into this new season, we pray that you'd go before us, that as you said you would when we trust you, you would make straight our paths, that you would clear the way so that we can accomplish the thing that you want to accomplish, that that you would be uh glorified in the accomplishments of our church. And so that this again, we we're we're so excited about what lies ahead of us, but help us to also remember that this is for your glory. And we want to do that. And then if anybody listening to this thinks that there's a work that we're doing or we're trying to accomplish something that may help them to get in on it, I pray that they would realize that getting in on it is trusting Christ as their savior, that Jesus and faith in him is the answer. And then uh all of what you're doing here is just kind of secondary to salvation. And so I pray that they would trust Christ as their savior. We love you. Thank you. Be honored in this in Jesus' name. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Thanks for listening to the podcast. You can check out our latest sermon at lifebaptistchurch.com. We can't wait to see you this Sunday.