June 21, 2026 - The Way: Acts 6:1-7

Listen to this week's sermon from lead pastor, Dan MacGillivray.

For further information about Fort St John Alliance Church, check out our website fsjalliance.ca

Our desire is to become a community of people who practice the Way of Jesus together, and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, live on mission to meet the social and spiritual needs of the world around us. Each week, we gather as a community to worship, learn from God’s Word, and be encouraged in our walk with Christ.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Fort St. John Alliance Church Sermon Podcast. I'm Aaron Peters, the Executive Ministry Director. We're so glad you decided to join us today. Our desire is to become a community of people who practice the way of Jesus together and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit to live on missions to meet the social and spiritual needs of the world around us. Each week we gather as a community to worship, learn from God's Word, and be encouraged in our walk with Christ. In this podcast, you'll hear the latest message from our Sunday service. Whether you're listening from right here in Fort St. John or from afar, our prayer is that God will speak to your heart and strengthen your faith. Let's lean in together as we hear today's sermon.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So the question is sit or stand. So we're about to read the passage for today. It's a choose your own adventure. You can sit or stand, whatever you would like. Keep in mind that God looks at your heart, not at the outward stance. That is true. He's looking at our hearts. So whether you sit or stand, it does not matter. So here is our passage. It's Acts 6, verses 1 to 7. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebric. I said that wrong. But the other Jews. Because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the twelve gathered the disciples together and said, It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them, and we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Also Philip, Prochorus, Nysor, Nikonor. Let's go with the last one. Timon, Parmanus, and Nicholas Romantioch, a convert to Judaism, to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests also became obedient to the faith. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

Well, good morning, everybody. Good to be with you today on this nice sunny day outside. A little break from some of the rain this past week or some kind of rainier days. So I don't know about you, but I really enjoy sunny days. It's just nice when they come around. Just before we have a look this morning at the Word, I just want to have a little bit of a family moment, if you will. Just to offer my love and appreciation for you guys in the ways that you have acted so kind and generous in this last year. It's just been so awesome to watch and to see. And so just in speaking on behalf of the leadership here at the church, we are thankful for you. We are blessed by you in the ways that you've chosen to give back to this church, both in the ways of your time, your energy, and your just, you know, with everything that you have. And so it is just so encouraging just to see. And so you being just having to be faithful to Jesus and just saying, you know, you can have anything you want is just seen and felt. So we are so encouraged by you. I'm so encouraged by you. And so, just by way of information, I just want you to have a look at where we are when it comes to the church financial state. Uh, just as we head towards the end of our fiscal year, we've got a couple months to go. And friends, we are just about there, and it is so encouraging. I am really blessed just to see how it's been this year. So, again, I am encouraged and just I mean you're thankful for each one of you. So just I'm gonna thank you for all the ways in which you give. I don't know if you maybe just I mean, think about it this way, but the work that Jesus is doing here is actually being seen there. It's actually experienced and expressed in the numbers that we see. Those numbers reflect lives change, the community that is just that is just um sorry, that is just it um, it is just just a community that is just sorry, a community that is uh uh uh uh uh changing and growing. It's it's it's it is just um it is just I mean, it's seen in our next generation having the space they need to encounter Jesus, watching people get in the tank to get baptized. It it is all reflected there in those numbers. And so everything that we give is a reflection of God and what he's doing here and the work that he's up to. So again, I just want to say thank you for giving so generously in this last year. I am so encouraged. And just want to encourage us in these last couple months as we wrap up, just to continue to be kind and generous in the ways that you have been. So thank you for that. Uh, just as we get into the word here, I read an article this past week where a pastor in Mississippi set a world record for uh, I think probably preaching, 96 hours straight. 96 hours. Now, where some of you might be thinking, man, there's no way that I could sit through a 96 hour sermon, right? I read that story and I think challenge accepted. Like, right? So everyone settle in. I think we can hit 98 today. I think we can, well. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'll save that for another time when you least expect it. Um seriously though, it's always a joy to bring the word. Like it always is a joy to come and just to share God's word with you. I just so enjoy it. I consider it such an honor of my lifetime, right? That the Lord would say, I actually want you to share the word. And so I seriously count it just such a privilege. It gives space to explore who God is, right? The the mysteries of God, to marvel at his love and his grace and his character. It's such a beautiful expression of the church that we get to gather and say, Jesus, this is who you are. And we get to sit in that. So I really value these times to stir our affection for Christ and what he's about. That would prayerfully lead us to be more just, I mean, obedient to what he might say. That we would respond to the Spirit and saying, God, you can have your say, and you can have your way. That's why we read the word, that's why we preach the word. And one of the things I get to do to add further to that, to bring life to the word as well, is what God is saying through just through just um uh through uh uh through uh story. And so it's such a beautiful way to help capture further the truth of what God is saying, and even further help for that to land in the soul. I love story. And even this morning, I get to share the story of what God is doing all around our nation, and particularly in the Alliance Canada, and what we are up to. You might remember last week, if you were here, I had mentioned that for just um two weeks ago now uh in Calgary. I was there with um Aaron for a national uh assembly. And so it's a it's about a four-day conference that not only deals with kind of what we're doing as a business of the Alliance of Canada, but it gathers around 800 people in the room, all just I mean, licensed workers within a denomination across the country, most of which are there in person, and we get to hear stories of what God is doing, just encouraging things of what he's up to in our nation these days. We we heard of how the gospel is on the move right now across our country, particularly among um uh uh uh uh Generation Zed. Uh they are statistically, they are the most spiritually curious and hungry out of every generation today. Did you know that? They are dying for more of Jesus. They are looking for answers because the lie of secularism does not work anymore. And they're asking, okay, there must be something more to life than what we see. We in the Alliance want to try to create space for them to be for them to become all that the Lord would have them be in the next number of years of their lifetime. And so, over the next just, I mean, a number of years in the Alliance, we are investing 20 million into next generation leadership because we so deeply believe in the next generation. We want to invest deeply in what they're doing. We desire to see this next generation ready and willing to lead the church, and so we are investing deeply in them in this next season. It is a significant investment in the future of the Church of Canada that goes all out into the nations. Hands on, just how many mentorship is a part of that, helping them to be trained just in all kinds of ways. We are excited for that. I'm excited for the opportunities that this gives us as a church in the days ahead. And I can't wait one day just to be able to share more about how as a church we can be a part of that investment, how we can lean in as well. We also heard how the gospel is on the move around the world, most notably with just, I mean, in ministry partners that are seeking to bring Jesus to hard places in the world, difficult places. In fact, there's an area in the world that covers about one-third of the world's just just of the uh one-third of the world's uh land area, but holds about two-thirds of the global population. That is an unreached group for many of them there. And so millions of people in this region have little to no access to the gospel. None whatsoever. And through various, just I mean in ministry partners, we heard how Jesus is more accessible than ever before in that area of the world. How we are seeing hundreds of just I mean, a church is just over the last, I think probably two or three years start start, uh yeah, we've seen just we have seen just um I mean we have seen just, I mean, so many churches over the last two or three years they're start start to be planted and pop up. Even a report that one of the larger ministries in that area shared their weekly service online has an average of three million viewers every week experiencing Jesus, learning who he is, and then sharing them with their neighbors. It's a beautiful expression of the gospel. But you know what really grabbed my heart there just a couple weeks ago? What I was really stirred with that of everything that I heard, all these great stories about how the Lord is at work in the Alliance Canada, how he's at work all around the world. What grabbed my heart was the heartbeat in the room of every single one of us just feeling like Jesus, we are all in on everything that you are doing. Like we are excited to be here. We are excited for the work of the Alliance Canada. We are excited to see what Jesus is up to. There is such a unified heartbeat to say, God, you can have whatever you want, and we just want to follow you wherever you go. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of. It's this deep, just I mean, a groaning for God to move in our time. It's such a beautiful thing. It is a burden that is on our hearts in that room that we would see Jesus move. And as our room praise, this I mean, the national prayer that we have as the Alliance. This is a prayer that we said out loud in the room. It says this, oh God, with all of our hearts we long for you. Come transform us to be Christ-centered, spirit-empowered, mission-focused people, multiplying disciples everywhere. That is a beautiful vision prayer. It was so encouraging to hear that out loud and just to hear the room just say, Lord, we want this. Would you change and transform us? There is a Holy Spirit burden moving across the alliance to see the name and fame of Jesus reach our neighbors and the nations. It's a beautiful thing, church, to be a part of. We get to play a small role in that, an important small role in what the Lord is up to. My heart was stirred to hear the prayers and the tears in the room that were offered that whole time. And it is a joy that you and I, right here in our church, right here in Fort St. John, get to be a part of it. We have all kinds of things, even that we're doing in Mexico and the Middle East, and openness to the Spirit and His giftings in this last season. We see him continually move in our midst. We see this stronger leaning in to saying, Jesus, I want to learn to live life the way that you live life. And even as we dip our toes even further into how we love our neighbors and our city well in this last season, we are strategically placed and uniquely called for such a time as this to join in on the work that is happening all over the world. We get to be a part of it right here in our city of Fort St. John. God has given this church this holy burden, this calling, this passion to be a part of the bigger story that God is telling. It is so fun to be a part of this church. I love it. It is such a joy to see what Jesus is doing and how he is building his church. And so, what I want to do with the rest of our time this morning as we dive back into the book of Acts is look a little further about what it means to be burdened for something by Jesus. That we would be burdened so much that it would move us to action, that you wouldn't just sit in the sidelines, but you would say, God, I want to get involved with what you're doing, that it would stir your heart in such a way that you could not even sit still. Because you think, man, I have to be a part of what Jesus is up to. That we would have this discontent, this holy discontent for what we see. And to hear the invitation from Jesus, that he would invite us in. And that this morning, that Jesus, this is my prayer, that he would burden your heart for the things that burden his. That your heart would be stirred in such a way where you might say, Jesus, you can have your say and you can have your way, and you can use me as a part of that. For each one in this room, Jesus has given you just how many talents, gifts, and abilities that weren't meant for you to hold on to for yourself. That's not the point. He has put just how many dreams in your heart, kingdom vision, and I believe with all my heart that he wants to awaken us. He wants to awaken you. That you might be spurred on to say, Jesus, wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I will give you my yes fully. Right? So this morning, here's where I want to go. Whether you've been, I mean, following Jesus for a long time or a short time, just lean in today. Just lean in and have open hands to what he might be inviting you into. Okay, that's where we're going. So let me just pray just really quickly here that we're gonna dive into the word. So, Lord Jesus, we just come to you with hands that are open this morning and we offer you ourselves. We offer you our hearts, our minds, our wills. And Lord Jesus, we just give you room now. In fact, we just ask the Holy Spirit that you would just come and fall fresh on us. That you would bring the word to life, that it would land in our hearts, and that it would move us to say, Lord, you can do whatever you want. So, Lord Jesus, thank you. And we just give you this morning and our time together in your name. Amen. You can turn to the book of Acts. We're gonna be in uh chapter six there if you're not already flipped there. Over the last while, we've been moving through the book of Acts. We have seen the early church at the early stages of it. We have seen how the Spirit has been empowering them, how they have faced challenges both inside and outside their community. They are navigating what it means to be faithful to Jesus in a world that is super pagan, that is challenging stuff for them just to kind of get off the ground, right? This is a fragile congregation, right? Like they are kind of on the cusp of what if things go really sour? Are we gonna stick together? Are we gonna continue to move the gospel forward? And they are learning how to do this well together, like every church from then on. We are learning how to do this together. That's always the hard part, right? And in Acts chapter six, after we see the Jewish community does what it can to slow this movement down, they are faced with a moment that is going to challenge the church, but will ultimately invite them into stepping into both corporately and individually what Jesus is calling them to. There's a lot more going on in the text than what we see. So we're gonna dive in, starting in verse one. Now, in these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose among the Hebrews because their widows were being uh neglected in the daily distribution. Right now, just for a moment, let's remember who this church was. It's easy on the surface to think that in the church in Jerusalem was made up of only Jews, right? And so that's that is the only thing that's there. However, that's not the case. They were made up of all kinds of people. In fact, though, in fact, though, too, that the Jerusalem church was made up of different people groups from different spaces and places. The Jerusalem church was actually just as diverse as the church that you might find today. In those days, it was made up of this widespread amount of people that were starting to come back to the city of Jerusalem who were once far off in exile. Now they've come back, they've learned, I mean, differ different customs, different faith practices, these sorts of things. And now they've come back to live out the rest of their years in this city. The church would have been made up of people of varying ages and just, I mean, social statuses, different, I mean, languages. The most prominent being Aramaic and uh uh uh Greek. And in verse one, Luke mentions that the Hellenists who speak uh uh uh uh Greek, right, they had this complaint. There were folks, sorry, these sorry, these were folks that, although distinctly Jewish, were also culturally Greek, right? And so they brought in a lot of that culture into the church. They spoke Greek, they acted Greek, they dressed Greek, all these different things. It even would have been for many of them, they spoke it as their main language, even though they were once Jews or they are Jews. Greek was the primary language of the Roman Empire at the time. This is common, that many people would be speaking Greek. They even would have spoken Greek in the temple in their side of it. They even had their own just, I mean, as synagogues where it was all done in Greek. So understand something here. In this culture where the Jewish people felt like they were becoming increasingly Roman, where they are losing their heritage, they're losing something about them, their cultural identity, their way of life. They're trying to hold on to these things in the midst of Rome. These others who speak a different language are looked at as this slippery slope to becoming not Jewish. And we're gonna lose who we culturally are if we allow other languages, other cultures in. And so at the chance of discriminating against them, that starts to amplify. And so this is the function of the church to help to give to the poor, both inside and outside the church, those who spoke just Aminiya Greek, they decided to speak up about something that they saw that was an injustice to them, right? So they're they are watching everything happen. They're like something is not right as we're watching what goes on in the church, that when they're just amine widows, who were some of the most vulnerable people in society, the most at risk to be left alone, the most at risk to go into deep states of just amine poverty, they were being neglected in the food line. They weren't looked at first. They would look to those who speak just, I mean Hebrew or Aramaic, and they would give it to them first, all because they spoke a different language, because they're brought in a different culture, they brought in a different custom, because some of the just I mean their practices were Greek in nature because they didn't worship the same way. These women whom God called us to care for are getting less than anybody else in the line because of who they are. Now, I'd be willing to bet, and I'm not a necessarily, I mean, I'm not a betting person, but if I was, that there isn't one person in this room that doesn't listen to that or read that and think that's wrong that that was happening, right? Every single one of us would say that is a horrible injustice that would happen to those women. That is incredibly wrong. How could the church do that to these people because of the differences in worship style or spoken language or what they wear or eat? The thing is, we make those judgments all the time. We make those judgments all the time. We just don't say them out loud. We hold them in. You know, I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but based on what we see on the outside, we make judgments about who is in and who's out all the time within the church context. All the time. If someone isn't dressed the way that we think they should be for a just, I mean a Sunday morning service, maybe they're not as in as we thought they were. If we find out that that the person beside us, they don't read the same just a Bible translation as you. Maybe they're not who you thought they were. When we see who we assume to be a holy just, I mean, a couple out for a day, but instead of water, they're drinking wine, or they have a Netflix subscription instead of just, I mean, angel studios, perhaps, or whatever it might be. Or if they embrace just I mean, the gift of tongues and worship, right? Where you think that's something that's not a thing. Now, some of those might make you think, uh I don't know if I would do that, but as someone in ministry for almost I would say for 20 years, I have firsthand heard so many people share judgments just like that. That is more just I mean a common than we think it is. And if I can just say, just lovingly here to each one of you, how heartbreaking it is to hear someone say something like that about someone else. And they assume where they are with Jesus, they assume their faith, and we subtly push them to the outside. They're no longer in line for bread, so to speak. Or if they are, we skip over them. They're not included in the same way. We have drawn extra lines in the sand of what it means to be saved. And so for these Jews in that moment, they see that same kind of just, I mean, that moment in which they are being pushed to the side of who's in and who's out. And the spirit burdens them for it. The spirit lays it on their heart. It says, That's not right, that that's happening to them. We can't let it be. They would be early adopters of what we see in the New Testament from Paul or James, right? When James says, show no, just I'm a partiality, meaning don't show just I'm a favoritism to anybody. Or when Paul drops this on the church in Galatia, there is no longer uh Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. That's the idea. These men and women have this down pat already, right? That we are all part of the body of Christ. So don't misunderstand. God deeply cares about holiness, he cares about your holiness in deep ways. But what he wants the church to be cautious of is making our own thoughts of what is sin and what isn't sin law. We do that all the time. But make no mistake, what is happening here to these widows is an injustice. It's an injustice to them. It violates God's law. When Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself, he's talking about those widows. That's what he means. And for those in this moment who don't speak, just I mean who just I'm speak, just um who, yeah, those in the moment who just I'm speak, speak Greek, who are watching this happen, they are grieved by this. Utterly grieved. It is a Holy Spirit burden. It is a fire within that says, we cannot let this continue. There must be something to be done about this. It is this burden that God has laid on their heart that says it isn't right. It's a conviction, it's this deep sense of I can't go another day and let this happen. I have to do something about it. This whole last week at our National Assembly, we didn't just hear just how many stories. We heard fantastic moments of burden. We heard from a man by the name of uh uh uh Jason Ballard, one of the voices for just I mean Alpha Canada, share this deep burden to see this just I mean, a generation set free from the lie of secularism, that Jesus would raise them up to bring his just to that that sorry, that in fact we would see them move in our time, we would see God move in our time, that they they would become just, I mean, that they would become just just sorry, that they would become just, I mean, that they would become radical followers of Jesus to Canada and to the nations. We heard from uh Shayla uh Visher, she's the head of Alpha Canada, she shared the burden for lost people and how those people in our lives that we have been praying for for years to come to know Christ, with tears in her eyes saying, Let's continue to pray for the people that are far off from Jesus. Let's continue to be a burden for them. We heard from others who have a passion for missions all around the world, whose hearts are breaking for where they used to live all around the world, praying that the gospel would move in power in their homeland. We even heard from our from our um alliance uh presidents, and so through tears, challenging us as a movement to be burdened to pray all the more, that it would spur us on. We consistently heard these Holy Spirit burdens the whole time we were there. And like the and like we see in the early church, the apostles, those who led the church, are hearing this burden from those who are laid it on in this moment. Saying something needs to be done, that the gospel needs to intersect with where our hearts feel like there's an injustice, that we are to care for orphans and widows, that Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves, that on Jesus last night he told us that the world will know us by how we love one another. That is a conviction that they are living out. And how they handle this moment has a lasting, just a principle for you and I. This is what it says in verse 2. It says, for the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. This is a great moment in church leadership. Something that happens quite often in a church context is when God puts on a burden onto the heart of someone, most people, most of the time, and I say this in love, instinctively go to those who are who are in charge of the church and say, Here's something that burdens me. Can you do something about it? That instinctively happens. Now, don't hear this as a rebuke unless you need a rebuke. But over time, and I've come to understand that the function of the church and what it means to use our gifts, our talents, and our abilities, I become increasingly more brave to respond in those moments with actually, what are you going to do about it? Because if God has given you a burden, he's given you a burden. You know, there are ways in which I can help, there are ways in which as a church leadership we can help. But if God has given you a burden, he's given you a ministry. If God has given you a burden, he's given you a ministry. If God has laid something on your heart, if there is an injustice that keeps you up at night, that brings you to tears, if God is breaking you over something that breaks his heart, Jesus is inviting you in. And like we said all throughout, you know, just our just I mean, our just our uh um uh back in uh January, February in our series are on spiritual gifts, that we would be lacking without you exercising your gifts. We would be lacking without you saying, I'm here to serve Jesus in whatever he is asking me to do. That's why over the years I have increasingly turned those kinds of conversations into asking, how can I help you step into that? How can I help you press into the burden that God has given you? How can I be a part of that in some way? And the apostles in the early church get this. They say, Man, great idea, really good idea. We need to address this. However, they say, we already have a burden. We already have one, we already have something that the Spirit has asked of us to do that we're gonna hold to. We are burdened with the ministry of prayer and preaching, and rightfully so. That is the burden that they have. They say we we are not gonna move away from what God has invited us to do if there is something that God is inviting you to do, right? But to step into that, practically speaking, they can't do everything, right? But secondly, they are not called to everything. That's not the point. Because remember, the body of Christ is made up of many parts, right? Each part is important, each part serves in its unique ways, but we can't all be a hand, we can't all be a foot or an elbow, right? We can't all be each one of those things. In other words, and I say this in love, we can't all be burdened by the things that burden you. It's impossible, actually. But this is where that's a good thing. We need your unique lens, your gifts, your talents. We need you to be burdened for the things that Jesus lays on your heart. We need the church to own the things that God has laid on our hearts. We will always have things that we're all doing together. My heart for our church, and just I'm gonna have broad strokes that we would just, I'm gonna practice the way of Jesus together. Some aspects of that will look different for each person. That's okay. That's part of it. That we might be just, I mean, that we would be uh that we would be empowered by the Spirit, and that empowerment would be expressed differently based on our giftings, that we would all be on mission and that God will lay different burdens of mission on each one of us sometimes. That's normal. That's okay. You know, as I think about that in our church, I think about Josh uh uh Josh uh uh uh uh Strager and his deep love for just I mean yeah, Mexico. I love missions, but if you have heard Josh talk about Mexico, Josh talks about Mexico better than anybody talks about Mexico. He loves those people, he loves the ministry that Jesus is doing there, he longs to be a part of it. I love listening to Josh talk about Mexico. He has a burden for it, right? He has this burden for Mexico that I don't have. It doesn't mean I don't love Mexico, it doesn't mean I don't love missions, but Josh has a burden for it. And we as the church should get behind people who have a burden for that and say, how can we help? How can we get in partnership with that? Uh John uh uh uh Corsten says this. It uh uh he says, if God has made you aware of the problem, it's because he's invited you to be a part of the solution. And so the apostles here feel the same way because look at who they invite into this in the last couple verses, starting in verse 5. It says, This pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Also, Philip, uh Procurus, uh uh Nysenor, uh uh uh uh uh excuse me, uh uh uh Temon, uh uh Parmenus and Nicholas from Antioch, who was a convert to uh uh uh Judaism, they presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of uh disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests came obedient to the faith. I don't know if you know something about those names, those names are Greek, they're Greek names. So here's what the apostles did. These they listened to the burden, and these are folks who likely saw the burden themselves, who speak Greek, who are a part of those people. And the apostles say, God has given you a ministry. And so we're gonna give it to you because your heart is burdened for it. Because you are the ones where it is bothering you as much as it is. I love how even in our own church, we are a just, I mean, a microcosm of the burdens around the alliance. As I look at our youth and I look at our youth leaders, we have some that have been serving students for decades. Did you know that? We have some that are coming up on 20 years, if not more, serving student ministry in this church. That is a burden that they are living out. It is beautiful to see. Not only that, but I just think of just, I mean, we we have students in this church that are asking in these just I mean, recent days, how do I bring just Jesus to my schools through something like just I mean, Alpha programs? They're asking that question. We have just we even just have just just we also have those in this church that um uh uh that uh work with our just kids' ministry that are burdened to see our kids come to know Jesus at a young age. We have people at our church that are burdened for the men in our church, for the women in our church, for just seniors in our church, for missions, for our neighbors, that God would break addictions next door, that we might love our neighbors as ourselves. We have people who are burdened for prayer. In fact, over the next while, we have two opportunities for you to join others if you have that burden in prayer. This Wednesday at 7, we are meeting here, just a few of us to pray. If you have a burden for prayer, come join us for an hour and just pray for our church, pray for our city, pray for our nation, pray with us. Please come on out to that, and then a little bit later in on uh uh the uh 11th of uh uh uh uh uh on uh excuse me, I can do this on uh uh the 11th of uh uh July. You can be a part of the National Day of Prayer. Some of us are gonna join others right here in our community to actually pray for God to move in our city, our nation. It's it's like it's actually happening on that day nationally, and so we'll have a few more details about that here in the weeks ahead. But I have been across the table from so many of you as you have shared through tears the burden that God has laid on your heart, the things that He is inspiring any of the just I mean, dreams that He's given you, just I have seen it in so many of you. It's beautiful to watch how the kingdom is breaking out among us. And so here is my question to you. What has God burdened you with? What has God burdened you with? What keeps up at night? What are you feeling like your heart is stirred every time you see it on the news, every time you hear it shared up front, or every time you are on the street? What are you seeing that is burdening your heart? Because God is inviting you in. And then what are you going to do about it if you have that burden? This last week I had a Zoom call with a young guy in my youth group years ago. His name is uh Josh. And so he was grade seven when I first started. Josh was just a quiet young kid, didn't really say a whole lot, but really fun, really fun kid. And then when Josh was around 21, his mom suddenly just I mean, passed away really quickly, really suddenly while he was in college. And Josh began asking if there was more to life. Josh was about two or three years into his program there at the University of Alberta. But he just kept wondering, is there something more to life than what I'm currently doing? Is there something more that Jesus has invited me into? And so he went on a trip to YWAM. And while he was on that trip, God broke his heart for the nations there. And as a just I mean, a portion of that trip, they sent him off to Poland to help just refugees of the war in Ukraine. And he says his heart broke for mission, his heart broke for people, his heart broke for what Jesus was doing in that region. And his heart for the nations just began to grow and grow. And so, Josh, after that year, he just I mean, he came back home, planning on finishing his last, just I mean, his last just I mean, I think uh his last uh two years of college. And as part of his program, he was offered a practicum on a sports team that many people know in this room. It is a dream job for anyone to get a role on those kinds of teams. But as Josh sat and he prayed and he thought about it, he just sensed Jesus was inviting him to maybe something different. And so at the same time, he was offered that. He was offered an opportunity to go all the way to uh South Africa where he would be a part of a mission organization there. And he thought, Jesus, I want to do what you want me to do. And so he said no to the sports team and moved to Africa. So Josh was there for a while, and while God was there, and and and and so too, while he was there, God broke his heart again for Canada. While he was there, he was at he was at a youth rally, and he remembers somebody praying and said, Jesus, would you break our hearts for the nations? And in his his mind was our nation. He right away thought of Canada. And at first he thought, man, God, I don't want to go back to Canada. You got things for me around the nation. But he said, No, Josh, I want you to go back to Canada. And I want you to share Jesus with people who need it. And he had this vision of this just I'm in a barren land that looks like it was just I'm in here ready for a fire. And he said, That's where I want to be because I want to see God light a fire in Canada. And so Josh moved back home, all the way back home to Canada. Josh is currently serving in Halifax as an urban, just I mean a missionary. Josh is 24 years old, maybe 25 now. Josh has no plans to go back to the University of Alberta, not because it's a bad thing, but because he said to me over the phone the other day, or rather, in just I mean, in the midst of the call, what he said to me was, Dan, I said to God, I want to go wherever it is you want me to go. And I will give you my yes no matter what. And you know what he said to me time and time again? He said, I am more satisfied now than I've ever been in my life. I am more joyful now than I've ever been in my life. I am more on, he had said, I am more just, I'm passionate now in my faith than I've ever been before because I continually give God my yes. He is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful young man just to watch. I am deeply just I'm proud of him. And yet, here's the thing as I listen to Josh and this burden he has for the nation, this burden he has to see his, I'm gonna have friends and family, strangers to come to know Jesus. He is so bold in his faith, so encouraging to watch. My burden is different than his. My burden that I have is different than Josh's. But man, oh man, as he shares, you know what I say time and time again, Lord, how can I help him? How can I encourage him in the burden that he has? How can I stand with him in prayer? How can I be with him in tangible, practical ways to encourage such a young leader like him who says, I am all in on Jesus? How can we encourage that burden? And I love what he says back. He says, You don't have to have my burden, Dan. But I do need your prayers. How can we help people with burdens who are deeply burdened to see the gospel ignite? I'm gonna invite the band up here at this time. So here's my question to you What has God burdened you with? What is something that just sits in your soul and says, I need to be a part of what Jesus is doing there? That there's something wrong that you see that you just think, man, what is Jesus inviting me into? What is this, I mean the ministry that He's invited me into? For some of this room, it's a burden for the marginalized, right? For those who are on kind of the outskirts of society, for those who feel like they're lonely and isolated and have no one, some of you have a burden for them. You need to step into that fully. You need to embrace that burden. For others, it's to see our just, I mean, if for others, it's to see our youth and next generation passionate for Jesus. This is one of my big burdens. That we would see more and more just I mean, uh, of those coming up get opportunities to lead and serve in the church, that they would have important spaces to be. Or it's to see our church as a place that is known for being kind and caring and hospitable. Maybe you have a burden for wanting to bring Jesus to the nations. Maybe some of you are just passionate for missions or you have a burden for prayer. Some of you in this room have a burden for friends, family members, kids, parents or grandkids. That one day they would come to know Jesus. And you have been praying faithfully for years. Maybe that's your burden. Or maybe you're thinking, Dan, I have no idea if I even have a burden. I have no idea what Jesus is stirring in me. Can I encourage you, no matter where you are today, no matter where you find yourself, Jesus is inviting you in. He's calling you. He's calling each and every one of you to something, to a ministry. He's calling you to bring his word, to bring his life, to bring his love, to bring who he is to all of the spaces and places we find ourselves. He is inviting you in. And on the other side of your yes lies the deepest satisfaction you could ever receive, the deepest meaning that you could ever have. You know, when God puts a burden on your heart, don't try to escape it. For if you do, you may miss the blessing he has planned for you. Warren Wearsby said that. And so this morning, here's how we're gonna end. I'm gonna pray for us and for you. And I'm gonna ask something of you in this prayer time. I'm gonna ask something of you because I believe Jesus is asking something of you. And so we're just gonna make space for that. And so this week our practice is just gonna be simply sitting with him in a question and just asking if he's asking you just to say yes in obedience, that you would pray a prayer that's a little dangerous perhaps. And that we would just see what Jesus has. So let's pray here. Lord Jesus, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the example, Lord, of men and women who at one point in their lives saw a burden, that that they saw something in their world that wasn't the way that you would have it be. That they saw it for their nation, they saw it for their family, they saw it for their church. And they just said something needs to be done about that. And Jesus, thank you that by your kindness and in your love, you invited each one of them in. That they would step into the burden and the ministry that you have given them. And Jesus, I recognize that this morning there are those here today who have a burden. I have sat across the table from them. I have heard them share through tears their deep love of you and their longing to see some of the things in this world made right. That you would move in our time, that we would see our next generation start to rise up in passionate ways, that Lord, we would become a church of prayer. That Jesus, that we would be further on fire, just I mean, if for mission. Jesus, that we might love our neighbors well, that even for just I mean, students in this room, Lord, I have heard them say, I want my friends to know Jesus. Lord, you are inviting each one of us in. And Lord, there are also those in this room who want a burden, who just are not sure exactly what it is yet that you are inviting them into. But Lord, are just even in a place where their hands are open and saying, Lord, if you want to just I mean you use me, you can. And so this morning, with our heads bowed here, no matter where you are today, no matter where you find yourself, if you are here this morning and you have a burden that you have not fully decided to just I mean to step into yet, or or if you are here this morning and you want one and you want a burden, would you simply raise your hand where you are? Just simply raise your hand if that's you. Lord Jesus, I pray that for each hand that has been raised here this morning, that you would empower those who currently have a burden. Lord that you would spur their hearts on in such a way in which they would be open to doing whatever it is you would have them do, that they'd be willing to say no to good things so they can say yes to the best thing. That they would lean in to all that you have for them. Lord Jesus, I pray for those this morning who want a burden, who are saying, Lord, would you use me in any way? Lord, would you just start to plant in their heart just a dream of the kingdom? One that just sees lives changed, one that sees your grace and your mercy meet people where they need it the most. Jesus, would you use us as a church? May we become the kind of people that you can trust with these burdens? Ones that would say, Lord, wherever you want me to go, I will go. Whatever you want me to do, I will do. That we would move that way. So, Lord Jesus, I ask for your hand of blessing on us today. I ask for your hand of blessing on this church. And Jesus, thank you for what you're doing in and through us. And we just pray for more and we ask these things in your name. Amen.