SPEAKER_02: Guys, it's so good to see you all.
SPEAKER_02: If we've never met before, my name is Zach Hudson.
SPEAKER_02: I serve as the college pastor here at Definition Church.
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
SPEAKER_02: It's one of my favorite things in my entire life.
SPEAKER_02: If we've never met, I would love to meet you after the service.
SPEAKER_02: Just come up and say hello.
SPEAKER_02: I promise I'm not as intimidating as everyone tries to make it out that I am.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not.
SPEAKER_02: I love everybody.
SPEAKER_02: I just want to meet you and have a conversation with you.
SPEAKER_02: Guys, real quick, I just want to give a quick celebration for what happened last week.
SPEAKER_02: Last week we had our launch service here at the collective, and guys, it was incredible.
SPEAKER_02: We had over 140 new students come to the collective for the first time.
SPEAKER_02: Praise God.
SPEAKER_02: God is just doing something special, not just here, but like across the city of Greensboro in all the churches.
SPEAKER_02: So we're just so thankful for what God is doing here.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're a new student in the room, I just want to say a personal thank you for coming and spending time with us.
SPEAKER_02: And if you don't mind, real quick, can we throw that code up on the screen if we got it?
SPEAKER_02: Sweet.
SPEAKER_02: If you're a new student, can you do me a solid and just text the collective to 97000?
SPEAKER_02: The Collective 9700.
SPEAKER_02: This will just help us get some information about you.
SPEAKER_02: It'll subscribe you to our text chain.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're a new student, it'll send you a new here form.
SPEAKER_02: And if you fill that out, we'll take you to coffee for free, maybe lunch for free.
SPEAKER_02: So I know y'all love free stuff.
SPEAKER_02: So if you want something free, fill out that form, that new here form.
SPEAKER_02: We would love to connect with you guys.
SPEAKER_02: Sweet.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, so we're in this new series today entitled Who We Are.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone say who we are.
SPEAKER_02: So this entire series is just all about who we are as a ministry, as the collective.
SPEAKER_02: Like, what are the things that define us, that make us who we are, that God has called us to run after?
SPEAKER_02: And so over the next four weeks, we're just gonna be diving deep into all the things that we feel like God has laid on our heart for us as a ministry.
SPEAKER_02: Have any of you guys ever heard of an author, or she's a speaker too?
SPEAKER_02: Her name's Jenny Allen.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone ever heard of Jenny Allen before?
SPEAKER_02: Jenny Allen's awesome, amazing speaker if you've never listened to her.
SPEAKER_02: But she did this documentary series one time, and it was called Sheep in the Wolves Pen.
SPEAKER_02: And what she did was she went and interviewed all these like pastors who pastored in places that were very dangerous and hostile towards Christianity.
SPEAKER_02: So I think she was interviewing this pastor from Iran, and he like literally couldn't even show his face.
SPEAKER_02: He had to muffle his voice because if he got caught basically preaching the gospel, he was gonna be killed.
SPEAKER_02: And so she's interviewing this pastor, and he's just talking about like how the church is exploding in Iran and all these miracles are happening.
SPEAKER_02: And Ginny Allen, she looks at this pastor and she says, What do you think about the church in America?
SPEAKER_02: And he had come from America as a missionary in Iran, and he like, he said, he looks at Ginny and he says, You know, when I think about the church in America, I just think Satan has them in a satanic lullaby.
SPEAKER_02: Where Satan is just kind of holding us, going, Shh, just go to sleep.
SPEAKER_02: Just go to sleep.
SPEAKER_02: You don't really have that much impact.
SPEAKER_02: Just go to sleep.
SPEAKER_02: There's not that much to do.
SPEAKER_02: A satanic lullaby.
SPEAKER_02: And you see, the truth is, for the most part, American Christianity has been asleep at the wheel.
SPEAKER_02: You see, we have more access to resources, people, and influence than anyone in the entire world combined.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, these are resources that churches in the underground church would dream of having.
SPEAKER_02: 62% of the United States identifies as Christians.
SPEAKER_02: But in some sense, it seems as if the American church has taken very little ground in the kingdom of darkness.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you would think as the epicenter of the Christian faith, we would have like most of the world saved by now, but that is just not the case.
SPEAKER_02: And that could be due to a multitude of things that I could preach all about, you know, politics, comfort, success, busyness.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, those are just a few things that we kind of busy ourselves with, that we take little impact in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: But one of the main contributors to what suffocates our ability to kind of unite as a Christian people and fight back against darkness is that oftentimes in the states, we are too busy fighting other Christians to fight back against hell.
SPEAKER_02: We are too busy fighting each other.
SPEAKER_02: And this temptation towards envy, towards arguments, towards comparison is just a straight-up tactic of the enemy.
SPEAKER_02: Because he knows if he can keep us fighting against each other, then we don't really have much of a say against his kingdom of darkness.
SPEAKER_02: There's this book called The Screwtape Letters by an author named C.S.
SPEAKER_02: Lewis.
SPEAKER_02: It's an awesome book if you've never read it before.
SPEAKER_02: And in chapter 16, basically the point of this book is it's these two demons writing letters back and forth to each other.
SPEAKER_02: They're talking about how they can lead this guy who recently converted his life to Christianity, how they can lead him completely away from the faith.
SPEAKER_02: And so it's just like this chapter book about different tactics.
SPEAKER_02: And in chapter 16, there's this quote that this demon is saying.
SPEAKER_02: He says, The real fun is working up hatred between those who say Mass and those who say holy communion, when neither party could possibly state the difference.
SPEAKER_02: All the purely indifferent things, candles, clothes, worship, and whatnot, are an admirable ground for our activities.
SPEAKER_02: So basically what he's saying here is if we can get them so caught up in the practice of like I say this word, you say that word, debating each other, then it gives the kingdom of darkness space to work and continue to divide us.
SPEAKER_02: And this statement was written in 1940.
SPEAKER_02: Like this was way before social media and the digital church world, and I would argue that this statement is now more true than ever.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, envy has just crept its way into our church culture.
SPEAKER_02: If you spend any time on social media, I mean, how often are you seeing the uplifting and blessing of other ministries that is not people from that ministry?
SPEAKER_02: How often are we blessing other ministries?
SPEAKER_02: Not very often.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, more often than not, it's like, man, this church would be better if they did this.
SPEAKER_02: Or like the problem with this church is that they have X problem.
SPEAKER_02: Or this church would do so much better, or this church's problem is X, Y, Z, as if casual hatred and tearing down of other ministries is gonna make God look at our ministry with favor.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that is just not how the kingdom works.
SPEAKER_02: Because what this is, truth be told, is just pride disguised as loyalty.
SPEAKER_02: It is pride disguised as loyalty.
SPEAKER_02: Where deep down we have this insecurity about the blessing and the community that God has placed in us, and so we want somebody else's blessing.
SPEAKER_02: We want somebody else's gift, we want somebody else's influence.
SPEAKER_02: And so as we start this new series, all about who we are as a ministry, I just want to fight back against the temptation.
SPEAKER_02: The biggest temptation we will face is feeling that because we have unique things about us that we are greater than the church up the road.
SPEAKER_02: And I just refuse for that mindset to infect our college ministry.
SPEAKER_02: I refuse for comparison to infiltrate us and tear us down.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna completely go the other direction.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna celebrate and we're gonna uplift every single church that is proclaiming the name of Jesus and standing on the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna pray for them, we're gonna lift them up, we're gonna do everything we can to uplift all ministries, even if they listen, even if they take some of our people in the process.
SPEAKER_02: Even if a church, if someone comes to the collective and they decide, okay, maybe this isn't the best place for me, and they go to another ministry and they get connected to the body of Christ, they feel loved and valued for who they are, they connect to Jesus deeper than they ever have.
SPEAKER_02: Man, we're gonna celebrate and lift that up.
SPEAKER_02: Praise Jesus that God is reaching people.
SPEAKER_02: Because the truth is, envy kills the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: Envy kills the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: And the text tells us this, and so I want us to look at a passage that shows us this.
SPEAKER_02: Now, we have a tradition here at the collective.
SPEAKER_02: If you have your Bibles, go ahead and hold them up.
SPEAKER_02: Let me see them, let me see them.
SPEAKER_02: Awesome, awesome.
SPEAKER_02: I swear we have more and more every week.
SPEAKER_02: I love it, I love it.
SPEAKER_02: You can put them down.
SPEAKER_02: If you need a Bible, let me know.
SPEAKER_02: We would love to give you one for free.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in the living word of God here, but we're gonna be in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 12 through 16.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to turn there, it'll also be on the screen behind me.
SPEAKER_02: 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 12 through 16.
SPEAKER_02: Someone brought up how I swallow really loud in the mic, and I get really insecure when I go to drink water now.
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I'm working on that, you know?
SPEAKER_02: God's still working on me.
SPEAKER_02: So, 2 Corinthians 10, 12 through 16.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna go ahead and read it for us.
SPEAKER_02: Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
SPEAKER_02: But we will not boast beyond limits, but we will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us to reach even you.
SPEAKER_02: For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you.
SPEAKER_02: For we were first, we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others, but our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another's area, in another's area of influence.
SPEAKER_02: Lord Jesus, thank you for the living word of God.
SPEAKER_02: God, I pray it'll pierce the hearts of these students.
SPEAKER_02: God, may they hear you speaking, not me.
SPEAKER_02: May you work in their hearts and in our midst.
SPEAKER_02: In your holy and righteous name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: All right, now, anytime we we read, we gotta read in what?
SPEAKER_02: One more time, we gotta read in context is key.
SPEAKER_02: Anytime that you're reading scripture, you can't just pull a verse out and apply it to your life.
SPEAKER_02: So, context here is the church in Corinth.
SPEAKER_02: Paul, he is writing a letter to the church in Corinth.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the church in Corinth is planted in the middle of a flourishing city.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's they've got money coming, they've got jobs flourishing all throughout the city, and these people come from super diverse backgrounds.
SPEAKER_02: So, like rich, poor, different ethnicities and races all coming together at this church, and it's causing a ton of problems.
SPEAKER_02: There are people getting drunk at communion, there's people falling into deep sexual sin.
SPEAKER_02: You got people in church ministry suing this other person because they said this crazy thing.
SPEAKER_02: And so Paul is just writing full of love and compassion for these people.
SPEAKER_02: And he's writing a letter basically telling them how to get all their crap in order and how to get back on track to the ultimate goal.
SPEAKER_02: And so the overarching theme for the entire book of 1st and 2 Corinthians is unity.
SPEAKER_02: Unity, unity, unity.
SPEAKER_02: He just keeps talking about unity.
SPEAKER_02: He keeps pushing.
SPEAKER_02: I know you're different from each other, I know you come from different backgrounds, I know you have different giftings, different strengths, but you should be doing everything you can to unite around Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Unity is the answer.
SPEAKER_02: And so what Paul is trying to get these people to understand is that unity and uniformity are two entirely different things.
SPEAKER_02: You see, unity is where we are all striving after the same goal.
SPEAKER_02: We are all after one thing.
SPEAKER_02: We are unified against who we're supposed to be fighting against, we are unified against what goal we're running after.
SPEAKER_02: We may not look the same, we may not come from the same place, but we are unified in what we are running after.
SPEAKER_02: Uniformity is where I come into a place and everyone looks, acts, thinks, and comes from the exact same places as me.
SPEAKER_02: And you see, the kingdom of God is the opposite of uniformity.
SPEAKER_02: It is all about unity, where Jesus took all these dudes from different backgrounds, different understandings, different political understandings, and he just did ministry with them.
SPEAKER_02: That was unity.
SPEAKER_02: That is the difference between unity and uniformity.
SPEAKER_02: And oftentimes in the American church, we fall into uniformity, not unity.
SPEAKER_02: Our temptation is to just surround ourselves with what's most comfortable, which oftentimes is people who look and act exactly like us.
SPEAKER_02: And so we want to combat that temptation.
SPEAKER_02: I can be unified with a church that is completely different from me in practice.
SPEAKER_02: So I can be unified with a church that is super traditional, hymns, they don't sing worship like we do, they don't have a pastor that dresses like I do, it's suit and tie, and just like I can be completely unified with that if we have the same goal, which is Christ.
SPEAKER_02: The cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you see, but I carry a cross with me everywhere when I preach.
SPEAKER_02: I always keep it on a pulpit because I never want to forget what the goal is.
SPEAKER_02: Because you see, I can show up, and my biggest temptation is not some sexual sin in the background.
SPEAKER_02: My biggest temptation is pride that comes from standing behind something like this.
SPEAKER_02: And so I want to remind myself at all times that this is the goal.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, no one has a claim on this except Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: This cross is not Catholic, this cross is not Orthodox, this cross is not non-denominational, it's not Baptist, it's not Pentecostal, it is Jesus' cross.
SPEAKER_02: It is Jesus' cross.
SPEAKER_02: And you see, when we come to the foot of the cross, it equalizes all of us.
SPEAKER_02: I don't care what your theology is, I don't care what your growing up was, the cross unifies all of us.
SPEAKER_02: And if we could spend a lot less time debating theology and practice, and a lot more time letting the cross infiltrate everything that we did, we would take a lot more steps in the kingdom of darkness.
SPEAKER_02: And so we want to be unified around the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Unified around the cross.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus himself did this.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus had two dudes in his ministry.
SPEAKER_02: One was named Simon, and Simon was a zealot, which basically means Simon was a warrior against the Emperor of Rome.
SPEAKER_02: He wanted to overthrow the emperor or the empire of Rome completely, wanted to like go to war and kill all Romans and just destroy them.
SPEAKER_02: But Jesus also had Matthew, who was a tax collector for Rome and had complete loyalties to Rome.
SPEAKER_02: And so Jesus obviously was not about uniformity, he was about unity towards the same goal.
SPEAKER_02: The same goal, which ultimately became the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so Paul he opens up this section of scripture in Corinthians by saying he would not even dare compare himself with anyone else.
SPEAKER_02: You see, comparison is a luxury of the modern world we live in.
SPEAKER_02: Paul was worried about getting his head chopped off.
SPEAKER_02: Like he was writing letters from prison.
SPEAKER_02: He did not have time to worry about what this person across the city was doing, or why this Bible study had more people than my Bible study, or why that church had more college students than my church.
SPEAKER_02: He didn't have time to worry about that.
SPEAKER_02: He was fearing for his life.
SPEAKER_02: He was focused on one goal, which was the cross of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so he's saying it's foolish to fall into comparison.
SPEAKER_02: What he means by this is it's just like it's crazy.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't make any sense.
SPEAKER_02: So we know comparison is foolish.
SPEAKER_02: Comparison is foolish.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing will kill your love for God, your love for people, your love for his church, and your love for his gifts faster than constantly dwelling on the things you do not have or have not been called to.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing will kill it faster.
SPEAKER_02: And this is why it's foolish.
SPEAKER_02: Because you see, at the beginning of time, God laid out all the course of human history, and he saw each and every single one of us sitting in this auditorium where we are right now on our college campus with the people we surround ourselves with in our job.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, I'm gonna give this person a specific gift handcrafted specifically for them, for this season of your life.
SPEAKER_02: The creator of the universe looked down at you and gifted you with something, and oftentimes we turn and reject it.
SPEAKER_02: Not so that we can literally have someone else's gift.
SPEAKER_02: You will never have someone else's gift, but so that we can savor the idea of having someone else's gift.
SPEAKER_02: We'll never tangibly have someone else's gift.
SPEAKER_02: And so what we do is we sit in our minds and just dwell.
SPEAKER_02: If I was this, if I could do this, if I had done that, if I was better at this, we dwell on what other people have instead of worshiping and praising God for what we do have.
SPEAKER_02: At most, you can have thoughts of someone else's gift.
SPEAKER_02: You'll never have it tangibly.
SPEAKER_02: And this is why Paul is saying, we don't boast beyond our limits.
SPEAKER_02: God has given all of us limits of our influence.
SPEAKER_02: And these aren't limits of shame or these aren't limits of fear or shame or like limits on your ability as a person.
SPEAKER_02: These are limits of grace.
SPEAKER_02: We are called to be who we are, and that is a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_02: There's this story in scripture that I love.
SPEAKER_02: Um, everyone, we all know David and Goliath.
SPEAKER_02: Um, David goes, he has to kill this big mighty warrior in the Old Testament named Goliath.
SPEAKER_02: And right before he's about to go kill this guy named Goliath, he's in the tent and he's about to go to war.
SPEAKER_02: And Saul, who was the king of this empire at the time, he like brings all this armor out and he's like, David, put on this armor, put on this armor.
SPEAKER_02: Because David was just gonna walk out there with no armor and just a slingshot.
SPEAKER_02: And so Saul's like, put on this armor.
SPEAKER_02: And I love the text because it says David put it on and it didn't fit.
SPEAKER_02: And he says, I will not wear this armor.
SPEAKER_02: And what this means is David knew the weapon that God had uniquely called him to have.
SPEAKER_02: And so he wasn't gonna waste time trying to wear armor that would not fit.
SPEAKER_02: And we know exactly we know what happened.
SPEAKER_02: Like David goes into the battlefield with just his slingshot that the Lord has given him, and he kills Goliath.
SPEAKER_02: If he had wasted time trying to wear someone else's armor, he might not have been able to throw his slingshot.
SPEAKER_02: And so we have to stop trying to wear other people's armor.
SPEAKER_02: If you were called to be them, you would be them.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the crazy thing.
SPEAKER_02: All the people that we sit around thinking about and being envious of, they could not do as good of a job in your area as you.
SPEAKER_02: Think of the strongest leader you know, the most on fire Christian that you know of.
SPEAKER_02: If God snapped his fingers and you all switched places, they could not fulfill your call.
SPEAKER_02: They couldn't do it.
SPEAKER_02: Because they can't wear your armor as much as you can't wear theirs.
SPEAKER_02: You are called in the season you are in to be around the people you are, and God has placed you there for a reason.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I would rather each and every single one of you show up a hundred percent unapologetically as who God made you to be and who you are.
SPEAKER_02: And I would rather you do that than show up a hundred percent as someone you are not called to be.
SPEAKER_02: I'd rather you be a hundred percent the version of you that feels like you're inadequate, that feels afraid, that feels riddled with anxiety.
SPEAKER_02: I'd rather you 100% be that person than show up a hundred percent wearing a mask or wearing somebody else's armor.
SPEAKER_02: We don't do that here.
SPEAKER_02: We show up as who we are, where we are, and we trust that God will continue to increase our influence.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I bring all this up about comparison because not only is it easy to fall into comparison just in our lives as we're going through the motions in school and everything like that, but it's so easy to fall into it as a body of Christ as well.
SPEAKER_02: You see, I talked about this earlier, how oftentimes we disguise pride as loyalty.
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I moved here from Dallas like uh a little over a year ago, and I lived within one hour of ten of the largest churches in America.
SPEAKER_02: My church that I worked at had an average attendance of 25,000 people.
SPEAKER_02: Like this is like insane.
SPEAKER_02: Our auditorium was like an arena.
SPEAKER_02: And you know, oftentimes what I kept hearing in like meetings and things, I kept hearing, well, that church is doing that, but you know, they really shouldn't be doing that.
SPEAKER_02: We're like, that church is doing XYZ thing, they really shouldn't be doing that.
SPEAKER_02: We're like, we'd be so much better if XYZ, we'd be doing so much better at uh this problem if XYZ thing.
SPEAKER_02: We had 25,000 people coming to our church every Sunday, and we were so completely divided that we couldn't even focus on the 25,000 people sitting right in front of us who need to hear the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: We were trying to steal somebody else's influence when we had a 25,000-person influence that we did not trust.
SPEAKER_02: So numbers will never make you get confidence in your in your calling or in what you're supposed to be doing.
SPEAKER_02: Only God can give us that confidence.
SPEAKER_02: So we have to just bring it to him over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_02: Um it is foolish for the collective to try to be any other ministry.
SPEAKER_02: It's not our call, it's not who we are.
SPEAKER_02: We're not gonna carry any other influence than the one God has called us to specifically.
SPEAKER_02: Like, look at what Paul says here in the second half of 13.
SPEAKER_02: You will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us to reach even to you.
SPEAKER_02: Our ministry has a unique area of influence that God has assigned for us to reach a specific group of people.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're gonna run after that with everything that we have, not apologizing for what we run after because we feel like God has given us this influence.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm sure at this point you're probably like, okay, Zach, please get on with it.
SPEAKER_02: So you're probably asking yourself, so who is the collective?
SPEAKER_02: Who is the collective?
SPEAKER_02: Well, from a broad overview, we are a college ministry of Definition Church.
SPEAKER_02: And Definition Church, our motto here is that we want people to follow Jesus and experience the hope of redemption.
SPEAKER_02: Like that is what we have called ourselves to, to teach people to follow Jesus and experience the hope of redemption.
SPEAKER_02: And we are unified with them.
SPEAKER_02: So our big level goal is for that.
SPEAKER_02: And now we do this through our practices.
SPEAKER_02: You'll hear these talked about a definition all the time.
SPEAKER_02: We want to teach people to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_02: This is your entire spiritual life summarized in a statement.
SPEAKER_02: Everything we do in our Christian walk is learning how to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.
SPEAKER_02: So we gotta learn how to spend time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: We gotta learn how to have our character transformed into more like Jesus, and we gotta learn how to go out and practice the things that Jesus did.
SPEAKER_02: It is a constant sanctifying work.
SPEAKER_02: And so we operate under that goal proudly.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Pastor Jonathan preached a whole sermon on this yesterday on spiritual formation and all those things.
SPEAKER_02: So I would say, go listen to that.
SPEAKER_02: It's really incredible.
SPEAKER_02: But if we zoom in just like a little bit into the collective specifically, and like who we are, there are some things about who we are that I think are important to cover.
SPEAKER_02: All of last year, I spent a lot of time just asking the Lord to kind of reveal who we are as a ministry.
SPEAKER_02: Like, what is the unique area of influence God has given us that we want to run after with all that we have?
SPEAKER_02: And I believe he revealed that.
SPEAKER_02: And over the course of the year, he revealed three statements that when I look back on the previous year were just so overwhelmingly tangible to us and all of our students.
SPEAKER_02: And so, what I'm gonna do is over the next three times that we meet, I'm gonna preach a sermon over each of these three things specifically.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna preach a sermon over each statement individually.
SPEAKER_02: Um, so don't miss that.
SPEAKER_02: It is super important, it is all about who we are as a ministry.
SPEAKER_02: But just a quick overview overview.
SPEAKER_02: Who is the collective?
SPEAKER_02: Well, we are radically honest, spirit sensitive, and unapologetically whole.
SPEAKER_02: Radically honest, spirit-sensitive, and unapologetically whole.
SPEAKER_02: Again, I'm gonna preach a sermon covering each of these things more in depth, so you do not want to miss this, but let me just give you a quick overview.
SPEAKER_02: Radical honesty.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you spent any time at the collective last year, you know we talked about radical honesty a lot.
SPEAKER_02: This is why we do confession every single week at the collective because we believe it changes lives.
SPEAKER_02: Now, we don't just show up to the altar and just say, like, hey, I'm really struggling with sin.
SPEAKER_02: We challenge our students to be radically honest.
SPEAKER_02: Now, what this means is we say the things that deep down we're really afraid to confess.
SPEAKER_02: We're radically honest.
SPEAKER_02: I tell this story a lot, but I struggled with a porn addiction for most of my life.
SPEAKER_02: And what got me free from pornography was not showing up to God and saying, God, I really don't want to struggle with this.
SPEAKER_02: Can you really help me?
SPEAKER_02: Please help me.
SPEAKER_02: What got me free from pornography was showing up to the altar and saying, God, if I'm being honest, I want to sin against you.
SPEAKER_02: If I'm being honest, this thing, this pornography addiction, it really fulfills me in a way that you can't right now.
SPEAKER_02: And I showed up and I just said that out loud.
SPEAKER_02: And that is the moment where I experience freedom, where I've been free ever since.
SPEAKER_02: Was not when I played the game in front of God.
SPEAKER_02: Instead, I showed up and was radically honest.
SPEAKER_02: So that's why we do confession every single week.
SPEAKER_02: The altars will always be open at the collective every single week.
SPEAKER_02: Now, sometimes this may mean you need to physically lay something down.
SPEAKER_02: Like we at our uh retreat last year, we had we put a chair in the middle of the room and we said, if you need to go to your car and you need to get something that is holding you back from all that Christ has for you, go get it.
SPEAKER_02: We're not ashamed of that at all.
SPEAKER_02: And we had students laying vapes down, laying condoms down, laying things down that were pulling them away from Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: That is radically honest living.
SPEAKER_02: And so we are radically honest.
SPEAKER_02: We are also spirit sensitive.
SPEAKER_02: We love the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Oftentimes in modern church, it's easy to kind of sideline the Holy Spirit, but we're not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_02: Instead, what we're gonna do is run after the Holy Spirit with everything that we have.
SPEAKER_02: Look, you may get uncomfortable a couple times.
SPEAKER_02: You may hear things, you may, like let's be real here, you may hear someone speak in tongues.
SPEAKER_02: And that may make you a little uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_02: But what we do is we run after everything that the Holy Spirit has for us under the authority of the word.
SPEAKER_02: So we don't just show up and do whatever we want and claim it's God.
SPEAKER_02: No, we show up and we run after what Scripture says the Holy Spirit is supposed to do.
SPEAKER_02: I believe each and every single one of you has a spiritual gift that is unique to you, and I want to help you unlock that gift.
SPEAKER_02: I want to put you in places where you may feel a little uncomfortable, but you know God is there and he is pushing you towards a new step, one step after another.
SPEAKER_02: So often in the American church, we live the same life 20 times instead of living 20 different instead of striving after things and growing over 20 years.
SPEAKER_02: We just do the same thing over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna run after the Holy Spirit and all that He has for us.
SPEAKER_02: And finally, we are unapologetically whole.
SPEAKER_02: Unapologetically whole.
SPEAKER_02: The church is so divided right now.
SPEAKER_02: And this is over practice and theology.
SPEAKER_02: And what I believe being a holistic disciple of Christ looks like is like sometimes, man, you show up, you're crying at the altar, you're just laying it all before Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you're in the Holy Spirit and you're running around and you're feeling all these spiritual gifts just being awakened in you for the first time.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you're sitting at a table with your brothers and sisters in Christ and sharing a meal.
SPEAKER_02: That is being unapologetically whole.
SPEAKER_02: We don't like closed fists, only practice certain things.
SPEAKER_02: We love tradition as much as we love charismatic expression.
SPEAKER_02: We love our the way we do worship, but we also love liturgies.
SPEAKER_02: We believe that all by God has uniquely wired all of us to get a holistic experience about who He is.
SPEAKER_02: And this is from the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Like it didn't say the disciples they got together after the Holy Spirit fell and just preached the word all the time and didn't really do anything different.
SPEAKER_02: They had everything in common.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're gonna live our lives where we have everything in common, whether it be like I'm more of a tradition guy, and that other stuff makes me uncomfortable, or I'm more charismatic, and that stuff makes me uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna do it all because we want you to be the most like Christ you can possibly be.
SPEAKER_02: It is so important.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, I've settled in a place where I care so much more about who you are becoming in Christ, you having your life transformed by the power of gospel the gospel and being filled with the Holy Spirit than I do about filling this auditorium.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not in this for that.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not in this to build my name up, I'm not in this for fame.
SPEAKER_02: There are things about the collective that some people will run from that God has called us to.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, that's okay.
SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
SPEAKER_02: Like Paul says, we're not gonna overstretch our influence, but instead we're gonna boast in our current influence, which means we're gonna run after it with everything that we have.
SPEAKER_02: No matter pushback or cancellation, we're gonna stand firm on what and who we are.
SPEAKER_02: Now I'm sure at this point you're asking, okay, well, what does this mean?
SPEAKER_02: How can I help?
SPEAKER_02: Three quick things.
SPEAKER_02: First is just pray.
SPEAKER_02: Pray.
SPEAKER_02: We're a praying ministry.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in the power of prayer.
SPEAKER_02: We believe it can transform lives.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, listen to this.
SPEAKER_02: Also, pray for the other churches in this area who are leading students to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't just about us.
SPEAKER_02: There's other churches in this area.
SPEAKER_02: I'm blanking on their name.
SPEAKER_02: I know Mercy.
SPEAKER_02: We got Mercy Hill.
SPEAKER_02: They're awesome.
SPEAKER_02: They're leading students to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna pray for them.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna lift them up.
SPEAKER_02: There's uh One Hill Fellowship, they're awesome, they're leading students to the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna we're gonna pray for those other ministries.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the here's the big temptation.
SPEAKER_02: We're not gonna pray because we think God's gonna bless our ministry because we're praying for someone else.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna actually pray for them and we're gonna lift them up and pray that they lead as many students to Christ as possible.
SPEAKER_02: I want to walk, I want to walk into heaven hand in hand with people I never met because someone else across the city of Greensboro led them to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Like, praise God.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm not I'm not gonna spend time debating which church is doing it better.
SPEAKER_02: Like, no, bro, this is about Jesus and Jesus alone.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're gonna do, we're gonna run after what Jesus has for us.
SPEAKER_02: And second is invite.
SPEAKER_02: If you feel like this culture really means something to you, and that students can have their lives transformed here, invite students, bring them into who we are, invite them into what we're running after.
SPEAKER_02: Invite them to run alongside you.
SPEAKER_02: Third is just be humble.
SPEAKER_02: Be humble.
SPEAKER_02: We do things here.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you ask students who have been here for a while, they say I like to bless bricks before I throw them when I preach.
SPEAKER_02: I I like to preach the truth of the word.
SPEAKER_02: And so sometimes I may preach something that may step on your toes a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: I never do anything out of malice, I do everything out of love.
SPEAKER_02: I love each and every single one of you individually, and I want you to see all that Christ can possibly have for you.
SPEAKER_02: And society is okay cutting you off at half grown and then affirming everything about that.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to be fully transformed in the power of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And so be humble.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe there's an invitation, maybe you need to learn something.
SPEAKER_02: We do small groups starting September 14th every single week.
SPEAKER_02: Those require more humility than anything.
SPEAKER_02: Because it's so easy to just show up, listen to a sermon, listen to worship, and then peace out and go on with your life for the rest of the six days a week.
SPEAKER_02: Your life will be transformed if you learn how to show up with other people and say, guys, I'm not okay.
SPEAKER_02: I'm struggling, I'm not doing okay.
SPEAKER_02: That's humility.
SPEAKER_02: And scripture tells us in the book of Psalms that God stands in opposition against the prideful ones.
SPEAKER_02: He stands against it, but he blesses and uplifts the humble.
SPEAKER_02: And so maybe the invitation for you in your life in this season is not more church experiences, maybe it's more humility.
SPEAKER_02: And so, like, we're gonna be humble here, we're gonna run after all that God has for us.
SPEAKER_02: And we only do this because we serve a God who was so kind and gracious to go to the cross on our behalf.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he lived a life where he was praying, where he was humble, where he served the lowly, where he didn't try to be anybody else, but just showed up as himself.
SPEAKER_02: And he was so countercultural that they killed him for it.
SPEAKER_02: They nailed him to a cross on our behalf.
SPEAKER_02: But he had us in mind when that happens.
SPEAKER_02: And so we just want to run after all that Jesus has for us.
SPEAKER_02: If our prayer team can come to the front, anyone who's on the prayer team, come to the front, please.
SPEAKER_02: Like I said, we do confession every single week here at the collective.
SPEAKER_02: And every sermon might not be geared exactly towards confession, but my challenge to you always is if there is something that is weighing you down, this doesn't have to be sin.
SPEAKER_02: It can be I don't really feel God right now in my life.
SPEAKER_02: I'm really confused about who God is saying he is, or who I am, or what my identity is in Christ, or I don't trust God right now.
SPEAKER_02: That's radically honest living.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're gonna open the altars every week because we believe that we should live at the altar.
SPEAKER_02: Because when we see God move over something that we thought we were gonna take to the grave, man, we become a weapon in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: We become people who can truly slay giants like Goliath.
SPEAKER_02: We become people who can save people who never thought they could be saved.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're gonna do confession every single week.
SPEAKER_02: And here's how we do it.
SPEAKER_02: I just count to three and we stand up.
SPEAKER_02: We don't close eyes, we don't do any of that.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in taking a step of boldness in your faith.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm gonna count to three.
SPEAKER_02: And if you need to come forward to confess anything, please do.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, here we go.
SPEAKER_02: One, God loves you.
SPEAKER_02: Two, you're here for a reason.
SPEAKER_02: Three, anyone.
SPEAKER_02: If you need to confess anything, just come on, come to the front and come on.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, let's go, guys, guys to guys, girls to girls.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone else?
SPEAKER_02: No shame here.
SPEAKER_02: There's no shame here at all.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in the power of confession.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone else?
SPEAKER_02: Got a girl right here.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all let that let her through.
SPEAKER_02: Let her through.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, guys.
SPEAKER_02: Well, we're gonna transition back into worship, and the altars are open as long as you need them.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, student leaders who are clear to pray, y'all can come forward to help pray with students.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna transition back into worship.
SPEAKER_02: Altars are open as long as you need them.
SPEAKER_02: I love you all.
SPEAKER_02: I will see you soon.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna transition back into worship.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, get on your feet.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna worship.
SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I forgot to say that.
SPEAKER_02: Everyone stand up.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna worship.
SPEAKER_01: Upon the throat, majesty, surrounded by anything.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's worthy.
SPEAKER_01: Holy wonderful morals, glory, solemn, righteous and mighty.
SPEAKER_01: We praise you, we gift you, we magnify, we glorify, we exalt you, we store, we're extra, righteous and mighty.
SPEAKER_01: We extort you, we examine you.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_02: And amen.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, let's give it up for the students who confess things tonight.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: Scripture says when we are bold enough to confess with our mouths, our Lord heals us.
SPEAKER_02: So, students who confess tonight, my challenge to you, just keep showing up at the altar every single week that you need it.
SPEAKER_02: Because God made you a promise when he said he would heal you if you confess.
SPEAKER_02: And our God does not break promises.
SPEAKER_02: He does not break promises.
SPEAKER_02: So as long as you need it, these altars are open every single week.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I will never look at you with shame if every single week I see you standing at the altar.
SPEAKER_02: I'd rather you do that than just melt away in sadness all by yourself.
SPEAKER_02: So these altars are always open.
SPEAKER_02: One more time.
SPEAKER_02: Can we just give it up for Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: Sweet.
SPEAKER_02: Alright, y'all.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I got a couple announcements for us tonight.
SPEAKER_02: First and foremost, guys, small group kickoff is September 14th.
SPEAKER_02: You do not want to miss it.
SPEAKER_02: September 14th.
SPEAKER_02: Small group, we are all about community here at the collective.
SPEAKER_02: We believe small groups change lives.
SPEAKER_02: So make sure you're here September 14th to get connected to a small group.
SPEAKER_02: Next, follow us on socials if you're not already.
SPEAKER_02: Guys, we got Instagram, we got TikTok, we got all of our sermons are uploaded on all podcast platforms.
SPEAKER_02: So you can just look up the uh the collective college ministry on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere, and you'll you can have our sermons or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02: So follow us on socials if you're not already.
SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, okay, well, losing my voice.
SPEAKER_02: Um, next, student leadership team.
SPEAKER_02: Student leadership team, oh student leadership team.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, hold on.
SPEAKER_02: Pause for dramatic effect.
SPEAKER_02: Student leadership team, applications are open.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't know, our ministry is ran by a team of student leaders.
SPEAKER_02: So if you are like looking to just get more dis directly discipled, looking for leadership opportunities or anything like that, you can scan that QR code.
SPEAKER_02: It'll take you to an application that you can fill out.
SPEAKER_02: Applications closed September 14th.
SPEAKER_02: We love our student leaders, so make sure you sign up if you are at all interested.
SPEAKER_02: Next, next week, this is very important.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all listen up.
SPEAKER_02: Next week, our church is kicking off seven days of prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_02: Seven days of prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_02: So, next Monday, we will all be gathering in this sanctuary where at six o'clock when?
SPEAKER_02: 6 p.m.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna be gathering in here for our prayer service.
SPEAKER_02: Guys, I want all of us to show up and just show our church how much the next generation loves Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I just want us to show up as ourselves and just pray hell away for all of our church and for the city of Greensboro.
SPEAKER_02: So next Monday, we are having seven days of prayer and fasting.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to fast, I'll be fasting for all next week.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to join me, it's gonna be it's it's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_02: Um, but guys, remember next Monday, six o'clock, in here for prayer service.
SPEAKER_02: All right, that's all the announcements I got.
SPEAKER_02: Guys, we got a cereal bar outside.
SPEAKER_02: So y'all help yourselves.
SPEAKER_02: I love you.
SPEAKER_02: See you next week.
SPEAKER_02: Or see you at seven days of prayer.