SPEAKER_00: You're listening to this week's edition of the road.
SPEAKER_01: Intimacy with God equals strength of vision.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Intimacy with God equals strength of vision.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not willing to be intimate with God, you will never discover God's purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_01: It's that simple.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you can you can look at the way you're wired and think you know your gifts, and you can say, well, because of this, I should do this, this, and this, but I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: That that's more our our own idea of what we should be doing than it is.
SPEAKER_01: God, you're gonna get in trouble.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna chase down rabbit trails.
SPEAKER_01: You need to follow this flow, guys, in order to be sure that you're following God's purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_00: At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world.
SPEAKER_00: For more information on the road, visit theroad.org.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you are encouraged by today's message.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, guys, it's a it's a privilege to be able to speak with you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh if you've got your Bible or your tablet with you or your uh iPhone, just turn to Jude 17.
SPEAKER_01: Jude verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: There's only one chapter in Jude 17 through 22.
SPEAKER_01: Let me read this to you and highlight something.
SPEAKER_01: It says, But dear friends, now he's talking about us.
SPEAKER_01: Remember that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold, they said to you, In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.
SPEAKER_01: These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you think that sounds pretty familiar?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's kind of where we are today, is it not?
SPEAKER_01: Even within the body of Christ, by the way, we're seeing, you know, uh big chasms in the body of Christ, people that are really interested in having God's Spirit be the force behind their movement, and those who just want to do it the world's way.
SPEAKER_01: But you, dear friends, talking to us, underline these next four words.
SPEAKER_01: By building yourselves up, say those words with me.
SPEAKER_01: By building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, underline this keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: I'll skip the last part for the sake of time.
SPEAKER_01: But guys, that this is very, very important.
SPEAKER_01: We we're living in a weird, odd time.
SPEAKER_01: This is a critical time for our nation.
SPEAKER_01: And the secret is whether or not we're going to be positioned properly, have God's power, and enter into his purpose, and that's what I want to unpack.
SPEAKER_01: Now, about a month ago, well, it was right after the election.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you guys get my newsletters.
SPEAKER_01: Our website is OTM for on target ministries.co.
SPEAKER_01: I'll mention that again in a moment when it comes to the gift test.
SPEAKER_01: But on there, we release an article every month.
SPEAKER_01: The article right after the election was the eye of the storm.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you may have read that.
SPEAKER_01: And I and what I said back then is that we've gone through the election, and right now we can anticipate that we're going to be in the eye of the storm.
SPEAKER_01: And you know how the storm works.
SPEAKER_01: There's a bunch of radical stuff that comes through and destruction, and that's what happened just before the election.
SPEAKER_01: You remember that?
SPEAKER_01: All the riots, all the disruption in the streets, and then all of a sudden, interestingly, it all died down.
SPEAKER_01: When it appeared that Joe Biden was winning the election, and it actually won.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so now we're in the eye of the storm.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm saying the eye of the storm is going to continue for a little while longer, and then the rest of the storm is going to come through.
SPEAKER_01: And there are two potential outcomes for the balance of the storm.
SPEAKER_01: One is going to be radical, and by that I mean if for some reason President Trump is uh is inaugurated and back in office, which by the way, it's just my own personal opinion, I believe is probably what will happen.
SPEAKER_01: But if that happens, guys, uh how many of you know it's gonna be ugly?
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be really ugly.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to be prepared for that storm coming through if that happens.
SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't happen, and the and the the people who want to destroy our nation and take us into communism take over, the the storm is still gonna come through, but it's gonna be slower.
SPEAKER_01: And over time, we're gonna lose our religious freedom.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna lose our message is not compatible with the world's.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know that?
SPEAKER_01: And when the world and the authority of the world is in control, they can do a lot to suppress us, which has to do with why the new direction of our church is being rolled out.
SPEAKER_01: What we're planning on doing is rolling out something that will insulate ourselves as a body and make us effective no matter which outcome is there.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if you if you guys don't talk to me, I'm gonna I'm gonna go home.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, you don't need to applaud.
SPEAKER_01: You did, and but if you're gonna applaud it, you know, a standing ovation would be nice, you know?
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, so so so here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the first part of this is is our understanding our position in Him.
SPEAKER_01: You will never discover, listen to me, your destiny until you first discover your identity.
SPEAKER_01: You'll never be able to know where God is leading you until you first know who you are, who you are in the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And it says in the Bible that we are, when we are in Christ, all things, how many things?
SPEAKER_01: All things are new, but that can't happen unless we're in him, unless we're abiding in him.
SPEAKER_01: That's why, again, those three nights that we're talking about are so important.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to read a few Bible verses to you on this section and then move on, because in order for you to truly understand who you are in Christ, you need to appropriate his power to do so, and we'll get to that in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: But in 1 John 4, 13 and 16, and by the way, I'm there's a lot more in the app, in our notes, that are there that I'm not sharing today.
SPEAKER_01: So for those of you who are operating 242 groups and you're taking our notes, there are discussion questions in there that won't be uh released today, but you're in there in the app.
SPEAKER_01: So there's more to study if you go there.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna skip through some of these verses for the purpose of time.
SPEAKER_01: First John 4, 13 and 16, this is how we know that we live in him and he in us.
SPEAKER_01: He has given us of his spirit, and we have seen and testified that the Father has sent his son to be the Savior of the world.
SPEAKER_01: If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
SPEAKER_01: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
SPEAKER_01: Galatians 2 10.
SPEAKER_01: I've been crucified with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, I've died to myself, okay, and I no longer live, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
SPEAKER_01: That's the goal, guys.
SPEAKER_01: It's for us to die and for Christ to live in us.
SPEAKER_01: The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
SPEAKER_01: Colossians 3, 1 to 4.
SPEAKER_01: Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_01: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, for you died, listen, and your life is now hidden.
SPEAKER_01: The translation of that word literally means secure.
SPEAKER_01: You're now secure in Christ, with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.
SPEAKER_01: And then 2 Corinthians 5.17 says this.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a what?
SPEAKER_01: Say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Are you in Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Then you are a new creation.
SPEAKER_01: Have any of you ever heard of a butterfly uh being referred to as a converted worm?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have to think about that.
SPEAKER_01: You're not a converted alcoholic.
SPEAKER_01: You're not a converted lustful person, angry person, cheater, liar.
SPEAKER_01: You're new.
SPEAKER_01: Because the next eight words in my translation say the old has gone.
SPEAKER_01: In this translation, the old things have passed away.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, all things have become new.
SPEAKER_01: The old has gone.
SPEAKER_01: What?
SPEAKER_01: The new has come.
SPEAKER_01: When we are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So the idea of being in him.
SPEAKER_01: And what it takes to be in him is the power of God, is the Holy Spirit operating in our life.
SPEAKER_01: So the next area has to do with appropriating the power.
SPEAKER_01: The power that I need to live this kind of life has to come from him.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know in your own flesh you can only get so far?
SPEAKER_01: It's okay to make a commitment, but I I don't know about you, but I need the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to follow through, be able to do it right.
SPEAKER_01: This is an excerpt from a devotional I read just the other day.
SPEAKER_01: It's out of Streams in the Desert, I believe.
SPEAKER_01: I forgot what day it was, but it's out of Acts 19, 15, where it says, And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know.
SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: You remember the story?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: It goes on to say, There is no second-hand spirituality.
SPEAKER_01: No one else can develop Christian maturity on your behalf.
SPEAKER_01: A strong Christian heritage is an asset, but it cannot take the place of your own vibrant, growing relationship with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Many of us wish that there were substitutes that we could get there, but there's no substitute.
SPEAKER_01: Paul had a powerful walk with God.
SPEAKER_01: God used him so mightily that extraordinary miracles occurred through his life.
SPEAKER_01: Claws that touched Paul were taken to the sick, and the sick were healed.
SPEAKER_01: Evil spirits were cast out.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's preaching and teaching were instrumental in building a strong church in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's ministry was so impressive, in fact, that others tried to duplicate it.
SPEAKER_01: You can duplicate the words and deeds of a spiritually mature Christian, but you cannot inherit his or her walk with God.
SPEAKER_01: Christian maturity takes effort.
SPEAKER_01: It comes over time.
SPEAKER_01: If you ignore the place of prayer and if you neglect your relationship with Christ, you will not grow in your faith.
SPEAKER_01: Imitating the faith of others will not give you victory.
SPEAKER_01: Only as you nurture your own relationship, let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Only as you nurture your own relationship with Jesus will your life be filled with spiritual maturity and power.
SPEAKER_01: So it begs the question: how do I do that?
SPEAKER_01: How do I get to a place in my life where I can appropriate God's power?
SPEAKER_01: And I'll tell you, Paul is another good example of the first thing that we need to do, and it's really difficult.
SPEAKER_01: What I'm about to share is very, very difficult for us.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, in 2 Corinthians 12, 7 to 11, here's what the story uh how it unfolds.
SPEAKER_01: It's talking about to Paul's talking to keep me from being becoming conceited because of the surpassingly great revelation.
SPEAKER_01: There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know what that was, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away, but he said to me, Listen, my grace is sufficient for you.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because my power is made perfect in weakness.
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
SPEAKER_01: Is that counterintuitive or what?
SPEAKER_01: It really is.
SPEAKER_01: And I love Paul, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: The minute Paul gets it, you notice what he does.
SPEAKER_01: He completely flips.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Okay, now that I understand that, uh, Lord, this this is this is great, great.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, now I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
SPEAKER_01: That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, I I don't know about you, but that's so hard for us to grasp, is it not?
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know about you, but I sure would like to be a lot more like Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my image, here's my my illustration of Paul.
SPEAKER_01: No matter what anybody threw at Paul, he didn't care, did he?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, when it came to difficulties and trials and struggles, here was Paul's attitude with regard to no matter what anybody wanted to throw at him.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I think uh his posture was.
SPEAKER_01: Bring it on.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not so sure I'm quite there.
SPEAKER_01: But I am a lot further along than I used to be.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, we were at Steve's house, uh, all the pastoral team, Steve went around the table, and uh and he and he asked all of us to share what was the positive thing and negative thing about uh uh night uh 2020.
SPEAKER_01: And so everybody kind of went, and I kind of went last and I said, uh 2020 was one of the most exciting years of my life because I'm a little bit strange, but I thrive on crisis.
SPEAKER_01: I love crisis because they're up there.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody looked at me and said, Daccioli, you are weird, man.
SPEAKER_01: Uh because I think that there are great opportunities for us to discover the new thing and the solutions that God has.
SPEAKER_01: So I love things like that, but but I'm not quite where Paul is.
SPEAKER_01: Bring on everything, not quite there.
SPEAKER_01: But he understood his absolute poverty.
SPEAKER_01: But I what Paul is saying is the word here is humility.
SPEAKER_01: And that's really what I believe Jesus is looking for in all of us is humility.
SPEAKER_01: It's an understanding of where we begin and end and where he begins to take over.
SPEAKER_01: Tyrone Edwards says, humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit.
SPEAKER_01: It's but a right attitude of myself as God sees me.
SPEAKER_01: So that's really seeing yourself through God's eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And I've discovered along the way that my proximity to God is in direct proportion to my distance from Vince.
SPEAKER_01: The closer I am to this guy, the further I am away from God.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_01: The more it becomes about me.
SPEAKER_01: Steve talked about this, I think, last week.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want my world, I don't want my ideas, I want God's ideas.
SPEAKER_01: And I have to continually remind myself that the only way I'm going to get that kind of relationship is to be empty of me.
SPEAKER_01: When I'm empty of myself, then there's a vacuum there that God's Spirit can fill.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what he desires from all of us, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So the idea here is that we get we draw near to God.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is, and I can truly draw near to God, and I love God by Mark 12.30 says, I love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
SPEAKER_01: How do I do that?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, guys.
SPEAKER_01: We listen, if you're a regular part of this church and you've been Christian for a while, no one has to teach you how to do that.
SPEAKER_01: You already know how to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked here before about the difference between ignorance and stupidity.
SPEAKER_01: You guys know the difference.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, stupid uh you know, ignorance is when you don't know any better.
SPEAKER_01: Stupidity is when you know better and you and you don't do it anyway.
SPEAKER_01: We know we need to spend time together with God, reading the word, praying, praising him, because that's the only way we're going to be able to have God's power and strength.
SPEAKER_01: We must schedule time with him.
SPEAKER_01: David wrote in Psalm 25, 15, My eyes are ever on the Lord, always, for only He will release my feet from the snare.
SPEAKER_01: He knew where his power came from and his protection and provision came from.
SPEAKER_01: He knew God hears and responds.
SPEAKER_01: He he knew God rewards those who seek him.
SPEAKER_01: And he knew even though it wasn't written then the promise of James 4.8.
SPEAKER_01: Come near to God and what?
SPEAKER_01: What?
SPEAKER_01: What's the finish that?
SPEAKER_01: Come near to God and he will what?
SPEAKER_01: Come on, draw near to you.
SPEAKER_01: Intimacy with God is the secret here for appropriating his power.
SPEAKER_01: And here's a formula that I want to share with you that I've been trying to violate for most of my life, which leads into the last time part.
SPEAKER_01: Intimacy with God equals strength of vision.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say it again.
SPEAKER_01: Intimacy with God equals strength of vision.
SPEAKER_01: If you're not willing to be intimate with God, you will never discover God's purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_01: It's that simple.
SPEAKER_01: You can look at the way you're wired and think you know your gifts, and you can say, well, because of this, I should do this, this, and this.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm sorry, that's more our our own idea of what we should be doing than it is, God's, you're gonna get in trouble and you're gonna chase down rabbit trails.
SPEAKER_01: You need to follow this flow, guys, in order to be sure that you're following God's purpose for your life.
SPEAKER_01: Oswald Chambers says this the goal is not to do work for God, but to be so intimate with him that he can do his work through you.
SPEAKER_01: To be so intimate with God that you become God's instrument.
SPEAKER_01: You become God's vision.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a natural flow that goes right through your life.
SPEAKER_01: But it comes out of intimacy with him.
SPEAKER_01: And intimacy can't happen in a crowd.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to have an intimate relationship with God if you think that uh being in church today is your God thing for Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: It's not your God thing.
SPEAKER_01: Your God thing is alone time with God.
SPEAKER_01: Spending time, just you and him, hearing his voice.
SPEAKER_01: This is a great time to come together for celebration.
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
SPEAKER_01: It's a great time to come together for teaching and for uh going to classes and all those things, but there's nothing that substitutes for your alone private time with God.
SPEAKER_01: And anybody that's done that for for years will tell you, it changes your life, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Very, very important.
SPEAKER_01: Oswald Chambers, one of my great quotes, it says, God will not do any more through you than you first allow him to do in you.
SPEAKER_01: So it's all about allowing him to have his way in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians, now we'll go into a purpose.
SPEAKER_01: In Ephesians 118, it says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the in the saints.
SPEAKER_01: And that's our prayer.
SPEAKER_01: The prayer for me is a prayer for all of us, that we may know the hope to which he has called us, the direction he has called us.
SPEAKER_01: In John 15, 16, listen to this.
SPEAKER_01: You did not choose me, but I chose you.
SPEAKER_01: Every one of you, God has chosen you.
SPEAKER_01: You're special in his eyes.
SPEAKER_01: He's crazy about you.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta get this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: He's chosen you and appointed you so that you might go and bear what?
SPEAKER_01: What's the word?
SPEAKER_01: Say it again.
SPEAKER_01: The whole purpose of our life, guys, is to bear fruit.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about our work, it's not about even our families or our possessions.
SPEAKER_01: He we're here to bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that wherever you what whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do I discover my purpose?
SPEAKER_01: My there are two parts.
SPEAKER_01: My personal purpose, what the way God wired me uniquely, and my corporate purpose or our corporate purpose as a body.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just focus on your personal purpose for just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: It's very important.
SPEAKER_01: I I wrote a book in the early 90s or mid-90s called Wired to Work, answering the two most important questions in life.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Jay is researching that book right now because we're in the middle of rewriting it and bringing it up to date.
SPEAKER_01: Um, answering the two most important questions in life.
SPEAKER_01: And the two questions are how and why.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, how did you make me uniquely?
SPEAKER_01: How am I wired?
SPEAKER_01: In other words, Lord, when you look at me, what do you see?
SPEAKER_01: How many of you wouldn't want the answer to that question?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And then once I know that, Lord, then why?
SPEAKER_01: Why did you make me?
SPEAKER_01: We gotta understand how God made us and for what purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: The first part of doing that is to get to know who you are.
SPEAKER_01: Now on our website, otm.co, on the very front page there's a button you can hit to take a natural gift test.
SPEAKER_01: There are the gifts that are found in Romans.
SPEAKER_01: It takes 15 or 20 minutes, and I encourage you to go take that test.
SPEAKER_01: I think it may be on the road website too, because everybody on our staff and all of our volunteers take that test and the results go into their file.
SPEAKER_01: We we have a better idea of how God wired them uniquely so we know where to better position them.
SPEAKER_01: So if you need help uh deciphering the results, let me know and we'll we'll help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_01: But I would do that.
SPEAKER_01: And I would also say if you're not sure of who you are, uh talk to people who know you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh ask questions.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a pastor at our church here, maybe it's a family member, somebody you work for.
SPEAKER_01: But ask questions.
SPEAKER_01: When you see me, what do you see?
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, I suggest you don't just ask that question of your safe Christian friends.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you do, you'll have a very warped sense of who you are.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know God can speak through non-Christians as well?
SPEAKER_01: What do you see when you look at me?
SPEAKER_01: Well, how do you think I'm wired?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't usually share this, but I feel like I should share this.
SPEAKER_01: Years ago, I did that with Pastor Jack Hayford.
SPEAKER_01: Do you guys know who he is?
SPEAKER_01: Most of you know Jack Hayford is a is like, oh whoa, man, he's like almost like the Pope.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's he's up there.
SPEAKER_01: And so I was with him for years.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember being at lunch with Jack one day, and I said, Jack, when you look at me, what do you see?
SPEAKER_01: That's a dangerous question to ask a guy like that, you know?
SPEAKER_01: And so he looks at me, and he gets this look on his face, and and is a salt and pepper shaker on the table.
SPEAKER_01: So he picks up the pepper shaper and he says, You see this?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: He says, This is product.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: You like product.
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea where he's going, you know.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You know why you like product?
SPEAKER_01: I said, No, why?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Because you know how to buy the raw material, you know how to manufacture it, to put it together, you know how to package it, you know how to price it, you know how to distribute it, you know how to market it, you know how to advertise it, you know how to sell it.
SPEAKER_01: You can control the product.
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm thinking, not sure I'm gonna like this evaluation, you know.
SPEAKER_01: And then then he picks up the salt shaker and he says, You see this?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: He said, This is fruit.
SPEAKER_01: You don't like fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Well, it just so happens I don't really care for fruit that much, but that's not what he meant, you know.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You know why you don't like fruit?
SPEAKER_01: I said, No, I'm sure you're gonna tell me.
SPEAKER_01: He so he begins to describe.
SPEAKER_01: Fruit at the cellular level and how it grows and what it does and what it produces and how it nourishes.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was like unbelievable.
SPEAKER_01: I had a whole new appreciation for fruit, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I still don't like it, but I had a whole new appreciation.
SPEAKER_01: And so he's and then he finishes all that, and I'm still clueless where he's going.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I see you as a tiger becoming a lion.
SPEAKER_01: By that time I'd had it.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Okay, timeout.
SPEAKER_01: Please explain the zoological implications of that.
SPEAKER_01: And so he begins to describe the difference between a tiger and a lion.
SPEAKER_01: I had never heard this before.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes on to say how a tiger is just as skillful a hunter as the lion.
SPEAKER_01: But a tiger is not familiar.
SPEAKER_01: They don't go in packs, they're not family-oriented where the lion is.
SPEAKER_01: And he begins to describe the majesty of the lion.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, this is the man, if you don't know, that wrote the song Majesty.
SPEAKER_01: Worship his majesty.
SPEAKER_01: This is the man who wrote that.
SPEAKER_01: And he's written about five other songs.
SPEAKER_01: And he begins to, and then he says, You've never heard Jesus referred to as the tiger of Judah.
SPEAKER_01: He's referred to as the Lion of Judah, and here's why.
SPEAKER_01: Blew me away.
SPEAKER_01: What he was recognizing is something that needed to happen in me before I knew it, of a release of my way of controlling things and allowing more and more of the Holy Spirit to take charge of my life and being more free.
SPEAKER_01: And guys, I'd like to say that I got it right after he talked with me.
SPEAKER_01: It took years.
SPEAKER_01: But I would have never had the richness of that information had I not asked the question.
SPEAKER_01: So let me encourage you, be out there.
SPEAKER_01: Find out what other people think.
SPEAKER_01: There's a rich treasure trove of information that can really help you move forward.
SPEAKER_01: And then ask God, pray, God, show me, show me what is how because here I've said this before.
SPEAKER_01: Your gifts, the way God wired you.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen, we're going to move into the corporate part here as we close.
SPEAKER_01: Your gifts on the gateway God wired you, guys, for many of you, and they're very talented people, God's bringing to our church.
SPEAKER_01: The biggest challenge we have here is how to uh put you guys to work, how to get you in the right places to move forward.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and we're working on that.
SPEAKER_01: We want to get to know you.
SPEAKER_01: We want to get to know what your gifts are, because your gifts and abilities are on a collision course with the destiny of our church.
SPEAKER_01: And if we don't do a good job of marrying those two, we're not going to be nearly as effective as we could be.
SPEAKER_01: So that's the challenge we have out in front of us.
SPEAKER_01: Now, moving forward, our vision, I thought we had a slide on this, but I guess we don't.
SPEAKER_01: But our vision, let me just remind you, is a kingdom revolution in the Rockies.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, there it is, a kingdom revolution in the Rockies that cannot be brought about without the successful completion of our mission.
SPEAKER_01: The mission is how we're going to do it, empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: So, I mentioned it before.
SPEAKER_01: Our vision and mission don't change, but how we do that does, and we'll get to that.
SPEAKER_01: So, as we're moving forward and we're examining the two different directions that the culture is going, we've come to the conclusion that there are two primary focuses going into 2021.
SPEAKER_01: The first, and perhaps most important, is what we call our 242 groups.
SPEAKER_01: Our 242 groups, if you read Acts 242, you'll get an idea of the four things that need to happen.
SPEAKER_01: They came together for the apostles' teachings, for breaking of bread, all the for prayer, all that stuff is in there.
SPEAKER_01: I won't unpack that right now.
SPEAKER_01: We'll do that later.
SPEAKER_01: But the 242 groups are very important.
SPEAKER_01: Now, many of you are already involved in 242 groups, but not nearly enough of us.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, guys, let me say this as clearly and plainly as I can.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a member, if you're a body of this body of the Road of Chapel Hills, you need to be in a community group.
SPEAKER_01: Because there could be a day when those community groups are forced to become house churches.
SPEAKER_01: Because realistically, there could be a time.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know that there are still some churches that are shut down?
SPEAKER_01: They're obeying the governor's orders.
SPEAKER_01: We're violating them in many ways, and they don't really want that fight right now.
SPEAKER_01: But what happens if a majority of churches end up following that course?
SPEAKER_01: Do you know the only church that survived in the Soviet Union was the politically correct government church?
SPEAKER_01: The real church had to go underground.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a possibility that that could happen.
SPEAKER_01: So what are we doing to prepare for that?
SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't happen, great.
SPEAKER_01: We still 242 groups are great.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be meeting in our communities.
SPEAKER_01: You want a Kingdom Revolution in Colorado Springs?
SPEAKER_01: You know, uh, maybe we need to reevaluate the attraction model.
SPEAKER_01: You know, Amazon did.
SPEAKER_01: They're blowing people away.
SPEAKER_01: Instead of you having to come to a big box and do all that, you stay home and we'll bring it to you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, what if we do that?
SPEAKER_01: Think of what we could do in our neighborhoods if we start meeting in our neighborhoods.
SPEAKER_01: My neighbor is here today, one of my neighbors.
SPEAKER_01: And uh we're we're talking about, we're talking together about uh forming a group right in our neighborhood.
SPEAKER_01: Talk about advancing the kingdom of God right there with people who aren't saved.
SPEAKER_01: Guys, we need to get serious about this.
SPEAKER_01: Are you not part of a 242 group?
SPEAKER_01: There's gonna be a sign-up right after this service.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Pastor Al uh will be at the table.
SPEAKER_01: Pastor Al and maybe some other folks, we've got to sign up for people who want to be part of a group and people who want to be leaders.
SPEAKER_01: We're desperate for leaders.
SPEAKER_01: We'll train you, we'll equip you, we'll get a hold of you and get you involved, and we'll do it by zip code if we have to.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever we have to do, we'll find a way to connect you.
SPEAKER_01: But we need you guys to get serious about this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And don't worry about whether you're prepared or whether you're not prepared.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, guys, don't let the devil intimidate you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you're not spiritual, I'm sure enough.
SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
SPEAKER_01: What do you think of the disciples?
SPEAKER_01: Do you think they were prepared?
SPEAKER_01: You think they went to Bible college?
SPEAKER_01: No, they hung out with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: If you're hanging out with Jesus, that's all you have to be concerned with.
SPEAKER_01: We'll take care of the rest.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to encourage you.
SPEAKER_01: 242 group is very important.
SPEAKER_01: And the second thing is uh you guys remember Outlier University when we had that here?
SPEAKER_01: We had some classes that were going on.
SPEAKER_01: This was about a year and a half, two years ago.
SPEAKER_01: We want to get back to equipping.
SPEAKER_01: So Steve came up with this name because it's based on our mission statement, empowering people to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna call it Empower You.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna see much more on Empower You in the in the days and weeks and months to come.
SPEAKER_01: We are right now, we have to raise some significant dollars to equip our facility for what we're getting ready to do.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna equip that chapel, it's gonna be state-of-the-art uh recording equipment and ability to take content providers, which many of you are by the way, that have good messages, and even people in our community that we may not even know yet, that we can bring in and start to do thoughtful series and communications that can go out into the world and really impact the world through social media and through networking and electronically as well as in person.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna have classes that will go out go on throughout the week, and uh it's gonna be incredible.
SPEAKER_01: Steve and Steve was talking to me the other day about doing stuff like little, you know, you guys familiar with TED Talks, little brief talks.
SPEAKER_01: We're kind of doing that at AIM.
SPEAKER_01: If you by the way, you men, if you're not part of AIM, you need to consider getting involved with that every Tuesday morning from 6 to 7, 15.
SPEAKER_01: We had almost a hundred guys there last week.
SPEAKER_01: It's just been incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And uh this Tuesday we'll be talking about launching into this new year and hearing some testimonies.
SPEAKER_01: I encourage you to come.
SPEAKER_01: But um, in order, you've got to get involved with all of these sorts of things because that's what's going to that's what's going to equip us going forward.
SPEAKER_01: So little TED talks, because we're only doing like 15-minute messages now, not 30, 40-minute messages in these different classes.
SPEAKER_01: So that's what we're trying to evolve here.
SPEAKER_01: If some of you have an arrow through your heart for that, and you want to help us financially or in any other way, please let me know, and we'll get you involved.
SPEAKER_01: So here's the challenge I want to offer to you during our worship time.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be talking about abiding.
SPEAKER_01: But when it gets to the center of the flow, which is Jesus and you, you are the branches, he is the vine.
SPEAKER_01: The idea is that we get our source from him in the same way that the grapevine gets the sap in order to produce the fruit.
SPEAKER_01: We get the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit in order to produce the fruit he's calling us to produce.
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes, as a result of just living life, we end up with some dead branches.
SPEAKER_01: And how many of you know in a grapevine situation that every year they have to prune those dead branches?
SPEAKER_01: They actually prune it down to one inch stub because that's what's needed in order for the freshness and for new fruit to hang on to it to grow.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have some dead branches.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times those dead branches don't have to be necessarily really bad or ugly stuff or bad sin in your life, although for for many of us that could be the case.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the dead branches could just be the result of actually doing ministry and thinking, Moy, I did some good things when listen, God might be calling you to prune that branch because he's got a new thing.
SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you to consider something.
SPEAKER_01: I know that we all need to be focused on this position, power, and purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe ask the Lord to help you in whatever area you need help with, but also, Lord, what are the dead branches you want me to leave here?
SPEAKER_01: Because, guys, we can't take those branches because, in the very same way, if that branch stays there, if they don't prune those dead branches, guess what?
SPEAKER_01: It takes up a disproportionate amount of sap to feed that dead branch, and the real fruit is never produced.
SPEAKER_01: The same thing will happen in your life and my life.
SPEAKER_01: If we don't prune that away, it'll take too much of what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us to be directed in those areas when God wants us to prune it away, clear it away, and see that new thing that He wants to do.
SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to The Road.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you have been blessed by today's message.
SPEAKER_00: To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.
SPEAKER_00: If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Go to the road.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in today, and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road.