WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.919 Well, I sent a lot of us an email saying, uh, be here, it's an important morning. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:05.519 I'm sure a lot who got that email? 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:05.919 Anyone? 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:06.879 Okay, good. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.000 We check our email. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:08.960 This is good. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.000 I'll let you know I've learned lessons uh in life. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:18.640 One of the lessons I've learned, I learned it this week, is that when you say the word important, some people go, is something is something bad going on? 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.160 And it's funny, I was talking to a friend of mine, I said, hey, I've had a couple people email me, like, is everything okay? 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:25.199 And I'm like, oh yeah, it's awesome. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:25.760 Everything's great. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:27.039 I can't wait for Sunday. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:39.119 And I asked my friend, I said, Well, it's not if I asked you to meet me in my office, and we don't really have offices, we have cubicles, but if I said meet me in my cubicle for a very close personal meeting, uh, we have something important to talk about, you wouldn't assume it was bad, would you? 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:40.880 And he's like, Well, actually, yeah, I would. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.320 I said, Oh, okay, well, duly noted. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:48.159 So this morning, it's gonna be a great morning. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:49.840 I'm so excited that you're here. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:58.000 We're gonna spend some time talking together about where we are as a church and where we're going and what it's gonna take to get there. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.960 And if it's your first time or if you're relatively new, I do have a few disclaimers. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:04.480 I just want to be upfront and honest. 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.799 Number one, I'm gonna talk a lot longer than I normally do, and I'm really sorry. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.599 Rather than just go and have you start looking at your watch and wonder if I know. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:14.000 I know. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:16.400 We've kind of readjusted the whole morning around that. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:21.439 So normally there's more worship, less guy on stage talking, so don't worry, this is not the usual. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:28.560 Number two, we're gonna spend a lot of time talking uh amongst ourselves as part of his hands. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:35.200 Those of us that have said, This is my church, this is where I get closer to God, where I want to be invested in. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.599 And I say that because we don't spend a lot of time as a church talking about ourselves. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:43.840 We're way too busy talking about Jesus to talk about ourselves. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:48.400 But every once in a while it's important for us to say, hey, let's let's look at where we are and let's look at where we're going. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:02:08.879 And number three, just in the in the mindset of being upfront and honest, we're gonna talk about some of the things it is gonna take for us to move forward and go where God is asking us to go as a church, and that's gonna include some commitments in terms of serving on teams, and it's gonna include some commitments, maybe for the first time ever, maybe a renewed commitment to support what we're doing here financially. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:16.240 And let me just say this: if you are new, we talk about money less than any church I've ever been a part of, and it's not even close. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.080 And it's for a really simple reason. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:27.599 If you're tired of church being about what they can get from you versus what we can give to you, we share that same frustration. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.479 And if you've been here for a while, you know that. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:40.639 But we are gonna talk about some things that we need to do, some opportunities that we have to make sure that the vision of this church moves forward. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:45.039 And I'm so excited, I'm so glad that you're here this morning because this is very, very important. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:48.000 And again, that word, it's a good word, important. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:52.000 I've been a part of his hands for eight years. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:56.800 And uh I've spent almost a third of my life working at this church. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.960 It's gone by really, really fast. 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.560 I tell people all the time, I really believe that I'm a lifer. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.599 I I came to this church, I love this church. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:06.639 God can do anything. 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.599 My life's in his hands, but but this is this is my home. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:21.439 And the last eight years have gone by so fast, I really can't wait to see what the next 10, the next 20 have in store to be a dad and know that this is the place that my children are gonna grow up and learn about Jesus. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.280 I had some friends over uh the other night, and we were sitting in our living room talking about Jesus because we're just like that. 00:03:27.360 --> 00:03:30.800 And all of a sudden, my son, who's four, decided to join the conversation. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.520 And so he sat on the fireplace and he started sharing about Jesus. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:35.039 And he said some really profound things. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:40.000 He said, You know, Jesus is in my heart and he loves me, and I'm gonna get to go to heaven. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:42.560 I don't have to worry about dying because I'm gonna go to heaven. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.520 And he's gonna give me a submarine, and I'm not. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:55.280 And then he looked up at me as if in a question, will I need the helmet in the submarine or not? 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.800 And I'm like, I don't, I don't know, but you know, I love that. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:05.759 And and the truth is, everything he shared about Jesus, he actually did share some really profound things, but it's all things that he has learned being a part of this church. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.800 He loves Jesus and he knows that Jesus loves him. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:15.439 And if that's the foundation he has for the rest of his life, I'm so so excited to see what God does. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.519 That happens every single week here. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.279 I love this place. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:27.519 I first heard about his hands uh by receiving a phone call from a friend of mine that knew I desired to work with young people at a church. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:29.120 I wanted to work with students. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:30.480 Uh, pretty immature person. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.879 I I'll just full disclosure, I love playing video games. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:39.360 I buy them for my son so we can spend quality time together playing Mario Kart until 1 a.m. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:40.639 It's just I'm a good dad. 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:45.279 But but I wanted to work with young people, and he knew that, and he heard about his hands. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.199 He got a chance to kind of see this place, and he called me up. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:49.839 He said, Justin, you need to check out his hands. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.680 This is an interesting place. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.920 And then he said a phrase I'll never forget. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:59.199 He said, I just have to warn you though, it's not a normal church. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:02.959 And that amen. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.319 There are uh there are plenty of normal churches, I agree. 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:10.800 And so it piqued my curiosity. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:12.000 I'm like, what does he mean by that? 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:13.519 It's not a normal church. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:14.480 Is it a weird church? 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.800 I really don't want to be part of a weird church. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:21.920 And we came, we checked it out, and we walked away that first morning, knowing he was absolutely right. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:23.920 This is not a normal church. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.480 This is not an ordinary church. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.680 We left here blown away, saying, This place is extraordinary. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:31.439 This place is it's unique. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:41.120 And so over the next few years, I sort of slowly absorbed what the vision of this church is, what his hands is really about. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:42.480 And it's very different. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:44.879 It's a very unique thing. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.600 And if you're anything like me, I have a difficult time explaining unique things. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:55.279 If someone asks me about a band that I like and they're kind of unique, they're a little different, I'm terrible at explaining to them what it is. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:04.079 Or if it's a movie or a TV show or just some experience that it's hard to define, it's it's hard to put into a category, I have a difficult time explaining that. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:12.560 And so I would bet you there are hundreds of people that will never come to this place because I did such a terrible job explaining to them what it was about when they asked me. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:13.680 Because it's just hard. 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:24.879 I say, okay, well, it's like it's uh it's an awesome church, it's laid back, and and you can kind of wear what you want, and there's great music on the stage, and it's kind of like rock music, but it's not a show, it's not a concert, it's not that, but it's really good. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:26.639 I mean, it's not bad, like it's not a concert. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:29.759 Like, I guess you might pay for it, but it's you're never gonna come. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:31.120 You're never gonna come, I know. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:32.399 That's bad. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:34.800 Just find a church. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:39.920 But you know, that's the thing, isn't it though? 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:49.040 If if you're part of a place, it takes you years sometimes to sort of fully absorb what it really is about. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:07:06.079 And and actually, those of you who are here for the first time or you're relatively new, you could not have picked a better time to be here because even though we are gonna talk a lot about who we are as a church and where we're going, sometimes you have to be at a place for months on end to sort of glean this and glean that and finally put it together what this church actually values. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:08.560 We're gonna have a big dose of that this morning. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:15.360 So it'll help you make that decision much easier, and I hope that you decide to be part of this place because it's changed my life. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:17.600 I tell people all the time. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:24.879 I believed in Jesus long before I came here, but I fell in love with Jesus here. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:28.639 This is where I fell in love with Jesus, and I love this place. 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:46.800 If it helps you, absolutely, now I know I'm not the only one, if it uh if it helps you to have a mental picture to sort of understand what this church really is, I'm sure some of us in the room are very health conscious with what we eat. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.160 I'm sure all of us have tried to be, at least for a day. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:58.240 And if you're one of those people, whenever you buy food at the grocery store, you might pay close attention to what's in that food. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:01.600 You might read the labels, you might look at the ingredient list. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:08.959 And so if his hands as a church had a had a label like you would see at the grocery store, it might look something like this. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:12.560 And so I'd like to talk for just a few seconds. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.319 What are the the key ingredients here? 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.439 What is it that makes this place what it is? 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:24.079 I have four main things that that come to my mind as I think about how special this church is. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:25.680 The first one is Jesus. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:30.560 Didn't think we were gonna go a Sunday and not talk about Jesus, obviously not. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:33.919 Jesus is the main ingredient in this church. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.759 And that seems like a throwaway answer. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:42.399 That seems like the obvious thing, but but in full disclosure, I've spent lots of time in church my whole life, and Jesus was not always the main ingredient. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:56.320 There were a lot of times that the filters we use to decide how we were gonna treat people, the way we were gonna go about telling people about Jesus didn't really seem to line up with Jesus. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:58.240 He wasn't the main ingredient. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:08:59.840 He is the main ingredient here. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:01.519 He always will be. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:03.679 Jesus is pretty bold. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:10.399 He said it himself, you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.399 I love Jesus. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:14.399 He he makes it so simple. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.639 He's basically saying, I'm kind of a big deal, but not in a prideful way. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:24.559 It is about Jesus. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:26.960 Everything we do here is about Jesus. 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:32.960 No matter what we're gonna talk about, no matter what we're gonna focus on, if it's a message series or whatever, our focus is Jesus. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:36.240 We're gonna point to Jesus, we're gonna talk about Jesus. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:42.000 Everything we do is going to be to highlight who Jesus is for every single one of us and for this community. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.759 He is the main ingredient. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.200 If I was gonna list the second thing, I might say genuineness, that's a really hard word to say. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.480 And I assure you it is spelled correctly, but it doesn't look like it is. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:56.000 It's one of those words that you're like, that's that's not how you spell that word. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.960 And so, just for simplicity's sake, we'll say genuine. 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.759 This is the most genuine group of people I have ever been around. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:10.240 And I don't know if if we miss the memo, but you're not supposed to be genuine at church. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:12.480 I learned that growing up. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:13.440 You're just not supposed to be. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:22.320 Apparently, we we didn't get that lesson because when I bump into people from here in the grocery store somewhere, you're the same person you are when we talk on Sundays, and that blows me away. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:22.960 That's amazing. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.960 That's not normal. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:28.639 And I believe it's because there's a safety here. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.879 That we're able to just admit we're we're messed up. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.039 Jesus said, I didn't come for the well, I came for the sick. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:43.360 And we're people that admit that we're sick, and a lot of us are people that just admit we got really good at acting like we were well for a long time. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.679 And so we can be genuine here, we can be exactly who we are. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:52.399 We don't have to become the church versions of ourselves when we're here. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:53.519 And I love that. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:55.840 I know Jesus loves that. 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:00.639 I was gonna add a third thing to the list, I'd say life. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:03.360 This church is full of life. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:05.440 It really is. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:07.440 It's amazing. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:14.639 One of the first things I ever learned as part of this church was a teaching about the tree of life that I'd never heard before. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:21.120 And I grew up in church, I knew all about Adam and Eve and the two trees, and they disobeyed God, and God's very particular about what you eat, I guess. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:25.840 And so he got mad and he kicked him out of the garden, and that's how it all got started, this whole mess that we live in. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:28.960 But I'd never heard a teaching on the tree of life, and it was kind of funny how it happened. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:35.759 Um, I interviewed here, and Steve gave me three message CDs that he wanted me to listen to in like a day's time. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.240 He's like, these three messages really encapsulate what we're about as a church, so I want you to listen to these and then we'll follow up and talk. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:47.200 And I got home and I listened to the first one and then the second one, and I put the third one in, and it was blank. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.600 I remember thinking, is this a test? 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.759 Like, is he gonna ask me, What'd you think of those three? 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:55.200 And I'm like, oh, they were fantastic. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.720 And he's like, aha! One of them was blank, you just lied, you're done. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:03.759 And it turns out, it turns out it was just a mistake. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.519 That other one, I guess I'll never know. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:09.120 I'll never know what was so important about it, but uh, but it wasn't on the CD. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.159 The second one we listened to was a message about the tree of life. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:16.480 And I remember listening to that with Megan and saying, I've never heard this before. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.519 And if you walk around our building, you'll see Marlon's Tree of Life paintings everywhere. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.440 They're very amazing and a perfect picture of what we are as a church. 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:33.039 You can go to the source and grab one if you want for your home, but but they represent what we want to be as a church, and that is a tree of life church. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:42.000 See, to sum it up really quickly, in the garden you had the tree of life, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and God said, Eat from the tree of life, have as much life as you want. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.240 It's amazing. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:48.320 But don't go to that other tree, that tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:55.200 And so the first temptation was not lust or greed or power or any of those normal sins that we might think of. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:57.840 The very first temptation was just to know right from wrong. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.200 Really, it was to settle for simply knowing what to do and what not to do. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.759 And God said, no, no, eat from the tree of life. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:13.039 When I heard that teaching, I realized that as a believer, I'd spent most of my life at the wrong tree. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:22.639 I spent most of my life obsessed and worried about what I should do, what I shouldn't do, what music to listen to, what music not to listen to. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.799 And I was sitting at the wrong tree. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:26.799 And I needed to go to life. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:33.919 Yes, God changes us, and yes, he transforms us and makes us better versions of ourselves, but it's because we're full of life. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:39.279 And as a church, we're gonna sit and eat from the tree of life. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:46.879 And if anyone ever gets frustrated with that, the good news is we can just say, hey, I believe very seriously in obeying God. 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.519 And the very first commandment he gave to his people was not to sit at the tree of life. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:53.279 Nope, tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:54.000 We all make mistakes. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.480 Tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:57.759 That was the first commandment. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:13:59.039 I'm going to obey that commandment. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.120 It's a great filter that we have here. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:11.279 And every once in a while, this is one of the wonderful perks of this role is that uh you get to hear people complain about what we're doing right or what we're doing wrong. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.600 And I actually really enjoy those conversations because uh I, number one, I value people's opinions. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:18.960 Number two, it's a great chance just to hear some opportunities. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.360 Number three, it's a great chance to really solidify what we're about as a church and make some decisions. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.480 I've never heard someone complain that we don't love people enough. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:31.759 I've never heard someone complain that this place isn't full of life. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.879 And when I get complaints about other things, I'll just stop and say, okay, wait, which tree are we gonna sit at? 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.240 Which tree are we gonna eat from? 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:41.440 And it's the tree of life. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:46.080 Jesus said, My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:48.080 That's what we're gonna be about. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.279 If I was gonna add a fourth thing, a fourth ingredient, I'd say love. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:55.279 You are amazing at loving people. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:59.120 And love is a word that gets used a lot in church. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.360 There's a lot of buzzwords that you see come about. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.519 We talked earlier about being genuine. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:07.279 Sometimes the word real gets used in church a lot. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:12.480 Real, it's kind of a buzzword, and oftentimes what real actually means is cool or trendy. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:17.039 So just like we're genuine, we're not trying to be cool, we're not trying to be trendy, and we really aren't. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.039 We just want to be who we are. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:25.279 Love oftentimes just means friendly, means nice. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.320 And that's not who we are as a church. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.200 We are friendly, we are nice, but but more importantly, we love each other. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:32.399 We love people. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.240 You are incredible at loving people. 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:42.399 And Jesus said, by this, everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:44.879 How's the world gonna know that we belong to Jesus? 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:49.279 It's not the lifestyle that we live, the things that we vote for, and the things that we don't vote for. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:50.080 It's very simple. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.759 He says, the world's gonna know you're mine if you love one another. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.480 Thank you for loving one another. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.679 This church is about Jesus, it's about being genuine, it's about life, it's about love. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:11.279 And if you are someone that's that's health conscious when you buy food, you probably not only pay attention to what's in your food, but you might pay attention to what's not in there as well. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:16.000 They advertise that on the packaging at the grocery store. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.919 No artificial preservatives, no added sugar. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:27.200 And just like that, there are some things that we've been very careful not to include as part of this church. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.840 Number one, we're not pastor-centric. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.919 And here's what that means. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:39.919 It's never gonna be about the person that's on stage, it's never gonna be about the people that you see, the people that are leading in a specific role. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:41.519 And Jesus said it best. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.879 This is not some obscure teaching, this is Jesus, it's red letters. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.039 He said, Don't let anyone call you rabbi, for you only have one teacher. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:56.480 And all of you are equal as brothers and sisters, and don't address anyone here on earth as Father, for only God in heaven is your spiritual father. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:01.200 And don't let anyone call you teacher, for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.039 The greatest among you must be a servant. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:09.279 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.960 When I read that, it's it's incredible because Jesus is pretty clear. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:17.519 Really couldn't be more obvious. 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:23.039 And sometimes when you look at church culture, it's very different than what Jesus is describing right there. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:27.839 And in his hands, we're not going to be pastor-centric. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.960 So the way that that plays out is that none of us have a title. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:32.319 We just play roles. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.480 Those roles change from time to time. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.519 Nobody's got their name on the front of the building. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:42.079 When you go to our website, there's not bios of those of us who are on staff. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.680 We just have to make that sound more interesting than it really is, anyway. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.680 There's no one's face on a billboard. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:54.079 No one's ever gonna stand on the stage and tell you to subscribe to their blog. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:58.400 No one's ever gonna tell you to become a follower of theirs on Twitter. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.200 There is one person we want to get famous on Sundays. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:06.079 There's one person we want to have more followers, and that's Jesus, and that's the only one. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.759 That's how it'll always be. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:21.519 We also make it a very purposeful thing not to include any religion, and that can be confusing. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.319 And so, if you are new, let me explain what I mean by that. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.640 We are a non-religious church. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:31.279 Religion is a word that gets used often in the Bible, it's only used twice in a positive light. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:33.920 Jesus fought the hardest against religion. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.519 It was the most religious people that couldn't understand what Jesus did. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:40.160 They're the ones that opposed them, they're the ones that killed them. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:46.799 Religion is man-made rules that mask themselves as if they're from God, and we don't have any room for that here. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.480 You can have religion and not have God. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.160 Another word to say knowledge of good and evil is religion. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:00.720 You can spend your whole life obsessed with the religious stuff and not have God. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.759 We want to have God without religion. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.920 That's what Jesus did. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:10.240 I've tried to describe that in a lot of different ways over the years. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:11.680 It's about Jesus, not religion. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:16.079 The best explanation I've ever heard was Tim Rogers on Tuesday of this past week. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:24.160 We had lunch, and Tim said, You know, I really believe that his hands is a place where religion ends and relationship begins. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:25.359 Wow. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.680 Hey, way to go, Tim. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:33.519 Tim's like the opposite of me. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.000 He's a man of few words, but when he speaks, it's really powerful. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:40.720 And I'm a man of many words, and I have to, you know, be very careful not anyway. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:42.559 All right, so I'm starting to ramble. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.000 No guilt trips. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:53.359 We are not going to guilt anyone anytime in any way to do something because God is telling them to do it. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:57.519 We try to speak from God's heart. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:02.160 His heart is that he loves you, he cares about you, he does have an incredible life for you. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:06.240 He is going to call you and challenge you and ask you to do things that you might not be comfortable doing. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:06.880 That's God. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:16.559 But but though it is our place to tell you God's heart for you, it is not our place to speak for God and tell you what God is telling you to do. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.039 We're an opt-in church. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:31.680 And what that means is that we're always going to have the freedom to choose being involved or stepping up in a certain way or whatever that might be. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.160 And that's very rare in church culture. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:39.920 That's one of the reasons financially that we don't pass a plate or a bucket or anything like that. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.279 That's not normal. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.279 It's also not opt-in. 00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:47.920 You don't have the option of saying, no, no, I'd rather not have the plate in my hands because it breaks the chain. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.839 You can't break the chain. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:51.759 You have to take it, hand it to the next person. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:58.400 I grew up in church, and when I got old enough to start giving financially on a regular basis, I would give monthly. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:01.359 But weekly I'd have that plate in my hand. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.359 And I feel so ashamed on those three out of the four weeks that I didn't give. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:06.400 I would give for the whole month. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.119 It's just easier for me to budget that way, the way that I think. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.319 And so I would have to hand that plate to that other person with nothing in it. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.119 And I just wanted to look at him and go, I gave last week. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.400 And I gave, I gave for the whole month. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:22.799 I remember I have this memory of this one usher that was always the one handing me. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:29.440 He must have been like every other week, and it just worked out that it was always the weeks that I didn't give, and I just never looked that guy in the eye. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:30.480 I couldn't do it. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:31.920 I was so ashamed. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.920 See, that's not an opt-in experience. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:38.400 You have to take that. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:39.039 You have to do that. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:40.480 That's not how we are. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.000 No guilt trips. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.319 We're an opt-in church. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:50.880 This place is about Jesus, it's about life, it's about being genuine, it's about love. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.119 We we want people to come here and get love. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:57.759 We want this to be a place that you can grow in your love. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.680 That happens in a big way on. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.759 Sunday mornings in a huge way in small groups. 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:05.039 Those of you who are small group leaders and involved in that, thank you so much. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.759 Keep it up because that's that's where we grow love. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.720 We want this to be a place that we can give love. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:13.279 We want to get love, grow love, and give love. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:16.000 And see, when we do all those things, we fulfill this purpose. 00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:17.039 This is why we exist. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.240 We want to love people to Jesus. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.759 We don't just want to tell people about Jesus, we're gonna do that. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.440 We don't just want to point to Jesus. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:27.759 We do that every single week. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.240 We don't want to stop short at those things. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:33.519 We want to love people to Jesus. 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:39.440 We actually want to love people in such a way that they understand that's God's love. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:40.799 They get a taste of God's love. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:45.759 If you've been here for a while and you have not experienced that love, we've done something wrong. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:46.880 And we love you. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.000 I love you. 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:50.559 That's just a taste of how much God loves you. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:51.440 That's what we do. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:54.400 We love people to Jesus. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:01.039 It's funny, we've been doing this for nine years, and uh it's gone by really fast. 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:15.920 I've been a part of it for almost eight, and we've been loving people to Jesus in a big way every single week for a long time, and we just got to the point, literally a few months ago, where Sunday morning could happen, and we felt pretty good about it. 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:20.160 Like, I wasn't stressful, wasn't freaking out on Saturday night. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:29.759 If you guys could know, get a peek into our lives on Saturday night over the last eight years, it's just me freaking out would be Saturday night. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.480 And for the last few months, that hasn't been how it is. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:35.359 We haven't been freaking out. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:37.359 It's like, yeah, it's it's it's amazing. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:39.839 Not worried about who's gonna show up or not show up. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:42.160 Everything seems to be running pretty smooth. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.799 And see, it's just like God though. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:50.240 When things are are going really smooth and you're like, yes, it's like, now hold on a second. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.240 Don't don't get too comfortable. 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.839 I've got some things that I want to do. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.160 That vision that we have of loving people to Jesus, it's incredibly important. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:04.079 Oh nine. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:05.200 Flashing. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:08.960 It's incredibly important. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:18.400 Because there are so many people, so many people in this community that need that love. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:29.680 See, it's not very far outside these doors that there are people in this community that are ashamed of who they are, that feel unlovable. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:39.680 People that are stuck in depression, people that are stuck in addiction, people that don't fit the mold in church culture. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:48.480 People that are hurting, people whose marriages are falling apart, people whose relationships with their children are dissolving, and people who have no hope. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:52.559 We don't have to go very far to find that. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.960 In fact, we don't have to leave this room to find that. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:00.880 And if we were honest with ourselves and asked to raise our hands, don't worry, you're not going to be asked to do that. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:08.480 But if we were, so many of us would raise our hands and say, Yep, that's where I am, or that's where I was not that long ago. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:15.440 And in fact, it's it's being part of this place and the love that I got from God here that that changed that. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:22.400 It's because of that unique mixture we have, a place where people can come and they don't have to hide who they are. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:28.559 It's why I could stand here six months ago and tell you that I was addicted to pornography for 15 years and not get booed. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:31.839 It's because you can be genuine here. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:42.480 And those people that are right outside these doors, the people that are like us that don't know you can go to church and be who you are and be open about your needs. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.960 We need to always make sure that we have room for those people. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:49.279 Always. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:53.920 We can never allow ceilings to be placed on loving people to Jesus. 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:57.440 And so when we encounter a ceiling, we have to move it, we have to lift it. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.079 We did that with small groups earlier this year. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:02.960 We had been doing small groups the same way for seven years. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:04.400 We've been doing it on Wednesday nights. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:11.200 A lot of us were familiar with it, comfortable with it, it felt good, it was going smoothly, but there was a ceiling that we had hit. 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.240 And so we changed it. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:14.319 We moved our small groups to in homes. 00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:22.000 And last year, the first part of this year, we had 30% more people involved in small groups than we've ever had before. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.240 That ceiling got lifted. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:28.160 And the next ceiling that we have to address is Sunday mornings. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:40.880 We have hit a ceiling in terms of how many people we can love to Jesus, how many people we can give a gift of being a genuine, love-filled, life-filled, Jesus-focused church. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.599 We've been doing one service for almost nine years. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:47.759 But on Sunday, September 7th, we're gonna go to two. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:48.720 We're gonna go to 9 a.m. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:49.680 and 11 a.m. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:51.759 It's exciting. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:01.200 Some of you are clapping because you get to sleep in. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:02.319 This is good. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:13.279 You know, it's exciting because of the ability to love more people than Jesus, but it is frustrating because we just got comfortable doing one. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:17.440 Like we just, it's like God, but but I'm so excited that a ceiling is gonna be lifted. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.160 It is gonna help us make room for those people. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.359 Because those people are us. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:27.920 It's not us and them. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:30.079 It's us. 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:34.240 We're all broken, we're all in need every single day of our Jesus. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:40.400