WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.440 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:27.519 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta. 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.600 I'm so glad that you guys joined us. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.640 Last summer we got into a brand new series called MetaVision. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.079 Its tagline was see what the future holds. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:46.719 And back then, last August, we laid out what we felt like was the vision moving forward for us to do what God has called his church to do. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.079 Not to sit still, but to go to the ends of the earth. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:54.159 Now we're stepping back into MetaVision, but with the new tagline, step into the future. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:01:00.000 We're gonna put boots on the ground and talk about what it is going to take to see that to fruition. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.880 Last year was all about the vision in theory. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:04.799 Now it's about the vision in practice. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:10.480 Now, if you are new with us and you want to get caught up on that series from last summer, it'd be a good idea. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.000 You can do that easily at youtube.com slash metachurch. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:18.560 All of our past sermons and series are on our YouTube channel. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:26.719 Now we are rooting our vision out of Jesus' last instructions before he ascended back to heaven in Acts chapter one. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:37.920 It says this in verse 8 you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:45.840 Now the first thing that seems obvious about these instructions is that this movement Jesus was starting was intended to move. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:47.920 It was not meant to sit still. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:58.400 In our culture today, we confuse the church and we think that the church itself is the building, which is why we say things like, I'm going to go to the church. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:06.079 Or we think that church is the service that you attend on Sunday, which is why you leave and say, Oh, I went to church. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.759 Or on Monday, you say, I attended church yesterday. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.759 Biblically, the church in Greek is the word ekklesia. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.199 It's a compound word and it means the called out people. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.400 That is why we always say that you are the church. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.639 You are the movement. 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:31.759 Jesus, the movement that he started, was always about people, not about place, and that movement was meant to move. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.159 Jesus never intended for church to be something that was stagnant. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:43.680 Instead, it was our job as the movement to take the gospel message as far and as wide as possible. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:50.240 At MetaCurch, we've broken this down in five, ten, fifteen, and twenty-year increments based on Acts 1.8. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:03:07.520 Jerusalem, which is where we are today, here in San Antonio, then Judea, which is the rest of Texas, then finally Samaria, officially foreign territory and states outside of us, and finally figuring out what it means for us as Metachurch to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:10.319 Right now we're at the very beginning of our five-year journey. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:11.919 This is how we've articulated it. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:18.800 In the next five years, we will have a meta church venue within 20 minutes of every person in San Antonio. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:26.960 Again, in the next five years, we will have a meta church venue, just like this one at Richland Hills, within 20 minutes of every person in San Antonio. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:36.000 What God has been doing over the last few years here at Richland Hills, 151 in Petrenko area, is just mind-blowing the way he's been growing us. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.439 Just for reference, at Easter, we saw about 1,400 people here. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:42.319 Two weeks ago, we had a thousand people here in services. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:46.560 Two weeks ago, we baptized 68 people in one day. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.639 God is on the move right here. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:56.159 And it is our job, and it's actually an expectation of Jesus. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:02.800 Not that we sit still and rest on our laurels, but that we take this and replicate it as far and wide as possible. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:08.960 And we're gonna start in our city so we can see what God is doing right here, again and again and again. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:12.319 And my message today is dying to see it. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.039 We're gonna build out these messages so you can't forget them. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:17.279 My message today is dying to see it. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:18.399 Would you pray with me? 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:21.920 Jesus, we love you and we thank you for your great love for us. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:29.199 Holy Spirit, we believe you're here, that you're moving, that you're wanting to speak to us and challenge us today. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:32.639 And I pray that we would be open to whatever you want in this service. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:33.360 We love you. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:34.959 We pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.680 And if you are dying to see it, say amen. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:38.800 Amen. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:48.720 Uh last August, we ended our series by bringing out the big series graphic, and we said, if you're in, like if you want to see this happen, then we had all kinds of sharpies and you come up. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.839 And man, some of y'all were like, we're dying to see it. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:05:02.399 You know, you didn't just sign your name, you put, let's go, or my favorite one, there's one real big that says, put me in, coach, you know, like I'm ready to do this, I'm ready to be a part of something significant. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.240 My goal today is twofold. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:13.279 Number one, I want to help you understand at some level the details of what it's going to mean for us to move into a multi-location model. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:21.519 And then second, we're gonna look in scripture to help us understand what it's going to take for our movement to do this successfully. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.120 Uh, to start things off, I want us to go back into our key text. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:32.959 Now, in the summer, we looked at Acts 1.8 and we focused on the end of the verse, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:37.360 Today, we're gonna really take our time and understand the first part of this verse. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:42.160 And I think that God has something very rich to challenge us out of this. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.600 But as in all things, we want to see it in its context. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:50.800 And so we're gonna go back two verses to Acts 1, verse 6. 00:05:51.040 --> 00:06:04.639 It says this so when they, that's the disciples, had come together, they asked him, that's Jesus, Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time? 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.000 Now, the disciples asking this question were Israelite men. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:13.839 They were asking whether or not the moment has come where they're gonna finally settle in and take power. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:17.120 Now, they don't know what's about to happen. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.000 We know, because we've already read the story. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:25.199 So they're literally asking, like, Jesus, you died, you came back to life, you're more powerful than ever, it seems. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:26.800 Everybody kind of knows what's going on. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:31.920 Are you going to like take over, build the palace, set up shop? 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.399 It'd be really good for the disciples because they probably get like primary positions in the palace. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:40.720 They get to live in the heart of the kingdom, they get to stay right there in their homeland. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.399 They have no idea that the next thing Jesus is going to do is ascend back to heaven. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:48.079 This is how far off page they are. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:49.519 They're like, so is now the time? 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.360 You're gonna become like the king of Israel? 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:58.639 They don't know that Jesus is about to just be like, all right, you guys got this right, and just go back to heaven. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.120 Like, that's what's coming next, and they're asking about him becoming king. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.480 They're just off base. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:11.120 And it reminds me a little bit of this natural human inclination to want to just stay put. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:23.920 And I think for us to really see the fullness of what God has for us as individuals and the fullness of what God has for us as a movement, we are going to have to put our desire for comfort all the time to death. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:32.800 You cannot be fully comfortable and fully following Jesus because fully following Jesus is an uncomfortable proposition. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.920 Walking by faith is an uncomfortable proposition. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:37.839 We're gonna see that very clearly. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:44.399 And a lot of the way that the Western church operates is a lot like every other religion, where you come and you do your religious practice. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:54.399 A lot of people think the church is the building and the church is the service, and so I just gotta get inside the special building maybe once or twice, or three, or if you grew up like me, like five times a week, you know. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:07.360 And as long as I came and checked those boxes and went to church because I think the church is the building, then now God kind of owes me something, and hopefully he'll do what I want because I did the religious thing that I think I'm supposed to do. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:22.879 And so, like the typical church experience are people who are just very well aware that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and they're not happy about it, and they spend a lot of their time judging all of the people who are the problem, and then they insulate themselves inside their church buildings and are like, all right, God, we went to church. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:28.000 It's time for you to like send some plagues or something, I guess, and set all the things right. 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:36.240 Now, I also see that in a lot of ways the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and I desperately want to see a revival sweep across our nation and sweep across our world. 00:08:36.399 --> 00:09:00.639 I just happen to think that while Christians are isolating themselves, hiding away inside their special sacred buildings, saying, We went to church, God, now it's your turn to do something that maybe God is looking down and saying to us, I did something, I brought you back to life, I made you my child, I put you on the earth, so now go move and create the change that you want to see so desperately. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.919 We get this backwards because we don't understand what church is. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.440 You are the church, the called out people of God. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.960 And we can't say it often enough. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:14.720 This is Sunday service, but church really starts when you walk out of those doors and onto your mission field. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.120 Church really starts when you take the hope of God. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:28.159 We come in here together, we get filled up, we get on the same page, we meet together, but we meet together not to check a religious box, we meet together to go out and move together and make an actual difference in our world. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:43.519 And the reason, the reason you can clap here if the Holy Spirit moves you to, the reason that we want to see more and more metachurch locations all around the world, all around our city, is because we believe that the church is made to move. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:45.279 What were they asking? 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.639 Jesus, are we gonna build a kingdom right here and stay here where we're comfortable? 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.679 And they have no idea how far off base they are. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:57.679 See, Jesus didn't come up with this idea of to the ends of the earth in that moment. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.320 This has been God's plan from the beginning. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:04.639 Listen to the prophet Isaiah, hundreds and hundreds of years before Jesus came. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:07.360 This is in the Old Testament, Isaiah 49, 6. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.480 God says, it is not enough for you to be my servant, raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:15.440 That's not enough. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:21.519 I will also make you a light for the nations to be my salvation where? 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.559 To the ends of the earth. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:28.480 Yes, the religious model in many ways is way more comfortable. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:34.559 You can park in your same parking spot and you can sit in your same seat and you can attend service and check your religious box. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:35.519 It's very comfortable. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.360 It's just not what Jesus gave his life to start. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.639 The movement of Jesus is expected to move. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:45.840 They say, Jesus, are you setting up the kingdom? 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.240 And he says in verse 7, it is not for you to know. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:55.200 It's not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:01.840 Now, anybody in the room willing to own up, like me, that you are also a bit of a type A personality. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.039 Where are my type A's at? 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:04.080 Some type A's in the room. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:05.039 Some of you are too embarrassed. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.279 There's nothing wrong with being type A, okay? 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:09.600 This one's really hard for me. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.360 It's not for you to know. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:15.200 If you're type A, I know you, because in part I am you. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.720 And one thing you like to do is know things, right? 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:21.440 Because if you know something, you can plan for it. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.840 And if you can plan for it, you can strategize for it. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:32.240 And if you can strategize for it, then you can implement execution steps inside of that strategy, create metrics on the back end, evaluate it to strategize even better the next time, right? 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:36.799 Any type A people in the room who are like, Can I just know the answers, please? 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:38.960 This one's tough for me. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:44.480 If I would have been one of the disciples that day and Jesus was like, I'm not telling, I'd have been like, What? 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:47.039 I want to know. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.159 You see, they want an answer. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:53.759 And even if you're not type A, we all want an answer. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.080 And a lot of times we go to God for the answer. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:57.360 We want full clarity. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.279 They went for an answer. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.200 Literally, they asked a question. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.519 Are you setting up the kingdom? 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:05.039 What's the answer? 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:10.000 They came for an answer, and instead, they got an assignment. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:12.639 It's not for you to know. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.559 Me and the Father Jesus said, we've got it figured out. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:18.240 Trust us. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:20.559 This is what a life of faith looks like. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:26.720 It looks like taking steps towards your assignment, even if you don't know the answers along the way. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.679 It's why we have to put comfort and convenience to death. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:36.080 Because there's nothing comfortable about stepping into the unknown when you don't know what's on the other side. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:43.360 And a lot of people are not experiencing the fullness of what God has for their life because they're just sitting waiting for the fullness of an answer. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:56.879 It's like, well, when I know exactly what it will look like to follow Jesus, when I know exactly what it will cost me, when I know exactly what my friends will think, when I know exactly what my parents will say, when I have all the answers, then I will start really pursuing Jesus. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.759 There's been so many Christians throughout modern history who have used scripture as a crutch. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:07.919 It's like, you know, when I really know all of the answers that someone might ask me about the Bible, then I'll start like audaciously pursuing Jesus. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:09.279 And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:14.159 Start moving, understand the assignment, and take steps of faith. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:18.960 And it will be scary, but you build your faith by taking steps of faith. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:36.320 There are no cheat codes, there are no end arounds, you just have to boldly trust the God who loved you enough to give his life for you to take a step of faith into the unknown, and you may not know where the resource is coming, you may not know the timing, you may not know how it's gonna work out, but God calls you to something and you take a step of faith. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.039 Let me tell you something. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:46.159 We've got a five-year vision, which means we need like four or five metachurch locations in this city alone in the next five years in order to make this five-year vision come to fruition. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:53.600 Can I tell you there are exponentially more questions than answers about how we're gonna pull that off at this moment, okay? 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:54.480 I don't know. 00:13:54.639 --> 00:14:00.639 I don't know where all the locations are, I certainly don't know where all the funding is coming from, I don't know all the staff that we're gonna need. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.279 There are way more things I do not know. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:08.240 I have way more questions than answers, but I believe that we have an assignment. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.600 And you gotta know, I'm not impervious to this. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:21.679 It's nerve-wracking getting on a stage in front of a bunch of people and saying in the next five years we're gonna do this, that, and the third when I don't know the answers of how we get from here to there. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:29.919 But I'm convinced that the movement of Jesus is created to move, not to sit still and be stagnant, that we have something here at MetaCurch. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:33.759 You don't baptize 68 people with the Holy Spirit not moving through your congregation. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.120 And we need to move this out into our city and out into our state and out into the world. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.320 So I don't need all the answers if I have an assignment. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.840 I spent so much of my life wanting to control the outcomes. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.879 In other words, to control the uncontrollable. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:57.120 And the last 10 years has been God breaking me down piece by piece, focusing me on the inputs, what I can control. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.519 How much effort will I put in? 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.519 How big will I dare to dream? 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.000 How consistent will I be in my walk? 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:08.240 What am I willing to give up to see Jesus fully active in my life? 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.960 How audaciously will I love the people around me? 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:15.279 How well will I organize myself and inspire others? 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:20.799 Knowing the end result, Jesus just tells us straight up is not our job. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.200 And so, what is our job? 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.440 Our job, he says in verse 8, is you will receive power. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:38.720 It's not for you to know, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:45.200 It's not for you to know the time, seasons, but what is for you to know is your assignment. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:50.240 And what I want to do is break this assignment down for you today, peace by peace. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:53.919 First, he says, but you will receive power. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.720 Remember, they came for an answer, but what they got is an assignment. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.720 But before the assignment, they get an assurance. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:11.039 Jesus lets them know what I have set out for you to do, you will be equipped for, you will be resourced for. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:17.360 You can believe that if God has called you into something, he will bring what you need for the plan ahead. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.960 You may not be able to see it though, until you take a step. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.480 And that step of faith activates the power of God in your life. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.720 You will receive power. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.440 That word power is the Greek word dunamis. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:34.000 Uh, if you look at the etymology, it turns into our word for dynamite. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.639 This is like explosive power, insane power. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.600 This is what Jesus said he has given you. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:43.279 You will receive this. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:48.480 The question is whether or not we will use the power we have been given. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:58.639 And a lot of us aren't experiencing that power because uh we're standing still, and I can promise you, if you stand still in your faith, you will not experience all that God has equipped you with. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:01.919 You will not experience the full power inside of you. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:09.200 The other reason that we don't often experience this power is we're not exactly sure of its source. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:14.799 It says you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:26.480 You see, if you're trying to live an extraordinary life by your own power, your own talents, your own resource, your own charisma, then you have no idea what you might be leaving on the table. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:33.599 The true source of all of our dunamis, this insane explosive power is the Holy Spirit. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:38.960 And here's what's amazing every single believer in Jesus has this power. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.160 This is how the apostle Paul explained it to the Ephesians. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:53.519 He said, In Christ, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, that's the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:58.079 When you believe, you are given and sealed with the Holy Spirit. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.880 Paul goes on to say that you're sealed with the Spirit as a promise until the day of redemption. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:08.880 In other words, not only do you have the Holy Spirit, but if you've believed in Jesus, you will always have the Holy Spirit. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.400 You cannot lose the Holy Spirit. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.599 So why are we not experiencing this kind of power? 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:19.440 We hear about this all the time, especially in Western Christianity. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:24.480 We're just not experiencing the power of the Spirit, we're not experiencing miracles in our life. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:29.759 You know, we it's like, man, I I go and I go to church because I think church is a building. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:36.000 I go to church every Sunday, and it's like my life feels so hollow and it feels so empty. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.079 Well, I've got news. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.200 Number one, you can't go to church. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:42.960 You are the church. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.039 We have to get that right. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:51.440 If if we're going to build this movement, we have to know what the movement is, and the movement is the called-out people of God. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:53.359 I've got news. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:19:00.960 Going to church, sitting in a Sunday service every week, it will not by itself unleash the power, the dunamis of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:01.920 It just won't. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:13.279 You have to get moving, you have to get active, you have to start taking steps outside of your comfort and convenience, following the Holy Spirit in your everyday life. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.400 Not only that, but you have to know the source. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:18.559 And the source is not you. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:32.400 And I know you probably know that conceptually, but you need to be aware that you live in a culture that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year is marketing to you to convince you that you are your own God. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:42.079 You create your own truth, you write your own story, you step into your own future and fulfill your own destiny. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:56.079 And how heartbreaking to think that a generation of Jesus followers could miss out on experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us because we have allowed a culture to convince us that we are our own gods. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:00.559 I was one of those kids who grew up without video games. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:02.240 Uh no video games in the house. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.640 We didn't have a Nintendo, we didn't have a PlayStation, uh, we didn't even have a Sega Genesis. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.839 And Gen Z, you don't know how to feel right now, but everyone else feels bad for me, okay? 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:11.680 I didn't have any of those things. 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.319 Now, at one point, my best friend won off of a Dr. 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:21.599 Pepper bottle cap a Nintendo 64, the greatest game system in the world, right? 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:23.680 And when he pulled that cap off that Dr. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:27.039 Pepper, we might as well have won a billion dollars. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.640 It was the best day of our life. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.440 Him and his brother scraped together enough money to buy one game and only one game, and it was the only game you need. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.680 Fortnite can't hold a flame to this game, neither can Call of Duty, neither can 2K. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.839 This game, of course, is 007 GoldenEye, the greatest game ever invented. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:48.000 Now he got this game, and he got his N64, and we figured out how to plug it all in. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.519 There was only one problem. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.240 I had never played video games. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:56.400 And like true friends, they wouldn't tell me what the buttons did, you know. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:04.720 So we start going and I figure out how to walk, and I just haphazardly, almost immediately find a grenade launcher. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:07.839 Best gun in the game, most powerful gun in the game. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:13.599 I've got a grenade launcher, but I can't figure out how to pull it out. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.839 And they won't tell me what button. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:23.519 So I have the most power in the game, and I spend the whole game only able to karate chop the whole time. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:27.759 It's very frustrating. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:36.559 And I think it's the kind of frustration we often feel as Christians when we are leaning on our own wisdom, our own power, our own talent. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:39.519 We've got a grenade launcher strapped. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:46.640 We've got the dunamis, we've got the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us, and we're trying to make it in this life on our own power. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:49.599 Karate chopping our way to some level of success. 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:59.279 And you can try it, and the longer you live, trying to live by your own strength and not leaning on the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you, the more empty. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.359 The more hollow, the less fulfilled you will become. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:10.640 You might be comfortable, but you will not be living on purpose and with purpose, and you won't be experiencing the power and impact that God created you for. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:17.680 It's when you understand the assignment and you start moving, not on your own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.160 The first issue is we're not moving, we're standing still. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:22.960 We have to start moving in our lives as individuals. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:26.480 We have to start moving collectively as the church. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:29.680 The second problem is that we don't understand the source of our power. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:34.799 It's not by our own strength, it's actually through our weaknesses and by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:39.839 But maybe even a bigger issue is we don't actually understand the assignment. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.000 The beginning of that is understanding our identity. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.599 Here's what he says: but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.160 You will be. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:53.680 We have the setup, you'll receive power, and then we have the assignment. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:58.480 And the assignment starts like this and you will be. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:04.799 Now, grammatically, what's interesting is our assignment does not contain any action verbs. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:11.440 It doesn't say, and you will spread, and you will run, and you will start. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:13.519 No action words. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:15.920 This is what I learned that this week. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:16.960 I'm not very good at grammar. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:18.000 I just learned this. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:24.880 This is what um this is what English teachers call an SOB. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:27.759 A state of being verbs. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:28.799 I don't know what y'all thought I meant. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:30.720 A state of being verb. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.480 You will be. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:41.039 And in this context, a state of being verb is about the identity of the character in question. 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:44.880 And the character in question is you. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:47.920 And you will be. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:52.240 My disciples will be, my followers will be. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.680 My church will be. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:03.119 Just this one little change, instead of giving us an action, giving us an identity, it says so much. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.240 Make no mistake, the American church is dying. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.039 Christianity is losing all of its cultural relevance. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:09.920 Why? 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:12.160 Well, it's kind of no wonder. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:15.279 We don't know the power we have, we don't know the source of that power. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:20.160 Because of that, we're sitting still, and worst of all, we don't even know who we are. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:26.720 See, your ministry to God is not primarily about what you do for Him. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.880 It's not superficial, it's about who you are. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:34.720 It has depth to it, it's about your identity. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.599 Jesus said, You will be. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:42.400 I'm giving you an assignment and I'm changing your identity. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.920 We already know God has called us to the ends of the earth. 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:50.400 But not to go to the ends of the earth just doing religious practices. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:52.000 That's superficial. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:25:03.599 There are people all over the world who are doing religious and spiritual things, but motivated by an identity rooted in fear and guilt and worry and manipulation. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:06.480 He says, You will be. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.839 This is movement from the inside out. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:33.680 And when you are in Christ and when you are in relationship, yes, that will overflow into the kinds of actions that push the movement of Jesus forward and bring other people in, but not out of fear or guilt or any misplaced emotion, instead of the welling up of a love for your Savior and what he has done for you in the life that he's offered you. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:35.519 This is transformational change. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.880 This is inside out from the core of your identity. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:45.359 And this is what makes our brokenness so important. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:58.000 You see, when you think the power comes from you, then you better have some significant strengths and you better have the right gifting and you better have the right resources. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:13.599 See, we we buy this lie that for the church to be effective, the people of God to be effective, that we need to have all our ducks in a row and we need to have a perfect history, we need to have just kind of almost come out of the womb, just righteous and holy, you know, lived it out. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:19.519 So we wear our nice Christian mask and we pretend everything's good and we don't have any skeletons in the closet. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.279 It's like, no, God wants to use your brokenness. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:30.400 We join with the apostle Paul, who says, Yeah, I've got some stuff to brag about, but I'm not gonna brag about that. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:37.279 I will boast only in my weakness because in my weakness the world sees just how strong God is. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:38.720 You know what the world needs to see? 00:26:38.960 --> 00:27:10.880 People who look like them, people who have been through things they have been through, people who hurt like them, people who screwed up like them, people jacked up like them, but people who are being put back together by the power of God, people who live with the peace that they can't comprehend, people who have hope because they know what happens when this life is over, people who love, not just the people who love them, but love even their enemies, people who they can see some kind of reflection of themselves and yet a transformation into something new. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:17.279 And when people see God at work in your brokenness, they will say, I want to know what's going on with them. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:20.480 That is how the church really begins to move. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:36.640 What you have, what you have is your testimony, and there's nothing as powerful as your testimony, what God has done through you, what God has done in you. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:44.720 And too many Christians are standing still, like, I guess like in year five of Christianity, I'll still, you know, I'm gonna really step out in faith. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.839 Once I memorize all of Romans, I'm really gonna step. 00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:52.480 Once I like full, once I have no more sin left in my life, I've got news. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:55.519 If that's your plan, you're never doing anything for Jesus. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:59.200 Jesus wants to use you in your brokenness. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:13.519 And as you take steps of faith and as the power of the Holy Spirit is unleashed in your life, you will begin to be transformed more and more into the image of God, not by standing still, but by getting uncomfortable and taking steps to actually follow Him. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:17.599 So let's put it together and see exactly what Jesus is asking us to be. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:19.519 That's the state of being, that's our identity. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:20.720 You will be. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:25.519 You'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be mine. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:26.640 What is it? 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:28.720 Witnesses. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:32.079 Again, no action verbs. 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:34.079 He doesn't say you will bear witness. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:35.680 That's good, it's important. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.680 This is what we're going to be. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:39.440 This is our new identity. 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:41.920 We are witnesses. 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:44.160 I am a witness. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:52.720 If it's this crucial, the last instructions Jesus gives us, if that's our new identity, it's worth asking, what is a witness? 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:56.960 If that's our identity, we better know exactly what that means. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:59.519 What is a witness? 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:01.599 In the most basic sense, we know what this means. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:03.759 A witness is someone who sees something. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:07.680 If you see, hear, or experience something, you were a witness to it. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:12.880 You can witness a car wreck, you can witness a walk-off grand slam. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:18.160 And there's something about being human where we desire to see it. 00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:21.039 We want to bear witness to something. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:23.119 We want to experience it. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:24.640 We have that drive. 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:28.240 Like, this is what we mean when we say we're dying to see it. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:35.119 The next time I'm just gonna speak it out in faith, you know, in five years of meta church within 20 minutes of everyone else, I'm gonna speak it out in faith. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:38.079 The Spurs will be back in the championship again someday, right? 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:39.920 Oh, I got the biggest amen off of that. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:40.720 Come on. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:51.920 When that happens again in San Antonio, after 20 years of dynasty, and then five years we won't talk about when that happens again, oh, we will be dying to see it. 00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:53.519 There's no way you miss it. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.440 You will tune in every time. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.400 Can you imagine if you get a ticket? 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:01.759 Dying to see it, dude. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:07.920 Sit me on the roof of the Frost Bank Center, dying to see it. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.079 And so we want to bear witness. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:15.200 We have this deep inner longing. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:22.400 We pulled out the big logo at the end of Metavision in August, and y'all signed up. 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.000 Dying to see it. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:38.559 Dying to see meta church locations all across our city, all across our state, dying to see people coming to Christ, families healed, life's made whole, dying to see what we're seeing right here on the west side, all over the city and all over the world. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:47.119 I mean, when you really understand Jesus and what he's done in your life, you should be dying to see that replicated all around everyone you know. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:48.400 I'm with you. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:50.240 I'm dying to see it. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:57.279 When Jesus said, You will be my witnesses, he was using that word in almost a legal sense. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:59.759 It was a judicial word. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:01.440 And so there's more to it. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:05.119 Because just defining the word to witness is to see. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:11.279 But in the legal sense, to be a witness, you see something, and then you have to say something. 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:12.559 That's what a witness is. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:17.680 You get put on the stand, you have to boldly proclaim whatever you saw, heard, or experienced. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:20.319 That's actually how Jesus is using this here. 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:36.079 To be his witnesses, it's not enough to just see, hear, or experience Jesus in your own life, see here and experience 68 people get baptized a couple Sundays ago, see here and experience God call you into everlasting relationship with himself. 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:39.440 You then have to say something about it. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:42.799 And he gives us pretty broad parameters. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:47.920 You're gonna experience me and tell others about it to the ends of the earth. 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:50.559 Who should we be witnessing to? 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:53.279 Everybody, everywhere. 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:58.079 You want to experience the dunamis, the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:06.000 You have to get moving, and the actual assignment is not just to experience Jesus, but to begin walking that out and telling others. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:08.000 And walking it out and telling others. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:12.400 And your job as a believer in Jesus is not just your job. 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:14.400 Your job is a mission field. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:18.559 And your neighborhood is no longer just where you live, it's a mission field. 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.720 And your gym is no longer where you just get swole, it's a mission field. 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:27.759