WEBVTT 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.480 Welcome to the MetaCurch podcast. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.440 My name is Clayton. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:14.240 I'm the pastor at MetaCurch, and I hope that today's message is inspiring and enlightening and really builds you up wherever you're at in life. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.399 It's good to see everybody wherever you're joining us from. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:24.559 If you're at one of our physical venues at Holodas or Patrenco or if you're with us online, I'm so glad that you joined us. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.719 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:29.039 I'm a lead pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:34.640 And uh we are kind of on an in-between weekend that I'm just gonna keep it real. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:43.439 I had no idea what to do with this weekend, because last week we finished a 26-week series through the first part of Luke's gospel. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.000 Uh, if you missed that, you can get caught up. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.399 It will only take you 26 hours, all right? 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:51.119 So you can go to our YouTube channel, put it on two times speed. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.359 Uh, you can knock it out in, I guess, 13 hours. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:59.920 Um, and then next Sunday, uh, we're in December, and we start our Christmas series, which I'm very excited about, our Christmas series. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:00.799 Anybody like Christmas? 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:02.479 Anybody excited about Christmas time here? 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.119 Yeah. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:10.719 Um, now, we're also kind of interestingly in between Thanksgiving, uh, but not quite to December yet. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.040 So we're sitting here on November 30th. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:18.480 And I'm just gonna let you know, this is kind of a side project for me, but I'm very passionate uh about it. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.959 I'm very passionate about standing up against Thanksgiving erasure. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.560 Anyone with me on this? 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:28.879 Uh KD wants to put up our Christmas tree the day after Halloween. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.840 Are there any of those people who are with us today? 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:33.120 Shame on you. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:34.879 You didn't come to service to be shamed. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:36.319 Here we go, we don't do a lot of shaming. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.920 Shame on you, all right? 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:39.840 Thanksgiving should have its due. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:42.640 Now, the day after Thanksgiving, put your tree up. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:44.560 And guess when it goes up in my house? 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:45.760 The day after Halloween. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:47.760 I don't have much power in my own home. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.560 Uh I want Thanksgiving to have its moment, right? 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.719 And uh and we are not a very thankful culture, and I think it matters that we that we sit we sit in that. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:56.400 So here's where we find ourselves. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:05.120 Uh we are in between the season of thanks and the season of giving, the season of gratitude and the season of generosity. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:10.400 And uh I, you know, I don't often get these weekends that are just kind of blank where I can do whatever I want. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:12.400 And and there were two things really on my heart. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:24.319 Uh, number one is to express gratitude and to talk about Thanksgiving and to talk about all that God has done, because this has been a banner year for us here at MetaCurch, and we should stop and we should give thanks for that. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:30.479 And the other thing I was very convicted to do is to talk about our response to that, which is our generosity. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.680 And uh, and and God was like, hey man, like do both. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:35.680 You know, you you could just do both of those things. 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:41.840 And actually, I'm gonna give you the perfect weekend, November 30th, right in between the season of gratitude and the season of generosity. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:51.439 And uh by the end of today, uh, I'm gonna give us a really simple, deliberate next step for us to express our gratitude to God and express our generosity here. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:03:02.000 Both of these are really, really important topics in the life of believer, and I wanna start really focusing on gratitude because every good gift in your life has been given to you by God. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:02.879 Amen? 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.080 Every good gift you have has been given to you by God. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.240 And so I wanna I I don't want to just say that and let it hang there. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:14.560 Um, I want to actually start walking through some of the big blocks. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:24.159 This is not an exhaustive list because God shows up in a million ways every day of your life, and we're probably aware of like three of them, but God is gifting you all of the time. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:29.199 I want to go from the biggest picture of the gifts that God has blessed us with. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.159 Uh, God has given us the good gift of creation. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.840 God created out of his nature, you need to know that. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:40.319 God's nature is love, that's why he created us with things like free will. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:46.879 God's nature is love and it is relational, which is why he created humanity to be in relationship with himself. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:57.599 And you can look in the first two chapters of Genesis, you can see God's original intent, both for his creation and more importantly, for us as the height of his creation. 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:00.479 He's given us creation, he also gave us life. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:02.240 He gave you life individually. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:06.479 Jeremiah said that God was knitting him together inside of his mother's womb. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:09.199 He also gave us life as humanity. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.439 That is a gift that he has granted us, and he grants us every day. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:20.160 And life is short-lived, and yet, as we'll see towards the end of this lift, list, God has even given us life after death. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.319 Uh, I'm going down to to bury one of my cousins. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:24.399 I was in South Texas watching him die this week. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:38.560 Way too young according to my standards, uh, way too painfully according to my standards, but it was a reminder that life is a gift, and that life is not promised tomorrow, and we should take advantage of it right now while we have this gift here on earth. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:42.800 Not only were we created and given life, we were given the image of God. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.680 And God said, Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:53.199 We are called in the Hebrew the Salim, which means the image bearers of the divine. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:59.680 We were given dominion, the right to rule and reign as kings and queens of this world that God situated us in. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.240 These are the good gifts that God has given us. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.399 God also gave us revelation. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:11.279 He revealed himself to us, he revealed his laws to us, he revealed how to live a good life. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:13.199 God gave us his presence. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:25.839 One of the things that you'll notice if you read scripture is even in the Old Testament, all the way to the New Testament, all the way to the church age, is that because God loves us so much, he desires presence with us. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.800 God desires to dwell among his people, like a good relationship. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.120 He wants to be where you are. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.879 He gives us revelation, he gives us presence. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.000 Now it's difficult because no one has ever really seen God. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:46.560 This is what John says in the first chapter of his gospel, except the one who was with God, Jesus the Son. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:53.040 And John says that the Son, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:57.040 The good gift that God gave us is the incarnation of Christ. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:14.319 God so desired his presence with us, he so desired to reveal himself to us, he so desired to show us how life is actually supposed to be lived, that God stepped out of heaven, put on human flesh, was incarnate, came down to our earth and lived among us. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:21.839 Of course, because Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again, he gave us salvation and eternal life. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.800 The greatest gift on offer to you. 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:25.360 Amen. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:26.319 You believe that? 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:42.399 Salvation, eternal life, the gift that changes our life, that allows us to be born again, that forgives all of our sins, past, present, and future, that brings us into relationship with our Heavenly Father, that fills the deepest longing of our soul, that gives us direction and power and purpose. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.759 This is the good gift that God has given us. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.639 These last two I want to highlight, we'll put them up together. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:53.839 God has given us the gift of the church, and he's given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:56.879 You guys may remember this. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:12.240 Last year we talked about this vision that God has given us to obey what the church is supposed to be, which is not one building in one location, but the church is expected to move, to replicate, and to take ground. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:17.759 We started that right here in Helotus by starting a second location of metachurch. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.360 And what we believe is the church is called to go to the ends of the earth. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:27.040 That as individuals, we're called to do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus, right? 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.639 And then as the movement, we are called to do whatever it takes to get Jesus to more people. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.120 That means expansion, it means replication, it means movement. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:44.160 Our key verse for this vision is in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, right before Jesus ascends back to heaven. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:50.399 He says, And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:53.120 The Holy Spirit is a good gift. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.199 Jesus prophesied of his church. 00:07:55.439 --> 00:08:01.439 You, the church, the called-out people of God, will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:07.040 And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:16.000 And that is our job and our project as the church is to get the message and the movement of Jesus to the ends of the earth. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:22.800 Not just in one location in one city, but to replicate and duplicate and expand and move. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:28.560 And we have started that project, and we believe God has a lot more for us. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:32.000 When Jesus was on earth, he prophesied about his church. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:33.919 It's a gift he gave us. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:37.039 It's a new faith family. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:45.600 It's a place for us to find our identity, it's a place for us to discover our purpose, to unlock our gifts, to understand our calling. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.279 And when Jesus left, he said, I'm not leaving you alone. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:51.759 I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:57.440 And for every person who's put their faith in Jesus, you've been sealed by the Holy Spirit, you've been indwelled by the Holy Spirit. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:58.799 That is where your power comes from. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:00.240 It's where your direction comes from. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:01.679 It's where your clarity comes from. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.279 It's where your conviction comes from. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.440 It is where the ability to stand up against the temptations of this world comes from. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:11.200 It's where your ability to have wholesome and healthy relationships comes from. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:14.799 It is where every good gift comes from inside of you, the presence of God. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:15.759 What did God give us? 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:20.480 He gave us creation, he gave us life, the image of God, revelation, he gave us his presence. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:26.159 He so badly wants to dwell in you that now the Holy Spirit actually lives inside of your life. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:38.879 I'm taking time and I'm really outlining this because one of my worst ways as a leader, and one of my worst ways, just like as a human being, is uh I don't stop and celebrate wins. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:46.000 And just like another way to say that that doesn't sound so charitable to myself, um, is I don't express gratitude. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.840 And that's a real shortcoming, and it's an area I am desperately trying to mature in. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.039 And a lot of it is wiring, and so some of you may be like this. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:58.720 Um, I am wired to almost exclusively think in the future. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:00.240 I'm always thinking about the future. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:07.759 I'm wired as a strategist, so I'm thinking about the future, I'm aspiring towards things, I'm building strategies, and here's what happens. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:14.480 If I am successful, by the time we get to that future success, I've lived in it for so long, I'm already ready to move past it. 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:15.600 Anyone else like that? 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:17.279 Anyone have future strategies? 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:19.840 Okay, so those are some hands up across our venues. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.919 All the hands that are down are so freaking annoyed by the hands that were just up. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.320 Let me tell you, because we don't stop and go, hey, something good just happened. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.840 And everyone else is ready to celebrate because they live in the present. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.360 And we're already out in the future, and God gives us those gifts, and we should use those gifts, but we also have to mature. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:38.159 You need to know this. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:43.519 Your your gifts and your personalities are not an excuse to be immature in other areas, okay? 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:49.120 This is the process of maturing, it's the process of sanctification, is to go, I'm not good at this, and it matters, and it's important. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:54.000 I'm not expressing proper gratitude, so I'm going to stop and I'm going to learn how to do that. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:12.320 I'm gonna dedicate the first part of this Sunday to doing that because we are the church, and every good thing that happens in this church is a product of you coming alongside the movement of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:13.200 Amen. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:24.559 We believe that, and the Holy Spirit is so present and so palpable, so real right now in this ministry at MetaCurch, we have to stop and acknowledge it. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:37.039 We're gonna talk about generosity, we're gonna talk about how we give back, we're gonna get into that, but we have to start here because 2025, we have seen the Holy Spirit move in this movement right here like we've never seen before. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:43.919 And so I want to talk about some of what we have seen this year, and I want us to stop, and I want us to express our gratitude. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:49.759 And here's what we do it's like, you know, the Cowboys finally win a couple of games in a row, and we just lose our minds, you know. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:53.679 We're we are online, every text thread I am in, people are blowing it up. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:55.200 I told y'all last year, here they come. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:56.879 This is our year, and maybe, you know what I'm saying? 00:11:56.960 --> 00:11:59.279 I'm a Cowboys fan too, and also I'm an optimist. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:01.279 It's like we have no problem. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:23.279 Uh, some of you are uh sinners, I mean UT fans, and uh you were really excited this week, and and man, we go to a game and we go to a Spurs game, and we will we will praise for a crazy dunk, a crazy three-pointer, a touchdown in the last minute, uh, but we don't often stop and really express actual praise and stand in awe of what God is doing, and we should be in awe of what God has done here at MetaCurch this year. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.200 And so I actually want to talk about it. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:37.519 Um, I I first want to talk about something that I just haven't done a good job keeping in front of you, and it's important because you are playing a massive role outside of MetaCurch. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:50.000 Everyone who is giving here, um, you're playing a massive role outside of here because uh on day one, almost seven years ago, when we started MetaCurch, we decided we would have two strategic partners that we would help fund. 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:54.159 Uh, one would be a local ministry and one would be an international ministry. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.240 And that's just how we chose to do it. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:02.559 Instead of giving a little bit to 20 different strategic partners, we have two and we fund them very well. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:06.960 As a matter of fact, we are some of the top givers in both of these organizations. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.960 One of them, we are their top funder. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:13.360 The other one, we are one of their top funders, and we're the biggest church that donates to them. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:14.480 I'm gonna tell you about them. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:15.919 The first is called the Vault. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:18.799 Uh, we have heard from Rachel Russo, she's the founder of the Vault. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:20.320 We've told you about this throughout the years. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.960 We haven't done a good enough job of letting you know the difference that you're making. 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:24.879 We're one of the top funders to the vault. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:30.559 Uh, the vault exists so that foster and adoptive parents can say yes to kids in need. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:39.919 And so this year alone, just in 2025, the vault has supported over 3,500 kids in foster care, allowing them to be placed. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.399 They've helped over 900 caregivers. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:53.759 The vault is literally a warehouse that works day and night to collect the things that families will need in order to say yes to a kid in need. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:14:01.679 And so when a kid is placed, they come through with beds, they come through with cribs, car seats, diapers, clothing, anything you would need. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:13.039 So there are people who couldn't say yes to a kid because they don't have the necessities, and the vault says, you can say yes because we have what you need, and we are one of the top donors to them, and we have never missed a payment. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.799 As hard as our finances have been through the years, we've never missed a payment to them. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.279 We also, out of the ministry of MetaCurch, we donate to Together for Haiti. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:28.480 If you're not aware of what's happening in Haiti right now, uh we have not been able to be on the ground there for years. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.240 Uh, we were taking trips all of the time. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.279 Haiti has been basically overthrown by gangs. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.240 Uh, the leaders of these gangs actually came to America. 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:37.840 They lived on the East Coast. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.279 Uh, they learned under the top gangs on the East Coast of America. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.600 They went back to Haiti way more organized. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:45.600 They actually overthrew the government of Haiti. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:47.120 It is now run by gangs. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:48.639 We have people over there that we love. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.879 I have people over there that are like family to me. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:55.279 And so we have not shrunk back, we've increased what we are giving to Together for Haiti. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:56.240 And so you need to know this. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:59.919 We've got about 2,000 kids who are in school that we are supporting right now. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:03.600 That means every day they get educated, and every day they get a hot meal. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.519 It's probably their only hot meal of the day. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:06.559 We're supporting that. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.960 We have a women's entrepreneurship institute. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:15.120 We graduated 62 women so far this year who are now running jobs successfully, providing for their families. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.480 Education is expensive in Haiti. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.879 Most education only goes up to ninth grade. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.000 That's when you graduate. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:27.679 In our schools, our ninth graders had a this is crazy, 100% graduation rate. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.600 100% graduation rate. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.600 And so you have a hand in that. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:32.799 You need to know this. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:37.279 MetaCurch is the top donor to Together for Haiti, period. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:38.000 That's you. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.559 You are MetaCurch, and you are making a difference there. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:42.080 That's what's happening outside of us. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:42.960 You guys also know this. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:44.879 We're a huge contributor to the food bank. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:49.360 When we do our drives, we just stood in the gap for hundreds of single moms over the last couple of weeks. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:50.320 You guys are out there. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.159 We are doing this, the hands and feet of God. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.039 Now let's talk about what's happening inside of our movement. 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:05.840 I don't know how to give you a metric for this, um, but almost everyone I talk to who's been here a long time, they just remark on how something has changed at Metachurch. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:19.600 That there is a spiritual growth, a spiritual awareness, that there is an aspect of being spirit-led here in our programs and in our Sunday service that has just increased over the last year. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:21.120 And maybe you have felt that as well. 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:29.279 I gotta be really honest with you, at the beginning of the year, I announced that we were gonna go line by line through the gospel of Luke, and I thought it would take us at least three years. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.879 Now, we are in the Instagram, TikTok, 90-second attention span generation. 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.919 I was nervous as all get out to tell you we're gonna do a three-year series, right? 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:41.679 I didn't know how people would respond. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:43.440 Man, people have clung to this. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:52.559 There are hundreds of people who are taking the scripture very seriously for the first time in their life, and God is using it and speaking to them and building into them. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:59.120 In this year, where we have stripped down a lot of what we've done historically, we do way less production in our Sunday services. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:07.119 Uh, we do longer sermons than we've ever done, we do more music than we've ever done, we're more spirit-led, we're more focused on prayer, and God has grown us. 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:12.480 Around this time last year, our church had grown to about 700 people in attendance, and we thank God for that. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:16.480 Uh, that has been slow growth over six years, adding very incrementally. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:20.880 Just in this one year, we've grown in Sunday attendance only by over 300 people. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.680 We consistently see over a thousand people here on a Sunday. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:27.440 And you should thank God for that, that we are growing like that and seeing new people like that. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.160 Hundreds of new people who have come to MetaCurch. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:34.799 And you need to know this, anybody who knows me, I do not care about numbers for the sake of numbers. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:36.000 I don't need metrics. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.160 Uh, we do not submit our numbers anywhere. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:43.200 There have been years where we would have been one of the fastest growing churches in the country and got put in some magazine. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:44.160 We don't care about that. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:45.279 We don't submit those numbers. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.720 We don't need anyone's attention for our numbers, we don't need numbers for numbers' sake. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.359 Let me tell you why I care about that growth and why I care about that number. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.920 Every one of those numbers represents a real human life. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:18:01.599 It represents a soul, it represents a family, it represents a story, and it represents salvations that are coming here at MetaCurch by the hundreds as well. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:05.599 So we should thank God that He's growing this movement and reaching new people. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:12.960 A year ago, we started our Holodus venue, and you you may just be able to imagine starting something new like that. 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:14.160 It is quite a task. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:19.200 Um, man, we're out there under the amazing leadership of Pastor Tony Albano, and it is a grind, bro. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.480 It's not like our Petrinko venue where you walk in and everything is set up for you. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:28.960 You walk in, it's empty, and there's just a trailer waiting for you to set it up at five in the morning every single Sunday without fail. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:31.599 Uh in January, we had about 70 people attending. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:33.599 We thank God for all 70 of those people. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:40.799 Now, at the end of the year, um, most weekends we're about double that, doubling the size of a congregation in one year is just kind of unheard of. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.680 But that's what's happening at our Holodas venue, where people are getting saved and baptized, and it is growing. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:50.000 Man, God is good and we should pay attention and we should show our gratitude. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:51.599 If you've been here, you know this. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.359 At the end of every single service, we do a gospel call. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.279 And we ask for those who put their faith in Jesus to acknowledge and indicate that by raising a hand. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:03.519 People don't believe me when I tell them this. 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.039 It's not just that hands raise every Sunday. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:13.200 It is that hands raise every service, every Sunday. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:14.640 Every time. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:21.759 People are putting their faith in Jesus every service, every Sunday. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.759 Hundreds of people are coming to faith. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:29.599 They are going from spiritual death into spiritual life. 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:31.359 That's why we exist. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.480 And it's happening by the hundreds. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:37.920 And we should stand in awe of that. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:41.119 That God has chosen to move so powerfully here. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:53.680 That's incredible. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:56.480 Let me give you some hard stats. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:01.920 In 2021, we baptize uh 46 people for the year. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.799 The next year, we baptized 69 people. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:08.559 The next year, 2023, we baptized 104 people. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:14.640 And last year, we had a record, we baptized 139 people in 2024. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.079 You guys know this. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:22.319 In one day in October, we baptized more people than we baptized in all of 2024. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.240 We baptized 144 people in October, 222 people for the year. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.000 People are coming to know the Lord. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:31.920 People are getting healed. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:35.519 There's a lady we've been praying for. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:36.799 Her name is Sarah. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.240 She was having eye surgery. 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:46.559 And uh it was gonna be a very difficult surgery, a very painful recovery, a very intrusive recovery. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.119 We prayed for her and we laid hands on her. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:51.200 She showed up two weeks ago. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.200 She's been healed. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.839 And you hear stories about that, and you go, okay, we know, fine. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.079 Um she has the picture. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:01.440 She sent it to me. 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:04.480 Her eye was disconnected. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:05.839 There's a new x-ray. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.039 It's healed. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:11.680 The Holy Spirit is moving. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:19.279 And what I want to do is, I just want to take 10 seconds, and I want you guys to express your praise for what God has been doing here at Metachurch. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:26.000 Show some love for God who has called us and equipped us and given us his spirit and is moving among us. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.559 I'm gonna tell one more story. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:43.359 When we launched MetaCurch, we talked about the four friends who carried their paralytic friend to Jesus and they couldn't get in the house. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.519 And so they climbed up on the roof and they ripped a hole in it, and they lowered him down. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:55.359 And Jesus sees him, and first he forgives him, and he heals him. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.440 And so we had a big house on the stage. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:00.799 Uh, we still have it. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:02.240 I'll bring it out sometime. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.880 And I ask people to come and write names on it. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.880 We've done that a few times in our history. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:12.799 Write the names of the people that you're willing to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.880 We first did this seven years ago. 00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:25.920 And one of the families who's been with us from day one came up and they wrote the name of their brother who lives all the way in California. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:33.119 A brother who seven years later came into town during baptisms. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:44.880 Who, unbeknownst to him, was going to come to service with no intention of getting baptized, and by the end of that service, it came and got in the waters. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:50.799 We're not just thanking God for what he has already done. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:54.240 We're thanking God in faith that he's just getting started. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:05.200 We're believing that there are other people in our families, other people in our friend group, other people in our careers that God is going to reach through this movement. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.200 That we are going to continue to reach the city of San Antonio. 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:33.359 We're going to continue to reach Helotus, and that God is going to continue to expand us and replicate us and move us and allow us through the power of the Holy Spirit to take more and more ground for the kingdom of God, to go into enemy territory where it is the darkest, to shine a bright light, and that people will come to Jesus and come to salvation because we are just normal people who are willing to surrender to the Holy Spirit. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.559 Do you believe that? 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:35.599 Amen. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.640 So here's the question I have. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:45.200 How do we give back to the God who's given us every single good thing? 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:51.440 There are two things I needed to do today in this one weird week in-between series. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.359 We have to stop and show gratitude for what God has done and just acknowledge it. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:24:00.000 What God's done here this year is just it's a banner year for us. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:06.960 What we also have to talk about is that we are called as God's people to be generous to God. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:10.720 And I think I was wrestling with this, and God was like, these belong together. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:15.200 I want to say it like this: gratitude naturally leads to generosity. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:17.839 Gratitude naturally leads to generosity. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.000 Um, this is linked always in scripture. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:23.519 It's also just linked naturally in our human experience. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:24.880 Let me give you some examples. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:33.039 Uh, if you take your kids to like a public place, they're around new people, and your kids are like really well behaved. 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:37.839 They're like good manners, good social skills, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.640 They don't act a fool, they don't fight, you know. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.400 When you get back in the car, you're like, we are getting ice cream. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:48.400 Boy, I am so grateful for how you guys behaved in this moment. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:53.519 I have some parents in the room who are like, yes, Jesus, someday, please help help my children. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.000 Your gratitude for that just turns into generosity. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.960 Uh, you know, you come home and your spouse has just cleaned the whole house, top to bottom. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:05.599 Man, your gratitude, you're just gonna look to be generous to them. 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:07.680 As a matter of fact, this is a cycle. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:09.839 It's how positive relationships work. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:16.079 Gratitude leads to generosity, which leads to gratitude, which leads to generosity. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:27.680 And you end up in relationships where you are both looking for ways to express your gratitude to one another by being generous to one another, which leads to more gratitude, which leads to more generosity. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.599 This is a positive relational cycle. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:34.799 This is a uh positive relational cycle that we are meant to be in with our Heavenly Father as well. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.880 And so, what does that actually look like? 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:39.440 What does it look like to be generous? 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:40.880 Well, it's very interesting. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:41.920 Here's where I think we are. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:43.599 I'm always gonna keep it 100 with you guys. 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.079 I'm always gonna be very honest, even painfully honest. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:49.759 Um, I could not believe higher for this movement. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:54.880 And before we even have this conversation, if you're newer to MetaCurch, you need to know what we believe about church. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:26:13.599 Uh, church is not the buildings we're sitting in right now, church is not the service that you're watching right now, church is not the programs that we run, church is not the staff, it's not the pastors, the church is not the 501c3 not-for-profit organization that the IRS recognizes because the IRS is in all of our business for everything, okay? 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:19.920 The church, which is the ecclesia in the original language, means the called-out people of God. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:25.359 That means you are the church, and so am I. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:27.839 And we all have a role to play. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.279 And what does it look like for the church to express its generosity? 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:34.559 By the end of our time today, I'm gonna look uh at the church in Corinth. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.240 I think it's a great approximation for exactly where we're at as metachurch. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.680 The church in Corinth was on fire in so many ways. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.200 Extremely generous, and listen, so are you. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:57.440 They were generous with their time, they were generous with their gifting, they would always show up, they were generous with their leadership, they were generous with their effort, they were generous with their excitement, they were generous with their energy. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:03.039 However, they were not yet generous with their resources. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:10.960 The way the church has talked about this is they were generous with their time, they were generous with their talents, they were not generous with their treasure. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:16.880 And just to keep it all the way 100 with you, that's where we are, metachurch. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:25.359 I don't know that I've ever been around more generous people, and yet our financial giving just doesn't yet reflect that. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.079 Now, I think there's uh several reasons. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.160 One of them could in fact be spiritual maturity. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:36.559 So giving is one of the things that comes with spiritual maturity. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:37.359 We just know that. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:38.559 We make room for that. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:43.599 One of the reasons is because your money in your personal life is just in chaos. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:52.720 Every month you were just kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul, you're racking up debt, more and more debt, you don't have any margin, you couldn't really give if you wanted to. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:28:00.559 I'd really encourage you to go through our next uh season of the academy so we can at least start building some of those skills because we want you to be wise with what God has given you. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:09.200 Uh, one of the main reasons people don't give to the modern church is because really bad, corrupted teaching on giving in the church. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:21.599 And there are all kinds of ways the church has taught about giving that are not biblical, they're not helpful, they have caused people to live with incredible fear or incredible guilt, and you just need to know that's not good biblical teaching. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:32.640 One of the most common mistakes that people make is they teach the tithe from the Old Testament of our Bible as if it is a law and a command for the church in the New Testament. 00:28:32.880 --> 00:28:34.000 And it's just not. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:36.880 Uh odds are if you grew up in church, you grew up learning the tithe. 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:38.640 The tithe means a tenth. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:47.359 And the way this is taught is you give 10% of all of your income to the body of Christ, and that is that is proper giving. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:51.839 That is true for Israel in the theocratic kingdom of the Old Testament. 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.119 It's not true for today. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:55.039 Uh, you might actually find it interesting. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:03.759 If you really want to give in an Old Testament model, which is what most churches are teaching, you don't give 10%, you give about 23 and a third. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:12.880 If you read Leviticus carefully in the Old Testament, what you find is they did not give one tithe, they gave three, two of them annually, and one every three years. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:19.680 Every year they give 23 and one-third of their resources to the kingdom, the government in Israel. 00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:22.559 That was not giving out of generosity. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:25.599 That was their tax system in the Old Testament. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:32.960 It's how they funded the kingdom, it was how they funded their welfare program for the poor, and it was how they funded their national holidays. 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:34.400 That's what it was. 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:37.200 That's not what is taught in the New Testament. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:44.240 And there is a really corrupt version of this that is taught often, and I'll tell you why it's taught. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.960 It's taught because it's effective. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:30:03.119 And I have no doubt that we could teach this corrupt, unbiblical view of church giving and increase our annual budget significantly because the way this is often taught uses fear and guilt and shame. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:14.480 Here's how it's taught uh for every$10 you receive, uh, you have to give one of them to the Lord, and if you do, the other nine dollars are blessed, and if you do not, then all of the money is cursed. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:24.000 Some people go so far as to make tithing a salvation issue, where if you are not giving 10%, you may not actually be a child of God. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:35.599 I just want you to hear me say that that is unbiblical, it is corrupt, it borders on evil because you are taking a good concept of generosity and you are using it for nefarious means. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:41.359 That is not how we teach, and many of you have been taught in that way, and many of you have been guilted and made to feel shame and made to feel fear. 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:48.160 And so, if that is you, I just want to give you an actual version of why we exercise generosity, what it actually means, what it actually looks like. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:58.240 I'm gonna land the plane today, going, look, look at what God has done for us, and I'm gonna give us a real action step and how we can exercise our generosity back to the Lord. 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:01.759 And so, look, uh, this is not lost on me. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:05.759 Um, some people just don't like talking about generosity and giving at all. 00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:07.119