Church Planting in Austin: An update from Ruben Campos

Church Planting in Austin: An update from Ruben Campos

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SPEAKER_00 0:53

Okay. Well, good morning, Point Community Church. It is a real pleasure to be here. Um, man, I gotta say, like, it just delights my soul. Truly does to be able to be here with you guys. So, as I'm kind of sharing some of the things that we've been experiencing over the last few months, I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm a crier. So, I might cry. If I do, don't hold it against me. All right. Um, as was mentioned earlier, my name's Ruben Campos. I was uh once a member here at Point Community Church, continue to be a member of the family though, even though I'm not here. Um, and me and my wife left uh with our family about nine months ago. So I'm gonna give you a quick a quick synopsis of what took place before we left, and then what I'll do today is rather than spend my time, which I would really enjoy kind of just uh uh taking a text and expositing it for you guys, what I'm gonna do is a little different. I'm gonna kind of share our journey as it's been taking place over the last few months, and in and in in those in that process, kind of share like object lessons that we've been really coming to uh in this time, and then anchor those in in texts that I think are faithful to what would be coming out of that text, so that you can see that that's a part of what scripture says. In the hopes that, like us, uh you might be able to benefit from what we've been going through. Because the reality is this I know that each and every one of us here, that there's there's literally thousands of struggles in our hearts today. Without a doubt, each person here has things that they are going through, that they're grappling with, that they're wrestling with, wanting to understand, God, how are you in this? How am I supposed to see you here in the turmoil of what I'm going through? Where are you? Now, if you don't feel that, then man, I I don't know. I I can't relate then. But I'm but I'm willing to bet that the majority of us here have something like that we're going through, right? And so I'm hoping these things that I share with you today can can bring a little light to how you can go through those things. Um, so rewinding a little bit, as a young man, I kind of felt a call into ministry. Avoided that call most of my life, like most kids do, you know. And uh I get to the point where I'll fast forward through the first 36 years, okay? And I'll say, uh, I get to point community church, all right? Or the first 35 years. I get to point community church. And my first meeting with Nick Shock, like he says, hey man, let's we we connect, I get to know him, and he's like, Why don't we why don't we grab food somewhere? So I got him by him down to my office down by Congress in 6, and we go to a burger shop and we start talking. And that first encounter with Nick, he's like, So you ever thought about like planning a church? Like, what is your heart? How do you feel about that? And if you know Nick, that's like that's totally him. But from the get-go, he was he was wanting to know like, is there someone here that I can help develop into the call that God has in their life? And surely he didn't know my history, but he asked the right question. And I did have a call. And as I continue to spend some time here at Point Community Churches, and as I grew with this family, God took that call and he confirmed it through the body and he confirmed it through the elders. And it was December 2017 that I left my job to take a non-paid role here at Point. They're like, hey, we got a residency non-paid. Do you want to do it? Comfortable, six-figure salary. My wife's not working. Will you take this non-paid role? Uh, okay. I we you know, we felt like God was calling us. We felt like he was calling us, so we said yes. And uh God faithfully, man, I remember being with Sandra where she at. I was back here and I was like doing numbers on the whiteboard. I was like, man, how much do we gotta raise? How much are funds? We've got to raise funds, you know? And January 15th, we start raising funds. January or February 28th, we were fully funded for the year. Man, I just that that alone, man, it makes my heart like. I remember, like, you know, I want to practice this. I remember running over to Sandra, and and she was in this room over here. She was in the in the children's room, and she was with somebody else. I can't remember what it was. I'm like, Sandra, I just have to like, I have to glory with you. I have to tell you right now, like I was just over there like crunching the numbers, like looking at everything that everybody's been you know helping us with, and we're fully funded, like we rejoiced with me. And we did, we just praised God right there. We just thanked God right over there, right? And then eight months into that process of being here at Point, Reem and I again are like, hey, we're coming up to year two. Start thinking about you know what we're gonna be doing. We have to also be considering our family unit. And hey, the reality is that uh we we live, and so that comes at a cost, and so we're thinking about like how how are we gonna support ourselves this next year? Here comes along Danny Box from uh Flogerville, Hill Country Bible Church Floogerville, where I'm I currently am a pastor at. And um, he says, Hey, we're we're looking to plant the church in northeast Austin. Would you guys be interested in considering that? Would you just you and your wife pray about it? And so we start praying about it. We start praying about it, and lo and behold, like, man, we feel God calling us to this area. And not an area that I would typically feel called to. I like South Austin. You know, I like South Austin. If you're from North Austin, you you you you get you you'd be here, you spend a little time here, and you see the difference and the vibe. And I love South Austin. But where he was calling us, I was like, I don't know if that's that's where he's calling us. But we we prayed and prayed and we felt like he was calling us and we accepted that call. And God funded us for the next year. Just like putting our trust, our faith in God. And it's just been amazing to see him fulfilling that. Kind of brings me to where I'm at now. And I want to open up with a text. It's in Acts chapter 13. I'm just gonna read to you three verses, and I'll pray. We can start talking about what's been happening and taking place. So Acts 13 says, Now there were in the church of Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Menean, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off. Father, we come to you today, Lord. I pray with hearts wide open. That you would probe and search the depths of our souls, our hearts, our minds. Would you illumine the dark areas of our life with the light of your gospel? Would you confront us, Father God, where we resist? Would you challenge us, Lord? Would you cause us to grow? Would you spur in us a desire to pursue you? Help us to be aligned to your word today, Father. Help us to see that despite the difficulties of life, Lord, that as we obey, that as we persevere, Father God, that as we sacrifice, Lord, that in it and through it all you be glorified. Lord, but that you do that as well, Father God, for our own edification. That you bring us through it all, Father, so that we can actually experience the greatest joy we've ever known. That we can discover that fulfillment alone is in you. And that the sooner we align ourselves with you, Father God, the greater our joy and fulfillment will be. We surrender this time to you now, Lord. Holy Spirit, be in this place, speak through me. Would you anoint this time as your word is shared? Father God, would you illumine our hearts and minds in Jesus' name? Amen. So this kind of sums up this passage I just read, what we felt like when we were leaving here. You know, like elders just laying hands on us and saying, hey, like we feel like you're called, and we're like, oh, we feel like we're called, and we're being sent off. The first point I like to make is that for us, church planting has been an exercise in obedience. Right? It's been a real exercise in obedience. When we were here, it was real difficult to make that choice. I had just been offered an opportunity while I had a very good job. We were just I was just offered an opportunity for a company that was literally like my dream job. My dream job. It incorporated technology and church. So I was in the technology sector already, so I was just like gun-ho about it. And here's the kicker. More or less we're gonna double your salary. And I was already making great. Man. And I remember being in the airport with my wife. I was flying back from an interview in Seattle. And I'm like, babe, I think this is I think this is mine. Like I like a guy says, like, hey, this job is yours, I'm the one who's offering it. And I'm thinking, this is great. We'll pay off our house in two years. It's fantastic. And as I'm talking with my wife, though, like I keep on hearing her saying things like, I don't know, like as I pray, I don't feel that, I don't feel that. I feel like God is calling us to plant. And I felt the same thing. I remember reading through, I remember reading through this Martin Luther biography. And as like as we were like contemplating this process, I'm reading through it gets to the part where Martin Luther is like, he's like his father spent his entire income on helping him to go to school, and and if I'm not mistaken, to become like an attorney, you know, so he's going to get into law, and he's at the top of his class, and he's walking back home one day, and lightning strikes not too far away from him when all of a sudden he realizes, what am I doing with my life? And at that moment, he decides to give it all up, everything, to pursue monkhood. And I'm not a monk by any means. But it resonated with me as I was reading that. And I was like, man, God, are you trying to tell me something here? And I just so happened to be reading something else. It was like, it was uh it was a story about a Puritan. And it talks about him being like one of the wealthiest merchants in the city, like he's one of the richest guys, and he's just having like, you know, the time of his life, his family is growing, he's well known, he's like an aristocrat, and all of a sudden, like he just has this encounter with God as he's reading the word, and he decides to leave everything behind. And I'm like, all right, God, like what are you telling me here? And then I start studying scripture, and then I see this passage where it's like, man, this man he finds a treasure and he buries it in a field, and he goes and he sells all he has and he buys that field because that treasure was worth it all. You see, all of us here, we have that treasure. That's Christ. Those of us who have surrendered our lives to him. And that's and so that's what I was feeling, and Rain was feeling it. And it was that day at the airport, I'm flying back from this interview, and she says, I think we know what we need to do. And I'm like, oh, I hate it when she's right. I mean, like, not about this stuff. But she was right, she was so right, and so we decided. We decided to obey, to pick up, and to come. And it was hard, it was a real challenge. Let me read to you what it says in Romans chapter 16, or chapter 6, verse 16 through 18. It says, Don't you know that when you offer yourselves up to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey? Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves in sin, you have now come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness. I don't have the time to unpack this, but let me tell you something. It suffices to say that there is a link between your obedience and your growth in righteousness. There is a means by which, as you obey, God continues to grow you in righteousness. Now, this is not salvific in nature, it adds nothing to the fact that you were a sinner, dead in your trespasses and sin, and now saved by the righteousness of Christ. But it won't, what it does do is it continues to walk you through the process of sanctification. And that's why, as disciples, we're all called to obedience. And the and the way that that reflects on the difficulty that you're going through now is that I would challenge you as you're struggling through different things, begin to obey God in the small things, it will produce a righteousness in you that is good for all things. We have begun to see in our own life as we take out these, take these steps in obedience, that God continues to grow us in our own walk with Him. And the fruit that it bears is beneficial for all other areas of life. So it's not like this one trick pony that like when I obey here, then it helps me in that area only. But we discover that as we obey, it really begins, it begins to help us in all of life. The second point I want to bring to light is the church planting has been an exercise in sacrifice. It's been sacrificial, it's been it's challenged us to sacrifice. And this is hard when you're going through the two through tough things. I'm gonna share some of those experiences with you so that you can kind of see what it's been like for us. And so you can see that in that that you're not alone. That when you are by yourself, like pillow on your head, and you're wrestling with no one will know if I've done this for God. Why should I do it then? I share this so that you know you're not the only one. Other people are struggling with you and they're sacrificing with you. You're not alone. And you do this for an audience of one, anyways. To God be the glory. But I want to encourage you with what we've gone through to let you know that you can go through it too. So, some of the sacrifices we've made, first and foremost, we left our church and community. This is our family, man. We have no immediate family here. Ream and I. Our mom's in Houston. My parents are in Arizona. This was our family. You try and pull yourself away from family, see how it feels. It's sacrifice. This is our community. We were South Austiners. We loved it, we enjoyed it, right? We had people here, we were established, we had our home group that we had been a part of for three years, and we got to see God raise people up in there, and then and they go out and start other groups, and it was amazing, and that was a part of what we did here. And for us to have to kind of uproot ourselves, leave our friends, our family, our church, it was a sacrifice, but it was worth it. It is worth it. We sold our house, we moved to North Austin. Now that typically wouldn't be a sacrifice, but we were in a pretty tight budget, as I'm as I mentioned before. Kind of took a new role, wasn't making what I was used to, the area that we were in was not really compatible with us. Asking prices were way higher than we could afford. And why I typically tell people I say, hey, be smart with money. Your money should be a tool to serve God. We had take on this responsibility of a new mortgage payment, $400 higher than our last one. That was not easy. If you know me with money, you're like, uh I'm like, I'm sometimes, you know, my wife has to be like relaxed, you know. And in Portuguese, there's a saying, maungi vaca. It means cow hoof, because it's closed, you know? And so when somebody like tight with their money, they say maunjivaca. So that was hard. Right? But we had to trust God. And we and we and we feel like that sacrifice is worth it. And I say this not to boast, but to boast in Christ to you, so that you might see that he is worth it. That he's worth your money. And I'm not asking for money. But what I'm saying is that if if I have to give everything I own, I will. Because he's worth it. We changed a schedule with our son. Now, some of you may know, some of you may not know, that Andrew, our oldest, we share between two homes. This, I'll be honest, was the hardest challenge for me. I struggled hard. Because we we have him seven days on, seven days off. But because he's enrolled in school over here, we'd have to kind of shift schedules because we can't drive him an hour one way, 45 minutes one way, back and forth to school four times a day. So we went to a new schedule where we are with him two less days of the week. And that's hard. Because we love him. Because he's our life. But isn't it true that scripture says that if you're not willing to leave your sister, your brother, your mother, your father, then you cannot follow me. Sacrifice has been real. Time with kids, family, time on our own, of course. All that is, you know, when you're in the throes of church planting, there is no such thing as time for yourself. But it's worth it. So here's what I'm asking you when you're struggling through. What what what is God challenging you right now with? What's he calling you to? As you're weighing out the pros and cons in your mind, which you're inevitably doing, I'm asking you to consider being okay with letting go of more. I'm asking you to consider doing things you won't normally do because God is worth it. Point number three. Church planting has been, has challenged us to persevere. This is where it gets interesting. Uh certainly there has been no lack of spiritual warfare. Very job esque, I would say, these last eight, nine months for us. Very job esque, right? So, I mean, like God permits Satan to go and and and kind of like interfere with Job's life in so many different facets. And man, I would say that as we took on the mantle of church planting, there's no doubt that we engaged in spiritual warfare and declared battle on the enemy. And in that process, we have felt it for sure. Not just in what we've sacrificed, but in what we've had to endure. I'm gonna say that there are times when it may be true that even as you go through spiritual work. Your health can be impacted. So let me give you a little chronology of some of the things that have taken place over the last few months. Some of the normal stuff. I have food poisoning. I say it's normal because I eat so much and eat everywhere. Have food poisoning, cold twice, flu. I caught fist disease. This is in the eighth-month period, guys. I caught fifth disease. My whole family caught fifth disease. Every one of our children. I had scabies for five months. Have you ever had scabies? I felt like ripping off my skin, man. And I'm telling you, at first, we're like, let's just change the duvet. I got a new duvet cover. It must be that. That's why I'm Mitching. Got rid of that. Tried new soaps, tried new shampoos, tried new detergents, trying to figure it out. I went to the doctor, they couldn't diagnose what it was. Three months into that, my entire family gets scabies, including my pregnant wife. I forgot to mention she was we got pregnant right before we left. We thought it was a good idea. And so she was pregnant throughout this process, too. So she had scabies, my whole family had scabies, and man, it was a battle. I had my first anxiety attack. Man, I remember waking up, felt like my heart was just like coming out of my chest. So painful. And I had trouble breathing. I went to the hospital. I never experienced anything like this. You know, the doctor said, man, you're you're stressed out. You need to take it easy. I had two stroke-like instances. The first one happened in early January. I was on I was on leave with my wife just a couple days ago. Trying to take it easy because we're so stressed out. I'm sitting across the table from another couple, and I'm sitting there, hands in my lap, and my eyes cross. Like I see two of him now. I cannot cross my eyes, and I begin to sweat. I feel like I feel this tightness in my body, and I feel faint. I almost fall out of my chair. I have to grab myself, pull myself back up. I go to the doctor, and he says, It sounds like this is stress-induced. We did all the checks, but like there's nothing happening. Because we're going through a lot. I mean, there's a big change. I'm starting a new job. I'm we've moved to a new house. I'm shifting my family from one place to another. There's things happening with my children. I'm planting a church, I'm discipling people, and it's so much burden sometimes. And I'm not giving it to God. That's not a proud moment for me. Well, I'm just I'm sharing that because I'm human. And I want you to know that this platform might raise me up, but I am in no means elevated from anyone here. I struggle with leaving things in God's hands. I'm constantly saying, like, oh, here you go, God. And then running back and grabbing and saying, Lord, let me let me let me help you out. Again, about two months ago now, I'm going through some real tough, tough times at home. And I'm reading. 11:30 at night. This time left side of my body goes numb and I feel like it's on fire. And I'm I'm like petrified. I run over to the mirror to see if like I've like lost any control. Go to the doctor. What does he say? We've done all the checks. It seems like it's probably stress-induced. Man, it has not been easy. We rushed Malachi to the hospital in an ambulance one night because our son wasn't breathing. It's like you see your kid there in the middle of the night, and he's like, and he can't breathe. Terrifying. They took him to the hospital. It turns out it was croup. Of course, there's my other my other two children. Pink eye, rashes, multiple times. The kids, I think twice his year. Rashes, unknown. They weren't able to diagnose them, the whole all of them. Not to mention that through the majority of this, guys, my wife is pregnant. And she's getting everything I'm catching along the way. Some of you have had the opportunity to meet uh uh my dog, Augustine. Man, champion amongst dogs. We signed a paper to go plant the church a weekend. We get news that he has a brain tumor. Two and a half months ago, we buried him in his backyard, in our backyard. And he didn't just like he just like deteriorated in front of us. Man, 85-pound blue nose, pit bull, gorgeous animal. And we just felt like, man, like what out of nowhere, he's in perfect health. What's going on? And you might chalk that up as just a coincidence. That's fine. I don't. First week on the job. I accept the offer over there. I'm driving to work. A guy hits me. I'm not even moving. Oh my God. It's like stationary. He hits me. Insurance says it's no fault. I get nothing for it. And I'm like, what? Earlier this year, I am leaving work. And I'm at the church leaving work. And so here I'm at the light, first one at the light. Traffic's coming this way. Our lights go green. So I'm turning this way, and the people coming across are turning this way. A motorcycle comes, poof, and hits this car in front of me. And I'm watching, and I'm turning in the sky like a starfish. He's projected in the air about 20 plus feet, and he flies about 60 feet. And as I pull up to the sidewalk, he smashes down on the pavement. And I come out, first one on the scene, his leg is twisted, he's bleeding out of his pelvis, his face is smashed. And I'm like, Mister, can you hear me? I'm just praying for him. Like I've come all over here to plant the church and to help share the gospel with people. Now I have a guy dying in my hands. But he's not responsive. And he dies. Why? Like, why'd I have to see that? Why was I there? I couldn't do nothing. Are you just trying to show me how useless I am? For months after that, I struggled. Every click, bang, driving, I sent my heart into palpitations. In fact, every time I passed that place up, I would see him again. I was having dreams of people taking my children, throwing them up, and not catching them, and then falling on the floor, and I'd wake up crying. It wasn't until a friend of mine who served in the military said, man, that sounds like a little bit of a PTSD. I struggle to understand why. And I was faced many times in this process, like, should we just fold? Should we just fold the cards and just say, like, put down our hand and say we're done? Like is it's like secretly, is that what God is calling us to do? Is he calling us to just like fold, to give up hope, to stop in the midst of all this turmoil? Is he saying, this is not where I've called you to? Because that's what popular teaching would tell you. If you're struggling, if you find resistance in your life, if you're not living your best life now, then it's not God. But I'm telling you, persevere. I'm telling you to hold on. Romans chapter 3, chapter 5, verse 3 and 5. It says, not only so, but we also glory in our suffering. Because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance, character, and character, hope and hope does not put us to shame. Because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Hope doesn't disappoint. Hope in God, hope in Jesus, hope in the work of Him in your life, hope in the gospel, hope in His truth, it will not disappoint. Hold on, persevere. Man, it's gonna build you in character, it's gonna produce hope in you. And when you hope in the one who is the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end, he is the author and the finisher of our faith. He was when there was nothing, and out of nothing created everything. When you hope in that one, your hope will not disappoint. Of course, along with all these things, we're daily struggles and then trying to church plant and working a job. It's frustrating when people agree to plant, then back out. People want to plant with you, but only on their terms. We'll join you when you have a building, your own childcare website. Can we be a part of your team but do nothing? We want to church plant with you, but don't have to don't want to have to share the gospel. That's hard. That's what I'm going to do. So I've resigned my life to do this. And so when you're walking through this process and you're trying to build people up alongside you and you keep on getting hit with this, man, I love to tell you. I love to tell you, Point Community Church, that you sent us out, and now we can say with Paul, the entire city has been reached. I can't. It has been hard. But we've learned to persevere in this process. God literally brings us through one thing after another, sometimes in victory and others in survival mode. But he's never failed us. And he won't fail you. Psalms 34, verse 17 and 18 says, When the righteous cry for help, the Lord bears, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Cry out to the Lord. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. This has been a mantra for our family. And this is what I'm going to encourage you to do. Nothing new under the sun. Right? That's what the preacher says in Ecclesiastes. There's nothing new under the sun. So I'm going to encourage you to turn to scripture, turn to texts like this, to be reminded of what you're fighting for, to be reminded of why you're pursuing discipleship, to be reminded of why you're living a life to serve Christ, to be reminded of why you want to intentionally pursue a relationship with him. Turn to these things because they're here for our benefit. I know we all want God to speak out of heaven like a thunderous clap and audibly hear him. But when that doesn't happen, this is his word. He's spoken it for us. It's here for you to look at. And anyone, anytime you want to hear from God, you can. And so that's been our encouragement. That's what we've turned to, that's what we've looked to. And God, in that process, has done amazing things. He's brought families alongside of us. Some which are here. We have a handful of our church plant members with us today. And some of these families, some of these people have been for us a lifeline in moments of darkness, trials, and tribulation. And that's what you have here. You also have this body, you have this family, this point community church. I mean, turn to them, turn to one another, lean on each other during this time. That's what we've done. That's what God has shown us to do through Scripture, and it has blessed us, it's kept us alive. This has built a foundation on which we can continue working. And so it is with you as you go through your struggles and your challenges, as you turn to the Word of God, as you bring in community and you don't lone ranger it. God will begin to build in you the strength that you need to overcome the obstacles that you are facing in Christ. Not on your own, in Christ. It's Christ in you that does the overcoming. Fourth point, final point. Church planting is God's doing and for his glory. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 6 says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God brings the growth. Psalms chapter 127, verse 7 says, Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain. There's been no shortage of moments where we have seen God clearly operating on our behalf, and where he has reminded us constantly that it's not what we're doing, but what he's doing through us that will succeed. And more importantly, in this room where we all come in, what he's doing despite us, that his plans will succeed. I mean, we have we've had over 30 plus couples over our house, right? Not including the Friday night groups. Every Tuesday and Thursday we're having somebody over for dinner. We had a group of 65 people have dinner in our house just two weeks ago in the backyard. I mean, we're having tons of people over, we're having conversations, we're sharing the gospel, we're trying to disciple, and lo and behold, none of those people happen to come. They don't stay. And then it's like, what are we doing? And then you know what happens? We have a meeting, and somebody comes in and they're like, hey, we just felt like God was directing us here. It's like, what? We never even talked to you guys, we've never even seen you before. But they're like, hey, we felt like it was God who was bringing us here. We felt like he directed us to you.

unknown 37:21

It's like what?

SPEAKER_00 37:25

So often God is just not, He's wanting your obedience, and then in our minds we think, oh, out of this obedience, here's what will be produced. But the reality he has something different planned. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build labor in vain. So the encouragement is yes, build. Build. Be obedient. Sacrifice, persevere. But know that it's God who builds through you. It's God who will have or give you victory through Christ in you. And again, victory looks like sometimes survival. We have found that church planting is not about building our own kingdom or about being part of something exciting and new. It's not about building up our self-esteem or spiritual resume. Ultimately, we church plant because we believe that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Church planting, like many other things, exists because the worship of God does not. And so we go into an area like we have in Northeast Austin because there are people there who don't know God, don't trust God, don't live for God. They don't worship God. And we want God to be exalted by all men. And so we come in there and we share the gospel so that they can know this truth, be transformed, and glorify God in the process. Church planting is God's doing into his glory. We have a gospel community meets on Friday nights. We've seen, man, God is growing it. He's transforming it. It's growing, it's a little itty bitty thing, and it's growing, it's growing, it's growing. And we're we're excited about that. But that's not what really matters. What matters is that during the gospel community, we share life together. That we hear, learn, apply the gospel in our life. That's what matters. That's a victory. I'm sharing a victory right now with you about our church plan. Is that there was there was no group meeting in our house before we lived there, and there's people gathering now, hearing the gospel, learning the gospel, sharing the gospel. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. That's a victory. Nine men in my garage. Iron sharpens iron Tuesday morning, 6 a.m. That's not really what matters. Men are sharing their struggles with one another and speaking life through the gospel to each other and maturing as men of God. That's what matters. And that's what's happening. We had a uh kind of we had this partnership with Wells Branch Church in Hill Country Bible Flucreville. And they said, hey, we'd like to take our teens and we'd like to have them help you kind of launch your church. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna gather them together and we want them to do a local mission trip for five days in your area. I was fixing my ring and I mean like five, I know how to count. It's like five days in the area, they're gonna come. And so we partnered up, we planned a bunch of things. We had this soccer camp planned at the local, you know, recreation center, and we had all these activities planned for them to saturate the community, and 50 or 35, 40 teens came, and then more or less five or ten adults in and out came and helped us. So we had 50 people kind of like descend on our area there. And from the outside, it seems like activity. Like that's activity, right? Like, man, things are happening, right? That's what a church is supposed to do, but that's not what matters. What matters is that 600 doors were knocked on, a hundred plus people were prayed for, dozens of people heard the gospel, and someone surrendered their life to Jesus. That's what we're there for. That's what we're there for. Now I'm just wondering, maybe in your hearts you're thinking, eight months, all of this, and one person gave their life to God. Is that worth it? What do you think Jesus' perspective is on it? He's a shepherd, he he loses the sheep. And he leaves the 99. He goes after the one. And it says, when he finds him, he throws it on my shoulders and he brings it back home and he invites his friends in and they rejoice. And all of heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to repentance. So is it worth it if all of heaven rejoices? Can I give a month? Can my family give a month? Can these church plant members come and work with us and do this for one soul? Yes! Because it's for the glory of God, and it's worth it. And so, whatever you're going through, as you're like measuring out the pros and the cons, as you're thinking about what is the cost, is it really worth it to lay down my life and to pick up my cross and follow him daily? And I would tell you, standing here, despite everything that's taking place, it's a resounding yes and yes. I'm gonna pray as we close up our time here. And as I pray, the band will come back up. We're gonna have a time of communion, a time where we can reflect and think about what God is doing. I pray and ask that like as you're reflecting, step up to that challenge, whatever it is that God is kind of pulling you. You feel attention, I know you do. There's something in your mind as I'm talking, you're saying, man, that's where God is challenging me. And in this time of reflection, I'm asking that you consider that and say, God, like, where can I give more? How can I give more? Personally, my own life. Where can I sacrifice? Where do I need to persevere? Where do I need to be obedient? Let me pray. Father, I thank you for this time, Lord. You are good, you are glorious. You are so worth our lives, Father God. You gave it all, you left nothing back with your sacrifice. You gave your son, you gave us the best, the cream of the crop. Lord, I pray that you would stir our hearts as a body of believers, Lord, to be willing to surrender all to you. Help us as a body of believers to just not be okay with nominal Christianity. But to say we're we're disciples of Christ. We are called to be conform to the image of the Son. Help us do that. We all struggle. We all have internal conflict, we all have things that we desire and that grip our heart at times, Father. But what we're asking is that you would be the one who grips our heart so that nothing else has room to grow, Father. Lord, that you alone, that you alone will be the Lord of our lives. I thank you for this time, Father God. We recognize that to you be the glory and the honor in Jesus' name. Amen.