The Local Church | Pastor Jeremy Saylor | Wednesday Night Prayer

Well, guys, it's so good to see you here on a Wednesday evening.

Hope your week has been wonderful thus far.

We're going to have a good time tonight in God's Word.

Thank you, Adam.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 14 is where we're going to spend some time together this evening.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

But before we get to that, does anybody need a dad joke to kind of get their week going right here in the middle of the week?

Anyone?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

I'm here to serve.

I'm here to encourage.

I'm here to lift your spirits this evening.

I have some Valentine's Day dad joke.

Hey guys, y'all know what Saturday is, right?

Fellas, you know what Saturday is.

I'm just, you know, trying to help help you a little bit.

Here's the first one.

How do you put a flower?

How do you put a flower in the friend zone?

Well, you tell it, you're my best bud.

That's pretty cute, isn't it?

Taleka, you liked that one, didn't you?

You did.

You did.

You did.

Here's another one.

What did the puzzle, what did the puzzle say on Valentine's Day?

What did the puzzle?

What in the world would a puzzle say on Valentine's Day?

Well, nothing else except you complete me.

Did you get that one, Emily?

Good.

Nailed it.

You're welcome, Adam.

Here.

And then last but not least, everybody say thank you, Jesus.

What did the paper clip say to the magnet?

What did the paper clip say to the magnet?

I'm stuck on you.

That's a pretty good right.

That's a pretty good response.

It's not it, but it's really close.

Well, it says, I find you attractive.

Yeah, you're welcome.

I'll be here.

I told you I'm here to encourage and uplift.

Last week we kicked off a new vision series on Wednesday nights, and that's going to be our focus for the spring.

And really what we're trying to do together on Wednesday nights is identify how we can best partner with the Holy Spirit to build the kind of church that God wants in our community.

How many of you believe that the place that God has placed you matters?

It's not accidental.

The Bible says that the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord.

And before a day of ours came into being, God ordained every one of us.

So we believe that there is a place for every person and a person for every place.

So wherever God has placed you, there's a purpose in that to reach the people of that place.

And that's what we are discussing together on Wednesday nights.

And last week we started looking at the Big C church, what God's doing with the church in America.

And if you remember from last week, we identified a couple of things that are happening that are incredibly exciting relative to the church.

Number one, we are seeing, not just in America, but literally around the world, we are seeing millennials and Gen Zs coming to faith in record numbers.

Let me guys think that's exciting.

We're seeing a movement of the younger generation, not just back to church, but they're also returning to scripture reading in huge numbers.

That excites me.

That excites me to know that God's doing something significant.

And I want to be a part of it.

Can I get an amen to that?

We also learned last week that there are a lot of people that have disconnected from church, not because they've disconnected from Jesus, but because they've relocated to a new place, a new city, a new town, and are having a hard time finding a church that they fit in.

That also excites me because it tells me there are people out there that are looking for a church, that are looking for a place where they can connect, they can grow, and they can be a part of what God's doing in that community.

That excites me.

So those are a couple of things that we learned last week as we looked at the big sea church, what God's doing in the United States and around the world.

And here is really our leadership challenge for us as we investigate and look at what God's doing is we need to reimagine, the church needs to reimagine discipleship pathways, relational connections, and service engagement in a way that resonates with the younger generation.

And that's what we are looking at together.

With that being said, tonight we're going to look at Birmingham.

Everybody say Birmingham and look at some of the distinctives of our community through the lens of Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

Let's read Luke 14, starting in verse 16.

Jesus replied, A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.

And at the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, Come, for everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said, I've just bought a field, and I must go and see it.

Please excuse me.

Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out.

Please excuse me as well.

Still another said, I've just got married, so I can't come.

The servant came back and reported this to his master.

And the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servants to go out quickly, to go out quickly into the streets and into the alleys of the town, and to bring in the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame.

Sir, the servant said, What you have ordered has been done.

But there is still room.

Aren't you glad there's always room in God's house?

Then the master told his servant, Go out to the roads and the country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.

I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get to taste of my banquet.

In Luke chapter 14, Jesus shows us how the kingdom of God is constantly moving towards people.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

That there isn't a person, much less a people, that the kingdom of God is not moving towards.

The Bible makes this plain when Jesus says, none comes unless I draw them.

I'm so thankful that God is constantly drawing us, aren't you?

I'm glad that it's not dependent upon me and my effort and my ability.

No, that the Spirit draws us unto Jesus.

And and so we see here in Luke 14 that the Spirit is constantly reaching out, moving towards people.

The context of Luke 14 is that Jesus is in a Pharisee's house and they're having dinner.

And the Pharisee has invited all the usual suspects to have dinner with his house.

It's his friends, it's the other religious leaders, it's it's all the people that quote unquote fit.

And Jesus, early in the chapter, pushes back towards them and says, don't just invite people who can return the favor.

You need to invite everybody.

Nobody is excluded from this invitation list.

Everybody is welcome at the table of Jesus.

And then we get to this parable, this banquet story midway through the chapter.

And it's interesting as Jesus tells this parable, he said, there's some people that have been invited, but they're distracted.

And they're gonna miss what I'm doing.

Don't worry about those who are distracted.

Instead, go to the streets, go to the alleyways, go down the highway.

Go where the people are and compel them, is what the Bible says.

Compel them to come in.

And church, can I tell you that's the call of every church and every believer?

Our call as the people of God isn't to build churches and ministries and activities that attract the usual suspects.

The purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ is to build churches and ministries that are reaching out to every person within their community.

No one is excluded.

And this is what Jesus is inviting us to do, and that's really what we're looking at on Wednesday nights through the spring.

We're looking at how we can reach the people in our community in increasing measure because I'm of the heartfelt belief that every person needs a relationship with Jesus.

Because he's the change agent, he's the difference maker.

And we want every person in this community to have an opportunity to know him.

So let me ask you a question.

As we think about that and look at look at that through the lens of Luke chapter 14, and look at the greater Birmingham area.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

My question is when you think about the streets and the highways and the alleyways and everything that is associated with this community, how let me ask you this: what are some of the unique dynamics that we need to consider as we reach out to every person in this community?

Have you thought about that?

Have you thought about what are some of the unique dynamics in Birmingham that we need to consider if we're going to reach this community for the glory of Jesus?

You know, it's not just about planning a church in a community.

It's about planning a church in a community that partners with Jesus to reach every person in that community.

And we, as the people of God, need to be thinking about that.

We need to be thinking about what are some of the unique dynamics and some of the unique distinctives of Birmingham that we need to consider as we build discipleship pathways that connect people with Jesus where they are so they can take their next step with him.

And yes, we can think about this as a church perspective, but I'm gonna tell you right now, we're all called to this.

Matthew chapter 20, Jesus said, go and make.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

Is anybody excluded from that command?

No.

No, I have a call, you have a call.

Every person, see, church, I believe with everything inside of me.

When we cross over into eternity, the only thing that is going to matter is who we're bringing with us.

It's not our achievements, it's not the accumulation of things.

Jesus came and gave his life and rose again so that people could spend eternity with him.

How are we reaching people?

What are the things that we need to think about?

Many of you know I'm in a doctoral program working on my doctorate of ministry.

Um I'm I'm two-thirds of the way done.

Thank you, Jesus.

Praise the Lord, hallelujah, thank you, God.

Um, and so I've had to do some kind of deep dives into some of the distinctives of Birmingham and how we as a church are are reaching out.

And so I want to highlight just a few of the distinctives of Birmingham that need to play into our ministry pathway.

Does that help?

Are anybody intrigued by that or interested by it?

A few of you are like, yeah, this is just about you and not about me.

It's all good.

So here, hear me, let me give you a few distinctives about Birmingham that should drive how we do ministry here at Christian Life Church.

And there's really four kind of big distinctives.

Um, and I'm gonna kind of break these down.

Number one, we're in a highly commuter city.

Many of you may or may not realize that Birmingham is one of the most commuter cities in all of the country.

It's correct.

You can't read it because of the whiteboard.

Well, we'll get back to it.

Uh, number two, Birmingham is a corporate city.

Number three, it's an affluent community, and number four, it's one of the fastest growing communities in the state.

Let me break this down for you because it's absolutely fascinating so that we can understand how we build ministry here at Christian Life Church that reaches every part of our community.

Let's talk about a commuter, the commuter context of Birmingham for a second.

Birmingham ranks number seven in the country for the longest distance commute per day per driver.

Somebody say, Yeah, I know that's right because I'm on the road that much.

Do you know that the average driver in Birmingham drives 38 miles one way to work?

Somebody say, Yeah, I do that.

I used to do how many of you guys do that?

Yeah, yeah, several of you.

That's right.

38 miles to work.

Um, the uh a second statistic that's crazy is that the average driver in Birmingham spends 92 minutes a day commuting in their car, whereas the national average is 54.

That's a lot of time in a vehicle, isn't it?

And somebody, I heard a Susan in the back say yes.

Can anybody relate to that?

So let me ask you this question.

If that's true, should we factor that into how we do ministry?

Somebody say yes.

So the question then becomes how do we factor that in to do ministry?

If people are spending an hour and a half a day in a car, how do we meet them in that to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus?

Because if we don't meet them in that, then that's just wasted time.

Radio, different radios, something to do.

One of the things that we're working on is a devotional app that provides parents the opportunity to disciple their kids in the process of a commute.

And so we're thinking about how we can take advantage of the time that people already have rather than requiring.

Does anybody have just free time you're ready to give?

You don't, do you?

Everybody's pulled in a lot of different directions.

And so, how do we take advantage of the time that people already have in a vehicle to help them grow in their relationship with the Lord?

Here's something else to think about.

Baylor University just recently released some research that said 68% of churchgoers in America today live within 15 minutes of their church.

68% live within 15 minutes of their church.

Let me ask you a question.

How many of you guys live within 15 minutes of this church?

Yeah, it's a pretty good number.

It's about half, half the room.

And that's why you're here on a Wednesday night.

Because you live within, how many of you don't live within 15 minutes of the church?

Yep, about the other half of the room.

So here's an interesting thought.

So what they found was that if you live within 15 minutes of a church, then you pretty much attended a church weekly.

If you don't live within 15 minutes of the church, you don't typically attend a church weekly.

What does that communicate to me?

It again communicates how do we connect with people where they are.

And as a church, we're processing that.

We're processing how in the world can we meet people in the realities of their life to grow in their relationship with Jesus?

And one of the things that we're working on are apps, and we're working on podcasts to help people grow in their relationship with the Lord.

How many of you guys think an app or a podcast would be a good idea?

Yeah.

Any other thoughts, any other ideas that just hit you that you know what?

That that would might be a good idea to meet people where they are in their relationship with Jesus.

If you have it, just write it down.

We're we're we're open for business and we'll take any suggestions.

Here's a second interesting fact about Birmingham.

We're in a corporate community.

How many of you guys saw this report back in July of 2025?

Wall Street Journal released the top three metro areas in the country for young professionals.

And do you know that Birmingham was the third-ranked metro area in the country for young professionals to move to for opportunities, for affordable health care, for good school systems, and upward mobility.

That's pretty amazing.

So if that's the case, what does that mean?

It means young families are moving to Birmingham, Alabama.

It's an opportunity for us to meet people where they are in the course of doing life.

And that we need to be very aware of people that are moving into our community that are looking for a place to plant so that they can grow in their relationship with God and their relationship with others.

If you don't get anything out of this vision series, I would implore you to get this.

And this is really what Luke 14 is all about.

Look up and be aware of the people that are around you every day that are longing for a relationship with God.

How many people do we walk by on a daily basis and are just oblivious to because we've got our own things going on?

Anybody else do that?

Anybody else?

Yeah.

Anybody else just like I'm just I just I just gotta get through the grocery store line.

I don't want to talk to nobody.

I'm just ready to get home.

Anyone else feel that way?

You're not normal.

But it is, you know why we, you know, a lot of reason that we do that?

Because we're spending an hour and a half a day in the car and we're ready to get home, and we're tired and we're wore out, and then we're thinking, what else do I have to do?

And we're we're working part of the part of the the the corporate culture here in Birmingham, you know, that unlike other areas in the state, Birmingham has some of the most significant corporation headquarters in the state.

You've got Regents Bank, UAB, um, Alabama Power, all of these places that young professionals are moving to and and looking for and finding jobs, and they're looking for a place, a church that they can plant and grow in their relationship with God.

And we need to be aware of that.

I'm gonna I'm gonna hit uh let's jump to jump to number four, Tammy.

I want to Hit hit number four because I think it's appropriate to what we're talking about specifically.

Is that one of the other distinctives about Birmingham is that it's one of the fastest growing communities in the state?

Five of the fastest, five of the top ten fastest growing cities are in Birmingham, in the entire state of Alabama.

Hoover, Chelsea, Kalira, Helena, and Trustful are five of the top ten fastest growing cities in the state of Alabama.

Why are they the fastest growing cities in the state of Alabama?

Because people are moving there, and why are people moving there?

For jobs, right?

What was one of the stats that we learned last week that's so important?

Is that one of the reasons people disconnect from a church and their relationship with the Lord is because they've moved and relocated and haven't found a place to plant.

I'm telling you, church, Jesus said it.

I'm going to reiterate it.

The fields are white unto harvest.

If we will have the eyes to see them, I firmly believe it with everything inside of me.

My destiny is connected to the people that I reach for Jesus.

My destiny is not connected to my job.

It's not connected to my money.

It's not connected to the accumulation of things.

It's not accumulated.

It's not about my success.

No, my destiny is connected to the people that I reach for Jesus.

And if I want to reach people for Jesus, there's people around us all the time that are looking for somebody that will reach out to them and connect them with a heart and the love of God and a community of faith to grow in.

Does some of this information just kind of awaken something inside of you?

I know that it does me.

Does it not just like that God's up to something and we're in the epicenter of it?

And the problem is we're just going through our lives and living our life and missing the reality spiritually that is happening all around us.

And and I'll just, Meg and I can be like anybody else, and we can be busy doing our life.

Our the neighborhood that we live in, all the homes are pretty close together.

And and God has opened doors for us to minister to our neighbors on either side of us.

And I I just gonna confess to you, a lot of times I pull up in my driveway in the evening and I see my neighbor outside in their driveway, and I stay in my car until they go in the house.

Because I'm just tired.

But when I do that, I miss an opportunity to point somebody to Jesus.

I don't always do that, but I do sometimes do that.

Is that okay to say?

This should be real here, right?

This Wednesday night.

You can say real stuff.

We get tired and we get weary and we're missing the very thing that Jesus called us to do in Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

And he, think about this, think about the context of who Jesus is talking to in Luke 14.

He's talking to the, he's talking to the church.

He's talking, he's in a religious leader's home who is invited to dinner all of his friends that already know him.

He's invited people to have a meal with Jesus.

They're all on the in crowd.

They're a part of it.

And Jesus looks and says, What are you doing?

It's not just about those you know.

It's about those you don't know.

Why are you focusing all your time and your energy on those that know me?

Where's your heart for those that don't?

I believe that we have to have our hearts broken for people that don't know Jesus.

That we live too complacent.

We live too much from the, well, I'm good, and me and my family are going to heaven, and that's all that matters.

No, it's not.

That's not the gospel.

That's not what in Luke chapter 14, Jesus is laying their hearts bare and saying, go out into the streets, go out into the alleyways, go find the poor, go find the broken, go find anybody and compel them.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

That word compel is as strong as you can possibly imagine.

The verbiage is go do whatever you gotta do to introduce them to me.

This is our call.

It's not to come and sit and learn more, although that's part of it, and I'm not demeaning that.

But if all we do is come and sit and learn more and not go, we've missed the boat.

It's about our neighbors, it's about our coworkers, it's about the person that you work out next to in the gym.

It's about the person you pass in the grocery store.

It's about your your kids' classmates and their families.

I know that in my life, God is stirring me in a way that maybe he's never stirred me before for the people around me that don't know him.

Luke chapter fourteen.

Verse 21.

The servant came back and reported this to his master.

What did he report?

He reported that there were a lot of people that had been invited but were distracted and they weren't coming.

The owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, go out.

What?

How does he say to go out?

To go out laxadaisically?

To go out calmly?

To go out at your own leisure?

To go out when you get ready to it and you're it fits with your schedule?

When it's convenient?

No, he says, go out what?

I want you to say that really loud.

Go out what?

Come on, one more time.

Go out what?

Go out quickly throughout the community, into the streets, into the alleys of the town, bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame.

Bring in anybody you see.

That's what he's saying.

No one is off.

Whoever you can find, wherever you can find them, quickly bring them into my house.

The servant said, What you have ordered has been done, but there's still room.

The master told his servants, go out again, go out again.

I love this.

It wasn't just a single command to go, it was repetitive.

I went once, I'm good, I don't have to do it anymore.

That's not true.

Go and keep going and don't stop going until you find somebody that can respond to the invitation.

Go out to the roads in the country lanes and compel them, compel them, invite them, do whatever you got to do to help them come in so that my house will be full.

Do you do you hear?

Do you hear the the the urgency in Jesus' voice?

This isn't complacent language.

This isn't easy come, easy go kind of language.

This is affirmation.

This is your call.

This is your destiny.

This is your purpose.

It's people.

And do whatever you have to do to bring them in.

Church, we live in a community that is some of the fastest growing communities in the state of Alabama.

We have people moving here in droves that are looking for people just like you.

They're looking for people just like you that will have an eye to see them and compel them to come in.

That's our call.

So my prayer for us tonight is God break our hearts for people.

Let me go to the other end of that spectrum.

How many of you would be so honest and say, my heart has become a little callous towards people?

Yeah, it happens.

Happens very easily.

And as a matter of fact, I think it takes the Holy Spirit to keep us soft and aware of people.

So, God, soften my heart towards people.

Break my heart towards people.

Help me to see people like I've never seen them before.

Church, that should be our prayer tonight.

It's what I feel the unction of the Holy Spirit on this evening is that God, we need you to break our hearts again for people.

Because Jesus made it plain, the fields are white unto harvest.

So you stand with me where you are.

And I just I just want us to pray together for a few minutes tonight in conclusion.

For Jesus just to break our hearts for people.

Can you just stretch your hands towards heaven with me where you stand this evening?

And in your own way, I want to invite you just maybe to confess to the Lord, Lord, my heart has become hardened towards people.

I've been more focused on my own stuff and the things that I've been dealing with, and maybe I've been taken advantage of from time to time or wounded by people.

And my heart has become hard.

And Lord, tonight we ask you to soften our hearts towards people.

God, for you to remove the calluses that have developed towards people.

I pray, God, that you would remove the blinders from our eyes, the cataracts, God, that has developed over our eyes towards people that were blind to them.

I pray, Lord, that you would move us in increasing measure towards the people that you have placed around us.

God, that we would begin to see them like you see them.

God, that we wouldn't see them as needy, but God, that we would see them as potential sons and daughters of the King.

God, I pray that you would help us to become more aware of our neighbors and those that have moved in and those that are looking for a church to plant in, a people to grow with in you.

Lord, forgive us for the hardness of our heart and awaken us to see people like you declared in Luke chapter 14.

Luke 14 · chapter mention

And I pray, Lord, we wouldn't just see them, but as you reminded us a number of times in this, God, that we would go, that we would go, that we would extend the invitation.

God, that we would reach out across the cubicle, that we would reach out across the driveway, that we would reach out across the street.

Lord, there is no distance too far for us to reach out for others because you reached us, which was the farthest distance away.

God, break our hearts and help us, Lord, to love people like you have loved us.

May we not keep this love to ourselves, but may we share it with the world around us.

In Jesus' name.

And everybody said, Amen.