Questions Christians Ask: What Can I Do?

This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grant Parkway, visit GrantProquay.org.

Father, that's our prayer.

That the world would praise your name.

God, that they would know that you are healer.

God, that you would show them or you would reveal yourself to them as redeemer.

That the sick would be healed, and that they would trust in you.

God, that is why we're here.

Not just to go to church, but because you have saved us and you have redeemed us and you have healed us.

And so that is why we gather and we worship, because we are singing things that are true.

This is why we gather around your word because it is true.

And so, God, we say that we are listening because we know that you are speaking.

We say that we trust you because you are God.

We pray singing your name.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

My name is Wade Collier, and I'm the missions pastor here at Grand Parkway.

Um, as I mentioned earlier in the service, if you weren't here, Neil McClendon, our lead pastor, um, who normally does the majority of our teaching, is currently in Costa Rica, um, as well as Clyde Copeland, our worship pastor, which is why um we are blessed to have Bretton Emily Mills um with us this morning.

If you weren't here at the very beginning, I said you're gonna hear a little bit more about Bretton Emily Mills.

Some of you who have been around here um for a little bit of time uh know Brett Nimley, um a little bit about their ministry.

They have been um friends to Grand Parkway um for quite a long time, and we are excited to have them here with us this morning.

Um this morning that we continue on in a sermon series that we've been in called Questions Christians Ask.

Um we uh typically will preach through a book of the Bible, and we will um we will pick up um in that in the spring.

But we as we prayed as a staff, as a pastoral staff, and we got away and we planned in the fall, um, we we we just felt um pulled to ask a few questions that we believe are being asked, um, not only in this church, um, but Christians in the church universal.

Um and so we've answered a lot of questions as far as what happens when you die, why pray, if God already knows um what is happening.

And we're gonna continue on in that this morning.

Um and this week is it is an interesting season, it's an interesting time.

Um we, not just this week, but really this month, we've heard a lot um over the past few weeks about this missions team.

Like I told you that Neil Um and Clyde, 14 of our men are currently down in Costa Rica.

Um, they are working on the Guymy Indian Reservation where we have missionaries that are out of Grway.

Um they are down there currently building um the second phase of a school for a village we adopted.

Um we've heard a whole lot about that.

Um, a week from today, um, after our services, you're gonna have the opportunity to hear um things that are happening in the life of Grand Parkway, mission initiatives, both new and old, um, right here in our own backyard regionally and across the world.

Um we're a church that talks about mission a lot.

Um and and notice that I said mission and not missions.

Um we're church talk about mission a lot because we do believe that missions is a natural byproduct that comes from the understanding of God's call on our life, um, and that we all are called to mission.

Um, which brings us to our question today.

Um, Neil and I talked a lot about this over the last few weeks, um, knowing um that Brett and Emily were going to be here today and what that means for our church moving forward and uh and a partnership with their ministry and what does it mean as we are answering these questions of what Christians ask?

And so as we are talking about mission and missions, it leaves many of us asking our question for this morning, and that is what can I do?

What can I do?

Now, hang with me.

This isn't where I'm gonna hit you up for money.

I'm not gonna make you come up here and sign a pledge card and agree to go to the other side of the world.

That's next week, no.

Um here's what I mean by what can I do?

Three weeks ago, um, we you heard from a team of about ten folks that went down and spent ten days, or about eight folks rather, that went down and spent ten days in India.

Um, and you hear a lot about India and our partnership there and um the tragedies that happen and horrible things happening to believers and the work we're doing there, and you hear about that, and and and what is natural in us is we get overcome and overwhelmed with guilt because we think maybe we're not doing enough, and we ask the question, what can I do?

Um and we hear a lot over the last couple weeks about this men's mission trip to Costa Rica, and you think, well, I I see these emails and I can't take a week off work.

I'm just not in a place right now where I can go leave my kids for a week.

What can I do?

And even outside of the confines of Grand Parkway and our missions initiatives, either local or or or global, um, you see what's going on in the lives of the people you know, the people you work with, the people that live on your street, you see them broken, you see them in need of healing, as we sung about, and you ask the question, what can I do?

Well, that's what we're gonna answer this morning.

So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

If you do not have a Bible, um, if you look to your left or your right, maybe even on the floor in front of you, um, you will see a black pew Bible.

Um, and we are gonna be on page 959, if you want to follow along with us this morning.

Um, the words, as always, will be up on the screen behind me.

And let me say this.

I I say this every time I'm up here because I mean it.

If you don't have a Bible and you grab that this morning, that's a gift.

Take that.

We want you to have a Bible.

Um, especially as you spend time here at Grand Parkway, you'll know that we spend a lot of time in there, and we want you to have one to call your own.

But this morning we are in First Corinthians chapter thirteen, beginning in verse one, it says this If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Because love is patient and kind.

Love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Um to set the stage to the portion of the letter, Paul is writing this this letter to the church in Corinth, and we're reading it here today, um just as they did.

And just previous to this, he is talking about uh gifts that come from the Spirit, gifts that build up the church.

And then he is leading in the talking in love as we turn to chapter 13, and Paul begins to drop the hammer on us.

And here's what I mean by drops the hammer.

Look at verse um one through three again.

It says, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.

If I can speak, angels speak, but I don't do it in love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.

If I have prophetic powers, if I can speak truth and I can speak into people's lives, and I do it without love, and I can understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, and I have all these things, but I have not love, Paul goes as far as to say, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

As I said in the beginning in chapter twelve, Paul is talking about these gifts that build up the body, and he even talks about church members being part of the body, each member following the leading of the Holy Spirit, working together, functioning together.

Theologians that are a lot smarter than me have often said that love serves as the circulatory system of that body.

So to answer today's question of what can I do?

It's this one answer walk in love.

Walk in love.

I think at first blush, that sounds very simplified.

It sounds like it would sound really good on a really hip V-neck t-shirt, right?

Walk in love, buy that at Urban Outfitters for$74, right?

Although it should be simple, it comes with the weight of call and responsibility when it's understood in context.

Here's what I mean.

Don't turn here for the sake of time.

It's going to be on the screens behind me, but you can jot this down.

Ephesians 5, 1 and 2.

Here's what I mean by there is a weight of call and responsibility when you talk about walking in love.

It says this therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

By answering the question we're asking this morning of what can I do with walk in love?

It takes on a whole new complexity when we read this.

Here's what I mean by this.

If we are called to walk in love, and our example is set out for us by Christ, and we are called one to imitate God, and we are called two to walk in love to the level of Christ.

Christ who loved and loves us so much, he gave himself up for us.

It says here in Ephesians that he gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Here's what it says.

Look at me.

It says that Christ walking in love was worship.

It's a fragrant offering he offered up to the Father in heaven.

It is worship.

We are called, church, to walk in love as worship.

We are called to be like Christ.

Now, before you check out on me and be like, yeah, I'm out.

I can't be like Christ.

I can't sit in traffic on 59 going to work without having visions of all these people dying a slow, painful death, let alone be like Christ.

Before you raise the white flag, look back at 1 Corinthians 13 with me.

Because here's what Paul does.

Truly, here's what God does through Paul in giving us this answer of how we walk in love.

Here's a blueprint, verses 4 through 7.

It says this love is patient and it's kind.

It doesn't envy or boast, it's not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

By show of hands, I'm into group participation.

How many of you heard that at a wedding before?

Yes?

This is not a wedding.

I'm uh I'm this totally off.

I'm I'm preaching today, um, teaching on Wednesday night, and then I because I can't read a calendar, I'm also teaching at a conference this weekend.

Um, and I was telling one of our members that, and I said, Man, I gotta teach these three different things.

He's like, Why teach three different things?

Just teach the same thing three times.

And I was like, Well, here goes my wedding sermon.

So, um joking.

Verse 4 love is patient and kind.

Love is patient and kind.

What Paul is doing by saying love is patient and it's kind is he's telling it telling us it's both passive and it's active.

What do I mean by passive and active?

It says that love is patient.

That's what he first says in verse 4.

Love is patient.

Told you I like group participation.

If you have kids, raise your hand.

Leave your hands up.

You're not, I'm not done with you yet.

How many of you at some point?

We're all honest in here, right?

I'll leave my hand up with you.

I have children.

How many of you at some point have had some version of this fantasy of taking your kids and locking them in a small, soundproof, padded room?

You don't have to put both hands up.

Raising coffee, we're having a toast here.

Yes, and I will stand outside and smoke in the silence.

It will be amazing.

Put your hands down.

Now, some of you don't have kids, right?

But you have parents, and you have been the source of your parents thinking this is a viable option at some point.

But hopefully you've never done this as a parent.

I don't judge you if you have.

But hopefully you've never done this.

And it's never been done to you because of patience, right?

But here's the deal patience is is is intentional, right?

Parents in the room, it takes intentionality to be patient.

God is our example, God the Father, God the Son, of patience.

Now, when I say that this patience patience rather is passive, I'm not saying that it's not intentional.

Being patient takes intentionality.

Patience, just like the rest of this list, is only truly possible through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Here's what I mean.

As I was thinking about this this week, and as I was thinking about patience, and how do you explain how patience is intentional, yet it is passive?

I think it is best understood when you compare patience with tolerance.

Patience with tolerance, and these are two completely different things.

Paul doesn't say love is tolerant.

Paul says love is patient.

Why is this a big deal?

There is a huge difference.

You might be saying, What's the big difference?

Say it with me.

What's weak?

Don't turn there, don't turn there, but but look on the screens again.

Galatians 5, 22 through 23.

Here's the biggest difference.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things, there is no law.

I didn't see tolerance on that list.

Did you?

I saw patience, I saw love, I didn't see tolerance.

Um you've heard Neil often talk about um two of his heroes of the faith being J.R.R.

Tolkien.

Um, he wrote um obviously the Lord of the Rings, but also a great theologian in C.S.

Lewis, also a great fiction writer and theologian, and how they would spend time um in Oxford at the Eagle and Child pub having a proper pint of Guinness and shouting down uh lots of upstart theologians and just driving them mad, almost like Pharisees, where they want to rip the hair from their face because they're so angry because Tolkien and Lewis have such this deep understanding of the gospel and the freedom that is found in Christ.

And someone who's often left off that list, I think mainly because um he doesn't have the fiction writings, is is one of mine, and his name is G.K.

Chesterton.

Take a look at this guy.

He looks like someone you want to hang out with for sure.

Um he's a party.

Umosevelt and Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon.

Um, just me?

Uh Did the Baptist pastor just reference Harry Potter?

Just wait for the rest of the morning.

Um Chesterton, thank you.

Uh Chesterton goes on, uh he's he says this about tolerance.

Umerance is the attitude of those who do not believe in anything.

Tolerance is the attitude of those who do not believe in anything.

Um he was often he was also quoted, rather, someone asked him about it later, and I'm hoping I'm quoting him correctly.

They said, You you've spoken strongly against tolerance, and he said, I think tolerance is the gift of those with no conviction.

But we do believe in something, right?

Right?

We believe in something.

We believe that the God of all creation came to earth, lived a sinless life, patient to the end with those who doubted him.

Died willingly on a cross, patient as those who had no real power over him, attempted to break the unbreakable.

He died as payment for our sins, rose again on the third day, conquering death, and in so doing, purchasing our lives and giving us the commandment to love like he does.

The commandment to be patient as he is patient with us.

There's a lot of intentionality in that patience.

Chesterton goes on to say, tolerance means at best indifference to everything.

We're not called to be indifferent in his love, church.

We're called to take the most extreme of actions.

So I had one point and I have one action.

Are you ready for this extreme action?

Gird up your loins.

I don't even know what that means.

But it sounds gross.

We're called to be kind.

There's so much excitement in the room right now.

We're called to be kind.

Who's pumped?

Thank you.

What does it mean to be kind?

Know this.

Know this first.

If I had time to go through this entire list, which I do not, if I had time to go through this entire list of adjectives, which I would argue that most of them are verbs, but as the dutiful son of an English teacher, I will call them adjectives.

I would love to take them all and pick them apart.

And how does all this mean kindness?

But but I want to save ample time for what's going to happen up here in just a few moments because I truly believe that what you guys are going to hear today is a better representation of what it looks to walk in love, to act in kindness, to be patient as the Lord is patient to us in any sermon I could I could craft.

So that being said, let's look down to verse six and let's discover what this pride-scourging journey to selfless, God-honoring, worshipful, missional, loving, patient kindness looks like.

You still with me?

Verse six says this it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

If you're like me, you're like, check, I got it, move on.

What's next?

But do we really understand what that means not to rejoice in wrongdoing?

And maybe you do, and if you do, come up here after the service.

I want to learn your ways, Master Miyagi.

I want to understand what it is that in all things you don't rejoice in wrongdoing.

Um, because I I at times like to think of myself as kind of a connoisseur of all things right, and I would never rejoice in wrongdoing.

However, this past Thursday night I was confronted timely how God does things, right?

Um confronted with how inept I really am in all of this.

And let me tell you what I mean and and kind of draw this portion of our time this morning to a close.

And Thursday night we had a missions meeting.

I met over here in the conference room um with this team of amazing people that um help give direction to um how Grand Parkway does missions, where Grand Parkway does missions, how Grand Parkway missions money is allocated.

Um we talked about um these these continuing partnerships we have and the amazing things that God is doing in them.

Um we talked about new partnerships in our own backyard, new initiatives in our own backyard, regionally on the other side of the world, things that I am cannot wait until next Sunday um to tell you about after church.

Um I mentioned that, that after church next Sunday, right here in this room, five minutes after the third service, if you could stick around for 20 minutes, you're gonna hear amazing opportunities to be involved in missions at Grand Parkway.

But that being said, we were talking about all that.

We wrapped up our time together.

I jumped in my truck and decided to go uh see a movie.

And so I went over here to the Palladium on 99, forgetting that on Thursday night, along with the movie that I wanted to see, um, Fifty Shades of Grey was also opening.

I don't own a TV, apparently.

I didn't know that.

And so I roll up, and the parking lot is so full I had to park at the West Park Tollway to even find a place.

Um and as I um was was was walking back and got out of my truck and uh and um was just angry and I wallowed in my righteous indignation that so many wicked sinners would pay good money to see something that came straight from the fiery pits.

No?

Uh I walked in the doors and I saw like a fourth of Fortman County standing in the foyer of the palladium, lined up, dolled up.

I mean, it was a celebration for some folks.

You could tell they'd been looking forward to this, and here is where I was kicked in the teeth with my rejoicing and wrongdoing, because I had spent the whole time thinking, and I know none of you would ever do this, walking through the parking lot, thinking about how much better I was than all of them.

That I would never lower myself to see something like this, and and that in in an instant's time was replaced, um, and it had nothing to do with me, clearly, as I've laid out for you, but it was replaced with with God's patience and kindness, and this is what I mean is if if if all my righteous indignation and all my hypocrisy and all my uh proclivities to be a Pharisee were were a giant um glass of water, it was like Christ dropped his fist into that and plunged it all out.

And as I began to look around, I just got really sad.

Not in a patronizing way, but in a way that I'm not too proud to tell you, as a pretty big dude, tears begin to roll down my face.

And and and not at the fact that something that is in such just juxtaposition, just opposite to everything that Christ has intended, is so easily profited off of, um, which is sad in itself.

But if it was that people that were created by the Heavenly Father were striving so hard to find contentment and fulfillment in something that was so bankrupt.

What can I do?

I can love those people, right?

I can love them as Christ loved them, and not shout at them, but love them patiently and intentionally.

What can I do?

I can walk in love.

Uh and so I want to invite my friends uh Brett and Emily to come up.

Um for those of you who do not know Brett and Emily, um, they have been part of the Grand Parkway family um in in different form and fashion over the last eight years.

Um they have served as interim worship leaders for us in the past when we have been in between staff.

Um they have come in and um and served when we've needed them in in different form and fashion, lead leading worship at Celebrate Recovery, um, leading worship here um from the stage.

And so now um we are entering into a new season with Brett and Emily, um where we are partnering with their ministry, Jesus said love.

Um let me say this um before we get started.

If you um you you got the context clues from the videos um about who they work with and what they do.

If you have little ones, um we don't want to assume that you want to use this to start a conversation right now.

Um if you do, um Brett and Emily have lots of tact and responsibility.

They know how to handle this with with maturity, but we also wanted to give you the opportunity, if you said, hey, you know what, maybe it's a good time for us to jump out, no one judges you for that, and uh and feel free to do that.

Um so instead of me standing up here and telling you exactly what they do, um Neil and I talked about, hey, you know what?

Brett and Emily are coming in in February.

Let's let's put them in front of our folks.

We were gonna have a banquet, we were gonna have a lunch after church in March, and we thought, you know what?

This is this is part of questions Christians ask of what can I do?

And and and what a great illustration.

And so um the first question I have for you guys, kind of combining um two that we talked about in the first service, is what is Jesus Said Love and and how was it how was it born?

Jesus Said Love is a ministry that exists to awaken hope and empower change to women in the commercial sex industry.

We are in five Texas cities now, but in 2003 it began really just deep in our hearts to um live missionally, live on mission.

Um Brett and I went to Austin to lead worship for a women's conference.

And like many women's conferences that we'd been at, we'd kind of assumed this was the run-of-the-mill tea, scones, some cute gift bags, you know, sweet stories, devotional Bibles, those types of things.

And um, not that that is bad, but that's just what we expected.

And when we got there, it was story after story of women who had been in this industry whose lives had been totally changed by a simple gift bag.

And we we were just we'd never heard of anything like this.

Um so I looked at Brett and I said, There's three clubs in Waco and let's see if we can get in, let's see if we can ask for permission, put some gift bags together for Easter.

It was two weeks till Easter, so I said, Let's go on Good Friday and um just see what happens.

And that's where it was born.

I'll say that in my heart, um I had really wrestled, we had wrestled together as a married couple of wanting for these songs that we're singing, like heart of worship, I'll bring you more than a song, a song is not all you require.

And we were kind of like, but isn't that all we're doing?

I mean, we're just going around singing at churches, like, what is the point?

What's the essence of the kingdom?

And when I walked into a club and met the women, I knew I had found uh the a treasure and it ruined me.

I I never um we never looked back.

And um, so yeah, it's just been one crazy journey since then.

Um I'll share a story a different time.

So here here's here's the next question is um why must JSL exist?

If you had someone came up and you had three or four minutes to explain to them why this ministry must exist, what would you say?

So Acts 17 says that he's ordained the exact times and places that you should live.

And it's no accident that we're living and breathing and moving during this time.

And I think one great theologian, I think it was Jonathan Edwards, but I could be wrong, but he said, you know, the question for every generation is to ask yourself, where is the move of God and how can I join in?

And so because he's ordained that you live in this time, we have to look around our culture and say, okay, what's broken?

Because God's whole point is that we would be a part of the body to redeem, um, to be about this redemptive movement of God until his return.

And it is no accident that we're here the weekend after Fifty Shades of Gray.

I mean, just open.

This is a just a classic example of the oversexualization of our culture.

It's um incredibly widespread that porn has just made its way into just everyday thinking, talking.

You can watch any sitcom, and they drop that word just like it's nothing.

And I think what that says to us is there's something, not just that there's something broken, but there's a piece of belonging that people are wanting.

People are desiring deeply to belong and to fit somewhere.

And the fact that our culture is so satiated with sexual innuendos is um is just evidence of that desire to have belonging somewhere.

Um so all that to say, I feel like right now, at this time in history, we can look at the fact that America is the number one exporter of porn.

In 98% of the top porn films, it expresses violence against women.

98%.

And we produce the most of it.

Land of the free, right?

It also, gender violence, which is the sexual abuse of women and children, is the number one factor in global poverty.

So poverty and violence against women and children is directly correlated.

They looked at uh International Justice Mission, did studies all over the world, and they said, what is this, what's the link?

What keeps people impoverished?

And it was the sexual abuse of women and children.

And so when you look at our country and you see how mainstream it is to treat women and children, and that this is like a perpetuating this industry, the the commercial sex industry, is just one indicator of how far we've gone.

Um and so instead of saying, oh, well, let's boycott or oh, let's, you know, just shut them down, we said no, let's go, because these are people created in the image of God, and they need to know they belong somewhere.

And so that that has become our approach.

Yeah.

Which leads perfectly into the next question because I think in there there there are some ministries and there's some organizations that do this well, and I think they serve their purpose of um alerting people, informing people, um, making information available.

Um but you guys then take to another level of saying, hey, we're not gonna just make the information known, we're gonna go.

So what does it look like when you go?

What are you doing?

What is taking the energy of you guys and JSL at large?

Um well, men do not go in.

I'll just ease your mind.

Um we actually go to gentlemen's clubs, if you want to call them gentlemen's clubs, um, all over the state.

We're in Waco, we started in Waco, and now we're in Dallas, San Antonio, uh, Bryan College Station, um, and then we just launched in Killeen this past Christmas, and then, Lord willing, we'll be here in December, which is a huge feed-in of itself.

But our model is simple.

Um, it's go, love, connect.

And so it's the gospel.

Um, we go to the clubs, we love dancers where they're at, in whatever condition they're in, and then we connect them to community and spiritual resources.

That's it.

It's really simple.

And the goal is simply to awaken hope and empower change.

Because the deal is, is if I try to get you to stop doing something, you might quit for two weeks and then you might go right back to it.

But if the Holy Spirit comes upon you and acts upon you, that's life change.

And so when we go to the clubs, our goal is not to get women to quit.

That would be a just kind of a futilist goal.

Our goal is to just love them.

That's what Jesus said to do.

Go and love people, and I'll do the rest.

And so we go once a month.

Um, as a matter of fact, uh, our teams went out Friday night all over the state and took Valentine's to dancers.

They go in the clubs, they're welcome to open arms into the clubs.

Management loves us because we go in, uh, not again, not the men, they go in, they hang out in the dressing rooms, and they just have life-giving conversations.

We took, let's see, February, we took uh chocolate-covered strawberries and handwritten notes of just meaningful words from people in the respective cities.

Um next month uh we'll go again.

Um, and just every month is different.

And and once we begin to build relationships with them in the clubs, then they start calling us.

As a matter of fact, I gotta read this text to you.

I got it while you were talking, Wade.

This is from our Dallas team.

Yeah, just kind of kind of blew me away here.

Um she says, Praise God this morning.

He is so good.

Hello, iPhone.

Um we've already uh we we exchanged uh numbers with 14 girls on Friday night.

As of this morning, 10 have been in contact with us.

Two are already looking for jobs.

My sister is looking to hire one at her salon, and they're officially meeting soon.

Lunches are being set for this week.

One manager met some of our men.

Um our security men operate our security team, which drives the women to the clubs, but they don't go in again.

But the the men give an opportunity to hang out with club managers and things like that.

It's really a blast.

Um, and so this manager uh sent his resume, and Andrew, the guy on the team, um has is getting him an interview with a friend of his who's the operations uh director at Southwest Airlines.

That's the gospel, man.

That's it.

I mean, that's Friday night at strip clubs in Dallas, Texas.

It makes no sense.

I mean, we've been doing this since 2003, and I still shake my head going, What in the world are we doing?

And that that's just the beauty of it.

It's just it's just putting feet on these songs that we're singing, and it's loving a group of people that is not loved by most.

Whether you're a Christian or not, most people just look at dancers and they're like, oh, no, thanks.

Yeah.

I think that too, um why why God is moving so powerfully in each of our cities is because his heart has always been with the broken.

You can't look at Jesus and his ministry and not see broken women all throughout it.

And not only coming for healing, but then God esteeming and empowering them, and then them moving into the early church and being such a part of that.

And so we really feel like we get to see Jesus at work firsthand.

We get to watch him change the colors of people's lives and bring them into a living relationship with Christ.

Um, and so it's just a blast to be a part of.

89% of women in that industry don't want to be there.

They're there because they feel like they don't have any other options.

About 90% of the women that we reach across Texas, this is across Texas, are uh fall below the poverty line.

About 80% are moms, and their kids, therefore, fall into one of the top two of the top four risk factors for HIV because of the work that they do and because they are impoverished.

Um, poverty is also the number one risk factor for human trafficking.

Um, your city is actually number two in the nation for human trafficking, and 70% of all domestic sex traffic victims come through the commercial sex industry.

So when we went into the clubs in 2003, we really didn't know that we were going to be encountering poverty.

We didn't know we were gonna be encountering human trafficking issue, but all of that's brought to life.

You know, God never tells you when you start like chasing after him, oh, here's what's gonna be like 10 years down the road, and it's for good measure because we would run.

We'd be like, no, we can't tackle these things.

And he knows we can't.

We can't.

But we go and we're available to him and we collaborate with smarter people than we are, and we put ourselves at the mercy of the hand of God, and he moves greatly.

So yeah, I I I've got to tell this story.

Um it's about two weeks ago, we were in college station.

We were speaking at a house church, um, which is a blast.

If you've ever been to a house church, you should go, it's really fun.

Um, at least the one we were at.

Um there's about 50 people jammed into this house church, and they've been longtime supporters of JSL, and our leader in that city goes there, and so we were just kind of talking, and um, there was a girl that kept standing out to me.

There's just something about her countenance, and turns out she was a dancer we had been working with.

And so it was really cool to get to meet her in this context.

But but what was interesting was we had been in relationship with her, and then she like way fell off the wagon.

It turns out she was trafficked and uh she ended up getting away from her um from her pimp and uh made her way back and contacted our people and she's she's pregnant now.

But she told me in the kitchen of this house, she just as gently as she could, she just said, Thank you guys so much for starting this.

Thank you for taking the risk because you took the risk on me because I have something to come back to, and I I know these people are gonna walk with me.

And that I mean that's where it's at.

It's just awakening hope in somebody's life and and watching them come to the Lord when she really shouldn't.

I mean, if you look at her life and all that she's been through, I mean she should just be a statistic.

But God has a purpose for her and for that baby, and that was the even greater thing is there, even in the midst of this darkness, through this darkness you will lead me, and forever we will say, You're the Lord our God.

Even in the darkness, there's a new life that's gonna come out of this, yeah, and he's gonna get great glory out of that.

Yeah, let me do this um and kind of change gears a little bit.

Um you you you hear Grant Parkway, you hear this a lot um from Neil, from the elders, um, from myself, um, that we are a full disclosure church.

And that means um if finances, that means what we're doing as a church.

And so part of the reason I wanted them to come up was because we are beginning today um our unofficial launch of this partnership.

Um and I know you, I know, I know my people, and I know that you um already have a desire, and and you know, we're not officially launching this until December.

So then to sit on this information and wait until December isn't gonna fly.

Um and it doesn't fly for me.

And just so just know that even where you are now, Brett and Emily and I have been talking about this for three years of this becoming a reality, and and and we we felt um in the fall that the God was saying yes at this time, it was time to go.

And so here are a couple things I want to say, and then I want to close because I want to give you an opportunity after we close that Brett and Emily will be up here and they can answer any questions.

Let me direct you to a couple things by way of information, and then obviously as always, I'll follow up with some information.

Um, up here on the front of the stage, um there are some cards that tell you how to get involved right now, um, how to get involved directly with JSL right now.

Um and then as a church, we are um in this journey between now and December taking some very intentional um events, some very intentional initiatives and making of our own.

Um as soon as Easter, we are taking on to the club.

There's one club in College Station, and we are providing the Easter bags for that.

Um so that is something you can take part in with Helping Hands with our Helping Hands Ministry that you'll hear more about next week.

Um, and so there's lots of stuff going on.

Um, and I'll just say this so you understand why.

When Brent and Emily and the missions team and I sat um upstairs um back in October, Emily looked online and we found, and tell me if I'm right, over 185 um sex trade establishments in the Greater Houston area.

That is from club to escort service to production companies, 185.

So why?

Because we're called to walk in love, right?

So um do me a favor.

I know this is uh a different kind of service to say the least, um, but do me a favor and stand to your feet.

And let me say a couple things as we close.

Um, if you are a guest with us this morning, um like I said, um Sundays are not always like this, but at the same time, hear this.

We're not gonna apologize for this.

Um it's full disclosure, this is what I was gonna say, and then I felt like I wasn't gonna say it, and I just feel like this is what the Holy Spirit wants me to say is um back in October, we had a man who's who's ministered to Grand Parkway for a very long time, especially our staff.

Um, and he came and he prayed with the staff, and he said, You need to be prepared for the fact that God is bringing the undistinguished to Grand Parkway.

Do me a favor, put your hands out like this, and let me speak a blessing over you.

Your Jesus came and walked in love to the extent of the cross.

And he's called us to love like him.

And he's given us all we need under heaven to do it.

Let's walk in love in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Thank you.