Go... Get Out

Good morning, Hickory Grove.

Hey, quickly, I just want to say thank you so much to our senior pastor, Bill Clark, for giving me the opportunity to get up here and attempt to share this recent experience that uh several of us had with God.

But before I get into it, let's just stop and pray.

Dear God, we thank you for this day.

Holy Spirit, this is your message.

Help me to deliver it, help them to listen, help them to receive it, and allow us to feel your presence.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

All right.

Uh let's see here.

I have been on staff at Hickory Grove for 11 years, and we have done a ton of local mission work.

But uh recently I had the privilege and honor of going on my very first international mission trip just a few weeks ago.

Simply put, it was eye-opening.

It was life-giving and life-changing.

There were nine of us, awesome folks, that um that said yes to this trip, and very few of us knew what that yes was going to be, uh, including me.

Uh yours truly.

Uh our group had to fundraise, and some of you helped us out.

Um, some of you donated and made sacrificial gifts, some small, some large.

And I just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you helped us get there.

And there were so many more that actually prayed for us.

Trust me, we felt it.

Thank you so much.

Uh about a month ago, before we left, uh, we found out that another church was going to need to change locations.

Uh, they were scheduled to go to Monterey, uh, which is the big city we flew in.

However, the cartel activity had increased, and due to unsafe conditions, they were rerouted to Linares with us.

So we we all met in Atlanta and flew in a Monterey where we caught a bus and took a 90-minute drive to the little town of Linares.

Uh so for context, back-to-back campus in Linares was originally an orphanage, but over the last year they were able to partner with the local church, and uh all of their kids were placed into foster families, which is a huge, huge blessing.

So now the primary focus of this location was to develop those strong families through support, counseling, discipleship, and play for those families.

So, needless to say, they are doing a great work down there.

They were ready for us.

They welcomed us with great excitement as we got off the bus.

There's a similar vibe to how campers experience uh um getting off at camp.

One of our team members, Heidi, had a birthday that day.

Shout out to Miss Heidi.

Uh, and they had a felice campliano spanner.

Uh, and later that night they showed her the Mexican tradition of shoving her face in this cake, which I will spare you from seeing.

But uh it was epic.

It was incredible.

So we ate and we met with so many of the other staff members there.

Um, Rick, Lisa, Dulio, Denise, their girls, Carla, Gabe, Juan, so many more.

Uh, but Jen was our lead connection on campus, and that first night she went over the expectations and schedules and asked us what we were most nervous about, and many of us said, not sure, not sure what to expect, but whatever the Lord has in store for us, we will do.

And that's how we came into this trip, open-handed.

Many of us struggle with control, and this trip was a reminder that Jesus can take that from you as well.

I know this.

Jesus wants your yes.

It says in James 4 7, submit yourselves to Jesus.

I think sometimes we have to remember to turn on that GPS, that God positional satellite, and play follow the leader.

Not this leader, but him.

So I've got four stories for you guys.

Here's story number one.

We got to see this verse played out firsthand.

Ephesians 3 20 says this.

Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask according to the power that works in us.

Many of us that have been in church have seen this verse, they know this verse, they love this verse, but until you experience it firsthand, words cannot express.

So, on Saturday we got to partner with the local church.

So, shout out to Inglesia Castillo del Rey, which is the King's Castle Church.

You see, once a month that uh they go out into the community and try to do as much good as they possibly can.

One of the full-time missionaries, Dulio, told us that uh we were going to run into a gentleman that was kind of scary looking, but to not be afraid.

Um apparently this man used to be the chief leader of the witchcraft tribe, and he had a reputation in town, but he had a radical encounter with Jesus and now loves the Lord with all his heart, mind, and soul.

So, this gentleman right here in the middle, his name is Raimundo.

And Romundo would go down into the streets of the community and he would ask folks if they had any projects that they needed.

Um, so when we pulled down uh the street and approached this man that did not appear to be friendly, some of us gasp a gusp that was audible, okay?

Some of us said, we need to keep driving.

Keep going, keep going.

You see, this man, it's not a very clear picture.

He's tatted up and down his arms and his neck and his face.

But what you don't see is that he had tattoo ink injected into his eyeballs and they were completely black.

Let's just say, if he entered this church, our security team might be on high alert, okay?

But this man loves Jesus.

This man's heart is so softened now to help his city and show love, you cannot help but to understand the power of a transformed life.

In 1 Samuel 16 7, it says this for the Lord sees not as a man sees.

Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

So here's for here's my first point.

God is bigger than we can possibly imagine.

He can use anyone with any past to change the future, even yours.

Yeah.

Even yours.

I can assure you that our God's mercy and grace is far greater than your sin.

So the rest of the day we partnered with um the church and we painted homes, and it was beautiful to lock arms with brothers and sisters and do some good for others.

And I want you to imagine this.

They were blasting Spanish worship music, and myself and Daniel and Mark were on top of a roof just painting the trim, and we just felt the presence of God there in that moment.

See, they brought out tables and laid out clothes for people in the community.

They um there were activities for children to do.

There were these sweet women that that made food for us, and we ate that on the streets.

One of the homeowners of this particular home, he was just smiling ear to ear, thanking us for the work that we did.

And we didn't fix all of this man's problems, but we reminded him that God's people step up because we are hope dealers.

We got that good stuff, y'all, and what needs to be shared.

It was another reminder that is a blessing to be a blessing.

Story two.

In 2 Corinthians 13, 14, it says, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Emphasis on all.

On Sunday, we made breakfast, we had quiet time and a devotional that they'd created for us, and we took time to reflect.

Then we gathered in our van and attended church together.

We pulled into the gravel drive and walked into a building that had chairs just like ours.

They had a stage, they had a big screen.

We were actually impressed.

Um, we found out that the lead pastor is a successful businessman and he has used much of his money to help build and establish this church.

And this picture behind us is a new children's wing that they're building in this small town.

So we were also told that um the worship and singing experience would last about an hour.

Announcements and the message would be another hour.

And some of you just thought to yourself, that's too long.

That's too long.

It's not what we're used to, right?

But some of you were probably thinking, yeah, let's clear the morning.

Let's make way for the Lord, let's do it.

And I loved it.

There were so many things that reminded me of this church.

Um people trickled in the back just like us.

All of a sudden I looked and I was like, oh, this we got a full crowd here.

And I was using Google Translate to try to figure out what the speakers were saying.

And um, there's a conversational app on there, and uh I got to hear the prayers and talking in Spanish, but the music was energetic and louder than the app could keep up with, so there was a barrier.

But one thing is for sure worshiping God with your fellow brothers and sisters that might look and sound a little different.

It was like a glimpse into heaven.

One of our team members said this I don't know what they were saying, but it was the same spirit.

I know that.

I could feel it, and I love that.

Point number two, the same Holy Spirit is alive and well in all the corners of the earth.

Everywhere, everywhere, here in northern Kentucky and Mexico and beyond.

Did you know this?

That the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to continue to be spread whether you get on the bus or not.

If you aren't aware, the underground church in Iran is apparently reported to be one of the fastest growing Christian movements in the world.

In spite of the government persecution and strict laws preventing it, the gospel will not be stopped.

I need you to imagine having to whisper the name of Jesus because of threats of death and jail.

But instead, here in America, we can boldly proclaim the name of Jesus as loudly as we want, and many of us remain silent.

Story three.

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your work is not in vain.

On our last full day, we were split into smaller teams.

Myself, Rhonda, and Mark went into the home of Juan and Maria.

We were provide they were providing an affordable small apartment for one of the children who had aged out of the foster care system.

This young man's name was Jesus.

I believe he's 19.

He now works at a uh grocery store.

Um, and Carla, one of the staff members, said, Hey, let's do an icebreaker.

You know, we're going into these people's homes, let's get to know them a little bit.

And I thought, man, this is my chance.

You see, about seven months ago, I decided that I was gonna pick up Duolingo and try to learn Spanish to get to, you know, know the culture and know the people.

You already know where this is going.

Um, so she goes, okay, it's your turn.

Go ahead.

And I said, Estoy, pastora.

And she goes, You want to be a female pastor?

And I go, I no, I'm just I'm I'm a boy.

I'm I'm I'm a man.

I'm a man pastor back home.

And she's like, okay, let's keep going.

So I was like, all right.

Um, so I wrote, Mia esposa as Ashley.

My wife is Ashley.

But what I said was, Mia esposa's nombre es Ashley.

She goes, both your wives' names are Ashley.

I go, No, no, just one, man.

I only got one, I promise you.

I love her to death, but I can only handle one wife.

One wife.

So I was like, okay, we're moving on.

I drew a picture, I drew like a tall, a medium, and a small little child, and I said, Tristes Hijas.

She goes, You got 13 kids?

I was like, uh.

So my my man Mark, he's over there just shaking his head.

Rhonda's about to die on the ground.

She's rolling.

She's like, this guy over here.

Um, yeah, so it turns out you um they didn't practice Spanish at all and did way better, and they did not embarrass themselves.

Apparently, I'm a lovable goof no matter what country I'm in.

And so um, yeah, that was a real problem.

But um, I mean, it was an it was an awesome experience that day, you know, other than that.

Um you know, we got to we got to paint this apartment, and um some of the other teams uh got to do some incredible things.

Becca's team got to clean and organize a home, and during some of the downtime, they got to share family photos, they got to spend time with the children and play with them.

Uh, one of the grandmothers prayed over them.

They said, Oh, it was beautiful.

Cindy and Daniels' team, they were stuccoing some walls, and they just saw a drastic change in making that feel more like a home.

They got to play and make origami basketball goals and laugh with those families, and honestly, it felt so good.

But there was so much more that we wanted to be able to do for them.

And while those kind gestures brought some real joy to those families, the real work is being done day in and day out by providing those children with homes.

Before I left, I told um the Father Juan, I said, I hope we were able to bless you today, but I want to remind you that what you are doing for this young man is powerful.

You are providing him with dignity, and that is far more than we have done today.

I thanked him for his generosity and his faithfulness.

Point three.

What time, what talents, and what treasure has God given you that you can offer to others?

We really need to reflect on that.

You might be thinking, I don't have much, but guess what?

You've got something.

And if you don't know what that is, you need to ask the Lord.

I could share with you how we taught the kids about eating healthy.

We played games with the family.

I could share about the reflective process and what we did at the end of the night.

They called it the picture of the day.

It was a beautiful time that we had together.

I could share the Bible stories that we read and reflected on.

I could tell you about the literal wall that we broke down during the campus projects, and maybe another time I'll get to share on that.

But I want to talk to you about this fourth thing.

1 Corinthians 3.16 says this: Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?

As we were loading up, I was the last to get on this van, and there were three ladies that were behind me.

Um, they were from the other church in Tennessee.

And they said, You're tall, you can sit in the front, and I thought, Oh, thank you.

Mark and I were riding in the back, and our knees were just crunched up against this chair for the first 90 minutes of that um that ride.

So I was very thankful for that.

The driver looked over at me and was like, Can you speak Spanish?

And I said, Nope.

Based on everything I had done that week.

Nope.

No, sure can't.

Um, so I took this photo of us right before we started back off to Monterey, and several minutes passed by, and I just felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit.

I looked over at this driver and told him my name and just began some small talk with him.

Asked him how long he was a driver.

He said about five years.

And I made fun of the drivers there in uh Lenares in Mexico.

Um, you know, I'm using my Google Translate app.

And I was like, you know, I think most of these drivers just think these traffic laws are suggestions and they just do whatever they want, and the ladies behind me laughed, and then it conveyed to him, and he started laughing, and you know, just tried to strike up a conversation.

And I said, Have you ever dropped people off of that that address before, picked them up?

And he said, Yeah.

I said, Do you know what they do?

And he said, No.

And I looked back at the three ladies behind me, and they did this.

Man.

I said, um, you know, in that moment I realized that saying yes doesn't remove fear from your heart.

It helps you do it anyway.

And I remember that God's Spirit dwells in me.

So I started this conversation and I said, um, you know, I told them what back-to-back did, about how they're this amazing organization that comes behind and helps these families grow and offer support for them.

I talked about all the community service that we did that week and how we saw God move in every location that we went to.

I talked about Raimundo and the church and the life change that we saw and the blessing that it was to be a blessing.

I walked him through our whole week and I noticed he had a cross tattoo on his necklace.

And I said, What's that mean to you?

And he was like, Ah, it's kind of hard to understand.

And I go, Well, it means something to me.

It means something to me.

And I said, um, hey, if um this whole God thing was was real, what would be the first question that you asked him if you had the opportunity?

And he looked up and he pondered and he was like, I don't I don't even know where to start.

And he said, What about you?

What would you ask?

And I said, basically, after this week, I'd want to know why are some people born into poverty and other people are born into this affluent situation?

Why are some people so blessed with things and other people don't have anything?

And he thought about it, he's like, Yeah, I uh I think my question would be similar.

Why is there so much evil in the world?

And I'm just praying.

Jesus, give me the words.

Speak to me.

Speak to me, Lord.

Um said, I don't fully know all the answers, but I do know what the Bible has to say about it, and I dug around and I and I and I opened up my Bible and I turned to Genesis, and I was like, let me tell you what this book says.

And I said, This book tells us that God created everything, and that Satan was full of pride, and that he was cast down from heaven.

And after God created Adam and Eve, Satan came and started putting doubts into their mind.

And the one thing that God said not to do, he convinced them to do.

God gave them all these yeses and one no, and they still failed.

I said, they didn't just make a mistake, they had separated themselves from a holy God.

And that even though that they messed up, God sacrificed an animal for them, and their eyes were open, and they realized they were naked, and and then God provided clothes for them, and that sacrifice would would come back to foreshadow and and and and talk about a sacrifice that would come later.

And I heard the women behind me say, Yes, keep going, keep going.

And I felt this encouragement from behind them.

And I said, Have you ever read this book before?

And he said, No.

And he goes, That's a big book.

And I said, Yeah.

He goes, How many, how many books are there?

And I go, Man, let me tell you, there are 66 books written by over 40 authors in three different languages over three continents with one unified story.

It's the greatest story ever told.

And I said, The Old Testament is just a bunch of stories about how we cannot do this alone and that we need God desperately.

And I said, we're just a bunch of screw-ups that desperately need a savior.

And I said, you know, the first half is a little rough, but guess what?

The second half, it's my favorite.

It's my favorite.

And I got to the gospels.

And then all of a sudden, I started seeing some architecture that reminded us that we were getting closer to the airport.

And I said, Lord, no, I need more time.

I need more time, Lord.

So I was like, okay, we've got four gospels.

These men encountered a man named Jesus of Nazareth, and he claimed he was the Son of God.

And he he performed these miracles so that he could stand out.

And he gave he gave sight to the blind man, he healed the cripple, he controlled the nature.

He did everything in his power to prove himself to people.

And that the religious leaders, they hated him for it.

I said, Here's the thing.

All the signs were there.

But people continued to deny his power.

And they hated him so much that they wanted to put him on a cross.

And they wanted to kill him.

And we pulled into the airport.

And the last thing I said to this bus driver was, but the story doesn't end there.

I didn't get to finish.

He got out, unloaded the van, and the woman, the women behind me just grabbed my shoulder and they said, That was awesome.

And I just kept thinking to myself, I just needed more time.

I needed more time.

And so I got out and I separated myself from the van.

And um, I just kind of collected my breath.

I was out of breath.

That 90-minute bus drive felt like it was five minutes.

And I can't tell you everything I said to that man.

But he pulled, he he walked over to me and um and I said, Can I pray for you?

And so I prayed over this man.

One of my friends snapped this picture.

And I said, Lord, please let the seed that I planted into this man's heart continue to grow, allow people to come after me to feed into this man, to help him, help him understand your good your good love and your gracious mercy.

I said, bless this man in real ways that he cannot deny your existence.

And we went off on our separate ways.

He got in his van and drove off.

And honestly, it was one of the most surreal moments for me.

God blessed me with that opportunity.

And it's not about me being awesome or being some good Christian.

It's always about God.

It always has been, it always will be.

Point number four, we got to be prepared to give an answer.

There are people all over that have not heard this good news.

So begin asking God for opportunities to share the gospel, and he will give it to you.

And I know some of you might be thinking, it couldn't be me.

I couldn't do that.

I don't, I am not prepared for that.

Well, here's what you can do: you can share what God has done for you personally.

You can say, I don't know everything, but I know what he's done for me.

Yes, it's scary.

And yes, you may not know enough about the Bible, and I constantly feel like that too.

But here's a prayer that I've been praying recently every time I open this word up.

I pray that the Holy Spirit reveals new things to me when I read this Bible.

And the Holy Spirit will give you words, and he will give you a boldness that is beyond you.

Here's the bottom line: when you get rescued, you join the rescue team.

That's our mission.

See if your neighbor's home was on fire and you opened up your front door, you looked outside and said, That's a bummer, that's a shame, and then you walk back inside your house, you'd be a terrible neighbor.

We gotta grab the phone, we gotta dial 911, we gotta get our hose, we gotta kick down the door, we gotta make sure everyone gets out.

We have to do something, don't just stand there.

Let me put it in plain English.

People are going to hell and we got work to do.

Frankly, it feels like time's running out, too.

Feels that way.

Matthew 28, 19 says, Go therefore and make disciples.

Now you may you may not ever go to Mexico.

I really think you should.

It was eye-opening.

It was life-changing, it was life-giving.

I want to take as many people with me as possible.

But I've got some next steps for you guys.

We're going.

We're going to use that as an acronym to get out.

First thing some of you all need to do is get out your Bibles.

If you think spending one hour out of 168 that you get in a week with Jesus is enough, you're wrong.

I'm telling you.

There's something about actually holding a physical copy of God's word and diving into it.

Next thing I would say is get out of your mind.

A lot of you tell yourself no, you tell the Holy Spirit no.

I could never do that.

We got to get out from up here, and we got to start trusting the Holy Spirit to be led people.

We gotta get out of our comfort as well.

I want you to try something hard this week.

Maybe it's praying with someone, maybe it's inviting someone to church, maybe it's actually sharing the gospel with them.

I don't know.

We gotta try.

We have to.

There's too much, too much at stake here.

And we got to get out of our context.

I love Independence, Kentucky.

It's one of the greatest cities in the world to raise a family, but this world is so much bigger.

This world is so much bigger.

And there are people in our neighborhoods and in northern Kentucky that need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Maybe you got to put yourself in situations where you have to rely on the Holy Spirit.

So let's get out of here.

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much.

I thank you for everyone that came here today and that is listening online.

Lord, I pray that you would remind us that it's not about us, it's all about you.

We don't have to have all the right words.

We have to rely on you.

Lord, we live in a comfortable world.

And you never called us to do that.

You called us to go, to get out.

Lord, remind us this week that we can do hard things not because of our own strength and our own might.

It's all because of you.

Lord, I pray that people's hearts will be drawn closer to you.

Father, we thank you.

We love you and praise your holy name.

And all God's people said.

Amen.