The Practice of Witness | November 17, 2024

man.

Thank you.

Worship team.

This is gonna be

a really short

sermon because this

smells like chilly

in this church.

You know what

I'm saying?

Oh man.

This is, uh, a very

aromatic Sunday

morning and, uh,

highly motivational.

I left Josh Murray

in charge of the

chili supervision.

I don't know if that

was a good idea or

not, but he had a

security shirt on,

so I assumed that

was a good choice.

Oh, maybe not.

Maybe not.

Oh, well, it's great

for, have you here

this morning as we

kind of wrap up this.

Series that we've

been talking about,

practicing the way

of Jesus, which has

been really cool.

Thinking about being

apprentices of his,

not just disciples

who learn information

about him, but

rather people who

practiced the ways

of Jesus, right?

To spend time with

him, to become more

and more like him

and to do the things

that he did in the

lives of the people

that he engaged with.

That we'd be his

hands and feet

and Im, and impact

people around us.

What a, what a cool

time it's been and as

Dax started us off on

this series, it's not

a checklist of all

the things that now

make us the the right

kind of apprentice or

disciple, but rather

it's kind of this

building crescendo

of hanging out with

Jesus, being more

and more like him

in the way we live,

to the point that

we're transformed

in the process.

Just a really neat

time, and I'm excited

that it's really a

springboard of where

we're gonna continue

to go as his church.

And so as we

jump in today.

Last Sunday I teased

it just a little bit.

The last and final

practice, this

practice of witness.

And we had a really

great time of baptism.

The kind of like,

well let's be honest.

It wasn't just

baptism, it was also

you guys sharing

so many amazing

things together

that you hijacked

the sermon time.

So you guys know you

did that and it was

really fun to hear

you guys witness to

each other and to

encourage each other,

uh, with what your

story and moments with

the Lord and what he's

doing in your life.

And uh, that was

probably better than

what I was gonna say.

So great job.

Uh, and thanks this

morning for a few

minutes to preach.

I appreciate that.

And I will go quick

'cause the chili

is starting to

get really ripe.

Man.

It's good.

I just wanna say

that to Josh 'cause

it's entertaining

to watch your face

a chili look so.

Baptism.

Prior to that, we

had talked about the

practice of service

a couple weeks ago,

and we talked a

little bit about the

idea of service to

our faith community

over the summer,

but especially to

our entire and whole

community around us.

In the last couple

weeks here, as we've

talked about service,

I wanna do a little,

uh, shout out from the

sheep and the goats

talk we did about

Jesus saying, you

know, I was hungry.

I was thirsty, right?

I was, I was

a stranger.

I was naked.

You clothed me.

I was sick.

I was in prison.

And what you did to

the least of these

people, you did to

me what you did,

for the least of my

brethren, what you did

for this person here

who you had no idea.

Who he was or if it

even mattered you

were doing that.

Not for them,

man, but you were

doing it for me.

And what an incredible

act of service

and love that was.

And oftentimes we

didn't even realize

that we were impacting

people for eternity

by just a cup of

cold water or an

act of service.

Well, I wanna give a

little quick shout out

to our, uh, preteens

yesterday who were

totally crushing

it up in Arcadia.

I don't know if I've

ever seen people pack

boxes so quickly.

They were, uh, uh,

an or angel's attic

in Arcadia for just

like a very short

period of time.

No Mountain Dew

as you can hear in

that testimonial.

But in that time,

they did 105 boxes

in 45 minutes.

So we should give

'em our applause, all

of our preteen for

crushing that really,

really cool job.

Really cool job, and

thanks to all the moms

and dads who were part

of that, uh, really,

really neat stuff.

What a cool picture

of that practice

of service.

And the week before

that, we talked

about generosity for

just a few minutes.

We had a lot of

neat sharing in the

last few weeks, but,

uh, we talked about

generosity, right?

The idea of our hands

being open to God

and that everything

we have is his,

and that we lay it

before him and we're

not clenching our

fist to God, holding

onto our stuff,

possessions, our time,

energy, resource.

But instead,

everything we

have is his.

And we live

with open arms.

Well, here's what I

think's kind of cool

about the culmination

of these practices.

The idea of living

a life of generosity

that says, God,

everything I

have is yours.

Everything.

My hands are

open to you.

And a life that says,

man, whoever you are,

it doesn't matter.

I'm gonna love you.

I'm gonna try to take

care of your needs

and try to make a

difference in your

life and show you

the love of Jesus.

What's cool about

these two practices

as you live those out?

What happens is they

sort of just become

your witness, right?

You just start living

out the love of Jesus

to the people around

you, and they see the

love of Jesus in the

way that you engage,

the way that you serve

in your conversation,

in your interaction,

all of it.

Your witness really

just takes shape

right in front of

'em, and you have

an opportunity to

share the love of

Jesus with them.

Well, let's dive

into this idea of

witness here this

morning a little bit.

Acts chapter one,

verse eight, passage

that we know all

too well, right?

But you will

receive power.

Jesus says to his

disciples, you'll

receive power when

the Holy Spirit comes

on you, and you will

be my witnesses in

Jerusalem and in all

Judea and Samaria,

and to the ends of

the earth, right?

You're gonna be my

witnesses right here

where you're at, and

then we're gonna have

this awesome ripple

effect outside of

our region, outside

of our country.

All over the

world, right?

But it starts

in that space.

And maybe there's

a little lesson

there for us.

Like we could be

big about like, Hey,

let's send money to

some other place,

or let's, you know,

try to evangelize

the lost people down

in such and such.

But man, what about

our circle right here

at our house, right?

Right here

in Jerusalem.

And then begin to let

that build and go.

Don't neglect to

be faithful where

God's got you, right?

And be a

witness for him.

And if you're not,

I loved one of our

missions board guys

from a long time ago,

talked about how if

you're not reaching

people with the story

of Jesus and the good

news, if you're not

sharing your faith

right now, right

here, why in the world

would we think if we

spend thousands of

dollars to send you

to some other country

as a missionary,

that you're gonna

do it there, right?

It ought to be part

of who we are, that

we are witnesses, that

we are just sharing

the love of Jesus and

sharing the good news.

In all of our

interactions with

the people that

we're at right here

in our circle right

now, and let that

build from there.

Well, this word

witnesses is

a cool word.

Um, it actually in

the Greek is from

this word martus.

And it sounds a

lot like this word,

Marty, which is

actually where we

get the word martyr.

And if you know what

a martyr is, it's

someone who really

dies for their faith.

And every one of

the disciples who

heard Jesus say these

words, when the Holy

Spirit comes on you,

you're gonna be my

witnesses, my martus.

You're gonna

be my quite

literally martyrs.

You're gonna go all

over the world and

you're gonna share

the good news, but

you're gonna pay the

ultimate price in this

life of sacrificing

just like I have.

But you're gonna

die for the gospel.

It's what

happened, right?

History tells us

every single one of

the disciples died

a martyr's death.

Maybe John, if you

consider an island

exile, not to be

a martyr, but he

was there 'cause

of his faith.

I think it

still counts.

They all paid

with their life.

So Jesus says to his

disciples, man, you're

gonna be my martyrs.

You're gonna be my

witnesses now, is

that what he's still

saying today to us?

That every single one

of us are gonna go and

share the good news

and die for our faith?

Well, there's

absolutely places

in the world

right now where

that's happening.

Absolutely.

There are absolutely

people who are

choosing faith

in Jesus Christ

and they're not

hanging out at some

awesome church with

fancy laser light

shows or in super

air conditioned

environment

living the dream.

Now they're, they're

paying with their life

to just be faithful

to follow Christ.

We talked about the,

uh, international

Day of the Persecuted

Church a couple

weeks ago, and just

reminded of our

brothers and sisters

who are suffering and

who are dying in so

many places, and we

were kind of humbled

to think about their

response to us was,

not get us outta here,

but rather pray that

we'd stay strong,

pray that we'd not

give up, pray that

we'd keep living out

joy in the midst of

this so that Jesus can

be seen even in the

midst of our suffering

and hardship.

Right?

So as a follower

of Jesus Christ, I

mean, Jesus said some

tough things like,

take up your cross

and follow me, right?

Which is not like,

get your cool coffee

cup at the coffee

bar and come sit

and sing songs

that rock with me.

It's more like, pick

up your electric

chair or grab your

lethal injection and

follow me, right?

Like it's a death

sentence to be

a follower of

Jesus Christ.

That was part of

what the early

church understood.

Like it wasn't about

this life, and it

wasn't about my stuff.

It was about laying

down everything.

Counting the cost

to follow Jesus.

And I wouldn't say

to you that every

single person who is

a witness for Christ

needs to be a martyr,

but kind of shame

on us that we try

to quickly push that

so far away that,

uh, even thinking

about the reality

that is a little bit

too uncomfortable

or not something

we're ready to really

buy into, right?

Are we really ready

to allow this life

and everything we

have to be taken away

for us from, from

us for the sake of,

uh, following Jesus?

That's a fair

question.

We ought to

ask, right?

Am I willing to

give it all up?

Are those hands

really wide open?

Or maybe like just

partially open or

maybe just this

fingers open to

God a little bit.

Thumbs up to God.

What are we

doing right?

Uh, interesting.

There's also some

other stuff in the

Greek here that helps

us maybe unpack this

word a little more.

The witness, Martus is

kind of tied to some

legal picture of one

who testifies, right?

One who testifies.

It's a legal picture

of somebody sitting

in court giving

something we would

call testimony.

It's one of the

reasons why in the

church you'll hear

things like, Hey,

you should share

your testimony.

Or tonight, does

anybody wanna share

their testimony?

And it sounds like

an old fashioned

weird term, and we're

like, ah, what's

he talking about?

Right?

But it's just simply

who's willing to share

a testimony to testify

on behalf of who

Jesus is and what he's

done in your life.

That's a picture.

You will be my

testifiers, you'll

be my testimony

givers in Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria, and

to the uttermost

parts of the earth.

That's the call

to the followers

of Jesus Christ.

In fact, I like to ask

this question like,

what's your testimony?

What's your testimony?

I grew up in

the church.

I was a super good

kid for the most part.

Not totally.

My dad's in here,

so mostly, um, but

I used to really

struggle when like

those really good

testimonies showed up.

You know what I mean?

You know the ones

right, where the

guys like, oh dude,

I was doing drugs

and I was having sex

and I was in a rock

and roll band all

at the same time.

It was a mess

on skid row.

Right?

And then Jesus

found me, man.

I was totally

transformed.

And I remember being

a teenager and sitting

in church and being

like, I'm such a

Christian loser.

God didn't save

me from nothing.

Right?

Right.

And what I've learned

over the years in

talking to more and

more of those guys,

almost to a person,

they'll say to you,

dude, I would trade

with you in a second.

In a second.

Man, I have so much

baggage and so much

scarring and pain

and issues that I

carry with me that

are just consequences

of my actions

and my choices.

Thank God that he drug

me outta that mess.

But what I wouldn't

give to have never

walked in that

garbage to start with.

Wow, your testimony

is awesome.

I was glad they

said that to me.

Right?

'cause sometimes

you just feel like

maybe you're not

that impressive

a testimony.

I was good.

Keep being good.

Ding.

Right?

That's not exciting.

But man, it's a

powerful testimony.

Your testimony

really is an account

of what Jesus has

done in your life.

People often are

like, well, I don't

really have much

of a testimony.

You're like,

yeah, you do, man.

Your testimony

is your story.

It's your story

about who Jesus is

and what he's done.

And every single

one of us who

know Jesus, have a

relationship with

Jesus, have a story

to tell about it.

Every one of us.

Every one of us.

And you might

be like, well, I

don't have a story.

Fair.

You might have

a relationship

with Jesus.

That's a great place

to pause and say,

maybe I need to

engage and initiate a

relationship with this

Jesus, this savior who

forgives me for sin

and cleanses me, gives

me an opportunity to

walk in righteous,

experience life and

hope and joy and the

eternity with him.

Yeah, I, I want that

kind of thing, right?

That can be the

first page in

your story, right?

But some of you got

pages of your story

and you're like, ah,

it's a lame book.

Nobody wants

to read it.

Dude, even in a court

of law testimony

carries huge weight.

You can condemn

people to death

by your testimony.

How much more should

God's people be

pointing people

to life and hope

with the words

of our testimony?

What's your

story with Jesus?

What is it?

Maybe we don't

think about it.

Maybe we think nobody

wants to hear it.

Maybe we think

it doesn't matter

if we share it.

Jesus told us he was

gonna give us power

to the Holy Spirit,

to be the people who

tell the story and

who witness to the

world around him.

I like this

question too, 'cause

it's just a mean

preacher question.

Are you sharing

the gospel?

Are you sharing

the gospel?

I mean, come on.

It's hot in

here, right?

We turn on the

heat for no reason,

and then I have

a flannel on.

It's ridiculous.

It's like a hot light.

Are you sharing

the gospel?

Hey, let me encourage

you, 'cause you might

be like, uh, I need to

go use the bathroom,

get some coffee.

We shut the

coffee bar down.

No escape.

Are you sharing

the gospel?

Right?

Here's what I

want you to know.

You are absolutely

sharing a gospel.

You're totally

sharing a gospel.

It might be the gospel

of discouragement,

hopelessness, despair.

It might be the gospel

of selfishness and

personal ambition

and possessions

and materialism.

It might be the

gospel that this

world spewing out on

every kind of social

and moral issue

you can imagine.

You're definitely

sharing a gospel.

You are.

Are you sharing the

gospel, the good news

of Jesus and what

he has come to do

and save us from sin

and cleanse us from

unrighteousness and

give us life and hope?

Are you sharing

the gospel?

Who are you

sharing it with?

Man, I hate that

phrase that the

old posters used

to have in my youth

room as a kid.

It was like, if

you were put on

trial for being a

Christian, would there

be enough evidence

to convict you?

Right?

Oh, that has haunted

me for my whole life.

Right?

Is there enough

evidence that

people will be

like, Hey, that

guy's a Christian,

and be like, I

didn't say anything

about Jesus, right?

No.

See how you live.

We're watching you.

You're sharing

the gospel.

You are.

Maybe a better

question is

what gospel are

you sharing?

Right?

What gospel are

you sharing?

But I also like this

mean part of the

question, are you

living the gospel?

'cause sometimes we're

really good about

lip service, right?

And we can say all the

things that you should

say, like pray, read

your Bible, right?

Every Sunday,

school answer In the

history of the world.

We might know a lot

of stuff and say a

lot of stuff, but are

you living the gospel?

And I could cheat,

put that a up

there again, right?

'cause you are living

a gospel, right?

You are.

But are you living

the gospel, right?

Are you living out

the love of Jesus,

the message of hope

and life in the way

that you love the

people around you?

Communicate,

interact, engage.

Are you living

the gospel?

Jesus says this in

Matthew five, he

says, in the same way,

let your light shine

before others that

they may see, right?

That they may see

your good deeds.

Glorify your

father in heaven.

God wants us

to be high

visibility people.

He wants us, like

he says, man, you

don't light a candle

and stick it under a

bush or under a bush.

You probably don't

do that either under

a basket, right?

I'm stick a candle

under a bush.

That'd be

entertaining.

Alright, so we don't

light a candle and

hide it, right?

I was at uh, Costco

the other day and I

don't know if you guys

are like looking for

my Christmas present,

but they have a 5,000

lumen flashlight.

I dunno if you've

tried this.

Do yourself a favor.

Go into Costco and

they got it in a

white box in a stack.

And if you just push

the button to try it,

it will blind you.

Just the reflection

off the white box.

So you'll see

spots for the

next five minutes.

It's super fun.

Check it out.

So 5,000 lumen, right?

But that thing is

made to be a beacon

of light, right?

High visibility,

crazy high visibility.

And do you know

what's really cool

when you take a

real high visibility

light outside?

In the middle of like

a noon kind of window

and you shine it up

towards the sun, you

know what's cool?

Nothing.

There's nothing cool

about it, right?

Nothing.

But when you shine it

in the middle of the

night up towards the

moon and it looks like

it makes it there with

5,000 lumens, right?

It's bright and it is

visible to everybody.

And man, sometimes as

the church we're like

fussy and whiny when

the world gets dark

and the culture around

us is a mess, dude,

that's the opportunity

to be even more

visible with the love

of God, to be able

to shine that much

brighter so people can

see his love, right?

Through what your

good deeds, the

way that you live.

Not just what you

say, but what you do.

I'm in this really

tough spot right now

because I realize

Jed is gonna start

driving soon, and

I realized that

because Jamie told me

this the other day,

very passionately.

We have a young driver

in the car who is

watching everything

you do, right?

So for the next

year, Jed's not

allowed to ride with

me, is what I think

the new rule is.

Um, something

like that.

Yeah.

I wish, I wish my kids

and I wish all of you

would just listen to

what I say and then

just ignore me the

rest of the time.

Right.

It's that stinking

living it out

stuff, right?

In this fallen

world where we don't

always do great

or we get ahead of

ourselves or our

flesh gets in the way.

But that's part

of it, man.

We're called to

try to not just

say things, but to

really live 'em out.

That our actions

follow what it is

that we say, right?

And that our

actions represent

who Jesus is.

That's part of this

whole apprentice

thing, right?

We hang out

with Jesus, we

learn about him.

We spend time with

him so we become

more like him so that

the mannerisms and

the actions of our

lives actually start

to look a little

bit like Jesus.

My mom used to tell

this story about

this very busy, very

busy businessman

who was walking

down the street in

a large city, and he

was cruising along

and he had to get

somewhere fast and

he wasn't paying

attention, and he

walked by this little

kid who was doing a

puzzle on the ground.

And this man was

walking and walking

and walking and

cruising and paying

no attention.

And he kicked over

the puzzle and

almost tripped on

the little boy.

And everything went

flying everywhere.

And he had that

moment where he

was like, kid, are

you kidding me?

Right?

I'm very important.

I have very important

things to do.

But he had prayed this

really weird prayer

in the morning and

he had said, Lord,

help people to see

Jesus in me today.

And he thought about

this prayer as he

stood looking at

this little boy who

was in a little bit

of a teary face,

whether he had gotten

need in the head, or

whether his puzzle

was a mess or both.

Hard to tell.

And the man put down

his briefcase and

he got down on his

hands and knees with

a little boy, and he

started to put the

pieces of the puzzle

together and wiped

the tears off the

little boy's face.

And when he got to the

last piece together

and they put it in.

The little boy looked

up and he said, Mr.

Are you Jesus?

What a cool picture

of just trying to

love well and make

sure people see that

they matter, that

they're seen and

that they're loved.

'cause guys,

God sees us.

He sees you and

he loves you.

And man, we get

run over in this

life, don't we?

And things don't

always go right and

things are a mess.

And sometimes

we're the kid, and

sometimes we're

the dude knocking

people over, right?

But man, God has

called us to be people

who, our deeds, the

way we live, looks

like Jesus to the

people around us.

And you know what's

gonna happen when

they see that they're

gonna glorify our

Father in heaven.

And Peter encourages

us with these words.

I think this is

powerful, live such

good lives among the

pagans that though

they accuse you of

doing wrong, but they

may see your good

deeds glorify God on

the day he visits us.

Super encouraging

words, and I want

you to hear this

though, they accuse

you of doing wrong.

There are so many

people who challenge

you, who push you,

who question you,

who attack you,

and who press you

on your faith.

And most of the time

we only see them

as adversaries, as

enemies, and as people

we have to deal with

and get through.

But man, listen

sometimes, not every

time and not every

person, but there

are some people who

are pushing as hard

as they can against

everything you

say and everything

you stand for.

'cause they want

to know if maybe

there's a chance

that they're wrong.

That maybe there's a

chance that there's

real substance to

what you're saying

and you're not

just all a bunch of

talk, but you really

know this Jesus.

And he's really real.

And he really gives

you the courage and

the strength to stand

and the determination

to overcome and

not give up.

And that your faith

isn't something that's

lacking substance, but

that it is rooted in

this God of eternity

that may or may not

really be real and

they don't know.

But man, they're

pushing hard against

it because they

don't trust it.

And they've seen so

many things go wrong,

and they've seen so

many of God's people

just throw in the

towel or quit, or

their deeds don't

match up to anything

and they want to see

you fail, but they

desperately don't

want to see you fail.

And sometimes as

Christians, we just

get mad and frustrated

and listen, we're

imperfect and we're

fallible, and we

gotta go to people

sometimes and say,

Hey, I'm so sorry my

flesh got in the way.

I made a

mistake there.

I please forgive me.

That's important

for people to see,

but people are

desperate to see

if Jesus is real.

And so much of the

church has been

about looking one

way on a Sunday and

then being something

totally different

the rest of the week.

And man, God's called

us to be a light

that shines in the

dark, that looks

different than the

darkness around us.

And if we look like

the world around

us and everything's

the exact same

man, there's no

substance there that

draws anybody to

anything different.

And if you cave and

you give in and you

act like the world

does, you miss the

powerful opportunities

to help people see who

Jesus is, even when

it's hard and when

doesn't go your way.

I remember watching

a lot of Christian

athletes who took

a stand for Christ.

Guys like Tim Tebow.

I remember thinking,

this dude is

gonna fall hard.

And I don't mean

like in his faith,

but I just meant out

of the spotlight.

Because that guy

is standing up for

way too much truth.

He's, he's powerfully

living out a message

that is way, way

too committed

to Jesus Christ.

And I think Jesus

needs him to not

succeed in everything

in this life to

show people there's

more substance than

just when you're

an awesome football

player and everything

goes your way.

People don't care

when your life

is glamorous and

blessed and awesome.

They don't care.

But man, when things

are hard and you stand

when things are hard

and you endure, when

you don't quit and

you don't give up

and you don't turn

on your faith even

when you could, man,

there is power there.

That is a witness.

God has called us

to live right, to

live this witness.

We are God's living

will and testimony,

if you will.

Sometimes we wanna sit

it out, man, don't.

God has called us to

be his witnesses who

live out the gospel

of Jesus Christ, who

live out the good

news that they see it

right in what you say.

Absolutely.

There's no excuse to

be silent or mute on

the most important

message that there is,

but we ought to ensure

that the way we live

is pointing people to

Jesus and encouraging

them and showing them

who he really is.

That I think is a

piece of the picture

of what it means

to be an apprentice

who's trying to be

a witness to the

world around us.

It's not about

winning arguments,

it's not about

winning converts.

It's about loving

people like crazy

and trying to walk

in authenticity

and genuineness.

A real relationship

with Jesus

really lived out.

It's one of the

things I love about

you guys as a church.

We don't do pretty

and we don't do

fancy very well.

We might do chili

pretty well, I'm not

sure, but you guys

do authentic and

genuine really well.

This is who we are.

This is who we're

gonna be, and

we're gonna try to

walk together as a

witness and a light

in Noblesville and

Hamilton County

and Indianapolis

and Indiana, and

the utmost parts of

the earth that they

might see the love

of Jesus lived out.

Lord Jesus, thank you

for your incredible

love for us.

Thank you for inviting

us into a story with

you, a relationship.

Father, for anybody

here today who doesn't

know you, who doesn't

have a story with

you, God, I pray

this awesome preface

would lead them into

a time with you here

where they would

just reach out and

say, Jesus, I want to

know you, Lord, that

you would forgive

us for our sin.

You cleanse us from

all unrighteousness.

And that you would

help us to walk

in this awesome

experience of

witness and in

relationship with you.

Father, I pray that

you would help us

who have a story,

but we haven't been

very willing to

share it, and we've

allowed ourselves to

believe that nobody's

watching anyhow.

Lord, forgive us

for that willful

ignorance and any

laziness on our parts.

Lord, you called

your disciples

to be martyrs.

Help us to at least,

at least be testifiers

to the world around

us about your goodness

and your love.

Help people see

Jesus in us.

And Lord, we commend

ourselves to that

task and we thank you

for what you've been

doing, building us

into a place to feel

that and to own that

in our own hearts

and lives that we

might spill out into

everybody around us.

Thank you Lord.

In your name I pray.

Amen.

It's not the end of

the sermon because

I need Ron and Eric

and Verla to come

join me as Derek

brings up a board.

Because one of the

things we're gonna

do here at White

Rock Fellowship is

something unorthodox.

'cause that's our

orthodoxy, right?

So I'm gonna invite

these guys from the

mission board to

come on up here on

the platform, if you

would, real quick.

And, uh, the missions

board's been talking

about this crazy

idea of, well, they

didn't know it at the

time, but it was the

practice of witness.

Wasn't it Verla?

Yes, it was.

Alright, so maybe

you could let us know

about this crazy idea

and how it's gonna

tie in to this witness

practice of ours.

The crazy idea kind

of started with maybe

giving turkeys out

for Christmas, but

then we decided that

was gonna be a hassle

with freezing them.

Yeah.

Hold on real close.

So yeah, Verla

actually asked me

how many freezers

the church has.

So we could give out

like 25 frozen turkeys

to people because the

missions board, this

is probably Eric's

idea, wanted you

to go around with a

frozen Turkey in your

arms to everybody you

could find or, no,

not quite like that.

No.

We came up with

this hybrid version.

Yes, yes.

So then we

brainstormed and

talked to Andy and

we decided that to

give a gift card of

$25 from Kroger's to

anyone that wants to

pick one of these up,

hand 'em to a friend

that's in need or

someone that could

use help right now.

If you have more

than one friend,

there's cards left.

Give 'em to

two friends.

So it's kind of a

way of paying it

forward from White

Rock to our community

and to our family.

So I'm gonna jump

in and hijack this

for one second.

'cause that was a very

nice presentation with

no guilt or shame or

challenge that was

mean and harsh, which

is very unlike Verle.

Right?

Right.

Let's go.

Right Bomb.

No, no.

Hey, in all

seriousness, here's

the challenge.

We wanna invite every

family to take one

of these gift cards.

Every family, like one

per family, please.

And if we need to

get more, we will.

And we want you to

take this gift card.

You have what?

A week and a half

till Thanksgiving,

something like that.

You're probably gonna

be at a grocery store.

You're probably gonna

be walking around

some other people who

are on this planet.

It's gonna

happen, right?

So keep this card

with you and pray

about how God wants

you to show his love

to somebody who's not

part of our church.

Can't go across

the aisle and give

somebody a card

after church, right?

Not somebody who's

maybe even in your

family group, right?

If your family needs

help, help 'em.

This is about you

going out into the

highways and the

byways and everywhere

out there in the

world that you don't

even know what the

plan is, but he does.

And take this card

with you and when you

feel like this is the

person or the family,

or the moment, God

wants you to hand this

to them and just say,

Jesus loves you, I

want you to have this.

That's it.

Make sense?

So I'm not gonna,

I'm not gonna pretend

there's not gonna

be some weenie

families here, guys

who can't step up

to the challenge.

Alright?

Sorry.

Been funny if

Josh said it.

Yeah.

Hey, this is gonna

be out in the back

entryway, but please,

prayerfully take one

of these things and go

do some good, loving

some people with it.

What a easy

opportunity to

just hand some

love to somebody

and remind them

that God sees them

and he knows them.

And man, I

promise you.

The person who

receives that.

God's busy at work

in them right now,

and they're probably

standing at a place

in a moment where

they're thinking, God,

I don't even know.

I don't even know.

And I can't even

pray more than that.

And I don't even know

if you're listening

and you're gonna

show up with a stupid

$25 Kroger card that

might change all

eternity, right?

I mean, come

on, church.

We gotta be able

to do that, right?

So make sure you

snag one of these.

If we need more,

we'll get more, right?

Yes.

Yes, we will.

All right.

And you can thank all

these guys for coming

up with a better idea

than just giving you a

frozen Turkey to carry

around all next week

and a half, right?

Because that was

a great idea.

All right.

I'm gonna let you

guys sneak down that

direction and then

I'm gonna invite up,

uh, two guys that

are gonna help us.

Oh yeah.

I totally forgot.

I don't know if this

is okay, but we we're

calling this the

Turkey testimony.

I didn't really

clear that name

with anybody,

but I liked it.

So, hey, uh, Josiah

and Noah, if you guys

could sneak up here.

I've got a couple

guys that are

gonna help wrap up

our morning here.

Close us down

with some content

and information.

You can probably grab

another one of those

mics over there,

let you know about

some things that

you can be involved

in and plugged in.

And, uh, then I'm

gonna step back up and

give us the final info

on this chili tail.

Alright.

Oh wow.

Sorry.

Alright, so

here we are.

Announcements

at the end.

Try something new.

Let's have some fun.

Uh, first off, ba

bam is actually ba

bonfire tonight, uh,

at 6:30 PM Uh, I don't

know where it is, but

Josh Hale is waving

his hand wildly.

Yeah, right there.

Um, if you are

a youth, go talk

to Josh Hale.

He'll tell you

where to go.

Bring chair and some,

uh, roaster sticks.

Okay.

Chair and roaster

sticks for anyone

online as well.

And we have updated

events, flyers,

which is pretty

exciting with new

holiday happenings.

Holiday happenings?

Yes, sir.

Oh no.

Okay.

Sorry.

I apologize.

We have the ladies

Friendsgiving

Wednesday, November

20th at 6:30 PM We

really like 6:30 PM

here at White Rock.

It's one of our

favorite times.

We will go over some

of our other favorite

times as well.

Uh, but no, um, if you

are a male, I'm sorry

you're not invited.

This is for women.

Sadly, we don't get

to be a part of it.

Oh man.

I know ladies, on

December 8th you're

gonna be taking some

tours of homes, so,

uh, you'll probably

just be going out to

some houses and just.

Knocking on the

doors and just being

like, Hey, let me in.

So that sounds

like a lot of fun.

Good luck.

Yeah, I think we

should have a men's

tour of houses too.

I think that'd be fun.

Uh, mighty Moms

Group, Christmas

party for more women

and their children.

Uh, this is at 6:00

PM not six 30, um,

but it's Friday,

December 13th.

It's gonna have

gingerbread houses,

hot chocolate snacks,

and a Christmas movie.

I don't know what

movie yet, but

it's gonna be fun.

A lot of fun.

Renee Hancock

is who you need

to see for that.

I don't know if

she's here, so,

Nope, she's not here.

So Derek Hancock

is waving his hand

wildly find his

wife next week.

Parents night

out is back.

So on December 14th,

you can drop your kids

off at Sunday school

from five 30 to 8:00

PM I don't know what

they'll be doing,

but they'll probably

be doing some stuff.

So you can have

a night out.

Oh yeah.

Date night or

just breathe.

Um, I think it's

time for you guys

to schedule some

fun into your

calendar and romance.

Teen winter camp.

This is the fun part,

not the romance part.

I'm sorry.

Youth.

No.

Uh, this is January

17th through 19th.

This is all on our

updated flyer, so

you probably should

grab one of those.

Make notes,

put 'em into a

family calendar.

Do something.

'cause you don't wanna

miss any of these.

But no, this is the,

this is the fun part.

Marriage or tree?

February.

Romance.

14th through the 16th.

Josiah, it's November.

We still got time.

I know we can

make that.

I know.

We're hoping we're

gonna make it.

Hey, um, on a

more serious note,

thank you guys.

Uh, next door we are

doing the, uh, we're

doing the operation

Christmas child boxes

with our kids group.

So we're making

tons and tons of

boxes in Tom's word.

He doesn't know how

many boxes we're gonna

make, but we're gonna

make enough of them.

We're gonna make

a lot of them.

Uh, yeah, I don't know

how many, but you guys

have donated so much.

I know there are tons

and tons of boxes

and we're gonna get a

final number later on.

Uh, I pretty sure

we can't get in

any more supplies,

but if you really

wanna give gifts to

kids for Christmas,

we're gonna find a

way to do that too.

And now getting to one

of the more important

slides that maybe

the most important

kid care packages.

Uh, I was just

informed that next

Sunday is the last,

uh, Sunday to be

able to, uh, fill

the bags up and

stuff like that.

So might be worth

getting some more

stuff in, I don't

know, but like,

in all honesty,

thank you guys.

That does mean a

lot to all of us

that are at school.

It is really nice

to receive notes and

stuff from you guys.

We love all of you.

Oh, my turn again.

Um, secret Families

of Hamilton County

is another big one

that we like to do

around Christmas,

uh, Saturday,

December 14th.

Don't know what

time, uh, the youth

will shop and wrap

and deliver gifts.

And right now

our fundraising

is at a couple

hundred dollars.

Uh, we're trying to

get up to a couple

thousand to try and

support some families.

So the more you

guys give, the more

we can support and

witness, and it's

another opportunity

in which we can really

use generosity and

service to share

our testimony.

The moment we've

all been waiting

for the White Rock

chili tailgate.

Hey, uh, thank

you guys.

Appreciate you

helping out this

morning with this.

You're welcome.

Here's the deal,

we're gonna pray

and then here's the

plan so that you

know, outside in our

parking lot, we have

10 moderately cleaned

out trucks, but we

have tablecloths.

And across the parking

lot you'll have

different potluck, uh,

not potluck, what do

you call those things?

Crock.

Crock pots.

Yep.

That's what

you call 'em.

Sitting on tailgates