Prescott July Conference 2025 | 05 - Pastor Joe Campbell | Tuesday Evening

Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House

Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from

our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.

The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown

and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,

20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel

to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful

series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship

to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard

Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.

So please enjoy and listen along to these powerful

sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Wonderful

to be here in a Bible conference. Listen, if

you venture for God, life's a wild ride. I just

throw that out there. You're bored. It's because,

well, you finished the story. Genesis chapter

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

12 this evening. The world has been changed by

those who would dare to adventure into the unknown.

Christopher Columbus. He sailed west from Spain

into the vast unknown, into a world that was

massive, larger than anyone imagined or believed.

He's searching for a shortcut to Asia and ran

into south. and North America, two massive continents.

He adventured. It opened a new world. When you

will dare to travel into the unknown, you not

only discover what you never knew existed, but

you open new worlds for others to follow you.

Experience and joy. Pastor Mitchell, many, many

decades ago, he forged into discipleship church

planting and world evangelism out of the local

church. That was totally unheard of and foreign

to the church world. Then, and even by and large

today, Bible school was their answer. But because

he made that decision and forged into that revelation,

look where we are today. Look at the impact upon

nations. This is just a small... demonstration,

this Bible conference, of the impact that decision

made. The nations that have been blessed, the

cities, the multitudes of people that have been

saved and transformed, delivered. People around

the world. of that some 4 ,000 churches because

he dared to adventure into the unknown. Ask you

a question tonight. Can you be called to the

unknown? Again tonight, Hebrews 12 verse 1. Now

Hebrews 12:1

the Lord had said to Abraham, Get out of your

country, from your family, from your father's

house, to a land that I will show you. God, we

come tonight by the Holy Ghost, power of your

Spirit, your Word. God, only you know all that's

sitting here. The potential, the possibilities.

The chapters that have not yet been written.

God, I'm asking you tonight. I'm asking you to

dig deep into the heart of this people. Shake

us, God, outside of ourself. Stir us, God, to

the unknown of kingdom living. I'm asking tonight,

Lord, you bind up those whose hearts have been

broken and they've come to this place. Open prison

doors to those who find themselves bound and

incarcerated. Set at liberty those that life

has bruised. God, move tonight in these people

for the glory of your name. We thank you. Amen.

I want you to think with me about Into the Unknown.

What are we talking about? What's involved? You

have no past personal experience here. It's the

unfamiliar. It's a place filled with unanswered

questions and uncertainty. The unknown can be

very intimidating. It's highly demanding. The

unknown is challenging. It can push your anxiety

buttons. The unknown exposes fears and insecurities.

Many times there's no map, there's no personal

map into this arena of life. There's these emotions

that are attached to it. There's a mental and

a spiritual intensity once you choose to walk

into this arena. What's out there? What's waiting

for me? What am I going to have to overcome?

What am I going to have to deal with that I've

never dealt with before? The unknown can be threatening.

It can look impossible. It can be filled with

shadows and darkness and sometimes look endless.

But the truth is no one escapes the unknown.

A child taking their first steps. A kid learning

to ride a bicycle. I learned to swim. My older

brothers, my cousins picked me up. Sugar Creek

bodily threw me in. And I have to admit, It was

terrifying, but it was thrilling. I learned to

swim. The unknown. Later, I was baptized in almost

that same spot. You heard me tell the story.

In the eighth grade, my family, we moved from

a hillbilly country town, Creel Springs, a few

hundred people to East Chicago, Indiana. I'm

now in a high school of some 2 ,000 people. The

culture is different. The accent, the language

is different. How they dress is different. Mannerisms.

I stepped in. I might as well stepped into the

moon. It was the unknown. The unknown is unexcapable.

No one escapes a mother with her first child.

You decide to get married even as a new convert.

We heard last night the Apostle Paul. Damascus

Road, this experience thrust him blinded into

a world really that he had no comprehension about.

The Bible is filled with accounts of the unknown.

Matthew 14, Peter, he has a history with the

Sea of Galilee. They're out in the very middle

in a boat. Jesus had made them get in the boat

and said, I want you to go to the other side.

They're in the perfect will of God. A storm has

caught them. The Bible said they're extremely,

they're putting everything into rowing. It's

dark. No doubt Peter's been in storms before

at sea. And he understands completely the boat

is the only place of safety. If I'm going to

survive this, it depends on my ability to navigate

and stay in the boat. If I'm going to make it

to the other side, my future depends on staying

in the boat. Jesus comes walking on the water.

The disciples are terrified, cry out in fear.

Jesus said, be not afraid. It's I. And Peter

makes this statement, Lord, if that's you, bid

me come. And Jesus said, come. Can he say come

to you tonight? Peter's never walked on water.

He's never seen anyone walk on water. Probably

never heard of anyone walking on water. Totally

unknown. And he hears that simple one word, come.

Can he say that to you tonight? Pastor, couple,

young man, young lady, grandparent. Can he say

that to you this evening? Come. Come. Place you've

never been before. You've never even thought

about perhaps before. My mind, Peter, had never

prayed about walking on water. It's unnatural.

It's never probably entered his mind to walk

on water. And yet at that one word, he gets out

of the boat. But the question is, will you? Tonight,

this week, can he call you and say, come to a

place you've never lived in? A nation perhaps

you've never seen. An unknown people. A city.

A ministry. In the church, you never planned

for it. You never expected it. You've heard me

tell the story. 1960, 1986 rather, God spoke

to me. About Malaysia. I got a great church.

I'm living a dream. Church at that time. Some

300 people. Mostly all young people. Military.

Hispanic by and large. Disciples everywhere.

And God. One morning. You've heard me tell the

story. It's still so. So potent. There on Washington

Street, a little tiny office, and I felt like

someone was out in the church. So I went out,

and I'll never forget, I felt God. And I went

over to the altar, and I fell down at the altar

and began to pray. And the presence of God, He

said, I'm going to put you in Malaysia. Can he

say that to you this week? Talk to Pastor Mitchell.

He launched Connie and I into Malaysia in 1987.

Peter got out of the boat and he walked on water.

You'll never know what's there until you get

out of the boat. But the question rests in your

heart tonight. Come. Get out of the boat. When

you step into the unknown, let me ask you, does

it qualify you for the future? Peter got out

of the boat, but I wonder later when you fast

forward in his life, and God wants to pour out

his spirit on the Gentiles. He's already dealing

with Cornelius. And I wonder, God says, listen,

this man got out of the boat. He stepped into

the unknown in the natural. I can trust him to

step into the unknown in the spiritual. Peter's

probably, perhaps he's never eaten with a Gentile.

Maybe never had a conversation with a Gentile.

He doesn't say that he's even praying about going

to the, he's not burdened for the Gentiles. And

yet God, the whole praying on the housetop, the

sheet. My point is, when you step into the unknown

today, it's not just about today. It's about

can God trust you with tomorrow? This great revival

that... Peter later testifies about. He's speaking.

The Holy Ghost falls. They're all saved, filled

with the Holy Ghost, and revival broke out in

the Gentiles. When he stepped out of the boat

into the unknown, did it qualify him for future

revival? Pastor Warner. He and Mona went to Tucson

in a wheelchair. I don't know anyone that's done

that. Talk about unknown. But again, was that

part of the process that made him the man of

God he is today? Did that position him and develop

him and qualify him for that great church today?

Pastor Richard Ruby told me one time, he said,

how could we complain? Pastor Warner's out there

in his chair on the streets praying, never misses

church. Can he speak to you tonight, this week?

Abraham's hallmark chapters of his life were

marked by the unknown. Think of this, the father

of our faith, the one whose faith we must follow.

He has these memorable moments that are recorded.

But much and many of them happened in the unknown.

It's where his story begins. We heard Pastor

Greg last night. Doesn't say he was praying about

it. Doesn't record that Abraham was this great

spiritual individual. It's like the Lord slammed

unknown right into his face. No real warning.

No real discussion. No conversations. Get out

of your country and from your family and from

your father's house. To land I will show you.

Going where? To do what? Can God do that to you

this evening? I'll show you. God has revelation.

He has insight and ministry that's reserved only.

For those who will venture into the unknown.

Listen, destiny lives in the unknown. Think about

Abraham, all of his future conversations with

God. The experiences he's going to personally

have with God. The miracle son Isaac. The land

geographic that Israel claims today. A nation,

the Jewish nation, the Jewish people, Jesus Christ,

the Son of God. Your Bible was written totally

by Jewish people. The church, all of that was

waiting behind the door of the unknown. What's

waiting for you? What's waiting for you, but

it's hidden and reserved behind this door called

the unknown. The only way you're going to experience

it, the only way you're going to discover it,

the only way you're going to live it is you have

to walk through that door. As Pastor Greg mentioned,

by faith. Get out. Go. Discover new places. If

it's ever beat in your heart, there has to be

more. Are you desperate for a place you've never

been before? Is that still burning you? An experience

I've never had before. Connie and I, it's like,

and I've talked to other guys going to the mission.

It's like our life, these last 50 years, it's

like before Malaysia and after Malaysia. It's

like BC and AD. It was a moment, and I, so many.

Have you become content to live in the valley

of the common? The comfortable, the familiar,

like the children of Israel. They came up to

Jericho, Jordan, a land, an inheritance. But

here's this unknown factor. You know the story.

They turned away. And wandered in the wilderness

for 40 years complaining. Fear. Giants, walled

cities. We'd be like grasshoppers. All of those

words. And they refused to cross over Jordan

into the unknown. What's your Jericho tonight,

sir, ma 'am? What's your Jordan? And so for 40

years, Joshua later, when he took the reins from

Moses, he said, we have not passed this way before.

What's your Jericho? Are you bored with your

walk with God? Listen, listen, if you'll jump

into the unknown, I guarantee you, you won't

be bored. You don't have time to complain. But

too many lose that hunger, I fear, that passion,

that heart for what's waiting out there. Does

your heart still burn? For what you've not yet

seen. Pastor Mitchell that statement. Willing

to go but planning to stay. If you're not careful

age. Time will rob you of that hunger for the

unknown. It's like the rich young ruler. He comes

running to Jesus. He's excited. He has all the

right words. What must I do to inherit eternal

life? And he rolls out the commandments. And

this man said, these I've kept from my youth

up. Think of what he's saying. And Jesus doesn't

rebuke him there and say, quit lying. What's

wrong with you? But Jesus challenged him into

the unknown. The Bible said he loved him. Go

your way. Sell what you have. Give to the poor.

Take up your cross and follow me. And he went

away sorrowful. Went away no doubt with regret.

I remember one time I was flying and it seemed

like it was over. It was in Asia. And they had

upgraded me. And so I'm in business class, and

I'm sitting by this man, and he's asking me,

what are you doing? I think I was on my way.

Seemed like it might have been even to Malaysia.

And I said, well, I'm pastoring. I'm a missionary

in Malaysia. I'm going to go there, the church,

and I'm preaching and this and that. And it was

so interesting, this man. He's probably maybe

in his 50s. And he looked at me, he said, you

know, when I was in the university, he said,

there was a time I had a real, I felt like God

really dealt with me, that I would like to do

what you're doing. And it was one of those intense

moments with a stranger. And he said, but my

father, he has this business. And he had this

conversation with me, son, I built this business

for you. And I remember saying, dad, you know,

I kind of feel like maybe I'd like to be a pastor

or preach or something. And he said, my dad pressed

me. And I said, I didn't want to disappoint him.

I said, okay, okay, dad. And my dad groomed me

and now I... I, by and large, have control of

the business. But he said there's times, like

he said, I'm feeling it right now. There's times

when I'm in a country, and it's evidently this

business. He went numerous times. He said, and

I'll be in a hotel room in the middle of the

night. And I'll think, I wonder what my life

would have been like. He's married. if my memory

is correct, had a couple of children, seemed

like they were girls. He said, I wonder what

my family would be like. And we didn't get into

detail if I'd have went for God. And you could

feel it, the intensity. Can I say, don't let

that be you. Don't one day look back on your

life. I wonder about this man. I wonder, it doesn't

give any record, but I wonder later what he thought

when he saw his life. And he remembers this conversation.

Take up your cross and follow me. I'll take you

to places you never knew existed. Who knows,

some scholars feel he might have been one of

the top disciples. Vision is a window into the

unknown. That's what vision is. Vision sees through

a window into the unknown. Pastor Mitchell had

a vision. We've all preached it for years. Discipleship,

conversions, discipleship, church planting, world

evangelism. He saw what others did not see. That

vision literally put a spotlight into the unknown.

Do you really have a vision? Or is it just rhetoric?

Is it just words? The unknown. And the Bible

again is filled. Think about Joseph. He's his

father's favorite. He's known nothing but favor

and blessing and love and acceptance and the

coat of many colors. And in a flash, he's a slave.

In chains, Psalm says, into Egypt. A place he's

never been. He never expected to go. Probably

never wanted to go. Never thought about going.

And you know the story, Potiphar's wife, prison,

all of this. Later he interprets the dreams.

Has this, he's prime minister. Saves a race of

people in a famine. But he makes these incredible

statement. Later, his brothers come before him.

Some say around 20 years has passed. They don't

recognize him. He's in authority now. They're

in a famine. They came. They're asking. There's

grain in Egypt. And when he reveals himself,

they're terrified. But he makes these incredible

statement. You meant evil against me, but God

meant it for good that I might save many people

alive. In other words, you thrust me into the

unknown. You had evil intention, but God used

that unknown to develop me. Can you imagine?

He's this teenager. Can you imagine if he had

went from there to prime minister? I mean, he's

full of ego and pride. All your sheaves are going

to bow down to me. Can you imagine some? Young

disciple getting up here. Yeah, all you folks,

you're going to bow down to me. I mean, he was,

but my point is the unknown was painful, but

so needed, so prepared, positioned you. See,

the test of the unknown. Somewhere God will test

you to prove you in the unknown. Bible says about

Abraham in Genesis 22, God tested him. Then God

said, take now your son, your only son Isaac,

whom you love, to the land of Moriah. Offer him

there as a burnt sacrifice. It seems so outrageous.

I mean, so unreasonable, shocking, irrational.

It makes no sense, God. This is Isaac. This is

the miracle boy. This is the key and the seed

to the promise. You're going to multiply me as

the sand to the seashore. God, this is insane.

Sometimes that's the nature of the unknown. Your

family won't understand you. Your friends think

you're crazy. I remember we went to Malaysia.

My dad, he'd gotten saved, got saved when Gail

died. And it was hilarious. He didn't have a

clue. I mean, you know, he's saved, but he...

And he gets spiritual on me. Son, aren't there

any sinners in America? I mean, they're everywhere,

you know. Taking my granddaughter, J -Rel, Malaysia.

And that's over there by Vietnam, isn't it? Different

times your family, they want to understand. I'll

never forget when God. dealt with me and I went

full time in the ministry on faith and $25 a

week. My dad, he was, I mean, he was glad I was

saved, but he was livid. Son, you got a good

job with the telephone industry. What are you

thinking? Can I just inject this? Listen, we're

so blessed. I was in the assemblies of God. They

didn't help you go anywhere or do anything financially.

I remember when Pastor Mitchell launched Connie

and I and my family to Phoenix. We're selling

everything. We had a yard sale going 24 -7. We're

trying to get enough money together to get to

Phoenix. And I got this check from Prescott.

I said, honey, look at this. Wow, baby. You get

to keep the silverware. Glory to God. We died

and went to heaven. That's unheard of in the

religious world. The unknown. The unknown. God

will test you with it. But that's where revelation

lives. Oh, it exposes who you really are. You

can talk a good game. You can parade your personality,

your talent, your gifting, your intellect, but

the unknown strips you down to reality. Now it's

you and God and a call. What do you do right

there? Do you excuse yourself? Build your case?

You can do that. You'll always believe the story

you tell yourself. Listen what God says to Abraham

though. After he offers Isaac, you know the revelation

Jehovah Jireh, the Lord himself will provide

a sacrifice. But God says these incredible words.

I know that you fear God. Since you've not withheld

your son, your only son from me. I know you now,

Abraham. What does God know about you? What does

he say about you? The unknown. Think about Job.

I mean, the scriptures feel with it. God is Satan

has come before God. He's making these. And God

said, have you observed my servant Job? There's

none like him in all the earth. He's an upright

man. He fears God and shuns evil. What's God

recording about us? About the life you're living.

I close with a thought. Revelation hides in the

unknown. See, the unknown is where it becomes

your story. And this is a game changer. Now,

Abraham may have known that God was a provider.

But once he stepped into the unknown with this

sacrifice, now it's his story. Jehovah Jireh,

the Lord himself will provide. When you step

into the unknown, now it's not just scripture.

It's not just a text that is true. It's not just

a Bible story, but now it's your story. I came

back from Malaysia, 1990. Pastor Mitchell had

me preach here in conference, and people came

to me. I didn't recognize it. They said, Pastor,

you're different. When you speak, it's different.

There's a difference, and they'd use these words,

dimension, and I didn't feel anything was different.

But they said there's something different in

your words when you speak. That happens in the

unknown. You've heard me tell these stories.

I feel embarrassed sometimes. When I take offerings

and preach on money, it's not just... It's my

story. God took care of me by faith. $25 a week

in faith. Went off support and pioneering the

church in seven months and another time in four

months. Why? How did that happen? I love this

one. I'm sitting in a restaurant one morning,

Marion, Illinois, pioneering, and I feel this

family looking at me, a couple teenagers and

mom and dad, and you know, and I'm saying, God,

I want no problems. I've been preaching at the

high school. Things are stirred up. I said, I

just want to drink this coffee, go home. Connie

loves me. Sure enough, he gets up and comes toward

me. And he's walking toward me and I can feel,

I said, God, no, no, no. He said, sir. I said,

yes. He said, my wife and my two sons, we're

on our way to New Orleans. We're on vacation.

We're Christians. And God spoke to me to give

you this. He reached in his pocket, pulled out

a watermelon, put it on the table. God whispered

to me, I can do that anytime I want to. I said,

you can. Me and you, God. Me and you. But you

see, now it's not just Jesus saying give and

it shall be given back to you. Good measure.

Press down. Shake together. I'll cause men to

give to you. It's not just quoting a scripture.

It's living an experience. Now it's your story.

And that happens. That happens. When you traffic

in the unknown, when you step into these arenas

where it's you and God and faith, hope, vision,

burden, agony. Listen to me, pastor. Listen to

me, preacher. Listen to me, man and woman of

God. This is where you go to another level. This

is where now it's not just theology. It's a life

lived. Can he say to you tonight, come. Come.

Come. Ask you to bow your head with me this evening.

You're here tonight. You're unsaved. You know,

sin. I was 29 years old when I got saved. Sin

was eating me alive. I was angry. I was violent.

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