Called To Action, Trained To Go - Called To Action, Trained To Go

Hello everyone, I'm Dr.

Steve Holt.

I want to welcome you to the Road Church Podcast.

Each week we go into God's Word.

We teach chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.

So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.

If you guys don't know me, I'm Matthew Rupert, the children's pastor here at the road, and I am honored to be able to be with you to open God's word together and to share this message.

I'm always so appreciative of this opportunity, so I just thank Pastor Steve and Pastor Ryan for allowing me this chance.

The title of my message today is Called to Action Trained to Go.

Called to Action Trained to Go.

We have a mission as Christians.

It's not complicated, it's actually quite simple.

We're called to carry out that mission, to be trained for that mission, and to be deployed every single day.

Today I want to dive deeper into this topic with you, but before I do, I'd love to open with prayer.

Father God, thank you for this day.

Thank you for who you are.

Thank you that we come into church to gaze upon your glory, to inspire us towards action.

God, I pray that you would be my mouthpiece today, that I would be your mouthpiece today, God, that your word would come alive to me, to us as a church body, that we would consume who you are together.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

As many of you know, last month we did an original VBS from the beginning of the writing process all the way to the scores and the music.

Everything was original from creatives here in our church.

And it was called Agents of the Kingdom, trained, equipped, mission ready.

And we were really excited about this VBS because we were diving into this exact topic that we have a mission to carry out as the church.

And we wanted to inspire children that this mission isn't dull or complacent, but it's exciting and energizing.

And we're called to train for that mission daily.

Daily, we are being deployed on that mission and also having a deployment that we are always working towards.

I was really struggling with preparing this message because I was like, Lord, this is really simple.

This is nothing new.

And even some of the passages that I'm gonna be reading from, I was like, oh God, it's so cliche.

I was like, this was for our kids.

And God's like, no, this is for you.

Because this is something that God has been challenging me in personally, and I'm excited to be able to share that with you today.

Today I want to dive deeper into this topic, evaluating what our mission is, how we train for it, and how we deploy on that mission daily.

So let's begin.

What are we called to do as Christians?

We overcomplicate this.

We think about this in so many complex ways, and God's saying it's so simple.

Love me.

Point number one, two-word point if you're taking notes, love God.

Mark 12, 29 says, the most important commandment is this.

Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one and only Lord.

And you must love the Lord your God with all your with all your with all your with all your you guys are so good.

The second is equally important.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

No other commandment is greater than these.

Perhaps redundant, at least for myself, or cliche, but powerful nonetheless.

We are called to love God with all that we are.

Loving God involves us loving him in his entirety.

I think in the church, a lot of times we become comfortable with our limited understanding of God.

Oh, he's so loving and he's so kind and he's so peaceful and graceful, and and I just, he's my friend, and he's my buddy, and and you know, I am a friend of God.

Oh, this is so wonderful.

And those are all so true, and we cannot understand God without those realizations.

But there are also attributes of God that are terribly frightening.

When we read about God in Scripture who wiped out entire nations because of the darkness of their sin, who could wipe us out because of our sin and be completely justified in doing so.

We have to understand the complexities of God through our love for Him.

If you're taking notes, you can write this down.

Reverence for God compels us towards action.

Reverence for God compels us towards action.

This message is all about action, a call to action, a call for us to be activated as the church.

And we can't do that without first having a reverence for God.

One of our volunteer teachers in kids' ministry was teaching our children about this actual topic.

And we were reviewing the passages where prophets and teachers received a revelation of who God was.

And that revelation, that that visible understanding or being in the throne room of God, brought them to their knees, brought them on their faces, and eventually, as we see in the passages, it brought them towards action.

I'd love to read a few of these with you.

Jeremiah 6, verse 5.

Jeremiah 6:5

This is the response, Isaiah, I'm sorry, Isaiah 6, 5, that he has towards seeing the visible presence of God in his throne room.

Then I said, It's all over.

I am doomed, for I am a sinful man.

I have filthy lips, and I live among a people of filthy lips.

Now, Jeremiah was one of the most righteous people in Israel at the time, one of the few who is standing up for God and for righteousness.

But when he comes to the face of God, when he comes seeing the glory and the splendor of who God is, there is a conviction that is brought upon him.

There is an understanding that, oh, I am so inadequate, I am so unrighteous.

And so many times we watch the news and we think, oh, I'm so much better than this person or that person.

Did you see what so-and-so is doing and what this organization is doing?

But when we come face to face with God and His holiness, we are convicted of our own depravity.

This is followed by a call to action.

Isaiah 6, verse 8.

Isaiah 6:8

Then I heard the Lord asking, Whom should I send as a messenger to this people?

Who will go for us?

I said, Here am I, send me.

When Isaiah was faced with the glory and splendor of God, when he is brought to his knees with a fear and a holy reverence for God, what else could he respond with than, God, I am here, send me?

Reporting for duty.

Ezekiel 1, verse 28 says, When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone's voice speaking to me.

Ezekiel 1:28

Face down on the ground when we see the glory of God.

Ezekiel 2, 1 through 3, stand up, son of man, said the voice.

I want to speak with you.

The Spirit came into me and he spoke and he set me on my feet.

I listened carefully to his word.

Son of man, he said, I am sending you to the nation of Israel.

I just imagine us as the church, our face beholding the glory of God, and God then responding with a call.

I am sending you to the nations.

I am sending you to the people around you.

Revelation, we look at John's revelation of God.

Revelation 1, verse 17.

Revelation 1:17

When I saw it, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.

But he laid his right hand on me and said, Don't be afraid.

I am the first and the last.

I am the living one.

I died, but look, I am alive in Christ.

I am alive forever and ever.

And I have the keys of death and the grave.

Write down what you have seen, a clear call to action.

Writing a book that we have been reading for centuries.

Again, the fear and reverence and awe of God has brought us to this place of action.

When we come face to face with the splendor and the majesty of the living God, there is a healthy fear of God that comes over us, a desire to honor Him and serve Him with our lives.

We find ourselves shouting, Here am I, send me.

I remember learning this song as a child.

And how my mom actually recorded my brother and I singing harmony to this.

She's like, sing it one more time, please.

And it was so wonderful because this is what the child in this audio drama we had listened to was revealing.

God was calling them.

God is calling us.

God is calling this generation to action when we see who He is.

That's why Sunday attendance is so powerful and profound.

Yes, we're reading our Bible.

We should be in fellowship with believers every day.

But when we come to church, we are audibly, or not audibly, but intentionally setting aside every distraction.

And we are focusing in, zeroing in on the sovereign God, allowing his revelation to move us into action.

Number two is love others.

Galatians 5 14, for the whole law can be summed up in this one commandment: love your neighbor as yourself.

1 John 4, 8.

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 Corinthians 13, verses 1 through 3.

1 Corinthians 13:1–3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but I don't love others, I would only be a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains but didn't love others, I would be nothing.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrifice my body, I could boast about it.

But if I don't love others, I would have gained nothing.

We can spend so much time in our own focus, in our own little bubbles.

But if we don't love others, then we have nothing.

I think sometimes for myself, definitely in a time in my life, I took so much pride in my spirituality, and I would I would talk to my friends and the different people in my life about those things.

But God is challenging us.

It's not about your spiritual prowess or your accomplishment or your exegesis of the Bible.

We are called to love others.

It's all about people.

This is the story from the beginning to the end of the Bible, God's loving pursuit for people.

That's why community groups are so important, something that we emphasize a lot here at the church.

Because not only are we practicing that with our blood-stained allies, loving people, but we are also being held accountable to doing that for other people.

I'm a very to-do list-oriented person.

Is there anyone else in here that's like that?

Yeah.

I know that you're like me.

If you actually accomplish a to-do, but you realize you didn't write it down, so then you write it down so you can check it off.

Is anyone else like that in here?

That is me.

Our software gives this really wonderful ding when you check it off.

Bing! It's like, oh, I feel so good.

And I can feel, because I'm not an extrovert, I can feel super accomplished by checking off a to-do list.

I'm like, I have completed my day, I have done my work for the kingdom.

Let's go home and chill out or relax or whatever.

But God is saying it's not about the to-do list.

It's not about productivity, it's not about your own dreams and desires, it's about people.

Investing into our spouses, our children, our neighbors, our co-workers, our employees, the people in our community group, the people in our co-op, the children in our classrooms.

Investing into people, loving people.

Next, we are told to tell other people who don't know about God, about his love.

Matthew 28, verse 18 through 19.

Matthew 28:18–19

Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching these new disciples to obey the commandments I've given you.

And be sure of this.

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Mark 16, 15.

And then he told them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.

Acts 1, 8.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.

In Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The disciples weren't leaving God's ascension like, oh, what are we supposed to do now?

No, they had a clear directive.

Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey his commandments.

God cares less about what we do and more about who we impact.

I think we complicate this so much.

And that's why I was struggling with this.

I was like, God, this is so simple.

He's like, yes, and you're not doing it.

It's so simple.

We love God, love others, tell other people about Jesus.

And for young people, we get all of the jobs and the careers and all the other things become get in the way.

We're like, what is my calling?

Love God.

Love others.

Tell people about Jesus.

Well, I'm reaching retirement and I'm really trying to figure out what I want to do with all of my time because I don't know if we really want to do the RV thing or if we want to love God.

Love others.

Tell people about Jesus.

It's so crystal clear.

Yes, God will use you through your jobs.

He will use you through your retirement.

He will use you in the different things that we are doing in our life to make a living in all of these things.

But he cares less about what we do and more about who we impact.

We live in such an individualistic culture that I think it's hard to grasp the vision of evangelism.

We are so focused on, okay, my career and my home and make it perfect and cozy and comfortable, and my friends and my community and my this and my that and my little bubble.

Let's make sure it's really protected and safe.

And we're not really focused on other people.

I think a lot of other cultures in the world get it right because they're much more communally focused.

They're much more focused on other people.

But we can seem to miss it.

And something that helps me is this imagery of a great rescue mission.

Maybe you choose the genre of the spy, secret agent, running into the battle, or maybe you view it as a search and rescue team.

I remember when I was a child, we were in Royal Rangers and we were learning these different skills and tactics to be able to rescue someone if they were in need.

We built the stretcher and we carried people out of the woods.

It was so much fun.

My oldest brother bought the four younger brothers, because we were much closer in age, he bought us all these matching red search and rescue hoodies, and we were, we thought we were so cool.

We'd all wear them at the same time.

It was really fun.

But I remember watching a movie later in my teen years that was this, I believe it was of the Coast Guard, but it it showed these people who are training regularly, who are studying regularly, all of this for the purpose of going out on that rescue mission and accomplishing it.

And then eventually they get the call that there's someone that's in the ocean, drowning, struggling.

And so they grab their gear, they board the helicopter, they go out into the storm, and the storm is raging, the clouds are thick, and they're shrieking lightning crashes, the rain is pounding against the windshield and pounding against the ocean, the waves are swirling all over the place.

They're searching back and forth with their spotlight on the surface of the water, and eventually they find this person struggling for their life, hanging on for dear life in the ocean.

They promptly dive into the ocean, into the storm, into the mess of this person's situation, and they rescue them, they bring them to safety.

Men and women, the burden of my heart is that is our call as the church.

There are people who are drowning in the storm of their sin, who are being struck by the spiritual attacks of the enemy.

And we can have the skills and the tools and the resources we need to go into the storm, into the battle, and jump into the mess of that person's situation and effectively be the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing that person to salvation, to eternal life, to safety, showing them that there is a better way.

When I was preparing this message, I was at a coffee shop and I had this imaginative picture of this playing out in actually an office building in a cubicle, and this person is hunched over their desk, typing on their computer, and to the naked eye, it just appears that they're just doing their job.

They're the introvert, they don't care to talk to anybody.

But through the spiritual eyes, as we look on this person, we see a storm of spiritual oppression and spiritual attacks striking this person like lightning.

And then we walk into that building bearing the example of Christ, the light of Christ, and we come into that situation with a simple greeting, good morning.

A beam of sunlight pierces the darkness, and for a split second, the person can see maybe there's a better way.

We get to do this everywhere we go, being the hands and feet of Jesus, carrying the light of Christ if we choose to be on mission.

So then what is my part?

Well, should I just quit my job and be full-time traditional evangelist?

Maybe.

Probably not, not for all of us.

But God wants to use us in our jobs.

But so often I feel like we we take that as a relief.

Oh, great, God can use me right where I am.

No big change is needed.

But right where we are is this insulated little bubble that we're refusing to reach out of and to bring people into.

You know, my wife and I have a small business and we've been doing some live events in different places, and I've found so much energy, not because I'm evangelizing to the people, but I'm connecting with non-Christians.

I'm connecting with people and being able to dialogue with people who do not know Christ.

And it's been the strangest thing because even though I haven't been actively evangelizing, God has been showing me, Matt, you're being the light in a new environment.

Not just in your little church bubble anymore, but you're interacting with business owners and managers and people who are in a completely different stage of life as you are.

And if we open ourselves up to that, God can use us in powerful ways.

The story of a woman, this is a true story, who was very limited in what she could do.

She was a widow, she had children to take care of, and she had a cleaning business, but she had this heart and this passion for God.

She heard a missionary one day talking about our mission, our call to action to evangelize in these unreached people groups.

And she said, Oh God, I so desperately want to give to this missionary, but I have nothing.

She said, God, whatever you give me that is above my basic needs, I'll give to this missionary.

So when she would go to work, she would talk to these businessmen whom she cleaned the houses.

She would say, Hey, while you're at work today, I'll be praying for you.

I'll be praying for prosperity and for great business deals to happen.

Well, at first these people didn't think much about this, but they eventually began to notice that on the days that she was cleaning their house and praying for them, they were having more success than any other day at work.

They started scheduling the big business deals and the important meetings to happen on those days.

And even asking, hey, can you work for me full time?

She's like, No, I have other people that I pray for and that I work for.

Well, they wanted to be able to give back to her.

One day, this man gives her a hundred dollar bill and says, Go buy yourself a new coat.

That thing is old and raggedy.

She sees this hundred dollar bill and she's like, God, this is your answer to prayer.

I can give this to the missionary.

I don't need a new coat.

This coat's just fine.

They gave her pay raises.

She gave the increase to the missionary.

Eventually they realize her clothes aren't changing.

The car is still the old rundown car.

So they started trying to find other creative ways.

They found out the grocery store she shopped at and they covered her grocery bills.

God, now I can give this money to the missionary.

She went to pay her rent.

Her rent had been paid for.

She went to pay her utilities.

Her utility has been paid for.

These men started having furniture delivered to her house, beds and tables and dining room chairs.

All of which she was like, God, now I have this to give to the missionary.

In the course of a year, this woman gave 500% of her yearly income to missions because of a relentless dedication, saying, God, there is a mission to be had.

And I might be limited, but I can pray for these businessmen and I can give what I have to that mission.

And God used her in profound ways.

Matthew 16, 25 says, if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give your life for my sake, you will save it.

I have a lot of dreams and desires, and God's been convicting me.

He's like, if it is anything of you, it's not going to happen.

But if you have a relentless commitment to use everything that I give you for the kingdom of God, then nothing's going to stop my blessings to you.

Because I can trust you.

This woman, she she ended up having a renovated home and having all the new furniture and having new clothing and new and being able to buy whatever groceries she wanted because they kept covering her groceries.

Her standard of living was increasing, though she was giving every single thing she could to God.

If we'll commit ourselves with this kind of relentless abandonment, God will allow us to be a conduit for carrying out his mission.

How often do we hold on to every penny, every moment when God is saying if we give that to him, he will use us in ways that we could not have imagined.

Next, I want to talk about training for the mission.

For the kids in our kids' ministry, we were teaching them that we need to be training ourselves mentally, spiritually, physically.

Every part of who we are is being used and trained and equipped to carry out the mission.

We had a phrase that emphasized this.

We would say, agents of the kingdom.

And then the children would respond, trained, equipped, mission ready.

And I would love to do that with you guys if you would humor me for a second so I can tell the kids downstairs, wow, the adults are doing the same thing, kids.

So I'm gonna say agents of the kingdom, and then you will say trained, equipped, mission ready, as if you're responding to a drill sergeant.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

Agents of the kingdom.

Wow, you guys are so cool.

I love it.

We are called to constantly be training and equipping ourselves for this mission at hand.

It's a lens through which we view every circumstance, we view every part of our lives.

It's all an opportunity for training.

2 Peter 1, 5 says, in view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises, supplementing your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Check this next part out.

So important.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But those who fail to develop in this way are short-sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

God, I don't want to be short-sighted or blind, but I want to constantly be developing myself in godliness, in excellence, in endurance, in character, so that I can be an effective tool used for sharing the gospel.

I have a vision of a generation like this.

Children who are dedicating themselves, young people who are dedicating themselves to this goal.

Not passively honoring God when it's convenient, but desiring to honor God with their entire being, who have encountered the face of God and are responding, here am I, Lord, send me.

I call this an elite generation.

They're on a journey of training their heart, mind, soul, and body for this mission.

Every attribute, every resource fully surrendered to the will of God.

For the young people in this room, I have this imaginative picture of a video game character in like the lobby before like the game starts, and he's just like rotating, and he's probably got like this mean look on his face, and he's like being equipped with different tools depending on the different challenges or mission that he's going to be deployed on.

I see a generation like this that possesses all of these attributes, all of these skills, so that they can effectively walk into their mission and carry it out.

I was talking to a missionary friend of mine, and he was listing off his list of skills that he wants to acquire, of spiritual attributes he wants to acquire over the course of his life for training for the physical mission field.

And here's just a few.

I found this list to be extensive and amazing.

Uh, spiritual form uh foundation, spiritually strong, emphasis on holiness over physical training, having emotional support, having those bloodstained allies, biblical literacy and apologetics, knowledge and mindset skills such as logical arguments and debating skills, crisis management skills, understanding the political and historical climates of an area, practical skills like general medical skills, wilderness first responders, people skills, situational awareness, Brazilian jujitsu, swimming, rock climbing and rappling, wood skills, physical endurance, pushing yourself in scary areas, strength training, fear management.

Here's some character, fear management, grit and endurance, strong work ethic, delayed gratification, humble confidence.

Sorry, I was trying to get through them very quickly.

I don't know about you, but this is the missionary I would want to serve next to, who is equipping themselves in every part.

Now, this isn't for everyone.

We are called in different ways to be the light of Christ in different places where we are.

But what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to paint the vision of this proactivity of our training that we're viewing the circumstances in our lives as opportunities to grow and to be more effective?

Do we see our Bible studies as an opportunity to show off our biblical knowledge?

Or as a chance to know how better to explain the gospel to a new or non-believer?

Do we see a tough conversation with a coworker as just an argument to win?

Or as training for handling disagreements with grace and wisdom?

Do we see inconvenience and interruptions in our day as annoyances or as training for patience, flexibility, and the grit we need when God calls us to love people in uncomfortable places?

Do we see volunteering in church as just filling a spot or as an opportunity to build leadership, people skills, and servant-hearted humility that God can use anywhere He sends us?

I talk about this to our volunteers in kids' ministry all the time.

Our number one goal is discipling children, but by discipling children, we are growing in so many skills that are making us more effective parents, coworkers, employers.

Just conflict management alone.

The structure that I give them, I'm saying I say, guys, this structure is the same as doing a performance review for an employee.

When we're dealing with a child that's having a really hard day, this is showing us how to deal with people who are in tough places.

Public speaking skills.

I tell everyone, the only public speaking skills I ever got was from kids' ministry.

Serving in kids' ministry, our ability to lead small groups, serving in God's church is an incredible way for us to be empowered and equipped to be more effective for the kingdom of God.

Because that's what the church is all about discipleship, so that we can not just do it here but go out and do it for others.

Lastly, being deployed on mission.

Our training isn't something that we have to receive before we ever get deployed, right?

It's a learning and growing and being active that allows us to be more effective at our daily deployment as well as our future calling and deployments.

The book of James is like a kick in the pants, guys, to the church.

When I read it, I'm like, oh my goodness, Lord, help me go to action and not just having faith.

James 1, 22 through 25 says, but don't just listen to God's word.

You must do what it says.

Otherwise, you're only fooling yourself.

For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it's like glancing at your face in a mirror.

You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.

But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

James 2.14 says, What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith, but don't show it by your actions?

Can that kind of faith save anyone?

That's the goal.

That's the purpose, is saving someone.

Can that kind of faith save anyone?

No, we are called to action.

We're called to action.

What's so exciting for me, and what's so exciting about working at this church, about the privilege it is to be with you guys, is that so many of you are living this out so well.

When I get the privilege of conversating with parents and other people in this church, I am always energized by the activeness of their faith.

So I don't want this in any way to be bashing the church over the head, but more a proactive call to action to be more on fire.

There are so many Christians who are giving millions of dollars to the kingdom of God, who are discipling their employees, who are mentoring young people, who are discipling the next generation, who are opening their homes to small groups, meals, and providing a safe place for people to belong, who are praying faithfully, who are quietly serving behind the scenes, who are standing for truth in tough places in our schools, local governments, and businesses.

And I don't know about you guys, but I want to be among these Christians.

Not sitting on the sidelines, but fully engaged in the mission.

I want to be the believer who sees every conversation, every task, every moment as an opportunity to advance the kingdom of God.

I want to be one of those Christians that the kingdom of darkness fears.

They fear our success because they know that we will use every ounce of success to pour it back into the kingdom of God and to advance his light on the earth.

That's what I want to be.

At the road, we are passionate about empowering people to change the world.

We do that through our community groups.

We do that through serving in our ministries.

We do that by attending on Sunday mornings.

And maybe you're here, maybe this is your first time, maybe you've been here a while and you're hearing this call and you're saying, you know what?

I want to step into more of that activation.

Then I encourage you to scan the QR code on the seat back in front of you because we want to partner with you.

Our pastoral team, we want to partner with you.

We'll be giving personal phone calls and helping bridge the gap between passive attending and active participation in the church.

This is our call as Christians.

In closing, we have a mission, and it's abundantly clear.

Love God.

Come face to face with the God who is all-powerful, sovereign, and full of grace and mercy, allowing that to humble, inspire, and motivate us towards action.

We are called to love others.

Remembering it's not about a to-do list or productivity, it's about people.

Investing into our spouses, our neighbors, our friends, coworkers, and employees.

Share God's love with those who don't know Him.

Rejecting the individualism of our culture and surrendering ourselves to God to be the hands and feet reaching into the dark places of people's existence, of their reality, and shining the light of Christ.

Saying there is a better way.

There is a God who is terrifyingly powerful, and He loves you.

He could destroy us justly for our sins, and yet He chooses to allow there to be a time period for us as the church to go and to tell them, hey, we don't have much time, but there is a way to come to salvation, to come to an understanding of Christ, to come into relationship with this powerful and terrifying God who loves you.

We train for that mission in godly character, Bible studies and skills, not for skills and Bible study alone, but for being active and deployed.

And that's what we are finally called to do, being deployed every single day.

When God asks us the question, who will go for me?

We say, God, it's scary today because I don't feel comfortable doing this in my workplace.

It's scary for me because I'm not the person to talk to the dad at the park.

It's scary for me because that person looks like they're having a really hard time and I don't really have time right now, but I will say yes.

I will say yes to the mission.

I will say, here am I, God, send me.

As we worship together, I encourage you to examine our hearts.

This is not just for you, this is for me.

I was talking to my wife just yesterday, and I'm like, Kristen, this might be a simple message, but but God is convicting my heart.

How many times do I view my life through through my own lens of comfort and pleasure?

The little habits, the little pleasures, and don't interrupt them, don't take them away.

Lord, allow me to view my life through the lens of this mission, through the lens of training to be effective, through the lens of being deployed on mission every day.

That we would see ourselves, that when we say yes to being deployed, we see this rippling effect as we jump into the water and the gates of hell are running in fear because we are empowered by the living God.

This fearful, this terrifying God is living inside of us, empowering us with everything we need to live a life and to be effective.

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.

We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.

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