God's Divine Partnership - Leaders' Talks

It's a pleasure to be here.

Really glad that you came.

I am used to peat uh to preaching to my wife and children, but it's nice to have someone different for a change.

So we're glad that you're all here.

Over, let's see, about five weeks ago, Pastor Steve called me and asked if I would go ahead and speak for him because he was going to be out chasing the elusive elk.

That same day, the Lord put this message on my heart: God's divine partnership.

And it was really interesting because for the last three messages, the last three Saturdays, an awful lot of what I'm going to share with you tonight has already been shared.

So we'll be going through the notes.

You're going to say, yeah, heard that, you know, did that, been there.

But so I'm going to try to just present it in a fresh way, maybe a little bit different emphasis, but it was encouraging to me that I in my mind I'm thinking, yeah, God, God is saying, this is the right message.

So we're going to get right into it.

Throughout the scriptures, we read terms that are very, very familiar to.

I mean, if you've been in church for any time at all, you're going to be real familiar with these terms.

Mark 1, 16 through 17, we see Simon and Andrew, Zebedee and John, and Jesus is saying, you know, hey, fishermen.

Oh, see, that's the wrong slide.

Should be uh, go ahead and go up.

Up, all the way to top.

There you go.

Okay, next slide.

There we go.

Technical difficulties, what can I say?

So, you how many people have heard the term fishers of men?

Okay, not uncommon.

It was it was said over the last couple of weeks.

So we're fishers of men.

Next slide, Matthew 5, 13 through 16 says, you are the salt of the earth.

But what good is salt if it loses its flavor?

Can you make it salty again?

It would be thrown out and trampled under feet as worthless.

You are a light of the world.

How many salt do we have here tonight?

Just let me see your hand if you're salt.

Good, all right.

The rest of you are light.

Okay, so we've got a good balance between salt and light.

Um, next slide is Acts 1.8.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.

You'll be my witnesses.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the end of the earth.

It's interesting that in 2 Corinthians and 1 Corinthians, the apostles were also referred to themselves as Christ's ambassadors, as God's co-workers.

And all of these terms, all of these terms, salt, light, ambassadors, witnesses, coworkers, all of those point to God speaking to us about joining him in what he does.

The next slide is Mark 16, 15.

This is very familiar to the road because this is part of who you are.

And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole earth, Matthew 28, 19 through 20.

The emphasis for the road is make disciples.

How many people have not heard the term make disciples in the last month?

How many of you have heard that term?

About 15 or 20 times.

We're called to make disciples.

We are called to join Christ in what he is already doing.

He's not going to ask us to do something new.

He's calling us to the same old, same old that he's been doing for 2,000 years.

Drawing people in to the kingdom.

Next slide.

Thank you.

So now this is the new stuff.

I want to talk to you about if you decide to join Jesus and what he's doing, the scripture says count the cost before you start to build.

And so we're going to go through six of the costs or six principles of what it means to yield to this divine partnership.

The first one, God's divine partnership requires humble surrender and faith in God's call.

It was interesting when Rock Bottomley was here and he was talking about his early days at the Academy, at the United States Air Force Academy.

And he and when he, you know, he's coming to Christ and he's being discipled.

And those of you that were here remember him saying, I am the most unlikely person to join God and his partnership.

I mean, can you imagine you're at your desk and you're you're graphing out the uh four spiritual laws page, and you've you've got a cliff on this side and a cliff on this side, and you've got the cross in between, and your your roommate comes in and says, What are you doing?

And you explain it to him, and and you've never led anybody to the Lord before, and and he's decided that he's ready to make the commitment, and you say, Well, just pray the diagram.

Man, I'm listening to that, I'm thinking, goodness gracious, God does work miracles.

You know, it's we don't have to be polished, we don't have to be professional, we just have to be willing.

And Rock was saying, of all the people in the world, you're calling me, but he has grown into his understanding.

He understands who he is in Christ.

And then he called up Paul Stanley and said, you know, Paul, come up and share some of your testimony.

And you remember Paul's testimony.

The same thing.

The same thing.

Of all of the people in the world that are serving Jesus Christ, you're calling me?

You're calling me into this divine partnership.

Are you sure?

But he has grown into that comfortable place of knowing who he is in Christ and pursuing that.

This is the story about Moses and the burning bush.

And I'm gonna skip down to verse 7.

The Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Israel, I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers.

So throughout the scripture, there's this correlation between Egyptian bondage and the bondage of sin.

And how that God wants to deliver us from Egypt, He wants to deliver us from sin.

The thing that's interesting to me here in verse 7 is the word I.

God is talking to Moses and he said, I have heard their cries, I have seen their bondage, I have seen the affliction, I am going to deliver them.

And then he goes on in verse 10.

Now go, for I am sending you.

When God says, I am going to do something, when God says, I'm I am going to send missionaries over here, I'm going to plant a church over there, I'm going to, anything that God says that has the word I in it involves you.

It's kind of an IO.

And Moses, what's interesting here in verse 11, he says, but Moses protested to God.

Do you remember reading that?

But Moses protested to God, who am I to appear before Pharaoh?

Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?

Who am I?

And I can just imagine that we have a few who am I here tonight.

You're thinking, you know, I don't have Pastor Steve's education.

I mean, he was a missionary in Japan.

And Paul, my goodness, Paul Stanley, I mean, who can measure up to him?

And then we've got introduced to rock bottomly, and I'm not any of these guys.

I'm just an auto mechanic.

I'm a plumber.

I'm a construction guy.

I'm I'm just a housewife raising children.

Who am I?

Anyone said, who am I?

Anyone struggle with who am I?

In psychology, there's a word for that.

It's called normal.

It's called normal.

When God starts knocking on your heart's door and he says, I want to do this, when you hear him, when you hear him saying, I want to do this, you better tighten your seatbelt because he's gonna call you to join him.

And you have got to be confident in God's choice.

Did God make a mistake when he chose Moses?

Was Moses like at the well, let's see, you know, Aaron, he won't do it.

Um, Zach, he won't do it.

Well, man, there's well, there's only one guy left to ask.

I mean, it doesn't hurt, you know.

Moses, you know, there's nobody left.

Would you consider it?

Moses was choice number one.

Hugh choice number one.

You are not the last choice for God.

You're not the last choice.

Every person that knows the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior, regardless of where they are in that journey, is hearing the word, I want to use you.

And the reason he wants to use you is because he heard the cries of those people in the bondage of sin before I came to know the Lord, abusing drugs, abusing just about everything and people, and I was in deep bondage.

And I praised the Lord for a guy who wore a black cowboy hat, played a four-string guitar, which he came up with his own chord system.

And he was determined that George was going to hear the gospel.

He was determined that I was going to be delivered out of Egypt.

And I'm here today, in part, because Steve never quit on me when I made fun of him, tried to avoid him, and couldn't seem to get away from him.

I'm glad that Steve joined God and his desire to see me set free.

How about you?

Can you think of the people that God has used to bring you to this place?

And I don't mean to this place the road, I mean to this place in Christ tonight.

Did you just wake up one day and it's like, you know, my life is the pits, and you know, the only reason you know, I I think I'm gonna become a Christian today.

And no one's ever talked to you, no one's ever influenced your life.

You just had this epiphany that, wow, cherry pie is better than mud pie.

Hmm.

I think I'll take a big slice.

There were people that were used of the Lord, that came into that divine partnership, that brought you into relationship with Christ.

And I imagine some of those people were probably thinking, me?

You want me to talk to Frank?

He's got an anger.

I've seen him throw people out of his office.

Next slide is God's divine partnership may challenge your theology and your prejudices.

First thing you have to do is you have to understand that God isn't making a mistake by calling you.

He's not making a mistake by calling you.

And somewhere in the process, we have got to get comfortable with the fact that God sees something in us that perhaps we don't see in ourselves.

Secondly, we've got to understand that he's going to change the way we think.

This is the story of a Roman army officer by the name of Cornelius.

He was the captain of the Italian regiment, and he had a vision.

Angel of the Lord came down, gave him the name, address, and phone number of a man who was supposed to come and talk to him.

And so Cornelius sends some of his trusted servants to talk to Peter.

And just about the time that they are about ready to knock on the door of this tanner's house, at that same time Peter's up on the roof, and we pick it up in verse number nine of Acts 10, verse number nine.

The next day, as Cornelius' messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat of the roof to pray.

And it was about noon, and he was hungry.

But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance, and he saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners.

In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds.

Then he heard a voice that said, And hunters love this verse.

They love this verse.

Get up, Peter, kill and eat.

No, Lord, Peter declared, I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared to be impure or unclean.

But the voice spoke again.

Do not call something unclean if God has called it clean.

And this happened three times.

Because Peter is a Hebrew of the Hebrews.

He is a Jewish heritage, generations and generations, and Jews and Gentiles don't mix.

We don't go into their home.

If they're coming up one side of the street, we're gonna cross on the other side of the street because I'm a good Jew.

And you know what?

I've been a Christian since 1969, and I've seen this prejudice over and over again.

I'm a Baptist, can't talk to the Catholics.

I speak in tongues, and so everybody else is wrong until they do.

Prejudice has been one of the huge problems that hinders the gospel from going forward.

I'm white, so I'm not going to talk to a black man.

I'm Asian, so I'm not going to talk to a Hispanic.

There is so much prejudice that has hindered the work of the Lord, and God is saying, you know what?

If I call it clean, who are you to call it unclean?

And I tell you what, Peter was gripped by the word of the Lord.

And he's kind of having this debate, but God, I am a good Jew.

I can't do what you're asking me to do.

And the Lord says, get up, go downstairs, and go with them without hesitation.

I am calling you into a divine partnership for you.

This is going to change everything.

It's going to change everything.

There will be other good Jews who will hear that you've gone to a Gentile's house and they're going to wonder if you're backslidden, Peter.

There are going to perhaps be family members that have heard that not only did you go into a Jew's home, but he's a Roman.

He's an oppressor of our people.

Are you insane?

Have you gone crazy?

But Peter was ultimately convinced, and he did go.

And we skip down to verse 28.

Peter is now in Cornelius' home, and he says, You know it's against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you.

But God, love those two words, but God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean.

His theology was changed like that.

And if you decide to say yes to God's divine partnership, he may very well challenge what you think.

And if you know that you know this is the word of the Lord, this is the call of God upon my life, you're going to have to respond, and you're going to have to deal with the fallout.

Something I learned a long time ago the hard way.

If you do what is right, because it is the right thing to do, then God will give you the grace to bear up under the consequences of doing what is right.

There have been times in my life when I've heard the call of God and I've resisted and I've compromised, and that was a very heavy price to pay.

And I tell you sadly that people got hurt because I didn't respond immediately.

So this for me is a lesson that was learned the hard way.

It was learned the hard way.

Verse 34, Peter's kind of wrapping this whole thing up, and he says, I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.

God shows no favoritism.

Whether your hair is three colors, or you have no hair at all, whether your jeans come down to here, or whether you wear them like an older guy, the right way up here.

Thank you, young man.

I appreciate your agreement there.

And those are nice boots, by the way.

You should uh get the dirt off of them once in a while.

Just a little word of wisdom there.

And I did, I mean, we just struck up a conversation, and in the course of our conversation, he told me that he was homosexual.

And you know what?

I didn't freak out, I didn't put a few feet between us so that I wouldn't catch AIDS.

I actually got a little bit closer and I said, tell me your story.

I'd really like to hear what you have to say.

I didn't have the privilege of leading him to Christ.

I did have the privilege of sharing that God could take him from Egypt to a promised land.

If I had been prejudiced, I would have run away as quick as I could because this man is unclean.

Jesus, and you know the story, it's in the book of John.

There's this woman who is having sex with a guy.

It's kind of like an old testament, like a New Testament sting.

And there's some guys that come in, they literally pull her out of the bed, parade her through the streets, throw her at the feet of Christ, and say, here's what the law says.

She demand that the law says she needs to be put to death.

And you know the story, Jesus starts writing in the sand, nobody knows what he wrote.

But one by one, you know, he says one by one they all leave, and he turns to the woman, and if you look in the original language, the way he addresses her would be the way he would address a beloved sister.

It says, Woman, where are your accusers?

And she says, Lord, there aren't any accusers.

And in this verse, we see the perfect blend of amazing grace and righteous judgment.

He says, I do not condemn you.

Now go and sin no more.

But there are some of us who deal with prejudice.

And we wouldn't talk to that woman.

We'd pull a stone out of our pocket.

If we are going to accept God's divine partnership in our lives, he's going to lower a sheet.

And I don't know what's going to be in your sheet.

But God is going to say, do not call anything unclean that I call clean.

He is not willing that one person should perish.

I believe it was last Saturday in our men's prayer before the service that we prayed for the members of ISIS, that they would have dreams and visions, that God would convince them of his kindness, convict them of their evil, and deliver them.

And actually, those things are happening.

They are happening.

The next slide, once we have had our theology kind of shaken up, God's divine partnership requires that you push past your fears in faith towards God.

When I remember I was probably a year old in the Lord, that would have made me about 19 and a half.

And during a Sunday morning service, the Lord spoke to me and said, I'm calling you into ministry.

I didn't have a clue what that even meant.

I was completely unchurched.

I had been a heathen that was gloriously transformed by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I went to the pastor afterwards and I and I tried to talk to him, and I was just standing there weeping.

And he's kind of, you know, waiting for me to pull it together.

And I tried to talk, I got a word out, and I broke down and I started weeping again.

And he's standing there just trying to be patient.

I finally regained some degree of composure and I said, Pastor, God's called me into the ministry, but I don't know what that means.

And I don't know what to do.

I couldn't stand and give a testimony.

I would literally, you know, these were back, this was an old-style church that had wooden pews.

Some of you may remember those.

And every now and then we'd have a testimony service, and I am in love with Jesus.

I am excited about Jesus Christ.

The person that is forgiven much, loves much, and I would grab the pew in front of me and I would stand up and I am shaking like this, and I'm hanging on for dear life because I want to tell somebody that I've gone from Egypt into the promised land.

And God's calling me into the ministry.

You have got to be kidding.

There's no pulpits on, I mean, there's what do you hang on to here?

Oh, that doesn't work.

I was scared.

I was afraid of people.

In Acts 9, verses 1 through 19, we have the story of Saul of Tarsus.

Acts 9:1–19

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord's followers.

That's Saul of Tarsus.

And he's got letters and he's on his way to Damascus.

And you know the story because it was referenced, I think, just last Saturday.

And there's this bright light, he falls to the ground.

Not only does he hear the voice, the people that are with him, they hear the voice and they're looking, they don't see anything, but they hear this voice booming down, and God is saying, Why are you persecuting me?

And he's blinded.

And so, picking it up in verse 10, now there was a believer in Damascus, and his name was Ananias.

And the Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling Ananias, Yes, Lord.

The Lord said, Go over to Strait Street to the house of Judas.

When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul.

He's praying to me right now.

I have shown him in a vision of a man named Ananias coming, that he's going to come and lay hands on him and pray for him, and he's going to regain his sight.

Here's what Ananias says in verse 13.

But, Lord, sounds kind of like Moses.

But Lord, I've heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to believers in Jerusalem.

I mean, can you imagine?

I have had the privilege of going to Ukraine on a number of occasions.

And I remember, you know, we flew into Kiev, drove to Lutsk, spent the night, and then drove about six hours into the middle of nowhere, to a little village, and they're all excited.

They're going to introduce me to the first Christian, the first person that became a Christian in this village.

And she was a little old woman, and she had a face that was just brilliant with the life of Christ.

And through the interpreter, she's telling me about her love for Jesus, and she's telling me about the persecution.

How the communists came in, like Isis is doing right now.

And they're finding the Christians and they're saying, here's your choice: recant or die or be put into some kind of camp.

And she's reciting to me how she hasn't seen her family.

She doesn't know if her family's alive or dead.

Corey Tinboom, it reminds me of a story about Corey Tinboom.

She she's preaching, she finishes her message, and the message is on forgiveness.

And during the when she's closed the message, and people are shaking her hand and thank you, Corey, wonderful message.

And this guy starts to walk up the aisle.

You know, every place is emptying out, and this guy's walking up the aisle, and and Corey, she's looking, she's like, this guy looks familiar.

And she remembers he was a prison guard.

He was a prison guard at the facility where her sister died.

And the closer he gets, the more emotion rises up inside of her.

And the man walks up and he says, Corey, I want to ask for your forgiveness.

Inside, she wanted to reach across and strangle him.

But she just finished preaching a message on the importance of forgiveness, and now God is putting her to the test.

So, Corey, you taught a wonderful message.

Let's see how you do.

Let's see how you do.

That's exactly what Ananias is going through.

That's what he's going through.

It's like, God, do you not understand who this man is?

He doesn't just threaten, he accomplishes.

People that Ananias knew, probably imprisoned, some martyred, some dead.

Skipping down to verse 17, so Ananias went and he found Saul, and he laid his hands on him and he said, Brother Saul.

I like the fact that he used the word brother.

Because God is saying, He is your family now.

He was an enemy, but now he's family.

And he addressed him as family.

He says, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to me on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Instantly something like scales fell off Saul's eyes and he regained his sight.

Then he got up and he was baptized.

Afterward, he ate some food and regained his strength.

If you're going to accept the call of divine partnership, you may have to push through some very real fear.

You may have to do that.

I want to read to you just a short excerpt.

Pastor Steve received a prayer request from a friend who wanted prayer for a missionary, and I'll just read a part of it.

ISIS is taking over the town that they are in today.

ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus.

He said, so far, not one child has.

And so far, all have consequently been killed.

But not the parents.

The UN has withdrawn, and the missionaries are on their own.

They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families, even if it means their own death.

He is very afraid, has no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who he has seen and watched their children martyred.

He's fearful.

If I stay, I may very well forfeit my life.

But it didn't keep him from saying, Lord, here am I.

Send me.

I don't know what God is going to call some of you to do.

God may call you to witness to your boss.

Does that sound like a pretty fearful thing?

If you've had a boss like I've had, it would be.

God may call you to peek over the fence and just share a plate of cookies with your neighbor.

If God calls you into divine partnership, more than likely there will be some element of fear that you will have to rise up and confront and push through.

Next, God's partnership is going to require you to recognize who you are in Christ and to boldly give what you have to others.

Again, this is about Peter, Acts 3, verses 8 through 10.

Acts 3:8–10

Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service, and as they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in.

And each day he was put outside of the temple gate, the one called beautiful, so he could beg from the people going into the temple.

And when Peter and John entered, he asked them for some money, but Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, Look at us.

The lame man looked up eagerly, expecting to receive some money.

But Peter said, I don't have any silver, I don't have any gold, but what I have I'm gonna give you.

He was in the ministry.

Of course he was poor.

Aren't they all?

But he knew who he was.

Peter knew who he was in Christ.

The man is saying, you know, give me a fish.

And Peter's thinking, you know what?

I'll do one better.

I'm gonna teach you how to catch them for yourself.

I don't have any silver or gold.

You know, I'm a pastor.

I just, you know, but I do have something.

I have the name of the Lord Jesus Christ inscribed upon my heart.

I have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling my person.

I was in the upper room when the Spirit of God came down and clothed us with powers.

You know what I have?

I have exactly what you need, not what you want.

I have what you need.

And he grabs him by the hand and he pulls him up.

Who are you in Christ?

Who are you?

You're a blood-bought, Holy Ghost-filled child of God.

The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that power is inside of you.

It's about time it came out, don't you think?

An amen would be good now and then.

All right.

I'm not scaring you, am I?

All right, good enough.

He gave him not what he asked for, he gave him what he needed.

In Mark 2, verse 4, next slide.

Mark 2:4

God's divine partnership may require a determined group effort to overcome obstacles.

I mean, there are times when it's just gonna be you and Jesus, and you're gonna be reaching out and touching somebody's need.

But more than likely, it's gonna be you and your D group.

Maybe it'll be you and your C group.

Maybe it will be the entire congregation working with other congregations.

A lot of times, God is saying, you know, there's a need that needs to be met, but we're gonna have to really get radical.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home, and soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door.

And while he was preaching God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.

Oh my word, are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me?

How many of you have uh groups meeting in your home?

Can I just see your hands?

Okay?

All right, and your name, brother, is Robert?

Okay, you know what?

God's blessing your group.

Man, your house is full.

I mean, you know, people are parking three blocks away to walk in.

And I have this dear friend, and he's been paralyzed from birth.

And I hear that Jesus is in your group.

And I walk up, and man, I can't even get close.

But I just happened to bring my 30-foot ladder with me.

And I all my my buddy has got a chainsaw, and my other friend has got a great big crowbar.

And and we're up on your house, and you can hear us, and you're thinking, man, you know what's going on, and all of a sudden, and you see the tip of that chainsaw come through your ceiling, and you are in a panic.

Who are these idiots on my roof?

And there's this great big hole, and there's this thing.

What is that thing?

There's a man on that thing.

How radical are we prepared to get?

I mean, if there's a need that needs to be met, and it's not real easy, oh well, you know, if God had made it easy, I would have signed up.

You know, if I could have just brought the wheelchair in through the front door, I'd have been there, I'd have been there, brother.

Sometimes God asks us to do things in partnership with others.

And sometimes he asked us to do things that are absolutely crazy.

And it's like, is there anybody else up there?

This can't be the voice of God.

And we have got to be prepared.

These four men carried that paralyzed man on a mat, and they let him down.

I mean, they literally tore that roof apart.

I doubt if he even had insurance.

Last, God's divine partnership brings celebration and reward.

It brings celebration and reward.

And familiar passage, Matthew 25, 14 through 23.

You know, the master is leaving town, he's got three servants, and uh he trusts one with five bags of silver.

He has another friend that he trusts with two, and then this other guy, he's kind of a newbie, hasn't really proven himself, but he's gonna give him one.

And he goes away and he comes back and he finds that the first guy has doubled, he means he has doubled what the Lord had given him.

And the Lord says, Well done.

And he goes to the second guy.

It's like, Wow, you are awesome! You know the thing that's cool about this story is that God knows what he can trust you with.

You know, Steve may have five bags, brother, you may have two.

It doesn't make any difference.

God has trusted you with something, he's trusted you with his name, he has trusted you with the good news of the gospel, he has trusted you to work with him in regard to the great commission, he's trusted you to work with him in partnership, to disciple people, he's trust whatever the gift is that you have, he is saying, I trust you.

I trust you, and I expect, I really do.

I expect that there's going to be an increase.

Verse 21, it says the master was full of praise.

Well done, my good and faithful servant, you have been faithful.

Verse 23, the master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant, you have been faithful in handling this small amount.

So now I will give you more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate.

Thank you.

You know, sometimes when we're looking at the divine partnership, we can't get past the doubts of who we are.

It's like, surely, God, you've called the wrong person.

And maybe we get past that, but then God asks us to do something that's completely out of the norm and really flies in the face of what we've been taught, and we can't get past our own prejudices or teaching.

Maybe we'll get past that one, but man, oh man, God is asking me to do something that scares me to death.

Maybe we'll get past that one.

But then he asks you to give the things that you have.

And you know, really, I remember when a missionary came and he was putting together an orphanage.

Where was that orphanage?

Was in uh Bolivia?

Some place in Latin America, and he needed money, and I'm sitting next to my wife, and God is speaking to my heart, and I'm not really comfortable with what God is saying to me.

He is saying, you have a retirement fund.

I want you to give all of your retirement fund to help this man.

But I also I want you to give it in a way that requires partnership.

And I am sweating bullets.

I have about 75 cents of my retirement fund today.

Maybe more than that, but not much.

And so I lean over to Linda, and I mean, I'm afraid to even tell her.

I mean, how do you tell your wife God's asking you to give your nest egg to a stranger?

And I don't know what she's gonna say.

It's like, are you crazy?

I mean, did you fall on your head when you got out of bed this morning?

But I talked to her, and the Lord witnessed in her heart and she said, you know what?

We need to do this.

So I wrote a little note and got it to the to the senior pastor that said, My wife and I want to give this sum, but it's a match.

We will give one dollar for every dollar that comes in up to this amount.

And of course, it went past that.

And I don't regret it.

I don't regret it at all.

It was scary.

It required partnership of others, it required an awful lot of sacrifice on our part.

But it extended the kingdom of God, and I felt God's pleasure.

I felt his pleasure.

I felt him say, I can trust you.

I can trust you.

Well done.

Last slide, and we'll close with this.

Philip, the worship team, if you guys will come up, please.

The Lord is speaking to Isaiah, Isaiah 6 and verse 8.

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?

Who will go for us?

The first time I read that verse, I had a habit of getting to the church when one of the deacons pulled into the parking lot with a key.

And as soon as the door was open, I was downstairs into a Sunday school room.

And I'm downstairs in this Sunday school room and I'm on my knees.

And it's pitch dark.

And I said, God, send me.

Send me.

I don't care where it is.

I don't care what the cost is.

I want to be in divine partnership with you.

What is God speaking to your heart?

What is it that He's calling you to?

Is God asking you to start a C group?

A discipleship group?

Is He asking you to share your faith with your boss?

Maybe God is saying, you know, everybody else at work takes shortcuts, but you're gonna stop.

You're gonna stop.

I want you to stop worrying about the profit margin, and I want you to give your best to your customer.

What is God speaking to you?

What is the partnership that He's saying?

I want you to come into this partnership with me.

And what is it, what is the thing that is holding you back from that?

I want you to stand with me.

And we're gonna close in prayer and then we're gonna launch into worship.

But God is giving you an invitation to join him where he's at.

And I don't know what that is gonna look like for you.

I don't know if God's gonna call you to some out-of-the-way place where you may risk your life.

I don't know if God's gonna call you to your neighborhood, but here's one thing that I do know.

God wants to work in you so that he can work through you.

God wants to work in you so that He can work through you.

The great I am is calling the YOU.

And if you want to respond to that call, whatever that may be, I just want to invite you to just step out from where you are and come to the front.

And by coming to the front, you're saying, you know what, God, here I am.

Send me.

Kind of scary, isn't it?

Whether you come up tonight or whether you respond in a week, here's what you need to understand: God isn't going to stop calling until you do.

God is not going to give you any rest until you finally say, your plan is the best plan for my life.

Let me pray for you.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the privilege of being able to share your word with these wonderful people.

Lord, I pray that you will give us courage, and Lord, that you will give us humility, that you will help us, Father, to yield our lives more fully to you tomorrow when we go to work, tonight when we go home, Lord, next week.

God, that you will give us ears to hear, and that you will help us to be like Peter, who responded quickly.

God, help us not to wear you out with our excuses.

Bless these precious people.

Bless our time of worship, our time of celebration.

In Jesus' name.