Seek the City

Well, over the years, eroding our trust.

You guys can be seated, be eroding our trust in other people, eroding our trust in what the of what a man should do and what a man should be, of who a father should be.

That we oftentimes when we approach God, we approach him with all this backlog of trauma, all this backlog of issues.

That God, we want to trust you, but everybody else is around has failed us.

And many times we don't respond in faith to God, nor do we bring our needs to faith, uh, bring our needs to God by faith, because so many times people let us down.

Can I tell you God's not gonna let you down?

It's not just that he's God, it's that because he swore his covenant and his promise by no other name than his own.

And do you know what that means?

God said, if I don't show up and be God, if I don't do the things that I said that I would do, may I not be God anymore.

That's how much God loves you.

That's how much God cares for you and is interested not just in the salvation of your soul, but also your well-being.

He's interested in your physical health, he's interested in your mental health and your spiritual health, he's interested in your marital health and your family health.

God is willing and he's able.

He's just asking you to trust him.

And I say it often and I'll keep saying it.

You don't have to understand God to trust God, but you will understand him more and more and by and by as you trust him each and every day.

There's some of us in this house that have experienced his healing firsthand, healing in our body, healing in our mind, in our marriages, and we understand God differently than we did before.

And it can happen for you too.

And I believe that this morning.

I believe that this morning.

Miss Charla, thank you so much for blessing us this morning.

Thank you for giving me a Sunday of rest.

Thank you, team, for pushing me to do that.

Um, if you guys know me, it's not because I don't believe that I shouldn't rest.

I just love this so much that I will do it Sunday in and Sunday out.

But thank you guys so much for pushing me to take a Sunday off.

Um, and thank you for being able to facilitate that for us so much.

You have blessed us this morning.

It was really nice to be able to worship and not have to worry about guitar and track and uh doing 15 different things at once.

Not again, not that I don't love it.

It was just sometimes it's nice just to be able to worship.

So again, thank you for that.

Um, I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to see what God is doing uh in our church right here and right now in this time and in this season.

Um I know things have been a little wild, but I just feel God is in the middle of it.

Um we had a very, very, very fantastic uh planning meeting this past Friday.

We have the rest of the year planned out, and then we're gonna meet again in November, and we're gonna go ahead and start working into 2027.

And just the heartbeat of this church is so inspiring.

The heartbeat of the people.

That's I was telling our uh I was telling, I was telling, uh, I was telling all everybody in leadership, it just being able to walk in here and already feel a spirit of unity and a church that wants to move the gospel forward and wants to do this thing, and no matter what the cost, no matter what that, it makes getting up here and preaching a lot easier.

It makes up getting and leading people a lot easier.

I know there's gonna be hiccups, I know there's gonna be things that we're gonna have to figure out as we go along, but I am excited to where God's leading us.

Last week, we uh the over the sorry, over the course of the last couple weeks, we've been talking about uh what does it look like looking through scripture through the lens of the Lamb and the house that God's building.

And we realize that we don't solve downstream problems, well, downstream, we solve them upstream.

If I want to fix an issue that's happening down here, I've got to start at the core and the root.

And where does that start?

Is realizing that covenant promise and who God has made us to be.

And then when we're good as an individual and God brings us together in marriages, God builds healthy marriages.

And from healthy marriages, he builds healthy children, and from healthy children, he builds healthy households, and from healthy households produce healthy leaders and disciple makers.

And from that, he develops a healthy church.

And what happens when he develops a healthy church is the healthy church realizes that the spirit, we were given the gift of the spirit and empowered us to not just pray in tongues, but empower us, as scripture says, to be witness and to bear witness to who he is, right?

And so once we realize who God has made us to be and we fix the upstream issue, all of a sudden downstream, everything changes because the what the the rivers of living water God is sending, it's meant to go out to the lost, to the dying, to the broken.

And we and the the mission of the church doesn't stay within the four walls.

You and I are the church.

You and I are the living embodiment of the bride of Christ.

And so it's not just our mission on Sunday that we would have great worship and great service and great Sunday school and great everything, even though that we we we we believe in a spirit of excellence, it's that we make sure that Monday through Saturday that we're fulfilling the commission of the gospel.

That Monday when we wake up and and Mondays are a hard day.

I don't like teaching a morning class, especially on a Monday, but I've got to make sure that when I wake up on Monday and I'm the bell rings at 7.10, that I'm there, that I'm attentive, that I'm ready.

Why?

Because my job matters, yes, it does.

But more importantly, there's students in there, and yeah, I gotta teach them, I have to teach them uh lessons and job skills and life skills, but more importantly, I have to be a representation of Christ to them.

I have to realize that when I go to Walmart, and even though sometimes things may be wonky and people are people in Walmart, and the people of Walmart are a special breed, I still gotta represent Jesus there.

I can't, hey Jesus, I need you to stay in the in the minivan in the parking lot.

I'll even leave the AC on for you.

I gotta go handle business in Walmart.

No, I've got to make sure that when I'm walking those aisles and that that person is rude to me in the checkout lane or cuts in front of me, that I still represent Christ.

And so we talked about last week as we're moving this thing outside of the walls of the church, that we are blessed to bless.

That the reason why God blessed Abraham was not just because he loved him and had a covenant with him, but he blessed Abraham that he would be a blessing to the nations and a blessing to the world.

Out of Abraham would be would come the seed of Christ.

Christ Jesus Himself would come out of Abraham's lineage, and then that and then the world has never been the same because of it.

God's blessings were never meant to terminate with me.

What God pours into me, he intends to flow through me.

So again, we talked about last week, blessed to bless.

Again, remember we said, I will bless thee and thou shalt be a blessing.

Again, the movement, I'll bless you, you'll be a blessing.

And the blessing has a destination behind Abraham.

So today we're not gonna, I'm not gonna preach the same message again.

We're gonna move this thing forward.

Because once we sit, once we understand that we're blessed to bless, here becomes the question: what does it look like to actually live as a channel of God's blessing?

If I understand that I'm blessed to bless others, what does that mean in practicality?

What am I supposed to do?

How is the word of God asking me to respond to that?

Because it's repos it's possible to receive from God and never learn to release what we've received.

Brent, would you come help me set that?

Uh and maybe will you guys come uh set up that illustration for me?

You guys know me, I can't preach without something visual.

I'm a squirrel, and so if I have something to lock my attention into, it's probably good for you too, because I won't go as long.

But I mean, I teach I teach this way too.

It's just me, it's normal, okay?

So you guys are just gonna have it used to it.

You're stuck with me.

But again, we're going back to the idea where all this kind of came from in 2 Kings 3, 16 through 10.

The entirety of this that we've talked about, that the prophet Elisha came to the people and said, Go ahead and dig the ditches.

God's gonna send rain.

And he looked kind of crazy because God hadn't sent rain and the people of Israel in the middle of drought.

And so he wasn't just saying, hey, God's gonna send the rain.

He said, Hey, God's gonna send the rain, so you've got to go ahead and dig some ditches.

I don't know if you've ever dug before.

Number one, it's not fun.

If you've been digging right now, it's not fun.

It is, it's three degrees, it's three degrees, uh, it's three degrees cooler than hell outside.

It's like an air fryer.

I like I like what Will posted the other day, uh, or so somebody posted the other day.

It's like living, it's like living in an air fryer.

Well, we're we're at that point, okay?

It's a little crispy.

Could you imagine digging a ditch in that?

No rain in sight, and God says, dig a ditch, the water's coming.

And you're like, Prophet, you sure you didn't have a heat stroke or maybe three?

And so, but the people responded, and what happened?

When God, when God ended the flow, uh ended the drought, he poured out the rain, and the water was directed where it needed to go.

It went to their homes, it went to their crops, it took care of their animals, and then it went to everywhere that it needed within the community where they had it.

And so God's telling us the same thing.

God will send the water, but Israel had to prepare somewhere to flow.

And here's something important about a ditch it wasn't designed to hold water.

And if your ditch at your house is holding water, that's not how it's supposed to work.

That probably means something clogged and something drained up, it is plugged up.

And here's that's the picture.

God blesses us because he doesn't intend that blessing just to stay with you and stay with your family.

He intends that blessing to keep moving and flowing into somebody else's life.

Because here's the thing: God was, and I'm not teaching I'm not preaching a God's parity gospel this morning.

This is the principle of how God blesses us.

He blesses you in an overflow because you're supposed to be in close proximity with people that out of the overflow of your spirit, out of the overflow of the abundance of blessing that God has in your life, it pours into other people's life.

God's not just gonna bless you with a Porsche and all these other things just because He wants you to ride around in a smooth style.

If God gives you a nice car, it's because he wants you to take that car and pick up somebody for church in it.

If God gives you a nice home and a great big dinner table, it's because God wants you to invite people into your home and to your dinner table because he's trying to do a work through you.

God blesses that we might move that blessing forward.

And again, he intends his blessings to move.

The goal isn't simply to be full, the goal is overflow.

And so we have to recognize, we have to recognize this morning what we've been given.

We've got to recognize this morning what we've been given.

And so here's the thing.

How does this house, how does what God has placed in this house intend to become a blessing for Zachary?

How does how does what has happened in this house intend to become a blessing for Zachary?

Because we act, we asked the question last week, what what what what are we giving to this city?

Are we better because this is this city is better because we're in it?

Is the surrounding areas better because it?

And if we ask that question, that truly leads, how how how how how is the how do the blessed people actually when they live among their neighbors?

Because here's the thing.

We talked about last week.

Babel built up to make a name.

Babel built the tower to make a name, but Abraham laid something down on the altar.

God's blessing was never again, never meant to terminate with us.

And here we have to ask this: how does the blessed people actually look like when they live among their neighbors?

Not merely how do we get the city of Zachary in this building?

If that's the concept of outreach that we have, we're dead wrong.

If that's the concept that I've got to get people here, I've got to get people to city here, I've got to get people from uh Zachary and slaughter and Ethel and Pride and all the other little places here and in between, and all the places that this place helps foster and facilitate.

That's not what it looks like.

It's how does a blessed people actually look when they live among their neighbors?

How does God, how has God placed this house to become a blessing to Zachary?

Again, keep this table in your mind.

We're gonna come to it.

Scripture gives us an unexpected place to begin.

It wasn't in Jerusalem, it was actually in Babylon.

It was in Babylon.

If you go to Jeremiah 29 and you're thinking I'm gonna say verse 11, I'm not.

It's verse 4 through 7.

And here's what happens.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles.

Everybody say exiles who I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

So it tells us where we at.

These are exiles from Jerusalem, now they're in Babylon.

This is God's people not living in Israel, the land that they're supposed to live.

Right now they're stuck under another king's rule and another empire's rule.

This is what he says here.

He tells them to build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce.

He says, Take wives and have sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters and in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there and do not decrease.

This is an exile, mind you.

This is not, he's saying, Hey, here's your command living in Israel.

He said, This is what happened in exile.

But watch what it says in the next verse.

He says, But seek the welfare.

Everybody say welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in it its welfare, you will find your welfare.

He says, In seeking the welfare of the city, you'll find yours.

Seeking the shalom, the peace, the the Spirit of God moving, you'll find it moving for you.

This is this is this is this is different because we always want to quote Jeremiah 29 and 11, right?

This is this is four scriptures before that that God has a plan for you, a future worth hoping for.

This is this is the context.

This is the context of that.

They're living in Babylon.

God doesn't tell them just become a Babylonian.

He doesn't say, but he also doesn't say hide from Babylon while you're there.

There's a stark difference.

God doesn't say assimilate to who they are.

Don't don't don't take he's he did he doesn't say take on their custom customs, take on their cultures, take on their gods, take on the way they live, take on the way they dress.

He doesn't say that.

But he also doesn't say keep yourself completely from them.

It exists somewhere in the middle.

Why?

Because here's what he does tell them.

He says, build, plant, raise your families, multiply, pray, and seek its peace.

And this word here in peace is shalom, it's peace, the welfare, the well-being, the wholeness.

Here's what we gotta understand: that your bet well-being is intertwined with the well-being of your neighbors.

Your well-being is very intertwined with the well-being of your neighbors.

We can say that my family's healthy, that my church is healthy, that our worship is healthy, that our finances are healthy, that everything that we've talked about the past couple of weeks is healthy.

But here's the thing God asks his covenant people, I'm glad you're healthy.

But how's the city?

How's its families?

How are the children?

How are the schools?

Where's the loneliness at?

Where's the addiction at?

Where's the brokenness at?

Where is the need?

And we don't have to choose between holiness and mission.

I said it last week.

Let me expand on it this week.

We don't have to choose between holiness and mission.

Holiness determines who we are in this city.

It determines our identity, but mission determines why we're there in the city.

Our holiness determines who we are in this city, but our mission determines why we are here in the city.

Hear me this morning.

Before God ever instructed Israel to seek Babylon's peace, he had already taught them how to treat an outsider.

Leviticus 9, 13, and uh sorry, yeah, 19 and 33.

And here's what he gives them command to do that if a stranger sojourn with you in your land, you will not vex him.

You will not give him issue, you will not give problems.

But here's what he says in 34 but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be as one born among you, say among you.

And thou shalt love him as thyself.

Sounds familiar, does it right?

Jesus was quoting scripture when he said that.

For you were strangers in the land of Egypt, and I am the Lord your God.

God's reasoning is this that love the stranger because you remember being one.

He says, love the stranger because you have to remember at one point in time you were a stranger in this.

You were new to church.

You were new to Christ.

You were new to believing, you were new to faith, you were new to all of this, you were new to somebody inviting you to sit at the table.

You were new, and when you showed up to the table, like, what's all this supposed to do?

Why are we worshiping?

Why are we lifting our hands?

Why are we, why are we doing all these things?

And you were new, and it and it was strange, and it was it was a little different and weird.

And over time, what happens is we get like super accustomed and acclimated to this, and then all of a sudden what's been what's been what's been the what's been was new to us once is so like stagnant and old that we don't even we don't even recognize anymore what it feels like.

It doesn't feel like the the this the table is that we were once set at, it becomes a commonality and commonplace to us.

And so what we have to do and what we have to remember and what we have to think is again, I know I keep saying it, but I'm I'm telling you, God is up to something.

We can never forget the gospel.

We can never graduate beyond the gospel, we can never graduate beyond the point where we remember what it was like when we first received the Spirit, when we what it was like when we first spoke in tongues, what it was like when we were baptized.

Because somebody took the time to reach for us, somebody took the time to set the table for us, somebody took the time to make sure that even in the midst of our sin and even in the midst of our darkness, even in the midst of our loneliness, our struggle, our addiction, our problem, there was a seat at a table for us and that that that we didn't deserve.

And here's the beautiful thing about all of it is that that's that's that's what that's that's that's the that's the crux of this, that's the purpose of this.

And so somebody made it available to us.

And here's the thing that table is gonna be constantly made.

And table's gonna be constantly worked on, and table's gonna constantly, we're gonna work to con as a church, we're constantly to have that table.

Because why?

We have to love the stranger because we were once a stranger.

He tells, he tells Israel, he says, remember Egypt.

Remember, you were strangers in that land, but I was still your God.

Remember what it felt like not to know.

Remember what it felt like when you had to when you walked in service, like, man, why are these people raising their hands?

Why are these people sound like they're speaking gibberish?

Why do these people love and not expect anything of me?

You gotta remember those things.

Remember what it was like when you needed somebody to explain that stuff to you.

You gotta remember when your life wasn't together.

You gotta remember when you needed mercy.

We have to remember we are sinners yet saved by grace, that we're all still in process, that we're all still moving that progress bar forward, that it does not end in salvation.

Truly does not happen until the trump sounds and we meet him in the sky, until we cross over the pearly gates.

We are still sinners in progress.

And have some of us come a mighty long way and we look completely different and sound completely different and think completely different and our heart beats differently than it did before?

Absolutely.

But are we still wrapped in flesh?

Do we still have predisposition to sin?

Do we still have things like Paul said, a thorn in our side that we have to watch out for?

The men, do we still have still have an anger that is subdued by the spirit?

Yet if we don't stay prayed up, we can snap off an anger at any moment, at any time.

Women, do we have uh something, the thorn in our side where we're anxious and that we're worried and we have overcome it?

But if we don't stay prayed up and we don't stay on top of it, we can revert back to that nature very quickly.

Our sin nature is constantly at our heels.

And one day it will stop, and it's going to stop, and it's gonna stop at those pearly gates.

We have to remember that we are not sanctified and saved just to sit here and just wait as this is an ark for the rapture to come.

No, we're saved and then commissioned to go back out.

That's what the the apostles taught is that we're that we're powered by the Spirit to go and to bear witness.

And this is not that you live in your past, it's not that you live through the highlight reels of what God has done for you and all those other things, but it's so that your deliverance never makes you arrogant towards somebody who hasn't gotten out of it yet.

You know how you stay humble in the eyes of God is that you constantly look back.

I remember who Zach used to be.

I remember how he used to speak, I remember the things he used to look at, I remember the way he used to treat people.

I remember it why?

Not because I want to sit there and beat myself up.

I don't want to go back to that.

I don't want to beat that.

But tears come to my eyes.

Why?

Because I know the mercy and the grace of God that should that said should have said injustice.

God should have said injustice.

You have no part in the calling, my calling.

You have no part in my kingdom.

The things you've done and the people that you've hurt and that you've you've you've you've done horrible things to in their lives, and the people around you that you've you've messed up and that now need healing, you should have no part in this.

But he said, I love you enough to work with you through your flaws and through your failures.

I love you enough to heal the people that you've hurt and bring them into my calling.

And God, and and so I remember why.

Not because I want to relive it, not because I want to dwell in the past, but I have to remember I'm nothing without him.

This gift that I had, this gift that I have, this calling that I have, this ministry that I have, the pastorship that I have is nothing without him first.

I have to remember every day that I wake up before my foot, my feet on the floor, I am still a sinner yet saved by grace.

I have to remember that my deliverance cannot make me arrogant, but it has to keep me in a place of humility because there is someone who hasn't gotten out of it yet.

There's someone who's clawing their way through it and waking up every morning and praying.

I wanted one day of sobriety.

I want two days of sobriety.

I want my marriage to be okay today, I want my mind to be okay today.

And if I have such a hoidy-toidy and a pridey spirit that my deliverance has made me something else, there's gonna be somebody praying and reaching in every day and striving for this.

They're gonna look and see if that's what I'm gonna become.

I'm just gonna let go.

But I want to play in the posture of humility like Jesus did.

Why?

Because those people who are fighting for it day in and day out, I want to be able to get in the muck in the mire with them and not have the muck in the mire affect me and say, Hey, come on, I can help you.

I God has done something in my life.

I know what it looks like to be delivered from pornography.

I know what it looks like to have my marriage, your marriage fallen apart, but God restored.

I know what it looks like to live with sickness in your body, and it feels like it rules your life.

But I've been there.

God can help you, so let me help you.

I'm telling you, my spirit is so convicted.

I don't want this to be just about filling this church up and that we have to get the city here in the church.

I do believe that we're meant to reach outwards, but it needs to be different than we've talked.

About it before.

Grace remembered should produce hospitality extended.

Grace remembered, if I keep the grace of God at the forefront of my mind and the testimony that God has given me, and the works and the mercy and the grace that God has so poured out into my life, then it will turn into hospitality to invite someone to my table.

Why did Jesus eat with sinners and charlatans and tax collectors and all these other people?

Because grace remembered produces hospitality extended.

Jesus was trying to model something for us.

He's not saying those people need to be in your inner circle and speaking into your spirit and leading and directing your life.

What he is saying is that you should be steady enough in your walk and steady enough in your spirit that you can invite sinners to your house and not partake in their sin, but they can partake in the spirit that you have.

They can live and they sit at your table.

And when they're sitting at the table, they're not just eating your food physically, but their spirits are eating of the overflow of your life.

And after enough time, they'll begin to ask the questions and they'll begin to seek it out.

And there'll be a hunger in their spirit where they don't worry about the food in their plate, but there'll be a hunger that shows up at the table.

I don't know what you have, but I want it.

I want the peace that you have in this home.

I want the joy that you have in the home.

I want what you have with your kids.

And then I want what you have with your husband and your wife in my house, in my family.

Why?

Because the overflow of what comes out of our life will impact other people.

Here's the here's the c here's the here's the deeper concept.

We gotta make room in this because he first made room for us.

We have to make room in this because this is his house.

And he first made room for us in his house, and his covenant, and his promise, and his mercy, and his grace.

And then God gets incredibly practical with this.

He doesn't just tell us to feel compassion, he tells them to structure their lives with room for it.

He just doesn't tell them you need to feel compassion.

You just need to make sure that you're around sinners enough that you feel the compassion.

He says, No, no, no, no, no, no.

That compassion is gonna cause you to radically shift your chat your life around.

It's gonna cause you to change your calendar, it's gonna cause you to change your schedule, it's gonna cause you to change your budgeting and your finances and your ways of thinking.

Why?

Because we gotta make some room.

We've God commanded margin.

Everybody say margin.

Leviticus 19, 9 through 10.

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after you harvest.

Okay, so let's keep that up there for it.

Go back to for one second for me.

So what he's instructing the people is this is after he's already talked about giving the tithe and the the first fruits, what he's saying is of the 90% that's left, and you give it, you've already given the first fruits, he says, don't take the core the the right the field right up to the edge.

He says, leave the corner.

And then everything that they've gone through and they've they've they've they've they've harvested, but what's been left behind on the ground, leave it.

Okay?

Are we tracking?

Are we all on the same page?

And this is why he says that.

Here's what he said, here's the here's the command of the Lord.

You shall leave them for the poor and for the show the sojourner, the traveler, the stranger.

And watch how God ends this statement.

He says, I am the Lord your God.

He's signing off on this.

This is my command.

This is my word.

You leave the edges of your field, you leave the grapes that have fallen by on the ground, you leave what you've dropped while you're harvesting and carry your bounty harvest.

Why?

Because I've already given you enough.

I've already given you and I've blessed you.

And here's what I want you to do.

I want you, you you need to understand the principle of the first fruit.

You need to understand the principle of the tithe, but you need to understand that I am your God and I've got it taken care of.

And if you trust me with all of it, I can make, I can do something more with it.

Because here's the thing the farmer planted it, he cultivated it, he waited for it, he harvested it.

Any of you have grown anything in your lifetime, you know that it's hard work.

And if any of you have known, uh have worked on a farm before, you know all of us backyard hobby gardeners are jokes compared to what you do work in the fields.

It's a big deal.

It takes, it takes planning, it takes strategy.

And this was these people's livelihood.

They were no longer a nomadic people, but where they were plant, like where they were planting and they're staying, they had to set up a take care of.

Because if they didn't have food, they didn't have food.

They couldn't order Chinese takeout.

They didn't have another country to demand food from, they didn't have anything.

They had to work towards this.

This was their livelihood, their currency, their their families, the legacy, everything.

This this mattered.

But here's what God says: don't take all of it.

You worked for it, but here's my here's my request.

Don't take all of it.

Somebody else's need has already been factored into God's instruction for your blessing.

When God blesses you, he has already looked into the future.

He has already looked at the path that he has directed for you and the lost people that that he's going to direct your path towards, and he has factored them into the blessings he's poured out in your life.

We taught, and it's scary, and some of you are getting a little nervous here because we're talking about giving or we're talking about that other stuff, and it's oh man, Pastor, it's already uncomfortable enough to live, uh live on the 90% after the after the tithe, and now you're talking about that that God, God Himself was saying that you're supposed to leave the edges and leave what's left behind.

And by saying that, yeah.

Why?

It's because God is trying to establish a principle that we have to leave margin.

We have to leave, we have to leave margin to meet needs.

We have to leave margin to be able to answer for what God is wanting us to do.

And we are called, and we've talked about this, we are called to be stewards of what God has given us our time, our talent, and our treasure.

And if my time is so booked and my time is so filled up and my calendar is so full, and I've got no room to answer the phone call, I've got no room to answer the text message, I've got no room to show up at somebody's house late because they're having a panic attack and an anxiety attack.

If I've got no money left in my budget to take somebody out for coffee because they're broken, if I've got nothing left of my talent because I've exhausted myself everywhere else, am I truly moving the blessings that God has poured out in my life forward?

And am I giving them to the people He's already given me instruction and told me to leave margin for?

I'm telling you, I just feel so challenged in my spirit, and I've come this morning with a challenge, word of challenge for you this morning.

Not a word of correction, but a word of direction.

God is trying to get us to see this outreach thing differently.

It's not just we need to build the greatest church or the best church, but he's asking for an effective house.

He's asking for an effective house.

Margin was created before the need ever arrived.

If you want, if you want to be an effective church, you want to be effective ministry, and you want to be an effective people, then God is asking you to take inventory of what you have and then make margin to answer the needs.

If God sends the people, how are we gonna take care of them?

Is there the right ministries in place?

Do we have not just do we have the right structure, do we have the right systems?

But God is asking us, do you have the right margin in place with your time and your talent and your resources?

Not just the structure that if I sent them and you have excellent structure, but you don't have enough time for them.

You don't have enough time to take those babies in Christ and disciple them and nurture them and help them move from milk to meat.

You don't have enough talent, you don't have enough of people who say, I have talent and I have something to give back, and I'm gonna develop that in other people, and I'm gonna disciple in other people.

I'm gonna raise up, I know how to play an instrument, I'm gonna show somebody else how to play it.

I know how to work, I know how to work the screens, I'm gonna show somebody else how to work the screens, I know how to teach, I'm gonna show somebody else how to teach.

God is asking us, have we made margin this morning?

Because here's the thing: if the table's full, there's no room for anybody else.

I know that sounds trivial and like kindergarten level, but sometimes God brings it down to a very child level that we all understand it.

It's great if the table looks good and everything's set.

But what if God wants one more at this table?

And here's the thing, as church, here's here's here's here's here's where I want to tie in everything we've been talking about.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a spirit of excellence, and we there are ministries that we need to we need to tune up and things that we do need to establish to meet the needs of the community.

But if we're so worried about adding things to our program to make it look just a little bit better and make things sound a little bit better, I think, I think that might help a little help it just a little just a little bit better.

Table looks better, okay?

It's not too full, right?

I still got room for people, but like, oh, maybe it's gonna like that that's gonna make it a little darker and um you know just a little, yeah.

Get that ambiance, we're gonna get that second candle and hope it doesn't catch this fake plant on fire and burn the house down.

And we just want to add a little bit more, and so so we want to make sure that we we make the best, we make the best coffee, we make the best coffee drink, and that has space for that there, and now we're coming to serve the dishes and we're we're coming to get that stuff, and oh, we fancy now.

I got this so that we can we can we can stack.

It's like when they bring the pizzas to your table, so that way it's not just there and you can stack up and down.

Okay, we could put a little, we can put one, we could put one there, and then we can get some serving dish over there, and we're adding all these ministries, and we're adding all these programs, and we're adding all these things.

And here's the issue: if we keep adding and adding and adding, eventually it's not just the people who who who need who need Christ and need a seat at the table, all of a sudden it's gonna be very hard to eat at this table.

You know what I can't stand?

Uh besides like really bad customer service as a restaurant, and that's because of all my years at Chick-fil-A, just it it's it's an issue.

I can't stand when I've got 1,800 plates at the table and I can't function at the table at a restaurant, it kills me.

Sometimes this is what our churches look like is that we've added everything that we possibly can because we think we need it to reach people.

And don't get me wrong, I am what I believe in strong systems, I believe in strong administration, I believe in great programs, and I believe in excellence, and I will settle for nothing less.

But are we doing the right ministries?

Are we establishing the right ministries?

Are we establishing the right disciples?

Are we establishing the right things for what this city needs?

Have we stopped long enough to ask and to pray, God, what's the need of this city?

What's the need of this area?

Have we met with city officials long enough to say, hey, if this church exists here, is is the community better for it?

What's the top three problems you're dealing with right now on city council?

Mayor of the area, in the police department, in the fire department, and any any any welfare program?

What what what issues are you trying to solve and where are gaps?

Are we asking the right questions?

Not just do we have the best program?

Do we have the best thing?

And maybe shifting something around, okay, maybe that's hanging off the table a little bit, this would look a bit better there, and shifting things around and trying to shift time and resource and all these other things, but because we want to make not just room at the table, we want we make have it look excellent.

Are we asking the right question?

Because again, lost people are lost.

Their steps aren't ordered by God.

The steps of a righteous man are ordered by God.

And if I'm gonna ask God to lead and order my steps, then I have then it comes to the conclusion I have to ask him, where are the needs?

Where are the people that I'm supposed to serve?

Am I making a difference in this city?

Am I doing the right thing?

Everything on the table is good.

None of this stuff is inherently sinful.

I need to serve, I need lighting, I need to make sure it looks good.

I want a spirit of excellence.

I need everything on this table, but here's the thing nothing is necessarily wasteful, everything has a place.

But if I'm trying to bring an empty chair up to the table, I've got the just imagine I've got the one, two, three, four already at the table.

And I'm gonna bring up another because I need to invite somebody.

I need somebody who's broken on the outside.

I mean, I could try to wiggle it in right here, but then again, I can't really fit it there.

And Lord knows I'm not gonna put them in front of the serving dish because I don't want them to eat more than I've got.

And then maybe I could swing with the drink thing, but like still there's no room.

And so all of a sudden was supposed to be filled, but it can't be filled because I made no margin for it.

Everything in here has a place, and that's not wasteful.

I've tried to fit it in, but there's no place setting, there's no open space.

This is there is nothing wrong with what's on the table.

There's the the there's a problem is that I filled it so completely with a good thing that there's no room for another person.

You can be so busy in the kingdom of God that you can forget what your the the the work true work you're truly about.

You can be so busy in the kingdom that you forget that you're working for the king and what the heartbeat of the king is.

Your our job assignment and our role at the king is not specific ministry and specific thing.

My job and my role in the kingdom is to follow the edict of the king, to listen for the heartbeat of the king.

God, where do you want to speak today?

God, where do you want to move today?

God, whose life do you want to work in today?

God, what would you have me do today?

I've not left room for people.

Because here's the thing a church with no margin will struggle to minister to interruptions.

Everything's okay when it's on schedule and it's on agenda.

But it's really hard when somebody comes knocking at the door and it's not a scheduled need.

It's not a scheduled interruption, if that's actually a thing.

That's a that's an oxymoron if there was everyone.

If our budget's full, if our calendar's full, if our leadership capacity's full, if our families are full, if my time as pastors full, if your time as volunteers are full, if every room that we have is full, if every evening we have is full, if every dollar is spoken for, then God sends us someone in need.

What do what what where where do we put them?

What do we do?

Because when you watch Jesus, you discover that some of his greatest ministry moments happen in his day.

They were often would look like interruptions.

Mark 10, 46 through 49.

And they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, everybody say, old blindbart.

I don't know why we always called him that.

God healed him of his sight.

We know that.

We still call him old blindbart.

A blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside, and when he heard that Jesus was that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

And watch what happened.

Many rebuked him, telling him to be quiet.

Dude, shut up.

Jesus just ministered in the town, and you're screaming and hollering.

You want one-on-one attention with him?

He just, he just, he let him, let him go, let him go rest, let him go back to where he's going.

But he would just cry out more as they told him to shut up.

Son of David, have mercy on me.

Watch, watch how Jesus responds at 49.

Jesus stopped and said, Called him.

And they called the mind man, saying, Take heed, take heart, get up.

He is calling you.

Jesus stood still while the crowds were still moving.

Jesus was going somewhere, he had a destination.

But Bartimaeus cried out even more.

Jesus stopped.

Because he was on his way to another emergency.

There was Jarius.

Jesus was already going.

Think about that.

He was going to go, he was going because Jarius had requested him, and then on the way there, because Jarius's daughter is unto death.

He's walking through the crowd, and a woman touches the hem of his garment.

Jesus stops again.

And then we've got the Good Samaritan.

Jesus shows pattern that it is okay to have interruptions because in the and oftentimes in the interruption, what is actually happening is divine appointment.

What we look as interruptions in ministry and interruptions in our budget and interruptions in our time and our calendar and our schedule.

God is actually saying, I have booked divine appointment for you.

Are you ready?

But he saw a certain Samaritan as he journeyed.

He came, where was he as?

And when he saw him, he had what?

Compassion.

He had compassion.

And here's what the compassion costs the good Samaritan.

It cost him his time.

It cost him oil.

It cost him wine.

It cost him transportation.

It cost him physical money.

And it cost him future obligation because he said, I'm, he's, he, he, he, he was worried about his recovery.

If our schedule is so sacred that people become interruptions, we have understood, misunderstood ministry, and we have misunderstood the calling that God has placed in our lives.

If our schedule is so sacred that people, when they call, you loathe answering the phone, or when they text you, or when they come by the house.

If we loathe it, God forbid, then what has happened is we have misunderstood the ministry that God is planting in our lives, and he's wanting to use his church, the bride for.

Here's the guardrail.

Jesus still did withdraw.

He still prayed.

He left meeting unmet needs until when the Father directed him elsewhere.

Compassion does not require omnipresence.

Hear me this morning.

Your compassion does not require omnipresence.

What happens so many times is we're so afraid that if we meet the need of one, then all of a sudden all these other needs are going to show up.

And if I can't meet the needs of all, I'm not going to meet the needs of any.

That is not the mindset of Christ.

That's the mindset of the world.

Jesus still retreated.

Jesus still withdrew.

He took time to pray.

He took time to fast.

He took time to do all those things.

Why?

He answered the and he answered the needs that he could, when he could, and how he could.

But here's the thing: margin doesn't mean that everybody gets unlimited access to you.

Margin means that I'm available.

When God says stop here, I stop here.

When God says go, I go.

When God says give, I give.

When God says serve, I serve.

Here's the question: What kind of heart is willing to leave that kind of margin?

We've talked about this a little bit.

That Pentecost changed what they called mine.

We keep bringing up, and again, we've preached Acts 2.38 till we've been blue in the face, but we we move on just a couple of scriptures later in 2.42, and they went from house to house breaking bread, and they worshiped together, and they talked about the word together, and they talked about Jesus together.

Church happened in the house, and what happened?

And the Lord added to each of them day, added to them daily.

But watch this in Acts 4 and 32.

He said, The mold now then now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.

I better say one heart and one soul.

And no one said that any of the things that belonged to them was his own, but they had everything in common.

And with the great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and the great grace was upon them all.

And there was not there was not a needy person among them, for as many were owners of lands and houses, sold them and bought the proceeds was what was sold, and they laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each house as necessary.

Understand this.

They didn't just sell everything and they threw themselves at the whims of the apostles, and they could no longer take care of their families or their homes or any of that stuff.

They still possessed things.

They still had houses, they still had lands, but here's what they did: they stopped saying those things were ultimately theirs.

People get scared of stepping into the mission of God because they're afraid of the cost.

But when you are filled with the Spirit of God, something should happen and something should transform in your heart and mind.

When you're filled with the Spirit of God, you should begin to look at your things and no longer say, that's my house, or that's my car, or that's my dinner table, or that's my resource, that's my time, that's my money.

Something when we're filled with the Spirit of God, because watch, Acts 4, what happens before Acts 4?

Acts 2 happens, they're in an upper room, and God fills them with the gift of his spirit.

And when they go from there, all of a sudden their minds and their spirits are open.

Because it says it not just in Acts 4, it says it in Acts 2.

They sold all that they had and gave it.

Why?

Because they knew they had to create margin.

Pentecost didn't merely change how they worshiped, it changed how they held what they had.

And so while the table's great and all these other pieces are nice, some of it we have to realize what the priority of each and every one of these things that are on the table.

If I've got my stuff so full of good program, a good thing, a good this and that, then all of a sudden I don't have room to make sure that somebody's at my table, to make sure that somebody who needs this can sit at my table and get to what they need.

I I I sometimes we can do without the, we know we if we don't have the necessity for it, we can do without the coasters.

It's okay for the table to get a little worn out.

It's okay for it to get a little watermarks on it.

Why?

Because that means people were sitting at my table first.

It means there was a cup on my table and somebody's thirst was filled.

It's okay if there's some marks on the table and we have to serve and And go take the dishes back to the kitchen right away because there's not room enough on the table.

Because if I can get the other stuff that's out the way, I have to remember what the core and the priority of the mission.

Because if I can do this right, even at a four-seating table, I can still move these things around just a little bit and I can start putting some more plates at the table.

And I don't care if my elbows bump with somebody else.

I've got to make sure that there is room at my table.

And if we're a little crowded and we're a little claustrophobic, there has to be room at my table because there is somebody who belongs in this seat.

There's somebody who belongs in their seat.

Do you see an empty seat next to you?

It's because it represents a soul, it represents a family, it represents a marriage.

And what are we doing as a church and as a people of God to respond to it?

Hear me this morning.

I am not coming to you with a word of correction.

I'm believing God is directing us.

Create margin.

I've got more to give you as a church and as a body and as a believer, but this is what margin is.

It's not living in poverty.

God's not asking you to eat a ramen, we're gonna have a ramen noodle revival because that's the only thing you could afford because you gave it all to the church.

That's not what he's saying.

That's that's God's not asking for irresponsibility with your finances.

That's not being a good steward.

God is not actually asking you to neglect your family so you spend every waking moment here at the church and here discipling somebody else.

That's actually backwards.

You should, because you know what?

God forbid that we get a bunch of people into heaven and our children and our w husbands and wives don't make it to heaven because we've we've we put ministry first.

Your first ministry, husbands, is to your wives.

Wives, your first ministry is to your husband, mom and dad.

Your ministry then is to your children.

Out of a healthy marriage flows healthy children and a healthy home.

That's what God's asking us to do as steward.

But what are we doing to serve together as a family?

I'm all for making the family days, but have we put together a family served day?

Have we put together that we, me and Angela, are gonna make time in our schedules that we are going to have a date night because it matters that I still treat my wife like she is my girlfriend.

I love her and I'm enamored with her.

But it's also important do we decide when are we serving together?

Both have to exist, but both can only exist if there's margin for them to exist in.

God's asking for your availability.

This isn't my ultimately at the end of the day, it's not my table, it's his.

Is it my house?

No, it's his.

I loved having everybody at our house.

I love having people over the house.

We tell, like when we tell, come stop by our house because we want you there, because it's not technically our house, it's God's house.

So come stop by.

Come take a load off, come feel the peace of God, come drink coffee with us.

Man, she's got her own coffee station's caught up, and I've got an even better coffee station.

If you just want the cool K cuppy, K cup coffee with all the serfs and stuff, or if you want to come hang out with me in the other room and have a pour over and have some espresso and all this other stuff, you could come come over and hang out.

I'll caffeinate you till you're at till you're bouncing off the walls, and then we'll go out and we'll do outreach together.

Is it my Saturday?

No.

It's his.

Are these my gifts?

No, they're his.

Is it my income?

No.

Is it uncomfortable to talk about?

Yeah, but it's still his.

But God doesn't only own the 10% that I return in the tithe.

Please catch this and hear me clearly this morning.

God doesn't own just the 10% I turn in the tithe.

The reason why that I give the tithe back to him, because he already gave me the 100% in the first place.

So if he asked me to leave the corners available, if he asked me to leave some room in my budget, that I have a coffee budget, that I have a budget where I could take people out to eat, if I need to take people out to eat, or if I need, if somebody calls and a little kid needs clothes, or somebody needs formula, or somebody needs something that I've already factored it in.

And so, okay, if my family doesn't have to live, isn't gonna live off the 90%, but we choose to live off the 80% because we leave another 10% for ministry and answering the call of God, then so be it.

Why?

If he already gave me the 100% and I gave him the tithe back, now I'm gonna choose to live off not just the 90, but I'm gonna live off the 80.

God's the God of the cattle of a thousand hills.

God is so wealthy and so rich that he done gave it to me in the first place if I trust him with all of it after he already commanded me to leave the extra for somebody else.

He'll restore the time to you, he'll restore the finances to you, he'll restore the talent, the treasure, everything that you gave up, that's the problem, is we're so holding so tightly and white-knuckled onto things, but the spirit has to transform us from the inside out that none of the stuff that I'm holding on to in the first place was ever mine.

The job that I have, that's a blessing from God.

The income that I have, it's a blessing from God.

The house that I have, it's a blessing from God.

My wife is a blessing from God, my children are a blessing of God.

Everything I own and everything I think that I possess.

And so would I say, Yes, he can have it all, he can have it all because it was already his.

If something gets messed up in the process, he'll take care of it.

If I get some somebody spills something in my car because I'm picking them up for church, it's okay.

God will help take care of it.

He already owns the 100% high steward.

God isn't constantly asking me to give stuff, give him my stuff.

He's showing me where he wants to use his stuff.

And then I've got to make it practical.

I've got to share my dinner table because it's his.

I gotta open my house because it's his.

I can leave margin in my budget because the budget belongs to him.

I can give somebody time because it's his.

And I can use my gifts because they're his.

This is where everybody, you can feel it in the room getting a little tense this morning.

And sometimes we're not selfish, we're just scared.

I think that's what's where the church is at today.

It's not, I don't believe that everyone in this room is inherently selfish.

I know you're not.

We're scared.

Because what if I need what I gave away?

Let's just be real this morning.

We've all had that thought.

What if I what if what if God is calling me to give an extravagant gift, but then I give it, and then all of a sudden I get hit with a bill that I wasn't aware that I didn't know about?

What if this ministry costs me too much?

What if opening my life becomes really inconvenient?

Matthew 6, 31 and 32.

He says this, that therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat?

Or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

For the Gentiles seek after all those things, and your heavenly Father knows all that you need in them all.

But here's what he says seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added with you.

Mission becomes easier when I trust the provider more than I trust the provision.

I've heard it said many a times this way.

If you take care of God's business, he'll take care of yours.

Because where the hand of God points, the hand of God will provide.

Stand all across this house.

What happens when so God sends so many people that the needs of the table become bigger than just a few people can carry?

Here's where ministry turns different, and outreach turns different that we've talked about.

Acts 6, 1 through 4.

And in those days, when the number of disciples were multiplied, there arose a complaint in that number against the Hellenists who against the Hebrews because they were being neglected in the daily distribution.

So in layman's terms, here's what's happening.

There's a need that arises for certain widows to be taken care of and to be met.

That's what it is what is what that's what scripture says, right?

Is that we love the widow and the and the fatherless.

That's what that's what he commands us to do.

And so now the needs of these widows aren't being met.

And this is early in the in the church, right?

This is this is Acts 6.

This is this four chapters after.

And so here here's what happens.

The need is real, the widows matter.

But Peter and the apostles personally are doing everything.

Is it sustainable?

There is no way that I can accomplish every ministry in this church, just like there's no way you can accomplish every ministry in this church.

Everyone has a capacity and has a limit.

Why?

Because we're human.

But there's another purpose in it.

It's because when the needs get crazy and the needs get heavy, and they will, and all of a sudden, this this this table, this table can only hold so many plates, and you can only sit so many people on each other's laps, and you can only crowd in so many people, is that we got to ask somebody to help us build another table.

And this is what true apostolic ministry is is that all of a sudden when I see the needs multiply, then I start multiplying disciples.

I start multiplying the apostles.

Hey, the Sunday school has gotten so big and that we our kids outnumber our teachers so much, then we go and we go say, Hey church, hey church, God is blessing us with more kids.

Here's a need that we have.

We need people just to help with Sunday school.

If you can wash your hands and serve some goldfish crackers and some Kool-Aid, then awesome.

We need you.

If you can tell them that the answer to everything is Jesus, then we need you.

If you can help us, if you can help us keep tables clean, then we need you.

Why?

Because God is going to keep sending the need because he trusts us.

But what is he really trusting us to do?

He's trusting us to look at who else is in this room and has capacity to serve.

And because God is not looking for do-it-alls.

That is not of God, that is of the enemy.

Notice what the enemy always does in scripture.

He just turns God's plan just a little bit.

And if Satan can turn you into a do-it-all, he's destroyed your ministry.

But what is God asking you to do, true apostolic ministry is handing things off.

It's not that Paul or Peter, any of the apostles are lazy.

They just realize I can't do it all.

I have the same 24 hours a day that you do.

I still need rest, I still need to eat, I need to, I still need to sleep.

I'm not God.

But what am I gonna do?

I'm gonna pour my spiritual DNA into you.

What God has so richly blessed me with, come here, I'm gonna bless you with.

Come follow along.

They serve with me.

And you can do this thing about 80, 75, 80% as good as I am.

Welcome to the ministry.

And you're gonna fail and you're gonna mess up and you're gonna make mistakes.

But here's our job as is it in my role as a pastor, is when those burdens start to rise, knees start to rise, I'm the resource allocator, and I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm like the lead trainer.

But you guys, at a certain point, I can't train everybody.

I can't, I can't, I can't do all of it.

And so I'm gonna be trusting you.

And when I say I trust you, I told the leadership this Friday night, I trust you.

Why?

Because God has trusted you, He has sent you here and He has given you for such a time as this.

Then who am I to say otherwise?

I will oversee it, I'll make sure the house and things are great.

I'll watch over the stuff that I'm supposed to watch over.

But my job is as in being apostolic is to say, hey, come on and join me in the mission, come on and join me in the purpose.

There are needs that need to be met, and I can't do it all, and you can't do it all.

So let's go find some people to help.

Let's go find some people who need to be filled with the spirit.

And once they're filled with the spirit, God can move and God can work and God can change the ride.

You know what healthy structure does in the church?

It creates room for more ministry.

Why?

Because there's empty chairs.

There are empty chairs, and when you look at those empty chairs, who are you seeing?

Are you seeing your prodigal son and your prodigal daughter?

Are you seeing family members who aren't here yet?

Are you seeing your neighbors?

Are you seeing the kids sitting next to you in class?

Because every one of these chairs represents somebody.

Every one of these chairs represents potential souls.

Why?

Who is this space for?

Maybe God's asking you to leave margin at your dinner table.

He's asking you to cook a setting for one or two more people.

He's asking to make a little margin in your calendar, a little margin in your finances, a little margin in your home, a little margin in your leadership, a little margin in your emotional capacity.

Maybe God has already put a burden in your spirit for need.

Nobody else has noticed yet in this church, and he will.

Because what does Jeremiah say?

Seek the peace of the city.

So, church, here's what I ask you.

How can more of what God has placed in his church, in this church, become available for the city and the surrounding areas?

Because sometimes apostolic ministry does not sometimes apostolic ministry looks like a miracle, but sometimes apostolic ministry looks like doing good.

Both can reveal Jesus.

Both the miracle and meeting the need can look like Jesus.

And we proclaim the gospel with our mouths and demonstrate its fruit with our lives.

Because here's the heartbeat of God.

There's an empty chair at my table.

Because there's people that I need for you to reach, for you to go, and for you to love on.

Every eye closed in this house, every head bow for a moment.

I don't know who you are this morning.

I know I sure know the Spirit of God is speaking to me.

But remember, the same voice that speaks with love in your life is the same voice that speaks with conviction.

And whatever God is talking to you about this morning and putting margin in, whether it's your time, whether it's your finances, whether it's your schedule, whether it's your work, whatever it is, God is all asking you ultimately to trust Him.

And here's the thing: you're not gonna understand at first where it's all gonna come from.

Where's where's that finance gonna come from?

Where's that answer gonna come from?

It's okay.

God is just simply saying, if you trust me with your time and your talent and your trust treasure right now, like you trusted me with your soul when you first ran to me and threw up your hands and asked for the forgiveness of your sins and I washed them away, and I baptized you in my name, and I baptized you in my spirit.

I'm that same God that was able to save your soul.

I'm the same God, and that same power, authority exists in me.

And so all your resources I've got it taken care of, your time I've got it taken care of, your marriage I've got it taken care of, your children I've got it taken care of.

And I rebuke the lie of the enemy, and I turn light onto darkness right now, and that we're not in a church that doesn't want to give and we're we're we're selfish, but God, I rebuke the spirit of fear that has crept into your house and crept into your people that we're so worried and concerned that we won't be taken care of.

May we be like the grass that does not wonder where the dew is gonna come from or the bird where its next meal is gonna come from.

But in scripture says, how much more does your heavenly father love you?

Can somebody be reminded in this house this morning that God will take care of you, where his hand points, he'll provide, where his spirit says go, he'll make a way.

When he says give, he'll return to it, he'll return it to you.

Press down and shake, press down and shake it over till your cup overflows.

And some of you have been coming against that spirit of fear and buttonheads against it time after time.

Right now, it is broken in the power and the authority in the name of Jesus.

Because here's what's gonna happen you're gonna walk out of this place, and it's not even gonna happen on Monday.

It's gonna happen when you walk out of this house, whether you're going to the grocery store to pick up something for today or tomorrow, or you're going to a restaurant to eat.

God is going to lead you specifically to a person, and it's going to start today.

God is going to open it up because he's speaking margin and conviction over your life right now.

And God is going to demonstrate his word, not just by miracle signs and wonders by our body, but miracles of supernatural direction.

I believe that right now.

I believe that, and I prophesy that over each and every one of us.

There are divine appointments that are going to be not just made because he's made them, but there's divine appointments that are going to be met and they're going to be kept by his people.

And we're going to stand back just this week and we're going to be scratching our heads and saying, Oh my goodness, I don't know how that happened, except for God.

Except for God.

Can I tell you this just this very week?

We talked about it Tuesday in practicality.

If we're supposed to be a blessing to bless, then who's my who?

Angela and I walked into Aldi's this week, and a girl ran up to her and hugged her.

The store manager down the street at our Aldi's was one of the kids in our youth group all the way back in Homa.

We're talking pre-2020.

Don't tell me that's not God.

And don't tell me that God doesn't have divine appointments set in this city.

So I don't know about you, but she's gonna be our hoofa right now.

So here's what I'm asking you.

We went home and cried because God is bringing it all back to circle.

We thought many things for us all the way back in Homer were lost, but God says anything that you sow into the kingdom is not lost.

God's gonna bring new people into your life, but He's gonna bring back people that you've come in contact to before.

It is going to be a season of the supernatural, not just in healings in the body and healings in the mind, but God is going to start bringing prodigals home, and God, you're going to feel the supernatural direction of God in your life like you never have before.

I believe that this morning.

I believe that this morning.

God, thank you for what you've done.

Thank you for what you're doing.

This is not a come and bury your bury your face in the kind of altar call, but this is go out and do kind of altar call.

May we wake up in this morning, may we make up tomorrow morning and ask God what you what now, not just who, but what do you want me to leave in the margins this morning for that person?

Is it my time?

Is it my talent?

Is it my treasure?

And God, I trust you with all of it.

It was yours in the first place.

Help me to go out and fulfill your mission and fulfill this great calling that you have first.

Somebody say in Jesus' name, Amen.

I love you so much, church.

Thank you for leaning into this season.

Thank you for leaning into this time.

And here's what I believe.

We're about to buckle up because God's about to supernaturally move in this church into this city like never before.

And he's going to use this house to do it.

Do you believe that?

Now go out and live it.

Love you guys so much.

Remember Tuesday night, seven, and Rafa 6 15 starts the meal and seven starts the uh the the lesson.