Perspective: The Great Commission, Mission Work in Kenya, and Our Call to Authentic Faith | June 25th | Pastor Brain Swiggart

Man, it's so good to get to be here.

I got two of these.

What do I do?

Put one here.

Hey, y'all like my shirt.

Yes, you like my shirt.

It is not from Walmart.

I tend to get one or two from there.

It's not from China, it is straight from Africa.

Yes, I know, you know, pastor Paul loves his shoes, loves his dress.

I got a tailor in Africa, got this tailor made while there a couple of weeks ago, and so, yes, today I have the privilege to get to share the message that God, I pray, wants us to hear today.

I don't preach very often, so I'm packing a whole lot in today, so you've got a couple of hours with me, right, all right, just kidding, just kidding, don't do that to you, but today I'm excited to get to share with you and to see and celebrate God's working in the world.

I want to give you a glimpse of that from how God is also using our church and through our church, which is very exciting, how he's working in and through us, and then what God wants us to do in the days ahead.

That I see so clearly and I pray you can too.

So today's message, one word title perspective.

If you think about it.

Life is all about perspective, and a healthy perspective changes everything.

Right, it's all about perspective.

Before we get into talking about that because my perspective and I've been blessed to go to Africa multiple times now and take teams there's a perspective that you get when you do something like that.

Many of you have experienced trips like that or going overseas in missions.

But before we get into that, I want to back up and remind us of the Great Commission.

This is Pastor Paul preached a couple of months, I mean a couple of weeks ago, early June.

He used this, the Great Commission.

And this is the final statement of Jesus to his followers, which extends to us, the church, today.

So these are his final words.

You imagine, all of history led up to Jesus being our savior.

Right, everybody say yes, right, that's true.

And then Jesus finished the task and conquered death.

And here's his final words to his people Matthew 28,.

I think it would be on the screen for you.

It says this it said Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Here's his final statement to them.

Therefore, go, and what Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you, and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

So there's one more part to this.

That was what he said to them and then he left them.

And then there's one last moment with Jesus before he ascends to heaven, in Acts, chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

It's the beginning of the book of Acts, the history of the start of the New Testament Church, acts, chapter 1, I want you to go see this also.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

That connects to the Great Commission.

It's final words for us to go and make disciples of all nations.

Now here's his final statements in Acts, chapter 1, verse 6.

Acts 1:6

This is his final moment with his people, he says.

Then they gathered around him and asked him Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel or the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them it is not for you to know the time or the dates the Father has set by his own authority.

But what does it say next?

That you will receive what Power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

And what does it say?

And you will be what my witnesses to Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

After this he was taken up before their very eyes in a cloud, hid him from their sight.

That was the last time humanity saw Jesus physically directly.

Until he comes back, that we're anticipating together.

So there was a charge that Jesus gave his followers to go and make disciples, to go into all the nations and this is where you've heard Pastor Paul and us reference this here, near and far, locally, and near and then far.

That's where that comes from.

So I want to take you on a journey a little bit to see where God has allowed us to go far into the mission world and the area and that I got the privilege to help lead a team to a couple of weeks ago.

So I want to show some pictures.

This is funny.

How many of you grew up in church?

You remember the old missionary that had come and had little slides back then, that little overhead or a little projector.

I got a huge screen for you.

So I'm going to show you a few pictures and I want to just walk you through this journey of hopefully.

In a way it's really really tough.

There's like hundreds of pictures and I could only choose a handful to try to tell you a story, and it's tough to tell you the story of what we experienced in a short time, but I want to do my best just to try to let you see the first picture.

If you go and show, it is our team, this is our team.

Give it up for the team of 12.

Yep, if you're here, raise your hand, raise your hand, you're here with us.

Yep, yep, some of them over here, the Chamblises and Darren and my wife, but we were a ragtag team God put together to go on this trip and had a great experience and a great time.

As a God, given the team and the bond that you form going on a trip like this, it's quite amazing.

But let me show you another picture of just the people of Africa.

You can see, these are all pictures that I took, or our team took, just when we were there a couple of weeks ago.

But these people that God has blessed us to go to, god connected us to this area of Kenya, africa, outside of Kasuma.

It's a rural area called a harrow in Oasi, and that area is where we go.

And in 2016, our son created a nonprofit called House for a Home, where we wanted to start building homes for the homeless somewhere around the world.

God connected us to this place and since then we've been building homes and we've been taking teams to be a part of that, and we're partnered with a feeding program called Nourishing the Nations that feeds these children.

And so these people are $1 to $2 a day people that God has blessed us to go and minister to One to $2 a day.

I asked some of these questions just to make sure I understood correctly too.

A teacher there makes $5 a day, so middle class educated $5 a day.

Many of these people don't have access to clean water, easy access.

Many don't have electricity.

Many don't eat more than one meal a day and whatever meal it is, it's usually rice and beans or chapati or ungale.

Do I have any African family here?

Friends?

Yes, some of you from.

Yes, yeah, I love the ungale and chapati.

It's great.

Chapati's like a thick tortilla, it's awesome in it.

But that's what hear this.

$150 can sustain a family in this rural area a month.

$300 can sustain somebody in the town or the city, a family.

That's the kind of people God has allowed us to rub shoulders with.

It's very humbling that we get to go and be God's hands and feet and light and love to these people.

So let me show you the next slide.

I'll try to move through them a little quicker.

But this is building a home here.

This is the process.

We build homes to date.

We have built 260 homes since 2016 in this area.

And the family this is Nigel and Doreen, the building on the right Husband, wife, two children lived in that little spot and we got the privilege to build them a new shelter.

It's a shelter it's not a home, like you and I know, but to them that is a miracle of God that would never happen outside of what God has allowed us to be a part of through his church, because we do all of this through the churches there and the pastors there.

But this is a young couple without any education, never were able to go to school.

The mother went to the church and the pastor was able to say to her that we'll help your children with a home for them and their kids, and so we were able to build this home for them, and then I think they, both, noreen and Doreen or, excuse me, nigel and Doreen accepted Jesus while we were there and got at the dedication.

So go to the next picture.

This next picture is one we built four homes while we were there.

This is one other home I just wanted to show you.

This is Catherine and Victor.

This is them on the left here and you can see in the middle my friend, jeff, who went with us on the trip, is speaking to Victor.

Victor had left the home because he couldn't provide for the home.

He lost his job during COVID, couldn't provide and, in custom, whatever the shame, he just left the home.

So when they found out, god threw the pastor that they're going to build us a home.

The pastor told her to call her husband and tell him to come home because God is providing a home for them.

So he came home and this was the first time they'd seen each other, and I don't know how long, but at this moment my wife and the other pastor were praying about this, for this and for him to come to Jesus.

And you're watching the moments after he came to Jesus, when Jeff, my friend, told him hey, he had his head down the whole time and Jeff said look up at me, look up at me, I contact and it's talking life into him, talking Jesus into him, and he accepted Jesus as his savior, and they were at church last Sunday.

So y'all celebrate that one more time.

So this is another home on the right.

You can see the stuff we were able to give.

We gave a month's supply of food for these families with the hope this was a pilot for us to try to see if we want them not to worry about their food for the next day, so that they can try to think about how they can create a way to gain, a way to have to provide for themselves instead of worrying about the meal of that day.

So we were able to do that with each of the four homes we were able to build.

So go to the next slide.

I'll move on.

Are y'all OK?

All right?

So feeding children this is the picture In all five of the churches that we work through.

They feed them in the church.

So that's the church building you're seeing on the side, and rice and beans is the order every day.

They do these near schools because the schools do not have food.

They let them out for lunch and the kids some, many of them don't have a meal at all.

So the church is right there providing food through our partner organization called Nourishing the Nations, and so they.

We get to go, when we're there, to help feed the children and get to play with the children.

It's really, again, a beautiful thing to get to do.

Go to the next slide I'm going to show you on.

And then, in the midst of this, this is out of school.

We got to share Jesus with them and share the gospel with them.

Many times we were able to do this kind of thing.

We went to the school one day, but this is Caleb and Jenna sharing the gospel through the emojis that Pastor Paul and we've talked about here.

We were able to share them.

We gave them these zip bags for them, for their school.

So it's just again humbling to see us getting able to love these kids like this and share the gospel.

I'm sitting in the middle picture.

I'm just sitting right there.

These kids are too cute, aren't they?

So go to the next slide.

We'll keep going.

Love and children.

There's just another picture of the kids and are getting a moment to play with them.

Darrell Ryan's on the right side over here holding the speaker up and we're dancing around and they're playing, having a great time, and it's just a beautiful moment to get to do that with them.

Go to the next slide.

I'm going to show you some other pictures now about churches.

Let me just show you this real quick because if you've been around us for a while, we've talked about building churches in Africa.

Well, here's some results for you.

We sent funds over early this year to build a couple of churches.

I was able to go in October and November October, end of October and this is me taking this picture on the left, standing in this mud hut of a church.

That's the picture of the church on the right side.

And I was able to stand at that place back in October and say to the people after hearing them, I was able to be God's messenger from us and say God has sent us here to see where he's working and to be able to join him where he's working.

And I said someday, soon, you're going to have a home, a new church place for you to worship in and see God do some new and great things in.

Take a look at the next slide.

That's the church building that we were able to help provide.

So we gave the funds for this church like $4,000 to build that.

We got millions of dollars here.

So again, perspective people $4,000 built that building and church and they got a kitchen in the back for the feeding program.

That's right next to the school, that's to the left.

They just got this new water well in that the people or other partnering group somebody gave donation for the water well and electricity.

This church is about to thrive.

As it.

Go to the next picture, if you would, as they get ready to minister to the school and the parents in a way that they've never been able to do before, by having a feeding program and a new building.

So this is inside the building here, and so this is Matando that you helped give funds for us to build a church for them.

So go to the next one.

I'll show you one more.

This was also back in October, the picture that I took when I was there, and the left side is me with a group of people there who had we had built a home for a lady.

She accepted Jesus, the pastor began to do a Bible study with her, and others came and accepted Jesus, enough that you see the crowd right there without a place to meet.

So then, we have the privilege to help provide and make a difference here.

So go to the next slide and you can see the church that you and I and we were able to build, and this beautiful woman in the middle was the lady, the mama, that received Jesus, received a home, received Jesus and from that all of this came to be.

So go ahead and go to the next slide.

This is one other one the church in Kugwetty.

This, you see, we were walking and this is our team this is just two weeks ago our team walking up, our team walking up to this group of people.

Look, notice their tattered tent.

That's their meeting place.

We got to walk up there and meet these people and then talk with them and pray with them and give them Bibles.

You see, the picture on the right is them all having a Bible in their language, which is I don't know how many.

You have how many Bibles, and we don't crack it very often, some of us.

It is a cherished jewel for them and so we got to give them Bibles, and this is a place that needs a church.

And there's a story of the lady who heard the message from the church across the river and from hearing that message, she walked across 45 minutes the next Sunday to meet the church pastor.

The pastor went over and started doing Bible study with her, and that's the result of those group of people.

So we got go ahead, yeah.

So we got to meet with them and talk with them and anticipate the day that we can provide them a facility as well, if that's what God wants us to do, which I think he does actually.

So, all right, one more, one more to walk, one more, let's see, keep going, okay, yes, two, I think.

Two other slides the squirrel.

Well, you see that this is give it up for Flying Squirrel, amy and Darryl.

They may be in the next service.

They're not here, but the Rhyans have the Flying Squirrel Coffee Shop downtown Mansfield.

Every Christmas they do a whole day where funds go to something.

Two Christmases ago they said we wanted to go to a water well after they saw what God was doing there.

Well, this was the water well.

It went to that.

They got to go on the trip with their son and her brother and they got to stay in there and experience the difference life-giving water makes to people.

This water well now helps 400 families get clean water that weren't able to get clean water easily before.

Every family that comes that's new they share the gospel with because this is right at the church in Rappogy Baptist Church where JB is the pastor, and so, yeah, it was just as you can imagine the experience for the Rhyans getting to go and see that and be a part of that.

Then just two more and I'm done with this part.

The next one yeah, this is intermission, no, just kidding.

Second Peter and Anne.

Second Peter and Anne.

Second Peter, on the left, he is one of the five pastors.

He's like the logistics guy that helps coordinate things.

That's his wife, anne.

I just show you this because one of our visions is how do we help them with supports so they could create something that's reproducible?

It's that entrepreneurship right, the micro loan kind of thing, or something.

Well, miss Anne has had a dream of having some sewing machines to create a place to teach women how to sew dresses and shirts like this.

She's the one that made the dresses for our ladies that went, and so, through my wife and prayers and funds that we had, we were able to gift her I think it was $600 to buy two sewing machines and material, and she sent Darla a text yesterday, or Peter did, and said they already have like 10 women ready to go, they have a place ready, they have the sewing machines, they have the fabric and they're ready to go, and so that is just a powerful thing of empowering them to help make a living and make a difference.

And then the last picture is just a last one of the worship time on Sunday, and I got the preach two weeks ago there and it's quite interesting to preach with a interpreter, but it's good and God blessed that time.

Their services are like two and a half hours, so you and our 70, 80, 90 minutes is just no big deal.

Just say that to yourself.

It's no big deal, right?

But this is Darryl and my wife and some of them were singing, and just a beautiful picture.

I will tell you that one of the other things that God let us to do is sit in that building.

Those are metal buildings.

Let me back up.

It's not near as hot in Africa as it is in Texas.

Especially next week it was.

It was 60s at night, mid 80s in the day, hot for a little bit, but not bad, but still it's hot.

You get in a metal box with lots of people no, ac, it's hot.

I'm sitting on my phone right over there adjusting our air before I get up here to preach because it was a little humid in here and I wanted it a little cooler for me.

Here we are, all of you want blankets, we want a cool.

But here we are in this and we're in there and I was just looking up at the A-frame and just going imagine, man, they could put some fans up here.

How much could it be to put some fans up here?

So I asked Peter, who's a construction guy, and he told me midway through the week he said it'd be about $1,000 to do all five churches with fans.

This sounds little to you.

I said absolutely done, because of who God I'm a messenger from our church to, and what God is loudest.

I said done, done.

This Sunday it's probably four o'clock at their time right now, or something like that.

But this Sunday morning all five churches got to worship with ceiling fans blowing air on them and I mean that sounds so.

I say it sounds silly, but it's not how significant.

The pastors text me this morning, I'm getting ready and it's their afternoon.

They finished the church and they're texting me and going.

Brian, it was so nice this morning.

The fans and our people were so surprised.

I want to second.

Peter said this is a miracle of God we never thought could happen.

Ceiling fans, perspective you want to talk about perspective?

I'll tell you the exponential power of investing deep in the same place.

I know some of you from Africa, different places that I connected with.

Hey, you need to come to our country, you need to get yes, we do and I want to.

Who knows what the Lord will do in the days ahead but the power of continuing invest in the same place, where building homes, we're feeding children, we're providing shelter, food, water and Jesus and opportunity, it's a powerful thing.

So my plug for you Africa 2024, if you're interested, all of you who said I want to go next time, right out by the map, the world map will all there, right by Africa.

There's a QR code for you to sign up that you're interested.

That's my one plug, because some of you are going to come up and go.

I want to go.

So I would say come on and go with this next time.

So I just want to say thank you to everyone who gives faithfully to God through your church.

We are getting to be a part of God's work in the kingdom Because you are faithful in that giving and know this.

You've heard this phrase.

If it ain't true now I don't know.

But on the other side of your giving are changed lives.

It is a true statement.

You need to catch that and hear that and know that that's true.

So I'll tell you to celebrate.

One of the things God wanted me to do with you is celebrate the stirrings of God in our church, and this was one of those things that's well done church we are reaching.

And we can't change every part of the world, but we can change the part of the world God calls us to Right.

We can make a dent and do what God's called us to do.

So just I want you to see some of the ways God's working in and through us, not just in Africa, but all over.

And I just did these slides to help me get through this quicker, and so you're not just hearing me speak about it, but just the our annual mission offering was a miracle this past Christmas.

You can see up there how much it was, which was the increase from the previous year.

Miraculous that God has infused in us a want and a willing to be a part of his mission, in our mission giving.

And then Africa we have connections to Ecuador in July 17 to 21.

There's a soccer camp coming here from our team that we support in our equity or, excuse me, ecuador, and they're coming here to do ministry to our community as they disciple the kids and people in Ecuador.

The DR with the Harkies there now and our connection giving some to them and the potential there, pioneer Bible translators with Thai and sharing, creating, helping the Bible come to life in languages that didn't exist and then sharing that around.

And then we got our New Orleans mission trip that we did, the builders trip every summer.

That is happening next week.

Like 25 to 30 people from our church are going up.

They're going to rough it up in Colorado.

You know that'd be rough, right, but they're going to go serve and help another church, our Excel network.

On Thursday I was able to go.

Our team went to another church where we hosted an Excel church planting network meeting and there was almost 100 there, I guess, but our team was able to help church planters with how to do what God's called them to do in the world.

Our pastor, paul, has a passion for church planting and multiplying God's church and so we got to be a part of that.

Do get to be our pastors, the lead of our regional hub in this area and gives direction in the whole church planting network nationally.

But then then our vision and heart to plan another campus.

It's here, it's time and we have a passion and we're working and praying towards that.

All the way to that was far and near and now it's the here.

You see, all the things that we're connected to, that we are, we are a part of and we're trying to be about to be about the kingdom, and I'll even I see Miss Hannah down here, camp Skylark, camp Skylark is happening.

How many weeks now?

Three, four weeks of having children come here every day, and every day they get to hear a story about the gospel and a story about Jesus, and so we have a mission that's happening right here at our campus during the summer.

So I want you just to celebrate with me.

Come on, let's celebrate what God has to do.

And the one other piece I want you to see go to the next slide.

The one other slide here is just the recognition here.

I asked Ms Brandy like 16 children accepted Jesus so far since the first of this year and they're getting baptized and you're watching that and great things are happening through our children's ministry, our student ministry with Pastor Sly stepping on as our full-time pastor of students and giving a vision for our student ministry in a direction for that.

And we've already had a number of kids get, students get saved.

He got to baptize on Father's Day weekend a couple of students and so on.

And on college and young adults you're having like 30 plus of college age young adult age gathering every Tuesday night pouring in and loving on each other.

If you're a young adult in here and you're not connected to that, let's get you connected to that.

But there's so many ways we're seeing in our women's ministry just different connections.

Our men's ministry, the discipleship that's happening In our men's ministry to help men that have never learned how to be a father or be a husband or be a man, how to become that.

That's another passion Pastor Paul has and it is one of the best at any church on how to help a man be a man through MOI.

And then I just applied for Celebrate Recovery and we have the choices that lead that every Friday out across the hall, 25 plus people gather, walking through Hertz, habit and Hangups.

It's not just about drinking, it's not just about drugs, it's about any hurt habit or hangup and if you have any of those kind of things you can't get past, it's a great place for you.

Re-engage we've watched people who are married today and wouldn't have been if they hadn't gone through re-engage.

So I want you to see and celebrate that God is working in our family One more time.

Can you do that One more time?

Okay, it's all about perspective.

What bit do you go with?

Do you go with the negative bit or do you go with God's working bit, and what bit do you go with?

It's all about perspective.

Here's what I want you to hear.

The other side of all this is this is just a stirring from God.

This is something God wants us to hear today.

It's just a stirring, it's just a taste.

This is the whole pivot of my message for you to hear today what we're seeing, all that I shared with you about Africa or all the other great stuff that's happening.

It is just a stirring.

The definition of a stir stirring is an initial sign of activity or movement or emotion.

The synonyms for that are arousing, awakening, provoking, stimulating, motivating, inspiring.

There is more that God wants to do.

God has more for His people in this church.

Would you agree with me?

You think about that.

It's great, as all that was I shared with you.

God wanted me to share that with you, but he also wanted me to go.

Wait a minute.

Perspective, because if we're not careful, we sit here and go, oh, everything's great.

We know we're not a perfect church by any, by any.

There are challenges, but we could just sit around and go, oh, everything's great.

But there is so much more that God wants from us.

What kind of church do you want to be?

Because I think about that in my passion.

I want to be a great church, not just a good church, a great church, not just a good church, and we'll talk about the difference in a second.

But how many of us want to be able to say I remember when we were part of an amazing work of God, where we saw God do amazing things we've never seen before, and it was a moment of the chapter of my life that was an amazing experience.

How many of you want to be a part of a church like that I do, where our children are able to grow up in a church where God is doing miraculous things?

I want to be a part of a church like that.

I want to be a part of a church where we see the hope and rescue and love and salvation to the here near and far happen in so many ways.

That's the church that fulfills the Great Commission.

God is working, but it is a stirring or the tip of what he wants to do.

We are a good church, but we are not yet a great church, and that's not a negative statement.

We are a good church but we're not yet a great church.

This is again perspective.

Perspective gives us focus about the right thing in the right way, with the right attitude, and so if we're not careful, again we can act like everything's fine, we can go about our way, you can go.

Great message, great Africa, that's awesome, this is so good, and we all walk away feeling great.

But we could be playing a game of playing church and thinking we're doing what God wants us to do.

So here's what I want to do Finish this time, finish this time.

The last little bit is a quick, little faith check for you.

This is where it comes in all the way from me to learn about Africa to about you.

Little faith check here's the question for you, and I'll give you three simple ways to answer the question.

The question for you is this Are you a kingdom Christian or a convenient Christian?

This is for you.

Are you a kingdom Christian or a convenient Christian?

There are three simple tests and I'm going to give you the three simple tests real quick, with God's word with it, and then we'll be done.

Test number one who is first test?

This is about your priority.

Who is first the?

Who is first test?

Here's a couple of questions for you to help you with that.

Are you about God's business or about your own business?

What is your first priority God and his kingdom or your life and world?

And God needs to fit into your world.

Matthew 22.

We talked about the Great Commission, but here's the Great Commandment.

The greatest commandment is this In Matthew 22, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in law.

And Jesus replied what did he say?

What did he say?

What did he say?

What did he say?

Keep going, keep going.

Yep, with everything you are.

So here's an interesting, challenging question as you think about it is your life about God's business or your business?

Do you love him and live for him, or do you like him and live for you?

Casual faith makes Jesus convenient when it's convenient.

We pull him in when it's needed versus the other that we're all in.

What would it look like for you to go all in and truly loving God and being about his business and his mission?

When you do that, worship is not just something you attend, it is a passion.

There is an exuberance that your heart is enraptured by being a part of worship.

And it's not just something you do on a Sunday, it's something you do every day and you think like that.

That's a kingdom person.

You embrace your part in the mission.

Personally, can I tell you, pastor Paul has challenged us for years about this 8 to 15.

That's what he preached about a couple of weeks ago.

The 8 to 15.

God has supernaturally and strategically placed 8 to 15 people in your world for you to be the primary one to lead them to him.

Kingdom Christians, nervous, scared, don't know what to do.

But take that seriously.

What would it look like with the hundreds of us walking out of here with prayers every day for those 8 to 15 people in our world, looking for the moments and then getting those moments?

You think if we prayed about it and prayed about them, we wouldn't have those moments.

Hundreds of times that happened.

That's when you go back to this great side versus good side.

So that's test number one, test number two.

Test number two is the what we have test, the what we have test.

This has to do with your possessions.

Do we use what we have for kingdom or for us?

Do we try to build and amass our kingdom or God's?

This can easily be seen.

This is gonna step on your toes, but this is seen through your finances and through your stewardship of what you have.

We are to be good stewards of what God has given us and not about using it all on us.

This is where giving, this is where tithing, this is where God calls us to be generous, cheerful givers.

Kingdom Christians, see that Scripture for you here Matthew 6, 19 and 21, says do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where maws and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where maws and vermin do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is.

What does it say?

So where's your treasure?

Is your treasure in heaven?

That's a good steward or is your treasure here, sitting in the driveway that you recreate on or you go on vacation on?

I know that's tough, but we need to hear this because if we're not careful, our perspective is oh, everything's fine, but we're missing because we're too convenient as Christians.

As long as God fits in my box, I'm great for him, as long as church is cool and I get the TED Talk every week I heard that the other day.

Too often we look for the TED Talk.

We want to be moved by God, to be his people, am I right?

That's the difference of a good church and a great church, a kingdom Christian and a convenient Christian.

So a quick little sign for you, just about this whole giving thing, let me just give you this.

I'm gonna shoot straight with you.

Can I shoot straight?

Please?

Can I shoot straight with you?

Okay, I'm over our finances at our church, so I just want to give you a little stats just to help you get a perspective.

That's different.

Maybe we have a $2.3 million budget here and currently behind in our giving by 18% or $129,000.

We're doing okay, we're okay, but that's just.

That's the truth.

We have near, so catch that.

You heard that.

So that's just.

We have right at around 500 households that this is their home.

If you take the median income of our area I looked it up this week median income for a home in our area is $102,000.

That may be a lot for some of you.

It's okay, it's median.

It's median.

Some are more, some are less the median $102,000.

If every one of us at 500 households were tithing, what would our budget be?

Math people $5 million, right at $5 million.

If so, catch that that would be if we were all tithing.

Now that's kind of crazy.

All of us aren't there yet.

Some of us are growing.

We are a church of next steps.

We love the growth cycle, right.

So let's just say half of us 250 families, just half were tithing, We'd be at $2.5 million receipts, our budget's 2.3, and we're 20% behind.

Just perspective, just perspective.

I just need you to see that.

I feel God wanted me to share that with you today, for you to see it's not about us amassing money.

It's about the kingdom's work, that God has all the resources needed within his family to do what he's called us to do, and he has that within you and he's calling you to be a good steward.

My wife and I have tithed for 34 years of our marriage.

Never not tithed Pastor Paul and his wife, their entire marriage have never not tithed.

Many of you are that as well, but many of us aren't there yet.

My challenge for you is to get there.

To get there, because there's a big difference in being a kingdom Christian and a convenient Christian.

So the tests there.

The last test I'll give you is the what we do test.

What we do test.

This has to do with our servant.

Where are you with your time in regard to serving, serving God in your church or community?

Is your time focused on you?

Is your time taken up so much with your own things you don't have time to serve?

Is serving an interest you have to give to God and others or an obligation that you try to avoid?

And 1 Peter 4-10 just quickly says each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.

Mark 10,.

I won't read the whole thing, but Jesus himself said I came not to be served.

But what To serve?

And just the signs that were not there yet.

Is any of you gone in college?

And the business world stuff, 80-20 principle you know that stuff?

Right?

The 80-20?

That's us.

20% are doing 80% of the work and every team, from cafe to production, to connection, to greeter, to children, to every team needs more volunteers, can I say that?

And so God has called you in his family for a purpose, and that is to serve.

Not to attend, just attend, but to serve, and so my encouragement is that we shouldn't be struggling.

A great church has more than enough serving and then more than enough involved.

And so, in summary, I just want you to hear this thank you to everybody that faithfully serves.

You are the backbone, but it's not supposed to be just you.

It takes an army, not just a group, and so I want to challenge you as you think of these three tests.

These are not unique to us, these are not unique to Tikal.

People struggle, giving and finances are a challenge around the world, and people serving as a challenge, and us and us amassing our own kingdom versus God is a challenge.

It's all around us.

We're doing good in lots of ways and we can celebrate, but it's just a tip of the iceberg.

The Great Commission hear this calls for a great church.

The Great Commission Jesus gave to the last moments with his people deserves a great church to follow that great commission, not a good church.

And so my call to you today and my challenge is for you to imagine what it would be like if we made that shift.

Imagine what the church that you dream about being a part of would be like when you step into not being a convenient Christian.

If any one of these three tests you kind of maybe do on the not so great side, god wants you to hear it today, to make a shift so you can move from not being a convenient Christian but to be a kingdom Christian, then, when all of us, more and more of us, start to shift from the convenient to the kingdom, then that's when greatness starts to happen.

We are just at the tip of the iceberg.

If we all were in that giving mode that I referenced earlier.

How you wanna build that next church, you know God's.

We're halfway around the world.

We have the resources.

They don't.

God uses us.

Let's build another church.

You ready for another one?

You ready for another one.

You tie.

You know a place that needs it.

Your home needs it.

Let's do it.

It would be no problem if we were all in the kingdom mindset.

So that's my prayer for you today, wherever you are, whichever test that challenges you, that you wake up to that test and go.

God, what do you want me to do about that?

And you take your step.

And I want to tell you what Pastor Larry said to us about the serve day is a great opportunity for us to put together, put to practice, being a serving family.

So I know it's gonna be hot, but you know what.

That's okay.

You do things in the hot every day.

It'll be all right.

You'll be through by lunchtime or whatever.

We got water for you.

You can put one of those neck wraps on.

You'll be all right.

You'll be all right, I promise.

But for us to get out of these four walls together as a family and faith, to go serve the community together, for them to see you know what.

It's not just about us gathering over here and doing our little powwow.

We're out here to show God's love to you.

I want to challenge you, every one of us, today, please don't wait.

On our side, the logistic side, it's quite challenging for us as we try to anticipate.

Jump in, be apart and join us.

And today you need a sign up for serve day.

You've got the card.

You see it on the screen.

You can do it easily.

You can ask questions at ConnectPoint.

But I want to ask you do you want to be a great church or are you okay just being a good church?

I want to be a great church and that's my prayer.

Who would you stand with me?

Let's stand.

The band's going to come on out.

We're going to sing a song and then we'll be done.

But if Faith Point team, go ahead and come on up and if you want to pray with somebody in a moment, we're going to sing this song and you need somebody to pray with you.

Maybe it's test one, test two, test three, maybe it's all three of them.

I don't know where God wants to touch you today, but I pray you'll respond.

Lord, we pray right now.

We thank you for the day, we thank you for the opportunity to be here.

We thank you for the message, the encouragement of all, the celebration of what you're doing in our midst, but it's just the tip of the iceberg of what you want to do.

Help us move, those of us who need to move more towards being the kingdom man of God, the kingdom woman of God, the kingdom family that, in all ways, are working to honor you best we can.

We ask for you to help us.

Lord.

Be with us right now, lord, I pray.

If somebody needs prayer, they would come down.

Allow us to pray with them or for them as we sing this song, and let's respond to you as we sing this song, as you would want us to.

In your name, we pray Amen.