Why the Modern Church is Failing at Discipleship // Terry Kreuger

Uh if you are new to 614 and new in the last couple of years, Terry Kruger and I uh and our families go back almost 21 years when we met each other back in Los Angeles.

Um you'll hear it sounds a little bit like uh South African.

That's because he is a lot like a South African.

He actually is one.

Uh that was so weird, sorry.

Uh and um, but yes, uh when when when when God told Kathy and I and laid this idea of a church plant here in Columbus on our heart, I was working in Huntington, it made no sense, I had no time with four little kids, and for some reason I looked to him for voice of reasons to talk me out of it.

I said, TK, we feel like the Lord told us this.

So we had lunch and he said something like this.

He said, Go for it, how hard can it be?

That was him.

But then he also said this: he says, I don't care how many people you have, grab six people around a living room.

I'll come and come into the chair and help you build what God has for you.

And truth to his word, within two months of our church starting, TK started investing in our church, investing in our team.

He's a dear friend, he's on the NCMI team that we partner with.

And would you stand with me, please, to give a big, big welcome to Terry Krueger as he comes up right now?

So San, just open your hands with me, close your eyes.

This always goes a little differently, and just as I was getting up, I just thought, let's just receive from the Lord what he has for us this morning.

There might be a few people in here that are just heavy burdened this morning.

You just you came in here with a load.

Whether that's a spiritual load or a physical load.

You just feel like there's a weight on you.

That might be something that's going on in your life.

You might be weighted for a member of your family or a friend.

A little bit of sadness on you for the situation.

Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Just release it now.

Whether it's something in your life or something that you waited for for a loved one.

Just release it now.

Just release it.

Not your burden to carry.

Not your burden to carry.

Just release it.

Just another minute.

Let's just stay here for a minute.

Let's not rush this.

Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name.

Thank you, my God.

Thank you, my God.

Father, we thank you.

You said you would not leave us as orphans.

You would send your Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and help us and comfort us.

So we just receive, Lord, all that you have for us this morning in the very depths of our spirit this morning, Father, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Grab a seat if you can.

Wonderful to be here with you guys this morning.

My wife sends her love.

She's back in Denver, Colorado.

And uh we we love this church.

As Dave said, we've got a long-standing friendship and relationship with these guys.

And it's always a privilege.

It's always a privilege for me to come here.

And uh I said this morning sometimes I feel it's more like a family reunion than a ministry trip because that is that is really what it feels like.

Is there still a weight on some of you?

I don't want to rush that.

If you still wait it, just give me some indication because I'm happy just to lean into that a little bit more.

Anybody still waiting?

Just raise your hand.

You can just okay, that's good.

Yeah, so we love being here.

Love the love this church and love the story of this church.

As as David said, the first time we came here, there was a handful of us in the living room.

And uh it's it's always so remarkable because it's the same living room.

You know, we sit in that living room last night and we came here this morning.

And what God has done, I think the 614 story is a very, very unique story, a very a very God story in in our day.

So well done for being part of it.

Let's have you guys up.

Asa is desperate to be on the stage, so let's let's just get her up here.

Oh, now she doesn't want to come anymore.

Oh, that's great.

So we're gonna bring these guys onto the eldership this morning.

We're gonna ordain them.

We did it in the first service, we're gonna do it again.

So by the time we're done, they are gonna be really ordained.

That's all I can tell you.

I don't know what's gonna happen.

So I'm gonna read a scripture for you real quick.

If you have a Bible, turn with me to Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

You know how those books work?

Yeah?

Gentiles eat pork chops.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.

You know, simple men, you've got to remember things like that, yeah?

You know how the gospels work?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, hold the horse while I get on.

That was all for free.

That was no extra charge this morning.

So here we go.

So wonderful to hear pages turning, you know?

So often you go to church, you say, turn with me a Bibles.

It's just dead silent because people are on their tablets or their phones.

Hold if you've got a real Bible, hold it up.

That is such a beautiful thing to see.

That is absolutely beautiful.

Well done.

Well done, well done.

Okay, here we go.

Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

What time do we finish here, David?

12 30.

Uh, Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

I'm reading from verse 1.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord.

It is no trouble for me to write these same things to you again.

Some translations say to remind you.

Because it is a safeguard for you.

Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh.

Though I myself have reason for such confidence.

If anyone else thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.

This is a very confident man about his confidence in the flesh.

Circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regards to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

That's a strong word.

But whatever was to my prophet I now consider lost for the sake of Christ.

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

I want to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, and so become like him in death, and so somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Lord led me to the scripture a couple of months ago, and it's the Lord works like that with me.

Sometimes he'll give me a scripture, and so I've read this text daily over the last couple of months, just so stirred again with Paul's recalibration and what he does here.

And so I just want to speak this over you guys as you come onto this eldership.

Just a few things real quick.

Number one, reminders are key.

Reminders are absolutely critical.

I think pastors and leaders and preachers sometimes get into trouble when we think we've got to come up with something new all the time.

When actually sometimes we just have to pull back and remind people of the goodness of God, remind people of the gospel, remind people of the love and the mercy and the grace of God in their situation.

Second thing I want to say is this when he says, you know, he says, uh, I've got all these qualifications.

Let's not get caught up in playing religious games.

We don't want to compare, we don't want to compete.

Not what God has called us to.

We want to stay in our lane, we want to serve on this team in the way with the gifts and the skills that God has called us to, not always be competing or comparing or wishing it was something else.

Traveling with uh Caleb, he serves on our eldership team and leads our worship for us.

And and and let me tell you now, if I had to choose my calling, I would choose to be a worship leader.

But but we've got a few problems with that.

Number one, I'm not musical, I cannot play an instrument.

And when I sing, it sounds like somebody's dropping a sack of hammers on a concrete floor.

So it is not good.

It is absolutely not good.

But the church would grow if I lead worship.

That's the crazy thing.

If I started to lead worship, the church would grow because the church grows under persecution.

But but in the meantime, I'm gonna let Caleb lead.

I'm gonna stay in my lane and do what God has called me to do.

I want to say that God has not called us to compete or compare, but God has called us to be co-laborers.

Firstly, with Him.

We are co-laborers with Christ.

What an incredible privilege that is.

And then to make a contribution to this team.

Whatever skills and gifts you bring, you bring them to bear in the church.

I didn't I didn't say this earlier.

I didn't say this earlier, but if I forget to say it later, I I want to say this, man.

There are no junior elders.

When we ordain you today, you are as much an elder as the longest serving elder in the life of this church.

So you just have to allow that to breathe some energy into you.

Third thing I want to say about this text that shows us the real value of Christ, the true value of Christ.

Paul is recalibrating everything here for us.

What was to my gain I count as loss, everything rubbish compared to Christ.

And I want to say that's such a foundation for eldership.

Such a foundation, not about position, not about influence, not about recognition, but everything a loss, everything of no value, everything rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Him.

See, serving on an eldership team is not just about preaching Christ, but it's also about knowing Christ.

It's also about our personal relationships, not about leading people, it's about walking with Christ.

Not just about doing the work, but allowing Jesus to be formed in us every day.

Our call, therefore, is not primarily functional.

Our call is primarily relational.

You doing okay?

Sober moment, huh?

Sober moment, but also incredible celebration to see people added to an eldership team.

Sober because the task at hand will cost.

There is a price to pay, but the privilege always outweighs the price that we pay.

Celebration because the kingdom of God is advancing.

And as I lay hands on you this morning, I'm trusting for an impartation from God.

An impartation of capacity, an impartation of ability, and an impartation to see people and this church completely differently.

So I'm gonna lay a charge before you this morning.

You guys are getting apart in this thing in just a minute.

So I'm gonna lay a charge before you.

I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and if you agree, please respond positively.

Yeah?

Okay, here we go.

Do you believe it is by God's hand that you have been placed in governmental authority over this church today?

Thank you.

Will you do all you can to protect the unity of this eldership team and of this church?

Right.

Will you seek the best for this church and these people over your own levels of comfort and convenience?

This is going well, eh?

Yeah?

You think it's going well?

I thought it was going well.

Will you seek the best in people?

Believing that each one of them has a role to play in advancing the kingdom and bringing this church to its fullness in God.

Very good.

Last one.

Will you be faithful in the disciplines of study of the word of God and prayer?

Yeah, so good, eh?

Here we go.

Church, this is you.

Same thing.

If you agree, please respond positively.

Do you accept this couple today as leaders that God has ordained to love you and to correct you?

Yes.

Okay.

Because I read the rest of that sentence and then people agreed to the three or four things, but they forgot the correction.

So that's why there has to be a pause there to make sure that when these guys have a coffee with you, you're like, oh yeah, I agree to that.

Okay.

Do you accept this couple today as leaders that God has ordained to love you, to correct you, and to bring you to maturity in the life of this church?

If so, please say yes.

Yes, very good.

Will you love them?

Will you pray for them?

And will you support them in their endeavor?

Very good.

Last one.

Will you believe the best in them and of them and for them?

No, wait, I need to explain that.

I need to explain that.

I'll put myself in that place.

So I show up at church on a Sunday morning and I'm distracted and I've got a thousand things and trying to juggle all these plates and I've got this face.

And so then I just miss somebody in the crowd, or I walk past somebody and I and they go, TK's such a jerk.

That's not thinking the best.

I'm not, I'm just this is a silly illustration.

But there might come those moments, and instead of imagining some other thing, we just go, man, maybe they were just distracted.

Maybe they had a lot on their mind this morning.

Maybe he was running to do something.

Does that make sense?

That's how we believe the best.

In the worst situation, in a bad situation, we believe the best.

Are you doing okay?

Will you believe the best in them and of them and for them?

Yes.

So good.

Okay, let's have the elders up.

Let's have the elders up.

We're gonna lay hands on them and we are gonna pray for them.

Actually, let's go the other way around so I don't mess it up this time.

You got did you want to add a prophetic word?

And you, CC?

Anybody else?

Last time I was trying to end this, and these ladies had prophetic words.

This morning when I was just talking with the eldership team, because a lot of our team is in the different sites, you know, just everyone's excited and send different words.

And um one of the words was a sense that both of you, the ministry of will have the ministry of the fire of the Holy Spirit, fanning into flame, the sparks of spiritual life in pe in people's lives.

And um just as John the Baptist said to Jesus, I'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and there will be fire.

Just that the foot, you know, the Holy Spirit's gonna be baptizing you, and you guys will be able to just bring this passion for God's presence, passion for his Holy Spirit through in their lives.

Um, I just got a picture this morning when I was praying for today in the ordination, and just felt a sense that um both Abby and Noah and Asa um and future children will just like carry um specifically.

We're all called to armor up in the spear and put on spiritual armor, but um, it says with your feet that it has a readiness um that comes from the gospel of peace.

Um and I just think that has always been true about Noah and Abby.

Um, I've gotten the privilege Noah and I like were freshmen in college together.

So um I've watched him like love on family members that didn't know Jesus with me as like you know that that just doesn't come from ourselves, that comes from God.

And so um I just feel a sense that yeah, that there'll be a gifting of inviting people into their homes and loving on people, and they just have always had um a courage that I think is like Holy Spirit given and a readiness um to walk into what God has for them.

So yeah.

So good.

Anybody else?

Yeah, the there's a saying, uh, making a mountain out of a molehill, and it's implying making a bigger deal out of a small thing.

But for you guys, I felt that there's gonna be people in your life who've made a molehill of Christ and the life he's called them to.

But he's gonna bring you into their lives to help them see the mountain that it is.

And people who have a small view of God, you guys being with them, they'll not have a big view of who God is.

Very good.

David.

Very good.

Okay, let's stretch your hands out.

Let's pray for them.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you, Father, for this amazing couple.

Their testimony already established, Lord, their testimony over years.

So we just right now, Father, as we lay hands on them, as we ordain them onto this eldership team, Father, we just release to them, Father, extra anointing.

Extraordinary anointing, Lord.

Extra anointing.

We ask, Father, for increased capacity for the things of God, increased capacity to love your people and to lead your people, Father.

We ask for a growing into this amazing gift of governmental anointing as they help make decisions about the life of the church.

And so we just bless them now, Father.

We bless them with every good gift as we lay hands on them and ordain them onto this team, Father.

In Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's stand together.

Let's give them a hand as they sort of.

So good, you guys.

Well done, eh?

Well done, well done.

So good.

That was amazing.

Hey, grab your seats.

Grab your seats.

I want to talk to you this morning about life on mission.

How many of you, just quick, quick show of hands?

How many of you have a friend or a family member or coworker, somebody in your life that you are trusting to get saved?

Just quick, that's it.

That's wonderful, hey.

So I want to talk about life on mission this morning, but what I want to talk about is recovering the table.

Recovering the table.

So when we look back at church history, we can see this: that for the first 1,500 years of church history, the church met around tables.

And it was the Reformation, uh, Martin Luther trying to correct some of the indulgences of the Catholic Church.

Um, it has this whole theological reset.

We get some incredible theology out of it, we get the five solars out of it.

And uh the the shift came from the table to the pulpit.

It was a theological shift, and so they needed this preaching, this declaration of some truth.

And so the the church moved from the center of church life, and the pulpit became the center of church life.

And I'm not saying we want to give up on either one.

I'm not saying let's give up on the pulpit, let's stop preaching.

There does We need to be a declaration of truth in our day.

But I also want to say let's reclaim the table and let's understand what the meaning, the significance of that is, and let's see how it helps us live life on mission.

Are you doing okay?

So it's a it's amazing when you look at the gospels.

When you look at the gospels, you see this.

You see Jesus with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, then with the 3,000.

Then you see Jesus with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, with the 12, with the 5,000.

And there's a lesson for us in that, and a picture in that for us, and a pattern in that for us.

In the modern-day church, the Western church is chasing the 3,000 and the 5,000 and sometimes neglecting the 12.

And we are putting the cart before the horse.

Discipleship cannot be mass-produced.

That's the lesson we are learning now, is that discipleship cannot be mass-produced.

Maturity cannot simply come from the pulpit.

There has to be this other dynamic.

And that's what we're going to look at this morning with the table.

The table restores authenticity to our discipleship.

You cannot have 3,000 people sit around your table.

You definitely can have 12.

And there's so many instances of Jesus having meals with his disciples and so many of those kind of things throughout the scriptures.

I want to say this discipleship, leadership, maturity, all of those things has to start with a weighted, weighted, weighted relational component.

It has to start with relationship.

We have got a lot of young families joining our church right now.

A lot of families with with smaller kids.

And so there's this constant thing, sometimes even from the elders, to say, hey, let's do a parenting class.

And I'm like, no, we might do a parenting class.

Let's start around our dining room tables.

Let's get these people around our dining room tables.

Let's have them in our meals for homes.

Let's sit around the table with them and work out some things.

And then if their pattern emerges or we start to see a need for a parenting class, we'll get there.

But let's not start with a parenting class.

Let's start around our dining room tables and let's see if we get to a parenting class.

Is that okay?

So here we go.

Number one, the table as the place of worship.

The table as the place of worship.

First Corinthians chapter 11.

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Reading from verse 23.

For what I received from the Lord, I passed on to you as a matter of.

Oh, sorry, I'm I'm actually quoting scripture, not reading.

Let me try and do that the other way around.

Let me try and read.

For what I received from the Lord, I also passed on to you.

The Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way after supper he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this whenever you drink of it in remembrance of me.

Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Whenever you do this, do it in remembrance of me.

See, I want to say this.

The gospel can be declared, the gospel can be proclaimed from the pulpit.

But we get to enjoy it around the table when we sit together and take communion.

It's about remembrance, it's about proclamation, it's about participating in the gospel.

I don't have to stand back and listen to somebody preach about the gospel.

When we take communion, and we're going to do it later this morning, when we take communion, we get to participate in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We get to taste and see that the Lord is good.

The gospel is not just to be preached, it's to be tasted, it's to be savored, it's to be enjoyed as the most significant and most exquisite meal we have ever had.

You're doing okay?

At the table we can remember grace.

At the table we can examine our hearts.

And at the table we get to worship the Lamb.

We need to restore the table as the place of worship.

If we lose the table, we drift towards information.

When we recover the table, we recover formation, transformation around the table.

You doing okay?

Number two.

The table is the place of discipleship.

Acts 2.42.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship and to the breaking of bread and prayer.

Everyone was filled with awe at the many signs and wonders performed by the apostles.

All the believers were together and had everything in common.

They sold property and possessions.

They gave to anyone who had need.

And every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.

They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.

Verse 47, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were getting saved.

And you know what they did daily?

It's right there.

They ate in their homes.

They ate in their homes.

They didn't meet not every Sunday, but daily.

Daily they ate in their homes.

They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Meeting daily.

I love this text in Luke 24.

It says this.

Jesus speaking, speaking about Jesus.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread and gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them, and then their eyes were opened.

So we get revelation sitting at the table.

When we can put people at our dining room table and serve a meal and fire up a gospel conversation, ask a gospel-oriented question, we will start to see revelation come to people's lives around our tables.

Revelation happens around the table.

Jesus formed his disciples over meals.

He ate often with the twelve, but he also ate with tax collectors.

He ate with doubters.

He ate with sinners.

And then I love the great reconciliation breakfast that he has with Peter after Peter has denied him three times.

The table creates conversation, vulnerability, confession, and modeling of the gospel.

That we can never do from the pulpit.

We can never do all of that from the pulpit.

See, discipleship is not primarily a classroom.

Discipleship is a shared life.

I'm going to do a silly illustration for you.

I need somebody, you need to nominate somebody that has got excellent ball skills in the life of the church.

Who's got great ball skills?

Come on, give me a name.

Who's got great oh come on up, Fabian?

You got pointed at, brother.

I don't know.

Come on.

You were pointed at, bro.

You got good ball skills?

Yeah, alright, cool.

Okay.

Good daddy, good daddy.

Listen, before I ask about who's got bad ball skills, if you are married this morning, before you nominate your wife, think about where you want to sleep tonight.

Just saying.

Who has got poor ball skills in the life of the church?

Give me a name.

I've got a name.

If you don't have a name, I've got a name if you don't have a name.

Where's Nathan?

Nobody had a name.

At least you didn't get nominated this time, Nathan.

You should be proud of it.

Bring the bucket with you, boy.

There you go.

At least I didn't nominate you this time, bro.

You won't win.

That's pretty good.

You did not get nominated.

Nathan was Nathan this morning.

We did this in the first service.

Who is sitting here?

Marcus.

Marcus.

How come you didn't nominate your buddy again?

I did it once, you didn't once.

We get it.

Who's got the worst ball skills?

Marcus just got nice and look at the boys nice and he's already walking out of the balcony.

So this number called him, step colour.

So yeah, we're gonna.

This is this is a disciple.

This is a lesson in discipleship, yeah?

We've got a bucket and we've got three balls.

And we're gonna put the bucket over here and we're gonna mask fabulum excellent bowl skills, remember?

Tell me them.

Tell me them, brother.

Come in, fabylum.

Three balls in the bucket.

Gonna stay in the bucket, yeah?

That was pretty close.

Can I grip can I grab the ball back there real quick?

Jeez, fabulous.

Okay, let's give a money from me.

Come on, bro.

Give me some practice now.

Come on, money from the biggest.

We believe in the money for me.

Okay, so now we're gonna now we're gonna go back in, huh?

Three balls in the bucket, please, brother.

There you go.

That's brilliant, huh?

Let's some let some let some let some ball skills right there.

Come here.

Come on, Nathan.

Don't let me down now, brother.

Three ball skills in the three balls in the bucket.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Now what on earth does that have to do with discipleship?

I bet you you are asking yourself, what does that happen to do?

What does that have to do with discipleship?

This is the illustration.

Discipleship is much more about proximity than it is about skills.

Does that make sense?

And the further you are from the person, the greater your skills need to be.

But when we can draw people close, when we can sit around our dining room tables with them, sit around coffee tables with them, there's such an impact in people's lives.

Are you doing okay?

Dining room table creates that proximity for us.

I've got so many stories of what happened around a dining room table.

There was a couple that we met when we when we came from South Africa to take over this little church in Los Angeles.

There was a preschool attached to this to this um to the church that we took over.

And there was a guy in the church, well, not in the church, but he's he brought his kids, a couple brought their kids to the preschool.

And man, this guy looked straight up like a white supremacist.

Shaved head, big red beard, tattoos all over him, you know.

And uh I was like, man, I'm a little bit too brown to be friends with this guy, but I'm gonna try anyway.

So I reached out to him and we became friendly.

We were able to share the gospel, and we had him and his wife in our home.

They were thoroughly unsaved, they were on the other side of unsaved.

But we had him in our home a couple of times for meals, stirred some gospel conversations, asked them some questions.

And then one Sunday they showed up at church and got saved.

And so when I asked him afterwards, I'm like, just talk me through that.

Like, what was that process?

What did that look like for you?

He said, we sat around our dining room table discussing our divorce.

You can have this, I'm gonna have this, you do this, we do that.

How how are we gonna how are we gonna talk about what we do with the kids?

They sat around their table discussing their divorce, writing it out.

They had the plan in place.

And he said to his wife, he said, either we go through this, either we go through with this, or we go see if what that crazy African was telling us is true.

And he showed up at church and got saved.

I said to him, You can never sell that dining room table.

There's a moment there.

There's a moment there.

Precipitated by their moments around our dining room table.

So don't ever sell that table.

There's a moment there.

It's another moment in Los Angeles.

And she had been abused by her sexually abused by her grandfather when she was seven years old.

Had kids, and she thought it was dealt with until her daughter turned seven.

And she was just one of those just a little mini me, you know, you could just it was just a strong conversion of her.

I was in the military when I was 16.

I was part of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

I'm very comfortable with revenge.

And I said, I agree with you.

He does not deserve to be forgiven.

I reached across the table and I said to her, Take my hand.

I said he does not deserve to be forgiven.

But you deserve to forgive him.

So that you can live free and hold.

We held hands across that table, my wife sitting here, her husband sitting there, and the four of us wept as she released and forgave.

And to this day, that's free from that.

It's a dining room table moment.

It's a dining room table moment.

Asked him to come see me.

Beautiful story, beautiful reconciliation.

He asked us to pray for a couple in his church who was struggling to have kids.

They told us we couldn't have children.

Doctors told us it was impossible.

We've got four miracle kids.

So we love to pray for that.

We sat across that same table that I had that conversation about his daughter.

We sat across that same table and they spoke to us.

We shared hearts.

We prayed.

Today they've got multiple children.

Those are dining room table moments.

I still want that for every believer.

That was the point of the bucket illustration.

This is not for the executives.

This is not for the special, this is not for the navy seals of Christendom.

This is for every believer.

To be able to sit around a table, stir those gospel conversations, and have that courage in that moment to just say, just take my hand.

Just take my hand.

I just want to pray for you.

And we see what God can do in that moment.

Not what we can do.

But we see what God can do in that moment.

How life can be changed, how a womb can be opened, how salvation can come.

How reconciliation can come.

But I love Luke 19, you know.

Jesus walking down the road.

Zacchaeus, who's a short man and can't see Jesus, runs ahead and he climbs a tree so that he can see Jesus.

I think what was more important was that Jesus saw him.

But he runs ahead.

All the obstacles, same with the woman with the issue of blood, she presses through the crowd to touch Jesus.

Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs up in a in a in a fig tree.

And Jesus sees him.

And he says, These words, Zacchaeus.

I must eat at your house today.

Amazing conversion, this amazing salvation comes.

I want to ask you this there's the crowd, there's the tree, there's the short man, and then there's the dining room table.

It's the question we have to ask ourselves: who are the short people in our lives?

I don't mean physical stature.

Some of you are pointing at the guy at the person sitting there.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have looked at that.

I just looked, I just looked at the wrong moment.

I'm sorry.

I'm just surprised nobody pointed at you, Chloe.

That's the thing.

You did.

You pointed at her, okay.

Oh gosh.

I want you to think about who are the short people in your life.

Not the people that are short in stature, but the people that can't see Jesus.

The people that can't get to Jesus.

Because those are the people we need to have around our dining room table.

Those are the people we need to sit with.

There's a genius in this thing.

I'm gonna get to just in a minute.

See, Jesus' mission strategy included eating with sinners, entering homes, receiving and giving hospitality.

And please listen to me carefully.

Giving dignity before asking for repentance.

Giving dignity.

Nathan, you are a good-looking young man.

You are you are a you're a stud, my boy.

I was watching playing that saxophone.

I'm telling you, you're single, Nathan.

Ladies.

I was just teasing.

I was done with the tears, I just need a word or a laugh.

You know, I tease all my buddies about being crybaby pastors.

Oh my bro, can you just like can you just teach the word?

Why are you gonna cry every time you get in the pulpit?

But my daughter moved home with a little long-haired wiener dog.

She moved home.

And listen, I trained dogs in South Africa, but I trained rotfathers and German shepherds.

I've never been a small dog person, but I get up in the morning, I do my devotional time downstairs, I put the fireplace on, I make some coffee, and within a few minutes I hear on my daughter's bedroom door.

And so then I go get the little wiener dog.

And the wiener dog sits.

So I tell my daughter, me and Misha are in a book club together.

It's my little book buddy.

So I don't know if it's the wiener dog or just the fact that I'm getting older.

But there are more tears.

I need to land this.

Every believer has a mission field.

Every one of them.

I asked you earlier who are you trusting God for?

Start there.

I'm gonna pray for you in just a minute.

I want to ask God to give you names that in the next couple of weeks you can reach out and say, can we get a meal together?

And can I can I ask?

It's just it's just a practical thing.

Can I ask?

Do it in your home or in their home.

Don't do it in a restaurant.

So much noise, so much distraction, TVs on everywhere.

Try and create that moment.

Now let me say this.

This is the we you know, are we getting ready to to serve communion?

Are we almost ready to go?

Let's go.

Let's serve it and I'll tell and I'll tell uh I'll tell two more stories.

Thank you so much, you guys.

You did such a great job in the in the first service of getting this out so quickly.

Recover the table as the place of worship.

Do this in remembrance of me.

We recover the table in the context of discipleship.

And we recover the context the table in the context of mission, of seeing people saved.

There's an old school pastor that said this one time.

He said, you know, if we bring in the right guest speaker and do the right things, he said, we can't find a room in the city big enough to host that meeting.

But if I say to you, we're gonna we're gonna meet on Sunday, on Saturday morning, and we're gonna pray for an hour and we're gonna go out on the street and witness to people, he says, I can do that meeting in my study.

See, evangelism is hard.

I feel like I lean evangelistically as a pastor.

Always had a heart for the gospel, always had a heart to see people come to the saving knowledge of God.

And by the grace of God, I've seen many.

My wife is way better one-on-one than I am.

But let me see, when when we see the table as the place of mission, it so simplifies that.

Anybody can do that.

You don't have to be a gifted evangelist, you don't have to be a skilled communicator.

You brush up on your cooking skills or you brush up on your DoorDash skills.

But you can have people in your home for a meal.

You can have people in your home for a meal.

And it doesn't have to be fancy.

When we first got married, we didn't have a space for a dining room table.

We lived in this little one-bedroom apartment, walked-in kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom.

There was no space for a dining room table.

But I was desperate to have people over.

So somebody gave us a dining room table, a round dining room table with a center stand in it.

And Sandy said, There's no space for this dining room table in our living room.

We only had a living room.

So I said, watch this.

I cut that table down.

It was a dining room table, four feet high, whatever it, whatever that height is.

I cut that dining room table to coffee table height.

So it was the size of a dining room table, right?

What is a coffee table height?

So it fitted perfectly in our living room.

And we would have people over for a meal and we would set the table.

Sandy, beautiful tablecloth, flowers, place settings, and we'd put cushions around the table.

And Sandy was so embarrassed.

She's like, babe, we can't have a bow.

And we would say, We want we want you to come and have dinner with us.

And people would walk in and go, that is so cool.

It's not about being fancy.

It's not about being fancy.

One of the guys that stirred this in me was on an eldership team with me.

I didn't lead the church, but I was part of this church.

It was probably 800 to a thousand people.

And this guy, every Sunday night, we would meet morning, we would two meetings, but morning and an evening meeting.

And every Sunday night, this guy would go to 20, 30, 40 people, and he would say this, do you want to come for scrambled eggs on toast?

Hey, my wife made a big pot of soup.

Do you want to come for soup and toast?

And people would just flock.

There's genius in it.

What come for dinner?

Scrambled eggs on toast, what the heck?

There's genius in it.

When you said yes, you said yes to scrambled eggs on toast.

But what you said yes to was dinner.

What you said yes to was sitting around a table.

He wasn't a preaching elder.

I think he preached twice in the 30 years that he was on eldership in that church.

I was privileged to be there the first time he preached.

And he had some young guys in the church bring his dining room table on a pickup truck.

We met in a school hall, flat floor, no stage.

And when it was time for him to preach, he went, bring the table, boys.

And they brought the table in, his dining room table.

He sat cross-legged on the dining room table and opened the Bible and he said, I'm not interested in building a mega church.

I want to build a family.

Do you know the weight that carried?

When you look in a church of six, seven hundred, eight hundred, maybe a thousand people, and eighty percent of those people in the life of that church had sat around that table.

Doesn't have to be fancy.

Doesn't have to be fancy.

But it has to be heart and faith and trusting again that as we recover the table, God can do some incredible things in us and through us.

We can see worship return, we can see discipleship return, and we can see mission return.

We can see friends and family come to the Lord over meals in our homes.

If you're stirred by that this morning, why don't you just close your eyes with me?

We're gonna take this communion in just a minute.

Am I okay for Tom, David?

Let's just close our eyes.

Let's just close our eyes.

Father, you've been so good to us.

You've been so good to us, Lord.

Now, Father, as we wait before we take communion, would you show us faces?

Would you show us names of people that you want us to sit around dining room tables with?

That's it.

Just receive now.

Just allow God to stir you, the Holy Spirit on some of you, even now, even as we're talking about that.

That's it.

Just receive.

Just receive.

That's it.

So many of you being ministered to right now.

So many of you being ministered to right now.

Father, I pray for a great harvest.

Not institution by institution or church by church, but soul by soul.

Soul by soul.

May we see a great harvest, Lord, in these last days.

Father, we take the body of your Son Jesus now.

Broken for us.

So that we can be healed and whole.

Thank you for this broken body, Lord.

We take it now in Jesus' name.

Thank you for your blood, Lord.

It washes us white as snow.

I want to say this.

There's sin that we do, and there's the sin that's done to us.

Jesus' blood covers both.

Jesus' blood covers both.

If there's somebody you need to forgive for sin that was done to you, there's something you need to let go of.

As much as we need to be forgiven of sin.

The blood covers it all.

So many have you been ministered to.

Just allow that to wash over you.

Just don't hold back.

This isn't a moment for shame or embarrassment.

This is a moment for healing and wholeness.

It's on some of you right now, and you know it and you're experiencing it, and the Lord doesn't do this just to give us feelings, but to bring us to healing and wholeness.

I recognize we're going a few minutes longer today, and if you need a go, we totally understand it.

We're so glad you were with us today.

I just want to continue to respond to what the Lord is doing and saying right now for so many of us.

If you're sitting in this room and you don't know Jesus, perhaps you've you thought following Jesus means joining a church or joining an institution or a long list of rules.

I hope you get it got a different picture today.

If you're being invited to a table, a place where you're known, a place where you can have life, a place where you can have freedom, a place where you can be made whole.

But it starts.

We learned last week, it starts through through the door.

The door into the kingdom of God, the door into eternal life is Jesus Himself.

Jesus is the way, he's the truth, and it is the life.

And if you're sitting in this room today, know this the word says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Those who put their faith in him, repent, and believe, we will be saved.

And we will have assurance of that salvation.

Would you mind closing your eyes for a second?

I want to ask you if you're in this room and you would like to follow Jesus, you'd like to surrender your life.

I'd like to pray with you.

Please look, I didn't ask you whether you've been to church, you've done church, you've grew up in a Christian family, and none of that matters.

What matters is if you have you put your faith in Jesus.

Have you asked him to forgive you of your sins?

And to be the Lord and Savior of your life.

So that's you today.

I'd like to pray with you.

Would you put up your hands?

I know who I'm praying with.

And I want to lead you through a prayer, through an honest conversation with the Lord.

Is there anyone in this room I can pray with today?

Church, can we stand together?

We're just gonna take these last few minutes as the band lead us to this song.

If the ministry team could come up front, we'd love to pray with you.

If God has been touching your heart, if we've been highlighting something, you want to say, Oh church, come and stand with someone, come and pray.

Come and kneel up front if you just simply need to do business with the Lord.

The Lord is here to heal.

The Lord is here to save, the Lord is here to set us free, he's here to bring us into the future that he has for you.

The presence of God is here.