The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Mission-Minded Church

I hope you mean what you said just now when you

said, we have come with open hearts. Oh, let

the ancient words impart. See that word impart.

You might hear that and you're like, what does

that even mean? And what I think of is like imparting

wisdom. I'm going to lay this on you. I'm going

to give this to you. I'm going to bestow this

to you. I'm going to put this on your heart.

And my prayer this morning, my prayer this week

has been that God would use his word, that God

would use his spirit to transform our hearts,

that he would impart something on us that will

challenge us, that will stir us up for love and

good works. And so this morning, I want to say

something that I didn't have written down. I

guess I just kind of, we're going to call it

the spirit. You might call this me just wanting

to talk about something else other than what

I wrote. I don't know what you'll call it. I'm

going to blame it on the Spirit. So I was thinking

as we're singing about how sometimes when bad

things happen, it produces the most beautiful

fruit. And I don't know if you've ever felt that,

if you have ever thought about that. What I started

thinking about was when I was just seven years

old. I think my math is right there. When I was

seven or so years old, Hurricane Katrina struck

the Mississippi Gulf Coast and it wiped out my

hometown. And I thought about how we were all

devastated and how life was chaotic and there

was a lot of uncertainty, there was a lot of

fear, there was a lot of worry. And in that,

there was a church right across the street from

our apartment complex that little did I know

just two years later would be the church that

would baptize me into Christ and the church that

would disciple me and be the leading reason that

I am who I am today. And I didn't know that that

would then lead to maybe 12 years later. baptizing

one of my family members in that very church,

who then a few years after that would have a

stroke that would lead to a rekindled relationship

with their husband, and that would lead to that

husband now going to church every Sunday, who

before that was anti -religious. And he's still

not sure about the whole Christianity thing,

but he's at least interested. And we can have

conversations about church. We can have conversations

about scripture. And my hope is still because

he's an older man and there is no telling when

his time on earth is going to come due. But I'm

hoping that in all of this time, he is asking

questions that God is going to answer and that

he will give his life to the Lord. But that doesn't

happen if that loved one doesn't have a stroke

and that doesn't happen or she doesn't come to

Christ if I don't ever go to that church and

I don't ever go to that church if Hurricane Katrina

doesn't happen. Sometimes when bad things happen,

it produces the most beautiful fruit. And I think

about my five -year -old son who today turned

five years old and how at five years old, I had

no clue what a loving father was like. I had

no clue what a loving family was like. And the

idea of being excited to go to church was not

something I would have ever thought of. But now

my five -year -old son is so excited to just

invite people to church. And that doesn't happen

if not for Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes bad things

happening produce the most beautiful fruit. And

I thought of that. And I don't even know how

it works, but it works that it connects with

what we're talking about this morning. Because

in Acts chapter 13, we find a church that produces

Acts 13 · chapter mention

beautiful fruit throughout their region because

of bad things happening. We find a church that

was being persecuted, that was run out of their

home. that was run out of Jerusalem because they

were afraid of their lives being taken from them

because of the gospel. And so this church, these

Christians, they find themselves in Antioch,

which is this place that is like one of the largest

cities in the Roman Empire. But it's not just

a large city. It is one of the most pagan cities

in the Roman Empire. And they land in this city

and immediately start preaching the gospel to

everyone that would listen. Jews and Gentiles

alike. And God blessed it. And this beautiful

fruit comes from it. This church is known for

their generosity. This church is known for their

transformation in their community. This church

is known for looking like Jesus in the crazy,

dark world that they lived in. And that doesn't

happen if not for the martyrdom, the murder of

Stephen. And this church... Changes the world.

In Jerusalem, the church in Jerusalem catches

wind of this and they start hearing about all

of these great things that these Christians that

were their contemporaries were doing in Antioch.

And so they send our friend Barnabas, this son

of encouragement, they send him to go check this

out to find out what's going on in Antioch. Why

is it that they're doing so much good? Why is

it that they're having such an impact on this

community? And so Barnabas goes there and what

he finds is it's so good. He finds that these

people, they are changing the world and it's

because they are devoted. to God. They are devoted

to Christ. They are devoted to making sure all

people hear those holy words, that good news,

that gospel message of Jesus Christ crucified,

risen again, ascended into heaven so that we

could have a place in the kingdom of God. And

Barnabas is so encouraged by this. The son of

encouragement is encouraged. He goes and he gets

his friend Saul, who we know as Paul. The former

enemy of the church who just a few weeks ago

we met, the guy that was standing there as they

were stoning Stephen, Barnabas goes to get Saul

and he brings him back to Antioch because he's

like, Saul, you've got to see this. What they're

doing is amazing. They are changing the world.

They are doing something crazy and it's awesome.

And he brings Saul there. And Saul and Barnabas

teach at the church in Antioch for a whole year.

This was actually the church where believers

were first called Christians, where they were

first referred to as these little... because

they were truly a church that set the standard

for churches. And so now that we have that idea

that bad things happening produce the most beautiful

fruit, and now that we have this idea of what

the Antioch church was, this church that was

changing the world because they were so bold

and unashamed about the good news of Christ,

now that we've got that laid out, I want us to

read our sermon this morning is going to be over

three verses, really five verses, but mainly

three. So I hope I can give you 30. minutes out

of that. Verses one through three, we're going

to read them together and then we'll kind of

walk back through them. If it's underlined, I'd

love for you to read it with me. Now, there were

in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers,

Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius

of Cyrene, Menean, a lifelong friend of Herod

the Tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping

the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set

apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to

which I have called them. Then after fasting

and praying, they laid their hands on them and

sent them off. The first thing I want us to notice

is how Luke names these key figures in the church

there. We've talked about Barnabas, of course,

who himself is a Jewish Christian. He comes from

a Jewish background, but now he is a follower

of the Messiah. We've talked about Saul before.

Maybe you know him as Paul, this reformed Pharisee

who used to hunt Christians down for a living,

but now is doing everything he can to make Christians.

And then you have these other guys that maybe

you're not as familiar with, guys like Simon

called Niger, which likely just means... he was

a black man from Africa. And so you can imagine

that he doesn't look like the people at this

church in Antioch, but hey, that's okay. And

then there's Lucius from Cyrene, a man from North

Africa. We could maybe assume that he was also

black, but either way, we know he's not from

there. And then Manian, who was this contemporary

of Herod. He was a friend of Herod. He grew up

with Herod, which means that he probably came

from old money. Like this was a guy that came

from a very politically elite class. And so you've

got this group of people, this very diverse group

of people, like this was DEI before that was

ever a thing. And this is what the church looks

like. This is what the church is. It's these

different races, different classes, different

types of people, cultures, and backgrounds all

in the same family. And you can imagine how bold

of a proclamation of the kingdom of God that

was. You see, this is a church that understood

that in order to fulfill the mission of God,

they had to be made up of all kinds of people.

They had to be made up of all types of people

from every background because Jesus called us

to bring the gospel to all kinds of people. He

didn't call us to bring the gospel to people

that were just like me. He didn't call you to

bring the gospel to people that were just like

you. He called us to bring it to all nations,

to all creation. That was the mission. And the

church in Antioch very clearly understood the

mission. Not only did they understand it, but

it was their constant focus. It was this thing,

there's a song right now, and it's one of the

lyrics is, your praise will ever be on my lips,

meaning it will always be on my lips. And if

it's always on my lips, it's always going to

be on my mind. And what I think about when I

think about the church at Antioch is that God's

glory, the good news was always on their mind.

And this mission to proclaim it was always on

their mind. They didn't turn it off when they

were at the football game so they could say whatever

they wanted. They didn't turn it off when they

were at the bar so they could drink however much

they wanted. They didn't turn it off when they

were at work so that they could do things that

were questionable morally so that they could

do that to make more money. They didn't do that.

It was always on their mind. It was a constant

focus. It was who they were. Their identity was

a people on mission for Jesus. And that identity.

was there long before they ever did anything

impressive. It was there long before they ever

acted in a way that changed the world. That's

who they were, and they simply acted on it. And

so the first thing I want us to know this morning

is identity precedes activity. I have to know

who I am. I have to know whose I am. I have to

know what I belong to, who I belong to, in order

to fulfill what it is that I've been put on this

earth to do. That's what I mean when I say identity

precedes activity. A church lives on mission

when it knows whose it is. And so we asked the

question this morning, whose are we? And I think

if you're a member, if you're a contributing

part of the body of Christ here in Blairsville,

then you know who we are. At least you should.

We are the Blairsville Church of what? Christ.

We are the Blairsville Church of? Christ. We're

not the Blairsville Church of Donovan. We're

not the Blairsville Church of Georgia. We're

not the Blairsville Church of Chad or Phil. We

are the Blairsville Church of Christ. That's

who we are. It's whose we are. It is who we belong

to and our mission is whose? Christ's. And so

we have to live like it. Our activity has to

match our identity. And the way of God, the way

of Christ is to sin. If our identity is in Christ,

if that's what our bloodline is, then we have

to act like our bloodline. I'll tell my kids,

and I think I've said this before, I will tell

them when they ask, well, how come we can't say

that? Or how come they get to say that? Or how

come they get to do that? And I'll say, because

you aren't in their family, you're in my family.

And in my family, we do things this way. And

in God's family, God sends. And he doesn't just

send anything, he sends his best. And in Jesus'

family, he sends, and he doesn't just send anything,

he sends his best. God sent Jesus, and Jesus

sent the Spirit, and Jesus sent the church. And

so then the next question is, is if they send

their best, what will the church send? What will

the church do? Because if our lineage is a family

of senders, we can't be content to sit here and

do nothing. Or worse, we can't be content to

sit here and hoard all that we have. We follow

the example of our rabbi. We follow the example

of our father. And so we'll figure out what we're

going to send. We have to send. I want us to

look at how the church in Antioch realized that

they too needed to send. something and what that

something was. We look at verse two. While they

were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy

Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul

for the work to which I have called them. You

see, this church heard directly from God because

they were seeking God. They were worshiping God.

They were fasting. They were pouring some out

of themselves so that God would fill them with

something better. They were hungrily seeking

God, and God showed up. I said it last week.

For those of you who were here, I hope you remember

this. If not, I hope you do after today. God

loves to show up where God is wanted. When the

church is hungry for God, God shows up. God will

always fill what his people are hungering for.

When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness,

God gave them food, did he not? And he gave them

water and he gave them shade. God shows up where

he's wanted, where people are hungry, God feeds.

And so the church in Antioch, they seemed hungry

to me. They seemed like a people that wanted

God and God showed up for them. As far as we

can tell from the text, they weren't asking God

for anything specific. It doesn't seem like they

were asking for a nicer building. It doesn't

seem like they were asking for a new preacher.

It doesn't seem like they were asking for a bigger

Sunday crowd or newer worship songs. They just

wanted to experience God and glorify Him. And

because of this want for God, God shows up. And

that wanting God himself, not just what he can

do for you is a beautiful, but it's also a dangerous

thing. Because sometimes when you want God, he

shows up in a way that you may not have wanted.

Think about it. Like all of these things that

happen, these feelings, these calls we have to

give up certain things for ourselves or stop

doing certain things for ourselves or stop going

certain places. Sometimes we don't want that.

I wanted to be a country singer. I wanted to

write songs for a living and live in Nashville

and be able to make a living on music. But guess

what? I'm here preaching. This does not look

like me on stage with a guitar singing country

songs. But you know what? I'm far better off

for it. This is far more beautiful than any song

I could ever write. Sometimes it's not what we

want, but it's what we need. But God shows us

when he shows up. And what he handed Antioch

was a call. It probably wasn't what they wanted,

but it was a call to send out, to give up their

best. Think about who he called them to give

up. Saul. This great preacher, this very knowledgeable,

noble person that he knew all of the scriptures.

Now he's just on the right team. And then you

have Barnabas, this great son of encourager.

How many of you would like to have someone that's

so encouraging that his nickname is literally

the son of encouragement? And you're like, you

would want that person around. We would want

them in this church. You probably would want

him as a preacher over me because I seem to just

be challenging, not encouraging. And so we want

those guys and they probably don't want to give

them up. But guess what? God said, give them

up so you know what they did. They gave them

up. They gave them up all for the sake of the

mission because it is not our place to hoard

what God has blessed us with. It is our place

to send it out. Why? Because we come from a family

of senders. And the leadership of this congregation

here in Blairsville has been doing what the church

in Antioch has done or did. We've prayed, we've

fasted, we've sought God. We're still doing that.

And one thing that I love, and I love to brag

on our elders, we've got a really good group

of elders. These guys, these men love God. They

love his church and they are honest and earnest

about what they are doing in their service. And

they have prayed and I have prayed and our deacons

and all of you, we've been praying about what

God is going to do and we want God. And so in

seeking God and hungering for God, We believe

we're being called to send our best to do two

things. And those two things, very specific,

small group and discipleship and the next generation.

We believe that we need to pour into our small

group ministries because as much as and as cool

as this is, this is not where real discipleship

happens. It's around a coffee table and it's

in a kitchen around a dinner table. Real discipleship

happens in small group settings. It happens in

close personal connections and conversations.

And so we believe that we need to pour into that,

which is why we're bringing Buddy Bell in to

do a small group workshop for us next month.

So by the way, I want everyone to be there. If

you are a member, if you're not a member, we

want you to be there because this is going to

help us to relaunch and kind of figure out a

better way to more effectively conduct a small

group ministry. But it's also why we've asked

you to be in prayer about how you might and how

we might contribute, yes, monetarily, but in

other ways toward the hiring of a youth minister.

Because we see the need for these things and

we feel like those two areas specifically are

how we might answer the call of God to send our

best to fulfill the mission. And I want you to

hear me clearly. I'm not saying I heard a voice

from heaven. I'm not saying the elders have.

They might have. You can talk to them about it.

That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying the

Holy Spirit verbally spoke to us. What I'm telling

you is that several men who love this church

family, who love the kingdom of God, have been

seeking God and His direction, and we believe

this is it. This is our next step to sin. And

with a call always comes a cost. And the cost

is obedience. The church in Antioch exemplified

this in verse 3. Then after fasting and praying,

they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

And see, this wasn't the church giving them a

pat on the back and just saying, all right, we'll

see you later. Write us sometime. Come back and

report how your work's going. This wasn't them

just like, all right, guys, go on and we'll miss

you. This was them putting their hands on them,

praying over them, blessing their work and sending

them off. It was them giving up. some of their

best. It was them giving up some of their best

leaders. It was them giving up guys that they

really wanted to keep. Like I said, these aren't

just random church members. These are key figures.

Like to put it in another way, this would be

like the Chicago Bulls shipping off Michael Jordan

and Scottie Pippen in their primes to some other

team and then not actually getting anything in

return for it. Can you imagine how crazy that

would be? I mean, like if you're a basketball

or a sports fan, you know what I'm saying. That's

giving up your best when you're not getting anything

in return. And you don't do that unless you truly

believe in the mission and who's called you to

do it. And this requires more than your own comfort.

This requires more than your own personal want

and desire. It's saying the kingdom of God, the

mission of God is far more important than me

and what I want and what I need. I mean, churches

all the time are just yaying about like, well,

I want it this way and I like it this way. And

like, I'm all for preference. I have my preferences.

My wife will tell you I'm a very particular person.

But when it comes to the mission of God, it's

about what God needs from us, not what we want

for us. Also of note is this almost certainly

cost them their money and resources. You think

about mission work. We've got some missionaries

in the room. We've got people that have been

missionaries or have family that were missionaries.

And they can tell you that mission work doesn't

come free and it doesn't come easy. And you have

supported missionaries. We had a mission Sunday

in December and it was awesome. I was so impressed

by this church. More importantly, I was so impressed

by God and the way he moved to this church to

do some good work over in Africa. And we're doing

some good things with missionaries. So we understand

that that costs something. physical. Like it

costs something tangible. But the church in Antioch,

they're generous and they're mission minded.

So they do what they need to do regardless of

what it costs because of the mission. And so

I want you to hear something this morning. Yes,

mission is costly and we can't act like it's

not. We can't pretend like it isn't. We can't

just skirt around it and say, well, you know,

everything should just be free. Yeah, I agree.

I wish that were the case, but the truth is.

It's not. We still live in this world. And unless

you guys want to live like on a commune and just

like have plants and take care of each other

that way, which let's talk about it, right? Unless

y 'all want to do that, we still live in society

where things cost and there are real needs that

have to be met that require resources and finances.

And so mission is costly. And if it isn't costing

you anything, If the mission isn't making you

uncomfortable, if it isn't stretching you a little

bit, it isn't a mission, it's just sentiment.

If it's not costing you anything, it's just,

man, I really hope that works out. Somebody will

take care of that. I heard a story about a church

where they had visitors coming and nobody would

ever invite them to their small group or a Bible

study. And so these visitors show up They show

up, and everybody's like, hey, how you doing?

We're so glad you're here. We're so glad that

you visited our church this Sunday morning. And

that was it. And then the visitors show up again,

and it's the same thing. And then the next week,

it's the same thing. But nobody ever invites

them to have their lives changed. And so finally,

the visitor's like, hey, are y 'all going to

ever, like, you know, act on this stuff we've

been talking about in the sermon, or is it just,

hey, how you doing? Because if you're going to

act on it, you're going to invite them to a Bible

study. If you're going to act on it, you're going

to try to be in a discipleship relationship with

them. See, we can't just say cool things. We

can't just say we want these things to happen.

We have to act on them. Otherwise, it is just

sentiment. And I don't know if you've ever heard

about good intentions. But good intentions don't

do everything, do they? So we've got to act.

We have a mission as a church family. It's a

pretty simple one too. It's simply to bring the

gospel to everyone we can and make disciples

who make disciples who make disciples who make

disciples who make disciples and I could keep

on going because it should. We have that mission

even and especially including those who are not

like us. And unfortunately, just like in Antioch,

the mission is going to cost us. It's gonna cost

us three things that I want you to remember this

morning. Three things, and I got this from Phil,

so I'm gonna give him some credit. I think he

got it from someone else. It's gonna cost us

our time. It's gonna cost us our talents, and

it's gonna cost us our treasure. The mission

costs. It's going to cost us our best regardless

of how uncomfortable it might make us, but the

cost is worth it for the sake of the kingdom

because there is no shortage of young people

in this community, in these mountains, who are

unchurched or completely spiritually homeless.

There is no shortage of people in this church

family and out in that community who need to

have a small group relationship, who need to

have people discipling them. There's no shortage

of people who need to have their lives changed

by the gospel. And we have the opportunity to

change their lives, to transform their lives.

Like I told you, my life doesn't change if not

for the Long Beach Church of Christ. And my family's

life doesn't change if not for the Long Beach

Church of Christ. And what they did was they

committed to the mission regardless of how uncomfortable

it made them. And my question for us is will

we commit to the mission regardless of how comfortable,

uncomfortable it makes us? Because the truth

is we don't reach the others. We don't reach

the not like us by accident. And we don't do

it by waiting around, hoping they'll wander through

our doors. And if we can just get them through

the doors. We'll take care of the rest. That's

not how that works because the sad reality is

every day that we wait to disciple them is another

day that someone or something else disciples

them. Every single adult or person over the age

of like 13 in this room has a cell phone and

on that cell phone is thousands or thousands

of things wanting, millions of things really,

wanting to disciple your children, wanting to

disciple those children, wanting to disciple

you. Every day you turn on the TV, you see the

news, you see the shows, you see these things,

and they are wanting to disciple you. And they're

wanting to disciple the people out there. Every

day you get on social media, people are trying

to disciple. And disciple does not always mean

a good thing. There are bad things in this world.

There is an enemy that we believe is real and

his name is Satan and he is doing his work. He

has his own disciples and he is trying to make

his own disciples. Every day we wait is another

day the enemy covers more ground. And so our

leadership believes that we need to act, that

we need to get on it because this is not going

to wait. We believe that bringing someone here

to Blairsville, to go after that different group,

to go after that other group, that next generation.

That's our act of obedience to the same kind

of call that Antioch answered when they sent

Saul and Barnabas 2 ,000 years ago. But please

understand this because I need this to be very

clear. This isn't a pet project of the elders.

This isn't Chad and Phil just want to tinker

and see how things work. And this isn't just

a pet project of mine. This is something that

is going to require the entire family. of God

that meets here in Blairsville. It requires every

single one of us because it doesn't happen by

accident and the enemy has all hands on deck

and we need those too. Many people prayed in

the church of Antioch. Many people fasted. Many

people gave. Many people worked so that the mission

could be accomplished and that's what we need

too. The entire church has to own this mission

or it will fail. The entire church. We've all

got to be on the same page. We've all got to

be pulling in the same direction. We all have

to lay our hands on this initiative. And I want

to show you what's on the other side of obedience

to the call. Because like I said, the obedience

costs and it can stink and it really stretches

you. But on the other side of it, it's something

beautiful. Because remember, bad things often

produce really beautiful fruit when God's involved.

In Genesis. Joseph says, what you meant for evil,

my God meant for good. That does not mean God

made that happen so that good. It means God figured

I can work here and I can do something amazing.

And then the apostle Paul, the guy that we were

talking about that got sent off with Barnabas,

he says, all things work together for good for

those who love God. And so when it costs us,

we believe that God is going to do something

special on the other side of it. Here's what

happens in Acts 13, verses 48 through 49. When

Acts 13:48–49

the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing

and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many

as were appointed to eternal life believed, and

the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole

region. You see, what those verses are talking

about is Saul and Barnabas just preached the

gospel to the Gentiles. And what they did was

they told them this good news of Jesus Christ,

how he came to this earth to forgive and redeem

all creation. And the Gentiles are hearing this

for the first time, and they're hearing that

it's available to them, that this was meant for

them too. And they rejoice. They worship God

because they know the good news has come to them.

And the word, the good news, the gospel of Christ

spread throughout the region like a wildfire,

and it changed the world. And all the good things

in this world, the hospitals, the charities,

the orphanages, like the good stuff of this world,

it all comes from the kingdom of God. Check the

history. It all comes from the kingdom of God.

But that doesn't happen if the church doesn't

do its job. And so I'm just asking, what are

we waiting for? What more do we need to say?

What more does God need to prove? That if we

will work, great things will happen. If we will

just suffer for a little while, the good fruit's

on the other side. The Gentiles, these outsiders,

those that were not like them, they were reached

and their lives were changed. That's the payoff

of obeying the call, of staying on mission, of

keeping that mission on your mind always. And

that's what I'm putting on the table for you

this morning, to obey the call. to send our best,

to spread the good news in this community, in

this world. And so this morning, I'm asking this

congregation one simple question, because we

love to say this in the churches of Christ. We

love to put it on our signs. We love to put it

on our websites and our bios, that we are the

church of the New Testament, that we are the

church of Acts. We are the church that was established

in AD 33. And I'm just asking, are we? And if

we are, Will we act like it? If our identity

is that, it should come before some activity.

And if we are going to be the church of Acts,

the church in Antioch, then we will this morning

have the chance to lay our hands on this work.

In just a moment, I'm going to pray over us.

And I'm going to pray over the call that the

leadership here believes that we've been given.

If God has been stirring something in you during

this message or over this past few months, if

you sense God calling you to be a part of reaching

the next generation, of reaching these others

that need the good news, that need their lives

transformed, I'm asking you to settle that with

God in your heart and in your mind. However that

looks for you, settle it with God. Is it going

to be your time? Is it going to be your talents?

Is it going to be your treasure? And you'll have

the ability to commit to that. As we leave this

morning in the lobby, over on the side table,

we've got these next -gen pledge cards. And even

if you have no intention this morning of filling

this out and pledging anything, I'm asking you

to take one and pray over it. Pray over the person

sitting next to you that may be considering how

they're going to pledge to go on mission with

this congregation. Pray over the people that

aren't thinking about it so that maybe they will

think about it. But I'm asking you because what

we did a few months ago was we asked you, you

know, if you're willing to partner with us, just

come talk to us. And the truth is, is I believe

we have more out there that need to respond to

that call, that want to. I believe you because

you've talked to me about it. You've talked to

our leadership about it, that you want to pledge

your commitment to this mission. And so this

morning, we are going to have this card. It's

in the lobby. If we need more copies, I can print

more. That's no problem. But we just want everyone

to start pulling in the same direction to reach

what we believe is our most fertile grounds of

gospel initiative. We believe the next generation,

one, they need the gospel, but here's another

thing, they want it. The next generation wants

it. In fact, and I should have put this stat

on the screen, the next generation, and by that

I mean the millennials and Gen Z, are among the

most engaged people, the most engaged generation

right now in churches. They're coming. The question

is, what are we going to do? What are we going

to do for them? There's a church in Atlanta right

now that is exploding because they live with

this mission in mind, and it's a simple quote,

until all have heard. That we are going to do

what we need to do. We're going to preach the

gospel. We're going to go where we need to go

to who we need to go to until all have heard

the good news. And you know what that church

has made up a lot of? Young people, millennials,

Gen Z, the generation that everybody wants to

talk about. They're ruining the world. Yeah,

maybe. But guess what? If we can change their

life, they'll be the ones saving the world. So

we ask the question, what will we give? to save

that generation's life and the one beyond it

and the one beyond it. I don't know about you,

but I've always heard, leave this better than

you found it. And I'm not going to be here forever.

I don't think I've got that much time left. And

here's the thing, 100 years isn't that much time.

So even if I've got 100 years left to live, I

don't have that much time left. And neither do

you. And so right now, in this moment, in this

context that we are in, What will we do to leave

this place better than we found it in? I'm not

just talking about the Blairsville Church of

Christ. I'm talking about this world. What will

we do? What will you do? What will the church

do? So once you've prayerfully responded on your

card, I'm asking that you please bring it back

to one of the shepherds, to me, to anybody in

leadership that you trust with your card. You

can drop it in the box out there, which we use

for our offering. Like I said, you can hand it

to one of us. This card is essentially your amen

to this mission. It's your saying, yeah, I'm

in. What do I do? How can I help? Y 'all, Antioch

worshiped and they gave their best. They sought

God and God showed up. I said it a few months

ago. We cannot bring the fire, but we can stack

the wood. And all I'm asking, all we're asking

you this morning is how will we, as a church

family, stack the wood to light a fire in the

next generation to change this world for the

better? That's the call. And so I'm asking that

we partner together and we do the very same thing.

I'm going to pray for us and then we'll have

a song of invitation. If you need to respond,

if you need prayer, if you need the church to

lay hands on you because you are struggling,

I want you to know that we do want to encourage

you. We do want to be like Barnabas and give

you some love this morning and help prop you

up so that you can make it through another day,

another week until we gather again. We want to

be here for you. So if you need anything, come

after we pray and as we stand and sing. Let's

pray together over this mission. Father God.

You're so good. And the way that you work in

all things, and the way that you can take a storm

that wipes out a community, the way that you

can take persecution that runs these people out

of their homes, Father, the way that you can

do extraordinary things through the worst tragedies,

Father, that is proof that you are so good. And

God, So many people in this room have a story

to share about your goodness in their life. So

many people in this room have a story to share

about the goodness they've witnessed because

of your divine activity. And so, Father, my prayer

this morning is simply, will we share it? Will

we do everything we can to share our testimony

of a good God who came to this awful world to

make it good again? And will we do everything

we can to bring as many people as we can into

the good world you have in store for us? Because

God, I want to truly make heaven crowded. I want

to force you to have to build more and more and

more rooms. God, I want to make heaven constantly

throw parties. And we can't do that if we sit

on our hands. We can't do that if we hoard the

good news. We can't do that if we hold back what

we have been blessed with. And so God, my prayer

is that everyone in this room, church member

or not, will see your goodness and decide, I

need to act. I need to respond to the goodness

of God. And as Tim said earlier, when he talked

about the offering, Your goodness, your activity,

your redemption in our lives should produce a

response of self -sacrifice, of giving our entire

lives. I heard a story last night about a man

who worked in Wall Street, and he wanted to commit

his life. Somebody asked him, how much do you

feel like you need to earn in this world? And

he said, I want to earn so much that I can give

90 % and live off of 10. God, help us to be of

that mindset. To be of the mindset that I don't

need as much as the kingdom needs because the

kingdom needs something poured into it so that

we can bring it to as many people as possible.

God, there's so many people that need you. There's

people in this room that need you. My prayer

is that we will keep talking. We will keep telling

of the good news of Jesus, those ancient and

holy words. We will keep spreading that until

all have heard and until we have made disciples

that make disciples that make disciples in this

world. and until you are glorified in all nations,

with all creation, of all generations. Father,

bless our mission and help us to always keep

it at the forefront of our mind. We love you

and we praise you. We thank you so much for doing

beautiful things in this world. It's in Jesus'

name we pray. Amen. If you need anything, please

respond to the invitation and come as we stand

and as we sing.