The Build Back Part 2 | Compassion Sunday with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

To get connected or to give online go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.

If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

change me to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

Good morning everyone.

How's everybody doing today?

Good, good, alright, a little sleepy, that's okay.

If you're joining us from home, hopefully you're awake, have an extra cup of coffee,

pay attention and tune in.

So I wanted to share that video with you.

Many of you know that we took up a special offering last week for the hurricane relief

fund both in North Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee and now in Florida.

We raised or collected nearly $6,000 last weekend so thank you to all of you that gave.

That money was sent to Convoy of Hope and Brian McLeese who is our partner there in

Convoy sent me that video to share with all of you to say thank you because that money

provided the gas to send all the supplies to Florida, North Carolina and all the states

infected.

100 tractor trailer loads full of relief and water and food were all sent to those areas

and you were a part of that distribution so thank you so, so very much.

So as I've been doing recently, I want to start today off with a few questions.

Questions for you to ponder and to reflect your life on.

How has your last week been?

And let's take it a step further.

How about this past month?

See, there's a very real chance that as you reflect, you quickly remember the different

struggles at work, at home or at school that caused anxiety, caused us to feel overwhelmed.

Maybe your car broke down.

Maybe you failed a test.

You could have had a disagreement with your spouse or your children.

Maybe a project wasn't successful and left a mark on your heart and pain in your spirit.

Maybe that bad decision hasn't quite healed or those remarks from a peer hasn't stopped

speaking and whispering in your ears, replaying over and over again.

You find yourself asking, thinking, is this the way life is supposed to be?

And the answer is, yes.

Yes.

Because being in a relationship with Jesus is about us, the church.

Living in the midst of a broken, sinful world, working alongside and serving broken, sinful

people while bringing our own shortcomings into the mix.

That we continue to give ourselves because we understand that something bigger is at

work.

We understand that God is working in us, through us, all around us to impact the lives of people

with the love, truth and grace of Jesus.

See, we get to experience forgiveness, restoration and hope both within ourselves and also in

the lives of others within our sphere of influence.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, don't shine so others can see you, shine so that through you others

can see him.

See friends, it's all about perspective.

It's all about choosing to focus on the good, the positive that we experience each and every

day.

You know, the high fives, the hugs we receive on a Sunday morning, the laughter and the

smile of your son or daughter's face, the joy of success and the encouragement of defeat.

The good memories that we've experienced over the years that will never be taken away from

us.

It's all about perspective.

For example, when Jess and I started HCV 18 years ago, we had no idea that it would grow

into what it has become today.

Yesterday, the dream of a tie-dye run for freedom became a reality.

And with each person crossing the finish line, I literally had to hold back tears.

Tears of joy, thinking that every dollar spent to go out on a beautiful sunny fall day with

others running, experiencing the fullness of creation literally changed a child's life.

Friends, we raised nearly $11,000 that will go directly to compassion for them to spend

on priority projects in Africa and El Salvador.

Then as I was tearing up watching runners cross the finish line, I began to reflect

on how generous our community of faith is and how we will be generous in the future.

In the last three months alone, we have collected and given away nearly $30,000 to Convoy of

Hope and now Compassion that are literally changing the world that we live in.

Jess and I had no idea whatsoever that while we contemplated doing something good in the

tri-state area, we wanted to make a difference.

We had no idea that we were on the front end of something special that God is continuing

to do.

What happened?

How did we do it?

Well, we saw a need.

We saw an empty spot where people couldn't find a community of faith where they could

fit in.

And we thought, well, if somebody has to do it, maybe we can.

And we took a shot.

We stepped out of the boat, onto the water, and then God did more than we could ever imagine.

And see, this is exactly where some of you are right now.

You are tired and exhausted of all the negativity and you want to focus on the good.

You want to focus on making a difference to which I say, then change your perspective.

You don't have to focus on all the negativity.

Today I will make a difference.

I will begin controlling my thoughts because we all know that a person is a product of

their thought life.

I want to be happy, hopeful, and full of joy.

Therefore, my thoughts will focus on happiness, being hopeful, and being full of joy.

Today I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances.

I will stop making excuses.

I will not let petty inconveniences such as red lights, long lines, and traffic jams be

my master.

I will avoid negativism and gossip.

Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the 24 hours that are before us.

Why?

Because time is a precious commodity.

I will refuse to allow the little time I have to be contaminated with self-pity, anxiety,

worry, and boredom.

I will face this day with the joy of a child.

Today I will make a difference.

I will not let the past failures haunt me.

Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I will admit them, correct them, and press

on towards the higher prize.

Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those that I love, my spouse, my children, my family, because

we all know a man or woman can own the world but be poor for the lack of love.

A man or woman can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships.

Today I will spend at least 30 minutes with the significant people in my world.

30 quality minutes of talking, hugging, thanking, listening, laughing, and loving.

All of you know that last week Carl shared an excellent talk on being restored for a

reason as the kickoff for our October series on Nehemiah.

We learned that in the year 587 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar, who was the tyrant of the king, led the Babylonian

people into Jerusalem, attacked and destroyed it.

These people were experiencing a great loss.

Their lifestyle, their culture, their values, the temple completely destroyed.

The Babylonians took the Jewish people into captivity, crushed their spirits, and demoralized

them without any hope.

If you fast forward decades later, some of the Jewish people were finally released out

of the captivity to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild.

Now if you can imagine, they're going back into a demolished city.

There's no economic structure, there's no jobs, there's no systems, there's no government,

there's no leadership, there's no direction, and most of all there's no hope.

So these early travelers went, they tried to rebuild, but time and time again they run

into a dead end and they couldn't get anything done.

140 years after the destruction, an ordinary, everyday guy named Nehemiah was brokenhearted

for the plight of his people and his city.

And I want to remind you again, as Carl shared, Nehemiah was not a pastor.

He was not a priest.

He was not a prophet.

He was not a contractor.

He wasn't verified on Instagram.

He wasn't famous on TikTok.

This guy was an ordinary servant, a cupbearer to the king.

In other words, he didn't have any formal or appointed position.

All he had was a God-ordained passion to see his people restored.

Now, I don't know who this is going to speak to, but there are some of you that are listening

right now, you don't have a position.

You haven't been commissioned, but you have a passion from God about something that matters

and that qualifies you to make a difference.

And if you were with us last week, we saw that Nehemiah, his heart broke for his people.

And as his heart was breaking, the first thing he did was he sat down and he cried.

He wept.

He mourned and fasted for quite some time.

Then we learned that he knelt down to pray 12 different times, which is recorded in the

book of Nehemiah.

We see him crying out to God and asking him to intervene.

And finally, Nehemiah stood up to act.

He began to reflect on the fact that somebody's got to do something about this, so why not

me?

How do you do the work?

How do you make a difference in the world today?

Well, this morning I want to share with you four simple faults that are actually steps

as seen through the life of Nehemiah.

And listen, we're going to get really, really practical, but we're going to let the Spirit

of God empower us to do the work and to make a difference.

Amen?

All right, let's open in prayer.

Holy Spirit, come.

We're just thankful for the day that you've given us.

We give this time to you.

God, have your way.

Change our outlook.

Make us a people with a passion and a perspective to bring about change, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So all of that leads us to our first step this morning in making a difference.

We have to seek God first.

We seek God first.

And again and again and again, we'll see Nehemiah going before God, praying and praying and

praying some more.

In fact, let me give you the timeline so you understand this.

As you read in the text in the book of Nehemiah, you're going to see that Nehemiah heard the

news about his people in the month of Kislev.

Now when in the world you think Kislev, what is that?

Well Kislev, that's sometime between our November and December, right?

That's when he begins to pray and he prays until the month of Nisan.

So there is exactly or close to four months after Kislev before he gets to Nisan.

And I want you to notice that for four months he's fasting, he's hurting, he's praying,

he's seeking God.

And why is he doing this?

Well he's going before God and asking him to lead his steps.

It's impossible to describe how tricky it would be for a cupbearer, remember, just an

average servant to approach the king with a request because the cupbearer's only job

is to take burdens off the king, never to deliver to the king any kind of bad news.

In fact, to make things worse, for mid-eastern kings you would take bad news and never deliver

it to them.

You wouldn't even let them know it.

You didn't want to be the person to deliver a king anything but good news.

So Nehemiah is in a very difficult spot because he knew he wanted to share his heart with

the king.

And here's what happens in Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 2 and 4.

Nehemiah 2:1–2

Early the following spring in the month of Nisan, during the 20th century of King Artaxerxes'

reign, I was serving the king his wine.

I had never before appeared sad in his presence.

So the king asked me, why are you looking so sad?

You don't look sick to me.

You must be deeply troubled.

Then I was terrified, and you can picture Nehemiah, his stomach's churning.

He's got butterflies.

He's nervous.

His hands are getting palmy.

He's thinking, this is it.

I'm going to have to share it.

Now listen to Nehemiah's thoughts though.

With a prayer to the God of heaven, right?

The king, the king says, well, how can I help you?

He asked him the question.

Nehemiah doesn't immediately respond.

What does he do?

He prays, right?

In the instant, it wasn't a four day prayer retreat, right?

He had already done that the previous four months.

For four months, he was seeking and pouring himself out to God.

This was a man who was walking intimately with God, and now he could just talk to God

and talk to God in his everyday life.

And it is my hope that we'll pray both ways.

We'll pray long, powerful prayers over time and see miracles happen so that in the moment,

when we're presented with a question, when we're presented with sharing our testimony,

we're close enough to God that we can send text-like prayers to God every single day

because we've already been talking to him.

We're not catching up on our devotional time.

Oh no, I'm a month behind.

I've got to catch up.

No.

I'm going to be with God every single step of the way, intimately.

And daily, we're crying out to God, help.

Give me the words.

Give me the wisdom, God.

Direct my steps.

Fill me with your spirit.

Show me what to do.

Show me what to say.

See, this is what Paul was referring to in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18.

Always be joyful.

Never stop praying, right?

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ

Jesus.

So there, in the presence of the King, the King asked Nehemiah, what do you want?

And Nehemiah directly goes to God, then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered

the King.

Then he answered.

Friends, remember, when it comes to prayer, there's nothing too big for God.

There's nothing too big for God's power, and there's nothing too small for God's heart.

He cares about you.

He loves us.

He cares about the burdens that are on our hearts.

And he desires that we take it to him.

We seek God first.

I mentioned earlier about the run for freedom that took place yesterday.

Many of you don't know that the Holy Spirit actually downloaded that vision to Jess and

I during the Vineyard National Conference that took place in Asheville, North Carolina

during the summer of 2023.

See, it took 15 months for the actual event to happen, and it all began with receiving

the vision through prayer.

Then we would go to God daily, weekly, monthly, asking him for direction, for guidance, for

the right people to talk to, how it should happen, what it should look like.

That event was born out of months of prayer.

See, there's nothing too big for God's power.

There's nothing too small for his heart.

We start by what?

Seeking God first.

God, I need you.

God direct me.

God guide me.

And for four months, Nehemiah faithfully sought after God.

And I want to share this with somebody here this morning.

You have a heart for something.

You have a vision for something.

You have a passion to see something done.

If prayer isn't necessary for you to accomplish your vision, then you're thinking too small.

You've got to think bigger, which leads us to our next step.

We need to develop a vision.

See, for most people, it's not a lack of caring.

We want to make a difference, right?

It's a lack of clarity.

It's not defining specifically what it is that you're called to do.

And I want to show you this in Nehemiah's life.

Watch, listen to the crystal clear vision of an ordinary man who received a vision from

God.

Remember, the king asked Nehemiah, I see you're upset.

What do you want me to do?

Nehemiah says in chapters two, verse four, the king asked me, how can I help you?

With a prayer to the God of heaven, again, he goes to God in prayer, Holy Spirit, speak

through me.

I replied, if it pleased the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send

me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.

One sentence, absolutely clear, what did he say?

Send me to Judah, my homeland, so I can rebuild the walls.

Right?

Seek God first, develop a vision clearly.

Let me tell you what Nehemiah did not do.

He did not question the vision or the call of God.

He received it, he walked in it.

He did not try to make it sound so important by using language the king could not understand.

Right?

He didn't study on Wikipedia some word that means something that nobody knows about.

He did not stumble over his words using the word like every third word.

His head was not down, his shoulders were not slouched.

He was not insecure about the vision that God gave him.

Nehemiah was direct and to the point.

And I believe all of us gathered here today, again, want to make a difference in this life.

That's not the problem.

The problem is the lack of clarity.

What is God calling you to do?

For example, some of you are going to say help children.

Okay.

Help children how?

Which children?

Those that don't have their basic needs met?

Those that can't read?

Those have been abused?

Those that don't have homes?

Where?

In your city?

In your state?

Nationally?

Around the world?

What is it very specifically that God is calling you to do?

The bottom line is if you don't define it, you can't do it.

You can't walk in it.

If God is calling you to do it, then define it clearly.

What do you want me to do?

The Bible says send me to Judah so I can rebuild the walls of my homeland.

In a sentence, what is it that God is leading you to do?

In a sentence incredibly clear, why?

Well Proverbs 29, 18 from the King James Version says, where there is no vision, the people

perish.

And I believe so many people get stuck on social media scrolling, get stuck in front

of a screen playing games, get stuck working a job they don't enjoy because they want to

be great.

They want to make a difference in this life, but they focus on all the negativity that

we're bombarded with in this life every single day.

All the bad, all the hurt and pain of this world and suddenly they find themselves trying

to numb it, trying to just ignore the pain to which I say, it doesn't have to be that

way.

Help a clear vision for your life.

Choose life, choose positivity.

Psalm 37 verses 4 through 5, take delight in the Lord, right?

Psalms 37:4–5

Focus on the Lord and he will give you your heart's desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord, trust him and he will help you.

Which leads us to our next step.

Not only do you need a vision, but you got to make a plan.

The problem, a goal without a plan is just a wish, right?

It's just throwing it into the air and some of you, you're just wishing and you find yourself

stuck.

We have to make a plan, honor God with our time, right?

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is get organized, right?

Choose to be organized and you say, well, Chris, why do I have to be organized?

I like chaos.

God's a systematic God, right?

We live in a solar system.

There's seven days in a week, every week.

There's not eight, some weeks and six, some other weeks.

There's not 372 days in a year.

God is a systematic God.

He's a God of order.

You make plans carefully and watch how specifically clear Nehemiah is about his plans.

In chapter two, verses six through eight, we read this, the king with the queen sitting

beside him asked, how long will you be gone?

When will you return?

After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

I also said to the king, if it pleased the king, let me have letters addressed to the

governors of the province west of Euphrates river, instructing them to let me travel safely

through their territories on my way to Judah.

And please give me a letter addressed to Asa, the manager of the king's forest, instructing

him to give me timber.

I will need it to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, for the city walls

and for a house for myself.

And the king granted these requests because the gracious hand of God was on me.

What does he do?

He asks for protection and he asks for provision.

See, Nehemiah is very, very clear.

I need protection to travel and I need provision to build.

And then he says, because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my request.

Again, what's he doing?

He's thanking God.

He's putting everything back to God.

What did he do?

He sought God.

He was led by the spirit of God.

God was directing his words and directing his steps.

He created a plan and he said, this is how I'm going to accomplish it.

You may say, I want to create a plan for my life, but I don't really know how to have

a perfect plan.

All right, I want to tell you today, no plan is perfect.

There's never going to be a perfect plan.

I would rather you execute a good plan today with passion than a perfect plan months or

years from now without passion.

God is inviting us today to step out on the water and to get the ball rolling to make

a difference.

You know what my plan is all the time?

My plan is do the next right thing.

That's my plan.

Just do the next right thing.

If I take the time and look at how, as a community of faith, we're called to rebuild the walls

of our community.

Right?

We're called to continue to reach people that don't go to church, to see their lives radically

change with the love of Jesus.

How do I add more space, create more parking spaces, rally enough people to serve?

Like when I start thinking about all that stuff, you know what it does?

It overwhelms me.

Right?

I get stressed, but it's simply do the next right thing.

Step by step, faithfulness by faithfulness.

In fact, to me, success is not achieving some accomplishment out there in the future.

Success is being faithful to do the right thing right now, today.

So what's your next right thing?

What is God calling you to do?

You want to make a difference?

Do the next right thing.

For example, spend time with your family showing your spouse and children the love of Jesus.

Right?

Get off your phone, turn off the TV, choose a team at HCV and passionately serve in our

community of faith.

Be a part of the different events to reach out into our community that we do every single

year.

You just heard about from Kelsey, we have Trunk or Treat coming up.

Right?

And we're doing something different this year.

On Halloween night, we're doing treats in the streets.

We're going to Halfway Manor and we're taking the candy to them.

Right?

Why do we do that?

Because we want to show the love of Jesus to others.

Right?

Volunteer to serve others in our local community.

Be a big brother or a big sister.

Coach an athletic team.

Be an umpire at your local Little League.

Become a tutor for a child that can't read.

Right?

It's all about doing the stuff.

Proverbs 21, 5 says, good planning and hard work lead to prosperity.

But hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

I'm constantly asked, both outside of our community of faith and inside of it, oh Chris,

I know you're busy.

You're so busy.

How do you do it?

You have six kids.

You serve a church.

You serve the Little Legs.

You coach teams.

How do you do it?

I make a plan.

That's how I do it.

My life revolves around the plan that I'm living day after day after day after day because

that's how I organize myself and make it happen.

If I don't organize myself, I get overwhelmed in my head and I give up.

And I walk away and I quit and I go be a garbage truck driver.

Because I think that would be a nice job.

But God's called me to make a difference.

Psalm 127 verse 1, unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Psalms 127:1

We seek God first.

We develop a vision.

We make a plan, which leads us to our final step.

We inspire others.

We inspire others.

See what's beautiful about Nehemiah's story is again and again he steps up.

He reaches down deep within his heart in those times when he probably doesn't even know if

he believes the rebuild is possible.

And he says, I can do it.

And how do I know he feels that way?

Because I've been there.

There's not a week, a month that goes by when I'm down, when I'm defeated, that I don't

stand back up and grab a hold of whatever faith I have and I try to inspire others to

be great.

Why?

Because all things are possible with God.

Watch what Nehemiah does.

He says to the people in Nehemiah chapter 2, 17 through 18, but now I said to them,

Nehemiah 2 · chapter mention

you know very well what trouble we're in.

Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire.

Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace.

Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me and about my conversation

with the king.

They replied at once, yes, let's rebuild the wall.

So they began the good work.

Church, God is with us.

God is working through us and God is for us.

We are called to inspire people within our sphere of influence that God is doing a work

and he wants them to be a part of all that God is doing because he never leaves us.

He doesn't forsake us.

He's empowering us.

He's opening doors that we don't have the power to open.

We inspire others with passion.

I like what John Wesley said.

Some people call him the founder of the United Methodist Church.

He spoke these words, light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles

to watch you burn.

Right?

And some of you think, well, Chris, I'm just not a passionate person.

I'm not like you.

I don't want you to be like me.

You don't want to be like me.

But you have a passion in your heart that God is blowing on and stirring and there's

a fire inside of you.

He desires to become a bonfire so that you change the lives of all others because all

things are possible with God.

18 years ago, there were 14 of us with nothing but a dream and nothing but a vision.

Now next month, you heard Kelsey share that we're adding a third gathering for our annual

Sunday morning matinee series.

This year, retro edition.

May I say we're going back to the 80s with four films that you all love.

Back to the Future.

Karate Kid.

The Breakfast Club.

And ET.

And you may be asking, well, Chris, what are these times?

Okay.

We're going to have church on the fives, 825, 1005, and 1145.

You choose which one best fits your schedule.

Now some of you are sitting there thinking, well, why are we doing that?

Chris, why are we doing that?

Well, let me first just say it's not to create more work for you or me.

It's not to take you away from your family so that you can't spend time for them.

It's to create more room for people who are hurting, who are broken, and who are searching.

We are building the church.

We are filling God's kingdom with people who need the grace and love of Jesus released

into their life.

Hebrews 1024 says this, church, let us think of ways to motivate one another, the acts

of love and good works.

And it's my heart's desire to motivate you to those acts of love and to share with those

people in your sphere of influence, the passion you have in how Jesus has changed your life.

Young people, hear me out.

Next summer, we will take our first ever youth mission strip to the Dominican Republic.

That's right.

Next summer, young people.

Now listen, listen, that goes up to about 20 years old.

Okay?

If you have gray hair, you can't go.

All right?

All right?

You will pray for us.

You will pray for those that are going on the trip.

We will schedule an adult trip in the future.

All right?

But youth, if you're interested, young people, you want to go to the Dominican Republic,

you want to make a difference around the world, serve in a third world country.

Next Sunday, we will have an informational meeting after our second gathering.

Okay?

We will have an informational meeting about the youth mission strip summer 2025 after

our second gathering next Sunday.

Now one practical way that you and your family can make a difference all around the world

is through compassion.

This is our first ever compassion Sunday at HTV.

And as usual, we decided to make it bigger than a Sunday.

Sunday wasn't enough, so we made it compassion weekend.

It all kicked off with the run yesterday, which was a huge success.

And it culminates tonight with our community worship night.

You heard Rhett share five different churches coming together, packed house, standing room

only, to raise and lift our hands in gratitude to Jesus and to see lives change through compassion.

The reason we chose compassion is because Jess and I got to experience firsthand the

difference this organization is making all around the world when we went on our trip

to Kenya.

Compassion partners with local churches to bring an end to the exploitation of children

by releasing them from poverty while educating families and communities on the health, relationships,

job development, and spirituality.

So this morning, I have a special guest for you.

I actually have two guests and they're both going to share.

Moses from Uganda is going to share first.

Give him a big HCV tie dye.

Welcome.

Morning, family.

How many were here for the freedom run yesterday?

Awesome.

That was powerful.

That was powerful.

I walked most of it, but ran the last stretch.

This is my story.

I am a dreamer.

As a young boy, I would look up to the skies and marvel and say to myself, I'll one day

fly above the clouds and so I will head in the egos.

But this dream was short lived because my dad abandoned the eight of us at the age of

five.

He left us in the custody of my mother, a housewife who could neither read or write.

The best she could do was to work on other people's land so that we could get something

to eat.

On good days, she would return home with a harvest.

And on some not so good days, she would return empty handed.

And on those days, we would pray together and go to bed hungry.

In the piercing of the night, I would twist, toss and turn with my stomach growling.

Going to bed on an empty stomach was the most challenging thing as a child.

Another challenging thing about our situation was schooling.

Because we are poor, we could not afford the books, school fees and uniforms needed to

attend classes.

People would bounce from school to school, staying until we'd be sent away due to lack

of funds.

We prayed for a miracle.

Hello, my name is Moses Ashaba.

Although my story starts in a hard and humble place, I'm glad to be here to tell you that

I'm a breathing, living testimony of the power of God, the kindness of a sponsor and the

love of the church.

It was here in 1995 that my mother learned about Compassion International.

She set out on a journey traveling over 200 miles.

It would be like traveling from Hagerstown to New York City to find hope for your child,

find help for your child.

I know mothers here would do it in a heartbeat.

My mother found hope at the doorsteps of Compassion International.

She returned home that night with the most exciting news that we'd been sponsored by

Compassion International.

Yes.

The three of us out of eight were sponsored.

My mom gave us the news we celebrated with tears of joy.

How many know that you can cry when you're happy?

Yes.

In that room, we are filled with God's joy.

We shed tears of joy.

As a young man, my dream was to graduate from high school and play in a soccer team.

With the help of Compassion, I was able to achieve that dream.

It came to fruition.

And many more dreams came to fruition.

My dream came true, reality, when I applied and was accepted in law school in Uganda.

I graduated from Uganda Christian University with a bachelor's in law.

I then dreamt bigger.

I went to Temple Law School in Philadelphia and attained my master's in law.

It's just the grace of God, that step of faith and dreaming.

I know there are young people here.

Dreaming, dreams really do come true.

Nelson, a sponsor from Australia, became a father figure in my life.

He spoke into my life, prayed over me, encouraged me all the way.

He believed in me.

He wrote to me and told me that I was a beloved of God.

Not many people had ever told me that.

He sent me letters, postcards, and pictures of kangaroos jumping record heights.

We didn't have kangaroos in Africa.

These ignited my childhood curiosity and imagination.

I realized that there was more to life than the four corners of my community.

Fast forward, in 2010, I boarded my first flight ever to America.

And that dreamers young boy of flying above the clouds and soaring higher than the eagles

came to fruition.

As I stand before you today, I have been to over 20 states and three continents, both

through compassion and my personal travels.

Because someone like you sponsored someone like me, I was able to go from a place of

striving, thriving.

And because someone like you sponsored someone like me, I was able to go from a place of

hopelessness to giving back hope to others.

Because someone like you sponsored someone like me, I received salvation at the age of

eight.

I'm extending this opportunity that Nelson had 30 years ago to sponsor me as a child.

I've never met Nelson, but wherever I go, I talk about him.

I share about the compassion he shared with me, the love, the kindness, and the belief

he had in me.

I believe Nelson was from a small rural community in Australia, small church, but he took a

step of faith.

And I'm here to give you the same opportunity to stand and believe God for the many kids

around the world.

I'm not asking you to make the 200 mile trek that my mom made by foot and bus.

I'm asking you to make a step of faith today.

Step into my shoes and help a child realize their dreams and make their dreams take flight

like mine.

We have a table at the back and Derek is going to give the instructions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Isn't that amazing?

Absolutely amazing.

You guys are amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Isn't that amazing?

Moses, let me ask you a quick question.

When you say Nelson talked to you, do you have his letters?

Yes, I have his letters.

He spoke into my life and those letters meant a lot to me.

So somebody from, you said Australia, spoke into your life where you were in Kenya?

In Uganda.

That's right.

Uganda.

That's amazing.

That's the power of what you can do if you are sitting in there, you wonder, how do I

participate in the Nehemiah story?

How do I participate in building somebody's life?

How do I make a difference in this?

And the reason why, you know, we asked Moses to come because we wanted you to see this

is a real person.

He's real.

Amen.

Everybody give me.

Y'all alive, right?

Okay.

This is 11 o'clock, but he has a real family.

He has a real life change by Jesus, but also by somebody named Nelson in Australia who

impacted his life and made the difference.

So many of you have heard about compassion through maybe a concert or something like

that.

But what you haven't heard about is one, maybe we, I want to let you know, we work exclusively

through the local church.

That's the local church overseas in the 29 different countries, but that's also the local

church here where we really want to thrive in those relationships.

One, we can't do it without Hub City.

Did they hear that, Pastor Chris?

I think so.

All right.

I just want to make sure we can't do this and we don't see life change like Moses without

people like you at Hub City, people like you that are sitting and wondering, what can I

do?

What part do I play in this role?

Well, guess what, God tells us in the scriptures is that, hey, it's also we minister to our

local community, but we also minister to the world abroad.

And how do we do that in little old Hagerstown, and I'm just a few miles down the road, is

that we can have an opportunity to speak into somebody's life via the pen, via our voice,

maybe a picture, maybe whatever we get the chance to say.

Oftentimes, I hear people like Moses say the first time they heard that somebody believed

in them was through a letter.

The first time they heard that somebody loved them maybe was through a letter.

But it was those kinds of impactful things.

So I want to get on to telling you about specifically how this is.

Now, in Hub City, what we've done is we've communicated and we've connected and Pastor

Chris and Pastor Jess has gone over, they've been to Kenya, they've seen this for real.

And so in that process, they've been able to say, hey, look, we want to connect specifically

with Kenya and El Salvador because it's something on the heart of God for Hub City.

OK, now that's the kids that we have back there.

Those are the kids that we have on those tables.

And so it's a part of a broader scale that hopefully one day maybe as he's talking about

an adult mission trip or something like that down the road, that may be you having an opportunity

to maybe go travel, visit and see your child that you are sponsoring, that you're connecting

with, that you're having an impact in their life with.

I love this scripture which is being transformed, but that transformation power is a joint thing

where we are part of the transformation in somebody else's life.

Amen.

So let me give you a couple of points.

Number one, it takes forty three dollars a month to actually sponsor a child.

What does that mean?

Forty three bucks a month.

Now that's less than a dollar forty four a day in a 30 day period.

Less than a buck forty four.

Now, for some of you, I know that's a stretch that might not be for you.

But for some of you, it's not about what child do I sponsor, but it's about how many.

Because everybody is granted different things.

Let me tell you this.

I have a coworker who had a daughter, 15 years old, wanted to sponsor a kid.

They had already sponsored two, couldn't do it.

Basically, she convinces dad to sponsor a kid.

I think she was about 13, excuse me, to sponsor the kid.

She picks up a babysitting job to sponsor the kid until she goes off to college.

Years later, let me just tell you, fast forward.

This is the story never, never leaves me.

Fast forward years later, she says, Dad, I want to tell you about the sponsor child that

is mine.

She says, what is it?

When I was going through the hardest times about my own faith and whether I was going

to whether I was going to continue to be a Christian, whether I was going to continue

to love God, my sponsor child was writing me and telling me that I need to make a difference,

that I need to stand for God and that nobody you said I'm saying.

So I mean, trust me, I got stories, but that kind of story to me impacts my life.

And you never know what that does in somebody's life.

We always think about it in America, like, yeah, we're going to help somebody knows somebody

might be helping you.

So 43 bucks a month, you go outside.

This is a packet that's out there in these on these packets.

There's a lot of on the table.

There's a QR code right in the bottom right hand corner for those tech savvy people.

It's just like everything else, you can scan that QR code, you got Apple Pay, you got Android

Pay, Google Pay, you can scan it.

It'll pull your information in.

You go through the process, hit pay, done deal.

Once you scan it and do it, that it pulls this child out.

First of all, these are live children.

These aren't like little sample packets.

These are real kids that we pulled for specifically for Hub City.

Then if you take them out of that system, they won't have the opportunity to be sponsored

for some time.

So if you grab one, throw it in your purse, throw it in the back of the car.

They're just riding around with you unsponsored.

Just let you know.

No guilt.

Just want to let you know.

But we want you to be able to sponsor them.

And if you want information about you can look at their packet.

It'll tell you what it supports, what their community is like.

This is little Angie.

Angie is cool.

Angie is in El Salvador.

Her birthday is October 30th, 2020.

She's cute as a button.

But it also tells you about where she is.

She's in Distro, Italia, 19 kilometers northeast of San Salvador, El Salvador.

So you know that's about where she's living.

So I always tell it what I love about being in a place like Hope City.

I mean, I'm sorry, not Hope City, but Hub City is you guys know how to pray.

You guys know how to believe for people.

You know, can I say this?

I mean, I know I go to churches and I get a chance to go to church and I love people

that are all in.

And sometimes you get people to say, yeah, this is OK.

We're going to do this and we're going to pray.

But when you get a church that knows the power of the gospel, knows how to walk, rock with

the Holy Spirit and start to understand, let me grab a hold of this child and start praying

into their life and into their future.

God, can you dramatically change Angie's life?

Lord, will you not only protect her where she is in El Salvador, but will you come alongside

her and be her paraclete?

Will you come alongside her and take her into her future?

And Lord, will you allow me to give words of hope and inspiration to her, even as I

pin these words and this letter so that her life is forever changed?

You know what I'm saying?

That's the kind of thing that I think you guys can do that will make a tremendous impact

and will have an incredible difference.

So now I, you know, Pastor Chris said, hey, you can come up here a couple of minutes.

I'm going to stop because I did come from the preaching side of it years ago.

But it only takes about three to four minutes to do this.

There's a form on the back that you can actually tear off and fill out.

There's people back there that will help you understand what that does.

If you're asking, well, what does this look like?

What does it cover?

One, it covers nutrition aspects.

It covers education.

You heard Moses say, well, they went from school to school.

And sometimes you got to pay for school.

And if you don't have money for school, you get kicked out of school.

So we stabilize that piece if you're part of the program.

Also, you get uniforms and things like that to make sure you're good.

Moses, I don't know Moses mentioned his shoes.

Did you mention your shoes this time?

You didn't mention your shoes.

See, first time you got a pair of shoes.

So I was eight.

That's when I received my first pair of shoes.

How many of you know how it feels when you pair of shoes?

Now imagine wearing a new pair of shoes, having walked barefoot for a long time.

My life was changed.

Trust me, you want to talk to Moses if you get a chance.

He's got more stories than you can imagine.

But his life is an experience.

And if you notice, he said 2010 was the first time he rode on a plane

to see the dreams that he had had.

So that ain't that long ago for somebody like me.

But if you look at it, it's an amazing way to make a difference

of a life with a child.

And it's your choice.

It's no pressure.

But it is one of those things right outside these doors is where you can come,

get a little bit of information, possibly sponsor a child.

Some of you all might have more gray hairs than others.

And you might want to sponsor a teenager child,

because they got a few more years left.

Because when you sponsor, it's about, hey, you're sponsoring.

You're picking up that child.

And you get a chance to just walk with them on their journey.

And I would encourage you, my last thing, download the Compassion app

once you do it, because that you can almost immediately,

once you get your stuff, you log in, do all that stuff,

you can start writing your kid.

Take a picture.

Write a kid.

I was talking to Pastor Retch's daughter.

And I believe that's Pastor Retch.

Yeah.

Pastor Retch's daughter.

And she said she's written her child in Haiti.

But hear me.

This girl, go on.

I said, did you ever tell about snow?

She says, I never thought of it.

Kind of like, ah.

I said, yeah, because see, y'all in Haiti, y'all got snow.

You got snow somewhere in some of these places we are.

So tell them it's white.

It's fluffy.

It's cool.

It's neat.

Take a picture and show them.

Bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, so when we were in Kenya, Jess and I chose to,

we adopted Mercy.

She was, I think, 18 months old when we adopt.

It's not adoption.

It's sponsored.

Sorry.

Sponsored Mercy.

They like to use the right terminology.

And I said, yes, we can sponsor Mercy.

And that way, we don't have to have any more children.

So let's just sponsor her.

And I want to encourage you again, just like Derek said,

there's no pressure here.

We brought them in as a means for you to open your mind

and see that you can make a difference around the world.

It's not just here, but it's globally.

And in making a difference around the world,

you're helping a child come out of poverty.

You're helping them be educated, have shoes,

just those little things that we often take for granted.

Amen?

There's no impossible.

I believe that you are working now.

Pour it out.

Oh, pour it out.