Take Mile 2

Happy New Year! Happy New Year! All right, get your Bibles out.

It's the new year, but we're gonna start off right.

Get your Bibles out and turn to Genesis chapter 24.

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

We're starting in Genesis.

We're gonna go through the whole thing today.

Revelation will be finished.

Here we go.

I'm only joking.

2022.

Our message title this morning is Taking Mile 2.

I did not pray for a dog for seven years, like my daughter did.

She prayed for seven years, and when she got a dog, I actually had Sunday school teachers message us on Facebook saying, We remember her praying over that dog to get that dog.

So I did not pray for a dog, didn't want a dog, didn't need a dog, but I got a dog.

And this is what I found out when I got a dog is that the one who prayed for it for seven years didn't pray to take care of it for the next seven.

And so what I found out about a dog is this that there are times when we get the kids and we say, Hey, the dog needs to be walked.

Go walk the dog.

And so the kids uh will go walk the dog.

Well, just the other day, they were walking the dog, and they walked out, and they came back in in what seemed like 35 seconds, right?

And they're like, Oh, did it go to the bathroom?

Yeah, it went to the bathroom.

And what I found about an hour later is that the dog peed on the carpet.

And I thought to myself about that dog being walked for 35 seconds.

And I thought about children, right?

And children are still children.

Even though you get a dog, you get responsibility.

They're still children, right?

And so that means the person who is more responsible has to stay responsible, even though you might expect things.

Um, my children, when we host people to come over, and we love to have people to our home, uh, Heather kind of gives out roles, or I give out roles, and so people have something to do, and we're getting ready and things are getting clean.

But this is what I find out.

After the first thing that we say, if we don't continue with the next thing, most of the time they don't take the initiative to come say, Father, mother, what can I do next to be helpful and make this home readied?

Okay?

That doesn't happen, well, ever.

It's never happened, am I right?

They go on to what they wanted to do, and so what I found out watching this stuff is a lot of times my children are okay with the bare minimums.

Right?

They they're okay with cleaning to the bare minimum.

I'm gonna do what I've been asked, but I really don't want to do a lot more, or with the dog, and I think about the dog, and I'm like, the dog is not a chore, this is a living thing.

I'm not asking you to do a chore.

This this has a life, it has breath, and and we need to take care of things that have life.

It's not okay, uh, just a chore, and so bare minimums happen, and and and what got me frustrated about that idea is when I thought about that, I thought about myself.

And I thought about the times that I coast, and I thought about the times where my approach is bare minimum.

I thought about bedtime.

Any parents here?

At bedtime, I should probably be taking my time to individually talk to my child and give them a nice way to sleep, right?

Speak to them, pray over them, rub their hair, and just love them, take that opportunity.

But a lot of times, if I'm honest, my approach is you gotta get to bed because I can't get to bed unless you get to bed, so let's get to bed.

No, you don't need a drink, no, you don't need to brush your teeth.

I don't care if you have pajamas on, just get in bed.

Because I need to get to bed.

And I think about that, and I think about that in my marriage.

There's times I'm not going to, but I don't always go the extra mile.

Sometimes I just go what's expected.

And so when I thought about, and God just led me this morning about 2022, I believe as a church, as a people, God wants us to take mile to.

Wants us to be people who take mile to.

Let's pray.

Father, God, I pray for your presence.

Lord, I pray for your words to speak.

God, you know that I don't have anything to say, but your word can change a person's life today.

Lord, I pray that you would help our church to see the importance and the value of this principle taught.

Lord, you taught it in Genesis and you taught it in the New Testament, Lord.

It's so real and needed for us to go beyond just expectation and beyond bare minimums.

Lord, help us to be mile to people at CCW.

We love you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So in Genesis chapter 24, we're gonna define uh letter one this morning is what is mile two?

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

What is mile two?

I'm gonna read to you Genesis 24, and we're gonna read, start verse 9, uh, probably through 15.

It says, So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, the servant's name is Eliezer, and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand, and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.

And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.

Then he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

Now let it be that the young woman, woman, to whom I say, Please, let down your pitcher that I may drink, and she says, Drink, and I will give your camels a drink.

Let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac, and by this kindness I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.

Verse 15.

And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milkah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.

So letter A this morning, I want to teach you is this Mile 2 is not expectations, but exceeding expectation.

The background here is Abraham was getting old, about to die, and what he wanted to see was a promise of God fulfilled that God had already stated what happened.

He wanted to see his son Isaac be married, to have a wife, and to be able to see the beginning of the future of the generations of Israel.

And so he says to his servant Eliezer, place your hand on my thigh, and I want you to swear an oath that you will go and find a wife for my son Isaac.

So Eliezer here is the biblical Chuck Woolery.

Y'all remember Chuck Woolery?

Love connection.

And so he says, Go out and be a matchmaker.

I want you to find my son a wife.

And so we see a couple of things that happen in this passage that tells us Eliezer's approach.

Verse 10, look at what it says.

I like this.

It says, He took some camels and all the things that were in the hand of his masters.

This is a little uh single person's tip.

If you're looking for a lady, bring something to the table.

Don't show up broke.

Y'all with me?

The great philosophers TLC said, I don't want no scrubs.

Okay?

Get a job and bring something to the table.

Okay?

Verse 11, it says, Eliezer's no dummy.

It says, He came at a time when the ladies would be out at the well.

So he knew when the time was, right?

Single people, if you're here, you need to understand where the best value of your time is and go where there's good odds.

So he went to a place there was good odds.

And then verse 12, probably most important of these three things, it says as he prays, and he prays specifically.

I mean, very specifically.

Listen, if we're gonna pray broad prayers about 2022, oh God bless my ear, oh okay, that's probably gonna be answered.

But maybe you could get really a little more specific than that.

Maybe you are single and you're looking for somebody.

God, can you give me a husband?

I'm going to this place, I'm gonna be where they are, or God, can you bless my finances with this amount?

Can we get specific with a God who likes specifics so we can look back at the prayer journal and say, that specifically happened?

And so he prays specifically.

And this is interesting because in this scenario, God had already promised that this was gonna happen for Abraham and for Isaac.

But hear this.

Abraham was not content with just the promise, I'm just gonna die and maybe it's gonna happen.

What Abraham did was took action.

He wanted to see it happen.

He believed that God would do it, but he was not content to pass from this world without seeing it.

So he took action.

He said, Servant, go, let's see this thing.

Sometimes you may want God to do something, but you're not doing a whole lot about seeing it happen.

And so he says, I'm gonna go to my servant and start to make this thing happen.

And so he does.

Well, it's interesting because God said it would, but what I love about the servant Eliezer is that he prays.

And this is key for later as this unpacks, because we're gonna see a verse in a little bit that that is important, that Eliezer takes the time, and I think so often we want God to move, and one of the big things we miss is specific prayers.

And so this servant is an example, first of all, of Mile II.

He was just asked to bring back a wife, right?

That was what he was asked.

If you look from uh verse one through verse 15, that was what he was asked.

But what he does, he prepares, he plans, and he prays and he takes actions.

Mile one was I just gotta come back with a wife.

Mile two was he thought it through.

He made a plan, he started acting, and then he prayed.

Um, David Wilson, who founded this church with Pastor Danny one time, came to me, right?

The CEO of ServePro.

He was my friend.

He was also my landlord at the time.

He came to me and needed something.

Like I've never had somebody, you know, these are probably the two of the most, you know, successful people I know, Pastor Dan and David, and and he needed something from me, just little me.

And I'm like, all right, what do you need?

And so he's like, I have been trying to, some of y'all know Ben that comes and plays strong.

I've been trying to get Ben signed up to go to school at Mana Vala to continue his education.

And I've asked some people, and nobody can get it done.

I need somebody that can get it done.

Can you get it done?

And I'm like, David Wilson needs me to do something.

And I'm like, yeah, you better believe I'm gonna get it done.

And I didn't have I had no idea.

I had no idea what to do.

But he needed something from me, so I'm like, all right.

So on third, I said, Ben, can you meet me on Thursday?

I looked online, it was like reading Greek, trying to find register online.

I didn't know, I'm like, this ain't getting me nowhere.

So I said, Ben, you gotta meet me.

I didn't even know where Montevala was, right?

I'd just been here a short time.

And so I'm like, we're going to Montevala.

I need you to bring papers.

He's like, papers.

I'm like, just stuff, stuff about you.

Okay, we gotta have stuff.

And so bring your license.

And we get on our trip to Montevala, and we go down to Montevala, I pull up on, I don't know nothing about the campus.

So I find a parking spot just somewhere.

I get out, and guess who the first person that we run into on the campus of Montevala is?

The president of Montevala.

And I'm he's like, Can we help you?

I'm like, look, I gotta get this kid signed up to go to school here.

And he was like, Well, you have met the right guy.

And he took us from the next place to the next.

Can I tell you right now that Ben De Lima now works as assistant to that president of Montevala?

Yeah.

So I'm like, look, yeah, I'll get something done for you, David.

I don't know how.

And many times that's like where we're at.

You don't, we don't know how, we don't know what to do, how to do it.

But I'm gonna tell you this if you just start taking some action, maybe something will happen.

Do something.

I'm like, David Wilson needs my help.

I can't wait till this is done.

I felt so proud of myself.

Look, I did.

I didn't even need David to be proud of me, but he was.

I'm like, look at me.

I did something for the CEO of this company.

Amazing.

So listen, mile one is just an expectation.

Mile two is exceeding expectations.

I want you to turn to Matthew 5 and see how Jesus taught this principle.

Hold your place in Genesis, but I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

We're gonna look at verse 41 and 42.

On the great Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes some time to teach some principles.

And this is one of the great ones.

Look at what it says.

It says, and whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him too.

Let me tell you what this principle was about.

In first century in Jewish law, a person by law had to carry a Roman soldier's backpack, their equipment.

And so usually what that meant was they would carry about a thousand pounds for somebody.

And their measurement was this, it says a mile, but their measurement was 1,000 left-footed steps.

And so if a soldier came upon you and you were walking, it didn't matter if you were going to work, going to your house, going somewhere for fun, enjoyment, if a soldier came upon you and said, Jew, carry my pack, then you had to drop all you were doing and go carry this back.

So it was kind of an inconvenience, and it didn't matter what your plans were, it was law that you had to do this 1,000 steps.

So probably, you know, all the Jewish people back then would, you know, they had Fitbits.

And so they took their steps and they took their pack, and after 1,000 steps, they said, I'm done.

I did my thousand, right?

And they dropped it.

They weren't looking for doing exceedingly above the expectation, they were looking at bare minimum with the law.

And something I've been taught by Pastor Danny since I've been at this church is anything worth doing is worth doing well.

Listen to me, church.

Nobody becomes an expert in their field doing bare minimums.

We don't become the best by just doing what is just expected.

I've heard a lot in the last six years.

If you're gonna go, go all in.

Look, if you're gonna go to church here, will you be all in for church here?

At your job.

If you're gonna have a job, why would you do it at the minimum?

Be the best.

That is what God has given you.

You can be the best where you're at, so do it.

Take the extra mile.

That takes us to letter B.

I want you to go back to verse 19 and 20 in chapter 24.

Letter B is this mile too is not obligation, but opportunity.

It's opportunity.

And when she had finished giving him a drink, this is Rebecca, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.

Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

Rebecca was asked something pretty simple.

She sat by the well and he said, Could you draw me a drink?

Right?

And first of all, you need to understand, she didn't have to do this.

It might have been considered pretty rude.

But she didn't have to even do mile one.

It wasn't law.

It would have been socially acceptable.

Somebody needs a drink.

And she didn't have to do that, but she did that.

And then it says, She said, I will now draw water for your camels.

By the way, this is the specific thing that Eliezer prayed for.

Y'all with me?

We don't have any backstory on Rebecca.

This was just who she was.

She had no idea what was on the other side.

She didn't do this because she thought something was gonna come out of it.

She did it because this is Rebecca, and this is how Rebecca operates.

She's a hard worker.

And so somebody came, they asked for a drink, and she says, by her nature, is there any other way that I can be of a help to you?

You see in this church?

Is there any other way?

Is there something else?

You need something from me?

Is there something else I can do?

Is there a meal I can serve?

Is there a way that I can be a help?

And so she says, Is there something else I can do?

Now don't miss this.

If you just read that, you'd say, okay, that's pretty cool.

Ten camels.

Don't miss this, okay?

Ten camels.

How much water do you think a camel drinks?

Right?

Maybe you think she just drew up the bucket one more time and spread it out between ten camels.

No, I don't think so.

Commentators debate, but they believe this that Rebecca, her manual labor was about another hour and a half.

She took her bucket, right?

I know this was a different time.

I know that disease was created in Genesis 3 and that her body wasn't plagued like ours are today.

I realized that people were still living to five, six hundred years old.

But there she went.

She got her bucket and she said, camel, here we go.

Oh, that camel's still thirsty.

Camel, here we go.

Ten camels she went.

And I'm like, listen what I'm thinking.

Dang, Eliezer, you're just sitting there for 90 minutes watching old girl sweat.

Right?

It doesn't say she said anything to him either.

Like, hey, you want to get a bucket?

Ten buckets.

She's caring.

She's sweating.

Look, and this is what it says about her for some of those people that are like, that is not classy for a lady.

It says that Rebecca was beautiful, a virgin.

She was beautiful to look upon.

There she was.

Didn't care about her nails, her hair.

She was just boom! Bucket, mmm, bucket, going, sweating, pouring, and she was going till it was done.

Energizer Rebecca, right?

And Ellie's are just sitting there watching it unfold.

It doesn't say he did anything.

He prayed and all that, but I'm like, look, Ellie.

There wasn't one time where she looked over and said, Ellie, loser, could you get a bucket?

She just kept going and going.

Beautiful young girl working.

Camel bucket, camel bucket.

You know, Galatians 6.10 says something I want you to hear this morning.

It says, as we have therefore opportunity, do good unto all men, and especially of the household of faith.

As we have therefore opportunity.

Here's the picture.

Let me ask you.

When do you not have opportunity?

What day do you not have an opportunity to do good unto men?

What day?

If you're breathing today, if you're here at church today, because it says especially the household of faith, if you can do good for your church brother or sister, it says, do it.

As we have opportunity.

If you're here, then there's an opportunity.

That's the opportunity.

You're here, it says, especially the household of faith.

Listen, it's opportunity.

Other words, coming to church is mile one.

Being a blessing at church is mile two.

Right?

Blessing someone at church is mild too.

Every time, every opportunity, every bucket, every camel, every bucket, every camel.

Listen to me, you have an opportunity.

That's why when you're rolling up in here every Sunday morning, especially how many of y'all got kids?

On the ride to church, on the way to get to church, is Satan not trying to mess with you?

Sundays.

Is he not just trying to mess with you on Sundays?

When you look back at your week, is it not like Sundays or Sunday morning is worse?

And so you get a test every Sunday morning because you know what?

Satan doesn't really want you to take the opportunity to be a blessing.

Can you eat?

You get in here and say, Can I even be a blessing?

I got three kids ready this morning.

I got three kids fed this morning.

I was in the car, my wife, and we was almost having a fight.

And brother said, How are you doing this morning?

I said, Praise God, I'm awesome.

You're wondering, can I even be a blessing?

Come on, right?

And you got your kids up to kids' ministry.

Can we clap for the kids' ministry?

Because once you got them up there, you said, Whoo! Praise God.

Maybe now I can be a blessing.

And you had a prayer back down the steps, like, Lord, please help me now.

I got an hour off.

Right?

And so you walk down those stairs, and now you have an opportunity to be a blessing.

That takes us to letter C is this.

Mile two is not about comfort.

It's about courtesy.

Mile 2 is not about comfort.

Man, we get caught up in this culture thinking and dreaming and envisioning lots and lots of comfort.

I mean, I don't know if we're like a cotton society, what you know, hammock society.

We just love the idea of comfort.

And I don't think Jesus was that excited about comfort.

I don't see really any scripture where Jesus is like, I can't wait to teach the disciples, and then I'm gonna go on an island and I'm gonna have an umbrella drink and I'm gonna be back and forth with somebody fanning me.

He said, I don't, the Son of Man doesn't have a pillow to sleep on.

He worked and exceeded expectation.

It wasn't about comfort for him, it was about consideration, it was about care.

See, the the Jewish people in this scripture, they would count, and maybe at 1,000 they would drop it.

But I want you to see this picture.

How many Roman soldiers do you believe would have been impacted by a Christian if they looked up at the soldier and said, Sir, if it's all right with you, I'll keep walking with you another mile.

I know that law is one, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to, I think your story's interesting.

I'd like to find out more about you.

Can I walk with you another mile?

Maybe on this mile walk, listen, I believe in this person that's totally changed and transformed my life.

Maybe I could share with you about something that happened in my life on mile two.

Can I go with you a second mile and have an opportunity to be a blessing?

Have an opportunity to pray?

Can I give you a drink on mile two?

You see, back there in Matthew, uh, it says before that and after, it says, mile one is if someone needs to borrow a shirt, you give them a shirt and mile one.

Mile two says, give them your coat too.

Mile one says that we love those who love us.

Mile two says that we love those that hate us.

Mile one says that we pray for those who pray for us.

Mile two says we pray for those who despitefully use us.

You see, Jesus constantly challenged comfort.

He constantly challenged minimality, he constantly challenged expectation.

It said before all this, oh, you say don't commit adultery.

Like duh, that's mile one.

He says, mile two is don't, man, don't look at woman to lust after them.

That's mile two.

Don't even look at them with lust in your heart.

He said, oh yes, Old Testament gives a principle of tithe, 10%.

He says, that's minimum.

He says in the New Testament, give with good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

And he says, give out of the abundance, not out of your lack.

Oh, mile one is to give, yes.

He says, you know, we read our Bible, that's mile one.

Why don't you read your Bible to somebody?

That's mile two.

And so it's not about comfort.

Maybe you need to ask this question to me too in 2022.

In what way do I need to get uncomfortable?

In what way do I need to challenge what I desire just for myself?

In the way that I want to be, and what sets me up in my little comfortable bubble.

Jesus, I don't think cared a whole lot about comfort.

Go back to verse 22 through 26 in Genesis 24.

I love this.

Rebecca, camel, water, bucket, she kept going.

But look at what it says here.

Verse 24 through 26.

So she said to him, I'm the daughter of Bethuel, Milka's son, whom she bore to Nahor.

Moreover, she said to him, We have both straw and feed enough and room to lodge.

Then listen to this.

Then the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord.

Rebecca goes even further, right?

He asked for some water.

She drew some water.

She offered water to his camels.

And now he says, Is there a place to say?

She says, Let me tell you, we have straw and we have feed and we have lodging just for you if you need a place.

And it made me think about Matthew 5, 16, church, which says, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

When you go mile two, it causes people to step back and worship your God.

Eliezer was met with so much consideration that he said, What a God this Rebecca must have.

And maybe in 2022, that can be your goal.

That people will see you on mile two and they'll go, Man, I want their God.

I want what they want.

I want to worship where they worship.

That's what mile two, it's an opportunity for people to see God in you.

By the way, mile two works at the job.

Mile two is your competitive advantage.

Right?

Everybody's looking to do what's expected.

But you get in there, I'm telling you, you students, those of you just starting in the workforce, if you get in there and you work harder than the person next to you, you start getting promoted.

I never got in that one job that I didn't get promoted.

And it wasn't like I was great at stuff.

I just kept working hard.

Working hard is a gift.

God says that it's a gift for us to be able to work.

And so living in a society where it says, don't work and you get a paycheck, that is wrong.

Listen, you need to work.

Working is a gift, and you've been given a gift to work.

It's your purpose.

You work and you impact people with that light.

An opportunity for people to see God in you, by the way, men.

Mile two works in the marriage.

Mile two works.

Mile two works in parenting.

And so it's our advantage.

It's the way that we are a light of God to others.

Well, that takes us to point number two this morning.

So that was what mile two is.

What happens in mile two.

Three things I want to share about what happens, and we'll wrap it up this morning.

Letter A is this that when we go mile two, we appeal to people's attention.

We appeal to the attention of people.

I want you to look back at verse number 21.

I said there was a reason why it was interesting that Eliezer prayed.

Look at verse 21.

And the man wandering at her remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

I want you to picture Eliezer here, who prayed for something very specific.

He said, God, I'm going to go to this watering place when the ladies come out, and would you send somebody?

I'm going to ask them to give me a drink, and will you send somebody that will bring water to the camels?

This thing happens, and Eliezer is sitting here, scratching his head, thinking about the scenario.

And I want you to understand something about prayer and the way God works and our humanness.

I asked Heather like a couple of days ago, I said, I need you to join with me in prayer about something.

And it was very specific.

And I said, we need to pray over this.

And so we did.

I had prayed over it.

We had prayed over it together.

And then I listen, I believed God could do it.

I had no doubt that God could answer the prayer that I prayed.

But we prayed it, and then I got the answer, and it was, God did what we prayed for.

And I still went, wow.

Like, I was still like, this thing is real.

And Eliezer's sitting there like, this is real.

I prayed to a God, and God uses Rebecca in this moment.

And I want you to understand, that's the type of serving that causes the world to go, wow.

People are praying and looking and searching, but when you're at their doorstep as a second-mile Christian, they still go, I can't believe it.

Is this really real?

And so what they start asking is, who are they?

Whether they do life in community.

I want to be where they're at.

How can I get in on that?

Why?

It gets people's attention.

That light that shines gets people's attention.

That is why we say often here at CCW, we're a church for the community.

You want to know our vision?

We are a church for the community.

We want and need the attention of the people in our 11-mile radius.

There's a scripture that says, where there's no vision, that the people perish.

And I want you to understand something about the back side of that verse that I think about.

Where there's no vision, the people perish.

Right?

We need vision.

We have a lot of vision for the 90 acres on this complex, how God will use this campus.

But let me tell you something of utmost importance.

Without people, it does not matter.

We need God's blessing, and then we have to people have people loving God and loving people.

We can have great music, we can have great preaching, we can have great offerings, we can have great facilities.

But if we don't have people, the vision doesn't matter.

Are you with me?

We have to have people that will then incorporate the vision.

It's about people, it's about relationships.

We said we're a community church, a family church.

Listen to me, it's about people.

And if you're going out in the workforce, mile one, and you're just doing expectation church.

Listen, if we can just have another service and motivate again and have another song, and we don't get this vision about people, this church can fall apart.

It's about a vision for people.

And so we have a vision for people.

Danny Hartzell, he's here today.

He's a fisherman and he makes fishing lures.

I've never seen nothing like this.

I don't know if I know any entrepreneurs.

Danny would be very uh humble about it.

Uh, and he is when he talks about it, oh, I really don't do nothing, it's not a big deal.

And I'm like, okay, you make something.

That's pretty cool.

Dave makes some woodwork, it's pretty cool.

I look, I make some toast, right?

So I don't make a lot.

I can make a sermon, right?

Like, but he makes these fishing lures and he was showing us some one day and we're in his garage.

It was really cool seeing his passion about this.

Really, you know, he's got another job.

This is a hobby.

I'm like, God gives some people so much, right?

Like, he does something else and then does this for fun.

He's creating fishing lures.

But listen, I found something out in my study this week thinking about that.

Fish, Danny, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but fish strike a lore for three reasons.

Fish strike a lore because they're hungry, they strike a lore because they get agitated, and they strike a lore because they get threatened.

At CCW's in the water of Chelsea and Westover, there are a lot of fish everywhere.

There's hungry people at every turn looking for an answer of truth.

There's people everywhere that are agitated with life.

They're disturbed, they're getting depressed, they're discouraged, and they're looking for something more.

There's people that their life this year, their life was threatened.

There's some people in this room that got a call about cancer.

There's some people in this room that lost a loved one, and their life got threatened.

And so you know what they're looking for?

They're looking for something different.

And there you come, Mr.

Tumiler at work, and you, there you are with that smile that keeps on your face.

All the time smiling, Mr.

Two Miler, here he comes, smiling.

What a wonderful day.

And there you come with a cup of coffee.

No, you bought them a cup of coffee, Mr.

Two Miler, there you are, and you bring it to them at the workplace.

You say, I got this for you.

And there they are in their life, threatened and agitated.

And they go, Oh, man, something something's different.

Something about that person.

And there you are, Mr.

Two Miler, and you listen to them.

Well, it seems like the rest of the world doesn't care about what they got going on.

And there you are, two mile person, and you keep saying, You, hey, brother, sister, why don't you come to my church with me sometime?

Man, I love this church.

We're a church for the communion.

There you are.

And and you're encouraging when you know what?

A whole lot of other people in the workplace are being sarcastic, rude, and they're just doing bare minimums.

And there you are.

You are a Lord to the world.

And if you have the light of Jesus in you, then that Lord's like, oh, you know what a fish does?

When they're hungry or agitated or life has been threatened, they strike.

And you are right there inviting.

You're sharing.

There they are.

I knew it.

I knew they would share the message on Facebook today.

I knew it.

I knew it.

I knew it because that's how they are.

And I'm gonna have to listen to it for a little bit, and then I'm gonna be encouraged.

Right?

And there you are.

You know, this is very biblical, by the way.

In Matthew 4 19, Jesus said to the disciples, If you will follow me, I will make you fishers of men.

So what happens is that light in us becomes irresistible.

And the world around them is so dark.

Everything is closing in, everything's dark.

And there you are with this bright, attractive, appealing light of Jesus.

And they go, Oh, I gotta get what they got.

I need what they got.

And so you keep fishing and you keep casting and you keep fishing.

And look, today, 12 people in the lobby.

You walked in and everybody wanted to greet you.

And you said, What is going on with this church?

I went to the last one, and the pastor didn't even say hello.

I literally went to a church over Christmas and the pastor didn't say hello to me on the way in, way out.

I had one person greet me, and their greeting was this: don't bring that coffee into church.

Okay, fine.

Y'all hearing me?

And you come to CCW, and my hope is that you feel a little like it, like I don't want it to be too much, but almost.

I want you to feel like, man, so many people, they just wanted to greet me and see me and love me and hug me and know me.

Look, we have all this other stuff.

We want to put out an online service, we want to have music and worship and preaching.

But man, I hope you get loved.

I hope you get loved.

I hope you leave this place and feel like, man, more than anything, because look, I'm gonna tell you, this this me doing this, this can fail.

I can do a bad sermon.

We can have chords break on a guitar, we can have lights that mess up.

But what doesn't get messed up is me loving you.

That's right.

That's right.

We better love each other.

CCW better be a church that loves each other.

That's our vision, that's who we are.

And so we keep fishing.

Luke 9, 11 through 13 says this Ask, this is what we do when we fish.

Ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks, the door will be open.

So two my people in your community, you ask, you seek, you knock.

Bucket, camel, bucket, camel.

You ask, you seek, you knock, you cast line, you ask, you seek, you knock, you continue fishing.

Because if you keep fishing, at some point you're gonna catch a fish.

This is what I know.

If I go fishing for five minutes on Tuesday once a month, I may or may not catch a fish.

Probably not.

You hear me?

That's not enough.

Well, I tried, I invited one person the other month, Pastor, and they said no.

They said no.

I feel so rejected.

You keep fishing and fishing and casting the line.

Because I can tell you this Satan dispatches a line of lores, and he is aggressive with his lores, and he's going every day.

I mean, every minute.

He's dispatching demons, he's dispatching lores all over the place, and he wants them discouraged, dark, and depressed.

And what the last thing he wants is somebody coming up in here being loved.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's what he doesn't want.

And so we go mile two.

And I can promise you, when you show up mile two, any demon, any darkness ain't gonna outshine a mile two Christian.

You hear that, Satan?

No demon's gonna outshine the church of Chelsea Western.

Can I get an amen?

Because the light of God that shines in you is so much brighter than any darkness that He has to offer.

So the question you have to ask this morning is how consistent is your Christianity?

Are we going to go to mile or are we going to do the bare minimum?

Well, that takes us to letter B about what happens on mile two.

We perceive our purpose in mile two.

Look at verse 57 through 60 in Genesis 24.

This is amazing.

All this transpires, and now they're taking Rebekah on her way to meet Isaac, and so they said, Will we call the young woman and ask her personally?

Then they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man?

They're saying, Will you be married to Isaac?

And look what she says.

And she said, I will go.

So is that surprising for what we know of Rebecca now?

No.

I will go.

So they sent away Rebekah, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.

And they blessed Rebecca and said to her, Listen to this.

In the midst of her willingness to go maltu, our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.

They're giving her a mission statement for the future because of her willingness.

Rebecca's faithfulness and willingness to go mile two, open up doors of destiny.

She didn't do it to meet Isaac.

She did it because there were camels who needed water.

She didn't do it for a blessing.

But when God sees you on mile two, he shows up and sees your heart.

He may just show you your purpose.

If you'll get out of that bare minimum, he may just say, Hey, you want to serve at this church and they have an opportunity and you just do it and you don't feel like you're gifted or whatever, but you're willing to do it.

You know what?

I'm in the middle of that willingness, you know what?

We sang it.

I am available.

I might just show you your purpose.

And when you have purpose, you're gonna have passion.

And when you have passion, you're gonna live an exciting, fulfilled life.

I know, I believe this.

In a church our size, there's people here who are wondering if they're living their purpose.

There might be some people who say, you know what, I missed.

I missed my purpose.

God gave me a calling.

This is what I learned three things from David Wilson, Christie.

Um He taught me this: you don't find purpose sitting around.

He didn't, and I'll explain how I found this.

I never heard anyone say that they found purpose sitting in their parents' basement playing video games, eating Cheetos.

I never heard there I was.

I was conquering the world, living in my parents' basement for year five, right?

And God opened a pathway.

God doesn't bless lazy.

That's right.

David was pretty blunt, and after service, and by the way, some of y'all are wondering about this, where we're going, we are gonna start back up our fellowship lunches.

At the end of this month, we're gonna have our first one.

We're gonna try for a little while at the end of the month.

But but we used to have those dinners every Sunday, and so we would turn the sanctuary into a cafeteria.

And so we'd be turning those tables.

Well, one particular Sunday, I was over there moving chairs, and David was moving chairs, and there was a gentleman, he was a church member, wasn't a visitor, I'll say that.

And David goes on, he's pretty blunt, and he said, uh, hey brother, you gonna be eating in a little bit?

He said, Oh yeah, I'm standing.

He said, Well, while you're talking, why don't you help move some chairs?

And I thought, man, that was good.

Darren will tell you, David had this uh quote.

He said, At CCW, we're all about ministering.

We're about ministering here, so let's get to ministering.

Nobody ever found their purpose sitting around.

All right.

Another second thing that I was taught, Dave will remember this one.

The 4th of July, we were setting up the big water slide.

Okay, this thing weighs like 700 pounds, y'all.

I hope everybody here at this church gets an opportunity to move it one time.

And I hope you get the opportunities like I've had in the rain, in the mud.

All right, we've been a mess.

We have looked like swine over that thing.

So, anyway, whoever prayed for that thing, never mind, I'm not gonna say it.

I love it because it's cool, but there we are, and we're moving.

It's July, and we're at his house setting it up, and it's like a hundred and something degrees.

David is 60, and there we got Dave and myself, and we're just huffing it, going, trying to figure out how to get this thing.

And somebody said something, and I made this comment.

I said, That's right.

Let's work smarter, not harder.

David sweat pouring down his head, whipped around at me, not smarter.

He said, We work smarter and harder.

Okay.

I thought I was, you know, yeah, okay, yes, sir.

But you know, that stuck with me.

Like, we don't we don't just work smart so that we don't have to work hard.

We work smart and hard.

We rise above expectation.

And then he said one other thing that I've heard Pastor Danny say often.

He said, every move, every major move of his life, every major decision of his life, God showed him when he was at church.

He showed him his purpose when he was available.

He kept showing him his purpose when he was serving, when he was doing nothing in the mundane but being available.

God showed him something in the church house when he was available.

And so maybe you will perceive your purpose, much like Rebecca, while you're on mile two.

It's simply serving.

That's what Rebecca was doing.

She wasn't doing anything amazing.

She was just working, grunting.

She was putting down tarps, putting down chairs.

She was working.

She was just doing something because she was available.

It was who she was.

And because she was serving God, God reveals to her you'll be the mother of nations.

Woo! Thousands and ten thousands, it says.

There was a moment.

Man, don't miss that.

Now I want you to see verse 57 and just think about something for a second.

They asked her this question.

We'll call the young woman, asked her personally.

They called Rebecca and said to her, Will you go?

There was a moment where Rebecca could have said, No.

That's not in my pay grade.

No, that's not something I want to do.

No, I haven't checked out Isaac.

No, I don't trust you people.

No, that's I I've served my time.

I did the bucket and the camel thing.

I'm good.

No, I don't want to do any more.

I'm good right here.

I'm not comfortable with what you're asking for more.

But what I know is long before this moment, there was commitment in her heart.

She was committed long before that moment.

And this is what I know about Rebecca from reading about her.

She was sensitive to the Holy Spirit of God.

Absolutely.

She would have said no had she thought it wasn't the right thing to do.

But she was committed to her God, and it was long before this moment.

God is going to whisper something to you, church in 22.

And if you don't have a commitment right now, you might say, well, the Baptist phrase, well, I'll pray about it.

That's exactly right.

When people tell me I'll pray about it, I'll go, oh no.

Just tell me no.

It'd be easier.

I can go ask somebody else.

Right?

And so the commitment comes long before that.

God's going to whisper something to you.

He may say, you know, 22, I want you to be a small group leader.

I want you to open up your home.

In 22, God may reveal a new ministry on your heart.

In 22, God may tell you to move.

What are you going to say when God comes knocking at your door in 22?

I pray at this church we birthed some church planters.

I pray that God will say there is a call on certain people's lives.

Some I hope He will license and ordain people to the gospel ministry.

God is 100% looking for that.

Now either people are answering it or, you know, I don't know.

In 22, God's going to come to you and He's going to say, you should take a missions trip.

God is looking.

In this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus peered into his father's eyes and he said, Go mile too.

Get to know the soldier and see if there's anything else you can do.

Go mile too.

But do you have a commitment now?

If God asks, I'm going to answer.

If God asks, if God calls, I'm going to be ready.

God, whatever it is.

It takes us to letter C.

Look at verse 62 through 67.

Letter C is this community and connections are cultivated on mile two.

We could say it this way: a family is born, if that's too much alliteration.

It says, Now Isaac came from the way of Bear, Laha Ra, for he dwelt in the south, and Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening.

Don't miss this scene.

This is a love story for some of y'all ladies that like a love story.

He went out and meditated in the field in the evening.

He lifted his eyes and he looked, and there the camels were coming.

Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.

For she had said to the servant, Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?

The servant said, It's my master.

Look at this next phrase.

So she took a veil and covered herself.

She got ready for a wedding.

And the servant told Isaac all the things that he'd done, and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife and loved him, and he loved her.

Y'all see that?

What a beautiful love story.

How many of y'all, look, I'm gonna be on, I'm gonna ask you a tough question.

Men, ladies, how many of you like a love story?

I like it if I'm with my wife.

Okay.

I do.

I'm not gonna watch a love story without her.

I can promise you.

I'm not getting together with Pastor Danny and Darren to watch a love story.

Ain't happening.

Okay?

No, don't have to worry about it, do we?

Right?

Look, I I I'm not a fisher and a hump, I'm not all that, but I'm still not gonna go watch a love story.

We'll go to the gym, right?

So but this is look, it's not lost to me.

This is a beautiful love story.

Isaac is meditating in the field, lifts his eyes.

The camels were coming, and he goes, Whoo! Who is she?

And it says, She's beautiful, and she lifted her eyes.

She said, Who is that?

Elir said, That's my that's the one I've been talking about.

She goes, It's on.

It's time for a wedding.

Don't miss it.

No questions asked.

Not from Rebecca.

Isaac, no questions asked.

He marries her and loves her.

She saw it through, and that's what mild two people do.

They see it through.

A beautiful marriage, a beautiful love story, and it unfolds as the Israelite nation is cultivated from their love story.

I want you to understand something at CCW.

Connections are cultivated under the following banner.

You've seen them on the four pillars at the other building.

The banner is this Hebrews 4.16 says the word of God is quick and powerful.

The banner is we are going to connect over clear biblical truth.

We believe in clear biblical truth from the word of God.

Ephesians 6.7 says that we serve and we serve wholeheartedly.

So we believe in serving at home and abroad.

We're going to connect on that.

That's our heartbeat.

And then we believe in vibrant worship and dynamic fellowship.

Hebrews 10, 24 and 25 says that we do not forsake the assembling ourselves together, but the verse before it says, we come together in a manner to stir each other up, to be an encouragement to one another.

That's the fellowship, that's the worship.

Galatians 6, 2 says, it is that we bear one another's burdens.

And so when we bear each other's burdens, it fulfills the law of Christ.

It's not a maybe we should bear one another's burdens.

Maybe we should show up this week for somebody else.

We bear one another's burdens and it fulfills the law of Christ.

This we do.

Proverbs, we see.

It's all over Scripture, these principles.

2727 says we iron sharpens iron.

So we meet to connect under this banner.

That's who we are.

And that's who we're gonna stay, and that's who we will continue to be.

We want CCW to be what God created it to be: a body of believers.

But we want it to be a body that feels like a family.

When you come here, we want you to feel like family.

And you know what is needed for family?

You.

We have to have you.

We need your peace and your part and your function, your encouragement, your burden bearing.

We need you.

Anybody can put together a church service.

Go to a hundred church services, and anyone, anyone.

I'm talking about who CCW is.

Anyone can put together a service, anybody can do a worship set.

Anybody, you don't need me to preach.

Anyone can get up and give the word of God.

That's called.

Okay.

Some people get up and they do.

Look, I'm not going there.

I'm staying positive in 2022.

Anybody can entertain you.

Anybody can make you feel motivated.

You can have a coach.

You can go to the fitness center and feel motivated.

But if you don't make someone's day better today, you failed at church.

Hear me.

If you come in and back out, look, there's churches that that's that's that's what the appeal is.

And it's wrong, and people are misguided, but they want to come in and they want to back out and not be seen.

You're not gonna not be seen here.

We want to love you and we want you to love us.

We want to be family here, week in, week out.

And so that means you've got to love God and love people.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let me give you just a few practical things, then we're gonna watch a video.

So, how do I do that in 2022, Pastor?

Give me something practical, something I can write down, something for my goals.

This is what you can do.

This is just what God told me.

You can practice accountability.

Get in someone's life.

Yeah, yeah.

Look at the brother or sister behind you and say, I'm gonna do more than just minimum this year.

I'm gonna get involved in somebody in my church's life.

I'm gonna help a brother or sister this year.

So accountability.

What's that?

Whoa, I don't want to leave it broad.

So I'll text you and ask, are you reading God's word today, brother or sister?

I will text you and ask, how is your prayer time?

Brother, how's your eyes been?

Have you been looking at the right things?

Accountability.

Look, we hear these words, but it doesn't happen until we take action.

I'm gonna tell you some someone from 90 all the way down to a teenager needs accountability.

So won't you ask somebody?

Let's get deeper this year, and this is how we get deeper, so that we don't just show up for Sunday and have a sermon.

We're living it all week long.

How about this?

Will you pray with five people this week?

You can write that goal down.

Teenagers at school, I want to pray with now.

I'm not saying somebody comes up to you and say, Will you pray for me?

You say, Yes, I will pray for you.

No.

They come up to you and say, Will you pray for me?

And you say, Let's pray.

I will pray for you.

Can you pray for five with five people a week?

I guarantee you.

Look, there's not too many days that I don't pray with five people.

You can pray with people this week.

Will you invite new people to a meal at your home?

Or just a meal.

Some of you like, I don't like it.

We'll just take them out to dinner.

Take them to Applebee's, right?

That's what the song says, it's fancy like Applebee's, right?

Take them somewhere fancy like Applebee's, or good old boys, or you know, I don't care.

Go to McDonald's, but spend some time with people, right?

Provide for a need.

You write that down.

God, can I provide for a need?

Will you financially provide for a need?

Somebody has a need, can you provide for it?

This is mile two.

Mile one is I'm gonna exist and be nice.

Mile two is doing something.

Mile two is being a blessing.

As we have, therefore, opportunity.

In my humble opinion, the rest is mile one.

We can get by.

I mean, we can just get by.

But I think in 2022, God wants you to more than get by.

I think he wants you to thrive, and I think he wants you to see the world around you for what it is and what it needs and be a light.

And so I was thinking about all that and how to close this.

And there's this beautiful story that plays out in this video of Derek Redmond.

I want you to see this video, and then I'll wrap it up.