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Life on Mission | Pastor Brandon Beals | Venture Church

Venture Church

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  1. Hi, and welcome to Venture Church Online. My name is

  2. Kelsey and I'm our online campus pastor. We're so glad

  3. that you're joining us. Drop a comment below of where

  4. you're streaming from. We would love to interact with you.

  5. We hope that you enjoy today's service.

  6. I want to welcome you to Venture Church Labor Day weekend.

  7. Look at all of you people that had nothing to

  8. do over Labor Day weekend. I am so blown away.

  9. If you don't know who I am, I'm Brandon. I'm

  10. the lead pastor of the church. I'm glad you're here

  11. with us. If you're newer to the church and I

  12. have yet to meet you, I'd love the opportunity to

  13. meet you. I'll be hanging out in the lobby after

  14. the service. If you're bold enough, brave enough, please come

  15. up introduce yourself to me. I'd love the opportunity to

  16. meet you. I just got back from visiting the Convoy

  17. of Hope World headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, and I have

  18. the shirt to prove it.

  19. So, David Diaz, you might have noticed it.

  20. Church is wearing leopard skin print pants. He's wearing them

  21. on purpose. Okay, we did a post online who wore

  22. it better me this shirt. Nothing says I support Convoy

  23. of Hope more than being willing to wear this. So

  24. there's a picture of me with the shirt and David

  25. with his pants.

  26. So I'm just humbly.

  27. Asking for Pastors Appreciation Month that you would all vote

  28. for me so that I can push David way way down.

  29. As Di mentioned.

  30. By the way, don't do it now, because I want

  31. you paying attention. As my wife mentioned earlier, we are

  32. in the middle of expanding this facility, and with that

  33. expansion there are funds that we are trying to raise

  34. by the end of the year. Our goal is to

  35. raise nine hundred thousand dollars to finish the building by

  36. the end of the year. We announced that last week,

  37. and I told you that every week we would give

  38. you an update where we're at here it is, so

  39. after one week we have raised fifty thousand dollars. So

  40. we still need you to be prayerfully considering what you

  41. are going to give to help us finish this. For

  42. those of you that are good at math, you know

  43. that we are now one eighteenth of the way to

  44. our completion. All right, grab your Bible's turn to Romans

  45. chapter ten. I'm gonna start reading from verse thirteen, and

  46. then we will pray.

  47. These are the words of Paul.

  48. He said, everyone who calls on the name of the

  49. Lord will be saved. How can how then, can they

  50. call on the one they have not believed in? And

  51. how can they believe in the one of whom they

  52. have not heard? And how can they hear without someone

  53. preaching to them? How beautiful are the feet of those

  54. who bring good news.

  55. I want to ask everyone to buy your.

  56. Heads, close your eyes, repeat this prayer after me. Everyone say,

  57. Dear Jesus, speak to my heart, change my life in

  58. Jesus' name.

  59. Amen. Every August we.

  60. Take a few weeks and we do a refresher course

  61. on what the core values the venture are. We want

  62. you to understand what we are all about. And I've

  63. shared with you for the last two weeks that it's

  64. not an accident that when you walk in our lobby,

  65. the pillars that hold up the roof announce what our

  66. core values are mission community, generosity. For the last couple weeks,

  67. I've highlighted our value of commune unity. And today I

  68. want to take a moment and I want us to

  69. look at our value of Mission. Paul said this. He said,

  70. everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will

  71. be saved. If you've ever wanted to know if the

  72. Bible is.

  73. Good news, that is good news.

  74. That is for everyone. We are all equal. There is

  75. no discretion in the Bible. Everyone is included in the

  76. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will

  77. be saved. Every one of us, we've messed up.

  78. We're in need of a savior.

  79. I've told you week after week for years that for

  80. as diverse as our churches, as unique as all of

  81. our backgrounds are, there is one thing that unites us

  82. together in common.

  83. And that's it. Just the right moment.

  84. Jesus crossed our path, and when he did, he changed everything.

  85. But Paul asks this series of very provocative questions. He says,

  86. but how can they call on someone they've never believed in?

  87. And how can they believe if they've never heard of him?

  88. And how can they hear about him? And lest someone

  89. tells them about them? And how can they go and

  90. tell un lest someone sends them? And then he closes

  91. this discourse with the statement, how beautiful are the feet

  92. of those who.

  93. Bring good news?

  94. Are?

  95. If you've gone to church for any length of time.

  96. You've heard those verses before, and odds are it's always

  97. been tied to foreign missions. It's always been used to

  98. compel you to give to foreign missions. When we talk

  99. mission at Venture Church, normally I talk big picture mission.

  100. I talk about the mission, vision, purpose of the church.

  101. I talk about the big picture. If you've ever been

  102. through Discover before our Discover classes or for those that

  103. are new, it leads to becoming a part of our

  104. Venture family. It talks about all the different aspects of

  105. who we are as a church. And when I cheach

  106. on mission, I make this statement. I say the church

  107. exists for mission. In other words, the church does not

  108. exist so you find good friends. The church does not

  109. exist so you have a safe place to put your

  110. kids on a Wednesday night. The church does not exist

  111. so you find a small group to participate in.

  112. By the way, all those.

  113. Things are super important and they're valuable, but their secondary

  114. to the reason that the church exists, which is mission.

  115. The church exists so.

  116. That people who don't know Jesus can know Jesus. When

  117. we talk about the value of mission at the church,

  118. we oftentimes just connect our thoughts to the vision of venture,

  119. to the purpose of venture, to the mission of venture.

  120. And we know that we all partner together and helping

  121. accomplish this purpose, vision and mission. But that's actually not

  122. what I want to focus on today. I want to

  123. ask you personally about your personal mission. Where you personally live,

  124. where you go to school, where you work, where you

  125. hang out, where you frequent. Just as the church exists

  126. for mission, do you know that you exist for mission?

  127. Do you have people in.

  128. Your life in your sphere of influence? The phrase sphere

  129. of influence, it means your network of personal connections, your friends,

  130. your family, your colleagues, your classmates, your neighbors, community members,

  131. people in your world that know you and trust to you,

  132. your sphere of influence.

  133. Do you have people that you know in your sphere

  134. of influence who are hurting anyone?

  135. Do you give people that you know that are struggling?

  136. Do give people in your sphere of influence that are lost,

  137. that are making bad decisions, that are lonely, that are confused?

  138. Do you have people in your world that don't know Jesus?

  139. Do you.

  140. If Heaven is real, if Hell is real, if you

  141. truly believe John fourteen six, where Jesus said, I am

  142. the Way, the Truth, and the Life that no one

  143. comes to the Father except through me.

  144. If you truly believe that, and you have.

  145. People in your sphere of influence that don't know Jesus,

  146. those people, should they die and not know Jesus, we'll

  147. spend an eternity separated from him. Do you truly believe

  148. that people that don't know Jesus, that don't have a

  149. relationship with him, that if they die, they spend an

  150. eternity separated from him. You know, oftentimes people will come

  151. and they'll say, you know, one of the things I

  152. love about Venture Brandon is you don't preach about heaven

  153. and Hell. You didn't come to that service, apparently, because

  154. we believe heaven is hell, Heaven is hell. Uh, it's

  155. the shirt.

  156. It's the shirt.

  157. We believe heaven is real, we believe Hell exists, and

  158. we believe that people that don't know Jesus spend an

  159. eternity separated from him. And that's not good. Bottom line.

  160. We all know many people who if they were to

  161. die today, they would spend an eternity separated from Jesus.

  162. For some of you, that person lives in your home

  163. with you.

  164. How can they call on a Jesus that they don't

  165. believe in, and how can they call on someone that they've.

  166. Never heard of? And how can they.

  167. Hear about someone the no one's ever told them about. Today,

  168. instead of focusing on the big picture of mission, this

  169. fall and venture has a big mission, It has a

  170. big purpose, it has a big vision. But instead of

  171. focusing on that, I want to talk about you personally.

  172. I want to talk about you personally living a life

  173. of mission. I want to give you four words of

  174. advice on how you can live a life of mission

  175. this fall. By the way, this is a good time

  176. for you to take notes. This is a good time

  177. for you to think. I need to go back and

  178. listen to that podcast message of Pastor Brandon's again. You

  179. should take note of these words of advice because we

  180. all have people in our sphere of influence that don't

  181. know Jesus, and that should concern us. I'm sharing this

  182. today from the perspective of someone who's here today because

  183. someone did this, because someone lived a life of mission.

  184. I'm here today as a preacher.

  185. Now I am.

  186. Forever grateful that at just the right moment, Jesus crossed

  187. my path, And when he crossed my path, I had

  188. heard about him before, So when that moment came, I

  189. knew He's the answer, and I was able to cry

  190. out to him. Forwards of Ice number one. You must

  191. have an eternal perspective about this life. You must have

  192. an eternal perspective about this life.

  193. You should view this life this way. Jesus changed my life.

  194. How can I not tell other people about him? This

  195. is the most significant thing that has ever happened in

  196. my life, finding Jesus.

  197. How can I not tell other people about it?

  198. You tell everyone about your boyfriends and girlfriends. You should

  199. tell people about Jesus. You talk about your kids constantly.

  200. You should tell people about Jesus.

  201. Man, I don't have an excuse.

  202. I will tell anyone who listens that I bleed purple,

  203. that I'm a Husky fan, that last night the Huskies

  204. beat Colorado skate Go Dogs. I will also tell anyone

  205. who listens, I'm a Raider fan. The Raiders leashed the

  206. Seahawks for Geno Smith.

  207. I don't have any problem talking about that.

  208. So if I truly believe that Jesus changed my life,

  209. why don't I talk about him? Solomon said in Ecclesiastes,

  210. this is compelling. He said, God has planted eternity in

  211. the human heart. People ask me all the time, peb,

  212. what is your main motivation for what you do? And

  213. I am addicted to seeing people find Jesus. I'm addicted

  214. to the stories. I'm addicted to life change because I

  215. remember how Jesus changed my life. Here's what I fundamentally believe.

  216. This is woven into the fabric of my life. I

  217. believe this at the core of my being, that every

  218. single person was created to be in a relationship with Jesus.

  219. But when they're born, they are born with a hole

  220. in their heart.

  221. They grow up knowing they are missing something, and they

  222. try to fill that hole with everything the world has

  223. to offer. They try to fill it with sex, drugs, relationships, money, power, fame, jobs.

  224. They try to fill it with every false thing they

  225. can find, and just like Solomon, in the end, they

  226. find out that that didn't fill it, that they're still lonely,

  227. They're still empty, something is still missing, and like Solomon,

  228. they declare this was meaningless.

  229. Chasing after the wind.

  230. That is because the only thing that fills that hole

  231. in your heart is a relationship with Jesus.

  232. That's why we call it.

  233. When you find Jesus, you have that aha moment where

  234. everything makes sense. I believe that every single person has

  235. that hole in their heart that can only be filled

  236. by relationship with Jesus. Unfortunately, Acts one eight before Jesus

  237. ascended into Heaven, he helped us with this job. He said,

  238. you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

  239. Now you receive power from the Holy Spirit, not just

  240. so that the hair on the back of your neck

  241. will stand up, not just so you get the warm

  242. fuzzies all around you, not just so you get goosebumps

  243. on your arms.

  244. Jesus said, You're gonna receive.

  245. Power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, so you'll

  246. be my witnesses in Jerusalem. What is your and my Jerusalem?

  247. It's Mill Creek, Everett's Nahomish, Muckle Teal, Boffel, Linwood, Seattle.

  248. It is this region, This is our Jerusalem. Why does

  249. the Holy Spirit come on us in power.

  250. To reach our Jerusalem?

  251. And then once that's done, we're to spread it to

  252. Judae in Samaria, the surrounding communities and states. And when

  253. that's done, we're to take it to the ends of

  254. the earth, and that's foreign missions. He gave us the

  255. Holy Spirit so I would tell others about him. Jesus

  256. went on and he said in Matthew five thirteen that

  257. you and I are the salt of the earth.

  258. And he says, but if salt loses.

  259. Its saltiness, how can it be made salty again. It's

  260. no longer good for anything except to be thrown out

  261. and trampled by men. In the first century, salt was

  262. very valuable. It was a priceless commodity. But salt had

  263. a purpose. Its job was to preserve. Its job was

  264. to enhance the taste of something. And Jesus is saying

  265. that if salt no longer does the things it's supposed

  266. to do, it has no purpose, that it's worthless. You

  267. might as well throw it out on the road and

  268. walk on it.

  269. You and I are the salt of the earth.

  270. We live in a world surrounded by people who have

  271. a hole in their heart that can only be filled

  272. by a relationship with Jesus. God has placed you where

  273. you are, not by accident. Stop resenting where you live,

  274. stop resenting where you work, step back, view the world

  275. from an eternal perspective. Maybe God has you where you are,

  276. not for you, but for someone in your sphere of

  277. influence because they need the same.

  278. Hope in their life that you have in Jesus. That

  279. was good.

  280. We aren't where we are by accident. We are salt

  281. in our sphere of influence. We're to be a voice

  282. of hope, telling people Jesus is the hope of the world,

  283. like we exist to make Jesus famous. So word of advice,

  284. you want to live a mission of life, you have

  285. to view this life with an eternal perspective. Number two,

  286. This one's dangerous. You got to pray for guidance in

  287. this life. I'm gonna challenge you to pray what I

  288. believe are irresistible prayers. What I mean by that is,

  289. if you pray these prayers, the answer from Jesus is going.

  290. To be yes.

  291. You see, there are some prayers that you pray that

  292. he says no, because that's what you need to hear.

  293. So if I stood up here and I said, oh, Jesus,

  294. please give me a Rolex, odds are he's gonna say

  295. you don't need a Rolex. But I promise you, if

  296. you pray these prayers, get ready, because he'll answer them.

  297. The first prayer you should pray is pray that He

  298. breaks your heart for people. Man, Christians, we are so

  299. awesome at getting mad at people who don't agree with us.

  300. We are so awesome at not liking people that don't

  301. live like us.

  302. Now, maybe what you should do is pray that Jesus

  303. breaks your heart for people that vote differently than you.

  304. Maybe pray that he breaks your heart for people that

  305. have different views on social issues than you do. Maybe

  306. pray that He breaks your heart for people that view

  307. the world differently than you do. If you truly believe

  308. that every single person is born with a hole in

  309. their heart, that they are spending this life trying to

  310. fill what is missing in their life, think of it

  311. this way. If someone is convinced these relationships will fell

  312. what is absent in my life, only to discover that

  313. they were dead wrong, wouldn't they be frustrated? And then

  314. if they were to try my career and in the

  315. end they discovered I'm still empty.

  316. Wouldn't they start getting mad?

  317. And then if they were, decide it's got to be money,

  318. and then they chase after money, and then when they

  319. get it, they conclude I'm still lost.

  320. You'd be mad too.

  321. Instead of react to somebody's anger towards us, why don't

  322. we pray that God will break our hearts towards them.

  323. It's dangerous, He'll do it. Here's an example.

  324. You still like me, okay, Luke, Chapter nineteen, A story

  325. in the Life of Jesus. It's pretty awesome. Jesus is

  326. like at the peak of his popularity, and he is

  327. walking down the Mount of Olives. Next fall, the fall

  328. of twenty twenty six, We're gonna do another Israel trip.

  329. God willing, and you will walk down the Mount of Olives.

  330. And it is.

  331. It's breathtaking, it's moving. I can't describe it to you.

  332. But Jesus is walking down the Mount of Olives in

  333. a large group of disciples is following him. As he

  334. walks down towards Jerusalem. And those that are following him,

  335. they start shouting and singing and worshiping and declaring, joyfully,

  336. blessed is the King who comes in the name of

  337. the Lord. While all the religious people were like Jesus,

  338. tell them to settle down, tell them to be quiet.

  339. They're not being respectful. Tell them to knock it off

  340. and Jesus responds by saying.

  341. Uh, I tell you that if they keep quiet.

  342. The stones will cry out. Don't force the stones to

  343. cry out on our behalf when it comes to our faith.

  344. Then the story goes on that as Jesus approached Jerusalem,

  345. he saw the city. Remember, this is the city that

  346. is full of people that hated him, that would betray him,

  347. It would falsely accuse him. This is the city where

  348. they would spit upon him, say horrible things about him.

  349. This is the city full of people who would beat.

  350. Him, crucify him, and kill him. If there's anybody that

  351. could have looked at a city and said ooh, ooh, gross,

  352. it was Jesus.

  353. And I got to a point a few years ago

  354. where I got so tired of people complaining about Seattle.

  355. Stop complaining about the homeless people in Seattle. Stop complaining

  356. about the people in Seattle that protest everything we as

  357. Christians do.

  358. Start praying that.

  359. God will break your heart for those people. Because those people,

  360. if they don't know Jesus and they die, spend an

  361. eternity separated from him. And if life would have been different,

  362. if Jesus wouldn't have crossed our path, if someone wouldn't

  363. have told us about him, and we would have known

  364. that we could cry out to him to save us

  365. that might have been us. So as Jesus walks towards

  366. this city that is about to kill him, it says

  367. he wept over it. His heart was broken for the

  368. people of Jerusalem. He made this statement, He said, he

  369. if you even you had only known on this day,

  370. what would bring you peace? I mean when people shout

  371. at us as Christians, when people give the church bad

  372. reviews simply because we're a church, if they only knew

  373. what was hidden from them, if they only knew what

  374. would bring them peace, how will they know if we

  375. don't tell them, How will they ever know if they

  376. don't know who to cry out to. Pray that Jesus

  377. breaks your heart for people.

  378. He'll do it. I dare you.

  379. Second thing you should pray about. Pray that he brings

  380. people into your life. Pray that he gives you divine appointments.

  381. Pray that he gives you new friendships. Pray that he'll

  382. help you build bridges, develop friendships, people that you can

  383. listen to learn from, live life with people that he

  384. loves that desperately need him. If you Pray that he'll

  385. bring them into your life. Here's another irresistible prayer to pray. Then,

  386. when all of this happens, pray that you'll have the

  387. courage to share your faith. Christians, oftentimes we're a shame

  388. to admit we're Christians because we're scared of the response. Man,

  389. I don't I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a Raider fan,

  390. even though I know I'm going to get oohs and

  391. ahs and grows from people. So why would I be

  392. afraid to tell them I love Jesus. I'm a follower

  393. of Jesus. I've shared many times. When you're a pastor

  394. and you travel as much as I do, people sit

  395. next to you on planes and they ask questions and

  396. it always comes down to you, what do you do

  397. for work? Now I have a choice. I can avoid

  398. the question. I can and say something like, well, I

  399. work for a nonprofit, Well I teach it a university,

  400. or I'm a public speaker.

  401. I mean, I can avoid the question.

  402. But if I'm bold and I say a pastor venture church,

  403. I get one or two responses every single time. It's

  404. never different than this. One response is, oh, you're a pastor?

  405. Dead silence the rest of the flight, or the responses,

  406. oh you're a pastor, sure, free counseling for that person

  407. the rest of the flight. So I always brace myself

  408. for the question because I know that it's coming. God

  409. will bring people into your life. But when he does,

  410. are you willing to do something about it?

  411. Too often.

  412. We're willing to allow other people to be themselves around us,

  413. but we are unwilling to be ourselves around them. We'll

  414. let them talk about every vile, terrible thing they do,

  415. but we're embarrassed to tell them we go to church

  416. on Sundays.

  417. Why is that?

  418. It's almost like the New Testament authors knew this was

  419. going to be an issue for us.

  420. That's why Paul said this.

  421. He said, God has not given us a spirit of

  422. fear and timidity. In other words, if you're full of

  423. fear and timidity, that didn't come from.

  424. Jesus, he said.

  425. But instead God gave you a spirit of power, love,

  426. and self discipline. Paul said, this, this is this one's

  427. one you should memorize. Romans won sixteen. For I am

  428. not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power

  429. of God that brings salvation to everyone. Who believes, pray

  430. that God will give you courage. I dare you he will,

  431. all right. Third tip I have for you.

  432. You need to live a spirit filled life.

  433. Not going to take a lot of time on this

  434. because I literally did a series through the Fruit of

  435. the Spirit earlier this year. Go back, listen to the

  436. Fruit of the Spirit sermon. Make sure that you live

  437. a life that exemplifies love, joy, peace, patience, kindness for parents, gentleness, goodness,

  438. self control, all of those things.

  439. But Paul said this in Ephesians.

  440. He said Ephesians four one, I urge you to live

  441. a life worthy of the calling you've received. Live like

  442. you believe the faith that is in your heart. Be

  443. an example, Be authentic, Try to live out your faith

  444. as best you can in your everyday life. So don't

  445. just be a follower of Jesus when you're around me.

  446. Don't just be a follower of Jesus at church or

  447. some you know, official church function. Be a follower of

  448. Jesus at school. Many of you are heading off to

  449. school this fall next week. Sorry from you, but be

  450. a Christian at school. Be proud of the fact that

  451. Jesus has changed your life.

  452. You have something in you that.

  453. The rest of your fellow students don't have that hole

  454. in your heart filled. Be an example at we're at home,

  455. at the coffee shop, at the mall, be nice to

  456. your barristas, be nice to your servers at restaurants.

  457. Honor Jesus by the way you live your life. What

  458. do we.

  459. Refer to someone who says they believe one thing but

  460. lives their life totally differently. We call those people a hypocrite.

  461. We don't ever want to be referred to as a hypocrite.

  462. We hate that word.

  463. But did you know that? Google this, not now, but

  464. after the service.

  465. See if I'm telling you the truth that the number

  466. one reason that people don't go to church who get

  467. frequently invited is they say, whether it's right or wrong,

  468. the church is full of hypocrites. And unfortunately, here's what's happened.

  469. One hypocrite gets us all lumped into that.

  470. So I just want to challenge you. Don't let that be.

  471. You don't be the person who says one thing, who

  472. says they love Jesus but lives like the devil everywhere else,

  473. so that I get lumped into being like you don't

  474. do that. Live a spirit filled life There's a famous

  475. quote that has been misquoted for decades. It's always been

  476. attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. But another thing you

  477. can google afterwards. There's zero proof that he actually said this,

  478. And the quote itself isn't totally accurate, but I get

  479. the spirit behind it.

  480. But it says this. It says, preach the.

  481. Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. I

  482. understand what they mean by that, and that is true.

  483. It's basically live a life worthy of your calling. Like

  484. Paul said, like let people see a good, blameless, righteous

  485. person you at work, at school, in your neighborhood. But

  486. you can't just leave it there.

  487. That's insufficience.

  488. Why I don't love it when people use that quote.

  489. Because you cannot teach the Gospel without using words. You're

  490. going to be forced to use words. And that's number four.

  491. Fourth tip I have for you.

  492. Engage in conversations.

  493. With people about your faith. If you want to live

  494. on mission. There is gonna come a point You've heard

  495. me say this hundreds of times where you are gonna

  496. need to leverage your relationships in your sphere of influence

  497. for the cause of Christ. There is gonna come a

  498. point where you need to share your story, where you

  499. need to share your testimony. People have zero problem sharing

  500. their story with you. Why should you be ashamed to

  501. share your story with them. You need to be willing

  502. to engage in conversations with people, Be respectful, but not

  503. a shame to share your story. One of the things

  504. that I learned a long time ago is no one

  505. can argue with my experience.

  506. No one can deny that knew me.

  507. Before Jesus, that I am a different person today. So

  508. when I tell them it is because I found Jesus now, their.

  509. Conclusion may be, well, it's good for you and that

  510. it's worked for you.

  511. That might be their conclusion, but no one can deny

  512. Jesus has changed your life. Your testimony is your encounter

  513. with Jesus when he crossed your path. Engage people in conversations.

  514. I conclude with this thought, it is so important that.

  515. You know the basic plot of the Bible.

  516. Because at oftentimes the worst moments, people are going to

  517. ask you about Jesus and you don't have time to

  518. text me or die and ask what do I say?

  519. Can you schedule a meeting with them? You need to

  520. know a few thoughts about your faith, and I.

  521. Think it's important that you at least have these three

  522. scriptures memorized.

  523. Write this down.

  524. The reason I think you should have these three scriptures

  525. memorized is because I firmly believe that the Gospel changes lives,

  526. that my story, while it might be moving and powerful,

  527. it's me proclaiming the Gospel that literally tears down strongholds.

  528. Principalities are destroyed, strongholds are broken when God's word is

  529. proclaimed so.

  530. Basic plot of the Bible.

  531. According to these three verses, we are lost and we

  532. are in need of a savior.

  533. No one will deny that the world is messed up.

  534. No one will deny that there's poverty, brokenness, homelessness, addiction,

  535. there's wars and famines and natural disasters, that there's challenges

  536. everywhere we go. No one denies that, and no one denies.

  537. That there needs to be hope for people.

  538. Romans three twenty three tells us the answer for all

  539. of sin and fall short of the glory of God.

  540. Romans three twenty three memorize it for all of sinned

  541. and fallen short of the glory of God. When people

  542. say I don't believe there's a God, because how can

  543. there be so much evil in the world, because all

  544. have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,

  545. and everybody's in need of hope and a savior.

  546. First thought.

  547. Second thought, God loves you and gives you hope in Jesus.

  548. God loves us, gives us hope in Jesus. John three

  549. point sixteen. Everyone needs the savior. It's in Jesus.

  550. God so loved the world that he gave his one

  551. and only.

  552. Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but

  553. have eternal life. The world is broken, the world is lost,

  554. in need of a savior. God loves us and provided

  555. us a savior. In the last one Romans ten thirteen.

  556. I've already quoted it a dozen times today. Everyone who

  557. calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

  558. What do I need to do?

  559. Cry out to him, invite him into your life. Every

  560. single person that calls on the name of the Lord

  561. will be saved.

  562. Well, what about the messed up life that I've lived?

  563. What about all the mistakes that I've made?

  564. What about my background and all my problems and all

  565. my struggles. I don't know about any of those. All

  566. I know is he said, everyone can find forgiveness in Jesus.

  567. Everyone can find a savior in Jesus. Everyone who calls

  568. on the name of the Lord will be saved.

  569. Church bottom line.

  570. If something is important to you, you'll always talk about it.

  571. You don't have any problem talking about your kids. You

  572. don't have any problem talking about golf. You don't have

  573. any problem talking about hunting and fishing. It is impossible

  574. for me to not talk about my family. I can't

  575. not talk about my kids and my wife because I

  576. love them.

  577. They're super important to me.

  578. How can I not talk about the one thing that

  579. actually filled the hole in my heart? The Church exists

  580. for mission. You me, We exist for mission. So how's

  581. mission on? Everybody, stand up on your feet. I just

  582. want to pray for you. I'm going to conclude by

  583. praying for you. The interesting thing about Labor Day weekend

  584. is whether it's true or not. Psychologically, it's like the

  585. end of summer for us.

  586. It's like we get Monday, we.

  587. Have lots of fun tomorrow, but on Tuesday, reality sets in.

  588. Kids go off to school, You go off to school.

  589. You got to kind of refocus on work. Summer is over.

  590. Vacation season is over.

  591. It's time to get busy.

  592. My prayer for you is that you will go into

  593. this fall thinking I want to represent Jesus well.

  594. I want to make Jesus famous.

  595. I want to live a life on mission because I

  596. exist for mission, and I have an encouraging word.

  597. For you.

  598. Psalms thirty four to eight. I've quoted this so many

  599. times over the years. When I talk to people about

  600. my faith and they don't seem receptive, I usually end

  601. by giving them this challenge.

  602. I just say, try it, give it a chance.

  603. Just go to church one time and see what happens.

  604. And in the back of my head, I'm thinking, taste

  605. and see that the Lord is good, because I believe

  606. you will seek him and you will find him when

  607. you seek him with all of your heart. If you

  608. draw near to him, he'll draw near to you. I

  609. believe he is the hound of Heaven that he chases

  610. after people, that if people open the door a crack,

  611. he'll begin to reveal himself to them. He'll put so

  612. many people in their life over and over again. They're

  613. gonna encounter Christians, Bible verses, songs about Jesus. It's gonna

  614. happen everywhere. They are gonna wonder.

  615. What is up?

  616. And that is because Jesus is trying to fill the

  617. hole that's in their heart. But how will they believe

  618. if they've never heard? And how they hear if no

  619. one tells them? Blessed are the feet of those who

  620. bring good news. Beautiful are the feet of those who

  621. bring good news?

  622. By your heads, close your.

  623. Eyes, look Jesus, I pray today that you would challenge

  624. each and every one of us to live on mission,

  625. to live a life that is worthy of the calling

  626. that we have.

  627. To live a life that.

  628. Is worthy of the life change that we've experienced. In Lord,

  629. I pray right now that you would bring person after

  630. person into each and every one of our lives, that

  631. we get an opportunity to share our story with in

  632. Jesus' name.

  633. Amen, Amen, Before I send you out the door, let

  634. me just remind you we have a page on our

  635. app called What's Next where you can find more resources,

  636. a Bible plan for this week, and ways that you

  637. can engage and grow in your faith. I send you

  638. out with the reminder that you do represent Jesus, so

  639. go represent him well. May the Lord encounter your path

  640. with lots of people. Amen, be blessed.

  641. Thank you again for joining us. If you enjoyed today's service,

  642. go ahead and subscribe to our channel so you can

  643. see future messages. If you'd like to learn more about

  644. Venture Church, you can flick the Linkness in our bile,

  645. we hope to see you again