Why Are We Here? | Jelani Lewis

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

In case I haven't met you yet, my name is Jelani Lewis, and I have the privilege of serving as the campus pastor at our Gateway Plano campus.

And I've been on staff at Gateway for over 18 years.

I actually started off in kids ministry, and I told people when I served in kids ministry I had an afro that would move with the wind.

And then I worked with kids for five years, and this is what happened to me.

Um that's not true, though.

I had a great experience, but I'm so honored uh to have the opportunity to share God's word with you today.

But before I get into the message, I do want us to pray about three things.

So, first of all, uh yesterday was Pastor Max Lucato's 70th birthday, and uh he's he's been recovering from from being sick, and so I want us to take a moment uh today and pray over him.

Also, uh, we want to pray for those that have been affected by the wildfires in California.

Uh, I know that many of us have family and friends there.

Uh I have family and friends there.

In fact, I got a text message last night about uh one of my friends that actually lost everything.

And so we're gonna take some time uh this morning and pray for God to move.

Uh, Pastor Mark Job leaned over to me and said, Hey, let's believe God for a miracle to bring rain and to change the course of the wind.

And guess what?

Our God does that.

Amen.

He's a miracle-working God.

And so we're gonna pray about that today.

And just to let you know, as a church, we are already sending funds to ministries in the area to help support those that have been impacted.

But if you're interested in giving as well, you can just go online to gatewaypeople.com, click on the giving tab, and then there's a place that says Crisis Relief.

So you can give there, or you can just text the word crisis to 71010, and we'll send you the link there.

And then also we're gonna pray for uh the people of New Orleans.

Uh, on January 1st, uh, there was the horrific terrorist attack there, and I've got friends and family, as many of you uh as well there, and so we're gonna believe God to move there as well.

So can you just join me this morning as we pray for those things?

Father, we just thank you because you are a miracle-working God.

And Lord, we recognize as we talk about Pastor Max, Lord, we speak healing and wholeness over him.

We declare he is the healed of the Lord, and we pray that his 70th year would be his best year yet in Jesus' name.

Lord, we do pray for a miracle in California that you would change the course of the wind, that you would bring the rain, that people would know this was an act of God.

And so we ask you to do that.

We pray for those affected in New Orleans and California.

Would you comfort them and would you restore in Jesus' name?

And lastly, Lord, we just pray as we open up your word, would you open our eyes to see wonderful things in your word, in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, if you have your Bible, I want you to go to the book of Acts, chapter 19, and we're gonna look at verse 32.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 19, looking at verse 32.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

As you're making your way there, I want to remind you that we are in the middle of a series called This Is the Way, where we're actually looking back in the book of Acts at the early church and the early followers of Jesus who were actually known as followers of the way, and we're learning from them what it means to be the church today.

Specifically in Acts chapter 19, we have Paul, he's been preaching in the city of Ephesus, and there's a man by the name of Demetrius that incites a riot against Paul.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

And ultimately, Demetrius gets the entire city of Ephesus in an uproar, and the people of Ephesus, they rush into an amphitheater.

This was a public meeting space, it was a place of public exhibition, it's where they held court elections and assemblies.

And so Luke, the author of Acts, actually describes this specific assembly.

And here's what he says: it says Acts chapter 19, verse 32.

Acts 19:32

It says, the assembly was in confusion.

Some were shouting one thing, some another.

Most of the people did not even know why they were there.

Most of the people didn't even know why they were there.

The title of the message today is Why Are We Here?

Why are we here?

Why don't you look at your neighbor right now and just ask him, Why are you here?

Why are you here?

Why don't you turn to your other neighbor and say, you need to be here.

You need to be at church.

I grew up uh attending a small church, a small charismatic church in Shreeport, Louisiana.

And uh this was the kind of church that on Sundays you never knew what was gonna happen.

My mother was actually the worship leader of the church, and to her credit, she was always very intentional uh about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and very open to the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit, which led to some incredible worship experiences.

However, I will never forget the day where my mom did the unthinkable.

I was sitting in the back of the church just as a teenager, uh, watching my mother up front lead us in worship on the keyboard, and then she says into the microphone eight words that a teenager never wants to hear.

She says, and I quote, Jelani, don't you want to dance before the Lord?

This this is this is a true story, church.

True story.

So so of course I hear this and I am absolutely shocked.

I'm like, did she just say Jelani?

But but I grew up in the space where you just did what mom said, right?

So I knew I needed to get up, walk down to the front of the church, and start dancing.

So so I remember getting up, and as I'm walking down the center aisle, church, it was like walking a plank.

I just thought, my life is over today.

I remember praying, Lord, if you love me, you will rapture me.

And he did not.

And so I make it down to the front, and my mother's still playing the keyboard, and so there's only one thing left for me to do.

I just start dancing.

And and so at a certain point, this solo dance turns into an interpretive dance.

Because I must have been doing my arms like this, but I remember hearing my mother behind me start saying, uh, pulling down strongholds, pulling down strongholds.

Now we we laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny then.

It was a rough, rough Sunday for me, church.

But have you ever thought about what exactly is supposed to happen at church?

Like, have have you ever considered why we are here?

In in Acts chapter 19, uh Luke describes this particular gathering, this assembly, in three ways.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

He says that that they were confused, they were contradictory, and they didn't even know why they came.

What's interesting about the word assembly there is it's actually the Greek word ekklesia.

Ecclesia comes from the Greek preposition ek, which means out of, and the Greek verb kalaio, which means to call.

So an ecclesia is a called out assembly or congregation.

It is a gathering of people called out for a specific purpose.

Interestingly enough, the word ecclesia in the New Testament is most often translated church or churches or congregation.

So you know what a church is?

A church is actually a gathering of called out ones, it's a gathering of people called out from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

And aren't you thankful for that this morning, church?

We've been called into the kingdom of light.

But but in this particular passage, it's translated assembly because the word ecclesia in the first century wasn't a religious term.

And so, Luke, when he describes this assembly, he says, they don't even know why they are there.

Is it possible then for us to come to church and not know why we are here?

This morning, I I want to give you four reasons why we're here.

Four reasons why we gather.

And just as a disclaimer, I recognize that there are more than four reasons we gather.

This isn't a comprehensive list.

This is also not a debate on liturgy or denominational practices or the truest expression of the first century church.

This is simply four things that we see in scripture as to why we gather.

So here's number one: exaltation.

Exaltation.

Everybody say, exaltation.

Exaltation.

This is Psalm 107, verse 32.

Psalms 107:32

The psalmist says, Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the counsel of the elders.

He says, Let them exalt him, talking about God, where?

In the assembly.

That when we gather together, we're supposed to exalt God.

Now the question is, what does exaltation mean?

Exaltation refers to the lifting up, the raising of someone or something.

When I think about this, I think about uh the movie The Lion King.

How many of you saw the original Lion King, like the one that came out in 1994?

Raise your hand.

These are all of our old people here in the church.

So the original Lion King came out in 1994, and in this particular Lion King, there is the iconic scene where uh Rafiki the monkey grabs the Lion Cub Simba, who is the future king, right?

And he takes him and he walks out on this massive rock that is sitting over a valley.

And in the valley, there are all the different jungle animals, and then Rafiki holds up Simba, the future king, and all of the animals erupt in an ovation.

And then all of a sudden the clouds part, and and there is a spotlight, the sun shines through, and there's a spotlight now on Simba, the future king, and at that moment all of the animals are silent and they bow in reverence.

What we see is actually a picture of exaltation.

They are recognizing, lifting up, honoring the future king.

I do want to remind you that when we come together, uh we we gather to put a spotlight not on a future king, but on the king of kings and the Lord of Lords and the Savior of the universe.

When we come together, we come to lift up, to raise up, and to praise Almighty God.

Amen?

That's why we gather.

Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses 24 and 25.

1 Corinthians 14:24

He's talking about gathering and prophecy and tongues, and he says this: He says, But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers are people who don't understand these things, come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say.

As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed.

They will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, God is truly here among you.

So what's Paul saying?

Paul's saying when unbelievers come into our meeting and they're convicted by the Holy Spirit, they're gonna respond.

And he says, Here's how they're gonna respond.

They're gonna fall to their knees and worship God.

In other words, they're going to exalt God.

Now, Kent Hughes, who wrote a book called The Pastor's Book, that was very helpful in my study, he asked the question, he said, Why do you think that unbelievers would fall to the ground and exalt God?

He said, That's because that's what everybody else would be doing in the gathering.

They would be exalting God.

David says it like this in Psalm 34, verses 1 through 3.

Psalms 34:1–3

He says, I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make its boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear of it and be glad.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

David says, We're going to praise God, we're going to boast in God, we're going to bless God, and then he connects magnification with exaltation.

Now, when I when I think about the word magnify, I think about a magnifying glass.

And I just have a question for you this morning.

Uh, this is a magnifying glass.

Uh, what does a magnifying glass do?

It makes objects bigger, right?

No.

Not true.

Magnifying glasses don't make objects bigger.

I I can hold this magnifying glass over the iPad here all day, and guess what?

It is not gonna change the molecular structure of this iPad and make it bigger.

It does not make objects bigger.

Do you know what magnifying glasses do?

It makes objects bigger to us.

That's what a magnifying glass does.

So here's what we have to understand.

When David says, Oh, magnify the Lord with me, he is not saying, Let's make God bigger.

Because God is actually as big as he's going to get.

See, the scripture tells us that God is so big that he holds the seven seas in his hands, that God is so big that he sits on the circles of the earth.

He is so big that the earth is actually his footstool.

He is so big that the Bible says with a blast of his nostrils, he parted the Red Sea.

In other words, God sneezed and split an ocean, church.

That is the God that we serve, amen.

He's that big, he's that big.

So God's not getting bigger.

No, what David is saying is that God needs to get bigger to us.

Because if God gets bigger to us, guess what?

Our problems get smaller.

If God gets bigger to us, guess what?

Our faith grows.

If God gets bigger to us, our burdens get lighter.

And so God needs to get bigger to us.

This is why our elders have said as we start this year, one of our focuses is on pursuing and encountering the presence of God in worship.

Because we want God to get bigger to us.

See, church, when we gather together, we gather not to lift up a man or a woman, we gather to lay our lives before a king and a savior.

We gather for exaltation.

Amen.

Amen.

Number two, edification.

Edification, everybody say edification.

This is 1 Corinthians 14, 26.

Paul again is talking about unbelievers.

He says, or talking about to the believers about their meeting, and he says, Well, my brothers and sisters, let's summarize.

When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said.

He didn't put in there someone will dance.

That's just my mom.

He says, But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.

The New King James Version says, Let all things be done for edification.

So Paul says that when we gather together, we we should be edified, we should be strengthened.

What is edification?

Edification speaks to the construction of a physical structure, like a home.

Let me just ask this question.

Um, how many where are my DIY people here?

That you are really good with your hands.

You can build stuff.

Just raise it up high.

Raise it up high.

I just want to see who I don't like because you make me feel insecure.

Um I just didn't get that.

Like my my my dad is really good with his hands, he can uh work on cars.

My my father-in-law is really good with his hands, he could build a home from the ground up.

But me, I have decided that there is no job too small for me to outsource.

I just I just didn't get it.

I didn't get that.

But edification speaks to this constructing, this building.

Spiritually, edification has to do with constructive criticism and instruction that builds a person up to be the suitable dwelling place of God.

That we're supposed to come to church and be built up.

In fact, if you look at the Latin etymology of this word, it has to do with spiritual improvement.

It is actually the building up of the soul.

This is seen in Acts chapter 14, verses 21 through 22.

Acts 14:21–22

It says, when they, talking about Paul and Barnabas, had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples.

Let me just pause right there because this is also one of our focuses that the elders have directed us as we move into 2025.

We are focused on discipleship.

We don't just want converts, we want followers of Jesus.

So we're gonna focus on discipleship in every single area of ministry.

And how many know that's a good thing?

Amen?

Says they return to Lustra and to Icon and to Antioch, and here's what they did: strengthening the souls of the disciples.

This is edification.

We see this actually when we look at what transpired in the first church's meetings.

This is Acts chapter 2, verse 42.

Acts 2:42

It says, All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper and to prayer.

It says they devoted themselves to teaching.

What were they teaching?

Matthew 28:20 tells us uh that Jesus says this disciples teach them to observe all I've commanded you.

Matthew 28:20

You know what they were teaching?

They were teaching what Jesus told them the words of God.

They were being built up.

It says that they devoted themselves to fellowship.

This is the Greek word koinonia.

It has to do with deep, intimate fellowship.

There is a sense of partnership and support to one another.

They refuse to do life alone.

They did it in community.

They did uh uh Proverbs 27:17, that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

They were built up.

Says that they shared meals together and the Lord's Supper or communion, what we just received here a moment ago.

And and actually in the early church, communion was actually the center, the climax of the worship experience.

Because it was the moment where they looked back, remembering the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus.

It was the moment where they looked forward, remembering that Jesus is coming again, so they had hope.

And it was the moment where they looked now, recognizing his presence was there with them.

And then it says that they devoted themselves to prayer, so they prayed for one another.

Another way to say this is they carried each other's burdens to God.

It reminds me of a story I read uh about a flood that had ravaged this city, and so uh everybody, they were trying to evacuate, they were grabbing their goods and their luggage trying to get out of the city, and this police officer uh noticed something that really touched his heart.

He saw a little boy who had grabbed some luggage and and uh grabbed some goods, but then this little boy also had another little boy on his shoulder.

And so the police officer goes over to this little boy to help.

He gets to him, he says, Son, you're you're carrying a lot here.

You've got luggage in one hand, you've got goods in the other hand, and you've got another little boy on your shoulder.

And he says, This is too much for you.

This is too heavy.

And the little boy looks at the police officer and says, He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

Can I just tell you that when we gather in community, when we fellowship together, when we gather together on Sundays, when we are in a flood, we are surrounded by brothers and sisters who will pick us up and put us on their shoulder and carry us and call us up and encourage us and edify us.

This is why we gather, amen.

It's for edification.

You see, the truth is when we avoid gathering in community, we avoid growing in Christ-likeness.

We gather, we're here for edification.

Number three, evangelism.

Evangelism, everybody say evangelism.

My wife and I, uh, we have four kids.

We have a 10-year-old daughter named Judah, we have a nine-year-old son named uh Jaden.

Um I'm sorry, guys.

Once you you get to four, you start counting, you just they start running together.

I don't even know.

We've got a we've got a nine year old son named Jaden, we have a five year old daughter named Jordan, and then we have a three year old son named Justice, okay?

So we named them all Jays.

We shouldn't have done that, uh, but we thought it was spiritual.

So um, but but one of the challenges in our Our home right now is really teaching everybody uh to share, right?

So so one of the things that we say in our home is we share in this family.

Like that's just a mantra.

We share in this family.

Well, last year uh I sat down to eat lunch, and um I don't remember what I was eating, I just remember being really excited about it.

Like I'm I'm I'm I'm gonna eat my food, okay?

And then all of a sudden, my little three-year-old son, Justice, comes up and he says, Dad, what are you doing?

I said, I'm eating.

He said, What are you eating?

So I tell him what I'm eating, and he goes, Want some?

He said, Want some?

I said, I said, No, this is my food.

He said, Want some?

I said, I I want to eat my food.

And then he he gets very matter-of-fact.

He goes, Dad, we share in this family.

So you know what I did, church?

I ate it anyway because I just don't.

No, I didn't do that.

I didn't do that.

But we share in this family.

Can I just remind you that when you said yes to Jesus, you became a part of a family?

And guess what?

We share in this family.

Specifically, we share the gospel.

That is the most simple definition of evangelism to share the gospel.

And Paul actually tells us exactly what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

He starts at verse 1.

He says, Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you have on which you have taken your stand.

Now let's skip to verse 3.

For what I received, I passed on to you of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve.

And it goes on to say to over five hundred others.

Paul says, This is the gospel, this is the good news, that Jesus died for our sins, that he was buried and then resurrected.

And he did that so that we could be forgiven, he did that so that we could have a friendship with him, he did that so that we could spend forever with him in eternity, and he did that so that we could live a full life here on the earth, expanding his kingdom.

And I don't know about you, but I think that's good news, amen.

So grateful for what Jesus did, and it's such good news that we need to share it.

In fact, this is why our elders have also said that this year we want to be very intentional about sharing the love of Jesus in our communities because we have good news.

Amen.

We have good news, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 14, 25, we read this earlier, but he's talking about unbelievers, and he says, as they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, God is truly here among you.

Why is Paul writing to the church at Corinth and talking to them about how to minister to unbelievers?

You thought about that?

I'll tell you why.

Because Paul expects that unbelievers would be in the gathering.

Do you know how the unbelievers got to the gathering?

It's because someone brought them, someone invited them, someone understood that we share in this family.

And so, and so Paul speaks to this.

We also see this in Acts chapter 2, verses 46 and 47.

Acts 2:46

Again, this is describing the early church.

It says they worshiped together at the temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity, all while praising God and enjoying the good will of all people.

And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

How did the Lord add to their fellowship every day those that were being saved?

Well, obviously it was a work of the Holy Spirit, but guess what?

He worked through He works through people.

So someone invited, someone brought, someone shared because they understood we share in this family.

In in October of last year, I received an email from a gentleman I actually hadn't spoken to in years, but uh he emailed me because he wanted to connect me with a guy by the name of Brian.

And Brian lives in the Plano area, and so we met up, and uh Brian's grandfather was a preacher, but Brian hadn't been to church in years, and so uh it was just low-hanging fruit.

I invited Brian to church, and lo and behold, he came the next Sunday, and he brought his entire family.

And Brian has five kids.

Uh, two of them are young enough to go into our elementary class, and so we we dropped them off in the class, and then they came into the auditorium with me.

And then after service, we went to pick up his two uh kids that were in the elementary class.

And I gotta be honest with you, church.

Here was my biggest prayer: Lord, just let them like it.

Just that's all I can.

Just will they?

I just want them to like church.

That's all I cared about.

Well, when we picked them up and they came walking out of the classroom, I noticed something.

I noticed that they had on different name tags.

And so I looked to see what those name tags read, and I want to show you what their name tags read.

Here's what it said I decided to give my life to Jesus.

I decided to give my life to Jesus.

You see, not only did they like church, they met the Lord.

And can I tell you how that happened?

Because our children's ministry doesn't do child care.

Our children's ministry does children's ministry.

We minister to the kids that go in there, we pray with them, we preach the word, we praise God together, and we present the gospel.

Why?

Because we understand we share in this family.

You see, an invitation to church is actually more than an invitation to a building, it's an arrangement of a meeting that has the potential to transform generations.

And this is also why our elders have said, okay, we're church, as we step into 2025, we want to be a multi-generational church because our God is a multi-generational God.

Amen.

Can I get an amen on that?

Amen.

Number four, evangelism.

Oh, excuse me, expansion.

Expansion.

You start you try to be cool and use all these E's and you get them confused.

So expansion, expansion.

Expansion means to increase in size or scope.

It's what I feel like I did over the Christmas break because my wife made gumbo.

When I talk about expansion, I'm talking about kingdom expansion, okay?

And now to understand this, we have to go back to Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Because remember, I told you that the Greek word ekklesia was not a religious term in the first century.

It was a term that described an assembly.

Uh, some theologians will actually point out that it specifically described a civic assembly.

It was a civic assembly of citizens called out for a specific purpose, such as decision-making or governance.

You see, in Acts chapter 19, verse 38 and 41, Paul uses, or excuse me, Luke uses the word ecclesia, but he actually uses the word ecclesia in reference to a group of people that are actually legislating against the church.

Acts 19:38

That's why some theologians will talk about that there is actually a legislative undertone, like city council or congress.

There's a legislative undertone to the concept of ecclesia.

And that church is actually God's legislative body in history.

Now, now I want to be clear, this is not about politics, but this is about the church enacting or performing or implementing the passions and principles of heaven on the earth.

This is about kingdom expansion.

Let me go a little further.

So the first time the word ekklesia is used in the scriptures, it's used by Jesus, and Jesus is responding to something Peter said.

This is in Matthew 16.

Jesus asks the disciples, he says, Who do you say that I am?

And Peter says that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And so Jesus then responds, and he says this in Matthew chapter 16, verses 17 through 19.

Matthew 16:17–19

He says, Jesus replied, You are blessed, Simon, son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.

You did not learn this from any human being.

Now I say to you, you are Peter, which means rock, and upon this rock I will build my church.

And the powers of hell will not conquer it.

And I will give you the keys, everybody say, keys.

I'll give you the keys of the kingdom, everybody say, kingdom.

I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

What is Jesus saying here?

Well, first of all, Jesus says, I'm gonna build the church.

I just want to set everybody at ease.

The church is gonna be fine.

You know why?

Because Jesus is building the church.

He says, I'm gonna build my church.

So church is gonna be fine, but then he says, and I'm gonna give you keys.

Now, keys speak to authority.

Because if someone gives you the keys to something, they authorize you to access it.

So you can unlock the door or you can lock the door, you can go in or you can come out, but it speaks to authority.

And then he says, I'm gonna give you keys of the kingdom.

So the question is, what is a kingdom?

A kingdom is the king's dominion, it is the space and place where the king's principles and passions are expressed.

It is his realm or rule.

So he says, He's gonna give you the keys of the kingdom and specifically the kingdom of heaven.

So what is Jesus saying?

Jesus saying that I'm going to give the church the authority to bring the principles and passions of heaven down to earth and express them in every single place, pushing back the gates of hell and taking ground for the kingdom of God.

Amen?

This is what he's saying to us.

Let me illustrate this.

Uh I I play college football, okay?

And uh when I tell people that, they're usually shocked because I'm five foot five and three-fourths of an inch tall, okay?

And uh, it's not that funny.

It's really actually somebody on the front row laughing too loud.

Um but but I um I actually played wide receiver in college, believe it or not.

And so wide receivers are usually the tall ones that catch the ball, but uh I played wide receiver, and so when people hear that, they say, Oh, you must have been really fast.

And I tell them, uh uh no, I actually wasn't really fast.

I was really scared, okay?

Uh-uh, uh my teammates, they ran for the end zone, but I ran for my life.

Like I knew if they hit me, it was different.

But but I remember, and playing college football, we would huddle up before the play.

And and I noticed something in this huddle.

In this particular huddle, there were people from all different ethnicities, backgrounds, experiences, personalities, giftings, all different, but we were all on the same team.

And and then our quarterback would come in with a play call.

And the play call was very simple.

The play call was the expressed desire of our head coach or our offensive coordinator who set up in the coach's box because he had a greater perspective.

And he would, the quarterback would come in, give us the play, and we would break that huddle and go express the desire of our head coach onto the field, pushing back the opponent and taking ground.

Now, here's one thing that we all understood.

We all understood that the huddle wasn't the point.

In fact, if we stayed in the huddle too long, we would actually get a penalty.

We all knew we simply huddled up to get the heart of our head coach and go and express that.

Can I just tell you today, church, that what our gathering is is simply a holy huddle.

That we are filled with people with different personalities, different giftings, different backgrounds, different occupations, but we have all come together on Team Jesus.

Amen.

We've all come together and listen, we've come together because we've got a head coach that speaks, we've got a head coach that breathes, we've got a head coach that is alive and well, and he wants to expand his kingdom on the earth.

And simply we gather together to take the principles and passions of heaven, bring them down to earth, and express them on our jobs, and express them at our schools, and express them in our homes, and we push back the enemy and take ground for the kingdom of God.

Amen.

This is what we are, we're a holy huddle.

Kingdom expansion is about legislating, implementing, and performing the principles and the passions of heaven in every place on earth.

This is why we gather exaltation, edification, evangelism, and expansion.

Now I know that's a lot today, and I want to just wrap up by giving you just quick thoughts on how to apply this.

Just three quick thoughts on how to apply this particular message.

The first one is simply to ask.

Ask.

And what I mean by that is ask the Lord to make you more kingdom-focused than problem-focused.

Ask the Lord to make you more kingdom-focused than problem-focused.

Matthew 6.33 says, seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness.

See, we used to say around Gateway a lot, we are kingdom-focused, not problem-focused, because every single day we're going to find problems.

And I'm just saying that as believers, we want to ask God, God, give us kingdom perspective, give us your vantage point so that we can apply your principles and passions in every area.

So ask.

Number two, invite.

Invite.

It's very simple.

Just invite someone.

Invite someone to church.

Last weekend, we had over 18,000 people attend a gateway service.

Now I tell you that not for the number's sake, but I just want to give you the impact.

We had over 18,000 people attend a gateway service.

Let's imagine that all 18,000 of us decided for the next four weeks we were going to invite one person a week.

Just for the next four weeks.

Do you know how many people that would be?

That would be 72,000 invites.

72,000 invites.

Now think about it this way: that would be 72,000 opportunities for someone to come and experience the power and the presence of God.

That would be 72,000 opportunities for someone to get connected in community.

That would be 72,000 opportunities for someone to get a new name tag like Brian's Kids.

So invite someone.

And then lastly, commit.

Commit.

And what I mean by commit is simply commit to take a next step.

See, I believe that as we start 2025, God has a next step for everyone.

And I just want you to ask the Holy Spirit, what is my next step?

Because for some of us, our next step is actually to make coming to church a priority.

Maybe it wasn't a priority in 2024, but this year, as for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord.

I love that Hebrews 10, 25 says, and let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

So maybe for you, it's this year we're going to commit to coming to church.

Maybe for some of us, our next step is actually to say yes to Jesus for the very first time.

Or to return to Jesus.

For some of us, our next step is to finally get water baptized and go public with our profession of faith.

For some of us, it's okay, I'm finally gonna go to growth path and become a member.

I'm gonna start serving.

I'm gonna jump in in these prayer gatherings that we're having.

I'm gonna attend community night.

I'm finally gonna lead that group or I'm gonna join that group.

Can I just be honest with you for a moment, church?

I personally feel like the Lord used a small group to literally save my life.

See, because right after college, that first year right after college, I was dealing with a lot of shame.

And so much so that I started having suicidal thoughts.

And and my inclination in that season was just to isolate myself and pull away from all community.

But the problem was that I was a part of a small group that met on Sundays, and the small group leader would meet with me on Fridays, every single Friday, and so I just kind of felt stuck.

I felt stuck in community, I couldn't get out.

But it was the absolute best thing that could have happened to me.

Because by God's grace, there were a group of men around me that noticed that I was in a flood.

And one of those men said, Jelani, I'm gonna pick you up and I'm gonna put you on my shoulder and I'm gonna carry you until you find some hope.

And I just don't know what would have happened to me if I did not have that small group.

And so I want to encourage you for some of us, it's time to join that group.

I want to challenge you.

Ask, invite, and commit because we are the ecclesia, we are the called-out ones, called out of darkness and into the light to exalt God, to edify one another, to evangelize, and to expand his kingdom.

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

And as you do, I just want to ask you what's God speaking to you?

What's the thing that's stirring in your heart right now?

What's your next step?

In a moment, we're going to go back into a worship song.

I'm going to pray, and then we're going to stand and go back into a worship song.

And then Pastor Mark's going to lead us in a time of response.

But I want to encourage you, even right now, whatever the Lord is speaking to you, about your next step, I just want you to say yes in your heart.

And as I pray, and then when we stand up, we're going to go in a time of worship.

And this isn't a time to exalt God.

In other words, God wants to get bigger in our lives in this next moment.

And so I just want you to posture your heart to say, I, as I stand up, I'm going to exalt God.

I'm going to lift Him up.

And I'm going to express my desire for God to get bigger and bigger in my life.

So, Father, thank you for your word today.

I pray, Lord, in these next few moments, you would grace us to take the next step.

And Lord, meet us as we exalt you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you stand to your feet and let's exalt God together?

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.