The Mission Beyond

We're going to read out of the book of Luke chapter

Luke 10 · chapter mention

10, so if you can join me now, I'll be reading

Luke chapter 10, and if you could put it up,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

verse 1. Luke chapter 10 in verse 1 through verse

Luke 10 · chapter mention

3. Amen. How many of you are ready for the Word

of God today? I'm going to ask you again, how

many of you are ready? Amen. The Word of God

follows... After these things, the Lord appointed

70 others also and sent them two by two before

his face into every city and place where he himself

was about to go. Then he said to them, the harvest

truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore,

pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers

into his harvest. Go your way. Behold, I send

you out as lambs among wolves. I'm going to speak

for a few moments on the thought, the mission

beyond, the mission beyond. Amen. And if we have

the video ready, we're going to go ahead and

show a quick video. So invite your attention.

Since 2013. I have been baptized since 2009.

I came to Christ really in just trying to find

myself. I was invited by some friends when I

was in high school and I started coming to this

apostolic church. And I didn't know what was

going on at the time because everything felt

so new to me. I grew up Catholic and I grew up

in that tradition. So everything was different.

And when I got here, I didn't understand what

the Holy Spirit was, speaking in tongues, really

praising and worshiping God. One of the things

I remember the most in the beginning was just

having my hands down here because I couldn't

lift them up. And ultimately, I realized it was

because I wasn't free. But when I got closer

to being baptized, it was a difficult time. And

I think I struggled because my family didn't

understand. the decision that I was making. Not

only giving my life to Christ, but being part

of a different faith. But it was here where I

experienced God and the relationship with Him

and felt His Spirit. And I received the gift

of the Holy Spirit. And it was something that

I couldn't look away from. It wasn't something

that I could turn my back from. And so I committed

myself and I stayed true to it, even though maybe

the family dynamic didn't change. And, you know,

it wasn't the easiest transition, but it was

the biggest blessing because it was being part

of this church, giving my life to God that brought

me other blessings, including my wife and my

child now. And so I'm extremely blessed that

I... belong to a church that not only understands

our different walks of life, but embraces them.

And it's a place where you can come and really

not only experience the love of Jesus Christ,

but also activate your gifts and be able to contribute

to the kingdom of God. And that's why I continue

to serve God and continue to be a member of City

Light Church. God bless you. Amen. Let's clap

our hands. We want to thank Brother Jose. He's

not here today, but we want to thank him for

sharing his story like some of you others have

done. And I really appreciate hearing these stories.

Some of us have maybe never even heard or understood

where people are coming from. But as I've said,

behind every story like this was someone living

on mission who reached and evangelized and shared

the gospel. And this is what this moment has

been all about in our church is understanding

how once we start to live on mission, once we

really begin to embody the mission of Christ

in our life, to evangelize, to share the gospel,

to share the love of God, to expand his kingdom,

imagine how many more people like that we can

reach. Amen, somebody. Imagine how many more

lives we can touch and transform. So what we're

going to do today is spotlight. a commissioning

moment in Luke 10, which is very similar to the

one that we've looked at in prior sermons in

Mark chapter 6. I've spent a considerable amount

Mark 6 · chapter mention

of time, both on Sunday and in our midweek mentoring,

looking at Mark 6. But Luke 10 is very much in

the same theme, very similar in some ways and

also different in others to the commissioning.

that Jesus did in Mark 6, because we see that

here in this moment in Luke 10, Jesus appointed

groups of people, teams of two, and sent them

out. But just for your consideration, let me

just very briefly show you just some of the differences.

In Mark 6, we see that they were given minimal

instruction. So the ones that Jesus sent out,

those teams of two, Got very minimal instructions.

Didn't get a lot of directions. Didn't get a

lot of pointers. Basically, he just sent them

out like sink or swim, guys. But in Luke 10,

we see Jesus giving more detailed instructions

in training. If you read the entirety of that

context there, he goes through a lot more instruction

to what to do and how to do it. In Mark 9, we

see that the disciples preached a very simple

message of repentance. They just went from village

to village just saying, you're wrong and you

gotta be right. That's basically what they preached,

you know, repent. Just a message of repentance.

But in Luke 10, the teams go out and preaching

still, but the message is a little different.

Now they're preaching a bit more about the kingdom

of God. So the message went from just a straightforward.

message of repentance to now with this bigger

group of people. Now they're preaching more about

the kingdom of God and his love, his power that's

coming. And our message today is the same. Just

like that first group that went out in Mark 6,

we're still preaching repentance, but we're also

like the group in Luke 10. preaching the kingdom

of God. And I believe that when you marry those

two messages together, the message of that first

smaller group and the message of that larger

group, that's the message that we are preaching

here today in the 21st century. We still preach

that people must turn from sin and turn to God.

Amen? We still preach that. We still preach that

Jesus is king. Amen? He's king of kings. How

many of you know that? He's the Lord of lords.

We still preach that there is salvation in his

name. Amen. This is our message today. We get

excited about this. This is who we are. This

is what it's all about. We still preach that

lives can be changed and transformed and families

can be restored. How many know we preach this

and we mean it with all of our hearts? This is

not just make -believe. We're not just, you know,

wishing upon a star. This is not a wishing well

religion. I hope it all turns out okay. No, we

believe. that this message is powerful and we

preach it with all of our hearts, that lives

can be healed, that God can heal people of their

physical ailments. How many of you know God's

a healer today? Amen. And that sinners can be

born again. And so this is our message. The message

has not changed at all. And Luke 10 gives us

a powerful picture of how that message begins

to expand from just a few. Into the hearts of

many. And now it's expanding and it's broadening

its scope of influence throughout the known world

at that time. It all starts with Jesus. Everything.

It starts with the Lord Jesus. And then it begins

to move through the 12 apostles or the 12 disciples

at that time. And then it broadens. So let me

show you this, how how the mission expands. And

if I want to, if I can today, just. For a few

moments, give you some, I guess, just help you

to see in a broader sense, a bigger picture on

how the mission expands. This might be a little

hard to read depending on where you're sitting,

but I'll try to go through this so you can see

that it is the purpose of God in His church,

among His people, to move us from being formed

or from formation onto... Jesus started with

12, but he didn't stop there. He expanded that

strategy by assembling a broader team of 70 people.

So he went from six groups or six teams of two,

and he multiplied that to 35 teams. That's a

big leap. That's a big leap right there. I mean,

he multiplied that to 35 teams of two. And this

is what Jesus... This is how he moves. This is

how he operates. How many know God does big things?

He starts small, but then it's always in his

plan, in his will, to expand. God does big things.

He starts small, but then from that small point,

he expands. And so he moved from that initial...

small nucleus of 12 disciples, and he began to

multiply. Now, this is a powerful pattern that

I want for you to try to grasp today with your

mind, with your spirit. How Jesus' model, how

his strategy begins to play out as his kingdom

expands, as his purpose begins to manifest in

our life. Now, the 12, the 12. I believe represent

leadership. Now, when I'm saying leadership,

I don't mean those that have a title of a leader.

A leader is technically anybody who goes first.

Like remember when you and your friends were

going, it was a hot day and you're about to jump

in the pool and everyone was like, who's going

to go first? How many of you were the first one

that went, well, if no one's going, I'm going,

huh? You jump in. Whether you realize it or not,

you were a leader right there in that moment.

And then everyone said, well, if he's going,

I'm going. And I'm making a bigger splash than

he did. And that's basically what a leader is.

A leader is not somebody that, oh, I've got a

title, I've got a badge, my name's on the website.

No, that's not what a leader is. A leader is

someone who's willing to go first so that others

can follow. And so the leaders here were the

12 disciples. They were trailblazers. They carried

the burden early. They didn't know what they

were getting themselves into. They were learning

as they go. And what they did in the process

was help establish a pattern that others could

follow. That's what the leaders did, the initial

12. And Jesus started with them, but he didn't

stay there. As the mission began to expand to

a broader group of people, The names of which

that we don't know. We don't know all these 70.

The Bible doesn't tell us. It doesn't list them

all down, who they were. But they were part of

a broader body of people. And I believe that

this represents that broader body, the broader

scope of the congregation, everybody. And what

this shows us is that whether you're a leader,

Whether you're someone who's on the front line,

someone who's on the cutting edge, or whether

you're someone who's just sort of, I'm going

to kind of wait to see how this thing works out.

I'm going to see, I'm going to let somebody work

out all the kinks and iron it out, and then I'll

go, you know. Let somebody else kind of, you

know, get all the loose screws tightened, and

then eventually I'm going to jump in. And eventually

I'm going to get involved. And that's okay because

there's going to be different phases. And you've

got those that are going to be part of the broader

body. But the bottom line is everybody at some

point must or is called to get involved in the

mission of expanding God's kingdom. Somebody

say amen today. All right, so the work expands.

The body is activated. Every aspect of the body

is now fully employed in the work of reaching

people with the gospel. Isn't that beautiful?

Jesus doesn't want anybody to get left out. Somebody

says, oh, little old me, what can I say? Yes,

you, and you're, what can I say? God wants to

use that small, shy, bashful voice. God wants

to, and if you say, well, I'm a little, you know,

a little over the top. You know, not too many

people, you know, I come in hot and I come in

heavy. Well, that's all right. You know, we'll

work on you. We'll tone you down a little bit

when needed. Hallelujah. But God can use everybody,

and he wants to use everybody. Your gifts, your

talents, your abilities. Amen? You're all part

of the team here today. And the beautiful thing

about this is that no matter where you see yourself,

so I, you know, I like to wait or I like to see

or I like to feel things out. There's a place

for everyone today. The important things that

we see, the kingdom of God is expanding. It's

advancing. Amen. So let me give you three bullet

points today that I want you to take home with

you. I want you to pray about these things. I

want you to, amen, to really give your heart

and your soul to this because I know that we're

on board. We want to grow. How many of you want

to grow? Come on, let me get a stronger amen.

How many of you want to grow? Amen. I want to

see this place filled up with new people that

God is going to say, but he's going to use us

to do it. First point is the mission. I'm talking

about the mission is beyond. And first of all,

it's beyond the familiar. It's beyond the familiar.

You see, let me tell you that for many of us,

church is a familiar place. It's a familiar place.

This is a familiar setting. OK, this is worship

is familiar. Some of you are so good at worship,

you don't even read the songs, the lyrics anymore

because you know it by heart. How many of you,

you know the song by heart, but you still read

the words like all the time, huh? That's me.

I know the song already, but there I am reading

it like making sure I don't miss one word, right?

You know, we're so familiar with it. Right. We're

familiar. We're familiar with worship. Some of

you, you're so familiar with the preaching. You

know, some of you know, you know pastors preach

so well. I know what pastor's going to say next.

And then when I don't, you're like, oh, he went

somewhere. I thought he was going to go this

way. And he went that way. And we're so familiar

with preaching. And if you've been here for any

length of time, then you're familiar with the

faces that you see. Amen? From Sunday after Sunday.

And let me tell you, familiarity is not bad.

Right? It's why you go back to that same restaurant.

I know you heard things about the restaurant,

but you keep going back to that same restaurant.

Why? Because they already know you there. Huh?

And how many of you, some of you are too young,

you probably don't even have a place like this

yet, where they don't even have to give you the

menu. They know what you want. I'll take the

usual. You know, and sometimes I go to a restaurant,

they give me a menu, and it's all for formalities.

It's like we're playing restaurant. They're playing

restaurant right now. And they already know what

I'm going to order because that's how, it's nice

to go because it's comforting, right? It's comforting.

We don't have to get to know each other anymore.

It's like we're past all of that. It's comforting.

And we like that. Now, the only problem with

that is that in the spiritual sense, if we get

too comfortable. and we get too predictable,

and we get too, we tend to get passive. We tend

to lose the fire. We tend to lose the passion.

We tend to lose, and then we become more inward

focused. Now everything is about my comfort.

how it makes me feel, how it makes me think.

And so church was never supposed to be like that.

See, we walk a fine line in our church where

we want you to be comfortable, we want you to

be at home, but we don't want you to become lukewarm.

There's a fine line between being comfortable

and at home somewhere and becoming lukewarm,

losing the fire that God put in you with his

spirit and losing the drive and the motivation

to serve God with all of your heart. And so we've

got to be very careful that we never lose sight

of what this is all about. This is not simply

about padding our seats so that we get more comfortable.

It's about filling the seats with new people

who might bump you over into a row that you're

not used to sitting, who might step on your shit.

choose on the way in and you got to forgive them

and say oh they don't know but but that's all

right because growth is going to shake us out

of our comfort zones amen it's going to cause

us to do things a little differently so i like

familiar things but we can't get stuck there

we gather here not just to gather we gather in

here you know why so that we can go out there

We gather in here so that we can take what we

have received. Amen. Because I pray. You know

what I pray? That every Sunday you come and you

receive something. You have got, if you're not

receiving something, my God, maybe we got to

start there. Because you got to receive something.

But not just so that you can be a reservoir that's

constantly receiving. But so that you can be

a river that as you receive, you release. So

as the water, as the word comes in, you step

out of these doors and then you release on the

workplace. You release on the campus. You release

in the park. You release here or there what God

has placed in your life. Amen, somebody. This

is what Christ is calling us to do. So Jesus,

he confronts us in our comfort. In Luke, he says,

Luke says that he sent them out two by two, right?

We've been talking about tag teams and two by

two, working together with someone else in our

church to go and to be a light. He sent them

out two by two before his face into every city

and place where he himself was about to go. Now,

that's a key verse there, and that's a key phrase.

I'm not going to talk too much about the two

by two because, man, you're probably tired of

hearing me saying that already. But we'll come

back to that in another time. But I'm really

interested in the fact that he sent them out,

the Bible says, into every city, every place

where he was about to go. That's key right there.

Where he himself was about to go. That means

that Jesus, that Jesus had places in mind that

he was about to go. Jesus is on the move. You

know, God is not a stagnant God. You know, God's

on the move. God is having his spirit is moving.

Amen. And so the fact that he sends them to places

that he was about to go tells us that he had.

He had people in mind. He had cities in mind.

He had homes. He had families in mind that he

was going to reach. And so he sends these people

out to go and to begin to share the gospel. And

what they are doing is they are preparing the

way. This is what evangelism is. This is what

being an ambassador of Christ is. It's not that

we go and that we save people. No, it's that

we go and prepare the way. When you talk to somebody,

when you pray with somebody, when you share the

word of God with somebody, when you give your

testimony to somebody, what you are doing is

you are preparing the way so that God can reach

them when he wants to reach them. Amen. We prepare

the way. And so I am calling, the Holy Ghost

is calling us today to go and to prepare the

way. Amen. To get out of the familiar. You know

what I don't want to be? I don't want to be just

a Sunday saint. Amen. I don't want to just be

a Sunday saint. I don't want to just be a spiritual

spectator and watch from the stands, watch from

the bleachers. And some of us, man, we're in

the nosebleeds. How many of you know where the

nosebleeds are at in a stadium? You ever been

in a nosebleed the other day or not too long

ago? I got the cheapest tickets I could find.

And you know where they were at? They were in

the nosebleeds. They call them the nosebleeds

because the air is thin up there when you're

in the last level, the last balcony, right? It's

like the air is thin. And some of us, man, hallelujah,

we're in the nosebleeds section of the church.

Whoo! Hallelujah. Let it get quiet when I say

it's on. We're in the know. We're so far from

what God is doing. We're just, we're comfortable

over here, you know. We're just, you know, buying

popcorn or whatever. We're just, hey, I'm right

here. At least I'm here. We say, at least I made

it. Well, God is saying, I want you to be more

than just in the stands or in the bleachers or

sitting on the sidelines. I want you to get into

the game. I want you to get into what I'm doing.

How many of you want to be where God is moving?

Amen. Why don't we clap our hands and let's get.

God. I have praise today. Amen. Number two is

the mission moves beyond the few. Someone say

the few. The few. The few. Jesus, you know, he

could have stopped right there with the 12. He

said, you know, I like this. I've got my team.

I've got the 12. You men have been equipped.

I have spent time. I've whipped you into shape.

You're the Navy SEAL. You're the Green Beret.

You're the best of the best. Why would I want

to expand? He could have stopped right there

and said, I've got this special team of special

spiritual forces. But he didn't stop there. The

Bible says that he appointed 70 others also.

Someone say others also. Yeah, that means Jesus,

that means that he went and he reached out to

others who maybe didn't see themselves as a part

of God's movement. Maybe didn't see themselves

as being useful in the hands of God. But he recruited

them and he called them. And this means that

there were more people there. That were maybe

sitting on the sidelines, kind of watching from

a distance. People that say, you know, man, that

12, man, they're awesome. Let's pray for them.

No, Jesus said, hey, no, you. I want you and

you and you. I don't know how he called them

out. He said, I want everybody that's here to

get involved. I'm going to send all of you out.

You're not just here to spectate. You're not

just here to see what the latest sermon is going

to be, what the latest song is. I wonder if they're

going to sing that new song. No, you're here

to be equipped. You're here to be a part of the

expansion of my kingdom. And so I want everybody

to get involved. And at that point, imagine the

70 that were there were like, hey, whoa, whoa,

time out, man. I just came for like a, I came

for a talk here today. I just came for a pep

rally. Jesus is here. I just came to be healed.

I don't know. I didn't sign up for all of this.

Amen. Come on now, somebody. I didn't sign up

for all of this. I thought I was just supposed

to come and... Where are we going to eat after

this? I don't know. But the bottom line is that

no, you're not just here to spectate. You're

not just here to kind of look and feel what's

going on and just kind of read the room. No,

you're here because God has brought you here.

And by the way, I am commissioning you, hello

somebody, to go and spread the gospel. The mission

of God was never meant to be carried just by

a select few people. And some have that mentality.

They think that way about church and about the

work of God and about ministry. They think, well,

you know, only certain people can do those types

of things. No, everybody has something they can

contribute. Jesus wants us to understand that

the harvest is too big. It's too great. It's

too serious for only a select few in the church

to do the work. There's too many people. And

reason being is because your neighbor doesn't

live in the neighborhood that you do. And your

friend doesn't go to the job that you do. No,

you go to your job that you do. You have and

know certain people that I don't. There are people

in your life that I have never met and probably

never will meet unless God ordains it and brings

us together, so I will. But there's people that

God has put in your path. That is your harvest,

your mission field, your place of influence.

And so Jesus said the harvest is great, but the

laborers are few. Let me tell you, we have to

correct the thinking that many have is that,

you know, man, they're just, we would grow, but

there's just no soul. There's no people that

know. There's no, the problem is not the harvest.

Amen. The problem is a shortage of laborers.

There's plenty. There's plenty out there. There's

plenty. But the reality is, is that we have to

awaken ourselves to this. I'll be just a few

more moments and I'll be done. Jesus said to

pray for laborers. Amen. He said, pray to the

Lord of the harvest. You know that you and I

have been called to pray for the Lord of the

harvest to send forth laborers. Amen. How many

of you are willing to pray that prayer? But I'm

going to warn you right now that when you pray

that prayer. Sometimes God answers by sending

you. You know, sometimes, Lord, I really wish

you would send somebody over there, God. God,

those people need you so bad. Put it in somebody's

heart. And God is saying, God will answer your

prayer by sending you. And putting that burden

and putting that desire in your heart. Say, me,

God? You want to use me? You want to use my voice?

Do you want to use my life? Let me tell you,

the mission that God has for this church, City

Light Church right here, is bigger than what

one pastor can do. It cannot rest on one pastor.

It cannot rest on one platform. It cannot rest

on one small group of people. It's got to extend

beyond that. It's supposed to be for it can rest

on a faithful few. Now, thank God. We're thankful

for the faithful few. Amen. Thank God. But that's

not where it stays. It's got to expand to the

rest of the broader body till everybody gets

involved in some way or another. I'm being a

witness for Christ. Amen. Somebody say amen today.

Now, I'm going to tell you something before I

move on to my last point. Where's the third point?

Wait, it's coming. It's coming. All right. I'm

going to tell you something. And this is just,

this is something what God has placed in my heart

today. And I say it respectfully. If all we have

is a few, so be it. We'll work with what we've

got. Because I have determined in myself, we're

going to have revival. Amen. We're going to see

God move. We're going to see life transform.

So if all we've got is just a small handful,

then we're going to roll with what we've got.

We're going to go, but so be it. But I say that

to say this, but can you imagine what would happen

if all of us said, you know what? No, away with

this, you know, a few and no more. Imagine if

all of us, everybody got on board, what kind

of harvest would we see? Amen. I believe we would

have a greater harvest. I believe we would see

more lives transformed. I believe we would have

greater revivals and greater miracles that God

would do in our midst. Amen. And somebody might

say, well, I don't know. I'm not that qualified.

I haven't, you know, I don't have a Bible college

degree or, you know, I'm not, I haven't been

trained as much. Listen, you don't have, not

everybody's going to be, you know, Peter, James,

and John, right? Not everybody is going to be

one of the apostles. That's okay. But everyone

can play a part. God can take whatever knowledge

you have, whatever experience you have, whatever,

hallelujah, whatever God has given you and use

it for his glory. Come on, clap your hands and

let's give God some praise today. Hallelujah.

This is what God wants to do in our lives. And

so it's not going to rest in just the hands of

a few. There's a saying that we have, right?

God doesn't call the qualified. But he qualifies

the called. So don't worry about your qualifications.

If God has called you, he'll qualify you. He'll

give you what you need. And that's all that God's

looking for. Amen? Somebody say amen today. Number

three is that the mission is beyond the fear.

Now, Jesus says something here that they must

have. While everything was going good, I think

people were feeling good about themselves. There

was kind of like this energy that was building

as Jesus was commissioning. I almost think of

like a coach getting, you know, his team around.

They're all huddled up and he's pumping them

up. You know, he's telling them, you know, you're

going to go. And man, the energy must have been

lively as Jesus was calling these people and

telling them, you know, we're going to change

the world. Right. Man, who wants people there?

I want to be a part of that now. And then he

says something that just might have thrown them

off a little bit. Because at the end, he tells

them, after he said, I'm sending you out. This

is going to be great. It's going to be awesome.

Everything's going to, we're going to change

the world. He says in verse 3, he said, behold.

In other words, hold up. I got one more thing

to tell you. What's that, coach? Jesus, I send

you out as lamb among the wolves. God bless you.

Whoa, wait a minute, huh? Bring up the keyboardist.

I send you out as lambs among the wolves. And

that must have been like, whoa, wait a minute.

Why didn't you tell us that at the beginning?

Before you got me all excited. Before I put on

the uniform. Before I bought into it. Why didn't

you tell me at the beginning? Well, because Jesus

knows that if he tells us these things at the

beginning, many of us, we would not. But he tells

us at the end. By the way, I'm sending you out

as lambs among the wolves. And they must have

looked at each other and said, did you hear what

he said? Did he think, did he say what I think

I heard him say? Lamb among the wolves, why don't

you send us out as lions among the wolves? I

would have been much more excited about that.

Like, you know, hear me roar. I'll be honest

with you. These words do not sound very comforting.

Right, Brother Ben? They don't sound very reassuring.

Excuse me, lambs. Last time I checked, lambs

don't have any claws. They don't have any fangs.

They're not very fast. I mean, you know, they

are basically defenseless animals. But Jesus

was making a point. He was making a point that

lambs are the perfect metaphor for you and I

because lambs don't depend on themselves. Lambs

do not overcome the wolves because they're stronger

than the wolves. They don't overcome the wolves

because they're more fiercer or because they

have a killer instinct. No. They overcome the

wolves, lambs, and sheep do because they belong

to the shepherd. And when you belong to the shepherd,

ooh, my God, I feel something in my heart right

now. When you belong to the shepherd, you can

say like the psalmist in Psalm 23, the Lord,

come on, help me, is, the Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want. Amen. As I close, if you can

come up, brother, here to the keyboard. For real.

Hallelujah. This time. Amen. The Lord is my shepherd.

And then in verse 4, my favorite part of Psalm

23, he said, Yea, though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

You know what? Wolves are evil. I said, wolves

are evil. Wolves are evil. They've got a killer

instinct. You know, they're out to get me. They're

hunting me down. They're in the way. They're

resisting. I want to do the will of God. You

know, I want to tell the world about Jesus. I

want to tell my name. But there's wolves everywhere.

And what do I do about the wolves? Well, let

me tell you. I shall fear no evil, right? For

you are with. How many of you know God is with

you? Oh, come on. Help me out, somebody. I said,

how many of you know that God is with you? God

is with you. And he said, your rod and your staff,

they comfort me. Guess what? My comfort, my comfort

is not found in places of ease. My comfort is

not found in places of lukewarmness. My comfort

is found that even though I step out into a world

full of wolves and a world of darkness where

I've got a mission to spread the light, my comfort

is found in the presence of God that is with

me and guiding me and protecting me. Oh, hallelujah.

He is my shelter. He is my calm in the midst

of the storm. He is the God that goes before

me. He is my... My safety. I invite us to stand

today up on our feet. Hallelujah. I just, I feel

so strongly in my heart and my spirit today that

if there is, if there is somebody here in this

place that's saying, you know, I'm willing to

say yes to God. Somebody here today needs to

say yes to the Lord to use your life. And someone

here needs to say yes to the Lord to come into

your life like never before. But God is here

right now. And this is what God wants to do.

He wants to quiet the fears. He wants to quiet

the fear right there where you're at. I feel

God is moving throughout this place. I feel God

is right where you are. We are at a moment right

now where God is speaking into your life. God

is speaking into your heart. God is speaking.

I feel that. I feel it's happening right now.

It's happening. It's happening right here. And

you know, the only thing about wolves, this will

just be the last thing I want to point out. The

only thing about wolves, the only time a wolf

is successful is when he attacks a sheep that

has been separated from the flock. A sheep that

has been isolated, that has fallen behind. You

cannot afford. Hear me today, church. You cannot

afford to fall behind what God is doing in this

church. You cannot afford to break from the pack.

You can't say, well, I'm going to let everybody

else do it. I'm going to just keep doing my own

thing. No, you are. You are serving yourself

up for the wolf. You're an easy target. You're

easy prey for the wolf to come and to snatch

you. But that's why we have got to stay connected

to the team. Amen. We got to go out in teams.

We got to be together shoulder to shoulder. Hallelujah.

And arm in arm and hand in hand. We are serving

the Lord together. We are winning people together.

How many of you believe in this, what I'm preaching

here today?