Open Heart, Open Home

Well, for those of you that I don't know, um I uh have been down, I've been with Church of the Grove pretty much since the very beginning of the church, and uh we launched out to start the Social Circle campus uh about 12 years ago now.

And I'm married to Caitlin.

Um she is the uh director for the Christian Learning Center program for Walton County, and uh and then we've got three kids.

We've got Sam, Ben, and Elizabeth.

Sam's nine, Ben is about to turn seven, and then Elizabeth is three.

And uh this summer my kids have always, for the last several years, they've been big Avenger fans.

Um they call them the Avengers, but they're Avenger fans, and uh they love all the different kind of Marvel superheroes.

Um I was never a comic book guy, I don't know a whole lot about them, and so we kind of made the decision that we would start to try to walk through some of the movies this summer and kind of watch them in order to kind of get the overview and the lay of the land for the Marvel universe.

I had no idea how big of an undertaking that was.

There are a lot of movies for Marvel, right?

Um there's like dozens and dozens of movies.

They keep making more movies and they go in different orders, and it's complicated to say the least.

And uh pretty much all the movies are the exact same in some ways.

Like there's a hero, they're not gonna win, but wait, yes, they do at the last minute, they do win, and they save the world, and there's much destruction in the place in light of everything that's going on.

And so we've been watching these movies, and it's spurred vigorous debates in our house about who would win in a fight.

You know, would it be would it be Iron Man or would it be Hulk?

Would it be, you know, uh Thor or would it be you know somebody else, Captain America?

And the kind of the reigning idea in our house at least is that Hulk is the one that cannot be destroyed, that he would win in a fight against anyone else.

I don't know.

You can take it up with my kids if you disagree.

Um but Elizabeth, our three-year-old little girl, um, we're in the painstaking stages of uh potty training, and uh and she's got pull-ups, and so we're at the store of the other day, and there's two different options.

There's Spider-Man pull-ups and there is princess pull-ups, and she's the girliest girl you'll ever be around, but she says, I want the Spider-Man uh pull-ups.

Like that's that's where we are in our house at hold.

And so when you hear the word hero, um, that's typically maybe what comes to mind.

You think of superheroes, you think of Spider-Man, you think of Superman, you think of some of these great figures that have maybe uh been there for your childhood and the movies that maybe you've watched.

But the definition of a hero is this it's a person who is admired or idolized or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, and noble qualities.

And so when you take that definition, it really expands the view of who a hero is.

It's not just a superhero, but there's many heroes that walk among us.

One of the things that I love about the year 2020, there were a lot of bad things, don't get me wrong, but one of the great things about 2020 was that there was a season there that we really began to recognize and honor the heroes, the everyday heroes that were among us.

Um, nurses, people that were willing to go to these hospitals and care for COVID patients and care for them in their last days and do all of the hard work of ministering to these families during those days.

Doctors were another one of those.

Teachers.

Anybody see a teacher as a hero in 2020 when you were having to homeschool your kids and how difficult that was?

You went, yes, teachers, heroes, absolutely.

2020 taught us that there are everyday heroes for sure.

And there are also everyday heroes for us around us and among us, with single moms and social workers and kind of the 365 people, the firefighters, police officers.

There are so many heroes among us.

And what we've been trying to do over the course of this series is try to convince you that you can be or are an everyday hero in the kingdom of God.

Ultimately, Jesus is the ultimate hero.

He is the one that we honor, he is the one that we glorify, he is the one that we worship.

But that you, in your faithfulness and your even small contribution to his mission, you can be an everyday hero.

But here's what I've learned in my time in ministry and just my time in working within the church is that many people that sit in a chair on Sunday mornings, they don't feel like they're a hero.

They don't feel like they really have a whole lot to offer in the kingdom of God.

Maybe they kind of look at a stage and they see incredibly talented people that lead worship each and every Sunday.

I'm so thankful for our worship team and the talent that God has brought here.

Or maybe there's people that stand on the stage and they can speak eloquently or they can share God's word in a relevant, truthful way that impacts people's hearts and minds.

And you kind of look at some of the people that fill a platform and you can kind of go, well, I can't do that.

And so you can get the enemy to start selling you the lie that maybe you don't have something that's significant to contribute to the kingdom.

But the Bible teaches very, very clearly that we are all, if we are followers of Jesus, that we have been empowered and we have been given the gifts of the Spirit to be able to accomplish his mission.

And it's us collectively together doing what God has called us to do that makes the difference.

And so this morning I want us to look at that yet again.

That the goal of the series is to inspire you that you can make a bigger impact than you could possibly imagine.

Everyday heroes.

Here's what it is God uses everyday people to make heroes for his kingdom.

God uses everyday people to make heroes for his kingdom.

And so if you knew the Great Commission, the Great Commission is found in Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

It's kind of our final marching orders as followers of Jesus.

He's about to ascend to be with the Father.

He's died on the cross, he's rose again on the third day, and he gives us this statement.

And the statement he says to his disciples, but it also applies to our lives as well.

And this is what he says in Matthew 28, starting in verse 18.

It says, Jesus came near and said to them, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and remember that I am with you always to the ends of the age.

And so Jesus gives us this commission.

He gives us not a suggestion, not a good idea, but he gives us this command that we are called to go and to make disciples, to teach people what it looks like to follow Jesus and how to observe the truth that God has taught us.

And it's not just for select individuals, it's not just for people that have some talents where they're up front of in front of people or in front of crowds talking on a stage, but it's for all of us.

Whether you're a new believer or you're someone that's been walking with Jesus for decades, it's a command for each and every follower of Jesus that we are commanded to go and to make disciples.

But the promise that is given to us in this passage is that he's not going to leave us, that he's going to send us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that we could possibly ever know.

And if you flipped over just a few pages from Matthew and you went into the book of Acts, you would pick up a couple of days later.

And the early church was told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come, and so they're waiting in this upper room and they're praying and they're unified together, and the Holy Spirit comes, and fire falls down from heaven, and they're speaking in tongues, and 3,000 people on the very first day are coming to know Jesus, and the church is born in an instant.

Powerful, powerful move.

And the same thing is true still to this day, that all believers in Jesus have the Holy Spirit, and as a result, we are commissioned to do the work of God.

Now, in the book of Acts, it tells the early kind of story of the church, and you probably are familiar with a few of the characters that are found in the book of Acts.

There's people like Peter, who was one of the disciples, and he was somebody that faithfully preached and he did incredible miracles to the point where people were bringing their sick out so that his shadow would just touch them and they would be healed.

I mean, just some pretty miraculous things that were happening in the life of Peter.

There's guys like John, who was also one of the disciples, that did equal incredible teachings and miracles.

There's a guy named Paul, who was formerly known as Saul, who you have probably heard of, who started all of these churches in the area around the Middle East now.

And uh he started all these churches.

He wrote most of the New Testament.

He had incredible contributions to God's kingdom.

Well, on one of his missionary journeys, if you want to turn there in Acts chapter 16, he took three missionary journeys.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

On his second missionary journey, Paul is in this region, and he kind of gets God telling him to go in a different direction, and as a result, a new church is born, and we see the faithfulness of one individual and how she made an incredible impact on the kingdom and on the world.

And so we'll pick up in Acts chapter 16, starting in verse 6.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

It says this they went through the region of Phrygia in Galatia, and uh they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

When they came to Mesha, they tried to go to Bilvnah.

Don't just say it with confidence.

That's all I need to do.

Just say it with confidence, and y'all will believe me.

But the spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Passing by Mesha, they came down to Troaz.

During the night, Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him.

Cross over to Macedonia and help us.

After he had seen a vision, we immediately made efforts to set out to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

So this missionary journey is taking place.

Paul and his companions, they have this plan in place where they're going to kind of go north and they're going to go into the Asia region and they're going to preach the gospel there.

It's a pretty good plan.

But as they're about to make plans to head north, the Holy Spirit comes and says, that's not what we're doing.

We're going to scratch that plan.

We're going to go in a different direction.

And while Paul and his companions had a good idea, it was a good idea for them to go north and to preach to Asia, God had something else in mind.

And this is something that we have to learn about how God operates.

That there are good things that aren't necessarily God things.

That there are things in your life that you've decided in your own ability to do, and that's maybe good, good things, but they aren't necessarily God things.

And so the Holy Spirit comes and says, Hey, that's not what we're doing today.

We're going to actually cross over by boat.

We're going to go to this other region, and I've got a plan there for you.

And so I love how Paul and his companions, they immediately respond by being obedient to the Holy Spirit's voice.

Now, here's what I've come to learn is a little side note and a little commercial.

Is that in modern-day kind of American church, the most important thing that I believe we can do as followers of Jesus is learn the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

But sadly, so many of us have no idea what I'm talking about when I say something like that.

And Paul and them, this is this is instrumental.

If you read through the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit is all over it.

I mean, it's all it's the story of the Holy Spirit working and moving.

And until we learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and live in obedience to him, then we're never going to be the heroes that God has called us to be.

And so that's why we've created these prayer gatherings.

And so we meet every single Wednesday.

Y'all probably get my text, many of you at least.

And uh we meet Wednesdays from 8 to 8:30.

And it's just a time for us to pray and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Um, not this Thursday, but the following Thursday, we have a monthly prayer night, the last Thursday of every month.

Uh this month, it's going to be down at the Social Circle campus.

And we just kind of have a time where we come together, there's some worship, but it's really just praying and listening.

It's it's trying to tune our ears to the voice of the Holy Spirit and listen in.

And so I just want to encourage you that if you don't know what that is like to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, man, make it a priority to be at one of those gatherings.

I'm telling you, this is the secret sauce to Christianity.

Without the Holy Spirit, there is no power.

We need his presence in our life.

We need to hear his voice.

All right, commercial over.

All right.

So they jump in a boat, they cross over the Aegean Sea, they go to Macedonia, and they're going to a Roman colony of Philippi, and they're going to stay there for several days.

Verse 13.

On the Sabbath day, we went outside the city gates by the river where we expected to find a place of prayer.

We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

So there's no synagogue in this area, because typically, if there was a synagogue, Paul or anybody else that was on these missionary journeys, they would go to the synagogue and they would begin to expound on the truth of God's word.

But they don't do that, so we have to kind of be led to assume that there weren't at least ten Jewish males that were in that city to make up a synagogue.

So they go out to the river to find a place to pray, prayer, pray, and they come in contact with these women.

It says in verse 14, a God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening.

The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

So the Lord directs their steps.

They don't go in the original plan.

They don't go to Asia.

They cross over the Aegean Sea.

They end up in Philippi.

There isn't a synagogue.

They go out by the river.

There happens to be a woman there.

And then God opens up her heart as she just overhears Paul teaching and talking about Jesus and what has happened in previous days.

Her life is transformed, and it says that the Lord opened her heart.

Unless the Lord opens our heart, we cannot come to him.

After she and her household were baptized, so there's immediate baptism that takes place after she follows Jesus and opens her heart to him.

Now, this is where it gets interesting.

This is what we want us to focus in on today.

After she and her household were baptized, she urged us if you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.

And she persuaded us.

So Lydia hears this life-changing message of the gospel.

She is transformed by Jesus.

She joins him in baptism, and then she immediately opens up her home for Paul and his companions to stay at.

And what the scripture doesn't necessarily go into great depth here, but what we know from historical facts is that Lydia becomes a strategic partner in ministry with Paul.

Scholars tell us that Lydia was probably one of the first or the very first Christian, the very first follower of Jesus in Europe.

And her home, listen to this, her home becomes the very first church in Europe.

This is just a woman that had specialized in the selling of this purple garment.

She was obviously pretty influential, and she probably had wealth because purple cloth was something that was pricey, and she would have interacted with some of the more well-to-do individuals with her line of work.

And so she uses what she's been given, her home, and she opens it up for them to come and stay with her.

Later, if you were to flip over to the book of Philippians, Paul is writing back to the church in Philippi, and he's saying, Hey, you guys are partners in the gospel with me.

He's claiming that they are on this whole adventure together, that it's not just Paul using her house as a hotel, but it's really an outpost for the gospel.

That the gospel is going forth, that she is a base camp of operations for Paul and his ministry companions to go out and to do the ministry that God had called them to do.

Lydia and her home play an instrumental role in the advancement of the church.

And yet many of us have maybe never even heard of Lydia.

Because she seems like an insignificant character.

That's literally the extent of what's written about her in Scripture.

But yet, her life, because of her faithfulness, God uses her in an incredible way.

So there's two points I want to meet give you guys today, and then we'll hear a story.

Everyday heroes are people that are good stewards.

That are good stewards.

What's a steward?

A steward is someone that doesn't necessarily own the thing that they have, but they've been given the responsibility to use what they have been given, to be faithful, they've been entrusted to be faithful to what they've been given for a bigger purpose.

And so Lydia had been given this home, and she uses it faithfully.

Jesus actually tells us an incredible parable in Matthew chapter 25, and many of you guys have probably heard this.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

He has a master, and the master is going out of town, and he entrusts three different servants with being stewards of his property while he's gone.

And they're each given a different amount of talents, which is the five the currency at the time.

And in verse 21 of Matthew 25, it says this as the master returns, and two of the servants are found to be faithful with what they have been entrusted.

He says, His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

You were faithful over a few things, and I will put you in charge of many things.

Share in your master's joy.

This is the goal.

You and I, this is the goal.

If you're a follower of Jesus in the room, this is what we're chasing after.

I'm chasing after the day that I take my last breath here on earth, and I'm in eternity with God, my Father, my Savior, my Lord, and I see Jesus, and He says, Well done, good and faithful servant.

That's what I'm longing for.

That's the words that I'm wanting to hear.

I want to be a faithful steward of everything that the Lord has placed in my hands.

Faithful with the gifts I've been given, faithful with the financial resources I've been given, faithful with the home that I have, faithful with the family that I have, faithful with the career that I have.

I want to be faithful with everything that the Lord has placed in my hands, knowing that it's not mine, but it's ultimately his, and I'm just stewarding it.

But there's one servant who's given one talent, and he doesn't take it seriously.

He isn't faithful with what he's been given, and he actually buries the talent in the ground.

And this is how the master comes to him.

He says, His master replied to him, You evil, lazy servant.

If you knew that I reaped where I har haven't sown and gathered where I haven't scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.

So take the talent from him and give it to the one that has ten talents.

For to every one who has, more will be given, and he who and he will have more than enough.

But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

And throw, listen to this, and throw this good for nothing servant into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Good morning.

I think that's an encouraging word for us, isn't it?

Everyday heroes take seriously their ability to steward what God has given them.

And I'll just be frank, and I'm not trying to cast condemnation, I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad in the room this morning.

But there are people that are sitting in this room today, and you're not being a good steward with the resources that God has placed in your hands.

You've got gifts, you've got talents, you've got abilities that you aren't using for the kingdom, you've got financial resources that you're holding on to and you're not using to further and advance the message and the mission of Jesus.

I want us to be a church that is longing for the words, well done.

And my prayer is that none of us, none of us, would hear, you wicked and evil, lazy servant.

We're striving to be the people where God says, well done.

Second thing we see about Lydia is that everyday heroes excel in radical hospitality.

I know we talked a little bit about this last week when Joseph was here, but hospitality sadly has been hijacked by the enemy, and he's gotten us to make it synonymous with uh entertainment, as if entertainment and having a perfectly decorated house that's always clean that Martha Stewart would approve of is the goal in hospitality.

But that is not what hospitality is.

I love how Henry Nowen says it.

He says hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.

Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them a space where change can take place.

And see, we've been brainwashed into thinking that our home.

Are just for our benefit alone.

We've been told that it's your castle, that it's your refuge, that it's your place where you can escape from the rest of the world.

But imagine if Lydia had that same perspective.

Imagine if she got baptized in that river and then she just continued on with her life.

Man, she would have missed out on the blessing of being a part of everything that God wanted to do in the region of Europe and in Philippi in particular.

Hospitality is something that is commanded over and over in Scripture.

In Hebrews chapter 13, we're told that some of us have entertained angels when we've been hospitable towards them.

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

In 1 Peter chapter 4, we're told that in the end times, when we're living in the end times and the end is near, what are we told to do?

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

We're told to be hospitable.

When it comes to the church leaders and the elders of the church, this is one of the things that is listed as a non-negotiable, that they would be hospitable people that open up their homes for others to experience the love and the mercy of Jesus.

And sadly, we've believed this lie that we can't do that.

We don't have the house, it's not big enough, it's not clean enough.

If you've ever been to my house, which I don't know if anyone in this room has, but if you've ever been to my house, it's rarely clean.

My wife hopefully is not watching this.

She would be very upset with me for saying that.

But we've got three little kids, and we can clean our house, but like give it ten minutes, and it's gonna be destroyed again.

Thank you.

And so we we can kind of say, No, we're not gonna have people over because of that.

We're not gonna be hospitable with the things that God has given us, or we can say, Hey, come on in.

It's messy, it's it's it's crazy, it's chaos, but come on in.

And I'll tell you that God has used that type of attitude more often than a perfectly clean house.

Uh uh We recently um had uh a couple that's been coming to our social circle campus, and many of you guys might even know them because they previously attended here when they um were still kind of living and had connections in this area.

They've since uh moved to Social Circle a few years back.

Um but uh Jeff and Vicky Schlinder, um Jesse actually who's playing the piano this morning, that's their son-in-law.

Um they uh have uh have lived this out in just a powerful, powerful way in their personal lives.

And they've seen churches even start in their home just because they simply said yes to the Lord.

And so I wanted to share just a brief testimony from them and just how God has used them by them saying yes to the resources that God has given to them.

We met this lady and she said to me, What if God was asking you to open your house up?

Would you do it?

Would you be willing to open your doors and say, God, my doors are open?

For whoever you want to bring.

And it was, you know, very convicting.

And when she asked the question, I was thinking, I think the God's asking me this question.

We're Jeff and Vicky Schlender.

Um, we live here in Social Circle on Lipscomb Road, and um we moved here about three, a little over three and a half years ago.

However, we the house that we moved from, we lived in for 27 years in Loganville.

And um that was where we did a a lot of things in our home for house church, Bible studies, so on and so forth.

We had lots of missionary nights and just saw some incredible people come through the house.

Um, it just was something we didn't start, but God took it and it was the best time of our life.

Down the road, we finally had an inductive Bible study in our home that began around a table, just about nine people.

Nine people.

And we didn't intend on starting that either, but the word got out, and before long we had 60 teenagers and high school and college kids coming from everywhere.

So it was amazing what God did.

Things happened on a sofa in a living.

Very spontaneous.

In the middle of preaching, um, if you bring up a point and you could sense that someone just kind of went, and and then you know, the Holy Spirit would prompt you to say, is there anybody that's struggling with anything that we're talking about right now?

And sure enough, someone would raise their sorry, raise their hand, and we just interrupt the sermon.

And it and if it was a lady, I was very always real careful, and I would say, would all I need, please, all the ladies, would you please gather, would you please come over and gather around so and so?

And then just let the ladies begin to pray.

And this is what I'm telling you.

We never planned a lot of these things, but it but when it was done, people would go, oh, God was here.

We moved to this home three and a half years ago, and it's a smaller home, so I thought, what can I do?

So I got a nudge from the Lord to have a ladies' tea in Christ at Christmas time.

So I um, because we don't live in a neighborhood, we're in a in a rural setting, I printed up about 60 flyers and I went out and put them in all the mailboxes on Lipscomb and Cox Cemetery Road and Grady Lemons, and um I just wanted to make it very simple because I wanted to make it something I had very very little food, just enough to make it doable for somebody else.

So other people would think I can do that because I wanted community.

I didn't want just to have the ladies over.

I wanted to find community in my street.

So I did, and we had a great time.

I was shocked that 20 women came and we had a blast.

Everybody was hung around for three hours getting to get to know each other, and I heard comments like, let's have community, let's keep this going.

And uh, we've had other events, and and I I had in my heart to have a Bible study for the ladies, but I hadn't brought it up yet.

And so a neighbor walked across the street and she says, How about a Bible study?

I'll host it if you'll lead it.

I said, Done.

So this summer we have had eight ladies meet every Tuesday night, and we have gotten so close.

They have opened up and shared, and we really feel like sisters now.

And uh so it's just been my joy.

It's been a dream come true to have God do it again here.

But there was a sense that properties, even though people's names are on the deed, it's more like God says, No, your name's on the deed because you're the steward.

I know it says owner, but you're the you're my steward.

If you belong to me, then that property is really mine, and I'm entrusting you with the property, and you're a steward over my resource.

Now, will you bear fruit?

That's a different question than would you be willing to open up your house when you realize it's not your house, it's God's house.

And you just happen to own it.

And once I realized that, then the question was not, oh, is this going to be convenient or inconvenient?

It was like, God, how do you want to use this?

The thing that we learned, I think, the most was that there's the difference in hospitality and entertainment is entertainment is impressing people.

Hospitality is making them feel comfortable.

And people don't want to be impressed, they want to be loved.

I've just seen people become family and community.

And I've seen hurting people come because they know they're going to get people to surround them and love on them.

The scripture says he searches the world over, looking for those whose hearts are mature toward him, that he would show himself strong on the behalf of them.

Well, duh, we saw that so much.

If you're just willing to say, yes, I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm saying yes, and I'll trust you.

You're gonna have to help me.

And he says, Don't worry, I got this.

This is God saying this.

Don't worry, I got this.

I'm definitely gonna help you.

I just need for you to step up to the plate and say, You trust me enough to say, I believe you're gonna trust me, and I'm gonna make my home available.

And I'm gonna open up the doors, and we're just gonna commit our house to you because it's yours anyway.

And it may be something simple.

He may, it may be that he doesn't want a church in your home.

He just wants you to be the biggest blessing to individual neighbors that your street has ever seen.

Yes.

He just wants people going, oh my goodness, nobody's ever prayed for me.

These are the first people in my life that have ever prayed for me.

And you're and you're that person.

And you, and and the Holy Spirit can take that one act of kindness and breathe on it.

Not everybody's supposed to have a church, but I think everybody can have one neighbor over or a couple and just say, anything we could pray for you before you leave today, we'd be honored to pray for you and get ready.

The other thing, and this is super encouraging, this is such a lost art.

So few people even think about doing this because they've bought into the lie that, oh, it's my house, and I will I would be embarrassed to do, you know, it's all it's all about me.

But so few people are practicing this, you can't fail.

This may sound funny because they don't have anything to compare it to.

I mean, you can awkwardly put out paper plates, sandwiches, and chips, and a coke, and they'll go, wow, that was wonderful.

Or, you know, just do it.

And uh and watch God show up.

He'll use what little effort.

If you if you're willing to do it, commit it, pray, you just say, Lord, bless the people that are coming tonight.

We're so excited, and we're we're thankful that you're partnering with us to do this.

I've literally had times when all I had was the bread and somebody else brought the bologna.

And it was good.

One of the things that just obviously shows with that video is not only that have they opened their house to say yes, but they've opened their lives to say yes.

And that's really when you think about it, that's that's the goal.

We want to be a people that just simply say yes to whatever the Lord is calling us to do.

If it's opening up our home, we want to be people that say, Yes.

Yes, Lord.

I want to be a faithful steward of what you've given to me.

I want to open up my home so that other people can experience you.

If it's praying for somebody, then it's saying, Yes, Lord, whatever you got.

And I'll be honest, we we are seeing God just do some really, really great things here at Church at the Grove.

And I'm so thankful that we get to play just a small fraction of uh support and a role in what he's doing.

But in order for us to be able to do all that God is calling us to do, we need more people that would simply say yes.

We need Lydia's to rise up and just say, Hey, Jesus has changed my life.

And I have a house.

I've got this skill, I've got this talent, I've got this ability, I've got these financial resources, I can do that.

I I I can I can teach kids in kids' grove.

I can rock a baby, I can shake a hand at the door when people come in.

I can I can open up my home for a community group.

Man, I I can maybe even lead a group and help facilitate a group.

I I can do that.

I'll just simply say, yes.

That's what we're after.

We're after a church that just simply says, Holy Spirit, what do you want from us?

And then our response simply be, Yes.

Yes, Lord.

That's what it looks like to follow Jesus.

Think about it.

If Lydia was not someone that said yes, imagine how different the story might have played out.

Who knows when the first church would have been created in Europe?

Who knows how the gospel would have spread in the land?

Who knows?

But she said yes.

And so this morning, I just want us to kind of open our hearts to whatever the Lord might say to us, and then simply say yes to him.

And so if you just want to bow your heads and maybe remove as many distractions as you can, Holy Spirit, we desire to hear your voice.

Come speak to us.

I want people's minds filled with God ideas.

And so just as we're kind of sitting here in this moment before the band leads us in response, would you just simply ask, Holy Spirit, what are you calling me to do?

For some of us in the room, maybe the step is not saying yes to a serving role quite yet.

Maybe it's just saying yes to Jesus for the very first time, just surrendering your life to him, believing that he died, he rose again on the third day, and he sits at the right hand of God, ruling on the throne.

And you want to put your faith and your trust in him.

Man, do that this morning.

I just really sense that there's some insecurity in the room of people right now that are listening to the enemy's voice telling them that they don't have anything to offer.

And the Lord is just wanting to say, No.

You've got a lot to offer for the kingdom.

You just need a yes.

So, Holy Spirit, what are you calling us to do this morning?

And how do we need to be faithful to carry that out?

Lord Jesus, we just desire.

Lord, we desire to hear the words spoken over us in days to come.

Well done.

And so, Lord, let us hear your voice over the voice of this world.

And Lord, let us walk in boldness and obedience to whatever you're calling us to do.

I'm so encouraged by just that video testimony of the students getting baptized and just hearing the names of small group leaders that have simply just said yes, and they're playing an impact, an eternal impact in the lives of students as a result.

Lord, let it be said of us, well done.

Good and faithful servants.

We've been faithful with little things, and then God can entrust us with more.

And so, Lord Jesus, as we just respond back to you, Lord, I pray that you would continue to speak to us and then give us the courage and the boldness to do what you're calling us to do.

And we pray all that in your son's name.

Amen.