Behind the Scenes: Zimbabwe | Panel

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

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Okay.

Hey, uh things obviously look a little bit different today, but uh we wanted to take some time and talk about our experience in Zimbabwe.

Uh, this is the team that was able to go to Zimbabwe and have Larry with me here.

Uh Lori Thompson, his better half, and Jasmine as well is here with us.

Uh Scott unfortunately wasn't able to be here today.

And then our missions passer from Jacksonville, Jordan, uh, kind of led the trip for us.

And uh we've just been hearing a lot of people ask, how's the trip?

How's the trip?

How's the trip?

So uh in my fashion, I like to tell a story once, so we're gonna do that today, and then you'll never hear it again.

I'm kidding.

So before we do that, I want to welcome all of you who are new today.

Uh typically not our um format, but uh want to welcome you today.

And on behalf of our lead pastors, uh, want to say good morning to you.

Pastor Keith and Pastor Megan uh had the opportunity to speak at a church in New Jersey today.

Uh, and with all the people from New Jersey moving to Florida, I might as well be speaking a sermon in New Jersey today as well.

Sorry.

I'm gonna read a passage of scripture and uh try and be a little bit more sacred in this space.

Luke chapter 2, verse number 41 says this.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Every year, Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual.

After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.

His parents didn't miss him at first because they assumed he was among the other travelers.

But when he didn't show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

When they couldn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him.

Three days later, they finally discovered him in the temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

His parents didn't know what to think.

Son, his mother said to him, why have you done this to us?

Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.

But why did you need to search?

He asked.

Didn't you know that I must be in my father's house?

But they didn't understand what he meant.

Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.

And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

It's God's word for us today.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we're so grateful for the moments that we share this morning.

We're grateful for your word, Lord, and we're grateful that you've preserved it for us and that we get to we get to learn from it and we get to understand a little bit more about who you are.

God, I pray that you would bless our time together.

It's in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Let's give it up for our panel one more time.

Larry, Lori, Jasmine.

You guys can go ahead and put a pin in that scripture.

We're going to refer to that later.

Mark it is unread, so God knows that we still need to reply to it.

Um, we had a great time in Zimbabwe.

It was our first mission trip since COVID, since 2020, that was led exclusively by our team here in Orlando.

And so, as you know, many of you may know, we have locations throughout the globe, and one of those locations being uh in Zimbabwe.

And so uh I first kind of want to start there about that initial uh move to actually make the decision to go.

But but Larry, I want to start with you.

What was your initial reaction when you when you heard about the opportunity to to go to Zimbabwe to be a part of this incredible trip?

I was initially afraid that the country would not let me back in.

Okay.

So I was nervous about that.

I I don't have to be a little bit of a list.

Yeah, I don't have uh I don't have the same uh comedic timing, apparently.

We got 20 minutes.

So so for uh I think for Lori and I, you know, we had taken uh our first mission trip about 15 years ago.

Uh we went to Zambia, and I I I refer to that because that trip was prompted by just wanting to go to Africa, really.

It wasn't some you know uh great uh riding in the sky from God saying go be a short-term missionary, but it was this idea about Africa.

We we uh interacted with a uh a person from Zambia, uh Richmond Siambamba, uh, who is no longer with us, unfortunately, but because of his um coming to the United States with an orphan choir, uh he talked about the idea that they would be looking for people to come to uh Zambia.

Uh Lori and I looked at one another and we thought, wow, this is an opportunity for us to do some work, God's work there.

So I think for us, once you go on a mission trip, it's something that you always have in the back of your mind.

You always have in your uh your makeup after that first trip that could God be calling you to do it again.

Uh and I think for most of the people that I've met that have been on mission trips, uh, I've not met anyone that said, I'm not doing that again.

It's always I where where's God gonna call me to go?

So for for me and I think for Lori, it was this opportunity presented itself in a way that we said, yeah, let's go back to see what God can do with us there, and uh, and that's kind of kind of how it happened for me.

Yeah, Jasmine, I want to go to you and follow that up with you know, you hear the call to go or you you feel like maybe God be leading you in that way.

So how did you realize that it was you?

Like, wow, this call is for me.

I'm I'm meant to do this.

Um, I would say I don't even know if I felt like I was meant to go.

Um how I look at it is that I feel like people are always on my heart.

They're the the field of helping others is always something that God has given me.

So it just felt like a next step for me.

I was like, okay, like I can just go do that somewhere else.

Like I don't have to just stay in this place.

Um and I was actually kind of afraid to go international, I'm not gonna lie.

Because I just felt like I didn't know the context there.

So it was hard for me to try to like think about it.

Um, and so my first mission trip was actually regional, so like it was like West Virginia, so it wasn't actually overseas, and so it was my first international flight, first everything.

So I was just like, I don't know.

But it was honestly, it was such a beautiful experience.

So I really I felt like everything after my yes, God just did everything else.

I was like, okay, God, I'm just gonna say yes, and I'm gonna go, and everything else just fell into place after that.

That'll preach.

Yeah.

First international flight, 14 hours to South Africa, not too bad.

That was miserable.

Actually, I got a good little seat though.

God gave me a uh good leg room, and I was like, Thank Lord.

Sat next to James Harden.

Well, it looked like him, but he did, it really did.

He had like the beard and everything.

Lori, once we were there, uh I want to go to you now and just ask you when when during the trip, what's something that stood out to you about the people of Zimbabwe?

The people, the people in Zimbabwe, they are they are permanently impressed on my heart.

They were such sweet Christians.

I mean, the Bible says that the three things remained faith and love, faith, hope, and love, and they embodied them all.

They were they were kind, they were loving, they were uncomplicated, they showed us a brother, they love that we, you know, they have so little and they do so much.

And yet we have a lot and we do so little, but they they're they're little with so much and their service.

The way they loved each other.

You know the uh service that you would know the mother love.

And they're love, they even met us at the airport with singing.

And we were just and and our plane was late, and they were out there, and and I asked them if they had to wait, and they say, We we aren't worried about that.

We we just have so much joy you're here.

So that was very touching.

Yeah, the the impact that you think you're you're gonna go make is actually you know exponential to what happens, what God does in your life through them.

Yeah, so we we experience that immediately, you know, and and that's why too.

I think that we love missions is that uh we think we had something to give other places, but it's it's the exchange uh it's it's what they give us and and the courage and the strength and the day and the whole thing that they had there, they're wonderful people.

I love them.

Yeah, I think it was just like they did so much sacrifice just for us to come, but like they sacrificed their time, which I think is even more valuable than just money and food, but they sacrificed waking up early to make us breakfast, to make sure we were accommodated, to make sure we felt welcome.

So I think hospitality was like on another level.

If you think Disney think like twice times 100 is like up there, yeah, and so everyone was just so welcoming, everyone at all the churches, they like ran up to us, wanted to hug us, wanted to greet us, and it was just so crazy.

I've never experienced anything like that.

Joyce, we miss you if you're watching.

Uh Larry, I want to come back to you.

What's something that um well let me put it this way how did the gifts that God has already given you grow or evolve during the trip?

Or or did you discover any new gifts perhaps through our time there?

Uh great, great question, uh Nate.

I think um not to scare anybody, but but you know, speaking in public is something that I've had to do uh on my job, uh jobs I've had, and um, you know, we were stretched a little bit in that way in uh in Zimbabwe.

We had opportunities to uh to speak numerous times uh in front of people.

Uh don't be scared.

But uh yeah, we I I think you know that was one thing that God uh allowed all of us to use.

And um, you know, that was something that was revealed to me.

And and to be, I think, ready.

Uh the scripture says, you know, to be ready to give an answer of your faith.

And um, you know, we should be certainly able to do that one-on-one.

But in the context that we had in Zimbabwe, it was like in a group like this sometimes.

Yeah, be ready to share.

Uh, and I don't think any of us were looking to do that necessarily.

We were looking for Nate to do it.

Pastor Nate, let Pastor Nate give the messages.

Uh, but but God allowed us to to overcome that, you know, whatever might have been uh hesitant in us, whatever fear we might have had, to uh to to just do that.

And of course, on a mission trip, you're gonna be able to um you know do things that are that are manual, you know, feeding, taking gifts to people, uh, you'll be able to do that.

I think no matter what mission trip you're on, you're gonna have that opportunity.

So yeah, and as a testament just to everybody who was on the trip, including Scott, the what I saw God do in their lives in such a short amount of time, and how um how serious they took the opportunity and and how much they really truly listened to the spirit and what he was doing and how he wanted them to communicate and how he wanted them to serve uh is one of the greatest honors of my entire life, and I'm super proud of each and every one of them.

And uh one night I was just talking to Jasmine about how thankful I was for her for stepping up and got a little emotional about it, but just because I've I've kind of seen you walk through your faith journey here over the years and to see you step out and trust God in that uh was truly an honor.

And so I'm so grateful for that.

And uh, since we're on the topic of uh Jasmine, what what surprised you about the trip?

What what were some maybe some preconceived ideas and then what was the reality that you experienced?

Um I think when I I think the imagery that we see in Africa, it's just like a certain uh viewpoint.

And so I was just like, okay, like you know, we're gonna be here in the bush, we're gonna do this, it's gonna be great.

And I think I was very surprised um the infrastructure and how modern it is.

I was just like, oh, like we went to South Africa first, and so it's like literally like I four, like it's just like roll, it's like crazy.

I was like, oh, like crazy, like we're on the wrong side of the road.

Um but that was the structure of it, and so that surprised me, um, like just looking out.

Um, but also just I don't know, when we went to the villages, there was just so much um joy.

It was just so much joy.

I think that surprised me even more because you see the physical need um in the area.

There was a drought before, so like a lot of the crops died, and just a lot of the things, and people were not, you know, getting those three meals a day and things like that.

And so just so much joy, and we would bring um gifts to them or just visit them and greet them and pray for them.

I thought that I had to have like a big word for them, like, God, I'm gonna do this crazy miracle and do all these crazy things.

And then it was simple as quoting like quoting scripture to them, encouraging them.

Um, and so really challenging me like to know the word.

And I think that was a big a big challenge for me too.

Um, but yeah, that was that was me.

That's good.

That's really good.

Uh one thing that's important to share is you know, uh after we all raised our our funds, we we kind of look at that as that's our travel cost or our lodging cost.

But one thing that was shared with us was every home that we went into, we went into about 20 different homes uh throughout the duration of our trip just to pray for people.

And there's community leaders with each location of Celebration Zimbabwe that know what's happening in each neighborhood and each community.

And so when we went in these homes to pray for people, uh the funds that we raised to go actually help purchase parcels of food that lasted about two, two to three weeks.

And particularly one home we went into, you know, this is literally out of scripture.

We're talking about widows and orphans, you know, like this isn't Jesus isn't just saying that as a cute thing for to buy from Hobby Lobby.

Like it's true.

It's what they're doing over there, is they're serving widows and orphans.

And we went into one home, and this lady has no nobody to take care of her.

She's in her 90s, she can barely walk.

And we're going there to pray for her, but we're also delivering, you know, we're delivering food to her and just saying, hey, this is this is in Jesus' name, we're giving you this and to be able to help you move about your life.

So that was uh that was a pleasant surprise to know that that the funds that we raise that many of you probably helped contribute to as well, went to help feeding those kids or as well as the feeding that we do with 80,000 kids a day, uh, that we got to actually see, and that was only a small fraction of it.

We saw about 1,200 to 1,300 kids being fed.

So can can I jump on I think I think one of the things that stood out to me too was how the um the ministries there they they look beyond you know the immediate kind of need.

Right.

Like like feed Pastor Nate's talking about you know the feeding of these these students.

So we got to see a factory that was being built, and I think we saw, I mean, I saw it on the the schedule.

I'm like, oh factory tour.

Okay.

Um but then you find out that they built the factory so that they could provide the meal for this porridge that these kids were eating.

They they didn't look at a tear in a seat and fix the tear.

They they thought, how can we make more seats?

So so there was that, there was a fish pond that uh, you know, you see that and you kind of go, a fish pond, they're growing fish.

Is that the right way to say it?

They're growing they're they're they're looking beyond, you know, uh just how can we give someone food for a day?

We're gonna we're gonna have a system in place where we're gonna have fish that we can use to help feed people or to uh just go way beyond the immediate thing that's in front of them.

Which it just that was part of the whole trip was kind of like that.

We saw this, you know, not just looking narrowly at one thing, which would be fine, right?

But to go, wow, we can do this this way, and we can do it in a big, big way.

Uh and God like bless that.

Yeah, He God just just with that little bit of faith, He said, I'm gonna multiply this.

Yeah, I'm gonna multiply this.

So real, real impactful that way.

Yeah, amen.

So we've talked about before the trip, we've talked a little bit about during the trip, and something that I was very adamant on and instilling in us is the post-trip and not not letting it be a one and done thing, you know, making sure that we're spending time meditating on it, not just getting back into the to the inboxes and forgetting everything about it.

So I hope I hope that we've all kind of taken that to heart.

I know I have to catch myself sometimes just getting back in the same mindset, and sometimes I have to just go back to Zimbabwe mindset a little bit.

But Lori, I want to start with you on this.

How did how did this trip expand your view of God, of who he is?

Just what he's able to do with our small efforts of just being willing, just being open, just saying yes, you know, and and not really seeing the end result.

And and we saw that there, that uh that they were meeting people's basic needs by feeding them, but uh but yet it had such a far-reaching effect with uh they were going to be able to uh to then have employment or school and and uh stay uh awake during the the school hours there were kids before they started feeding the 81,000 a day that they were falling out in school, and some of the instructors even thought you know it was uh demonic or something like that, but it was because they were not being nourished.

So once they got nourishment, they get schooling, and then the schooling leads to employment, and then eventually their their uh dreams are realized, and the children shared that with us, and they were so thankful.

So, back to your question, uh, just our simple efforts, we had no idea what God's gonna do to multiply that.

So, so I'm looking for opportunities and becoming more empathetic and more uh just humbled by what God can do, just just with our willingness and us being a vessel for him.

Yeah, yeah, a lot of times we can look at the big outcomes and think, how in the world would I ever be able to replicate something like that?

But with Pastor Dixon and Chippo, it started as 10 kids that they were feeding out of their own pocket, and it's now evolved into you know building a factory in order to source their own uh food to do that.

Last question, um Jasmine, I'm gonna give you the honor on this one.

So, since having this experience, what what is God requiring of you now?

Because I don't think that we can experience something like this without there being a next step or a prompting from God.

Yeah, I would say my next step, I I learned a little bit about that last question, but I learned about God's um love and how tangible it was.

I think, Pastor Vinny, we did this after the message live, and so we talked about the three different ways that love is exemplified in the Bible.

And so I felt like for a long time my relationship with the Lord was almost like a that friendship love that Peter had for him.

And so it activated this unconditional love where there was no limit, there was no boundary to it.

And so I think that spills over to the people that I am in community with and just showing them and expressing them that love and that connection and that care that has no limit, that has no boundary.

Um, and so going into my community, serving at OCC, serving my kids with intention at my job is just uh next steps and doing things with, like Pastor Keith said, with that excellence, with that mindset, um, and just how I can do that with the groups that I am in, um, and my friend groups and my family, and just activating that love in different avenues, especially with you know the outreach and OCC, that we do have that ability.

So yeah.

Amen.

Any any final words before before we conclude our panel here today from you guys?

I have one thing.

Yes.

Okay, I just wanted to encourage everyone if you are thinking about this trip and you're thinking that you are unqualified or that you are unworthy to serve Lord, the Lord in this way.

I just want to tell you that you are capable, that you can do it, and that it just takes a yes, and it's so simple to just go and be a vessel, that you don't have to quote the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but that you just have to know that God loves them and that loves He loves you.

And it's so simple as that.

So that was my last little perr.

Perr is what Larry just said.

That's for real.

That's for real.

What what Jasmine said.

I mean I think that that's that's just look look at us.

We're not you know, we're just just human beings that God used in a way that was uh uh of his choosing.

And and I you know, I I don't want to I it's s it's hard for me to imagine that anybody sitting in this audience would not be used uh by God in the same way.

And and just say yes.

Just it doesn't have to be to, you know, it doesn't have to be to Zimbabwe.

Uh, you know, we don't we don't have to go to Zimbabwe, I didn't have to go to Africa to figure out that I could be a vessel for Gotcha in my neighborhood.

Uh we can do that uh here.

But but the impact of doing a trip like this is just so life-changing.

We're we're you know, you develop relationships with uh your team, uh which you know that'll never go away.

It's just an amazing experience.

So don't say no.

Just just say yes to God prompting you to to to take a trip like that.

Amen.

Can you guys thank our panel for being with us today?

You guys are good to exit here.

I'm gonna smooth transition and grab this podium all the way at this other side of the platform.

Uh we have baptisms going on uh at the end of our service today, but I just want to take a few moments to uh look at a couple scriptures, uh, make a few observations, and then we'll go celebrate baptisms.

Uh so the scripture that we looked at earlier is actually the the it's the first recorded words that we have of Jesus uh at the age of 12 years old.

And there's something interesting there that I think for the next few scriptures that we're gonna look at just re-emphasizes what we talked about today, and that is as disciples, as apprentices or students of someone, we have the opportunity and even the mandate to follow in those footsteps, or in this case to follow in the Lord Jesus' footsteps.

And so the first scripture that we looked at today, you know, the parents have found out that Jesus is missing, and they uh turn around to come uh look for him in Jerusalem, and they finally find him, and his mother's like, What in the world?

How could you scare us like that?

Why would you, why would you leave us?

And he has an interesting remark, even as a 12-year-old.

He says, But why did you need to search?

Didn't you know that I must be in my father's house?

All the parents of teenagers are like, that little smart aleck, you know, just giving me lip.

But it but it but Jesus shows us here an important thing.

He shows us that even at his young age, he knew the assignment, he knew the mission that God had called him on.

You know, I wonder if any of us in this room, we actually truly know what God has called us to do.

We've been singing a song called Good Plans the past couple weeks.

Do you know those good plans that God has for you?

Do you even know that he wants to have a relationship with you, that he loves you, and that he has next steps for you to take in order to realize your true calling here on this earth?

He says something interesting in that statement.

Why did you need to search for me?

Why did you need to search for me?

I want that to be said of me when people come around looking, you know, I haven't seen you in a while, and I'll just be, well, why do you need to search for me?

I'm I'm about my father's business, I'm doing my father's.

Another rendering of that is affair.

So I'm I'm involved in the mission that God has all my life.

Why do you need to search for me?

I'm doing these things.

And I think at a very young age, Jesus already knew that.

His words and his actions, they perplexed his parents, right?

They weren't sure, they weren't quite grasping the significance of even that moment or the significance of his calling as the Messiah, and yet he still found ways to exhibit that at such a young age.

And I just want to encourage everyone in here that following God won't always make sense to even some of the closest around you.

The things that God is calling you to do won't even make sense to some of your family or your friends.

And but to be about God's business, to be about the Father's affairs, sometimes takes a little bit of boldness in stepping out of our comfort zones.

Can I get an amen to that?

The next scripture I want to look at are the next recorded words that we have of Jesus, and that's in Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

This is Jesus' baptism, he says.

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.

But John tried to talk him out of it.

I'm the one who needs to be baptized by you, he said.

So why are you coming to me?

But Jesus said, It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.

So John agreed to baptize him.

After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.

And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.

What I see here is this moment where Jesus even recognizes the mandate that God the Father has given John the Baptist, and he even, as the king of the kingdom that John is talking about, is the one to be baptized.

Now, something interesting about the Jewish context is washings, bathing, uh, like typical showers that we would take in our lives today, wasn't necessarily the hygiene practices of an ancient Jew.

They would mostly use oils or ointments.

And so bathing with water wasn't a as a regular practice, perhaps, as we might think about in today's context.

However, when we do see moments of washing with water, they're usually signifying a cleansing of the unclean to clean.

It's usually a symbolic gesture showing that something is being clean cleansed, but also showing something that's being consecrated, okay?

It's being set apart for a certain purpose.

So a lot of times when we're talking about baptism, we're talking about a declaration, right?

We we say that a lot.

But there's another component I think that we miss about this, but we see here in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus didn't have to repent from sin.

Right?

He's a perfect human.

Jesus didn't have to be cleansed of uncleanliness, right?

What Jesus is doing is he's saying, I am consecrating myself, I'm setting myself apart to do the Father's will.

I am reserving myself to do the mission that God has called for me.

And so I think there's a consecration element that we all have to realize is that when we're being baptized, when we're going in the water, yes, it's a representation of what's happening on the inside of our lives, where we're coming into new life with Christ, but we're also consecrating ourselves for the rest of our days.

Are you tracking with me on that, folks?

The last recorded words we have before the ascension of Jesus.

Jesus came and told his disciples, I've been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

This is Matthew 28.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And oftentimes on church walls and even in moments of declaring this verse, we stop at verse number 19.

But I think it's pivotal that we read on to 20.

Teach these new disciples to what?

To obey all the commands I have given you, and be sure of this.

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

What do all three of these passages have in common?

What's the common theme here?

I think what it's showing us is obedience.

A word that we don't really like to talk about anymore.

But obedience is actually the most freeing thing that you can do as a follower of Jesus because what you're doing is you're saying, I'm not going to have to obey my fleshly or my sinful or obey what the world is telling me I need to do.

I'm obeying the Almighty God.

I'm obeying the creator of the heavens and the earth.

I'm choosing to follow him.

That, my friends, is what Jesus did at the age of 12.

That is what he did 18 years later at the age of 30 when he did what the Father was commanding of everyone to be baptized and to know that the kingdom of God was at hand and that what he instructed his disciples to do in Matthew 28 during his ascension as well.

And I believe that not only those words were meant for the ancient disciples, they're for the disciples of today as well.

We are to be baptized, and then we are to teach others the ways of Jesus.

So my question to you today is what's God requiring of you?

What's God requiring of you?

You know, baptism without subsequent obedience is just a bath.

Baptism without subsequent obedience, it's just a washing.

But there's a consecration that we can all play part in.

I believe God has plans for your life, good plans for your life.

And the way that you can signify that is declaring him as Lord, but also consecrating yourself to his will.

God, I'm setting myself apart.

I'm consecrating myself.

I'm reserving myself.

I'm reserving my time.

I'm reserving my money, as John talked about earlier.

I'm reserving what you have given me for your mission, for your calling.

What's God requiring of you?

And yeah, that could be a mission trip that next year.

That could be a mission trip next week.

You know, just because we're not going doesn't mean you can't.

I know plenty of people who are going on trips and I can connect them to you.

That could mean serving, and that doesn't necessarily mean serving here at this church.

That can mean serving your neighbor.

I know for me that's what I need to do.

I have a neighbor right now that I need to serve.

My literal next door neighbor needs to be served.

He needs to know about the goodness of Jesus, but he also needs to know that I'm there to take care of him because that's our mandate as disciples.

I believe someone in this room actually has a call from God to serve those experiencing homelessness here in Orange County.

And I believe today is the day that you can consecrate yourself for that mission.

What's God requiring you to do?

I want to ask the team to throw the follow initiative that we have here at this church, if you will.

And what this is, is it's a QR code or it's a text, and you'll get a little video back just explaining some instructions.

But that's just an initial step into how the church can come alongside you to equip you.

Maybe you don't even know where to start, you don't even know what that next step should be.

That's the job of the church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

And again, like I said, we had 14 incredible people decide, you know what, I'm gonna start serving on Sundays, or I'm gonna start serving during the week with the church, and that's great.

And we need that.

But also we want to release you to be able to serve in your communities just like they're doing in Zimbabwe, to be able to serve even better in your homes, in your schools, in your workplace.

Is God asking you to go to that coworker that nobody else likes and invite them out to lunch and show them the love of Christ and present to them the fact that they can have a relationship with Him as well?

What is God requiring of you today?

Today, you're gonna have an opportunity to be baptized to mark this moment, to mark a moment of either a decision to follow Jesus for the first time, but also a moment to consecrate yourself, to set yourself apart, to reserve yourself for God's work.

I'm gonna go ahead and ask us all to stand on our feet.

If you came today prepared to be baptized, you can go ahead and exit.

Maybe you're not prepared to be baptized, but you feel the Lord is calling you to do so.

You can also exit right now, and someone will be there to serve you.

Service does not end here, folks.

Whether it's one or one hundred, we're gonna celebrate each soul that has made a decision to consecrate themselves today out in the courtyard.

We're gonna take communion together as well.

But I'm gonna pray over us and then Paolo's gonna come give us some final instructions.

But let's be sure that we're marking this moment to be reserved for God's work here in Zimbabwe and around the world.

Amen.

God, we we thank you, Lord, for the work you've called us to do.

We thank you for your son Jesus and how he set the precedent, he set the bar, Lord, and we will never be able to be able to re-meet that bar, but because of your grace and your mercy, you've allowed us to play a small role in it and to learn more and more about how to do that each and every day.

So Lord, we praise your name, we celebrate your name, and we celebrate the fact that we get to mark this moment today.

We set ourselves apart for your work.

Thank you for joining us.

To learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

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