Open Hands, Open Heaven | Ps. Keith and Maegan Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Your hands together for our lead pastors, Pastor Keith and Megan.

Thank you.

Thank you, brother.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you guys so, so much, man.

We're as Nate mentioned, we're we're so glad that you're here.

And if this is your first time, my name is Keith.

This is my beautiful.

Well, I'm I wasn't planning on standing the whole time.

I was just kind of like, you know, I need to stand for a moment.

Okay, we're gonna start over.

Hey guys, we're so glad that you're here.

Um we're experts and professionals here.

My name is Keith.

This is my beautiful bride, Megan.

Come on.

You know, the Bible speaks about how your wife is your favorite.

So every time I see Megan, I'm just thinking, that's my favor, favor, favor, favor in my life.

Um you're my favor.

In my rib.

But I gotta get to hold on to you.

Remember, Pastor Tim said that.

Listen, we're so glad that you're here.

And and and here's what um I'm excited about as all the things that are happening in this church, all the different things that you may have heard us share a little bit.

Like there's so many things that God is doing, and we have so much expectation, um, inclusive of today.

Um we've been praying and processing with with such great joy and fervency with an expectation for what we believe God's gonna speak and share with us today.

Yes.

Great.

Thank you for contributing.

Okay, you can go ahead and I can see what kind of service this is gonna be already.

Um the woman, a few words, he's the man.

I know.

I feel like I'm like um LeBron with the cavaliers, you know what I mean?

You're just carrying the team.

Like, man, can you give me some help?

I'm trying to, you know, I mean, just I laid it up.

Just all you gotta do is just lay it up.

Remember that trip tomorrow?

I do remember that trip tomorrow.

Anyway, guys, um my my bride is basically um she's she's she's messing with me because uh a couple days ago, guys, like you know, I I celebrated my 46th birthday.

Yeah.

46 hard-fought years.

And um, and so to commemorate commemorate that, Megan is taking me on a vacation tomorrow, short vacation to Miami.

We're gonna enjoy that a little bit, but she basically threatened me in front of all of y'all that if I didn't behave that I'm not gonna be able to go.

So um, so we're gonna we're gonna tighten up.

Um, but um getting into this series and as and as Pastor Nate had mentioned earlier, um my hope and my prayer is that you've been on this journey um in this called series with us.

And and here's the reason why, because I realize that when you think about calling, what does it mean to be called?

All of us may have a different definition of what that is, all of us may have a different interpretation of it.

And if you have been in the church environment, we hear that word a lot.

It's just such a normal word that we use in our Christian lexicon, but we often can have a lot of pressure because we're like, okay, what am I called to do?

What if I missed my calling?

What if I made a mistake?

And so uh this series was hoping to reclaim what does it mean to be called?

Um, and and and I think the prevailing thought is that what we're called to do flows from who we're called to be, and that sometimes we can place so much pressure on the doing and we completely lose sight of what God is calling us to be so that we can do it well.

So this series has really been unpacking who is God calling us to be, and then from that place we'll get clarity and confidence in what he's calling us to do.

And so each week we've been unpacking it uh a little bit more.

And and Pastor Tim preached an incredible message, and we learned a little bit about um how calling is not just uh the destination, but it's the journey.

Yes.

And so here's what we know about the journey.

The journey is always filled with you know twists and turns and triumphs and challenges, but God uses it all, He uses it for His glory, and because of that, uh, we know that the journey is gonna develop us into who we are called to be and what we're called to do.

So um each and every one of you are called.

You are called.

You're God is no respecter of person, so that means like Keith and I are not better than anybody else.

He is called each and every one of us to do a specific assignment for his glory and for others.

So just know that you are called even when you don't feel like it.

That's right.

Amen.

And that's and so what we've been looking at is we've been looking at the life of Paul.

Because I think that there's there's aspects of looking at the life of Paul that that some of us can identify with.

Maybe not necessarily the murder, um, but but certainly the aspects of being outside of the will of God.

We'll say it that way.

And even if you have, you know, there's forgiveness.

Uh, but but but my point is, I mean, yeah, there's you still got to do that time, but yeah, there's forgiveness.

Um but but the point is Paul is a person that, even though he did some incredible things um in the kingdom, writ two-thirds of the Bible, just amazing things, but he still had struggles.

He he had challenges, and yet God still used him on this incredible journey that we are now able to benefit from the things that God had taught him and led him through.

And so that kind of leads us to um today's passage of scripture.

If you have your Bible, I want to invite you to join us in 2 Corinthians uh chapter 9.

2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

We're gonna read a couple of verses there in just a moment.

And as you're turning there, whether it's on your on your Bible that illuminates or the one that actually has pages, however, you're going to get there, let me give you some context as to where we are.

As I mentioned, uh the apostle Paul, man, he he did some incredible things for the kingdom of God.

But when we reverse engineer his life, we see that it's been a journey for this brother.

He he once he really had his encounter with God, it it didn't get easier.

In fact, he has this encounter with God, and then from that moment forward, he kind of faced some some opposition.

He faced challenges.

We we hear about him being um shipwrecked at different moments, we hear about him being whipped, we hear about him being um beaten with stones, left for dead.

So, so Paul's calling was was this thing that required him to develop perseverance and trusting God through it all.

And but now he's in this trusted position.

And and when I say trusted position, I mean that he he already had submitted himself to the apostles that came before him.

They began to trust him and send him out on missionary journeys, and while he was out doing these journeys, Paul had this profound revelation and seeing the activity of God amongst the Gentile churches.

Here's why that's such a big deal.

Because up until that point, Jew and Gentile were completely separate.

And there were moments where there'll be a little bit of overlap, but it was like, okay, you're over here, we're over here.

So when the Jerusalem Council came together in Acts chapter 15, and they're really trying to figure out what does it mean to be a follower of Christ?

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Because it's built on the foundation of Judaism, but it's also this new thing.

And so we have these believers who don't have this Jewish foundation, should they do everything the Jewish guys are doing in order to be saved?

It's this messy place.

So the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 was a crucial moment to really determine what it practically means to be a follower of Christ.

Do we need to put all of these things on people and really kind of force them to walk it out?

Well, because of Paul's experiences and seeing the Holy Spirit move amongst Gentile believers, he was able to bring that perspective and saying, like, they don't have to do all of this stuff in order to be saved, that the Holy Spirit poured out on them the same way that it did on us.

So he really brought this levity and clarity and bringing this unity of this one new man, which was God's desire the entire time.

So it's from this place that Paul has now been given a position of influence.

And here he now was sent out to begin to go out and raise up offering for the Jerusalem church.

Now, here's the thing about the Jerusalem church that is where it all started.

Think about that for a moment.

That our faith was built on these guys that it all started in the Jewish environment.

However, now they're at a place where they've experienced famine and persecution and now they're struggling.

So, what do you do when you have a strong foundation but now you begin to feel unstable?

What does it look like for you when you feel like you've helped so many, but now you're at a place where you need to be helped?

Paul had a burden for the Gentile believers that were reached, but he also had a heart for his Jewish brothers and sisters who were struggling through it all.

And so he was going out to the different churches that he had planted and was encouraging them to raise an offering to help where it all started from.

So starting at verse number one, Megan, do you mind reading uh what it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 9?

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

Yeah.

It says, I really don't need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem.

For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago.

In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.

But I am sending these brothers to be sure you are ready, as I have been telling them and that your money is all collected.

I don't want to be wrong in my boasting about you.

We would be embarrassed, not to mention your own embarrassment, if some Macedonian believers came with me and found that you weren't ready after all I have told them.

So I thought I should send these brothers ahead of me and make sure the gift of um you promised is ready.

But I want to be, I want it to be a willing gift, not one that's given grudgingly.

Remember this: a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop.

But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

You must decide in your heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure, for God loves a person who cheerfully gives.

And God will generously provide all you need, then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

As the scriptures say, they say, share freely, give generously to the poor.

Their good deeds will be remembered forever.

For God is the one who provides the seed for the farmer and then the bread to eat.

In the same way, He will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.

And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.

So two good things will result from this ministry of giving.

The needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

Amen.

So today we we really want to spend a few moments talking about the other aspect of what God is calling us to be in the in the realm of generosity.

And I think it's gonna be something that inspires us.

So if you're taking notes, and I hope that you are, I want you to write this message titled down, Open Hands, Open Heaven.

Let's pray.

God, we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you, God, for opportunities for us to come together like this in your name, Father, where we can gather together in community and exalt you.

And people have said yes to make that possible.

So, Father, I pray over the next few moments that you that you challenge us, that you inspire us, that you encourage us to take whatever that next step is that every one of us needs to take.

We ask for open eyes that we can see you.

We pray for open ears that we can hear you, and I ask that you give us open hearts to receive everything that you have for us today.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen and amen.

Yes.

One of the things, like, have you guys ever had or been a recipient of someone's generosity?

Raise your hand if you have.

Wow.

For sure.

And by that, you're like, you're saying like even like random acts of kindness.

Like I would often hear people talk about how they would go into um like the line at at Chick-fil-A or something, and someone's like, oh, it's already been paid for.

Like, has anybody ever like been the beneficiary of like your food being paid for in front of you?

My God, I need to hang out with y'all.

Because I I want to think that that's happened, but I don't know if that's ever happened to me before where I've been the recipient of someone like paying ahead.

So I could tell y'all where I'm going, and if you want to get in front of me in line and begin, it's perfectly fine.

I'll give you guys my itinerary, but I don't know if I've ever experienced it like that.

I don't know if he's blessed.

God's favorite me.

Um recently, I I can say for myself, um, I've been a recipient of that like recently.

Um, anybody love Briar Patch?

My favorite breakfast place on earth.

Um, I went to Briar Patch about a little more than a week ago um with a friend from the church.

And as I was waiting for her outside, I had a man who came up to me on a bike.

He looked like he was going through a difficult time.

And uh he asked me like the most random thing, can I cut your grass?

Uh he said he lost his job, like uh, you know, recently.

And I was like, Well, I don't live on this side of town.

I actually live much further away.

Um, and then he said, Can I wax your car?

And I was like, Oh, my car just got waxed.

I don't have that.

I was like, Can I buy you?

And then he asked me for money.

And so I was like, I don't have cash on me.

Can I buy you breakfast?

And with these big eyes, he said, Would you?

And I said, Absolutely.

And so him and I uh went into the restaurant and um we went in, I got a menu, I saw one on the counter, no one was there to service us yet.

And I was like, hey, here are some of the things on the menu, let me know what you want.

And he said, I can't read it.

And I was like, no worries.

I said, they have like pancakes, they have eggs, what are you looking for?

He's like, Do they have eggs and bacon?

I'm like, absolutely.

And um, and I was like, Do you want it on a sandwich or do you want it by itself by itself?

Um, and he said, No, I like to have it on a sandwich.

And he got a side to it, and he was like, I love grits.

And he was like, Can I get salt and pepper on them and butter?

And it just made my heart so happy.

Let me ask you this question.

Anybody like grits in here?

We are overwhelmingly in the minority.

I mean, we're not from the south, so whenever people talk about grits, I'm like, it's like salt and snug.

Proceed.

Granules.

A lot of granules.

So um, I proceeded to sit down.

He got his meal.

They ended up giving it to him.

I really wanted to pray over him before he left, um, but I didn't get a chance to do that.

And I sat down and my server came to me, and he said, Hey, that was really kind of what you what you had did.

And I was like, not thinking anything about it.

He said, Someone saw your acts of kindness and they wanted to pay for your breakfast and proceeded to give me money in my hand that was well over what my breakfast was, and well over what his breakfast was.

And I just thought, I said, you know what?

I didn't do this to be seen.

I didn't do this so that I could be the beneficiary of having my meal paid.

I really was prompted by the Holy Spirit.

And when the Holy Spirit prompts us, he prompts us in our hearts, but he doesn't press us to do it, he doesn't force us to do it.

So it's up to us to be obedient to what he's calling us to do in that moment.

And here's what I know when I said that yes, that yes was multiplied.

And so, whatever we do, when we do the yes and the Holy Spirit prompts us, it's gonna have a multiple, multiplication impact.

And so I just want to say for you guys, it was an impact that will trickle out and continue to go on because that will be something that they would do in their lives as well from what they had seen.

Yeah, I I think that what what I love about that, um, about that story when you came home and told me, um, it wasn't so much like the excitement of, man, I saw a need, I met a need.

It was there was certainly that, but it was that someone had saw the generosity and then they began to pay it forward.

And and I believe for me, I'm always that I always think of things, I'm very cinematic.

No one should be surprised at that, but I'm always cinematic because we, you know, we all have these moments where we all converge together.

We're all individuals, we all have our own narratives and stories, but right now God saw fit for us all to be in the same space at the same time.

Yeah, but every single one of us are going to go into our own respective corners of the world.

And my hope and my prayer is that those moments where we come together to get filled up, that we're taking the inspiration of God into the environments that I can't get into, and it has a domino effect.

That's exactly how the gospel was spread.

So Megan was really excited and saying, like, man, someone saw it, they'll probably tell that story, which may trigger somebody else to do it and may trigger someone else to do it.

And now you begin to see these kingdom principles working their ways out in such an unoffensive way throughout our society.

You see, the Bible talks a lot about this principle that we're talking about here, that idea of sowing and and reaping.

The Jesus says it like this in Luke chapter 6, verse 38 give and you will receive.

Luke 6:38

Um, your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together, make room for more, running over and poured over into your lap.

I want some running over into my lap type blessing.

Um, the amount that you give will determine the amount that you give back.

It's literally connected to this profound biblical principle of sowing and reaping.

It's all throughout the course of the Bible, this principle of sowing and reaping.

Think about the many times that we see be fruitful, that starts with sowing.

Think about the times where it says be planted, it starts with sowing.

It's these ideas that God has been showing us the entire time that whatever we invest is what we can expect to get back.

That's why, even in our relationships, if you can sow kindness, then hopefully you can reap kindness.

I'm trying to help some husbands out there sow, sow compliments and you'll reap benefits.

Hello, somebody.

I'm trying to I'm trying to pastor y'all if y'all really would take notes.

Um, um, so it's this principle of of sowing and reaping.

So I'm I'm not necessarily a person that I would say has a green thumb.

Um, but we have a neighbor um who who who profoundly, if we're talking about being called, I am called to be a pastor, this man would probably say, I am called to be a gardener.

Like, as passionate as I am about this moment, though, as passionate as I am about the word of God and people, is as passionate as he is about lawn care.

Now, here's the thing whenever you're neighbors with someone who's passionate about lawn care, you're it's you're gonna basically deal with some observations and and some conversations, critiques about what's happening on my side of the fence.

But because I'm called to be a pastor, I have to show patience and grace and love, even in spite of it, all comes full circle.

So, so my my my beloved neighbor, um, he he he would often um see us and and and make um just make suggestions, unsolicited, aggressive suggestions on on ways to better our lawn, and we had a different lawn care service.

It got to the point where he was so stirred in his soul as the most disgrieved in his spirit at when he was sitting in our yard, he said, Listen, I want to do it for you.

Now, I'm saying, like, it's not like it was that bad, but he had it, it was so deep in his heart because that's what he felt called to do.

Like, I I I please let me do this for you.

I I beg you, free of charge.

Just just let we're constantly seeing him on a ring.

Like, like, I mean, he's he's just out there.

So we got one of those ring apps, and I'll it'll just randomly go off, and I just see him out there blowing.

I'm like, man, good lord.

Like, so but he but he's really about that life.

Like he bowed about it.

So we're like, okay, fine.

So this this brother proceeds to come into the yard and he he completely transforms it.

He's pulling up weeds, he's pulling out things I didn't even know that was there.

He's telling me about plants, he's he's doing all these things.

He's he's re he reconfigured our sprinkler system to make sure that that one little patch in the backyard that wasn't getting the appropriate amount of water, he configured it.

So that place is getting water, and now we're seeing growth.

And so I'm I'm truly fascinated at the incredible hard work that he's done, even in such a short period of time with the trees and things that he's planted.

We're beginning to see the growth from it.

Yeah.

So it leads me to this point that although it took a lot of work, it took a lot of effort, I'm beginning to see the growth of what he has planted.

And I think that it's very difficult to have an expectation to reap a harvest that you have not invested in.

It's it's very difficult to say that I want to see fruit in my life, but I'm not willing to put the work in and invest and plant the seed that's going to lead to that fruit from taking place.

What our what our neighbor has shown me and opened my eyes to that when you sow, you will reap it.

And sometimes it means sowing energy, sowing work, sowing money, sowing things, but when you sow it, that is exactly what you're going to reap.

And so it's been an eye-opening experience seeing the hard work, but also now we're being able to see the benefits of that hard work.

Yeah, and we've also seen in our own lives that um when we've gone through like hard, difficult things, random people would just show up out of nowhere and at the time where it was so difficult show up and bless us, it would be exactly what we needed at that moment.

And here's what I realized man, like years later, okay, how can we learn from that?

Now, Keith and I, we take those opportunities to look back or look for opportunities to be a blessing to other people, to be generous to other people.

Um, but before that, I don't know if we would have had that in our mindset because we were just living day-to-day.

But we we definitely find opportunities to make sure that we look out for other people, pay for a meal, whether it's like being there for them, we try to make sure that we sell.

And I think the key thing, which you mentioned earlier, is we respond to like the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

We we respond to, I guess, the pressing of God, not the pressures of man.

And there's a difference between the two.

There's a difference between feeling pressured to do something versus when God begins to press on your heart.

And there's been moments in my own life where I feel like I've missed it.

Because we've all had that moment where we're sitting at the red light, we see the person who's down on our luck, and we're like, okay, let me like either manually Manufacture a phone call, not have eye contact.

We all have our different ways to escape dealing with the pain that's right in front of us.

We've all been there.

Um, and there are times where I feel prompted to do something.

There's many times I I don't, and there's times where I may have a couple of dollars on me.

There's times when I don't.

But those moments when I've missed it, I know when I've missed it because after I've gone home, I can't shake it.

Man, I I wish I would have, I wish I would have actually did something instead of turned my head the other way.

I wish I actually would have, I feel like, I feel like I should have I should have taken advantage of that moment.

And I think that's the difference between recognizing pressure versus the pressing of God.

And sometimes God will prompt us to invest and sow into someone because you never know the quantifiable impact that it can have.

And and here's the thing generosity is more than just money.

Yeah, for sure.

It means money showing showing readiness to give more of something than expected.

It means going above and beyond.

And those things can vary.

Those can those things can be generous with your time, your talents, and your treasures.

Absolutely.

It varies in what generosity looks like.

It's just making sure we respond to it.

But the biblical definition, specifically the one that Paul uses here as he's talking about generosity, is this Greek word eulogea.

And what that is, is that's that's a profound word that has multiple definitions attached to it.

And so when we're beginning to understand um the original language, um the usage often determines the definition.

Usage determines definition.

So let me give you an example of that.

Okay.

If someone was saying, like, hey, have you met Pastor Keith?

He'd be like, Oh, yeah, I met him.

He's pretty cool, because of course you would say that.

Yeah, he's he's cool.

He's cool, right?

And then maybe later on you're talking to someone else, like, hey, like I heard you're gonna be traveling out to Vermont.

Have you checked the weather?

Yes, I checked.

I heard it's gonna be fairly cool.

Same word, using a different sentence, it has a little bit of a different meaning.

How are you doing, man?

I'm I'm actually I'm cool.

You see how we're using the same word, but the usage determines the definition.

However, if we really dig deep enough, we'll see the consistency in the definition that connects them all together.

So when Paul uses this word generous, the three renderings that we often see is praise, it's blessing called down, or abundant gift.

And depending on how it's used, that is how it is rendered.

But let's let's go a little bit deeper.

All of those definitions are connected every time it's used.

So when Paul is saying being generous, he's saying that our generosity is praise to God that calls a blessing down on our life that adds increase into our very influence.

Think about that.

Our generosity is an expression of praise that commands a blessing on our life that adds increase to every area of our lives.

So when Paul is using that word, our offering is a sign of praise that calls down a blessing.

Our generosity to one another is a sign of praise that calls down a blessing.

That when we're kind to one another, that's a form of praise that calls down a blessing on our lives.

Paul is helping us to unpack with just a single word the way that God uses this concept of sowing and reaping.

If I'm able to be a person that can sow this kindness and generous acts, it's going to call down a blessing.

Megan, you and I came up, I would like to say in the old school, so we would hear people say statements like this when praises go up, blessings come down.

I remember hearing those phrases coming up my entire life.

I remember uh there was a young lady or older lady who was at our church, and every time we would say to her, say, Hey, how are you doing?

She said, I'm blessed to be a blessing.

That was her statement.

I am blessed so that I can be a blessing.

It was this understanding that everything I have is not just for me, but it's also for others, that God has blessed me so that I can be a conduit, that He can then bless others through it.

This is what Paul is speaking to us about in the text.

Yeah, and Paul was really encouraging the Corinth church, you know, because they really were the recipients of, you know, receiving wealth, you know, receiving money, being blessed through that way.

And so Paul is saying, hey, as you were blessed, make sure that you're blessing others while you're doing it.

Um a lot of times we can just walk through and like we're sitting on our high throne or you know, we're walking through life and everything is good, but it's how are you pouring back into the people in your community?

How are you pouring back into your family who may be struggling?

How are you pouring back into, and it's not just money, like we're not here just talking about money.

Like I said, we're gonna get into treasures and talents and stuff like that, but we are here in our abundance of what we have, even if it's a dollar, even if it's something, we don't know how that is going to help someone.

I don't know how that meal was going to help him.

What I do know is that meal was enough to sustain him for the day.

You know, and that with that being said, there's more hope filled in him that man, I things are gonna get better.

God is sending me resources, even though I don't know where they're they're gonna come from.

They're coming from straight in it all.

Amen.

I want to read this passage of scripture because I think it's gonna be a great segue um for for the rest of our time together.

Genesis chapter 22, verse 18.

Genesis 22:18

This is this is God speaking to Abraham, and he says this, and through your descendants, all the nations on earth will be blessed, because thou have obeyed me.

He says, Through your descendants, and we've often heard the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and and and Abraham being the father of the faith, so to speak.

But when God had given the promise to Abraham for him to be a blessing, it was never meant for it to be just about him.

He says, Through you, everyone else will experience a blessing.

What if I were to tell you that when you say yes, that it's not just for you, but it's also for others?

You benefit from your yes, but so do so many other people.

And God begins to work this rhythm of our obedience and us saying yes, and how that has the ability to impact so many different people.

Your generosity is an act of worship that commands a blessing on your life that expands your impact, that allows you to continue to be a blessing, but yet you still benefit from the very thing that you're doing.

I believe that an open hand leads to an open heaven over every area of our lives.

Absolutely.

And one of the first points that we want to make sure that you guys know also is that we're generous with our time.

You know, we talked about being generous with our kindness and generosity and all that, but we're also generous with our time.

Absolutely.

See, time is a is a very precious gift.

So God will never ask us to be generous with something that he hasn't been generous with giving to us.

Yeah.

Let me say that again.

God will never ask you to be generous with something that he has not already been generous in giving to you.

So we all have the same 24 hours in a day.

God has given it to every single one of us.

Or as Pastor Tim's book would say, 1440, that's that's how many minutes there are in a day.

He's given us all the exact same amount.

But it's a matter of what are we doing with that time that not only benefits us, but it's also for the benefit of others.

Yeah, and Keith and I joke, we joke a lot about um time, like the the right time for me to call someone.

Uh yes.

Okay.

Um, I'm laughing because I can hear I for me, I like to sew my time with uh making sure that I check up on people.

And one of the ways that I like to do that is by like FaceTiming or I call them.

Text messaging is not my strong suit.

I don't like it at all.

I just feel like it's takes a long time to say what you want to say, and you're going back and forth.

I I would rather do.

I'm not sure if y'all can see my face.

But God help us.

So she she has this profound grace on her life, this bubbly personality that I realize it cannot be encapsulated in a text message.

I understand that.

I I recognize that about my wife.

However, I'm a very practical person.

So I'm the type of person that if I am going to call you, which if I do, that's a miracle in and of itself.

But but if I do, there's normally a text exchange that takes place and there's an agreement that we're gonna have a conversation.

We all know that feeling when you're texting somebody and you're like, hey, how you doing?

I'm good, cool, man.

Just want to check in on you, and then they call you.

Because now you're trapped.

And now you got your phone, you're like, bro, like I just, I just, I was, I'm I'm juggling so many different things.

Like, I'm just checking in.

I didn't know this was gonna be a thing.

And I had friends of mine that would like go a step further, which Megan is that type of friend that FaceTimes you.

Father, in the name of Jesus.

I love FaceTime.

Yes, I get it.

I know.

I love it.

It's like being in person, but not being yes, absolutely.

I think it's no, I love giving people my undivided attention.

I love making sure that they're valued, everything is captured in your face and in your language.

A lot of times, sometimes text messages, um, tone and stuff can get lost in text messages and stuff like that.

And for me, if I can't be with you in person, FaceTime is the next thing or calling you.

You see how she just kind of guilt-tripped me like I care for people, you don't.

So that's what I want you guys to walk away with.

If you text people, you hate people.

Um that's basically that.

I didn't say that.

I just said there's that's just an extra blessing for the face ministry.

For sure.

I understand the face ministry.

And and here's the thing, I understand that because what I do understand when I do kind of catch you in your FaceTime calls, like it's like your undivided attention.

Yeah.

And and and you know, and I think that speaks volumes because we do live in such a multitasking world where we're able to juggle so many things at the same time, but when it requires you to just pause and invest time, that that can sometimes be the greatest gift that you can give somebody.

So, whatever that looks like for you, I know that we all are busy and got so many things going on, but what are the things that God's beginning to prompt you to just pause and make time to do?

Make time for that phone call, make time for that FaceTime call, whatever, whatever that is for you, beginning to respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and beginning to create the space and the time to do it.

So I believe that God's called us to be generous with our time, but I think He also has called us to be generous with our talents.

Yes.

Um, I know for me, like um specifically for you, like I remember when we first got into celebration many years ago, and you were sitting in the back, um, you decided, like, hey, I'm just not gonna, you know, serve for a period of time.

And if God wants me to serve, then I'm gonna go ahead and do it.

And um, and then all of a sudden someone said, God told me that you're supposed to serve.

In that moment before that, before the gentleman came to Keith, the guy said, uh, Keith said, if you want me to serve, Lord, you'll give me a sign.

Like, and there's certain things you really don't gotta pray about.

You know what I mean?

But you kind of create these, like, it's kind of like you know, you create these little dynamics, like, okay, God, if you can jump through these hope hoops, then I know it's really that I know it's really you, like Gideon, like, Lord, I'm gonna put this fleece out.

Okay, Lord, I'm gonna do it this way.

Like, we create these scenarios, so we're trying to hopefully believe that God gives us an excuse to not engage.

And so it was one of those seasons where like we had came from a uh a church where we were really involved, and we took a great yeah, you guys are being an example.

Um, thank you all for leading me so well.

Um, but I remember literally sitting in the back, no shade to those in the back.

Um I was sitting, I remember sitting in the back and and just saying, like, man, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna receive.

But how many of us know, like, God has called us to participate, not just spectate.

He he he was challenging me to begin to get involved, and so our church was in that series of of beginning to use our our gifts and our talents in a way that can actually begin to move the kingdom of God forward.

And it was something that it wasn't convenient for me, but I was still called to do it by God.

And and I think once I said yes to that, I began to not only begin to see um brotherhood and community, but I also began to recognize the things that God was stirring in my heart to do and doors began to open up and and and here we are.

So I do believe that for every single one of us, God has given every single one of us something to contribute.

God has given every single one of us gifts and talents, and the enemy will often whisper in our ear and try to convince us, not for you.

You don't have anything to offer, that you're not wired that way.

And and while our assignments may be different, I don't want anyone to walk out of here thinking that God has not gifted you with something.

There's all types of different assessments that you can take to understand the way that you've been wired.

The Bible even says in 1 Corinthians 12 and even in the book of Romans, where it begins to talk about the different giftings and things that God has given us.

I mean, and there's some things, of course, you have like the spiritual gifts, but there's some practical gifts like gifts of administration, gifts of organization.

Like some of y'all are thinking like that's a like that's a gift.

Yes, the Bible is literally saying that God gives some of us just a gift to get things in order.

Yeah.

So if you ever like walk into an environment and you're like, man, like I think we can get this thing in order, maybe that's a gift that God is beginning to stir your heart to get involved, to cultivate, and do something with.

Maybe God has stirred the heart of our neighbor and gave him the gift of agriculture, and he's just called to go out into the highways and byways and to use these things as spiritual examples of what God is doing in the kingdom.

My point is that God has given all of us something that we can contribute to his kingdom to advance the gospel.

Yeah.

Um, with Paul, he he talks about the farmers, you know, getting receiving the seed, and God gives us the ability to get that wealth.

He invited creation to participate in building up the kingdom, whether that was through the tabernacle, through the temple, through the actual local church, through ministry, he has always get planted a seed for us to be able to participate in building up his kingdom.

Absolutely.

And so not only is it people saying yes to the gifts that they have, saying yes to the talents that they have, saying yes to giving their time, but also saying yes to giving their resources, giving, giving their treasure.

As you said, Megan, God has always invited the people of God to participate and building, advancing his kingdom.

It's never been something that God has just done on his own.

It's always been an invitation.

I'm inviting you to participate and be a part of this incredible work because we're all in it together.

It's a powerful thing to know that God invites us to be a part of what he's called us to be a part of.

It's not something that we just have to sit on the sidelines and observe on our own, but he invites us to get involved.

The thing that I want us to know is that generosity is not just about money.

That God has given us what we need to be generous, but he wants us to say yes to giving our time, to giving our talent, our gift sets, but also giving our treasures, and somehow he uses it all together in order to create a place where others can experience um his goodness and his blessing.

I think one of the greatest signs of growth is not found in what we accumulate, it's in our ability to release.

Paul says it this way When I was a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

What he was saying is, my maturity is not found in what I accumulate, my maturity is found in my ability to let go.

And I often find myself, every single year, my 46th birthday just passed.

Every year I say, God, so I can grab a hold of more of you.

What do I what do I need to release?

What do I need to give up?

What do I need to give?

What do I need to serve?

What do I need to give up to make more room for me to be able to grab a hold of what you're calling me and us to do?

My my question for every single one of us, while it may not be your birthday in a sense, but I do believe that God is prompting all of us, what is it that you need to let go of?

Not accumulate, what do you need to let go of so you can grab a greater hold of God?

Because your yes has the ability to impact eternity.

Yeah, I would say um I immediately thought about um when we had our house in Jacksonville, and we had just gotten our dream house that we had built from scratch.

And releasing that releasing that was hard, but it was like, God, if you're calling me to do this, you can surely if you bless me with this, you can bless me with something else.

I know you will take care of me.

And that yes leads us to here today.

We are in a city that we love, that we felt like we were called to come to, like more than 20 years ago, like on our honeymoon.

And because we said yes, we are in the place that we believe he ultimately wanted to get us to.

So that releasing of me and what I want versus God's will for my life, that we chose to obey and choose God's will for our life.

I think that there's so much, there's so much power and influence in our yes, and all of us are are the beneficiaries of yes.

Um I I wanna I want to stand up for this moment because I feel like I can say you can you can do whatever you want, girl.

You can do whatever you want.

But I I rem I remember um you know the story and and the things that we've experienced in in our life.

You know, I I recall for for our church that 24 years ago that that it took one couple to say, man, I I feel called to do a work in in Jacksonville, Florida.

Who's with me?

And and and and the heartbeat of that vision was simply this.

We we wanna we wanna create a church that looks like heaven.

We we wanna we wanna do our best to to create an environment where people can feel that they can enjoy their walk with God and not just endure it.

That was the thought process of it.

That couple alongside five other people moved to Jacksonville, Florida with this work and using this this biblical theme.

You guys are familiar with the with the story of the the prodigal son.

Well, the Bible says that when the son came home, that the father said, Get the fatted calf, it is time for us to celebrate.

Yeah, that became the theme and the heartbeat of Celebration Church, the fact that we're gonna be a church that celebrates when people take their next step towards God.

I remember 15 years ago, as a result of people saying yes, then we walked into an environment.

And when we walked into that environment, we felt compelled to say yes to getting involved and to serving and what that's done.

I remember seven years ago, out of that same yes that happened 24 years ago, people who had been reached as a result of that yes felt called to say yes to planting a church in Orlando, Florida.

We're all the beneficiaries of people just saying yes.

Yes, I'll I'll go and I'll plant that church.

And what we've seen in this church, both here locally and beyond, literally thousands of lives have been changed.

Every time I see a couple that met at our church that then got married, and then I see the child that comes from it.

It's beautiful to think that my mind just goes back to, but I remember when someone said yes, that led to another yes, that led to another yes, that led to this couple getting together, and there's power and influence in just simply saying yes.

And what people said yes to, they said yes to dedicating their time.

I'm willing to help partner in building this vision and this idea.

They said yes to giving their talents.

I'm gifted in these areas, so I'm willing to contribute to that, but also people saying, yes, I'm I'm willing to invest because I believe in the vision that God is calling us to do in order to create an environment that looks like heaven.

I want to share with you guys a couple of things about who we are as a church because I firmly believe that what we do flows from who we are called to be.

Yeah, and and as a church, I want you guys to know that these are some things that are the core of who we are.

We are all about Jesus.

Everything we do, it emanates from the fact that we are all about Jesus.

So if Jesus did it, if Jesus says it, we're all about it.

We're all about standing on the foundation of Jesus.

We look at how Jesus treated people, and that's how we want to treat people.

We look at how Jesus interacted with people, we want to interact that way.

We look at the patience that Jesus have.

We are all about Jesus.

Everything rises and falls on the person of Jesus.

We are faith-filled and spirit-led.

That simply means this: that we believe that the best is yet to come.

We will never be comfortable with what this we see.

We know that God has done some amazing things, but we're going to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit says so that we can step into those environments and opportunities for us to make a difference.

We'll never be content with making sure that where we are is a it's going to become a social club.

This is not a social club.

This is a battleship that is being equipped to go out into the environments, into the highways and byways, and to celebrate and do our best to help people to come back home.

We want to make sure we create welcoming environments that no matter where you come from, no matter what you went through, the same way that Jesus has welcomed every single one of us is the same way that he's going to welcome you.

We don't get a chance to sit on a throne of our own success.

None of us are perfect, but we recognize that the same Jesus that opened his arms to me is the same Jesus that wants to open his arms to you.

I will not be the job of the Holy Spirit for you.

It is not my job to tell you every little thing you did wrong.

I want to present you to Jesus and allow him to love you right.

That is what my assignment and my responsibility is.

We're going to be authentic.

We're not perfect.

We don't have it all figured out.

We're participator.

God invites us to participate and to get involved.

We're others focused.

We want to make sure that everything we do is through the lens of making sure that it's not just for us, but it's also for others.

We want to be intentional in what we do.

We want to make sure that we're a church that is diverse.

That's not just in words, but that's in every aspect of what we do.

We want to be a church that makes sure that when someone white walks in, you feel comfortable.

If you're young, you feel comfortable.

If you're a man or woman, you feel comfortable.

If you're old, you feel comfortable.

If you're black, Hispanic, whatever that looks like, the Bible says that around the throne of heaven, there were many different tongues and many different nations.

And I believe that we can start that right now on earth as it is in heaven.

But we gotta make sure that we're intentional about that.

Do you realize that our very second service from the time that our church started 24 years ago in Jacksonville, the pastor was standing on stage, our founding pastor, there was only one African American that came into church that day, second week.

He got off the platform and walked up to him and said, I'm begging you to please stay at our church because if you stay here, other people will show up and they will see you and they will feel comfortable with being here.

Diversity doesn't happen by accident.

It happens because you're being intentional with inviting and saying, I want you to feel welcome here.

And if people don't see people that look like them, then they won't feel comfortable and they won't feel like they're representative.

But what we want to make sure of is that everywhere you look, you will see, yes, we're gonna be a cool church, yes, we're gonna be a trendy church, where we're gonna have old people on worship, we're gonna have young people on worship because we want to make sure that everybody that walks in feels that they're represented and seen.

That is the church that God has called us to be, but he's also called us to be generous.

Everything that we do is the beneficiaries of someone else's summing saying yes.

Someone said yes, that allowed us to say yes, and our invitation, our our prayer for every single one of us is simply to ask this question what is it that God is asking you to say yes to in this moment?

Maybe, maybe He's saying, be yes in being generous with your time.

I'm so I'm so thankful for the people that are generous with their time in our church.

Maybe maybe it's saying yes to just being involved and coming tonight to our welcome to church party, your time.

It's literally one hour.

Just coming to learn more about the church, learning about what the church has to offer, getting connected to community, just given an hour that can have the ability to impact your life, or saying yes to your talent.

We only have about seven staff members.

Everything that you see is because people are saying yes to their talents.

Yes, we will come in early and help lead worship.

Yes, we will come to meetings, yes, we will do what we need to do to partner with you.

We're not getting paid, but but somehow we're still fulfilled.

But then also maybe maybe God is prompting us to say yes to to partnering with the vision that He's called us to do.

God has given us exactly what we need to say yes to him, to be generous, because our generosity is a praise to God that calls a blessing on our life that increases our impact on earth.

So, what I want us to do now is our worship team is going to lead us into a moment of of prayer.

And I'm asking if husbands and wives, families are together, just just pray.

What is it that God wants you to give?

Maybe you're you're you're here alone, but just pray.

But we want this to be a sacred moment where we're creating space and we're simply saying, God, what is it that you want me to give?

Pray and obey.

God, I I wanna I want to get more involved.

Pray and obey.

God, I I know I need to get involved in that group.

Pray and obey.

God, I know that you've blessed us financially.

Pray and whatever he prompts you to do, obey it.

As we said earlier, not out of compulsion, not out of pressure, not out of guilt, but pray.

And as God begins to stir your heart, just obey it.

That's all we're asking you to do.

So let's go into this quiet moment of prayer.

Let's be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is stirring us to do.

And I'm asking you just to be obedient to what he tells us to do.

Thanks again for listening.

We hope you enjoyed today's message.

We'd love for you to subscribe to our podcast and review and share what you heard today.

If you'd like more content like this, or you'd like to connect with us, go to celebration at orl.org.

We hope you join us next time.