The Sacred Path | Pastor Josh Hamstra

Foreign.

I'm excited.

My name is Josh Hamster.

I'm the executive pastor here at V1 Church.

It is an honor to be able to have this platform today.

Pastor Mike is in an apostolic journey right now in Italy.

And so let me just share something real quick.

We've been getting some amazing, amazing testimonies from

Apostle Mike out in Italy, and that's where he is right now.

And what's amazing is he is actually preaching right now.

And so we are preaching here at V1, but he is preaching to thousands

right now in Italy.

And the testimonies that are coming out of that, it's like it

is an honor and a privilege for us to be able to send the apostle

out.

That's what apostle means.

It's sent one.

And so he is there right now ministering to thousands of people

in Italy.

And so shout out pastor and Apostle Mike Signorelli.

So today, this is going to be a part two from last week.

Who here was at Easter last week?

Come on.

Such an amazing sermon by Pastor Mike.

And today is a part two.

And for every single person that came last week, new and you're

here today.

I just want to welcome you back to V1 Church.

And today's message is called the Sacred Path.

The Sacred Path.

And what I want to speak to you about today, and I'm going to

do a little bit of teaching, and then I'm going to preach.

Okay?

Is that okay?

Is that all right today?

But when we talk about the Sacred path and we talk about people

giving their life to Christ and someone becoming a new believer,

immediately you enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of

God, and there's something that takes place in you, and you

immediately receive a new identity in Christ.

And so today, when we talk about this path that the Lord has

us on, what we're talking about is not only believing in Christ,

but following him, because a lot of people believe in him, but

not that many actually follow him.

So when we talk about a path, a path is meant to be walked on.

It's meant to move.

It's not meant to look at the path and say, that looks.

That's really cool.

Those people get to do that and look at the path from a distance

and say, no, the Lord is calling me to that path.

And so this is what it means.

And before we get into some of the pitfalls that many Christians

get into, let me just share.

What does it actually mean to be saved?

Like, what is salvation?

Salvation is the free gift of God to man.

It is given by God's grace alone, and not through any work or

merit on our behalf.

We say it this way.

By grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Can everyone say that one more time with me?

By grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Come on now.

It is Christ.

It is Christ.

He is the cornerstone, and he brings us into his kingdom, and he

calls us to Himself.

And he came on this earth, and he lived a sinless life, and he died

on that cross.

And that's what we celebrated at Easter, that there was a death,

but then three days later, there was a resurrection.

And now he calls us into that resurrected life.

And when we receive that, that is what salvation is.

But I'm here to tell you today it's not just about believing in

it.

It's about us saying, lord, what does it mean to actually follow

you now?

Which means we begin the sanctification process.

And there's something that many Christians don't understand,

especially new believers.

But I'm here to tell you I know this message may sound like

it's geared to.

To new converts, new believers, but there are many people

in this room at every single campus, and you've been saved for

10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

This message is for you.

It's for you.

And so don't be thinking about, oh, I wish this other person

was here to hear this.

No, this message is for you.

If you can hear my voice, this is for you.

And it's more than just believing in Christ.

It's following him as a believer, as a follower, and not

just getting saved, but saying, lord Jesus, what do I do

now that I am saved and how do I work this out through.

What's the word?

Discipleship.

I'm still just teaching.

Okay?

I'm about to preach in just a second.

I promise.

So we have salvation through Christ and sanctification with Christ.

And being a follower of Christ means that we will walk the narrow

path, the sacred path.

And when we start talking like this, what happens is we begin to

look at what does it actually mean to be a disciple of Christ?

What does it mean to take my belief in Christ and that salvation

moment?

What does it actually mean now for me to walk this faith out in

fear and trembling like the.

Like the Word says.

And to be a disciple, it truly means to be a Christian.

It's like, what is a Christian?

You look at Acts 11:26 really quickly.

Acts 11:26

It says, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.

For a whole year, they met with the church and taught a great

many people.

And in Antioch, the disciples were first called Christians.

And this is the first time that you actually hear this phrase,

this terminology, in scripture, in Acts, and it says that

they were called Christians.

Why?

Not just because they believed in Christ, but because they lived

and followed Christ on a path which is discipleship.

It is a verb.

It's action.

It's not just belief.

It's not just head knowledge.

It's not just knowing something about Christ.

It's knowing Christ on the path that he has called us to.

And so I'm going to break down three different ways that people

follow Christ.

And the two are the most common that we see, especially in

people that just get saved, but also people that have been saved

for 50 years.

There's two kinds.

One that jumps right in and over does it.

This is what I call the sprinter.

The second one is they stay back and do nothing.

This is what I call the staller.

So I'm gonna break down what it means to be the sprinter today

and to be the staller.

And there's actually good attributes to both of these things.

But I promise you, there's people in this room that are stuck

in both of these.

And a lot of times what happens is there is a cycle and a

cycle and a cycle of these two things.

And I've met with people in their 60s that got saved at seven

years old, and they're stuck in these two things.

And so let me break this down.

Number one, the sprinter, the overzealous believer.

How do I describe this?

They jump into everything, everywhere, all at once.

How many people have been here?

Especially when you first get saved and you're so passionate about

this new thing that you just feel like you just signed up for,

and you don't really understand it completely, but you

know that Christ saved you and that you were dead and that he raised

you up, and now you have life again.

And you're like, how many connect groups that does this church

have?

And they're like, 35.

And then they're like, sign me up for every one of them.

How many serving.

How many serving opportunities are there?

And it's like, okay, let me do all of it.

I want to go from parking to ushering to prayer team.

And it's like, these people will literally sign up for every

single thing.

And it's not three zooms a week, it's three zooms a night.

This is the sprinter.

What are the strengths of the sprinter?

Because these.

These strengths are actually good.

They're passionate, they're excited, and they are willing to

serve.

Who here Wants to be passionate.

It's like, I want to be passionate.

But without wisdom, that passion will turn to pain and hurt.

And so we gotta have wisdom.

So what are the dangers of this?

Number one, burnout.

And I know this word.

At some churches, it's like, you can't say that word.

It's a bad word.

At other churches, everyone feels it, but they don't say it.

But let me.

Let me just break this down.

Galatians 6, verse 9.

Galatians 6:9

It says, do not grow weary in doing good.

What does that mean?

As believers and Christians and Christ followers, we are meant

to do good the moment we receive salvation, all the way onto

the other side of eternity.

So I believe that you could get saved at 7 and be in your 70s

and never experience burnout.

I believe it.

But it requires wisdom from heaven, from God.

How?

On your discipleship journey, on the sacred path.

So let me tell you, if you have been in a cycle of feeling like,

you give everything, give everything, give everything.

And then you get to this place of utter exhaustion and you don't

know what to do, and you feel like, I can't go on another day.

I promise you.

There is something that the Lord needs to teach you today in

terms of the sacred path, the ways that he is calling us to, the

ways that he calls his bride to.

Number two is there is a lack of wisdom.

And this is what I mean in terms of the overzealous believer.

Usually they try to do everything on their own strength.

Not from the strength from God, not from the strength that he

gives us as a believer.

Because it says in the Word that it's actually in our weakness.

But a lot of times believers are like, I just gotta put my bootstraps

on.

I just gotta try to will myself.

It's like, no, I come with filthy rags.

You know what I bring?

I bring filthy rags to Christ.

And he washes me white as snow.

And he resurrects something in me, and he moves me and he pushes

me, and he allows me to walk this path without burnout and with

wisdom.

Come on, don't make me start preaching to you guys today.

There is a sacred wisdom.

It's wisdom, the third thing.

And this begins to get into pride.

So usually the sprinter is like, I'm so exhausted.

They're not using wisdom.

And then what happens?

Pride comes.

Pride comes.

And I Love this.

In First Timothy 3, verse 6, it says, he must not be a recent

1 Timothy 3:6

convert or he may become puffed up.

Guess what?

I've been puffed up in my life.

There were Seasons.

When I was younger, in high school, in my.

In my early 20s, I lacked a wisdom from heaven.

And my head began to get bigger and bigger.

And I was like, I'm the man.

And I could preach and I could prophesy.

And the Lord's like, josh, what are you doing in your own strength?

Because our strength will only get us so far until we absolutely

quit.

It's like, you see a bunch of deconstructing Christians, it's because

they're trying to do things in their own strength.

And it's like, I just have to do this.

I have to do this.

And the Lord's like, come to me on your hands and your knees.

As a child, we are meant to be childlike.

And so we come to him and say, lord, in my weakness, your power

is made perfect.

What's a biblical example of this?

You look at the life of Peter.

Matthew 26:33.

Matthew 26:33

Jesus is speaking to his disciples again.

That was Matthew 26, verse 33.

Matthew 26:33

And Jesus is talking to his disciples, and he's like, all of

you are gonna fail me.

And Peter's like, listen, if all fall.

And this is his quote, if all fall away, I never will.

Guess what?

Peter does that.

Before the rooster crows, he denies Christ three times.

Peter lacked wisdom.

But guess what?

Peter also did.

Come on now.

Because this is where sometimes the enemy will make us

think.

Well, just because you denied that one time, that he doesn't have

a plan for your future.

But the entire Christian church was built upon Peter.

He saw thousands saved and baptized at Pentecost, and he became

one of the greatest disciples and apostles.

And we're still talking about him this day, 2000 years later.

So, yes, Peter messed up, but it's time to get back up.

Come on.

If you feel burnt out right now, the wind of the Holy Spirit

is in this room, and he's at your campus, and he's about to start

a fire in your life.

He's about to start a fire in your family.

Because we serve the God who does the impossible things.

The impossible.

So what's the remedy to this?

You're like, man, there was just a bunch of problems.

The remedy, learn to walk before you ever run.

And this is to every single Christian, because I meet with people,

they've been saved for 20 years, and they've been running and

sprinting, and they never actually stopped.

Stopped and slowed down.

To learn the word of God, it's like, come on, we need the word of

God.

And sometimes the enemy will push us and push us and push us and

we stop being discipled, and we just get busy.

It's like, come on, we have to learn to walk before we ever run.

I remember in 1999, I was in eighth grade, 1999, and there was

this conference called Day One.

And it was put on by Acquire the Fire.

Whoever's Acquire the fire.

Any 90s Christians in here, come on now.

At every campus who went to.

I know Pastor Julie right now is in New Jersey.

Like, yes, yes, yes.

Acquire the Fire.

Come on, let's go.

But there was this thing called the choir, the Fire.

And it was in Pontiac, Michigan, at the Silver Dome, which

no longer exists, but they brought 71,000 students to the Silver

Dome in 1999.

And I was like, man, this is the time for me to get all of my

friends saved.

And I'm in eighth grade, okay?

So I invite 50 of my friends.

40 of them go.

Cause they're like, hey, it's on a weekend.

So I'm telling you guys, people just need an invite.

Everyone's like, it's so hard to evangelize.

It's so hard to invite them to something.

Hey, come on.

Come to church with me.

Come to you.

Come on.

Every single youth that could hear my voice, invite your friends.

And they will come.

They will come.

And so we get there.

Amazing.

I mean, 71,000 people.

Worship was incredible.

And I remember the last night, and we're there, and Ron Luce, who

is.

He led Acquire the Fire.

Amazing man of God.

And he's giving this sermon on the cross of Christ.

He's giving this gospel present, one of the best gospel presentations

I've ever heard.

And he's talking about clinging to the cross of Christ.

And I remember there's this moment where he says.

And this is towards the end of it, he says, if you want the cross,

I want you to stand up right now in front of all of your peers

and scream at the top of your lungs, I want the cross.

And he literally just.

He said that.

And then he just did this.

And in a room of 71,000 people, you could literally hear

a pin drop.

And I remember thinking, lord Jesus, please, please.

I mean, I was a Christian.

I got saved at a very young age.

And I've been trying to get these kids saved for years.

And I've been praying for them.

My mom's been praying for them.

And I was like, lord Jesus, please.

And I remember sitting.

It felt like two minutes that it was just dead quiet in this massive

stadium.

And all of a sudden, one of my best friends that I brought with

me that I knew since I was a young kid.

I felt like his knees were, like, shaking.

And I was like, come on, Lord.

Come on, Holy Spirit.

Get him up, get him up, get him up.

And all of a sudden, he stands up and he lifts his hands and he

says, I want the cross.

And it reverberated in this massive stadium.

And that kick started 15 to 20 minutes of kids all around this entire

stadium standing up saying, I want the cross.

I want the cross.

And I saw all 40 of those friends stand up and do that.

Now, I'm telling you this story for a reason, because I know

it's like, wow, that sounds amazing.

But guess what?

They were a little overzealous.

And so we get back from that thing and we're in eighth grade,

and now I'm like, the leader of these friends, and so I'm trying

to, like, rally them, and it's like, hey, Josh, every single one

of them broke up with their girlfriends.

The next night, we had a CD burning party.

You remember that?

You get the big bonfire, and you're like, every secular thing

I've ever owned.

Come on.

I know there's people at every campus who are like, yes, I went

to those parties when I was in high school, especially in the 90s.

It's like, we get this big bonfire and we're like, we had the

huge CD case and even secular clothing.

I mean, it was like throwing everything in there.

Like, whatever is connected to anything evil in my life, I'm burning

it.

So we were having those parties, and then on that Monday,

they were like, josh, we have to pray for the lunch during the

lunchroom.

And so I was like, okay, I'll do this, you know, So I literally

stand up on the table in the lunchroom, and I'm like, hey, there's

about 300 kids in the lunchroom.

I'm like, hey, everybody, just so you know, I'm going to be praying

over the food from now on.

And people look at me like, what are you talking about?

And I was like, come on.

And we were so passionate.

We were so excited.

And we.

And we began to pray over lunch, and more people started to

join the table, and more people began to get saved.

But here's the thing.

Little by little, the Enemy started to pick these kids off.

And little by little, it didn't happen in the first week,

it didn't happen in the first month.

But three months later, six months later, these kids began to.

All of a sudden, the Enemy started to feel a little bit more

appetizing.

The things of the world felt a little bit more appetizing.

Alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, all those things, they felt a little

bit more appetizing.

Do you know why that happened?

Because they never learned how to actually walk before they tried

to run.

And it's.

We have to learn to walk first.

And me, I was in eighth grade.

I don't know how old you are in eighth grade.

12, 13 years old.

I was basically their mini shepherd.

Like, I was like their pastor.

But here's the thing.

I wasn't a pastor, and I wasn't meant to be one at that age.

What they needed was the local church.

What they needed was the bride of Christ to walk them through discipleship.

They didn't need just another Bible study.

They didn't need just another thing.

They needed the local bride of Christ that they submit to, that

they have a covering over, that they're able to actually walk

out on the sacred path that Christ has for them.

And so the second thing is we have to be rooted.

We have to learn to walk before we run, and we have to be

rooted and built in him.

So let me just share a little bit more about the local church,

because I know it's like, hey, Pastor Josh, you're a pastor of a

church, and of course you're going to talk good about the church.

If you leave the church, you leave Christ.

You cannot leave Christ's bride and not leave him.

And I'm speaking to everyone online.

You cannot leave the church and also not leave Christ.

You can't.

That's his bride.

That's who he died for.

Yes, it is every.

It's his plan A.

There's no other plan.

There's no other thing.

There's no other second.

Well, if you also, if you do this, it's like, no, he's coming

back.

What, for a spotless bride, the church.

And we have to be rooted in the church.

And so I see all of these Christians and we're going to see

more of it as time goes on.

This is why we got to be bold when we say these things and warn

people.

Yeah, there will be more people that are like, well, this

thing just wasn't for me.

I'm just going to try to be a solo Christian by myself.

That it's not the Old Testament anymore.

We live in a new covenant where the church was built for God's

people.

And of course, it's not just a building.

Because you might hear this and be like, oh, well, everyone just

wants me to go to a building.

No, the church is the people of God.

You were meant to be in communion with the people, people

of God, and that's what he's calling us to.

So if you're watching right now online, if you're even at a.

At a service right now, and maybe you've been hurt by a church

in the past, and you're like, I'm just kind of testing this thing

out.

The Lord's plan for you is to be rooted in a church, even if it's

not V1 church.

We have a card in the back of the seat with five other amazing

churches in your area.

But get rooted the church.

And that's what those kids didn't have.

They had the passion, they had the excitement.

They were willing to do everything.

But what they didn't have was the grounding and the rooting of

the bride of Christ.

Is this good for someone today?

Are you being ministered to?

My prayer during this is, Lord, not my words, not my will,

but your will be done.

Lord, I pray that my vocal cords wouldn't even be the thing

that saves or changes people, but it would be the spirit of God

moving at every single campus.

Okay, let's go to type two.

Okay, that's the first one.

The first one is the sprinter.

Type 2 is the passive believer in what I call the staller.

The staller.

They hang back, they're hesitant to engage, and they're very

afraid of failure.

It's like they always take a step back when everyone else is taking

a step forward.

They're like, I don't know.

And what's amazing about this is when you look at the strengths,

the strength that they have is actually the thing that's causing

them to pause.

Let me say this before I say that the strengths are thoughtfulness,

they're cautious, and they are discerning.

You know what discernment does?

It causes you to pause.

Do you know what wisdom does?

It causes you to move.

You can't just have discernment and not have wisdom.

Discernment is the thing that says something's not right.

I don't know what it is about that person, but I just feel something.

I don't know what it is about this ministry, this thing.

And what it causes is a pause in you.

But what we have right now in many churches is only discerning

people, but not wise people, because wisdom is actually applied.

Come on.

What's wisdom in the Bible?

It's like knowledge is received, but wisdom is applied.

To apply something is action, it's verb, it's moving.

And so we can't just have discernment and be like, everything's

bad.

No one do this, no one do that.

It's like, what.

What ends up becoming in.

In discernment is religious spirit.

And it judges and it judges and it judges.

But it's like, tell me what I should do.

Don't just tell me why, where I should stop.

Because we have a bunch of people that will literally just go

on in their discipleship journey, and they will pause, and

they will live in that pause until they're 80 years old.

And it's like, the Lord wants us to move.

The Lord is moving us on this sacred path.

What are the dangers of the passive believer?

Spiritual stagnation.

Hebrews 5:12.

Hebrews 5:12

It says this.

By this time, all of y'all ought to be teachers.

But what are you?

You're not teachers.

And it's like, wait a minute, Lord.

I've been on this discipleship journey for 10 years, 15 years, and

I'm still concerned about these little petty things.

And I still don't really understand my word, and I still am

not faithful to the church.

And it's like, come on, come on.

The enemy is trying to stop you from engaging with the discipleship

journey that God has for you.

Because there are people in our church.

There are people watching right now.

And the Lord has a greater plan and purpose for your life, and

you have teaching ability.

I believe there's pastors in the room.

I believe there's ministers.

I believe that there's evangelists.

I believe that every single good and perfect gift he has for

you is yours.

But it will not happen if you are standing back in the wings waiting

for something.

You know what God's waiting for is you.

A lot of times we're waiting for someone to come up to us and

be like, hey, here's your whole purpose.

Here's the next 40 years of your life.

Here's the whole roadmap.

And the Lord's like, I'm not going to give you any of that stuff.

I want to be like Isaiah, where he calls Isaiah out.

And even before the Lord telling Isaiah what he's going to

do, I say, isaiah, what does he say?

Lord, send me, Lord, send me.

It's like, we want to be Christians.

That even before we hear the plan, before we hear the roadmap,

before we hear every single thing that the Lord's going to do,

it's like, if the Lord is in it, I am going.

If the Spirit is there, I am there.

I don't need the roadmap.

And what's amazing is, as you begin to move, what happens?

Your calling and your purpose and everything that the Lord has

for you begins to unfold.

And there's so many Christians right now literally waiting in the

wings, waiting for someone to activate them, waiting.

And it's like you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, and he

is the activator number two.

Missed opportunities.

And let me say this.

It's not missed opportunities that you're missing for yourself.

It's missed opportunities to bless others.

You not living your purpose and calling means other people also

don't get to actually experience the gift that God gave

you to activate them.

It's missed opportunities to bless and love others.

And then the third thing is there begins to be a fear over faith,

and people become paralyzed by insecurity.

And the longer you sit back and the longer you wait, the more

the enemy begins to lie to you and bring insecurities to you and

say, you don't have it.

You can't do it.

You don't sound right.

Look at.

What's the.

What's the biblical example of this?

Moses.

In Exodus 3, God calls Moses to go to Egypt.

And what's the first thing that Moses says?

Lord, who am I?

I can't go.

I have a speech impediment.

I don't know what Moses was dealing with, but he said he couldn't

talk right?

And he was like, I can't do it.

I don't have the strength.

And God was like, exactly, because you know who I am.

What does he say?

I am who I am.

I am the creator of the heavens and the earth.

I am the alpha and the omega.

And if I want to do it in you, I will do it through you.

And all that you have to say is, lord, send me, Lord, I will go.

And it's.

And this is why I said this in the beginning.

It's in our weakness.

It's in our weakness.

So you don't have to have the degree and every.

You don't have to have all of this stuff.

And some of you are listening to me right now.

And.

And it's like the enemy has stopped you, installed you, because

you're like, I don't have the right singing voice.

I don't.

I don't really know.

I can't sound like Pastor Mike, and I can't sound like Pastor

Josh.

Guess what?

You were never meant to sound like us.

You were meant to sound like you.

And the Lord is giving you a voice, and the enemy will stop you

and stall you, and you will get Insecurities.

And you will.

All these things will end up in your life.

And all of a sudden you'll be 70, 80 years old, and you'll say,

what have I done with my life?

Come on, hear this sermon.

Today.

Today is the day.

Today is the day that you step up, stand up and begin to walk on

the sacred path that he has for you.

So what's the remedies for this?

Take the first faithful step.

It's time to get out of the boat.

It's time to get out of the boat.

So there's a lot of people in the boat right now, and it's storming

and it's raging, and the Lord's like, come to me on the water.

If you keep your eyesight on me, you could walk on water.

I mean, I couldn't imagine the other disciples in the boat when

Peter steps out and they're like, wait, is that him on the water?

What's going on?

I wonder if they were like, I wish I would have stepped out first.

I wish I would also had the faith to do it.

Because even when Peter begins to sink, the Lord's like, I got you.

It was just stepping out of the boat.

And even when you feel like you're sinking, he pulls you back

up and puts you on, what, the solid rock of the church.

So get out of the boat.

The second thing is trust God's strength, not your own.

Philippians 2:13 says, for it is God who works in you.

Philippians 2:13

It is the Holy Spirit working in you.

It is the Spirit of God moving through you, not your own strength,

not your own might, not anything that you could bring.

And I don't care if you have a speech impediment.

I don't care if you can't talk right.

The Lord wants to use you.

Are you guys tracking with me?

And I just feel.

Just even prophetically right now, I just feel like the Lord is

speaking to people.

I believe that whatever campus you're at right now, that the Lord

has been even speaking to you as I've been going through this.

And you may be like the one that was sitting next to me, where

it's like, I want to stand up and shout.

I want the cross.

But I don't know if I have the strength to do it.

I don't know if I have what it takes.

And the Lord says, I am what I am.

And all that we have to do is rely on the strength that comes from

Christ.

So let's talk about the third way.

So those were two ways that many people get in cycles over and

over.

And when I said cycles, what I mean is people will run a thousand

miles per hour and then they'll get burnt out and they will

stop.

And then they will sit in a sitting waiting season for a year,

two years, three years, 10 years, 15 years, 25 years.

And it's like, what have you been doing?

Well, I just been waiting, you know, I'm waiting for the Lord to

speak to me about what he has for me.

I'm here to tell you this is your sign.

This is your sign today.

If you've been saying that, Lord, I've just been waiting for

a sign.

Here is your sign.

The Holy Spirit, if you are a believer and a Christ follower, entered

into you at salvation, and that spirit convicts you, moves you,

that.

That spirit of God is the power that we need in this earth

to go out and preach the gospel, to go out and do the kingdom

work that he has for us.

Because I don't want to be the Christian in my 80s that.

That's living in.

In.

In Scottsdale or in Boca Raton or whatever it is, driving my golf

cart and being like, these are going to be the next best 10 years

of my life.

I've been working my.

It's like, no, I want to go out in the mission field.

I want to go out in my 90s saying, Lord Jesus, I gave you everything,

Lord, I gave you everything.

I gave you everything, Lord, for every day of my life, every year

of my life.

And I wasn't stalled, and I wasn't trying to sprint too fast.

I learned how to walk on the sacred path.

And so what is the Lord calling us to?

What is the third way?

There's just three things.

And then I'm going to just get into a couple practicals, and then

we're going to be done.

What is the third way?

First, start with relationships, not activity.

Start with.

And I'm speaking to Christians that have been saved a long time.

This isn't just for new believers, because they're like,

hey, what do I do?

Start with relationships.

It is about the people.

It is about the people.

And Pastor Mike says this all the time.

He's like, it's not about the systems.

It's not about the procedures.

It's not about all of the forms and the best practices.

It's about us showing people the God that we have given our life

to.

It's about people coming into our campuses and not being so busy

that you don't even look them in their eyes.

And guess what?

I do this sometimes.

I'm the exact pastor of V1 Church and I'm.

And, and on a Sunday, talking to all the campuses and I could just

walk through a hall and completely miss someone who's hurting

and dying.

And it's like, take the blinders off.

I don't care if you're on the worship team.

I don't care if you're on the prayer team.

I don't care if you have the most important job on a Sunday.

Take the blinders off and look people in their eyes.

It's not about the activity, it's about the relationship.

Number two, grow steadily, not sporadically.

Hebrews 12.

What does it talk about?

Running the race that he has for us.

And here's the thing, you guys, I just, I just talked about

this in the school.

The prophets shout out school the prophets.

But, but Hebrews 12 starts with a therefore, which means if

there's a therefore, you have to ask, what is it there for?

And so you go back to Hebrews 11 and everyone quotes Hebrews 12.

But it's like, what is it talking about?

If there, if it's a therefore, it's.

It's saying.

All of this that I just said is leading up to this one point about

running a race.

What is, what is the entire chapter 11 about?

The faith that the, that every generation since Adam, all the way

until Christ, had for the impossible.

It talks about rivers being parted.

It talks about Jericho going down.

Guess who saw Jericho's walls coming down before they came down?

It's like sometimes we gotta see them coming down prophetically

then.

This is why the gift of prophecy is so crucial in the local

church.

And this is why Paul says every believer should be doing it,

not just people that have been saved for 20 years.

Not just pastors, not just, oh, they're just very prophetic.

So they prophesy.

The Lord is wanting all of us to prophesy because there are walls

in your life that you not yet have seen.

Come down prophetically.

And the enemy has sent.

Stopped you from going there.

But the moment you see them go down, you say, lord, they're not

down yet.

But I know they're coming down.

That river has not parted, but I know it's going to fart.

That the water is coming out of the rock and he's calling us to

see it.

The third thing, serve with wisdom and humility.

I love this.

First Peter 4.

It says, use whatever gift you have received.

To what?

To serve others.

You know, when you, when you become a believer in Christ and get

saved, every single Person gets a gift.

You know, the Bible says that every single.

It's not like, well, I just got to say enough prayers.

I just got to be saved for this long.

Then the gift is going to come.

The moment at salvation, it says that he is a good and perfect

father who loves his children, that gives gifts freely.

Freely.

And so you may be watching right now, you may be at a campus

thinking, I don't know what gift I have.

The Lord has given you one and he wants it to see activated today.

And I've been sent here as a prophet, as a man of God, and as

a pastor to see that gift come alive and the faith in the room to

rise in the name of Jesus.

Everyone step to their feet.

Come on, on your feet.

At every single campus.

Because the Lord is doing something.

And I believe that all those who have been sitting, all of those

who've been in the wing saying, I don't know what to do.

I don't know where to go.

The Lord is going to speak to you now, not by my voice, but by

the voice from heaven into your life, into your destiny, into

your purpose.

And he's going to see it activated in the name of Jesus.

You guys feel his presence.

You guys feel him working?

I feel it so heavily right now.

And in my prayer time, I have five things.

I'll say them real quick, but I just feel prophetically.

It's like in my prayer time, I saw people in pain, I saw people

hurting.

I saw people like, no one sees me.

Nobody knows what I've been going through.

And the Lord says, daughter, son, I've heard your prayers.

I've heard your cries.

I've heard.

I've heard.

I've heard the Lord says to you today that he is a good father

and he doesn't want you sitting and sitting and sitting.

Yes, there.

There's seasons of rest.

There is seasons.

Seasons of sitting.

There is, okay, but I'm here to tell you at some point that season

ends and you begin to go on that sacred path that he has for

you.

And you begin to go on that sacred walk that he has for you.

Let me just share five.

These are recommendations.

This isn't for every single church.

This is for V1 Church.

This is how we know how to disciple you.

Five quick things.

Start reading your Bible every single day.

We have the Daily Grow journal.

If you don't have one, get one.

Read your Bible every single day.

Commit to learning and growing.

Number two.

Pray every single day.

Prayer is not just for the prayer team.

I think a lot of times it's like, oh, we gotta get this to the

prayer team so that they can go pray for it.

Guess what?

We have one of the best prayer teams in the entire world.

Shout Out Evelyn in Brooklyn and all the Laverted Sharita, every

single campus.

But I'm telling you, the Lord, he wants you to be a prayer warrior.

He wants you to be an intercessor.

He wants you to partner with.

So maybe today it's time for you to join the prayer team, because

you've been praying in your closet.

And the Lord says, come out today and shine your light upon all

men.

Number three, sign up for passport and breakers.

This is a commitment to discipleship.

Can I just say something?

I just.

I didn't even plan on saying this, but I just feel it prophetically.

If you believe that the discipleship process that we have

put in place at this church is to control you, it is actually to

deploy you.

And I believe that the enemy has gotten into some people's minds

where, like, oh, they're just trying to control me.

They're just trying to tell me what I can and can't do.

No, I'm trying to see you live out your purposes.

I'm trying to see the spirit of God move in your life.

And usually the people that say no to that are the ones that

are in the cycle and cycle and cycle.

And it's like, come on, join the sacred path with me.

Join the sacred path of discipleship.

Number four, join the ground crew.

Commit to serve in the church.

Number five, join a flight crew.

Commit to connect with other believers.

Commit to connect with other believers.

Because this is what we're here for, to connect with God and

to connect with each other.

What else are we here for?

This is why the church exists, for us to connect with him and to

bring people in.

Oh, man, come on, you got me preaching now.

I said I was gonna preach.

Can I say a prayer?

I need to close this out, but everyone just close your eyes.

I.

I didn't plan on doing this either.

Could everyone close their eyes at every single campus?

I believe that as I was speaking, the spirit of God was moving

in your living room in New Jersey, in Long island, in Brooklyn,

in Miami, here in Indiana, every single person online in Canada,

in the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico.

And I believe that there is a conviction that has come come over

you.

And even as I've been speaking, it's like, oh, man, this

is me.

He's been talking about me.

I don't know what else to do.

This is what I want you to do.

If you, if, if.

Either.

If you feel like you've been going too fast and you.

And you don't even know what to do and you want to get disciple

deeper, or you've been waiting in the wings and you're like, I don't

even know if I could speak.

I don't know what to do.

And you've been in the cycle.

I want you to raise your hand at every single campus.

I want you to raise your hand and say, lord Jesus, sign me up for

whatever you have for me.

And this is the Isaiah call, the one that says, I'm not gonna

give you the blueprint.

I'm not gonna give you the map.

I'm not gonna tell you the entire destiny and the future and

the business ideas and the strategies.

I'm looking for people that have been touched by the coal from

heaven, by the precious blood of Jesus, willing to be like Isaiah,

where we say, lord Jesus, Jesus, if it's your will, then I

say yes to it.

If it's your call, then I say yes to it.

So with every hand raised, Lord Jesus, I pray right now, I pray

right now, Lord Jesus, that you would move mightily at every

single campus, that you would start to convict the hearts of the

people, that as we begin to sing out, just in a second, that

we will sing out with everything that we have, that we

would bring a worship in a tongue and we would bring a praise

to the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.

It.