Tree Of Life: Reaching Out

If you've been here for the last several weeks, we've been talking about trees, which may seem kind of strange.

As you walk through our hallways, you see all these pictures of trees, all these paintings.

If you have kids that are really young, they're in the garden right now.

When they grow up past the garden age and go into elementary school, they'll go to the grove.

And then when they hit fourth grade, they go to the treehouse.

And so we're his hands church, and we got all these trees everywhere.

What's that about?

Maybe you're wondering, what's with all the trees?

Well, trees have kind of always been the unofficial symbol of who we are as a church.

And so this year we just decided to go all in and we had this graphic made with hands holding a tree.

We're like, it's it's the official symbol now.

We are his hands, a tree of life church.

If you're not familiar with the tree of life, it's a tree that shows up really early in the story of the Bible, in the very first pages, and then it also shows up again at the very end.

And it's the symbol of the kind of relationship that God wants us to have with him.

It's a powerful symbol of the way that God wants us to be able to relate to him.

I don't have time to go into all the details of what that means.

We've gone through that the last few weeks, so I encourage you to listen to a podcast from the first week of the year or beyond if you want to get caught up on the whole story of the tree of life.

But suffice it to say this, that God wants us to have a very, very special relationship with him.

He wants us to be able to do far more than just believe in him.

We don't have to stop at believing that God exists.

That's good.

That's a good starting point, but it's so much more than that.

Can you imagine what my relationship with my wife would be like if I just believed that she existed and that's where it ended?

You know?

If I'm like, oh no, I believe that I have a wife.

I've even seen her a few times.

I swear, like she's in my house.

Like if that's where it ended, I believe she exists, that would be sad, right?

But but I can experience her and know her and relate to her and hear from her and talk to her and listen to her.

And I'm telling you, we have a God who's real and he's alive, and we can experience him, we can know him, we can relate to him, we can actually have a relationship with him.

And that's what he wants.

It's what he's always wanted.

God never wanted us to have religion.

Religion's actually summed up in this other tree that shows up early in the Bible called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Because that's what religion's obsessed with, right?

What's right, what's wrong, what's good, what's bad, knowing good and evil.

That's the way people tend to relate to God.

Can I do enough good things and avoid enough of the bad things to make you happy with me?

But that has never been the way God wanted us to relate to him.

And that's so clear when you when you read the story of how our relationship with him started.

It's so clear when you read the teachings of Jesus.

He wants us to have a tree of life relationship with him.

And so to make that practical, we have we have three things that we use to really break that up.

What does it mean to have a tree of life relationship with God?

Number one, it means that you're rooted down in your faith, that your faith is deeply rooted.

Number two, it means that you're growing up and maturing in your relationship with God.

And number three, that you're reaching out and you're impacting the world around you.

And those aren't just arbitrary phrases that we've pulled.

Uh that all comes from scripture, Isaiah 37, 31, and 32 prophesies and says that one day God's people will put roots down, will grow up and flourish, and will spread out like the branches on a tree.

And so we've been talking about that in terms of our vision.

We want to help every one of you, every one of us, we want to help you develop deep roots in your faith.

We want you to be deeply rooted in your relationship with God and his love for you, in his truth.

We want you to grow up and mature.

And so if you don't like where you're at in life right now, the good news is you don't have to be there tomorrow.

You don't have to be where you are right now, a year from now.

In fact, you shouldn't be.

When you're connected to God and you're you're you're obeying him and walking in obedience to him and listening to him and spending time with him, you will grow, you will mature.

That's just what'll happen.

And today we're gonna talk about reaching out.

Because God calls us as his people.

He calls us to live life, not for ourselves, but but for others and for him.

Reaching out is just something that we're supposed to do.

You know, think think about a tree for a second.

No tree grows fruit for its own consumption.

There's no tree that produces fruit to feed itself.

That's all done for the benefit of others, for the benefit of something else.

And we are constantly called by Jesus to live life, not for ourselves, but but for others, to reach out and to give.

And so, for example, we'll look at some teachings of Jesus.

It's really important that we know not only what Jesus did, but also what he said.

Luke chapter 9, verse 23.

Luke 9:23

Jesus said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, does anyone here want to be a follower of Jesus?

All right, good.

You must give up your own way.

No one wooed.

See?

No one wooed.

If anyone wants to be my follower, you must follow your heart.

Everyone will go, woo! You must give up your own way.

You don't mean it.

Give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me.

At the very core of his call to be a follower of his, Jesus says, give up your own way.

John 15, 12, this is my commandment.

Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friend.

And so Jesus says, hey, love each other, but he's not talking about like be on the welcome team and smile at people.

That's really important.

Welcome team, don't quit.

We need you.

We love you.

But but Jesus' definition of love is sacrificial.

He says, love each other.

And by love each other, I mean this.

Let me clarify.

Be willing to lay down your life for one another.

There's a selfless sacrifice.

Mark chapter 10, Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Does anyone here, like, don't raise your hand, but has anyone here ever had a boss that lorded their authority over you?

Just let me hear you if that's been your experience.

Yeah, there you go.

I didn't want you to raise your hand because your boss might go to church here, you know?

And he or she can't discern if your woo with someone else's woo, but your hand, they'll see you and you're fired.

So people in this world, they lord their authority over others, but among you it will be different.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.

Whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus says, Hey, you want to be great in the kingdom of God?

Be a servant.

Be selfless.

John chapter 21, after breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

John 21 · chapter mention

Yes, Lord, Peter replied, You know I love you.

And then Jesus says, feed my lambs.

He often called himself a shepherd.

And in this analogy, we're all sheep, but don't be offended.

He says, Feed my lambs.

Jesus repeated the question, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Yes, Lord, Peter said, You know I love you, then take care of my sheep.

A third time he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

And Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time.

He said, Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

And Jesus said, Then feed my sheep.

So countless times, over and over again, Jesus is saying, Hey, I'm calling you to live selflessly.

You want to be my follower, you want to be my disciple.

You don't live for yourself, you live for others.

You live to serve, you live, you live to give.

Paul summed it up this way in Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 through 4.

Philippians 2:3–4

Don't be selfish, don't try to impress others, be humble, thinking of yourselves, thinking of others as better than yourselves.

Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too.

So here we are in church on a Sunday morning.

We're talking about what it actually means to follow Jesus.

And Jesus is so clear.

You want to be my follower, you gotta be selfless.

From the very start.

You want to be my disciple?

Give up your own way.

That's what Jesus did, by the way, from the very beginning.

Philippians says that Jesus, though he was God, did not aspire to be equal with God.

Instead, he laid aside his divine privileges.

He he set aside all of that and lived selflessly.

He gave everything to us, died for us.

And he calls us to do the same, to live selfless lives.

There's a problem with that, though.

That's really hard.

That's really hard.

It is not easy to be selfless.

It's just not, even as adults, it's not easy to be selfless.

Like, I'm from Missouri, okay?

I lived in Kansas City for five years.

Kansas City sports are not exactly good ever.

Like every once in a while.

The Royals won the World Series a few years ago, but we all knew that wouldn't last.

Like the Chiefs had a chance.

And then the Patriots came along.

And they don't need to win it ever again.

Like the Patriots never need to win another game.

I'll never feel bad for a Patriots fan if they win zero games.

You know, you've had your time, and and and then last week, you know, it's over.

Patriots.

Woo! I know there's Patriots fans here, and we're happy for you.

We are like that's what happens, right?

When someone else is blessed in something you'd like to experience blessing in, you're like, no, no, no, I'm happy for you.

Patriots fans, I'm so happy for you.

I'm so excited that you get to go to the Super Bowl again.

So excited.

Absolutely.

Forget the fact that you know this city has like never ever seen their team ever be good.

Ever.

The Chiefs suck, and they always do.

But this year, we have a chance, like a real chance, and you know, but I'm happy for you.

I'm so happy for you.

That's great.

It's not it's not our nature, it's not our nature to be selfless.

We're not we're not born selfless.

Like if you believe, if you believe some of the lies that our culture, our culture tells us, like, people are inherently good.

People are born good.

You have never had children.

Like the Bible doesn't teach that because the Bible tells the truth.

We're not born good, we're born jerks.

Naturally.

I have four children.

I love them.

It takes a lot of work to just make them not be jerks.

It takes a lot of work because we are we're born with this desire to look out for number one.

You guys are familiar with that?

That phrase, look out for number one, first shows up in literature in the late 1800s.

In 1906, Mark Twain, famous author, wrote this: A man performs but one duty, the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

He always looks out for number one.

That's kind of a cynical look on life, but it bears fruit, like it lives itself out.

I have four kids, and every single week, every single week, there are moments where it's clear they are looking out for number one.

Just this last week, there's two that come to mind.

I don't even have to think back very far.

Like a month ago.

No, no, no, a couple days ago.

Every morning we get up and we make breakfast for our kids, and we set up the breakfast up on the table, and so they've got their food.

We always put a little gummy vitamin on each of their plates.

And then they come down at different times, they eat their food, and then we clean it all up.

Well, this last week on Wednesday, that all happens.

My three-year-old Judah, he always gets up first.

He's usually the first one to wake up, and so he comes down, he eats.

And and normally we don't even really ask him if they ate their food.

I see a clean plate, I'm happy, but for some reason on Wednesday, I just asked my my oldest, hey, did you eat your vitamin?

He said, What vitamin?

And I was like, Your vitamin on your plate.

He's like, There wasn't a vitamin on my plate.

And I was like, No, no, there was.

And then Lily, my daughter, is like, there wasn't one on mine either.

And then I look at Judah, who got up first, and like he's he's two-year-olds, he's about to be three in a couple weeks, but you know, two, three-year-olds, they're bad liars, you know, like it's obvious.

And so he's doing this thing where he's looking around like he's innocent, you know.

If he could, if he was using language, he'd be like, Hey, how long have we had this table?

Has this always been here?

This is really nice.

But he's just sort of like doing this.

And I look at Judah and I just say his name, like Judah.

And he looks at me and I'm like, Did you eat their gummy vitamins?

And he's like, And then it occurred to me, like, how long has this been going on?

I don't know.

There's just every morning I clean up clean plates.

I'm like, cool, they're eating their vitamins, they're healthy, I'm a good dad, you know?

And I ask him, like, do you how often does this happen?

How often do you do this?

And he's like, I don't know.

One day he's gonna be a foot taller than the rest of my kids.

And they'll be like, What happened?

Well, funny story, stole all their vitamins.

He doesn't care, he doesn't care about them.

He he likes the gummy vitamins, and he's he's going to each plate and taking them off.

It's crazy.

He's a thief.

He's a thief.

Two years old, he's a thief.

We have this discipline thing that we do at home with bedtime because for us, if you're gonna discipline your kids and feel free to use this, you've got to hit them where it hurts, right?

Like, it may sound cruel, those of you that don't have kids are like, oh, come on, they're kids.

No, no, no, no.

You hit them where it hurts.

And for us, bedtime is where it hurts.

When we tell our children it's bedtime, they mourn, they cry, they fall on the ground.

It's not the end of the day, it's the death of the day.

It's like a big deal.

And so we have these charts at home, and each of their names is next to the time they go to bed, and then there's a little a little clip.

And if they're good, they get to clip up.

They can earn 15 extra minutes.

If they're bad, they get to clip down, and then we get more time to ourselves.

It's a win-win situation.

They get discipline, we get time.

And so we don't we don't go crazy with it.

Sometimes we'll bluff and say, hey, one more time, and you clip down.

And sometimes I'll say that like four or five times.

But on Wednesday, our daughter Lily had just been awesome all day long.

Awesome.

Sweet, kind, helpful.

And so we let her clip up.

Well, my my nine-year-old found out that the four-year-old got to clip up.

And he was not, he was not happy about that.

He didn't like that scenario.

And so he starts to do things that are good, but very obviously just trying to clip up.

It was a funny, it was a funniest thing.

I actually burst out laughing at one point at dinner.

He's like, hey dad, I'll take your plate to the sink for you, which he never does.

Like that's never happened.

And he took my, I'm like, okay, he takes my plate, he goes to the sink, he puts it in the sink, and then like just very sadly he just goes.

And I'm like, dude, I know what you're doing, you know?

And I didn't let him clip up.

Maybe I should have, but I'm like, I just don't want to reward, I don't want to get into this hole.

Well, one of them clipped up, and now the other one's gonna do all these things just to clip.

That's not the point of this.

And so I didn't clip him up, and it did not go well.

Bedtime comes around, I'm like, hey, dude, it's your bedtime.

He's like, well, what about her?

Don't worry about her.

You know, she got to clip up, and he he's again not happy with this, and and there's emotion and there's things expressed.

And I'm like, like, dude, you didn't have to clip down.

It's not like you're going to bed earlier than normal.

You're going to bed at the exact same time.

Is it such a big deal that your little sister gets to stay up 15 minutes later than you?

And he's like, Yes, it is.

Because he doesn't care about what makes her happy.

He in that moment, he's just like, it's about me, Dad, it's about me.

Like, we're born that way.

We're born selfish.

And and we we look out for number one because we don't believe that anyone else will.

We struggle so much to be selfless because in the back of our minds there's this lie that if we don't take care of ourselves, if we don't make sure that we have what we want, who else will?

And the answer to that question is God.

I was hanging out with a really good friend of mine yesterday, and he's an amazing guy.

And I I did not ask his permission to share this, I just forgot.

So if he's here, sorry, forgive me if you don't want me to share this, but it's a good thing.

Uh, great father, great husband, works really hard.

And he was just sharing his heart with me that he he desires to provide for his family.

And I'm like, dude, you already do.

You're a good provider.

He's like, yeah, but I want to provide more.

And he was explaining how he grew up and he didn't have all this stuff, and he wants his kids to have a life way better than his.

And I looked at him and said, They already do.

Their life's infinitely better than what your life was.

He's like, Yeah, but it's not enough.

I just I want I want to provide more and more and more.

And he's explaining this desire to provide and do more than he's currently doing, and he's stressing himself out trying to provide.

And at one point in time, the conversation stops.

I said, Just do you do you see God as your provider?

You know, you're expressing this deep desire to provide and do more and more and more, but do you understand that God is your provider?

And then at the end of the day, it's not all on you.

Even your family and their future.

God's letting you play a part, but it's not all on you because he is their provider too.

Do you do you feel that way?

Do you see that?

And he said, I know that in my mind.

I know that he's my provider, but it's hard for me to live that out.

And I I very much relate to that.

See, if if we can't see God as our provider, we'll never live selflessly.

I believe that in this room right now are a lot of people who want to live selflessly.

I don't think there's any person here that that is like, no, I enjoy selfishness.

I like it.

I'm gonna stay here.

And if that's you, leave.

Clearly, we don't want you here.

Like, why?

Why are you here?

But but no one desires to be selfish.

We want to be selfless.

The challenge is that we don't think we can.

Because we forget that God is our provider.

He is our provider.

There's so many stories in scripture of God providing.

So many stories that remind us that God sees us and he knows our needs and he wants to meet those needs.

There's a story in the Old Testament of a woman named Hagar.

It's a very interesting story.

One of the things I love about the Bible, by the way, is that it records everything the good, the bad.

It records all of it.

It does not whitewash the heroes and make them out to be larger than life and great people with no weaknesses.

And I've said this before, but it's important for us to remember the Bible is not the story of great men and women doing amazing things for God.

The Bible is the story of an amazing God doing incredible things through broken, messed up people.

Right?

And it really is.

Because it's about God and his glory, not us.

And it reminds us that he'll use us.

So if you're broken this morning, God will use you to do amazing things.

The Bible records the brokenness of the people whose stories it tells in very, in very vivid ways.

And so Hagar is one of those stories.

Hagar was a victim of some really crazy stuff.

See, she was she was the servant of a woman named Sarah.

Sarah was married to a man named Abraham.

Abraham is like this awesome dude, full of faith, one of like the pioneers of faith itself.

He he was amazing.

He was also not amazing.

Great faith, really poor judgment.

Great faith, really poor judgment.

So the deal is God had promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a son, but so far it wasn't panning out.

They were way past the age to have a son, like realistically.

And so Sarah starts to freak out.

Maybe God's not gonna fulfill his promise.

Maybe God's not gonna do what he said he's gonna do, and so she has an idea.

And the idea is for her husband to sleep with their servant Hagar and get her pregnant, and then that will be her son through Hagar, because Hagar is her servant.

That was her logic.

And so she goes to Abraham with this proposal and shocker, Abraham says, Yeah, I'll do that.

And uh the dumbest thing.

And so they have a child, and that child's name is Ishmael, and Ishmael is Abraham's son, really Hagar's son, but but technically, in their way of thinking, it's really Sarah and Abraham's son because Hagar belonged to Sarah.

This is like 3,500 years ago.

Don't judge it through the lens of today, it'll mess you up.

So then all of a sudden, God actually comes through on his promise, like he does.

And Sarah gets pregnant.

And now she has a child named Isaac, and now she doesn't like Ishmael so much anymore.

Because it's not really her son.

And she's jealous of Ishmael.

She doesn't want her son to be number two, she doesn't want her son to be the younger son.

In that culture, everything went to the older boy.

And so she goes to Abraham and she says, I want you to send him away.

Send Hagar and Ishmael packing.

And Abraham says, Okay.

And so in Genesis 21, Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food in a container of water, and strapped them on Hagar's shoulders, and then he sent her away with their son, and she wandered aimlessly in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Verse 15.

I don't want to watch the boy die, she said, as she burst into tears.

But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, what's wrong?

Can we just pause and reflect on the fact that from our perspective, that's a stupid question?

What's wrong?

What's wrong?

My my master made me sleep with her husband.

I got pregnant, I had his son, and then she got pregnant, she got jealous, sent me away to die, he gave me some water and some food and put me in the wilderness.

That's what's wrong.

What's wrong?

But then the next thing, don't be afraid.

God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.

Go to him and comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants.

And then God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well full of water.

She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a drink, and God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness.

He became a skillful archer, and he settled in the wilderness of Peran.

His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.

God says, What's wrong?

I'm with you.

I will provide for you.

Hey, open your eyes.

Look, there's a well.

Where'd that come from?

I don't know.

But it was there.

There's so many stories like that in scripture.

One time Jesus was on a boat and he's asleep, and there's this huge storm that comes up, and his disciples are afraid they're about to die.

And they're sailors, so if they're afraid, like they're used to their fishermen.

If they're on the water, they think it's bad, it's bad.

And he's asleep.

And they wake Jesus up and they're panicked and they're freaking out.

And Jesus looks at him and says, Why are you afraid?

Because we're gonna die.

Like that's why we're afraid.

What kind of question is that?

It's almost like he knows that God is in control, and he knows that God is good, and he knows.

That God follows through on his promises, and he knows that when you're lined up with God and you've given God your life, that you can trust him with everything, that you don't even have to worry about death itself.

Because even if that happens, you're raised to life.

See, Jesus lived with such complete faith that he didn't freak out when there were problems.

He didn't have to worry about looking out for number one.

Because he knew God was looking out for him.

You don't have to look out for number one.

You don't have to live your life doing everything you can to take care of yourself.

That is exhausting.

That is exhausting.

And it doesn't work.

The people who are the most miserable are the people the most focused on their own happiness.

The more focused you are on your own happiness, your own fulfillment, what's gonna make you feel good, almost always you're like the least happy person in the room.

We are called by Jesus to live selflessly, to reach out, to impact the people around us.

But to do that, it requires faith.

It requires trust.

It requires trusting in the provision of God.

And practically speaking, I really don't know what comes first.

I really don't.

I don't know if if trusting in God's provision comes first or if doing selfless things for others comes first.

I think they just go together.

And it's kind of like if you walked somewhere, let's say you walk a few miles and someone sees you and they're like, oh man, I want to walk too.

I'm just I'm here right now.

I want to walk, I just don't know, should I start with my left foot or my right foot?

I don't know, tell me which one, left or right, I don't know which one to start with.

You'd be like, it doesn't matter.

Just one of them.

And then the next one comes.

Or you can go the other way.

You can go this one.

And then that one comes.

It just they they go together.

There's a rhythm.

And when it comes to living selflessly and trusting in God's provision, I think it just works that way.

So maybe, maybe you just need to trust in the provision of God.

Say, He's got me, He's taking care of me.

Even if the worst happens, He's gonna take care of me, He's gonna take care of my family, He's gonna take care of everything.

He's been doing it for a long time.

Like the world's still spinning.

That's kind of a miracle.

You know, the world's still spinning.

We we live in a world that doesn't believe, like, when the Bible says that there will be an end time and things are gonna go really badly, but like half the movies that come out are about the end of the world.

You know, the world's very imaginative about all the ways it could go wrong.

It could be an asteroid, it could be zombies, right?

It could be could be lots of things.

It could be aliens, a lot, a lot, a lot could go wrong.

Yet here we are, still spinning.

God knows what he's doing.

So we can trust in him, but sometimes in order to trust, first you have to take a step and live for something other than yourself.

And when you take that step and you do something selfless, well then your trust in God grows.

And then you do something else that's selfless, and one day you find yourself living not for you but for others, and that's where the real joy is.

If we're gonna be a tree of life church and we're gonna have a tree of life relationship with God, we have to be people who reach out.

And we're passionate about that.

And we're gonna wrap up.

Before we do though, I want to pivot for a second and share some practical things because as I was preparing this message this week and talking about reaching out, I was thinking about all the ways our church reaches out.

It's pretty cool.

You know, we talk on Sunday mornings about ourselves individually, like I want us all to grow individually, but we're also a family.

This church, we're united together.

And it's important for us to do selfless things.

It really is.

And one of the things we do as a church is we work really hard, like really hard, to make it hard for you to be selfish.

I would like it to require legitimate discipline for you to be a part of this place and not be selfless.

Like you should have to really try.

You should have to really resist.

Like, I'm not gonna do something good, I'm not gonna be selfless, I'm not gonna help someone, I'm not gonna be generous, I'm not gonna be kind, I'm gonna sit here, I'm gonna, uh if that if you can do that, I'm like, wow, you are a much more disciplined person than me because we're gonna work so hard to give you every opportunity to live for something greater than yourself.

And there's so many ways that plays out here at our church.

Number one, prayer.

We believe in the power of prayer.

And I've seen God answer prayers, and it's it's it's awesome.

We want to pray for one another.

If you have the His Hands mobile app, if you don't download it, it's free.

But if you have it, go to the prayer section and you can submit prayer requests and we will pray for you, but you can also commit to praying.

What that's gonna do is a couple steps.

You have to download another app, but the link's there, and then you sub you subscribe to the His Hands feed.

I have that on my phone.

At any point in time, I can click His Hands and I can see all the people's prayer requests that are coming in.

And just sit down and pray for our people.

It's amazing when I'm stressed out, when I'm thinking about all the problems in my life, and I sit down to pray for people here, how that stuff kind of melts away.

But I want to encourage you to download that and commit to pray for people here, pray for each other, watch what God does.

Giving, you know, last year as a church, we generated$400,000 of giving that we were able to give to people in need in our community and beyond in Guatemala.

And here's what's really cool about that.

Um, as a church, we operate on a$1.5 million budget, which may sound like a lot of money for something like that.

I don't know another church our size that operates for anything under$2 million.

Don't know, don't know of one.

When I meet with other pastors similar in scope, they're like, what?

How?

I'm like, uh, I don't know.

It's just what we're used to.

Do you guys have way more money than us?

I'm not jealous or anything, but whatever.

Um, you know?

But think about that.

On a$1.5 million budget, we generated$400,000.

It's not like 10%.

We give over 10% of what comes in here right away.

We give it away.

We gave$160,000 last year just giving to other organizations and ministries and people.

We generated way more than that, though.

So we raised$20,000 through this event called Canvas last year.

That was one example.

We have this ministry in Guatemala that we're connected with, and about 250 of you guys are giving every month to educate and feed kids in Guatemala that are part of this ministry that we work with.

Um$39 a month times 250 times 12, right?

250 kids,$39 a month, happens every month, 12 months.

It's like$110,000.

You guys give$110,000 directly to children in Guatemala last year as a church.

That's amazing.

That's incredible.

Then we had we we did 10,000 lunches, 10,000 lunches last summer to kids who are on free and reduced lunch, and then that went away in the summertime because that's what they they use at school.

So we provided 10,000 lunches last summer, and even if you just say$2 a lunch, it's$20,000.

We had$40,000 worth of Christmas presents donated for Christmas angels.

We worked with One Need, this organization we've been with for years.

We raised$26,000 directly for people here in Woodstock that came to our church with needs.

And it just keeps going and going and going.

I'm probably forgetting something.

But we have so many opportunities for you to for you to give, for you to take your resources and impact the world around you.

I can't write a$400,000 check.

I mean, I could write it.

I just wouldn't like you couldn't cash it.

I can write it.

Wouldn't be hard.

Just put an extra zero or three.

But every time I give here, I'm giving to something so much more.

Talks about Guatemala.

We've got this ministry in Guatemala.

We've got a trip coming up in June.

If you want to go and meet the kids and work with the kids directly, we have an informational meeting on the 10th of February.

You can go today to the Connect Desk and sign up for more information about that.

We also have a few kids in Guatemala that still need sponsors, so you can go, you can go adopt one of those kids today and start doing that.

That could happen right now.

Like serving on teams.

Next Sunday, we're gonna have a big team kickoff.

And I would love it if every single one of us was serving on a team.

It'll change your experience and you'll get to give like yourself to something bigger than yourself.

Groups.

We have the group sign up today, the meet and greet, which by the way, I really wanted it to be a meet and greet with like M-E-A-T, like bacon.

You know what I'm saying?

Like a meet and greet.

So at every table there would be meet.

And the team thought that was clever.

They didn't think it was that exciting.

But so I got overruled.

It's just a regular meet and greet.

Um but you can go today.

Here's the thing you can you can join a group and you will be blessed by that.

But what if your mentality in joining a group is, hey, maybe we have something to share, maybe we have uh something to give, maybe, maybe our presence would be useful to people.

Maybe we need to live selflessly and start giving some of our time each week, not just to what we want to do, what we want to watch on Netflix, but we could actually go and invest in other people's lives.

Being a part of a group can be for that reason.

What about inviting people to church?

I got really convicted this last week.

One of my neighbors that lives next to me, super weird.

And I've never invited him to church because frankly, don't know if I want to see him here.

Um I'm just being honest.

And uh I'm just sharing my heart.

It's not good.

I told you earlier that we are born selfish.

I'm looking out for number one, right?

But no, like it hit me.

Like, what would happen?

What would happen if I'm standing in front of God one day, because that'll happen, and he's like, hey, um I I moved you next to this family, and you live next to them for 15 years, and they don't know me.

And you're like a pastor, and you never once shared and invited them.

And I look at God like they're they were weird.

You know?

Like, is that gonna fly?

Is that gonna work?

He's like, Oh, you know what?

My bad, I didn't realize that.

So yeah.

Gotta look out for number one.

No, like I'm I'm gonna invite my neighbors to church.

The power of an invitation.

I don't talk about this very often, but just the power of an invitation.

Like you have the ability simply by inviting someone here to change their life.

And I know when I when I say things like that, it kind of sounds melodramatic, like, oh, one in one invitation.

One invitation could could change the course of someone's life.

It's not melodramatic.

It's real.

I want to prove it to you actually.

I've got some friends that I want to I want to have come out.

Um, Nate, will you come out and then the rest of you guys just come on out at the same time?

Go ahead and make your way.

This is my good friend Nate Snow.

Everyone, let's let's hear it for Nate.

Let's have you right here, buddy.

Hey, buddy, love you.

And I've got my friend Zach here.

I asked him to record this because I want to be able to give this to Nate.

This is really cool.

And this is Matt.

Uh and Matt, leave a little space between you and Nate because there's some invisible people that we can't.

Well, they're not like real, this is imaginary.

Same here.

This is Austin.

Austin's a good dude.

Um, this is Austin's little brother Tyler.

Not that you're defined by your brother, but you're your own person, your own man.

It's good.

Um, and then this is Zach, and this is Samantha.

Look at how cute Samantha is, guys.

Look at that girl.

Okay.

So I want to tell you this story because this is really cool.

Uh, when I first came here in 2007, Nate was one of my students in the youth group.

Nate was a sophomore, I think, at the time, and he and I were really, really close.

We used to hang out, we used to play basketball all the time.

He would play basketball with me before youth group, and uh, he'd always try to take his shirt off.

And uh, because you know he was sweating and he was he was in great shape, and I was like, Nate, you gotta put your shirt back on, man.

Like youth group's about to start, and we're all impressed.

But uh and so whenever so uh in 2010, the same week that my first son was born, Nate was in a really bad car accident.

And it is it is a miracle that he's alive.

Amen.

He just said, Praise Jesus.

And I went and visited him at Grady, um, and a lot of people were praying for him, and and we didn't know how it was gonna go, but God still had a lot of plans for Nate and still does, and he's he's a great part of our church.

So I'm glad uh to be able to introduce you guys to him.

I love this guy.

He's full of joy, he's full of faith.

Every time I talk to Nate, or every time he emails me or messages me on Facebook, it's all just all caps, praise Jesus, like all the time.

And uh and so when Nate was in high school, Nate was really concerned about a friend of his named Jake.

And so Nate invited this friend named Jake to come to church, and Jake did.

And so picture Jake right here.

This is Jake, right?

Hey, Jake.

So Jake invited his his friend Blakely, and Blakely started coming.

So here's Blakely.

And Blakely had two friends that she went to school with, both were named Matt.

And so she invites Matt and Matt, and the two Mats started coming, and one of them we didn't like, we sent him packing.

Um, I'm just joking.

That was fine.

No, he was good.

Um, but but one of those mats is right here.

This is Matt Simmons, he's our worship pastor.

So there you go.

There's Matt.

Okay.

And then Matt invited uh his friend Kristen.

So here's Kristen, and then Kristen invited her friend Catherine.

We'll just pretend like they're very small people.

So they're right here.

There's there's Kristen, there's Catherine.

Catherine invited her friend Austin, and Austin started coming to our youth group, and Austin has been at his hands since probably like 2008, 10 years.

Um man, and he served on our youth teams, our junior high, high school teams for years and years and years.

Austin's an amazing dude.

Austin invites his little brother, and so Tyler started coming.

Tyler still serves in our youth area.

He's been doing it for since 2012.

2009.

Uh 2009.

I've been you've been here since 2009.

Okay, and I just I started working in the with the kids' areas in 2012.

All right, so 2009 starts coming, 2012 starts working with kids.

Still does, by the way.

It was over in our junior high area this morning.

He's an awesome guy.

He was one of our first interns ever at his hands, part of the first ever group of interns that we had.

And then, yeah, absolutely.

And and then Kristen, wait, no, no, Kristen is right here.

She's small, right?

Kristen worked at Dairy Queen with this guy, Zach, who is an amazing dude.

I've known Zach for a long time.

We used to play basketball all all the time, and Zach can like legitimately dunk a basketball.

Not a little bit, but like a lot.

And so I loved, I would take him anywhere I was gonna play.

I was like, Zach, come with me.

Because I could just throw the ball up and he would dunk it, and I'd be like, I helped with that.

That counts for me too.

You know?

Um, Zach started coming.

Zach got really involved.

Zach still serves in the high school group, right?

And he's been working with our students for like six plus years.

What's really cool is this last year we had a group of 12th grade boys who graduated, and Zach had been their mentor from the time they were seventh grade boys.

He had stayed with them all through that entire.

Imagine as a parent of a teenager having a young man like this who's awesome and can dunk a basketball.

Um, but loves the Lord and just is kind and compassionate being there for your son, seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade, tenth grade, eleven.

Like that's that's incredible.

And then Zach, while here, met this girl named Sierra, who who also goes here.

They got married, and Samantha is alive and exists, wouldn't even be, wouldn't even be a person if not for Nate.

For one invitation.

And he he always points to Jesus.

That's all all Nate does.

And so, real quick, just because this is important for for him, um, if if you had a junior high or a high school student that's been part of our group in the last seven years, would you would you stand up and stay standing for just a moment?

Stand up if you've had a junior high, high school student last seven years.

Okay.

So that means that these guys here have all invested in your kids.

If if you've been deeply impacted in a positive way by the worship here at his hands in the last few years, would you mind standing up for just a second?

Okay.

This is Matt, our worship pastor.

And Nate, as you look out, every person that's standing right here, every single person has been affected because you cared enough to invite one person to church 10 years ago.

How awesome is that?

You want to say that?

He said, I love Jesus so much.

Hallelujah.

All right, guys.

Hey, well, don't you guys go ahead and head off?

Let's hear it for him one more time.

Hey, while while you're standing, we're gonna like really wrap up.

We're gonna finish with Lord's Supper this morning.

And this is a good point to do that.

And so, if you don't mind, we have bread and juice on the sides of the room.

Go grab some.

Talk to some people as you do, make your way back.

Um, we're gonna wrap this up in a in a really, really good way.

I think about the last couple hours, and we've had all these people get baptized, and we've worshipped and we've talked and reflected, and um, and and Nate's example is just so awesome.

I'm so glad that I got to share that with you guys because he's incredible, such an important part of our church.

I love you a lot, Nate.

Um, but you know, what we're talking about today is is reaching out, just impacting people, and living for more than yourself, living selflessly.

Jesus like commands us to live selflessly.

But here's here's the beautiful part of that.

Maybe you're here and you're like, man, I got a lot going on, and I'm busy, and I'm I'm tired, and I would love to live selflessly.

I just don't think I have much left in the tank.

You know, I'd love to I'd love to give and be more generous.

I just don't have enough to do that, maybe you feel like.

I I'd love to serve and and you know, I'd love to do that.

I'd love to be on a team or or jump into a ministry event like the ones that we have going on all the time.

I'm just I'm busy and strapped, and I got kids, and I've got this.

Or maybe you're like, I'd love to invite someone to church.

It's just my neighbors are weird too.

You know?

By the way, if my neighbors start coming to church, don't tell them.

Like, we just have to, I just I didn't think that through.

Um I have two sets of neighbors.

I'm not gonna tell you which ones the weird ones are, maybe it's the not weird ones that come.

But but you know, maybe that's something you're like, I want to do that.

I just I struggle sometimes with nerves just to get up the nerve to ask.

Well, here's the reality you're not even the one that really has to do it.

Because Jesus has given himself to you.

When we take Lord's Supper every week, if you if you're new, this is something we do basically every week.

It's this thing Jesus asked us to do.

He he got together with his disciples before he was crucified, he gave them some bread, he said, This represents my body, it's gonna be broken for you.

He took some wine, he said, This represents my blood, it's gonna be spilled for you.

And he said, When you get together, just do this to remember me.

Break bread and and share, and share this drink and remember what I've done.

Use these as a symbol to remind yourself of what I've done.

I love Lord's Supper because it always gets our eyes focused on Jesus.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, and there's something missing in your life, and yet you've seen these people go all in and you you've you've watched some things, and maybe you've even been moved by what's been spoken and sung, and you're like, what is that?

That's the Holy Spirit calling you to himself.

Because you're you're created by God to know God.

He wants to have a relationship with you, and if you feel that, say yes to Jesus.

That is Jesus calling you to him.

Say yes to him.

And then go sign up to be baptized right away.

That's the next step.

And when that happens, we're gonna come alongside you as a church and we're gonna do everything we can to help you grow.

But do that today.

For those of us that have already done it, every week we do this because it sets our eyes back to him.

No matter what I talk about, no matter what goes on on a Sunday, we always we always gotta come back to Jesus.

And when it comes to reaching out and impacting the world around you, it's not even dependent on you because he's given himself to you.

When I eat this bread, it's gonna become part of me.

And it's gonna energize me.

When I drink this juice, it's gonna become part of me, and it's gonna give me strength.

In Galatians 2.20, the apostle Paul says, My old self has been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

This this little meal, this bread and this juice, it's a it's a physical representation of a spiritual reality.

It's a physical reminder of something that's already true, that Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, lives in you.

And so, as far as that impact and that outreach, it's not up to you, it's not up to how much you have in the tank.

How much does he have in his tank?

Because he's gonna work through you, he's gonna give you the courage, the boldness, the faith, the selflessness that it takes to reach out and impact the world around you.

He's gonna do that through you if you trust him.

So we take this meal together to be reminded of that and to ask him to work through us.

Let's start by praying for this bread.

Jesus, thank you so much for this bread and what it represents.

Thank you for giving your body to us, for being willing to be broken on the cross so that we could have life.

We love you, Lord.

We thank you.

Let's take the bread.

Let's thank him for the juice.

Thank you, Lord, for this juice, for what it represents, your blood that was broke, that was spilled for us.

Lord, you gave everything, and you still do.

And just as we drink this, Lord, and it becomes part of who we are, just indistinguishable from us.

I pray, Lord, that we would, as your followers, become indistinguishable from you.

That we would be able to live life as you through your power, not by striving, not by trying harder, but by surrendering to you and letting you work through us and Holy Spirit, allowing you to grow us into the people you created us to be.

We need you to do that through us, Lord.

Do that in us.

Just in your name we pray.

Amen.