Oh When The Saints | Go - Pastor Scott Silcox

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week.

For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv.

Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Zilcox.

I've been praying into this quite a bit over the last little bit, especially coming into uh this uh week of our series.

And if you don't know that, uh we're in a series Owen the Saints.

Owen the Saints.

And uh I gotta say a couple of things before I jump into the message today.

First, I want to say uh to Christian Lake, bang up job last week, man.

Thank you.

Uh what an amazing message.

Uh just fantastic and an absolute gift uh to to the house, but mainly uh just your obedience and just leaning in.

And those are hard conversations to have, but they're the right ones to have, amen.

And uh if you are brand new today, we welcome you.

We're so excited for you to be here.

If you haven't uh checked us out before, I'd encourage you to go back and just go through the series because I think it'll really be a blessing to you.

Gives you a really good idea of where we're at and what we're trying to do, what we're trying to accomplish here.

And uh, I said this to our men's ministry this weekend.

We are we're aiming for maturity.

We're not looking for one-off experiences, we're looking for a mature body.

We're looking for, and what I believe, in order for God to really manifest on the earth like he intends to, it's gonna require the church to be mature to handle it, to be able to walk that out.

And I feel like that's what we're doing.

We're we're trying to give uh to equip the saints uh for the work of the ministry.

How many know that the ministry is not what I do and it's not what our pastors do, it's what we do together in advancing the kingdom of God on the earth.

Amen.

Amen.

These guys don't believe that over here, but by the end of this service, they're gonna convert.

They're gonna, it's gonna it's gonna change their world.

I want to say this also to Pastor Derek and to the men's ministry team.

What a bang up job this weekend! Uh, an amazing opportunity for our men to get away for a few days.

And how about it, boys?

Did we have a great time or did we not?

Is it awesome?

Where's the blue team at?

Where okay, so got it, got it, got it.

And I know that's a lot of inside jokes and stuff, but I'm gonna just tell you something.

I got up this morning and grabbed my keys and a shiver went down my spine.

And if you know, you know.

Because I didn't see my keyring on there, and I thought, oh no.

Oh no.

I heard a man say, what happens at men's retreats stays at men's retreat.

I'm gonna tell you what, there's an increment, there's some there's some footage out there that needs to stay out there.

I fully expected when Christian said there's another video to play that.

I was like, well, here's here it goes.

Here it is.

The good news is so far so good.

For those that don't know, well, let this be a plug for all of our men.

You don't you don't want to be uh you want to be in the know, then come come join us, come be a part of this.

Uh I'll tell you this.

We have we have an incredible men's ministry, an incredible group of men, great leaders.

We had an absolute incredible time where we just uh we encouraged one another.

We allowed the Holy Spirit to do what he wanted to do in our lives.

And how many know?

And I say this to all my men that showed up there.

Listen, uh the the reason that happened, and I had the privilege of speaking with some of our pastors, we had a guest speaker preach, but I'm gonna just tell you something.

We're we're doing our best to deliver what we feel like God's put on our heart.

But I'm gonna tell you what, Holy Spirit shows up in response to the hunger of the people.

If preaching were enough, we'd already seen a thousand revivals in this church because we've heard a thousand messages.

But what we do need more than a thousand really great messages is a thousand men who'll just get hungry for the Lord.

If that will happen and you put them in the same room, I promise you, he will show up, he will not disappoint the hunger of those who show up seeking to be changed.

And that's no different than the men's ministry, women's conference, which is an incredible hit, an amazing anointing that was poured out there.

And can I tell you, that same spirit is in this room today.

And I say that not because we have to say he's here.

Listen, if you have to say he's here, if everybody has to be like, oh, we sang enough songs and now he's here.

Can I tell you something?

He showed up when one or two gathered together, willing to allow him to be the Lord of their life.

Listen, Holy Spirit was here because you showed up, not because we sang the right song.

See, this is the kind of maturity we've got to get to because most people think they're just waiting for Seth to sing good.

Sing that song to us.

He's almost here.

What are y'all talking about?

He's here because you woke up, submitted, and yielded to him.

He's here because two or three of us gathered and said, we ain't leaving here till we're changed.

That kind of hunger provokes him into this space.

And for those who don't believe it, try it.

Just try it.

Try it.

Don't wait, don't wait on someone singing your song to get you a chill bump to give him credit.

He's been here.

He is here.

Where is he?

Where when we say here, what do we mean by that?

We mean here.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We, we carry, we are the vehicle, we are the church.

When the church comes together under that banner, Holy Spirit, Jesus, God the Father, they're all present, and they're here to wreck our lives in the best way possible.

Amen?

Yes, sir.

You guys want to talk about today?

Oh, when the saints go.

Oh, when the saints go.

That's that's our that's our our uh, yep, there it is.

Oh, when the saints go.

We've gone through a series of these, but this whole idea of going, getting out, uh it's not accidental that you showed up today.

It's so perfect because the whole premise of today is the idea that what God did in our lives, He doesn't do so that we stay put, He transforms us for the going.

And this this is hard because because I'm just gonna be honest with you, not not everybody likes the uncomfortable assignment of going.

Because going means change, doesn't it?

Going means getting out of your comfort zone.

Going means I don't get to just stay in my comfort zone in here, I don't get to just find my little group of four, right?

And just be like, we're doing this until Jesus comes.

Right?

No, it's like, no, like, like the idea of the body of Christ is that we're to be mobilized.

And so I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna talk through this today, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'll likely preach and teach, and I don't know what else.

We might prophesy about it, we don't know, but I'm just telling you, this is an important thing for the body of Christ to get because if you're not careful, you'll you'll stay here too long.

Now you're saying, are you kicking us out of the church?

No, we need you here.

What I mean is it's to live, and Christian couldn't have said it any better.

He just took it right out of my mouth here, and that is this.

We need people who live on mission.

To live on mission.

What's your mission?

What has God called you to do?

What's he assigned you to do?

Does anybody know?

Do you hope you know?

If not, I'm hoping by the end of the day, the Holy Spirit will begin to show you what that looks like.

Norman Borlock.

Norman Borlock, born 1914, born in Iowa on a farm.

He spent his entire life growing up on this farm, trying his best to become the man that he's supposed to be.

If you know 1914, you know that he's gonna go through the depression era that's coming, right?

And he's gonna experience some things as a young man that many of us have never experienced.

We've only read in books, right?

But this idea, he is growing up faster than probably what we're used to now, right?

You're talking about kids who are doing farm work, kids who are having to raise their families because the life expectancy is low.

Families are all required to make the family business work, and Norman is doing this.

He's doing it so well, but he realizes in order for him to continue to grow in the process of farming, and what he's gonna have to get some education, realizes that things are starting to shut down on the farm and he's got to make his own way, makes himself uh available to the university, uh, hopefully to Minnesota.

That's where he's going to, Minneapolis is where he heads.

Has about 60 bucks, gets in his pocket, and then gets on a bus, shows up, thinking I'll try to get on as an athletic scholarship, ends up having to wait like a year, doesn't get an athletic scholarship, but joins the school, goes into forestry.

I'm kind of fast-forwarding some things because this isn't just a documentary on this guy.

But I just want you to get an idea of where this guy is.

All of a sudden, he gets a vision on what is possible in the way of farming at a more global scale.

He ends up finding out that there's a problem in wheat development in Mexico.

He shows up and he and a team begin to work on a problem, and that problem is is there's it's the people of the the world, the population is growing faster than the food supply can demand.

Right?

And so he's realizing in Mexico specifically, he he thinks and they feel like they have a solution for that, and so he creates this strain of wheat.

Now they attempt to do wheat, but you know this.

If you know anything about farming at the time, wheat will only give you one yield every single year, and so you'd end up going through it, and and it's good, but it's not fast enough.

And so he's thinking, how do we how do we come up with faster ways to do that?

Well, two things they figured out.

The wheat was growing too fast that first year, it was getting too heavy for the stock, so they had to they had to to to modify it, and they finally created this this strand of it called dwarf wheat.

He and his team finally figured it out, and it is so successful that it that that they're realizing it's producing, and we're able to hold on to to more of the crop.

He said, I wonder if we can expand that.

I wonder if we could get more out of it.

So he started doing this thing called chasing the summer.

And what essentially he ends up doing, he ends up taking the seeds of his first crop and then taking them 600 miles further into Mexico where he can actually plant them again because they're having longer summer hours and summer months.

So now he's able to get two crops in one year, and so what he's able to do is exponentially grow that wheat and actually pull Mexico out of starvation and into a place where they're actually thriving so much wheat, they're providing wheat for the rest of the globe.

And then it dawns on him if this works here, then maybe just maybe it will work other places.

Amen.

So he gets to this place where he realizes he thinks it's so successful, he'll take it into Pakistan, he'll take it into India, and it becomes hugely successful there too.

And I want to say this this guy in 1970 wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Now, I just want to stop here for a second.

He wins this the Nobel Peace Prize, but he's in a list of all of these really smart scientists, a lot of different clergymen that are doing good work.

But this is something that the people that were on this board that voted him into this thing realize is that he has done more to bring peace to the earth because he fed people and helped people in such a way that they couldn't help themselves.

They tallied it up at that time in 1970.

He had he had successfully given the ability to feed over a billion people consistently because of the ingenuity, because of the work, because of him and his team and their ability to find out what could this be.

Are you tracking with me today?

What an amazing accomplishment.

Here's the greater thing, and this is why I want to mention it to you.

What they realized is this Borling discovered something surprising about this week.

You know what it was?

And it's this.

I hope you take note of this.

Moving the seed didn't destroy its potential.

Moving the seed revealed how how far its potential would reach.

His one little adjustment, it wasn't just what could it do, it was how far can it go.

Brings me to a passage of scripture that I think we're gonna launch off today.

It's in Acts 11.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to open it up.

If not, you can read with me here.

Acts 11, verse 19 through 23, and we're gonna see something very similar because I think we've heard this before, but I think oftentimes we start to think of this in a totally different light.

Acts 11:19–23

We think of when you hear or read this passage, we see the church is going to be scattered because of persecution.

But I want to just change your thought today.

Maybe, just maybe it wasn't being scattered, it was being planted.

Maybe it wasn't men and women who were running for their lives, but what we've come to find out and what we're living in the fullness of, even in this very moment today, is that the seeds were planted and they produced many harvests.

This is where we pick we pick up.

Verse 19.

Now, those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phonica, Cyprus, Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except the Jews.

Now again, I just want to stop right here.

Just make notes of this, these things, right?

They're not telling anybody except for the Jews what's going on.

But some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus.

And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

The report of this came to the ears of the church of Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

What are what are we what are we picking up here?

The words out they're preaching to the Gentiles.

They're not sending him as a cheerleader, they're sending him as a spy and a corrector of the problem.

That's what's happening.

Now the beauty is it's gonna shift on him and everybody else, too.

It says verse 23, when he came, he saw what?

The grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion.

I want to put an emphasis on this passage right here, right at the top.

Just to get a kickstart us.

Now, those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen.

Here's the thought I have for us this morning.

I want you to write this down.

There are three things that I'm gonna go through, four technically, that I want you to make note of, and that is this the seed has to move.

Sometimes the field you are sent into isn't the field you have chosen.

I'm talking to the church this morning as to recognize that that where you're at now is where God actually has you.

Where there are many of us praying for better opportunities and more open doors and more opportunities, the truth is where God has placed you is the place God plans to use you.

And so while we're in up here being like, I wonder where God's gonna send us.

I don't know, maybe He's already sent you.

While you're waiting for an opportunity to be a blessing to someone else, maybe God is requiring you to be a blessing just to your family right now.

Maybe it's to be a blessing to your work and in your work instead of looking for my next opportunity, my next pay raise, my next driven opportunity, because that feeds your agenda.

But maybe if we understand the mission of God, and that is where He has us, He plans to advance His kingdom.

And when we lose sight of that, we we constantly wait for other people to get the calling to go so that we can send money, so that we can make sure that they do the work.

That makes it feel good to me, but I still get what I want.

Still send money.

But the truth is it's it's more than that.

We're not praying that God would raise up more missionaries in our home, in our in our house.

The truth is that we believe that if we are faithful towards the work of the kingdom, it's inevitable that missionaries will rise up.

That's not the right prayer.

My prayer is that when you understand your calling, that God will also infuse you with the boldness to step forward, which comes through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Is that you won't just know what He's asked you to do, you'll take the faithful steps towards the thing he's asked you to do.

Amen.

Come on, this is the idea.

The seed has to what?

Move.

The seed has to move.

It's not enough for us to have this beautiful barn that we gather every single Sunday in and be like, oh, it's amazing.

And then we go out and we divvy up what little bit of seed we want to give out if we want to do that this week, because I might just have an attitude this week.

LSU lost, I'm mad, I'm not telling anybody about Jesus.

You see how petty that is?

Come on, we laugh because we can talk about LSU that way, but come on, somebody.

If Bama had lost yesterday, this room would be half as full as it is right now.

That's true, that's true talk.

That's true talk when we let the petty things of the world get us off mission of what we've actually been called to do.

I don't know, man.

They don't want to hear this today.

I know it.

I know it.

I don't want to hear it either, but we have to hear this.

This is important for us.

Seed has to get beyond the four walls.

We have a responsibility to carry the gospel message.

Let's look at it a little bit further.

Let's go to this portion of the scripture here, verse 20.

It says, But some of them, men in Cyprus and Cyrene or coming, uh, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, the Gentiles, right?

Also proclaiming the Lord Jesus and that the hand of the Lord was with them.

This is interesting because at this time no one believes the Gentiles deserve the gospel.

Now that's interesting because they've been filled with the Spirit, but nobody is going after the Gentiles yet.

There isn't until Peter gets a revelation of what's being done.

Don't call unclean things, uh, don't call clean things unclean if I've made them clean, which is what the Father says.

He shows them this in a vision, he explains it, and then all of a sudden their eyes are opened.

Like, oh, that's all we needed was a sheet of animals to drop out of a vision for us to get compassion for those that God has compassion for.

Here's here's here's the interesting stop point is that believe it or not, we still practice the judgment of others and the withholding of what we have in truth because people didn't vote the same way you voted.

So it's the same thing, it's the exact same thing.

We don't think you're worthy of this message because this message is a democratic message, this message is a Republican message, and everyone wants to lay claim to the scripture, but only a portion of it, and then call it their kingdom, and then call it your job, and call it your anointing, and call It's your mission to defend a half-truth.

The call is to come up, the call is to rise above, the call is to come up into the believer, to the knowledge of Christ, to who he is in fullness, not just in what makes you feel comfortable.

Hey! Okay, I know it's a little tough.

That was a tough one, wasn't it?

Felt tough.

Hey, if you can make it through that, this the rest of this is a breeze.

Easy.

Easy.

Come on.

I mean, this we we we will hold this.

This isn't just in our political beliefs.

This is in this is in the way we view people who aren't in our status.

God, raise up somebody that that can go in there.

See, now they're offended.

You're up.

No.

Come on.

This this this this this we're if we're not careful, we we will not fulfill the great commission that God has actually called us to.

But because it's out of our preference, we decide when and when that is needed.

And I'm just here to tell you, you better shake yourself.

And I'm just I'm I'm gonna go as far as to say this to feel this unction of the Holy Spirit on this one on my own life right here.

I'm just saying, the church better wake up and pay attention.

This we are not preaching a political gospel, we are preaching the gospel.

And that is not the same.

It's not the same, not in our world.

It's been it's been trampled on and used and it's been weaponized, but we as believers, mature believers in Christ must come up and not constantly be pulled off mission because somebody is not happy, or somebody wants this, or somebody wants that.

But I'm just telling you the gospel's for everybody.

Right?

The the the the ground at the cross is level ground.

It's it's an invitation to the cross.

Can I tell you?

Not one person in here was able to save themselves.

But the seed must be scattered.

It's got to move.

It's gotta move.

If it doesn't move, all we're gonna have is a bunch of wasted seed in this spot.

And this is what happens is you'll hear a thousand messages, none of which you decided to use to advance the kingdom or empower yourself or to get out and learn.

Instead, you just come back every week and say, fix me up a good bowl of more seed that I can consume that never does result in a harvest and never multiplies because I'm getting individual servings every week.

God, we want revival.

He's like, then get your hand out of the seed.

Stop eating all the stuff I'm giving you and start sowing it.

Okay.

Here's what I'm trying to say.

The soil, and this is you gotta hear this right here.

The soil has already been prepared.

See, and this the soil is already prepared.

Why would we be afraid to go where grace is already gone?

See, the disciples started being like, oh, oh, Stephen's dead, they're killing all the Christians.

I'm gonna tell you what, you get one or two killed here in the name of Jesus, I'll we'll find out who's vocal and not.

Come on.

Come on, make it real.

You're at work and they start firing people that are Christians.

Well, I kind of believe.

I really believe in the universal God, don't you?

And the only reason that doesn't surface is because we've never had a real consequence.

We've never been held to that line yet.

Well, I'm gonna tell you what, that line's gonna get pushed.

It's gonna get pushed.

It's gonna get pushed.

How do we know?

Well, there has to be it at the end of time, we know that there's gonna be it's the goats or the sheep.

Which one are you?

Right?

There's gonna be a decision making here.

Come on.

And how does that happen?

It's not gonna, it's it it'll you'll be pressed.

Okay, all right, all right.

I mean, good news.

There is this whole thing is about the good news, amen.

Right?

It is, but we have to recognize the hour, the time, and the responsibility that we have to go, not to stay, not to consume, to go.

It must move.

But fear not, he's already been there.

Here's what I found out, and you can ask any missionary, they'll tell you this.

There's a lot of uh of when you hear the word of the Lord and he tells you to go, there's a decision there, isn't there?

There's there's a lot to weigh out.

Your family, your finances, the the discomfort that comes with moving across the globe, or the discomfort of just moving across the aisle to have a conversation.

There's a lot that has to be weighed out in that, but but at the end of the day, we are still acting like God is not all-knowing and God is not preparing his own harvest.

Is that so interesting to me is that we think that we're somehow the beginning of the end.

And yet God has already, in his divine wisdom, is already ahead of you making preparation for you because he's sending you maybe to a mission field, or maybe he's sending you to your work, and you keep saying it's just so difficult, but you're discounting the fact that you aren't the Holy Spirit, and he's already been working with people all around you, and he's just waiting for somebody to come alongside and maybe water the seed, or maybe just have a conversation, or just have some mention of it.

Why?

Because he's not depending on you to change them, he's already working on them.

The Bible says so clearly is that the Holy Spirit draws them to himself.

Not that we're good.

This is why when you see ministers and and and missionaries and people you talk to, like, oh, we so appreciate you.

I've had this, man.

The men are so gracious to me this weekend.

Thank you for the word.

You're so amazing.

And he probably heard me say this God is good.

God is good because it ain't me, pal.

I'm gonna just tell you something.

God knows and I know who I am.

This is him.

This is him, son.

I'm gonna tell you, this is him, right?

Because who I am by my nature, my humanity, right?

If I if I do that, I start to take a little bit of like, no, seriously.

No, it's my it was my pleasure.

As if whatever tiny sacrifice I made in submitting myself to the Lord and reading the scripture somehow eclipsed the sacrifice of the cross.

Which is why we step back and we say, God is good.

It's not me, it's this guy right here, and he'll use anybody.

Anybody, anybody in the balcony can be used, even though you sit as far away as you can from this.

Sit so far, I can't even make you out.

I know you're in here.

I know it.

And you're here for a reason because God's called you, He's anointed you, He's compelling you into this place.

You're a visitor today.

I don't even know why I'm here.

I know why you're here.

God draws you here.

God's been working at you at your work, He's been working in you in the car, He's been working for you at the house, and He is He is mobilized by the prayers of the saints of those around you.

And you don't even know it.

You just I you thought you ended up here.

I took a wrong turn.

I listened to my coworker, they invited me.

I shouldn't have come.

No, no, no.

The Holy Spirit draws us to himself, he's been slowly pulling you in.

And here's the good news: I don't have to be afraid to be obedient because the grace has already preceded me.

He's there, he's there.

You don't have to have fear, you don't have to have trepidation in this.

You can just move out.

What does it look like?

2 Corinthians 5, 14, 20.

Let's read this.

What are we called to do?

What's the seed of the church?

It's it's the message of Christ, but there's a specific message that was given to us, and we hear this from Paul.

It says this for the love of Christ uh controls us because we have concluded this that one has died for all, therefore all have died.

And he died for all that those who live might what?

No longer live.

Isn't that great news?

Everybody's dead for themselves, but for him for their sake died and was raised.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to their flesh.

You read this stuff slow.

You just go right on by this.

I went by this little phrase, and I just I even this morning, I was just like, I'm just getting down to this one, the highlighted one that I had.

I got hung up the fourth time I read through it again, and I was like, well, hold up.

This little statement right here, from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Oh, goodness.

Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer in the flesh.

We don't even see him that way.

How is that possible?

Therefore, if anyone is what in Christ, he's uh I'm gonna just talk to all my people who continue to hold people to higher standards than you were held to.

I'm talking to the self-righteous ones, talking to the ones who think they're better than others.

I'm talking about in when we died to ourselves, when Christ, we we crucified ourselves with Christ, we take on a new identity and a new purpose.

I no longer get the privilege of viewing you through my humanity filter.

Some of y'all gotta replace some of the features in your life.

Like, like the features of like, you know, like when you get on your phone, they have all those like cool little like like ooh, I'll do a little uh uh a little picture and a little sepia tone on my picture.

It's like a little filter.

Yeah, yeah, no.

Yeah, come on.

Look, dude, this is way back.

I got it.

Come on.

I'm still in Snapchat stuff.

Come on, just like update.

I need to update in my that's funny.

Dadgum it, sis.

I hate when you sit here.

I hate it.

Sit in the corner up there, those people need you up there.

Anyway, just kidding, I gotcha, I gotcha.

Come on, we need to replay, we need to update some filters, right?

Right?

How how do we do that?

Time with the Lord.

I'm gonna just tell you, time with the Lord will change the way you view humanity.

Time with the Lord reveals even a greater dependency on the Lord.

Time with the Lord will show you the kind of grace extended to you that is impossible for me not to extend to others.

It's because I know I know who I am and I know how God loved me so much that he stepped beyond all of my humanity, all of my sin, all of my flesh.

And he made a way for me, and because of that, I don't, I no longer get mad at people when they sin most of the time.

Because then there's some people I do, but yeah.

But see, that's the Lord helping me.

I'm in, I'm I'm needing a new upgrade, a new version.

How do you get it?

You just time, it's time with the Lord.

We talked about this weekend with the men, it's about capacity for more.

Isn't that what we talked about?

Men, right?

We're talking about this idea, God.

Don't I don't want more.

Stop praying the I want more prayer.

I want more, Lord.

No, you don't.

No, you don't.

And you know good and well, if He gave you more on the foundation that you have, you would crumble.

I want capacity.

I want capacity for more.

That's an infrastructure change.

Right?

Then He'll give more, then I can carry it, and the weight of it doesn't crush us.

Amen.

This idea, though, that we are in Christ.

Therefore, if anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old man is what?

Behold what?

A new one has come.

We're new in Christ and says all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us what?

The ministry.

Who is he talking to?

He ain't talking to the disciples, folks.

He ain't talking to the the lineup of pastorate, the pastors, the elders.

No, no, no.

He's talking to the church here.

Paul's trying to uh get the church to recognize no, this is bigger.

You don't understand.

Paul's had some problems with this church.

Y'all don't understand.

Paul, they they offended Paul.

Go back and look at this stuff.

They were upset at him, they didn't like some of the stuff he was saying and doing.

And I could you imagine?

I planted you, I gave you life, and here you're turning on me.

And yet he can still write this because he is not hung up, and what it this was never about him.

I'm talking about those who have found themselves to be easily offended.

I'm talking, yeah, yeah.

That's what I said.

That's what I said.

That's exactly what I said.

Easily offended.

Easily come on.

Come on.

I mean, you ever found yourself that way?

Easily offended?

I mean, we used to get offended about silly things, but now it's even worse.

It's like all things.

Like you're offended, and people don't even know they've done anything.

You used to have a reason to be offended.

You did this, and now I'm offended with you.

Now it's like you could have done that, and I don't like the fact that you could have done it.

That's that is a wild.

That's wild, but that's where we're at.

It's like, and and that you got that because they didn't say hello to you today.

And that is that I saw what they did.

Did you see what they did?

You're gonna be in the car today.

You're gonna get in the car.

Somebody will be in there and be like, did you see it?

Did you see it?

She just walked right by us.

Always says hello, but not today.

I knew they were talking about us.

It's like, bro, what are you talking about?

Like you are making up something to be offended about.

It's likely because you don't understand that you're on mission.

You got too much time on your hands.

Yeah, we we live in, we're living in in days where we have to be so much more intentional with the time that we spend.

And so so we get a bad rap when we talk about travel ball and things like that.

It's not we're not coming against sports and and family and things like that.

That's not what we're doing.

And and people will get that misunderstood when we talk about you really have to lock in.

Yeah, people are like, yeah, you're just against us.

We're nobody's against that.

We're just saying be a family on mission.

We're saying it wherever you're at, make sure that you're walking out as a family on mission.

Does that make sense?

Can we just bring a little clarity to that?

Because I've been feeling that kickback lately.

You know, like, oh and I'm not gonna even go there.

All right, here we go.

What is he saying?

We've all been given the ministry of reconciliation.

That's all of us, that's not one of us.

That each of us carry a responsibility, and that responsibility, and isn't it interesting that he doesn't say each of you have been required to carry Jesus into the conversation, or each one of you been required to speak in tongues, each one of you been required to prophesy, each one of you been required.

No, he didn't say any of that.

What does he say?

You have been gifted the ministry.

I am the minister.

My God, I am blessed and highly favored.

I'm the pastor, I'm the no, no, no, no, no.

You you you have one, we as the body have one responsibility.

You've been gifted the ministry of what?

Reconciliation.

Now, I'm mentioning this because it's important for us to note that this idea of reconciliation in verse 19 says, that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

If you I got great news for somebody who thinks God hates them and is upset at him.

This is your passage.

God is not holding that over your head.

But I know what I've done, and I'm so guilty, I'm ashamed.

You're you're living in condemnation.

The enemy has bound you to condemnation to believing that you're not who God has said you're gonna be.

But Paul's saying, no, this is who you are, Corinthian church.

You're not, you're not what people say you are, but this is what the Lord says.

I'm reconciling you to myself, and I'm not holding this over you.

And he says, How did I do that?

He says, not counting their trespasses against them, entrusting us what?

With the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are what?

Ambassadors of Christ.

It's Christ who gives us the ability to be reconciled to God Himself.

Making his appeal through us, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

You don't have to be reconciled to this church, be reconciled to God.

And when you are, and we live that way, he in turn gives you empowerment.

That remember we talked about having that seat, being seated with him.

This is that point.

We can be seated with him, that's the reconciliation.

And then he says, now I'm empowering you with the ministry of reconciliation.

Go.

Go.

Go get out of here and go.

Go, G-E-A-U-X, go.

This message was custom fit for me, wasn't it?

I mean, just couldn't be more.

Go.

Go.

Here's the questi.

Okay, come on.

Steve, don't troll me like that, dude.

Just what are we doing?

Here's what we're trying to say right here.

The seed we carry is reconciliation.

Friends of God make friends of God.

What a great phrase.

I think Christian gave me that.

It was the internet?

Sweet.

The internet gave me that.

But this one, the seed we carry is reconciliation.

This is what I think is fascinating because oftentimes I am constantly walking into situations where I feel like I have to solve the problem.

Or I have to have eloquent speech.

Come on.

Do you know that oftentimes the the boundary between my obedience is really just me feeling insecure about how to articulate really well.

And I don't want to misrepresent, and I don't want to get my tongue tied.

But here's here's I'm gonna take a little pressure off.

You don't have to be perfect in delivery.

You have to be aligned and motive.

And and to be aligned and motive, it allows me to walk into a situation and and not lead with all the answers, but to but to carry the message that says reconciliation is available for you.

And and this is how I am, I I can speak that message because I have been reconciled.

Right?

Because I have, I can share with you the joy of what it means to be reconciled with God.

Can I tell you about what Jesus did for me?

I was lost.

And I'm found, but that found that time between being lost and found is the cross.

And what Jesus did is He He made that available.

And He makes it available for you.

Do you see how easy this is when you realize I don't have to be perfect in my language, I just have to I have to share how God reconciled me back to Himself.

You know how you know how refreshing it is to sit down with somebody who's just like, man, can I just tell you my story?

Man, I was messed up.

I don't know about you, but I get comforted when I hear the story start like that.

Because what?

It takes the barrier down.

It's like, oh good.

Because I am seriously messed up.

Right?

You at least say this to yourselves, you know.

It's like, oh thank God.

Or like I I would be honest with you.

Okay, I was just a little transparency here, which you're used to.

I I get encouraged when another brother in Christ is like, I've struggled this month.

Like I can't, I pray, I can't hear nothing.

And I'm always like, me too.

Like I I want to be able to say that.

Some people you can't say that too.

Some people be like, the pastor didn't hear?

Well, I've we've heard four messages.

I wonder where those came from.

The devil probably, you know, see you jumped to conclusions like that.

This is why I can't tell you stuff, right?

But when others admit they're not hearing, I'm like, yeah, bro, I'm it's like brass up there.

Like it's encouraging to us.

Why?

Because because we're we're we're in the process of growing with the Lord.

There isn't anyone in this room who feels like they've arrived.

There's no one in leadership here that thinks they've arrived or acts like they've arrived.

I promise you that.

We're in process, we're in working.

We're being reconciled.

That sanctification piece is we are constantly being reconciled to Him.

There are portions of our life that are needing recon being to be uh that need to be reconciled, right?

Continually.

Okay, I I gotta go.

Yeah.

Too much time.

Romans 10, 5 through 15.

Another great passage here.

Uh if you have your Bibles, you know, highlight this, write these down, go back and go through them, because I think this is so important for us.

Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, and the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

But the righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven.

That is to bring Christ down.

Verse 7, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead.

But who, but what does it say?

I love this.

The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

That is the word of faith that we proclaim.

Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be what?

Verse 10.

With a heart one believes and is justified, and with a mouth one confesses and he is saved.

The scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

There is no distinction between Jew or Greek.

Great point here.

There's no distinction.

God loves all men, all kinds.

You know this.

God's heart is for the lost and the broken who do not know him.

Every single person he created in the image of himself, and he desires to know you personally.

Romans 10, this is what that's talking about.

We're learning.

This is this is this is the kind of relationship he wants with every person in this room.

He knows you.

You can get in conversations, even our young people get in conversations uh online and at school and with your friends, and people that make you start to question, you know, where you belong.

And does God know that I'm going to heaven or I'm going to hell?

If he's all knowing, then he knows this.

And I had questions like that.

I get that I actually pretty often.

But here I'm trying to encourage you is that God, God didn't create a hell for you to go to, he created heaven for you to go to.

And your free will will choose hell.

What he created was for safety, salvation, life, relationship.

You follow verse 14.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.

The good news this morning.

The message of reconciliation is good news.

The message of life in in the in the in the shadow of death is good news.

Light in the darkness is good news.

Jesus Christ is good news.

I'm gonna take it a step further.

The church is good news.

And anybody that anybody that wants to undermine that, you as a believer should fight.

But I am saying defend her.

You are her.

Yeah, but I'm ah, you I've seen church people, they're no good.

Well, you're sitting you're standing in front of one.

Are you saying I'm no good?

Because we've been friends for a long time.

Maybe you just haven't had met the right people.

And that's that that those two things can both be true at the same time.

Does that make sense?

Okay, um, let me just say like this, and then we'll we'll move on.

Seed in the bag can't produce a harvest.

Seed in the bag can't produce a harvest.

If the call is to go, to bring the message of reconciliation, and it stays in the bag, Steve.

I wish I'd have had a bunch of seed up here.

Where we just walk up to the ground and be like, man, I have what you need.

It's gonna be amazing.

Look at the look at the potential in here.

I pray over it a lot.

And I guard it.

And then I prophesy over it.

You will multiply.

Increase in Jesus' name.

Lord, give us a vision for this.

Lord, we want a fresh vision, not that one.

Give me the other one.

Lord, give me obedience.

Lord, that's what you want?

An obedient heart.

Yes, Lord.

I receive that.

And all the while you're just playing with the seed.

The seed is only as good if it's in the ground.

You gotta give it.

And I I know I'm being ridiculous over this point.

And probably could have done this in one point and sent you home.

Or to the buffet you're going to this afternoon.

But it it has to be said to the body of Christ: we have to get more comfortable.

We have to get more compassionate.

We have to get more convicted over the role of the church.

And the role of the church isn't to create a great and better, more slick opportunity.

It isn't that we have we want great programs, but if programs override people, then they're out of balance.

And the church is not going to thrive.

The church is just going to be a really fun, cool club.

And we should all get matching leather jackets.

I'm just thinking, that's so cool.

Just like, I don't know.

I feel like the what we're the guys off of like um John Travolta and stuff, you know?

The T-birds.

Isn't that their names?

We could all just be the T-birds or the rock birds or something.

I don't know.

I just when you think about how ridiculous that would be.

And you know what's also ridiculous?

For a long time, people thought our uniform here was a jean jacket.

And here I'm wearing one today.

I mean, really, people are like, I knew you were from the rock.

How you're wearing a jean jacket.

It's like, what?

You know, when somebody reveals something about you that you don't know, I I put all of them away.

I wouldn't wear them anymore.

Until this year, I just started bringing it back out.

I was like, I kind of like the jean jacket.

It's a good fit.

Alright.

A couple thoughts for you before we leave.

Here's the tragedy of the message I'm giving you.

Alright, listen, listen, listen.

I know you're hungry, I know you gotta go.

Can you just give me just a few more minutes, please?

Be very helpful.

Here's the tragedy.

The tragedy is not, I'll say it like this.

Tragedy is not that the seed won't work.

You understand what I'm saying?

What's in the seed has everything it needs to be fruitful.

You follow?

Here's the real tragedy.

Is the thought that we have barns full of seed and fields that were never sown.

That's the real tragedy.

So when we go before the Lord, we'll stand before Him about how we've spent our life.

The imagery that we typically get is that of crowns.

And when we have those crowns, John has a uh a revelation of what that looks like.

And that in in Revelation, with this idea that every person who received a crown turns around and then lays it at the foot of Jesus.

It's because you know and I know that we're only we're only a mouthpiece to the rec the reconciliation message, and that reconciliation message can only be done through him.

And whatever I've earned through that, whatever I've done through that, whatever I present to the Father when I stand before him, it will either be pure as gold or it'll be hay and stubble and it'll burn up before him.

And the good news is that there won't be judgment there, but there will be the effort will be proven.

Does that make sense?

There's judgment in one sense, but you understand what I'm saying?

There's parts of my life that won't bear so much.

It'll be like that was good, but it's not kingdom.

But what will be kingdom will remain.

And I I, for one, want to present to him a body myself as one who submitted, and I want I want to have something worth laying at his feet.

And I think it comes with this revelation that we're called to be his mouthpiece now.

You can't be his mouthpiece then because there will be no need for that.

We have today.

See, the early church thought it was only gonna survive here.

The problem was they would be dangerously close to the same problem that had been happening from the very beginning.

God wants you to multiply, and the fear is you're gonna be empowered by the Holy Spirit and not mobilize.

So what happens?

And you say, Did God kill Stephen?

No, the message of Christ brought the end of life to all martyrs, but it was his life and their willingness to die for it.

When he says he stands up as Stephen is persecuted, as he leans over, if you will, all eyes on this, because it begins.

You think about that, it was the big he was the beginning and the end, the first to be martyred, but the first of his sons to be martyred.

We're living in a freedom that we're not taking advantage of.

Some people in this room who will risk everything when they leave here today, and then some of us will simply risk being embarrassed by our waiter when he or she won't let us pray over them, and it shrinks us back, like oh, I knew it was hard out here in these mean streets.

I'm just saying, man, I'm just saying, you have a story that somebody needs to hear that reconciliation for your life, young person, is not too young and too fragile, it's not too elementary.

If you've given your life to Christ, I don't care if that was at eight years old, twelve years old, fourteen, fifteen, if it's a hundred and fifteen years old, it's not too late and not too early to preach the gospel of reconciliation.

Share your story and give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to use you in advancing the kingdom, amen.

So I got a question for you.

How far can grace go?

To any of turns out it can.

Because it's his.

How about this?

How far can reconciliation go?

To your enemy?

Can reconciliation go to your enemy?

And it should.

If you're a believer, if not, if not, reconciliation is is a government uh uh uh column in your life.

We gotta hide, we gotta get, we gotta vote somebody in so that they can bring the real judgment on what needs to be done, or you can live in a place of reconciliation that's above, okay.

I shouldn't I I'm just I'm just poking the bear now.

How far can the gospel go?

How far can it go to the nations?

Why?

Because that's been its intent from the very beginning, and my job and your job is to partner with Him to see it done.

Last one, how far can a saint go wherever Jesus sends them?

I want to be on mission this week.

anybody else?

I'm telling you, I want to walk out, I want to see people differently, I want to see situations differently, and I'm asking Holy Spirit, open the door.

Give me the grace to walk into it.

Someone needs my story, and I don't I don't care if it makes me feel look awkward, it's what you ask us to do.

You've given us the ministry.

I'm tired of praying for that that that that singing gospel music ministry you wanted.

How about just be the ministry of reconciliation?

I'm just waiting for my opportunity.

Your opportunity is today, and it might be your last, and so we deliver reconciliation.

Maybe that is needed in your home.

Maybe it's in a conversation you need to have today with a friend or a neighbor or a co-worker.

But all I'm asking you today is can we just ask, Holy Spirit, would you help us to be sensitive to the work of the kingdom?

And can we go?

Can the church just go?

We don't, we we want training, but we don't need any, we can't even fulfill all the training we've had.

We haven't even put into practice.

This is our this is the call to go and to put it to work.

Amen.

If you're with me today and you say that's what you want, I want you to lift both hands with me, just like this, as a receiving something.

Not like I'm surrender, not not, hey, I'm like this, receiving.

Not surrender, receive.

Right?

This is a simple posture, and it's real simple.

I'm just I'm asking, God, I'm asking for a fresh anointing for this season.

Some of some of us in this room have been following Christ for years.

But you even know, if you would just be honest with yourself, you kind of you kind of you're losing the get up and go.

You're losing that little bit of that little get up and get out there and put myself out there.

Maybe disappointment, maybe, maybe it's just uh I'm tired, maybe it's I've been doing that, uh, whatever it is, whatever excuse that you've put in that place, I want you to ask the Lord to forgive you for holding that ground because you've been holding his progress.

Not because he can't do progress around you, and he is, it's that he wants to do progress through you because in that act of obedience, there's something being developed in you that won't happen so long as you keep your mouth shut or so long as you eat the seed.

I'm asking for divine appointments this week.

Holy Spirit, we're asking you for divine appointments on the side of the road in the grocery store, God, in the manna house line, in my co-workers' cubicle, God, to my boss who I hadn't even spoken to.

God, I'm asking for a divine encounter.

God, we're asking for a divine encounter with the IT person that's on the other side of the phone for the person who's trying to solve my problem, God.

I I want to be able to feel that conviction to share the gospel of reconciliation to minister because you called us into the ministry.

God, I'm asking for divine appointments at the gas stations today.

I'm asking for for divine appointments at every restaurant, every lunch spot this week.

Oh, nobody's safe this week.

Nobody gets a pass this week.

God, we are motivated to go.

We are motivated to go.

You did not call us to stay, you did not call us to establish, you did not call us to build a monument in your name.

God, you called us to go, make disciples, move beyond these four walls, plant the seed, harvest the fruit, harvest that that's coming into the kingdom.

Even you said, the fields are widened to harvest, and you say, pray for laborers, God.

God, those laborers are the souls that have made You Lord, and we re-enlist ourselves to the work today.

We have had our time under the shade tree.

And now we're asking you, empower us into the field, into the harvest that you, the grace of God, has already gone before us.

We don't have to step out in fear, we step out in confidence today because you're already there.

And because you're there, there is nothing but success there.

There's nothing but grace there.

There's nothing but mercy there.

And Lord, we're asking you to empower us afresh and anew.

God, I'm praying encounters to our neighbors this week.

This week.

This week.

God, ideas on how to approach our neighbor.

Meal or food or whatever it might be.

God, whatever it is, we're asking.

Show us what it is.

Give us the grace to step it out.

We want to go.

Because that's the call in Jesus' name.

We thank you for all these things and more.

We love you.

In Jesus' name, everybody said.

Last thing I'm going to do just before we leave.

If you're here today, you do not know Christ.

You need to make him Lord of your life.

It's just this simple.

Lord, I'm tired of doing life alone.

I'm asking you to forgive me of my sins for my habits, hang-ups.

God, for the things that I've replaced for you, things I've called God, things I've let Lord over me.

And I want that replaced with the Lordship of Jesus Christ on my heart.

I'm asking you to feel me, feel me, to see me again.

I got great news for you in that prayer.

He has never stopped seeing you.

He has never been so close as he is right now.

And it's that simple.

This doesn't have to be a giant fanfare.

You don't have to make a lap around the sanctuary.

All you have to do is yield yourself to the Holy Spirit who's prompting you right now.

I don't even know the Holy Spirit.

He knows you.

He knows you.

And he is calling you to himself.

That's the invitation today.

If you're here today, standing with me at this altar are men and women who have been prayed up.

You see these dudes with these shirts right here?

Act like men.

Act like men.

That's a pretty good phrase.

Act like men.

I can tell you what, if you're here today and you need someone to walk you through in prayer, or you have a physical need in this room where you say, I need someone to agree with me in prayer, we're starting a new rhythm in our church.

This is the last portion of our service.

We want to make sure that you have an invite to come and get prayed for right here.

I don't want anyone leaving here today that needs something.

There's no reason for you to leave here today saying, Man, I wish I'd have had no no.

These people have been praying, they have been asking the Lord, and they're here to stand in the gap with you on the things that you need the most.

For those who have not ever received salvation, and you say, I want someone to walk me through that process, every single one of these people are capable of doing that today.

Don't leave here confused or worried or insecure.

If you walked into this room with anxiety and there's pressure bearing down on you like nobody's ever felt or seen, and you don't have anybody to walk that out with you, don't get back in your car without letting one of the brothers and sisters in Christ carry that with you for a few minutes.

And who knows what the Holy Spirit might have for you?

Who knows what answer he might want to deposit in your life by just one single act of obedience and moving out and getting that prayer today.

If that's you and you're in this room and you say, I want that today, I want you to go ahead and move this direction before we release everybody so it's not chaotic and so that you can have that prayer time.

If you say, Yes, ma'am, we got one coming here.

I want you to just move out and move towards one of these to come and have prayer.

Lord, I'm asking you for breakthrough for every person who's coming to this altar right now.

I don't know the situations, I don't know what's going on in their life, but we absolutely know this.

We do know this one thing that you're the best solution and the best chance you have to get in the freedom that you desire.

And we thank you today, Lord.

You are faithful, you are good, you are righteous, and you are holy.

For every broken body that's in this room, we we proclaim the healed of the Lord.

We do.

Somebody's like, Yeah, you do you not believe in the doctor?

Absolutely.

We trust the hands of the doctors and the things that they've they've been gifted for such an hour as this, but I will not let go of the promise of healing that the Bible says that we have as believers.

We can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we do so faithfully because he's capable, amen.

Now, Heavenly Father, go with us today.

I bless your people, pray strength and grace over every man, woman, boy, girl in this room.

Be with us today.

Use us like we've never been used before.

We love you in Jesus' name, amen.

We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful.

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Have a Jesus filled faith.