Joining God's Movement | Unstoppable - Acts 1:8 | Tony Walliser

Well, good morning.

Welcome to Silverdale Baptist Church.

I'm so excited that you're here worshiping with us today.

I'd like to welcome all of you here at this campus, but also like to welcome all of you at all of our campuses and all of our venues and those of you that are worshiping with us online.

If I haven't had a chance to meet you personally, I'm Tony Walliser.

I'm one of the pastors here at Silverdale and have the privilege today to share with you God's word.

So this one I'll encourage you to do.

Go and take your Bibles.

Open up in the New Testament to the book of Acts.

Turn to Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

You can turn to Acts chapter 1.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Or if you have a smartphone, Bible app, you can turn to Acts chapter 1 as well.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And then do this.

Take out these Bible study outlines that we provide for you.

We give these outlines so you can follow along and take notes as we study God's word together.

It's always important that as we're studying the Bible and God speaks to you, you write down the things that God's speaking to you about.

Now we're beginning a brand new series called Unstoppable.

And what we're gonna do, we're gonna be looking at the first few chapters of the book of Acts and the incredible rapid growth that took place in the early church.

You may not realize this, but the book of Acts in the New Testament is the history book of the early church.

And it's an incredible phenomenon when you study it.

Because basically, Acts chapter 1 starts with 120 followers of Jesus.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

Okay?

Jesus ascends back to heaven.

You got 120 followers of Jesus, frightened followers that are in the upper room, and then within a few decades, it becomes a global phenomenon.

I mean, basically, they have no army, they have no political power, they really don't have much of a strategy, and yet God makes them unstoppable.

In fact, notice how they're described later on in the book of Acts.

In Acts chapter 17, it says this about Christians.

Acts 17 · chapter mention

These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too.

I mean, Christians were described as people that turned the world upside down.

And so by the time you get to Acts chapter 5, it is estimated that the church at Jerusalem alone ran around 10,000.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

So that was the first megachurch.

I mean, it was just incredible, right?

And then after by the end of the century, you had a couple of hundred thousand followers of Jesus Christ in the Roman Empire.

How do you explain that kind of rapid growth?

In fact, whenever you study the book of Acts, what you'll notice is it talks about the growth of the church with addition, right?

It's like first grade math.

One plus one plus one plus one.

God was adding to the church.

But then later on in the book of Acts, the growth of the church is described as multiplication.

It's like you go from first grade math to third grade math, two times five times ten.

It's just rapid growth, people coming to faith.

Look at Acts chapter six, how that's described.

It says this, and the number of the disciples what?

Multiplied greatly.

Okay?

And so you got this rapid growth.

And so there's always that question, okay, how did that happen?

Right?

How did this small handful of followers of Jesus literally turn the world upside down?

How did that happen?

Well, what's interesting when we study the book of Acts, we discover some an interesting principle.

And it's this, and I'll put it at the top of your outline.

The church multiplied when it moved beyond the apostles, it grew when every believer joined God's kingdom movement.

Let me say that again.

The church multiplied when it moved beyond the apostles, and it grew when every believer joined God's kingdom movement.

Now it started with the apostles, right?

I mean, you don't get better pastors than Peter, James, and John, right?

I mean, these guys that have been discipled and trained by Jesus Christ Himself, no wonder the church took off like crazy, right?

But what's interesting when you study the Bible, it's whenever it went beyond the apostles, whenever they started sending out missionaries and planting churches all across the Roman Empire, that's when the church really began to take off and multiply.

And so by Acts chapter 16, look again how the church is described.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

So the churches were strengthened in the faith and they what?

Multiplied in numbers.

Now, as I think about our church, I mean, God's done exceptional things here.

God has grown our church in, you know, in ways that I can't even uh imagine.

And to be honest, you ask me how is it that God's doing this?

And I'm like, I'm not really completely sure, but God's favor is on our on our church.

And we have, you know, six locations, and you know, God's reaching hundreds and thousands of people through our church.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord.

But I also know that we live in a region, a tri-state region, where there's probably a half a million people that do not know the Lord, right?

That's a reality.

And and the the fact is that I don't think we should ever be satisfied with reaching a few hundred or a thousand people for Christ when God's heart is for hundreds of thousands of people.

Now, the only way that will ever happen is if our church moves from addition to multiplication.

Because this is how people are coming to faith right now through our church.

You bring people here, they visit, they hear the word of God, the Spirit of God speaks to their heart and transforms them.

Hallelujah.

We see hundreds come to faith every year that way.

But again, God wants to reach tens of thousands of people.

How does that happen?

We have to experience the multiplication principle.

You see, something tragic happen in church history, and it's this that somewhere along the way, Christians begin to think that coming to a weekend worship service was the essence of the Christian faith.

You come to a religious service, and that's basically your Christian life.

Okay?

And so what happens is that the church, rather than being the move of God, changing the world, just became a religious institution.

Well, folks, I don't want us to just become an institution.

I want us to be a part of the move of God.

God has a heart for the world, and I don't want to just, you know, change a community.

I want to see us change the culture.

How does that happen?

By joining God's move.

And so here's the thing God wants you to join him.

God wants you to join him.

How?

How do you do that?

Well, today what we're gonna do, we're gonna look at just one verse.

It is Jesus' final commandment to his disciples before he ascends back to heaven.

And from that one verse, we will discover what it's like to join God's move.

Ready?

It's a very familiar passage.

It's Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

Let's look at this passage together.

Jesus said this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit's come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Now, Jesus just gave the greatest assignment given to anyone of humanity.

Jesus said, I want you to take the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.

And I can just imagine the disciples were like, What?

Now wait, what did you just say?

This is crazy, right?

And so, but guess what?

It happened, right?

2,000 years later, there are more followers of Jesus on this planet than any other religious group, right?

You have these few Galilean hicks that God uses to turn the world upside down.

Do you think God can do that today?

Absolutely, he can.

See, see, the problem is that a lot of us were like, oh, God could never use anybody like me, and I'm just one person among billions.

There's no way God could use anybody like me, and that is a lie.

Whenever you are surrendered to Christ and his plan for your life, God can do supernatural things through you.

Now, let me just give a negative example of this, okay?

It was 25 years ago.

Did the nine Islamic terrorists change the world for the worst?

Absolutely, they did.

These are nine guys that were committed to a false religion, Islam, to a false God, Allah, but because of their commitment, they changed the world for the worst.

But what if true followers of Jesus Christ, following the true Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, gave their life to Him?

Do you think we could change the world for the better?

Absolutely we could.

And that's what God's calling us to.

And so, how do we do that?

We're gonna learn how in Acts chapter 1, verse 8.

Acts 1:8

Okay, three things that Jesus is inviting us into.

Ready?

Jot them down in your outline.

Number one, first, it needs a personal relationship with Christ.

It starts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Okay?

Notice again how Jesus says this in verse 8.

Jesus says, and you will be my witnesses.

What's a witness?

A witness is somebody who testifies, right?

Okay, I've experienced something, I've seen something, I can testify about this.

And Jesus says, You're gonna be my witnesses.

That means we can testify about Jesus.

That means we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

You see, the early disciples, they had been with Jesus.

They had seen him.

They'd seen him, you know, command nature, walk on water, cast out demons, raise the dead, heal the sick.

I mean, they saw him, right?

Do those miracles.

And then they watched him be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world whenever he died on the cross for our sins.

And then three days later, they saw him alive again, and they knew, without a shadow of a doubt, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who came to save us, and they gave their life to Jesus.

And even though they were arrested and dragged into, you know, courtrooms and tortured and punished, and and um, many of them were, you know, crucified.

They would not stop talking about Jesus.

Why?

Because they knew Jesus.

So, my question for you today: do you really know Jesus?

In fact, jot this on your outline.

I want you to ask yourself this question.

Do I have a head knowledge relationship or a heart relationship with Jesus Christ?

Do I just have head knowledge about God or do I have a true heart relationship with Christ?

Because you can ask, you know, most people in Chattanooga, right?

We're here in the Bible Belt.

You ask them and say, hey, are you a Christian?

They'll say, Oh yeah, I'm a Christian.

I went to church at this when I was younger, and and I am, you know, I was baptized at this place over here, and right?

And basically we call that cultural Christianity, right?

I mean, it's like Christ is a part of your life, but it really doesn't make any difference in your life, right?

You ask most people in Tennessee, hey, describe you, and they may say, Well, I'm a Christian, or or I'm a Republican, or I'm a Vol fan, or I'm a, you know, I'm a um, you know, Alabama roll tide fan kind of thing.

And you may go, okay, that's a part of their life, but it doesn't really control their life.

And you're like, you don't know some of the Alabama fans I know.

It controls their life, and they're crying here today.

But the fact is, that's the way a lot of Christians are.

We've compartmentalized our faith.

We've got a little Jesus on the side, right?

But it doesn't really affect the rest of our lives.

Why?

Because it's just dry, dusty religion.

Um, I heard this funny story about this real formal church, and the Reverend prayed something like this.

And Lord, we are butt dust in your presence.

A little boy turns to his mom and says, Mom, what is butt dust?

Well, that is what we are when we don't have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, okay?

It's just formal, it's just head knowledge, it's not real.

And so the question is, do you really believe has Christ captured your heart?

Because if Jesus has really captured your heart, you know he's got a bigger plan for your life than just living for yourself.

You know God has great plans for you, and you're willing to get off the sidelines and say, God, I'm willing to be a witness for you.

I mean, think about it like this.

Um, if you discovered a cure for cancer, would you keep it to yourself?

Would you say, hey, you know what?

It's just a hassle to be able to tell everybody about my cure for cancer, and and goodness gracious, there may be some legal battles I gotta face.

And some people may think that I think that I'm better than somebody else because I've got the cure for cancer.

I mean, can you imagine somebody giving excuses like that if they had the cure for cancer?

No, any compassionate person would readily tell everybody, right?

And yet, here's the thing: we know the cure for the brokenness of this world and sin.

It is Jesus Christ.

He is the answer to every ill we have.

And so he wants us to join him.

But the only way we're really gonna join him is if we have a real personal relationship with Christ.

Head knowledge religion does not change the world.

Okay?

That's where it starts.

Second thing is this jot this on your outline.

We also need a personal empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

We need a personal empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises that he's going to bring his presence and his power through his Holy Spirit if we will join him in his movement on the world.

Notice again how Jesus puts this in verse 8.

Jesus says, but you will receive power when?

When the Holy Spirit's come upon you.

And so the only way we're going to do this is if we experience the power of the Spirit, if we've learned to yield our lives to the working of God's Spirit in our lives.

And in fact, this is so important that Jesus in Acts 1 will say, Hey, do not leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit's come upon you.

Now you can just imagine the disciples like, what?

You've just given us this huge assignment to go to the ends of the earth.

We've got to bring the kingdom.

Everybody, we got things to do, right?

I mean, we got to do some planning, we got to get it organized, we gotta, we've got to write some books, we've got to a leadership conference, we've got to do something.

And Jesus is basically saying, Hey, no, no, no, no.

All that stuff is worthless without the power of the Holy Spirit upon you.

Now, here's the sad reality for many Christians is that many Christians have learned to live powerless lives.

That we've learned the Christian life in our own strength, and we wonder why it doesn't seem like God is doing much in our lives.

Because we haven't learned to yield our lives to Jesus and his spirit.

Let me see if I can illustrate it like this, okay?

I have here today a sound machine, and these are amazing.

I wish these things existed.

At least I knew that they existed whenever I was raising my kids.

Because with my six grandkids, these are amazing.

Why?

Because you put them to bed and you turn on one of these sounds, right?

It can be white noise, it may be ocean waves, it could be rain, and you just turn it on, you go to bed, and they're like, boop, they're out.

It's a miracle, it's amazing.

I heard one lady, she says, you know what?

I go to bed every night hearing the rain all over me.

But then I wake up dry and you go, Well, hello, of course you do, right?

It's just, it's just a machine, right?

Here's the sad reality.

That's the way a lot of Christians are when they come to church.

It's just white noise.

They just come here, you hear, you hear the truth of God, you hear the voice of God, but it never penetrates, you never get wet.

Why?

Because you know what?

It's just head knowledge, it's just information, it's just white noise, and yet God wants to change your life.

And the only way he's gonna change your life is whenever you've learned to yield yourself to the power of the Spirit of God.

Now, next week we're gonna look at Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We call it Pentecost.

That's when the Spirit of God came down upon the church.

We'll look at it in detail next week.

But here's the thing the Apostle Peter in the next chapter, Acts chapter 2, he's trying to explain to the people how the Holy Spirit is come upon people.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And what he does is he quotes an Old Testament passage from the prophet of Amos.

Look at what he does in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

He says this in those days I will pour out my spirit.

It's a prediction about the new covenant, even on my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy.

Now, what's going on there?

Well, in the Old Testament, prophets were very rare, right?

But the prophecy is that in the new covenant, everybody's gonna have the Spirit of God, and everybody's gonna become a prophet, right?

What does that mean to become a prophet?

Everybody becomes a proclaimer of God, everybody testifies about God.

And so what does that mean?

If you're under the new covenant, which you are if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, then guess what?

You're a prophet.

Okay?

Turn to the person next to you and say, You're a prophet.

You're a prophet, you're a prophet.

Okay?

Now you go, I don't feel like a prophet, but you are.

Now here's the thing.

All right?

Do you know who the greatest old covenant prophet was?

Well, you don't have to guess.

Jesus tells us that in Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

Look what it says in Matthew 11.

It says this it says, None is greater than John the Baptist.

Yet even the least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

So John's the greatest Old Testament prophet, but the least in the kingdom, those that are under the new covenant are greater than even John the Baptist.

Now let's think about this just for a second.

I want you to think about the people in this room, or maybe the people at all of our other campuses.

Imagine every room, there is probably at least one person here today that is the least in the kingdom of heaven in this room.

It only makes sense.

One of us is the least.

So some of you may go, well, that may be me.

I may be the least in the kingdom of heaven in this room.

Or you may look across the room and go, I bet it's him.

I bet he's the least, right?

So whatever.

The fact is that Jesus saying, no matter who you may think is the least, they're greater than John the Baptist.

How can that be?

Because now we have the Spirit of Almighty God living inside of us.

We, the Bible says, we are now the temple of God's Holy Spirit.

God's Spirit now resides in us, and now we can experience his life and power working through us.

So you go, how do I know?

How do I know if I'm living my life yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit or not?

We'll answer this next question.

Jot this down.

Are you fearful or are you courageous?

Are you fearful or courageous?

Because the early Christians, folks, they were courageous.

They were courageous in their faith.

Notice how Paul says this in 2 Timothy.

He says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power and love and sound judgment.

If you have a spirit of fear, that is not from God.

This was the first verse I memorized when I became a follower of Jesus, because I was a very fearful person.

God hasn't given us a spirit of fear.

And so the reason why most Christians do not make an impact in their life and the people around them is because they live such fearful lives.

Well, I'm afraid.

And guess what?

We don't make an impact through our lives because we live fearful lives.

And so many Christians today have just become so passive in their faith because they live in fear rather than boldness.

I heard one British pastor put it like this.

He said, You read the book of Acts, and you see that everywhere Christians went, there was either a miracle or there was a riot breaking out, which is true.

And he says, But everywhere I go as a pastor, they serve me tea.

Right?

See, our faith has become so domesticated.

Let me illustrate it like this, okay?

Here is a picture of a wolf.

Now that animal there is not domesticated, right?

That is a wild creature.

But guess what?

A few hundred years after the wolf, you have dogs, our pets that hang around.

And so now our pets in our house look like this, okay?

Isn't he cute, right?

He's a cutie, right?

He's got his little Easter outfit on with a, you know, the Easter bunny outfit.

There he is, right?

And so let me ask you, look at that dog right there, and you go, okay, a few generations back, that was a wolf.

That don't look like no wolf.

If a burglar comes to your house, is he gonna be intimidated by that domesticated dog?

No, he will not.

I mean, that dog will probably look at his hand to death, right?

Can I just tell you, see that picture of that dog?

That's the American church.

We come to church with our Easter outfit on and we look good, and we're partially, you know, like we used to be, but suddenly we have become so domesticated we can't change anything.

See, we're no longer courageous in our faith, we're passive, we're fearful.

Why?

Because we haven't learned to yield our lives to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is saying, I've got to move.

I am moving on this world.

I want you to join me.

It first starts with a personal relationship, then there's the personal empowerment by the Holy Spirit, but then there's a third thing, and it's this drop this down.

Number three is a personal mission with God.

A personal mission with God.

God wants you to join his mission, right?

And so if God is On the move, then it only makes sense that if you want to go on with God, you've got to be willing to move yourself, right?

I mean, check it out.

Look how Jesus said this again, verse 8.

Jesus said, You're going to be my witnesses where?

In Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And so Jesus is telling his disciples from the very beginning, hey, you guys are going to have to get outside of your comfort zone.

You're going to have to go where it's maybe not comfortable.

You've got to go to all Judea.

Or, hey, you got to go to a racially different group called the Samaritans.

Or guess what?

You're going to have to go some cross country, learn some new languages, and actually go to the ends of the earth.

How are you going to do that?

You've got to be willing to go with God.

Now, let me remind you that Acts 1.8 isn't just a command for the early church.

This is Jesus' command to every one of us as followers of Jesus Christ.

This is God's command to each one of us.

And so what I want us to do today is I want us to read out loud Acts 1.8 together.

But this is what I want you to do.

Whenever you come to the word you, I want you to just say your name.

Okay?

And so you ready?

We're going to read Acts 1.8.

All of our campuses are going to do this together.

Acts 1.8, let's say it together.

Ready?

But you, okay, goodness gracious, folks, you can do a lot better than that, okay?

All right.

So um you gotta say it out loud, and then whenever you come to the word you, you say your name.

Got it?

Okay, let's do it again.

Ready?

Let's do it again.

Ready?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Okay, listen.

This sermon's getting longer because you're afraid of saying your name out loud, okay?

Loud and proud, people, okay?

Say your name.

This is about you, okay?

So let's do it again.

Ready?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon.

And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Woo! Hallelujah.

That good job.

That's what God expects of us, right?

That's it right there.

And you go, okay, well, how do I join God in his mission?

Well, this is it, down in your outline.

Find a place of ministry.

Find a place of ministry.

Find a place where you serve and plug in.

It may be in our church.

We have hundreds of volunteer needs all the time, but find a place out in our community, serve our community.

As a church, we have three core values.

What are they?

Worship, grow, and serve.

This is what I've discovered.

When you find a place of service, that's often the place where you start growing the most.

And that's often the place where a lot of worship and praise to God begins to happen, right?

So find a place of service.

Now, again, there's hundreds of volunteer positions and needs that we have in our churches and all of our campuses, but here's the thing our church is very outward-focused.

And because of that, we also want you to find ways that you can serve our community through our local partners.

Let me explain how our church has done this.

We realized a long time ago the needs of our city are too great for just one church to handle.

And Chattanooga is amazing.

There's so many amazing Christian ministries in our town that are meeting the basic needs of our people.

And so we're like, why should we recreate the will when these people have the same heart we do for the same Lord, for the same gospel, right?

And so today at all of our campuses, and this campus right here, you've got dozens of people, ministries out in the atrium.

These are people, listen, they're amazing.

They're on the front lines of meeting people's needs in this city, in this county.

And they need people to come alongside them and encourage them and support them, right?

They have the same heart we do.

Now, what I want to do is I'm just gonna close my message today.

And as I close, I want to share with you what our church calls the peace plan.

P-E-A-C-E.

Now, we call it the peace plan.

You see it at the bottom of your outline there.

It's an acrostic.

But basically, what it stands for is this is the way Jesus did ministry.

And if this is the way Jesus did ministry, then we, along with our partners, this is the way we're gonna do ministry as a church, okay?

So what's the peace plan?

Ready?

P is first, we preach the gospel.

We preach the gospel.

Everywhere Jesus went, he preached the gospel.

When he sent his disciples out, he told them to preach the gospel, right?

We as a church, people come here, they hear the gospel.

You go, what's the gospel?

Here's the essence, summary of the gospel.

Ready?

You are a sinner separated from a holy God.

But God has an incredible love for you, and he does the unthinkable.

He sends his only son, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus lived the perfect life you could never live, and then Jesus died the death that you deserve to die.

He died on the cross in your place and for your sins.

And then God raised him up from the dead.

And now today, if you'll repent and believe, if you will turn from yourself and trust in Jesus and call on Jesus to be your Lord in that moment of surrender to Jesus as Lord, in that moment, the Bible says God forgives you, He saves you, He fills you with His Holy Spirit.

That's the gospel.

Okay?

So we preach the gospel.

Well, our partners preach the gospel as well.

And guess what?

We've seen hundreds of people come to faith in our church, but we've seen the same thing.

Check out the statistic here.

Okay?

We've seen this year 22,600 gospel conversations outside these four walls with 480 people coming to faith this past year.

Praise the Lord, right?

Because we preach the gospel.

Preach the gospel, right?

What else?

E, we equip servant leaders.

We equip servant leaders.

Jesus was the ultimate servant leader, and he spent a large part of his time doing what?

Equipping his disciples to be servant leaders.

Well, we do the same thing in our church through what we call it, Silverdale Institute.

I'm a part of a discipleship program.

Every year I'll have a group of people that I'll disciple.

It's called Disciples Making Disciples.

You can be a part of that next year.

But the thing is, is that we do that outside the church as well.

And so look at these statistics, right?

We have seen 3,850 people engage in discipleship and leadership training.

We've seen 6,000 youth and incarcerated individuals that have been mentored.

That's happened through our church and our partners.

What else?

A, we assist the poor.

We assist the poor.

Jesus was always ministering to the marginalized.

Did you know there's over 2,000 verses in the Bible that tell us to care for the poor?

Here's one.

Proverbs 29 says, the righteous understands the cause of the poor, but the wicked is unconcerned.

That's why at our St.

Oma campus we have a food bank there because we want to care for the poor.

But our partnerships, so many of our partnerships are doing the same thing.

Look at these statistics.

We have 227,000.

Our church and our partners have provided 227,000 meals to the homeless this year.

17,000 family meals were provided, 400 sleeping mats, 700 blankets, 500 toiletry, and essential care items.

Why?

Because we are called to assist the poor, and that's what we do through our local partners.

What else?

C, we care for the sick.

We care for the sick.

Jesus, a large part of his ministry, was what?

He was a healer, healed the sick.

And whenever he sent the disciples out, he said, preach the gospel, heal the sick, right?

Why?

Because if you want to share good news, you need to be good news.

And so what do we do as a church?

We care for our body.

We care for the sick in our body, right?

We we pray for the sick in our community.

Every day, somebody's going to the hospital, visiting people in the hospitals.

But guess what?

We have some partners that they are ministering to the sick in our community in incredible ways.

Look at the statistic.

There have been 95,500 patients that have been served through our local partners, whether it be medical needs, dental, vision, health care-related issues.

Praise God.

That's what Jesus did.

That's what we're doing.

What else?

E, we educate the next generation.

We educate the next generation.

I believe the only way we're going to stop the cycle of poverty and addiction and broken families is through the educating of the next generation, right?

Teaching them a Christian worldview.

That's why we as a church, we have a Christian school.

Cerro Baptist Academy.

Over 1,200 plus students are here having and learning a Christian worldview every day.

But our church doesn't just want to have a private school for Christians.

No, we want our public schools to prosper as well.

And so we've partnered.

Our church supports 28 local schools.

We've served more than 2,200 teachers and more than 4,000 meals for students.

We've seen more than 15,000 students participate in Bible in the schools, our FCA weekly huddles, or other faith-based programs.

Why?

Because we believe that you got to educate the next generation in a Christian worldview.

So that's the peace plan.

Now I've given you a lot of statistics here today, but let me just remind you: every one of these statistics is a person, a person for whom Christ died for and loves.

And God is inviting you to be part of his peace plan.

He's inviting you to be part of his move on the world.

But you got to get moving, right?

I mean, think about it.

Ask yourself this question.

Why didn't Jesus just rapture you out of here at the moment you believed?

The reason why you're still here breathing breath right now is because God's got a plan and purpose for your life.

Seek him.

Say, God, I'm available to you.

I want to join you in what you're doing in the world.

Make yourself available to him.

I love the way that Dr.

Tony Evans once put it.

He said this if your community is going down, it's because Christians are spending all their time in the church and are not taking the kingdom of God beyond the four walls.

Folks, God's on the move.

He is moving in our city, in our church, and around the world.

It's time for us to say, God, I'm going to join you in your move.

Because if you do, guess what?

He's unstoppable.

Amen.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you so much for your word.

I thank you, Lord Jesus, for calling us to a life greater than ourselves.

Lord, please forgive us.

Forgive us for living for us.

Forgive us for just going through the motions in our Christian faith.

Forgive us for believing in our head, but not being changed in our life.

Lord, would you please start that change in us right now as we say yes to you?

Lord, help us meet with us.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.