Is This for Me? | Kenya Celebration 2026

Well, good morning, church. M, it is exciting to be on this stage, uh, with these seniors that are here with us today. Uh, man, our students, man, they did an amazing job. I could not be more proud of these students and how well they led, how well they shared the gospel. Uh, so could we just take a moment just to appreciate all the things that done? So these guys have been, uh, really training for this since November. Uh, it started all the way back in November, actually about two years now. They've been fundraising for it. Many of you may not know how much goes into, into making this kind of trip happen for these students. Um, and so for past two years, they've been fundraising for this. And then since November, they have been meeting on a regular basis on Sunday nights, uh, for a thing we call worship teams.

Worship teams is basically where they gather and they start learning songs. They're memorizing verses. They had to memorize around 10 Bible verses. They had to read the entire New Testament as part of their training. They also had to, uh, meet a 75% attendance, like two worship teams to midweeks, to life groups. And so they're super active in the ministry here at Bern Hickory as well as they shared the gospel with eight students over the course of that, invited eight students to be a part of the, the church body here as well to attend an event. So they worked really, really hard, uh, for about 10 months or so, not eight or nine, 10 months, somewhere other, uh, just to be able to go on this trip and it showed. Can I tell you, the first time we met, we were a little nervous. Uh, so we were like, "That's, those songs don't sound amazing." Um, but man, God really showed up and gotta train these guys.

And so I'd like to take a moment. These guys are, are on the stage with us today and they're gonna get a chance to represent kind of the group. And, uh, so they're gonna just get a chance, first of all, to introduce themselves, but then also to talk about, uh, how that preparation took place. So start out with Lizzie, introduce us.

Hi, everyone. My name is Lizzie Lockhart and this was my first time attending Kenya.

Hi, my name is Meredith Diller. This was my second time a- attending Kenya, but it was my third mission trip I've been on with Radi8.

Hello, my name's Logan Black. This was my second time attending Kenya with Radiate.

Hello. My name is Ben. This is also my third mission trip with Radi8 and my second time to Kenya.

Yeah. So several of these students have been on missions or have been to Kenya with us and so I thought they were great to be able to kind of share a little bit about, uh, what took place over there and to hear it from their side. So let's start out. Meredith, would you start us off with just kind of telling us a little bit about how that preparation that I talked about every Sunday, how that kinda ... Looking back at, at that, how that preparation is so important to you. Yeah, so it was,

It was a lot to do. I will say, especially when I went my eighth grade year and my 10th grade year, I kinda just, like, saw it as a checkbox to just mark off, right? But then really the senior year, it's like the Lord changed my heart posture on it where it was, like, it was so personal to me. Like, and I truly dove into it all and it really, like, it changed a lot and especially, like, it helped me grow my prayer with the Lord so much to the point where it's like if I have spiritual warfare, especially, like, it happened over the trip a lot where I had spiritual warfare about something, I'd, like, compare myself to how other people were talking or just what I was doing. And I'm like, Lord, like, this is, like, not meant to be here. Like, I'm out here doing your word and your works and making more disciples.

And so that's when I would get in my prayer journal, I'd be like, Lord, like, take this away. Like, I'm here doing stuff for you. So all the preparation, it helps you mentally and it helps you with your confidence so that all these younger students and older students, whether it be first time, third time or second time going on a trip, like, they're confident in what they say and they know what they know.

Yeah. So you can see a lot of this preparation created a lot of self-disciplines for them and, uh, put them in some good rhythms for walking with the Lord and memorizing scripture and stuff like that. So it's, it's, it's so cool to see how the students just owned that, how they jumped into it. Uh, but it also, you know, when you prepare for things like this, you can get a litle nervous, but you can also get excited about things this. Trust me, the flight over there was quite exciting. Um, they were so excited. Moving around and having a good time. It was, we were the best thing on that plane, I'm sure for everybody that was on the plane. <laugh> Um, for sure. But before we left, uh, Logan, uh, help me out with this one. Uh, what were you the most excited about and what were you probably the most nervous about for this trip?

Yeah. So going into this trip, I was super excited, you know, to go to Kenya for the second time and just really share the gospel and my faith and my testimony to all these kids and just help, you know, share the gospel and all that stuff. And, but I was also really nervous. Something I was really nervous about was I'm not great at talking in front of big groups of people. I'm not ... I get nervous. <laugh> So, uh, I was really nervous that I wasn't gonna say the right things and do all this stuff and not, you know, not bring these kids to God, but I really saw God, like, work through me and allow me to talk to these kids and it was just, I was so amazing. And something else I was, I was so nervous about was the, uh, just all, like, the younger kids that were coming with us.

There was a lot of them and I wasn't, I was a little nervous that they weren't gonna be able to, you know, do what they needed to do, but they really <laugh> ... But they, uh, they really showed, showed out and God spoke through them, and I just wanna shout out one person that was in my group, Ford Cowan, he did, uh, he did an amazing job.

And so, yeah.

Thank you. Yeah. So it's funny, he says he was nervous to be in front of people, yet he's up here on the stage today, uh, in fronts of funds of people, which also shows the growth though. It shows that where God used him and, and while we asked him to be up here. You know, we had the opportunity. Our schedule was pretty full schedule. Uh, we started most mornings at about 5:30 in the morning and would go to bed around 10:00, 10:30. It was one night. I did let him go a little bit early and, and about 9:00. I, I said, "Hey, we're gonna lights out about 9:00. And can I tell you something, parents? I've never seen kids more excited, uh, to go to bed at 9:00." I mean, they were cheering and especially when I, one morning when I told them they couldn't get up till 7:00.

They were like, "Are you kidding me? " Uh, so, hey, you can, you can get them to go to bed early. Um, but, uh, we did, we did have a chance to step into a ton of schools. Uh, throughout the week, our schedule kind of looked like this. We would step into about three schools a day and then we would do, uh, ministry in what we call street evangelism ministry. When we'd step into the schools, there would be crowds. I'm talking, these are large schools, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 students were sitting in a small courtyard, uh, just tiny, just packed in on top of each other just to see us Mazunguz is what they caught us. Um, they would yell at everywhere we went, um, uh, stepping in there, but then we did a street evangelism. And I'm gonna tell you something, it's quite amazing thing to see 140 people walking down the street, probably quite intimidating as well, uh, for the people there, but to see them just dive in and to step up to places, um, and just start sharing the gospel, starting conversations and quick conversations.

But then we also did this thing called Plaza Ministries, which is basically where we would just set up on a corner and we would start singing and then as soon as we drew a crowd, we'd step out and start sharing the gospel with them. Um, and one of the times we even stepped into, like, kind of a Mus- Muslim culture area and we saw tons of them coming out and we just got a chance to share the gospel with them, uh, but in classrooms as well and we probably saw over, I mean, and this is a easy estimate, over 30,000 plus people we stood in front of these students stood in front of. Uh, but because of that, they had the chance to share the gospel with tons of them. Uh, and so I wanna ask you, Lizzy, do this one for me, what was maybe one of the most, uh, specific moments you realized that this is what God brought me here for?

Yeah, absolutely. So talking about the Muslim culture, that was something very new to me and I definitely was probably the most nervous, like, going into this about our three circles and just sharing the gospel in general, getting in front of, you know, 50 plus students in one classroom is, you know, really intimidating sometimes regardless of what age they were. But what I found is, like, the last two days with the schools, it was we saw more and more Muslims every single day and we saw, and we saw, like, I walked into this one class with my ministry team and there were about three Muslims in there and, and I, and then Andy, like, pulled me to the side and was like, look, we gotta, we gotta let them know, like, this is, we're saved by grace and not by works. And so I was like, oh, this, like, this is good.

Like, I got in the classroom and I would, like, I would draw on the whiteboard for our team a lot of the times and I drew on the board whenever we got to the gospel circle, I drew on the board, I said, because they're gonna understand, they understand that Jesus died on the cross. They all were able to raise their hand and tell me that. But I knew that this would be a great way to, even, even not the Muslims, but even all the kids in there, just to know, like, how much love, how loved they are and just, like, that they were saved by grace and not just by work. So I actually drew a mountain type thing. It was like a triangle on the board and then I put God at the top and I put what represented us. It was, like, stick figures at the bottom.

And I said, and, and I explained it as I drew an arrow like God coming down the mountain to us and, like, that's his grace and that's his love for us. And then I explained and reiterated that us as people, we didn't have to go up that mountain to God. We didn't have to go up the really steep mountain to get to God. Like, he came down that to get to us. So that was a moment where I was like, this is why, like, I was meant to be here just to teach and just to pour into these students and seeing the looks on their faces of just, wow, I didn't realize, like, that's how it was. And they were just so curious and I even got to have some personal conversations with them about that. So that was really cool.

Yeah. So good. And Logan, I think you had something as well, uh, for this question, uh, that you wanted to share about going to the boys' school.

Oh, yeah. So we got the opportunity to go to a all boys school, just the guys, and we got to play some sports against them, like soccer and basketball. And when we played basketball, I got to know some of the guys there, you know, we played with them and then afterwards we sang for them and then we got to go out and talk to them. And I had a group of guys that we played basketball with walk up to me and I just got to really pour into them and share my testimony to them. And it was just really cool to see how much they related in that testimony. And then we also asked, or I asked them a good question. I was just like, "If Jesus was to come back today, do you think that you would go to heaven?" And a lot of them said, no, they didn't believe that they would.

And I was like, "Why?" And they were just like, "Because we don't think that we're good enough. We don't, like, we're not good Christians." And so I really got to share about my testimony and some of the struggles I had and just really pour into them and tell them that Jesus loves them and Jesus is always there for you with his arms open and you can always come back to them. So it was just really cool.

Yeah. So, I mean, you see that we had opportunities to have multiple conversations. Now, we did learn something about ourself at that boys' school. Uh, we learned that, um, we, we're not as good at basketball as we think or, and we are not soccer players at all. <laugh> Um, and I mean, we, we, we may have won one game, but I'm not sure they didn't just give it to us. We blamed it on the altitude. That's what we blamed it on. We were running out of breath. Uh, those guys were just going at it to the point that they're pretty straightforward to Kenyans are. It's quite amazing. They looked at us before I left and they said, "Hey, next time you come, could you bring a team with you that can actually play?" I was like, "Well, I thought we did." Um, I mean, we picked the best of the best we had, uh, but there's some pretty amazing gospel conversations that took place there.

Uh, you know, we got a chance, and you might have heard this earlier in the service, but we saw 2,722 decisions made for Christ, uh, while we were there, which is amazing. I mean, it's so amazing to know, uh, that we're gonna get to see every one of those again, you know, because of the decisions these kids had an opportunity to have a conversation with. And we also know that Swahiban Network, man, they do an amazing job of following up with these, these students, following up, getting them locked into a church somewhere, discipling them. Um, even one of the guys even shared his testimony that's on this Waheba team, shared his testimony about where he gave his life to Christ at a school when someone came like that and now serves and is able to teach and do what he does now because of that.

So we, we look forward to all the amazing, uh, opportunities that are ahead of us, but at the same time, um, Ben, take this one for me, okay? Um, can you share one conversation or one person that y- you're never gona forget because of that?

Yeah. So in Kenya, we had the opportunity to wash some of the children's feet as Jesus did in the last supper. So I already washed my feet and then Eli Leonard, the person next to me had said he already washed some guy's feet and actually led him to accept Christ, so shout out Eli. So as, as the day went on, we had already finished. I was just trying to make myself useful so I was filling up water bowls and telling people where to go and then Eli called me over and said, "Hey, Ben, this, this kid who I just led to accept Christ, he has a question that I don't know how to answer." So I walked over there because I like to study the Bible and he was asking really hard and really honest questions, like he was asking why does God create killers and which book of the Bible should I read first and why this and why that?

And I just love to see his curiosity and I love to see his faith because it truly means because he was asking the same questions that I asked earlier in my faith. So I really enjoyed leading him in my faith or in his faith, sorry. And I enjoyed growing in my faith knowing that I can answer those questions and help others out. Yeah.

And so also the last day that we were there, we were at the Masai Market, right? Which is really fun because it's like trade day stuff, like you get to go and buy fun souvenirs, right? And so Everett and I, we had a friend from work who happened to be in Kenya at the same time and we're like, "Hey, like, let's meet up," right? So they, he met us at the mall and we're standing in front of this one restaurant and we're just chatting and on the back of our shirts it says, Jesus loves everyone, right? And so the cashier's like, "Hey, like, does Jesus love me too?" And our friend was like, "Yeah, he loves you. Like Jesus loves you so much." And we all go up to him in Everett and I were like, "Do you know who Jesus is? " And he's like, "No, not really.

" And we're like, "Well, let me tell you about him, right?" And so it was just such a good conversation because we were like, "What do you believe in after, like, presenting the gospel?" And he's like, "Well, I don't really believe in anything, but, like, I respect all the religions, but, like, I used to be Muslim and then I left. And unfortunately, like, we were running out of time so we had to pray over him and we wanted to continue the conversation so bad." But it was just so crazy the fact that we just had these sayings on our shirts and he was like, "Wait, Jesus, like, does Jesus love me? " And we're like, "Yeah, man, like, Jesus does love you. He loves everyone. And let me tell you more about him." So that was one of my favorite conversations.

Yeah. So we had tons of great conversations. We also learned that, uh, God uses just about anything to be a tool to share the gospel. And our shirts were definitely one of those, uh, tools and, and that we all have those kind of tools to really use here even to share the gospel. But one of the things we trained the kids on was this thing called Three Circles, which is a tool that anyone of you can look up and use that as a powerful tool and, and these students now that have been going off to college, we were to, to use this tool to share the gospel on their college campuses. Um, but Lizzie, what was one of maybe the most, um, kind of impactful and powerful ways that that training really helped you?

The training was definitely a very hard part of my preparation for this trip. Um, this mission trip was my first on and so I didn't really know what to expect. I went into it pretty blindly. I mean, I had my worship teams and all my training from Sunday nights, but a lot of the times I did have to miss those trainings and sacrifice that because I played softball, I would have tournaments on the weekends and things like that. And so that was always really, really tough, like having to miss those, um, times with my team where I really get to know them one but also get to train for when we get there. So I was really nervous about that, but getting to walk into the classroom and just seeing how like even just little preparation, seeing tho- the looks on those kids' faces, like when you walk in that classroom and like something resonated with them or something clicked in their mind, like that is the most powerful and just the most rewarding feeling anyone could ever have just knowing that even with like the little preparation I had that my team had my back, but also I was able to pour into these kids and just show them true love and joy that they can have as well as we all have going on the trip.

And so that was really, really cool and it just gave me a lot of gratitude about that.

Um, so one of the things we realized is that on a trip like this, 50% of what we're doing is discipling and just pouring into lives of our students while we're also learning to serve and, and to share the gospel. And so a lot of these students have walked away from this trip, not only just with some memories that will never leave them, but also with just, like I said, a, a depth and their faith that they've never experienced before. Ben, would you just help us understand how this trip changed your faith personally?

Yeah. So I'm a very, I would say I'm very confident in the three circles and sharing my faith and sharing my testimony. So and what I've come to learn is that when I see people that are younger than me and don't know what they're doing, I'm like, "Okay, step aside. I can do this. " Which it sounds bad, but, you know, it happens. So, but through this trip, God made me learn and God made me come to realize that, that I can't do that. So instead of sort of taking over, I, I, I helped them through there and I taught them and I teach them so that instead of me leading out the entire trip, I was like, "I'm confident in you and I know you're able, so I'm gonna let you re- lead out. "

As you saw it probably in the video earlier, um, one of the things that I was so much impressed with was some of our upperclassmen, how they, they led so well. And, and we did have a lot of younger students or students that had never been on a trip before, um, and we'd broken them up into teams, uh, but these students just took lead and they would pour into those younger ones and even in the moments where the younger ones were maybe like, it's very easy just to kind of fall in the back and to, and to let the older ones speak, they would encourage them and challenge them. My son was one of them that I remember seeing him come out of a room of grinning ear to ear, uh, after he had, he had been with Lizzie in there and she had challenged him and encouraged him and him stepping up and just sharing and how that impacted in such a powerful way to see our students, our, our high school students, our older students pouring into those younger students, uh, that's, that's true to side pushup, that peer-to-peer discipleship.

And man, I was so proud to see that, to see them lead that way, not just to go, "I got this, I'll take this, but to really step out in that. " Um, one of the things I want Meredith to take from me here is, um, h- how did God, or what did God teach you about him, himself?

So the Lord really taught me, um, to just trust him and be patient with everything, especially me because I'm so hard with patience. I am the least patient, patient person I think I possibly know, right? And I'm like, if I want something, like, I'm determined to do it now here and there, like, I'm going to do it, right? But, um, the Lord just taught me to really, like, slow down in my tracks and just appreciate what he has for me, but also go to him and be like, "Lord, like, I need help with my patients. Like, I know you have so many great things in store." And especially that's what helped me with my prayer too. It's like going to God for stuff that I just need his help with and just realizing that he wants us to come to him and he's always gonna provide a way for us and his plans are always gonna be better than ours no matter what.

That's the obvious fact right there. It's just whether you have enough self-control to be patient and to trust in what he has for you. So that's, uh, something big that definitely stuck out to me too.

Yeah. So we had a lot of pretty cool cultural experiences. We actually stayed with the Massai tribe, had an amazing night of sleep and a tent, uh, there. Um, there was no pricklies, none of that that happened, uh, over there, but it was an amazing time, but it was also very eye-opening opportunity for us as well, um, through that time. And so I want, it's kind of a two-part question here. So one, um, what was kind of the impact of that experience? But two, man, if you were going to really look at one of the students that, or even an adult in this room that's been thinking about, "Man, I need to go on missions. I need to do this, but I'm just afraid. I, I, I'm unsure of what I should do if I should do it or not. " What is one word of encouragement or what is one way that that experience impacted you to go, "I gotta do more missions?"

Um, absolutely. Uh, anyone who's thinking about it, um, I was on the side of thinking about I was doubting, I was like, "I don't know if I should go. " But one thing that I took away from this trip is that someone told me, um, that you have to be uncomfortable in situations in your faith, get comfortable being uncomfortable in your faith because that is one thing that now I learned in Kenya I just brought back to America and like now if I can stand in a class with 40 plus students, 50 plus even of all ages and everything like that and I can be in an uncomfortable situation sharing my faith, then I can sure do that here. And so it's like that's one of the biggest takeaways and I would just encourage that leap of faith because it's okay to be uncomfortable in your faith sometimes.

And a really favorite saying is God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called, right? And so even if it just means like bugging your friends about stepping into something here in ministry, like keep pushing about it. Like it is so important to also take that leap of faith throughout your journey with God because in the end he builds it so much and think of how many missed opportunities you could just let go if you didn't jump into these like just questionable times where you're like, God, like, I need to trust you, but like I'm scared. Like he wants us to go and follow him even in those hard times. Yeah.

And for those of you that are questioning if you're going on missions, I'd say the best thing you can do is hop in the word or hop in your prayer life because at the end of the day, you're doing this for your faith and you're saving other souls. So I would just say pray about it and study your Bible because this is all for God's glory and it's only gonna be your benefit.

Yeah, exactly. Like they, like all of them said, you know, you just gotta really take that leap of faith and just open your heart and allow God to work through you because if you don't have that faith in God, then he can't really work through you. And just so just open your heart, get in the word, pray, and just do what God tells you to do.

Yeah. Well, church, we wanna tell you thank you for supporting these students, for coming alongside them. I know that many of you were praying for them. You had little, uh, slap bracelets with their names on them and you were praying specifically for them and it meant the world for us and they felt it. There was a lot of life change that happened in life of students, a lot of things that happened, uh, not only, uh, on the trip that we heard your prayers, but also for your support, that these kids had the opportunity to do ministry in such a powerful way because of Bern Hickory's support of them. So thank you and we just wanna just take them on students. We do appreciate this church for what they've done for you. Okay. So I'm gonna hand it over, uh, to Pastor Carey now who's gonna come out and he's gonna lead us in the rest of this service time.

Again, thank you so much from my heart, uh, for all that you've done to support these students and allow them to have an opportunity to minister the bid. There you go, Pastor Carrie.

Thank you, Pastor Chip. Can you guys appreciate this team one more time? It's good. We were talking to the, the kids about coming back and after you've traveled for 24 hours, the last thing you wanna hear from one of your pastors is like, "Hey, you feel like speaking tomorrow?" <laugh> But they did, they did fantastic. I'm so proud of them. Uh, I, I'm so proud of what I've seen on this trip, uh, and I know you guys got a taste of it. So I wanna capitalize on it. That's what, that's what we do as pastors. We bait and switch you. We got you here so we can ... No, it's good. But you've witnessed something incredible today and the testimonies and all this stuff. So I wanna say where all that came from and why we're doing what we're doing. Uh, God's put a holy calling on our life and what you've seen this morning, what you've got to witness is students all across the stage every hour today sharing their testimony, sharing their faith and I wanna walk us through what God has called us for because it isn't just for this group.

It isn't just for a select few, it's for everybody. If you have your Bibles with us today, we're gonna take just a few minutes. I've only got just a few minutes to, to talk with you about this and it's super important. Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, we can open there and look at that about the unity of the body of Christ. Paul is in prison because that's where he always is. Anytime <laugh> anytime he's going somewhere, seems like God's like, "Eh, let's go to prison. We gotta get some letters out there." And so Paul is talking here to the church in Ephesus chapter four. He says, "Therefore, as a prisoner of the Lord," we always know he's a prisoner of the Lord, "I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which you have been called with all humility and gentleness and patience bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain unity in the spirit, a bond of peace.

There is only one body and one spirit as you were called to the on hope that belongs to your ca, the one Lord, one faith, on baptism and one God and father of all who is overall through all and in all, but grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says he was ascended on high. He led a host of captives and he gave men gifts to men. In saying that he ascended, what does it mean that he was the one who also descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above the heavens that he might feel all things. And he gave the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and the shepherds and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry. That's what we've been doing for the last 10 months.

We have been equipping the saints for work and ministry for building up the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ so that we may, may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried by every wind of doctrine, human cunning and craftiness or deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every unto him is the head into Christ from whom the whole body joined together and held by every joint with which is equipped each part for working properly is working properly, making the body grow that so, so that it builds itself up in love.

That's a lot. That's a whole lot. Those sentences are very complex. Paul had a lot of time on his hands when he wrote this. You could do an entire series just on that, but we've got about 10 minutes. So here we go. Y'all ready for this? But what you've seen, you've witnessed something this morning, you've witnessed the, the result of what it is to train and equip people for work in ministry. The first idea I think we had is to take students and go, "Hey, you've, you've been learning, you've been growing, you've been receiving, you've been receiving Bible study, you've been receiving sermons, you've been on the receiving end as kids could, as should be. " But in this, in this trip, what it drove us to all of us really is that, uh, you're in this moment here and you've got to come all the way over here to say, "Now I am equipped to be a part of the body where it's time to pour out.

It's time to give because that's what God's called us for and today we're gonna take a look and see what Paul says that it's for everybody, everybody in the body of Christ. First point is, we are called to live worthy of our purpose. You'll see that in the first few verses. Paul begins to talk to people about walking in the calling they receive, walking in the calling. Now look, there's nobody who had a bigger excuse than Paul to say, Man, my schedule's pretty busy right now. I'm in jail. I, I can't be doing a lot of walking around. As a matter of fact, I was walking to where I was going and now I'm in jail. He had the biggest excuse and he's saying, walk out your faith. He was literally changing somebody in a dungeon, you know, just riding away. He's telling us to walk in our faith.

There is no excuse. He's got us right there where he wants us saying, walk in it. It doesn't just say, stand in a distance at it, take a look at it, it's walking in it. Our purpose is not to merely exist, but is to reflect on Christ's work in our lives. God has called us to this. He has called us to grow in our faith, to equip one another for ministry and to pour ourselves out in unity and service. Notice he says again, he says, walk. He didn't say, watch it from afar, observe it, just study it. He says, walk in it. It's wor- he is worthy of ... We need to walk worthy of what the calling is. So my first question to us today is, are my attitudes, my actions reflecting this call that God has placed on my life.

Second thing we need to look at is that what, what we're created for. We're created for unity and for service. Paul talks about this on body. That's what we are in the body of Christ. We are one body working in harmony together. Unity is found in Jesus and unity in Jesus means that we are submitting to that and it removes self-preference. It, sometimes our selfishness, which we're all prone to, that's what ruins unity a lot of times and we see the value that knowing that everybody has a part to play in the body of Christ, everybody was given a spiritual gift, a place to work, and the church grows when everybody participates. So this principle that God created each of us with a purpose inside the body of Christ. To be the true body of Christ, you can't just sit back and watch the body work, you have to be actively a part of her.

We Or the bride of Christ. We are not God's second plan. We are not the backup. We are God's chosen people to do good work. That's what it is. If ... So here's my second question. How am I using my gifts and abilities to serve? Or am I just being a spectator? What you've seen is a stage full of students all morning that said yes. They just said yes. So what happened is about 10 months ago we started preparing for this trip. And so what we would do is on Sunday nights we would come back after you've been at Sunday all morning, you would come back at 5:30 and we would start learning to sing songs, learning to sing harmonies for a bunch of kids that didn't want to do that. Uh, that's, I think I'm hearing some amens from some of the students. And then we taught them how to share their story, how to share the gospel in multiple different ways to prepare for this trip.

They were required to read all of the New Testament and take notes on every sermon to learn how to share everything that they know about themselves. And this took months and months and months. And look, telling a bunch of kids that on Sunday night they've got to come back. Bro, I don't want to come. Look, I, I get it. I, Shelly and I are Saints fans, so we'd be at Sunday afternoons watching the Saints lose and be like, all right, I guess I gotta get myself together. It's tough being a Saints fan. It was easy to walk away from those games and come back here. <laugh>

Lord, help us. It's gonna be okay. But this is, you have to start saying yes. And that yes sometimes is uncomfortable. You just heard students talking about being uncomfortable. Nobody wanted to come back, but I'm telling you, the moment we locked in, everything started to change. We met right over here in this little room, the music suite next to us on our first week. So what happens is when you, when we start meeting, it's not really required. It's like, "Hey, we're getting our early bird. Look at this. And we're gonna start meeting once a month." Our first meeting, the room was packed. We didn't, we grew out of that room instantly. We had to go start stealing rooms at the church to find a way and I knew God was gonna do something different. A lot of people said yes. And you guys are witnessing the outcome of it.

So God did not merely call us for salvation, but he called us for growth to take a next step. Believers are called to spiritual maturity and I'm telling you, the spiritual maturity was what we were aiming for. It really was, it really was a fantastic thing. Spiritual immaturity leads to instability, but mature believers stand firm and truth because they stand on the word of God and that is our firm foundation. Amen. Christ is the head and he's leading us every step of the way. So this principle, our purpose includes continual growth, discipleship, and equipping others to live out their faith, equipping others for ministry. You can never be equipped if you're still sitting on the bench or on the sideline. You're just watching other peoples do it. Students, this part's for you. You're reading scripture, you're sharing your testimony, you're learning how to sing. All these things that Pastor Chip and the, and the other guys taught you guys how to do with sharing your faith and doing all this stuff.

Do you know that that just wasn't meant for Kenya?

That doesn't die in Kenya. It's gonna change the way we are the rest of our lives. Do you believe that? We saw 20, over 2,700 people come to Christ. What if you take this same passion, these same principles, your same testimony, your same gospel presentation, your same love of the word of God and took that into your homes and to your schools. Would be called burnt hickory for a new reason. It'd be burnt hickory because the fires of revival would blow through this place and you guys are the next generations gonna do it. Amen? Amen. Come home. Yeah, I better get with it. We're going somewhere. Here's my question. Am I growing spiritually or have I become comfortable right where I'm at? I'm a chil- I'm a child of the '90s. I was born in 1985. I know that's hard to believe back in the old 1900s.

Back in the day, we used to have this place called Blockbuster. <laugh>

Okay. Tell you what Blockbuster's like. So Blockbuster was this place you went and rented VHS. That's what you did. Before DVDs, there was VHS and you had to rewind them. All it was was that you wanted to watch a movie at home, but you spent half of your time walking the aisles trying to figure out what movie you were gonna watch and individual. You just watch the same ones all the time. You couldn't just download that. It was awesome. But did you know that Blockbuster had a chance to buy this up and coming company called Netflix? <laugh> Do you know that? They passed on it because Blockbuster was in the business of renting movies. They weren't interested in what their really, their real goal was, was to let you watch movies at home. They passed on the deal. Netflix blew up and Blockbuster's a thing of the past because they didn't really know what they were about.

Kodak. Everybody remember Kodak? You remember film for that? Y'all know that snapping sound your phone makes when you take a picture? That's not iPhone. That's imitating a shutter on a camera. 'Cause back in the day, we used to have cameras with film in it. My first trip I took as a teenager on, on a music trip, I, uh, had this giant camera around my ... I was such a dork. Uh, uh, and I had this thing. And then when you got, when that role feel, you know, the adults know this, you had to take it to one hour photo. It was not one hour. It was probably like three days. And it was, it was ... And then half of the pictures were blurry, like, oh my goodness. The digital camera was developed in the 70s and they shelved it because like nobody's into this.

We're into film. We're selling film. And really what their goal was to capture moments. Nobody has film anymore. Every one of you have a camera in your pocket. How I know this is because if anybody fell asleep on this trip, blackmail immediately. <laugh>

Now, now Kodak's ... Nobody knows what Kodak is anymore because somebody came in, so we're about capturing moments. I do not want this church or the church at large to be just a nostalgic thing of the past. And I'm telling you, church, if we don't wake up and say yes to being equipped for ministry, the church will cease to exist. Thank God the next generation is showing us how it's done. So proud of you guys. Here's three takeaways. We're almost done. First, I challenge you to read. Again, go back and read Ephesians four. That's been a huge part of our kind of internal conversations at church is how to inspire people to want to be a part of this. Many of you are. Tomorrow we have vacation Bible schools. You've heard like 1500 kids already signed up. I'm hoping tomorrow it's like 2000. You know, I, I really do.

I think that's incredible. Do you know how many phone calls it takes to make that happen? How many people you have to beg and plead or use blackmail pictures of them falling asleep on a bus or whatever it is to make them show up? You're sitting there thinking, "Man, how is this, how can I be equipped? I can't sing. Good. That's okay. You don't need to sing." Well, you have to sing. Let me, let me stop.

We all have these things. I can't do what you guys do on stage. Who asked you to do that? Some of you are gifted for that and you're just hiding it. I don't need you to sing like me. I like my job. I don't want you taking it from me. <laugh> You don't need to sing. Well, I can't speak like Pastor Matt. Good. Nobody can. He's Pastor Matt. He is unique. God has still called you to sing. You know in the Bible it's mentioned over 400 times that we're supposed to sing. He didn't ask unless you have a good voice. I think some ... Look, we had some kids, they know that maybe you've been a little tone deaf on this trip just a little bit. <laugh> And they sang because it didn't matter. Do you think maybe God made us, made some of us a little bit not able to sing because he said, "Hey, I'm going to ask you to sing.

I'm going to tell you to sing. I'm going to command you to sing because I commanded you to sing." Well, I don't really speak well. Neither did Moses apparently. And God said, "Go speak to the most powerful man there is. Do you think God's interested in your excuses? He definitely is not. Well, I don't know how I can do X, Y, Z." The answer's yes first and God gives a solution later. I've seen it happen. Seen it happen. You have a divine calling in your life. You were created for him to one body, one service through Christ, to walk in humility, love, and obedience. Secondly, you belong to the body of Christ. Everybody has a role to play. Again, whether you think you can do this on the ... It's not about being on a platform. There's so many pieces to the physical body. I don't see how cells work.

I can't see that. I, I, I don't know how anything works in the body. That's my wife's department. She's smart. I'm not. I don't ... I, I just play guitar. That's all I know how to do. But it requires everything. It requires everybody. The people you didn't see making phone calls, asking people to serve in vacation Bible school, they worked hours for it. The people that are gonna be preparing the, all the things we did to lead up to this trip, you never saw many of them. It works. The body require- is required to have all the peaces fitting and God is calling you today. It doesn't need to be if I serve. We need to be banging, banging on the door of the place, going, "Where can I serve? I don't wanna be forgotten about. I don't win ... I don't wanna be the blockbuster of culture in, in the name of Jesus.

I don't wanna be forgotten. I don't wanna be a has been. We wanna light this community on fire, or at least I do. Okay. Lastly, this, whatever the blank is, isn't just for somebody else. Missions isn't for somebody else. Singing isn't for somebody else. Sharing the gospel isn't for somebody else. Living in your calling isn't for somebody else. It is for me and for you.

And it's not if you feel comfortable. It's not if your finances are right. It's not if you've got a good voice. It's not if you're comfortable with this and this and this and this and this. God's saying do it. And we're seeing it. The challenge from a dude who's literally locked up and saying, Go for it. The guy that had all the excuses, I'm telling you, if it had been me trying to do Paul's journey, I'd be like, okay, God, can we have a talk for a minute? Why you keep locking me up? I was, I was really doing well. Now I'm shipwrecked. Now I'm on an island. Now I got bit by a snake. Now I'm chained up to this dude. Now I'm in this prison. Now I'm being beat to death. Over and over and over. You think Paul would have been like, dude, I need like two weeks off. <laugh>

Is there a vacation somewhere here by ... No, it's not. He's saying, Go walk in it.

Here's my conclusion. Walking and being equipped for ministry isn't just my calling. Anybody that's been changed by Christ, that's your calling too. So here's my conclusion. Church, are you finally ready to be the church, to be an active body of Christ? Are you tired of just attending? Being a spectator? That's not all of you. Some of you are so in. Some of you are so in. I'm so thankful. Some of you, I would say you're missing out. That's all it is, is you're missing out. I get this question a lot. I say, "Mc- Carrie, do you have enough people? You, you, your whole stage is full of people. You must have plenty. It isn't about having plenty. It's about reaching people that you know. The reason there's so many people involved in what we do is, one, we want to use our gifts and talents for the Lord and every person on this stage has a sphere of influence.

Every person that teaches a life group class has this fear of influence. Every person that says yes is a direct tie to what Jesus is doing in the life of the church. And that tie could be you.

Are you ready to do just more than attend, but are you ready to be active in the body of Christ? You may say, Man, is this all this stuff really for me? Is missions for me, is serving for me? Paul says yes, because you were designed for it. You may be here today and it's like, man, I don't even know if I know Jesus. How can I step? Well, your first step is surrendering your heart for Jesus. To my left and your right, Pastor Matt is gonna be here ready to receive you and talk to you this morning. I think today's the day that if you've been walking without Christ in your life, today is the day that he is calling you out of darkness and into life. If you've been on the sidelines, if you've been watching from afar, if you've been attending 1.2 times a year and then you're like, man, check out one, 1.2 times a month or just twice a year, whatever it is.

If you came here like, "Man, what are these crazy people all about at Vernon Hickory?" We are about the name and the fame of Jesus and the next generation is showing us how to do it. You need to take that step today. There's absolutely nothing you holding you back. So in a moment we're gonna enter into a time of response. We're gonna worship, we're gonna sing. God is using this to call you right over here. There's Pastor Matt. You'll see him. He is ready. We're ready. We wanna see you take that next step in faith and be equipped for the body.