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"Here as in Heaven."
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You're listening to GARDEN CHURCH Podcast. We're in a series called Church on Fire, a journey through the book of Acts. This is the story of ordinary people filled with the spirit carrying the presence of Jesus into every corner of the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and in us today. Join us as we step into the call to be people set on fire for his mission.
Darren Rouanzoin:Thank you, John. Thank you. Never had to worry about overflow before. So I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm thankful for all the people that have come from the send and what an incredible weekend that was.
Darren Rouanzoin:If you missed out, we were a part of this gathering of Orange County and Southern California churches and churches from all over the world that gathered for reactivation around the great commission. And, we got to I got to speak at it, which is wonderful. But, I've been gone for about four weeks doing a study break writing, and I'm excited to preach. But, I got overwhelmed seeing all the kids worship. And, you know, I love Jesus.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, you know, I met the real Jesus here on this campus as a student. And, I felt called to ministry because of the work that was happening in Costa Mesa. And, my life was changed for lots of reasons in in this place. And so, I preached my first sermon over here for a grade in in the building across the way in Pastor Bill's class. And, now, there's an overflow.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, I just I am humbled. I want to just worship God. So, let me just get my bearings. You know, you think after preaching eighteen years, you get confident. I'm not confident.
Darren Rouanzoin:I'm so insecure. And I want to see God move today because there's the presence of God is here and you know, we could feast on him. You know? And and I think there is some some of a word in here. I I preached already at our 09:00 service with our brothers and sisters and there was some stuff that came out that was good.
Darren Rouanzoin:But I wanna I wanna see him do something fresh. So Jesus have way. Would you open our hearts? Lord, I want you to light us on fire. All this consuming.
Darren Rouanzoin:We want to be consumed. So Lord, I just offer this to you. I pray that you would do what you do and that we would be open to the power of your word and the Holy Spirit today. As we open up scriptures in Jesus name. Amen.
Darren Rouanzoin:Acts chapter 16. So, if you are new, we've been doing this for about a year. And, we're on chapter 16 today. So, going slowly through the book of Acts because that's what we're about. And, Acts 16 comes after Acts 15 and, yes, they pay me the big bucks.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, what I need you to see is this this takes place, scholars believe, twenty years after Jesus is resurrected from the dead and ascends into heaven. So, we get to Acts 16, roughly twenty years from when Jesus told his church, his followers that wait in Jerusalem and you will receive power, dunamis, the ability to do what you cannot do on your own. For what? For you to have $8 lavender lattes and read a bible study with your friends? For you to make your career that you got off of a life map five years ago in the thing that drives you forward?
Darren Rouanzoin:No. To be my witnesses, where we get the word martyr. Martyria, where your life points by how you live to the reality that Jesus is raised from the dead. So, you receive the ability to do what you couldn't do which is to bear witness to the resurrection by the presence of the Holy Spirit with the direction, by the way, his mission to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. We we read those as regions, but to the places you never want the gospel to go because you hate those people.
Darren Rouanzoin:It breaks social barriers. It goes beyond where you think it gets to the ends of the earth. So, the journey we've been on is watching Jesus, the missions director, lead his church. And, we're gonna read in just a moment the one time this phrase is used in the entire bible, the spirit of Jesus. And, it's used with a door closed.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can you trust the God of a no as much as the God of the yes? So, we're gonna dive in. Acts chapter 16. I'm gonna skip verses one through five for a moment. Let's start with verse six.
Darren Rouanzoin:The question underneath everything today is burning inside of me is this question. Are you consuming his mission Or, are you participating in it? I'm just tired of the Laodicean church in Southern California. And, forgive me if that sounds harsh. I'm gonna preach.
Darren Rouanzoin:I love you guys. I love you. I'm not angry. I'm passionate. And, I'm on fire for the church to be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ again.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, if you know me at all, I I I do believe that we're called to store up oil, but there are communities and people that have been awake for a while, and they're not just storing up oil. They're running up and down the street saying the bridegroom is coming. And wake up to the reality, and every single scripture points to Jesus, and we're in the middle of Acts 16. I'm gonna show you that our missions director, twenty years later, is still directing the mission of the church. Two thousand years later, he's not sitting on a throne waiting for the church to fulfill the missional statement of the church.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's directing it. He's energizing it. He's walking amongst the lampstands according to Revelation chapter one and two. But brothers and sisters, we have to wake up because for us, we somehow have baptized Christianity in the American lifestyle where you can consume content and call yourself a follower. So, Acts 16.
Darren Rouanzoin:Oh, yeah. This is this is going somewhere. Thank you, Lord. Acts 16. I'll figure out this clip here.
Darren Rouanzoin:Here we go. Verse six. Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. The sender is the roadblock. The greatest missionary in the world has a door closed to Asia by the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is amazing. Because we know God's been leading the church up until this point. He's been leading the church homes, in temple courts, in prayer gatherings, in synagogues, through opposition, through persecution, through scattering. He's seen cities on revival. He's led the church to desert roads with Ethiopian eunuchs.
Darren Rouanzoin:Eunuchs. And then in Acts 14, we have a wide open door of ministry, and it gets nearly shut by the compromise of the gospel. And we pick up in Acts 16, and Paul is doing what he's commissioned to do. Carry preaching the gospel, but the spirit keeps him from going into Asia. When they came to the border border of Mesia Mesia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
Darren Rouanzoin:Do you have a Can we go Do we have a picture of the map? Let me just show you what's happening. So, I'm gonna This is a huge screen. So, it starts here. Gonna go up there.
Darren Rouanzoin:Good thing I'm tall. So he's gone this way and we read in verses one through five. He's in Lystra, Lystra, and Iconium. And then he keeps following the road and he's trying to go to Asia. He's he's trying to go to Asia.
Darren Rouanzoin:He's trying to get to Laodicea, Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis. These this this part, these these are the the cities named in Revelation. But, he go He gets past and he gets to Troas, which we'll read about. So, that's where he's at. And then, it says, so they passed by.
Darren Rouanzoin:During the night though, verse nine, Paul had a vision. Now, pay attention. Two closed doors directing his journey. Can I just say pause? Praise God for closed doors.
Darren Rouanzoin:We'll get to that in a second. Two closed doors, then he takes a nap, Goes to sleep. That preaches by itself. Paul had a vision of a Macedonian, a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us. After Paul had seen this vision, we got ready at once.
Darren Rouanzoin:We immediately left for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. Alright. I love this so much because the greatest missionary in the world is trying to do the calling God gave him back in Acts chapter nine. Right? He's been journeying along.
Darren Rouanzoin:And in Acts 13, he set apart for me ministry for that I've set them to to an apostolic ministry. And as he's doing his apostolic ministry, closed doors. God's used open doors to guide the church and he uses closed doors to guide the church. I love this. And, let me just say, Paul will write in first and second Corinthians that he can't visit Corinth because he has a wide open door.
Darren Rouanzoin:He says, I wanna come but I can't because there's a wide open door of effective ministry happening and I can't leave it. Where is it? Ephesus. So, it wasn't no forever, it was no for right now. How many of you know sometimes the no's are to protect you?
Darren Rouanzoin:To to to allow you to lead because there's a corner coming that you cannot see. That the nose that God gives us to guide us because God is guiding us. Jesus is leading the mission. We are called to follow Jesus. Now, I say this, but I'm convinced that as disciples, follow Jesus.
Darren Rouanzoin:Some of you are not convinced yet. Some of you, Jesus is just that accessory mornings to inspire you for the week. No. He wants to baptize you. Like, wants It's, you know, Paul's favorite definition for identity with Jesus is in Christ.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's not saved. It's not adopted. It's your life is hidden in Christ. So, follow him. And what does that mean?
Darren Rouanzoin:Well, stop asking for step seven. When he reveals step one, pack up the gear and get to Macedonia. The church needs to wake up to being followers of Jesus, and I Can I tell you the best illustration of what life is like following Jesus? I would love to have one of those high powered flashlights where it just burns a hole in stuff and you're like, oh, there you go. I can see two miles.
Darren Rouanzoin:Like, blind. It's not how it works. Anyone that walks with Jesus long enough, the older I get, the more I know he doesn't ever give you seven steps. He gives you step one, and he'll wait. You're like, I don't hear his voice.
Darren Rouanzoin:Well, you didn't do step one six years ago. He said step one. Go back to step one. Okay. And then guess what?
Darren Rouanzoin:He doesn't give you step two. He gives you step one again. The safest place you can be is at the center of God's will. It might lead to crucifixion, but that is the safest place to live. As close to your rabbi as possible.
Darren Rouanzoin:So what is life with Jesus like? The older I get, it's like a lantern. Not even a high powered like LED lantern with cool colors. It's like a candle that you have to keep lighting because if you move too fast, it goes out. I'll write that one down for the next service.
Darren Rouanzoin:But if you've ever used a lantern, which many of you probably haven't, you're like, why do I need that when I have this? You know? Let's go. So you're you you go this direction and you're like, oh, there's a wall. I'm gonna go this way.
Darren Rouanzoin:There's another wall. Okay. I'll keep going this way. And that's what life with Jesus is like. That's why, again, they pay me the big bucks.
Darren Rouanzoin:Illustrations. That's what I've realized is that oftentimes, it's just moment to moment, one step at a time. Brothers and sisters, I'm leading our church right now in a in a big decision for the garden because because do you know you are the result of a closed door? Like, I wanna tell you this story. Our whole life as a church, which started in Costa Mesa.
Darren Rouanzoin:My wife and I, where she at? There she is. We were It's actually started with a word from God in India. And then, I was I I got married to my wife, and I told her we're gonna plant a church in Long Beach. Why?
Darren Rouanzoin:Because Jesus said that on a train in India. And, we were living We lived over here by OCC, and then we moved to Newport. And then from Newport, we moved to inner city Long Beach. In inner city inner city Long Beach, we started a church, with about 12 people, and many of them are still here in a basement of a church. And we we were doing church stuff.
Darren Rouanzoin:There wasn't like ark church planning. There wasn't a strategy. We didn't have the send yet to equip. We just went in. I bought coffee.
Darren Rouanzoin:I strung up lights around railings. The Cambodian church that met before left all the trash inside so it smelled like Cambodian food. Glorious. We got kicked out of there. Closed Doors, found an open door at a nightclub.
Darren Rouanzoin:So what do we buy? We buy industrial air purifiers because that's what you do. Because it was a cigar lounge, and that's where the kids met. In this the humidor of a cigar lounge. I never take my kid to a cigar lounge.
Darren Rouanzoin:You take the gargoyles off the wall and bible verses. That's kids ministry setup. Put curtains over the hard alcohol that's behind behind the bar. That's where the kids meet. Communion elements were prepped in the rooms that the go go dancers prepped for right right after we were finished.
Darren Rouanzoin:You can't make this up. Door closes there. We go to a Seventh day Adventist church. We get kicked out of there. We show up to a school.
Darren Rouanzoin:We're there, and the Lord starts speaking to our team. We need a space, but it's in Huntington. For fifteen years, I said, we'd never go back to Orange County. Keep saying things. Lord's like, Closed Doors.
Darren Rouanzoin:He opens that door and it just I'm like, great. We'll do two services for the rest of our life. I'll retire in this cool beach community. This is great. And then, it grows.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, we have an overflow of space. A year ago, we get an overflow of space for four months, and it fills immediately. 500 people in a video venue next to our space, next to the yachts, if you've never been to that Huntington Beach place. It fits about 384 chairs, and we about 500 people that come to each service. Absolutely chaos.
Darren Rouanzoin:On December 31, I didn't know because pastor Amin graciously kept the email from me. He gets an email saying, you no longer have this venue. He gives it to me two days later. Meanwhile, all December long, I'm with the Lord, and I hear as clear as day, he says, the next season is an open door and the harvest isn't coming. The harvest is now.
Darren Rouanzoin:So the first email I get is a closed door. Don't you tell me he can't do it, Lord. Our first meeting as a staff in the New Year, I have news for them, and I have a word from the Lord. First, the word from the Lord. Open door, harvest isn't coming.
Darren Rouanzoin:The harvest is now. You have to prepare yourself to see what God's about to do on our land. And then the very next thing I said, we lost our overflow space. By the end of the day, Vanguard was available. We launched this location in twelve days.
Darren Rouanzoin:We never wanted to be a multi site. We never wanted to come back to Costa Mesa. God had other plans. I hope for 250 people walked into this. Sometimes the closed door is so that God can guide you on the vision he has, which is so much bigger than your little life map.
Darren Rouanzoin:And the only posture you get is a surrendered life to leader of the mission. Yes. The story I got more text to preach in twenty two minutes. I know it's good. It's Lord bless it.
Darren Rouanzoin:Let me just say, brothers and sisters, as God is directing us in this season and you feel you felt it at this end. I'm feeling it with Gen Z and Alpha. There I've been ministering. I'm from Orange County. The send was five miles from where I was born.
Darren Rouanzoin:Six miles from the house I grew up in. And I'm seeing gen z run to the front to repent about their relationship with scripture, the local church in Jesus. There's something going on and we have to wake up to God moving. God's moving right now. And I'll tell you what.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is what happens in revival. I've studied lots of revival history. What revival comes and it's judgment on the church. It starts with the hungry in the church that feel the presence of God and they repent. They wake up from their slumber and they realize they were asleep, but now they're awake, and because they're awake, they can't keep going like it was, and they're full in.
Darren Rouanzoin:They're all in for Jesus. They're not all in for missions. They're all in for Jesus, who's the mission's director. They're all in for Jesus, who's the discipleship maker. They're all in for Jesus, who is the church planner.
Darren Rouanzoin:They're all in for Jesus, who prophesies. They're all in for Jesus, who is the word of God. Brothers and sisters, you get Jesus, you get everything else. But the church right now, we can't hashtag or organize revival events. Revival comes to you in your heart first.
Darren Rouanzoin:Where you're no longer satiated by consuming spiritual goods. You wake up to the reality of the risen Christ who's glorified and he's coming back. And, the urgency wakes you up in the morning and it consumes you. You no longer consume those things. And he drives the mission forward because like Paul's vision, he sees a man who's begging for the church to come.
Darren Rouanzoin:Help us. Help us. Help us. The Greek word for this phrase is essentially the cry of a man who cannot name his need. He only knows he has need.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, if I were to look at why God has opened the door, we have gone through a long season of Southern California's accumulation of wealth. Southern California's worship of of self. The idolatry of self sufficiency. The fact that we optimized everything, yet all of those things are a cry for help. I can't save myself.
Darren Rouanzoin:Exactly. And, we can't give them consumer Christianity, cultural Christianity. We give them the risen Lord Jesus Christ. So, hears it and then verse, let's keep going. It says, so they wake up and they leave at once.
Darren Rouanzoin:They conclude that they're supposed to go to Macedonia. Good conclusion. From Troas, we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samantha Race. And, the next day we went to Neapolis. From there, we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, we stayed there for several days. On the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the river because there's no synagogue in Philippi. So, they go to a place to pray, and they sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. This is so important. I love this so much.
Darren Rouanzoin:One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatorea named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She is an Asian woman who has a business that produces extraordinary wealth. Lydia, okay, it says, is a worshipper of God. So, she's a Gentile who became Jewish, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. Now, look at how strategic the spirit is.
Darren Rouanzoin:When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us into her home. If you consider me a believer of the Lord, she said, then I'm on your team. Come stay at my house. And, she persuaded us. I love this so much because what you have is Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man, a European man, and the first person he meets is an Asian woman.
Darren Rouanzoin:Isn't that how dreams work? Be open to interpretation. But, the leader of the mission is guiding him to Philippi, is a Roman colony, so it's where all the veteran soldiers of the Roman empire are headed hanging out. There's no synagogue, so he's way outside of Jerusalem. And, he goes outside for a place of prayer, finds a God fearing woman of God to make purple cloth, which is the color of royalty.
Darren Rouanzoin:It would take, I think it says, 10,000 shellfish in one batch to get one batch of dye. This is extraordinary. She's a business woman. She's a strategist. She's wealthy.
Darren Rouanzoin:She has a home. And, I love it. She's the first European convert to Christianity. And, she, according to scripture, becomes what's known as a gospel patron. That what you see in scripture is whatever business you have, whatever career you had, whatever your calling was gets eclipsed by the mission of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:So, she's like, I'm a believer. And, in that time period to stay anywhere else as a Jewish person to go into an inn or something Thanks, brother. An inn or something is to be potentially contaminated by unclean ceremonial laws. So, to be hosted by a God fearing Gentile convert is significant. And, God uses that as the base to plant a church.
Darren Rouanzoin:She gets saved, and she's all in. She joins the team. I'm on the serve team. I'm on the mission team. I'm on the hospitality team.
Darren Rouanzoin:I'm the passing out communion elements team. I'm on the prayer team. I'm gonna fund the mission, Paul, because you clearly are saving people. Do you see the difference? Like, biblical Christianity isn't wild.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's normal. Whatever we have is a Frankenstein version of it. Doesn't exist. It's the Laodicean church. It's lukewarm.
Darren Rouanzoin:It makes Jesus sick. And Paul Paul sees this woman, and I love it so much because Paul is a great communicator, but it's very clear. Luke wants you to know, it was the Lord who opened her heart. That podcast was great, but the Lord opened your heart. That sermon's cool, but God, right now, as the word is going, he's already been working in Lydia's heart.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, she redirects her resources. She redirects her house, her home. She redirects her time to be on the team. Jesus' team. Can I just say, we need house churches?
Darren Rouanzoin:We need houses in Orange County, Costa Mesa, Newport. We need buildings. Not building anymore. We need buildings. Resource.
Darren Rouanzoin:We need people of time. We need the church to wake up to what's happening. Not to say this is mine. I really wanna just steward this, is a nice way of you saying, keep it for myself. I see it.
Darren Rouanzoin:I've said it. When are you gonna put everything back on the table for him again? And be a part of the team. Team Jesus. A wild missions director calling you to the nations.
Darren Rouanzoin:Yeah? Someone just came up and put some cash down. This happens occasionally where I'll just I'm gonna preach still but we'll do this at the end. Wow. Someone's got a lot of cash.
Darren Rouanzoin:$440. Probably significant, $4.40. But, when this happens in our church, it's because God wants to move by caring for the financial needs of the of the church here. So, my assumption is there's some financial needs in this room and we can do this in a second, but the generosity is gonna flow like guys, people are gonna put out a cash. And so, in our church, when this happens, let's let the cash flow.
Darren Rouanzoin:Our team will discern who it's for in a second. I'm gonna keep preaching. Okay? Is that alright? So, the spirit of God moves and and Paul sits down at a river.
Darren Rouanzoin:Can I Oh, this is so good? I got so much more to say. I don't like running back and forth. There's a change coming. We'll get there and you guys gotta be open to what God's doing.
Darren Rouanzoin:We've been wrestling as a team, discerning what to do and we've made a decision and we'll tell you in a couple weeks. Here's what here's what I want you to see. Paul sits down at the river. Alright? And he preaches at the river.
Darren Rouanzoin:What I wanna say to you is God has you wherever you are. He's with you wherever you are. So, the words of doctor Seuss, be where you are. He didn't say that. I said that, but that I'm just Like, the most profound thing I could say for a missional lifestyle is just to be there, wherever there is, on purpose, on mission.
Darren Rouanzoin:Go to the coffee shop with Jesus. Give that encouraging word. Bring a generous tip. Be a light in your workplace, at the break room, on the car pool, in the text chain. Be someone who points to the reality of Jesus and God will open hearts.
Darren Rouanzoin:And in this season, the hearts are gonna open like crazy. There's no more fear. You gotta wake up. If you're still here and you're like, well, I just don't know. The only way you'll know is to go all in.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's never gonna be dialed in your brain. You're never gonna have all of the things figured out. You're never gonna have your house clean enough before the house cleaner comes. Lord knows. My wife tries.
Darren Rouanzoin:The rare occasion, the cleaner comes. It's like, what's going on? A cleaner's coming. What are you make the bed, Darren. Make the bed.
Darren Rouanzoin:What are you doing? We gotta it's like when friends come over, pretend we don't live here. Sorry. It's such a mess. I'm sweating, like dripping.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's so nuts, you know? Just drenched in sweat. Yeah. No. No.
Darren Rouanzoin:We sorry. It's such a mess. It's true. It's true. It's true.
Darren Rouanzoin:And then when you're gone, you know, and then it really suffers and I see the glory that you bring to our home. Verse one, I wanna finish with this and then and then we'll pray and God's gonna bless you financially, some of you. Acts 16. Let me just say this, there are Lydia's in this room, men and women that we're praying for in this season And, there's no place for retirement here. There's just redirection and redistribution and resources reallocated by the mission of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, it's not that I just wanna say, I don't think God is against wealth or or making lots of money. I feel like God's gonna increase the wealth of Christians in the church. He's against the love of money. But, if if our vision of heaven on earth came to reality, reality, like became existed, there would be no poverty. Poverty is the result of the fall.
Darren Rouanzoin:So poverty is not the answer to wealth. Stewardship and generosity married together is. So number three, the point I want to make is in Acts 16. I love this. It says, Paul came, sorry verse one, to Durban and then to Lystra where a disciple named Timothy lived.
Darren Rouanzoin:Whose mother was Jewish and a believer, but whose father was Greek. The believers in Lystra and Iconium, 22 miles apart, spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him on the journey, so he circumcised him. Interesting. Because of the Jews who lived in the area for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Darren Rouanzoin:So, he's an apostate Jew. As they traveled from town to town, oh this is so ironic and maybe hypocritical. They delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. Remember? You don't need to circumcise anyone.
Darren Rouanzoin:So, the churches were strengthened in faith and grew daily in numbers. Okay. I love this story because I've always resonated with Timothy. I love Timothy. I was 23 when we started the church.
Darren Rouanzoin:I was just My brain wasn't fully developed. Can't send out a man to plant a church who's just a boy. Grace of God. He uses donkeys. This is recorded so I can't say the word I want to say.
Darren Rouanzoin:But I found a Paul. His name is pastor Bill Doctrine. He raised me up as a preacher. He taught me how to read scripture. Taught me how to preach.
Darren Rouanzoin:Taught me how to pastor. Taught me how to to focus more on the character formation than anything else when it comes to leadership. Character over gifting. He taught me how to show up to hospitals and pray for the sick. He taught me how to do weddings.
Darren Rouanzoin:He taught me how to do funerals. He taught me how to stay in it for the long haul. I had a Paul find me and say, I see it. Now, let me show you how to live. We have a generation of leaders, millennials, myself, who were not fathered.
Darren Rouanzoin:They were empowered and released but they were not fathered. Older men saw their gifting and their calling as a threat. Not in our church. We see the gen z and we see your calling. We see your anointing.
Darren Rouanzoin:Now, let me direct your life so that you will stand. Not as a threat to what we're doing, but empower to come along with, and in due time release you. Because Timothy takes over Ephesus. After Paul dies, Timothy takes over Ephesus, and then he gets murdered, and the apostle John takes over Ephesus. And so, see this leadership culture that Paul models where he finds young sons and daughters and raises them up to release them.
Darren Rouanzoin:Now, me just answer the theological question because I think it's so important for the heart that's consumed. Also, I just love that Timothy is raised by two women, grandma and mom. They knew his dad was nowhere to be found, so he didn't get circumcised because his dad was Jewish. And then, his spiritual father circumcises him. Why?
Darren Rouanzoin:Well, Paul has another son named Titus. He's Greek. And, in Galatians, he refuses to circumcise Titus. Why? Because, it was put on him as an act for salvation.
Darren Rouanzoin:And, Paul will fight with his life to say, salvation is a gift. You don't add on to the cross. It's you say, thank you, and keep going. But, when it comes to mission, First Corinthians says, though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. To the Jews, I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.
Darren Rouanzoin:To those under the law, I became like one under the law, though I myself am not under the law, so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I become like one not having the law. Though I am not free from God's law, but am under Christ's law, so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, I have become all things, so that by possible means, I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessing.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is what Paul does. He takes a boy who's gonna be with him and like him, who's half Jewish, and he circumcises him for mission, not for salvation, because Paul got to Paul's gonna take him to the synagogue because he's half Jewish. And and Timothy's gonna learn from Paul how to minister like Paul, and Timothy is released into the world as apostolic leader. And, this is what I wanna say to all the older men and women in the room. We need to find our Timothies.
Darren Rouanzoin:This isn't for the specially anointed. This is for anyone 40 and older. Where's your Timothy? All the 39 and under. Where's your Paul's?
Darren Rouanzoin:We gotta stop obsessing over the next generation. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's a multigenerational move. And if you think you're older, you don't get to play. No.
Darren Rouanzoin:You're all in. There is no retirement. How many Timothy's do you wanna see released? And how do you know? How I mean, look at Lois, grandma, and Eunice, his his mom.
Darren Rouanzoin:They they were they were raising up an apostle, not in seminary, at the kitchen table. You don't need to have all sorts of knowledge. Just need to share your life. Watch what God does. Alright.
Darren Rouanzoin:I don't know what else I'm supposed to say. Let me just read my notes. Something yada yada yada, circumcises, blah blah blah, circumcision, mission. I know. I just have to say it.
Darren Rouanzoin:It's in the text. I don't get to say it very often. Okay. Anyways. Alright.
Darren Rouanzoin:Some of you have been consuming church. You've been consuming this church. So glad that there's some type of morsel that you're enjoying here. Maybe you came from a community recently that you disagreed with. Well, we talked about this last week.
Darren Rouanzoin:Do not have judgment in your hearts. Leave well. Don't We don't want people to fill a room. We want your seat if you're gonna consume. Because the the Orange County life is desperate for help, and we're gonna make resilient disciples who live on mission.
Darren Rouanzoin:And if you think I'm gonna preach to your political party, forget it. I'm not a mascot, and I wanna be here longer than the next twenty years, the next four year cycle. I have a politic. I believe the church has it. There's a lot of things that are clearly black and white, but we will not stand for that.
Darren Rouanzoin:We are going to go after Jesus, and I know that offends you. That's why I'm saying it. You can leave. Whatever thing you wanna make the thing outside of Jesus, find another church. Because I'm gonna preach the word of God.
Darren Rouanzoin:And when it comes, I'm gonna say things like circumcision. I'm gonna say things like live on mission. I'm gonna say it again. Stop consuming this church. Be on the team.
Darren Rouanzoin:Reorganize your life and resources around the living missions director, Jesus Christ. Ask him now for your Timothy. Ask him now to define the river that he wants to throw you in so that the word of God can expand. And ask him now for step one. Open the home.
Darren Rouanzoin:Sign up for the house church. Give generously. There's cash on the stage. That means there's people in here that need cash and walk out with it. We're not gonna collect it and put it in the offering.
Darren Rouanzoin:This is gonna go to people. I don't know what you wanna be a part of. I wanna be a part of a a move of God. And, it doesn't happen because we get really good at Instagram live stream events. It happens because your heart had settled on one thing.
Darren Rouanzoin:I've surrendered to Jesus. Amen? Alright. Let's all stand.
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