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Join us every Sunday morning at 9 or 10:30 AM in the Maywood Center. Sermons & Bible Studies available online on any podcast platform or visit our YouTube channel "@flipsidechristianchurch"! Download our app at https://flipsidechristian.churchcenter.com/setup for more info about our church and ministries.
Flipside Christian Church
Madera Ranchos, CA
Flipside. Happy birthday.
21 years.
I look back after 21 years.
And for me,
it feels like we're just getting started.
It doesn't seem like it's been 21.
It feels like just yesterday
that we moved to the Ranchos
and started the plans
of planting this church.
Thank you for being a part of it.
Thank you for being a part
of what makes flip side, flip side.
We're going to open the Bible
in Matthew 24.
And for me, this is the perfect passage
to look at for our birthday,
because it has to do with God's
plan for the world
and his people's role in that,
and thereby our churches role in that.
I firmly believe that our church
isn't just in the ranchos
for the sake of the ranchos.
I believe it is.
It has been birthed by God
for a global mission.
For the Kingdom
of God to be established in the world
and to set the stage for
Jesus has returned.
This is bigger than me and you.
It's bigger than the ranchos.
It's a part of us.
It's a part of our community,
but is bigger.
It's so much bigger.
And Matthew 24,
we start to feel the grand of it all.
Matthew 24.
There's some deep and profound prophecy
attached to Matthew 24.
And this chapter is so big,
we're going to take
a couple of weeks to go through it,
and we're going to look at two parts
each week
Prophecy and Future and Flesh and Bones.
What's that have to do with us today?
And I'm going to do my best,
by the grace of God, to
to give you clear instruction
of what the Scripture actually says,
and then application for how we live it.
Before we get into chapter 24.
I want to set it up
with the end of chapter 23, because though
we went through chapter 23 last week,
I didn't get to these last few verses.
And so the last portion of chapter 23,
Jesus really sets the scene
for what he's going to say in chapter 24.
And he this is how 23 ends.
Jesus is is crying over Jerusalem.
He has just confronted
the religious leaders.
He's just pronounced woe upon them.
He's pronounced that
that that the whole thing is going to come
crumbling down and be destroyed
because they've rejected
Jesus as their Messiah.
And he says this, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the city
that kills the prophets and stones
those who are sent to it.
How often?
What I have gathered
your children together as a
hen gathers
her brood under her wings. But.
And you were not willing.
See, your house is left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again
until you say,
blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Jesus is weeping over
the people that have rejected him.
He's not turning his anger
on them for their rejection.
Now he's just weeping.
He said, you don't understand why I came.
I would comfort you.
I would heal you. I would protect you.
I would like a hand gathers
her little baby chicks
and just cover you with my wings.
If you would just accept me
and repent and honor me.
But you won't.
And so this whole thing.
You're breaking my heart.
This whole thing is going to be destroyed.
And his heart is just.
It's broken over these people
that have said no time and time again.
And he says,
you're not going to see me again
until you can say, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Now here's what he's just done.
He said for you.
He's talking to to his people, the Jews.
He said, this is there's
going to be a hardening of your hearts
for a while,
not forever.
There will come a time, though
you've rejected me.
There will come a time
when you will give yourselves in
awe of me.
And Paul helps us understand
that kind of the timeline of that.
So Paul says this in Romans chapter 11.
He says, I don't want you to be unaware
of this mystery, brothers.
A partial hardening has come upon Israel.
So Jesus said, you have rejected me.
I would have healed you.
I would have come.
I would have said you,
but you've rejected me.
So there's a partial hardening.
He says, you won't see me again
until you can say, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord,
and you honor me for who I am.
And Paul says, that has happened.
Until what?
Until the fullness of Gentiles has been
adopted in so a partial hardening,
they will not say, blessed are you
who comes in the name of the Lord.
They will not honor Jesus as Messiah
until all of us get adopted in.
And then when, when,
when those who are non-Jews
who are adopted into God's family, then
they will be given
the opportunity to come back.
And they will and they will proclaim
with their mouths, blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord in honor
of Jesus as a messiah.
And so, so this is one reason right here.
This is one reason
why church planting is so vital.
And as far as I'm concerned,
as I understand Scripture,
this is one reason why
every Christian church must make priority
one church planting, not a big campus
with a fountain and a coffee shop.
Because this is how
this is what
sets the stage for the return of Christ.
Every time we plan a church
so that more people don't know
Jesus are invited into his family,
that ticker keeps ticking.
Until Jesus comes back.
And this is one reason why planning
churches in Israel is so important,
which we will do in February of 2027.
I'm going to go there and lead a church
planning movement with both Jews
and Muslims who know
Christ and plant churches in Israel. Why?
Because there will come a day
when the Jews in Israel were proclaimed.
Blessed is he
who comes in the name of the Lord,
because churches have been planted.
People have come to faith
in Jesus returns.
This is this is the purpose of the church.
And this is what
we've been about for 21 years.
And it will still be about for the next
21, should God leave us here that long.
I want to give you the big idea
for chapter 24.
Now, the big idea is this as history moves
towards Christ's return,
his church must resist deception.
Don't be fooled. Endure persecution
and proclaim the gospel to every nation.
This is what Jesus
is pushing into in chapter 24.
And so let me just we're going to read
through the first portion of chapter 24,
and we'll do some explanation
along the way, and then we'll say, okay,
what's that have to do with us?
So if you want to follow along
chapter 24, verses one and two,
Jesus left the temple and was going away
when his disciples came to point out
to him the buildings of the temple.
But he answered them, you see all these?
Do you not?
Truly,
I say to you, there will not be left here
one stone upon another
that will not be thrown down.
And so Jesus leaves Jerusalem,
and he's he's headed
towards
the Mount Olives to look over Jerusalem.
He makes this pronouncement
about his love for Jerusalem.
And then his disciples say,
but look at the temple.
Isn't this amazing?
This thing is going to last forever.
And Jesus's response is interesting.
They say, look at the temple.
And he says, well, look at all this stuff.
He doesn't single out the temple.
He's going to make a point here.
He's going to say,
all this stuff is going to pass away.
Everything that you think you're building
your life on, everything that you think
is, is solid and lasting is temporary
at best,
and it's all going to be destroyed.
This temple that they're looking at,
it was beautiful.
It was it was it was gorgeous.
It took 80 years to build the temple.
I don't know if you realize that 80 years
the temple was still being rebuilt.
It had been under
the first temple was built under Saul,
the King Solomon,
way back in the Old Testament.
It had been in shambles.
So Herod came to rebuild it.
And then the rebuilding of the temple
took 80 years in the rebuilding project,
and it was enormous.
It was fabulous. It was beautiful.
And what he did, what Herod did
in the rebuilding of the temple,
they covered the outside walls with gold,
gold plates, pure gold plates.
So when the sun rose, you couldn't
even look at the temple was so brilliant.
And on a few of the walls that didn't
have the gold covering it, it was sheer
white stone.
So much so that when people would walk
towards Jerusalem and see the whiteness
of the stone, it would look
as if it was covered in snow.
It was brilliant.
80 years it took to build it.
It was still being built, rebuilt.
When Jesus was saying these words.
It wasn't completed until 63 AD.
The full temple was only in its fullness.
Completion was only lasted seven years
until
it was completely destroyed
in 1870 by the Roman Empire.
It was a
massive, it was beautiful
and it was their identity.
And this is what their lives
were built around.
And Jesus is saying,
everything that you're building
your life on is going to come
crumbling down and be destroyed.
And matter of fact, he says, not
one stone will be left of what you see.
When the Romans destroyed
the temple in 1870,
they set on fire
and they burned it to the ground.
And because there was so much gold
in the temple,
all the gold melted and seeped down
into the cracks and crevices
of all the rocks around there.
And so the Roman government just
away and broke apart
every single little rock of this
mammoth structure to get the gold out of,
so that every stone was torn down,
just as Jesus said, so decisive
was the destruction of the temple.
We can't even archeologically
find the exact foundation of it anymore.
Jesus said, all this stuff that you're
building your life on, all the stuff
that you think is so important and is so
lasting, is going to be destroyed.
This this was unfathomable to them.
They had no way to understand
what Jesus was saying.
Verse three.
As he sat on the Mount of Olives,
the disciples came to him
privately, saying, tell us,
when will these things be?
And what will be the sign
of the coming of the end of the age?
He's just given them horrific news,
and they want to know two things.
They want to things when and what,
when's it going to happen
and what's it going to look like.
It's the same thing we ask.
It's the same thing we want to know
from God, God, what's going to happen?
What's this?
How is this going to play out? Right.
Especially when you get news
that you don't like will win.
Like,
let me get prepared because we feel like
if I'm prepared to find know the details,
then I can protect
myself.
They said, when is this going to happen?
What's it going to be like?
They want to.
They figure if the temple is being
destroyed, it's the end of the world.
But Jesus says,
And Jesus answered them,
see that no one lead you astray.
For many will come in my name, saying,
I am the Christ,
and they will lead many astray.
And you will hear of wars
and rumors of wars.
See that you're not alarmed, for
this must take place.
But the end is not yet.
For nation will rise against nation
and kingdom against kingdom,
and there will be famines
and earthquakes in various places.
All of these are
but the beginnings of birth pains.
It's just getting started.
Says, don't freak out.
You're going to hear of wars
and rumors of wars and
famines and pestilence and earthquakes
and all this natural disaster.
And you're going to start wondering,
I wonder if this is the end.
For they'll deliver you up to tribulation
and put you to death, and you'll be hated
by all nations, for not my name's sake.
And many and then many will fall away and
betray one another and hate one another.
And many false prophets
will arise and lead ministry.
And because lawlessness will be increased,
the love of many will grow cold.
But the one who endures to the enemy
saved,
he says, listen.
I know
you want to know when and what's
and how things are going to go down.
Because we don't like surprises.
So I understand that.
But stuff's going to happen
that have nothing to do
with the end of time.
It's just the world in which we live.
Wars, rumors of wars,
famines, people turning on each other.
He said none of that is the end.
It's the beginning.
And he never defines
how long that's going to take.
This is just the nature of a fallen world,
and the nature of a fallen world
looks like it is failing because it is.
I remember 911, 2001,
I was in the hospital with my son Joe.
He's in sixth grade.
He just had an emergency appendectomy.
We wake up.
That was on September 10th.
We would wake up September 11th
to what happened
on the in the World Trade Center.
And all these nurses,
they know I'm a pastor.
All these nurses
start pouring into my son's hospital room,
not wanting to take care of my son, but
wanting to know from me what this means.
Where is this in the Bible?
What does this mean for end times?
And I told them, relax.
This isn't in the Bible.
It's not the end times.
This is just the nature of sin
in a fallen world.
Why are you surprised?
Why are you shaken?
So these things are going to happen.
It's not the end.
It's the beginning.
The beginning of end.
Times happened
the moment Jesus ended to heaven.
We've always been in the beginning
of in times and till the end times.
And this is what Jesus is saying.
Don't be shaken.
Look at how bad it gets.
Wars.
Rumors of wars.
They're going to be people
who are coming in my name,
who are going to lead you astray,
who are going to get you away from
the Scripture, away from, from Christ.
The only way to the father.
They're going to try to lead you astray.
Don't be fooled by him.
Nation arise against nation.
Kingdom against kingdom. Famines.
Earthquakes is just getting started.
The delivery of the tribulation.
They'll put some of you to death.
You'll be hated by all nations
for my name's sake.
Many will fall away.
They'll betray one another or hate one
another.
Lawlessness is going to get worse
and worse and worse,
More debauchery.
The love of people is going to go
cold towards one another.
It's going to get worse
before it gets better.
Happy birthday.
Isn't that a great birthday card?
Hey! Happy birthday.
Well done. It's
going to suck from here on out.
I mean, it's just like, whoa!
And Jesus says, listen, don't be.
None of that means it's the end.
It's just life
in the fallen world
in verse 13.
Those who endure till the end.
Here's what he's saying prophetically.
Don't be surprised by chaos in trouble.
He's preparing his disciples
and he's preparing us.
Don't be surprised.
If you think that
because you've joined your life to Jesus
that he's going to make your life better
and then you get to go to heaven,
you are sorely mistaken.
You don't understand the kingdom of God.
Here's the problem with that mindset.
I've given my life to Jesus.
Now he's going to make my life better.
The moment trials, tribulation,
persecution, and tragedy hit
you think God let you down?
And you're tempted to fall away?
Understand? This stuff's coming.
Those who endure.
The point of life
is to glorify Christ
and to populate the kingdom of heaven,
and to and to live that testimony,
whether in pleasure or in pain.
That's what Jesus is saying.
You follow.
He says, there's 14
and this gospel of the kingdom
will be proclaimed
throughout the whole world
as a testimony to all nations,
and then the end will come.
This is why evangelism and church
planning is so vital and so important,
and ought to be the heartbeat
of every Christian church,
so that the gospel is preached
in every corner of the world.
So you and I learn how to share our faith
personally and do so,
because every time we do,
that little ticker keeps ticking
to the full number of Gentiles are brought
in, and then the God's
people are brought back to him,
and then Jesus shows up.
We go through this flip side, flow 101
two and 301401401 has everything to do
with teaching you and train you
how to share your faith personally. Why?
Because the gospel does
not go to the ends of the earth
except through
people who share their faith.
You and I, as followers of Christ,
are on a global, eternal mission,
a transformative,
a global, transformative mission
and call of Almighty
God for the return of His Son.
And if we're not on mission,
we're failing our mission
to proclaim the gospel of Christ
to every corner of the world where it is
not known and he is not honored.
Both next door
and over in Israel and over in Venezuela.
Everywhere.
Verse 15.
So when you see the abomination
of desolation spoken of by a prophet,
Daniel, standing in the holy place,
and then I believe Matthew kind of adds
his little comment here.
Let the reader understand. It
says, don't miss this.
If you miss this,
you're going to miss everything
you want to talk about it in times
you've got to get this part.
The abomination of desolation spoken
by the prophet
Daniel standing in the holy place.
Then let those who are in Judea flee
to let
then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains.
Let the one who is on the house top
not go down and take
what is in this house,
and let the one who is in the field
not return back to take his cloak,
and allows for women who are pregnant.
For those who are nursing infants
in those days, pray
that your flight may not be in winter
or on a Sabbath, for there will be great
tribulation, such as has not been
from the beginning of the world
until now, nor ever will be.
And if those days had not been cut short,
no human being would be saved.
But for the sake of the elect,
those days will be cut short.
Then anyone who, if anyone says to you,
look,
there is the Christ
or there he is, don't believe it.
For false Christ and false prophets will
arise and perform great signs and wonders.
So to lead a straight,
if possible, even the elect.
See, I've told you before hand.
So if they say to you, look,
he's in the wilderness, don't go out.
If they say, look, he's in the inner
rooms, don't believe it.
Don't chase
after this stuff, for the lightning comes
from the east and shines
as far as the west.
So will the coming of the Son of Man.
Wherever the
corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
Here's what he's saying.
He speaks of this
abomination of desolation.
He goes all the way back to Daniel 11,
verse 31 for you Bible students.
He was way back to Daniel 1131.
There's a lot of interpretations about
what the abomination of desolation is.
Some people believe I don't believe this.
Some people believe that
when Rome ransacked the temple, destroyed
the temple,
they slaughtered a pig on the altar
and splattered the blood on the altar.
And they say
that was the abomination of desolation.
This is for you, Bible students.
I don't believe that to be the case,
because Daniel prophesies
that the abomination of desolation
that will be the sign of the end times is
when there is an object
set up in the Holy place
as an act of worship that is not God.
In I, worshiping something that is not
God is an abomination, and to do so
in the temple is desecration
according to Old Testament theology.
And so apparently there will be a time
when there will be something
set up in the holy place of the temple
that will be worshiped instead of God.
And that is an abomination,
and it is desolation.
You know what that tells me?
There is no temple right now.
The temple will be rebuilt
in Jerusalem, and when that happens,
there will be an object
set up as an object of worship
that is not God.
That Jesus says is
when you know the end is come.
We want to know when
and what we want to know.
Timings and signs I love the fact that
Jesus never gives any definite timeframe.
He doesn't.
Do you know why?
Because every generation has to be ready.
If he said it's going to be on this day,
then they could track it.
And here's the day.
Then all the generations will be like,
good.
I love the fact that he's not specific,
that he's general and broad
because every generation
has to stay awake and pay attention.
Awake O sleepers, what Scripture says.
What he's saying is
this listen, it's going to get real bad.
Trust Jesus even through the tribulations
that are coming.
Those who endure till the end
will be saved.
Don't back off.
Don't back up.
Every generation must prepare,
must be spiritually ready.
Verse
29 immediately
after the tribulation of those days,
the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then will appear in heaven
the sign of the Son of Man.
And then all the tribes of earth
will mourn,
and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.
And he will send out his angels
with a loud trumpet call, and they will
gather his elect from the four winds,
from one into heaven to another.
He says, listen,
you're going to know when I show up.
And somehow
there's cosmic signs in the heavens.
The sun grows dark, the moon goes out.
Whatever these cosmic signs are, the stars
fall.
Joel two, verse ten.
Revelation 612 1314, Isaiah
34 all talk about these global
cosmic signs
that say, Christ is coming,
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.
I don't know what that is,
but I know it's going to be apparent.
Any of you who have ever heard that
Jesus is going to come back, this secret
coming that nobody is going to know about.
You don't fully understand
what Jesus has said about his own arrival.
Lightning, thunder, cosmic signs.
This isn't done in secret.
It's apparent he's on the horizon.
There's no secret coming of Jesus
for those who are in Christ.
Let me prove it to you.
In the book of Thessalonians,
Paul writes, now, brothers
and sisters, about times and dates,
That's what we're talking about.
Times and dates. Don't.
You do not need to write.
We don't need to write to you.
For you know very well that
the day of the Lord will come and watch.
Follow me like a thief in the night,
while people are saying peace and safety.
Everything's fine. Every economy is good.
There's no worries. We're fine.
Destruction will come upon them suddenly
as labor pains on a pregnant woman.
And they will not escape.
But you, you who are my followers,
you who are part of my church.
You brothers
and sisters are not in darkness.
So that this day would surprise
you like a thief.
You're. I'm not going to be surprised.
I'm not going to be surprised.
You are children of the light
and children of the day.
We don't belong to the night
or to the darkness.
So then let us not be like the others
who are asleep.
But let us be awake and sober.
I'm watching,
and I'm waiting for Christ to turn
because I know it's going to happen.
And while I'm here on this earth,
my job and your job
is that his gospel gets to every
tongue, both on our neighbor
and across the oceans.
And when he shows up, it's
going to be with great pomp
and great circumstance
to announce that he's come back.
It's not a surprise to me
because I'm ready.
If you're not ready.
Like a thief in the night.
What just happened?
I wasn't prepared.
What he's saying is, don't look for signs.
Look for the Savior.
Tries on Jesus.
Verse 32 from the fig tree.
Learn its lesson.
As soon as those branches become tender
and puts out its leaves.
You know that summer's near.
So also when you see these things,
you know that he's near the very gates.
Truly, I tell you, this generation
will not pass away until all these things
taking place.
Heaven and earth will pass away.
But my words, they're not going anywhere.
He says, you know how to read the signs.
You know.
You know when the
when the figs coming on the tree.
Because you know the seasons.
This is seasons.
You're in a season right now
of great tribulation and difficulty
and it's just going to get worse.
But it's okay because the fruits come in.
Its see, we understand seasons.
Just don't be fooled by what's going on.
Get your eyes on Christ and on his return.
And he says, this generation will not
pass away until he sees these things.
He's not talking about the generation
that was alive right then.
He's talking about the generation
that sees these things happen,
the generation that sees the abomination
of the generation
that sees these cosmic things, then that
that generation knows it's our time,
but we don't know when that is.
So every generation has got to be ready
right now.
He says.
All this other stuff,
the temple, these buildings, the nations,
the governments, the people, it's
all going to pass away.
My word will never fail.
Friends, please believe his word.
It never fails.
Ever,
ever.
The Bible says you are alert
and acting and watching
after your word to perfect it.
Complete it everywhere.
No, let me do a little bit of tie together
here for you
little prophecy stuff
from Matthew 24 to revelation six.
Okay, revelation.
The book of revelation is about these end
times, the tribulation, the coming
kingdom, the new creation, the new order.
Revelation six is, is, is John's
recording of Jesus's revelation
of the end times.
Things in revelation
six talks about six seals.
There's actually seven, but the seventh
seal doesn't happen to revelation eight.
So in revelation six,
there's six seals that are signs
that the end times are coming.
Those six seals in revelation
says correlate beautifully with Matthew
24 and Matthew 24.
Jesus says, there's going to
there's going to be false.
Missiles are going to lead you astray.
In revelation six verse one and two
is the first seal that's opened
with the leading astray of people
who would believe.
In Matthew 24,
Jesus says, there's going to be this,
this massive conquering
and killing of people.
In revelation six verse three,
the second seal is opened
and it ushers in a time of great
killing and conquering worldwide.
And Matthew 24, seven and eight,
Jesus says, there's going to come a time
of great famine and pestilence
in revelation
six five, six, seven, and eight,
the third and fourth seals are open,
which open a time of poverty and famine.
In Matthew 24, verse nine,
Jesus talks about how his people will be
martyred, suffered, persecuted and killed.
In revelation six, verses nine, ten and 11
the fifth seal is opened,
and it's the martyrdom of the saints.
And they cry out for justice.
Their blood cries out for justice.
In Matthew 24 verse 29,
Jesus says, there's going to be
earthquakes and cosmic signs.
And in revelation chapter six, verse
12 through 14, the sixth seal is opened
with those exact themes
earthquakes and cosmic signs.
So Jesus has just said this.
All of this is going to happen.
And John
kind of fleshes out in in revelation six,
but the Seventh Seal isn't open
till revelation eight.
And here's why.
Because the seventh Seal
in the book of Revelation,
when it's opened,
it opens for seven trumpets.
And the seven trumpets in revelation
eight.
And following is the end times.
So apparently these first six seals,
everything that Jesus just said
is just life on a broken, sinful world.
That's our existence.
And we're left here
so that every corner of this broken,
fallen planet
and every ear that is not heard,
and every tongue that is not,
and every knee that has not bowed, hears
the gospel, that Jesus is the only hope.
And then the seventh seal will be open,
and the seven trumpets of the last days
will come.
So for us.
We have to understand.
We have to understand our role
in this world.
And for 21 years,
this church has been practicing
and praying and funding our role.
It will never it will.
It will never mean a fountain
and a coffee shop.
To many churches has confused
their campus with the Kingdom of God.
What it will mean is planting churches
and telling those who are far
from God of the love of the Messiah
that would cover them with his feathers,
not condemn them
if they would just repent.
That's why we plant
churches all over the world
until the full number of Gentiles come in.
And that's
why we're going to Israel in February,
so that the Jews are ready
when he returns.
Because churches have been planted.
Now that's the theology and prophecy.
Let me give you the flesh and bones for us
as we look at 21 years
for us, for us.
Don't let us never put our confidence
in things that won't last.
That's what Jesus.
That was his whole point
with the whole temple.
You're looking at stuff
that's going to be gone.
Quit putting your confidence
in things that don't last.
The temple look permanent.
Governments look permanent, nations
look permanent, economies look permanent.
Institutions look permanent.
Big churches appear permanent.
Only Christ and His word will will last.
Everything else is going to fail.
Everything else is going to go away.
Everything else is going to be destroyed.
Only the kingdom of God remains.
The church
must never, ever, ever confuse its campus
with God's kingdom
because every church campus will fail
unless Christ comes back first.
Don't put your confidence
in anything that won't be here
through eternity.
Do you understand?
That's what Jesus is saying
and he's saying, don't do.
Don't be surprised by crisis
nor surrender.
Under pressure.
Crisis is coming.
Pressure is going to get extreme.
We live in a fallen world,
and a fallen world means failing times.
That is the nature of the world we're in.
And it's not going to change
until Jesus comes back.
He's prepared his disciples.
He's preparing us.
Get ready for persecution
and get ready for destruction.
Get ready for difficulty.
The people who
who once seemed to love you and love Lord,
their love is going to grow cold.
See, the danger of
this time in our lives is not what happens
outside the church of the dangers.
What happens from pressure
from those outside the church,
or the impact
it has on those of us in sight.
And so make sure that you don't
get surprised by the crisis
that's coming, and you don't surrender
when the pressure gets turned up.
There's going to be
a time of great betrayal
where there used to be loyalty.
There's going to come a time
when the what's being,
what's being promoted
and celebrated deception,
not truth anymore.
There's going to come a time
when disobedience is the order of the day,
not obedience.
There's going to come a time when love has
grown bitterly cold against one another.
It's going to come a time.
When the normal thing is retreat,
not endurance. Listen.
Faithfulness is not proved by how blessed
something looks right now, but by
how steadily it finishes its assignment.
And our assignment
isn't close to being finished.
The lessons for us
is keep preaching the gospel
until every nation hears
this is what we're about.
This is what we'll do.
For 21 years,
we've been doing it for 21 more.
Should God, Terry,
we'll continue doing this.
Our 21 history is not just about people
who are here, which I'm
so thankful you are
for sure,
but it's about how many churches
we planted in the last 21 years,
since 2016 alone, with the Excel network
that I'm a part of, we've
we've been a part of funding and planning
750 churches around the world,
750, 303 hundred and and
375 of those have been in other countries.
The rest have been in the States. Why?
Because we know that the best way to reach
people under
heaven is by planting churches.
And we know that
till the full number of Gentiles come in,
Jesus isn't coming back because we know.
We know how important this is.
The story of 21 years of flip side
are the congregations had been planned,
or the leaders had been trained,
or the nations that have been reached.
It's the people that have been introduced
to Jesus.
It's the story of your faithfulness
and your generosity.
Because we understand
our global assignment,
we will never confuse our campus
with the kingdom.
We will always pursue and fulfill
passionately the Kingdom of God
everywhere in the world.
When the Kingdom wins, we win.
Our win is not about a fountain.
Our win is not about a coffee shop.
Our win is not about a new campus.
Our win is not about a bigger building.
Our win isn't about more of for us,
our win is when the kingdom wins
and churches
are planning around the world.
When we plant churches in Cuba, we win.
When we plant churches in Guatemala,
we win.
When we pat churches in downtown Fresno,
we win.
When we plant churches in Texas, we win
when we plant churches in Venezuela,
which I'm going in January
to plant churches.
We win.
When we plant churches in Israel, we win.
Do you understand?
That's our win.
And we will keep proclaiming
the gospel till every nation hears or till
Jesus comes back.
We just gotta trust
him through the troubles that are coming.
We've got to trust him
through the troubles that are coming.
However you interpret
the theology and sorry,
the chronology of the end times,
there's a lot of different interpretations
that the point is, is listen to his word,
recognize the seriousness of sin.
Don't assume that your suffering means
God is not in control.
And when the world fills out of control,
realize that it is still marching
to the clock of Christ.
See, our hope is
not that the world becomes better
or life gets easier.
That cannot be our hope.
Our hope must only be
that Jesus is coming back.
That's our hope.
And we will look and wait
with anticipation for his return.
Buildings are going to pass away.
Nations are going to pass away.
Governments are going to pass away.
Flip side will one day pass away
unless Jesus comes back first.
But we will believe his word
because that will never fail.
And because that will never fail.
We will teach the Word of God
and we will preach the Word of God.
We will proclaim the Word of God,
and we will serve the kingdom of God.
And so, flip side 21 years.
We look back with great gratitude
because God has been very faithful
and gracious to us, to me,
to us. As a church.
God has built us. God has protected us.
God has provided for
us. God has corrected us.
And every conversion and every baptism
and every life restored
in every marriage repair and every church
planet is evidence of his grace.
And so
we look back with gratitude for his grace.
But looking back in gratitude
does not allow us to become nostalgic.
There's so much more to be done.
See, we honor God's
grace of yesterday best
by being obedient to Jesus today.
Do you understand?
So we'll look back with gratitude,
and we'll look around with urgency.
Because our mission is still unfinished.
We have much to do.
People in the ranchos, people
in rolling hills, people
into sorrow,
people in Riverstone need the gospel.
Flipside has a lot of work to do,
and as long as Jesus has not returned,
Flip side has not finished our assignment.
Should we look back with gratitude?
We look around with urgency
and we look forward with great courage.
Our greatest days of kingdom of usefulness
lay ahead of us.
No reserve, no retreat, no regret.
Lesson 21 years.
We're not trying to preserve
anything of our pastor, trying to leverage
our 21 years for everything
God has called us to in the future.
And what is called us
to is more disciples
in the flip side flow.
So we understand our assignment
and can do it.
What he's calling us to
is more leaders trained.
What is calling us to
is more churches plan.
What is calling us to is more missionary.
What he's calling us to
is more gospel to unreached people.
What he's calling us to is more investment
in children's, youth and young
adult ministries through this church.
What is calling us to
is more courageous Bible teaching.
What is calling us to
is more generosity for kingdom expansion.
That's what he's calling us to.
And we will press into it
because we know our kings coming back
and because our kings coming back,
and we know we're going
to proclaim the gospel with more urgency
and more power and more zeal.
And we're going to plant more churches
everywhere.
God gives us an open door.
I don't care the political climate
of where he calls us.
We're going and we're planting churches,
and we will more passionately do
our assignment until he returns.
That's what's next for our 21 more years.
My dear friends,
let our prayer be off our lives.
Tell a story.
If our church has a story
led to be him only,
Christ only
for the honor of his name,
that his kingdom may come.
So happy birthday flip side.
We're just getting started.
Why don't you pray with me,
father?
Thank you.
Thank you for the high and lofting
calling that you've given us.
Thank you that you've asked of us
to be a part of your global work.
It's amazing.
I pray we're not squander a day,
a moment and opportunity.
I pray by your spirit
that you would remind us of the beauty
of your plan, the beauty of your word,
how you would gather us as your
children under your wings for
our protection and comfort and healing.
If we would just repent,
God, would you use us to shape the world?
Mend what's broken, restore
what has been lost and sacrificed?
Oh God,
would you bring your people to repentance?
Friends,
I want to fight you in this moment
to take the charge
of our calling very seriously.
To in this moment, bring
yourself before God in repentance,
agreeing with him
of what he said about sin.
I'd encourage you in this moment, as I do.
God, I admit I'm a sinner.
I admit I cannot make myself any better.
Jesus, I believe that you are
my way to be right with the father.
I believe you died on the cross
and that you rose again to save me.
Save me now.
I pledge my allegiance to you.
I renounce the sin of my life,
and I choose to walk away from it.
By the power of your spirit.
Give me your power
to renounce sin
and to live a holy life.
Use me to shake the world
for your kingdom sake.
Oh, God.
I pray over our church
that the story of our church,
that the testimony of our church
would be you, Jesus,
at the center of it all.
May you be the sinner of it all.
We love you.
Amen.
Church, I love you.
Thank you for 21 years.
Let's freaking press into the next 21.
Stand up. Let's sing.