1 00:00:01,401 --> 00:00:05,238 So this morning you are in for a treat and it is my privilege 2 00:00:05,238 --> 00:00:10,944 to have with us this morning a dear friend of mine, JD pairing. 3 00:00:11,177 --> 00:00:13,780 You met his wife, already introduced his wife, Lori. 4 00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:15,849 She's going to leave that seven primal questions for us 5 00:00:15,849 --> 00:00:18,284 in a few weeks that you need to be a part of that, 6 00:00:18,284 --> 00:00:21,287 but JD is you want to come up here, JD? 7 00:00:22,255 --> 00:00:23,456 JD is the lead. 8 00:00:23,456 --> 00:00:25,191 You've heard me talk about Excel Leadership 9 00:00:25,191 --> 00:00:28,228 Network, the church planning group, JD and Lori lead that. 10 00:00:28,228 --> 00:00:31,898 JD started that with Lori invited us to be a part of it. 11 00:00:31,898 --> 00:00:35,301 It has been the joy, one of the joys of my life and the joy of 12 00:00:35,301 --> 00:00:39,372 our church to get to partner underneath you and your leadership. 13 00:00:39,372 --> 00:00:42,142 You and Lori and plant in churches all around the world. 14 00:00:42,142 --> 00:00:43,810 I met JD in 2004. 15 00:00:43,810 --> 00:00:46,780 Schill and I were in Wisconsin going through the remember that honey 16 00:00:46,780 --> 00:00:47,647 going through Wisconsin. 17 00:00:47,647 --> 00:00:49,983 And Shelly told me, she said, I don't know if you can plan a church, 18 00:00:49,983 --> 00:00:51,985 but a JD says you can, then I'll believe it. 19 00:00:51,985 --> 00:00:55,021 And so, with you, which just what I needed to hear 20 00:00:55,021 --> 00:00:57,057 from, from JD and the team too. 21 00:00:57,057 --> 00:01:00,627 And so from that moment on, God started this relationship 22 00:01:00,627 --> 00:01:04,697 and this partnership, this kingdom work that we've been able to partner 23 00:01:04,697 --> 00:01:06,232 with you and under your leadership. 24 00:01:06,232 --> 00:01:07,834 JD, you, I love you. 25 00:01:07,834 --> 00:01:08,802 I love your wife. 26 00:01:08,802 --> 00:01:11,438 JD loves JD and Lori. Love the Lord. They love each other. 27 00:01:11,438 --> 00:01:13,940 They love their kids. The kids are walking with the Lord. 28 00:01:13,940 --> 00:01:16,843 God is taking them all around the world doing kingdom stuff. 29 00:01:16,843 --> 00:01:19,913 Hard work for the kingdom and I so appreciate the fact 30 00:01:19,913 --> 00:01:21,848 that you are here with us. 31 00:01:21,848 --> 00:01:24,851 Setting up what's next for the next 20. 32 00:01:24,918 --> 00:01:29,089 Please understand I can't say enough about this man 33 00:01:29,089 --> 00:01:32,125 and and Lori, how much I love you and admire you. 34 00:01:32,125 --> 00:01:33,827 Thank you for your investment in me, 35 00:01:33,827 --> 00:01:36,830 your investment in the kingdom, your investment in this church. 36 00:01:37,497 --> 00:01:41,101 You are very dear and special in my world. 37 00:01:41,101 --> 00:01:41,734 And I love you. 38 00:01:43,903 --> 00:01:45,105 So tell us what's next. 39 00:01:45,105 --> 00:01:48,041 All right. 40 00:01:48,041 --> 00:01:50,009 It is such a privilege 41 00:01:50,009 --> 00:01:53,346 and a real honor to be here with you on 20 anniversary. 42 00:01:53,847 --> 00:01:55,648 Happy birthday. Happy anniversary. 43 00:01:55,648 --> 00:01:57,784 Happy whatever. 44 00:01:57,784 --> 00:01:59,919 And, Carl asked me months 45 00:01:59,919 --> 00:02:03,323 ago, will you come at the 20th anniversary party? 46 00:02:03,323 --> 00:02:05,492 And I've been thinking about it ever since and just trying to. 47 00:02:05,492 --> 00:02:06,559 It's kind of hard figure. 48 00:02:06,559 --> 00:02:09,762 What do you say to people who are doing amazing job? 49 00:02:10,463 --> 00:02:11,397 I've been thinking through thinking 50 00:02:11,397 --> 00:02:13,900 I was like, I go this direction, I go this direction. 51 00:02:13,900 --> 00:02:15,468 When, finally 52 00:02:15,468 --> 00:02:17,871 just the other day, I said, I think I'm going to do all three sermons. 53 00:02:17,871 --> 00:02:20,240 I have the hat, so I got three for you. 54 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:21,774 Two are really short. 55 00:02:21,774 --> 00:02:23,276 The other ones are not. 56 00:02:23,276 --> 00:02:27,247 And, let me just start with here's the first message from God. 57 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,215 Thank you. 58 00:02:29,215 --> 00:02:30,550 Thank you so much. 59 00:02:30,550 --> 00:02:34,354 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. 60 00:02:34,354 --> 00:02:36,789 You guys have just been amazing. 61 00:02:36,789 --> 00:02:41,828 Not only the, you know, the top donor to excel network, but partner in ministry. 62 00:02:42,128 --> 00:02:45,131 You've helped start about 800 churches 63 00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:50,403 in the last 20 years, and you've been the top giver to that. 64 00:02:50,403 --> 00:02:55,275 Churches all over Cuba, 125 plus churches. 65 00:02:55,275 --> 00:03:01,314 Mexico 50 plus all over the United States, Austria, Uganda. 66 00:03:01,781 --> 00:03:03,349 Where else are we? 67 00:03:03,349 --> 00:03:08,688 Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, all sorts of places. 68 00:03:09,189 --> 00:03:10,924 You guys have just been amazing. 69 00:03:10,924 --> 00:03:13,960 And you don't you don't know the number of people that you've touched, 70 00:03:14,794 --> 00:03:17,797 and you probably don't have any idea, excuse me. 71 00:03:17,797 --> 00:03:23,336 Of the number of churches that have seen what you guys have done 72 00:03:23,336 --> 00:03:26,339 and have increased their giving 73 00:03:26,839 --> 00:03:29,742 to missions and to church planting, 74 00:03:29,742 --> 00:03:32,745 so many here, well, that's what flip side is doing. 75 00:03:33,079 --> 00:03:35,515 Well, we need so thank you. There's 76 00:03:36,549 --> 00:03:38,151 it's passage in Philippians one that says, 77 00:03:38,151 --> 00:03:41,154 I thank my God and all my remembrance of you, 78 00:03:41,921 --> 00:03:45,124 especially because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day. 79 00:03:45,124 --> 00:03:45,491 It's tonight. 80 00:03:45,491 --> 00:03:48,962 So thank you, thank you, thank you means a ton. 81 00:03:48,962 --> 00:03:50,930 That's the first message pretty quick. Right? 82 00:03:50,930 --> 00:03:52,999 Second one is this. 83 00:03:52,999 --> 00:03:55,735 And don't miss this. This is the message from God. 84 00:03:55,735 --> 00:03:58,738 It came all the way from Elk Grove this morning to tell you this. 85 00:03:58,838 --> 00:04:00,773 You have a great pastor. 86 00:04:00,773 --> 00:04:03,776 You, 87 00:04:10,283 --> 00:04:12,118 As Carl says, I, 88 00:04:12,118 --> 00:04:15,221 I just think the world of Carl and Shelly. 89 00:04:15,221 --> 00:04:17,690 And when I met them, 90 00:04:17,690 --> 00:04:21,261 actually, before I met them, my first introduction to them was 91 00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:25,098 I was leading this church planter assessment center where we're going to see 92 00:04:25,098 --> 00:04:28,167 if they can start churches or not in Green Lake, Wisconsin. 93 00:04:28,434 --> 00:04:31,604 And before the candidates come in, before the couples, before the church 94 00:04:31,604 --> 00:04:34,741 planters come in, we have a little meeting of staff, 95 00:04:34,741 --> 00:04:38,111 and then we ask whoever brought them to give us just a little insight on them. 96 00:04:38,511 --> 00:04:42,081 And the person that brought Carl and Shelly said, oh yeah, he's 97 00:04:43,082 --> 00:04:43,616 in there 98 00:04:43,616 --> 00:04:46,653 pastoring a large church in, Orange County, 99 00:04:46,653 --> 00:04:49,656 and they're going to move and plant a church in Fresno. 100 00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:53,993 And I thought, it's got to be something terribly wrong here. 101 00:04:53,993 --> 00:04:56,062 Right? Who left? 102 00:04:56,062 --> 00:04:59,065 Who leaves Orange County to, anyway? 103 00:04:59,098 --> 00:05:00,800 Fresno. 104 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,770 Then I met them and I thought, wow, these are incredible people. 105 00:05:03,770 --> 00:05:05,705 Young, good looking. 106 00:05:05,705 --> 00:05:07,940 Carl had this incredible head of hair. 107 00:05:07,940 --> 00:05:11,678 No, no, no, he didn't never did see anybody. 108 00:05:11,678 --> 00:05:13,313 Ever seen a picture of Carl with hair? 109 00:05:13,313 --> 00:05:17,216 Anybody know one person? 110 00:05:20,586 --> 00:05:23,323 Anyway, I met them, and it's just an incredible. 111 00:05:23,323 --> 00:05:25,291 And then I found out. 112 00:05:25,291 --> 00:05:27,860 Okay, Orange County, but I was thinking Newport Beach. 113 00:05:27,860 --> 00:05:28,928 I was thinking Dana Point. 114 00:05:28,928 --> 00:05:31,564 Now they're in La Habra, okay? 115 00:05:31,564 --> 00:05:35,068 And they say, well, Harbor is not the armpit of Orange County. 116 00:05:35,068 --> 00:05:37,170 It's more like the crotch. But anyway, there's just like, 117 00:05:38,938 --> 00:05:42,041 and then they weren't going to Fresno, 118 00:05:42,041 --> 00:05:46,479 they're going to Madera Ranchos, which is, much different. 119 00:05:46,479 --> 00:05:48,114 Right. Much better. 120 00:05:48,114 --> 00:05:50,616 And so they're from the Central Valley. 121 00:05:50,616 --> 00:05:51,517 So that made sense. 122 00:05:51,517 --> 00:05:52,752 And they came through. 123 00:05:52,752 --> 00:05:56,122 There's probably 15 couples coming through with them there by far top 124 00:05:56,556 --> 00:05:58,191 as just top, top people. 125 00:05:58,191 --> 00:06:00,760 It was like, whatever they do, they're going to do great. 126 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:01,661 So I got to meet them. 127 00:06:01,661 --> 00:06:03,830 And then I got offered this job to be the church 128 00:06:03,830 --> 00:06:06,232 planning director for this group of churches. 129 00:06:06,232 --> 00:06:07,033 It was full time. 130 00:06:07,033 --> 00:06:09,335 I said, I'm staying at my church as a pastor. 131 00:06:09,335 --> 00:06:11,437 I'll do it half time. Can I hire some people? 132 00:06:11,437 --> 00:06:14,440 I said, yeah, so the first person I can't, will you do this with me? 133 00:06:14,807 --> 00:06:18,678 And we started and we probably did 100 churches there. And, 134 00:06:18,878 --> 00:06:21,881 and then when we went on our own started Cell Network, 135 00:06:22,148 --> 00:06:25,385 he said, Carl, hey, first, first, first, like, how will you do this? 136 00:06:25,385 --> 00:06:26,853 We do it with us. 137 00:06:26,853 --> 00:06:29,389 And we've been partners ever since. 138 00:06:29,389 --> 00:06:30,590 In fact, he's gone to Ukraine. 139 00:06:30,590 --> 00:06:32,458 Here's what happened in the last few years. 140 00:06:32,458 --> 00:06:36,963 Up in Sacramento, been working with some Ukrainian people. 141 00:06:36,963 --> 00:06:38,531 You know, most of the people from Ukraine 142 00:06:38,531 --> 00:06:42,168 are in this country because of one church in Sacramento. 143 00:06:43,002 --> 00:06:46,506 Brought some somebody from Ukraine over, brought somebody else, brought 144 00:06:46,506 --> 00:06:51,544 somebody else, got an addendum to the, the immigration policy 145 00:06:51,544 --> 00:06:55,081 that said, if you're from Israel, you can come and be an automatic citizen. 146 00:06:55,348 --> 00:06:56,849 They got an addendum that if you 147 00:06:56,849 --> 00:07:00,686 come from Ukraine and are a Christian, you're an automatic citizen. 148 00:07:01,053 --> 00:07:02,622 They brought all these people over, 149 00:07:03,656 --> 00:07:04,323 send them all 150 00:07:04,323 --> 00:07:07,326 over the U.S., all these Ukrainian churches. 151 00:07:07,493 --> 00:07:09,862 But they were getting older and they're starting a younger 152 00:07:09,862 --> 00:07:12,865 church and say, Will you help us start the younger 153 00:07:13,032 --> 00:07:15,735 Ukrainian churches for the next generation? 154 00:07:15,735 --> 00:07:17,804 And we are working on that. 155 00:07:17,804 --> 00:07:21,140 And then last December they came and I said, you know, we're we're doing this. 156 00:07:21,140 --> 00:07:24,844 No, no, no, we want to go put this on pause. 157 00:07:24,844 --> 00:07:27,613 We want to go to Ukraine because it is opening 158 00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:31,117 that we have the possibility of planting over there 159 00:07:31,417 --> 00:07:34,420 and there such a revival of people coming to Christ. 160 00:07:34,587 --> 00:07:36,956 And we need some help. 161 00:07:36,956 --> 00:07:38,124 And will you come? 162 00:07:38,124 --> 00:07:41,127 And I thought, I don't want to go, but I think I know who wants to go 163 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,564 and what I, I brought it up in a group setting. 164 00:07:44,564 --> 00:07:46,098 I didn't even get the sentence out. 165 00:07:46,098 --> 00:07:47,433 I was like, I'm going, I want to go. 166 00:07:47,433 --> 00:07:49,368 One of the front lines. 167 00:07:49,368 --> 00:07:51,938 We've been partnering. Carl is such a rock. 168 00:07:52,972 --> 00:07:55,041 Carl, you're such an influence. 169 00:07:55,041 --> 00:07:58,010 Such an amazing, amazing leader. 170 00:07:58,044 --> 00:08:02,482 20 years here and what this church has done, I just want to say thank you. 171 00:08:02,715 --> 00:08:04,183 And you've got a great pastor. 172 00:08:04,183 --> 00:08:06,486 So those are the first two sermons, right? There's. 173 00:08:06,486 --> 00:08:07,520 It's two short ones. 174 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,356 Let's get into the long one. 175 00:08:10,356 --> 00:08:12,091 If we can. 176 00:08:12,091 --> 00:08:16,262 Oh, by the way, here's my wife's favorite picture of Carl. 177 00:08:17,230 --> 00:08:20,800 This was in Cuba one time we were there, 178 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,504 like end of June to the 4th of July. 179 00:08:25,004 --> 00:08:28,608 And it was so hot and it was so muggy. 180 00:08:29,075 --> 00:08:32,011 And Lori just came to run and she's just laughing. 181 00:08:32,011 --> 00:08:34,680 Laughing like, what's going on? She said, Look at Carl. 182 00:08:34,680 --> 00:08:38,784 He is so hot that he's leaning with his hands 183 00:08:38,818 --> 00:08:41,821 like this because he couldn't do that because it would slip. 184 00:08:42,355 --> 00:08:45,057 So, he is a warrior. 185 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:50,630 So this is the best picture we have of you. 186 00:08:53,299 --> 00:08:54,100 You got a great. 187 00:08:54,100 --> 00:08:56,369 You got a great pastor 188 00:08:56,369 --> 00:08:56,869 that's got. 189 00:08:56,869 --> 00:08:59,872 Here's the here's the the third message. 190 00:09:00,773 --> 00:09:02,942 It's been 20 years. Okay, great. 191 00:09:02,942 --> 00:09:05,044 What's next? 192 00:09:05,044 --> 00:09:06,379 What is next? 193 00:09:06,379 --> 00:09:11,183 You've done 20 years and you could sit back and say, hey, we did it. 194 00:09:11,183 --> 00:09:14,186 We made it. We we finished, you know? 195 00:09:14,887 --> 00:09:17,156 But what what is. 196 00:09:17,156 --> 00:09:19,959 And that's how do you stay in the game. 197 00:09:19,959 --> 00:09:22,061 How do you stay relevant? 198 00:09:22,061 --> 00:09:28,334 I was in Colorado this week at a retreat with a group of churches, good people. 199 00:09:28,334 --> 00:09:31,904 The same group of churches that sent Laura and I out to play our first church 200 00:09:32,638 --> 00:09:35,641 42 years ago. 201 00:09:35,741 --> 00:09:36,676 She was 12. 202 00:09:36,676 --> 00:09:39,545 I was 13. 203 00:09:39,545 --> 00:09:40,980 We're still David. 204 00:09:40,980 --> 00:09:42,348 She started then 42 years 205 00:09:43,382 --> 00:09:45,718 and, 206 00:09:45,718 --> 00:09:49,388 they approached me about a year ago and said, hey, would you help us? 207 00:09:49,422 --> 00:09:53,392 Our group has not started a church in over 20 years. 208 00:09:55,194 --> 00:09:55,695 What happened? 209 00:09:55,695 --> 00:09:58,397 Say the churches got older, they got. 210 00:09:58,397 --> 00:10:01,601 And they just they in mission drift and they lost their zeal 211 00:10:02,301 --> 00:10:04,337 and they weren't relevant. And we. 212 00:10:04,337 --> 00:10:05,571 So we started to work with them. 213 00:10:05,571 --> 00:10:10,443 Good news is, this week we, commissioned their first church planner. 214 00:10:10,443 --> 00:10:12,244 They had over 20 years. 215 00:10:12,244 --> 00:10:15,247 Yeah, it's great stuff. He's going to, 216 00:10:15,448 --> 00:10:16,749 Fort Collins area. 217 00:10:16,749 --> 00:10:19,852 It's going like crazy there, if you know that we're going to Town of Windsor. 218 00:10:20,319 --> 00:10:22,421 And that was exciting. But I was looking around. 219 00:10:22,421 --> 00:10:26,158 I'm seeing most of these churches are just old. 220 00:10:27,093 --> 00:10:29,862 They they kind of lost their mission. 221 00:10:29,862 --> 00:10:33,165 They probably had their 20 anniversary and then started going downhill 222 00:10:33,165 --> 00:10:36,736 because they they didn't know how to stay relevant. 223 00:10:36,736 --> 00:10:38,871 They didn't know how to look at what is next. 224 00:10:38,871 --> 00:10:41,507 So so how do you stay relevant? How do you stay in the game? 225 00:10:41,507 --> 00:10:45,778 How do you make the next 20 years better than even the last 20 years? 226 00:10:45,945 --> 00:10:50,750 What a look at a passage in Scripture from First Corinthians chapter nine. 227 00:10:51,117 --> 00:10:52,852 And this will kind of set the pace. 228 00:10:52,852 --> 00:10:57,990 I think there's like five suggestions, tools in that passage 229 00:10:58,090 --> 00:11:01,827 on how to handle the next 20, how to stay relevant. 230 00:11:02,261 --> 00:11:05,264 Here's the passage, just might be familiar to you. 231 00:11:05,398 --> 00:11:08,634 First Corinthians nine, the Apostle Paul's writings. 232 00:11:08,634 --> 00:11:11,037 Oh, I am free and belong to no man. 233 00:11:11,037 --> 00:11:13,806 I make myself a slave to everyone. 234 00:11:13,806 --> 00:11:14,774 When you here last week, 235 00:11:15,941 --> 00:11:19,278 when the apostle Carl told us about. 236 00:11:20,246 --> 00:11:23,249 It's not servant, it's slave to us. 237 00:11:23,582 --> 00:11:26,452 You're a slave. Remember that? 238 00:11:26,452 --> 00:11:28,254 Okay. See, you got that. 239 00:11:28,254 --> 00:11:29,588 Good job. 240 00:11:29,588 --> 00:11:32,191 I make myself a slave to everyone. 241 00:11:32,191 --> 00:11:34,326 To when? As many as possible. To the Jews. 242 00:11:34,326 --> 00:11:35,194 I became like a Jew 243 00:11:35,194 --> 00:11:38,230 to when the Jews, to those under the lot became like one under law. 244 00:11:38,297 --> 00:11:40,199 Though I myself am not under the law. 245 00:11:40,199 --> 00:11:44,470 So as to when those under the law, to those not having the law, 246 00:11:44,470 --> 00:11:48,741 I became like one not having law, though I am not free from God's law, 247 00:11:48,741 --> 00:11:52,545 but under Christ law, so as to when those not having the law, 248 00:11:53,279 --> 00:11:55,581 then it concludes for the week I became week two, when the week 249 00:11:55,581 --> 00:12:00,086 I become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some. 250 00:12:00,086 --> 00:12:02,288 So how do we handle the next 20? 251 00:12:02,288 --> 00:12:03,656 How do we stay in the game? 252 00:12:03,656 --> 00:12:05,691 How do we not get into mission drift? 253 00:12:05,691 --> 00:12:09,562 How do we make a difference in the next couple decades? 254 00:12:10,596 --> 00:12:11,163 Five ways. 255 00:12:11,163 --> 00:12:14,066 Number one, understand your role. 256 00:12:14,066 --> 00:12:16,736 Understand what you're called 257 00:12:16,736 --> 00:12:21,140 to understand your role as a servant. 258 00:12:21,340 --> 00:12:22,942 According to Carl, that's not correct. 259 00:12:22,942 --> 00:12:25,945 As a slave, you understand 260 00:12:25,945 --> 00:12:28,948 what you're your role is. 261 00:12:29,048 --> 00:12:29,849 And we miss this. 262 00:12:29,849 --> 00:12:33,185 Sometimes in churches, we get caught up. 263 00:12:33,185 --> 00:12:34,520 We think it's about us. 264 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:35,888 We get 20 years. 265 00:12:35,888 --> 00:12:38,657 We think, oh, great, we can relax now. 266 00:12:38,657 --> 00:12:40,826 But Paul says, no, I'm a slave. 267 00:12:40,826 --> 00:12:42,528 I'm a servant. 268 00:12:42,528 --> 00:12:44,563 That's my role. 269 00:12:44,563 --> 00:12:46,332 You talked about the Charlie Kirk deal. 270 00:12:46,332 --> 00:12:49,335 What's my role with people who disagree with me on that? 271 00:12:49,969 --> 00:12:52,938 What's my role with the people who are doing stuff 272 00:12:53,773 --> 00:12:56,776 and against what I feel like is, you know, God's law? 273 00:12:57,443 --> 00:13:00,045 My role is a servant. 274 00:13:00,045 --> 00:13:03,015 I role, as is our neighbor, posted something 275 00:13:03,015 --> 00:13:06,619 on social media yesterday about this. 276 00:13:06,619 --> 00:13:09,822 It was like, oh no. And I wanted to go. 277 00:13:09,822 --> 00:13:11,090 And actually, you know what I did? 278 00:13:11,090 --> 00:13:14,026 I was like, wait a minute, what's my role? My role 279 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:17,096 is to be a servant. 280 00:13:17,096 --> 00:13:20,299 That's that's our job is to serve. 281 00:13:21,534 --> 00:13:26,405 Paul says, I talked about the rights we have as Christians, as a person. 282 00:13:26,605 --> 00:13:28,507 I've never used any of these rights. 283 00:13:28,507 --> 00:13:31,043 And I'm not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. 284 00:13:31,043 --> 00:13:34,046 It's not about us. 285 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:38,717 Statistics say that 90% of American churchgoers 286 00:13:38,717 --> 00:13:41,720 think the church is for them. 287 00:13:42,321 --> 00:13:45,291 That's not what Scripture says. 288 00:13:45,825 --> 00:13:47,059 There's a great quote. 289 00:13:47,059 --> 00:13:50,229 The church is the only cooperative society in the world 290 00:13:50,329 --> 00:13:53,299 that exists for the benefit of nonmembers. 291 00:13:54,099 --> 00:13:55,835 It's not for us. 292 00:13:55,835 --> 00:13:57,369 This is a picture of the guy who said it. 293 00:13:57,369 --> 00:14:00,339 By the way, I don't have his name up there. 294 00:14:00,339 --> 00:14:01,040 Good looking guy. 295 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,009 But anyway, it's not for us. 296 00:14:04,009 --> 00:14:06,278 And then I Like This by Dave Browning. 297 00:14:06,278 --> 00:14:07,847 His book Deliberate Simplicity 298 00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:11,383 a big part of a pastor's job, and I think Carl does as well, 299 00:14:11,984 --> 00:14:16,222 is to keep the church swimming upstream, because the natural current 300 00:14:17,389 --> 00:14:20,359 takes us to a place of inward focus. 301 00:14:20,359 --> 00:14:23,963 We buy new chairs not so that we will get more comfortable, 302 00:14:24,163 --> 00:14:27,533 but so our neighbors and friends will be when they finally arrive. 303 00:14:27,633 --> 00:14:30,569 We pick songs not with just our ear and mind, 304 00:14:30,569 --> 00:14:33,572 but for those who are about to come. 305 00:14:34,406 --> 00:14:37,910 Our role is as a servant. 306 00:14:38,944 --> 00:14:42,715 I grew up in a tradition 307 00:14:42,982 --> 00:14:46,819 that was just so caught up in ceremony 308 00:14:46,819 --> 00:14:50,990 and ritual and traditions they didn't care about. 309 00:14:51,023 --> 00:14:52,758 Well, it was all about them. 310 00:14:52,758 --> 00:14:54,894 And I ran away from the church. 311 00:14:54,894 --> 00:14:57,897 I ended up in a drug fraternity at UCLA, 312 00:14:57,997 --> 00:15:01,000 didn't know it was a drug fraternity until the day I moved in. 313 00:15:02,001 --> 00:15:06,672 And it was, but I came to Christ there and in that fraternity was kind of weird. 314 00:15:06,672 --> 00:15:10,075 We had a rule, because there was 40 guys living in one place, 315 00:15:10,075 --> 00:15:13,078 and there was just one washer and one dryer, clean operated. 316 00:15:13,512 --> 00:15:16,515 And so we had this rule that if you had your stuff in the washer 317 00:15:16,782 --> 00:15:19,818 and it was done, you better get out of there, 318 00:15:20,219 --> 00:15:22,788 because if somebody got there before you 319 00:15:22,788 --> 00:15:26,158 washer dryer, it was fine for them. 320 00:15:26,425 --> 00:15:30,429 In fact, encouraged for them to take your clothes and scatter them 321 00:15:30,429 --> 00:15:32,364 wherever they may be. You might have to wash them again. 322 00:15:32,364 --> 00:15:34,233 That was just what we did. 323 00:15:34,233 --> 00:15:37,569 Sometimes you walk in there, they'd be sticking to the ceiling, all that. 324 00:15:37,736 --> 00:15:40,239 So what that was for I my clothes. 325 00:15:40,239 --> 00:15:41,840 It's a fraternity, right? 326 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,342 I come in 327 00:15:43,342 --> 00:15:47,079 and there's something in the washer so that, Well, I give the guy some time. 328 00:15:47,079 --> 00:15:49,148 Came back a little while later, still there. 329 00:15:49,148 --> 00:15:49,949 And I'm getting ready 330 00:15:49,949 --> 00:15:53,152 to just fling these things, and I just turn my life over to Christ. 331 00:15:53,152 --> 00:15:55,254 And I thought, okay, maybe I shouldn't do that, 332 00:15:55,254 --> 00:15:58,257 put it in the dryer, use my own quarters. 333 00:15:58,457 --> 00:16:00,859 And he came back to change. He still on it. 334 00:16:00,859 --> 00:16:05,030 So I and just something I don't even do to the day I folded the clothes 335 00:16:06,665 --> 00:16:08,233 and I took him out to his room, 336 00:16:08,233 --> 00:16:12,004 talk to us, gave him the clothes, and, he didn't say anything. 337 00:16:12,004 --> 00:16:12,972 He just took them. 338 00:16:12,972 --> 00:16:16,809 And, Anyway, I don't remember that really what was on. 339 00:16:16,909 --> 00:16:20,346 But three months later, he comes knocking on the door. 340 00:16:20,346 --> 00:16:24,016 I'm there with my friend, the two Christians in this 30s 341 00:16:24,183 --> 00:16:25,050 banging on the door. 342 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:25,918 It's late at night. 343 00:16:25,918 --> 00:16:28,921 What's up? Because I need Jesus. 344 00:16:29,555 --> 00:16:32,458 This happened a number of times, by the way, 345 00:16:32,458 --> 00:16:34,360 and I need Jesus. He came in is like. 346 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:35,627 So we prayed with him. 347 00:16:35,627 --> 00:16:38,564 He gave his life to Christ. And we're hanging out in front of. 348 00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:39,331 What was it? 349 00:16:39,331 --> 00:16:43,669 Was it was it, you know, something that we had said? 350 00:16:43,669 --> 00:16:47,606 Was it the Bible study we're leaving was at the team meeting we had all the 351 00:16:47,639 --> 00:16:51,510 brothers were, I get my testimony, and Rick gave a little sermon. 352 00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:54,146 What was it? And he said, 353 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,250 remember that time you folded my clothes? 354 00:16:58,250 --> 00:16:59,918 How was it? 355 00:16:59,918 --> 00:17:00,452 It's amazing. 356 00:17:00,452 --> 00:17:03,322 Our neighbor is a Christian now. 357 00:17:03,322 --> 00:17:06,325 He comes to church every Sunday, 358 00:17:06,692 --> 00:17:09,828 and he said, you know, for 22 years, 359 00:17:10,362 --> 00:17:12,998 Lori brought cookies 360 00:17:12,998 --> 00:17:16,235 for him on my doorstep every Christmas and Easter. 361 00:17:17,503 --> 00:17:20,506 And the first few years I brought him back. 362 00:17:20,506 --> 00:17:23,509 And then I started throwing them away. 363 00:17:23,876 --> 00:17:25,544 And now I'm a believer 364 00:17:25,544 --> 00:17:29,214 because of Lori and her serve it. 365 00:17:29,481 --> 00:17:30,682 It's not about us. 366 00:17:30,682 --> 00:17:33,252 It's about us taking the role of servant. 367 00:17:33,252 --> 00:17:35,854 And it's not our job to to set people straight. 368 00:17:35,854 --> 00:17:40,125 It's not our job to tell people where they're wrong and to get upset with them. 369 00:17:40,793 --> 00:17:45,597 It's our job to just be a servant, and that's our role. 370 00:17:45,597 --> 00:17:48,600 And if we keep that role, we will keep 371 00:17:48,934 --> 00:17:51,670 being effective for the gospel. 372 00:17:51,670 --> 00:17:53,839 So understand your role. 373 00:17:53,839 --> 00:17:56,075 Secondly, understand your audience. Who are you dealing with? 374 00:17:57,176 --> 00:17:59,812 Who are the people? 375 00:17:59,812 --> 00:18:02,448 Do we understand 376 00:18:02,448 --> 00:18:02,948 these people? 377 00:18:02,948 --> 00:18:06,785 Well, you know, we've got these, echo chambers that we're in 378 00:18:07,886 --> 00:18:10,823 and we look at other people and we just think they're crazy now. 379 00:18:10,823 --> 00:18:14,326 They're just regurgitating what they're hearing in their echo chamber. 380 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:18,664 And how are we going to minister that to them if we don't 381 00:18:20,032 --> 00:18:23,535 understand them, if we don't take time to actually 382 00:18:25,137 --> 00:18:27,573 listen to them? 383 00:18:27,573 --> 00:18:29,641 Guy went in for a job interview. 384 00:18:29,641 --> 00:18:32,711 The questions was, where do you see yourself in five years? 385 00:18:32,711 --> 00:18:35,781 And his answer was, I would say, my biggest weakness is 386 00:18:35,781 --> 00:18:38,784 listening. 387 00:18:39,251 --> 00:18:40,886 Right, right. 388 00:18:40,886 --> 00:18:43,789 I don't like it when Lori 389 00:18:43,789 --> 00:18:46,525 says to me, are you even listening to me? 390 00:18:46,525 --> 00:18:49,228 I think that's a really strange way to start a conversation. 391 00:18:53,432 --> 00:18:55,601 There's a barber in our town, 392 00:18:55,601 --> 00:18:58,237 barber in our town, who just got arrested 393 00:18:58,237 --> 00:19:01,106 for selling drugs on the side. 394 00:19:01,106 --> 00:19:05,144 And, I was just amazed because I've been going to this guy for three years. 395 00:19:05,144 --> 00:19:08,113 I had no idea he was a barber. 396 00:19:08,113 --> 00:19:09,581 That's not true. 397 00:19:09,581 --> 00:19:12,584 That's not true. 398 00:19:12,885 --> 00:19:15,154 I don't do drugs, and my wife cuts my hair. 399 00:19:15,154 --> 00:19:16,588 But here's the thing. 400 00:19:16,588 --> 00:19:18,223 We don't. 401 00:19:18,223 --> 00:19:20,459 We miss it. We miss. 402 00:19:20,459 --> 00:19:21,793 We don't understand it. 403 00:19:21,793 --> 00:19:22,928 We don't take the time to go. 404 00:19:22,928 --> 00:19:26,899 What is really happening with these people? 405 00:19:27,332 --> 00:19:30,469 What is going on in their lives 406 00:19:30,469 --> 00:19:33,672 and just getting to know who they are. You. 407 00:19:34,806 --> 00:19:37,576 When you go to these different countries, it's easy 408 00:19:37,576 --> 00:19:39,411 because you got to put yourself in that realm. 409 00:19:39,411 --> 00:19:43,215 You go into Ukraine, you realize in Ukraine it's a very clear 410 00:19:43,215 --> 00:19:46,218 the men are on one side, the women are on the other side. 411 00:19:46,218 --> 00:19:48,954 I found this out because I was doing this Ukrainian event 412 00:19:48,954 --> 00:19:50,689 and I was a pastor's wife. 413 00:19:50,689 --> 00:19:53,492 So what if I gave her a side hug? I'm not even a hugger. 414 00:19:53,492 --> 00:19:55,127 But you know, I do the side hug thing. 415 00:19:55,127 --> 00:19:57,763 And then I realized, you don't do that. 416 00:19:57,763 --> 00:19:59,331 Got to know your audience. 417 00:19:59,331 --> 00:20:01,500 So who are you dealing with? What are the people that you're 418 00:20:02,601 --> 00:20:03,969 you're talking to? 419 00:20:03,969 --> 00:20:05,637 What are they feeling? What are they sensing? 420 00:20:05,637 --> 00:20:08,640 Why are they coming from where they're coming from? 421 00:20:08,874 --> 00:20:12,277 God has put, you know, 8 to 15 people on the front rows of our life. 422 00:20:12,477 --> 00:20:14,479 And he's just saying, hey, you go love. 423 00:20:14,479 --> 00:20:19,017 These people know your role, our role with them is not to just jam it down. 424 00:20:19,017 --> 00:20:22,020 That's a role is to be a servant. 425 00:20:22,321 --> 00:20:25,324 We need to know and understand. 426 00:20:25,624 --> 00:20:29,228 That's our role and we need to understand who they are, where they're coming from. 427 00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:32,831 The more we listen, the more effective we're going to be. 428 00:20:32,831 --> 00:20:36,768 So I would just encourage you, how do you make the next 20 years effective 429 00:20:37,803 --> 00:20:40,038 gets another people? Why? 430 00:20:40,038 --> 00:20:43,041 Why are they thinking like that. And, 431 00:20:44,176 --> 00:20:48,347 you know, take that angle talking to them about Jesus. 432 00:20:50,148 --> 00:20:52,251 Paul says, yes, I try to find common ground 433 00:20:52,251 --> 00:20:55,220 with everyone doing everything I can to save 434 00:20:56,088 --> 00:20:56,488 some. 435 00:20:56,488 --> 00:20:59,491 Third, understand the times. 436 00:21:00,192 --> 00:21:02,461 Understand our 437 00:21:02,461 --> 00:21:06,098 culture, our situation where we are right now. 438 00:21:06,398 --> 00:21:08,333 First Chronicles 1232. 439 00:21:08,333 --> 00:21:12,404 As it goes through, as it's talking about the, the different people, 440 00:21:12,904 --> 00:21:18,710 it says the men of Isaac understood the times and knew what Israel should do. 441 00:21:18,810 --> 00:21:21,146 We need to understand the times. 442 00:21:21,146 --> 00:21:22,114 Things are different. 443 00:21:22,114 --> 00:21:25,117 Your 20 year anniversary. 444 00:21:25,284 --> 00:21:28,287 It's not 2005 anymore. 445 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,456 I was doing some study on 2005, 446 00:21:31,456 --> 00:21:34,459 just how different it was in 2005. 447 00:21:34,726 --> 00:21:35,527 Guess what happened? 448 00:21:35,527 --> 00:21:37,996 YouTube became public. 449 00:21:37,996 --> 00:21:39,798 YouTube went 450 00:21:39,798 --> 00:21:42,801 on. YouTube started in 2005. 451 00:21:43,735 --> 00:21:47,706 Today it's the number two search engine in the world. 452 00:21:48,373 --> 00:21:52,110 2005 one of the most effective companies in our country. 453 00:21:53,312 --> 00:21:56,315 Blockbuster video. 454 00:21:57,349 --> 00:21:59,418 There's only one Blockbuster Video left. 455 00:21:59,418 --> 00:22:00,919 It's in bend, Oregon. 456 00:22:00,919 --> 00:22:03,855 If you ever get a chance to go visit it, pass. 457 00:22:03,855 --> 00:22:06,858 It's just it's just like the old ones. 458 00:22:07,192 --> 00:22:09,127 We did a trip up there. I went in there. 459 00:22:09,127 --> 00:22:11,430 It's like silly. I'm trying to return this. 460 00:22:11,430 --> 00:22:14,433 And it wasn't rewound, and they give me a hard time, but, 461 00:22:15,734 --> 00:22:18,270 things have changed 462 00:22:18,270 --> 00:22:21,640 so much in in number one selling 463 00:22:22,007 --> 00:22:25,844 cell phone, 2005 Nokia. 464 00:22:26,445 --> 00:22:28,580 Anybody have a Nokia on you today? 465 00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:31,550 Anybody in here have a Nokia flip phone? 466 00:22:32,784 --> 00:22:34,519 Okay. You need to understand the times. 467 00:22:34,519 --> 00:22:37,322 If you still have a Nokia 468 00:22:37,322 --> 00:22:39,825 how about this in 2005, 469 00:22:39,825 --> 00:22:45,097 did you know that, gay marriage was not legal in California? 470 00:22:45,097 --> 00:22:47,232 It was not legal in the United States. 471 00:22:48,533 --> 00:22:49,835 20 years, 472 00:22:49,835 --> 00:22:52,471 2005 here in California, 473 00:22:52,471 --> 00:22:55,474 we had a Republican governor 474 00:22:56,208 --> 00:22:59,845 member, Arnold, things have changed. 475 00:23:00,379 --> 00:23:03,382 We don't have a Republican governor anymore. 476 00:23:03,648 --> 00:23:04,716 2005 years. 477 00:23:04,716 --> 00:23:07,719 The average cost of a brand new car was. 478 00:23:11,123 --> 00:23:12,457 You must have been here for service, right? 479 00:23:12,457 --> 00:23:14,559 $22,000. 480 00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:17,028 Maybe you bought a car in 2005. 481 00:23:17,028 --> 00:23:18,697 $22,000. 482 00:23:18,697 --> 00:23:22,200 And then today, do you know what the average cost of a new car is? 483 00:23:24,236 --> 00:23:27,239 $48,401. 484 00:23:27,572 --> 00:23:30,575 I believe that bestselling car, 485 00:23:32,244 --> 00:23:34,813 bestselling, vehicle, 486 00:23:34,813 --> 00:23:37,849 2005 Ford F1 series 487 00:23:39,050 --> 00:23:43,455 today bestselling vehicle, Ford F1 series. 488 00:23:44,389 --> 00:23:47,359 Some things don't change 489 00:23:47,759 --> 00:23:48,960 to 2005. 490 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,963 There was an assassination attempt on George Bush in the country 491 00:23:52,731 --> 00:23:55,333 of Georgia. 492 00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:57,469 Some things don't change, but some things do. 493 00:23:57,469 --> 00:23:58,970 We need to understand the times. 494 00:23:58,970 --> 00:24:02,240 I'm sure what we're dealing with understand who these people are. 495 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:03,542 The whole culture. 496 00:24:03,542 --> 00:24:07,279 Understand that you know, 2005, we were told kids 497 00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:10,582 aren't interested, you know, young people, they aren't interested in Christ at all. 498 00:24:10,782 --> 00:24:16,121 Now, in 19 to 29 year olds are coming to Christ like crazy. 499 00:24:17,155 --> 00:24:17,823 There's five 500 00:24:17,823 --> 00:24:21,726 churches in Worcester, Massachusetts, the northeast. 501 00:24:21,726 --> 00:24:23,428 Nobody's interested in the gospel, right? 502 00:24:23,428 --> 00:24:26,631 Five churches have contacted us and say, hey, we need your help 503 00:24:26,898 --> 00:24:30,869 because all of our churches have tripled in the last year 504 00:24:30,869 --> 00:24:34,639 and a half, and it's all 19 to 29 year olds. 505 00:24:35,106 --> 00:24:36,942 What do we do? 506 00:24:36,942 --> 00:24:39,311 Understand the times, understand what's happening. 507 00:24:39,311 --> 00:24:42,314 We need we need to kind of get out of our own little bubble 508 00:24:42,848 --> 00:24:44,449 and realize, well, it's been great. 509 00:24:44,449 --> 00:24:47,452 Oh 5 to 2025 510 00:24:47,619 --> 00:24:52,691 let's get ready for 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045. 511 00:24:52,991 --> 00:24:55,927 We have to understand what is going on around us. 512 00:24:55,927 --> 00:24:58,930 Doesn't mean we have to kind of give in to the culture. 513 00:24:59,097 --> 00:25:01,833 We're still in the world, but not of it. 514 00:25:01,833 --> 00:25:03,935 But we have to be aware. 515 00:25:03,935 --> 00:25:05,604 We don't have to get caught up in it. 516 00:25:05,604 --> 00:25:07,339 We don't have to succumb. 517 00:25:07,339 --> 00:25:09,708 But we do need to understand the times. 518 00:25:09,708 --> 00:25:12,277 If we're going to be, if we're going to be effective. 519 00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:17,749 Not a lot of people know this about me, but I'm a time traveler. 520 00:25:17,749 --> 00:25:21,920 The only catch is so far I can look travel through time, same rate. 521 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,890 Everyone else is go. 522 00:25:24,890 --> 00:25:25,724 I like this quote. 523 00:25:25,724 --> 00:25:27,959 They are called for in times of change. 524 00:25:27,959 --> 00:25:31,863 Learners inherit the earth while the learner find themselves 525 00:25:31,863 --> 00:25:35,000 beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. 526 00:25:36,101 --> 00:25:40,906 Why are those churches and Rocky Mountains dwindling? 527 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:42,541 Why is it so hard? 528 00:25:42,541 --> 00:25:45,310 Because they are dealing 529 00:25:45,310 --> 00:25:48,547 with a world that doesn't exist anymore. 530 00:25:49,514 --> 00:25:51,616 And I look and 531 00:25:51,616 --> 00:25:53,919 most of the churches at that conference 532 00:25:53,919 --> 00:25:56,922 had not seen anybody come to Christ in their church in the last year. 533 00:25:57,789 --> 00:26:01,026 Most of them had not seen a baptism in their church in the last year, 534 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:02,661 and they're wondering why. 535 00:26:02,661 --> 00:26:06,364 So I guess they're not good people, and they might even have understood the role, 536 00:26:07,132 --> 00:26:09,100 but they don't understand the people they're dealing with 537 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:10,735 or the times we're living in. 538 00:26:10,735 --> 00:26:11,903 And we've got to adjust. 539 00:26:11,903 --> 00:26:13,572 We've got to be malleable. 540 00:26:13,572 --> 00:26:16,975 We've got to be new wineskins so that God can put 541 00:26:17,442 --> 00:26:20,979 his changes in us and we can serve other people. 542 00:26:20,979 --> 00:26:21,846 So get to number four. 543 00:26:23,148 --> 00:26:24,983 How to stay relevant. 544 00:26:24,983 --> 00:26:27,118 Understand the message. 545 00:26:27,118 --> 00:26:30,121 Or have you ever just got the wrong message? 546 00:26:31,556 --> 00:26:33,325 Seven years ago, 547 00:26:33,325 --> 00:26:36,928 we bought a refrigerator and it was going to be delivered 548 00:26:37,062 --> 00:26:40,832 the next day, and I took the day off of work and stayed. 549 00:26:40,832 --> 00:26:42,601 It was waiting for it to be delivered. 550 00:26:42,601 --> 00:26:45,737 This is back before cell phones and stuff and I'm waiting. 551 00:26:45,737 --> 00:26:50,208 And waiting didn't come, so I don't know what that's about, but, 552 00:26:50,208 --> 00:26:53,712 the next day I got this call from this guy, 553 00:26:53,712 --> 00:26:56,715 and he said, I think I have your refrigerator. 554 00:26:57,048 --> 00:26:58,883 Okay, I live down the street. 555 00:26:58,883 --> 00:27:00,018 So what's going on? 556 00:27:00,018 --> 00:27:01,953 He said, well, I'm at work in San Francisco. 557 00:27:01,953 --> 00:27:04,623 We were in the Bay area. It's I'm in San Francisco, I'm at work. 558 00:27:04,623 --> 00:27:07,392 The babysitter calls and leaves a message. 559 00:27:07,392 --> 00:27:09,561 The refrigerator is in the garage. 560 00:27:11,696 --> 00:27:13,331 So what? 561 00:27:13,331 --> 00:27:16,334 He raced home because he said, what is going on? 562 00:27:16,334 --> 00:27:17,669 You're supposed to be washing, right? Yes. 563 00:27:17,669 --> 00:27:20,405 And I put it in the fridge and delivered it there. 564 00:27:20,405 --> 00:27:22,641 They got the wrong message. 565 00:27:22,641 --> 00:27:24,876 And we go through life and we just miss it. 566 00:27:24,876 --> 00:27:26,945 My mom used to tell this story all the time, 567 00:27:26,945 --> 00:27:29,781 about to start a birthday party for a neighborhood kid. 568 00:27:29,781 --> 00:27:31,216 He was turning eight years old. 569 00:27:31,216 --> 00:27:32,951 She went down, she got the cake. 570 00:27:32,951 --> 00:27:36,354 He opens up the cake and he goes, couldn't. 571 00:27:36,621 --> 00:27:39,591 Good luck, Agnes. 572 00:27:39,924 --> 00:27:41,760 Mom got the wrong cake. 573 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,895 She picked up the cake that was supposed to be for this girl 574 00:27:43,895 --> 00:27:47,399 who's going off to the convent to become a nun. 575 00:27:47,399 --> 00:27:51,403 And and our family growing up, it was whenever there was a miscommunication, 576 00:27:51,403 --> 00:27:52,937 it was always good luck. Agnes. 577 00:27:54,139 --> 00:27:54,706 I think when 578 00:27:54,706 --> 00:27:58,643 we are talking to people about Jesus, they're saying, 579 00:27:59,244 --> 00:28:02,247 good luck, Agnes, because we miss it. 580 00:28:02,981 --> 00:28:04,616 We miss it. We just. 581 00:28:04,616 --> 00:28:08,119 I think we've messed up the message, 582 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,289 and we got to be careful that we don't mess it up going forward. 583 00:28:11,423 --> 00:28:13,692 If you ask, why do people not go to church? 584 00:28:13,692 --> 00:28:16,928 I've been doing this informal survey for the last 30 years. 585 00:28:17,095 --> 00:28:18,596 Why people don't go to church. 586 00:28:18,596 --> 00:28:20,532 Number one reason to say the same. 587 00:28:20,532 --> 00:28:22,233 Some of the others have changed. 588 00:28:22,233 --> 00:28:25,704 Number two, reason why people in the United States say they don't go to church. 589 00:28:25,704 --> 00:28:28,940 Number two is everybody at church is a hypocrite. 590 00:28:31,009 --> 00:28:33,812 And I like to say, well, we always have room for one more. 591 00:28:33,812 --> 00:28:39,517 So, number three, reason why people don't go to church. 592 00:28:39,517 --> 00:28:40,251 Number three, 593 00:28:41,286 --> 00:28:43,154 pretty new. 594 00:28:43,154 --> 00:28:46,491 The church hates gays. 595 00:28:47,525 --> 00:28:51,162 The church hates the LGBT, whatever community. 596 00:28:51,362 --> 00:28:54,365 The church hates them, and we're known for hate. 597 00:28:55,700 --> 00:28:57,902 That's what we're known for. 598 00:28:57,902 --> 00:29:00,472 Number number four, reason 599 00:29:00,472 --> 00:29:01,473 people don't go to church. 600 00:29:01,473 --> 00:29:04,008 All I want my money. 601 00:29:04,008 --> 00:29:06,144 That's what we're known for. 602 00:29:06,144 --> 00:29:08,246 We're just known for 603 00:29:08,246 --> 00:29:09,447 the whole money stuff. 604 00:29:09,447 --> 00:29:13,118 Number five, reason why people don't go to church is it's sad 605 00:29:13,118 --> 00:29:16,121 and gloomy, and all they talk about is death. 606 00:29:16,621 --> 00:29:19,891 And I was in Colorado and at this conference 607 00:29:19,891 --> 00:29:24,796 with these churches, every, every song, the last stanza was about death. 608 00:29:25,730 --> 00:29:29,501 When we've been there 10,000 years, I've it's always about dying at the end of it. 609 00:29:30,535 --> 00:29:31,970 And is that our message? 610 00:29:31,970 --> 00:29:34,072 We're going to die 611 00:29:34,072 --> 00:29:34,939 and you're going to. 612 00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:37,976 Is that our message number one reason why people don't go to church 613 00:29:38,943 --> 00:29:41,012 hasn't changed in decades. 614 00:29:41,012 --> 00:29:44,015 The number one reason why people say I don't go to church is 615 00:29:44,749 --> 00:29:46,951 it's irrelevant. 616 00:29:46,951 --> 00:29:49,521 Does it make a difference? 617 00:29:49,521 --> 00:29:52,724 They're talking about issues that aren't even on my radar. 618 00:29:53,725 --> 00:29:55,627 They say 100 years old songs. 619 00:29:55,627 --> 00:29:59,831 They sit on 100 years old furniture and they use 100 years old 620 00:30:00,064 --> 00:30:02,867 I and vow and sign language. 621 00:30:02,867 --> 00:30:05,203 And it's just irrelevant to me. 622 00:30:05,203 --> 00:30:09,641 And I think works more relevant than Jesus. 623 00:30:10,041 --> 00:30:11,776 Paul says this. 624 00:30:11,776 --> 00:30:13,111 What's the message? 625 00:30:13,111 --> 00:30:16,114 It's the opportunity to preach the good news. 626 00:30:16,281 --> 00:30:17,081 It's about the good. 627 00:30:17,081 --> 00:30:19,417 We should be known for the good news going forward. 628 00:30:19,417 --> 00:30:23,054 Let's make sure we still are known for good news, 629 00:30:24,088 --> 00:30:27,025 for further good stuff and the gospel. 630 00:30:27,025 --> 00:30:27,458 Pretty clear. 631 00:30:27,458 --> 00:30:30,461 It's just as simple as A-b-c, right? 632 00:30:30,495 --> 00:30:33,832 And the the A is it's kind of the bad news. 633 00:30:35,033 --> 00:30:36,501 All has sinned and fall short of law. 634 00:30:36,501 --> 00:30:37,669 We've got we've all messed up. 635 00:30:37,669 --> 00:30:38,937 We've all blown it. 636 00:30:38,937 --> 00:30:41,406 We we've all just fallen short. 637 00:30:41,406 --> 00:30:44,642 We all have that sense of evil inside of us. 638 00:30:45,844 --> 00:30:48,479 Yes, we're created in God's 639 00:30:48,479 --> 00:30:51,482 image, but we're falling. 640 00:30:51,816 --> 00:30:54,819 And we have to admit that 641 00:30:55,053 --> 00:30:57,088 we have to be open about that. 642 00:30:57,088 --> 00:30:59,891 And we have to abandon 643 00:30:59,891 --> 00:31:02,060 the old, not just 644 00:31:02,060 --> 00:31:05,697 sick of our life, not just sorry for our life, but surrender 645 00:31:05,930 --> 00:31:09,100 where we just say, yes, I meant I need help. 646 00:31:09,467 --> 00:31:10,835 I can't do this on my. 647 00:31:10,835 --> 00:31:14,839 When I came to Christ, it was like, I'm tired of trying to figure this out 648 00:31:14,839 --> 00:31:15,240 on my own. 649 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,942 I'm trying to work my tired of working my way to heaven. 650 00:31:17,942 --> 00:31:19,611 It's not working at all. 651 00:31:19,611 --> 00:31:23,882 That gets us to the bit to believe that Jesus gave us perfect life for me, 652 00:31:24,148 --> 00:31:27,518 it was crucified in my place, praying for each one of my sins, 653 00:31:27,518 --> 00:31:30,421 resulting in full forgiveness and reconciliation to God. 654 00:31:30,421 --> 00:31:34,292 God, through Jesus, offers full forgiveness. 655 00:31:36,861 --> 00:31:39,030 That's what we should be known for. 656 00:31:39,030 --> 00:31:42,734 Our favorite stories is in acts chapter 13, where Paul and Barnabas 657 00:31:43,101 --> 00:31:46,304 are, in this, in this church. 658 00:31:46,304 --> 00:31:49,607 And they ask him to, hey, give them talk to them. 659 00:31:49,607 --> 00:31:51,075 Paul gets up and talks 660 00:31:51,075 --> 00:31:53,411 and something happened to him that's never happened to me is right. 661 00:31:53,411 --> 00:31:56,247 After we got done, they said, we want you to give the same sermon next week. 662 00:31:56,247 --> 00:31:58,549 Nobody's ever asked me that. 663 00:31:58,549 --> 00:32:00,218 So I say, what? 664 00:32:00,218 --> 00:32:02,387 What was the sermon? Not. 665 00:32:02,387 --> 00:32:06,224 And then you look down the next week, it says almost the entire town. 666 00:32:06,257 --> 00:32:09,227 Almost the whole town came to hear what he had to say. 667 00:32:09,227 --> 00:32:12,063 So what was he talking about? 668 00:32:12,063 --> 00:32:14,999 And a bunch of people came to Christ. 669 00:32:14,999 --> 00:32:16,501 So what was his message about? 670 00:32:16,501 --> 00:32:21,372 If you look, his message was in this man, Jesus. 671 00:32:21,372 --> 00:32:23,441 There is forgiveness of sins. 672 00:32:24,609 --> 00:32:27,078 We all need forgiveness. 673 00:32:27,078 --> 00:32:30,949 Well, I understand the people next in your neighborhood, 674 00:32:31,316 --> 00:32:34,719 the people that just we all, we all get the whole forgiveness thing 675 00:32:34,719 --> 00:32:37,522 because we all need it to admit, believe. 676 00:32:37,522 --> 00:32:41,125 But then there's a C, which means there's a commitment 677 00:32:42,427 --> 00:32:43,995 that needs to be made. 678 00:32:43,995 --> 00:32:47,999 I met with a friend of mine, Don, for lunch once a month. 679 00:32:47,999 --> 00:32:49,233 We've been doing it for years. 680 00:32:49,233 --> 00:32:52,904 Just he's not a believer yet, but I'm just talk to him, he says. 681 00:32:52,904 --> 00:32:54,706 I get it. 682 00:32:54,706 --> 00:32:57,175 I gotta admit, I'm a sinner. 683 00:32:57,175 --> 00:32:58,142 That's another problem. 684 00:32:58,142 --> 00:33:01,145 I believe in Jesus, but it calls for a commitment. 685 00:33:02,013 --> 00:33:04,949 And I'm not a commitment guy. 686 00:33:04,949 --> 00:33:08,786 It's for living with his, girlfriend for years and years. 687 00:33:08,820 --> 00:33:09,921 He's not a commitment. 688 00:33:09,921 --> 00:33:12,223 You've got to be a commitment person. 689 00:33:12,223 --> 00:33:15,593 If we're a servant, if we're slave, we have to make that commitment. 690 00:33:15,593 --> 00:33:19,130 We we commit to follow Jesus every day and say, he does. 691 00:33:19,197 --> 00:33:21,632 I'm here for you. That's the good news and the good news. 692 00:33:21,632 --> 00:33:23,568 This will change your life. It's good news. 693 00:33:23,568 --> 00:33:26,371 There's forgiveness there. That's what we need to be known for. 694 00:33:26,371 --> 00:33:27,805 That should be our message. 695 00:33:27,805 --> 00:33:30,808 We need to understand that our message is not about hate. 696 00:33:30,942 --> 00:33:32,777 It's not about hypocrisy. 697 00:33:32,777 --> 00:33:34,545 It's not about money. 698 00:33:34,545 --> 00:33:36,481 It's not about death. 699 00:33:36,481 --> 00:33:38,816 It's about the good news. 700 00:33:38,816 --> 00:33:39,817 We should be joyful. 701 00:33:39,817 --> 00:33:42,820 We should be, you know, people who, 702 00:33:43,021 --> 00:33:46,457 when other people see us, they go, hey, wow, there's something there. 703 00:33:46,491 --> 00:33:48,926 Understand the message. Want to make a difference? 704 00:33:48,926 --> 00:33:51,929 Let's hold on to the truth of the gospel. 705 00:33:52,130 --> 00:33:53,364 And then the last deal. 706 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,169 How to stay relevant 707 00:33:58,169 --> 00:34:00,605 is to understand the goal. 708 00:34:00,605 --> 00:34:03,274 So my role, 709 00:34:03,274 --> 00:34:07,412 the other people, the times, the message. 710 00:34:08,012 --> 00:34:09,013 But then what's. 711 00:34:09,013 --> 00:34:11,616 What's the goal? 712 00:34:11,616 --> 00:34:14,619 You ever hit the wrong goal? 713 00:34:15,420 --> 00:34:18,423 Ever scored for the wrong team, 714 00:34:18,990 --> 00:34:20,058 right. Ever. 715 00:34:20,058 --> 00:34:21,726 Just kind of messed up that. 716 00:34:21,726 --> 00:34:23,294 Oh, you wanted me to do that. 717 00:34:23,294 --> 00:34:25,863 And I did this. 718 00:34:25,863 --> 00:34:28,866 We need to hit the goal. 719 00:34:29,834 --> 00:34:31,736 And it's this I have become all things to all mentioned 720 00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:35,039 that by all possible means, I might save some. 721 00:34:35,039 --> 00:34:37,942 Paul, you don't save them. Jesus saves them. 722 00:34:37,942 --> 00:34:39,444 Of course he knows that. 723 00:34:39,444 --> 00:34:43,147 But God has given us the ministry of reconciling people to him. 724 00:34:43,247 --> 00:34:48,686 He's put those people in your life, and the goal is for you to win some. 725 00:34:49,921 --> 00:34:53,257 The goal is the the people in our lives is probably not going to hear it 726 00:34:53,257 --> 00:34:56,260 from anybody else. And they're watching us. 727 00:34:56,427 --> 00:34:57,595 They're watching you. 728 00:34:57,595 --> 00:35:00,665 They're watching me, and they're they're wondering if 729 00:35:01,232 --> 00:35:03,434 if we get it, do we understand them? 730 00:35:03,434 --> 00:35:05,136 Do we understand the times? 731 00:35:05,136 --> 00:35:06,137 What's the message? 732 00:35:06,137 --> 00:35:09,373 Is it clear and our goal in life is simply. 733 00:35:11,609 --> 00:35:14,245 God use this to win some 734 00:35:14,245 --> 00:35:18,049 and going to the next 20 years, if we could just have this whole mentality 735 00:35:18,049 --> 00:35:19,250 that, hey, we're not done. 736 00:35:19,250 --> 00:35:21,252 We are servants 737 00:35:21,252 --> 00:35:23,354 and we need to understand the people around us, 738 00:35:23,354 --> 00:35:24,522 and we're going to listen to them 739 00:35:24,522 --> 00:35:28,493 and we're going to kind of try to get what's going on in the culture. 740 00:35:28,559 --> 00:35:32,029 We may not agree, we may not completely understand that. 741 00:35:32,029 --> 00:35:35,266 We may not know why, but we're going to try to 742 00:35:35,867 --> 00:35:39,170 understand the time so we know what to do, and we're going to have 743 00:35:39,170 --> 00:35:42,673 a clear message that cuts through all the other crap there. 744 00:35:42,707 --> 00:35:45,743 It gets so the people can hear it, and by all means, 745 00:35:45,743 --> 00:35:48,779 we might save some. 746 00:35:48,779 --> 00:35:51,782 And then Paul says, this 747 00:35:51,983 --> 00:35:54,385 I do all of this for the sake of the gospel 748 00:35:55,553 --> 00:35:57,555 that I might share in his blessings. 749 00:35:57,555 --> 00:35:59,991 Well, here we are today. We're sharing the blessings of the gospel. 750 00:35:59,991 --> 00:36:02,960 I get an opportunity to come up here, come down here. 751 00:36:03,561 --> 00:36:06,797 Sharing the blessings of it is just so amazing, 752 00:36:06,797 --> 00:36:11,335 such a privilege to be here and just see the blessings of the gospel. 753 00:36:11,335 --> 00:36:14,338 We get to share that we get to be partners. 754 00:36:14,438 --> 00:36:16,541 Do you not know that a race all the runners run 755 00:36:16,541 --> 00:36:19,544 but only one gets the prize run in such a way 756 00:36:20,611 --> 00:36:22,647 with urgency. 757 00:36:22,647 --> 00:36:26,217 Let's face the future with urgency. 758 00:36:27,385 --> 00:36:30,388 We want the next 20 759 00:36:30,454 --> 00:36:33,024 to be even more impactful 760 00:36:33,024 --> 00:36:35,493 than the last 20. 761 00:36:35,493 --> 00:36:38,496 Here's the challenge. 762 00:36:38,596 --> 00:36:41,799 What do you need to understand? 763 00:36:41,899 --> 00:36:43,167 We go through this. What? 764 00:36:43,167 --> 00:36:46,671 What's maybe. So I got to reframe my whole 765 00:36:48,005 --> 00:36:51,008 role thing because sometimes I just think it's about me. 766 00:36:51,642 --> 00:36:55,112 Sometimes the things about me showing other people that I'm right or wrong, 767 00:36:56,013 --> 00:36:56,981 no understand. 768 00:36:56,981 --> 00:36:58,683 Or maybe I just, you know what? 769 00:36:58,683 --> 00:37:02,820 I haven't taken the time to listen to why this person is doing 770 00:37:02,820 --> 00:37:05,356 the things they're doing and why they're not getting it. 771 00:37:05,356 --> 00:37:08,960 When I talk to them about Jesus, maybe it's this whole culture thing. 772 00:37:10,928 --> 00:37:13,331 I've been so anti culture that I've just stayed away. 773 00:37:13,331 --> 00:37:16,334 Instead of just saying, hey, I need to understand the times 774 00:37:17,568 --> 00:37:20,304 so so we can know what flip side should do. 775 00:37:20,304 --> 00:37:23,307 Maybe I've just been a little muddy 776 00:37:23,441 --> 00:37:25,509 with my message. 777 00:37:25,509 --> 00:37:28,813 I come off as more judgmental than good news 778 00:37:30,348 --> 00:37:33,117 or or 779 00:37:33,117 --> 00:37:36,721 or maybe I just need to step back and go, wow, you know, 780 00:37:37,989 --> 00:37:40,524 I've missed out on the goal. 781 00:37:40,524 --> 00:37:42,326 I missed shooting for the wrong. 782 00:37:42,326 --> 00:37:47,231 Instead of realizing, hey, the goal is that God would use me 783 00:37:47,231 --> 00:37:51,035 to to win some and continue to use flip side to win. 784 00:37:51,035 --> 00:37:53,638 So I'm so excited for your future. 785 00:37:53,638 --> 00:37:55,473 You've got a great leader. 786 00:37:55,473 --> 00:37:58,009 You're wonderful people, so generous. 787 00:37:58,009 --> 00:38:00,011 You're making a major impact. 788 00:38:00,011 --> 00:38:02,079 Keep it up. 789 00:38:02,079 --> 00:38:03,347 Thank you for the privilege of being here. 790 00:38:03,347 --> 00:38:05,683 Let me pray for you. God, thank you for these people. 791 00:38:05,683 --> 00:38:07,485 Thank you for this church. 792 00:38:07,485 --> 00:38:10,187 Thank you for Carl and Shelly 793 00:38:10,187 --> 00:38:13,591 and the staff here and the way that you have used them. 794 00:38:13,591 --> 00:38:15,059 Thank you for the leadership. 795 00:38:15,059 --> 00:38:19,830 We pray your protection around Carl and the team as they go to Ukraine 796 00:38:19,830 --> 00:38:25,102 and beyond, and the protection around us as well as we share the good news. 797 00:38:25,102 --> 00:38:27,705 God, will you just help us to understand our role 798 00:38:27,705 --> 00:38:31,309 and to enjoy the fact that we are your slaves 799 00:38:32,276 --> 00:38:34,812 and we're servants to these people around us? 800 00:38:34,812 --> 00:38:38,482 We help us to understand the the folks that we're dealing with. 801 00:38:40,251 --> 00:38:43,688 Show us those people in our sphere of influence 802 00:38:43,688 --> 00:38:47,158 that you're calling us to be 803 00:38:47,358 --> 00:38:50,428 the primary spokesperson for you, to them, 804 00:38:51,762 --> 00:38:55,266 God, we don't understand this culture, but you give us enough 805 00:38:56,300 --> 00:39:01,672 glimpse of understanding so that we can maneuver through it 806 00:39:01,672 --> 00:39:04,742 without just being thrown off our 807 00:39:04,909 --> 00:39:07,878 our game because of what's happening out there. 808 00:39:08,379 --> 00:39:11,515 Help us have clarity with the message that it's good news 809 00:39:11,515 --> 00:39:14,518 that God saved me, and he can save you to. 810 00:39:15,252 --> 00:39:17,688 And we just look forward to what's going to happen in the future. 811 00:39:17,688 --> 00:39:18,556 Pray for this church. 812 00:39:18,556 --> 00:39:20,858 Pray your blessing upon it. 813 00:39:20,858 --> 00:39:23,027 Christ name. Amen. 814 00:39:23,027 --> 00:39:23,794 Amen.