In this heartfelt Sunday sermon, Robert Carrillo highlights the importance of the church's mission: to bring everyone into a loving, eternal relationship with God. Through personal anecdotes and biblical references, Robert inspires us to stay committed to the mission and to look forward to the profound impact we can achieve together.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:31 Reflections and Gratitude

02:50 Challenges and Growth

06:32 Building a Strong Leadership

10:01 Mission and Sacrifice

15:26 Understanding Our Mission

29:13 The Divine Creation and Human Reflection

30:04 The Struggle with Sin and Suffering

31:22 The Promise of Redemption and Peace

32:13 The Vision of a New Heaven and Earth

34:04 God's Mission for Humanity

36:12 The Power of Love and Sacrifice

39:30 The Reality of Suffering and God's Compassion

43:18 Obstacles to the Mission

51:52 The Role of the Church in God's Plan

54:04 The Great Commission and Spiritual Formation

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OC Church of Christ

Amen.

2

Buenos dias church.

3

It's great to be here before I jump in.

4

Michelle just wants to say a word.

5

Speaker 2: So after that, uh, wonderful

communion lesson by Maurice, I felt

6

like I should confess all my sins.

7

And after that introduction, I felt like

I was going to fall on the stairs, so.

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I just, I want to say I'm glad to be here.

9

And um, I'm looking forward to getting

to know people and um, and feel

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so honored to be able to be here.

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And also really excited because I

feel like God has made this like

12

the most precious time of our lives.

13

And I'm seriously with

Robert getting his doctorate.

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I didn't get anything and I read

all those books too, but I feel

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like I should get up a teddy bear or

something, you know, I don't know.

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But, um, I just feel so blessed, you

know, because I mean, I have been a

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Christian for 40 plus years and I feel

like this is the best time of my life.

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And this is the closest to God I've

ever felt, ever been in my life.

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And I feel really happy to be able to

share that, to live that with you, to

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walk with you and excited to be here.

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So I just wanted to say good

morning and thank you for having us.

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Amen.

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Speaker: You know what they say

behind every good leader, there's

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a woman rolling her eyes and that's

my woman keeping me on the path.

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Uh, we are very honored to be

here with you and to serve you.

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Uh, it's funny, I feel kind of emotional

and even a little nervous, which I usually

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don't get nervous anymore, but I do.

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Uh, I think this is a

very monumental moment.

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Uh, I think it's a sacred moment

that we are starting a relationship.

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And we are your servants.

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We're here to serve Orange County,

which is a a wonderful church and

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even I say that fully aware of all

the problems and dysfunctions, but

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incredible people with incredible hearts

and we are eager and happy to serve.

34

Uh, technically, we're part time.

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Um, but emotionally, spiritually,

we are a full time 100 percent as

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much as God will allow us to be.

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And, you know, we're

also excited to share.

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Much of what God has given us and

the experiences, the teaching, the

39

training, and to just serve you

with what we have, you know, what we

40

can and to the best of our ability.

41

I'm excited about where I see Orange

County ministry going, where I see

42

the church here going from, you

know, the challenges and dysfunctions

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that you've had to deal with and

struggle through to moving towards a

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functionally highly functioning church.

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Healthy, happy, excited church that

can be a light to the world, which

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the world so desperately needs.

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And I know we have a long ways to go

and we've got a lot of things to change

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and grow, but that's the journey.

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And we're all on the journey.

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And God is with us, though we walk

through the valleys of dark shadows,

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we will fear no evil for he is with

us and he will guide us through this.

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Um, I feel very grateful for all of you.

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Because you're here.

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You're here.

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And you've persevered, and you've pushed,

and you've persevered through many

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challenges, some of you for decades.

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And you're here.

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You're still here.

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Yeah.

60

You're still here.

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And I don't, and I don't mean that

as any judgment on those who've left.

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They have their reasons.

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They have.

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We don't know their pain.

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We don't know their struggle.

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We don't know why they think the

decisions and it's not our place to judge.

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It's our place to love.

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Amen.

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It's our place to love.

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That's our calling.

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But I'm encouraged because you're here

and we're here and God was, as I am

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confident, going to do great things.

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I am encouraged And I, and I'm so thankful

for the leaders who have, uh, the staff

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you have that have submitted themselves

to be tested, to be scrutinized, to, to

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be challenged to make changes and to see

their weaknesses and to see their faults.

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I mean, you know, that's

not easy for anybody.

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When somebody challenges how good of a

spouse we are or how good of a parent

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we are, or we get job evaluations,

those are tough things to go through.

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But those are things that we

have to go through in order

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to be our best for God, right?

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To be our best for our families,

for our spouses, for our

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children, for our grandchildren.

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And I'm very grateful.

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And we're going to have some times where

they're going to be able to share what

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they've learned in all this process.

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And I know you want to hear that.

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The lessons they've learned and

seen, and we'll have time for that.

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I'm very grateful for Steve

Staten, who devoted a big chunk

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of his life to just serving here.

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And truthfully, he's done

this now in several regions,

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and been a great help for us.

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I know in Metro, he was

instrumental to helping us get

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through a very difficult time.

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It was before I got here, but

I've heard so much gratitude,

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because he really helped.

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And Pablo Nicole went

through the middle of that.

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As well as some of the leaders here.

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Very grateful for him.

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And I know he's sending out a report.

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I think it's going to be sent out tonight.

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Of just all that he

learned, all that he saw.

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And recommendations of how to help

Orange County be the best that it can be.

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Because that's what we all want.

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Amen?

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We want to be our best for God.

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Because we love God,

we're grateful to God.

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He saved us.

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What a powerful communion message today.

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Thank you, Maurice, wherever you are.

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I think it just really set us up to have

a great time in Bible study and even about

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the mission we're going to talk about.

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I'm very hopeful because we're

taking a very important and

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significant step in the coming weeks.

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We've begun the process of building

up our eldership and having a

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body of elders, a team of elders.

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Because if any of one of the

bad lessons that we've learned

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or one of the tough lessons has

been that one elder can't do it.

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It's not enough there.

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The ministry, the church needs

to have a body of elders.

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There's a reason it's

always plural in the Bible.

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It's needed.

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It's important.

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And we're taking that incredibly important

step that I think is going to bring us

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towards a balance and a healthy church.

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We submitted two names several weeks ago.

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Ron Richmond and Kenny Barber.

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And we, and we put their names out

there as part of round one, not the end.

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Okay.

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That's not it.

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And I know there's people say,

well, what about the other guys?

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How come they're coming?

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That's coming, which we

just, we have to be patient.

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It's going to be one step at a time.

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And we will get there.

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And the goal is to have

elders in every ministry.

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Every ministry needs shepherds.

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That's a healthy setting.

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That's the way it should be.

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Not that we're gonna rush the process.

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There's a reason the Bible warns us

not to be quick to lay hands on people.

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Because that is a mistake.

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And I know sometimes when it's

long overdue, we feel rushed.

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Like, we gotta do it now.

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And it's long overdue.

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But we can't make the mistake

of rushing the process.

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And we have to be wise and spirit

led and walk at the pace that Jesus

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walked and not run ahead of him.

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not run ahead of the spirit.

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And we asked, you know, for the

we put those names out there.

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We also asked for everybody

to give us feedback.

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There's any concerns, and there

were several concerns raised, and we

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took those concerns very serious and

investigated and had discussions to

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make sure that these men qualify and

should be elders and they're ready.

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And so I'm very excited to announce that.

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That in one week, both Ron Richmond

and Kenny Barber, Lord willing,

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will be appointed as elders in the

Orange County Church of Christ.

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And again, I say, there are more coming.

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There's an elder coming

to a town near you, okay?

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And again, we're not going to appoint

somebody an elder just because they

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can represent a segment of the church.

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We're going to appoint elders because

they are the godly men that want to serve.

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That God wants shepherding his church and

that we want to fulfill as fast as we can,

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as fast as the spirit will allow us to.

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So let's keep that in mind.

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We want elders.

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We pray for elders in the south, in

the north, in the central, in the

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Spanish, in the Korean, in coastline,

in all those ministries, with

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marrieds, with families, with singles.

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With teens, with campus, over

the children's ministry, all of

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those ministries need shepherding.

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That's incredibly important to God.

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And that's part of our

mission that we have.

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Let me see if I can get my

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There we go.

175

Okay, so, oops, close your

eyes, don't see that next slide.

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So today we're taking the mission, right?

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The mission collection.

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Incredibly important.

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How many of us have been given missions

collections for more than 10 years?

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More than 20 years?

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Wow.

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More than 25 years?

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Years?

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Decades?

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By now you could have owned a boat.

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By now you could have bought two

motorcycles, a jet ski, a snowmobile,

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all parked in your driveway.

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By

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But you chose not to.

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You chose to give it to God, to spread

his kingdom, to spread his gospel.

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You chose to sacrifice.

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When Michelle and I in 1988 moved

to Mexico City, we were a group

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of 18 people with a dream to plant

churches in all the major cities.

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To have churches in all the Latin

American countries that would make

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disciples that would spread the

gospel to every city and village.

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And it's a crazy, it was a crazy

dream and it had to take, it,

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people had to sacrifice for that.

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And it's so exciting, I just finished

teaching a class, a course, With

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young leaders from Mexico city.

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And there's like 38 different

churches just in Mexico alone.

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There's a church of over 3000

people in Mexico city alone.

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There are churches in nearly

every Latin American country.

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All why, how did that happen?

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Well, clearly, and obviously that's

the Holy spirit's work, but the Holy

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spirit prompted you to sacrifice.

206

And that's what paid

for all that to happen.

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And they can't all be here to

thank you, but let me just say

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on their behalf, thank you.

209

Thank you for sending people.

210

Thank you for paying for it.

211

Thank you for not buying that jet ski.

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And it's okay if you own a jet ski, but

I'm sure you made sacrifices other ways.

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Thank you for denying yourself and giving

so that a people you may never know,

214

may never see, may never hear a thank

you from can have hope in their life,

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can have a future, can have hope for their

children, hope for their grandchildren,

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hope for the future of their life.

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Spreading the gospel.

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It's no easy thing.

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It's tough.

220

It's hard because not only do we have

to fight the world and fight Satan,

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but we gotta deal with ourselves and

our sinful natures and all the problems

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and and and it's a mission, right?

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But okay, now you can look at the slide.

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It's a mission impossible, right?

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It's a challenging mission.

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You guys remember the movie, right?

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You How many have you seen the movie?

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One of them because there's

like eight of them, right?

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That it's always, they would go

and they would get this, you know,

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remember he'd get the, the tape

recorder or recording or something.

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And some of you guys remember

the original mission impossible.

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Some of you are that old.

233

You remember that one.

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And he'd get a tape recorder and

then it would smoke and burn up.

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And, you know, do you accept this mission?

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You know, and, and he'd have

to say yes or no or whatever.

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God gave us this mission.

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God sent us.

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He didn't send a tape.

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He sent a text.

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He sent us a text.

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Here it is and gave us

a mission to accomplish.

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And just like in those shows, it's not

easy, and there's all kinds of things that

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go wrong, and they've got to be quick on

their feet, and they've got to figure out

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how to solve the obstacles and all that

stuff and still get the mission done.

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God sends us on missions.

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It's a little obscure passage in Exodus 22

to, he says, and he said to them, you have

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done all that Moses, the servant of the

Lord commanded and you have obeyed me and

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everything I commanded for a long time.

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Now to this very day, you guys have been

obeying for a long time to this very day.

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You have not deserted

your fellow Israelites.

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You're still here.

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But have carried out the mission.

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The Lord, your God gave you.

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And it's a tough mission.

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It's not easy.

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The mission.

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The mission.

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We all have a mission.

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You're what is his name?

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Ethan Hunt.

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You've received a mission.

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Now, I think sometimes

it gets a little foggy.

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What exactly is our mission?

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What are we here for?

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What are we doing?

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I've had a number of people

ask me, what's our purpose?

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What are we supposed to be doing?

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We, what's the future of

the Orange County Church?

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Where are we going?

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And trying to figure out and

I think it's easy, but there's

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actually a technical term.

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It's called mission drift.

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It happens in organizations all the time.

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They lose sight of the mission.

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Or they get caught up in the

details of the mission, and

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the details end up becoming the

mission instead of the mission.

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And they end up getting focused

on fulfilling the details instead

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of fulfilling the mission.

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And that's called mission drift.

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And they lose heart, or they lose sight.

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And of course, the Bible's

full of that story.

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Of God's people struggling

to understand the mission.

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So what is our mission?

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Is the mission to baptize

as many as possible.

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Is that our mission?

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I think for many years, that

seemed to be the clear mission that

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ties as many people as possible.

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Is it to be the largest church?

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Is that our mission to be the mega,

mega, mega church and pack the seats

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and pack the halls and have big church

buildings and big church things.

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Is it to grow the most?

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Is it to outgrow everybody else

and be the fastest growing?

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Or to offer the most services?

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To be better than the YMCA?

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To, to have everything, to have more

on our little card of things that we

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provide in the committee than the YMCA.

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And certainly we know all those

things have been part of our history.

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We know all those things have been

part of us, but we know it's not just

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baptized because in that case you'd

have to give the victory to the Mormons

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because they baptize even the dead.

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They baptize everybody.

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You don't have to be there, so it's not

just baptizing as many people as possible.

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We know it's not to be the largest

church because some of the largest

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churches, especially recently, have

gone down in flames because of the

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challenges that large churches face.

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And the pressure that goes on

leaders and how they fall and crash.

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And we know it's not just to grow the most

because some of the weirdest movements

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are the ones that have grown the most.

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We know it's not just to

offer the most services.

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Because we do look at the book of Acts.

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What are the services the

church in the book of Acts gave?

313

Not much beyond spirituality.

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Not that it's wrong to offer services.

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We serve.

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We're servants.

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Amen.

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So, of course, so what's the question?

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What is the mission today?

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To what are we sacrificing?

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For what cause are we giving money?

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For what motivation do we continue

doing this year after year after year?

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And of course, we're disciples of Jesus,

so we look to Jesus for our answers.

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We.

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Most of us here came to believe,

repented and got baptized, and we

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got the gift of the Holy Spirit.

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What does he want?

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What does he say the mission is?

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What does God say the mission?

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If we asked him, what is the

definition of the mission?

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How would he answer it?

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If we ask Jesus, Jesus,

what's the mission?

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Well, he did talk about it a lot, and

he said a lot about it in John 3 16, the

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one we all know, if you've ever watched

a football game for God, so love the

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world that he gave his only begotten

son, that whoever believes in him shall

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not perish, but have eternal life for

God did not send the sun into the world

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to judge the world, but that the world

might be saved through him, his mission.

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It was to save the whole world,

save all of us, save you and me.

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That's his mission, right?

340

He said on hearing this in Mark

two, we read on hearing this.

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Jesus said to them, it is not the

healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

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I have not come to call

the righteous, but sinners.

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If you're a sinner, you're his mission.

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His mission was to help us get out of

our own sin and rescue us from that.

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And Luke 4, 43 somebody said, I

must proclaim the good news of the

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kingdom of God to the other towns

also because that is why I was sent.

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So you want to know why Jesus came?

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To proclaim the good news

of the kingdom of God.

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That's why he came.

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That was his mission.

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And they try to stop his mission.

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They try to get him to stay in town.

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He just kept going.

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He said, I just got to keep preaching

because that is exactly why I'm here.

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Paul told Timothy, he said, Christ Jesus

came into the world to save sinners.

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So if you're a sinner

today, you're the mission.

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You're his mission.

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Jesus, when he began his ministry.

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He said, the spirit of the Lord is

on me because he has anointed me

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to proclaim good news to the poor.

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He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the

prisoners and recovery of sight for the

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blind, to set the oppressed free, and to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

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I mean, what a great mission statement.

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That was his first sermon, officially.

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So this is what my mission is.

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Here's his mission statement.

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To set you free, to bring you good

news, to help you see, to heal you.

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And Jesus said, For judgment I have

come into this world, so that the blind

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will see, and those who will see will

become, those who see will become blind.

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Whoa, that's a scary one.

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Some people who think they

see are going to be blind.

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And some people who are blind,

they're going to see it.

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They're going to get it.

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They're going to, they're

going to understand this.

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And that's why Jesus came to

help us understand the parable.

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The sower was not for non

Christian visitors is for us.

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Call us to listen, to understand, to let

the word penetrate, let the word change

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us, grow roots in the word of God, get

rid of the rocks and the weeds that

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try to tangle out our faith and to bear

much fruit out of this in our lives.

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And right after he shared that, he said,

but it, but it was said of Isaiah that

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they will be ever seeing, but never

understanding, ever hearing, but never

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perceiving or the other way around,

not perceiving, not understanding.

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His mission was to help us perceive and

understand, help us to see and understand.

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John 10 10, the classic statement,

Jesus said, I've come that they may

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have life and have it abundantly.

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He wants you to have life.

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And you know, it's that

word sewing, not bios.

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Not bios, which is just a living organism.

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But Zoe, the quality of life, the

good life, La Pura Vida, to give us

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the life that we all want to have,

that you want to have, I want to have.

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That we want for our children,

that we want for our grandchildren,

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that we want for everybody we love.

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Life in abundance.

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And that, he said, knowing

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that the Lord of this world is not

Jesus, but the Lord of this world.

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It's Satan himself.

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He knew that he knew that in this

world we would have troubles.

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It would be difficult.

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We would be challenged.

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And even with all that, we

can have life in abundance.

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It's what Jesus's mission was.

402

In first john three, eight, the son

of God appeared for this purpose.

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It tells right there, straight up.

404

Here's why it came to destroy

the works of the devil.

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And we know the works of the devil

to deceive us, to lead us in the

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wrong way, to undermine our trust

in God, our trust in each other, to

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divide us, to keep us separate and

keep us from loving one another, to

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cause us to distrust and not believe.

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And unfortunately, we constantly

provide him with arrows to shoot at us

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because of our sin and our weaknesses.

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But Jesus said, I came to undo his work.

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He challenged Satan for the

hearts of women and men.

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That's why he came.

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And then the big one in Luke 19.

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Jesus said, for the son of man has come to

seek and save that which was lost, lost.

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It's where we get the

term, the world is lost.

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People are lost.

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We are lost in this world.

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What was lost?

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I mean, we know he came

for all these reasons.

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This was his mission.

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To save us, to help us, to set us free,

to rescue us, to heal us, which is,

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the older I get as a Christian, the

more I see how much we need healing,

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to heal us, to recover what was lost.

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But what was lost?

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What did we lose or what did

he lose that he wanted back?

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He told a whole chapter about that.

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Finding what was lost,

describing what was lost.

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I've asked several groups what was lost.

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And it's amazing to me.

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People always know.

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Not everybody, but there's somebody

that's always just nails it.

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What was lost that Jesus came back to

recover in Genesis 1 when it all began.

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Reread.

435

We read.

436

So God created mankind in his own image.

437

In the image of God, he

created them male and female.

438

He created them.

439

God blessed them and said to them,

be fruitful and increase in number,

440

fill the earth and subdue it.

441

Rule over the fish in the sea and the

birds in the sky over the every live

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living creature that moves on the ground.

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Then God said, I give you every

seed bearing plant on the face

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of the whole earth and every tree

that has fruit with seeds in it.

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They will be yours for food.

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Vegetarians love this one,

because they say, See, he said

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the plants, not the animals.

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And to all the beasts of the earth,

and the birds in the sky, and all the

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creatures that move along the ground,

everything that has breath of life in

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it, I give every green plant for food.

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And it was so.

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Thankfully, later on, he told Peter

to kill and eat, so that you can have

453

your steak with a clear conscience.

454

But God saw all that he had

made and it was very good.

455

And there was evening and there

was morning, the sixth day.

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This is how it all began.

457

We were with God.

458

We were one with him.

459

There was no pain.

460

There was no suffering.

461

There wasn't even death.

462

We walked with God.

463

In complete unity.

464

It was a time of harmony.

465

It was a time of being one.

466

It was a continuous state of shalom.

467

It was, it was that place that every

single one of us wants in our heart to

468

be confident, to be secure, to be happy,

to be joyful, to be at peace, to be able

469

to overcome whatever challenges we face.

470

To be loved and to be able to love.

471

That's where it all started

472

and we lost it.

473

We lost it.

474

We lost that perfect unity with

God and the entire Bible is the

475

story of getting that back and

getting back to that he said.

476

When we were there, it was good.

477

No, it was very good.

478

Tov Me'od in Hebrew.

479

Not just good, really good.

480

That's the way it's supposed to be.

481

That is the way it's supposed to be.

482

I love how the message describes it.

483

He says, God, in the message version,

the translation says, God created

484

human beings, He created them God like.

485

He created them like Him.

486

They're like, you look like me.

487

Reflecting God's nature at peace

and righteousness and purity

488

and wholeness, healthy, happy.

489

He created them male and female.

490

God blessed them.

491

God looked over everything He had made.

492

It was so good, so very good.

493

It was evening and it was morning.

494

It was awesome.

495

You think about how hard

it is to deal with death.

496

When somebody we love dies.

497

They don't have to deal with that.

498

How hard it is when somebody

we love is in sickness.

499

In pain.

500

In suffering.

501

When somebody we care about

is chained in an addiction.

502

How hard it is.

503

to watch the effects of sin.

504

It wasn't happening then.

505

We were in that place with God

in perfect harmony with him.

506

And I know that can sound kind

of like a mythology or a story.

507

It's real.

508

It's where everything started out.

509

And we all long for that.

510

We all deep in our hearts want that.

511

It's the story from Genesis to

Revelation is getting back to that.

512

Isaiah wrote, Seek the

Lord while he may be found.

513

Call on him while he is near.

514

Let the wicked forsake their ways,

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

515

Let them turn to the Lord, and

he will have mercy on them.

516

And to our God, for he will freely pardon.

517

God is inviting us back into

that relationship again.

518

into that life again.

519

Jesus said, I give you my peace.

520

I have come that you may

have life in abundance even.

521

And you don't even have to wait

till you die and go to heaven.

522

You can have it now today.

523

Yeah, but Robert, my life's hard.

524

We got this problem, that

problem, sickness, all this.

525

Yes, but even in the midst of all

that, God can heal us and strengthen

526

us and help us in our weakness.

527

This is what he is working towards.

528

This is his mission to get

us to be back with him.

529

And we know how this story ends.

530

Let's just jump to the

last scene of the story.

531

Then I saw a new heaven and a

new earth for the first heaven.

532

And the first earth had passed away.

533

And there was no longer any sea.

534

And there was I saw the Holy City,

the New Jerusalem, coming down out of

535

heaven from God, prepared as a bride,

beautifully dressed for her husband.

536

And I heard a loud voice

from the throne saying, Look!

537

God's dwelling place is now among the

people, and He will dwell with them.

538

They will be His people, and God Himself

will be with them, and be their God.

539

He will wipe every tear from their

eyes, There will be no more death, or

540

mourning, or crying, or pain, for the

old order of things has passed away.

541

He says, he who is seated in the throne

said, I am making everything new.

542

And then he said, write this down, for

these words are trustworthy and true.

543

That's really gonna happen.

544

That is really gonna happen.

545

And I know, you know, we, we

might be like, yeah, of course.

546

And then someone's like, I don't

know, that sounds too good to

547

be true, but it really is, these

words are trustworthy and too true.

548

And he says, we'll be with him and he'll

be with us and he'll wipe away your tears.

549

Who wipes your tears right now?

550

Only people we are

intimately close to, right?

551

People who love us, who are there for

us, that we care about and care about us.

552

That's who wipes our tears.

553

Genesis to revelation.

554

What's the mission?

555

Everyone with God forever,

556

but it has to happen now.

557

Now is when we introduce ourselves to God.

558

Now is when we become one with God.

559

Nobody's going to meet God

in heaven and be with him.

560

We meet him now.

561

We set it up now.

562

We clear the path.

563

We walk the walk.

564

We live with him now, and we

reap the benefits of that.

565

Now, we are blessed.

566

God's mission is that

you be with him forever.

567

Forever.

568

That's his mission.

569

And the person sitting next to you.

570

And the person behind you and your

children who are here and your children

571

who are not here and your grandchildren

and your unborn grandchildren.

572

God's mission is that they all be

there with him because that is true

573

and right and it's going to happen.

574

And some of us, we come to church and

we keep coming and we keep doing, but

575

we have doubts and we have struggles

and we're still going to make it.

576

But on that day we're going

to go, dang, this was true.

577

I think a lot of us are going to

be at least a little bit shocked.

578

Wow, thank God I didn't quit.

579

Thank God I didn't walk

away from the Lord.

580

Thank God I persevered.

581

And it's going to be a great day.

582

It's going to be awesome.

583

That's the mission.

584

Do we get that?

585

That's the mission.

586

Everybody with God forever.

587

Amen.

588

So that's an outrageous mission.

589

Is that realistic?

590

By faith?

591

Yes.

592

Will everybody turn to God?

593

No.

594

That doesn't mean he loves them any less.

595

Jesus didn't die for the righteous.

596

He died for sinners.

597

He came for all of us.

598

So why would he do all this?

599

Love, love, It's the greatest command.

600

It's the greatest attribute.

601

It covers a multitude of sins.

602

It never fails.

603

It's what God is.

604

God is love.

605

That's why, why does he want

to spend the day with you?

606

Why does he want to

spend eternity with you?

607

Because he loves you.

608

With a love Honestly, we struggle

to even begin to grasp that love.

609

I think about, we have three kids.

610

I can remember the day

every one of them was born.

611

You know that feeling, Kyle,

when you first held your son.

612

You just feel like, love.

613

You just, wow.

614

You just feel like you're

going to explode with love.

615

That little teeny being.

616

Who's not going to ever pay rent.

617

Who's going to be years before he does

any chores who may never contribute

618

much economically to you and will

cost you a lot, but you just love him.

619

Even though he poops on you

and pees on you and vomits.

620

Well, I guess I'm not

supposed to say that.

621

Sorry.

622

But you love him anyways, right?

623

Would you not lay down your life for him?

624

We know many of us who've had children.

625

Our grandson was born three weeks ago.

626

He was born with some pretty

serious health issues.

627

He's going to be facing major

surgeries in the next few months.

628

And I remember when we found out,

first of all, how painful it was to

629

think that little guy's going to suffer

so much in his first year of life.

630

And you know, as a parent, you

don't want to see your kids suffer.

631

And what was equally, equally painful

was seeing my son and daughter

632

in law weep over his suffering.

633

And what he would be going through.

634

I thought about God, where his Children,

how much it hurts him when we suffer,

635

when we go through hardships, when

things are not going well for us.

636

And he's a far better father than I'll

ever be than any of us will ever be.

637

And he loves us more Then we could

ever even capable of loving anyone.

638

But I know how hard that is to

see somebody you love so much.

639

When I was serving hope worldwide, it was

a very spiritually impacting time because

640

God took me to the poorest villages on

the planet in India, Africa, and Asia.

641

In Latin America, all over the world,

in the Middle East, I sat in refugee

642

camps and broke bread with people

who gave me their last piece of bread

643

because they wanted to give to me.

644

And I saw them weeping, I wept with

women who buried their children

645

because they couldn't afford the

medicine that any of us could run

646

down to Walgreens and buy on any day.

647

And the amount of pain and suffering.

648

And I kept thinking about God because

I would get on a plane and come home to

649

my beautiful city and my beautiful home.

650

But God would still be there with

them holding their hand, hurting

651

over them, hurting over them.

652

And even as I've studied spirituality

and the effects on humans when

653

we're not spiritual and seeing the

connection It's just, it's not third

654

world countries alone that suffer.

655

We suffer right here.

656

We have lots of suffering around us.

657

We have lots of pain around us.

658

You know that Orange County

divorce rate is 72%, 72%.

659

Seven out of every 10 marriages within

10 years will be divorced, 20% higher.

660

And this is one of the wealthiest

parts of the of the world.

661

And yet we suffer.

662

We suffer.

663

Why is it that over 700 people have

died from drug overdose right here

664

in Orange County in the last year?

665

What was so painful in their lives that

they had to escape and had no solution

666

but to numb themselves out to the

point, literally to the point of death?

667

Why have 7, 000 people in the

last three years taken their

668

lives, committed suicide?

669

And I know the pain of suicide.

670

My mother committed suicide.

671

And I know that she reached a point

that was so low, so hopeless, so

672

painful, she couldn't endure it anymore.

673

What drives people to that level?

674

That's, that's twice as many

people has died in 9 11.

675

They took their own lives in despair.

676

God's watching.

677

You know, you can, you know, well, that's

not me, that's not my family, who cares?

678

God cares.

679

And God's people care.

680

God cares because He loves us all.

681

He cares when you're hurting.

682

When you're in pain and he's there, even

when we don't acknowledge him, even when

683

we don't turn to him, he's always there.

684

Even when we're in darkness, God

can see in the dark and he is

685

there and the mission, the mission

is to save everybody, to bring us

686

all into his presence and heal us.

687

And give us hope and give us life.

688

That's his mission.

689

That's the mission of God.

690

But things get in the way, don't they?

691

Things get in the way of the mission.

692

What gets in the way?

693

Well, we got obstacles.

694

Our sin gets in the way.

695

Our own sin gets in the way.

696

We get caught up in sin.

697

We, we, sin blocks us from God.

698

It gets in the way.

699

It creates walls.

700

And even when he gives us solutions

like baptism, where all our sins

701

are washed away, it's very easy to

get back right back into trouble.

702

Sin gets in the way.

703

Our weaknesses.

704

We're all weak.

705

Every one of us.

706

We all have our weaknesses.

707

And that gets in the way.

708

The evil one gets in the way.

709

He's trying.

710

To divide us and fill us with despair

and, and rob us of our faith and

711

turn us to hate rather than love.

712

I appreciate so much that

communion, compassion, that is

713

God having compassion, ignorance.

714

People don't know who God is.

715

They don't know how loving is.

716

They don't know how good God is.

717

And so many of us Have gotten

a just terrible theology over

718

the years that's not healthy.

719

It's not helpful.

720

And he uses that ignorance.

721

Everything that separates us is what gets

in the way this world gets in the way.

722

We live a hurried life.

723

We have so much to do,

so many places to go.

724

There's so much traffic and we

have so many distractions and

725

things getting our attention.

726

Attention is the new currency.

727

Everything is trying to get your

attention and get you to focus on it.

728

Instead of on Jesus.

729

Instead of on the scriptures.

730

Instead of on the spirit of God.

731

That will build us up and make us

healthy and help us to overcome

732

things that will tear us down, make us

depressed, angry, upset, and hopeless.

733

Distractions, and social pressure,

and social conflict, and global

734

conflicts, and isolation, and all

of this junk that's happening.

735

And these are terrible times.

736

We live in it.

737

And even all the beauty of nice

cars and beautiful homes and

738

palm trees doesn't cover it up.

739

It's still there.

740

And we know it, right?

741

We know it.

742

We're living it.

743

We know it.

744

Augustine of Hipple, one of my

favorite quotes, he said, You

745

have made us for yourself, O Lord.

746

And our hearts are restless

until they rest in you.

747

We have this big hole inside us.

748

Only God can fill.

749

Everybody does.

750

And everybody tries to fill it with money

and looks and things and material goods

751

and prestige and power and all this stuff.

752

And they're just as

unhappy as everybody else.

753

I shared before there, they did.

754

There was a study, the Allied Times did.

755

They analyzed an interview in Beverly,

a neighborhood in Beverly Hills, and

756

compared it to a neighborhood in Compton.

757

And there were a few things worse

in Compton, and there were some

758

things way worse in Beverly Hills.

759

We all struggle.

760

Money, we know, is not the solution.

761

God is.

762

His mission Is to bring us back into that.

763

Jesus said, what good will it

be for someone to gain the whole

764

world and yet forfeit their soul?

765

Or what can anyone give in

exchange for their soul?

766

We have to understand

what really matters here.

767

What is most important and

live according to that.

768

That's the mission and

God provides the way.

769

His divine power has given us everything

we need for a godly life through

770

our knowledge of him who called

us by his own glory and goodness.

771

Through these, he has given us his

very great and precious promises

772

so that through them, you may

participate in the divine nature.

773

There's that God likeness.

774

Having escaped the corruption

in the world caused by evil.

775

desires.

776

He gives us everything we need.

777

So what's the mission?

778

Free us of sin.

779

Free us of fear so we can be confident.

780

No slavery to sin.

781

Set us free.

782

Able to love, which we all want, right?

783

We want to love our spouses.

784

We want to love our kids.

785

We want to love our roommates.

786

Sometimes that's hard,

but we want to love them.

787

We want to love our

children, love our parents.

788

Sometimes that's hard,

but we want to love them.

789

We want to love each other.

790

Amen?

791

Sometimes that's really hard.

792

But it came to set us free.

793

To be able to be pure.

794

And not be slaves to pornography.

795

Or any sin.

796

Able to follow Jesus.

797

Jesus.

798

Able to live the life he has given us.

799

This is the mission.

800

Because of this sacrifice of

the Messiah, his blood poured

801

out on the altar of the cross.

802

We're a free people.

803

Free of penalties and punishments.

804

Chalked up by all our misdeeds.

805

And not just barely free either.

806

Abundantly free.

807

He thought of everything,

provided for everything.

808

We could possibly need

the Lord is my shepherd.

809

I lack nothing.

810

He set us

811

letting us in on the plans.

812

He took such delight in making.

813

He said it all out before us in

Christ, a long range plan in which

814

everything would be brought together

and summed up in him, everything in

815

deepest heaven and everything on.

816

Planet Earth.

817

Okay.

818

I know, you know, it's not the NIV.

819

That's the message.

820

What?

821

What a great vision.

822

What a great mission.

823

His mission.

824

That's our mission, guys.

825

That's our mission.

826

That's our mission.

827

First to save me.

828

That's the one time you could be.

829

It's all about me.

830

Cause, you know, just like when you get an

airplane, they say if, if the oxygen mass

831

drops, put it on you, then you're a kid.

832

Doesn't do you any good if you give

it to a kid and then you pass out.

833

So, doesn't do any good if

we're doing terrible, how are

834

we gonna save everybody else?

835

If we're all struggling with all

this junk and garbage and fear

836

and anger and hatred and, and how

are we gonna help anybody else?

837

We gotta get it right.

838

We gotta get on the mission.

839

Know that we're God's mission.

840

But then my family, my family, the Bible

says anybody that doesn't take care of

841

their family is worse than a non believer.

842

Who is next generation?

843

Your kids are next generation.

844

Your babies, that little

bambino is next generation.

845

And God is concerned about them.

846

And the teens and the preteens and

the young teens and the old teens

847

and the middle aged teens, all of

them, the campus, our future, the

848

singles, the thirties, the forties, the

fifties, even old guys like me, where

849

the mission, because I can lose it.

850

God trying to keep me on point.

851

Our families.

852

The church.

853

God help us.

854

We're his rescue plan.

855

I sat in a high level meeting in

the United Nations in New York.

856

Where they handed out, where they

had all these organizations present

857

solutions to the problems of the world.

858

Sat there for three hours,

didn't hear one good solution.

859

I walked out, I know the solution.

860

More disciples of Jesus

because I've seen it.

861

I've seen it in these impoverished areas,

disaster areas and bad areas, rough areas.

862

You inject a group of disciples and bam,

everything changes because they're loving

863

and serving and giving and sacrificing.

864

They are being a light to the world.

865

That's the beauty of these whole projects

is you get to see a microcosm of how

866

the whole plan is supposed to work.

867

That the church is supposed to be the

light of the world that helps everybody

868

connect with God that shows everybody.

869

So yes, the church is really

important because that's God's plan.

870

We're the rescue.

871

We're the, we're the

first responders guys.

872

We're the firemen.

873

We're the police.

874

We're the rescue squad.

875

That's us.

876

And the world desperately needs it.

877

Our families desperately need it.

878

Our children desperately need it.

879

Those in the church and even

more so those not in the church.

880

They need to see a church that loves.

881

They need to see a church

that has compassion and

882

grace and presents the truth

883

to give hope to this world.

884

And of course the community needs this.

885

The community is his mission.

886

The world is his mission.

887

It's why we gave, it's why we're

about to give, it's why we're gonna

888

dump money into this thing again,

889

to advance that mission.

890

Not to have the most baptisms.

891

Jesus said, go and make

disciples of all nations.

892

Baptize them in the name of the

Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

893

And he said, teach them.

894

Didn't end at baptism, does it?

895

Teach them, and the NIV says to obey

everything I have commanded you.

896

But in the Greek, it's, it could be teach,

it could be train, it could be hold onto.

897

Everything I showed you,

that's spiritual formation.

898

And then what does he say?

899

And I will be with you forever.

900

That's the mission.

901

That's the mission.

902

Baptism, that's the easy part.

903

Hanging in there for 20, 30,

40 years, that's the hard part.

904

All the way to the end.

905

So we are the mission.

906

And Jesus is the way, right?

907

He's the way.

908

It's not mission impossible,

it's mission possible.

909

God bless you.