Amen and amen. Amen and amen.
We've been talking for the last four weeks about what we're calling the discipleship pathway. And it's important to know that the discipleship pathway is not just a message series. Look at your neighbor and say, "This is not just a message series."
Now, neighbor, did they look you in the eye? You know what I said about making sure they're looking you in the eye. Thank you. So let's try it again. Tell your neighbor, "This is not just a message series." And look them in the eyeball. Yeah, eyeball to eyeball.
This is not just a message series. This is a way of life. This is the framework that the Lord has given us here at the Mount, Mount Olivet Baptist Church, as to how we will live our lives. And so, yes, today is the final day of this conversation, but it is the beginning of our journey together. Because everything we do will line up with this. Every message that is preached will have its home in one of these environments. This will be our new rhythm. This is what God has given us. This is how we will fulfill our mission and vision. And this is what we will commit to on a personal level.
And really, it's right out of the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 12. And you don't have to turn there. But it says that we, as pastors and elders and senior leaders, our ministry responsibility, and hear this clearly, our ministry responsibility is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. If us, as elders and senior leaders and pastors are doing all the work, we've got a problem to begin with.
And historically, in many church contexts, it's the paid professionals that are looked to execute ministry. And it's backwards. It's absolutely backwards. And it doesn't mean the paid professionals don't do ministry. It just means their primary, our primary responsibility is to equip the saints to take the gifts that God has given us and impart many of those things to you so that we, as a church, a community of believers, can do the work of the ministry until there's unity in the body. And that's just globally. That's not just locally. That's globally. That is the path that we're on.
And as I said before, this is a wonderful framework that the Lord has given us, but this framework is people-powered. Again, look your neighbor in the eyeball and say, "People-powered." The more we get involved, I said the more we get involved, I said the more we get involved. Pastor Tim loves that part. The more we get involved, there you go, the more we grow. And the more we grow, the more we can do.
I often dream about... I wasn't brilliant at math, but when I look at the body, my math brain starts working because I then begin to dream about exponentially what could we do if everyone sitting in this building and watching online is set ablaze for Jesus and receives their purpose and responds to their purpose with faith and obedience. What could we do? Think about that. What could we do in this city? We could turn this city upside down because the reality is we are in all kinds of places and spaces out there. We're touching all kinds of folks. We're in the marketplace, we're in the educational system, we're in neighborhoods, we're in community groups, we're everywhere.
And a season is coming where being silent is not acceptable. It's not acceptable. You're going to find yourself in all kinds of places, and that fire inside of you is going to begin to grow. And God is going to begin to speak very clearly. You know, if you're like me, He needs to speak very clearly because sometimes I pretend like I don't hear because I'm not sure I want to do what I'm hearing. Yes, that's true. That's true for all of us. So for some of us, He's got to make it crystal clear. Maybe He can't reach you in your waking hours, so He's got to get you in your dream life because that's the only time you take the time to slow down and do nothing to hear Him.
He's going to challenge us, He's going to stretch us, He's going to make us uncomfortable. But you can guarantee that He'll be with you, and you'll know it by the fruit when you respond to Him in faith and obedience. That's what this discipleship pathway is all about. Now, this is a beautiful framework that He's given us, and I believe it's a framework that He's given us to inaugurate a new season of ministry. Amen. Principles remain the same; packaging begins to look different for a new season. Amen.
How many are ready for a new season? Oh, that was a weak clap. How many are scared of a new season? Listen, all you got to do is leave these four walls, walk through downtown Portland or anywhere that's your city. Some of you might say, "Well, it ain't my city." Well, you're living in the city, so it's your city. You're working in the city, so it's your city. And we cannot continue as if this city is not what's going on in this city. We got to face it. We can't hide from it. We have to face it. Because guess what? We are the answer to this city. Yes.
The church wasn't given to us to hide in. I better say that one again. The church wasn't given to us to hide in. Because we love... Listen, if the ministry framework, the discipleship pathway, was just about belonging, which was connecting to God and one another, we would be good. Because we love worshiping. We love our prayer. We love connecting to one another. Why can't we just stop right there? But that wouldn't be the full gospel. And this is what we are intending.
So what we believe and what we teach remains the same. Pretty soon, we'll have a link on our newsletter where you can click it, and you can read what we believe and teach here. There will be a link on there. You can click it. It will share with you our ten core values. And then you'll see all the stuff we're talking about is the same. It's just creating a new packaging.
And to punctuate that new packaging, we have a new logo. And you're going to see it today for the first time. Can you put it up there? This will be our new logo. And now guess what? Some of you might say, "What happened to the old logo?" The old logo is not going anywhere. It's going to be our commemorative logo. And we'll use it for special commemorative situations. It's a wonderful one. It was a logo for a season. And this will be the logo going into our new season.
I wanted to just go ahead and put it out now. I didn't want to end with it because that's what you'll be thinking about. Because that's just insignificant. That's just branding and marking, punctuating a new season that we're charting into. But I love it. Mount Olivet Baptist Church. And it'll have Mount Olivet Baptist Church. It'll have the mount. And sometimes it'll have nothing. It'll just have that. But this will brand and mark our new direction. You can take that down now.
So if you have your word, let's continue this journey in the book of Acts. The book of Acts, chapter 7. The book of Acts, chapter 7. Now, if you haven't been tracking with us for these last few weeks, you're going to have to go back and listen because there's no way I can catch you up on everything. But we've been walking through the four environments that the Lord has given us: belong, equip, heal, which was last week, and this week is engage.
And we've taken this out of the context that the Lord established when He set up the very first church in the book of Acts. That all was kicked off or inaugurated at Pentecost. And you should know how that went down and why that was. And we've been...
Now, if you are not done, you should be able to put on these things. And that's what we've left. Let's begin. That's what you're seeing here. And we've seen the height of Acts.
Thank you. And so, clearly, these new Jesus followers, beginning with the 12, then the 120, then the 3,120, and then the 5,000, and you should know what happened along the way because we've covered that already, were all hanging out in the capital, Jerusalem, preaching the gospel. People were being saved and baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Spirit. And they were meeting at Solomon's porch, having an amazing time, teaching the word. And then they would go to homes when the sun would go down and continue doing likewise, breaking bread and continuing in the apostles' teaching.
But then a time came when these new disciples began to have challenges. How many know that when you're really doing the Lord's work, you're going to have challenges? How many know that we've got an enemy? And the enemy is not the city of Portland. It's not the government. It's not a political party. It's not a culture group. It's none of that. The enemy is Satan. And he's real. And he's turned loose in the world. He's been condemned. He's been sentenced. But the fulfillment of that is yet to come. In the meantime, he's running loose.
Oh, yeah, God is watching. But He's given us things to deal with that. But when you're really engaged, and that's the fourth environment that we'll be talking about today, when you're really engaged, you will receive opposition. But remember, put this in your brain. When you receive opposition, opposition equals opportunity. That's all it is. Opposition is opportunity. Opposition doesn't take Jesus by surprise. He's not set back by opposition. He anticipates opposition.
And so the disciples, now things are hot. They're preaching the gospel. And this is what happens. Verse 59, chapter 7. Stephen, one of those ones that was in that number, on fire, was preaching the gospel. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Then Stephen knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." Again, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? Where the Lord looked upon the crowd and He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. He died. He transitioned. Now Saul, we know about Saul, who later was converted to Paul. Now Saul was consenting to his death. He was in agreement. He was responsible for it. He was behind it. At the time, a great persecution arose against the church so that those thousands that I've been talking about, those believers that were on fire, now they're getting it hot and heavy, right? There's persecution against them, which was at Jerusalem, of course. And they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
And devout men carried Stephen's body to be buried and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, verse 3, he made havoc of the church. Now listen to this. He made havoc of the church, entering house in every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. He knew where to find them because of their pattern of gathering, as we've learned.
But this is the kicker right here, verse 4, and this is where we'll spring off of. Therefore, those who were scattered, say scattered, went everywhere, say everywhere, preaching the word. Preaching the word. You see, our assignment begins with the great co-mission. Their assignment was the great co-mission. Are you catching that nuance? Co-mission. The great commission. Jesus is calling each of us as followers to give and to go. Each of us has a mandate on us to go. He said it to His disciples even before He was gone. You know it well in Matthew chapter 28, starting in verse 18. He says to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, do what? Do what? Go and make disciples of all nations. Make sure you're baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. What else? He says, teaching them to obey everything that I've been teaching. And surely, if you can do that, I am with you always to the very end of the age."
And then He repackaged the great commission in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. He says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Same thing. Now Luke is repackaging it. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be what? Witnesses to me." Listen, in Jerusalem. Isn't that where they were? In all of Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Now remember, when you go back, where was it? Verse 1, no, no, chapter 8, verse 1. Look at that again. Now Saul was consenting to his death. At the time, a great persecution arose against the church, which was at what? Where? And they were all what? Throughout where? The regions of Judea and Samaria. You see what's happening? I hope you're catching what's happening. Jesus commands all His followers to do something and go somewhere. And it's the same thing that He's saying. He says, "Do something. Go somewhere with what I've given you."
You see, the very nature of the command "go" is inherent in what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The word "go" can better be rendered as "you are going" or "while you are going" or "as you engage." Remember, you have purpose, and you are filled with His Spirit. His life is inside of you. His life now was inside of them. And the same life that was inside of them is inside of you. Can you get your head around that? All of Him in all of you.
How does it feel to have all of Him inside of all of you? The fullness of God inside of you. Holy Spirit. Dying to get out. Are you letting Him go? Huh? Are you letting Him go? Are you binding Him up? Are you releasing Him to do what He was sent to the earth to do? Or are you tying Him down, muzzling Him, relegating Him to sit down somewhere in the corner of your soul?
These are the things that we have to come to terms with, beloved. We must. Every individual has to do that. Because that's really what it comes down to. Not how we dress on a particular day. Not what we're doing, looking like. None of that. It's just coming down to, "Man, are you going to let me do my thing through you?" You said yes to me. You invited me to come in. Now I'm in. Are you going to let me do my thing or what? I mean, that's the question He asks each of us. He asks me that on the regular. You know what I'm saying? I can't use being the pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church as an excuse. I still have work to do apart from this. When I'm in a store, passing through the mall, or on a trip somewhere, I still have a responsibility to let Him do His thing. You understand what I'm saying? Because it's who I am wherever I am, whether you know who I am or not, whether I'm carrying a title or not, it's irrelevant.
Many, many, many, many believers are doing their thing, and you'll never know. And sometimes we don't get to know until we get to the funeral, and then we feel ashamed because maybe we've even cast some judgment while they were busy doing the Lord's work. And you get into those environments, and we've been in many, and folks start telling the truth about their life, and wow, the impact. You'd be amazed. You would be amazed.
So kudos to those who are doing it, an encouragement to those who are on their way, and a challenge to those who haven't moved yet. It's still opportunity because His life is in you. The Holy Spirit wants to re-present Jesus to the world through you. Right? John told us in 14:15-16, he says, "If you love me, do what I tell you to do, and I'll pray the Father, and He'll give you another helper that He may abide with you forever."
You see, in Acts chapter 8, verse 4, let's read that again. Acts chapter 8, verse 4, it says, "Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." This is where God's divine strategy kicks in with exponential implications. Exponential implications. No longer is the gospel going to remain with one person. No longer is the gospel going to remain in one family. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No, now the gospel is about to go worldwide.
No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. No longer is the gospel going to remain in a single community. Worldwide. That's the implication of Acts chapter 8, verse 4. Because up until this point, they were doing their thing in Jerusalem. But Luke had already spoken, prophesied the things that God wanted for them in Acts chapter 1, verse 8. He says, "Yes, it will start in Jerusalem, but it's not going to stay there."
And this is what we see. Gene Edwards, in his book "Revolution," I've referenced this in the last couple of messages, page 111, I'm going to read just an excerpt from his book. "Stephen had been dead only a matter of hours. The Sanhedrin wasted no time before the news of Stephen's death got out. They began to go door to door, house to house. They understood how and where the followers of Jesus gathered. They wanted to settle the problem quickly because the gospel was a problem to them. The gospel is a problem to the enemy. That's why he wants to silence us. The gospel is a problem, and the enemy will go to great lengths to shut it down. He's attempted from the very beginning up until now to shut it down.
Word of what was happening began to spread amongst the followers of Jesus. There were only a few roads leading out of Jerusalem into the approximately 200 towns and villages of Judea and the surrounding regions. The roads were filled continuously with followers of Jesus fleeing the capital until Jesus was emptied. The Bible says that only the apostles were left, what we read. God used persecution to move the gospel message of Jesus out of Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
You see, God has no intention for the gospel to stay locked up inside of us, and He will allow disturbing circumstances. He will allow difficulty. He will allow persecution to come to move us. Sometimes that's what it takes. Because I'm only guessing that the apostles and all these 5,000-plus folks who were new lovers of Jesus were having a good old time. Listen, we had a wonderful potluck this past Saturday at Oasis. Soul food potluck, and there was a wonderful presentation, a Black History Month presentation. I mean, the food was good. My goodness, and it was a spread. You know how when Black folk come together, we can eat and we can cook, and you almost didn't know what to choose. You only got one little old plate, right? And you're trying to get stuff on your plate all the way to the border, and then there's still more.
Listen, they said there's two lines forming. And so, you know, you get on both sides of the table, and you walk down. The challenge was typically when you do that, it's the same food on both sides. There was different food on both sides. Man, I had to excuse myself a couple of times. I'm reaching past somebody to get some, you know, some gumbo. Man, there was some shrimp gumbo that would make you want to slap somebody. Oh my goodness, y'all missed it. Man, when Oasis throws down like that, you better show up because mothers of the house are doing it. It was wonderful.
But I can imagine as the apostles and the disciples and the 5,000 were gathering, man, they were comfortable. They were enjoying what God was doing in Jerusalem. But God had already spoken prophetically through Luke and said, "This is not where it's going to stay. It's going to leave Jerusalem, and it's going to go to Judea, and it's going to go to Samaria." These are outer lying communities, and it's not even going to stop there. It's going to go to the ends of the earth.
But He had to shake it up a little bit to move them off their dime. After Stephen's death, all the disciples found themselves scattered all over just as Jesus had spoken through Luke in Acts 1:8. And I had this beautiful imagery of what that could have looked like when the Lord showed me a dandelion that is like a nuisance to us, right? How many love dandelions? I mean, when they turn white, oh my goodness, you start panicking. Or it's worse when you look at your neighbor's lawn and you see dandelions, and yours is just as pristine, just as green, and you start getting an attitude even before the wind blows because you already know just within a matter of time those dandelions are going to mess your lawn up.
And here comes the wind, and it just takes the white little things, which are seeds, and it takes them everywhere. Everywhere. And then they, like a little parachute, find their way to your lawn, and they plant themselves. And not long after that, guess what happens? They grow. And do you know that's how the gospel works? As God, the ruach of God. Y'all know the word ruach from the Greek word wind? The breath of the Holy Spirit as He blows. The ruach of God blows us all over the place. And we begin to proclaim the goodness of Jesus all over the place.
And like little seeds, it just starts planting everywhere. And before you know it, it starts springing. Listen, we're not responsible for the springing up. We're just responsible for the planting. Are you with me? We get preoccupied with the springing up. We're wondering when that's going to sprout. It's none of your business. All our business is is to preach the gospel and to get it out. And it says that God will do the what? Increase. Some will water. Some will plant, but it is God that gives increase.
We don't have to worry about increase. You don't even have to worry about how you say it. Just say it. Just get it out there. And God will give you words. He will give you courage. He will give you boldness. And this discipleship pathway framework that God has given us is designed to help us in all of these areas. If we would be involved, it will be useless. Pretty graphics. That's it. If we don't get involved. But if we get involved, the enemy will tremble. The enemy will tremble. The enemy will tremble.
All right. So let me, with the time we have remaining, let's review this whole discipleship pathway. Because remember, I said it's not just a message series. This is how we will do the Lord's work here at Mount Olivet from henceforth.
So let's look at the first environment again: Belong. Belong is connecting to God and one another. And remember, when we create environments, there is a corporate responsibility that we have to create environments. But there's also an individual responsibility we have. In other words, the church will help create environments, but you too, individually, have a responsibility to connect to God and to one another.
When we say connecting to God, that is in the area of worship and prayer and intercession and fasting. All these things. We'll create environments. In fact, starting this week, every week, Tuesday, 7 to 7:30, again, as a church, we'll be meeting online for prayer if you want to come. And we'll make that link available. I don't know where it is, but we'll make it available. The team always gets on me because I put stuff out before they ran their logistics. But praise the Lord. That's what happens when a visionary gets in place.
So we have our responsibility as a church to create these environments, but you have your own. Alone as well, one-on-one. I said we need to start opening up ourselves and connecting one with another. You need to start meeting with some folk for coffee and lunch, inviting some folk into your home, and you going to theirs. That's our responsibility as an individual.
Listen, you cannot substitute old school connecting. Ain't no substitute for that old school connecting. Long before small groups was a thing, long before the idea of life groups was a thing, we were connecting one to another, having folk over, meeting folk at certain places in the community. That's your responsibility. That's mine as an individual.
But we also will have a belonging two-part membership class. If you're not a member, you should join and be a part. How many know that that old phrase "membership has privileges"? I'm not sure if we can get you any mileage points or any cash back. You see all these cash back commercials? I wish we could do something like that. But membership don't have those kind of privileges here. But if you want to unite with us, we can make that happen.
Life groups, we've got groups that gather, and we'll have more, and those are opportunities to connect and be together. Connecting events, when we gathered with Oasis this weekend, it was a connecting event. It's another way that we get to connect one to another. And there'll be many. We'll have weekend worship experiences now, which is nights of worship. We have fifth Sunday worship, intercession. We'll have concerts and prayer rooms and corporate prayer and fasting. All these things will be available.
But if we don't get involved, then what is the point? And we'll do our best to get the word out. But let me just say this as nicely as I can: we work hard to get information out, but folk don't read, don't open emails, don't sit in their inbox, don't think to go to their jump box. I'm just saying we work hard to get information out, but you got to read it. Like really read it. Don't do that little skimming thing. Amen?
Can I move off of that now? Newsletter, all these things, you know, pre-service lives. Pastor Tim, you want to come up? I don't know. He sure is vocal today. Let's just extend our hand to him real quick, pray over him. You got a mask on, so I don't know what's going on.
Anyway, these are all part of the belonging environment. Let's go to the second one: Equip. Training in the truth and power of God's word. We've got our Sunday teaching experience right here, and you'll hear many of our wonderful communicators right here. We'll have guest communicators right here. This will never stop. Amen?
But we also have a class we'll be starting soon. It's called Foundations. It's going to be four classes that I've been working with Pastor Daisy on, and they'll just be pillar foundational stuff that you got to know, you know, as far as your salvation and all those kind of things. Seven essentials for kingdom living. I created that curriculum. Many have participated in the development of that curriculum as well, and it's something that if you haven't taken, you need to take, period. And you'll be blessed.
Living on purpose, which is really important because this is a class that has a spiritual gift inventory so you know your spiritual gift. You might say, "Well, I took some of those kinds of classes years ago." Well, do you know that God changes things inside of us according to circumstances? So there may be some new gifts that He's given you that you're not aware of.
Now, what I like about this gift inventory is it's an inclusive gift inventory, which means it includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit as well, which many in the body are ignorant of. They're not really sure. And you know, it's not a bad thing. I'm just saying that's the true thing. They're just not sure what it is. Well, what is words of knowledge? What is prophecy? I didn't even know that was still a thing. What is words of wisdom? What are healings? What are miracles? And what are tongues and interpretation of tongues? All the nine gifts of the Spirit are all part of that gift inventory, along with gifts of leadership, hospitality, all those other gifts. It's probably the most inclusive gift inventory I've seen. And when that class becomes available, you should take it. It's powerful because you will leave there, and we'll have testimonies that we even show on our screen of members, men and women who've taken it and testify about how powerful it was and is.
All the Bible, again, in theological terms, when we were in theology, when we were in seminary, it's called biblical survey. It's a fast track way to read through the Bible. Now this one is slowed down to a pace that everybody can keep up with because if you go... every time I think it'll take you through the Bible in about five years. Five years. Now that seems like a long time. And if you're a speed reader, you can get through the Bible in probably a few days. I mean, you can't, but because the Holy Spirit is your tour guide, it typically takes longer than two days because He's stopping you all the way, telling stuff to you.
This is a wonderful way you can walk with other believers and walk it out and process together. And then we'll do topical studies of all kinds of subjects. In fact, this fall, I'm going to do an in-person class on campus on the Holy Spirit. It'll be eight to twelve weeks, and it's going to be powerful. And believe me, it will be more than a class. I guarantee you that.
So we'll have all these things that we'll do. And then, of course, the book I wrote, "Kingdom Moments," it's a devotional study that is designed to help ignite your hearing the voice of God. Really important. Always available in both of our campuses or during the week or online, Amazon, all those other places.
All right, healing. Our third environment: Heal. Living in freedom, body, soul, and spirit. We'll have weekend healing prayer. In other words, beginning soon, every Sunday, we'll ask folks to come forward who want healing of some sort, whether it's healing of the body or healing somewhere inside your soul for something broken, your marriage, whatever the case may be. God is going to be healing folks here in Jesus' name, and it's a wonderful thing. It's one of our beliefs when you click what we teach and believe. That's right up in there. Amen?
All right, marriage and premarital coaching. Listen, we got to get our marriages together. There are many in this house watching online whose marriages are suffering in silence, and we don't have to suffer in silence. We can have marriages that thrive. People have been reaching out to me saying, "Hey, Pastor, man, we need some help." And help is available.
Domestic and family abuse, man, I could spend hours talking about that, but that's a real thing, and we got folks that are equipped to help in that space. Grief share, you know, if we're struggling from loss, it's a beautiful ministry, and you don't have to struggle alone. Loss is hard. It's like a tearing away of the flesh that's just left to kind of heal on its own. And so that's available.
Our health ministry, we are concerned about our well-being, our blood pressure, and all the things that, in many cases, plague the African-American community and other communities of color as well. But we've got things that we make available. And this is what I love about all these people-powered. The more folks get involved, the more things that we can make available, the more we can do.
And retreats and conferences, we had a wonderful men's retreat last year. It was so powerful. I don't know, over 200 men were there, and Bishop Manyweather, a wonderful man of God, seasoned in the word, anointed like nobody's business. Man, he didn't even need to open his Bible. He's just quoting scriptures right from his memory, in his heart. So powerful. Any question that came his way, boom, he was there. And he loves what God is doing here, and he's got family here.
And then finally, the fourth environment: Engage. Walking in God's purpose and plans. One of the first things about engaging is being generous in our giving. Now, I won't talk a lot about that. We'll have message series about that. But if we're not giving, it's not hurting us; it's hurting your relationship with God. It's what He calls us to do. Grace giving. I did a whole message on the power of generosity. Go back and listen to it. We'll revisit it in different ways, but we're not going to pound it into folks because, listen, when you are following the lead of the Holy Spirit, it's what you want to do because you realize that it's not about giving to the church per se; it's about being obedient to what Jesus is calling us to do.
And I know that's the area that's tough for us because we want to hold on. We want to hold on. But increase comes when we let go. And not just financial increase; increase just in all areas when we let go. And so generosity is a part of engaging. And don't worry, I don't look your name up to see if you're giving or not. Pastor Ed does that, but he don't tell me. He don't tell me. I don't want to know because I want to be able to look you in the eye normal, not looking at you sideways because you haven't given a dime. I don't want to do that.
So he didn't tell me. All he tells me is the bottom line: how we doing, the aggregate total income and expenses. That's all I'm concerned about. Oh, you know the expenses, the details. I do dig a little deep into that, but not whether you give or not. You and the Lord know that business.
The other area is in-house service opportunities. There are places in the house that we need more folk. I know we've got an amazing streaming team, and we've got Veronica, who leads our streaming team. She wants multiple angles, even a roving camera. She has the competency to do it. We've got the equipment to do it. We need more folks that are willing to say, "Hey, I want to do that."
You know, and it's kind of like when it comes to serving, and you're not sure where, just jump in somewhere, and then the Lord will begin to guide you. Amen?
All right, I gotta wind this up. Community service and social justice activism. We are in the community already; you just don't know it. When it comes to social justice, we're in the community; you just don't know it. But we want to create more opportunities once that you do know it and two that you can be involved in it as opportunity is available. Amen?
We got to be out there. There's all kinds of stuff going on in this city, and we've got to have a voice in those places and spaces. City evangelism teams, we've got a group right now that is going throughout the city sharing the gospel, and that group desires to grow. And it's headed by Linda Thornton. Raise your hand, Linda. She's right over there. Yeah, in fact, just stand up. That is Linda Thornton, and if you have a desire to go with her and others on the streets of Portland and you want to see God do something crazy and powerful, man, she might look like a little package there. Don't be fooled, man.
The power of God is on this woman's life, and if you want to be a part of that, it'll jump on you too. Amen? We're about making a difference, not just making a point.
And then lastly, as we think about engage, international mission teams. We are going to go to the world. He says that we would do it in Acts 1:8. We would go locally and globally and everywhere in between. And He didn't say pick and choose. He said we would do all of them. Some say, "Well, man, we got our own problems. What will we need to go to another country for?" Because He said so.
It's not a pick and choose thing; it's an "and both" and more. It's all of the above that we would make ourselves available locally, regionally, and globally. Sister Daisy, where you at? Stand up. She's going to be going and leading a team to Brazil. So if anyone wants to go to Brazil, see her this year.
All right, Lisa and I are going to be leading a team to Uganda next year. If you want to go to Uganda next year, be praying about it, and when it becomes available, you'll see us. We're going around the world. I've been around the world, and I've done things locally, and God's calling us to do it all because we want to be obedient.
And let me tell you, when we start doing these things, oh, your growth and your maturity is going to accelerate. It's going to accelerate. Yes, it's going to be a little scary. That's okay because He just says, "Go scared." That's all right. Be scared. Just go. Amen? Be scared. Just go. You don't even have to have it figured out. Just go.
You want to see how the Holy Spirit does what He does? Go. I've led teams of men and women all over the world to various countries, many for the very first time, and they're scared because they don't know what to expect. But every time they go, God shows up, and they are blown away because they had no idea that God was so real and so alive and so present and so dynamic.
And then guess what? When they go back to their homes, man, they're turning their homes upside down. They're turning their communities upside down because they've walked with God. Amen?
Father, we thank You. Thank You for this discipleship pathway that You've given us. Thank You that You're beginning to challenge and call us into this space. And Lord, we don't have all the answers, and we don't know exactly what all this is going to look like. But Lord, You said You would guide us, and our commitment is to extend our hand to You, give You our yes, and follow You.
And so, Lord, we thank You for what will transpire here at the Mount in the days and weeks and months and years to come. We know, God, that Your grace and Your presence will be with us in beautiful ways. How we love You, how we adore You, we worship You in the mighty name of Jesus. And all of God's children say, "Thank God." Amen.
on Feb 28, 2025
