A Reintroduction
Pastor Mattie returns from sabbatical with a reintroduction — his own story, from a father who broke cycles of poverty and addiction in one generation, to a college dorm where God met him mid-argument, to ten years of touring the world with a band, to a living room in Johnson City where a church was born. Seven years later, neither he nor The Altar are what they once were. This Sunday he traces the thread of God's faithfulness through each step.
Good morning, altar family. Yeah. This morning, let that hunger arise. Blessed are those who thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who are hungry. They'll be filled. So let the Lord fill you this morning. Let him fill you with his presence. Let him fill you with what he has to give you this morning. Come taste and see that he is good. Don't come here for an experience. Come here for an encounter. Jesus, we lift up your name. We lift you up, Lord. Come and fill us with never-ending, never-ending water. In the name of Jesus. Let hunger arise. Fill our hearts. In the name of Jesus. We lift you up, Father. We thank you for your presence, Jesus. Rivers that never run dry. Fill us, Lord. Give us a drink of that river. In Jesus' name. ♪ Heaven and angels in the height ♪ ♪ Sun and moon rejoice before him ♪ ♪ Praise him all you stars of light ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord for he has spoken ♪
♪ World is mighty for he's obeyed ♪ ♪ Forward never shall be broken ♪ ♪ For the guidance he has made ♪ ♪ All creation join the song of praise ♪ ♪ Let every tongue declare his mighty ways ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy ♪ ♪ All of our days, yes Jesus ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord for he is glorious ♪ ♪ Never shall his promise fail ♪ ♪ God has made us saints victorious ♪ ♪ Sin and death shall not prevail ♪ ♪ All creation join the song of praise ♪ ♪ Let every tongue declare his mighty ways ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy ♪ ♪ All of our days ♪ ♪ All creation join the song of praise, sing it out ♪ ♪ Let every tongue declare his mighty ways ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy ♪ ♪ All of our days ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, all glory to you, Lord ♪ ♪ All glory to you, Lord ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, all glory to you, Lord ♪ ♪ Come on, glory, glory, glory, all glory to you, Lord ♪ ♪ All glory to you, Lord ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, all glory to you Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the God of our salvation. ♪ ♪ Host on high His powers proclaim. ♪ ♪ Heaven and earth and all creation. ♪ ♪ Lord magnify His name, we magnify you. ♪ ♪ All creation join the song of praise. ♪
♪ Let every tongue declare His mighty ways. ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy. ♪ ♪ All of our days, all creation. ♪ ♪ All creation join the song of praise. ♪ ♪ Let every tongue declare His mighty ways. ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy. ♪ ♪ All of our days. ♪ ♪ We will sing of your goodness and mercy. ♪ ♪ All of our days. ♪ ♪ And we will sing of your goodness and mercy. ♪ ♪ All of our days. ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I want you Jesus, I want you Jesus, I want you Jesus, Jesus I want you Jesus, I want you Jesus, I want you Jesus, Jesus
Holy Spirit come There was a moment when the lights went out When death had claimed his victory The King of love had given up his life The darkest day in history There on a cross they made for sinners For every curse His blood atoned One final breath and it was finished But not the end we could have known For the earth began to shake And the village stoned But sacrifice was made As the heavens roared Come on lift it up All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world There was a moment when the sky lit up A flash of light breaking through When all was lost He crossed eternity The King of life was on the moon For in a dark cold tomb Where a Lord was laid One miraculous breath And we're forever changed All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth All hail King Jesus All hail the Saviour of the world
All hail King Jesus All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Saviour of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Saviour of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ Come on, let every knee! ♪ Let every knee compile before the King of kings ♪ ♪ Let every tongue confess that He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lift up your shout, show Him with all of heaven singing ♪ ♪ Heaven singing holy, holy ♪ Let every knee! ♪ Let every knee compile before the King of kings ♪ ♪ Let every tongue confess that He is Lord ♪ ♪ Lift up your shout, show Him with all of heaven singing ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ Sing worthy of it all ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪
♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ For from you are all things to you are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, you were worthy of it all ♪ ♪ And all hail King Jesus, all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ Hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪
♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world — The Lord of Hosts ♪ ♪♪
♪ You're worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ Yeah. ♪ Jesus, the only one who could ever save ♪ ♪ You're worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you, God we live for you ♪ ♪ Cause holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you, open up my eyes ♪ ♪ In wonder and show me who you are and fill me ♪ ♪ With your heart and lead me in your love to those around me ♪ Oh, thank you, Lord. Sing it to him, tell him he's worthy. ♪ You're worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you, God we live for you ♪ ♪ Oh, we live for you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, the name above every other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, the only one who could ever save, yes he is ♪ ♪ You're worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you, oh, we live for you, Lord ♪ ♪ Because holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are and fill me ♪ ♪ Who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me ♪ ♪ In your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Oh, holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are and fill me ♪ ♪ With your heart and lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Oh, your love is a firm foundation, Lord ♪
♪ Oh, let my life be built on you, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, nothing else, nothing else ♪ ♪ Oh, I will ♪ ♪ Oh, I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken, oh, I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken, oh, I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation and I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And you alone and I will not be saved ♪ ♪ Holy, oh holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are ♪ ♪ And show me who you are and fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Sing holy, holy, oh holy, there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none beside you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are ♪ ♪ And fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Oh I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is ever promised, I will, I will put my trust in you ♪ ♪ Oh and I will not be shaken, oh I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is ever foundation, I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ Your love is a firm foundation, I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not sing it over yourself, say ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation, I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken, oh I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not sing it one more time, say ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation, I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not sing it one more time, say ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love, it is a firm foundation, I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not sing it one more time, say ♪
♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like you, there is none beside you, open up my eyes in wonder, show me who you are and fill me with your love, say ♪ ♪ Fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those, say ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like you, there is none beside you, open up my eyes in wonder, show me who you are and fill me with your love, say ♪ ♪ Fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, there is no one like you, there is none beside you, open up my eyes in wonder, show me who you are and fill me with your love, say ♪ Guerrillas Guerrillas Guerrillas Just fix your gaze on him Look into his eyes The wonder of his beautiful face Just tell him how beautiful he is Just tell him in your own words how beautiful our king is You won't have to say anything Oh lord, you're beautiful Your face is all I see And when your eyes are on this child Your grace abounds to me Sing it again Oh lord, you're beautiful Your face is all I see And when your eyes are on this child Your grace abounds to me I want to take your word and shine it all around First help me just to live it lord And when I'm due it will help me to never seek a crown For my reward is giving glory to you Oh lord, please light the fire That once burned bright and clear Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear I want to take your word and shine it all around First help me just to live it lord And when I'm doing well, help me to never seek a crown, for my reward is giving glory to You, O Lord. O Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear. Sing it again. O Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear. Replace the lamp of my first love that burns with holy fear. I want to take Your Word and shine it all around. First help me just to live it, Lord. And when I'm doing well, help me to never seek a crown, for my reward is giving glory to You. I want to take Your Word and shine it all around. First help me just to live it, Lord. And when I'm doing well, help me to never seek a crown, for my reward is giving glory to You. May we never lose our wonder. May we never lose our wonder. Wide-eyed and mystified, may we be just like a child staring at the beauty of the King. May we never lose our wonder. May we never lose our wonder. Wide-eyed and mystified, may we be just like a child staring at the beauty of the King. Sing it again. May we never lose our wonder. May we never lose our wonder. Wide-eyed and mystified, may we be just like a child staring at the beauty of the King. You are beautiful in all Your ways. You are beautiful in all Your ways. You are beautiful in all Your ways. You are beautiful in all Your ways. You are beautiful in all Your ways.
You are beautiful in all Your ways. ♪ You fascinate us ♪ ♪ You fascinate us, yes you do Lord ♪ ♪ You fascinate us ♪ ♪ You fascinate us ♪ ♪ You fascinate us, Jesus ♪ ♪ You fascinate us ♪ ♪ You fascinate us ♪ ♪ You fascinate us, oh Lord ♪ ♪ You fascinate us, you captivate, you captivate us, oh ♪ ♪ You captivate us, you captivate us, you're beautiful ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ You are beautiful in all your ways ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ ♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are ♪ ♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are ♪ ♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are, you are ♪ ♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are, you are ♪ ♪ You are, you are, you are, you are ♪
♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are, you are ♪ ♪ Beauty, beauty, beautiful ♪ ♪ Glory, glory, glorious you are, you are ♪ ♪ You are, you are, you are, you are, you are ♪ Are Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are Yes, You Are Beautiful Just Stare Into The King's Eyes And What Do You See? The Flames Of Fire Whoa Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are
Beauty, Beauty, Beautiful Glory, Glory, Glorious You Are You Are You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways In All Your Ways In All Your Ways In All Your Ways You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways In All Your Ways You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways Just Lift Your Eyes To The Father You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways Just Lift Your Eyes To The Father You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways In All Your Ways In All Your Ways In All Your Ways You Are Beautiful In All Your Ways In All Your Ways All morning I've just been
I've been just overwhelmed with this sense of gratitude And not just what God has Not over just what God has done for me But over the fact that he's invited me to be a part of what he's doing in the world And I once heard a man A man that I knew a long time ago named Rich Gilchrist He was a youth pastor in, I don't know, New Jersey somewhere Amazing man of God And I always remember whenever I would visit his church His youth group was just so passionate about God They were servant-hearted They prayed like God could actually hear them They were just on fire Burning young men and women And I walked by one time when he had a whole bunch of, I don't know, 50 or 60 kids from his youth group together in a circle And and he was speaking to them just trying to get their minds right for this this evening of ministry And he said to them something that always stuck with me. He said God made you to be a funnel not a bowl What he pours into you he plans to pour through you And and I think sometimes in the church we let ourselves turn into bowls. We just go All right, God, give me give me give me and we just keep it all You know, we say wow, thank you God you poured a lot into the altar fellowship You poured a lot into my family. You poured a lot into my my friend group But man, what an amazing revelation it is that what God has given to you. He intends to give through you And so here's the conviction that I'm coming away with this morning God has given us something worth sharing He's given us the sweetness of his presence He's given us life and life abundantly he's given us something that is Impossible to keep hidden and that is that he's given us joy unspeakable and full of glory What an amazing gift his love is And what an amazing?
Privilege it is to have the purpose of living a life Aimed at sharing that love with the world that so desperately needs to experience it. Amen You know This morning maybe before we even move on to anything else this morning Is this is our last Sunday before all the most of the schools in the area start back tomorrow they gather back from their summer break tomorrow and so I think that we have got a whole bunch of students that are going back a whole bunch of instructors that are going back to school and and And and our prayer from the very beginning of this church has been God Would you mark us here as we gather at our services? Mark us in a way that that would set us apart from the rest of the world throughout the rest of the week You know Let us carry like the aroma of your presence all throughout the week because of because something supernatural because we encounter something supernatural when we gather together on Sunday mornings and So that's our prayer for our students and our teachers here at the altar as well for those of you that are Could I could I we just want to pray over you? Could we do that for those of you that are going back to school this week or next week? If you are a teacher or a student, would you come forward and just maybe get here at the at the altar? Thank you Thank you Lord Thank you Lord I Look at all of these missionaries. The Lord is sending out of the altar fellowship What every one of you has been conscripted into the work of the kingdom the Bible tells us that That our steps as God's chosen people that even our steps are ordered by the Lord And so the school you go to the classes that you're in the instructors the teachers that you have the person that sits next to you in class and they pick their nose sometimes, you know, and they
And they bother you and they know you like understand every one of those things was divinely ordained by God Every one of those the person whose locker is right next to yours was divinely ordained by God the God of the universe in Infinite wisdom has brought you to this moment. He's brought you to this school year He's brought you into these classes with these teachers and these classmates for such a time as this and Why would God put you in a class with those other students? Why would God put you in a class with that instructor? Why would God put you in a school with these other students? Why because he loves them Because he's passionate about them and so he puts some of his very Favorite sons and daughters into their life to make sure they would get the chance to feel his love this year You are God's gift to that school you are God's God's gift to that class. You are God's gift to those people. And he's put you there on purpose. Could I get you family? Those of you that are not up here, would you just stretch your hands toward this group? Thank you, Lord. Lord, we know that in the kingdom, we never just go. We are sent. And so Lord, we declare over this group today that they are sent, that they're anointed, that they're called, that they're empowered by your spirit for the work of the ministry. Father, I pray that your love would so capture these, these young men and young women as they, uh, step into, uh, into learning this year. And even those that are stepping into teaching this year, God, I pray that your, your love would capture them so fully that everyone who encounters them this year would know there's something different about them. God, I pray that they would be like people from a, from another planet that they would be people that have different passions and different priorities from the rest of the world. Lord, would you just continue to use their lives? God, to glorify your name. I pray Lord, that they would be bold about your gospel. They would never be ashamed to say, Jesus died to save me from my sins. And he can do the same for you. And Lord, I pray that that message would always be, uh, be flowing from their lips and that the joy that that message brings God would overflow out of every one of them to fill their classroom and to fill their school. God, I thank you in advance for the testimonies and reports that we're going to receive this year of people that came to salvation because students from the altar are leading kids to Christ in the hallways of their school.
God, I thank you for, uh, for the testimonies we're going to get this year of families that begin to come to church because of the impact the teacher had on their student in school. God, I thank you that every one of these are directly appointed by you to be lights in, in, in the darkness of their, their school classroom or their school system. And I pray father that you would give them the confidence and the determination to do everything they do with integrity and with honor and with passion and with love God, most of all for your glory. We join with Jesus and saying, father, glorify your name. Father, glorify your name in the work that lays before them over these next 10 months. Father, glorify your name in your, in their attitudes. Father, glorify your name. When everybody else is panicking, when everybody else is anxious, Lord, make these a people of peace of peace, whose lives testify to the goodness of their God. And we declare over them that they are not just going into a new school year, but they are sent with the full faith and covering and support and hope and celebration of their brothers and sisters here at the altar fellowship as missionaries into the heart of a generation. And we say this in Jesus mighty name, everybody said, amen, amen, amen. Come on. Y'all are amazing. You guys got this. You can take your seats. What an amazing, amazing, amazing group. God has called you guys to some great things. I can't wait to hear all about them. Oh, musicians. Thank you guys. Y'all are amazing. We're so spoiled to have you great job this morning. Thank you for leading us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. It's a, it's a good day to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Thank you guys. Thank you guys so much for being here, for taking time out of your week to come and worship with us, fellowship with us. We are so happy that you're here. We, uh, have a lot of ground to cover. We're going to take to this morning. We're going to finish service by, uh, by receiving communion, uh, the Lord's supper. I'm really excited about that, but we've got a lot of ground to cover between now and then. And so I want to be efficient. How many of you know that it is important to God that we give to the church? How many of you know that it is right and good and holy to be a giver? All right, we are going. to give you the opportunity to do just that today. Are you, are you thankful for that opportunity? Come on. God is good and he is infinitely worthy of, of vastly more than
we could ever pull out of our bank account or our wallet. Right? And so this morning we give him our meager gift, our five loaves and two fish. God, this is what I have. This is what I'm able to do. And we expect that he will take our meager offering and he will make it more than enough to accomplish all that he has in mind. Amen. Come on. And so this morning we are going to give, uh, as you know, there are a few ways you can do so. There is an envelope in the seat in front of you that you can use. If you would like to give by cash or check or card, uh, you can take your phone out and you can scan that QR code or you can use the mobile app. If you have the mobile app to give, um, would you stand with me? We are going to, um, just pray over this and thank God for this opportunity. Lord, John three 16 tells us that because you loved the world that you decided to give. And so Lord, we know that one of the ways that you demonstrate love is by giving and Lord, we want to learn to demonstrate love the way you do. And so we thank you today for the opportunity to do just that. God, thank you that you've invited us to give to you. You invited us to be a part of what you're doing, what you're building and what you're saying here at the altar fellowship. And so God, as we give this morning, we ask you that this offering would be useful, that it would be honoring and pleasing to you. And God, I pray even for myself and the leaders that you would give us conviction to, uh, in clarity and revelation, to use the funds that come in through this offering God, to glorify your name and to advance your purposes in a way that would be pleasing to you. Lord, we just, uh, we pray that you would make us all faithful stewards of, of that, to which, uh, that which you've given us father, we bless and honor you today. Not just in our word, not just in our song, but in our sacrifice. And so God, thank you for the opportunity to give sacrificially this morning. We take that opportunity with gratitude in our hearts. And we say, thank you Lord, that you've invited us to be a part of what you're doing in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, good morning. You can be seated. Happy Sunday. It's great to see y'all. I, uh, I lost a bet that he wouldn't know we made, but, uh, we, me and some of the other pastors from the church went and ran a, a Spartan race yesterday and pastor John beat us all. So I got to give, I got to give credit where credit is due. We tried our best, but we are old men and he's still young and fit. He's the man. So he, uh, he, he got the dub yesterday. He was at the finish line, you know, with a full lunch laying in a hammock, like where are you guys been?
What are you doing? He did a great job. Um, but, uh, I am, uh, I'm, I'm thrilled to be here these last couple of weeks. If you have been here, you know, that, uh, I've, I've talked about rest and talked about rest, not as sort of the, the absence of work or the antithesis of work, but I've talked about rest is actually one of the works to which God has called us. And, uh, and, and we've talked about how the practice or the discipline of rest actually doesn't just sort of help, you know, maintain our strength or, you know, our, uh, health long-term. It's not just personally beneficial. It actually glorifies and demonstrates the nature of God, uh, to, to those around us. And, uh, and so we we've talked about that a lot. If you would like to hear me talk more about that, you can check out those two podcasts. That'll be, that'll be great. But I, um, I knew when I came back from my, the sabbatical I took this year that, uh, that, that I needed to spend some time talking about rest as almost a sacramental discipline that we engage in as followers of God. But I, uh, I'll tell you that there was, uh, one of the more significant sort of conversations I had with the Lord over those weeks that I was away from the ministry of the church, uh, revolved around this, this one quote from, uh, from the Greek philosopher who lived about 400 years before Christ named Heraclitus. who once said this, he said, a man cannot step into the same river twice because it is not the same river and he is not the same man. And, and I was one day I was, I was out for a walk and I was sort of meditating on, on that quote, just, I don't know, it came, came to mind and, and I was thinking about it and thinking about, you know, coming back, what's it going to be like when I come back to the altar fellowship, I've been away for almost two months and, and, you know, I haven't had a chance to preach a sermon and I, you know, I haven't been sitting down giving counsel or guidance to the people in the church. And I've missed those things. My heart has been longing for those things, but you know, is it going to be the way that it was before when I come back? And then God brought that quote to mind and he said, just as a man cannot step into the same river twice because it's not the same river and he's not the same man, the Lord said, so too can a man not pastor the same church twice because it's not the same church and he's not the same pastor.
And so sort of with that in mind today, I want to reintroduce myself to the community of the altar fellowship. Some of you have been here for a long time since this church was in my living room. Some of you, this may be your first time ever setting foot into this building, but I want to take an opportunity to tell you, to tell you my story, how God has carried me to this point. Uh, just, uh, a couple of weeks ago, um, I had the opportunity to, to remember when I first came to saving faith in God, when I was, uh, it was the week of my 19th birthday. Just before I, uh, I turned 19, I was sitting on the steps of my college dorm and, uh, and the presence of God met me there. And uh, and so for, for now, 20 years, God has faithfully carried me through life. He's faithfully protected me from destruction more times than I can begin to remember or enumerate. And I'm so beyond grateful for the countless ways that he has defended me and protected me and strengthened me, uh, by his grace and, uh, uh, however, I, I need to go back maybe before that to tell you my story. You know, I was, uh, born to an amazing family. My dad was, uh, an elder in the church and part of his story. Some of you have heard before, part of his stories that my father was born to a, a drug addict mother who didn't even know who his biological father was. It could have been any number of, of men. She lived in the projects in, uh, Indianapolis, Indiana, and, uh, didn't want to raise this kid. And so she gave him away to another woman who lived in the same projects who said, I'll take him. And so, uh, and so my dad was raised in extreme poverty around gang violence and drug use and, uh, watched as his siblings, half siblings, cousins, a bunch of kids that he sort of grew up with, got caught up in those things. And there was something inside of him that we maybe now would recognize in hindsight was just the grace of God, you know, kept him and protected him and, and made him look
at all this destruction and say, no, no, no, that's, that's not for me. And so, uh, he got to be pretty big and, and, uh, and so he used that to say, uh, you know, I'm going to play football in high school. And then he had the opportunity to go play football in college. And so he went to a Christian university, Taylor university, gave his life to Christ and, uh, uh, and he died of, of cancer when I was eight years old, uh, and he was only 40. And so my dad, you know, was very young, passed away of cancer and left myself and my sister, um, who, who at the time was two, uh, to grow up without a father. And I, you know, I marvel at the amazing way that my dad changed the course of my life. I mean, in one generation, he went from extreme poverty, drug addiction, and violence to being an elder in our local church and a college professor and, uh, and in, in not even in, you know, a whole long life in 40 years. Uh, and I, I just, I marvel at the way that his determination really set my family up for a totally different experience. He broke generations of cycles, negative, downward, destructive cycles so that I can't even imagine the life that my father was born into. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful for that. And I think some of you are cycle breakers too, that maybe you were born into a life that you wouldn't wish on. your kids. And by the grace of God, your kids aren't even going to imagine what you experienced growing up. Right. And, uh, and so what an awesome testimony that is in my life is what it is today because of my father's choices. I'm grateful for that, but as I'm sure you can imagine losing your father at eight years old is, uh, it's, uh, like a nuclear bomb in the middle of your whole world, man. You know, when you're an eight year old boy, your dad is supposed to be the strongest, smartest, most amazing man in the world. He's your, your refuge. He's your shelter. I mean, your dad is like when you're eight, he's the closest thing to God you've ever experienced. And so, you know, to see my dad, I mean, wither away and, uh, and, and die was like, where do I go, man? It just, it felt like the cruelty of life on earth was just put front and
center for me. And I, I, uh, I had a lot of questions. I think that I maybe didn't even know how to express or articulate, uh, but I grew up in an, an, uh, an evangelical free church. My family and I, we had moved. My dad had gotten a job at a university in Michigan. We lived for years in Oregon. So we moved from, from Oregon all the way, I don't know, a couple thousand miles over to Michigan. And, uh, two weeks after we moved, we found a lump on my dad's neck. And six months after that, he had passed away. And so, uh, you can imagine moving hours and hours and hours and hours away from hundreds, thousands of miles away from anybody that you know, any family, any friends, and then losing my dad. It was, we're sort of floating in this city in this space, but my mom, the way she tells the story is that she knew God had called us there. He made a way for us to get to that city. He, he supernaturally provided a home for us to buy when we got there. And so my mom said, I know God called us here. I'm not moving. And I'm, I'm grateful for that decision because I was raised in a church there that is an evangelical free church. They call it, uh, today they call it grace point, evangelical free church. And, uh, it still stands today. It was a wonderful church for the most part, you know, there were, the only downside is that there were people there, you know, and that's the weak spot of every church I think is, is the people. Um, but, but you know, people did sometimes what people do at this church. And I can tell you stories that would make you, uh, what a, you know, what a terrible church, but it wasn't a terrible church. There were godly people there who impacted my life in a really meaningful way. Now, if you're not familiar with that denomination, the evangelical free church, it's, uh, they're just Baptist, you know, more or less like they're just Midwestern Baptist, but they, uh, it's, it's a church that just really highly esteems the word of God. And, uh, and, and they, they do have sort of independent government instead of sort of answering to some kind of regional director or overseer, each church, uh, really self governs, but they find unity on their, their statement of, of faith, a foundation of a common statement of faith. That is just a regular sort of evangelical Protestant statement of faith that I think all of us would agree with. And, um, and I'm grateful for that church because all I remember, I couldn't tell you a single sermon anyone ever preached, but to this day, I still quote verses that I learned at that church that in all of my ministry, I remember shortly after I began to step into ministry and started to kind of share the gospel. So much of what I would say to people came from things that I had
memorized from the Bible, because I was trying to get a jolly rancher at Iwana when I was 11 years old. And, uh, and that was it. They would just, they would get us together. We'd play games and then they would bribe us with candy to learn Bible verses. And can I tell you the word of God does not return void. And you know, like David said, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. And so countless times in my life, having hidden the word of God in my heart was the thing that fortified me against sin and temptation. It was the thing that kept me from going that last step over the edge to destruction or outright rebellion against God. I listen, I did a lot of rebellion of rebelling against God, but I wrestled with the word of God because it had been hidden in my heart. Thank you. Jolly ranchers and the evangelical free church. And so like, I'm grateful for that sort of mainline, regular vanilla church upbringing. I really am. And frankly, you know, I shifted later in life and I'll, I'll get there to like a really charismatic community. And as fun as that is, I think if that's all I ever had, I might've been in trouble. And we'll talk about that. But a huge part of my life growing up in that evangelical free church was soccer. I was a real serious soccer player, and got to travel all over the world and play, and got to do some really cool things, ended up playing in college, and had some great opportunities doing that. And so that took me to college. I went to, I started my first couple years, I went to a Catholic university in Minnesota, southeastern Minnesota called St. Mary's University. And it was there, actually on the steps of my dorm there, after the summer of my freshman year that the presence of God met me. I was sitting on the steps of my dorm studying a book about Buddhism. And I was reading about this moral ethic that Buddhism holds.
And it was interesting because I realized, you know, that Buddhism teaches you ought to be generous and humble and kind and patient. And I was familiar enough with other religions, Taoism and Islam and Judaism, that would all teach you that you need to be generous and kind and patient, loving and humble. And I thought, oh, this is great. You know, there's this sort of universal moral standard. And that's good. You know, I'm finding truth. And I don't necessarily, it doesn't need to be the Christian truth. It doesn't need to be the truth that my mom taught me growing up. Like, maybe the only reason I'm a Christian is because I was born into a Christian home. Maybe you've heard that objection. That man, if you were born in Afghanistan, you would be a Muslim. And maybe that's true, but that doesn't make Islam right. And maybe the reason that I'm a Christian is because I was born in a Christian home, but that doesn't make Christianity wrong or right. And so we've gotta ask ourselves, what stands up to reason? What actually is a coherent worldview with the observable nature of humanity and the documented history of our species? And so what happened is,
as I was studying these other religions in college, I began to find that all of them essentially or fundamentally agreed on what it is to be a decent person, what it is to be ethical or moral. But there was this nagging thought. Maybe you've heard me talk about this before. Here's the nagging thought. Everybody agrees. Lao Tzu, who's sort of the figurehead of Taoism, you know, Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, you know, who's the figurehead of Buddhism. You know, Moses is the figurehead of Judaism. Jesus of Nazareth, obviously the figurehead of Christianity. All of these people sort of agree on this moral standard. You need to be loving, kind, generous, and humble. Here's my problem, though. I haven't been. And I'm looking at this like, all of history's greatest religious and philosophical teachers agree this is how you were created to live, and I'm having to wrestle with the fact that I haven't lived like that. That if there is a God, and that God did create me to live this way, I'm in serious trouble with that God. And here's the problem that I had as I was studying other religions. It's that Lao Tzu and Buddha, even Moses, they don't offer adequate answers
for the problem of what we would call sin. I rebelled against God. God has a standard to which I've been called, and I have lived far below that standard. I had been selfish, and deceptive, and hateful, and arrogant more times than I could begin to count. But then I remembered one of those verses that I memorized to earn a Jolly Rancher in the Evangelical Free Church. It says in the book of Isaiah that as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. The Bible tells us that God laid on him the iniquity of us all. And I realized that where Christianity differs from every other sort of moral framework is that in Christianity, there's an answer for sin. Everyone can tell you this is how you ought to live, even atheists or agnostics. They'll agree in maybe the basic fundamentals of what morality looks like. But they don't agree with me on that. The problem is there is only one answer for the universal experience of immorality, our human dysfunction. And that one answer is that the blood of Jesus was shed for the remission of our sins. And so I was sitting on the steps of my dorm, you know, out at St. Mary's university and Winona, Minnesota. And in that place, it was like, I'm reading this book about Buddhism and I'm just shaking with like, but what about the answer? There's got to be an answer for my sin. Okay, this is great. But like, what about the fact that I am not moral? I am not good. And if there is a God who is good and who made me for good, I have rebelled against that God
countless times. And it was like the presence of God met me on those steps. And it felt like he pinned me to the ground. And I explained it to a friend of mine once that it was like waking up on a, waking up in a room full of strangers where it suddenly, I became aware that I wasn't alone. And I wouldn't call it maybe a warm, fuzzy feeling. It was like, oh, there is a God and he sees me and everything is laid bare before him. And I'm, I am, and I always have been totally vulnerable before him. But then this comforting thought came that he has kept me. He's preserved me. He's loved me. He's cared about me. And he brought me to this moment. And he and I argued for a while there on the steps of my dorm. You know, it wasn't like, wow, Lord, I surrender. It was like, Lord, I don't know if you can handle me. And he wasn't intimidated by my sin. He wasn't disgusted or repulsed by me. He said, man, I can, I can even use somebody like you, Maddie. And, uh, and so in that moment, I would say that I was marked by God. I was ruined for anything else. And, you know, people, sometimes they share their story, like from that moment on, I, you know, chased after Jesus with all of my heart. And I've got to tell you, that's, that was not my experience. I would love to say that. I would love to share that story with you. I would love to say that all of my old habits immediately disappeared, but that's not true. But I will tell you this, all of my old habits lost their flavor. I tried to go back to the sin I was living in before that night. I did. And I succeeded at times, but instead of being proud of myself, I was disgusted with myself. I'd been ruined. The way I explained it once is that it felt like sin was like a shirt that had shrunk in the wash. I just couldn't get it on anymore. You know, I tried, but it just, it just didn't fit me like it used to. And, uh, and I'm still in that process. You know, I'm still in a process of learning to, to, uh, you know, honor God with the choices that I make to control, you know, impulses that are contrary to his will for my life and to surrender more fully day by day to his best and his highest calling for my life. But I, uh, you know, I then just a couple months later, I ended up dropping out of that school. I went back to the Midwest, went back to Ohio where my mom was living with her new husband, my stepdad, which is like awkward for both of us. I think, uh, he's great. Uh, I was not like, I was still just a stinky kid, you know? And, and, but I, I moved into his house for a little bit, went to another college for a semester and was just trying to figure my life out. And God began to shake me over those next maybe six months. And he began to confront me over my
half-hearted commitment that I was committed to him in word, but my deeds, my actions, my habits, my choices in secret, they weren't honoring him. And I was trying to give God lip service, but God looks at the heart and, uh, and he saw that there were that my heart still had Maddie on the throne of my life. And, uh, and so over those six months, he began to really nail me down about my sin, about my compromise. And, uh, uh, and, and one of the things is I would come closer to him as I'd spend more time at church. I would go to church and just ask Christians, like, tell me what God has done in your life. Tell me your favorite Bible verses. And I would do everything I could to learn more about him. And during that season, as I got closer to God, he began to reawaken this passion that I had for music. And, uh, and so I, you know, I, uh, was kind of playing in a band part-time. And, uh, and then I heard about this band of guys from Sioux city, Iowa, from Western Iowa that had this band called for today. And they weren't big and nobody knew who they were, but they love Jesus. And they're, they're going to go on tour soon. And I was like, that's what I need. I need guys that love. Jesus. And I feel like I need to go on tour. I don't know why I just, I just got to go. And so I, uh, sent a Myspace message to this guy. This is an ancient relic, this guy named David Morrison. And I was like, Hey man, let me join your band. And he said, well, let's do like a 30 day, uh, you know, trial period where I can, you know, you can come out, we'll do some rehearsals and then we'll, we'll do a short tour and then we'll see how it goes. It went pretty well. We ended up touring the world, uh, for 10 years playing our music for millions of people all over the planet. And, uh, and just having an amazing time. And every night we would, between songs, we would preach Christ. And every night the spirit of God would draw people to himself. We would see people saved all over the world. Countless thousands of people make decisions for Christ and bars and in nightclubs. And now during this time, we were all sort of reading the Bible for ourselves. We're trying to figure this stuff out. And, uh, and we got introduced to like Holy ghost people. Remember I was raised in the evangelical free church. We, the Holy ghost never made it out of our doctrinal statement. Like we, you know, we maybe acknowledge the Holy spirit on paper. And that's, that's David. You went to a Nazarene, you know about that. Yeah. You know, so we, we appreciate the Holy spirit in theory, but in practice, he's just like, he's a little too unpredictable. So we'd rather he just stay, stay in our textbooks, you know? Um, but the, uh, you know, we got out there in the trenches and
people started like coming and saying, Hey, my, my baby was born without Achilles tendons. Would you, would you pray that God would restore those? And then we'd be like, I mean, I guess Jesus and his guys did it in the Bible. Like, let's try it. Like we didn't know any better. And, and so we would pray. And then suddenly like this baby would have Achilles tendons where she didn't, when we started praying, you know, people would come and say, I'm blind. Can you pray for God to like fix my eyes and blind eyes would open and people would stand up out of wheelchairs. And so we're like preaching Christ. And this is what you read in the book of acts. We're preaching the gospel of grace. And the Bible says that God bore witness to the preaching of the gospel of grace by granting signs and wonders to be done by the hands of the apostles. And so I'm not saying that I'm, you know, Peter or Paul, what I'm saying is that God loves the gospel. And when we preach the gospel, it impacts people's lives in real ways. And so we were preaching the gospel and God was doing things that only God could do. And so we got really kind of embraced by like very hyper charismatic people. And I don't know that there's a denomination that we, you know, like we had the, I grew up in the evangelical free church, but then for our 10 years in the band and even beyond, we are, we became like Holy ghost people. We are speaking tongues. I have no pride. If we start laying hands on people and they start falling over, I'm perfectly happy with that. Um, you know, I, I love the Holy spirit. I think the Holy spirit in many ways is the defining characteristic of any church or culture, or even individual, the way we relate to the Holy spirit defines the way we walk with God. And, uh, and if we say Holy spirit, you're too unpredictable, you're too weird. You stay over there that will change the way that we interact with God. It'll change the way we walk with God on a daily basis. But if we say Holy spirit, use me, I belong fully to you. Lead me where you want me to go, empower me to do what you want me to do. That changes the way we walk with God. Right. And so I'm grateful, very, very grateful for that, that time in my life that I was around these super charismatic, you know, I would like, I hung out at churches for a long time. We were part of a church in Mobile, the church that sent us up here that had a profit on staff. So it's like, that's a different world for me. The evangelical free church did not have any profits on staff. Um, but man, we were, I was like so grateful for that time. But I need to say this as well, since planting this church, I have always felt this sense that maybe a part of my calling and why God allowed me to walk through what I walked through in life is because he called me to
maybe, uh, maybe help teach charismatics, why we do what we do and to help marry the spirit and the word in a way that I hadn't really seen in my life growing up. It tended to be, and this may be the case for many of you that churches would choose. We either love the word or we love the spirit, but it's very rare that you'd find a church that loves both. And, uh, and so I want us to be a church that loves both the spirit and the word, right? I want us to, the Bible says that God is seeking those that will worship him in spirit and truth. Right. And, and we don't this, this idea that we have to choose the spirit or the truth. truth. That's a problem. And that's a false dichotomy. The enemy has presented to the church that you've got to decide, are you going to be crazy charismatics who don't care at all about the Bible? Or are you going to be cold, dead, you know, Bible scholars that don't care about the Holy Spirit? I refuse to make that decision because I think those two go together. And, uh, and so in, in 2016, the Lord, I had a, I have three pages of notes. I don't think I'm going to even get to the end of page one today. So we, I'll be back here next week. Don't worry. But where I promised my plan, I had a plan today. I was going to teach scripture to you. Like we were going to go through a Luke. They've got Luke 34, like I'm ready. Uh, 24, excuse me, Luke 24. Um, we'll get there eventually, but, um, we are going to take communion today. And if I insist on teaching this, we're not going to have time for that. So, uh, in 2016, I left for a tour as I had before in the Lord. Uh, it, it just felt different. And, and I did something that I think a lot of people do. My wife and I, we were talking about it just this week that sometimes when, when God begins to move in your life, maybe you're feeling like, man, there's, I think God is calling me away from this job, or I think God's calling me away from this city or, or whatever. You know, when, when the Lord is moving something in your heart, this is what I did is I started to go, what's wrong with it. The Lord began to shift my heart away from the band. And, and, and so I spent a month saying, all right, God, what's the problem. There's gotta be one of the guys in the band must be in secret sin. I need you to reveal to me like there must be. So I'm real suspicious. I'm looking at everybody. What's the problem? What are you doing secretly? That's making this bad. Why does God hate this thing? And here's what I found out. Sometimes there's nothing wrong. God just said to me, Maddie, what I called you to do in 2007, when I called you to this band, I had a timeframe in mind
and that timeframe is over. I love you. And I love this band and I love what you've done, but Maddie, your assignment here has been completed. And so I was able to sit with the guys in the band in 2016 and say, guys, I love you with all my heart. This has been one of the greatest privileges I have ever had, but God is calling me away. And, and for the better part of a year that year, everybody would ask, well, what are you leaving for? You know, is there a problem in the band? Is there, did you get some better job offer somewhere else? It's like, no, no. God said it's run its course. This is, this is my time to finish. And so that's what we did. We finished in at the end of 2016. And people would ask me, what are you going to do when you finish the band? And I said, I'm going to take my wife on a date and I'm going to take my kids to the park. And then I will start praying about what comes next. And so that's what we did. We, uh, we finished in 2016 and then all through 2017, I did some traveling to preach at conferences and crusades and saw God move in an amazing way. And I was preaching and all these evangelistic events, like I had been for many years. And I kept preaching about these two things. I would preach at these big evangelistic events where everybody else is preaching about signs, wonders, miracles. They're preaching the gospel. They're calling people to confess their sin, to get right with God. And I kept talking about worship and family. And I realized, I don't know if I fit on the evangelist circuit. And so in 2019 and 2018, excuse me, I was sitting in, uh, my spiritual father's church down in mobile and, uh, and just praying one morning at, uh, his men's prayer gathering. And I heard the Lord say, Maddie, it's time to gather the family. And I knew immediately that that's what, uh, that what that meant is, is that we were going to plant a church that I'd traveled all over the world. I'd preached the gospel to millions of people over the 10 years prior to that. And 99% of them maybe were encouraged or annoyed and, uh, 99% of them, you know, left with like some, some, some more information or something, you know, maybe they were inspired or uplifted in some way, but there would just be this 1% of people that, that they, they heard what we've called in the past, the voice within the voice. There was something about the way God expressed himself through me that would draw them. And they would, they would buy all my books and they would watch all my videos and they would travel for hours to come and, you know, hear me preach. If I was preaching anywhere close to them, these people would really seek out our ministry. Many of them moved down to mobile to try to be a part of our lives, but we were real guarded with our time because I traveled so
much. And so we weren't doing a lot in the way of discipleship. When God said, Maddie, it's time to gather the family. I knew that's now it's time. To bring people into our life, to bring people into our home, to bring people to our table, to open our schedule up and to pour our hearts and our lives into those that God would send us. And so in 2019, we moved to the least likely place on our list, Johnson city, Tennessee. And, uh, and we launched a church in our living room called the altar fellowship. And, uh, and for seven years, I, uh, had the privilege of serving as the pastor of a church plant in Johnson city called the altar fellowship. And I realized over these last couple of months that it sounds like I'm about to tell you I'm quitting and I'm not, I'm not, I want to break the tension here. Uh, I realized over these last couple of months that I am not the pastor of a small church plant in Johnson city anymore. I've been given the privilege by God, um, to be the senior pastor of a pretty large church in Johnson city, Tennessee. And, um, and I recognize that this isn't the house. This isn't the church in my house where my son Carver's taking a nap upstairs during service. Um, this isn't the church in the little wedding venue in downtown where there's one bathroom per gender, two bathrooms total. Um, there's, you know, and, uh, and those bathrooms are all made out of cardboard. So everybody can hear what you're doing in there. This is, uh, this is a different thing entirely. And, and I feel like a part for me of, of this reintroduction. And again, I really had like a lot of teaching I was going to do today and this, we're just going slower than I expected. Um, I, I have had the sense that, um, that part of this reintroduction for me is for me to say this, the person I am today, as I introduced myself to you as the senior pastor of the altar fellowship is, uh, is not the person I was when we planted this church. The, what my family needs of me is different than it was then. My oldest boys were what? Seven and nine years old, maybe younger, six and, uh, and, and, uh, eight. And, uh, and Carver was one when we moved here. You know, I, I, uh, the demands on our time are different. My boys are all in sports. What my wife needs from me is different than it was when we started this church. And I, I had this dream that, uh, when we started the church, I would, you know, if a new family came in, we'd be able to take them out to dinner that night and,
or that, that week, I mean, and, and get to know them and hear their story. And I've done that by the grace of God with many of you. Uh, but it's been a burden for me. If I'm honest, these last couple of years that I just can't do that. It's like we did it Cody and rose and you guys showed up to our house. We were like, let's get together and get to know you guys. I know. I remember taking, uh, Michael and Sarah Lynn, Brian out to dinner and we had Cody and Keisha Golic over and I made them a salad. I think miss Candace made something delicious, but she used to trust me with the salads. And so I made a big old salad. You know, we had them over to our house and some of these couples that have been around since the church was very small and it was in our house. They've been in our home. They've been in our life. We've eaten lots of meals together, but I realized that the, uh, the best thing I can be in service of this church is a great husband to my wife and a great father to my children. And one of the dangers I think, and I can speak from experience. Now, one of the dangers that faces pastors of larger churches is this constant pressure from the accuser that says, you're not doing enough. You have to meet more people. You have to eat more meals. You have to go to more of the, you know, baseball games or the kids in the church. You have to go visit more people. And here's the reality that I think I want us to explore as a family is it would be a dangerous thing for any of you to think that the work of the ministry is only my responsibility. The book of Ephesians teaches us that God has given some to be pastors for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. So what's the point of having a pastor in your life? It is so that you can be equipped to do the work of the ministry. God has put me in your life, not so that I can do ministry. So you don't have to. God has put. me in your life to help put the tools in your hands and then light a fire under your rear end to say, your family needs you seeking God. Your workplace needs you seeking God. Your neighborhood needs you seeking God. Your city needs you seeking God, your nation and your generation desperately need you seeking God. And if you are full of the presence and power of God, because of your intimate relationship with the Holy spirit, it will bring transformation, not just to you and your household. It'll bring transformation to this whole world. That is why we are here. And I want to provoke you into that today and forever. But I also
need to tell you that I am a, um, that I also need to tell you that if, if the way you get provoked toward that is by having, you know, unfiltered unrestricted access to me, there's a big problem. I think with your relationship with God, it is God himself. That is our source and our strength. And if you thought that I could be your source or strength friend, I love you, but you're sorely mistaken. I might be a good pastor, but I'm a really bad savior. And so I hope that more than ever, you will fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, that you'll chase after him with all of your heart, that you will make him your hope and your strength and your joy and your exceedingly great reward. And that in him, you will find rest and peace that you can share with a restless and chaotic world. Amen. So this morning, I've got at least two more sermons to preach out of this. Okay. Cause we, there's never enough time. Sorry. This morning, we are going to finish by receiving, uh, the Lord's supper on the first Sunday of every month. Uh, we have the privilege of being able to, uh, to, to come into communion with God and each other by receiving the elements. And Jesus gave, uh, instituted this practice at the last supper with his disciples. When he took the, uh, uh, the bread and broke it. And he said to them, this is my body broken for you do this in remembrance of me. And then he took the cup and he filled it with wine. And he said to them, wine. And he said to them, this is my blood of a new covenant. And as often as you drink it do so in remembrance of me. And this I think is for us an invitation to, to come into a collective meditation or collective contemplation that we can experience by way of, of, of, of our corporate focus or our corporate, uh, contemplative priority fellowship or communion with Jesus by way of, of these elements understand we are here today as redeemed people, as sons and daughters of God, not because of our efforts, not because of the home into which we were born, not because we prayed some magical prayer, but because Jesus God became a man and hung on a cross under the full weight of my guilt and yours. And with his own broken body and shed blood made atonement for our sin took upon himself the full weight of the wrath of God so that we could be accepted as God's beloved sons and daughters. And, uh, so if I could get the elders to come forward and prepare the elements, I want to, as they're doing that to remind you, uh, Paul reminds the church in Corinth to, uh, to be
discerning, to be careful, to not drink, uh, the, the, the wine or eat the bread in a way that, uh, that is dishonoring to God or that is out of order. What does that look like? I would say this, this is something that is reserved for those who have truly put their faith in Jesus. If you cannot say with absolute confidence that Jesus is your Lord and your savior, then I'd ask you to please refrain from taking the, uh, the elements this morning. If that is the case, if you can't say this morning with absolute confidence that Jesus is your Lord and savior, listen, come talk to me. I'll, I'll take a break from whatever I'm doing to have that conversation with you. We can deal with that and make sure that you're right with God right now. There's nothing in the world more important than that. However, for the rest of us, I would tell you, if you, if you have unconfessed sin, if you have unforgiven hurt or offense, that if there are areas of your life that God has been tapping on that you have not yet surrendered, I would tell you deal with God before you come forward to receive these elements. So you don't need to come forward when it's your sections time to come forward. You come forward when, uh, when your heart is right. And you're able to, as the scriptures say, to discern the body and blood of our Lord, to really see Jesus in this moment clearly. So the way that we'll do this is we'll have our security team. I know that they're in the back. They're going to dismiss you. I think starting in the back and have you come forward and you'll take a piece of the bread. And we have you do that because I think it's important that you understand the body of Jesus wasn't broken by the Romans or the Jews. The body of Jesus was broken by you and me, that it was our hand that tore his flesh that day on the cross. It was our hand that shed his blood that day on the cross. And uh, and so as you tear a piece of the bread, he'll then dip it in the, in the wine and uh, and then receive it. But let's make sure that we do this prayerfully, meditatively and with honor as we come together
into, into a time of corporate meditation on the blood of Jesus shed for us. You can come forward when you're ready.
Recommended topics
- God Behind Bars Music+
- New to Pando+
- Ministry of the Week+
- Devotionals+
- Foundations+
- Mental Health+
- New Believers+