Battleship - Ready, Aim, Fire

Hey, Pantano, do you wanna stand to your feet? We're gonna start off, first of all, Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. We're gonna start out with some worship and some baptisms this morning. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Let's lift this up. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

Mark on you, there is no army With the power to conquer truth You've always been with us Every battle you've already won Or we've already won Show me one thing he can do Show me a mountain he can't move He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Show me one thing that's too hard Show me waters he can't pass He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Oh, it's possible There is a kingdom That's advancing at the speed of light And in his kingdom Every dead thing is bound to rise Oh, God, our Redeemer He is capable to revive Oh, he will revive Show me one thing he can do Show me a mountain he can't move He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Show me one thing that's too hard Show me waters he can't pass He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible All of my fear I will turn into praise

Shake off despair as I sing out your name A victory dance I will dance out in vain I will crush disappointment and break every chain All of my fear I will turn into praise Shake off despair as I sing out your name A victory dance I will dance out in vain All of my fear I will turn into praise Shake off despair as I sing out your name A victory dance I will dance out in vain I will crush disappointment Show me one thing he can do Show me a mountain he can't move He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Show me one thing that's too hard Show me waters he can't pass He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Anything is possible Anything is possible He's the God of the breakthrough And anything is possible Anything is possible And anything is possible Show me one thing he can do And I just want to speak the name of Jesus Over every heart and every mind Cause I know there is peace within your presence I speak Jesus I just want to speak the name of Jesus

♪ Jesus, till every dark addiction starts to break ♪ ♪ Declaring there is hope and there is freedom ♪ ♪ I speak Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ I just wanna speak the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Over fear and total anxiety ♪ ♪ To every soul held captive by depression ♪ ♪ I speak Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ So for every enemy, Jesus for my family ♪ ♪ I speak the holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the street ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness, so for every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪ ♪ Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ Your name is power, your name is healing ♪ ♪ Your name is life ♪

♪ Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ♪ ♪ Burn like a fire ♪ ♪ I just wanna speak the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Over every heart and every mind ♪ ♪ Cause I know there is peace within your presence ♪ ♪ I speak Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, we speak your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, the name above all names ♪ ♪ The highest name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains and Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family, I speak the holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, we shout your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name ♪ ♪ It's Jesus ♪ ♪ It's Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness over every enemy ♪ ♪ And Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ It's Jesus ♪ Jesus, we just lift up your name. Jesus, we just speak your name. That name that the Bible says is above every name. The very name that at some point every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, that only him, only he is Christ.

Only he is the Lord. Church, I don't know if you're able to, but if you're able and you're comfortable, just lift your arms toward the Father today in prayer and thanks. God, we lift up holy hands in your sanctuary because you've instructed us to, but also because you deserve our honor and our praise and our glory. Not one person deserves it, God, but you. Come on, can we speak his name, church? If you're comfortable, just begin to sing the name of Jesus out because there's power in the name of Jesus. When it leaves our lips, something changes. The atmosphere changes. Hearts transform. The atmosphere shifts. The things in our life, God, that have been coming against us and felt powerful over us begin to lose their power because we realize that it's you. You hold the power. We speak your name, Jesus, over our families. Over our kids. God, we speak your name over our schools, over our coworkers. We speak your name, God, over the people that are around us right here, right now. Jesus.

Jesus, we praise you. We worship you. Can we just give him thanks one more time, church? Come on. Give him what you got, amen? Amen. We're gonna prepare for communion. I'm gonna invite you to have a seat where you are, and if you're online at one of our campuses, make sure that you grab some bread and some juice so you can join us if you're able to. We were praying and thinking through this on Thursday of this week, and it's so amazing that, man, every time we come to the Lord's table or communion, we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross, and I love the fact that his word says one of the most popular scriptures in the Bible is that John 3, 16, right, that God gave his son for anyone, anyone, for the whole earth. He gave Christ, and Jesus went to the cross for anyone who believes and calls on his name, and that's for anyone, for all time, but I also love that for you and I, that work on the cross was personal. It was for me, and it was for you, and so this is a week that we get to celebrate moms. We get to celebrate our moms. We get to celebrate those around us

who we know are just doing an incredible job of being a mom, and I'm so grateful for all the mothers. One more time, can we just give them thanks? If you're a mom in the house or online, we are so grateful for you, but we also know that, man, this is, while some people are celebrating some people, this is a hard week for various reasons, and I love that Christ meets us right where we are in the celebration, and he meets us in the tragedy and maybe grief that we're walking through, maybe hardship, maybe there's hurt and pain, and so I would just love to pray a prayer over all of us, but especially our moms, various types of moms, so let's pray together. Father, we thank you. We thank you for the powerful name of Jesus that we get to proclaim, and I just, I am so grateful for our moms, biological moms who have delivered babies and have raised them and are raising them. God, we thank you for every single one of those. We thank you for the moms who have chosen to be a mom, God, who have adopted or have fostered. Thank you. that God you put that in their hearts and they've they've walked out scripture and chosen to bring somebody in as their kid. God we thank you for uh the new moms that are just brand new at this and just figuring stuff out and probably feeling overwhelmed. I pray for patience and I pray for endurance and we pray for wisdom. God but we want to lift up people who maybe today their desire is to be a mom and it's just not worked out. God those struggling with infertility. God who have

had this desire in their heart we just pray over them today that you will let your Holy Spirit bring peace. Where there's disappointment or where there's emptiness God that you would fill that gap. We pray for those today that are feeling just a disconnect. There's a relational break somewhere along the way. I just pray for those today God that you would let them draw comfort and being close to you. But you would you would mend that relationship. You would break bring that chasm together God and bring them close. Maybe what seems like an impossible situation you can do it. I pray for those Lord who have lost kids who are grieving today or maybe they've lost their mom and they're grieving today. We thank you God across the board that you connect with us in such a personal way. God you're present with us in such a personal way and we are grateful for that. To the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Church I'm gonna invite you to receive the elements of communion when you're ready. The bread and the juice and spend some time with the Lord this morning. Hey Pantano I'm Pastor Amy and I'm so glad you're here today. At Pantano we're all about real connection. Life is just better when we're doing it together. Finding hope, building each other up, and making a difference along the way. If you're here in person come say hi. Swing by next steps after service and our team will help you find your people and your place. Joining us online you belong here too. Head over to next steps online, fill out a connect card, and let's stay connected. And don't miss out on what's happening all throughout the week. Hit that follow button and join the Pantano community on social media for updates, encouragement, and more ways to stay connected. At Pantano our mission is loving people to Jesus and launching passionate difference makers. Your generosity makes that mission possible because of your giving people experience the love of Jesus in real tangible ways. Lives are changed and people are equipped and sent out to make a difference in their communities and around the world. If you feel led to give you can drop your gift in a giving box, give online through our website, or text give to 46356. Another way to live out our mission is by joining our generosity bag initiative. It is a new month which means new items are needed to bless our community. Be sure to grab a bag on your way out, fill it with the items listed inside, and return it to Pantano. Thank you for being a church that lives out this mission and makes a real difference in our communities. This summer is packed with fun for your kids and students. We've got something for every age from birth all the way through graduated seniors. Our kids summer camp Windshape is an amazing experience happening right here on campus and our students overnight camp is the highlight of the summer and something they won't want to miss.

miss. Find all the details and get signed up at the next steps page. Speaking of kids, there wouldn't be any kids without moms. This week we're celebrating all the moms and mother figures who love, lead, sacrifice, and show up every single day. Your care, strength, and encouragement make a lasting impact and we want to share a little message with you. To all the moms. Moms of children who are still at home or all grown up. Moms who've outlived a son or daughter. Or moms of babies they never got to hold. Moms who've raised kids all on their own or became a mom to someone who needed one. Moms of children who have wandered from God. Or the longing to be moms who are still waiting. God perfectly arranged each of you into the role you have today. His Word recognizes you as capable, strong, and praiseworthy. Everything you do makes our lives more beautiful. Happy Mother's Day. There's little we could do or say to properly say thank you for all you do. But we do have a small gift for you. Be sure to grab it as you exit today and stop by one of the photo booths for a picture as well. Thanks again for joining us. We are so glad you are here. Well hey there, Pantano. How are we? Well let me let me be like the 17th person to wish all you moms a very very happy Mother's Day. So thankful for you. There's a couple moms special in my life. One is my actual mom. She had to put up with this for a long time and she survived all of it. And she's an unbelievable mom. She's the best mom that a little boy could have asked for. And then I've got my wife who's an unbelievable mom to our girls who are not so little anymore. We now have big girls in our life. In fact last weekend we were in Toledo, Ohio. My oldest daughter graduated college last week which is crazy. I'm not sure I'm okay with you applauding that because you just applauded I'm old. That's what you just applauded. And so we were up there last week. Now I know some of you realize this was really funny because the message was on video last week and some

of you guys like no you were here. I saw you. I'm like no you didn't. I had a lady argue me. She's like you looked at me. I'm like no I didn't. Three minutes. We had an argument about whether or not I was standing here. And then a couple of you were mad that I wasn't here which I appreciate. That's so nice. Don't do that again okay. It's okay. It's okay. That's what when we gather we gather for the body of Christ to come together not for whoever's on a platform okay. So it doesn't matter where it is what it's at. And here's what you got to see. You got to see what Benson gets to see every single week. You got to see what Gospel Rescue gets to be a part of every week. You got to see what God Behind Bars sees every week. Which by the way so glad all of you're with us online. We've got Timothy from Germany with us plus all of our campuses. Welcome all of them in if you would. We're so glad you guys are with us as well. Well if you've been around we've been in this series called Battleship and I joked in my head this where I was like we should have called today Mothership. You know how funny that would have been? That's hilarious y'all. That's funny. That's what happens in my head at 3.30 in the morning right there. But I don't know if you remember these like I grew up as obviously a little boy and so I had a lot of these little plastic army guys. You remember these? Now if you're a mom of boys you've lost Jesus in the middle of the night when you've stepped on one of these. This in Lagos right? And I used to set these up like I mean it was full bore like we're having a war in the living room and I would hide them behind things and I would we got to put this guy back here. This guy's a paratrooper. He didn't make it. His chute didn't open. You know what I'm saying? Like oh no. And here's what's great about it like you would set them up you would strategize like they all have their little weapons and and you would give them assignments and then everything's ready to go. Now here's what never happened I never went okay you're set up go. Oh see and then the the bomb squad showed up. Did you hear that? The bomb was about to go off.

It just. Like literally nothing happens. Like nothing happens. I've never, it's not Toy Story. We leave the room and they all fight. Like nothing happens in this moment. Everything was ready, but the only thing that separated imagination from real action is actually one little word. Somebody had to say go. Because being prepared means nothing if you never deploy. All these little plastic guys, they're all prepared. They all got weird weapons. There's one guy in here that he's just, he's taking a nap. But if I'm honest with myself, and maybe if you're honest too, I've spent some of my life living more like a plastic soldier with my faith than I have actually deployed. Like I was set up. I had all the tools. I just never deployed. You can have the best training in the world. You can have the best equipment. You can have the clearest strategy, but if you never leave the base, you never accomplish the mission.

And I think this is where many Christians live. Like we're informed. We're probably more informed than we've ever been. We have more knowledge than we've ever had. We're inspired, man. Anybody like to be inspired? Show of hands. It'd be weird if you're like, nah, I'm good. I like inspiration. I like a good kick in the face and do nothing with it, right? Like there's nothing wrong with inspiration, but we have a lot of inspiration. Or we're equipped. We have a lot of equipping. We know scripture, man. I know people that know scripture. They can quote it like nobody's business. We have podcasts. Anybody listen to podcasts? I listen to like 40 of them a week. I don't know why I listen to so many podcasts. I only remember half of them. We read books. We follow Christian accounts. We know all the right words. We know all the right songs. We know when to do this in the middle of every song. You know when it builds and the bridge hits.

We know all the right answers. We're really good Christians. I remember growing up. There's this weird Christian subculture that started back in like the 80s and 90s. Do some of you remember this? Let me refresh your memory. Like Christian bookstores became a really big thing. And then in Christian bookstores, we had our own chocolates. Heavenly chocolates. Remember that weird phenomenon? Then you could buy your own Christian Tic Tacs. They were called heavenly mints or testaments. I wish I was making that up. Then we had our own Christian radio stations. And then we get together as Christians, and here's what I realized. You could live in an entire culture and only encounter Christians and never encounter people that needed Jesus. Because you could shop at your Christian bookstore. You could eat your Christian chocolates. You could have Christian fresh breath. Only listen to Christian radio. Only go to Christian businesses. Only hang out with your Christian friends. And we've missed the mark on what Jesus has called us to be. And here's what I know. Knowledge without movement creates stagnation.

Let me say it again. Like knowledge without movement. We can know all these things that Scripture says, but if we do nothing with them, we become stagnant. And somewhere along the way, many followers of Jesus, myself included at some points, have confused readiness with obedience. Readiness with obedience. We think because we know enough, then we're doing enough. But the church was never designed to just simply gather. We're called to gather, but we're not called just to gather. That's not why we exist. The church was designed actually to gather and then to scatter, to go. That's why we gather, so we can go. And today, I wanna challenge us with this truth. It's not enough just to be ready. It's not enough just to be ready. We must be deployed. Because we don't exist to sit in church. We exist to be the church. That's what we exist to be. Like I know, like moms are the best soldiers. Can I just be honest? Because you have to not only get yourself ready, you gotta get everybody else ready. You gotta get everybody out the door. And so you know how to deploy a whole group full of people, don't you, moms? Like it's like herding cats in some of your houses, I know.

That's because some of you have like 15 children. By the way, that's a whole nother series. We'll talk about what causes that later, okay? But let's be honest. Most Christians don't struggle with believing Jesus is real. I don't know many people that struggle with the realness. Jesus. Most Christians don't struggle with attending occasionally. By the way, you know how often the average committed Christian goes to church? 1.4 times a month. That means if you go to church 16 times a year, you're considered committed. I would argue you should be committed if you only go to church 16 times a year. Most Christians don't even struggle with agreeing that the mission of what we do matters. We usually don't split hairs over that. Where we struggle is actually stepping into the mission that God has called us to. We know we should talk about our faith. We know we should live missionally. We know we should make disciples. But if we're honest, most of us, we live spiritually parked. We're like these little plastic soldiers. We've been set up. We've been given all the right tools, but we never go. We stay in safe places. We stay around people who already think like us. We stay in routines that require, honestly, really very little risk. Part of that makes sense, right? If you just look at it culturally, it kind of makes sense because culture today is complicated. Can we all just agree with that? Culture is complicated. People are skeptical. Faith conversations can feel awkward. Cancel culture makes people afraid to speak. We live in a culture that if you speak something that you believe, man, you could have your whole world blown up. We live in a world where people are scared to offend, scared to say the wrong thing, scared to be misunderstood. So what do we do? Well, usually what we do is we stay silent. We stay comfortable. We stay in church instead of the church. But the problem is this. If Christians stay silent, culture gets louder. If Christians stay silent, culture gets louder. If the church stays parked ... By the way, Jesus says we are the light that he's putting into the world. If we're to be light, if you put all the light in one room, guess what happens to the rest of the world? Darkness gets really, really loud. And deep down, I think many of us feel this tension. It's that many of us, we know there's more. And we know we weren't saved to simply attend services. Like gathering is a part of what

we do because this is where we build each other up. We spur each other on. We send each other out. Like we come in here after a week of battle and we get encouraged. We get edified. And sometimes we need to be given some new orders so we know what we go out and do. But we know that there's a purpose bigger than ourselves. We know God wants to use us. So the question is whether we're ready. The question is honestly not even that. The question is are we willing to go? Are we willing to go? So let's go to Scripture. Matthew chapter 28. If you've got Bibles, go ahead, take them out. Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. There's two testaments. Old Testament, New Testament. If you go to the New Testament, the book of Matthew, chapter 28, the very last chapter in that book. And here's what it says. Jesus came and told his disciples. So Jesus talking. That's probably in red letters in some of your Bibles. I've been given all authority, where? Heaven and on earth. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure this, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Now probably in some of your Bibles at the top, it says the Great Commission. It's a Great Commission. So these are some of the final recorded words Jesus gives before ascending into heaven. Now I don't know if you know this, but final words kind of matter. Because final words usually reveal what matters most. Notice what Jesus doesn't say for his last words. He doesn't say, hey guys, here's what I want you to do. I want all of you to gather in the little holy huddles and don't ever go talk to anybody else about this. No, he doesn't say that. He doesn't say to his disciples, hey, here's what I want you to do. I want you to build bigger gatherings where only Christians hang out. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, stay together and make sure you remain comfortable. He's like, make sure this upper room's got a lot of padding, guys. Why don't you put some plants in here, spruce the place up a little bit. He doesn't tell them to create this Christian bubble to avoid the world. Instead, he gives them a mission and the command is simple, but it's really powerful. It's one little word, go. Go. He says, I'm calling you to go. And when we read that word, like we here go, we're like, oh, I guess I got to go somewhere. But that word matters more than just go somewhere. The Greek structure of this word in the original language, here's what it implies. It implies It actually means this, not just go, it means as you are going. As you are going.

It's active. That it implies that you're going somewhere and as you are going to that somewhere, in other words it says Christianity was never intended to be confined to a building. If the only time that you're a Christian is when you're here, you're not a Christian. I've seen some of you in traffic. Be more like Jesus, okay? Some of y'all know who I'm talking about too. You saw him in the parking lot at Easter. I know all about it. Jesus didn't say hole up. And this word as you were going, it was designed, this word was designed, like it was designed to travel through ordinary people into ordinary places. So as you are going, as you are going to work, as you are going to school, as you are going to the coffee shop, as you are going to buy your groceries, as you're walking down the aisle in Walmart, as you are wherever God is going to put you, as you're at your kid's sporting event, where there's a lot of you that need Jesus at those, I've been to those too. There are four. You don't have to scream that loud, okay? The amoeba that's running down the field will be just fine, all right? But as you are going into these places,

it's like as you move through life, we are ordinary people going into ordinary places to help people find an extraordinary God. See, Jesus is saying this. Your faith is not meant to stay here. Your faith is meant to move, and they're not supposed to just do it in one spot. They're supposed to do it while they're going. What are you supposed to do? Make disciples. We're called to make disciples, not converts. We're called to make disciples, not attendees, not church consumers. Like some of y'all are church junkies. Like you get this hit as often as you can get it, but you never do anything with it. You're all about filling yourself, but you never spill out into anybody else. See, disciples, you're like, what's a disciple? Let's define a disciple. A disciple is someone who follows Jesus, becomes like Jesus, and helps others follow Jesus. You know how simple that little definition is? Let me give it to you again. I know it's not on the screen. I didn't put it there. A disciple is someone who follows Jesus. Okay, if you follow Jesus, raise your hand. Okay, good, a lot of followers of Jesus in here. If you're a follower of Jesus, then you become like Jesus.

How many of you are working to become like Jesus? I'm not gonna say you've fulfilled it, because then you'd be Jesus. Here's the one where we usually get stuck. I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but help others follow Jesus. See, this is the one where a lot of us get stuck. That means the mission is not simply getting people into church. The mission is helping people encounter Jesus and become transformed. That's the goal. See, this is important, because modern-day Christianity often confuses attendance with discipleship. Just because you show up to church, can I just tell you, does not make you a disciple. No more than if I go to a Cowboys football game, does not make me a Dallas Cowboy, which I think they should draft me, because maybe we have a shot. I'm just saying, what else do they have to lose? Other than 17 more games this season, right? But could you imagine, I go to the stadium, I put on the jersey, I can even get it customized with my name on it, and I'm sitting up in the nosebleed at Cowboys Stadium, and then I come out, and you're like, how was the game? I'm like, man, it was rough today. We had a rough one. What's we?

I don't play for Dallas Cowboys, but I was in the stadium with my jersey on. I'm a part of the team. No, I'm not. See, some of y'all show up to church with your jersey on, and you talk about, man, how much, you're like Jesus. The only time you're like Jesus is for like the 45 minutes that you're in here. You're like, but isn't the service an hour and five? Yeah, but for only 45 minutes, are you like Jesus? See, sometimes we think we're disciples, and we're not. See, transformation is costly. Attendance is easy. Transformation is costly. Jesus never said, go build audiences. He said, go build disciples. And I want you to notice something really practical. Jesus gives this command to ordinary people, not professionals, not seminary graduates, not pastors. You know who he gives it to? Fishermen, tax collectors, former doubters, like people that the disciples would have seen as just ordinary people. You know why? Because the disciples were ordinary people. That means this command applies to all of us, not just a few of us. And before Jesus tells them what to do, he reminds them who has the authority.

Go back to verse 18. He says, all authority. Not some of the authority, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to who? Me, he's talking about himself, Jesus. You know what's great about that? You know why that matters? Because if Jesus has authority, we get to walk in confidence. It's not our authority, it's his authority. So many Christians don't share their faith because they feel inadequate. Like maybe you've said these before or heard someone, they say things like, I just don't know enough. Or how about this? What if they ask a question I can't answer? I love that one, by the way. You know what you say if somebody asks you a question about faith you can't answer? You go, I don't know. And then you know what you say after that? Let's figure it out together. That's the easy way to answer the question. I love when people are like, I don't know enough. Great, learn something. Or what if I say it wrong? I don't know how you can say hope wrong. I don't know how you can say redemption wrong. But Jesus never said, go because you're perfect. He said, go because I have authority. The confidence of the mission does not come from us,

it comes from him. You don't have to worry about being confident, he's got it. And then Jesus says something. He says, to baptize and teach. Like this is so practical. Jesus gives like this practical moment. And here's what you need to say like, I love seeing people get baptized. Not just because it's a cool moment, but because I know what it represents. Like if you go in our lobby here at our Houghton campus, or if you go to our Benson campus, they don't have the whole word spelled out, they just have the number one, which we probably should have done here because those letters are a lot bigger than we anticipated when they showed up. But in those letters and in that number at our campuses, there's almost 4,000 names in those displays from the last four years of people that have been baptized. And it's not because look how many people have been baptized, it's like look how many people are being transformed by Jesus. So when he says baptize, baptize is to help people publicly identify with Jesus. That's what we're doing when we baptize people. They're publicly identifying with Jesus. And then he says teach. Baptize and teach. So baptize to help people identify with Jesus

and then teach them what it means to grow in Jesus. That's why I love Rooted. How many of you have been through our Rooted experience? Anybody been through a Rooted experience? Oh good, that's a lot of you. If you're not raising your hand, you should be in Rooted. How many of you have heard about Rooted here at Payton? Anybody heard about it? Great. Those of you that are not raising your hand, you're like what the heck is Rooted? Do we even have things with roots in this desert? Yeah, your faith, that's what we're trying to put Roots down. Rooted is a 10 week experience where we teach you what it looks like to eat, breathe, sleep Jesus in your life, how to live it out, how to live this very thing out. How do you go and make disciples? Man, there's been thousands of people gone through Rooted the last couple years. In fact, at our Benson campus just I think like a week ago, they had their first Rooted celebration. I think they had 13 baptisms at their Rooted celebration at our Benson campus. It was an unbelievable experience down there. See, teaching means helping people grow. This is not about a one time conversion. This is about walking with people. It's about helping people take next steps,

showing people what Jesus looks like. And here's the key. Is we cannot disciple people we never engage. Don't miss that. We can't disciple people that we never engage. We can't influence people we never interact with. We can't change culture by hiding from it. If you've been around here very long, I ask this question a lot. How many of you in your life have at least one person you know far from God? Show of hands. Oh, good, look at y'all. If you don't, by the way, go make some new friends. See, if you know one person that's far from God, can I challenge you with something? Don't be nearly as concerned with huddling up with all your Christian friends and talking about all your other Christian friends and calling it prayer. Some of you guys will get that at lunch today. That's funny. What if you got together with your one far from God and helped them find transformation? See, that's what we're called to. And then Jesus ends with one of the greatest promises in scripture. I love it. Verse 20 says, I am with you always. Not sometimes, not a few times.

I'm with you always. This matters because mission can feel intimidating, can it? You might think, well, I don't know how. I'm not good at this. I'm afraid. But Jesus reminds us no matter how many people walk out, he's never gonna leave us alone. The mission is not carried by our strength. It's carried by his presence. You ever had one of those moments where you're talking to somebody and you get done and you're like, how is that so brilliant? I'm not that brilliant. That happens to me every week on this stage. I walk off, I'm like, where'd that come from? I know it wasn't me. I'm an idiot. The Holy Spirit's like, I got you, idiot. I'll take care of it for you. I got you. You're like, the Holy Spirit calls you an idiot? Probably, probably should. He says, I'm with you always. Listen to Acts chapter one, verse eight. It gives us more clarity. It says, but you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You'll be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere. Jerusalem, throughout Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. He's literally like, I'm gonna gather you all up

and I'm gonna scatter you everywhere. Jesus tells his disciples, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Notice the order, power comes before mission. Power comes before mission. God never asked us to do something without empowering us to do it. This is important because some of us think we need more confidence. You know what we actually need? More dependence. It's not confidence that you need. You need dependence on God. That's what each and every one of us need. The Holy Spirit gives courage. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom. The Holy Spirit gives boldness. Here's what I love about the early church. The early church didn't change the world because they were smarter. They changed the world because they were surrendered. See, some of y'all want knowledge. You're like, listen, let me absorb. If that worked, I would have been a genius. We're probably the smartest people in the history of the world, just informationally. We're the least surrendered when it comes to our faith. See, the early church should teach us something. It's not about being smarter. It's about being more surrendered to God.

Acts 4 tells us that the disciples, I love this, they were ordinary men, that's what it says, that it was evident they'd been with Jesus. That's how they're described. Now, that sounds like a backhanded compliment a little bit, doesn't it? Oh, you guys are just a bunch of uneducated people, but it's very evident you've been with Jesus. Actually, that's how we ought to put our litmus on people. Like when we hire people, I remember when I first got into ministry and I was looking at ministry jobs coming out of college and it was like, you need to have five years experience. I'm like, well, don't have that. And we need you to have at least a master's degree in theology. I was like, don't have that. And I was like, I can't apply for any of these jobs. Jesus couldn't work at any of these churches. No. Some of you guys are doing the math. You're like, if you carry the one. No, no, he couldn't. You know what I do now when we look at hiring people? I don't start with where they got their degree. I don't start with how many years experience. I'm like, have they been with Jesus? Is it evident that Jesus is in their life? Is it evident that they're producing the fruit of Jesus? Let's start there.

I will take ordinary people that it's evident they've been with Jesus over people with PhDs and doctors and masters in theology, that it's obvious that they wouldn't know Jesus if he walked in the room. You see, we get it backwards so often. We make this thing so complicated. I love that Jesus recognizes that they've been with him. That's what changes people, not perfection. Presence. Like, look at Isaiah 6. Hey, if you go back to the Old Testament, I love this picture. Isaiah says, then I heard the Lord asking, whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us? I love Isaiah. He's like, I'll go. Here I am, send me. I picture him in the back like, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. Remember when you were a kid and you'd do that in the back of the room? Why do we do that? That's so weird. Isaiah encounters God. He has this encounter with the God of humanity, and then he sees God's holiness, and then he sees his own brokenness. He becomes very aware of his own brokenness. How many of you are aware of your own brokenness?

Anybody very aware? If you're not raising your hand, man, you're such a liar. You're so broken. Go look in the mirror. You'll find it. He becomes very aware of his brokenness, and then God asks, who can I send? Who will go? And Isaiah's response is simple. Me. Send me. Notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, could you send someone more qualified? Could you send someone who's more outgoing? I mean, seriously, introverts can't go change the world, right? Wrong. Send someone that has more education. No, he simply says, I'll go. Notice what he doesn't do. He doesn't even ask where he's going. He's like, I'll go. Wherever you send me, I'll go. See, this is where the mission becomes practical, because deployment always begins with availability. Deployment always begins with availability. God is not looking for perfect people. He's looking for willing people. He's looking for willing people.

And in today's culture, willingness matters more than ever, because people are lonely. People are anxious. People are searching. You know, I've noticed people are spiritually exhausted. They're drowning in information, but they're starving for hope. Like literally, these stupid little devices we carry, we've got more information and more social media at our disposal than any time in history and we're the loneliest generations that have ever existed. People need people. And the answer is not just better arguments. By the way, I've not ever argued anybody into Jesus. The answer is an embodied faith, that they see us live it out. See people are searching and they don't even know where to look. See if people are searching and don't know where to look, we know where to take them. People need Jesus through people. They need to see peace in an anxious world. They need to know kindness in angry environments. They need to see hope in hopeless places and the only way that happens is when believers stop sitting and start going. When we get off the cruise ship and we get on the battleship, or for today the mothership, I'll give it back to you, okay? See here's what I think many Christians miss. Missions is not always overseas. Like I grew up in a church culture, when we talked about missions, you knew what that meant. We were talking about Africa. We were talking about Europe. We were talking about some country you couldn't pronounce, right?

Remember that? If you grew up in church, you know what I'm talking about. The problem was we were never told that missions was anything else. Missions honestly is often across the street. Missions for you may be across the office. Your battlefield is not a foreign country, it's actually the one you live in. It might be your office. It might be your gym. It might be your school. Maybe it's your kid's sports team. Maybe it's your neighborhood. I think about when we were moving here. There was literally in the entire city of Tucson, there were 900 houses on the market when we were looking. And you're like, that's a lot of houses. No, it's not. I looked at 35 of them, 35. And I'd call and go, hey, let's make an offer. And they're like, oh, it just sold. I'm like, how? It just went on the market like five seconds ago. Oh, put an offer in on this? Nope, it already sold. It's under contract. Finally, the one we looked at, like it popped up on Zillow. And I saw it, I was like, make an offer right now. He's like, you've not seen it. He's like, I saw a picture, make an offer. And I'd been praying, like my wife and I, we'd been praying like, God, put us somewhere where we can have like a seismic shift in our neighborhood.

And can I tell you, God put us in that neighborhood for a reason. Like we started having encounters with our neighbors and we started praying for our neighbors and we're watching God do stuff in the lives of our neighbors. Here's what I know, that is my mission field, is the neighborhood in which I live. It may be your office, it may be your neighborhood, but here's what I know, the people you're around are not accidental. God strategically placed you there for a reason. In the great theologian Sesame Street, the people that you meet when you're walking down the street each day. And if you sing it with Kermit's voice, it's even better. See this means your workplace is not just a paycheck. It's a mission field. Your neighborhood is not just where you live, it's where you're assigned. Your school is not just a place to learn. It's a battlefield for influence. See this changes how we live because we stop asking how do I escape culture and we start asking how do I bring Jesus into the culture. This is why the church doesn't stop when the service ends. The church begins when we leave. Like this is just a building. When you show up, it's the church. The church begins when we go out in the streets, which leads to this thought, we don't gather to stay, we gather to go. We don't gather to stay, we gather to go. I heard this this week, we measure success outside the walls, not inside the walls. What happens in here does not deem the success of the kingdom. What we do out there is what deems the success of the kingdom. So what does this mean for you? Well I think it means your faith has a destination. It means you're not just called to attend, you're called to deploy.

And maybe the biggest question today is this, is where's your battlefield? Because all of us have one. Maybe it's your home. Maybe you have a spouse that feels distant and you're trying to bring them to Jesus. Maybe you're trying to parent kids in a culture that's pulling them away. Like maybe your battlefield is your workplace, you're surrounded by negativity, you're like I don't even like those people, well you better start loving them. They desperately need hope. Maybe your battlefield is your school, you're surrounded by pressure and identity confusion and loneliness and comparison. By the way, can I just brag on our students a little bit? There was a worship night that a bunch of our students were a part of that they put together. I came out in high school this past week on Friday night and hundreds of kids showed up. And not only did hundreds of their friends show up, they baptized 33 of their friends and over a hundred of them gave their life to Jesus. Like unbelievable. Can I just tell you, I got a lot of hope in this generation because they're deploying right where they are. They're doing what God has called them to. Maybe your battlefield is a friend group. Maybe it's your social media influence, which that's a funny thing to say, isn't it? See, somewhere God has positioned you and he didn't place you there by accident. You've been deployed. You've been sent.

And here's what I want to challenge you with. Stop waiting to feel ready. Stop waiting to feel ready. Ready people stay parked, deployed people move. Deployed people move. You don't need a theology degree to tell someone your story. You don't. You don't need all the answers to invite someone to a gathering of the church. You don't need perfection to represent Jesus. You know what you need? Willingness. And some of you today need to stop praying, God use me someday. And you know what you need to start praying? God, use me today. God, when I walk out these doors, use me. Wherever I go to lunch today, use me. You're like, we're going home. Use me. Could you imagine what would happen if every single person in our church embraces, not just pastors and staff, everyone. Imagine if every believer walked into their workplace this week asking this question, who can I encourage? Who can I encourage? Imagine if every parent saw their home as a mission field. Imagine if every student saw their campus as a battlefield. Imagine if every person here invited one person

into the hope of the gathering of Jesus' people. What if you shared one story? Started one conversation. Prayed for one friend. You know what happens? A city changes. A region changes. You hear us talk about our ones a lot. If you don't know what that means, we live in the 12th largest unchurched city in America. 850,000 people out of a million people in our area do not know Jesus at all. So it's really easy to find one person far from God. They're probably either in your house or across the street from it. And we tell people, be responsible for one person. To love them the way Jesus has loved you. Because the church was never supposed to be just inside buildings. The church was also meant to move. We're not a cruise ship, we're a battleship. We're not called to comfort, we're called to combat. And combat means movement, it means deployment, it means mission, because we don't gather to stay, we gather to go. This whole series is how do we move you towards one person? So how do you practically live this out this week? I want you to start here. Identify your battlefield this week. Just identify it.

I don't know, maybe it's your home, your workplace, your school, your neighborhood, wherever it is. Then I want you to take one step. Maybe your one step is invite someone to this gathering. Maybe it's to share your faith story with one person. Maybe it's pray intentionally for someone far from God. Move from ready to deployed. Only you can identify. See, we don't exist simply to gather crowds. We gather crowds to deploy people. And Jesus didn't say sit and wait, he said go. You're called to be sent, not just saved. You've been commissioned. The world doesn't need more Christians that safely sit inside church buildings. The world needs Christians that are believers carrying hope into darkness. That's what the world needs. So as we wrap this up, what if I give it to you this way, that we're gonna be ready, we're gonna aim, and then we're gonna fire into the world? Because the mission is too important to stay docked. We're not trying to get you to a destination one day at a all-inclusive island. We're trying to deploy you into the mission of Jesus because the Great Commission says go and make, not sit and take. Now we've gotten really good in the American church of sitting and consuming church. Sitting and consuming Jesus.

Jesus is not a product to be consumed. He's a savior to be consumed by. Let me implore us, let us not sit and get spiritually fat and never exercise our faith. Let's go and make disciples. And watch this. God transform our cities, our families, our schools, our workplaces, that we would be deployed. So I'm gonna ask you if you would stand where you are, if you don't mind, you might just get on your feet. I'm gonna put the Plastic Army back in their little Plastic Army bag. Oh, the paratrooper came back to life. And then here's what I wanna do, I wanna pray with you. I know, I say this a lot, but I'm gonna ask you, don't bolt for the doors. Because these songs we sing are not just songs we sing, they are battle cries that help us get ready for deployment. So make this your battle cry, that we would be ready to be deployed into the world around us this week. Let's pray, Father, thank you for being a God who loves us, not just to save us, but then to use us to help others be saved. God, that we wouldn't just gather for the purpose of gathering, but we would gather to be built up, to be edified, to be scattered across the world. God, that you would move us into neighborhoods, you would move us into our businesses, you would move us into our schools

or the places where we play or where we hang out. God, that people would see you through us. God, thanks for giving us the mission. Thanks for deploying us towards you. Thanks for being with us so we don't have to rely on our own strength, but on yours. So God, we give you our lives today, we give you our neighborhoods, we give you our homes, we give you our workplaces, our schools, our third spaces, our hearts, our minds, our souls. God, transform us today as we help others find transformation too. God, we love you. It's in the powerful name of Jesus we pray all these things. All God's people said, amen. Love you, church. Hey, hey. Hey. Hey, hey. Hey, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.

Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Come on church, let's sing it together. For whatever you wanna do. Your presence is an open door. We want you Lord, like never before. Your presence is an open door. Your presence is an open door. So come now Lord, like never before. In every season, Your grace has been enough. And I'm believing that the best is yet to come. The cross before me, my hope on things above. And in You Jesus, the best is yet to come. Your presence is an open door. We want you Lord, like never before. We want you Lord, like never before. Your presence is an open door. So come now Lord, like never before. Jesus have Your way. Jesus have Your way. ♪ Oh, I know a breakthrough is coming ♪ ♪ By faith I see a miracle ♪

♪ My God, He made me a promise and it won't stop now ♪ Sing it again. ♪ I know a breakthrough is coming ♪ ♪ By faith I see a miracle ♪ ♪ My God, He made me a promise and it won't stop now ♪ ♪ Oh, I know a breakthrough is coming ♪ ♪ By faith I see a miracle ♪ ♪ My God, He made me a promise and it won't stop now. ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, ooh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh . ♪ Oh, ah, amplified. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Amen. One more time we declare to our God. Come on, sing the church. ♪ Your presence is an open door. ♪ ♪ We want You, Lord, like never before. ♪ One more time. ♪ Your presence is an open door. ♪ ♪ So come now, Lord, like never before. ♪ God, that is our prayer.

God, we ask that You would move like never before. God, that You would open ways where there seemed to be no way, God. That You would open hearts that seem to be closed, God. Let us be Your love. Let us be Your light. Let us be Your joy and Your hope in this world. In the name of Jesus, we pray. And everybody said, amen. Amen. Let's give God praise one more time. Come on. Amen. Church, we are so glad that You're here today. Hey, if you need prayer, stop by your prayer room. If you wanna get connected, Next Steps Room is out there as well or online. Happy Mother's Day. We'll see you next time. ♪ What have you done that they haven't seen before? ♪ ♪ We wonder as we wait. ♪ ♪ Think as we remember what have Your does. ♪ ♪ And all our joys of life are measured in Your love. always. All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! All our joy! Brother Anthony and Mother Gabriela,