Can You See It? - JJ Vasquez

A local church is putting its faith into action. If it wasn't for the pandemic, we wouldn't be in here. Highlife Fronten, it's closing its doors after nearly 50 years. We dared greatly. It happened to be as God's part of it. Over 10,000 people have made a decision to follow Jesus Christ and under 10 years. We have no idea what we're doing. What has been beautiful has been the dependency on God through it all. Right. But the logistics of it was getting people together. Eddie and Alyssa, Pera is getting together in our kitchen. We're making a website. Building websites. It was kind of delusional. We're building websites that we have no idea what we're doing. But you're building websites at like 4 in the morning. Yeah, with James. James is like, "Bro, I'm going to go to bed." And I'm like, "Bro, don't worry, I'm going to finish this." And like, we fit at wall, in this day. At 4 AM, I look back, I'm like, "How did we think we could do this?" I think we should go in Star Wars marathons, will we? Yeah. It was exciting. It wasn't like stressful or like... It was fun. It was so fun. The only reason it's possible, obviously, we could worry about it. But the people that got us sent along the way, it was an adventure. You know, I would never forget, driving up from Miami on Saturday, sleep at Passion J.J.'s office. And then on Sunday morning, be one of the first there at the school grounds,

move the truck out of the back of the school, help unload, set up everything, have service, pack everything up, put the truck in the back of the school, and then drive back home in Miami. When we did, like, intro socials, and I remember you showing, like, pictures and video of what it would look like. But these are, like, images he got online, like, this hasn't happened yet. And he's like, "Yeah, and it's going to be like this." Like, clip art stuff. And then, like, the people are like, "Yeah!" Just, like, believing in it, I'm like, "This is actually happening." I wasn't ready. I thought I wasn't ready to be part of something again. Like, I literally was sending friends over to interest meetings, and, like, so they could suss it out for me. The first time I ever met J.J. or Pastor Liz, it was in Winter Park community. There was this one moment where he looks at everybody in the room, and it's not a lot of people. And he goes, "If you're in this room, you're a part of our launch team." At that minute, I was like, "Man, I really wish I went to the interest meeting. I don't know." What really, like, stuck out to me that day was just, "Your dream plus our dream equals God's dream." And I just remember being like, "I have so many dreams." When he said the mission statement, and he said, "I just want a place where Jesus could be accessible to anyone." I was like, "Wow." After us just discussing and hearing their hearts, and hearing their mission of making Jesus accessible to anyone, we finally were like, "Yes, let's do this. Let's take this leap of faith,

and let's help launch Journey Church." Journey was a place where I felt like I was welcomed, and the mission was so beautiful. It's like, "Make Jesus accessible to anyone," and I was like, "I'm an anyone." I kept thinking about what my future could look like. This is where I could meet my husband. This is where I could start a family, where my kids could go to church one day. And so I saw the future of what it would look like to be planted somewhere. We did not know what we were doing. So our whole first practice, we didn't get to practice audio. First time really doing it was on launch Sunday. I remember we had a lot of friends show up, our family show up. It was definitely exciting. Also scary, the thought that it was like, "Oh, we have been for months planning this day, but we got to do it all again in seven days." That part was like, "It's like seven months to get here, and now we got to do the thing that took seven months again in seven days." Then go to the room and get for the rest of our lives. Every seven days, Sunday is coming. I think it's more than just the youth of it. It was just like, "This is going to be something that's here forever." When you're building something that's going to outlive you, and in fact, you turn and you're just like, "Why wouldn't I?" But I remember being backstage and like crying. Like, I'm like, "I've got to get it together because I'm about to do highlights." And I was standing in the backstage and went to park high school, and I felt like the Lord impressed on my heart. Like, this thing is going to grow.

Like, get ready. And I did highlights for a couple of weeks. And I remember every time I stepped out, like every Sunday, the roles we're filling back in more and more. my head and I'm like guys we're growing, there's been more people. I think in the years 2018, 2019, there was definitely a momentum that was happening. I think Journey was doing a lot of things as a church that I personally hadn't seen in my years growing up in church and that momentum was actually like we're about it. Like we do what we say we're gonna do. Numerical growth wasn't necessarily our goal, wasn't our target. Healthy things grow and so we want to be healthy. When I think about the momentum of Journey Church, I think about the time that we landed on the paper on Orlando Sentinel. I still have the article hung up here and I've got the article in my office. It ended up on the front page, wild. It ended up being a piece about how Journey Church is defying all statistics in what we see across America back then in 2019 and it was just really special to know that we were all just a small part of something so much bigger that God was doing. She was just so moved. She joined the church. I think the thing that was so special was just the morale within the teams were making an impact. The team was the year we became the 10th fastest growing church in the United States just in time for the pandemic. March 11th, 2020, I think the whole world remembers that day. Just because the rest of the world had stopped didn't mean that God's church had to. I got a whiteboard and a marker and I wrote making Jesus accessible to anyone and I wrote no God, break the cycle, discover purpose, make a difference. I said these are the four things that we do as a church. How do we do these four and not gather?

I think that the biggest takeaway is stick to your values and that's what we did. Our mission has always stayed the same so like we knew it was going to make Jesus accessible but how we do that has definitely changed. If it didn't happen like you imagined it, it's because it's better than you can imagine. At 2020, we cast a vision that we were going to launch an in-person campus. But then 2020 happened and you couldn't meet in person so that wasn't an option. The dream didn't die, the timeline changed and so we had received a word from God to launch that campus in that particular side of town and so we knew it was going to happen eventually. But there's something about his timing that's genuinely like you can't explain it in the moment and you only get some kind of insight with hindsight and go like okay, I see what you did there, God. He used it to help us launch a campus but it wasn't the campus that we thought. We were launching. We had bought everything we needed to walk into the doors and God was like yeah, you're going to use it just in a different way. And we had to shift to like, because we weren't online before, we had to shift to now we got to be online. And we had all of the equipment. The answer was right in front of us rather than launching another physical campus, we're going to launch an online campus because that's the opportunity that God put in front of us. We first toured this building after a journey church ended up in the front page of the Orlando Sentinel and it was somebody who was asking us if we were considering it because he thought that our church was a lot bigger than it actually was. And so they were like yeah, I can fit so many people and there's so much square footage and all this stuff. Do you guys, is that, is this big enough for your church and in our heads we're kind of like communicating with our eyes, process JJ and I and we're like too big, like dude this is way bigger than what we need right now. We didn't say any of that a lot, we were just kind of looking at each other and past

JJ like I think we can fit in here and then we put it in offer. You know when somebody's like close to what you're asking for you negotiate and then someone sends in something so low you're like I'm not even this size and serious. That's what happened. The years came by the pandemic happened and I'm like man I've been, I've been nobody's used that right now and I don't think anybody, I don't know anybody who could use that right now. And them and what we paid and rent was what I wrote down when they first toured. It was a three year lease with a three year option but it was really a six month lease because after six months any month after that they had the right to kick us out. We knew in our contract that he would have to give us six months heads up but that could have happened any month. I always feel like the rug could be pulled out for me any time, like I never felt secure. - It felt like a battle. - The negotiation took a long time. - There was a moment where it was like really dire, where it was like, he's like, I don't know that we'll ever own this building. - It's not like running a race where they'll finish like. - It was a lot of, okay, he's never gonna be open to this. Okay, he's kind of open to it. Buying this building has been on my prayer list for four, five years. And it was something special to like, genuinely be in the room to like help sign the papers. Like I cannot believe that God has allowed me to go on this ride. - We literally bought a property that was never for sale. - Yeah. - And then there was this moment where I was like,

if we had signed this when we wanted it, it would have cost us twice as much if God didn't delay it. What I thought was delay was actually designed. Like it was the only way for us to have it in here was to go still, like I'm God still. - Yeah, so whenever you think that God's delaying this, no, this is God's time, it's the same one. - Man, I know that God like still answers prayers, even if I've prayed them for years. - Now looking back, I'm like, wow, I feel like God exceeded our expectations. - Seeing the thing that I dreamed about happened, like my family's here, like I get to come to church with my husband, my children, go to journey kids. - Journey Church has changed my life and my family's life. I never thought that my family would be able to be in one church. - To see this church transform our lives, to see it transform our families, to see now our sons getting to grow within the church and seeing how much the church loves on them has been seen. - I have a dream for my family. I have a dream for the marriage I want. I have a dream for the relationships with my friends and my family that I want. I have a dream for what I give back and that's not something that I can do alone. That's something that can only do in partnership. - I just see people on fire for Jesus,

like spreading in every city. The future for my family is super clear to me too, is that like, wow, this is gonna be a place for my kids and now I can see it. - And yes, these 10 years have been amazing, but I know that God has so much more to store for the future. You know, you're still part of the beginning. We haven't even renovated this building. We haven't even renovated the third floor. We're not done yet. This really is the beginning of what God is going to do through central Florida and even beyond. - 10 years ago, we said yes to something we couldn't fully see. A church where Jesus would be accessible to anyone. We didn't know what God would do with that, yes. - But God knew he saw the families that would be restored, the poor cared for, the marriages saved, the missionary sent, and the thousands of baptisms and lives. It's obvious to see now that God's hand has been with us the whole time, but it's just the beginning. - That's right. As our church steps into a decade of ministry, we're grateful for all who sacrificed 10 years ago to build what we're standing in now. Then, at the same time, we have to ask ourselves, what are we doing today that we'll be standing generations from now? What decisions are we making that will leave a lasting impact on Orlando and all who come after us? - 10 years later, we're overwhelmed by God's goodness.

Journey Church is now in three locations, in an online campus and even in prisons. Church is happening in abandoned event centers and rent to schools, just like day one. But now is the time to establish roots, invest in permanent spaces, and reach more communities because of the last 10 years we're about making Jesus accessible to anyone. The next 10 will be about making Jesus accessible for generations. - And the next 10 begins with the next three. Because over the next three years, we're gonna be making a massive investment into the future of Journey Church. For Orlando and for generations to come. And that's why we're on this spiritual journey together. Not to ask, have you seen what God has done? But to ask, can you see what God will do? Because we can see more campuses opening across Orlando in neighborhoods still waiting to be loved. Not for our egos or our influence, but for the sake of reaching more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because in order to make the local church effective, it has to be local. - I can see kids and youth spaces built as a home where the next generation is introduced to God. And I can see those same students being called into ministry becoming the pastors, worship leaders, and missionaries of tomorrow

on a Journey College campus. - And I can see a church that never loses touch with people's pain or with God's presence. A church that 100 years from now, God willing, This is our moment. This is our calling. "The next 10 years will not write themselves. They'll be written by what we do to them. The sacrifices that we make today, the prayers that we pray, that yes, we say, right now, this moment." We believe God has more for Attorney Church, more campuses, more presence, more power, and more Jesus, raising up a generation that will carry this further than we ever could. So we're asking you to dream with us, pray with us, and build with us. Because what God did in the last 10 years was never the ceiling. It was the foundation. "Journey Church, this is our time." This is our future. Can you see it? Lord of God, Lord of God, all the glory to God, thank You, Jesus, He's been faithful. Lord, we're not celebrating what God did because of a person. We're celebrating what God did in spite of a person, in spite of people. Amen. Thank You so much. Before you take a seat, I want you to tell your neighbor, ask Him, "Can you see it?" Go ahead and take a seat. Well, welcome to "Journey Church," everybody. My name is JJ, and alongside my wife, Liz, we have the honor and the privilege of serving "Journey Church" as its lead pastors, and we've been able to say that now for 10 years to God hear the glory. You didn't know that? You are a first-time guest, and we're so glad that you chose to be with us today. You're looking for a home church, look no further. I know it feels like a party, but you just walked into a church today. And we're just, I think you walked into it, not only because you're surrounded by the presence of God, but because you're surrounded by some of the most amazing, honest, open, transparent people in all essential Florida. "Journey Church," will you help me welcome them again? Come on, 10 years in, help me welcome all of our first-time guests. Keep it going for "Journey Church" online, keep it going for East Orlando, keep it going for Kissimmee, our campuses. Keep it going for those who are currently incarcerated, watching in jails and prisons throughout the United States.

We're so glad you're here. Hey, if you are a guest at any of our locations today or here at our first-part location, do you take the right Sunday to walk in, because you didn't just walk into the end of a story, you actually walked into what we believe is the beginning of the next chapter of this story. We're not just looking back and celebrating what God has done over the last 10 years, but we're looking forward to what God is going to do in the next 10, not just over your church. This is your church now, even as your guest is your church, you just became your church, okay? But also over your life, because the church is out of an organization with a logo, it's mom's and his dad's, and it's guys and it's girls and it's teenagers and it's elderly and we're the church. And I think God's got a big vision for you, and I'm excited that you're here, because for the next six weeks, we are going to be doing something called "Can You See It?" And at some point, you will hand it this little booklet here. If you have a pen, I want you to open up to the first page, and I want you to write your name in this booklet, so we know who it is, and here is why you need to do that, because we don't have any more money to buy any more copies. These are expensive little booklets, you get the quality is top-notch, so if you lose it, we're not giving you another one, alright? And we want your name on it so that if you lose it, we can post it on Instagram. You're like, this person doesn't care about Jesus, I'm just like... And here's what's so cool about "Can You See It?" I know we've never done anything like this before, it's really five different things. "Can You See It?" is going to be a teaching series over the next six weeks. I'm going to be teaching six weeks straight over this topic. I'm really excited about this. It's also going to be a small group study, and so we're going to actually have small groups. They're called "Can You See It?" small groups. If you haven't signed up for any group yet, we still have some available. There's a QR code outside. You can sign up for a group. Your groups might be "Can You See It?" small group, and you didn't even know.

And we're going to have a YouTube podcast that goes in line with this series. And in here, our place is not just to take sermon notes, but small group discussion. We've got a church vision campaign. You're going to hear about the next 10 years today. And then we've got a vision offering on October 25th. So typically at Journey Church, we always do a legacy offering, and we always do it in December. Every year, for 10 years, we've done that. And what we're doing is we're just moving that offering from December to October to fall in line with what we believe God is setting up for the next 10 years of our church. And so if you haven't, you can open it up to page 20 if you want to start taking notes. And if you have a Bible, you can open it up to the book of Genesis. Here's what this series is about. It's the idea of what if we actually believed what God decreed. Hear me? And follow where God leads. I believe we would see what God sees. And if it doesn't excite you to see what God sees, the difference between the way you see things and the way God sees things. And so I wanna show you how God sees things in Genesis chapter 15, thank you worship team. Genesis 15 verse one, after these things, whenever you read the words after these things in the Bible, you should probably figure out what it came after. And what it came after was a war that Abraham had just finished fighting. Or in this time in his life, he's known as Abram. And he won the war with God by his side. He's gotten wealth from the war. He's gotten treasure.

He's a wealthy man. He's got servants, he's got animals, he's got a lot. The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, vision, saying, do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield. I defended you in that battle. I am your exceedingly great reward. I love that 'cause God is saying, "Abraham, I got your back. I fought for you. We defeated the enemy. And on top of that, you got me." Amen. Abram is like, amen, Lord, amen, yeah. But, yeah, been there. Someone tries to encourage you, but hey brother, God loves you. You're like, amen, amen. Thank you God for loving me. But, hey, you know, Jesus Christ died on the cross so that you can go to heaven, that's awesome. Thank you so much, that's, I love that. But, this is what Abram says. He goes, but, verse two and three. But, Abram said to the Lord, "But Lord God, why will you give me seeing I go childless?" He wasn't able to have kids. And the heir of my house is a lyser of Damascus. And Abram said, "Look, you have given me no offspring." I wonder if there's anybody in the room today who can relate with Abram.

I wonder if there's anybody in the room who is blessed, but. God, I'm so grateful for the wife you gave me, Lord. Amen. I'm grateful for the wife. I'm blessed. I'm blessed, but, she crazy. Lord, thank you for the husband you gave me. This husband is amazing. I'm blessed, but, he lazy. Lord, thank you for these parents you gave me. They birthed me, they provided for me. I'm blessed, but, they shady. God, thank you for this job you gave me. And I can put food on the table. I'm blessed, but, I hate it. I wonder if there's anybody in church who is blessed, but, and it's not that you can't see what God has given. It's just that you can't help but see what you're missing. Something about humanity. In the midst of all that I've been given, somehow I'm still be able to be blinded by what I'm missing. So God meets Abraham in this moment, in the middle of his complaint, and he says this in verse four, "Then the Lord said to Abram, 'No, your servant will not be "your heir, for you will have a son of your own "who will be your heir.' Then the Lord took Abram outside. Now, if he took Abram outside, then that means that the conversation is not happening outside,

it's happening, it's happening inside. So they're talking inside. So Lord took Abram outside, it said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can." This is where we get our series from. That's how many descendants you will have. Ask the other neighbor that you didn't talk to. Tell him, can you see it? You know, for being made in the image of God, humans sure are a lot different than God. It's pretty ironic. We were made in the image of God. I don't look anything like God some days. God is perfect, I often make mistakes. God is selfless, I'm often selfish. God is wise, I'm often a fool. Thank God for Jesus. The one who closes the gap between God and man was the one who became God-man. And in Jesus, we see not just the savior of humanity, but we also see a sample of what humanity is supposed to be. In Jesus, we see not just a deliverer or what the New Testament calls him a Messiah, but we see a model of what humanity is supposed to be. When we see Jesus in the scriptures, Jesus is the fulfillment of human potential filled with the Spirit of God. We're to walk like him, talk like him. The highest aim of every Christian is to be like Jesus. If it's not on your bucket list yet, put it on there.

Go to Hawaii, learn how to serve, be like Jesus. It's at the top. It's what we all should aim to do by the end of our life is to look like Jesus. This is why Christians pray things like, Jesus, give me your heart. I wanna have compassion like you. I wanna love like you. Jesus, give me your hands. I wanna serve like you. I wanna help like you. I wanna change the world like you changed it. But if there's a prayer I haven't heard often in church that I think we ought to bring, introduce or either bring back is Lord, don't just give me your hands. Don't just give me your heart. But Lord Jesus, give me your eyes. 'Cause I wanna see like Jesus. I love the way Jesus saw people. Jesus could see a fisherman named Simon, and when we all saw a fisherman named Simon, he saw a pastor named Peter. Jesus could look at a murderer named Saul, and when we all saw a murderer named Saul, he put a pen in the hand of the one who used to throw stones, put a pen in that hand, and then saw an author who would be responsible for two-thirds of the New Testament. I'm so grateful that Jesus doesn't see people the way we see people, and here's why you ought to pray for Jesus' eyes.

Are you ready? You ought to pray for Jesus' eyes, 'cause it won't just change what you see when you look at the world, it'll change what you see when you look in the mirror. (congregation cheering) I wish the next time you looked in the mirror, you would see yourself with Jesus' eyes. 'Cause if he could see a pastor and a fisherman, and an author and a murderer, my God, what does he look at when he sees you? I wish I had Jesus' eyes, because I love the way Jesus looked at graveyards. Jesus doesn't look at graveyards the way we look at graveyards. Jesus looked at Lazarus' tomb, and he didn't see a tomb, he saw a womb. He looked at a situation that was beyond change, beyond repair, and he called this man Lazarus out from the dead four days after he had been buried. I wish he had Jesus' eyes, 'cause you know what would look a lot different when Jesus' eyes, your marriage. The thing you thought that was impossible. You know what would look a lot different? When Jesus' eyes, you're failing business, you're a side hustle that ain't even hustling anymore. It's just all, it would look different, impossible situations would look different, because you see things differently

than the way God sees different. Raise your hand if you got 20/20 vision in the room today, 20/20 vision, let me see it, 20/20, yeah, yeah. Not impressed. (congregation laughing) It's not impersonal. I'm not hating 'cause I got glasses. I'm just not impressed. I looked up the other day what 20/20 means. First off, all y'all are reppin' 20/20. Five dollars if you can even tell me what that means. You don't even know what that means. You just out here reppin', I'm 20/20, I'm 20/20. You know what that means? I looked it up. It means you can see 20 feet away. (congregation laughing) You're not a superhero. (congregation laughing) You can see 20 feet away. That's what that means. And that's what we call perfect vision. Which I ought to tell you that God's definition of perfect and our definition of perfect are completely different. (congregation applauding) For man, perfect vision is seen 20 feet away. Which also acknowledges something that even the perfect man, ready, is limited. It's limited. When Abraham is talking to God,

I told you he said God said, come outside. That means that they're having the conversation aware. - It's God. - He's having the conversation inside. (congregation applauding) It's having the conversation inside the tent. He's having the conversation inside the tent and he's yelling at God and look what he says in the scriptures. Genesis 15, he goes, God look, look Lord. I got no son, look. And a lot of us can relate. We look around in our life and we go, look at my bank account, Lord, look, look Lord. Look at my kids, Lord, they wallin' out, look, look Lord. Look, and we're yelling at God. And can I just say this? I don't think the problem with your problem is even the problem. I would dare say it's not even the tone. The Bible says that Abraham is yelling at the Lord. And I would say this, God doesn't even mind if you yell at him as long as you're being honest. The problem with your problem is your perspective. 'Cause you are asking God to look, but you're the one in the tent. Not God. You're in a tent talking, look, look God. And God is looking at you as like, bro, you're telling me to look?

Dude, you're the one in the tent. You're the one that's limited by time and space, not me. You're the one that's limited by flesh and blood. Not me, you're the one that's limited by dollars and cents. Not me, and we are yelling at the Lord. Look, people, church, family, if there's one word that we do not ever use with God, it's look as if he was not the ultimate looker. He sees everything. He has so many names in the Bible. Did you know what one of his names was? El Roy E, the God who sees. He always sees there's never anything that you're gonna present to God that once you present it, he's gonna be like, what? Oh, snap, I didn't know you got caught. Never, he sees everything. And I need you to hear that today because I think when we're really asking God, God, look, I think what we're really saying is, God, do you see this guy, dude? Well, I'm not asking him, do you see me? We're asking him, do you feel me? Do you know what I'm going through right now? Do you feel me? And I wanna let you know the answer is yes because the word Roy E in Hebrew, it means see literally, but that's not how they used it in language. When they said the word Roy E,

it didn't just mean I see you with my eyes, it means I see you with my soul, it means I see what you're going through, and it means and I feel your pain. In fact, the better translation of the word El Roy E wouldn't be the God who sees it be the God who sympathizes. And I need you to know that today because you have a God, listen, who can see it and feel it on your level. But just because he sees it on your level doesn't mean that he's gonna come down to your level. He's gonna pull you out of your level because you're not seeing it the way he's seeing it. God is saying, dude, you are the one in the tent. Your limit, your vision is limited. I don't wanna tell you what your vision is limited by. You're stuck in what you've seen. Abraham was trying to have a kid for 50 years, 50 years. And here comes a point in every person's journey, let's be honest, where we finally decide I think what I've always seen is what I will always see. And so we start to decide what we will never see but because of what we've always seen. So we say things like, I've only always, I've never seen anybody in my family with a college degree. So I don't believe I'll ever see that in my life. I've never seen sobriety in my family. So I don't feel I can live sober. I've never seen a healthy marriage in my family. Every person on every side of my family

has ended in divorce, adultery, infidelity. I'll never see that from my family. And when we start to get stuck in what we've seen, here's the next step that we do. Then we start to settle for what we see. So Abraham's in the tent and he's coming out on the floor and it was a big tent, it's a little bigger than this. And he sees down there in the corner, he sees Eliza, Eliza of Damascus. And so he's like, look God, I got no kid. And he sees Eliza. And Eliza, Eliza's good peoples. Like if you look, Eliza is not the only time we see him in the Bible. Like he actually does some really good stuff. He's a faithful person, he's loyal. He loves Abraham, he's a good guy. There's only one problem with Eliza already. He's not the son, God promised. So Abraham is now going, well, you know what? At least I'll settle for what I see. I can't see the son that you promised me, but I see Eliza, so I'll just settle for Eliza. And so many times we do that guys. Can I just talk to the single people for a second? Hey, you need to stop settling for what you see? You be like, well, you know, he's not a serial killer. (congregation laughing) He's got all his teeth. He got all his teeth.

Is that the bar? That should not be the bar. Unless you're 80 in single and you find another 80-year-old with all their teeth. Girl, lock that down, okay? I'm gonna let you know right now. If he's 80 and he got all his teeth, bro knows how to take care of things, okay? Put a ring on that. And I think sometimes that even stretches ready into our relationship with God. I know for a fact that there are people in the room today, Christians in the room today who are not enjoying their relationship with God, but this is how they justify it when they came to church this morning. But at least I'm not going to hell. And I'm just like, there's so much more for you in this walk with Jesus on this side of eternity. I wish you would lock and there's more for you. (congregation applauding) And Abraham, God is having a hard time talking to Abraham because now Abraham is stuck. He's settled and here's what he's done. Ready? He's trying to get comfortable in the home of limitations that he's built. And God can't talk to him like that. God can't talk to him like that. I have two teenagers, they're 13 and 14.

So they're like, the hormones are like all over the place right now. And sometimes they get emotions get high and I just know when they're emotional get high, listen, I gotta be like, okay, we're not going to talk right now? 'Cause I can't talk to you like that. So when you calm down, then we're going to continue to have this conversation. God looks at Abraham, he goes, I can't talk to you like this right now. You are, God, God, God, God, I can't, I can't. Can't talk to you right now. And here's what he says, 15-5, the Lord told Abraham, he took him outside. He took him in order to have the conversation. God has to take Abraham outside to continue speaking because he's looking at Abraham and he's saying, "Abraham, I'm about to tell you some amazing things." as long as you're choosing to live in your limits. (audience applauds) So I'm gonna have to take you out of your limits so that you can begin to comprehend what I do. And so he looks at Abram and he goes, you told me to look. Stop moving the fingers and I can't point at it. (audience laughs) What is, what does God tell Abram? (audience cheers) Uh-uh, here's how it really went.

You look. Look at here. That's what he said. He said, look at here, man. I get why you're talking to me like that because you live here, but then he points him to the stars and he goes, "But let me tell you where I live." (audience cheers) He goes, he goes, "I understand why you would think "that what I'm telling you is impossible "because your space has limits." He said, "But look up at space." - My mom, that's right. - Show me the walls. No walls. I understand why you would think I cannot do this because your door, any man can close, your door, any man can open, but the doors are closed. No man can open, and the doors are open. No man can close. (audience applauds) I know you think this is impossible because you are stuck in what was. You can't enjoy what is, and so you cannot believe what will be, but I am the God who was, the God who is, and the God who will be. Time cannot contain me. Money cannot contain me. Health cannot contain me. Ethnicity cannot contain me.

I got no limits. Stop measuring God by your limits. You don't measure God in feet, miles, inches, in light years, you measure Him in faith. We got different limits, church. And here's what I need you to do today. I need you to expand what you think is possible. Tell your neighbor to say no limits. This is what I'm trying to do in this series. Listen, I'm trying to get the limits off your life. We have got to come out of the tent. There are things God is trying to tell us. There are things that God wants to do with us. And every time He tells us, we argue. Bang in the walls of the little homes and lives that we built, He's thinking, man, I got so much more. There's more, there's more. There's three things that I'm gonna let you there are more. There's more of God for you to know. More of God for you to know. Genesis 17, 1, Abraham was 99 years old, 99. And the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God almighty, someone say God almighty. Now say El Shaddai. That is God's name in Hebrew, El Shaddai. Now God has a lot of names. Yahweh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shalom. This is the first time in scripture that God gets revealed as God almighty. It's the year right before Abraham

is finally gonna have his son. And so God is like, you're gonna find out nothing is impossible for me. I'm almighty. And at 99, Abraham learned something new about God. At 99. And then later on in the story, when the son finally gets there, we're gonna hear this next Sunday, I'll preach this part. Genesis 22, 14. So Abraham called the place Jehovah gyro. The Lord will provide. This is the first time in scripture that God's name, God my provider, is ever said. Here's my point, here's my point, here's my point. At 130, he just learned another name for God. Are you catching it? They're getting older, but the older that they get, they never ever solve God. They never figure out God keeps blowing their mind. God keeps showing aspects of them. That they had that no one even existed. Raise your hand if you gave your life to Jesus in the last 12 months. Last 12 months gave your life to Jesus. Could you come up here real quick? Yeah, I'm not gonna have you come on stage. It's right here, right here. That's awesome.

12 months, let's go. Come on, it's awesome. Raise your hand if you've been serving God over 10 years. 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. Guys, let's get the guy with the gray hair here. (audience cheering) 40 years. Serving God 40 years, serving God less than 12 months. Congratulations. Hey, as much as we celebrate it, 12 months, can we celebrate 40 years? 40 years, so we're going. (audience cheering) Listen, ready? Come in a little closer. I gotta get, let me open up. Ready? Go get the camera. Go get the camera. 12 months, 40 years, the pastor of this church. We all have not yet scratched the surface of who God is. (audience cheering) There's still more to learn. He's still gonna blow our mind. I can't wait to meet him. We're gonna be in all of him for eternity. you got to say go back. I don't care how long you've been serving God. I don't care how much hair you have or how little. I don't care what Bible school you went to.

You will never, ever fully know God until you see Him face to face. And even then we will spend eternity like the angels. Holy, holy, holy, worthy, worthy, worthy. You know how we get together, we talk about the game. By the way, Jets are one and all. You know how we get together, we talk about the game. (congregation laughing) In heaven, I promise you. We're gonna get together and be like, "Yo, you saw what God did today?" (congregation laughing) We like to blue my bro, I read the whole Bible. He never did that one time, I'm like. You hear me? There's more. Here's my prayer for you, over the next six weeks, I'm really over the next three years. 'Cause this is a three year journey we're going on. I'm gonna explain that in a little bit that you would discover aspects of God's character that you forget to me. It's gonna blow your way. Here's the next one, ready? There's always more for your life. We are preaching about Abraham, and it is the year 2026. Do you know when Abraham worked to earth 4,000 years ago? Why Abraham is hearing all this visual home God. You ever think for one second, Abraham ever could have imagined

that people would be talking about him all over the world 4,000 years into the future? Can I just tell you that what God has planned for you? No eye has seen, no ear has heard. The plans that the Lord has for those who love him. Whatever you think God is gonna do in your life, there's more. Can you see it? Can you see it? And lastly, listen, there's more for our church. There's more for our church, I believe it. Genesis 15, 5, then the Lord take Abraham outside and say to him, look up into the sky and count all the stars. That's how many descendants you have. I'm gonna have as many descendants as stars in the sky. That's wild, like a 22 18. The promise comes again, and through your descendants, all the nations on earth will be blessed. Do you know how many kids Abraham had before he died? The Bible gives us eight sons, by the time he died, he had eight sons. If you include his daughters, the allosians put his entire children somewhere between 10 to 15 kids. So if he had 10 to 15 kids, and God is saying that you're gonna have as many kids as stars in the sky, how many people know that he's not talking about his kids in that part? And here's how we know who he's talking about because the verse 18 and those kids will bless the world.

Are you ready? It's the church. The church, if you didn't know, we call ourselves, not just followers of Jesus, but sons and daughters of Abraham in faith through Jesus. So we're the ones who are supposed to bless the world. We're the ones who are supposed to take everything better that we go into. I remember being, I was part of a Bible college in South Carolina, and as an experiment with the students, they had us live homeless on the streets of Charleston, South Carolina for two nights. I don't ever remember them sending a permission strip to my parents. I don't ever remember signing a waiver. But we were on the streets, man. And this one guy comes up to me while I'm on the street. And this is my first interaction with homeless people like on a real, real level. He came up to me and I thought he was gonna fight me. He hands me a cell phone. He goes, you're too young to be out here, call your mom. Change the way I saw homeless people the rest of my life. And then he goes, but if you're gonna stay out here, let me help you. And this is what he proceeds to tell me. He goes, if you're hungry for breakfast, go to this church at seven AM, they start serving. If you're hungry for lunch, go to this church. They start lunch at this time.

If you're hungry for dinner, go to this church. They serve dinner at this time. If you need a shower, go to this church. They got showers, they're lunch. If you're looking for clothes, go to this church. They got symmetrical. And I am sitting there mind-blown thinking, oh my God. (audience applauding) This is the church. This is the church. We should make everything better. And I know the world is dark, but that's why we're here. That's why this year, we always give a present out for birthday. Church is getting really big, so this might be the last time we're able to do it. I just don't think that's the best use of your giving. And so, but we got you a gift. We got you a gift today. And it's not just a little key ring. Okay, it's a cool key ring, by the way, but it's not just a journey, church key ring. Can you show 'em what's special about this one? Close in the dark, close in the dark. (audience applauding) And here's why, 'cause I want you to remember what the church is called to be. We're called to shine in the darkness, like stars in the sky. (audience applauding)

And on the back, it says, can you see it? Can you see it? Everybody's gonna get one a day on your way out. Whatever exit you choose, they'll be there for you. There's more. This year, since launch, 10,000, 91 people decided to follow Jesus since launch. Give me, give God some grace, 10,000 money. Give it up on his way. 10,000, 91 people. Are you ready for this? Since launch, $2,828,576 and 21 cents. planting churches, mission trips all over the world, families in need, single miles trying to pay for oil changes, backpacks, food for the homeless, showers, almost $3 million. This is what the church is supposed to be, and the church is never built. Listen, on the giftings of few, it's always been built on the sacrifices of many. Don't look at me and Jay Jay did, are you kidding? You guys did, it's the sacrifice. If you're on the dream team, and I mean any team, I mean legacy team, small group leadership, host, admin, every team, worship, if you're on the dream team, would you stand, these are the people who build the church right here, would you stand on the dream team right now, any legacy team? (applause) Y'all build the church. It's the sacrifices of the many.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So here's my question, Journey Church, can you see it? Can you see more decisions for Jesus, more mission trips across the world, more children and students introduced to Jesus, more people breaking disciples in small groups, more Bibles, more Journey Church locations, more disciples, and most importantly, more of God's presence. I can see it, I can see it. I'm excited for the next 10, because at the last 10, we're about Jesus being accessible to anyone, let's make Jesus accessible to anyone, pass away, hit the nail on the head, the next 10 are going to be about, let's make Jesus accessible for generations. 'Cause we got a pretty cool thing going here. Here's what we got to make sure that it's here for our kids. It's here for our kids, and it's here for our friends, and it's here for other parts of the city that we're not to yet. So here's how we're going to do it. First thing we're going to do over the next three years, listen, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to have to expand our firm park location in order to continue to reach people. We're going to have to expand. Our kids is, there's no space in our kids spaces anymore. Parents are getting turned away. Our lobby is too small, that's why the line is crazy. Our youth facility right now fits 80 kids.

We have like 300 teenagers who call this church home, and we only have 80 seats for them. We just opened up this section here, it's already getting filled, and we still have to put up the rest of the stuff in, and we have to do the outside as well. So I want to show you a sneak peek of a rendering that we got from an architect that's going to be happening over the next two years here in our firm park location. Campuses hang out because I'm going to talk to you in a little bit, but this is what our firm park location is going to look like within the next two years. We're contractually obligated to grill out the whole outside, and all of that, so we're pumped about it. We're going to have a much larger lobby space so that we can deal with the traffic. We've got our whole new renovated kids space right here, so this is what our kids look like, our new kids wing. Also kids on the second floor, this is where you'll be getting your coffee from here on out, and this is our third floor, this is our journey youth space right here, and this is also our college and youth lounge, so our journey college lounge, and this is their own sanctuary, their own auditorium that they're going to be having on their own, and this is what the building will look like at night. I'm grateful. Over in East Orlando, Shara, East Orlando, our East Orlando location, guys, it's growing 30% year over year. They keep getting awards from the city for all the outreach that they're doing, but they're only able to serve the city one day a week, and so we want to announce right here within the next

three years, we can see East Orlando campus moving into a beautiful location, getting their own building and able to serve that community, get out East Orlando, and now we'll talk about Kissimmee, I don't know if you've ever been our Kissimmee location, but this is what our Kissimmee location looks like at Gateway High School, wonderful community of people. It is our largest campus outside of Firm Part. They are regularly meeting over 700 people on a Sunday, and they're quickly running out of space, and so within the next three years we declare we can see our Kissimmee campus getting a permanent location in Kissimmee as well. We're just going to have them. And here's the part I'm honestly most excited about. Here's the part I'm honestly most excited about over the next three years, we believe that we're going to launch one campus a year over the next three years at different cities across Central Florida. And we already know the location of the next one, I just can't announce it right now, but I'm really excited about it. Listen, not because we want to grow as a church. Here's what we need to do it, because in order for the local church to be effective, it has to be local. And I love seeing all you here, but God did not call us to build an event center where people come to sing songs. He called us to build a mission center where we can send people, and so we've got to be in the community to send people into the community so that we can reach all of these different areas. I was about to say some cities, but you know, Listen, all of this can happen, but it requires sacrifice.

So there's a financial strategy for all this, and the financial strategy is this. It is -- can you see it vision? It's going to cost a total of $18.2 million to do everything I just said. To launch three campuses, move those two portable, into permanent, and do all the things that we just saw on that screen here for part. It's going to cost $18.2 million. Good news is, you're all the most generous church in the world, and we do a really good job of saving money, and so we actually already have saved $2 million to put towards this already. I'm already saying what I'm excited about. So here's our response. Here's our response. Ready? Number one, pray for your church. Would you pray for us? This is really scary. We're not doing anything this big before. And I just need -- I just need courage, any faith, and I'm sure the person next to you does, too, pray for your church. Second, would you commit to making an above and beyond commitment? When we say above and beyond, we mean above our ties and our offerings. So all that stuff makes us able to do what we can see now, but the things that we can't see in the future, we're going to need to do that. And so, over 36 months, so that's a three years. And the reason we want to give you time, and we're going to make that pledge when I'm top 18, we want to give you time, because a lot of you don't have the money, and we understand that. But we believe that if we could give you time,

God could do something in your life to be able to give what you wanted to in your art towards this, and so it would be a three-year pledge. You can give it at any time. And then on October 25th, would you pray about making your first gift towards that pledge on October 25th? That will be our vision offering Sunday. Here's the scripture I want to close with, and then we'll pray, Genesis 15-6. "And Abram, believe the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous." There is a connection between faith and righteousness, guys, believing in righteousness because of his faith. If we actually believe what God decreed and follow what God needs, we would see what God sees, I spent all of service taking the limits off. But before we can close, I got to put the limits back on you. There is one thing you can do. There is one thing you're limited in. Ready? You can't save yourself. You can't restore yourself. You can't heal or deliver yourself. I'm sorry. I know I just saw this in, but this wasn't a motivational speech that I gave you coming out of that tent. This was an unnamed Jesus speech because I have limits, but Christ does not. And when I come to Christ with my limits, I meet in unlimited God who can do things in my life

that I cannot do in my own. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're in the room today and you've got limits on your life, limits on your condition, limits on your education, limits on your intellect, limits on your strength, most importantly, limits on your righteousness. If you are in this room today and you have not made a decision to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you're limited. There's an unlimited God who can come alongside you. I know there are couples and I know there are single people. I know everybody's wrestling with their own limits right now, and you continue to pray to the Lord, but I want to just pray specifically for those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. It's time to invite the one who comes in. You can never be righteous on your own, only through belief, faith in Christ and the sacrifice that He made for us is where we find salvation. It's your opportunity to say yes to that today. On the count of three of those, would you raise your right hand high? I need Jesus in my life. One, two, all over this room and over on campuses. One, two, would you raise your right hand high right now? I need Jesus in my life. I'm limited. I'm limited. I can't do this life alone. I can't do this life alone.

I'm living in the tent. I'm needing to pull me out. I'm needing to pull me out. I see so many hands being raised. Amen. Amen. You can put your hand down. Let's everyone pray this prayer out loud. Whether you raise your hand or not, everyone stay Father God. I'm coming you today. Limited. Limited in my life. Limited to my sin. Limited to my pain. Limited to my whole. Limited in my purity. Limited in my strength. But I'm coming to a limitless God. And I'm asking you Jesus to fill me with your limitless love. Your limitless grace in your limitless home. I give you my life and your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's put our hands together. Give it up for everybody who made the decision to follow Jesus. Hey, we're JJ and Liz Vasquez. We wanted to say thank you so much for watching and engaging in today's content. Maybe today he made the decision to follow Jesus.

We want to celebrate the incredible decision that you made. All you have to do is text Journey to 555-498. We would love to walk this journey out alongside you. Thank you. Hey, and don't let the journey stop here. We'd love for you to do one of three things. Subscribe, share, or support. If this ministry has blessed you at all, subscribe so you don't miss out on any new videos. Share with a friend, you never know what the people closest to you are going through, or you can choose to partner with us through generosity. Which helps bring these videos. Thank you so much for connecting with us. Be blessed. [MUSIC] You [BLANK_AUDIO]