Does My Faith Actually Make a Difference? | Acts 11:19-30 | Dustin Aagaard

And this is Kirsten and we along with the rest of the team We are so excited to get to lead you in a time of worship today. I Just want to remind you today That whatever you're going through whatever you're walking into whatever you're coming out of whatever your weekend has looked like We serve a God who is faithful and he is true and he loves you so much He loves you so much that he would give Jesus to die on a cross and to raise three days later And so we get to celebrate that and we get to thank him for who he is and who we are because of Jesus And so today we're gonna sing a song about how holy our God is and that we can stand on his promises and his firm Foundation, so let's do that together. Let's worship together church. Are you ready this worship? Oh, I worship you all my day. I will praise you. I praise the one who pays my debt. He loves me. Oh, he loves you. Sing worthy. Oh Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Sing it out if you know Worthy of all the praise we could ever break The worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you Yes, we do Jesus Jesus the name up of every other name Jesus Jesus the only one who could ever say Oh, you were the worthy worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you Oh, we live for you sing holy come on There is no one like you. There is none beside you Open up my eyes and wonder Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and leave me Then you love to those around me That's our prayer. He would lead us He would worthy of every song we could ever sing Worthy of all the praise we could ever breathe Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you Oh, we live for you Holy

There is no one like you. There is none beside you So open up my eyes and wonder Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and leave me Then you love to those around me Oh, will you lead me lead me in your love Oh, and show me your ways show me your path Where you go, I will follow you Yes, I will I will build my life upon your love, sing I will build my life upon your love It is a foundation and I will put my trust in you alone And I will not be 'cause I will build I will build my life upon your love It is a foundation and I will put my trust in you alone ♪ And I will not be sure ♪ Oh no one loves me You are a perfect nation And I will put my trust And I will not be shaken Holy, there is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes in wonder Would you show me who you are And fill me with your heart And leave me in your love to love Oh you're holy, holy There is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes in wonder Show me who you are and fill me

With your heart and leave me In your love to those around me Oh that's our tragedy Holy trust you God Holy trust you I will fill I will build my life You see It is a firm foundation And I will God just fill me with your heart And I will not be shaken Jesus, I should love You more Come on, we sing this together I'll greet the castle I'll lay between us I'll hide the mountain I could not lie In desperation I returned to heaven And spoke your name Into the night Then through the darkness Your loving kindness Taught through the shadows Of my soul The work is finished The end is written Jesus Christ, my living home Come on, that's good news today

We celebrate that Your living home Lord Oh Who could imagine So great a mercy What heart could my love Such boundless grace Look out of ages Step down from glory To where my sin And bear my shame With the cross The cross I spoke in Forgive it The King of Kings calls me his own Beautiful Savior I'm yours forever Jesus Christ, my living Come on, cross the road Hallelujah Praise the one who sent me free Hallelujah Step has lost its grip on me You are broken and reached There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living home Hallelujah Hallelujah Praise the one who sent me free

Hallelujah Step has lost its grip on me ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ The salvation in your day ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ My living hope ♪ (gentle music) ♪ That sealed the promise ♪ ♪ Hope every body begins to breathe ♪ ♪ Out of the silence ♪ ♪ The roaring lion ♪ ♪ Declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ Come on church ♪ ♪ They came the morning ♪ ♪ And sealed the promise ♪ ♪ Hope every body begins to breathe ♪ ♪ Out of the silence ♪ ♪ The roaring lion ♪ ♪ Declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ And Jesus yours is the big glory ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ You praise the one who sent thee free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ The salvation in your day ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living home ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Praise the one who sent thee free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ Death's salvation in your day ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living home ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living home ♪ - And because of that hope, we get together together as the church to put your hands together, to worship, to see you lift them up. (upbeat rock music) ♪ Come on, we sing ♪ ♪ We gather here to meet with God ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Our one who is through the sun ♪ ♪ Praise the one who took us in a way ♪ ♪ Praise the one who conscious by his name ♪ ♪ Come on, we sing ♪ ♪ Lift up your hands, you blood bosses ♪ ♪ Swing wide the doors and blessings ♪ ♪ We are His houses, people ♪ ♪ This church belongs to Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh yeah ♪ ♪ We build our lives on Christ's own ♪ ♪ He is the rock ♪ ♪ He is the rock on the stone ♪ ♪ Here and now we pray His will be done ♪ ♪ Here and now, here and now His kingdom ♪ ♪ Praining us all across the room ♪

♪ Lift up your hands, lift up ♪ ♪ Swing wide the doors and blessings ♪ ♪ We are His houses, people ♪ ♪ This church belongs to Jesus ♪ ♪ Just Lord ♪ ♪ This church belongs to Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, glory, all honor ♪ ♪ All power ♪ Come on, you got it. ♪ Oh wisdom ♪ ♪ So many and forever ♪ Sing our glory, our power, our power, our authority, our wisdom. So many and forever to our own and keep your spirit. Your presence here with us, you are all we need. Our Savior, our Shepherd, King Jesus, You are everything. Lift up your hands, you blood-bossings. Sing why the door ensembles His name. We are His people. This church belongs to Jesus. Lift up your hands, good luck. Swing wide. We are the door ensembles His name. We are His houses, people. This church belongs to Jesus. Just Jesus. This church belongs to Jesus. All the glory is yours. This church belongs to Jesus. Just one. This church belongs to Jesus.

[Music] Good morning, Crosspoint, how are we doing today? Come on, let's go. It is good to see you and welcome everybody joining us at every campus as well as online. God behind bars, we are so grateful that you are here. This is your first time with us. We don't take that lightly. We are honored that you are here. We have been praying for you as a matter of fact. You are so fresh and new in each and every one of you. But before I dive into the message, what is the most uncomfortable question somebody has ever asked you? Maybe it is a pastor asking you on a Sunday morning. What is the most uncomfortable question somebody has asked you? I don't know what the most uncomfortable question somebody has ever asked you. I started thinking about it. I am going to give you my top five most uncomfortable questions. Here we go. Number five, when somebody comes up to you and says, do you remember me? Why is it the people that I feel like I have never met are the ones that asked me that? Do you remember me? Number four, do you own a truck? This is a trick question that is always followed by another question. Beware. Number three, do you know why I pulled you over? Do you not answer that question? You let him tell you why you got pulled over. Number two, when is the baby due? Listen, here is my rule. You could be nine months pregnant and I could run into you at the hospital. And I am not asking you if you are pregnant.

You could rub your belly and I am not asking you. You have to actually tell me you are pregnant. Number one, most uncomfortable question. When your dentist asks you, when was the last time you flossed? So the last time my dentist asked me this, I got tired of answering the question. I was like, why do you ask me this? You know the last time I flossed. You were there. Why are you keep asking me? I don't know the most uncomfortable question that someone has asked you, but I remember a question that was very uncomfortable for me in high school. I was about to graduate high school. And a girl that I have known for several years asked me something that was really uncomfortable and kind of shook me. She asked me this question. She said, are you a Christian? And that bothered me. I wasn't bothered. I wasn't frustrated that she asked me the question. I was frustrated that she had to. the name and the fame of Jesus that she had to ask me. Now, listen, I'm not saying this is true of every relationship all the time. I know there's not one cookie-cutter answer, but for the most part, who we are should be visible by how we live, who we are should be visible in how we live. And for me and my senior year to this girl, my life was not visible enough of the love of Jesus that it was clear to her that I knew Jesus. And so this is what I want to do in today's passage. We're going to dive in and we're going to look at how those around us can help see the Christ in us. And that's what Acts 11 is about, but before we dive in, let me pray for us.

God, I thank you. I thank you for your grace that shines where we are weak. God, I thank you that in the midst of uncomfortable questions, you radiate. You say that your rocks will cry out, and yet you invite us in to the work that you are doing. We today join you, and would we not let the rocks cry out louder than our lives? And so, God, we say yes to you right now before we even know what it is you're asking of us, because that's what it means to make you Lord. We love you and we thank you in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen, amen. If you have a Bible, you could turn to Acts 11, if you're new or newer with us, we didn't go through the entire book of Acts over a year long now, we're going chapter by chapter verse by verse, we'll have it on the screen. If you don't have a Bible, the book acts is in the New Testament, if you open the Bible in half and just hang it right, you'll find it a little bit over there. We're going to be in verse 19. Start with that. It says this. "When you had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed, traveled as far as Phonusha, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." Now what I want to do today is I want to look at four different takeaways from Acts, chapter 11, and we get the first one right here right now, and the first one is this, we are supposed to share Jesus wherever we go. That's what they did. They shared Jesus wherever they went, we were persecuted. They were persecuted. They were scattered.

You see, they thought that the hardships would make the gospel dead, but it actually made the gospel spread. Now these were ordinary Christians that were being persecuted and scattered. Every believer's that lost everything. They lost everything they knew that was normal. They lost their jobs, their community. They lost loved ones. They lost their homes, their neighborhoods, everything that was familiar, but you know what they didn't lose? They didn't lose their mission. They didn't lose their why. Wherever they went, they took their why, and they were on mission no matter where they went. I begin to think about this idea, and it made me think about a dandelion. Now I don't know if you played with these when you were a kid, you would maybe grab one in the yard or in a field, and then you would take it and you would blow on it, and these dandelions have a little white fluffy thing, and on the tip of that is a seed. And what for many times I thought I may have been killing a dandelion by blowing on it what I was actually doing is I was spreading it. What I thought was destroying was actually planting, and that's what is going on in acts. You see the persecution, they thought they were killing the church, ended up being one of the greatest church planning movements the history has ever known. And here's why, because they planted the gospel where God planted them, and I would encourage you to do the same thing, plant the gospel where God plants you. Listen, I don't know how you got where you are. You may have chosen that, or God may have chose it for you, but you are there to plant the gospel where God has planted you. You are not in that neighborhood on accident. You are not in that job by chance. You are not in that friend group by happenstance.

Plant the gospel where God has planted you. Let's keep going. 'cause I don't want us to miss this in verse 2021, says when they went to Antioch and begin to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. This is huge. I don't know if you caught this, but it's not just to the Jews, it's to the Greeks also. And what we're seeing in the book Acts and what Pastor Kevin has told us to pass several weeks and months, it's not just for Jews. It's for anyone and everyone. There is a myth that some people believe and some people spread that Christianity and Jesus is exclusive. And can I just tell you, it's not, it's the most inclusive offer our world has ever known. Let me read to you a couple of verses, John 6, 37. Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. That's what Jesus said. Romans 10, 11, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. Romans 10, 13, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Whoever, anyone, everyone is welcome in the kingdom of God. Everybody is welcome. I don't know if you, you know that everybody is welcome, but we have a problem. Everybody is welcome in the kingdom of God, but not everybody knows they have an invitation. That's where you and I come in. Everybody is welcome, but they don't know they are invited. And so what we need to do is we need to, we need to let them know. We need to tell them. Now, when I was growing up, I discovered one of the greatest days of my life is a day called show and tell. Don't act like you're better than me, okay? Like to take a break from school and to actually do non-school and you get to talk about your favorite possession. And so I remember I was in kindergarten, I got to bring in my baseball glove and I got to get in front of the entire class and I got to tell about my baseball glove. I told them all about it. Told them I love baseball. I got to show it to them. I got to pass it around. They got to feel the leather. They got to smell it. And I would tell them all about my glove. I would tell them how I'd play catch

with my dad who was my coach. I would tell them how I'd play backyard baseball with my brothers and the friends in the neighborhood. I would tell them how I would sleep with my baseball glove. Don't listen, don't judge me. I know it wasn't weird then. It's weird now that I'm married. My wife judges me, but I don't need you doing it too. And I began to get in front of my class and I would show my glove and then I would tell them about it. And I think there is a formula when it comes to sharing the gospel. And it's this, X plus Y equals change lives. And if that's the case, then I want to know what is X and what is Y. When you show the love of God and then when you tell about his love, lives are changed. When you show the love of God and then tell about his love, lives are changed. I think if we had a steering wheel and you were driving and you took your hands off of it, a lot of us are gonna veer towards one or the other. A lot of us are really good at showing the love of God, but we don't like to tell about the love of God. Some of us love to talk about God, but we don't like showing the love of God. And can I tell you today, it's not either or it's both and. Let me break it down like this.

If you show the love of God, but then you don't tell people about the love of God, do you know what that's called? It's called a missed opportunity to missed opportunity. You showed the love of God, but you didn't tell them why you loved them to missed opportunity. Or maybe you're telling the love of God, but you're not showing the love of God. Do you know what that's called? That's called annoying. When you talk about God, but you don't show the love of God, that's annoying. Listen, don't take it from me. I'm not saying that. That's what scripture tells us. First Corinthians 13 one, it says if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I'm only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol. That's annoying. Sorry, drummers, it is. We are to show the love of God and then tell others about it. Let me illustrate it like this. Let's say this week, you go out to dinner and God puts it on your heart to pay for that family's dinner. And so you do that. And then afterwards, they're going to almost guarantee you come up and ask you two questions or do two things.

One, they're going to say, thank you. And then the second thing they're going to do is they're going to go, why did you pay for our meal? There's two different possibilities you can do. One is you could say, Hey, hey, we just wanted And what they do is they walk away thinking you are awesome. But if you do something different and you pay for their meal and they come up and say, thank you. And why did you do that? Maybe you say something like this. Hey, I just, I just want you to know that God put you on my heart and told me I'm supposed to buy you a meal. That he sees you, he knows you and he loves you. And because he's my boss, I do what he asks. Have a great day. The second option, they don't walk away thinking you're awesome. They walk away thinking God is awesome. You see, that is when you show the love of God, but then you take a second to tell about the love of God. Let's keep going. Verse 22 says, news of this reached the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. This brings us point number two, encourage what God is doing. Encourage what God is doing. The church sent Barnabas and notice what he didn't do. He didn't criticize, he didn't compare, he didn't complain, he didn't control, he went in there. And he didn't look for what was wrong, he looked for what was right. And he began to encourage what God was doing. Can I just tell you that every church, every church need to Barnabas? Can I tell you every staff need to Barnabas? Every team need to Barnabas, every family need to Barnabas. And can I encourage you? Don't assume somebody else is being the Barnabas. You just go ahead and stand up and you become the Barnabas. You start pointing out in your family, on your team, on the staff, at work, you start pointing out what is right, not always what is wrong. Can I tell you, I'm sure when he went and visited the church, I'm sure there were plenty of problems. I can't verify this, but there are rumors that their parking team was horrible. Supposedly, there were camels just left everywhere, no organization. But instead of pointing out what wasn't working, he points out and celebrates what is working. Ephesians 4.29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." You see, I believe that the church needs more coaches and less critics. I think the world needs more coaches and less critics and we're going to get to that in a little bit. Let's keep going. Verse 27, "During this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Abagas stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul, which brings me to point number three, meat needs generously." Meat needs generously. Listen, this wasn't even a need yet. Did you catch what happened? It says, "There was a prediction that a severe famine would come in the future. So not only did they meet current needs, they were meeting prophesied needs, and they didn't go, "What is this person doing? I don't know about that. No, there's a need in our community. And as a Christian, we are going to do what we can with what we have. We can't solve everything, but we can do something because God has given us something."

Meat needs generously. You see, the gospel is fully alive when it moves from what we believe to how we behave. From what we believe to how we behave, this week, this month, you just need to know that every single person you meet, if you treat them like they are in need, if you treat every single person like you that you run into, that they are in need, a hundred percent of the time you will be right. Did you know that? Every single person in your row, every single person at your job, every single person in your family, is in need. It's not always financial need, but there is a need. Maybe this week, you're going to run into somewhat the spiritual need. Pray for them. Maybe you're going to run into somebody with a relational need. Why don't you invite them over for dinner? Maybe you'll meet somebody with an emotional need. Write them an encouraging note, or a text, or a phone call. Maybe you'll meet someone. Do what you can with what you have. God is not asking you to do something that you do not have power over. Do what you can with what you have. I don't know if you remember in 2005, there was an animated movie called "Robots." Anybody remember "Robots" that movie, "Rob and Williams?" Yes, there's three of us, it's awesome. So let me tell you, back in 2005, which is like 100 years ago to some of y'all, okay, there was a movie called "Robots." "Rob and Williams." There was a thread throughout the entire movie, really simple thread throughout the entire movie. It was this line, "See a need, fill a need." That's it, "See a need, fill a need." All throughout scripture, I mean, where do they get, they got this from Christians? This is what we are to do. We're supposed to see a need and then fill a need, and that's what the early church is doing. You see, empathy says, "I see you." That's empathy. You enter somebody else's pain. Compassion says, "I'll help you." And we are to do both,

and we are supposed to have empathy and then compassion. We need to see a need. We gotta slow down to see the needs around us. We gotta talk to people to know the needs around us. And then after we see it, we fill a need as much as we can. Let's keep going to verse 25. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year, Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught large numbers of people. Which brings me to point number four. Invest in the next generation. Invest in the next generation. Now, when I say next generation, I'm not talking about kids or teenagers. Sometimes and oftentimes it is kids and teenagers. But if you're 60 years old, and you're about to retire and leave the business, maybe the next generation is a 40 year old that you need to pour into to carry on the business in a Christ like manner. If you're 40 years old, you know a lot more about your industry, about following Jesus in your industry than somebody that's 22 coming right out of college and it might be investing in that next generational leader. That is the picture that is taking place here. Between Barnabas and Saul. And just put a pause on it. Saul was the one that was persecuting the church.

He was the one that was going around and destroying the church and then had a radical encounter with Jesus. And so he's in his rookie season. Saul is also the one that's about to be renamed to Paul. He's gonna go from Saul to Paul and they're the same people here. And then he got Barnabas. He's not a rookie, he's a veteran. He is a trusted leader, a trusted spiritual leader in the church. And what you have right here, what's happening in this scripture is you have this trusted leader taking a chance on this rookie that nobody wants to be involved with. And Barnabas goes to him. That's so important. He goes to him and begins to pour into him. Nobody else would. And he begins to see something in him that he can't see and himself. You see there, I don't know what the age gap, there was an age gap, but I don't know what it was, but what was bigger than the age gap was the spiritual maturity gap between Saul and Barnabas. And Barnabas goes to Saul. And essentially through his action says, for the most powerful words you can say

to another person when you're developing them. I see in you. You know, we are our worst critics. We need other people to speak life into us. So I see in you a leader. You are a leader, you have what it takes. I see in you someone that is a great listener. The way that you put your needs down and just make it about the other person and listen to them and have empathy and enter their pain, that's a gift. I see in you somebody that is incredibly hospitable when somebody comes in the room, you make them feel like family. Who can you this week, this month go to? Barnabas went to him. We are to go to people and say, I see in you. I see in you. You're an incredible man. A God, you're an incredible woman, a God. You are someone that's full of faith, someone that has the gift of intercessory prayer. I see that in you. Doesn't take a resume to be able to do that. It just takes intentionality. And here's what I believe, the right word, The right word at the right time, from the right person can change somebody's life. I see a lot of y'all nodding because you know that's happened to you.

Somebody has spoken life into you and it changed how you saw yourself. It changed a direction. The right word at the right time from the right person can change somebody's life. Here's the deal though. I don't know when it's the right time. I don't know if it's the right word. I don't know if they're the right person. So what do we do? Just scatter it everywhere. Just assume. Just dandelion that thing. Just blow the grace of God over anybody and everybody. And you don't know what's gonna stick. You don't know when they're gonna need that word. If God puts a word and you just share it because the right word at the right time to the right person can change a life. Think about this. Think about if Barnabas didn't go to Saul and didn't say by his life, I see in you. I don't know if we ever meet Paul. I don't. I don't know if we read 13 of the 27 New Testament books. I don't know if we read those Romans. I don't know if we get Romans without somebody coming in and pouring in and developing what God had already put in. You have potential. You have so much God given potential.

And the way that Christ has made the churches for somebody else to come in and to help get inside your soul, pull it out and just show it to you over and over and over. Say, you have what it takes. You're incredible. We don't need you on the bench. We need you on the game. You are so good man. The room lights up when you show up. Barnabas, this is not two minutes down the road. He went and found Saul and it changed, change history. Here's what I know. Who you follow tells me where you're going. Who you follow tells me where you're going. It's not that hard to know that Saul would go to Paul if we knew he was following Barnabas. It's like, well, that's a trusted leader. If you follow him, you're gonna end up somewhere amazing. Who you follow tells me where you're going, which leads me to a couple of questions. Who are you following? And if the answer is nobody, then maybe you're going nowhere. And so who have you intentionally placed yourself under so that you can follow wherever God wants to lead you? Who you follow tells me where you're going. You ever had somebody invest in you like that? Earlier in the year, I shared a story. I won't recap the whole thing,

but my dad gave his life to Christ as an adult and was able to baptize him last summer. It was incredible, amazing, and a shout out to my pops. I love you. But I'm kind of a knucklehead, so it takes a village to raise me. You know what I'm saying? And so I had a village person, somebody that was in that village, his name's Danny Fuakawa. Danny Fu was a 35 year old Asian architect. He was a volunteer in our student ministry and I describe him like that. And this is, he and I describe him like that because we had nothing in common. I mean, nothing. And when you're 13, 35 was like 135. Like, and now I'm an adult and I'm like, man, I'm young. But at that time I'll thought, man, 35, you may like, man, you want me to pray for you? You're about to die, everything okay? (congregation laughing) And Danny Fu began, he came to me and he began to speak life in me. And he said, I see and you, a spiritual leader, an incredible man of God. I see in you a pastor. I see you as a gift to the church and he began to speak life. Danny Fu is the closest thing I've ever met

to Mr. Miyagi from the karate kid. Like true story, he's from Japan like just that respect, that what, that wisdom. Maybe not speak often, but when he does, it's gold. And he just began to pour into me. Said, hey, you want to grab breakfast once a month? Absolutely. That turned into once a week. I thought we were just hanging out. I didn't know the biblical word for it. You know what the biblical word for it is? It's discipleship. He was discipling me to help me find and follow Jesus more and more. He helped me understand and discover who Jesus is and what he could do in my life. This word "disciple" is so intimidating. If I said, "Hey, how many of y'all want to go make disciples this week?" It'd be just about just as many people that said they've seen robots, it'd be like three. But if I said, "Hey, we would love for some people to coach and mentor some younger men and women in the faith," how about that? Hands would pop up everywhere. And then if I said, "Hey, what's the difference between discipleship and mentoring," nobody would know. So get whatever word is in your brain that's tripping you up, get it out of there. You don't need a seminary degree to make disciples. You just need one thing and that's a yes. And Danny Fu said yes to discipling me as a 13-year-old boy. And guess what, when it was time for me to get married? Guess who asked to marry us? Danny Fu, because that was my pastor. And so he got ordained. He married us. True story. This is what he said at our wedding. We had a beach scene wedding where flip flops, wine shirts.

He said, "If you don't give a flip about your marriage, it will flop." Listen, that is as cheesy as it gets, but you don't remember anything from your wedding. Come on. And he married us. And then he never went back to the marketplace. He became a pastor and he still is to this day and he still disciples me to this day. And I am a better man of God because of him. And he didn't just disciple me. He discipled me to help make disciples. Years ago, I was about 28 years old. I lived in Orlando, born and raised Orlando. And I was graciously invited to experience something called the Disney Institute for Success. It was a week-long course. It's incredible. I was the only non-CEO and I was the only American in my class. I was a youth pastor. So I did not fit in. Y'all with me, I did not fit in. Day one, the morning of the instructor comes in. They're teaching us all about leadership, high-level leadership. And they tell us to draw something specific. It's like, "Great." And so I drew it. I'm not going to tell you what it is. This is a result of my work. Anybody know what that is? Y'all shouldn't hurt my feelings. Nothing. I mean, clearly, that is Mickey Mouse. Clearly, that's Mickey. I mean, you got the roller coaster in the background. That is clearly Mickey Mouse. Now, listen, I was 28 years when I drew this. My wife is an artist. She is so embarrassed for this. She's like, "Weren't you on Disney property? How did you not know anything about Mickey? Aren't you from Orlando?" And somebody said it looks more like a one-eyed dumbo than Mickey. And then once you see a one-eyed dumbo, you can't unsee it. And then a little bit later, they brought in somebody that knew how to draw. And they taught us step by step how to draw Mickey. This is draft number two. Now, listen, if you weren't with me on photo number one, you're not with me here, okay? We'll get those side by side. I was told for years, maybe even to this day, they use this as an illustration in the class. As the most extreme possibilities. Can I tell you what's on the right side? That's Saul. Can I tell you what's on the left side? That's Paul. You see, I think that the world looks at the church. And they often see a one-eyed dumbo that refuses to be taught step by step how to follow Jesus.

And I think too often the world laughs at us because it doesn't see what we think we are. But when we submit ourselves, Jesus said this, go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything that I taught you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to be with you. You're not on your own. I'm going to be with you. And when we do this step by step, when we submit ourselves to a Danny food is somebody that's a little bit further that knows how to draw, that knows what a godly marriage is, that knows what Let me begin to teach you step by step what it means to find and follow Jesus. It's called discipleship. And some of us are so intimidated. They're like, man, I don't know enough to disciple somebody. Listen, listen, listen. You don't need to know everything to teach somebody something. Listen, that's the biggest trick of them. You don't need to know everything to teach somebody something. Your job is to take your cup and just pour it into somebody else's cup. That's it. But you're like, I only got this much left. That's all God's asking you to pour out. That's it. You don't have to have a seminary or you don't need whatever it is you think it is. So two questions. Who are you discipling? And who's discipling you? You're like, man, I don't know if I have what it takes to disciple somebody right now. That's okay. Then get under somebody that can pour into you with the intention that you would pour into somebody else at some point. Who are you discipling and who is discipling you? If you live out these takeaways from Acts 11, if you share Jesus wherever you go, if you encourage what God is doing, if you meet needs generously and if you invest in the next generation, can I tell you there is a good chance? People are going to call you names.

There's a good chance. That's what happened in Acts 11 verse 26. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. This is the first time that they were called Christians. And that word means little Christ. People are watching these believers and like, man, they talk like Jesus. They act like Jesus. They're generous and sacrifice. The only thing we need to call them is little Christ. And when you incorporate these four things in your life, chances are it's going to reduce the amount of uncomfortable questions you might get like I got in high school. Because your life will shine so bright and radiate the love of Jesus that fewer people will be tempted to ask you. Are you a Christian and said they will ask you, how do I get what it is you have? And then we get to show and tell the love of Jesus. Let me pray for you. God, we love you. We thank you. What a gift you are. Thank you for your grace and your mercy and your kindness. God, thank you for sending us Danny Foos. So many of us have a Danny Foos story. Thank you for using the Danny Foos. God, would you help us to find somebody that can disciple us? And would you help us to find somebody we could disciple? Would you help us to share Jesus wherever we go to encourage what you're doing to meet needs generously? And to raise up the next generation of spiritual leaders. But we cannot do any of this without you. Apart from you, we could do nothing but with you, we could do all things. Lord, we need you. We love you. We thank you.

It's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. Amen. I just want to invite you to stand as we continue to worship. Our prayers that God will awaken our hearts. Oh, come awaken your people. Come awaken the city. Oh, God, a revival, pour it out, pour it out. Every stronghold will crumble. I hear the change in the ground. Oh, God, a revival, pour it out, pour it out. So come awaken. Come awaken your people. Come awaken the city. Oh, God, a revival, pour it out, pour it out. Every stronghold will crumble. I hear the change in the ground. Oh, God, a revival, pour it out, pour it out. Oh, the darkest night, you can light it up. Oh, God, a revival, pour it out, pour it out. ♪ Oh God, you are anyone ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ The darkness died ♪ ♪ Oh, you can light it up ♪ ♪ You can light it up ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ The way over I ♪ ♪ Death is overcome ♪ ♪ Oh God, any of you are anyone ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪

♪ Oh, oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ Sleep, I'm awake in ♪ ♪ I'm awake in your people, come awake ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ Every song of the crumble ♪ ♪ I hear the chinks in the ground ♪ ♪ Oh God, I believe I, oh ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ Come awake in your people, come awake in the city ♪ ♪ God of revival, pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ Every song of the crumble ♪ ♪ I hear the chinks in the ground ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ ♪ Pour it out, pour it out ♪ [MUSIC PLAYING]