Mission Prep | Rick Atchley | September 27, 2026

For forty days and forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry. During that time, the devil came and said to him, "If you're the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." But Jesus told him, "No, the Scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple, and said, "If you're the Son of God, jump off." For the Scriptures say he will order his angels to protect you, and they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God." Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. "I'll give it all to you," he said, "if you kneel down and worship me." Get out of here, Satan. Jesus told him, "For the Scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him." Then the devil went away and angels came and took care of Jesus. Hello, welcome to the Hills Future Rick here. I want to greet our online family and everyone in person, one of our five campuses in Dallas or Keller, North Richard Hills or Westville Worth and Weatherford. I am celebrating today and full of joy because of what's happened this weekend. The first thing I want to say is ladies, the conference was amazing and I got to come by for just a moment yesterday and the joy in the room was just overwhelming. And so I want to thank you, I want to thank Barbara Gradke and her team. I want to thank all the volunteers that came from all five campuses. It was an amazing day. Another reason I'm celebrating is because of the recent baptisms. In fact, my wife yesterday got to be a part of a conversation with a young woman

at the conference who chose to get baptized yesterday. And several people stabbed me yesterday and said, "Pastor Rick, I'm planning to get baptized on Baptism Sunday." It's October 18th, it's just three weeks away in two weeks. I'm starting the series called All Authority. And we're going to see that Jesus really does have authority over all things, including the forgiveness of sins. And so on Baptism Sunday, we're going to talk about Jesus' authority to forgive us of our sins. So be praying, sign up, get your questions answered. It's going to be so fun. And there's another church celebrating today that makes me happy. It's called Bridgeway Church. And it's in Flower Mound, not far away. And I tell you that because today is their 20th birthday. And they are the first church our church ever planted. It is so cool. They're 20 years old now. They're a strong, vibrant church. There are kingdom partners in the Metroplex. And that's something to celebrate. For 20 years now, the Hills Church has tried to make and grow followers of Jesus by pursuing a tangible and visible and measurable vision. And so the last two weeks I've shared with you what's been accomplished in our current vision that is called Ask for Nations and Generations. We launched it in January of 2022, which means this is the fifth and final year. And so it is understandable that you are asking what's next. And I'm going to answer that question in a moment. In fact, I'm going to answer two questions that you've been asking. One you've been asking of me and one you've been asking about me.

But before I talk about the future, let's take a moment and review the past. So I've been a pastor here for many years. Many years before we started having a church vision. In those early years, we had a cool slogan, but we didn't have a clear vision. And it felt in many ways like our church was listy. Now there was no drama and there was no trauma. But it felt like we were coasting along and not charging ahead. So all the leadership, the ministers and elders, we went off for a two day retreat to seek a vision. And we had wonderful fellowship, but we did not have success. We came back more confused than ever, and we discerned perhaps God does not give vision to a committee. And so the elders asked me to go and spend time with God and come back with a church vision. And I did and shared it with the elders and they endorsed it. And that was the launch of what we called then the 2020 vision. And many things that we do now like plant churches and our mission works began as a part of that vision. vision? Well, in about 20-17. and it was time for a new vision, they approached me and said, "Would you go and spend time with the Lord "and discern what our next vision should be?" So in 2019, I went off for a few days, I asked you to pray and fast for me, and I spent time trying to discern the next vision for our church. So I've told some of you this story. The first day, all I did was pray and thank God for what he's done. Just a day of thanksgiving. The second day, I started prayer walking and asking God what's next. And I wasn't sensing something clear from the Lord

and I began to panic. I did not want to go back until the elders, I heard nothing from God. But then I caught myself and recognized that's a spirit of fear. And fear does not come from the Lord. So I repented and I said, "Lord, you're a good father "and you love to give your children good gifts." And so I'm gonna be patient and you are going to give me a gift. And 20 minutes later, I heard the Lord say, ask for nations and generations. I went back where I was staying, I got up my Bible. And for four hours, I read every verse in the Bible that had the word nation or generation in it. And when I was through, I knew that I had heard from the Lord and this is what we were to do. And so the intention was that the vision before would end in December of 2020 and in January of 2021, we would launch the new vision. Well, you know that we did not do that because in 2020, something called COVID appeared and all churches were radically affected. And by January of 2021, we were hardly meeting together again. And there was no way we could begin a new vision with vigor. And so what we did was take that year to pray and to prepare the on-ramps and to train the leaders necessary to create the infrastructure so that we could launch the vision in 2022 full speed ahead. And that's what happened and we're glad it did.

And what's happened since is that we are sensing God saying, do that again, take a year as a church and get ready for what's coming. So we intend to launch our next vision in January of 2028. Now, do not hear me say that 2027 then is gonna be a year where we put ministry on pause. What are we gonna do next year? We're gonna do a whole lot of what we've been doing the last five years. We're gonna keep planning churches, training residents, supporting mission efforts among unreached people groups, offer celebrate recovery, coach marriages, mentor future leaders, start rooted groups. In fact, of our 14 nation and generations goes. The only one we have no definite plan to pursue next year is adding a new campus. We don't have a plan to add a sixth campus next year. However, if God makes it clear and opens a door, we'll walk through it. What we do plan next year is to complete the current vision because you'll recall one of our goals was to launch celebrate recovery and a freedom ministry. And for four years, we had no clear understanding what would that look like and we think God has showed us. It's called freedom prayer and we're training people now to get ready next year to launch a ministry that is gonna take prayer and escape from bondage to a whole new level in our church. Something else we're gonna do next year, very intentionally in our services.

We're gonna take some time to intentionally thank God and celebrate what has happened the last five years and ask him for more. And then one more thing. Sometime in the first half of next year, I will go off and I'll spend time with God and I'll ask you to pray and fast for me as I try to discern what the next vision for our church is. Now, that leads directly to the second question that is all over our church is not asked of me but it's asked about me. And that question is, what does my future in my current role in this church look like? And I'm gonna be honest, when we launched the last vision in January of 2022, I did not think then that I would still be in my current position at the start of the next vision. I had a very significant birthday to it. Now, I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, he doesn't look a day over 69. I get that all the time. But here's the reality. I'm not just on the last lap of my public ministry. I'm on the last curve of the last lap. And what's coming after me? I've been praying and I've been seeking. And God has not made it clear. What he has made clear is that he's got a plan. And he's got a man in mind.

But I don't know. We don't know who it is yet. But sometime during this next vision, I will be passing the baton to the next senior teaching minister of the hills. So I need to make you a promise. I'm going to finish my race well. I'm going to run strong. I am not going to coast to the end. And every single Sunday, I am going to bring you my very best to the very end. I promise you that. And thank you. What God has revealed to me is that I am to stay in my current road through the launch of the next vision. Because two or three years ago, I'm praying hard. God, who's the next voice? Who's going to be the voice for the next vision? I don't know who it is. And God says, I don't know who it is. It's you. He has not released me. And so I will be here in the next year discerning the vision and the following year to launch the vision. So you've got to put up with me for at least two more years. And God has revealed something else very clearly to me as I pray about our next vision. I keep hearing God say, call the church to be with me. We believe a disciple of Jesus will be with Jesus, but come like Jesus and do what Jesus did. And I keep hearing God say, take a year and call the church to be with me. The Holy Spirit took me to the Gospel of Matthew that records the launching of Jesus' mission. You recall the end of chapter three, Jesus goes to get baptized because if you're obedient to God, you get baptized. And he hears the affirmation of the Father, you're my beloved son, and the Spirit descends. And he's anointed with the Holy Spirit. And he knows it is time to realize the purpose for which he had come.

But realization requires preparation. So when he comes up out of the waters of baptism, he does not immediately launch his public ministry. But instead, Scripture says Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Before any great assignment for God is attempted, training for meeting opposition should be completed. Now this reminds me of a true story of a little church in Mishawaka, Indiana a few years ago. They had a steeple in their little church building, and two hawks made a nest in that steeple. Laid their eggs hatched their chicks and became very protective. So when parishioners would come to the church building, the hawks would come down and attack them. In fact, two ladies had to go to the hospital and get stitches. And because the hawks were a protected species, the church could not go and remove the nest. And so for a season, the pastor said, "Listen, you just need to bring an umbrella with you if you come to church, prepare to get attacked." That's what I think is happening in Matthew 4. Jesus knows that hell is going to confront him like it is confronted in no man that ever lived. He is preparing for what's coming because he knows he's going to face opposition. And in an extreme, when you read that text, we know Satan employs supernatural power to take Jesus here or to take him there. But Jesus never plays the God card. He meets the enemy as a full man, and he overcomes not because he's divine, but because he is disciplined. He prepared for his mission by knowing Scripture, prioritizing prayer, and practicing fasting. And I believe God is calling our church to prepare for what's next. Those of you who have my generation recognized this picture. It's a man named Bobby Knight when he was much younger and coached the Indiana Hoosiers. Now, you could hate him or you could love him, but everyone admits he had great success as a basketball coach, won several championships. 1976, his team went undefeated, were national champions, and he appeared on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace. And Mike asked Bobby Knight, what is the key to your success? Is it the will to win? And Bobby Knight replied, the will to win is important,

but it's not as important as the will to prepare. It's the commitment you make to practice, to learning the fundamentals, to doing your training, and then he made this line. Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation. I believe God is calling our church to be with him, to prepare for the next mission. And how do we do that the same way Jesus did? Scripture, prayer, and fasting. Why those three? Well, scripture prepares us to fight lies best. The enemy is a deceiver. We live in enemy territory just like Jesus did, and he's gonna try to lead our church, any church, off mission by leading them away from truth. And so Jesus comes out of the water of baptism, and he hears the voice of heaven, you are my son. What's the next voice he hears? If you are the son. This is how he operates. You cannot avoid the devil, you can resist him the same way Jesus did. And so every time that satanic voice would show up, Jesus would say, for the scriptures say. He never uttered an original argument, but he just kept quoting scripture until the father of lies got tired of listening. And now we know all those silent years in Nazareth, meditating on the word of God

are gonna be bearing fruit when he meets opposition to the mission. A lot of churches are getting deceived today. They're drifting off mission. And the problem is not that we don't have enough ammunition. The problem is that we don't have enough ammunition stockpiled. It's not living in us. The word around us must become the word inside us. The Apostle Paul said, let the teaching of Christ live in you richly. And I feel real convicted about this, so convicted that I've decided in January of this year I'm gonna do a series on why the Bible is important to our church, why we submit to the Bible. We don't stand over the Bible, we sit under the Bible and respect its authority. And then the next two series I'm gonna preach next year are gonna be straight through two books of the Bible. And I'm gonna call on all the church, we're gonna give you a Bible reading plan to read the Bible together as a church. You say, Pastor, I already have a Bible reading plan. Well, good, you can't read too much Bible. You do your plan and you do our plan. And together as a church, we're gonna go deep into the word. We're gonna prepare for the mission by being disciplined about hearing from God. And we're also gonna prepare by constellating God here from us. So scripture prepares us to fight lies best,

prayer prepares us to develop more trust. Now the text doesn't say explicitly that Jesus prayed. But we all know out in that wilderness, he was praying. Why? Because that's one reason you fasted, it created space for prayer. And because that was Jesus' prayer closet. It says in Luke five, he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. The wilderness was the place where Jesus could get alone away from the distraction and really lean into time with God. In an interesting, the one person that you would think, least needed to commune with God, was the person most committed to doing so. And because Jesus knew that staying in God's presence is critical to staying on mission. He knew that hell was going on. And in prayer, Jesus is reminding Himself that the one who is for me is greater than the one who is against me. See, prayer changes things. But most of all, prayer changes us. When I face opposition, when I feel afraid, when I get anxious, and I bend my knees, I stop ringing my hands. It's in prayer that I grow in my trust of God. In my willingness and in my capacity to believe that His kingdom coming is the best possible future, and nothing Satan does can stop

His will from being done anywhere in the world. And so I don't have to worry about praying too big. This reminds me of the story I enjoy. You know, I'm a golfer. I'm going to tell you a name that only people my age remember is Arnold Palmer. Before there was Tiger Woods or Scotty Shiffer, there was Arnold Palmer. In the early '60s, he was maybe the most popular athlete in the world. And he was invited by the King of Saudi Arabia to come put on an exhibition. So he went, and he did, and the King loved it. And later, the King said a messenger to Palmer, saying that he wanted to give him a gift for coming to his country. Now, Palmer's a typical Westerner. So he said, the King doesn't have to do that. No, no, no. His hospitality is a gift enough. But the messenger said, you don't understand our culture. In our culture, if the King wants to give you a gift, and you say no, you have insulted the King. So Palmer shrugs and said, well, in that case, tell the King I'd love for him to give me a golf club. So he went back to the States. And two weeks later, he gets in the mail, something from the King. He opens the envelope. It's a deed to a 300-acre golf club.

(audience laughs) Because if you're asking the King, why would you think small? And this is what Jesus is teaching us in the wilderness. There's nothing hell can throw at us that we can't deal with 'cause we go over Satan's head to the King. And that's who we talk to. And we prepare for the battle by praying before the battle starts. So we're gonna spend some intentional time next year thanking God for what he's done through us in the past and asking God to do even more in the future. And we're gonna put some muscle behind our asking by fasting. That's what this has been released familiar with, right? We know the Bible's important. Scripture prepares us to fight lies best. And we know prayer's important. It prepares us to develop more trust. But fasting, what does that do? Well, it prepares us to want God most. Why did Jesus fast for 40 days before he launched his public ministry? I believe Jesus was training himself to have the strength to give up what is good for what is best. 'Cause I wanna tell you, if Satan can ever convince you that you just need to give up what's best

because in a moment you want something good, he's gonna take you off mission. Some things to know about fasting. It's mentioned over 70 times in the Bible. I know that in the Western church we don't talk about fasting much, but it's a big deal in the Bible. In fact, you need to know, Jesus never commanded his disciples to fast. He assumed it. He didn't say, I'm telling you to fast. He just said, now you're my disciples, when you fast, do it like this. And one more thing, and this is so big for us. We see fasting as sacrifice and as a burden. I've got to suffer so I can show God that I'm obedient. In the Bible, fasting was not a burden. It was a blessing. Jesus was not in the wilderness thinking every day. Oh, look at all, I'm giving up. He's thinking, look at what I'm getting. I am getting focused, undistracted time with God. See, nobody can do anything that matters for God until God matters. God, man. And this isn't how we're being discipled in the West to follow Jesus. In the West we're being discipled. Here's all the good things that we need in our life to be happy, so go after all that. But be sure when your plate is full of all those good things

to make a little bit of room on that plate to add a scoop of God. God doesn't want to be a scoop. God wants to be the main course. God wants you to want Him more than you want anything else. Young man came to Jesus one time and said, what must I do to inherit the kingdom of God? Now this was a good guy. He was a moral guy, he was a religious guy. You would love for this guy to be your next door neighbor. And if Jesus had given him three rules, he would have done it. But Jesus said, I'm not sure you want God more than anything else. So here's what you do. You take your wealth and give it away and come follow me and he couldn't go there. He wanted God, he wanted a scoop of God. He didn't want God more than anything else. What fasting does is teach us to want God and to be so focused on God that our other desires are diminished. Now think about this, when does God get our full attention anymore? It's harder for us than any generation that has ever lived. You know that? Because we're the first generation that's ever lived that can have access to constant noise. My parents didn't live that way. My grandparents didn't live that way.

For millennia, people would have in their normal life, long periods of silence, not anymore. We can always have noise. So when do we ever create the space to say God right now, I am focused on nothing but you? Because I want you more than I want anything else. This is what Jesus was doing at the body level. He was teaching himself to desire God more than anything else. So he and the disciples are walking through Samaria and Jesus is fully man. So he's tired and he's hungry. He stays by the well and the disciples say, "Hey, we'll go into town and get groceries." So while they're gone, a woman comes out and she's far from God. And they have the most delightful, penetrating conversation. And this woman leaves more spiritually alive than she's ever been. The disciples come back, "Hey, we got groceries." Jesus said, "I'm not hungry." And they're confused and Jesus explains, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about. My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do and to finish his work. How do you face hell and stay focused and committed to the work of God? You've got to develop the appetite that Jesus had. That's what we're going to spend next year trying to do, but we're not going to wait until next year to get started. So harvest Sunday, November 8th,

we're going to raise money for all our church planters and our missionaries, or we're going to get ready for that. Starting tomorrow is called the Harvest Prayer Guide and Community. And we've developed a plan where you can each week join us in reading some scripture, getting a prayer prompt and fasting. Now, we know this is new to us, so we're taking baby steps on fasting. And we've decided so it's something you could do and introduce your children to. And it's all on our app. Now, as soon as I say app, all of you, my generation who are digitally challenged get scared. Here's what I do when I am digitally challenged. I find a 10-year-old and I found one and her name is Finley and she's going to help all of us understand what we need to do. So watch this. Looking for the Harvest Prayer Guide and Community? Don't worry, let me show you. It's super easy. Whether you're in the worship center or at home, getting connected only takes a few minutes. If you're in the worship center, tap your phone to the seat back with the tab to connect, sign to connect. If you're at home, just open the Hills app. then click join the

and trust me, you'll want to have it. But if you already have it, just click have the app open now. And that's it. You're in the harvest community. Here's one really important thing. After you join, open the hills app and tap the little chats button on the top right corner. That's where you'll find the harvest community. Anytime you want to check in and see the new prayer prompts, videos, encouragement, and stay connected. And make sure you have your notifications turned on so you get updates when we post new prayer prompts and messages. We'll be sharing the community all the way through harvest Sunday on November 8th. We can't wait to pray with you and see what God does for you this special season. See you in the harvest community. All right, let's take Finley. I think she did a great job. So we exist to make a group of followers of Jesus. When we do this together by being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus and doing what Jesus did. So for the next six weeks church, let's do this together. I love that word together. So much to do with series on that sometime, okay? Let's get in that app and every day, let's pray that prompt that we're all praying. Let's read the same scripture and there's a chance each week for us to do something that develops our capacity to fast. And let me close with this prayer I love. Now to him who's able to do a measure will be more than all we ask or imagine. According to his power that has worked within us, to him be glory of the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. To him be glory in the church that when a church seeks and surrenders to the will and power of God, the unimaginable becomes attainable. I was reminded of this three years ago when for the first time my wife and I and some others in our church got to go to Israel. And one of my favorite days we went north. We were already in Galilee and we rode a bus 45 minutes north. So this is a good ways north. I mean, in the days of Jesus, it would have been a three-day walk to get to where we went. And Jesus intentionally took his disciples to the place we went. It's in Caesarea, Philippi. And this is where we went to this big cave. You could see it from a distance. That cave had a river that came out of it. And the people believed that it was the home of the underworld where the spirits and demons lived. And they built a temple there and they worshiped a God named Pan. And the things that they did to worship Pan were so depraved. I can't even speak them to you. Do you know what they called that place? The gates of hell. Jesus took his disciples there and said, "Who do you say I am?" Peter said, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said, "On that confession, I'm going to build a church." And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And you know what happened 300 years later,

where that temple used to be? The Christians came and they built a church right there. And they lifted up Jesus Christ and a place where demons used to be celebrated. And you could see in the next slide they put crosses in the ground and on the walls. And they came to the gates of hell and the name of Jesus, and they overcame. What can stop the mission of God? When His people were trapped by a sea, when the giants seemed unslable, when the prophet is thrown into a lion's den, or when they laid a Messiah in a tomb, the liar never gets the last word. Nothing can stop the mission of God. And so we're going to fast, and we're going to read, and we're going to pray. And God is going to give us a vision that is more than we could ask or imagine. So I'm asking the church to join me. Let's prepare for mission. Nothing is impossible. We're going to do a whole lot of what Jesus did, but it means we must dare to prepare together. Because God is calling us to be with Him. And before He can call us, He's got to call you. So I'd like you to bow your head. I'd like you to take a moment. I'm going to ask you to ask God a question. God, how do you want me to be with you? How can I be with you more than I am now? The Holy Spirit will answer, so listen close and ask that question. Some of you are hearing God say, "I wish you would read my word more." Some of you are hearing God say, "How can we don't talk?" Somebody's hearing God say, "I want to be close to you, but you keep doing that thing I've asked you to stop doing." Somebody's hearing God say, "Why aren't you baptized yet?" Okay, you've heard the Holy Spirit tell you something. Here's what you're doing right now. You're going to say to God, "Okay, God, I've heard, this is what I'm going to do this week. This is a step I'm going to take this week to be with you." And so, God, we thank you that you are a God who wants to be with your people. You don't keep your distance. Your story ends with heaven coming to earth so that you can dwell among us. We don't take this lightly, God. You want to be with us. And so, Father, as we prepare to pursue nations and generations in greater ways than we ever have, increase our burden to be with you, to want you more than we want anything else. And we do not face the future with fear or anxiety, but with hope and expectation because the kingdom of God has never accepted impossible. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We pray in your name. Amen.