RUN WITH IT! - The inspiration of God's Church.

His name is Scott. And he's in prison in Arizona. And he's benefited from this ministry because 275,000 men and women of Carson are watching this service on the Pando app. They've watched it over the years. And we've had over 280 salvations, people who watch. And so we just want you to know, if you're watching the Pando app, we see you and we love you and we're grateful for you. And Scott's like, you know, I want to be a part of the work of God. And so he sends his donation from prison, man, just $20. But you know what? For God, it's not about the amount, it's about the heart. What did Jesus say about the most generous person in the temple? Was that widow who just dropped a few in? He's like, "Guys, you're looking the wrong way." The most generous person is right here. God has shaped her heart to trust him and invest in his- >> All of our faith in the God who seeks, you turn in the master, master beaks. A new generation will believe that you are a bore, and you are faithful. All of our faith in the God who speaks, but hold it to what you're promising. Moving me on time, wildest dreams, 'cause you are evil, yeah, and you are faithful. All we see together, come like a wild fire, come like a rusty wind, just like you did back in Lord, I know you're doing it, we need your Holy presence, we need your power within, just like you did back in Lord, I know you're doing it. We know the stories of your faith, so heaven on earth is what we pray. All of our faith in the God who speaks, we need your holy presence, we need your holy presence, we need your power within, just like you did back in Lord, I know you're doing it, I know you're doing it again, again, again, again, how many sinners say, how many bodies raise, look at those empty graves, and I know you're doing it again and again, how many sinners say, how many bodies raise, look at those empty graves, and I know you're doing

it again and again, how many sinners say, how many bodies raise, look at those empty graves, and I know you're doing it again and again, how many sinners say, how many bodies raise, look at those empty graves, and I know you're doing it again and again, again, how many sinners say, how many sinners say, how many sinners say, how many sinners say you're doing it again and again, how many sinners say, how many sinners say, how many Is anybody grateful for Jesus in the room today? Can we just lift up a shot of praise to God if He has been faithful to you? If He has been good, yeah. Come on, we sing Christ is my first foundation. Christ is my first foundation. The rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaken. When I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus. He's never let me down. He's faithful through generations. Oh, so I would He feel now He wants. Oh, I still got joy. I still got joy in Jesus. I've got peace that makes no sense. So I won't be going under. Oh, I'm not headed by my own strength. 'Cause I've built my life on Jesus. 'Cause He's never let me down. Come on, He's faithful through generations. I know, so I would He feel now He wants. Oh, He wants my God to feel. He won't feel. He won't feel. He won't feel. He won't feel. He won't feel. He won't feel.

Come on, Christ is my first foundation. The rock on the wings I stand with everything around me is shaken. I've never been more glad that I've never been more glad. 'Cause I put my faith in Jesus. He's never let me down. He's faithful through generations. Oh, so I would He feel now. He won't make you Jesus. He won't feel. He won't feel. He won't feel. Oh, thank you, Jesus. You are faithful in every season, and we can put our trust in you, so we thank you God. We sing together, Ray K. Ray K, wind blew, but my house was built on you. And I'm safe with you. So I'm gonna make you throw up. Oh, Ray K, wind blew, say my house was built on you. I'm safe with you. So I'm gonna make sing Ray K, wind blew away. K, wind blew, but my house was built on you. So I'm safe with you. I'm gonna make you sing. I'm gonna make you. I'm gonna make you throw up. So I'm getting stronger.

I'm just gonna make you throw up. I'm gonna make you throw up. Since my house was built on you, Christ is. Christ is my foundation. Yeah. So I'm gonna wish I stayed with everything around me. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Church, we want to take a moment to celebrate the faithfulness of God. Who here is a witness of God's faithfulness of how he's never failed? [Applause] This is a very special weekend. This is Vision Weekend, a weekend that we get to have as a church once a year to come together to celebrate all the Lord has done, but also to look forward with great expectancy for what he's going to do. Yeah, you know, we've celebrated 40 years as a church this past year. 40 years, that's amazing. That's 40 years of God's faithfulness in this church's life. I know that I've seen it over and over and over again. I've been here over 20 years and God is faithful. You know, we've been praying this prayer lately as a church. God, you've done all these things over all these years. Will you do it again? Will you do it again? And you know what? He is. And that's what gets me really excited because I grew up at this church. I was raised here and now I'm a freshman in college. And I have the opportunity to serve here on our worship team and as a leader in small groups in our youth ministry.

And now I get to be a part of that story too. So when I think about Vision Weekend, I'm not only filled with gratitude for all the Lord has done in the past, but I get so excited for what He wants to do in my generation. There are still so many people that need to be saved, so many hearts that have yet to meet the love of our Father and so many people that are waiting to be discipled and poured into. But I believe that the same God who has moved in our church in the past 40 years is still moving today. He's not finished. He's not. And in fact, our pastor is going to come out in just a little bit and talk about all the things that are happening at all the campuses and beyond and all over the world that God is doing. And that's incredible. It's going to cast some vision of where we feel God is calling us next as a church. But before we do that, we want to just pause and just say that any person's life that's been changed here through this ministry, any good thing that's happened is because of one person and that person gets all the glory and all the credit and that person is Jesus Christ. (Applause) And we would love for you just in the quietness of your own space this morning, just for a second. Just pause and reflect on your own story. How has God shown up for you? How has God been faithful to you? Just take a moment. So today we thank Jesus for being our father, being our friend, our Savior, and our Redeemer.

We praise Him for not only working in our own lives personally, but also the lives of our families, of our communities, and our church. So right now we want to invite you to join us as we continue to worship the only one who's worthy. (Music) Let's sing this together, I could sing your name. (Music) I could sing your name for all my life and still find more to love each time and Jesus be the name of our own mind. Yes, it's sweeter every time that I call on it. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name, Jesus. And Jesus, you're worthy. You have been the friend who's never left. I won't forget your faithfulness. And Jesus, be the name of our own lives. Oh, it's sweeter. It's sweeter every time that I call. There is just something about your name. Jesus, there's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry wholly. There is no other name. No, there is no other name. There is no other name. And Jesus, you're worthy. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry wholly. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. And Jesus, you're worthy.

Yes, you are. If you alone are worthy, Jesus, so worthy of all praise. There is none like you. There is none like you, Jesus. You are only praise. You are only praise. And Jesus, your name is not the moment like the one the darkness can't deny. The resurrection and the life of Jesus. And Jesus, your name can save your name. Your name can make the stormy spell. You never will, you never will, Jesus, Jesus, the bread of life. Broken for us, the wounded and the wise. The fast, the fast, the sun, the cold, Jesus, and Jesus. The King along the well, the great, the Lord who will forever raise. The name above all their names. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. We can't stop the heart. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. The King of the Lord. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, we can't stop the heart. Jesus, we can't stop the heart. Jesus, be the man. Jesus, be the man. The King of the Lord. Jesus, be the man. Hallelujah, Jesus.

We exalt you because you are worthy. You are the only one who is worthy of our praise. And we know that at the whisper of just the name of Jesus, the enemy flees. And in your name, Jesus, we find hope. We find freedom. We find love. We find friendship. And we thank you. We thank you that you always meet us when we call upon your name. Jesus, we give you all the glory, all the honor today, and we praise you in your name. We pray Jesus. Amen. Amen church. Before you sit down, I'd love for you to turn around and introduce yourself to someone And then we'll go to the word together. - How does God give vision to His people? The God who sees all, the God who knows all before it even happens, the God who sees the past, and the present and the future in one continuous moment, how do we get to see what He sees? How do we see with His eyes, and what happens if the people of God don't have vision, if we're disconnected from vision? See, that's an important question to ask as well, and Solomon would write this, that without vision, the people perish. You think of that word, perish, perish is when something goes bad. Think of fruit that perishes, it starts to rot. It's not experiencing abundance,

it's not experiencing the freshest of what it was called to be, it's sort of slowly just perishes. And God says, you know, my people without vision will cast off restraint, they'll go in a thousand different directions, pursuing a thousand different things, and they won't flourish, they won't experience the abundant life that I have for them. Jesus warned us, there is a thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy, but Jesus promises His people this abundant life, and vision is a huge and vital part of that abundant life, and vision always starts with the burden, something that's wrong, something that's broken, something that shouldn't be this way, it doesn't need to be this way. God show us what to do when we look at our city, when we look at our families, we might say, God, I see the pain or the brokenness or the lostness of the people around me, God, that burden is weighing heavy on me, God, give me a vision for what you want to see in this place. I don't know if you know this or not, but there's 6 million people who call South Florida their home, and each of these people have a soul, and there should be in the people of God this burning passion, this DNA, this guy. They need to know, they need to experience the love of Jesus I've experienced, they need to experience the redemption of His power in my life. I want for them what I've experienced for myself, so who's gonna go?

I wanna go. Now that white hat DNA is what made Calvary Chapel, Calvary Chapel, it's part of our story, our DNA, and that's why our prayer and our vision is God, do it again. Last year, we kept on praying this prayer, God, do it again, do it again, do it again. I just want you to say it after me at all the campus, say this, do it again. - Do it again. - When you say it, there's a sense of expectancy. It's a prayer of faith. What if every day you pray, you gotta do it again, do it again, and you started looking. You read through this and saw the God stories, God, do it again, do it again, do it again. This last year, 1,200 people made a decision to follow Jesus for the first time. God, do it again. 1,200 people, God baptized God, do it again. This ministry started, that hour started, God, do it again, do it again, do it again. God, we wanna reach our community with the love of the gospel, saturated, so that there's no one who doesn't know, no one who's not been invited. God, we wanna change our, we wanna see it ripple from South Florida all the way to the world. Eight billion people on the planet, all deeply loved and seen and known by God. And his plan to reach them is us.

The church is Plan A, God's messengers, his ambassadors who get to run with this message. And this prayer that we've been praying for the whole last year, comes from the book of a back in chapter three, verse two, this prayer, God, do it again, back in three, two. Lord, I have heard of your fame, I stand in awe of your deeds, now repeat them in our day and our time make them known. When a backic wants to see the vision of God, he looks backwards before he looks forward. If you have a long memory, you'll be able to pursue a long vision. Because history, when we look back, is prophecy as we look forward. How God worked in the past, God wants to work in the future. Maybe not through the exact same people in the exact same ways, but he wants to work. And so we wanna walk by faith and live in that place of God. If this is a vision you've given us, it should scare us a little bit, it's 'cause it's gonna be bigger than us. You see, if the vision that we cast is a human-sized vision, then we can figure out how to do it on our own, but if it's bigger than us, we're gonna need God's help to do it. And this is part of what God invites as he speaks to the prophet, a backic. A backic to me is one of the most powerful, prophetic visions in the entire Bible. just because he's writing this smaller.

But he is the only prophet of the 17 prophetic books who approaches God with a problem. A God I don't like the way you're running the world. Why this and how long that? He sees this deep burden that bothers him. And I was first introduced to this prophetic book that I remember when I was 22. I just graduated from college and had an opportunity to give my last summer to serve God, just give it away. And so an opportunity to go to Atlanta to be part of something called the Atlanta Urban Project. 20 college students who moved and spent 12 weeks living in an old prison called Glen Castle that had turned into a housing project in a very rough neighborhood in the inner city of Atlanta. And we were gonna live with people who were on, you know, they were on public assistance and they needed public transportation and they didn't have private medical insurance and many of them were underemployed and just dealing with issues that families, many families broken and we were doing kids camps for all these kids and we experienced this sort of like, whoa, kid from the suburbs never experienced the drug deal on the front porch right in front of me. And they never saw the way that families were being torn apart, never saw violence or what it meant like to get sick and not have a doctor to go to,

but stand in the hospital emergency line for three hours just to get some help. And all these things started like... And then the first week as we're experiencing all these things that are sort of unsettling as a new Christian, they put this book of a back-up in front of us and say, "Here's what we want you to do." We want you to spend four hours all by yourself reading this very short book of the Bible. Now you can read a back-up in like 10, 12 minutes if you just read it from start to finish. And they said, "We want you to spend four hours with this." Now I've never done this before as a Christian, I've been a Christian for four years. So I remember reading it and underlining it. I'm like, "Okay, I'm all done. Oh, I got three hours and a 45 minutes left. Let me read it again." Oh, I didn't see that before. Let me read it again. What is that? God, could that prayer be my prayer? God, do you want my heart to break? Seeing that like your heart breaks when you see that. And that summer shaped me as a 22-year-old follower of Jesus. And this book was a part of that. And I remember sitting with a man named Alex Anderson as my whole life was getting messed up. I call it, you get gloriously ruined.

You get messed up in the best possible way. All your preconceived notions and idealism and naiveté just gets blown up. And Alex is like, Doug, you have a passion to see the home church you're a part of, to be part of this, to reach out to kids and see the brokenness and feel the pain and go towards it, walk toward the mess. He goes, but they can't see what you've gotten to experience here because you got to see above the fence. And so part of casting vision, God opened your eyes is to put the people in your church on your shoulder so they can see over the fence, like you can see over the fence. And when their eyes are open and their hearts are broken, God's vision will flow through them to your community. And that's what happened in my life, 34 years ago. And that's why there's this personal love for this book. Habakkuk's story is our story. He's a lot like us. He sees what's wrong in the world, what's broken in the world. And it keeps him up at night and he wonders why God isn't doing something different. How many of you have looked at our world and seen the latest newsfeed like this world needs so much help? And that just in a way that makes you angry, a way that makes you sad, where it breaks your heart, the spiritual attacks, the things that are happening in culture, the things that are happening all around us in the world, the wars and the violence

and all the things that people, human beings do to each other. And Habakkuk says, God, how long? And God hears Habakkuk. His name means wrestler, struggler. He's wrestling with all these things in life. And so God says, hey, I'm gonna give you a solution to your problem. I see all the brokenness too, so I'm gonna send the Babylonians into Israel and they're gonna take over. They're gonna be my hand of discipline on my people. And Habakkuk's like, wait, wait, that's worse. We're bad, but they're worse. You're gonna bring worse people than us to discipline us. And then Habakkuk does something crazy. He's like, you know what? That doesn't make any sense. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna climb up into a tower. I'm gonna change my perspective. I'm gonna get up high. And I'm gonna sit in this tower and I'm gonna wait until you answer me and answer my complaint. And some of you are like, can you talk to God like that? I heard it said this way. You can say anything to God as long as you're facing Him. Just don't turn your back on Him. You can say anything to God. He's not offended. Habakkuk sits in that tower. I have no idea how long he sits in that tower,

but he is determined. This tenacity to say, I'm gonna sit in this tower or not working how I think he should? And God answers in chapter two. God speaks to him and says this. Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. Habakkuk, I'm about to answer your complaint and your prayer and I'm about to give vision to you and to the people of God for generations to come. I'm about to download it to you. So here's what I want you to do. Write it down. Listen, if God's stirring you and God giving you a vision, write it down and write it in a way that's plain so that when a runner runs with it back in the day, they couldn't send a text. They didn't have a printing thing for an annual report to share the story. They had a way to go, how can I give this to a guy who's gonna run 26 miles to the next town and very clearly share the vision so I get it right away. Write it down, make it plain so that a herald or someone can run with it. And here's the beautiful thing. 2600 years later, we have Habakkuk's vision, which means he wrote it down, he made it plain. And people have run with it. We have the Bible today because faithful men and women

kept on writing it down and making it clear. God's inspired word does, are you grateful for God's word that we have it today, right? (audience applauds) That's the power of a God-given vision that is written for his people. Now, how many of you know that your deadline is not God's timeline? When God gives you a revelation like, "Okay, I see it, a vision, I see it." But it almost never happens exactly when you see it. Maybe you think like you're watching God's watch or not sing together because God's not on your timeline. So here's what God says to Habakkuk as he cast vision for what the future, he says this. "For the revelation waits for an appointed time "and it speaks to the end and will not prove false. "Though it linger, wait for it. "It certainly will come and will not delay." God gives Habakkuk a warning. I'm gonna show you something, but it's not gonna happen when you think it's gonna happen, but ultimately it will happen in my appointed time. So write it down, make it plain and run with it because it will certainly happen. God is playing the long game. Was about say a thousand years is like a day of days, like a thousand years to God. He's not in the same hurry we are, but his plan and his work will be done because he is God and we are not.

And so Habakkuk faithfully writes it down. So what is the vision that God gives? And if you read chapter two, there's a lot of chaos going on in violence and death and sexual morality and drunkenness and violence and power and idolatry. It's chapter two is a dark chapter, but in the middle of this dark chapter, in the middle of all the brokenness of the world, God gives Habakkuk a single sentence, one of the clearest, clearest prophetic words that will describe what God will do eventually in the world. Here it is, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the water covers the sea. One day, Habakkuk, the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Everyone will know me. Everyone will experience my glory. And the earth will be so full of it that it's like the water that covers the sea. Every square inch of this planet will be saturated with the knowledge of the glory of God. That means no more violence and no more death and no more conflict and no more sin. One day, we will experience a new heaven and a new earth with God's presence without sin. Are you looking forward to that day? Yeah, that's, listen, that's a vision of the future

that I, that gives me a great sense of hope. It's a long, long vision. The emotions call it the already, but not yet. God has already promised He already sees it, but we live in this tension of the in-between, the already, not yet. And this vision gives us focus. It gives us direction. It gives us clarity as the people of God as we live in the in-between space. Here's the great irony of our time. People are living longer than they've ever lived in the history of humanity. And yet our vision, our vision's getting shorter and shorter and shorter. You ask someone, what's the vision for your life? Oh, you know what? I wanna go to college. I wanna get a good job. I wanna make money. I wanna have kids. I wanna live my life. I wanna retire and I wanna have a second house and maybe a boat so I can play golf or shop or whatever I'm gonna do. That's the vision for my life. And then when I die, maybe I'll leave some of my kids and maybe some to God. I'll tip God at the end. I think God has more for our lives

than a vision that's just our life. I think the way God's vision expands our thinking is to think generationally. You see, in chapter two, Habakkuk carries this burden and this belief. And if we have a vision without a burden, just belief, our vision will be all about us. God, I believe you for this for me and this for me and this for me and this for me. And when I die, I'll let you figure out the rest. But if we live in the burden without the belief, then we're gonna be crushed by the pain of the world. This is broken, that makes me sad or discouraged. Or I tried this and I failed. Or I'm not only one person, I can't do it all. And we just sort of just, we just quit because it's just too hard. But following a vision for God personally and as a people requires us to live in the tension between the burden of the brokenness of the world and the belief that God can do above and beyond. We can imagine and we walk and live in that tension and the tension of timing that there's an urgency that everyone needs to know Jesus, that marriages need to be healed, that kids need to find their way back home, that all those who are lonely need to find a family and patience, that's not gonna happen in a single day. And sometimes we don't know how to live in that tension.

So we wanna live in urgency and when it doesn't happen and we quit or patience, we're so patient, we're like, yeah, I'll let God do it. It's his job, not mine. And the back is teaching us to live and walk in the tension as we follow the vision of God. And so when I think of the last 40 years of this church, I think of a clear mission to make disciples, I think of a clear vision to reach the community around us and then eventually to reach the world. And I think, well, how did God activate that vision in our spiritual fathers and mothers? Remember, to look forward, we wanna look back. What did he do? The seeds of faith, people that prayed crazy prayers and did crazy things that allowed all of this to happen. And we see that we today are benefited and experienced in the fruit of men and women who prayed, who gave generously and who put their lives out there for a legacy and a vision way longer than their own lifetime. And that makes me curious for how is God gonna do that with this generation for all that we've experienced? And here's the thing that I also see as I read the Bible and look at all the visions that God gave and the building of the tabernacle, the building of the temple, the rebuilding of the temple and the things that God put His people to is our timeline and God's timeline is never the same. And God is more interested in the process of forming His people in generosity and service

and living for something beyond themselves than He is in the final product or the timeline that we put in place. And so as we look at the process of God, I wanna just have you open this and just page through a few things. You'll see on the first page again, just some lives that were changed. And you'll see this acronym we use to talk about how do we reach our community and change our world? It's the acronym ARM, ARM, because a vision will give us focus. It will help us to know what to say yes to and no to. And this church has always been about this advocating for the vulnerable. What attracted my wife and I to this church in the very beginning was their heart for kids in foster care, their heart for people who were incarcerated, their heart for people who were suffering homelessness, their heart for people who were marginalized on the outside and this church has always been about how do we focus this vision toward those on the outside? And so you'll see a lot of these stories of the vision focused toward the vulnerable. We also are passionate about raising the next generation. We wanna see, you'll see over and over like youth bands and kids who are leading and speaking from the platform and helping lead outreaches because we don't want this to be a church that kids look at and go, that's my grandparents church,

that's my grandmas church, that's my mom and dad church. No, we want the young people of this church to say, that's my church, I'm a part of this church. We wanna raise the next generation and be intentional about it because our most important role as a church is to tell the generation behind us about the work of God and allow them to come along and then take our place. That's why our vision is called from one generation to the next, that's how every church, every ministry should be this and then mobilize mission leaders. That every one of you is a minister of the gospel, that every one of you, we wanna equip so that you can go into the marketplace and into your neighborhoods and your gyms and share the gospel yourself. That if we only do this with our staff or our lead volunteers, that we will never reach the city, that we're never going to accomplish this vision that God has for us and so we use this simple acronym, A-R-N. And so I hope that you begin to think and be curious, like how am I advocating for the vulnerable? God, how could I raise the next generation? or mobilize other people? And so as we began to think about God, what could be what should be a couple of years ago, one of the things that we wrote down was God, we need a permanent location in Parkland in Coral Springs. God, we need some more youth space because our kids are in portables at all these different locations, and eventually we want a space where kids

are welcome in all these spaces. And so part of this vision over the last few years is we bought a Walgreens. We bought a Walgreens in the corner of Wales in 441, and now there's going to be a permanent location. It's going to open in May of this year where people can hear the gospel. And I'm not just excited about the hundreds of people that will come to the grand opening. I'm excited about if Jesus doesn't come back the next 40 years of people who will wander onto that property and come to know Jesus because we put our stake in the ground and we said this is part of the kingdom of God. This place isn't dispensing drugs anymore. We're dispensing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's what can really change people, right? (audience applauds) The great physician is going to do his work on the corner of Wales in 441, and that's something we all got to do together. Started thinking about like that, what would it be like for us to have an espanol campus, this ministry that's outgrown its space as well? And so we're breaking ground on what will be a Calvary espanol campus, 450 seats on our West campus that's going to be in partnership with our school. And so we begin to think like what could be and what should be, and all of us got to be a part of that.

And we've been giving you updates as a church because nine months ago we cast a vision and we said, hey, our goal for our church as we look and pursue this vision is that we have 100% of our people in our church participate. It's not about the amount that you give, it's about the fact that you get to be a part of the process because we want to run with it, want to run the race and not be spectators alone, but be people who live with our lives. And so we've seen that 65% of the people who are calling Calvary Chapel, their church home have given this year. And so we celebrate that two out of every three people who call Calvary Chapel at home have given into this work and sewn into this work. And so can we just take a moment and celebrate that? It's a beautiful thing. And it provides us an opportunity to say, so that other third that says, hey, I'm here, how can I begin to take a step and go? You know what? That's not just Pastor Doug's vision or the church's vision or the leader's vision. That's my vision. And I want to take a step towards it. Now, where are we in the process of the $25 million of phase one I want to show you? Just a slide.

So because of the generosity of God's people, because the 700 families that went first in November, we have raised $5 million above and beyond our normal ties and offerings. And we just want to take a moment and celebrate that because it's a beautiful thing to watch that fuel the work of God. Many of the things you'll see here were fueled by that work. But you'll also see this gap. At this time, we had hoped to be at 10 millions. There were 5 million behind our goal, which provides a beautiful opportunity for all the people who said, you know, I haven't yet stepped in or I just moved here. I didn't know we were in the middle of this. And so here's how we look at this. If you look at your annual report, you've been given this little handout. And it just sort of shows you like our discipleship pathway. Here's what we believe. We believe generosity brings joy. And we believe generosity is a response. Generosity is a response because of all that God did for us. Because he went first, because he gave us his best. We as the people of God, we give our best, we go first. But there's a process where people learn to give. That that's part of the discipleship process. Jesus never raised money for a building. He never built a church, but he talked about money constantly because Jesus knew that money is a competitor in our hearts

for what only God can do. For those of us who love to stand on ourselves, Jesus says, you know, the only one who can fully and finally satisfy you is God himself. So why spend money on things that won't satisfy when you can offer your life to God and find full satisfaction? Right? Three people clapped. For those of us who are savers, no matter how much money in the bank, it's not going to be your security. The only security the only provider who has is God himself. Money will let you down in the end, but God will never let you down. He's your provider, he's your healer, he's your stainer, he's the one who gives you joy. And so in this process, we begin to look like, how do we as the people of God invest in something that's not about us, that's beyond ourselves? And so we look at it this way, this sort of discipleship pathway of going to other people who, for the first time, take that step, I want to do this for the first time. And that first time is almost always the hardest. And so there's a lot of people here who haven't taken that first step. I just want to encourage you, take the first step and watch God work. And then maybe you'll grow to an intentional give. But we're like, I'm not just going to give once a year or at a vision weekend, I'm going to begin to give intentionally. And then proportion. as a starting spot and then sacrificial above and beyond. You grow in your relationship with Jesus

and you start to realize that the more you give, the more generous you become and if you're generous in this room, you're not getting nervous right now because this is part of like the DNA of going, I get to give back to the work of God because of all he did for me. And then maybe you become a legacy-giver. We have people in this church that are like, you know that challenge of we need another home for kids in foster care, we need a ministry to help translate the Bible in another country, you know, we need a home for people experiencing homelessness and they go, I'm gonna go big, I wanna help with this home and this home, I wanna help with this initiative, I wanna translate the Bible in these 10 countries, how much is that gonna be? Let me go ahead and underwrite the work of God and the building of his kingdom. And we have in this church so many people who live in that generous way, but I wanna show you my, or tell you my favorite story of someone who gives to this church on a regular basis. His name is Scott and he's in prison, in Arizona. And he's benefited from this ministry because 275,000 men and women of Carson around the country are watching this service on the Pando app that they've watched it over the years and we've had over 280 salvation people who watch. And so we just want you to know,

if you're watching the Pando app, we see you and we love you and we're grateful for you. And Scott's like, I wanna be a part of the work of God and so he sends his donation from prison. Man, just $20, but you know what, for God, it's not about the amount, it's about the heart. What did Jesus say about the most generous person in the temple? Was that widow who just dropped a few in? He's like, guys, you're looking the wrong way. The most generous person is right here. God has shaped her heart to trust him and invest in his work, a vision that will, outlast her and so as we give you this, we'll hand out, it's a chance for you over the next four weeks just to pray and four weeks we're gonna have a chance to commit. For those of you who've committed last year, maybe God takes you to a whole 'nother level of giving. For those of you who haven't joined you, you take a step in that direction and if every one of this church that calls this church home, Calvary, it gives, we'll watch this work of God continue to be fueled. We don't wanna stop, we don't wanna slow down, we wanna watch God's kingdom be built. Here in South Florida, as it is in heaven. And I know some of you might be thinking about why does God need my money? Why does God need my time?

And that would be a very good question. You know God could save people without us. God could heal people without us. God could expand global missions without us. God could appear directly to people and sometimes he does that in dreams. But there's this beautiful scripture in the book of Ephesians and Paul writes it this way. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that's it work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. I'm gonna leave that on the screen for just a second. When we pray this prayer or we say this in faith, God, you're able to do immeasurably more than all that I can ask or imagine. We sort of just think like people, he's gonna do it out there somewhere. But the next part of the prayer is that his power is at work where? Within us. But not for us to get the glory, for him to get the glory and for how long? How long is this vision of how God works through his people throughout all generations? And so when we think about the vision of God, we wanna be near the whisper of God. Isaiah was near the whisper of God and he heard God say, who should I send, who will go for us?

And he was close enough to hear. So we could say, here am I, send me. The disciples were close enough to Jesus that when everyone else left, they heard him say, as the Father has sent me, now I send you. And so we wanna be near the voice of God and the whisper of God because this is not a passive process. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Listen, the one thing I don't want you to envision weekend is to go through this and go, oh, that's amazing. And you're like watching all these people run their race. Like, that's amazing, that's amazing, that's amazing. I'm so proud of our church. What's for lunch? Christianity is not a spectator sport. If you're bored in your faith, like, it's because you're not yet running. Because when you run the race, when you hear God say, write it down, make it plain and run with it, that sort of thing changes you. through our own lives. And I've been thinking a lot about how long a vision can go because, well, over the last few months, my wife and I have become grandparents, and I'll just keep showing you pictures of Callie because she's beautiful. So when I look at this face, I think, what kind of world will she inherit? What kind of church will she be a part of? How will Christians and people her age as she grows up be advancing the gospel? And I might not be alive for a lot of that. And that's how God has ordered life.

And so I'm thinking, God, you're the God who blesses thousand generations. You're the God who's faithful for a thousand generations. What will her generation be like? And how can I, as her grandpa, set her up for the best possible way to run with her faith? That's thinking generational. It's thinking the blessing and the work of God is generational because one day, Callie is going to run her race. And this is one of the metaphors of the New Testament that is Christians because Jesus ran his race. Now we get to run our race. The author of Hebrews gives us this beautiful invitation to run with it. He says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." This is a beautiful invitation to run with it. God has given you a race to run. He set out the course and He says, "And don't give up. And when you get tired, look at Jesus, who for the joy set before He ran His race. He's scoring the shame. He sat down at the right hand of God. He said it is finished. Aren't you grateful Jesus finished His race, right? And now Jesus says, "It's your turn to run with it." So here's the question. Are you running your race? As you sit at the campus, you're sitting in this, you watch online, you hear like, "Am I running the race that God has called me to run?" And some of you are like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm running." Some of you are like, "I'm starting to walk.

Maybe I'll start to run." Some of you are like, "I'm still spectating, but maybe this weekend is a catalyst. Maybe reading through it back for the next four weeks and sitting with it and saying, "God, is any of this for me that you'll get up and you'll start to run?" And I promise you, I've never met anyone who got up and started to run that ever said that wasn't worth it, because He's worth it. His work is worth it. And He meets you in places that are beyond what you can imagine. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Spoiler alert, at the end of a back, I go back just like no matter what happens in life, when I run with God, He takes me to the heights. And that again is a beautiful invitation for God, for His people. And so I want to share with you five quick stories of men and women who have run with it in this last year. And I hope that it inspires you, it provokes you to think about how my God helped you to run for it. The first one, her name is Susan. And Susan comes to us like a year ago and says, "I want to do a job fair." She goes, "I'll do all the work. I got like 40 volunteers. I want to help people who need a second chance, people coming out of jail, people struggling. I'm going to get my friends together, leaders from all the church, and even friends who aren't Christians. We're going to organize this job fair." And so she organizes this job fair at a downtown campus. The 400 people show up, 160 people get interviews, and 31 people get jobs on the spot. Yeah, it was amazing. [applause] And she positioned it so that there were people who did excellent interviews for everyone who came in and they would pray and share the gospel, and two people made a decision

to follow Jesus that day. And that's pretty cool. 31 jobs, but more importantly, two people whose name got written in the book of life. And Susan's with Dante and just celebrating this beautiful thing, and there's a certain note that gets written on a prayer wall that says, "I came in with nothing, and I left with hope and confidence." Susan is running with it. Who is Susan? She's a regular person just like you, who said, "I have a heart for those who are broken. I want to do something," and she ran with it. Now that happened at our downtown campus and a year or two ago, the downtown campus became part of our Calvary family. And it just so happened that when this downtown campus became part of Calvary, there was a little girl named Tiny who lived in the same neighborhood. And this partnership with Calvary downtown in hopes of Florida, caring for people experiencing homelessness, helping people with food insecurity, and Tiny started coming to church, and then her family experienced a crisis, and she needed housing. And there were these homes, next door, called Homes of Hope, homes that are part of a renovation and giving them a transitional place to stay, because I don't know if you know this or not, but in our economy today, employment does not guarantee housing. There are many single moms who have jobs who sleep in their cars with their kids. We've served hundreds of them over the last year. And so a place for a tiny state and tiny starts coming to church. No one in her family is a Christian. She keeps showing up. She keeps worshiping. She's part of the youth ministry, comes to YE, and just to watch her worship. And this beautiful spiritual tenacity to say, "I don't know why there's all these things going on in my life and why the people around me don't believe, but I'm going to continue to worship and continue to believe."

And this last Easter, her mom came to church and gave her life to Jesus. And then her nephew, Mason, came to church and gave his life to Jesus, and Tiny is running with it as a teenager. And she just got a job at the grill, and she started last night, and she's in a four kids home, and God is working in all these beautiful ways. It was not an accident that Calvary downtown moved right next to where Tiny live. That's the way that God reaches the one. Marcus is also running with it. Marcus was an '80s kid. He grew up in the tech world, and he started doing virtual ministry right away because he realized like 3.6 billion people live online all the time, many of them with these goggles on, these headsets on, and he says, "I want to reach each of these people with the gospel." So we started five or six years ago, a VR ministry, many of you are watching the service in VR, and we have seen so many people view 52,000 visitors to our VR campus, 567 decisions to follow Jesus. Can we celebrate that for a minute? And 21 volunteers. But just this last weekend, an example, a girl named Amy, who's got one, comes on, watches the service at the end, "I'm going to give my life to Jesus." One more person who gives your life to Jesus, and Marcus is like, "Hey, so we're about to learn to VR app because of the generosity of all of our churches. We're able to launch this VR app, and now we're about to 100 X the number of people we can reach in the metaverse with the gospel, and with only 21 volunteers, Marcus is like, "We need help." So if you have a heart for those who are watching online, maybe can't come, maybe live in another country, and you want to be a missionary, Marcus is running with it, he'll teach you how to run. You see, it's not just about the technology platforms we're building, or the space, it's about the people who come to those spaces and how they come to know Jesus. Fourth story, I'll tell you about Jeff Stone, Jeff's one of my favorite missionary stories

because he came here, drug addicted, came to Calvary House, left three times, stole a band the last time, and eventually got his life together. Becomes a missionary, becomes a pastor, plants a church, plants a school, but what you don't know is that church was too small, it was full of people. So because of the gifts of this church and investing in from one generation next, we were able to get them in a building that didn't see 300, but it seeded 500, but that's not the best part of the story, because now that church is full, and they're going to a second service. Here's the best part of the story. There's a guy named Mario who used to serve at the church of 300, who was actively involved, and then he experienced a tragedy. His brother died by suicide, and that burden was so deep, he walked away. Maybe much like a back, I don't understand, but you know that new church got planted right next to where he works every single day. Is that an accident, a coincidence? So he walks in the door, and he says to Jeff, "I try to run away from God," and he came after me. This is God. This is what he loves to do, because Jeff and Nicole are running with it. Now, Mario is back in the race, and maybe you're here and you've fallen down and you've gotten discouraged and disconnected. Maybe you're watching on because coming to church is too painful for you. God wants you to get back in the race. But possibly my favorite story. Is this pavilion in West Boca and the after school program in West Boca that became part of our birthday gift for GSA a year ago? How do we reach kids in a neighborhood where drugs are rampant, where kids aren't always safe? This neighborhood reminds me a lot of the neighborhood I was in in 1992 in Atlanta. A place that you just wonder, "How is a kid going to make it out of here?"

And this kids program, this pavilion, is reaching kids like Eliza. Eliza's mom sent a voice message. She's like, "Eliza loves to go to Bible Club, the kids club." She loves to go after school. She loves the volunteers. She loves Danielle, who's organizing this, because where they learn stories about Jesus and they learn the Bible stories, they have so much fun, and it's a safe place for her to cultivate and I just couldn't help but think, when I saw the picture of all the kids ago in Atlanta. Because when I was reading him back again, that basement, smelling the smoke from the NA meeting the night before, and I was writing down, "God, could you do this in me, through me? I have no idea how it's going to happen." And now 34 years later it's happening in another neighborhood. God's doing it again. And this is the beautiful part of the journey of God. God loves to work in and through His people, not just for a year, but for decades. And not just in their lifetime, but for generations. And so the question I have for you is, are you running your race? Have you said yes to Jesus? And my prayer for us is that when we wake up in the morning, this run with it prayer is in our heart, something like this. God gave us a vision, and it's time to run with it. This isn't a moment to sit still. This is our moment to move. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. It's not a promise we're waiting on. That's a mission we've been invited into. Every generation coming to know Him, that starts with us right here, right now. The great things you've done before. I know you could do it again. God didn't call me to the sideline. He called me to the field. This is my run. I'm running towards my neighborhood. I'm running towards my workplace, towards the vulnerable, towards my family. I'm running towards this next generation. I'm running towards the one. God did it before, and I know He'll do it again. I've seen what He does when His people move, and I want more of that. So I'm running, not away from something, towards something, because I know I'm called to run, to run with endurance, the race that's set for for me, to run with purpose, to run on missions, to run toward the broken, to run and not stop, to run for the ones. This is my church. This is my city, and I'm now holding back. The time is now. This is my run. Run with it. Let us run our race and fix our eyes on Jesus.

So we're going to do that right now. We're going to take some time to celebrate communion. So if you have your communion elements, I'm going to ask you to take them out. If you don't, you can raise your hand wherever you are. I want to remind you again, if you're not a Christian communion, it's something you observe, and you don't take because for communion, for it to be a real experience for you, when you take the bread in the cup, this is something personal that you believe that God has forgiven your sins, that you've come to Him in repentance. You've offered your life to Him. You've repented and believed the good news of the gospel. And so what you're witnessing is sort of a family meal of men and women whose lives have been changed because Jesus went first. He ran His race. He paid for our sins. But I also always make this invitation. If you've never given your life to Jesus, and right now you want to, you can simply pray, God, come into my life and forgive my sins. I want to be forgiven. I want to be whole. I want to vision for my life. And a simple prayer offered in faith? Well, it can change your life and your eternity. And so quietly in your seat right now, you want to pray, that prayer, God, I open my heart and invite you inside. Forgive my sins. I spent my whole life running away from you, running my own race. But God, I want to run with you on what your presence in me. And so I repent of my sins, and I believe the good news of the gospel, that Jesus, you came and died in my place. And now I want to live for you. And if you pray, that then take communion with us. Because communion is a remembrance of something that Jesus did, but it's also a looking forward. And today I want us to think about communion, not Just as we look back. freeing us from sin and from shame. But Paul says every time we take communion, we proclaim his death until he returns. We proclaim his death and resurrection. We look forward, which means Jesus coming back again. Did you know Jesus is coming back again? And then the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth like the water covers the sea. And so in between the moment we're in now,

in that moment, we run our race. And so as you take communion today, I want you to think God, what race have you called me to? What purpose have I stepped into? How have you formed your generosity in me? So my generosity is a response and not a duty or an obligation or something I avoid. How is my service, my time, my talents? How is something that I offer to you as I run my race instead of waiting for other people to do it? And this is a beautiful and holy invitation. But if you listen close enough, you hear God speak. Who will I send? Who will go for us? And maybe in this moment you'll say, "Here I am, send me, I'm ready to run my race." And so we're gonna give you a moment of quiet reflection. And then we're gonna sing a song over you. And then we're gonna respond in worship. And so during this next reflective time and during this first quiet song, I'm gonna ask you to take this communion on your own, take the bread in a private moment with Jesus and take the cup and know that you're surrounded by a cloud of witnesses that we get to run the race with. And let's take that time of reflection right now. (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ God of every age ♪ ♪ The one who's always been ♪

(gentle music) ♪ Known to never change whose word will never end ♪ ♪ You lead all through the day and work all through the night ♪ ♪ I can't help but say repeat it in our time ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Faithfulness ♪ ♪ You're faithful to the variant ♪ ♪ Your promises are yes, and every one he met ♪ ♪ Faithfulness ♪ ♪ Fill us with the faith for this ♪ ♪ In every word you said ♪ ♪ We will say man and run with it ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus, take your place ♪ ♪ Spirit, lead the weather ♪ ♪ Jesus, take your place ♪ ♪ Oh, Spirit, lead the way ♪ ♪ Faithfulness ♪ ♪ You're faithful to the variant ♪ ♪ Your promises are yes, and every one he met ♪ ♪ Faithfulness ♪ ♪ Fill us with the faith for this ♪ ♪ In every word you said ♪ ♪ We will say man and run with it ♪ ♪ You were the of it all ♪ - As you are. ♪ You were the of it all ♪ ♪ Oh, for from you are all things ♪ ♪ And to you are all things ♪ ♪ God, you deserve the glory ♪ - How would you stand with us as we sing?

Come on. ♪ You were the of it all ♪ ♪ You were the of it all ♪ You worthy of your own, of Jesus, far from you all things. And to you all, you deserve, you deserve the glory and you worthy of your own. You worthy of your own, of Jesus, far from you all things. And to you all things, you deserve the glory. Come on, give me give Jesus a shout of praise to this one. Now to him, who is able to do a measurably more than all we ask or imagine. According to his power, that's it work within us, in the church, in Jesus Christ, through every generation and at the end of it all, he gets the glory. Can we thank him one more time for his goodness and his grace and the way he speaks in and through his people? Listen, if you need prayer for any reason all I'm going to ask you, you can come forward. If you prayed to receive Christ, we'd love to pray with you and I'm going to invite you. If you want to know more, we're having a vision gathering right through those double doors to my right to your left. Just a moment to grab a cup of coffee, have a cookie, have a conversation. I would love to meet you there. And if not, I pray that you would go in the grace of Jesus this week. We're going to join on Wednesday for prayer and worship, so please join us then. God bless you and have a great week. [MUSIC] (upbeat music)