Sent Out | Dream Disciple Series

Today we're gonna be wrapping up our Dream Disciples series and today I'm gonna talk to us about what it means to be sent out. So grab your Bibles and go to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 is where we're gonna be as you're turning there. I've been watching quite a bit of Olympics and there are stories that are amazing and then there are stories that are somewhat disappointing and heartbreaking. One of the most heartbreaking though, Olympic moments actually happened in 2004. There was a man by the name of Matt Emmons. Matt Emmons was the best sharpshooter in the world and he was expected to go into the Olympics and win gold in every competition that he competed in and he was actually on his way of doing that. His best event was the 50 meter and man, he was going through first and second and third round and he is literally wearing out the bullseye and when he was just crushing the competition, going into the gold medal round, all he needed to do to win the gold, this is how much of a lead that he had, all he had to do was hit the target. Not bullseye, all he had to do was hit the target. If he hits the target, he wins gold medal and so all the fans are around, family's around, everybody's waiting for Matt Emmons to win his first gold medal and there he goes,

he takes aim, squeezes the trigger and he did what he always does, very center of the bullseye and the crowd goes crazy for a moment. They're celebrating and then all of a sudden, on the scoreboard, you see zero, zero, zero on the screen and then everybody got really quiet and they thought, okay, there must have been a mistake, there must have been an issue with the judges and then the judges started making their way over and then they informed Matt, Matt, yes, you did hit the bullseye, the problem is you hit the wrong target and because of that, he fell to 11th place and did not even get a medal, much less the gold. Now, that's heartbreaking, is it not? Like, that's just so devastating at this point. All that work, all that time, all that energy in order to get to that one moment and you hit the bullseye, the problem was you were aiming at the wrong target. Now, tell that story to say this, I think it could be that some of us in this room, we are exhausting our life and we are pouring our life into things and we're hoping that our life would matter and have significance but the reality is we are hitting bullseye on the target, the problem is we're aiming at the wrong target. See, the truth is you get one shot in life,

you get one shot in life. The old phrase says this, only one life so soon will pass, only what's done for Christ will last and so many of us, we're going through life and we're accomplishing things and the truth is this, is that you will hit the target you aim at, the question that you need to be asking yourself is this, what target are you aiming at? Are you aiming at the right target? And this is what I want us to look at this morning. The Apostle Paul shows us this in Acts chapter 20 verse 22. It is our desire, church, by the way, it is our desire to see men and women in this congregation rise up who will hit the bullseye of the target that God has set out for you, that you would live a life of significance, that you would live a life that matters. One of the phrases I say all the time is that it is possible for us to live a life that outlives us, that we would leave a gospel legacy where when we're dead and gone, the story of our life still changes people because we were aiming our life at the right target. How many of you want that kind of story for your life? I wanna see what this looks like here in Acts chapter 20. We're gonna start reading in verse 22. If you're there, say the Bible is true. He says, and now behold, I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the Spirit,

not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me that in every city that imprisonment and affliction await me, but I do not account my life of any value nor is precious to myself. If only I may finish, I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Now I want you to notice something right here. Paul is describing his life and I want you to notice what he says about this. Paul is clear and he has complete clarity that he has a mission in life. Look what he says, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is very clear. He understands that there is an intended target that Jesus Christ has given him. There is a course, the idea of a course is a purpose, a calling. There is a calling that is received. There is a ministry, he says, that has been given to me. by Jesus Christ himself. So he's living with this clarity. He's living with a purpose. And here's what I want you to know. The same could be said of you, that there is a course and a ministry if you are in Christ that you have received.

There is an intended target of ministry, a life of mission, a purpose that God has given you. And Paul is not only crystal clear that he has one, he is laser focused on accomplishing everything that God had given him. And I want you to notice something, though. Paul doesn't just say, I know I've been given one. He actually tells us what it is. And I think this is important. He says, here's the mission, here's the course. It's to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. It is to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Now, eyes right here just for a second. The reason this statement is important is because notice that Paul doesn't say, hey, I've been given a course and a ministry. I am called to be a pastor. He doesn't say that. He doesn't say, I've been given a course and a ministry. I'm gonna go and be a missionary, or I'm gonna go and be an evangelist, or I'm gonna go and run a nonprofit with my life. He says, no, I've been given a course, I've been given a ministry, and then he's gonna give us a definition. He says, my ministry is to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And why is this so important? It's important because what Paul is articulating here is what I would call the general calling

that every single believer has been given by Jesus himself. Is that generally speaking, every follower of Jesus, how many disciples do we have in the room today? Raise your hand, okay. Every disciple of Jesus has been given the same exact calling. What is that calling? It is to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Remember Matthew 28. Jesus is gathered with his disciples just before he ascends, and here's what he gives us. He gives us what's called the Great Commission. He says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. What is this? It's the Great Commission. It's the marching orders of every single disciple of Jesus Christ. And what Paul is articulating here is just another way of saying the Great Commission. He says, my call in life, my purpose in life, what Jesus has entrusted to me is that he has sent me to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. And brothers and sisters, I want you to hear me say this, and that very calling is the calling that you have received from Jesus as well.

Amen? We've gotta understand that you and me and the Apostle Paul and Peter and James and John and all of, we have received the very same calling to testify the gospel of the grace of God, to go and tell people that God loves us so much that even though we are in our sin, Christ came from heaven to earth to put on flesh, to live the life we couldn't live, to die the death we deserve to die, to be put in a tomb, to be resurrected three days later so that men and women who are dead in our sin might be made alive in Jesus Christ. That is our mission, amen? Not to just know it and receive it and enjoy it, but to give it away to others. You see, I love this. Paul is a tent-making church planner. In fact, you think about Paul, Paul's occupation, what he did for a paycheck, how he supported himself, he was a tent maker. He literally could work with his hands and he had a skillset, he was really good at it. And so he could put together material and he could make tents. And so what Paul did is he leveraged, watch this, he leveraged his occupation to advance his mission. So he would go into unreached areas and he would set up his tent-making shop and he would make tents.

And while he was making tents, he was working with others in the community and the people he sold tents to and other tent makers. He would build relationships. And the whole time, he's testifying of the gospel, the grace of God. And as he would make disciples, he would go into the community and he would teach them even more. And as more Christians came, he would start a church and when a church got healthy, he would leave and take his tent-making business to the next community. So watch this, he leveraged his vocation for his mission. He didn't just say, I'm a tent maker. He's like, I am called to go reach people for Jesus and I'm gonna use tent-making to do it. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is there's a husband and wife couple named Aquila and Priscilla. How is that for a powerhouse couple right there? Aquila and Priscilla, they were tent makers. One of the scriptures that described this is they were tent makers alongside Paul. And in other words, Paul crossed paths with Aquila and Priscilla, led them to Christ as fellow tent makers. You know what Aquila and Priscilla did the rest of their life? They leveraged their tent-making business

to take Jesus to the community and started a church in their home. Their occupation was their platform for their mission. Paul, listen to this, was a tent-making church planter. And here's what I believe. Listen, you need to begin to identify your mission and connect it to your occupation. So like, for instance, in this room, here's what I know. In this room, there are a bunch of schoolteachers. Any schoolteachers in the room today? Any educators just beyond? Okay, educate, raise your hand if that's you. Man, praise God for you. We celebrate you, yeah, let's celebrate them. You know what we have in this room? We have some teaching disciple-makers in the room. That teaching and educating is your occupation, but your mission is disciple-making. In this room, we have some football coaching missionaries. Like, your occupation is to be a football coach. Your mission in life is to take Jesus to the people around you. In this room, we have oil field working evangelists. That your occupation might be in the oil field, but your mission is to evangelize the lost. In this room, there are business-owning witnesses for Jesus that you might run a business or run an organization or work in one, but your mission is to make much of Jesus while you're there. You see, we've gotta understand

that we have been given a mission from Jesus, and it's time that we begin to leverage them where we live, work, and play, so that God can use whatever gifts and skills and abilities and placement he's given us within the community as our platform to make much of him to the people around us, amen? So the question is, how do we do that? Like, what does that look like on a, like, for me to get up tomorrow morning? What is this demand of me? I'm gonna give you two insights that we find in the life of Paul. I want you to write these down, and here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you these two insights, and then I'm gonna interview a gentleman in our church who's actually living this out, and you're gonna hear his story on how God is using his life on ground zero to live out what I'm talking about today. So two insights in life of the Apostle Paul of what it looks like for us to live on mission. Here's number one. We need to obediently, listen to this, obediently follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads you. If you're gonna live a life on mission, it requires that you obediently follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads you. Look what he says here in verse 22.

It says, now behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me that in every city imprisonment and affliction await me. Now, here's what's happening here. Paul is leaving Ephesus. If you go back and read the backstory, Paul is leaving Ephesus. Ephesus was one of Paul's favorite places. He poured his life in for three years. The longest he ever stayed with a local church was in Ephesus. These people loved him, he loved them. They had a close relationship. Well, now he's leaving, and if you read the story, there's a lot of tears. Paul is having a gospel goodbye. He's weeping. There, at one point, Paul looks at him and says, why are you breaking my heart? Like, you're crying and you're literally breaking my heart. So as he's departing, there's probably a lot of conversation about, hey, what's going on? Where are you leaving, where are you going? And so Paul tells him, listen, I'm going to Jerusalem. And it could have been where someone says, okay, so what are you gonna do in Jerusalem? And Paul's answer is, I don't know. I don't know what I'm gonna do in Jerusalem.

And they're probably asking, like, then why are you going to Jerusalem if you don't even know what you're gonna do when you get there? And his answer is, because the Holy Spirit told me to go there. So, and they're thinking, okay, so the Holy Spirit's telling you to leave us, to go to Jerusalem, but he's not telling you anything about what you're gonna do and experience when you get there. And then Paul's response is, oh, yeah, he did tell me a little bit. Okay, what did he tell you? Well, he says that, well, I'm not gonna tell you everything, but you are gonna go to prison and you're probably gonna get beaten and whipped while you're there. Now imagine that conversation. They're like, have you lost your ever-loving mind? Why would you leave a place that you're loved and cared for and, man, you're protected and God is doing this great work? Why would you leave here and go there with all the uncertainty, with all the affliction that's waiting, with the imprisonment? Why would you do that? And here's Paul's answer. I am constrained by the Spirit to go there. That's why I'm going.

The word constrained means to literally be bound by the Spirit, to be handcuffed by the Spirit, to be drawn and led. In other words, here's what Paul is saying. I am under the control of the Holy Spirit. I go where he sends, I do what he says. That's my life, constrained by the Holy Spirit. Paul says. When the Holy Spirit tells me to go, I go. It doesn't matter the conditions. It doesn't matter how much information he gives me or how little information or what he tells me is awaiting me, whether it's good or bad. Here's the only thing that matters. If the Holy Spirit sends, I go. I'm gonna do what he tells me to do. I'm gonna say what he tells me to say. I'm gonna go where he tells me to go. If you want to live a life of impact every day, here's what it requires. It requires that you obediently follow the Holy Spirit no matter what. You see, for the apostle Paul, he understood wherever the Holy Spirit sent, regardless of what was gonna happen, that if the Holy Spirit sent him, the Holy Spirit was gonna use him. And by the way, if you look at Paul's life, when he goes to Jerusalem, these hardships that he's told about,

this imprisonment that he's told about, it ultimately comes the greatest platform in his entire life. Paul's greatest work happened through the seasons of greatest affliction. But he doesn't experience any of this if he puts terms and conditions on his obedience to the Holy Spirit. You see, that's what most of us do. We will follow the Holy Spirit if he tells us what's gonna happen when we get there, if he tells us the pathway's gonna be easy, if he tells us it's not gonna be that difficult. We'll follow him anywhere, but whenever it gets hard, uncertain, unknown, rejection, we go, oh, wait a second, I'm gonna pump the brakes here. I'll never forget a story. There was a pastor going into a church doing a revival, and he was calling the people to live on missions. Like, God can use you, and he wants to use you, and what are you willing to do for God? And that was kind of his premise. What are you willing to do for God? And you need to be praying. What are you willing to do for God? So he gives this altar call, and on the altar, he had all of these cards, and these had these blanks on these cards, and at the very bottom, had a place for a signature.

And he's like, what are you willing to do for God? And so people were called at the invitation to come down and write down what they're willing to do for God, and then put their name on it as a signature of going, I'm willing to do this for God, and laid it on the altar, and he was like, you gotta lay it down on the altar. He said there was one little eight-year-old girl that came up and grabbed a card, and she was only there about 30 seconds, and she just signed her name and put her card down, and didn't fill out any of the other parts of the card, like, what am I willing to do for God? And he was curious, so after the service, he grabbed her, and he got her card, and he said, say, listen, you didn't follow my instructions. You never put anything on there. Like, you just put your signature. Like, what are you willing to do for God? And her response to him, she looked him in the eyes, and said, I don't know, he hasn't told me yet, but when he does, he already has my answer. The question you need to ask yourself this morning is this. Is your yes on the altar, no matter what? Is your yes on the altar, no matter what? Or do you have terms and agreement with God of what you will and will not do for him? God cannot use you greatly, listen to this,

while you retain control of your own life. That's truth number one. Here's truth number two. Make your mission from Jesus your passion in life. Make your mission from Jesus, what is the mission? It is to testify to the gospel of God's grace. Make your mission your passion in life. Look at the way Paul says this in verse 24. He says, but I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So the question we gotta ask is, how could Paul face these threats and hardships and follow the Holy Spirit into suffering? And here's the answer. He says that I count my life of no value. Like it is not precious to me at all. My life, the only significance that my life has, notice what he says, is to finish the course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. He's like my life's mission, my passion in life is to do whatever God has called me to do wherever he's called me to do it. The only thing that matters, listen to this, it lies right here. For Paul, his greatest fear was not suffering for Jesus. His greatest fear was not finishing the call of Jesus.

See, so many of us, we're so afraid of what the cost is to follow Jesus, and we have got to see our life, say, look, it doesn't matter what happens to me. The only thing that matters is that I finish what God has called me to finish. And here's the thing. Paul says, look, I'll do this no matter what it costs. I'll go in the uncertainty. I'll go in the middle of the suffering, why? Because Paul's greatest passion, was the mission of God. See, we use that word passion a lot in our culture, right? I'm passionate about fishing and hunting. Like, I'm passionate. We got Friday night football coming up. I'm passionate about Friday night football. I'm passionate about working out. I'm passionate about my family. I'm passionate about my job. We use that word a lot, and the truth is, what we really mean is, I really like those things. I'm enthusiastic about it. Because when push comes to shove, when it gets really hard, it's really easy for us to back away from that and find a new passion and a new hobby, because here's what the word passion literally means, ready? Write this down if you're taking notes. The word passion means the price you're willing to pay

to accomplish the goal. The price you're willing to pay to accomplish the goal. Another way of saying it is, what you're willing to suffer to finish the job. This is why, whenever we're talking about what Jesus went through on the cross, we call it the passion of the Christ. Why do we call it the passion of the Christ? It's literally the suffering of Christ, what Jesus was willing to endure to redeem humanity. This was his passion, his willingness to hang, to bleed and die, and to suffer at the hand of sinners in order to redeem the sinners. Jesus is the epitome of what it means to be passionate. A person who embraces suffering, who embraces the cost no matter what, because of what is on the other side of that is more valuable than anything else. And this is what Paul is saying. My life's mission is to finish the task, and I'm so passionate about it. It doesn't matter what happens to me. The only thing that matters is finishing the calling that God has given me for my life. You see, on Friday nights, we talk about passion. We go to watch Friday night football, and in every stadium across East Texas, people are freaks about football, are we not? And it does not matter, like, size of the school, how good the program, it's just, like,

people are passionate. So here's what's gonna happen at every high school stadium every Friday night. There's gonna be a team that leaves the locker room, and they're gonna be heading onto the field. The band is gonna crank up. Fans are gonna stand to their feet, and they're gonna begin to cheer, and the team is gonna run through the banner, and there's gonna be a couple of different groups of players. There're gonna be players that are all jazzed up and painted up, and they're gonna be high-fiving and chest-bumping and hooping and hollering. It's gonna be nuts, right? And then there're gonna be some other players, and they're just more chill and more reserved, and they got the game face on, and they're not really saying anything. And it's really easy when you're standing in the stands, and you don't know the player's personality, to start thinking, oh, those guys that are chest-bumping and hooping and hollering, man, those must be, like, the studs that are, man, they are passionate about football. And then these other cats over here, they're not saying a word. They must not really care if they're gonna win. And what happens is, listen, it's really easy for us to confuse enthusiasm with passion.

So we look at someone enthusiastically, oh, they must be passionate. You know the real test of the ones who are passionate on Friday nights? It's not their posture in pregame when they come out of the locker room. That's not what determines passion. It's the fourth quarter when the game is on the line, and they're bloody, and they're bruised, and they're limping around, and every play, they're getting back up, and they're giving 100%, and they're leaving it all on the field and limping back to the locker room because they have nothing left in them. Those are the players that are passionate. Listen, it's not the enthusiasm in pregame. It's how much you're willing to bleed in the fourth quarter, right? And the Christian life is no different. It is really easy for us to come in to Sunday morning and for us to have our little spiritual pep rally, and man, Jesus reigns above it all, and I got a mission in life, and we're gonna go reach the world, and we're gonna applaud, and we're gonna get all fired up, and then we leave this room, listen, with nothing more than enthusiasm because here's the reality.

It's not how much we cheer on Sunday. It's how faithful we are on Friday that matters. What do we do when we're rejected 10 times and our friends abandon us, and yet we know God's called us to talk to that person or go over here or to engage with this group and give up our time when the cost is real. That's where passion shows up. You see, here's the thing. So many of us in this room, we treat Sundays, now listen to me, most of us in this room, we treat Sundays, now listen, I'm loving on you right now, but I'm gonna say something hard. Most of us in this room, we treat Sundays like it's game time. Sundays are not game time. Sunday's halftime. See, halftime is when you come in and you make adjustments and you get a little refreshment and you get to be poured into and you get to examine where was I last week? How can I do better in this coming week? See, Sunday is halftime for the life of a Christian because listen, and here's the question, are you coming into the locker room, the church service, limping, bloodied, bruised, trying to figure out, have your high and quarter handed to you, but trying to say, you know what? I got a second half, I'm about to go out and play.

What is that to you? And here's my encouragement. My encouragement is this. When you follow the Holy Spirit, no matter what, and you make Jesus's mission your passion, you will be used by God. You will be used by God. And I wanna introduce you to someone this morning who has become a dear friend over the last couple of years who exemplifies everything that I just talked about. God is using him at his school and I want you guys to put your hands together and welcome to the stage my friend, Coach Weston Griffiths. Oh, wow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you being here, Coach. You got it, baby. Glad to be here. Well, listen, Coach Griffiths is the offensive line coach at Gilmore High School and God is using him in a great way. And what God's doing today started several years ago. So that's why I wanna start, Coach. I want you to talk about 2019.

I know you were raised in church, had an understanding of the gospel, but you were lost. You didn't know Jesus and God brought you here to Longview in 2019 and your life changed. Tell us about the story that led to that experience. Yeah, so prior to that, like he said, I did. I surrendered my life to Jesus in October of 2019. And before that, I had pretty much spent the majority of my life kind of wrestling with God. I was arguing with God. Like he said, I did. I grew up in a Christian home. I grew up in church. I knew about the gospel and I even, you know, made a profession of faith when I was a kid and got baptized. But there was never any transformation in my life. There was no change in my life. I was not following Jesus. I had not surrendered my life to Jesus. Jesus was not Lord of my life. I essentially prayed a prayer and kept on living where Weston Griffiths was Lord of his own life. The older I got, God really started convicting me. Like, hey, you know, me and you aren't right. And what you experienced was not biblical, true salvation. And I can remember all the way back, nights in college, you know, God was convicting me and I, you know, there were some nights I couldn't sleep. And I remember arguing with God like, hey, you know,

God, I did. I prayed a prayer when I was a kid. You know, me and you were good. And he would just, he wouldn't let me sleep. And I was pleading with him. Like, would you please just let me sleep tonight and we'll handle this tomorrow? And I'd put it off. And another thing that really kind of bothered me was I heard people always talking about their testimony and their story. They were talking about their moment with Jesus, where Jesus transformed their life and they had a story. And I didn't have a story. I couldn't remember my, I didn't even remember praying the prayer when I was a kid. So I could not remember my moment with Jesus. And I just knew in my heart, if this is the most important thing that's ever gonna happen to me, and if Jesus saved me in that moment, that I would remember it. And I didn't remember it. I didn't have a story. So that really was weighed heavy on my heart. And kind of fast forward a little bit to 2018, I met my beautiful wife, Ms. Tara. I was coaching at Tyler for Kirk Traylor at the time and met her. And I realized real quick,

she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. But during that time too, I also realized I was not the man that God called me to be. And I was not ready to be the husband that God called me to be. And I'd been out of church for a long time, had really kind of veered off. And so our first step while we were dating, we found a church home there in Tyler that we loved. And God really started working in my life. And then we did, we made the transition. We moved to Longview in the spring of 2019. And we joined New Beginnings here. And then that fall, so we were going through a multi-week series, A Call to Die. And it was essentially what true salvation looks like. It's dying to yourself, making Jesus Lord of your life, surrendering your life to him. And I remember leaving every Sunday knowing that I had not experienced the salvation that you were talking about. And it was just weighing on me. I mean, it was weighing on me every Sunday as I walked out of those doors. And I knew God was moving. I knew God was doing something. I was still arguing and resisting and telling him, no, I'm good. But I knew he was working.

So I went to two of my really close friends who I knew were close followers of Jesus and told them what was going on and asked them to pray for me. And they did. They got on their knees every night for almost a week. After six night of those two men and their wives, both praying for me, on October 15th at 4.30 in the morning, God woke me up out of a deep sleep. And he literally, the only word I know how to use is he snatched my soul. I mean, he changed my life right then and there. He told me, he talked to me like I was a... He said, I'm tired of dealing with you. I'm tired of arguing with you. You're surrendering your life to me right now and your life's gonna be transformed. And I said, yes, sir. And that's gonna be my Lord and Savior. And my life's been changed ever since. Man, how incredible is that? That is so good. It's an awesome night. Well, and so all of that lack of transformation that got you to that point of just knowing I never, my life never changed, that went away because God began to change you day one. And one of the major transformations that took place is just in your calling.

Like you recognizing your role as a football coach was to make much of Jesus. Talk to us about how that changed your perspective on your job. Yeah, so he showed me real fast that my identity had changed. So I had for years, since I started coaching, had found my value and how good of a football coach I was. That's where I found my value. That's where my identity was. And that's where my happiness came from was how good I was doing at my job. And he quickly showed me that I was, you know, I was no longer a football coach. I was a follower of Jesus who just happens to be a football coach. And he showed me very quick that this was to be my ministry and I was to use it as my ministry. And I was very blessed. I've known since I was in sixth grade, God laid it on my heart in sixth grade that I was supposed to be a football coach. And I always stayed that course. And it's always been part of my platform that it's more than about winning ball games. I mean, I'm as competitive as they come and I love winning, but it's more about developing those men, those young men into great husbands and great fathers and great members of society. And that had always been part of my platform, but there was that piece missing

that got added after I got saved. And that was that Jesus Christ, because I cannot be the man that God called me to be and neither can these kids without Christ. So we definitely, that element got added. And we started carving time out of our week a couple of days a week where the kids would hear about Jesus. They would hear once from a coach about the middle of the week. And then we were partnering with Marcus Eves, who was the student minister here at the time. And he was coming up. He was around all the time. I can't tell you what a blessing he has been to my life, but just how he poured into those kids at his time here. But he was sharing Jesus with the kids too. And God really was, he was moving through that. And he was moving in my life. He was still changing me. And like I said, he just kind of flipped the script and changed my identity and showed me that was my ministry. Yeah, and I remember I got to come in and share in the locker room a few times and just seeing how honest you were and bold you were with your relationship with Jesus, that Jesus was the only hope. And so God is moving. He's using you. You actually got a promotion during that time.

You actually became the athletic director and head football coach at Spring Hill High School. It's a great school, great community. You love them. They love you. And all this rocking along until about two years ago. And I'll never forget this coach called me and he's like, hey, you got a minute to talk. And I'm like, you bet. And he just said, look, I got a call about a job opportunity. And of course I immediately, because I know the kind of man he is and the friendship we've been developing. I was like, well, I'm just going to be the Holy Spirit. It's not the Lord. That's not the Lord. Just tell him no. Don't even entertain it. And I said, we're not losing you in this community. And he's like, well, you won't be losing me in the community. He says, it's actually a school down the road. And so I was a little bit relieved. And then he said, man, I got an invitation to become the offensive line coach at Gilmer High School. And then I went from, you're not leaving to, are you crazy? Like you're the athletic director, head football coach. And I did, I told you, I was like, coach, no one moves their career that direction. You've got a dream job.

This is a great community. Love you. You love them. Everything's going great. But yet God gave you some clarity about your calling. And I want you to talk about that for a moment. Yeah, no doubt. And you weren't the only one that thought I was crazy. A lot of people thought I did, but that's okay. But yeah, and I do, just like he said, man, I love this community. I love the school district. The superintendent was one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. And I think the world of her and just love her to death. And the administration was awesome. And the school board and the students, I mean, just the whole place is, it's an amazing place. But kind of the transition to, so the best part about my job is being out on the field with kids or being in a meeting room with kids or being in the weight room with kids and just pouring into them and investing into them and helping them become that man that God called them to be. That's what God called me to do. And when you're an assistant, there's a whole lot of freedom in that. So like all your time, your focus, your energy, every bit of my effort, my whole day was just spent on doing that as an assistant.

And in my new role as athletic director and head football coach, I was still getting to do that, but not on as deep a level. I didn't feel like, I was doing that, but a lot of my time and energy and effort was being pulled kind of in other directions. The only way I know how to put it is I was doing, I felt like I was doing a lot more managing and overseeing than I was actually investing at the time. And so there's a lot of people that God has called them to do that and be in that role, but that just wasn't what God called me to do at that time. He had called me to kind of be around those kids and invest in those kids, and God did. He opened a door and he laid it on mine and my wife, Ms. Tara, her heart, and we prayed about it. We wanted to be in God's will and we wanted it to be what he wanted for us. And he did, he opened that door and we walked through it and God has been great to us since doing that. And I think the reason that's important to hear that side of his testimony is, because my knee-jerk reaction was like, man, this is so not the norm of where people go with their career. You got basically a position everyone aspires to and yet you're gonna take a step backwards by the worldly measures and standards and take a pay cut, demotion, less spotlight in a position.

And the clarity that he had when we talked, saying, but pastor, like I'm called to be with teenagers. Some people are called to minister to the people that minister to the kids. I am called to directly minister to the kids. I know what God's called me to do. And here's the way I've described it. I've told his story, you know, in almost every place I get to go, I'll kind of use his testimony. Because here's the way I describe this decision is, is that here's a man who took a step backwards in his career in order to take a step forward in his calling. And when we talk about passion, what you're willing to sacrifice, what it's willing to cost you to accomplish what God has called you. Listen, this is the embodiment of passion. So I just wanna say thank you for your testimony and your faithfulness in that. And we're grateful to have men like this. And I know there are many others in our church pouring in attenders. You grateful for this guy and so, thank you. Appreciate you. So you make that move. You're now a offensive line coach in Gilmer and you immediately start pouring into students

but God wasn't finished with his refining work in you. And some things changed in 2023 that led to really an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the campus at Gilmer High School. I want you to talk to us about that journey. Yeah, so the spring of 2024, God poured himself out at Gilmer High School. And I've shared with Pastor Todd and some of you in the room that I kind of felt like we were in our own revival, like that we were having revival right there at Gilmer High School. But before I can talk about that, I need to take it back to January, 2023 when God really started working some more in my life. So for the past four or five years, I've started my year out at Woodland Hills Baptist Church. They do a three-night Bible conference every January and it's just a great way to start my new year and get my eyes on Jesus and all that good stuff. Well, I went that spring or excuse me, that January of 23 and there was a pastor from Arkansas that preached a sermon over being broken for the lost. And I mean, it punched me square. I mean, that sermon squared me up, like it hit me in the gut, like, and I had to confess to God that like, God, I'm not broken over the loss. I know lost people in my life and I'm not broken over them.

And I know I'm coming in contact with them every day and I'm not in the game. I wasn't doing anything about it. And he kind of used the analogy that evening of if you're sitting on a river bank and you see somebody in the river drown and you're gonna even jump in and risk your own life to go save that person. And then kind of compare that to the world that we're living in, that we're coming in contact with lost people every day who are far from Jesus and that are gonna be eternally separated from Jesus if we don't jump in and try to save them. And like I said, I had to confess, I was not in the game. I was standing on the river bank watching people float by and not do anything about it. And it really did, it broke my heart. So I started praying after that. I prayed for three things and I really did. I prayed for over a year for these three things before I saw any fruit. But the first thing I prayed is that God would literally break my heart for the lost, that I would weep in my prayers, that I would be on my knees praying for the lost people that I knew in my life and the lost people that I would come in contact with every day. And then I prayed that he would open my eyes

for spiritual conversations and the opportunities would be presented to me to turn everyday conversations into gospel conversations. And then the third thing, because I know me and my weaknesses, because I was scared to death, is that I would have the boldness and the courage to act and seize those opportunities once I had them. And then so I prayed that for a year and really immediately after that sermon, I started sharing my testimony with anybody who would listen. So like I said earlier, I didn't have a story. Well, I had a story, now I got a testimony. And so I was telling it with anybody that would listen how Jesus had changed my life, what he was doing in my life. But then he made me realize I was still missing a piece. I was telling everybody what Jesus had done in my life, but I was not inviting them into a relationship with Jesus. So I was sharing with him this great feast that Jesus was having with me and I was not inviting him to the feast. And that broke my heart again. So I started praying through that and kind of fast forward to the middle of football season. We're in the third round, getting ready to go play Aubrey and God laid on my heart. He was like, I want you to start. a discipleship group with the boys

as soon as football season's over. And I'm not gonna lie, I panicked, because in the playoffs, you lose, you go home. Well, I thought God was telling me, you're fixing to lose to Aubrey this week, and you better get ready to start this discipleship group next week. And that's obviously not what I wanted to happen, but that wasn't how it played out. We played all the way through the middle of December. I didn't start it immediately that January, but I served at United, which I've gotten to do the last few years. And it is one of my favorite weekends of the year to watch God show up and move in these students' lives. And he does that every year, and he showed up again this year, and I'm so thankful for that. So God moved at United, and that's when he laid it on my heart again. He's like, okay, God's moving, now's your time. Let's try to stay in what God's doing. So I did, I started this discipleship group on Tuesdays after school. And I remember my first two weeks, I was very disappointed, because we only had three kids show up. But God honored that and started working in those kids' lives. And by the end of the semester,

by the end of the school, we were averaging anywhere between 30 and 50 every week. Unbelievable. And so more kids could come. We were doing it after school. Well, a lot of kids were like going to track and baseball and all that. So we moved it to our tutorial period. But we were really crunched on time during that tutorial period. So what we started doing, it was really geared toward believers. But at the end of it, I knew there were people in there that didn't have a relationship with Christ by the end of the school year. So we would give a small invitation at the very end, and I'd have everybody bow their head. And if anybody doesn't have a relationship with Jesus or doesn't know what I'm talking about or is interested in what that looks like, just look up at me and I'll come find you. I'll pull you out of class tomorrow. I probably shouldn't say that. But I'll do something, like I will hook up with you tomorrow and we'll have a one-on-one conversation. And through that, God started saving kids. And when he started saving kids, those conversations stopped

just having a discipleship group. They started having them in hallways. And we were just having gospel conversations in the halls. And then before I knew it, I looked up, there were 16 kids that had given their life to Jesus. And we were able to baptize seven of them like down in our field house in the training room. And it was just unbelievable. And my man, Jake Peterman, we were praying through this together. So like I said, our discipleship group was geared towards believers, but there were so many of these new guys coming to faith and they were infants in Christ. We turned the whole discipleship group and changed the direction of it to a new believers class. And Jake Peterman, who I'm so thankful for and blessed for, he came along beside me and he was writing the curriculum every week. And so we're literally have a new believers class going on all spring for these infants in Christ to help them grow in their walk with Jesus. That's incredible. And one of the things I love, you were talking about all these kids were coming to faith and then getting baptized, which then we're creating all these conversations. And there was one particular, you're walking through the hall and you overhear a conversation.

Tell us about that one. Yeah, so Coach Colton Traylor, he led one of our students to Christ and actually baptized him. And I was walking through the cafeteria one day and just kind of hanging out and saying hey to kids. And there was a group of kids at a table and they were talking about this kid getting baptized. And I overheard them and I literally just stopped and I said, hey, if y'all ever want to talk about why we get baptized, or if you're interested in what it looks like to follow Jesus, I want you to come find me. And I didn't think anything about it. I just kept walking, went about my day. But I mean, I didn't make it around the corner and there's a kid tapping me on my shoulder and I turned around and this kid's sitting there and he said, Coach, I want to get baptized too. And so I was able to meet with him that day after school and share the gospel with him and he gave his life to Jesus that day after school. Unbelievable, unbelievable. And one of the things that you had mentioned too was how shocked you were, how little these kids know about Jesus. It blew my mind. So the very first two kids that I had a one-on-one conversation with about Jesus Christ and shared the gospel with them,

they did not know who Jesus was. They had no clue who he was. I know, I took for granted that I feel like every kid, just like I did in third and fifth grade, went to vacation Bible school and has at least heard about Jesus, but that's not the world we're living in. Some of their families aren't bringing them to church to hear about Jesus and they have no way of knowing who Jesus is unless we're the ones that go tell them about him. Unbelievable. And let that sink in. East Texas, buckle to the Bible belt, there are high schoolers who don't know who Jesus Christ is. If that tells you anything, it tells you we got a mission field right in front of us that's untapped and we gotta get serious about this. And so I remember, Coach, at the awards ceremony at the end of the year, I saw you and most of the time, school teachers and coaches, they're ready for this thing to be over. They had a couple of days of class yet and I was like, man, are you ready to get some downtime? Man, he literally turned around, tears in his eyes and said, absolutely not. I wish we'd go year round. He said, because I don't want God's,

what God is doing, I don't want it to stop. I wanna see more and more kids come to faith. And I know there's been a prayer for you all summer of God use me in this coming fall. Football season is busy. And then God this week enabled you to have a great conversation. Conversation with a good friend. He did he moved that guy's here today. So I just saw him and trying not to tear up too much I've been praying and some of the guys that I do life with have been praying this too much My spring was very very fruitful. God saved And being a football coach, so we worked seven days a week 90 hours a week And I knew I wanted to keep living life on mission But I didn't know what it looked like going into football season because I know how little time I had and so we've been praying And the guys that I do life with been praying with me all summer He's got you know Help me know what this looks like to live on mission during season with how how busy I'm gonna be and I've even been prayed a selfish prayer like God I need you I want you to say people but I'm gonna need you to put them right in front of me and he did that on Tuesday where so we're at practice on Tuesday and So we don't do traditional two-a-days anymore like we do two practices, but it's really just kind of in the morning We start at 6 a.m. And then we take a 15 minute break and then we do our other practice We're in that break and I am I'm just back there drinking water and I'm thinking about all the stuff my offensive line messed up in the practice and needs to be Fixed for the second practice and going over my endo script and you know the team script And it's I mean, I'm in coach mode. Like I've got everything I'm rocking and rolling and this guy comes up to me I'm over on the track and he's like, hey, what are you doing tonight? And I was usually when he asked me that he's want to go hit a golf ball But that wasn't the case today. So he came up to me and he said what are you doing tonight? It's like I don't think I have anything going. He said what's up?

He said me and you gotta have a come-to-Jesus meeting and I'm like, what's that mean? Like, you know, what's going on? He's like, no, you don't understand. I need Jesus and I'm like, oh wow. I said, okay So we were we had like two minutes left. We're fixing to practice Well, anyways, we arranged for him to come to my house that night and we visited for about an hour and a half I was able to share the gospel with him Tuesday night And he gave his life to Jesus right there Tuesday night on the second day of practice So And just being faithful and being ready and one of the things you said was Just how the Holy Spirit orchestrated that whole conversation. Yeah, so he shared this with me that night He said I've been wanting to talk to you about a relationship with Jesus for a while For a week or two. He said I was not gonna do it this morning He said but it was like somebody and we know that somebody was it was the Holy Spirit He said it was like somebody pushed me to you and made me talk to you this morning and it was the Holy Spirit just moving in his life and opened his eyes of who Jesus was and that he needed Jesus as His Lord and Savior And I've seen a change in his life this week. It's amazing. And when you're when you're available to the Holy Spirit He begins to orchestrate those conversations and puts them right in front of you. Why because he can trust you with them now obedience leads to opportunity And coach thank you for that that faithfulness and here's what I want to do there are two there are two groups of people I want you to say some final words to the first group are those who are here and I know they're in this room they're the people who They're wrestling with their salvation If they you know on Sundays, they're feeling convicted that they need to trust you, but trust the Lord, but they're like you were Fighting with the Lord trying to convince themselves that they're a Christian and they're not and they're just fearful of Surrendering to salvation. What encouragement would you give to that person? Who's here wrestling with that? Yeah, let today be the day You you don't have to live life under your own power and under your own terms and try to white-knuckle it. I know What he's laid on my heart really is that God will meet you right where you are I don't care how far you feel like you are from Jesus and God will meet you where you are I promise you and I know during my walk I kind of felt like I had to clean myself up a little bit and I had

You know I was living in brokenness and I had to stop doing this and start doing this and stop doing this and start doing that and Do all these things on my own power for I guess for God to approve of me and love me and to start working in my life And that's the furthest thing from the gospel that there is that's a lie from the devil and he will meet you right where you are your only job is to surrender and just just empty yourself and When you do that, it makes room for him to come in and I'm telling you You don't have to do any of the work. He does all of the heavy lifting He will bring the biggest bag of this power washer you've ever had in your life and he will wash you from the inside out He will pull out your heart of stone and he will give you a new heart he will give you a new life and all you have to do is surrender and just Empty yourself and he does the heavy lifting and praise God for that. And if that's where you are We want to give you an opportunity in a moment to respond to that because I don't think it's an accident that you're in this Room hearing the story if that is what you're feeling you need in your life right now Coach the second group of people are those Who man they want God to they want a guy to use them like he's using you, but they're so scared They're so terrified. They don't even know where to start like what encouragement would you give them to take that first step definitely? So I've been there and I still face those fears a lot of time when I'm getting ready to go You know depending on the part to share the gospel with somebody But the first thing you do is pray about it and pray to empty yourself and pray pray to do it under his power power and not your own, and then I'm preaching to myself when I say this, but don't ever make it about you, okay? So like a lot of the times, I know for myself, when I'm scared or nervous about sharing the gospel with somebody, it's because I'm scared of how their reaction is gonna make me feel after I share it. I'm scared of how they're gonna think of me. What do they think about me after I've shared the gospel with them? Are they gonna approve of me or are they gonna reject me?

And that is the most selfish reason not to share the gospel with somebody. It's kind of like that story that the pastor from Arkansas used. You know, if you're standing on the riverbank and you're just watching somebody drown, and you don't wanna jump in and go get them because you don't wanna get your clothes wet, like how selfish is that? You know what I mean? Don't make it about you, make it about them and Jesus, and just, it's very powerful, I've found, that when you can empty yourself of your fears and your emotions and kind of your feelings, it makes so much more room for the Holy Spirit to fill you, and then you're gonna do it in His power. And I promise you, I promise you, I promise you, I can testify to this a million times, He will give you the words and He will do the saving, the response, it ain't up to you. Your job is just to give the invitation. And you cannot mess it up, I promise you, you can't mess it up. He does it and He will use you if you'll just empty yourself to make room for Him, all right? That's good, man. Hey, you guys, thank Coach for sharing. Man, what a great word. Thank you. And here's what I wanna do,

I wanna give an opportunity for response. There are some of you, I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads, I'm gonna ask everyone just to bow your heads. There are some of you in this room, and you are where Coach was in 2019. You were fighting God about Him wanting to give you salvation. And it's time to stop fighting. You're trying to convince yourself that you're okay, that you can change, and you know you can't, and it's time to stop fighting. You know you can't, and it's time to stop trying to fix your life on your own, stop trying to convince yourself you have it together, and just die to yourself, and let Christ become your life. Let Him transform you, as He said, from the inside out. And if that's where you are, I'm gonna encourage you to just right now, if that's where you are, stop running, and just cry out to the Lord. Pray a prayer like this, say, God, I'm a sinner, and I need a Savior. I'm done running. And I want you to make me new today. I want a new life. With no one looking around, if you're here this morning, and you're like, Pastor, that's me, I just prayed that prayer with you, or I want, I want to get to the end of me,

and I wanna trust Christ, I'm gonna ask you to do me a favor. With no one looking around, just slip your hand up really high, if that's you, say, Pastor, I just prayed with you, or I know I need to give my life to Christ. Thank you. Keep your hand up, please, thank you. Others. Several hands up. For those of you, thank you. For those of you who raised your hands, I'm gonna encourage you to do something in a moment that's gonna take some courage and boldness. We're gonna stand in a moment to respond, and we're gonna worship, and I'm gonna challenge you. Listen, Coach didn't make this decision and just keep it to himself. He immediately let people in his life know about it. In a moment, we're gonna have some prayer partners available, and I'm gonna encourage you, leave your seat immediately. Don't let pride get in the way, don't let fear get in the way. This is the biggest decision of your life. This is the day your life changes forever, and you need to tell somebody about that so they can pray with you, and so that you can begin this new life,

and you can put a stake in the ground to say, that was the day my life changed forever. I've got a story to tell. So in a moment, when we stand, and there's gonna be lots of movement, you won't be the only one. You come, and one of these encouragers will be in the aisles. You come to them and say, I just prayed with passion to receive Christ. I encourage you to do that in just a moment. For the rest of you in this room, I know we got a lot of school teachers and coaches in this room, administrators in this room. School year's about to start. For some of you, it already has. What are you gonna let God do in your life this year? For some of you, this is back-to-school students. You're going back to school. What are you gonna let God do in your life? For all of us in this room, how many of you would just raise your hand and say, there are lost people in my life, and I'm burdened. I want them to come to faith in Christ. Raise your hand if that's you. All over this room. Then here's what I'm gonna encourage you to do. In a moment, leave your seat. Come and kneel at this altar,

and ask God to use you. Ask God to break your hearts. Ask God to let you see everyday conversations turn into gospel conversations. Let's not just be hearers of the word. Let's be doers of the word in this place this morning. I'm gonna pray over us. Our decision encourages right now. Go ahead and get. position. Father, I'm asking for courage for those who pray to receive Christ, several people raising their hands, Holy Spirit, get them out of their seats, let them come and pray with someone. Let them be encouraged about this new decision that they're making. Father, for the school teachers and educators, for the business owners and employees, and for those in the community and their neighborhood, give us a heart for the lost. Lord, let us today respond to the work that you wanna do in us today. And Father, I pray that you would break us. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. I'm gonna ask you to stand. If you raise your hand.