The Mission Mandate | Tyrone P. Jones | Book of Acts

Good morning Church for the City. If you're not standing already, let us stand as we get ready to worship. If you are new here, we want to know you, we want to know your family. Tap that disc in front of you. If you are new and you are online, hit that digital connect card. And if you are new and you don't tap the disc, visit our Next Steps table in front. We're going to start this morning off with Scripture. In Romans 15, verse 13, the word says, I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Praise God that we have a God that we can trust. And we can overflow with Holy Spirit because of the mighty, mighty God that we serve. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing us to come into your house today. Lord, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that you would soften our hearts, open up our ears, that we may hear what you have intended for us today, Lord. God, we know that you are doing a mighty work in us and through us, Lord. And we just pray that you continue to do that work. Thank you, God, for being a God that we can trust. Thank you, God, that fills us with Holy Spirit as we walk our days. Lord, we give you all the honor and all the praise in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Thank you for standing. Let's get ready to worship. I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind. Because I know there is peace within your presence. I speak Jesus. Oh yes, Jesus, Jesus. And I just want to speak the name of Jesus till every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus. Jesus.

Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is love. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. And I just want to speak the name of Jesus over fear and all anxiety. Let me know how can divine oppression. I speak Jesus. Oh. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is love. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Your name. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is love. Oh, you break every stronghold. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Come on church, sing this. So shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streams, Jesus in the darks of heaven. Jesus for my family, I speak the Holy Name, Jesus. So we sing Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streams, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family, I speak the Holy Name, Jesus.

Oh, Your Name is power. Your Name is power. Your Name is healing. Your Name is life. Oh, break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Your Name, Your Name, Your Name. Your Name is power. Your Name is healing. Your Name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. And I just want to speak the Name of Jesus over every heart. Cause I know there is peace within your presence. I speak Jesus. Oh, we speak the Name of Jesus. Come on, just sing Jesus. Oh, we speak the Name of Jesus over our lives, over our family. Over anxiety and depression. Oh, yeah. So we sing Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streams, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the Holy Name, Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streams, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the Holy Name, Jesus.

Oh, Jesus. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streams, Jesus in the darkness over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the Holy Name, Jesus. I've heard stories before. I've seen songs about a million things. I've watched the church get up on Sunday. I've heard them tell and testify. But it was always only words until the story was mine. When I called your name, I found my home. You were always on time when I needed you most. Oh, my sin and shame couldn't keep us apart. There's no rival to your name. Your wounds were your scars. be a savior but a friend it overwhelms my heart but that's who you really are I found out that you are a good God you stay faithful even when I'm not I found out that you're not mine and all my sins they're no match for all your love and who you really are when I called your name I found my home you were always on time when I needed you most all my sins they're no match for all your love and who you really are should be a savior but a friend it overwhelms my heart but that's who you really are you are the king of kings the lord of lords the mighty one that calms the storm the one who walks upon the waves and calls the dead out of the grave who calls the blind to see again the lamb who takes away my sin who gave this life a brand new start

when everyone said I'd gone too far my God you stay true you stay true to who you really are oh that's who you really are oh that's who you really are oh that's who you really are when I called your name I found my home you were always on time when I needed you most all my sins they're no match for all your love and who you really are should be a savior but a friend it overwhelms my heart but that's who you really are that's who you really are oh that's who you really are yeah come on give Him praise that's who you are that's who you are Lord the presence of the Lord is here come on let's just sing about how faithful He is, how good He is I love you Lord all your mercy never fails me and all my days I've been held in your hands from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head oh I will sing of the goodness of God come on sing your testimony today all my life you have been faithful yes you have all my life you have been so, so good

with every breath that I enable oh I will sing of the goodness of God I love your voice and shepherd you have led me through the fire and in darkness lies you are close like no other I've known you as a father, I've known you as a friend, And I have been in the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful, And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, Oh, I will sing of the goodness of my Lord. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. When my life laid down, I'm surrendering now, I'd give you everything. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. When my life laid down, I'm surrendering now, I'd give you everything. Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. Come on, let's just look to the shadow of praise for the faithfulness of God. Come on church, we're going to continue rejoicing. Someone is going public with their faith today. So turn your eyes to the screen as we celebrate that together. My name is Monique. I grew up Catholic. I believe in God, but I didn't have a personal relationship with him.

A year ago, I met Ethan Lerma. He talked about his relationship with God, and I thought to myself, I want that one day. Over the past few months, I've struggled a lot with family issues since my parents didn't fully understand me attending a Christian church. My mental health began worsening. I felt so alone. There were many moments where I thought about taking my own life and even attempted. From the moment I entered CTC four months ago, it felt different. During Tice Message Empty Chairs, I felt so seen. At that moment, I understood no family is perfect. During worship, I felt his presence in a way I didn't know was possible. That day, I surrendered my life. I felt free and knew I was no longer alone. Since giving my life to Jesus, my life has still been a roller coaster, but I have learned to trust God and his plan. I've met so many amazing people through CTC that have helped me throughout my journey. I learned that no matter how hard and dark it gets, you're never alone, and all you have to do is talk to Jesus and trust him. This is just part of her journey, and it does get better. Today, I'm going public with my faith. Monique, Jesus said that every disciple should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Because of your confession of faith, today I baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and according to Scripture, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let's celebrate that together. Come on, Jesus says, Behold, I am making all things new. All my life you have been faithful. Lift your voice.

All my life. We worship you, Jesus. We worship you, Jesus. Now I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God Come on, shout hallelujah, give Him praise Let's lift up the King of kings and Lord of lords Our Redeemer, our Savior, Jesus, we love You Hallelujah Amen, amen church Before we transition to the message, we're gonna do what we call a minute to mingle Go ahead and find three new people you've never met before Tell them that you're thankful they're here in the house today And we'll prepare for the message Well God bless you folks, welcome to Church for the City Well we will teach the Word of God, we'll encounter the presence of the Lord And we'll spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ How many are glad to be in God's house? Yes, great, great, great to be here Thank you for doing so Before we go into the furtherance of the service, we're gonna do a child dedication And we don't baptize infants What we do believe according to the scripture is that the household is sanctified of a believer When a child is born into that home And so the weight of this is really upon the parents to keep their commitment To raise the child in a normal manner A normal manner should be Christian But to raise their children in a manner of faith And we believe there'll be a time when the child will come to their own decision To follow that up with baptism as we have just seen And so we invite the whole congregation to be part of this

So that the family even has a witness Very much like we do with a wedding Where there's a witness that people are doing this before the Lord So we got four families, I'm gonna have them actually introduce You're gonna introduce your family and who I'm dedicating Okay, my name is Eddie, this is my wife Sandra, this is my son Noah And we're gonna dedicate Raphael Raphael's getting dedicated, all right He's been dedicated already All right, great I'm Danny, this is my wife Arlene and this is Luca Okay, Luca we're dedicating, good deal Hi, I'm Lisa, this is my husband Drew, my daughter Hannah, son Peter And we're dedicating Chloe So I got Chloe, Luca and Raphael Yeah, Raphael Raphael, Luca and now you got me all thrown off, Chloe Yes, yeah Why don't y'all just all name them after Ninja Turtles Raphael, Dante I could have done that a little bit better, all right I'm Jacob and this is my wife Sophie and this is our little boy Leo Leo, all right, good deal He's Leo, that's Leonardo Leo, that's right, I got a Leo That's right, I sure do Y'all the ones messed this up No, I'm just kidding I got a Raphael, I got a Luca, I got a Chloe and I got a Leo All right, stretch your hands this way

Well, Father, I'm so, so thankful for this opportunity with these dear families Lord, every one of them are families of faith And Lord, we're so thankful for the life that they're committed to And the life that they're living Lord, we lay hands on them believing that you're going to continue to bless them They're set apart by you, set apart as husbands and wives They're set apart as fathers and mothers They're set apart as a family under the covenant and the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ And Lord, we believe not only you're going to bless the parents But Lord God, you're going to be with Leo You're going to be with Chloe You're going to be with Luca And you're going to be with Raphael And Lord, you're going to protect them all the days of their life That they're going to walk right into the legacy that's been set apart for them by their parents They're going to be children of faith They're going to grow up into adults of faith They're going to love the Lord They're going to love the word They're going to serve in the house And Lord, they are going to continue the legacy that's been set by their parents And Lord, we stand in celebration and rejoicing of what you're going to do to do in these families. It's in Christ's name we pray. Can the people of God say amen? Amen, amen, amen. Thank you guys. God bless you. Love it. So a couple of things that's happening.

The last Sunday of every month, excluding July and December, we do what's called open house. Open house is an opportunity. If you've been part of the church or coming for any period of time, you may want to determine whether you want to become actually members of the church and have a place to serve. And we do have places for everyone to serve. All of you have gifts, talents that you've been given by God. And they're designed to be used in the house of God. So open house is the manner in which you get to view some things behind the scenes with the church, meet some of our leadership, some of our ministry leaders, and know if you're going to make a decision or at least have a better idea if you think, OK, CTC is a home. So you can sign up for open house either through the tap disk or even at the Connect table out there in the lobby. The other thing that you're going to see, as you've been coming in and you'll see when you go out, is our CLG fair is happening. And what that is, CLG for us stands for City Life Groups. We have many small groups in our community. And they have many purposes. So there's groups for men, there's women, for young people, just various things. They meet on different nights of the week.

We just do believe that life is done better for us when we're in that kind of context. We have a saying that life is done better in circles than roles. You meet friends. You develop some accountable relationships. You can grow in the word and become a disciple. And so if you're not part of any one of those small groups, I encourage you to take a moment before you leave to see which group may work for you, maybe even which evening may work for you. And I can assure you, there is one for everyone. There's two groups also, two sets of groups that we're launching that we haven't done before. One is called Marketplace Ministry Small Groups, Marketplace Small Groups. And they're for anyone that's a business owner, business manager, some sort of an executive, administrative leadership role, a manager of any type. The Marketplace Ministry Groups are for you. So if you want to be around people who have some of the same challenges as you, some of the same joys and celebrations as you, as business owners or business managers, you'll enjoy the Marketplace Ministry Groups. Those options are out there of those groups that we're doing for the first time. And also because of what we've seen God do in San Luis, Arizona, which has been fantastic, for the first time we are launching five groups

in South County. So we're gonna have small groups in San Luis and Somerton. And so out there, you can also find out about those groups and be able to engage in one of those groups. Now, I want to thank you for your generosity. Every time you come into the building, there's an opportunity for you to give. And you don't do it, though, just because of opportunity. You give actually out of the heart. You know, once we come to the Lord, everything about us is surrendered to him. And our heart becomes alignment with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And one of those things is giving, tithing, giving offerings to help the kingdom of God to continue to be funded for us to be able to spread the gospel. I'm so thankful for those of you, some of you have given for the first time. And when you do, you'll receive a handwritten card from either me or Lady V. I thank you for being a first time giver. If you have not committed to giving, I encourage you to do so. It's not one of those things you do out of obligation. You really do do out of surrender and out of the heart. I've used the illustration, I know probably more than once, that during the Inquisition, there was many of the crusaders

who were surrendering their life to Jesus. But what they didn't want to do was they didn't want to give up the sword. They wanted to still be able to use their sword whenever they thought they needed to use their sword. So when they would get baptized, they would get baptized holding the sword up in the air because they didn't want the sword to go underwater because that would show a commitment to the sword. I don't want you to be people that's getting baptized holding your wallet up in the air. Every part about you now says, I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. and stewardship of my life absolutely belongs to him, including our finances. Now, we're part of a, there's a group of churches that make up what's called Care Portal. Care Portal is a group that does ministry to families in our community that may have some needs that needs attention. Otherwise, their family could be in a very difficult situation. And just last week, there was a young lady who aged out of the foster care system. She's been doing her very best to try to establish a life for her and her daughter. We found out about the needs that she has to keep her stable and moving forward to try to continue to progress in life. And so when we found out what those needs are,

it was because of your generosity, we were able to meet all of those household needs that she has that allows her and her daughter to continue to do what they do. So thank you, thank you, thank you for your generosity. I really, really appreciate it. All right, why don't you stand? I'll have you get your Bible in just a heartbeat, but why don't you stand? We're gonna pray over a few things. One of the things that I wanna pray for is, we have a group, again, this is a group of churches. There's five of us that do what's called the Good News Clubs. These are volunteers that go into public schools. After school hours, parents have agreed to it, and there's volunteers from our church and five other churches, Grace Bible, I know The Rock, Emmanuel Baptist, Vertical. I'm missing one, but five churches, Morningside Baptist. They actually go into these schools, and I'm so thankful for the schools and the principals that allow them to do it. This is public schools, and these volunteers go in and teach the Bible. They teach the gospel. They teach them the word of God, and I'm so thankful for those volunteers, thankful for the parents, and thankful for the schools that allow us to do that.

So I'm gonna pray as the school season gets back going. The other thing, Billy and Phillip will be leaving this week. First of all, you heard the second song was another song that they wrote, Who You Are. These songs are just phenomenal. So they're gonna leave this week, and they're gonna go on a very mini tour with Consume by Five for about five tour nights. So we wanna pray for them that all goes well for that. Father, I wanna thank you now for this opportunity to be with your people and be in your house. I'm so grateful for what you've done, even with the other two services, even now, Lord, even with the child dedications, the baptisms. It's been a great day to be in your house. I pray, Lord, as the word of God goes forth that ears will be open and eyes will be open and the heart and mind of people will be open to receive what the spirit of the Lord is saying through the word of God. And so I stand against any attack of the enemy to keep people from hearing the word. Lord, I pray, again, ears will be open, eyes will be open, hearts will be open to hear, even though the message is a general message to all, I pray, particularly individually, everyone is able to hear what you wanna say to them. Lord, I pray for these churches and schools and volunteers that are going in and doing the Good News Club.

Lord, it's a remarkable thing. We're hearing testimonies of these dear children who are actually coming to know Jesus and being witnesses at their home and in their family, being able to tell their parents what they're learning about the Bible. I thank you for every volunteer that's going in and doing that, every principal that's allowing it, every church that's participating. May that have a greater, greater impact, Lord, in our community as part of the transforming work of what we're doing. And Lord, of course, I thank you for Billy and for Phillip. Lord, the music that they are writing that we get to share in and be part of, it's a great joy to my heart and just a real blessing to us. Be with them this week, Lord God, as they do five nights of this tour. I just pray, Lord, you protect them and keep them of good health. May their voices stay strong. And Lord, may they be part of expanding the kingdom of God through the gifting that you have given them. Lord, we're so thankful and so grateful. In Christ's name we pray. May the people of God say amen. Amen. Can you grab your Bible while you're standing? And we're gonna go to Acts chapter one. And we're gonna look at verses one through three

of Acts chapter one. Now, we're beginning a series on Acts. And every week, the idea will be to minister from, thank you so much, Natalie, would be to preach from a chapter each week, excluding this week. This week, I've done a lot of preaching this year out of Acts chapter one and Acts chapter two. So today I'm gonna actually cover Acts one through four, which is the birth of the church and give some key highlights. lights. Next week, Pastor Ty will pick up in Chapter 5, and the team will carry on for a few weeks. Lady V and I will be off for a few weeks as we prepare. When we get back, we're hitting the ground running for all things that we got going on for the fall and for the church. So, each week, if you want to know if Pastor Ty is preaching the Bible, I'm going to ask you to read Acts Chapter 5 before he preaches. If he preaches anything that's not biblical, you text me, and you let me know that he preached something out of context. All right. Acts Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. So far, the reading of the word, can you say amen? Amen. You may be seated. Now, Acts is a, it's a treatise that really gives the clear evidence of Jesus' life, the resurrection after his death, and of course his message. The writer of Acts is the same writer of the book of Luke, which is Luke, the physician. And he picks up in Acts Chapter 1 where he leaves off in Luke 24. He takes us in Luke 24 all the way to the ascension of Jesus and the command for the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait on power. And that's where he picks up in Acts Chapter 1. You'll notice there in that verse, that first verse that we read, that he uses the word began because what he's saying is, he's saying I wrote to you in the first book, which was

the book of Luke, everything that Jesus began to do. But the book of Acts records everything that was continuing to be done through Christ, but more so his spirit in the life of the church. So when Jesus ascended, that was not the end of his ministry. His ministry didn't end. His physical body left the earth, but the work of Jesus is now carried on by the church, the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. And we are empowered to carry out and continue that mission. The kingdom of God is the main thing that Jesus came to establish. When he came to die on the cross for all of our sins, it was for us to become a called out people. The church, of course, is what we're called into from the standpoint of our gathering. But the greater call is that all of us that are in the church are part of the kingdom of God. It's the kingdom of God that the Lord is establishing upon earth until he returns to take his people home. So Jesus, the kingdom was the heart of his mission. You'll see this in Mark 115. This is the first time that Jesus comes out publicly preaching. He says, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. That's the message that Jesus does right from the beginning. The kingdom of God is here. The kingdom of God is coming near. Repent and believe the good news. And so what we know is that the kingdom of God is the reign of God. Anyone that's in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, anyone that's committed to the Lord and expresses a public faith like we saw with the young lady being baptized, you have come into the kingdom of God. You've submitted your life to the reign and the rule of God. Every kingdom has a king, has the authority and activity of the king, and has subjects who live in it. Those of us that are committed to Christ are the subjects that are in the kingdom of God. And so the kingdom is God's reign. The church, the community of people themselves, that's us. We're part of this kingdom, and God is our king. What Acts chapter 1 does really is set up the kingdom activity that actually begins in chapter 2. So there's a connection here. Acts 1 sets it up. Chapter 2 is when we see it beginning. It's in chapter 2 where we see the king is enthroned, being Christ himself. The spirit of the Lord is poured out upon the church, and the church is born. And then that's when the mission begins to move forward. The apostles did exactly what they were commanded to do. They left Bethany. They made that Sabbath day journey, which was about two miles, and headed to Jerusalem and went into an upper room, and there for ten days after the ascension of Jesus, they prayed and waited.

for the power of God, the Holy Spirit, to be poured out from heaven so that they would become witnesses of Christ, so that they would preach the gospel, so that they would proclaim the message of the kingdom. Before I get to chapter two where the kingdom advancement begins, there is a couple of things in the latter part of chapter one that I just want to point out. And both of them are in actually verses 12 and 14 because you'll note there that it lists the 11 apostles that was in the room among the 120, but it also lists Mary, the mother of Jesus, being in that room waiting for supernatural power to come from up on high. I just think that's very intriguing because Mary had already experienced the supernatural power of God that brought forth the child Jesus, but she recognized she didn't make a monument out of that saying, okay, I already know what God's power is like. I gave birth to Jesus. No, she was just like all of us knowing if she was going to also obey the Lord who was her son, Jesus Christ, and do what God has called us to do, she also needed the supernatural power of God to be poured within her. And so you find Mary who does not lift herself up above any other person on the planet

waiting in that room like all of us would be waiting for the power of God from up on high. I think it's remarkable. But you also see another group here that I think is also pretty astonishing because you see the latter part of verse 14, it says, with the women in Mary, the mother, and his brothers. What makes that so interesting is if you remember reading the gospels of the Lord Jesus Christ, his brothers never believed in him even though they lived with him, even though they ate with him, even though they slept in the same house together, even though they heard him teaching, even though they saw the miracles that he did, they never believed that Jesus was the Christ or the Messiah. As a matter of fact, they actually thought Jesus might have been losing his mind because there was times when Jesus was getting big crowds and he was teaching and he was healing people and he was causing disturbances. They were saying, man, go get him before he brings shame to the family name. They didn't believe that Jesus was who he said he was at all. But yet, matter of fact, John said it this way, John 7, 5, for even his brothers did not believe in him. Well, how did they get in this room?

How did they get here then? What happened that caused these brothers who had lived with Jesus for 33 years to all of a sudden realize maybe it is him? What happened? I'll tell you what happened. It's the same thing that convinced a lot of us who Jesus was. It was the resurrection from the dead. This dude who they didn't believe in rose from the dead. So they're thinking, here's our brother. We heard him, big deal. We saw him, big deal. We saw him gather crowds, big deal. But when he rose from the dead, okay, big deal. Big deal. I mean, this dude rose from the dead. So now they absolutely believe it's him because they had never seen with their own eyes anybody get buried three days and three nights and rise from the dead. As a matter of fact, Jesus goes to James. We see this in 1 Corinthians 15, 7, and he reveals himself, basically saying to him, I know you didn't believe in me. I know you was mocking me. I know you thought I was a lunatic. I heard the stuff y'all was saying about me at night, but here I am. The same one that you rejected and didn't believe in,

I'm the same one you saw get crucified. I'm the same one you saw got buried. I'm the same one that got up and I'm here giving you living proof. It's me, your bro, Jesus. I'm the Messiah and I'm the Lord of life. I think it's beautiful, beautiful. Also, you see in this latter part where they had to replace one of the apostles. That list there in verse number 13, it lists 11 of them because one of them is missing. And you know who that one is, is Judas of Ascariot. Judas is the one that betrayed Jesus. And after he did it, he was remorseful and he wanted to take the money back that they had given him. He said in Matthew 27, I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. But even with his remorse, instead of repenting, he went on and hung himself. It's a sobering message to all of us because Jesus lived near Jesus without actually surrendering his life to Jesus. There's a lot to be said there. He heard all the sermons. He saw the miracle. He walked with the disciples. He even had ministry assignment given by Jesus, and he still never surrendered his life to Jesus. It just tells you, you can live in proximity of the kingdom

and never submit to the king. You can be right there close to the truth and never surrender to the truth. I guess the bottom line is what I'm saying is, you can be a church kid and still go to hell. You can be raised in the church and you can miss it. You can be here every week and hear the sermons and hear the testimonies and experience the goodness of glory of God and never actually surrender your life yourself to Jesus. But Judas had to be replaced and Peter leads them to replace Judas because they needed 12 before the day of Pentecost. Then Acts chapter two comes. Acts chapter two is when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes and the mission mandate begins. There's some things that are real clear about the kingdom of God that I want you to know about the kingdom because it lets us know why we know that the kingdom of God is what it is, why it's real and why we can absolutely believe in it and testify of it and one of it is the certainty of the kingdom of God because the king is eternal. This is not a kingdom in which every time a different king comes in, things change, rules change. We see that all the time with kings that move in from nation to nation. Anytime a different king comes in, they could change the rules, they can change the mission, they can change what different people do,

they can change the taxes. We also see that with even in our own country. Every time there's a different president, we've seen it, those of you that's lived as long as I have, you've seen one president make a law, another one gets in, he abolishes the law. The next one get in of that party, he either keeps that law or the next one of another party changes the law because they have the authority to do that. I'm so grateful that the king that's over our kingdom is no one that changes. There's no rules that's changed. The word of God doesn't change. You'll never come in here any given week and I tell you, well folks, we got a different king now and so I guess some of this that I've been telling you, it ain't the same because this king's got all new rules. No, no, no, we got a king who's firm, who's steadfast, who never changes and who's eternal. He is the king that is eternal. We know what the word of God says. We can always hold on to the word of God and believe it. As a matter of fact, in Daniel chapter seven, the scripture talks about there was a vision that Daniel had and he saw what looked like the son of man who approached the throne of God the father and he was given all authority. He was given all authority and the scripture says that his kingdom would last forever. It would never be destroyed.

That's the kingdom that we're in. We're in the kingdom of God that will never be destroyed. It doesn't matter what happens to France. The kingdom of God will not get destroyed. It doesn't matter what happens in Peru. The kingdom of God will never be destroyed. It doesn't matter what happens in the UK. The kingdom of God will never be destroyed. I got one for you. It doesn't matter what happens in America. The kingdom of God will never be destroyed because we have a king and this king is eternal. Can you say amen to that? The second thing that is the proof of the kingdom is the effects in the life of people. The effects in the life of people. When people come in contact with the king of kings, their life changes. Here it is in Matthew 9, 35, because Jesus demonstrated kingdom power. It says this here, Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness. I love that. Reading this about Jesus from place to place, teaching, telling the good news of the kingdom, healing and reviving people's life. When Jesus healed the sick, that was a clear demonstration

that the kingdom of God was breaking into human brokenness. When Jesus went around and was forgiving sinners, it was a clear indication that the kingdom of God was ushering in grace in people's life. When the dead were being raised, it was a demonstration of the power of the kingdom God. And when devil's demons was fleeing, it demonstrated the authority of the kingdom of God. Matthew 12, 28 says, if I drive out demons by the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. The kingdom of God is still moving. It's still operating. The kingdom of God didn't leave earth when Jesus left. The kingdom of God is still operating through you and I. That's why we absolutely believe that. sick people get healed. We absolutely believe that sinners can come to Christ. We absolutely do believe that broken people can have their life restored and transformed. As a matter of fact, you don't know who you sitting next to. That person next to you might have been an ax murderer, but Jesus changed their life because the king, now don't ask him, I see y'all, well, what did you do? No, no, but just know this, just like Jesus changed your life, he changed their life, he changed everybody's life in here because that's what the kingdom of God power does. It transforms and changes people's life

and it's still being demonstrated today. And here's the third thing, the subject of the kingdom of God are those of us who submitted ourselves to King Jesus, those who've been born again, those who've trusted Jesus to absolutely change and transform their life. A great narrative of this is in John chapter three. And it begins with a man by the name of Nicodemus who was part of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was 70 men who ruled all of Israel religiously. They were responsible for making sure the laws was kept and all of the priestly work was done and the things that the Old Testament had taught, it was their job to govern that and to oversee that. And Nicodemus was one of those Sanhedrin. Him along with a couple of others, Joseph of Arimathea, these were men in places of authority that was beginning to believe that Jesus just might be the Messiah, but they couldn't take a risk on being seen asking him because of what that would have brought upon them, they would have had their own inquisition to go through, they would be betraying the Sanhedrin and all of the codes. So the scripture tells us that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night so that he would take a chance on not being seen by others. He goes to Jesus and he says,

I know no one is good but God. Jesus responds to that by saying, listen, truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So he just tells him flat out, I know what you're up to Nicodemus. I know what you wanna know. You've seen some things and you got an inquiry mind about me, but you want to know what I'm all about. Hear this, unless you're born again, you can't even see the kingdom of God. You can't even see the kingdom that I'm directing, the kingdom that I'm leading. Now Nicodemus didn't quite get that. He says, how can anyone be born when he's old? Can he enter into his mother's womb a second time and be born? So he hears him say, you gotta be born again. So Nicodemus is trying to picture himself. How's that gonna work? I mean, how I'm gonna get back up in there? Just making it clear. Sorry about that. Was that a little too much information? All right. How that's gonna work? How am I gonna be born again? But see, here's the issue.

Even if he could, even if he could, you gonna come out the same way. Even if you could, you still gonna come out a sinner. You came out a sinner the first time, you gonna come out again a sinner. Ain't nothing gonna change about you. Flesh only gives birth to flesh. Am I, y'all with me? We all right? We didn't got rescued. Y'all with me now? Flesh only gives birth to flesh. Jesus said, no, no, no. That ain't gonna work. You gotta be born again. And the way to be born again is by water and by spirit. Jesus is saying this. The only way that you can even see the kingdom of God is to be washed, is to be cleansed, is for the blood of Jesus to wash those sins away, to be washed by the washing of water that even in your sinful self, you can be declared clean. Not because you were born again through your mother, not because you cleaned yourself up, but because you were washed by the water of the Lord Jesus Christ that cleansed you. And you receive the spirit of God which comes in and transforms you and makes you new. Now Paul said the same thing in Colossians 1.13. He says it a little bit differently,

but he says he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. Listen to what he's saying. When we become born again, we instantly go from one kingdom to another. Every one of us before Christ are in the kingdom of darkness. Every one of us. There's no distinction. Now darkness here doesn't mean necessarily that you were as bad as you could be, doesn't mean. You are a dark, evil person. It don't mean that. Now, you were a sinner. Don't get it twisted. Don't think I'm describing something different. Every one of us was sinners. It means this, that we are darkened to the things of God. We don't see who Christ is. We don't understand who God is. We're living a life in darkness. We're living a life in confusion. We're living a life in disturbance. We're living a life without direction. We're living a life going in the wrong direction, which causes us to end up in the wrong places. We are in the kingdom of darkness. But when we surrender our life to the Lord Jesus Christ, we're taken out of that kingdom.

Darkness no more. And we're placed in the kingdom of light, where we see things the way God wants us to see things. We see Jesus for who he really is. We understand that we were created by God, who wants the blessings with joy and the fullness and the goodness of life. We can see with clarity, amazing grace, how sweet the sound. We're no longer in darkness. We're now in the kingdom of light. We've now born again. We're in the kingdom. Now, because of those things, because of those elements, because of the eternal kingdom, because we're taken out of darkness and we've seen the evidence of what the kingdom of God can do, then the mission for us is to advance the kingdom. That's our responsibility now. Jesus has returned to heaven. He's coming back again, but he's returned to heaven and given us the mission and the mandate to now advance the kingdom of God. That's the responsibility of those of us on earth. Here's what Matthew 24, 14 says. And the good news about the kingdom of God will be preached throughout the whole world so that all the nations will hear it and then the end will come.

So we have a responsibility to continue advance the kingdom. None of us should ever be satisfied with, okay, I got Jesus, I'm saved, and I really don't care about anybody else. We all have a responsibility of advancing the kingdom of God. So much so, it's a worldwide mission. We believe that the gospel has been preached in every nation on the planet. But what we also do know is the gospel has not been preached to every ethnicity, to every people group, because there's still people groups who don't have a written language. And we're working hard with agencies to make sure that every people group on the planet has a written language so the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ can be communicated to them. The scripture says once that advancement happens and people hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in every ethnicity, then the end will come. So we still got work to do. Here's the deal. If you come here next Sunday and people are here, we got work to do. If you come the following Sunday and people are here, we got work to do. If you come the next Sunday and people are here, we got work to do.

We got work to do until the Lord returns. Now, if you come here one Sunday and it ain't but a few folks here, you got a problem. But I'm just saying. But until the Lord returns, we got things to do. And there's elements that the Lord gives us. The elements that the Lord give us so that we can advance the kingdom. Acts chapter two tells us about the power of God. Acts chapter three tells us about faith in his name. Acts chapter four tells us about boldness. Those three elements we need to accomplish the kingdom advancement. The first one again is the power of the Holy Spirit. Once again, Acts 1.8 says this. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That's how we become witnesses, is receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. And every one of us that receives the power of the Holy Spirit are the witnesses. We are, we, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, you, the born again person. It's up to us to spread this gospel. But notice that power comes before witness. The Lord never gives us an assignment to do that he doesn't give us the power to accomplish it.

He never gives us an assignment to do without the power to accomplish it. The power comes before witness. That's throughout the Old Testament pattern. We see that in the book of Zechariah when they were trying to build the temple. And the scripture tells us that Zerubbabel and those that was there was running across all kinds of opposition. It was taking too long. They were getting opposition from people in the land. People among the Jews was bailing out on them because of the process. And Zerubbabel goes before the Lord and he says, I can't do this. And the Lord responds to him saying, no, you're right, you can't. Because this will be accomplished. but it won't be accomplished by might nor by power but it'll be accomplished by my spirit it's the spirit of God that helps us fulfill the assignment you can look up on Samson and all of the times he done those supernatural feats of strength he only done those by the supernatural power of God you can see it with King David when he was anointed king David knew that he could not lead the kingdom at all in the manner that that he was given the assignment but the scripture says the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forth all of God's assignments for us always require God's empowerment we're ordinary people folks that can do what God calls us to do because he gives us extraordinary power to be his witnesses can you say amen so power we need faith in the name of Jesus we need Acts chapter 3 there's a narrative here that honestly I would have loved to taken more time to work through but Acts chapter 3 this is a little bit after the day of Pentecost 3,000 souls have come to the Lord the church has been gathered and people are being saved every day and then in Acts chapter 3 they are still

continuing their normal practice they're meeting in homes and wherever they can meet but they still continue their normal practice of going to the temple whenever they could three times a day to pray we find in Acts chapter 3 verse number verse 1 that they go to the temple on the this is a ninth ninth hour I believe of ninth hour of prayer so it would have been three o'clock in the afternoon they go to pray and what they see there is a lame man that's sitting in front of the gate where everybody has to go in this man could never walk so he had people that carried him there every day he was lame so since he was lame he couldn't work so he had to beg for his substance every day he asked him to carry him to the to the temple now why do you think he told him to carry him to the temple because folks was going to church and he believed most generous people there was the church folks some of y'all got that some of y'all didn't but it it's all right but he just figured that that's that's the best place to be here's some generous folks coming in into the place they take a look he looks up at Peter and John and he has this look that he he's and with the begging Peter and John look at him and he says to him this is verse number six I have no silver and gold but what I have I give to you now don't misunderstand this they had money it wasn't a matter whether them having money or not because when they go into the temple they do a temple offering but he's using the term silver and gold because that would be something that he thought the man thought would change his life for a long term he says I know what you want and you think silver and gold is actually going to fix your life but that's not what you need and that's not what I'm giving you what you need is Jesus you need the power of God to work in your life silver and gold I'm not going to give you but what I give you is the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk that's what he needed and sure enough this man gets up he walks he leaps he runs he does this now the disciples after this happens they're they're questioned which maybe you can understand why because anybody that's lame cannot go into the temple so even though this guy was raised in a Hebrew culture when all of their life was temple worship this guy could never go in for the first time in his life he goes into the temple what I love about this story is that immediately when he's able to walk when he's able to run when he's able to leap he don't go try to find a soccer ball to kick he runs into the temple that he has never been in before in his life he runs into the temple so that he could worship God now all the religious folks see him and they think whoa whoa whoa wait how did this guy get in here how is he walking how is he running how is he leaping how this is a guy we've seen every day how is this possible so

he tells them you know the word gets out man they told me in the name of Jesus to rise up and walk so they cornered the apostles and and they they do just like folks do they they they want to question what has happened how can this be this is some kind of sham this probably really ain't true you're saying that this happened by somebody by the name of Jesus who we was an imposter. And the disciples, we've seen in chapter 3, verse 16, they rehearsed it. It was through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed. And you know how crippled he was before. I love that statement. You know how crippled he was before. This dude couldn't even crawl in here. But now faith in Jesus' name has healed him before your very eyes. Peter wasn't going to try to take the credit for that. He knew that the power came from Jesus. But I want you to see how big of a miracle this is. Because I think all of you know, not one of your children, when you gave birth, mothers, to that child, not one of them children popped off the birthing table and just started walking. None of them did that. It's over a period of years, or months, I guess. Their legs get strength. Their ankles get strength. They crawl around a little bit, start lifting themselves up. Come on. Come on, Johnny. You can do it. You can do it. You know the process. And then your leg come a little bit and fall. It's okay. It's okay. Let's do it again. You know the process they got to go through. Same thing with people who got to go through therapy. Maybe somewhere down the line they got paralyzed. But yet they get their strength back, whether it be through medical miracle or the miracle of God. And they have to learn how to walk again. You know exactly what I'm talking about. But look at the power of God. He didn't have to be taught how to walk. He didn't have to wait for his knees to be strengthened. He didn't have to wait for his ankles to be strengthened. The moment he heard the name of Jesus, everything came to life. He was able to leap. He was able to walk. He was able to run into the temple and sing that song, hallelujah, giving glory to God. Can you say amen? That wasn't the power of Peter. That was the power of Jesus. Faith in the name of Jesus. The same power that David used when he went against Goliath. When David went against Goliath, although he had told the king, he had told Saul, man, dude, I didn't took down a lion. I didn't took down a bear. I ain't afraid of that giant. But when he went against Goliath, he didn't say any of that stuff. He told Goliath exactly. He didn't go to Goliath and say, dude, you better watch out because I'm pretty good with this slingshot. You better be careful, man, because I can put this rock right where I need to hit you. No, he said, you come to me with

the javelin and you come to me with the spear, but all I'm coming with is the name of the Lord God Almighty. That is where the power and that's where the source comes from. Can you say amen? Amen. And so, here's the last thing, and that's the bonus to proclaim the message. Now, chapter 4 actually carries over from chapter 3 because they're still messing with the apostles about that dude that got healed in chapter 3. They're still messing with them. So, they come to this conclusion, OK, if you say it was done in the name of Jesus, I guess there's nothing we can do about that, but this is what we want. If you said that Jesus did this, then from now on, you don't even use the name of Jesus. You don't speak the name of Jesus. You say nothing about the name of Jesus. You tell nobody about the name of Jesus. Can you get that? Instead of them folks rejoicing that one of their own people got better, they tell them, don't even talk about Jesus. We don't want Jesus doing any of this good stuff around us. Now, the disciples decide, you know what? Come on, fellas. We've heard their threats. Let's get together and work this out. They get in a room and they begin to pray. Listen to what they said in verse 29 and 31. They go before the Lord. And now, Lord, look upon the threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. Did you hear that? They didn't say, Lord, we're getting in trouble. I guess we need to chill out. Lord, people are saying stuff about us. We probably shouldn't do these things in public. Lord, they got their eyes on us and we don't want to make a big scene. So just can you help us find a way to do this differently? See, that's what some of us would have done. That's what some of us would have done. Instead of praying for people in public, we're thinking, well, I just don't want to cause a stir. Instead of telling somebody about Jesus right there where you're sitting with them when you know they need it, you justify in your mind, well, maybe this ain't the time to do it. That's not what they did. They said, no, no, no. We want to continue to do what we do. Why? Because we got a mission mandate. We want to continue to do what we're doing because that's what you created us for We want to continue to do what we did because that's what we were born for we were born again To take the mission mandate. Why are we going to go hide under a rock? Why are we gonna go hide in a cave? Why is it that everybody else in the world can go out there with all their messages and Christians are the ones that want to hide? Am I talking I got one hand clap. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Why is it Listen to the Apostles

Listen to him Lord Look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness While you stretch out your hand to life Signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus and when they had prayed the place in which they gathered together was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and Continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. That was God saying you got it You want the boldness to keep doing it? Here comes the Holy Spirit. You got it You want the power to keep doing it here? It comes you got that you want the courage to keep doing what God called you to do here It is I affirm it. Why is that so important to us and should be? Because we got the only message that can save people's life What are the message can transform people? Can change them can save them. It's right there in Acts chapter 3 verse 15 folks We got the message of the author of life People can't have true life without the author of life Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith Jesus is the captain of our soul Jesus is the captain of our salvation People cannot have true life. I don't care how much they're living They're living dead without Jesus They can be living and right on the crash course of hell They can be living and going to the wrong direction, which means they're going to end up in the wrong places The boldness we need honestly is to tell people about the author of life because that's the only thing that saves their soul Our fear will cost people their life Our unwillingness will allow people to go right on past us to the doors of damnation our inability to have the boldness which we know that we can have from the power of God is us giving in and Just said I hope your life is better, but do the best you can That's not the message you were given as a matter of fact when you gave your life to Christ

That's not what you agreed to you never agreed to that You've never agreed to being a secret Christian, you know The NASCAR race has already started I'm gonna catch up on it. So y'all just hang with me for a little bit longer You you never agreed to that You never agreed to be a person who says you want to serve the Lord but not when people are looking You never agreed to say I want to do give all my life to Jesus, but not too loud You never agreed to that as a matter of fact when you came into the Christian army You put on the uniform of an army man a military man that says I'm fighting for Jesus. That's what you did and People need to know that there's only one name that saves them It's Acts chapter 12 verse Acts chapter 4 verse 12. There is salvation in no other name except the name of Jesus That's the only way people can get saved. Don't get fooled by this stuff all roads lead to God. No, it doesn't Don't get fooled by this stuff. Well, it don't matter which way you go long as you end up in the right place No, no, no, it doesn't that's not true You can't get there. But one way Jesus says I am the way I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the father except through me It's not Muhammad's way. It's not Buddha's way. It's not the Hindu way. It's not the Mormon way It's the Jesus way The only way to get to where life is eternal is through Jesus Christ He's the Lord and Savior of all and he's given us the power He's given us his name and he's given us the boldness to express that message everybody stand if you would prayer team you can come I pray that indeed you if you are already born again You understand the mission you're on mission so the best thing to do is to get on with it If you if you if you haven't been born again that I'm gonna encourage you to join the mission and the way to join that mission is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, to truly be born again, and be a kingdom person. The kingdom of God is the only kingdom that's eternal. Be transformed, be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Father, I want to thank you now for this opportunity to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For those, Lord God, that are on mission, Lord, I pray you continue to give us the power, give us faith in your name, and give us the boldness

to carry out this mission. For the one Lord God who has not yet come to Christ, who has not been born again, I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to draw them, that they may recognize the need that they have for Jesus, and join the mission with the rest of us. Father, we thank you and we love you. In Christ's name we pray. May the people of God say amen. God bless you. Have a great day. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. It's all my life you have been faithful. It's all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. Oh, I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God. We'll see you next Sunday. God bless.