The Real Reason Church Exists

Oh, come on, everybody. Can you give King Jesus your best praise today? He's worthy. Worthy, worthy, worthy. Oh, come on. I think you can do better than that. He's worthy, I said. Jesus is worthy. We worship you today, Lord. The worthy one. Well, welcome, welcome to church. Right here in Yorktown and in Newport News, Virginia Beach Online, the men at Indian Creek. We're so thrilled. So glad that you're here with us today. And of course, I want to shout out the amazing men and women who serve our country and our military. We love you. We love your families. We stand with you during this time. He is worthy. Worthy of all worship, worthy of all praise. He's worthy because of his greatness. And today, today, if you, if you have a need that seems great, I need you to know that our God is greater. This is a house full of faith today. We believe that God still works miracles today. We believe that one touch from God can change your life today. That one moment in his presence can turn a situation around. And if you came here carrying a heavy burden, if you came here facing a difficult obstacle, if you came here feeling defeated, overwhelmed, or all alone, I want you to know today that

God's presence is here to meet you. And I want to pray for you before we move any further in this service. I want to pray for every person needing a miracle, because I believe God can do it today in our midst. I believe God can meet every need, that he can bring peace to anxious minds and healing to hurting hearts. I believe today he can bring home wayward, prodigal children. I believe he can meet you exactly where you are. Would you bow your heads, close your eyes, open your heart. And if you have a need today, a need for God, a need for his power and his work in your life, would you just lift a hand toward heaven to receive what he has for you? God, we bring you our needs. We agree with the scriptures that say, cast every care upon you because you care for us. So whatever we brought into this place, carry and we give it now to you. Worthy one, Jesus, worthy one. You are worthy because of the greatness of your name. We trust you with every care and concern. We ask you through the power of your Holy Spirit to meet us now in this place, to touch hearts and change lives. God, we believe that you are able, more than able, and that nothing's too difficult for you today. So we stand amazed in your presence and we ask you to move in this place. Do what only you can do. We give you all the glory, all the praise, all the honor, and all the thanksgiving. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Come on, everybody. Praise the Lord. We're glad you're here. We're glad you're here today. And we're in a series, a special series celebrating our 23rd birthday, y'all.

We're celebrating all month long, 23 years as a church. Why don't you take a seat? We got work, work to do today. This little series is simply called, the title of the series is called We Are WECC. That's who we are, Water's Edge Church. We are WECC. And what will we do? We're going to change the world, y'all, and that's you and me, and the people around you, and the campuses joining with us, and people online, and that's who we are. We are WECC. This is a series, really, about God's vision for our church, but more than God's vision for our church. This is a series, really, about God's vision for your life. I'm trying to give you, in this series of messages, a vision God has for your life. I love this verse. It's kind of become a theme verse for us in this series of messages. I showed it to you on the first week. I'll give it to you from the message paraphrase. It goes like this. If people—I love this—if people can't see what God's doing, they stumble all over themselves. But when they attend to what he reveals, they are—and say it with me, everybody—they are most blessed. Not just blessed. No, no. No, they are most blessed. In other words, if you can see what God's doing, if you can see where God is working, if you can see where God is moving, if you can— See what God is up to. You won't stumble through life. You'll actually be most blessed in life.

And that's why I'm trying to give you a vision for your life. Vision is just a picture of a preferred future. And God has a vision for your life. And he has a vision for our church. And I'm trying to help you see today what God is up to around you. In fact, today is a message for everybody who loves our church. Does anybody love our church? Okay. Woo, wow. Delayed response. Delayed response. I didn't know if they had that little delayed response thing going on up there where my voice is coming, but you don't hear it till five seconds later just in case I say something inappropriate. They can mute me. I didn't know. So let me try it again. This is a message today for everybody who loves our church. Okay. Ha ha. Everybody who loves our church, but still doesn't get it. It's possible to love our church, but not get it. It's possible to love our church, but still not really get it. You don't really understand. You love our church.

I'm so glad you love our church. Like somebody says, hey, where do you go to church? You proudly say, Water's Edge Church. You don't mumble it. You don't grumble it. You don't whisper it. You're happy to tell them Water's Edge Church. You love our church so much that you even occasionally wear Water's Edge Church merch. Y'all know what I'm talking about? Like you put the shirt on, not just for bedtime. You put it on in public. You love our church. That's awesome. It's awesome, but you really don't get our church. This is a message for you. If you love the church, but you really don't get the church. My job today is to show you God's vision for our church so that you get it, so that you get it. Because God's vision for our church is actually God's vision for your life. Did you know that? That's why the series is titled, We Are Weck. We are, you and me, us together. That God's vision for your life and God's vision for our church actually intersects. And I'm gonna try to show it to you today, a vision God has for your life, because I need you to get it. I need you to get it.

Some of you are a little bit like I was, I don't know, probably about 15 years ago. I have this vivid memory. It's like etched into my mind. I think I'm a little scarred from it, actually. I think I might have a little PTSD because of this vivid memory from like 15 years ago. Remember when the yogurt, the frozen yogurt craze kind of took off? I think it was about 15 years ago. All these frozen yogurt shops started opening up. And my kids were little, like little back then. And I'll never forget the first time I went to one of these frozen yogurt shops. I didn't get it. I didn't get it. Like I walked in the door and I was like a fish out of water. I didn't understand what was happening. You've been there, you know. They got all the yogurt machines plumbed into the wall with all the different topping, with all the different types and flavors of yogurt you can get. Like they got the, this is not just like basic yogurt. All right, this is like cake batter yogurt. Let's go, somebody. Like they got like cookies and cream and they got like watermelon and pineapple. They got all the kinds of yogurt.

And you pick up a bowl, you know how it works. You pick up a bowl and then you go down the lane and you just swirl all the different types of yogurt you want into your bowl. And then just when you think you're done, you turn to the side and then there's the fixings bar. And they got like 1,987 different fixings that you can put on top of your six blended types of frozen yogurt. And it's awesome until you get to the end of the line. And usually there's like a little teenage girl there with braces and braids and she smiles real big. And my first time there, she said, she said, put it on the scale. And I'm like, you mean me or the bowl? Cause I don't know, I've never been here before. I don't know what you're talking about. She said, put it on the scale. And I put it on the scale. And that's when I realized I love it, but I don't get it. Hey, they charge you by the ounce. I didn't know it. I'm sitting there like, oh, I made two mistakes today. Number one, I should have went for the marshmallow fluff and not all the other dense stuff on top. And number two, I should not have ever let my kids self-serve themselves. Hello, have y'all made that mistake? Like I loved it, but I didn't get it. And it cost me.

Like, I think I'm scarred from the experience because that little. trip to the frozen yogurt shop cost me more than a steak dinner for my whole family. Like, how did that happen? Cause I didn't get it. I loved it, but I didn't get it and it cost me. And there are a bunch of us, bunch of us who love our church. I think that's awesome. I'm so, so glad you love, you love our church, but you don't get it. And because you don't get it, it's costing you. It's costing you. It's costing you God's vision for your life. And because you don't get it, it's costing us. It's costing us God's vision for our church. And that's too high of a price to pay for you or for our church. And so I'm on a holy sacred assignment today to help you get it. If you love it, I want you to get it today. Cause I think once you get it, you're going to love it even more. And you'll see the vision God has, not just for our church, but for your life. And I think it all starts, it all begins with an understanding for all of us, for all of us to understand the purpose of the church. And I'm not just talking about our church.

I'm talking about any church. Every church is meant by God to have this purpose. If you're taking notes today, you can write this down. The purpose of the church is to function as Jesus on the earth. That's the purpose of the church. That's why church exists, to share Jesus's mission and his passion and his focus and his qualities. We are to be Jesus on the earth. You heard that phrase, be Jesus's hands and feet. Did you know that in the Bible, the church is called the body of Christ? Cause we're to be Jesus here on the earth. We're to share his mission. We're to share his passion. We're to share his focus. We're to share his qualities. That's why the church is so important. We're Jesus here on the earth. And now watch this. Jesus actually tells us what his mission was. Jesus, very plainly, very pointedly says this about himself and his mission. Jesus says, for the son of man, that's Jesus, talking about himself, for the son of man, I have come to seek and to save the lost. That's what Jesus is about. That's Jesus's mission. Therefore, it must be our mission.

Jesus came to bring God's lost children home. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. That's why a church can never become some Christian country club where Christ followers gather to exclude themselves from the world. The church must be a hospital where Christians come and bring lost, hurting, hurting and desperate people to be healed and to be saved. You gotta get this. I'm so glad you love our church, but you gotta get this. God has a vision for your life and God has a vision for our church. And the vision is for us to bring God's lost children home. If you know God, if you're saved, you're in a relationship with Jesus, you're still on earth today. And this church is still here 23 years later. Because we exist to bring God's lost children home. Do you get it? Because I need you to get it. Like if you're a follower of Jesus today, and this wasn't true, you know what would have happened the moment you said yes to Jesus? The moment you were at the end of a service and I said, hey, bow your heads, close your eyes, pray this prayer with me. And you said, dear Jesus, you know, I wanna know you. I want my sin forgiven by you. I wanna make you my Lord and Savior. The moment you'd have said that prayer,

you know what would have happened? If this wasn't true, poof, you'd be gone, straight to heaven, woo, bye, see ya. You'd be gone to heaven. You'd be gone to heaven. But God left you here. Check your pulse, you're alive. You're alive. Why did God leave you here? Because he's got a mission for you. He's got a mission for you. 23 years later, God's got a mission for our church. What is it? To bring home his lost kids. That's why he left you here. That's why our church is here. And I need you to get it. Now Jesus explains this so well, so much better than I ever could. He explains it in Luke chapter 15. Write that down in your notes today because we won't have time to read all of Luke chapter 15. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three amazing, remarkable, phenomenal, attention-grabbing stories. Because he wants to help people get it. Jesus uses these three stories in Luke chapter 15 to help people. to know his mission. Now today, we only have time for me to tell you about the first story, the first story.

That means it's gonna be a shorter sermon. It could be a longer sermon. I could tell you about all three stories. We could be here all day. So I'm only tell you about the first story. There it is, there it is, get fired up. The first story of the three stories in Luke chapter 15. Before I tell you the story though, I need you to know what's happening that causes Jesus to tell the stories. I need you to understand the context of Luke chapter 15 that is the cause for these three stories. And Luke tells us in his gospel, and this is what he writes. He says, now the tax collectors and the sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. Let's stop there and make sure you understand that those that you would think would be driven away by Jesus' teaching, those that you would think would be least likely to wanna hear Jesus teach are actually the ones gathering to hear him. Think about that. The tax collectors and the sinners, the worst of the worst. The tax collectors, boo, and the sinners, boo. The tax collectors and the sinners. Oh, some of y'all are ready to boo for the tax collectors. You ain't wanna boo for the sinners because you are one. But anyways, the tax collectors and the sinners

are gathering around Jesus. Why, why? You gotta get this. Because the message of Jesus, what he was about and what he taught, though it was convicting, it was not condemning. Jesus did not come to earth to condemn the earth. Jesus came to earth to save the earth. Jesus came for salvation, not condemnation. And Jesus' message was one of hope and love and acceptance, so much so, so much so that even the worst of the worst, the tax collectors and the sinners are gathering around to hear him. But not everybody, woo, not everybody liked what was happening. It says this, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, these are the religious people, these are the churchy people, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, muttered, this man, this man. Can you hear them? This man, this man. Talking about Jesus now, this man. He welcomes sinners and eats with them. Woo, who does he think he is? This man. The religious people are now using their religion to judge Jesus. Think about that. The righteous people are now using their righteousness

to look down their noses at Jesus, and they muttered, muttered, muttered. Muttered is an onomatopoeia word. It's one of those words that sounds like what it is. They muttered. Let me tell you something about muttering. Whenever you mutter, you're missing the mission. That's just a sign. Muttering, it's a sign. I'm missing the mission. Now I'm certain, oh my goodness, I am certain. No one in this wonderful holy church ever mutters. I know, I know. You never mutter in this church. You never mutter here. But if you mutter at home, if you mutter in your marriage, if you mutter at work, if you're a mutterer, then you're missing the mission. Muttering just means I've taken my eye off the prize. I'm not looking at the mission anymore. I'm looking at me. Muttering's about me. Muttering's a focus on myself. They muttered this man. Welcomes sinners and eats with them. Do you notice that not only were sinners drawn to Jesus, but according to the teachers of the law and Pharisees, Jesus was actually drawn to them. If you wanna know today about Jesus, if you're here today like,

I don't know, I'm investigating this thing about Jesus. I'm not really sure what it means to know Jesus or follow Jesus. I don't really even know who Jesus was. I'll give you Jesus in one sentence. This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. And I'm so grateful. Oh, hold up, hold up. We're not gonna golf clap in this church, okay? Just so you understand, I'm so grateful. I'm grateful because I was one welcomed by Jesus. Let me say something, and I mean this in the greatest sense of love that I can offer it to you today. But I would suggest to you that one of the greatest problems for Christians today, maybe for you today, that you've forgotten that you were one. You've forgotten. You've forgotten. One of the greatest challenges for growing Christians, one of the greatest challenges for Christians who have grown up in Christianity, one of the greatest challenges for well-meaning, really awesome, great churches, is it becomes very tempting to forget I was one welcomed by Jesus. I was one of those sinners that Jesus welcomed. And I would just say to you today, I would just say that any Christian or any church that does not deliberately, intentionally structure their life around being a person or a place welcoming of sinners, I'm not saying accepting of sin, that's not what I'm saying, but I'm saying welcoming of sinners is missing the mission of Jesus and misrepresenting who He is. Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. You know why? Because He was on a mission and you are too, and you are too.

And religious people hated it. They did not like the fact that Jesus spent a disproportionate amount of time of sinners, a disproportionate amount of time and energy and focus and affection and attention on people far from God. And so Jesus needs to explain why. And if you read Luke 15 and you get to these three stories, what Jesus is doing is He's explaining why. He's trying to help people understand, this is why I welcome sinners. This is why I eat with them. You got to get this. Let me show you Jesus's first story is going to help you get it. I promise you, Jesus says this. Because one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn't He leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until He finds it? And everybody in the crowd that day, everybody would have been, oh yeah, yeah, that's what Jesus, that's what a shepherd would do. He would leave the 99 saved, found, safe sheep. And He would go in search of the one that is lost. Now we don't, we don't really deal with sheep. So let's talk about something that we can relate to. Let's bring it into modern day, modern day terms. And let's, and let's see if we can understand it. How many of you parents, how many of you parents have, you got more than one child. Okay. Some of you are real hesitant on raising your hand. Did you forget? Okay. Let's try it again. You got more than one child. Parents, raise your hand.

Parents, more than one child. Okay. Awesome. How many of you, how many of you have more than two children? You got more than two children. Okay. We have three. We have three. How many of you, how many of you have more than three children? Raise your hand. More than three. Leave your hands up. We need to pray for you. Okay. Okay. All right. Awesome. You can put your hands down. Put your hands down. Get the story. Let's all imagine that we have, each have four children. You have four children. Take a deep breath. It's going to be okay. Okay. But four children. You have four children, and you lose one. One's lost. One ran away. One, you know, you're at the mall and one disappears.

You can't find him. This is what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, nobody with four kids, with one's lost, nobody gathers the three kids up in a huddle and says, oh my gosh, one, two, three. Hell, at least I still got you. Right? This is what Jesus's sense of humor is coming through. Nobody does that. Nobody does that. All of us, all of us, all of us, if we lost one kid, even if we got three that are safe and secure and found, we're going to go try to find the one lost one. We are, we are. Some of you are hesitant to clap because you're like, it depends on which one's lost. I'm just gonna tell you, just, okay. Okay, every illustration breaks down somewhere. So let's, let's do this one. Let's do this one. Let's say you lost your wedding ring. Ladies, you lost your wedding ring. You misplaced it, you don't know where it is. No, nobody, nobody who loses their wedding ring runs to their jewelry box and pulls out all their other rings and pulls out all their other necklaces and pulls out all their other bracelets and stands in the mirror and say, well, at least I still got these. Nobody does that because in that moment,

you don't care about the rings that are in the jewelry box. They're safe. They're secure. They found, you care about the wedding ring and it has the sole attention of your focus. Okay, let's do one more for the dudes, okay? No dude ever loses the keys to his truck. Come on, fellas. You lost the key to your truck. You don't go to your key ring and be like, well, there's the key to my wife's car and there's the key to the house and there's the key to the office. No, there's the key to the luggage. So I'm good. And you don't care about those keys. You care about the one key. You care about the lost key. That's Jesus' point. Jesus is saying when something of value is lost, it gets an inordinate amount of time and attention and passion and energy. It becomes the focus. Finding the lost thing is the mission. Now, here's the reality that every single one of us need to understand and know today. You need to get this. People without Jesus Christ are lost. They're without hope. They're without purpose.

They're lacking forgiveness. They're condemned because of their sin and therefore their eternal destiny will be punishment, damnation and separation forever and ever in a place called hell. And I don't say that like with any joy and I don't say that with any like, oh, you're a bad person. I'm not saying any of that because I was once that. I'm just saying you're lost without Jesus. And lost things must be found because lost things have value. And every person has incredible undeniable value. Every person. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why. Because that is a consequence of being made in the image of God. Every person, good or bad, mean or nice, every person, the obnoxious coworker in the cubicle beside you has value. Every person, that weird kid in the fourth period geometry class has value. Every person, the server at the restaurant today, the mechanic who fixes your car, the next door neighbor who calls the HOA on you has value. The person at self-checkout at Home Depot yesterday that drove me bonkers and I almost lost my Jesus, I told him has value. I got back in my car, I'm like, babe, whoo, I got to remind myself they have value to God.

And when lost things that are valuable aren't found, God doesn't rest. And he will not rest until his valuable lost kids come home. And that's why when God thinks about you and he thinks about our church, you know what he thinks about? He thinks about a rescue mission. He thinks about us existing on his rescue mission to bring his lost kids back home. This is God's vision for your life and God's vision for our church and I need you to get it. God wants his lost kids home. And Jesus, he continues the story. He says, the shepherd will leave the 99 and search for the one of course he will. And then look at what he says. And when he finds it, when he finds the lost sheep, he joyfully, oh, this is such a beautiful picture. He puts it on his shoulders and goes back home. He cares for his lost kids. carries the lost sheep back home. The shepherd makes it easy for the lost sheep to come home. Jesus doesn't say that the shepherd goes out there and beats the sheep, degrades the sheep, fusses at the sheep, condemns the sheep, says, bad sheep. He doesn't say that. I know, I know that's so good. I couldn't wait to use that one on you. That was so good.

I know, good one, Stu. Good one, pastor. Yes. Okay, sorry. Thank you. Oh, you're so much better than the earlier service. Oh, so good. I just think it's the most, it's the most beautiful picture. That sheep wandered off. The sheep made a series of bad choices. That sheep went far away. And the shepherd just goes and picks it up, puts it on the shoulders, brings it back home. Can I tell you, listen, you gotta get this. That's the strategy of our whole church for 23 years. You know what our church has been trying to do? Make it easy for lost sheep to come home. That's why somebody greeted you in the parking lot with a foam finger. They're pointing a way for the sheep to come home. That's why somebody held the doors for you at the door. That's why somebody spoke your name and was kind to you when you walked through the building. That's why, listen, that's why our ushers seated you beside somebody. Or at least they tried to. I see some empty seats. Some of y'all bad sheep. You know, our whole strategy of our church,

our whole strategy of our church, make it easy for lost sheep to come home. Why, Pastor, why in the world we gotta sit so close to somebody? Because you remember what it was like to be a lost sheep trying to come home and being all alone? We don't want anybody to sit alone. Why in the world we gotta go say hi to somebody when we start the service? Because do you remember? You probably don't. And that's the problem. God, remind us. Oh, remind me what it was like to be a lost sheep and to have a savior come put me on his shoulders and carry me home again. I want you to get it. Cause this is God's vision for your life and for our church. We exist to bring lost sheep home because people are valuable. And God is so compassionate. And he invites us into his mission. And Jesus says, when the lost sheep is found, look at what happens. Look what happens. The shepherd then calls his friends and his neighbors together. And he says, rejoice with me. I found my lost sheep. And then Jesus says this, some of the most profound words.

I tell you that in the same way, in the same way as the story I'm telling you, in the same way as the shepherd went after the one, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons that do not need to repent. Jesus says, heaven applauds. Heaven throws a party like you've never seen. Heaven goes crazy when here on earth, one of God's lost children come home. And God says, this is my vision for you. This is my vision for your life and for our church. Bring my kids home. Go on a rescue mission for my lost kids. I say it like this and it gets me so fired up to think about it. God wants us to make heaven celebrate. There's actually something you can do down here that makes them up there celebrate. Think about that. The Bible is very clear. There is one thing, one thing you can do here on the earth that makes heaven celebrate. Bring a lost kid home. Bring one of God's lost children back into the fold. Heaven will lose its mind. Here's what that means and I need you to get it. If you're found, if you're found. It's not about you anymore. We have a value.

There are six of them that define who we are as a church. We are WECC. There are six values. One of them goes like this. It's not about me. It's about others. It's not as fun as church should be fun. That's another one, all right? It doesn't get the response as everybody needs a group. I get it. I get it. It's not about me. It's about others. Would you say that core value out loud with me, everybody? It's not about me. It's about others. Yeah, but what about me? Pastor, what about me? What about me? Do you not care about me? Don't you care about my spiritual growth? Don't you care about what I need? No, no, no, no. I do care. And Jesus does too. But I know what you don't yet get. And I'm trying to help you get it today. That your faith will actually grow and your needs will actually be met when you begin to fulfill the vision God has for your life. And that vision is that you're on a rescue mission in search of the one who's lost.

Then you will be most blessed. There's still one more. There's still one more lost sheep to be found. There's still one more lost child to come home. There's still one more student that needs to know they matter. There's still one more marriage that needs to be rescued. There's still one more single mom that needs to know you're not alone. There's still one more man running from God for years who needs to come back to God. There's still one more. It's the mission of your life and it's the mission of this church to go after one more. One more son or one more daughter, one more friend, one more neighbor, one more niece, one more nephew, one more coworker, one more classmate or teammate. I want you to know God's dream for your life and for this church is that you would join his mission to reach one more. And here's the part you don't understand. I need you to get it though today. When you do, when you join in God's mission, heaven celebrates, but God through his Holy Spirit overwhelms you with hope and potential and significance and meaning and purpose in life. You're most blessed. It's God's vision for your life and it's God's vision for our church. It's how we'll change the world. One more. So who is your one more? What's their name? Where they live? How do you know them? What's their story? What will you do to reach them? Let me ask it to you this way.

Who is close to you, but far from Jesus and his church? Because that's your one more, whoever it is God brought to your mind. Most of us today had somebody pop to mind when that question came up. That's your one more. That's your one more. And you remember how I told you that Jesus, Jesus spent an inordinate amount of time, energy, passion, attention, and focus reaching the lost? Well, I'm actually asking you to do that for your one more. I'm asking you to pray every day for your one more. I'm asking you to model Jesus's character and his qualities to your one more. Because you don't reach the lost by acting lost. Hello? You reach the lost by being found. So live like it, live like it. And your one more will be drawn to it. I'm asking you to reach out and connect with your one more and start inviting your one more. Easter Sunday is in three weeks, three Sundays from now, Easter Sunday, greatest invite opportunity in the history of the world. Pagans go to church in the South on Easter. And we're going to give you invite opportunities and invite cards and digital invites and all this stuff so you can sprinkle it through your neighborhood and tell everybody at work and invite all your friends at school. Of course we are. But I'm asking you to be strategic with your one more. Reach out to your one more. Invite them to not just come to Easter with you, invite them to celebrate Easter with you. Let's have lunch together. Let's attend church together.

Let's have an egg hunt together. Let me tell you, mom. experience with Easter together. One more, one more. In fact, today when you came in, you should have received a one more card online. There's a link for this card digitally. I believe our ushers have some. If you need one, you just wave at them and they'll get one into your hands today. A one more card. These cards are for you. These cards are for you to write the name of your one more. And some of you can write it right now because God's already brought him or her to your mind. For the rest of you, I'm praying that by the end of today, you'll actually write in the one more that God's placed on your heart. And then you'll take this card and you'll place it somewhere where you see it every single day as a constant reminder. You put it on the bathroom mirror, put it on the dashboard of your car, put it in your wallet, put it on the back of your cell phone, put it somewhere that you see it every day so that you don't forget, so that you don't give up, so that you don't get frustrated, but you keep on inviting, keep on praying,

keep on reaching out, keep on investing because you were once a one more too. You know who didn't give up on you? Jesus. And most of us, God used somebody to reach us like God's gonna use you in this church to reach them. One more. Can you imagine today, if all of us, all of us today on all of our campuses, can you imagine if all of us today would live on mission for one more? If all of us today would say, we are and our church is here for one more? Can you imagine? And can you imagine if we lived like that with a sense of urgency, because we realized that we aren't guaranteed another day and neither is your one more? This church isn't guaranteed another 23 years? Then we gotta wake up and be about the father's business? Then we gotta go on a rescue mission to bring home God's lost children? To reach one more. God used us to reach one more. And he'll be most blessed. I need you to get it. I'm glad you love our church, but I need you to get it. God's got a vision for your life and a vision for our church. He wants to use you to reach one more.

Okay. Some of you are the one more. Now, let's just call it like it is. You're the one more. And you've tried on your own to get to God and you've tried on your own to be good enough. And you've tried on your own to be religious. It's not working. You've tried on your own to fill up that God-sized hole in your heart with a bunch of other stuff and it's not working. And maybe somebody invited you because you were there one more, or maybe God just drew you mysteriously here today because you were his one more. But you need to say yes to a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's your day. It's your moment. It's your time to come home to the Father. I plead with you. You cannot go too far. You cannot do too much. The Father's arms are wide open, waiting for you to come home. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And if you are the one more, this is your moment. I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer, but before I do, I wanna know it's you. I wanna know that you are that one more

coming home to the Father. I won't embarrass you, call you out, ask you to come to the front. I'm not gonna do any of that. I just wanna know so I can pray with you. I wanna know that you are that one more so I can pray with you in this moment to come home to the Father. If that's you, you're the one more. Would you shoot your hand high in the air? Would you just leave it up for a moment? Don't be shy. Don't be ashamed. Don't be bashful. God bless you. God bless you. Come home to the Father. God bless you. Anyone else? This is your moment. You can put your hands down. Now say this prayer with me and really mean it. Just say it silently from your heart. You don't even have to say the words out loud. Just say Jesus. I wanna know you. I want my sin forgiven by you. I wanna make Jesus my Lord and Savior. I'm coming home today to the Father. And now, Lord, I thank you for every person praying that prayer and for all of us committing

to go on a rescue mission for our one mores. Use us. Use us to bring your lost kids home today. Thank you that right now in heaven, there's a celebration happening over kids who have come home. We're grateful. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, amen. Come on, can we join the celebration in heaven today? Amen. Amen.