The Vision of Victory || Victory Church [The Church #2]

Hey, so Summer and I began attending Victory World Outreach in late 1998. So two things. Yes, that is what the church was called back then. And two, yes, that was in the 1900s, as the kids today would call it. I have received official UNK status. So I was a college student attending God's College, University of Georgia down the road. And Summer and I were dating, and I would come down on the weekends to stay with her family. Eventually, I did put a ring on that finger. Come on, Jesus. And as a wise young man, I would follow that family. And they started going to this church unlike anything I had ever seen before. And I have very vivid memories of those days, 27 plus years ago, of walking in the doors and seeing a Jamaican worship pastor and a Latino dude on percussion. And there was this white senior pastor just saying crazy stuff. And I was like, I don't think you can say that. But he did. And the church was growing and God was getting glory. And I remember I would look around the room and I would see people wearing like traditional African dress, sitting next to somebody from South Korea, sitting next to somebody from Australia, next to somebody from Brazil, next to somebody from France, next to somebody from Mexico, next to somebody from Bankhead. And I was like, what is happening? This is wild. And we didn't meet in this building because this building wasn't constructed until 2002. We were down the hill at one of our buildings down there. And victory was maybe at the high end, maybe about a thousand people at that time. And so Summer and I were young. And so as young people do, we were irresponsible. So we came late lots of times.

And just in case you're curious, 11 a.m. service has always been in overflow. I think even when there were six people in the church, I think four of them were in the room and two of them were in the overflow room. That's just how it works. And if we got there late, victory had no overflow room. And so you would sit in the lobby in a chair and they would open up the doors and you just kind of like look through the door. So I have these memories of that so many years ago. But it was in that space that my life began to change. And here I am now. Like I can look back so many years later. It was in that space with those people that I can say this, that I first became a disciple of Jesus. It was in that space that I first found a tribe to call a family. It was in that space that I actually found a church to call home and scripture would tell us that those who are planted in the house of the Lord would flourish. And so I began flourishing. It was in that space with those people that I actually began serving and through that discovered gifts and through that began living on mission and eventually, if you hadn't noticed, actually discovered my calling. Because I came here with no intentions, guys. I have a geography degree from the University of Georgia. I had no intentions to do any of this. This was the last thing I wanted to do. But here we are. And I owe so much to this house. I owe so much to you guys. I owe so much to the, especially previous leadership here at Victory. And here's the deal. Summer and I came when we were Victory World Outreach.

I'm always curious about this. How many Victory World Outreach people we got here today? Yes! About six of us. Awesome. Nine o'clock had a lot more. Okay. Now here's the question. Here's the deal. Right after that, we changed to Victory World Church. How many Victory World Church people we got? Yeah. All right. Around 2019, we shortened it down. So how many Victory Church people we got? You come in the last six. Yeah. Y'all are really quiet. Every service, you're really quiet. That's the whole time that Summer and I have been senior pastors. I don't know why you're disappointed in that, but it's okay. And I remember this. Pastor Dennis used to always say this, is that people have a tendency to view the church through the lens of how it was when they first got there. Does that make sense? So in essence, Victory will always kind of be like a thousand fiery people in one space and multiple services to me. That's kind of how I'll always see it. In essence to Pastor Dennis and Colleen founding pastors, Victory will always be six people in a living room and rubbing pennies together to buy copy paper and living on faith and

prayer. That's kind of how Victory will always be. And others of us have come in in different seasons of the church. So maybe some of you came around 2010 when we launched Victory Hamilton Mill. So Summer and I launched in August of 2010. We launched that campus up by Mall of Georgia. And so that's kind of how you remember the church. Some of you came around 2016 when we launched Victory Midtown, which by the way, Victory Hamilton Mill last week, this is crazy, had 2,900 people in that campus. Victory Midtown had 2,500 people. last weekend, which is wild, or maybe some of you came around 2022 when Victory North Cobb became a campus, which by the way, that building has now been painted. We painted a bunch of our buildings. It's beautiful. I love that. So you kind of view the church like that. Others of you, honestly, like this is week one or week two. If this is week two, all you know is 13,562 people who were here in our buildings, across 15 services, across four campuses last weekend. All you know is big victory. That's all you know, and that's not your fault, but that's all you know. All you know is big. You don't know the stories. You weren't here for the fasting, the prayer, and the sacrifice, and the giving, and everything it took to get there, which honestly, if we take a step back, which is why we're taking a few weeks here off the top of the year, to talk about the church, the church, not just this church, but the church. In fact, last week, we talked about the church, like capital C, God's church, past, present, future, global, and local, God's church. And so here's the question. What is the church, right? If you were here, you know the answer. Jesus is the one who actually defines the church, and he uses the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia means the gathering of those who were called out. Called out of what? Called out of darkness, called out of your old life, called out of the tomb, called out of death to be God's people. So what is the church? The church is the gathering of those who were called out, who were built on the foundation of Jesus Christ to resist the agenda of hell, and to advance the agenda of heaven. That is the church. Welcome to the church. And today, we're taking another step to look at this church. What is this particular church? What is Victory Church? What do we exist to do, and how are we called to do it? And if you call this church home, or maybe if you're in the process

of calling this your church home, it's really important that we're on the same page for this one. And here's how I'd say it. If we're ever going to move past being attenders who just sit next to each other, come on, you don't know the person sitting next to you. Maybe you do, but you definitely don't know the person in front of you. If we're ever going to move past being attenders who sit next to each other, and actually begin becoming family who do life together, and co-labors who run the race together, then we need to be on the same page about who Victory is, why Victory exists, what Victory exists to do, how God has called us to do it. Or else, here's the idea. We'll say, go! And we'll run in 13,562 different directions, which is a problem for trying to get anything done for the cause of the kingdom. And a friend of mine says, we need to point our canons in the same direction. And that's what we're endeavoring to do right now, so that when we say, go, we can actually get something done. Because if you did not know, there are three kinds of churches, okay? Here's the first one, is that churches, churches that don't change. Y'all ever been a part of that church? I think some church's official motto is, if 1980 ever comes back, we're ready. You know, they got the don't do drugs, you know, posters up in the bathroom still. They got the flannel board for the kiddos. Same 50 families, same methodology, same fruit, right? So many years later. So there's churches that don't change. There's also churches that change with the world. And I think this is the group that breaks God's heart much more even than the first one. It's churches that love to be loved and like to be liked, and they're willing to sacrifice the call of God on that church. There's pastors who are willing to uproot off of the word of God and just tickle itching ears and tell people what they want to hear so that they would be liked. There's a problem when you love to be loved. And there's churches that do that, and they change with the world. But thankfully, there's a third type of church, churches that change the world. And if you did not know, that's the kind of church that you're a part of today. And here's how I would say, guys, I don't know why you're here. I'm here to change the world. That's why I'm here. And so listen, I, you know, I'm here to help. I'm here to meet with Jesus. I'm here to help you meet with Jesus. And so that together we would decrease and he would increase and we would become more like him so that in just a few minutes we would be shot out of a cannon into this world full of the Holy Spirit to change the world for the glory of Jesus. That's why I'm here. Okay. I don't know why you're here. That's why I'm here. And years ago, this survey actually was done, famous survey. So they asked the church, why does the church exist? 89% of the

congregation said to meet my family's needs. 90% of the pastors said to win the world to Jesus. Do y'all notice the difference between the two? Do you see how that could be a problem if we're all here for different reasons? Now, let me say this. Okay. I have no problem with, with bringing Christ into our family. I have no problem. Here's my problem. If it stops there, if, if, if some of us are maybe here today to be like, yeah, I'll pay for childcare. I'll put like 10 bucks in the, in the, in the offering bucket at the end. end of service, so you watch my kids so I can do the show. Like, if you're here for that, you're in the wrong place. I have no problem, in essence, with God meeting our family's needs unless it stops there, because we believe this, if God can get it through you, he'll get it to you. Because I believe that God wants to change your family so then you can turn around and give that to the world around you. Why? Because Jesus, very famously, has commissioned us to win the world to him, Matthew 28. If you didn't know, this is called the Great Commission. And Jesus says, stay and sit. Go and make. Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always, even to the very end of the age. That right there, super important, guys, is what we would call the mission of the church. Everybody say mission.

Okay, God's mission is for us to be disciples who make disciples. Does that make sense? And I can say it like this, the mission of every healthy church is that. Now, they may say it different ways, they may post it and articulate it in different ways, but the mission of every healthy church is to be disciples who make disciples. Now, I want you to notice, I said healthy church. So in fact, if you're a part of another church that does not exist to be disciples of Jesus who make other disciples of Jesus, run! Okay, because they're there for some broken reason. Well, we exist to come together and wave flags. You missed the point. Well, we exist to do social justice. You missed the point. We exist, the mission of God's church is to be disciples of Jesus who go and make other disciples of Jesus. But super important for today, there's a difference between mission and vision. There's a difference between the mission of the church and the vision of a church. And here's how I'd say it, okay? Is victory is a place and a people who are dedicated to the mission, everybody say mission, and guided by the vision.

Everybody say vision. That God has given this church. So let me recap it. Our mission is to step out of being consumers to actually become contributors. Our mission is to move beyond simply being believers to actually becoming disciples to become disciple makers. That's our mission. That is the mission of God for us. Okay, now where do we do that? How do we do that? What does it look like? Well, God has put a call on this house to make a million disciples of Jesus. So 100,000 people through our victory settings, 900,000 people through church plants and church network for a sum total of us making a million disciples of Jesus. That may be intimidating for you. It's not for me because there's eight billion people in the world, there's six million people in Atlanta, and God has called us to change the world. And so listen, we're about that life here. That is what we're doing, to be disciples who make disciples of Jesus, okay? But again, there's a difference between the mission and the vision. Here it is. The mission is what God has called every church to do. The vision is how God has called us to do it.

Does that make sense? The vision is how God has specifically called us to accomplish the mission of making disciples of Jesus. So here's the million dollar question. What is the vision of victory? How has God called us to do this thing? Well, if you rewind back, which is really cool, in three weeks, victory will officially turn 36 years old. All right, so get ready for that. So if you rewind back almost 36 years ago, God spoke to the founding pastors and he took them to Acts 1.8. So Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, okay? Acts 1.8 is literally the final words of Jesus here on earth before he, you know, super saiyan, he ascends into heaven. And so what Pastor Dennis said at that time, he said, hey, if you're gonna build a church on something, probably nothing better than to build it on the final words of Jesus. Here's the final words of Jesus. Jesus says, but you will receive power. Everybody say power. When the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. If you are new with us, this is the heartbeat of victory. This is what we exist to do. This is how we're doing it. Jesus says, you will receive power.

In the Greek, that word is dunamis. That's eventually where we get the word dynamite from. God is saying, hey, you're gonna get something special when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And so you need to understand this. We are a Holy Spirit people. Okay, guys, some of y'all don't believe that. Here's our core conviction. We are not barely safe sinners. We are not eking by. We are not just limping along in life. Our life mission isn't to live in seven-day cycles where we just go to church and that's the only good thing that ever happens in our life. No, the same power that resurrected Christ from the grave lives inside you, lives inside me, lives in the saints. We are a Spirit-empowered people. What does that spirit empower us to do? What does God's spirit empower us to do? To be witnesses in four places? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Now here's what you need to know about me. Whenever I hear places, the geographer in me wakes up. And I'm like, what is that? And I'm gonna go look those places up, okay? Because here's what we discover. Is Jesus doesn't just randomly say four places. And not like, oh, I don't know, Jerusalem. He's not making it up. Okay, and here's what we discover, okay? Can we put this little map together for you? So this is kind of super zoomed in on Israel. They're on the the west, the left side of the map. You see the Mediterranean Sea, bottom right. That's the Dead Sea. Jerusalem is just kind of like a few miles away from the Dead Sea. Now here's what I want you to see. The concentric, radiating circles going out. Here's what Jesus is saying, is you're gonna go and be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and ultimately the ends of the earth. Here's the beautiful thing. It's radiating.

It's moving. Go and make. Go and make. Okay, here's how we know, if you're curious. Here's how we know that they did it. We're here today. 2,000 years later, they did it. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. And it's our job now to go from our Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth, to radiate it back. Billions of Christ followers, billions of saints, going and making, going and making, to cover the earth with the glory of God, like the waters cover the seas, to change the world for Jesus. That's a big idea. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. And so we asked God at that time, early days of victory, what does that mean for us? What are Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth? And he made it real. He gave us language. Jerusalem was basically their own backyard. It was their home. And so God gave us this language at that time, which I'm going to walk us through. What is the vision of victory? The first one is Jerusalem, which is to build strong families. We believe in these things enough to put them on the wall. How many of you love that victory is about building strong families? Yeah, a lot of us, we've had our lives revolutionized by the work of God here in this house. So victory began with a burden for the state of the family, because we looked around and we saw the state of fatherlessness. We saw so many single moms. We saw the governmental crisis, the leadership crisis, the identity crisis, the sexuality crisis. And we said, I think Jesus can do something about this. Come on, guys. How many of you know God can do something about your family? God can do something about your family. And over the decades, we've seen God revolutionize families. We have seen singles break generational curses. We have seen adulterous husbands repent and come home. We have seen addicted, depressed wives get liberated and re-engaged. We have seen prodigal sons and daughters literally come home to Jesus, be born again, reconnect to their family, and are now actually actively in the ministry. We've seen it. And we hold tightly to what Jesus says in Luke 18, Luke 18, 27. He says, what is impossible with man is possible with God. Come on, am I in the right place today? Whatever miracle in your family you're crying out to God for is possible in Jesus' name. Come on, look at your neighbor. Say, it's possible. Come on, it's possible. Nothing's too hard for God. God's arm is not too short to say, come on, nothing's...

I don't know if you're praying over addiction. I don't know if you're praying for a prodigal to come home. I don't know if you're praying against sickness and disease. I don't know if you're praying against divorce. I don't know what's happening, but I do know what's impossible with man is possible with God. I do know what's impossible with counseling is possible with God. I do know what's impossible in a 12-step program is still possible with God. I know what's impossible in radiation and chemotherapy is still possible with God. I know that, and I've seen it. And so that's formed our philosophy over the years. So I'm gonna let you in on a secret. Here it is. Here's the secret. Don't tell anybody. A lot of churches babysit the kids so they can minister to the adults. We babysit you so we can minister to your kids. Listen, I love what we do in here, but I believe that the best ministry that happens in victory happens with your kids. I believe that. So I want to give some love to all the amazing people who serve in victory and kids. Can we do that real quick? In fact, if you got kiddos today, and you're gonna go pick them up in a few minutes, say thank you. Tell them to overwhelm them with thank yous today. And if you don't have your sticker, right, to pick up your kid and they ask you for your license don't be like just give me my kid no because we're not just giving away free children what if you went to pick up your kid really where's my kid I don't know somebody deserves their kid enough sticker I'm gonna tell them thank you because they put up with you and your kids and me too okay so I remember the first place I personally Johnson Booty ever served here in victory was in the to the the terrific twos not the terrible twos the terrific twos in the year 2000 and I remember at that time we had these paper forms and the form it asked you a bunch of questions and one of the questions was what's your vision for children's ministry and I remember I laughed because I was like bro I'm doing you a favor like why are you grilling me I'm saying like like like you need me you know because I totally didn't get the point and I was like what's my vision for children's ministry to keep them alive you know like that's kind of the sum total of what you try and do in children's ministry and I missed it that listen children's ministry is not childcare the children's ministry it's in the name is children's ministry okay

so let me get on my soapbox just for a second I'm not looking at you by I don't even know literally I don't know if anybody's here like this but this is why I get so frustrated when some parents like raise their voice and are like I can't believe you won't let me bring my screaming two-year-old into the sanctuary because Jesus says don't stop the little children from coming to me exactly exactly which is why we spend millions of dollars on our buildings hire dozens of staff put countless hours into curriculum and worship team to engage your kids exactly right where they are because I promise you a two-year-old's getting nothing out of this but next door near their spaces it's going right into their world right into the world I believe so deeply in what happens in our nursery in our preschool or elementary we have a amazing sixth and seventh grade ministry here at victory for y'all remember what it was like to be in middle school okay and so we have a ministry just for that speaking to identity and sexuality and God's purpose for their life what does it look like to worship what does it look like to be a leader at 12 and 11 and 13 was and it ends with a rite of passage ceremony where leaders pastors parents put a hand on a shoulder and say you're no longer a child today you're a man today you're a woman right if you got a sixth and seventh grader they better be in there okay we have a youth ministry that's engaging 8th through 12th grade students not just to entertain them but to actually see Jesus come into their life to send them back as missionaries back into their high school and prepare them for their next we have an incredible young adult ministry here at victory for 18 to 30 year olds okay don't be sneaking in if you're 40 don't be creepy we got 18 to 30 meet every Tuesday night and it's like 700 young adults thriving not making the same mistakes as the rest of their peers so they're 10 years ahead of everybody else we got pre-marriage classes we have marriage builder online groups if you need marriage help we have forward ministry which is those those four classes that in essence is is saying God I'm not gonna be stuck in my trauma and my triggers I'm gonna get up and move forward and you put all that together and here's what it means if you're a

family that wants to get stronger you're in the right place because God has called this house to build strong families and personally I've been the beneficiary of this you know summer and I when we first started coming we're only dating we got married in 2001 now we have a 20 year old and a 16 year old and let me just tell you both of my sons got born again in this church really not from my preaching okay but from being in with their people and their spaces because the gospel is brought right into the yeah we did our part but here's what we did our family partnered with this family and through that God changed my family now both of my sons love Jesus and want to be involved in the ministry so that the ministry can move through them to then benefit and build other families and that's how God made this thing to be so listen if you're not already public service announcement I want to invite you to get involved in serving here in the house okay some of you are already members and you know how to do that you just need to re-engage if you're not here I'm gonna I'm gonna give a little PSA we got this little little guy right here okay I want to invite you to participate in discover victory so it's there's three sessions runs the first second third Sunday of every single month and it's through this that there are is a spiritual gifts assessment you find out about the vision the mission of the church that's where we official membership and everything like that is it's kind of all in this package of discover victory here's why this is a big deal because there are latent gifts on the inside of you. Some of you are asking, God, what's next for me? How do I really step into mission and passion and purpose? But you're just sitting in a seat, and God's calling you to get in the game, to stop being spectators and to start being soldiers in the kingdom of God, and you gotta take a step. You gotta get engaged, you gotta get involved. And let me say this, especially if you're a man.

If you're a man, I'm calling you out of the seat specifically into places to impact families, because I'm telling you, I've seen it. Our elementary students, our middle school, our high school students, when a man walks in the room, the room changes, the room changes. We need you guys. Take a step, take a step, take a step, because God has called this house, and maybe he's called you, to build strong families. So God says, move from Jerusalem to then Judea. Judea was, so Jerusalem is like their home. Judea is the surrounding countryside around there. Here's what we call that. It's transforming the community, transforming the community, okay? So we believe, I have a core conviction about this. We believe that if any church disappeared tomorrow, the community should notice. Does that make sense? Right, people should be like, where's the love? Where's the light? Where's the grace? Like, where's the provision? Where are people who are helping other people and loving other people? Where are those people? Unfortunately, if most churches disappear tomorrow, most people would be like, ain't that where the Popeyes used to be?

You know, like, because we ain't doing nothing. Like, we're having nice church services, but we're doing nothing in the world around us, right? And I believe that every church should be impacting their community. In fact, this is the language that I use for our campus pastors. It's your job to conquer your community. I tell Mo, like, listen, bro, it is your job to conquer Midtown. Chris, it's your job to conquer Hamilton Mill. James, it's your job to conquer the area around Victory North Cop. It's your job. Listen, guys, it's your job to conquer your community, to bring the kingdom everywhere that you go. It's your job to go home today and love your neighbor as you love yourself. It's your job to get involved in your neighborhood, and bless the Lord, it's your job to get involved in your HOA, because they need Jesus. If anybody on earth needs Jesus, it's the guy in your front lawn measuring your grass. Be a change agent, let your light shine, like serving your local high school, whatever that, that's what I'm talking about. Your community should look different because you're there.

Roswell should look different. Stone Mountain should look different. Suwannee should look different. Lawrenceville should look different. Come on, Decatur should look different. Smyrna should look different. Atlanta should look different. East Point should look different. Atlanta should be hard to go to hell in, because you're here. It should be hard to go to hell in our city because you're here. In fact, Charles Spurgeon says this, one of the fathers of the faith. He said, if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go unwanted, unwarned, or unprayed for. Whoa, that doesn't stir your soul. Which is why we have something here at Victory called Community Transformation Teams, okay? So you don't need our help to do this, but we have teams that have specific things that they go out and do. You can do whatever you wanna do to love your neighbor and let your light shine, but we have these teams here who do it,

which is why it's so important to be in a small group, because our small groups partner with our Community Transformation Teams to go out into your community and create change for the glory of Jesus. If you're curious, next week is Small Group Weekend, okay? So if you're wondering, how do I get connected? How do I meet friends here in the church? Next week, okay, give it one week, okay? But then what we do through our Community Transformation Teams is things like, for Thanksgiving, we fed over 700 families in the parking lot next door, okay, just right across the street here. We go into assisted living facilities. We go and serve high school students in sports, right? We're making disciples of the influencers of schools. We go and do prison ministry, that sort of, there are dozens of opportunities. In fact, some of y'all, most of us don't even know this, but not even globally, not even domestically, locally here in Atlanta, Victory gives over $100,000 every single month just to missions and outreach that happens here in our own backyard. Like, you are doing that. Why? Because Victory, God called Victory to be a house that transforms the community from radiating out from Jerusalem to Judea, then to Samaria, okay?

Here's the deal with Samaria. Samaria was an area kind of north, northeast of Jerusalem, and that's where the half breeds. lived, all right? So Jews, very culturally proud. The Samaritans were half Jew, half other, and so they were looked down on. So I want you to get your mind around this. Can you imagine a place where two people kind of like each other, but racially different, but they kind of live close to each other, but they don't like each other? Can y'all imagine that scenario? It's crazy to imagine. What's the vision of victory? To build strong families, to transform communities, and to reconcile the cultures, okay? So this is kind of victory's calling card. So look around the room, look around the room. Okay, not everybody looks like you. That's on purpose, but that's actually more rare than it should be. All right, this is kind of what victory is known for. This is kind of victory's calling card, which we believe is unfortunate. We believe it is a condemnation on the church at large, that Dr. King's words in a letter from a Birmingham jail are still true, largely true, so many years later, that the church hours in America are the most segregated hours in America. We believe that that's a problem. 2022 Lifeway study to pastors, survey to pastors, 76% of pastors say that they pastor one race only churches. That's a problem, and that is a problem that victory, that God has called victory to change, okay? So welcome to victory. Listen, we're not talking about segregation. We're not talking about integration. We're not even talking about toleration. We're talking about reconciliation. We are talking about racial healing, ethnic healing. We are talking about oneness. We're talking about fulfilling Jesus's high priestly prayer. If you didn't know, Jesus speaks to this in John 17. He speaks about us. He says, God, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one, I in them, and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. He's talking about unity. Everybody say that next word, then. One more time. Then. One more time. Then. What does then imply? Then implies if you do the first part, you get the second part. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Here's what Jesus is saying, and so many of us still don't see it. He says, when we are united, when we are one people, that preaches a sermon. Here's how I say it. Our oneness is a witness. Our oneness preaches a sermon. In other words, when we are one people, despite all of our differences, a watching world tunes in and is like, what could possibly put all those different people together into one space?

Could it be Jesus? Tell me more about how he's able to do that. Because our oneness preaches. Our oneness is our sermon. And here's the thought, guys. Nobody thinks that they have racial baggage until something happens. That's when the test occurs. Some of y'all got tested this last week. Some of y'all got tested in the fall with some of the stuff that happened then. Get ready. There's another election coming. We love it. I hate it, by the way. I hate it. And this is the test. Do we belong to our earthly culture or do we belong to the kingdom culture? Now, here's what I'm not saying. I'm not saying we don't value culture. I love most of earthly culture. There's so many beautiful things. They're such a part of who we are. But when the earthly culture contradicts the kingdom culture, we get the choice of who wins. Where are we discipled? Are we discipled in the ways of the world? Are we discipled in the ways of Jesus? That's when the real test comes. Are we actually being discipled by Fox News and MSNBC and Instagram? Are we being discipled by Jesus? That's the real thing. So listen, we talk about a lot of this stuff that happens. In fact, some of you are super uncomfortable right now. You're like, I can't believe you're talking about this stuff in church. Like, no, no, I'm a Christian. I don't see color. Welcome to Victory. We see a lot of stuff. And here's what we need to know. Victory is not a white evangelical church. Victory is also not a black liberation theology church. Victory is not a Korean Baptist church. Victory is not a Latino Catholic church. We are not all Republicans. We are not all Democrats. We are Christians. We belong to the higher order, to the family of God. We don't owe our allegiance to Washington. We owe our allegiance to the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords. And so here's my promise to you. Let me just go ahead and tell you day one. Maybe this is your first time here. If you have a racial chip on your shoulder, it will get knocked off. Some of you right now, it's getting nudged. It's going to happen. I promise you, if I don't do it, somebody's going to do it in the parking lot. I promise it's going to happen, okay? You put all of us in a room and spin it around like it gets a little crazy sometimes. Here's the deal. When your racial chip gets messed with, you have two choices. Do I stay and get discipled in the ways of Jesus? Or do I leave and go to a church where they won't mess with my ethnic idol? You have that choice.

And some people, you're like, oh, something happened, oh, political happened, they leave. Why do they leave? Because they leave to go to a place where everybody will just pet their idolatry. We're not about that here at Victory, guys. We're about the kingdom. And so listen, if you would rather be stuck in your prejudice, you're in the wrong place. If you would rather demand to be understood rather than seeking to understand, you need to find another church. I promise, if you are white and can't submit to a black leader, you just need to get saved, all right? If you're black and can't submit to a Korean leader, you need to become a Christian, okay? And here's our go-to. Okay, John sees this glimpse of heaven in Revelation 7, verse nine, and he says, after this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation and tribe and people and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Every nation and tribe and people and language, nation and tribe and people and language. That's all of us, guys. Now, here's the question. Does anybody believe that the church on earth

should do its best to look like it's going to in heaven? Okay, there's the difference between unity being a good idea and being a gospel idea. We believe that unity, our oneness, is a gospel agenda, not just a man's good idea for a trick in a church. No, this is a kingdom agenda. And every church should do its best to endeavor to look like heaven as best as to the best of their ability. And I love talking about it like this. I think some people are going to be shocked when they get to heaven and find out that there's not different sections. Okay, that there's no black section in heaven. Come on, with Mississippi Mass Choir featuring Tasha Copps. Come on, right? And they start a little late. But they get going, man, they get going. It is a party in there. And then next door, there's a white section. Come on, where Brandon Lake is in there on a guitar. Just singing. And they start on time and in five minutes early. And everybody's in there like. And they're trying, like they're trying. And in fact, they're peeking in the black room and they're. You know, all right. And there's no Asian section in heaven. Come on, guys, where everybody's really polite. And you know, and the ladies don't step out

10 minutes early to go get the popcorn. And the ladies don't step out 10 minutes early to go get the potluck ready, you know, in the lobby. I want some heavenly kimchi one day. And there's no Latino section in heaven where the countdown clock hits zero and you look around, you're like. Because they're still at home getting ready, you know what I'm saying? But when they finally get there, they get loco for Jesus and the fuego de Dios falls on the room and they go until sun up. Come on, man. And I think some of us are gonna be shocked when we see this in heaven, that there's this bowl of Skittles reality of every tribe and people and language and nation before the throne. But those of us who got it here on this side are gonna look at it and say, I knew it, I knew it. I knew it was God's will for us to be one. I knew it was worth the work. I knew it was worth the sacrifice. I know it was worth it to look over my offense and do the hard work of reconciliation and not just go into church where they're just gonna pet my pride, but I'm actually gonna do the work. Because in a church like this, everybody sacrifices something, but it's worth it.

It is worth it. Oneness is worth the work. And listen, God has done such a beautiful work in this church over the years. We don't know because nobody keeps track of this, which is its own problem. But we think that we are the most multinational, multiethnic church in the country. We believe that. It just doesn't happen. It really doesn't happen. In fact, let me ask you a question. I love asking this question. How many of you were not born in America? Come on. Look around the room, come on. Yes! I love that you're here. I love that you're here, guys. I love it. And listen, we are better together. My life is so much richer and more colorful and more vibrant and more exciting because you're here. Okay? And I pray you're feeling that as we all come together, every tribe and people and language and nation before the throne of the living God, because God has called this to be. a house that reconciles the cultures. From Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria,

and finally, to the ends of the earth. So what is the vision of victory? Build strong families, transform the community, reconcile cultures, and ultimately to impact nations to radiate all the way out. If you're attentive, you would know this. One of the big issues in church in America, and Americans in general, is that we are very rich towards ourselves, and we're rather poor towards everybody else, okay? So here's what I love about victory. I can still brag on victory because I didn't start this church, okay? Been here a long time. But from day one, we said we're gonna be a church that cares about the whole world. We're not just gonna care about us in this room, which we do. We're not just gonna care about this community, not even just gonna care about the cultures. We're gonna care about the whole world to radiate it all the way out. So what do we do? Every year, we go on dozens of mission trips. I believe you should go on a mission trip. I believe every believer at some point in your life should go on a mission trip. And I know some of us are saying, well, my community's really disadvantaged, so I'm gonna stay here and do this.

You know you can do both, right? You don't have to pick. You don't have to pick, okay? Here's what I say. Especially if your only context for life is United States. You need to get on a plane and go somewhere that's not another first world country. You need to go somewhere where you can actually realize not everybody lives like you do. Because it changes your perspective. It changes your mission in life. It changes how you give. It changes how you serve. It changes so much. I've gone on dozens of trips all around the world, and it changes who you are. Also, what have we done to do this, to impact nations? For some of you, this is news. From day one, we said, hey, we're gonna give 20% of what comes in back out into missions. Local, domestic, and global missions. And so we do things like Christmas gift to the world. All right? And over the years, we have dug wells and built orphanages around the world, and hospitals, and pediatric medical centers, and built churches. We've done so many things around the world. And this year, we just completed the giving, and I get to tell you how much you gave, okay?

So just so you know, every year I'm skeptical. I know I shouldn't confess that to you. Every year I'm like, well, here's the six reasons why it's not gonna be as much as it was last year. But victory, you done did it again. And you, once again, gave the most in Christmas gift to the world in the history of victory. You gave $1,412,429. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. That was over one month. Y'all crazy. Y'all crazy. That is radical generosity, okay? So here's what that is. If you don't know Christmas gift to the world, we do this every year, and 100% of what comes in goes back out, and we split it right down the middle between global and local, okay? So here's what that means. $706,000 is going over to, let me put it in a nutshell, to a community in India where literally from birth, children are raised to be sex trafficked. From birth, like that is their purpose in life. And there are Christians in that area who now they've given their life to rescuing and changing these communities. And so this is literally a project. I promise you, you'll never be able to hear thank you this side of heaven, but there will be a line of people in heaven waiting to say thank you

because you gave specifically to this right here, okay? So that was global, all right? Local, we gave to our local co-ops and food pantries. Here's what that means. Neighborhood co-op here in North Cross, $145,000. North Gwinnett, $145,000. Musk Ministries and Cobb, $145,000. Atlantic Community Food Bank, $145,000. But wait, there's more. Streetwise, $50,000. Mending the Gap, $25,000. Quinn, $25,000. Encompass, $10,000. Fountain of Hope, $10,000. That's incredible. That is meeting the immediate needs of our friends, of our family, of our neighbors. Michael Anafils, who's down here, he's our missions pastor. He gets to be Santa Claus sometimes and make these phone calls. We're like, guys, this is amazing. Here's what the Victory family just gave. He made those phone calls this week. So here's what all that adds up. I have one more number I wanna give you. This brings our grand total of missions giving in the life of Victory to $119 million. Listen, if y'all were here, two Februaries ago, so our anniversary, on our 34th anniversary,

that's when we celebrated giving $100 million in the missions. So do the math. It took us 34 years to give $100 million in the missions. years to get to 100 million. It's taken us two years to add 19 more million. Do you catch the It took us 34 years to give $100 million in the missions. momentum of what God is doing here in this house, right? Why? Because we're a church that God has called to change the world. What do we do? We move from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. So what is the vision of victory? I'll put it up here so you get it all in one thought. It's to build families, transform communities, reconcile cultures, and impact nations. All right? Here's what I want to do. We just have just a handful of small moments that we have right here. And before we pray, in just a second, I'm going to do something a little unconventional, okay? We're going to take 90 seconds. Maybe, oh, let's do this. Let's take two minutes, right here in this space, to turn to your neighbor. I know some of you are already freaking out. Just go there with me. To turn to your neighbor, and leave this up here just for a minute. And why don't you say the one of these four that screams to you the loudest, that says, oh, man, I'm about that. And then maybe even if God has given you an idea about how to step further into that space, what should you do? How do you activate that thing? So let's do this. Take two minutes. Turn to a neighbor. And let me say this. If you're the third who got left out, did you turn left? Everybody turn. Just tap on a shoulder and step into that group. So we'll have three people in some of these. Go, go. Take two minutes. All right. That's about one minute. Make sure you're not doing all the talking. Kind of share it around a little bit. One more minute. All right. 30 seconds. All right. Starting to land the plane. And bring it back in. This is always the risk of letting you guys talk. Oh, a talky group. I love it. What was it for you? Which one for you? What? Building families? Building families? Yeah, yeah. No, it's real. It's awesome. I love it. I love all four. Honestly, I don't know. If I had to pick, I'd pick reconciling cultures just because it changed my life. It changed my

life. So here's the big thought, guys. As victory, let's just kind of, what does this mean for us? We can all be attracted to different ones. The idea is to embody the vision, right? So as we come together, here's the thought. We're not just kind of like attending church and sitting in seats. Every time we give, every time we serve, every time we jump into a small group and engage in family, every time we come together to pray, we're advancing this mission and this vision, right? To be disciples, to make disciples in this way, to build families, transform communities, reconcile cultures, and impact nations. And my ask today is this. I'm inviting you to make this vision your vision, to reach a million people across dozens of campuses, across dozens of church plants, right? To build families, transform communities, reconcile cultures, and impact nations, to have the gospel radiate out, to be disciples who make disciples to the uttermost parts of the earth. Why? Because we don't just attend victory. We are victory. And that's something we love to say around here, that we are victory, okay? And I believe if I can say it like this, that was a prophetic name that God called to this church that we embraced, right? Because listen, team Jesus doesn't lose, all right? And the gates of hell will never overcome the church that's built on Jesus. And we about that life. So welcome to victory. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's bow our heads. Let's talk to the Lord of the house. Jesus, I love you. I thank you, God, that you didn't just ascend into heaven and say, just kind of wait it out. Just kind of live a good life and one day you'll go to heaven. I thank you that you left us with a co-mission to be co-labors, to go and make disciples

of the whole world, starting in our own home, going to our backyard, going even cross-culturally, and then even going to the uttermost parts of the earth. Thank you, Father, that that is a big mission and it's even a big vision that we've embraced here in the church. Pastor Dennis used to say this. Most churches are small because they have a small vision, but a big vision can hold a lot of people. So, Father, I thank you for the track record, the multi-decade track record we have here at Victory. I thank you that my family was caught up in that and that we were changed. The kids got born again here. I became a disciple here. God, so many others of us share a similar story. God, I thank you for this house. I thank you for what you're doing right here. I thank you that Jesus is the head of this church and the church. And we submit once again to the Lordship of Jesus. God, I thank you even right now that you're giving some next steps to people inside this space. Maybe we need to do Discover Victory or start serving or start giving, or some of us honestly just need to make the decision that we're gonna go home and love our neighbor and let our light shine in a different way, in our school or in our workplace.

What's our next step? Here's what I know, though, for this space, just for a final minute. Some of our next step is to actually say yes to Jesus, maybe for the first time. Okay, we always make space for this because this is the heart of God to invite the prodigal to come home. So, I don't know if you got invited here, and it's your first time. I don't know if it's your thousandth time, but if God's been working on you doing, speaking louder than I ever could, and today's the day where you need to say, I'm gonna repent of my sin, and I'm gonna make Jesus my Lord, okay? Then I wanna pray with you. And family of faith around you, we're gonna pray together. Let's pray like this. Say, Jesus, right now, I repent. I turn from my old thinking, my old ways, my old sins. I turn away from it, and I set my face towards you. I set my life towards you. Jesus Christ is my King, and he's my Savior. Died on the cross to forgive my sin. Rose again on the third day. Jesus is alive. Jesus Christ, come into my life. Sit on the throne of my life for the rest of my life. And right now, by grace, through faith, I am born again.

My sins are forgiven. I will never die, and I'm a child of God for the rest of my life. Holy Spirit, come into my life. Empower me to live a life for God for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's hold our hands out just kinda like this, if you would, kinda like in a posture of receiving. God, right now, we receive the Holy Spirit. We receive the grace of God. We receive the wisdom of God. And Father, I pray a fresh move of God in every single one of our families. God, to build our families. God, that you would commission us and empower us today to transform our community. God, any grudges or offenses, God, God, we hand them over to you so that you would make us one. And Father, I pray that we would be shot like arrows out of this space right now for the glory of God to change the world. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, amen. Come on, let's give glory to God. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app.

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