What is The Church? || Victory Church [The Church #1]

All right, Happy New Year, everybody. Man, Happy New Year. I love it, I love New Year's, I love fresh starts. Just so I know who I'm talking to, how many of y'all are the like 10 p.m. lights off, come on, New Year's Eve, like ain't nobody got time for that. How many of y'all are the like 1 a.m. party's just getting going sort of people? All right, that's my tribe, y'all my people. No, I do, I love it. I love ringing in a new year, I love fresh starts. I always kind of view New Year's, I know there's nothing special about like just turning a calendar, but I kind of view it like a fresh canvas, like right waiting to be painted on new beginnings. And here's kind of the mindset, okay? Last year is over, like it or not, last year is over. And so here's what we do. We praise God for the good, overwhelmingly good, and we just move forward from the bad, from the broken, okay, just whatever you were doing last year that was broken, doesn't have to come into this year. Come on. One of the best ways to actually start a brand new year, we do this every year here at Victory, is 21 days of prayer and fasting. So I just wanna invite you over the next 30 weeks. A lot of people ask like, hey, what's the right way to fast?

Well, there's not really like one way of like, well, I'm not gonna eat this, or I'm not gonna like look at social media. What I would encourage you to do is ask God, and whatever he tells you to do, ask him for the grace to do it, all right? Really at the end of the day, a fast is not about bragging to other Christians that you're fasting. Isaiah 58 would actually tell us, it's actually more important how it changes how you relate to the world around you, more than just you not eating. And so it's actually, Isaiah 58, God would tell us, I don't want you to just like not eat. I want it to produce change on the inside of you. So really, a fast is about saying no to lesser things so we can say yes to greater things. It's getting our priorities back in order. It's getting our flesh under control so our spirit can be in control. Come on, it's putting first things first back in our life. And fasting is always easier when you're doing it with other hungry people. So that's why I invite you to join us over the next 21 days. No better way to start a year, okay? But for today, it is the beginning of a new year. And I know how this works. We are all here today with different expectations. We're all here.

We've all set different New Year's resolutions. We're all here with different questions today, right? Like some of you, honestly, you're in church because you're asking this question, what's it gonna take to get my family back together? Some of you are asking, like what's it gonna take to get my health back together? What's it gonna take to get my life back together? Others of you today are like screaming out, God, like are you there? Are you hearing me? Because I feel like I've been crying out to you and I don't feel like you're listening to me. Some of us are saying like, God, it's top of the year. I don't even believe you're real, but you got one shot. And you've already done the deal with God. Like make that light flicker. And that's how I'm gonna know, you know? Others of us are kind of in this place like, God, I believe you're real. I even believe Jesus is the son of God. But do I have to do the church thing, right? And I know there's a thousand other questions in the room, but here's really what I want us to notice, okay? All of those questions have led us right here to this place, to this room right now, to church. So over the next few weeks, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna talk about the church. And so in full transparency, we were actually gonna call this series White Church,

but every time I said White Church, somebody thought I said White Church. And I was like, well, that name's off the table. Hey, come on out to White Church. And so we're like, well, let's just call it The Church, okay? So, but here's what we're doing. We're gonna take a few weeks and we're gonna kind of engage a handful of questions. Like questions like, what is the church? Why is the church? How is there a church? What's the vision of the church? What is God calling this church to do this year? We're gonna talk about that. Like we have some really clear direction from God for victory, what we're supposed to be doing. We're gonna be talking about like, why should you and I actually be a part of the church? Like some of you, I grew up in church. My dad was a Presbyterian pastor. So I grew up with the choir robes and the short sermons and the hymnals. And if it was running a little long, we'd only sing one verse so we could beat the Baptist to lunch. You know what I'm talking about? But I couldn't answer most of these questions about church. I didn't really know why we were here. I didn't know why this was important. Why do people like give their lives to this thing?

And here's what's really important for us today, okay? In a culture, if you haven't noticed, that is hyper skeptical about church, hyper skeptical about God, deconstructing anything that has to do with anything that has to do with God. In the midst of that, what is it about the church? that still draws us here together, full of questions, in a moment like this. Okay, so to get to that answer, I want us to go back. All right, not like back, I want us to go like back, back, like way, way, way back. Back to the first time that the word church is mentioned in the Bible. Okay, so in Northern Israel, there's a place called Caesarea Philippi. How many of y'all have ever been like on a tour of Israel? Anybody, anybody? Handful of us, okay. Amazing, love it. The Bible will go from black and white to color. Hopefully we'll be able to host a trip this year or so. But in Northern Israel, there's an area called Caesarea Philippi, all right. And in biblical times, Caesarea Philippi was the center of Pan worship for the entire world. So Pan, if you know anything about like Greek mythology, little like dude, half goat, half man, played the little pipe, you know what I'm saying?

Like he was an original G. And so people from around the world came to Caesarea Philippi to worship Pan. And there at Caesarea Philippi, there was a cliff face, or there still is a cliff face with a cave in the cliff face. In fact, we have a picture right here. Photo credit, me, okay. So at the time that the Bible was written, about 2000 years ago, this river actually came out of the cave, okay. So since then, there's been some earthquakes that have kind of settled some of the ground right there. So it doesn't come out of the cave any longer. But at the time, the river went into the cave. I've got this next picture right here. So there's the cave. You can see there's some people, that's Summers hiding in that picture somewhere. And as the river went into that cave, again, mythology, they believe that Pan lived in this place. The river going into that cave was the River Styx, okay. So again, if you know your mythology, River Styx is actually what led into hell. So that cave right there, they called the gates of hell. And so all around that area, they built these temples for people to come in and worship Pan. We got this next picture. That's Summer right there in the teal shirt.

Oh, there she is, look at her, hey, baby, okay. Photo credit, me, okay, I just had to get her in there. But these are the temple ruins that are right there. Again, 2000 years later. And they came here and worshiped so much that actually into the cliff face itself, one more picture, is they dug into the cliff face and they put the idols into the rock. In other words, in essence, they built their church in this rock. And they would come to this place to worship Pan and do just crazy stuff. Like crazy stuff, can't put that on the screen. Sexual stuff, animal stuff, sacrifices, don't let your mind go too crazy with this. Super dark, if you cannot tell, like a super, super, super dark place. No good Jewish boy would ever go to Caesarea Philippi. Okay, million dollar question. Where does Jesus bring a bunch of good Jewish boys to teach them about the church? Matthew 16, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? Okay, pause on that. Son of Man, very Book of Daniel, prophetic, cryptic way of talking about himself. And so Jesus is saying, hey, in the midst of all the darkness and all the demons and all the idolatry, in the midst

of all the gods of this world, who are people saying that I am in the midst of all the other gods? And his disciples say, hey, well, some are saying John the Baptist, others are saying the prophet Elijah, others are saying the prophet Jeremiah, or just one of the other prophets. But what about you, he asked? Who do you say I am? Which is a fantastic place for us to pause and ponder that question ourselves. Because that question right there is the most important question you or I could ever answer in our entire lives. And guess what, at some point, you will have to answer that question face to face with Jesus. As he looks you in the eye and says, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter, always the loud mouth, he blurts out, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus replied, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Woo, okay, a lot right there.

So let's take a step back, let's see what's going on. Okay, so Jesus takes his disciples to about the darkest place on the face of the earth for these guys to go, where right over there is the gates of hell, where Pan lived. Right behind them is this rock where they built their church. Are you picking up on the living, visual sermon that Jesus is telling? He's not standing behind a pulpit. He takes them on site, and he's telling them this thing right here. Right here is where they built their church. Right here is where the gates of hell are. And in essence, he rolls into the dark. place where everybody's afraid and Jesus is like I ain't scared that's that's the the Johnson translation I ain't scared and then Peter just blurts out he says you're the Messiah the Son of the Living God and Jesus is like whoa whoa guys don't miss that timeout say it again Peter he said you're the Messiah the Son of the Living God and Jesus is like guys timeout do not miss that listen to what Peter just said that is the rock that I'm gonna build my church on and the gates of Hades will never overcome that and that right there is the first time the word church is ever mentioned in the entire Bible so let's pay attention to what's happening here in fact I'm gonna run through it real quick I want to give you five truths of the establishment of the church Jesus says this on this rock I will build my church okay super important what is the word the Bible wasn't written in English if you didn't know that so so what is the Greek word we translate for church well here it is Ecclesia Ecclesia in the south we call it Ecclesia it's not Ecclesia it's Ecclesia it comes from the Greek word kaleo which means called out so what is the Ecclesia what's the church an

assembly a gathering of people called out by God called out from what called out from the darkness called out from your old way of life called out from your old community called out from the old life that you used to live you're called out and gathered together as the people of God as the church so what is the church the church is the assembled people of God this is so important why because Christians love to say dumb things now I say that with pastoral kindness okay because have you ever heard somebody say this well I don't need to go to church I am the church wrong you cannot be the church sorry I hate to break it to you I cannot be the church you want to know what because the church is the gathering you are not a gathering you are not plural and possible you're singular but together we are the church you are not the church but we are the church and I want you to notice this Jesus says I've come to build the church I've come to build the people he did not say I've come to build the place because the church is the people not the place now here's the deal I love the place we get attached to the place we get sentimental and emotional about the place but the word Ecclesia is not the place in fact the word in Greek for the for the place is Kyriaki Kyriaki and so Kyriaki is actually I'm gonna give you a little etymology here so Kyriaki you hear it over the Latin and then German German is Kirch that's where we get church okay the church building okay it's Kyriaki here's the problem Ecclesia which is the people Kyriaki which is the place we translate them both as church and then we say things like I'm going to church kinda what do you mean when you say I'm going to church do you mean you're coming to the building because Kyriaki doesn't mean church it means a place belonging to the Lord so yes you're coming to a place that belongs to the Lord but you're not coming to church because this is the church the church is much less a place and much more a people Peter knew this first Peter 2 here's what he says but you are a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out out of what out of the darkness into his wonderful light once you are not a

people but now you are the people of God once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy Jesus says I've come to build the people I've come to build the gathering I've come to call people out of the darkness and together to be my church notice this super important Jesus does not say on this rock I will build my synagogue okay no knock on the synagogues that's where we even get our much of our gathering format from God has a plan for the Jews but here's the distinction the synagogue was only for Jewish men the Ecclesia from day one was for men women children all the baptized and so from get this this is so important from day one Jesus is throwing the doors open and saying that the gospel is for everybody everybody from every tribe and tongue and language and nation and gender and income bracket and education has a seat at my table it's not just for the men it's for everybody that's the church here's the five truths of the establishment of the church the second one is Jesus says on this rock I will build my church y'all see where we're going okay we're gonna try and Deconstruct this a little bit. On this rock, okay, so here's the question. What is the rock that the church is built on? Depends on who you ask, all right? If you ask a Catholic, what's the rock that the church is built on, they would say Peter. They would say that Jesus was actually looking at Peter and saying, Peter, you are the rock, because Peter's name actually means rock. So Peter, you are the rock, and I'm gonna build the church on you. That's where they get this idea of apostolic succession. So whoever was the next pope after Peter all the way to today,

they would say actually Matthew 16 is when Jesus established the Catholic church. We don't believe that. Sorry, Catholics. Here's what we believe. We believe that Peter's proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah is what the church is built on, because the church is not built on a man. The church is built on Jesus, because men are fallible, men are frail, men are broken, men do messed up things, men are sinful. Men will cause you to be disillusioned with the church, but Jesus will never cause you to be disillusioned with the church, because Jesus is perfect. He's not a man that he should lie. 1 Corinthians 3, Paul knew this. He said, for no one can lay any other foundation than the one we've already laid, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the rock of the church, and any church that is built on Jesus will never fail. The moment we pull off of building on Jesus and build on our emotions and trying to make people happy, and we pull away from the word of God, God takes his hand off of that church and that church will fall apart, because the church has to be built on a solid foundation. The only solid foundation that will not shift like sand is God and his word.

Jesus is the rock of the church. Here's the third thing of the establishing of the church. Jesus says, on this rock, I will build my church. Question, who's doing the building here? Tricky, Jesus, okay? Why? We know this, unless the Lord builds the house, the labor is built in vain. You ever tried to see something be successful and it all falls apart? Until God gets involved in it, okay? Here's the deal, every honest pastor would tell you this. I can preach a sermon, but I can't change the heart, right? That's God's territory. Parents, you know this. You can tell your kid the right thing to do. You can't make them do it. You can't make them want to do it. That's God's territory. God is the one who gets past the shell and gets on the inside, right? And so here's the deal, this is Jesus's work. Oh, this is, listen, Jesus did not build this Kiriaki. He didn't build this church, I promise you that, because I was here, I remember. He wasn't operating the crane, okay? Jesus didn't build the place, he did build the people. And we are mysteriously and wonderfully invited into that work, but it is Jesus's work. Jesus is the one who's building his church.

Because number four, Jesus says this, on this rock, I will build my church. Question, whose church is this? It ain't mine. Kids are funny, kids are funny, we have two boys. And when they were younger, their friends would tell them, wow, your parents must be rich because they own a church. And we're like, it doesn't really work like that. This is Jesus's church, I am not the head of this church. Come on, the Pope is not the head of the church. No man, no woman, no pastor, no apostle, no preacher is the head of the church. Jesus is the head of the church, it is his church. Okay, let me just say it like this. There is one church in Atlanta, Jesus's church. It is his church. There's one church in the world, it's Jesus's church. And can I say it like this? The church is the only institution in the world created by God. I'm gonna say that again. The church is the only institution in the world created by God. Every other institution, as well-meaning as possible, was created by people. Red Cross, created by people. Come on, we support Convoy of Hope, doing amazing things around the world, created by people. The church, God kissed, God originated, it's his church. It's his church, Jesus created the church, it's his church.

Here's the fifth one. Jesus says, the gates of Hades will not overcome that church. Good news, guys. The gates of a city represent the power and the authority of that city. So the first time that Jesus ever mentions the church, he feels the need to point out that the devil will resist it, but the devil will never defeat it. Come on, guys, no matter what is thrown against God's church, it will never fail. The church will never fail. I promise you that. Not because my word stands, but because his word stands. And the problem today, though, is most people don't see it like that. Most people see the church like any other organization, and so we treat it like any other organization. We treat it as common, so we miss out on the power. Here's what I mean. Some of you have already said like, well, God, I'm gonna give you three Sundays this year. That's my New Year's resolution, right? And then you're gonna do the three weeks and be like, well, nothing really changed. Yeah, because you just treated it like a social club. And so you missed out on the power. See, church isn't another thing to like check off the list. Church isn't a place that you show up to sit through. Church is a people to belong to.

What we're doing right here, it's not for information, it's for transformation. It's for world shaking, it's for world shaping. This is what we're doing right now. Why? Because the church is the only organization that can prevent the agenda of hell. And that is why the devil wants you to opt out. Y'all don't believe me. Okay, listen. The devil does not give you 50 reasons not to go to Starbucks. The devil doesn't give you 50 reasons not to have your kid play travel ball. Try and go to church. Start thinking of 50 reasons. Well, they just want your money. What do you think Starbucks wants? What do you think Travel Ball wants? Yeah, $1,000 uniforms. You think about going to church. Well, you had a rough week. You deserve to sit this one out. Well, you sit in this week. Yeah, I should probably. I'm not worthy enough to go to church, right? That's because the devil believes in the power of the church more than we do. It's true. It's true.

So put all that together. Okay, here's what we get. Jesus takes his disciples to about the darkest place in the world where the people have built their church to a literal demon. And he says, listen, guys, they may have built their church on a literal rock, but I'm gonna build my church on the rock that Jesus is the Messiah. And to the people who are built on that rock and remain on the rock of Jesus, no darkness, no death, no wickedness, no evil will ever conquer that church. He's saying that the church that walks in the authority and the truth of Jesus is absolutely unstoppable. Come on, somebody just needs to say, we're unstoppable. Come on, look at your friends and say, we're unstoppable. Come on, baby. He is saying, listen, he's saying not just that the church will survive the attacks of hell, he's saying that the church will thrive in the midst of the attacks of hell. Listen, from generation to generation to generation to generation to generation until the mission is complete. And here's the good news. We are living witnesses that Jesus told the truth. Because here we are, baby, 2,000 years later. Come on, generation after generation,

highs and lows, twists and turns, ups and downs, lefts and rights. And listen, the church still stands. Try as they may, the gates of hell have not overcome the church and we are living proof of these things. But personally, again, I grew up in the church and I had heard stuff like, oh, there's stuff that's happened in the past. Like, you know, I guess if you think about it, yeah, obviously the church had to get here. But I had detached a little bit from that history. Why? Because we're a forgetful people. And here's the problem when we forget where we came from. Here's the problem when we forget where we came from is that we end up thinking that we're the first ones. I promise you, you're not the first one of anything. We say things like, well, I'm the first one to feel like, well, I prayed and God didn't answer. Take a deli counter number, baby. Come on. We end up saying like, well, I'm the first one to ever feel like culture hates me. You are not the first. People love to say this. Well, people love Jesus, they just hate the church. They crucified Jesus. What are you talking about? People have hated the faith.

People have hated Jesus and his people from day one. That's what he says at the last supper table. They're not gonna hate you because they hated me first. We're not the first ones. You think that we're the first ones to mix faith and politics? Oh, we have a track record of this, guys. Christianity has been hijacked at times throughout the seasons. We think that we're the first ones for money to come in and pollute things? No, no, no, no. And we have some brokenness in church history, but listen, overwhelmingly, we have a rich history behind us. Men and women, listen, guys, who loved Jesus, who fought the good fight, who defended the faith, who healed the sick, who raised the dead, who cast out demons, who preached the gospel, who laid their life down to advance the gospel in their generation from baton pass to baton pass to baton pass to baton pass. And it cost a lot for us to get the church here today. And our job, our privilege is to keep going what Jesus began. So today, let me. Just take a little unconventional twist to our last few minutes, okay? Is that everybody today wants to get in touch with their roots, right?

Like maybe for Christmas you got your little 23andMe like DNA thing, you're like, I'll swab your cheek and send it off to this thing, right? Well, I wanna do the same thing for the church. All right, so if you'll allow me, I wanna give you a quick, I would just call it this, a quick Church History 101 class. And I wanna high point what I would just call it the top 10 events that got the church from Jerusalem in 33 AD to Atlanta in 2026, okay? Can I say it like this? If you were to swab your soul and send it off to spiritualancestry.com, and two weeks later you got your envelope in the mail and you open it up, what's my spiritual DNA? Where do I come from? This is where you come from. So what are the top 10 events? Now, let me add one more thing. You don't need to remember all 10 of these, but you can never forget that it cost a lot to get the gospel into your hands. What's the first event that started getting the church rolling? Here it is, Pentecost. Everybody say Pentecost. Okay, Jesus dies for the sins of the world. Buried, third day, stone rolls away, resurrected, appears to his disciples. And before he ascends in heaven,

he tells them to go and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. 10 days later, Acts 2, Holy Spirit comes down on the day of Pentecost. They get lit on fire, the disciples do. And instead of holding a revival service inside, they take the gospel to the streets. We could all learn a lesson from that. They weren't putting posters out to say, hey, come here. No, they took the gospel to the streets. And when they went to the streets, Pentecost was happening, which was a festival. And so Jews from all over the world had come in to Jerusalem. God sovereignly, divinely orchestrated this moment. The disciples preach the good news and 3,000 are born again in that moment. And they go home and take the good news with them around the world. The church is born on Pentecost. Act two, Gentile inclusion. Okay, who are the Gentiles? Us, unless you're Jewish, all right? So we're still in the book of Acts, okay? This Acts is the story of the early church. In Acts 15, the first major meeting of church leaders happens, all right? So Peter and James, who's the brother of Jesus, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, Paul, Barnabas, they come together,

and they're trying to answer this super important question. Do non-Jews have to become Jews to become Christians? Okay, super, okay, all that's obvious for us because we're living in the fruit of their decision. So they have what's called the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15. You can go read about this, okay? It's a long explanation, but at the end of the day, they decide, let's keep the main thing the main thing, it's all about Jesus, okay? So if not, guys, it would be a different story for us. Okay, you don't know what I'm talking about, okay. So at the end of a service, when we pray and you gave your life to Jesus, your one step would be to go up here in the lobby to the one step area where we would circumcise you. Okay, so that's, see, y'all still weren't tracking with me. Okay, so they decided you don't have to do that. This is just about Jesus, all right? And so we need to praise God for a moment for that, just fellas, okay? But here's what this did. It opened the doors wide for the gospel to go to everybody. Remember, Jesus has established that. The ecclesia will be for everybody. They would be the ones who would go to everybody. The gospel will be for everybody. They waited until Acts 15 to decide that. They said, okay, the gospel really is for everybody. And they swung the front door open wide,

and guess who pretty much the first person to get saved is, an Ethiopian. We're my Ethiopians, come on, come on, come on. Yes, I love you guys. I love Ethiopians so much. Most Ethiopians have so much pride in this reality. The disciple Philip tells the gospel to this Ethiopian on the side of the road who's going back to where he works, who is for, he works for the queen of Ethiopia. This guy gets born again, and guess what? Takes the gospel from Jerusalem all the way down to Ethiopia. So let's deal real quick with this whole idea that Christianity is the white man's religion. We serve, we serve, we serve, we serve. Because before the gospel ever got to white Europeans, it got to black Africans. The gospel was black before it was ever white. Come on, somebody, come on, that's just what it is. You can't argue with that. Now here, track the geography, track the geography. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. The gospel moved outside. of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, but now it's in another continent. Come on. Which leads us to the third event, Paul's missionary journeys. We're still in the recorded scriptures.

During the first 70 years after Jesus' resurrection, Paul, and a number of disciples, but Paul kind of is the tip of the spear. He spreads the gospel out kind of in the known world. Does three main missionary journeys right there. Spreading the good news all throughout the Roman Empire. In fact, in Philippians 4, he actually says that the gospel has gotten into Caesar's own household. Didn't reach Caesar. That was Nero at that time. Didn't reach him, but it did reach his household. So by the cumulative work of Paul, by 100 AD, there are tens of thousands of Christians in at least 45 recorded churches. In places even like Rome, there's a church. In the midst of number four, tremendous persecution. So for 300 years, pretty much on the dot, 300 years, Christians were brutally persecuted. Okay, so this isn't like bad words. No, like Stephen is stoned to death. Peter is crucified upside down because he says I'm not worthy to be crucified like Jesus. James, the brother of Jesus, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, is beheaded. Paul is beheaded by Nero. Polycarp, one of the earliest Christians, he was a disciple of John the Beloved. At that time, you had to worship the emperor, and so they would have to burn incense to Caesar.

And so in essence, how they would say it is he refused to pinch incense to Caesar because he's like, I'm only gonna worship Jesus. And so they tell him like, well, bro, you gotta make a decision. Do you wanna worship Jesus and die, or do you just wanna, just come on, man. It's just a little decision. Just a little bit of incense and you can live. And here's what he says. This is recorded. He says, 80 and six years have I served him. He's 86. 80 and six years have I served him. How then can I blaspheme my king and savior? Bring forth what thou will. And they burned him alive. Ember Nero, dude's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, it's actually reported likely that he burns Rome, but he blames the Christians, and as their punishment, he uses them as candles on the side of the road and burns Christians alive. Emperor Diocletian who comes after him is way worse. But in all this, here's the history lesson. All persecution did was spread the fire. It's like trying to put out a fire with a broom. Every time you would hit the church, it scatters. Every time you hit the church, it scatters. Every time you hit the church, it scatters.

And as the church scatters, they take Jesus with them. So the persecution only served to further advance the gospel, which is why Tertullian, another early Christian, he said this, but if you are near Italy, you have Rome, where authority is at hand for us too. I love this. What a happy church that is on which the apostles poured out their whole doctrine with their blood, where Peter had a passion, a death like that of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John the Baptist by being beheaded. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot produce a harvest. And our lineage is full of men and women who laid their lives down for the cause of Christ, who did not hold onto the life so tightly that they would lose it, but gave it up freely and found it freely. And every time the enemy tried to extinguish the church, all he did was spread it. Persecution and all, which leads to number five, Constantine's legalization. So documented, 313 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine. He has a vision, an encounter with Jesus. He converts to Christianity and his response is to actually legalize or stop persecution of all religions, including Christianity.

And so one of the things that's still funny for me, people today love to kind of like knock a big church. And they're like, man, the early church met small. They met in like people's living rooms and stuff. Like we should get back to that. You wanna know why they met in living rooms? Because they were being murdered. Nobody's like, hey, let's all get into a big room and worship Jesus. And then Romans are like, great, now I can kill all of you at the same time. Okay, but as soon as Christianity is legalized, they start meeting big, they start building buildings, they start gathering together to worship Jesus. In fact, by 350 AD, this is a number, by 350 AD, there were 34 million Christians and tens of thousands of churches. Okay, half the Roman Empire had converted to Christianity. But if you have a little bit of knowledge of history, this was kind of like a. Double-edged sword, because here's the deal. Nobody wants to be in church leadership when everybody's dying. That's a hard sell, if you weren't familiar with that. Like, Paul, why should I be a church leader? Because you're gonna die for Jesus. That's the benefits package, okay, okay, great, right? But listen, as soon as people learned that now that everything's legalized, and there's money, there's politics, there's influence,

now if I'm a leader in the church, I can get political power, I can get social power, I can get financial power, now it starts to get corrupted just a few hundred years in, because people learn, well, I can get in this thing, and no longer, I don't have to love Jesus, I can just be in a role, and people will follow everything that I tell them. One of the good things that Constantine did, he called number six, which is the Council of Nicaea, 325 AD, so you could write, and people have done their whole doctoral work on each one of these numbers, but the Council of Nicaea, in essence, settled early heresies and established in writing how to talk about the Trinity. Also, they wrote what's called the Nicene Creed right there, which basically laid the foundation for how the gospel would be preached from that day forward in 325 AD. Hop, skip, and jump, 700 years later, number seven is what's called the Great Schism. So in 1054 AD, the Roman Empire split in two, and when the Roman Empire split, the church split, and that is how you ended up with Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Before that, it was just kind of like, it's the Christian church, but now we ended up with these two giant pillars because of the Great Schism.

Number eight, just a few hundred years later, Protestant Reformation. So on Halloween, 1517 AD, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis. I got 95 problems, but a thesis ain't one. Do the front door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and if you know anything about Protestant Reformation, I would encourage you to go do a little bit of research. This is where a lot of our history comes from. Why are we called Protestants? Protest, protest, protestant, we are protesting. What were we protesting? Well, Protestants began as a protest against the selling of forgiveness and the selling of church offices. So the Roman Catholic Church had become so polluted that literally, if you've heard these stories, well, your grandmother, sorry, she didn't make it into heaven, what can I do? Well, give me $1,000. That's what it was, okay? And then people who didn't even love Jesus were like, hey, I wanna be a bishop. Well, how much is that gonna cost? $100,000, sweet, here it is, right? And you could buy it. And so Martin Luther and others protested against that. And it basically turned into this all-out war for the soul of Christianity to come back

to what it was actually supposed to be about, which is what? Faith, salvation by faith alone, and the supremacy of Scripture over the words of any man. And basically, there's this thing in Catholicism, if you can't tell, we're not Catholic, okay? There are many Jesus-loving Catholics, okay? But in Catholicism, they have this thing called ex cathedra where if the pope sits on a certain chair, he speaks Scripture. Whatever he says is now recorded as God's words. And these guys are like, what are you talking about? That's a dude just like everybody else. Yeah, well, he goes up back to Peter. No, no, no, listen, he's fallible just like, why are we listening to him like we're listening to God? And we're protesting against these things. And the Catholic church at that time, it sounds a little silly to us, but it was a point of pride. Their motto was this, always the same, okay? The reformers came along with a different motto. The church reformed, always being reformed by the word of God. The church reformed, always being reformed by the word of God. So if you're curious, that's how we ended up with so many denominations. Because people were like, well, let's reform that. Let's do a little bit more. And then somebody else was like,

no, I wanna do a little bit more. Well, I think people can lose their salvation. Well, I think people can't lose their salvation. Well, I think we should baptize babies. Well, I think we should pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit. And every time we broke off. And now here's the deal. I don't think that that freaks God out. I think it, I think God's heart burns for unity. But here's why I don't freak out about it, is because Jesus has no problem pruning the branches that don't bear fruit. And listen, we're seeing a lot of that right now. You can't think that if you stop building on Jesus and depart from the word of God, start compromising with culture. If you separate from the vine, you can't get disillusioned to think when you separate from the vine that you won't wither. And that's what we're watching. We're watching entire denominations start to fall apart because they stopped being built on Jesus. If you're curious, we are what would just be called non-denominational. Great victory. What are we? A little bit of everything. We don't really wanna be boxed in. We just wanna do our best to serve Jesus. So some of you are like,

well, you're really loud in worship. Well, we read. the part where the tomb is empty. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's kind of what we want to be about. Like, if it's in the scripture, let's just do our best to do that stuff, okay? And here's the deal. I think Jesus blesses those who are committed to his way, who are built on the rock, and Jesus removes his hand from those who aren't, and we're watching it right now. Okay, number nine, ugly word, ugly word, ugly word, ugly word, ugly word. And I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna say this, ugly word, colonization. So remember, we're talking about how's the gospel get from there to here. If there was one thing that Europeans like doing, spreading out. Can I say it like that? And in brutally ways.

And many times they took Jesus with them. And this is an ugly season in world history, but here's what we have to acknowledge. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. So how does the gospel get across the ocean? There it is. How's the gospel actually get to what would become the United States? Well, there it is, colonization. That's one of the beautiful parts of what got the gospel here, okay? And I'll end with this one. Number 10, great awakenings. So there's a misunderstanding about early Americana that we were a super like Christian nation. We were not. We were godless. America was completely godless. There were pockets, but overwhelmingly godless. That is until 1730s, the first great awakening into the 1800s, which is what's called the second great awakening, where again, fallible broken men were leading amazing moves of God here in America. Men like Jonathan Edwards, men like John Wesley. Later, William Seymour and the Zusa Street Revival. Before him, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones founded the AME. Again, the hops giving a jump in like a few hundred years later, Zusa Street Revival out in California

starts sparking stuff. A guy named Kenneth Hagan starts a school and a church there in Oklahoma. A couple, little no-name couple named Dennis and Colleen Rouse go and get trained. And then in February of 1990, move here. And 36 years later, here we are. Woo! So here's what I'm saying. This is not new, this is not new. This is a 2000-year baton pass of people walking with Jesus, defending the faith, sharing the faith, advancing the faith, giving their life for the faith. And I'll say it again, you don't have to remember all 10 of those, but you can never forget that it cost a lot to get the gospel to you and I today. It cost a lot to get the gospel to you and I today. So what is the church? I'll say it again, what is the church? The church is the gathering of the people called out by God. Right now, you are with the church. Right now, you are part of the church. You are the church, we are the church. So what is the church? We are gathered and we are scattered, which means this, we are gathered here to worship. In just a minute, we're gonna be scattered to go witness. We are attractional in the church. We are attractional and missional,

which means we want people outside the faith to come and see. If you don't have faith in Jesus today, you're welcome to come and see. But this moment is primarily for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry so you would go and tell. We believe in come and see and also go and tell. We are local and we are global, which means we are part of the lowercase C, Victory Church here in Atlanta, but we are part of God's capital C church around the world. This is why it's not just about us. This is why we care about our brothers and sisters being martyred in Nigeria. This is why we care about the state of Christians in places like North Korea and Venezuela and around the world. This is why we care about these things. What is the church? We are temporal and we are universal. What does that mean? It means we are part of the church here in 2026, but it also means that we are part of God's church, past, present, and future of all time. That is the church. So why do we do church? Because Jesus started this. Why should you care about the church? Because Jesus loves this.

Why should you make church part of your life? Because Jesus created this, blemishes, warts, wrinkles, and all, to be God's vehicle for sharpening you and discipling you and changing you. He created this place and these people as we worship, as we read, as we pray, as we preach, as we gather together and do life together, to be what ultimately would be what puts your family back together, to be the thing that partners with God to break the addiction in your life, to be the thing that meets that hole of love inside of your heart, to be the thing that actually gives some purpose back into your DNA. So here's the deal. I know some of you are saying this. Well, I was hurt in a church. Good news, you can be healed in a church. Church. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. You say, I was lonely in a church. Good news. You can be loved in a church.

Some of you say, well, I grew up enduring church. Good news. You can actually come to love the church, to enjoy the church. So don't give up on church because Jesus hasn't given up on it and neither should you yet. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. So here's my ask. Okay, here's my ask. On this first Sunday of the new year, give God one year in his church. Amen. Show up, get connected, take it seriously. Don't just grab a seat, serve, get involved, be vulnerable, get in community. Is the church perfect? No. But instead of deconstructing it, what if we actually reconstructed it? Amen. The church reformed and always being reformed according to the word of God. Why? This place is not perfect, but it is the perfect place to bring your questions, to find faith, to grow, to find community with other people,

to connect to Jesus, to know and to be known. So welcome to the church. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's do this. Let's bow our heads and let's talk to the Lord of the church. Jesus, right now, we are thankful for the church. God, I know there's spots. I know there's bruises. I know that broken men and women have done broken things. I know that politics has left a stain. I know money has done funny things. And God, I repent on behalf of any leader who's co-opted and taken a church off center and taken the eyes off of Jesus. But right now we declare in heaven and on earth and before all listening, Jesus is the head of this church. Jesus is the Lord of this church. This is Jesus's church. Thank you, God, that you still love the church. Thank you, God, that we can be part of your bride, part of your body here on earth. Thank you for these people. Thank you for the story that you're telling. Thank you, God, that you haven't given up on us yet. And I hear the voice of Jesus

asking a really important question this first Sunday of the year. Who do you say I am? The truth is any church that is built on King Jesus will never fall apart. And the truth is any life that is built on Jesus will never fall apart. Jesus himself actually says, whoever believes in me will never be put to shame. And so maybe today you came in with no expectation, you didn't know what was gonna happen. And you actually find yourself agreeing with this guy named Peter, who would say, Jesus is the Messiah, he's the savior. I actually believe that, he's the son of God. I can't produce that in you. That's supernatural. That's God himself producing that change on the inside of you. And if today's the day, you just need to say that, you just need to confess that, yeah, I'm gonna live for Jesus from this day forward. I just wanna ask you to do me a favor. Would you lift up your hand? If you say, today's the day, I'm saying yes to Jesus. Yeah, lift it up high. That's a lot of us. Yeah, thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you.

You can put your hands down. That's a lot of us today. So I wanna lead you in a prayer, okay? And this isn't just like lip service. This is giving your life to this. And I'm gonna ask you to lift up your hand. This is giving your life to this. And I'm gonna invite the family of God to pray with you. So let's pray like this. Say, Jesus, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God. And so I give my life to you. I repent and I turn from my old life, from my rebellion, from my sin, my old way of thinking. I leave it behind and I turn to you. Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive my sin and he rose again. Right now, I claim Jesus is King and Lord of my life. I receive forgiveness. I receive new life. I am born again and I will never die. I will live forever because of Jesus. I am forgiven and I'm a child of God forevermore. In Jesus' name, amen. Come on, amen. Come on, let's celebrate that, amen. I celebrate with you guys. I celebrate with you. Hey, we're gonna take one more second and we're gonna do something really important, okay? If you're able, across all of our rooms here,

why don't you stand up to your feet? I want us to take a second and I want us to, It's not really a prayer, it's a confession of a creed. It's called the Apostles' Creed. And I want us to read this together, in essence, to profess this together. I grew up in the Presbyterian church doing this every single Sunday, okay? But it's a profession of ancient truths that thousands of years of Christians before us have prayed. This creed has existed in a form since 200 AD. Now, if you're familiar with the Apostles' Creed, there's one line that messes people up, okay? It says, I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. If you have not picked up yet, we are not Catholics, okay? But here's what that word Catholic actually means in this context. Catholic means universal. So what you're saying is, not that we're Catholic by denomination, if I can say it like that, but we are part of God's church across all people, across all time, across all places, across all language, across all education, income, all that, that we are God's capital C church. I believe in that. It's not just about us sitting here in Atlanta. No, we're part of something much bigger that stretches backwards and it stretches forwards, okay? And so let's do this.

Can we put the Apostles' Creed up here? And let's do this together. Not repeat after me, but let's do it together. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, amen, amen. Right now, Father, I bless your people. Psalm 92 would tell us this, that those who are rooted and established in the house of God will flourish. So God, I pray that this year would be the year that our families flourish, not just exist, not just get by, not crawl forward, but that we would run in the plan, the purposes, the passion, the anointing of King Jesus. May we flourish. And I pray a flourishing reality

upon this house, upon your people, in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen, amen, amen. Come on, let's give glory to God. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter, and we hope to hear from you soon.