The Church of Eleven22 - Saturated 2022 - Wednesday: Tim Tebow

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. I literally, I have no words that is so kind yet super scary. And I can't even believe that Michael and the whole team got up here and did that. And that you use church money to do that. Like, can we go back to stewardship? That's unbelievable. You know, you. were to ask me, like, hey, growing up, one day, do you think that you will be part of a church where your pastor is from Dillon, South Carolina, and loves Georgia? I mean, that's as likely as me going to play for FSU. Like, I mean, it honestly is kind of crazy that I actually like you. It really is. I mean, it's nuts.

And by the way, on the week that I am preaching as saturated, Florida loses in humiliating fashion and Georgia goes to number one. Honestly, in fairness, I get it. I mean, whatever, 43 years, it's a long time. I mean, I guess you could kind of say it's like the wilderness, right? I mean, you know, it's cool, me, y'all, you know, it took you, however, you know, he's getting kind of old, so it took him how many years to win a championship and it was cool. Our first year there, we got one, so it's fine. Honestly, though, in all seriousness, I I agree. God bless you, ma'am. She said, go Gators. All right, we don't need to get into that, guys. But in all seriousness, I do want to say that we go back and forth about Florida, Georgia.

But, man, are we so, so fortunate to have Jobie as our pastor? You know what I love about 1122? that when he says it's a movement for all people, we don't mean some. We don't say all and mean some. When we say all, we mean all people. That's what I love about 1122. That's what I love about Joby,

is that we don't just think, oh, the people that is right here in, you know, the south side or the west side or the north side or freaking knock a year, all the new places that are being built here. but we believe what the Bible says is the good news of great joy that should be for all the people in that he acts on it and that he believes it and that as a church we show it. So I want to welcome everybody from all of the campuses but also, and maybe more importantly,

all the people that are watching from all over the world because I know we have people watching from truly all over the world. And I want you to know that you are welcome at 1122. No matter what your background, no matter what your rate, no matter what your ethnicity, no matter what you've done, 1122 wants to be your home. You know, I love it. I get fortunate to travel all over the world and speak a lot of different times. And so many people ask me, what's your home church like?

And I love getting this chance to brag about it. I get to say it's one of the fastest growing churches. in the country. I love that. I get to say, you know, they're planning churches all over the world. I love to say that we're partnering together to help people with special needs and help people that have gone through this horrible evil of being trafficked and help people that have been sold all over the world. I love to tell people that it's not just a place that we meet on Sunday, because look at everything else that the church is a part of. And then I get to tell them about our and they say, what is he like? What's Pastor Joe be like? And I'll be like, well, could you

imagine if Larry the Cable Guy, Joe Dirt, D.L. Moody, all had a baby. I mean, that's a little bit true, right? Oh, I didn't bring in the hunting part of that. I guess Larry the cable guy takes care of that. I've never met someone that likes to hunt more than Jobie, though. You know, I felt like when he was at our wedding in South Africa, he was like, he was, you know, excited to be there, but he was like, I can't wait to finish so I can go see some really big animals. It's sort of a true story. But he actually didn't tell you before the wedding.

We all went to go work out at a gym. He didn't tell you all that story because that dude, that's like, he's a one-set wonder guy, all right? Let's just be honest. That dude don't work for reps or sets. He, like, showed up his little tight tank, you know, always just, you know, doing arms. And luckily that day, it was arms day. Dang, that dude was smoked after two sets. He showed up ready to go.

But, yeah, we can work on endurance later, man. It's cool. Guys, I'm so honored to be here. I'm so honored to have the opportunity to share with you tonight. I'm so honored because I love this church. I love Jobi. I love our city. And I hope I really love people.

And that's what our church is about. And that's what saturated about. And I will tell you that after tonight, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday, when Jobi closes on Sunday, if all saturated did was inside of these walls, we missed the mark. You see, the goal of saturated is that we all come together in here and that God shows up

and he does something in our life so that we go take it to the rest of our city and the rest of our state and the rest of our country and throughout the world. So, guys, I would say that I really, really, really, really hope that you leave encouraged. I really do. I hope that you leave encouraged. You know what encouragement means? It means to give support, confidence, or hope, too. Those are really, really good things.

But I feel if we just leave in courage, we also probably miss the mark. Because encouragement is just a feeling. And how many times have we all had feelings, but it didn't actually mean enough to actually do something? So if I was to choose a word, I wouldn't choose encouragement. Although it's a really, really good thing, and I hope we all have it, I would choose inspire or inspiration. Because do you know what that means? It means to fill someone with the urge to do something. something. And my hope and my prayer and my goal tonight is that we are all filled with

the urge to do something. You know what's really cool about that word? Is our English word inspires connected to the Greek word for Holy Spirit? So what I'm really saying is, man, I hope that you don't hear me say a bunch of babbling words and hear this random dude that just got made fun of and got cut five times from the NFL. Oh, that's funny? All right. I know a lot of you. I can talk about your worst days too. Man, I hope, and I pray that the Holy Spirit shows up and fills us with the urge to go do something. That would be my hope and my prayer tonight. Guys, you hear Jobie talk all, all, all the time, and I love it about the rescue mission

that Jesus came on for us. The rescue mission that Jesus came on for me and for you. You hear him talk about it all the time, and he also then follows it up by saying, if you've been rescued, you're what? You're on the rescue team. You know it. But let me ask you a question. Would anybody identify you as being on the rescue team? I mean, not in here. It's easy, man. Joby's up here, and he's freaking crushing it, he's funny, and all of this, and it's amazing, And everybody's like throwing your hands up and we are finishing the year of worship and it's amazing. And we're getting ready to go into womb to tomb.

And it's like, oh, this is awesome. He's funny. He's hilarious. He's entertaining. Then he also shares God's word. It's like, this is awesome. But when we leave, when we walk out, when we go to our jobs, when we go to the rest of our city, would anybody else identify you or me and say, oh, they're on the rescue team? Wow, there's something about their actions, about their words, about their choices.

Oh, my gosh, it's so different. I can't even put it into those words, but wow, they're different. You know, in my life, I've been identified as a lot of things. Probably some good and some bad. War a lot of jerseys. But, man, I hope one day people don't look at me and they identify me as a gator. I hope they don't look at me and they identify, hey, that guy that played for two weeks for the Jaguars. Oh, you're laughing too loud, Joby.

I hope they don't look at me and say, oh, that's a guy from Nice High School. God bless you guys. I hope they don't say, man, that guy, he won a Heisman. You know, when they were announcing that award and I was a finalist and they introduced me or they're getting ready to introduce one of us and the, the, the Hysman trustee puts his hand over the mic during a commercial break and he looks and says, hey, we'll be forever known and introduced. And I was already so nervous and they

says that and I'm like, all right, I'm ready to puke, you know. I hope I'm not identified as a high spin winner. Because if so, man, I probably missed the mark. But you see, guys, for us that have been rescued, we're on the rescue team. But what type of team are we? What type of team are we as a church? I called Jobi this morning.

and I told him I wanted to share on this because I wanted to encourage our church but I wanted to challenge all of us on what type of team we are. And I said, hey, if our mission statement as a church is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ, then what is the team's mission statement?

Then what is the rescue team's mission statement? What team will we be? What team will our church be? A team that will be willing to cover the ground for all people as we declare and demonstrate the rescue mission of Jesus Christ till the end. A team willing to cover the ground for all people as we declare and demonstrate the rescue mission of Jesus Christ till the end. If you have your Bibles with you, would you please turn to Luke chapter 5?

By that, I just mean pull out your phone. Starting in verse 12, while he was in one of the cities, meaning Jesus, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored him saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. And he stretched out his hand and touched him saying, I am willing, be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him.

Guys, I think what happens to so many of us and me so much of my life until I understood more of the culture and the context of the Bible. Stories like this would just kind of zoom by. You'd hear it and be like, oh, that's cool. Like, no, but we have to understand what a freaking big deal this is. So when you understand the culture and the context, you understand that Jesus is walking into one of these cities. and in all of his public miracles out of 35 of him, this is a six public miracle that is recorded. So he's already performed five public miracles,

and there's all these people that are around him that are surrounding him, and he's walking in one of these cities. And you also have to understand, if you have leprosy at this time, then you are truly the least, the last, the loss, you are less than. You were exiled.

You were a throwaway. You are nothing, you are less than nothing. If you have leprosy, you literally have to walk around and yell unclean or leprosy and avoid people. Literally, true story, stay six feet away from them and they will say six feet away from you. And if it's a windy day, you have to stay 100 feet away. It is a massively big deal. And so this person with leprosy sees Jesus and falls on his face.

and begs him, begs him, not if you can. If you're willing, will you make me clean? If you are willing. And I love what Jesus does. Before he tells him, he shows him. You see, the Bible says it reaches out and touches him, but a lot of experts and scholars would believe that this man would not have been close enough

for Jesus to just reach out and touch him. with all of these people that are surrounding him. And with it being a rule that he has to say so far away, that what most likely happened is that Jesus hears him and he sees him. And then he covers the ground. Yes, of course, Jesus could go go a gadget arm, but I don't think he did. The man that nobody else would go to.

The man that nobody else saw worthy. Jesus did. and he covers the ground and he closes the gap and he goes over to him and my guess is because he falls on his face that he's still probably on his knees or laying down and my guess is that Jesus probably bends over and touches him to first show how willing he is and then tell him yes I am willing be clean and immediately the leprosy left him You see, what I want you to notice in this story is how willing our Savior is to cover the ground for all people, for you and for me. And I think the question is, how willing are we? How willing are we to cover the ground? Because do we actually believe that they're worth it?

Jesus did. It was worth them. You could only imagine all the people that are around Jesus are like, what? What are you doing? No, you can't do this. And I'm even imagining some of the people are leaving like, you know, like Kelly, like Joby, don't touch him, don't touch him. Because if you touch him, you're going to get sick and you could imagine all these people

are saying, don't do it, Jesus, don't do it. You'll get sick, you'll get leprosy. And they have no idea how much Jesus loves him. And he demonstrated it. He didn't talk about it. He demonstrated it. And then he said, yeah, I'm willing. I am willing. You know, I love that Luke paints this picture. And you could probably say, oh, well, yeah, that's cool, but that's Jesus. He can go do that. He can go touch people with leprosy and be fine. And so he can go cover the ground. Yeah, but keep reading in Luke five chapters later. then Luke starts to tell us about the story of the good Samaritan.

The story of the Good Samaritan, how an expert of the law is challenging Jesus. And then Jesus starts to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. Shoot, half of you have probably taught that at some point in your life. You know the story of the Good Samaritan, but maybe we haven't looked at it in every angle. I love the story of the Good Samaritan, but it also has to be one of the most challenging stories in the Bible. When you really understand it. Because then this man says, okay, yeah, the goal is to love Lord of God with our heart, so mine is strength and love your neighbor as yourself. And he goes to Jesus, yeah, but Jesus, who's my neighbor really to challenge him?

So Jesus starts to tell the story of this man that is beaten and left for judgment. dead. And then a priest comes by on this journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, around 17, 18 miles downhill, and this is also known as the way of blood or the bloody way, meaning that this isn't the first time this would happen. There would be robbers and attackers on this trail. So this man was beaten and left for dead and a priest comes walking by. And most scholars believe that if a priest is walking by that he's probably just finished his duties in Jerusalem and he's heading to Jericho probably where he lives and he doesn't stop to help. But why doesn't he stop to help? Well, one reason is because if the man is dead and a priest were to touch that man, he would be unclean

and have to go back to Jerusalem and go through a seven-day ritual of then becoming clean again. So he's like, oh, man, well, if he's, you know, if he's dead and I touch him, I can't even help him, but then I have to go back. So really, that excuse would be, it's an inconvenience. If he is, it's not worth the risk. That's really one excuse. Another one is fear of the robbers that it could be a trap. And that's realistic. Absolutely realistic.

It could have definitely been a trap. The third one is that he might not even be Jewish. So he's not my people. So you really think about it, and then you think about all the times in our lives, why did the priest keep walking by? He knew about God's love. He could quote scripture, probably a lot of it, probably more than all of us. But when you really think about it, I don't want to be inconvenienced.

Because if he's dead, I don't want to have to go back for a week, and it's not worth the risk. I don't want to be inconvenience. How many times have I made that mistake? Oh, I really want to bring my one more, but I don't want to drive to Daytona to go get them. It's an inconvenience. Or, man, I, you know, I'm a little afraid. I don't want to say anything.

I don't want to go there because it might be dangerous. Sometimes that's a reality. But it's also why my dad is one of my biggest heroes. Because my dad over and over again would go to countries in places where they would say, hey, if you tell us about Jesus, we're going to kill you. and you would say, I just want you to know how much he loves you. Or, hey, if you speak, we're going to throw you in prison. And he did it anyways.

Because those people are just as worthy as the gospel. And then the last one, but they're not my people. Who are your people? Man, I hope, as the church of 1122, I hope all people are people. You see, when Jesus died, he didn't die for a group. He didn't die for, oh, just you. He died for all. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son

that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Our God's so love that he died for you. But you see, when you understand that about your life, it shouldn't just change you from the inside. It should also change your eyesight. because now when I view someone else and I realize that for some reason God viewed me as worthy of dying for

when I see somebody else that means he also sees them as worthy of dying for as well and I better see them as worthy too how could we as a church see and hear and accept the greatest rescue mission of all time and never tell anybody

how could we do that could there be anything more selfish? I was on a road to destruction. Jesus rescued me. And now I have a home in heaven. And he did the same thing for you, but you're not worthy of me saying anything to you. You're not worthy of me declaring it to you.

You're not worthy of me demonstrating it for you. How selfish could we be? Could you imagine if it's true, and that's what we did? Could you imagine one day, if you're in heaven and someone comes up to you and they say, hey, man, you knew what Jesus did and you didn't tell me, I'm so grateful, I'm so grateful that he did. What are you going to say? Sorry, I didn't care enough about you.

What's the reason I couldn't articulate it? Get a book. Read it, literally. Quote Joby, what are you going to say? Or are you going to say, hey, hi. To be honest, I just didn't love you enough. Or I didn't really believe what he did. I just think there's been too many times in my life.

I didn't believe it enough. Or I didn't love him enough. And I don't want that to be the case for the rest of my life. But what about us as a church? For some reason, he wasn't worth it to the, priest. And then the Levite comes, and the Levites also some that knows scripture. He would be like a temple assistant. He would know scripture, but for some reason the Levite, I could get into a lot of examples, but for some reason, Levi passes. But then the Samaritan shows up. And a lot of people are

like, oh man, what a good dude. The Samaritan covered the ground and went and got him. But it's a bigger deal than that. You see, if that man that was beaten and left for dead was Jewish, it is way more of a rivalry than Florida versus Georgia. Most people would think that they would hate each other. But that's not the only fear. Another really realistic fear would be, man, if I rescue him, if I pick him up and I put him on my animal, and I bring him to Jericho, there's a real thing. They're probably going to think that I was the attacker. There's a realistic fear, but for some reason, the Good Samaritan loves him enough that he's willing to say, you know what, it might not go all right.

Some people might accuse me of something. It doesn't matter. He's worth it. It doesn't matter. He's worth it. As a church, are we going to make the decision, no matter what excuses we could make. inconvenience, fear, are we going to say, yeah. People could say whatever they want, but we're going to do it because he's worth it,

because she is worth it, and we're going to do it anyways. Could you imagine what would happen in our city? Could you imagine if we made that decision as the church that we said, as a rescue team, we're going to be willing to cover the ground for all people. You see, when we say for all people, what we're saying is that we want to serve God, not play God. And there's a lot of people, man, they're going to pick and choose really because in that moment they're playing God.

We don't play God. We want to serve God. And we know our God has a heart for all people. That's why you're welcome here. And so is everybody else. And after Jesus is done. telling this story to this expert of the law, he looks at him and tells him, go and do the same. It's what a challenge. Wait, what are you saying? What are you saying to me? No, wait, wait a second.

I'm putting the place of the Good Samaritan and when people are hurting, when people are thrown away, when people are beaten, when people are left for dead, I'm supposed to go and do the same. You see, in the Greek, it's in the imperative, which means it's a command. So to the expert of the law, he's sitting like, oh, crap. There's no question mark. It's not a maybe. He didn't say, hey, if you feel like it, please do it. On the weekend, when you have time, when you get out of a really good sermon that Jobie does, and you're really fired up, that's when I want you to go do it. No, when you see a hurting person and it might not really fit in your schedule. It is a command.

Go and do the same. Meet their needs. Demonstrate your love. Tell them about the gospel. It's a command. As a church, are we going to take it as a command? Are we going to take it as a question mark? Man, I think as a church, if we may be a church, if we may be a command, we're going to take it as a question mark,

Man, I think as a church, if we make that an exclamation mark, the difference that we will make in our city will be radical. When it's no longer a question mark, when it's no longer even just a period. But we say go and do the same. We're on it. That's what our rescue team's going to do. That's what we're going to do. We're going to be willing to cover the ground for all people. and what we have to understand what is implied there is even when it's hard.

You see, honestly, Joe being 1122, make it really, really easy most of the time, guys. I don't know if you've realized that, make it really, really easy. Like, it's popular and it's fun and, like, probably half the people you know come here. That's awesome. What about when it gets hard? What about when he gets really, really hard? Like it was for the Good Samaritan, man, if I do this, there are some. severe consequences, are you still willing? Do you know what boldness means? It means to put it all on the

line to do what is necessary. You know, even a couple years ago, I won an award for boldness. So far from the truth. I've never really had to be bold. People even come up to me and say, man, thank you for your boldness. I want to say, I have never had to be bold. Not when we really understand what it means. It truly, being bold, means you put it all on the line. And to be honest, guys, in my life, I've probably put more on the line to win a game than I actually have for Jesus. I've never had to put it on the line. My dad's had to put it on the line. So many heroes of mine have had to put it on the line. I've never had to put it on the line. What? Because some people are going to criticize you? Or they're going to take a knee after they sack you? Like,

What? Oh, wow. That's persecution. I can't believe you did that. You heard my feelings. That's not putting it on the line. I've never had to do it. The question is, if it ever came to it, would I be willing? I don't know. That's the reality. I don't know. I hope so. Maybe, maybe not. But what are we willing to put on the line? In 1958, a young girl named Marilyn Van Derber was crowned. Miss America. It seemed like she had everything. She grew up in, it was thought to be, an amazing family, successful mom and dad, the youngest of four girls, and they did all the stuff. They were involved in choirs and churches and nonprofits, and he was worth over a million dollars at the time, which was a lot at that time, and they gave to charities, and they did all these things.

But what people didn't know is, that Maryland from the ages of 5 to 18 was raped over and over and over again by her dad. At most nights, he would walk into her room downstairs around 10, 11, or at midnight, and he would usually stay for about 30 minutes. And one night when Marilyn's dad is on her downstairs, she hears the steps her mom coming down the stairs and slowly she hears a step and another step and another step and she thinks my mom's coming to help me she's coming to get me she's coming to rescue me she's coming to stop me she's coming to stop him she's going to come get me and

And her dad stops. And for the first time, she saw her dad afraid. And she says it feels like it was forever. Such a dramatic pause. And after a few moments of nothing, she heard the footsteps going back up the stairs.

And she thought, nobody's ever coming for me. nobody is ever going to help me years later in an interview she was asked do you think your mom knew and she said it happened for 18 years in her home how did she not know but she made the choice choose to do nothing over me you see Marilyn goes on to say that at that moment she was about 12 feet away from the door and sometimes guys for us it's really easy to close the gout until it gets really hard in those moments where maybe we're only 12 feet and maybe it's going to be hard and maybe we don't have all the answers.

But in that moment, what are we going to do? Because sometimes the hardest is at the end when we have to close that gap, when we don't care about the ramifications. When it doesn't matter what people are going to say because she is worth it. You know, we're so fortunate as a team and a partnership with Jobi and 1122 and you, church family to try to serve as many people that are hurting around the world. But one of those areas is those that have been trafficked all around the world, but also just right here in our backyard. And actually how that started for us was over a decade ago.

My dad gave me a call. He was in an underground pastor's conference. He was in a remote country preaching at underground pastor's conference where faith isn't really allowed. And he gave me a call. And I said, hey, dad, how's the trip going? He said, all pretty good. And I said, what's going on?

He said, I just bought four girls. That's a normal way to start a conversation. What are you talking about? You see, my dad was at this underground pastor's conference where because it was underground and it was hidden, teaching him how to preach, girls were brought in to be sold to all of these men. And, you know, one of the reasons why he's my hero is when you could say, oh, I didn't. didn't plan on doing anything or, oh, you know, this isn't convenient for me. He took out all the money in his wallet, which was $1,250 and he purchased the freedom of those four girls. That's not

why I told the story. Why I tell the story is because who was he with a group of pastors? You know how many of them said, hey, hey, I'll help. Let me chip in. Hey, let me be the first one to figure out where they can go next. Let me figure out what they can do. How can we be a part? How can we be a part? of it. None of them. It wasn't worth it. You see, they know about God's love. They're probably going to preach on it. But they just walked on by. And they had their excuses. They had their reasons. Hey, we don't want to give money to that trade. I get it. Honestly, that's a legit reason. But go say it to those four. Then go tell them, hey, you weren't worth it. as a church, can we say to all people, they're worth it.

But I can't stop there. It can't just be something we say. When I say that, it's because we're going to have a team that's willing to act on it. You see, we're not just going to declare it. We're going to demonstrate it with our actions. I'm so grateful that God didn't just declare his love for us, but he demonstrated that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. A couple years ago when I was dating Demi and we weren't yet married, but I knew I wanted to marry her,

and I couldn't wait. I was so excited to marry her, but I had to wait until I got to South Africa so I could ask her parents first, because I believe that's the right thing to do. But I fly to New York City, and I'm doing shows and events all day, and I couldn't wait to see her that night, and I was so looking forward to it because I finished just in time to go to dinner. Except the problem was I was so busy, and lost track of time that I didn't do anything special to set up anything for her that night. And so we just go to dinner and I'm like, oh, crap, I didn't do anything. I should have brought something.

I should have had a gift something. So the whole time we're eating dinner, I'm texting one of my agents under the table. And I'm like, hey, any chance that you could get me tickets to see Hamilton. And he's like, oh, really when? 20 minutes. Hamilton is a Broadway play. I had already seen it twice in person. I loved it.

I had the soundtrack, listened to it many times. And so I just knew she would love it. And so I was so excited that I wanted to be able to surprise her. I didn't plan ahead. And so a couple minutes later, she's kind of eating dessert. And I get the response back. Got the tickets. And I was like, yes.

I was like, so, babe, you know, I just love you so much. And I've been planning this for a while. And so I tell her, we got the tickets to go see Hamilton. And so just a few streets over. And we go see Hamilton. And guys, I've already seen it twice. I've listened to it dozens of times. I love the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of our founding fathers.

and it gets to about the middle of the play. And we're sitting literally right up here in the front. Again, I had seen it so many times, but they start singing this song called Non-Stop about Alexander Hamilton. And they're singing about him, John Jay, and James Madison make a pact to write the federalist papers to defend the U.S. Constitution,

which, by the way, pretty noble, cool thought, cool idea, cool purpose. Like, wow, that's pretty sweet. You get to defend the U.S. Constitution. Pretty freaking cool. They make this goal, write 25 essays. John Jay writes five, gets sick. James Madison writes 29. Alexander Hamilton writes 51.

So they start singing this song about Alexander Hamilton. And you know what? Up until then, I'm just enjoying it. I'm like, yeah, Demmy's going to love it. I went Brownie Point. This is awesome. And then God started to prick my heart. Something I wasn't expecting.

You see, I'm listening to the way that this band and this orchestra and all these people are singing about Alexander Hamilton. And these are a few of the lyrics. How do you write like you're running out of time? right day and night like you're running out of time. Every day you fight like you're running out of time, like you're running out of time. How do you write like tomorrow won't arrive?

How do you write like you needed to survive? How do you write every second you're alive, every second you're alive, every second you're alive? You see, but when I was sitting there, what I was hearing was really what I felt like I was putting on my heart, do you live like you're running out of time? Do you live like they're running out of time? Do you fight for others like they're running out of time?

Do you share with people that are lost like they're running out of time? Do you cling to me like you need me to survive? Every second you're alive, every second you're alive. You see, guys, are we willing to cover the ground for all people? But what that implies is urgency because some people might not have tomorrow. You do. So what it means is we have to live with a sense of urgency. When I'm sitting there watching this, I couldn't help but start to week.

because I thought, man, would anybody one day, if they sang about my life, would say, man, the calling of the great commission and the calling of hurting people, in the calling of go and do the same, any go meet the needs, it moved him so much that he urgently had to go act, that he urgently had to go do something about it every second. He's alive. Every second he's alive. Or would he just say, man, he won a cool award in college. Or man, he just sort of wandered through life.

If they ever sang about your life, what would they say? Would they ever say anything that comes close to how much you care about being on the rescue team? Would it ever come up? would they say man it mattered so much the way that they loved the way that they cared their courage to share the gospel they couldn't help but do it oh man i met him one time he was cool he was really nice that was a cool dude man gosh i hope they don't say that about me john 13 one having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end why do we have till the end because it's not necessary It's not necessarily easy to start.

It takes some courage, but it's a lot harder to keep going, the more difficult it gets. But as a team, as a rescue team, as a rescue church, as a church of 1122, will we say that we're in it till the end. You see, I'm talking about Jesus, having loved his own, who are in the world,

he loved them to the end. The end is the Greek word, tell us, which means the end, but it also means reaching your goal or mission accomplished. And man, as a church, could we be a church that says we will be willing to cover the ground for all people as we declare and demonstrate the rescue mission of Jesus Christ until we reach our goal? Until mission accomplished. What does that mean? That means every single person has heard, about the good news of Jesus and every single person has seen the love that we have for them. We got a big job, but we got a bigger God. As we get ready to close, I want to tell you a story

about Alexander Hamilton. Excuse me, I want to tell you a story. We just talked about Alexander Hampton, about Alexander the Great. A lot of Alexander's tonight. Alexander the Great took a few of his soldiers and he marched to a fortified city. And he asked the king, where you come down and talk to me and the opposing king came down and talked to him. And Alexander the Great said, hey, I want you and all of your soldiers and all the villagers to surrender now. And the opposing king's like, dude, you only have a few soldiers. And we have a fortified city. We have our soldiers. You're literally no threat to us. Why would we surrender? And Alexander the Great said, let me give you a demonstration. And he told us me to line up in a single file line and start walking.

And they did right to a cliff. And then one by one, they walked off the edge of the cliff and fell to their death. One, two, three, till ten of his men walked off the edge of the cliff and fell off and died. And he said, stop. Now the rest of you come back and stand by me. And they did and they ran. They stood beside Alexander the Great. And the opposing king watched terrified.

And all of the villagers watched from the city walls and they were terrified. And they thought, if his men are willing to do this for him, what happens when his army shows up? And so instantly, the opposing king surrendered to Alexander the Great. And you know, throughout history, we refer to him as Alexander the Great. I don't even know how else to refer to him. But is Alexander the Great? But man, you talk about a mistake of titles. You see, we call him great because he conquered land,

conquered cities, conquered villages. But he did it by sacrificing his men. And we call that king great. Yet our king, King Jesus, when we deserved it, when we deserve death, when we deserve that payment, he said, no, I love you so much, you don't have to go. I'll go. I'll take your place.

Yet how often do we live and act and refer to him as king Jesus? Because that is the great king. Not Alexander the great because you conquered some land and stuff. Our king is the great one. Our king is the great king. Jesus because what he conquered and he didn't say, I want you to pay for it. You deserve it, but I'll go. And you see the rescue mission that Jobi talks about, it wasn't a rescue mission that everybody got away, Scott Free. You see, the rescue mission costs a lot. It costs the

son of God his life. It cost him his life as a ransom for you and for me. You see, if Alexander's troops were willing to do that, mostly out of fear, what are we willing to do out of love? Out of gratitude, out of thankfulness of saying, man, I deserve it. But our great king demonstrated his love. And I think it's important that we understand. He didn't want to. He didn't feel like it. He didn't want to, guys.

He didn't want to go die on the cross. Who would? He's literally sweating blood, saying, Dad, if we can do it differently, let's do it differently. But I'll do it anyways. I don't want to, but I'll do it anyways. Because it is your will, and I love them. I'll do it anyways.

Now would us, would we as a church, ever say, it is your will and we love them anyways regardless if i feel like it regardless if it looks good no matter what i got to put on the line it's your will for them to know about your rescue mission that i've been fortunate to hear about but when you died you also die for them so don't let me be selfish and never tell and never share and never declare and never declare and never declare and never demonstrate. But let that rescue mission ooze out of me because I'm on the rescue team.

And for some reason, in your masterful plan, you want us to be co-laborers on the rescue team. And we get to go present that message to the world. What a job. But what an opportunity. What an opportunity. Now we go back to how it started. Would we be willing?

not can we, not should we, will we. Guys, so many of you here, you've accepted Jesus because you've heard what Jobi said and what he did on the cross accounted for you and you have put your faith and trust in him and you have received that free gift of eternal life that he's offering, but maybe there's some people here or maybe there's some people watching around the world

where you've never said yes to Jesus. But maybe tonight is that night. So in a moment, I would like to lead you in a prayer, and it's not a magical prayer. It is you simply talking to the God of this universe. And let me tell you something, he hears you. Because he loves you, because he's sent on a son on a rescue mission for you. And if he gave his best for you, what would he withhold? So in a moment, if you say, man, I hear you talking about Jesus, but I've never said yes to him.

in a moment, I want to say a prayer out loud. And if that's you, wherever you're seated, in this location, in another location, or watching online, I want you to repeat that prayer after me. You know what's cool? Is that when we put our faith in Jesus, we instantly go from darkness to light. My hope in prayer tonight is that this place is going to light up.

So if that's you, no matter where you're at, I promise you, God can hear you. If you want to say yes to Jesus tonight, let's do it right now. If you would bow your heads and close your eyes and nobody looking around, but you, wherever you are, you make the most important decision of your life by saying yes to Jesus and what he did in the finished work of the cross. Dear Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for me. I put my faith in you, and I ask you to come into my heart and forgive me of all that I've done wrong. Thank you for forgiving me and for coming on a rescue mission for me. I give my life to you.

I want to live for you. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for giving me eternal life. Thank you for giving me a home in heaven. I love you. And I want to live for you. With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you just prayed that prayer with me,

on the count of three, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. You see, Jesus has the love and the courage to die for you. You have the courage to raise you. your hand to say, yes, I just accepted him just now. One, God loves you. Two, he has an amazing plan for your life. Three, would you just raise your hand? You can now put your hands down. We have hands that were going up all over the room. Now you can look up here. Please look me in the eye. I want to do a second ask. If you are someone that tonight, Timmy, when you were talking, I felt called. I want to be a part of

the rescue team. It's not an official team. What I'm talking about is a calling on your life. You see, in scripture, calling means an urgent and divine invitation to accept responsibility for a particular task. If you say, I want to accept responsibility by being on the rescue team for hurting people so that they can hear about the good news of Jesus Christ, that I'm going to demonstrate it. I'm going to declare it.

And that hurting people that have been thrown away. I'm called to go serve them. What type of rescue team will our church be? Will we be the type of rescue team that one day will celebrate about it in heaven? You don't think the only things that are actually worth doing are things that we're going to talk about in heaven?

Let's do those things, Joby. No matter where you are in this building, online, kind of hard to get up and come forward. But no matter where you are, it's Michael and the team sing. That's why Joby has all these benches up here is that this is a place where you can come and say, God, you are talking to me. God, you are talking to me tonight. I want to do something about it.

I don't want to walk by anymore. I spent too much of my life walking by. I don't want to walk by people anymore. I want to cover the ground. I want to be willing. And if God, you ask, man, hopefully one day, I would put it on the line. But could you imagine as a church, as a city, if we said together we're willing because we believe what he did on the cross and we believe people are worth it.

And it's not just something we're going to say. It's how our lives are actually going to speak more with our actions than our words will ever do. Church of 1122, thank you for letting me call this home. Joby, we love you. God bless you guys.