The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 1: Pass the Torch

Episode Date: January 6, 2019

Faith is not simply given to you, but should be given through you. What price are you willing to pay to reach one more generation?

Amen and amen and amen. How are we doing church? Everybody good. Well, happy new year. Congratulations. You have perfect attendance at church this year. So far, congratulations there, and you already look thinner. You really do, especially those of you at Bay Meadows. You really do. Hey, if you got your Bibles, I hope you do. You're going to need it. We're going to be in Second Timothy, as you may have heard. Second Timothy, we are going to be there for the next nine weeks as we dive into this year. This is like vision. weekend. So if you're kind of, you know, back to 1122 or new to 1122 and you're kind of kicking the tires, this is awesome. What a great weekend to be here because we're going to talk about what

we think God has called us to do for all of 2019. So you will also need this vision piece, okay, because I will refer to it. We'll do Bible first and then we'll do vision peace second, which is probably a really good idea. And then there's also notes if you want to dive in. Now listen, in pulpits all over America this weekend, there are going to be really great sermons about how to unlock your potential for your best 2019. And I'm going to tell you it ain't about you. And if you live all year for the sake of you, all you have at the end of the year is just you.

It is terrible, okay? And in fact, in God's economy, the way he has wired this thing is the best way for you to have the best year ever is to pour yourself out for somebody not named you. And for all of 2019 and hopefully for the rest of our days, We want to live for the glory of God, pouring ourselves out for the sake of the gospel for others. And in 2019, I am calling our church to do whatever it takes to reach one more generation. That's what this thing is going to be about.

Which is why we are studying 2nd Timothy for nine weeks, because 2nd Timothy is all about passing the torch of faith on to the upcoming generation. This is about generations passing the faith to generations, the generations to generations, the generations to generations. generations, that faith is not just something that happens to you, but faith should be something that happens through you. And so we're going to study this as Paul, the apostle, passes on some instruction to his protege to one of his co-laborers in the gospel, young Timothy. I was talking to one of my buddies, you know, we preachers, what else we're going to talk about? We talk about what we're going to preach about, and I said, we're doing Second Timothy. They're like, that's awesome. And it's said, what are you preaching on the first weekend? I said, I'm doing chapter one versus one through six.

And a buddy of mine, very, an incredibly gifted preacher, he said, that's not even, you can't preach that, that's just the intro. It's not even, and now the church that he's at is, has a much higher production value than we do. They have. I mean, it's like, one time a laser beam shot out of his face and spelled Jesus. He was amazing. You understand what I'm saying? And he's like, no, I doesn't really get going to seven, but I disagree. I think. that sometimes we read through some verses in the scripture and we think, oh, those are just kind of throw away verses, but all scripture is God breathed, and every single word is worthy of our study. And so in this intro, we're going to find a whole lot about why we're going to study

this book, and hopefully it will be impactful to us, not just this year, but for the rest of our lives. So, Second Timothy, chapter 1, verse 1 starts out this way. Paul, that's who wrote it. an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy. Now, real quick here, I always wonder why Paul always feels the need to introduce himself. I mean, doesn't he know Timothy? And the answer there is, yes. They know each other very well. They traveled together doing missions and church planting for years.

In fact, you want to talk about knowing one of your ministry parts. partners. In Acts chapter 16, we find out that when Paul chooses Timothy and hires him on his staff, Paul circumcises Timothy. So let's just say they know each other. You know what I mean? I know some brothers on our staff, but I don't know them like Paul knows him. And think about this, when you talk to somebody you know well, you don't introduce yourself. I don't call home and be like, hey, JP. He's like, hey, dad, that's right. This is your father, graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Masters of Divinity. Founding. pastor of 1122, serve it of the most high king. He'd be like, I know, dad, I know you.

So why is Paul introducing himself to someone he knows this well? Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. I think there's two things here. First and foremost, I think Paul wants Timothy to know. Bro, this is not just like a casual little email. That the words that I am pinning towards you as an apostle chosen by Christ Jesus, as a fulfillment of the promise of Christ Jesus, that these are the very words of God. And you should take them very, very seriously.

And then secondly, I think Paul, by reminding Timothy of who Paul is, in essence, he's reminding Timothy of who Timothy is. Three times in the first two verses, he's going to put another name here in this introduction. Christ Jesus. And not Jesus Christ, not name than title, but title than name. By the way, if you're new to Bible study, Christ is not Jesus' last name. It is his title, Christos. It means anointed one, Messiah, Savior, King, Lord, that's what it means.

And so what Paul is saying to Timothy, is this, hey listen, Timothy, don't let this world tell you who you are. Because we're going to find out here in a little while, if we kind of read between the lines, I think Timothy is the kind of kid that grew up with a whole bunch of labels. There's a whole bunch of people, this world, that slapped onto Timothy a bunch of labels that he has been dealing with his entire life. And Paul says, no, no, no, no, no, Timothy, nobody gets to tell you who you are except Christ Jesus. and Christ Jesus picked me as an apostle, and Christ Jesus told me to pick you as a pastor.

And so only Jesus gets to tell you who you are. Let me tell you why this is good news in 2019, because 2018 does not get to define you. No matter how good of a year it was or how bad of a year it is, it was in the past, and it is over. And Jesus is now calling us to move forward. And so Paul, an apostle of Christ, Jesus, by the will of God, according to the, the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. By the way, Billy Graham called 2 Timothy 1-1B, the second half of that verse, he said he called it the gospel in miniature.

That here is the gospel, the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. There's the gospel. You know what a promise is? A promise is, I'm going to give you something. That's what a promise is. Not you're going to earn something, not you deserve something, but I am going to give you a gift.

And what he's going to give us is life. The gospel is not turning over a new leaf. The gospel is that we get a new life in Christ Jesus. So Paul starts with Timothy. He starts with the gospel. Paul, this is why it's going to take me nine weeks. I hadn't made it through a verse yet, okay? And I've been off for two weeks, so this could be a lock-in, so whatever.

It's not my fault. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy. And look what he calls him. My beloved child. Now listen, Timothy is young. Paul may be 10 years older than he is, but he's still a grown man. And yet Paul says to Timothy that he calls him my beloved child.

we don't use this kind of language in the church that much. Honestly, African-American churches do, and I think they really have something rich here. I'll be running around with Cam Triggs and Dr. Erick Mason and Pastor Leonts Crump and some of my African-American pastor buddies, and they will introduce some people on their staff as sons in the ministry or this is my father.

So what that would be like for us, I mean, I really think, I don't know that we're going to adopt it because I think it would be weird. Can you imagine me showing up to a conference? It would be like, hey, I'm Pastor Jobie, and these are my boys. That's my son Ryan, that's my other son Ryan. I got two Ryan's. Look at them, aren't they adorable? Yeah, they're both bald and bearded like me. I love them so much, right?

So we call them Brittonstone. But I do think we're missing something. Because much like Paul went and got Timothy after his conversion and said, come do ministry with me. In a similar way, I went and got into the Ryan's and said, come on, fellas, you all come do ministry with me. There's something missing in our church. Because in the scriptures, discipleship is not mass-produced.

It's deeply personal. It's not mass-produced. It's deeply personal. Now, some people will push against big church like we have and be like, well, see, how can you do real discipleship if you do it this way? Well, here's the thing. The original church wasn't very, it wasn't small. Peter preached one time.

and they grew to 3,000 people after the first week. They were on the fastest growing church. They were the, they grew by 3,000. We grew about 1,000 to 2,000 a year. They grew to 3,000 in the first meeting. And then they're probably like, nobody will come back. The second time Peter preaches, 5,000 more people come. So in two weeks, they're 8,000 plus.

They're a little smaller than we are. So the church was huge. Somehow it was very well organized and it was deeply relational. Let me ask you this. Do you have anybody in our church that you could call your spiritual father or do you have anybody that you could look at that you were discipling and saying, this is my beloved child? Church, I would say if not, let's say you've been here, I don't know, three years.

If you don't have that, that means you're not doing it right. You're not doing it right. That we need to create the kind of environments here. highly organized here. Every single person can sign up for a disciple group right now. You could. I tell you every week. Fill out the card, check the box, we'll call you, go to the Connect Center, you show up to a group of people, you get involved with some folks. And not overnight, but over time, hopefully what happens is that you can have these kind of relationships, which, by the way, part of the reason that I am very pro intergenerational disciple groups is so that this kind of thing can happen.

We reach tons of millennials and tons of college students. And Christian experts call me and say, what's your secret? How do you attract millennials? I'm like, ridicule? I don't know. I don't, if you look around your disciple group and everybody's 20, oh, help you. I mean, the concentration of ignorance in one living room or Panera, you probably don't have a living room. It's astounding. Do you have these kind of people in your life? Because if you're going to be a part of this church, you can. You can. One of my favorite things about this church is we've got some old people. That is not pejorative. That is, I mean, it warms my soul. We've got cool music and sweet videos and all that stuff. And yet, we have people in their 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s and 80s.

and beyond, who are here because there's this move of God. And listen, you that have been a Christian for more than a few years, it's time for you to step up. And it doesn't have to be in some kind of super formal way. In fact, if you're in your 60s, you should be in like four disciple groups. Maybe one you would learn a thing in. Maybe. But all the rest of them, you're just showing up going,

Hey, look, I don't know it all. I just been following Jesus longer than you. And what I could say about me is 1 Corinthians 111. Follow me as I follow Christ. And it's not all about Bible verses, too. There's some millennials in here. They don't have to balance a checkbook. They don't know what a checkbook is. There's just some life stuff. Have a first kid. What about a retirement account? There's all of this sort of stuff. Do you have that kind of relationship? You should. Now, I know it's not fair, but I have elders.

I have elders that I picked before I ever had a strategic meeting about the mission, vision, and values of 1122. I started with assembling a group of men that would be spiritual fathers to me. And they all are. In particular, Lars Peterson, Dr. Paul, in very different ways. Pidi and I go hunting all the time. We ride in the truck up to the hunting land.

and he puts his little Yoda Jedi mind trick on me, and I tell him everything. Sometimes I tell him, oh, man, you know, Gretchen, I, I, we're struggling at home. And he goes, well, you know, it's not exactly a walking apart to be married to you. What are you? What? Have you listened to my marriage sermons? They're amazing. Dr. Paul's 84.

You know what that means? He don't care anymore, man. He don't care what you think. He don't care what I think. He puts it on a list. He gives me a, every year he gives me a top ten list. It ain't top ten. Here's your ten things. Here's ten things you should start doing. And then he gives me another one. Here's ten things you should stop doing. He just puts them on a list.

I love it, man. You know how that happened? I just was involved in our church. I mean, I was a little staff, but I was involved in our church. And I just found these men. I just got around people and people that looked like they love Jesus a lot. I just said, hey, will you buy me breakfast? That's how it started. I was a youth pastor. I couldn't afford breakfast and they could. So that's how it started. You had these people in your life. You should. This is the heart of disciples. This is it. The heart of discipleship is more mature believers, being with less mature believers, and saying, not learn this, but watch this. That's the heart of discipleship. And so he says to Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. Grace means that you receive what you don't deserve. Mercy means you don't receive. Mercy means you don't receive what you do deserve. And peace means that you are right with God or did it is well with my soul.

You put those three words together, grace, mercy, and peace, and you have the gospel. This means that Paul's relationship with Timothy is all about the gospel. This is what it will take to reach one more generation. And I'm not just talking about the little kids that are checked in right now. I'm talking about older generation in this room reaching younger generation in this room so that that younger generation in this room is ready to reach the generation that is checked in in our kids ministry so that when they grow up and it's their turn they will be ready to reach the generation that hadn't even been thought about being born yet this is how the gospel moves throughout generation to generation to generation and then paul in

verse three says this i thank god whom i serve as did my ancestors notice what's going on here what paul is saying here is what i'm doing is not knew. It's just my turn. That I stand on the shoulders of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I stand on the shoulders of a faithful generation that came before me that passed on the stories of the goodness and the sovereignty of God. And so he says, I thank my God whom I serve as did my an stance. There's with a clear conscience. Now just parentheses real quick. Paul writes 2 Timothy from prison. It's one of his latest letters he writes. And after he writes this, I think he knows he's never getting out.

So this is one of the latest writings of Paul. And I believe something has happened in the heart of Paul between his writings of Romans and his writings of Second Timothy. Because if you'll remember in Romans chapter 7, Paul begins to confess all over the pages of scripture, something is wrong with me. what I don't want to do, these things I keep on doing, and the good that I want to do, I can't even do that. What a wretched man am I? And yet, somehow, over a span of years, now he's at the point

where he says that he has a clear conscience. You know what I believe happened? I believe that Paul began to believe the gospel that he preached to himself in Romans chapter 8, verse 1, therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I think what we see here is the progressive sanctification of the Apostle Paul as the God. gospel that he is writing in the words of scripture pierce his own soul, that the gospel is not just the thing that got him into a relationship with God, but it is the thing that sustains him throughout his life here on earth. Back to what we were talking about. So he says, I thank my God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you

constantly in my prayers night and day. So let me ask you, who's praying for you? Who do you praying for you other than your mama. Your mama's praying for you, but here's the prayers of a mama are more powerful than anything but the blood of Jesus, okay? No doubt. The problem with mama's prayers is you're not honest with mama, so she can't really pray for you because you're a liar. So who's really praying, but do you have that? Who is really praying for you? If you've been attending this church and you can't answer that question, I'm not trying to be mean to you. You're not doing it right. The church is not an event you attend. It's a family that you belong to. It's a family that you belong to. And then the follow-up question would be, and who are you praying for this way?

Who are you constantly remembering in prayer to God, going to God on behalf of these people that he has knit you together with and you're begging God to move in their life? Who are you praying for that way? This is what we're talking about in discipleship. Not that you learn some theological terminology, but that you get closer and closer and closer. You deepen your relationship with the Almighty God through deepening your relationships with one another here in the church and praying for one another. And he says, I thank God whom I serve, as my ancestors is with a clear conscience as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. Verse four, as I remember your tears. I love Paul. Not our tears. He's like, I remember. I remember

that time. I remember you were crying, baby. He says, as I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I mean, listen, this is, this is deeply relational. We don't use this kind of terminology very much anymore, do we? I mean, Olson's leading worship tonight. I didn't see Olson much over Christmas, you know? I love him. He's awesome, but I did not see him here tonight and be like, ah, my heart longed for you. But Paul didn't mind saying that to Timothy. He says, I remember these times where we got together and there were tears. Now, here's what's fun about my job.

I asked the question, it's like, okay, why would Timothy be crying? What is Paul talking about when Timothy is crying here? And every commentator I can find, every single commentator. If you're new to Bible study, a commentator is somebody just says, here's what I think it means. And we believe them. I don't know why, okay? So everyone says, because they're not.

they said farewell to one another. Now, nowhere in the text does it say farewell, okay? And I don't, I don't think that's what it is. Now, this is conjecture on my point, but I'm calling bull-scu-scu-lion on the farewell. Here's why I'm going to tell you, fellas, do you cry at farewells with your buddies? If it's going to be a long, I have ministry partners, ministry friends that I love dearly, and if I know I'm not going to see them for a long time, I'm like, bye. Appreciate you. See you in heaven. Like, it's not a thing. There's one thing that'll make every man cry. And I think that's what he's talking about, but it doesn't show up until verse six.

So hang on to it, okay? But what you can't deny here is that it is deeply relational, deeply relational. It's very organic. Again, church is not just an event you attend. It's not. It is a family that you belong to. It is a body that you are connected to. And then he says, and I am reminded of your sincere faith.

a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you. Now, what do you notice that is not mentioned there? Dad. There's no dad mentioned. Now, in the 21st century, you go, hey, you know, no big deal. I'm telling you, in the first century, this is like, do what? Something has gone horribly wrong here. In fact, all throughout the New Testament, there's no mention of Dad save Acts chapter 16.

when Paul goes and finds Timothy, he was already a disciple, and it says that his mother is a Jew who believes in the Lord, and all it does is it names his father's ethnicity, but nowhere else is he named. He's not named as a father. He's not named anywhere else, which is either he's absent,

or there's a broken home, or something has gone wrong here. So I think there's a lot for us to hang out on. First of all, as we talk about what it means to reach one more generation, I know there's a whole bunch of folks sitting in all of our campuses here, and you would say that, hey, listen, what am I going to do? I'm just a single mom. And I would say, that's how Timothy grew up. That's how Timothy grew up. I know there's a bunch of us that would look at our family structure, and we would say it doesn't exactly line up with the ideal in the scriptures.

And what I would say is where the ideal is lacking grace abounds. Grace abound. This is why we need each other. This is why we need each other. Not only that, can you imagine what it was like to grow up as young Timothy? I mean, he was labeled. We're going to find out all kinds of stuff about Timothy in 2nd Timothy and 1st Timothy. We find out that there must be, I mean, he's a timid kid.

He must be. because the thing that Paul is going to pray for him over and over and over and over, he's going to say, hey, listen, Timothy, for God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline. We know that he's kind of like a weekly guy. Like there's something wrong. Paul says this. Paul says, hey, you need to drink a little wine at night to take care of that stomach issue.

I read one commentator. He was so afraid of that verse. He says, I think he meant to apply it externally. I don't think that's what he meant. But what we see here happening, even without a dad on the scene, we see the faithfulness of mom and grandma. And they can't make Timothy believe anything. But somehow God has used mom and grandma to pass the torch of faith to Timothy. He's used mom and grandma.

And some kind of something went wrong here. And yet he's used these two ladies to influence one of the most influential pastors. in the history of the kingdom of God. I can guarantee you you won't be talking about me 2,000 years from now, and here we are doing a study on the life of a kid named Timothy. You see, maybe in the kingdom of God's success is not what we accomplish, but success is who we raise. And what if here at Church of 1122,

what if the thing that God is really doing isn't even this? What if we are like the launch pad on which God is going to do the real thing? You see, what if our church is more like an aircraft carrier? And like, we're not so much in the battle, but what if we are the thing that God is building up? But we're launching out missionaries and launching out pastors and launching out vocational ministers in every walk of life. And that's going to be the move of God, not a whole bunch of people showing up to our buildings all over the city. What if this is the thing where we just gather up to bask in the glory of God to get all filled up so that we can go out there and take the glory of God into the darkest place.

of Jacksonville and to the very ends of the earth. You have no idea what hangs in the balance. And neither did it is grandma and this mom. And so he says this. By the way, this next verse is the main point of the whole book. It's not the most important thing said in the book, which Paul does this all the time. You know the difference? Like I could say, I'm starving because there is a worldwide famine. The point of what I'm saying is that I'm starving. The most important thing I'm saying, saying worldwide famine. That's much more important. However, it is modifying the fact that's why I'm starving. So here's what he is saying to him for the whole book. For this reason, I remind you, Timothy, to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Here's what I think. We found out in Acts 16, we find out in Acts 20, I think, 23. or it could be 23, 32, whatever, you won't look at it up. It's one of those two. That Paul gathers the elders of the church at Ephesus, and Paul, along with the elders, lays his hands on young Timothy. And God, this is post-salvation, so he's got the Holy Spirit, okay?

They recognize a call on Timothy's life. Timothy is going to be commissioned to go and be the pastor at the church of Ephesus. Crazy church, man. There's riots in Ephesus. It blows up. I mean, it is like the thing. And Paul is going to look at him.

This is where we're going to spend all of our time next week. I wish you had two hours tonight because this week's message in next weeks are going to get all jumbled up. And here's what he's going to say, for God did not give you the spirit of fear. And the reason I think he tells him this, why? It's because he was afraid.

It's the same reason. God in Joshua, chapter one tells Joshua three times, be strong and courageous, be strong and courageous. Why? Because he's weak and afraid, weak and afraid, weak and afraid. It's why 365 times in the Bible there is some version of don't be afraid, fear not, be anxious for nothing. Why? Because that's what we are full of, fear and anxiety. And now imagine Timothy, you want to know where I think the tears come from?

Timothy grows up without a dad or an absent dad or not a spiritual father. And along comes the apostle Paul and says, I'm an apostle chosen by God and I choose you. Timothy, come on, I want you to go and do ministry with me. And they do ministry for years and years and years. And then one day on the beach, according to a chapter in Acts, Paul and the elders lay their hands on young Timothy. And this is the most spiritually authoritative human being on the planet at that point and definitely a father figure kind of spiritual mentor to Timothy for sure.

And this man of God, on behalf of God, speaks the word of God into this. man called by God. There ain't a brother in the room that could keep his eyes dry when that happens. I've been there. About, I don't know, about right here on September 22nd, 2012, before the church open, we're all in here cleaning up, trying to get the place ready for all you people showing up all the time. About to have our first service. Nothing. works. It looked like if, you know, you have friends, hey man, we're in there, we're going to stop by and you're like, and you do that flight of the bumblebee cleanup thing. And you don't care about anything else. Just the living room and the walk-in part has to be okay. If you open the closet,

you did, right? That was your church. That's what it looked like back there. But out here, and the elders stopped. And they said, kneel down. And on behalf of the almighty God, they spoke to a kid that's scared to death because I've never let a church for. And I believe this is what Paul is doing for Timothy. And especially with the kids, got some daddy issues, didn't grow up with a dad at home. That has never happened before in his life. He's never had a male authority figure on behalf of God speak life into him. And when Paul does this, I think he says, and I remember your tears.

And here's what he says. That's what we're going to spend all of next week about, that thing right there. I'm not Paul, you're not Timothy, but in a similar way, next week we're going to spend the entire sermon on is that moment right there. On behalf of the Church of 1122, if you've never had that next week, I want to symbolically lay my hands on you and speak the word of God over to you so that you would know that God has not given you a spirit of fear. and I'm praying next week that the chains of fear will be broken because fear is a liar and you've been believing it and so if you know anybody that's afraid you should come back okay you should come back

because that's where we're going to be but here's what Paul does in that moment God gives him a gift and he says this I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on in my hands church my job as one of your pastors is to make that thing a reality for every single one of you.

This is what, the way we would say it is this, is that we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know, I can't make you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? I can't make you discover it. I can't make you deepen it. I can't.

You know, we're in this one initiative, the Shima, love the Lord of your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and strength. I can't make you love anything. But what my job is, what all our staff, elders, deacons, disciple group leaders, all of our job is this, is we are just trying to create that kind of environment where you can fan that flame of the gift of God that is in you. That's what every event we do is about. That's what every ministry we have is about.

If you hold up this vision piece, I'm going to walk you through this. That is what this is. This is what we believe God is. calling us to do, that over this next year that we would be able to fan the flame of the gift of God that is in us. And that gift is that relationship with Christ Jesus. And so I want to walk through us because it's exciting, man, it really is. It really is. If you open it up, the first thing you're going to see is a bunch of numbers. And I do think it is important before we move on to what's next. I think it's always important to kind of hit pause and just reflect and thank God

for what has been. You know, one of the greatest ways you can trust the faithfulness of God going forward is by looking over your shoulder and just acknowledging the faithfulness of God in the past. I've used this example before, man. If you shoot a deer with a bow, they usually run off. Occasionally they don't, but it's usually a bad shot. It's a spine shot or you shoot them in the neck or something weird. But usually if you double lung them like you're supposed to, I don't see anybody writing this down. This is important stuff, okay? To save your life one day if the zombie apocalypse comes, okay? And so they'll run off. And then you've got a blood trail limit.

So what you do is you just walk through the woods and you're following the blood, following the sign. We'll call it sign. Okay, that'll help you. We're following them the sign. And then it's important as you're going down the trail that you mark it. And you can go to a Bass Pro Shop and buy markers, very expensive. Or you can just use toilet paper. You put toilet paper into a tree.

And here's the thing. When you get to a place and you can't tell where he went, the best thing to do is look over your shoulder and see where he's been. Because usually where he's been will help you understand where he's going. then you find you deer okay you're welcome sometimes in your walk with jesus you find yourself you're walking along everything's going great man there's a lot of sign there's a lot of sign there's a lot of sign and sometimes you get to a place and you're like i don't know where he went and i don't know where i am and one of the best things to do is to look over to your shoulder and remind yourself of the faithfulness of god in the past because that will be the best predictor of the faithfulness of god

in the future that's all this is right here this is not these are these are numbers, none of them are a celebration of 1122. Every single one of them are a celebration in the faithfulness of God. Now the whole rest of the thing is about where we're going. When you're driving, the windshield should be a lot bigger than the rearview mirror. A lot of times churches die because their rearview mirror gets bigger than the windshield. You can't see where you're going, okay? All they ever do is talk about the glory days. And they'll always be the glory days if that's all you ever focus on. And so we want to acknowledge the faithfulness of God in so many areas. Last year, 2018 was a year of deepening.

Remember 34 weeks in the book of Romans? All right, me and Kelly. That's all right, whatever. The crazy thing is, man, is while we were focused on deepening our relationship with God, that's what we were about. 52 divos and 34 weeks in Romans and doctrine classes. And while we were focused primarily on deepening our relationship with Jesus, we grew more in attendance than we've ever grown. Fastest Growing Church in the country last year, that we launched Arlington last year. How about that? Amen. I attended there last weekend. It's incredible. In fact, as of this weekend,

we expanded our Mandarin campus. We had to add 350 seats there. That's pretty awesome. We grew to about 10,000 people. That's pretty crazy. How about at our Arlington campus alone, there have been over 250 salvations. Last year, we baptized six. hundred and forty people. And this one is the one that blows me away. In 2000, whatever last 18, we had 1,572 people that surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Amen?

Now, sometimes people are like, why you got to have all them numbers? We're 1122. We are a number. Shut up. Okay, here's why. Every one of those numbers has a name. Every one of those names has a story. And Jesus died for every one of them.

Let me tell you why it's important. Those 640 people that got baptized. One of them is named Reagan Capri Martin. She lives at my house, and it matters a lot. We baptize her this year. Amen? So it's incredible. But I still believe, even though God is so good to us and has been, our best days are still ahead.

If you'll open this dude up, you'll see there's a bunch of stuff there about the one initiative. I'm going to do it out of order on purpose. That we are one church, and we are focused on connecting and disciplining those 1,572 people that surrender to Jesus. and everybody else that wants to be connected here. Okay, we are not in the crowd business. We are in the disciplining business. If you'll see this little triangle thing with the cross in it, this is our discipleship journey,

that we took our vision statement, that we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And if you will just look at this, and you could go to our website, ask, and answer a few questions, and it would help you understand what the next step of discipleship you need to take. And I would please, I would encourage you to do that.

Because if you stop taking steps in your relationship with Jesus, then you can no longer be a follower and stand still. Those two things don't go together. And so I would highly encourage you. If you've never joined a disciple group or if you never served or gone on a mission trip, I would encourage you to do that. If you flip it over a page, the real colorful one, it says 1122 life, just like your family has rhythms, our church family has rhythms.

We have Easter. That happens every year, okay? The reason I put it on here, put the date, so you could begin to plan around it right now. I don't care when spring break is. You plan your year around Easter. Amen? All right, fine. I'll be here by myself. Beach baptism, May 19th. All right? Change your family reunion. Whatever you've got to do. This is the coolest thing you've ever been to in your life. There will be hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that will publicly profess that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior will do it at the ocean.

It's the coolest party you've ever been to ever. This year we have family camp. See that? Family camp, June 17th to 20th or 20 to 23rd. The next year, our primary focus is on reaching one more generation, and a part of that means we want you and your entire family to go to family camp. And let me just tell you what I mean by family camp. I don't just mean moms and dads and their kids.

Everybody is invited. I need some grandmamas. I need some widows. I need some young singles. I need all a part of the family, because again, you've heard to say, and it takes a village to raise a child. Not today. You'll have a village idiot if you let that village raise the child.

It takes the church, and the church is not just two married people with a few children. The church is all of us. And so we'll be doing family camp on those dates. There's the dates for saturated September 11th through 15th. Be there for that. And then finally, next year we're doing something kind of different, which is really what we used to do. And we're calling it Christmas in a box.

And what this means is we're not going to have an official Christmas. Christmas Eve service. Actually, we're going to have about a thousand of them. That we are going to put together some resources, put them in your hands, and you are going to host your own Christmas Eve services. I want somewhere between 50 and 100 of you show up to be trained so that you can hope, like you can get together in your neighborhood at your little community center, and you can host your own, and we'll give you all the resources. Like what to sing, and here's a candle to light and a whole order of service. And the whole thing, train you and how to share the gospel and even how to close the deal. You're going to be the one that says, if you're ready to send you your life right now, raise your hand. You're going to do that thing, okay?

And then we're all going to gather up together the information about our Christmas Eve services that literally happen all over the world because the movement of the gospel cannot be contained by a couple of buildings around Jacksonville. So that's kind of the events of what we're doing. And the reason we do this, if you flip back to the one stuff, it says this, is to reach one more. Why are we focused on one more? Because Jesus would leave the 99 for the one. because Acts 1124 says he was a good man full of the Holy Spirit. And that great number of people were brought to the Lord.

A great number of people, and a great number is one more. And so what we're going to do over this next year to reach one more is we're going to plant 75 churches all over the world. In Brazil, in East Africa, in the Middle East, in other forsaken places like California. and Orange Park, literally, and Daytona and Pittsburgh and Pretoria, South Africa, and Malawi, not Maui, somebody like, I'm going to that one, no. Malawi and Scotland and Beirut and Wales and maybe France and Kuwait City.

75 churches you will plant next year. Amen? Also, in order to reach one more, we are starting at least two more campuses. and one of those campuses, our fifth campus, starts right now. Church of 1122, would you please welcome to our church family, the men that are attending right now a service at Baker Correctional Institution? Welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome, welcome. Thanks for being a part of what we're doing.

Amen, amen, amen. They will be with us every single week because they are a part of our church. Also, we will be opening our Fleming Island campus. at Easter. So a bunch of you need to go there. Amen. And then we've got a couple more that we're looking at doing. So pray for that. In addition to that, you need to be praying for that one more person that God has placed in your life to share the good news of the gospel. So we're one church to reach one more and especially one more generation. Again, success may not be what we accomplish, but it may be measured according to God in who we raise. And so this means that at all of our

campuses, we will be expanding or assessing all of our spaces for our students and our kids. Right here at our San Pablo location, we will expand and redesign the whole thing. In fact, for those of you that are attending here, all the space that we're sitting in right now, we're giving to the kids. It's all going to students and kids, okay? And so we got to move over to the hobby lobby. and so we will do that in 2020 because they're not your chairs anyway all right so we're going over there like I said before we'll be doing family camp we'll also have an opportunity to do family mission trips go to the website and you can take your entire family on the mission field for a short-term trip not only that we have hired our special needs director we will introduce you to her coming up and the

reason is this is because we're a movement for all people and all means all all means all and so In just a few weeks, we'll be rolling out the red carpet for families that have children with special needs. Listen, the reason that we're doing that, amen. And again, here's why I give you this thing, man. Every year we do that. Here's what we do in January. I preach this. We baptize people, and we teach the Bible.

That's what we do. Guess what we're going to do next year? Same thing. Here's why. Because I want to be very clear about what our church is about. and we are about the glory of God and this is what God has called us to do in 2019. And so if you're like, I don't care about one generation,

then get out, okay, go find somewhere else. But you are surrounded by people that are saying, I'm all in. And the reason is because this, remember in Joshua chapter 24, it's kind of the end of Joshua's reign? I hope it's not the end of my reign, but it's the end of Joshua's rain, and he says he draws a line in the sand.

And he says, choose for yourself this day, whom you will. serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And all the Israel came together and said, us too, Joshua, us too. And they had seen some mighty, mighty things. They crossed over the Jordan on dry ground. They took over the promised land. They kicked out the people that God said kick out. They marched around the city of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down. And then you turn over two pages maybe in your Bible, judges 210. And that generation went to be with their fathers and another generation came up and they neither knew the Lord or the works of his mighty hand. You see, the reason that we're studying 2nd Timothy is because what Paul was saying to

Timothy is not on my watch. Paul did some amazing things. Did he not? Planted more churches, greatest missionary of all time, wrote the majority of the epistles in the New Testament. And yet, Paul's life demonstrates that success is not measured in what he's done, but real success according to the kingdom of God is in who you raise. So can imagine that moment. And there's Paul and there's Timothy who grew up with labels. No dad to train him. Nobody had ever spoken life into him. And then there is the Apostle Paul with his hands upon him, calling him into ministry, speaking the word of God into his life as the tears pour down his face. See, folks, faith is not simply given to you, but it should be given through you.

What price are you willing to pay to reach one more generation? That's what this year is about. What price are you willing to pay to reach one more generation? If you don't have somebody pouring into you, get in the kind of environment where those kind of relationships can happen. If you are not pouring into somebody else, get over to yourself and ain't all about you. Put yourself in those situations where you can pour into somebody. You see, I know, I get it. Sometimes you hear something like this and you think, well, yeah, you know, I'm not in, Paul

is in ministry, Timothy's in ministry, that's how ministry works, but I just have a job. Like I'm a boss of some people, okay? Why don't you ask the spirit of God what it would look like for you to mentor? What if you ask the spirit of God, what it would look like for you to influence? There's this Twitter, Instagram, all that stuff, social media thing, flying around all over the place right now that I think exemplifies what we're talking about as good as I've seen anywhere. You know that this week, Coach Mark Gritt retired, because you don't know who he is. He retired as the head coach of Miami Hurricanes.

For 15 years, he was the coach at University of Georgia. And we fired him because he couldn't win the big game. So we hired another guy that can't win the big game either, but he's more intense about it, so we feel good. Okay, so I don't know. I don't understand. It's true, man. Anyway, after he retired, Artie Lynch, who was number 88, played tied in for Georgia, graduated 2013.

He just wrote this on his Instagram account. Thought I'd close with it. He says, now that he's retired, I don't think Coach Mark Rick would mind me sharing his story that perfectly illustrates who he is as a football coach and more importantly as a man. It was January 2011. We had just finished the season six and seven with a loss to UCF in the liberal. Bowl. Coach Mark Rick called a team meeting, which wasn't abnormal during that time of year, as we usually met as a team before the second semester to go over classes, workouts, goals, etc. However, this meeting was surrounded by rumors that Coach Rick was offered another coaching

job for more money at his alma mater. And we believed he was going to take it. Obviously, we wouldn't have blamed him due to the pressure of coaching in the SEC and the fact that he was now on the quote-unquote hot seat. And as we said, we said, we said. And as we said, we wouldn't have blamed him, due to the pressure of coaching in the SEC and the fact that he was now on the quote-unquote hot seat. And as we sat down, there was a single chair in front of the team meeting room, which we all knew to be the hot seat, usually set up during preseason. The hot seat, for those who don't know, is an opportunity for any member of the program to get in front of the team and share his own personal story. Normally meant for seniors. Others have sat there before, and that day was Coach Rick's turn to speak his truth. We were expecting

his farewell. But what we were given was the most revealing and telling depiction of who Coach Rick truly was as a man. He explained that he wanted nothing more than to win a championship and finish his job here at Georgia, but believed it was not his sole purpose. His purpose was to raise each of us as if we were his own and fulfill the promises he made to our parents and loved ones. As he continued, he then asked for those of us. who had been raised in broken homes or without a father to raise their hands. Over half the room, including myself, raised their hands. He scanned the room.

By the way, if you were raised in a broken home or without a father, would you raise your hand? That would be me. Look. Over half the room, including myself, raised their hand, he scanned the room, and after a long pause, he said, see, my job is not just to win football games. it is to make sure in 20 years that your sons are not sitting in these seats raising their hands. My job is to mold each of you into good husbands, fathers, men who also happen to be great football players. There wasn't a player in the room who didn't want Coach Mark Rick to be the man who brought UGA championships.

And against all odds, we ended up winning the SEC East the following season. Each one of us who played for Coach Mark Rick were forever grateful for his wisdom, guidance, and love that he gave over those years. incredible football coach who never lost sight of what was most important about his job. And that was the well-being of his players. Thank you, Coach. We love you. Artie Lynch. Folks, I was led to Christ, not by a preacher, not by an evangelist, but by a football coach.

This man who loves Jesus like crazy, this man decided he would dedicate his life to reach one more generation and use whatever platform God would give him to do. that. I'm telling you, as an avid dog fan, he probably could have won a whole bunch more if he did it the way everybody else did it. But as Christians, we're not called to do it the way everybody else does it. And he's a football coach. So Church of 1122, what are we willing to do? It will not be enough if reaching one more generation only happens here at the church buildings. It will become a move of God when reaching one more generations moves out throughout this city and throughout the world. And you, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, do whatever it takes to lay your hands on an upcoming generation in whatever way makes sense in your context. And you speak life and you speak truth in them.

And rather they believe what you believe, the one thing they will not be able to deny is it because God loved you, you love them. That's what this year is all about. That's what this year is all about. And I am asking you to join me. That faith is not simply something that happens to us, that fate does a thing that happens through us. Would you please stand with me and pray? Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, I thank you and I praise you for the men and women of all different generations that you have called together into one body, one family, one church, this local expression of your body. God, I pray that we as individuals would hear the words of Paul, that we would fill your hands on our heads commissioning us.

that you did not give us a spirit of fear. And God, oftentimes, especially in the church, when you call us to do very big things, a lot of your people get so fearful, but that cannot come from you because you don't speak the language of fear. But God, we would be reassured through our own tears. That you give us the spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. And God, I pray that this,

this year would be marked not by being our best year ever, but it would be marked by us pouring ourselves out to do whatever it takes for the generations that will stand on our shoulders for the glory of the one name under heaven whereby we must be safe. God, I thank you that like Timothy, that even, especially if we did not grow up in a perfect situation, we have a perfectly heavenly father, and you have been working in all situations for the good of those that love you and are called

according to your purpose. And God, I pray that you would do a mighty, mighty work in us and through us and to us, but all for you. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.