Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Welcome to Vision Weekend, everybody.
[Applause]
We have baptisms at all locations this weekend. And last I heard like the
snumbers were over 150 people being baptized.
[Applause]
[Music]
And Belle, yours is coming up right after service. So if you’re in Belleview
stoday and you’ve not been baptized, what would hinder you? What would stop you?
Like don’t leave without being baptized today.
Getting quiet in Tacoma. I bet it’s getting quiet in Belleview. Maybe I ought to do a little Bible study on baptism and just get you over the line.
I’m just saying there is no good reason.
Somebody said, “Well, I’m going to pray about it.” You don’t need to pray about it. Like get baptized. Come to Jesus publicly if you’re a believer.
[Applause]
Wow.
And you know, today we gave the the totals for legacy offering at the beginning of our service and we we just celebrate the generosity of our house.
And I want to I want to give a shout out to all of you in Dupont, all of you in
Yakama, all of you in Belleview, all of you in Tacoma, even all of you online. I I want to just
high-five you verbally and let you know that your giving is making a difference.
And I I want to I want to just say to Yakimal, Yakimal had the biggest jump.
Like they had a 48 You had Yakimal 48% increase in your legacy offering this year over last year.
s, 14 secondsSo, somebody say, somebody say, “God’s not done yet.” God’s not done yet.
s, 19 secondsCome on, say it again. God’s not done yet.
s, 23 secondsIf you wondered, if you if you like have thought that way, if you have even considered that somehow, you know,
s, 32 secondswith what’s going on in the world and what’s happening around us, uh things that are not good, uh let let’s just get
s, 40 secondsa hold of this today and realize that the church is alive and well and God is at work and good things are happening
s, 47 secondsand the future is bright for the kingdom of God. Amen. There is more there. There is more.
s, 57 secondsAll right. Uh you may be seated. I want to begin in Genesis chapter 13.
s, 4 secondsAnd we’re going to read in verse 14 and 15. Everybody say, “My heart’s open. My mind’s ready.
s, 13 secondsMake me better, God.” God, by your word. By your word. In Jesus name.
s, 18 secondsIn Jesus name. Genesis 13 beginning with verse 14. It says, “The Lord said to Abram,
s, 25 secondslift up your eyes and look from the place where you are.” Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are.
s, 36 secondsNorthward, southward, eastward, westward.
s, 40 secondsFor all the land that you see, I will give it to you
s, 46 secondsand to your offspring forever.
s, 54 secondsFirst thing that I want to I want you to notice is the words that the Lord says to Abram.
s, 3 secondsLift up your eyes and look from the place where you are.
s, 12 secondsAbram was a man of faith who honored God. He was a man who had been greatly blessed
s, 20 secondsby God. How many of you know God is a God of blessing?
s, 30 secondsHow many of you know God is a good God?
s, 33 secondsI just want to make sure you know that today.
s, 37 secondsAnd Abram had been greatly blessed by God. And this was a time in his life
s, 44 secondswhere he needed, you know, he needed more space to continue
s, 53 secondsforward with all the possessions that he had. In other words, his possessions had outgrown his property.
s, 1 secondIt’s a pretty good spot to be in, right?
s, 5 secondsAnd so God is giving him a one-on-one instruction on his need to have a vision beyond where he was.
s, 16 secondsIt’s the power of the picture.
s, 19 secondsAnd God’s tutoring him. God’s mentoring him.
s, 24 secondsAnd he’s saying to him, “Okay, you’re trapped. Okay, you’ve got a lid on your life. Okay, you you’re not you know people are starting to quarrel because
s, 33 secondsthey’re in a closed space. Like the pe the workers are not getting along. Like your your family is in a you know I it’s
s, 41 secondsin a 500 square foot house and you got 22 kids and three ants and
s, 49 secondsyou know frustrating it and that’s what the Bible I’m not making up. The Bible says like there was all kinds of frustration and anxiety like they had
s, 57 secondsjust outgrown their space and the Lord takes him on a walk basically and says I want you to lift up your eyes from where you are.
s, 11 secondsThis is vision weekend.
s, 15 secondsThis is a time where we engage with the reality that without a vision, people perish.
s, 24 secondsAnd so the Lord says, I need you to get your mind off of where you’re at right now. You are hyperfocused on all the circumstances and all the negativity and
s, 33 secondsall the entrapment that you feel. Listen to me, man of God. lift up your eyes
s, 42 secondsfrom where you are. And then comes the promise of God. He says, “For all of the land that you see.”
s, 52 secondsNot just the land, but the land that you see.
s, 56 secondsSo imagine Abram lifting up his eyes and looking out as far as he can see.
s, 4 secondsThere’s little hills over there, Judeian hillsides. There’s, you know, that but it’s all bare and there’s a little and
s, 12 secondsover here to the left like that’s that’s where the sun is coming up right now.
s, 17 secondsAnd just imagine this man standing out there and and all the land that you see,
s, 25 secondsI will give it to you and to your offspring.
s, 33 secondsAll the land you have a vision for, I will give it to you.
s, 42 secondsWhen the Lord says, “I will give it to you,” let’s be clear. It’s unoccupied territory.
s, 49 secondsIt’s good. It’s fertile, but it’s undeveloped there. There’s no houses on it.
s, 58 secondsThere’s no vineyards on it.
s, 3 secondsThere is there there there’s there’s nothing. There’s no barn. There’s no storage.
s, 10 secondsIt’s just bare land. There’s no wells that have been dug yet. I I just want to be clear. This what you got to understand about the ways of God.
s, 21 secondsLike when God says, “I will give it to you,” he’s talking about, “I’ll give you the land if you’re willing to get out there and develop it.
s, 31 secondsI’ll give you the future that you’re willing to get out there and trust me and work hard and believe that I am a God
s, 40 secondswho will expand where you are. I will give you the territory and as far as your vision can take you. I will support
s, 47 secondsyou. I will be with you. I will extend your territory as long as long as you want to develop it.
s, 58 secondsThere’s gold in those hills. Remember that old saying, there’s gold in those hills if you’re willing to dig for it.
s, 6 secondsAnd the future that God’s giving us is the same way. Whether individually or as a church, it’s a promised land. It’s in
s, 13 secondsfront of us, but it’s not ours until we occupy it.
s, 19 secondsAnd so on this vision weekend, I’d like to talk about where we are and where we are as a church. And I’d like to talk about where we’re going.
s, 28 secondsAnd I’d like to talk about the gap between here and there.
s, 32 secondsAnd I’m going to have some real honest moments with you. Is that okay?
s, 37 secondsAnd and what I want to do is I’m going to I’m going to going to use a graphic uh something that we call the the vision
s, 45 secondsgap and it’s going up on the screen right now. Feel free to use it in your in your own life. Take a picture if you want right now. It works for everybody.
s, 55 secondsDoesn’t just work for a church. It works for people. It works for individuals.
But the first thing I want to talk about is what’s on the right side. And that is the vision. I want to talk about the vision. I want to talk about Abram
s, 8 secondslooking up, looking out. I I want to talk about vision. Where there is no vision, I’m going say it again. People, the Bible says people perish. Another
s, 16 secondsthing the Bible says is write the vision. Somebody say that. Write the vision.
s, 24 secondslike you can have really good intentions. I recommend you write the vision down and that you the Bible says write the vision, make it plain.
s, 35 secondsSo the church we see is a lifegiving church.
s, 41 secondsIt’s more of what many of you at your locations are experiencing today. It it’s a lifegiving
s, 49 secondschurch. You’ve probably not been anywhere this week that’s more lifegiving if you’re at one of our locations than the atmosphere that that
s, 58 secondsyou’re in right now. The the church that we see is is generous in gesture.
s, 4 secondsI know everybody’s not smiling today, but the church we see is where people greet you with generosity on their face.
s, 11 secondsThe the the church we see is where people pull into the parking lot and they are welcomed with a generous
s, 19 secondsgesture on the face of those who are in the parking lot, the front doors, the children’s classrooms.
s, 29 secondsLike the church we see doesn’t have a lot of moping and doesn’t have a lot of people walking around feeling sorry for themselves.
s, 36 secondsThat’s not the church we see. If we have that at our church, uh, forgive us like for forgive that person
s, 45 secondsand they haven’t maybe got in the vision flow yet, but the vision that we have as a pastor, I don’t come up here and bring
s, 52 secondsyou all my problems. I don’t come up here and dump on you and tell you how hard life is. I I I don’t do that. You
sknow why? Because my vision is to be a a man who brings to the moment and comes into the moment of opportunity I have with you to encourage you, to bless you.
s, 11 secondsEven when I tell you the truth, even when I get into your stuff a little bit, my goal is that you would see the generosity involved in that process that
s, 19 secondsis loving and caring for people and is encouraging people.
s, 26 secondsOur vision is, in other words, a happy place with happy faces. Uh, and and and and
s, 35 secondsour our vision is to be excellent in all that we do. Like mediocrity, it it does exist in some spaces around our church, but that’s not how we want to keep it.
s, 45 secondsWe we we want to get beyond mediocrity.
s, 47 secondsLike, we really want we believe in excellence. We believe that anything we do for God is worth doing well. We believe that God deserves our best.
s, 56 secondsThat God doesn’t deserve our sloppy. He deserves our best. So we want that. We want excellence.
s, 6 secondsIt’s not we we don’t embrace the whole thing. Well, it’s good enough, you know, that’s good enough. Well, if it if it’s not excellent, it’s not good enough. And
s, 14 secondswe know the nature of God. The God of the Old Testament was like, I want an unblenmished lamb when you sacrifice it.
s, 20 secondsThe God of the Old Testament was the God who said, “When you come to the temple, this is how I want it to all look, and this is how I want you to act. And this
s, 28 secondsis how I want the choir to come in. I want them to come in singing. I want them to come in celebrating. I want them to come in with horns blowing. This is
s, 36 secondswhat I want from the priest. This is I want the priest to raise their hand and say, “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you.” There
s, 44 secondswas a standard of excellence that God encouraged. and not just courage, but commanded people to walk in. That
s, 53 secondsdoesn’t mean we’re not human. It doesn’t mean we don’t have problems. It doesn’t mean that we don’t lay our head on a shoulder and weep and cry. It just means
sthat our vision is to be a church of excellence.
s, 6 secondsOur vision leads into promises that we make. And I’ll just give you three real quick. Our promises are that we would
s, 13 secondsexpress life not to be dead but express it like that we would worship God with expression.
s, 22 secondsIf people can yell for the Seahawks we can yell for Jesus.
s, 32 secondsLike if people can celebrate silly things, we can celebrate people going in the water and getting baptized and
s, 43 secondswe express life. Secondly, details matter to us.
s, 48 secondsThis is our promises that that we’ve made at the core of our church and I’m just encouraging you to join us. I hope if you everybody will make promises that
s, 57 secondsyou know what we’re going to express life details are going to matter to us.
s, 1 secondAnd thirdly that we’re going to consider everyone. We don’t just consider one group. We don’t just consider one uh age group. We don’t just consider one race.
s, 12 secondsWe don’t just consider one gender. We consider everyone. Somebody shout everyone.
s, 18 secondsThat’s our vision. Do we get it right all the time? Are we perfect? No. But that’s the vision of our church.
s, 26 secondsOur vision is to be a church that doesn’t get stuck in the past that helps people move forward in their lives.
s, 35 secondsAnd here’s our here’s if you look at our icon, it there’s a bunch of half circles and and and if you look in the middle
s, 44 secondsone, there’s a C in the middle and that C stands for Christ.
s, 50 secondsAnd our mission is that with Christ at the center, we move life forward relationally and
s, 59 secondsemotionally and physically and spiritually. We call it our reps.
s, 4 secondsRelationally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. With God’s help, we will grow. We will not get stuck. We will not
s, 12 secondsstay where we are. And we’ll encourage other people to grow as well. Can you shout a great big amen?
s, 22 secondsOur vision is that we want welcoming, safe, happy, friendly environments. We we’re updating our kids facilities right
s, 30 secondsnow this year. Uh we’re it’s we’re working with a company in the Midwest.
s, 36 secondsIt’s taking way too long for me. Um but it’s good. Like it’s going to be
s, 44 secondsbetter. Everybody say be patient, pastor. be patient like yeah I’m trying like but you know they’re very busy
s, 51 secondsbecause they’re very good and they’re they’re one of the best in the nation and and they’re we’re partnering with them to develop the children’s spaces in
sour locations and our campuses creating environments and media that would enhance worship experiences for people
s, 7 secondsof all ages. You you might have to command your children to come to church.
s, 12 secondsYou might have to say, “No, you’re going.” Just like you do with school, by the way. Like a lot of people are like, “Well, you know, they Billy doesn’t want
s, 19 secondsto go to church.” Well, he don’t want to go to school either. Like, like, get get Billy to church. Like, you might have to do that like for a while. But we’re
s, 27 secondscoming alongside to help in every way we can. And and and I’m encouraging you like join the team. Get on to children.
s, 35 secondsHelp them out. Make it happy. Make it fun. Like, make it a place where children want to come. Church. We want church to be the coolest experience that
s, 43 secondsthe children have all week long. Like, we want Champs the Bear.
s, 50 secondsI’m not making any apologies for having Champs the Bear and media and balloons and fun and games because when they want
sto come to church, we get to sing worship songs. And I watch those children raise their hand. I watch them sing out to Jesus. I watch them memorize
s, 8 secondstheir verses. I watched them find friends at church.
s, 16 secondsOur vision is to occupy three new physical locations.
s, 25 secondsWe already have property at both Yakama and Dupant. Yes, we do. Yes, we do.
s, 33 secondsWe have property to build on.
s, 38 secondsAnd both of those locations are in the permit building approval process right now to build out new campuses.
s, 47 secondsCome on, Yakima. Come on, Dupont.
s, 55 secondsThe third location that we have a vision for is our is is to own our own campground
s, 3 secondswhere we can have outdoor events for kids, youth, men, families.
s, 10 secondsIn Jesus name.
s, 14 secondsIn Jesus name. In Jesus name. We had hundreds, I think about 500 young people
s, 21 secondslast year out on uh the property. I call it our property. You know what I mean?
s, 26 secondsLike the property uh out in Clemum and um I think that’s where it’s at.
s, 33 secondsAnd and lives get transformed.
s, 38 secondsYoung people come home from camp literally changed for life.
s, 45 secondsNever the same again.
s, 48 secondsNot perfect, but different on a different path. I don’t know all the dynamics. I just know when you get
s, 56 secondsyoung people together like that in a setting like that and you surround them with adults like our adults and our team for a few days
s, 5 secondsand their peers are there and the presence of God is there and then church doesn’t have a clock on it like you get to pray over them. They get to receive
s, 13 secondsthe baptism of the Holy Spirit. I’m just saying lives get changed.
s, 20 secondsNow that you know what some of our one to fiveyear vision is, I want to go back to the vision gap. I want you to look at it again because the right side is the
s, 28 secondsfun side. It’s the vision side. The left side is what we call current reality.
s, 35 secondsAgain, if you use this, use the whole thing. Don’t just use the vision side.
s, 40 secondsUse the current re. is not nearly as fun. But current reality, you know, before you can know
s, 48 secondshow to get where you want to go, you got to start where you are.
s, 55 secondsLike you know the the the the mall map.
s, 58 secondsIf you go to a map in the mall and you go go to Nordstrom, like the first thing it does has a big red circle says you are here.
s, 7 secondsIt red dots you. That’s what GPS does.
s, 10 secondsIt doesn’t start somewhere else. Starts where you are. And God always starts with the current reality when he’s
s, 18 secondsleading us toward new and better and new and better reality. In fact, let me just tell you, we don’t even get saved until we confess we are sinners in need of a savior.
s, 27 secondsLike that’s just where it starts.
s, 32 secondsIt’s like God’s like, “Okay, you want salvation. Tell me tell me where you are right now. I want your current reality.
s, 43 secondsAnd that’s how that’s how we find salvation.
s, 47 secondsWe speak it out with our ma mouth. We confess to him, I am a sinner in need of a savior.
s, 57 secondsPlease forgive me of all of my sin and come into my life. Do you understand what I’m saying to you today?
s, 5 secondsIt all starts with the current reality.
s, 6 secondsSo the current reality for all of us is that the world’s not doing good right now.
s, 14 secondsAnd since 2020, North America’s experience major social changes.
s, 20 secondsWe’ve been invaded by an ideology or a religion called wokeism.
s, 29 secondsGetting woke. We’ve had spikes in mental illness.
s, 36 secondsGender confusion is popular like it’s rampant. It’s growing.
s, 46 secondsThere’s three young people since I believe the end of last year, so
s, 53 secondsthis month who not necessarily attended Champion Center, but were connected with our youth. And I think some of them had
s, 1 secondcome who took their own lives now. You’re not going to hear about a lot of stuff that’s happening, but depression is is high.
s, 12 secondsThat’s right. Mental illness is rampant.
s, 16 secondsThe world is becoming more lawless. The world is becoming more godless.
s, 25 secondsThe world is not safer, by the way, than it was three or four years ago. The The world is not The economy is not better.
s, 37 secondsThat there’s more strife, there’s more division, there’s more crime,
s, 46 secondsthere’s more fear, there’s more anxiety
s, 56 secondsand one that I want to elaborate on a little bit is there is a new form of apathy and uncertainty in people today.
s, 9 secondsPeople are quitting at an unprecedented unprecedented rate.
s, 16 secondsWhat I mean by that is they’re quitting jobs. They’re quitting school. They’re quitting church.
s, 25 secondsNow, that doesn’t mean everyone who leaves a job or makes a change is apathetic or uncertain. Please understand what I’m
s, 33 secondssaying. And everyone who’s transitioning out of a workplace or even becoming, you know, taking a
s, 42 secondsdifferent path that that that there’s no no shame straight across the board here.
s, 49 secondsThere’s some people who are doing that and it’s the right thing for them to do.
s, 54 secondsThey’re not doing something wrong, but the percentage rates are just like through the roof from just three or four
s, 2 secondsyears ago of the whole quitting phenomena.
s, 6 secondsAnd overall, people have less willingness to work and higher expectations if they do work.
s, 14 secondsRight?
s, 16 secondsIt’s called the great resignation and it continued in 2022 at listen to this.
s, 24 secondsThis is pretty staggering. This is the United States. 4 million people a month quit their job.
s, 33 secondsFour million people a month.
s, 36 secondsAnd out of those who quit, about 50% have gone back to work.
s, 44 secondsSo if your mind is, well, they just went for a different job. About 50% people are quitting and it’s not because of a lack of jobs.
s, 56 secondsJob opportunities are everywhere right now. But it’s because of an apathy and an uncertainty
s, 3 secondsand like a lowgrade a lowgrade lack like a a a low-grade depression even in many people’s lives.
s, 18 secondsuncertain, lacking vision, disinterested, lethargic, and apathetic.
s, 30 secondsThe largest group in terms of those statistics is under 40. The major is about 22 to 36.
s, 43 secondsAnd then let me shift and say before you might say, “Well, y’all woohoo the
s, 49 secondschurch.” Well, the truth is that the percentages are similar in our overall church attendance.
s, 1 secondAlthough it’s grown every year, 2022
s, 8 secondsin-person attendance is only 56% of what it was at Champion Center in 2019.
s, 20 secondsIf you’re wondering at Tacoma why we might be a little slow on jumping into multiple services, I just want to see where everybody’s at.
s, 37 secondsSo attendance 56% of what it was in 2019.
s, 42 secondsAnd the amount of households that gave to our church in 2022 is 61%
s, 50 secondsof the households total that gave in 2019.
s, 58 secondsHm. Not as fun as it was five minutes ago.
s, 7 secondsI just want you to know where we’re at. I just want you to know how to pray.
s, 13 secondsI just want you to know that what we do right now matters because thank God not everybody stepped back.
s, 31 secondsWhile some people step back, other people step forward.
s, 37 secondsWhile some people abandon their church, others came together to build the church.
s, 46 secondsWhile some people literally quit giving, others started giving more.
s, 54 secondsWhile some people sided with culture, others took a stand for the kingdom.
s, 59 seconds[Applause]
s, 7 secondsThe greater your concern with what’s happening in the world, the more I’d suggest you lean into the kingdom.
s, 16 secondsDoesn’t have to be our church. Pick a church.
s, 23 secondsget planted in it.
s, 26 secondsInvest yourself. Like if you really have any level of concern about what’s going on in the world,
s, 33 secondshere’s a here’s a little thing for your your mind is draw a circle, big circle, call it the circle of concern. That means all the stuff you’re concerned
s, 41 secondsabout going on in the world that you cannot do anything about. And then put another smaller circle inside that circle and call it the circle of influence.
s, 52 secondsFocus on the influence one.
s, 55 secondsThe one that you can actually do something about. That’s your circle of influence.
So, what you can do right now if you’re a Christian is you can go to church.
s, 5 secondsIf you’re a Christian, you can join the team.
s, 8 secondsIf you’re a believer, you can be on God’s side. Clearly, you can focus on the circle that you can do some. Don’t just sit at
s, 16 secondshome frustrated, mad at the world talking about how dark and ugly and full of strife and all that it is like like go on a walk with God.
s, 28 secondsLift up your eyes from where you are.
s, 31 secondsAnd say this is our land and we can do something. Come on. We can take this territory.
s, 43 secondsSo last uh
s, 53 secondsSeptember, I felt like God put it in my heart.
s, 57 secondsI want to talk now on the middle section called the gap.
s, 3 secondsThe gap is what’s between the current reality that we have and the vision that we have.
s, 9 secondsAnd I felt like last September that God put it on my heart to call 2023 the year of the leader
s, 17 secondsat our church. And I wasn’t sure what that meant.
s, 22 secondsBut since then, it’s been more clear that there’s a huge leadership void in our nation,
s, 29 secondsincluding the church. I studied it. I researched it. And I mean just all across the board
s, 38 secondsuh great leaders actually who were of retirement age in corporate America opted out.
s, 46 secondsUh they they said no more not going to do this and they left their profession.
s, 54 secondsChurches shut down because pastors said not going to I can’t deal with this. I’m
s, 2 secondsnot shaming anybody. I’m just trying to help you understand that leadership has never been more difficult
s, 9 secondsfor those who are in roles and positions, the expectations, demands.
s, 16 secondsAnd the church really is like it’s never been more necessary
s, 23 secondsthan it is right now. And the opportunity has never been greater than it is right now.
s, 30 secondsAnd so what I started discovering after that thought came to my mind, I shared it with some of our team, like I don’t really know what this means, but I’m I’m calling 2023 the year of the leader.
s, 40 secondsWhen I started talking that way, it started becoming more clearly to me that the church is meant to lead.
s, 47 secondsIt not meant to watch. It’s watch what happens. It’s not meant to sit back. The church is meant to lead.
s, 56 secondsAnd I’m not I’m not talking about the building. I’m I’m talking about I’m talking about you.
s, 4 secondsWe are together. We are the church.
s, 7 secondsSee, if you’re a Christian, that’s who you are individually, but the church is who we are collectively, right?
s, 16 secondsThe church is is is us, right?
s, 21 secondsLike if you’re a parent, you’re only one of the parents, but you’re you’re a parent. Yeah,
s, 27 secondsthe church is us. And our vision at Champion Center this year is that our church would live like leaders.
s, 39 secondsThat we would live like leaders. That we would live like leaders. That we would live like leaders.
s, 46 secondsThat we would live like leaders. That we would live like leaders.
s, 51 secondsI’m going to start next weekend on a a series of the leaders of the Bible. And we’re just going to go in and we’re going to start exploring all this
sbecause I know that most of you right now would say, “I’m I’m I’m not a leader.” Let me tell you, when my daughter Jodie was growing up, one of
s, 7 secondsthe first things that she quoted, we we had a we had some things she we we said it with her. We prayed it with her when
s, 15 secondsshe got out of school in the morning and left the car that the this was part of the whole deal was, you know, I I’m a leader. I’m a leader, not a follower.
s, 24 secondsAnd what we were doing is we were instilling with her in her leadership.
s, 27 secondsNow, of course, she’s a follower of mom and dad and follower of Jesus. But we were starting at a young age to say you don’t follow the trend of the culture in the world and your friend.
s, 36 secondsNo, no, no. You counter it. Like you are a leader. Everybody say, “I’m a leader.” Oh, say it. Come on. Say, “I’m a leader.” I’m a leader.
s, 44 secondsMost of you have no idea the effect that you’ve had on people’s life.
s, 49 secondsYou have no idea. The people that have noticed what you were doing, whether you did it right or wrong, and it influenced them, like you have no idea. The people
s, 58 secondsthat have observed what you were saying, people that watched you, you know, at home, parents, take notes when I’m
s, 5 secondstalking to you like this, what the kids heard, what the kids saw.
s, 11 secondsYou You may have wanted to abdicate your responsibility at that point, but the truth is is that they’re influenced by that.
s, 19 secondsYou’re leading.
s, 22 secondsYou’re first of all, you’re leading yourself.
s, 24 secondsAnd then whether you want to accept it, embrace it. It’s not about titles. It’s not about role.
s, 31 secondsEveryone who moves in any way, shape, or form and breathes and is around people at all. I I would even go this far. I’ve thought this through. You’re going to be
s, 40 secondsa able to see. I’ve thought it all through. I got it all flushed out. I would even say people who stay at home and aren’t mixing publicly are leading.
s, 49 secondsPeople here, oh, they’re staying at home. Oh, they’re not. Oh, wow. Why do they stay at home? What? And there are people who are affected by what you do,
s, 59 secondshow proactive you are or not reactive you are when you worship. Somebody around the room is looking and oh wow,
s, 8 secondsthey’re here today. Oh, wow. Look at them. Wow. Well, I’m not doing it for me. I know you’re not. But whether you like it or not,
s, 17 secondshuman nature is we are encouraged by others or discouraged by others.
s, 26 secondsWe, you know, we either we either we either lead up or we lead down.
s, 33 secondsPeople are watching if you’re leaning in to
s, 42 secondschurch. People are watching. If you’re leaning into the word of God, people are watching. If you’re hosting a, you know,
s, 48 secondsa small group, people are watching. So to live like leaders is to recognize and
s, 58 secondsutilize the opportunity that you have to be a positive influence right where you are.
s, 4 secondsJesus said it like this. He said looked at his disciples and he said you’re the light of the world and you’re the salt
s, 11 secondsof the earth. Now what many people would say whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Um no no Jesus is the light of the world. Go back
s, 20 secondsand read your Bible. Jesus said, “Tag your it.
s, 28 secondsI’m slipping out of here. The Holy Spirit is coming to be with you.
s, 33 secondsAnd you are the light of the world.
s, 39 secondsYou are the light of the world.” As kids, we sang that song. This little light of mine, I’m going let it shine.
s, 50 secondsthis little out of mind. And then as I I when I was a little kid in church, like I I don’t remember how young. I just remember like I grew up doing this and then and it was hide it under a bushel.
No, we would yell it out. We were learning right away. I’m going to let it shine.
s, 6 secondsLet it shine. Let it shine. Can I get a little help in the house? Let it shine.
s, 15 secondsCome on.
s, 18 secondsWhat I’m saying is that you have an opportunity right now. You may not want it. You may not like it. You may not. But tag your it.
s, 30 secondsTag your it.
s, 36 secondsSo, I’m going to have all kinds of little like I got two or three right now. I don’t know. Might might make some shirts about it. I might I don’t know if we will or not. But I I just want to encourage you to live like leaders.
s, 48 secondsAnd this year, I’m going to do everything I can to remind you of the power of your influence.
s, 55 secondsAnd and not in a condemning way, but in a way that where you’re aware, in fact, another little thing I want I want is
s, 5 secondsthat I just want you to wake up in the morning and realize I’m always leading.
s, 9 secondsAnd like like put it on your put it on your shirt like always leading. Always put it on your brain. Even more
s, 17 secondsimportant. Always leading. Always leading in a conversation at Starbucks. Always leading.
s, 25 secondsDo I join in with that or am I always leading? When the complaint session starts, do I join in with complaining or
s, 33 secondsdo I remind I’m always leading? When people are talking about how they’re this is why they’re not going to church, this is why not they’re not playing.
s, 42 secondsThis is why they’re not serving. This is why they’re not eng I’m always leading.
s, 48 secondsWhen I when I say on a weekend like I tell my children, you know, all about God, but then I’m like, “No, we’re too
s, 55 secondsbusy to go to church or I’m getting real with you right now, parents.” Like, and and and I want you to think I’m always leading.
s, 7 secondsSee, last year my daughter bought me this for Christmas, and I love it. It’s a Well, many of you will know when you first see
s, 15 secondsit. It’s it’s a sword and a hammer. It’s our theme from the last couple of years on building and fighting out of the book of Nehemiah
s, 23 secondsthat we are building the church and we’re fighting for our families.
s, 28 secondsAnd that that that theme that theme is going forward with us. But what I what I
s, 36 secondsrealized is that when they were building the wall, I could take you to all of it.
s, 40 secondsLike there’s whole chapters devoted to naming all of the people who began to take responsibility and say, “I’ll take
s, 47 secondsthe gate. I’ll take the broken down wall over here. We’ll bring wood from out in the forest. I got eight or 10 people
s, 55 secondshere.” Like we’re all Everybody started breaking up going. People weren’t standing around with their hands in their pocket.
s, 1 secondAnd each and every one of them, Nehemiah got it all started. But Nehemiah was not the only leader. There was hundreds,
s, 10 secondspotentially thousands of leaders, teams of leaders,
s, 18 secondsbecause we’re always leading.
s, 24 secondsI want to do everything I can this year to encourage everybody to lean into your leadership potential.
s, 31 secondsI I want to encourage everybody to discover and develop the leader in you.
s, 37 secondsI I want to encourage moms who are, “Well, I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” No, you’re not just. You’re not just. God’s
s, 46 secondsgiving you charge over these little lives and these little children.
s, 53 secondsCome on. Do you see where I’m going? I want every I want every I you know everything rises and falls on leadership.
s, 3 secondsEverything rises and falls on leadership. I’m not talking about titles. I’m not talking about position.
s, 9 secondsLeadership is going first.
s, 13 secondsIt’s leaving your seat and getting involved. Everybody who got baptized today,
s, 20 secondsyou were baptized because somebody led you to a place of making a decision.
s, 28 secondsThat’s the only ra reason you got baptized.
s, 32 secondsSomebody led you. Like we have this little saying, you know, hey, um, Marty, Marty’s the one who led me to the Lord.
s, 43 secondsWell, Marty’s not a pastor. Marty’s not a preacher. Marty doesn’t he doesn’t know much of the Marty’s the one who led me to the Lord.
s, 53 secondsAre you starting to track with me?
s, 56 secondsLike discovering awakening.
s, 4 secondsYeah. Jesus Jesus likes activist. That’s really what disciples are.
s, 14 secondsIf you’re an activist for Jesus, that’s a good thing.
s, 21 secondsWhy let groups that are not driven by the right priorities and the right things in the
s, 27 secondsworld, why let them have more courage than the church?
s, 33 secondsWhy Why let them Do you understand what I’m trying to say?
s, 42 secondsAnd so when we talk about lead, we’re talking of, you know, every follower of Jesus is meant to be a leader. Like
s, 50 secondsleaders are doers. Leaders don’t watch things happen. They make things happen. Leaders are leaders show courage.
What I I didn’t even finish my example a while ago. Someone led that person to be baptized. But today, when you made a decision to be baptized, guess what?
s, 8 secondsSomebody saw you get baptized. Somebody heard that you got baptized.
s, 22 secondsI wear I my my daughter knew how much I love little medallions that speak to me.
s, 27 secondsLike I love lions. I have I have lion pendants.
s, 32 secondsI have a lion ring on right now. It’s my favorite. alliance, you know, because I don’t know if you need this, but I need it. I need to be reminded who I am.
s, 42 secondsI needed to be reminded that I am a builder. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Right. I’m a builder. I’m a fighter.
s, 47 secondsOh. Oh, yeah. Right. Right. Right. I’m a I’m a I’m a lion. I am not a wimp.
s, 54 secondsI am not a kitty cat. I am not intimidated.
s, 4 secondsI’m not insecure.
s, 6 secondsI’m a man of courage. Yep. Keep going, Kevin. Keep going. Another day of being a lion. Another year of being a lion.
s, 15 secondsAnother year of building and fighting.
s, 20 seconds[Applause]
s, 27 secondsLive like leaders.
s, 32 secondsLive like leaders. Come on. How many of you are getting what I’m saying today?
s, 39 seconds[Applause]
s, 40 secondsWow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Over in Yakimal. Come on, church. Yakimal church. Live like leaders. Tup location.
s, 48 secondsLive like leaders. Come on, Belleview.
s, 51 secondsLive like leaders. By the way, I’m just hoping some of you I kind of got on you a little while ago. I’m just hoping some of you who didn’t plan on getting
s, 59 secondsbaptized there in Belleview today. Belle is the only one who’s doing the end of service. I’m just hoping some of you making a decision right now to get baptized.
s, 9 seconds[Applause]
s, 11 seconds[Music]
s, 12 secondsHey, let me say it this way. Let me go back and I’m almost done. Sit down. And be be seated real quick. I’m not quite done. This is vision weekend. Please
s, 21 secondsgive me a little time. I got I’m almost done, but I got things to say. Okay. So, so
s, 30 secondswhen Abram went out under the direction of God and God said, “Lift your eyes from where you are,” God was saying,
s, 37 seconds”Okay, your current reality is not what you want to stay in. I get it. I know you’re frustrated. It’s not where you want to be.” I see right now like I I
s, 46 secondsthink about people who are stuck but are not making any move.
s, 52 secondsThey are they are held back where they are. And I believe on that day, if I can just help you see this, God took took
Abram out and he said like, I need you to trust me on this. Things are going to
s, 7 secondsget better in your life if you’ll make a move.
s, 11 secondsIf you’ll make a move, I got you. I’m with you. And here’s the here’s the powerpoint. Here’s the power punch. is Abram.
s, 22 secondsThat land that’s undeveloped right now, if you’ll go out and you’ll have a vision for it, this vision is not just about you. It’s about your children.
s, 32 secondsIt’s about your children’s children. It’s about legacy.
s, 38 secondsIt’s about generations to come.
s, 43 secondsThink about what I’m saying to you today.
s, 46 secondspeople that got baptized today, way to go.
s, 51 secondsBut I want you to understand, if you get held back at any point in the in the mix, if you
s, 1 secondget held back, your family gets held back, your children get held back,
s, 9 secondsyour legacy is not what God planned for it to be.
s, 14 secondsAnd that’s why I want to encourage you that the next move is not just it’s not just about you. That’s why I kind of push and I prod and I say, “Come on,
s, 22 secondsgive your heart to the Lord. Come on, get baptized. Come on, be faithful in church. Come on, get into the word of God.” Because I know that your next
s, 30 secondsmove, whatever that is, is not just about you. It’s never just about you.
s, 36 secondsIt’s about the people around you. Cuz you are a leader. You’re impacting your influence. It’s about the people that
s, 44 secondsare around you, surrounding you. The day you go, when you go into work tomorrow, go ahead and announce it. I got baptized yesterday.
s, 52 secondsYou got baptized. Really? Where’d you get baptized? Why’d you get bapt I’m just saying when people know what you
sdo? Your baptism could be the first in your family line. Yes.
s, 7 secondsAnd instead of your children saying, “Well, I’m my parents. They don’t, you know, they didn’t go to church. They didn’t serve God.” You’ve just changed
s, 16 secondseverything for your children and for your children’s children.
s, 25 secondsBecause that vision is not just about you. Amen. Amen. Amen.
s, 29 secondsFather, I pray right now for every person that is here in our services today. And I thank you God that you have
s, 36 secondscalled us. I thank you Lord that you have given us the privilege and it is a great privilege
s, 43 secondsto serve you and to know you. It’s a great privilege to be a part of the family of God in your great church. And
s, 52 secondsI pray in the name of Jesus today that you would starting today baptized champion center with a new courage and
swith a new boldness and a recognition of who you’ve called us to be.
s, 9 secondsPray God today that there would be people in our church family that have felt like what they do doesn’t
s, 16 secondsmatter would realize what they do matters for eternity.
s, 20 secondsAnd I ask you today that from us that there would be a residual effect across the great Northwest.
s, 28 secondsI pray that other lives would be impacted. People would be stirred. And I ask you, God, I remember a day in the past, God, where we baptized over 600
s, 37 secondspeople on one weekend. And I’m just asking you, God, that we not stop with 150 today. But I pray our children, our
s, 45 secondsfriends, our neighborhoods, and the people around us that Lord, today would be a brand new beginning to where the
s, 52 secondschurch would be the church that you have called us to be. In Jesus name we pray.
s, 4 seconds[Music]
s, 9 secondsCome on, let’s give the word of the Lord a good hand.
s, 18 secondsI believe with all my heart there’s some people in the house today that have either come here today and you’ve never known God or had a relationship with
s, 26 secondshim, never really committed your life to God. Or there’s some people who have been off the path of God’s plan for your life. And today you’re being stirred.
s, 35 secondsYou’re being drawn. The Holy Spirit is drawing you. And I don’t want to miss the moment of opportunity as God talks to you to just give you
s, 44 secondsthis opportunity today to make today the beginning like the first step, the next move, whether it’s
s, 53 secondsgiving your life to God, being baptized, whatever it might be, that today is the day where you would just say, “Lord, I surrender my life and my future to your lordship. Count me in. Count me in.
s, 7 secondsI want to be part of the kingdom. I want to exalt you. I want to glorify you. I want to make your name great in the in the earth.
s, 15 secondsI want to build a church. I want to fight for families.
s, 21 secondsI don’t know who you are, but it all starts with your salvation.
s, 26 secondsIt all starts with your current reality.
s, 32 secondsa man, a woman, a young person who wherever you are. Yeah. Come on.
s, 37 secondsBelleview, Tacoma, online. If you’ll be bold enough right now to raise a hand, God knows every hand that is raised. And you say, “Okay, today is my first day.
s, 47 secondsToday’s my new beginning. Today I surrender my my life to God’s plan, God’s purpose.” Thank God.
s, 57 secondsI bless you. I see hands going up in the top deck of Tacoma location. People are
s, 5 secondsraising their hands. Wow. I see hands in the middle, the middle sections. People are raising their hands by faith. I see
s, 14 secondshands at other locations. It’s a day of salvation. It’s a day of new beginning.
s, 18 secondsAnd I’m going to pray this prayer. Hold your hand up high. I’m going to pray this prayer. Our whole church is going to repeat it after me. And I want every every one of you to just receive this
s, 27 secondsnew day of new beginnings. Are you ready? Say out loud with me. Say, “Lord Jesus, welcome to my world. Welcome to my world. Forgive me of all my sin.
s, 35 secondsCome into my life.
s, 37 secondsI choose you. I choose you. I choose your plan. In Jesus name.
s, 45 secondsAnd everybody said a great big amen.” Welcome to the family of God. I welcome
s, 51 secondsyou, sir. I welcome you, ma’am. I celebrate your salvation with you today.
s, 57 secondsCome on church, celebrate new beginnings.
[Applause]