Speaker 1: 0:13

Hey, my name's Larry. I'm glad to be with you. I'm one of the pastors here. You guys that are here in person walked through a whole bunch of stuff as you came in. Today it's our Changemaker Fair. I'm going to explain about what that's for in just a few moments.

Speaker 1: 0:28

Last week, I introduced you to this idea, or really this campaign, or what we're going to be focused on Come this fall, and it's called Explore God. We're doing this in the Bay Area and we're partnering, actually, with 200 other churches around the 11 counties in the Bay Area that are all going to be doing the exact same thing at the exact same time, because the church is the hope of the world and we also are called to be united in what we're doing, and so that's exactly what we're going to do and what is Explore God. This is something I think many of you have been waiting for, and these are conversations that you have with the sphere of people that you're involved with in your life, and it's the big questions that most people want to discuss, or even most people find it interesting to discuss. So we're going to spend seven weeks going through these seven questions what is the purpose of life? Why believe that there's a God, why is there allowed to be injustice and suffering in the world by God? Why does Christianity seem so narrow? Why believe that Jesus, this man who we say came on earth, is God? How can I know the Bible is reliable? How can I know the God of the universe personally?

Speaker 1: 1:43

And what we did last week was we started to ask you to sign up to be a dingy, or, specifically, we signed up to ask you to be a group leader, to be a facilitator of these discussion questions, and many of you also were super afraid.

Speaker 1: 1:58

You were like I don't even know the answer to these things, like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. And we said we're going to resource you, we're going to come alongside of you. We have videos that you get to watch. We're going to be in your group and then have these discussions. We're going to do an open Zoom rooms to hear what's going on, and we asked that you would go out and you would sign up and that you'd be able to do this. And so we're excited that this is what we're going to lean into, because this is what people want to talk about. This is how you invite them into being a part of something and you really get to then share in a real practical way about what the hope of the world really is. Here's a little video to give you a little bit more explanation.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Spiritual conversations are a hard jump into A lot of my friends. They're so skeptical about my faith that bringing it up any time they feel down almost feels self-righteous, you know.

Speaker 3: 3:01

My mama always told me to keep my feet on the ground, but the fear of flight could not be found anywhere inside of me.

Speaker 2: 3:18

It's not like I got it all figured out myself. There's a great full situation, but it's a lot easier to talk about something that I can actually share. Low is the pressure, you know, and maybe it cracks the door open just a little. That's how it starts. Jack's been here for three weeks now. He still doesn't know what he believes, and that's cool. It's just good to talk about this time.

Speaker 3: 4:01

Never could have guessed what lie ahead, but I'll say that till till after I'm dead Whoa whoa, whoa.

Speaker 1: 4:15

So that's exactly what we're asking people to do and we're asking you to ask others to do to come explore with us or come wonder with us about these questions. And so we're asking you to sign up, to go two by two to grab a partner with you and say, all right, we're going to leave this group, we're going to invite other people to be a part of it and we're going to host this thing at Panera Bread. Or I'm going to host this thing at the cafeteria in the Kaiser building because you worked there in your nurse. Or we had last week some students that even signed up and said, hey, I think I'm going to get my friend and we're going to start a group at my school and have these discussion questions around this, because this is what my students are thinking and our goal is to have four different high schools involved. So I know we got some sign ups from like American Canyon and Benisha High School and we want to see Rodriguez High School and Jesse Bethel and Vallejo, wherever that this would go, and however it could be that you can have these conversations and see this move out. That would be a safe place, and so we're asking you to sign up. So, first, to celebrate last week when we asked you to be brave and to go out there to be a dingy, a lifeboat, someone that's going to go out there now at 50 groups that have signed up, so congratulations. Our goal is 100. So this service everyone that was clapping that hasn't signed up you get to be a part of the 50 to make the 100 happen. So let's see if we can make it happen. We're going to resource you I cannot say that enough and we're doing it everywhere.

Speaker 1: 5:38

This is the singular focus. So if you're in a group already, take a break and get a partner or find your name and say would you really want to try to do this with me? We're going to give you invitation cards. We'll talk about that over the next couple of weeks. So on Sundays we're going to do it in our kids' area. Midweeks our students are doing this. This is all we are talking about, focused on doing together, and it's not just for us, it's for other people as well. And so you're like well then, what's up with everything else out there?

Speaker 1: 6:03

Great question, if we're going to go out there and invite, just to the 10 mile radius of this place, of this faith community. There's 350,000 people. We do not have enough room. We already know that. But if we're going to invite other people and other people to come here, we want to be prepared to care for them. And how do we do that? You sign up for just this fall like hanging with me in the fall and go sign up to go be a part of caring for the people that are going to come here. So when all these people come here, we're not just like, oh my gosh, what do we do, that we're prepared to care for their kids and their students and give them some coffee, like there is this thing and it's in the Bible, it's in Acts 15, 19, which is so deeply ingrained in me that we want to do nothing that would get in the way of someone experiencing God and a transformed experience. And the way that we do that is we care for people, we unleash compassion with them and we say we're ready for you, to care for you and support you as well. So today, at the end of the service, as you go out there, this is an opportunity just for the fall. I'm not asking to give you your blood or sign a contract for the next two years. This is like a fall situation. Hang in there, go and sign up to be a group leader, or go sign up to go serve somewhere else. If you don't want to be a group leader, you're like what do I do? Do I just get into a group? Yes, you invite someone else to come with you and then you do group with them. Make sense. It's so good.

Speaker 1: 7:24

And the reason is because I have this urgency with Explore God specifically, and this urgency is coming to terms with the fact that the vast majority of the people in this area don't have a clue about why am I here? About what is the purpose of life about? Can I know that God exists? Can I know God personally, the creator of the universe? Can I actually know Him personally and for us to see? The deal is we don't have time. We need God to do something unthinkable and we want to see an explosion happen and we believe I firmly believe that we are the fuse. And after an explosion happens, nobody ever talks about the fuse, and that's exactly the point. I don't want it to be us as the thing, but we feel like that's what we are, that Northgate is the fuse, and we want an explosion, we want an awakening, we want this revival and we want campuses and neighborhoods and workplaces to come alive. We want people to be saved and Jesus' name to be echoed in the courtyards, in the quads, in the gyms, in the classrooms of every campus in the Bay.

Speaker 1: 8:42

And I have been totally consumed with this idea that something is more important than everything else and that something is the glory of God and His glory is more important than everything, and that we collectively would be caught up in that revelation, not some man-made idea that on every page of scripture, everything that God is doing in scripture is for His glory. Even the cross that saved us is for His glory. Heaven, where we're all going, is for the glory of God. In this, passage that we're looking at today is called the Transfiguration. We're wrapping it up today. We started this discussion last week and it's one of these stories in scripture that is shrouded with this tremendous amount of mystery and it's really more than anything to bring us to a place of worship and understand the weight of His glory. So we've been walking through the gospel according to Matthew for quite some time now, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. This is the first book in the New Testament written by a guy named Matthew, who is a disciple of Matthew. That chronicles the life of Jesus, and we are at our journey right now in chapter 17, and we get to continue that. I'm gonna read you 13 verses, which is a whole chunk of this story. This is the entire story, and then we're gonna kind of grab some pieces and break this down. So bear with me. This is kind of where we're at, chapter 17, starting in verse one.

Speaker 1: 10:26

After six days, jesus took with Him Peter, james and John, his brother, and led them up on a mountain by themselves to pray, and he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared them, moses and Elijah talking with Him, speaking of His departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. And Peter said to Jesus Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. He didn't know what else to say, not knowing what he even said. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them and the voice from the cloud said this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.

Speaker 1: 11:23

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and he touched them, saying rise and have no fear. And when they lifted up their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them tell no one of this vision until the Son of man has raised from the dead. Mark tells us that they contemplated what is raising from the dead, even mean. The disciples asked them why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? He answered Elijah does come and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come and they did not recognize Him but did to Him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will certainly suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. So a handful of times over the last couple of years, as we've walked to this point in Matthew, you can actually see we've had quite a bit of conversation around John the Baptist as this new Elijah, as Elijah is, this Old Testament character, this prophet, and understanding the role in what's taking place which is referenced right here.

Speaker 1: 12:41

But Matthew 17, in its totality, is this amazing text of incredible depth and spiritual truth and has all kinds of meaning and imagery, and we need to understand about the scriptures, just the scriptures today. In all scripture, it helps us, it leads us, it teaches us, it guides us, it corrects us, it instructs us, it encourages us. But it is all about Jesus. All of scripture points to Jesus. He is the central character on every page and every story. It is all about Him. The church which we're at right now it's great.

Speaker 1: 13:25

I love it. I'm a pastor of one, I'm part of one. I couldn't be happier to be linked into His church. I do get encouraged by it, I get built up, I have a chance to serve here or serve in a church and use my gifts, and in it is a home, it is a place of healing, in it is a place of challenge and a place of strength. But the church isn't really here. For me, the church is all about God. Therefore, that's why it says in the scripture that he can do immeasurably more than we can even think or ask of, according to the power that has worked in us. So to Him be the glory in Christ Jesus and in His church forever. Amen.

Speaker 1: 14:11

So if I walk into the door of a church and go well, I don't really know if I got anything out of that. Hello, it wasn't for you Right off the bat, it was for you to come and bring an offering for the Lord. It was for you to come in the highs and in the lows, and the good times and the bad times, and bring an offering and saying I want to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and enter His courts with praise. And we, the people, have now assembled for God to let the shout to God and offer our lives to God that he might move in and through us for His glory. Everything is about the glory of God.

Speaker 1: 14:58

The word glory literally means weight and worth. Some of you are older remember kind of the saying when you hear something and be like oh man, that's kind of heavy, it's real heavy feeling, the weight of that. Right, that's what that is. It's the heaviness, the weight and worth of something. And our focus today in the scripture is gonna be exactly on that weight and worth. When the disciples heard this God, they fell on their faces. The weight and the glory of Him came down and they were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them saying rise and have no fear. And when they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus, only the worth of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 15:54

So what does glory look like? Giving glory to God, when we think about it? We actually just sang a song. I think it's the last song we sang Show us your glory, right? I mean, like, what does it look like? Understanding the weight and the worth? I mean, how many of us sat here doing that on a song and we're just like show us your glory? Just unimpressive, like there's no weight and worth to this moment. See, feeling weight and worth demands an action from us. And so, for today, I want to reflect on another verse as well, to help us unpack this idea. Why would I go there?

Speaker 1: 16:31

Matthew, in the Gospel of Matthew, used Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, more extensively and explicit. In an explicit way, more than any of the other gospel writers, which is Matthew, mark, luke and John, he references Isaiah the most. And so, to understand the weight and the glory and kind of our reflection to that, I'm gonna go to Isaiah 26-8. It says yes, lord. This is, by the way, two translations of combined into one. So if you're looking at it, being like that looks different than mine. Yes, lord, walking in the way of your truth. We wait eagerly for you, for your name and your renown are the desires of our souls.

Speaker 1: 17:19

This word renown, is fame that never ends. See, the earth has fame. That's for real. We can't belittle that. There's a lot of famous people on earth, but their fame isn't gonna last for eternity. A lot of things have fame on earth, but it's a short-term fame and there's no long-term fame here on earth. It's called this long-term fame is called renown. It's fame that never fades away. It's that fame of the name of Jesus, for the glory of God, for your name and your renown. That's the desire of our soul. That's what we wanna be about. That's what we wanna lean into an assembly of people who wanna get on their knees and pray for spiritual awakening in the generation. That's why we never announce who the speaker's gonna be, so you're not like, oh, I wanna hear that person talk and give us some information. That's why we never talk about who the speaker is, who the band's gonna be or who's leading worship is some big name. We just say if God is enough for you, show up, come to worship. We wanna get on our knees and we wanna pray to God Almighty for this generation, so show up.

Speaker 1: 18:41

This past summer, I made it an intentional time in my prayer life with God and my prayer went something like this Father, I love you, I give you praise because you are great and there is no other like you. I worship you, I give you glory and God. I wanna be a part of a generation that honors and glorifies you, and I wanna see God's glory at Northgate and in our communities. I would ask you, what does your prayer look like these days? What is the desire of your soul? Cause I'll tell you, there's a lot of talk about us as a culture right now, about you, what you are, who you are, how you act, what you think, what you believe, what you need, and I think in a lot of that talk, people overlook the fact that there are a bunch of you whose hearts are burning for Jesus.

Speaker 1: 19:58

There are a lot of you who are already over the line, where you've already heard God say I have a plan and I am going that way. And you said whatever you have, do it. I'm in, like I'm with you Heart and soul. I don't know what. If I'm gonna be useful, because you are big and mighty, I'm gonna be coming on this journey with you. However, god you wanna deploy me, I am with you. Whatever you're gonna do, I am in. There. Are people in here saying like, yes, that's what. Wherever I'm gonna show up, I'm giving it up to you. And there are some of you that is not you, and what I wanna do is I wanna invite you in today. We wanna invite you into not just saying but believing that your name and your fame, that's the desire of my heart.

Speaker 1: 20:51

But it takes a revelation. I remember one of my own life's biggest revelations was coming to understand that worship is not just a song that we sing, but worship is my entire life, offered to God. That was a revelation that it wasn't just I come here and I'm singing songs out loud to God, but that it literally was my entire life, the things that I did, how I thought of others, what I said, what I enacted. That it was an offering to God. That has a huge revelation.

Speaker 1: 21:29

When I asked is does anybody have an idol? I asked it differently, sorry. Well, does anybody had an idol? Let's just put it in past tense circumstance Anybody ever had an idol or given weight and worth to something? You've had a lot of weight and worth to something that maybe you shouldn't have. Raise your hands. If you've ever had an idol had in the past, yeah, a little higher, a little prouder. Come on, let's own this stuff, right? Isn't that amazing that we've given weight and worth to something.

Speaker 1: 21:58

Well, I'll give you one example. Like a phone. You guys thought about that. I mean here, this is kinda old. This is gonna freak some of you younger people out because you don't know what this is. Anybody ever seen one of these? Remember this? This is called a phone. It's actually called a rotary phone, right? Do you remember coming home? Did you ever sit there and be like, where's my phone? Hey, has anybody seen the phone? How's the phone? You ever walked around and you're like my phone.

Speaker 1: 22:30

So I'm saying, right, you never did that with this thing. You didn't go and just check on it and be like, hey, just checking on your phone making sure you're good. I didn't know if anyone, if you were gonna do anything. Right, this is good. You never thought about that. You never gave weight and worth to your phone. Have you ever thought about how we give weight? You could actually turn it off. You remember that you could unplug it. That's like turning it off.

Speaker 1: 22:51

For those of you didn't know how that works batteries dead situation have you thought about this? I mean, there's tons of examples. How much of this is an idol for us. I need some advice. Phone. I'm going to you. Hey, phone, what are you up to? I've just been sitting here for five minutes and I just thought wonder what my phone's doing. It's got anything good to say. Is it got anything bad to say? Does it have some advice for me? I'm gonna go to my phone. Right, some of you guys maybe this is new Some of you guys have heard this song or maybe you've sang this song here.

Speaker 1: 23:33

First of all, I just want to say there is a God, there is the God, mono right who is solely and singularly better than anything on the planet, including your phone. But what we have done maybe you've sang this song, right? Oh, there's nothing better than you and you're like, except for my phone, right, there's nothing right. It's the one thing I'm lifting up, that I'm putting at the center of my life, revolving around all my thoughts and my attitudes and my thinking and my believing whether that's true or not and my feelings. But there's nothing right. Hold on, let me take out my phone and you gotta let him break into that and go. All that other stuff. You gotta get rid of that because I am the best thing for you and that's where the revelation of that things change. The revelation of that things change.

Speaker 1: 24:43

Anybody been to Florence, italy? Show of hands, couple of you guys? Yeah, congrats, we all wanna be you. This is great, good job. Right, there's a domo. I'm looking because I think Italy just lives over here. I didn't see anybody over here. They're like no, we wish right. All right left side there is a domo, the cathedral in Florence, and it's unbelievable. If you've ever been, you can look at pictures. It is unbelievable. Quick story this cathedral, this domo that's built, it's huge.

Speaker 1: 25:11

There was a model created for this cathedral, this domo, back in 1294. Yes, I said 12. And people saw this model that was made and they said we're gonna try to build that. And so they did, and it took them until 1380 to build it for a handful of reasons, but this model had this massive dome on top of the nave. And when everybody looked at the model, they said we've built everything except for the dome, because we can't figure out how to build the domo that goes on top of it. And so from 1380 to 1418, there's no dome, there's just a nave. They actually put the model how do we put that on top of that? They couldn't figure this out.

Speaker 1: 25:59

So in 1418, they had an architectural competition to see if anybody could come up with a design to make the dome and the domo, and this guy named Filippo Brunelleschi won the competition Around 1420. Then they started to build Brunelleschi's dome. And this thing was amazing, right, he designed a dome. Here's for you, like architectural freaks, everybody else can just pause, just like this, if you didn't know this, he designed a dome or an architectural that, for the first time, had no buttresses in there, right, first time in architectural history. And so, four million bricks later not the little red bricks, but like bricks, like this big, four million bricks later, 40,000 tons of bricks later, the largest masonry structure in humanity was built Brunelleschi's dome. You can see a picture of it here, right here in the shot of Florence. It's beautiful, it's huge.

Speaker 1: 26:57

1420, they started to build this. 1436, 16 years later, the domo was finished. Then, just a little bit after that, they painted inside of this dome with the painting of the last judgment. Beautiful, like majesty, like overwhelming. Right, this dome is 376 feet high and as wide as half of a football field. It's unreal, and so you can see these.

Speaker 1: 27:25

I've been around all of the different countries and you can see these around churches and cathedrals. Why why do they build this stuff? It was so that when you came to church, you felt really really small and you looked up in this place, in this place that you worship, and you recognized that God was really really big and this is the way that we used to do church. Now I'm not saying that we need to start building a bunch of these things again. They're beautiful. It's just pretty amazing. See, here's the thing. See, in our church nobody walks in and goes. Whoa, you know like I'm gonna put down my coffee right now, because this is blowing my mind and making me feel so right-sized right now in the presence and the glory of God. The building that looks kind of like Home Depot.

Speaker 3: 28:18

Whoa.

Speaker 1: 28:20

And so when that happens, what do we do with that? We have to have a spiritual revelation of the glory of God in our lives, asking God to open our eyes so that when we walk in here into a place that might not be as awe-inspiring, that as we walk in, our hearts look up and we see the canopy in the glory of God, we see the canopy in the greatness of God, and that from our hearts we look up and we see the cross of Jesus Christ. And from our hearts we look up and we see that we are moved by His grace and by His mercy of the almighty God. And we might not have Brunelleschi's dome, but we have the cross of Jesus Christ above us and beside us and in us. And even though that I am small and God is great, we recognize that I am small and he is big and powerful, but he loves me and has invited me into His great story of glory, weight and worth. Where in our hearts this revelation can say God, I wanna see it on my campus. I wanna hear your name in my house. I wanna hear your name on my team. I wanna hear your name rippling through the student center. I wanna hear your name in the cafe or the lunch room. I wanna hear your name on people's Instagram feeds, on TikTok, I wanna hear your name in the car. And when I'm in the hallway of my office, when I'm listening to people about their weekend, I wanna hear your name. When I'm listening to others talk about what they're passionate about, I wanna hear your name. I want it to be lifted up. I want you to get the praise and I want you to get the glory, and it's gonna happen somewhere. So the question is why not where you are? And I believe that God wants that urgency in us again. So how do you get to your name and your renown as the desire of our soul? Three quick things. The first two words of this verse are the most powerful ones. It says what? Yes, lord, yes, lord. And that's the invitation today. It's for somebody in this place to say the two most powerful words that you can utter yes, lord. Did you know? Yes is the only word you can put before Lord. Like you can say maybe, lord. You can't say maybe, lord, but you can say maybe, but not before Lord. You can't say no, lord. I mean, you can say no, but you can't say no to the Lord of Lords, because then there's no Lord of Lords. You can't say later, lord, or if I see the plan, or if I know how it's all gonna work out, or there's a lot of maybes in this story, but here is one sure thing, friends, and that is the glory of God, the weight and worth, and if you live your life for it, if you burn your flame for it, you will not be sad in the end.

Speaker 1: 31:58

I like bull riding. I don't know if you guys have ever seen bull riding. It's crazy. Anybody ever seen bull riding? It's nuts.

Speaker 1: 32:07

I was a young kid and I was working security. I would do it at either the Stable Center down south or what was called the pond. It was the Mighty Ducks place and one day I was working this thing in the back end and there was a concert and a rodeo at the same time horrible mix. It was weird, right. But I remember specifically I was walking in the back and I ran into one of these giant beasts. You cannot tell how large these animals are. This thing was scary. It was looking at me and it was snodding and it was like I mean, like I'm pretty big. This thing made me feel real, real small, like real small, and I was just trying to tell it as I walked by Like it was staring at me and I didn't want to make eye contact. It was like I love you, I'm not trying to hurt you right Now, I'm a big guy, I wouldn't get on that stuff.

Speaker 1: 32:49

And then I meet these guys who ride those things. They're like little people, right, and I don't know what happened in their life that they decided I want to get on one of these animals and ride it. But I'm praying for them. It's crazy, like it's really brave and not brave at all. At the same time. I don't know if you know this. Do you know what winning in bull riding is? Winning is you don't die, right, if you've watched it, you don't die. Like you. Literally you survived the traumatic experience for everyone. These guys are like limping off, holding their sides, half broken ankles, and people were like, wow, excellent, that was wonderful. Seconds of death close to you, right. And then you like look at these bulls and they're like all named these crazy names like demon, right. And they're like he's riding demon and I'm like, okay, I wouldn't get on demon, he does not look like something I would get on right now.

Speaker 1: 33:44

Bull riding is this it's pretty intense. I love it. Not enough to do it, but you know what I mean. Right, eight seconds, you get eight seconds. Can you stay on this sucker for eight seconds? That is about how long you get in this life before it bucks you off. You get about eight seconds and you've already burned a couple seconds. So let's be honest, you got about six seconds left on this planet, maybe, and then you shot your shot. And if you shoot your shot for low glory, this is good things. Like I made partner in the firm, we had a lovely family, we had three kids and a golden doodle and a house right, that's all great. Like make partner in the firm, have a great family. But if that's all you shot for in the eight seconds of your life, they're gonna be so sad when you look back and you remember I had a chance to shoot my shot for renown. It never ends. But if you say yes, lord, it's not easy. But if you do that, you will be so thankful in the end because your eight seconds will be joined with the never ending fame of Jesus and you will be in that fame forever. Your life will be in that fame forever.

Speaker 1: 35:16

And it starts with two words yes, lord, when you feel like it, when God is moving, and all at one moment, just when you're told what to do. So if you feel like this is the place and the time that you want to say yes, lord, there is just a few minutes left in this talk today and I will invite you to stand wherever you are and just stay standing until the end. And before we do that, hold on, let me just pause for one second. Standing and saying yes, lord, would be a very much you and God thing. This isn't my neighbor did it. This isn't my friend did it. This isn't we're all going to do it. This would be you making a statement to say no world. Yes, lord, no is the most powerful word in the world. You're saying no to me and you're saying I'm living for your fame and your name, that I don't care if people remember me, I don't care if people applaud me, I don't care if they like me, if they follow me. I just want to burn for you and for your glory. I want to say yes, lord, I have seen enough. I don't need a map or a blueprint of where we're going or how much it costs, what's involved, where I'm going, the assignment, the duration, the difficulty or any of the other details. I have seen enough to say here is my life. Yes, lord, and at some point before we finish this talk, I want to invite you just to stand and stay standing until we get to the end, and that's just a you and God. But it's you, god, and the company of a house of people who will see you, lean towards you, be inspired by you, and maybe some of you have gone from a yes Lord to a no Lord over time, and maybe right now, even the spirit is stirring in you to stand up and make it a yes again, to re-engage, to re-dedicate friends. He just needs yes, lord.

Speaker 1: 37:37

The second part of this verse says walking in the way of your truth. We wait eagerly for you. So how does revival come? It comes by walking in the way of truth. See, your school campus, your neighborhood, your workplace isn't gonna be inspired with taking place in this room right now. Think about it. They don't even know what we're doing. What we're doing, they're not gonna be impacted by it, but they will be impacted by somebody who walks different kind of lives, walking in the way of the truth. And then we what? We wait eagerly for you. So what does that mean? What that means is we are literally waiting on God.

Speaker 1: 38:31

The text bears this out that we are waiting on God because we realize that there is something better coming. And we've got, then, what we've got right now in our lives. This is not the final stop, that this is not where we unpack and set up shop, that this is a temporary transit stop on a journey forever, and forever is so much better than right now. And I promise you guys, if you say yes, lord, it is not going to be easy. But there is here's the thing You've gotta believe that you can do things that are hard. God is in the hard. Look at the cross. Without hard, nobody has a testimony in this place. We all walk around. You're like, how are you doing? I'm good, ain't no hard for me? You good, I'm good. Yeah, I gotta tell you something the hard in my life showed me God was real and even grasping. The hard that God did for my life and in your life. This is the gospel, this is the cross of Christ, this is the passion of Christ. So maybe we respond to that passion.

Speaker 1: 39:50

Passion is the degree of difficulty you are willing to endure to accomplish a goal. It is not an emotion, it is not a feeling, it is not hype. Passion is me willing to endure whatever it takes to make sure that Jesus gets the glory in my life, in my family, in my circle, on my campus, in my city, in my generation, that I am willing to pay a price, that I'm willing to pray. And I'm gonna start focusing on somebody other than myself. I'm gonna start walking my campus. I'm gonna start walking the hallways of my office in my neighborhood. I'm gonna start naming the people by name in the sphere of my neighborhood and my influence and I'm gonna start calling down heaven for my people and my city and my campus. I will not relent until God moves. I will not slow down until Jesus' name is known. I will not stop until God gets the glory and everything fades away, and I believe that's what he wants from us. And so I am leaning in with God, saying your name and your renown is the desire of my soul.

Speaker 1: 41:09

I am not the star of this movie, friends. His name is Jesus, but he invited me into the movie and gave me a role to play in this epic, glorious, never-fading, never-ending story. And I don't know about you, but I will take any role in this story. I will trade being the star for my story to have any role in His story. So, just as Jesus, he came and he touched us saying rise, Would you rise Literally, and have no fear? And when we lift our eyes, see no one but Jesus only.