Hope Church LV Sermons
Hope for the World :: Pastor Johnny Hunt
Well, amen. Let me say what a privilege and a joy it is to be here, the service last night, now the second service this morning and thrilled my family could join us now. I just got to be real honest with you. I've got to go home this afternoon. I don't have the energy to stay here and worship with y'all. I mean, Tandy gets me so fired up and I just sing so hard and I'm almost hoarse by the time it's time to get up to preach and I really resent the fact that I can't dance like he does. I'm often asked, you know, especially in the south in being a Baptist, the questions asked, "Can Baptist dance?" And the obvious answer, "Some can, some can't, but wonderful music, what Christ honoring music, what a privilege it is to be here with Vance and his family and team and you dear people after all these years. We talk about you, pray for you. I watched our webcast from Woodstock this morning and they were so much in the service about where I was. You always have to kind of do a defining moment when you say your pastor is in Vegas this weekend. Out our way, it's always kind of like doing what and we've got a large debt. We're trying to liquidate. But anyway, came out to make a little investment. But no, it's, I heard him say, "I know what you're thinking and everybody looks. What's he doing in Vegas?" So we just rejoice in what God has done out here and to allow us to be a small part of his activity and what he's doing. So we have just been thrilled. It just had such a good time with you. So Vance, thank you so much for inviting me to come and just being a part of the special weekend. And I don't know if anywhere in the whole world I'd rather be than with missionaries and seeing what God's doing in their life. And the truth is God really wants all of us on mission with him. And it's sort of the challenge that I'm going to bring. It'll be interesting to see how it comes out this hour because I just keep trying to get out of my heart what God has placed there in a different way. But one of the things I do as a Christian is I'm very devotional. I love, I love to read. In the mornings I get up and they give the first 45-minute minimum, minimum of an hour to just read. Every year I end up reading about five different devotions and they just speak into my life. And this morning when I was reading, it spoke so clearly to what I want to share this morning. I just want to pray that God would move in our hearts and get us out of the comfort zones, that we begin to believe again that God wants to do wonders among us even in greater ways. But He wants to take us somewhere that He even says in scripture, it's a place that you've never been before. It's unknown territory. You can't find it on your GPS. We're going to talk about why you don't want to go there, what's so uncomfortable about it. But I was reading this morning, LB Kalman, this dear lady, her husband was a contemporary to Oswald Chambers. And when I connected the dots, I thought this will be a good read. And I read this this morning when this service over will grab a light lunch head for the airport and head back home to speak across the southeast this week. He said one of the first rules of aerodynamics is that flying into the wind quickly increases altitude. The wings of the airplane create more lift by flying against the wind. How was this lesson learned? It was learned by watching birds fly. If a bird is simply flying for pleasure, it flies with the wind. But if it senses danger, it turns into the wind to gain altitude and flies up toward the sun. I feel like too many Christians are just flying in sort of a leisure mode, a comfort zone. And I believe God wants us to fly against the tide and the adversity of this culture in order to make a difference for the kingdom of God. I no longer read that, but I picked up one that I've not been able to put down. I've been reading Oswald Chambers for well over 25 years. It's the number one best-selling devotional book in the entire world. One of the best-selling books outside of the copy of God's Word. And listen to how I just spoke. This is what today's emotions dated to 21st. It says if love is always discrete, always wise, always sensible and calculating, never carried beyond itself, it's not love at all. It may be affection. It may be warrantful feeling it. It has not the true nature of love in it. And then it said this, have I ever been carried away to do something for God? Not because it's my duty, not because it was useful, but not because there was anything in it at all beyond the fact that I love him, that I can bring things which are a value to him. And I didn't read this statement in the other service, but I was talking about that it's the ordinary things that you do. And you'll see it in the text if I get to it this morning, get that far in the text. That it's not the big battles that you win that help you to really know victory in life. It's responding in the little things. It's not the Jericho's. It's the AIs, the small places where you don't even feel like you need an army to help you to defeat it. You've got to be careful in the little things and don't let the small foxes spoil the vine. So listen to this statement, not divine colossal things which could be recorded as marvelous, but ordinary simple human things which will give evidence to God that I'm abandoned to him. And then listen to this question, have I ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary Abethany produced? You've ever given anything that and normally when you give it you may see the same response that Mary heard, and that is there's always a Judas in the crowd that says you should have taken that precious perfume instead of pouring it on the feet of Jesus. You could have sold it and given it to the poor, but what you ought to do when you read a statement like that is read the whole story. And you'll find out that Judas was not interested in selling that so he could help the poor. He had been stealing from the treasury that they had been accumulating for the poor to begin with. And so I probably believe God wants to sort of move us to a new level. I mean here I am in one of the most admired churches. We've started now Vance, been a part of financially sending pastors, sending some type of help with 81 Southern Baptist churches in the last 23 years. I mean we've just had three in the last few years that God's helps me a part of. I put my son-in-law in a church less than four years ago running 17 people and they are now averaging 625 on the weekends. We had one that we started our first church was called Paulding Baptist Church in a burned out motorcycle shop in Dallas, Georgia. We started over there with just a couple of families. It grew and they went through transition. It's 22 years old now or 22 years later and they call me one day and say things that since y'all cut the umbilical cord, things have not gone so well. We need your counsel again. They were down to 35 people. We went and shut it down. We appointed their pastor and in less than two years they're averaging over 750 every weekend. I mean God's just doing some neat things out there. But he wants to use this. He wants to make a difference. Did you know that when we became involved in placing dollars and people in this ministry? You've heard the story probably but we brought Vance and Christie and the family to Woodstock for six months. Just put him in my staff, gave him the same salary. He was making the church where he was serving, allowed him to bring Mike and family and Jeff and family in. I think you all stayed with us about three months. We paid all the salaries. Somebody says, "Man, what a rich church." No, no, you need to hear me. What a begging church. Jerry Falwell said that when he died, he wanted them to put on his epitaph on his tombstone and the beggar died. And the truth is since he's passed on now and I've served there on that Liberty Board so long, I think I'm going to pick that same one. No, I'm constantly bringing to our people new opportunities to try to touch the nations for the glory of God. And I'm not intimidated by people saying all he talks about is money because I don't. I talk about the kingdom of God and it takes the resources that God gave us because my Bible says God gave you the power to get wealth. And I believe he wants us to take it and invest in the kingdom of God. So we want to advance the kingdom of God. It's Vespin said in leadership that if you want to succeed in life, spend your life helping others succeed. And so that's what we desire to do. This morning, I want to talk to you a little bit about living fearlessly. And I want to remind you that faith is demanded. God never plays faith in your life to paralyze you. Most of the things that God has called me to do, I have the to deal with the fear in my life and not wait for it to subside, not pray and so God, if you're in this, just give me peace. Well, sometimes peace is just the fact that I'm with you and I will never leave you. And so move on out there. My father checked out on my mom when I was seven years old, left her with six kids and we ended up moving into a government project. Stating out of trouble as a teenage kid dropped out of school when I was 16, managed a pool hall and became a young hustler for four years in my life before a carpenter by the name of NW preaching. I love to tell this, introduced me to another carpenter from Nazareth that changed my life. And then I began to sense that God had a purpose and direction for me that God could use me, but they were all kinds of obstacles that God wanted to use those obstacles for opportunities. For instance, I began to sense in my life that God was calling me to preach it. Let me just do this. I mean, here I am going a different direction again. I remember I'd gotten married when I was 18. My wife had been 17, 17 days and she was an honor role student and every now and then I'd wanted to stay home so I would take her out of school and I'd have to write her a note to be excused. That was cool. And some of you parents right now are saying I should not share that story. I've got a teenage daughter here that thinks she's ready to get married. I'm not through with a story. Would you let me tell the story? That was back then, sort of like in Bible days. That age today would be equivalent to about 29 or 30. All right, you got it there. So give me a break here. So I used to sort of fill out the call of God. I'm sensing God wants me to do something ministry. And by the way, when God calls you to do something, I'm of a deep conviction that it doesn't come with options. I believe that the will of God is just the will of God. I believe that there's something God wants you to do and it brings you to the point where you put your yes on the table and then God begins to make it clear for you and then you begin to realize in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 16 and following that you're not just made by God. You're made for God. And I'm telling you, if God doesn't know what's best for me since he already inhabits my tomorrow, I've got an improper view of the God of the Bible. And so I've really deified myself to the point that I can tell him what's best for me. Sometimes we take a blank sheet of paper out and we pray prayers like this. Lord, thank you that you're helping me to finish my education where my favorite sports team resides. Thank you for this cute person you've allowed me to meet. And I want to ask you right now, let me marry him. Lord, you know I put in that application for that job. And so what we listen to me, we're telling everything to the God who made us and knows what's best for us, that we know what's best for us. And we need him to acquire it for us. And then we settle it once and for all. And we make our prayer. Here it is. In Jesus' name. So what we do, we sign his name to the bottom of our request and then we're ticked off. If life don't turn out in the way, we thought he should have given it to us. I want to recommend you do something, tear that up, get you a blank sheet of paper, begin to put your trust in the God of the Bible. And when you do that, leave the sheet blank, sign your name at the bottom and say you're God and God alone, you fill in the blank. And I'm just going to make a statement and I'm down to journey. I'm 57 years old. I've been doing this for 34 years. There's nothing in the whole world I'd rather do than what I'm doing. The baby that is, tell me back says it's what gets me up in the morning and what puts me to bed at night. There it puts a spring in your step even on Monday morning when you get up and you feel like you're living on purpose for God and you're not living grudgingly thinking, oh God back to that same old grind, the same old job again. Not being able to hardly wait till one day you can quit doing what you've been doing. And it may very well be because you got what you wanted but never submitted yourself to find out what he had for you. But I'm going to make a statement. I'm down to journey far enough to know this. What God has for you is so much better than what you have for you. And if not, don't you ever sing anything about how good he is again or how great he is again because our singing is falling on death. No wonder the Bible says that he is in heaven and he laughs oftentimes at us. And maybe it's because of how we give him credit and never look to him. Well, Israel, they've been wondering 40 years in the wilderness. And I want to just be honest, I'm one of those Christians that believe every Christian has somewhat of a wilderness experience. I believe that God is preparing us for what God has prepared for us. God does not call the equipped. God calls the equipped. That's why when God calls you to do something, you don't feel you can do it. So what I did, I bounced it off my wife. Here we are and I'm thinking. I was back in those days. I was very timid and shy, a real introvert. And I remember saying to Janet, "Hey, you know, praying lately and everything, I begin to sense that God may be calling me to preach." Her response. You're kidding. You can't talk three minutes publicly. And if you did, you started crying. You a preacher. Wow, that's cool. What else? It was just, and I would just kind of came back in and say, "Well, she's probably right." And we couldn't explain it, but God began to speak to us. You know what we used to do? We used to sit in the service and I was trying to live as close and clean as I possibly knew how, as a newer believer, just a year or so in my journey. And we would be during an invitation that would like to be extended this morning that Vance will give to you all. We would find ourselves in the altar just saying, "God is there something in our life you're just pleased with. What are you trying to tell us?" And I think it was part of God's call. God was calling me to do something for him. And then, so finally, we got the point to say, "You know what? We were going to buy this new house. We were going to do this. And then one day my wife said, "You know, God's getting my attention to Johnny. And I don't want that house. We went and looked at the other day. I want us to sell the one we've got and I want us to do the will of God for our life." And we didn't know what that was. I didn't know if I was going to be a missionary, student, pastor. I didn't know if I was going to be a pastor. I was pretty confident it had nothing to do with music. So, we just made made ourselves available and God really just began to fill in the blanks for our life. And then, guess what happened? Before we could kind of, you know, we wanted to make it public, my brother, two years older than me, he and his wife, Carol, sitting in the service, God dealing with us. We're talking about, "Let's go forward and share with Pastor Gibson that we'd like the church to pray for us." We feel like God's calling us full-time Christian service. My brother responded. I'm sitting there thinking, "Wonder what he's doing?" And then the pastor says, "Well, we're thrilled this morning to present Norman and Carol Hunt and God's calling him to preach. I got ticked off." That's a great word. I begin to just think, "God's calling me. He's not calling him." And all these things were in my way. See, I'd allowed these things to cause a fear factor. You know what I begin to think now? It was like the enemy said to me, "Yeah, why don't you go ahead and respond?" And then the word would just get out, "Well, Norman Hunt surrendered to preach in his little brother, followed suit." And so, it was intimidating. And so, I struggled and stayed back for a long time instead of letting God have his way in my life. Listen, there's always some type of obstacle. You've always got some type of reason from obeying the will of God. Now, I'm getting ready to read somewhat of a familiar story, but here's what you need to know. Historians tell us when they were in Caddish Barnet after God released the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, which is a picture of the world where God brings you out of your lostness, that when they, if they had followed God's directives, they could have been in the land of promise in seven to eight days. Instead, it took 40 years. I just want to pose a question. I would like to be sensitive enough to Jesus that it would not take years for God to get me where I could be in a much shorter period of time. I have heard too many men and women say this. I wish to God I had known then what I know now. Really? Well, Adrian Rogers, my mentor, used to say this. God gives light. When you obey light, God gives you more light. When you deny light, God ceases to send. Why should God show you something else from chapter two when you're not even obey chapter one? We've got to get back to the basics and begin to obey God. Joshua got him a young congregation. You know why he's got a young congregation? God killed off the congregation he had. Read your Bible, the book of Hebrews. Why did they die in the wilderness? What was the purpose? Hebrews teaches because of unbelief. So now he's leading some, some believe between one and two million in his congregation all under the age of 40 because all the others have died. Joshua and Caleb saw something over in Hebron in the promised land that they could never get out of their heart and mind and they wanted to see that become a reality. So he's waited all these years only heaven knows how many nights under the stars out in the wilderness that maybe Joshua would be asked by that younger generation. What was it like when you were there and 40 years has passed? You're talking Joshua now is 80 years old. Soon Caleb will tell us in chapter 14 that he's moved into the the years of 85 and he says this he says I am I'm as strong today as when God called me. I love that passage. If I live to be 85 I hope I've got enough passion to continue to preach even in those days. So living fearlessly fate is demanded. Stand with me for just a moment the honor of the reading of God's word and then let me just make a few observations of this text and be done. It's not in Corinthians is it's Joshua. The Bible says in Joshua rose early in the morning and listen to these words you'll see them over and over again. You'll see the words set out and the words cross over and somewhere in another it has to be that defining moment that red letter day where you set out and then maybe you'll be able to say I'm grateful that I bade God back there and it made a difference in my life and I crossed over and so the Bible said he set out from a case of grove and came to the Jordan he and all the children of Israel they lodged there three days before crossing over. So it was after three days that the officers went through the camp and they commanded the people saying when you see the ark of the covenant with just the presence of God which would be in typology Jesus and you see the the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priest the Levites bearing it then you should set out from your place and go after it and that's what we need to do we need to go after it. You've heard of so many times from your pastor God allowed him to come to Las Vegas find out what he was up to and join him in his activity but son you had to go after it you couldn't do it in Alabama or Tennessee you had to get on out here and go after it yet the Bible says there shall be a space between you and that is the ark of the covenant two thousand cubits that's two three thousand feet little over half mile by manger do not come near it that you may know the way by which you must go and here's great words you have not passed this way before. God wants to lead you to unpredictable unchartered unfamiliar territory causes a little bit of heartburn but God says I want I want to get you out there. Joshua said to the people and here's what you got to do if you want to go. Sanctify yourself and just get right there's some things you need to embrace and there's some things you're going to have to let go. For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Joshua spoke to the priest got the leadership together take up the ark of the covenant cross over before the people so they took up the ark of covenant and went before the people. Now I'm getting ready to read verse number seven and this morning at the other service I called Christi's attention not only this passage but also chapter two and verse 14. You don't know this. He won't say it but I'm going to say it. God has raised your pastor up to be one of our leading mission speakers in our nation. It is young age. He really has. I was with Dr. Ronnie Floyd the other night and Ronnie said you're going to be with Vance Pittman. Tell him in that church that we've had no one as Fringdale Arkansas one of the great churches in the nation that admit more to us in challenging us in missions than Vance Pittman. So here's why how that happened look at verse seven and the Lord said to Joshua this day I will exalt you in the sight of all Israel that you may know that as I was with Moses so I will be with you. You shall command the priest who bear the ark of the covenant saying when you have come to the edge of the ward of the Jordan you shall stand in the Jordan and so Joshua said to the children of Israel come here hear the words of the Lord your God and here's the key thought and Joshua said by this you shall know that the living God is among you. Father in the name of Jesus speak Lord speak for Christ's sake amen God bless you you may be seated. The people that Joshua was leading had only known wilderness living. They were born in the wilderness. They had lived in the wilderness all of their life. They didn't know Egypt and they didn't know Canaan. So their life was very predictable and very familiar and I need to make a statement and I love to teach this the wilderness was not all bad. There were some incredible lessons, incredible truths to learn in the wilderness. Did you know that in the wilderness the Bible says that God gave them clothes and shoes that didn't wear out. I wish to God I could find my wife a pair of them but here 40 years in the wilderness with the Bible teaches that every morning and on Friday before the Sabbath God would send double portion he would feed them manna Hebrew translation light bread and then they got tired of just bread and they begin to cry out and I said God we'd like some meat and God literally calls quail to light in the camp where they could pick them up pluck them and roast them. The Bible says there was a rock that followed them in the wilderness and the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10 that the rock was Jesus Christ. Do you understand that the rock was Jesus Jesus was in the wilderness. Come on let's be honest if Jesus is there it can't be all bad. So what we're doing we're not trying to to convince someone that they need to leave a lie that nobody wants. They could they could tell you it's not just predictable and familiar but there's some things we really like about wilderness living but the the spiritual truth that God's trying to say is I've got so much more for you. I want to use you in so much greater ways. Charles Spurgeon one of the great one liners is this he said the average Christian listen to this has misjudged their capacity for God. Eddie Carswell wrote one song that was entitled he's more God than I can imagine. And so when you begin to realize that you're serving a God of that quality you really begin to say maybe we should set out and cross over. It's been said that God rarely requires what is easily released. Man it's just hard to give up some things. We don't want to give up the wilderness. I mean we've complained some about the man but boy compared to others we we've got it made. Thank God for the quail and man these these clothes are incredible and thank God Jesus he's here with us. The word crossover is used in Exodus 14 13 the Hebrew word is journey. It means going forward. So when we talk about setting out and crossing over God taking you out of your comfort zone taking you to a new level where one day you'd be able to say hey there was this red letter day at our church there was this defining moment during our our hope for the world and God got hold of my heart and I can't explain this but I'm telling you God moved me down the road spiritually light years and my life is just determinedly making a significant difference more so than ever. The word that is used there for crossover speaks of a decisive nature being emphasized of a moment in history where these people the Hebrew people distinguishes them in what they're about to experience from anything and everything that had ever gone before them. When someone say hey you're still up there at Hope Baptist Church yeah how are things going instead of just saying oh I'm about the same you'd have to say man thanks for asking. A man I had this encounter with God during our conference and God did something in my life and I made some decisions and I surrendered and put my yes on the table and realized I'm not in control that he is and God just has worked in a phenomenal way. The word connotes something with tremendous epic significance. We oftentimes say this hey you've had nine wonderful years as a fellowship but the yet the best is yet to come. Is that just something we say or is it something we really believe. When we read something the Bible does it really speak to us or do we just underline it. I have a file in my office every sermon I've ever preached in my life. I have a copy of it. I went back not long ago to the first sermon I ever preached. I entitled it God wants to do for you what he did for the Israelites. It was on 13 pages. It took me five minutes to deliver it. Scared to death. The text was Deuteronomy 623 and God brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us a land which he swore to our fathers. See when God saved you God saved you with a real purpose in mind. There's something God wants to do through you. See sometimes in our local church we don't really understand body life and if things don't happen we criticize a pastor, staff, leaders and say they ought to be doing this. When the truth is you may have been God's touch in that particular area of ministry. You're the one that God burdened. See I don't allow anyone to transfer God's call and God's burden from their heart to mind. When somebody comes up and says I think our prayer ministry needs to go to a new level. I think man listen do me a favor. Write out what it's going to look like and let's pray through it. I can hardly wait to see how God's going to use you to do it. So what they really mean is they want me to take it but that's what's wrong with the church. You have Christ in you. It's a personal intimate relationship with Almighty God and he doesn't just pass it on to the other person. The pastor at Moody Bible Church making reference to this story said this. Don't miss this. If Egypt represents the world and the long excursion in the desert represents the discipline every one of us experience then the Jordan River represents that full surrender that must precede the lifelong task of knowing God. Each of us comes to our own Jordan at some point in our life. Who wouldn't that be neat? This would be good when you went to the office tomorrow and somebody said well hey how was church yesterday? I had a Jordan River experience. Really? I know what they did. They say what in the world is that? Here's what you need to know about the Jordan River. If I'd have read verse number 15 to you it is during harvest time. Now what do you mean by that pastor? It's March or April. The snow caps of Mount Herman are starting to melt and it's making its way down into the dry river beds of the desert. Then Jerusalem is in its rainy season and the rain no one goes down to Jerusalem. Anytime you go to Jerusalem you go up to Jerusalem because it sets up on the hill and now the water's making its way down. It makes what the Greeks call waddies which are just floods of waters through the desert and it's just remarkable what's happening and I'm grateful that the Southern Baptist Convention was not in charge of this move to cross the Jordan because had they been I can hear some president now saying listen the water is high as harvest time it would have been the widest point to cross but why is it that God always gives us rivers of impossibilities because he wants to show us that it's not us it's him we want to be able to say God is so much more we wouldn't be able to say he could have done it and I could have somewhat have understood it and explained it here but he did it in such a way it's almost like we'd align you instead of just saying call down to fire from heaven he says before you call the fire go get barrels of water and soak the thing it's always like he just he's looking listen to this this is a good word he's looking for some child of God that will take him at his word and give him an opportunity to show himself great on your behalf I went to Woodstock I've been there now I'm in my 24th year we were struggling church they had fired the pastor in the ministry music before we were running 250 I left the church running 750 that led the state of North Carolina baptisms three years in a row I was in a good place and yet God sovereignly called me I mean just get out go over there and I'm thinking okay we went to that church for one reason not because Atlanta Northwest was a great place we had never been to land in my life I went there out of obedience to God God called me there and that's the reason to be there didn't know what to do it gonna pay me I've pastor four churches hadn't known what to go and pay me until I got there on any of them because the sour it never mattered what mattered most vaults of will of God we spend too much time worried about what don't matter and we miss what matters and what we've done God's clarified his will to us and we've complicated it with all our questions and fill in the blanks that we need God to jump through the hoops before we're gonna obey him that's a good place to say amen but anyway I um I went there and I remember we were on we were on three acres of land we had grown in a in a two-year period from 250 to 1,300 in attendance we had 138 parking places we had to park over nobody like this because the church had a bad reputation one of the things God's done God has has worked in our church and he's given us a first Thessalonians chapter one verse eight and nine experience in that now we have a good name see every church has the good news if it's a biblical church but there's churches with the good news they don't have a good name God gave us a good name I used to go over to Morgan's hardware so Mr. Hardware Mr. Hardware Mr. Morgan you don't have you're not open on Sunday can we park over here no until God gave us a good name then then he came to me and said do y'all still want to park over here so here we were so I go before the people and I say I've been praying and fasting and by the way if you get to praying and fasting you will flat get in trouble with the average person in your church because you're on different wavelengths and and here's what I said Lord what do you want us to do we have a chance to buy a 19 acre stretch of land on a major highway for a million dollars but Lord we only took in two hundred and eighty thousand dollars in 52 weeks last year and they told me if I'm gonna buy this land I need the money in 30 days and if I don't have the money in 30 days they're selling it to Coca-Cola and just in case you didn't know they had the money but anyway so the bottom bottom line is the committee mat and here's what the committee said they said hey we're debt free we can go down the bank and you have the money there's only one thing wrong I've been praying and fasting and God said hey John what you really need is for them to see me glorified in this plan a believe me for the money no option so so all the all these leaders that know far more about finances that the me came to me and said oh we've got to go to sign the note we've got the land what are you doing I said God's gonna show himself strong I would go into a little restaurant because it's a small little town there Woodstock and I go in this little restaurant downtown to eat and the the businessmen were over here making fun of me and one man said hey here you believe in God in 30 days for a million dollars in a church that only gave about two hundred and eighty and fifty two weeks last year he said you flat got him out on the limb have it you and it intimidated me and I didn't know how to respond so I went and called John Morgan because he's raised a lot of money down at Houston I said John here's what they're saying about me he said John that was a perfect setup you said that God's got you on a limb don't you know that's where the fruit is go get the fruit take it back to him so I went in the next day and I just wanted him to say it again so I could tell him that's where the fruit is but the bottom line is at the end of 30 days the offering was there I wish I could tell some of the stories of what happened in one of the offerings but the bottom line is God had given us a million dollars and as a result God was glorified and he showed that he will bankrupt heaven if he had to but he doesn't have to that he'll supply your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus he's either saying it's true or he's a lunatic and a liar and if he's Lord God help the church cross over let's go to the other side and believe him for our best days and we've not looked back we've not looked back in all the story so here it is it's a picture of him a time's up it's a picture of divine intervention hey could you answer a question for me let's just make it as personal and practical as we can is God is God orchestrating Johnny Hunt to go to Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary on a particular morning that Christie would be playing the piano and her husband would be leading the music and and and just sovereignly placed in my heart and didn't just place it in my heart he placed it in the heart of the president of the seminary I don't know if you ever connected those dots but he and I went to some little barbecue place for lunch and he said I don't want to infringe upon our relationship because we don't know each other that well back in those days but he said I feel like God spoke to me and that Vance is your man and I thought I felt the exact same way and then so here's what we have God intervened would you look around the room and it's been like this Vance said we had wanted a better attendance this last night this room was full the last hour he warned me that this would be the smaller crowd have you looked around boss man I'll take this small crowd anyway this place is full so here we've had three services we can displace this full and I'm telling you I'm about to have me a bloomin spell you know why you're here this morning because I'm holy God God a man to set out for where he was he talked him into crossing over and this is nothing short of divine intervention this is a God thing some of your lives have been changed you're on your way to hell you'd be in hell this morning if somebody had not I mean it's it a lady came last night and said I was Jewish and this girl was my friend and she got saved and she brought Jesus to me when did it start when somebody oh when I wish I had whatever you've got in you right now so I could do a little jig up here right now I feel like dancing and God is no respecter of person and let me tell you where the Christian life gets boring the Christian life gets boring when you think God has special people he doesn't he doesn't have special people he's got a special son and that son comes to reign and rule in your heart and God does special things for you and with you and in you and through you for the glory of God so it's not about Vance it's not about Woodstock it's about the Lord Jesus Christ and when he works in your life I preached three different sermons and practice makes perfect I like that one better than the others bottom line if you you could only begin to believe that God could use you to make a significant difference I refuse what listen to me I read a whole series of sermons on this statement I refuse to leave Woodstock the way I found it go ahead God lives in me he's on mission to bring that city to himself I refuse to be satisfied somebody says we're getting so big someone asked me to do this and I'll close with this got to close somewhere someone asked me to do this someone said Woodstock so big I'd never go to a church that big by the way it meant amazing some people said he wouldn't go to a big church you ever heard a woman say she wouldn't go to a big mall who's going to the airport lately and said we don't like the 757 do you have a crop dust or you can fly me to the land on the bigger that sucker is better for me the only thing people criticized that are big in this country is the church of the Lord Jesus and last time I checked it's the only institution God placed here to keep people out of hell to preach a gospel where they could they could come to worship God and to know him and what what a difference what a difference it makes so I refuse to leave where I serve the way I found it I want to make a difference who you are in the fastest growing city of American may have changed a little bit with the economic downturn but it's still I know I know it's in the top 10 because I've been reading a little bit about it y'all have a also my opportunity you've started six or seven churches brother here on the front row in one of the churches I know most of the guys that are serving your places and there's so much more to do but here's what we did we went in a five mile radius of our church five miles we found 117 000 people living in 37 000 homes we made a commitment over a few months God is my witness the knuckles of the people of First Baptist Church would stop not going all 37 000 doors all of them I had a plan of what we were going to do three different levels if next Sunday morning God would have sin revival let me tell you the difference in revival and evangelism revival is when God awakes something in a person's conscience that you can't even touch it is divine where they would get up and would say honey we need to go to church where they've never had a desire God gives him some type of thirst you see it in John seven 37 through 39 there's a picture of the call of salvation come thirsty drink God makes a person thirsty and when he does he's the only one that can satisfy the thirst he creates a need that only he can satisfy oh that's that's the god that I serve if they were to get up Sunday morning in a five mile radius and say let's all go to church I went to every church in the community every church and got their seating capacity and here's what we found out we could only handle 10 percent of the people that live in a five mile radius if they want to go to church this Sunday when we planted your church here dance here's what we were told we need 85 more like it tomorrow to say that we're catching up 85 that was then only god knows in nine years the numbers now may need that we my prayer is to prep present a southern bass invention is that one day I would lead out a nomination to say in three years we're going to plant a thousand new churches in three years in New York City 20 million people and to get serious I mean we serious well we're going to get to heaven and regret the waste of our life when we were supposed to be here on mission for the one we claim we're here to worship I just want to challenge you to take it to a new level put put your yes on the table you don't have to understand what it is God's gonna have for you to say Lord I don't know what it is but I just signed my life over filling the blanks and just see what God wants to do with you and see what he'll do in taking you to the level father in the name of Jesus thank you for this sweet church what an incredible experience I literally am glorying in the reality of your presence in this place I just sense a divine touch and I just pray that man woman boy girl once again would move out of their fear embrace God in faith and know that the waters of Jordan can be crossed help them to cross over help them to know their life can be significant speak mindly use fancy see makes his appeal to see a greater level of commitment than ever before and we we so rejoiced when we heard the words of news boys that not a word spoken can ever be defeated in Jesus name amen amen what a challenge listen we are on a mission when God birthed this church he didn't bring us into existence so we could have a place to come and worship on the weekends where we could just come and get our spiritual pick me up for the week God birthed our church because God was at work in this city and around the world for his glory and God has invited us to get in on it and when I say that don't hear me say our part is simply to give some money so we can support people who are doing the mission that's not what I'm saying I'm saying that God has called us as a family of faith with our gifts and abilities that every one of us has to put our yes on the table and be on mission together to reach the world with the gospel and what we're challenging you to do this weekend is wherever you are on that journey we're challenging you to take the next step take that next step of surrendering yourself to say God however Lord here's the blank sheet of paper however you want to use me Lord yes and we're going to end our service a little bit differently in your seat pocket in front of you or in your seat if you're on the front is a card that says hope for the world I want everybody to grab this card and we're going to ask you to pray about a fresh surrender to taking a next step on this thing of the mission you hear us talk about it here at Hope all the time but we're challenging you today there are several options on here for you to begin to consider what the next step looks like for you and in just a moment we're going to stand our praise team is going to sing and on both sides at the front up here are a blue table over on this side to my left and over here to my right we're going to turn those tables into an old-fashioned altar this morning all right and here's what we're asking you to do we're asking you to prayerfully make a fresh surrender of your life by selecting one or two or several of these options on this card and while our team is singing we're going to ask you to do something real quickly just slip over to one of these tables lay this card down and breathe a word of prayer to the Lord as you do it and then move right back to your seat and we'll close our service all right but let me show you what this says at the top it says I'm going to take the next step by just praying consistently for Las Vegas the West and the world and the folder that we've given you this morning in your seat there's a prayer calendar where you can pray every month for God's activity through this church among the nations the second thing is you can begin to get involved right here in Las Vegas when God birthed our church he had this city on his heart it's about the city of Las Vegas and what God is doing here so you can serve it says there I'll serve at least once a quarter and one of hopes local outreach ministries now do you realize what you're saying there here's all you're saying God I'll give you four days this year that's all that saying Lord four times this year I'll serve and what's going to happen if you get engaged you'll begin to do more than that but just a starting place to say man I'm going to get off the sidelines and I'm going to say four times this year I'll serve in the local outreach ministry whether it's reaching the homeless whether it's serving in our outreach whatever it looks like then to begin to consider possibly you're considering a maybe God's stirring in your heart to put a full-time call to some type of local vocational ministry you can select that then it begins to talk about global opportunities look at the first one going a short-term mission project nationally or internationally some of you have heard us talk about mission trips we've taken hundreds of people on mission trips but I believe this year is going to be the greatest year of sending we've ever done as a church we've got opportunities in the booklet that you have there you're going to see dozens of mission trip opportunities this year and maybe here to that place to say you know what I'm not just going to talk about it I'm not just going to pray for people this year I'm willing to say I'll go I'll consider going and being a part of one of these national or international mission projects if your health or your situation don't allow you to do that the second one says I'll give so somebody else can go I'll invest in somebody else being able to make that trip and then the last one is maybe you're considering God calling you full-time to some type of cross cultural work Andy Milligens right over here to my left his his family is leaving this year they were working right here in Las Vegas God's called them they're moving to Zambia going to begin a nutritional feeding plan and program for for Mount Mary's children in southern Africa and all throughout the continent of Africa they're going to be moving there last year we commissioned Bill and Sandy Steven are who left Las Vegas now reside in Central America maybe God's calling you and you're ready to put your yes on the table so what I'm asking you to do is take this card check the boxes that apply to you and listen only as you sense God leading you and if you sense the Lord leading you when we stand in just a moment to sing I want you to quickly move to one of these tables lay this card down as a surrender and then go right back to your seat and we'll finish our service all right now if you do not know Jesus Christ as your person the Lord and Savior we have pastors over in both corners standing by these tables you go to either one of them today and say hey I don't know Jesus Christ but I'd love to know him as my Lord and Savior and they'll show you from the Bible how you can be saved I'm going to pray then we're going to stand father have your way in this service or does people move to these tables to make a fresh surrender this morning God I pray that they would seriously God let you speak into their lives about the mission or to have your way in this time it's in the name of Jesus we pray