Empowered By Purpose

My name is René, I'm one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church, aka The Dancing Fool, is now my new nickname. You know when we did that kind of crazy dance up there actually, the kids started singing in the Bemba language, and we were told it was a traditional folk song, were we not? And later the translator told me that they were singing a song they made up, and the lyrics were something like, "Look at the morons moves." So, uh... So we're dropping their support. But anyway, um... Just kidding. Grab your message notes. Empowered. We're gonna wrap up our January series. And listen, while you take out those notes, would you just please join me in thanking Mark and Adrian for doing a wonderful job while I was away. They did a great, great job covering their series.

And today we're gonna wrap up this January series by looking at being empowered by purpose. This is the empowering, Biblical truth that we're going to look at today. You are here for a purpose. Your life has meaning. You are not just born to take up space on planet Earth and use up oxygen. You make a huge difference. God has a mission for you. That is such an empowering thing to believe, and this dovetails right into World Outreach Week. Because the point of this weekend, as you just heard Mark and Paul talk about, is to get you excited about missions and missionaries. And missionary just means somebody who is living a life of mission, for God's mission.

Now, if you are visiting today, I think you chose a great weekend to check out Twin Lakes Church. Because this is the one week of the year that we celebrate what God is doing all around the planet through Twin Lakes Church. Now, why in the world would we want to take a weekend to do this? Well, let's just take a little bit of a poll here. Raise your hand if you have ever watched the news or read the newspaper and gotten depressed. Anybody here ever felt like that? Yeah, like, you know, look at all the things going wrong in the world. There is no hope. Well, wow! Weekend is an antidote to that feeling. Because you will meet people in the worst places in the world where there is war, there is oppression. There is all these things that hit the news, but there is also things that don't make the news.

There is people caring for orphans. There is people caring for people infected with HIV/AIDS. There is people fighting the sex trafficking industry. There is people translating the Bible, starting churches, changing lives all around the world. And you will be inspired. Because here is the thing. My guess is that a lot of people who attend TLC regularly don't know that out of every single dollar given to Twin Lakes Church, in any offering we ever take, we give a portion, a double digit percentage portion of it away to these amazing missionaries. And that means if you have ever spent a dollar in the offering to TLC, you have already supported all the missionaries that you are going to meet this week. And these stories will inspire you that you have already been making a difference.

Now, let me just start with just one example. And I'm going to be sharing more in the message. Yesterday I got back from a three-week trip, as you heard, to South Africa, to Senegal, and also we spent most of our time in Zambia, seeing what our ministry partners there are doing. Now, let me just tell you about one day. One day in Zambia, we were in Kappiri Imposhi. Now, this is infamous because it's the town in the world that is the highest rate of HIV/AIDS. Three out of four people in this town are infected with the virus. Three out of four. The life expectancy for males is 39. For females, it's 45. Now, you can hear that and throw up your hands and say, "That's so depressing. What's the use? What could I possibly do?" and not do anything. Or you could do something like this.

The Monza Children's Center opened in 2008 to assist boys and girls affected by HIV/AIDS. Many of the kids here are AIDS orphans, both their parents killed by the AIDS virus. And these kids get help with meals, homework help, love. They hear the gospel. And without TLC, without you, this place would not exist. We've been supporting this place. Twin Lakes Christian School kids have raised money for a well for this place, for clean water. Santa Cruz Cares raised funds for the property. Now, here's the thing. When they first come to the center, a lot of the kids are basically feral. They're wild. Because after their parents die, they live on the streets. But at this center, they're unconditionally loved.

In fact, I want you to listen to one young woman that I had a conversation with. Her name's Martha. And Martha was one of the first kids at the center. And I want you to listen carefully to what Martha says about how Pastor Henry Mumba found her. My name is Martha Banda, and I've been here for help. I have a problem in school. So they're helping me pay in school fees and teaching me how to live like a normal person, how to be a nice girl with other people, how to help people now, to live in the community with other people. When my father died, they didn't care about anything. I just wanted to start drinking and just destroy my life when Pastor Henry Mumba came to me and advised me about things, how to live and how to care about people. I never cared about anyone, but I came here now. I found God, and I think that my heart now is so peaceful.

Isn't that awesome? Now that is one of your girls. You have been helping to take care of Martha. You have. If you've ever given anything to Twin Lakes Church. You know what's stunning is when you hear her say, "When my father died, I just wanted to start drinking." That was when she was nine. And this is the kind of world that these kids face. But you are not saying, "Well, forget them. What's so overwhelming? I can't do anything." You are doing something through the Monza Children's Center. And here's the best part. Caring for these kids really does open hearts to the gospel. Let me just give you one example.

When the Children's Center first started, the guy who ran the bar down the street came up to the director and said this, "Why are you helping those trash kids?" That's what he called them. Those trash kids. But they continued to develop a relationship with them. He kept watching the orphan center grow. Once in a while he'd even help out a little bit. And then one day after about a year of watching, he found the director and here's the way he put it. He said, "I'm going to take on your Jesus." He gave his life to Christ. Why? Here's what he said. "If your Jesus loves trash kids, he can love even me." Because who doesn't feel like a trash kid at times? If your Jesus loves trash kids, he can love even me.

See, that shows, like we say a lot here at Twin Lakes Church, good deeds lead to openness to the good news. And you're going to hear more amazing stories like that all week long. Any one of our missionaries could tell stories like that. Our missionaries from India, we just had a team come back from there. Our missionaries from Central America. Our missionaries from Italy. Every one of them has some amazing stories of life change. You're going to love this week. Get involved. Come on Wednesday night. But there is a problem with these traditional missions weeks at churches. There really is. You know what it is? They can have the unintended consequence of discouraging you from getting involved in making a difference in the world.

Because you can look at these amazing missionaries and hear their stories and think, man, these people are so much more spiritual than I am, right? I mean, these people are spiritual giants. And so I obviously can't make a difference for God because I'm not. And you sort of put yourself on the bench while you put the missionaries on a pedestal. In fact, look at those first four bullet points in your notes. A lot of us feel four things that really keep us on the bench, keep us from getting out there and making a difference. Jot these down. First, I feel incompetent. Like, I can't go on a mission trip or even maybe share cries with a neighbor because I don't have the right skills. I used to feel that way whenever I'd hear about the projects, you know, that Paul was putting together. Whatever the opposite is of construction skills, that's what I am inflicted with. And so I can't go on these short-term trips. I'm incompetent.

Second, I feel discouraged. I look at the wars. I look at the epidemics. I look at the hunger. And I think, how could one person ever make a difference? We are destined to fail. It is hopeless. Third, I feel unworthy to serve God. I'm no saint. And then finally, I feel confused because there's so many problems. There's so many issues. There's so many places in the world that are needy. Where in the world would I start? I'm just not going to start anywhere. You ever feel these things? I want to be very honest with you. I have felt all four of these things many, many times in my life. And so this morning I want to share with you some verses from a book in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians. This is the most autobiographical of all of Paul's books. And in the very first chapter, he talks about when he felt all these things. I mean, this is the Apostle Paul talking. And look how candid he is in chapter 1, verses 8 and 9. We were really crushed and overwhelmed and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were. But Paul did not quit. Why not?

Well if you kind of boil down the rest of 2 Corinthians to its essence, you find four core beliefs of the Apostle Paul. Really these are four irreducible core beliefs that the Apostle Paul had and that I notice so many really world changing people have. These world changers that I met in Africa who have faced so many obstacles. I mean they faced financial challenges and governmental collapse and wars and famine and all kinds of stuff and yet they've kept going. They all share these four core beliefs too. And if you want to be an unstoppable person, you've got to believe these biblically rooted beliefs too. No matter what you're facing right now in your life, these are going to help you and especially they're going to help you get off the bench and back into the game. So jot these down.

Number one, unstoppable people, world changing people believe that God gives me strength. God gives me all the strength I need. See self confidence is not enough. There's times I feel weak because I am weak. But God working in me gives me strength. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 4. Paul says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." Now before you turn the page, look at 2 Corinthians 4, 7. Let's read this verse out loud together. We're going to put it on the screen too. This is such an important verse. Let me hear you. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.

In each one of these points this morning, I want you to meet a different person that I met these past 3 weeks in Africa. While I was there, I got to speak at a commissioning service for pastors who were going out to start churches. And I have to tell you, I was so humbled by these amazing rural African village pastors. These guys, I got a chance to talk to a lot. They're so sharp and they're so committed and they love these little villages they go to so much and yet they have so little except for difficulties. And I was just in awe of these guys. But let me tell you the story of just one pastor who last year had been working out there in very rural Africa. His name is Crispin. Crispin was pastoring in a village near the Children's Center in the same region. And it sounds odd to our California ears, but the local witch doctor who had real control over the village told him, "Get out of town or I will kill you!" And Crispin said, "I'm not afraid of you because God has called me to serve this community." Well, this past October, Crispin was murdered. They found his body in the lake. He had been strangled to death and then his body had been mutilated with a machete. And then they threw him into the lake afterwards.

And I actually preached in the church where they brought Crispin's body and held the funeral. And we commissioned the young pastor who is going in to take Crispin's place to be the next pastor in that village. Now let me ask you this. How in the world do these guys find the courage to keep going and moving forward in that kind of an environment, in places where there's very little reward and very great danger? What is their secret? Well, I asked one of these pastors there, Pastor Rex. He pastors a church in this area. He helps out at the Children's Center in the same region where Crispin was killed. Now, his response is deep stuff. But I want you to hear his answer. You know, when the Bible says, "Trust the Lord." Okay. "The Lord who protects you." Really what happened to the young man was heartbreaking. And in one or the other it could instill fear to take up the challenge to continue with the week. But you know, God is always faithful to the faithful. And the death of the young man, there are two sides. It could be a case in the land because he was a servant of God and the blood was shed there. Or it could be a blessing in one or the other. So personally, the way I take it, I take it as a blessing because the seed has been sown.

Okay. The life has been sown there in that land. So when I take the challenge, I believe God to make that seed germinate, grow and then bear the fruit spiritually. So what I shouldn't do is to entertain fear. Now let's stop there for just a second. But is that not incredible? His friend, his fellow pastor was killed last October. And what Rex says is, "What I shouldn't do is to entertain fear." I love that turn of phrase, "entertain fear." What does it mean to entertain fear? To entertain fear like you'd entertain a guest at your house. You give fear hospitality in your mind. You coddle it, encourage it, serve it drinks, get it to stay a while, let your imagination be captured by it, have conversations with it, you entertain fear. Well, let me ask you, are you entertaining fear about something in your life right now? I just have to say this, so much of what passes for news or entertainment in our society is really about entertaining fear.

Because the media know if something scares you, then you're going to pay attention to it, and their ratings are going to go up. And that's why the news gets you so scared about Ebola and about crime and about terrorism, about whatever. They want you to entertain fear. So you keep watching. I got to tell you, I probably heard, I don't know, it felt like a hundred times for people as I prepared for this trip to Africa. Don't go because of Ebola. Even though the United States has had more cases of Ebola than any of the countries that I'm going to or that I went to. See, if you entertain fear, what happens is you close off opportunities and you stop living and you stop making a difference because you're living a life in a locked room and you lock the room because of your fears. You have to outsmart people or try to get you to entertain fear.

Now you might say to yourself, "Well, René, why not entertain fear? The world is a scary place. After all, Crispin was murdered." Good question. And that leads right into the second point. Unstoppable people, world-changing people believe, "I am destined to win." I am destined to win no matter what. You say, "What in the world are you talking about?" Check this out. Paul says, 2 Corinthians 2, 14, "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ." Circle the word there always. He's saying, "God, always triumphs. Always, always, always." And now circle triumphal procession. Here's what Paul's talking about. Back in his day, when a Roman general returned from victory on the battlefield, the Roman Senate would throw him a triumphal procession. That was a gigantic parade through what they called a triumphal arch like this one. And Paul's saying, "Every war in our lives can end this way. Everyone, God always leads us in triumphal procession." Now, he's not saying it'll be easy. The battle that led to this triumphal arch wasn't easy. He was still a battle. But he says, "Ultimately, for Christians, there is a victory parade at the end of every battle, every time."

Now, that may seem hard for you to believe right now. Maybe you got divorced and you didn't want to get divorced. Your kids are making horrible choices. Your finances are in ruins. How can you say, "I'm destined to win?" Well, think of Paul. If you would have asked him back then in the first century, "What's your life's work?" He would have said, "Well, I'm here to start these churches and cities all over the Roman Empire." But now, as we look back 20 centuries and you look back at Ephesus, you look back at Corinth, you look back at Colossae, you look back at Philippi, are those churches still there? Not in most of those cities. In basically every one of the cities where the Apostle Paul started a church, it's gone. The whole city's a ruin. So was Paul a failure? No. The work of Paul that literally changed the world were the letters he wrote while he was locked up and could do nothing else.

And that's what it means when it says God always leads us in triumphal procession. God doesn't necessarily help you succeed in the way you are planning, but he always brings a success out of every battle. And Paul somehow knew this. Look at 2 Corinthians 4, 17, and 18. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." And so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. This right there, that is what the world-changing, unstoppable people that we met in Africa believed to their core. In fact, check this out. While I was there in Zambia, I also spoke with this man, Pastor Henry Mumba. Man, I want to be like this guy when I grow up. He's amazing. Henry is the bishop of the area, and that means he oversees all these pastors. Henry was Crispin's, the young man who was killed, his direct supervisor. And now Henry is mentoring the next pastor who is going back to that same village. And I want you to listen to what he says about this.

My name is Henry Mumba. What keeps me going as a pastor, as I pastor around here, in spite of the difficulties, it's just the grace of God. Remember God's word says that my grace is sufficient for you, my power is made manifest in weakness. It is when you're going through a difficult is knowing life that we experience the grace of God upon our lives, helping us to move forward. So really, the minister of various challenges that we are facing in the area where we are like a mother of a young man that we sent to Cherenge, who was murdered and then thrown in the leg. At first, you tend to say to yourself, "I keep on doing this." But then the conviction comes very strongly. We have to do what God has called us to do, in spite of the difficulties or challenges that might come our way. His grace will help us to overthrow. His word is very clear that all things work out for good to them that love the Lord. In the midst of all these challenges, something good is being worked out for us as we continue, even in the place where the young man was murdered. We are not stopping. We are continuing. We are sending someone to continue with the work in that place.

Isn't that amazing? Let me ask you this. Do you see even a hint of fear in the eyes of Henry or in Rex? I mean, it's remarkable, isn't it? This is somebody that they knew very well, that they worked with very closely. It would have been as if I had lost Mark or Paul or Adrian or they'd lost me in a situation like that. But there's like not even a hint of fear, but absolute confidence. God is going to work out something good even in this. So listen, if you feel incompetent, remember, God gives me strength. If you feel discouraged, remember, according to the Bible, you're destined to win. And then third, if you feel unworthy, did you notice a concept that they both mentioned, both Henry and Rex talked about something? Did you notice what it was? The grace of God. And that leads me right to core belief number three. It's all by God's grace. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about God and His grace.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4 one, therefore, since through God's mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. I want you to circle through God's mercy. We have this ministry. Paul knew he didn't deserve his ministry. He had it by God's mercy. I don't deserve to be a pastor. Not one of our missionaries deserves to be a missionary. You don't deserve to go on a short term trip. Thank God it's not about what we deserve. It's not about our worth or worthiness. It's about God and His holiness that's given to us in Jesus Christ. You know, the places that these pastors in Zambia serve, they're mostly these mud hot thatched roof villages. Often the only modern building of the whole village is the church. And the only people ministering to these villagers are these pastors. I mean, there is no one else out there in extreme rural Zambia. The UN is not there. Their own government is not there. You know who's the only outside person they're ministering to these people? It's these pastors.

Problem. These pastors have no way to get training. There's no Bible colleges out there. They can't afford to go into some city and take two years off to get training. And so an organization we've supported for years, AFNET, founded by a member of TLC, gives them two years worth of excellent Bible training in their own villages with an ingenious correspondence course. But Johann had to get over a huge obstacle, which was feeling unworthy. Really interesting. I want you to listen to what Johann has to say about it. I'm Johann Kombreink. I'm the director of AFNET. I run this ministry here in Africa. As a matter of fact, when I was in 10th grade, I was voted least likely to succeed in my class. But I believed that there was something greater in me than that. And having gone through university, I got involved in business, became a very successful businessman, but always felt that there was something greater for me to be doing with my life. And that's not living for myself, but through me living for the community around me.

And when I began to think about going into ministry, I felt, I thought back to the day when I was voted least likely to succeed. And I wondered, can I make it? Can I get on a platform? Can I lead? Can I lead a mission? That wasn't even in my paradigm. But it's not about me. It's about the grace of God. I've come to learn over the years that I've been in ministry, 35 years now, that we've been full-time in ministry. The Lord has used us powerfully around the world and across the continent of Africa, that to this day, it's still not about me. I still think of myself as at least likely to succeed kids in 10th grade. But I am grateful that God does not see who I am. He doesn't look at my abilities. He looks at my availability. And because of me making the decision, I will be available. Lord, I'm not going to be able to do this on my own, but it's because of you. And that by your grace, and every day I've got to remind myself, it's by your grace, Lord, because I look at myself and I look back at what God has allowed us to do through this mission. And I realize I couldn't have done it. It was because of God.

And if there's anybody that I can speak to on this, I can tell you it's not about you, it's about Him. All you need to do is be available so that God can use you for His purpose, because I am only an instrument in His hand to fulfill His purpose through my life and my generation. You know, you might have been told yourself, you're not likely to succeed. You can't do that. You might have been told that by an authority, by a teacher, by a coach, by a parent, by a pastor. Or you might be repeating that lie to yourself, you're not going to succeed in this. Man, if that's what you're telling yourself, tell yourself this instead. It is all by God's grace. God's grace, that means God loves you so much that through Jesus Christ He provided payment for all of your sin. And now in His sight you stand righteous, ready to be equipped to serve the mission that God has for you.

And that leads us right to the final core belief, which is this, unstoppable people believe I'm on a mission from God. Anybody remember the Blues Brothers? Right? Just to remind you of that. Unstoppable, right? Through every crazy thing they went through, right? We're on a mission from God. Well, that's true of you too. My final week in Africa, I was in Dakar, Senegal, where I spoke at the Dakar Academy. This is one amazing school in one tough town. The students there, ranging from grade schoolers to high schoolers, are from 37 different countries, including a lot of traditional enemies. You'll find kids there from India and Pakistan, and Iraq and Iran, and Korea and China, and all kinds of African countries. Yet they all worship together, and they learn together, and this little school produces more world leaders per capita than any other single school in the world.

The list of grads there, they produced African presidential candidates, Oxford Dons, astronauts, too many pastors and doctors to count. And this is another ministry you have been supporting through your offerings every week through Twin Lakes Church. And you may have not even ever realized this. Now, why are these students so exceptional? From this tiny little, you know, not rich missionary school. Well, I believe, I know, it's because they are taught this over and over again. Kids, you are on a mission from God. And these kids just believe this to their core. On Thursday morning, I talked to some of the kids who told me that this isn't something the teachers told them, that they're just on their own. They get together every morning and they say, "God, show us today someone, just one person, who needs to know the love of God." And then they just keep their eyes open for that person.

And it might be that they just show them love with a hug, or with an act of service, or they might share the gospel with them. But they keep their eyes open because they believe they have a mission in life. It's so awesome. Like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, "For Christ's love compels us." Because we're convinced that one died for all. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as if God were making His appeal through us. And we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Man, this is key. You are put on this planet for this mission. You know, it's a mission that Jesus gave to all of His followers, all of His disciples, go into all the world and make disciples.

And let me close with one final story. Our first week in Africa, we were actually in South Africa to see what Lisa Pole is doing. Lisa is another Twin Lakes member who's moved to Africa. And she runs camps where she brings in junior high aged kids of all races, all chosen by their teachers, because they show leadership potential. And the idea is to get these kids at 11, 12 years old before they're jaded and give them the vision to be great leaders, to tell them, "You have a purpose in life, to be a great leader." And I got to be a camp counselor there for a week. And one of my favorite things that happened there was one little girl in our group. Her name is Obedience. That's her name. And she prayed. She said, "Lord, give us the vision to see that the greatest leader in Africa's history is not in its past, but in its future, and is sitting in this room right now." Isn't that awesome?

Now, Lisa's the one who kind of had the vision for this class, but how in the world did Lisa go from being a deputy district attorney in Monterey to this in Africa? Well, when Lisa turned 40, she says her life changed during a weekend like this one. And so watch out because you never know what God might do through World Outreach Week. When I was 40 years old, the church did The Purpose Driven Life, where we all read it together, and we met in small groups to discuss it. So that's when I started going to small groups at Twin Lakes Church. And then the next thing, I started my own small group. And then to the next step, The Purpose Driven Life, where you're made for a mission, I said, "I'm going to go on a mission trip." So we had the World Outreach Week at Twin Lakes Church, where all the mission partners came home, and I went and listened to one of them and decided, "I'm going to do a short-term mission trip."

And I thought, "As long as I'm going to do it, I'm going to go for the big daddy of them all, Africa." And that's when I fell in love with Africa. The land, the people, the animals, but mostly the children. Johann Kombring came back for World Outreach Week, and he said to me that the director of orphan programs had quit, and would I consider coming and doing that for a year in South Africa? And I said, "No, I'm a lawyer. I can't do that." And another year went by, and he came back for a while again, and he said, "Lisa, we still don't have anybody for the orphan programs." I kept telling Johann that I didn't feel qualified to move to South Africa and being the director of orphan programs. But I said I would prey on it, because I knew that the need was great.

So I said, "Okay, Lord, I'll go for one year. I'll just take a year off work." And it took me a year to raise the money to go. I went to South Africa for a year, and I was the director of orphan programs, and I loved it. I mean, it was the best job in the world. Feeding starving children and giving blankets to freezing children, and just loving on the children. And that's when God gave me the vision to do play, purpose, leadership, adventure for use, to raise up leaders in the schools and in the community, starting with the children. That's when I went back and sold my house in Santa Cruz and everything I owned, and moved to South Africa and started play camps. And again, people asked me, "Have you done youth camps before?" I said, "No." "Have you even gone to a youth camp before?" "No." "Then what makes you think you can do this?" And my only answer was that God told me to do it.

I am not qualified to do this. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I know that this is what God wants me to do. And now it's been a year and a half, and four camps under my belt, and I love it. And I know that I'm doing the purpose that he planned for me long ago. Isn't it awesome? Praise God. By the way, we got to baptize 40 kids at the end of the camp who made commitments for Jesus Christ, and that was probably the best part of the whole camp. But look at these four points here in your notes. Do you see how they counteract each of those four excuses at the top of page one of your notes? "I feel incompetent." God gives you strength. "I feel discouraged." God promises you're destined to win. "I feel unworthy." We have our ministry by God's grace. "I feel confused." God has a mission for you.

So what are you waiting for? Plunge in. Now, you might be thinking, "But I don't know if I'm cut out for African." No, maybe God is designed for you right now is for you to be the missionary to your neighborhood, or for you to be a missionary to your own kids playing in your own backyard. And you're saying, "But how do I know? I want to make something clear. Being empowered by purpose does not mean that you have to know exactly what your specific purpose is in every detail." Lisa didn't know where she would end up when she started this process. You know, when Jesus called his disciples on the Sea of Galilee, he did not say, you know, "To Peter and John and James, 'Come, follow me. We're going to be in Galilee for a while then we're going to go down to Jerusalem, come back to Galilee, spend a few weeks in Caesarea Philippi, take an unusual trip to Tyre and Sidon, go back down to Jerusalem, back up to Galilee, back down to Jerusalem for some confrontations with the Pharisees, back up to Galilee again, then back down to Jerusalem, you're going to see me crucified and then see me resurrected, and it's going to change the world, so follow me.' He did not say that!

No, what did he say? What did he say? "Follow me, period." And they took one step and then another and then another and it led eventually to the very ends of the earth. What he says to you and me is, "Just follow me." And it starts with a prayer like, "God, I'm just willing to do whatever you want me to do and wherever you want me to go." Do you dare to pray that prayer? And it doesn't matter if you're a teenager or 40 like Lisa was or retired. I've seen God use people in amazing, both local and international missionary ways of all kinds of different ages and situations in life. God opens the doors. You just move forward and see what doors open because you're here for a reason and God will empower you to achieve that starting this weekend. Let's pray together. Would you bow your heads and your hearts with me?

Lord, thank you so much for what you are doing through these amazing people all over the world, but we want to give you the glory. We thank you. Help us not to bench ourselves because we put somebody else on a pedestal. Help us to put ourselves in the game because of these core beliefs of Christians. And, Lord, I just want to pray right now that if anybody here in this room right now wants to pray the prayer, "God, whatever you want me to do, wherever you want me to go, I'm moving forward one step at a time." I pray that they would just take this opportunity to pray that right now. "God, wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do." And, Lord, I pray that if anybody here wants to take on Jesus like that bar owner in Zambia, that they just open their hearts to you right now and say, "Jesus, if you love trash kids, then you can love even me because sometimes I feel like a trash kid. Come into my life and help me live empowered for your purpose." God, may our church be a shining light of a group of people, a community who know they are empowered by you for your purposes. In Jesus' name, amen.