How to Really Love Santa Cruz 2022

Good morning. Hey, my name is René, one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. Good morning. Thank you so much for coming out on kind of a drizzly Sunday morning. But how many of you are so delighted that we are getting rain? Thank you, God. I love it.

Well, grab your little message notes that have this logo on the top, how to really love Santa Cruz 2022. And as you're taking those out, or if you're joining us on the live stream, you can pick these up at TLC.org/notes. I just want to give you a quick preview of what's coming up next weekend. We launch an eight-week fall series. We're going to be looking at a guy in the pages of the book of Genesis in the Bible who was thrown into a pit. He was in prison unjustly. He went through tons of tough times. But he saw God bring good out of it all. I'm talking about the life of Joseph.

We call our series, You'll Get Through This. Say that out loud with me. You'll get through this. Turn to somebody next to you right now. Look them in the eye and say, "You'll get through this. You'll get through this. It's going to be all right." It doesn't matter what you're talking about, you're going to get through this. Even if you're just talking about my sermon for the next 30 minutes, you'll get through this.

And we're also starting small groups. TLC.org/smallgroups is where you can sign up for them or you can sign up at the table out in the lobby too. Also, we're tying into a book by Max Lucado on the life of Joseph called You'll Get Through This. And you can pick up your copy of the book in the lobby. So for the next eight weeks, starting next weekend, the sermons and the small group material and this book by Max Lucado and his videos on RightNow Media available for you for free with an account from the church. All of that is going to be synced up together so that we can team up together and grow together, get support together. It's just such a great habit to get into a life group like that.

Again, TLC.org/smallgroups is where you can sign up. I'm really stoked about this series. It's going to be a lot of fun. It's relevant and it's totally needed. Well, if you are new, welcome. Every single week since August, we've had approximately 100 more people every single weekend. So we're thrilled to see that happen. A lot of brand new people here to the church. Great to have you here.

And as Kyle said, if you're brand new, you can pick up a visitor's bag at the info desk. We want to welcome you with all we've got. But if you are new, you have picked a great weekend to check out Twin Lakes Church because every year in September, we do a message we call how to really love Santa Cruz. And what this is about is revisiting the mission of Twin Lakes Church. Why are we even here? By the way, I'll give you a hint. Spoiler alert. It's this word right in the middle, but I'll get to that later.

What's the DNA of Twin Lakes Church? I mean, why do we do church the way we do church? And this is a chance for us to kind of re-up on that, recommit ourselves to that. And I want to start today with a question that you might have been asking yourself. And it's simple. How do we change the world? I mean, I can't imagine anybody, religious or not religious, Christian or not Christian, who is delighted with the way the world is right now. There's a lot of problems in the world. So how do we make a difference? And maybe we got to ask, can it even be changed? Can you even make a real substantial difference at all? A lot of people are in despair about that right now when they look at all the problems in the world.

Well, let me start with a true story. This island in India, it's called Madhavar. Julie Island was once a flourishing paradise for wildlife, but decades of deforestation turned it into a desert. A man named Jadav Payeng was there, grew up on the island, saw it all happen before his eyes. So in 1979, he decided to do something about it. Woke up one morning. Before work, he walked to a barren spot on the island, and he planted a tree, one little sapling. And that became his daily routine every morning before work for the next 37 years, every morning.

The result is astonishing. That island is now a forest twice the size of Central Park in Manhattan. And with the return of vegetation, suddenly came the return of the animals, a herd of 115 elephants now called Majuli Island. Oh, there's tigers. There's rhinos. There's deer. Majuli Island is now a tropical paradise again. And how did it happen? One tree at a time for a lifetime. So how do you and I change the world? One act of service, one conversation, one heart at a time, year after year after year.

Now you might think, René, great story. But there's so many big things that are wrong with the world. There's injustice and unfairness and oppression and persecution, violence, poverty, many Christians right now feeling marginalized. Much of our culture has devalued Christian beliefs and is ridiculing its believers. How are we supposed to respond? And a lot of people are saying, we've got to like practically take up arms and fight this. I'm hearing a lot of that language. But let me ask you this. Is there anything that Jesus said about how to change a world like this? Is there anything in the gospels that Jesus said about how to act when you feel kind of like a minority in a culture that has a lot of problems in a culture that even it kind of feels against you? Did Jesus say anything about that?

Well, yes. In fact, when Jesus shows up 2,000 years ago, people living in his land of Israel were under the boot of the Roman Empire. There is poverty. There's injustice. There's religious oppression and corruption. And everybody from the people in despair to the people who were getting militant was praying, begging God, please send that promised warrior king that you said would restore our kingdom and make it a kingdom of God again. Send the Messiah. And then Jesus shows up and says, that's me. And here's his very first message. The time promised by God has come at last, he announced. The what? Kingdom of God is near. Say the word kingdom. Kingdom.

The word kingdom is the word Jesus used far more than any other to describe his movement. Nothing else even comes close. Over 100 times in the four gospels, he says, my movement is a kingdom, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven, kingdom, kingdom, kingdom. Now, when people heard the word kingdom, they thought soldiers and swords and political maneuvering and military victories. So Jesus says, let me just explain to you what the kingdom of God is like. It's not like that. He says the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, isn't like a mustard seed. It's like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in its field, though it's the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it's the largest of all garden plants.

Anybody who grows up near a redwood forest is going, now, wait a minute here, that's not true. Mustard bushes are not bigger than redwood trees, right? Well, let me just show you what Jesus was talking about. He's not talking about height. He's talking about spread. I was in April in Israel, and I took these videos with my phone. In the spring in Israel, mustard plants carpet the country. Nobody planted these. Nobody tends these. But mustard plants carpet every hillside, every valley, every pathway, wild seeds. And yet, they color the world. This is what Jesus was talking about here. He's saying it happens slowly. It happens inexorably. It happens universally. That's how God's changing the world, like mustard covering the earth.

And then he says, well, the kingdom of heaven is kind of like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through this big 60 pounds of flour, little bit of yeast. What he's saying with the mustard seed, with the yeast, he's saying the kingdom of God starts small, but slowly grows. You know, mustard seed, does that make a noise? Does yeast make a noise? Can you hear the sounds of swords clashing and trumpets blaring? Do they grab the headlines? No. You can almost not tell anything is happening until the bread rises until the world is covered with a yellow carpet.

Here's another way to look at it. We play the long game. Yeast slowly spreads. Mustard slowly grows. Jesus is saying, this is the kingdom of God. You're part of a movement, you know, changing the world, it's not up to you individually. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that a relief? It's not, it's not only, you're not only on a team, you're part of a movement that is 2,000 years old and counting. Your yeast, your seeds, with effect that outlasts your life span. So Jesus is saying, this is how it happens. We've got the Roman Empire over here. We've got people who've tried very valiantly to try to fight the Roman Empire, and every single one of them has been defeated. So the kingdom of God is going to come like little seeds, like little yeast, and slowly it's going to spread and it's going to completely change things.

Was he right or wrong? A man named Bart Ehrman, you might recognize the name, he's kind of notorious in some circles. He's a professor of religious history at the University of North Carolina. He's written six New York Times bestsellers, and crucially, from my point here, Bart Ehrman is an atheist. He is not a Christian, so he doesn't have kind of skin in the game when he writes about the triumph of Christianity. That's the title of a book that he wrote in 2018, subtitle how a forbidden religion swept the world. And here's his conclusion. Remember, not even as a Christian. He says, here's just the facts. Christianity was a revolution that not only took over an empire, he's talking about from year 30 AD when Jesus was crucified to about 330 AD when Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire. Christians never went to war against the Roman Empire during those 300 years. But it took over. It took over an empire, radically altered the lives of those living it.

Watch this. It affected government practices, art, literature, music, philosophy, and the very understanding of billions of people about what it even means to be human. It was the most monumental cultural transformation the world has ever seen. So was Jesus right? This tiny movement? Did it change the empire? Did the yeast spread through the dough? Absolutely. So when we talk about how do I change my world, remember it can happen. In fact, it did happen. So what I say is, let's do it again like that.

You know, I'm hearing more and more people say something like this, what will it take to bring revival to America and revival, spiritual revival to Santa Cruz County? Show of hands, how many of you would love to see spiritual revival happen in Santa Cruz County? I hope you're raising your hand, I would love to see it. And we have what people need. We have the good news. We have the gospel that Jesus paid it all on the cross that we are forgiven and we are loved unconditionally and we can walk in that freedom. So we've got kind of the content. But it's not just about the content. It's about how do we get that message out effectively?

Well, Jesus told us how. I've been so captivated by a new book by Andy Stanley all about this called Not In It To Win It. In fact, I love it so much I'm getting a copy for every pastor on staff here. And much of my message for the rest of my time today is basically a Reader's Digest condensed version of that 10 chapter book. Because as he points out, Jesus specifically told his disciples how to do this. And when they did what he said, the world changed. So let's make Jesus' strategy our strategy. And I love that. This is what we hope to do, we try to do, we pray to do here at Twin Lakes Church.

So what was Jesus' strategy? Well, he specifically gave his disciples some marching orders in his last few hours with them. Let me take you back into time, 2,000 years to the upper room, the last time Jesus met with his disciples before the crucifixion. Three times in his final words to them, three times, he says, as I have done, now you should do. Three times. As I have done, you do. As you have seen me do, you do. As I'm doing now for you, I want you to do. That is my strategy. In other words, Jesus didn't leave it up to us to figure out how to advance his movement. He says, do it exactly like this.

Watch how the Apostle John, as he sets up this moment, writes about it in his gospel. He was there. And he says, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and he was returning to God. All things were under the power of Jesus right now. Every event, every individual. So could Jesus have changed Pilate's mind, Herod's mind? Could Jesus have stopped the crucifixion? Absolutely. So what does Jesus do when he has all power and all privilege? What do you and I do when we get all power and all privilege? Here's what Jesus does.

So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist. And after that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Now, washing feet. It's funny, I was looking for some kind of graphic that I could show you to represent this. But every single painting or graphic art that I found online that showed this, that represented this event in Christian history, the feet are always like antiseptically clean and everybody's wearing freshly laundered white linen and the water's crystal clear. You could eat off those feet, right? Is this do you think what it was like? No, it was gross. It was disgusting.

In fact, in those days, the rabbis often asked their disciples. There were a lot of rabbis with disciples, right? They would ask their disciples to do menial tasks. But washing feet was the one task that was considered beneath even a rabbi's disciples. Washing feet was reserved for the lowest servant on the social rung to do. But Jesus does it. And think of how long this took. I was just thinking about it this week. How many disciples were there in the room? Shout it out. There were 12. So Jesus goes up to the first one, takes off their sandals, gets the basin, wash, wash, wash, water, wash, wash, wash, wash. Next foot, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, wash, pat dry, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, pat, rub, rub dry. Oh, I missed a spot. There we go. Pick up the bowl, move to the next person, times 12. And there's a silence as this is happening. Only one disciple says anything. And guess who that is? Peter, of course. And he goes, no, not me. Jesus is like, sit down. I'm washing your feet. Nobody's thinking about the game. Nobody's talking about how good the lamb was. They're just staring at Jesus like, what is happening right now?

And then when he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. Do you understand what I have done for you? And they're like, to us, yes, but for us? Little unclear. He says, well, let me just explain it. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. But now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another's feet. I've set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. He's like, guys, this is the strategy. Number one, serve. Now, I don't think he's just saying ritually wash feet. And some of you are breathing a sigh of relief because you thought that's where this was going. Serve, get your hands dirty. Don't be so high and mighty.

Now, let me ask you a question. Knowing the disciples from the gospels, do you think that they went, got it, Jesus, say no more. Our days of ego tripping are over. Of course not. In fact, in Luke's description of the event, he adds this interesting detail right after dinner is over. The dinner where this just happened a few minutes before, a dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be the greatest. And I'm sure Jesus must have just done a forehead slap like unbelievable, right? So he says, guys, listen, you're caught up in the ways the kingdoms of the world work. The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them. And those who exercise authority over them call themselves benefactors. He's saying the kingdoms of this world are, you know, Billy goat head, budding rooster, strutting, metal wearing tin pot dictators. And by the way, if you ever see this kind of attitude in a Christian leader, run, run.

He says, but you are not to be like that. Forget everything you've seen modeled in the kingdoms of this world. Forget it. Forget everything you've seen those people do that even if it seems to work. Because I got a totally different way to conquer the world. The greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules like the one who serves, serve. And I love that this is a part of the DNA of Twin Lakes Church. This is why we want to mobilize this church to be an army of servants. This is why you may not know this, but we feed hundreds of people every week on Wednesday afternoons through our food pantry. You may not know this, we provide showers and laundry facilities in mobile units for the unhoused population here in Santa Cruz County. We work with other churches on that project.

This is why our church is sponsoring a Ukrainian refugee family. Did you know that? They're doing this every week for worship. Their kids are enrolled in our school. This is why we repair homes. Like just for example, these are some volunteers who worked last Saturday at the home of a woman here in Santa Cruz. This woman is an elderly widow. She is deaf. She has crippling arthritis. And she doesn't even attend Twin Lakes Church, but somebody told her, "I heard that church loves people and serves people." And so she called us up and our home aid team, this is part of them, that's Nadia, Ernie, Kyle, and Phil, they went, did some dump runs for her, did some lighthouse repair.

Now let me ask you a question. Is this getting the headlines that the politicized loudmouth pastors get? No, Nadia, Ernie, Kyle, and Phil will never make the news. And Jesus says, "That's okay, because they're mustard seeds. They're yeast here in Santa Cruz County. We're playing the long game." And that is what Connect Expo is all about today. Here's a peek of what you're going to see this morning. Look at all those smiling happy faces. And you can go up to all these different booths and find ways that you can help and you can volunteer. And you can at least encourage these people are doing all these ministries. And if that wasn't enough, there's also candy at all these booths.

But you can volunteer tutoring students in our new Spanish ministries. We've got a jail ministry for women. We've got our homeless outreach that I just talked about. There's a nursing home ministry as well that's so important. Driving angels, people just need rides places. We got our meal ministry, our memorial team that helps set up funerals here at the church. I know there is a way that you can serve if you're not serving already, and it's going to help your spiritual growth as well. Jesus says, "That's how we do it, both here in the church and in the community we serve."

Now, at this point, I imagine the disciples are going, "Okay, God, I know you love service, Jesus." Now, anything more to the strategy here? Any more practical, like soldierly, manly marching orders? Jesus goes, "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me." Second prong to my strategy, love. Just a couple of verses later. A new command I give you, here it is, this big idea is going to leave 'em with, love each other. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Now, that phrase, "As I have loved you," would you say that out loud with me? "As I have loved you." When we hear that, we think of the cross probably first, right? Jesus forgave our sins on the cross. That's how he loved us. But who is he saying this to? These are the 12 disciples, this is before the crucifixion. They're not thinking of the cross 'cause he hasn't died on the cross yet.

When he says, "As I have loved you," what are they thinking of? Here's what I imagine. I imagine Matthew, and maybe he, this is the first thought that came to his mind when Jesus was washing his feet. And Matthew thinks, "As I have loved you," and he thinks back to the first day he ever met Jesus. And he thinks, "Yeah, I was a traitor to my own people. I sold them out to the Romans. I was a tax collector. And that meant I was extorting as much money as I could from them. I was betraying them. And everybody in the region hated me. And you sought me out, and you looked me in the eye and you said, 'Matthew, came to find you. Come follow me.' And then you said, 'Oh, Matthew, I'm coming to your house tonight for a party you're going to throw. And I want you to invite all your Roman friends, all the collaborator friends, all the other tax collectors. Oh, and Matthew, I'd also like you to invite all your prostitute friends. I know about them too. And I want them to follow me.'

And then I imagine Jesus moving over to Nathaniel saying, Nathaniel is thinking, "I remember the first day I met Jesus 'cause the first thing out of my mouth was I made fun of his hometown. And I mocked his family. And I said, 'Nothing good could ever come out of them.' And Jesus looked at me and smiled and said, 'Good one, Nate. Now follow me.'" I said, "I have loved you." What do you think of when you think of, as Jesus has loved you, the sins he's forgiven, the blessings he's lavished on you, even though you know you don't deserve them? As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Now, Jesus doesn't just stop there. Watch this. He says, "By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples. The world will know that we're true followers of Jesus when, if you love one another. The significance of this cannot be overstated." Jesus is saying, "Love, when we radiate love, it equals credibility for our message." And if that is true, then the opposite is also true. No love equals lost credibility. And sadly, so much of what I've seen in the last couple of years from a lot of high-profile Christian leaders who might have the right content, but they're behaving rudely, not loving, contentious, cantankerous, and what is consequently happening is exactly what Jesus said would happen. We, as Christians, are losing our credibility in our culture.

But when we do serve and love, I mentioned this last November, but it's so exciting to me. Over at Loft Coffee, I sat across the table from a friend of mine. I've known her for years. She's a professor at UC Santa Cruz. She's also involved locally, politically. And when you think professor at UC Santa Cruz and involved for years politically in Santa Cruz, all the stereotypes you're probably thinking of are absolutely true of her, not a believer, very progressive. And she told me this, "I have to be honest with you, René. My idea of Christians was almost entirely negative. I thought of Christians as very judgmental, isolated from society, and not usually very smart. I'm so glad she was free to be that honest with me, honestly." She says, "But TLC has blown away my prejudice against Christians. I've met smart, kind, generous Christians, who I would probably still disagree with on important issues, but who I have grown to what? To love."

Now watch this. The single factor that changed my attitude toward Christians more than anything else, your commitment to feeding the hungry. Now that's good enough, but what happened next was such a blessing. This is almost unbelievable. And she leans forward and she says, "René, how did you become a pastor? And how did you even become a Christian?" And I said, "Well, would you really like to know? How much time do you have?" And she says, "Well, as much time as you want." And I was able to share with her the story of how I rediscovered the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ in my life, and how it's changed my whole life. And she listened with genuine interest. Why? Because that's exactly what Jesus said would happen when we serve and when we love.

Now, I imagine the disciples are still thinking, "Okay, God, serve, love, all good. We know you love that kind of stuff, Jesus, but when do we get to the kingdom building part, the war room part, the tactics part? Where's our sword?" And Jesus says, "Well, this is the kingdom building part. This is the war room part. This is how we do it. These are our weapons." But you're right, guys. One final prong to our strategy. Unify. Unify. Now watch this. At the end of his time in the upper room, Jesus prays. And what he prays about, he closes in prayer, and what he prays about has really challenged me this week. Why? Because I don't think I really pray about this. Do you pray about this?

Here's his closing prayer. Holy Father, protect them. But the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so protect them. But not from physical harm. He's asking God to protect them from something else, something far more dangerous. Protect them so that they may be one, as we are one. And by one, Jesus doesn't mean some transcendental state of oneness. He means that he and his father had been on mission together. And he's praying that we would all say, on mission together. And watch this. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. That's amazing, isn't it?

So who are those? Who are those? Well, think of when he's saying this, 2,000 years ago. So those who would believe in him were Jews, Gentiles, Romans, Africans, Asians, Samaritans, women and men and slave free, and Romans and soldiers, and tax men and rich and poor and super rich, and English and Spanish, black, brown, white, young, old, married, single, Republicans, Democrats. You, me, us. That's a lot of those. And what's his prayer request? For those that all of them may be one father, just as you are in me and I am in you. Jesus prayed that nothing would divide his followers because do you know what's at stake? Don't rush by this. May they also be in us so that, so that what? That the world may believe that you have sent me.

If we are one, then the world believes. And he doubles down on this. I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one. I am them and they in me so that they may be brought, or you and me rather, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you have sent me and I have loved them even as you have loved me. Then the world will know. When is then? The world will believe. The world will know that Jesus must be real. It must be true. Then, when is then? When we are one. When they see Christians, Democrats, Republicans, black, white, brown, rich and poor all working together on the project of bringing Christ's love to the world, then they'll believe.

You want to know when revival will come when we're one. Now if that's true, then what is keeping or who is keeping revival from happening? According to Jesus' words here, his logic, any Christian pushing division, any pastor who says if you don't vote like I do, then how can you call yourself a Christian? Any Christian leader says if you don't think exactly like I do, then how can you call yourself? You're not one of us anymore. According to Jesus, that is keeping the world from believing. In other words, unity is not nice to have. Unity is mission critical.

I am so delighted that here in Santa Cruz County, the pastors believe this. A bunch of local pastors meet together every month for breakfast. This was just this past month. Just a few of the people there on my selfie. We're from very different denominations. We disagree on some doctrine, but we unify because we believe that is the foundation for spiritual revival and we truly love each other. Now, unity is not easy. I love what theologian Don Carson wrote. He said, "I suspect the reason that there are so many exhortations for Christians to love one another is because this isn't an easy thing to do." He says, "Ideally, however, the church is not made up of natural friends, it's made up of natural enemies." Love this.

What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort. Christians come together not because they form a natural collocation, but because they've been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance in light of this common allegiance, in light of the fact that they've all been loved by Jesus himself. They commit themselves to doing what he says and he commands them to love one another. In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus' sake, amen?

So would you be willing to pray the prayer of Jesus? Would you be willing to add to your prayer something like this, "Heavenly Father, make us one and begin with me." In fact, let's pray that together right now. Would you say this out loud with me? Heavenly Father, make us one and begin with me. Let me close with this. This isn't just theoretical. One of the greatest ways we can demonstrate our unity and our love and our service is this way. We are starting a Spanish language church service here at Twin Lakes Church in one month.

This is why we hired our new Spanish pastor, Julian Pizarro, because one third of our county identifies as Hispanic and how can we not minister to them if we're believers in Jesus Christ and we want to spread the gospel. Now, we're on the verge of a new phase in that ministry, but let me show you a 30-second video that shows you what brought us to this point since April. Watch this.

Well, I am so excited to be introducing to you all Julian Pizarro. Julian is going to be the pastor of Spanish ministries here at Twin Lakes Church starting April 1st.

Yeah! Thank you, gracias! Gracias, Twin Lakes. Would you please welcome Julian and Jessica Pizarro. So excited! Buenos dias!

Julian, give us a little vision for this ministry. In a month, what's going to happen? When does it start?

Well, first of all, good morning, Buenos dias. It will be a place of worship where we're going to get together and sing and learn about the Lord and where we're going to be ready to welcome all those that they haven't heard the good news and disciple them and so they can be part of that army of servers.

And when does it start exactly? October 23rd, 11 a.m., Monsky Hall, so invite all your friends, please. And you know, here's the vision, we're going to be one church in two languages, right? The Spanish church, the English-speaking church, we're going to all be together doing the same material, the same Bible studies, the same sermon topics, and before the 11 a.m. service, after the 11 a.m. service, we're all going to be mingling together in the plaza.

And why I'm bringing this up in the context of unity is, Julian and I know many churches have tried to do cross-cultural ministry 'cause everybody thinks it's a good idea, like, right, yeah, absolutely, let's reach out cross-culturally. Then when it comes down to brass tacks and you actually do it, friction often results and sometimes people, you know, deep-seated, unrecognized prejudices rise to the surface or people, they separate, like before and after the 11 a.m. service, it's like, well, that's those people over there and we're the English speakers over here. So what we're praying for is that we mix it up and that we demonstrate to the world the unity we have in Jesus Christ across every barrier. Who is into that vision? We're thrilled about that.

I'm so excited about it. Jessica, one final question. So the concert coming up, it's going to be exciting and we're talking about a Latin Grammy Award winner. It's going to be in Spanish, but everybody's welcome, right? Absolutely, everyone is welcome. So please invite a friend to come and Koala will be bringing contemporary Christian music and he'll be leading us in worship that night. So it's going to be a phenomenal night and a great opportunity to invite someone. And I know there's flyers out there where you can invite people. Yes. But what night is it again? It is Friday, October 7th at eight o'clock at night. So excited about that. Let's thank the Pizarros again.

So what will bring revival to Santa Cruz County? Well, Jesus told us exactly how. Now you might look at that and go, "Well, you know, this is a losing strategy. The world doesn't work this way." And you'd kind of be right because what happened the day after Jesus laid out the strategy, he was killed. And 10 of the 12 guys in that room were killed. So they lost. Short run. Remember, we're playing the long game. In the long run, what happened? Well, may I remind you the headquarters of the Roman Empire are now rubble filled, ruined tourist attractions. And the little movement that Jesus started in that room, two and a half billion people and counting. This is the strategy of Jesus. Serve, love and unify.

So how do we change the world? We do these three things. One tree at a time. For a lifetime. Father, thank you for showing us in your word how to roll, how to function, how to live as a church. And God, I pray that you would develop in us the unity and the love and the servant hearts that Jesus Christ prayed for, thank you, I'm so grateful I get to serve in a church where those are long lasting values. And God, help us not to be lured by the ways of the kingdoms of this world, which are all about greatness and power and prestige, but instead to be about love and service and unity. In Jesus' name, amen.