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The Mission Still Moves

Nobody comes to faith alone.

Someone invested.

Someone sacrificed.

Someone shared their life.

Someone made room.

On Mission Sunday, Kyle Lounsbury explores how the mission Jesus started more than 2,000 years ago continues through ordinary people empowered by the Holy Spirit. Drawing from Acts 1 and Romans 15, he reflects on his own journey to faith, the people who invested in him, and why every believer has a role in helping the mission move forward.

This message challenges the idea that only a few people make a difference. Whether through generosity, service, hospitality, encouragement, or sharing your faith, everyone participates in the mission of God.

Along the way, Kyle explores three powerful themes:

  • The mission creates holy ambition.
  • Everyone has a role to play.
  • Generosity fuels what God is doing around the world.

Whether you're exploring faith or wondering how your life can make a lasting impact, this message is a reminder that ordinary people can be part of an extraordinary story.

Chapters

00:00 Mission Sunday Introduction

02:00 What Is the Mission?

04:00 The Power of the Holy Spirit

05:00 Kingdom Citizenship

07:00 Kyle's Story of Faith

11:00 Romans 15 and the Early Church

14:00 Holy Ambition

17:00 Living for Something Bigger

19:00 Everyone Participates

20:00 The Sending Church

23:00 Why Every Role Matters

26:00 Champions Together

26:42 Generosity Fuels the Mission

29:00 The Kingdom Over Comfort

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Click here for more sermons

OC Church of Christ

Transcript
Kyle Lounsbury:

Today is Mission Sunday, and we get to give together, but also

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celebrate the mission of Jesus together.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And so I'm really excited to be able

to, uh, share some scriptures with you

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guys, to be able to share the Word,

and be able to take this morning to

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be able to celebrate all that God

has done here, and how we're able to

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give to the, the mission of Christ.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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You know, Jesus launched a

mission that continues through

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ordinary people like you and I.

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Uh, he launched the mission

many, many years ago.

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Yeah.

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And that mission is still

alive and well today.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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It's been over 2,000 years, and my wife

and I lead our campus ministry, and I'm on

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campus and I see the mission alive, amen?

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Amen.

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I see the mission alive on the

college campus in young people.

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Daniel sees it in our youth.

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Jesus is still working.

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He is still moving.

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And the title of today's message

is The Mission Still Moves.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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The Mission Still Moves.

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Let's go to God in prayer.

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God, thank you so much for this

morning and this time to worship you.

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I pray, Lord, that you would inspire

each and every one of us to remember

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that your mission still moves.

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Amen.

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That today we get to give a special

missions offering, but ultimately, Lord,

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your mission is present everywhere.

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Yes.

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And we're so grateful and honored

to be able to participate in it.

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I pray that this morning you

would inspire us to remember

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that the m- that the mission of

Christ is something so valuable.

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I believe the mission can solve so

many problems in our lost world.

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And I pray that you would speak to

whoever in here this morning maybe isn't

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feeling inspired by the mission, or

maybe isn't connected with the mission.

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That you would put on their heart

something powerful, something

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s- just spiritually moving and

stirring in their souls to wanna

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participate in your mission, Lord.

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We love you.

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We thank you.

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Please be with this time.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Amen.

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You know, as we talk about this

idea of the mission, I think it's

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important that we first start

with this question right here.

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What is the mission?

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You ever thought about it?

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You ever asked yourself that?

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What is the mission?

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You know, in our church for a

long time, and, and we still use

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this scripture to this day, we use

the scripture Matthew:

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I'm sure many of you

guys have this memorized.

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You probably can, can

quote it to me right now.

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It's Jesus' final instructions

on Earth before ascension, right?

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And I have it here on the screen.

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I think it's fitting to read it.

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Verse 19, "Therefore go and make

disciples," just in Orange County.

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No.

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No.

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"Of all nations."

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Right.

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"Baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the

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Holy Spirit, and teaching them to

obey everything I have commanded you.

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And surely I am with you always,

to the very end of the age."

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You know, I had to throw this scripture

in here because coming up in the

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summertime, our campus ministry is

going to what's called the ICMC, the

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International Campus Ministry Conference.

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Whoo.

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Amen.

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And our, our theme is to the very end of

the age or to the end, and we're gonna

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be talking about this idea of Jesus, God.

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He will be with us to the end.

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Amen.

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The last day, Jesus is with us.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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But today, I actually don't really want

to use this as our, as our main text.

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I think when we, when we talk about

the mission, I think this is certainly

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a piece of the mission, right?

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This is a big aspect of the

mission of Christ, but I think

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the mission may be even a little

bigger than just making disciples.

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All right?

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And today I actually wanna look at

a passage I believe is so powerful

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and a few, uh, years ago in our

campus internship program, we, we

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studied out the Book of Acts, and

the Book of Acts is so amazing.

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It's the, the…

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Just, I know a lot of people call

it the Acts of the Apostles, but

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it's the acts of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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The Holy Spirit's just moving so

powerfully, and in Acts 1:8, this is

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the main scripture I want us to look at.

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In Acts 1:8, Jesus says to his

disciples, this is right…

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This is Luke's account of before he

ascend, of before Jesus ascends, and

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he says, "But you will receive power

when the Holy Spirit comes on you."

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That's right.

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"And you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem and in all Judea

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and Samaria," and to what?

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The ends of the earth.

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The ends of the earth.

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Wow.

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To the end.

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Jesus says the mission is

not gonna stay in Jerusalem.

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The mission's not gonna just stay here in

this small little group of my disciples.

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You know, Jesus had his 12.

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It's not gonna just stay right here,

is what Jesus is saying, because

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he gave them something powerful.

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What did he give them?

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He gave them the Holy Spirit.

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Yeah.

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And guess what?

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What do we have today?

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We have that same Holy Spirit.

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Yeah.

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The Holy Spirit that God gave us,

and he gives us power- Yeah … to

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go, not just to Jerusalem or

Judea or Samaria, but to where?

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The ends of the earth.

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The mission of Jesus, the Gospel

of Jesus, has reached here.

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Amen.

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And we get to be a part of that mission.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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You see, Jesus did not build

on top of the earthly kingdoms

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established here when he came.

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And this is a concept that, that for me,

it took a long time to understand, but

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Jesus established his own new kingdom.

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And when we were baptized into

Christ and we said, "Jesus is Lord,

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I'm gonna follow Jesus," we no

longer were citizens of this earth.

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We were no longer citizens of earthly

kingdoms- That's right … but

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we're truly citizens of heaven.

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That's right.

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Citizens of the kingdom of God.

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You see, Jesus started a movement

called the Kingdom of God.

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Yeah.

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And we are a part of it today.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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Now, many of you may be

citizens of America, amen?

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It's our country.

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But ultimately, we associate

with the Kingdom of God.

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That's right.

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Yeah.

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The k- the disciples of Jesus.

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That's why we come together on Sunday,

and that's why we give a missions offering

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to people we'll never meet- Yeah, yeah

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because we're citizens of something

bigger- That's right … than

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what we can even understand.

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Yes.

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We're citizens of a kingdom

beyond our understanding.

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It's a kingdom here on Earth,

and it's a kingdom in heaven.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And so before we jump into, to some,

some scripture here, think about…

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Take a moment.

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Everyone just take a moment.

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Think of your own story for a second.

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Think of how you ended up here today.

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Obviously, you probably drove,

maybe if you live close enough.

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I know Tim maybe could walk.

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Right, Tim?

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But how did you get here?

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How did you find the Kingdom of God?

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Who talked to you about Jesus?

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Who sat with you and

shared the scriptures?

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Who sacrificed their energy

and their time and their maybe

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even finances to pour into you?

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How did you get here?

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You know, I wanna share

how the mission reached me.

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Amen.

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Come on.

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That's Steve and Carrie Lounsbury.

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And, you know, I was fortunate enough

to have parents that came in contact

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with the Kingdom of God at young

ages, before they were even married.

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And they got connected with our

church, and studied the Bible,

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and learned what it meant to be a

disciple of Jesus, and follow Jesus,

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and give their entire life to Jesus.

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And a few years later, they got married.

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They, uh…

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It's a long story, but basically, my,

my mom came to a, a campus retreat,

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and my dad showed up, and he was

like, "Whoa, who's that, that girl?"

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And then, then the sisters were like,

"Hey, she's not a Christian yet."

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He said, "Okay, I'm gonna,

I'm gonna back off."

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And then she ended up getting,

uh, uh, studying the Bible.

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And then on her baptism day, funny

and oddly enough, uh, I wasn't around

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obviously, but back in that time, only

Bible talk leaders baptized people,

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and my dad happened to be the only

Bible talk leader at her baptism.

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So by default, my dad got

to baptize his future wife

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And then he said right as he pulled her

out of the water, he asked her on a date.

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No, I'm just kidding No,

very soon after he did.

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Uh, and obviously, here I am.

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Wow.

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Few years later I was born.

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Wow.

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And, uh, you know, I, I share this

because we all have a history.

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Yeah.

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Right?

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We all have a story.

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We all somehow, at some point

in our lifetime, came in contact

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with the mission of Jesus.

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Amen.

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And fortunately enough, I

studied the Bible, and at 15

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years old, I got baptized.

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There you go.

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There, there I am there.

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And I put this picture…

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I didn't put my actual baptism

photo, but th- these are the

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guys that poured into me.

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That's Nick Anderson, Jake

Rock, and Mike Bartels.

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Yeah.

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And those are my team leaders.

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And those are the guys that said,

"We're gonna, we're gonna walk with you.

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We're gonna pour into you.

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We're gonna show you the mission of Jesus.

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We're gonna show you the love of Christ.

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We're gonna teach you what it means."

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You know, I did not inherit

my faith by accident.

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Wow.

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And neither did you.

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Yeah.

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Amen.

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I may be what's called a kingdom

kid, but God chose me to be that.

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Yeah.

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The same way He chose

each and every one of you.

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No matter how you got here,

He chose you because He loves

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you, like Brent said earlier.

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Yeah.

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And He chose you to be

a part of His kingdom.

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Wow.

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And we're here because of the power of

the Holy Spirit carrying the mission

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of Jesus through generations, through

boundaries, to the ends of the earth.

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And here we are on Mission Sunday.

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Amen.

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And we get to participate

today in that same mission.

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Yeah.

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We get to give to our churches

in Mexico, in Central America, in

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places that need Jesus just like us.

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But maybe they just don't have

as much privilege as we have.

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They don't have as much as we get

to, to be blessed with materially.

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And we get to bless that, those churches.

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We also get to give to our non-profit

organization, Hope Worldwide, and be

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able to give to the work being done in

t- in Tijuana at our Center of Hope.

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And we also get to give to

what's happening locally here.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And a lot is taking place here.

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I know we've showed some videos the

past couple Sundays that were awesome.

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And, and Jesus is moving in

the midst of our congregation.

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Yeah.

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He's moving, not just in

the youth, but in everybody.

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I believe this, even this move

here is creating the mission

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of Jesus in every one of us.

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Right.

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And so today, I actually

wanna look at a scripture.

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If you wanna turn your Bibles with me

to Romans chapter 15, and we're gonna

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look at really what happens when you

see a church, a body of disciples,

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embody Acts 1:8, where they allow

the power of the Holy Spirit- To

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influence this lost world for Jesus.

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So I'm gonna give you some context.

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In Romans 15:16, what, what we're

picking up here is essentially what's

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going on is the Apostle Paul is

writing to the church in Rome, and

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he's, uh, a missionary essentially

going to all the Gentile cities to,

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to preach the good news of Jesus.

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And at that time, if you don't know Jews

and Gentiles, Jews were, were sort of

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the religious ones, were the ones chosen

by God, and the Gentiles were, were not.

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But Jesus comes and creates this

pathway for all to encounter Christ.

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That's how we're here.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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That's how we exist.

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And in verse 16 he says, Paul says

this here, he says, "He gave me the

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priestly duty of proclaiming the

Gospel of God so that the Gentiles

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might become an offering acceptable to

God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

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You see, Paul had been carried

along by the Holy Spirit,

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inspired by God, just convinced.

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He had been…

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It says he had been given

this priestly duty to do what?

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To go and proclaim the Gospel to

the places that had not heard it.

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Yeah.

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And then you see him say in

verse 19, I love this verse.

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Oh, you know what?

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I don't have verse 19 up there yet.

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We're gonna get to that.

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But in verse 19, he says, "So

from Jerusalem all the way

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around to Illyricum I have fully

proclaimed the Gospel of Christ."

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You see, where did Paul start?

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In Jerusalem.

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Paul started where?

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Where Jesus said it would start

in Acts 1:8, in Jerusalem.

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That you would start in Jerusalem, and

it would be spread to Judea, Samaria,

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and to the ends of the earth, right?

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So he starts there, and where does he go?

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I don't even know if I'm

pronouncing it right, but Illyricum.

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Maybe I'm saying it wrong.

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But I looked it up.

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You know what that, that is?

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Modern-day Slovenia, Croatia, and Albania

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You know, I know, uh, our Revive Eastern

Europe team has been where the past year?

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They've been in Croatia, and Rocky

and Betty's daughter, Kiana, has

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been on that mission team in Croatia

evangelizing, spreading the gospel there.

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Amen?

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And one of my good friends and

his family, Kyle Plumb, minister

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down in San Diego, is leading a

mission team to Albania this summer.

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And the mission is still

moving, brothers and sisters.

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Amen.

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So what was Paul doing?

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Paul was literally doing

what Jesus said would happen.

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He's literally doing what Jesus

said he would do in Acts 1:8.

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He's carrying the gospel to

places that had not heard

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it, to the ends of the earth.

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Let's continue reading why

Paul had this ambition.

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Verse 20: "It has always been my ambition

to preach the gospel where Christ

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was not known so that I would not be

building on someone else's foundation.

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Rather, as it is written: 'Those who are

not told about him will see, and those

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who have not heard will understand.'"

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You see, what does Paul say here?

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He says, "It has always been my" what?

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My ambition

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You see, ambition can

actually be a good thing.

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Yeah.

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Ambition can be a

powerful thing, actually.

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And I know we read in Galatians

5:19, "selfish ambition."

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That's an act of the flesh.

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Selfish ambition, but that's

not what he's talking about.

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This is a holy ambition.

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This is a missional ambition.

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This is an ambition to

change the world for Jesus.

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Yeah.

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My first point is the mission

creates holy ambition.

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When we're mission-minded, when we

understand the Kingdom of God, when

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we understand that the mission is

everywhere and it's working in our

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lives, we have a holy ambition.

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Paul had a holy ambition.

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Amen?

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Yeah.

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Paul uses that word ambition.

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So I said, "Okay, what is, what does this

am- or what is the Greek of that ambition?

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What does this really mean?"

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'Cause I was struggling with

the idea of selfish ambition.

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And I looked it up, and what I, what I

found is it's the word philotimeomai,

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and what this means is a holy aspiration.

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It's, it's to make it one's

aim, and it's a loving honor

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Paul's ambition, I believe,

came from the Holy Spirit.

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Paul's ambition was holy.

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It was righteous.

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It was, "I just want to be used by Jesus."

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Don't you wanna just be

used by Jesus, OC Church?

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See, Paul had ambition, but not

for comfort, not for success,

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not for his own name's sake, not

for building his own kingdom.

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His ambition was that more

people would know Christ.

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Right.

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Amen.

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Paul's ambition was

simply make Christ known.

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So I ask you this

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morning, what is your ambition?

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As you show up this morning, we all

have different ambitions, right?

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For those, we, we had our

graduation Sunday last week,

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and we celebrated all our grads.

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They probably have some ambition.

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I wanna go get a job.

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I wanna go start a career.

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Those are good ambitions, but is

that your main ambition, graduates?

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Come on.

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Church, what is our ambition?

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What is our goal as a church?

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Come on.

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Do we wanna make Christ known?

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Don't you wanna make Christ known

the way that w- He was known to

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you, the way that you found Christ?

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Don't you want to help many more find

Christ- Oh, yeah … and make Him known?

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You see, the mission, I believe,

it changes what we live for.

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It's like a paradigm shift.

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It, it, the mission of Jesus

changes how we want to live.

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Yeah.

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Don't you wanna just be a good person?

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Like, most time I study the

Bible with people, they say, "I

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just wanna be a good person."

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Yeah.

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Okay, amen.

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Earlier, Brent said, "Look,

none of us are good."

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Amen.

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We need the cross.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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We need Jesus.

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But I really believe if the entire world

participated in the mission of Christ,

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we'd have a lot better of a world.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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We really would.

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Amen.

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We'd have people who forgive.

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Yeah.

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We'd have people who don't hold grudges.

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We'd have people who want to, to invest

in each other and walk with each other,

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and, "Oh, I have this gift and skill.

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Let me teach you how to do…"

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You would just see the world.

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Guys, guess what?

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We have that right here.

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Yeah.

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We have that mission right here.

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Amen.

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And we get to live it out and

spread it to Orange County.

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Amen.

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The mission, I believe, gives

ambition a different purpose.

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It's no longer selfish.

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No longer about you.

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We're trying to give and

build God's kingdom together.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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So is your ambition to make Christ known?

421

:

You know, today's mission offering

plays a role in making Christ known-

422

:

Right … in Mexico and Central America.

423

:

Right.

424

:

It plays a role in making Christ

known here in Orange County.

425

:

Right.

426

:

Is our ambition to make Christ known?

427

:

You guys still with me?

428

:

Yeah.

429

:

Second point: Everyone participates.

430

:

Is this working?

431

:

There we go.

432

:

Everyone participates in the mission.

433

:

Come on.

434

:

Romans 15 verse 22

435

:

This is why I have been, I have often

been hindered from coming to you.

436

:

But now that there is no more place for

me to work in these regions, and since I

437

:

have been longing for many years to visit

you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain.

438

:

I hope to see you while passing

through, and to have you assist me

439

:

on my journey there after I have

enjoyed your company for a while

440

:

The mission is a call for all of us.

441

:

Everyone participates.

442

:

You see, Paul continues being

hindered from actually getting

443

:

back to Rome and going to Rome

because he is busy doing what?

444

:

Making Christ known, planting churches,

going to all these other places.

445

:

And Rome isn't actually

the destination for him.

446

:

He ends up writing here that Spain is.

447

:

And Rome, I believe, then bec- in

Paul's mind, Rome becomes what's called

448

:

a sending church, a church that can

give, a church that can send, a church

449

:

that can build other churches up.

450

:

And I believe that really

changes everything.

451

:

Because one of the things I wanna share

with us this morning is that I think Paul

452

:

saw Rome as a sending church the same

way that we as OC are a sending church.

453

:

Yeah.

454

:

Like, let's just say it.

455

:

We are a sending church.

456

:

We have done amazing

things on the mission.

457

:

About a month or two ago, Steve was

up here, and he had pages of notes

458

:

talking about all the good things

we have done, all the things we have

459

:

shared- Yeah … and the way that

we have participated in the mission.

460

:

Yeah.

461

:

We're a sending church, and I

think, brothers and sisters,

462

:

we've gotta embrace this.

463

:

Right.

464

:

Yeah.

465

:

I mean, we have to embrace

that we are a sending church.

466

:

That is the reality we face, that

we are fortunate to be full of this

467

:

opportunity to be a sending, giving church

468

:

And I think Paul is also

hinting at something here.

469

:

I think he's talking about this

idea of the mission was never

470

:

designed for your own glory.

471

:

The mission was never designed

for, like, the superstar Christian

472

:

or independent Christianity.

473

:

It was meant to be a partnership.

474

:

Right.

475

:

That's one of the things I love about

our family of churches, that we have

476

:

over 700 churches worldwide that

we are connected to, that we get to

477

:

give to and support and connect with.

478

:

And when you go to a different country

to visit and it's Sunday morning,

479

:

you're like, "Well, let me look it up.

480

:

Oh, I can go to a church that's

10 minutes away," because

481

:

we have a global fellowship.

482

:

Yeah.

483

:

Isn't that amazing?

484

:

Yeah.

485

:

We are so fortunate.

486

:

We can't take that for granted

487

:

We have

488

:

a partnership, and Paul

expected partnership from the

489

:

Roman church That's right.

490

:

Yeah Paul expected, we are partnering

'cause our ambition is what?

491

:

To make Christ known.

492

:

So we're gonna give, we're gonna

serve, we're gonna, we're gonna

493

:

give to whoever we can and whoever

needs it because our goal is not for

494

:

us, it's for the mission of Jesus

That's right Everyone participates.

495

:

And I wanna say, many of you,

longtime members, have participated

496

:

in the mission of Christ for years.

497

:

You're faithful saints, and I'm

just so grateful to be a part of a

498

:

kingdom, a part of a church like this.

499

:

As a young man leading other young people,

that they get to see faithful saints

500

:

participate in the mission of Christ.

501

:

Let's give ourselves a round of applause.

502

:

I'm serious.

503

:

Many of you

504

:

We can't take it for granted,

the mission of Christ.

505

:

What you guys have poured in,

I'm so encouraged by this church.

506

:

You've served, you've stayed,

you've given, you remain faithful.

507

:

And because of that, others are here.

508

:

People in this room are here

because of your faith, because of

509

:

your obedience to following Jesus.

510

:

Amen.

511

:

And for, for some of us that may be

newer, or maybe for those of you who are

512

:

younger and maybe haven't participated

as long in the mission of Christ, you

513

:

know, maybe you can sometimes feel like,

"Well, I don't know how big of an impact

514

:

I really am having on the mission.

515

:

I don't really know if I'm really

even a part of this mission.

516

:

Like, am I really doing

anything impactful here?"

517

:

And for me, I'm a sports fan, and so

I wanna bring in a sports analogy.

518

:

Can I do that?

519

:

Yeah.

520

:

Right now that's going

on is the NBA Finals.

521

:

All right?

522

:

Who's watching the NBA Finals?

523

:

Anybody?

524

:

Yeah.

525

:

All right.

526

:

I know in, in probably, you know, about

a week we're gonna start talking all

527

:

about the World Cup, so I had to get

the NBA in here real quick, all right?

528

:

But the NBA Finals are going on.

529

:

It's the New York Knicks

and the San Antonio Spurs.

530

:

I don't have a dog in the fight, I

just want a good series, all right?

531

:

But one of the things I wanna

share is that everyone on the team,

532

:

if you're on one of these teams,

every single player is important.

533

:

Right.

534

:

Doesn't matter where, whether you're the

7'4" Victor Wembanyama or you are a bench

535

:

player that never sees time on the floor.

536

:

Everyone is important.

537

:

Why?

538

:

I played sports.

539

:

Because if you don't have a full

team, you can't practice, right?

540

:

If you don't have these players pushing

you, fighting for every minute that

541

:

they can try to get on the court,

trying to make your stars better, then

542

:

your team will not be as good, right?

543

:

So it's a unified team effort

that takes all hands on deck

544

:

to participate in the mission.

545

:

And sometimes I think we,

we may discount our impact.

546

:

If maybe you feel like,

"I'm just a bench player.

547

:

I don't have much impact.

548

:

I don't really do much.

549

:

I don't really have that

great of an impact."

550

:

Maybe you think you can't really

participate because you don't have as

551

:

much skill or maybe you don't have as much

money or you don't have as much ability to

552

:

speak or, or y- you're not trained enough.

553

:

Whatever it is.

554

:

Maybe you feel that you

can't have that impact.

555

:

I wanna remind you, you can make

an impact, and you are needed.

556

:

Everyone participates.

557

:

Everyone is valuable.

558

:

And I wanna show this video here of

an NBA player from about 20 years

559

:

ago, and this is his, this 50-second

clip of his press conference.

560

:

Are you guys, you guys ready?

561

:

Yeah.

562

:

Speaker 17: Last question here

before we finish up with the

563

:

Lakers Brian, uh, congratulations.

564

:

I'm from Europe, from the Netherlands-

Oh, okay, okay … a country where

565

:

we're all interested in soccer.

566

:

But I enjoyed the finals so much,

and this gr- game was very great.

567

:

But how is it for you, um, watching it

from the sideline, uh, not, not able to

568

:

play even one little second in the finals?

569

:

Is that hard?

570

:

Speaker 18: Why would

you think that's funny?

571

:

I'll tell you, it's not that

difficult to do because guess what?

572

:

In, like, maybe now you could say y-

I didn't play a second, but in five

573

:

years you guys are gonna forget.

574

:

In 10 years I'll still be a champ.

575

:

In 20 years I'll tell my kids I

probably started, and in 30 years

576

:

I'll probably tell them I got the MVP.

577

:

So I'm really not too worried about it.

578

:

Speaker 17: Okay.

579

:

Great.

580

:

All right.

581

:

Speaker 18: Congratulations.

582

:

We'll see you guys later.

583

:

Thank you, Brian.

584

:

All right.

585

:

Kobe Bryant will be up shortly.

586

:

All

587

:

Kyle Lounsbury: right.

588

:

Everyone participates.

589

:

He said, "Look, I, it doesn't matter

I didn't play a second in the finals.

590

:

I'm a champion."

591

:

Guys, we're all in God's kingdom.

592

:

What does that make us?

593

:

We're champions.

594

:

Yeah.

595

:

We participate in the mission together.

596

:

No, no matter how small we may

think our contribution is, no

597

:

matter how great it is, we all

participate in the mission of Jesus.

598

:

Amen?

599

:

Amen.

600

:

Amen.

601

:

The last point I wanna share here with

you guys is generosity fuels the mission.

602

:

It fuels it.

603

:

And in Romans 15:25, Paul

gets to this point where he

604

:

talks about an, an offering.

605

:

He says, "Now, however, I'm on my

way to Jerusalem in the service

606

:

of the Lord's people there.

607

:

For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased

to make a contribution for the poor

608

:

among the Lord's people in Jerusalem.

609

:

They were pleased to do it,

and indeed they owe it to them.

610

:

For the Gent- for if the Gentiles have

shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings,

611

:

they owe it to the Jews to share

with them their material blessings.

612

:

So after I have completed this task

and have made sure that they have

613

:

received this contribution, I will

go to Spain and visit you on the way.

614

:

I know that when I come to you,

I will come in the full measure

615

:

of the blessing of Christ."

616

:

There's a contribution that happens

here, that takes place, and, and Paul

617

:

says, "Look, it's not an obligation.

618

:

You don't have to."

619

:

But what is the response of the church?

620

:

They're like, "Pff.

621

:

We want to.

622

:

We want to give."

623

:

Yeah.

624

:

You see, generosity is not an obligation.

625

:

Generosity isn't…

626

:

You know, he doesn't treat this as,

as fundraising or as, as this idea

627

:

of, like, "We just need money."

628

:

No.

629

:

He, he treats it as ministry.

630

:

Right.

631

:

There's this reciprocating

ministry taking place here.

632

:

Right.

633

:

This idea of like, "Man, we are the

kingdom of God, so we're gonna give.

634

:

Our brother's in need?

635

:

Let's give to them.

636

:

Our sisters need this?

637

:

Let's help them."

638

:

Right.

639

:

It's like, of course we would.

640

:

Just like your family.

641

:

If, if, if your daughter or your son

said, "Hey, uh, you know, I, I work

642

:

with college students, so if they're

off in college, 'I got no money.

643

:

I can't get groceries'" Of

course we're gonna help them.

644

:

Of cour- "Oh, let me

get you some groceries.

645

:

Let me help you."

646

:

Generosity fuels the mission.

647

:

Yeah.

648

:

It's not an obligation,

brothers and sisters.

649

:

That's why we call this a free

will offering, but the heart

650

:

is, of course we're gonna give.

651

:

Why wouldn't we give?

652

:

We want to see the mission spread.

653

:

You know, not everybody

was traveling with Paul.

654

:

Not everybody was preaching in

these different cities like Paul

655

:

was, but what could they do?

656

:

Through their generosity, they were able

to participate in the mission of Christ.

657

:

Yeah.

658

:

Amen?

659

:

Amen.

660

:

And so we're gonna transition here to

our time here in a little bit of special

661

:

contribution and how we get to participate

in the mission of Jesus together.

662

:

That's what today represents, amen?

663

:

Amen.

664

:

And one last thing I say.

665

:

In Acts 1:8-

666

:

The Holy Spirit's in every one of us.

667

:

Let's help join in the mission

of Jesus and see the gospel

668

:

spread to the ends of the earth.

669

:

Amen?

670

:

We have the power of the Holy Spirit.

671

:

You can be a witness

672

:

You can share the gospel.

673

:

You can help spread the mission

through your presence, through your

674

:

love, through your hospitality,

through your character at work.

675

:

That's the mission.

676

:

It's who we are as disciples.

677

:

It's who we are as followers of Jesus.

678

:

We're different.

679

:

Amen?

680

:

Amen.

681

:

And so as we close out, the mission

of Jesus advances when ordinary people

682

:

like us, when we say the Kingdom of

God matters more than my comfort.

683

:

The Kingdom matters more than this world.

684

:

Let's build it together.

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