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[1:40] Enjoy the service. Good morning. Good morning. Oh, man, you guys are so anemic at this hour of the morning. Good morning. Good morning.

[1:51] This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad. This is the day.

[2:03] This is the day. That the Lord has made. That the Lord has made. Let us rejoice. Let us rejoice.

[2:15] And be glad in it. And be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

[2:29] This is the day. This is the day. This is the day. This is the day. That the Lord has made. Shall we pray together?

[2:41] Dear God in heaven, we just pray your blessings upon us. Pour your Holy Spirit into our hearts. Open up our lives that we might experience the living God in this place. That we might be and learn what you would have us to be and learn.

[2:53] Bless us in Jesus' name. Amen. Now I'm going to invite you to stand if you're able as we're going to sing together. Take my life and let it be consecrated. Take my life and let it be consecrated.

[3:31] Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days.

[3:43] Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

[3:57] Take my feet and let them be sweet and beautiful for Thee. Take my voice and let me sing always only for my King.

[4:16] Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee. Take my silver and my gold.

[4:29] Take my silver and my gold. Not of my foot I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose.

[4:44] Take my will and make it mine. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thy home.

[4:58] It shall be thy royal throne. Take my love, my Lord, I pour. At my feet and treasure store.

[5:11] Take my self and I will be ever only all for Thee.

[5:22] The Lord be with you. And also with you. Please be seated. This morning we have a couple of opportunities on our clipboards for ministry. One is for the dinners at Seneca Street to help with that.

[5:34] And the other is to help with our 24-hour prayer vigil. And one other quick announcement I'd like to just share with this group is that due to the weather, our youth decided to sleep in this building for the weekend.

[5:49] So if you find kind of grungy teenagers roaming around the building, be patient with them. But also they're going to actually do their worship service between our two worship services.

[6:01] So they're going to come in during communion. All right? So don't be like this. You know, okay. You know. And they're going to actually start worship with us and continue on.

[6:11] So the worship experience will continue with them. Feel free to head on out to where you're headed for afterwards. Okay? Thank you. Best opportunity that we have this morning in church is to say what we're thankful for.

[6:28] And what we're thankful for and what we want to praise the Lord for. I personally want to thank the Lord that he's gotten me through this three-week cold that everybody's getting. Kind of getting the residuals out of it.

[6:39] But I know everybody's getting that. So I'm thankful that I'm at the end of it. Does anybody else have anything that they're thankful for this morning? Yes.

[6:50] Yes. The youth.

[7:30] Amen. The next generation. Well, as we're thankful and grateful for all that God has given us, let us take this time and opportunity to give back to him in our tithes and offerings.

[7:42] Amen. Amen. Amen.

[8:13] Amen. Amen.

[8:24] Wonderful, merciful Savior, Precious Redeemer and Friend, Wonderful that all Lamb could Rescue the souls of men, Oh, you rescue the souls of men.

[9:17] Counselor, comforter, keeper, Spirit we long to embrace, You offer hope when our hearts And hopelessly lost the way, Oh, we hopelessly lost the way, Who are the one that we praise, Who are the one we adore, Who live the healing and grace, Our hearts always hunger for, Oh, our hearts always hunger for,

[10:20] Almighty, infinite Father, Faithfully loving your own, Here in our weakness you find us, Falling before your throne, Oh, we're falling before your throne, You are the one that we praise, You are the one we adore, You give the healing and grace, Our hearts always hunger for,

[11:25] Oh, our hearts always hunger for, Oh, you are the one that we praise, You are the one we adore, You are the one we adore, You are, the one we adore, You are the one we adore, You are the one we adore, You are the one that we pray. You are the one we adore. You are the one that our hearts always conquer.

[12:20] Lord, you. Thank you.

[13:07] Father God, as we soak in your anointing that you've given us so wonderfully, the gift of your anointing this morning as the choir sang, Lord God, we just thank you and praise you for the mighty opportunities that we have to give these gifts to you today.

[13:37] We pray, Lord God, that they will be used for your use. They'll be used for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[13:48] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yes.

[13:59] And I have to tell you that I just feel so overwhelmed by the anointing that God gave us this morning with the choir. That it just seems so humble to go before him right now in prayer.

[14:09] And I know that's what he wants us to do right now. So we are going to pray. And there are a couple of opportunities that we have to pray for today. One is for Bonnie Okun's mom.

[14:20] She passed away this week. We've been praying for her for a while. And she finally went home in a bill of bush. He passed away this week. The Karen Bush's husband and many family members here in our church.

[14:38] And the service is going to be this Saturday at 2 o'clock if anybody's interested in coming to that. And also we just heard that Dave O'Neill's brother passed away. So we're going to pray for that family also.

[14:49] Is there anything else that we need to bring before God in prayer this morning? Yes. We're going to pray for Chet's cousin Tommy.

[15:05] Passed away this week. And pray for the family. Amen. Anything else? We have a large group here. Yes. Healing for Meg and for Ann.

[15:20] Hard to see over here. I've got to walk over here. The sun's shining. It's so beautiful today. Anything else? Yes. Yes, Karen. Okay.

[15:42] So we have friends that are all sick with the flu. Colds and flus. And yeah, there's a lot going around. Yes.

[15:52] Yes. Amen. For Christians that are persecuted around the world. Yes.

[16:04] I see a hand back there. The church in China. They just lost their church. So thankful for the opportunity that we have to be in this country.

[16:23] And yes, Karen. Wisdom for our president and the leaders of our nation. Yes. Amen. Anybody else?

[16:36] Okay. Amen. Amen. Okay. Okay. Let's go before Lord. Father, there are so many needs out there that we have just brought before you right now.

[16:48] There's people that are hurting. There's people, Lord God, that are just struggling right now. And God, we pray especially for those that have lost loved ones this week. No matter how old or how young they are, Lord God, there's a loss in families.

[17:06] And God, we just pray right now that you would comfort them. You would give them peace and strength. That you would guide them. And that your Holy Spirit would be the great comfort to these families, Lord Jesus.

[17:19] And Lord, we pray for our government, our president, and our leaders. Lord, that you would give them wisdom. You would give them the right words to say. Lord God, that our nation, Lord God, would be a strong and mighty nation.

[17:33] That the church would rise up, Lord God. And Lord, I just pray that you would just be with the churches and the other nations that are being persecuted right now. Lord, I pray that you would help them find favor, Lord God.

[17:48] Be that extra special portion that they need as they call upon your name, Lord God. The ones that are being persecuted and that are even having their life sacrificed, Lord Jesus.

[18:00] I pray, Lord God, that you would strengthen that church. That that body of believers would just have hope, Lord God, that you are on their side. And I pray, Lord God, that you would just strengthen them.

[18:12] Bring that Chinese church in numbers, Lord God. And Lord, I just pray that you would let them know, Lord God, that there are believers in other nations, Lord God, praying for them right now. I pray for those that are struggling right now with the flu and the cold that's been going around.

[18:29] God, I pray that you would take away the sore throats and the nauseousness and the earaches and the headaches. And all the side effects, Lord God, that are going around right now.

[18:42] That, Lord God, that we would be able to be free from this infection, Lord God. And that our immune systems would be able to fight this. And I pray for people, Lord God, that are hurting.

[18:55] That are struggling, Lord God. Their families are torn apart. And we know, Lord God, that that is just something that Satan wants to do is tear apart our families. God, I pray, Lord God, that you would just give us a newfound hope, a newfound joy, Lord God, in our hearts, Lord God, that we would be able to pray for our enemies.

[19:13] And pray for those, Lord God, that hurt us. Lord God, help us, Lord God, to be more like you. And to be able to see beyond the situation and see the outcome, Lord God, that you have. And help us not to get it wrong.

[19:26] Help us, Lord God, to do it the right way, Lord God, that we would be able to have a wonderful testimony. When we talk in the morning about the wonderful praises that we have, Lord God, that we'd be able to shout for joy the testimonies that you have for us.

[19:40] God, I pray especially for our troops and our first responders and those that are out there on a daily basis, Lord God, to protect us and keep us safe. God, I pray that you would give them that extra portion today.

[19:53] That you would give them, Lord God, a miraculous opportunity, Lord God. And I just pray, Lord God, that you would protect them and keep them safe. And God, I pray for our young people.

[20:05] I thank you, Lord God, for the opportunities that they've had to just stay in this church. Not to go away, but they were safe, Lord God. They were safe in our church.

[20:16] Lord, I pray this church would also be a lighthouse to them. And that they would see that this church is a church that they want to grow up in. And that they want to love people in. And that they want to be part of this church.

[20:28] I pray, Lord God, that you would give them, this next generation, Lord God, an opportunity for the Holy Spirit, Lord God. Even at the last hours of their retreat, to just enter into them, Lord God.

[20:40] That they be able, Lord God, to be different. And that they would be challenged to make a difference in this world. I pray, Lord God, that you would help us as adults to just encourage them and love on them, Lord God.

[20:52] I pray, Lord God, that they would be sown seeds, Lord God. That they would be able to just expound on. And as we just consider all of these needs, Lord God, that we brought before you, we pray, Lord God, a silent prayer in our hearts, Lord God.

[21:09] Just seeking you right now. And, Father, I pray for the rest of this service, Lord God, that our hearts would be open to what you have for us.

[21:35] And that the anointing would just last on us, Lord God, that we won't want to be the same again. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Listen to the word of the Lord this morning.

[21:58] Good morning.

[22:20] This morning's reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 5, verses 1 through 11. One day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Genesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.

[22:37] He saw at the water's edge two boats left there by fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore.

[22:52] Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch.

[23:04] Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

[23:20] So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both the boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man.

[23:38] For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid. From now on, you will fish for people.

[23:55] So they pulled their boats up on shore and left everything and followed him. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Thank you, Carol.

[24:06] Just a reminder, if you didn't hear it, our teenagers, because of the weather, didn't go to Camp Asbury, but they're continuing their experience of a retreat by actually doing it here.

[24:17] So be patient with them. They're all over the building. And understand that they're going to start their retreat worship with us during communion, and then they're going to continue in worship.

[24:27] So it'll be a little different, because after your worship, they're going to be worshiping in here. So that means you need to get out of here. I hate to tell people to leave church, but, you know, make a little space for them.

[24:42] We're starting a new sermon series, and the sermon series is about what should a church be? What are the values, the principles, and what are the things we particularly as a congregation would emphasize as being necessary, not just to be a church, but to be Christians as part of the community that God has given to us.

[25:01] And today I want to talk about the fact that God, in our understanding of things, has uniquely gifted each and every one of us for something particular. God has called all of us and gifted us specifically for some purpose in this world, and we believe the church is here to help you discover what that is and implement it.

[25:21] Now, I'm not a great fisherman. I have fished when I was a kid, but I don't really know a lot about fish. One thing I do have a pretty good understanding about, though, is that the big fish aren't usually in the shallow waters.

[25:33] Usually in the shallow waters, all you're going to find is little fish. If you want the big fish, you've got to go out in the deep waters. And God is calling us to go out in the deep waters. In Psalm, it says in chapter 42, God is calling Peter, God is calling us into deeper waters to take our faith a step further than the shallows.

[26:04] And we live a lot in shallow waters. We're concerned about so many things that will eventually just pass away. We struggle and worry about our jobs, even though we know that they'll come to an end.

[26:17] We search and strive to find entertainment to distract us from this world for just a moment. We worry about our possessions that will disappear.

[26:33] We worry about our appearances and how we look and do we have the right clothes. That someday won't matter at all. Don't build your treasures up on earth where rust and moth will destroy, Jesus said, but build them in heaven.

[26:51] And so God calls us to get out of the shallows. But we really don't want to go. We're kind of like Peter in this story. And maybe you don't read it this way, but I do. He's worked all night long.

[27:03] Now, I don't know if you've ever worked an entire day or an entire night, and he's got nothing. So he's worked his hardest, and he has nothing.

[27:14] I would not be in a good mood. And I don't think Peter was. And now this preacher comes along, and he's preaching while Peter's just trying to clean his nets, and all these crowds are around.

[27:24] And he's talking about going out in Peter's boat, and all he's hearing is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He wants to go out in my boat. Fine, whatever. Go out in the boat.

[27:36] Just leave me to what I want to do. Most of us just want a regular life, you know? We want to get our education, find a job that we'd like to work.

[27:47] We want to find somebody to spend the rest of our lives with and to love, maybe have a family, get a car and a house and just some of the basic things of life and feel some sense of security.

[28:01] We even go to church and worship God, but we keep it kind of in the shallows, sort of a limited connection to God so it doesn't mess up our lives too much.

[28:17] Peter knew Jesus. His brother Andrew had introduced them. He even refers to him in this story as master, but his faith in this story is still in the shallows.

[28:32] What do we really think about God? I think what we think about God, we demonstrate in the way in which we live. Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

[28:43] We underestimate God and we overestimate everything else. We totally underestimate the power of the one who created everything out of nothing and completely depend on things that are temporary.

[29:02] Peter. Peter. You can just hear him, can't you? Jesus says, take your boats out into the deep waters and drop down your nets.

[29:15] Look, fool. You're a carpenter. I'm a fisherman. Professional fisherman. I know how to fish. You're a carpenter. Preacher. Stick to your preaching.

[29:28] Stay out of my business. Can't you imagine that he was thinking that? I know he didn't say it, but you can hear him mumbling under his breath, dumb carpenter, right? Because, you see, we don't want to hear what God has to say to us.

[29:44] We want to keep God in his little box where we think he belongs and create God in our image as to what we want. Sunday morning saints, Saturday night sinners.

[29:56] We work hard, we play hard, and we generally don't accomplish a whole lot that matters for eternity. I should have had this done in an image, but I didn't, so you've got to use your imaginations.

[30:08] I know this is hard, but work on it. Imagine a pie. Can you picture a pie? Right? And it's got pieces, all sorts of different pieces. One piece is your work. Another is your family.

[30:19] Another is what you entertain your life with. Another is your God piece, right? And we have different pieces that we have of this pie. And we have a tendency to see God as being a piece of our pie.

[30:33] For some people, it's a pretty big piece. For other people, it's kind of a little sliver. But it's a piece of our lives. But see, the problem is, is God doesn't want to be a piece of our pie.

[30:46] When I, over the years, would go out to dinner with my mother, she would routinely ask for a piece of my pie. Just a bite. So she would always nip off that little point.

[30:58] You know what I mean? Nip that off. So one night, she asked for a piece of my pie. I said, sure, Mom. Just a second. I nipped off that piece and ate it. Oh, don't recommend this to anyone.

[31:11] Hell hath no fury like a woman whose pie you just stole. Because that's the best part, right? That little piece, it has, it's like so, it's got, it's, oh, yeah.

[31:24] Well, that's what God wants to be. In every piece. You see, God is not a piece separate from the others. God is the piece in the middle.

[31:36] And if all our pieces touch God and relate to God and recognize that God is a part of it, our entire aspect of life will change.

[31:48] We'll start to infuse all those other pieces with God. Because God doesn't want to be a part of our lives. He wants to be at the center of our lives.

[32:03] In fact, that's what we say as a church. Church is a place where Christ is at the center of all we do. Sometimes, God will even ask us to do things we just don't understand.

[32:16] Like Peter. He asked Peter to go out in the deep waters. It doesn't make any sense. In fact, he didn't even ask him. He told him, go out in the deep waters. And then he says, follow me and I will make you fishers of people.

[32:32] What does that even mean? And can we believe God? Can we trust God? That God can do things that are amazing.

[32:44] That God can still do miracles. That God can transform what we believe is possible into something that is beyond what we would expect. Do we believe that the blessings come from God?

[32:58] Peter and his compatriots, James and John and Andrew, have just had the biggest day of their career. I mean, there is nothing bigger for a fisherman than to have their nets so full that they're starting to break and they fill their boats to the fullest with fish.

[33:15] This is the biggest catch. This is the kind of catch that can set them up for a couple of months. It's huge. And Jesus says, walk away from it.

[33:31] Walk away from it. Not count them up and take them to the market and sell them and then come follow me. Just leave them there and walk away from it. Because God can give us more than we can imagine.

[33:46] But do we trust him? And do we believe it? And do we really think that God gives us the gifts just to bless us? Or that God called us to be a part of something much bigger than our lives are?

[34:04] Do we think God exists to serve us? Or that we exist to serve God? Because the truth is God created us and loves us and has a purpose for us that God decided right from the beginning.

[34:29] And we don't think that way. We kind of think God has to do this stuff. We kind of think that God has to give us the air to breathe. God has to take care of us. God has to bless us.

[34:40] God, get down here. I got some issues. You take care of them. That's your job. You know, we have a society where when we go out to eat, we tip people at the restaurants, the waitstaff.

[34:56] And I generally try to give a generous tip. They work very hard. And they serve my needs very well. But occasionally. I've had ones that are terrible.

[35:09] Anybody else ever terrible? No. I had one that was so bad. One night. I was out to eat in a restaurant. I ate in a lot. And they were so bad.

[35:21] I mean, they're standing over there chatting. And I'm like, yo! Nothing. The service was bad. Now I started to notice the restaurant was dirty.

[35:32] And so I went home. And I got on the internet. And I wrote a comment. I never write comments to the company. Your restaurant's dirty. Your waitstaff is inattentive.

[35:44] I am very disappointed because I've gone to your restaurant for years. They sent me back a coupon. Oh, for your trouble, here's a coupon. I wrote back. I said, I don't want your coupon. I want you to fix your restaurant. Right?

[35:56] I'm not looking for a freebie. I've been known to actually complain about waitstaff. Even though all you have to do is the minimal and you will get a better tip than most people tip from me.

[36:10] But we need to remember what the relationship is. And we treat God like God has to bless us because we exist.

[36:24] And not we're here to serve him. And he'll bless us when we please him. So, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, it says, To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for what?

[36:42] Yeah, not for you, not for me, not so we can be on America's Got Talent, not so that we can become wealthy, but for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another message of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and still another the interpretations of tongues.

[37:10] And I could explain each one of these and take a sermon for every one of them, and maybe someday I will. All of these, though, and this is the important part, are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each of you just as God has determined, so that you can be a part of the common good.

[37:28] That's why we exist even as a church. We win or we fall together. Through the course of this sermon series, we're going to take a look at some friends.

[37:39] We had to figure out how to work life together in a little woods of a hundred acres, and this time they've fallen in a pit. I'm trying to figure out how to get out. Little things, why didn't we think to bring a rope?

[37:51] Well, there is this rope. Spot on, Piglet! Do be a helpful little swine and get us out of here! All of you? Yes, Piglet.

[38:02] All of us. All right. Mm-hmm. Oh, don't forget, rabbit. And sex!

[38:16] There! Now you can all get out. How very thoughtful you are, Piglet. Oh, good grief! Tie them together, Piglet. Can you tie a knot?

[38:27] I cannot. Ah, so you can knot. No, I cannot knot. Knot knot? Who's there? Poo. Poo who? No, Poo with... Piglet, you'll need more than two knots.

[38:40] Not possible. Ah, so it is possible to knot those pieces. Knot these pieces. Yes, knot those pieces. Why not? Because it's all for knot.

[38:51] Oh, dear. I can't tie a knot. Oh, but there is something I can do. Don't worry, rabbit. Piglet's very clever.

[39:01] I can tie a bow. See? Oh, for crying out loud, Piglet! I know! Christopher Robin has a jump rope. Ah!

[39:12] Wait a minute. My gracious, that's it. Piglet, go to Christopher Robin's house. Oh, I see. Yes, Piglet. Go and bring some honey.

[39:23] Yes, bring some honey. Oh, the jump rope, Piglet. The jump rope. With a little honey on the side. You mean all by myself? Through there?

[39:38] Yes, Piglet. Through a dark wood fraught with peril on a mission of life or death. It is a task of great complexity, but I have full confidence that you shall return victorious and rescue us from the abyss.

[39:57] Go forth, Piglet, and we shall await your return for weeks if necessary. Owl? What?

[40:11] What? Yeah, this is the trouble. See, someone else will do it. You know, Jesus, you can talk to the crowd. Somebody else will take care of this.

[40:22] I got fish to take care of. Owl could fly. Duh! And he knew how to not. Not. Not. You see, the gifts from God give us the ability to do what we need to do so that the whole community can draw together.

[40:41] Rabbit has the plan. Owl has the wings. Piglet is smart enough not to end up in the pit in the first place. And poo, well, is poo.

[40:52] Got to be somebody who's going to care about us all and love us in spite of our failings. The gifts from God are to serve the community together that God created us for. And believe it or not, God made you insufficient.

[41:05] And God made you with defects so that other people would fill the gaps where you're not good. Do you see? I don't know how to tell you this, but you're all dysfunctional and fall short of the glory of God.

[41:18] All of us. We have something wrong with us that only someone else can complete. And that's how God created us so that we would work together and become a community gifted by God.

[41:31] Our problem is not the gifts. Our problem is our attitude. And the same crowd gathered around those disciples, James and John are there. They're just watching.

[41:42] The people are just looking and saying, Well, you know, what do you got to tell me, God? What are you going to do for me today? We become a consumer culture worried about what do we get?

[41:54] What's in it for us? A little honey? Could you just bring a little honey for me, please? So God does something entirely different.

[42:06] He redirects Peter. Now, if you had this kind of thing happen where you just got the biggest catch of fish as a commercial fisherman that you have ever had, you'd be like, How are you?

[42:20] Praise the Lord. This is wonderful. Thank you, Jesus. Right? Peter comes to Jesus, falls on his knees, and he says, Go away from me.

[42:31] I'm not the guy. Go away from me. I'm broken. I'm incomplete. That's not what we expected.

[42:43] Not what I expected. But it's the reality that we have to come to realize, Yes, we can't do it alone. No, we don't have the ability to recreate what God intended on earth by ourselves.

[42:56] We cannot be islands unto ourselves in this culture. God needs us to gather as a community together so that we can manifest what God intended of us.

[43:08] And so Jesus doesn't say, Go away. He says, Draw closer. I'm calling you. Respond to the call. And follow me. You've got some cards on the way in.

[43:20] Maybe you picked them up. Maybe you didn't. It's a little card that says, I'm actively involved in these ministries. I'd be interested in getting involved in these ministries. I'd like to meet with someone who can talk to me about what I should be doing.

[43:34] Because some of us don't know. We're asking that you just respond to these. Okay? You can put your name on it, especially if you want us to respond to you. Or not. But the idea behind this is we want to give you an opportunity to try and figure out where you belong with God.

[43:52] And with God's church. So the baskets will be up here during communion. You can drop them in there. Or you can drop them in the back. We'll find them. Just an opportunity to say yes to God.

[44:03] Or you could bring them to the prayer vigil this weekend and pray over them. Which I would recommend you pray about this. And we're going to do this for a couple of weeks. We might change the cards as we go along. But it's important for us to not simply talk about the faith, but actually live it out.

[44:21] Turn up the lights for me. There we go. Thank you. I'm old. I can't see everything here. The church is the body of Christ.

[44:34] And we are one of the bodies that God has put in this world. And we are not a random collection of people. God has brought you here for a specific purpose. And we will not be the church God intends of us unless you do what God wants you to do.

[44:48] Because the church exists in part to make your ministry work so that our ministry will work. That's how it comes together. That's what it means by becoming deeper.

[45:03] There are so many people with so many needs. And everybody's talking about how our culture is going the wrong way. Our community's messed up. We're worried about the next generation.

[45:16] We can do something about that. Do you have any idea what would happen if the people in this room truly committed to transforming our culture?

[45:27] We would change the face of this entire community. We have that ability. Jesus said, Don't you have a saying, It's still four months until harvest?

[45:41] I know it's the middle of winter. But I tell you, Open your eyes. The fields are ripe for the harvest. We live in a world of people that are just totally confused.

[45:56] They don't know what to do. They're stuck in the shallows. They have no concept of what you assume is normal. They've never even heard these words.

[46:08] I had a young woman talking to me yesterday about how she feels called to the mission field, but God won't let her go. And I said, That's because the mission field isn't over there anymore. It's here. China was mentioned earlier.

[46:20] Do you know that China, In 20 years, If things keep going the same way, China will have more Christians in it than the United States. That's what's happening. The world is on fire for Jesus.

[46:33] And our country is saying, Who? I got stuff to do. We're living in the shallows. It's hard. Philippians describes people and says, I have often told you before, And now I tell you again, Even with tears, Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

[46:51] Their destiny is destruction. Their God is their stomach. Their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. And that's not to criticize them. That's to say, We really need to help them.

[47:02] To pull them out of this broken state they live in. You know, The interesting part is, We see people that have all the shallow things fixed, And we think they're in need of nothing.

[47:13] When I came to this community a long time ago, You know, It's almost 30 years now. I came from a very poor rural church. A third of my church was unemployed and on social services, And they were struggling to get by.

[47:28] And they thought that a good income was $20,000 a year. These were people that were poor. I could see their needs. I could answer their needs. And I said, What am I going to do in Pendleton?

[47:38] Those people don't need anything. They've got everything. A good friend of mine said, You know, People who have money need Jesus too.

[47:51] Just because somebody looks like they've got all the things on the surface, Our culture says matters. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not criticizing that. Just because people have all the benefits of life, And I hope you do.

[48:01] I want you all to be very well off that way. It doesn't mean we don't need Jesus. I've got an emptiness deep inside. And I've tried, but it won't let me go.

[48:16] You know, we have this feeling that there's something missing in our souls. And God is saying that He wants to fill up that emptiness.

[48:28] People are chasing after and never being satisfied. Ecclesiastes talks about it and says, I denied myself nothing. My eyes desired.

[48:39] I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor. And this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done And what I had toiled to achieve, Everything was meaningless.

[48:52] Chasing after the wind, nothing was gained. Under the sun. People are hungry, just like the winds in this story.

[49:03] Crowding around Jesus. Hundreds and thousands of people just want to hear Jesus. And He's saying, I need some people to go to the back of the crowd. We don't have any microphones here.

[49:14] We need some folks to go out there to the edges of it. We need people to go out and about and find the folks that need to hear about God.

[49:25] Because people are facing death. And we have the promise of eternal life. People are struggling with depression.

[49:36] In the wealthiest culture that ever existed, We wrestle with depression. And we have a joy that can sustain a person to this life and beyond. Even in the midst of problems.

[49:49] People go through meaningless toil. And God says each of you has a purpose, a reason for existing. And people are lonely.

[50:01] Even in a crowded nation. And we have a community that was designed, built, based on the requirement that we love one another.

[50:15] This is stuff a world needs, amen? And we have it. So God is calling us to get out of the shallows and go out into the deep waters. And then God will astonish us with what He will do.

[50:29] Well, we work so hard that God can make happen just like that. And that's what He was saying to Peter. All the things you're worried about, I can take care of those just like that. But let me tell you, I've got a gift for you that's beyond that.

[50:40] He sent out 12 a little bit later. And He said these words to them. And Luke, when Jesus called the 12 together, He gave them the power and authority to drive out all the demons, to cure diseases. He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

[50:54] God has given the church the ability to heal the world. So why were we praying for that church in China? Maybe you haven't heard this. It was one of the largest congregations in China.

[51:07] But the government says they built their building illegally, so they bulldozed it this weekend. They just bulldozed their church. Knocked it over.

[51:19] And you know what's going to happen? The church will thrive. The church will grow. Because here's the amazing thing. In the cultures where they try to keep Christianity down, it thrives because the people are just hungry for Jesus.

[51:36] In the places where we let it just blossom all it can, and we all have all the prosperity we want, it's dying. Because we'd rather live in the shallows around us.

[51:48] These people were forced to go deep. God blessed them. I hope that they can get there, and maybe we find a way to help them. We're called to go deep. But only happen if we step up.

[52:05] Gifted people like you and me. Done by God. Gifted by God. He calls us individually.

[52:17] To do something together, that's amazing. Jesus gave Simon a new assignment. And God is calling you to something new too.

[52:28] He won't ask you to do anything more than you are uniquely already gifted to do. But you're not going to do very much if you stay in shallow waters.

[52:40] You'll only catch little minnows. If you want to do something powerful for God, you've got to go deep. You've got to go deep.

[52:50] And take a chance. And trust in a God that made something out of nothing. That he will make something amazing. Out of you and me and you and you and you and you and you and all of us.

[53:04] Together. He's calling us. I'll be out of all the waters.

[53:28] The great unknown, the feet made there And where I'll find you in the ministry In oceans deep, my faith will stand And I will call upon your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace For I am yours, you are mine The grace of thousands of people swallies

[54:38] The sovereign man will be my guide But fear will fail and fear surrounds you It never fails, you won't start now And I will call upon your name And keep my eyes above the waves In oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace For I am yours, you are mine Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders

[55:49] Let me walk upon the waters Wherever you would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders And I will walk upon the waters And I will walk upon the waters And wherever you would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior I will walk upon your name

[56:52] And keep my eyes above the waves And I will call upon your name Keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise, my soul will rest in your embrace For I am yours And you are mine God is calling each and every one of us To do something amazing And God knows you have the ability to do it He's calling you, he's summoning you

[57:52] Go out and do something special Will you come and follow me If I but call your name Will you go where you don't know And ever be the same Will you let my love be shown Will you let my name be known Will you let my life be known And you and you in me Lord, your sound and echoed true But you but call my name

[58:55] Let me turn and follow you And never be the same In your company I'll go Where your love and footsteps show And I'll move and live and grow And you and you in me You know, we often think of sin As being these little things we do Which it is And there are things we do That God is not pleased with But I think the greater sin is When we just refuse not to do What we should do The greatest failing is when We see what we could do For God And we say Let somebody else When we're the owl in the bottom of the pit Letting the other ones figure out What we know we could do Like that God calls us We're expected to respond And say yes Lord So let's turn our hearts over To the Lord in prayer of confession

[59:55] Shall we together Dear God in heaven I have sinned You know the things that trouble my mind And trouble my soul The things I've done wrong And the things I've neglected to do right Forgive me Lord Transform me Lord Call me into deep waters Use me for your purpose In Jesus name we pray Amen God has decided To do an amazing thing With each and every one of us And even more amazing together So we need to turn our lives And change them In the name of Jesus Christ Your sins are forgiven In the name of Jesus Christ Glory to God Amen And now as forgiven children of God Let us share the peace of the spirit

[60:56] With one another Amen Let us pray Thank you.

[61:28] Thank you.

[61:58] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[62:10] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[62:24] Thank you. In my heart, I don't want to be the same.

[62:37] Lord, light a fire again. I feel new life begin. I will stand and testify.

[62:51] Lord, new strength abounds in me. Revival sets me free. I am renewed.

[63:07] God calls each of you to the table of the Lord. It's a table he himself has set. Not for a particular special privileged group of people, but for everyone who wants to answer the call of God in faith.

[63:22] If you desire to have God in your life, you are welcome at the table of the Lord this morning. No matter who you are, where you come from, what you've been, where you belong, you belong here.

[63:33] The Lord be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right.

[63:45] It's a good and joyful thing. Always and everywhere to give thanks to God. Because God has given us everything. Even the things we think we have earned, God has given to us.

[64:00] To be a blessing to the world. And he didn't do it so he could lord over us. He did it because he is showing us that as we serve, we're lifted up.

[64:12] Jesus came not to rule over us, but to serve us and save us. He went to a cross and died that we might live. And on the night in which he was betrayed, he took this bread and established this meal.

[64:27] He gave thanks to God, and then he broke the bread, and he gave it to his disciples, and he said, take and eat. This is my body, which is broken for you, and for many for the forgiveness of sin.

[64:41] Eat of this, remembering me. When the supper was over, he took the cup. He gave thanks to God, and then he gave it to his disciples, and he said, drink from this, all of you.

[64:52] This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. Drink of this, remembering me. And so in remembrance of these mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

[65:16] Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, Lord. Pour your Spirit upon us and open up our hearts to see what you have designed for us.

[65:28] Show us what you intend for us. Help us to experience a wisdom from you. Give us your blessings as a church to reach out to the world, to transform the world, to be a blessing to the world, that the world might come together under you.

[65:46] Be our strength and our peace and our sustenance through this life as we offer our prayers in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

[65:57] Amen. And now as Jesus has taught his disciples to pray, let us join together in saying, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[66:11] Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[66:24] For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Will those who are serving at the table come forward at this time, please? Amen.

[66:59] Amen. site Thank you.

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