Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / July 7, 2019 | Doug Will - An Acts 1:8 Church

Transcript

July 7, 2019 | Doug Will - An Acts 1:8 Church · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, good morning.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: How is everybody?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_02: Good.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, how's everybody over in College Avenue building?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Can't hear?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: A little louder?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as you heard during announcements, we have a fantastic day.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: Get to come to church this morning, but tonight, 34 people being baptized.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: We get to hear 34 stories of people coming to faith in Christ.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't that fantastic?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: Love this event.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Hope you can come out.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's one of my favorite uh events of the whole church year.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I hope everybody had a great fourth, did you?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Cooper, you had a fantastic fourth.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, they heard that over in College Avenue Building, probably.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: I had a very, very unique July 4th.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: My brother treated me and my two youngest sons to a trip to Chicago.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'd flown in and out of Chicago before, but had never spent time there.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: Man, what a great city.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about all the unique skyscrapers and tons of things to do.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I tell you what, we had two days there.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: We did not get to see everything there is to do, but we packed in as much as we could possibly do.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Our hotel was one block away from the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: And of course we had to take that in.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: So here you'll see there's a picture of me and my sons.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: They've got a glass platform that hangs out over the 103rd floor, and they were laying on there taking a selfie.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Crazy.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Have any of the rest of you ever done that?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Cooper hasn't.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you know what's a trip to Chicago without paying homage to one of our dear, dear staff members, Hank.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: We had to go to Wrigley Field, didn't we?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh one other place we went to, it's a park right next to downtown called Millennium Park.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: A fun, fun, fun place.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: We were there.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, let me show you a video that I took there just what 22 hours ago.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: So watch the screen.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Now what you see here, this is a 30-foot LED screen.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's kind of freaky.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: If you watch the eyebrows, they they move a little bit, and the lips move very slowly.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then as you can see, water spouting out downtown Chicago there to the back.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: People everywhere.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: The kids, and here on the other side, yep, there's another mouth spewing forth water.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Just a fun, fun place.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Whoever thought it was.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Has anybody been there before?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_02: Just a few people have been there, yeah.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, it was a trip.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: It was awesome.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: It was awesome.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Now, we took the train there, and what was supposed to be a nine-hour trip going, and the nine-hour trip coming back turned out to be about 11, 11 and a half hours both way.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I learned is never trust a train schedule.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: Never ever trust a train schedule.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, this was the week for staff to go on trips.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, our lead pastor, Jim Congdon, he and his wife Melody had been up in Nova Scotia.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: And they were visiting his daughter and his son-in-law and three granddaughters.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: I guess they had a great time.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I did not hear back from.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: They took a plane, though, the way to go, right?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: Well, um, let me tell you about a jolt I got.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: I was sitting in the Union Station in Chicago at 2.30 yesterday afternoon.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: My phone buzzes in my pocket.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's a text from Jim.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, I may get to hear how his uh trip went.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Here's how it started.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_02: Warning.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, not a good sign when a text starts out warning.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: He says, our connections are Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: We're sitting on the runway in Halifax.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: We're delayed taking off to Philadelphia because of storms there.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: Because we have a 90-minute buffer in Philadelphia, I expect to make the flight to O'Hare.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: But if that flight is delayed on departure, we may miss our Chicago to Kansas City flights.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'll keep you posted.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Making me a little nervous, but we'll see.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, a few minutes later, I get a text from him.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: It says, just announced a two-hour delay here.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna put us off the plane.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'll see if there's something on American Airlines that I can take.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Few more minutes.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: Another text comes in.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: American Customer Services just announced me that no, in bold underline, no airline can get me all the way to Kansas City before noon tomorrow.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: And this right before I'm to board a train that was supposed to get in at about 12:30 this morning, ended up getting in about 2 o'clock.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Now, for those of you that don't know me, let's just make one thing perfectly clear.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: I am an executive pastor.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm an administrator.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: I am not a communicator.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not a teacher.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not Jim Condon.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Seriously, Jim?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: You have got to be kidding me.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you what was run.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: No, I better not tell you what was running through my mind when I got that text.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just say I had to confess a few minutes later.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, on the train through the night, I'm thinking, you know what?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: God sometimes just calls us to things where we feel totally inadequate, we feel totally out of our comfort zone.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm here right now to tell you that.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: What you're gonna get today is dug unplanned, dug unscripted, dug unplugged.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Okay?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: Woo-hoo! I'm gonna share from my heart, okay?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna share from my heart.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: But you know what?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: I really need your help.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: So let's, I'm gonna give you just a minute.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: What I'm gonna ask is that you pray for me.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: So let's bow our heads and just pray that God uses me.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: God uses me to speak to you.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then why don't you pray for yourselves so that you would hear from God what he wants you to hear?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Father God, you know, I'm reminded in a very raw way those words that Paul wrote in Corinthians when he said, In our weakness, that's when your power is made perfect.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: And Lord, you know that today I'm I feel out of my element.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: I feel inadequate, I feel tired.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: But I pray that your spirit would come through and may each of us hear from you today what you want us to hear.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: In your son's name.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I showed you those pictures at the start, and that's not just to show you a great family vacation that I had.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, there was a little bit of a purpose to it.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: There were people in Chicago everywhere.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: We went down to a place called Navy Pier the afternoon of July 4th.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Fun place, but that evening there were gonna be 100,000 people there to see fireworks.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: A hundred thousand people.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I tell you, when we left about four hours before the show began, I mean, people were just pouring in like crazy.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: As we traveled around Chicago, um, I'm guessing maybe of the conversations we heard, maybe 20%, one out of five were in English.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: You heard everything else, you saw all races of people.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was fantastic, it was fun.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: We saw very poor, we saw panhandlers, I saw a 66-year-old woman bent over, begging for money, looking desperate.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: We also saw fabulously rich.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_02: We went to the magnificent mile.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: I stepped into Saks Fifth Avenue, and there was a leather jacket there that cost way more than I paid for my first car.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: $6,500 for a leather jacket.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: My brother didn't buy it for me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of mad at him, but maybe I'll get over it.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: But as I looked at the literally tens of thousands of people everywhere, you know, the verse came to mind.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's one that's very well known.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh Jesus, when he looked out at crowds, Jesus was traveling around, preaching and teaching and healing people.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: And in Matthew 9, it says, when he, Jesus, saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: And as I looked out at all these people, I thought, I would love to sit down with each one, hear their story.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: And also I wonder how many of them know that Jesus loves them, that they can't be good enough to have a relationship with God, but it's only because Christ took the penalty for their sin and my sin.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: We're all in the same boat, and only because of that we can have a relationship with God.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, as I was traveling on the train last night, I also thought about another verse, Acts 1.8.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: This is a very, very well-known verse to many of us.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, Jim is in a series right now, there's an app for that, and he's preaching, he's teaching each week about a really popular verse.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: I have no idea if this will be in his sermon series, but it's one that we all know.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: This is Jesus talking to his apostles right before he ascended back into heaven, after he was resurrected.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: The verse says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I remember as a little kid in Sunday school, I remember Mrs.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Porter, she was my Sunday school teacher.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: She explained this verse so well.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: She said, These places, these geographical locations, are not there just happenstance.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: She said, Jerusalem was the city where the apostles were.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Judea was the country where they were.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: Samaria was the next country outside of that, and then the ends of the earth.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it went in concentric circles.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know, on the train last night, I thought, we have had a phenomenal last few weeks here at TBC.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: We have been an Axe 1-8 kind of church.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to share some of that excitement with you.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: How we've been an Axe 1-8 kind of church.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Now, rather than going in to out though, I'm going to start out to in.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going to start with the outer ends of the earth.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: You know, about 10 days ago, we had six from our young adults' ministry take off for a missions trip to Hungary and Austria.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I doubt that the people over in uh Europe would like to be known as the outer ends of the earth.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_02: Let's be honest.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: But if you're going by train, I'm sure it would really feel like the outer ends of the earth, wouldn't it?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, our group over there, some of them have been ministering in Hungary at a school with kids.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Others went to Austria, where there's a refugee camp.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure you've seen all the news reports about there's been tens of thousands of refugees that have come into Europe from the Middle East.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this group, our group, has had just a great time ministering to people there, sharing the gospel.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Many have been receptive.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Many have taken New Testaments.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: Many have said, you know, I'm gonna start thinking more about this Jesus guy.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: But there was one guy, let me share a story that Joe emailed just a few days ago.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: This guy is a rapper from Iran.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I've heard Iranian music, and by the way, by rapper, I mean music rapper, I don't mean he's rapping candies, okay?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: Now, I have heard Iranian music, and how anybody would rap to that, I don't have a clue.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: But that's what he does.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: This guy wrote raps against the government.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the Iranian government found out about it, and they said, We're gonna come look for you.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: And if we find you, we're gonna cut your tongue out.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, obviously, this guy escaped out of Iran.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: He came through Romania and he was beaten by the border security.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: Joe writes, walking through the forest of Hungary a couple weeks ago, he saw a cross formed by two branches in the woods.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: And he said, God, if you rescue me, I'll believe in Jesus.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Just a few days later, he ran into our group, our young adults' group.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: He heard the gospel.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: He's now a Christian.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't that awesome?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: Now, when the group asked, okay, now that you're a believer, how are you gonna try to follow Jesus?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: He said, Well, the first thing I'm gonna do, I'm gonna stop throwing my cigarette butts on the ground and stepping on them.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, that's a starter, isn't it?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: But he also said, you know, I'm not going to try to say, I swear to Allah.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Rather, I'm gonna start saying, I swear to Allah that I believe in Jesus.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: Fantastic news.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: One way that God is using TBC, our TBC family, to reach the outer ends of the earth.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so we're gonna move in now to our country, to our Judea.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: How has God used TBC to reach our country recently?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, just five days ago, we had 27 from our student ministry take off for a missions trip to New York.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is hardcore stuff in New York.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is where our kids go out on the streets or to a park, and they're told, okay, over the next 90 minutes, two hours, we want you to talk to three people, strike up conversations, talk to three people about Christ.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love this trip.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: My two oldest sons have gone on this trip, and I will tell you, it has been life-changing for them.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: It has forced them out of their comfort zone, it has taught them how to walk up to strangers, it's taught them how to share Christ.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: Here is our group that took off.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the next slide, though, are three from our group.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Two girls, Peyton Jones and Olivia Day, and also Lori Tennyson.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: She's a leader.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: They're with a girl here who they found in a park.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: They the girls struck up a conversation with this gal.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: They found out that she's a student at the New York Institute of Fashion.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: And as they talked with her and asked questions, they found out that this girl is struggling with so much.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: School is hard for her.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: Life is hard right now.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: She's struggling, she's depressed.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: She said, I don't have any peace.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, our team said, Would you like to hear about the Prince of Peace, the one who can give real peace?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: She said, Yeah, I'd love to hear that.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: They shared about God's grace, they shared about the freedom that we can have in Christ.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: This guy came to faith in Christ this week.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: So we've talked about the outer ends of the earth, we've talked about Judea.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: What about our Jerusalem?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: What about our community, Topeka?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: Well, just a couple of weeks ago, we had a phenomenal, over-the-top, fantastic ministry here at TBC.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Many of you were involved with it, Camp Catapult.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: There were 575 kids that came to this thing, many of whom didn't know the Lord.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Jason, come on up.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: This was your brainchild, this Camp Catapult.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, wow, we saw God at work, didn't we?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: But we're gonna talk about that in a second.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, would you take just a minute to tell about your vision for Camp Catapult?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I gotta be honest.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: When you talk, talk to me, he kind of presented this idea to me, I don't know, three and a half years ago.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: When he told me, I thought, that is crazy.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: But if you know Jason, crazy is an adjective that would describe him really well, right?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Do I get an amen from that?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: But Jason, talk about your vision for sure.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, like I said, about three and a half years ago, we just was I was just praying through a way that we could um expand our summer outreach uh to provide a camp that was affordable and it ended up being free uh for yes the children at TBC Bible Church, but also in the surrounding community.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I've been blown away by how it's kind of grown each year.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: But that was the the vision for it was to be able to do something that uh we could reach more people and it could be an affordable time for them to come and learn out the gospel and also how to grow in Christ.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: Excellent.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: Now, we saw God move.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: We were able to be an Acts 1.8 church, a catapult this year.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_02: Tell us a little bit about that, please.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was just so amazing.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: There were so many different ways that you saw specifically God working through the helpers but also through the campers uh this year.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we were able to, every single day we had our small group time where we planted seeds for the gospel and also growing in Christ.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I believe several are being baptized today that have that heard about baptism through camp catapult.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it just is pretty crazy uh to see the far-reaching effect when you plant those seeds with children young, how they continue to grow.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh specifically, I've heard I've heard specifically six stories of uh of people that accepted Christ for the first time or accepted Christ at this last week, including uh a really cool story of a family that she was kind of a light ad.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: She's in a family, a practicing Hindu family, and they let her come and she accepted Christ as well at Camp Catapult.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, six, at least six, have come to faith.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: That is encouraging.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: That is fantastic.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for your vision.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for not letting me put the gebosha on it here four years ago.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: God bless you, man.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: One leader of a major part of Camp Catapult is Desmond Henry.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: Desmond, come on up.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna visit just a little bit about uh your experience with Camp Catapult.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Now, nine years ago, you showed up here at TBC.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't know the Lord, did you?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I was definitely in that discovery phase uh Yeah, would you have ever guessed nine years, even five years ago, that you'd be leading a major part of this ministry to kids?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Amen to that.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I also didn't think I was gonna be up here this morning either.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I didn't either.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you were sharing Jim's text message, uh, so let me share with you my text message, uh which was actually three hours later.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I've had three hours less time to prepare for this.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: Around 5:30, uh Jason says, Are you in town tomorrow for church?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's a bit of an emergency, unexpected circumstances.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Jim will not be back in time to preach.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Would you be available to speak for a few minutes about Camp Catapult at service tomorrow?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I ignored his text message.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: I wasn't smart enough to ignore Jim's text message.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm I I guess I should say I am smart enough to pick up the phone when Doug will call.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: So about 15 minutes later, Doug called and uh asked the question, and here I am, being being challenged by the Lord uh and kind of taken outside my comfort zone.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: Stretched, stretched.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: So how were you called to help with Camp Catapult?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I I was actually reading a book uh by uh uh Pastor Rick Rick Warren.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: I had just finished a book.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's called What What on Earth Are Are You Here For?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of all about finding your purpose, and and one of your purposes is to serve God.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of your primary purposes is to serve God.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just really started reflecting about that, started thinking about that, asking the question.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, in the Bible it it it says that each of us will give a personal account to God.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that that hit me.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't want that day to come and my personal account have any regrets of I could have done something better, or I could have volunteered my time or could have gave more.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give it all for God.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I I really want to hear him say, Well done, good and faithful servant.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And when I just thought about that, it it called me to look for ways in the church to serve, other ministries to serve.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know we had that conversation of how I can get involved.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I I didn't have to look too far.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: As many of you know, I give announcements on a regular basis here, and I announce that we need camp catapult volunteers.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I always look for these like signs like Moses and the Burning Bush.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I guess in today's world it would be like a burning microwave.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I I look for these callings, big callings, and it it it doesn't happen that way.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're they're they're smaller, but but they're definitely impactful.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so I just felt this tug on on my heart to to volunteer at Camp Catapult.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'll be honest with you, I didn't know in what capacity because I I actually sent this text message to Teresa when I was thinking about volunteering.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: I had said, you know, hey, look, I I I'm feeling called to volunteer, but I'll be honest with you, spending the day with like 10 to 12 kids in a small group.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: That that sounds like torture.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's not you.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, not you, no.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so, you know, God gives each of us, we are all accustomed to design.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: He gives each of us our own spiritual gifts, our own uh talents.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: One of mine is is to be up here on stage, to do public speaking, to not feel nervous, uh, to be creative.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Jeremiah and I, we worked together.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I was I was kind of the DJ, DJ Desaflow was my name.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the DJ for the week.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: I led the large group entertainment.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, in fact, what's that green mop on your head?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: And what are you doing there?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't know you had that picture.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I um you know, I I went all in.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: I went all in for this.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh apparently one of my one of my gifts is just I'm able to come up here on stage, embarrass myself, uh, make fun of myself, be a fool, and what's incredible is is is God can still use you.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: God can still use you no matter how much spiritual knowledge you have.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, the analogy that I would give is a lot of times we spend so much time in Bible studies trying to get that spiritual knowledge.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's kind of like it's kind of like eating right, you know.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're eating right to be healthy.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's great, but we also need to exercise.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: We also need to have that service experience of volunteering and giving back and doing the ministries, and and I really view this opportunity as as exercising my my spiritual gifts.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, how did catapult impact you?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: We've heard how it impacted others, but how did it impact you?
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, for for me, I I definitely grew.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it it took me uh out of my comfort zone.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, kids, I I love them to death.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: I have four of them, but the thought of having 10 or 12 uh and and boys at special I have I have three girls.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I have one boy, but three girls.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: God gave me three girls for a reason.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I I knew I I would be in a group of uh of boys if I was a small group leader, but it just grew me.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh challenged me.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there were times I I was exhausted.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the times we came up with material um in the wee hours of the of the morning, and and to just have that constant energy.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm still tired.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I am too.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're not getting any sympathy from me, okay?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: But but I mean I'll I will tell you the the reward of of serving, if if none of you have have ever served before in this capacity volunteering, uh you you feel it.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: And and I can come up here and talk about it.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Words can't describe the the word, uh, words can't describe the feeling when when you're serving the Lord.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: So isn't it great how God is using TBC to be in Acts 1, 8?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's the church.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: Reaching outer ends of the earth, our nation, the Topeka community.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: We we've seen births into God's kingdom in the last few weeks because of that.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: But as great as it is as our church globally, the church is made up of individuals.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to take just the next couple minutes to say, are we Axe 1-8 kind of people?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: And to challenge us.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Now, God has wired some of us, gifted some of us, to have a heart for foreign missions.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: And that's awesome.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you're one of those people, how can you be an Axe 1-8 kind of person if you're living here in Topeka?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's simple.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, we have lots of short-term missions trips every year that go, they go to Dominican Republic, Haiti, other places.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: If you feel God tugging on your heart, talk to one of the staff, talk to me, we can get you connected in that way.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_02: Another really easy, easy way that we can be Acts 1.8 people is to give.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Did you realize out of every dollar that you put in the offering plate, about 22, 23 cents of that goes to missions and mission work and missionaries.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: Taking the gospel to the far ends of the earth.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: Also, if you want 100% of your money to go to missions, just in the memo put missions.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: We have an uncommitted missions fund, and out of that, about every month, the board gives to missionaries special needs that they have.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: We also help fund, we send dozens of people on short-term missions trips every year, and we do that out of that missions fund.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe you're not wired so much for foreign missions, but we are here in Topeka, and God has called us to be Acts 1.8 people.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: How do we do that?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: Well, one way, this is really, really hardcore, but Ed Kern from our conversation from our TBC family, every Saturday, he leads a group that go door to door in the High Crest community.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they knock on doors and they say, Can we pray for you?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: Can we share the gospel?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: Many times people are receptive, and they've had some people come to faith in Christ.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: But even if you're not wired that way, which let's be honest, that takes a lot of guts.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Some of us are wired that way, some of us aren't.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: We all have people in our sphere of influence who don't know the Lord.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: Let me challenge you to think about who God has put in your life that doesn't know his grace.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: That could be a coworker, it could be the guy at the gym, it could be the gal who cuts your hair.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: But there's somebody, there's somebody that needs to know about him.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: That needs to hear, they don't have to be good enough.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: They need to hear that freedom that it's only because of Christ that we can have that relationship with God.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: And once you identify that person, let me challenge you, build a relationship with them.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: I've got to be honest, I hate, hate when people preach at me.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I run the other way.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I have a feeling I'm not unusual.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: I bet you're all like that too.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: But when I know that somebody cares about me, that's when I'll listen to them.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: Build that relationship just like just like our team did in a real short amount of time with that girl in New York City.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: And earn the right to share the gospel.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: And then take that step to do that.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Be an Acts 1-8 kind of person.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Finally, maybe how else can we be an Acts 1-8 kind of person?
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: By serving.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: By serving.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_02: And you just heard Desmond share that.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a living example right now.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: Step out of your comfort zone.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes God asks us to do hard things.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: And how do you know what to do?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I have people say, I don't I don't know where to begin.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: I say, that's easy.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: Just do it.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: There is a company that had a slogan here a few years ago, is just do it.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: And what I found in my own life is I'll try something.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: I may fall flat on my face.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: It may not be fruitful.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: I just move to the next thing.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_02: And there I find fulfillment.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: There I find fruit.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: There I find purpose and meaning in life.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've got a really good friend.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: He's actually sitting here in this auditorium right now.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: And uh about a couple years ago, he started serving the Lord, and he now disciples several guys.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: He leads them in his Bible study.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: And uh he will tell me, he says, I've never been so alive as I am right now.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: I've never felt the fulfillment that I have right now.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: So let me encourage you, let's be Acts 1.8, kind of kind of people, individuals.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Let's be Acts 1.8 a kind of church where we are sharing the best news ever with the crowds that we see, with the people that God brings into our life.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: Can I pray with you, please?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Father God, you've given us a wonderful opportunity, first of all, to know you.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: And you give us wonderful opportunities to share that good news.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: God, how selfish it would be of us to keep that to ourselves.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: We want to obey.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: We want to obey your word.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Acts 1.8.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: And we know when we do that, we don't only bless others, we bless ourselves.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: Open our eyes over this next week to who you bring into our life to share your good news.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we can only share the good news because of what these elements represent here, and that's that Christ died for us.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna take the Lord's table now.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: Let me challenge you as you take that bread, be thankful.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Be thankful for the incredible love God showed to us.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then we're gonna do things a little bit differently.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when we get the cup, let's all hold it together, and then as brothers and sisters, we'll drink that as a family.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, men, come on up and please serve us on the Lord's table.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: Brothers and sisters with joy in our hearts, because through Jesus we have true freedom.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_02: Let's drink together.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_02: Father God, thank you for your great love, Lord.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Where would we be without that?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the freedom that we have in you through your son.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the opportunities that we have to share your word, to show that we're just beggars showing other beggars where to find bread.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: Open our eyes over this next week, Lord.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Have a great week.