Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 17, 2017 | Timm Collins - The Land Of Opportunity

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September 17, 2017 | Timm Collins - The Land Of Opportunity · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_05: One, two, three.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_05: Probably gonna open a microphone repair business.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_05: I'm looking into it.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_05: You guys doing all right?
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_05: All right.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_05: It's good to be with you.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_05: Uh Pastor Jim is out today, and uh he had asked me to uh deliver the message today, but it's gonna be a little bit different week uh because he and I, along with Shelly Setchell, uh took a team of 11.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, Chris Manaliti, who's on staff with me.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_05: My name's Tim Collins, by the way.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_05: Uh my wife and I and our kids attend church here, but we're also on staff.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_05: I'm on staff with Trash Mountain Project.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_05: And so uh a team of 11 TBCers went to Honduras about a week and a half ago, I guess almost two weeks ago now, uh, to build a house uh for our partner ministry down there.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_05: Our partner ministry is called Afe, Amor Fey Esperanza, which is love, faith, and hope.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_05: You're gonna hear more about that.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_05: We're gonna watch a quick video that kind of summarizes the trip and what we saw there.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_05: It's gonna talk a little bit about Afe, talk a little bit about the house that we built and the family that we built it for.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_05: This was a family uh where the dad and possibly the mom also work in the garbage dump.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_05: The kids are in the program at Afe, uh, and they were living in just horrible conditions.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_05: So Topeka Bible Church provided the funds for the house and the men the swing the hammers, right?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_05: And there's some uh folks went down and did that.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_05: So we're gonna watch this video and then I'm gonna tell you a little bit more about the backstory, which is actually really fun.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_05: So take a look at this.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_06: You'll rarely find, in my view, an organization that's so perfectly embodies and lives out its stated mission.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_06: Stated mission really is uh, you know, flows out of the what Afe means.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_06: Afe, amor, love, F for Fe.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_06: Faith, Esperanza is the E, hope.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_06: And and and you cannot live at Afe very long without being told that their theme verse comes out of the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where Paul says there are three great virtues, faith, hope, and love.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_06: But the greatest of these is love.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_06: So they took love, they moved it into the front of faith and hope, and you have A F E Afe.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: My impression of Afe is that it's more than a school for underprivileged kids.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's really more of a rescue and outreach.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_09: Afe impressed me in that it's a refuge for the families.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_09: It's full of kids, loving kids.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_09: The kids have a place not only to learn, but also to play, which was one of my favorite things.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: What I noticed about Afe most was the success uh that it it appears to have.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_04: I've been blessed, uh, this is my second time uh to see A Fay.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: I know when I first came, uh a common, they always would ask the kids, what do you want to do when you grow up?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: And many many of the kids when I first came would say things like, I want to drive the truck in the garbage stack.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I want to be a truck driver.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: And now you're hearing things like, I want to be a doctor, or I want to be a nurse, or I want to be a policeman.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Those are the most common responses.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: So that's exciting to see that transformation.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_08: There are a lot of very dedicated people who are working diligently for very little money, and they are serving these children oftentimes at their own expense.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_08: And the children are just beautiful.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_04: Success uh is evident in seeing so many children happy, dressed well, and not on the trash dump, which is astounding.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: We had an opportunity one day to actually go up on the dump and uh see exactly what it was like, and um to realize that the kids, many of the kids that we saw on AFA used to actually be up there working where we were walking around and the the filth, the horrible stench and things that we saw, uh they used to work up there.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_09: Um I've been to American trash dumps.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_09: I knew this was not the same, but I really pictures, video that I had seen previously really don't give you the the real taste of what is the trash dump.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_09: It's dangerous.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_09: I saw more buzzards than I've ever seen.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_09: Scavenger birds that are just fighting for what they want against the people.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_09: And it's just it's just a very ugly situation that can't be imagined without being there.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um this is my first house.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: I've been here three times, but I haven't ever been a part of a house-building project.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: So this was a new thing for me.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: What impressed me most about the family that we built the house for, uh they were ordinary people in many respects, mom, dad, children.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but when you looked in their immediate living area, the street that they lived on, the block of houses and structures, again, uh I'm not aware of anything in our community that is as rough and raw as where this family was trying to eke out a living.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_09: The family impressed me in that they were so appreciative.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_09: Um not only did they always smile at you, but they also worked side by side.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_09: They watched what you were doing, they did it themselves, um, they participated.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_09: It wasn't it wasn't a gift to them as much as they were working for it, working alongside you.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_07: The mother and children were there standing by, giving us their support and onlooking the crew, uh, laughing, playing card games.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_07: Everyone was involved in the process and was happy to help out.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_07: Even the mother, I was reaching for a board out the window, and it was a little bit out of my reach.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_07: And the next thing I know, she's there uh handing me the board that I was trying to reach.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_07: So it wasn't so much of a sitting back and watching work you've done, but she was involved and willing to step in and pass me a board.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_06: I've been to a lot of countries, we've done a lot of things for people.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_06: I don't know that I've ever seen somebody that you're doing something for get in there right next to you and sweat and get covered with stardust and fold the boards and then do high fives with you afterwards.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_06: I I guess that's my key impression.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_07: What stuck out to me about the Alquaponics project is Honduras community here, the AFA community here, uh, and getting involved, uh, getting the students involved, not only in the growing of produce and fish, but getting involved in preserving that process and maintaining that process.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: God is concerned about uh his people wherever they're found, whether that's trice dump in uh Honduras or the streets of Topeka.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: God has blessed us immensely, and uh I think he's given us the opportunity to do something for other people around the world.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_06: I believe that Jesse, the leader, and and the other small group of key people at Afay would give up food, would sleep on the ground because of their love for kids that most of the world would turn away from, kids that are filthy, kids that are dirty, kids that they don't even know, kids that are rummaging around on a rubbish heap, but they love them, desperately love them, so they'll do anything to get them off of the dump, to feed them, to educate them, to graduate them, to send them to college.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_06: So when you ask me about Afei, I think of love.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_06: I think they embody this mission of love.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_05: It was a fun trip.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_05: It was an interesting trip.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_05: I can't say enough about the people who went.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, I would highly recommend if you know any of the folks that you just saw on this video, grab them and ask them for their impressions about what they saw and how they felt and the things that they learned.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_05: And uh I think you're in for a treat because uh it's it's definitely a whole different experience, and yet many of the folks who went have a lot of international experience, they've done a lot of missions work.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_05: Uh what I want to share with you for just a second as we kind of transition uh into uh a short sermon.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_05: Uh shorts relative, always remember that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_05: Uh I want to talk a little bit about the backstory uh of how we got there.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_05: How did we build this house?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_05: Uh most of you will remember in June uh we had a thing called Camp Catapult.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_05: How many of you remember Camp Catapult?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, the kids got together, it was kind of their VBS thing, so they came up all day, every day, uh Monday through Friday.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um towards, I think it was towards the end of June, or maybe the middle of June, it all runs together.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_05: Uh but before that, back in May, towards the end of May, Pastor Jason uh texted me.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_05: Jason is our pastor, our children's pastor, texted me and said, Hey, I want to get together for coffee.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so I went because I like Jason and I never turned down free coffee.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so we met up and he said, Hey, we're gonna do this thing called Camp Catapult, and we want Trash Mountain Project to be the mission's emphasis this year.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_05: And of course I said, Man, that's what a privilege.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_05: That's an incredible thing.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_05: So Jason says, We we want to set a goal for the kids to fundraise, but we don't want it to be an arbitrary goal.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_05: We want it to actually be representative of something.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_05: In other words, we want to tell the kids you're raising this amount of money because it will buy this, which is a very good thing when you're dealing with kids.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_05: There needs to be something very conceptual there.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_05: So we kicked around a couple of different options, couldn't really come up with anything.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_05: Jason said, you know, I think we can probably raise about$1,500.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_05: That's probably a realistic goal for us.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_05: We may stretch and hit$2,000, but probably$1,500.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_05: So we talked a little bit, and I go back to the office and I was talking with Brett Durbin, who is our executive director, and Brett's this big idea, big picture dreamer guy.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_05: And uh he said, Well, why don't they build a house in Honduras?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_05: I said, Because a house in Honduras is$6,000.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_05: That's not the number that we discussed.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_05: And of course, Brett says, Ah, we can do it.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_05: Come on.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_05: So, Jason, I would I I got excited.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_05: I think Jason was excited and also probably nervous.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_05: But uh, so we come that week to Camp Catapult, and many of you were here, and you saw it, and you told me stories, and I saw it with, I mean, I've got these two knuckleheads that live at my house, who are 7 and 11, and they were here for it, and I came in and spoke a couple times that week, and Brett came in and spoke, and we just saw and heard some incredible things that kids were emptying their piggy banks.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_05: Kids had been saving money to buy a toy, and instead they were emptying their piggy banks because they heard there was a family in Honduras that needed a house, and they wanted to give money to that house.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_05: Kids who were trying to do extra chores.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_05: Are you sitting down?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_05: Kids asking to do extra chores because they wanted to earn extra money so that they could give it to build a house.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_05: Kids who are pulling on mom and dad's coats and going, Hey, do you have some money that you could give to this?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_05: And grandparents.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_05: And the incredible thing, uh, this really struck me.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_05: I remember somebody, and I don't remember who it was, telling me that they were checking in kids every day.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_05: Their job was to register the kids when they showed up.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_05: And they said kids would show up with ziploc bags full of change.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_05: Remember those two knuckleheads that I talked about that live at my house?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_05: I've seen them carry a ziploc bag full of change around the house.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_05: It's a big deal.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_05: That's a lot of money to them.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_05: So Pastor Jason gets up that Friday and he says, you know, our goal was to raise$1,500 to help build a house in Honduras.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_05: And we didn't raise$1,500.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_05: We raised$6,000.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_05: And I went, You're kidding me.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_05: Like they flashed it on the screen, and several of us in the back are going, is that a typo or something's not?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_05: And then later on, more money came in and wound up with over$9,000 to help this ministry in Honduras.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_05: And I think there's a principle there.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_05: So for just a second, I've now taken off my Trash Mountain project hat and I've put on my pastor hat, okay?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_05: And I want to share with you a principle.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_05: If you'll turn with me to the book of Galatians, chapter 6, we're going to read four verses quickly.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_05: And I want to share with you a principle that we've seen this at Trash Mountain time and time again, that oftentimes kids lead the way in generosity.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_05: And I want you to look up here, because this is really important.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_05: I think one of the reasons kids lead the way in generosity is because they recognize an opportunity when they see it for exactly what it is.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_05: I think you and I, because we're adults and because we pay bills and because we have to navigate waters that kids don't have to navigate, if we're not careful, we become just a little bit jaded.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_05: And every time we see an opportunity, we also see all the obstacles that come along with it, don't we?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_05: Our rational minds get to work and we say, okay, well, this is not realistic.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_05: Kids don't raise$6,000.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_05: Kids don't raise$9,000.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_05: And kids say, ah, who cares about rules?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_05: Let's raise$9,000, right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_05: Because that's how their minds work.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_05: They don't pay attention to obstacles.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_05: They see opportunities for what they are.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_05: And what I want to share with you for just a few minutes is how you and I should navigate the waters around us whenever we see opportunity.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_05: Because the truth is, America is the land of opportunity, and that's something we've all heard.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_05: But it really is true, and we're going to dive a little bit deeper into that this morning, that you and I have opportunities to do good all around us.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_05: And maybe the next time we're faced with an opportunity to do good, it would do us well to follow the lead of the kids and respond in childlike faith and say, you know what?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_05: Here's someone who needs help.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_05: I know I had other plans, but this person needs help.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_05: Let me help them.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_05: Galatians is an interesting book.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_05: It was written by the Apostle Paul around the year 60, somewhere in there.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_05: Written to a group of churches in the Galatian region, a group of Christians who knew themselves as Galatian Christians.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_05: And so it was a kind of a circular letter, much like Ephesians, that it was intended to be read in several different churches.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_05: And Galatians is one of the most studied books in the New Testament.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_05: And one of the reasons it's so studied is because it's fun to study it.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_05: Because Paul's subject matter in this book, so Paul writes this letter in response to some false teachers who had crept into these churches and who had begun teaching that Christianity means you have faith in Jesus, but then you also do some things.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_05: Now we call that legalism, we call that works salvation, we call that whatever we want, but we call it wrong.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_05: Those of us who know theology go, hey, that's not right.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_05: It's not Jesus plus anything, it's not Jesus plus you, because here's the bad news that's actually really good news.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_05: You can't do anything to earn your salvation.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_05: Some of us have tried, haven't we?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_05: And it doesn't work.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_05: So thank God for the grace of God that says, listen, you are a hot mess, but I'm going to step in and give you grace anyway because you desperately need it.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_05: Well, then these other teachers come in and go, Well, yeah, but you're supposed to put faith in Jesus and then do some other things.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_05: So Paul sits down and I can imagine him getting out his parchment.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_05: He does his arm like this and he says, Let us address this issue.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_05: Salvation is about freedom in Christ.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_05: It's not about working, it's not about being good enough, it's not about circumcision, it's not about any of those things.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_05: The work that Jesus did on the cross for us was, is, and evermore will be enough.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_05: So in light of that, we're gonna kind of barge right into the middle of Paul's thought process.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_05: And in chapter six, he's kind of starting to wind down this book, but he gives us some incredible, incredible.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_05: The first ten verses of Galatians to me are some of the most beautiful that Paul has written.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_05: We're gonna barge into verse 7 and we're gonna read just a couple of verses here.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_05: But this is where Paul, in this whole context of uh reminding us that we don't work for our salvation, look at me, it's really important.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_05: He now turns his attention to talk to us about what role do works and good deeds and doing good to other people, what role does that play in our faith?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_05: Because it does play a role.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_05: It doesn't play a role in your salvation, but after your salvation, there is a part for doing good.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_05: Here's the key.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_05: I'll give you the little the the um spoil the story for you, okay?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_05: We don't work, we don't do good so that God will love us.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_05: We work and do good because God already loves us.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_05: We do it as a response to his love.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_05: We do it because we're so overwhelmed by the grace of God for sinners such as I that we say, man, if God's done so much good for me and God's blessed me in so many ways, how can I not turn and help those around me?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_05: How do I not offer grace?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_05: How do I not offer forgiveness?
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_05: How do I not offer peace to those around me and they haven't earned it?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_05: But hello, do we remember what grace is?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_05: Nobody earns anything.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_05: So we're doing good to the people around us, we're we're we're helping people around us, and we're given all these opportunities.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_05: So Paul kind of barges right into the middle of this subject and says, let's talk about what role doing good really does, and why is it?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_05: So if we're not motivated to do good because we want God to love us more, God can't love you more than he loves you right now.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_05: Pack that in your bag and take it home with you.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_05: God can't love you any more than he loves you right now.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_05: So, what role do works play?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_05: Paul's about to tell us.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_05: Why would we ever be motivated to work?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_05: Paul's about to tell us.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_05: So, everybody take a deep breath.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_05: Let it out.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_05: We're about to talk about money in church.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, I got you, didn't I?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_05: You didn't know it was coming.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_05: But here's the good news the offering's already been taken.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: There's no more offerings.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_05: They locked the plates up.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_05: We're not allowed to take any more offerings today.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_05: This is an important subject.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_05: And these verses, many of you have read these verses, and maybe you didn't know that the context that Paul was talking about in these verses is actually financially supporting ministries and doing good with your money and opportunities that come your way.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_05: So, Galatians chapter 6, verse 7.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_05: Paul says, Do not be deceived.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_05: God is not mocked.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_05: Look, it literally means turn your nose up.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_05: You don't turn your nose up at God.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_05: You can try, but it doesn't work out very well for you.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_05: Just, and you maybe you're here and you're not a Bible person and you're thinking you can.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_05: Spoiler alert, it doesn't work out very well for you.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_05: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, say it with me, that he will also reap.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_05: Say it again.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_05: That will he also reap.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_05: Listen, the way that he constructed this in the Greek, it is almost as if somebody's pointing to saying, Whatever you sow, that and that alone is what you will reap.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_05: You don't sow one thing and get ten things.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_05: You don't sow one thing and get something different.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_05: That and that alone is what you will reap.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_05: Verse 8.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_05: For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap, what does it say?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_05: Corruption.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_05: It could literally mean decay.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_05: Literally decay.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_05: But the one who sows to the spirit, that's a capital S, so who are we talking about?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_05: The Holy Spirit, right?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_05: The one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_05: Now, this is not about us becoming Christian or Not becoming Christian.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_05: This is something really, really practical here.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_05: Paul's trying to tell us, you know, we talk about corruption.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_05: It says, you can, if you sow from your own flesh, you will from the flesh reap corruption.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_05: We think of that in moral terms, but Paul, while he possibly meant it that way, there's another context here that I think he definitely meant, and that is decay.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_05: So in other words, it's more about being temporary.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_05: It's more about the fact that whatever it is that we're sowing to in our own flesh will pass away.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_05: That when we when we step out of time and into eternity, there are a lot of things that we aren't going to take with us because that's not how the whole thing works.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_05: And he's talking about things that will decay, that will pass away.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_05: Because here's the thing that you and I have probably seen, and you could probably tell me this story better than I could tell it to you.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_05: It's that distraction oftentimes is the enemy of opportunity.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_05: Excuse me.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_05: Distraction is the enemy of opportunity.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_05: And Paul says exactly this.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_05: Look at the verse.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_05: Check it out.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_05: The one who sows to his own flesh is different and really is in juxtaposition to the one who sows to the spirit.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_05: Here are these two options.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_05: You can sow to the flesh or you can sow to the spirit.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_05: If you sow to the flesh, there's gonna be decay involved.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_05: Why?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_05: This is so practical.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_05: Paul didn't know anything about new cars and iPhones, but he gets it.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_05: Why?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_05: Because you can buy stuff for yourself, and there's nothing wrong with that because you gotta have a car, and most people need a phone.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_05: How do you get to that?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_05: But this is why when you just buying things for yourself, if you're only ever investing in yourself, there's no fun in it.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: Like you feel really good, and then you wake up a week later and you go, What did I do?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_05: I spent that money, why didn't I buy the cheaper one?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know what your conversation is.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_05: But you and I know we can tell stories about how, excuse me, we bought something for ourselves and it felt really good for a little while.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_05: That's what he's talking about.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_05: If we only sow to our own flesh, we will reap corruption.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_05: Listen, you can't benefit in the long term if you only invest in the short term.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_05: Now, there's a conceptual side and there's a practical side to this.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_05: You reap what you sow.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_05: You reap what you sow.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_05: You can tell stories, I can tell stories, we know it's true.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_05: Jesus said it in the Sermon on the Mount.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_05: Paul said it in his writings elsewhere, you reap what you sow.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_05: And I know that when you reap anger, or when you sow anger, you reap bitterness.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_05: I know that when you sow hatred, you reap division.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_05: You and I have seen that when you sow doubt and confusion, you reap fear.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_05: There's a very conceptual side to this.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_05: But I think if we're not careful, we don't, we will miss the practical side with what Paul's saying, that actually, if you invest only in temporary, short-term decaying things, you don't get a long-term payoff for those.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_05: You can't receive eternal returns on a temporary investment.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_05: You can't invest in things only for yourself that are going to pass away and get any life or peace or hope out of those things.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_05: Now, so many of you in here are so generous.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_05: But maybe, maybe you're watching online or you're watching College Avenue building, or maybe you're sitting in this room and you're thinking, boy, I need to do a better job with this.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_05: Let me tell you this.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not talking about whether or not you're a Christian.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not saying if you don't do this, you're not going to be a Christian, or that God's going to somehow kick you out, or I'm not saying any of that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_05: What I'm saying is, how many opportunities pass in front of you and I, and we just miss it.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_05: We miss it.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_05: And we miss it.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_05: Part of the reason that we miss it is because we are distracted.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: 1 Timothy 6.17, Paul said this: As for the rich in this present age, time out.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_05: Most of us here are rich.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_05: We don't think we're rich because we can point to people who are richer than we are.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_05: That doesn't mean you're not rich.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_05: Most of the people on the planet don't own a car.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_05: Three live at my house.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_05: How many live at yours?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_05: Come on.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_05: In fact, one of them lives in its own house at my house.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_05: I have a second home attached to my other home, and it's where my car lives, right?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_05: It's a garage.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_05: We don't think in terms like this, but you and I were in the scope of the planet and in the scope of history, we're very, very blessed.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_05: We're very wealthy.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_05: Now, God doesn't want us to feel guilty about that.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_05: We're going to find out exactly how this is supposed to work, but you and I are rich.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_05: As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_05: You know what I love about the guys who went and the people who went on this trip?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_05: When they got down with those Hondurans, they just got down with them and hugged them and loved them, and I don't care if you're dirty, I'm going to get eye to eye with you.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_05: Let me tell you a secret.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_05: This is not just about giving things to people, things.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_05: It's also about giving people dignity.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_05: And it's also about giving people hope.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_05: And maybe the reason you and I are so blessed, part of it's because we work hard, but part of it's because we were born in America.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_05: So we shouldn't be haughty.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_05: We shouldn't be proud.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_05: My mama would say, don't get on your high horse.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_05: Just because you've got some money, that doesn't mean anything.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_05: Charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on who?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_05: Say it again.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_05: You want to have real hope?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_05: Set it on God.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_05: You know why?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_05: Because He doesn't change.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know if you'll be bankrupt a year from now, but I know the God of the universe will love you passionately a year from now.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know what your financial situation is going to look like in ten years, but I know how God's going to feel about you in ten years.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_05: You feeling what I'm saying?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_05: These are the things that don't change because God is not changing.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_05: And He richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_05: Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_05: So it's okay to enjoy some of our blessings?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_05: You better believe it.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_05: If you can afford it, buy a new car and let me drive it.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_05: Right?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_05: Verse 18 they are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasures for themselves as a good foundation, here we go, for the future.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_05: Listen, just carve off a portion of your time, carve off a portion of your talent, carve off a portion of your financial resources, and invest it in something that's gonna last.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_05: Invest it in eternity, and yeah, if you want to enjoy the rest of it, fine, go for it, knock yourself out.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_05: But do some good while we're here.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_05: And so many of you get that, and you do that already, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_05: If you and I went to coffee this Tuesday morning and I ask you, how would you feel if I told you how to take hold of that which is truly life?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_05: How would you respond?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_05: No matter what you believe about God or the Bible, how would you respond?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_05: You would likely say, tell me how.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_05: Where do I sign up?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_05: Paul told us how.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_05: We put our hope in Christ.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_05: We do good when we're given the opportunity.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_05: Maybe the kids were smarter than we thought they were, right?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_05: Verse 9, great verse, great verse.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_05: This is one of our kind of theme verses at Trash Fountain.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_05: We talk about this a lot.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_05: Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_05: Don't grow weary in doing good.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_05: In due season you will reap, not that you might reap, not that you may reap, not that we hope that we'll reap.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_05: We will reap a harvest if we sow the right things and don't give up.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_05: So don't become weary.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_05: This is the response to you and I.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_05: When we get involved in ministries, we hear about a ministry and we say, man, that's a great ministry.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna give my money to it, but I don't know how in the world they're ever gonna solve that problem.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_05: Or maybe you and I, maybe you volunteer for young life, or maybe you go on a Haiti lifeline trip, or you go, you go do something with a ministry, and you help somebody, and then behind them there are three more people in line, and you go, I don't know, like we're moving backwards.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_05: We're not, how do we even help all these people?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_05: We solve one problem and four crop up.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_05: Not the point.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_05: Don't grow weary and doing good.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_05: Why?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_05: Because weariness is also an enemy of opportunity.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_05: And your enemy knows that.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_05: If he can't distract you, you know what he may do?
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_05: He may just help you believe that you're not making a difference.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_05: So why bother?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_05: When you feel that your efforts are inconsequential, it's hard to not give up.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_05: And then the third enemy of opportunity, it's just boredom.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_05: It's just boredom because we shouldn't grow weary and doing good, because in due time we'll reap a harvest, but only if we don't give up.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_05: Only if we don't get bored with it.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_05: Only if we don't allow all of these ministries to kind of blur together and go, oh, well, it's all just a bunch of people in need.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_05: No, no, no, no, no.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_05: Don't blur it all together.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_05: Because Trash Mountain Project, I believe it's a pretty significant thing.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_05: I've thing I've given a part of my life to be here with them.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_05: But I know that Barry Feeker's work at the Peek of Rescue Mission is also pretty significant.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_05: These are real people with real problems being given real solutions.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_05: And Matt Vincent and the work that's done with Haiti Lifeline, real people with real problems being given real solutions.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_05: And Andy Vogel with Young Life, real people with real problems being given real solutions.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_05: And we can keep going, can't we?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_05: We can talk about Doxazo ministries, we can talk about all these opportunities that you and I get to do good.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_05: Don't be bored with it, don't be distracted.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_05: Hang in there, push through, push forward.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_05: And then we get here.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_05: Here we go, verse 10.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_05: So then, because of all of that, so then as we have opportunity, as we have opportunity, as opportunities drop in front of us, and we didn't expect it and we hadn't planned on it, and here it is, it's right in my lap.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_05: Here's a chance to help somebody.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_05: Let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are the household of the faith.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_05: Listen, look up here, it's really important.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_05: There's a time for sowing, and there's a time for reaping.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_05: Don't mix the two up.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_05: We are in a time of sowing.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_05: The time for reaping will come later, but we need to be sowing.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_05: And I don't know how long the time of sowing is gonna last, but I know it will end.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_05: This is a season, and right now the season looks like opportunities dropping in front of you and me to do good.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_05: And we need to take advantage of every opportunity because those opportunities aren't gonna last forever.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_05: We can invest in eternity in big ways with our time, with our resources, with our talent, with our financial resources, with prayer.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_05: We can invest in things long-term.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_05: We can leverage short-term things for long-term benefit, not just for us, but for everyone, for the kingdom of God.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_05: That's what we've been called to do.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_05: We've been called to do something so big with things that seem so small in the moment.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_05: So now, as we have opportunity, let's do good to everybody.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_05: And especially to those who are the household of the faith.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_05: Ephesians 5.15, Paul said this.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_05: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_05: See if this doesn't sound like today.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_05: Making the most, the best use of our time.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_05: Because the days are evil.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_05: Hey, that's why there's opportunity.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_05: Because the days are growing increasingly evil.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_05: That means more opportunities are gonna drop in front of us to do good.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_05: Therefore, don't be foolish.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_05: But understand what the will of the Lord is.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not sure how many of our camp catapult kids could have quoted these verses to us from Galatians 6.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not sure how many of them have ever read those verses.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_05: I'm not sure how many of them understood the verses.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_05: But I think many of our children, your kids, my kids, your grandkids, back in June, actively lived out these verses.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_05: I could give my resources to something else.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_05: Something else.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_05: But here's a need.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_05: And I should need it.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_05: Let's go! I think it was inspirational to parents, because I am one.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was inspirational to grandparents.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was inspirational to Pastor Jason.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was inspirational to the Trash Mountain Project staff.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_05: I think it was inspirational to 11 men who gave their time and gave more of their resources to get on a plane and fly to Honduras when it was not convenient to build a house.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_05: And I think it was inspirational for Tonyo and for Naily.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_05: Because they were living in a horrible situation.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_05: And they're not anymore.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_05: And it's because of you.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_05: And it's because of our kids.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_05: And it's because an opportunity intersected with the ability to do something about it.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_05: And a bunch of people got together with kids leading the way and said, We can fix this.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_05: And I think that's God's economy.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_05: I think that's how God works.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_05: I think this is the work God's called us to.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_05: That we get to take temporary things and have an eternal impact with them.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_05: That we can help people here and around the world.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_05: What a privilege.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_05: And wouldn't it make sense that the more that God's blessed us, the more we should be looking for opportunities to help other people?
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_05: Wouldn't that make sense?
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_05: That's what God's about.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_05: So I want to say thank you.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for your generosity.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_05: Many of you were a part of what happened in June.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_05: Many of you are a part of so many of the other stories that we hear from so many of the other ministries.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_05: It's not just about Trash Mountain Project.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_05: It's about Topeka Bible Church being so generous and so willing to give of your time and your money and your talent and your prayers and all of those things to do good here and around the world.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_05: So the last thing Pastor Jim asked me to do was to have Brett come up.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_05: Brett Durbin's our executive director at Trash Mountain Project.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_05: We have a fundraiser coming up in October.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_05: Many of you are familiar with this.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_05: We do this every year, every October.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_05: Like many of the ministries that I mentioned, we do an annual fundraiser called Spoken.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_05: And so I'm going to have Brett come up and share some about spoken.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: I was going to quiz you.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_05: I made that slide and I put the wrong time on it.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_05: So six o'clock.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_05: Tell us all about it.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, first of all, I want to I really want to echo what Tim was sharing, especially with him, you know, sharing the message this morning and having the team just get back.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, how much we work with and care about the other ministries, we are one opportunity in a lot of opportunities in this city, and this city is unique.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot that's going on here.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: And um, I mean, even you know, working with Barry Fieker, we're we're in the middle of a writing project together, and that was brought together because of this concept of serving an omnipresent God and seeing that He's doing things all over the place.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_03: And in the midst of this, we've been putting these stories together.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_03: And if you read it and the way we wrote it, you can't necessarily tell sometimes is this a trash mountain or a Topeka Rescue Mission story.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_03: And that said something to both of us that this is a global thing, this thing of people in pain, need.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so for us, yes, we do we do an event every year.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's called Spoken, it's it's a benefit event, um, just like many others.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um but for us it's an opportunity to share a vision.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I think Jim, Pastor Jim, really um hit the nail on the head when he was talking about AFE and that they really embody this mission of love.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's the very mission down there that we first went to almost nine years ago that we wanted to mimic.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we wanted to help them, but we also wanted to learn how in the world they're doing what they're doing, and do that here to be an extension of the church to those places.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so that really is what spoken is about is sharing that vision and sharing where we're heading and what's happening and just some of the things that are coming up and some of these stories from this year.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_03: So what else will we hear that spoken?
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's funny Tim asking me these things, you know, because this is I'm cruising him now.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't happen without him doing what he's doing on it.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: So um but for uh really for this year, there is there is always kind of a theme, and and this year's theme has has really grown out of um what these kids did.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um we the very first donation we ever took as an organization, we actually had to incorporate as this was going on, so you know, to make it legal and all that good stuff.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_03: And so these kids at the church that I worked for as a pastor, they heard about this trash mountain thing, saw a video that we brought back, and they wanted to help, and they came up with the idea of building a house.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_03: And so we did it.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: They had the same mountain in front of them, like we've only ever raised this much.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_03: They ended up just blowing it out of the water, raising a very similar amount as what the kids did here.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: So for me, there was this kind of eerie comparison to this very first thing I remember, and then looking down at the kids here and seeing them doing the exact same thing.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_03: And for me, I think it is looking at that and saying, you know what?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: Every time I've watched this with kids, God uses kids to start momentum towards something.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_03: And he's building towards something right now, and I think it had kind of a strange starting point with these kids this summer.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so we're gonna be talking about that, but even just kind of piggybacking uh what Jeff Sorensen said, he was talking about seeing these kids that would have been working on the dump in this terrible, terrible situation, but they were in the program, they were at the school, they were being fed, and we look at that as that is a success story, and we we aim at that.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_03: And if most of you who've been involved with us here from TBC know that the DR, Dominican Republic, is where we've had that focus with Topeka Bible Church.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_03: And the story there is incredible.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, when Kids with a Hope down there started the AFE of the Dominican Republic, when they started, there were about 400 kids under 16 working on that trash dump on a day-in-in-day-out basis.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: Today there's about 10.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_03: Most of the kids that are in our program now have never worked on the trash dump.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we're wanting to see.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think that's what's happening is now we're seeing that replicate in other areas.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so, really, we're going to be sharing that vision of how does this replicate?
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: Tim and and several of our staff, Russ and Chris and just Shelly and everyone's kind of come together and come up with a much um uh more aggressive strategy to start moving towards how do we scale this, but not needing, you know, just as much scaled resources, but really trying to stretch those as far as we can.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what it's going to be about.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_05: So anything else we need to know logistically about spoken?
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_05: We know that the time is not 6 30.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_05: It's 6 o'clock.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_03: What else?
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, well, one thing that does apply here is that the video you saw, we had a videographer go down um that did our documentary, and we have usually a key kind of video and story for the night, and that's just kind of a preview of what that's gonna be.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna cover that whole story of these kids eight years ago, the kids here.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so I think that's gonna be a great opportunity for you to see that.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure we'll share it here too, and it'll be everywhere.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_03: But um but yes, we we have we sell tickets to this.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: If it's$25 a ticket, if that is an issue for you and you feel like this is something you need to learn more about and you want to be involved with, please talk to me or Tim or any of our staff out there.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um our events are always underwritten, and we have a specific underwriter that always lets me know hey, if you have people that can't afford a ticket, they want to go, I'll pay for it.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_03: Please get them there.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_03: Because who knows what God is telling you.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: Again, just like Tim said, it's not always just that one thing.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so we are just we're we're we're privileged to be here, and we're privileged to have you guys here.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I've talked too much, uh, too much about this at this point, so uh, but yeah, October 22nd on uh that Sunday evening.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_05: So all right, thanks, Brett.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_05: So uh yeah, we're gonna say a prayer, and I just want to say a couple things.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_05: First of all, uh again, so many of you already get this.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_05: You're already giving and serving and going, and thank you for doing that.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_05: Second of all, um, if you're not sure about Trash Mountain or you feel like this was a whole big pitch for me to try to get you to give money to something, then just go serve somewhere else, okay?
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_05: Uh that was the goal is to get you excited and get you motivated.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_05: And if that's not Trash Mountain, then then let it be something else.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_05: But invest in eternity.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_05: Invest in long-term things.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_05: And a great place to start is right here at our church.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_05: So, uh, and one more time, pop quiz.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_05: What time's a spoken start?
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_05: Not 6.30.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_05: If you show up at 6 30, it's my fault, and you can kick me in the shin if you can find me.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_05: But I may kick back.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_05: Let's pray.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_05: God, thanks for today.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks for all of your blessings.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_05: Thanks that you give us blessing financially, and you give us health blessings, and you give us material blessings.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and those are really opportunities for us to help, and we can enjoy life, and we can enjoy the things you've given us, but there's also a role to be played for us investing in the long term, to think about the long play, to look at the big picture of eternity.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_05: And so many of us, and I would place myself there, uh, we've lost family members who we know are with you right now, and and we kind of already have one eye on eternity.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_05: So I pray for each of us here that we would run through our grid this week the decisions that we make based on how will this play out in eternity?
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_05: What will this look like in eternity?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_05: Give us an eternal mindset.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_05: Give us a mindset that is happy in you, that's that's satisfied in you, uh, that puts our focus on you and views everything else as just opportunity to do good.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, help us to take advantage of the opportunities and to discern well which opportunities we're supposed to be involved with as they're presented to us.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you for Jesus, because the most important blessing, the biggest blessing you could ever give us, is not financial, it's not material, it's your love.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_05: We don't deserve it.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_05: We're filthy sinners that are saved by amazing grace.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_05: And I pray we'd walk in that this week and never get over it.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_05: And it's in the name of Jesus that we pray.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_05: Amen.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_05: Have a great week.