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Transcript

[SERMON] The Empty Chair — Who Are You Reaching For? · HOTLCAST

0:17
SPEAKER_00: Well, before we we get into uh the message, there a service like today doesn't happen without some thank yous.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh obviously there's this big beautiful tent, but all of the sound equipment, the stage and everything, uh it comes from different places.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: So I want to say thank you to Hard Lakes Church for the use of the chairs, uh for the Arbor Church donating this new sound system.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: It's new to us sound system, and it's awesome.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's doing something right now.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's amazing.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: And Jackson Nazarene has donated the use of some of the equipment up here.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: We also had donation bakery and some other amazing volunteers that have helped us get all this equipment from all over different businesses.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: So, guys, we we are one church across different campuses and across different denominations, but even a moment like this doesn't happen without churches pulling together and being the church.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: And so thank you to all those amazing people who have supported us and helped us.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, awesome.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: If I mention your church, go back and thank them, find the leadership, find the pastor, say thank you.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: We had an amazing time at Somerset Beach Camp, and thank you for blessing the camp in those ways.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the best things you can do to help us continue to receive donations because a campground like this is a ministry, and we need those donations to survive and do ministry together, and so thank you for that.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: But as we get into it today, we've been talking about this idea of moving onward in our journey at this theme of this week of Family Camp.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: We've got people, uh, we've got a hundred different campsites booked, people coming from all over, doing life together, enjoying the beauty of nature.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about what does it look like to move onward in our faith, but also move onward at Somerset Beach Camp.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Because this place exists to be a temporary community to empower the local church by giving people a kind of a respite from life, respite from the world, coming to a safe place to raise families, to do life together, and to experience God here at Somerset Beach.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: That's why I'm here, that's why I love being here.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: My family's highly committed here.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: I told people last night I haven't even seen two of my kids all summer.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: I get to see them, they're on staff here.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: I get to walk by, give them a hug, and then I watch them walk away.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: And then I got I go home and sit and just with my dog, and like, this is what it's like to when all your kids are grown up.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: And I shouldn't have that happen with a 14-year-old.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: But it's it's kind of where it is.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: But my dog really loves me.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: My wife's there too, yeah.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: I keep forgetting to mention her.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: She's there, she's there.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh although she stayed here last night.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: I went home with the dog.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, I had to finish my slides.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: But I want to get into the Bible this morning and I want to talk about Luke 14, 23.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: And it says this.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: And remember, if you see a highlighted word, that is yours, and there's no excuse if you're in the back.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: They're kind of trying to pump my voice back there.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: And so if you can't see, just pretend.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh so, but we're gonna try to get it out to you.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: It says this in Luke 14, 23.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: And the master said to the servant, Go out to the highways and hedges and compel.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: Let's try that again.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
3:06
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who couldn't see it back there, ready?
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in that my house may be filled.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: We have a filled house today.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: This is what it feels like to have a filled house.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome and it's exciting.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: In the day and age, we're at a church, a lot of churches aren't filled anymore.
3:23
SPEAKER_00: And so it's great when the church can come together.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: We can fill a tent.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: I actually sent the picture to the tent rental company because they're having the worst year they've ever had in 20 years of being a tent rental company.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: She actually called me in tears, almost on the verge of tears, uh, earlier uh before they dropped this tent off and said, Hey, we didn't know after last weekend if you're gonna have a tent and you were gonna you were gonna be out of luck.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: This is it.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: We don't have tents.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: This is the only tent company in the area that can have the tent big enough.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And she said, You almost didn't have a tent.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: We were almost moving into the gym this year.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: So that's a real reality in the future if the high winds continue to destroy their tents.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: But this tent is older than me.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: This tent is from the mid to early 70s, so that's how old this tent is, but it's survived.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: It survived some some definite windstorms, so it's awesome that we can utilize that.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: So we're excited to continue to partner with them as well.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: But Somerset Beach, right now, since we're here together today, as was one church, we are Somerset Beach, the church, so that's who we are today.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: And we this we exist for the one uh we we do not exist only for the people already here.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: That's the thing you need to know.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Like the purpose of this camp is to help grow the church.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: And so it's great that families come here, but our hope is that families come here, they get rejuvenated in their faith, and they go back into the world to tell more people about Jesus.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: If that doesn't happen, we should close the doors, I promise you.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: Because the whole purpose of this place is ministry.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: This is not a campground like a KOA or a jelly stone.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: This is a ministry location where people come in and camp and they can experience the goodness of God, the love of God, and the beauty of God's creation.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: That's the reason this place exists.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: If it doesn't exist for that purpose, it doesn't, we don't need to be here.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: And so, Somerset Beach, the church does not exist only for people that are already here.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: Somerset Beach, the church, exists for the one more person who needs to meet Jesus in your life.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: See, the goal of coming here today should be you should go tell somebody about it.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Hey, guess what you missed today?
5:22
SPEAKER_00: There were 600 and some people at church today.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: We were at camp, we were under a tent.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: We didn't have rain, we didn't have wind, we just had the beauty of God's creation, and we got to come from all over the area.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: We had people from Buffalo, from Ann Arbor, from Colorado.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: We've had people, someone last night was from California.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: Like there's just people from all over celebrating God together.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: That is the church.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: And so our hope is that as you leave here, you go back to your life and tell people your experiences so you compel them to want to be here.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: The goal should be you leave here and say, next year you don't want to miss this.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Go and tell five people, go and tell ten people, come with me next year.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who are camping at family camp, go and tell people, hey, you're missing out.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: There was an empty camp spot next to me.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Come and be part of this next year.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: Get a tent, get a camper, come.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: We have lodges you can rent, we got cabins you can rent.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Come be here and watch what God can do in a week of your life with other Christian people who are also moving forward and leaning forward in their faith.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, I need some help.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: I need a couple, I need five volunteers this morning.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: I have these chairs up here.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: And so I need a volunteer from each volunteer, must be from a different church.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: And so I want somebody, somebody from a different church.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: Right there in the yellow, come on up.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have to talk in the mic, by the way.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I should have said that before you raise your hand.
6:41
SPEAKER_00: What church are you from?
6:43
unknown: Sacred Heart.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: Sacred Heart.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay, just take a chair, just be careful.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: All right, I need one more volunteer, different church.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh the one standing up right there in the black.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: Come on down.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: Right here.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: What church are you from?
6:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm from Grace.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: I grew up going to Miley Free Methodists.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Miley Free Methodists, Grace, grab a chair.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: What church are you from?
7:03
unknown: State College Calvary.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: What church?
7:05
unknown: State College Calvary.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: State College Calvary.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: That's our Pennsylvania guy right there.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Alright, I need two more.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: I need two more.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, right here from Heart of Lakes.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we got more.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: All right.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And I see you pointing at somebody in the red right there.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Right there in the red.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: Yep, right there.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm just praying that's not a hot state.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: Um kidding.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Come on down.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: Now I have an assistant somewhere with a microphone.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: He's coming up.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: What church are you from?
7:38
unknown: I attend Catholic Church, Maryland.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Maryland.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: Catholic Church of Maryland.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want to do.
7:44
SPEAKER_00: This is, these are many chairs representative of the many churches in the kingdom of God.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: There's different churches, but only one kingdom.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you know this.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: It does not matter the name on the outside of your church.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: We all are one church.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: I may go to Heart of Lakes, you may go to Milan Free Methodists, but guess what?
8:02
SPEAKER_00: We're one church.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: That's the way it works.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: We are brothers and sisters in Christ.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: And that's the beauty of Somerset Beach.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: It can be the one church when we are separated so often in the world, but you come together and we can be the one church.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: And each chair here represents something different.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: Each one represents a church, each one represents a congregation, each one represents a story, each one represents a tradition and a people.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: So here's my first question.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Right here, we're going to start on this side, Carver.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: Can you hand the mic off?
8:29
SPEAKER_00: So I want you, or we're going to get a different question for each of you.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: I would like you to tell me one of the people at your church who's your favorite person at the church.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: And maybe why.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: Probably like the people that I used to go to school with there.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: There's nice people at church.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
8:54
SPEAKER_00: All right.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: Some of you like that, not in my church.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so uh, next question.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: I would like to know very briefly, what is one favorite tradition?
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, you can pick a church, you said a couple.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, so what is one favorite tradition from one of those churches that you love?
9:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, we are always very loving and very connected to our community.
9:17
unknown: Okay.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: And bringing people in.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: So there's great traditions at different churches, bringing people in.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'd like a can you give me a really quick story from your church?
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Maybe tell me your favorite person, your church and why.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Um probably from a pastor because he's really good.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, or my family from the story of my family.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: That's like forgetting your wife when you talk about your dog.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: Repeatedly.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I do it regularly at church, sorry.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Uh, do you have a story from church that you want to share?
9:54
SPEAKER_00: No?
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Story from youth group.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: No?
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh any silly thing about Pastor Cody who's up here singing, you can tell me.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: I think he was dressed up as a pirate of camp.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: He was dressed up as a pirate of camp.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to talk anything about Lux nails in Cody?
10:09
SPEAKER_01: He got his nails painted.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: He got his nails painted purple.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Purple.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: All right, toenails.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: All right.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: And um, I'll ask you, what is the favorite thing about your church?
10:21
SPEAKER_00: What is your favorite thing about your church?
10:24
SPEAKER_01: Probably when the pastor does the homilies, because he always likes the when you were younger, he always compares like a story to that, to the homily.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: Awesome, very wonderful.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: So we can see that we all have different experiences, churches, but we all have traditions.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: We all have people that we love, we all have people that sometimes rub us the wrong way.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: We all have, we all have stories that happen.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: The things that we love, we uh I'm glad they all like their pastors.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Good good for pastors, that's awesome.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I love when people like pastors.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: That's good, I'm a pastor.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh but but that's what makes the church the church.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: And there's this verse in 1 Corinthians 12, 12 that says this for just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Say it again.
11:12
unknown: One body.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: One body, so it is with Christ.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: We, although our different members of different churches and we're spread all across the country, we're one body.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter our traditions, doesn't matter the people, doesn't matter the stories, because we are all one church, and those are just different interactions of the body being the body.
11:31
SPEAKER_00: But we are not the same, but we yet we are still one.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: We're still one.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: Different chairs, the same Savior, different chairs, the same gospel, and different chairs representing different churches, but yet we have the same mission.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: The mission for all of us is the same: to know Christ and to make him known.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: That is our mission.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: It's collective mission.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: But today is not just about the chairs already filled.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of filled chairs in here.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: I love seeing this many chairs filled.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to get more chairs next year and fill them.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: But I also have another chair.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: I have this chair.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: This chair is the empty chair.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: This chair represents someone.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Because someone is missing.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Although we're all here, different churches, different denominations, different backgrounds, different traditions, different people.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: This chair represents the person, the people that are not here.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: There's some empty chairs scattered out throughout that are empty, that people are missing.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the missing person is a spouse who's not here.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that missing chair in your life, it's a parent who you just desperately would love to know Jesus and go to church.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that epic chair in your life represents a son.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it represents a daughter.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it represents a friend?
13:00
SPEAKER_00: A neighbor?
13:02
SPEAKER_00: A student in your community?
13:05
SPEAKER_00: A student in your school?
13:07
SPEAKER_00: A classmate?
13:08
SPEAKER_00: What about a family?
13:09
SPEAKER_00: What about that family that you love that you just wish would get it together and know Jesus Christ, and it would change everything for them?
13:17
SPEAKER_00: It would change their eternity.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: See, this chair represents the someone that's missing.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: That's not here.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: That's not going to have eternity together with as a community, as one church, because they're missing.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: And this chair has a name.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: Now, thank you guys.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: You can go back to your seats.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: You know the name of the person or the people that are missing in this chair.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Some of those people, they went to church with you at one time.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: They're the people that were coming, that kind of drifted off.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: You saw that they were coming every week, and then they started coming every couple weeks, and then they come once a month, and then once a quarter, and you haven't seen them in a while.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Because life has happened.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: For some people, this is the person that's never known God.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: That you just desperately wish if they just knew who God was, everything would make more sense.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: That's who's missing.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: And for some of us, we may not even know the person that's missing in this chair yet.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: We may not know their name yet.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: We may not have met them.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: We may not have come across that person that we need to tell about Jesus, that this chair is made for.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: That they're going to fill this seat and become part of the kingdom.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: But the great thing is, although we may not know their name, God knows their name.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Luke 19, 10 says this for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: Let's say it again, let's be proud of it, because that's what our God came to do.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: That someone that's missing, Jesus came for this person.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he came for you, but you're part of the family.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Now you have a job to do.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: It's helped Jesus reach this person.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Through your love, through your the character with which you live, through your the way that you share about Jesus, through your sharing the gospel, the good news of Jesus with those that you come in contact with.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: That's how we reach this person.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Somerset Beach Camp, it exists as a place that's an opportunity to do ministry.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: We have had kids come in, we've had kids come in and have their lives absolutely transformed by Jesus Christ this summer.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: It has been awesome.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: It's been awesome to hear their testimonies and hear the stories of God changing their heart.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: That's great.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Summer camps for students and children.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: But what about the adults in your life who desperately need a summer camp experience?
15:41
SPEAKER_00: We need an adult camp, that's what we really need, right?
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Where people can come and have all those camp experiences in your 40s, your 50s, your 70s, and I have those moments.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: But we do.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: It's called family camp.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: You have a chance to come and be part of that.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: And have those moments where God can change your heart and your life.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: Because God came to seek and save lost people so that these seats that are empty they get filled.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: And as long as one more person needs Jesus, there is room for one more chair.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: Here's the great thing.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: If we would have filled the chairs up, we would have gone and got more.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: We have 800 seats around here.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: We've got 50 in a location, we've got 100 in other locations, we would have just pulled them in.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't it be great next year to have to pull those chairs in and pull more in because you guys left here and you did something with what God is doing, and you said, next year I'm bringing five people, I'm bringing 10 people.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: We're going to fill those empty seats because someone is missing who needs Jesus.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: And you did something about it.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus sees the missing.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: That's who he sees.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: When he went from town to town, he went to find lost people and make them found.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: And then to give them hope and give them a future.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Give them a Christ, a God to believe in and to lean on.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 9, 37 through 38 says this.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: Then he, Jesus, said to the disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Therefore pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: This is why the modern church is struggling.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: There is a huge and bountiful harvest, but we're lazy.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: Church people are lazy.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm in.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm in.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: I got my membership card.
17:24
SPEAKER_00: I am.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: I love to talk about my Costco membership.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: I just got it recently so I could buy slushy machines, so we could have Baja Blast slushies all the time.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: That's wonderful.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: And for our youth group church, it's great.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: And so we did that, and then we got slushy machines at camp.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: We have Baja Blas slushies here too, and they're amazing.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: So but the truth is, we all think that we just we prayed that prayer, we accepted Christ, and we're good.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: We got my chair, I filled it.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Look, I I got my chair.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm good.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm in, I'm in a seat.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: I don't have to do anything else the rest of my life because I'm in.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, who cares about the empty chairs?
17:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: I've got me.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: And we all think, we all say that we don't believe that, but we don't live like we don't believe that.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: That's the problem with the with the modern church.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: That's why churches are closing.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: I just went and visited church yesterday.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: They just closed the doors and combined with another church.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Because the guy, the pastor told me we had three people on Easter, Kyle.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: You just can't stay in a church with three people on Easter.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: Three people on Easter means you have zero people the rest of the year.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: That's what it means.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: It's sad.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: But the reason they're closing is because all those people, they were filling chairs and they weren't doing anything about filling the other empty chairs by telling people about Jesus.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Because they were good.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Someone has to bring the harvest in.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: And that someone, it's not just me, it's you.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: It's you, it's your children.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: If you don't send your kids to camp, you don't send your students to camp and give them opportunities in youth groups and ministry opportunities, then they're never gonna bring in the harvest.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: We value sports camps and dance camps and cheerleading camps, we arts camps, we value all those things way more than the future of kids knowing Jesus Christ.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Because they might get a scholarship.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, statistics say, no, they probably won't.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: But you know what will happen?
19:13
SPEAKER_00: One day they're gonna stand in front of Jesus and there's gonna be eternity, or it's gonna be a different eternity that they don't want.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: That is a for sure thing.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: But we don't invest in ourselves and in the future and understanding that's a true reality, and we've got to do better at filling chairs because someone has to bring people into the harvest, and it's you.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And the the truth is the people that are missing, they may not come unless someone invites them.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: They may not.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: The reality of like modern-day church is that people want to go to church, the world is broken.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've seen the news, I don't know if you know if you've been on TikTok, I don't know if you've been on X.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: The world is really broken, it's bad, right?
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Anyone disagree?
19:59
SPEAKER_00: No, because the world's broken.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: People are lost in sin and frustration and anxiety and despair.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And so what people are saying is, I want to go to church, I just need someone to ask me.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: But we don't we don't care enough about the empty chair.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that people will say yes, most likely, but we still don't invite them because we're afraid about what they might say.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll say no.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: But what if they say yes?
20:24
SPEAKER_00: They may fill an empty chair.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: They may not come in unless someone serves.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: The reality is people may not come in to fill that chair unless you serve.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: It's really easy to say, oh, someone should serve.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: They really need help.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Someone should serve at my church, someone should serve at that ministry, someone should serve at Somerset Beach.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: Somebody should step up and serve.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: It's just not gonna be me.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want to give my time.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is you need to get more invested and involved in your local church, in the ministries in your area, and here at Somerset Beach, so that these chairs can be filled with people who are lost, who need a savior.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: And this chair may not get filled unless someone affords, who can't afford it unless someone else gives to allow them to be there.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: Economy's tough, gas prices are high.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: It's it's really difficult.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: I had I had to run a generator.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: I mentioned this last night, I run a generator for the weekend.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Do you know four bucks a gallon running a generator for three days is expensive?
21:28
SPEAKER_00: It's quite expensive.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: It's more than my electric bill would have been.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: So times are tough.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: We're seeing it.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: And so there are there are students, there are families who may not ever fill this chair unless you give.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Give of your time, give of your talent, give of your treasure.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: And so, as a as a church, one church, we gotta be more focused on giving our time.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: Give your time.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Give your time.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: If you care about the chair, give your time.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Serve.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Take time out of your schedule and be part of the change that fills that chair.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says this.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor, your service is not in vain.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Serve.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: You want this chair to be filled?
22:21
SPEAKER_00: Serve.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Serve more.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: When people say, hey, we need volunteers, don't say, well, that'd be really great for Nick to do.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: It's really right up his alley, right?
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that what when God is saying, no, no, no, I need you to step up and serve.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: That's for you to do.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't like that, Lord.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to do dishes.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to serve in that way.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to clean a sanctuary.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I don't want to go and mow at camp.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: Somebody else would be better suited for that.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, that excuse model is why churches are dying and the chairs stay empty.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe what we need to do is serve is just be faithful to serve our God, however, we may need to do it.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: And be happy and excited about it.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: The next thing you need to do if you want to see this chair filled is use your talent.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: You all are amazingly talented people.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: You really are.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: In different ways.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: I don't know all of you, but some of you I do know.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is we all have different talents.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that we are one body, united, and we're all different body parts.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: We're all necessary for the kingdom.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: And the different talents that we have help fill these seats in different ways.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter 4 10 says, as each has received a gift, sorry, that was slow.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: As each has received a use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: You are not called to go to church and not use your talent because you used it all week long.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: I hear that all the time.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I don't want to do it on Sunday.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: This is my job, and I don't really want.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm good at my job, but I don't want to use it at my job because it's like I need a break from that.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: God gave you those talents for him first, not for your career first.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: I promise you that.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: If you read scripture, everything is about building his kingdom, not building yours.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: But yet somehow we think we use our talents to build our kingdom, and then we give God a little bit extra if we feel like it, if we've had a good weekend.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: We need to use our talent in ways that empower people to know Jesus Christ so we fill these empty chairs.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: And then you need to invest your treasure.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Invest your treasure.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 9 7 says this.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Each one must as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, go back and give to your church.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: Tell them you were at camp.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Tell them you're putting your tithe check in.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Tell them you put it in online.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: Tell them.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Bless them.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: And then tell them why.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: Because God is changing my heart, and I want these chairs to be filled, not only in our sanctuary back home, but at camp.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: So people can come in in different ways in different ministries and experience God.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And chairs can be filled.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: So there's no more lost, but there's found and there's saved.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: And for us to be able to do that, it takes your time, it takes your talent, and yeah, it takes your treasure.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: It means you have to give your money to support ministry in different ways so that people can come.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: Help support scholarships.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: My big goal this year is this.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: We have a$5,000 scholarship fund at a camp like this.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: That's not a lot.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: I would like a$25,000 scholarship fund every year.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: I would like to go into this community and tell people send your kids to camp, we'll figure out how to make it work.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: We'll get the price down as affordable as possible so that kids can come in here and they can fill these empty seats and their hearts can be changed, their lives can be changed because one invitation, one opportunity can change generations.
25:45
unknown: Woohoo!
25:45
SPEAKER_00: Here's what happens kids leave home, leave camp, they go back home and they tell their parents, we are going to church.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: And you know what parents, good parents do?
25:54
unknown: They go to church.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're gonna go to church.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: So I've had those conversations where I see them a few weeks later and they're like, Yep, my kids said we're going to church, and uh let me I paid for camp.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Might as well follow up on that with actually showing up at church like they want.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: That's how you change generations.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: It can go backwards into generations.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Here's what happens when kids go to church they bring their parents, their parents start going to church, and then grandparents start going to church that weren't going to church because those kids are fired up for Jesus.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: And they know the mission is to know Christ and make him known, and they want to fill seats.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: Because they don't want to go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus without their family, without their friends.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: And then when we get saved as adults, we don't want to go there and not see our kids.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to go there and not see our grandkids.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: So one invitation to fill an empty seat has the potential to change generation after generation.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: That's how we make change in the church.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: And so, what does this mean for you?
26:49
SPEAKER_00: Why are we talking about it?
26:50
SPEAKER_00: Really, the questions I have for you is whose chair?
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Whose chair are you praying for?
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Are you praying for lost people in your life?
26:57
SPEAKER_00: Are there people that you know that this chair is for?
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Is it your neighbor?
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Is it your friend?
27:02
SPEAKER_00: Is it your parent?
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Is it your spouse?
27:05
SPEAKER_00: Whose chair are you inviting to fill?
27:08
SPEAKER_00: How many invites have you made this week to church?
27:10
SPEAKER_00: How many invites have you made this week to camp?
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Did you make any?
27:14
SPEAKER_00: Some of you decided to come to a camp service out in the middle of the woods here, right?
27:20
SPEAKER_00: And by a lake.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: Did you invite anybody to come with you?
27:22
SPEAKER_00: Or just get up and do your own thing?
27:24
SPEAKER_00: Or did you make five, ten phone calls and say, hey, I'm doing something cool, Dave?
27:27
SPEAKER_00: Would you come with me?
27:28
SPEAKER_00: What about next week when you go back to your local church?
27:31
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna go back, you're gonna call some people this week and say, I just had a great week at family camp.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: I want you to come with me next year, but why don't you start by just coming to church?
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Being part of something bigger, and then we'll all go to next year together.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: Whose chair are you serving?
27:45
SPEAKER_00: How are you serving so this chair is filled?
27:48
SPEAKER_00: In your local church, in your life, in your community here at camp?
27:51
SPEAKER_00: How are you gonna serve to fill this?
27:54
SPEAKER_00: And then how are you gonna give of your time, of your talent, and your treasure to make sure this chair gets filled?
28:00
SPEAKER_00: Like the reality is, yeah, we can do church, we can be one church, this is all fun, let's sing some song.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Yay, go back turn.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: Or we can actually do something different with it and be transformed.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: And understand, we want to fill these empty chairs.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: I will tell you, I've been watching our counseling staff, I'm so proud of them.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: They are out there essentially killing themselves because there's so many long hours, so many hot days.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: You gotta walk like 15 miles around here.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: That's why we got golf carts down.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: It is just so intense.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: But they just keep going and going and going and going and giving their hearts into these kids.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: And then the kids leave and they're crying, and they're they are they're they're down because they had such an amazing week, pouring these kids, and now they're gone.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: And it's there's just this release that they're just seeing God move in such powerful ways.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Are you having those same experiences in your life?
28:48
SPEAKER_00: See, you may not not be able to do everything, and that's okay.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: But everyone can do something.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: That's the church.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: And your yes to serve, your yes to give of your time, your yes to give of your finances, your yes matters.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: You can participate in filling that chair in different ways.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: And so my challenge to you is before you leave today, before you leave this tent, and we're gonna sing some songs a bit, we're gonna do all that, before you leave, I want you to answer the question who belongs in this chair?
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Who belongs in this chair, and what are you willing to do to help fill it, to bring them to the chair?
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Here at the camp, back of your church, here at your home, wherever it is, whether it's in state college, whether it's in Colorado, wherever it's at, what are you doing to fill a chair?
29:37
SPEAKER_00: How are you being a follower of Jesus Christ that cares so much about people who are lost, like Jesus did?
29:43
SPEAKER_00: You gotta give your time, you gotta use your talent, and you gotta invest your treasure.
29:48
SPEAKER_00: We here at Somerset, we need your help.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: That's the reality.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: To keep going, this camp does not run without without people who serve, people who use their talents here, and people who give of their resources financially to support this place.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: That's the truth.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: But it works the same way in your local church.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: Your church doesn't run without people who serve with their time, with their talent, and give of their treasure.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: So go and do likewise there.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Go and do likewise in any ministry you're plugged in and watch God move in a powerful way and fill a chair.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: Now we're gonna pray in a second.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want you to do.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna ask Cody to uh to come back up with the team and kind of get ready for worship.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's back here.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: They didn't know this, we didn't plan this part.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Um but I want to during this uh next song, I want you to just uh take time.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh I want you to take time to really think about that name.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: That name.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to give that name over to God.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna have an altar car, we're not gonna do that.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: You can pray right at your seat for that person.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: But as I pray, I want you to lock it in.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: I want you to tell God, God, who is that person that I need to fill that chair?
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you got five chairs you need to fill.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's mom, maybe it's dad, maybe it's your son, maybe it's your daughter, maybe it's your neighbor next door.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: Who are the people in your life you need to go and do something about next week?
30:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe call today and say, hey, I just got challenged, and I'm calling you because I'm gonna invite you to church Sunday.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm at camp, I'll be home Thursday.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: But on Sun Friday, I'm calling you, and we're gonna go to church Sunday.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Who is that in your life?
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Lock that in and make that something you do something with.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: So this moment moves on and God can be glorified and Jesus can be praised.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you for this time.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we acknowledge that we are one church with many different traditions, many different stories, and many different people, Lord, but we have one Lord and one mission, one God.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: But we also recognize that we are called to reach the lost, just like our Savior Jesus.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: Lord, right now, in each of our minds, each of our hearts, we pray your Holy Spirit just tells us who is that person or who are those people that need to fill the empty chair in our life, in our church.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, what are we going to do about it?
31:50
SPEAKER_00: Impact on us right now, Lord, how am I going to go make change?
31:53
SPEAKER_00: Am I going to give my time?
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Am I going to use my talent, Lord, or am I going to give more treasure to make that chair have an opportunity to be filled?
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we need to be people who are bold enough to share the good news by making the invitation, by serving in powerful ways, and by giving in ways that people can come to know Jesus Christ personally.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we make that our challenge.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: We praise you for being God who makes this beautiful place and lake and trees and grass for us to come and have this worship service.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Lord, but we don't want it to stop here.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: We want it to move forward.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: We want to be faithful to the calling you have given us to go out and be the workers in the harvest.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we pray all this in Jesus' name.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: And just a moment.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Just a moment, we're going to sing, but I won't, I cannot.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: We're together.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: We're a church, and when people get together at church, they eat.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: So I want to let you know.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: After church, the melt uh the Melted Grail food truck is here.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: We have uh trading post open.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: We don't want you to just have to rush out of here.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: There are food options here.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: Down by the beach is a trading post.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: There's ice cream.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: We would love you to stay and mingle, get to know each other, introduce yourself to someone from a church you don't know.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna see each other in heaven.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: It'd be great to say, hey, I saw you at camp at one time.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Glad we're spending eternity together.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: So it's fine to mingle, grab some food, grab some ice cream, grab some grilled cheese sandwiches, and uh thank you for coming.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna sing a couple songs.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: Make sure we lift up to the Lord, and during this next song, you and God need to have a conversation in your mind about the person of the people and what you're gonna do about that, it's gonna fill that empty chair.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.