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Urgent Warning Prepare For The Harvest- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:32
  Speaker 1: You know something, we don't do enough.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: We don't thank our praise team and our tech team
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: enough for the phenomenal work they do. Can you take
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: a moment and thank them on the cameras running the
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: sound system, all the work that goes into everything from
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: song selection to transitions, way to go to go.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: What a good group.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: You know what I think I am suffer bring from
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: memory loss.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: I can't remember why I brought that up now.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: The other day, I was making eggs for Dinal and me,
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: and I don't cook ever, so don't think I'm trying
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: to impress you. I know how to scramble eggs, that's it.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: So I was making some eggs. Delon was still getting ready,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: and so I spooned out my portion of the scrambled
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: eggs onto a plate, and I left hers in the pan.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Until she got dressed.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: And then I noticed she was sitting out on the
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: patio drinking coffee, and so I got some coffee and
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: I went out there, not knowing I forgot to turn
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: off the burner. Well by the time I went back in,
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: and I didn't remember.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: I just went in to get more coffee.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: By the time I went back into the house, the
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: kitchen was full of smoke, the pan was red hot,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the eggs were black, and that spatula that I left
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: inside the frying pan was just about melted.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: It was a mess. And that was just the beginning
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: from there.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I went to a bike trail to go on a
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: bike ride, and I don't have a bike rack on
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: my car. I just loaded in the back of my SUV.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: So I got down to the bike trail, pulled the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: bike out of the back, take off on a bike ride,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: come back an hour later, open up the back of
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the suv and I.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Feel this burst of cold air.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: And my first thought was, well, what a well insulated
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: vehicle that it can sit in the hot sun for
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: an hour and contain all that air conditioned ear. And
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: then I heard something. Anyone want to guess what I heard?
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: The car was running. I yeah, I had left it
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: running for an hour. I'd let the engine run and
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: gone off on a bike ride.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I don't know how I did that. I don't know
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: why no one stole that.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: But they say there's some pills you can buy for
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: a failing memory, but I keep forgetting to buy them. Well,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: it's one thing to forget about the eggs or the car,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: but you know something else entirely to forget about why
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: we're here on earth and what God is up to
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: and what the purpose of a church is. And for
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: that reason we try to set aside some weekends each
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: August just to recalibrate and update you as a church
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: on our vision, where we're headed, where we are, and
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: boy do I have some exciting things to share today. Now.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: If you do struggle to remember things, you'll be happy
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: to know that the gist of this message will be
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: emailed to you this week, and also a video version
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: of it is available online a conversation that I'm having
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: with our executive Minister Steve Green, as well as you'll
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: be given this laminated handout as you leave today, giving
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: you some key terms from our conversation, as well as
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: just a card that hopefully you want the way that
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: you'll tuck it in your Bible or put it at
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: someplace where you'll be reminded to pray about this over
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: the next few days and weeks and months. If you're
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: a guest, thank you so much for coming our way.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: You truly honor us with your presence, and you do
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: happen to come our way on a you might call
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: this a family chat. We're sitting around the table and
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: having a conversation about the state of the family. And
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: still we're thankful you're here, and we ask you to
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: pray about what you hear. Maybe take an idea or
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: two back to your church or if you're looking for
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: a church. You did pick the right weekend because you're
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: going to get a good one on one course in
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: the history of our church and what we hope to
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: be the future. Let's pray and then we'll get to work.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Grateful Father for all you've done, how kind you have
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: been to us. We ask that you forgive our speaker
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: because his sins are so many, and help us to
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: see Jesus, just Jesus through Christ. We pray, and all
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the church said, Jesus said, what a huge harvest, What
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: a huge harvest, and how few the harvest hands. So
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: speaking to disciples like us on your knees, ask the
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: God of harvest to send harvest hands. Our God is
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: a great harvester. He's harvesting souls, creating for himself an
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: eternal kingdom, and he's populating that eternal kingdom with people
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: just like you and me. And we're grateful to have
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: been a part of his harvest initiative. Now for well
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: over sixty years. Did you know that next month the
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Oak Hills Church will celebrate sixty years of existence.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: That's good. That's good.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Sixty years and still growing. According to statisticians, most churches
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: stopped growing after about a decade or so.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: But we're still growing, still.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Expanding, impacting people on every continent.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: And thinks you're going to even get more and more exciting.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: A verse that has meant a lot to us through
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the years.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: As Acts chapter one and verse eight, when Jesus told
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: his followers this is right before he ascended into heaven.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: He said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: me in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: end of the earth. We call this a trifocal vision.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: This is what Christ calls each of us two a
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: vision that sees near, and then far, and then farthest.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: His plan is that we start with Jerusalem. We start
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: with the school we attend. We start with a neighborhood
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: where we live. We start with the restaurant or where
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: we like to frequent.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: We start with the people we know.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: We try to love them and encourage them and be
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: a good friend to them, and pray for them and
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: lead them to Christ. We start in our Jerusalem, but
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: we don't stop there. We lift up our eyes and
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: we look into our Judea and our Samaria. Now Judea
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: was about forty five miles away from Jerusalem, very similar
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: in culture, very similar in ethnic makeup, but sharing a
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: different but using a different zip code. Samaria, on the
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: other hand, was not only in a different zip code,
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: but had a different language a different ethnic background. There
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: was racial tension between this Jews and the Samaritans. But
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Jesus said, we want you to be bridge builders into
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the different ethnic pockets of your city. So don't just
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: focus on your Jerusalem. Lift up your eyes and look
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: into your Judea. Look into other parts of your city,
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: look into Samaria, the ethnic pockets of your region. And
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: He loves those who love the end of the earth.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Christ has a white hot passion to harvest souls from
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: every nation on the planet. He told his disciples, what
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: go and make disciples of Can you finish the sentence?
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Just a few nations? Oh, I'm sorry, did I misread that?
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Of all nations and his vision for the end of time,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: we'll see a celebration that includes people from every tribe
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: and language and people and nation. So this is a
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: trifocal vision. I think this is church one oh one,
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: that a church should understand its region, reach to the
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: adjacent region, and then have a passion to reach into
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: whatever assigned population.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Groups the Lord brings.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: So about twelve years ago, we as a church began thinking,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: now what could we do to have a more balanced,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: a better acts one eighth vision. At that time, we
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: were one church on one campus, and so we began
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: to pray and the Lord opened up possibilities for us
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: to reach into the city, the hill country and beyond.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Our first opportunities came in Selma and then on the
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: West Side, and we launched a multi site strategy. That's
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: an important phrase. Multi site means one church but on
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: many campuses, one central location making decisions, but being implemented
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: more of a franchise model, and so we had one
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: church on many locations. We began with a Crownridge campus
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: as our primary campus, but then started Journey and West Side.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: West Side was originally Fiesta, then we changed the name
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: and then we added campuses in Fredericksburg, about sixty miles
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: north of here, Alamo Ranch, North Central, and Natall, Brazil.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: It's really been a fun, wonderful trifocal adventure and we
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: have no desire to retreat today. I come asking your
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: blessing on the next generation of the Acts one to eight.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: In a paragraph, it reads like this, we sense that
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: God is calling the Oak Kills Church to pursue a
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: focused and deliberate strategy to plant churches in the San
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Antonio Hill Country area, starting with the release and planting
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: of our existing congregations. Our target date is August thirty first,
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. By this date, each campus will either
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: be an independent church or declared as a mission of
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: the Oakill's Church. We want to transition from one church
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: on many campuses to a family of independent churches. Now,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: a family of independent churches is a collection of churches
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: who operate and function as autonomous congregations, but remain linked
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: by personal relationships, by shared history, by values, and even
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: services such as IT.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Or HR.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Now why would we do this, why would we move
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: from multi site to multi church? Well, the answer comes
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: in the form of three words, capacity, context, and sustainability. Again,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: all of this will be in the email you receive
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: as well as the handout you're given. But let me
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: look at these words with you first. The word capacity.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Each of these campuses began as a small group, began
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: as a handful of members, began meeting in rented facilities,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: in one case a hotel ballroom, just a handful of people.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: They didn't have much capacity to do much more than
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: unstack the chairs and welcome the guests.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: But you know what has happened over.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: The years, These campuses have grown up have They've increased
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: in numbers, They've appointed their own elders, They've given sacrificially
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: to meet their budgets. They have grown up, they have
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: stood up, they have expanded, some of them well over
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: one thousand in attendance. We think it is time to
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: release them to be for others what old Kills has
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: been all these many years. We envision a family of churches.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: You know what's happening. These campuses are behaving a lot
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: like oh, teenagers or young adults. They're growing up, and
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: they're starting to take on more responsibility, paying a few bills,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: showing that they can manage their decisions and wise parents
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: do what wise parents release them and sometimes want to
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: release them too soon. Some times we might keep them
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: home too soon. It's all a matter of timing, isn't it.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Releasing these campuses happens when they have reached the capacity
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: we think they have the capacity. They have demonstrated wonderful leadership,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: made some terrific decisions. They are reaching people in their
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: regions and it only makes sense that we release them
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: to do this. We want to release Journey Fellowship to
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: reach New Bronfels. We want to release the West Side
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: to impact the south Side.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: We want the.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Fredericksburg folks to be released, and they're ready to be
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: released to reach out into other towns around Fredericksburg. Alamo
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Ranch is telling us they're ready and eager to reach
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: the West side outer west of San Antonio. The North
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Central Folks need to be released to reach beyond the
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Central Corridor. Now, this could happen as multi science, but
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: it seems like it happens more organically, more authentically, as
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: churches become autonomous churches and they then are released. And
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: this is the Book of Acts model, isn't it? The
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Book of Acts models? How church after church after church
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: was planted and then planted other churches. So it only
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: makes sense that we do this capacity because they've reached
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: they have the capacity to do it. That's one reason.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Context is another. So about a year ago we began
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: asking the question, is it time to cultivate the unique
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: expressions of the Gospel in the settings that are unique
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: to each campus. Initially the answer to that was no,
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: We needed a cookie cutter, We needed a franchise model.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: We needed a one size fits all. We needed to
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: all be doing the same thing on all campuses. Again,
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: because it was all these campuses could do to get
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: the nursery staffed, to get the chairs set up. They
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: didn't want to be taking on more decisions. But as
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: they have increased their capacity, they have begun to well,
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: tell me, hey, we know more about reaching Fredericksburg than
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: you do, and we know more about reaching the outer
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: West than you do. May think you know how to
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: reach the west Side, Miguel Fetti tells me. He says, no,
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: I know who lives in the west Side. Who better
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: understands the context of a region than the people who
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: shop in the grocery stores there, who attend the schools there,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: who live in the neighborhoods there. I know we're all
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: kind of a part of the same culture, but we
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: have ethnic pockets, do we not. The folks in Fredericksburg
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: are small town folks there don't think exactly like cosmopolitan
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: folks around Crown Rage. And the folks that outer west
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: in a exploding area of our city don't think exactly
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: like the north central folks just north of the airport.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: It's just understanding the nuances of the culture that we're
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: finding are more and more important. So now that we're
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: seeing that these campuses have the capacity, they're able to
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: pay bills, they're able to build teams, they're able to
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: preach and lead, doesn't it make sense that we acknowledge
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: you probably know more about ministering to the people in
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: your region than we do. Multi Siting has allowed us
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: to establish the beachheads, but now multiplying will allow us
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: to reach the people in that region. And with this
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: challenge that as a campus becomes a church, it begins
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: immediately dreaming of starting other churches. And if a campus
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: is not ready to become a church.
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: That's okay.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: We will declare that campus as a mission of the
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Oakhill's church and continue to work with it until it
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: is ready. So we think it's inevitable that these campuses
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: are going to become churches. You know what it reminds
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: me of. It reminds me of a sidewalk we have
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: on this Crown Ridge campus. Next time you're up near
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: the outer outside baptistry, you know what I'm talking about,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: the outside baptistry over here by the north parking lot,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Notice that there is a sidewalk that cuts diagonally across
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: that square of property. Did you know that that sidewalk
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: was not in the original plans. It's not there. You
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: know why it's there because you walked there. You saw
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: a shortcut and you didn't want to walk the square.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: You just walked right across the grass. So when we
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: saw the grass becoming dirt and the dirt becoming a trail,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: we said, duh.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Might as well put a sidewalk there. Are you going
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: to walk there anyway?
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: It's inevitable, folks, Some things are inevitable. It's just understanding
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the right time. It was inevitable that these campuses become churches.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: We knew that, we just didn't know exactly when it's inevitable.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: And since it's inevitable, it's healthy, and the reason it's healthy.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Is because it's biblical.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: And because it's inevitable and healthy and biblical, I believe
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: it's going to be blessed. I believe it's going to
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: be blessed as we celebrate the context of each of
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: these unique sections of our city, as we release the
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: capacity that's pent up on these campuses to do more
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: and do it in a way that makes sense. I
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: think it's going to be healthy for us to become
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: less dependent upon one teacher and distribute the teaching responsibilities
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: to all of the campuses. I think it's great that
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: we can celebrate our ancestry as a church. Remember, we
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: are a church plant and what we're doing is continuing
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: that legacy. God bless these campuses as they now begin
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: to dream of planting other churches. So the three reasons.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: First reason, capacity we have the capacity we have the ability.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Second reason, contexts just understanding the unique culture around each area,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: we want to take advantage of them. But there's a
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: third reason, and that is sustainability. We want to move
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: into a new season with a model that we think
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: will sustain our church over the next decades. Sustainability. I
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: think a healthy tenure for a senior minister is about
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: seven to ten years. Over my thirty years that I've
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: been here, I've come to see that you need about
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: seven to ten years to articulate a vision, implement the vision,
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: and unpack that vision. As a sixty almost sixty four
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: year old, I've prayed and talked to my wife, and
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I just don't think it's time for me to sign
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: up for another seven to ten year stretch. I think
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: it's time for me to return to the role that
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: I've had for many years, and that is as a
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: teaching minister, and then release a generation, a whole stable
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: of capable leaders that we have on each of these
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: campuses to become lead ministers. So, as of September one,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go back to teaching minister of the
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Oak Hills Church, and we're going to ordain and appoint
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: the next generation of leaders on each campus. Crownridge, You're
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: not surprised. Travis Eads will be our lead minister. Jimmy
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Pruitt at Fredericksburg, Miguel Fettia at West Side, Sam Gonzalez
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: at Alamo Ranch, Mario Gagos at Journey Fellowship. Brian caruth
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: In the Tall Brazil Rich Ronald at North Central does
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: not feel the call to take on the lead minister role,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: but he's staying there as interim until we can fulfill
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: that role, and we're praying.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: With them now.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Next weekend, Lord willing, we will ordain each of these
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: campus ministers with a new title and an expanded responsibility.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: They'll go from campus minister to lead minister, and that
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: will mean that they will be providing leadership for everything
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: that happens on their campus. And we'll begin this con
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: we will continue this process of getting closer and closer
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: to releasing a campus to become a church. The soonest
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: that a campus will become a church is one year
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: from right now, September one, of twenty nineteen. So this
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: gives us a year to make sure the house is
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: in order, financial capacity is there, and a few more
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: decisions are made. I will, as of September first, go
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: back into the role of teaching minister, and I'm going
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: to see this as a kind of a semi retirement.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: I'm going to step out of the leadership roles in
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: the decision making and focus on what I love to
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: do and that's right, sermons and teach the Bible. And
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: we have this great group of folks, these seven campus
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: ministers becoming lead ministers who are then going to lead
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: these champ campuses to the point that they will become churches. Now,
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Steve Green are very capable executive minister is going to
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: oversee this process of transition from campuses into churches. Now,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: are you suffering from information overload?
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Again?
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: You'll get all of this in an email. Pick up
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: the handout as you leave. There's a video online that
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: explains it all. We want you to understand it. But
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: here's that paragraph again. We since that God is calling
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: the Oak Hills Church to pursue a focused and deliberate
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: strategy to plant churches in the San Antonio and Hill
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Country area, starting with the release and planting of our
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: existing congregations. Target date is what August thirty first one,
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: So we have three years hoping to do this over
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: the next three years. By this date, these campus will
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: be an integal to church or declared admission of the
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: Oak Hills Church.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: Again, the earliest that any campus will become.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: A church is one year from right now, September of
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: twenty nineteen. So how does this transition impact all I.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Can think of a few months. Would you join me.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: In thanking God for his abundant provision to the church.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: We have just been blessed beyond what we could ever imagine,
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: you know, even over the last fourteen fifteen, sixteen months,
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: which definitely has been a time of transition and decision making.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Well, the Lord has.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Over three hundred baptistms in the last twelve months. And
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: that amazing three hundred baptisms. And did you know that
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: as we conclude our budget at the end of this month,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: as we conclude our annual budget, we budget from.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: September one to August thirty. First, as we conclude.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Our budget, we will conclude our budget one point five
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: million dollars in the not in the red. That's good news, though,
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: that's good news, well now wonderful And that's and that's
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: thanks to your generosity. It's thanks to our team managing
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: money very carefully, and it's just most of all praise
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: to God. And did you know that we are of
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: our expansion projects that we began about four years ago,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: thirty seven million dollar expansion projects, including this sanctuary and
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: some expansion on this part and a new building out
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: out at Alamo Ranches, thirty seven million dollars we have
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: paid twenty two million. Twenty two million has already been realized,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: and that's something now I realized that leads us with
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: fifteen million.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: That is the equivalent to our annual budget. And that's
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: always been our guideliness.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: To not hold more than two or three years worth
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: of our annual budget.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: We've got it all the way down to.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: One year, and we're going to keep chiseling away at
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: chiseling away at it. We will once again, God being
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: our helper, become a debt a church, and we're continuing
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: our focus on places like and we're Brazil for kinga
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: Fosso El Salvador, Mexico, and a variety of mission points
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: around the world.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: So we can be grateful. Can we not how good
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: God has been to us?
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Secondly, can I urge you to renew your commitment to
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: your campus. Some of you are in this room, but
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: you attend another campus. Most of you attend right here
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: at Crownridge. Can I encourage you to find your spot
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: on the Crownridge campus or whatever your campus is, roll
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: up your sleeves and.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Get to work.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Be a part of a group, Be a part of
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: a class, Be a part of a ministry, Be a
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: part of our host ministry. Be a part of the
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: parking lot ministry. Help out with the babies. Find something
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: where you can plug in and be a part of it.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: As these campuses become independent churches, more than ever, we're
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: going to all need to roll up our sleeves, write
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: our checks, bend our knees, do our part to see
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: these campuses become healthy churches. Can you pray for Steve Green,
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: my good friend, our executive minister. Yeah, he's got big shoulders,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: he's a brilliant guy. But even somebody with big shoulders
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: and a good brain needs the help of the Holy Spirit.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: And he's going to be overseeing this transition over the
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: next We're not sure how long it's going to take,
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: but no more than three years of transitioning these campuses
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: into churches. Pray for him, and this is very important.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Pray for your lead minister. Pray for your lead minister.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: If you're a part of Crownridge, Pray for Travis and
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Alicia Eads in their wonderful family. How many of you
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: know that the devil doesn't like ministers. How many of
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: you know that as a minister takes on more responsibility,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: the devil pulls out more darts. So we're going to
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: pray around him and his family. Okay, we're gonna pray
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: around him. Can I raise your hand if you promise
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: to pray, just wanting to make sure. If you didn't
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: raise your hand, you and I need to talk. Let's
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: pray for him. Let's pray for him. Let's pray the
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: Lord would bless him with decades of fruitful service right
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: here at Oak Hills in San Antonio. And then also,
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: as long as we're praying for things, would you pray
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: for Max to turn off the burner and the car
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: before he starts a fire or gets robbed. Was making
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: a prayer list. I just had to throw that on
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: there now. But honestly, let's pray for our memories. Let's
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: remember that God is the one in charge, that Jesus
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: is the one building the church. And would you join
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: with us in this vision of dreaming of a family
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: of church planting churches. I think the Lord talked to
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: me a few months ago during a communion service right
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: here in this room. I sensed him saying, it's time
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: to get ready for the harvest. It's time to get
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: ready for the harvest. And as we begin praying about that,
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: we began envisioning all these churches beginning to pop up
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: around San Antonio, churches that are able of reaching their region,
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: some of whom will become city wide churches like the
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Oak Hills Church, positioning ourselves to receive the harvest as
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: Christ brings them in. Can you imagine as two churches
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: become four, as four become eight, as eight become who
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: knows how many? Twelve and sixteen? Won't that be exciting
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: and we can say we were here to see it happen.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: So thank you Father for your kindness, your provision, and
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: for your goodness.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Father.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: The only vision that matters is the vision you give,
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: and you've told us without a vision, people perish, and
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: so Father, we want your vision so that we can
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: be alive. Thank you Father for this opportunity. We already
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: begin praying blessings on Travis and Elisia and his family,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: asking you, Lord to encircle them and to give them
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: wisdom and strength. Steve Green as he oversees this transition
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: process for this church, and Lord, we're excited, excited about
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: what you will do, and we're thankful for what you
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: have done through Christ.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: We pray, and all the church said