August 6, 2025 • 36 mins
In this Beyond Sunday episode, Dina, Tyler, and Pastor Greg reflect on Pastor Mark Zhender’s message No Lower Calling, which redefines greatness through the lens of servant leadership. As they honor Pastor Roger Theimer’s 41 years of ministry, the conversation highlights how true joy, purpose, and impact are found not in status—but in serving others, just as Jesus taught.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday the King of Kings podcast
, where we dive a little bitdeeper into our Sunday message
and see what we're taking BeyondSunday.
My name is Dena Newsom and Ihave some wonderful guests with
me today.
Go ahead and introduceyourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I'm Greg and I'm Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm so happy to have you here today.
We are kind of experiencing abig holiday this week.
I don't know if you guys knowthis it's International Cat Day.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's early August, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So my question, my opening question for you is are
you a cat person, a dog person,a no, pet person?
What do you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
think I'll go first.
Greg, I'm allergic to cats,severely allergic to cats.
Our neighbors when we lived inConnecticut we just moved to
Fremont what six weeks ago.
Awesome people, but I couldn'tbe in their house longer than an
hour before my eyes startedgetting very itchy and throat
that sort of thing.
So the only value that ourneighbor's cats provided was
(01:05):
that it roamed the neighborhoodand rid our house of mice.
So that saved us on some rodentcontrol bills.
There you go, but yeah, 100%dog people.
We have two dogs.
My wife has always had dogs.
And we anticipate always havingdogs.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, we're no pet people.
Um, we do have two parakeetsand if anyone listening would
like them, you can have them.
Um, they're wonderful animalsand they would fill your home
with joy.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Are these?
Are these talking birds?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
No, they're just parakeets.
They're just very loud at 6amand, um, they don't come out of
the come out of the cage.
So that is kind of nice, butbirds are really messy and gross
.
So yeah, I sometimes think Icould do a dog, but then, you
know, I see people with theirdog throwing up or their dog
(01:56):
going to the bathroom in thehouse or the vet bills and I
realized I don't, I don't wantany of that.
So, and then if it's a dogwhere, like it's licking, like
water's like dripping from itsface, I don't want that either.
So I think we're prettyentrenched that we will never
own animals, and I'll save mycomments about cats just because
(02:20):
I should.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I have found like 80% of the pastors I know are cat
haters.
I didn't say that Don't putwords in my mouth.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Tina, I never said any of it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Our cat dislikers, I just said who acquired the birds
in your house.
That's what.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Macy and I won't share my view on this because
it's a disagreement, but Macyhad a friend that wasn't even a
friend.
She was a senior.
Macy was a freshman.
She was going to college andsaid would you like my birds?
And then apparently I said yes,and so they're supposed to only
(02:59):
live three to five years, andwhen we got them they were
supposed to be about three orfour years old, so hopefully
they're well into their agedseason.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
You're just riding it out.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Macy goes to college and thenTessa is supposed to
theoretically be the one whocleans up after the birds coming
here.
Um, I have low, low belief thatthat will actually happen.
So then we'll see what happens,because I will not clean up
after the birds, so nor willLori.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I am a dog and a cat person.
I have a dog and three cats.
I grew up a dog person, thoughtI would never be a cat person,
moved in with roommates when Iwas in college that had cats and
loved I like cats.
Cats don't care if you're thereor not, and I like that
independence about them.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I would say can I just when I will have a cat?
Maybe I would.
I've said we could have a catin our house.
All my girls want a cat, butI've said the only cat I will
get is I want one of thosehairless Sphinx cats.
So I would have a hairlessSphinx cat.
They supposedly behave like adog and clean like a cat.
Plus, they're a great story.
And then for people that arelike they're ugly.
(04:08):
I'm like, listen, like when wehave children.
Sometimes our children aren'tattractive but we still call
them beautiful.
So, um, like.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So if one of our listeners has a hairless cat,
that they would like to gift youthat would be appropriate.
Yeah, I would take it, youheard it here first.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I would I would, depending on the age and making
sure it has zero vet problems.
If it's over halfway throughits life then that seems to be
the grip of that soul.
I'm an 80s, 70s person, so thewhole vet.
Pay $40,000 for an animal isnot how I was raised.
Me also for an animal is nothow I was raised.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Me also.
All right.
So, switching from thisInternational Cat Day
celebration to our message thisweek, pastor Mark Sender joined
us on Sunday at our Millardcampus to preach his sending
message for Pastor Roger.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Timer's retirement.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
And it was a great message.
What are you guys taking,beyond Sunday, from this message
?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, real quick too, just since it is International
Cat Pastor Mark is deathlyallergic to cats.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Oh seriously, I didn't know that.
Yeah, yeah, so great transition.
What about Zach?
Is that?
I don't know?
Is that a genetic trait?
Is our allergies genetic?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
No idea Can't say I know, no idea yeah.
But the question is what?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
are we taking beyond Sunday?
What are you taking beyondSunday from his message?
No lower calling.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, you know I got to say I rarely remember a
message title, like you know,for me, like when they say my
title, rarely does it ever stickwith me.
I was telling Mark actuallytoday he and I had lunch and I
said that no lower calling title.
(05:51):
Like I will never forget thatthat was a really well done and
so one.
I just loved how he reversedthat because generally we think,
pastor, no higher calling.
And he took it to what younever would have put it at and
and then and then, sobeautifully connected to um that
it, it is just a great callingto serve Jesus and and to serve
(06:15):
others.
Um and so and then and then dida really great job of honoring
not only Roger but um, theimpact that God has used Roger
and King of Kings for here.
So it was well done.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The first thing I took beyond Sunday was you know,
greg, you mentioned your childin the 70s and 80s.
I'm not.
I grew up in the 90s and so Ihad no idea who Lurch from the
Adams family is.
So I did a quick Google searchand was like, oh okay, okay, I
got it.
But yeah, pastor Mark, just sobeautifully honored Pastor Roger
(06:54):
, who I know he's been on thelast couple of weeks of podcasts
and you know he's officiallyretired now from full-time
ministry after 41 years 30 yearsat King of Kings, and I grew up
here.
So, like I went through theKids Count curriculum, I went on
the, you know, the father-sonretreat and first communion and
(07:15):
just personally like Roger's,like a second dad to me.
You know we would.
We didn't have family in thearea, so if we got to Christmas
Eve dinner we'd be hanging outwith the timers.
We didn't have family in thearea, so if we got to Christmas
Eve dinner we'd be hanging outwith the timers, and so I wasn't
able to be at the Millardcampus on Sunday.
I was out at Fremont but I waswatching back the video, the
whole service last night.
I don't know how you guys keptit together when I saw John
(07:51):
Peter's video come up at the end.
You know, roger, he's alwayshad such a heart for global
missions and he's activated somuch kingdom movement over the
course of his career.
I mean, john Peter was cominghere once a year, once every
other year since I was a kid,and sharing about the churches
that are being planted in India,and you know how far can
$10,000 go stateside, and then$1,000 will support 10 church
planters for this next year.
And the other thing that reallystood out to me was when Mark
(08:15):
was talking about the King ofKings day in heaven and it was
kind of his holy imagination atwork.
But in reference to Roger'skingdom impact and the
curriculum and with all themission impact of how many Jesus
pulling back the curtain, ofhow many people are in heaven,
(08:40):
saved with Jesus for eternitydue to the mission, global
mission, outreach efforts ofthis church and specifically of
what Pastor Roger did and it'sjust so beautiful to think about
.
And, you know, keeping ourpriorities kingdom oriented.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, I really enjoyed how most of the people
that were here were celebratingRoger and familiar with Roger.
But if someone was a newerguest with us and was unfamiliar
with Roger or didn't grow upwith him, I enjoyed how Mark
tied each piece back to thegospel story and back to what to
(09:24):
expect in heaven and back toour mission here on earth.
That it was still a meaningfulmessage, even if you didn't know
Roger's story, and you walkedaway thinking Roger was an
incredible servant for manyyears.
But it was still emotional topeople who didn't know about all
that he's done here and Ireally appreciated how he tied
(09:45):
that together.
So the title no Lower Callingthat comparison of no lower
calling and no higher calling issomething that Mark talked
about.
He pulled from Matthew 20, 20to 28, which is basically when
this mother of two of thedisciples goes to Jesus and asks
him.
You know like can one of mysons sit on your right and one
(10:06):
sit on the left?
And he talks about Jesus in thelast couple verses of there
says not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants tobecome great among you must be
your servant and whoever wantsto be first must be your slave,
just as the Son of man did notcome to be served, but to serve
and to give his life as a ransomfor many.
How did that whole, just thetitle and that verse, speak to
(10:29):
you?
To kind of kick this off.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So, being a parent of young kids, we watch a good
amount of Bluey, and one of theBluey episodes that this is
either the last night or thenight before, you know it's
these two sisters, you know,four year old and six year old,
something like that, and theywere.
They had the babysitter over.
(10:54):
This babysitter would be like asingle gal in her twenties and
they're doing a question 20questions thing.
So one of the sisters said doyou want to have kids one day?
And the babysitter said, well,yeah, 20 questions thing.
So one of the sisters said doyou want to have kids one day?
And the babysitter said, well,yeah.
And then the other one said isBosco going to be the daddy?
And the babysitter says Bosco'snot my friend anymore.
(11:17):
And then they said is Bosco?
not your true love.
And she's like oh, I don't know.
It's like is true love, notforever?
And like, in the span of 30seconds, this script just like
beautifully points out somethingthat our culture can struggle
(11:37):
to understand and like what loveactually is.
And what Jesus is pointing outin Matthew 20 is what really the
whole New Testament connects tois that love equals sacrifice
and Jesus' love, the Father'slove to us, is most shown
perfectly on the sacrifice ofJesus.
(11:59):
But now, our love to God and tothe world is not marked by our
feelings although certainlyfeelings are part of how God
made us but it's marked by ouractions, and so by Jesus taking
that no lower calling the placeof a servant, give us life as a
ransom for many.
Now we're called to do the samein being people that are laying
(12:23):
down our lives for the sake ofothers.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, as a dad with two teenage daughters, I'll have
to look up who this blueyperson is.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Bluey and bingo.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
No, it's really interesting.
I couldn't help but think I wasjust with a couple of friends
of mine who had been walkingthrough some tragedy over the
last 14 months and he and I weretalking, and one of the things
he was talking about that mademe really think differently, and
especially in this realm ofwhere our service and what our
(13:01):
good works do.
We generally think of our goodworks as far as not only our
actions, but what are we doingas the checklist to do these
things?
And he posited it in adifferent way.
He said, Greg, I can't help butwonder if the rewards and our
good works will be measured, notto get us to heaven he doesn't
(13:24):
believe that, but he said, butwill be measured in how we made
others feel.
How did our works make othersfeel?
Did they feel honored, Did theyfeel loved, Did they feel
valued, Did they feel cared for?
And I was thinking back to TimKeller, who said in one of his
(13:47):
messages it's really easy togive money, it's really hard to
give time, and yet your timesays to the person I really love
you.
And so it's a reminder to me ofwhen we're looking at that
lower calling and at thatserving right and becoming last
(14:11):
and serving last is when yourtime's not your own.
Like you think about who youknow.
It talks about being a slaveand being a servant, and what do
those have?
They don't have their own time.
Their time is based on whatsomeone else desires and we kind
of often put that as like doingall the things and I was like,
(14:33):
oh, do I make others feel?
Um, not only my wife and mykids, but even the those who I
would consider least in my life.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Dina, I'm I'm struck by, based on what Greg just said
.
You said that it can be easierto to give money than our time.
Um, and and what is the greatersacrifice?
Because there are situationsand people on earth where, like,
the greater sacrifice wouldactually be money, but in our
(15:14):
affluent Western culture, it'sactually the opposite.
And so, being willing to trulyfollow the example of Jesus and
lay our own lives down and Markdid this so well you referenced
the no lower calling and he justsaid that the no lower calling
and the no higher calling areindeed one in the same, as Jesus
(15:35):
just redefines what being greatis and what success is in the
kingdom of God.
Um, and it's it's always othersfocused.
You you know this as running somuch of our guest experience
here on Sundays is, it's alwaysothers-focused.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Amen.
So Pastor Mark kind ofhighlighted three different
pieces of the no lower calling,and the first one that he talked
about was no lower callingleads to no grander vision.
What?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
stuck out to you about that.
Yeah, I think, when we have thisright, you look at and you look
in the eyes of Roger, who Ijust I've always said, from the
day I've gotten to just a peakof this man's life, Um, and, and
Roger, in our Lutheran churchcircles, Roger's nationally
(16:32):
known, everyone's heard of him.
Um, I've always said, you know,that man, the spirit, has used
that man to bring more peopleinto heaven than than any other
pastor that I've everencountered, and so, but I think
the grander vision when I thinkabout that, is the reminder and
(16:57):
I love that Roger had this thereminder of the grander vision
of do whatever it takes in orderto reach people that don't yet
know Jesus.
And he sacrificed a lot.
I mean, you know it's kind of ajoke, but he did, he sacrificed
his time.
(17:18):
He was up at 3 am, he was inbed at 11 pm, 12 pm.
There were days I mean, you walkaround here at King of Kings
and maybe this is not what wewould classify today as like
(17:38):
healthy ministry spots, butthere's a reason you find little
spots in King of Kings wherethere's clothing and
toothbrushes and stuff, becauseRoger had spent all night here
working.
Goddard spent all night hereworking.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
And so he sacrificed a lot because he saw a grand
vision to reach people thatdon't know.
Okay, so I'm curious Do youguys remember the I think it was
a video, but with a list ofcountries?
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yes, that's what stuck out to me.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yes, Okay, did either of you know what the country or
the?
I don't know if it is a country, vanuatu.
Had you heard of that before?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
No, there's a lot of countries I haven't heard of.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
I think it's in, like , I'm not a geography bug.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Oceania area.
I mean, I had to.
But when you think about nogrander vision, and because
Roger gave himself and has givenhimself and is giving himself
to a God-sized vision, and, greg, I see that in you as well, and
(18:39):
certainly under Pastor Mark'sleadership for all those years
at King Kings, in terms of like,we don't want to be limited by
our human size aspirations, but,lord, give us your dreams.
And what is it?
Ephesians, chapter three, verse20,.
God is able to do immeasurablymore you can't even measure it
(19:01):
immeasurably more than we ask,think or imagine, according to
the greatness of his power andwhat he's worked in his
resurrection.
And as I think about myself,like the gravitational pull in
just kind of everyday life isalways on self, and I think the
(19:21):
gravitational pull is to a lowervision and like how am I going
to get through today?
And you know what do I need?
And just the mind of like, oh,I'm hungry.
That's sort of like obviouslythe.
Lord cares about the smallthings and the big things.
But to be able to give spacefor the Lord to expand our
horizons and wow us, I'd becurious to ask Roger now what
(19:46):
did you see happening when allof this started 30 years ago?
I don't think he went into itwith the plan of let's go reach
Vanuatu yeah, but he took stepsof obedience, faith filled, and
then the Lord came through withwhat only he could come through
with.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I really liked how Mark tied this to the idea
of the disciples, where Jesuswalked up to them and basically
said, come and follow me andthey were like okay, and a
couple of them left their dad inthe boat and went, and I just
am trying to picture that intoday's world and how insane
that sounds to.
Just okay, I just met thisperson, but there's a vision for
(20:28):
what this is going to be.
And, yeah, the list of creditsof countries.
I wonder when Roger first satdown and said, hey, I think we
should write a curriculum, like,did he even imagine that that
was going to be the case?
The thousands of kids that wereaffected.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Can I interject a question?
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So, greg, one of your God-given responsibilities here
is stewarding vision.
What are some practical stepsor things that you do to give
space for God to breathe visionover our ministry?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Yeah our ministry, yeah, I mean one.
I, I bathe in prayer, um, andespecially about non-specifics.
You know so.
So you know I preach this, butI, I pray every day at 1234, and
it's for campus one, campus two, campus three, and I named
those by name Campus four, Ijust say campus four, wherever
(21:29):
that may be, and then I alsohold everything loosely and then
pray that the vision that'sthere is not only from God, but
then, if it is from God, it'sgoing to be much grander than I
(21:50):
expect.
And so then I hold loosely inthe reality of saying this will
get bigger than I can evenfathom, imagine or explain.
And so sometimes I love.
Andy Stanley in his bookVisioneering, says way too many
visions of visionaries or dreamsof visionaries have died
(22:11):
because they shared it too early.
And I take that as A, yes, butthen B.
Sometimes, when you share,people want to know all the
details of exactly what thiswill look like and how it will
happen.
And the moment you do that iswhen now, this is just a human
(22:32):
vision, where, if you can sitthere and go, I don't know what
this will look like at the end.
Then you're allowing God to sayand you don't need to, because
he does, because he's alreadythere, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I really think of that piece of things with the
Fremont campus, talking aboutcampuses there and how nobody
was like we weren't activelyready for a campus to approach
us at that point of hey you know, we're a church that wants some
help, and just the way thingslined up and rolled out to where
(23:08):
now you're there, tyler, andpublic launch is coming a month
away, a month away.
Yeah, I just think that's agrand vision that none of us had
just yet on earth, that God had.
There was left space for it, andit happened for it and it
(23:31):
happened.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I think it's really healthy for us as followers of
Jesus, to be experience renewalin those things, certainly as a
congregation, but then also inour personal lives, so that our
vision can be lifted to kingdommindset.
And so I think it's beneficialfor not just the Fremont campus
but for Millard and Northwest aswell to see what God is doing
at Fremont.
And we're recording this onwhat?
(23:53):
Tuesday, august 5th.
So this past Sunday we launchedkids ministry at both service
hours, all volunteer led,incredible, and last year at
this time Sunday school wouldhave been four to six kids, and
this past Sunday, first timekids ministry, 33 kids.
(24:15):
And it's like you guys weren'tthinking exact numbers of what
it would look like, but you knewthe direction and then you just
let God do the rest.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's been amazing.
So Pastor Mark's second pointthat he kind of moved on to was
no lower calling becomes theevidence of no greater love.
What jumped out at you aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
yeah, I probably could have saved what I said
earlier for this it all tiestogether, that's right one just
props to Mark for just how heshaped all of this and seeing
those like, yeah, no lowercalling, no higher joy, no
greater love.
I mean he referenced the famousverse out of John 15.
(24:58):
We hear it out of the mouth ofJesus Often here applied in like
Memorial Day scenarios when wethink about those who have paid
the ultimate price in servingour country.
But again, the greater love isexpressed in action and it's not
(25:21):
that the feeling is there orisn't there, but it is defined
by the action of sacrifice.
But it is defined by the actionof sacrifice.
And Jesus says there's nogreater love than laying your
life down for those you love.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Yeah, and that's where I remembered is just the
sacrificing of who.
You are right, we generally putthis into the physical life,
death, but again, giving up yourlife, giving up your time,
giving up your comfort, givingup and this isn't like.
(25:58):
I don't even think this isalways a permanent piece.
I think this is sometimes apiece where you're saying for
this season, for this time, andhow are you doing that for
others and showing that greaterlove?
And really what it is is, it'sputting a person first and not
(26:20):
saying I'm putting you first,but they'll see it, they'll know
it when it happens, they'll begrateful and they'll recognize
that you gave up a piece of yourlife and your life in that
moment for them.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, I really liked Mark just basically said Jesus
didn't just say it, he did it,like it wasn't just preaching,
it was he did it.
And I was touched by when hewas talking about when his
grandkids were staying there andhe was talking about just
watching them sleep.
I love you.
I love you, I love you.
I have two grandkids and I justknow that feeling.
I love you, I love you, I loveyou, and how much greater the
(26:59):
love God has for us than even wecan experience here on earth.
So his final point that hemoved on to was no lower calling
leads to no higher joy.
How did that hit you?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
This is the part where we had the picture of
Mount Kilimanjaro.
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I think so Unreal 19,000 feet.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I mean, roger is the guy who set out to run a full
marathon before the age of 50and he ran it like the day
before he turned 50.
Um, so just what a remarkableman.
Um, the?
And so Mark kind of used thatmountain idea to talk about the
(27:43):
spiritual mountaintops that welead others to and the
heightened joy and there's nohigher joy than being known by
Jesus.
And you know, I lived it.
I worked alongside the man for anumber of years.
He knew that kids spoke thelanguage of fun and he was going
(28:04):
to speak that language to getthem to hear the gospel and so
to again to lay aside hispreferences or anything like
that, to meet kids where theyare and then lead them to Jesus.
And I was out at the SoaringWings event on Sunday night.
(28:25):
I'm like we're talking.
We're talking 600 kids a yearover the course of that ministry
.
We're talking thousands uponthousands of kids that got
connected to Jesus through thatman's ministry just here at King
and Kings, not to mention thenall of those around the country
and the world through thatscrolling video.
(28:45):
Like it's just unfathomable.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I think I think when you find, when you find
your purpose and your passionand this is why I really believe
in our spiritual gifts testwhen you find that, and then you
do that and this is Gallup poll, writing living your strengths
right when you do that and yourealize you're doing what God
(29:12):
wired you to do, there is nogreater joy and it doesn't feel
like work, it doesn't feel likethis was hard, it doesn't mean
you don't have hard seasons butyou just go.
I'm meant for this, I'm wiredfor this, and I think it's an
(29:33):
important piece to remember that, as we look at that, it doesn't
mean that every person's to bea kids minister, it doesn't mean
that every person's to be amarathoner, but, man, when you
are doing that.
But what it does mean is everyperson does have a purpose, and
so when you find that and youare doing that, um, there's no
(29:56):
greater joy in that, becauseyou're living out the way God
wired you, the way he, the wayhe called you, and you know, and
, and I think in our day and age, one of the things I'm always
reminded of is, unfortunately welive in a culture that is so
comparison driven Um, and Idon't, I don't think, I don't
(30:16):
believe that Paul probably had.
I don't believe Paul had thegift of encouragement.
I don't think he was anencourager.
I think he was probably alittle crabby.
He's a little more blunt, alittle more blunt, very
passionate.
But I also don't think helooked and said, gosh, why can't
I encourage like Barnabas?
I don't, I don't.
I don't think he had thecomparison, I don't think he
looked and said, gosh, why can'tI encourage like Barnabas?
I don't think he had thecomparison, I don't think he had
(30:37):
the jealousy, and we have toremember that, that when we're
living our calling, there won'tbe any greater joy and our joy
doesn't have to be everyoneelse's joy and their joy doesn't
have to be our joy.
Climbing a 19er to me would notbe joyful.
I'm a 13er, I can get to 13,000feet and then I'm done.
But you know, like sending meon a mission trip or giving me a
(31:03):
coffee with someone and justbeing able to hear their story,
like I love it, there's nogreater joy for me no greater
joy for me.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
I knew of Roger.
Before I knew Roger, I didministry at another church here
in town for many years and wouldhear stories of Roger Tymer and
half the stories I heard wereunbelievable.
Like what, no, nobody did that.
What he's crazy.
Like had this insane picture ofhim and then when I met him,
and just the joy that radiatesof him.
Like had this insane picture ofhim and then when I met him,
and just the joy that radiatesof him, like it just oozes out
his pores, I was like, oh, now Iget it.
(31:42):
Like no, these are real stories, because that's just what
lights his fire.
Like that's amazing to see.
So as we wrap up today, I havetwo questions for you.
The first one is what's yourfinal takeaway from this message
?
Like, what are you taking withyou?
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Yeah, I think for me it's a reminder that we all have
a calling and so how are weliving out in that calling to
serve?
And then two, I think withRoger, it's a reminder for me of
Paul's words.
Right, a few of them, but thetwo that stick out to me, three
(32:25):
really would be right.
I rejoice always, I rejoicealways, I will say it again I
rejoice for you, and then I'mthankful for you as a minister
and a partner in the gospel.
And then, lastly, because Rogerhas a little competitive spirit
in him right, and I think hereally tried to do this and did
(32:47):
it well to outdo one another inbrotherly love and affection.
And so I always have heroes offaith that I kind of put up as
well, and Roger definitely sitsin that.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, greg, that's where my mind and heart was as
well.
You know, I'm in my early 30sand it's strange to think about
okay, can I make it?
Doing this for the next fourdecades, and so seeing Roger not
(33:21):
just tolerating ministry butthoroughly enjoying his calling,
following where Jesus has takenhim Eugene Peterson talks about
discipleship is like a longobedience in the same direction.
Eugene Peterson talks aboutdiscipleship is like a long
obedience in the same direction,and the power of enduring in
the faith and persisting,persevering Like I'm thinking
(33:43):
about what I'm taking is likeLord.
Thank you for that picture ofRoger and the countless of other
saints and leaders that havegone before that like they've
done it, not never perfectly, ofcourse, but the Spirit's
empowered them and that sameSpirit lives in me.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I can look to them and I can look to Jesus and I
can make it.
I really was spending timethinking about all of the impact
that Roger has that he maynever see.
You know what I mean.
Like, even as he steps out ofministry, there's thousands of
kids that are affected that heis never going to personally
know, and I just try to rememberthat there are people I'm going
to affect in whatever smallthing that I'm doing for the
(34:25):
kingdom that I may never knowabout and to be honored in the
doing and honoring in the doing.
You know to remember that pieceof things, okay, so before we
go, do you have like a like ashort life lesson that Roger has
taught you in your time you'veknown him, is there?
The only thing I can think ofand I've only known him, known
(34:47):
him for a couple of years isjust to spread joy, like I just
feel, like I said, it just oozesout of him and that's what I
think of to continue to spreadjoy.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, I just I had to think of his love for the
scriptures and he is relentlessin pointing to Jesus and whether
that's in all of life orministry, like just keeping the
main thing, the main thingindustry, like just keeping the
(35:15):
main thing.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
The main thing, yeah, I I think um getting to walk
alongside Roger um in both inleadership roles for the last
six years.
What I've really appreciatedabout Roger is um he's the
ultimate team player.
Even if he didn't agree, he waswilling to take the role and
(35:36):
say, great, how can I help?
And that's hard to find, andespecially hard to find in
someone that is a visionary, isinnovative and is a leader, and
he was willing to always do that.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Yeah, thank you guys so much for being here.
Next week we start our newmessage series Game.
On which should be exciting.
No-transcript.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday the King of Kings podcast
, where we dive a little bitdeeper into our Sunday message
and see what we're taking BeyondSunday.
My name is Dena Newsom and Ihave some wonderful guests with
me today.
Go ahead and introduceyourselves.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, I'm Greg and I'm Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm so happy to have you here today.
We are kind of experiencing abig holiday this week.
I don't know if you guys knowthis it's International Cat Day.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's early August, okay.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So my question, my opening question for you is are
you a cat person, a dog person,a no, pet person?
What do you?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
think I'll go first.
Greg, I'm allergic to cats,severely allergic to cats.
Our neighbors when we lived inConnecticut we just moved to
Fremont what six weeks ago.
Awesome people, but I couldn'tbe in their house longer than an
hour before my eyes startedgetting very itchy and throat
that sort of thing.
So the only value that ourneighbor's cats provided was
(01:05):
that it roamed the neighborhoodand rid our house of mice.
So that saved us on some rodentcontrol bills.
There you go, but yeah, 100%dog people.
We have two dogs.
My wife has always had dogs.
And we anticipate always havingdogs.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah, we're no pet people.
Um, we do have two parakeetsand if anyone listening would
like them, you can have them.
Um, they're wonderful animalsand they would fill your home
with joy.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Are these?
Are these talking birds?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
No, they're just parakeets.
They're just very loud at 6amand, um, they don't come out of
the come out of the cage.
So that is kind of nice, butbirds are really messy and gross
.
So yeah, I sometimes think Icould do a dog, but then, you
know, I see people with theirdog throwing up or their dog
(01:56):
going to the bathroom in thehouse or the vet bills and I
realized I don't, I don't wantany of that.
So, and then if it's a dogwhere, like it's licking, like
water's like dripping from itsface, I don't want that either.
So I think we're prettyentrenched that we will never
own animals, and I'll save mycomments about cats just because
(02:20):
I should.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I have found like 80% of the pastors I know are cat
haters.
I didn't say that Don't putwords in my mouth.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Tina, I never said any of it.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Our cat dislikers, I just said who acquired the birds
in your house.
That's what.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Macy and I won't share my view on this because
it's a disagreement, but Macyhad a friend that wasn't even a
friend.
She was a senior.
Macy was a freshman.
She was going to college andsaid would you like my birds?
And then apparently I said yes,and so they're supposed to only
(02:59):
live three to five years, andwhen we got them they were
supposed to be about three orfour years old, so hopefully
they're well into their agedseason.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
You're just riding it out.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, it'll be interesting.
Macy goes to college and thenTessa is supposed to
theoretically be the one whocleans up after the birds coming
here.
Um, I have low, low belief thatthat will actually happen.
So then we'll see what happens,because I will not clean up
after the birds, so nor willLori.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I am a dog and a cat person.
I have a dog and three cats.
I grew up a dog person, thoughtI would never be a cat person,
moved in with roommates when Iwas in college that had cats and
loved I like cats.
Cats don't care if you're thereor not, and I like that
independence about them.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I would say can I just when I will have a cat?
Maybe I would.
I've said we could have a catin our house.
All my girls want a cat, butI've said the only cat I will
get is I want one of thosehairless Sphinx cats.
So I would have a hairlessSphinx cat.
They supposedly behave like adog and clean like a cat.
Plus, they're a great story.
And then for people that arelike they're ugly.
(04:08):
I'm like, listen, like when wehave children.
Sometimes our children aren'tattractive but we still call
them beautiful.
So, um, like.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So if one of our listeners has a hairless cat,
that they would like to gift youthat would be appropriate.
Yeah, I would take it, youheard it here first.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
I would I would, depending on the age and making
sure it has zero vet problems.
If it's over halfway throughits life then that seems to be
the grip of that soul.
I'm an 80s, 70s person, so thewhole vet.
Pay $40,000 for an animal isnot how I was raised.
Me also for an animal is nothow I was raised.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Me also.
All right.
So, switching from thisInternational Cat Day
celebration to our message thisweek, pastor Mark Sender joined
us on Sunday at our Millardcampus to preach his sending
message for Pastor Roger.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Timer's retirement.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
And it was a great message.
What are you guys taking,beyond Sunday, from this message
?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Yeah, real quick too, just since it is International
Cat Pastor Mark is deathlyallergic to cats.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Oh seriously, I didn't know that.
Yeah, yeah, so great transition.
What about Zach?
Is that?
I don't know?
Is that a genetic trait?
Is our allergies genetic?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
No idea Can't say I know, no idea yeah.
But the question is what?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
are we taking beyond Sunday?
What are you taking beyondSunday from his message?
No lower calling.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Yeah, you know I got to say I rarely remember a
message title, like you know,for me, like when they say my
title, rarely does it ever stickwith me.
I was telling Mark actuallytoday he and I had lunch and I
said that no lower calling title.
(05:51):
Like I will never forget thatthat was a really well done and
so one.
I just loved how he reversedthat because generally we think,
pastor, no higher calling.
And he took it to what younever would have put it at and
and then and then, sobeautifully connected to um that
it, it is just a great callingto serve Jesus and and to serve
(06:15):
others.
Um and so and then and then dida really great job of honoring
not only Roger but um, theimpact that God has used Roger
and King of Kings for here.
So it was well done.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The first thing I took beyond Sunday was you know,
greg, you mentioned your childin the 70s and 80s.
I'm not.
I grew up in the 90s and so Ihad no idea who Lurch from the
Adams family is.
So I did a quick Google searchand was like, oh okay, okay, I
got it.
But yeah, pastor Mark, just sobeautifully honored Pastor Roger
(06:54):
, who I know he's been on thelast couple of weeks of podcasts
and you know he's officiallyretired now from full-time
ministry after 41 years 30 yearsat King of Kings, and I grew up
here.
So, like I went through theKids Count curriculum, I went on
the, you know, the father-sonretreat and first communion and
(07:15):
just personally like Roger's,like a second dad to me.
You know we would.
We didn't have family in thearea, so if we got to Christmas
Eve dinner we'd be hanging outwith the timers.
We didn't have family in thearea, so if we got to Christmas
Eve dinner we'd be hanging outwith the timers, and so I wasn't
able to be at the Millardcampus on Sunday.
I was out at Fremont but I waswatching back the video, the
whole service last night.
I don't know how you guys keptit together when I saw John
(07:51):
Peter's video come up at the end.
You know, roger, he's alwayshad such a heart for global
missions and he's activated somuch kingdom movement over the
course of his career.
I mean, john Peter was cominghere once a year, once every
other year since I was a kid,and sharing about the churches
that are being planted in India,and you know how far can
$10,000 go stateside, and then$1,000 will support 10 church
planters for this next year.
And the other thing that reallystood out to me was when Mark
(08:15):
was talking about the King ofKings day in heaven and it was
kind of his holy imagination atwork.
But in reference to Roger'skingdom impact and the
curriculum and with all themission impact of how many Jesus
pulling back the curtain, ofhow many people are in heaven,
(08:40):
saved with Jesus for eternitydue to the mission, global
mission, outreach efforts ofthis church and specifically of
what Pastor Roger did and it'sjust so beautiful to think about
.
And, you know, keeping ourpriorities kingdom oriented.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, I really enjoyed how most of the people
that were here were celebratingRoger and familiar with Roger.
But if someone was a newerguest with us and was unfamiliar
with Roger or didn't grow upwith him, I enjoyed how Mark
tied each piece back to thegospel story and back to what to
(09:24):
expect in heaven and back toour mission here on earth.
That it was still a meaningfulmessage, even if you didn't know
Roger's story, and you walkedaway thinking Roger was an
incredible servant for manyyears.
But it was still emotional topeople who didn't know about all
that he's done here and Ireally appreciated how he tied
(09:45):
that together.
So the title no Lower Callingthat comparison of no lower
calling and no higher calling issomething that Mark talked
about.
He pulled from Matthew 20, 20to 28, which is basically when
this mother of two of thedisciples goes to Jesus and asks
him.
You know like can one of mysons sit on your right and one
(10:06):
sit on the left?
And he talks about Jesus in thelast couple verses of there
says not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants tobecome great among you must be
your servant and whoever wantsto be first must be your slave,
just as the Son of man did notcome to be served, but to serve
and to give his life as a ransomfor many.
How did that whole, just thetitle and that verse, speak to
(10:29):
you?
To kind of kick this off.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
So, being a parent of young kids, we watch a good
amount of Bluey, and one of theBluey episodes that this is
either the last night or thenight before, you know it's
these two sisters, you know,four year old and six year old,
something like that, and theywere.
They had the babysitter over.
(10:54):
This babysitter would be like asingle gal in her twenties and
they're doing a question 20questions thing.
So one of the sisters said doyou want to have kids one day?
And the babysitter said, well,yeah, 20 questions thing.
So one of the sisters said doyou want to have kids one day?
And the babysitter said, well,yeah.
And then the other one said isBosco going to be the daddy?
And the babysitter says Bosco'snot my friend anymore.
(11:17):
And then they said is Bosco?
not your true love.
And she's like oh, I don't know.
It's like is true love, notforever?
And like, in the span of 30seconds, this script just like
beautifully points out somethingthat our culture can struggle
(11:37):
to understand and like what loveactually is.
And what Jesus is pointing outin Matthew 20 is what really the
whole New Testament connects tois that love equals sacrifice
and Jesus' love, the Father'slove to us, is most shown
perfectly on the sacrifice ofJesus.
(11:59):
But now, our love to God and tothe world is not marked by our
feelings although certainlyfeelings are part of how God
made us but it's marked by ouractions, and so by Jesus taking
that no lower calling the placeof a servant, give us life as a
ransom for many.
Now we're called to do the samein being people that are laying
(12:23):
down our lives for the sake ofothers.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, as a dad with two teenage daughters, I'll have
to look up who this blueyperson is.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Bluey and bingo.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
No, it's really interesting.
I couldn't help but think I wasjust with a couple of friends
of mine who had been walkingthrough some tragedy over the
last 14 months and he and I weretalking, and one of the things
he was talking about that mademe really think differently, and
especially in this realm ofwhere our service and what our
(13:01):
good works do.
We generally think of our goodworks as far as not only our
actions, but what are we doingas the checklist to do these
things?
And he posited it in adifferent way.
He said, Greg, I can't help butwonder if the rewards and our
good works will be measured, notto get us to heaven he doesn't
(13:24):
believe that, but he said, butwill be measured in how we made
others feel.
How did our works make othersfeel?
Did they feel honored, Did theyfeel loved, Did they feel
valued, Did they feel cared for?
And I was thinking back to TimKeller, who said in one of his
(13:47):
messages it's really easy togive money, it's really hard to
give time, and yet your timesays to the person I really love
you.
And so it's a reminder to me ofwhen we're looking at that
lower calling and at thatserving right and becoming last
(14:11):
and serving last is when yourtime's not your own.
Like you think about who youknow.
It talks about being a slaveand being a servant, and what do
those have?
They don't have their own time.
Their time is based on whatsomeone else desires and we kind
of often put that as like doingall the things and I was like,
(14:33):
oh, do I make others feel?
Um, not only my wife and mykids, but even the those who I
would consider least in my life.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Dina, I'm I'm struck by, based on what Greg just said
.
You said that it can be easierto to give money than our time.
Um, and and what is the greatersacrifice?
Because there are situationsand people on earth where, like,
the greater sacrifice wouldactually be money, but in our
(15:14):
affluent Western culture, it'sactually the opposite.
And so, being willing to trulyfollow the example of Jesus and
lay our own lives down and Markdid this so well you referenced
the no lower calling and he justsaid that the no lower calling
and the no higher calling areindeed one in the same, as Jesus
(15:35):
just redefines what being greatis and what success is in the
kingdom of God.
Um, and it's it's always othersfocused.
You you know this as running somuch of our guest experience
here on Sundays is, it's alwaysothers-focused.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Amen.
So Pastor Mark kind ofhighlighted three different
pieces of the no lower calling,and the first one that he talked
about was no lower callingleads to no grander vision.
What?
Speaker 3 (16:12):
stuck out to you about that.
Yeah, I think, when we have thisright, you look at and you look
in the eyes of Roger, who Ijust I've always said, from the
day I've gotten to just a peakof this man's life, Um, and, and
Roger, in our Lutheran churchcircles, Roger's nationally
(16:32):
known, everyone's heard of him.
Um, I've always said, you know,that man, the spirit, has used
that man to bring more peopleinto heaven than than any other
pastor that I've everencountered, and so, but I think
the grander vision when I thinkabout that, is the reminder and
(16:57):
I love that Roger had this thereminder of the grander vision
of do whatever it takes in orderto reach people that don't yet
know Jesus.
And he sacrificed a lot.
I mean, you know it's kind of ajoke, but he did, he sacrificed
his time.
(17:18):
He was up at 3 am, he was inbed at 11 pm, 12 pm.
There were days I mean, you walkaround here at King of Kings
and maybe this is not what wewould classify today as like
(17:38):
healthy ministry spots, butthere's a reason you find little
spots in King of Kings wherethere's clothing and
toothbrushes and stuff, becauseRoger had spent all night here
working.
Goddard spent all night hereworking.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
And so he sacrificed a lot because he saw a grand
vision to reach people thatdon't know.
Okay, so I'm curious Do youguys remember the I think it was
a video, but with a list ofcountries?
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yes, that's what stuck out to me.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Yes, Okay, did either of you know what the country or
the?
I don't know if it is a country, vanuatu.
Had you heard of that before?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
No, there's a lot of countries I haven't heard of.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
I think it's in, like , I'm not a geography bug.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Oceania area.
I mean, I had to.
But when you think about nogrander vision, and because
Roger gave himself and has givenhimself and is giving himself
to a God-sized vision, and, greg, I see that in you as well, and
(18:39):
certainly under Pastor Mark'sleadership for all those years
at King Kings, in terms of like,we don't want to be limited by
our human size aspirations, but,lord, give us your dreams.
And what is it?
Ephesians, chapter three, verse20,.
God is able to do immeasurablymore you can't even measure it
(19:01):
immeasurably more than we ask,think or imagine, according to
the greatness of his power andwhat he's worked in his
resurrection.
And as I think about myself,like the gravitational pull in
just kind of everyday life isalways on self, and I think the
(19:21):
gravitational pull is to a lowervision and like how am I going
to get through today?
And you know what do I need?
And just the mind of like, oh,I'm hungry.
That's sort of like obviouslythe.
Lord cares about the smallthings and the big things.
But to be able to give spacefor the Lord to expand our
horizons and wow us, I'd becurious to ask Roger now what
(19:46):
did you see happening when allof this started 30 years ago?
I don't think he went into itwith the plan of let's go reach
Vanuatu yeah, but he took stepsof obedience, faith filled, and
then the Lord came through withwhat only he could come through
with.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I really liked how Mark tied this to the idea
of the disciples, where Jesuswalked up to them and basically
said, come and follow me andthey were like okay, and a
couple of them left their dad inthe boat and went, and I just
am trying to picture that intoday's world and how insane
that sounds to.
Just okay, I just met thisperson, but there's a vision for
(20:28):
what this is going to be.
And, yeah, the list of creditsof countries.
I wonder when Roger first satdown and said, hey, I think we
should write a curriculum, like,did he even imagine that that
was going to be the case?
The thousands of kids that wereaffected.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Can I interject a question?
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So, greg, one of your God-given responsibilities here
is stewarding vision.
What are some practical stepsor things that you do to give
space for God to breathe visionover our ministry?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Yeah our ministry, yeah, I mean one.
I, I bathe in prayer, um, andespecially about non-specifics.
You know so.
So you know I preach this, butI, I pray every day at 1234, and
it's for campus one, campus two, campus three, and I named
those by name Campus four, Ijust say campus four, wherever
(21:29):
that may be, and then I alsohold everything loosely and then
pray that the vision that'sthere is not only from God, but
then, if it is from God, it'sgoing to be much grander than I
(21:50):
expect.
And so then I hold loosely inthe reality of saying this will
get bigger than I can evenfathom, imagine or explain.
And so sometimes I love.
Andy Stanley in his bookVisioneering, says way too many
visions of visionaries or dreamsof visionaries have died
(22:11):
because they shared it too early.
And I take that as A, yes, butthen B.
Sometimes, when you share,people want to know all the
details of exactly what thiswill look like and how it will
happen.
And the moment you do that iswhen now, this is just a human
(22:32):
vision, where, if you can sitthere and go, I don't know what
this will look like at the end.
Then you're allowing God to sayand you don't need to, because
he does, because he's alreadythere, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I really think of that piece of things with the
Fremont campus, talking aboutcampuses there and how nobody
was like we weren't activelyready for a campus to approach
us at that point of hey you know, we're a church that wants some
help, and just the way thingslined up and rolled out to where
(23:08):
now you're there, tyler, andpublic launch is coming a month
away, a month away.
Yeah, I just think that's agrand vision that none of us had
just yet on earth, that God had.
There was left space for it, andit happened for it and it
(23:31):
happened.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
I think it's really healthy for us as followers of
Jesus, to be experience renewalin those things, certainly as a
congregation, but then also inour personal lives, so that our
vision can be lifted to kingdommindset.
And so I think it's beneficialfor not just the Fremont campus
but for Millard and Northwest aswell to see what God is doing
at Fremont.
And we're recording this onwhat?
(23:53):
Tuesday, august 5th.
So this past Sunday we launchedkids ministry at both service
hours, all volunteer led,incredible, and last year at
this time Sunday school wouldhave been four to six kids, and
this past Sunday, first timekids ministry, 33 kids.
(24:15):
And it's like you guys weren'tthinking exact numbers of what
it would look like, but you knewthe direction and then you just
let God do the rest.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
It's been amazing.
So Pastor Mark's second pointthat he kind of moved on to was
no lower calling becomes theevidence of no greater love.
What jumped out at you aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
yeah, I probably could have saved what I said
earlier for this it all tiestogether, that's right one just
props to Mark for just how heshaped all of this and seeing
those like, yeah, no lowercalling, no higher joy, no
greater love.
I mean he referenced the famousverse out of John 15.
(24:58):
We hear it out of the mouth ofJesus Often here applied in like
Memorial Day scenarios when wethink about those who have paid
the ultimate price in servingour country.
But again, the greater love isexpressed in action and it's not
(25:21):
that the feeling is there orisn't there, but it is defined
by the action of sacrifice.
But it is defined by the actionof sacrifice.
And Jesus says there's nogreater love than laying your
life down for those you love.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Yeah, and that's where I remembered is just the
sacrificing of who.
You are right, we generally putthis into the physical life,
death, but again, giving up yourlife, giving up your time,
giving up your comfort, givingup and this isn't like.
(25:58):
I don't even think this isalways a permanent piece.
I think this is sometimes apiece where you're saying for
this season, for this time, andhow are you doing that for
others and showing that greaterlove?
And really what it is is, it'sputting a person first and not
(26:20):
saying I'm putting you first,but they'll see it, they'll know
it when it happens, they'll begrateful and they'll recognize
that you gave up a piece of yourlife and your life in that
moment for them.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, I really liked Mark just basically said Jesus
didn't just say it, he did it,like it wasn't just preaching,
it was he did it.
And I was touched by when hewas talking about when his
grandkids were staying there andhe was talking about just
watching them sleep.
I love you.
I love you, I love you.
I have two grandkids and I justknow that feeling.
I love you, I love you, I loveyou, and how much greater the
(26:59):
love God has for us than even wecan experience here on earth.
So his final point that hemoved on to was no lower calling
leads to no higher joy.
How did that hit you?
Speaker 2 (27:14):
This is the part where we had the picture of
Mount Kilimanjaro.
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I think so Unreal 19,000 feet.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I mean, roger is the guy who set out to run a full
marathon before the age of 50and he ran it like the day
before he turned 50.
Um, so just what a remarkableman.
Um, the?
And so Mark kind of used thatmountain idea to talk about the
(27:43):
spiritual mountaintops that welead others to and the
heightened joy and there's nohigher joy than being known by
Jesus.
And you know, I lived it.
I worked alongside the man for anumber of years.
He knew that kids spoke thelanguage of fun and he was going
(28:04):
to speak that language to getthem to hear the gospel and so
to again to lay aside hispreferences or anything like
that, to meet kids where theyare and then lead them to Jesus.
And I was out at the SoaringWings event on Sunday night.
(28:25):
I'm like we're talking.
We're talking 600 kids a yearover the course of that ministry
.
We're talking thousands uponthousands of kids that got
connected to Jesus through thatman's ministry just here at King
and Kings, not to mention thenall of those around the country
and the world through thatscrolling video.
(28:45):
Like it's just unfathomable.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Yeah, I think I think when you find, when you find
your purpose and your passionand this is why I really believe
in our spiritual gifts testwhen you find that, and then you
do that and this is Gallup poll, writing living your strengths
right when you do that and yourealize you're doing what God
(29:12):
wired you to do, there is nogreater joy and it doesn't feel
like work, it doesn't feel likethis was hard, it doesn't mean
you don't have hard seasons butyou just go.
I'm meant for this, I'm wiredfor this, and I think it's an
(29:33):
important piece to remember that, as we look at that, it doesn't
mean that every person's to bea kids minister, it doesn't mean
that every person's to be amarathoner, but, man, when you
are doing that.
But what it does mean is everyperson does have a purpose, and
so when you find that and youare doing that, um, there's no
(29:56):
greater joy in that, becauseyou're living out the way God
wired you, the way he, the wayhe called you, and you know, and
, and I think in our day and age, one of the things I'm always
reminded of is, unfortunately welive in a culture that is so
comparison driven Um, and Idon't, I don't think, I don't
(30:16):
believe that Paul probably had.
I don't believe Paul had thegift of encouragement.
I don't think he was anencourager.
I think he was probably alittle crabby.
He's a little more blunt, alittle more blunt, very
passionate.
But I also don't think helooked and said, gosh, why can't
I encourage like Barnabas?
I don't, I don't.
I don't think he had thecomparison, I don't think he
looked and said, gosh, why can'tI encourage like Barnabas?
I don't think he had thecomparison, I don't think he had
(30:37):
the jealousy, and we have toremember that, that when we're
living our calling, there won'tbe any greater joy and our joy
doesn't have to be everyoneelse's joy and their joy doesn't
have to be our joy.
Climbing a 19er to me would notbe joyful.
I'm a 13er, I can get to 13,000feet and then I'm done.
But you know, like sending meon a mission trip or giving me a
(31:03):
coffee with someone and justbeing able to hear their story,
like I love it, there's nogreater joy for me no greater
joy for me.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
I knew of Roger.
Before I knew Roger, I didministry at another church here
in town for many years and wouldhear stories of Roger Tymer and
half the stories I heard wereunbelievable.
Like what, no, nobody did that.
What he's crazy.
Like had this insane picture ofhim and then when I met him,
and just the joy that radiatesof him.
Like had this insane picture ofhim and then when I met him,
and just the joy that radiatesof him, like it just oozes out
his pores, I was like, oh, now Iget it.
(31:42):
Like no, these are real stories, because that's just what
lights his fire.
Like that's amazing to see.
So as we wrap up today, I havetwo questions for you.
The first one is what's yourfinal takeaway from this message
?
Like, what are you taking withyou?
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Yeah, I think for me it's a reminder that we all have
a calling and so how are weliving out in that calling to
serve?
And then two, I think withRoger, it's a reminder for me of
Paul's words.
Right, a few of them, but thetwo that stick out to me, three
(32:25):
really would be right.
I rejoice always, I rejoicealways, I will say it again I
rejoice for you, and then I'mthankful for you as a minister
and a partner in the gospel.
And then, lastly, because Rogerhas a little competitive spirit
in him right, and I think hereally tried to do this and did
(32:47):
it well to outdo one another inbrotherly love and affection.
And so I always have heroes offaith that I kind of put up as
well, and Roger definitely sitsin that.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, greg, that's where my mind and heart was as
well.
You know, I'm in my early 30sand it's strange to think about
okay, can I make it?
Doing this for the next fourdecades, and so seeing Roger not
(33:21):
just tolerating ministry butthoroughly enjoying his calling,
following where Jesus has takenhim Eugene Peterson talks about
discipleship is like a longobedience in the same direction.
Eugene Peterson talks aboutdiscipleship is like a long
obedience in the same direction,and the power of enduring in
the faith and persisting,persevering Like I'm thinking
(33:43):
about what I'm taking is likeLord.
Thank you for that picture ofRoger and the countless of other
saints and leaders that havegone before that like they've
done it, not never perfectly, ofcourse, but the Spirit's
empowered them and that sameSpirit lives in me.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I can look to them and I can look to Jesus and I
can make it.
I really was spending timethinking about all of the impact
that Roger has that he maynever see.
You know what I mean.
Like, even as he steps out ofministry, there's thousands of
kids that are affected that heis never going to personally
know, and I just try to rememberthat there are people I'm going
to affect in whatever smallthing that I'm doing for the
(34:25):
kingdom that I may never knowabout and to be honored in the
doing and honoring in the doing.
You know to remember that pieceof things, okay, so before we
go, do you have like a like ashort life lesson that Roger has
taught you in your time you'veknown him, is there?
The only thing I can think ofand I've only known him, known
(34:47):
him for a couple of years isjust to spread joy, like I just
feel, like I said, it just oozesout of him and that's what I
think of to continue to spreadjoy.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, I just I had to think of his love for the
scriptures and he is relentlessin pointing to Jesus and whether
that's in all of life orministry, like just keeping the
main thing, the main thingindustry, like just keeping the
(35:15):
main thing.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
The main thing, yeah, I I think um getting to walk
alongside Roger um in both inleadership roles for the last
six years.
What I've really appreciatedabout Roger is um he's the
ultimate team player.
Even if he didn't agree, he waswilling to take the role and
(35:36):
say, great, how can I help?
And that's hard to find, andespecially hard to find in
someone that is a visionary, isinnovative and is a leader, and
he was willing to always do that.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Yeah, thank you guys so much for being here.
Next week we start our newmessage series Game.
On which should be exciting.
No-transcript.
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