September 8, 2025 • 52 mins
In this powerful message marking the 20th anniversary of Flipside Church, Pastor Karl delivers a profound and challenging sermon on what it means to live as a "doulos" — a slave of Jesus Christ. Drawing from the biblical concept of servitude, he unpacks the seven core values that define the church’s mission and guide its members as they seek to turn the world upside down for God’s Kingdom. These values — irrefutable love, irresistible grace, illogical faith, the invisible kingdom, infallible scriptures, irrational generosity, and incessant reproduction — call believers to a radical, obedient life rooted in Christ’s commands. Pastor Karl emphasizes that as slaves of Christ, we surrender our agendas to adopt His values, living with unwavering love, grace, and faith to expand His eternal Kingdom. Join us as we reflect on two decades of God’s faithfulness and prepare to celebrate Flipside Church’s 20-year legacy next Sunday.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's good to see you this morning.
I'm glad you're here.
I want to just add a footnoteto the announcements
regarding the seven Primal Questionsresource.
That is a phenomenal resource.
If any of you have a relationshipin your life
you care about.
(00:22):
The truth is that
every one of us has a primal question.
A core questionthat we need to get answered
with a yes from thosethat are supposed to love us the most.
And when we don't get a yes from them,
it sends us into a tailspin,
(00:43):
and we try to get a yes from somebody.
If we know what our primal question isand the ones that love us best
know what it is, then we can answer eachother's question with a yes.
And it's really, really good and healthy.
If we don't know what that is
and they don't know what ours is,
(01:05):
and they never answer it with a yes,
it gets very destructive.
And so if you have a relationship
with someone you care about,which I hope is all of us,
that resource will be very beneficial,
especially for married couples, especially
(01:28):
so that you can start answering eachother's question with a resounding yes!
So I invite you to pleasetake advantage of that.
I can't say enough good things about it.
Today we just,
in the conclusion of our Ruth series,
I want to dive in today
(01:49):
with,
what our values are
the values of our church
as we look forward to next Sunday
celebrating 20 years of what God has done.
I want to make surethat you come back next
Sunday for that celebration together.
But in setting that up,
(02:09):
I want us to look together at our values.
Before I get to that message,
I want to share with yousomething that will set up this message
from my journal that I just wrote.
It came to me last night,
and I want to share with you
my journal.
(02:31):
The focus of this is on the word do loss.
It's a Greek word d o ul s is how we would spell it in English.
Do loss.
And that word literally means slave.
I am the do loss of Jesus.
That's how the Bible talks aboutJesus followers as they do loss.
(02:55):
Literally, I am the slave of Christ.
I am not my own.
I am not allowed my own agenda.
I serve a master who owns my life
with unquestionedobedience and allegiance.
He is the master.
(03:15):
I am his slave
everywhere in
the New Testamentwhere it translates do loss.
It uses the word servant,but the word is literally slave.
In the 1500s, translatorschained slave to servant
because they thought slave sounded tooharsh.
A servant implies serves a boss,
(03:39):
but that implies one can be lazyor neglectful without great consequence.
To serve implies it is optional.
Slaves, on the other hand,have no recourse
but to only obey.
If I understand slave master relationship,
everything in the Bible makes sense.
(04:02):
Slaves are usedat the discretion of their master.
Slaves rely upon the grace of their masterfor anything good in their life.
Slaves are disciplined by their masterfor disobedience.
Slaves aren't allowed to liveby their own agendas or rules.
Slaves are protected by their master.
(04:23):
Slavescan only be the slave of one master.
Every provision and the life of a slavecomes from their master.
But also
my master no longer
calls me only his slave,but also his friend.
(04:44):
To be the friend of my master
means my master is not abusive towards me.
And though a slave, I'm adopted
and a co-chair with my master.
So all the rightsof the Kingdom of my master are mine.
What a blessing to be the slave of Jesus.
(05:06):
My lifeis the life of a slave to my master,
on whom I rely on his grace, provision,
goodness, kindness, mercy, and to whom
I owe my full, unquestioned allegiancewithout debate.
This slave's agenda
and dreams are not fulfilled by my master.
(05:29):
This this slave fulfillsthe master's commands.
It is his kingdom.
This slave serves.
He does not serve this slave's kingdom
as the slave of Jesus.
My values must only be what he values.
(05:50):
My prayer was this Jesus, I am your slave,
father.
I am your slave.
I trust you as my master.
Everywhere in the Bible,
the New Testament,when Scripture talks about the servant
or the bond servant, which is a madeup word in English, it's not in a Greek.
(06:12):
The literal word is slave.
And what we are commanded into
is a master slave relationship,
where Jesus is the master.
We are his slave.
Translators have done a disservice
(06:34):
to the kingdom of God and to our churches.
When they made that translation.
Because when we talk about serving Jesus,
it's almost asif we do him a service by our service,
and we may serve sometimesand not other times,
(06:54):
and we may serve well or not well,and we may choose to do this or that
as a servant.
But as a slave.
We have no option.
There's no debate here.
The commands of the mastermust be followed.
(07:17):
And that's biblical.
So here's my fear this morning.
I'm going to teach and preach
a very deepand theological biblical message
that will feel likeit will fly in the face
(07:39):
of Christianity, of the Bibleand of the church.
And it will feel very harsh,
and it will feel like it'sleaving a lot of things out.
And the danger that I facein preaching this message today
is that I will preach some of youout of this church.
(08:03):
I hope I don't.
But I want us to understand
what it is to be called Christian,
and what God'sexpectation of his church is
of us,
(08:23):
not as servant, not as follower,
but biblically as slave.
To understand, understand.
As a slave to
(08:43):
I am not allowed my own values
as a slave.
I must adhere to and accept
and perpetuate the values of my master.
Every one of us lives by a set of values.
Most of us have not given much thoughtto what
(09:07):
those values are, and most of us
have never given much attentionnor stated them clearly for our lives.
And most of us don't evaluate our life
currently by our values.
More of us go through lifesimply responding to
(09:27):
stimuli upon our life.
Values are very easy to identify,
even if you've never stated them,and if you have stated them is.
They're very easy to identify.
If we live by them, all one must do is
look at where we spend our timeand how we spend our money,
(09:50):
where we spend our timeand how we spend our money will
clearly expose what we value.
We can say what we value,
but unless we evaluate our time,our energy,
and our finances based on what we saywe value,
(10:12):
we will never really know if what we saywe value are really values.
Perhaps many of us have goals in life,
but unless those goals are based
on very specific chosen values,
at best those goals are selfish
(10:33):
or haphazard.
And so I want to be very clear.
The values of this church are,and by extension,
with the values of the slaves of
Jesus are to be.
Our church flipside
(10:54):
comes from a passage in acts
chapter 17, verse six, which says this.
Go to their.
When they could not,
the Jewish leaderscould not find the disciples.
They dragged Jasonand some of the brothers before the city
(11:14):
authority, shouting,these men who have turned
the world upside down have come here also.
They have lived.
The flip side,
our goal as a church, as slaves of Jesus,
(11:35):
is to live the flip side
and turn the world upside down.
Values are important
because values set agendas, values drive
goals, valuesdetermined strategy and values.
(11:56):
Direct spending.
This is as true for the churchas it is for the individual.
It's as true for the individualas it is the church.
And so todayI want to be very clear with the values.
The flip side
and the values of slaves of Christ.
(12:22):
This will be challenging.
I pray it's convicting.
And I pray that the Holy Spirit
does in his slaves
what the master desires of his slaves.
(12:43):
Are you ready?
These values are on these shirts.
I want us to understand themand live them.
That's why we made of availableand a welcome center for you to pick up.
You can buy your own shirt.
This is important.
(13:04):
The first value.
Irrefutable love.
Love that cannot be refuted.
It is so clearand so apparent it cannot be refuted.
Romans five eight For God
shows his love for us in this,
that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
(13:26):
When we had nothing to offer God,
we could add no value to God,nor God's existence.
There is nothing in us
that makes God's world better.
Jesus died for us
while still in rebellion to him,
(13:47):
in disobedience to him.
He died for us.
The Bible says,rarely will one man die for a good man,
but never will one die for a bad man.
Jesus died for us.
Irrefutable love asks
(14:07):
nothing of us on the front end.
Just simply said,I'm willing to die for you.
As an
expression of the father's love,
it is irrefutable.
And therefore Jesus then says, by this
all people will knowthat you are my disciples.
If you want to
(14:29):
have love for one another.
The first value is irrefutable love.
Love is not optional.
Love is evidence.
Love is not a theory.
Love is a testimony.
(14:50):
See, the world can argue with theology.
The world cannot argue with Jesus.
Is love.
It's the story of the Good Samaritan.
In Luke chapter ten.
When a man was left
beaten for dead on the side of the road.
(15:13):
And it's the storyof how love crossed the road
when religion walked past
irrefutable love.
See, we have to understand something.
That love isthe proof. Love is not the perk.
That we choose to love.
Those who have wronged us.
(15:35):
We choose to love. Those who may hate us.
We choose to show love to those who havedone us wrong, who have done us dirty,
who have abandoned us, who have leftus, who have talked ill about us.
We choose to show love.
Because by that
(15:56):
all men will know
that we are the slaves of Christ.
It is how we've been loved.
It is how we love.
And so, as the slave of Jesus,
that person, those people in your life
that are hard to love.
(16:18):
Who have done you wrong?
Who've left you and abandoned you.
Who should have loved you and denied you.
Those who hurt your family.
The slave of Christ has no option.
But to love irrefutably.
(16:43):
See, the follower
of Jesus, the servant of Jesus can say,you know I'm I.
I follow him as well.
Like, not very well with that regard.
The slave has no excuse and no option.
Do you understand? Yes.
(17:09):
You okay?
Yes. Okay. Good.
Because we got six more.
Irrefutable love
and the irresistible grace.
Irresistible grace.
(17:32):
Ephesians two eight says, for by what
grace you've been savedthrough faith in this not of your own
doing, is the gift of God.
Irresistible grace.
Grace is so beautiful that when you see it
and experience it, it is irresistible.
(17:53):
See, one of the things we have to realizethat Christians, in other words,
slaves, are most attractivewhen grace is most apparent.
The slave liveswith irrefutable love to those
who don't seem as though they deserve it.
And the slave of Jesus gives gracethat becomes irresistible
(18:17):
to those who don't deserve our grace.
Grace
is not just for the gracedoesn't just forgive.
Grace attracts.
And in Romans two, for
we read.
Or do you presume on the riches of hiskindness and forbearance and patience,
(18:39):
not knowing that God's kindnessis meant to lead you to repentance?
God's grace,his kindness is intended to draw us to him
because it is so irresistible.
See, grace is the magnet
that pulls hearts to Jesus.
This slave
(19:00):
was drawn to my masterbecause of his grace.
And others are to be drawn to my master
because of the gracethey see in this slave.
I will not ask
for a show of hands,but do you have someone in your life
(19:22):
that doesn't deserve your favor?
That doesn't deserve your blessing?
That doesn't deserve your graciousness?
The slave
gives grace to them that is irresistible
(19:45):
to draw them to their master.
It's not optional.
It's not a suggestion.
It's not an invitation.
It's the command of the master
to the master's slave.
(20:06):
To give irresistible grace
to those in our lives
that don't deserve it. Why?
Because that's what we've been given.
By the master.
To follow for.
(20:30):
See, people who were nothing
like Jesus liked Jesusbecause he radiated grace.
And he preached truth.
Both things together.
It's reflected in the womancaught in adultery.
In John chapter eight,
(20:50):
when the religious leaders were brought,this woman caught in
the act of adultery was stonesin their hands,
ready to stone her to death,as the law prescribed.
And those stones in the handhad dropped to the ground
at the feet of Jesus,because Grace stepped in.
Did she deserve grace? No.
(21:12):
Did she receive grace? Yes.
And so, for that person in your world
that doesn't deserve grace.
The slave responds to the master
and says, yes, master.
I will give grace
(21:32):
because you first gave it to me.
You okay?
Yes. Yeah. Good.
Because we have five more.
And as slaves
these are not negotiable.
(21:58):
Strict and unquestioned obedience.
We value irrefutable love.
Irresistible grace and illogical faith.
Faith.
That doesn't make sense.
(22:19):
Because that's what faith is.
Hebrews 11 six.
And without what?
Faith?
It's impossible to make God smile.
It's impossible to please him.
For whoever would draw near to Godmust believe that he exists,
and that he rewards those who seek him.
(22:41):
Faith doesn't always make sense,
but it does always make history.
Noah by faith
built a boat in the desert.
By faith built a boatthat took him 120 years to build by faith.
Built a boat
in an area that had no large body of water
(23:03):
for 210 miles.
Faith, illogical faith
made Abraham leave his land,his family, his possessions,
and go to a place he knew not where
illogical faith made Abraham walk
by faith, not by sight.
(23:27):
It was the illogical faith of Peter
who was safe in a boat in a storm.
Get out of a boat onto the water.
It's illogical.
Faith.
That is the faith of the slave.
(23:52):
It's the illogical faith of David
that ran towards the giant.
A child unarmed, with no battle armor
on the front lines of a warzonerunning towards the army.
The army? The enemy.
It was the illogical faith
(24:13):
that made the giant fall.
See, faith oftentimes looks crazy
until the master comes through.
And slaves
don't get to know the map ahead of time.
Slaves aren't allowed to knowthe direction ahead of time.
(24:34):
Slaves are not giventhe guarantee of success ahead of time.
A slave simply says, master,where would you have me?
What would you have me do?
And then the slave obeys.
Right, right, right.
(24:58):
And what?
We've been sold in the church
is. Father, tell me where to go.
And as your servant, I will serve you.
That's not the life of a slave.
The slave says you don't have to tell mewhere to end up.
(25:21):
At your command.
I will move.
No direction,
no guarantee. Why?
Because the slave is usedat the discretion of his master.
Of her master.
(25:42):
And so the slave walks
by illogical faith.
Understandingthat the master doesn't owe the slave
any explanation, nor guarantee.
And so,
(26:03):
dear slaves of Christ.
Take a bold step
that scares you, but honors your master.
For you have no other responsibility
as a slave than that.
(26:23):
Irrefutable love.
Irresistible grace.
Illogical faith.
Oh, dear.
Slave! Are you okay?
Yes. Good.
Because we have four more.
(26:46):
We value the invisible kingdom.
We don't just believein an invisible kingdom.
We value the invisible kingdom.
And I want to spend some time herebecause we have to understand
that we don't wrestleagainst flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,against the authorities,
against the cosmic powersover this present darkness,
(27:09):
against the spiritual forces of evilin the heavenly places.
There is an invisible kingdom that is morereal than this world, in which we see.
And it is more active
and more powerful than anything
you and I see with our natural eyes.
(27:30):
Jesus said, I will build my church,
and the gates of hellshall not prevail against it.
There is an invisible kingdom.
And we are a part of it.
And right now
(27:51):
there is kingdom or heavenly
beings at play.
When you look not to
the things that are seen,but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen aretransient, but the things that are unseen.
(28:12):
The kingdom,
its eternal.
It's this kingdom
that is ruled by the master of whom we are
his slaves.
And we value his kingdom over ours.
(28:35):
For Jesus said, seek first that kingdom,
the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these other things
take care of themselves
as slaves of Jesus,
not as servants, not as followers.
The biblical word is slaveas slaves of Jesus.
(28:57):
The kingdom of God is not a flag we wave.
It is the reality we live.
This kingdom, the kingdom of my master.
Though you can't always see his kingdom,
you cannot deny its power.
(29:19):
In Mark chapter four,
when Jesus was in a boatwith his disciples
sleeping,
the storm raged.
The disciples were afraid.
They wokeJesus and Jesus commanded the storm.
The waves and the wind be quietand be still.
And nature obeyedthe command of its creator.
(29:43):
And the response of the discipleswas that they were afraid.
And they asked,who is this, that even the wind
and the waves obey him,because they realized that this master
was the master of the invisible kingdom.
And they were faced with the realityof the invisible
(30:04):
kingdombreaking through into their reality.
And they realized
that the unseen world,
the invisible kingdom,
is more real than the seen one.
And you and I,as slaves of the master, serve as slaves.
(30:25):
The master who rules over the invisible
kingdom.
As I was driving
to our football gamein Dos Palos on Friday afternoon,
I was going throughsome of this in my mind,
(30:48):
and God spoke to me this,and I spoke it into my phone.
And I want to read to you
what God downloaded to me
about this life and the invisible kingdom.
Life right now
was never intended to be my best life.
(31:09):
Now the older I get, the more I realize,
the greater accumulationof disappointments that I've experienced.
My best life is not this life.
My best life is the life to come.
My best life is in the Turtle Kingdom,not this temporal kingdom.
(31:31):
It's okay when things don't gowell in this life.
I don't expect them to.
Because I don't expect this lifeto be my best life.
I have hope for eternityand that eternity will be my best life
because of what Jesus did on the cross.
I understand that I am totally depraved,
(31:51):
sinful, even in my best religious work.
I am utterly sinful and unableto affect my own salvation.
It is only by the atoning workof Jesus on the cross
that my best life is to come.
It has nothing to do with my work here.
It has everythingto do with the work of Jesus.
(32:14):
And so I can go
through my worst life here,because I know that
my best life is secured and coming
as good as things might be here.
This is my worst life.
As bad as things might be here.
This is my worst life.
My best life is to come.
(32:35):
And that is the hope of salvation.
That is the joy of salvation.
That is the eternal kingdomthat I already belong to.
Paul's prayeris that the eyes of our heart
would be enlightened,
that we know the hope to which we havebeen called, the glorious inheritance
that is ours, and the power that raisedJesus from the dead.
In other words, my hope is that my bestlife is yet to come.
(33:00):
My hope is not in a better life now.
My hope is in the Kingdom.
Amen.
That is what
a slave values.
(33:27):
Okay.
Yes. Good.
Because we have three more.
We value the infallible scriptures.
The word of God.
(33:48):
Isaiah 40, verse eight.
The grass withers, the flower fades.
But the word of our God
stands forever.
It is true.
It's infallible.
And it remains.
Proverbs 30, verse five and six.
(34:09):
Every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to thosewho take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words, lesthe rebuke you,
and you be found a liar.
His word is infallible and true.
We value his words over our words.
(34:31):
We value his words over our opinion.
Second Timothy 316.
All Scripture is breathed outby God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction,and for training in righteousness,
that the man, that the woman of God maybe completely quit for every good work.
The Word of God is the breathof God breathes it into us
(34:56):
through His Word.
Opinions shift, culture drifts.
The God's Word remains forever.
It doesn't change.
It never has, and it never will.
(35:17):
And those who change it
stand condemned.
It's Jesus in the wilderness.
And Matthew chapter four.
When the devil came and tempted him,and by the way,
tempting him with every desirethat a human would want.
And Jesus, the book of Philippians
says that he came as a slave.
(35:40):
Same word.
And as a slave
tempted with his own, a human's agenda
responded not with his feelings,but responded with Scripture.
Because it is the truth.
It's unchanging.
(36:00):
It is infallible.
God's word never expires.
It empowers.
And we have to understand what Romans
1017 says that faith comes by what?
Hearing and hearing what?
The Word of Christ.
Our faith grows
(36:22):
by hearing the commands of the master
and by obeying as a slave those commands.
How can a slavedo what the master commands?
If the slave doesn't knowwhat the master has commanded?
That's a derelict slave.
That's a disobedient slave.
(36:44):
How does a slave knowwhat the master has commanded?
By knowing the master's words.
Do you understand
this, dear slave?
It's the slaves job
and responsibilitiesto listen to and obey and learn
(37:07):
what the master's words are.
So that the slave can obey.
That's how faith is grown.
That enables the slave
(37:28):
to live with irrational faith.
That's why we tell you all the time.
Read your Bible and journal.
Oh, slave.
Read the words of your master
and journal what the master commands you.
(37:57):
Are you okay?
Good.
Because we have two more.
We value irrational generosity.
How does the slave valueirrational generosity?
(38:18):
Because the slave knows the slave ownsnothing.
Whatever the slave hasis given them by the master.
So the master has discretion overwhat the slave possesses.
Because what the slave possessesis not the slaves possession.
And so when the master says,oh, dear slave,
this is what I want you to dowith my possessions.
(38:41):
The only response of the slave is to obey,
because the possessions of the slaveare not the slaves.
The possessions of the slave thatthe slave is enjoying are the masters.
See, this is different than the servant
or the follower,because one can say, as a servant,
(39:02):
well, I serve the masterthis way, but not that way.
And I'm doing well following in this area.
Not as well of that area.
But that's okay, because of these thingscalled mercy and grace.
But once you put it in the contextthat the Bible talks about it
as slave and master.
(39:24):
Now I understand
that these things I enjoyare not my possession.
They're not the possession of the slave.
They're the possession of the master.
And the master has complete authorityand discretion over the master's
possessions, and complete authorityand discretion over the slave.
And how the slave managesthe master's possessions.
(39:45):
And my only response to my masteris to be either,
irrationally generous with the master's
possessions or.
Do you understand?
If all I see myself is as a servant
or a follower, that means I can serveGod with my possessions
(40:08):
and I can follow God with my possessions.
That's erroneous.
If I understandbiblically that I am a slave now,
I no longer have discretion overwhat I would have otherwise
called my possessionsbecause as a slave, they're not mine.
(40:32):
And that's why this makes sense.
Give.
Because it's not yours anyway.
And when you give,it will be given to you.
Because I know I can trust you.
Good measure.
Pressed down, shaken together. Runningover.
Will be put into your lap by your master.
So I can direct. Why?
(40:53):
Where my stuff goes.
For with the measure you use,it will be measured back to you,
says the master.
So generosity doesn't add up.
It multiplies the kingdom.
This little boy.
I don't know if you heard the story.
(41:13):
He had five loaves and two fish.
And he gave it.
And it didn't make sense,
but it fed thousands
because it was the masters.
See, here's what the truth is.
Generosity breakscalculators and multiplies the kingdom.
(41:38):
And slaves live with open hands
because it's not their own.
And so the slave learns to give
until it feels sacrificial, not safe.
Because though the master is a goodmaster.
It's not always
(41:59):
feels like safe.
You're okay.
Is good
because we have one more.
Incessant reproduction.
The slave incessantly reproduces
(42:22):
the master's kingdom.
The slave incessantly reproduces.
Matthew 2819.
Go. Therefore,
all you slaves,
and make disciples of all nations,
(42:45):
baptizing them,
teaching them.
To be my slaves.
I've commanded you.
Do thisbecause I, your master, am with you
to the very end of the age.
(43:07):
A healthy tree reproduces
healthy fruit, and again,healthy disciples reproduce.
Healthy disciples.
Healthy churches reproduce
healthy churches.
We are committed to incessantreproduction.
Of slaves of Christ
(43:29):
and God's Church.
Expanding his kingdom, not our own.
Because reproduction isn't a strategy,
it's God's purpose for his kingdom
and for his slaves.
See, the truth is that disciplesdon't just grow,
they go.
(43:53):
And so we willand have always been, and will continue
to be incessantly focusedon reproducing the kingdom of God.
Because after all, all we are,all I am is a slave of Christ, to be used
at his discretion,to use his resources to build his Kingdom,
not our own.
(44:17):
That is why,
dear friends,we invest so heavily in church planting.
Just since 2016,
we have been the major contributor,worker,
funder or trainer of over 500 churches
around the world.
(44:40):
Even more since we started in 2005.
That's just the number since 2016.
In the last ten years.
Why? Becausewe value the invisible kingdom.
We live with irrational generosity.
We live by illogical faith,
and we are incessantly obsessedwith reproducing the kingdom of God.
(45:01):
Because after all, we are his slaves.
Let me just tell you this.
As his slave, we have the opportunity
to go to Ukraine
and start 200 churches.
Right now.
(45:22):
And so on September 24ththrough October 7th,
I will fly into Poland
and take a train into Ukraine.
And we will do what we do in doingchurch planting
training for multiple, multiple pastors
(45:42):
so we can start another 200 churcheswithin a year in Ukraine.
What it is exploding in Ukraine.
And the reason exploding in Ukraine
is because when people draw nearto their own mortality,
they start to askspiritual, eternal questions.
(46:03):
And in Ukraine,
people are very near their own mortality.
We have the opportunity
to start in Ukraine, a churchplanting movement.
And so as I go to Ukraine,
I'll be all aroundthat country, and I will go to the border
of Ukraine and Russia on the front linesand preach in churches
(46:26):
there and lead church planting work there.
And we will start planting Kingdom
churchesfor the expansion of the Kingdom of God,
the invisible kingdom,because we live with irrational faith.
And the master has told this slave
that he wants this slave to go to Ukraine,
(46:48):
to the front line, to do kingdom work.
And so this slave will obey him.
And you, as the slaves of Christ,
will join me in that in prayerthat the kingdom advances
by any means themaster chooses to advance it
(47:10):
at the complete discretion of the master.
And we together, as the slaves of Christ,will pay for it all.
We will pay for the opportunity
to go to the frontlines.
Do you understand?
Understand?
Because we are no more
(47:32):
than slaves of Christ.
We don't get to have an opinion
about what the master's desire is.
We don't get to have an opinion
about how the master chooses
to use his slaves for his purposes.
(47:56):
We simply have the responsibility to obey.
And so,
living a value driven life.
We will love people
in ways that love can't be denied.
(48:17):
And we will extend gracethat people can't resist.
And we will walk in faith in a waythat doesn't make sense.
And we will live for the kingdom
that we cannot see, but cannot ignore.
And we
will stand on the word that does not fail.
And we will give in waysthat make calculators cry.
(48:41):
And we will reproduce disciplesin churches
until the world is reachedand flipped upside down.
Because we are the slaves of Christ.
Your values determine your destiny.
(49:02):
Change your values.
You change your future.
And so, dear friends,
don't don't just admire these values.
Adopt them.
And don't just agree with them.
Apply them.
This is what slaves of Christ do.
(49:26):
Do you understand?
Yeah.
You okay?
Yeah.
That's.
What?
Make sure you come back next week.
Because we're going to.
We're going to celebrate
(49:49):
what God has done through his slaves
over the last 20 years.
Together.
He's a good master.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we will say yes.
(50:12):
Father.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You are a good master.
And we are your slaves.
(50:36):
Friends,
I want to invite you in this moment.
To adhere to the command of the master.
That says you are my slave.
And I want to encourage you
(50:56):
in a simple act of faith
that will cost you your life
and cost you your goals,
and cost you your hopesand cost you your agendas.
And it will all be worth it
to in this moment.
Say, Jesus, I am your slave.
(51:18):
Father, I am your slave.
You are my Lord,
and I am your slave.
You are my Lord.
And I am your slave.
Do with me here
(51:39):
what you will here.
My life.
And all that you've given me.
Is at your discretion.
For your kingdom sake. Your
direct.
This slave.
(52:03):
Father, I thank you that you love us.
I thank you for your mercy.
Your Grace.I think if that we can trust you
as our master. You.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
This battle that we're inis not against flesh and blood,
(52:25):
but against rulers and authoritiesof powers in the unseen world
over which you've already gainedthe victory.
It's your battle.
Yes. We're your slaves.
Have your way.
Amen.
It's good to see you this morning.
I'm glad you're here.
I want to just add a footnoteto the announcements
regarding the seven Primal Questionsresource.
That is a phenomenal resource.
If any of you have a relationshipin your life
you care about.
(00:22):
The truth is that
every one of us has a primal question.
A core questionthat we need to get answered
with a yes from thosethat are supposed to love us the most.
And when we don't get a yes from them,
it sends us into a tailspin,
(00:43):
and we try to get a yes from somebody.
If we know what our primal question isand the ones that love us best
know what it is, then we can answer eachother's question with a yes.
And it's really, really good and healthy.
If we don't know what that is
and they don't know what ours is,
(01:05):
and they never answer it with a yes,
it gets very destructive.
And so if you have a relationship
with someone you care about,which I hope is all of us,
that resource will be very beneficial,
especially for married couples, especially
(01:28):
so that you can start answering eachother's question with a resounding yes!
So I invite you to pleasetake advantage of that.
I can't say enough good things about it.
Today we just,
in the conclusion of our Ruth series,
I want to dive in today
(01:49):
with,
what our values are
the values of our church
as we look forward to next Sunday
celebrating 20 years of what God has done.
I want to make surethat you come back next
Sunday for that celebration together.
But in setting that up,
(02:09):
I want us to look together at our values.
Before I get to that message,
I want to share with yousomething that will set up this message
from my journal that I just wrote.
It came to me last night,
and I want to share with you
my journal.
(02:31):
The focus of this is on the word do loss.
It's a Greek word d o ul s is how we would spell it in English.
Do loss.
And that word literally means slave.
I am the do loss of Jesus.
That's how the Bible talks aboutJesus followers as they do loss.
(02:55):
Literally, I am the slave of Christ.
I am not my own.
I am not allowed my own agenda.
I serve a master who owns my life
with unquestionedobedience and allegiance.
He is the master.
(03:15):
I am his slave
everywhere in
the New Testamentwhere it translates do loss.
It uses the word servant,but the word is literally slave.
In the 1500s, translatorschained slave to servant
because they thought slave sounded tooharsh.
A servant implies serves a boss,
(03:39):
but that implies one can be lazyor neglectful without great consequence.
To serve implies it is optional.
Slaves, on the other hand,have no recourse
but to only obey.
If I understand slave master relationship,
everything in the Bible makes sense.
(04:02):
Slaves are usedat the discretion of their master.
Slaves rely upon the grace of their masterfor anything good in their life.
Slaves are disciplined by their masterfor disobedience.
Slaves aren't allowed to liveby their own agendas or rules.
Slaves are protected by their master.
(04:23):
Slavescan only be the slave of one master.
Every provision and the life of a slavecomes from their master.
But also
my master no longer
calls me only his slave,but also his friend.
(04:44):
To be the friend of my master
means my master is not abusive towards me.
And though a slave, I'm adopted
and a co-chair with my master.
So all the rightsof the Kingdom of my master are mine.
What a blessing to be the slave of Jesus.
(05:06):
My lifeis the life of a slave to my master,
on whom I rely on his grace, provision,
goodness, kindness, mercy, and to whom
I owe my full, unquestioned allegiancewithout debate.
This slave's agenda
and dreams are not fulfilled by my master.
(05:29):
This this slave fulfillsthe master's commands.
It is his kingdom.
This slave serves.
He does not serve this slave's kingdom
as the slave of Jesus.
My values must only be what he values.
(05:50):
My prayer was this Jesus, I am your slave,
father.
I am your slave.
I trust you as my master.
Everywhere in the Bible,
the New Testament,when Scripture talks about the servant
or the bond servant, which is a madeup word in English, it's not in a Greek.
(06:12):
The literal word is slave.
And what we are commanded into
is a master slave relationship,
where Jesus is the master.
We are his slave.
Translators have done a disservice
(06:34):
to the kingdom of God and to our churches.
When they made that translation.
Because when we talk about serving Jesus,
it's almost asif we do him a service by our service,
and we may serve sometimesand not other times,
(06:54):
and we may serve well or not well,and we may choose to do this or that
as a servant.
But as a slave.
We have no option.
There's no debate here.
The commands of the mastermust be followed.
(07:17):
And that's biblical.
So here's my fear this morning.
I'm going to teach and preach
a very deepand theological biblical message
that will feel likeit will fly in the face
(07:39):
of Christianity, of the Bibleand of the church.
And it will feel very harsh,
and it will feel like it'sleaving a lot of things out.
And the danger that I facein preaching this message today
is that I will preach some of youout of this church.
(08:03):
I hope I don't.
But I want us to understand
what it is to be called Christian,
and what God'sexpectation of his church is
of us,
(08:23):
not as servant, not as follower,
but biblically as slave.
To understand, understand.
As a slave to
(08:43):
I am not allowed my own values
as a slave.
I must adhere to and accept
and perpetuate the values of my master.
Every one of us lives by a set of values.
Most of us have not given much thoughtto what
(09:07):
those values are, and most of us
have never given much attentionnor stated them clearly for our lives.
And most of us don't evaluate our life
currently by our values.
More of us go through lifesimply responding to
(09:27):
stimuli upon our life.
Values are very easy to identify,
even if you've never stated them,and if you have stated them is.
They're very easy to identify.
If we live by them, all one must do is
look at where we spend our timeand how we spend our money,
(09:50):
where we spend our timeand how we spend our money will
clearly expose what we value.
We can say what we value,
but unless we evaluate our time,our energy,
and our finances based on what we saywe value,
(10:12):
we will never really know if what we saywe value are really values.
Perhaps many of us have goals in life,
but unless those goals are based
on very specific chosen values,
at best those goals are selfish
(10:33):
or haphazard.
And so I want to be very clear.
The values of this church are,and by extension,
with the values of the slaves of
Jesus are to be.
Our church flipside
(10:54):
comes from a passage in acts
chapter 17, verse six, which says this.
Go to their.
When they could not,
the Jewish leaderscould not find the disciples.
They dragged Jasonand some of the brothers before the city
(11:14):
authority, shouting,these men who have turned
the world upside down have come here also.
They have lived.
The flip side,
our goal as a church, as slaves of Jesus,
(11:35):
is to live the flip side
and turn the world upside down.
Values are important
because values set agendas, values drive
goals, valuesdetermined strategy and values.
(11:56):
Direct spending.
This is as true for the churchas it is for the individual.
It's as true for the individualas it is the church.
And so todayI want to be very clear with the values.
The flip side
and the values of slaves of Christ.
(12:22):
This will be challenging.
I pray it's convicting.
And I pray that the Holy Spirit
does in his slaves
what the master desires of his slaves.
(12:43):
Are you ready?
These values are on these shirts.
I want us to understand themand live them.
That's why we made of availableand a welcome center for you to pick up.
You can buy your own shirt.
This is important.
(13:04):
The first value.
Irrefutable love.
Love that cannot be refuted.
It is so clearand so apparent it cannot be refuted.
Romans five eight For God
shows his love for us in this,
that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
(13:26):
When we had nothing to offer God,
we could add no value to God,nor God's existence.
There is nothing in us
that makes God's world better.
Jesus died for us
while still in rebellion to him,
(13:47):
in disobedience to him.
He died for us.
The Bible says,rarely will one man die for a good man,
but never will one die for a bad man.
Jesus died for us.
Irrefutable love asks
(14:07):
nothing of us on the front end.
Just simply said,I'm willing to die for you.
As an
expression of the father's love,
it is irrefutable.
And therefore Jesus then says, by this
all people will knowthat you are my disciples.
If you want to
(14:29):
have love for one another.
The first value is irrefutable love.
Love is not optional.
Love is evidence.
Love is not a theory.
Love is a testimony.
(14:50):
See, the world can argue with theology.
The world cannot argue with Jesus.
Is love.
It's the story of the Good Samaritan.
In Luke chapter ten.
When a man was left
beaten for dead on the side of the road.
(15:13):
And it's the storyof how love crossed the road
when religion walked past
irrefutable love.
See, we have to understand something.
That love isthe proof. Love is not the perk.
That we choose to love.
Those who have wronged us.
(15:35):
We choose to love. Those who may hate us.
We choose to show love to those who havedone us wrong, who have done us dirty,
who have abandoned us, who have leftus, who have talked ill about us.
We choose to show love.
Because by that
(15:56):
all men will know
that we are the slaves of Christ.
It is how we've been loved.
It is how we love.
And so, as the slave of Jesus,
that person, those people in your life
that are hard to love.
(16:18):
Who have done you wrong?
Who've left you and abandoned you.
Who should have loved you and denied you.
Those who hurt your family.
The slave of Christ has no option.
But to love irrefutably.
(16:43):
See, the follower
of Jesus, the servant of Jesus can say,you know I'm I.
I follow him as well.
Like, not very well with that regard.
The slave has no excuse and no option.
Do you understand? Yes.
(17:09):
You okay?
Yes. Okay. Good.
Because we got six more.
Irrefutable love
and the irresistible grace.
Irresistible grace.
(17:32):
Ephesians two eight says, for by what
grace you've been savedthrough faith in this not of your own
doing, is the gift of God.
Irresistible grace.
Grace is so beautiful that when you see it
and experience it, it is irresistible.
(17:53):
See, one of the things we have to realizethat Christians, in other words,
slaves, are most attractivewhen grace is most apparent.
The slave liveswith irrefutable love to those
who don't seem as though they deserve it.
And the slave of Jesus gives gracethat becomes irresistible
(18:17):
to those who don't deserve our grace.
Grace
is not just for the gracedoesn't just forgive.
Grace attracts.
And in Romans two, for
we read.
Or do you presume on the riches of hiskindness and forbearance and patience,
(18:39):
not knowing that God's kindnessis meant to lead you to repentance?
God's grace,his kindness is intended to draw us to him
because it is so irresistible.
See, grace is the magnet
that pulls hearts to Jesus.
This slave
(19:00):
was drawn to my masterbecause of his grace.
And others are to be drawn to my master
because of the gracethey see in this slave.
I will not ask
for a show of hands,but do you have someone in your life
(19:22):
that doesn't deserve your favor?
That doesn't deserve your blessing?
That doesn't deserve your graciousness?
The slave
gives grace to them that is irresistible
(19:45):
to draw them to their master.
It's not optional.
It's not a suggestion.
It's not an invitation.
It's the command of the master
to the master's slave.
(20:06):
To give irresistible grace
to those in our lives
that don't deserve it. Why?
Because that's what we've been given.
By the master.
To follow for.
(20:30):
See, people who were nothing
like Jesus liked Jesusbecause he radiated grace.
And he preached truth.
Both things together.
It's reflected in the womancaught in adultery.
In John chapter eight,
(20:50):
when the religious leaders were brought,this woman caught in
the act of adultery was stonesin their hands,
ready to stone her to death,as the law prescribed.
And those stones in the handhad dropped to the ground
at the feet of Jesus,because Grace stepped in.
Did she deserve grace? No.
(21:12):
Did she receive grace? Yes.
And so, for that person in your world
that doesn't deserve grace.
The slave responds to the master
and says, yes, master.
I will give grace
(21:32):
because you first gave it to me.
You okay?
Yes. Yeah. Good.
Because we have five more.
And as slaves
these are not negotiable.
(21:58):
Strict and unquestioned obedience.
We value irrefutable love.
Irresistible grace and illogical faith.
Faith.
That doesn't make sense.
(22:19):
Because that's what faith is.
Hebrews 11 six.
And without what?
Faith?
It's impossible to make God smile.
It's impossible to please him.
For whoever would draw near to Godmust believe that he exists,
and that he rewards those who seek him.
(22:41):
Faith doesn't always make sense,
but it does always make history.
Noah by faith
built a boat in the desert.
By faith built a boatthat took him 120 years to build by faith.
Built a boat
in an area that had no large body of water
(23:03):
for 210 miles.
Faith, illogical faith
made Abraham leave his land,his family, his possessions,
and go to a place he knew not where
illogical faith made Abraham walk
by faith, not by sight.
(23:27):
It was the illogical faith of Peter
who was safe in a boat in a storm.
Get out of a boat onto the water.
It's illogical.
Faith.
That is the faith of the slave.
(23:52):
It's the illogical faith of David
that ran towards the giant.
A child unarmed, with no battle armor
on the front lines of a warzonerunning towards the army.
The army? The enemy.
It was the illogical faith
(24:13):
that made the giant fall.
See, faith oftentimes looks crazy
until the master comes through.
And slaves
don't get to know the map ahead of time.
Slaves aren't allowed to knowthe direction ahead of time.
(24:34):
Slaves are not giventhe guarantee of success ahead of time.
A slave simply says, master,where would you have me?
What would you have me do?
And then the slave obeys.
Right, right, right.
(24:58):
And what?
We've been sold in the church
is. Father, tell me where to go.
And as your servant, I will serve you.
That's not the life of a slave.
The slave says you don't have to tell mewhere to end up.
(25:21):
At your command.
I will move.
No direction,
no guarantee. Why?
Because the slave is usedat the discretion of his master.
Of her master.
(25:42):
And so the slave walks
by illogical faith.
Understandingthat the master doesn't owe the slave
any explanation, nor guarantee.
And so,
(26:03):
dear slaves of Christ.
Take a bold step
that scares you, but honors your master.
For you have no other responsibility
as a slave than that.
(26:23):
Irrefutable love.
Irresistible grace.
Illogical faith.
Oh, dear.
Slave! Are you okay?
Yes. Good.
Because we have four more.
(26:46):
We value the invisible kingdom.
We don't just believein an invisible kingdom.
We value the invisible kingdom.
And I want to spend some time herebecause we have to understand
that we don't wrestleagainst flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,against the authorities,
against the cosmic powersover this present darkness,
(27:09):
against the spiritual forces of evilin the heavenly places.
There is an invisible kingdom that is morereal than this world, in which we see.
And it is more active
and more powerful than anything
you and I see with our natural eyes.
(27:30):
Jesus said, I will build my church,
and the gates of hellshall not prevail against it.
There is an invisible kingdom.
And we are a part of it.
And right now
(27:51):
there is kingdom or heavenly
beings at play.
When you look not to
the things that are seen,but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen aretransient, but the things that are unseen.
(28:12):
The kingdom,
its eternal.
It's this kingdom
that is ruled by the master of whom we are
his slaves.
And we value his kingdom over ours.
(28:35):
For Jesus said, seek first that kingdom,
the kingdom of God and his righteousness,and all these other things
take care of themselves
as slaves of Jesus,
not as servants, not as followers.
The biblical word is slaveas slaves of Jesus.
(28:57):
The kingdom of God is not a flag we wave.
It is the reality we live.
This kingdom, the kingdom of my master.
Though you can't always see his kingdom,
you cannot deny its power.
(29:19):
In Mark chapter four,
when Jesus was in a boatwith his disciples
sleeping,
the storm raged.
The disciples were afraid.
They wokeJesus and Jesus commanded the storm.
The waves and the wind be quietand be still.
And nature obeyedthe command of its creator.
(29:43):
And the response of the discipleswas that they were afraid.
And they asked,who is this, that even the wind
and the waves obey him,because they realized that this master
was the master of the invisible kingdom.
And they were faced with the realityof the invisible
(30:04):
kingdombreaking through into their reality.
And they realized
that the unseen world,
the invisible kingdom,
is more real than the seen one.
And you and I,as slaves of the master, serve as slaves.
(30:25):
The master who rules over the invisible
kingdom.
As I was driving
to our football gamein Dos Palos on Friday afternoon,
I was going throughsome of this in my mind,
(30:48):
and God spoke to me this,and I spoke it into my phone.
And I want to read to you
what God downloaded to me
about this life and the invisible kingdom.
Life right now
was never intended to be my best life.
(31:09):
Now the older I get, the more I realize,
the greater accumulationof disappointments that I've experienced.
My best life is not this life.
My best life is the life to come.
My best life is in the Turtle Kingdom,not this temporal kingdom.
(31:31):
It's okay when things don't gowell in this life.
I don't expect them to.
Because I don't expect this lifeto be my best life.
I have hope for eternityand that eternity will be my best life
because of what Jesus did on the cross.
I understand that I am totally depraved,
(31:51):
sinful, even in my best religious work.
I am utterly sinful and unableto affect my own salvation.
It is only by the atoning workof Jesus on the cross
that my best life is to come.
It has nothing to do with my work here.
It has everythingto do with the work of Jesus.
(32:14):
And so I can go
through my worst life here,because I know that
my best life is secured and coming
as good as things might be here.
This is my worst life.
As bad as things might be here.
This is my worst life.
My best life is to come.
(32:35):
And that is the hope of salvation.
That is the joy of salvation.
That is the eternal kingdomthat I already belong to.
Paul's prayeris that the eyes of our heart
would be enlightened,
that we know the hope to which we havebeen called, the glorious inheritance
that is ours, and the power that raisedJesus from the dead.
In other words, my hope is that my bestlife is yet to come.
(33:00):
My hope is not in a better life now.
My hope is in the Kingdom.
Amen.
That is what
a slave values.
(33:27):
Okay.
Yes. Good.
Because we have three more.
We value the infallible scriptures.
The word of God.
(33:48):
Isaiah 40, verse eight.
The grass withers, the flower fades.
But the word of our God
stands forever.
It is true.
It's infallible.
And it remains.
Proverbs 30, verse five and six.
(34:09):
Every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to thosewho take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words, lesthe rebuke you,
and you be found a liar.
His word is infallible and true.
We value his words over our words.
(34:31):
We value his words over our opinion.
Second Timothy 316.
All Scripture is breathed outby God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction,and for training in righteousness,
that the man, that the woman of God maybe completely quit for every good work.
The Word of God is the breathof God breathes it into us
(34:56):
through His Word.
Opinions shift, culture drifts.
The God's Word remains forever.
It doesn't change.
It never has, and it never will.
(35:17):
And those who change it
stand condemned.
It's Jesus in the wilderness.
And Matthew chapter four.
When the devil came and tempted him,and by the way,
tempting him with every desirethat a human would want.
And Jesus, the book of Philippians
says that he came as a slave.
(35:40):
Same word.
And as a slave
tempted with his own, a human's agenda
responded not with his feelings,but responded with Scripture.
Because it is the truth.
It's unchanging.
(36:00):
It is infallible.
God's word never expires.
It empowers.
And we have to understand what Romans
1017 says that faith comes by what?
Hearing and hearing what?
The Word of Christ.
Our faith grows
(36:22):
by hearing the commands of the master
and by obeying as a slave those commands.
How can a slavedo what the master commands?
If the slave doesn't knowwhat the master has commanded?
That's a derelict slave.
That's a disobedient slave.
(36:44):
How does a slave knowwhat the master has commanded?
By knowing the master's words.
Do you understand
this, dear slave?
It's the slaves job
and responsibilitiesto listen to and obey and learn
(37:07):
what the master's words are.
So that the slave can obey.
That's how faith is grown.
That enables the slave
(37:28):
to live with irrational faith.
That's why we tell you all the time.
Read your Bible and journal.
Oh, slave.
Read the words of your master
and journal what the master commands you.
(37:57):
Are you okay?
Good.
Because we have two more.
We value irrational generosity.
How does the slave valueirrational generosity?
(38:18):
Because the slave knows the slave ownsnothing.
Whatever the slave hasis given them by the master.
So the master has discretion overwhat the slave possesses.
Because what the slave possessesis not the slaves possession.
And so when the master says,oh, dear slave,
this is what I want you to dowith my possessions.
(38:41):
The only response of the slave is to obey,
because the possessions of the slaveare not the slaves.
The possessions of the slave thatthe slave is enjoying are the masters.
See, this is different than the servant
or the follower,because one can say, as a servant,
(39:02):
well, I serve the masterthis way, but not that way.
And I'm doing well following in this area.
Not as well of that area.
But that's okay, because of these thingscalled mercy and grace.
But once you put it in the contextthat the Bible talks about it
as slave and master.
(39:24):
Now I understand
that these things I enjoyare not my possession.
They're not the possession of the slave.
They're the possession of the master.
And the master has complete authorityand discretion over the master's
possessions, and complete authorityand discretion over the slave.
And how the slave managesthe master's possessions.
(39:45):
And my only response to my masteris to be either,
irrationally generous with the master's
possessions or.
Do you understand?
If all I see myself is as a servant
or a follower, that means I can serveGod with my possessions
(40:08):
and I can follow God with my possessions.
That's erroneous.
If I understandbiblically that I am a slave now,
I no longer have discretion overwhat I would have otherwise
called my possessionsbecause as a slave, they're not mine.
(40:32):
And that's why this makes sense.
Give.
Because it's not yours anyway.
And when you give,it will be given to you.
Because I know I can trust you.
Good measure.
Pressed down, shaken together. Runningover.
Will be put into your lap by your master.
So I can direct. Why?
(40:53):
Where my stuff goes.
For with the measure you use,it will be measured back to you,
says the master.
So generosity doesn't add up.
It multiplies the kingdom.
This little boy.
I don't know if you heard the story.
(41:13):
He had five loaves and two fish.
And he gave it.
And it didn't make sense,
but it fed thousands
because it was the masters.
See, here's what the truth is.
Generosity breakscalculators and multiplies the kingdom.
(41:38):
And slaves live with open hands
because it's not their own.
And so the slave learns to give
until it feels sacrificial, not safe.
Because though the master is a goodmaster.
It's not always
(41:59):
feels like safe.
You're okay.
Is good
because we have one more.
Incessant reproduction.
The slave incessantly reproduces
(42:22):
the master's kingdom.
The slave incessantly reproduces.
Matthew 2819.
Go. Therefore,
all you slaves,
and make disciples of all nations,
(42:45):
baptizing them,
teaching them.
To be my slaves.
I've commanded you.
Do thisbecause I, your master, am with you
to the very end of the age.
(43:07):
A healthy tree reproduces
healthy fruit, and again,healthy disciples reproduce.
Healthy disciples.
Healthy churches reproduce
healthy churches.
We are committed to incessantreproduction.
Of slaves of Christ
(43:29):
and God's Church.
Expanding his kingdom, not our own.
Because reproduction isn't a strategy,
it's God's purpose for his kingdom
and for his slaves.
See, the truth is that disciplesdon't just grow,
they go.
(43:53):
And so we willand have always been, and will continue
to be incessantly focusedon reproducing the kingdom of God.
Because after all, all we are,all I am is a slave of Christ, to be used
at his discretion,to use his resources to build his Kingdom,
not our own.
(44:17):
That is why,
dear friends,we invest so heavily in church planting.
Just since 2016,
we have been the major contributor,worker,
funder or trainer of over 500 churches
around the world.
(44:40):
Even more since we started in 2005.
That's just the number since 2016.
In the last ten years.
Why? Becausewe value the invisible kingdom.
We live with irrational generosity.
We live by illogical faith,
and we are incessantly obsessedwith reproducing the kingdom of God.
(45:01):
Because after all, we are his slaves.
Let me just tell you this.
As his slave, we have the opportunity
to go to Ukraine
and start 200 churches.
Right now.
(45:22):
And so on September 24ththrough October 7th,
I will fly into Poland
and take a train into Ukraine.
And we will do what we do in doingchurch planting
training for multiple, multiple pastors
(45:42):
so we can start another 200 churcheswithin a year in Ukraine.
What it is exploding in Ukraine.
And the reason exploding in Ukraine
is because when people draw nearto their own mortality,
they start to askspiritual, eternal questions.
(46:03):
And in Ukraine,
people are very near their own mortality.
We have the opportunity
to start in Ukraine, a churchplanting movement.
And so as I go to Ukraine,
I'll be all aroundthat country, and I will go to the border
of Ukraine and Russia on the front linesand preach in churches
(46:26):
there and lead church planting work there.
And we will start planting Kingdom
churchesfor the expansion of the Kingdom of God,
the invisible kingdom,because we live with irrational faith.
And the master has told this slave
that he wants this slave to go to Ukraine,
(46:48):
to the front line, to do kingdom work.
And so this slave will obey him.
And you, as the slaves of Christ,
will join me in that in prayerthat the kingdom advances
by any means themaster chooses to advance it
(47:10):
at the complete discretion of the master.
And we together, as the slaves of Christ,will pay for it all.
We will pay for the opportunity
to go to the frontlines.
Do you understand?
Understand?
Because we are no more
(47:32):
than slaves of Christ.
We don't get to have an opinion
about what the master's desire is.
We don't get to have an opinion
about how the master chooses
to use his slaves for his purposes.
(47:56):
We simply have the responsibility to obey.
And so,
living a value driven life.
We will love people
in ways that love can't be denied.
(48:17):
And we will extend gracethat people can't resist.
And we will walk in faith in a waythat doesn't make sense.
And we will live for the kingdom
that we cannot see, but cannot ignore.
And we
will stand on the word that does not fail.
And we will give in waysthat make calculators cry.
(48:41):
And we will reproduce disciplesin churches
until the world is reachedand flipped upside down.
Because we are the slaves of Christ.
Your values determine your destiny.
(49:02):
Change your values.
You change your future.
And so, dear friends,
don't don't just admire these values.
Adopt them.
And don't just agree with them.
Apply them.
This is what slaves of Christ do.
(49:26):
Do you understand?
Yeah.
You okay?
Yeah.
That's.
What?
Make sure you come back next week.
Because we're going to.
We're going to celebrate
(49:49):
what God has done through his slaves
over the last 20 years.
Together.
He's a good master.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we will say yes.
(50:12):
Father.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You are a good master.
And we are your slaves.
(50:36):
Friends,
I want to invite you in this moment.
To adhere to the command of the master.
That says you are my slave.
And I want to encourage you
(50:56):
in a simple act of faith
that will cost you your life
and cost you your goals,
and cost you your hopesand cost you your agendas.
And it will all be worth it
to in this moment.
Say, Jesus, I am your slave.
(51:18):
Father, I am your slave.
You are my Lord,
and I am your slave.
You are my Lord.
And I am your slave.
Do with me here
(51:39):
what you will here.
My life.
And all that you've given me.
Is at your discretion.
For your kingdom sake. Your
direct.
This slave.
(52:03):
Father, I thank you that you love us.
I thank you for your mercy.
Your Grace.I think if that we can trust you
as our master. You.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
This battle that we're inis not against flesh and blood,
(52:25):
but against rulers and authoritiesof powers in the unseen world
over which you've already gainedthe victory.
It's your battle.
Yes. We're your slaves.
Have your way.
Amen.
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