October 13, 2025 • 54 mins
In this powerful episode, Pastor Karl shares his transformative experience from a recent church planting trip to the front lines of Ukraine. Fresh from his journey with the Excel Leadership Network, Pastor Karl reflects on the profound tension and transition faced by the Ukrainian people amidst war, emphasizing how these moments create a ripe opportunity for sharing the message of Jesus Christ. With a focus on the cross and the kingdom, he recounts stories of irrefutable love, illogical faith, and the invisible kingdom that drove him to minister in war-torn regions like Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk. From worshipping in bunkers to witnessing the courage of local church planters, Pastor Karl highlights the resilience of those who remain faithful in the face of destruction, reminding us that God is the God of every minute and moment. Join us for an inspiring message about trusting God’s timing, staying faithful in the waiting, and boldly stepping into the moments He ordains, no matter the cost.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Friends, it is good
to be back home with you.
And I need to be honest with you,
I'm struggling a little bit this morning.
Because,
I want to bring you up to speedwith the last two weeks.
But I want to make surethat I tell Jesus's story,
and not my story, if that makes sense.
(00:25):
I want to make sure that we're talkingabout the cross.
The cross and the kingdom.
And not about,
the events in another land.
Only,
and so I've been I've been praying a lotand thinking through a lot.
And I'm gonna do my bestto give you a glimpse
in the last couple of weeks of my timein Ukraine
(00:47):
with God's people.
But to draw our attention not to
the trip, but to the kingdom.
If you're
wondering why I went to Ukraineand the front lines,
we had the opportunityto be invited with the group.
I work with Excel Leadership Network,which is the church
(01:09):
planting movementto plant churches all over the world.
We were invited to go to Ukraineand establish what we've also established
in Guatemala, in Mexico, in Cuba,
in Ukraine.
One of the things I know is that as far asevangelism is concerned, telling
people about Jesus, people are mostreceptive to the message of Christ
(01:33):
when they're under tensionand in transition.
When people are under tension,they're looking for someone
to relieve the tension.
And when people are in transition,
they're looking for someoneto give them stability.
So think about what's going on in Ukraine.
Everybody is under tensionand in transition during war.
(01:55):
And so what I told the people there was,
your country is ripe for revival
because everybody's looking
for something to bring stability,
for some semblance of peace.
And as Christ.
And so we were invited to go to Ukraineand start this
(02:15):
church planning movement in their country.
What I told them was,
I will go lead that as long as I can
also go to the frontlines.
A couple different reasons.
One, because the values of our church,
(02:36):
three of them are this irrefutable love
and what proves love more profoundly
than going into someone else's battle
and saying, I am with you and I love you.
Presence does that more than words.
Do you understand?
Because that's exactlywhat Jesus has done for us.
(02:58):
For Godloved the world so much, he sent his Son
to come to the frontlines of our war.
Irrefutable love.
That's why I had to go to the frontlinesas well, but also
illogical faith in.
We were told when we were there.
Listen, there's been a lot of pastorsfrom huge, huge churches in America
(03:22):
that have come to LaVey,which is right on the border
of Poland on the western side,where there is no conflict.
Basically.
And they come thereand take their pictures
and give their money and then leave
till nobody.
Has come from America
(03:43):
as far as the church is concerned,to the front lines.
They don't do it.
And so what that tells me is illogical.
Faith says yes,
you follow.
But also one of our valuesis the invisible kingdom.
(04:03):
We believe
in thiskingdom that you can't see right now,
and it is of utmost importance.
And demands are all
and any opportunitywe have to expand that kingdom.
We're going to take,
because another one of our valuesis incessant
reproduction.
(04:24):
It's evangelism.
It's church planting. It's what we do.
And any opportunity we have to tell peopleabout Jesus and to plant churches.
We're going to take.
And so I said,I have to go to the front lines.
People need Christ.
And when you get close to your ownmortality, you start asking questions
that you should askbefore you realize you're going to die.
(04:47):
And so I had to go to the front lines
also, because when mydaddy got back from Vietnam,
there was a great struggle.
Any of you who have served in our military
to be in an active war, you understand
that if God blesses youwith living through that,
you wrestle with who you became, in that
(05:08):
oftentimes.
And, well, there in death is redemption.
We're redeemed by Jesus.
Sometimes in life
there's a struggle with restoration.
Can God restore who I've become?
(05:30):
Knowing my own
father's struggle after Vietnam,
in the church,
for people who did not understand,
I was compelled
by the grace of God for my father
to bring that messageto other men and women on the front lines.
(05:50):
Do you understand?
And so well the impetus
was to plant churches and start a churchplanting movement in Ukraine.
There was alsothe call to the front lines.
And for me, I was not allowed
to separate the two.
And so let me just walk you throughthis is where we were.
(06:12):
This is Ukraine.
Way on the left is Poland.
And we flew into Poland, into Krakow,
and through a series of busses and trains,
we made our way all the way across towhere the green is in Kiev.
That's the capital city of Ukraine.
And if you follow the news at all,you know how much that is
constantly bombed,literally, almost day after day.
(06:35):
That's a capital city.
That's where we that's where wethat's where we finally made it to Kiev.
And then we went from Kiev.
We went down to where the blue ischurch. KC
that's right on this, this, this,
it's the largest river in Ukrainethat flows down into the Black Sea.
And that's where we didour discovery centers for church planters.
It took us 27 hours from when we leftto get all the way up to Turkey.
(06:59):
It was a grueling trip, a grueling tripfrom the United States to there.
From there,
eventually up in the Orange is Ha Keith.
And again, if you follow the news,you hear the word heart Kiev.
That is on the front,both one of the places on frontlines
that is constantly,constantly shelled drones,
(07:20):
guided missiles, all of that
from there down in the purpleis, Kramatorsk.
That's the place where we livedfor three days with the guys
literally on the front linesin their little house,
and they would move outto visit the troops.
So that's kind of where we were inand in the orange in Kharkiv.
(07:45):
That's where I got to preach last Sunday.
And it was and I'll tell you more aboutI'll tell you more about all this stuff,
but I want to give you a pictureof when I say the front lines,
what I'm talking about.
We slept in where the purple is,
we ministered to Donbass.
That is literally on the border of Russia.
That's where we were
(08:07):
a couple kilometersfrom the Russian troops
all along that area on the frontlines,
with guys that knowJesus and guys that don't know Jesus
and were able to do worship with himand pray over them and share communion
with them and witnessto them and minister to them.
(08:30):
And so when we're talking about
this is what we're talking about,we were there,
because that's where the opportunitywas for us
to expand the kingdom of God.
People don't go there.
They told us while we're there, there'sno there's no law,
there's no overriding,
(08:53):
system to say this is allowableand not allowable.
Whatever happens, happens.
And so we need to know your blood type.
I said it's red.
And so I want to introduce you to
some of the people that are there.
(09:15):
And I want you to pay
attention to the names that you'll see
on this piece of paper.
You will see.
Soon yours is.
(09:43):
The two men who live in that house.
And that's right there on the front lineswhere we stayed.
The wall, the exterior walls,about 18in of concrete.
It's really thick.And they try to reinforce it well.
But the two guys who livethere seem as a video game.
And Sasha, I want you to put themon your prayer list with them and Sasha.
They have determined that God has calledthem to the ministry of the front lines.
(10:05):
They've sent their families,their wives and children to, to Germany.
And they've said, God has called usto ministry to the people of the
on the front lines.
And so they see their familyabout once every three months.
And every day they start their daywith scripture reading and worship.
That was the worship music and communion,reminding themselves of the kingdom that
(10:29):
they serve, the God that they serve,and that God has called them to this work.
They ask for his provision,they ask for his safety, and they ask that
through them God would save peoplewho are lost without Christ.
Those names on the papers,
three different lists.
(10:49):
Names of men, women who have been killed
in the war that they had ministered to,
that they remember the names of thosewho are missing in action,
and the names of the current ones thatthey're current currently ministering to,
so they can keep track of themwith their families,
care for them, care for their souls.
(11:11):
And they every daythey just make their way down
the front lines in worship,
in foxholes, in bunkers,
making sure that the guys know Godhasn't forgotten about you.
He knows you and he sees you.
He loves you, and we're here for you.
Amazing people,
(11:32):
amazing people.
Every community has this.
These are memorials in every community.
Every flag represents
someone who's been killed from thatcommunity during this war.
Every flag
(11:52):
represents a life.
I've shared some of these on social mediawhile I was there.
To give you a picture,
but I want you to understand how
pervasive and what they're living under.
These little memorials just keep growing.
(12:12):
And it's a stark reminder.
Of life and death and eternity.
And that life is fleeting.
This is the top story
of one of three apartment complexes.
(12:35):
Has has nothing to do with the military.
Completely civilian.
And the results of
Russian drone attacksand guided missile attacks
at the basement of this building,
people ran for safety
and they were smotheredand 50 of them died.
(12:58):
The holethere is where the middle building was.
There were three buildings.
Community after community.
This is this is the reality.
There's more buildings that
are destroyed that are.
Untouched.
(13:19):
And this is what they live with.
A constant reminder that.
Of what their reality is.
What's.
So this is going towards the front line.
That's a drone.
Look on.
They don't have them on all the roads.They have them on some of the roads.
(13:41):
That's it.
Their attemptto prevent one of the smaller drones
from moves out of the groundthrough to the traffic.
This this is somebody
there's some music going offthat some of these are real lights.
It's their phone.
And turn it off.
This is one of the bunkers
where we were withsome of the, guys on the front lines,
(14:03):
and they didn'tlet me go all the way down.
Oh, we went all the way down, butthey didn't let me film all the way down.
Pass or stuff.
But these are this.
There's there's two, four man troops
that rotate two days on and two days off.
And it goes downa couple different layers.
And these guys have watchfor the Russian drones.
(14:28):
Not fill the skies.
And they have their ownsurveillance drones that they'll send out
to kind of keep movement or keep eyeson the on the Russian troop movements.
Again, right on the front lines therewhile we were there,
there was there were a lot of eventsthat were happening
on the outside when we were underground.
(14:48):
And this is what they live with.
And there's a there's a man here,I think I have him.
He's he's he's the tallbald guy, not the short bald guy.
And his name is Sergei.
And he loves the Lord.
And he follows Jesus.
And he's got three guys in his unitwith him who don't know the Lord.
(15:09):
And he is.
They're not just to do his service,but to witness to them,
to help them come to faith.
And in the middle of that,that's the that's
their biggest room in the in the bunker.
It goes down into another room.
Two guys are up top there.
Kind of keep an eye out if there's any,any boots, troops coming at them.
(15:34):
One guy sleeps and one guyis on the computer with the drone.
And that's where they live for two dayson and two days off.
And so we got to be with them.
We got to worship with them.We got to encourage them
for these guys and for some other troopsI was with on a place
called Seven Winds, this, this outlookthat looks over this valley.
And they had their, you know,
(15:56):
military guys there with their weaponslooking for drones coming in and missiles.
And I told them, I said, guys,I want you to understand something
you, as commanders
have under you men who rely on you
and your job is not just to fulfillthe commands
of your commanding officer,but is to secure the life of your men.
(16:21):
And if need be, lay down your lifefor them.
I said, I want you to understand something
that reminds me of another man
who, at the command of his commandingfather,
was given the charge
of watchingafter the lives of those under him
to secure their life, and if need be,give his life for them what he did.
(16:46):
I said, I want you to
understandsomething that you are for your men.
You can be a visible reminder of Christ.
So lead well.
Lead well and serve well.
And help them reframe
what their role is in this.
(17:08):
And that's who he is to these guys.
He's a visible picture.
Of one who came into their conflict,
their war, and gave his life.
And it was really significant.
We were able to go just outsidethat bunker in this big concrete,
room and lead him in prayer and worship
(17:31):
and do communion with them,anointed him with oil.
We prayed over him
all while the explosionsare going around outside.
And it was a beautifulit was a beautiful moment of worship.
It was a beautiful moment of ministry.
And it was a beautiful realization thatGod is the God of minutes and moments,
(17:55):
time and time and time again.
While we were there, it was minutesor moments that separated us
either on just before something happened
or just after something happenedthat God was orchestrating.
All the minutes and the momentsthat we were there, there was never fear.
There was never concernbecause we knew everyone of us.
There knew that God was the God of minutesand moments.
(18:18):
You understand that?
For your minutes and moments, guess what?
God is the God of them all.
Minutes of moments
just before or just after.
(18:46):
Multiple times.
Where you realize, okay, Lord,
you're the God of my minutes,of my moments
and you're orchestrating them all.
So what have I to fear?
Right.
(19:10):
Time and time again.
Had it been a moment earlier
or a moment later?
Things happened.
We got to rescue people.
We got to care for them.
Because we knew Godis the God of minutes of moments.
(19:30):
And he positioned us strategically.
And it was beautiful.
Get to get to be a heart, a part of.
That's.
She doesn't know a world without war.
She's on a living on the frontlines.
And her family had to be extracted.
(19:53):
The day we got her and her family out,
right at the tail end of getting them out,the drones came and decimated
her neighborhood.
And that night,she spent her first night in safety.
And her whole life.
And it was beautiful.
(20:18):
Minutes and moments.
I got to preach in herKyiv on the front lines last Sunday.
And when they
do church service there,they have a basement
(20:38):
so that when the air raid goes offat the church, goes down to the basement,
and they keep worshiping.
And because their country is under tension
and in transition,the message of the gospel
is good news.
(21:00):
And probably about a quarter of the peoplein that church
made a decision for Jesus that morning.
It was it was beautiful.
We shared communion together.
Because when you realize
how close your mortality is,you start asking the eternal questions
and looking for eternal answers.
(21:22):
The guy to the right and the lady,
next to me, in the lady next to me,that's the pastor and his wife.
Years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Very aggressive, fast spreading cancer.
The doctor said there's nothing we can do,
so justtake her home and I'd be comfortable.
And the pastor and his wife prayed,and they said, Lord,
(21:43):
your will be done.
But if you give my wife life,we will stay in this community
and we will proclaim your name and plantchurches.
And miraculously,
suddenly she was healed.
No ramifications.
No, no, no,no proof of cancer at all in her body.
(22:07):
And then the war broke out.
The war has been going on since 2014.
The current invasion has been since 2022.
And so as this invasion is happening,
his wife said, honey,we're on the front lines.
We need to move.
Everybody's leaving.They're going to Germany and Poland.
We need to go.
(22:27):
And he said, sweetie,what did we tell God?
That if he gave you life, we would stay
and we would ministerand we would plant churches.
We're not going anywhere.
You know why?
Because they believe in an invisiblekingdom and they have illogical faith,
(22:52):
just like us.
Their kids left with their grandkids.
And she said, honey.
Not only are we on the front lines,
but now I don't get to see our childrenor our grandchildren.
And he said, sweetie.
(23:14):
We told God.
That if he gave you life, we would stay.
And when we give God our yes,
we cannot take it back.
We'll
get our kids in eternity right nowon this earth.
(23:35):
We're staying.
Sometimes this is how I feel.
Sometimes it's good for donkeys andjackasses to be around thoroughbreds. So
that's what I felt like.
Can you imagine
(23:56):
that level of commitment to the Kingdom?
One of these guys told me,they said, you know, before this war,
before I was here on the frontlines,I would get so worked up.
I want a different car.I want a bigger house.
I want a better job.
I want more, he said.
But now.
(24:19):
Things have been clarified.
And if God gives me one more dayon this planet,
I'll be grateful
and especiallygive me one more person to share
Jesus with.
That's the first group of staff and churchplanters,
(24:40):
that we worked with to plant churchesand excel leadership network.
We follow acts 13.
God calls high level leaders
and sets them apart for church ministryand for planting churches.
And any chance we get to gocall out and train high level
leaders to plant churches,we're going to take it.
And these were some of the first ones
that we got to work with in Ukraineto start a church planting movement,
(25:03):
because they want theircountry to come to faith.
That was the first group.
This is the second group.
During our time while we were there,one of the largest strikes missile,
guided missile and drone strikes on hardKeith
decimated parts of the city,
decimated the place where we werejust 24 hours earlier.
(25:24):
God of minutes a moments.
As I walked into the training room
for all these church planters and pastors,
we had to address what?
Just because it was their family,it was their loved ones.
It was their homesthat had just been destroyed.
And they're here to to serve Godand to honor God and to plant churches.
(25:45):
And we had to like,how do you deal with that?
This is how they dealt with it.
Oh, some guy that
we had been,
he called
us up.
(26:11):
For some
to see.
We woke up early
in the morning to the drones overheadand the explosions around.
We get wordthat what has happened in heart, Keith.
(26:37):
And their first response
was, let's worship God
name above all names
worthy of our praise.
How great.
Oh, how great is our God.
And I'm standing thereand I'm filming this and I'm just crying,
(26:58):
thinking, Lord, why?
Like, why?
Isn't that my first response?
When something bad happens.
What?
You really have to redefine bad.
Sometimes.
Their first response wasGod is a good God.
(27:18):
Worthy is his name.
Though there was great sadness,
there wasn't depression.
Though there was confusion,
there wasn't rage.
There was worship.
(27:43):
That's one of the couples
that I got to work withthat is part of Excel.
Network planting churches,
young families.
They have four kids.
She's pregnant with their fifth.
And every one of them has the opportunityto leave and go to Poland or Germany.
And they said, God's called us here.
We can't leave.
(28:05):
We can't leave.
He saved us from hell.
How can we leave?
They say it would be so disingenuousto say, God, you saved us.
Now I'm going to leave and let othersfend for themselves because I can't.
We have to stay.
(28:25):
And so they are.
There's one young manwho was a couple who was working with us,
and he's right on the front lines,
and there's so committedto the youth of that area.
They don't have buildings to median.They've all been destroyed.
And he will do a little WhatsApp appand say at 3:00 on Tuesday,
we're going to meet in that burned outfield.
(28:46):
Let's just get togetherto talk about Jesus and worship.
Let's
meet at this burned out intersectionon the other side of the road.
And let's just talk about God.
This another couple is going to PlanetChurch.
I think they're 12 or 13 years old.
(29:09):
They had the same conversation.
We're just starting our lives.
Why would we stay in Ukraineon the front lines and plant churches?
And the resounding answeris because Christ gave his life
and this is where he's put us.
He's the God of the minutes,an ominous and will stay.
(29:35):
You think if people could have an excuse
not to go to churchand not to do ministry, it would be them.
There's a group of young people
and a lot of young ladies, incredible
leaders, valiant women, warriors
(29:56):
who are so committedto their God in their faith.
They make things like this.
And the military patches are a big deal.
In the current military.
You get patches for missionsserved and ranks and all kinds of stuff.
And so what they're doingis they're making patches
and they're takingthese to the troops on the frontlines
so they can use these patchesand talk about Jesus.
(30:17):
You understand the symbolism of that,don't you?
John 316, the crown of thorns.
And they'll get these patchesand they'll go into the bunkers
and into the trenches, and they'llthe young ladies talking to these
men and hear,
I want you understandwho Jesus, what he's done for you.
So they'll put it on and remember,
(30:40):
one of the patches on the patches is thisI love this patch.
I put on one of my hats.
The X represents the commands of God
that have been defiled and broke,and that's why it's in black.
It's dark, it's been darkened
because.
And you men and women who have servedin the military, you know this especially.
(31:00):
You've been in war.
Oftentimes there are things
that soldiers do in battle
that cause them to question, who am I?
Who have I become?
How do I reconcile what I've had to
with who I want to be as a human?
(31:22):
It's one of the things my dad struggles
with.
And he comes back
after Vietnam to a churchthat didn't understand
and wouldn't have accepted himhad they known.
Really? No.
You guys have been on where you understandthis.
You women, you understand this.
(31:45):
And you have to wrestle withwhat have I done?
Who have I become, and can I be?
Can I be redeemed?
Can I be restored?
So one of the ministries that theseyoung ladies are doing with these men
who are wrestling with this question, who,if they get to come back to the world.
(32:05):
Are met with all of this.
Yeah.
But you so what they tell themis we've all broken God's law.
Every one of us.
We defiled his commands.
And no matter whatthat looks like for you,
there's a cross that covers it
through the death and resurrection.
Resurrection of Jesus.
(32:27):
There's not just redemption.
There's restoration.
Beautiful, strong
young women who are engaging
in these soldiers on the frontlinesto take them the gospel.
You know why?
Because the people want their countrysaved.
(32:53):
It's incredible.
And they understandGod is a God of minutes and moments.
And so there's this incredible resiliency
and faith and courage
and commitment not to run away,
but to run and engage.
(33:17):
So. Thank you.
Thank you for your prayers.
When I
when I told them that there was a churchback in the United States
that was praying for them24 hours a day, every hour, every day,
(33:39):
he couldn't understand it
because have you ever now,we're not in that type of war situation,
but but I bet we've had those timeswhere something's going on
and we think, God,do you even know I'm here anymore?
Do you even care about
what's going on in my world?
Like, where are you?
If you ever anybody.
(34:01):
That's how they're all feel.
But you understand.
And to have a visible
reminder that there's an invisible
church and kingdom that is interceding
before God on their behalf,
they were absolutely overwhelmed.
And they told me to tell you, thank you,
(34:22):
thank you, thank you, thank you.
Because you arethe ones that stand in the gap with them
and they know they're not alone.
You've been so generous.
I was able to give every church planting
couple $500,which is a year's salary for pastors.
There.
(34:44):
Just say we love you.
And it's not just lip service.
You're such a good church.
And they wanted to make sure I told you.
Thank you for letting your pastor go.
I mean, there's other churchthat might go and take some photo ops
and use it as propaganda.
(35:09):
You partnered with me,and we were there with them
on the frontlines in the bunkersand trenches.
And it's important.
So what's next?
Well, I'm going back to Ukraine.
Because there's churchesthat have to be planted,
and we have to establish this thingso they can run it on themselves.
(35:30):
So we don't have to keep going back.
But in the beginning, we do,
because we believe in an invisible kingdomand incessant reproduction.
That's why we're here.
The Holy
Spirit woke me up on Thursday morning.
And he gave me this.
It's wrong for people who want to be rightsimply to do no wrong
(35:54):
rather than do what's right.
It woke me up in such startlewith those words ringing through my ears.
I had to write it down.
It's wrong for people who wanted to doright, simply not to do wrong
rather than do what's right.
The Almighty said this.
(36:14):
Our greatest fear should not be failure,
but in succeeding at somethingthat doesn't really matter.
We've been given such grace hereand it's beautiful.
It's wonderful.
And I don't want to guilt us into, into,into the enjoyment of grace.
But I want us to realize the gracewe've been given and not waste it.
(36:40):
In succeeding at
stuff that doesn't really matter.
And so I have seven minutes
to preach my message.
A couple of big ideas,
friends, because God is the Godof your minutes and your moments.
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Trust.
Even when it feels like the clock'sticking against you.
Remain patientand stay faithful in the minutes
before the moments come.
And be bold to step into your moment.
When it comes.
If God is the God of your minutesand your moments, be bold
(37:24):
and step into them without fearand without trepidation.
I believe with all my heartyou've heard me say this before.
I hope you're starting to believe mewhen I say it, that as long as you are
on God's mission for your life,you are absolutely invincible.
Until that mission is complete.
(37:44):
Yep. Stan.
God is the God of your minutes.
In your moments,
he works in the tiniest detailand he works in the big,
life altering opportunities.
Whether it's a five second decisionor five year delay,
God is the God of your minutes.
(38:04):
In your moments,you've got nothing to fear.
Trust him.
Be bold and be courageous.
Because God
is the God of minutes and moments,you can trust his precision.
He's a precise God, and God is is the God
of every minute that you think you'vemissed.
He's the God of every moment, every minute
(38:26):
we get so wrapped up of what we thinkwe've missed out on.
God says we just relax.
I'm the God of it all.
The Israelites came to the for the Red seaand they were completely trapped.
The army behind them, the sea before them.They had no way out.
They didn't knowwhat they were going to do.
They think they thought, God,you missed the moment.
You missed the minute.
And God said, I have missed a darn thing.
(38:48):
And what God
said through Moseswas this don't be afraid.
Stand firmand see the salvation of the Lord.
He's going to work out.
Relax.
God is the God of your minutesand your moments.
Stand where you are.
Be firm.
You will see the salvation of the Lord
(39:10):
because God is the God of your minutesand your moments.
God didn't open the sea early.
We want God to work in ahead of timefor us, so it requires no faith to follow.
That's not how God works.
We trust himin the minutes, in the moments.
So we can follow God
before he acts because we know what.
(39:34):
He will act.
So we can follow him before he does thething, because we know he will do with he.
And so we can follow without fear,
without trepidation,with completely unreserved.
Because we know that Joseph at the righttime, he'll step in.
He'll.
(39:54):
Because that's what he does.
You may be waiting on a healing.
You may be waiting on a spouse.
You may be waiting on an opportunity.
Don't confuse silence with absence.
God is timing every minuteand every moment
you can trust him.
(40:18):
And because God is the God
of the minutes of the moment,you can trust the bigger picture.
He's got a bigger picture that he sees,
and we don't trust him in the minutes,in the moments.
One moment with God
can change every moment after.
Don't run away from him.
Don't run out on him.
(40:40):
One moment.
God can change every moment after.This was the story of Esther.
I won't tell you the whole story,but she was she.
She was given this position
in a kingdom for a purpose for a moment.
And what she was told is thisif you don't step into your moment,
(41:00):
God will move just without you.
You'll suffer the consequences of not
stepping into the momentGod has prepared you for.
But who knows, maybe
this moment has come in your lifefor such a time as this.
God is orchestrating your momentsand your minutes.
His perspective is bigger.
(41:21):
One moment with Godcan change every moment after
you understand.
See, we we we,
we want from God something to just be bigand powerful and divine.
But we have to understand thatGod's moments often don't look divine.
(41:45):
They look like hard choices.
They look like risky obedience.
They look like unexpected opportunities.
And in the hard moments
and the risky obedienceand the unexpected opportunities,
you realizethis might be God's moment and.
(42:05):
We gotta realize
every one of usfaces God's minutes and moments
that he's ordained, and those momentsare often disguised as hard decisions.
Dressed in ordinary clothes.
Faithfulness in the momentwithout running away.
Commitment in the moment without.
Tap it out.
You say, God, you are the Godof the minutes, of the moments.
(42:27):
And though this minute and momentlooks horrible right now, I'm
going to trust you in the midst of it,and I'm going to be faithful,
and I'm not going anywhere.
Sometimes
the greatest test of faith is in doingthings is just in waiting.
(42:51):
And it was so good for me to be in Ukrainewith those people,
because they're just waiting right nowon God's intervention.
And they're praying for miracles,no doubt.
But they're realizing that beforethe miracle, God is still in the moment.
And so three things real quick.
How do you live?
(43:12):
How do you live in God's timingwithout tapping out,
without running awaywith faith and courage and boldness?
How do you do it?
Well, the one thing you dois you stay in the Word of God.
Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.
We will never understandGod's timing of the minutes
(43:35):
and the moments until we can understandand hear his voice.
And we know the voiceof God through His Word.
I don't understand all that's going on,
but I know that my Godis the God of minutes and moments.
To understand.
(43:57):
You stay in His wordand you trust his process.
Romans 828 A soft pillow for a tired heart
for those who love God.
Not for those who don't,but for those who love God.
He works all things together for good.
So I don't know how
I don't have those answers.
I just have that faith that says he does.
(44:18):
I don't know how the peoplein Ukraine say, God,
you're going to,I don't know, but they do.
And one of the things I told them isGod can redeem this.
If you use this to win people to Jesus,
let God redeem the evil,not by making you bitter and cynical,
but by making you motivated
to tell people about Christ.
(44:42):
See, even the detours of your life
can be part of his design.
If you trust that he's the God
of your minutes and your moments.
Some of you are in a huge delay right now
and the dreams are falling apart.
Trust God that he isstill the God of your delays.
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He's still the God of your disappointmentsbecause he's the God of your minutes.
In your moments, there'snothing to be afraid of.
And be faithful in the waiting.
The Galatians six nine don't get tired.
Don't grow weary in doingwhat's right with God.
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In due season,the harvest is going to come.
Jim, stand,
Lord, I'ma be faithful in the moment.
I'm not running the pole. I'mnot running a jump.
I'm going to be faithful right now.
See, we have to understand
that when I'm faithful in the minutes,God is fruitful
in my moments.
(45:45):
Some of you need to write that down.
Take a screenshot on our app.Take a picture.
You need to remember this.
That when I'm faithful in the minutes,
God is fruitful in my moments.
And some of you are waiting on Godto be fruitful in your moments.
You need to startbeing faithful in your minutes.
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You follow.
Listen.
Every one of us wants God to step inand intervene.
Miraculous. We all want God to show up,
but we have to understand this
that God is not just in the miracle.
God is in the midst before the miracle.
(46:29):
And some of you are waiting on God
to step in and do somethingmiraculous and wonderful and beautiful.
And God says, look, I'm willing to,but I want you
to first acknowledge me,that I'm not just in the miracle.
I'm in the minutes before the miracle,and you won't see me in the miracle
till you acknowledgeme before the miracle.
(46:51):
You understand?
He's not just in the miracle.
He's in the midst before it.
And so,
dear friends.
I want to encourage us
because we serve a God of the minutes,in the moments to live boldly,
(47:15):
to be courageous.
And live with great joy.
Our response in this moment
to God is thank you.
Thank you for forgiveness.
Thank you for your grace.
Thank youthat you are the God of my minutes.
On my moments. I will trust you
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and I will be faithful.
In the midst of my minutes and my moments.
Our responses.
God, you deserve
all of me
unreservedly.
I believe it was Jim Elliot,
(48:00):
missionary, the Orca Indians,who was killed and beheaded
as he was telling them about Jesus.
He said he is an old fool
who gives what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.
You're not a fool to give
what you cannot keep your life
(48:24):
to gain what you cannot lose.
Salvation.
You are no fool
to give what you cannot keep, to gainwhat you cannot lose.
Who seeks to save his life will lose it.
He who loses his life for my sake,Jesus says, will gain it.
(48:44):
All in
every minute, moment.
Because he deserves it all.
To understand.
This is what it means to follow Jesus.
We've been given so much gracehere, and it's beautiful.
(49:06):
It's wonderfuland ought to be enjoyed and celebrated.
And I don't want to guilt us
into enjoying God's grace,but I want to warn us not to waste it.
Don't waste the grace of God.
Fully engaged
(49:27):
all in
trustingthe God of the midst of the moments.
You understand?
Thank you.
You are a world class church
and the kingdom is expanding
in this world because of you.
And it is a joy
(49:50):
to get to be a part of you.
And to do this together.
Let's pray. Father, thank you.
Thank youthat you are the God of the minutes.
In the moments
you're trustworthy.
(50:10):
You're good.
You're the only God there is.
There's none like you.
You're the creator of heaven and earth,
and you'rethe God of every one of our minutes.
And you're and moments and.
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We praise you and honor you because of who
you are.
Father,
thank that you've given us the opportunityto be a part of your work in this world.
Here in the Ranchos.
And in places like Ukraine.
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You're so goodto invite us into your work.
Thank you for the opportunityyou've given us to say yes to it.
Father, I pray that through this churchyou would continue to grow
your kingdom, expand your kingdom,
that you would call us into service,that you would employ us in your work,
that we would respond great boldnessand courage and joy and sacrifice
and generosity, God, that we would followyou unreservedly,
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unashamedly.
Father, that you would increaseand we would decrease.
That's our prayer.
Thank you for this church.
Thank you for their generosity.
Thank you for their faithfulness.
Father, I thank you
for what you're doing in us and with us.
Continue.
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I pray we trust youto be a God of our minutes in our moments.
Guys, I want,I want like in this moment right now.
Just keep your. Just shut your eyes. Just.
Just pray with me for a minute.
If you've never trusted God
to be the God of your minutes,in your moments,
if you never trust him to for after himto forgive your sin
and given your life to this Godthat loves you, that would come
(52:00):
to the frontlines of your lifeand give himself for your salvation.
You're saving. If you've never done that,
I want to invite you in this momentright now
to do that
simple prayer.
It will cost you your life.
It's all worth it.
Say God forgive me of my sin.
I admit I broken your law, your command,
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I need forgiveness,I can't be good, I can't be right.
And myself make me right with you.
I believe in what Jesus did on the cross.
I accept you, Jesus,as a Savior and the leader of my life.
This morning, I trust you
would you would just pray that prayer.
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Father thank you.
We love you.
Help us to love you more.
In your name I pray. Amen.
This.
And if any of you made that prayer,just come talk to me afterwards.
Talk to us in the starthere or the Welcome Center.
I'm going to walk youthrough some next steps.
I got a little book I wroteI want you to give you.
But let me tell you this, man, I'mthankful for you.
I'm very thankful for you.
(53:06):
Thank you.
And I'm really thankful for our wife.
Just imagine, just for a moment, you
wives, your husband
came to you and said, hey,I got this idea.
Imagine
you husband, just for wife, came to youand said, hey, honey, I got this idea.
(53:30):
Imaginefor a moment if your son or your daughter
said, hey Mom and Dad, guess what?
God's called me.
So thank you for being a church, I says.
Now we get it.
We'll support you.
I'm thankful for you
and I'm really thankful for my bride.
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You come back next weekbecause we're going to start a series
through the book of Matthew.
It's going to take us about a yearto get through it, verse by verse.
Don't worry, it's going to be good.
So start this weekreading the book of Matthew chapter one.
You're going to read a wholebig long genealogy.
It's not going to make much sense to you,but we'll unpack it next Sunday.
You understand?
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We got a great opportunityto get a real clear vision of who
Jesus is,the one who came and died so we can live.
I love you, let's sing.
Friends, it is good
to be back home with you.
And I need to be honest with you,
I'm struggling a little bit this morning.
Because,
I want to bring you up to speedwith the last two weeks.
But I want to make surethat I tell Jesus's story,
and not my story, if that makes sense.
(00:25):
I want to make sure that we're talkingabout the cross.
The cross and the kingdom.
And not about,
the events in another land.
Only,
and so I've been I've been praying a lotand thinking through a lot.
And I'm gonna do my bestto give you a glimpse
in the last couple of weeks of my timein Ukraine
(00:47):
with God's people.
But to draw our attention not to
the trip, but to the kingdom.
If you're
wondering why I went to Ukraineand the front lines,
we had the opportunityto be invited with the group.
I work with Excel Leadership Network,which is the church
(01:09):
planting movementto plant churches all over the world.
We were invited to go to Ukraineand establish what we've also established
in Guatemala, in Mexico, in Cuba,
in Ukraine.
One of the things I know is that as far asevangelism is concerned, telling
people about Jesus, people are mostreceptive to the message of Christ
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when they're under tensionand in transition.
When people are under tension,they're looking for someone
to relieve the tension.
And when people are in transition,
they're looking for someoneto give them stability.
So think about what's going on in Ukraine.
Everybody is under tensionand in transition during war.
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And so what I told the people there was,
your country is ripe for revival
because everybody's looking
for something to bring stability,
for some semblance of peace.
And as Christ.
And so we were invited to go to Ukraineand start this
(02:15):
church planning movement in their country.
What I told them was,
I will go lead that as long as I can
also go to the frontlines.
A couple different reasons.
One, because the values of our church,
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three of them are this irrefutable love
and what proves love more profoundly
than going into someone else's battle
and saying, I am with you and I love you.
Presence does that more than words.
Do you understand?
Because that's exactlywhat Jesus has done for us.
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For Godloved the world so much, he sent his Son
to come to the frontlines of our war.
Irrefutable love.
That's why I had to go to the frontlinesas well, but also
illogical faith in.
We were told when we were there.
Listen, there's been a lot of pastorsfrom huge, huge churches in America
(03:22):
that have come to LaVey,which is right on the border
of Poland on the western side,where there is no conflict.
Basically.
And they come thereand take their pictures
and give their money and then leave
till nobody.
Has come from America
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as far as the church is concerned,to the front lines.
They don't do it.
And so what that tells me is illogical.
Faith says yes,
you follow.
But also one of our valuesis the invisible kingdom.
(04:03):
We believe
in thiskingdom that you can't see right now,
and it is of utmost importance.
And demands are all
and any opportunitywe have to expand that kingdom.
We're going to take,
because another one of our valuesis incessant
reproduction.
(04:24):
It's evangelism.
It's church planting. It's what we do.
And any opportunity we have to tell peopleabout Jesus and to plant churches.
We're going to take.
And so I said,I have to go to the front lines.
People need Christ.
And when you get close to your ownmortality, you start asking questions
that you should askbefore you realize you're going to die.
(04:47):
And so I had to go to the front lines
also, because when mydaddy got back from Vietnam,
there was a great struggle.
Any of you who have served in our military
to be in an active war, you understand
that if God blesses youwith living through that,
you wrestle with who you became, in that
(05:08):
oftentimes.
And, well, there in death is redemption.
We're redeemed by Jesus.
Sometimes in life
there's a struggle with restoration.
Can God restore who I've become?
(05:30):
Knowing my own
father's struggle after Vietnam,
in the church,
for people who did not understand,
I was compelled
by the grace of God for my father
to bring that messageto other men and women on the front lines.
(05:50):
Do you understand?
And so well the impetus
was to plant churches and start a churchplanting movement in Ukraine.
There was alsothe call to the front lines.
And for me, I was not allowed
to separate the two.
And so let me just walk you throughthis is where we were.
(06:12):
This is Ukraine.
Way on the left is Poland.
And we flew into Poland, into Krakow,
and through a series of busses and trains,
we made our way all the way across towhere the green is in Kiev.
That's the capital city of Ukraine.
And if you follow the news at all,you know how much that is
constantly bombed,literally, almost day after day.
(06:35):
That's a capital city.
That's where we that's where wethat's where we finally made it to Kiev.
And then we went from Kiev.
We went down to where the blue ischurch. KC
that's right on this, this, this,
it's the largest river in Ukrainethat flows down into the Black Sea.
And that's where we didour discovery centers for church planters.
It took us 27 hours from when we leftto get all the way up to Turkey.
(06:59):
It was a grueling trip, a grueling tripfrom the United States to there.
From there,
eventually up in the Orange is Ha Keith.
And again, if you follow the news,you hear the word heart Kiev.
That is on the front,both one of the places on frontlines
that is constantly,constantly shelled drones,
(07:20):
guided missiles, all of that
from there down in the purpleis, Kramatorsk.
That's the place where we livedfor three days with the guys
literally on the front linesin their little house,
and they would move outto visit the troops.
So that's kind of where we were inand in the orange in Kharkiv.
(07:45):
That's where I got to preach last Sunday.
And it was and I'll tell you more aboutI'll tell you more about all this stuff,
but I want to give you a pictureof when I say the front lines,
what I'm talking about.
We slept in where the purple is,
we ministered to Donbass.
That is literally on the border of Russia.
That's where we were
(08:07):
a couple kilometersfrom the Russian troops
all along that area on the frontlines,
with guys that knowJesus and guys that don't know Jesus
and were able to do worship with himand pray over them and share communion
with them and witnessto them and minister to them.
(08:30):
And so when we're talking about
this is what we're talking about,we were there,
because that's where the opportunitywas for us
to expand the kingdom of God.
People don't go there.
They told us while we're there, there'sno there's no law,
there's no overriding,
(08:53):
system to say this is allowableand not allowable.
Whatever happens, happens.
And so we need to know your blood type.
I said it's red.
And so I want to introduce you to
some of the people that are there.
(09:15):
And I want you to pay
attention to the names that you'll see
on this piece of paper.
You will see.
Soon yours is.
(09:43):
The two men who live in that house.
And that's right there on the front lineswhere we stayed.
The wall, the exterior walls,about 18in of concrete.
It's really thick.And they try to reinforce it well.
But the two guys who livethere seem as a video game.
And Sasha, I want you to put themon your prayer list with them and Sasha.
They have determined that God has calledthem to the ministry of the front lines.
(10:05):
They've sent their families,their wives and children to, to Germany.
And they've said, God has called usto ministry to the people of the
on the front lines.
And so they see their familyabout once every three months.
And every day they start their daywith scripture reading and worship.
That was the worship music and communion,reminding themselves of the kingdom that
(10:29):
they serve, the God that they serve,and that God has called them to this work.
They ask for his provision,they ask for his safety, and they ask that
through them God would save peoplewho are lost without Christ.
Those names on the papers,
three different lists.
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Names of men, women who have been killed
in the war that they had ministered to,
that they remember the names of thosewho are missing in action,
and the names of the current ones thatthey're current currently ministering to,
so they can keep track of themwith their families,
care for them, care for their souls.
(11:11):
And they every daythey just make their way down
the front lines in worship,
in foxholes, in bunkers,
making sure that the guys know Godhasn't forgotten about you.
He knows you and he sees you.
He loves you, and we're here for you.
Amazing people,
(11:32):
amazing people.
Every community has this.
These are memorials in every community.
Every flag represents
someone who's been killed from thatcommunity during this war.
Every flag
(11:52):
represents a life.
I've shared some of these on social mediawhile I was there.
To give you a picture,
but I want you to understand how
pervasive and what they're living under.
These little memorials just keep growing.
(12:12):
And it's a stark reminder.
Of life and death and eternity.
And that life is fleeting.
This is the top story
of one of three apartment complexes.
(12:35):
Has has nothing to do with the military.
Completely civilian.
And the results of
Russian drone attacksand guided missile attacks
at the basement of this building,
people ran for safety
and they were smotheredand 50 of them died.
(12:58):
The holethere is where the middle building was.
There were three buildings.
Community after community.
This is this is the reality.
There's more buildings that
are destroyed that are.
Untouched.
(13:19):
And this is what they live with.
A constant reminder that.
Of what their reality is.
What's.
So this is going towards the front line.
That's a drone.
Look on.
They don't have them on all the roads.They have them on some of the roads.
(13:41):
That's it.
Their attemptto prevent one of the smaller drones
from moves out of the groundthrough to the traffic.
This this is somebody
there's some music going offthat some of these are real lights.
It's their phone.
And turn it off.
This is one of the bunkers
where we were withsome of the, guys on the front lines,
(14:03):
and they didn'tlet me go all the way down.
Oh, we went all the way down, butthey didn't let me film all the way down.
Pass or stuff.
But these are this.
There's there's two, four man troops
that rotate two days on and two days off.
And it goes downa couple different layers.
And these guys have watchfor the Russian drones.
(14:28):
Not fill the skies.
And they have their ownsurveillance drones that they'll send out
to kind of keep movement or keep eyeson the on the Russian troop movements.
Again, right on the front lines therewhile we were there,
there was there were a lot of eventsthat were happening
on the outside when we were underground.
(14:48):
And this is what they live with.
And there's a there's a man here,I think I have him.
He's he's he's the tallbald guy, not the short bald guy.
And his name is Sergei.
And he loves the Lord.
And he follows Jesus.
And he's got three guys in his unitwith him who don't know the Lord.
(15:09):
And he is.
They're not just to do his service,but to witness to them,
to help them come to faith.
And in the middle of that,that's the that's
their biggest room in the in the bunker.
It goes down into another room.
Two guys are up top there.
Kind of keep an eye out if there's any,any boots, troops coming at them.
(15:34):
One guy sleeps and one guyis on the computer with the drone.
And that's where they live for two dayson and two days off.
And so we got to be with them.
We got to worship with them.We got to encourage them
for these guys and for some other troopsI was with on a place
called Seven Winds, this, this outlookthat looks over this valley.
And they had their, you know,
(15:56):
military guys there with their weaponslooking for drones coming in and missiles.
And I told them, I said, guys,I want you to understand something
you, as commanders
have under you men who rely on you
and your job is not just to fulfillthe commands
of your commanding officer,but is to secure the life of your men.
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And if need be, lay down your lifefor them.
I said, I want you to understand something
that reminds me of another man
who, at the command of his commandingfather,
was given the charge
of watchingafter the lives of those under him
to secure their life, and if need be,give his life for them what he did.
(16:46):
I said, I want you to
understandsomething that you are for your men.
You can be a visible reminder of Christ.
So lead well.
Lead well and serve well.
And help them reframe
what their role is in this.
(17:08):
And that's who he is to these guys.
He's a visible picture.
Of one who came into their conflict,
their war, and gave his life.
And it was really significant.
We were able to go just outsidethat bunker in this big concrete,
room and lead him in prayer and worship
(17:31):
and do communion with them,anointed him with oil.
We prayed over him
all while the explosionsare going around outside.
And it was a beautifulit was a beautiful moment of worship.
It was a beautiful moment of ministry.
And it was a beautiful realization thatGod is the God of minutes and moments,
(17:55):
time and time and time again.
While we were there, it was minutesor moments that separated us
either on just before something happened
or just after something happenedthat God was orchestrating.
All the minutes and the momentsthat we were there, there was never fear.
There was never concernbecause we knew everyone of us.
There knew that God was the God of minutesand moments.
(18:18):
You understand that?
For your minutes and moments, guess what?
God is the God of them all.
Minutes of moments
just before or just after.
(18:46):
Multiple times.
Where you realize, okay, Lord,
you're the God of my minutes,of my moments
and you're orchestrating them all.
So what have I to fear?
Right.
(19:10):
Time and time again.
Had it been a moment earlier
or a moment later?
Things happened.
We got to rescue people.
We got to care for them.
Because we knew Godis the God of minutes of moments.
(19:30):
And he positioned us strategically.
And it was beautiful.
Get to get to be a heart, a part of.
That's.
She doesn't know a world without war.
She's on a living on the frontlines.
And her family had to be extracted.
(19:53):
The day we got her and her family out,
right at the tail end of getting them out,the drones came and decimated
her neighborhood.
And that night,she spent her first night in safety.
And her whole life.
And it was beautiful.
(20:18):
Minutes and moments.
I got to preach in herKyiv on the front lines last Sunday.
And when they
do church service there,they have a basement
(20:38):
so that when the air raid goes offat the church, goes down to the basement,
and they keep worshiping.
And because their country is under tension
and in transition,the message of the gospel
is good news.
(21:00):
And probably about a quarter of the peoplein that church
made a decision for Jesus that morning.
It was it was beautiful.
We shared communion together.
Because when you realize
how close your mortality is,you start asking the eternal questions
and looking for eternal answers.
(21:22):
The guy to the right and the lady,
next to me, in the lady next to me,that's the pastor and his wife.
Years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Very aggressive, fast spreading cancer.
The doctor said there's nothing we can do,
so justtake her home and I'd be comfortable.
And the pastor and his wife prayed,and they said, Lord,
(21:43):
your will be done.
But if you give my wife life,we will stay in this community
and we will proclaim your name and plantchurches.
And miraculously,
suddenly she was healed.
No ramifications.
No, no, no,no proof of cancer at all in her body.
(22:07):
And then the war broke out.
The war has been going on since 2014.
The current invasion has been since 2022.
And so as this invasion is happening,
his wife said, honey,we're on the front lines.
We need to move.
Everybody's leaving.They're going to Germany and Poland.
We need to go.
(22:27):
And he said, sweetie,what did we tell God?
That if he gave you life, we would stay
and we would ministerand we would plant churches.
We're not going anywhere.
You know why?
Because they believe in an invisiblekingdom and they have illogical faith,
(22:52):
just like us.
Their kids left with their grandkids.
And she said, honey.
Not only are we on the front lines,
but now I don't get to see our childrenor our grandchildren.
And he said, sweetie.
(23:14):
We told God.
That if he gave you life, we would stay.
And when we give God our yes,
we cannot take it back.
We'll
get our kids in eternity right nowon this earth.
(23:35):
We're staying.
Sometimes this is how I feel.
Sometimes it's good for donkeys andjackasses to be around thoroughbreds. So
that's what I felt like.
Can you imagine
(23:56):
that level of commitment to the Kingdom?
One of these guys told me,they said, you know, before this war,
before I was here on the frontlines,I would get so worked up.
I want a different car.I want a bigger house.
I want a better job.
I want more, he said.
But now.
(24:19):
Things have been clarified.
And if God gives me one more dayon this planet,
I'll be grateful
and especiallygive me one more person to share
Jesus with.
That's the first group of staff and churchplanters,
(24:40):
that we worked with to plant churchesand excel leadership network.
We follow acts 13.
God calls high level leaders
and sets them apart for church ministryand for planting churches.
And any chance we get to gocall out and train high level
leaders to plant churches,we're going to take it.
And these were some of the first ones
that we got to work with in Ukraineto start a church planting movement,
(25:03):
because they want theircountry to come to faith.
That was the first group.
This is the second group.
During our time while we were there,one of the largest strikes missile,
guided missile and drone strikes on hardKeith
decimated parts of the city,
decimated the place where we werejust 24 hours earlier.
(25:24):
God of minutes a moments.
As I walked into the training room
for all these church planters and pastors,
we had to address what?
Just because it was their family,it was their loved ones.
It was their homesthat had just been destroyed.
And they're here to to serve Godand to honor God and to plant churches.
(25:45):
And we had to like,how do you deal with that?
This is how they dealt with it.
Oh, some guy that
we had been,
he called
us up.
(26:11):
For some
to see.
We woke up early
in the morning to the drones overheadand the explosions around.
We get wordthat what has happened in heart, Keith.
(26:37):
And their first response
was, let's worship God
name above all names
worthy of our praise.
How great.
Oh, how great is our God.
And I'm standing thereand I'm filming this and I'm just crying,
(26:58):
thinking, Lord, why?
Like, why?
Isn't that my first response?
When something bad happens.
What?
You really have to redefine bad.
Sometimes.
Their first response wasGod is a good God.
(27:18):
Worthy is his name.
Though there was great sadness,
there wasn't depression.
Though there was confusion,
there wasn't rage.
There was worship.
(27:43):
That's one of the couples
that I got to work withthat is part of Excel.
Network planting churches,
young families.
They have four kids.
She's pregnant with their fifth.
And every one of them has the opportunityto leave and go to Poland or Germany.
And they said, God's called us here.
We can't leave.
(28:05):
We can't leave.
He saved us from hell.
How can we leave?
They say it would be so disingenuousto say, God, you saved us.
Now I'm going to leave and let othersfend for themselves because I can't.
We have to stay.
(28:25):
And so they are.
There's one young manwho was a couple who was working with us,
and he's right on the front lines,
and there's so committedto the youth of that area.
They don't have buildings to median.They've all been destroyed.
And he will do a little WhatsApp appand say at 3:00 on Tuesday,
we're going to meet in that burned outfield.
(28:46):
Let's just get togetherto talk about Jesus and worship.
Let's
meet at this burned out intersectionon the other side of the road.
And let's just talk about God.
This another couple is going to PlanetChurch.
I think they're 12 or 13 years old.
(29:09):
They had the same conversation.
We're just starting our lives.
Why would we stay in Ukraineon the front lines and plant churches?
And the resounding answeris because Christ gave his life
and this is where he's put us.
He's the God of the minutes,an ominous and will stay.
(29:35):
You think if people could have an excuse
not to go to churchand not to do ministry, it would be them.
There's a group of young people
and a lot of young ladies, incredible
leaders, valiant women, warriors
(29:56):
who are so committedto their God in their faith.
They make things like this.
And the military patches are a big deal.
In the current military.
You get patches for missionsserved and ranks and all kinds of stuff.
And so what they're doingis they're making patches
and they're takingthese to the troops on the frontlines
so they can use these patchesand talk about Jesus.
(30:17):
You understand the symbolism of that,don't you?
John 316, the crown of thorns.
And they'll get these patchesand they'll go into the bunkers
and into the trenches, and they'llthe young ladies talking to these
men and hear,
I want you understandwho Jesus, what he's done for you.
So they'll put it on and remember,
(30:40):
one of the patches on the patches is thisI love this patch.
I put on one of my hats.
The X represents the commands of God
that have been defiled and broke,and that's why it's in black.
It's dark, it's been darkened
because.
And you men and women who have servedin the military, you know this especially.
(31:00):
You've been in war.
Oftentimes there are things
that soldiers do in battle
that cause them to question, who am I?
Who have I become?
How do I reconcile what I've had to
with who I want to be as a human?
(31:22):
It's one of the things my dad struggles
with.
And he comes back
after Vietnam to a churchthat didn't understand
and wouldn't have accepted himhad they known.
Really? No.
You guys have been on where you understandthis.
You women, you understand this.
(31:45):
And you have to wrestle withwhat have I done?
Who have I become, and can I be?
Can I be redeemed?
Can I be restored?
So one of the ministries that theseyoung ladies are doing with these men
who are wrestling with this question, who,if they get to come back to the world.
(32:05):
Are met with all of this.
Yeah.
But you so what they tell themis we've all broken God's law.
Every one of us.
We defiled his commands.
And no matter whatthat looks like for you,
there's a cross that covers it
through the death and resurrection.
Resurrection of Jesus.
(32:27):
There's not just redemption.
There's restoration.
Beautiful, strong
young women who are engaging
in these soldiers on the frontlinesto take them the gospel.
You know why?
Because the people want their countrysaved.
(32:53):
It's incredible.
And they understandGod is a God of minutes and moments.
And so there's this incredible resiliency
and faith and courage
and commitment not to run away,
but to run and engage.
(33:17):
So. Thank you.
Thank you for your prayers.
When I
when I told them that there was a churchback in the United States
that was praying for them24 hours a day, every hour, every day,
(33:39):
he couldn't understand it
because have you ever now,we're not in that type of war situation,
but but I bet we've had those timeswhere something's going on
and we think, God,do you even know I'm here anymore?
Do you even care about
what's going on in my world?
Like, where are you?
If you ever anybody.
(34:01):
That's how they're all feel.
But you understand.
And to have a visible
reminder that there's an invisible
church and kingdom that is interceding
before God on their behalf,
they were absolutely overwhelmed.
And they told me to tell you, thank you,
(34:22):
thank you, thank you, thank you.
Because you arethe ones that stand in the gap with them
and they know they're not alone.
You've been so generous.
I was able to give every church planting
couple $500,which is a year's salary for pastors.
There.
(34:44):
Just say we love you.
And it's not just lip service.
You're such a good church.
And they wanted to make sure I told you.
Thank you for letting your pastor go.
I mean, there's other churchthat might go and take some photo ops
and use it as propaganda.
(35:09):
You partnered with me,and we were there with them
on the frontlines in the bunkersand trenches.
And it's important.
So what's next?
Well, I'm going back to Ukraine.
Because there's churchesthat have to be planted,
and we have to establish this thingso they can run it on themselves.
(35:30):
So we don't have to keep going back.
But in the beginning, we do,
because we believe in an invisible kingdomand incessant reproduction.
That's why we're here.
The Holy
Spirit woke me up on Thursday morning.
And he gave me this.
It's wrong for people who want to be rightsimply to do no wrong
(35:54):
rather than do what's right.
It woke me up in such startlewith those words ringing through my ears.
I had to write it down.
It's wrong for people who wanted to doright, simply not to do wrong
rather than do what's right.
The Almighty said this.
(36:14):
Our greatest fear should not be failure,
but in succeeding at somethingthat doesn't really matter.
We've been given such grace hereand it's beautiful.
It's wonderful.
And I don't want to guilt us into, into,into the enjoyment of grace.
But I want us to realize the gracewe've been given and not waste it.
(36:40):
In succeeding at
stuff that doesn't really matter.
And so I have seven minutes
to preach my message.
A couple of big ideas,
friends, because God is the Godof your minutes and your moments.
(37:01):
Trust.
Even when it feels like the clock'sticking against you.
Remain patientand stay faithful in the minutes
before the moments come.
And be bold to step into your moment.
When it comes.
If God is the God of your minutesand your moments, be bold
(37:24):
and step into them without fearand without trepidation.
I believe with all my heartyou've heard me say this before.
I hope you're starting to believe mewhen I say it, that as long as you are
on God's mission for your life,you are absolutely invincible.
Until that mission is complete.
(37:44):
Yep. Stan.
God is the God of your minutes.
In your moments,
he works in the tiniest detailand he works in the big,
life altering opportunities.
Whether it's a five second decisionor five year delay,
God is the God of your minutes.
(38:04):
In your moments,you've got nothing to fear.
Trust him.
Be bold and be courageous.
Because God
is the God of minutes and moments,you can trust his precision.
He's a precise God, and God is is the God
of every minute that you think you'vemissed.
He's the God of every moment, every minute
(38:26):
we get so wrapped up of what we thinkwe've missed out on.
God says we just relax.
I'm the God of it all.
The Israelites came to the for the Red seaand they were completely trapped.
The army behind them, the sea before them.They had no way out.
They didn't knowwhat they were going to do.
They think they thought, God,you missed the moment.
You missed the minute.
And God said, I have missed a darn thing.
(38:48):
And what God
said through Moseswas this don't be afraid.
Stand firmand see the salvation of the Lord.
He's going to work out.
Relax.
God is the God of your minutesand your moments.
Stand where you are.
Be firm.
You will see the salvation of the Lord
(39:10):
because God is the God of your minutesand your moments.
God didn't open the sea early.
We want God to work in ahead of timefor us, so it requires no faith to follow.
That's not how God works.
We trust himin the minutes, in the moments.
So we can follow God
before he acts because we know what.
(39:34):
He will act.
So we can follow him before he does thething, because we know he will do with he.
And so we can follow without fear,
without trepidation,with completely unreserved.
Because we know that Joseph at the righttime, he'll step in.
He'll.
(39:54):
Because that's what he does.
You may be waiting on a healing.
You may be waiting on a spouse.
You may be waiting on an opportunity.
Don't confuse silence with absence.
God is timing every minuteand every moment
you can trust him.
(40:18):
And because God is the God
of the minutes of the moment,you can trust the bigger picture.
He's got a bigger picture that he sees,
and we don't trust him in the minutes,in the moments.
One moment with God
can change every moment after.
Don't run away from him.
Don't run out on him.
(40:40):
One moment.
God can change every moment after.This was the story of Esther.
I won't tell you the whole story,but she was she.
She was given this position
in a kingdom for a purpose for a moment.
And what she was told is thisif you don't step into your moment,
(41:00):
God will move just without you.
You'll suffer the consequences of not
stepping into the momentGod has prepared you for.
But who knows, maybe
this moment has come in your lifefor such a time as this.
God is orchestrating your momentsand your minutes.
His perspective is bigger.
(41:21):
One moment with Godcan change every moment after
you understand.
See, we we we,
we want from God something to just be bigand powerful and divine.
But we have to understand thatGod's moments often don't look divine.
(41:45):
They look like hard choices.
They look like risky obedience.
They look like unexpected opportunities.
And in the hard moments
and the risky obedienceand the unexpected opportunities,
you realizethis might be God's moment and.
(42:05):
We gotta realize
every one of usfaces God's minutes and moments
that he's ordained, and those momentsare often disguised as hard decisions.
Dressed in ordinary clothes.
Faithfulness in the momentwithout running away.
Commitment in the moment without.
Tap it out.
You say, God, you are the Godof the minutes, of the moments.
(42:27):
And though this minute and momentlooks horrible right now, I'm
going to trust you in the midst of it,and I'm going to be faithful,
and I'm not going anywhere.
Sometimes
the greatest test of faith is in doingthings is just in waiting.
(42:51):
And it was so good for me to be in Ukrainewith those people,
because they're just waiting right nowon God's intervention.
And they're praying for miracles,no doubt.
But they're realizing that beforethe miracle, God is still in the moment.
And so three things real quick.
How do you live?
(43:12):
How do you live in God's timingwithout tapping out,
without running awaywith faith and courage and boldness?
How do you do it?
Well, the one thing you dois you stay in the Word of God.
Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.
We will never understandGod's timing of the minutes
(43:35):
and the moments until we can understandand hear his voice.
And we know the voiceof God through His Word.
I don't understand all that's going on,
but I know that my Godis the God of minutes and moments.
To understand.
(43:57):
You stay in His wordand you trust his process.
Romans 828 A soft pillow for a tired heart
for those who love God.
Not for those who don't,but for those who love God.
He works all things together for good.
So I don't know how
I don't have those answers.
I just have that faith that says he does.
(44:18):
I don't know how the peoplein Ukraine say, God,
you're going to,I don't know, but they do.
And one of the things I told them isGod can redeem this.
If you use this to win people to Jesus,
let God redeem the evil,not by making you bitter and cynical,
but by making you motivated
to tell people about Christ.
(44:42):
See, even the detours of your life
can be part of his design.
If you trust that he's the God
of your minutes and your moments.
Some of you are in a huge delay right now
and the dreams are falling apart.
Trust God that he isstill the God of your delays.
(45:03):
He's still the God of your disappointmentsbecause he's the God of your minutes.
In your moments, there'snothing to be afraid of.
And be faithful in the waiting.
The Galatians six nine don't get tired.
Don't grow weary in doingwhat's right with God.
(45:23):
In due season,the harvest is going to come.
Jim, stand,
Lord, I'ma be faithful in the moment.
I'm not running the pole. I'mnot running a jump.
I'm going to be faithful right now.
See, we have to understand
that when I'm faithful in the minutes,God is fruitful
in my moments.
(45:45):
Some of you need to write that down.
Take a screenshot on our app.Take a picture.
You need to remember this.
That when I'm faithful in the minutes,
God is fruitful in my moments.
And some of you are waiting on Godto be fruitful in your moments.
You need to startbeing faithful in your minutes.
(46:07):
You follow.
Listen.
Every one of us wants God to step inand intervene.
Miraculous. We all want God to show up,
but we have to understand this
that God is not just in the miracle.
God is in the midst before the miracle.
(46:29):
And some of you are waiting on God
to step in and do somethingmiraculous and wonderful and beautiful.
And God says, look, I'm willing to,but I want you
to first acknowledge me,that I'm not just in the miracle.
I'm in the minutes before the miracle,and you won't see me in the miracle
till you acknowledgeme before the miracle.
(46:51):
You understand?
He's not just in the miracle.
He's in the midst before it.
And so,
dear friends.
I want to encourage us
because we serve a God of the minutes,in the moments to live boldly,
(47:15):
to be courageous.
And live with great joy.
Our response in this moment
to God is thank you.
Thank you for forgiveness.
Thank you for your grace.
Thank youthat you are the God of my minutes.
On my moments. I will trust you
(47:38):
and I will be faithful.
In the midst of my minutes and my moments.
Our responses.
God, you deserve
all of me
unreservedly.
I believe it was Jim Elliot,
(48:00):
missionary, the Orca Indians,who was killed and beheaded
as he was telling them about Jesus.
He said he is an old fool
who gives what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.
You're not a fool to give
what you cannot keep your life
(48:24):
to gain what you cannot lose.
Salvation.
You are no fool
to give what you cannot keep, to gainwhat you cannot lose.
Who seeks to save his life will lose it.
He who loses his life for my sake,Jesus says, will gain it.
(48:44):
All in
every minute, moment.
Because he deserves it all.
To understand.
This is what it means to follow Jesus.
We've been given so much gracehere, and it's beautiful.
(49:06):
It's wonderfuland ought to be enjoyed and celebrated.
And I don't want to guilt us
into enjoying God's grace,but I want to warn us not to waste it.
Don't waste the grace of God.
Fully engaged
(49:27):
all in
trustingthe God of the midst of the moments.
You understand?
Thank you.
You are a world class church
and the kingdom is expanding
in this world because of you.
And it is a joy
(49:50):
to get to be a part of you.
And to do this together.
Let's pray. Father, thank you.
Thank youthat you are the God of the minutes.
In the moments
you're trustworthy.
(50:10):
You're good.
You're the only God there is.
There's none like you.
You're the creator of heaven and earth,
and you'rethe God of every one of our minutes.
And you're and moments and.
(50:32):
We praise you and honor you because of who
you are.
Father,
thank that you've given us the opportunityto be a part of your work in this world.
Here in the Ranchos.
And in places like Ukraine.
(50:53):
You're so goodto invite us into your work.
Thank you for the opportunityyou've given us to say yes to it.
Father, I pray that through this churchyou would continue to grow
your kingdom, expand your kingdom,
that you would call us into service,that you would employ us in your work,
that we would respond great boldnessand courage and joy and sacrifice
and generosity, God, that we would followyou unreservedly,
(51:17):
unashamedly.
Father, that you would increaseand we would decrease.
That's our prayer.
Thank you for this church.
Thank you for their generosity.
Thank you for their faithfulness.
Father, I thank you
for what you're doing in us and with us.
Continue.
(51:39):
I pray we trust youto be a God of our minutes in our moments.
Guys, I want,I want like in this moment right now.
Just keep your. Just shut your eyes. Just.
Just pray with me for a minute.
If you've never trusted God
to be the God of your minutes,in your moments,
if you never trust him to for after himto forgive your sin
and given your life to this Godthat loves you, that would come
(52:00):
to the frontlines of your lifeand give himself for your salvation.
You're saving. If you've never done that,
I want to invite you in this momentright now
to do that
simple prayer.
It will cost you your life.
It's all worth it.
Say God forgive me of my sin.
I admit I broken your law, your command,
(52:21):
I need forgiveness,I can't be good, I can't be right.
And myself make me right with you.
I believe in what Jesus did on the cross.
I accept you, Jesus,as a Savior and the leader of my life.
This morning, I trust you
would you would just pray that prayer.
(52:46):
Father thank you.
We love you.
Help us to love you more.
In your name I pray. Amen.
This.
And if any of you made that prayer,just come talk to me afterwards.
Talk to us in the starthere or the Welcome Center.
I'm going to walk youthrough some next steps.
I got a little book I wroteI want you to give you.
But let me tell you this, man, I'mthankful for you.
I'm very thankful for you.
(53:06):
Thank you.
And I'm really thankful for our wife.
Just imagine, just for a moment, you
wives, your husband
came to you and said, hey,I got this idea.
Imagine
you husband, just for wife, came to youand said, hey, honey, I got this idea.
(53:30):
Imaginefor a moment if your son or your daughter
said, hey Mom and Dad, guess what?
God's called me.
So thank you for being a church, I says.
Now we get it.
We'll support you.
I'm thankful for you
and I'm really thankful for my bride.
(53:51):
You come back next weekbecause we're going to start a series
through the book of Matthew.
It's going to take us about a yearto get through it, verse by verse.
Don't worry, it's going to be good.
So start this weekreading the book of Matthew chapter one.
You're going to read a wholebig long genealogy.
It's not going to make much sense to you,but we'll unpack it next Sunday.
You understand?
(54:11):
We got a great opportunityto get a real clear vision of who
Jesus is,the one who came and died so we can live.
I love you, let's sing.
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