Celebration CA '23 - Session 6

CELEBRATION CALIFORNIA

a family camp with our family of churches

May, '23 @ Hume Lake

Better Together with Jerrod Turner

Scripture References: Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, John 13:34-35, 1 John 3:14, Proverbs 3:5-6, Ephesians 4:1-16, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Revelation 7:9-10

Intro:

• Welcome and introduction of Danny and Colleen Cantelmi.
• The church is a family: a theme explored in the current series.
• Emphasis on the importance of this metaphor for the church's function and identity.

Key Points:

• Church as a Family:
  • Ephesians 2:19-22: We are members of God’s household, built together.    
  • 1 Corinthians 12:12-27: The church as a body with many members.
  • John 13:34-35: Love for one another as a defining characteristic.
  • Emphasis on togetherness, belonging, and shared identity.
• A Multi-Generational Family:
  • Celebration of multi-generational representation in the church.
  • God is building a family that includes all ages.
• Family on Mission Together:
  • The church is called to a shared mission, like a family.
  • The importance of unity and cooperation in fulfilling God's purposes.
• The Importance of Belonging:
  • The church is a place where we are welcomed and included.
  • God is calling us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.
  • Community is essential for spiritual growth and maturity.
• The Church's Purpose:
  • To be a place of healing, restoration, and freedom.
  • To experience God's presence and be transformed by His love.
  • To reflect God’s glory and beauty to the world.
• A Call to Imitate Christ:
  • Jesus's example of love, sacrifice, and service.
  • We are called to imitate Christ's love and compassion.
  • The importance of genuine care and concern for one another.
• The Power of Unity:
  • Psalm 133: The beauty and blessing of brothers dwelling in unity.
  • Unity is not sameness, but togetherness under Jesus.
  • We are called to cooperate with one another and submit to God's leadership.

Conclusion:

• The church is a family, a community of believers united in Christ.
• We are called to be active participants in this family, pursuing God's mission together.
• Belonging to the church is a privilege and a blessing.

Call to Action:

• Prioritize relationships within the church community.
• Be generous with your time, talents, and resources.
• Participate in the mission of God, both locally and globally.
• Seek to grow in your love for God and for one another.
• Embrace the joy and celebration of being part of God's family.
  
  Watch the recap video:
  Celebration California '23

Transcript

Thank you, God. Church, there's a lot that the Holy Spirit's stirring in this place this morning. And so you're probably sensing that as well. So just posture your heart to receive. And I think that the Holy Spirit's going to continue to just pull on some heartstrings today through the preach and through what's happening this morning. So let's just receive from Him. Yeah, so yesterday I noticed that the colors of the lights changed from blue to like multiple colors. And then it went back blue again last night. And then this morning it's color again. And I felt like the Lord was just sharing with me that He's bringing color back to people's lives that feel like dull or down. And the scripture that He gave me with it was like, You'll know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Like it's not a time period. He's like awakening you and bringing you back to life. No matter what you're facing when you go back home, like He's with you and He has truth for you that will set you free. Amen. I just wanted to pray for some people, probably for myself too, but there's this theme, something that I've said a lot is I'm tapped out. I'm tapped out. I'm tapped out. I'm tapped out. And I've said it a lot. And then people around me have said it a lot. And it feels true because we're tired and the world's crazy and we don't know what's going on. Anyway, we're tapped out. And I think the more we say that, or the more I've said that, the more I've signed up with this bitter unbelief. And I'm just bitter because I'm kind of bitter with God. Right? And I just want to read something because I want to get out of unbelief. Me personally, maybe this is just me projecting onto you what I need and sorry. But if you feel, if you feel like you've said you're tapped out, can you raise your hand? I'm going to pray for you.

I'm just going to read this scripture fresh and hopefully God adds some color to it. Jesus stood up. And said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me. And drink.' Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow. They will not be tapped out. They will not be tapped out. So, right now, God, we ask, as we're breaking up with unbelief. And we're saying, yes, Lord, you have those rivers. Would you send them forth, God? Right now, refresh your people. Refresh moms. Refresh dads. Refresh those that don't know what they're doing with their future. And they're tired of thinking about it. Refresh us, oh God. And we believe, rivers of living water. Your faith. Your strength. Your ability. Your eternal fount. Will be flowing. In Jesus' name. Yeah, thank you God. Thank you God. Yeah, we just wait on You Lord. Wait on You.

I just had this song as Danny was praying that come to mind. I just want to sing it together. It's a new one for us even. We didn't practice this, but I just want to sing this. In You is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In You is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In You is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. It's our declaration, God. In you is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In you is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In you is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In you is all I need. In you is all I want. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In you is all I need. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything. In you is all I want. You're my breath, you're my life, you're my everything.

No other fount I know. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood. Nothing but the blood.

As we've been worshiping this morning, one of the themes that several words that have come up this morning is this theme of water. And Seth had just a word about a well that I want him to share. Yeah, as this weekend has gone on, this vision that I've had of this well has kind of developed. You know, at first, God showed me this man just digging this well out of faith, hoping that there would be water at the bottom of it. And with every dry scoop of dirt, he's just hoping that he'll find water. And eventually he gets deep enough and he's wondering even if there's water at the bottom of this well, what's going to happen to him? And God spoke and said, you need to trust me.

You don't know when that last scoop of dirt is going to bring water. And I spoke these words over a friend. But then as we worshiped, and I think as Bo was preaching the other day, he reminded me that wells weren’t dug by one person. Families were gathered. Communities were gathered. Somebody was digging, but there were other people at the top hauling the dirt away. And I just felt like God is saying like, this is us. This is what we do. You know, we lean in together. We dig that well together. We find that living water together. And the last words he spoke to me and reminded me, is like, hey, the ground that you live on today, that valley floor, that used to be teeming with artesian wells.

If you know what artesian wells are, you put a shovel in the ground and the water just bubbles up because it's so easy to find and it's just there. And I felt like that was the church. We're not the source. We're not the living water. But I feel like that's the church is where we find that easy place just to be able to stick that shovel in the dirt. And there it is bubbling up. And I feel like God wants that out of us. And I feel like that message, maybe not be for those who have leaned into the church family, but there are people that did not make it here that I know that are on our hearts, that we wish that we're here, that we wish came and would lean into this family.

This church family, because we know that the water's there and we so badly want them to drink from it. Yeah. Yeah. Lord, we pray for healthy church. We pray for your will, not ours. We pray that you are glorified and not us, Lord. And we pray for those who are just on the outside looking in. They aren't sure. They're scared. They're afraid of what they might find. Lord, we pray that they would find peace and comfort. I pray that we would have the eyes to see those people. We would have the ears to hear. Lord, we would be the body of Christ bringing in the lost, bringing in the scared, the worried, the hurt, Lord, and show them where that water is, Lord. The easy-to-find artesian well that is just bubbling up because there's so much. And your spirit is so generous with it, God. Thank you. Yes, God. Amen. Amen. Hey, let's go ahead and take a seat. And worship team, thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Well, okay. Good morning. Wow. I don't know if I need to preach this morning. There seems to be a bit of a holy broken record that God wants us to hear this morning. There are more prophetic words that came that actually line up perfectly with what I feel like God asked me to share this morning. And so we're going to invite those people to come at the end just to add a little exclamation point here, I think. And I actually think there's probably more. I think there's more artesian wells here this morning. I have things bubbling up in them. And I love that this is a family that we've been brought into. It's a living organism that God designed here. I love that we're a part of it.

I love that we got to be here this weekend. And I love that Travis asked me to go last. So no pressure. Thanks, Bubba. Everybody's full and tired, thinking about their own bed and making sure they didn't leave anything in their cabins. And I was, Rachel was so sweet and brought breakfast to the cabin this morning, and it's very thick biscuits. And I was like, boy, I just don't think I can do more than a couple bites here. And I just, I was fearing that that would be the case this morning. And I don't think it is. I think that the sweetness of God is refreshing me even now in my kind of like overly stuffed materialistic belly here. So thankful for what He's doing in us this morning.

I'm thankful for what He's done this weekend. I didn't know what to expect coming here. I was excited to come; never been to Hume Lake before. I've never been with you, lots of your people before. And this has been wonderful. It's actually felt like a long time coming. And as we prayed yesterday, Steve encouraged us to stir up and call to remembrance prophetic words that God's spoken to us individually and as communities, as a church. And we have been living with a prophetic picture in Radiant for many years. And it's a picture of a constellation of churches in the valley. Okay. And it's incredible to see God grow that far beyond our scope. I mean, there's tribes from Canada and there's tribes from Fiji, Guadalajara, foreign country of Washington, and North Carolina.

Yeah, there's been amazing moments together. And I was sitting and there were updates going on and yesterday with churches from our bigger family. And I just, I think I said out loud, like, what the heck? Fiji is here? Like Fiji? Like Fiji is going to take blessings from here back to their nation. Like what the heck is going on around here? Lord, what are you doing? God can do much more than we can imagine or ask for. And the waves that are coming this morning from the Lord is just gently affirming. You can't outimagine me. You can't outthink me. You can't outplan me. There's so much good going on. And I believe that he's just getting started. We haven't seen anything yet. You in your life haven't seen anything yet.

The best is not behind us. It is in front of us. The word that I had for us this morning comes out of Numbers 32 and Joshua 3. And I'm not going to read large chunks of scripture. It's in the Bible. What I'm going to share is in the Bible. You can read it. Numbers 32, Joshua 3. It's solid. It's true. Um, but I started reading the Bible again in January. It sounded funny. Um, it's been a while. Uh, I started reading through the whole Bible again and I got to Joshua. So if you're here and you you're way behind on your reading plan. Grace upon you, grace upon you. Um, this, this story got stuck, just got wedged in my mind and in my heart.

And I felt like it, it's been driving my prayers, um, for our community until Larry, but I also feel like it's been driving prayers for this larger family here as well. And so I thought it was pretty amazing that Travis shared right out the gates, uh, in Exodus. And, and God's great deliverance of his people from taskmasters and bondage and slavery. And this story in numbers and Joshua is kind of the second half of that story because God delivers them. He delivers his people from slavery, but he actually delivers them to a promised land. God saves us from things, but he also saves us to things. We're not. We're not marked by the things that we came from. We're not marked by the things that we don't do.

We are marked as God's people by what we enter into by faith with him day in and day out, what we put our hands to, what we put our hearts into. This is what makes us the people of God, where we go, not where we've come from. And I believe that God has been stirring up this, uh, holy discomfort. In us this weekend. And I think that he's calling us out of some things old and into some things new, and that's always uncomfortable. We can say like, 'yeah', it's new. It's a new season, but man, it kind of sucks sometimes. It's just, you just never know what's waiting around the corner. And I think that he's calling us out of just some of our own comfort into this holy discomfort.

Discomfort. And I believe that there's more for us as a family. We've celebrated well this weekend, what God has done and it's right and it's proper and it's good to call to mind the things that he's done. But there's more. And I believe there's more people that God wants to add to this family in the coming season. There's more souls. This story. This story in numbers and Joshua is about a promised land and it's about a land they, they physically were leaving one land and going into a land that God had set up for them and was going to give to them as an inheritance, but we are living for something greater than dirt. We're living for a land that's not built by human hands. It has no flag, our national Anthem. It's worthy is the lamb. This land is Jesus, the fullness. He is the better promised land. And this is what we're after. Every place that we go, we're bringing the promised land into every space, every relationship, every situation that we walk into. We're not putting our hope in God, calling us to some beautiful. Place he's making us beautiful and he's making places beautiful because he's putting in his spirit in us and putting us in those places.

Numbers 32 and Joshua 3, the people of God come out of slavery and they wander around the desert and they see miracle after miracle after miracle. God showing up after time and time again, and they show up right to the edge of the promised land and they send in spies to see what is this land really like? Is this good land? Is this like a trick? Is this one of those dirty tricks that God plays sometimes? So they send in spies and the spies come back and they come back with a good report. The land is truly flowing with milk and honey. They come back with like giant bushels of grapes. Like, look at the size of these things. Can you believe this? It's good. He's not a liar.

He just left some details out because there's also giants in the land and we should just wait for the next one. Maybe God has another option for us. How many of you like options? Yeah, you know, it's fine. You don't have to be honest this morning. I love options. I love options. They get to the edge of the promised land and it's got some good. Oh, but it's got some tough things in there. And there's two men that stand up and say, God promised. So God will deliver. This is nothing for him. But the crowd gets overtaken with fear. The crowd gets overtaken with fear. This, I think, timidity of giving up comfort and familiarity. Maybe there's just another bus that'll come along, right? He's good. He's good. Oh, he's good.

He's good. He's going to bring something else. So they have to take a 40-year walkabout in the desert. And God says, none of you will get to see. See how good the land truly is, except for those two guys, they'll get to see it. And so numbers 32 opens up with the people of God arriving again at the edge of the promised land and they've settled a couple territories on one side of the river and they're getting ready to go in, and these two and a half tribes come to Moses. Who's on the other side of the river. Moses is on his last leg as the leader of these people and they say, 'Hey, Moses, we don't want to go. We actually really like it right here. This is, this is good for us.

Can we just have this as our territory? Can we just have this as our inheritance?' And what they say actually is, 'this space is good for livestock and we've got lots of livestock.' What they're saying is, 'this fits our situation best.' This works best for me. Is it good that we just stay here? There's a lot of good stuff over there. You guys have at it. This is good for us right here. And Moses gets so angry. He gets so upset. Are you kidding me? You're going to start spouting this stuff off and tricking us. You're going to trigger all these people back into their fearful state. And then we're going to have to take another walk about. Are you kidding me? And these tribes, I like what happens.

They kind of bow up and they're like, Oh, I'm sorry. I think you misread the situation here. We like this because God's provided it, but we are committing ourselves to go as far as you all go. What they say is we'll fight on the front lines. And we won't settle here until everyone else is settled in this family. Don't call me yellow. We'll see the goodness of the Lord in the land that he's promised us. And we'll see it for all of you. We just happen to like this place right here. And so Moses agrees and they get their inheritance. And they go to the front lines. And they're ready to cross over. So Joshua 3 opens up. Moses is dead now. And Joshua is about to lead the people into the promised land.

And there are those two and a half tribes ready to make good on it. We're going with you as far as God calls you to go. And then we'll come back and settle in. They make it to the river. And it's flood season. This is a terrible time to go. This makes no sense. But God says it's time to cross. And then he says I'm not going to do anything about it until you actually put your feet into the water. And so he says, 'Tell the priest to take up the Ark of the Covenant. Take my presence.' And see what happens when you get your feet wet in this. And so they go. And they step into the waters. The raging, unkind waters that God's led them to.

And as soon as their feet touch the waters, it says that God stops up the river. Once again, God's people get to walk across an impossible situation on dry land. A new generation gets to see the Old Testament. Old faithfulness of God. Because they were obedient, step in. In a different way than the people that came before. But they got to see the same faithfulness of the same God show up and deliver them into the full promise that he gave them. So they make it across. The whole lot of them get across. And then Joshua says, 'Go.' Twelve men from the twelve tribes. Go and grab a stone from the river. And then stack it up and make an altar. Make a monument right here.

And when the next generation asked what the heck are those rocks? You tell them of the faithfulness. You do not forget to impress this upon their minds. Speak of it often. Your bedtime stories are about this stack of rocks right here. This is the faithfulness of God. On this edge right here he's been good. On the last edge he's been good and there's still goodness there. But right here he showed up when we needed him the most. Tell your children. God always makes good on his promises. This is the sense that I had and it's swirling around this morning. God is making it loud and clear. I believe what I've seen happen here this weekend is more of this right here. The theme that we walked into is better together.

And I believe God is calling us to go together. All of us together. We're headed in the same direction. You may have a space that God's given you, but you're still going with all of us. Because there's more. There's more that God has for us as a family. I believe that he's actually calling us to possess the same spirit that those two and a half tribes had. We don't settle until everyone is settled in the promises of God. We don't sleep until everyone knows the goodness of God. Everyone's entered into resurrection life. We don't settle until our nature is settled. Our neighbors are settled. We don't settle until Exeter is settled. We don't settle until the world is settled into the promises of God. This is what's happening.

It's not happening because we had a cool conference. It's what's happening because the spirit of God has been loosed on the earth. And now his kingdom is advancing. Now his kingdom is being built. And we just get to be caught up in this thing. And it's so good. We get to go with him. And he just points to these little rocks and says, 'remember.' Just remember. He points to the rocks in our own lives. Do you remember when you couldn't overcome that sin? Do you remember when you couldn't forgive that person? Do you remember when you were stuck in that situation? God has been faithful. And God will continue to be faithful. I loved yesterday when Monica and the team-they started to, it started a little bit today.

It's just tricky to do when the words say I, but we're trying to say we. Kudos to the slide team. You guys made that happen so fast yesterday. You guys get no credit for good things until something goes wrong. You guys did awesome. Thank you for taking all of us together. I believe that God's saying open your hearts. Open your lives. Open your hands again. There's more we to be added into this family. There's more we to be added into the family of God. There's a quote that this picture has been kind of flashing all week in my mind. It's from the very first celebration, California. And this was a banner that was raised over us as we entered in. And I believe that it's still over us this morning.

It's still true. And it's still what we're marching under. And it says this: There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is so sovereign over all, does not cry. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. This promised land that we're entering into, like, it's His land. It's His promises. We're just living in it for a little bit. But it's His inheritance. All of the earth is His. Every nation. Fourteen years ago, I walked into Radium Visalia and I heard a vision of a constellation of Word, Spirit, Mission churches being planted. And I was captivated. And it wasn't because Travis had an awesome presentation of it. It's because the church is still Jesus' plan for building His kingdom on earth. And there is no other organization or people group that is greater to be a part of than Jesus Christ's church. That is the truth. This is the best place that we could be. The best group that we could be mixed up in right here.

Statistically, church plants are still the most effective way to reach the lost in a city and to serve the city that it's planted in. And I'm saying, let's push our chips in again this morning.

I'm here to give you a report that the land is good. You've heard voices from Tulare this weekend. And I'm here to tell you the land is good. We've seen dead people come to life. The land is good. The promises of God are good. We've seen disciples be made. We've seen prodigals come home. The land is good. It's been costly along the way. But we've gained so much more than we could have asked or imagined.

I believe what this call comes with of these kind of two and a half tribes is that we don't get too comfortable in our own dirt. You like where you are. That's why you're there. But I believe God's just stirring up this holy uncomfort right now. The promised land is so much more than just our desired pieces of it. So, this is what I feel like the charge. I've got two charges here that I felt from God this year. And I just want to pass them on to my family as we go together in this. I believe to actually see this, to actually step into this, we're going to have to cut off the expectation that our future is familiar. And we're going to have to get used to the fact that God's leading us in many ways into unknown territory.

You think you know the people that you're around. You think you know who you are as a person. You think you know the places that you live in right now. You see what you see. But what does God see? What does God promise? We've got to stop thinking that things are the way that they are. People are just the way they are. These towns and cities are just the way that they are. My life is just the way that it is. We believe there is more. We believe there is more. We have to stop filling in the blank for Jesus. And get used to the fact that He's leading us into unknown territory. That He only knows what He's going to write. And it's going to be good. And it's going to be for His glory. And we get to go along with this. So the question I've got is would you dare to think that God would call you to be unsettled? To settle someone else? Would you, celebrate this morning, dare to believe God would actually make you uncomfortable? To bring the comfort of the gospel to someone?

I love that the water didn't stop flowing until the priests got their feet wet. I love that conditions were less than perfect. I love it because it wasn't my story. I love it for them. That was cool. I'm so grateful. I don't do well. We took Abigail, Ryan took Abigail and Zoe out on a boat, and we got like four rows in and just sheer panic came over her. Like, what's going to happen if this thing tips over? Well, you're going to be cold and you're going to be wet. I don't want to do that. Get us back to the shore and I want a milkshake. That's what I want to do. Please row harder.

I don't like when less than perfect situations show up on my door. I don't like to get shoved out in a boat that I didn't want to be in. We planted during a flood season in Tulare. We had just sent out a couple of church plants. It's not what Travis wanted to hear. Hey, we had a prophetic dream about leaving. Six months into the plant, Rachel, and I had the hardest 18 months of our marriage. It was that moment where it was like, Oh, what's going to, what's going to happen here? We weathered through that by the grace of God and the family of God. And then COVID hit right after we had Stevie. And then nobody knew what to do. Not even like well-established people in Visalia. Like, what are you guys doing? I don't know. We'll see on the other side. I just, God is good.

We can read these stories in the Bible and be like, wow, so good. So good. We're living that same story as God's people. The script has not, not changed. You will never, never, never be in a situation where you are riding high and your head is barely above water. Well, this is what God calls us into in this life. We will have troubles. This is it. This is what Bo just alluded to and poked at. Like, what did you expect? What did you think was going to happen here? We're living the same story. And listen, if that outcome came for them, if he was faithful for those people who stepped into the water, then will he not be faithful to us as we step in? Will he not be faithful?

There's one last little charge here, and it comes from the other guy. The other guy who got to see the promised land. His name was Caleb. And Caleb was much older when he entered into the promised land. I'm getting, I'm finally getting to the age where I'm starting to feel like I don't understand what the next generation is talking about. I have to start asking for help with technology. I was like, what in the world? I made the internet. What are you? I don't know how. I still call it the tick tock. I don't understand. Caleb is with a bunch of young fiery knuckleheads who have heard. They've just been eating these stories of the faithfulness of God and they're ready to go. And Caleb seasoned is leading the charge. We get to hear as these conquests have gone on through the promised land, they're settling land after land after land. God's being faithful to them, giving them their inheritance. And in Joshua, 14, we hear this out of Caleb's mouth today. I'm 85 years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey.

And I can still travel and I can still fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country, that the Lord promised me. You'll remember that as scouts, we found the descendants of Anak living there in great walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land. Just as the Lord said, come on, come on. This guy has been waiting for this moment. He's the one at the campfire. Telling the stories of God's faithfulness. I wish you boys would have been there. Wish you girls would have been there. You would have gone with us into that place. You should have seen it. You should have seen what we saw and you will, you will see it. And we'll ride together into that. We'll see the goodness of God open up door after door in front of us together. Can you just feel it, man? We need some Caleb's. There are Caleb's here among us.

Caleb wasn't looking to settle by the riverfront property. You can have that. You can have your cattle. I want the land of the giants. This, this was the land where Goliath would come out of. This is the place. This is, this is it. He's got his eyes fixed. No, I believe God for too long to settle in on small promises. I choose to believe God for the biggest, the hairiest, the most dangerous promises. That's where I'm headed. And if it's good to the Lord, it's going to be good to me, man. He was faithful. Then he's faithful. Now, some of you have received a promise from God and you haven't received it fully yet. You haven’t seen it yet. You haven’t seen it yet.

Some of you are Caleb's this morning and you've been working and training and you are prepared even more now than you were then when you got it. You trained and seasoned warriors to fight the good fight and we need you to lead the way. This is not the season to retire by the river. This is not the season to say, Oh, you go get it. I had, I had a boy. It's your turn out there. No, it is your turn. It's you. We don't settle until everyone is settled. It doesn't matter your age. It doesn't matter where you've come from. It doesn't matter. You're in this family. Your voice matters. Your presence matters because he's with you. He's with us. And so we are going together in this.

If you're here and you feel like, Oh yeah, this is resonating with me. I've, I've got promises that I'm looking for. I'm looking for God to fulfill and bring forth. Stir up your most holy faith this morning. Do not settle. Don't go back down the hill and think, well, business as usual. No business, not as usual. The only business as usual is that God's going to be faithful and God's going to deliver. This is what he promised to do. It may not be this season, but that just means he's preparing you for the next season that he will bring you into. Do not lose hope. Do not lose faith and do not sit down. Do not go quiet. I actually believe that there's a bit of, of this kind of prophetic poke and prophetic kind of a edge here for you.

Radiant by Celia. I believe you're a Caleb in the land. And you've had a great faith and you've aged well with it. You've refused cynicism. Even when the closest people to you have left, even when you've willfully given the best among you, the closest to you, you have great faith. Do not lose heart. Do not settle for riverfront property. Now go for the giants. Go for the things that you have no strategy for. Go for the things that will cost everything you have. Don't settle until everyone is settled. We're with you. There's some young pup churches that are here. We're dumb enough to believe this stuff. Still. We're with you. We're together. We're not alone. What I love about the family of God is that there are not just a few, like professional voices, uh, that get to lead the charge, but the Holy Spirit leads the charge.

And we try to keep up and keep in step. There's been few people that came forward with some words this morning. I think it'd be good to end with those before we pray. Yeah? Okay. So if I'll keep that one. You've got a mic. Cool. Okay. Hannah, would you come? And Katie and Reese. And as these folks come, uh, I want to just, we've, we've had the opportunity of being able to share in the gifts of the Spirit together. And we've had folks explaining it, but one of the, one of the cool things I just want to point to is why God gives us gifts. It's not just so that everybody can get their voice in it. And sometimes we think it's that I want to get my voice in there.

You know what it is? Like there's, there's a preacher like this that happens. And there are a couple of hundred of us here and we hear it and it's, we all hear it. And it's good. And we're going, 'Hmm, that is pretty good.' And we just kind of, yeah, that's pretty good. And we just feel, yeah, that's alright. And then a prophetic word comes and you know what that does? It taps you on the shoulder. You know, all of a sudden it's a flashlight where you're thinking like, 'that's a pretty good thing'. And all of a sudden, boom, something is shared and you're going like, wait a minute, this feels a little uncomfortable. You know, now it's not just a kind of a cool preach. Are you talking to me?

God, like, you know, there's been times where I've heard a prophetic word and they've never, it's never been my name mentioned, but it's been like, Mark, I'm talking to you. And so just posture your heart. Um, there's these three folks are going to share and it's going to be really easy. I'm just going to say it out loud that everybody gets to hear it. It's going to be really easy to embellish because there's been some real confirmation from what Jared has shared. I just want to invite you not to do that. Just give the, the bare bones of what God has given you and let's allow God to knit it together. All right. All right. Thank you, Jared. I got the phrase continue in triumph.

And the verses that I got were out of second Corinthians 2, 14 and 15. Thanks be to God who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphant procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. Amen. I had a picture of a body of water that was frozen over. And, um, excuse me. I begin to ask God, 'Is it staying frozen? Am I supposed to cross it frozen or am I supposed to break it up and cross it?' And I, I sense the father say, 'Go, go any way you want to go, go.' And I heard the scripture, 'You will trample the lion and the adder.' And I feel like there's, um, promises in Psalm 91 for us that, um, that God is with us and he will protect us.

He is our refuge and strength. Go any way you want to go, go and do all that is in your heart to do. I'm moving in your midst. I love my people, my church, and I'm building her. You're about to an experience that you're about to experience, and equipping and ascending of the saints that you've not seen to date. You are pregnant. The Holy Spirit is calling forth apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists from among you. I'm raising up Abraham's and Sarah's who will move to new places by faith. I'm raising up Gideon's who will win astonishing victories. I'm raising up Daniel's and Esther's who will walk in corridors of power with integrity and a commitment to God's people and God's purposes. I'm raising up David's who will shepherd my people with faith and faith.

I'm raising up Ruth's who will follow me across nations. I'm raising up Jeremiah's who will proclaim my word with faithfulness and Isaiah's who will carry mighty revelations of my glory to my people. I'm raising up fathers and mothers. This is for young people and for gray hairs. I'm pouring out my spirit. There's a harvest. Can you see that the fields are white? I'm calling out my bride, my precious one, and I'm making you beautiful. I'm imparting faith and courage to you to carry the message of my cross-defined love to my beloved ones who are yet to know me. My hand is upon you. And by my zeal, I will accomplish these things. For my glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to life for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access to confidence through our faith in him. So, I ask you not to lose heart. Over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Would you stand to your feet? I think it would be fitting to respond with our voice. And we're going to have our kids run in here in about five minutes and they're going to join us for the end of our celebration. We're going to take communion together. We're going to worship. There's going to be a video, kind of a recap video, and they'll be barging in here in about six minutes. But I felt like it would be right and proper to respond with our own voices in this. The call is go. That's the call that's just been weaving this morning. The good news is he goes before us. The good news is he's gone with us before. But it's to go.

Now where that go is, that's between you and the Lord and the person that you're about to pray with. Because we're going together. It hasn't worked to go on your own. It's too easy to sit down. It's too easy to kind of redraw the lines. So would you just pair off a couple people and would you just whatever stirred inside of you? I'm going to go again. I'm going to tell my neighbors about Jesus. I'm going to go. I feel like I'm supposed to go to be a part of a church plant at some point somewhere. I'm going to go again. I'm going to open my mouth and be thankful. I'm going to go again in that friendship. I'm going to go again. Where is it that God's saying 'go'? Would you just share that? Let's not say share. Let's just say declare that and then just begin to pray. Can we do that? Would you just turn to the person that you're next to, declare where you're going with God, where you feel like God's calling you into again in this season. And then just begin to pray. Submit that to him. All right, Lord. If you said it, you meant it.

Hey, so amazing to get a glimpse of what took place for you kids. Not all of us got to see it, but man, what boats you built. Hey, we have to hand out; we can't, not everyone can be thanked who needs to be thanked, but there are a few people who definitely need to be thanked. And Brian and Cassie, thank you so much for what you did. Come on, come on, come on. You got to come up. Come on. Woo! Come on.

And Sam and Dahlia Mendez, come too. Come on. Come on.

Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you.

There weren't many sessions, maybe not any sessions attended by these couples. So right now, extend your hands. We're just going to pray that the Holy Spirit pour into them. Everything that we've received would just be downloaded and dumped onto these families for the ways that they've served. Lord, pour out your Spirit. Everything that we've received, everything that you've done here, you can do right now in these couples. That's the way this works. And so we're so thankful for the ways that they've sacrificed and laid down their lives to disciple our kids. Amen. Amen. Come now and pour into them. Flood their hearts and minds. And I'm not sure many of you know who are in Visalia, but the Hamples, this is incredible, but they're packing their home as they were preparing this weekend for us.

And they leave on the 5th of June. And they're moving. And we're really upset because we really, really deeply love them. And they really, really wrestled with this because they really love us as well. But we want to bless God, this move. We want to bless this family. We bless them to hear your voice. That their joy would be made complete as they hear you and respond to you. I'm thankful that it's not about a place. It's about you. And they sense that you're leading them and moving them. So would you provide for them for their boys, Lord, which I know is probably the biggest thing on their heart? Would you provide for them an incredible friendships? Would you provide for them an incredible church in Knoxville? We bless them. And we're so thankful. What a gift they've given us. You guys have run the race. Thank you for finishing strong. You could have so easily just checked out and started to think about what's next. And you served us, you loved us, and you poured your life out for us. We bless you and honor you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Hey, I heard it's someone's birthday up there. And in kids, we love to celebrate birthdays together. So kids, should we sing happy birthday to Mr. Forrest up there? Kids, how do we sing happy birthday? Let's stand up and do it. Adults, do it with us. One, two, three. Happy birthday to you. Cha, cha, cha. Happy birthday to you. Cha, cha, cha. Happy birthday, dear Forrest. Happy birthday to you. Cha, cha, cha. Happy birthday, Forrest. Your boys are right here singing to you too. Thank you.

Hey, many of us have experience in hosting like a men's retreat. Many of us have experience in hosting a women's retreat. Many of us have experience in hosting maybe a youth retreat. There's something, there's something really special about hosting families. There's also something very complex and difficult about hosting families. And most of that landed on Erin Largoza, Deborah Avenalis, and Christy Welch. Would you guys just stand up? Come on. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We also, man, there were some incredible words and teaching that took place. Some weighty words came forward. I'm so thankful for the things that were laid out. I feel like we're going to be feeding and feasting on those things for some time. But the worship was so much more than three songs before someone talked. Often I felt like whoever was getting up to speak, it was like, well, we've already been there. I don't know where you're going to take us, but we've already talked to Jesus. So I'm not sure what you're going to say right now. So just thank you to the worship team. Thank you guys. Thank you for serving us. Thank you guys. That was amazing. That was incredible. And we want to thank Tacoma for not coming back. We don't want Tacoma to come back. Dang, dude, get out of here. You don't come on to our sand and beat us in volleyball in California.

One of your children was rubbing it in and I was like, well, live it up, man. You're never coming back. I'm never inviting you back. I hope you had a great time. You're never coming back here.

So good. Hey, we want to do two things to conclude this time together. And it really, as we come to this, these elements that have been set, these elements that have been set before us. Of course, it should be a sober thing as we remember what Christ has done. But I want to remind you that as we come to this table, we're coming to a feast.

We're coming to a banquet. We're coming to a well that will never run dry. And it's a well that will never run dry. It's a small cup and a small piece of bread. But what it connects us to is unending. He is the source. And he is the father from which this family flows. And this is what has the power to hold us together. And so we're going to come receive communion. And we're going to celebrate in song. We're going to lead two more songs. And we'll send you out with a commissioning prayer. Worship team, would you come? And would the rest of you guys stand? However you want to decide to lead your kids in communion, that's up to you.

What a table you've set before us. What a feast. What a menu that's been designed by you. You designed a menu for us this weekend. Thank you for your plans. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for your presence with us. Thank you that as we go from here, we don't go away from you. We go with you. I pray that you would strengthen the families, the marriages, the men, the women here. Give us confidence. That you would fill us. It's all the fullness of God. It's all the fullness of God. We'd have something to give away as we go from here in Jesus' name. Amen. You can make your way forward at any time with your family. Take communion and we'll lift up our song.