Kenji Adachi
[0:00] Let me introduce myself. My name is Kenji Adachi. [0:03] And you’re probably wondering what nationality. [0:06] I’m Italian, obviously, from Adachi, right? [0:11] Actually, Kenji, I’m Japanese. [0:13] I was born in Japan. I was born in Osaka, Japan. [0:16] Anybody been to Japan?
[0:18] All right. Anybody drive a Japanese car? [0:21] Okay. All right. All right. [0:23] So you’ve kind of been there. [0:25] So I was born in Japan, and at the time, [0:30] Japan was less than 0.1% Christian. [0:35] And so the chance of me being a believer, one out of a thousand.
[0:39] And by God’s grace, God brought my family to Greensboro, North Carolina. [0:44] Anybody know Greensboro, North Carolina? [0:45] I’m good. More than Japan. That’s okay.
[0:49] It’s kind of like the buckle of the Bible belt, North Carolina to South. [0:53] And I heard the gospel and trusted Jesus when I was 16 years old. [0:59] Never thought I’d be a Christian. Never thought I’d be a pastor. [1:02] Never thought I’d be a church planting pastor. [1:06] This is a picture of my family. [1:09] I’m married, one wife, three kids.
[1:11] And my wife’s Christine. [1:14] And I have three kids, age 13, 11, [1:19] and then soon to be eight years old. [1:23] So that’s my family.
[1:26] My wife talks about church planting like this. [1:28] She says it’s like jumping off a cliff. [1:32] Has anybody jumped off a cliff? [1:35] I know Steve has, because he’s a church planter, you know. [1:37] And we all know what that’s like. [1:39] And it’s for me, you know, it’s for her.
[1:41] What she’s saying is terrifying. [1:43] For me, I love it. [1:44] You know, I love jumping off things. [1:47] And this is crazy and exciting, [1:52] but really trusting and believing in a faithful God [1:55] that can hold us and sustain us.
[1:59] I remember in college, we went bungee jumping. [2:02] I was involved with Camps Crusade for Christ. [2:04] And we would go to the beach to go share the gospel in Florida. [2:09] And we decided to go bungee jumping. [2:11] This is what, you know, if you’re young, if you’re male, [2:14] if you’re a college student, and even if you’re Christian,
[2:16] you go do that kind of stuff. [2:18] And we went and we were all like in our hotel rooms, [2:22] like, yeah, yeah, I’m going to do a back flip and all this stuff. [2:24] And we’re just talking it up. [2:27] And then we got there and we look up, it’s three stories high. [2:30] And it’s like, I was like, oh, it’s kind of high.
[2:33] And then they give us a release form, the sign. [2:36] I’m like, what’s this for? [2:38] And they said put emergency contact. [2:39] And I’m like, my mom doesn’t even know this. [2:42] If I put her name down, she finds that I’m dead. [2:44] I’m going to be dead anyway, you know, and filled out the form
[2:47] and got in line. [2:48] And I was like, hey, you guys go ahead and before me, [2:50] these are the guys that I was discipling. [2:52] And I was like, you know, oh, servant leader, go ahead, you know. [2:56] And I was like, this is no joke. [3:00] And they put the harness around my ankles, okay.
[3:03] And if you didn’t know, [3:04] Japanese people have really skinny ankles. [3:06] It didn’t fit, so they brought a women’s harness, okay. [3:11] And that’s supposed to build confidence. [3:13] And even with that, the strap, there was a, [3:16] it wasn’t tight enough.
[3:17] They had to make an extra notch. [3:20] And I’m sitting to myself, great, women’s harness [3:23] and then this new notch. [3:25] And here I am supposed to jump off of this thing. [3:27] And they take you up to the top and you start telling you, [3:30] okay, when we count to three, we’re going to say three, two,
[3:33] one, jump. [3:34] And I’m like, hold on a second. [3:35] Wait a minute. [3:36] What if I, you know, I need to catch my breath and I’m starting [3:38] to speak real fast and get nervous up there. [3:40] And they’re like, if you don’t jump, we’re going to push you.
[3:43] And I’m like, my choice is, you know, to jump or be pushed. [3:48] And I don’t want to ever tell anybody, you know, [3:50] the only time bungee jump, I got pushed off the scaffolding. [3:53] So we get up there and three, two, and I’m trying to, [3:57] hold on a second, let me just, and I was like, [4:00] I don’t want to be pushed.
[4:01] And I thought I was going to be all glory. [4:03] I was kind of like, you know, like this, right, jumping off. [4:06] And that’s what church planning is like. [4:09] And that’s what being a Christian is like as well. [4:13] Let me tell you a little bit about my, our church. [4:16] It’s called All People’s Community Church.
[4:18] And we’re located in Fairfax, just outside of D.C. [4:21] And, you know, when people ask, what’s your church about? [4:24] We say, well, we’re a church for all peoples. [4:27] And if you could have saw the launch team, you know, [4:29] we have a guy born in Korea, North, South Korea, excuse me, [4:34] not North Korea, South Korea, guys born in Hong Kong,
[4:39] India, Russia, Hungary. [4:41] We just have the nations that are part of our launch team. [4:46] And this is who we want to reach, [4:48] because this is our community. [4:49] And also a community church, because people in D.C., [4:53] if you didn’t know, D.C. has always nation’s worst traffic.
[4:57] You ever have to drive up through, right? [5:00] You about lose your salvation, right? [5:02] Imagine living there. [5:04] And so there are people that commute so much, [5:06] but we have people on our launch team. [5:08] I asked them on Sunday, did you drive the church this morning?
[5:12] And just kind of joking with them, because they can walk, [5:15] because the school we’re meeting in is just the center [5:18] of our community, and people just walk. [5:22] There’s apartments and townhomes and condos. [5:25] If you ever come up as a team, you would be amazed [5:28] at how dense this place is.
[5:30] So I’m going to be talking about reaching Ephesus, [5:33] because if you know the book of Ephesians, [5:37] Paul, when he was going through on his missionary journeys, [5:41] he hit this critical city, and it was the capital of Asia Minor. [5:47] And not only that, it was a political center, [5:50] but it was also the port city, so it was an economic center.
[5:55] It had about 250,000 people at that time. [5:58] And so think about population enrichment, [6:00] it’s about the same, okay, in the first century. [6:02] And so not only that, it was also a religious center. [6:06] I’ve been to the Lincoln Memorial, right? [6:09] Do you know that that is modeled after the temple of Artemis?
[6:15] And that was the chief god that was worshiped during the Roman world, [6:21] the Roman Empire, the primary god that they worshiped. [6:24] They had a pantheon of gods. [6:25] But in this city, they also not only worshiped there, [6:30] but they loved magic in this city. [6:34] Magic that would give them hope, fix their ailments,
[6:38] fix their marriage and their children. [6:40] No different than us, right? [6:42] And so when we talk about reaching Ephesus, [6:44] we believe that DC is very similar. [6:47] Let me tell you a little bit about DC and Fairfax. [6:50] There’s almost 6 million people in Washington DC Metro.
[6:54] There are 1.3 million in Fairfax County alone. [6:58] That’s pretty dense. [6:59] Diversity, there are 190 out of 196 nations. [7:03] I already just mentioned several of them, right, on my launch team. [7:08] But even my neighbors, there’s, you know, [7:10] Pakistani next door across the street, Indian, Afghan, and, you know, Korean.
[7:17] And then we have some Arabs, and then we have white people.
[7:25] Nothing wrong with… [7:26] I married white. [7:27] There’s nothing wrong with white. [7:28] Okay.
[7:33] So it’s a very diverse area. [7:37] And here’s another statistics just from elementary school data. [7:41] Okay, there’s 47,000 students, about 50% elementary school students [7:46] that speak another language than English at home. [7:50] I was born in Japan. [7:51] So we speak jinglish at our home.
[7:54] That means Japanese and English because my Japanese is broken. [7:57] And that’s what we speak, okay, primarily, still this day. [8:01] I talk to my parents in Japanese. [8:04] My wife who’s white, actually, she’s an immigrant child as well. [8:09] She was born in Florida, but…
[8:12] Not that kind of immigrant, okay. [8:16] That’s south, but it’s still part of the Commonwealth. [8:19] But her parents are German. [8:21] So she speaks German with them. [8:23] And so for us, we have this third culture experience. [8:27] Because she grew up, everybody thought she was American.
[8:29] Why? But she didn’t. [8:31] Because she spent all of her summers from kindergarten to high school [8:37] every summer for a couple of months in Germany with her relatives. [8:40] And so she’s third culture. [8:42] And for me, same thing. [8:44] We eat with chopsticks, and we eat Japanese food, and it’s part of our culture.
[8:50] But look at where all these people are coming from. [8:54] You know, the southern hemisphere, and then the 1040 window. [8:58] A lot of unreached people. [8:59] My daughter in her class, the teacher told these students to speak English. [9:05] And there were four students just sitting at a table. [9:07] They weren’t speaking English.
[9:09] You’re in school, you gotta speak English. [9:10] And I said, what were they speaking? [9:12] She said, they were speaking Arabic. [9:13] And I said, Karis, I know you have a lot of Arabic friends, [9:17] but just in your class alone. [9:18] How many speak Arabic?
[9:21] And out of 28, do you know how many? [9:23] It wasn’t five, it wasn’t 10, but 12. [9:27] Right. [9:28] Demographics in this school, where we’re planting, [9:30] the school, by the way, is only two blocks from my house. [9:32] I coach soccer, and we practice right there.
[9:37] Our family goes to this school on a regular basis on the weekends, [9:41] to run around on the playground, and it’s the community hub. [9:46] Okay. [9:47] This school is demographic. [9:50] There’s about over 760 students or something like that. [9:56] A third, 33% are Korean, or excuse me, Asian American.
[10:01] Koreans are Asian American, so are Chinese. [10:03] We have some Chinese guests here today. [10:06] Where were you? [10:06] I met you earlier. [10:09] But 33%, 31% white, and then 18% black, [10:16] 12% Hispanic, and 8% other, as in mixed, like my kids.
[10:22] And so, if you think about this 33% Asian, and then 31% white, [10:28] they are not the Steve Gentry white people, okay?
[10:33] And here’s, let me explain. [10:35] Because if you have 12 out of 28 that are Arabic, [10:38] what are they checking off in their demographic? [10:40] They’re not checking off black. [10:41] They’re not checking off Hispanic. [10:42] They’re not checking off other, or Asian.
[10:45] You know what they’re checking off? [10:47] White.
[10:49] And these are the people that God’s brought in this area.
[10:55] Deity. [10:55] What do they worship in Fairfax? [10:57] And you know, you have a lot of Muslims. [10:59] You have a lot of Asians. [11:01] There’s a lot of Hindus, you know, a lot of Indians there, [11:04] and a lot of Buddhists, and et cetera.
[11:06] But look at this. [11:08] So you have that large chunk of those immigrants and internationals. [11:11] Then you have 55%, over half, consider themselves religious nuns. [11:17] People that maybe have gone to church, or grew up in a church, [11:19] and I don’t want to do anything with church. [11:21] I don’t believe in anything.
[11:22] And not just atheists, but I have no religious affiliation. [11:26] And that’s the people of our community, okay? [11:30] And so, here’s another thing, too. [11:32] What do they worship, then? [11:34] They worship this. [11:35] Fairfax County has the second highest median income.
[11:38] Meaning, it’s by the second, it’s the richest county. [11:42] Four out of the five richest counties are in the D.C. Metro. [11:46] This is what the people in Fairfax, in D.C. worship.
[11:53] So what kind of church will best reach Ephesus? [11:57] We believe it’s a gospel center, a disciple-making, [12:01] a multi-ethnic, and a multiplying church. [12:06] It’s very same values as you guys, [12:09] and we’re so grateful that Village Church [12:13] would be willing to partner with us,
[12:15] because we need like-minded churches [12:17] to help us take the gospel forth [12:20] to grounds that are different than where you are. [12:24] So will you join me in a word of prayer before we jump in? [12:28] We’ll be in Acts, chapter 19. [12:30] If you have your Bibles, you can turn there,
[12:31] you can fire up your apps. [12:34] Father, we acknowledge that You are awesome and holy, God. [12:40] Help us to see how great and grand that You are [12:43] through the good news of Your gospel, [12:45] and how extravagant Your love is, [12:49] how bold and how risky it was to send Your Son to die for us.
[12:56] And so we pray that Christ may be magnified, [12:58] that our faith would be strengthened. [13:00] And I pray for those who are visiting, [13:04] maybe for the first time, [13:06] and don’t know where they are with their faith, God, [13:09] that You would speak to them,
[13:11] You would minister to them. [13:12] Pray for those who are struggling right now [13:14] with their faith that need a little bit of water [13:18] to refresh their souls. [13:21] And Holy Spirit, would You pour into them [13:23] and minister to them and encourage them at this time.
[13:26] For the sake of Jesus and for our joy, we pray, amen. [13:32] So we talked about faith. [13:33] That’s what the Christian life basically is. [13:36] Even if you say you’re a religious nun [13:38] and you don’t believe in anything, guess what? [13:40] You place your faith in something.
[13:43] You’ve placed your faith this morning [13:44] that your alarm clock would wake you up, [13:47] or that cup of coffee would get you going. [13:51] You’re placing your faith in something. [13:54] And this is no different than a Christian, [13:57] atheist, Hindu, etc.
[13:59] We are all placing our faith in something. [14:02] And I’m here to tell you that [14:04] if you place your faith in Jesus, [14:07] you’re placing your faith in something that’s stable, [14:09] something that’s solid, [14:11] something that will not shake and fail you,
[14:14] will not disappoint you, [14:16] and something that has substance, [14:18] something that has a power to actually change your life. [14:23] And so in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, [14:27] the author explains what faith is and says, [14:30] it’s without faith, it is impossible to please God.
[14:35] For whoever would draw near to God [14:38] must believe that he exists [14:40] and that he rewards those who seek him. [14:42] Did you see that?
[14:45] And that faith simply means, [14:46] it’s not just this intellectual belief or going to church. [14:50] You know, a lot of people think that, you know, [14:52] if you go to church, you read your Bible, [14:55] if you’re a good, moral person, [14:57] that’s what makes you a Christian.
[14:59] It’s not what the Bible teaches. [15:01] No.
[15:03] It’s the same kind of logic as thinking, you know, [15:06] if you’re in a garage, that you’re a car. [15:10] That if you….. [15:11] you can make noise and you sound just like a…..
[15:18] that you’re a car….. [15:20] You know? It’s crazy. Right? [15:24] And so, in the same way, you could mimic, you could sing these songs, you could [15:27] you can give out scriptures and you can do all these things. Does that make you a Christian? [15:31] No. It doesn’t please God. It’s [15:34] drawing. And think about a well, you draw water for sustenance.
[15:40] You know? You need life. That’s what God wants. That’s what pleases Him. [15:43] You’re utterly dependent for your salvation and your sanctification. [15:48] Sanctification is a big word meaning becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ [15:53] after you’re saved. That’s what happens. This is a natural progress. [15:57] What happens to us. And here’s what it says. [16:01] Not only are you saved and sanctified, there’s this great reward.
[16:05] And I believe this reward isn’t just this eternal reward in heaven, [16:08] but this reward is right here, right now. The very joys that you’re pursuing [16:13] through worldly things of this world. He’s saying you can have these joys [16:19] you created for Him. And your ultimate satisfaction that you [16:24] desperately want, that I desperately want, can be found in Jesus [16:29] if you seek Him. This is a promise. If you seek Him with all your heart,
[16:35] you will find Him. And so this is what faith is about. So, [16:41] let me set it up. This person named the Apostle Paul, he’s a missionary [16:45] that goes out and plants churches, kind of like what Steve has done [16:49] and what I’m doing as well. And he’s going, but this guy, he’s crazy. [16:53] He just goes from city to city and just starts planting churches left and right. [16:58] And here he’s in Corinth and now he’s coming to Ephesus and he’s there
[17:02] about three years and he’s planting this church, right? I told you how big [17:06] the city was. A political center, an economic center, a religious center. [17:11] And this is what he’s going into. And he’s been going into this [17:15] intellectual halls of Tyrannus and debating with the philosophers [17:19] at the time for three months there. And then now he’s going to the markets, [17:24] the Agora, and he’s engaging with people left and right.
[17:28] And then he has this confrontation now, which is common people. [17:34] In verse 11, it says God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands [17:39] of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skins [17:45] were carried away to the sick and their diseases left them and the evil [17:50] spirits came out of them. Paul was going ultra Pentecostal, [17:55] Benny Hinn, big time. Handkerchiefs, aprons, the whole work.
[18:01] It’s unbelievable what God was doing because you have to understand [18:04] what was taking place. There was two powers at place. [18:07] These people believed in magic. [18:10] They placed all their hope in this. If they had problems, [18:14] they would go to the temple and seek some kind of magic as well [18:17] from the common people. Help me with my children.
[18:21] Help me with my career, my job. Help me with my relationships. [18:24] They would turn to these things just like we do, right?
[18:30] And God is saying, look, we’re going to invade this area [18:34] and we’re going to show them there’s only one power on this earth. [18:38] That can save people, that can sanctify people, that can satisfy people. [18:42] And his name is Jesus. [18:45] Verse 13, then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook [18:49] to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits.
[18:54] So there’s evil spirits. You know, if they’re worshiping these gods, [18:58] there’s evil presence there, right? [19:00] And these itinerant exorcists, that means they travel around. [19:04] They’re not even Christians. They’re Jewish. [19:06] And they don’t believe in Jesus. And they say this, [19:10] I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.
[19:14] This word, adjure, I was telling my kids who were in earlier service [19:18] what that means. It means to command. [19:23] OK, so fancy word like saying, [19:25] I adjure you to pass the great papon. [19:28] You know, that’s what he’s saying here. [19:30] I command you. In what power?
[19:33] In the name of the Lord Jesus. [19:35] And then verse 14, seven sons of the Jewish high priest named Siva [19:40] were doing this. OK, they were casting out demons. [19:45] OK, but the evil spirit answered them, Jesus, I know. [19:47] And Paul, I recognize. But who the heck are you?
[19:52] These people, all they wanted was glory. [19:54] They wanted power. [19:56] They wanted prestige. They wanted a platform. [19:58] They wanted the presence in the community. [20:02] They didn’t want Jesus. [20:04] Just like people that want magic.
[20:07] Just like some people that just go to church. [20:09] They want relationships. [20:12] They want some message that will fix their life. [20:16] You may want, those are good things too. [20:19] But do you really want Jesus? [20:21] Because without him, it’s just religion.
[20:26] And the man with it, in whom the evil spirit leaped on [20:31] these seven sons of Siva and mastered them, [20:34] meaning they wrestled them to the ground, all of them, [20:38] and overpowered them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
[20:44] Wow, it reminds me of the story of the demoniac. [20:47] Remember, he was naked and wounding himself. [20:50] You know that story? And out of his mind, that’s what it’s saying. [20:54] Those people were out of their mind, thinking that they could use Jesus’ name [20:58] for their own gain.
[21:02] And he’s showing them how out of their mind they are.
[21:08] That you just want to use Jesus. [21:10] You don’t really love him. You don’t really care about him. [21:12] You’re not drawing into him. [21:15] Verse 17, [21:16] And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, [21:19] both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them,
[21:22] and all in the name of the Lord Jesus extolled, [21:25] meaning spread out, praised, and declared in the city. [21:30] There’s only one power. There’s only one name. [21:34] His name is Jesus.
[21:38] This story is about faith. [21:40] I’m going to give you the ABCs of faith. [21:42] There’s this appearance of faith. That’s what you saw, right? [21:45] These people who are taking advantage. [21:48] They think that if they can just repeat what Jesus and what Paul have said, [21:53] that they could do the very same thing.
[21:55] And that’s what sometimes we do, too. [21:57] We think, look, if I can just preach like Steve [22:04] and be theologically as sharp as him, then all my problems can be fixed. [22:07] If I just find that right verse in the Bible, right? [22:10] If I just apply these three things, then my life will be fixed. [22:15] There’s this appearance of faith.
[22:18] Not only that, there’s this borrowed faith. [22:20] You see that? They were trying to borrow his name. [22:23] You may come from a Christian background, from a family. [22:27] You were churched when you were young or something. [22:30] But did you own it?
[22:34] Last service I talked about, Blockbusters. [22:37] Anybody remember Blockbusters? [22:38] You go in, you borrow a videotape or a DVD, right? [22:44] You remember that? [22:45] It wasn’t yours, because if you didn’t return it, is it a week? [22:49] I don’t remember.
[22:49] It was like a week, and they would attack you with some crazy fine. [22:54] They’d send the police at you.
[22:58] Maybe not in Midlothian.
[23:02] But you didn’t own it. [23:03] It wasn’t yours. It wasn’t like you could pop it in any time. [23:06] You just borrowed it. [23:08] It doesn’t mean anything.
[23:11] That’s kind of faith doesn’t please God.
[23:15] In fact, Jesus talks about this. [23:18] There’s people that had an appearance of faith, and they just borrowed it. [23:21] They were actually going out in Matthew 7. [23:25] They were going out and came back and said, [23:26] Look, we cast out demons in your name. [23:29] We were preaching and healing in your name.
[23:33] You know what Jesus said to them? [23:35] Some of you that do that, preach and heal.
[23:39] And all this stuff, I never knew you. [23:44] And when I was a young Christian, I trusted Jesus when I was 16. [23:46] I remember reading through Matthew. [23:49] That was my favorite book because the Gospels began with Matthew. [23:51] And I started reading in that book. [23:53] I got to chapter 7, and I would read those very words.
[23:57] I never knew you. It just brought great fear in me. [24:00] Like, wow. [24:02] You know? [24:03] Is this authentic?
[24:07] That’s the next point. [24:09] Instead of appearance of faith, we need authentic faith. [24:12] That you are so convinced from God’s Word and the Spirit of God [24:18] living and working through your life to sanctify your life, [24:23] that you’re so convinced you are saved. [24:24] You’re utterly saved.
[24:25] Not because of your works, but because of what the Gospel says [24:29] and what Christ has done for you. [24:33] And that’s authentic faith. [24:35] That you’re utterly convinced and that you would give of your life to Jesus. [24:41] There’s a story of Jesus’ interaction with the centurion. [24:46] The centurion is a Roman guard overseeing a hundred soldiers.
[24:51] And he came to Jesus because his servant was sick. [24:54] You know that story? [24:55] And he comes to him and says, help me out, Jesus.
[25:01] My servant’s sick. Can you heal him? [25:04] And Jesus starts walking and says, sure, I’ll go with you. [25:07] And the centurion says, no, no, no. You’re a busy man. [25:10] Just say the word and I’ll believe that he’s healed. [25:14] And Jesus is like, wow. [25:16] Are you serious?
[25:18] I’ve been all over preaching in Israel, even in the capital city, Jerusalem. [25:24] And he says this, truly, I’ll tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. [25:32] So authentic. [25:34] And not only was it authentic, man, he’s bold. [25:38] He believed.
[25:41] This is the kind of faith that pleases God. [25:45] That where we find this great joy is living boldly by faith. [25:51] Okay? [25:52] So when you think about what that looks like, you may be thinking, maybe like Christy, [25:58] going to Mexico and, you know, she’s leaving everything and going there. [26:03] Or other people that are missionaries or maybe a speaker that’s a church planter and all this stuff.
[26:11] Or you may think of Steve and other staff that are bold.
[26:16] It can be discouraging. [26:19] You know, you say, I’m not really that bold.
[26:24] And you know where it begins? [26:27] It doesn’t begin with you. [26:29] It begins with God. [26:31] It begins by simply turning to Him and acknowledging that, you’re right, I have no boldness in me. [26:37] I have a lot of fear and timidity in me. [26:40] I may be good at doing certain things, but over time I’m going to always fail and chicken out.
[26:46] You know what? [26:47] It just simply begins by praying and asking God for boldness. [26:51] Because the apostles, you saw that in the book of Acts, when they get to chapter 5, [26:54] after they were arrested in chapter 4, they went out again. [26:58] They were told not to preach. [26:59] They went out again and started preaching.
[27:02] And then when they gathered together, they prayed specifically, God, give us boldness to preach.
[27:09] And they didn’t pray the very things that we would pray for. [27:13] God, protect us from getting arrested. [27:15] Protect us from being persecuted. [27:17] Protect us from being rejected and hurt. [27:20] No, they just said, give us boldness.
[27:23] And no wonder the gospel went forth through these people. [27:26] They were bold, not just in their telling, but how they were living. [27:30] They shared everything. [27:31] They were generous in their giving to the gospel mission. [27:37] They gave sacrificially, not just their finances, but they were committed to the church. [27:45] They became a new family, a new people.
[27:49] Nowhere else in the world would ever find a group like this. [27:52] That’s what the church is meant to be. [27:54] And that’s what being bold is.
[27:58] And this is the kind of people that change the world.
[28:05] Jesus talks about bold prayers. [28:10] He says in Matthew 17, 20, [28:12] For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, [28:15] that’s one of the smallest seeds out there, [28:17] you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, [28:22] and it will move.
[28:26] And nothing will be impossible for you. [28:29] That’s crazy, right? [28:31] Don’t you think that’s ridiculous?
[28:34] I’m sure you’ve prayed things. [28:36] God, get rid of that person in my life.
[28:42] That family member, relative, coworker, neighbor, [28:47] that person driving in front of you, just get him out of the way. [28:50] You know, this is how DC people are.
[28:56] We want mountains to be moved, don’t we? [29:00] You probably pray those things, and God answers those?
[29:04] Because maybe the mountain that he’s trying to move is your heart.
[29:09] He’s not trying to change those people, he’s trying to change you. [29:13] That’s a mountain, isn’t it? [29:16] But you know what? Jesus is being very literal. [29:18] You know, scholars debate, is he using hyperbole? [29:21] Jesus is always using hyperbole?
[29:24] Some scholars believe that he’s pointing to this mountain, Herodium, [29:28] about seven miles outside of Jerusalem. [29:33] It’s about twice as tall as the Empire State Building, [29:36] and so they could see it from seven miles out. [29:40] That’s what Jesus did when he talked about the fig tree withering, [29:44] or the birds in the air.
[29:46] He’s actually pointing, just like we would point to a PowerPoint. [29:50] That’s what I believe Jesus was doing. [29:52] Say to that mountain, go from there to there. [29:55] That’s crazy. That’s crazy bold.
[30:00] And these are the kind of prayers that we’re called to pray, [30:04] trusting and believing God, not to change other people, [30:08] but to change us and use us to change people. [30:12] And here’s what it takes. It takes C, collective faith. [30:16] You know, when I used to think about collective faith, [30:18] I thought that was kind of weak, you know?
[30:21] That faith is something that is individual, and it is. [30:24] It’s very personal. [30:26] You pray, you receive Christ, you place your faith in Jesus. [30:30] It’s not a family of people doing it. [30:33] You have to make a decision about your faith. [30:36] But you know what?
[30:38] More and more, when I think about faith, [30:39] it is a collective thing as well. [30:43] Maybe saving faith is very individual, [30:48] but the church is a family. [30:51] This is a collection of faith. [30:53] You can’t send a missionary to Mexico on their own.
[30:58] We can’t plant a church in Fairfax on our own. [31:02] We need other churches. [31:03] We need a collective group of people to come alongside, [31:06] to help us do what we can’t do on our own. [31:09] It requires collective faith. [31:11] And this is why, when Steve says, you know,
[31:13] I’m imploring you to partner with us [31:18] in saturating Christi in prayer. [31:22] Because where your heart is, [31:25] that’s where your treasures will be.
[31:28] And it requires collective faith. [31:30] I was sitting here one day, me and my dad was visiting, [31:34] and every time he comes, he likes to fix things. [31:36] He’s got a family member like that that visits. [31:40] My dad just comes and wants to fix something, right? [31:44] And my tail light was busted.
[31:46] And so he ordered online for me a tail light assembly. [31:50] He didn’t even ask. [31:51] He just ordered it. [31:52] And then it arrives, and then we start fixing it together. [31:58] And we’re trying to figure out the screws and all that. [32:00] I was like, hey, dad, you just unscrew this one.
[32:02] Now it pops out. [32:03] And we’re doing this. [32:04] And then my dad says something very insightful. [32:07] He says, hey, you know, it’s always easier [32:11] when we have more than one person working together. [32:15] You know what?
[32:16] I couldn’t have fixed that thing on my own. [32:18] I would have just taken it to the dealer or some repair person. [32:23] It was an easy fix. [32:25] But just having someone there, [32:28] and this is what it means to be a Christian, [32:30] we don’t have it all together.
[32:32] None of us do. [32:33] Not even pastors. [32:34] We need a collective group of people. [32:36] That’s why, you know, we meet on Sundays. [32:40] That’s why during the midweek we have these village groups, right? [32:46] Community groups.
[32:47] And then that’s why you also have these discipleship groups, [32:51] smaller, four to five people that gather together on your own time, [32:55] because you can’t do it on your own. [32:58] And this is what the church is meant to be. [33:00] A collection of people who are broken, [33:03] who desperately need Jesus.
[33:06] You know, it was great having Steve with us last night encouraging us, [33:11] and he got to see what our launch team was like. [33:15] And, you know, one sister on our launch team shared, [33:18] and we started with 12, and we would do these things called life story, [33:21] where people would share about their life, you know, birth, all the way, [33:24] talk about their family,
[33:25] [33:26] And the sister just started out sharing about just brokenness in her family. [33:31] You know, talking about infidelity in her parents and divorce. [33:37] And it was just raw. [33:38] And she talked about her sexual sins. [33:41] And she was just real.
[33:42] And this was, you know, we had kids there. [33:45] You know, I was getting uncomfortable a little bit. [33:47] Were you getting uncomfortable, Steve? [33:49] I was like, I mean, it was getting late at night. [33:51] And I was like, man, she has a kid too. [33:54] And it was a mixed group.
[33:56] And she was real. [33:58] And you know why? [33:59] Because here’s what happens.
[34:02] If you place your identity in Jesus Christ, [34:06] there’s no more hiding anymore.
[34:09] You know, there’s nothing worse than coming to church or a gathering [34:14] when you’re just faking it, trying to make it, right? [34:17] You’re putting on a mask and putting on a performance. [34:20] Because all the, during the week you tried magic to try to fix your life and it doesn’t work. [34:25] But once you figure that the magic that you need isn’t magic, it’s Jesus. [34:30] The power that you need to change your life is Jesus.
[34:33] That you can come to a gathering, it doesn’t matter. [34:36] And you can be vulnerable and transparent. [34:38] You can be free. [34:39] And you can celebrate not your sins, but how great the cross is that covers all your sins. [34:45] That’s the beauty of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. [34:48] We’re all jacked up.
[34:50] Even though we may put on a nice shirt and iron it and come up to the front, [34:54] we’re all broken, sinful people. [34:58] The grace of God covers all of our sins. [35:02] This is what it means to be a Christian. [35:04] This is the message and the power that goes forth when people see, you know, [35:09] these evil spirits of people in D.C. or Midlothian or Richmond.
[35:14] All they talk about is their money or their family. [35:18] Those very powers, idols that they hold up. [35:22] There’s a different power in town. [35:24] And that invades your life. [35:26] You don’t talk about just those things. [35:27] You’re even talking about sins in your life.
[35:33] It takes collective faith.
[35:36] In Mark chapter 2, the story about the paralytic. [35:40] This person was paralyzed and Jesus was preaching and teaching in the home.
[35:47] And his friends brought this guy on a stretcher, [35:52] and they cracked open the roof and lowered the guy down. [35:55] And here’s what Jesus says. [35:56] And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to them, to the paralytic, [36:01] son, your sins are forgiven. [36:02] He saw their faith, collective faith.
[36:07] This is what the church is supposed to be.
[36:11] You know, hopefully someone invited you to come. [36:14] Many of you probably came to church because someone invited you. [36:18] Someone cared enough about you. [36:20] Someone was authentic enough about you. [36:22] Someone was bold enough to even call you or to text you to say, come, [36:27] because they care about you.
[36:29] This is a collective thing, because they want to see you experience the same joy. [36:35] This is what the church is meant to be. [36:37] See, this mountain, when Jesus pointed to it, [36:41] do you know this is a man-made mountain in the desert?
[36:45] Twice as tall as the Empire State Building. [36:47] Here’s another picture that shows, this looks like a volcano at the top, [36:51] because there was a castle or a palace that King Herod had. [36:55] Look at that picture, this illustration. [36:59] This was his grand palace that he would die, [37:02] and he thought the end of the world would come.
[37:03] He would leave Jerusalem for his big temple there, [37:08] and kingdom, and then would come here. [37:11] And you know what? [37:12] This is a man-made mountain. [37:15] That means there were slaves and servants, buckets of dirt, day after day. [37:25] Hundreds, thousands of them, day after day.
[37:29] So when Jesus is talking about, save that mountain, move from here to there, [37:33] He’s not talking about magic. [37:35] He’s saying a faith that every day, bucket, every moment, bucket, whenever you can’t, go. [37:43] There’s someone next to you, another bucket of dirt. [37:47] That’s what He’s saying. [37:50] And that’s what the church is.
[37:51] Church isn’t, it’s just going to happen. [37:54] I was telling our launch team, you know, our first year, we’re going to struggle, [37:57] and there are going to be people that we’re going to want to tap out, including me. [38:00] I’m sure, Steve, you felt that way. [38:02] But it’s going to take people coming alongside. [38:06] One bucket, one after another.
[38:09] That’s how you move a mountain. [38:11] That’s the kind of faith that means to follow Jesus. [38:14] Change doesn’t happen instantly.
[38:18] That’s why I want to encourage you, keep coming out. [38:22] Keep coming to church. [38:23] Keep getting involved in a community group, a discipleship group. [38:27] Go to that coffee. [38:30] Take the next step. [38:31] What can you do today?
[38:34] If you’re just going to be another person again, and just sit in the same chair, [38:40] and not do anything, what’s the next step that you can take? [38:45] Do you want to experience this life-transforming power, [38:50] this grace that you can’t find anywhere else?
[38:54] Do you want to be more like Jesus? [38:56] Do you want to be involved in his mission? [38:59] This is the place. [39:01] This is the church. [39:03] God’s Word, the Gospel, is that power that can change your life. [39:08] So I want to encourage you to go.
[39:13] Get involved. [39:14] Take the next step. [39:15] You know, I talked about the bungee cord. [39:17] It’s this.
[39:20] We’re all like that. [39:21] We’re all afraid to take that next step. [39:24] And someone’s counting down, right? [39:28] And you know, God never pushes anybody. [39:31] He doesn’t. [39:33] And he knows that there are people in their faith just struggling,
[39:37] and they’re just falling and failing, and they don’t know if they’re going to land. [39:41] Jesus is that bungee cord. [39:45] He won’t let you fall. [39:47] The Bible promises, if you are faithless, he is faithful. [39:51] Ain’t no slipping. [39:53] His hand has got you.
[39:56] The Father has got you. [39:57] The Son has got you. [39:59] The Holy Spirit, they got you. [40:02] It doesn’t matter how dark your sins are. [40:07] The worst sins that you’ve ever done or have been committed against you, [40:12] God’s hand of grace and his love is not to condemn you,
[40:17] but to save you and to restore you and to bring you back home. [40:22] That’s what that bungee cord is. [40:25] But you know what? In order for that to happen, [40:29] someone had to be naked and bloodied. [40:34] And that was Jesus.
[40:38] You know, the exorcists, they tried to invoke Jesus’ name [40:43] and they ended up bloody and battered and naked. [40:49] That was our Savior.
[40:51] He could have came and just wiped out people, [40:56] but he chose a different route. [40:58] Crazy. He chose to get naked or stripped of his clothes. [41:04] He chose to be beaten and bloodied. [41:07] Why? To save us. [41:10] And this is what communion is today.
[41:13] It’s a reminder for us. [41:15] We’re faithless. [41:18] But God is faithful. [41:21] That’s what the message of the Gospel is. [41:25] Yeah, praise God. [41:27] It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve messed up.
[41:30] That he is faithful. [41:32] He alone has shed his blood and broken his body. [41:36] So I want to pray, and I want you to consider, [41:38] what is the next step that you need to take with Village Church? [41:43] You can’t do it alone. [41:45] The same way that all people’s community church,
[41:47] we can’t do it without Village Church. [41:49] We can’t. [41:50] And we can’t wait for you to send a team to us as well [41:53] to help us love on our community and reach out to them. [41:58] Same thing, you can’t do it alone. [42:00] So will you bow with me?
[42:02] As you do, I’d like to ask you just to open your hands. [42:06] I want you to open your hands. [42:06] That you’re going to be vulnerable before God. [42:09] There’s no power in this. [42:10] There’s no magic in this. [42:11] Instead of crossing your arms and clenching your fist,
[42:15] just say, Lord, I want to be open.
[42:18] Maybe there’s a reason why we’re so guarded. [42:22] Some sin in our life, something that’s been done to us, [42:25] or maybe even at a church. [42:27] Some crazy pastor has said to us, [42:30] there’s miscommunication. [42:33] And we’ve been hurt.
[42:35] And Lord, you’re aware of all those things. [42:38] You’re aware of the darkest corners of our hearts. [42:41] And you’re still invading and pursuing [42:44] and shining light towards us. [42:46] You’re not telling us to come to the light. [42:48] The light came down into darkness.
[42:51] That’s our greatest hope. [42:52] And not only that, but Jesus would take our place [42:55] to be beaten, bloodied, naked. [42:59] And he would take our guilt and our shame [43:01] for all of our sins. [43:03] And so that we may be forgiven.
[43:05] And that the righteousness of Christ, [43:08] the perfect life that he lived, [43:10] would be transferred to us. [43:13] We don’t deserve that. [43:15] It’s this thing called grace, which is a gift. [43:17] So Lord, we celebrate you.
[43:20] Thank you for these elements. [43:24] Thank you for this church. [43:26] Thank you for the opportunities. [43:27] I pray for these people. [43:27] There’s so many that can connect to a community. [43:29] I pray for these people.
[43:32] What steps do they need to take? [43:35] What will they do? [43:36] May they not leave here today without making a decision. [43:39] What should I do? [43:40] Do I need to talk to the pastor and figure out [43:42] if I’m really a Christian?
[43:45] Or what avenues, what groups can I join? [43:50] Help them take that step of faith today. [43:52] In Jesus’ name I pray. [43:53] Amen.
[43:56] Right now I just want to transition us [43:59] into a time of just responding [44:02] to what we’ve just heard. [44:04] An authentic faith. [44:06] A bold faith. [44:08] A collective faith.
[44:10] So I believe right now that each and every person in here [44:14] has a step of faith to make. [44:17] It’s going to look different in every life. [44:19] Some of you need to trust in Jesus. [44:22] For the first time. [44:23] Some of you need to take a step
[44:26] to a bolder form of discipleship. [44:29] To actually lay your sins down [44:31] that are preventing you from following Jesus. [44:33] From giving more of yourself over into Him. [44:36] For trusting Him for more and more parts of your life [44:39] to be for Him in worship.
[44:41] Some of you need to join in. [44:43] You need to join a group. [44:45] You need to come alongside other people. [44:47] And be free of your shame. [44:50] Free of your guilt. [44:52] Free of your fear of other people.
[44:55] So you can build reconciled relationships [44:57] to be greater disciples of Christ. [45:01] But in all of that faith [45:02] there’s a basis upon which it’s all built. [45:05] And that’s the finished work of Jesus. [45:08] That God the Son actually came to this earth,
[45:11] lived, died, and rose again. [45:14] So that your sins could be forgiven. [45:16] And so that your life could be changed. [45:18] And you could have God’s resurrection power. [45:20] To actually know Him. [45:22] To actually worship Him.
[45:24] To be reconciled to God now and forever. [45:27] If you’re in here and you’ve trusted in Jesus, [45:30] you’ve placed your faith in Him, [45:32] and you want to follow Him, [45:34] the bread on the table represents the broken body of Jesus. [45:37] The cup represents His shed blood.
[45:40] And when we eat and when we drink, [45:43] what that represents is you proclaiming, [45:45] Yes, I believe in Christ. [45:48] I believe that He is in me. [45:50] I believe that He is for me. [45:52] I believe that God has torn down every barrier
[45:54] between me and Him. [45:57] And now I can come and have good fellowship with my Creator. [46:02] If that’s you this morning, [46:04] I invite you to the front or to the back [46:06] where we have communion tables. [46:08] And when you eat and drink, pray,
[46:10] God, reveal to me my next step. [46:14] When you’re ready, come.