Built On, Not Stuck In

This has been starting in me for a minute, and I've let it build, and I finally broke it into two messages, and I feel it's time to release because God's given me a word for our church, I believe, and extended even further. And the end result of what we're going to get to is I really felt the Lord said that we're the ends of the Earth generation. And like I said, I'm going to get there. So just bear with me as we work through this process.

It'll probably be, I'll finish it two weeks from now, but I really want to start today and lay the foundation about what it looks like for us as the church today. The church was planted. There was a foundation planted, but how many of you know when it was planted? That it was given for us to keep it going.

It was a continuous, you've heard in the past the, you remember the message if you were here that I talked about how John the Baptist was, you know, he kind of paved the way and handed the ball off to Jesus and Jesus handed the ball off to his disciples, and then it was just this continuous thing. Well, this is kind of going to build on that because there was a foundation laid, but it was never meant to just stay a foundation. We were meant to build on it. We were meant to just continue the church to build it up, but then expand out, amen?

So that's what we're going to start talking about. So there's a title on message, built on, stay with me, built on, not stuck in. Come on. This is going to be a little challenging, but I hope the Lord helps me bring clarity today for you guys about what I believe he ultimately wants to say to our church and to the church today to help us to continue the mission.

But it all started a really long time ago, but I didn't pick it up to really, I'd say, more recent, where I kept feeling like I kept hearing the phrase, we just need to get back to the book of Acts church. You all ever heard that? You all with me? People will say all the time, we just need to get back to the book of Acts church.

And I remember this one day, I really felt like the Lord just, he said, hey, you're not the early church. And I paused, I'm like, okay, God, I need you to give me more. He said, you were meant to build on what they started. And listen, before you guys get crazy or start leaving or walking out, because you think I'm talking bad about the book of Acts church, I'm not, because it was wild, amen?

There was miracles that broke out in the streets, the fire of Pentecost fell, like ordinary people were getting touched and changed. The church really was just, the whole, all cities were being flipped upside down. A lot was happening. A lot of good stuff was happening.

It was, it was raw, it was real. It's what, it's what today people are chasing after, revival, right? That's what I believe we read and what we ultimately see. But here's the, here's the truth, churches that were not the early church.

Amen, can I get one amen today? If I got to pull it out of you, I'm going to, I'm trying to stay stationary, but help me out this morning. We were never meant to stay there. The book of Acts church wasn't the ceiling, it was the floor.

I'm going to say it again. It wasn't the ceiling, it was the floor. It wasn't the finished house, it was the foundation. And I really want to talk about foundations today, because church here in my heart, if we keep trying to go back to the book of Acts which he laid then, we're going to miss what God's doing and building right now.

We're going to miss what he's building right now. Help me Lord. The book of Acts was never meant to be a museum. It was meant to be momentum.

It was never meant to just keep looking, keep looking, keep looking. It was meant to see how it started and then what we were called to carry. And it was supposed to be momentum for us to carry it forth now and to continue to carry this thing and build the church. You're not convinced yet, it's okay.

I knew this was going to be a little challenging, but it started with something powerful. But I want to tell you today, and I hope we start to unfold is that we were called to carry it with, I believe, a greater power and even greater power than what it started with because how many of you know we serve a good God? You sing about it, all powerful God in that Jesus, you know, there's so many things that we see happen. But then there's this continuous pattern that shows growth and movement forward and thing after thing happen and then things in Scripture that says we'll go on to do greater things.

There's a greater power that we have access to tap into church. And I believe he's calling us into that, but if we keep trying to just go back to coffee, we won't actually step into what he's actually called us to. So I hope today that you hear my heart and that the Holy Spirit helps you understand that that was a start of a movement and we're meant to continue to carry it out today and take it even further. All right, one amen again.

Shoo. Here's what I want to tell you. The same spirit that filled the upper room then is the same spirit that's pouring out right now. The same spirit, it's pouring out right now.

And here's something I believe God's saying, don't go back to what I began, build on what was already laid, build on it. Church, this is what I believe, this isn't a season to repeat history. It's a season to reveal destiny. And so I hope that you get excited today because I believe the Lord's taken us somewhere and he's showing us something.

So my first point today, I only have two points, but they're long. It's foundation, that's why my whole message was four points. So I've broken into two for you because I need, I need a Costa Rican time to preach. I need two and a half hours so that I can actually get the whole word out.

But foundations, my first point are meant to be built on. We're going to be in 1 Corinthians 3 chapter 3, starting in verse 10. Got your Bible split there. If you don't, it'll be on the screen.

And I'm going to go quick because I think it was the last time Pastor Francis said he had a little machine gun bullets. Well, that's what I have today. And we're going to talk about a lot. But 1 Corinthians 3, starting in verse 10, this is the apostle Paul, by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder and someone else is building on it.

Say someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care for no one can lay any foundation other than one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Can somebody say amen? My first point today is that foundation was laid for expansion, not occupation.

See, when the apostle Paul wrote this, the city of Corinth was booming with construction. It was known for its massive temples, its structures, its marble structures, its wealth. It's a place where builders mattered. So when he says this, that's the language that Paul's using.

He's using construction language here. He's using that when he would say this, they would pick up and understand what he was saying. Listen, I came and laid the foundation. That foundation is Christ himself.

But my job wasn't to finish building it. It was to make sure that the foundation was solid so others could build on it. Can I get an amen? I'm going to work it out of you this morning.

And I want you to understand, that's what apostles do. They break ground. They dig deep. They lay something stable enough for generations upon generations to continue to build on.

And that's what we're seeing here. It wasn't a destination. A foundation is not a destination church. It's preparation.

Nobody lays a foundation and it's like, all right, house is done. That's the starting point. That has to be laid first so then something else can be built upon it. Amen?

It's got to be solid. It's got to be good. Christ is the foundation. They don't get much better than that.

But we were meant to continue to build on that. It wasn't supposed to just stay just the foundation. That was the start and we're meant to build on it. I'm like, preach just to you today.

That's okay. See, there has to be, when you build a foundation, what goes around it? Walls. Oh, that's, you know what I mean?

Like, you don't just move into that section. It's got to be built upon. I don't know if you know, but we are continuing to build today. Ultimately, we're going to get to and see that we were called to reach nations which we're doing.

But do you know there's still unreached places in this world? There's still unreached people in this world. I heard one little yes over here. I'm going to ask this.

Do you guys understand? There's still a mission to be done. The reason the foundation was laid is that something could be built on it to continue it. Not to just stay.

See, just with a snap to spingers. I mean, like, all right, we're done. There needed, it didn't need to be any of this, but there's a purpose that it was a foundation so we could build upon it. Amen.

That's a good point right there. You can't live in what was only meant to be built on. And here's, unfortunately, this is what many believers do. They admire the foundation.

They can't put on it. They protect it. They never build on it. My heart is that we learn to build church.

That we build upon what was laid. That we continue and carry on what was done before us. And we understand the mission and the assignment and we partner with it and we take it further. Amen.

So what I love about this is he said, I laid the foundation, but somebody else is building on it. Here's what I love about the Apostle Paul is he knew something. He knew that what God started through him was never meant to stop with him. I think we might miss some of these things.

I'm hoping I'm bringing something to light right now for you that we begin to see him in Paul here, I believe, with the kingdom of God really looks like. And serving the kingdom of God and establishing something. But seeing further, not just seeing right there in front of us, but be having to see further that while God's using me for something else, that it started here. But to be able to say then somebody else is building on it and leaving that open allows me to know that the Apostle Paul has seen so much further in this time, that it was always bigger than him.

It was always going to be bigger than him. That the kingdom of God can't be contained, church. They can't be contained in just one little person's mind that it's so much bigger than it's just going to expand. It's going to grow because that's what the kingdom of God does.

That's what God does. He's nothing but increase. Amen. That's all he does.

He touches something and it can only get better. Ooh, Lord help us this morning. It was never meant to stop with him. Phew.

It's a building project that passes from generation to generation. You know, our kids in this generation is going to build on what we continue to build on. Here's the unfortunate thing that if we don't keep building church, then they have to start a place we stopped and we have to continue to teach them that, hey, this is a continuous thing that you build on and that we actually leave them. Here's the heart that we leave them with something to build upon, that it continues to build and grow and outlast us, outlast them, that we help them see that what we're building in the kingdom of God will continue to increase.

It will continue to grow. But if we keep looking at the foundation and going back to it and being like, it's a nice foundation. It's a really good foundation, but we don't start building on it. What are we doing for the next generation?

My heart today is to ask you, do you see beyond what we're doing right now? Do you see beyond, do you see the benefit of what God's calling you to do right now? And how important it is is that you're building this on top of this foundation that was laid for a greater kingdom to be built, to reach further than we ever reached. Do you see it?

It's okay if you don't. I'm hoping that I help you today. Point two, someone else is building on it. And this is the kingdom pattern.

See, when Paul planted the church in Corinth and this is in Acts 18, he spent about 18 months laying down truth, establishing leadership and introducing them the foundation which is Jesus Christ we established that. But see, after Paul left, it says, Paul is a gifted teacher, came in and continued disciple and believers building upon what Paul has already laid. I don't know if you've read that or if you've heard of Paul, but you see what I'm talking about here. I'm trying to build up this understanding that foundation and what's been done is that it's being laid for others to come in upon and stand on and continue it.

This side kind of has it. You hear what I'm saying? This was the foundation. Somebody built this so I could stand on it.

So I could build on it then to do this. There's a continuous pattern. We should be leaving it for others to build on. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, 6, everyone loves to talk about this, but I planted a Paulist water, but God gave the growth.

See I believe personally that in some of this that someone else refers to Apollos and other peoples like him. I believe that it's coming from a place of understanding what I'm doing and that the people behind is going to come and build on top of and then they're going to keep taking it and keep going and keep going. I believe it was open. It's why he doesn't say Apollos, but we can't read the scripture and not see that Apollos came in and took off where Paul left off.

So someone else, we get a picture of people like Apollos who continued something that the Apostle Paul started, but he left it open and I'm not going to try to say the phrase because it will not be good, but it literally means church. The phrase that he says there is that another of the same kind is building upon it. Another of the same kind is building upon it. So that to me means it's not just Apollos.

It's that everyone who keeps building the kingdom, everybody who keeps building the kingdom, the same purpose of the same kind, another of the same kind. All of us here are trying to establish something and build something for the kingdom. Amen? We all are saying we know Jesus is the foundation and we trust to build upon that and we learn from the scriptures that this is what was meant to be done.

Continuous. Keep building, keep building, keep building. We see what they've done. We see what they're about, but it's everyone who keeps building the kingdom and the same spirit with the same purpose.

This was never meant to be a one man project. That's my next point. Paul's understood. He understood.

It was always generational and always meant to be collaborative. I got to catch up here. I want to say this, the early church wasn't built on one personality, it was built on a partnership. Like we read Paul planted in Paul's water, God gave the growth.

It isn't one builder's monument. It's every believer's assignment. My prayer is that today something stirs in you that you are a builder of the kingdom of God. I don't know if you heard me, church, that you have purpose for your life and it's a builder of the kingdom of God.

Now he trusts you to continue that assignment, that you have assignment. Maybe today you didn't know you had an assignment and you get on assignment today. It's to carry what was already started. To build upon what was already laid, to carry this thing out and to continue.

This wasn't supposed to just be for one person in a monument for them, but it was a partnership to continue to go, continue to take. Yes, Paul started a lot of churches and read a lot of the New Testament, but we were meant to carry that thing out and take it even further. I want to say this, each of us are someone else. When we hear the someone else, I want you to put yourself in there because that's who we are.

We're the someone else from when this was made. I want to tell you that you're standing on someone else's prayers right now. You didn't hear what I said at church. You're standing and sitting in someone else's prayers right now.

Right where you're at. Somebody else's prayers. If you're walking through doors that somebody else opened. You, we, your harvesting fields, somebody else planted.

And one day, if you catch this, somebody else will build on what you're building on right now. See, when Paul talked about plant, polished water, God gives the increase, he wasn't comparing ministries. He was connecting them. There was a connection about how this works, how the kingdom works, is that it's a partnership.

It's a partnering of all working parts to come together to accomplish the main goal for God to be able to grow and increase. He's saying, hey, we're all working on the same project here. Part of my heart today is to help us come together to understand that this is a guide's assignment for this house that we're trying to accomplish and that everyone plays a crucial part. And you're part of the building process.

And that we're building the same project together and every builder is important. That's the heart today. So I hope you get excited to be a builder because that's what it's all about. That's why I believe Paul says, first Corinthians 3-9, we are co-workers and God is a guide service.

You're God's fields. You're God's buildings. I started the work. Paul is a continuing it.

But ultimately it's God's construction site for others to continue to build on. So that's someone else's us church. I don't know if you see it. And I'm not saying nothing special.

I'm just saying what the scripture is special, but this is what Paul said, for we are co-workers and God's service. So Paul understood God's design for the church was partnership. He laid what God told him to lay, but he also kept in mind that others would build after him. So foundations are laid for continuation.

This is my fourth point. A foundation doesn't demand perfection. It demands participation. Paul didn't say, I finished it.

He said, I started it. I started it. I laid the foundation and others are building on it. See the book of Acts church laid the groundwork, but the next generation was meant to expand it.

They didn't finish the church. They formed the blueprint to it. I said earlier, we're not meant to copy what they did, but we're meant to continue what they started. The same grace that empowered Paul delayed the foundation, the same grace and power in us to build higher and further than we ever could.

See someone else building on it. I'm going to keep talking about this because I hope it lands. Someone else built on it. Prophetically, points right to our generation church.

Points right to us. The apostle laid in the first century, the foundation. The reformers revived it in the 16th century. The revivalists reignited it in the 19th and the spirit is renewing right now in the 21st.

I started it, but it's being finished through us. It's being carried through us. It's being continued through us. This might not sound exciting, but I'm telling you church, you should be excited because I believe God's revealed to us today through scripture that there's such a big assignment for us right now to continue to build the church.

This was a lot more exciting me studying it than preaching it right now, but it's okay because I believe God will work it out and he will begin to ignite in you what he shared with me. We should be excited about this. Amen. Is anybody excited that you're a builder of God's kingdom?

See, if Paul could lay a foundation and Paul could build on it, it tells us something about how God moves. His kingdom doesn't stop with one generation, it expands through every generation, every generation. But for that to happen, we have to remember who this one thing is being built on. I want to talk about the cornerstone.

That's Jesus. He says for no one can lay any foundation other than one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Church, I want to tell you that he's not just talking about any foundation, he's talking about the person of Jesus Christ. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus.

I want to tell you today that the church, the foundation, isn't built. It says the foundation of Jesus Christ. Everything is built from that. It should focus on that, it should be all about that.

Like I said, it's not about building on one personality. It's really not about building on preferences or programs. It's not built on trends, talent, tradition. You can put whatever you want there, but it says here that it's built on Christ alone, being the focus.

If I only get one amen in this house today, we got some work we got to do before we get even to the foundation. Come on church, listen, it's built on Christ alone, the one who did everything. He's the whole reason we're here because of Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection. It's Christ alone that we built upon.

A couple of way men's on this side. I got to work this side a little bit more. I'll work in there, but Christ alone. But I want to tell you today, I believe this Christ expects us as believers to continue the construction, to build upon what he did.

He's the cornerstone. He's the main stone. He's the main point. He's everything that we should be focused on and looking at.

Isaiah 2816 calls Jesus a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation. The cornerstone was the first and most important stone. It is set the alignment for the entire structure. So if Jesus, yeah, one woo, if Jesus is the cornerstone, then church, our job is to stay aligned with that, with him, while building up.

You don't move the cornerstone, you build on it. Listen, the person of Jesus is the perfect representation throughout scripture for us to model our life's after. I'll say it over here. Jesus and the person of Jesus and who he is throughout scripture is the perfect representation for us to align our life's with and model our lives after.

The cornerstone was set, perfect cornerstone set. All we have to do is look at Jesus and we'll perfectly align with where we're meant to align to build on. If we're not looking at Jesus and we're not diving into the scriptures to see the nature of who he is throughout scripture, the person of who he is, that's how we get off of alignment. He's the cornerstone.

Focus on the cornerstone. I don't know if your life is out of alignment today. Focus on the cornerstone. We have a cornerstone that's set that you can look at, that you can model after, and that you will get lined back up and you'll get in perfect formation for something to be built upon your life and for your life to allow others to see who you are and what Christ uses is about.

Shoe, we. That's what I believe Paul said, build with care. See the foundation never changes, but what's built upon that keeps growing, maturing, and reaching higher toward God's design. Foundations, verse formation, you can go.

I already read that. Look at that. We're making through and we're doing okay. We're getting through.

This is not easy. There's a lot to go through. But again, I really felt Lord wanted to build upon this so we can go really step into this further. I want to tell you this, the foundation represents salvation, what Christ accomplished.

Like I said earlier, without him we had nothing. That's the foundation. I believe the building represents the sanctification that we talk about, and that's what Christ continues to build in and through us. That's the sanctification part.

The foundation was laid for us. The structure is built through us. Amen? I'll say one more time.

The foundation was laid for us. The structure is built through us. Acts is the story of the foundation being poured. But Ephesians, Colossians, and the rest of the New Testament church, I believe it shows the structure being formed.

We see identity in there. We see maturity in there. We see leadership in there. We see fruit.

We see mission. We see all of these things. So we have a foundation, but then we start to see something greater and how it begins to be formed. How we begin to build off of this foundation that was laid.

It's all of these things that's being talked about our identity, maturity, leadership, fruit, the mission. If we stop at the book of Acts, church, we keep just going back, then we stop at the base. The God's vision has always been formation and growing, not just the foundation. Can I get one amen?

You're excited about that one. The foundation is what Christ accomplished for us. It's about what He's building through us now and the sanctification. The structure is being built through us.

If that doesn't excite you, come see me after church. I want to help you to know that there's something exciting going in you and that there's a part that you play. In with that building process, I really felt the Lord say that we're all building on the same project, but every builder looks a little different. Amen?

We're working on the same foundation. The next point is we build differently, but on the same foundation. Each one should build with care. I want you to notice something in this.

Each one should build with care. Paul does not say tell everyone to build the same way. He said each one should build with care. Here's what I want to tell you today, church.

That means there's diversity in design. I thank you in the back for whoever said that. You can say it one more time as I say this, there's diversity in design. But ultimately he says that there's unity.

There's unity in foundation. Diversity in design, but unity in foundation. You may not preach like Paul or reach people like Peter does, but as long as your foundation is Jesus, you're part of the same house. If Ephesians 220 says this, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

That means it's nobody's project but his. You're a builder in the ongoing work of God. The beauty of God's kingdom is that the foundation just doesn't age out. It expands.

He's using every single person and wants to use every single person to do that. Oh man, we don't like to hear this and I struggle for a little bit to understand it, but I'm such a believer now is that every generation adds something new. You hear all the time about you look back and you're like, I don't know what's happening with this generation. I really felt like the Lord began to speak to me a while back to say, hey, this generation is going to add something your generation is never going to be able to.

And so I'm just so excited and I hope you begin to see that every generation, there's an importance to every generation and that we should be sowing into them, we should be praying, we should be speaking life into them, but they add something new, but it all rests on the same foundation. That's what's so cool. Ephesians 220 and the message translation says that he used the apostles and the prophets were the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.

Shoe, we, and to wrap up my first point. Whoo! My question is today, church, is that if all that's true, we can't just sit around. We cannot just sit around guarding this concrete of this foundation.

We have to start building on it. If we read all of this and we begin to understand it, it was laid and meant to be carried on and built upon and to continue out through generation after generation after generation after generation, there's a building that needs to be done. There's a mindset and a focus that needs to go from, all right, this is what it was, but my job is to carry to what it's going to be. Try this side real quick.

This is what it was. Let me finish. This is what it was, just the foundation. This is what it's going to be.

This is what it's going to be, but we got to keep going. It's here right now. There's nothing here. We got to build it church.

We got to start building again and realize that the kingdom of God wants to advance, but we got to build it up and send it out. Build it up and send it out. That means it takes work to build. Grab the foundation, look what was laid, align with the cornerstone and continue to build out from it and see what God's going to do if you align with that and you'll continue in the process.

Shoo, thank you, Lord. You're preaching to me this morning. My last thing is don't camp on the concrete. I said earlier, if you only focus what's been laid, you'll never see what's being built.

A foundation being laid was the greatest promise of progression happening. The foundation of what was done was the greatest promise to look at to see that some something else was coming. It's the starting point of what's possible. Shoo, like I said, you don't move into something and really celebrate the foundation.

It's not complete. You start constructing. You start looking at it. You put Miss Kristen in a room that needs design and she just starts, and then we get books hanging on the wall and everyone's like, wow, you get in somewhere and then you start to look.

You don't just be like, oh, I'll just set up here. No, there's stuff that needs done. We begin to build. We open our minds to see things that aren't there yet.

We step into what God's trying to do. Again, I'm building the foundation, the book of Acts. It was the slab of the kingdom being poured. But our generation church, where the walls, where the roof, where the framework, where the finished work and the finishing of the works that carry on, the show the world, the foundation was made for.

This is what it was made for. We're preaching Jesus, but we're showing that it was meant to keep going. There was a foundation that we're meant to keep building on. So today, what are you building in your life right now?

That's the question. Write it down if you've got to know what am I building? I want you to just look at that this week. And when you look at it, don't just be like, what am I building to say, God, what have you called me to build?

What have you called me to build? How have you called me to build a Holy Spirit will answer you, I promise. And if he does answer and say, you're going to build a debt, come see me, please. My wife's been asking for one for years.

So I was just going to say that. That was not planned to be said, but maybe someone, amen. But see, each one should build with care. See, this wasn't just for the apostles.

It's not just for the pastors. It's not for the leaders that people look at. It was for everybody. It's for every believer.

Here's what I believe. If you're a believer, it's not whether are you building. It's what are you building? I'll say it one more time.

If you're a believer that has accepted Christ who's the cornerstone of foundation, it's no longer about whether you build or not. It's about what are you building? All right. Try this side.

If you've accepted Christ, it's no longer. Hey, should I build or what part do I play? I want to help believers start to get on fire. I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

That's what I'll tell you to do. That's what the Bible tells us to do. If you don't know what to do, serve. How can I step into serve?

If I'm a believer, I'm building something, whether you know it or not, and God's trusting you and using you, step into it. Because He wants to continue to build through you and on top of that. Amen. And maybe you're building today and I want to ask you, are you building a name?

We help me, Lord, are you building the kingdom? Are you adding weight to the foundation? Are you aligning with the cornerstone? There's a purpose for our lives and it's all about Jesus Christ and building on top of that.

In 1 Corinthians 3, 13, it says, each one's work will be revealed by fire. What you build will be tested. But here's my heart and I hope you know this is the heart too, that people hear these things and I don't want you to hear it wrong. Here's what I want you to tell.

Then it will be tested, but not to destroy it, but to prove it's strength. Not to destroy it, but to prove it's strength. So I encourage you, what are you building on? Is everybody okay?

Okay. Do I got a couple more minutes that's going to extend a little longer? You're have to help me out. Because I was out of the pocket for men and just letting me land a couple minutes later, alright?

We had to delay on one of our flights so y'all can delay a couple times I feel like. But I want to transition into point two and I will fly through point two. So Paul lays it out. Jesus is the foundation, the possible force of the slab, all of that good stuff and we're building on it.

But see, here's the crazy thing. If it was just meant for a foundation, he could have just stopped at acts. But he didn't. Because it was never supposed to be the finish line.

It was the launching pad. Well, God started in Jerusalem, wasn't meant to stay in Jerusalem. It was always meant to move. Here's the truth.

The mission of God, like I said before, we got to quit going back. It was never meant to go backwards. It was meant to go forwards. A continuous forward motion.

Because there's places and people that still need to be reached. See, the book of acts wasn't the story of what used to be. I think when you start to open your eyes to read this, it's the story of what was meant to be set in motion for to be continuing to roll in right now. Like rock into the wheels fall off rolling.

Like I was driving 80 last night to get home because I was tired. And I was hitting those spread lights. You heard about people were back there. And then it was like, I'm rolling around.

It was meant to be rolling like that. Full steam ahead. Shoot. It was meant to keep in motion.

We got to carry this momentum. The spirit that was poured out then is propelling us now. I'm going to say it one more time. The same spirit that was poured out then on them is propelling us now.

See, if the foundation represents Christ and what he's done, then the mission represents what he's still doing. Through you, through me, through his church today. So my second point with two minutes to go is that the mission was always forward, not backwards. This is my main scripture for this entire thing.

And it's Acts 1, 8. I'm using the new living translation. It says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses.

Say my witnesses. It doesn't say my keepers. It says my witnesses. Telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria.

And say it with me to the ends of the earth. See, the mission was always forward. These were Jesus' final words before he ascended. They weren't, I suggest in church, they were a commission.

This was a commission. And I just want to pause for a second. Because when he says Jerusalem, Judea, Judea, Judea, don't beat me up. Samaria.

In the ends of the earth, he was describing a progression church. He was showing you something here. These aren't just random places. He's showing you that it starts with Jerusalem.

It's not a circle. It just doesn't keep revolving back to the same spot. It's a continuous gone. It's a pointing out and it's just gone from one place, from Cumberland, to Laval, to Morgantown.

Do you hear what I'm saying? Do you hear what he's saying? This is Jesus talking to them about the church and what's supposed to happen. He says, hey, you need to start it now here.

But then it should just go. It should keep going if you keep carrying it. It should keep going if you keep carrying it. Shoo, wake up church.

Come on. It's about to get good. That was just my open door, my first point. I'm getting ready to get excited.

But there's no call in this to return back. I want to point that out. It says start where you're starting and then go. It doesn't point to come back.

It just keeps going and going and going and going and going. The call is to go beyond. Beyond where you start. Beyond where everything starts, it should carry on.

Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth. It was a launch pad, not a loop. It's not a story to repeat. It's a movement to continue.

Church, are you seeing it this morning? It was never meant to just copy. It was meant to continue. It was something that was supposed to be carried out.

Like think about a rocket. This is what came to me. I don't know why, but they're loud, they're fiery, they're powerful. They're all that stuff when it takes off.

That's the early church. But guess what? It doesn't just launch to hover over where it started. No rocket has ever launched just to stay right where there was never all that put into that for it to just stay right there.

Come five feet off the ground and just. It was never meant to do that. A lot of it launches, launches, it launches because it's meant to go. Amen?

It's meant to reach places that you can't reach just right here. It's meant to go. Judea, it's purpose. It's meant to break the atmosphere and go beyond where it's at.

I don't know if you're seeing all this. See the Holy Spirit was never sent just to keep us in orbit right there of tradition of where something started. The Holy Spirit came on for having the power to be sent out, to take it to go. I really hope we start to see this.

It was never meant to just keep us around tradition of something. It was meant to be pushed into transformation, forward into transformation. That's why Jesus said, you will be my witnesses, my witnesses. The Spirit came to ignite movement.

It wasn't just to look back and be like, oh, that was great. That's great. It was meant to be momentum to move forward. And you will be my witnesses.

Jesus laid out a pattern, not just a path. And we see this in Scripture. But I want to tell you today that Jerusalem is where you're at right now, Church. I want to bring this into our perspective right now.

Here's where Jerusalem is. Where you're at right now, your immediate circle. Family, co-workers, your neighbors, Church family. That's where we're at right now.

It's where you already have influence. God started His work right where you're standing. Judea, you're surrounding community. All you're familiar with but not close with.

Does that make sense? Some area. People different from you. Maybe people you've even avoided.

I'll say this side. Maybe people you've even avoided. We're really starting to branch out. And then the ends of the earth, unknown places.

And the ones not yet reached. Are you guys okay? I'm almost done. You know, Church, we're just jumped off the plane and put feet in in Costa Rica.

We're following God's design for this. Place has not yet reached the ends of the earth. Do you know something that when this was being said, this is Jesus. Talking to His disciples.

Do you know what wasn't there yet? What wasn't there yet is the Church in America. I don't know if you know this or not but when He's speaking this, He is prophetically saying something and He's saying that, hey, there's going to be a reach that's beyond anything you can even see right now. You see this right now, you're to go here, you're to go to here and then He says the ends of the earth because what He's saying is that this is going to extend even further into places and areas that you can't physically see and you don't know nothing about right now.

But the importance of you carrying this is because there's a people that need it that don't know they need it yet. There's a group that you don't even know yet that isn't even there that you're meant to carry those two. Shoo, we. When He dropped that in my heart, I'm like, wow, God, thank you for the work of the people before me that brought this thing to us to have faith to continue to build on.

I'm getting a little ahead of myself because I'm excited but can I just challenge you this morning? What's one way you can step towards your Samaria church? Like I said, Samaria represents the people we would normally avoid. I'm going to say this and it might be challenging but those with different backgrounds, beliefs, ooh, lifestyles, stepping towards them might look as simple as this, this, this, this initiate in a conversation, just starting small, listening to their story without judgment, showing kindness when it's not expected.

You can begin to step towards the Samaria. Everyone has these areas of our lives, I believe that. How can we carry the message to the end of the earth from right here in Cumberland, Maryland? It's by living with this missional mindset of starting where we are.

Like I said earlier, beginning to support the missions of who we are and reaching these places that we're going to reach. Do you have a minute for a quick story? I got off the plane and my friend right here, they had a joke for him. I can't remember what it was.

Something bold. I can't remember. I can't remember. It's like red ball because he is with that.

We got off of this plane and we didn't have a translator. I'm like, Ray, I really want to listen to my wife when she was doing all this do lingo stuff. I couldn't understand. We're translating with phones.

Trying to get to the next part of the journey but I'm like what do I ask? I was like, you speak English? I'm just showing him my phone, he's back and forth. I'm like, you like the fish?

He's like, and then we landed on common ground with food. I'm like, I love food. So we went and ate, but I just, I say all that because there's a, you know what, we're carrying this message, we're trusting God. And it doesn't always look like, it's not always easy.

It's not always simple. You're stepping into new territory, you're stepping onto this. But do you know that God's using you and using everybody sitting here to build something greater? And it requires us to step out of our comfort zone.

It's a step out of the Jerusalem that we're used to, to step into Judea or the Samaria areas where we avoid things, or we don't know what to do yet. But when we understand it's meant to carry further and we got to step into new things to continue this on. Do you understand church? That's what it's called for us to do.

We got to begin to learn how to step out of our area that we're comfortable with. Amen. One amen. Pray for the nations, pray and ask God to ignite your next step.

Let's learn to start sharing our faith. I was going to say on social media, but I think so many y'all should stay off of it. There should be a license before you compose some social media. I'm joking.

No, not really. But what if we just started showing Christ to extend this message? See, when we live like missionaries where our feet are, the gospel keeps traveling further than we could ever imagine. I'm almost done.

I keep saying that. I got a couple more minutes. I'm just going to finish this thing. I'm sorry.

It's longer than I want it to be, but I'm going to finish it. The pattern of the kingdom is expansion. From Genesis to Revelation, God's Islam has always been expansion. Genesis 128, be fruitful and multiply.

Fill the earth. Isaiah 9, 7. Think they're up there. Of the increase of his government in peace, there will be no end.

Matthew 13, 31 through 33, the kingdom starts like a mustard seed, but grows until it fills the garden, like 11 until it fills the dough. That's the rhythm of the kingdom church. It starts small, but it ends big. It begins local, but it becomes global.

These are all things that we see in throughout scripture that it continues to grow. So when Jesus says the ends of the earth, he wasn't exaggerating, but prophesying, like I said, we're living in that fulfilled prophecy right now. We are that generation on the other side of Jesus' statement. And that is so exciting to me to know that we're that other generation.

We're the opposite end of the statement that he made, that the gospel didn't stop and was never meant to stop at Jerusalem, but it crossed oceans. It outlasted empires, and it reached us. And we are exactly the proof that God's mission is meant to move forward. And I want you to know something too, that every time we see the spirit move in scripture, he moved forward.

Says that the spirit was hovered over the waters. And he was preparing for creation. In Exodus, the spirit led Israel forward by a cloud empire and acts, the spirit fell in the upper room, but it did what pushed them outward into the streets. There is a forward motion that we continue to see.

The spirit doesn't just stay still, it moves. He doesn't camp in comfort zones. He moves through obedience and faith. So if we want to stay and step with the spirit, we have to stay in motion.

In Galatians 5.25, it says, if we live by the spirit, let us also walk. That's motion. Some people walk in place on treadmills, and I think there's something wrong with them. We'll pray for them.

Nothing fun about walking in motion, and walking in one place. But it's meant to be motion, because faith doesn't flow backwards, it flows forwards. And I think it was interesting. I didn't want to go on a rabbit trail with this, but they were told to wait before the spirit, go and wait for it to come.

But once it came, what happened? Movement. Guess what you have as soon as you accepted Christ into your life, the spirit. It requires movement now.

It should ignite you. I want to just begin to end with this, and let you can go ahead and come up. Don't miss the momentum. Here's what I believe one of the greatest dangers to the church is nostalgia.

Falling in love with what God did and missing what he's doing. See, church, when we idolize the past, we immobilize the present. You can honor the foundation without freezing the future. It started off great and on fire, but it was always meant for us to carry forward.

I'm going to say this, I hope it doesn't come off wrong, but we can love acts without living in it. We learn from it. We grow from it. We take it from what it was to where we're at now, for God's kingdom to keep advancing and growing.

The early church had a mission to start, and thank God they did. But we have a mission to finish church.