I don't know if you're like me, but as I reflect on life, the past couple decades, the past year, even this past week, I think of things in moments. I don't remember everything. I barely remember what I had for lunch probably a couple days ago. I don't know if that's the same for you, but there's moments that pop up over time. A couple weeks ago, Pastor Scott started a series that we're in and talked about time and it constantly moving forward.
He introduced us to a Hebrew word that less about a stopwatch and incremental time and more about a fitting appointed season. And he walked us through Ecclesiastes 3, if you remember. A time to weep, time to laugh, a time to mourn, time to dance and so on. And how these seasons we don't get to choose or ultimately control. They're part of life.
As we look over our lives, maybe there's these moments that pop out to you as well. They could be great ones, great moments that you'd like to relive over and over if you could. Maybe it was your wedding day, a birth of a first child, an amazing trip that you had with a family that you just wish you could never leave. Vacation, I know I've been there.
Or maybe it's just as simple as sitting around a campfire or a table with friends, connecting again. Moments you just would love to sit in. And then there's other moments that are layered and nuanced, bittersweet to them. And I remember earlier this spring, my 18 year old daughter, she finished her last soccer game and there have been years of coaching and being with her and spending that time in the car. And I was proud of her and all that she accomplished.
But I was grieving in the same breath because something was ending. And maybe your child has graduated this year and you're moving them in to their college dorm room and you have conflicting emotions as well. Proud of the next steps that they're they're taking in their journey. Maybe a little jealous of their dorm room. I don't know if you've seen these dorm room reveal videos.
It's ridiculous. My dorm room definitely did not look like any of those. But there's sadness in those moments as well because there's change, something's ending. And then some moments are hard, right? Difficult, challenging that we would just like to delete from our memory if we could.
Or quickly move past maybe a sickness, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, tragedy that takes place this past week. I think it was On Tuesday night, there was a special on TV going back 25 years to 9 11, as we're looking back and remembering. And my guess is if you lived, if you were alive during that time, in that moment, you remember where you were vividly as you heard or saw the planes crash into the World Trade Center. Difficult things, the kind we would erase if we could. So when it comes to these moments, whether great or difficult, why do they stay with us for decades later when there's all these ordinary years that blur together?
One of my phrases in our family is the years. The days are long, but the years are short. So they just blur together sometimes. Well, if you've seen the movie Inside out, it's actually pretty scientifically accurate where it talks about this core memory, something that's so emotionally charged, it gets stored differently than other memories and helps shape who we become. And that's pretty close to how memory researchers, they describe it.
When something hits us emotionally, there's a part of our brain, the amygdala, that sends a signal to the hippocampus that says, pay attention. Record in high def. This is important. Capture every detail. And that's why these moments can seem so vivid to us years later.
Like 9 11, or maybe more recently, COVID 19. I remember, I think it was a Tuesday, that a soccer game had just ended. I was on the phone. We were talking about what to do. Things were shutting down, what was happening.
We head to Chewy's for dinner, and I get on the phone again. Vivid. Remember this with Pastor Scott. He was in Israel with a group from our church talking about, okay, what do we do? How do we respond?
The ordinary Tuesdays blur together, but that one did not. It was a day that asked something different of us. This past week, my wife Nikki, she reminded us of something that happened about 13 years ago in our family, that even though my girls were young, we still remember in detail what happened.
She had just laid down, our youngest to bed. They had gotten home from grocery shopping, and the younger girls were bringing. I have four daughters. The three older girls were bringing in the groceries. And all of a sudden, Nikki's upstairs, and she hears a commotion and a wailing of mom.
And so she rushes downstairs, and she goes into the kitchen, and on the floor is the sea of white liquid milk all over the place. An entire gallon of milk everywhere. And of course, the floors had just been cleaned. And it wasn't any ordinary milk. It was organic milk, and so it wasn't cheap.
And what happened next? You'll get some flavors of the personalities of my three oldest girls. The three year old actually was walking through it because she liked how it felt between her toes. The five year old who was the one who dropped it because she was tired of hanging onto it was yelling at mom, you don't even want to be my mom anymore. And our 7 year old was being the encourager.
She was like, at least it didn't get on this rug over here.
So in a season that we couldn't tell you one single normal day that happened during that time, but 13 years later, we can still vividly remember that moment and share the story of the spilt milk.
I believe that moments that shape us are moments that we don't plan for that cause them to be part of our core memories. I remember 20 years ago, Nikki and I, my oldest, Addie, she was a baby at the time. We fly down to Raleigh from Michigan and stayed with Pastor Scott and Shanna in their home to hear about the dream and vision of a church. A church that wanted to make a big deal about Jesus because Jesus changes everything.
And a church that desired to make an impact about the community that it was in, to the point where if that church ceased to exist, the community would know because it was gone. And so we spent time together hearing about the vision of the church. And there's been 20 years of moments since then. Some great, some challenging, some bittersweet. Like even the moment that we're in now where our founding pastor is moving into a new season and we as a church are entering into a new season.
Sometimes those moments are scary too. Not because anything is wrong, but because it's new, because it's different. A new job, a new location, a new relationship, new things, they're unknown. New can be scary even when new is good and even when new is from the Lord.
Imagine being the Israelites who were on their way to the promised land, which was new, but yet they were pulled back. And they would look back at Egypt, which included slavery. And there was like, maybe we should go back there. Because it was known. But yet the Lord was calling them in a new direction.
So this morning I'd like for us to step into a moment in Acts 1 that I think is similar to our moment. What we're experiencing. We're seeing a moment of uncertainty, disruption in leadership. Jesus is leaving in our passage this morning, the new directions being defined. But Jesus, he brings clarity in that moment, brings clarity to the disciples.
And I believe it's clarity that we need our moment as well. Let me pray as we Open the Scriptures. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to gather here together as a group of believers. And thank you for your word. And I pray that you would speak through it.
Not my words, Lord, but you would by your spirit, be moving as we walk through your word, encouraging hearts, challenging hearts, calling us to a deeper relationship with each other and to you. So we submit this time, praying you'd use it for your glory and are good. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. So Acts, Chapter 1.
Find it with me. As a reminder, Luke has written two volumes to the same person, Theophilus. And volume one was the Gospel of Luke, which in our chapter in Acts 1, it says he. He wrote it about what Jesus began to do and teach. And Acts is volume two, and it's about what Jesus continued to do now through his Spirit in his people.
And it covers the Book of Acts, covers about three decades of the early church that we see, expansion According to Acts 1:8, from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth, eventually Rome. And so let's pick up in verse one, and you'll see our first point this morning. And that's the moment they were in verse one. In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. After giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen after his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. And so here we see Luke. He's summarizing. He's kind of giving context and. And connecting the two volumes that he's written.
The first one, what Jesus began to do and to teach. And then he sums up a lot by saying, and Jesus suffered, right? He was beaten, he was crucified, he died and was buried. And then he came back resurrected, and now has appeared to his followers over 40 days. So you see about roughly six weeks of him being physically present, eating with them, spending time with them, teaching them, giving them, giving them all these signs that are undeniable that he's resurrected.
And then Luke zooms in at the end of those 40 days. And we pick up in verse four, on one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John, baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So Jesus gives a clear Command here he says, wait. Go to Jerusalem and wait.
Something's coming. The gift my father promised the Holy Spirit. But wait. And then the disciples ask a question, verse 6. Then they gathered around him and asked, lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?
So this is after 40 days, probably the best seminar that they ever heard on the kingdom of God being taught by Jesus. And they ask a question that I think shows they're not quite there yet in trusting him. They want to get their questions answered. And they ask, is this the moment? Is this when everything gets resolved finally that you will restore the kingdom?
And I can't criticize them in that moment because I would probably want those details as well. I like the details. Give me understanding of the ten year plan or the calendar, the next steps. Tell me exactly what my next chapter of life looks like, or give me the direction of what the next chapter of Southbridge looks like and I promise you I'll feel better. That's.
That's how my heart leans. But Jesus doesn't do that for them in church family. I don't think he's doing that for us either. We have real questions right now about what the future holds for Southbridge, about timing, about the who, the what, the when. And some of those will get answered in time, Lord willing.
Some of them may not get answered and some of them may get answered in ways we weren't hoping for. But right now they're unresolved. And that's where our passage, I believe, leaves the early church, these disciples, with real unresolved questions. He says to them in verse seven, it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
So the moment they're in is disrupted. Things are happening. They don't know what's going to happen. They want to get their questions answered, but he doesn't thankfully leave them to sit in the unresolved question.
He redirects them and he reminds them of the mission they were given. And that's our second point, the mission they were given. In verse 8. You don't know about the time, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
So notice what Jesus does there. He doesn't scold them for asking the question, he just. He redirects them. You're asking about timing. That's not for you to know.
Here is what you need to know. You will receive power and you have a job to do. And what's that job? To be his witnesses. And the Greek word there is someone who testifies to what they have personally seen and experienced, the way a witness in a courtroom gives testimony to that they're speaking to the truth that they know that they've seen and experienced.
It's not like the attorney or an advocate that's trying to argue the points of a case to convince you of something. No, a witness is describing what they've experienced. To tell the truth about what has happened. To tell the truth about what's happened in you. To be a witness.
And so Jesus tells them there to be witnesses from the. And then the progression of the assignment. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth, concentric circles which read the rest of the Book of Acts. You'll see that happen and come to fruition. And this is familiar to us, I'm sure.
This is one of the examples of the Great Commission. Right. It's at each of the end of the Gospels and the beginning of Acts that we're in, that Jesus shares the Great Commission. And there are words that he. He shares right before he leaves, some of his last words.
Pastor Scott has shared with us that last words can be lasting words. And so let's look at some of those last words of Jesus. In Mark 16, verse 15, he said to them, go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. Luke 24:46. The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day in repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things. In John 20, again, Jesus said, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. In Matthew 28, then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So we better pay attention here.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age. Thank you, Lord, that you are with us always.
So five passages, five different scenes, but one unmistakable job for us to do. Go and tell people what you know to be true. Be a witness.
So as I was studying this this week, Southbridge. This is important for us to remember whatever changes at Southbridge in the months ahead. And there will be changes. That's just true. This does not change the mission has always been be his witnesses.
And that assignment continues for each and every one one of us. Amen.
And that's why we do what we do, why we gather here together to be encouraged and challenged, to be sent out. It's not a cruise ship idea, it's a battleship. We're coming to be equipped to go. It's what our ministries are all about. Our monthly men gatherings are a night where you'll hear from someone that's answering the question of how has Jesus changed their life?
They're giving witness to what is different, how they've been changed. I encourage you to come this Tuesday to hear a testimony, to hear someone be a witness of those things. And that's why our vision and you've heard us talk about, we want to see every Southbridge, every person that's here, to have at least one gospel conversation beyond the walls of our church. That's what we want to be about, to go to be witnesses. That doesn't change for us as a church.
The way we articulate the mission, contextualize it to our church, is to connect people to Jesus for life change. Life change has happened over the 20 years. It's happening now and Lord willing, will in the future. For example, Ramon is a member of our church and he and I have been talking recently and he's been sharing just what the Lord's been doing in his heart. And a couple years ago he realized that from the outside he looked like a Christian, but on the inside he was lukewarm and he knew it.
And about two years ago, Ramon started leaning into his relationship with the Lord, applying what he already knew. And about a year ago, a little over a year ago, 14 months ago, God connected him to, to another man in our church, Ray, in a one on one discipleship relationship. That's something we want to be about as a church as well. One on one discipleship relationships. And Ray began to disciple him in his quiet time, in his study of God's word and journaling in scripture memory and how to share his faith.
And a few months after that, he was car searching for his family and the salesman he was talking to just brought up God out of the blue. And it wasn't a planned conversation, but Ramon just started sharing what God had been doing in his life, how his life had been changed and shared and quoted a verse he memorized, Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Being a witness in his sphere of influence and not Long after that, Ramon met Pastor Alex, met Pastor Alex.
He's our church planting resident being sent out to plan a church here in Raleigh, Hope, Lord willing, next year. And Ramon heard what was happening and he felt like the Lord had prepared him for this, he and his family for this moment. And now their family's committed to go help plant this church and start it from the ground up. His family was on the stage about a month or so ago when we had Pastor Alex up and we were given an update related to church planning. And his family feels called to go.
They're hosting in their home. They're opening their home multiple times a week now, praying, studying God's word with this core team. So one individual discipled, one on one, sharing his faith, and now leading to an entire family stepping out in faith to help start a church. And this is what he said. We are very grateful for Southbridge.
Southbridge was our bridge that connected my family and me with God. We were all looking forward to how God will utilize us further for his kingdom. The mission is happening and will continue to happen. So church, family, let's lean into that as we move forward to be united on that mission.
Got to keep going here. Verse 9. After he said this, he was taken up before the very eyes, and a cloud hid them from their sight. And this could be a normal cloud, or what we see in Scripture a lot of times as a cloud is a representation of God's presence. In Exodus, you see the pillar of smoke, the cloud guiding the Israelites in the wilderness.
Daniel articulates this imagery centuries before our passage. He says this in my vision at night, I looked, and there before me was one, like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away. And his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Jesus isn't just disappearing into the clouds. He is going into glory. And what we see next is that he's coming back as well.
In verse 10, they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men, probably angels dressed in white, stood beside them. Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? The same Jesus who was taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you've seen him go into heaven. I don't know about you, but when I read this passage, I find it somewhat humorous. To me, just imagine that these grown men, at least 11, there may have been others there just standing there looking up.
I don't know if they don't want to be the first one to look away, but they're all looking up into the sky as Jesus disappeared and like they're stuck there. Try that sometime. I encourage you go to a gathering of people, maybe the mall or Harris Teeter, and walk into just a group of people and stare up and, and see what happens. My guess is people like, what is up there? But these men, they're here.
Why do, why do you just stand there looking up? Jesus will come back in the same way. Revelation 1:7. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be. Amen. Matthew 24 then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power in great glory. Clouds going up in verse nine.
Clouds coming back down.
So what should they do? They're like, stuck in that moment. And when I was reading this, I thought back to several weeks ago when I shared from Psalm 23, and I was telling you about a story of standing on the top of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and looking out over Lake Michigan and this beautiful scenery, that I wondered if people living around there just got used to that. It became familiar to them. I'm not sure if I told you the rest of the story and what happened next.
Some of us climbed down, which, there's a sign there that says, don't climb down. Well, the sign actually says if you go down, you might not be able to make it back up. And so if you need to be rescued, you're gonna have to pay the fine to be rescued. So don't go down. We read the sign and we went anyway.
And getting down was the easy part. We're just kind of strolling down, walking down to the bottom to like a 300, 400 foot elevation change at a steep incline. And we get down there at the lake and are enjoying the beauty of it. And then I turn around and I look up like, oh, my goodness. And I was kind of stuck in that moment because I had to get going.
I did not want to be the one that had to call to be rescued.
And so I started crawling. I actually wasn't walking. I was crawling up this hill on my hands and knees, praying the entire way it was arduous.
And that's what I picture here in verse 10. The disciples are standing there. They're looking up at the sky. They're stuck, maybe in that moment. And these two men ask them, why are you still standing here?
Get moving. Because eventually you have to stop staring at the view of what's in front of you and start doing the hard, humbling work of moving forward.
And sometimes that doesn't look like walking. Sometimes that is on your hands and knees before the Lord. And that's what we see. And that brings us to our third point, the movement begun in prayer, verse 12. Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city.
First thing they do is obey. They don't go fishing. They don't take a detour, do something else. They don't scatter. They all go back, as Jesus commanded, to Jerusalem.
It's less than a mile's walk. Because here's something important, I think, to know. Understanding doesn't always come before obedience.
Understanding doesn't always come before obedience. Sometimes obedience is. I don't know what's going to happen entirely. I don't have all my questions answered, but I do have clarity on the next step. And so I need to obey.
I mentioned our conversation, my wife and I's conversation, with Pastor Scott and Shanna over 20 years ago in their home. Well, after that, the Lord showed us that we were supposed to come here to be a part of the beginnings of this church. In early 2007, we sold our home in Michigan and we moved into somebody's house up there, waiting for a job. I was working at Pfizer at the time, and I was trying to find an analytical scientist job here and not hearing anything. And over that summer, the Lord showed us and brought us to a point of, you don't have all the answers, but you know the next step, and that's to go.
And so we obeyed. I quit my job at Pfizer and we moved down with one baby and one on the way, trusting that the Lord would take care of us. And he did, and he has.
And I don't know what the Lord is calling you to do in this moment. Maybe it's something related to the mission. Maybe it's a job change. Maybe it's going across the street to introduce yourself to your neighbor. You may not have all the answers to all the questions, but you know the next one.
I just want to encourage you. I want to challenge you, take that step of Faith take that risk. It seems like risk to us, but it's not a risk to God because he's sovereign over it all. It's a step of faith as we trust him.
Verse 13 when they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. So 11 names, 11 disciples, the core of the movement. But there's other people there as well. In verse 14 we see the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.
So you have the apostles, some women who have been a part of the ministry, maybe they gave to the ministry. And then you have his brothers, which if you remember from John 7, back then they didn't believe in Jesus. But here the gospel is working through this family and they go back to Jerusalem, they go back to this room and they wait. But the waiting is not inactive, though that's important for us to see.
They all join together constantly in prayer. Verse 14 they all join together constantly in prayer. And two words on this short phrase to dial into join together. It's one word means with one mind, with one accord, one passion, one purpose. Luke loves using this word.
In the book of Acts describing the early church shows up again at pentecost In Acts 2 again Acts 4:32, it says all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. And in Acts 15:25, when the leaders reach unified decision, they all agreed together. They're united.
So we see in chapter one here, even before Pentecost happens, which we know is we're going to read that in just a second is a big deal where the Holy Spirit comes. But we already see that they're united in prayer together.
And what we also see is they're persistent in prayer. And the word constantly in this verse, it's another Greek word that translates to persistent, to stick with something, to not let go. Imagine your prayer life like that, where you're not letting go of the Lord.
Luke uses this in Acts 2:42. He describes the early church's ongoing rhythm devoted to the apostles, teaching to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Paul uses it in Romans 12, verse 12. It says, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, devoted. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. So I don't think this is a one time prayer huddle where they had gathered in the room and they prayed and they were done. There's 10 days between Jesus ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
And I think they spent that time one worshiping in the temple. Luke at the end of his gospel in Luke 24, talks about them worshiping in the temple. And I think they also spent the time in the upper room praying actively, waiting for the Lord. They didn't call this emergency meeting. They didn't call a strategy session, which is what I would like to do.
Get the whiteboard out and start listing things that we could get go after. Give me a problem. My instinct is, all right, how do we solve this? What are the steps, process and people we need to put in place to create movement? That's what I do.
That's what I like to do, which isn't wrong. I think it's good to plan, and there's a place for that. But that is not what happens first. Here we see they sought the Lord. They all joined together constantly in prayer.
I watched a video earlier this week, or the week before. Francis Chan has a line from it that stuck out to me and convicted me. He said this. We get together, we plan, and we organize this thing. And it's like, did we ever just say, God, I want you to show up?
Like, I want you to be there and direct us and tell us what you want? Because we may plan something you hate.
May that not be so for us church, family. May we be more devoted to prayer than to any strategy or plan that we can come up with.
Paul David Tripps says this about prayer. Prayer is humbling. It is an admission that you're not in charge. Prayer is a confession of need. Prayer is a reminder that you are not alone, but you're blessed with the presence and promises of God.
Prayer builds confidence as it calls you to remember who you are praying for. That's what prayer does. It's not a strategy to get what we want. It's an honest admission that we're not in control in the first place.
And it's a posture that gets our hearts ready to receive what the Lord would have for us. And that's the heartbeat of the whole movement. We see in Acts one chapter later, that same room, that same group of praying people that are still together. The day of Pentecost comes. When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house. Where they were sitting, they saw what seemed to be tongues of Fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak, and other tongues of the Spirit enabled them. And then Peter gets up and he preaches a message, a challenging message, a hard message. Basically says them, you crucified Christ, repent.
And Luke tells us what happens Next. In verse 41, those who accepted his message were baptized. And about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching of the fellowship, to the breaking of bread into prayer. 3,000 people a single day.
And Luke traces it back to a room, an upper room, where a group of people gathered together to pray. It happens again in Acts 4 when the church prays for Peter and John as they're threatened. The place literally starts to shake as they're praying, and they are filled with boldness to go out and be witnesses. Again. Happens again in Acts 12.
Church prays all night for Peter, who's in prison, if you remember that, that account. And they're praying as they're praying. He's able to leave a locked cell and be free from that prayer is the foundation of the early church. We see that act, that active prayer about 30 times in the 28 chapters of Acts, over and over. I believe we see that pattern throughout history as well.
There's lots of examples of this where something began in prayer in a prayer closet, a prayer room, and led to a movement. And these, just a couple examples, you probably have heard these. In 1857 in New York City, became known as the Businessman's Revival. One gentleman started praying during lunch and then a few people joined him. The first week there was probably six people gathered to pray.
Within six months, thousands were gathering daily to pray all across the city.
It was estimated about three years later that over 1 million people turned to Christ. Started with one man praying at lunch.
1949. There were a couple sisters lived on an island off the coast of Scotland. One was blind and one had severe arthritis. They were really at a point where they couldn't even go to church in their 80s. And they felt convicted to begin praying for their island, for revival, for a movement to happen.
And what you saw years later, entire communities transformed because of these elderly ladies praying together in their home, I'm sure. Asbury University in 2023, familiar. A normal Wednesday chapel service where some students decided they weren't going to leave, that they were going to hang on to the Lord in prayer. And that led to tens of thousand being impacted on that campus and a ripple to other campuses throughout the country. None of that started with strategic planning, started with ordinary people in a room, praying, refusing to let go of God until he moved.
And that's our story, too. Pastor Scott and Shannon, I mentioned over 20 years ago, before they even moved here, were planting seeds of prayer for this church.
In those seeds produced fruit. The church began. And Pastor Scott shared some of those moments last week. You can go back and listen to some of those. And I know some of y' all's story of life change that has happened in your life.
Similar, similar to Ramones. You have experienced that life change.
And so as we conclude, I believe the Lord in this moment that we're in, we're being invited back to something.
Yeah, there's change. There's something new happening. We don't have all our questions answered, but the mission we have been given stays the same. It's clear. So let's not get content or satisfied or lean away from what the Lord is doing here as we want to wait and see what happens.
No, let's lean in to what the Lord would have for us. I know as I get older, physically, I lean away from things. I get sick and sore, like from sleeping. I'll get sore the next day. I don't know what's happening.
I don't play soccer like I used to. I'm thinking about it. I'm physically aware I'm not the same as I was 20 years ago. But church, family, may I, and us, as a church, not lean away from the spiritual risks the Lord is inviting us to. Let's lean into those things.
Let's pursue those things. Let's take those risks. Let's take steps of faith as we pursue the movement, as we pray for that movement. And we can do that while we wait and seek. The Lord devoted, united in prayer together.
May we have that same posture that the early church had before they had anything else.
