Fulfilling Service - Northland's Mission

On April 1st of this year, around 535 p.m., a mission that had been many years in the making, was accomplished. Over 100,000 people had participated in this, had focused their energy for many years. And around 535 p.m. April 1st, the Artemis 2 rocket launched into space to travel to the moon. And back. I love space exploration. I was fascinated by this, watching it take off, watching it break orbit, watching it head to the moon. These people who had committed so much energy, so much time, for astronauts on the rocket, about 1,000 people, in mission control, in various places, and well over 100,000 other people, from engineers to electricians, had been apart of the Artemis II mission. Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said this about it. Artemis is about going back to the moon, and then going beyond, it's about what we can achieve together, not for ourselves, but for future generations. Read Wiseman, who is the commander of Artemis, said, we're not doing this for ourselves. We're doing this for humanity, for the people who will follow. And Victor Glover, who was a pilot, said, I get to be a part of something that is much bigger than me, something that has the power to inspire the entire world. These were people, from the 4 astronauts on the rocket, all the way down to the over 100,000 people who were passionate about the mission they were a part of, of heading back to the moon. My question to you today is, what mission are you a part of? What is it that motivates you, that drives you? That is the thing, the most important thing? Your mission in life. What is it that has you getting up in the morning? and saying, this is what I'm here for. I want to submit to you that as exciting as the Artemis 2 mission was, as cool as that was, It pales in comparison to the mission that God is on, that he's calling you to be on with him, not a mission just to go to the moon, but a mission to dwell with the one who created the moon and the entire universe. We've been in the 4 week series through our mission statement. This is the final part of that. Our mission statement is this. You can see it on the screen. We here at Northland exist to lead people to experience a transforming encounter with God, a growing relationship with Jesus, authentic community with others, and fulfilling service, opportunities. The transforming encounter is when someone puts a trust in God. When someone comes back to God from their rebellion, and their life is completely transformed. We then grow in Christ. It's not that, well, I became a follower and I'm done. It said, I've become a follower and I want to be more like Jesus every day. I want to be conformed to his image. Then we looked at authentic community. We are not conformed to the image of Christ. We are not transformed by his power, simply to be alone, but it happens in community. It happens when we're together, as we sharpen each other, and today we want to look at that final part, fulfilling service opportunities. Let me show you a passage from John chapter 20. These last four weeks we've been jumping all over the Bible. We typically go through a book of the Bible. Next week we start in Ephesians, so it's very easy to track, but we want to jump a little around scripture to see what God's doing, but John 20 verses 21 and 22 sums up everything I want to say. Jesus has been resurrected. He is now meeting with his followers who had been with him for 3 years, who had seen him do his miracles, had it heard his teaching, had seen him crucified, had seen him resurrected, had heard that he said, hey, I'm going back to the father, where I came from. I'd been sent on this mission. I'm heading back there, but I'm not going to leave you alone. And here's what he says in John 20. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me. Even so I am sending you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the holy Spirit. In this verse, we see 3 things. One is that God's on a mission. He is calling people and sending them on that mission, and that he is equipping them for that mission. We're going to unpack that as we look at different parts of scripture. Main idea of the message as simple as this. God is on a mission, and he is calling us to join him. God's on a mission, and he's calling us to join him. What is that mission? God's mission is to dwell with us. God's mission is to dwell with us. A lot of religions in the world, if you unpack pull back the layers and say, like, what's in the heart of what's going on? They view it this way. Humanity is on a mission to find God. that we're on a journey, a spiritual journey to find God. So we're looking for him. He's not looking for us. The Bible has a different story to tell. It tells the story of a God who's looking for us while we're not looking for him. that he's seeking to dwell with us. He created us for himself, but we've wandered off creating as many idols as we have minds in the room. But he's seeking us to come join him. God's mission is to dwell with us. Three weeks ago when we looked at the idea of a transforming encounter, I framed it in the idea of kind of your typical breakup love store. I can show you the picture for that on the screen. And it just gives the kind of footprint of the biblical story. There were these, this couple together at the very beginning, God and humanity. One cheats on the other. God didn't cheat on us. God didn't abandon us. God didn't turn on us. We turned on God. There was this rupture in the relationship. And then we see the pursuit, and the shocking thing in this pursuit in scripture is not that the one who did the cheating is pursuing the one they cheated on, is that the one who has cheated on God is pursuing us. Then there's a grand gesture that is made, where God sacrifices his own son, God the son, dies on the cross for our sins. And then offers us to come back with him. We have reconciliation and then happily ever after. And we see that in Revelation chapter 21. That God wants to dwell with us. Look what it says. Revelation 21, verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. The Bible story ends with God dwelling with humanity. That's his mission. And the dwelling isn't just a casual acquaintance. We understand this, right? There's people you know, kind of casually. Probably a lot of people in this room. They came walking in the building, you shook their hand, you said hello, you caught up a little bit on what their life is like, but you're not dwelling with them. This language of dwelling is, you're in the same space, your roommates. It's like husband and wife, man. They're dwelling together. It's this intimacy that the Bible speaks of in Revelation 21. And that's what God's wanting. In fact, the word used here for dwelling can be traced through the biblical story to see how God has been pursuing his mission to dwell with us. I'm going to put a list of scriptures on the screen and some incidences that you can write down. And let me unpack these for you. We see at the very beginning of scripture. In Genesis one and 2, that God creates a place where he can dwell with humanity. It's the Garden of Eden. He puts Adam and Eve in that garden. And we see in Genesis 38 that it says, that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day. This must have been a normal occurrence for them, that they would have had God in this intimate dwelling relationship. This says, and the man his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, God, among the trees of the garden. Genesis 38, unique in this regard, prior to this, they wouldn't have hid themselves. But now they're hiding themselves. Why? Because they had disobeyed God. They had cheated on God. They did the thing he told them not to do. Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They had done that, and now they felt this relational rift between them. God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, dwelling with his people, recognizes this rift. And Adam and Eve hide. And to dwell with God, which he wants us to do, he has to address the sin that Adam and Eve did and the sin that you and I have done. that we've all committed. And we've all walked the path of Adam and Eve. We've all hidden from God. And said, I don't want to find you. I don't want you to find me. I want to be separate from you. I want to run my own life. We've all done that in our life. Every human being has sinned. Turn them back on God. God comes to Adam and Eve, in the cool of the day, looking for them. He says, I am going to dwell with you, and then the story begins to unfold in scripture of how God's going to dwell with humanity, but he also has to deal with our rebelliousness and our sin. God's holy, his holiness isn't going to endure kind of our sinfulness. If we are exposed to the holiness of God in our sinful state, we don't get out unpunished, unscathed. His holiness is too powerful. And so he begins to work his plan, his mission, to dwell with us. And he builds a tabernacle. He calls a man named Abraham, and then he works through Moses, and he says, Moses, I need you to build me a tabernacle. It's going to be this dwelling where I'm going to live among the Jewish people. And I'm going to work through that people, to redeem the whole world. But here is where I'm going to dwell in this tabernacle. And it says, when you look in scripture, at Exodus 40, when God came into the tabernacle, it was filled with smoke because of his holiness. When Solomon, 100s of years later, turned the tabernacle, which was a mobile tent, they could take it down and move to another place, as they moved around, he turned it into a permanent dwelling, the temple that was in Jerusalem, you can go today, to Jerusalem, and walk on the piece of land where Solomon's temple was. It's no longer there. But you could walk on that. And you can read in 1st Kings 8, how when Solomon dedicated the temple. God's presence came down upon the temple. He says, this is where I'm dwelling. Now, God's omnipresent. He is everywhere at all times in all places, but he's also in certain places, in special ways. He's able to do that. And he says, in the temple. I'm here in a special way. And I'm going to interact with my people in a special way in this place as I work my mission to redeem them. Year after year, they would offer sacrifices to atone for their sins. Eventually we see that Jesus shows up. And he is described as the temple as the place where God dwells. John 114 says this, and the word became flesh. The word is the son of God. God himself, became flesh and dwelt. among us. That word dwelt is the same as the one in Revelation. the same as the idea of the tabernacle, where God would dwell. He became flesh. God himself became human and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. Glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus becomes a dwelling place of God. In the earth while he was on the earth. And then he goes back to heaven. And you would think, well, God's no longer dwelling with humanity. But Jesus said, I'm going to send my spirit on my people. And now the dwelling place of God is spread out all over the earth among the church. This is what Paul says in 1st Corinthians 3.16. Do you not know that you are God's temple, right into the Corinthians, the church, and that God's spirit dwells in you? God has been working all along to dwell with his people, from Eden to the tabernacle, to the temple, to Jesus himself, now to the church spread all over the world. He's working on his mission to dwell with us. One of our pastors, Blake Hearson, wrote a book about this, called Go Now to Shiloh. You can find it on Amazon. I would encourage you to pick it up and read it. It is a pretty short read. Not too long. Blake's a great writer, and it talks about God's story of how he is working in these locations, like Shiloh, where the tabernacle existed for a while, to the temple, all the way to Jesus, to the church, as God is now sending out his spirit around the world, not just in one location, because of what Jesus has done. He's able to do that, and how eventually we dwell with him in the new heavens and the new earth. And so you can grab this book. It's an easy way to read, a little more in depth about what I just said in such a short period of time. God's on a mission to dwell with you, to dwell with me, to dwell with his creation. But that's not all he's doing. We see that God calls us to join him on his mission. Now, have you ever been asked by someone to join them in something they were doing? Maybe someone was building something, and they asked you, hey, you want to come help me build this thing? building a deck. You want to come help me build this deck? Or fixing this car, you want to come help me fix this car? And you got to be a part of the thing they were doing. And if you really enjoyed it, if you like that kind of thing. This is so amazing. I get to be a part of this thing that's going on. About 18 years ago, I got invited to join the faculty at Midwestern Seminary and teach there. I was like, I get to be a part of the mission of Midwestern seminary of what they're doing and to pull the rope with them. The Bible is full of stories of God calling people to be a part of his mission. God's on a mission to dwell with us, but he calls humanity to be a part of accomplishing that mission. We see in Genesis 3:9, after Adam and Eve, we're hiding from God. It says, but the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? God came looking for Adam and Eve after they cheated on him. He then reaffirms them. He says, you can't live in the garden anymore. Your sin has separated you. But I'm not done. I'm going to work through you. He calls Abraham. In Genesis 12. A man who is living down in Ur, the Chaldees in southern Iraq, and he says, come follow me, and he takes him on this long journey to the land of Israel. He calls Moses. You probably know that story. Moses out on the backside of the wilderness tending sheep, and he sees a bush that's on fire, but it's not burning up, and he's fascinated by it, and he goes over, and he hears a voice that says, take off your shoes. The place you're standing is holy ground. And God says, Moses, I have a job for you to do. He calls David, who becomes king of the nation of Israel. David, who is the youngest son of his father's family. Samuel comes to Jesse, his dad, and says, hey, God's going to anoint one of your sons, king of Israel. And he goes through all the sons, and he finally gets to young David. He says, that's the one. And God calls David from being a shepherd to be king. We see instances throughout scripture of God calling people to serve him. God even calls Jesus. to be a part of his mission. Let me show you 3 verses in John's gospel that speak to this. John 316 and 17. You know this really well. It says, for God so loved the world. that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son. Did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him, might dwell with him. But he sent the sun. Here's what Jesus said in John 434. Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Jesus had been called into the mission of God for humanity to dwell with him. John 6.38 For I have come down from heaven, Jesus said, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Jesus had been sent by God, had been called by God. God the Son, called by God the Father, to be on mission for humanity to dwell with him. Jesus himself becoming the sacrifice that is needed to atone for sin. Jesus, when he was on the earth. We're reading through the gospel of Luke. Now, if you're reading in the Bible reading plan with us, and you've probably picked up on, Jesus calling people. He calls a guy named Peter, this fisherman. And he says, Peter, put down your nets and come fish for men. He calls a man named Matthew, who was a tax collector. He says, hey, stop collecting taxes and come follow me. I have a mission for you. I have a job for you. Jesus calling his original disciples to be a part of his mission, but then he doesn't just end there. God is still calling people to join him in his mission and to send him out to serve. Look again at John 20, 21 and 22. I read it earlier, but I want this verse to stick in your mind. Jesus comes to his disciples, who they had been following him. They had been just watching what he did. And he's about to leave and go back to the Father. Going back to heaven, not going to be on the earth with them anymore. And he says, peace be with you as the Father has sent me in the same way the Father sent the Son to be a part of his mission. So I am sending you. Jesus is now sending his disciples, Peter and James and John, and Matthew and the others. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. We're going to talk about that in a second. Matthew 28. We see Jesus, his final command to his disciples. Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. He gave us our marching orders. He says, go make disciples, go make followers. Those who are going to dwell with God, go into all the nations, all around the world, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, conforming them to the image of Christ, letting them have a transforming encounter with God, and have a growing relationship with him, as they gather together as his church, knowing that he's with us till the end of the age. We are called to serve on this mission, not sit and spectate the mission. On April 1st. I was watching the screen, as the Artemis 2 took off. I was fascinated. I love space exploration, everything about it. I'm watching this rocket take off, going, okay, don't blow up, don't explode, makes it out, makes it through the most dangerous parts. And then periodically, I would go back and check in, you could watch the live stream of what's going on, and you would have all these different updates. and I would watch. I would just be fascinated by it. I spectated. I loved it. But all I did was watch. I had nothing to do with the mission. I wasn't on the mission. I didn't plan the mission. I was just spectating at the mission. I enjoyed spectating, but I wasn't a part of the mission. God is calling every human, not just to spectate at what he's doing in the world, but to be a part of it, to join in, to pull the rope with him, to say, God, I want to serve on this mission. And often, I mean, like the Artemis 2 astronauts. They had to get on the rocket and, like, go to a whole new place. They went out around the moon. Abraham was called from his homeland to leave. Moses was called to leave, where he was serving to go back to Egypt. David was called from being a shepherd to go be a king. Those are probably exceptions to God's norm. What normally happens is when God calls us into his mission, to no longer be spectators, but participants, he calls us. It says, I'm not asking you to leave all the things you're doing currently to go to a new place. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes says I need you to move. Geographically, you're going to move to a new place. You're going to start a new job. You're gonna have a new career. But for many people, probably for most, what he says is, I need you to reprioritize your mission. Every one of you, every one of us has a mission in life. Whatever the most important thing to you is that your mission in life. It may be your family. You just want to have the best family possible. You love your family the most. They're the most important thing to you. That's your mission. Everything else you do contributes to that mission. Maybe it's your job. You love your job. You're so focused on your job, everything else you do in life just contributes to that mission. Maybe for some of you, it's just, I just wanna have a good time. I just want to enjoy myself. And everything you do. I have a job here so I can make money so I can go do the things that I enjoy. I can go to concerts, go to ball games. Everything I do is around that, just having a good time. Whatever the most important thing in your life is, that's your mission. What God is calling us to do is to change our priorities from whenever that mission is to his mission. So that his mission is the priority of your life, and everything else you do in life is for that mission. That means some things you do in life, you'll have to quit doing. You just have to go, I can't do that and be part of God's mission. It doesn't line up anymore. That behavior doesn't line up. But what's going to happen if you go, man, family's the most important thing to me. If you make God the most important thing, Jesus said, seek 1st the kingdom and all these other things will be added to you. Now, all the sinful things in your life that you think bring you happiness, they'll take away because they don't. They bring death to you. But the good things like family, what we find is that God can say, seek my kingdom, and then you'll know how your family fits into that mission, and it fits in way better to his mission than making your family the mission of your life. Or making your job the mission of your life. Seeking God. He just reprioritizes. What are we about when we wake up in the morning, when we go about our day, what's the thing that's motivating us? God is calling us to join him on mission. Now, the scary thing when he does that is you may go, I'm not equipped for that. There's a good reason I had nothing to do with the Artemis 2 mission. I could have swept some floors maybe, but I have no math skills. I have nothing that would have helped those astronauts get there or back safely at all. I'm not equipped at all. Maybe you feel that way about being part of God's mission. Like, I'm not equipped. I have nothing to offer. I have nothing to give. I have no part to play in this. God wouldn't want to use me. God equips us to serve in his mission. Let me tell you a story about a man named Bezalel. Bezalel was a guy who lived in the time of Moses. He was an Israelite. You can read his story in Exodus 31. God had said, I am going to build a tabernacle that I'm going to dwell in. God gave Moses the architectural plans for this tabernacle. And he says, I'm going to have this tabernacle built. And then you're going to use this to worship me in. Imagine having that assignment, like the blueprints were handed down, and it's like, I need you to build, God's house. I'm sure it's enough pressure for, like, Luke Owen to go, I got to build someone's house, a dream home. Imagine having to build God's house. Like, here's God's dream home. I've given you the blueprint. I need you to build this. Here's what Moses says. God had told him. It says, the Lord said to Moses, see, I have called my name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of her of the tribe of Judah. And I, this is God saying, I have filled him with the spirit of God, with ability, and intelligence, with knowledge, and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, and cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. It was God who enabled Bezalel to build the tabernacle. Explicitly, God says. Go tell Bezalel, he's going to do this. I've given him everything he needs to accomplish it. God equipped Bezalel to build the house that he was going to dwell in. God is still equipping his people. Here's what Jesus says about sending his Spirit. Remember John 20 says, he breathed on them. It says, receive the Holy Spirit. If you're a follower of Christ, you have God's spirit dwelling within you. First Corinthians 12, 5 through 7 says this. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, and there are varieties of activities. But is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says, look, there's all sorts of service, all sorts of work you're doing. All of that is empowered by the Spirit. It's given by the Spirit. It's a manifestation of the spirit for the common good. If you're a believer of Christ, a follower of Christ. And you're saying, I have nothing to offer God's kingdom. Here's what you're saying, baseline. Paul just said, God has equipped you to serve in the way he wants you to serve in his kingdom. And if you're saying you have nothing to offer. Here's what you're saying. I don't trust you, God. I don't trust you. You said you've equipped me? I don't think you have. I don't believe you. You have to make a decision if you're going to trust God on this or not. Peter says it this way. Willie read it earlier, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. These gifts were spiritual gifts, abilities that the spirit gives us to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God. Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything. God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Our service, ultimately, is for God's glory and the care of others. Jesus, when he was asked, what's the greatest commandment? Said, love God. And then he said, and there's another one, Similar to it. Love others. Love God and love others. Jesus, everything in the law. All the Old Testament rules and regulations, all the morality of how we are to live as humans are summed up in this simple statement, love God, worship him, seek him, and love others. Serve them, care for them. And he's equipped us. To carry that out. He's equipped each of you as his followers, to carry that out. To serve him in his mission that he's called you to, and that mission is to dwell with us. The astronauts, on the Artemis 2 mission, didn't just believe in the mission as an idea. But they actually got on the rocket and took off. God's inviting each of us to a mission that's far greater than a trip to the moon. He's inviting us to know and dwell with the one who created the moon and the stars and each of us. So what are we going to do about that? First, I would say this, join God in his mission. If you're here and you said, I've heard about Jesus, I've been thinking about Jesus, I've never committed myself to following him, though. I want encourage you to do that. I want to encourage you to reach out and ask about, what does it mean to follow Christ? And a little bit when the band comes up in the back corner over here, Willie, one of our pastors is going to be at our prayer corner. You can just walk back there and say, hey, I want to know more about what it means to follow Christ. There's no pressure in that. We're not going to try to convince you of anything. We're going to tell you the truth of who Jesus is, and walk down the road with you on that. And hope that you'll give your life to Christ, but You need to give your life to Christ and say, I want to be a part of God's mission to dwell with us. God loves you so deeply. That he sent his own son to die so that the sins, rebelliousness, the cheating that we've done can be taken care of. And we can be brought back to him. But most of you are followers of Christ. I know that. But maybe you feel like a spectator and not a participant right now. You feel like you're on the sidelines. And maybe saying, how do I get in the rocket? How do I get into the mission that God's calling me to? I would say this. Don't miss the launch window for fulfilling service opportunities. Let me unpack those 3 words, fulfilling service opportunities. When we use that in our mission statement, fulfilling, it has 3 ideas to it. You may hear it initially and think, well, I like doing it. I feel good when I do it, and that's true. But first of all, the most important thing is it fulfills God's mission for us, which is worship of him. When God called Bezalel to build the tabernacle, It was altering about worshiping of God. And that Bezalel, as he did the thing God had equipped him to do, was worshiping God and doing that, he was fulfilling his role, his purpose to worship God. It's also fulfilling, and that it allows others to worship. So Bezalel builds a tabernacle, and others can be a part of worshiping God. They have access to this worship. And as Bezel did the work, I know, he probably found it fulfilling himself. He found joy in it. Jesus said, I came to give you life and give it more abundantly when we're serving him. When we're rolling up our sleeves. Yes, you're going to find a satisfaction in that. You're going to find fulfillment in yourself and that. But others around you are going to be fulfilled. God himself and his worship is gonna be fulfilled. Fulfilling service. It's not about us. It's about others. Jesus said, I didn't come to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many. The last night of his life, he's washing the disciples' feet. He didn't show up and say, hey, take care of me, serve me, make my life easier. He showed up and he said, I'm here to serve. I'm here to be a part of God's mission, that we weren't fulfilling service. How do we love others in what we're doing? And the last word is opportunities. We have a ton of opportunities here at Northland to serve. We just have parents night out as a place to serve. When you walk out today, there's a VBS table. If you go, hey, could I do something at VBS? Sign up. You can serve. We have children's ministry, student ministry. If you go, I don't like being in front of people. I like fixing things, we have a building team. that each week when we come in here, we're able to worship and air conditioning or heat, and comfort because there's people who God's gifted to make sure the building's functioning. We have people who make sure you can find a parking spot. We have people sitting at the front door, shaking hands, saying, welcome to Northland. You'd be shocked how many visitors, when they come, one of the things they say is it was so friendly. The people at the front door were so nice to me. I felt so welcomed as soon as I stepped in, I was scared about coming to church. I was nervous. I thought I was going to get made fun of, or I'd had a bad experience, and they walked through the door, and they see Miss Brendan, and they just go, I'm so happy now. There's all sorts of service opportunities here at Northland. But God doesn't call us to his mission, simply for like this building, and what we do here, all the things we do, the moving parts of a Sunday morning, a Wednesday night, all the ministries. God calls us to his mission 24 seven. That means in your family. God's calling you to serve in his mission with your wife, your husband, your kids, at your job. He's calling you. He's placed you in your job. So you can be a light to the people around you. You could serve those people. You could offer them the hope of the gospel in your neighborhood. He's called you to serve. The places that you shop. Maybe where you just walk around a lot and you meet people and you get to reach out to them and say, hey, I've got to know you. I shop here so often. He's placed you there to serve as part of his mission work. Each of you have been equipped in different ways to step into fulfilling service opportunities. When the Artemis 2 took off at 535 p.m. on April 1st, they had a very narrow launch window, which means they had to leave at a specific time, had about 120 minute window where the weather had to be just right for them to launch or they couldn't take off. They had to wait for the next launch window to show up. They had an opportunity to take off and everyone was hoping, and the countdown had started, and as they got closer, they were hoping nothing showed up, a storm didn't show up on the horizon, nothing got in the way. And the opportunity was right, and they were able to take off the launch window was open. Here's the deal. Gods opened the launch window for service. All the conditions are right. Jesus died on the cross. He rose again. You're empowered by the spirit. There is nothing keeping you. from stepping into service to the opportunities that are there except your desire to step in. So will you be like the astronauts who are on the rocket, ready to serve? Ready to be launched, equipped to be launched. Will you be a spectator? God's calling each of us to fulfilling service this week. Keep your eyes open for the opportunities. Will you join me in prayer? Father, we. Gather here this morning to worship you above all else. to let you know that you are the most important thing in our life. individually and as a church. Father, we praise you, that you are on a mission to dwell with us, and that you have called us to this place at this time, to be a part of that. in our home, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, with our families and friends, in this church. And Father, I pray for myself this week. My eyes would be wide open to all the opportunities you put in front of me. to step into that mission. to find fulfilling service. While I'm shopping, while I'm at home, I'm going about my day, that you would be glorified. Father, thank you that you've equipped us to serve you. that you have equipped us to be a part of your mission. So in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.