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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So we're going to show you here two videos. We haven't showed this at all yesterday. We had a lot of things going on yesterday, but there's two different videos and they come from our outside elders. So our church changed our governance over the years and we not only have people that are elders within our church, but we also have people that have pastoral experience to help if our church ever came to a time of crisis. So I'm going to let them bring a word of greeting. The first one is David McFarland. He lives in Ontario. He comes to our church once a year. He's traveling all across our nation speaking. Many of us know him. He's an outside elder. He's going to bring a word of greeting. Then Glenn Bryke writes, we've had him here before. He's actually the chairman of our fellowship. He's going to bring a word of greeting on behalf of our fellowship. But also he's been a friend of our congregation for many years. And then I'll read the third one because we don't have a video of Doctor Thomas, but he wrote a letter and I'll read that in just a moment. So let's play the videos.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Congratulations, living stones, on 40 years of wonderful ministry. Pastor Paul, elders and all of you that make up this vibrant congregation. So thrilled for you. But remember the important thing of the next 40 years. May God greatly bless you into the future and leave a huge legacy.
[00:01:21] Speaker C: Greetings from Grand Prairie Living Stones church. Congratulations on 40 years of ministry. 40 years. I can't believe it. You know, when Pastor Paul and Patty were traveling through Edmonton, I was at Temple Bible College and they shared the vision for planting your church. I remember them talking about this handful of families that were going to be a part of this work that God had called them to. And I remember thinking, there is no way I would do that. I didn't have the courage. I didn't have the faith. But praise the Lord. And now think of how many people have followed in the footsteps in obedience to God and have made living stones what it is today. Today we honor the investment of those first pioneers. The lyrics of the christian anthem say, little is much when God is in it. God is true to his word. He says, you have been faithful with a few things and now God has put you in charge of many. Little has become much, few have become so many. The spark of the Holy Spirit's leading has become a blazing signal fire to everyone in central Alberta and beyond. And so today.
Enter into the joy of the Lord. Enter into the celebration and the blessing of God for your faithfulness.
You know, there's many markers of success. I think of growth, I think of impact, I think of service to the community, I think of the facilities, longevity, influence. But when I think of living stones, I can't help but think of the people that I've met there over the years. I can't help but see the faces and the hunger for God's word as I've had the privilege of sharing with you at times. In the past I've secretly coveted the leaders and the servants of the church because everybody knew what to do. Everyone seemed like they had a ministry, which is exactly what God calls us to be. And I've been refreshed and restored at the warm invitation to be a part of the life of your church. We love you. The power of living stones has been that you have become the living stones that Paul talked about that make up the body of Christ. You have taken Jesus great commission to heart. You've become disciples, you've become disciple makers for Christ. And I'm so proud of you today. And I commend you today and I thank God for you today. And that's why we celebrate 40 years as you celebrate this work. You are not the disobedient, fearful ones, but you are a Joshua Caleb generation now raise up the standard of Christ in the next generation, reach the next 40 years worth of people and teach them what it means to be a part of this work of God. This is the word that I have over you. It's from two corinthians, chapter three, verses two to six. You are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men. A letter of Christ written not with ink but on the tablets of human hearts.
Such confidence we have through Christ towards God.
Not that we have adequacy which comes from ourselves to be anything but. The adequacy is from God who also made us able ministers of this new covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Truly the spirit of God is among you. You are living stones.
God has blessed the fine city of Red Deer and the province of Alberta and the fellowship of christian assemblies in Canada by giving us you. On behalf of our FCA, congratulations on behalf of your sister church in grand Prairie, our leadership team and our staff. May the next 40 years be even more glorious and may you have even more impact for Jesus. Warmest congratulations and deepest appreciation to you, Pastor Paul and Patti for your mentorship, for your friendship over the years. And for building a church that has had such an impact in my life today, I command you as true servants of the Lord. Now, psalm 150 says the theme for the day. Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty expanse. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Congratulations, Livingstone's church.
[00:05:57] Speaker A: Amen.
So we didn't get a video from India, but we did get a brief letter. Dear pastor and church family, congratulations on 40 incredible years of serving the Lord. Your dedication, passion and faithfulness have inspired countless lives. Your four decades of ministry have been a shining example of commitment, perseverance and love for God's people. Well done. Good and faithful servants, we are happy to celebrate this milestone with you. Your ministry has been a beacon of hope, guidance and encouragement to so many. And may God bless you, your family, your church, immensely in love, in unity and in fellowship. Keep up the good work for the glory of God. Doctor Matthew K. Thomas and for some of you that may not be aware, we've been involved in this ministry. We've invested heavily in India. We've been there. I brought teams there. And a number of years ago we actually were directed by God. We built an orphanage and our church supports 100 orphans and we have been for probably the last dozen years. So we've seen what's happening in their lives. It's exciting. God's doing a powerful work there. Now, I'm going to shift gears a little bit here and just make two quick announcements on this back wall. On the other side of it, there's a bunch of pictures that people have given us to take a look at. And, you know, yesterday, if some of you were there, we actually put together a collage with some songs and pictures, but we're not going to show that today. I want to give time to two guests that we have this morning. The other thing I'll mention is, last we actually gave away some of these hats to our former staff. These are living stones, baseball caps, two colors. Anyways, we have extra, so if you're interested in purchasing one, just go out in the back there on your way out and you can pick that up. Also, we have celebratory cake for this amazing anniversary. I want to read a scripture verse and introduce our next guest as a young person. When Patty and I came here, God put a number of scriptures in my heart and I want to read one because it's going to really help you understand the story that Bill Taylor is going to come and share with us. The verse I received was Matthew, chapter four, and verse 38. I send you to reap what you have not worked for.
Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. And so what excites me about our church family is for a decade before I ever came here, God's spirit was bringing people together. There was a renewal movement, and a pastor from Edmonton began working with a group of people. And so since Bob Taylor can't be here today because he's with Jesus, Bill Taylor, his son, actually came down and helped his dad start this work. So let's welcome Bill Taylor. He's going to come and share with us.
[00:09:17] Speaker D: Good morning.
I realize that probably most of you don't know my dad. There may be a couple families left.
So I want to just do just a quick few minutes to tell you who my dad was. My dad was born in plaster Rock, New Brunswick, close to plaster Rock, New Brunswick.
Him and his brothers, they graduated. And of course, at that time, they just. They joined the air force. And so my dad traveled the world, flying everywhere, and he poured his heart into that.
And then on one of his leaves, he came home and he grew up with this other lady.
And they fell in love and they got married. And that would be my mom, Betty Taylor, who today is 86 years old and loves the Lord.
I am the fourth and youngest child.
I'm reminded about that many times as my mother still introduces me as the baby.
And I am 58 years old. I just want you to know that.
So I am the youngest of four.
So as my dad was in the air force and he had three children, the Lord touched his life one night, and my dad had one of the most miraculous changes.
He turned on a die, and his only goal in life was to serve God. After that, it was a miracle. I always tell people the greatest miracle is for those who don't know Jesus to expel their knee, confess their sin and ask Jesus into their heart. The greatest miracle as far as I'm concerned. So he did that and he turned right away. And I'm telling you, I won't get into too many things, but he did not have a good upbringing.
But the Lord moved in his life right away. I'm a little nervous today because I want to honor my dad, but I also want to honor God.
And so he turned, and mom got saved as well.
And as the process went on, he almost instantly wanted to follow the call of God in his life. So he left the air force and went to seminary with three children. And a wife.
And he worked full time and he did seminary and he raised the family.
You figure out how many days, how many hours he slept a night.
And then they actually made one of the best choices of their life. And that was they adopted me.
I remind my sisters and brother that I actually was chosen. They were stuck with them.
What's not the like, right?
Anyway, they adopted me. And soon after that, dad left seminary and became a united church minister because that was really kind of what you did back then. So we ended up going to Pei and then we went to Nova Scotia, Cape Breton island. Then we went to Ontario and then finally made our way out west. And just so you know, in those early days, dad didn't just pastor one church, they called them point charges. So in a lot of places he'd have like five churches and even one in Nova Scotia. There he actually had to take a boat across the water to minister to this group of people in this church. So my dad was always dedicated to the Lord. And he was always dedicated to whatever the Lord would call him to do, he would do.
So we finally made our way out west and I just want you to know that so many people came to know the Lord because of my dad's ministry. And please don't get me wrong, this is because of Jesus. But Jesus used my dad. And so many people know the Lord today because of his ministry, ministry and my mom's ministry.
So we come out west and it was beginning to.
The writing was on the wall that he didn't fit in with the United Church. The United Church was making some decisions that weren't exactly godly. And so he wasn't fitting the mold of that.
And during that time, he had a vision.
And in that vision was that he would start a church called Living Stones Edmonton.
I'm not sure if you're aware of that.
And then he was to start a church in red Deer.
And the vision was so clear that the one in Edmonton would struggle and it doesn't exist today, but the one here in Red Deer would thrive. And that's exactly what has happened.
And so we would get on a bus or a van and we would come down Sunday nights and we would meet with some families.
I don't want to leave anybody out, but with the rat Slavs, Doctor Zake, Ratzlav and I see Kevin and Carol and the Kabalcas, Orin and Marlene, Lorraine and Marlene have gone to be with the Lord.
But that's the starting point. And we would come down and we'd have really amazing meetings. And the Lord would move in a miraculous way.
My father, from his conversion, had one goal in life. And if he was here today, he would preach a sermon, and then he would look out and he would say, if you don't know Jesus, come.
I want to introduce you to him.
And then he would say, are you living? Have you know Christ, but you're struggling, or your heart is not fully serving him, come, because I want to pray for you. Because my dad lived, first of all, to be an evangelist.
And second of all, he wanted people to know what Christ had done in his life, and he wanted other period people to experience it. That's how miraculous his change was.
So I'm here this morning, and we're doing praise and worship. And honestly, it took everything I had, not just dancing.
That was so good. Maybe I should have.
I'll ask for forgiveness later. But, man, I was just shaking. I was like. And how fitting that that would be what my dad would want to have happen.
I'm sure it happens all the time here, but that's just this morning. How fitting that is, that the Holy Spirit would move in such a powerful way.
My dad loved the Lord. My dad served the Lord with every bit of his heart instantly from his conversion, and did nothing but serve him until the day he passed away, sick for ten years, but never wavered from the Lord.
My dad is my hero.
He was such a good man.
And my mom and dad's relationship, I've never seen two people love each other since they both loved each other. So I don't want to take too much time. Pastor Paul, I want to thank you and patty for having me.
I want you to know that this is a true honor.
A true honor. Thank you.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: Amen.
Thank you so much, Bill. And let me tell you something. It takes visionary people to create what is not there. It really does take that. And thanks. Thank you for your faithfulness and for your dad's faithfulness. That's so wonderful. I'm not going to waste any more time. Oh, you're up here already?
He's not fooling around. This is my brother. He served on staff a couple of times here in our church, and he's going to be sharing this morning.
[00:17:50] Speaker E: Paul is a stickler on time, so I got to get cracking.
Ouch.
You're all right. He gets on me later. It won't be you.
Ed was scared. He ran off the stage. He was supposed to say, hi, Sherry. So, hi, Sherry.
Is that okay?
Oh, from Sherry. Hello, Frabsheri. Can't even get that right?
Two times here as the youth pastors of living stones.
Yesterday. I mean, it's been 30 years. Yesterday at the dinner, people came in, they looked at Marla. Marla, you're so beautiful.
Looked at me, I was like, I know what you're thinking, and it's not even a spiritual gift.
Yeah. And of course, Marla had to defend me.
I think of guy as my trophy husband.
Oh, how sweet. Then I started walking away, and she goes, you know the trophies they give you for participation, doesn't it?
I'm old, but I heard that, you know, come on. So there's a picture of Paul leading the group.
A little bit younger there, a little fitter.
Paul's still the same size.
Now, that guy's had a great influence on me, this church has. He played the drums. I had to play the drums. He did a paper out. I had a paper out. But the thing with Paul is, and I know you don't think he's competitive, I grew up with that.
But he always did everything better than me.
And it's true about ministry.
You got a wedding you want to do. You got a funeral. Ask Paul. Don't ask me. I have very bad track record.
Paul's your man if you have that, ladies. And if you want to get married, don't ask me. You may end up married to the best man.
Just say, and you know what? If he's the best man, makes sense, right? Why do you want to marry the other guy?
So, apparently, Paul was unavailable for one wedding because it was a big one. And if it's a big wedding, Paul would do it. So apparently he wasn't available. So they're like, guy, it's up to you. And it wasn't at this church. It was in Sylvan, I believe. And it was big. Lots of guys and gals this way. And so I was just trying to focus and get through this without the usual problems and no chance. Halfway through the vows, I hear this. Boom.
We literally. The platform went. Everybody to the platform. Oh, my.
You see, I was thinking, if Paul had done this, he had the Bible in one hand, caught the girl that faded in the other.
It'll have been good. But a girl, one of the bridesmaids, she fainted. She hits the thing. Pow. She's down, she's out cold.
I'm just, like, humming the humming, but not a problem.
She had a newlywed husband right at the front, and he's framed action. But he wanted to be discreet, so he grabbed her by the ankles, and he started pulling her off the platform.
But the dress wanted to stay on the platform.
That was one problem. And then the next problem was there was four stairs off the platform. Her head bounced like a beach ball.
[00:21:43] Speaker D: Bonked.
[00:21:44] Speaker E: Bonk. Bonked. Bongdev. I don't even know if I remembered the vows. I don't know if they're married, but if you want to renew your vows, if that was your wedding, wait till Paul's available.
Just. Just saying.
Paul led me to Christ.
Paul led me to the restaurant business. Paul introduced me to ministry.
He set an example both in word and deed.
And one thing he taught me was, number one way people become christians is the church plan. He did it twice.
So after I served here twice, I gathered up the junior varsity version of Livingstone's people, Kevin Ratzlaff and Carol. I told Kevin I wouldn't have done it without him.
Rich Stewart, Chrissy and I, Andrew Driscoll.
So we went down to Washington state and planted a church.
Now, there's a little known secret about my brother, and I'm going to spill it right now.
Everybody loves it when I speak, because I do that.
He makes everything sound easy.
Everything is wonderful.
It's going to be the best.
It's amazing. Did you notice the amazing hats? He said, amazing.
They're pretty cool. But that's the way Paul is. And Paul is amazing. And he's always well received.
Not so much his younger brother.
So we went to Mount Vernon, and we were not well received, let's just put it that way. But we decided to make it harder, you know? Here's another thing we decided. We understood this.
80% of all christians become christians by the age of 18. Did you know that? So we decided we got to reach those kids, and we decided that we were also going to go after everybody that Jesus went after.
The little least last lost and lame. Fill your church up with the little least last lost and lame. Interesting crew. So then they used to say, yeah, pastor guy says, we're here to reach the little, the lepers, the liars, the limers, the losers.
I'm like, oh, lord.
And they try to preach that out. Audiences like preaching in a bar. They just yell, you stink. You were better last week.
Wow. It's like preaching in a church with Tourette's. You never know what's going to come. They're going to say, so one of the first people that came to Christ was a quiet and shy plumber named Adam. Now, sadly, Adam's wife had run off on him, leaving them three little kids. And Adam was destroyed. His life was thrashed. He was so broken inside, he tried to commit suicide.
Rich Stewart started working with him, led him to Christ, said, boy, did that guy love the Lord and the church. Another guy from the little least lost crowd was an older alcoholic named John.
He only came to the church because out of all the broken marriages, he had a daughter that attended our church. So he showed up at church, gave his heart to Christ, and he was loving God, too. Big time. Loved the church.
So one day, those two guys and all, some of the men are at a man's breakfast, and John, old John is talking about his trailer. He goes, you know, I plant flowers outside my trailer. I go out there and I pray in, these flowers are for you, God. And this is where I worship. And Adam, the plumber that never says anything to anybody, just rises up and points Adam like he's Moses on Mount Sinai and says, you are the flower in that garden.
We're like, what the words might have come out of, might as well come out of a burning bush.
We were awestruck. I've never seen God speak like that through somebody.
So then part of reaching the little least lost and lame, and we knew that we had to reach the kids. So we created a 14,000 square foot family entertainment center called Jungle Playland. Is there. Yeah, jungle. Look at that thing. That's a tiny picture. Can you imagine a church with a bunch of bumpalongs that could barely talk creating something like this?
Well, we battled everybody. People in the church said, you're nuts. It's too big. You can't do it. You can't insure it. The city hated us. They fought us. The neighbors fought us. The Army Corps of Engineers fought us. The Ir's fought us.
We started at church with $10,000 of my insurance money. We didn't have any money. And I remember Kevin just telling me, he goes, yeah, I remember. After three months, we were there. We were broke. And then somebody sold a cow. They said, what do we do with the money? I said, well, Kevin's broke. So the cow money went to Kevin with $100 to spare for his rent. That's how broke we were.
So after all the stuff that we went through to get this place together at the low point, my mother died. Our mother died. Our friend that was working on the building, his mother died. His dad was working helping us on the building. He set himself on fire and died. So we were just reeling.
All of our finances got cut off because somebody lost their job. And we went back to the bank and we were just half built. They said, oh, too bad. You can't. We're done with you. So now we got no money, and we got to finish building. So somehow we managed to bank, borrow, not steal, and we managed to open this new facility with a. Let's just say there was a few less extras that we couldn't afford, like the first day, big grand opening, no doors on the restrooms.
So when I said, greetings, nice to see you this morning, it's never been more literal, and you don't want to see that.
So I want you to listen closely what I'm about to say so you can stop texting now. I see that.
All right.
God had prepared in advance the creation of jungle Playland. And I'll tell you why in a moment. So, a couple months after we had opened, the presbyter came to our church. Our presbyter, a godly guy, psychologist, pastor, professor, doctor Patty Duklo.
And he looked around, talked to the staff, and he said, you know what, guy? This place is killing you. And Jungle Playland is the death knell. So I said, you know, let me just tell you the story before we continue.
So I said, it was a Sunday a couple weeks ago, and I just finished preaching. You know, he's a psychologist, and whatever. I said, I was tired and depressed, and I was stuck in jungle playland monitoring a bunch of these screaming kids. And it was only a matter of time. And I knew this is the way it rolled, that one of those kids that was loaded with pizza and pop and cake, one of those kids were going to have an explosion.
And when that happened, I get to be the puke fairy, you know, running around with the puke, you know, with the sawdust and stuff. Never fear, the puke fairy's here.
Kids are diving out. Get out of the way. Screaming.
I'm there to sprinkle magic dust, make the puke and smell disappear.
So I'm telling this story to Patty, and I said, this mom comes in, and she's got a daughter and all their friends, and then behind it is this little boy that, one of those Star wars wheelchairs, you know, the thing that does everything, whatever you breathe on it.
And I cannot tell if this little boy can talk, if he can see, if he can hear.
And I'm just taking back. And so I say to the mom, what can we do for your little son?
And she says, he likes animals. And I go, oh, oh, we got an animal. We got an animal that Toby the tiger.
Now, Toby the tiger is my wife. The bank manager, Marla.
Ultra conservative family, grew up. They weren't even allowed to see movies, play cards. They weren't dancers. So later in life, when I say, you want to go to dance? She'd do like the white man's overbite.
Don't dance, Marla. Stop dancing.
Stop.
But you put her in that tiger outfit. Holy cow, the tail's flying. It's a one step, two step boss of Nova Watusi. Mashed potato on the side.
Who is this girl?
Well, she came bouncing back into the tuned a jungle boogie. And that little boy jumped, leaped into that, out of that. I mean, he just stood up in the chair and started screaming, dance with my sister. Dance with my sister. While the mom starts to cry, I start to cry. And Toby strutting through, tail flying, all the kids, Toby, strut behind them.
I couldn't believe it. I told that story to Patty duclo.
He just said, you got to keep this place.
So we did.
You know what? We should have never built that place.
It was impossible.
We. I can't even believe we planted that church.
But the seeds from living stones and all the things that have happened since. Do you realize hundred, I mean, 100,000 kids have been through that in 25 years. Literally every kid in the county.
I have a guy that works for me. He's 33 years old. Yeah, I remember running through the space maze.
So that's God that has prepared, cared for you and living stones to do greater things. It's happening. It's going to happen.
So one last story.
And like my brother Paul, I don't. I'm a lot like you, apparently.
Well, one thing was true. I was still in seminary late in life. He just liked to keep going, so I did. And so we were taking this class. I was at UBC region. I got out of there. I was taking this class. And one of the things we were talking about was how to treat people dying in your church.
It always bugged me. And, you know, we had a really young church, so it wasn't like there was you guys. You couldn't pull this off. But I'm just saying, you guys have a funeral every 30 seconds here, so. Yeah, you're not going to be able to. So anyway, it always bugged me, though, that churches, you know, we see somebody dying in the church, and what do we do? They die. And then we have this huge thing, right? Everybody actually takes a shower, they get cleaned, they come to the church, you know, they say wonderful things. A few lies say wonderful, you know about these people, right? We do our best for them then, and then we go to the cemetery, we throw them in a dirt hole and throw dirt in their face and go back to the church and eat potato salad, right?
So I was like, I'm not going to do this with this dude. He's sitting in front of me for six months. He's in a wheelchair. His name is Beau, and he's about 60 years old. So for six months, and I finished preaching, I go down and chat with Bo. He's a sharp dude.
Six months beyond that, Bo cannot talk anymore. He can't communicate. He can't write. And I go up to him and I start talking to him, and he's getting it. You know, I can tell I'm talking to him and he's getting it. He's sharp, but he can't communicate.
So this really got to me. I decided the church was going to have a party for Beau. I wasn't going to wait till something happened. So I said, we're going to have a party for Bo. We're going to find out what his favorite food is. We bring him gifts. I'm going to tell you what we're going to do. We've got lots of food, and we're going to cut the service in half. You want to get a crew out? Then all the church came out for that. That's right. The lippers, the lambers, whatever, they came out. They were all there.
Wow. And so we had this great party for Beau. Most of them didn't even know Bo, but it was just a great time.
And so that night, I'm at home, and I get this call from Beau's daughter, the one that takes care of him, and she's crying, and she's saying, dad is talking.
I'm like, what? She goes, dad is talking in complete sentences.
He's totally, like, normal.
He's phoned up. My sister gets her on the phone in California. She's already on a plane.
Can you imagine six months not being able to express your love and say the last things?
And now he's talking to.
And for three days and three nights, he rattled on, and on the fourth day, he woke up and never spoke again until he died.
It's God, right?
So I want you to know, God has sent me here to tell you that this body, living stones, and that each of you, you and you and you are his flower in that garden.
Right?
That's right.
You're the flower in his garden, created in his image. If you look at Ephesians 210, you are God's workmanship, created to do amazing, godly things that he's already prepared for you to do.
He already prepared for this church to be built, living stones. He had already prepared for jungle playland to be created.
He's got great things for you to do. And you know what? You don't have to freak out and worry about him. You just have to say, yes.
Yes, Lord, I'll do them. I'll do them.
I know it was hard for Adam and John to accept the truth, that they were God's flower. And some of you here today are like Adam. Things are hopeless and you've considered suicide. And you're so broken inside.
And God wants me to tell you, you're his flower.
And he has plans for you.
Wonderful, prepared plans.
Some of you are like John, turn to substance abuse. You live in this horrible, hopeless haze. It's getting worse.
Like John, you're the flower in that garden. God has prepared great plans for you. Let me just share one last little secret. I know people like secrets.
So lean in.
You will never have met two more broken people, young people than Pastor Paul and I.
And I remember as young man going forward and praying at the front of a church and asking God to use our lives.
That was it.
God honors those prayers.
That's living stones.
That's the answer to the prayer. That's jungle playland Cascade Christian center. And God wants to do that here, even more so and in your lives than make your lives just amazing. And it doesn't matter if you're young or old. Doesn't matter.
My wife's aunt came to live with us at 75 years old. I thought, oh, I don't know if I can do this. My wife's like, don't worry. She's in poor health. If she lives three months, it'll be a miracle. Oh, yeah. You already know what happened.
She moved out 18 years later. Moved out?
I don't believe a word my wife tells me anymore. I'll tell you what.
But that woman made the biggest difference in Cascade Christian center. She loaned us money. She was auntie Lou. Everybody loved her.
You can be that.
So we're going to pray.
And all I want you to do is just say, yes, I am God's flower.
And yes to, I'll do what God wants me to do. He's already prepared for me to do it. I'll just step through that door and do it. When he asks you to do it, just do it. Right, Paul. So come on, Paul, bring it in.
I want you to notice I got 1 minute to spare. 1 minute to spare. All right. I want him to notice, not you guys. Whatever.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: He's not worried about you guys. He's worried about me.
[00:41:10] Speaker E: That's right.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: Good. We're back on.
Wow.
I just have to tell you something. I have another brother, and he's just like that one.
[00:41:32] Speaker E: Oh, no.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: And my daughters keep saying, every time I see dad with Peter and guy, it's too fun because all he can do is laugh. You can understand why now, right?
That's what it's like.
All right, we're going to stand.
I want to just encourage you. You know, what guy said was so true.
We just.
I could tell you a whole stack of stories about some of the antics we did. Yeah.
Unbelievable, embarrassing things, but lots of fun. The neatest thing, though, was I had the joy of leading both my brothers to Christ.
And they are both serving God today, and they are leading other people to Christ. That's what it's all about.
And you know what guy said, you know, I feel like God has a sincere note. I've not preached for two weeks. Dan Hammer comes here. What's he speak on? How much God loves us. How much God loves you. Many of you are deeply moved. I was deeply moved. I was crying last week. It was so moving, guys, coming along. He says, God loves you again. You're the flower. You're it. The big question is, are we going to say yes to God? See, we got to stop believing the lies of the enemy and start believing what God says about ourselves.
And you know what the problem is? Every time you look at yourself, you go, I can't do it. God goes, yeah, I already know that.
You're not convincing God of anything. He already knows that.
He says, I can do it, though, through you, if you'll say yes.
How many are catching on? It's not every time God says, I want you to do this, you go, I can't do this. God goes, of course you can't. That's why I'm asking you to do it. Who do you think is going to get the credit?
Are you catching on? See, God likes to use people that everyone goes, how are they doing that? I know them. That shouldn't be happening.
God goes, I'm doing it. How many want to be a part of what God's doing?
I want to be a part of what God's doing. I want God to have his way in all of us because that's the best life you can live.
And I know everybody thinks if I say yes to God he'll send me to some country I don't want to go to.
Where do we come up with these ideas?
That's Satan. Every person that I've ever met as a missionary has wanted to do it right. I go visit them. You can't pull them off the field. They want to be there. That's their heart, you know? I don't feel that's my calling. I'll go. I want to go to encourage them. I want to go to support them. I want to go to, you know, help them any way I can. But this is my calling.
You have to understand what God's called you to and stay there and work at it, you know? Right and over. You know, sometimes it gets tough. How many know? Sometimes it gets tough. Anybody here experience toughness in life? And everybody thinks, oh, yeah, God's punishing me. No, he's not. He's teaching you endurance.
He's teaching you patience. He's teaching you perseverance. You gotta learn these things.
It's not fun how many go? I don't always like being in God's school, you know, I want to play hooky today. This is not the lesson I want to learn anybody like that. Of course.
But you are who God's choosing. And we're going to pray today and I'm going to invite us all. I'm not going to have you come forward. But all the people say, I want to be used by God. And I'm not going to let any limits of unbelief or fear or looking at myself keep me back from doing what God's asking me to do. How many are saying, I'm willing to say total surrender. Do what you want to do. I want to see what God wants to do. Anybody want to open yourself up to that?
I've done it over and over again and I just believe many of you. We're about to see some amazing things, guys. And because it's this attitude, God's trying to cultivate this attitude inside of us because he has something special we have to say yes. So, Lord, we just want to say yes to you today. We want to surrender all of our fears. We want to move past our insecurities. We want to move past recognizing that there's inabilities and maybe even liabilities with our lives. But we know you're greater than that. If you're asking us to do something, give us the courage to say yes. Give us the courage to say yes and go do it. And watch what you do, Father, just help us to be courageous. Help us to do your will. Help us to surrender to your divine design for our lives, for those works that we read here in Ephesians, chapter two, verse ten, that you said you prepared in advance for us to do. You have a job for us to do, and I want to say yes to that job. I don't want to say no to it. I want to say yes to it. And we have no idea what you're going to ask us to do. And oftentimes, it's beyond our capabilities, beyond our ability, because God wants us to see.
It's his work.
But he's going to reinforce us with his presence, with his grace, with his empowerment, with his abilities and the people he wants to bring around us. Because none of us can do what God's asking us to do as a lone ranger. We have to do it in cooperation with one another. Help us to do it, Lord. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you. Thank you for being here. There's cake outside.
