So, thank You, Jesus, for Your goodness and Your grace that for some reason deep in Your heart you declared, "Let there be us," and it became so, and it was very good, and even though we turned our backs on You, You never turned from us, and You sent Jesus to the cross to once again declare, "Let there be us as a new creation with the old gone and the new come." So today, we are grateful, and we are humbled, and we give You the affection and the attention that You deserve.

Why don't you go ahead and grab your seat at whatever campus you're at? Let me go ahead and once again just welcome you to Valley Creek. And what a journey we've been on. What a journey we've been on. For the last five weeks we've been talking about what we see in front of us for the next five years, and I just want to start by telling you how grateful I am for you, like how proud I am of you. I'm so inspired that we are a part of a church that is interested in being disciples of Jesus. I'm personally moved by your life's willingness to say I'm not interested in comfort or convenience, but I'm interested in Jesus. And I want to walk with Jesus, and I want to know Jesus, and I want to surrender my life to Jesus, and I don't want to just go through the motions, but I want to be a part of seeing God's kingdom come and His will be done not only in my life but in the world around me, and so I'm inspired that we're a people of repentance, a people of repentance constantly changing our thinking in order to take a hold of the kingdom that is at hand. And so, if you get nothing else out of today, would you just hear me say, "How proud I am of you."? And what a privilege it is to be a part of this with this heart and this kind of spirit and this kind of culture and these kinds of people that are saying, "We're just following Jesus together wherever He leads." You see, we are a movement of hope for the city and beyond. If you've never seen this before, this is the visual language that's kind of the vision of our church that defines who we are as a people, a movement of hope for the city and beyond. You say a movement. What is a movement? Well, a movement is a bunch of individual people who come together and submit their gifts, passions, and talents to a common vision for an exponential return. It's like a bunch of little streams coming together to form a raging river that shapes the landscape around it. A movement is a story being written by thousands of people all at the same time. And our church logo really represents a movement because we are a Jesus-focused, spirit-filled, life-giving people, and we believe Jesus is the narrow gate that leads to an ever-widening life. A movement of what? The three circles. Hope. Hope is not an emotion or a feeling. Hope is a person, and His name is Jesus. Hope is found in the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that God's kingdom is available and at hand for all of us. Jesus has come to restore our identity, reconcile our relationship, and redeem our purpose. We are now people who want to receive His grace, experience His presence, and release His kingdom. We are drawn by grace, not driven by expectations. So, we are a movement of hope for the city and beyond. We do not exist for ourselves. We exist for the city, and we're hope carriers. Disciples of Jesus living on mission to change their world, carrying the hope of Jesus to the areas of life, the spaces, and places you and I go every single day. A movement of hope for the city and beyond. And if identity determines behaviour, who you are determines what you do, then this determines that we will be a people that make missional moves. If identity determines behaviour who you are determines what you do. Fish swim, birds fly, cows moo, dogs bark, cats... Then a movement of hope for the city and beyond makes missional moves because it's who we are, so it determines what we do. A missional move is when we take a next step so that somebody else can take.

Missional Move: Create a Future is all about just taking the next step to create a future that doesn't exist for others. And this is our map that both defines the present and the future. The things that are filled in are things that currently exist that have already been created, and the things that are outlined are the things to come in the days ahead, and we've said we just want to do five things in the next five years. We want to start a prayer centre, a sacred space devoted to the Lord, a place of prayer and worship and intercession and prophecy, a place where people can come and meet with God morning, noon, and night that's open and available to the city where God's presence resides. We believe the future will be built on the foundation of prayer. And the second thing is we want to start a training centre. We want VCLA to move to become Valley Creek College, and we want to create a place and a space for young adults to literally get their degree while being shaped and formed into the image and likeness of Jesus. And while there are lots of great academic institutions, there's not a lot of places that are focused on the development of the whole person. So, we will be about academic excellence but also spiritual formation, leadership development, relational skills, and missional living in the days to come. And not only that, but we want to create a Valley Creek leadership experience for adults of all ages because we want to create leaders who will create the future. The third thing is we want to start the Argyle campus. We want to create a harbor of hope on the west side of the metroplex, a Jesus-focused, spirit-filled, life-giving campus for them. The fourth thing is we want to start our university campus right across from the UNT Welcome Center. A campus for lost, lonely, and broken young adults and college students who need the hope of Jesus. And then, the fifth thing is we just call it the seven-continent strategy. We want to find a great person doing great things on each of the seven continents, like Pastor Koshi, our partner from India. I showed you his video last week that has these amazing people, and they're crying out to God for help, and we want to strategically build relationships with them to do exponential things in the decades to come. Five things in the next five years. It's a lot, and so here's what I want you to do. Just close your eyes with me. Can you see it? I mean, can you see it? I've spent five weeks trying to just paint a picture of a future that doesn't exist but can. The question is, can you see it? Can you see a prayer center that when people literally pull into the parking lot, they just start weeping because the presence of the Lord is there? And the moment they walk in the door, they're already hearing God speak because God's there. And even when they don't have faith, the environment is so saturated with the presence of God that He gives them the faith they need. Single moms wore out coming to find hope in Jesus. Young adults who need wisdom from God are coming and hearing His voice. Business people who need insight on how to make decisions, intercessors, and prophesiers just in their morning and noon. Can you see it? Can you see the training center? Can you see hundreds of young adults who you have created a future for them to have a different option than what the world offers them?

Young adults who want to live a different way are taking a narrow road and a small gate that leads to the ever-widening life, and they're being invested in and shaped and molded into the image and likeness of Jesus to become leaders who will literally create the future. And can you see the Argyle campus? A campus in a city that has everything, but when people don't have Jesus, they have nothing. And we can go and bring a Jesus-focused, spirit-filled, life-giving perspective to their life. And can you just see the university campus? And a generation that is lost, lonely, broken, and dying without hope, literally walking by the building on the way to class and thinking, "I need some hope. I have to go in. I don't know. There's something about this thing. It's just drawing me in." And then can you see great people doing great things calling out to God on the seven continents of the world asking for help and us getting to be the answer to their cry. Can you see it? Can you see it in your mind's eye?<br>Because if you can see it, we can go create it together. I can see it, and I believe deeply in it. And we've done everything we can to paint that picture, but beyond that picture, it doesn't exist. And if we don't go do it, it won't exist, so we have to go do it together. And if we actually want to see it become reality, there are three things that all of us have been asked or invited to do. The first thing is just to choose to commit to Valley Creek as your church because you can't create a future that you're not committed to, and until this becomes your family and this becomes your house, you don't really care about what happens here. And so, I just believe that for so many of you, this was the most important thing we talked about in the entire Missional Move series. For somebody that's hearing me right now, this was the whole reason that God brought you here. Because in making this commitment, He's healing your past. He's freeing you from your doubt. He's breaking off that scepticism. He's restoring the ability to trust within you. He's removing your consumerism and bringing you into a family.

And so, for so many of you, you are here for such a time as this, and I say to you today, "Welcome home. Welcome home to a family and a house that has a vision for a big life." The second thing is just give a sacrificial financial gift over the next two years above and beyond what you already give. This is, in a sense, using our resources to create a future that doesn't exist because to create a future requires an investment. It's not a cost. It's an investment, and we get to use the treasures that God has given to us and get to lay them at God's feet to create a future for someone else. And there's something about this that Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. As we give, what this is doing is it's leading our heart where we say we want it to go, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

So, when I give to God, when I give to His people, when I give to the future, I'm literally leading my heart to say, Heart. That's the direction you're going. And Jesus says, "Give, and it will be given to you." I'm believing that as we're giving, God is going to give back so much to you. Not dollar for dollar or thing for thing. God gives you more and better than what you give Him. And so, in giving, I believe marriages are going to be restored, relationships with children are going to be reconciled, healing is going to happen in our minds and in our bodies and in our souls and in our spirits, vision is going to be released, dreams are going to come to pass, and strategic insights are going to be given. Like, as we give, the Lord gives back. And I just want to tell you, I've been hearing so many stories of what people are doing to sacrifice, and it is so humbling.

I don't know if you've been in a circle or on a serve team or in a student pod or anything in the last couple of weeks, but when you start hearing the things that people are doing, they are giving something that costs them something. They are sacrificing to the Lord and taking treasures and laying them at the feet. They are giving things that are worthy of Jesus, and that's incredibly humble. And then, the third thing is just to take one tangible next step of faith each year over the next five years. Jesus says, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." We follow, He makes, and there's something about just saying, "I will take one next step of faith. Get in a circle. Join a team. Become a leader. Do the reading plan. Do the practice plan. Decide Valley Creek is my church. Participate in the missional move." There's plenty, and I will be here for the next five years, so I will be leading you through all of those. Don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere, but there's something about – I don't know why I said that. Maybe somebody just needed to hear it. I think I'm going to be here until I die. But for the next five years we're going to be talking about those things, and you're going to be moving forward. And here's what happens. A lot of us don't have a vision for our lives five years from now. This sets our heart towards the course to become the kind of person that we are created to be, whether we have a vision for it or not. And for some of you, this is the hardest one, but I'm believing God is going to do something profound in it. Go to the next one for me. This is what it takes to create this future. It's $50 million. We need five strategic partners because we're North America, and Pastor Koshi is India. We're going to need 25 new staff and 250 new leaders. We're going to need 100 new Valley Creek College students to join our current VCLA students, and we're going to have to reach about 2,000 new people for all of this to come to pass. And while you can look at that and be super overwhelmed.

Here's why it's not overwhelming for me. It's not overwhelming for me because all of that is sitting in this room. It's not actually overwhelming because the $50 million, we all have it if we're willing to give it. The five strategic partners, I believe, are going to come through relationships of relationships. So, there are people in our church that have relationships that are going to unlock the relationships of people on the seven continents. So, I believe God's going to do it that way. The 250 leaders are you, and the 25 new staff are going to come out of those 250 new leaders because we raise up people within. And so, God's already speaking to so many of you that it's time to start leading and go to a different level. The 100 new college students, they're here. They're our current students and young adults. God's already speaking to them to say, "Hey, I'm in," and really, it's speaking more to parents to be like, "I'm going to celebrate this innovative opportunity for my kid to become like Jesus, not do what the world does.

And then 2,000 new people, you're our outreach strategy. We don't reach people by signs and banners and handouts. We reach people life on life through you. And so, if we will all just say, "Hey I'm going to tell my story and I'm going to be a hope carrier and I'm going to invite people and I'm going to bring people and I'm not going to back down and I'm going to be bold and I'm going to live a life that people see, and they're like, Dude what is so different about you." We'll reach way more than 2,000 new people that need the hope of Jesus as we go on mission together. So, it's not overwhelming when we live as a movement. See, we have a great story. It's a great story. it's a humbling story. It's an overwhelming story. And you can pick exactly when you came. And it doesn't matter when you came because we're all at that last dot together and every one of us stands at that point and all the realities and all the resources and all the revelation that belongs to this family is yours.

Some of you have never had a dad that's left you anything of value. In a sense, as the dad of this family, I say all of this belongs to you. We've given you everything that we have, whether you showed up today for your first time or you've been here for 30 years. Every one of us is enjoying a present that someone else created. Every missional move that's taken place, and this is our fourth one created. Something that didn't exist, and God did something spectacular, not only in the lives of the people that were reached, but in the lives of the people that were there. There's something about when you're at a genesis moment of a movement of God, of a missional reality, that changes everything, and that's why I don't want you to miss it.

See, we're all right there, but we're starting this new story together. And so, we're about to leave base camp. We're going into the unknown. We have to risk the present to create the future. We have to be willing to give up our comfort and convenience to move forward. And I don't want to see your life just left in the world spinning over here, no, a movement of hope for the city and beyond where you say, "In Jesus' name, I'm moving forward. I'm creating a future for others that someone else created for me, and somehow, someway, I'm believing God's going to do something profound in my life because He will." And for whatever it's worth, to speak from experience, this is our fourth one. Every one God has done something profound in my family. In my family, not just each like, "Oh, that's cool. We started then campus, yay." But I can go back and tell you what God did in me and Colleen and what He did with my kids and what He did in our mindset and what He did in our lives and what He did in our personal reality and in our walk with the Lord. That's the point of creating a future.

It's not just for them. It is for them, but in doing it for them, God does something profound in you. See, missional moves remind us, first and foremost, that Jesus missionally moved for you. Did you ever catch this, that Jesus is the missional mover? So, you're like, "Oh, did you guys make that up?" Like, no. Nothing new under the sun. Jesus is the missional mover. You say how? Well, He went from heaven to earth, from the earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to hell, from hell to the resurrection, and from the resurrection to heaven. He still has two more moves to make. From heaven to earth to get you, and then to create the new heavens and the new earth where you will live with Him forever.

So, Jesus is the ultimate missional mover, and missional moves remind us that Jesus moved for me and for you. In fact, I love this in John. When the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples for the first time, they don't totally have it all figured out yet. It says, On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that, he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Here's what I want you to see. Before Jesus sent them out, He first showed them His hands and His side. In other words, before Jesus asks you to do anything, He first shows you He's already done everything.

Before Jesus sends you, He shows you. Before He sends you out on a mission, He shows you that He's already gone on a mission for you. And I love that it says they were afraid. Can I just tell you, I feel like a spirit of fear has been trying to work in some of your lives through this missional move. Spirit of fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of commitment, fear of trust, fear of giving, fear of letting go, fear of the future, fear of the present, fear that's just been gripping in your mind and in your heart and in your body and in your life, but I just say to you there is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear, for you have not been given a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind in Jesus name.

And so, today is the day that that spirit of fear is being broken off your life. Why? Because Jesus has come to stand among you. And when He's here, I can't be afraid. Why? Because His love overwhelms me. And today, He breathes on you. It says, Receive my spirit. Don't be afraid." You see, in Matthew 28, Jesus says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you always." You've heard this verse, but here's what I want you to see. Therefore, go and make, and surely, I am with you. There is a unique facet of God's presence that you can only experience when you go on mission with Him. Isn't it interesting that it's the part of the verse we always leave off?

I don't put that up when I'm teaching it to you. Why? Because it's time, and I got a lot of verses I got to get through. Go and make, and I am with you. There is an intimacy that you will only know when you go on a mission with God. When you take this step and you move forward with God, there is so much more of Himself that He is going to reveal to you. And if I could sum up this whole missional move for your life in one verse, it's this last one. "When he saw them, he said to them, Go. And as they went, they were miraculously healed and made clean."

I believe that as you go, as you move, there is a miraculous healing, there is a cleansing, there is a breakthrough, there is a restoration, there is a freedom, there is a restoration, and there is a being surprised by God kind of life when I will just go by faith into the unknown trusting in His character and His goodness and saying, "Jesus, I'm scared. I don't know. I'm not sure, but because you say so, I will go." And as you go, you're going to be amazed at what falls off of you and what gets deposited inside of you and what gets healed and what gets cleansed and what gets given and entrusted that you might steward. I'm just believing you are going to see that in Jesus' name. See, five years from now, whether you realize it or not, you're going to be someone. Five years from now you're going to be someone. Who are you going to be? Can you see who you want to be five years from now? Can you see who you want to be five years from now? Most of us, if we're honest, we can't. Here's the good news. I can see who you can be five years from now.

You know what I see? Five years from now, I see a disciple of Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit, walking in the character and power of Jesus, living on mission with God as a hope carrier, enjoying God and the life that He has given you, full of faith, hope, and love, creating a future that is very good. That's what I see. That's what I see. And it all starts with just one step. One step, one step, one step. "Okay, God, I'm going to go with you." Let me try to pull all this together for you in this. There is a great story in the Old Testament. It's the story of Gideon. It's in Judges chapter 6. You might be familiar with it. One day, God shows up, and he finds Gideon, a man, and it says, "Gideon is threshing wheat in a wine press." Now, I don't know much about wheat or wine, but I'm pretty sure you don't thresh wheat in a wine press. And what we discover in that moment is Gideon is afraid.

He's afraid. Why? Because the Midianites, the enemies of God, are oppressing the Israelites, the people of God, he's afraid. And he's hiding out, trying to take care of himself, living in a small little present, trying to hold on to his life and his comfort and his convenience, and God shows up, and He sees Gideon hiding out, and He looks at him, and He says, "Greetings, mighty warrior." Gideon is totally confused. And God says to Gideon, "Hey, Gideon, go and rescue my people from the hand of the Midianites. Go create a future that doesn't exist." And Gideon responds like, "God, you got the wrong guy here. You got the wrong guy," and God says to him, "Gideon, the Lord is with you. Just go in the strength you have."

In other words, you don't have to have it all together. Just go with what you got. And because Gideon was willing to get up and go – here's my favorite part of the story. It says, "The Holy Spirit came and put on Gideon like putting on a robe." It says, "The Holy Spirit came inside of Gideon and literally put Gideon on like a robe." Now, in the New Testament, that's normal. That's how we live. Jesus is the Holy Spirit. He is inside of us. He puts us on like a robe, but in the Old Testament, God would come upon people, not within them. So, when it says he puts on Gideon like a robe, in other words, what he's saying is the Holy Spirit is coming inside you, a prophetic picture of a new creation life, and he wants to put on Gideon to go do something impossible. And Gideon's willing to go, and he's got 30,000 troops, but God likes to stack the deck against Himself, so He brings it down through a lot of circumstances to 300 people. And he says, "Here's what you do, Gideon. You go to the battle, and you take those 300 men, and you do three things. You show up, and you blow trumpets, and then you take clay pots and you smash them. And inside is a torch, and you hold it up."

Gideon says, "That's the battle plan." God says, "That's the battle plan." So, 300 men who are willing to go create the future and allow God to put them on. Think about that just statement. God puts you on and goes to battle, and they blow the trumpet, which is a picture of worship. They smash the clay jar, which is a picture of being broken and humble before the Lord. And the torch that was inside burns bright, which is a picture of the presence and the passion of the Spirit of the Living God burning inside of you. And it says the Midianites flee in every direction. The Israelites want a complete victory, and for an entire generation, they got to enjoy the peace of God, a future that didn't exist, all because one man was willing to just simply go in the strength he had, to give up his present to go create the future.

So, I tell you that story to just simply say this. That if we, just as people, will go and blow the trumpet, worship, offering our lives as a living sacrifice to God, and we will allow the clay jar of our life, his treasure hidden in jars of clay, to simply just be broken before the Lord. We will allow the Spirit of the Living God to dwell inside of us and burn brightly. We can create a future that doesn't exist for an entire generation and generations to come. And so, in a minute, I'm going to give you the opportunity at all of our campuses, if you want to, to take your commitment card and anything that you want to give towards that commitment and come up and put it in a jar of clay, a prophetic picture that I am broken and humble before the Lord and He is my treasure.

And for those of you that got one and you brought it back with you, you got it. That's great. If you don't have it, there's some in the back at each of our campuses, or you can do it digitally. You can do a digital commitment card on the QR code in front of you. However you want to do it is fine. If you want to do it, it's fine. There's no obligation here. This has been an invitation from the beginning. In fact, I just even want to say this to you. If you don't want to do it, don't. It's totally okay. This is a moment for a heart that says, "I want to do this with the Lord." If you're not there yet, that's okay, but when you come and you bring this in and you drop it as a sign of submitting and surrendering to the Lord, there are also these little pens right here. And a little pen just simply says, "I'm creating the future with God." It's just a pen. It's a cheap pen. It's not a big deal. It probably breaks in a couple of months.

But if a movement is a story being written by thousands of people at the same time, then there's something about coming in by faith, taking the responsibility to pick it up and say, "I'm writing this story. I'm writing this story, and I'm going in the strength I have. I might not have what this person has, and I might not be where this person is on their faith journey, and my marriage may not look like this marriage, and my family might not look like this family, and my life might not look like that person's life." That's totally okay. I'm going in with the strength I have, and I'm writing a great story with God. And before you get up and move, you can have a moment if you want. And you come down with your family, you'll probably have one card that you put in, but everybody that wants a pen can take it. And this is like the shirts. Don't take it if you don't want it. Take it if you're willing to do something about it.

See, I know I ask you a lot of questions. The last question I want to ask you in this series is just simply this. What does God want to do in my life through this missional move? What does God want to do in my life through this missional move? And in a second, the bands are going to start playing, and you'll be free to respond as you want. And when you're done, you can go back to your seat, and you can have a moment with the Lord, and then we'll come back together. Our campus pastors will pull us all back together. What does God want to do in your life? What does He want to do in you? What does He want to do through you?

He wants you to write a future that doesn't exist. But make no mistake about it, he's also writing a future that doesn't exist in your heart. So, what is God healing, restoring, freeing, imparting, changing, and speaking? What is He doing through this move? The last verse simply says this. "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, God, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." Who are we that we would get to lay treasures at the feet of Jesus?

And so, as you get ready to respond, my encouragement would be to have a moment with Jesus, and then as you walk up, for those of you that want to, and there's something about moving. That's why you're like, "Why can't we?" Because there's something about moving by faith. See Jesus sitting right here, and you bringing your gift up and laying a treasure at the feet of Jesus. So, Jesus, thank you. Holy Spirit, move. Jesus, may your presence just fill this place as we come and bring you treasures, gifts, commitment, faith, hope, and love for you and your people that is worthy of you in Jesus' name.