So, Jesus, we just choose to be aware of you today. We are so grateful for this journey that we are on. We see your goodness and grace all over our lives and all over this church. And what a privilege, what an opportunity, what a responsibility it is to get to create a future that doesn't exist with you. When we see the urgency, we feel the gravity, we catch the weightiness. And we want to choose to move forward with you as your ambassadors, disciples, representers on this earth. So, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to create a future that doesn't exist. Welcome to Valley Creek. We are so glad that you're here with us today. And we're in a series just called Missional Move: Create the Future. And we're talking about taking the next step as a people to create a future that doesn't currently exist.

A missional move is when we take a next step so somebody else can take theirs. And really, what we're doing is we're just taking five weeks to talk about what we see in front of us for the next five years. And on the sixth week, there will be an opportunity to respond. And as we've been going through this series, it's like one big message all rolled together. We've talked about where we've been and we've talked about our story. And then, I've painted a picture for you of where we're going. And then, we've been talking about this sense that we were created to create with God, that we have the authority and the responsibility to say, "Let there be," and it will be so in this world. And as we've been going through that, I hope it's inspired you. I hope it's lifted your head. I hope it's created some gratitude in your heart for what you're a part of. Like, you're a part of a church that's going somewhere, but we're not interested in good American church. We're not interested in religion. We're not interested in events and services and comfort and convenience. No, we want to see God's kingdom come and His will be done.

You're a part of a people that are actually moving forward into a future that doesn't exist. I love it. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." God's kingdom is forcefully moving forward, and we want to grab a hold of it and align our lives with it. Jesus says, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it." He is building a church that is subduing darkness by creating a future that does not exist. That's the kind of church I want to be a part of. You see, our vision is to be a movement of hope for the city and beyond. A movement is just a story being written by thousands of people all at the same time. And I know as I have told you our story and I'm telling you what's in front of us, I know for a lot of you, it's a lot. It's like so overwhelming because sometimes we're so confused and foggy and we have no vision for our own life. And then, someone tries to show us a vision that's bigger than our life.

And it can be a lot and overwhelming, and you're, "I can't see it and I don't know and woah, woah." Okay. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith. It's just being sure of what we hope for. What is that? I'm sure that God is good, that God is good to me, that He began a good work and me will be faithful to complete it. That He is with us and for us. And so, even if I can't see it with my physical eyes, I can by faith believe it in my heart. Why? Because I don't walk by… or I walk by faith, not by sight. I don't live my life by what I can see; I live my life by what I believe. I'm not someone that walks by sight; I walk by faith. And by faith we understand, which means I don't have to understand and then obey. I obey and then I understand. Understanding follows faith. If I will have the faith to move forward with God, understanding will unfold along the way. So, if you can't see it, you don't get it, it feels like a lot.

That's okay. It's called faith. By faith. And here's what I want to say. When we get into missional moves, I totally acknowledge the tone changes. If you're like the tones changed, the tone has changed. Why? Because this is a mission and this is a movement. So, the tone changes. There's an urgency. There's a gravity. There's a weightiness. And there is a directness that shows up. I'm not usually a very direct preacher. I like to try to teach you the word, and then I like to ask you a lot of questions to reflect. But we get to missional move. It gets very direct. If you look at Moses, you look at Joshua, you look at David, you look at Jesus, you look at Paul. All throughout Scriptures, when missional move moments happened, they got very direct. They were so direct; they make me look like a marshmallow. I mean, you'd be like, "Jesus didn't say that." Oh, it's in red. He did. It was very direct. Why? Because it was a missional move and it mattered. It mattered what they were doing and it matters what we're doing.

And so, to be totally honest with you, I'm not sure how we're grabbing this. I'm not sure as we're going through this, if we're inspired, if we're lifting our head, if our hearts are open, if our mind is clear, if we actually want that which God is offering us. I'm not sure. And so, instead of going deeper into creating the future, which is what I wanted to do today, what I'm going to do is I'm going to come up. I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. And then, I'm going to tell you a story because I want you to walk by faith into the future where we're going. You see, there is a great story in the Old Testament that if you're not paying attention, you'll read right past it and completely miss it. The Israelites and the Philistines are at war. The Israelites, they're the people of God. They carry the name of God, the nature of God, the character of God. They represent God's kingdom on this earth. And the Philistines are the enemies of God and His people.

All they want to do is steal, kill, and destroy. They're raiding the land. And so, the Israelites are supposed to fight the Philistines and remove them from the land. And Saul is the king of the Israelites. He's the king of God's people. And he is supposed to be leading the Israelites to go on battle to create a future that doesn't exist. But when we get to 1 Samuel 13, we find Saul sitting under a pomegranate tree. And he's got his entire army around them. And they're all just apathetic, sitting under this pomegranate tree in comfort, in convenience, and just consuming one pomegranate after another. And there's this interesting little line that says, "Only Saul and his son Jonathan had swords." His entire army and there's only two swords between them. Saul has one and his son Jonathan has one. And after a while of sitting around under this pomegranate tree, Jonathan decides he's had enough.

He's had enough of this comfort and this convenience and this consumption. So, he sneaks out of camp with his armor bearer and he pulls him to the side and he says, "Let's go fight the Philistines. Nothing can stop the Lord from saving us. And who knows, maybe the Lord will act in our behalf." Now, Jonathan has no idea what will actually happen. All he knows is that he has been commanded by God to create a future that doesn't exist. All he knows is that God has already promised the Israelites a victory over the Philistines. All he knows is God has already told them to drive them out of the land. All he knows is that the Israelites have already been promised that land. And he knows he's the son of a king, which means he's royalty. So, he's not supposed to be sitting around apathetic. He's supposed to be creating a future that doesn't exist. And all he knows is he has one of two swords. And that sword isn't meant to be used to cut off pomegranates for himself. That sword, that resource, that which is in his hand, is meant to go create a future of freedom for his people that does not currently exist.

And so, his armor-bearer looks back at him and he says, "Go do whatever you have in mind. I am with you, heart and soul." So, the two of them climb up this hill and they engage in a battle with the Philistines. And in a matter of a few short minutes, they killed 20 Philistines. And it was like almost God was just waiting. Just waiting for just one person to leave camp and stop consuming and go create a future that didn't exist. God was waiting for someone to move. And when he saw Jonathan's faith and Jonathan moved, God moved in response. And it says he sent a panic among the army and brought an earthquake to the entire Philistine force. And they all started to flee in every direction. And as they started to flee, such a commotion was raised that Saul popped up from his pomegranates. And he realized what was happening. And he got this apathetic army, and all of a sudden, they were awakened and they went into the battle.

And then, it says the rebellious Israelites who had left Israel and were living with the enemy came back over and fought against the Philistines. And those were hiding in rocks and caves and holes, the broken, the fearful came out of their hiding. They were healed. They joined the battle. And an incredible victory was won because one man decided to leave camp and go create a future that didn't exist. See, I tell you that story because that's where it all is. It's where it all is. Look around. Great American church is sitting under a pomegranate tree. Great American church is sitting under a pomegranate tree in comfort and convenience, taking the resources God has given to us to create a future that doesn't exist. And we're using it to cut pomegranates for ourselves. We're using what's in our hand to consume more for ourselves. And we're complaining about how bad the world is and the politics and the people and the things.

And all the while, God is waiting for just one man, one woman, one student to say, "I've had enough of this, and I'm leaving camp. And I'm going to go create a future that doesn't exist because I'm a son of a King and I've got this sword. And by golly, I'm not using it to cut pomegranates. I'm using it to create a future that doesn't exist." And so, what if you're Jonathan? See, because when Jonathan goes to the battle, what happens is the apathetic were awakened. The rebellious were restored and the broken were healed. The apathetic army was awakened and they went to the rebellious, left the enemy's camp and came back home. And those that were afraid and broken hiding out came back to life. When you go create a future, the apathetic are awakened, the rebellious are restored, and the broken are healed.

And who knows that if you go create a future, you might awaken your apathetic husband. It might awaken your apathetic wife. It might awaken your apathetic child. It might awaken that apathetic person sitting next to you in service right now. You go engage a battle. You might restore the rebellious spouse, the rebellious child, the rebellious person in your life. You go engage the battle. You might heal the broken spouse or child or family or friend. Who knows? But God moves when we move. And so, my question for you as I tell you that little story is, who are you in that story? Which character most represents your life like today? Are you King Saul? Using your resources to cut pomegranates for yourself, expecting everyone and everything to revolve around you? Are you like the apathetic army just waiting for someone else will do it? Are you like the rebellious Israelites? Have you gone over and lived with the enemy's camp? You claim the name of God and you say you're a Christian, but you live like the world.

Or are you the people with the spirit of fear, broken, hiding out in the world around you? Or are you like Jonathan? A man of passion that is willing to risk the present to go create the future. I mean, here's a great question. Would you rather be the son of Saul or the son of Jonathan? Would you rather be married to the armor-bearer or to the apathetic enemy or apathetic army? Would you rather be friends with the rebellious and the broken or the passionate? Like dads, here's some directness. Your children don't want to watch you spend your life consuming pomegranates. They want to watch you go create a future that doesn't exist for others. Hey, wives, your husbands don't want to be married to apathy. They want to watch you live a life of passion and go do something that matters. Hey, students, your parents don't want to raise rebels. They want to raise those who say, "I am with God, heart and soul."

Hey, friends, nobody wants to be friends with someone who lives with the spirit of fear. They want to be friends with someone who has passion in their life. Who are you in this story? See, what I love about Jonathan is he left camp. And that's all he knew. He moved. There's no other dot to get to yet. "I just know I'm moving with God. I just know I'm going by faith." Here's your choices, pomegranates or Philistines? Consuming or creating? Comfort or courage? A life of sight or faith? Waiting around for something to happen or moving with God? We're not supposed to stay in camp using our resources to consume pomegranates. We're supposed to go create a future that doesn't exist. We're people of risk, people of the unknown, people of faith, people who are awakened, people who are passionate, people who actually are alive in this world.

And it's time to use this resource that God has given me in my hand to go create a future that doesn't exist for others. Because I have to be willing to risk the present to create the future. That's the problem. I don't want to give up my pomegranate tree to go fight Philistines not knowing what's going to happen. You go fight the Philistines. When it's done, I'll bring the pomegranates. Do all that you have in mind as armor-bearer. I said, "Go ahead, I'm with you heart and soul." I want you to see this for a second because this is a picture of the Holy Spirit in your life. See, Jonathan is actually a picture of Jesus. He's an Old Testament prophetic picture of Christ. When no one else would do anything or could do anything, Jesus left camp.

And He took the armor bearer of the Holy Spirit, who said, I'm with you heart and soul, went up a hill, and used his sword, the word of God, to declare, "Let there be a new creation in Christ." And he won an impossible battle. And in that moment, he awakened the apathetic, restored the rebellious, and healed the broken. You. And now the Holy Spirit has come into our life. And he says, "Do all you have in mind. I'm with you heart and soul." Do you realize how this echoes Genesis 1:28? God's saying, "What's in your heart, Adam? What do you want to create? What do you want to go do?" There aren't step-by-step instructions for this thing. This is a relationship. Let's go live together. What's in your heart, in your mind? The sad part is most of us don't trust what's in our heart and in our soul. We don't trust what we have in mind. Why? Because we live too much like the world. But Jesus says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you." Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Whatever you ask, according to my will, it shall be done from you. Jesus seems to think that if we walk with God, the Holy Spirit can say, "I'm with you heart and soul, and we can do whatever we have in mind." Why? Because my heart and my life and my mind and my sword has already been surrendered to his kingdom. So, now I can go create a future that didn't exist. See, what I want you to see in the Jonathan story is that God didn't tell Jonathan to leave camp to go do it. He was waiting around for someone to do what he had already told them to do. They were already commanded all the way back to Moses' day to remove the enemy from the land. No one needed to wait for another instruction. It was called Create the Future. You're empowered. How do you want to do it? I'll do it with you, but how do you want to do it? And you got to decide to go do that, which God has already asked us to do.

See, we sit around and wait for God to do that, which He has already asked us to do. That's why we sit and consume pomegranates because we're like, "God will deal with them." No, God's asking you to deal with them. And if you don't go deal with them, they won't be dealt with. Why? Because God isn't controlling, He's empowering. And He's already empowered you to go do amazing things. Let me just show you some things God has already empowered you to do. "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Interesting. He doesn't say, "Ask me to heal the sick, ask me to raise the dead, plead with me to drive out." No, you go do it. And when I will freely give that which I have freely received, when I'll use my sword, sick people get healed, dead people get raised, dirty people get cleansed, demons get driven out. So, God's waiting for us to do this. You probably should wrestle through how you're actually working that command out in your life.

Or how about this one? "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, your city, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." God says, "Hey, I've given you my spirit and my power, and you're to be my witnesses. God is not witnessing for himself. He sent you to go do it. What? In your city and in your region, which means God is not going to Argyle or university. He's waiting for us to say, "We'll go be the witnesses." Now he'll go with us heart and soul. He doesn't send us by ourselves, but he's not getting up out of the pomegranate tree to go. He's like, "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Why do you have that sword?" It's not for the pomegranates. Or how about this? Seek the peace and the prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you will prosper." Like, we're called to seek. This is a command. God's just waiting to pray for it. Like, God's not starting a prayer center.

He's waiting to see if anybody around here wants to pray to seek the peace and the prosperity of the city. Or how about this? "If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God. He's made you a new creation and He's given you the ministry of reconciliation. God is not ambassadoring himself. He has sent you to be his ambassadors to literally make his appeal through you. And He says, we implore you. We implore you. We beg you. We plead you. We urge him with desperation and urgency and gravity be reconciled to God.

But we got to leave the pomegranate tree to actually go share that message. Or how about. "And the things you have heard me say, you've heard a lot of things from God. In the presence of many witnesses and trust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." In other words, God has already commanded you to develop leaders. God's not starting a training center. He's already commanded us to develop leaders. So, he's just waiting to see how we want to do it. What level of creativity do we have? What are we willing to use? Are we going to stay and consume pomegranates or go create a future that doesn't exist? Or how about? "Go and make disciples of all nations." God's not going to the seven continents. First of all, He's already there. He's just waiting for us to wake up and come. It's a command. It's not a suggestion. Fair. "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it using vast resources. Create a future that doesn't exist." Like, God's not creating the future. He's waiting for us to do it. Are you catching me on this?

It's just like the Israelites sitting under the pomegranate tree. They had already been told by God to go. We've been told to go. The only question is, are we willing to go? Those are commands. You have to wrestle through them. You have to decide how your life aligns with them or resist them. But they're not like suggestions, and they're not on God. They're on us to missionally move from camp into the unknown to use what he's put in our hands to create a future that doesn't exist. And like Jonathan, he is just looking for someone whose heart is fully committed to him that he may strengthen him. He's just waiting for someone to leave camp and go do something. God's like, "There it is." Oh my God. I've been, "There she is. There he is. There's that student. There's that businessman. There's that stay-at-home mom. There's that young adult. There's that single mom. She's moving. Oh my gosh. Okay. One more step. One more step. One more step. Here it comes. Boom." And then the panic from God into the enemies' camp shows up, but we got to move. We got to move, which means we got to get out of ourselves.

Oh my gosh. We got to get out of ourselves. We got to stop consuming. We got to stop being so selfish. Here's your directness. It can't always be about you and your feelings and your needs and your wants. Church can't just be about how you feel and what you think and why is it like this? And I mean, you're not here for you today. We're here for Jesus. So, at some point in time, we have to say, "I just have tried the pomegranate life. Oh, they get old." But there's a great battle ahead of me just calling my name. And so, we're trying to do five things in the next five years. We want to start a prayer center. A sacred space devoted to the Lord, a place of prayer, worship, intercession, ministry. We believe the future will be built on prayer. We want to start a training center.

We want to start a training center that is going to focus on taking VCLA and turn it into Valley Creek College, where students can earn two- and four-year fully accredited degrees while being developed in the whole person of who they are. Leadership development, spiritual formation, relational skills, and missional living. Listen, I get it for a lot of us. It's like it's really easy. It's easier to get excited when the lost are found than when the found become disciples. It's easier to get excited when lost get found. We clap at baptisms, but when found become disciples, lost get reached. So, it's easier to cheer when a lost becomes found than when a found becomes disciples. But if found don't ever become disciples, no lost people get reached. That's the training center. Third thing, Argyle campus, put a harbor of hope into that side of the Metroplex. Fourth thing, a university campus in a very worldly institution to reach and raise up a generation. And then, the fifth thing, the seven-continent strategy, find great people doing great things on all seven continents to partner with them over the decades to come. And so, that's big. It's $50 million. That's what it feels like. Go fight the Philistines.

Leave camp and go fight the Philistines with two swords. $50 million. But if we would just use the swords that we do have, we have the $50 million. If I use my sword to cut pomegranates, we do not have it. But if I use my sword to go fight, we do have it and we're not going to go into debt. We're a debt-free church. So, this is as fast as we all want to create this future or not. And there's three things I'm asking every person to do. One is to commit to Valley Creek as your church. You can't create a future that you're not committed to. So, at some point, you have to say, "This is my church." The second thing is to give above and beyond what you already give, a significant commitment over the next two years. Your current giving funds the present. Your missional move giving creates the future. I'm asking you to use your sword not to cut pomegranates, but to go create a future that does not exist. Some of our swords are bigger than others. Some of our swords are smaller than others. It doesn't really matter.

Will you use your sword? Will you use your sword in a way that costs you something because it would be foolish to run into a battle and have your sword in your back? I don't want anyone to know I have one. Because I have to use it. I know. And then, the third thing is to take one next step every year over the next five years so we can become the kind of people that can actually steward this future. Well, and so to be super clear, because in this cloudy confusion land that we all live in, March 2nd is commitment weekend. We've given you commitment cards. I'm inviting you to bring this back filled out with what God's asking you to do with your first fruits offering in it. And we're going to have a moment to make a commitment to the Lord and point our hearts in a direction of saying, "Five years from now, I have a vision for who I would like to be. And I have a vision for who I want to see our church to be. And even if I don't, by faith, I'm aligning my life with it." Why? Why?

Because Jesus said, "Go." And as they went, they were miraculously healed and made clean. I believe that as we go, there is going to be miraculous healing and restoration in your life. I don't know what. I don't know how. I just know this. When we go, God moves. When we go, God moves. This might be the healing of your anxiety. It might be the healing of your depression. It might be the healing of your marriage. It might be freedom from the idols of money and time and selfishness and worldliness. You're actually made clean because you're able to let go of the things that have held you down. But your healing and your cleansing is not found in the stain. It's found in the going. This is not a season to wait on God. This is a season to move forward with God, which means we have to break camp and move. And some of you are like, "But I just set up my tent exactly how I like it." I know. We'll help you set it up in the new camp. But for now, I need you to pack it up because we're going.

You can stay, but I'm going. So, I'm giving you warning and notice. I'm taking my sword. And if you don't use your sword to protect yourself, I don't know who's coming. My sword is going that way. You can come with me, and we'll be good, and you'll be good. Send me a postcard. See, here's a great challenge. And I just feel like I needed to come at the opposite spirit of this with you today to try to break through just the worldliness that we all live in. Here's the great challenge for me. Every week, I work so hard to try to find revelation to share with you on Sunday. Revelation is something that you didn't know. It was hidden. Now it's uncovered. That's what it means in the Bible. It'd be like if there was a giant tarp over this monitor, and you didn't know it was there. And I pulled it off. You'd be like, "Oh." Revelation was revealed to you that this thing existed. I work really hard to try to come up with revelations to just reveal things to you about God and His kingdom and this life that He offers us.

And the challenge with that is the human heart is really resistant to revelation. We're really resistant to revelation because revelation requires something of us. It's almost easier to not know than it is for it to be revealed, because once it's revealed, I'm now responsible to respond. And a lot of us live our life in such a way that we create this perfect balance, this equilibrium. I'm not saying it's a life that you love or want, but you figure out how to control all the people and places and thoughts and emotions to get this life to be like, "Okay, I can control this." Revelation introduces a new variable that now upsets the entire thing. So, I would much rather not know revelation, because when I know revelation, it requires action, response, change, and repentance.

And I would just rather not know. And what happens is when revelation is released, we do one of two things often. We'll either be like, "Oh, that's so confusing. I didn't get it. That was a lot. I don't know. Create the future. Let there be that." And we kind of hide behind ignorance as an excuse, or we'll over talk it and pontificate it. "Oh, that was so cool that we're created to create the future with God and all these others." Both of those are wrong. What is revelation meant to do to bring repentance where I actually now act and change and move on into something different? You see, if you want to create a new future, you have to think new thoughts. What are new thoughts? Revelation. Things you didn't know that now you do know. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. New thinking will allow you to create a new future, repent, turn your direction, change your thinking for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. If I want more of the kingdom of heaven, I actually have to repent. I actually have to change my thinking, which means if you never change your thinking, your present is the high watermark of your future.

If you don't change your thinking today, this the high watermark of the rest of your life. Say, "Why?" Because the past created the present. How you've been thinking has created exactly where you are today. And if you keep thinking exactly as you think today, it's the high watermark of your life, and it will go down. You say, "No, it won't even stay the same because Jesus says we're either moving forward or backwards." So, my heart's getting harder, I'm getting blind, or I'm getting deafer. But if I repent and take revelation, my present is not the high watermark of my future. It's actually the low point of my future because everything will build from here. See. I think, from my perspective, you can have whatever opinion you want. In my opinion, most people that leave our church leave because they don't want to move.

They want comfortably comfortable, and we offer comfortably uncomfortable. And at some point in time, if you're resistant to revelation, this is a miserable place to be. Why? Because I keep telling you to get out of the pomegranate tree and pick up your sword and move. At some point in time, you'll get just offended at me because you'll be like, "Oh, get up." Yeah, I'm totally just straight up. I get it. I know I'm not ignorant to it. So, I'm just telling you how it is. If right now I did a five-week series on comfort, you'd all love me. Why? Because everybody's either going into a storm, is in a storm, or is coming out of a storm. So, if I just talk to you about comfort, I'd be getting texts and emails. "Oh, so this life is changing and so helpful." Yes, God is the God of comfort and compassion, but he's also the God of mission and movement. He's also the God of wisdom and revelation. And he is also the God of faith and action.

"Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." It was sin for Saul to sit under the pomegranate tree, he said, "But God didn't say get out from the pomegranate tree." No, but he already told Saul, "Be a king and use what I've given you to go create a future that doesn't exist." When I know what I'm supposed to do and I don't do it, I'm missing the mark. For whatever is not from faith is sin. If my whole life is lived by sight, I never am moving into the unknown. I'm never risking it. I'm never trusting God, then I'm missing the mark. Of why my life even is here. By faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. If your faith has no action, it's dead. Just acknowledge what it is. There is no faith without action, without movement, without repentance, without change. And God is so gracious. He gives us grace and His spirit and His word and His people so that we don't have to do it by ourselves. Jonathan didn't go to the battle by himself.

He went with an armor bearer, and there is an armor bearer in this church called the Holy Spirit, and there are a whole lot of thousands of armor bearer people who'll be like, "You go, I'll go. Let's go. Come on. You go, I'll go. Let's go. You can do it. Let's do it. Come on. Come on. I got the shield. You got the sword. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. I'm tired of pomegranate stew." I know me, too. I want a different kind of fruit. There's got to be some peaches up there or something. I don't know, but I can't do this anymore. So, I'm going to ask you five questions and I'm going to give you 60 seconds on each question. How am I specifically engaging in the mission of God? Right now, in your life, if you and I were sitting down having coffee, these are the five questions I would ask you. How are you specifically engaging in the mission of God? Who? How are you serving? How are you leading? How are you giving, creating culture? Who are you inviting? When was the last time you brought someone to church? Who are you praying for?

How are you engaging the mission of God? Second question. How am I moving forward by faith in this season? Where am I trusting God? Where am I stepping into the unknown? Where am I taking the next step? Is there any area of my life that I'm risking the present to create a future with God?

Third question. Where do I have a responsibility to create the future with God? To whom much is given, much is required. Where do you have a responsibility to say, "Let there be and then act as if it were so."? Your family, your friends, your business, your team, our church, the city.

Fourth question. How is the Holy Spirit inviting me to participate in this missional move? Have you asked God what he wants you to give? Have you talked about it as a family? Have you sat down at all and spent any time wrestling through? What's a sacrifice for you, what God wants you to do, what sword you have, and how he's asking you to use it?

And the last question is, what does God want to do in my life through this missional move? God did something incredible in Jonathan's life. What does He want to do in your life? Do you want to do it in you as he does something through you?

Much more comfortable to sit under the pomegranate tree. And use my sword to continue to consume for myself than it is to actually be confronted with revelation. See, those five questions demand a response because of the revelation that we've given. So, that's why I would say to you, revelation is actually dangerous. Because if you don't intend to use it, it actually harms you. Because it leaves you bitter, offended, frustrated, irritable. But those five questions are just questions of revelation that's already been given to you that actually demand a response from your life. And I know some of you are like, "I needed more time." Here's the great news. You have 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer any of those questions. Why does it have to be in here when it's proposed? Why don't I take it with me as I'm going on the journey?

See. Scripture says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Have you tasted and seen that God is good? Have you tasted and seen that God is good? Have you tasted and seen His goodness and grace, His patience and His kindness, His experiences and His encounters, His love and His goodness? Have you tasted and seen that God is good? Let me say to you like this, are you saved? Have you ever put your faith in Jesus? And what I mean by that is not have you said a prayer when you were five years old and you think you go to heaven when you die? I'm asking you, do you know God, and are you living in the kingdom of heaven now? Because that's how Jesus defines salvation. Is the spirit of God inside of you is the fruit of the spirit growing in your life. Have you submitted and surrendered to the lordship of Jesus to live in His kingdom? And if the answer is no, that's okay. We're missionally moving towards you and we expect nothing out of you in all this. We're moving towards you so that you will taste and see that He is good.

Are you saved? And do you know it? Because if you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, then you cannot help speaking about what you have seen and heard. If I've tasted and seen that God is good, I can't help but speak about what I've seen and heard. And when I speak about what I've seen and heard, the hope of God's kingdom spreads and multiplies through my life. So, if there's no hope spreading and multiplying from me to my family, my friends, my lunch table, my workplace, my team, my neighborhood, if there's no hope spreading and multiplying out of my life, I have to ask myself then if I'm speaking about what I've seen and heard. And if I'm not speaking about what I've seen and heard, I actually have to ask myself, have I ever tasted and seen that he is good?

Because if I taste and see, I can't help but speak. And if I speak, hope can't help but spread and multiply. Let me pull it all together with this. One day, Jesus is having a conversation with a teacher of the law, and the man wants to know how he can have eternal life. How can he be saved? And he says to Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus says, "How do you read the law?" He says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus says, "Do this and you will live." But the man wanting to justify himself looked back at Jesus and said, "And who is my neighbor?" In other words, what's the least amount I have to do? What's the least amount I have to give? Who are the least amount of people I have to love? Who wears the least amount of effort I have to put in? And Jesus looks back at the man and tells him a story. He says there was a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and when he was on the road, robbers met him and they beat him up. They stripped him naked, took everything he had, and left him for dead.

A while later, a priest came walking along, and when he saw that man, he went to the other side of the road and passed by. A little while later, a Levite came walking along, and when he saw that man, he moved to the other side and passed by. A little while later, a third man came walking along, and he was a Samaritan. Samaritans and Jews were enemies. They hated each other. But when the Samaritan saw the man, it said he had compassion. Compassion is passion in action, and passion is that which I'm willing to suffer for. So, the man was willing to suffer to put his passion into action. And when he saw the man, he went to him. He cleaned up his wounds. He poured wine and oil on his wounds, bandaged him up, put him on his donkey, took him to the inn, paid for everything for the man to be healed, and created a future that didn't exist.

Jesus looks back at the teacher of the law and says, "Which of these three men was a neighbor to that man?" The teacher of the law says, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus says, "Go and do likewise." I tell you that story because that story also defines where we live. See, the world has been very cruel to people. The world has stolen, killed, and destroyed and left people stripped naked with nothing left on the side of the road. And when the world comes walking by, the world sees. But the world doesn't have any room in its time, in its money, or in its life for the mission of God. So, it passes right on by. And a little while later, religion comes walking by, and religion sees the people of this world. Religion doesn't have any room in its time or its money or its life for the mission of God. So, it passes right on by. But then, a disciple comes by.

A disciple of Jesus gets to this point and is filled with compassion and has room in his time and his money and in his life for the mission of God, and he goes and he creates a future that doesn't exist. See, when Valley Creek comes by, we have room in our time and in our money and in our life for the mission of God. The only question is when you come by, do you have any room in your time and in your money and in your life for the mission of God to create a future that doesn't exist for people who have been left half dead by this world? And I tell you that story, and we all put ourselves in a different place, but just so that we're clear, you are not the good Samaritan in this story. You're the man half dead on the side of the road. The world came, stole, killed, and destroyed everything you had left you for dead. And Jesus, the good Samaritan, while you are an enemy, while you are still hostile with God, saw you and filled with compassion.

He was willing to suffer, to move into your life. And he came to you because he had room in his time and in his money and in his life for you. And he came to you, and he poured wine and oil on your wounds. Wine, the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Oil, the power of the Holy Spirit to give you a new life. He gave you wine, forgiveness, oil, and the spirit for new life. Picked you up, paid for everything, created a future that didn't exist. And now says to you, "Go and do likewise." The only question is, are you willing too? We love because he first loved us. It's God's love for us that creates love for others. Love is an act of creativity. To love is to create. But I will never create for them until I believe that he has created for me.

He's made me a new creation. And when I understand that he did what he did to give me a future that didn't exist, I can't help but now create a future that doesn't exist for other people. So, if I'm unwilling to create a future for others, just so you're clear, it's because you don't believe God loves you. It's impossible to say you live in love and not go love. Why? Because this verse says, "We love because he first loved us." So, when I live in love, I become a person of love, not perfectly, but moving towards and growing in and being challenged and convicted and shaped and molded. But here's the point. Here's what missional moves do. That's why I tell you their activation points and dividing lines, because we get to this, and we have to ask ourselves the question, do we love it? You don't create that, but you don't love. So, do I love him? Do I love them? Do I love this? And then, am I willing to use my sword to stop cutting down pomegranates and moving to the unknown?

Not sure how it's all going to work out. But I can't help but do it because he came to me on the side of the road. He came to you on the side of the road. Do you remember that? Has it ever happened to you? If not, today's the day that Jesus has compassion, and He's moving right, missionally moving right towards you. He wants to pick you up and pour His wine and His oil in your life to forgive you and empower you that you might be free and live a life of purpose and now join Him in creating a future that doesn't exist. You see, we cover a lot of ground. Yes, we did. Are you willing to leave camp? Because I have to risk the present to go create the future.

The Holy Spirit has said to you, "I'm with you, heart and soul." Here's my question. Have you ever said back to Jesus, "Jesus, I'm with you, heart and soul."? And if the church is Jesus's bride, have you ever said to Jesus's wife? I'm with you, heart and soul. I think we like to ravage Jesus's wife. And he likes to ask us to love his wife. So, if he's with me, heart and soul, am I with him, heart and soul? Because if I'm with him, heart and soul, I will love who he loves, his wife and his lost children that he desperately wants to bring home. So, there's a directness to that. I acknowledge, but you weren't created to live under a pomegranate tree. You were created to go create a future that doesn't exist in the name of Jesus. Next week, I'll try to pull the whole thing together. March 2nd, you have the opportunity to commit, and we get the opportunity to go create a future that doesn't exist and point our feet in the direction we would like our heart to go over the next five years, deeper into God's kingdom.

So, Jesus, thank you for your word. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are with us, heart and soul. Thank you for the tone of mission. Thank you for the gravity of movement. Thank you for the urgency. And I just believe in Jesus name that today is the day that the apathetic are being awakened, the rebellious are being restored, and the broken are being healed. In Jesus name, just Jesus, I'm willing to go. I will leave the pomegranate tree. So, as I go, I'm going to keep moving God until you send that panic into the enemy's camp, until you move in such a way that the apathetic are awakened, the rebellious are restored and the broken are healed. Today's the day that I believe that someone just found Jesus. They thought they knew Jesus. But today's the day they're like, "I have my eyes opened. I now want to live in God. I am in God's kingdom. I am a new creation." Spirit, come fill us. May we use our swords appropriately in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.