Knowing Your Assignment | Shawn Bolz | Expression 58

so today's me a lot of fun and I have a message for you I think it's really good and I know it's really good cuz I preached it once alright it was great I'll put my little spin for those of you who were in first service you know to make it new and different but I I'm excited about sharing it with you cuz we're in a season where we're talking about influencing culture we're believing that God's transformative powers at work not just in church buildings but outside the church this church is a church that believes in transformation we believe people's lives are changing around the world because of the kingdom of God who comes in and rebuilds everything that's broken and so I want to talk to you today about your place of your assignment and also your place of your appointment in God and I hope this will encourage you and just fire you up some again especially being the salt or the salt conference is coming up the salt I like how I'm now at a tea I'm the Walmarts and the salt was coming up have you ever heard that the Walmarts like old people in the South call it the one where it's yes the Walmarts so let me read out Matthew 5 verse 13 let me tell you why you are here you're here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God flavors of this earth if you lose your saltiness how will people taste godliness you've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage verse 14 this is the passion translation your lives light up the world let others see your light from a distance for how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop and who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place instead its place where everyone in the house can benefit from its light so don't hold hold don't hold don't hide your light let it shine brightly before others so that the commendable things you do will shine is light upon them and then they will give praise to your Father in heaven so I know it's really easy in modern day Christianity to have a false humility bent there's something you know that's that looks spiritual when you're when you're more obscure when you're like no it's all about Jesus and you don't actually allow yourself to become an empowered individual as a matter of fact there's something that happens a lot of church culture where it's like the more ambitious you get it's looked at as wrong and I want to encourage you today that we want to be so ambitious for Jesus and that any influencing gained through us that we would gain for him we want to be influential in the sense that we want to see people loved well and I'm gonna define that through this message but we have to know our assignment of influence on the earth because whether you're a mom at home whether you're you know you work as a barista whether you're in the entertainment it's tree you have a business whatever it is whatever you do your student that is a place of influence where God can get glory in your assignment is whatever you're doing right now your assignments whoever you're loving to whatever you're doing but there's also those God assignments as you come more and more into connection with him where he defines things in your life that you get to do and I want to just share this kind of perspective right now as far as you taking a hold of that and taking it very seriously because if we don't take it seriously a lot of things happen so if you look at Esther Esther is such a good picture I am an Esther if you're a man you're an Esther just like if you're a woman you're appalled it's just true we were supposed to look at all the people in the Bible and they're all examples to all of us there's not somebody on the table that you look at and go oh cuz that's a woman I can't relate to them or vice versa we're actually split their biblical types of how God moves through his believers so as to herself it's not the Cinderella story it's not Disney on Ice you know it's actually like a really hard story of an orphan who wanted a normal life if you've ever talked to any orphans they don't go I want to be this I'm gonna be that that usually what they're saying they want to be is I want to be in a family I'm gonna have a family that I didn't get a have growing up I wanted I'm gonna have a normal life I want to eat dinner at the table every night I'm gonna you know orphans don't say I want to be the king of the universe typically usually they're like I want normal is usually a very common thing you hear from people who have an orphan background especially in like third world countries and Esther's people group was exiled and they were stuck with King Xerxes reign and it was not favorable towards Jewish people so they were immigrants they were not treated very well and asked her because she was beautiful she was drafted into a harem so she was drafted into many many many wives and concubines and they were all the most beautiful women of their country a lot of the women were just marriages that he had King Xerxes have with other nations and so those women would end up part just as far as attributes so that there would be peace in the nations and so who knows who he liked to 11th in harem culture they would vie for the attention they had the the daughters would have an agenda for their dad at home the King at home and serve vying to be the one that he noticed that day because there was hundreds of them and they hear him that does not sound like an Astor dream story as a matter of fact she had to have beauty treatments and which was like sandpaper scraping off her skin because she was a different color than the rest of the people so she had to have beauty treatments where it was like seven layers of her skin work um you know torn off through sandpaper and all kinds of lotions and and and makeup and stuff that she wouldn't have normally worn and her culture were put on her and yes she was beautiful she had the gift of beauty and influence but I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted to use it that way in the beginning as a matter of fact she was just they're lucky to be alive and she would go to Mordecai and be like I don't know what's going on and Mordecai was like you have to advocate for our people there's a genocide that's about to happen if you don't use your place of influence and she's like but I'll die they said well you'll either die you know for the people are you gonna die anyways and they're all gonna die too and she said okay if I die I die so she had to get the courage because she was probably a teenager and she goes this is a beautiful picture I painted totally different than you think of Esther right usually think of Esther like oh she was a pretty princess and she ain't Esther fils it was beautiful and she goes up to the king he's like I love you out of all of them and she's like Here I am King no no if she even went to the king he would kill her it was punishable by death to talk to the King without being summoned we different picture culturally like this is not like a nice King this is like a king that has so much protocol and women were not valued at all in that society obviously so she goes to King and she petitions the king for a time with a minute and she ends up staying a couple times but he was so taken by her beauty and her wisdom that he said Esther I'll give you anything you ask up to half my kingdom now that's a pretty profound statement that's how taken he was with Esther and he was so enamored by aster he didn't know that Haman had a plot to kill all the Jewish people and his and his reign and rule he had no idea so she ends up having a feast for him and Haman and then she has another feast for him and Haman and the second piece she basically says hey this guy has prepared for my people to die will you take him out so she uses her influence to kill the enemies of her people now she knew she could die even for coming the king then she knew she could die for taking one of his respected advisers and asking for his life because it was plot against her people and that's that's ballsy yes I said that in church cuz guys need to see that Esther is not just a feminine little princess in a Disney movie this is like a powerful woman she knew her assignment Mordecai had a reminder of her assignment that's why we have community that's why we have Church we reminded each other of our assignment we're not just in a place of influence or favor going towards one for the heck of it we have an assignment for the love of God now when you look at this later on you see in mark chapter six 21 through 28 you see fine I'm just gonna read it finally the opportunity came on Herod's birthday he gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee when the daughter of Herodias which the salomi came in a dance she pleased Herod and his dinner guests the King said to the girl ask me for anything you want and I'll give it to you and he promised with an oath whatever you ask up to half my kingdom and she went out to her mom said what should I ask for her mom said the head of John the Baptist so I wants a girl hurry to the king with the request I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist and instead of being disgraced in front of everybody he was terrified and superstitious but he did it because he had made the oats in front of everybody now you have to realize for every ester that doesn't take her place in their anointing there's a Herodias his daughter who's willing to kill the anointing so you have an assignment from God you have an ester coming into your life you have something on your life that's you are called to be somewhere and if you don't take your place the enemy is going to send a Jezebel to go and take that place and occupy that place and there's many places right now in society that there's a Jezebel or you know Herodias is daughter it's someone who hasn't an influence in a wrong way over the people that God wants in the right way and it's because we won't stand up so if you're not doing your sign if you're like oh I don't know I mean I feel like I'm here in LA I don't know I don't know if I should that feel self promoting that feels like ambition I'm telling you it's so much easier for God to kill pride in you that it is to manufacture Kingdom Drive it's so much easier for God to bring balance to a character journey that's on a journey than it is to wake somebody up who's sleeping like God would so much rather you activate yourselves like he had 12 disciples around him think of Peter just Peter alone how much work he had to do and he had no problem saying to Peter I'm gonna build my whole church on you and this is the same Peter that he told just a little bit later you were gonna betray me I'm Peter I would never do it I know what you're talking about Jesus and he was in his right mind as a normal human leader he would say I don't trust you Peter you don't have the character for this you build character first and if you earn it I'll give me the anointing he didn't say that at all he said I see who you are another rock of who you are I'm gonna build my entire church you'll have fruit forge it all generations of the church even though I know what your not and I feel like sometimes when we go after our assignment we go into our our calling area we're looking for a certain level of performance or stature inside because we want to we want to make sure we're okay and we want to make sure that something that we would do wouldn't defame God God Himself is so good that you can never add to his goodness you know that your life can reflect his goodness but it can't add to his goodness that's why all they tell evangelists that have fallen all the megachurch pastors of the phone everyone who's been a bad example in the music industry or the entertainment of street and for for christ quote/unquote cannot take away from the value and the goodness of who he really is when they fail and some of us have been in a performance mentality but God's calling you to an assignment that only you can do he's giving you a directive that only you can do and the world's waiting they're asking the question is God good here is God big here and I love how the Bible over and over put unlikely people in positions to questions that society was curious and even desperate to know it was even afraid that if they didn't get an answer here we've exhausted all of our resources of wisdom and of political agencies and all these things what do we do now and then God shows up there's one story that I really love and Daniel I love first of all Daniel 1:17 I've shared this here before but you have these young men there's four of them and they were given a divine intelligence that's the word in Hebrew is divine intelligence in Daniel 1:17 wisdom and knowledge of our all kinds of things they were given imparted infused and sign of them they knew things they weren't educated for they weren't skilled for they just it was just downloaded to them that's what the Holy Spirit does to us he downloads us his nature and we're not limited to ours anymore so given that and so you're this exiled group that's in Babylon of Jews they're not respected at all they take on the lowest level of jobs they have no reputation at all and then all of a sudden ease four guys emerge and they start to grow in stature and reputation because of the anointing that was on their assignment excuse me so if Daniel 5 10 through 12 a hand had just written on a wall supernatural hand appears I mean for real for real and writes a message on a wall and the Kings terrified because he summons all of the magicians all the astrologers the best of the best of all of society come in and they can't interpret what's going on and he's terrified because he knows he's not living a good life so his office is a queen hearing the voices of the king and his nobles comes the banquet hall and says Mike may the King live forever don't be alarmed don't look so pale there's a man and your very kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him in the time of your father he was found of insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods your father King Nebuchadnezzar appointed him as chief of magicians and chanters astrologers and diviners he did this because Daniel whom the king called Balthazar was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding and the ability to interpret dreams explain riddles and solve difficult problems call for him and he will tell you what the writing means now picture this God wants to restore the dignity on what it is to walk with Him and there's people who maybe it's a marriage maybe it's not a supernatural problem maybe it's a marriage problem and they're like in the place of like they've had their kids their kids have grown up and all of a sudden there they're like we we've never loved each other we've been glorified roommates for a long time is there any hope for us we've gone to counseling we've talked to all of our friends we've exhausted our possibilities is marriage even worth it and all of a sudden their friend who's advising him says there's this couple who's a Christian couple who's been married for 20 years and they really are in love like romance is real and I don't have any answers for you but you should go they live on my block you should go ask them what's going on in their marriage the world's waiting for a hope they're waiting for another conversation that only you and your assignment can provide Dania was just faithful to his assignment and he kept getting called before the Kings they remembered him from generation to generation said wait there's one man who could solve this problem and I believe we got God's releasing people into their assignment and in their assignment there's gonna be people who hear the whisper of their name and they're good you're gonna find yourself called in two places maybe you're just a barista and all of a sudden the head of the whole coffee company comes and it goes I need to talk to you I've heard some things that you've done here and you're like am I in trouble no it's actually the opposite we're in trouble we need you right now I'm hearing these scenarios all over the world right now where Christians are being placed to solve problems and to cure confusion and it's not just in one genre or area the beautiful thing about the kingdom is it works in all aspects of life it's not just like the easy parts of life it's the hard parts of life that's when Christianity shines this one where a light is the hard parts of life there's two options and all of a sudden we bring another option there's no answers everything's exhausted and all of a sudden we show up and it's like because we showed up like when Jesus showed up another options presented people are like how has God this good this happened with the Queen of Sheba she did exhausts all our options richest women in her generation she goes to visit Solomon because she'd heard rumors and she even said I didn't believe the rumors I didn't believe what I heard but it was so fascinating I had to come I'm sure she hadn't ever toured someone else's kingdom that's not a very common thing only 1% of the world traveled in that generation if less than 1% of the world I'm sure it wasn't common for her to go I'm gonna go check out this King and how he rules it was a big deal for her to go the most powerful richest woman in the world goes to visit Solomon who is the most powerful rich man in the world and she goes to him watches him in escorts watches how he's administrated everything and this is I love this what she says she says first Kings tenth six through ten she says the report I heard in my own country about your achievement achievement and your wisdom is true but I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes indeed not even half of what was told to me in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I've heard how happy your people must be how happy your officials who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom praise be to Allah this is a pagan woman she lives in many gods up until this moment praise be to your God who has delighted and even placed you on the throne of Israel because of his eternal love for Israel he has made you King to maintain justice and righteousness and she gives him literally like a portion of her wealth just to honor she's like literally sacrifices and surrenders a portion of her wealth now here's the picture solomon being who he is in his assignment causes this woman to meet with god because she's saying i know that you know there's many people doing powerful things in our world but you being you shows that god loves the people you're being you for you're being raised up as an example of love like God truly loves Israel because you're here because he's given you a wisdom that we don't have in our kingdom I have the the highest-paying advisors you can have and we're only getting a fraction of the wisdom we're so confused in this area we don't know how to do this area but you show up and it's like God breezed you know how much the world is waiting for you you know how much God's waiting for you to walk in your right identity because you being you proves that he loves the world you being who you are and whatever wherever you're at people are gonna come around you and be like go ahead as real he loves for real I can tell because you're a good dad I've never seen any good to have before I've never really see I've I've heard of it but now I'm watching it with my eyes and what I've heard is even half as good as what it's really like you as a Christian businessman I'm shocked like I thought I've only heard bad rumors about Christian businessman you are amazing like I want to work with you forever now how can I tell my company and work for you you know you you're not just a point of the month you're training me how to be a manager of employees this is what Pete the world's waiting for they're like does God bless you me meaning him because we're confused on a master level does God end our confusion of her justice issues over cultural relevance over over economic and justice over civil rights movement there's all these things that were pouring millions and billions of dollars into or pouring the best minds on the earth and then God shows up I think my friend well for it I got the opportunity to interview him I've known for quite a while I interviewed him for my exploring the prophetic podcast it was so fascinating because he was talking about if you haven't heard a story he's William Ford the third and he has 8:18 ministries and he he's amazing but he inherited a kettlebell or no kettle count-o Bell kettle pot I went from his slavery ancestors here in America and they passed down the story with every generation and the story was this slave owners that started using this they use it to pray and intercede because they were so persecuted by their slave owners who didn't want them to have any hope in the civil war for freedom that they began to pray to this and their land that they were slaves on was the last place the Civil War battle was fought over so as one of the tightest controlled and they weren't allowed to pray or go to church because their slave owners didn't want them to have the hope for freedom so that they would pray they would take this in and pretend they were cooking but they were taken into the the barn and they would scream prayers and do it and it would muffle the prayer so they wouldn't get in trouble for praying and so they passed it down over generations and they knew they were praying for a future generation they were praying for wills generation of people who could walk in freedom so he inherits this civilian here said he realizes this that the intensely the beauty of this thing and begins to travel the country into other country and share the message and release intercessory prayer Lou Engel and others and then one day he feels like he has a dream he's supposed to go to the Martin Luther King memorial or that it was a martyr King Day for a memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial and he goes there and there's a he meets a white guy there who's also had a dream he was supposed to be there they just become friends and they had the same at in their hearts that something has to happen over civil rights in America from a kingdom perspective not just a humanitarian perspective but from a king like God loves civil rights so they begin to pray into it together and talk to each other about it well well Matlock it's the young white guy's name and he begins to study his ancestor and as his whole tree and finds out that the Lockette family was the owners of the Ford family these guys would have never met they both had a dream to be in the same place at the same time and their families and they were at Martin Luther King's memorial service and their families were at odds with each other generation ago and they were at Martin Luther King's time where Martin Luther King declared a dream I pray that the sons of the slave owners and the sons of slaves will become friends one day I see them standing together and the problem is you can do an 8000 store you know racial bias training time with Starbucks this weekend to help train people a little bit about their biases which really does a little a for effort maybe but you have to get to the heart you have to know what was in the heart of God in the first place you need the mat lockets and the will for it to stand up and say we are a dream that our forefathers had this is how much God loved this country the orchestrated our lives together that our ancestors hated each other and they were praying for a better day and our ancestors his ancestors abused my ancestors but we stand here today saying we are the fulfillment of prophets in our country who declared a dream of what racial reconciliation looks like and God loves us issue [Applause] and it goes into your heart way differently when you feel the love when it's a love story it's a way different story but it's a love story then when it's just a human interest story then when it's just oh we should have justice that Harry because it's really wrong I might be a little racially biased no no we are always just buy us a little bit and a training at Starbucks isn't gonna help you there has to be a condition of your heart that touches and it's pierced with the justice from heaven not just hearing about social issues the world's waiting for you to emerge I think about excess 31 where basil was he was breathed upon by God it says that God filled him with his full spirit he was completely saturated with God's Spirit to create everything that needed to be created for the temple so he had master creativity I love this word and since he had cleverness and I love the word for cleverness which I can't say in Hebrew it's Mahesh da ba that's close but it's a noun meaning a thought a purpose a device and intention it's a poetic use for basically inventions that spring from the spirit or the thoughts it denotes the thought in the mind that can actually translate plans and intentions that arise from these and it's actually skillful and Vincents coming from the mind of an artist that's the Hebrew word from that that's what baz lo was was filled with so it wasn't just nice art oh I painted it off it's not a nice cross in the church he was literally able to do what Disney did he could engineer creativity in this generation now I look at that I think of the times that God sent people to to engineer creativity like Solomon's time when we see you know Solomon engineer creativity that actually caused the world to notice and go I mean it became a spiritual tourism place before you know Israel and before the Sistine Chapel people were going to I mean it was Israel but I mean that new Israel if people were going to Israel just to see what his reign was like because in that buildings were like because they were so beautiful and architected so well he had the most architects and creators ever in generation up to that point create what he was creating more than Egypt more than anywhere else he had the most beautiful I mean I don't know what it looked like now I wish we could see it maybe any other Jones will be out there and discover it for us again but can you imagine that God imparts cleverness this way and some of us are in our assignment we don't realize that God's imparting to us an ingenuity of cleverness his very spirit one of the one of the terms for this particular word that baz lo had was spiritual Springs coming from his ideas into the world around him do you know how sick I am of seeing it even in Hollywood like repeats of shows and movies so oh we can't do original thinking because it doesn't make as much money and it's too risky we need predictable money in Hollywood and so we have the Roseanne show on again god bless your soul and I mean that a southern pretentious way and we have some of your like I like when I'm not talking about not like in the show I'm just saying like how many movies are being recreated how many shows are being recreated because the lack of creativity and cleverness we have something like Netflix come out we're like oh there's a change there's a change that's shifting everything in Hollywood I'm like we should be as Christians twenty years down the road and our spirit to see what's coming argument of reality and all these other things and how they're gonna be affecting the daily household I think if Disney he was like that in our generation he saw the power of movies and how they would transform culture and invested large amounts of money into a picture film in large amounts of time - a picture film where other production houses were trying to turn him out in three to four months of production time he I mean he spent years on some of his pictures because he knew what they were but he was also seeing when the animation would be better he had technology that was way ahead of his time and he was doing animatronics before anybody else was before NASA was I mean it's crazy stuff and I think man if we would just do our assignment God would fill us with a spirit and it would cause an otherworldly sense of what we're capable of Apple would seem like it's old technology it's true I mean I don't know about some of you technological people but I've sat with some people from Silicon Valley who are like in my spirit or in my mind I'm already a hundred years ahead of where we're at like I hear about like the common reports of what other people hear and I'm already way past that like I'm not just hearing about flying cars I'm thinking like how do we have anything that takes our attention away from focus and being present like even driving is a waste of time I'm talking this guy's going driving waste of time to you I like driving like it's a waste of mental faculty you could actually be completely present with something else and you didn't have to drive and I'm just like I like that idea well I know there's drivable cars and self-driving cars and Google's doing the whole thing like no it's gonna get even better than that and they're like telling me about magnetic energy and cars and like stuff that like I'm not gonna repeat but it's just so much crazy stuff that they're living in a future that's beyond the Jetsons and I'm like I'm just getting kind of happy now with the future we have right now you know you're already recreating a future for me but I love that because Christians should be futurist when you know your assignment and you're dreaming I'm just talking about technology or entertainment but what if it's about civil rights you have to dream you have to see what its gonna look like what's the end product look like you have to hold that in your heart because the warfare to get there is gonna be so strong you have to hold the end result of what God's calling you to and it's not just a wanna to who what are the people look like on the other side that God's kingdom is serving you need to hold that in the place of your spirit so that you're fighting for a goal that's a people that's a bride that's an inheritance that's that's his reward and when you have that in your spirit man you'll fight through anything Joseph was such a picture I loved Genesis 41 37 through 46 the vice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and the eyes of his servants and Pharaoh said to the servants can we find such a one as this a man who has has the Spirit of God then Pharaoh said to Joseph and as much as God has shown you all this there's no one as discerning and wise as you you shall be over my house and all my people shall be ruled according to your word only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you and Pharaoh said to Joseph see I have sent you over all the land of Egypt people weren't even allowed to come or go without talking to each offers the the Pharaoh said I don't even want people who come to my country he don't approve of can you imagine if if Trump gave us immigration as a church can you imagine if we could help solve immigration issues based on a love based approach on a political approach that's Bureau Bureau bureaucratic I mean the immigration right now I remember when hona was going through his green card process or even before that it was like immigration is a demon in America it's like literally a demon I mean I blessed immigration workers that people are trying to figure it out but it does not have the wisdom of God on it it has processes put in place that are reactionary to all the stuff that's happened we've had a whole people groups who've had to become refugees here whole people groups who've been there's fleeing terrible stuff in their countries other groups that are coming just because they want the education we have so much weird immigration stuff happening you know then we have the threats the criminals and the terrorists and it's all lumped together one organization to us and managed at all and they're exhausted they've exhausted their resources can you imagine this is the kind of issue that someone in the church is going to have an assignment for that can help change everything because this is what the gospel does as it takes the most complicated issues and it simplifies them with the rules of love and I think if Etzel voz who's gonna come and he'll price shear some of the immigration stuff they're doing they're literally addressing Congress with immigration plans that are working here in California to bring migrant workers back through and it's like a very healthy approach that it's a win-win for Mexico and it's a win-win for America right now and it's being so popular that California is adopting their immigration policy right now for California and then and this is a Christian group that M so have also is like the father of that he's going to present to us at salt and talk to us about I just think and it's gonna hire literally 70,000 people who will probably be hired through this that are on the American front to help manage it I was gonna bring so many jobs but when you're in your assignment the things that we hear popular media saying the popular news saying this can't happen this can't happen this can't happen you're literally other than going no it will happen it will happen it will happen I've seen a vision of God's heart and the world's hoping that you'll merge humanity's hoping you'll emerge because otherwise humanitarianism cannot solve spiritual roots it's beautiful I love humanitarians I left the LAN through Paris I mean with philanthropist even Christians quite a bit and they're wonderful I love their hearts and they do so much but there's spiritual roots that cannot be uprooted by just good works alone and the nation is full of seven billion people are full of seven billion people plus who are making the equivalent of bad decisions an only spiritual resolution can change that and you being in your assignment with God and you walking with God and shining as a light and being the salt gives the world options that are the spiritual options the third option the option that didn't exist before you were in your assignment I'm telling you I've talked to managers who told me I had one lady in particular here at the church she had a manager who came to one of our events and she told me I missed life with her because she taught me how to manage my entire company I had 15 employees at the time now I have over 300 and because of her I knew how to be a good boss she taught me my boundaries it doesn't mean you're the most powerful fish in the ocean it means that you're the right one Joseph was number two not number one Daniel was number 15 not number you know somebody's number two but someone's not Esther was one of hundreds and hundreds of wives and so many times as Christians we think that the pride part comes that we have to be the most powerful in the world we don't have to be the most powerful we have to be in our assignment and I just think about how you know so many of us when we're looking at our assignments where we're will do what the world does and we'll say well this didn't work before so we can't do it again or we don't like how this looks so we won't engage it and God loves to take us on a different process than our assignments where he actually takes us into something that we wouldn't even necessarily want to do and takes us to people we wouldn't necessarily want to serve like Peter Jesus looks at Peter when he restores him and he says John you're gonna do all this and then Peter goes what about me why don't you know what am I gonna do that sounds amazing he goes you're actually going to places you wouldn't want to go and you're gonna be blind when you get there and there's like oh and then it was true he went to the Gentiles he didn't want to go to the Gentiles he wanted to be the Jewish good guy he wanted to be like the father of the Hebrews and God kept sending him by visions and Paul had to rebuke him and say you're being elitist and you're not pursuing the people group that God gave us the Gentiles and so you need to stop sitting with just Jews Peter this is after he's a super apostle by the way you know and he's the one who has the vision of like eating unclean foods and he's supposed to go to the house of Cornelius and bring salvation and this is Peter he went places he didn't want to go he thought it would be cool to just stay where he's at and this is where some of you and I'm gonna use the entertainer's maybe you're gonna make a faith-based project or be out of Christian television you so many of you are judgmental towards it like I am and then God's like I'm just using one genre cuz we can see it really clearly in this sort of it may be a musician who's gonna do a Christian album or something you know and you're like I would never do that I don't even like that it's a because we've judged all by the few failures just like many people are like I would never be a ministry because have you seen those TV evangelist and what they did I'm like first of all it was 1980s and they called they want their church back you know like stop it so I'm having an attitude about it but there's so many of us who are like I wouldn't do that but what if God puts you on one assignment and you're supposed to change or shift something like I think a lot of the people who are major industry people are going to be as they're Christians are gonna be engaged with something that changes or brings a king to message and it might be a little bit too Christian at times for their tastes and gods like but we do your assignment I think many of us limit our assignment by what we want I think of you know Ananias who goes the house of Paul he's like I'm a prophet to the nation's I'm Illinois's he's the first name prophet in the New Testament and gods like he Ananias go to Paul's house or Saul's house this is where he's staying and this is his address he's like a man in salt wait isn't that the guy who kills all of my friends no thanks you know can you imagine I went the supernatural now go to the al-qaeda's house down the street address him and tell him he's blind because he's persecuted me so many of us idealize our assignments so much that we think we have the right to choose it and God's like no I really am a better leader than you now I don't want to control you but I want to give you something that you would not define and create yourself and so it takes obedience and you're gonna have to listen to me and listening to me is gonna cost a lot and it's gonna look different and you're gonna hate it sometimes like I don't hear that part of the gospel very often we're like in self-help church like wait what happened but when you listen to God you get a different result in a different level of enjoyment a different connection to your life and your family and your friends and you get a different realm around you that you participate with so many of us don't have that place of excelling in our assignment God because we've limited it to our own desire Oh will our own ego and gods like be faithful oh I should have gone there huh I'm just kidding we all know this we all but are we practicing it and then back to the person entertain ministry like if you're almost in color to faith-based project or something you're like no I hate basements the reality is that God is so much more powerful to performance were you being you than you hiding from it and someone else doing it who shouldn't be doing it because it's not really their assignment but they see a need when we first moved here and started a church I didn't wanna be a pastor and I'm not anymore the senior pastor thank God hold on Jen are and they're really good senior pastors but I don't want to be a senior pastor God asked me for a season so will you give me seven years I want to build a church because I'm homeless in Hollywood again but seven year as far as senior pastor but and I remember this going God like this is a strong assignment that I don't want and they said I want you to learn to love this way and this is gonna serve you the rest of your life but it's also gonna help a people that don't have a home right now that need a home and remember I'd like five of their friends start churches at the exact same time has made two ray Roberts Jason snowball and then there's like five more guys and we were all friends and talking and you know dreaming and stuff and trainer the only ones were so senior pastoring you know or I'm not even see you're pastoring I should say he's the only one who's still senior pastor because I'm just contributing pass through this team but I remember like you know during that time the five other guys we all sat at a table together I think I think for sure Jason was everything to Ray was there too and we also had a table together and we and I asked him why did you come down they tell me that God's story like we had two hours together it's like tell me everything and one guy's a glove that was a good idea and I was picking places they'd want to go to spread our mission and I chose our line I'm like you're gonna die that's the worst idea ever this place is the hardest place acquittee the Barna Group to plan the church in the western world you will die no I don't think it's one who when the finances right out because they were sent with finances what are you gonna stand on her faith of all finances by that I'm like you won't because every church dies after two years from financial failure who tries to plant in here except for the ones where I've gone aside man you better get an assignment I was sound so quite cynical but I was like and five in a row said that what we were sitting here for our mission they wanted to play in the church here I'm like did you want to plant a church here what would I be a pastor I'll tell him that Jason and I looked at each other like Oh Lord Jesus they're all gone now I'm not in judgment I'm not like let's see I told you so I'm not I wanted them to live I wanted them to thrive I celebrated them I champion them but I remember just going man if you are called to go somewhere and you have an assignment there you'll have the resource for it you'll have the fortitude for it and you'll do all kinds of things you didn't want to do in life for it just like babies when you have a baby you look I do not want to clean diapers I won't clean diapers you become a dad you clean diapers this is not the 1950s so those guys they you know they're not here anymore it's unfortunate and I here bless them all they're all you know hopefully they found their God assignment but the other there's the Herodias his daughter who will fill the space but the other thing that fills the space when you're not standing your assignment as meteor kriti and that's what we've had for a long time is we've had because people wouldn't rise that because they're resisting their assignment because they don't like something they're offended at something mediocrity has come and actually made it worse the enemy doesn't mind giving people authority and power who won't use it well he just doesn't mind he's like I'll give you authority if you won't do your best cuz I could use you if you're just gonna do okay and it happens all the time if you look at so much of am using entertainment distri again if you look at some a senator to a ministry it's just okay Rotten Tomatoes proves it it'll go great stuff you know like I'm not saying about Tomatoes Canada but I mean it's like it's just okay and then all of a sudden you have something arises it's the message we have something it's an assignment you have something that in a generation touches and it will heal issues and societies through entertainment when it's done well even if the world doesn't recognize it a lot of times the world doesn't recognize it I used that as an example because some of you are called to do something that is excellent and awesome but you're your own worst enemy because you won't allow yourself to dream there because you don't like it you like your dream not God's dream yet fall in love with him and it won't matter what the dream looks like I'm doing all kinds of things I would have never done if it was my plan a but I love his plan a so much more it's so good I'm now 40 I'm turning 40 for this week I am so excited about his planning in my life it's so good I would have never picked to be 37 and have you know be married and then have two kids right away I would have wanted to get married at 20 and God save Sheree for me that whole time enough to the best kids in the world and I love my house I love what I'm doing and I love my life I literally love our family in my life more than I could have ever done if I was 20 and got married I would have killed my wife would have been divorced I know I would have I had identity issues I would have been so performance driven and workaholic thought I would have ran past my family and had two kids who hated me and I would have probably been a lot of debt because I had a lot of weird ambition that you know I give away all my money all the time and do all kinds of I was so dysfunctional if I had chosen my plan a in my time in my season I would have ruined my life some of you may not see that for your own life like God why aren't you bringing my planet he's like I'm merciful so if you want to be a big light and you want to fulfill your assignment learn to be really obedient because God's gonna raise you up to a position and you'll say people ask you how are you the head of all the magicians astrologers and New Agers in the kingdom and you'll laugh and go I'm not even one of them I don't know they didn't have another position that describes what I do so that's what they gave me that wouldn't be Kristen legal today like the church would be like oh my gosh Shawn's the head of for Trump of all astrology magicians and everybody else he got he went over the New Age Sean is totally a cult leader now like modern-day Christians who don't understand God assignments will judge you and try and police you away from your calling that's why we want to be a people who are obedient because when we're obedient our friends and our family begin to respond to the love of God in us and they love us even they don't understand us but when you're not faithful or when you're at war with yourself or your own identity your own assignment you project that war to the relationships around you and drama happens so I'm gonna encourage you embrace your assignment a lot of times when you embrace it it goes away the bad parts you're like oh I don't have to do that thank God you were just trying to see if I'd say yes you will now be the a-list actor of all Christianity you either like no that's a good teen list actor everywhere else no I don't you say yes is it just kidding just supposed to friggin have your heart but someone else that's their dream that's her assignment they're gonna love that it's gonna be a beautiful thing I'm just picking on that genre industry so everyone stand up let's pray if you feel like you know your assignment either an all of life or at least in the season just raise your hand I'm gonna bless you right now to hear God more about that I'm gonna bless you more to thrive in it we need you and your fullness of it I pray that God would fill you like he did basil Oh with cleverness with just creativity and his full spirits that word for filling means completely full we pray that you'd be completely full for your assignment that you would feel full from God's love full from his heart full from Direction full from his spirit within you that he would feel him so bubbling up that that just any any warfare would just not be as big as how much God's doing well that you just do that for us right now now everybody else who doesn't feel like you have that if you feel like you're you don't have a sense of assignment right now I suppose you put your hand on your heart at that to you and I pray for you that God would impart in this season everything you need to hear whether it's through someone else whether it's through just reading the word and going deep here devotions whether it's through getting prayer whatever it is whatever catalyst you need to know God this is one of his greatest gifts he gives us his purpose and Lord we pray that anything that would war against our individual purpose would break right now and I pray Lord that even this week in this month you would do a great installment of what you're assigning us to that we'd have a clarity God that we're Christians who are gonna heal confusion so any confusion that's on us healing any discouragement that's on us heal it because we're gonna heal discouragement so take discouragement of purpose confusion purpose depression off of us when I pull release assignments from heaven from your heart Lord speak to us about specific people groups specific territory specific industry specific mountaintops that you're calling us to influence Lord speak to us this week even if we've never heard before speak to us this week if we already have that Lord multiply it this is your right as a Christian to know what's on his heart and I pray that you would really be able to learn how to press in even this week that he would train you the good thing is the first corinthians two first twice as long you don't need any man to teach you how to meet with God the Holy Spirit Himself will teach you so we release the Holy Spirit to teach you and cause you to meet with the father this week the Lord bless everybody here I pray that as we go on about our day to day Lord that she would hover over us Lord that you would call us into even a heightened state of awareness of our obedience whether we're in full obedience whether we have certain areas that aren't in obedience or that you just cause us to be aware not in a shame based way but an excited way to say okay I'm gonna go for it in Jesus name Amen [Applause]

Channel: Expression 58

Views: 182,386

Rating: 4.8143883 out of 5

Keywords: jen toledo, jona toledo, shawn bolz, jennifer toledo, glendale, expression 58, expression58, e58, los angeles, church, destiny, direction

Id: bWMU3BIFXzE

Length: 46min 46sec (2806 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 24 2018