The Hills Church Live | September 12, 2021 | 8:30am

[Music] the name that's so much [Music] honor [Music] much [Music] to be [Applause] [Music] as i sing pray [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh let's lift him up [Music] here [Music] [Music] [Music] your name is [Music] your name is love a love that always finds me always finds me [Music] your name is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] feel it down [Music] here [Music] [Music] oh [Music] no other name like yours no sweeter name and we've come to worship you o we come to love on you my king so let our praises fill this temple let our praises fill this temple let our praises fill this temple [Music] let us [Music] oh this on [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] shaken within your name [Music] [Applause] [Music] here we go [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i can hear your voice [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] drink all the water come and there's no [Music] he will satisfy [Music] [Music] [Applause] the world that he gave us [Applause] [Music] [Applause] bring all your failures bring jesus is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] praise god from whom our blessings praise him praise him for the wonders of his love praise god praise god [Music] [Applause] [Music] the [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] you are with me what can separate [Music] i know [Music] shadows have no power over [Music] [Music] and i know [Music] your promises never [Music] is foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] is never oh [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] jesus is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is never fair your promises never is never [Music] [Music] when we proclaim your great name [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello everybody good morning let's all stand up together today is going to be such a good day as we explore the new vision god has given us and today specifically is about the nations psalm 105 1 says give praise to the lord proclaim his name make known among the nations what he has done let's sing out i was buried beneath my shame who could carry that kind of weight it was my tomb till i met you i was breathing but not alive all my failures i tried to hide it was my two till i met you you call my name and i ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and i ran out of that gray out of the darkness into your glorious day now your mercy has saved my soul now your freedom is all i know you call my name and i ran out of that grace out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and i ran out of the grave out of the darkness into your glorious day i needed rescue my sin was heavy but chains break at the weight of your glory i need a shelter i was an orphan now you call me a citizen of heaven when you call my name i ran out of that grave out of the darkness into your glorious day you called my name and i ran out of that grave [Music] out of the darkness into your glorious day into your glorious day into your glorious day walking in sunlight on my journey [Music] over the mountains through the deep divine that never can fail is is jesus is is [Music] heavenly son [Applause] i'm is in his craziness [Music] is [Music] heavenly heavenly [Music] is [Music] [Applause] jesus is [Music] amen [Applause] [Music] of god by his own betrayed the sin of man and wrath of god has been on jesus silent as he stood accused beaten marked and scored bowing to the father's will he took a crown of thorns oh that rocket crossed my salvage [Music] where your love poured out over me now my soul cries out hallelujah praise and honor unto thee sent from heaven god's own son to purge and redeem and reconcile the very ones who nailed him [Applause] [Music] me now my soul cries out hallelujah praise and honor unto thee now my dad is paid it is paid in full by the precious blood that my jesus built now the curse of sin has hold on me whom the sun sets free always free indeed is paid it is paid in full by the precious blood that might jesus spilled now the curse of sin has no hold on me whom the son sets free o is free indeed oh that rocket across my salvation [Music] where your love poured out over me now my soul cries out hallelujah see the stone is rolled away behold the empty tomb hallelujah god be praised he's [Music] salvation [Music] until psalm 67 1-2 says may god be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us and may your ways be known on the earth your salvation among all nations what a beautiful thing to think his salvation to be made known among all the nations i just think of one day when we're all gathered around the throne we're singing and shouting the victory there'll be people from every tribe and nation and language and tongue singing out so let's let's sing about that together [Music] sing the wondrous love of jesus sing his mercy and his grace in the mansion's bright and blessed he'll prepare for us a place when we all get to heaven what a day [Music] jesus we'll sing and shout the victory while we walk the pilgrim pathway clouds will over spread the sky but when traveling days are over not a shadow [Music] [Music] when we all see jesus we'll sing and shout the victory let us then be true and faithful trusting serving every day just one glimpse of him in glory will the toys jesus will sing and shout the victory there's a stirring deep within me could it be my time has come when i see my gracious savior face to face when all is done is that his voice i am hearing come away my precious one is he calling me [Music] is he calling me i will rise [Music] [Music] is full of defeat there's a stirring deep within me could it be my time has come when i see my gracious savior face to face when all is done is that his voice i am hearing come away my precious one is he calling me is he calling me my [Music] i will rise up bow down [Music] [Music] jesus we'll see what a day that will be amen then thanks for worshiping let's be seated please as we prepare to take a minion this morning if you're a guest you've been handed a plastic bag that has a little cup with juice there's a bread on the top go ahead and be opening that as we share in at the table of our lord as i was thinking this morning as the sun rises in the east and there are many believers all over the world that are gathering together at the table did you ever think what it must have been like to be a disciple and sit at the feet of of jesus sit at the same table have breakfast perhaps lunch maybe supper it is at the table that we process what happens during the day it is at the table that we share our life do life together dream tell our our struggles but the table started thinking about the table the table is also a place where there might be sorrow it is at times of the year when we get together as a family and there are children that are missing they're not there with us and it's it's a sad time it is something impressive that jesus would take bread and wine and said do this in remember in remembrance of me i know we pray before we eat we thank god for our for our meal but right now this is a special time because we come together as a family and jesus is right here with us but i want you to know that it is at the heart of our father who knows that as the sun rises from the east to the west there are peoples and nations throughout the world that are not at his table yet and we need to see the heart of the father right now that cries out for the nations that cries out for people that are not gathering this day to sit around and remember that he died that that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day for our sins for our salvation we need to have that in mind as we pray so you would pray with me i will do it in spanish and i'll do it in english as well padres corazon as we gather at your table right now we are so grateful for the life that we have in christ for the hope that is ours in christ the death is not the end that you have conquered death our hearts lord want to beat alongside yours because you long for those that have not heard yet that have not come to this same table of communion where you are right here with us lord and we want to have that heart for the nations that are lost so as we take this communion lord put in our hearts a longing to see this table completely full with peoples of all nations all people groups or all ethnic groups father that come to the same table and give you all glory and honor and we give you all the glory in jesus name amen [Music] oh [Music] [Music] thou my soul's glory [Music] beautiful savior lord of the nations son of god [Music] glory now and forever [Music] what's up ryan how are you buddy good to see you good to see you i know you're coming up here yes you supposed to be up there yeah i think so yeah i'm going to check the script no we just we're just messing with some welcome everybody here at the nrh campus everybody that's joining us online as well my name is david this is ryan we're a couple of the ministers here on staff and we're playing because we're we're so excited that this is vision weekend in fact it's the next three weekends that we're going to be unveiling the vision that the lord has given rick actually and this staff and this leadership and for all of you to be able to step into that we're going to be asking for nations and generations yes and this weekend we'll be focusing on focusing on nations that that'll be all over the world but also all over our city and our communities because that's the world we live in now and next week will be generations and then that third week that pivotal word at the front end that we will be asking the lord because he's given us something that is bigger than us and it's going to be amazing it's going to be awesome i'm excited i am too i am very excited and speaking of generations yeah first through what before we dismiss them can we take care of some matters before the entire church this morning what's up man listen um you need to check your email why is that because doggo has on the ampersand shirt ej brown does i see elders with the graphics that our graphic team created and asked us to wear this weekend and you're wearing when rick comes up here he won't be in it i promise you rick will be if it's not you can fire me okay well somebody make sure that rick has on the t-shirt when he comes up and he has a t-shirt on y'all don't be looking at me okay don't be doing that don't be doing that hey in a moment we're gonna be dismissing our next generation of leaders our first through fifth graders but i want you to know church that we have an opportunity that the upcoming generation is dependent upon us to pass on the truth and the beauty of who jesus is and all that he's done for us and we have incredible opportunities for you to serve in our kids ministry where you're making an investment that you'll see a return through the entirety of their lives especially at the 10 o'clock service and so we need you guys and have an opportunity for you guys to step into that moment so if that is something the lord's doing in your heart would you go by the kids welcome center as you leave today but now all of you first through fifth graders if you'll stand up for me and you guys are gonna be dismissed to the back of the room to your volunteers and your green t-shirts and you're gonna learn more about god's love and more about his promises for you yeah yeah we're going to continue our time of worship while the next generation is dismissed with our time of giving and listen we are a generous church right uh the members our family they know that but if you're a guest here man today as we uh uh unpack something that's going to be monumental in our church's future and it's present man i hope you see the generosity that we display and the stewardship of this church as god has given us a vision that is our generosity is expressed through just his generosity in this vision from us to the world and so man i'm excited about it there's multiple ways that you can give you can give online you can give at our app or you can drop off a donation at one of our many generosity boxes located around this worship center and around the church that's great yeah that's great yeah also speaking of giving right we do a great job of receiving and david we have a moment for our sisters to receive here coming on october 1st and 2nd our women's conference anybody excited about the women's conference come on come on yeah come on where are my sisters dad listen there's still time to register and sign up uh we have both online and in person and so if you want more information if you want to take that step to sign up uh go to thehills.org women's con and register tell them to bring their one oh yeah bring your one yes come on we did something recently we're playing fantasy football we are david invited his one my one rejected my offer but my one said yes all right right i won this t-shirt right but i got my one to come to finish that's right i am a poor evangelist so that's why but anyway man invite your one and uh don't be afraid to host a group in your home man i'll be here serving david won't be because he'll be doing something else with his one outside the church but i'll be here to serve our sisters and our family so we want to invite y'all to come out it's going to be an amazing time in god's presence as a community and another amazing time that we're going to be able to have together is in two weeks on september 26 at five o'clock here in this room we're going to be getting together and we're going to be celebrating all that the lord reveals to us through the next two weeks from a vision standpoint and then we're going to come and celebrate that but then we are going to humble ourselves and we're going to ask the lord to do all that he's put on our hearts you're going to be amazed over the next couple of weeks and you're going to be scared over the next couple of weeks because what he's given us is more than we can do on our own and so we need to continually have a humble posture of prayer and saying lord we can't do this without you but also lord we don't want to do this without you so mark that down you'll get some more details over the next couple of weeks but two weeks from today september 26th five o'clock in this room it's going to be a powerful time awesome so you ready let's go you got your bible i do it's on my phone but all right you describe your bibles and open up your technology but let's get ready for what the lord wants to say to us this morning through the words of rick actually amen [Music] oh [Music] and generations well welcome to the hills if you're in person at north richmond hills south lake or westforth campus you're watching online and especially if you're watching or our guest for the first time you picked an amazing sunday to be with us because we are unveiling today a vision for what god has called us to do for the next five years and i think you're going to be excited the well-known concert pianist arthur rubenstein was asked one time to attend a church and here's his reply take me to a church that will challenge me to attempt the impossible now underneath the request is an implication that many churches will not challenge you to do great things many churches are like a cruise ship that has no destination in mind imagine you're on a cruise ship and you ask someone where is this ship going i don't know but have you seen the pool it's a great pool yeah i enjoy the pool but where is this ship going i don't know but check out the buffet the food is awesome yeah the food is really good but it doesn't matter how great the service is or how great the amenities are at some point is the ship going anywhere if not i want off now in our last series essential church you heard me say i believe in the power of the local church to push back the gates of hell there is no community on earth like the church no community has a better story to tell a bolder hope to offer or a bigger mission to pursue and a big mission needs a big vision so what i want to do today and next sunday is lay out what we believe will be the vision for our church for the next five years we are going to attempt the impossible now just so we are on the same page regarding language sometimes the words mission and vision are used interchangeably but i'm not doing that i want to make a distinction that's very important mission is non-negotiable because it was given by jesus himself making disciples is the church's one and only mission it doesn't matter what country the church is in it doesn't matter what denomination it is it doesn't matter what size church it is the church has one mission the hills church exists to make and grow followers of jesus now the vision is how as a church we're going to pursue that mission how we're going to stay focused on that mission and how we're going to measure if we're having impact with regard to the mission so vision is anchored in mission but what vision does is it acknowledges that god gives individuals and god gives churches different gifts and resources and opportunities to steward and so what we're talking about when we say vision is how is god uniquely going to use our church to pursue this mission see one of the unique things about being an image bearer of god is that we have the capacity to imagine you know animals don't have this a dog doesn't sit around and think now what kind of dog do i want to be in five years a pride of lions does not sit around and talk about what their goals are for their future for the next five years this is what we do as image bearers of god the vision is our description of our desired future a picture that we think was given to us by god so it's going to be specific it's going to be measurable it's going to be unique for a particular congregation now please understand the goal of a vision is not certainty it's clarity and here's what i mean we're starting football season so if you know anything about football you know there's one mission in football win the game that's the mission but as the coach gets ready for the game he comes up with a game plan how are we going to try to win the game and when the game starts things happen he didn't anticipate so he's going to call some audibles he's going to make some changes but the mission never changes same way with the church vision so this is how we're going to pursue the mission are things going to happen we don't in this place of course they are are we going to have to tweak it call a few animals of course we will but by knowing where we want to go we are on the same page we have a shared understanding this is what we're trying to do this is how we can do it together and this is why it matters that we try to do it in the first place now in the past we've seen an enormous value of our church having a vision some of you have been here long enough to remember for many years our church was guided by what we called our 2020 vision and it became very obvious a couple of years before that vision was concluded it was time to start thinking about the next vision and so i was tasked by the elders of our church with the responsibility of leading the process of discerning what do we want to do next so i met with a lot of people in our church a lot of ministries met with all the elders and their wives spent a lot of time reading and reflecting and then you'll recall in november of 2019 i went away for a retreat to fast and pray and to ask god to give us a new vision the first day all i did was walk and pray i'm a prayer walker i think that week in five days or six days i walk 90 miles and i walked and walked and walked and the first day i fasted and just said god thank you for what you've done to the church i can't wait to hear what we're going to do next so it's the second day and i'm start walking and i've still received nothing and i started to get afraid am i gonna go home and everyone's saying what's the new vision i'm gonna say i got nothing i'm sorry i got nothing so i started to get afraid and i recognized it that the spirit of fear does not come from the lord and a verse came to my mind i know the holy spirit prompted it where jesus said if if your child asks for a bread you'll give him a snake if he asks for egg are you going to give him a scorpion if you know how to give good gifts to your children how much more does your father in heaven know how to get gifts and so i just started to thank god i said god i don't know what you're going to do but you're a good father you're going to give us a good gift about 20 minutes later a phrase came into my mind ask for nations and generations and it came in so strong i knew it was of the lord now i'll be honest have i read that somewhere have i heard i don't know maybe i don't know i just know in that moment it wasn't in my mind it came in my mind and it came powerfully so when i got back to where i was staying i got my bible out and i said i'm going to look up every verse in the bible that uses the word nations or generations and it was a four hour bible study i read over 900 verses and i got excited i started writing things down i started praying i started thinking i came back i shared with staff and with elders and we all affirm that we believe this is what god is asking us to do now i'm going to get to the goals what we're going to do today is talk about our goals for nations next week our goal for generations i'm going to get to the goals in a moment but what i want to do at first is about a 10-minute bible study is that okay we're just going to open the bible we're going to look at a lot of verses you can't find them all fast enough so just write them down i'm going to walk you through the bible and we're just going to do a quick study what does god think about the nations so here we go we're going to start in the first book of the bible because we go all the way back to god's call of abraham because that's when god started his redemptive plan and here's what god said in genesis 18 abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him so god is launching a redemptive plan and this plan is to bless the nations please understand israel was not and has never been god's favorite nation israel is god's chosen nation to be used to bless all the nations israel was to be a light to the nations pointing them to the worship of the one true god now this was a constant theme in their worship songs there's a book in the old testament called psalms here's a hundred and fifty of the worship songs of ancient israel and one of the themes in the psalms is god's heart for the nations just look at some of these quickly with me psalm 47 clap your hands all you nations shout to god with christ of joy god reigns over the nations god is seated on his heavenly throne the nobles of the nations assemble as the people of god of abraham for the kings of the earth belong to god he is greatly exalted psalm 57 i will praise you lord among the nations i was thinking of you among the peoples psalm 72 may all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him may his name endure forever may it continue as long as the sun then all nations will be blessed through him and they will call him blessed you see israel is singing the promise to abraham this is a huge part of their worship psalm 86 all the nations you have made will come and worship you lord they will bring glory to your name one more psalm 102 the nations will fear the name of the lord all the kings of the earth will revere your glory this is what israel sang all the time but israel sang a better theology than she lived because rather than being a light to the nations what israel often did was act like an obstacle to the nations keeping them in darkness about the one true god however god was not going to be frustrated god had painted a picture of a desired future and he was going to have it and so what god does in the old testament he raises up prophets who declare the coming of a messiah who is going to reclaim god's desire to bless all the nations so let's look for just for example at the book of isaiah chapter 2 the messiah will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples they will beat their swords into plowshares their spirits into pruning hooks nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war anymore this is god's future for the world no more war no more fighting with the nations in chapter 42 here is my servant whom i uphold my chosen one whom i delight i will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations this is god's announced future psalms isaiah chapter 60 nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn then one more chapter 66 and die because of what they've planned and done i'm about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages and they will come and see my glory so the prophet said this was the purpose of the coming of the messiah god wants to bless the nations just look at one more with you the book of daniel he has an amazing vision in chapter seven in my vision at night i looked and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven he approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence he was given authority glory and sovereign power all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed so i want you to get this it's important that jesus the messiah did not just come to save individuals from their sins jesus came for the redemption of the nations it's really important when we talk about the word nations in the bible don't hear land mass with a boundary hear people groups the actual greek word is ethno where we get the word ethnicity okay so for example the land mass called canaan had many nations in it the parasites and the jebusites and the amorites so when you hear the word nation god is talking about different people groups different ethnicities with their own unique language and culture and god loves them all and so he sends the messiah and at his birth you see it happening the nations the wise men come and they worship him at his death you see simon who's an african and a roman centurion affirm him at his birth and his death and throughout his life matthew chapter 12 in his name the nations will put their hope jesus said just before he died in matthew 24 this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come so you see it's no coincidence what day did god choose to birth the church he chose pentecost why it says in acts 2 verse 5 that people from every nation was there from every nation people heard the first gospel sermon and still even though they spent three years being discipled by jesus even though they had all this prophecy it took special prompting from the holy spirit for the very first christians to understand god wanted to reach all the ethnic groups in the early years of the church they just stayed inside one ethnicity and they only preached the gospel to jews you might recall peter he's on a roof he's asleep he has a vision god says eat all these animals peter says no lord which by the way that's a contradiction in term we don't put those two words together no lord he says kill and eat don't call unclean what i've made clean he goes downstairs he winds up at cornelius house he starts preaching the holy spirit falls before he can finish his sermon and look at what he said acts 10 i now realize how true it is that god does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right and so from that point on the church has a new narrative which actually it was the old and only narrative in the bible and that is that god wants to bless all the nations in christ one of the early songs of the church in 1st timothy 3. beyond all question the mystery from which true calling of springs is great he appeared in the flesh was vindicated by the spirit was seen by angels was preached among the nations was believed on in the world was taken up in glory so we're just working through the bible it's always been there god's redemptive plan has always been more than just to save individual people it has been to reach and bless every people group and so how does the bible end it closes with john's vision that god's promise to abraham is going to be fulfilled in revelation chapter 7. after this i looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation tribe people and language standing before the throne and before the lamb and when the new heaven and the new earth arrive in chapter 21 it says the glory and honor of the nations will be brought in to it and the very last chapter of the bible it says on east side of the river stood the tree of life burying 12 crops of fruit yielding this fruit every month and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations god is going to get what he longs for he's going to get a new earth filled with obedient children from every nation now it is the responsibility of the church to give the world a glimpse of what's coming it is our job to bring heaven to earth and to let our neighbors see the future that god is going to have and so before he returned to heaven one more time jesus made the mission clear matthew 28 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything i've commanded you and surely i am with you always to the very end of the age the mission is non-negotiable make followers of jesus from every ethnic group on the earth the vision is how for the next five years as a church we are going to ask god for the nations and so i'm going to have to hurry but i'm going to give you the seven goals for the nations for the next five years for our church and here's goal number one we want to see 1825 people surrendered to christ and be baptized in the next five years we want to lead with a goal that is absolutely mission centric to see people make intentional decisions to become followers of jesus you say why 1825 well in five years that's 1825 days it says in the book of acts that people were added to the kingdom daily well that's what we want to do we want to see a person a day except christ and be baptized now i don't believe baptism is the destination of discipleship baptism is the launching pad of discipleship baptize people from every nation and then teach them what it means to follow jesus but jesus made it clear i want to see people baptized in every nation we do too and so from january of 2022 to december of 2026 we want to see 1825 i believe it is possible to see what the church in acts had people coming to christ every day so you can start asking for your one you can start asking for that one who will be part of that number in the next five years god's honored by that prayer that's goal number one goal number two in the next five years we want to become a multi-ethnic church now what does that mean there's a lot of literature out there right now right now this the current definition is a church where no single ethnic group makes up more than 80 percent of the whole church now you might think well that's kind of a low bar yes it is but there's only a small percentage of churches in america reaching that bar we want to reach that bar and go past it why two reasons number one obedience we desire this out of obedience to god's mandate revealed in the scriptures not one time in the bible is a mono ethnic church endorsed and not one time did paul or anyone else ever plant and start a mono ethnic church the church is to model god's vision for the future and not just obedience but expedience we live in tarrant county right now in tarrant county not one single ethnic group makes up more than 50 of this county not one now the bible says in the book of acts that god puts you where he puts you when he puts you for his purpose you live right here right now for god's purpose and you live in a beautifully diverse county for a reason god is bringing the nations to us and mission faithfulness demands that we respond to what god is doing and that means we want to embrace ethnic diversity in our church at every level from leadership to any part of our church we want to look like our city and show our city what god's future is that's something else to be praying about goal number three we want to be a church of at least five campuses we believe god is calling the hills to have a greater imprint across dallas fort worth in the next five years now it could take the form of brand new faith communities it could take the form of existing faith communities that want to join our vision i truly believe in five years we are going to see outpost of our church in places we can't imagine right now so what we're going to do is ask god is going to reveal goal number four i'm really excited about this we want to engage members as advocates for 25 asylum seeking families or individuals in our community and what is that what is an asylum seeker this initiative is going to focus on people that our government has welcomed into our country because it is a threat to them to live any longer where they are because of their race because of the religion because of their politics our government has said you're granted asylum in this country because it's not safe for you to live where you currently live now here's the thing they come to our country it's a two to three year processing period before these people could get work permits and they don't qualify for any government assistance during that time and so we're going to partner with a christ-centered organization called dash network to help these families with their physical needs and with the cultural education so they can thrive in their new country now let's be clear some of these families that we're going to help are christians and that's one reason they're having to leave their country they're being persecuted some of the families we're going to help are not christians but they are going to experience the love of christ when they come to this country i'm thrilled to tell you we already have at every campus at all three of our campuses we already have a couple in training right now to be our first advocates and some of you are going to want to do this some of you your community groups are going to want to do this by the way dash network or they're having a gala at west fort worth campus seven o'clock thursday night if you want to learn more about them and the amazing way god is using them you want to attend or go to their website but that's our goal for the next five years we're going to help 25 individuals or families who are having to escape where they live experience the love of christ as they adjust to their new country number five we want to help and or support 15 new multi-ethnic church plants this is one of the most popular initiatives of our last vision the first disciples of jesus were given their marching orders go make disciples in every nation and they went into all the world and they started churches and we're going to follow their strategy and all the churches we start are going to follow our strategy they are going to be churches trying to reach the nations in their community we believe we can help 15 more churches get started in the next five years number six we're going to support the livingstone international university community through prayer and by sending 20 members to teach equip and encourage if you weren't familiar with our 2020 vision maybe the most auditious thing we tried to do we launched a christian liberal arts university in east africa in in bali uganda l-i-u i've been there a couple of times some of you have been the potential is incredible i'll be very honest the challenges created by the pandemic have been formidable it has been extremely hard on liu to thrive when they through now in their second year of not being able to have students on campus we believe in the mission we're going to continue to support liu with our finances and with our people and most of all right now you need to pray for liu please be praying for livingstone international university because there's no single work of our church that could have a huge impact over the next decades like that school and then finally number seven we want to reach the unreached by launching and supporting five church planting movements and by supporting bible translation efforts in five new languages now we've always had a history as a church being very engaged in doing mission work and we're going to continue to do mission work here's where we're going to make a shift for the next five years we're going to give more attention to that part of the world that has gotten hardly any attention here's what i mean 29 of the world has no access to jesus you can't just go and walk into a church you can't just go and buy a bible and currently churches in the west are giving one percent of their resources to the 29 percent who have nothing we want to do something about that watch this video for just a moment there are 7 407 unreached people groups in the world that is over 3 billion men women and children who have never even heard of jesus meanwhile 180 million people in more than 2 000 languages are without the bible church we have work to do so we are committing to reaching the unreached like never before 95 of all unreached people groups are located in a part of the world between 10 degrees latitude and 40 degrees longitude stretching from north africa to southeast asia this is known as the 10 40 window we feel called to invest significant resources in this part of the world to reach the unreached through church planting and bible translation so over the next five years we will partner with bible translators to see god's word translated into five new languages communities will be transformed as they finally hear the story of jesus in their own tongue and over the next five years we will launch five church planting movements notice the goal is not five new churches but five church planting movements we are asking god to raise up disciples who will plant churches who plant churches and who can't help but multiply because of the power of jesus that is going to come alive in them church the work ahead is beyond our abilities but it is not beyond god's will so we ask in jesus name for the unreached to be reached you know we're already doing this in the last several years we have begun being more specific about sending our resources and our people to parts of the world where they've never gone before in fact i want to show you a picture and i apologize for the fuzzy faces but it needs to be that way i can't tell you where that picture was taken i can't tell you who the people are what i can tell you is that picture was sent to you hills church and here's why because of your monies that people group is getting the bible for the first time they are celebrating they've just translated the book of matthew into their own language and for the first time people are reading about jesus in their own language and they wanted to send a picture and wave and say hi and thank you to the hills and just let me tell you something when i got that picture i got so excited i jumped up and spiked my bible okay i was that pumped here's the thing we don't have to wonder when we're praying for the nations to be reached if we're asking for god's will we don't have to wonder there is no people group on earth where disciples cannot be made who will make more disciples because all authority over all nations belongs to jesus he said all authority has been given to me now go make disciples of every ethnic group and i am with you always so linus comes out from the catcher spot to meet charlie brown on the mound the bases are loaded charlie says linus we're doomed and lionel says no charlie brown we're just surrounded by insurmountable opportunities the church in the next five years we're going to attempt the impossible because nothing is impossible with god remember the first word god gave me was not nations the first word god gave me was ask two of the great spiritual giants of the last century abe fb meyer and a.b simpson meyer was staying in simpson's home on a visit he got up early in the morning it was still dark to go downstairs for his devotions trying to be quiet to not wake anyone up but when he got down to the bottom of the stairs he saw the light was on and simpson's study and he was already up and he was in front of a globe and he was on his knees and he would spin that globe and he would put his hand on a spot and start to pray and then he would turn it and put it on another spot and start to pray and then meyer watched as a.b simpson put his arms around that whole globe and leaned over and began to weep he had god's heart for the nations and i want us to have the same so i'd like you to bow your head right now at every campus we're going to do a wonderful thing for the next couple of minutes we're going to pray for the nations and here's what i want you to do i want you to ask the holy spirit to put on your heart right now a particular nation it could be a refugee group it could be a group at your school it could be a nation where no one is allowed to talk about christ in public it can be a place where you were born and immigrated from i don't care but right now ask the holy spirit to put on your heart a nation and pray for christ to come so so god we ask for the nations and my prayer in the next five years is that we will want what you want and that we will give our city a look at the future that's coming we pray in jesus name amen everyone stand please we offer the gift of prayer every week to those who could be encouraged by it all you have to do is come to this room that's to your left and my right and we have some people there that will receive you they're taking their places right now and if you're ready to be baptized and let me be very clear about this it is jesus will that everyone be baptized it's not the end of your walk with christ but it's the start and if you haven't made that decision this is your day to do that and come and be baptized profess your christ in christ and then we will teach you what it means to follow jesus so you come while we sing lord i stand in the midst of a multitude of those from every tribe and tongue we are your people redeemed by your blood purchased from death by your love there are no words good enough to thank you there are no words to express my praise but i will lift up my voice and sing from my heart with all of my strength hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] by the blood of christ we stand every tongue every tribe every people every land giving glory giving honor giving praise unto the lamb of god lord we stand by grace in your presence [Music] cleansed by the blood of the lamb we are your children called by your name humbly we bow [Music] release your power to work in us and through us till we are changed to be more like you [Music] then all the nations will see your glory revealed and worship you hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah to the lamb hallelujah [Music] blood of hallelujah we stand every tongue every tribe every people every land giving glory giving honor giving praise unto the lamb hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah to the lamb hallelujah hallelujah by the blood of christ we stand every tongue every tribe every people every land giving glory giving honor giving praise unto the lamb of giving glory giving honor giving praise unto the lamb love hallelujah hallelujah giving praise unto the lamb man rick saved my life saved my job at least and listen just as i had all forgotten about that i don't know jesus i am sure that the holy spirit spoke to our senior teaching pastor and had him dressed in team uniform today hey you know who my favorite ryan is who's that ryan christian that's big ryan yeah i got a t-shirt on sorry so this is big ryan and and little ryan so if y'all see us together this is big ryan i'm little ryan yeah based on tenure come on but just as i was assured in the holy spirit man i am assured that this vision was given to rick by our father in heaven man it's powerful it's audacious and man it is bold but y'all we all have a part in it and so absolutely two two folks in the room right uh the first is if you are a guest with us i want to encourage you to go ahead and pull out your phone and text the word new if you heard something in the vision that just sparked something in you just said hey i want to be connected to a church that that has a vision this bowl that wants to serve and change the world the way that this church plans to serve and change the world pull out your phone open up a text tool and text the word new to the number on the screen we want to connect with you as well man and we want to get to know you and who you are and if you are a member or if you've been here for a while and you are intrigued by the new vision we want to encourage you to go to nationsandgenerations.org and and learn more about the goals we talked about today that rick talked about today and also there's an information form you can fill out that form and learn how you can find yourselves becoming a part of that new vision i don't know about you guys but here and how many people in the world have never heard the name of yes and that scriptures aren't available in their heart language we've got an opportunity for you to go interact as you exit the worship center to the left with an organization that we're partnering with pioneer bible translators and you'll you can see the work that they're doing and you'll see different people groups of where scripture translation has started but you're also going to see a lot of those displays that are empty because it hasn't started yet and the amazing thing is churches that we believe in partnering with these organizations that what they've been doing that by the year 2050 that every single language on the face of the earth including sign language the work will begin of scripture being translated into their heart language and that is what we are investing in so what does it mean for you well as ryan said go and check out the website and be praying you're going to hear about nations next week you're going to be hearing about generations the beauty of our vision is there a place for everybody to lean into and to step into but you guys know us and we are just we are so focused on 1825 come on and i would love it in a little bit over five years that we would have blown that number come on come on because each and every one of us here would say lord who's my one who do you want me to go tell yeah and what does that look like and it starts today because the great commission is for all of us so as you go be bold this week we love you god bless you we'll see you soon [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] foreign plans for me are good i know you hold my future in my heart [Music] your promise [Music] is never [Music] we cannot explain

Channel: The Hills Church

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Id: KLObMLM4gGk

Length: 91min 3sec (5463 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021