Make Room | Pastor James Crocker

In this enlightening message, we delve into Acts 6 to uncover the powerful theme of preparation amidst growth within the church. Discover how the early church confronted challenges of expansion with wisdom and unity, and how we can apply these lessons today. 

Join us as we reflect on what it means to truly "make room" in our lives and community. Learn how to harness God's blessings by stepping into your unique calling and empowering others in their spiritual journeys. This message is a call to go beyond simply witnessing miracles to actively participating in the transformation happening in our church and beyond.

Tune in for practical insights, personal anecdotes, and a renewed vision for what God is building in our midst. Are you ready to deepen your roots in Christ and make room for what God is bringing?

Listen and be inspired to play your part in this divine movement!

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Transcript

 I'm excited to preach today because before I even knew that I was going to be preaching today, God had put this scripture on my heart for this location.

Before I jump into that, I just do want to give some honor where honor is due to our pastors who are in Atlanta with their family, recharging and refreshing.

I'm so thankful because they've trusted me.

 And I love this church because it is a place where people are trusted.

It's a place where people are given chances.

And I stand where I am today in the position I am and promise you it's not because I'm awesome.

I bet your SAT score is higher than mine.

That's all I'm going to say there.

But God had a plan for my life and he put me in a place where people saw that plan and they developed me.

 And so I just want to honor them as they rest and just thank them.

Yeah, let's give it up.

Do you have your Bibles?

Awesome.

Open them up.

Turn to Acts.

As you turn there, the title of this message is Make Room.

Make Room.

When God brings people, we bring preparation.

Oh, I hear the pages turning.

 Beautiful noise.

All right.

Are you at Acts chapter 6?

I'm reading the NIV, so it might be a little different.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

 So the 12 gathered, all the disciples, the 12 here, it's talking about the apostles, and said, it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word in order to wait on tables.

Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom.

We will turn this responsibility over to them and we'll give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.

 This proposal pleased the whole group.

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.

Also Philip, Prochorus, Nisanor, Timon, Paraminus, and Nicholas from Antioch, a covert of Judaism.

Man, I'm just impressed I made it through those words, Pastor Dylan.

Man, the amount of times I practiced that, that was crazy.

Back to the scriptures.

 They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread.

The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Okay.

So this isn't just a story about widows and apostles.

This is a story about you and me right now, right here.

 sitting in this growing church, wondering where we fit in, wondering if someone sees you, wondering what you're supposed to do, if you're supposed to do just more than show up.

This isn't history, it's a mirror for where we are right now as a church, Highland Park.

As God grows our church, he invites us to grow too.

Not just wider in numbers, hear me, but deeper in relationship, stronger in unity, and more intentional in serving one another.

 Growth is a blessing, but without preparation, a blessing can become a burden.

What do you do when the blessing becomes too big for your structure?

What do you do when growth brings tension?

When people start feeling overlooked?

When the move of God feels a little too messy?

 Well, I promise you, by the time we finish going through each one of these scriptures, you're going to realize what God has called not just us to do, but for you to do.

Let's pray.

Thank you, God, for the word.

God, we just ask that this would encourage us today.

God, we ask that it would challenge us where we need to be challenged and that it would build us up where we need to be built up.

God, we ask that we would see ourselves in this story of the early church and that you would help us prepare ourselves for what it is that you have for us coming.

 Man, I hope that doesn't happen to me.

That would be crazy.

It's like one of my favorite things when this happens in church.

This is not in my notes, but like things like that happen.

Someone, like one time the Harry Potter theme song started playing as their ringtone during songs.

And you're like, Lord?

That's crazy.

Let me know who dies on stage.

That'd be crazy.

 Chapter 6, verse 1.

Growth is beautiful and messy, friends.

In those days, the number of disciples was increasing.

The Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Okay, so the early church is popping.

It's growing.

 People weren't just coming to church, they were becoming the church.

Like notice it says the number of disciples were increasing, not the number of people or crowd, the disciples.

People were increasing in their depth in Christ.

They were becoming followers of him.

The gatherings were growing.

The movement was multiplying.

Momentum was in the room.

But with growth comes gravity.

With blessing comes burden.

With increase comes pressure.

 And the reality that they were facing, the problem, wasn't some outside force trying to affect the church.

It wasn't an attack.

It wasn't some doctrinal or theological dispute.

It wasn't even persecution.

It was a logistical problem.

Like how boring is that?

But it threatened to put a spiritual divide inside of the church.

One group, the Hellenistic Jews, wasn't getting cared for.

Not because everyone was evil.

 That wasn't even really intentional.

They weren't trying to hurt anybody.

It was because things had grown faster than the system could carry.

It wasn't intentional neglect.

It was unintentional misalignment.

So what does it mean to us as cathedral?

Well, we're seeing miracles in this house.

We're seeing healings in this house.

We're seeing breakthrough and provision in this place.

Pastor Jake celebrated it last week.

Peyton's, ACL, and meniscus, they were done, friends.

 That's like surgery, friends, until the church prayed, and then it was healed.

Michaela, one of our worships, she had a knee surgery, and there was a clicking at Holy Spirit Conference.

She was prayed for something unrelated, by the way, and her knee stopped doing the clicking.

Brian, 10 years of knee pain gone in a moment.

Melissa, hip pain and leg pain.

Am I right?

 Healed in a moment.

We're even seeing people that we pray for that aren't a part of our church being blessed because a church prays.

You may have heard this, but there's a lady who her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

 And I love this story because sometimes you have to get uncomfortable for someone's healing.

And she's actually Bailey's boss.

And Bailey started at this job, and she had an option to do training during Holy Spirit Conference, which is wild because Bailey was doing a lot at Holy Spirit Conference, which basically means she signed up for an 18-hour day.

But it means that she could get her boss to Holy Spirit Conference.

So she said, instead of going with comfort of next week, I'm going to go with the presence of God right now.

 she brings this lady we praying the church is praying for her husband he was given a terminal diagnosis they said we're gonna start treatment at best it'll slow it might not even do anything one week after treatment the cancer is not just

 regressing it not just slowed it is literally regressing it's the doctor said it will not stop but God and the church prayed and all of a sudden it was healing matter of fact I think we should just pray for him right now God we lift up that father we lift up that husband to you right now and God we thank you for the regression of that cancer and we believe in the name of Jesus Christ and we command a full healing to come over his body

 Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

 God's doing crazy things at Cathedral.

Let's not forget that businesses, I talk to business owners in this church, they're flourishing, friends.

In this economy, that doesn't make no sense, but God is good.

Families restored, people being blessed, children learning their gifts.

God is trusting Highland Park with his people.

Revival is real, but revival needs room.

 We need to make sure that we hear these miracles, we see these miracles, and they don't just cause us to stand back in awe, but they cause us to press into the maturity that God has called us to.

Miracles should move you, but they should mature you as well.

We're seeing new people, new families, new members, new kids, new leaders, all walk through these doors every single week.

But we've got to ask ourselves the question, are we seeing them or are we making room for them?

 I want to be a church that makes room for people.

Seeing people is passive, but making space, man, that's intentional, that is bold, and that's generous.

That's the kind of church that we're called to be.

That's pastoral.

That's family, friends.

It's easy to celebrate growth when it's exciting.

It's harder to steward growth when it gets a little complicated.

You know, like, when you're walking through the Ikea showroom, and you're like, ooh, I

 I found it.

That is going to be perfect in my living room.

And you see it in their weird, you know, fake television over here, credenza there.

And you're like, yes.

Check the dimensions.

You're like, great.

Does anyone else just want to pick it up off the showroom and put it into your flipping car and go home?

Right.

But you don't.

What do you do?

You go down to the warehouse.

You get the bin number.

You get boxes and you go, how does that fit in there?

 You get them to your house.

You open up these boxes.

All 432,000 pieces fall out of these boxes.

The foam, that's dissipated.

You can't get that.

You're finding that four weeks later all over your house.

And then they give you a wrench that looks like Picasso himself created it.

And you're like, what is this?

And then you go, okay, well, let me just open up this booklet of instructions.

Oh, there's no words.

There's just pictures.

 It's strange looking.

It's confusing.

Growth without structure leads to frustration, not fulfillment.

The early church had pieces, but they needed a building plan to match their growth.

That's what was missing.

What does it mean for us?

Why am I pointing out this moment in the early church, this pain point?

Because I believe that revival is in this room, and it's in the response that we have as individuals that make up the body of Christ.

 God brings the increase, but it's on us to make space to prepare ourselves for it.

Think about Noah's ark.

God told Noah to build an ark, gave him blueprints before he gave him rain.

God doesn't just send people, he sends plans.

Without the ark's structure, Noah's family wouldn't have been able to carry out the mission that God had on their lives and in turn affect the world the way that he had called them to affect the world.

The church must prepare in advance for growth so it doesn't sink us, it sustains us.

 Have you ever been to a restaurant?

Hopefully.

And it's like, I like choked as I said that.

That wasn't like an intentional pause.

It's like popular but understaffed.

Yeah, any restaurant in Silver Lake.

Great food, long wait.

Love the menu, the service.

It's not the product.

 It's the process that determines the experience.

The disciples were growing.

 That's the product, friends.

Discipleship is what God calls us to.

But the systems weren't growing with them.

Mark 2, 22 says, and no one pours new wine into old wineskins.

Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined.

No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.

The Holy Spirit was pouring out new wine in Acts 6, but the old wineskin, the distribution system, was about to burst.

The problem wasn't the blessing.

It was the container.

 Cathedral, we got to look at this and we got to learn.

God's not just blessing individuals.

He's stretching the container of this house.

He's stretching the capacity that's inside of you.

I believe that our greatest days of discipleship are ahead.

Our greatest days of impact are ahead.

But are we preparing ourselves for who God has brought into our house and who he was bringing into our house?

I believe that we're going to learn how to prepare ourselves.

Say, I'm going to be prepared.

 Verse number two teaches us that we gotta prioritize what's primary.

So the 12 gathered all the disciples together and said, it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.

It feels a little harsh, to be honest, when you read it at first.

But that right there is leadership clarity.

The apostles aren't being bougie about their serving.

They're not too spiritual to sweat.

 They're not above doing the gritty stuff.

They're just saying, we know our lane, and if we leave it, this whole thing's gonna slow down.

So the word ministry used here in the original text is the same word for both ministry of word and the serving of tables.

It's not about importance.

The apostles are not saying one of these things is greater than the other.

Matter of fact, if they wanted to do that, they wouldn't have used the same word.

It's not about importance, it's about assignment.

 Both are holy.

Both are spiritual.

But not everyone is supposed to do both at all the same times.

Because sometimes the greatest threat to our calling isn't sin.

It's doing something good that pulls you away from what God's called you to do.

 Ephesians 4.11 says, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.

The apostles understood that their role was to equip, not micromanage.

Their clarity unlocked ministry in others.

It's a multiplication mindset that they had on them.

Equipping people is not elitism, it's empowerment.

 They knew the danger of being spread too thin.

They knew that if they tried to do everything, they'd end up doing nothing well.

So they said, it's not right that we neglect the Word to fix the structure.

Let's fix the structure so that we can stay rooted in the Word.

That's maturity.

That's leadership.

That's vision alignment.

It's like a contractor and a carpenter.

A contractor doesn't lay every brick at the work site.

They're responsible for the blueprint.

 If they try to do all the work themselves, the house will either take forever, or it's gonna fall down.

Leaders aren't trying to dodge work, they protect the design that God has given the church.

You can either swing the hammer or oversee the build, but if you can't do both with excellence and forever, and both are needed to bring the vision of God's church to life.

So what does this mean for us?

This is why we gotta be clear as a church on what matters most.

We love Sundays, we love systems, we love great events.

 But the mission isn't hype, it's health.

The glory of Christ, the beauty of the bride, and the good of the city.

The preached word, the presence of God, and the formation of disciples.

If we don't name the priority as a church, we're going to lose it.

At Cathedral, we're not just building capacity, we're cultivating calling on the inside of every single person who walks through these doors.

Because God has a plan for everyone's life.

And you are a part of helping them discover it.

 we don't say yes to everything we say yes to the right things we choose devotion over distraction we stay focused on making disciples not making noise at cathedral we have prayer warriors we have worship leaders we have creatives we have teachers we have evangelists we have pastoral voices encourages system thinkers hosts group leaders kids teachers if we all try to do all of that we will burn out but if we do what we're built to do

 The church won't just grow wide, it'll grow deep in Christ.

Because when everyone's doing what only they can do, we all win.

In the height of his ministry, Dwight L. Moody, one of the most influential evangelists of the 19th century, found himself doing it all.

Preaching, organizing, counseling, handling logistics.

The crowds were growing, revival was breaking out, but Moody hit a wall.

He was exhausted, frustrated, unable to keep up with what the needs were around him.

 One night, a close friend said something that would reshape his ministry.

Moody, it's clear you believe the work of God can't go on without you.

But the truth is, you are in the way.

 Convicted, Moody began to delegate authority, empower leaders, build teams.

He stopped trying to do everything and focused on what only he could do.

Preach the gospel with fire and clarity.

That shifted and unlocked multiplication.

His Sunday school grew into a movement.

His revival meetings turned into nations reached.

And long after he died, the ministry outlived him.

Just like the apostles in 6-2, D.L.

Moody learned that doing everything isn't faithfulness, it's foolishness.

 Cathedral, we radically release control of ministry.

We put it into your hands.

This church is not about who stands on this stage.

It's about bringing Christ's glory through the saints that have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of them.

We believe that releasing people into our calling is not a nice thing to do.

It's what God's called us to do.

And when we prioritize what is primary, God can do much more with less when we prepare ourselves for what is to come.

Verse 3 says this.

 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom.

You should underline that in your Bible.

And then in the space on the side, just write life goal.

Full of the spirit and wisdom.

We will turn this responsibility over to them.

I love this.

The apostles didn't say who's free on Saturday.

Who's available.

Who's unemployed right now.

They said who's been faithful daily.

 They weren't looking for warm bodies.

They were looking for well-formed spirits.

They wanted people with a track record, not just talent.

People filled with the Holy Spirit, not just full of opinions.

They wanted people who carried wisdom, not hype.

1 Timothy 3.1, you can read that on your own.

Paul lists out the qualifications for leadership, and it doesn't start with what skills they have.

It starts with the character.

Above reproach, sober-minded, self-controlled.

In a culture today that's obsessed with charisma,

 God still values character, wisdom, and the spirit overall.

Because hear me, a growing church, the need can't drive pace.

Discernment has to drive us.

The people God uses are not always the loudest in the room.

They're often the ones who have been faithful and private, consistent in obscurity, and steady in their formation.

God doesn't build people like influencers.

He builds them like athletes.

You don't wait until game day to start training.

 You train before the crowd is watching so that when the whistle blows, the muscle memory carries you.

2 Timothy 2.15, it says, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.

A worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

You don't step into responsibility by accident.

You step in because you've been training in private.

So what does this mean to us?

I believe that God's raising up Stephens and Phillips in this church.

 People who are not just passionate but prepared.

Not just energetic but anchored.

Not looking for a mic, but carrying a mantle.

We're not preparing to be famous, we're preparing to be fruitful.

And hear me, formation does not happen on the sidelines.

It happens in the context of community.

This is why we say be consistent on Sundays.

 This is why we do things like Group Launch Sunday and get to a group.

Go to Essentials.

Become a member.

Get on teams.

Step into leadership.

Disciple others.

And God forbid, let yourself be discipled yourself.

Let someone challenge you.

Because the formation happens through participation.

Not through observation.

Formation happens through participation.

Ephesians 4.6 says, For him, the whole body.

 joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, underline this, as each part does its work.

Growth happens when you're grafted to the body.

The vine dresser serves and strengthens the branches that are connected.

That's why it's important that we prepare ourselves through participation in the body.

Verse four says this, it says, and we will give our attention to prayer

 and the ministry of the word.

So here's the heartbeat of the church.

The apostles weren't retreating, they were just recentering.

They said, we're not going to fix this with clever systems alone.

We're going to fix this by staying close to God.

Because prayer is the engine, word is the anchor.

Prayer is to the church what oxygen is to your lungs.

You can have the best workout plan in the world.

If you're holding your breath, you're dying.

 A sailboat can have the most perfect design, but without the wind, it's dead in the water.

The sails are the structure.

The wind is the spirit.

Prayer is what moves the mission of God forward.

If you want to know some scriptural backup, sure, I'm glad you asked.

Here you go.

Mark 1, 3, 5.

Very early in the morning while it was dark, Jesus got up, left the house, went off to a solitary place where he, where he, Jesus went off to pray before doing anything big.

If Jesus needed it,

 Man, I need it.

I'll tell you that right now.

Jeremiah 23, 29, is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, like a hammer that breaks rocks into pieces.

Man, the word doesn't just teach, it breaks chains.

Second Timothy 4, 2, preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.

We preach the word because it's not, we're not forming fans, we're forming disciples at cathedral.

A few weeks ago,

 We do, every Sunday at 9 a.m., I invite you to this, we do what we call pre-service prayer.

And it's where we pray before the service.

Crazy, right?

And we pray over this moment, we pray over worship, we pray for every person that comes through these doors.

And it's a beautiful moment, and I was speaking to a leader after a prayer, and they said this to me, I didn't realize how dry I had gotten until I stopped and started to pray with others again.

That's what happens when we center ministry on the presence, not performance.

 Prayer realigns our motives.

The word renews our minds.

So what does it mean to Cathedral?

We're not here to just build a brand.

We're not here to just impress LA.

We're here to change LA.

And that only happens when we stay rooted in prayer and anchored in the word.

 This is why we pray on Wednesday mornings.

This is why we do pre-service prayer.

It matters.

This is why groups aren't just fun hangouts.

It's where we open up the scriptures.

It's where we call down heaven.

It's where we pray and where we stand with each other, believing for what God has promised over our lives.

If we lose the word, we lose our witness.

And if we lose prayer, we lose our power.

So here's what you got to do.

You got to show up.

Wednesday mornings, 7 a.m.

If you can make it, make it.

If you can't,

 Pre-service prayer, 9 a.m.

on Sunday.

You're here right now, so this is coming a little bit earlier.

But we've got to prioritize prayer.

Get into a group.

It's not for friendship.

It's for your formation.

You'll find friends there.

Listen, you're here for an hour and a half on Sunday.

Something's forming you.

You've got an hour and a half here and 166.5 out there.

 So why not just tilt the scale a little further in your favor with another, just bump that 1.5 up to three and just see what happens when you, it's a seven week process, friends.

What if you prioritize community for seven weeks, tested God in it and see what he did in your life?

Christ-centered community is there for you and you are there for it because you have something that somebody needs and they have something that you need.

 And establish a personal rhythm.

You've got to set aside time in the week to pray.

Get into the Word.

If it's 10 minutes, it counts.

God's not going.

He's not rewarding your minutes.

He's responding to your hunger.

Start somewhere.

The people of God ascending to this house, the people God is sending to this house, they're not looking for perfect programs.

They don't need perfect programs.

They need a church soaked in the Spirit and ready in the Scriptures.

 Let's be that house.

Let them walk in and say, I don't know what it is, but God is here and the word is alive.

Because people God is bringing into our house, they don't just need us to be organized.

They need us to be anointed.

The disciples, they had identified the systems broken, but they prioritize the anointing as well.

They go hand in hand.

In verse 5, we see that unity grows when people are empowered.

Thank you, Ella, for that text message.

 This is the problem when you preach from your laptop.

Verse five says this, the proposal pleased the whole group.

I mean, just stop right there.

When have you ever been in a family meeting?

A work meeting where a big change, like some kind of tension is there and then they come up with a solution.

Everyone's like, oh, this is amazing.

What do they say?

Like a good negotiation, somebody loses on both sides.

Apparently not in the church because everybody is pumped.

That's revival in and of itself.

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit.

 They chose Philip and all those rest of the names.

We did it the first time.

We're not going to, we ain't risking it.

Risk it.

Their proposal pleased the whole group.

Unity in a multi-ethnic, multilingual, growing church.

The spirit of God can do it.

And here's how it happened.

The church empowered people from the very group that felt unseen.

 They didn't just fix the problem, they raised leaders from within the problem.

Stephen and Philip, Nicholas, all Greek names, all likely from the Hellenist community.

The very people who felt forgotten are now trusted to lead.

And they were not symbolic appointments to calm tension.

They were anointed men, full of the Spirit, chosen from within the overlooked group.

That's like handing interns the keys to the boardroom and then realizing that they were the ones with the vision to take the company to the next level all along.

 This is the kingdom.

This is its principle of leadership.

It's not promotion based on predigree, but elevation based on preparation.

That's why we need to prepare a cathedral.

This is our posture.

We elevate those that have been overlooked.

We raise up people the world never saw coming, and we don't just make room at the table, we expand the table.

We grow it.

Because the arrival won't last if the same few people are doing it.

We're building a church that looks like heaven, functions like a family.

 Because God doesn't overlook anyone.

You see it in his word.

Joseph, forgotten in a prison, then all of a sudden the second hand of Pharaoh.

Moses, raised up in Pharaoh's palace, 40 years in obscurity and hiding.

And then God says, you're up, kid.

Go and rescue millions of people.

David, forgotten.

When Samuel asked Jesse to bring out his sons, his own father didn't even invite his son to the lineup.

But God chose David as a man after his own heart.

 God loves to raise up people that the world forgets, friends.

And he's still doing it, and he's doing it in our church, and he's doing it in our city, and he's doing it in you.

Maybe you've been saying, I haven't been here long enough.

I don't know the Bible well enough.

I can't sing like Pastor Ella.

I'm too young.

I'm too old.

I'm not ready.

My kids are too crazy.

I don't have enough time in my schedule.

But the truth is, God doesn't start with perfection.

He works with obedience.

 When I first started, my first leadership position in church, in life, actually, if I'm being honest, I was 19, and I was given the keys to the kingdom of the usher team.

And it was a pretty big deal.

There was three people on it, including myself.

 I know you're impressed.

And after three weeks, there was one person, including myself.

But someone trusted me.

And I kept saying yes.

And I kept getting better and I kept showing up.

And through that, God stoked a gift of leadership inside of me that would sustain me for the rest of my life.

 that would walk me into places I never thought I would, that would shape my identity.

I went from being a lost chameleon to a child of God because someone said, why don't you give this a shot?

And I said, I'm not ready, but I'm obedient.

Stop waiting for the next essentials, friends.

Stop waiting for the next group launch.

 Stop saying next season.

Stop saying when work dies down.

Maybe when this project ends.

Preparation is not for later, it's for now.

I remember when Ali Roberti, who loves Ali Roberti?

Amazing.

 She first came to our church, she was invited from a coffee shop, barely knew anyone, and she was sitting in the back.

And now she is leading at one of the highest levels in our church, discipling others, speaking into the culture of who we are.

And I honestly can't imagine our church without Allie Roberti.

What she brings to the table, how she speaks into others, how she pours out what God has so freely poured into her is absolutely amazing.

And I bet if you asked Allie, and I encourage you to,

 She would tell you that her life is better now because of the community that God put her in, because it called her higher.

The encouragement that lifts her, the discipleship that shaped her into the woman of God she is.

Why?

Because she said yes before she was ready.

What is it that you're waiting to be ready for that God's calling you to say yes to now?

 Because we need to be prepared.

1 Corinthians 2.22.

On the contrary, those parts of the bodies that seem weaker are indispensable.

Paul's saying just because you weren't seen doesn't mean that you're not essential.

Matthew 20.16.

So the last will be first and the first will be last.

In the kingdom, the overlooked often become the leaders.

Romans 12.6.

We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.

God's gifts aren't based on your resume.

They're based on his grace.

 God isn't willing, not God, sorry, he is willing.

God isn't waiting for you to be impressive.

He's waiting for you to be available.

Who are you pulling into mission?

Are you resisting mission right now?

Group leaders.

This season, who's in your group that needs to be leading next season?

Not just attending.

Team leaders.

Who's the person that needs the nudge to say, man, God's got something more for you?

 The bottom line is this.

We as a church don't just meet needs.

We multiply leaders.

We see what God has placed inside of people because revival is not sustainable if it's on the backs of a few people.

The leaders we have today will not take us into the future that God has called us to alone.

We need more leaders.

We need more disciples of Jesus carrying the mantle that he's put on his church.

It's only sustainable when we raise up many.

Amen?

 So what if you're not the solution to the need, but you're the doorway to someone else who is?

What if the assignment isn't to solve the whole problem, but to spot the person, invite them in, and be the hinge God uses to swing the door wide open for someone else's future and calling?

Are you prepared for the people that God is bringing us?

Verse six, ask the band to come and join me.

It says this, they presented themselves

 They presented the men to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them.

They didn't just fill a role, they filled the person with spiritual authority.

It's not a staffing solution, it's a spiritual strategy.

They didn't say, cool, you're on the schedule.

They said, no, heaven is on your life.

They laid hands, they prayed, they called down heaven because ministry isn't about doing, it's about being sent.

It's like launching a rocket.

 Before it even lifts off, it's filled with fuel, it's checked for alignment, and then someone in the booth hits the ignition.

That's what's happening here.

The people were filled with the Spirit, but the laying on of hands, that was the ignition.

It was heaven saying, we're not just sending you out, we're lighting a fire under your calling.

2 Timothy 1.6 says, For this reason I remind you, fan into flame the gift of God.

 but which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Paul's saying to Timothy here, don't forget someone prayed for you, someone called it out of you, and it's your job to keep the fire going.

What does it mean to us?

Simple.

We're a church that's going to equip you, not just with skills, but we're going to empower you with the Spirit.

 We're not training volunteers here, friends.

This is not some random nonprofit to make you feel good on the weekends.

We are releasing ministers into the world to change it for Jesus Christ.

That's why we bring new members up front.

That's why we bring them onto this stage and we pray over them.

That's not a tradition.

It's a commissioning to the call of God on their life.

I remember the first time someone prayed over me before I led a small group.

I was shaking, my teeth were chattering, my knees were clacking together.

 I didn't feel confident.

I didn't feel qualified.

But when they laid their hands on me, when they spoke into my life, what felt like a task turned into a mission.

And that moment marked me.

And I have never led the same since.

You may think you might just be setting up chairs, but heaven sees anointed atmosphere builders.

 You're not just welcoming people at the door.

You're a hospitality evangelist.

You're not just serving in kids.

You're releasing identity into the next generation.

You're not just parking cars, friends.

You're preparing hearts to encounter Jesus.

We say yes.

We see your yes.

We recognize the spirit of God on your life and we bless it and we publicly pray for it and we lay our hands on those that are ministers of Christ.

I wonder if we just need to shift our atmosphere from task to trust, from checklist to calling.

 What would happen?

Because we're not building teams here.

We're building people full of the spirit of God and wisdom.

Verse seven says this.

This is the end of the story.

This is my favorite part.

After all that, so the word of God spread.

The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

 Here's what I love about this verse.

No dramatic showdown.

No miracle moment.

No angel busting in with a trombone, blasting off the ceiling.

It's just a church that got in order.

It's just a church that prepared.

And the gospel started flying.

No split, no scandal, no drama, just straight up kingdom momentum.

And it wasn't just people who were easy to reach.

 Luke says even the priests, the skeptical, the religious, the ones trained to resist any change in this area whatsoever, were coming to faith.

That is revival that they were experiencing.

When people you thought would never say yes are walking into the waters of baptism, are being saved, are being released, that is what Matthew 9, 37 says.

Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.

 God's not lacking in harvest, friends.

He's looking for a church that's ready to reap.

Because when the church is ordered under the Spirit, the gospel is unstoppable.

What does it mean to us?

Why is this important?

That's who we want to be.

We want to be a church that's not just wide, but it's deep.

It's not fast, it's not just fast, it's faithful.

A place where systems supported by the Spirit.

A place where serving isn't duty, it's a devotion.

 Where people don't just visit, they find a family.

So my question to you today is, are you ready for the harvest?

Are you prepared for what God's going to bring into our church?

Friends, I've been doing this for a while.

I've never tried so little to grow God's church.

Personally, out of my own strength.

And God's hand is on our church.

Because the Bible says that I don't grow the church.

He grows the church.

 What does the Bible call us to do?

It calls us to prepare for the growth that he brings.

So here's how you prepare.

Write these down.

Number one, join a group.

Crazy.

Not so you're just in one, but so no one in our church has to walk alone through this life.

It's like standing outside of the gym waiting to feel fit before you walk in.

 You don't go to the gym because you're fit.

You go to the gym because you're ready to grow.

Same with groups.

The Bible says if one person falls down, the other can help them up.

But pity anyone who falls alone.

Who's there to help them up?

I want to make sure that every single person in this church knows that if they fall, and you will, someone's there to pick you up.

Someone there to pray with you.

Someone there that you can reach out to.

That you have a name and a person that knows you, that's committed to you.

 Don't wait to feel connected to get committed.

Commit.

Commitment is what creates connection.

Second thing is lead someone.

Say, I'm not a leader.

Well, who's a little less connected than you?

Invite them over.

Invite them to join a group with you.

Bring them in.

Take them out to lunch after church.

You ever notice how someone sticks out to you in this room?

You're like, oh, they've been here for two weeks in a row.

 They're sitting alone.

Oh, look, it's Dylan.

I'm going to go say hi to him.

It's not social awareness, friends.

It's your spiritual assignment from God.

Don't brush it off.

Don't say someone else is going to talk to them.

You talk to them.

You're that someone.

Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it, says 1 Corinthians.

Say to your soul, I'm not just a participant.

I'm a piece of God's plan.

Next thing is this.

Cultivate your prayer life.

 Pastor Jake said it last week, you are a priest.

Devotion is a non-negotiable.

You can't live your life holding your breath for six days a week and expect to feel alive on Sunday.

That's not revival, that's spiritual asphyxiation.

Peter says you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, God's possession, who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 If you're not able to be here on Wednesday morning for prayer, that's okay.

I get it.

But you should be here for pre-service prayer.

If you can't be here for pre-service prayer, I might get it.

But you should be in a group and pray with other people.

Don't just clock in.

Press in to what God has called you to.

Lastly is this.

Use your gifts.

Sign up for essentials.

Stop renting what God's called you to own.

 There's a difference between driving a rental car and your own car.

You don't wash a rental.

You don't even know speed bumps exist when you're in a rental car.

Bumps and bruises.

You don't mind what happens to it.

It starts making a weird noise.

You don't even notice.

But your car?

Man, you pray over your car.

You keep that thing.

You got to talk to Wes Chamago.

You should take a look at his car.

I didn't think gleaming brighter than a brand new one.

 When it's your car, you protect it, you steward it, you love it.

Same with church.

Jazz.

Who loves jazz in our community?

He comes out at 1130.

Amazing.

He became a member.

He started serving.

He told me this the week after he served for the first time.

Worship hits different.

The word goes deeper.

 Why?

Because ownership changes everything.

When you're planted, the soil works for you.

Psalm 92, planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God.

Your life should be flourishing, and it only happens when you're connected to the church.

There's no reason you can't become a member.

Go to Essentials.

It's next week.

Sign up at the Connect Desk after church.

That's your next step.

Are we planning for what God is bringing to us, friends?

Why don't we all stand?

 When God sends people to this church, is he going to find a cathedral that's ready to receive them?

We've got to draw close to each other in groups.

We've got to discover our spiritual gifts so we're ready to serve people when they come.

We've got to ask our leaders to speak into us, which means we've got to have a leader and be a part of the body that God has put us in.

And we prepare by being devoted in prayer, both together and personally.

I just want you to turn your palms to heaven.

We're going to pray this together.

 Just repeat after me.

Lord, prepare me.

Not just for a seat in the church, but a role in the movement.

Give me eyes to see those around me.

Give me a heart that serves.

And give me a hunger for prayer and your word.

Build your house and make me ready

 to be a part of it.

What I want you to do right now is I just want you to turn to the person beside you.

I don't want to ask them what they're believing God for.

Awesome.

Make sure you get both of them.

Don't just be a one-sided relationship.

 And now that you know what they're believing for, I want you guys to pray for each other.

The band's going to lead us, so you don't have to worry about people hearing you pray.

Let's raise the roof in this place with a sound of prayer for each other right now.

 Amazing.

If you haven't prayed for the other person, set your events, switch over.

 All right, let's say our amens.

Awesome.

Highland Park, I'm so proud of every single one of you.

And if you're in this room and at any point you felt like maybe he's not talking to me,

 The qualification for this message is standing in this room.

If you want to be a part of what God is doing, this is your invitation from the location pastor to be a part of what God is doing.

Don't let anything disqualify you.

God doesn't disqualify you, so you shouldn't disqualify yourself.

We love you.

Be blessed.