Become
Movement

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Good morning to those of you that are here with me in this room, those that are watching online and those that are watching next door in our gathering place; all these different places. Happy 30 year anniversary church; can you believe it? I can’t. It seems like it went by so fast to me. That’s what we say, when we get older, right? It went by so fast.

We’re concluding our series today entitled, “Movement.” Making disciples who make disciples. The reason we called it “Movement” is because that’s what the church is. The church was commanded from day one, by Jesus, to go and make disciples of all nations. So, we’ve been sent to be on the move, making disciples because the church is not a place, it’s a people and the church is not a monument, it’s a movement. We’re here and we’re called.

As we conclude this series today, the purpose of this message is to talk about being disciples who make disciples because we’re people on the move. As we look back on 30 years as a church, I’m reminded of what motivated me to quit my corporate job, go to seminary and plant this church. It was a burning call within me to see a gospel movement to see people come to Jesus that weren’t going to church anywhere. To be the kind of church plant that would reach people far from God.

From day one, we’ve said that we want to do whatever it takes to reach people far from God; we’ve been at it for 30 years. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been at it for 30 years. I want you to know something, as your pastor, I still have a burning desire, a zeal in my soul that is not quenched for this. I feel just as I did when I was 32, when I first quit my job and planted this church. I feel the same today. After 30 years, though, I have to admit that I don’t see the gospel advancing in America the way I prayed that it would 30 years ago. I don’t see it.

However, we’ve seen many come to Christ through our ministry through the years; hundreds, in fact. When we took a survey a couple of weeks ago, 20% of you said that you came to faith in Jesus through the ministry of this church. One out of five of you said that you came to faith through this ministry. Praise the Lord! I take no credit for that. It’s all God.

In fact, may I say this to you; the only reason we’re celebrating 30 years is not because of me. It’s in spite of me because God is faithful. Happy Anniversary to the Father; it is my anniversary, but only because I got to go on the ride. Many of you have gone on the ride with us, too, along the way. I’m looking at a couple right now that has been with us and there’s one over here that’s married to me. I see somebody waving at me; Hi, Betty! She is one of the “originals” from 30 years ago. Amy, you were here the first year, too. Is this the “30 year section” right here? (laughter)

There are 83,000 people that live in Wilson County. Have we touched them yet? What about the 95,000 that live in Nash County, where we’ve planted our second campus. Have we reached them all yet? No, we haven’t. We’re not finished, church. We haven’t seen what I would call a movement, which would be a revival, break out so that, when you’re in the checkout line at Walmart, you hear people talking about Jesus. That hasn’t happened yet. Somebody said, I heard it one time last week. Okay, cool, but what if it starts happening all of the time? Could God do that? Yes, He could. I want to see it. Don’t you want to see it?

We’re facing some troubling statistics. According to census data, 19.6% of the American population checked the box, “None,” to religion when they were surveyed. This is called “The Rise of the Nones.” They checked the box, “None.” This is a new phenomenon. Unheard of in American culture.

Less than 20% of those who claim to be Christians say they attend church regularly. The United States is now the third largest mission field in the world, second only to India and China. Gary, where do you get stats like that? All you need to do is measure the population and how many people need to hear the gospel. We’re the third largest population as a nation and we have the third greatest number of unbelievers. So, being a missionary today doesn’t mean you need to leave ; you don’t even have to leave your neighborhood. We need to get moving.

Over the last three weeks, what we’ve been talking about is “movement.” We’ve used four “B” words: Belong, Behave, Believe and, today, we’ll be talking about Become. We talked about “belong” because you have to be sure that you are a follower of Jesus before you can get on the movement, before you can get moving. You have to belong to Jesus. Behavior is what it takes to grow in grace. We learned to pray. We have learned to have a quiet time. We have learned about fellowship. These things give us zeal. We learned to believe; we learned that we have to “fan into flame” that which we believe so that we keep our passion burning.

Today, we will be talking about “become;” becoming a disciple who makes disciples. We’re going to be looking at this letter from the apostle Paul to his son in the Lord, Timothy. It’s the second letter; he reminds him of the importance of being a disciple who makes disciples. I believe, as we read this passage, that we can put ourselves in the shoes of Timothy and hear this, that we are called to be disciples who make disciples.

The scripture gives us three instructions that we’re going to be looking at on how to be disciples who make disciples. Let’s look at it. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (ESV) 1 “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” This is God’s word. Amen.

How to become a disciple who makes disciples of Jesus: 1. Be relational.

Notice how Paul speaks to Timothy, “You then my child…” Remember, in chapter one, we talked about this. In previous weeks, in chapter one, he reminded him of the sincere faith that he had received from his mother and grandmother. He talks to him about not being ashamed of the gospel. Now, as a result, this is what he wants to say to Timothy, his son, hischild; this is relational, affectionate language, wouldn’t you agree? This is the reason, church, that we call each other brothers and sisters, because there’s something deeper than blood. There is spirit. When you know Jesus, you’re part of the body of Christ. He’s the head and we’re the body. We are brothers and sisters.

I remember when I baptized my son, Jonathan, who you just saw in the video that you were watching. When he came out of the water and I was hugging him, I said, “Now, you’re more than my son; you’re my brother.” Jonathan looked at me with an expression of Huh? What? He was a little bitty guy.

We’re brothers and sisters because of Jesus. It’s a relational thing.

I want you to, also, notice how Paul points to the relationship he has with Jesus. He says, 1 “…. be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” So, he speaks to Timothy in a relational language and he directs him to his relationship with Jesus as the source of his power.

There are these two relationships that are already in view here. In verse one of chapter two, it’s this horizontal relationship and this vertical relationship. You can’t miss it, church. If you want to be a disciple who makes disciples, you have to be, first of all, in relationship with Jesus. You’re following Him as a disciple, as a follower. That’s what the disciple is; he is a follower, a learner following Jesus. But then, we need that horizontal relationship, where we need someone that’s ahead of us in their Christian faith so they can pour into us. It’s these relationships; he calls Timothy, “child. It is for a reason; when Paul went on his first missionary journey through Asia minor and to the little town of Lydia, he’s going through this area of Lystra (Acts 16:1). You can read about this. He goes through the first time with Barnabas. Apparently, he led to faith Timothy’s mom and grandmother. Timothy, as well, came to faith during that first missionary journey. When Paul is coming back around to do follow-up on his second journey through the same area, he’s got Silas as his sidekick. He comes back through and he hears about this young teenage boy named Timothy who is on fire for the Lord. So, he wants to meet him. He meets him and he talks to his mother and grandmother. It turned out that Timothy had a Greek father, but he had a Jewish mother. And so, Paul takes Timothy under his wing and tells him that he wants Timothy to go with him. Here’s this young boy, Timothy. He’s following Paul everywhere he goes. He goes sailing with him. He goes to Philippi and Thessaloniki. He goes to Athens. He goes to Corinth. He goes everywhere Paul goes; Paul calls him his son. You can see why, because Paul is probably in his thirties or forties now. He’s got this teenage boy and he’s got another one named Titus. These two guys are like running mates; they love Paul. They’re learning from Paul.

He often sent Timothy as his representative to other places, such as Corinth. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 (NKJV) “…as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitateimitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ…” Notice the affection; notice the relational language. The bible is filled, especially, in the New Testament, with commands to love one another, to serve one another, to pray for one another and to bear one another’s burdens. “You can’t do the one another’s without one another.” We are called to a relationship with Jesus and to one another. That’s the way of discipleship that Jesus taught.

What we are doing today is just one little part of being a follower of Jesus. This gets your week started. This is a worship service, where we’re submitting to the word of God; we are coming under preaching. But , we need to go out, be missional and relational with one another.

What’s the “Jesus way?” Mark 3:14 talks about it. Mark 3:14 (ESV) “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.” Their first call was, “Follow me; I want you to be with Me.” It wasn’t, follow this philosophy. It wasn’t , follow this religion. it wasn’t, follow these principles. It was, follow the person of Jesus in relationship. That was the invitation, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He called them so that they might be with Him; so that, then, He could send them out. The disciples went to a three-year seminary called the “Jesus seminary.” They followed Him and learned from Him. This is the “Jesus way” of discipleship; life on life, one life pouring into another.

When the Jewish council called Peter and John before them because they had healed a crippled man in the temple in the name of Jesus, this caused quite a stir. They called them in. It says in Acts 4:13 (ESV) “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Do people recognize that you’ve been with Jesus? We are called to be the body of Christ in our world today. Do people take note that you’ve been with Jesus? That’s what the Jewish council took note of when they saw the boldness of Peter and John.

I was similar to Timothy. I don’t have a “Damascus road” testimony the way Paul did. Paul went from killing Christians to being one himself. He was blinded on the road to Damascus. I don’t have a testimony like that. I have one like Timothy, who was raised in the faith by his mother and his grandmother. That’s my testimony. Boring, right? Not really. We all have a journey, don’t we? That’s how I started out . My father and the men in my family were all part of that “builder” generation. My father fought in the Korean war, my uncle fought in World War II, I could go on. They took us to church. They prayed with us. We knew they were believers but they didn’t talk about it a lot because the “builder” men were just kind of quiet about everything. My mama and my grandmother, though, my goodness; I’m thankful for both examples.

It really wasn’t until I went to college and was a freshman at Radford University that I signed up to be part of this ministry called CRU ( Campus Crusade for Christ). This staffer named Tom took me under his wing and asked me if I’d like to be a disciple. I said, “I don’t know. Does it hurt?” I had been a Christian for a while, but no one had ever asked if they could disciple me. Tom started meeting with me and we did bible studies together. We memorized scripture together. Then, he asked me to do something really outrageous, especially for a freshman at a public university. We started going door to door in the dorms, sharing the gospel with people. We would just knock on the door. We had these different approaches. I remember one approach; we would ask, “Hey, we’d like to ask you a few questions. We are taking a spiritual survey.” We would ask them five or six questions. The last question was this, “If you could have a personal relationship with God, would you be interested?” If they said, “Yes,” we would say, “That concludes the survey, but since you said, “yes,” to the last question, would you mind if we took about fifteen minutes and told you how you could do that?” We saw people come to Jesus.

It so affected me that I changed my major. My dad would tell me, I can still remember even though I was a little boy, “Son, I didn’t go to college. You need to go to college and you need to be a doctor or a lawyer. I don’t want you to be poor like me.” I had it in my head my whole life to be a doctor or lawyer. When I went to college, I was pre law, I was going to be a lawyer. You could see that happening, right? But then, God got hold of me. I changed my major to music because I thought it would be more beneficial in ministry. I had it in my head that I was going to travel the world and play my guitar; I would be an evangelist. I remember Tom saying to me, “I don’t think, you know, you’re a good musician, you’re really good, but I think you’re going to be a pastor.” I said, “No way, no way.” Be careful what you say.

Gospel movement disciples recognize Vertical: What is your relationship to Jesus today? Can people tell that you’ve “been with Jesus?” Horizontal: Are you being discipled and are you making disciples? We need three “human” relationships: a Paul, a spiritual father pouring into us, a Barnabas, a spiritual brother encouraging us, and a Timothy, a spiritual son that we are pouring our life into (Or a Pauline/Barbara/Tammy).

Gospel movement disciples recognize the vertical and the horizontal relationships to which we are called. If you’re part of a movement, you’ll be in two healthy spiritual relationships. First of all, you’ll be in a vertical relationship with Jesus. You’ll know that you know that you know that you belong to Him and He belongs to you. You will have a growing relationship with Jesus.

Secondly, you’ll have healthy, horizontal relationships. To have really healthy discipleship kind of horizontal relationships, you really need three types of people: (1) Everyone needs a Paul, someone that’s a little ahead of you spiritually that you need for them to pour into you. Ladies, you need a Pauline; I’m going to be equal opportunity here. (2) Everybody needs a Barnabas; his name means, “son of encouragement.” He is your running mate, that’s in the same place in life that you are, so you can hang out with them and grow together. A Barbara for the ladies. (3) Everybody needs a Timothy. Someone that you’re pouring into. You always learn more from the Timothy than you do the Paul and Barnabas because they’re going to ask you questions that you don’t know the answer to. You’ll feel bad if you don’t know the answer because you’re supposed to be discipling them. You’ll learn more because you’re teaching. Teachers always learn the most because they have to prepare. Are you in those three healthy movement, discipleship relationships? If not, why not? You’re called to be in a movement.

How to become a disciple who makes disciples of Jesus:

2. Be teachable.

Paul reminded Timothy in verse 2 “and what you have heard from me…” Tell others what you were taught by me. Timothy had to be a learner before he could be a teacher. You have to be humble enough to be teachable. If you go around saying that you are a “know it all,” you’ll never know anything at all because “know it alls” aren’t learners. They stop learning. They say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. “ I don’t see any dogs in here. I believe, as long as your heart beats, you can be humble enough to keep learning. Oh, I want to know Jesus better, don’t you? I want to learn more about Jesus, I want to grow in my relationship with Him, I want to know Himbetter. I want Him to know me better because we were built for a relationship.

When God made heaven and earth and all the animals, it was good. Then he looked at the man and said, Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” He, then,made him a woman. You see, it’s not good for us to be alone. We’re built for relationships and were built to be humble enough to be teachable. He said in verse 2, “ and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” In other words, you’ve heard what I’ve taught others, you’ve been a learner long enough, it’s time for you to be a teacher .

There’s a cost for being a person that’s teachable. You have to humble yourself; you have to admit you don’t know everything. Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship in Luke 9:23 (ESV) And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” To be teachable, means you have to deny yourself, humble yourself and say, “You know, I’m willing to humble myself and be a learner.” The nature of discipleship is really “life on life.”

Look at how Paul speaks in these two passages, 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV) Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. Unlike the parent who says, “Do as I say, and not as I do,” Paul says, “Do as I say and as I do.” I’m following Jesus. Get in line; follow me. That’s where I’m headed. I’m in a relationship with Jesus. I’m doing what He says to do. Follow me as I follow Him. Then, he says in Philippians 3:17 (ESV) “Brothers, join inimitating me and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Who are you pouring your life into? You must be teachable first and ask “Who’s pouring their life into me?” We need different kinds of disciples and we need spiritual disciplers. One of the missing components that I see in our world today is the brokenness of families. We don’t have the grandparents pouring into the parents pouring into the kids like we used to. We are all so broken up and fractured across the nation. A lot of parents need parenting and mentoring. A lot of couples need marriage mentoring. We have that here, church. You may be living here, far away from grandparents or parents. Maybe, your parents or grandparents are not even believers, but in this church you have parents, you have grandparents, you have mothers, you have brothers, you have sisters, you have daughters. We are the family of God; Christ is the head and we’re the body. We need each other, so be teachable.

Are you in these relationships? I’ve told you about how I learned from a staffer from CRU named Tom. He taught me how to be teachable and he taught me how to disciple others. In college, I discipled several men. Let me just name a few of them: One was named Ken. He came to Jesus when he attended a CRU event. He checked the box, “I prayed to receive Christ.” I was assigned to go do a follow up with him and see if he knew what he had done. I was a sophomore and he was a senior; when you’re in college, that’s kind of intimidating. It’s only a two year difference, but when you’re in college it seems like more. I remember thinking, I don’t feel worthy, but I went and did the follow up with him. He agreed to join a bible study, called a “discovery group.” I had three guys sign up for this group; here I am in my dorm room doing this “discovery group” with three guys. Two of them quit, so it’s just me and Ken. This is weird, but he came week after week and we became brothers. When he graduated, he went on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). He went from not even being a believer to being a disciple who makes disciples.

I met another young man when I was going door to door witnessing in the freshman dorm. His name was Jamie. I started talking to him about Jesus and I began to have a relationship with him. When he graduated, he became a police officer for a season, but then felt the call to ministry and ended up living in Indonesia, reaching out to Muslims. He took his wife and kids and lived there for eight years. After eight years, he said, “I want to come and work with you.” We’d been friends since college and he became my associate pastor. Then, when 911 happened and the Iraqi war,he felt called to move to the Middle East, Our church laid hands on him, his wife and their three sons. Some of you all remember this. We sent them and they moved to Baghdad in 2003 and lived there. I met him in college going door to door witnessing.

I met another guy at college, named Mark. He was my roommate. The Lord allowed me to lead him to Jesus. He’s now one of the people that we support who lives and works at a church in Istanbul, Turkey. What about that? I met him at college; I just never knew him until I told him about Jesus.

There is another guy that goes to our church to this day; his name is Greg. I was able to lead him to the Lord some years ago. He actually had a dream about salvation and came to the Lord. He went to the seminary that I graduated from and some years ago we laid hands on him and his wife and sent them to Egypt to reach out to people there. A fellow named Daniel moved to town. He thought he was just passing through; he was working for Bridgestone. Then, we started hearing what we were talking about here at our church and he came to me and said, “I feel like God’s calling me.” Right now, we support him and his family. They spent eight years in Indonesia and now he’s in Istanbul, Turkey.

You should watch out when you come to this church. That’s probably like a “sidebar” thing because people, we are on the move. We are not just playing church. Now, you don’t have to go overseas, because the third largest mission field in the world is the U.S. All you need to do is just open your door and walk out into your neighborhood. But, some of you will be called to these other places.

Are you teachable? Are you willing to humble yourself? Are you willing to put your “yes” on the table when God calls, no matter where it is or what it is. That’s the adventure .

Know this about Jesus. A lot of us feel like, I wish He’d call me to something comfortable and safe. Jesus never does; He always takes us “off road.” He always does because that’s where the growth happens.

How to become a disciple who makes disciples of Jesus:

2. Be missional.

Notice the word, “entrust,” in verse two and “what you’ve heard from me in the presence of many witnesses.” “Entrust” could be translated as “deposit.” “I deposited in you.” Make sure you deposit into faithful men. I’ve deposited the gospel in you, Timothy. I watered it and I helped it grow. Don’t let it stop with you; deposit it in others. “Tag, you’re it.” Deposit it in others. That’s the calling. He says to Timothy that he’s on a mission now and he doesn’t have a choice. The gospel has been deposited in him and now he has been called.

Who’s been called? Everyone that says “yes” to Jesus. You’ve now been called first to Him, “Follow me;” then, you are called out. You are sent; called first to Him, then sent.

Why is it that are we not seeing a revival in America? It is because we’re not obeying His call to be sent. We’re forgetting the calling that’s upon us. We are to be entrusted; there’s a deposit in this and we are to give it to faithful men and women who will pass it along.

We say here that we’re looking for F.A.T. disciples. It’s a spiritual diet; it results in “fatness.” F is faithful, A is available and T is teachable. We’re looking for faithful, available and teachable disciples; people that will pass it on, who will be able to teach others.

One of the points that he’s making to Timothy is that, as you’re depositing and discipling people, teach them to teach others. Make that part of their discipleship. It doesn’t stop with you, it’s to be passed on.

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This is what is called “The Great Commission.” He commissioned us. He says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Just pause there for a second. That was the first great commission, in a way, to Adam and Eve. They were to multiply and fill the earth because they were made in the image of God. They were the “ imago Dei.” The glory of God was to be throughout the whole planet because of them, but they sinned and the image of God was marred. Jesus was the second Adam, the first Adam brought us sin and death, but the second Adam brought us life and righteousness. Those that are born again under the second Adam are called to a similar calling. We are to spread the glory of God around the earth. Our multiplication is through making disciples. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age,“Jesus says, because He’s our strength. That’s the commission.

Who was commissioned?, Were you commissioned? Do you accept the great commission? If you’ve received the gospel, you’ve been commissioned, you’ve been called.

What is the strategy? You can find it in Acts 1:8 (ESV) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” You can see it kind of in concentric circles. The disciples were in Jerusalem when Jesus told them that, but we’re in Wilson, so our Jerusalem is Wilson. But, your Jerusalem might be your family, your friends, your neighborhood, your workplace or the place you go to school. That’s the hardest one, by the way, because they know you. That’s why, I think, Jesus tells you to start there, because that’s the hardest one. They knew you in your “BC” (before Christ) days; they remember you. You have to show them some life change . Some of you might have to go to them and ask them for forgiveness because of the way you used to live. That would be a good start; start with your “Jerusalem.” Judea was the region surrounding Jerusalem, so, that’s the larger circle. Samaria is the area north of Jerusalem, where there was different food, a different culture and a different religion. We have to reach people that are different from us. Then, to the whole world. You can see the strategy.

This leads us to think, as a church, in two areas or two circles: (1) The circle of accountability. The circle of accountability is that area for which you own the “lostness.” Consider Acts 1:8, the people in your neighborhood and your geographic location. That’s your circle of accountability. You may know them or not, but you’re in that neighborhood. You’re called to that neighborhood because you live there.

If you think about our church, the church corporately has a circle of accountability. First of all, I could just say, let’s put a pin right here on 2301 Montgomery Drive, right at the end of the cul de sac. If you draw a one to three mile radius, you’re accountable for whether or not these people know the gospel. That’s your circle of accountability.

(2) The circle of influence. Each of you has a circle of influence; those are the people, you know, that are in your “Jerusalem” circle of influence. It might be your parents, your brothers and sisters, your family, your friends, your schoolmates, work employees, associates, etc. etcetera. Every believer has a circle of influence.

Are you willing to own the “lostness” of your circle of influence? Do you genuinely believe that people apart from Jesus will face eternity without God and go to a Christless eternity, to a place called hell? Do you believe that? If you believe that, you’ll own the “lostness” of your circle of influence and you’ll make sure that they know about Jesus.

If you add all of our COI’s (circle of influences) together, that would be the circle of influence for Wilson Community Church. Then, together, we would be praying; we would be preaching, proclaiming, teaching and making disciples. Not one of these people would have the excuse, No one ever told me about Jesus. For each of us, individually, we’ll stop thinking, Somebody else will tell them. We would say, No, that’s my circle. That’s where I’m at. That’s my circle of accountability. I own this. When you say you own it, you own it by the strength of the grace of Jesus Not by yourself because He’s already at work. All you’re doing is joining the Father. He’s already at work. He’s already at work in your neighbor’s life. He’s already at work in your family’s life. All you have to do is look for the work that He’s doing and join Him there. Often, we miss this adventure mission; it’s doing the mission right where you are.

Let’s stop inviting people to church and start inviting people to Jesus. Yes, I said that. Let’s stop inviting people to church and start inviting people to Jesus, because, if we invite them to Jesus, they’re going to want to go to church somewhere. They’re going to recognize that they need a family to grow together. Jesus said this. We don’t have to worry about growing our church. Christ said, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” What’s the “rock?” It’s the message that Jesus is the the Christ, the Son of God and Savior. If we preach that, He will take care of building the church.

If we’ll just tell people about Jesus, He’ll take care of who sits in these seats, and not just these seats, but all the seats in all the churches in Wilson County that are preaching the same gospel. We’re not in competition, friends, with other gospel preaching churches. We are in partnership with them. We’re collaborating with them because “a rising tide lifts all ships.” If we see a movement of God in this city, there won’t be enough room for all the people that come to Jesus at the local churches. We have to make room for them. Jesus said, “When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.” If we will do the lifting up of Jesus, He will do the drawing into Himself. What’s His job? Drawing them in. We don’t have to worry about it.

How are we going to focus this on the 83,000 that live in Wilson County and the 95,000 that live in Nash and Nash County?

Check this map out. Our brother, Jeff, who goes to our church, made this for me. He’s been hearing me talk about this. He works at the city; he took all of our households and put little blue pin dots on where all of you live. Okay. We’re getting serious about this, people. This is Wilson County; right here are the city limits. We have saturated households within the city limits. We have somebody here in Youngsville. There is a household just north of Knightdale. There are households in Kinley, Goldsboro, Greenville and Farmville. If you were strategizing, you’d say , okay, our circle of influence is around all of those, but we’ve got some spaces right here. Maybe we need to help plant another church in this area. We’ve got a church up here already. Are we getting serious? Yes, we are. How can we reach every household, every man, woman and child in Wilson County and in Nash County with the Gospel.

This is Vision Sunday. Every year, at our anniversary, we try to cast vision, to build ourselves up. Here’s our ten year vision: “We will be actively collaborating with other Gospel-centered churches in Rocky Mount, Wilson and a third yet-to-be-identified community in Eastern NC, so that every man, woman and child has repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the Gospel.”

What we’re saying is, as we’re looking out, we’re seeing the need to plan a third campus. We don’t know where the location is yet and we don’t know who the planter is yet , but we are recognizing that our Judea is eastern North Carolina. We see people driving long distances to us and we recognize that we probably need to help them better by getting closer to them. This is our ten-year vision. We’re not going to do it by ourselves; we’re going to help other churches. It might be that we would take a church like Bethel Baptist and let them start meeting in our building. We might start coaching them. We’ve been doing this for almost a year now with Pastor Ken Fontenot and his family and Bethel Baptist church. They are meeting down at the “DubHub” right now. This is what we’re called to; we’re going to help people. We’re going to help other churches.

You’ve got to have short term goals in order to reach long term goals, so our one-year goal is this: “We will collaborate to begin to develop and implement a gospel saturation strategy to give every man, woman and child repeated opportunities to see,hear and respond to the gospel in Rocky Mount and Wilson.” Our short term goal is to figure out how to strategize; you can see that the map is like a beginning point.

How do we take this seriously? How do we help equip you to take it seriously? When we use the words, “gospel saturation,” this is the definition: “The church owning the lostness of an identified people in a defined place ensuring that every man, woman, and child has repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the Good News of Jesus Christ.” We want to saturate Wilson county, Nash county and surrounding Eastern North Carolina with the gospel.

If twelve men, following Jesus, could turn the world upside down, there are way more than twelve sitting in second service right now. There are way more watching online and next door. God can do this. He could do it with one of us.

We have 90 day goals. Here’s the first 90 day goal: (1) Share the vision of collaborating for gospel saturation with our church members. (2) Identify those who have a gift for evangelism to help us plan and lead our gospel saturation efforts. We’re all called to share the gospel, but some of us are uniquely gifted. If you are one of them, we need you to help us with this strategy. (3) Have three prayer gatherings focused on owning the lostness of our region.I don’t mean three for the year, I mean three in ninety days. Here they are: Prayer/vision gathering for CG shepherds and spouses – Thursday, February 10th, at Wilson campus. All campus prayer gathering – Ash Wednesday, March 2nd, at Wilson campus. Both campuses will come together next door to pray, with focused prayers on reaching the lost. That’s what we’re talking about. We’re going to be asking you to bring names from your circle of influence. We will lay the names before God. Mission-focused prayer gatherings – Thursday, March 31st, at both Rocky Mount Wilson campuses Maundy Thursday Services – Thursday, April 14th, at both Rocky Mount and Wilson campuses

The engine for revival is the power of the Holy Spirit. The way that you usher it in is you ask for it through prayer.

Our final ninety-day goal is (3) To change the name of the Wilson campus and align it with our vision to saturate Eastern North Carolina with the gospel. So, we’re 30 years old, Wilson Community Church. I named it on the back of a napkin in the cafeteria at Southeastern Seminary. The first people I gathered with, I said, “Let’s plant a church. Let’s call it “Wilson” because we’re in Wilson. Let’s call it “Community” because we’re not trying to reach people that are already part of a denomination. We’re trying to reach people that are apart from God, far from God. Let’s call it “Community.” Since it’s a church, let’s call it “Church.” That’s how we got it. It wasn’t rocket science. That’s how we got the name. Now, we’re in a phase where, after 30 years, God has built a platform, a launching platform here. We’ve sent missionaries around the world. Now it’s time to take seriously our “Judea;” our Eastern North Carolina. We need a name that has something about east in it. Maybe, you’ve been seeing some hints for the past six years that were headed this way.

First of all, we have a new logo. It’s a chevron that points East. You probably If you go look next door, it’s built into the architecture. We’re building it into the wall down in the lobby right now. That’s the new logo. It’s pointing east.

We planted our Rocky Mount campus six years ago, we gave it this name to get you prepared for this day. Here’s the new logo “Eastgate Church.” That’s our new name. We’re going to keep calling ourselves WCC for a little while longer. Before the 90 days are up, there’ll be a new sign on the front of the building, a new name on the bulletin. There’ll be one church, like we’ve been saying, and two campuses. We call it Eastgate because we’re trying to reach Eastern North Carolina. We have the word “gate” in there because Jesus says, in John 10, “I am the gate, there’s no other way to the father except through me.” The name, Eastgate, has meaning visionally for us. Someone, after the first service said, “You know, the new name is also prophetic, because Jesus is going to return through the Eastern Gate. That’s our new name. We’ve been practicing, using it for six years up in Rocky Mount. Now, it’s coming this way, and so, when we talk about Wilson now we’ll call it this logo. We’ll say “Eastgate Wilson.” It’s going to take some getting used to, probably, starting with me.

When we talk about Rocky Mount, we will say “Eastgate Rocky Mount.” That’s the new look; that’s what you’ll be seeing soon. The effective date for these changes is Saturday, April 2nd. That’s the day we’re planning a grand opening and unveiling the new name and new bulletins. You will need to show up that day because we’re giving away some “swag.” day. Right Put this date on your calendar: Saturday, April 2nd. God’s brought us on a 30 year journey. We thank God for this journey because, without the 30 years, we wouldn’t be able to say “yes.” We’re the same church, just with a new name and a bigger, greater vision.

At our church, this is our mission, “Our church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ who have a growing Heart for God, expressed in passionate worship and generous giving. Heart for Each Other, expressed in authentic fellowship and devoted discipleship. Heart for Our World, expressed in intentional evangelism and sacrificial service. Pretty soon, we’re going to have our logo in the lobby, “Come as you are and be forever changed by the love of Jesus.” We’re inviting people to Jesus and He will grow our church.

Are you willing to say “yes” to becoming a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples of Jesus? Are you willing to say, “I want to be in a relationship with Jesus and with his people, I want to be teachable, I want to be a disciple and make disciples. I want to be on mission. My “yes” is on the table.”

Let’s pray, Lord, thank You for Your word from Paul to Timothy, but really, from You to us. I pray, first of all for the one that is here today, that they would say “yes” to Jesus. If it’s you, right now, the Holy Spirit is dealing with your heart. You can pray with me. Pray like this, “Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe You died on the cross for my sins, that You were raised from the grave and You live today. Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sin and make me a child of God. I want you to be my Lord and Savior.” If you’re praying that prayer , believing, what matters is the faith that you believe it and that you want Him to be Lord. Then, He will save you and make you a child of God; you’ll be part of this movement. You’ll be a disciple of Jesus. Others are here and you are a follower of Christ. Would you say “yes” to whatever He has for you? Would you say “yes” to the calling that’s on your life? You might be thinking, I’m not worthy. Well, no one is. He’s the One who makes us worthy. Right now, would you say, “Lord, I say “yes” to taking responsibility for my circle of influence, the people you’ve put around me. Give me power, Holy Spirit, to share the Good News about Jesus, to every single one of them.” In Jesus’ name. Amen