Be The Church
by Kevin Allen
January 9, 2024 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Revelation 3:7-8, Acts 2:46-47, Acts 2:38, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ruth 1:16, Acts 2:46-47

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--be-the-church
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Church — amen. Amen. Thank you for worshiping with us today. You can make your way back to your seats. Good to be in the house of God on this first Sunday of 20 24. Sounds a little crazy that I'm even saying that, and that nobody's shocked by it, but 2024 — talk a little bit more about that in a minute. But I love that you are here, and I love, more importantly, that God is here. And it's not just a social gathering today, but we are here, and as we worshiped Him, as we called on His name, His presence filled this sanctuary where we are today. And I'm thankful for that, because where He is, He makes all things possible.

You know, New Year is an interesting thing. If we think about for a minute, there was really very little difference between 11:59 on December 31st and then 12:01 January 1st. Very little change in us. For, I would say, a good majority of the congregation today, you didn't even really know what was going on — you were sleeping. For those that were awake, there wasn't much change in you between 11:59 and 12:01. But we as human beings, we do mark time. And a new year, when it rolls around, we think about — we think through where we were and where we want to go, what we have been doing and maybe what we want to do differently.

I'm not here to talk about New Year's resolutions and how the majority of those things fade away about 15 days in, and maybe even some of you here today that be willing to maybe even acknowledge with maybe a little head nod that you had a few in mind and you've already given up on them. Try again in '25. More importantly — and I feel like it's important because it's something that has eternal weight to it — we usually think about our spiritual condition: where we are, where we were the previous year. And now that a new year here, it's a new opportunity, a new calendar, a new date to start and say, "I want to be better. I want to be closer to God. I want to make changes in my life. I want to know more about Him. I want to read the Bible more. I want to pray more." I want to — whatever it may be, we have the ability to fill in the blank with whatever would be appropriate, or whatever maybe is on your heart there. Those are all good things, and I believe that you should do those things.

I say that because I feel something very unique about 2024. I feel like preachers as a whole, ever since 2020, are very cautious about what they stand in the pull pit on the first Sunday of the year and proclaimed. Because if you can rewind your mind to the preco time, there were a whole lot of people that got up on first Sunday of 2020 and said, "Hey, it's 2020. We got vision. We can see. And God's going to be with us." And there's a lot of people like, "Hey, you didn't see very well, because how come you didn't see what happened in March?" Now, I don't know if you remember or not, but I will tell you that this pastor did not stand in this pull pit on 2020 and say we had 2020 vision. It was probably because this pastor was exhausted and wore out, because we had just gotten in this building. I was doing good to see two feet in front of me. Or I may have been on that list of preachers that got up and said "2020 vision."

I bring that up for a reason, because since then everybody's a little nervous on that first Sunday to say, "It's going to be a good year." Things have not been the same. But I'm going to tell you: it's going to be a good year. Do you know why? Because He's a good God. 2020 was a good year. 2020 seen a lot of people come back to the Lord. I know we have a way — it's nature — to focus in and draw our attention to the negative that is there. But I promise you, God wasn't surprised by 2020. Come on now. He wasn't taken back by it, regardless of how we felt about it. He wasn't taken back. He wasn't like, "Oh, I didn't see that one coming." That's a statement God has never made. He knows what's going on. He's still alive. He's still on the throne. He's still in control. He's still the same God He has always been — the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's still a healer. He's still a way maker. He's still a redeemer.

I'm going be honest with you: for the first Sunday in an apostolic church, for me to proclaim those things about our God, that was a pretty weak response. Amen? I'm going to try it again. He's still on the throne. He's still alive. He's still a healer. He's still a way maker. He's still a redeemer. He still has all the power He has ever had or ever will have. He's no less. Understand, He is always the greater. He is the beginning and the end. He is all in all. And His name is Jesus. And I feel like we ought to stand on our feet on the first Sunday of this year and say, "I know Him, and He is good, and I'm excited about what He's going to do."

All right, now it feels better in here. Where y'all been all day? He's a good God. He's worthy of praise and worship, and I love Him.

2024 — there's continuing urgency in my spirit. There's things going on in our world that I've never experienced in my lifetime. In fact, I don't know that anybody in this room today has ever experiened this, as humanity. We've come through a lot. Some of you still in this room today can remember what it was like, maybe as a child, experiencing going through World War II. But we made it. We lived. The world didn't end. You may have remembered the Korean War and the Vietnam War. You may have remembered Operation Desert Storm or the Iraq War. We've been through a lot of stuff. We've faced pandemics, and we've experienced some things. But there's stuff going on right now — never, in my understanding and comprehension, have the two largest communist countries ever seem to be aligning themselves with each other. That's going on right now. The Middle East has always been a powder ceg ever since Isaac and Ishmail came about. It's been a p c k. And if you don't understand that, then just do a little research in there. They started out fighting; they've been fighting ever since. To say there's going to be peace in the Middle East is laughable. But their tensions are high. There's a lot going on over there.

Never in my lifetime — and I'll be having a birthday this week — but never in my lifetime have I felt so much prophecy being fulfilled, bringing about the urgency inside of me. I'm telling you, something special is going on. And I will stand by this statement: there's never been a better time to be in the church than right now. There's never been a more exciting time to be a part of the church than right now. And I know there's a lot of things going on that make us a little bit nervous, but I choose to tune in to the One who holds tomorrow in His hand, the One who has the ability to control and work all things together for good. I trust in that. I can pay attention to the news cycle, or I can get on social media, and when I do, I can find myself getting wrapped up in all the negative that's there. But I choose to tune that stuff out and get a hold of what I know is right, and what I know is true, and what I know is forever settled, and what I can build my life on. Now, I'm not sticking my head in the sand. I want to be aware of current events, but I'm not going to let that get me down, because victory is here. We serve the victorious One. His name is Jesus, and I'm excited about this.

Before I get into my vision message for today, I want to say that next Sunday I'll be starting a new series on Sundays talking about "God Is" — and God is a lot of things, so you should be here and be a part of that. We're going to kick it off next week. For those of you that are with us, this past Wednesday night, we know we started a new series on Wednesday night talking about the armor of God, and I feel like it's a good time to learn how to put that armor on. God's given us some things, and He's given us instructions on how to use it. And we are in a spiritual fight, ladies and gentlemen. There's a real spiritual world around us, and we should not be ignorant, but we should be well learned and versed into the things that God gives us and how to prepare for that.

Business meeting was mentioned in the video. It's at the end of the month, on the 31st, to last Wednesday this month. It's going to be a very important business meeting for our church, so if I'm your pastor and this is your home church, please be here for that. I'm going to be talking a little bit about some things that are to come in that business meeting next Sunday, so next Sunday is an important Sunday as well, so be here for that.

Today, though, it's Vision Casting Sunday. 2024 is a special year. It's special to me personally, to Chassy and I, because it's marking some milestones in our life. July of 2024, this year, will be 20 years of me being employed full-time here at the church. It was in July of 2004 that our bishop, Brother the priest, hired me on as our family pastor. Nobody knew what that meant — some kind of a cool title that Roy Duke came up with — but I was family pastor in 2004. January of this year, this month, marks the 10th anniversary of Chast and I being voted in as senior pastor of this amazing church. Thank you for putting up with us the last 10 years.

So over the last decade we've seen a lot of things change. We got a new worship center that we are worshiping God in today; we're excited about that. We've seen expansion of ministries and departments. We've seen the growth of new families and additions, new daughter works and campuses started, new administration staff that's been added. Babies — God bless you guys, have had some babies. You have been fruitful and multiplied, and I'm thankful. I told you, you keep having them, I'll keep dedicating them, so just go at it. That's organic church growth, in Jesus' name — multiply. Centerpoint Academy has started up and going — excited about that. And I could go on and on and on about what's happened in the last decade. God has been good to us.

He was January of 2014, 10 years ago, on this very first Sunday of that year, that I gave to you what came to me from God in prayer, and it became our rally cry and our mantra: that we are an apostolic church, we grow apostolic families. We've embraced this, and this has come to pass. We have a wonderful apostolic church full of wonderful apostolic families. We are abundantly blessed with growth. We've seen record numbers in our youth, in our college and 20s, and our kids outreach, and baby dedications. Did I mention that you guys love having babies? Keep having them; I'll keep dedicating them. Good things are happening.

We set a record Wednesday night attendance. Wednesday night attendance, October 11th, '23, we had 396 people on this campus on a Wednesday night. Now, just in case you're wondering, was there some special event? There was — it was just a normal Wednesday night, and we had almost 400 people on this campus. That excites me, because usually it's a good indication of who your core church is, on Wednesday night. And we had 400 people here on Wednesday nights. I told Pastor Taylor that if he could hit the 100 mark in the youth room, we would allow him to do a little remodeling in there, and he took it to heart, because I think three times — or two times, three times, three times — we hit over 100 on midweek Wednesday night in the youth room. Now y'all pray for Pastor Michael, because we got to do some remodeling. We got to keep our word. Good things are happening and going on.

I love being a part of a growing church. I love being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. I love being a part of the apostolic church. I love living in Murphreesboro. I don't love the traffic, but I love the town, and I love what's going on. And God continues to pour out His blessing here in our city, and we have a big job to do.

Over the last few years, I've tried to evaluate what we can do to continue to manage all the things that we have going on because of growth. Growth is great, but growth brings its own unique set of problems that have to be managed. And when we moved into this sanctuary, we knew going in it was the old thing — and I take this next statement from my wife, of "give a mouse a cookie." Once we moved in and said, "Hey, we got a little elbow room," and then all of a sudden everybody's like, "Yeah, I'll start inviting people." People seen us from the road, as the campus looks a little bit more attractive as you pass by, and we started growing. But here's the deal: well, now we got to continue to grow all the rest of the campus. So we're continuing to knock down walls, and we have plans for this coming year about how we got to continue to expand, because growth is a great thing, and I'm excited about growth.

I feel confident, though, that I have what I feel like is a direct word from God as our new mantra and rally cry that God has for us for this next decade moving forward: it is time for Centerpoint to be the church. It's time for us to be the church — not just play the church, not just go to church, not just talk about the church, but it's time for us to be the church, to be the church that God wants us to be.

Before I go into all this, though, and read a few verses of Scripture: Revelations CH 3, 7, says: "And the angel the church of Philadelphia write: These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens: I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, you have kept My word, and have not denied My name."

Acts chap 2, 46: "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily" — everybody say "daily," daily, daily — "those who would be saved."

In my Bible, above the verse I read to you out of Revelations chapter 3, there's a little bold heading above that chapter, and it says this: "The Faithful Church." To the faithful church, He has set an open door. I feel God has directed me to that passage. Several months ago, as I began to prepare and pray about the ending of the year and the beginning of a new year, and seeking after God's face about what it is that He wants for this church, and how it is that, as the pastor of this church, I could best guide and direct and be obedient to where it is the Lord wants us to go, I felt Him bringing me to these passages of Scripture. And even though He brought me there, at first I didn't fully understand what it is He was trying to tell me, what it is He was trying to speak to this church. But as what God usually does with me, over a period of days and weeks He begins to slowly reveal and give me understanding as to what it is He's trying to say to me.

And what I felt like God has for us is that He has opened the door here in our city. He has opened a door here in Middle Tennessee for us to take advantage in this — last time. The harvest God has for us — it's time for us to not just be an apostolic church growing apostolic families, but it's time for us to be an apostolic church growing apostolic families to stand up and actually be the church. To be the church — not just go to church, not just to sit back and allow a natural growth to take place. But I feel like He has rapid development in store for us.

As you've been here over the last year, you've heard me preaching and teaching and talking about that God's doing something special, that He's preparing us for something big, something large to take place, and if we would all buy in to what He's trying to do, that He's going to do it through us and with us. How exciting it is.

Last Sunday, Kinder shot got up and she preached a powerful word, not knowing that I had been diving into the Word of God, trying to follow after the leading of His Spirit. She had no idea that she was right in line, right in tune, with what God's trying to say to this church. And I was so thankful, and my heart was so full when the end of service came and the call was asked: "Who is going to be willing to sacrifice and give? Who is going to be willing to sacrifice and give?" And it wasn't just a call for money, but it was a call for those who are willing to say, "God, I'll give You my everything. You gave Your best for me at Calvary. You gave Your best for me long ago. God, how could I do anything less than give my best for You?" And I was so excited, because I knew God was confirming one more time that I was on the right path and the right track.

It's time, Center Point, to be the church. We have this open door God has placed here in our life, but we have to be willing to walk through the door.

What is it that determines whether or not we will be a powerful church? Is it the size of the congregation — that the bigger we are, the more powerful? No. There's a lot of churches that are in our city limits today that are much bigger than we are. So it's not about the size of the congregation that determines the power. It's not about the magnificence of the building. We have a beautiful structure, and I'm so thankful for what God has given us and what we get to enjoy on a weekly basis. But there are bigger edifices in this town, prettier buildings that are out there, that are filled with more technology and things. It's not about that. Tens of millions of dollars spent — but that's not about being a powerful, true witness of Jesus Christ. Is it about the variety of programs that are offered? Activity doesn't necessarily prove that you're a powerful church. Being involved in the community — and we are going to continue to be more and more involved in community affairs, because I believe it's important that our church has a presence in our community — but being involved in the community does not mean that you are a powerful church.

What is it that makes us a powerful church? What is it that we need to do so that we can be the church? I draw your attention back to Revelations, and what was given to the angel at the church of Philadelphia — which was directly speaking to the pastor of that church. He said this, two things: "You have kept My word, and you have not denied My name."

If you've been around here any length of time at all, you know we have diligently been in the Word of God. I don't water down the doctrine. I don't water down the truth. I don't water down salvation and the process. We are an Acts 2 church, and there's no theologian worth his salt that would argue with you on where the New Testament church started. It started in Acts chapter 2, in the book of Acts. It is there — that's where it started. And I think it's important that we understand that the salvation message in Acts 238 is the message of the gospel. It is the message of the gospel: baptism in Jesus' name, repentance, being filled with the Spirit, evidence and speaking in other tongues. That is the lifechanging message. That is the powerful message that Jesus Christ died for. We've kept the word in our teaching. We've kept the word in our apostolic identities. We've kept the word and what we know is true, separated life. There's power in those things. There's power in that. We're not getting away from that. It may be convenient, and I may be able to pack a few more people in here, but that does not mean we will be a powerful church. I don't want to just be a place where there's a lot of people to gather around — fooy on that. That don't mean anything at the end of the day. But I want to be a powerful Word church. I want to see miracles and signs and wonders. I want to see deliverances going on. I want to see relationships and marriages put back together. And you don't get that with a watered-down version of the gospel. But we're going to be true to what thus sayith the Word, and because of that, He's opened the door more in our city.

The second thing was, "You have not denied My name." Oh, we are a Jesus-name church — that's right. We are a Jesus-everything church, because it's all in Him. It's all in Him. The fullness of the Godhead — it's all in Him. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other way to be baptized. There's no other way to be healed. There's no other way to be saved. Why would I back up from the name of Jesus, when Jesus is everything? No, sir. No, sir. As long as there's breath in me, it's about Jesus. It's about Jesus. So we're not getting away from the Word, and we're not getting away from His name. We're going to live, and we're going to be a powerful church.

That's why the open door was there. That's why Jesus said, "You have kept My word, and you have not denied My name. I have opened a door for you." There's an open door in Murphysboro. There's an open door in Middle Tennessee. There's an open door for us to be a witness. There's an open door for miracles. There's an open door for healings, for signs and for wonders, for churches to be birthed, for marriages to be put back together, for families to be restored, for ministries to put back in the Word. Why? Because we're staying true to the Word and His name.

We got to be radical in '24, staying true to being apostolic by its purest definition, and learn how to radically love everybody — every man, woman, and child, every man, woman, and child — regardless of color, regardless of race, regardless of identity. Radically loving our neighbor. Radically loving our neighbor. Radically loving our neighbor. There's an open door that we got to use love to get through.

It's our finest hour. We are an apostolic church. We're going to continue to grow apostolic families, but we got to be the church in everything we do. We got to be the church on Sundays and on Wednesdays, but we also got to be the church on Mondays and Tuesdays and Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays — in the morning, in the evening, at night. In the morning, I'm telling you, it's time to rise and be the church in everything we do.

People are hungry, and they're hungry for the truth — truth. We have — our passion for teaching and preaching the truth stays at the very front of what we do. But that's not all we do. Our worship and prayer focus must stay at the heart of what we do also. These two things are mission-critical, and they're nonnegotiable.

Thank you to everyone who came this week into the prayer chain. Thank you. Thank you for showing up. But I'll be honest with you: when I showed up here in lunchtime yesterday and the prayer room was empty, it made my heart hurt. First prayer chain of the year. First prayer chain of the year. We're a church who has an active membership role of over 600 people. What I mean by that is, over 600 unique people show up on this campus on a monthly basis. It's very rare we have 600 in a service at one time, because sickness, work, vacation — there's a list of reasons why we don't see 600 regularly. But we're a membership — over active membership — over 600 people call this church home, call me Pastor. 600 people, and we couldn't feel a 24-hour prayer chain slot. Something hurts inside of me when that's the reality. It should not be that way. We cannot get away from prayer, ladies and gentlemen. We cannot get away from prayer. If we're not praying, we're failing. We're failing. We will never be successful. It's not about the number of people in the room, and it's not about all the things we're involved in the community — that all is for nothing if we're not connected to the One who is the source of our power. And the only way you can connect with Him is through prayer.

We can't get away from praying. We're not going to get away from worship. It's what we do. Everywhere we go — and worship is, yes, what we did a few minutes ago through singing and through engaging in worship. But worship is of Al — the life I live every day. Everywhere I go, there's an opportunity for me to worship. I'm not talking about getting out of your car speaking in tongues and flipping around at the workplace — if God has that for you, then go ahead; they'll probably fire you. But how I live can reflect Him and His beauty and His glory — that is worship. How I interact with the people at the drive-thru, in the grocery store line, and in traffic can reflect my God. Do I live it in a way that shows worship? If I'm only worshiping in this building, I'm not really following after Him. I have to live a life of worship. I have to live a life of prayer. It has to be interwoven into everything that I do. If we fail to pray, we fail. Prayer has to be a part of the very fabric of everything that Centerpoint does.

I shouldn't have to be a cheerleader to get you to pray, CU you should have a hunger and a desire that's deep down inside of you. What you should be saying is, "Pastor, we don't need just one Saturday a week, or a month, that we do a 24-hour prayer team. But Pastor, there's enough of us around here hungry for that, we can cover it every week. That we can do it every week." We have that ability, if the desire and hunger would get down inside of us, and we would stop being so selfish and building kingdom of me, and be about the King and the kingdom.

In order to truly be the church — and we have to be the church — we have to be the church outside these walls. We have to be the church outside these walls.

It was 2017, if memory serves me correctly, that we kicked off a little event called Street Rid. I sent a group of people over to Baville, Arkansas. If you've never been to Baval, you didn't miss much — I'm just kidding. Hope nobody's from BL. Anybody from Bille in here? Anybody from Arkansas in here? Y'all need the Holy Ghost. Come on now, I'm just — I sent a group over there, BL, Arkansas, to meet the Ramies. And Ramsay were doing this deal: they were going into the local community, to the underserved and under privileged little areas that were there, and they were setting up children's church services in those communities to reach those kids. Street Rage was all about reaching another generation, to make an impact by reaching another generation.

So we went over there, and I had a group come back, and they were fired up: "We want to do this." And we prayed about it. And I think the majority of you know that if you head right out the front door of the church and crossover 96 — be sure you look both ways — cross over 96, and through the apartment complex, on the other side of the apartment complex right there is Section 8 housing. And we went over there, and we found — and God opened for us, God opened for us, God opened for us a door — and we found a little piece of property over there that we were able to set up and start having kids' church services on. And I'd love to tell you that within a month, man, we were having 200 people over there, and lives are being changed, everything's being turned around. But the reality is this: it took several years to start really making an impact over there. But we were willing to stick with it. We were still willing to say — admitted, we tried different things. And then we finally got some traction. Leadership changed, happened for various reasons; new ideas tried; dedicated volunteers stay committed. And over the last two years, we've turned a corner. Josh and Christina Campbell and their team have made a huge impact in our neighbors' lives. We've seen record number of kids consistently start showing up in our services. They're everywhere. They're everywhere. Midweek, we're trying to figure — in fact, they had so many people showing up that I had to do something that goes against everything inside a pastor: I had to tell Josh and Christina Campbell, "You can't pick up anymore." They said, "Why, Pastor?" Because we were being overrun. We didn't have enough people to help us, and it wasn't accomplishing what we needed it to do. Because it was not a lack of harvest, as the Word said. We didn't have to pray for harvest, but we're having to pray for laborers — that's right. And it wasn't just that we were trying to babysit them, or just feed them and give them a little warm meal. There was some of that involved in there. We did feed them, because some of these kids haven't had food in a while. And let's be honest, some of them come in, they had zero discipline in life. We had to put a list of four-letter words on the bus that are not allowed here at church. You heard me right — I had to put cuss words on a piece of paper and said, "You can't — " cuz we couldn't just say, "You can't say the F word," cuz they're like, "What's an F word?" So then my staff's having to say, "Beep — you can't say beep, and beep, and beep, and beep." You can fill in the blanks, all right? They say, "Pastor, what are you doing?" I'm trying to tell you that we're willing to do whatever it takes.

And all of a sudden we started seeing them come in, and it wasn't just that we were babysitting. All of a sudden we started seeing them, and they're sitting in their services, and tears are running down their face. And all of a sudden they're getting filled with the Holy Ghost. And all of a sudden we're starting to baptize them over there. And they're bringing their moms and her grandmas and her aunts and her uncles. What's going on? I'm telling you, all of a sudden we started making an impact in our community. Why? Because we got outside the church walls and started being the church. And I thank God for every volunteer that goes over there. And we need more volunteers. Come on.

Just a little side note right here — I don't know why things are happening the way they're happening, but we've lost two critical members of our kids' church staff to death in the last couple of months. And we were already short-staffed. We're desperate for help to reach a generation. Jesus, I'm telling you, I need somebody to help us be the church. It's not about coming to church; it's about being the church. We have to be the church, which means there may be sometimes it's a little bit inconvenient for you to be a part of kingdom building. Not all kingdom-building things are brand and and and and have balloons and all the excitement about. Sometimes it's just old hard work. But at the end of the day, we're watching lives be changed, internal transactions take place. That's being the church.

Last year, a group of our college and 20s decided to start CMI back up on MTSU's campus. 26 000 — there's a whole city a mile and a half down the road, right here. whole city. It's got its own little government. It's got its own police department, got its own detectives, right there, right here. There's a open field right there. I'm not intimidated about higher education — I know Someone who's higher than higher education. I'm so thankful that that had some students that took on a burden and said, "Hey, there's an opportunity there." And they didn't set the world on fire, but to know what they did? They went and put a little beach head on that campus and said, "Hey, there's a little Oneness apostolic group who's willing to come in here and start having some meetings, who's willing to tap into something that's much bigger than that campus is, who's willing to tap into truth, who's willing to be true to His Word and to be true to His name." And I know that there's a revival coming, if I can just have some people willing to be the church outside the church walls — to support what they're trying to do over there. Not just say, "I'm going to pray for you" — I'm glad you're praying, but we can all do more than pray. Amen.

Hank and Sydney Hayes have been pouring the ourselves under our south campus every week. I don't think everybody fully understands what we're trying to do over there. That's not another service. In case you haven't noticed, Murphy boro's gotten big. In case you haven't noticed, even though it's about five miles square, to cross five miles at certain times of the day, not only do you have to repent every mile, but it takes about 40 — the joke is, Murphysboro is an hour from Murphysboro. That's a true statement. There's some of you, when you say, "Hey, can you come over here?" I'm like, "Not right now. No, no, I can't. Wait about 3 hours and I'll drive to you. Otherwise, no." So we're trying to put locations around, because God gave me a vision several years ago of how we were going to reach. That's why we changed the name to Centero we're. We're basically in the center of the city right now, but we're going to continue to put satellite campuses around. Why? Because there's people that I know that we need to reach that never drive by here. They never see the campus. Those that see it — we have a lot of people that just pull in. But how many people never come on this side of town? They live over there in their little burrow. You know, we got the Rockville crew, we got the Eagal crew, we got the Last casses people — that're really close to God crew. Walter Hill in the house — any Walter Hill folks? Yeah. We can go on — Buchanon folks. We can name it all out there. If you want to know how the city's broke down, I'll give it to you real plain and simple: everywhere there's a Walmart, there's a burrow. We got, what, six Super Walmarts in Murphysboro now? That ought to be a clue.

Hank and Sydney been pouring themselves in. They're working with a great group of dedicated volunteers, sitting up, tearing down every Thursday night, to make a place for people to worship on the south side of town. They're doing great things.

I received a call this past week from a friend of mine who works with a guy whose mom lives in Murphysboro I was. I was doing something that was not spiritual. I was doing something that was not spiritual — I was going to a hockey game. That is not a spiritual thing to do; those people need Jesus bad. I was pulling in the parking garage, talking to him on the phone, and he was telling me that this guy's mom lives in Mboro, and she's just in a bad place, and wanted to know if I might could have somebody reach out to her, to see if maybe he can make a connection. Because he feels like that if he can make some inroads with his mom, that it may give an opportunity for him to make a deeper inroad with the son he works with. I said, "Absolutely, man. I said, send me the information; I'll do my best."

Next day, I reached out to Hank and said, "Hank, I got something I need you to do. I'm going to send you a name. It's a lady in town. I want you to reach out to her. I don't know the full story." I gave Hank a few of the details, and he reached out. And the lady came to Thursday night service over on the south campus over there, and she's having a great time, and people praying with her. And she's talking to Hank about some more stuff going in her life, and was really wanting to know if he might could come over and pray at her home where she's at, because she's just having a hard time sleeping, having a hard time finding peace. There's just a lot of stuff going on. So Hank said, "I absolutely will. We'll come meet you." So he got with Brother Rick Span — I think Evan did you go — and went over there. Was that — this is three of y'all, right? Go over there and meet with her. They get over there to the house and start talking with, start praying with her, and all of a sudden God fills her with the Holy Ghost, right in that — church service. Still — Hank — she wants to get baptized. They're going to baptize Earnest thing.

You know why I bring that story too? Cuz that's being the church. That's being the church. I called my friend up on the phone. I told him, I said, "Hey, I just got off the phone with Hank. Hank was over there. Look, they showed up, they started praying over her, and man, God just filled her with the Holy Ghost." He starts balding on the phone. He said, "Are you kidding me?" I said, "Why would I kid about that, man?" He said, "Man, I'm so excited about this. He said, I just know that God's doing something special, and I can't wait to call her son." Be the church. Be the church.

I could keep going on about story after story about what goes on. I'm telling you, this is going to multiply tenfold over if we could get out of our comfort zone and just be the church. Be the church. And it's not for a lack of harvest. We have all the harvest that's possible, but I got to have somebody willing to go. It's not just about the pastor team that's going, but I need every man, woman, and child to understand: we got to be the church outside these church walls, guys.

When you come into a relationship with God, it changes you — or you didn't get the right relationship. It changes you. It's not just about guilt relief. It's not just about feeling better with your conscience. God has placed — and you have heard me say this so many times — when God was putting you together, King James language, when you were being knit together in your mother's womb, He was putting things in you that, after you were born, He wanted to draw out of you. I'll put it to you a different way: after you have been born again, He wants to pull those things out — giftings, talents, and abilities. Why? Not for you to consume yourself, not for you to build the kingdom himself, but for you to be a part of the kingdom, to reach the world. That's why we're here. That's why He said, "I want you to go and be a part of all that's going on." In fact, we read in Acts chapter one: He said, after you shall receive the Holy Ghost, after you have been due that power, you shall be My witnesses. And then He listed everywhere, and basically He said, from here to the end of the world. Why? Because that's how the gospel spreads. It's not just preachers that do it. Everybody has a call of ministry in life. Everybody has a responsibility to be the church. To be the church.

It's not just get out of hell. I'm not just going to preach a get-out-of-hell message, because there's so much more to this than just escaping hell, but it's being a part of the most powerful thing that has ever existed: the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It's an unstoppable force, if I can convince you to get up and be the church outside.

In order to fully embrace our relationship with Jesus Christ and all that He has for us here at Center Point — not only is He Savior our lives, but we must understand that that relationship comes with expectations on our part. We can do nothing to save oursel. Nothing. None of us deserve it. None of us can earn it. But He freely gave Himself at Calvary. He paid the price. And when we receive and embrace what Jesus has done — I say this: it doesn't matter what you've gotten yourself into. It doesn't matter what you've gotten yourself entangled with. It doesn't matter what has overrun you in your life. It doesn't matter the failures. It doesn't matter the bad mistakes. It doesn't matter your struggle to identify with reality or any other thing in your life. It doesn't matter what your affections have been — misled or misplaced or mislabeled. It doesn't matter if you've been misgendered. God loves you. God loves you. Look at me — He loves you. He radically loves you. Past the mistakes, past affairs — I don't care even if you tried to deny Him — He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He loves you. He's crazy in love with you. He has always been radically crazy in love with you. From the day you drew your first breath, He was smitten with you, in love with you, overwhelmed with His love for you. You cannot escape His love for you.

And when you receive it and accept it, it comes with obligation. It comes freely — it's His gift. Salvation is free. You can't buy it. Take all the money in the world, put it together — you can't buy salvation. That's right. He paid the price. He was the only one that could. He's the only perfect one that ever lived, and He chose to give His life for you and I, to pay a price we couldn't pay. But if you accept it, then I got to tell you a little bit more of the story. All you need to qualify to get it is breathe and receive. Those are the qualifications — if you're breathing. How many of you breathing in the room? Raise your hand if you're breathing. Anybody without a hand up there, on the close by them, please resuscitate them. Breathing and receiving — that's what you got.

But once you receive it, it comes with an expectation. Once I receive, from that moment forward, I'm obligated to obey. My relationship is conditional on my obedience. Salvation is not conditional — please understand, salvation's free. Everybody okay? I rebuke, in Jesus' name, anybody says, come in here, I'm trying to preach salvation by some kind of earning. No, no, no — salvation's free. But once you got it, now it cost. Jesus said, "If any man comes after Me, let him deny himself" — and do what? "Take up his cross and follow." Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." What's all this saying? He didn't say that salvation was going to cost you anything. He paid salvation's price; it's free. But once you come in, there's responsibility on your part. There's obligations. You have to be obedient. There's conditions that are there. I must live by the obedience and the power of His Spirit living inside of me. He didn't give it to me as a get-out-of-hell; He gave it to me so that He could be Lord of my life. That means, if He's Lord of my life, guess who's not Lord of my life? I'm not Lord of my life.

Many people enter into a relationship with Jesus with this pie-in-the-sky illusion that is absolutely free of cost, non-binding, fully refundable, no-obligation kind of agreement. And all of a sudden they run into problems with their flesh, with the world, with their friends, with the devil, and they spin out of control, thinking they have some kind of faulty thing going on, and says God doesn't love them. Ladies and gentlemen, salvation is not a prenuptial agreement. This is the precise place where many people think about divorcing Jesus before the ink even dried on the contract. They have this notion where they're all for better and not for worse. They're for health and not for sickness. They for richer; they don't want anything to do with that poor stuff. They cannot believe that they cannot continue to live like they want to live — that they have entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ that changes them and cause them to be obedient in what they do. That relationship, by definition, has a life-changing impact on the person.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says: "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new." We love that, right? We love that — until we have to really apply it. We love it until I have to conform, until I have to change. I'm all about salvation. I'm all about being free of guilt and condemnation. I don't like that. We were never built for guilt — none of us were. But it's not just about my conscience being better. It's not about me being soothed.

You know, I talked about it on Wednesday night — you know, my father-in-law, who's here, he's traveled about 7 million miles in a plane his lifetime, probably a little bit more. And I love him dearly, and I respect him as much as I can respect anybody. I love you, Perry, but I'm not going to get in the plane if you're flying it. I don't care how much seat time you got. And I say that because he has not went through the process of being trained to fly. His his so experience has been getting in the seat and buckling the seat belt. There's a lot of you that your so experience with God in relationship is just right down here in this altar. And you come in, and you have a lot of alter experience, and feeling the Goosebump and feeling the presence of God. But I've looked at your life, and you have made no changes, which means you're not allowing Him to be Lord of your life. So I'm not going to go to you and ask you a spiritual question, because all you are is a spiritual junkie.

"Man, Pastor Kevin, this supposed to be vision message. You done got down in my rad and started plowing." Yeah, because the vision doesn't matter if I can't change the culture. Culture trumps vision every time. We got to be more than just having an alter experience. I want us to have alter exp — we have them, and I love them. But so many of you have never changed anything in your life, is because all you do is, you come down here and feel a little bit better, and you get a little juke and jive on, you go right back out the door and live like a helion out there. I'm sorry — part of this is letting Him be Lord of your life. There should be a change. You're supposed to become a new creature. The old man passes away. You're going to fight the flesh until you draw your last breath.

But I talked about how this year is an interesting, monumental year in mine and Chassis's life, because it marks milestones in ministry. You can only judge milestones when you look back in time. Most experts will tell you, the best way you can judge if there's been any progress in your life is to look back in 10year blocks. Now, some of you guys haven't lived long enough to even understand a 10-year block — I got shoes older than most of you. But the rest of us understand that. Now I'm going to ask you this question, and you be honest with yourself, on this first Sunday of the year: 10 years ago, versus where you are right now — are you spiritually closer to God? Are you further away? Or are you simply the same? Because further away and the same are really sad conditions. You can't read this and get that you stay the same. In fact, He doesn't like the same — He spews the same out of His mouth. Are you growing? Are you getting closer to Him? Because part of being the church is growing yourself. It's understanding to have obligation.

The best way — I'll give you this, and I know I'm I got way more notes than I got time. Are y'all okay? Not that that impacts me preaching at all. But I'm going to show you an example. Most of us understand this. If you don't, I'm going to do my best to describe it. But there's a relationship dynamic that's in the Bible. It's in the book of Ruth, and it's about Ruth and Naomi. Naomi and her husband — immc, am — my memory — right there, is that his name? What's his name? Terry — Limc, right? Yeah. Milon and Chilion are the boys. How you monogram that?

Limc decides that there's a famine going on, and he decides to go to Moab and take his family over there. Moab — you shouldn't go. God had warned, God had instruct: don't have anything to do with The mo. Matter of fact, He viewed them as a wash pot, or a toilet — wash pot, King James language; word on the street would be commode. Moab was not where you wanted to be. But he goes to Moab. He gets over there trying to find some food, trying to get a little better situation. Instead of being obedient, he tries to look to the world for a solution. He goes into the world, and he gets over there. And here's the crazy thing — and I got to give you the shortened version of it — is Is immc dies. Milon and Chilon die, but only after they've gathered some wives. Then poor Naomi is left there with no husband, no sons. She just has two daughters-in-law: Ruth and Orpa.

So we get to this moment to where she's decided she's going to go back home. She's going to go back to where she's supposed to be, where she never should have left. And she's having this interaction with them, and she says this to them about that they're going to stay. And then Ruth begins to argue with her and says, "Look, I — you know, Orpa doesn't want to go. Orpa is going to go back. But look, I'm going to be here." And there's this whole confrontation. And then we see this in the Bible, in Ruth chapter 1, verse number 16: "But Ruth said: Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me and you."

I'm telling you, this is a snapshot picture of our relationship with God. Is: "God, I'm in. And wherever You go, I go. And Your people are my people. And whatever it is You want me to do, I'm going to do. If anything but death separates me — that's what I want to do." That's the kind of relationship. Because when you're in a relationship with Jesus Christ, it affects your life. It affects your social status. It affects your education. It affects your security and your strength, and your value system, and your politics, and the way you think, and your job, and your outlook, and your dreams and your ambitions, and your hopes and your ideals. What are you saying, Pastor Kevin? A relationship with Jesus will push you outside of your norms, outside of your comfort zone, outside of the church walls, where you can actively be the church.

I read to you Acts chap 2:46 and 47: "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, to ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, having favor with all people, and the Lord added to the church daily." I love Acts two. I don't know how you can truly be apostolic and — I love Acts chapter 2. I remember being a kid — I love getting Acts chapter — I remember every time I'd open up a Bible as a young man, I would grab a Bible and first thing I do is I go to Acts chapter 2 and spend it out there. Because if the Bible didn't read Acts 238 right, I put that one down. But it's like — 38, actually I like 37 all the way to 47. I love those 10 verses CU it got me excited. Something about what's going on there, that God was pouring out His Spirit, there was unity there, and they were accomplishing something, and thousands of people were coming in, and God was doing something daily, daily, daily.

My staff and my department leads, they know this, that I've been talking about us being a daily church for a long time. I don't want to just be a Sunday church. I don't want to just be a Sunday church. There's so much more than just being a Sunday church. I thank God for Sundays. I love Sunday days. But I want us to be a Monday church. I want to be a Tuesday, I want to be a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday church. I want us to get outside of our comfort zone. I want us to reach out to those around us. What do we have to lose?

I'm just going to get down here with us a little bit more in plow. There's a lot of you that you're devoted to a lot of things in your life, and you have some commitments towards God, but you have not fully embraced all that God has for you to do. For a lot of you in this room, you're still a bit a part about building the kingdom of you. "What you saying, Pastor Kevin — I can't have my job?" No, you can have your job. But there are some of you who give way more thought and effort, and way more of your talents and abilities, to your job than you do for the kingdom. Occasionally you will — occasionally you will. But that's never what God intended for you. Yes, you have to build life. Yes, you have to work. Yes, you have to provide for your family — are you worse than an infidel? And it's okay to have your dreams. But are your dreams misaligned with His purpose for your life?

He's a God who keeps accounts — not of your sins. He cast those things as far as the east is from the west, if you've asked for forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He'll take care of you. But I'm telling you that He is watching what He has given you to steward, and there will be a reckoning day, and He's not going to be impressed at all with what you did at the workplace. He's not going to be thankful that you made rich men richer. He's not going to be thankful for the plaques that are on the wall. "Well, that's my witness. That's my testimony." Really? Really? That's the witness and testimony — your plaque on the wall is what made an eternal difference in someone's life? No. "Man, Pastor Kevin, you're like being tough." I am, because it's time to stop playing church. It's time to be the church. It's time to be the church.

God's given me a vision — not just a one-year. He's given me a fiveyear vision that some of you are going to buy in today like never before. Some of you are going to make some changes in your life so that you're able to give more to the kingdom and what we're trying to do around here, that I'm not going to have to beg and plead and come before this congregation time and time again because I need volunteers to help in kids ministry, I need volunteers to help us in the parking lot, I need volunteers to help us with the music. I'm not I'm don't have to do that, because God's going to ignite some of you in this place. And I need help in the tech area. These guys and gals should have an opportunity to sit in a seat and not be worried, making sure that the light light quue works or the online stuff. They need an opportunity to be swapped out, too. That I'm going to ignite something inside of you today — God giving me, He's given me assurance that some of you are going to buy in today and make some changes in your life and stop making excuses for why you can't, cuz we're going to be the church. Amen.

And by the end of '25 — by the end of 202 5 — we're going to be impacting over a thousand people on a weekly basis. They won't all come in here, but on Mondays and Tuesdays, and connect groups, and on campus ministry opportunities, and over here across the street when our kids outreach is going on, that, and on the south campus on the other side of town, and the other campuses that we're going to start — by the end of '25, we're going to be impacting a thousand unique people every week. By the end of '26 — pray for Michael Spencer — we're going to expand this sanctuary. We're going to put the balcony in, because we're going to need it at that point. By that time, God's going to open a door for us to buy that piece of property right beside us, in Jesus' name. We're going to buy it, and we're going to buy it at a deal, cuz I got to expand the parking over here if we put the balcony in over there. And by the end of 2028, on a weekly basis, on Sunday services here, we're going to see a thousand people in this sanctuary. In 5 years, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen.

And here's the deal: if I don't put something out there, if I don't put a marker, we don't know how to judge ourselves. So I'm putting it out there. You may say, "That's a really bold thing." It is a bold thing. But I got a big God who's behind me. And it's time to stop playing church. It's time to stop saying you're a Christian and you don't even know Him. You don't even know Him. You don't even open up His Word and try to read. You don't even know what it's like to have a face-Toof-face meeting with Him. How can you say you know Him if you don't know what it's like to be face to face with Him?

Intimacy cost you. It cost you. Oh, the world's all about casual relationships, and about how you can be with anybody you want to be, and you can do all the things that are out there, as long as you're happy to yourself. I'm going tell you what that leads to, is nothing but an empty, broken, anxious life. But intimacy cost. I know this lady, and she's expensive — not financially, sometimes — but with my calendar. It cost me to have this relationship so what God intended it to be. You can't say you have a relationship with Him and you spend no time with Him. That's an impossibility.

So as I end my vision casting message for 2024, I'm telling you with full confidence that miracles, signs, and wonders will take place here if we will learn how to get out there. If we will continue to reach for the ones that nobody really wants, in the world has written off, and even the church has written off — if we'll reach for them, He will send us the ones that everybody wants. God is no respector persons, and you have never laid eyes on anybody in your entire life that He did not love just as much as He loves you. I don't care what label's on them. I don't care what they've gotten themselves into. I don't care what they've even done to you. It may be hard for you in this moment, and I pray God helps you with the understanding of that, but He loves them, and He died for them just like He died for you.

But as I bring this to a close today, I want to know if there's anybody who's willing to be the church. I wonder if there's anybody willing to join me down here with a commitment today to be the church. Here's what I know, as I've determined and made my mind up: I'm going.

Oh — Nancy, come here. Come here. I meant to say something about you. Come on down here, Nancy. Y'all can keep coming. Y'all can't see Nancy if everybody gets around her, though. She's small in stature, but she's big in the kingdom. Let me tell you about this lady. This lady right here, she started doing a week of laundry — a load of laundry — at the local laundry mat for the sole intented purpose of meeting somebody at their laundry mat, to tell them and invite them to church, to tell them about Jesus. And I don't know how many families that she's brought through these back doors because she was simply willing to be obedient, and God open a door for there be in the church. And she may be small in stature, but she's a giant in the kingdom. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.

Come on, I want us to be the church. I want us to be the church that God wants us to be. But are you hungry for it? Are you hungry for it? I can't be the only one. I can't be the only one that feels the urgency in my spirit. I can't — I can't be the only one who's paying attention to what's going on on the world around us and know that we are in the last days. Yes, we are here. It's not — quit playing church, but we got to be the church. I'm looking for some men and women to get radical in '24. Hallelujah. I'm looking for phone calls to say, "Hey Pastor, I just taught somebody a Bible study in the parking lot at Kroger, and they want to get baptized. Can I bring them to the church?" I'll always be happy with that phone call. Amen. Yes, yes, yes, yes. People who say, "I was working, talking to my cooworker, and they've got some questions about this Lord. Can you help me?" Yeah, yes. The aners always yes. Yes, yes.

For some of you who will feel this so strong — for some of you, you need to make some changes in your personal life, because you've allowed too many other priorities to take the place of what God trying to do for you. You know you got a kingdom calling. You got a kingdom calling, and you're not fulfilling it. If there's ever been a time for you to get your talents and abilities involved in kingdom work, it's now. Now's the time. Yes. And if we will do this, I'll stand here one year from now, and this place will be packed out by faces that are not here, because we were willing — it's not about — please understand, I'm not looking about a number. I'm looking for souls. Souls. Because we were willing to be the church.

Let's pray. Hallelujah. Holy God, I have been obedient to You and the leading of Your Spirit today. I've delivered my heart to Your church, Jesus. Hallelujah. I pray, God, that we would be radical in our approach, that we would not be content with just showing up at church and playing church, God, that we would be the church when we leave this place today. God, open our eyes to see the hurting in the broken around us, those that are desperate for a relationship with You. God, equip us. Ignite us. Set us on fire, Lord. God, stir up those giftings You put inside of us. Reignite the flame that once burned so brightly there. Restore ministries. Restore relationships. Help us be the church.