Love Is Our Superpower First B Jackson 2025-08-10 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Good morning, everybody. How are y'all? Good to be here. I'm talking on this mic because our buddy Mahindra is gonna be doing the speaking this morning. He has the lapel mic deal going on. Would you stand with me? We're going to sing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. If you would, there are a couple of them this morning that... Yeah. Thank you, Bromley. Grabbing grabbing a hymnal to sing his part. That's good. If you want, the hymnals are always up front up here, but most of the time, we just sing off the wall. Whatever comes up on those screens, y'all follow that, and we will... We'll sing that way. But leaning on the lasting arms. Here we go. All arms. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What have I to dread? What have I to fear leaning on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace with my lord so near Amen. Next, we're going to sing moment by moment. It's hymn five forty five. Here we go. That's... Actually, I take that back. We are not gonna sing that because that is not the song. Let's move to the third song, Josh. How about rock of ages? I think that's one that we know and love. So we'll go to rock of ages, cleft for me, and then we'll pray. Rock of ages, cleft be of sin a double cure, save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These four sin could not atone. Thou must save and thou alone. In my hand, no price I bring. Simply to the cross I cling while I draw this fleeting breath. When mine eyes shall close in death. When I rise the Amen. Self in thee. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few announcements. We'll see what they are together. There will be... This is something that I forget sometimes. Today, we have a missionary who's speaking. I mentioned him. Mahindra is our buddy. A little bit of introduction, Mahindra is from South Africa. He was born and raised in Durban, South Africa. Now, if you took a gigantic cosmic sized drilling device, and you dug straight through the center of the earth and came out on the opposite side, the antipode of Jackson, Wyoming, it would be in the middle of the Indian Ocean. But the closest city is Durban, South Africa. Okay? Durban is the closest city to the other side of the earth. So literally, today, we are receiving from the uttermost parts as far away as we can get, and the gospel's coming back to us. And that's just beautiful, I think. So he's a good friend. I met him in 2010. My seminary, Columbia International University, sent me and a couple of other folks to be stewards to a very large conference in Cape Town, South Africa. He's from Durban, but one of his best friends is in Cape Town, and they answered the call to be stewards, servants of this gathering of 5,000 or so Christians from all over the world. The the whole goal of the Lausanne Movement is for the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. That's their stated goal. And we were servants, stewards at that one in 2010. And since then, Mahindra has been to one since then in South Korea where he was a participant instead of a steward, and I became the pastor here and have not been back to another one of those things. But it's very, very good to have him here. We're gonna do two collections today. The first one is the general fund, the normal general fund, like a normal Sunday offering. But I would say that if you brought just one check, would you hold on to it till the second offering? Because the second offering, it's not because we did not get enough the first time around. The second offering is because we'd like to bless Mahindra and Lynette and the Ministry of Crossroads KwaZulu Natal in Durban, South Africa. So that's the reason for that. There is an associate pastor candidate here. I'm gonna invite him up with his family. This is Dustin Flueckiger. And Dustin and Callie are here with the kids that I'll let them introduce. But today, after this service, they'll still... They're gonna be around, but they're gonna be around down in Melody. They were here for the whole connect hour. Dustin preached while I was actually in South Africa last time in February or March. And so they're here, but they're gonna be at the Yates House this afternoon from one to four for a drop in. If you wanna ask them questions, feel free. They're gonna be here probably through the song service right now, and then they're gonna skip it out because they heard the sermon once already. Okay. Okay. So anyway, I'll let Dustin introduce the family. Here he is. Thank you. Hello. Nice to see you all. Hello. Okay. So this is my family. This is my wife, Callie, and we've been married for almost fifteen years. This is my daughter, Rose, who will be 10 very soon. We have Isla, who is eight. We have my my boy, Jude, who is six, sandwiched between four girls. And we have Elle, who is four. And then Opal is our little bundle who's got a mouthful of apple or something, but she's 10 she's 10. And so she's she's everybody's favorite right now. But it was really... It's really great to be with you. And, yes, I hope you could stop by from one to four. I'd love to meet you, and I'd love to love to answer any questions you have. And... Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much. So thank you very much, Dustin. I wanna pray for them and pray for us too during this process. So Lord God Almighty, I pray that you'd use this family in whatever way you see fit, Lord. I pray that you would use this body in whatever way you see fit, Lord, that you would allow us the focus and the clarity to know your way forward. We wanna walk in the steps that you have provided, Lord. Many of the plans that we make, but you're the one who directs the steps. So, Lord, we commit our works to you and we pray that our thoughts would be established. In Jesus name, I pray a blessing on the Flueckingers and on First B and lord, all that you want to do through through all of us. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you. Absolutely. Alrighty. So, I think... Let me see if there's anything else. Yes. There is. Is Mike in the vestibule out there? I'm gonna sing him in if he's if he's in here. If he's not, Tanya might make this announcement. The Guatemala missions trip is happening. Hope of Life International or Esperanza de Vida International is based out of Zacapa, Guatemala. And you wanna do this? What do you want me to say? Whatever you wanna say about it. Okay. It's the coolest place on earth besides South Africa, Cape Town in Durban, and my place in Kidgets. So besides that, hope of life is a very... It's a wonderful place when we spent so much time on the mission field that you kind of can tell the places that are good first timers, good places for somebody that may be scared about the jumping into a foreign field, taking their families, taking their little ones. This is not that place. This is a... It's a full on ministry. They encompass so many, many things. There's a hospital on the campus. There's a functioning school with an orphanage. There is two old folks' homes, one for old people that are mentally handicapped and cannot be taken care of by their family without all of the tools and specialized care that is available to them there. There is a regular retirement home. There is a home for children that are in a vegetative state from starvation, which is the number one way that children die in Guatemala. There are so many things in place that are very well done, very well done. Everyone who would check that part of it out would be completely at peace with how efficient and well done those things are. And then you invite Americans that have that are very excited to be there, and there is so much to do. So whatever you've prayed, Lord, please please help me and use me in this way, that's there because it's... Every... All of those things are needed. The same thing that's needed in every field in Jackson, in Cape Town, in Durban, in Lemururu, Kenya. All of those things, the same souls, the same hearts, the same love need to be handed out everywhere. And they just have a path to make it easy to be done in a week and make a difference. So, that's what it is. You can come. Come with us. October 11... Eleventh through eighteenth. Yep. October 11 through the eighteenth is when it's happening. Tanya has been probably 15 times to this place. I've probably been seven or eight times myself, and it's very well done. So pray... If you're going or not going, please be praying for the Squadron Mile Mission Trip that God's will be done through the team and the people who are there all the time. Engine room is a Sunday morning prayer group that meets between eight and 08:30 downstairs. They start and they go until the service up here starts usually, but they're praying for all that happens in the midst of the Sunday services. So that's downstairs in the middle school... I mean, the middle room, the youth room, or the purple room. Seeking truth in your twenties. I announced this morning, and I said this is the last one of these we're having. And in the connect hour, they said, no, it's not. So we're gonna keep on going with this. Seeking truth in your twenties. So from the time someone graduates from high school at 17, 18, whatever it is, up through 29, we're saying this is a seeking truth college group, college age group. Sunday nights at 06:30, it's happening out at the McCooey's place, 06:30 in the evening. Games, food, fun, fellowship, and sincere authentic discussions about Jesus and scripture and learning truth about Jesus. It's happening. Free entry, 06:30 in the evening, Zenith Drive out behind the airport. Can't beat the view, and it's just a good time together. It'd be good food, good music, that sort of thing. It's been going really well. So Jackson Hole Women's Community Bible Study is starting up September 10. It goes through October 29. They'll be studying the book of Genesis together. Ten to twelve, it's like the press church this go around. Well, a lot of times we meet here. Last time they met at Gateway and this time they're meeting at the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, sort of an alliance of women from all of the churches in town and those visitors too. So, that's happening. If you wanna know more about it, you can sign up at j h women's Bible study dot com. Old bills season is upon us. So, a way to bless any nonprofit in town is to give through old bills. It's kind of a way to amplify giving. So if you're from around here, everybody knows about it. If you're not from around here, it's a little bit like United Way. I think they handle things a little better than United Way personally, but I don't know that for sure. Donations are amplified, and they help those in need. So if you wanted to give to the Good Samaritan Mission or you wanted to give to Compass Women's Care, you can give through old bills, and it'll amplify it. Usually, a dollar in is about a dollar and 0.5 out. So if you wanted to give... What we use the funds for here is for our benevolence fund. So when somebody comes through town and they break down and they have a car repair that needs to happen, or they need a hotel room for the night and they had no idea where they broke down, how much hotel rooms are, Sometimes we're able to provide housing or meals or transportation, bus tickets, and that sort of stuff. Given season is from August 15 to September 12, and that would help. And I think that's the last one. I I wanna pray before we kinda go back to the next song. This morning, just at the end of the announcements and right when I was talking about the about the two offerings and whatnot, it was a little confusing because someone had a seizure right over here in our midst. And one of the kids went to the emergency room. She was having a seizure, and her sister just went down to children's church. And so, Lord God Almighty, you know you know this little girl, and you know how fearfully and wonderfully she has made. And I pray, Lord, that you align everything necessary for those seizures to stop and for her in Jesus name to be healed. Lord, that's what we're praying for is for this little girl's safety and for her wholeness, her peace of mind, and the peace of mind of the parents too. In Jesus name, lord, I pray that you would carry forward a good work in her life and that there would be testimony, lord, of your goodness and your grace and your healing, your wonder in her heart, in her mind, and in our midst. In Jesus name, I pray for this little one. Amen. And would you stand with I'm not used to this doodad. I'm sorry. The longer I serve it. If you'll hit a stop cue, there we go. Since I started for the kingdom since my life he controls since I gave my heart to Jesus the longer I serve him the longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows. The longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows. Amen. Josh, if you'd look for Because He Lives from the first service, the last song, I think we'll sing that one. Is that alright, Judy? Just grab it. I'll vamp for a minute while you do that. How about that? The other thing I was gonna say about Mahindra is during the time we spent, you know, ten days in South Africa and ten days in Uganda and ten days in Kenya about. And of the time that we were there, we just attached ourselves to him and we went all over the place. And so since he's been here for a week, he just attached himself to us, and we did exactly the same thing we normally would do with him in tow just like he did exactly the same thing. And it's great to have somebody that we're just walking together in life with. Our philosophies of ministry are pretty much the same, and it's good. Thank you, Judy. He holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. Face uncertain days because Christ lives because he lives I can face life is worth the living just because he lives. Amen. And y'all can have a seat. I'm invite the ushers to come forward. And this again, the first go round will be the general fund. You're welcome to give to this, but if you just brought one, I'm asking you to hold on to it until the end so that at the second offering, you can bless this ministry of crossroads. Lord, would you bless this church? I pray to do your will and your way, Lord, is our earnest desire. That's what we want. The visitors who showed up here this morning, Lord, are looking to receive a word from you and to give their service to you. So, Lord God almighty, I pray that you would take each of our hearts and our minds and the desires therein, lord, that you would sanctify them and that you do your work here among us, lord, in us, but also through us. We pray that you would be empowering us by your spirit, Lord, to carry your good gospel forward. May Jesus be glorified in this body and when we leave these doors in the mission field that is all around us. We want to do your will, Lord, in your way. We ask you to bless it. Amen. Amen. If y'all didn't notice, that was four different hands on that piano. Judy, Basie, and Lisa Landis. Thank you. I'm on... Invite Mahindra to come on up. And this brother has been working with Crossroads Ministries in Durban, South Africa for the last thirty two years. So he's been doing this a long time. Tanya and I been in ministry for twenty five. And our overlapping for that 2010 meeting where we're just together about two or three weeks was great. Y'all remember that Melissa Landis was serving in Durban, South Africa. And at a point in her ministry, we sensed that she needed a soft place to land, and I knew exactly two people in South Africa. And one of them lived less than ten minutes from her, and I called Mahindra and said, would y'all give Melissa a soft place to land? She's she's... Missionary burnout is real. And so he said, yeah. Tell me more about her. And when I told her a little little more about her, he said, we've been praying for her for months. Mhmm. And she ended up working with him for four years and very, very positive experience for her, for them, for everybody involved, including me and Tanya in this church. So, thank you for being supportive of them. I'm gonna just turn it over and let Mahendra go. You, pastor Ray. Pastor Ray is gonna read the scripture, but as he comes up to read the scripture, when I met pastor Ray and his buddy in Cape Town, my buddy and I were like in in Cape Town as well. And so, we got to know each other, loved each other from the time we started because we thought he was cool and he's friend. And we worked long hours serving at the conference and then we'd go out and eat late at night. And so we introduced him to Indian food. And like I said, the first group, Indian food is going to be the food in heaven. So you better enjoy. You better suddenly enjoy the food now. And so... And the first time I saw Pastorese, like, I said to my buddy, Bob, I said, doesn't he remind you of Kenny Rogers? I mean, I I come I come from a small town, and and he can sing, you know, so I don't know too much. And so so this is my friend Pastore. He's a white man, enjoys Indian food, white white Mexican, okay, can sing well, and we love him to bits. And and I was like, it was interesting, I'm here this week and and I mean, you guys know we're busy. But, man, this guy is not busy, he's more than busy. He's... We we're either stopping to help somebody on the road. I went to three weddings, you know. I... And... Yeah. I went to a wedding at 08:30 at night right here. He is downstairs doing an elders meeting, comes up at what, 08:00. Married somewhere at 08:30. I'm like, wow. Come on. And I was just gate crashing with him. And it was such a great time for me. I mean, I was not planning to come out because, you know, I was gone three weeks and my wife was getting a bit nervous. Why aren't you coming home? You know, you... Whatever. But, I actually thought I'm coming to Ray. Yeah. But, it was the other way around. God is doing something in my life and just through such a great... I feel so energized to get back and do what God's called us to do. You hear a little bit of the ministry we're doing. And so, yeah. Here's the scripture. Mhmm. Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart from this world to the father having loved his own who were in the world. He loved them to the end. And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the father had handed all things over to him, and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God. He... In the new American standard when you see an asterisk next to a verb, it's a historical present. It's just an interesting storytelling device. So read it this way. Jesus, knowing that the father had handed all things over to him and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, he gets up from supper and he lays aside his outer garments and he took a towel and tied it around himself, and then he pours water into the basin, and he began washing the disciples feet and wiping them with the towel which he had tied around himself. We'll skip a few verses there. Then when he had washed their feet and he had taken his garments, he reclined again at the table and he said to them, do y'all know what I've just done for you? You all call me teacher and lord and you're correct for so I am. So if I, the Lord and the teacher wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example so that you also would do just as I did for you. Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who sent greater than the one who sent him. So, if you know these things, you're blessed if you do them. Amen. Thank you, pastor A. If you know these things, you'll be blessed if you do them. That's the interesting thing... Oh, should I really first say, thank you so much for the privilege. But, you know, when I stand up at a pulpit, I appreciate the privilege, but I know what a great responsibility it is. This is God's word and this time is God's time. And, in the thirty two years of the ministry, we're doing it at Crossroads. I know I'm not gonna do justice to the scripture because Ray can do really great work here around the scripture. But, I'd like to share a few things that we experience in what I call real authentic ministry. And, I chose this portion of scripture because I really... And, and you'll agree with me, this epitomizes who God is. And Jesus Christ, if I can set the scene a little bit, Jesus Christ is... And, you know, frustrated, but Jesus Christ is here. He knows he's come to the end of his ministry. But he's a couple of guys that are... They're behind. All the time that he's ministering to them, they were just always wanting to be the greatest. And, you know, like little school boys, they're pushing each other, I'm sure. They're running, you know. I was sharing the first group. You get you get people like John who says, the disciple Jesus loved. Oh, man. Talk about talk about, you know, self centeredness. And then he says something to the effect of when they're going to the tomb to see Jesus. John writes, and he slips it in. I outran Peter. Yeah. So we're talking to people here that are... And... But the interesting thing is, and this is what I love about God and love about Jesus, he also knew that one of his guys are gonna betray him. You know what cuts deep in my heart? He says, the scripture says, and John says it, he loved them to the end. Amidst all of this, amidst all of what's going on, Jesus loved them still. And so often, you know, I would not like to pick on them because I think I'm like them sometimes. Sometimes you get weary, don't know what's going on. Sometimes you get tired of what what, you know, what the Bible says, do not do not get weary in doing well. And the disciples are here and Jesus now, you know, I would think he... I think, do another miracle. Do something do something else, you know. But what really happened was Jesus took a towel, went beneath himself. Because what they failed to realize, what he was doing was he was saying to them indirectly, this is going to be what you're going be doing for your life. And the disciples who were once, you know, jockeying for power and greatness and want to be the greatest, Peter says, crucify me upside down. And many of them died violent deaths. Why? Because I think they got it at the end. And if if we could if we could just talk through some of... I've got a couple of points I'd like to speak to. But like I said, I think is from my experience, looking at this portion of scripture, these are some of the things I do and our ministry does. This dive straight into it. It says, the first thing I'd like to say is Jesus drew God into everything. And just go one more. Why? Because it takes all of God's power in us to do the most menial and commonplace things in his way. Jesus is reminding his disciples, it's not about how high you rise, but how low you stoop. And I'm gonna show you this. Why? Because I want you to get the understanding, because your life is gonna be a life of service. You know, I didn't come to be served. I come to service people, the other people. And, that's something the disciples didn't really get. But, like I said, because like all of us, we want we want some significance. We want to be in some position. That's not wrong. But Jesus is saying, if you wanna be my true disciple, that's not that's not the right way. All of heaven is all upside down. You know that God's mats don't add up. You know, things all... Things that God does in our lives, we can't we can't place that why would God do that. You're so merciful to me. I'm a sinner, but yet you're merciful to me. Judas is in the midst of all of them wanna... He's betray Jesus, but yet Jesus says, I'm gonna wash your feet. I'm gonna read the next couple lines because I think I I missed something. As we see, yeah, the things Jesus did was often the most menial and commonplace. What we learned from this is that it takes all of God's power in us to do the most menial and commonplace things in his way. So Jesus took water and a towel and a bucket, and he took it and made it a holy service to God, because he drew his father into it. My question is, what is your water bucket and towel? It could just be a conversation. It could just be a telephone call. It could just be a prayer for somebody. It could be as a school teacher, you embracing somebody, or as a lawyer, or whatever you do, whatever God's got you. You know, one of the things I... My wife, Lynette, she's not here, but she says, you're just not a teacher. You're a child of God who is a teacher. That's your service. Ministry is not found in the titles or positions, but in the service offered. Service done unto others and on behalf of our master. Our people... The people are the recipients and the benefactors. My service is to God. So no matter what you do, I'll do my best for you. Why? Because my service, you're my... Merely the benefactor. You're you're receiving the recipient. My service is to God. And we deal with so many people that are unclean or sick or in deep poverty. And one of the things we've learned in my ministry is you don't see the outside. You see the inside. These... The people we serve, our people are merely receiving. But my father is watching and he goes, I'm happy. You hear today and you know, and I know you I know you guys know this, but I'm gonna mention it anyway. We all ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think somewhere along the line, we we we we took one position and we made it quite holy cow you cannot touch. The sacred cow you cannot touch. But according to the scriptures, every one of us are given the mandate to go. Every one of us are ministers. And I would love for... And I'm, you know, hoping the church will bring teams to South Africa. That event will happen. But we can't wait for the event to happen. Every day, God is making ministry available. The question is, are you available to walk into the opportunity God gives you? Every morning when I'm seeking the face of God, I say to God, you know me. I I rush around, I'm hurrying around, but please, God the Holy Spirit, make me aware, profoundly aware of your presence that I may not miss the opportunity you're giving me right here, right now. Greatness in the kingdom of God will not be measured by how high you rise, but how low you stoop. So for for for so for ministry to be real, it must be done amongst the common man in a common manner, but done in such a way that it pulls God into it, and thereby transforming the common into the uncommon. Washing feet was a was a common thing for the for the disciples. They knew they had to do that. That was common law. But every one of them felt because they now joined the master, their rabbi, their teacher, they are not gonna do that. And Jesus reminded that your life will become that. You draw God into it, that'll become a holy service. And it doesn't have to be your Bible school trained. And as missionaries, we always teach people how to go reach people for Christ, the Roman road or four steps of law. That's not necessary. Well, that's good and helps, but because God's given you a moment and opportunity, you walk into those moments. Jesus Christ also taught us that the the supernatural comes and goes. But it is in the ordinary daily living that our grasp on God and his on us is demonstrated. And I love this line. Says, beware of any work of God that enables you to evade concentration on him. I grew up in a Hindu home. I was a Hindu kid. We grew up in a very high caste family. We were chosen to be priests, and my family was chosen to be priests. And my sister, my youngest sister, was very unwell. And she was she was, you know, doctors couldn't do anything for her. And my mom and dad recites the story. So they put her on the ground, put a loin cloth over her, waiting for her to die. But what I didn't really know, or what we all didn't know, that God's gonna do the supernatural. My sister who went to a wayside Sunday school comes to my mom and dad, okay, she comes to my mom, and says to my mom, the Sunday school teacher said, Jesus heals. You know, the common faith... The practical faith of a child, simple faith. And my dad, obviously, because my sister is going to pass away, said, fine, do whatever you want to do. The minister of the local church where my sister goes to where she... The Sunday school, the pastor in charge of the church, he comes, he he gets invited in, he prays a simple prayer, and the next morning, my sister's up from the dead bed running around. And and I think God had to show up for my family to do such a supernatural thing. But you know what? After that, every day after that, God was bringing the supernatural... Was doing the natural in the supernatural. All of my families are still... All of my people in my home got saved. My mom and dad, my sisters, all of us in ministry. But every day, we are doing the drug... In the drudgery of life, we're meeting people's needs. It's so it's so easy to forget because we're looking for something great. We're looking for something either out of the Bible. We're looking for a Pauline experience. But friends, every day, God is doing the supernatural in the natural. The fact that I wake up in the morning, woah. God has done the supernatural. Ministry can't be arranged ahead of time because it depends upon the opportunity which avails itself. And again, we're walking in the newness of life. We're walking with grace and love. We taste and see that the Lord is good. And we're praying, Lord, do something for us every day. Show up every day, and God shows up. And one really great story is is in my ministry, in one of the ministry areas we're working in, there was a young... There was an older man named... And we call him Baba Johannes. Baba means father because as a sense of respect, they will call you Baba. And his name was John, but in Zulu we call him Johannes. And one of the things I do when I'm involved in medicine, my job as as the guy in charge is to be able... I pray that God will give us the man or woman of peace. So, while we do lots of humanitarian, my thing is hope and rescue comes from Jesus Christ and not the food we give. We feed 8,000 children every day, we're building homes, we're doing all of that. But, hope comes from knowing Jesus Christ. And so, I was actually praying that the Lord will do something in a new area. I was driving around in my in my truck. And, as I came to a certain area, this gentleman jumped in front, literally jumped in front of my truck. And you can see he's got a little stick as well. So I was like, wow, what's going on here? He indicated for me to put the window down, I rolled down my window and he says to me, come have church in my house. Nobody knew anything. Nobody knew my prayer. None of my staff understood my prayer. And the reason I was driving, because I was praying. Lord, show up. Do something. I didn't know that minister... I didn't know that this gentleman is going to change the trajectory of so many people's lives from darkness to light. All I did was I was waiting for the moment to avail itself. He... Six months into it, he dies. He's... He developed some form of cancer and he passed away. But because of his obedience and because he heard God, so many people are saved in a valley full of darkness. And, you know, on a side note, breaks my heart to think about it, but I I don't think we fully understand the love of Christ. A man in the middle of nowhere, God comes in. God reaches down and hears his cry. Shit, you know, brings healing from darkness to light, from hell to heaven, from eternal punishment to eternal life. The question we need to ask ourselves is, are we available to walk into the opportunities God provide? And I can guarantee you this, you make that your daily prayer. Lord, make me profoundly aware of your presence. I'm willing to be used. Ministry which impresses him is done through his servant's heart. I don't know if I have to explain that, but Jesus has proved he was the servant of all. The book of Isaiah chapter 53 gives us a whole rendering of of the life of Christ. And and it says in the in the book of John 13, you know what I've done for you? I've given you an example. And every one of us know that things in in in... When we are doing things that are beneath us, we are demonstrating a servant a servant's heart and attitude. I will give you a little... Another project that we're doing. We're calling it the thousand block project. So it's cinder block. That same gentleman, Johannes, in his community, we have 35 ladies that made commitments for Christ and they're part of a Bible study. But of that 35, we were teaching the woman a little bit around the understanding of a new identity in Jesus Christ. Many of them have to... They pray to their ancestors and their ancestors will take their prayers to God. We are saying no more. And we said, let's pray and we begin to pray. And as we prayed, we asked the woman, what would you need? What is it that you want God to meet your need in? And 18 of them said, we want houses because our houses got washed away. At the end of the prayer, one young lady, you know, said to us, I know how to make blocks. So 18 women projected a servant's heart, they make a thousand blocks for the first person, okay, with their own money, their own energy, own strength, Crossroads will come with local builders and we'll build them a house. That's one of the... That was the first house that we decided to change. As you can see, the women are making cinder block. That's the house. Why? Because somebody took the time to go beneath themselves. That's the inside of the house. The question is, are we following the example of Jesus Christ? Is it the title or the position? Are we too busy to do the things of God but not being effective? Jesus revealed to us that our responses to ministry exposes our genuine character. What Jesus is reminding his disciples, this is not about how, you know, what position you hold. What you're simply doing is you're showing me who you really are. Showing me that you guys are not good... You guys... Your character is flawed because none of you want to wash feet. You know you should be washing feet. You know that. You grew up with that. You understood that. And so, while I would not like to overextend the point, but people look at us as shining lights. And, there's nothing better than a good Christian testimony. I love that story when, you know, the blind man says to the high... The Sanhedrin and the high priest. I mean, I don't know what you're talking about. Once I was blind, but now I see. That's my testimony. I didn't... I couldn't see, I can see. I don't know what you guys are talking about. The power of a testimony can change lives forever. We've seen in our Bible study, we had a woman meeting and then one of the local witch doctors, okay, in the community, she's wondering what is going on? Why are people's lives being changed? Why aren't they coming to me as the witch doctor? I'm in charge. So she comes to the Bible study. Okay. She comes the first first first week, second week, and then I get a call from my colleague who's doing the Bible study saying, hey, by the way, there's a witch doctor coming. So what do want me to do? I said, speak the truth in love. That's all we do. Because the power of God brings salvation. The truth of God God's word reveals. So the testimony of us sitting in the presence of God, unearthing his words, speaking the truth in love, being Christ is hands and feet. That that witch doctor, after eight months of Bible study, gave her life to Christ. The power the power of a Christian testimony. She now is... By the way, she's bringing other witch doctors to us. We're gonna we're gonna cause a big problem. Jesus... And and my last point, Jesus reoriented our understanding of success, reminding us that genuine godly values lies in who we are and not what we do. Pastor Ray mentioned it, and I love that line. It's, you know, it's not about the doing, It's about the being. Because once you understand who you are in Christ, the doing becomes natural. And he was going teach his disciples. They listen. He was going to teach them, guys, it's not who you are. Because if you learn the washing of feet, you get success. It's how low you strip, not how high you rise. It's not about in a society we live in, that's the entire the entire thing is is reversed. We teach our... We teach you need to be successful. You need to have a great career. We teach you need to have everything. Nothing wrong with wealth, but what we find out is too many times we want to perform for God rather be rather be a good Christian witness, rather have character for God. And let me end with this. This is my granddaughter. Isn't she beautiful? She's one... She's just turned she just turned 12. She's one year old and the... Isn't she beautiful? That's my wife. Okay. I wanna make sure I tell... I wanna make sure to tell you that my wife's beautiful because she may be listening in. So, she buys... She so she she buys this onesie for for Olivia. Name is Olivia Reagan. We call her Ollie Ray. So she buys this piece of outfit for her and it says, love is my superpower. I'm I'm gonna leave with you the Ollie Ray effect, Ollie Ray principle. The love of God is our superpower. And, you know, this this grandchild of mine enveloped all of us. You you you grandparents, you know that. And, she's the first grandchild. And, every moment of the day, she just, you know, her loves had been shouting us and we love her to bits. I was telling the first group as well. My favorite song, wheels on the bus go round and round. So, I'll be walking around, I'm a belly, I'm a belly, there's a belly button. And people, what is going on with you? You know? She she took all of us. That's what Christ has done. He changed my song. He changed my heart. Love is our superpower, friends. We don't need to perform. We just need to love freely. Freely receive, freely give. And the Bible remind... And we have a motto in crossroads. We love people until they ask us why. We love people until they ask us why. Because nobody could refute a touch. Jesus said to the woman, you know, the woman that would issue her blood, who touched me? And the disciples said, come on. Why? Because Jesus knew the power of touch. And then he then he says it, what he was feeling, he now calls her daughter. The power of touch, the power of God's love. John three sixteen reminds us, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. John three seventeen says, he didn't come to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved. And, it's easy for me to condemn. We can... We all... We do that all the time. We look and we can see the faults, but what's greater than the faults is the love of Christ. Romans five eight says, but God commanded his love towards us. While we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's the power of our story. We don't need to have we don't need to have processes in how and just love. Just love. I had a friend of mine before me the other day and he said, by the way, I'm praying for you. I just thought about you. I mean... And he puts the phone down. That is one of the greatest things to know that somebody is showing me the love of Christ. Each one of you have the same you have the same power because you've tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Let's pray. We look to you, father, from whence come with our help? Our help comes from you. Would you bless your word to our hearts, father? Thank you for sending Jesus. The examples are just so plain and simple, yet so powerful and effective, cutting asunder our hearts. You revealed yourself in your word. May may we, as the body of Christ, be real in what we do as ministers and go And do... And follow the examples you've given us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I am gonna ask for a couple of ushers to come forward. And if you would, we'll sing this song sort of as second operatory, but it's also a hymn of invitation and response to have thine own way, Lord. We'll sing through it. And as the plates pass, you can stand and join and sing. Can I pray for us first? Lord God, I thank you for Mahendra and for Lynette, for the family, and for the staff there at Crossroads, for Lou and for Mervyn and for Vernon and for so many others, for TD, Luazo, and for so many that are serving, Lord, their own communities that they have learned the way of the Lord and are now serving in the way of the Lord. Would you allow us the grace to see with your eyes and see what you have next for us, lord. There are many plans that we make, but you're the one that directs our steps. In Jesus name, I ask your blessing on this offering and on the ministry that it would bless. Amen. Waiting yielded and still. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Search me and try me, master today. Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now. As in thy presence, humbly I bow. Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Wounded and weary, help me, I pray. Amen. And as a benediction today, may the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you. And I pray that you would be a reflection of the face of God to every soul that you meet. In Jesus name, amen.