I’m about to BURST with anticipation! After four years of sacrifice, love and honor, this weekend long-time Questers will worship and celebrate side by side with those we sacrificed for as we all step forward in the Power of Everybody to conclude our Imagine2 Journey together!

We are on the edge of a miracle. What God entrusted to us in Imagine2 was impossible! But every miracle we read about in the Bible have this in common: they are all God’s attempts to convince us that there’s NOTHING He can’t do.

Most of us would say we believe that, but it’s a hollow belief if you believe something in principle but you don’t act on it. That’s where we experience hypocrisy gaps in our lives. But we can choose today to ACT on what we believe – even right now! It’s not too late. You have no idea yet what God might do!

“Humanly speaking it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

This weekend will be a historic moment in the life of our church. I want to invite you to be here for an experience you’ll never forget…whether you’ve been a part of the Imagine2 journey for years or you just walked through our doors…whether you’ve finished a commitment or don’t even know what an I2 commitment is…this is a day you don’t want to miss! You’re invited, personally, to be a part of it.

Clear your calendar. Change your plans. Be here.

We’re going to celebrate the great work of God in our lives like you can’t believe – with stories, baptisms, worship, a party and our final Imagine2 offering. We’re on the edge of a miracle and we’re going to all step forward together in the Power of Everybody! All He asks is all we have.

Don’t just witness the miracle. Experience it for yourself!

I’ll see you this weekend.

2000 years ago, God took drastic steps to swing wide the doors of a brand new community…a group so caring, so spectacular that it blew people away with real love and radical acceptance.

What made this a world-wide phenomena? First - Jesus was at the center of everything! Second – People laid down their agendas and chose not to be defined by their differences but by their Oneness in Him! No one had ever seen or experienced anything like it!

It went VIRAL!

The beauty of the Acts 2 Church was never meant to stay in Jerusalem. And just a few page turns later, the real radical nature of the church EXPLODED onto the scene in one of the most revolutionary passages in the whole Bible. In Acts 10, Peter walked 36 miles to cross a threshold he never dreamed he’d cross. He stepped across the threshold of an arch-enemy’s home – a Roman oppressor, Cornelius.

In that one step, Peter was forever changed. In that moment, he became a law-breaker for Jesus. We almost hear heaven cheering Peter on… “Go for it Peter…you know what it’s like to take a step! You left you nets, you stepped out of boat, you ran to Him on beach. You can do it Peter! You won’t be defiled! Cross that threshold and you’ll never be the same.”

He wasn’t. And neither are we. You and I (and billions of others) now live in the wake of that one step.

Now it’s our turn to cross the threshold. We get to step out, risk our hearts and invest our resources in the only cause on planet earth that will last for all eternity. For the Cornelius in your life, and in mine. We get the privilege of demonstrating people’s value to God – and to us – by our actions.

Pray. Cross a threshold this week. Be here this weekend. Come ready to be baptized. Ask Jesus what He will let you give. You just want to be in the current of what went viral 2,000 years ago!

Just five days away from the conclusion of our four-year Imagine2 journey, I want to tell you…Everyone DO SOMETHING! Be a part of the power of everybody. The baton has been passed down for generations, and now it’s in our hands! Who is it in your life that you need to make room for? Who is it that you It’s our turn to make room for the Cornelius’ in our lives.

Questers…could you believe what God was doing last weekend? It was a rare, remarkable experience…like we really were sitting down for a Family Meeting with Jesus Himself. The picture we glimpsed of the Great Exchange God made for us was breathtaking, a reminder that we are not our own. He traded the sinless One for the sinful, LOVE itself for the unlovable, forgiveness for offense, healing for our brokenness…the life of God’s one and only Son exchanged for you and for me.

Let THAT sink in for a minute…you will never get to the end of a love like that.

It is IMPOSSIBLE!

That reality is meant to shape every area of our lives…our marriages, our parenting, our sin-struggles, relationship, addictions…what we cling to and what we hold open-handedly to God. We are not our own! For those in Christ…we’ve given our lives away!

As we come toward the finish line for Imagine2, our journey to make room for more to experience God’s love for themselves, I wanted to help us take hold of Three Fundamentals to Living in the Great Exchange:

1. A Issue of Ownership - When you became a Christian, you trusted in the One who gave His life on the Cross for you by placing your life on the altar for Him. You accepted the best trade of all time…saying, “I place my sin, my trust, my future, my eternity, my life in your hands, Jesus.” And you GAVE your life away! It BELONGS to Him! Your life, your time, your resources…they aren’t yours anymore! (You don’t give someone a car and secretly keep an extra set of keys. It belongs to them.) Acting like a co-owner is a recipe for disaster! 

2. A Matter of Worth - God declared PEOPLE…common, everyday, ordinary, annoying, sinful, broken people like you and like me worth the exchange of His Son’s life! Your neighbor, your husband, your co-worker…we are all of inestimable value to Him. It’s when we understand who we are to God – the way His heart races when He sees us, that our hearts begin to beat with His! God values PEOPLE more than anything in the world!

3. The Reason Why – God made the Great Exchange for you. And now He invites you to participate in His Great Exchange for others. There is no better investment on the PLANET. As you process His invitation it’s helpful to look at the reason why:

• The first level of response is out of a place of followership and obedience…taking Jesus at His word that investing in His Kingdom is the most important investment you’ll ever make with your resources. It’s a great place to start. In the Bible we see the disciples in just that place when Jesus tells them to feed 5,000 people with fish sticks and wonder bread. They go for it, not understanding how such a small offering could make a difference…and JESUS DOES THE IMPOSSIBLE! He put the miracle in their hands and they stepped out. And 5,000 people experienced the miracle!!! If God’s promoting you to give…to offer your fish sticks and wonder bread, step out!! You won’t BELIEVE how it changes you…and changes the world!

• The next level of response is out of gratitude for all He’s done for you, and for those you love. This stage of sacrifice is awesome! This is where things shift from “got to – to get to!” Like David in Psalm 116:12, in this place we respond saying, “What can I offer the Lord for all He’s done for me?” People thank me all the time for the opportunity to give back to God here, and I’m honored to open the door for them. You may be sitting in a seat every single weekend that someone sacrificed for on your behalf. It’s a fantastic next step to give back out of gratitude to God, knowing that you’ll get to make a way for someone else to experience God the way you have here!

• For some, your response may look like the woman at the Pharisee’s house in Luke 7, a response born out of love & honor. It’s one of my favorite responses to Jesus in the whole Bible. This is the response of someone who is so overwhelmed by Jesus’ love, forgiveness and grace that you can’t NOT pour out your heart, your life, your time and your resources into the things that make His heart beat. You can’t NOT give back to Him. I’m praying for all of us that we would grow into more and more wholehearted followers like this woman who gave with no regard for herself, pouring out her most treasured possession at Jesus’ feet. What a picture!!! We’re still talking about her 2,000 years later!

In these final days of Imagine2 as we reflect on the Great Exchange God made for us, spend time with Jesus understanding the issue of ownership (it’s not yours!), a matter of worth (people are the treasure of heaven!) and the reason why (in response to love!).

For those of you already participating in Imagine2, isn’t it a great reminder?! And for those of you just stepping into the journey, this is your chance to let your heart race with God’s heart. This is your moment to change the world and all eternity. And here’s a promise from your pastor, for all of eternity, you will look back over you shoulder and be glad you did it.

It’s never a mistake to open your hands to Jesus. Whatever you give Him is better off in His hands!

Let’s step out together, Questers…rescued people rescuing people, all joining in the GREAT EXCHANGE!

I love Joshua. He’s one of my favorite people in the Bible. (I even named one of my sons after him.) I love his courage, how he followed Moses, and how he honored and served the Lord. He’s a great model for leaders. And God reminds Joshua what every leader needs to remember: It’s God who calls us. It’s God who goes with us. It’s not our job to make miracles happen – it’s His. He just invites us into the equation!

Joshua got the privilege of leading the people of Israel into the PROMISED LAND! (After Moses spent 40 years leading them through the wilderness, Joshua got this great honor!!) Who doesn’t want to go into the Promised Land?! But getting there takes active agreement – people stepping out in faith, stepping into the water at flood stage to cross over the raging waters.

If you want to make it across the raging flood-stage waters in your life to live in the free places of promise, take your eyes off the Promised Land and look to the Promiser! Fix your eyes on the One who’s promises are always TRUE. HE is the One to accomplish the miraculous in your life, but He calls us to step before the water parts!

You won’t experience the miraculous until you attempt the outrageous for God!

Step Out! Be a part of the miracle. Participate in your own growth and change. Here’s the math behind transformation:

(t=w+r)^e = T

Transformation happens when people with willing hearts follow God and take risky steps. When we do that together as a community – through the Power of Everybody, the impact is EXPONENTIAL. THAT is how we CHANGE THE WORLD!

Welcome to all of you who are stepping into Imagine 2 for the first time! Dozens of brand new people participated this weekend and it was beautiful. Thank you for living out the principle of giving God your first and your best, Questers – it’s freeing up ministry like nothing else ever has in our past. Thank you to all of you who are stepping in for the first time – we built this for you, so you could know the God whose pursued you your whole life and experience His great love for yourself! I love you and I’m so proud of you. We’ve just got three weekends left…and we’re going to finish the journey great!

p.s. Plan to be here on the 20th as we’re not only going to have a huge baptism service, but a fantastic party as well. (More details to come!)