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Transcript

Franchises And The Call To Multiply

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, church. I'm going to need you to be a little interactive to just start our message today. I want you to think for a minute about your most favorite franchises. You'll see a bunch of iconic ones here, but just some of your favorite franchises. Now, it could be a restaurant franchise, it could be a food or a drink franchise, it could be a store franchise, it could be an auto franchise, it could be a movie franchise. But I want you to shout out, shout it so I can hear it. What is your favorite franchise that you're like, this is the one I love. So go ahead, shout it right now. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I know. Franchises are great. And you know, here's what I know about franchises. The best franchises don't just survive, they actually multiply because they're so good. And today we're gonna discover that God is calling King of Kings to do the same thing, to multiply. We call it expand. We've spent the past three weeks reviewing and re-igniting our last six months here of our capital initiative, Let's Go. And we've talked about what it looks like to sustain ministries, meaning to continue to pour gas upon the ministries that we love and the ministries we have in this place. We talked last week about strengthening ministries, what it means to fully invest in our kids and our students and our campuses. And today we're gonna talk about expanding our ministries. What's it look like to expand our ministries and multiply to campuses and to connect to the world? And that's an important part for us because we believe that God has called us to say, let's go and expand our ministries, expand the good things that are happening in this local church to communities around the nation. You know, when I think about what it means to connect to the world, we often think about global missions. We think about what are we doing in Cambodia and India and Uganda and Guatemala and potentially Chile. But here's my understanding that I want you to get as well. It doesn't have to just be that. When we talk about connection to the world, that's one facet. But you can have two truths that are equally true. And the other truth is when we talk about connecting to the world, we talk about connecting to your world. Right outside your front door because we believe God has called us to expand, and that begins outside your front door in your neighborhoods where you live, work, play, and pray on a regular basis. And we believe that God has called us to connect to the world in local contexts, in church areas where there is no church with the greatest explanation of the gospel that we understand in Lutheranism, which is grace alone, faith alone, by scripture alone. And that there are churches and areas where they are closing and they don't need to close. And so, how are we reaching those neighborhoods and those schools and those communities and continuing to expand the church with the greatest news ever that the gospel of Jesus Christ, he died and he rose and he lives for them, not from anything that they've done, but everything that he's done for us. King of Kings, since its inception in 1962, has always been a church that is a leader. And that's not to brag and that's not a boast, it's a responsibility that God has planted upon us. God has called us to lead in our denomination, and that is a mantle that we take seriously because what we do know about God is that when God gives a mantle to a church or to you to us, that if we're not faithful with it and obedient to it, that he will remove that mantle from us and give it to those who will do with it what he desires. Tom Rayner, who is a uh church denominational expert, said this denominations do not exist apart from their churches. They reflect the health of a congregation within them. When more churches are healthy than unhealthy, the denomination tends to have a strategic capacity. And when more churches are unhealthy than healthy, denominational leaders are pushed into triage mode rather than long-term leadership. Friends, I want to say today, as a leader, as a church that's a leader in our denomination, we have an unhealthy denomination right now. But that doesn't mean that we give up, and it doesn't mean that we sit on the sidelines and complain. We still carry the mantle that God has given us, which is to lead within our denomination and to lead where others aren't leading so that they may see that there is a path forward and a path towards healthiness. Let me just share with you some data about some of the unhealth that God is leading us to try to lead through right now. In our denomination, we have 6,100 churches. Of those 6,100 churches, 45%, so about 2,745 of them worship under 50 people per weekend. Of those 6,100 churches, 900 of those churches have what is called a vacancy. They don't have a pastor. Of those 900 churches that are vacant, about 650 to 700 of them are unable to have a pastor because they're financial not financial they're not financially viable enough to support a pastor, or they have some issues that won't allow them to have a pastor there. Of our pastors, there's about 350 or so pastors every year that leave the ministry due to retirement or due to some sort of issue that has forced them to leave their church and ministry. A couple weeks ago, both seminaries graduated about 180 or so, maybe 220 pastors to send into the field. You can do the math. There are not enough pastors to support the churches that are out there. A couple weeks ago, as we sent out those 180 to 220 pastors, there were 76 or so congregations that asked for a pastor that were told we don't have enough to give you. So there's not one for you. You see, this is an issue that confronts our denomination. President David Davis of the Michigan District wrote in a blog, don't wait for a pastor. He said the LCMS is a large denomination, but it faces a compounding crisis. Vacancies are lasting longer. Pastors are serving well beyond what's considered retirement age. Smaller congregations are having to share pastors. The average church is quite small. Nearly half are fewer than 50 in weekly attendance. And the pastor sort isn't a future problem. It's already here and it's accelerating toward 2030. Why is 2030 a big deal? 2030 is a big deal because most of our pastorate is the boomer generation. And by 2030, most of them will either be in full time retirement or not capable of being in full-time ministry or part-time ministry due to their age. And here's the truth: this isn't someone else's problem. This isn't a problem that we as the local church go, well, our denomination should figure this out. We'll just sit here and stay focused and do what we do. God has given the mantle of leadership to King of Kings. That makes this our problem, which means that we must be a part of the solution, which is why we have come with what we believe that God has said, here is your mantle, here is what you're called to do. And that is where we say we are called to expand our ministries, take the good things that are happening at King of Kings, and to say, we will go where there is not a Lutheran expression of the greatest news of the understanding of the gospel on the face of the planet, and we will plant churches. Or we are sick and tired of churches closing and vacating with the greatest news of the greatest expression of the gospel on the planet. And so we're not going to allow that on our watch. And so what we're going to do is over the next 20 years, by 2042, we want to plant or revitalize 10 congregations as King of Kings around our nation. That's the mantle and the call that we believe God has given us, which is why we've planted a church up at Northwest, which is why we revitalized a church in Fremont. And Fremont was one of the 700 churches just two years ago, where they would not have been allowed to have a pastor due to their health and due to their uh financial issues. And we said, We're not gonna let that close. God, open a door, and that's where we continue to see that God has positioned us to love, to serve, and to reach those who are not yet connected to community in their very own neighborhoods. Because we truly believe and know that the local church is the greatest expression of the hope of the world. It is, and it's right here in your local church. It's the Axe Church alive 2,000 years ago, it is still here today, and King of Kings is that Axe Church. We believe that the local church has the answers, the need, the community that is necessary in a community that is hurting. We believe that the local church is where people gather in a personal relationship with Jesus to come and to publicly support and walk and care for one another in their valleys and on their mountaintops. I want to share with you a video from what the kids call a YouTuber. He's a guy that reaches out because he is in that age, he reaches out to the 20-somethings and the teenagers, and he reaches out with the good news and the gospel proclamation, and he shares the value and the importance of the local church. So check out the words from Bryce Crawford.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

What is the church? Well, there's two definitions for the church. Okay, you have the universal church, and then you have the local church. The local church would be a physical church building with four walls and a roof where people gather regularly to worship God and love people and learn about the Lord and dive into scripture. Now, the universal church would be the body of Christ, Christians all around the globe. So, as a born-again believer, you are a part of what is called the universal church, which is believers all around the globe, united under one truth, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. The local church is important, and I'm not just talking about the universal church here, I'm talking about the importance of the local church. Should you be attending? I used to be one of those people that says, no, you don't really need the local church. It's all about just you and your relationship with God, and then you'll be set in stone. I'm gonna be completely honest. That mindset that I used to have was a mindset that wasn't grateful and that was overlooking the importance of weight of the local church.

Serving Public Schools With Presence

Authority Power Purpose Plus Pizza

Fremont And Immeasurably More

SPEAKER_00 12:16

The local church is the continued expression of the Axe Church 2,000 years ago. And in the Axe Church, what did the Axe Church do? They went and they planted house churches throughout regions and throughout cities. They went to areas that were messy, like Corinth, and they allowed to walk through the mess. And Paul had to write letters about not hoarding all the communion. And they did that because they were reaching those who don't yet know Jesus. And they were putting them in their context and in their areas, and they were raising up within themselves pastors and people and deacons and elders and deaconesses to go out and to share the good news of Jesus and to have these house churches. And they were meeting them in their neighborhoods where they live, work, and they play. And they were innovating with that time in that area and all the technologies of that time and that day. And we fast forward 1,500 years later to Martin Luther, who Martin Luther many asked the question why did Martin Luther succeed? Like there were other reformers who were saying that Roman Catholicism had fallen away. Why did he succeed? Well, he succeeded because he used the innovation of that time. He had this deep desire and this deep belief that the word of God should be in the hands of the people of God. And he knew that through the Gutenberg printing press that the word of God could get into the hands of the people of God. And even though he heard, oh, don't trust the people, they're not gonna understand the scriptures. They're gonna confuse it, they're gonna say the wrong things. He said, No, the word of God is to be taught by the heads of the household to the children of God. And then they come to church where they receive the continued preparation for what the Word of God, an explanation of what the Word of God says. And he used that innovation to bring about a reformation that you and I stand upon still this day. And our LCMS church body has always been an innovative church body. It was innovative in its seminary formation in the 40s, it was innovative in its desire to have circuit riders, which were pastors, that would go out and they would preach at local churches that didn't have pastors in them. But what they would also do is they would equip the priesthood of all believers, the laity, to do and have church on Sundays. And then they would come and they would share the word of God as a pastor and they would encourage. But the church was run by its laity, and that has been our church body's polity for forever, until the last decade. And we continue to step in as a local church using innovation, which is why we believe in video venue preaching to all of our campuses. It's why we look and we say that we have campus pastors and directors relationally connecting with people and equipping and bringing men and women into scripture reading and into sharing the word of God and into prayers. Because we believe in the priesthood of all believers, where each and every one of us is empowered, equipped, and encouraged, and then sent into the world in which God has called us to live, work, play, and pray. And that's who we are as a local church that loves our neighbors, serves our community, and reaches those who believe the church is not yet for them. It's why, whenever we go into a new community, whether it's a church plant or a revitalization, part of our strategy is that we will connect with a local public school. Here at Millard, we're at Disney Elementary, in Northwest Standing Barrel Elementary, and in Fremont Howard Elementary. Because we know that separation of the church and state is an American political system. It is not the will and the way of God. God has actually called the church to be a blessing to the community which it's planted in. And so we want to come into our local public schools and we say to them, with their permission, to come in, can we just love you? Can we support your teachers, encourage your teachers, equip your teachers, pray for your teachers, watch over your teachers, cheer on your teachers? Can we come alongside and can we serve your students? Can we be your greatest volunteers? Can we people that you can we be the people that you call and say, I have a need? And we say, here, let us meet it and do more. Because we know that this is not about a program, it's not even a strategy, it's about a relationship. That these bridges between the church and the families become bridges for those families who have yet to come in and find their way in. And so we we do that because we also know that as we do this, wherever we go as the people of God, we go and we bring Jesus and the very presence of God. And when we bring Jesus, we bring the kingdom of God. And his kingdom comes and his kingdom reigns wherever we are. And this is just the word of God from Matthew 18, verses 19 through 20. Truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything and ask for it, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather, everyone say, gather in my name, there I am with them. Jesus goes with you. And so we go. Because we also know that as we look to plant and revitalize churches, we have been sent. This is our laser-focused mission that we have been sent with authority and power and purpose. And this is not, this is not arrogance. It is confidence. Because we know why we've been sent. We know what authority we have, we know the power and where it comes from, and we know the purpose we have. Now, I want you to know about a passion I have. It's pizza. And I think I'm kind of an authority. I understand the dynamics of pizza, and I have a purpose to eat as much as I can. But there's one guy that actually does have this with pizza. His name's Dave Portnoy. And Dave, Dave does one bite, you know the rules, and he rates pizza all across the nation. He's done thousands of pizza ratings from pizza stores. And Dave has only given out probably one or maybe two tens. He's on a zero to ten scale. Matter of fact, he says if you get above an eight from him, that's a monster score. Okay. And Dave has the authority that people watch him and follow him and then go to his pizza shops. So he has the power and the ability to help that business succeed or give that business a poor rating. And he has a purpose of it's just he enjoys it and it's fun. Dave has never been to Omaha to try the great Omaha pizza, but he has been to Lincoln for the University of Michigan and Nebraska game because he's a Michigan fan. And Dave did try Valentinos. One bite, you know the rules. And his rating was a 5.4. And then he said some things about Valentinos that I'm not super comfortable sharing from the pulpit. So I'll let you go and insta web all that and figure it out. But here's what we know about us as a church that God has called us as a local church to do. We have the authority, meaning we have the mandate from Jesus Himself to make disciples of all nations. This is our calling. And so we are to go into communities and to make disciples, to reach people where they're at, where they live, work, play, and pray, and to reach them with the good news of Jesus. We have the authority in this that, that, that, or I'm sorry, the power in this, that this is a church that is not driven by our human strategy, that it is the work of the Holy Spirit that goes out ahead of us and before us. And that spirit is the one that opens the hearts and the neighborhoods and the minds and the ears to hear the good news. And that spirit also goes within us to give us the courage and the time to winsomely and gently powerfully proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. And we have the purpose as the local church, which is to make heaven fuller, the kingdom stronger, and lives greater. And this is why we believe in what God has given to us as the mandate, as a calling, and we have the confidence to continue to go because we go with God. And even though we don't have all the answers of where's next and what's next, we know God is already working on it. And we will fully surrender to where he leads us. And in Ephesians 3, now to him who is able to do immeasurably, everyone say immeasurably, more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. When we were approached by Fremont, who was one of those 700 churches that would not get a pastor, we had dreams of what God could do in that location, and God blew our minds away. And when Fremont approached us, they had dreams of what could be, and God blew their minds away. God did immeasurably more than either of us could imagine. As he revitalized that church and turned that church from a church that was fledgling under 50 to today worshiping over 150 and thriving and reaching people who don't know Jesus. But I don't want you to take my word for it. I want you to take a word from a family and from a young man who was looking for exactly what God would do immeasurably more than he could imagine. Let's hear from Jace.

SPEAKER_04 22:27

As a family, we were all a little lost.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Becoming a good shepherd, I felt kind of lonely. There wasn't a lot of kids that I could grow my faith with.

SPEAKER_04 22:45

Sundays were just Sundays. It wasn't necessarily checking a box off, but it kind of felt that way.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

It was just like come to church and then leave.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

There wasn't more. It was just Sunday. And then we go back next Sunday. And that was it.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

My faith like didn't really suffer. It just never really.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

We were all craving more.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

My name is Jace Johnston, and I'm from Fremont, Nebraska. I have lived here all my life. Growing up in Fremont has been like a very fun experience. It's like a smaller town, so you know quite a bit of people. Church has always been a big part of our life.

SPEAKER_04 23:33

We started going to Good Shepherd about seven years ago. Went to church every Sunday. The kids would try to go to Sunday school, but there weren't kids their age, if there was even any kids.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

They were in need of good Christian friends and they were quite lonely.

SPEAKER_04 23:50

I knew that a church could be really life-giving. There was so much potential, but there was nothing feeding that potential, and we were just withering away.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

I also felt like my faith was suffering because I didn't have the community that I could grow with. So when I found out that we were gonna become King of King's Freeman, I was so excited. There was hope again. After the launch, everybody was just so like warm and welcoming, and it felt like a true home. At King of Kings, I serve on the production team. I attend student nights and I go to small groups and connect groups, and I actually lead a Bible study at my home on Monday nights for the high school group. I do have the community now. I get to use the talents that God gave me to do production, which is light, pro presenter, audio, directing, like all sorts of stuff. And I also get a play-ka home for students. We currently have 20 to 30 students coming every single week, and they're all super nice and kind.

SPEAKER_04 24:53

There's several students that they didn't know Jesus when they came, and now they're here being leaders for our students and being a light. That kind of stuff is what makes me want to come here every single week and lead student nights is watching those success stories and watching those kids and those students be closer to Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Just seeing so many people like in one room on fire for the Lord is just like so amazing to see.

SPEAKER_03 25:21

I can see a big change, drastic change in their faith. Or they're very into it now. They're excited. They're not.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

They get up in the mornings. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

They're not like, oh, we gotta go to church again. Jace is like, oh, when can I serve next? And Alyssa's the same way.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

They're like, And they get disappointed if they're not on the schedule.

SPEAKER_03 25:37

If they're not on the schedule, I'm like, wow, that's just amazing.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

I'm just so grateful that God is bringing more people to church and like giving me all the serving opportunities. I'm just so grateful.

SPEAKER_04 25:48

Both Alyssa and Jace have really grown in their faith. They're totally different kids. Like they loved Jesus before, but now they love Jesus and actually show it.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

I feel like my life has changed. I feel closer to God in like all sorts of ways. I have friends that can walk in faith with me, and we all have Bible studies. It's really fun. I love going to church now. I'm looking forward to it every single week. Before King of Kings, I kind of had like a lukewarm relationship with Jesus. Like I was a nice people and I didn't like read my Bible. I didn't pray. Like I just like really attended church and I believed. But as soon as we became King of Kings, like I feel like something just happened, and I'm just so like more intentional about it. And like it's a priority of mine. Like I like I just need Jesus, you know. I want to lead people to Jesus and I want to pursue him and just like speak his name and speak his word, letting that be my career, like making it my whole life.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

I think it's amazing that King of Kings is real. They bring people to Jesus. We watched our kids go from being lonely to being just Sunday morning box checkers to no, they shine.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

They shine.

SPEAKER_04 26:56

They really do. They shine Jesus. They shine the light of Jesus. And it's all because of King of Kings opening those doors for them.

Fully Surrender Prayer And Sending

SPEAKER_00 27:18

And that's why we continue to lead through Let's Go. Because we continue to see what God is doing and leading in innovation. And it's not about numbers, it's not about number of campuses, it's about Jace and Alyssa and the Johnston family. Because behind every number is a life that we know is greater and fuller when it's being fed to be a follower of Jesus. And so as we plant campuses or revitalize them, they're not going to be identical because we know that they need to match the community they're in. But they will be identifiable for who the DNA of King of Kings is. A church that I'm in love with, that's willing to do anything short of sin to reach those that don't yet know Jesus, that's open-handed with its generosity, its prayers, and its sacrifices, because we know the cost of not knowing Jesus. A church that is going to shout, show, and share the gospel in innovative and wonderful ways and be a pioneer for our church body and for others. A church that lives Isaiah 6.8. I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? And that echoes the same call of Isaiah, saying, Let's go. Here am I, send me, send me. And so this is our moment. Right here and right now, is where we continue to press in. Because we have everything we need to lead with the mantle that has been placed upon us. To be a place that continues to expand for the betterment of the kingdom of God. And to go with the authority and the mandate of Jesus, with the power of the Holy Spirit upon us, and with the purpose to know what we're called to do. To transform lives, to connect to God, each other, and the world. And we can only do that when we fully surrender. And so as we sing this last song, I'm going to invite you to rise right now. This song is called Fully Surrender. It was written 18 months ago. And it was written by our worship team across a few of our campuses. And it will be prepared to be released shortly, but but it's sung here because we know when we fully surrender our lives, we can go and do what He's called us to do. To sustain, strengthen, and expand. To be leaders in our community in our midst. So I want to invite you to just lift your hands in a fully surrender moment. Because, Father God, we fully surrender our lives, our will, our ways, our preferences to you. We fully surrender everything to you, trusting in your will, your time, your ways, your preferences, that no one would be lost, but all would be saved. And so may that desire be our desire that we would do anything short of sin to continue to reach those who don't yet know you. We thank you for the gift of Northwest and of Fremont, the sacrifices that have been made. We thank you for the future and the further cities that will come. We lay our lives before you, trusting in you, as we're patiently waiting for you to continue to open doors, for your spirit has already gone before us. May that spirit continue to give us guidance and wisdom within us. And all God's people said Amen.