Good morning. Good morning. Man, 11 o'clock. You came up, you came ready. Ooh, it is beautiful in this house. You sound so good. And the presence of the Lord is here. So, so good. Well, I'm not Pastor Chuck. I mean, sometime he has, he gets a day off. He is um, he's winning today. He's being a dad. He is in Des Moines, Iowa with our son Evan. The twins have decided to go different ways for college, and we're all messed up. Plus, we get one that's close and one that's just a little bit further away, and we sometimes have to split duties. So this weekend it was Parents Weekend, and I was actually going, and Evan surprised us last Sunday and showed up. So I said, Well, I got to see you. I'll stay back and preach and let Chuck do his dab duties. So if you know him, he doesn't really like baseball a lot. He doesn't really like being the dad on the bleachers, yelling at the coaches and yelling at the umps. But um, he's really, I'm glad he's there. And I love him so much. I'm thankful. I did say, I was like, he said, Well, I'll fly back this morning and I'll preach. And I was like, I'll just preach. And he said, Okay. I was actually thinking he'd go, no, I I, you know, whatever. And he said, Yes. So you get me. But it's perfect because amen. I'm happy to be here. I told First Church or a few of those that were leaving, they were cheering me on. Y'all are amazing. I literally probably could say boo, and y'all would cheer me on. I feel it, I'm feeling it. But uh, someone was like, You did great. I was like, if I could just sing it, I would be fine. Take it to the bridge. I would be fine. But I know God's given me a word and I'm ready to preach it. And we're closing out this series. Closing it out, I know, game on. And we're excited. And actually, it's perfect because I'm going from I'm not really, I'm always on the field, but today I've changed positions and I'm not on the sidelines, I'm in the game. And we're gonna talk about three ways to get you in the game. The first week we talked about we're all chosen, we're all drafted. Everybody, everybody can be on this team. Last week, Pastor Chuck talked about the uniform, the armor of God, and he broke that down beautifully. And I hope you left there with some, you left with some good things to a lot of homework to do. And I hope you've been using that armor this week. And this week, I'm gonna talk to you about three key things that we can do to get us in the game, and that's pray, we can give, and we can serve. The great commission in Matthew 28 is Jesus commands all of us, his followers, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that he commands. So that is our that's what we're supposed to do. That's what we're supposed to do, get in the game. So our founding verse is Ephesians 4 and 11. It says, So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. That is really what we're supposed to do here. If you want to know what you're you're called to, your purpose, a lot of people just don't. What am I supposed to do? Well, here it is, plain and simple. And so as we get through this, we're gonna start with pray. And in Fesians 6, 18, Paul says, pray in the spirit. Amen. And that is a capital S spirit. What does that mean, Pastor Hirsch? That means we are not praying in what I want, what you want, what the world wants, what the wind is blowing. We're praying in the Holy Spirit. And that will help us engage in powerful prayer guided and shaped by the Holy Spirit, resulting in passionate and heartfelt connection with God that aligns with his will and his purposes. Some of us we're gonna have to grow in our prayer life where we kind of shift from a me prayer, which uh listen, we need things. We wanna, and we can ask the father. It's just he's a good father. It's my kids ask me for a lot of things, and I I do my best to give it to him. But there is something that shifts when we change and we want what the father wants for us, and that's what that verse means is we pray in the spirit, and it moves on to say in Ephesians 18, it says, pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Pray also for me. Paul's asking us to pray for him. So pray for your teachers, your pastors, your leaders that are in your life, that whenever I speak, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. I look at it like this. If you want to make a cake, I love cake. Me too. I love all kinds of cake. My favorite is chocolate. So, yes, so if you want to make a cake, make a cake. But if you want to make the cake, you add a little, you can't make a chocolate cake without cocoa. You gotta add a little cocoa to make some cake, some chocolate. So, in this context, it's like when I read that, why I have to go to food, I do. But I'm like, all right, I want some chocolate cake. I don't want just regular cake. Prayer is not only for your pastors or your small group leaders or your prayer team. Everyone can and should be using this weapon and tool in their daily walk. PC talked about the armor of God last week, and you can have the helmet on your head, the sword in your hand, the shield on your arm, but if you don't pray, you're just on the sidelines. You look good, you're in your uniform, but you're not activating in on the field. You gotta pray. Pray is how you download the strategy of heaven on in the struggle of earth. We've got some struggles. You gotta pray. Prayer is not just talking to God, it's God talking back to you. When you pray, you are not begging from earth, you are engaging heaven. We want thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Some of you wonder why you're tired, why you're worn out, why you're ready to quit. The enemy, it's because the enemy has convinced you to not engage that tool that you got. He doesn't care if you go to church. I care. I want you at church. But he doesn't, and that doesn't scare him. He doesn't care if you sing the songs, but if you ever learn how to pray without ceasing, you become a threat. He can't contain. The text says, pray in the spirit on all occasions. Pray when you're on the mountain and pray when you're in the valley. Pray when the doctor says yes and pray when he says no. Pray when your kids are acting right, pray when they're crazy. Pray in the morning, pray in the midnight. Pray until something shifts. Something has to shift. Amen. And this is the power. Prayer doesn't change things. What, Pastor? I thought you said it does. No, it changes you. It changes your perspective. It changes the fear that you have, it loses it. Weakness becomes strength because you're connected to the source. Stop waiting for perfect words. You don't have to pray pretty. You just have to pray powerfully. Sometimes the spirit intercedes and moans and groans. Sometimes your tears are your prayers. Sometimes the sigh is your prayer. Sometimes your help me Jesus is enough to split heaven wide open. My mom, I didn't do this in first church, but I just remembered while I was speaking this morning, I didn't do it because I wasn't sure, but you're getting it. She would sing this song and groans, and when I was saying that, I was thinking of this song, and it's you probably don't know it, but I'm gonna sing it anyway. I love the Lord. You gotta go to the Lord in prayer. Don't sleep on your weapon, don't leave prayer for last. Pray first. Get on your knees, lift up your voice, watch the walls fall down. When you pray, hell trembles. When you pray, angels move. When you pray, trim chains break, and when you pray, the power of God shows up. Amen. Come on, let's take a minute and just thank God. Thank you, Jesus. You're so good. You're so good. Another way we get in the game is we give. We give, we get to give. Let's talk about giving because this is where many of us we kind of wrestle. In the free way we teach, giving is the antidote to materialism. And because every time you give, you're declaring your money doesn't have you. It is God's, it is God's alone. And I like to think of giving like we don't give to a church, we give through a church to reach people. Your giving fuels life change, it funds outreach, it rescues families, it plants churches, it feeds the hungry, it sends missionaries, it lights up the gospel in places you may never step foot in. I think of our kids going and our young adults going to Puerto Rico. I think of those that have just already taken steps in faith and going and making their own difference around the world. We give out and above with a tithe in this house, what comes in. It makes a difference. And Matthew 6, 21 says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Every generous gift is a transfer of trust. Every tithe is a declaration that God is my source and not my salary. And every offering is an investment in forever. Giving isn't God trying to get something from you. Giving is God trying to get something to you. He's trying to give you joy, he's trying to get freedom in your life, he's trying to give you purpose. It's not the amount. How many times have we seen that over and over? It's not the amount, it's about the alignment of your heart with his mission. We can all pray, we can all give something, and lastly, we can all serve. I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. You guys are amazing at serving this house. I'm so thankful for your yes that you give. And if giving fuels the mission, serving drives it forward. I just, just, I don't put gas in my car. I have my husband. He does that for me. He's very sweet. Very rarely do I get in my car and we share the car, but very rarely is it on E. And I have to do it. But yesterday I did. And I'm gonna stretch it. It's because I'm thinking he's coming back tonight. It's flashing, filmy, filmy. I mean, it said 1%. And I'm like, I mean, that's about it's about here to there, about four miles to my house. I can do it. I put I I got myself into the Costco line, got gas, and Chuck immediately called me. He saw it go on our bank account. He goes, Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like, it's okay, I can do it every now and then. I'm it's it's okay. But giving fuels the mission, and serving drives it forward. I heard this once said and it stuck with me. You can be pitiful and you can be powerful, but you can't be pitiful and powerful at the same time. Just 13 years of pastoring, that has that has been kind of one of my things that I've seen over and over. Serving takes you from pitiful to powerful because it gets your eyes off of you and onto someone else. It's the power of living beyond yourself. At Free Church, we call it the dream team. The powerful force of volunteers who make the mission happen each and every week. You guys are amazing. It is so cool to walk in here at eight o'clock and seeing people grabbing their coffee and putting their lanyards on and getting things set up. And some of you come in on Saturday to get it worked out, and it's amazing to see. But we still need more on the team because honestly, this community, we we know we have to reach more people, and it takes more people, and the ones that are serving, they need a break, they need a little bit of a time to just catch their breath. So we need more on that team. Pastor Chuck cast a vision a few weeks ago that we desire to add 50 more individuals to the team and in the next 90 days, and we're well on the way. I see first serves happening all the time. I see our leaders shadow helping shadow those that are coming on the team. It's awesome to see. But we need everyone to get on a team. We're all called to the Great Commission, reaching and discipling the lost world and giving them hope, which is Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. From holding babies in the nursery, greeting on the patio, running a camera, prepping a great cup of coffee, we need you on the team. I once heard someone say serving is like carrying a stretcher. And remember in March, in Mark II, the the story of the friends that brought the friend to Jesus. And there wasn't any way to get him in, but they knew that he would be healed and his life would be changed if he just got in front of Jesus. And what did they do? It went through the ceiling. If you don't know the story, go to Mark II and read it. But I thought it would be kind of fun to think of it in 2025. So we've got, you know, we know Jesus is coming. He's it's all over TikTok, it's all over Instagram. He's coming, and Tick Ticketmaster is blowing up, and we got tickets because we know a guy. It's a packed out, sold-out stadium, but we got a front row connection, and we got on the front row, and we're super excited. In the same breath, you're on a group text and a group thread. We gotta talk about those group threads. But you're on a group thread, and that one friend, he's so, he needs to meet Jesus. He's never met him, he's physically, mentally, and spiritually just being just trampled by the enemy. And he needs to get in front of him, and there's no way financially or physically he can even get there. And you're watching this kind of play out in this group thread, and your heart is just being tucked. You know Jesus, but it would be awesome because you need that front row seat. You need to be fed, you need that word, but you know what God has called you to do. And this is what I wish, and I do actually know there's a lot of people in this room that would do. They would forego that front row seat and they would bring that friend and they would bring him to the feet of Jesus. And in that process, you would get a story to tell of how Jesus stopped everything to acknowledge the sacrifice of those that did everything they could to help their brother and sister. That is what serving is giving and sacrificing so that someone can meet Jesus face to face. You might not be the one preaching the sermon, you might not be the one leading us in worship or carrying someone, but you are carrying someone to the feet of Jesus. Every single Sunday you serve. I can't say that enough. From the smallest thing you think is so small, it's so big in Jesus' eyes. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, says, always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. No act of service is too small when eternity is at stake. Pray like revival depends on it, because it does. Give like eternity is worth every penny because it is, and serve like somebody's salvation is on the line because it might be. The enemy wants you comfortable in the stands, but the spirit is calling you on the field. 1 Timothy 4, and the the first part of it, you know, it says, Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. And what I just want to say, just props to our young people and our young adults always serving. I walked downstairs, and uh Carlos and Amanda's kids were downstairs, and one was sitting behind the pro presenter and picking out the songs for the Zoom class for worship. And I mean, they're fifth and sixth graders, and they're working, they're serving in God's house. I love that. And it goes on to say, but set an example for the believers in speech and conduct and love and faith and impurity. And this is where I love, right here. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of scripture, to preaching and teaching, to holding the babies, to pouring that cup of coffee, to cleaning up the yard and the church, to praying for your friends and going to their home and anointing their home in prayer. Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters. Give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress. It's time to get in the game. It's time to put it into action. You can pray, we can give, and we can all serve. Receive that word today. Amen.