Louie Giglio - May I Have Your Attention?
The message today is entitled «May I Have Your Attention?» Have you ever been at one of those events where all the chatter is going on around the room, and finally, somebody gets a glass and a knife and starts clinking the glass to let everyone know the conversation finally died down? Someone then says, «May I have your attention?» Well, today is a moment like that. Heaven is clinking on the glass and asking, «May I have your attention?» Now, that’s a challenge because the average human attention span isn’t great. Microsoft did a study in 2000, and in that year, the average human attention span was, what do you think, 12 seconds long? Fast forward to the digital age—by 2015, the same study found that the human attention span dropped from 12 seconds to just 8 seconds. Imagine how encouraging that is for me, standing up here giving a message to all of you! I have to do something every 8 seconds to reboot the whole system!
But I want us to know today that when God sets His mind on something, He doesn’t suffer from attention deficit; He has eternal focus. What we’re talking about in this series is what God is eternally focused on, and we see it in Acts 1:8. The text will come up on the screen: «But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.» This is God’s plan; this is what He’s focused on. This is where we got the title of our series. We didn’t sit in a creative meeting and say, «Oh, I know! Let’s come up with a cool title: 'To the Ends of the Earth! '» No, we extracted it directly from the text, from the plan, and from what God is focused on. You’ll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
That didn’t start in Acts 1:8. We see it all through the story. Psalm 46:10 is one of the most well-known verses in the church, and you can say it with me: «Be still and know that I am God.» Isn’t that amazing? Except there’s a semicolon there. I think the text is coming up. This is one of those classic moments for me. I would grab onto «Be still and know that I am God,» thinking that was the whole verse because that’s what I needed. I’m in a storm; I have trouble; I’m perplexed; I need to be still right now and know that I am God. This is for me, right? I wouldn’t know there was a semicolon there and that the verse wasn’t over yet. If you ask the average person who’s been around the church their whole life if they know «Be still and know that I am God,» they would say yes, but if you asked them what comes after the semicolon, they would go, «What semicolon?»
All the way back in Psalm 46, He’s saying, «Be still,» which basically means to cease striving, chill out, be confident, and be assured that I am God. And here’s why that’s important: «I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.» In other words, this plan didn’t start after the resurrection; this has been in God’s mind since before time. «Be still and know that I am God. I’m in charge, I have a plan, and nobody’s stopping me. And you know what the plan is? I’m going to be praised in every nation. I’m going to be praised on the whole earth. Every person on earth is going to know the goodness and grace of the story that is coming through Jesus Christ and the power of resurrection, and I’m going to do it. You can mark it down. You can get in or get out; you can be with me or not; I am going to do this. Be still and know I am God, and this is what I’m going to do.»
We see it fulfilled in Revelation 5, which shows us the end of the story in heaven. This is what heaven looks like, by the way; it doesn’t look exactly like the gathering we’re in right now. Here’s what heaven looks like: «And they sang a new song.» These are those who are gathered around the throne and around the Lamb: «You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you, Jesus, were slain, and with your blood, you purchased men for God—that’s mankind—for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.» So that’s heaven. We already saw what God was thinking about before; now we’re getting to the epicenter of the movement in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we’re seeing how this plays out from day one.
The reason I love it is that everything in the world is in reset mode right now and is rebooting. So when you’re in reset and reboot, what do you do? You go back to the instructions; you go back to the starting point; you ask, «What is this all about in the first place?» We know in the first place that God is very focused on a plan. He has a plan: «You are going to be my witnesses.» You are here, there, and everywhere. He has people in the plan, and we will meet some of them today. And He’s supplying all the power we need for the plan through the Holy Spirit.
So, we’re going to see the plan, we’re going to meet some of the people, and we’re going to see the Holy Spirit all over the place today. People are getting healed; people are getting saved; revival is breaking out; people are speaking in other languages; the dead are being raised! The Holy Spirit is just all over this movement, these people who are part of this plan, and we’re going to see all that woven together today. But we’re starting in Acts 8:1. This is where Brad and Brett both started last week. They both backtracked and did a flyover of quite a bit of the text, and we’re going to do that again today.
In fact, I don’t know about you, but often when I’m on a plane flying, especially across the country, I notice everybody’s watching a movie. I don’t know why—I’m just not good at watching movies on planes. I go through the whole thing, anyone like me, going through the selection three times saying, «No, no, no,» then I default to what I love anyway. I go to the flight map, and I just watch myself fly over the whole USA! Anyone else with me? It’s like, «Oh, cool! We’re coming up on Topeka, Kansas!» I’m hoping it’s going to be on my side of the plane, and I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of Topeka out the window. Now, we’re not going to go down and have barbecue, okay? But we’re going to go over Topeka and Denver and maybe Salt Lake, and then we’re going to land in L.A. So get ready for that. That’s what we’re about to do, okay? But we’re starting with the death of Stephen.
So this great upsurge of resurrection faith has smashed right into the opposition of the Jewish authorities who want to squash this story of Jesus being alive. Stephen is the first martyr we see in the story; he’s dragged outside the city of Jerusalem and stoned to death. One of the leaders of this whole organized effort to stop the spread of resurrection is Saul. It says in verse 1, «And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.»
So if you’re paying attention, the plan was witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Right here, early in the story, we’ve already got Jerusalem checked off. Now people are going to Judea, and now people are going to Samaria. Why are they going? Because they felt motivated? No, because persecution sent them out. So the little footnote for us there is that some of the hardship we face in life could be useful in putting us in places we wouldn’t likely go to be a part of the plan by the power of God, to be God’s chosen person in that moment to take the story of resurrection power somewhere we weren’t already planning to go. So persecution scattered the church and as the church went, the plan starts to unfold.
Then it says some godly men mourn deeply for Stephen, and they buried him. But then, look at verse 3: «But Saul began to destroy the church, going from house to house; he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.» So right away, we see the opposition that’s coming to the plan of God, but we already know because of Psalm 46:10 and many other texts like it that this plan is going to prevail. We can be still and know that the plan is going to prevail, but we can also know that the plan is constantly going to face opposition. Now, Paul has made it his mission. I feel like he thinks he has the upper hand. «We just took Stephen out; people are scared for their lives; people are on the run; I have authority from the high priest and the religious leaders, and I’m going to go start knocking on doors. I’m going house to house, and I’m going to go person by person, and people who are saying they’re following this resurrection story, they’re going to jail.»
It seems like somehow the story gets turned upside down, but in fact, it doesn’t get turned upside down at all. We see in the very next verse, «Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.» Then we see our flyover; here we go to Topeka, Kansas! Are you ready? Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. «May I have your attention?» Here’s one thing we’re learning in the text: when you have a message of resurrection, a transformed life, and the power of the Holy Spirit, you don’t have to ask for people’s attention; you’re going to get people’s attention.
So the Samaritans are like, «Whoa! We’re paying attention!» Philip preaches the gospel, and the Samaritans receive Christ and the spirit of God. Now, why does this matter? Because the Jews hated the Samaritans! The Samaritans, back in history, had married; they were Jews who had married foreigners who’d come into their land. There’s racial and ethnic tension at its peak between the Jews and the Samaritans. Though resurrection power had come to Jerusalem and the true Jews, the true Jewish mindset would never think that this favor of God, this Spirit of God, this move of God, this power of God, would go to them; surely not! Even so much so that when Jesus went out of His way to go through Samaria to have that encounter with the woman at the well, everyone was perplexed—"Why would He do that?» But God had a plan, and His plan included all the nations, all the languages, and all the tribes and ethnicities, including the Samaritans, for whom He gave His life.
So Philip gets a word and moves out to Samaria, and lo and behold, God wants to have grace, favor, and mercy among the Samaritans, and they have a revival in Samaria. It makes so much news that they send word back to Jerusalem asking the apostles, «Can this really be happening?» They send Peter and John down to check it out. When they get there, the Spirit breaks out, and they go, «This is unbelievable! God is on the move!» Right away, check the box: the gospel jumps over a barrier that people think is impossible, and kingdom resurrection power is now breaking out in revival in Samaria.
It says when the apostles returned to Jerusalem, they preached in every town in Samaria. Then it says about Philip that he was transported in the Spirit. I don’t know what that means. He got transported from Samaria, which is north of Jerusalem, all the way south of Jerusalem to the desert road headed toward Gaza. He just realizes, «I just woke up, and I’m on the desert road headed toward Gaza,» and he looks over and there’s an Ethiopian sitting in his chariot under a tree reading from the prophet Isaiah, the text about being pierced for our transgressions, which speaks hundreds of years before Jesus about Jesus' life. This was a God-fearing Ethiopian Jew who came to Jerusalem for one of the festivals and is now on his way back to Ethiopia. Philip gets invited into the story by being transported through the Spirit. The Spirit nudges his heart to go stand near the chariot. He stands near the chariot, notices the guy reading Isaiah, and says, «Hey, what are you reading about?»
He responds, «I don’t know if this guy’s talking about himself or someone else. Do you know what it’s about?» That’s a softball question. That’s when God puts you in a situation. It’s like when someone walks up to you at work and says, «Hey, my marriage is falling apart, and I don’t know what to do. I’m living at a friend’s house right now; you got any ideas?» And you might say, «Well, that sounds rough, man; I’ll pray for you.» No! That’s a softball! That’s like T-ball! Little kids who can hardly swing a bat, even though they’ve got black stuff under their eyes and all their gear, and the ball is just sitting there on the tee. All you have to do is walk up and whack it! This is a softball!
God’s going to give you some softballs. He’s going to give you some opposition, but He’s also going to give you a softball every now and then. When He gives you a softball, just knock that thing out of the park, okay? When the guy says, «I don’t know what Isaiah is talking about—is he talking about something bad that’s going to happen to him or something bad happening to someone else? Is he going to suffer or is someone else going to suffer?» Philip said, «Thank you very much for the softball!»
He thinks, «That revival in Samaria was a lot, and I’m a little worn out.» He says, «Okay, let me explain.» It says Philip picked up with Isaiah and told the Ethiopian the story all the way to Jesus. The Ethiopian said, «I want to put my faith in Jesus!» Write it in there! The Ethiopian became a Christian, and you know why that was pretty important? Because this Ethiopian was the treasury director for the country of Ethiopia under Candace, the queen! He just got saved!
They’re walking along together, talking about how cool it is that he just got saved. The Ethiopian says, «There’s water right there! Can I get baptized right here and now?» So Samaria had a revival, and now Africa has a saved, baptized, Jesus follower who just happens to run the treasury of a nation and have the ear of a queen on his way home, figuring out the story that has been promised for hundreds of years before has now been fulfilled in a man named Jesus and proven by an act called resurrection! Now, I am baptized into that same resurrection power, and I’m on my way to Ethiopia saved and touched by the Spirit of God, a follower of Jesus.
So we’re going to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth, and we haven’t even read one chapter. Check, check, check, check! The gospel is moving out to the ends of the earth! Isn’t that amazing? But then look at verse 1 of chapter 9. So all that’s happening, but then verse 1 of chapter 9 opens with the word «Meanwhile.» There’s always a couple of things going on. God’s doing revival over here, but somebody over here is clueless about the revival—namely Saul. So while God’s breaking out a revival in Samaria, we have an Ethiopian finance director for a whole nation on his way home saved and a follower of Jesus, but Saul doesn’t really know what’s going on.
It says in verse 1, «Meanwhile, while God’s breaking out revival and fulfilling the plan, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.» This guy still thinks he’s going to destroy the church, and so he’s heading out of Jerusalem to the next town up the road in Damascus saying, «I heard there are some followers of the Way up there, and I’m going to put an end to that.»
On the way, he has a vision. He gets knocked to the ground; he sees Jesus, who says to him, «Saul, why are you persecuting me?» He’s like, «Wow!» He’s blinded and saved in an encounter with Jesus on the way to a city to put an end to the followers of the Way. He becomes a follower of the Way on the way! The story here is that not only can God jump over barriers that look insurmountable, not only can He span a continent in a moment, but He can also change the heart of anybody in your story.
So if there’s anybody in your equation that you crossed off the list and said, «Everyone else maybe, but not them,» you might want to uncross them off your list today. Because it is possible for resurrection gospel truth to change anybody’s heart anywhere at any time. I don’t know, maybe you’re saying, «Yeah, my boss? Not going to happen! The guy that’s a board member with me? My neighbor? My father-in-law? My sister? Not going to happen!» Don’t cross anybody off your list until God tells you He’s crossed them off His list. He chooses who He wants to awaken to the glory and gospel power of resurrection, and Saul is right in the middle of our story today reminding us that everybody has a shot at the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Everybody has a chance! There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias, and he got a vision from God. «There’s this guy named Saul of Tarsus, and he can’t see right now. He’s waiting for someone to come and pray for him to regain his sight. He is on Straight Street; I’ll give you specific directions as to where he is. Now you go pray for him.» Ananias says, «No, thank you! I’ve heard of Saul of Tarsus. He was on his way here to kill me, so I don’t think I want to go pray for him. If he can’t see, that’s just better for me!»
But God says, «No, no. I probably should have started with this: Go! Because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel, and I’ll show him how much he must suffer for my name.» When he was standing by giving approval to Stephen’s death, God already knew, «No, there’s another—there’s a bigger plan for you.» You may be standing somewhere today completely anti-God; you may be standing in complete foolishness right now, and God may be looking at you, in your foolishness and in your anti-Godness, going, «I have a plan that’s gonna surprise you!»
Don’t cross yourself off the list! Because everybody can taste resurrection power! Ananias goes and prays for Saul. It says that when he prayed, something like scales fell off of his eyes, and he immediately started preaching the gospel of Jesus. These people were scared to death; they’re like, «It’s a ploy! It’s a plot! Don’t fall for it! He’s acting like he loves Jesus, but he doesn’t! He’s acting like he’s preaching resurrection, but he’s here to kill us all!»
It was very tense for a moment. He eventually comes under threat and goes back to Jerusalem, and they won’t have it either. They’re like, «No, you’re not coming here, bro! Here, thank you very much Stephen. Remember that thing? It’s not happening!» He had to tell the story again, and Ananias had to tell the story again. People had to tell the story all over again, «No, this is how it happened. This guy really got saved; it’s legit!»
Don’t you want some people coming into church that we’re like, «Oh, wow!» and then we have to hear the story a couple of times like, «No, it’s real, man! They really actually are transformed by the power of the gospel!» You turn the page; we’re just flying over Denver now in chapter 10. You get the stories by reading the first verse of each chapter, by the way, if you’re not noticing that already.
At Caesarea, which is a town north of Jerusalem on the sea, on the Mediterranean, it’s an outpost for Rome running this whole area of the world at that time. There was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian regiment. Okay, flying over! So we don’t have time to drop down and have coffee at one of the local coffee shops. Cornelius is a God-fearing man; he’s trying to live a godly life. He’d be considered a really good person trying to live a really good life and is doing a pretty good job of it. But Cornelius didn’t have all the dots connected. One day he had a vision. The vision said, «You need to send some people to Joppa; it’s another town, and look for a guy named Simon; they also call him Peter, and that’s confusing because he’s at the house of a guy named Simon.» But he gives him the address.
He sends two guys down there, and Peter is a good Jew. As a Jew, he knows it’s against the law to even associate with a foreigner who’s a non-Jew. He gets two guys knocking on the door of Simon’s house, the other Simon, and they say, «Cornelius has asked for you to come to Caesarea,» and he thinks, «Hmm, sounds like an Italian dude. Sounds like he’s not a son of Abraham, and I don’t really know how this is going to go down.» But he had a vision the night before of a sheet coming down from heaven filled with four-footed animals and reptiles. The Lord said to him, «Eat whatever you see!» He replied, «No! Some of these animals are unclean! You told us in the Old Testament we can’t eat those!»
Then God said, «What I say is clean, you must not call unclean.» He thought, «That was weird!» Until the two guys showed up at the door, then he went, «Hmm.» The Gentiles! The foreigners! They were not just sons of Abraham! He went, and when he got there, Cornelius had gathered a whole crowd. Why? Because you don’t have to ask for people’s attention when God is speaking to people!
So when God is speaking to somebody in your neighborhood and they’re like, «Man, I’ve been having these dreams or thoughts,» or «I’ve been having these weird feelings; I don’t know what’s going on in life!» That’s another softball, and you roll in and say, «Well, let me tell you what all that’s about. That’s the God of Almighty in heaven trying to get your attention. Let me explain maybe what He’s trying to say.»
So Peter rolls in, and eventually the people freak out because they think he’s God. He says, «No, I’m just like you.» Then he underscores the point and you can see it in chapter 10, verse 27: «Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them, 'You are all well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me? '» Cornelius said, «I had a vision that I was supposed to send for you, and you had something to tell us.»
Peter preaches a message in the verses that follow, telling them the story of Jesus. As he’s preaching, the Holy Spirit falls on them just like what happened in Acts 2. While he’s preaching, the Holy Spirit falls on this gathering at Cornelius' house, and they start speaking another language, just like the people did in Acts 2. The Spirit fell on them, and Peter’s mind is blown. He’s like, «This is unbelievable! I’m preaching to Gentiles! God sent me to Gentiles! The Spirit’s falling on Gentiles!» And they had a revival in Cornelius' house!
The gospel had jumped over to Samaria; it was already on its way to Ethiopia, and now all peoples on the planet, every nation on earth, is in the story! This gospel story is for everybody! It’s so mind-boggling that Peter has to go back to Jerusalem to the apostles and to the leaders of the church and say, «You’re not going to believe what happened in Caesarea!» He recounts it all, «I know, I know, but I saw it with my own eyes!»
They had to have a meeting and decided to ask, «Now, tell us again what happened? Why did you go? What was the vision?» After their whole meeting about it, it says in chapter 11, verse 18, «When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, 'So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life! '» Check! There’s a plan, there are people, and there’s power.
I just want to park at the end of chapter 11. Look at verse 19: «Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.» In other words, their mindset was still, «God has done something amazing, but surely that’s just for the Jewish people. We’re the sons of Abraham.» They didn’t know that a revival had broken out at Cornelius' house. They didn’t know that God was already jumping over all the barriers and that every ethnicity, every nation, every language, and every tribe was going to be invited into this grand story.
But look at the next verse. It says: «Some of them, however—men from Cyprus and Cyrene—went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling the good news about the Lord Jesus.» Now, Antioch, at that time, was an extraordinarily influential city. If you look at a map above Lebanon into the very southern part of Turkey, you’ll see the city where Antioch was. It was an epicenter of Greek culture and a crossroads for the known world. These brothers go, and they say, «We’re not just looking to tell this story to Jews; we want to tell the story to anybody.» «Greeks? Great! Do you know Jesus is Lord? Do you know the story of the gospel?» All these Greeks started putting their faith in Jesus, and a church was born in Antioch, so strong that Jerusalem ultimately sent Barnabas, one of their best, to lead it.
Barnabas went and got Saul of Tarsus to come, and the two of them stayed a year building this church. This church became such a force; it became the sending church for the missionary journeys we’re going to read about in the book of Acts. Then it says something amazing about you in this story. Look at it down in verse 23: «When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.» Down in verse 26: «The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.»
Before this, they were called the People of the Way. For the very first time now, this church has so much momentum, and people have said about these resurrection people, «They’re Christians!» So, anyone in this room who considers yourself a Christian, your DNA goes all the way back to Antioch—the very first time someone looked at any follower of Jesus and said, «Man, you’re a Christ one!»
Christianity didn’t start in the West; it started in a town currently in southern Turkey. «Christian» was first coined in Antioch—a Greek city, a multicultural city! The gospel rose there, and being a Christian—that’s your heritage! That’s our family. That’s our DNA; that’s where we came from—from Antioch! That’s where we got our namesake, given first in Antioch for Jesus' sake, because the gospel could not and would not be stopped!
Do you know why? Because this plan has heaven’s attention. What God is saying today is, «May I have your attention? There’s a plan! The gospel is the message! The Spirit is the power! And there is still a lot to be done!» Namely, half the people on planet earth currently have little or no access to the gospel. You say, «Well, I’m just going to be still and know that I am God. He seems like He’s doing good! I mean, look what He did—He seems like He’s doing fine! I don’t know why God needs me to get involved. I don’t know why He needs me to be praying, giving, or going! He looks like He’s doing fine!»
And He is doing fine, and He’s going to do fine. But don’t you want to spend your one shot on earth doing the thing that God is doing while you’re here, so you don’t get to the end and say, «Whoa! You were micro-focused on the plan, and I don’t know what I did, but I think I just threw my life away!» That’s why this is a game-changer today!
So we say we’re for God. Honestly, I think I’m extraordinarily happy with how this church puts Jesus at the center and lifts up a sovereign God above all things, making everything we do not about us, but about Him. We say that we are for people, and I love how this church is growing with a heart to serve, care for, and value people. We say we are for the city, and we’re doing what we can to bring light and healing to our city. But we also say that we are for the world, and I know that for our team, 2021 is a year for us to put the pilot light under that fourth phrase and see that thing roar to life like it may not have in the last little season.
So many things have happened to tie into that. One of them was that a family in our church—their daughter, sitting right over here—gave me a copy of a book at Christmas. It was an extraordinary way they gave it to me; it’s a story unto itself. The book is by a phenomenally well-known photographer/artist who wanted to capture some of the most beautiful cultures and people on earth—cultures that may not last much longer in today’s globalized world. He said, «I want these people to never be forgotten, and I want them to be remembered.» He made this book, and it was given as a gift to me.
It sits on the table in my office, which is essentially a meeting room. For the last ten days, it’s been open to this page. It’s just been another thread of the story of God saying, «We’re for God—yes, we are! We’re for people—yes, we are! We’ll see people come from death to life! We are for the city—yes, we are! But we are also for the world, and we know there’s a plan!»
We’ve known it from the beginning of our movement, and from the beginning of Passion City, we want to be for the world too. So, this book lands on my desk. Every day when I come into the office, I’m staring at this guy right here. Check that guy out! I mean, on another day, it could have been these people.
On this particular day, I’m like, «What in the world? Who are these people?» Apparently, I’m the last person to find out about them! These guys—if you want to see a few of them—they are the eagle hunters of Mongolia. Here’s the info about them. They’re Kazaks, meaning they’re obviously from Kazakhstan, but over time, they migrated into Mongolia. They—I won’t tell you the whole story; you probably know more about it than me—get these female eagles out of the nest when they’re young. They train them and raise them up. They go out in the winter; they’re herders and have livestock in the summer. But in the winter, they go out during the snowy seasons, and the eagles go and hunt the foxes. That’s how they live.
I’ve had it open to this guy because his close-up is pretty powerful, and every day, at some point, I ask the question: What am I doing? What are we doing to help the story of the gospel reach him? He’s Kazak, so there’s a lot moving in his favor! Apparently, the world knows about him. While I was doing research on him and his people, I stumbled onto this article: This is the New York Times travel page. In the article, you’re like, «When was that written?» February 21st, something along there, and it was updated last Wednesday! Apparently, I’m the only person who doesn’t know about the eagle hunters of Mongolia.
You can go there and maybe hold one of the eagles in the Kazak mountains of Mongolia, but I think everybody who’s heard about them has been blown away. It’s fascinating! It is fascinating! But I wonder how many times we’ve traveled around the world, seen the stories of the world, and met the peoples of the world, and it’s been fascinating, but it didn’t turn from fascinating to heartbreaking. Because this guy, unless he knows Jesus—and he might; it’s possible—he’s most likely following Islam mixed with spiritism. It’s likely that when he needs a cure, he goes to the witch doctor or the shaman who tells him what his future is going to be. But he doesn’t know there’s a man named Jesus who canceled all debt, rose from the dead, defeated death, hell, and the grave, and whose name is above every name, who has the power to save and raise people from the dead. He doesn’t know that there is an anthem in heaven, and he can join it on earth.
He doesn’t know that he has a God who knows his name and speaks Kazak, so when God speaks to him, he won’t need a translator; he’ll just talk directly to God! A God who’ll ride with him on the hunt and be with him when he returns. A God who promised him a future and a hope, who said, «I have plans for you, plans for good, plans to prosper you, plans not to harm you, to bring you a future and a hope.» He doesn’t know that there is a God who has prepared a table and a feast for him. He only knows that the God of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelieving so they might not see the glory of God on the face of Christ, and God is just saying again today, «May I have your attention?»
You want to hear something crazy? I know we’re wrapping up! I was just sharing this message in the earlier gathering at our location in Cumberland. I don’t know if we have a photo or not, but we tried to grab it in between with EB on the right—he’s Mongolian—and his wife; they’re part of our house. Grant let me know in between the gathering, «I’ve been out to the Kazak mountains, and I actually had one of the eagles on my fist before!» I was like, «Now I know who was doing all the amening and clapping during my talk!» There hadn’t been any amenity in this gathering so far, but a lot of amenity was coming from over there!
I’m thinking it was EB, and he said at the end, «I was just stunned and amazed, sitting here today, hearing our house pray for my people!» You want to take it up a notch? Brad sent me a text in between from someone also in our house who said, «My wife and I spent several months in Mongolia among the Kazaks, and I actually shared Jesus with some of the people we’re talking about today, and they came to put their faith in the Lord!»
So, we have brothers and sisters among the Kazaks of Mongolia! Those people who were in the same gathering this morning? The book just happens to be turned this week to the Kazak eagle hunters! God is speaking, and He’s inviting! If you’re like, «You know what, Louie? I just got here today, honestly! I’m the person you were talking about before; my marriage is falling apart; my life is falling apart; I have no idea what to do right now! I don’t know enough about the Bible or enough about Jesus to even know if this is the right step for me! I just ended up in the gathering, at church today, and maybe you’re thinking, 'I’m about as far away from God as you think that guy geographically might be! '»
I just want you to know today that if you’re sitting here feeling like God wouldn’t know your name or couldn’t speak your language or wouldn’t understand a thing about your world, I’m telling you, He knows everything about the eagle hunters, and He knows everything about you. There is nobody in this moment who is too far or has been crossed off the list, and in this moment, you can receive grace, forgiveness, repent from your way of life, turn to Jesus, be born again into brand new life, be touched, and filled by the Holy Spirit, and begin to live a brand new story!