- Well, good morning. God's have been faithful, amen. God's been faithful, amen? Yeah, some more caffeine is needed. You know, this is one of those mornings where I've put some thoughts together for us, and we'll have a chance to share. And I really have no idea how long this is gonna go, so it could go for a while. I know you're hungry for some chicken and whatever down there. But we wanna pause, and we wanna talk about this theme, and that is To God Be the Glory. And before I pray and we share some thoughts together, here's what I want you to do. I want you to open up God's word. It's been central to our church for 50 years, and it will continue to be central as we go forward. I want you to open up to the Book of Ephesians, chapter three. And we're gonna start reading in verse seven in just a little bit. It's page 970, by the way, in your chair Bible, or 977 I should say. And also, you may wanna grab your notes and a pen and jot down a few thoughts this morning or just listen in from God's word as we share some things together. Let me pray for us. Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness and your goodness to all of us. And Lord, this morning as we look to your word, truth, that reminds us of how life really is, I ask that you would speak into our hearts, that our lives would be pliable today to hear from you through the voice of your Holy Spirit that is moving right now in this place through the power of your word to encourage us to live for the next 50 years to follow you faithfully wherever that may lead. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. The nation of Israel was far from God. They were really in shambles. They weren't really worshiping God anymore. They were worshiping idols everywhere. The temple was in total disrepair. They had gone from king after king after king who decided to follow his own ways and follow other gods. And as a result of that, they no longer sought God's ways, and they were experiencing unbelievable consequences because of their sin. But there was a new king on the throne. However, the kids will love this one, he was eight years old. Can you imagine an eight-year-old king? Now, I put that through my lens, and I'm thinking candy like every day, right, yeah? Whatever your mom and dad tell you not to eat, you're gonna eat, right? Mom comes, says time to go to bed. You know what my response is gonna be? Nope, and I'm the king. Isn't that great? I mean, I just can't imagine, an eight-year-old king. That must have been a party waiting to happen. And yet, in 2 Kings 22, it says that young Josiah followed God, and he didn't move to the right or to the left. In other words, he was resolute on focusing on worshiping God. And as we read through that chapter, we learn by the time he was 18 years of age, he decided to start bringing about reforms in the nation of Israel. Now, the temple had gone into disrepair. There were idols in there. It was just a mess. And so as he looked at this temple, which was supposed to be used to come in communion with the only true God, he was led to start offering repairs for that. And in order to do that, he sent his secretary, I don't know, it must have been secretary of state, over to the temple to contact the high priest and to take the money that the good people of the nation of Judah had given so that the temple would not fall into disrepair. Now, where that money went, how it was embezzled, I have absolutely no idea. It reminded me though, this week when I found out that the chiefs of the United Auto Workers, you all saw the press reports, right, embezzled thousands and millions of dollars of the good people that were donating it to the union funds. Sounds like Chicago, but it happened in Michigan. And I found it so hilarious when I read through it. I wish I had more time. It actually says King Josiah told the high priest and gave orders through the secretary to take the money that was supposed to be used for the repairs, and don't go through the union officials. Go directly to the workmen because they're honest. No integrity is needed, or they're full of integrity, so no accounting is needed. So they did, they started repairing things. And somebody at some point took a crowbar and lifted off the top of a crate. And inside that crate, you know what they found? They found a scroll much like the Rockpoint scroll that's up here. See, they didn't have books. They just had scrolls. And it was given to the high priest, and the high priest, which is just unbelievable to me, all of a sudden said it's a scroll. I mean, can you imagine? He was supposed to lead people in the worship of God, and he had lost God's word. This would be like me going into my office and say well, where's my Bible? I can't remember where I put that thing 30 years ago. And he pulls it out, and he starts reading from a scroll a lot older than this one. This one survived the Holocaust and generously donated to us by Larson Foundation. And as he read it, he said the king's gotta see this. So the king had it read to him, and at that moment, probably when he read through what is oftentimes referred to as the Book of the Law, which would have been the Book of Deuteronomy, and he got to chapter 28, I'm sure, where it talks about if you follow God, there's blessings. If you don't follow God, there's curses and wrath. And he ripped his clothes. He said look how far we've gotten away from God because we've lost His word. So immediately, he sent word to a prophetess who contacted the Lord, and through that prophetess, the Lord said, you know, because you've repented, and shown by the ripping of your clothes and your heart is returned to me, you will die in peace, but the nation will still experience the consequences of sin. And that's amazing because the very next thing that happened was, in spite of the bad news, Josiah didn't give up. He said no, we're gonna stay true to the word, and so he collected the entire nation, and they gathered together. And he had a public reading of the Book of the Law, probably the entire book of Deuteronomy. And he made a new covenant with God, and the people made a new covenant with God. And then the story goes on. You can read about it sometime later this afternoon to tomorrow, in 2 Kings 23, that he began to bring reforms in the nation like there had never been before. And they celebrated the Passover in a way the nation had never celebrated before. And there was a great revival and reformation that took place because they decided to center their nation and their lives back on God's word. So much so that in chapter 23 of 2 Kings, listen to these words in verse 25, before him, Josiah, there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. Because they found the book, and it changed the nation. Now I love this story because it communicates what can happen when God's word is central to our lives. It explains what happens when we veer from the Lord, and we forget the truth that is found in His word. And if there is ever a time for us as a church going forward in this culture, we've got to focus back on the truth because it reminds us of reality and who we are and who God is and how to live in a loving relationship with Him and with others. And you know what? Paul understood this. Paul the apostle understood the same principle, and it's why Paul did not have fanciful theories about planting churches. As I go through the New Testament, and I look at probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest church planters that's ever walked on the face of the Earth, as you go through New Testament book after New Testament book after New Testament book, I have not found Chick-fil-A's secret sauce in there anywhere. I'd love for it to be there, but it's not. When you look at a church and how it gets healthy and how it should grow, there are a couple really basic components. And we're going to concentrate on two of them today. And Paul understood it, and he understood central to the health of a church, which has been central to our church and will be into the future, is to focus on God's word. I've said this for years, a dusty Bible will always lead to a cobwebbed what? Character, every single time. And it was Paul the apostle who was not gonna give up on preaching God's word, focusing on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was gonna die with his boots on, or probably sandals, I guess, in his case. And he wasn't gonna stop until he dropped. Why? Was it because he worshiped the word? Is it because we worship the word? Absolutely not. It is the written word of God that guides us into a relationship with the living word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's where we're going to put our gaze this morning. If you'll look down at Ephesians 3:7, I'll begin reading, and then we'll come back and make a few comments. Paul says this. Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me by the working of His power to me, though I am the very least of all the saints. This grace was given to preach to the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have, notice this, boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. And then he makes a remarkable statement. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. He wants to pray for something. From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named that according to the riches of His glory, He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints, I love this, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. And then he gives this benediction. He says, now to Him who is able to do more abundantly than all we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever, amen. Now, Paul just gave us a ton of stuff, so let's go back. Paul was convinced of this. If you focus your life on the very word of God, it will lead you to first understand the power of Christ that transforms us. You see, we don't worship the word. The word guides us into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you look down at verse seven, he says of this gospel, that's the good news about Jesus, that He died for our sins, and He rose from the grave. Paul was running around the known 1st century world communicating the message of Jesus Christ because he understood, as we've been studying in our series called The Unshakeable Truth, that there's a holy God who's created us to live in relationship with Him, created in His image. The problem was we uncovered this essential truth of original sin that separates us from this holy God. And it is the word of God that begins to reveal to us the truth about God, the truth about us, and how we can once again live in right relationship with Him and with one another. And that all happens through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul says there is no other way. Paul says back earlier in this book, he says you were dead, in chapter two, in your trespasses and sins. Now, you think back over the journey, not just of our church over 50 years, but let's just go back to 50 years in your own life. Think about what God has done for you. Think about those moments when some of you came to Christ later on, and as an adult, you were dead in your sin, and you know emotionally what that was like. And then there came a point, though, when all of a sudden, the truth given to you through, in some way, shape, or form, I'm not sure. It could have been a person. Could have been a spouse sitting next to you, just showed up in your life. And what happened to you was that the Holy Spirit of God convicted you of your sin, and you repented. And what happens, because many of you would say to God be the glory, right? You turned to Jesus Christ as the person who died for your sin and rose from the grave, and you wholly trusted Him as the only one that can take you to heaven. You see, it's not by works. That's what Paul says in chapter two of Ephesians. And you remember those moments, those days when it transformed you, and it changed you. And Paul says in chapter three that he was transformed, given this incredible grace, because it's unmerited favor. You can't earn it. Grace means God's riches at Christ's expense. It's unmerited favor. He died, so that by His death, I might be given life, period. Not by my works at all. And then I'm saved, and I'm transformed, and Paul says this revelation was given to me. And then it's amazing to me in chapter three, verse three right at the end, he says by revelation as I have written briefly. It was Paul the apostle that knew that he was communicating to people how they could have a relationship with God again. He was writing it down as God's commands, God's word, and that became part of this book, the truth. From the Old Testament scrolls to the New Testament scrolls, which became our book, it focuses us back on the word of God. And then, as this change happens, we've been transformed, we begin to understand, as he says in verse eight, the riches of Christ. Paul says I'm suffering for you so that you can hear this message, and then he gives this incredible prayer. Because what he does in verses seven through 13, Paul says I've done everything I possibly can. I'm all in, God. I've done everything I can. And then in verse 14, he says, now God, I need for you to do what only you can do. See, if your life was changed because you received Christ as savior and lord through Rockpoint church, it's not because of us. It's because of God. It's because the spirit of God changed your life. It is because the word of God was focused on as a church, and change began to take place. And then Paul the apostle says because you've met Christ as savior, He's gonna bow before God the Father and pray that Christ may dwell in your hearts. That means to be at home with. So that the transformation continues through the truth of God's word so that you would begin to understand the breadth and the length and the height and the depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses anything you've ever experienced before so that the Holy Spirit of God will continue to change you and transform you. You see, what Paul is telling us here through the word of God, the power of Christ transforms us. It is the Holy Spirit of God that takes the word of God, which points to the Son of God, transforming us into a child of God. And Paul knew it, and he wasn't going to give up. And he begins to proclaim loudly that this message that has changed you and transformed you is because you've put your faith in Him. Now, at Rockpoint, we've asked this question over the years, and it was asked before I became senior pastor here. Do you know Him? Are you trusting Him as savior and lord? See, that's the application question out of this point. The application question is if you've come to this church, and you've heard the message over and over and over again, it is our heart's cry that the Holy Spirit of God has grabbed you at that point and allowed you to understand and convicted you of your need for a savior, Jesus Christ. He's done all the work for you. And so my question to you, have you been here, have you floated in and out of our circles? Are you here today because somebody grabbed you and said hey, you were a part of our church 30 years ago. Okay, I'll be there. But you never put your faith in Him. It's the only way you're gonna find hope. It's the only way you're gonna find joy. And it's the word of God that points us to the work of Jesus Christ, but it is also the power of Christ that unites us. Paul has said over and over throughout this book that it is through Jesus Christ that we find hope and joy. And then he says at the tail end of chapter two of the Book of Ephesians that He's brought us together regardless of our past and placed us in this thing called the church, the very family of God. Paul says I am coming to you to bring light of the riches of Christ to the gentiles, but then he says in verse nine, to bring light for everyone so that through the church, this new thing, the body of Christ, Paul says in chapter one, verse 22, putting us together, uniting us so that we would begin to display the incredible grace of God together. And then notice what he says. He says that I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Now, glory means praise, but glory also means praise because we are shining with, and don't miss this, we are shining with the very character and brilliance of the Lord Jesus Christ as He changes us. You see, glory is the sum total of God's attributes. Glory is God's character. And as we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we come into a relationship with God. And then all of a sudden before you know it, He's beginning to transform us and change us so that we begin to represent His image to our world. And when Paul says I'm suffering, I'm suffering, because it's not about you. It's not about, really, Rockpoint other than the fact that it's about Jesus working His plan in us and changing us and drawing us together to collectively show Him off. That's his whole point here. And notice in verse 21, he actually says to Him, to God, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. How does that happen? Through a relationship with Christ, and as we allow Him to dwell in our hearts, as we begin to understand His love, as we begin to understand how to love one another, as we begin to grapple with the fact that we were far from God headed towards hell itself, and He grabbed us, changed us, gave us hope. Because we say often here, we are a community of broken and imperfect people who have found what? Hope in Christ. There is no other way. And as we do, it's His character that changes us and transforms us so that individually and collectively, we display the very attributes of God in our life, His brilliance, His hope so that others find joy and hope and salvation in Him. And as a result of that, we praise Him. And together, we reflect His image, not just individually. That's why I wanted to show you some pictures because this is what happens, church, when we decide to get serious about focusing on the word that transforms us. And then we find the power of Christ that unites us, and we learn how to get along with one another, which has not always been easy at Lakewood Rockpoint over the past 50 years. But we serve in Awana ministry together so that little children can come to Christ. And we go pick up trash, and we set lights up while it's freezing cold outside so people can drive through here and see that there's a church that loves them. And we ask you to join small groups so that you can begin to discover truth in the midst of community and know that we're in this together. And that you may be struggling with sin in your life, but so is somebody else. And we walk this road together because there's nobody perfect. And we love on each other, and we learn how to love, and we learn how to forgive, and we learn how to display the character of Christ. And because Jesus Christ forgives, we forgive. And because Jesus Christ loves, we love. And because Jesus Christ is holy, we pursue a life of honor so that He's seen in us. And we invite people to come to experience that here through things like Fall Festival. And then some of your small groups go off, and you begin to serve in different ways down at East Emmanuel. And then there's work projects that some of you have gone on because we go from the community to different states so that we could be the hands and the feet of Jesus throughout our world. And we go to places where we find homeless individuals down at Union Gospel Mission. And we serve in so many different ways to communicate the love of Jesus Christ around the world. And our students go to Panama, and they share about what? Jesus, the good news that transforms and unites us. And as those students come together and learn how to serve and work, it's Jesus Christ that is seen. And we have short-term teams that travel around the world now. We've got over 40 missionaries here at Rockpoint Church, and this is the Bridges Center. Many of you know that we have given faithfully over the years to this wonderful family in Africa that is raising up leaders for the next generation. And we've had team after team that has showed up. Why? Because many of you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and it is through the focus on His word that transforms us so that we may know Him and then grow in Him. But it doesn't stop there because it is the power of Christ that commissions us. And this is really where I wanted to focus in this morning in the time that we have left. You see, Paul says at the end of this, where it is the word of God that brings transformation because we've met the person of Christ, and it is this Jesus that unites us and asks us to display together His love to our world, that Paul says to Him who is able to do far more abundantly and bring this message, and notice what he says, to all generations. He wants Christ to go out. What is he drawing upon? Well, he's drawing upon a couple of statements that Jesus made. Jesus was asked in Matthew 22 starting in verse 36, he says teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he was referring to the scroll. This is the first five books. He wanted to know what the great was in Deuteronomy chapter six, which says hear, oh Israel, the Lord your God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Notice what Jesus says. He says he said to him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, all your strength. And did you pick up something, for those of you that are really, really smart, and I know it's every person here today. When we were back in 2 Kings, chapter 23, and I read you that verse, did you notice what it said about Josiah? He quoted actually this passage. He said this is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. In other words, what he's asking us to do is to love God and love one another. As we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and we are following Him as lord and savior, He is transforming us. He is uniting us so that we are learning how to love one another, so that we can then go love our world. And we kind of say it this way. It means living differently and loving radically, why? Because we're on a mission just like Paul was. That's why Jesus said at the end of Matthew 28, go therefore. It's knowing, it's growing, and then it's going. Therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Yes, to be honest, the motivation of God's word, the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the change that can come when we focus on that truth so that we are pointed to the person and the work of Christ was at the center of this church when it was conceived in 1968. And it is still that case 50 years later because we don't wanna ever lose this book and the power that's contained in pointing us to the truth about who we are and who Jesus Christ is. And so in 1969, the church began. Jim Rodine was a part of that, and then others started coming, and change began to take place. And to fast-forward, 1972, we joined the Evangelical Free Church of America, which is our denomination. In 1973, we started a building program and moved into that new building, it was new, it's old now, over in White Bear Lake. And the church began to grow and change. And yes, things were happening. I've heard stories about how kids were having Sunday School class in closets. I've seen that closet. I don't know how they got so many. It's like how many clowns can you get in a VW bug? And then somebody showed me this picture of the boiler room, and I was over there when we came almost 18 years ago this December. And Scott Yorkovich, who you saw in the video, he said we used to have our young couples' class in the boiler room. I don't think that would have passed the smell test with OSHA today 'cause I've been there. It's an amazing place. Some of you are giggling because you know exactly what I'm talking about. And God began to move, but you know, there were, there were some ups and downs along the way. And some of you know what I mean, some tough times. And yet, in 1996 through all the growing pains that can happen in a church, the church realized that they could no longer grow where they were at. And so in 1996, they came out here and started looking at the 108 acres that we're currently sitting on and decided that God wanted that church to buy this 108 acres. And you know what happened? It's just on of those miracles along the way, and I'm gonna try and hit all the highlights. They went before the congregation, and in two weeks' time, they raised $1 million to buy this land. That's an amazing thing, folks. And God began to move, but through the ups and downs, things changed, and they weren't able to get out here. And I showed up in 2001, but from 1996 to 2001, they still hadn't made it out here yet. God had taken them through a time of internal personal reflection and development so that they were resolute on focusing on God's mission and His call and the gospel, to take it to the world. And we began to pray. And the church had prayed for years, but we came out here, and we walked this land, and we prayed, and we went over to that barn. You can't go inside the barn anymore. It'll fall over on you, okay. But we used to go in there and pray and ask for God to move. And God showed up in incredible ways because despite the resistance, you need to know this part of the story, and the opposition to keep us from coming out here, there was an election that's, you know, like many of the elections we have, that came up in November. And as we prayed, God did a miraculous thing because we had some individuals shift around on the council here in Lake Elmo. And before you knew it, we were sitting in front of a group of individuals that God had orchestrated because we needed four out of five votes to get the approval to come out here. And guess how many votes we got? Four out of five. And we had a church. But then we had to pay for it because we were only a church of about 300 people. And so we began to put together a plan, and as we constructed this, we saw, and we cut things back. But the total project was still over $15 million. And so we brought before the people that we needed to start a capital campaign. And as we raised those funds, and many of you know because you were part of that experience, in the capital campaign that we offered at that period of time, we raised over $7.3 million, church of 300. And here's the factor I want you to remember, with 100% participation from people. 100%, that's totally unheard of. People said we want to see what God does, and sure enough, the money came in. And with the sell of the land here, which we've already done, and right now we're in negotiations with someone to buy the old church property, we are now on the verge after you put all those pieces together and a couple of campaigns and faithfully serving and giving, we are on the verge where we could possibly be debt-free in a month.

- Woo-hoo.

- Isn't that amazing? And as a result of people praying and sacrificing, because it was all hands on deck when we moved down here, faithfully gave of their time, talents, and treasures, God began to move. I still remember standing right there out in the gathering area with Betty Swanson on the day we opened the doors. Two things happened in that timeframe. First, while we were standing there, we watched individual after individual, car after car, pour into the parking lots. And people just kept coming. And for those of us that had prayed and sacrificed, we just couldn't believe what God was doing. And we tripled in size in seven months. And many of you started coming. And when we did our ribbon cutting in here, what we found out was there were two small groups out here in the St. Croix Valley that had begun praying years ago about a church like Rockpoint that would center on the Gospel, that would center on the word of God, they began to pray for, They didn't know they were praying for us, but they were praying for us. And we were praying to come out here for the people in this community. And all of a sudden, it came together when we opened the doors, and I had people come and said hey, we were part of a small group that was praying for you guys, and God just moved. And so now we're a church of over 1,000, probably 1,400 people. We've got 40 plus missionaries. Rockpoint is reaching around the world, and here's where I wanna land the plane. It's with this question. Is it worth it? Again, we go back to God's word. When I look at verse 13, and your Bibles are still open there, when Paul says so I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory, do you know the question he was asking there? Is it worth it? Was it worth the beatings and the stonings? Was it worth the sacrifice? Was it worth being in prison? And Paul says, absolutely, because you've put your faith and trust in Christ. You're experiencing hope. You're gonna find an eternity because of what Paul the apostle has done. And when I look at you, and I look at me, I ask the question, is it worth it, was it worth joining the church 18 years ago, which is another story about our impact and how God influenced us and impacted us through what was going on here, and we showed up. And then I asked many of you that sacrificed time and talents and treasures, was it worth it, yeah, it was worth it because look around the room. Look at the building. Look at what God has done in your life and in your heart. And yes, we need you to join us going forward now because Lord willing, in 50 years, and probably most of us won't be here for that one, we'll still say the same thing. It was worth it. And we will be able to join with one another in heaven and say yeah, because we were all in, every bit of it was worth it. Because people were able to grasp how high and mighty and wonderful the breadth and length and height and depth and know the love of Christ. And it is that very love of Christ that compels us to continue to be all in with our time and our talents and our treasures. To communicate the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ and the power of His word to guide us into a relationship where we uncover the power of Christ that transforms us and unites us. And then compels us with His commission to go around the world. And then we will be able to say as Paul did, now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. And we will say to God be the glory. Great things He has done, amen.