Unleash The Connection Series

October 15 Unleash the Connection Acts 2:42-47

Let me tell you a story about Jossy Chacko. Raised in a Christian home in India. At 17, moved to Australia with the dream of becoming a millionaire by age 30 and retiring. Worked in a business and rose up in the ranks because he outworked everyone else. For 12 years he worked 20-21 hours every day; imagine: 3-4 hours of sleep, and everything else just work, except for Sunday, when he’d sleep all day. Did have a little time for a girlfriend, and when they got engaged, they decided to go to India on their honeymoon just as he was achieving his dream. She was Australian & had always wanted to see the Taj Mahal. On the train, sitting in first class coach, there was a little indian boy 10 yrs old who was picking emptying the trash cans and sweeping the floor. Jossy engaged him in ??, and found out that he lived in the train stations, begged on the street, was exposed to the prostitution, child slavery, sex trade, eating out of the trash bins. During the course of the conversation, he invited this little boy to join them on their honeymoon! Jenny, his wife, who didn’t know a word of was listening but didn’t understand that her newlywed husband had just invited this boy to join them. It was a hard sell at first, but in fact, the boy did join them. Jossy began to examine his own life: was the purpose just to acquire a lot of money and the things that money can buy, or was there a grander purpose. Jossy quit his job and established a new goal, see 100,000 communities in 30 years become transformed by the redeeming gospel of Jesus. He’s given his life to push back the darkness in places we’ve never even heard of before. 100,000 communities in 30 years. 1 guy

Turn in your Bibles to Acts 2:42-47 and Page 34 (hold up book)

We’re in Week 2 of Unleashed. It is a Unleashed: 2 year Generosity Initiative (build) that will enable us to cooperate with God in making a greater impact for Him and push back the darkness faster and better. Our Primary Goal: 100% Engagement. That means everyone who calls Rush Creek home being fully engaged in answering one question: God what is my role in Your vision? Our Secondary Goal: $22 Million over two years, which is about a 55% increase over what we are giving right now. That’s why 100% engagement is key: it’s going to take all of us together to do this to catapult our church into a trajectory that will impact the Kingdom of God for generations to come.

We were at a conference this summer that Jossy Chacko spoke at, the man who invited the 10 yr old boy to join his honeymoon. He challenged all of us:

He said, “Does the size of your vision reflect the God your worship and trust?”

Rush Creek: this IS a God sized vision—and it is going to take all of God’s people who call Rush Creek home to accomplish it.

Think about the challenge that the early followers of Jesus were facing. They had just heard Jesus say before He ascended back into heaven, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Ok. Stop. Think about that. Put yourself in their place. You’ve never been more than 50 miles from your home town. You had no notion of what was going on in the rest of the world. You knew there was an Egypt because you read the Torah that contained the account of your ancestors enslaved there and then delivered from there by Moses. You knew there was a Babylon—your grandparents used to tell stories of how they conquered Jerusalem and tore down the Temple and carted 1000s off in exile. You knew there was a place called Athens… your parents used to tell stories of how they desecrated the holy place by killing a pig inside of it. And you knew there was a Rome because there were Roman soldiers all around enforcing Pax Roma, Roman peace. But you’d never been more than a few miles from your home. And now Jesus says go to the ends of the earth? No cars; no planes; no way! CraCra

Ten days later, they’re praying together, probably saying, “Lord, how are just a few of us going to change the world?” And then the Holy Spirit comes like a mighty wind, just like Jesus had said, and the church was born and the Spirit empowered them and THAT was a game changer—because about 3000 people got saved that day—you talk about church growth!