2001 FBCOP Youth Ministry Worship

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:21]For those of you who don't know Jason, you are the fire that burns in me. Heat.

[00:00:28]Heat.

[00:00:38]Heat. Heat.

[00:00:49]Oh, heat, heat.

[00:01:21]Heat up here.

[00:01:43]Heat up here.

[00:02:03]Yeah.

[00:02:05]Heat.

[00:02:23]Yeah.

[00:02:28]Heat.

[00:02:43]Yeah.

[00:02:45]Heat.

[00:02:55]Oh, heat, heat.

[00:03:23]Yeah.

[00:03:25]Heat.

[00:03:45]Heat up here.

[00:04:10]Oh, heat.

[00:04:37]Heat. Heat.

[00:04:53]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:13]This could be the greatest spiritual harvest time in history. And that's why we all need it.

[00:05:22]It's time to come together.

[00:05:44]Now, I know we've shown this before. I hear some of you as soon as it started seen this movie, but you know, it's one of these films. It comes out and then there's a time to see it.

[00:05:53]Maybe we saw it at the wrong time, but tonight is the night. I was convinced. I wouldn't even I didn't even make a decision till about 2 minutes before I put it in the PCR. I didn't plan on using it, but I felt these cuz I wanted you to see this. I want you to get the vision for what this harvest is all about. It's not just about a farm story, but it's about what God's doing in our community right now. You know, for years people been praying, God bring revival.

[00:06:16]God bring revival here. I believe he wants to. I believe he will. But I believe he's got us prepared to do this.

[00:06:22]Now, I've got in your in your seats are some forms or this thing I want to go through.

[00:06:27]pretty quickly with your pencils. I'm going to ask you to come up here just take it out pass because I want to tell you a little bit about tonight. Bottom line, what you need to understand is this. When I'm talking about faith, I'm not talking about your faith in God or your faith that someone will do something for him.

[00:06:47]I'm talking about a strategy we use here at this church using the crossing f a t h in order to lead people to Christ. You know, that's what we're all about. And I remember that there are times where I think we get off track of what we're supposed to be doing when we begin to think that the youth group in the church is about us and it's not initially. It's about God and it's about God using us to reach more people for him. You know, there are Sunday we have Sunday school classes that meet on Sunday morning and there is this false assumption that many people in our church have that Sunday school is for you church people. See, that's wrong. Sunday school is not for you when classes don't always get this kind of back together. No, we class never get back together because here's the deal.

[00:07:35]Sunday school is about lost people.

[00:07:39]That's not lost people. That's for the small. It's for providing a place that is comfortable for students and adults to come in and a small group to feel welcome. Now, there's the there's the big spirit we have. How do we make our small groups welcome? How do we make it where when a person comes in for the very first time, they go, you know, I don't know what's different about this place, but I know there's something different. I feel like I belong here. I feel like I'm part of a family here. You know, and that's the that's what we want to have happen. Now realistically that may not be happening in every class but that's the desire and if it's not happening then it may be because of you.

[00:08:15]So maybe you need to change your attitude to people who look and say hey I want to be a part of a class I want to be a part of a group that welcomes everybody and makes them feel like they belong here. That's the hardest thing in the world for a Christian to do I got to tell you because I grew up I've been in church all my life. Many of you been in church for a long time. Many of our adults here and we become very comfortable with the people we know and we hang out with. It's hard sometimes to back up and to see things the way way it is from a lost person's perspective.

[00:08:42]Here's here's something I want you to get understand. When people visit our church for the very first time, I'm convinced of this, especially teenagers, especially if mom and dad bring their students to church with them on a Sunday morning. Most people come to church looking for something not to like they're going and they come from another church but maybe they move from another state. Maybe it's a military deal or something happened and they want to move but they haven't moved cuz moving and they're coming to another church, another youth group. You know what? They come in immediately and the whole thing and they they get in their mind, I don't want to like this place. I don't want to like maybe it's because they like if they like it then they're they're disowning their own church or they're offending them or something. But most people don't come with their own mind.

[00:09:32]And so what we have to do as a church and a youth group is identify those barriers that keep people from feeling welcome and break them down immediately knowing that Sunday school and people grow up in church on Wednesday night. It doesn't start when they come in the building but it starts as soon as they get in the parking lot. That's when we begin to determine if I like the place or not. But you know, I've come to the point, you have too, cuz I've been sharing with you that this not everybody in Orange Park is going to come into this building. That's what those Bible studies we're talking about are going to do. Last week, I don't know if you remember, but I shared an idea from the Nehemiah project. Do you remember anything about Nehemiah?

[00:10:12]>> He led the building of the construction of the wall of Jerusalem. He got the people organized and they built a wall around Jerusalem. Anything else about he was cut to the king, the magi king.

[00:10:25]And yet God used him in a way to build a wall around this holy city. Well, you know, it's about time. It's about time to build. I got these on my son's bedroom. These are Legos. You guys when you play he'll take all these little guys like this one on top.

[00:10:51]So you do this and you don't really most of us you build everything on the same size piece and you're starting from a very very small foundation and you're trying to build this tall tower and that's the fun with Legos because you build Legos with the whole attempt so you can grow Legos and tear it down. Right. Right.

[00:11:16]And so that's why you do that. But in the real world, if buildings were built like that and some have been where they don't land very well, they go straight up eventually something's going to happen. You ever watch Discovery Channel? It's a great show. Great show.

[00:11:29]I like those how they build things and behind the scenes movie things and all that stuff. I see these on bridges. You know how they build these huge bridges and they didn't plan it correct. The engineers mess up and the winds come in and this thing looks like a rubber band.

[00:11:41]You ever seen that scene? It's just kind of just falls into the water. poor planning. A bad foundation results in the same thing every time. A bad foundation results in destruction.

[00:11:53]Now, it's time to build. Time to build what? This is like part one of three parts I want to talk about. And tonight, I'm talking about the time to build. Go to that first screen there, Scott, cuz we're going to fly through this. It's time to build a movement, not a monument. In other words, we don't want people to say, "Oh, look at all Holy First Baptist Church on Kings Avenue, the greatest building in the in the city of West Park. Big deal." We don't care about that. What we wanted to say is, hey, let's look at this movement of God that's happening in the people. You know, I hope God is changing your life.

[00:12:25]Some of you are so pumped up about the ski trip that's coming up, and that's going to be a great time. You know what?

[00:12:31]The whole deal with the speed trip is to get you there for that Saturday night and that Sunday night service because I want you to have an experience with God that you can't have in your home church.

[00:12:41]You can't have just every day. That's why we do these retreats. The stand is going to be great. It's going to be fun.

[00:12:46]And hopefully we bring back 80% of the students we take with us. But these guys never gone. Now you'll get to learn, you know, the ER watch. You'll learn that everybody.

[00:13:00]We want you to experience now. Where's the start? But we're going to build this group. Where's the start? And it's time to build. It's time to build relationships.

[00:13:09]Relationships. Let me read this. This type of building is a commitment to developing relationships with God, with others, and with my church family.

[00:13:19]Hey, you know what? It's all about relationships.

[00:13:22]It's not about religion. I don't care how religious you are. Your religion will kill you. If you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you're you're barking in the wrong tree. You're missing out. You know, we go on these visits on Monday nights and we say we we knock on the door. We say, "Hey, in your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes for a person to come to go to heaven?" And we get answers like, "Oh, I'm Baptist or I'm a Catholic or my granddad was a Baptist preacher." You know what? That's great. Can you answer the question? Some people are putting all of their faith and all of their hope in getting to heaven on the name that's on the sign in front of a building that they go to once in a while.

[00:14:02]And that's not going to do it.

[00:14:06]That's like going to Wendy's and saying, "I believe if I go to Wendy's enough, I'll become a hamburger." It doesn't work.

[00:14:13]You don't become a Christian just by going to church. It's about relationship. So, Christian students, those of you that know Christ, hey, you got to start loving people.

[00:14:22]You know, you got to start seeing people when God sees them and hurting when you see them.

[00:14:27]There are people I know that you just you see them coming out the hole, you turn to go the other way. That may be wise in some cases. But you know what?

[00:14:33]When we begin to see people in our schools and in the mall, in our families, in our stores, wherever we are, where we work, when we see people the way Jesus sees people, no longer will we think that we're too cool for them or that we're sucked up and we're better than they are or well, they smell bad. Who will think like that, won't they? You know, that's a person that Jesus hung on the cross for just like he did for me. I think too many of us as Christians get saved and it's like a secret code, you know, within our hey, I got it. help you figure it out. God saved you for a purpose. Have relationships with other people. Wrote good, healthy, moral relationships.

[00:15:09]Guess what I'm saying? All right, let's go. Number two. It's time to build spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity.

[00:15:15]Now, I have students that have come to me over the years.

[00:15:19]I've had some people that that are older, they graduated, and they've been out for four or five years, and they'll come back say, you know, I just don't feel like I'm being fed. You ever heard this? I'm not being spiritually fed.

[00:15:31]You know, there's a guy named Wayne Watson who's a he's an old guy now. He used to be now and he's got he's a Christian artist. He sings a lot of songs. He writes some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. And he's got a song out called The Wrong Stuff. And I read an interview about that. And the guy was talking about this song, The Wrong Stuff. I said, "Well, what is this wrong stuff you're talking about?" And he says, "Well, you know, it's not that that Christians are just enveloped in all these deep, dark, secret, you know, terrible, terrible sins, but it's just the little sins, the little wrong stuff that they allow to creep into their life. And what it does is it begins to harden their hearts where they no longer love people. They no longer care for others, and they say, you know, I'm not being spiritually fed, yet they don't open the Bible for months." You know, if you're not growing as a Christian, it's probably your fault.

[00:16:18]Are you following that?

[00:16:20]>> Yeah.

[00:16:20]>> You can blame it on anybody you want.

[00:16:23]Blame it on your Sunday school teacher.

[00:16:24]He's not a very good Sunday school teacher. Hey, you ever crack the Bible open and come prepared? You can blame it on the pastor. I just fall asleep when he preaches. Hey, that's your fault.

[00:16:34]If you're not growing spiritually, this is a generation, my generation and your generation, not just you. It's me, too. We have grown up trying to find someone to blame for everything we've ever done wrong. And in this case, there's no one blame us. It's not spiritual maturity. This type of building is a commitment to take my faith. What do you guess? Got a guess?

[00:16:59]Serious is the word that together. Take my faith serious or seriously.

[00:17:05]Seriously, probably better. Take it seriously to grow as a Christian. That means disciplines. I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands, but if I did and I said, "Hey, how many have you read your Bible in the past week?"

[00:17:19]And I'm not talking about how you pray in the past month, and I don't count when you get ready to eat or at church. I didn't count either cuz you're kind of you have to in here. So, you know, when do you spend time in prayer? When do you spend time reading your Bible? If I said, "Hey, quote me three Bible verses. Could you do it?"

[00:17:43]You know, it's that's maturity. And that's how you grow mature is because you begin to see the discipline for Bible, Bible study, prayer, tithing, worship.

[00:17:54]Hey, they're not options for a growing Christian. I know people say, you know, I do everything, but I just don't feel like tithing, but and but I want to grow as a Christian. You never grow as a Christian if you don't tithe.

[00:18:05]It's against the rules. It doesn't work because it's a major part of worship you're missing out on. Studying your word is the same thing.

[00:18:15]It's your choice. Are you ready to grow?

[00:18:17]Hey, if not, you're building a tower on one stinking little Lego. And you know, one of these days, your faith is going to come to the test and it's going to be like the bad guy comes over and knocks your tower over and it's going to fall over easily because you have one stinking Lego holding everything up.

[00:18:33]Jing.

[00:18:34]Okay. Just like J. Oh, that's where you pull the sticks out. That's playing on this trip. Let's look at the verse. It says this in Ephesians. We must become like a mature person growing until we become like Christ. Is anybody here like Jesus yet? Cuz if you say yes, that means you're not, you know, like Jesus.

[00:18:51]I mean, you would be confused for him in the crowd. Okay.

[00:18:55]But that's our goal. Then we will no longer be babies. So here's the point.

[00:18:59]We're all a bunch of babies. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another.

[00:19:05]First Timothy, take the time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit and continue to grow. There are people that go to the line two or three times a week and they come higher and they're looking really good and they she's like this lady. She's in these guys the guys that come in and they they just stand there.

[00:19:24]That's what I used to do.

[00:19:27]Impational go. But you reverse to be physically fit. They must exercise. They must stay in shape. And so you can be physically fit. And the only spiritual exercise you get is when someone you sneeze and someone says, "God bless you." And that's as far as it goes. You need to be in the word. Let's go to number three.

[00:19:48]It's time to build ministers. Hey, guess who a minister is? It's not just me and the pastor and these guys on staff. A minister is you if you claim to know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.

[00:20:00]Hit him up. Ministers, this type of building is a commitment to discovering and using my God-given gifts and abilities to serve others.

[00:20:13]When you become less selfish and you put others in front of you, then you begin to serve them. And that's what Jesus came as a suffering servant. Let's look at the verse. God has given each of you some special abilities. Some of you have talents, but you need to understand this. As a Christian, God has given you a gift. And he's only given it to you so that you can use it to glorify him.

[00:20:32]If you're not using it to glorify him, you're dis using it. So, okay.

[00:20:39]First Corinthians, there are different kinds of service to God. Together, you form the body of Christ, and each of you is a necessary part of it. Here's the deal. Why do you need to be involved in church and Sunday school and Bible study? Because God's given you one gift at the least. Many gifts maybe, but God has not given anybody every spiritual gift. Therefore, you need other Christians. If you had every spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit is to give, you would be in church all by yourself.

[00:21:08]That's why we need each other. Whether you like me or not, you need me. I'm part of your family. Number four, it's time to build evangelist. Big churchy word evangelist. So that's what the harvest video is about. Hey, the harvest is ready and we need some farmers to hop in the combines. Let's go out there and let's reap this harvest because there are people out there waiting for us to come see them. There are people out there your age who would receive Christ if just you would ask them and tell them how to do it. Would you hate to go to heaven and God say you remember this kid you sat next to in science class for 2 years?

[00:21:44]You me up for one year.

[00:21:48]Well, he wouldn't pray to receive me if you had just told him I had to wait another 15 years and bring someone else to his life. You know, there are people out there waiting. They are hungry. They want the truth.

[00:22:00]And God has given you the truth. He wants you to share it. Here it is. This type of building is a commitment to sharing my faith with others. Faith, faith, faith. You will be my witnesses for me to the ends of the earth. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone. Hey, we started this faith evangelism thing with 11 people. 11 of us hoping drove to Atlanta for 3 days.

[00:22:24]We did 16 weeks of study in 3 days. We were tired.

[00:22:30]And the last night they put us in cars and sent us out to a community we've never been in before to tell other people about Jesus. I just to tell other people about Jesus. I was in a car with Jeff was the first problem and some guy I've never met before driving around to Dula Georgia looking where Doula Georgia is looking for a house in a community I've never heard of. Was I afraid? Yes.

[00:22:55]Was I uncomfortable? Yes. Am I a preacher? Yes. But I'm still afraid to see.

[00:23:04]You know, I don't know anybody in there that is normal that says, you know, I just love going out and talking to someone I've never met before just telling you all about Jesus.

[00:23:14]Maybe you are. I know there's some like that even to a tree and he thought he could get it out of the ground and baptize. What do you got to do?

[00:23:24]But you know, most of us, if we're real honest, we're going to say, "Hey, there's somebody I've never met before.

[00:23:29]There's a house with a beware of dark sign. There's some scary looking people there. I want to knock on that door."

[00:23:34]Hello church to tell you about Jesus.

[00:23:39]Run back to the car and go home. Now, that is a rare occasion. Here's what normally happens. Rob Miller has been on a faith team. Tracy was on a faith team.

[00:23:48]I was on a faith team this last semester. Selena H, Don Rosie, who are missing, Lee Hall, Jeffell, Kenny Hall. These are people that you know that were going out last semester knocking on these doors.

[00:24:02]And here's the thing that happens. I was the lucky one. I got every teenager, every teenager that visited our church, I got their name. Now, I'm just here tonight. This is not to prove anything, but is there anybody here tonight that that either my group or someone else's group, we knocked on your door. We visited you this past session. Just just another we saw you. Yeah. Jar. Okay. Look at this. There are people. That's what you call me.

[00:24:36]>> Lisa.

[00:24:37]>> Lisa. I'll say her name now.

[00:24:40]Now we visit these homes and most of the time we don't always say hey we're from first church and if we go around we get to a point we say hey Gary in your personal opinion what do you understand it takes for a person to go to heaven not very question best question we ever came up with because from that question we can determine if the person we're talking to through the discernment of the Holy Spirit we can know if a person has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ I ask you that question how do you think to get to heaven we got all kinds of answers being good is probably the most popular one which is the most popular wrong answer but we get that going to church is another popular one it's still wrong but we have opportunity to at times when they give us the answer that is not faith answer that God opens the door and this is not us this is God preparing people preparing us for an event the harvest is out we're going to begin sending students beginning January 22nd many of you have already signed up and the spots are pretty full at this point.

[00:25:39]But here's the deal. In your seat is a blue car. Our church is going to do this Sunday morning, but we're not going to be here. So, we're doing it tonight.

[00:25:46]We're videoing it because we're going to show it what the church is doing. We want to be a part of what God is doing this Sunday. I ask you to do this only if you mean it. If you've already told me you're going to be a part of faith team, fill it out. Just put your name. I have your address and put that team member. Here's the deal. If you're not going to be a part of faith, you can't do it this semester. In other words, you want to tell others about Christ, but you just can't give us money nights yet.

[00:26:08]You're not at a point in your life where you can do that. But you want to be a part of this. We need big time prayer support. And that's not little cheesy prayers. I'm talking about real people praying real prayers to a real God about what we're doing on Monday nights. We need you. And I'm going to ask you to do something here. First of all, we're going to ask that those Well, we're going to have everybody stand in just a minute. And if you're going to be a part of faith, we want you to sign that card.

[00:26:34]It's I'm going to do everything in my ability to make sure I'm here because I want to be a part of what God is doing.

[00:26:39]Hey, some of you have never led anybody to Jesus. And you're going to have an opportunity to this semester. The doors are broken down. We're going to be able to do this. We're going to show you how to do it. We want you to not wait till you're 30 like me and then find out, man, I wasted all these years. I could have been doing it and and sharing Christ with so many people. We want you to get involved with it now. I ask you to fill out the card music play and just come forward and just very reverently not running or raising whatever just step out of your seat and just lay it here on this altar. This is an altar. I want you to lay it on the stage. I want just pile up whatever role you have in faith. I want you to do that. But let me back up. Some of you don't even know Jesus Christ. You're still questioning, hey, I don't know how to get to heaven.

[00:27:24]I don't be good. And you know, you just realize that's the wrong answer. And you want to know the right answer.

[00:27:30]We're building a foundation or a move for a move. That's what tonight is about. And it starts with you. But it starts with you knowing Christ in a personal relationship. Then you can go two, three, and four and get all those other things in order. But you got to know Jesus first. If you've never met Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, never asked him into your heart.

[00:27:50]I invite you to do that tonight while everybody else is coming forward with a blue card laying on the stage. I'll be standing over here to the side. And as everyone else is coming, don't come tonight. Not yet. Don't come with any other prayer request. All I'm asking at this point, commitment for faith to support it, to be a part of it. I want to know Jesus. You come see me.

[00:28:11]Yeah.

[00:28:13]That's what we're going to do. Just going to share just a minute.

[00:28:17]Become a Christian is the easiest thing you'll ever do in your whole life. I mean, have you ever been have you ever said something and meant it? That's all you have to do is just say one little prayer and mean it. You're a Christian.

[00:28:27]But being a good Christian is the hard part. All you do is just take that take that step to see if it's the best decision to make in your life.

[00:28:35]Zach and Zach is Michael. He's still growing. He's like, "Oh, he's still growing." Baby Christian, we're trying to get you off the milk and eating some real food. That's what we're doing. We're trying to grow you up. This is a good step in grow. Let me pray for you. When I say amen, the music's going to start. When the music starts, if you need have a blue card, come lay on this altar or come see me if you want to pray, if you want to figure out how to ask Jesus into your life. Father, we love you. We thank you that you're giving us opportunities to build a movement, not on our own strength, our own power, or even a gimmick or a new strategy, but Lord, all on your Holy Spirit and your help. Lord, I thank you.

[00:29:15]I love you. I praise you for all that you do. I pray your blessings upon us tonight, Lord. these decisions. Let it be real. Let it not be just the name on a card turned in and forgotten about.

[00:29:26]But Lord, let it be a commitment. Say, you know, I want to pray for these faith guys. I want to be a part of a faith team. I want to tell others about Jesus.

[00:29:35]Lord, give students the courage to do that tonight. Lord, help us to to take the light of Jesus into a dark world and to go light your world. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

[00:29:57]Somebody.

[00:30:00]Heat. Heat.

[00:30:10]Heat. Heat.

[00:30:21]Heat.

[00:30:25]Heat.

[00:30:35]Heat.

[00:30:40]Heat.

[00:30:50]Heat.

[00:31:01]Heat.

[00:31:13]Heat. Heat.

[00:31:23]Heat.

[00:31:26]Heat.

[00:31:36]Yeah.

[00:31:41]Heat.

[00:32:04]Heat.

[00:32:08]Heat.

[00:32:18]Heat. Heat.

[00:32:28]Heat.

[00:32:40]Heat.

[00:32:49]Heat.

[00:33:03]Heat.

[00:33:11]We always touch your head and look around and say how God has done in just the past few weeks. It's going to happen. I want you to be satisfied. Talk about having a vision. Visions start when people are sick and tired of just the same old same old saying.

[00:33:32]You have a vision for reaching this community. We want you to be a part of this. We want you to be a part. We want you to be a part because God will bless you for it.

[00:33:42]I'm going to be that little table back there cuz I know what happens and I have about 20 people come up here and ask me questions. So, I'm going to that table.

[00:33:52]That's cool. Uh otherwise, uh we'll see you next Wednesday about 100 with us.