← River Valley Church
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One of the things that I have loved since the very beginning of this church is that we have always lifted up the name of Jesus. It's always been about Jesus. It will always be about Jesus. And I just say, thank you, Jesus. So one more time here at all of our campuses. Come on, let's lift our praise to Jesus. He's the one. We're building his church. We praise your name, Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. You can be seated here at all of our campuses. What a joy to be able to celebrate our 30th anniversary. And I just wanna say, to all of our campuses, I wish I could be at your campus right now, too. I just. I wanna be everywhere. I haven't worked on Omnipresent yet. I'm working on that one. But just we are celebrating together. And what a joy to see all that God has done. Now I'm inviting some others up onto the stage here with me that were here way back in the beginning. And you've heard me tell the story, perhaps about when our church started with our first Bible study. First Bible study was 30 years ago in June. Come on up, all you. Come on up. There's not many. And we have 13 people in our very first Bible study. And I jokingly say that all but four were related to me or promised a job. So there are only four possible members. All right, so come on up. And so these are. We are the five of the. Come on, right over here. Five of the 13 that were here. And so, you know, yeah, these are the OG right here. But we got obviously my wife and then my youngest brother Ryan, my mom, Isabel, and then Tim Convoy. He was one of the only four that wasn't related to me. Thank you for staying. I love you. So I just want you to see, like, there's history here and what a joy. I honor you. I honor all of you. You were there when it was the hardest, the toughest. And now think about this. We now have 13 campuses in one location. We had 13 people. Now we have 13 campuses and one location. So to God be the glory. From 13 people to 13 campuses in one location. Can we show our love and appreciation for them one more time? Thank you. We had a Bible study after the 13, and we had somebody at our church that owns some cattle. And they said, I would like to donate a cow butchered for everyone. And how could you use it to build a church? So we did a Bible study. We said, if you show up, you're going to leave with steaks and hamburger. All Right. And that night we went from 13 to 46. And we said, if you feed them, they will come. All right, so. Oh, it's a joy. I especially want to say thank you to my mom and Dabeka. They put in just countless hours, and I'm indebted to them for all that they did. And I just am grateful, so grateful for those two women in my life that have made this church possible. Now, I want to let you know that we're not simply just telling old stories today. We're not just like, hey, I remember when. I remember when. We are remembering today with the purpose of worship. We're remembering with the purpose of worship. There's a worship element in remembering what God has done. We're just not remembering the passage of time, 30 years, but we're remembering the God who carried us for 30 years. We're like, you did it. You got us through this. And it's a celebration that's saying, thank you, God, for getting us to where we are now. 30 years is interesting. As I started looking into 30 years, anthropologists will tell you that it takes 30 years for a cultural shift to take place. 30 years. An oak tree often takes 30 years before it will actually produce acorns. A vineyard actually doesn't start getting the best grapes until after 30 years. It was just so interesting. As I saw this, one in four businesses don't even make it half of that. As far 15 years. 30 years for urban development, for education. They say it takes 30 years. And 30 years in the Bible is never the end of the story. Thirty years in the Bible is where preparation becomes calling. It's interesting. 30 years. Joseph was 30 years when he stepped out of prison into his God given destiny. We know so much about him before that, but it wasn't until he was 30, all of a sudden, now he's in Pharaoh's court. The Levites, if you didn't know this when the levites were training, 30 years, 30 years. And then they could be priests to stand before the lord. David was 30 years old when he ascended to the throne. Jesus himself was about 30 years old when he began his public ministry. It's 30 years. 30 years is like the marking moment where God says, all right, now, now is the time. Now is the time for the church. It's been preparation. You've been building, you've been growing, you've been shaped in this moment. But I'm here to tell you and declare right now that 30 years is not the finish line. 30 years is the launching pad that's where we're. And God says, now is the time. Now, interestingly enough, in Psalm 30, Psalm, the 30th Psalm, it's a psalm that looks backwards, but then it looks upward. And so I want to use Psalm 30, which is incredible. Again, the 30th Psalm on our 30th anniversary. It's just interesting how it all aligns. Originally, this is a personal psalm, and it was one saying, thank you, Lord, you've delivered me, you've gotten me out of this, you've healed me. But it became a psalm that the Israelites started to say. It's our psalm. It doesn't just belong to David, it belongs to all of us. Like this is. It was there, but it's now. It's for all of us. We're all getting in on that. And I wanna just speak that to everyone here. You're like, 30 years. I've only been here three days. You know, it might be somebody's first day here. Welcome home, by the way. Welcome home. Welcome. We've been praying for you for 30 years. But 30 years, it was his. But then they said, no, this is ours. This is ours, and we're all gonna grab it. And it was a psalm that was sung at times of renewal. Psalms 30, verse 1. It says, I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. And it says, to extol, which really means to exalt. It means I'm gonna praise you enthusiastically. And I wanna say this, I thank God that over 30 years we have been praising God enthusiastically. I don't know where we got the idea that God wants it quiet, but he's praising God in Psalm 1 enthusiastically. There's something that's going on. And he says, you've drawn me up. And the psalmist is saying, like, you did this, God. And the picture of you drawn me up is like water that's down in a well that needs to be brought up. And the psalmist is saying, there's no way the water can get from there to where it needs to go unless you do it. And he's really giving God the credit. And I wanna say this right now. God gets the glory and the honor for this. Everything that's been drawn up, the water was there. But God has done the heavy lifting. He's used us, but he has done the heavy lifting and he has drawn us up. Just like the psalmist is trying to say, God, you did it. You brought me up and we say, God, you've done this. Then he says, you did not let my foes rejoice over me. And I gotta tell you this, over 30 years, I don't even have time to go into all the things that we've had that have gone wrong. And I did a sermon once called the struggle makes you stronger. And all the times that we've had, things that have been setback after setback after setback, I'll never forget, a neighboring pastor said to me, he goes, I've just been studying you for about 10 years now. And he said, I thought you were done for at least three or four times. And he goes, how do you do it? I was like, God, like, God keeps bringing us up. He's not letting our problems gloat over us. We're just being honest and transparent. It's the only way. Like, we're not perfect. We don't know all that we're doing. Never pastored a church this large before. And God's like, I'm not gonna let your foes gloat over you. And even now, as we are switching our giving platform and we've had some setback, I believe that God once again is saying, I'm not gonna let your foes gloat over you. That's the God we serve. And the psalmist is saying, like, God, I know you got me through it, and you didn't let the enemy gloat over me. In verse two, he says, oh, Lord, my God, I cried to you for help and you have healed me. And the psalmist is saying, like, you did this. You healed me. And your healing power is a testimony in my own life of how great you are. And I think over and over again of the miracles that we've had. The power of God, even our son Connor being healed of autism, God has done miraculous healing. He's done healings in people's lives. He saved so many people. He's restored so many marriages. And it's like a testimony of God, you did it not just for me, but for all these people. It's a beautiful thing to see in the psalmist that the psalm that he's just saying, God, thank you for your healing. And I wanna say this. Every salvation, every healing, every breakthrough, every restored marriage is a testimony that God is a powerful God. Can I just say this? When we come to the end of service, in any service, and we go for prayer time, you need to think that and remember, God is a powerful God. This is not just a religious exercise to come up and Pray with a prayer team member. We serve a powerful God. And even when I was doubting that he was powerful, when I was struggling with my own son not being healed, after I prayed and prayed and prayed, the prophecy was spoken over him as Pastor Bill went and laid hands on him. Which, by the way, Bill was never part of our church. He was in Michigan. He's now part of our congregation. I know we can't see him at all the other campuses, but I believe he's here in this service. Where's Pastor Bill at? He. Where? Yeah, stand up. Come on. I know you can't see about the other campuses, but praise God, man of faith. He looked at me and he said, God has heard that you've said that he's a loving God and a kind God, but he's gonna show you that he's a powerful God. And for his glory, he's gonna heal your son. And he laid hands on Connor, and Connor was instantly healed of autism. And I think about that. We just wanna remember he is a powerful God. So when you come to prayer at the end of the service, don't ever come up thinking, well, maybe no, God is a powerful God. So the psalmist is saying that he's thanking God, and in verse four, he says, sing praises to the Lord, o you, his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. He encourages everyone to get in on the celebration. Can I say this? That's why it's so appropriate for us to celebrate over the 30 years and say, God, let's all celebrate. Let's all praise his name. It'd be terrible if I sat around by myself and was like, man, those 30 years, that was awesome. Yeah, that was awesome. That'd be terrible, right? Celebrating is something that you do together. Remembering is something you do together. Praising God is something you do together. And it's so beautiful that we say, God, we will remember. We will remember that you are faithful. And remembering is not some silent nostalgia, but it's a proclamation. And I pray that as the world sees us celebrating 30 years, they see us proclaiming, God's been good to us. God's been good to us for 30 years. We'll remember. We'll remember. We'll remember. Matter of fact, Psalm 77 talks about it, says, I will remember. Yes, I will remember. I will meditate in verses 11, 12. It's like, I remember, remember, remember. And the Hebrew word for remember is. Is more than just recall. It's not like I'll remember. It's saying, I'm reminded of the covenant Memory that I have with you, that you've been faithful. And you know what? When we stop and remember, you know what we're doing? We're bringing past grace into our present moment that leads to more obedient actions. You understand? Do you want. I wanna say that again. When we remember today, some of you might even thought, oh, yeah, it's an anniversary thing. Well, stick around for the cupcakes. This won't be much. All right. It's a memorial. So I don't know, you know. No, no. We're bringing past grace into our present situation so we can live differently in the future. That's what's happening in these moments. Because when you forget, you know what happens? You drift. You forget where God has been in your life. You forget what he's done you through and brought you through. And all of a sudden you just drift away. So we're looking back in gratitude and saying, thank you, Lord. And in verse 7 of Psalm 30, he says, by your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong. And I wrote this in my notes. I put, God, you make me mountain strong. That's how he makes us. We're reminded, God, you have brought us through and we are mountain strong because of what you've done in our life. So it's more than just an individual thanking God in Psalm 30. And this is more than just an individual or a family or group saying thank you. This is all of us saying, God, we thank you and we celebrate what he's done. And now I want to talk about looking forward, looking forward from the first page of Scripture. The God we serve is a forward looking God. Do you know that? He's a forward looking God. He loves that we remember, but he's a forward looking God. He's always pressing forward. You think about it. He has seeds that multiply, creatures that multiply. He told mankind, be fruitful and multiply, multiply, go forward. He had covenants that pointed to the future. He had prophecies that would say, the days are coming, says the Lord. When he was speaking over his children, he didn't say, like, it was really good back then. You guys are a let. No, it wasn't. He was like, the days are coming, the forward I declare over you. And I believe that God's saying to us right now, let's look at the forward trajectory, let's thank God for 30 and let's look forward. Because I believe that God has something big for us. And Deuteronomy is called the book of remembrance. But it's also the book of what's coming. In Deuteronomy, God's like, remember, remember, remember. But I've called you. There's a promised land. There's a future. There's something they have for you. And I'm praying that we would say, God, we want you to help us to look forward to the future. I believe the one that began a great work in us is gonna finish it. I believe that God still has amazing things for this church. And I thank God for 30. But I've been praying this. I've been praying God, it took 10 years to get to a thousand again. I think sometimes God has the very ignorant plant churches. How many know what I'm talking about? I'm like, we're gonna be a thousand in no time. And Becca's like, sure, we will. You know, But I think it took 10 years to get to a thousand. It's taken us 30 years to get here. And what I have been praying. I've been praying God, I believe just like Deuteronomy promised, like, greater glory and future for the Israelites. I wanna just ask for greater glory and greater future for our church. And I've been asking God to do something. I've been asking God to do in the next 10 what it took us 30 years to do. I've been saying, God, it took us 30 years to get here, but could you, in the next 10, do it again? Like, could we double? Could we see the benefits of compound interest, if you will, of so many changed lives and so many people that are growing and maturing, and so many people that say, here am I, Send me God. Could you do this? Could we look at your faithfulness of the past and then be eagerly anticipating what you have for us in the future? I believe right now that we're saying, God, I just want you to do it again. We sing so. I love so many of our songs. I could have almost done a sermon with all of our songs that we've written. Cause we say, would you do it again? Would you do it again? We say, this is what it feels like when the church is alive. We say, the best is yet to come. We say, now to him who's able to do more than we can imagine, that's the God we serve. And I believe right now that when I think about this, we're out of the preparation phase. 30 years. If it takes 30 years for David, Jesus, the Levites, I believe 30 years. All right, here we go. I say this, and I mean this. I really believe the best is yet to Come. The best is yet to come. And I believe that God is saying, step into the yes, step into what's next. And I really believe everything up until this point now, the 292 missionaries that have been center approved, I believe the tens of millions of dollars that have been given to Kingdom Builders, I believe the countless lives transformed. I believe it was all prep work for where God is taking us next. I really believe that. I believe that now we can say God, now comes the multiplying, now comes the launching. I think about all the churches that we've started around the world, all the staff that have been sent out to multiply what we're doing. And I'm saying, God, keep multiplying. Do more of this over and over again. And I believe right now our preparation is becoming calling. And I believe we're gonna see salvation upon salvation. I believe we're gonna see Kingdom builders continuing to go to the next level. But I'll just give you one thing. Connor and Logan gave me a plaque after the first ten years of Kingdom Builders. And they said, here's what we've raised in 10 years. It was just under $40 million. We're on trajectory now in the next 10 to have it be $130 million in the second 10. Look what God's doing. He's adding more. He's doing. It's incredible what God's doing. And so we're saying, God, do it again, do more. Could you do in 10 what you did in 30? God, here we are. We're ready to do whatever you want us to do. We're celebrating what you've done. We're living right now in the faith because that past grace is right now on us. And we're gonna have future obedience in your name. I wanna say one last thing. And I said it in the video. It's interesting they put that in there. Cause there was a lot of video footage they could have put in there. And it ties into a message. It's not automatic. It's not automatic. We all have to use our gifts. We all have to use our talents. God is saying, I've prepared you. I've discipled you. I've grown you. Some of you are ready. You're ready to be leaders. You're ready. And God's saying, I've grown you to this moment. And it's not gonna happen automatically, but I want you to use your gifts and I'll use you. In 1 Peter 4:10, it says, as each one has received a gift, use it to serve One another as God's, as good stewards of God's varied grace. God has given you gifts and we need you to use your gifts. The lie that the enemy says to a large church is you're not needed. You're little won't make a difference. No, no, you don't need to lead a small group. No, you don't even have to show up. No, you understand God is using you and your gift is needed. And we have a world to change. We have a world to change. We have people that need us to bring the message of Jesus Christ. And so I'm praying on our 30th anniversary, we will dedicate ourselves again to say, God, here we are. We dedicate everything we have, our pastors, our leaders, our church, our buildings, we dedicate all of this to you for your glory and for your honor. We just pray that those that have been delivered and redeemed and changed will be walking testimonies of your grace to this world that still needs to hear that Jesus wants to save them. The best is yet to come. The best is we thank God for what you've done. We are living in right now what you are doing. And we say, God, the best is yet to come. And so God, I just pray right now, like the psalmist, he said, you've been faithful. You've been faithful. And what was meant for one became celebrated by many. And so, God, I pray that people would see. When Becca and I stepped out in faith, it was a yes. The two of us just saying yes. But it is for the whole church. We celebrate this together. We celebrate the lives that are being changed, the good that you're doing, and the fact that, God, you are not done. And so we just thank you, Lord Jesus, we just pray that you would do it again in the next 10 years. We what took 30, could it be done in 10? For your glory and for your honor, we thank you. You have been faithful. You have been faithful. The pain was real, the tears were real. The struggle was real. But it is all for your glory and for your honor. And we say, God, we believe you're not done. You're not done. And we give you the praise and the glory now. Do more than we could ever imagine, that than we could ever ask, than we could ever think. For your glory and for your honor, in Jesus name we pray Amen and amen.