======================================================================== I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH by John Piper ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of church planting and spreading the gospel, highlighting the need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach the broken, poor, and oppressed. It draws from Isaiah 61 and Matthew 16, showcasing Jesus' mission to bring good news, comfort the mourning, and raise up oaks of righteousness. The call to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit, meditate on God's work in our lives, and engage in spreading the gospel locally and globally is central to the message. Topics: "Church Planting", "Empowerment by the Holy Spirit" Scripture References: Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 16:18, Acts 1:8, Luke 4:18, Revelation 5:11, Acts 18:9, Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Ephesians 2:20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of church planting and spreading the gospel, highlighting the need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to reach the broken, poor, and oppressed. It draws from Isaiah 61 and Matthew 16, showcasing Jesus' mission to bring good news, comfort the mourning, and raise up oaks of righteousness. The call to pray for the outpouring of the Spirit, meditate on God's work in our lives, and engage in spreading the gospel locally and globally is central to the message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Before we pray, let me add my greetings to the ones you've already received at the North Campus and the South Campus. I know that I was scheduled to be with you at the South Campus this weekend. And the reason I'm not is because we're going to talk about a church plant tonight, this morning, that relates more closely to the downtown campus. So that's the reason for the change. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the Saints gathered at the North Campus, Saints gathered at the South Campus, and the Saints gathered downtown. I bless you for your church. What a precious thing you are building. And now I pray for help for me and for John Erickson as we open your word and open a vision that you would use it mightily for the cause of Christ in the city and for the generations to come. May the stories be told 50 years from now about this night and this season of planting for the glory of Christ. And the good of the church. In Jesus' name, amen. So I'm teaming up today with John Erickson, who will stand in the pulpit shortly, to talk to you about God's power and grace in the planting of a new church and in church planting more broadly speaking. The church we have in mind, Lord willing, will be about two and a half miles south of here at the corner of 16th Avenue and 33rd Street. We call it the 1633 Center right now. And that will be the location as they get underway. And John will give you more details. And I think on every campus, there will be tables at the back for you to pick up a sheet with the vision, the facts, the people on the table. So whatever campus you're on, you'll be able to follow through and find out more about it, as well as it's featured on the home page of the hopeingod.org website. So I hope all of us will be up to speed as God moves now in the next weeks. So what I want to do for my part is to give some historical and some biblical setting for church planting. And before I do the historical piece, let me just ask in general why any of us should be concerned about planting churches. Why does that matter? Why are people so jealous about that today in America? Three or four reasons. Number one, there are about 200 million non-churched people in America, making America one of the four largest unchurched nations in the world. Number two, there are about 3,500 existing churches that close their doors permanently every year. There are approximately 350,000 churches in America. Four or five, four out of every five of those are either plateaued or declining. And four, one American denomination, this is pretty common I think, reported that 80% of the converts in their denomination came through churches less than two years old, which doesn't say much for us 138-year-old churches. And there are a lot more reasons for why it's wise to plant churches. Let me give you one that's right on the surface of my heart. It's very close to the center of the way I feel about it. I have asked myself the question because I think it would be a natural question to ask. So really what you're saying is you're so excited about what God's doing at Bethlehem and what Bethlehem is and Bethlehem's distinctives that you want to see more Bethlehems out there. Is that right? And that's just not the way I feel about it. Well, that may be OK. That may be even good. It's just not the way I feel about it because I'm just so stinking aware of all our stinking problems. I'm just so aware of Bethlehem's imperfections, her flaws, her sins, her inadequacies, her cultural limitations. So the way I think about it is, no. I'm not going to replicate all that problem anywhere. I want to see the vision, the theology, that mission statement on the wall up there. We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things, for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ, the elder affirmation of faith, distinctives, biblical distinctives of churches. I want to see that core vision multiplied, reincarnated, incarnated in lots of other churches that have lots of other weaknesses besides ours. I think if we spread around a whole variety of imperfections, a whole variety of weaknesses, then we might serve the city well instead of just duplicating our weaknesses and our imperfections. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the churches had different weaknesses? And then, obviously, different strengths. That's the way I think about it. Bethlehem cannot evangelize this city. It cannot fold into itself everybody that needs to be one to Christ. But lots and lots of incarnations of this vision could. So that's what's turning around inside of me. I'm not impressed by Bethlehem. I'm impressed by God. I'm impressed by the gospel. I'm impressed by the elder affirmation of faith as a good, solid summary of biblical truth. I'm impressed by a list of distinctives that I think are core to what a treasure and Christ together church should be. But as far as the way we work it out and flesh it out, we do the best we can. B minus, I don't know, C plus, there aren't many other kinds of churches. So it's not rosy, it's just real. And we want to see lots more appropriately incarnated expressions of this vision. And we're talking about one of them in this service. Now some history. I love Bethlehem. I would like to give my life for Bethlehem. I'm finishing my 30th year at Bethlehem. If Bethlehem has weaknesses, I'm the main reason. And I am thankful for people's patience. I'm thankful that so many of you can give yourself to this imperfect church and find help here. It's amazing. All kinds of people find help here. It's a great place to be. It's a wonderful neighborhood to be in. Have we been doing this for a while? 1871, the church was planted. This church was planted out of First Baptist across the town over here with 29 people. 1879, members went from here to form the first Norwegian, this was the first Swedish Baptist church. That's what it was called for years and years. And then the Danes and Norwegians needed a church. So some went out from here and founded the church that's now called Powderhorn Park Baptist Church. I say now, not quite now. Powderhorn Park lasted, God blessed, for 127 years. And it went out of existence. And what did they do with the building? They gave it back to us. So after 127 years of having planted the church, they gave it back to us. That's the building where this church is going to be. I mean, that is an awesome story. I love that story. So the 1633 Center is the place where Powderhorn was meeting and Powderhorn was sworn out of Bethlehem in 1879. Amazing. Would they have ever prayed such a thing? February 21, 1888, Bethlehem formed Elam Baptist Church, North Minneapolis. 1896, they formed Bethel Baptist Church. 1941, Bethlehem, with 16 other churches, formed Spring Lake Park Baptist Church. 1948, 106 members formed Edgewater Baptist Church in South Minneapolis. 1949, Bethlehem helped organize the Wayside Chapel, sent John Lundberg to be the pastor, which is today Wooddale Church across town. 1952, we sent Pastor Sherwick over to form Brooklyn Center Baptist. 1988, the Laotian Church of Peace was formed. 1996, Steve Treichler, who's holding forth one block that way, used to be the old Central Free Church, now it's Hope Community Church, he went out from us with a dozen people and they have 700 down there worshiping now. And they've planted five churches out from us since 1996. 1998, Jim Bloom planted Celebration Community Church out from Bethlehem. 2000, Rick Gamache reestablished the church, which is today Sovereign Grace down in Bloomington. 2000, Russ Gregg and Cecil Smith planted Sovereign Joy Fellowship. 2002 marks a new beginning. We established this thing called Treasuring Christ Together, TCT. Multiply campuses, so we started campusing in 2002. Plant churches and do the global diaconate, caring for the poorest of the poor. So every dollar you give to TCT, it's a second line on your giving envelope, goes 80% towards paying for campuses. We owe about seven million bucks still on the campus north, and we need a campus south. 10% to church planting, and 10% to the global diaconate like Haiti. That's the way the money works. There has grown up a church planting network in Treasuring Christ Together with Kenny Stokes providing initial leadership there, and John is significant that you'll hear in just a minute. John is significant in that, and maybe he'll have more to say about the wider TCT movement. So here's what happened since then. 2003, Desiring God Community Church was started in Charlotte by Cody Pinckney with folks who were moving from here to Charlotte to go with the Billy Graham Association. 2004, Duane Gibbs started Berean Missional Church over in St. Paul. 2005, Sean Cordell and Kent Capps from TBI here went to Raleigh and started Treasuring Christ Church in Raleigh. 2006, Jordan Thomas planted Grace Community Church in Memphis, Tennessee after doing a residency here. We got this thing called Church Planting Residency, and you stay here for 18 months or a year and soak up everything we can give you, and then you go out and plant a church. 2006, John Erickson, who I'll speak in a moment, Shard Burns, Wally Brath, pastors here, all went and formed All Nations Christian Fellowship over in Brooklyn Center. 2007, Charlie Handren, mainly out of the North Campus, planted Glory of Christ Baptist Church in Elk River. 2009, Tim Cain, some of you remember, was here for a year in the residency, then went to El Cajon, California, and planted Caleo Church there. And now we have two residents, Jason Vaden and Brett Lewis, who are thinking, praying about now when they're done here for their year, where will they be and what will they be doing in church planting? So there's the historical background. It's not new, it's not faddish, it's just always the way the church has spread when there has been more people than you can fit into a church building. And there's always more people than you can fit into a church building, and wherever God's moving, that becomes an issue, and you have to figure out ways to either do campuses or do church plants or both or something else. And may God help us manage His extraordinary blessing on the cities here. This is a strange place to minister. Biggest Hindu temple in America is here, biggest Buddhist temple, Ekankar's here, they're planning to build a $42 million mosque here, something strange going on in Minneapolis. A very dynamic Christian location and pagan throughout. It's just a very strange thing here that we Christians should be keyed up for, it's like Ephesus, okay? Or it's like Tarsus or Antioch. Sometimes people say, whoa, what's happening to America? I say, well, it's like it was when the church exploded in the first century, that's what it's like. It's pagan and pluralistic and debauched. Yes, there's a place to minister. I said, oh, what happened to our America? So be careful lest you turn America into your kingdom. We're citizens of heaven, and we want to be salt and light, and if God will be pleased to bring a great revival that affected all branches of culture, so be it. I'm not counting on it. I pray toward it. I stand at the window in my study, look at that city there, right there, a mile away, less than a mile, and I pray, God, rock it, rock that city with the Holy Spirit. May the Christians in this city, there's so many of them, open their mouths with boldness and speak the gospel into people's lives and move by your spirit and take this city. I do pray prayers like that, but that sort of mega corporate culture altering thing happening is not what I'm about. I'm about faithfulness to the word of God, and in the Bible, my eschatology says, it's gonna be pretty bleak at the end, and I want people to stand, and having done all, to stand when there's only 10 of you in the city. I don't know what God's gonna do. Let's pray for great, glorious moves of His spirit, not moves of men, but moves of God. Now, biblical, so open your Bibles if you have one. Again, if you have, shut it to Matthew 16, and I'm very briefly gonna talk about this and leave time for John, so don't expect the 30-minute sermon here on this text. We'll do this in about 10, I think. Matthew 16, I love this text. I love the promise in it. Who do men say that I am? You're the Christ, it's Peter. You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. And now in verse 18, Jesus says to Peter, I tell you, Peter, you are Peter, and on this rock, you know, the sound-alike words there in Greek, Petros and Petra, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So that sentence by itself should just make your spine tingle. Representing the apostles, Peter has spoken the foundational truth of the church. You are the Messiah, the Son of God, and we apostolic band speak it. And the church, this is my interpretation, is built on that apostolic witness to that decisive truth. So when you go over to Ephesians 2.20, Paul talks about the apostles being the foundation of the church. I will build on you, Peter, but not you by yourself. You, the apostolic spokesman of the gospel truth who gives the decisive founding word, I'm building on you. And then today, he's here. This is Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. This is what we're standing on with Christ as the cornerstone. Now, what I wanna do with this verse, 18, is say four things about it. I wanna say something about I, something about will build, something about my, and something about church. That's my outline. I, point two, will build, point three, my, point four, church. Very briefly, here we go. I, who is this I, who's speaking into Minneapolis, or wherever you're from, I will build my church. Let's just take one scene. This is what I do to encourage my heart and fire me up for Jesus over and over again in my devotions. I just look for magnificent portrayals of Jesus. I just read the last five chapters of Revelation the last couple of days, and there are some really amazing ones. This one is earlier in Revelation. We're at the end of history in Revelation five, and the destiny of the church is at stake, and the unfolding of history is about to come, and they're looking for someone who is worthy to take the seals off this scroll, so the scroll of history, and at the end of the church, can be unrolled, and there's nobody worthy. And John begins to weep. It says that there's nobody worthy, and one of the 24 elders says, weep no more, because the lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, and is worthy to open the scroll. So this lamb-like lion, and lion-like lamb is worthy. It's so amazing. God has ordained that the authority to unroll history, and it's going to be a horrible history. At the end of the age, you're going to unroll these chapters of Revelation. Must be a lamb. If you believe in the wrath of God, believe in the wrath of the lamb. There's a broken heartedness about the wrath of God. There's a humility about the wrath of God. There's a having already walked through wrath, wrath of God. That's the kind of human being, the God-man that could unroll the history. Nobody can just step up as a mere man. Nobody can just step up as a God. There must be a lamb-slain God to unroll this horrible history. Just so no mistake as to what kind of God is behind this blood that flows as high as a horse's bridle for 15 states. Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain. And by your blood, it's ransomed men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and has made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on earth. So he's worthy to unroll history because he was slain and by his slaying ransomed people that will gather into the church infallibly. He bought them. They're coming. And so the amazing response to this in Revelation goes like this. Angels talking birds, talking horses, talking fish confirm the greatness of Christ. I'll read it to you. If you didn't know that talking animals were in the Bible, here they are. So, I heard the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads. Now that means at least two million. Could be 200 million. Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature. I heard every creature in heaven. That's birds and butterflies. And on earth, that's horses and tigers and squirrels. And under the earth, that's worms and moles and groundhogs. And in the sea, that's fish and squid and lobsters. All of them singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said amen and the elders fell down in worship. That's who says I will build my church. That's point number one. Number two, we'll build, we'll build. The church is not a building, all right? This is, this stuff here, not the church. This is not the church. You're the church. The biblical imagery for the church is sometimes a building where Corinthians three, Ephesians two, sometimes a living plant or tree that grows, it's founded and it's rooted. Those two words curse side by side in Revelation and Ephesians three. So the founding is the building imagery and the rooted is the tree imagery. And they're both true. They don't exhaust everything there is to say. That's why there has to be more than one image. The building has a builder and the tree, the plant has a gardener, a farmer tending it. Now how does he grow this, this people? He grows it by ripping the gates off of hell so that the hellish bondage in which the world is held can escape. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. God's not trying to get into hell. He's not going in to stay in. He's ripping the gates off so that there can be liberty. The gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of Hades will not prevail against my building of my people. Remember what he said to Paul in Acts 18 when he was so scared in the middle of the night and came to him in a dream and he said, don't be afraid but preach for I have many people in this city. I have many people in this city. That's true in South Minneapolis. I have many people. They may look totally unwinnable. God specializes in miracles. That's the only kind of people that get saved. That's why there are a lot of fake conversions around. People try to build churches without miracles. You can grow a big church without any supernatural miracle and it's not a church. It's just full of religious people who love to get together and have cool music and a pep talk. This is not the church. The only thing that makes a church is people who are born again and being born again is a miracle of the Holy Spirit and nothing can stop God from doing it. Nothing. He's God. I will build my church. The gates of hell won't keep anybody in that I want out. How did he do it in Philippi? This is so helpful, John. Keep this in your mind. This is for you. He did it with three people. Lydia. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to the word. First convert. Number two, he did it with a demon possessed girl. I command you in the name of Jesus, come out of her. And it came out of her. Business was ruined. Church grew. Number three, the jailer. I'm sinking this jail. I'm knocking the bars off of this jail. I'm doing an earthquake in Philippi. Why? I want the jailer. That's what's gonna happen. God willing. That's how he grows his church. He grows his church with a business woman, probably upscale, a slave girl, probably downscale, and a jailer, a city employee about to kill himself. That's the way he grows his church. The real church. That's number two. Number three, my. I will build my church. God chose his own from the foundation of the world. There he is. And there are millions more besides those who are gathered in the church. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must gather them also. I have them, they're not there. I must gather them. They're gathered by Christians opening their mouths, speaking the gospel, loving people. Holy Spirit causes people to be born again through the living and abiding word of God, which is the gospel which we preach. And no other way, don't ever be a social agency down there. Alone. Open your mouth and speak the gospel. No amount of caring for people's bodies saves anybody. Alone. Faith comes by and hearing by the word. So if we don't speak it, they don't get saved, unless they hear it from somebody else. May God not leave us out in his growing of his church. My, he has a people, John. He has a people. And finally, number four, church. I will build my church. All I'm gonna say here, in closing, on my part, is God did not promise that he would build his school. God did not promise that he would build his co-op. God did not promise that he would build his medical clinic. God did not promise that he would build his university or college. God did not promise that he would build his social servants agency. He promised, I will build my church. The church is the one institution in the world that has this promise. None others. They're all optional. There are all kinds of ways to do those things. But he will build his church. So Jubilee Community Church, we're gonna hear about now, believe this, Jubilee. Believe this. Stand on this. And the gates of hell will not prevail. Thank you, thank you. It is good to be home. And you are my spiritual father in multiple ways. And I praise God for you and the grace of God at Bethlehem. It's very good to be here. And it is a high honor to be here. Matthew 16 is a remarkable text. It leads into the book of Acts, which is a remarkable book. And Jesus says, you will be my witnesses. Witnesses to the name of Jesus Christ. When the spirit of God comes upon you, with power. That's our confidence in planting churches, that the spirit of God comes upon us with power. Invite you to take this little bookmark out of your worship folder. We're gonna spend a few minutes thinking about the spirit of God on us in power. In Isaiah 61, it is remarkable that out of all the texts in the Bible that Jesus could have chosen to inaugurate his ministry with, he chose this one. He came fresh out of the temptation in the desert with Satan. He walked into the tabernacle. He unrolled the scroll. He read Isaiah 61. He sat down and said to these, today in your presence, this scripture has been fulfilled. And what was the text that he said marked the beginning of his earthly ministry? It was this. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Remarkable. John the Baptist, in order that you might know that I am he, the promised one, hear that the poor have good news preached to them. Remarkable that Jesus would choose this text out of any other to mark his ministry, to inaugurate his ministry. But he did. And this is an amazing text and I want to walk through it briefly here in the minutes that remain. Remarkable that Jesus, the Son of God, would firstly say the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Holy Spirit of God has anointed me to preach good news. And then he sends us off in Acts saying the spirit will come upon you. The spirit came on me, eternal Son of God, and that same spirit will come on you to be my witnesses. You will receive power. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Look back at Isaiah 61 here and see this speaking of Jesus. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach to four kinds of people. He's anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Jesus talks so much about the poor. When you have a banquet, who should you invite? The poor, the blind, the lame. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, that word that is so wonderful that we just heard, to captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. But I haven't had any recorded visits of Jesus visiting actual prisons, but he was constantly opening prison doors so that spiritually embonded people could go free, constantly proclaiming liberty, constantly binding up the brokenhearted among whom we once also were. And that is his mission today. He came from glory, he's returning to glory, and he has promised those of us who are in Christ that we will go to glory forever. And so he says, for this short window, I've come to go to the poor. I've come to go to the brokenhearted. I've come to go to the oppressed. And I've come to go to those who are in prison. Join me because the spirit of the Lord is upon me and I've given the spirit of the Lord to be on you. Come to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. Jesus cuts off in Luke four in the middle of that second verse there in Isaiah two. His first coming was about proclaiming grace. Good news, I've not come to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved through me. The first coming of Jesus Christ was about grace. It was about gospel. The second coming of Jesus Christ will be about judgment and it will be about wrath. I've come to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, the year of grace. His grace is for a year. From his first coming to his second coming, we live in the year of the Lord's favor, the year of jubilee, the year of release, of forgiveness, of good news, of celebration. That year is glorious and that year will come to an end with a day of vengeance of our God. We have a window that we live in now and it will come to an end. That is the promise here, the day of vengeance of our God. But now, beloved, we have a year of the Lord's favor, a year of jubilee and Jesus Christ, friends, is our jubilee. And then he says this beautiful thing. He says, I have come to comfort all who mourn, to comfort those who mourn in Zion and give them three beautiful exchanges, three glorious exchanges. He said, I have come to the one who is covered with ashes and I give them instead a beautiful floral headdress. I've come to the one who is mourning and instead I've taken that mourning away and I've poured out my oil of gladness, my lavish grace. And I've come to the one who is faint hearted and I give them instead a seamless, beautiful garment of praise. Do you see the great gospel picture here? Here is the one who is downcast, the one who is covered with ashes, the one who is mourning, the one who is a faint spirit. And Jesus comes along in glorious gospel good news and says, I'm going to exchange these hard things and I'm going to give you a wonderful new reality. I am going to give you a beautiful crown of flowers, of rejoicing, of celebration in the place of your ashes. I am going to come and pour out in your heart my oil of gladness in the place of your mourning. And I'm going to fit you, oh faint hearted one, oh burdened one, oh tearful one, oh prostitute who is washing my feet with a garment of praise. What a glorious thing when Jesus does this. We have a good friend who's with us at Jubilee who God took from the ash heap and is clothed with a garment of praise. A life of drug addiction to a life of exalting our great God. That is what he wants to do in this part of the city. And that is what he wants to do through you. And then look at what he says. What is the reason? In order that, that they, these ones who have experienced this great gospel transformation, that they might be called oaks of righteousness. The planting of the Lord. Why? In order that he might be glorified. He might be praised as these great testimonies occur. As he writes these stories in broken lives of redemption and healing and hope and joy. He might be glorified as the broken cast down. Lydia, slave girl, jailer, become planted in the ground as a young sapling who will grow up into a mighty oak of righteousness. The planting of the Lord. That he might be glorified. And then look at the last reality in verse four. Look at what God does with these formerly broken people who are now being established as oaks of righteousness. He says, they will do three beautiful things. See it there. They shall build up the ancient ruins. They shall repair, they shall raise up the former devastations and they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. We look at our urban centers of America and we say, who will deal with these ancient ruins? Who will address the former devastations there? Who's gonna build up these ruined cities? The devastations of many generations, the cycles of poverty, of broken families, of single parents, of drug addiction, of faithlessness. God says, I'm gonna take broken people, I'm gonna pour out my spirit upon them, I'm gonna establish them as oaks of righteousness and I'm going to build new cities, new foundations through them. This is the foundation text for Jubilee Community Church. Our confidence is that this will happen only when God pours out his spirit upon us to proclaim good news to the broken and hurting people of Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods two miles south of here. And we believe God is going to do that. And we pray that you would join us in this effort in one of three ways. So I just wanna apply this text to us tonight, to us this morning in three ways. Ask that you would take this text and think on it in these three ways. First, please pray for a mighty outpouring of the spirit of God that would cause the word of God to advance and spread and prosper through Jubilee Community Church. We are your daughter, Bethlehem. Please pray for us as such. Stick this in your Bible and pray that God would move in his mighty power. Second, I encourage you to take this text, Isaiah 61, one through four, and meditate on it and seek God's face about how this description of our Lord Jesus's ministry and your life in 2010 might intersect. How might Jesus's inaugural description of his ministry and your life in this year intersect? Third, that first word up there is spread or spreading. We at Bethlehem exist to spread. And so the third application is, oh, that God might through us spread. Ask God to direct your steps in relation to spreading. For some of you, it might be spreading through joining us at Jubilee. Our family, Dan and Lori Porch, Curt and Jill Swanson and the team at Jubilee. Some of you, I pray God will call to join us at Jubilee. For others of you, I pray that God will put a call on your heart to spread through the church plant that's coming up in a few months, or the next year, or in five years, or in 10 years. For others of you, I pray that God will fulfill his spreading desire in you through this text in Haiti. Haiti. Or another challenging corner of his globe. Or for others, that God would anoint you with his spirit for wonderfully fruitful ministry for decades here at Bethlehem. So, oh, Bethlehem, it is good to be here. And I long that the spirit of God would fall fresh on myself, our church, you, and Bethlehem. That we might proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. That through us, mighty oaks of righteousness that would rebuild ruined cities would be raised up by the power of our great God. John. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/OgrZ2HgxG9k.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/john-piper/i-will-build-my-church/ ========================================================================