Everybody loves an underdog story, right? Someone who overcomes obstacles in their way, uh, to do something great. I think of Kurt Warner, a gentleman who was stocking shelves in a grocery store and becomes a Super Bowl champion. And almost 2 time with the Cardinals, so close, so close, but making it to the Super Bowl with two different teams. I think about an author who was struggling to publish one of her manuscripts as she was working as a single mother. And while many said no. Eventually one publisher said yes to JK Rowling and this Harry Potter series was developed. I think about a gentleman who grew up in public housing, grew up poor. Uh, took over a coffee shop that he was working at and turned one coffee shop. Into a global brand. And Howard Schultz now, uh, who has led and developed the Starbucks brand all around the world. You know, I think about an actor who was starving himself and, and, and was struggling and and came from a poor situation. And he had this script that he knew was great and that he would be great for. And he shopped the script around and people wanted the script, but they didn't want him as the actor in the movie that he had written. But he held on to his belief and he kept going around and finally someone said yes to him, and they filmed the movie Rocky. And the actor was Sylvester Stallone. We love an underdog story because we love to see everyday ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And this morning's message is entitled How to Make a difference. Because I think for the most part. It's common for all of us to want to make a difference. But the question is how? Cause I don't, I don't know if you've ever felt this way. I felt this way, especially as a pastor, but I read the characters in the Bible and I'm amazed. I'm like, wow. And then I guess gotta go through my week, right? And, and it's easy to feel like we don't measure up to guys like Moses or Noah or Ruth, or Mary, Peter, Paul, like, like, wow, they're doing amazing things and like, I can't even follow up on an email, you know. Right? Like, I, I, I gotta go fold laundry that I left for days on end, right? I gotta go uh find my kids' shoes, right? Some of you were screaming at each other on the way to church this morning. OK? And if you're not laughing, we know it was you. Right? Like everyday life just seems hard sometimes. And so you read these inspirational stories, and we get encouraged and we get fired up and we're like, I got a business meeting tomorrow, you know. It's like I gotta, I gotta play parent Uber to all my kids' activities that I regret signing them up for, but I love them so much, not all the time, but most of the time, you know what I'm saying. Anyone else ever feel that way? Well, today, we're gonna take a look at an underdog story. And we've been walking through the Book of Acts, and, and the Book of Acts primarily follows the ministry of Peter and of Paul. But today in Acts chapter 18, we're gonna take a look at two characters that I think we can all identify with. And I say that. Because they are ordinary people that make an extraordinary difference. But how they do it might surprise you. And actually offers you and I a template that we can follow to make a difference as well. That's why this morning's message is not can you make a difference, but how? You can make a difference. So we're gonna be jumping into Acts chapter 18, but if you're taking notes, go ahead and write this down, that faith moves at the speed of relationships. Faith moves at the speed of relationships. You ever noticed that everywhere Jesus went, he walked. I mean, maybe that should tell us something about against running, but um, OK, not really, but um he walked. You don't see him in a hurry anywhere, do you? Why is that? I think Jesus walked because walking is a relational pace. Walking is a relational pace. Sometimes the people in our lives can feel like we're attending a NASCAR race. You have people in your life that are like that? Right? You go to see them and you're like, and there was. Right, just passes by. Maybe at school you just pass by, hey, how are you? Good? You good? OK, boom. All right, we're connected, right? Right. You know what I mean though? Like it just seems like we're going from one thing to the next to the next, next, next, next. But Jesus walked everywhere and never seemed in a hurry. Right, cause walking is a relational pace. And faith Making a difference, doing big things for God, faith moves at the speed of relationships. Now, our story takes place today in the city of Corinth. And before we focus in on our characters, let's actually understand the context in which they were living. You see, Corinth was the city that got destroyed in 146 BC but got rebuilt in 44 BC by Julius Caesar to become a Roman colony. It really sat in a strategic place on a peninsula here that had two ports on it. So there's the there's the Gulf of America, just kidding. I just, I guess we can just rename things now. Um, anyway, OK, OK. Hey, it's not a political sermon, calm down. Both sides like both sides like, yeah, we're like, OK, anyway. The Gulf, of course, and we have the Aegean Sea on the other side. So you had two ports here. You had this major metropolitan area. It was seen as a trade destination between Asia and Rome or Asia and the and the uh Western European countries. And so it was a key city. So it was wealthy, it was diverse, and let me tell you, it was also very pagan. Because they had all this money, all this diversity, all this trade people transit people coming in and out of the city, and it was known as like the original Las Vegas if you will, you know, people call Las Vegas Sin City. Well, the word to corinthessize, so the name of the town to corinthessize is to act sexually immoral. So to do something immoral was, oh, you're being like a Corinthian. So this is the context in which we find ourselves. The city itself also had the temple of Aphrodites, the goddess of love, and the temple was surrounded by thousands of prostitutes. And so here is the city, it's wealthy, it's diverse, it's transient, there's all these different pagan backgrounds and religious backgrounds and people pursuing pleasure. And as we know that what happens in Corinth. Actually gets written down into the book for 2000 years that we read forevermore. Come on, we know that to be true, right? Nothing that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And same thing happens here. So this is the context in which Paul's gonna start a church, and he's gonna need some help. So he comes from Athens, he's gonna start a church here. He's gonna actually live here for a couple of years. And then he's gonna go away and he's gonna write two letters back and so that's why you actually understand we don't have time to dive into it now. But that's why the letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians has this mixture of like, here's how you operate as a church, and here's how you live and to flee sexual morality. Think about this. So Corinth, the temple of of the goddess of love, right? now has the church that he writes the love chapter two. Do you ever think about that? 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. It's like Paul was saying, hey, let me tell you what love actually looks like. This is what you're actually searching for and actually should be within the church setting. Yes, marriage, but even more so in our everyday relationships, how we should love and treat each other. So this is a backdrop from our story today and Paul's gonna need some help. So, starting in verse one. So after this, so after Athens. He left Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus recently had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, so I wanna pause here for a second because here's our characters that we're talking about today. I encourage you to read all of chapter 18 and really the surrounding to get the context. So don't ever just take my word at face value. Compare what I'm saying and use it as a catalyst to jump into the word for yourselves and within smaller group settings because that's really where the word comes alive. But I want us to focus on Aquila and Priscilla today, because they're not, they're not found in scripture a lot. In fact, they're only found in 4 places in the entire Bible, and we're gonna read all of them. They're found here in Acts chapter 18. And then they're found in a couple of other places is being acknowledged for who they are, but what we're gonna see is the everyday ordinary people of Aquila and Priscilla make an eternal difference for God, and it starts their journey starts as far as we know here from being persecuted and being forced out of their home and losing everything that they have. So they are coming into another country, uh, so their way of escape is to, is to leave. Their Roman home that they know and go to the most pagan city at the current time because that's the only place they can even live. So they, they leave family, they leave culture, they leave community, they leave possessions and now they are in this place, of course. Now if you put yourself in that position. And you got kicked out. For being religious and being Jewish. And you, you come across Paul. Who, as we've seen earlier in our study of Acts, repeatedly got kicked out, stoned, and imprisoned. If you come across him, are you tempted just to kind of like put your head down? Not only do they not put their head down, they actually embrace him, say, hey. We can help. Verse 3. And I came to him because he was of the same trade, and he stayed with them and worked, for they were tent makers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. I love this. You know why? Because 6 out of the 7 days, they were tent makers. They were just going through everyday life, business people. Using their hands, using their skills to develop a new life. And then on the Sabbath, Paul would go and try to reason and persuade people. For Jesus Now they would have people in their home. We're gonna see that cause they everywhere they went, they took people in. But I love this. So, so they're not these disciples. They were called out by Jesus himself. They were not kings. They were not priests. There were immigrant refugees that had been kicked out of their country, put into a new colony, they were just trying to make ends meet. Tent makers, risk takers, life givers, Aquila and Priscilla. This is why I love their example because we might think, oh I can't be Paul. Probably not. It's not our context. Maybe someone in here will be. But all of us could be Aquila and Priscilla. Because they realized that their vocation was for the glory of God. OK. So Paul would preach and people were getting saved and as was custom, people didn't like that people were getting saved. So then they caused up trouble. He gets locked up again briefly, but the ruler in that calling he goes, Wait a second, wait a second, you want me to take kick this guy out because of words? No, just you guys figured this out. And like people are getting beat up and it's just getting crazy. And so Paul's like, OK, I should probably move on. He had been there for about a year and a half. I was gonna stay longer, but he's like, it's time to go. OK. So we pick up our story in verse 18. And after this Paul stayed many days longer. And then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria. And with him, Priscilla and Aquila. And Cesare he had cut his hair, for he went under a vow. Now I don't know why we need that detail, but it made sense in that context, right? So there was something about his identity as well as the context in which he's reading. Right, that Paul needs a haircut, but I don't know why you include that detail other than Luke is a doctor, he likes details, right? And it, it, and it played a factor into their story and into his story. So when there's a detail, he's just sharing what happened, right? And in verse 19, it says, and they came to Ephesus, and he left them there. But he himself went to the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. So here we have Aquila and Priscilla. They were in Rome. They were in Chorus. Now they're gonna go to Ephesus, and then Paul trust them and I said, OK, you minister here and I'm gonna go here. And there's some crazy stuff that goes down in Ephesus, but you're gonna have to save that for next week as we jump into Acts 19. So they're serving, now we're gonna pick up our story here in verse 24. And now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus, and he was an eloquent man competent in the scriptures, and he had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he only knew of the baptism of John. So he knew part of the things. He knew Jesus was important, but he didn't quite know the whole story, OK. So verse 26, so he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And then when he wished to cross the. The chea there, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he arrived, he greatly helped those through grace had believed. For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing uh by the scriptures that Christ was Jesus. So here is this great orator, this great speaker. And Priscilla and Aquila. This couple noticed that he doesn't quite have the whole story. And they don't call him out and shame him in public, but rather they pull him aside like, hey, hey, hey. Hey, you got, you got a minute? And they show through the scriptures, through the letters, through the stories, through the Old Testament, the teaching of who Jesus really was. They disciple Apollos. They invest in him. They encouraged Paul, the disciple Apollos, and we see his life changed and he goes on to be one of the greatest preachers of the early church. We know this because later when they're talking about him, people are saying, well, you don't preach like Apollos because that's that's how good he was as a communicator. Or as good as he was in communication, he got his faith. From a one on one relationship, face to face with Aquila and Priscilla. Now what we see here, this is the one section that we find them and we only see their names pop up in 3 other locations. But what's interesting is that they always pop up together. There's a value in and, and they always say the same thing. So they served in different places, but kept the same story. Their situation changed. But their service did not. Their circumstances changed, but their calling did not. They were not famous. But they were faithful. So let's walk through these verses together. First we see in here that they were together in Corinth. Again, Paul's writing to the church in Corinth. He's writing back letters later in his life, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and we see this in verse 19 of chapter 16. It says, in the churches of Asia send you greetings, Aquila and Priscilla. So Prisha is just like a short name for Priscilla. I think John, Jonathan, Nathan, Nathaniel. OK, same person. I'll just gonna, I'm gonna keep saying Priscilla, OK. So Aquila and Prisha, or Priscilla, together with the church in their house. So not only are they working, But they're hosting the church. As well, they send you hearty greetings in the Lord. Now again, they came from a place where they were kicked out. Now they're serving and giving and hosting in their house. But not just in Corinth, we also see that they end up going back to Rome as well. Because together in Rome, at the very end of a letter to the Romans, Romans chapter 16 verses 3 and 4. Paul's writing from prison and make sure you greet Priscilla and Aquilla, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks to them as well. Romans is one of the most me if not the meatiest, most intense, most deep writings in all of Scripture and at the end of it, Paul gets up when he gives his Oscar nomination or, you know, celebration speech. He says, let me thank Aquila and Priscilla. Not only did they help me, they risked their neck, their lives for me. But every single Gentile church. Every single church should thank them. That's how powerful they were. Right. What we're seeing here is that if early Christians were wearing Paul pajamas, Paul was wearing an Aquila Priscilla t-shirt, you know what I mean? Like, you know, they go to the concert and, and you grab the t-shirt, right, the Taylor Swift, the Coldplay, the whatever, right? Like you wear the shirt, like, he's rocking with the Quilla and Priscilla. It's like they're the best. Right. It's like when a famous chef says, oh, I learned my cooking from over here. Paul was like, I learned my cooking from Aquila and Priscilla. And just a complete really the analogy here, they weren't actually wearing the clothes, OK, like, oh, they were wearing pajamas. No, like, just get in the picture here, because in reality, they're everyone is pointing to Jesus, that's what they're doing. Their whole lives are pointing to Jesus. And Paul, who risked it all, the one that we know about because of everything he wrote. This person said, oh, let me tell you about Aquila and Priscilla. Make sure they say, make sure they get my thank you card. So we see it in Corinth, we see it in Romes. We also see it in Ephesus. When Paul gets to the end of his life, he writes to Timothy, his mentee, his spiritual godson, if you will, who is the pastor in Ephesus. And so at the end of his life, he doesn't have much left. He's writing this personal letter to Timothy, encouraging him to don't let anyone look down because of his youth, but to set the example, right? To preach the word, right, to fan into flame the gifts God has given you, for God did not. Give you a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control. Some of the most inspiring words in all of Scripture are found in 1 and 2 Timothy, who's pastoring in Ephesus, and when he gets to the very end, what does he say? Oh, Timothy, make sure you greet Priscilla and Aquila. In the household of, what is that, 1 Z4S, I don't know, I can't pronounce words, but. Right. He gets to the end of his life, oh please, please, please, please say hello. To my dear friends, Aquila and Priscilla. So we see them in Rome, we see them in Ephesus, we see them in Corinth, and everywhere they go, they're making a difference. You know, there's a phrase that's common in culture. And in fact, I use it as well, and so I can't knock it too much. I just don't think it's complete. Especially here in GCU lopes up, who, um, I guess, I guess first hour is the GCU hour, OK. Um, and, uh, if you've seen the commercials where it says find your purpose, right? Find your purpose. That, that sounds inspiring, right? And I've said that before. Right, I just don't think that phrase is complete. Because when you say something like, find your purpose, it's like you're playing hide and seek. Come here, purpose, purpose, purpose. Over here purpose? And you're trying to find something and then if you don't have it, you don't find you're like, oh, I didn't find it. Still looking I think a better version. A stronger one really is from this idea of live with purpose. You see, Aquila and Priscilla. Everywhere they went, they preached Jesus. Everywhere they went, they invested in people. Everywhere they went, they just humbly served. And they were making a difference. And you put it in one context, you're like, OK, but yeah, look, they were with Paul. OK, what about an emphasis? What about in Rome, the same place that kicked them out? Like we don't know a lot about their story. But what we know is that while they might not have been famous, they are faithful. And they approached every single day. With purpose. And I think that's a great example for you. And for me, In fact, I think what we see in here is not only a great picture of marriage, but also a great picture of ministry. And from what we see in these brief passages are 5 qualities. Of a healthy marriage and ministry. I want to emphasize this because we don't have a lot of great examples in the New Testament. You look at the Old Testament, a lot of messed up marriages. In the New Testament, the best picture we have of marriage is actually Christ in the church. And so when you do get a positive example, I want to really emphasize and put, point that out. Because everywhere you see Priscilla, you see Aquila. Everywhere you see Aquila, you see Priscilla. You always see the end. There is power in the end in being united together. So this is A healthy characteristic for a healthy marriage. But not everyone in this room are, are watching online or watching later or in that category. But I wanna encourage you this still applies to your life. I'll walk through these 5 qualities and we'll talk about how this applies no matter your circumstance right now. First thing we see from them. Is that they were resilient. They were, they were resilient. They overcame obstacles through obedience. They didn't know the outcome. They didn't know the outlook they didn't know what the next day was gonna bring, but they were obedient in the present moment. OK, God, you took us out of Rome. We lost everything. Many of us would have been tempted to just kind of put our heads down and say, well, we gave it a try. They actually embraced Paul, invited him into their house. They made tents together, and they, and they started over. They were resilient. Second thing we see here is that they were generous. They actually funded ministry with their work. I love that. They didn't just view tent making as a. Vocation, they viewed it as a calling. They viewed what they were doing for the glory of God. This is why I think this can relate to so many of us today because not all of you will be called to be pastors, but all of us are called to be disciple makers. And that's why we're called to be generous, to live generous, and so they worked hard. And they gave why? Because they viewed their resources as gods. They were stewards of what God gave them. God, you've given us the ability to make tents, so we're gonna make tents for your glory. It's not about an amount, it's a mindset. I think too many of us have a mindset where they view everything as ours and we come at it, we're like, OK, this is mine, mine, mine. No, mine, can't touch it, can't touch it. Oh, here you go. Like which one seems more generous to you? Oh, OK, you can, yeah, OK, you can have that, but this is mine, don't touch. Or do you say, God, all of this is yours? I'm a steward of it. Whatever you call me to do, I'm gonna do it. And it's not like they had to leave the tent making business to go do ministry, they actually did ministry through the tent making business. See, we live in an age where they teach you that there is sacred. And they're secular. Right? There are spiritual things and then there's just everyday life things. And that makes sense from a practical standpoint, doesn't it? Yeah, we can sing Yahweh, we love you. If I go into the business meeting saying that, that's gonna be a, I'm gonna get some looks. Right? Like I can sing Yahweh, we love you, but I got a full inbox on Monday. You know, I got that dirty diaper to change. I got, I gotta be parent Uber. I gotta remember all the activities. That we sign our kids up for and then resent them for us signing them up for, OK, anyway, and. Parents are tracking with me, OK? Right. But here's the beauty of Christianity. There isn't Sacred and secular. Everything is sacred. I love that. Everything is sacred. Do you know you can eat to the glory of God? Praise Jesus There's one commentator that says you can describe the writings of Luke, same guy who wrote Acts, by the way, as either going to a meal at a meal, or just leaving a meal. Think about the most important discussion in the history of the world. What do we call it? The last supper. Yes, praise Jesus. You can do anything and everything to the glory of God. Why? Because he wants your life, he wants your heart, he wants your soul. So you can teach, you can be in a meeting, you can reply to emails, you can work in healthcare, offer a treatment, coach a team, go for a walk. for the glory of God. We need to stop separating it instead saying, Jesus, here's my life. You have given me everything and so I'm gonna give you everything. They were resilient, they were generous. Third, thirdly, we see that they were hospitable. They hosted ministry in their home. So we don't need a synagogue. Come to our house. You don't think being a tent maker of the house was messy from time to time? And if we're being real. OK. That was a much more challenging thing to do than it is now. And I get it. I'm with you. I'm not, I'm not saying this from, I'm on stage so that you can see me, but we are on the same playing field as in humanity, OK? We are brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm just as much in this as you are. But opening up their home could literally cost them their lives. And they did it in Corinth, in Rome, in Ephesus, over and over and over and over again. They welcome people in. I love that. Fourth thing we see from them is that they were humble. They were humble. I think the fact that we don't know a lot about their lives outside of these brief scriptures show us. That their significance came through their service. Behind the scenes. You don't have to be famous to be faithful. God sees you That's how Jesus even came into the world. Think about that. In Bethlehem in a stable at night through Joseph and Mary. God sees the small things, the little things. Sometimes the greatest thing you do is not something you're gonna do, but a person you're gonna raise. Sometimes it's that conversation that spurs and changes somebody else. Sometimes you are gonna strengthen somebody else's soul. Sometimes you walk through. The sickness and the illness so that you can actually minister to those going through that same thing. Sometimes you're gonna walk through something so bad that you can only describe it as a living hell, but you do that so that you can proclaim an eternal heaven that's available to people walking through what you just walked through. They were humble. They didn't make it about them. They could have been arrogant when they challenged Apollos. He was in the wrong. But instead of like, hey, hey, hey, can I show you what it actually looks like? And the discipled. Last thing we see here is that they were relational. They established influence through their investment in people. They didn't put up billboards for Aquila and Priscilla tents. Right? They didn't say they could have, it's not wrong to own and, and launch a business, but what they did was they said, you know what, we're gonna invest in people. And wherever God has us, however it's money, God calls us to make, wherever we go, whatever persecution comes or doesn't come, no matter the city, no matter the circumstance, we don't care if we go back to the same city that just kicked us out. We're gonna preach the gospel and we're gonna love and serve people. And they understood that it was about relationship. Now think about this, think about those 5 qualities, OK. Isn't that what you want for your marriage? Someone who's resilient. Generous, hospitable, humble, and relational. If you're not married, but you wanna be. Isn't that what you want? This next comments for free, OK, not part of the sermon, but look, if you are dating, can I just encourage you with something? Stop looking for the right person and start becoming the right person that the person you're looking for is looking for. Right, we get so obsessed with finding Mr. and Mrs. Right. But if you became Mr. and Mrs. Right, if you run your race so hard, so fast for the name of Jesus, and you're running after him with all that you are with purpose every single day, every class, every work opportunity, every conversation, if you're running after God and you're becoming resilient, generous, hospitable, humble, relational, and you're going after God, at some point you're gonna look up and you're gonna look around and you're gonna see who's running with you. I You gotta be the person that you're looking for is looking for. Be that man or that woman of God. Like, OK, John, but I'm not in a relationship, I'm not in there. OK, let me ask you something. If you're an employer, don't you want these qualities in an employee? Let's put it a different way. You wouldn't hire the reverse. Think about someone who comes in and they're the opposite of these five things. It's like, well, I see your resume here. Tell me, what are, how would you describe yourself? Well. Um, I am not resilient. I, uh, I am weak and I falter at the slightest inconvenience. Uh, I am, I am selfish. I do not, everything is mine, and I'm in it for myself. And I will only give you the hours that you pay me for nothing more. And I'm in it for myself on any group project, uh, I am not hospitable, so do not dare come into my space. I am prideful. It is all about me. And it should be. In fact, I should have your job, but we'll wait on that. And then I'm not relational. I do not want to work with people. You're in the hospitality industry. Nope, but I don't wanna work with people. Leave me alone. When do I start? When do I get my race? Can I have your job? Is that available? OK, great. Not you. Like, no, you wouldn't do that, right? Not intentionally. But don't we default into those modes? Something hard happens. What do we do? We pull back. Instead of being resilient. Right, we, we, we, we feel sad and and oppressed and like, oh, I'm being attacked. OK, you just had avocado toast, calm down. You know what I mean? Like there are some very serious things, don't get me wrong. There's more persecution in the world than ever before. But you know what you see in those countries? The gospel is exploding. Why? Because faith is resilient. We have not been overcome with the world, but we overcome the world. What? With our faith because faith moves at the speed of relationships. And if you have a God, if you have a God, That created the world, came back from death and says, I'm gonna offer that same power to you, and there is nothing you can't handle. We have a God who is generous, who gives us all things who for God so loved the world that he took. No, that he gave. That we can walk into any room, any relationship with the mindset, not of an amount, a mindset of not getting something from you, but what can I give? Cause God's already given me everything that I need. That we can walk into our situations and be hospitable. So I get it. There are personalities, right? Some people are not hosting people. I get it. I'm tracking with you. But can you be hospitable in the moment? Right? In the conversation? Have you ever had a conversation with someone who you're talking to them and like, uh-huh, yep, yep, and they're looking past you? You can't be everywhere 100% of the time, but wherever you are, choose to be there 100%. If it's a 1 minute conversation, if it's a 30 minute conversation. You know, you, you might not make every kid's game, but the games that you're at, be present, be loud, be cheering, blame the refs, right? I'm all in, it's always the ref's fault. I'm I'm still falling OK. Right? Even if you're not that hosting person, you can still be hospitable. It's again, it's a mindset, it's a heart thing. I think we can all do a better job of being humble. It would be amazing what God could do through the church if we weren't so focused on being famous but instead focused on being faithful. We can't do what we do without the faithful service of people in this room and beyond. Right. The last thing here, it's about people, it's relationships. It's not about extrovert introvert, some people might have 100 friends, some people might have 5. But whatever that is, can you invest in those people? And your spouse and your kids and your coworkers. They're not projects. Right? They They're people That God created and died for. I love Quilla and Priscilla because those are all things that we can strive for and live out right now. I see it, cause I see of people in this room. Hosting groups, changing diapers, sweeping the floors, setting up chairs. Running tech, playing music. We all have different gifts and abilities that when we come together, we can make a difference. That you would be amazed at what you can do for God when you give it over to him. When Jesus fed the 5000. He did it with the little boy's lunchable, some bread and some fish. The boy didn't feed the 5000, just gave it to Jesus, who then turned did it. Right, when you give what's in your life over to him, time, talent, treasure, you'll be amazed at what he would do if you just choose to be faithful. I see time and time again our group leaders. People cleaning the building, people out in the public. I, I think about those knitting hats for the homeless. I think about those who are cooking meals for those and bringing a meal to a family who just had a baby. I think about um those who started a Bible study at their workplace. Right My mind goes to some people who helped to start this church. I think of Kevin and Priscilla. How fitting. Her name is Priscilla. They were halfway there. I actually talked to Kevin this week and I really begged him to legally change his name to Aquila. And he refused. But how awesome, I mean, what ministry, what marriage ministry would you go to? Kevin and Priscilla? Or Aquila and Priscilla? But he wouldn't do it. OK, it's OK. Uh, but you can actually see the picture here. Uh, Debbie's in the room. Kevin's mom, Kevin's a great name, by the way, Debbie. So since the person who named him is in the room, gotta be kind. Uh, no, Kevin was actually for those who don't know him, he, uh, was one of our first staff members helped to start the church, and everywhere they went, they had a group of people around them and 4 kids and working multiple jobs because we had no money as the church back then. And, and so they're hosting and they were loving and they were sharing and they were coaching and doing all the things. We, we end up getting called down to a foster care ministry in South Phoenix, so they moved away. And guess what they did? They started a Bible study. They started hosting, they started coaching, they started loving, they started serving. Here's a group actually not at Mission Grove, just here down in South Phoenix. They just started opening up their home. They started sharing Jesus, they started working, they started teaching, they started going. Well, just this year, uh, then God called them out to a church on the East Valley. Then they decide, guess what they're doing now? They started a Bible study, they're hosting, they're loving, they're coaching, they're just faithfully serving. Everywhere they go. God's been faithful. Why? Because they're being faithful. It's a mindset, it's a heart thing. And just as they did it. You and I can do this as well. So let me end this morning with 3 thoughts. Number one, You need community. You need community. And you need community even beyond your marriage because who did Paul or who did Paul go to? Paul went to them. Everywhere Paul went, he had relationships. There's so many names in these letters. Jesus, God himself, what had disciples. There is a 12 and then there is the 3. There are over 50 1 another commands in the New Testament alone. Christianity is not a solo sport and life is too difficult. For you to go through alone. The church needs you and you need the church. You need community in your life. Secondly, You don't have to wait for your someday to make a difference today. I don't know what some day is for you. That's why I put it in quotes because you might think, oh, if I get out of school, or if I get through this class, or if I get the promotion, if I get the house, if I find the right person, if I move to this place if I, if I become more knowledgeable, you don't have to know everything. If you know anything, guess what you can do. You can disciple somebody. Why I only know 3 things? Share those 3 things with somebody else. That you don't have to wait for someday to be obedient today. That it's, it's not just your position in life, it's your disposition in this life and that you can actually say, God, everything you have is yours and I'm gonna serve today. And I started this morning by asking the question, where do you start? What do you use and, and, and what do you even do? And something that's been impactful for me in these early days in church planning where we had no resources, no people, no building, no chairs, no tech, anything. We use this adage to start the church and so I'm gonna share this with you as well. Is that wherever you are in your spiritual journey, Start where you are. Use what you have. And you do what you can. Yeah, I don't have a lot of resources, but you got something. I don't have 1000 friendships, but you probably have one. Or 10 Or workplace or a school or a team. Or neighborhood Or family member Do what you can. Conversation and encouragement, a text, a note, a meal. Yard work We had guys glorifying God this week by trimming trees out in the front so people can see the building better. We have people praying on Thursdays. We have people writing cards for people who can't be here. And people cooking meals so that they can come for the art of marriage class coming. You have people eating meals for the glory of Jesus. That's my type, right? Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. And if we keep showing up. Dad's gonna show off. Faith moves at the speed of relationships. May we take the example of Aquila and Priscilla? We don't have to be famous to be faithful. And God can use the faithful, humble acts of a few. To change eternity. That's something I can jump on board with you pray with me. Dear only father just thank you. Thank you for this underdog story. Of a couple that lost everything, had to leave everything they knew. And yet when they came to Corrus, Corinth, they followed you, they ministered, they served, they worked, they gave. And when they went to Ephesus. They worked, they served, they gathered, they gave. When they went to Rome, they discipled, they loved, they serve, they gave. That they had the mindset of making a difference. Knowing that anything good we have comes from you. Help us to follow their example. And to live our everyday life. For the purpose of making an eternal difference. May you have the glory. May you have the fame. And may we remain faithful with our everyday obedience. We love you, God, and your son's and we pray. Amen.