Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Are You a Kingdom Builder? | Kingdom Builders | Week 3 | Dana & Bridgette Metcalf
When Pastors Dana and Bridget Metcalf recount their experiences of fostering hope in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand, it's not just a story—it's a testament to the power of transformative faith. Their dedication to battling human trafficking through Project Rescue Thailand and Sealed Life shines a light on the dark corners of the city, bringing the message of salvation to over a million victims. Our conversation with the Metcalfs not only celebrates their incredible work but also the growth of Surat Thani's first English-speaking church and the ways in which our Banner Language Center is using English teaching as a gospel-spreading tool.
Venturing into the realm of personal narratives, we uncover the lessons learned from Rahab's biblical account and the life of Dana's own mother, tying these to the grand narrative of God's redemptive plan. Hear how their stories of faith and obedience have shaped the fabric of our ministry and modeled the essence of kingdom building. The profound transition from darkness to light, as described in Colossians, becomes vividly clear in the lives touched by our outreach, reminding us that we are all called to be bearers of light.
Wrapping up, a stirring reminder of the unwavering faith symbolized by Rahab's "scarlet rope" and how it parallels our own leaps of trust in modern life. We then extend a heartfelt call to action, inviting you to embrace a life dedicated to Jesus and to recognize the pivotal role of mothers in our lives and ministries. Our episode culminates in a prayer for mothers everywhere, honoring their strength and devotion, and reinforcing our commitment to expressing God's love in everything we do. Join us as we reflect on the profound impact of these kingdom builders and celebrate the journey from disgrace to honor through God's grace.
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Hey, if we haven't met, my name is Jay and Celeste and I have such an amazing opportunity to serve here at Cornerstone. It's a blessing that you are with us. We are in the middle of Kingdom Builders. It is our series talking about what it means to build the kingdom of God, to be those that are generous, beyond our tithes and offerings, to be those that give towards missions so that others may know the love of Jesus Christ. We do that collectively here at Cornerstone and we partner with over 40 ministries and missionaries every single month in giving to them and to projects that they have so that others may know Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:How many people have been blessed so far by the people that we've had share? Hasn't it been amazing? Such a blessing? Today is the same in that we have personal friends and heroes of ours, people that have mentored and spoken into our lives, to come and to share with you. They are missionary pastors. They have been pastors and mentors to so many people and today they get to come and share what God has given them in the great city of Bangkok, thailand, and that is pastors Dana and Bridget Metcalf. Please welcome them today to Cornerstone to come share with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, pastor Jay and Celeste. I tell you, these pastors are very special to us, and Celeste used to live with us. She was our missions pastor when we were in Cottonwood and she has been like a sister to my children and just an incredible influence over my children, and I has been like a sister to my children and just an incredible influence over my children, and I just so appreciate it. So can we just thank your pastors today and just say they're doing a fantastic job. And happy Mother's Day. To all the mothers in the house this morning as well, I want to say thank you, cornerstone family. You have been an inspiration to us and such an encouragement. Your prayers, your support, your giving, your faithful giving has allowed us to be able to go not only in Bangkok, thailand, but we've been able to go all throughout Asia Pacific and really advance the kingdom of God, and I can't wait to really share with you today what God is doing around the world. So I want to say thank you and God bless you for what you've done, because sometimes you think that you're just planting those seeds and you don't get to see the fruit of what God is doing, but he is multiplying you all over the world. So God is so much bigger than we can even imagine and hope for and he's got great things and I can't wait to share this with you. But one of the passions that are in my heart we pastor a church, an international church of over 40 nationalities, and we have a wonderful time. It's like it's just like going into heaven when you worship at an international Christian assembly, and so it feels so amazing and just like an honor to be able to worship all in one accord. But one of the passions in my heart and I saw it on the video here too is Project Rescue.
Speaker 2:We lead Project Rescue Thailand and I do a ministry called Sealed Life on the streets of Bangkok and it is an anti-trafficking ministry. And we also have if you can believe it or not, we have 69 million people in the country of Thailand. Less than 1% know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So it's an unreached country, completely unreached, but we actually have in the city of Bangkok 16 million people and we have 1 million trafficked victims. If you can imagine that we have more trafficked victims in all of Thailand than we do believers. So we have an incredible need before us.
Speaker 2:We go to the streets every Saturday. We minister, we pray in the streets and we just lift up the name of Jesus. And I have to say this isn't something, we're not something special going out there and like heroes going out there. What we do is we just apply the scripture, we apply raising Jesus high, and as you raise Jesus up, all men are drawn unto him. The number one comment that we get when we go on the streets of Bangkok is that there's a light inside of you, there's a light that I'm drawn to. What is that light? I want that light, and so we are able to share the love and hope of Jesus Christ with them. And I will leave you with this as I turn the microphone over to my husband, dana.
Speaker 2:We have a very special lady. God had spoken to us to not just reach out to the victims and rescue the victims, but to really go after the madams, the pimps, those who were buying the girls and the boys. And so God had really drawn me to this one brothel that also fronts as a massage parlor, and the owner of that place her name is Mi and she has 42 girls, 42 precious girls from all over the country Myanmar, from Vietnam, from Cambodia and we started building relationships with Mi. I took her to lunch one day and God had spoken to me. It was right around Christmas time to bring her this charm bracelet that had the nativity on it. And so I brought this charm bracelet with me and I was like Lord, just give me this open door to share the gospel with me. I walked in, we had lunch together. I just asked her a lot of questions and we just started building this friendship with her.
Speaker 2:As we continued on, she said I love stars. She goes I believe in the stars, I believe that the stars are the only thing you can really believe in. And I said well, that's very interesting. I wanna tell you a story about a star. And I pulled out this charm bracelet and started sharing about how there was a star in the east and how it predicted the son of God, jesus Christ, and was able to share the story. She just cried. She just cried she goes I want what you have.
Speaker 2:We prayed right there, right there, in front of everybody. It's like let's pray that Jesus will be the light of your life. She allows us to come into the brothel, she allows us to come in and minister to our girls. Right in the middle of the red light. God is on the move church. God is in the midst of the darkness, because the light shines brighter in the darkness. Amen, amen. And it's a privilege and it's an honor to be able to serve in Thailand. So thank you for your love, your support and, most of all, your prayers. God bless you this morning.
Speaker 3:Thank you, bridget. Wow, what a joy to be here. It's been many, many years. Thank you, bridget. Wow, what a joy to be here. It's been many, many years and we are so privileged, and I do. I want to thank Pastor Jay and Celeste again for their incredible generosity, and all of you as well, and the impact that you have made with your prayers, with your giving. And, of course, pastor Jay and Celeste have a missions background, so they're very passionate about kingdom builders. He was just with us in Asia and I have to say, because of his experience and his background in missions, when he got there I just kind of followed him. It's like he knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted, and we had such a wonderful time in Laos and Thailand as well, and it was such a joy. Thank you, pastor Jay, so much. We are so grateful for all that you have done for missions and kingdom builders around the world.
Speaker 3:And in this next slide you can just see a quick picture of our church International Christian Assemblies, bridget mentioned we have 42 nationalities in the church and there's just a few captions of them there worshiping together. We have a nine o'clock and an 11 o'clock service, just like you do on Sunday morning, but we also have one o'clock service with some of our ethnic churches and we have a Filipino service, a Pakistani service and a Chinese service at one o'clock. They have lunch together and they do it in their language. In our 11 o'clock service we're translating in three languages now and, due to really much of a blessing that you as a church provided for us, a translation system that we didn't know existed and it was such a blessing and now there's like three channels and we have three translators in the back translating in Urdu, mandarin and Thai in our 11 o'clock service. So we're reaching the world on Sunday morning Amen, praise God.
Speaker 3:And in the next slide you can see in this picture some more of our ministries. In this one we planted our first daughter church in southern Thailand in a city called Surat Thani, and in Surat Thani we are the first English-speaking church in that city and we went there and God is growing this church in a remarkable manner. We're so excited to be able to. We started meeting in a hotel conference room and now we're meeting at the First Christian International School in Surat Thani. We partnered with them and have our service there on a Sunday morning. This is a church that is represented by nine different nationalities. Now in Surat Thani, we're so excited to be able to plant our first daughter church in the country of Thailand and hopefully there'll be many more after this.
Speaker 3:In the next slide you can see in this one is our homeless in prison ministry. We feed over 300 homeless people on the street every Thursday evening. Our team comes to the church and they work all day preparing and packing together meals and they pray and then we go out on the street and where the homeless are you can see where they're lining up there and then we preach the gospel. We disciple them. We have what we call a pop-up church on Thursday night. It's like our church on the street there and we have an incredible team that does that. We had a man that was healed some months back. He was really God, really touched this guy physically and healed him, came back the next week, started yelling at everybody as they were lining up to be fed. Everybody was kind of alarmed and he said you need to listen to these people. You need to listen to these people. They prayed for me last week and their God healed me. He was our best advertisement for the homeless ministry. It was awesome and then the prisons just opened up again after COVID. We take our teams in there as well In the next slide very quickly.
Speaker 3:We also have our Banner Language Center. We started a language center because in Thailand they're really promoting English and our Banner Language Center. We're able to get into the prisons and schools in different places if we teach English and of course we do it with a biblical curriculum and it gives us a tremendous opportunity to be able to share the gospel. In the next slide we also venture out to some of the other countries in Asia. We have a Nepal church plant initiative. In the last two years we have built four different churches in the Himalaya chain in Nepal and we also host a pastor's conference there. In this last February, just a few months ago we had over 300 pastors come to our conference that came down from the mountains. We sponsor that conference and bring them down. Some of them travel two or three days from the mountains to get down to Kathmandu and then we minister to them for three days. They sleep at the church on the floor. We buy food and prepare it for them there, and it's just such a blessing to be able to encourage these pastors and train them in the country of Nepal. So we are just so grateful and privileged to be able to do what we do.
Speaker 3:Our church is on the 11th floor of a building and it's a very long day on Sunday as I'm walking out the elevator after our one o'clock meeting and I always get off and I just say, god, I get to do this, hallelujah, I get to do this. I'm preaching to the nations in Bangkok, thailand, and we're seeing God do great things there. I want to speak to you this morning this theme that you're in on kingdom builders, and a lot of times we think kingdom building is just about resources and money and so forth, but kingdom building really, in essence, it's about just simple acts of faith, just simple obedience. One theologian said it's a long obedience in the same direction. Faith and obedience are intertwined and there's an individual in the Bible that is a mother that I want to preach about and hopefully this will not only encourage and inspire the moms here today on Mother's Day, but this particular mother without her there would be no Savior today.
Speaker 3:Her name is Rahab and she was a prostitute in Jericho, but yet, as a mother, her simple steps and acts of faith were incredibly significant in building the kingdom of God. My mom, you know she was a stay-at-home mom and she would tell people that. You know, my ministry is my three sons and she dedicated us to the Lord, not only as babies but even growing up. She said, lord, you could take my sons and do with them whatever you want. She truly, I would say, was a kingdom builder, because both my brothers are pastors as well as myself, and it was because there was a mother who had a significant impact upon her sons. She was a kingdom builder. Moms, you are kingdom builders here in this church and you cannot minimize the fact of how important it is in motherhood and being a mom to your children, even as they grow older. I was with my mom yesterday she's 85 years old and spending time with her and realizing that her impact upon my life. I would not be where I'm at today if not for a kingdom-building mother. Amen.
Speaker 3:I want you to turn to the book of Colossians, chapter 1, verse 13. And in this verse it reveals to us something that is important for all of us to understand, especially in kingdom building. It says that he's rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and he transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son. It's speaking about two kingdoms here and as a believer, we were rescued from a kingdom of darkness where we were spiritually blind and we were destined, you know, for an eternal judgment in our life. But God transferred us into the kingdom of his dear son. And I would say it like this in kingdom building that God uses broken people who have been restored to bring restoration to broken people, amen. God uses hurting people who have been healed to bring healing to hurting people. God uses discouraged people makes them a kingdom builder who have been encouraged to bring encouragement to discourage people. God uses bound people who have been set free to bring freedom to bound people. These are true kingdom builders. Hallelujah, and we hear these testimonies all the time of these true kingdom builders.
Speaker 3:But Rahab the prostitute was a very unique and special kingdom builder, and as a mother, we'll see that later in the story. But even the New Testament writers allude to Rahab as a testimony of faith and action, of someone who was incredibly significant in the kingdom of God, the book of James. He refers to Rahab in chapter 2, verse 25. It says Rahab the prostitute is another example. She's a tremendous example to us today. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away to a different road.
Speaker 3:Now we know that Joshua was sending two spies into the promised land to spy out the land before they crossed the Jordan River and began to possess the land that God had given them. They end up, these two spies, in the city of Jericho before the children of Israel defeated them and the king heard that these two spies were there in the city and they ended up in Rahab, the prostitute's house, and she hid them in the roof of her house. James is alluding to this and saying that by Rahab's actions she was shown to be made right with God. She steps into the realm of being a kingdom builder and probably doesn't even realize it, as she's hiding these two spies that Joshua sent in to the promised land. We could say that God uses immoral people who have been forgiven to bring forgiveness to immoral people. Rahab would be considered unlovely, discarded, an immoral harlot in Jericho whom God used to build His kingdom, hallelujah, we see it without a Rahab, there would be no Savior. Today, we cannot minimize this simple act of faith that took place on her part. In fact, even the writer of Hebrews also refers to Rahab In chapter 11, verse 31,. He says that it was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. We see from James and from the warrior of Hebrews that her faith and her actions launch her into being one of the most significant mothers and kingdom builders in the kingdom today. Without Rahab there would be no Savior today.
Speaker 3:The first thing that I want to talk about is this foolish faith that saves the world. You know, you think about faith. Sometimes it does seem foolish. It would seem foolish for her to hide the two spies that she did not know on the roof of her house. But she recognized something that nobody else, no other Canaanite in Jericho would recognize in that city. Paul talks about that foolishness of preaching in 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, that saves the world. It won't be the wisdom of men, it won't be the power of men, but it will just be the foolishness of preaching. Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians 1, that saves those who believe.
Speaker 3:In Joshua 2, verse 8 through 11, it says Before the spies went to sleep that night, rahab. She goes up to the roof to talk to them. She said I know the Lord's given you the land. She said we're all afraid of you and, by the way, sometimes we need to remind ourselves that the enemy, that Satan and all of his minions are deeply afraid of a spirit-filled believer. We need to remind ourselves of that. And she said that everyone in the land is living in terror. We've heard how the Lord made a dry path through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear for the Lord, your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.
Speaker 3:She makes a declaration of faith that I don't think she realized how powerful and how significant this is. It's the same declaration that all of us, as a kingdom builder, need to make periodically in our lives when we're in a situation that is overwhelming or a circumstance that we have no power or ability to overcome. By that declaration say Lord, I know that you are the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. That declaration of faith will take you a long ways and she makes this declaration of faith will take you a long ways and she makes this declaration. It had to be the Spirit of God that inspired her heart to say to the two spies that I know that he is the supreme God of the heavens and the earth below. She took a huge risk, probably knowing that if she was found out and that she was hiding those spies, it would have cost her her life and probably her entire family would have been killed for this tremendous risk that she took.
Speaker 3:And my first point this morning and it's important for us to grasp this is kingdom builders take risks. I hear some of your pastor's stories, and most of the stories that he shares, about missions, him and his wife and family. They took tremendous risks as kingdom builders when they were not only serving, you know, in France and even in Egypt, but even here the church as it's moving forward, pastor Jay, and God speaks to us to step out in faith. There's always going to be some risk involved. And God speaks to us to step out of faith. There's always going to be some risk involved. And if we think about the risk too much and calculate the risk, we might just a lot of Christians will just say well, let me just keep praying about it. Sometimes God is like you don't need to pray about this. You need to obey and step out and take the risk. Kingdom builders take risk.
Speaker 3:Rahab took a risk that could have cost her everything, but her faith gained her a kingdom destiny. She knew that if you risk nothing, you risk everything. We need to capture that thought here this morning that oftentimes in our life, as a believer in Christ, as a husband, as a wife, you know, especially as a mother, that there's risks that have to be taken with faith. Basically, what it's saying is God, I'm not in control, you are. You're the sovereign God of the heavens and the earth below. I don't need faith for what I can do. I need faith for what I cannot do and when I'm in those cannot situations. That's where faith enters in and kingdom builders are willing to take a risk.
Speaker 3:Jack Kyle says faith is the willingness to risk anything on God. It's the willingness to risk anything on God, and in verses 12, 18, and 21 of chapter 2, it says now swear to me, by the Lord, that you will be kind to me and my family, since I've helped you, I've hid you, I protected you. Give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live with my father, my mother and all of my relatives and they said we offer our lives as a guarantee for your safety. And the men agreed If you don't betray us. They said we'll keep our promise and be kind to you when the Lord gives us this land. And Rahab's house was built into the town wall and she let them down by a rope through the window and before they left, the men told her we will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions when we come into the land, you have to leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you led us down that scarlet rope, and all of your family members must be here inside the house. She said I accept your terms and she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.
Speaker 3:Some years ago, my younger brother's known as he's known as the adventure pastor, I guess you could say and he planned these adventure trips up in Zion National Park in Utah and where you go canyoneering and you're rappelling off these ropes and two 300-foot cliffs, and I don't know about you, but I do not like heights. Who can say amen to that? Like? I don't like. I'm looking over the edge of this stage and I'm not going to get too close to the edge. I just don't like heights. Who can say amen to that? Like I don't. Like I'm looking over the edge of this stage and I'm not going to get too close to the edge. I just don't like heights. But my, my sons really wanted to go and you know I can't say no to my boys. They want to go and have this adventure. And I was thinking in my mind, I don't know if I'm going to do this.
Speaker 3:We get up to the top of the first high mountain. I look over the edge of the cliff, you could barely see the bottom and the guy's strapping a harness around me and saying, okay, just get on there. And I just backed away and I said I don't think I can do this. And my sons are like dad, you can do it, you can do it. And I'm just like no, I was like shut up.
Speaker 3:And this guy looked at me and he said something that I'll never forget. He said to me he said, dana, he said the best advice I can give you is you just got to trust your rope. And something clicked when he said that you just got to trust your rope and I knew that. I thought, if this rope is secure, this rope is strong and I can trust it, I'm going to be okay. And I finally went out over the edge. I didn't look down, I'm going to be okay and I finally I went out over the edge. I didn't look down. I'm looking straight ahead at the cliff, all the way down and I'm saying the whole time down just trust your rope, just trust your rope, just trust your rope. And I made it down to the bottom. Of course, at that point I feel like a hero. I'm at the bottom. It's like I did it, dad. We knew you could do it, dad, we knew you could do it. Amen. Number two kingdom builders trust their rope.
Speaker 3:That scarlet rope is so symbolic. Bible teacher William Evans says cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds. The blood of Jesus stains every page, every book. In both Testaments the atonement is the scarlet rope, or scarlet cord. Running through every page it is read with redemption, truth, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 3:And when the children of Israel crossed over and they marched around the walls of Jericho and many theologians said for seven days all the people on the top of the wall, they're mocking the children of Israel as they just march around, they're just worshiping, they're just doing their thing that God told them to do and they just would mock them. But when those walls came down I want you to think about this that there was one wall, because her house was on the outer wall of the city. That was the only wall that did not cave in or fall down because Rahab was in there with all of her relatives trusting the rope, the scarlet rope hanging out that she left hanging out of the window. And I'm sure that they could hear all the people being killed and defeated. They could hear the walls collapsing in the city and the children of Israel, the army coming in and taking the city. And they're all huddled in that little house, in Rahab's house. And I'm sure Rahab was probably saying to her relatives and her family just trust the scarlet rope that's hanging out the window, just trust the rope. And they did. Joshua 6, 22 and 23,. It says, joshua, you said to the two spies, after they take the city, go and keep your promise, go to the prostitute's house and bring her out along with their family. And they did. They went to the spies and they brought out Rahab, her father and mother, brothers, all the relatives who were in that little house with her. They trusted their rope. She took this risk. Her family's the only family saved, and they moved the whole family to a safe place near the camp of Israel.
Speaker 3:The Bible says Kingdom builders take risks. Kingdom builders trust that scarlet rope. But thirdly, kingdom builders keep their promise. Kingdom builders will keep their promise. And so oftentimes we'll make a promise or a covenant with God and we'll forget that promise. And so oftentimes we'll make a promise or a covenant with God and we will forget that promise.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've had my youngest son who is just sometimes relentless. He would never take no for an answer To him. No meant maybe, he just never would. And sometimes I would say to him, okay, I'll do it, or okay, yeah, whatever, and just to get him away from me, you know, from bugging me so much, you know. And then one time I'll never forget and I forgot about some promise I made to him and he looked at me with tears and he was just a little boy and he said, dad, you promised and, man, it broke my heart. I'm like you know what You're right. I did and, man, it broke my heart. I'm like you know what You're right. I did, I promised. And Joshua says go and keep your promise. It says in Psalm 89, 33, but I will never stop loving him, nor fail to keep my promise to him. And the spies, along with Rahab. They kept their promise. Without a Rahab, there would be no Savior.
Speaker 3:Today, jewish records and tradition clearly show that Rahab was eventually married to a prince in Israel. She went from being a prostitute to a princess. Think about this, think about your life when God transferred you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son, into the kingdom of light. We went from being this awful sinner, whatever we were, and God transfers us and with Rahab she went from being a prostitute to a princess. Every little girl that grows up in their mind they have a dream that someday I'll meet my prince charming and we'll get married and and have a family, live happily ever after. No little girl grows up thinking that she's going to become a prostitute. And Rahab was no different than any typical little girl and for whatever reason, she ends up into prostitution, this awful life where she's discarded and demoralized because of her vocation.
Speaker 3:When God redeems with that scarlet rope in our life, he doesn't just forgive, but he restores, he gives us a new identity. But he restores, he gives us a new identity. He washes under the blood of Jesus everything of our past that's not only forgiven but it's forgotten. And then he brings us into a place of restoration and we step into a realm of kingdom building as a kingdom builder with a new identity in Jesus Christ. That prince, according to the genealogy in Matthew 1, his name was Solomon and together they had a son named Boaz. Boaz in the book of Ruth, boaz, the kingdom redeemer. Boaz, who redeemed Ruth, who was a Moabite, and her mother, naomi. And their great-grandson was a man named David and he became a king. Without a Rahab there would be no Savior. Today, can you imagine? She marries a prince in Israel and then she begins with her lineage Boaz, king David, and it goes right down the line in that. And it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3:In Matthew, chapter 1, in the genealogy, in verse number 5, it says genealogy. In verse number five it says Solomon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz, the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam and Rehoboam was the father of Abijah. Abijah was the father of Asa.
Speaker 3:In verse number 12 of Matthew it says after the Babylonian exile Jehoiakim was the father of Shittil and Shittil was the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiat. Abiat was the father of Elikim. Elikim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Achan. Achan was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Mathen. Mathen was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God, rahab's descendant and our Redeemer today. Hallelujah. Incredible story.
Speaker 3:A mother who hid two spies in her roof, that took a tremendous risk and trusted the redemptive scarlet rope, kept her promise and by that simple faith and action she became, in the lineage of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ and our Redeemer. You see, we don't fully understand and realize that one act of obedience is. I remember when I was in college and we were so anxious to get out and preach the gospel to the world and, you know, get all of our best sermons together and our college professor. He kind of gently corrected the class and he said let me just tell all of you young aspiring preachers something here today. He said one act of obedience in the kingdom of God is worth more than a thousand sermons. I've never forgotten that One little act of obedience. And there's things that mothers do with their children. I can't imagine that. I don't think Rahab would have ever imagined that Boaz would become this significant kinsman redeemer that ultimately King David and Jesus himself through her lineage. But it all began with a step of faith and obedience in the Lord and she was a kingdom builder. You are a kingdom builder as a mom. I'd like to ask all of our moms today to stand and I want to honor you and I want to pray for you, because you truly are some of the most important kingdom builders in present day church today. Your prayers, your efforts, your faith in obedience. God sees it like he did with the Rahab that went from being a prostitute to a princess, that went from being a prostitute to a princess. You are significant kingdom builders in the kingdom of God.
Speaker 3:My people have asked my mom many times what did you do? You know my dad was a Phoenix firefighter for 25 years and he retired. And my mom was just she's a Phoenix firefighter for 25 years and he retired. And my mom, she's a stay-at-home mom, which being a mother, is the highest calling, by the way, it's a high calling being a mom. And I asked my mom how did you raise three preachers? What did you do Different? She said I didn't do anything different. Different. She said I'd do anything different.
Speaker 3:But she said, in obedience, I offered them up to the Lord and I gave them back to God and I didn't try to control their destiny or their future, but I let God and the Spirit of God control their future and their destiny. But, moms, we honor you today and I want to pray for you, and then we want to just applaud you for the role that is so significant in the kingdom of God. Lord, I thank you for all the moms that are standing here this morning and, lord, like a ray of, I pray that they would continue to move in faith and obedience, with that willingness to take a risk in your kingdom, lord. Truly they are kingdom builders. I pray for your blessing and your touch upon them this morning. I pray, oh God, that they would realize that, as a mother, even as a grandmother, that their role, their ministry, is still incredibly important, not only to family but to even those in the church and around the world. And, lord, we honor them as special kingdom builders in the body of Christ this morning and I pray that you would touch them by the power of your spirit.
Speaker 3:In Jesus' name, amen, can we just applaud the moms here today. Praise God, praise God, praise the Lord. I want to recognize my wife, who's the mother of my two sons as well. You may be seated and both my sons, just in the last, literally the last year, have stepped into the pastoral calling and ministry which we never pushed them for that, but they have both stepped into it and my wife and the mother of my children is a very significant part of where they're at today. They call me when they need money or something because they know that I'm just a pushover, but when they really have a big problem and they want just honest, straightforward answer, they call her because she's going to be straight up with him. It's probably like that with a lot of moms and dads on that. God bless you this morning. I can't tell you what an honor it is to be here today, a part of this very important kingdom-building church and cornerstone Christian, and thank you for partnering with us.
Speaker 3:And Bridget and I are very, very grateful for all that you do and the vision that you have to touch the world. Amen, god bless you, Pastor Jay.
Speaker 1:Are you so blessed by the word that they gave this morning. We have a hand of appreciation for them. Amen. I'm personally blessed and very challenged. Amazing, amazing, great word from the Lord. We'll say this.
Speaker 1:All those things being said, that's exactly what we want to apply to our lives, especially those of us who have already embraced Jesus. We want to give an opportunity for you today. If you're here and you haven't made an opportunity to make a decision for Christ yet, that today would be your day. You know that challenge that I put before you earlier today. I really feel it is strong in my heart. There are some here that you have yet to say yes to Jesus. Friends, today is your day of decision, or maybe you have. In the past, you made a decision for Christ and you walked away from living for God. Today is your opportunity to say Lord, forgive me and return your life back into following Jesus, to recommit your life to Christ.
Speaker 1:The Apostle Paul. He writes to the church at Rome and says this because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified. With the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today is your day. Let's make a decision to follow Jesus. I'm going gonna ask, if you're here in the room, if you just stand right where you're at just bow your heads. If you're online, you need to prepare your heart for what God wants to do in you. You know it's a simple prayer, the one we pray, but it's of great significance because it's said from the heart. It's asking the Lord to forgive us, committing our lives to him, saying to Jesus I believe you are who you say you are. I want to live for you as heads are bowed here in the room. If that's you and you want to make a decision to follow Jesus today, you've heard this amazing message of challenging us to live for God, to be those that take risks for him, to trust in him and to walk after him. If that's you today, if you just raise your hand right where you're at, say, pastor, include me today in this prayer that I wanna be included in making a decision for Christ today. Thank you, jesus. Thank you, jesus. People making a decision for Christ, those online as well. Thank you, jesus. Friends, I wanna ask if you would, if you just repeat this prayer after me Lord, thank you for loving me, thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name, I pray Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice with you making a decision to follow Jesus today. What a powerful decision that was you.
Speaker 1:We want to put some materials in your hand. If you just meet us right back here after service at our prayer booth. We want to put some materials in your hand If you just meet us right back here after service at our prayer booth, we want to put some things in your hand. Or if you're online, you just message us. We want to be able to send some things to you, connect to you so that you can live victoriously for God. Would you say amen to that?
Speaker 1:Now, part of Kingdom Builders is very much being those who put ourselves into actions. I want to encourage you in this that during this opportunity to respond to the Lord, during this altar time, as we have this song together that you would say Lord, how would you want to use me to be a kingdom builder? Lord, we thank you so much for this word that you've given to us today. Lord, we thank you so much for the ministry that you've given to us and pastors Dana and Bridget. Lord, and all that they're doing and putting their hands to do, lord, that we get to partner with them is amazing, and so we're so blessed to partner with them. Lord, we pray that you would use their ministry, lord, you would bless it and multiply it. Lord, as they've been continuing to church plant and partner with others that are doing so.
Speaker 1:Lord, lifting up pastors in Nepal. Lord, lifting up pastors in Nepal. Lord, meeting with people and reaching people on the street and bringing people out of the slavery that is a sex trade, lord, so they can find redemption. Lord, in all these things, lord, we give you praise, for it is your heart to redeem people to yourself. Lord, we ask that, as we come to this altar, lord, that you would speak to us on how we too can be kingdom builders, lord, to live sacrificially after you, in obedience to what you've called us to do.
Speaker 4:We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen on your way out, you will see a table with some items on there for kingdom builders. I encourage you to grab a bookmarker. There's also some bracelets in Spanish and English. You'll want to take one, and then Dana and Bridget have a table set up with some amazing things. I encourage you to stop by there as you head out and then when you get to the foyer, mothers, we have a gift for you. You will be blessed. Our men's ministry and our women's ministry have something for you and you'll get that on your way out. But I just want to tell you again be blessed, Know that you are loved and we honor you today.
Speaker 1:Amen. I want to take the moment to say how much I appreciate my mom and the wife and my wife and the mother of my children, how much they're amazing mothers. Can we have a hand for them serving as pastors in our church? And I get to do that because I have a microphone. Praise God. We praise blessing over us before we go today. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. God, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this. We love you very much here at cornerstone. God bless you and happy Mother's Day.