I want to ask you a question this morning. The question is very simple. What would the world lose? What would the world lose if this church ceased to exist? If all the people gathered together here that call themselves Wildwood Baptist Church were to simply disband, to go join other churches, we were to close our doors and get rid of this property and all go on our way. What would the world lose if we cease to exist? What would the community that lives all around us here, what would they lose if this church ceased to be here? Anything? Or could it be that the people of this community could simply just go to some other church down the road and find everything that they could have found here? It's kind of a tough question, but I think in the answer to that question, We'll find a simple truth, which is the definition of the unique purpose of this particular church. Because if there is something that this church is God's plan A for. Then that's our unique calling. When there are things that every church should be. But we also know that God plants more than one church. Which means he has more than one unique purpose. for each of those gathered bodies. I think it's critically important for us as well would as we continue to move forward in the days ahead. To be able to answer the question, what is the purpose of this church? Why are we here? And ultimately. Who are we? Who is Wildwood Baptist Church? We have a mission statement which says becoming the church next door, connecting people to Christ through real relationships and selfless service. It's printed in our materials. It's it's usually the last line most every week of our video announcements at the end of the service. But what is all that really mean for us? Well, let me take you back in time just a few years. The pastors of the church a few years ago went on a retreat. And in that retreat. We began to wrestle with this question, who are we? And God took us to a passage in the book of Colossians in chapter four, verses two through six. Colossians, chapter four, verses two through six, which reads this, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with the attitude of Thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been in prison, that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity and let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned with salt. So that you will know how you should respond to each person. And here's what I know, what I know is this is when you really, really desperately need a fresh word from God. The starting point is to go back to the place where you knew you had the last fresh word from God. Wherever you knew that you heard God speak clearly go back to that place and then work your way forward from there. And I can tell you this on that particular pastors retreat. I was up in the Gatlinburg area and we were in this mountain cabin and on that retreat when we went to this particular passage. I really can't even tell you how we got there. I can't tell you whose idea it was. I don't remember that. What I do remember was an incredible visitation by the Holy Spirit of God on us that weekend. Kind of one of those visitations is really difficult to sleep that night because you felt like the presence of the Lord was with you in a way that was incredibly real. And what God did for us then, because we didn't go to that passage to try to figure out how that passage makes us the church next door. We went to that passage and said, God, give us a fresh word. And what he showed us in that passage was that his vision from several years ago, that he wanted us to be the church next door. He wanted Wildwood to be Wildwood everywhere we went. And he wanted us through selfless service and real relationships to connect people to Christ, that that vision had never been departed. He had always, always wanted us to be the church next door. He had never taken that vision away from us. A lot of things have happened in the past few years since that particular retreat. And some of those things, admittedly, have distracted us a little bit, but it doesn't change the path and the course that God set us on. And it doesn't change the word that he spoke to us. Often I hear people say things like the Lord told me, and sometimes I'm excited about what comes next. Sometimes I'm not, because sometimes we say the Lord told me thus and so, and we act on whatever it is that the Lord told us to do it a few years later. We do something completely different because the Lord told us that. And sometimes I get the impression that either we're not hearing him clearly or he's really confused. I'm going to lean towards we're not hearing him clearly, just so you'll know it's kind of where I stand. So I'm often a little leery when I hear the Lord told me because I want to I want to see it backed up. I want to see it backed up to the word. I want to see it backed up to directions and passive. He is already laid in front of us. Well, we came to this particular passage. It absolutely came alive to us in a way that was amazing. And over the next few weeks in the month of September, as we await whoever it is that the Lord will send to us as an interim pastor, the pastors of this church, different pastors each week are going to get up and we're going to speak. to this particular passage, Colossians chapter four verses two through six and what this means in the identity of who this church is and where it is that we believe God is going to take us. And if I can begin with one section here for you right at the very beginning and the bulk of my message to you this morning is going to come right from the very beginning of these verses. The pastors will deal with the rest of verses later. But for me, it really begins right here in verse two. And there are two power words here that you'll find in verse two. Verse two again says, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. And there are two power words there. Well, there's all of them are power words, but there's two that stick out to me. And the first power word that sticks out to me is the word devote. We are talking about this church being a place where we want to connect people to Christ. Well, number one, you can't connect somebody to something that you're not connected to yourself. And it begins right there with that first word that you see devote. Devote is a lot of a bigger word than think about. It's a way bigger word than recognize, and it's a bigger word than commit. You know, it's not about committing to Jesus, about surrendering to him. It's not about coming to him on your terms and making an agreement with him about how you're going to serve him. It's about completely giving up to him and devoting yourself to him. The people closest to you, by the way, in your life can help you to measure your devotion to Christ, because how devoted you are is going to be played out at home and at work. In everything you do and everywhere you go, your devotion to Christ is going to be evident. Francis Finnegan said this to just read the Bible and attend church and avoid big sins. Is this passionate, wholehearted love for God? The devotion goes way beyond. Picking up the Bible and reading it sometimes and checking your name on an attendance roll at church and not doing things that are really, really bad. That's not devotion to Christ. If we're devoted to Christ, it shows up in every way. It is in the way that you are at church and it's in the way that you are at work. It's in the very words that you say it's in all of the attitudes. This sounds like Dr. Seuss, doesn't it? It's in the very words you say, it's in the attitudes you display. It's in you at a soccer game, infusing group, you're just the same. Do I see it in your house? Do I see it in your spouse? It's with you each and every day and what you say and pray and play. Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse? I'm sorry. Forgive me, a momentary distraction. The point is to be devoted to be holy and completely and totally sold out and everything you do. Devotion to Christ will rise to the surface. Now. Is that you? Is that how you know for sure you'd be described? As someone wholly devoted to Christ. Well, the second power word I see here. Is yourself. Let me tell you today that there is one thing that I would love to give you license to be completely selfish about, and that is your spiritual walk. Be totally selfish about that. There is nothing more important. Nothing more important than your spiritual walk, your relationship with Christ. You do not connect to Christ through me. You connect to Christ, you and him. You don't connect to Christ through your parents. You don't connect to Christ through your children. You don't connect to Christ through a Bible teacher, a radio station or podcast. All of those things can help us in our journey, but those are not our connection points. Your connection points is you and Christ. It is a table set for two. Where communion happens, the two of you. Everything else. can only add to that, but nothing can take the place of it. In John 15, it says this, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser and every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. In verse four, it says, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. So neither can you unless you abide in me. What does this mean? What this means is that your your life, your spiritual walk is totally dependent on your connection to the vine. You are a branch. And Christ is the vine. You cannot coast on life on the waves of spiritual fumes from other people's journey. Or even their testimony. Your branch you do not get your nourishment, by the way, from the fruit, which means that the things that you do, no matter how wonderful they are, even if they are for God. That's those things are not going to reconnect you to Christ. Your reconnection to him is not based on the fruit, it's based on your connection to the vine. And we could play this out in so many different ways. But the question here and the practical question for you is that you need to pursue him. You need to pursue God, you need to be pursuing him through and there's some things on your outline this morning, the word of God. Through relationship to the Holy Spirit and through prayer. What we want for you as a body of believers is for you to completely own a passionate pursuit of Christ, a passionate pursuit of Christ, so that that is the most important thing in your life. You can pursue God through the word. Scripture says this in the book of Second Timothy, it says all scripture is inspired by God. It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work and a second Timothy, the third chapter, verses 16 and 17. If you want to fill this in on your outline, knowing God begins with knowing what he has already said. The starting point is to know what he's already said, and when a minute will get to where the fresh words are, but for right now. You need to know first what he's already said. I can illustrate this a little a little bit for you in my household growing up much like yours. There were the most often heard phrases most often spoken by my mom, who is a wonderful person. Little high strung, but a wonderful person and we all love her. She used the same screenplay that every other mom uses for the drama of parenting and said all kinds of interesting phrases such as things that she would say to my brother and me. What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you ever heard that your house anybody ever said that is a parent. What is wrong with you. Those are questions by the way that have answers but you better not answer them. When my mother would say what is wrong with you. I want to say oh I know genetics but you can't say that. You can't say that because that would make it worse. Another phrase was, how many times do I have to tell you to clean up your room? How many times do I have to tell you to clean up your room? I wanted to say, well, by looking at my room, I would say it's at least all the times you've told me, plus one, because so far it hasn't worked. But you don't say that. You just clean up your room. One of my personal favorites would be driving down the road in our 1973 Ford Country Square station wagon with simulated wood grain finish down the side. And while driving, my mom would look in that little review mirror. Ours was always tilted slightly. She would look at that little review mirror and she would say, Don't make me come back there. Don't make me come back there. I definitely wanted to say we're cruising the 75 miles an hour down the center of the highway. I don't think you thought this through. Coming back here is not good for any of us. You included. But you don't say that you just sort of shape up. Around my house, around my other favorite one was go get me something to spank you with. That may offend some people that may bother some people, but go get go get something. I would be looking for a kitchen sponge. Most often heard phrase probably in my house is the phrase, what did I just say? Anybody ever said that? What did I just say? Well, the reason why we say that is because whatever the situation is, is a situation to which we have already spoken to. God's word has in it a lot of what did I just say moments. Things that we wrestle with day in and day out. He's already spoken to. And while we're over here wrestling with it, he's saying the answer is already here. Students, do you know that God has already designed parameters for you regarding who you should and should not date? Did you know that? Did you know that it's not as mysterious as you think it is? If you go to his word and find out he's got some pretty great parameters just for you. If you're struggling with money today, do you know that God has already designed some parameters about where you should and should not invest your money? A couple of people said what I need to know that one. You know that if you struggle this morning with your sense of self-image. God has already addressed that in his word. He is already addressed that for you. Is there. Knowing God begins with knowing what he has already said. The Bible says thy word of a hit my heart that I might not sin against God. And please understand, my understanding of that scripture is not scripture memory. Because I have memorized my phone number, but my phone number has no impact on my life. To me, it's way more than memory. It's placing it in my heart and living by it. It's knowing it inside and out, knowing it forwards and backwards. God is defined here, secondly, and this is important for us. He's defined in his word, but he is not explained by his word. Because there's a difference between who he is and why he does what he does. God's given us his word so that you can know him as deeply as any human can know God. But he never said he would explain everything he does. Knowing him deeply is mandatory for your spiritual survival in this world, but part of knowing him is also knowing that his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. A great example of this is the fact that I know by his word that he loves me unconditionally. I could not, if my life depended on it, explain that to you. I don't understand it, but I completely accept it. And really, it's a matter of trust. You hear the phrase. That a former president used to speak about a threatening nation by saying trust, but verify. But we all know, as he did as well, that trust but verify is just another way of saying don't trust. And there are things that you cannot verify about God's activity. Because his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. The point is not to explain it. The point is to know him. And as you know him and you trust him. It is what crazy love Francis Chan says this, he says, can you worship a God who isn't obligated? To explain his actions to you. Or could it be? That is your arrogance that makes you think God owes you an explanation. I mean, not only can we not sometimes understand what God does, we're not owed that explanation. But turning to him and trusting him. And trusting him because I've sought him and because that which I have sought is seeking me. And that's a wonderful relationship. That's a passionate pursuit of him. The Holy Spirit. We're going to spend just a moment here. This really could be an eight-week series itself, just on what the Holy Spirit does and who the Holy Spirit is. But if I could move real quickly through a couple of these points. In John 14, Jesus comforts us with these words. He says, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. And when Jesus was to ascend back into heaven, the ministry of the Holy Spirit. was to expand to include the personal ministry to believers in the same way that Jesus did while he walked on his earth in ways of peace and ways of comfort. So, the Holy Spirit is here to be a helper. The Holy Spirit also, letter B, prays. In Romans 8, and this is one of my all-time favorite passages of Scripture ever. In Romans 8, verses 26 and 27, It says this in the same way the spirit also helps us in our weakness for we do not know how we should pray as we should, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings that are too deep for words. And he who searches the heart knows the mind of the spirit. But he intercedes because he intercedes for the saints, according to the will of God. When I take this passage in Romans. Where it says that we don't know how to pray, And then I take it over to a passage like in Jude. Jude 1 verse 20, which says this, but you, beloved, building yourselves up on a most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit and begin to try to put all this together in the full counsel of God in Scripture. What I know is this, that praying in the spirit means praying the same thing that the spirit prays at the same time. We say that again, praying in the spirit means praying the same thing that the spirit prays at the same time. Now, I've often said, as I've said it a dozen times around here at Wildwood, that praying in the spirit is not about guessing. It's not about praying in confusion over any situation. It's about leaning in to eavesdrop. on the conversation that the Holy Spirit and God are having about you. And then. Praying in harmony with it. I mean, how many folks, how many of you today would say that that would possibly radically change your prayer life? And instead of your prayer life beginning with the desperate search to try to figure out what to pray, that it began with you leaning in to the prayers that are already being said about you. And stopping long enough to hear those prayers And then pray that along with the spirit. Could that possibly be or more peaceful existence than the track that most of us are on most of the time? Thirdly, let her see the Holy Spirit guides. John 1426 says this. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I've said to you when you take that word of God and you hide it in your heart. You're engaging the Holy Spirit in you. I mean, I know that the scientists would tell us there's this whole, you know, frontal lobe, left brain, right thing going on there and you pull that verse out or whatever. But I believe that that's all by God's design. And what's really happening is the Holy Spirit is there to guide you and the Holy Spirit is taking the word that you've hit in your heart and the Holy Spirit is making it alive in you so that you can use it for that day. Galatians 525 says that we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. So the things that you know, the Spirit are saying to you. Do those things walk in those things? Now, ultimately, our connection to God. And our passionate pursuit of him, it comes down to one thing, because if you were paying attention, you'll know that this verse two in chapter four, Colossians says, devote yourselves to prayer. And ultimately, our passionate pursuit of him comes down to prayer. In Acts 6, 4 it says, but we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. So I firmly believe that all these things that we see in Colossians chapter 4 verses 2 through 6, all the things that we see there about being ready when there's a door open and knowing how to share the mysteries of Christ in a way that can be understood. I don't think any of that can be accomplished unless it begins with verse 2. by a body of people, both individually as well as corporately devoting themselves to prayer and devoting yourself to prayer. Is not about praying sometimes. It's about giving over completely. To the idea, the theology and the belief that our survival. Is going to rise or fall? In our prayer life. The prayer is about. First of all, knowing God. That's letter A there on your little outline prayers about knowing God. There's an interesting thought of God already knows everything he knows what's going to happen, he knows what you think. He knows what you're going to say before you say it, he knows what you're going to do before you do it. Then what's the purpose of prayer? Well, prayer is not about coming to God to get what you want. And I'm not discounting scriptures that command us to come before him in prayer. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God. But I believe that to be a residual definition of where prayer really begins. That's not the purpose of prayer. That's something that happens in the avenue of prayer, but it's not the point. The point of prayer is about knowing God. The point of prayer is about connecting to him. And from that connection, then flows all things. That's why scripture says seek him first. And then all these things be added to you. Now, let's kind of stop the clock here for a moment, because I don't want to gloss over this anyway, by any means, because this is quite critical to our spiritual survival and to our survival as a church. But I want you to consider this thought for a moment. For most Christians and most believers. Our prayer life. As an example of our relationship to God would tell us this. That our relationship to God may only be as deep as the relationship you have. To the girl in the window, the drive-thru window at Zaxby's. You have no idea what that means to you. Think about this for a minute. You are hungry. You've defined a need and you need food. You drive to Zaxby's. You decide based on what the choices are, what it is that you believe will satisfy your need. You inform the voice behind the menu of what it is you need. Then you pull around. At the window, you pay your offering. And then you get what it is you've asked for and you drive away and the next time you connect. With the girl that operates the drive-thru window, exact fees is the next time you have a need. Picture this. A problem comes away your way and you need a solution. You figure out what it is you think that solution is you go to God in prayer. You tell him what your problem is. You order your solution. You drive around to the church. You pay your offering. Some of you get change. And then, if things go well, according to plan, you get what you need and then you're on your way. And the next time you connect with God is the next time you feel like you have a need. Subsequently, your relationship to God is as deep as the relationship you have with the girl who operates the drive-thru window. Are you happy? I think it's funny, too. Are you are you happy with that? And I realized that I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about someone else. But are you happy with that? Is that really how you want to relate to him? By the way, have you ever ordered something through the drive through window and pulled around and you got the wrong order? You're going to drive, you get your straw, you stick it in the Dr. Pepper and you drive away and it's like, I go, I go, I go. What happened? And you're so mad you got to go back and or worse, worse, worse. is you pull around and they let you know you went to Zaxby's, you order spicy fried mushrooms, they let you know we are all out of the spicy fried mushrooms. Can I offer you a salad? And you're like, girl, let me tell you something right here. This is Zaxby's. I order spicy fried mushrooms. Don't tell me that you have a spicy fried mushrooms because Zaxby's without spicy fried mushrooms. I mean, this is just KFC with a lot longer wait, OK? I don't want no salad when I wanted spicy fried mushrooms. Kelly with an eye, whatever her name is. Have you ever ordered something in prayer from God? And then found out that you weren't going to get what you asked for. You were going to get what you ordered. It kind of It kind of throws a little monkey wrench into the whole prayer thing when it doesn't work. And part of the reason why it doesn't work is because God actually wants you to have a deeper relationship with him than you do with Kelly with an eye at the drive-thru window of Zaxby's. Believe it or not, he wants something deeper with you. And here's what I have discovered about God when it comes to prayer is that the thing that you are seeking from him If you are seeking it and you're not seeking him, then he takes it and he puts it just out of reach until you stop seeking it and start seeking him. We desperately need to be on a passionate pursuit of him. Real prayer. Real prayer is exhausting everything you can possibly exhaust in order to know God. And it's very, very sad in the life of a believer when our connection is only when we think we have a need. Something else that's sad is that there are probably 30 people in this room right now who are thinking to themselves, hmm, Saxby's would be good for lunch today. I tell you what, we're not going to make it spiritually. as individuals, and we're not going to make it as a church if we do not engage in an all-out passionate pursuit of God. It's our only hope. Becoming the church next door by connecting people to Christ through real relationships and selfless service does not begin with our programming It doesn't begin with ideas. It doesn't begin with the way we put together services or fusing groups or whatever. It doesn't begin there. It begins with a passionate pursuit of God. And if the passionate pursuit of God is lacking, then it really doesn't matter what the vision statement is. We're not accomplishing his purposes because we're not accomplishing his primary purpose, which is to know him. I mean, really, what's happening in your prayer life? If you're only connecting to him at the point of need, is that mostly you're just guessing. And you occasionally guess right, you often guess wrong, but you're just guessing. Guessing, by the way, leads to worry and anxiety, which are things that Jesus said you're not supposed to have. If you really want to get rid of the worry and anxiety in your life, then connect to him. Forget for a moment what you think you need. And decide that what you really need is him. And just pursue him. You will find. A whole lot of other questions. A whole lot of other problems will look radically different if you're pursuing him. The prayers about hearing God. Letter B on your outline. If you know him. Then you hear his voice. It for a person no bigger than me. You would find this difficult to believe, but I did in junior high and a little bit in high school play football. So that you will know that it's believable. Let me say that I played football badly. Makes sense. I stopped playing football when I was a walking hematoma. When it just it was no point anymore. But I do remember this. We were not at a large school, so I really can't say the thousands of people in the crowd, I could say the tens of people in the crowd would be yelling and cheering and all kinds of things would be going on and the cheerleaders be doing their thing and and all this will be happening on the field. But the head coach. Richard McCutcheon. When he spoke from the sideline, especially at the sentence he spoke, began with the word Coleman. I could hear that voice above all else. Everything else went into the background, that one voice I could hear. We were taught and trained to hear that voice. If you know God this morning, you hear his voice. Our problem is not often whether or not we hear it. Our problem is whether or not we obey it. But my question to you today is in hearing God even right now, what is he saying to you? What's his word to you this morning? It's a day-to-day where there is some realignment that needs to happen in your life. In a matter of a couple of minutes, some musicians are going to fill the stage and JD's going to play a little bit on the guitar. And we'll all stand and we'll all sing a song. We'll have what we call an invitation. And two things will happen in the invitation. In the invitation, people sing and respond. And also, in the invitation, people will not respond. And the last thing in the world we ever want to do here is is try to create a fake response to anything. You know, we're not going to give a blanket invitation that says, if you. If you love Jesus, come forward, you know, and who's going to who's going to stand back on that one? We're not interested in doing that, however, I do know this. And if you ever Thought to yourself, man, I really need to do something. I really need to do something. I need to change this. I need to do that. Have you ever thought about it, but never followed through on it? Have you ever thought about something you really needed to do, but didn't really do it? Last year's diet that you thought about, how did that work out for you? If you didn't take a step towards doing something about it, Did it really work? Did it accomplish what you wanted it to do? Or was it just another idea? And here's what I know this morning. What I know is this. I mean, if you walk away from here and you say, it was nice service today. It's good to see everybody. And, you know, it's good work. And you walk away and there's nothing in your life that has changed. If the way in which you relate to God, if your pursuit of him doesn't grow by any means at all. And my question would be, did he speak to you? You have a better chance of knowing what he's saying to you now than you are trying to remember what he said to you now on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. So my question to you is, what is he saying to you now? If you don't do anything, you won't do anything. So in a moment, as we pray today, As soon as you hear the word, amen, there's a step you need to take. If you need to come and inform one of the leaders of this church. That you're going to make your life a passionate pursuit of Christ. If you want someone to come and pray with you will definitely do that. If you want to take a step this morning. That your kids will see. That says dad is going to change the way he is. Dad is going to move closer to Jesus today. If you want to take a step today that says when I go into the office tomorrow and Monday. My devotion to Christ is going to be noticeable. Even to the people that don't know I go to church at all. But let me encourage you to do that. Don't just walk away here and assume that on Tuesday or Wednesday you're just going to remember. But take the step now. We can encourage you. We can pray for you. But ultimately know this. Your spiritual survival and the survival of this church is going to depend on whether or not we're ready for an all out passionate pursuit of God. Let's pray together this morning. God, we ask you to speak to us today. We ask you that you. Would draw to us. So that we can draw to you. And I pray that you would let this moment be just a holy and sacred time. That would mark a permanent change in our lives. The things that we need to do. to become a people who are defined as being passionate followers and pursuers of you. Let those things come to the surface of your hands. You are so great, incredible, and wonderful. We love you so much. But because of our flesh, we do not always want to connect with you the way we should. There are people here this morning, Father, who have no connection to you at all. But right now, I know that by your Spirit, you're drawing them. And I would just ask you, Father, for the privilege of being able to be present here when they're drawn into your presence. Everything that we say and do and feel and think this morning, we ask that Jesus Christ will be honored and glorified. And that our connection with you is much deeper than that. Somebody that operates the drive-thru window, but that our connection with You, that it's our source. And all these things we ask of You, incredibly and strongly in the name of Christ. Amen. You've got to stand with us this morning as we sing together, and God leads you in response.