Let's Go - Sustain

Dina, Tyler, and Kate introduce the Let’s Go series and talk about moving from simply attending church to actively living out the mission. They explore how gratitude, generosity, and bold faith—like the friends in Luke 5—help us pursue people and make a real impact one life at a time.

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Transcript

Holiday Banter And Hidden History

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the King of Kings podcast, where we dive a little bit deeper into our sermon series and see what we're taking Beyond Sunday. My name is Dina Newsom. I have some amazing guests today, guys. Amazing. Go ahead and say hi.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Hello, Tyler from the Fremont campus.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Kate Solberg, Northwest Omaha. Hey guys, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Doing well. I didn't mention this to Kate before we started recording, but uh I almost placed a bet on Polymarket of which adjective would be used to describe the guests. Amazing was the adjective for today. Yeah, so no bets placed today. Therefore, no money won nor lost.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

That's all right. I thought you were gonna say on um the derby.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Oh my goodness. Did you guys watch that on Saturday?

SPEAKER_01 0:53

I did not watch it at the time. I watched it after everyone started talking about it.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Incredible.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Like, yeah, those things don't happen, I feel like anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Everything's very predictable. Do you know the winning horse has lineage that goes back to Secretariat?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

I I know that now. I know that now. Yeah. Because you told me.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Wow. You know, I just consume content from podcasts. So yes, that's how I know that.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Okay, well, I have a question for you then. Today is a special holiday. Cinco de Mayo. Oh, yeah. When we're recording this, do you know the history or how Cinco de Mayo started?

SPEAKER_02 1:35

No, you're gonna tell us though, but Johnny did say earlier, it is like it's a miracle when Taco Tuesday falls on Cinco de Mayo. Like the Lord, that's a gift from the Lord. Stars have a lie.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Exactly. Isn't it when Mexico got its independence? Isn't it Mexican Independence Day? It is not.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

That is a common misconception, which I thought too. But what I learned in my little deep dive into the interwebs is that it is not. It is the winning of the Battle of Puebla, which was on May 5th in 1862. So the French were invading Mexico, and the Mexican army was fighting against them at Puebla, and they won the battle that day, which was like a huge victory for them. Now, this was 1862, and by 1864, the French had come in and take over. So it was not them winning the war altogether, but this was a big win at the time and like really um lifted the spirits of the troops and the resistance and all of this stuff. And what I was reading was that this probably impacted the Civil War in the United States that was happening at the same time. Because had the French won that battle, they would have taken over much sooner. And that was early in the Civil War, which went from 61, 1861 to 65, kind of that the French probably would have helped the Confederacy in the US Civil War. And it may have had a different outcome in our nation based on so Cinco de Mayo, while it is seen as a Mexican holiday, influenced most likely the civil war in the US.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yada yada yada, half-price guacamole.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yes, please.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

That's fascinating though, Dina. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

I had no idea. It was a big battle. It kind of makes me think of those choose your own adventure books. Are you guys? I loved the choose your own adventure books. You've choose this.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Go to page 79. Like my friends and I used to write our own in spiral notebooks, and then we'd have to put the page numbers on them, and then we'd mess up and have to re-page number them.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Do you really know what they are, Tyler?

SPEAKER_02 3:55

No, I don't. I was nodding along.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, yeah. It was like a fiction book you could read, and then you got to like a dilemma. And they're like, if you want the character to do this, turn to this page. If you want them to do this, turn to this page.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

And how many different like spots, like how many different forks in the road are there?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

A lot. Yeah, there were a lot. Okay. Yeah. And it was so fun because you then you could go back and choose the other one and see how the story went in that one. Yep. But it was like a short, it was like in the 80s, don't you think? Yep. Yeah. It was super cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

The paperback books that were, you know, when like the Tommy by six or something that choose your own adventure. Yes. They were the best. Yeah. The best. I love, love those. Yep. Wow. Choose your own adventure.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

I knew Tyler was faking when he said he knew what it was. You're too young. Sorry, Tyler.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

That's all right. You're just a baby.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Just a baby.

SPEAKER_02 4:49

So today, today is May 5th. Yesterday, May 4th, famously Star Wars Day.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

Is it your 16th birthday?

SPEAKER_02 4:57

No.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Oh dear.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

It was Eliani's 12th wedding anniversary, though.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Yay.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

So usually when I say that, then people like they kind of squint and turn their eyes like, did you get married when you were four? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

You do have a very young looking face.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Yeah, we got married when we were young. I was 21, she was 22. Um, but yeah, no, the uh uh I I thank my parents for many things, but my uh both my parents just have kind of young looking features. Yeah. My dad's almost 70. It doesn't really look at it all.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

It is not so and it was a Star Wars holiday. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

May the fourth.

Why “Let’s Go” Starts Here

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yep. All right. So this week we kicked off a new sermon series called Let's Go. Let's go. This is stemming from the generosity campaign that we started in the fall of 2024 here at King of Kings with that same title. And Pastor Greg Griffith has taken us through this message series. What are you guys taking beyond Sunday from this week's message?

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Yeah, the thing that really stood out to me was all of those quotes that he used from the longtime members of King of Kings, kind of walking through the King of Kings story. And I was reflecting earlier today that in some ways, like every Christian church kind of has like the same DNA in terms of we're called by God to be his children, adopted by grace, and then to go and make disciples. But in another sense, like every church kind of has its own unique identity and like what makes it tick and values and DNA. And like it's just really neat to see that courageous, relentless pursuit in the King King's DNA from the very beginning, and like reminding us of that story. Like, yeah, that that is who we are. Um, that's what I'm taking me on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah. Um I liked how Gigi started off with a Gigi is always good with putting words together. Um, a dream becomes a vision when a moment is caught.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

And a movement is caught.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Um thank you. Movement is caught, you're right. Um, and so I was actually around when we had the 50th anniversary. You were here, weren't you, Tyler?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

I think it was in Texas at the time.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Oh, okay. Um, and so we made like a History of King of Kings booklet that year.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Was it a choose your own adventure?

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Or it was definitely not a choose your own adventure.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Wouldn't that have been amazing?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yeah. That's not how church history works. Um thank you for clearing. It's not how history, period. It's a fictional element. So anyway, I I got to help like interview the founding members that were still alive. And so that was so fun because you know, I got to hear some of those stories. And um, I believe it was a group that originally met in the GE building, which was actually not far from here. You just across 120th on the other side. Um, and they met there originally before they moved to the church in the round. So it's it's incredible because you know, when something starts like that, only God knows what he's about to do. And they were a group of believers who just faithfully took the next step in their calling, hence why the three of us and all the rest of us are here today. Like out of obedience and God's mighty hand and and what he did.

Eucharisteo And Living Present

SPEAKER_01 8:44

There's uh a volunteer on my guest experience team here at Millard that was here when the walk happened, and she sometimes wears her t-shirt from that day. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I love it. She just talks about it with such um happy memories. You know what I mean? Yeah. Um, I really liked Gigi does have a way with words, and I really liked he said that at King of Kings, the plan has never been to fill a room. It's been to fill a city one life at a time. Yeah. And I was like, that to me has been so apparent. I have only been at King of Kings for a few years. And it was something that was very um engaging when I first got here, that whole idea of we're not just about what we do in this building. It's more about what we're doing in the city or the areas that we want to minister to. So I really liked that. And that made me think a lot. Okay, so how can we practically live fully in the moment like he was asking us to in our daily lives, according to the sermon?

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, fully in the moment. Um, so this is where he you know kind of tied it to that Greek word where he had us all say, Teo. Oh, Ayo, Ao, sorry, ah, that's right. Ao. Um, and then Eucharist, and then combine it together. So Eucharisteo, um, which uh means um I thank or thanks or thanksgiving. And then he explained kind of has a sense of living fully in the moment. Um and so I I really appreciate the connection there, um, where gratitude does have a way to, well, here, let me say it this way. God, God is certainly like pro-remembering and he is pro-planning. But when that remembering veers so far into nostalgia of like, ah, the good old days, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that sort of thing. Or if the planning about the future veers into worrying and anxiety, like that's not where that's where gotten where God, that's not where God wants us to be. But he's also not anti-remembering or anti-planning. I think gratitude helps us stay in that sweet spot of God, thank you so much for everything you've done. Thank you that you're gonna continue to be faithful in the future, and then it grounds us in what you want to do right now. I like the connection.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yes. In my former career, I was a science teacher and I always told my students in order to be a scientist, it requires a couple of things, and that's to be observant and curious. Because there are statistics like by certain ages, kids whether they decide whether they're good at science or not, are good at math. And once you decide you're not good at something, it really closes a lot of doors that shouldn't be closed yet. And so I wanted to, you know, keep the bar really low, but really it was it, it was the truth. And so in I feel like in Christianity, it's it's the same thing. Like every day we have a choice. Like if when you're out and about, you know, your eyes are down or on your phone or air pods are in and you're closed off, or you're observant, you're curious, you know, you're not so much in a hurry that you miss an opportunity that God puts in front of you, whether to interact with someone, to encourage them, to show love. And I think that's what it means to kind of live in the moment to me.

SPEAKER_02 12:27

It does sound a lot like Jesus. Like we we just walk through the gospels and like, man, those those interactions where it's just like a one-on-one. You know, Greg talked a lot about the woman at the well in John 4 throughout our last series. Um, but when it's just Jesus and one person, you think about Jesus is choosing to spend his time and his attention is focused on that one person, which means to the exclusion of all the other people out there. And in that idea of like, yeah, what would it look like for me to be fully present, fully with this person in front of me, uh, the person that maybe I was planning to meet or not planning to meet, but uh just like Jesus was fully there, full of grace and truth, um, with everything that God has set before, not thinking so far ahead to what will be or reflecting or too much on what was, but be right here and see what God has in store.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah, Greg referred to it as recognizing what is happening in the right here and right now. And I really liked that. I think um there, I have uh a very close family member of mine who suffers from panic attacks as part of their anxiety. And one of the techniques that we use if I am with them when they start having a panic attack is grounding. And it's them placing their hand on their chest and then doing a basic. They have to name five things they can see, four things they can hear, three things they can touch, two things they can taste, one thing they can, what's the sense that's left, whatever it is. But going through that, um, like which is just what is right here right now, not what their brain is trying to focus on or worry about in the future, the what they're feeling shame about from the past, whatever it is that it's just in the moment. And I was thinking of that when he was talking about being fully present, um, because that really just puts you right there in the today. Um, yeah. Just need we just need to stay more grounded, right? That's so easy. All right. So you mentioned the Greek word Eucharisteo. How does the concept of that living in the moment with Thanksgiving was the the definition that Greg had referred to. Challenge, how does that challenge our current cultural habits of nostalgia or anxiety about the future in today's world?

SPEAKER_02 14:57

Kind of feel like uh the the expert Miss Thanksvember should offer her answer first.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

I well, I you kind of already mentioned it, Tyler. Like it really is about being, there's a window. There's a window where it's okay to be thankful for the things that happened. And it's not a time window. It's not like, oh, well, you can only be thankful for a day back or a week back or a year back. You can be thankful for things that happened 20 years ago, but you can't become so focused on them, of like you said, the good old days, or that's what I long for. That, and there's a window moving forward of what you can be anxious or concerned or planning for, but not so focused on that. Or I feel like a lot of people now struggle on they're so focused on what they never may get. Like I have a friend who is so focused on she wants to be married. She's like almost obsessively focused on it that she may miss what's in the here and now right in front of her because she's, you know, thinking so hard or worrying so much about the future. Um, and so I think our brain only has a small capacity and we have to work with that because that's how God created us. And we can't spend too much too far back or too much too far forward. We do have to really live where we are and and give thanks for that, whatever it is. Like in my thanks member that we did talk about, like I there are things that you can be thankful for that are sad things or hurtful things, because those are times that we grow, that we're shaped by God. And I think that is so valuable. Plus, it's in comparison, those are the times then that we really know the joy that comes.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

Yeah, I was in, I was prepping the Connect group guide for this and just reminded that super uh simple, familiar, but powerful verse out of 1 Thessalonians 5. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, related to this, give thanks in all circumstances, not just the the ones that we feel really good about, but there is always there are always reasons to give thanks even when things around us are um not looking great. And then he follows it, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. If it's God's will for us, um, one, we just need to do it. But that means that there's really good reason in every season to, I didn't mean for that to rhyme. Sorry about that, Kate.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

You're a poet and you didn't know it.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yeah, yep, yep, yep. Um, but yeah, there's uh in whichever season we're in, there is always um a good reason to give thanks to God and it will ground us in and like grratitude is an antidote to so much.

Luke 5 And Roof-Level Faith

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Oh yes. Agree. So how does the story of the paralyzed man in Luke 5 that uh Greg mentioned, um, how does that relate to the culture of King of Kings? And how does it speak to you?

SPEAKER_00 18:01

I don't know about you guys, but when I think of this story, I don't know why. Maybe it's because my my son's in a fraternity right now, but I think they're a bunch of frat brothers.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

Where are you going to say?

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Well, they kind of have a crazy idea. Okay, obviously, they love this guy a ton. You know, he is a good friend. And I don't even know if maybe he himself had given up on being healed, but his friends were like, We're not giving up on you. And they weren't they weren't afraid of destroying a house. So, you know, they tried, you know, as to get to Jesus, but it just wasn't happening. And this obviously at this point in Jesus' ministry, like people they they were like, Psalms different about this guy because there were crowds around him and you couldn't get to him easily. So they were like, Yep, we're going to the roof. That's not gonna be a group of elderly men, right? So anyway, I don't know if it was their ages or where they were living at that time, but what we do know is one they knew the power of Jesus, and two, they were going to go to great lengths to maybe injure themselves or get arrested, I don't know, to help their friend. And that's a great combination. When we know, number one, no, Jesus is able to do all things, he lacks no resources, he lacks no power, and when our heart aligns with him, it we should desire to to share that with others, especially in their time of need.

SPEAKER_02 19:53

The Kate Solberg translation of League Five. The paralyzed man is frat bros.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

For a good reason.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

So I'm sure many frat boys would say that. All in good fun.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yeah, uh yeah, Kate, you said it so well. The uh there's a there's a section there right before Jesus speaks. So they've already torn a hole through the roof and they lowered the man down. So they've cut through the crowds. And then and then Jesus and then and then the the scripture says, when Jesus saw their faith. So we're not even talking about whether the paralyzed man what level kind faith he had. Like we're we're not that's not even a question, it's not a topic addressed, but when Jesus saw their faith, and we we know that faith is always lived out in in our in our actions and in our works, like it never just stays alone. Um, and so I I think about that, you know, the question about how does this relate to the culture of King Kings? What does it look like? What to what lengths are we willing to go out of our deep love for those who need healing from Jesus, hope from Jesus, the only source for them to find true life. What lengths are we willing to go so that they can meet Jesus? Um there was definite opposition, obstacles. There was the obstacles of the crowd, there was the obstacles of the roof.

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Um, and then and then uh as the passage goes on, you're gonna there's the not just obstacles, but the opposition of the religious leaders too. Um, and there is a dynamic of that that when when we are focused on relentlessly pursuing those who don't yet know Jesus because we know that their greatest need is Jesus, there's there's gonna come voices and criticisms from those. It's like that's not how you're supposed to do it. Yeah, you can't you can't color outside the lines like that. And of course, we are we always want to remain humble, teachable. Um, you know, if there's anything that that is off within us, um, then we need to be aware of that. But I don't ever want if I'm gonna be accused of anything in ministry, let it be that we did everything short of sin to reach those who don't yet know Jesus. And that has that when King Kings has been at its best, that's how we've operated. And that's why when the values got crafted tens of years ago, courageous was one of the four. It's like not a lot of churches are known for their courage. We want to be that kind of church.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

So I worked for a very long time at another church here in town, and I would hear things about King of Kings. And I probably would have called some of them crazy, not necessarily courageous, or like, what the heck? Like, how do they do that? But not a single thing that I heard was like, why are they doing that? It was a how, or how did their people get behind it? Or how are they gonna implement that? Or who said they could do that? God did. That's how. But uh the word I would use is bold. Like that was what I always thought of, which in many ways means courageous when you're following the plan that God is laying out for you. And like you said, just wanting to get other people to know Jesus. Um, so once I came on staff here, like I was very curious to see behind the scenes how some of these decisions were made. And there is just a spirit of courage here. Like I just believe not just in staff or leadership, but amidst the people. Well, why can't we do that? Let's just make it happen. And that's amazing to be a part of. So yeah, I think that's definitely present at King of Kings.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

You know, not thinking about like not fretting about the future. It's important to note like we we don't have any sort of special access to the mind of God.

unknown 24:15

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

It's not like, oh, the moment you step into a church staff scenario and you get a little more time with Pastor Greg and Pastor Zach, like, oh, then you really get the behind the scenes, like we get the codebreaker card that you know lets us give more insight.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Nope.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Like we we stand on the word of God, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, and we follow where God leads. Um and and so even like these guys in Luke 5, they didn't they didn't fully know what this was gonna look like, which actually, you know, maybe your frat analogy is really good, right? It's like, let's just see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Um, I think about the, you know, I have the blessing of serving at our Fremont campus. And um uh a month ago, uh Pastor Zach and then uh Christy Webb, our associate director, and then Matt Rosso, who is the former congregation president of Good Shepherd, now King of Kings Fremont. But we all we all did a podcast like talking through the story, sharing the story of kind of how we got to this point. Um and I I would say very few people, actually probably no one, would have been able to say in summer of 2024, all right, guys, if we do this, this, and this, this is where we're gonna be come May of 2026. It was like, here's what we here, here's where we see some possibilities. I think if we, you know, it it's a it's a it's a vision that we're putting forth, but it's like vision is never 2020 clear. It's clarity is in the faith that operates, and then we move forward together in courage, following, you know, godly principles, doing things the right way, but not being um dispelled by the fears that are within us or or those without. Um, and then now we just get to be a part of this beautiful story. We've had some, what, 20 baptisms in the last six months. Um, a church that before, you know, kids and students you could count on one hand on a Sunday. And now we've had some Sundays with 50 plus. Um, and it's not everything's wrapped up in the numbers, but it's a sign of like, yeah, God is at work here. And and it's because we were willing to take some steps of faith that others would see as crazy or they just wouldn't understand. Sounds a lot like tearing a hole in a roof to get someone to Jesus. Um, and so now our call is like, God, don't let us lose that. Like, we just because we have been there does not mean that it'll necessarily be the same. We got to remind ourselves this is who we are. And that's, I think, one of the purposes of this series. Like, hey, we're gonna keep going. God's called us to keep going. Don't stop now.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

And we may not know what the end result looks like, but it's taking that next step. I'm a grandma. I go by Nana because that's what I prefer. But um, my granddaughters are obsessed with Frozen, as I'm sure many young girls are. And Frozen 2 has um a dilemma where they talk about there's even like a whole song about doing the next right thing. And I think of that often with the story of Fremont, just doing the next right thing. Um, if you want to listen to that podcast, you can check out the Red Letter Challenge podcast by Pastor Zach Zender. And it is the most recent episode, I think, maybe, maybe two back.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

Yeah, well, and I think also um if you're on this feed, they post the our team posted on the Beyond Sunday feed as a bonus episode. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Yes, they did because I almost listened to it twice. So I get both feed drops.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

We're just we're just trying to boost our numbers through Kate.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Yes. You can count on me.

Preferences Versus Church Mission

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Going from 11 to 13 next week. All right. So, can you recall a time when your personal preferences needed to be set aside for the greater mission of the church? How did that feel like? What did that feel like? And what was the outcome?

SPEAKER_02 28:25

You first kid or me first?

SPEAKER_00 28:29

Well, I kind of just had a general answer to this question in mind. Um I guess, you know, now that I'm a church worker, you know, I was a public school teacher for 23 years first. So I so I'm new to church work and I really didn't know that, and this might sound really naive. I didn't really know anyone complained about church sometimes. Like that was new to me, but because I'm not I'm just generally not a complainer. But um, but there are there are things sometimes that don't fit people's preferences. Um some common ones. Sometimes the music is a little too loud. Um, you know, Pastor Greg talked about um there was a time, I think he quoted Mark Zender, there was a time when, you know, the style of worship was more contemporary instead of traditional. And I'm sure that was hard. Um and there are times, you know, when a message won't hit me right or a song isn't my favorite. But you got to remind yourself, I'm not going to church for a country club, like Greg said. This isn't a country club where things should, you know, satisfy my desires. I'm going on a Sunday morning to worship God, to repent of my sins, to hear from his true word and to learn from the preacher. Like that's why I'm going. And depending on the Sunday, you know, I might take away a whole notebook of notes. I might take away just uh, you know, uh, what's that called? A nugget. But I'm not going, I'm not, I have you have to change your mindset really. And worship, and that's I don't know, am I am I expressing myself well? Yeah, okay. But it's tempting us humans. We all have preferences. We all want to show up and be like, ah, every song that that's my favorite preacher, that's my favorite song leader. Like, of course, we're gonna have preferences, but we need to remind ourselves, you know, why we're there. We're we're going to church to be be obedient and what God has called us to do.

SPEAKER_02 30:50

Yeah, you know, we'll we'll talk often about, you know, um, are we having a consumer mindset or a contributor mindset? And it just the that frame, even just asking that question takes us into a frame of, well, a consumer means that it's it's all about me and making sure my needs are met, Burger King, you know, have it your way, that sort of thing. Whereas what I love about the contributor is it's less of what the church is doing for me or isn't doing for me, and it's actually putting me on the side of the church of like, actually, I want to be a part of this. I want to be a part of what God is doing to transform lives. Um, and and then what we actually discover is that by us stepping into our collective purpose together, it's actually way more fulfilling than us just getting our needs met. Um Yeah. And so as I was thinking about this question, uh, so I was uh between my uh when I started working here at age like eight, is that what we said?

SPEAKER_00 31:53

I believe it. Yep.

unknown 31:56

No.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

So my first job at a college was was the worship director. This was in the pre-campus days. Um, so we didn't even call it the Millwood campus, but I was a worship director serving under Pastor Mark, and I did that for seven, eight years. Um, and and then I did lead and worship for four years in Connecticut before then moving back to take this uh Fremont campus role last summer. So now I'm like, I'm a campus director, formally a vicar in our denomination, and then Lord willing, I'll be ordained as a pastor here coming up. And so it's and you guys are also in the midst of internal job transitions. And so you're gonna experience this too, where it's the dynamic of someone else is doing the job that I used to do, and they're not doing it right.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

What if they're doing it better? So yeah. I've had like six job transitions since I've been here. I just want to go back and fix all of them. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_02 32:57

No, but here's what I've noticed is like one, where the Lord has us at a specific season is on purpose, right? So just acknowledging that. But also, um, if I don't give the person who's in that seat a chance to to like really flourish and be themselves, I'm gonna miss out on what God has in store for that. And so, you know, I was terrible with like group projects in school growing up where I was just in the mentality like, well, it's gotta be if it's gotta be done right, I gotta do it, right? Right. Terrible mentality, especially in the church. Um, and in even in the last, you know, nine, 10 months of being on staff here, for me be me to be able to see, like, okay, if I was operating in the flesh and being like, well, that's now I would have done it, well, yeah, I would have done it differently, but look at all the look at all the benefits and the blessings that come about because this person who's uniquely gifted and called to this now is doing it. And and so I it's for me, it's a choosing to say, Lord, thank you for expanding and blessing. You've transitioned me into this role. You've put X, X, Y, and Z in these roles, and they're doing like spectacular um in serving you and serving in the church. And it's like going way better than if I'm gonna fool myself into being like, well, I gotta do it.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

I read in a blog once um someone that said, if you don't like something about your church, think about how God is using that to help all the other people who do like it. And it was kind of mind-opening to me because there's certain things that I didn't like, a certain music choice, or a sermon that doesn't hit, or why are we doing this community engagement when we used to do this one or we should do this one, or things? But there is God is working all the time, and He created us each so uniquely and so individually that we all like different things and we all have a different relationship with him. And how does each one of the things that we don't like work in someone else that it hits just right? It's like food. You've like, I don't dislike someone because they don't like the same food as I do. So why would I dislike someone because they don't like the same message series that I do or the same worship music that I do? Um, because God is using it all, He's using all of the different kinds of foods, even the yucky ones, to nourish our bodies.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Even the eggplant. Even the eggplant.

Fremont Momentum And What’s Next

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Even the eggplant. Even mushrooms. That's my eye. Yeah, I don't like mushrooms. I wish I did. They're really good for you. All right. So discuss how you see the mission of the church, both inside and outside its walls, unfolding in the next few years. What's on the horizon, do you think?

SPEAKER_02 36:01

Yeah, you know, we spent the four weeks um after Easter talking about my four. And like it that I think what I see happening, again, Lord willing, like we press in and we say, yeah, this is this is not just that it's important to me and it's important to us. Um, I just I just can't wait to see the vision realized where we hear at each of our campuses at Pizzas with Purpose and Baptism Sundays, and in in in prayer prayer times during the service of someone giving testimony of like I I was I was that that paralyzed man on the mat. And I could not help myself. And this person at the Northwest campus, this married couple at the Millard campus, they prayed for me. They loved me, they included me, they invited me, and I discovered a life I didn't even know was missing. Um I'm I'm praying and putting all my all to bring it back to the betting thing at the beginning, but like all my eggs in that basket of like, Lord, you're not done transforming lives of anything. It's only begun. That's what I see coming on the horizon.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Yeah, um right now I'm most excited for Fremont having VBS. Woot, woot, woot. Like, I think I've asked Chrissy like four times, like, what's your registration? Just because I love it so much. And I just have seen like how God grew my own kids' faith through this church.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

KingofKings.org slash VBS.

SPEAKER_00 37:43

Register now.

SPEAKER_01 37:44

You can volunteer.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

That's what I was thinking about. I'm like, how do I word it? No matter your age, there's a spot for you. Yep. But when we first, when Northwest first opened and my daughter was there and she was meeting, you know, some of the people, and I remember someone asking her, like, when did you start coming to King of Kings? And she looked at me because she's never gone to any other church, you know, and I was like, She's been here from the beginning. And um, like, I love that. I love that my kids have come, I've watched them grow up here since they were babies. They were baptized here in this place. And um, I'm just I'm so thankful for that. And there's something about kids and their joy and learning about the Lord summer after summer, you know, along with, you know, the year-round, Sunday school and all that, but but just seeing that joy. And I came to faith in eighth grade, and so I don't know. It I just love seeing the seeds planting planted and and grown up. So I guess that's what I'm most excited about.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

I am excited. King of Kings has a goal to plant 10 campuses in 20 years. So by 2043, we're hoping to have 10 campuses. Currently, three. I know, right? What? That's exciting to me. And I'm excited because I feel like this is a church that is not about. I I wrote down, don't go to church, be the church. That's like this phrase that people say a lot. Um, I please still go to church because that's where your cup gets filled. Like, um, and uh Greg mentioned, I think it's a verse, gosh, I should have written it down from Hebrews. I don't know if you know, that's actually like the core verse when we talk about connect groups, where it talks about getting together and encouraging each other. Hebrews 10, something, yeah, to spur each other on.

SPEAKER_02 39:43

And loving good deeds. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Yes. That community is important. I think um during COVID, a lot of people stopped going to church and thought, well, I do fine watching online, or I do fine not going to a physical building. It is still important to come together and be a part of that physical body of Christ. But that we're looking at outside of these walls, which goes back to what I said was the first thing I was taking beyond Sunday, where Greg said the plan has never been to fill a room. It's to fill a city one life at a time. And really, it's to fill many cities when we start talking about that. And that's exciting, very exciting.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

So something I learned um after that, after looking at that vers earlier this week. So the the the verb um spur one another on. We don't use that verb very often in English, but in the Greek, it it has it has a like a sense of like provoke. Like it, it's it's much more intense. Stop poking me, kid.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Trying to spur you on. Am I gonna have to talk to HR? But that's what a spur is like you put it in the side of a horse. Totally, totally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:48

But the I what I really appreciate about it is like it's it's more in your face isn't is too strong, but it's more in your face than I think we're comfortable being. And and so it it's more audacious and it's more risky, but it's because it's also worth it. And so, yeah, let's let's in a in a God-pleasing way provoke one another to the things that God's called us to.

Final Takeaways And Closing

SPEAKER_01 41:12

Well, it's like Greg talked about instead of talking about your allergies and the weather to talk about what you're doing for Christ, you know, of how you're encouraging each other for that. Yeah. All right. So next to week, oh wait, we have one more question. What is your final takeaways?

SPEAKER_02 41:30

Final takeaways. Um, yeah, I'm just you know, thinking about you know, it's a three-week series, and we are we are talking a lot about King of Kings as a church, but ultimately we don't want to be so like navel gazing that it's like, look at us, pat ourselves on the back. Like, why is this important? It's because this is God's mission. This is Jesus' mission. This is going and making disciples of all nations. Um, and so if we're if we're saying be a part of what God's doing in his church, it's because God is the one who's acting and making a difference and on the move.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 42:03

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Let's go. And be a scientist or a Christian, be observant, be curious. That's how you engage the people around you. Just do it. Just do it. Just let's go.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Thanks so much for being here this week, guys. Next week, we will see what week two of Let's Go brings us. Thanks. Have a great week. And until then, let's keep living our faith. Beyond Sunday.