Zion 2024: New Orientation for a New Place

Introduction

·      Zion 2024 Fast – 7 Days, Starting Today

·      Sunday, 6:00 pm, Monday – Thursday, 7:00 pm / Great Activities for Kids---

·      This is a prophetic message. What do I mean by “prophetic?” We are a prophetic church. We believe that God still speaks to us today. He will never say anything that contradicts his written word, but he does provide direction for us.

o   Zion is a time of gaining prophetic insight for the days ahead.

o   It gives us an opportunity to hear what God is saying specifically for this time and this season, helping us to engage with him and be in alignment with where he is leading us.

Zion 2024: New Orientation for a New Place

·      Personal Story: Growing up, we did not stray far from home for our trips and vacations. I was 22 when I took my first plane ride – I saw the ocean for the first time (Venice Beach). Then, at 26, I became the Sales Manager for Southeast Asia, taking 2 or 3 trips each year lasting 2 to 3 weeks; it was very disorienting – strange smells, food, signs, and language.

·      When we are in a new place, it can be disorienting and confusing. It is human nature to pull back into the comfortable, known and understood.

·      This is 2024 on the Gregorian calendar and 5784 on the Hebrew calendar. 

o   I’m sure Apostle Chuck Pierce will share more this evening on this, but he, Rabbi Jason Sobel, and others have noted that 5784 is the “Year of the Open Door of Change.”

o   I’m not going to piggyback on Chuck’s prophetic word, but I do want to acknowledge that this is a year of shifting into something very new.

·      And anytime we are shifting into something new, we need to be aware of 2 things: 

o   #1 Shifting can be disorienting for us! We are creatures of habit. Normal and consistent can be boring, but it is also very comforting! (Children love to watch the same movies over and over because it is comforting. They know the outcome.)

o   #2 We have to move when God moves. There is an old adage in the business world: “You have to take advantage of an opportunity within the window of that opportunity.” In other words, “You snooze, you lose.”

·      In my Zion 2020 word, I said that this would be a “tumultuous decade – a decade of shaking.” When the Lord gave me that word, I had to look it up! 

o   Tumultuous: excited, confused, disorderly

o   Remember, that was January of 2020, and COVID hit 3 months later.

·      We are still in the “tumultuous decade,” but I believe this is the year we “get on top of it” and “enter into a victory season.”

o   Have you ever watched a sporting event – say a football game – and one team seems to have momentum, then it switches? 

o   This is the year the momentum switches in our favor!

o   This is the year we move from being impacted by the events around us to taking ground from the enemy!

o   There are many battles yet to fight in this decade! It is still a tumultuous decade. But it’s going to be different this year. We have the upper hand. We will begin fighting from the high ground, and it is a shift that will continue to accelerate throughout the decade.

·      The key to this year is moving with God through the door of opportunity and into our new reality. 

o   Things are changing. Church is changing. How the church impacts the community is changing. And our roles will start to shift.

Joshua 3:1-4,14-17 (NLT)     1 Early the next morning, Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. 2 Three days later, the Israelite officers went through the camp, 3 giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you.”…     14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed onto the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then, all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.     17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

·      In Exodus, the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea to escape their enemies. 

·      In Joshua, they crossed to Jordan to engage their enemies.

·      In Exodus, they were fleeing 400+ years of slavery and bondage.

·      In Joshua, they were entering into their promised inheritance. 

1. This is a year of stepping into our promise, but we have to move when God calls us to move.

·      Though it can be uncomfortable to shift into the new, we must move when God calls us to shift. 

·      We overcome our discomfort by focusing on the promise God has before us!

Joshua 5:10,11 (NLT)10 While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. 11 The very next day, they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. 12 No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So, from that time on, the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.

·      For 40 years, as the Israelites traveled through the desert, God provided manna for them every day.

o   They never once had to consider what they would eat. They never once had to concern themselves about what provision they would have for tomorrow. They never once had to plan a grocery run, plant a field, or harvest crops. For 40 years.

o   Then, one day, it all changed! (And without warning!)

o   THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MINUTE! Everyone who had ever farmed had died in the desert. Everyone who raised livestock had passed.

o   And God suddenly changed the game, and the Israelites were now going to have to fend for their own food.

o   Now, we can see God’s wisdom in this. He needed the people to grow up, and he needed them motivated to push the enemy off their promised land. What better way than taking back their food allowance?

o   But for the Israelites, this must have come as quite a shock!

·      God, in his great wisdom, plants “moments of maturing” in our lives! Times when we find ourselves suddenly having to grow up, take ownership of our choices, and engage in life as “a responsible adult.”

o   Personal Example: I remember my first real paycheck. I was super excited until I saw the long list of deductions: FIT, Insurance, Social Security, Medicare…

o   Major life events, such as marriage, having children, etc., create opportunities for these shifts in our maturity.

·      I believe the shift coming in 2024 is a shift for the church, and it is an opportunity for us to mature as Christians.

o   This is a year for us to take responsibility for our communities, for our families, for our coworkers, for our friends, and for those far off.

o   The final words of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, were:Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

o   This is our call, our purpose, and our destiny. For the last 150+ years, church growth has been about great services and great ministries. (We’re not doing away with those!)

o   For the future, growth is not about church growth but kingdom growth (which will produce church growth as a byproduct). 

o   Church becomes that place Paul promised in Ephesians 4:Ephesians 4:11-13 (NLT)11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

·      So, how are we going to do “the work of the church” this year?

o   #1 – We are shifting the “Building Fund” to the “Kingdom Builders Fund.”

§  God has given us tremendous facilities, and we continue to grow and develop them (Lubbock, praying for that children’s wing!)

§  But we will shift our offerings to impacting the Kingdom! 

§  We believe we are to bring our Tithes and Offerings into the storehouse in accordance with Malachi 3. By contributing to the Kingdom Builders offering, you will be helping support local and international missions, outreaches, TFAC (our apostolic church network), and more!

§  One special mission we are joining this year is Surge – the church planning mission started by Pastor Larry Stockstill in 2000 and run by his son today. They are looking to plant a church a day around the world, moving to a church per hour! In May 2023, they planted 1,000 churches, and over 2,800 churches last year! This is making disciples!

§  We currently invest 10% of our total revenue into missions and outreach, but I believe we can grow that as the Kingdom Builders fund grows! By directly investing in kingdom growth, I believe we can really fulfill our vision of Impacting the World!

§  Current contributions, churchwide, to the Building Fund are around 5.3% of general fund contributions (i.e., tithes). Thus, we are making up 4.7% of our regular ministry budget. 

·      Thus, if you have been a regular giver to the Building Fund, I’m asking you to roll that over to the Kingdom Builder’s Fund.

·      And if you have not been giving, I’m asking you to pray about making a regular contribution to the Kingdom Builder’s Fund.

o   #2 – We are launching technology for our church that will revolutionize how church is done!

§  We have spent the past 7 years working on this technology!

§  The church has lagged way behind the rest of the world in technology, but we are going to help close that gap.

§  In Q1, we will launch a new Trinity Fellowship Church App that is so much more than a way to get information on Trinity. It will be your connection to your small group, where you can communicate with one another and pray for each other. You will have direct access to every resource of the church. Dream Teamers can check in. Register for events AND MORE.

§  But that’s not what I am most excited about. You can also become a Guide and take your friends, family, and coworkers on a Journey. 

·      Journeys are short, daily Bible studies and devotionals. 

·      You can pick your Journey, invite your friends, and walk through a 5-day study on prayer or a 10-day discussion on life with the Holy Spirit.

·      Journeys take no more than 5-10 minutes a day to complete, and they are completed in your own time. You read a short devotional or watch a short video, read a few verses, and jot down a few comments for your fellow travelers.

o   Journeys are a way for EVERYONE to become a disciple-maker! This is how we are equipping you – the saints – to do the work of the ministry.

o   In early Q2, we will launch a corresponding website and Apple TV app.

·      So, back to Joshua – When the manna is dried up (when the old way of doing things no longer works), we have to be willing to grow and move into the new thing God is doing!

2. God is showing us a new way to do church – a way of reaching this generation where they are. We must move into it!

Joshua 4:4-8 (NLT)4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” 8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

·      These stones stood as a reminder to the Israelites of God’s provision, mercy, and grace. 

·      They reminded them of where they came from and what they were going into.

·      We are making a similar shift at Trinity. I had hoped to do this a year ago, but God had other plans, and now I think I know why!

·      Trinity is changing. We are growing. We are maturing. We are transitioning into what God has for us. 

·      Thus, we are upgrading our look and logo this year to reflect the new that God is doing.

·      <<Launch New Logo Video>> Note: I will talk over the video, but go ahead and let the music play through.

o   Our past logo served us for over 20 years, but it is time for us to step into something new.

o   Our new logo holds onto our legacy, drawing from the deep wells of faith that have been a part of Trinity for the past 47 years.

o   But it also points us towards our future. Towards a disciple-making church that is all about impacting the world! 

Conclusion & Prayer

2024 is going to be a great year! This is a year of us stepping through into something new. There may be parts that feel a bit unsettling to us. We may have some learning curves to embrace. We may need to ‘grow up’ a little as we recognize that advancing God’s kingdom is not just the church’s job, but it’s each of our responsibilities. Yet as we embrace the New Orientation for the New Place, we will find ourselves in the middle of God’s will.

This is a year where we get STRONGER. This is a year where we PUSH THROUGH, and the momentum begins to shift in our favor. This is a year where we look out as the Ekklesia – the church, and declare that the gates of hell will no longer prevail against our friends, neighbors, family, and us. Because we are the church of Jesus Christ, strong and equipped, and ready to impact the world.

Prayer: Join the Movement / Salvation -  You want to be a part of this!