This is Our Vision | Phil Kniesel

Hope is one of the deepest needs in our world today. Headlines remind us of brokenness, division, and despair, but Jesus offers real hope that changes lives.

In this first message of our new series Bigger Than Us, Pastor Phil Kniesel shares the vision God has given Hope City: to reach 1% of our city with the good news of Jesus. You’ll hear why hope is more than a concept, why the name of Jesus is still the only name that saves, and how each of us has a part in the mission.

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Transcript

0:16

- Hey, this is Phil Kal, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- Have you ever had something you couldn't keep to yourself? It might've been the Northern Lights that lit up a group chat or maybe the bouch bomb in the playoffs that kept us alive that had you texting five people at once. Might've been a new baby picture of your child or grandchild that you had to post before breakfast. Sometimes we just gotta share something with others. Now, social media has taught us that some people share too much. For example, someone starts a keto diet and so they post a picture day one of keto, and then by day two they say, thinking about bread already. And I'm like, you know what, dude? Just don't post man., Most of us would agree, one of the biggest needs in our world right now is hope. I sense I see, and I feel the lack of it all around us. Headlines from this past week have been heavy and they portray that stuff like earthquake in Afghanistan kills over 1000 evacuation of Fort Providence and Northwest Territories due to wildfires. Canada's immigration numbers are increasing. We all need hope. We all need something to ground us, to direct us to look forward to. And if you're here today saying, I need some hope, friend, listen to me, you're in the right place. Our church is called Hope City for a reason because hope is more than an abstract idea, a concept or wishful thinking. Hope is a person and that person is Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for us so that we can have life now and forever. Jesus himself said it this way, come to me all who are weary and burden and I will give you rest. And for centuries, followers of Jesus have anchored their lives in this Paul, he's a New Testament writer, he said it this way, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. The writer of Hebrews, another New Testament book says it this way. We have this hope, this hope meaning belief in Jesus as an anchor for the soul firm and secure elsewhere. Same writer of Hebrews says, let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful. That's Jesus hope. It's a lacking commodity in our world, but a incredible reality in Jesus. And right now, I don't know if you've seen this, maybe you've noticed this. There is a resurgence of people discovering hope in Jesus. It's almost like I've never seen before in my lifetime. Take for instance, our own church. We have experienced exponential growth. In the last five years alone. We have grown more than 4,000 people. Think about that. We have baptized hundreds individuals are saying yes to Jesus across our campuses week after week. We have this incredible momentum in our next gen ministries with a lot of our youth and young adults coming to faith in Jesus. In fact, just on Wednesday I got an email from an organization called Barna and they're the leading statistical research center for Christian realities in North America. And it said, this young adults are leading a resurgence in church attendance. Woo, come on, right? We're seeing that Sunday night at our young adult service and my my own two daughters who are young adults, have also experienced a number of their friends who came from zero faith background, surrender their lives to Jesus and find true hope and lasting purpose. It's incredible. You can almost taste this spiritual hunger in our culture. There's artists like Forrest Frank, and if you don't know who that is, it just means you're too old. Okay? But Forrest Frank, he openly talks about his faith. He's really popular with Gen Z. And on Instagram alone, he has 5 million followers. There's this deep hunger in humanity today where people are looking for where people are craving hope. And what this world has to offer is hollow. I mean, even the guy who created Wikipedia just became a Christian. It's incredible how God is moving. At the same time we hear loud anti-Christian voices and it can feel intimidating. But friends, let me tell you, the message of Jesus still stands the test of time. The hope of Jesus is still the good news. The reality of Jesus is still sure. And faith in Jesus is not dying. It's growing. And over nine years ago, I stood in front of our church and I shared our vision. We wanna be a church that reaches 1% of our city to see people make the best decision of their life, to follow Jesus and then call our church home. And because the city keeps growing, so does the vision . And at times it seemed a little bit audacious, some thought, oh dude, you just wanna be a big church. Honestly, no. My heart is for people to know Jesus, to know hope. And so nine years ago as a church, we started to pray Jeremiah 29 over our city and Jeremiah, it's an Old Testament book that says, pray for the peace and prosperity of your city and you too will prosper. And so among other things, that's what our engaged worship and prayer nights entailed. And by the way, you need to come this coming weekend to our engaged night. If you've never been, we're gonna pray. We're gonna worship as a church. We've been doing this for nine years now and God is honoring and working on behalf of our prayers. And we were a church who dared to believe that God cares more about our city than we ever could. We dare to believe that God could use a church to reach thousands. We dare to operate in faith and embolden us. And we launched campuses which by the way, to the glory of God, we have seen incredible reach and growth today. In fact, our Tigr campus launches their fourth Sunday service because of the growth they are experiencing. Let's give a shout out to Dewier right now. Come on. So why is this happening? It's not because we're special. It's not because we're better. It's not because we're really good. It's because God is moving and we have been praying. It's because hope is desperately needed and the gospel is good news. But whenever God moves, the enemy pushes back. You live that personally and we experience that corporately. He's always gonna try to stop what God is doing. It's actually been since the beginning of time, Paul again says it this way, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our struggle is not people, it's principalities. And so I wanna take us to something that happened in the lives of two of Jesus's followers. Two of his disciples called Peter and John. These were in fact two of his closest friends. And this incident happened after Jesus rose from the dead and after he ascended into heaven, they were going to the temple to pray one afternoon. And they encountered a guy who couldn't walk since birth, begging outside of the temple through the power of Jesus' name, they heal this man. And there were a ton of people that witnessed this event that had caused a little bit of an uproar in the city. This is what we read while the man held on to Peter and John, you can imagine dudes, I'm not letting go of you. This is incredible. All the people, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's colonnade. Solomon's colonnade was just the outer courts of the temple. No one could keep what just happened to themselves. Peter then speaks to this massive crowd about who Jesus was and what it all meant that he was crucified, died. And he rose and he said the same power that raised Jesus from the dead gave this guy strength in his legs to be able to walk again. The chief priests and the religious leaders, they were present and they panicked because Peter was teaching about the resurrection, which they didn't believe in. And so they put Peter and John in jail to stop them and they tried to figure out what they're gonna do with them. And so we're gonna pick it up from there. But I wanna say this, we go to the Bible every week here at Hope City because we believe that the Bible is God's word and it gives us a great way at how to go about life. Also in the Bible it tells us about Jesus. And since we believe that following Jesus is the best decision anyone can make, it just makes sense to go there. And so I want to pick it up in Acts chapter four. It says this, many who heard the message believe So the number of men who believe grew to about 5,000. I just threw that verse in there. So you see that there's momentum happening, people are coming to Jesus the next day. The rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem and as the high priest was there and so was Cafu, John Alexander and others of the high priest family. So the the writer of Luke, um, or the writer of Acts rather, it's Luke and he's just doing some name dropping here. So these would be names everyone would know. It's kinda like the who's who was there. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them by what power or what name did you do this? Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers and rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness, shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, but God raised from the dead that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else for there's no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Go Peter, right? He's like direct and to the point, salvation is found in no one else for there's no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. That's the key to Everlasting hope. Friends, there is no other name, not Allah, not Buddha, not Muhammad, no other name. It's only through Jesus, the name above all names that we can be saved. And I know I know this, a lot of you have made the best decision of your life to follow Jesus and know I'm cheering you on in this. But if you're here, if you're joining us at a campus, if you're online and you haven't made that decision yet, today can be your day of salvation week after week, we have people who join us who are curious about faith in Jesus. And I hear things like, dude, I just showed up'cause I saw the cops and all these people. I was wondering what goes on in here. . I hear things like I saw the sign hope city and then I sure need some hope in my life. In fact, just last week I talked to someone who very well could be here today. It was a Muslim guy who came to me after the service and he said, you know that prayer you prayed about accepting Jesus? I prayed that prayer with you today. I wanna follow Jesus. And so I got him a Bible, helped him on his next steps and and hope City. I was just so humbled and grateful that once again, it's God who does the drawing. God who does the moving friends. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. Jesus, he's the hope of the world. And if you haven't made that decision yet, let me encourage you to do so. Let's read on it says this, when they remember all the religious who's, whos saw the courage of Peter and John, they realized they were unschooled ordinary men. So in other words, they were just like you and I. They were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. And I love that people who follow Jesus look like Jesus. Let's read on. Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes to listen to you or to him, you be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. Peter and John's response is just fascinating to me. They're facing potentially more jail time. They're told, if you stop, your life will be fine. Just don't talk about Jesus. But they chose differently. They said, ask for us. We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. That's how hope talks. We can't not speak. This isn't marketing, it's overflow. They had something they couldn't keep to themselves. And because of that, the message of Jesus kept gaining traction. Hope was alive. And this was, this was God's plan. I mean, this is how the good news of Jesus has been passed down generation after generation through people talking and telling through people, saying, we can't not speak. And it makes me wonder, how could Peter and John respond this way at that time? Like what made it possible? I think I've got three reasons for you. Number one, they were compelled by an encounter. Here's the thing, we all talk about what we treasure. Peter and John weren't just pushing an idea, they were bearing witness to a person. They encountered the living, then crucified and then risen Jesus at a later time. John who wrote a few more books in the New Testament wrote it this way in one John that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched. This we proclaim concerning the word of life. And by the way, when you see the word capitalize in the New Testament that refers to Jesus, the life appeared. We have seen it and testified to it. And we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. We can't not speak. We've seen this, we've touched this, we've experienced this. They were compelled to tell others because it was so real and it was so alive in their own hearts. And for those of you who have made the decision to follow Jesus, how compelled are you to talk about it? Woo. Listen. If you lack, if you lack compelling, it's okay.'cause here's what I wanna say, don't fake it. Fan the flame. Return to the basics. John also wrote this in another one of his books. It's called Revelation. He's writing on behalf of God. And it says this, you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. Do what you did at first, meaning get into reading God's word, get into the Bible, pray to him. Repentance is a practice of confession. Follow him with a fresh obedience. Ask God for a deeper hunger and a deeper joy in following him. And so if you feel like you've lost some of your love for God and friend, I get it. It's easy to get there. Life throws us punches. Life throws us curve balls all the time. If that's you, let me encourage you, do the things you did at first. Return to the basics. You know at one point, Paul said it this way, never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Keep means, make sure it stays alive. Stoke your spiritual flame. And so maybe, maybe some of you need need some kindling to get it started. Maybe some of you need some more wood to keep it going. Hope city. My prayer is that you may never be lacking in zeal. My prayer is that you would encounter God in a fresh way and be filled with a passion for him. One that says, we can't not speak. God has changed my life. God has changed me and I want others to know. And I can tell you story after story after story of people in our church who do just that. People who say, because of God, the emptiness I was feeling is gone because of God. The hope I was need is fulfilled because of God. My life was heading into a spiral, but he lifted me up out of the miy clay and set my feet upon a firm foundation because of God. I am changed. I am saved. I'm forgiven. I am set free because of God and friend. Listen, if that is your story, why are you keeping it to yourself? Our world needs hope. Our world is craving for hope. Our world needs Jesus. And God is saying, your voice matters. Your story speaks. Your life matters. We can't help but speak when we are compelled with an encounter with God. It's no secret I'm a pretty big Oilers fan. Two years in a row in the playoffs. Most of the city is now, right? I don't know about you guys, but would McDavid just sign? It's kind of stressing me out a little bit, . But during the playoffs season, I especially talk about every game. I obviously love the ones we win and the ones we lose. They just make me mad. But I'm dealing with the ridiculousness of that. But I love talking about the games to speak to Witness is simply joy, finding a voice. And Peter and John spoke because they were compelled by an encounter. And my prayer for our house is that we would be people who can't not speak because Jesus is that real to us. And so if you're lacking the joy to speak about Jesus, ask God for a fresh encounter. Secondly, Peter and John were able to speak because they had courage under pressure. Listen again to how they responded. When the stakes were high, they said, which is right in God's eyes to listen to you or to him, you be the judges. Christian courage isn't loudness or abrasiveness. It's spirit produced speech with a steady heart. And they actually prayed about this very thing in the same chapter. We read this now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Hope city. Being bold for Jesus doesn't mean you're a jerk for Jesus. And sometimes unfortunately, people think that goes hand in hand. Just think about the basic principles of an argument with anyone, whether it's your spouse, your kids, whoever. If you get defensive, they get defensive. If you attack, they want to attack. Speaking boldly with clarity and with kindness is what is most effective in our world. Christian courage is to be, as Jesus said, shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. Paul explained that when he said this. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt. So Peter and John, they responded to the religious leaders by saying, we're gonna obey God rather than you. What do you think is more right? Like you be the judges. They weren't throwing anything at them in a harsh way. They just challenge them. They were respectful, not rude. And I'm sure at times we've all experienced someone in the Christian faith acting and speaking in ways that kind of make us wanna crawl under a rock and not even want to identify with them. How you speak matters. The way you display courage matters. No one wins people through obnoxiousness, loudness, aggressiveness, anger, or arguing. And let's be real. That's everywhere today, Jesus followers. We are to be different. And so maybe you're saying, yeah, I'd love to grow in my courage of talking about who Jesus is. Friends believe that your life can impact others with Jesus. Our hope is tangible. Our hope is relatable, our hope is attractive. And I wanna give you three things that you can do. Real simple things to grow and courage. Number one, pray for it. Ask God to give you boldness and confidence in your faith. In fact, pray for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in your life. Because we read in acts when it was poured out, when he was poured out, he gives us the courage to speak. Number two, decide your line ahead of time. Meaning if ask why you have the hope you have or the way you are, the way you are, have a line in mind. Peter and John, they knew what to say when asked, they plainly said, it's Jesus. You know the guy you crucified, but the one that God raised from the dead salvation is found in no one else. It's why at a later time, Peter wrote these words, if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain. Decide your line ahead of time. And the third way to grow e courage is take small steps. Courage isn't built in one shot. It's built with small steps over time. So it's one decision at a time, one response at a time, one reaction at a time. One loving gesture at a time. So you pray for it, you decide your line ahead of time and you take small steps. And friends, I want to spur you on to have the courage to live your life loudly in a way that showcases Jesus to the world. May people say of you, like they said of Peter and John, they have been with Jesus. They look like Jesus. We can't not speak. They were compelled by an encounter. They had courage under pressure. And thirdly, they had credibility. We know this, most people don't want to know how much you know until they know how much you care. I've heard it said that good works create goodwill that opens ears to good news. Peter and John, they heal the guy. The healing wasn't the message, but it confirmed the message. And your life either promotes or demotes the gospel the way you live enhances or diminishes the hope of Jesus. Now listen, this doesn't mean you never mess up because how many times have all of us messed up, we're human. And that happens, take for instance, getting cut off in traffic. I don't know about you, but those are the times where it seems I get escalated in seconds. True story. One time this guy blatantly cut me off and so I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him. And so I just did kind of one of these hands up in the air, kind of like, what's up? So following that, he's in front of me and he comes out the window and he's yelling expletive. And all of a sudden two hands go out the window and you know what comes up in the middle, right? ? Well, that amped me. And I was like, okay. And I was just about to gesture back at him when I looked over and Marla, my wife, was calm and cool and just staring at me. And she didn't have to say a word. I went from this to this. So yeah, sometimes I get it. We're not proud of what we do. When you mess up, own it. Ask for forgiveness, move on. Don't stay stuck. Following. Jesus is making those small choices in the right direction each day at a time. It's realizing Jesus' words where he said that his followers are salt and light. Salt makes things better and perseveres light, shatters darkness. Our lives as Christians are to be this. And so you gain cred, credibility by being kind, by meeting visible needs, by praying for people, by caring for people, by elevating people. Paul in one of his letters, tells us to live our lives in a way that wins the respect of those who are outside of the faith. He also goes on to say, we should live our lives in a way that brings attractiveness to faith in Jesus, not the other way around. So that means we're not just keyboard warriors, we're transformation forces. We're not just talkers, we are doers. And I loved when back in June, over 500 of you on our serve weekend went out and served our city. I love hearing the stories of how many of you are impacting others through your actions and lives. I love knowing that Jesus followers in our church are looking for ways so that we can make our world better friend. Listen, does someone want the faith you've got? If not, maybe you need to grow in credibility. We all agree our world needs hope. And hope is not just a concept, it's a name. That name is Jesus. And when he changes you, he changes how you look at life, the world and others. He changes how you live, how you speak and how you think He changes everything about you. In fact, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth and the life. And if you've never made that decision, to today is a great day to say yes to him. Have you ever had something you can't keep to yourself? My prayer is that you would be compelled by an encounter with Jesus. My prayer is that you may have courage to speak the hope that our world needs. My prayer is that you will carry credibility that makes the gospel attractive. And like Peter and John, you'd say, we can't not speak. Hope has a name and that name is Jesus. And when Jesus changes us, everything changes in us. So Hope City, may you be a person of hope this week I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able to. I'm gonna close praying over you today. Jesus, I thank you. I thank you that you changed our lives. I thank you that as we choose the journey of following you, you take us and you just mold us and you shape us. And so Lord, I pray for all those who have made that decision here today, that God, you just give 'em a fresh encounter with you. I pray that their love for you, their hunger for you, their passion for you might be stirred in a way that says, yes, I can't not speak about what Jesus has done in my life. I pray that you once again, just give them that desire to know you, to love you, to serve you, to follow you. I ask God that even at the beginning of this fall season, that they may walk in strength, in confidence and assurance. And so God stir inside of us a hunger for you, stir inside of us a deep longing to know you greater and more. And so help us to do the things we did at first help us to walk in relation with you. And so just move, work and minister, I pray, God, may we be individuals who are salt and light, who shine hope to our city in a way that just brings glory and honor to you. If you're joining us today and you don't know who Jesus is personally, and you're just saying, yeah, Phil, today I wanna make that decision in my life. I wanna follow him. I want to surrender my life to him across our campuses, online, wherever you're at, why don't you just pray this prayer with me? Jesus, today I see my need for you. And I thank you for going to the cross. I thank you for dying, for my sins, for rising and offer me life and hope. And so today I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you. I wanna make you Lord and leader of my life. Help me to know you, help me to follow you. Help me to serve you and align my ways with you. Help me to know the hope of the world and what it means to have that inside of my life. And Lord, I pray over every individual, every couple, and every family. I ask as they go into this week, may they sense your goodness, your nearness, your blessing. I pray for the needs that they have, that they may bring 'em to you. But God, I pray when they call out to you that they may experience a living and act of God in their life. I pray that when they open the word that they experience the living an active word, I pray that they are Christ followers who put you first and just see you moving and working in their life. It's not just a Sunday thing, it's a Monday through Saturday thing. And so, God, I pray, blessing, strength, wisdom, guidance, and your glory over these people in the powerful, incredible name of Jesus. Amen. You know, if you prayed that prayer this morning of surrendering your life to Christ, I wanna say way to go. I love that you did that. If you can scan the QR code that's on the screen, it's also on a seat back in front of you. We'd love to get a digital booklet in your hand. It talks more about knowing and following Jesus. And it's our way of trying to connect with you in a big church. And so please do that. If you're here and you want prayer about anything, we're gonna have a prayer team available right here, down at your front, left after the service, and they would love to pray over and for you just on your way out. Today, I wanna close with these words. It's a blessing from scripture now to him who's able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is, that is at work with us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Love you. Hope city praying for you. Go be a person of hope this week.