Morning Vespers

Morning Vespers – Sam Williams

Genesis 28:10-17 ¹⁰ Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. ¹² And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ "Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ "And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

What has God spoken to you this week?

Jerry: I have gone through some deep water right before I came up here. I’ve been pretty open about my indifference. Last night while I watched the movie, God touched my heart. He reminded me that he loves me. And he’s allowing me to be angry but God is with me. Shawn turned to me and said we’ve got to get back. I’m ok

Bryan: I repented yesterday, God has challenged my vision and heart to pastor.

Grant: I’m too focused on myself and Knoxville. God is at WORK IN East Asia, Oslo, Mexico city, everywhere. Wonderful magnifying glass for what god is doing everywhere.

Jan: great to be here. In the movie the guy that put crosses on the trees and then was killed: he laid down his life for those kids as Jesus laid down his life for us. To see the tears on the cheeks on the cheeks of Sarah and Shawn I felt a uniting of all countries. Jesus presence was here with us. He has been explaining privately to his disciples. And he will be present with us as we go out.

Ellis: I had so many times the Lord spoke to me. Being ex-military I look at things like a battle or mission. All the battle plans may be different but they accomplish the same objective. When you are in a battle you might think your plan is the only plan. When I hear all of you talk about what you’re doing around the world, they are all different plans but all to meet the same objective. We are commissioned to put these plans into action in each of our cities to gather up the lost sheep that need compassion. I have learned so much from all of you this week.

Eric: All of us were edified by the Lord speaking to each of us uniquely and we all can give praise to God.

Andy: Watching a recent movie, King Arthur, it reminded me that I’ve never felt commissioned to do city work. Now after being here I feel commissioned to fight together with swords drawn for the city. This three year commitment with you I won’t quit.

Axel: the kingdom is much bigger than I have seen before. Seeing what God is doing in other cities gives me hope and perspective. We will not fail and I will continue to move forward.

Hans Peter: At home it is hard to bring vision to the people because of fear and doubt. This time has renewed my vision. This meeting is a model of coming together to collaborate, in Europe.

S: We need to meet like this in E. Asia. Each time we come to the U.S. it is like a recharging. We know we are serving the church but at times it is hard. The movie touched my heart: a single weak lady to go to a big country. I had many tears. I talked to J. about how to serve our nation. Thanks you so much brothers; to be able to come here and learn and recharge one another.

Augustin: when I joined CCC 30 years ago what attracted me was the main emphasis on transformation. The years went by and we’ve done many things and it seems like we’ve forgot that idea of transformation. As I’ve worked with many pastors in Mexico, they are focused on their building their own kingdom. They are not focused on the city or a vision of transformation. When I came here I found that no matter how our experiences are different, we share one thing in common, we want to see our cities transformed. I feel comfortable with this group because we speak the same language. We share the same vision. I have learned how to encourage others to come to this vision. I leave this place full of hope believing this is possible. When I went to Europe some years ago we went out to share the gospel and no one responded. But hearing what you are doing in Europe has been very encouraging. Thank you for your encouragement.

Chip: I feel thankfulness. The privilege to be part of this kind of ministry. Sometimes I wonder is this really possible? Is transformation possible? God is in control of that but what a privilege to have a piece of it.

Dan: I heard the Lord say, “You don’t need to know everything but you need to know something. Perseverance: hang on. There’s something God will do but it will take time. People talk about getting out in front of God but it never happens.

Daniel: Terry Teck: Jesus isn’t coming back for a harem, he’s coming back for a bride. It’s hard to stay the course and do the right thing. This unity here is how the church is supposed to act until Jesus returns for his bride. I think we are touching the heart of God because he wants his son to have his bride. There are a lot of times that you want to quit. It’s overwhelming, too much with too few resources. I can see in this room, things that we could actually bring to each others cities. Most pastors get exhausted just listening to the vision. To know that help is out there gives hope. There is strength in hope.

Eric: As Sam and I thought about who to invite, we wanted leaders of leaders. People who can gather networks of leaders. This room represents hundreds of thousands of people. This time is for all that we influence.

Daniel: The website will be an opportunity for me to ask you all to pray for me. We speak the same language.

Rich: It was hard for me to accept the servant role this weekend. But if we are going to reach the city and the world it will be as servants. Thank you for your kindness but it has been a great time for the Lord to teach me.

Ellis: we can take off the top had and pick up the mop.

Ryan: Thank you for trusting God for huge things. You inspire me to spend the rest of my life trusting God for great things.

Axel: Can I demand in a kind way. We are not native speakers, those of us hear. Sometimes it is very hard to follow, especially when you use specific language on the American church or slang or jokes. Next time can you slow down and have us a little bit more in mind.

Sam: Remind me to say something about that at the beginning of next meeting.

Stacy: I’m not sure what my part here has been. Maybe just a refresher to remind me that city transformation is not age based. How much further ahead would we be if there was a wave of student ministries that were concerned with transformation at the high school or college level? I don’t know what the next step is but I really appreciate being here.

Grant: One other thing that was really impressed on me is the reality of spiritual warfare. When the Kingdom advances the enemy counterattacks. We need to pray and put on spiritual armor. When I hear of some of the division and other problems that have hindered many of us, the reality of spiritual warfare is brought to mind.

Eric; This is a dream come true for Sam and I. We’ve gotten to know your cities, but wouldn’t it be great if we could meet each other. God is the one who creates the connections and the agendas. We are so thankful to the Lord that we could come together. We’re thankful that we could come up with these future dates.

Sam: AS I thought of this passage it was meaningful to me because in the late seventies and early eighties, my wife and I in two different places at the very same time surrendered our lives to missions. I resigned my church to the Lord and thought I might end up in China. When I traveled to meet my wife and tell her about this. When I walked into the room she said, “You gave your heart to missions tonight didn’t you?” I said,”How did you know”. She said, “Because I did too and I hoped we would do it together.” I learned that I needed to have an outward focus not just a narrow focus on my church. In this movement I’ve seen the fulfillment of this call to missions. For me geography doesn’t matter anymore. LBC, State College and China are all part of the world.

All of us were on the run when we got here. But God stopped us and breathed into us.

Genesis 28:13-18 ¹³ And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; [YOUR CITY] on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ "Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of [YOUR CITY] will be blessed. ¹⁵ "And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to [YOUR CITY]; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Close in Prayer