Omaha, NE House of Prayer

WOW Service, 2.2.2017

Kristen Tschida

Creating Culture: Investing in People, part 2

This is one of ONEHOP’s non-negotiables. All people have a longing to belong.

Introduction: The house God is building is not a structure, not an organization. Jesus is NOT coming back to a non-living dwelling place. His is coming back to dwell in the midst of His people because He is relational! Jesus built people. He invested and trained and communed with people. This was His legacy. This was His plan~ to live in the midst of people.

  1. Jesus’ Relational Plan: Jesus’ only plan to impart the Kingdom of Heaven on earth was through people by inviting them into His Great Story
  1. John 1:35-39
  1. The 2 disciples (John & Andrew) followed Jesus
  2. Belonging before believing
  1. Jesus invited people into relationship (belonging) before they believed who He was & what He was doing
  2. Jesus spent time with people, investing in them
  3. Jesus was committed to the process with His friends 
  1. John 1:39-42
  1. Invitation from Andrew to his brother Simon (“Come with me”)
  2. Jesus calls out Simon Peter’s greatness before it is manifest
  1. Peter: sleeps when Jesus needs him most (in the Garden of Gethsemane, he cuts a guy’s ear off, he gets scared and denies being a disciple, he’s nowhere to be seen at the crucifixion, and he doesn’t believe the women when they say that they have seen Jesus risen from the grave.
  2. Jesus knows the greatness in us
  3. Jesus wants us to partner with Him and call out the greatness in others
  1. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view,” 2 Corinthians 5:16
  2. When we see people the way God sees them and say what God says about them, we empower them to become what He says.
  1. John 1:43-44
  1. “Finding Phillip, he said to him, ‘Follow me’”
  1. Jesus knows where to find us and He knows our names
  2. Who do you know that you want to Jesus to say, “Finding ______”, he said to him/her, ‘Follow Me’,”?
  3. Jesus sees them; there is no place He can’t go to find ______.
  1. John 1:45-46
  1. Philip’s invitation to Nathaniel (Bartholomew in other gospel accounts) “Come and see”
  2. Jesus sees us before we say “yes” to His call
  1. Raising up leaders for the future
  1. Mark 6:30-31 Gathered around Jesus
  1. Sharing testimonies of what they have done (empowered by Jesus)
  2. People are “coming and going”
  1. Mark 6:34 Modeling compassion
  1. On the way to a “retreat”, Jesus saw the people & He had compassion on them
  2. Boundaries are important to keep yourself healthy to be able to serve others, but don’t have your boundaries so tight that you miss ministering to people
  1. Have your mark/aim/plan in boundaries, but allow yourself flexibility
  1. Order & Structure are important~ this is a value at ONEHOP (Mark 6:39-40)
  1. Organization is important (people set in groups of 50 & 100)~ makes it easier to minister to the people
  2. Order & structure serve the Vision
  1. Tabernacle of Moses & Solomon (he received a plan with ways to create the space) so the Lord would come & dwell among them ~ God filled the space created
  2. Structure helps to serve the people God puts in our space
  1. 1 billion youth soul harvest
  1. How do we get ready to receive souls? Takes organization and structure to make that happen
  1. Generational Inheritance~ It is important for us to have a 50/100 year vision. It takes time, intentionality, energy & effort to leave an inheritance
  1. The earthly ministry of Jesus began in seed form~ inviting one and then another and then another and He is still building His Church by investing in people
  1. Started small & simple investing in people

a. Seeds carry the life of the plant (a great harvest) inside them. In 1 apple seed, an apple tree will grow and on its branches, over 1000 apples will grow. Then those apples carry seeds which will be planted and they will grow trees and produce fruit, and the cycle continues...

  1. We are a mustard seed movement now in the city of Omaha, which is to be an inheritance and legacy passed to the next generation and then the next generation, etc until Jesus returns!
  2. People are what we leave behind ~ this is our generational inheritance; tabernacles being built in hearts who come together to become His dwelling
  1. We impart intimacy with Jesus
  2. We impart a spirit of intercession
  3. We impart a psalmists heart of worship~ audience of One
  1. EM Bounds, “The training of the 12 was the great, difficult, enduring work of Christ”. (book, Power Through Prayer)
  1. If this was Jesus’ enduring work, why would we think He would give us a different plan?
  1. The worthiness of Jesus is the lone sustaining force continuing to grow and guide
  1. We invite people into the Psalm 27:4 reality

Conclusion: There is a story God is writing birthed here with this “family” or “tribe” as we run hard and pursue His Presence; His face; His beauty in the city of Omaha. The decisions we make now will affect generations to come. Our journey is not our own, but we are joined to the global movement. Every step we take and every risk we make after God’s heart will set a precedent for the next generation to step into.