All right.

If the rapture happens, everyone who's home watching the Dodger game will not go.

It's just us.

I think this is a test right here.

Listen, listen, I'm excited the next two weeks.

I mean, I love our church, and there's so many great things happening around here right now, and it's not because anybody's good.

It's just because God has just blessed us with relationships with people all around the world.

And especially when we get to have somebody like Stella and Dinford on this campus, you know how blessed we are?

There are a lot of places that would love to have them.

Their time is limited.

And Dinford is actually the president of the International Conference on Missions this year in Atlanta.

So I asked him to come out here to California before he goes and fulfills his duties there.

This guy, look, I have a lot of good friends.

Okay, like Ricky Reed's my friend.

Ricky Reed's my friend.

Some of you wonder why, why that still goes.

It might be pity friendship, but let me tell you something.

Listen, Denver Chizanga, and I think Rick, he's my best friend in the world.

I'd do anything for this guy.

Because I've seen what he does in Africa.

I've seen the great price that he and his family at times have paid.

And yet they keep preaching the gospel and people's lives are changed.

And we're so blessed to have him.

So let's hear what he has to say.

Here's Denver.

Hello.

It is very good to be here.

Thank you so much for having us here as your global partners.

I think some of us from Zimbabwe and Kenya are here this weekend and some will be coming next weekend.

And so I just want to begin by saying thank you very much for having us, for hosting us.

Your love, your support is a real blessing to us.

It is also very good to have my family with me here this time around.

and Our children, our children are here in California for the very first time.

So they're very excited just to be in fellowship with you and enjoy this time.

As Pastor Jeff said, him and I are presidents of the International Conference on Missions this year.

And I also want to begin by just thanking you as a church for the way that you have supported us at the international...

conference on missions in many ways that you have supported us.

And I know there are some of you who are going to be coming to Atlanta, Georgia, where the conference is going to be on the 28th to the 22nd of November.

So if you are still thinking, there is an opportunity for you to make those plans and come and join us in Atlanta.

So I just want to thank you because you have supported ICOM and we are praying and believing.

It is going to be a great success.

I love just to come here and be in fellowship with you all.

But I also love coming around this time because this is a time when you are celebrating what God has done in this passing year.

Celebrating what God has done, beginning with what He has done in your life as an individual.

Maybe you are looking at yourself and you may not feel you are where you ought to be, but I just want you to be encouraged to know that you may not be where you want to be, but you are not where you used to be.

And this is a great reason to celebrate and just thank God that he has brought you this far as an individual or as a family.

This is a time when you also take time to celebrate.

What God has done and has used you in this city and in this country, you know, it is a time to celebrate.

32,000 families have been given groceries this year or as of now by you as a church.

77,000 meals have been pegged for people who are in need.

2,000 backpacks have been given to local students.

And 310 one and all youth evangelized on the streets of Hollywood.

This is something worth celebrating indeed.

But this is also a time to celebrate what God has done in and through you on the global stage.

62,000 hospital patients have been cared for in Central India.

More than 151 clean water wells have been dug in Zimbabwe.

20,000 meals provided for.

44 homes built in Mexico.

and 717 children who are being mentored and sponsored in Kenya.

I believe this is something worth celebrating as well.

So this is a time to celebrate, to celebrate what God is doing and has done in your life as an individual, what God is doing in your life as a church on a local stage or here in America, but also what God is doing.

through you as a church on the global stage.

That's why I love coming around this time.

But it's also a time to be asking the question, what is God going to do going forward?

How is God going to take me as an individual to the next level in my relationship with him?

How is God going to use you to go to the next level as a church?

As you serve your community.

How is God going to use you on the global stage?

In other words, even looking at those numbers, there is a question we can ask.

How do we double those figures in 2026?

Is somebody with me?

Amen.

We can do that.

That can be done.

But in the midst of all of this, there is a question that you and I need to ask.

And the question is.

As we reflect on 2025, what has been driving you?

What would you say has been the driving force, the main core value, the main principle, overriding principle that has driven you, that has pushed you to do what you have been doing?

Even as we pray and look and dream about 2026.

The question that we need to be asking is, what is going to be driving you going into 2026?

And so, if you are asking that question or wondering how that question can be asked, please go with me to Matthew chapter 24 in verse 14, where he says, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

And then the end will come.

I'm going to repeat it.

This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

And then the end will come.

The writer is saying, amidst all the responsibilities that we have, amidst all the choices that we need to make about school, which school to go to, and how can I advance in my education?

Which career should I choose and how can I grow and develop in my career?

Which person should I get into a relationship with and how can we grow in our relationship?

Which house and in which area should I buy my house?

Or which investments should I make in my life?

As we try to make all these decisions about life now and life in the coming year.

The writer is saying, amidst all of that, there is a gospel that must be taken to all the world.

There is a gospel that must be preached to all the people.

And then the end will come.

We have a responsibility to take this gospel to all the nations.

Can I hear an amen?

We have a responsibility to take this gospel to all.

the nations.

But if we can be honest with ourselves, going out does not come naturally to us as human beings.

Unless maybe it is going out to eat.

You know, we tend to do that very naturally.

But just going out and investing ourselves in other people's lives, ourselves in what God is desiring for us to do, it doesn't come very natural to us.

And that's why I like what the Apostle Paul said in the book of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14.

As Paul was looking at his life, And looking at what he was doing and why he was doing it.

How he got to be who he was.

How he got to do what he had done.

And as you and I know, Paul, the Apostle Paul has got one of the greatest testimonies of a life surrendered to God.

And a life used predominantly by God, you know, to do his will.

And so as Paul reflected upon his life, he says what gets him to do what he's supposed to do, what gets him out of his comfort zone, what gets him to focus on what he's supposed to focus on is that there is an external force that is at work in his life.

There is an external force that has come upon him.

is now in him and working in and through him.

Listen to what he says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14.

He says, For the love of Christ compels us, because we are convinced that he, that one died for all, and therefore all died.

Paul is describing here what he believes is the driving force in his life and kind of assuming that that is what we also believe and are also going to live like.

And he says the love of Christ, this thing called the love of Christ, this thing that he had experienced, the love of Christ, something that was not original with him, but a love that he experienced a love that came upon him was now in him waiting in him and also working through him.

He says, this love of Christ is what compels me.

It is what drives me.

When you see what I do, Paul is saying, I do it because I am driven by the love of Christ.

When you see me go where I go, it is because I am being driven by this love of Christ.

The word compelled, when I look at it, is the word that implies A force that is working on you from the outside.

Because naturally, from the inside, without Christ, like I said, we tend to be selfish.

We tend to focus on ourselves and our needs and our desires.

But when the love of Christ comes upon us, and the love of Christ begins to work inside of us, Paul says it begins a work of pushing him and driving him to do what he would not naturally do.

So there is a mind shift that happens when the love of Christ comes upon us.

There is a change of how we look at life, a change of how we do things when this love has come upon us.

when the love of Christ begins to drive our decisions.

and our choices, we move into dangerous situations.

You see here what is called the 10-foot window.

It represents, you know, those areas that the gospel has not reached people or people that have been reached, you know, but we need to do more.

And so when you look at these territories, these are territories that represents the gospel, not...

Penetrating significantly, but they also represent some of the most dangerous places to preach the gospel.

But when the love of Christ drives us, we go into those areas.

Amen.

When others are running our way, that's when we are moving into those areas.

So you are going to hear this weekend and next weekend.

Stories of going into territories like this that are dangerous, where others are running away from.

But the gospel is being taken into those places.

And the question is, why would one want to do that?

It is the love of Christ that drives you and pushes you to go into places like that.

When the love of Christ comes upon us and becomes the driving force in our lives, not only do we go into dangerous situations, we reach out and we touch those that are untouchable.

You know, in any generation, in any society, there is a group of people that people would rather just walk by and ignore.

But this weekend and next weekend, you are going to be hearing stories of how you are participating in taking the gospel into communities that people would ignore, into communities that people would just walk by and ignore.

But because of the drive, the love of Christ, the gospel is being taken.

into communities like this, then people are coming to a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Amen.

When the love of Christ drives us, we begin to love the unlovable.

That's a picture representing somebody.

Because if I were to give you a piece of paper and a pen and say, can you write?

Just two people in your life, in your circle of life, who are hard to love.

I'm sure you'll come up with some names.

There are people that are difficult to love.

But when the love of Christ comes upon us, And begins to drive us.

Not only do we go into dangerous territories.

Not only do we touch those that are untouchable according to society.

But we also love those that are unlovable or seemingly unlovable.

When the love of Christ comes upon us, we also invest in that which is eternal.

I believe as you are coming to the end of this year, in this season that you are, one of the questions that you need to be asking yourself is, what has driven my use of time, talents, and treasures?

What has been driving how I use my time?

What has been driving how I use my talents and abilities?

What has been driving how I use the treasures that God has given me?

And as we prayerfully transition and look into the future, that's the question we need to be asking ourselves.

What is going to drive me?

What is going to drive how I spend my time?

What is going to drive how I use my abilities, the knowledge, the talents that God has given me?

What is going to drive how I use the resources that God has brought into?

You see, when the love of Christ comes upon you and becomes the compelling force in your life, the driving force in your life, you invest in the eternal.

Amen.

When the love of Christ comes upon you, you use all possible means to reach those that are far from God so that they can come near to him.

You see, the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 22, he says, To the weak I became weak to win the weak to Christ.

He says, I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some and bring them to Christ.

Paul was saying the mindset that he had is a mindset in which he was saying, as I look at life, I am going to make use of every opportunity, of every resource, of every ability that God has given me.

And I'm going to use it in any way possible so that I might reach some people to Christ.

So he says, I have become all things.

Can you say all things?

He says, I have become all things to all people.

Can you say all people?

He says, I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means.

Can you say all possible means?

He says, I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might reach one person for Christ.

Amen.

That's the attitude we need to have.

That's the attitude we need to have as we evaluate our lives and look at our lives and begin to think and pray and look into the future and to say, I want to do all things possible using all resources available, whether it is my time, my talents, my treasures.

I'm going to do all these things so that by any possible means, by all possible means, I will bring somebody to Christ.

Amen.

So allow me to close.

by just sharing some of the things you know that we have been blessed to be a part of uh in zimbabwe in africa and things that uh not only us are doing but are being done by you know um some of the partners that you are partnering with here uh locally and uh globally paul says you know i have become all things you know to all people so one of the things that we are involved in is in the area of education.

You know, right now, you know, we have access to about 65 public schools where we can go in and preach the gospel.

Amen.

And I was just sharing with somebody before coming into this service, how difficult, you know, it is in other nations and how difficult it is even here as well.

But we want to thank God that we have the opportunity.

And we are saying this means of going into schools and relating with the children and teaching children about Christ is one of the means that we are going to use to lead those children who are far from God so that they can come near to him.

Not only are we using that, we are using medicine and medical outreach.

ministry to go into communities.

We just had a team from one and all this past September that came and spent, you know, more than a week in Zimbabwe in a very remote village providing basic medical services.

But the thing about it is, is that is done at the end of every person who is helped.

There is an evangelist, there is a pastor who is there to pray with them.

to share the good news of Christ with them.

And we have many testimonies of people that have come, you know, to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as we have reached out to them.

So may I ask, are there people in here with education, experience, talents, and abilities?

Are there people in here with medical knowledge, experience, and abilities?

Those are tools that can be used to reach others.

for Christ.

You will see next, you know, we are also using, you know, going into communities and doing relief work when people face challenges and we bring food and give them food, you know, for a time so that they can come out of the situation that they are in.

You will see in the next slide that we are also working with young people, in fact, working with anybody who comes to a training center.

that we have built in Zimbabwe.

You'll see in the next slide, the training center, very beautiful facility.

Maybe I'm biased, I may be biased, but that's a very beautiful facility.

You know, and what that facility is doing is being a platform where we are training evangelists, where we are training pastors, training people in technical skills like construction, which is just so...

in the last slide but all of these are opportunities for us to bring people into an environment in which it gives us access to them and we share the knowledge of christ and bring those that may be very far from god to come near to him you will see also in the next uh slide that we have drilled more than 151 wells you know so far in different communities bringing clean water you know, to communities.

You have been a very big part of this work of bringing clean water in Zimbabwe, in Zambia. Just something that I want you to know today as you shall live.

More people in Zimbabwe, and this is true in many, you know, third world countries, many people in Zimbabwe have got access to cell phones than they do to clean water.

You can go into any village right now.

You will find young people, the elderly, most of them have a cell phone.

But having access to clean water is a big challenge.

And so when we bring clean water, you know, it is a big thing in their lives, which really opens their hearts and their lives to say, why are you doing this?

And it creates an opportunity for us to share the message of Jesus Christ with them.

And so as they have clean water, they begin to use that water, you know, to develop small farming businesses, you know, food for their consumption, but food that they can sell so that they are economically empowered.

So Paul says, I have become all things.

I have gone to the children.

I have become a child so that I can help the children.

I have become sick so that I, in a way, figuratively, so that I can help those that are not well.

I have helped, I have become hungry for those that are without food so that I can reach them.

I have become one without skills so that I can reach out to those that don't have.

skills.

He says, I have become all these things to all these people so that by any possible means, I might lead some to Christ as you see in the next video.

Next slide.

This is what it is all about.

This is what it is all about.

When we talk about education, when we talk about health, when we talk about water and sanitation, when we talk about food, when we talk about building houses, Paul says this is our way of becoming all things to all people, so that by any possible means we might lead at least one person who is far away from Christ to come close to him.

Amen.

So as you walk out of here this evening, may this time of the year, may this season of the year, be the one in which you are going to say, I choose to celebrate how far God has brought me.

Amen.

Choose to celebrate how far God has brought you.

The fact that you are here today is worthy of celebration.

The faith that we are breathing today is worthy of celebration.

So take this time to just celebrate how far God has brought you.

But may this also be a time that you say to yourself, I choose to be driven.

I choose to be driven.

Driven by the desire to use all of my time.

Driven by the desire to use all of my talents.

Driven by the desire to use all of my resources.

Driven by a desire to use all of the opportunities that I have 24-7.

To lead those that are far from Christ to come closer to him.

Beginning in this community, but also on the global stage.

May this be your choice and your decision.

And I want to challenge you and encourage you, brothers and sisters.

This weekend and next weekend, may it be your time to say, yes, I want to be actively involved in this local outreach ministry.

I want to be actively involved in this global ministry.

I hear this is the time when you are going to be signing up, you know, for these mission trips.

You know, we know the value that they are to us.

You know, as short as the time might be, How encouraging they are to us and how they help us to do what we are doing as we equip people, as we encourage people.

So as you walk out, may you make a choice to say, I want to go to Kenya next year.

I want to go to Zimbabwe next year.

I want to go, you know, wherever opportunity.

I want to go to Mexico, you know, next year.

May this be your time to say, I choose.

To use my time, my talents, my treasures for local and global impact.

All for the glory of God.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you very much for choosing to come and listen over the Dodgers game.

May I pray as we close.

Father, we thank you for bringing us this far.

We thank you for your work in each and every one of us.

We may not be who we are supposed to be yet.

But Father, we thank you that by your work in us, we are not where we used to be.

We are not who we used to be.

And so thank you, Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your work in us.

Father, I pray as we gather this weekend and next weekend, may this season, may this be a time.

for us to make choices, to make decisions, to say the thing that is going to drive me to spend my time, my talents, my resources, the thing that is going to drive me to take advantage of opportunities as they come my way is mainly to bring those that are far from God near to him.

Thank you for this change, what you are doing here, how we are using this change, not only here in this community, but globally.

I pray a prayer of continued blessing upon the leadership, upon every member, upon every minister.

We thank you.

We love you.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

You know, it amazes me that when we have a speaker like Denford or Ajay Law or Stella, they never really talk about how much sacrifice that they make in order for this work to occur.

The lives they live are not the lives we live.

When he goes back to Zimbabwe with his family, it's a different lifestyle.

It's a whole different life.

It's a whole different experience.

And I was thinking as we're preparing for this month, I want you to think about something just quickly.

What does your faith cost you?

I mean, in the places in the world where the gospel is just really spreading and taking off and people far from God are coming near.

It costs pastors and teachers and Christians, it costs them so much.

Right now in Nigeria, have you kept up with what's going on there?

There's a genocide against the Christians.

In a lot of places, not just a few, in a lot of places around the world, if you're a Christ follower, your life is in jeopardy.

The reason Dr.

Law is in the States right now is there's basically a contract out on his life, and the life of his family, and the life of all his pastors.

So...

Most people around the world, outside of the West, who are Christians, they pay a dear price for it.

In fact, when Jesus talked about following Him, did He...

I mean, how many times did He say, if you're gonna follow Me, there's gonna be a great cost?

So I've had to ask myself a pretty crucial question.

What has my faith cost me?

I mean, you know I get paid to do this job.

You know that?

Yeah, I do.

I think you know that.

every pastor on this staff, they don't do it for free.

The lot's required of them, but they get paid.

And I shared with them on Tuesday in staff meeting, I said, what is your faith?

You actually get paid to be a Christian.

In a way, you get paid in this job.

What is it costing you?

What sacrifice do I make?

What am I losing?

What am I giving up for the cause of Christ?

What are any of us giving up for the cause of Christ?

And you know what it is, right?

In the West, because you're safe, you're secure, you may get occasional ridicule.

You don't have to face persecution of any severe kind.

You don't have to worry about somebody killing you.

You get to come and worship.

And so the thing that you have that you sacrifice is your money because you have more of it than the rest of the world.

That's the bottom line.

You have to whom much is given, much is required.

And so, you know, if you've been around here a long time, I don't do a lot of giving series from time to time.

I'll do one.

But during this month, let me just give you a warning.

You're going to hear about it because we're the kind of church.

I don't know how many people ask us, why don't you, why don't you buy a big building to move there?

And the reason is, is because it would cost about 50 to $60 million.

And when churches do that, they become internal.

And they're asking for money all the time.

And then the first thing that gets cut is missions.

Every time I've been on the field, when I've gotten a call from a missions chairman, oh, we can't support you anymore because our church is in a building program.

Well, there's built-in safeguards in our church where that can't happen.

Did you know that?

Elders a long time ago built in that there's a certain percentage that would always go to those who are working on the field.

And so I want you to know, yes, we have this beautiful building in West Coast that we did as frugally as we could.

Missions is dear to our heart, but let me tell you something.

There is always a cost to doing ministry.

And I need all of those in our church who are new, who've not dropped the anchor yet, to drop the anchor now.

You know this is your home.

And the thing that you can give up that is most precious to you, the most precious to the American, let's face it, what is most precious to us?

Our money and resources.

And I'm asking you.

To drop anchor now and say, you know what?

I like where this church is going.

I like what they're doing.

I've paid attention to how they use their money.

And I'm in, I'm in.

And I'm not so much asking those of you who are already given to give more.

I'm asking those who aren't giving to start giving.

And those of you who aren't sacrificing in your giving to start sacrificing.

This is the one area, this is the one area in your life that you can pay a cost, that there can be a sacrifice.

And I'm asking you to make that decision now.

This is November, Thanksgiving, get it into Christmas, make it now.

In fact, we should have the best offering we've had in a long time this weekend.

After hearing Denver, my goodness, these guys, it's amazing to me what they do, and they do it with a smile on their face.

I'm not sure that I would be able to live the life that Denver Chizanga lives or his family.

I'm not sure I'd be able to live the life that Ajay lives.

I'm not sure what I would do if I knew that if I came to preach tomorrow morning, there would be five guys ready to kill me.

I'd like to think I'd be brave and that Rick would take a bullet for me in all five cases.

But I don't know.

I don't know.

I looked around.

I think he might run.

I'm not sure.

Hey, you know, God is doing so many good things.

It's time to drop the good old anchor and say, you know what?

I'm here.

I'm here.

All right, let me pray for us.

Father, I am so grateful for people like Denford, and I pray a special blessing.

We pray a special blessing over Denford and Shingy and all the kids and their family.

Pray that you'd give them great success wherever they go.

Pray that you would protect them from any persecution they may face, from those who would want to harm them because of the good work that they're doing.

I pray that you would put a shield of protection around them.

And I pray that their willingness to count the cost and sacrifice and give up whatever it takes so that those far from God would come near would be contagious to us.

And that we, in turn, would ask the question, what does my faith cost me?

What do I give up for the cause of Christ?

And I pray that you'd give us a heart of generosity and sacrifice so that as we give up, it would be someone else's immense gain.

that those far from God in Nairobi, that those far from God in Zimbabwe, in India, would come near to the ministry that you've called us to, that one and all.

In Christ's name, everybody said, amen.