Encountering Jesus - Session One: Laying the Foundation

Encountering Jesus: Building the Foundation for Kingdom Impact

The Church's Original Design: Apostolic Culture

It's good to be with you. I want to start with a vision from Ezekiel 47—a river flowing out of the Temple. The further this river flows away from the Temple, the wider, deeper, and more life-giving it becomes.

There's a spiritual principle here: the church is designed to function outside its walls, not just within them. Jesus himself saw more happening outside the temple than inside it. For the first few centuries, the church had no buildings—just people living out their faith in the world around them.

God has called the church to develop transformed lovers of God who will transform their world.

We cannot let our church buildings become barriers to what God has called us to do. As a pastor, my role was simple: equip the Saints to penetrate the systems they inhabited—their workplaces, neighborhoods, families. Not to transform the whole world, but to bring God's kingdom rule into their little corner of it.

From Pastoral to Apostolic Culture

When Jesus named his twelve disciples, he gave them a title rooted in Roman history—Apostles. This wasn't a Jewish tradition; it was deliberately chosen.

In Roman culture, Apostles were military leaders who didn't just conquer territory—they assimilated it. They brought the culture, values, and ideology of Rome into conquered lands, so those peoples would embrace Roman ways. Jesus was saying: Go and do the same with the kingdom of heaven.

Historically, we've emphasized the pastoral culture of church leadership—shepherding, caring, protecting. Pastors are vital, but they're not the primary culture God is building. The New Testament uses the word "Apostle" over 70 times; "Pastor" appears only once as a noun.

The culture God is raising up is Apostolic—taking the rule of heaven and bringing it into this earth.

We are ambassadors for Christ. We are aliens on this earth because our citizenship is in heaven. Our assignment: bring the rule of Heaven into our little world.

The Shaking and the Shift

Everything around us is shaking. Hebrews 12 tells us God will shake what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken will remain. His kingdom cannot be shaken.

Right now, I'm seeing a Groundswell movement across the church—the same DNA appearing in different places, led by different people, but all pointing to the same thing. Saints are waking up. They're realizing God can use them right where they are. Many no longer fit in traditional church structures because God has put it in them to change their world.

Either you will engage your culture, or your culture will engage you. Either you will change your culture, or your culture will change you.

This isn't rebellion against the church—it's a Reformation. Just as Martin Luther sparked change 500 years ago, God is preparing His people for what may be the greatest harvest of souls the earth has ever seen.

Stories of Kingdom Impact

A couple in Mount Pleasant, Texas own an insurance company. They have a passion for young mothers on welfare. They bought apartments exclusively for these women, built a training center to teach life skills, and launched them into successful lives. A government administrator came through their program and now runs it. This couple caught the attention of Ben Carson's office. Now churches in other cities are replicating the model. They went to Brazil, and churches there are doing the same work. Ordinary believers, extraordinary kingdom impact.

My spiritual son in the San Francisco Bay Area was a vice principal, became a real estate agent, and eventually rose to president of a major real estate company. The favor of God was on him. Now he prophesies over employees, pulling them into their potential and destiny. These aren't all Christians, but he's bringing kingdom culture into that company. Recently, he planted a church of young professionals, equipping them to bring the kingdom into their worlds.

A country singer I know wrote a song called "Long Black Train" that became huge—even hit the Grand Ole Opry. The chorus says: "There's victory in the Lord." He's singing about Jesus on secular radio stations, in venues full of people who don't go to church. He's a worship leader disguised as a country music star, penetrating a system with the kingdom of God.

The World Craves Heaven's Wisdom

The world is captivated when it encounters the wisdom of heaven.

I had a man in my church who worked for the IRS—not a popular place. God gave him solutions in his dreams for database problems he knew nothing about. He'd tell his boss, "God gave me this," and they'd be amazed. He got promoted multiple times. God wants to give His people downloads of revelation to solve the world's problems.

The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon expecting greatness, but when she encountered his wisdom—not just in big decisions but in how he set the table, how he went to prayer—she was overwhelmed:

"The half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne to do justice and righteousness." — 1 Kings 10:7, 9

She gave God glory. That's how we penetrate the world. God will give us whatever we need—ideas, insights, instruction—so the world sees heaven's wisdom and glorifies God.

The Foundation: Kingdom Within

Before the kingdom can flow out of you, it must first flow within you.

You cannot give what you have not received.

Your first assignment is to cultivate the kingdom of God inside yourself. When you pursue the kingdom, it doesn't become just a project—it becomes organic, flowing naturally from who you are into your world.

What's inside you determines what you build around you. If you're a pauper on the inside, even a palace becomes a pigsty. If you're a prince on the inside, anywhere you go becomes a palace.

When the kingdom rules inside you, you'll:

• Pursue the right relationships—life-giving, accountable relationships that feed your growth
• Create an environment for maturity—surrounding yourself with authority, wisdom, and people who speak truth
• Embrace kingdom values—righteousness, peace, joy, justice
• Bear kingdom fruit organically—these flow from you naturally because the King is ruling within

All of us have blind spots. We need people who can speak into them. We need accountable relationships. The kingdom won't rule inside you if you run from these relationships.

Anointing vs. Maturity

There are two conferences in town:

Conference A: "Come receive an amazing anointing! Cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead! Walk in fiery power!"

Conference B: "Let's talk about maturity, spiritual growth, and discipleship."

Which would you choose? Be honest—most of us pick Conference A.

But here's the truth: You need maturity to steward anointing.

God is a generous giver. He'll give you more anointing than you have character to manage. He'll give power to people who aren't ready for it—and they can be destroyed by it. We've seen this happen.

The difference:

• Gifts are given. Anointing is given.
• Fruit is grown. Character is developed.

Don't look at someone's anointing to measure their maturity. Look at their fruit, character, and humility. Many people with strong anointing have experienced moral failure because they had power but no maturity.

Growing Into Christ's Stature

Maturity isn't about time—you can be a believer for 50 years and still be spiritually immature.

Maturity isn't about knowledge—many smart Christians aren't mature.

Maturity is about stature, character, and fruit.

Ephesians 4:8-13 describes why Jesus gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers:

To equip the saints for the work of service, to build up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and to the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. — Ephesians 4:12-13

Maturity looks like Jesus. That's the goal: growing into the character and stature of Christ.

When all believers mature and function in their calling:

The whole body, fitted and held together by every joint, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. — Ephesians 4:16

Imagine a functioning body of Christ—actually mature, actually equipped, actually penetrating the world. That's what God is raising up.

Verse 14 warns us:

Then we will no longer be children, tossed back and forth by every wind of teaching, carried about by the trickery of men. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow up into him in all things. — Ephesians 4:14-15

There's a process to maturity. You can't skip stages. You don't test out. You go through each season because you need everything that stage offers. Don't feel bad about where you are—embrace it. Get everything from it.

Today, we're going to lay out these stages so you can see where you are and where you're going.