The Pastor Tony Vismor Podcast
In this bible study, Pastor Tony walks us through the lives of the twelve apostles. These men were not extraordinary by worldly standards, but their transformation through their relationship with Christ shows how God can use anyone for His purpose. This podcast offers a deeper understanding of each apostle's character and the lessons they teach about faith, humility, and divine calling.
The Pastor Tony Vismor Podcast
(Sunday) Commit to the G: The Lord has Need of It
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In this episode, Pastor Tony kicks off the “Commit to the G” series with a challenge for everyone who calls Grace Fellowship home: don’t just think about where you’ll sit in the new building—ask where you’ll serve.
Looking at Luke 19 and the colt Jesus used for His entry into Jerusalem, we’re reminded that God invites ordinary people with ordinary gifts into His extraordinary mission. Your time, talent, experience, influence, and resources matter more than you may realize.
Whether you’re already serving, unsure where you fit, or wondering if what you have to offer is “enough,” this message will encourage you to discover your assignment and make the game-time decision to get involved.
Because God doesn’t just call us into relationship—He calls us into participation.
Have you noticed the building coming up out front? Hey, we're getting close. Matter of fact, uh I don't have an exact move-in date for you, but we're probably eight to ten weeks from being in our new building. Yeah, come on. Give the Lord a big praise for that. It's been a long journey, but it's been a fun journey, and we're just excited for what the Lord is doing. I don't have an exact date, but it does look like it's gonna probably be the last weekend in October or the first or second weekend in November. We'll give you all the information as soon as we know so that you can save the date. But we want you to come, we want you to invite your family and friends to be a part of it because we're thankful for all the Lord is doing. I'm telling you, the four years all buttoned up and the offices are being designed, all the chairs are now in the sanctuary. So I thought I'd give you a little bit of a sneak peek of it today. This is what your new sanctuary looks like. Wow, isn't that great? Come on now, that's amazing. Over 1,000 seats. Look at that, those windows with all that natural light. We're just gonna get in there and think about the goodness and the mercy of God. Now, be honest with me for just a moment. How many of you are already thinking about where you're gonna sit? Like, hey, I know where I'm gonna sit. The crazy thing is we're completely reorienting and you'll be facing that way. So it's kind of like when you move into a new house in your bedroom and you're going, which side of the bed do I sleep on now? This feels a little awkward. So uh we will all be walking through there before we know it, looking for that seat that will be our seat, our section, our people, and all of that. But this morning, instead of just talking about where we will sit, I want to talk to you about where you might serve. Where you might serve as God brings us into this new season of our church. And if you have your Bibles this morning, I want you to open them up with me to Luke chapter number 19. Because with this new building brings so many new opportunities for us. And new opportunities mean there are new needs. And with this facility, we'll be able to reach our community greater than ever for Jesus Christ. And in reaching our community, I believe we're gonna reach around the world for Christ. And friends, that's what it's all about, right? Helping others to experience the love of Jesus and know him. And with this great opportunity that is before us, a great need stands before us as well. We need more people to help us fulfill God's purpose at Grace Fellowship, which is that all may know that Jesus Christ is Lord and they would experience his life transforming love for the glory of God. Now, the good news is this we're not starting with just a few people who serve around here. We have an army of volunteers that make Grace Fellowship happen every week, every month, and every year. You say army? That seems like a big stretch there, Tony. I'm telling you, it's an army. More than 500 people this year alone have already served in some capacity of our church. 500 giving of their time, their talent, and their resources so that we can become all that God wants us to become and that his name can be made famous throughout our community. I want you to just stop with me and think about it. All the different people that you come in contact with on a Sunday morning, either directly or indirectly, that's impacting your walk with Christ. It usually begins with our hospitality team, right? Those who greet us at the door and give us a good good morning and welcome. Even if we've had a bad week, we know they're there. It's the brew crew, thank God for them, who brews thousands of gallons of coffee so that we can somehow get that caffeine fix as we make our way in. Or what about the good guys in technology and gals who run the cameras and produce the online service, the social media, the podcasts, or the children's ministry, those who are serving right now as we're in here worshiping our Savior, they're serving their Savior by caring for our children and our special needs? Or what about the worship team that week after week shows up and they bring forth these songs that remind us of the goodness of God? The band and the worship leaders and the choir and all those that work in the sound and all of that. All of them volunteers, giving of their time, their talent, so that you and I might experience the love of God. And what about our first impression teams, like our security and medical, and there are moments in which there are some crisis in which someone needs care, and there are people who are gifted, volunteers who give of their time, their talent, their treasure that they may use their giftings to help others. And what about our student ministry with middle and high school and our teen talent and college? All of that happens because of volunteers, people who give of their time, their talent, and their treasure, so that Christ might be known and his glory may be seen. So many of them they serve as families together and they become a part of a much larger family called Grace. People who serve in the parking lot helping us find our way. And each month, thousands of pounds of food are distributed through our community and to our community by volunteers. People who give up a little bit of time to serve and to care in the name of Jesus, or our care team that quietly serves families that are grieving and hurting, who makes meals. And sometimes we know this. The best way to say I love you in a time of need is with a casserole. And they do an amazing job doing that. It's our discipleship, our Sunday school school teachers, our small group leaders, our men's Bible studies, our women's Bible studies, led not by professionals, but simply servants of God. It's the teams that go to youth camp and world missions made up of volunteers who recognize that God is working in their life and through their life, through the community of faith. And if you are serving or you have served, I want you to hear from the deepest part of me and Trisha. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving of your time, your talent, and your treasure to our Lord. You are making a difference for the glory of Christ. Would you thank God for all those who serve at Grace Fellowship? Come on, give the Lord a big praise for that this morning. And if you're not serving, I want to encourage you that over the next four weeks in this series that we're starting today, that you would simply ask the Lord, Lord, where can I serve you through your local church? And I know it's easy to hear those numbers and see all of that and say, well, it sounds like you guys have plenty of volunteers, and we do, but we need more. Jesus said these words in John chapter 4. He said to his disciples, look, lift up your eyes. The fields are white to harvest. The harvest is here, but something's missing. We need laborers. We need those who will go into the field and work for the glory of God. And Jesus said, Therefore, you pray that God would send laborers into that field so that the harvest would not be lost, but it would be gathered in for the glory of God. So I'm doing my part all month as we're working through this series together. I'm praying that God would speak to your heart on where you may be a part of his work in his field for his harvest and for his glory. And I'm believing that God's going to speak to every heart and that everyone that calls Grace Fellowship home, you're going to find a place to serve him and his church for his glory. And to that end, we begin the series today that we're entitling Commit to the G. We prayed a long time about that and just fasted and just thought, Lord, we need a creative idea. And for whatever reason, it just seems to fit. This community will find out what the attorneys say this week, apparently. But we say to you in this series, Commit to the G, that we want to focus about my church and his purpose and our mission collectively. As we begin to move into this new season at Grace Fellowship, we move into this new building and all the opportunity that it will bring to us. We say, Lord, we want a deeper place of commitment with our own soul because we love our church. Amen. And we love your purpose, amen. And we want to be about your mission, Lord Jesus. We don't want to miss what you are doing through your mission. So with that, with your Bibles open now, would you turn with me to Luke chapter 19, verse number 28? We'll begin. What we'll discover in the series is God does not just call us into a relationship with him, he calls us into participation with him. God doesn't just want you in the room, God wants you in the game. And I believe the Lord's going to speak to our heart. Luke chapter 19, we begin with verse 28. And when Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And he drew near to Bethage in Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet. And he sent two of the disciples, saying, Go into the village in front of you, whereupon entering you will find a colt tied on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, Why are you untying this colt? You shall say this. The Lord has need of it. Would you say that last line? Put that last slide, please. Thank you. And if someone asks you, why are you untying this? Sir Mike, can I say in our context, why are you doing this? Why are you giving up time in your week that is stretched for time? Why are you giving up your worship time on a Sunday morning? You shall say this. Say it with me. The Lord has need of it. Father, in the next few moments and over the next three weeks, including this one, God, I pray that you would speak so definitively to our hearts that we would rejoice that you have called us into relationship with you, but not to sit on the sidelines, but to get in the game, to get involved in the work in which you are doing through your local church. And Father, I pray in the name of Jesus you would do something in each of our hearts. Those of us who are serving often, and maybe those who have not yet served. Lord, draw us into one place of your great purpose and mission. And to that end, we'll be quick to give you the praise and honor and glory. In Jesus' great name, and together we settle strong and robust. Amen. As we drop into this text, it is in the last few days of Jesus' earthly ministry. He is making his final entry into Jerusalem. Just a couple of days, he will be in the temple teaching. He'll overturn the tables. He will ultimately be arrested, tried, and crucified. All within the next seven days. And as he's making his way into Jerusalem, they come through the small little village of Beth Page and Bethany, and Jesus, recognizing there is a fulfillment of prophecy that he needs to see about, he turns to his disciples and says to them, Hey, I need you to go over into that little village there and go to this guy's house, and you'll find a cult that's never been ridden before. I want you to go and get that cult and bring it to me. This would be a fulfillment of the prophecy of the Old Testament that the king would come riding a cult that had never been ridden before. The two disciples they make their way into that little community and they find the cult just as Jesus says, and they untie it and bring it, prepared the whole time, that if the owner comes and says, Hey, wait a minute, why are you taking my cult? They were prepared to simply say, The Lord hath need of it. Now the Bible doesn't tell us exactly what happens in that transaction. If the man ever does come, the owner ever does come and ask, or what have you. I would imagine there was probably some type of exchange and interchange. But can you imagine with me just a moment that here the King of glory, Christ Jesus, God incarnate the second person of the triune Godhead, the one who was before time ever was and will always reign even when time is no more? The one who spoke into the darkness and all things that are were created by his word, and the scripture says now he upholds all things by the power of his word. That's this Jesus. That the one in whom all creation holds on and is in existence because of, now says there is something I have need of. There is something that I need from you. What a statement. You mean the eternal, everlasting God has need of something? In this context, yes. Says, I need the cult. Now, is that suggesting in any means that if this man had objected or said, no, no, you can't have my cult, I don't want to be a part of this, that somehow the plans of God are thwarted and it will not come to pass. No, not at all. The plans of God will prevail. Can I get an amen? God in Christ would have just found another means by which to bring forth his plans. But he says and he invites this man into an opportunity to be a part of the divine story simply by allowing the Lord to use something that belongs to this man. That messaging has not changed in 2,000 years. That the Lord who calls us to himself into relationship now says, I need you and I want to participate with you, and I want you to participate in my kingdom and my work. God has given us all talents and abilities. He's given us resources and opportunities. And the Lord whispers into our heart, I have need of that. And we have to decide, will I surrender that? Will I offer that? Will I gladly put that before the Lord and say, Lord, here it is, as you wish, so let it be. Or will we pull back and say, No, Lord? It's inconvenient. No, Lord, you can have this, but you can't have that. Oh, Lord, I'll give you some of this, but I can't give you all of that. As though somehow our no would negate God's ultimate plans and him accomplish anyone he wants to. All our no does is negate us from walking as closely as we could with the Lord and experiencing all that God would like to accomplish through our life. Can you imagine with me if this guy had said no and then made heaven? Or even before he made it into heaven, he had said no in five years or ten years or twenty years later, he looked back and the regret that he would feel, I could have been a part of our Lord's story. I could have been a part of what God was doing. But for some reason, instead of saying yes, I said no. Instead of taking all, Lord, I said just take a little. I want you to know God doesn't just call us into relationship with Him, He calls us into participation with Himself through that relationship. There's three things I want you to consider that this story teaches us this morning. You may want to jot down some notes because I believe the Holy Spirit's gonna speak to each of us in our life. And the first thing I want you to know is this you're in God's game plan. You are in the game plan. You may not even know that. Or you might believe you are at some level, but I'm telling you, you are in the plan of God. Most of us have memorized and we cherish some of the great passages that talk about his plans towards us, right? Like Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 11. Most of us have spoken that over our children all their life. When the Lord says, I know the plans I have for you. The plan is to give you a hope and to give you a future, not to harm you. And don't we all love Psalm 139? When David says, While I was yet in my mother's womb, you knew me and you fashioned all the days of my life before there was even one, and you wrote them in your book. Isn't it wonderful to know that God knew us even in our mother's womb? And he says, I have a plan for your life. And it's a part of my game, it's a part of what I'm doing. And I'm going to invite you to participate in that work. And the Apostle Paul, he even takes it back further. He says that before the foundations of the world were ever created, he knew you, and he predestined you to come into relationship with him because you were created by him and for his workmanship and for good works, you were created. Turn to your neighbor and say, you were created for good works. You were created by God for good works, not bad works, not lazy works, not occasional. You were created for good works and you are in God's plan. But I want you to hear this. I want you to lean in really well on this truth I want to share with you. I'm going to read it to you because I really thought it through and I really spent time in prayer this weekend about this. But God's plan in our life will always have some connection to the local church. This doesn't mean that every Christian will be called into full-time vocational ministry, but it does mean that every Christian is called to participate in the life and the mission of the community, local community of faith. God's plan for your life is never disconnected from his plan for his church. Jesus said, I'm going to build one thing. I'm going to build the church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And through the church, I'm going to build you into the temple of the Holy Spirit. And through the church and Jesus Christ, I'm going to strengthen your life and your marriage and your family. I'm going to change communities. But it's through the conduit of the local church. So when we think about God's plans, too often we separate his plan for my life and any activity I have in the church. And I want to change that narrative in our life. That when God has a plan for us, it is directly connected to his local community of faith because that's what he is building. And that's the conduit by which he brings his hope to the world. And I still believe this with all my heart that the greatest hope for the world is a church that is passionately on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ and works with him and walks with him dynamically. You believe that this morning? Come on, if you do, give me a big amen and God bless you this morning. You're in God's plan right now. See, the disciples were not creating the plan. The cult was not creating the plan, and the man who owned the cult was not writing his own game plan. God had already established long ago before any of them entered the story, his plan for them. Their role and our roles is not to create God's plan for our life, but to step into the plan that God is already doing. Throughout Christian history, millions of ordinary people have simply said yes into entering into the purpose of God. See, friends, we have been created for something significant for God, and we have to be willing to step into that plan in which God is working. Today, Jesus is at work in the earth. Today, Jesus is at work in the earth through his church, in which he wants you to participate in. Jesus is saying to us individually and to us collectively as his people. Say that with me. I have need of it. So the question we need to define is this what is our it? What is our it? Which brings us to our second point, which is this we have to know our assignment. Any good ball player that will be watching this fall has a unique assignment. Not all of them carry the ball, not all of them catch the ball, not all of them kick the ball, not all of them are in on every plane. But they all have to know their assignment. Christ has an assignment for you. It's your it. And when Jesus says, I have need of it, he would say to us, I have need of your it. And it's this point that a lot of people begin to jump out of the message because they don't think their it matters. Their it seems insignificant and it seems small, and for many, they're just not even sure what their it is. But we forget that God always seems to use the ordinary things and ordinary people to do extraordinary things in the earth. See, we get caught up in all of these arguments and comparisons, and we say, Well, I can't sing or I can't preach or I am not loaded down with talent. I don't know very much about the Bible. I haven't been in blank. I don't know it. Can I remind you what Theodore Roosevelt, one of our presidents, said? He said, comparison is the thief of joy. And if you're comparing yourself to the person next to you, you will rob the joy that God wants you to have and to live in. When you can sit in the fact that He has uniquely created me with unique gifts and talents and abilities that are for me and through and for His glory through me, then I can rest and I can celebrate your gift and I can celebrate your talent and I can celebrate what God has placed in you, and you can me, and now we become a community of faith that is building one another up and not tearing one another down. A dear friend of mine talked to me one time, he said, Has you ever heard what a crab in a bucket is, Tony? I said, I know what a crab in a bucket is, but I don't think we're talking about the same thing. He says, A crab in a bucket is this is when you go crabbing and you throw your crabs into a five-gallon bucket, they begin to want to escape. And one of them will finally get his call up there and grab a hold of something, and he's pulling himself up. When the other crabs will begin to grab him and pull them back down. Maybe we got too many crabs in the buckets up here in the church. Maybe what we need to do is get some other people around us that will give us a hand up, not a handout, but they'll say, I'm here to celebrate, and I'm able to appreciate what God has placed in your life, and I am able to celebrate it beautifully because God has done this. God uses ordinary things and ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary, extraordinary things. Jesus chose a man that we did not know his name and we never learn his name to offer what seemed to be extraordinarily insignificant, a cult of a donkey. Consider if that man who owned the cult had responded, as many of us would have that says, Why do you need it? It isn't very impressive. It isn't very special. A lot of people have it. Why mine? Why would you want to use it? What is the purpose of it in your life? I don't think it is good enough. You may think what you have is insignificant, but isn't important. And no one else even notices. But Jesus would disagree. Jesus would say, your time, it matters. Your gifts, it matters. Your resources, it matters. Your experience, it matters. Your influence, it matters. And I pray that all of us would hear the Lord saying, I have need of it. Watch your it. And say, Tony, I don't even know what my it is. It will help you find your it. It will help you find that which God has designed you and created you for. There's some areas. Let me share with you a few areas in our church where we're going to need help quickly as we move into our new building. In our nursery and children's area. We need folks that would love to work with kids and participate in children's ministry and nursery. Do you realize that we have a special needs ministry in our church called the Buddies Ministry that serves family of children with special needs? Not long ago I was talking to one of the directors of a large special needs organization right here in our community. And they said, Tony, we serve over 500 families with special needs in our community. And he said, Tony, you know what's really sad about that? Is 80% of them don't attend the local church because local churches do not offer needs for special needs and services. I said, we got to change that. Because they matter to God and they shouldn't matter to us. So maybe it is you'd say, I might be interested in doing that. Or what about technology? We need some help in technology. All these screens and cameras and you know, hundreds of people every week tune in and they're a part of the service. I'm telling you, I'm stunned. I am stunned at how many people participate. Not just our people that are traveling and they can't be in service. I'm telling you, people that do not attend our church, that live in other cities and other states, they're participating and Christ is touching their lives. But it doesn't happen because a group of angels show up on Sunday morning and turn it on. It's because of a group of volunteers who say, I would like to serve in that capacity. And I know what your first statement is going to be. Yes, I don't know how to run a camera or those boards. Listen, if you can drive your iPhone, you can help us in technology. And I know you can drive your iPhone. Half of you have been on it this morning during the sermon, all right? So I'm I I'm messing with the I'm messing with the only about a third of you. But anyhow, and and you are fact-checking me. I know you want to make sure I get it right. But this is what I'm saying to you there's an opportunity there. What about in the places of ushers and greeters and yes? Anyone can say good morning, anyone can say hi. Some of you have a gift of teaching, and we'll be sharing about this. And I know what happens is most of the time the first question is, yeah, but what is it gonna cost me? What's gonna be my commitment to this? Well, most teams at our church are set up that they serve once a month. And when we move into our new space, we're going to one service, so that means about two hours a week once a month. Over 12 months, that's 24 hours. We're asking for for you to help us to do what Christ has called us to do as a church. That means one day out of 365, we're asking, will you come and help us fulfill what Christ has called us to in mission? But instead of just talking about what it's going to cost me, can I talk to you about what it's going to benefit you? It has been my experience personally before I was ever in the vocational ministry, and it has been my observation since I've been in vocational ministry that those who engage in their local church, they go deeper in their discipleship almost immediately because they're connecting to a group of other believers with like mind and heart for Christ. It means that you'll be on a team where you will build friends. It means that you'll be on a team where you'll be prayed for and you will be encouraged. It means you'll be on a team that when things go wrong in your life and they will, it will be that team that will rally to you and care for you and support you. We have seen that countless times in this community of faith, even in the last few weeks, people who are involved in small groups, people who are involved in this team of service, and they've gone through a family crisis or difficulty. It was that team that rallied around them, prayed for them, built them up, served them, and cared for them, and they felt the full thrust of what it means to be loved by Christ through his local church. It means you'll be on a winning team. It means that you and I will experience this promise from Jesus when he says, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. And when you and I serve, when you and I give of our time, our talent, and our treasure, not just one of them, but all of them, something deep and dynamic happens in our life. And that brings us to the last point this morning. Is this it's a game time decision. It's a game time decision. You are in God's game plan. You have to know your assignment, but then there comes this. It's the game time decision. We'll hear it all throughout the football season this year about this player who may have been injured or nicked up, and they'll be asking, hey, are they going to get in the game today? And the response will be, it's a game time decision. Game time decision. Which simply means if you're not aware of that language, is just before the game, the coach will ask, Are you okay? Can you go? Can you walk across the sideline? Can you get in the game? That player and those around them have a decision to make. I'm in. Count on me. See, I can preach about this, we can sing about this, we can promote this, we can blast social media with this. But at some point it comes down to you having to decide, I'm getting in the game. Lord, if you have need of it, I don't even know what you would use this old cult for or this young cult for. I don't know how this could be a much of an impact. All that little cult did was bring Jesus into the city to fulfill the plans of God. Don't discredit your it. Don't minimize it, and don't negotiate yourself away from it because it doesn't feel significant. The Lord has need of it. And I don't want you just to hear this from me. I want you to hear it from those who serve with me and with you. Is there sacrifice? The whole Christian experience is sacrifice. From what Christ has done for us to what he now calls us to be a living sacrifice. But are you alone, though? You're a part of a team. And this is what some folks had to say about it.
SPEAKER_03The greatest gift we can give somebody is our our presence, our time. Our time is the most precious gift there is.
SPEAKER_01I love what Pastor Tony mentioned in the sermon series he did last fall on loving your neighbor. He talked about how this good Samaritan got his hands dirty. That's what it requires. Loving others requires getting your hands dirty.
SPEAKER_02It's important to pour into the next generation because they're gonna be pastors or worship leaders and small group leaders and parents.
SPEAKER_01It's an easy yes, is saying yes that can be obedient to God in this way, but it is gonna take sacrifice. Love takes sacrifice, that's really easy to see when you have your own children. Um, saying yes and moving your own schedules and committing your time and your energy.
SPEAKER_03Nobody's gonna be putting out when we're going to really uh support you. And uh it's gonna be one of those things I can't take. You kind of go into it reluctant and then when you give up your time like that, you walk out just probably feeling like if you've ever thought about serving, just take the step.
SPEAKER_02You don't have to be perfect, just willing. And everything you do matters eternally.
SPEAKER_002,000 years ago, God, the Son put on human humanity and clothed himself in flesh. And he stepped into this dark world in which you and I lived, and he made this remarkable statement the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, to give his life. On the night of the resurrection, when the disciples were locked up in a room in fear, Jesus appears to them, and you'll remember this moment, it's odd and beautiful and mysterious, and he says that he breathes on them and says, Receive the Holy Spirit a picture. You don't have to do this in your own strength. And he says, As I sent you, as I was sent, so I send you. Why was Jesus sent? To be served, to be a spectator, no, he came to serve, he came to participate in the work of God, and now he says, and as I was sent, so I sent you.