Pastor Andrew Hopper

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This is the Truth Network I am on a Regional Rd. in Greensboro, NC. You may hear the sound of airplanes landing and what's become a real big airport back in the southeast, but what you will hear for sure if you're anywhere near me is that preaching the music and God working in a church called Mercy Hill.

I was a senior pastor. You guys are celebrating 10 years pastor Andrew Hopper. What's going on here Mercy Hill.

What is all the commotion man in this is your only location plans of the church 10 years ago 10 year anniversary coming in crazy mass. And while five campuses in the church plant small and all glory to God only things that he could do the work, live and work in a chance to live in Hamburg and Tennessee. As David said him do what he can do emergency the land living tell us about your journey to Christ. Andrew, you know, before this church before all the stuff is happening your life you got for kids wife just got, you know, working your marriage and using you in a mighty way with his ministry. Who is Andrew Hopper tell us take us into your life, where you grew up and how you came to the Lord a group in a smaller context than has really exploded outside of Jacksonville, Florida, Middleburg, Florida, and I was raised in a small Southern Baptist Church Fleming Baptist Church and man was taught there. Love the Bible to love the nations will shape their man got saved when there are six years old on the leadership and guidance of my father and mother I got saved in a Winn-Dixie parking lot after church league softball game by my dad that you listen in. Don't get no more Southern Baptist that my journey from there.

Stu has been slow in the way on the concept that I do. I do feel like I never had the experience. I didn't feel like the spirit was with me always since then Mama life really changed my landed at the summit church in Raleigh-Durham under the leadership and guidance of the great mentor for an older brother in the face.

Jenny Greer and he has no chance to jump in with him for five years and not above the planet search and boom another 2012. While which, on all accounts could have been uncomfortable and JD wrote a book called gaining by losing you. But that book really encouraged me and challenge me because he's like a we got these amazing leaders were get rid of him and I like ways to get the fires their top guys but that radical thinking, which is what the king did Jesus did himself. That has led to who knows how much of an impact in your own life in the church. The DNA and the impact you guys yeah for sure Minami are are one of the stated goals we have of the next 10 years is that we want to see more worshipers in the family of churches we plant in the flock that we gather here at Mercy. Lynette comes directly out of that vision that I caught at the summit thousand churches in a generation were jumping and to do thou told JD SMM Vienna.

I thought we want to try to take 100 of the board you know and so meant the generosity we were shown there for sure of me that this really, ripples down hailing a planet search remove an hour down the road and he said man take 100 leaders with the if you can I would think that many but we will have the same attitude now so we been involved with planting churches of the very beginning, primarily being given money or or your mission trip or whatever like letters are involved, but in 2018 really made that shift Stu to go from partnering to parenting and so now the church that were planting work will parenting their coming out of our church leader raised team gathered, trained, sent, and then you know not just OB/GYN, but also you know pediatrician like we want to be there as they continue to grow on their journey now got church in Tampa and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Waynesville, North Carolina and Roanoke, Virginia, and we just now have announced our going to Norfolk, Virginia. Oh well is tremendous. Here's what I am encouraged by that and I really think this will resonate with other pastors of listen is initially we start on a plane to church like wait a second.

What you think in degrees brothers to the churches in Greece repacked raindrop or what you think and how dear you man you still are people but it's actually opposite that is the talk about the impact and talk about the truly being the body and how you guys are love and on other bodies never sure that we wait. We believe that church planting is one of those things were all the ships rise enough, the, the idea being that in any denominational structure you look at most of the evangelism baptisms come out of early younger churches. A lot of churches in their whole history will baptize more people in the first year than they will in the next 10 in a that that concept so you know Tim Keller is a like this, like our evangelism strategy is church planning for us here in Greensboro like he threatened one of the church's command were like eight man we need. We need more in a we need you to come in and when when we sent her class other cities. We hope there met with the same kind of attitude and spirit. There's things in Scripture over and over again about David said I think it was in Psalm 63 says when I remember the upon the night watches meditate on the night watches having a holy remembrance you're looking back on 10 years. Just what's in your heart share what's in your heart about just to the Lord to your people. You're gonna get up and preach on Sunday am not sure this letter before hopefully. But your 10 year celebration preaching through for universe to be what's in your heart, Pastor Andrew, as you look back on the great things God has done in here in 10 years and what's just in my heart. The fire that's in me is one of the scariest personal the bottle in Hosea 13 more about the Bible where God talks about his people when he brought them out of Egypt and they became fat in the pasture and then it says and they forgot about me. One of things in my heart right now. Man is thinking about 10 years in archers at Crossroads Arena continue to be a scrappy church plant.

Are we in turn, you have a look at what 30 people in a launch team did. Now my will to 3000 if everybody buys in and of everybody comes a limb or you go the way of the modern American continent thing and we begin the coast on comfort and you know we stopped, reaching and being scrappy like that. That's scary to me a little bit. So one thing I'm calling our church to call it really asking Laura to break my heart in this too is just thinking about. He has blessed us like crazy in our personal lives. In our in a manner church lives and we can count his blessings one by one does not give us fuel motivation to get after harder in the next season or is it actually something that makes us will pull back and rest and just be comfortable with where things are so that savannas were around. And that's the message number in our church right now. I love it when you throw some of that passion and energy in a gracious way and a bunch of folks listening to are plugged in a church or there always complain about their church or there still are jammers right for their coffee watching their church. They haven't gone back what is so important about the accuracy would you challenge someone about getting plugged in in a wake up, get off the bench and in the game. Yeah, honey we have our seal we say like this, Jesus did not increase spectators in a he got a great service even call us to be the ones on the side of his calls to the front line and so one of things we talk about River. Romans 12 is just that you are part of the body. You are a body part you should be able to identify what part of the body.

You are an Cigna home, watching from afar taken it in my Christianity is me and the cup of coffee and good Christian music in a sermon on the radio. You might be absorbing some good teaching and hearing some good things, but in terms of plugging in and functioning as a part of the body. That's not happening. And so yeah I would call everyone and there is no substitute for having a lot of the sky got rocked. If your ecclesiology was a real tight before coded you started asking a lot of questions of can you be the church at home. Can you be the church forever on the Internet and not say anything about anybody and if our church.

We can do this easily realized in that we step directly into 2000 years of church history where even under pain of death.

We must gather and we must be together and plug in because we can use our search to get things any other way were not to condemn someone who's at Bonaire and says Welder's relieving her we just pray we have a church in which we make that expression or even on elevator or wherever in airport rental immutably resents amazing how we are one body church universal. But there is a call for believers in the Bible to be a part of the body right in a healthy body contributor gives where there is actual leadership is not just your two or three gathered together. Matthew 18 which is final. Church discipline right so speak to that.

Unfortunately, having not not in any kind of competitive way that a good analogy that we use in our first members, class here is like menu never met a baseball player that is not on the team. If somebody said him baseball player and save all your baseball player.

What team are you want to have a team leader will have is that does make sense right leg. What is that. And so for us.

Yes, there is a universal nature to the body of Christ that I value greatly. I think even there are even some Baptist thick type circles that I think it's go so far, they stop valuing that into the local. But just because you understand and see that we are one body globally meant that express itself in local expressions all over the world and the movement do nothing a girl and in his can't stop. All the way the ends of the earth. So yeah we have to be in a local church, deciding to announce you mentioned radio earlier and that's what we're a part of your Truth Network and all kinds of radio stations carrion affiliates.

This program were so grateful to all of them.

If our many networks carry truth talk but were honored to have your program starting how important can that be may be in touch and folks using a lot of unchurched social consumer Christian radio. Yeah for sure of a workman velocity program made for more really excited about it. I grew up driving around listening to an old time great preaching on the radio. My thousand layperson. He was a great leader in our church, but that he consumed much of the were just driving and it's so funny because last 10 years. I think the radio is one of the things that all the gurus of just totally gone wrong menu just in everyday life. Radio is just as big as it was a mandated in my opinion, so the crossmember excited about it will hopefully reach the summit and the outsider. Also hope it creates something for our people to use as an evangelistic tool to tell somebody here in the Triad and also to surround the state of North Carolina. Hey, catch a snippet of of what our churches got going on a sense of time.

So I believe it launches somewhere Monday morning at 6:45 AM in the Triad area right your home-based is God blesses baby Gunnell added to other stations other networks listening to my voice you work in your voice could could pick up the program and and be encouraged best website to learn more about May for the new radio program.

To learn more about mercy all the stuff God's doing church plans was the best places and folks just go to Mercy hunters.com that's got all our campuses all the places that we have church plants around the US says got all the stuff on a plate because you want to know you still got some game going on according faster. I live in the goblet ship Mercy Hill church.com. Learn more. There be encouragers and great teaching and get plugged into a church be a part of God's mission. This is the most exciting time we have the capacity to span the globe, so we have we have it all. Technologically so now it's time to wake up right after yeah May we were just our company is fault, because you just got back and we made over 30% of our eventual missionaries on the campus and I was in there worshiping with them. Just this past couple weeks and I just I just pray. God let this be the generation finish the task because they can no nestle annuity and think about three of your high point university students become here Wilson Olivia and Watson my awesome niece and two nephews. They love it and they call me excited history pastor Andrew Green meets on a survey tried to bless you brother thank you membership this is the Truth Network