Honor

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. Ten years ago, John and Lisa, you guys decided to unplant your lives, all right, from Gainesville, Florida, move Justin and Emma, along with your whole family, to Southwest Florida to be able to start a new church, a new campus ministry. And there was a team of people, I think we called them the core team at the time. Some of those core team members are here today. Some of them are with Jesus today as well. And so there's this vision of what this campus ministry, what this church might look like. And later that summer, as things were, as we're prepping and getting ready as a church, John, you gave me a call to consider, to interview possibly, to join this particular church that was called Thrive Community Church to start a college campus ministry. And that conversation turned into an interview. That interview turned into us packing our bags from St. Louis, Missouri, and coming down here to Southwest Florida to be a part of this new local church ten years ago. And at the time, Kyrie and I, we were both excited. Be honest, we were terrified. Like, who trusts two 26-year-old newlyweds to be able to lead a college campus ministry to help start a church? Okay, they're asking us, fine, we'll do it. Because to be honest with you, it was put upon our hearts, the importance of what it looked like to be able to disciple other people, other college students. Why? Because we had leaders and other people in local churches that discipled us, that mentored us, that loved us so well. And we felt called to be a part of this particular local church. So we moved here. We got here. Kyrie, I don't know if you remember, we went to salsa dancing clubs at the campus. We went to just some of the craziest events that were happening. And we just immersed ourselves as missionaries helping start this local church. And that connected us with so many different people like yourself, so many students. And it was an ongoing relationship that we had with those people. And so that's what started Thrive FGCU. Later that year, John already connected with some other students of other sister congregations that were already at the FGCU campus. And that's what officially started the RSO for Thrive FGCU. And it was wild. And it was good. And I remember many of you in this room and other people from other local congregations would slave away to be able to cook some of the most amazing home-cooked dinners. And where Kyrie and I were begging people all over the Cohen Center at FGCU, you said, come and receive this free meal. We just want to hang out. And of course, you get conscious like, okay, a free meal, but who are you? In fact, there was this one girl, she was sitting at the front desk, and I pestered her so much. I was like, hey, there's free food. I know you're working right now, but you should grab free food. And she's like, yeah, smile, okay. You know, creepy, weird, bald guy, right? And we'll come eventually. And then eventually, that particular person who's here today decided to take us up in that offer. And not just Gabby, but so many other students to be able to gather together in Cohen Center to start having conversations about God, about life, about culture, where God is moving, and what that looks like for themselves as college students at FGCU. So, before getting into this, I realized not everyone really knows me, right? Some of you do, and some of you, maybe this is the first time, and my name is Phil. And 10 years ago, I got to be a part of the start of the church plant here at Thrive FGCU. And believe it or not, five years ago was the last time I was up here, weeping my eyes. And I promised myself, I'm not going to do it today. I might, but that's okay. Because God was calling us into something different. And so, Kiri and I, we live in Nashville, Tennessee now, and we do training with young leaders all across the United States. But really, our heart is with you guys, this local church here at Thrive. You guys have impacted us so much. The love that we've received from you all, whether you know it or not, whether this is the first time you meet or meeting me today, we've been impacted by you. And if you are new to this church, or you've been coming here for just a little bit, or whatever that might look like, let me just tell you this. This is a place that you can be loved, you can be sent, and this is a place that is going to come alongside you. Because why? That happened to us. And so we have all, we give all the thanks and gratitude to this local church, and what this church has meant for both Kiri and myself. So I called John September, you know, I think you guys had a hurricane that came into town, and yeah, I know, I know there's, I know it's been really hard. But the first question I asked John is, how are you doing, and how is Thrive doing? And there was a sense of, well, it's another t...