Planted #1

Northside Church SLIDES ARE IN GREEN

7/12/26

Planted #1 making Room

Jamey Mills

Luke 14:15–24

Good morning, My name is Jamey Mills, and I am the lead pastor here at Northide.

It’s so good to be with you today…

I’ve been away for a couple of weeks…

Motorcycle camping trip…

Tackling some projects at home

Planning and praying about where God is leading Northside over the next few years…sermon series planned through 2028… Joshua, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Acts, James…

Today we start a 3-week break from the Gospel of Matthew to focus on something important for our Church.

Its a mini series called…

Planted

It's really about three things…

Reminding us who we are…

Recommitting to that as a church family

Helping us make the shift as we move toward planting a 2nd service at NS (Starting Sept. 13, 8:30 and 10:15 AM)

Northisde is a church plant…

I spent about 20 years at a church in Corvallis (Suburban)

It was a great experience…

But it was becoming clearer that God was calling us to a different role.

A church plant was not what we were thinking.

Church planting is hard…

But Northside has been different from day one…

Not because we have great leadership…

or that our plan was the best…

God was simply in it in ways and for reasons I don’t totally understand.

It's so humbling to look back now and remember how God opened doors for us and paved the way. Northside is a miracle.

We had 3 preview services…

Officially launched Feb 9 2020

5 weeks later, the whole world literally stopped.

NO ONE… plans to plant a church during a global pandemic.

In a word… God was faithful.

He worked powerfully during that time in our church… Protected and provided…

Through our short existence we’ve seen…

Marriages restored

Addictions beat

Community develop

Missionaries sent and supported

Leaders step up and raised up

We’ve baptized just under 90 people

NS hasn’t done it all right…

If you're looking for that church, this ain't it.

But what God has done here should mean something.

Whether you’ve been here all along or if you're new and planning to make it your home…

You’re part of the family… This is your story too.

It's important to know what you're stepping into…

I want you to do it with intentionality and purpose.

That we continue to respond with gratitude and worship…

That we allow God’s Goodness, faithfulness, and provision in the past…

inform our faith in the moment and

Give us courage for the future.

That we’d embrace the reality, mentality, and purpose that church plants require.

By all metrics, we are still new. Still developing.

We are a church plant with a church plant mentality, and if I have anything to say about it, we will be saying that 50 years from now.

Church plants are missional have an outward focus

Church plants are often more sacrificial

… they have to be.

Church plants have and require an all-hands-on-deck mentality…

I don’t want anyone to be or feel comfortable simply attending… longer than a short season for healing.

Thats not what God has for you…

IN FACT… I DO THINK this is what our passage today is about.

As believers, we are called to

serve,

give, and

sacrifice…

to be His hands and feet right where we are…

It is the business of EVERY believer.

The calling and mission of every christian.

We say it like this…

At Northside, we say it like this…

We want every single person to experience the fullness and freedom that Jesus came to give…

3 KEY relationships is critical in it.

Relationship with Christ

Relationship with His Church

Relationship with our Community and beyond

3 key relationships that work together…

For our Good

For His glory

Growth of the Kingdom

That's our DNA.

It's why we exist.

It's why God planted this church.

How are you investing in each of these relationships? Each one of them brings with it a unique aspect to our growth and maturity as believers.

Being able to answer that question... Clearly… is one way we know we’re living our faith intentionally.

We didn’t come up with it… Jesus said it.

Matthew 22:36–40 ““Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”” (NLT)

Matthew 22:36–40 NLT

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the (What) first and greatest commandment.

39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Anytime Jesus speaks…

We should drop everything and listen..

But when Jesus uses words like… first and greatest… it oughta hit different.

It is where the #C’s come from.

Prioritizing Him…

loving and obeying Him with all that we are and have.

Caring for people with grace… in truth… with patience and wisdom… toward Jesus

You’ll never get there accidentally…

As a church, we won't either.

Churches don't drift toward health.

Churches don't accidentally stay on mission.

And to me it's motivated by this question…

Do you (I) really believe Jesus changes lives?

I mean, do you really believe it in ways that

impact the way you live…

the way you pray…

the way you struggle…

The way you sacrifice

The way you love hard people?

Do we believe…

He changes marriages?

families?

Heals shame?

Forgives sin?

Gives purpose and meaning where emptiness was.

Hope where there was despair?

Life where there was death?

If we believe that… either it shows up in the way we live or… we might not be very loving.

Nothing is bigger than that.

It’s why Paul lived the way he did…

It’s why Abraham left in faith…

Why Moses did what he did,

Why Noah built a boat before it started raining…

Nothing is more important…

Not our schedules.

our preferences.

our comfort

Our stuff…

Our ego

It reminds me of a growing family….

I think of Blake and Kaelyn and so many others at NS who have welcomed newborns into their house in the last couple of months…

It brings change…

Layout of the house

Family budget

Sehcules

Sleep patterns

Free time

A whole new set of fears, tears, and joys

Not to mention the little plug things in the outlets…

Daily priorities

There’s very little that doesn’t change…

It’s hard… and it involves sacrifice…

But they make room… WHY?

Because it matters. It’s valuable… becasue they LOVE

And in some ways, thats where we are as a Church.

You’ve seen it.

Our kids' area is overfull

Parking… is a problem…

We are running out of room…

Healthy Churches make room for those who aren’t here… yet.

Because it matters… It’s valuable… and its loving.

Churches that lose their way… that lose their sense of purpose… it often starts here…

We lose sight of just how much mercy and grace, love and forgiveness God has poured out over us… minimize it… and in doing that… minimize the very mission Jesus gives us and then often struggle to sacrifice to invest in that for others.

Making room matters.

Our church leaders want us to intentionally see it this way…

We aren’t starting another church service…

We are planting another church service…

Intentionally making room… knowing it's going to require change and sacrifice for the whole family… JOUFULLY… because we know its worth it.

In Luke 14…

Jesus is having dinner with the religious leaders of that day (The Pharisees). They often clashed… with Jesus

One of them makes what sounds like a very spiritual statement…

"What a blessing to attend a banquet in the Kingdom."

Everybody around the table probably nodded. “We're God's people. We'll be there. We've got our seats reserved.”

But Jesus tells a story that turns it upside down…

Luke 14:16–24 (NLT)

Luke 14:16–24 NLT

Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’ ”

16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’ ”

It's a story about a banquet.

about invitations.

about excuses.

And ultimately… about the heart of God.

God's Heart Has Always Been for People

As you read the Bible, you can’t come to any other conclusion… Life is precious… and Humanity is special to God.

From the opening pages of Scripture to the final invitation in Revelation, we see the same heartbeat.

To Abraham, He said, "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3.)

Jesus Himself declares, "For God so loved the world..." (John 3:16.)

And, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10.)

Peter reminds us that God is patient because He doesn't want anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9.)

2 Peter 3:9 NLT

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Do you see it?

The heart of God has always been for people.

That's what this banquet represents.

The Master has prepared a feast.

Everything is ready.

The invitation has gone out

His desire is to fill His house.

But then something unexpected happens.

The invited guests begin making excuses.

One has purchased a field. (investment)

Another has bought oxen. (possessions)

Another has gotten married. (love/family)

WE need to see and hear and honestly weigh out, is… these aren’t sinful things, but Jesus chose them intentionally…

Good things had (little by little)

replaced the ultimate thing…

So that when the banquet came… they had other things.

THAT… is terrifying

I’ve been around the block in ministry… Very few Christians are willing to wrestle with this honestly.

It’s one of the greatest dangers facing Christians today.

Not the outright rejection of Jesus…

But the slow… subtle drift of a wandering heart.

We get distracted, busy, and allow world demands to outweigh Christ’s commands…

Kids' schedules fill the calendar.

Weekends disappear.

Our lives, hearts, and schedules are so full that we are empty.

Before long, Jesus isn't rejected… He's simply crowded out.

Its a big question…

Has anything slowly become more important than your relationship with Christ?

Your career.

Recreation.

Comfort.

Busyness.

Politics.

Your kids

Northside's first value is Christ for a reason.

Everything begins there.

Before God asks us to make room for more people, He wants us to make sure we've made room for Him.

When Jesus truly has our hearts, His heart becomes our heart.

And His heart has always been for people.

The Master's response is beautiful.

When his guests don't come… he doesn’t

cancel…

Lock the doors.

Say, "Well, I tried."

Instead, he tells his servants,

"Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame."

Jesus tells this story in such a way… that

No matter where you are, what you’ve done, where you're from, or your current condition… We see that - HE MEANS YOU!

YOU are invited…

AND… the people around you that you least expect.

The invitation gets wider.

The servants come back with four words that become the heartbeat of this entire passage.

"There is still room."

Those four words ought to stir something in us.

There is still room… Because

There are some who don't know Christ.

And I know you know some of them.

Children still need to hear the Gospel.

Marriages still need hope.

Students searching for purpose.

Still neighbors wondering if anyone cares.

As long as there is still room, our mission isn't finished.

Healthy Churches Make Room

The master never lowers his expectations?

He doesn't say, "Well, I guess a half-full banquet is good enough."

No. He says, "Go again."

I love that.

The heart of God isn't satisfied until every possible invitation has been extended.

That's the difference between an inward and outward-focused church.

Inward focus… subconsciously seeks comfort

Outward-focused asks, "How do we create more opportunities for people to meet Jesus?"

SO MUCH of what God has for you… is found in serving…

Churches rarely drift toward mission. They drift toward comfort.

Every generation has to intentionally choose to keep making room.

Thats where Northside is.

We're not talking about starting another service because it sounds fun…

We are planting another Church to make room.

Sometimes people ask, "Why can't we just keep things the same?"

The answer is simple.

Because people are still far from God.

If our mission was comfort… There is a lot that would look different at NS.

Our mission has always been to help people experience the full and free life that Jesus came to bring.

Healthy churches don't make room because growth is exciting.

Healthy churches make room because people matter.

I don't want to attend, much less lead a church that sees it any other way.

God Uses Every Believer

One of my favorite parts of this story is that the hero isn't the servant.

The servant isn't famous.

He doesn't preach, perform a miracle….

He simply obeys.

The master says, "Go."

The servant goes.

The master says, "Go again."

The servant goes again.

That's how God's Kingdom has always moved forward.

Through ordinary people who simply say yes.

And so today I ask you…

Are you willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of the Gospel?

Sometimes we convince ourselves that ministry belongs to pastors or to someone else…

Just not true…

The Bible teaches that every believer has been gifted by God for the building up of His Church to be lived out within the unity of His body.

(Ephesians 4:11–16.) Talks about how God has equipped and gifted His people for ministry.

Who are His people? You are… and I am.

Every follower of Jesus.

That means every one of us has a role to play with humility.

Some of you teach children.

Some to work with youth

greet guests.

set up and take down

run sound or slides.

serve coffee.

lead small groups.

provide security

Some to help make our parking lot safe

Some pray with others

Never underestimate what God can do through ordinary faithfulness.

I’d be disappointed if you chose to hear…

"The church needs more workers."

Instead… can we stack hands on this…

"God is inviting me to help make room for someone He loves, and I’m here for it"

That changes everything.

When we understand that serving is about people instead of positions, it becomes a privilege instead of an obligation.

Empty Seats Represent Real People

What if Norhside never happened… I think of the people who sacrificed… committed… gave… watched kids… served… who invited… maybe you're one of them?

Every empty seat represents a real person.

A husband who is fighting for his marriage:

A single mom who is exhausted and trying to hold it together

A teenager who is trying to find their way in this crazy world thats trying to cram every sort of evil down their throat

A person who is fighting addiction… for their life

Someone whose batteling depression

A widow who mourns

A parent who’s having a hard time functioning because their kid(s) are lost and struggling.

Someone who's faced abuse or abandonment

Someone who has never once heard that Jesus loves them enough to die for them.

A neighbor

Your coworker.

Your neighbor.

Your son.

Your daughter.

Your grandchildren

Your friend.

MAKING ROOM MATTERS

Are you with me?

Every empty seat has a story that hasn't been written yet.

And here's what I know.

At some point… someone saw an empty seat and thought of you… Mine was a guy named Lloyd

Someone who invited you,

prayed for you,

took a risk for you,

who served so you could attend,

who gave to make a place…

You’re here today because somebody else believed you matter.

Now it's our turn.

As we prepare to launch another service, I'm asking every person who calls Northside home to pray about three things.

First, deepen your relationship with Christ. Don't let good things crowd out the best thing.

Second, find your place in His Church. Ask God where He wants you to serve and invest your gifts. Give… I mean it. It's part of how we make room.

Third, look at your Community through the eyes of Jesus. Pray for one person. Love one person. Invite one person.

Imagine what God could do if every family in this church simply brought one person with them.

That's how the Kingdom grows.

One invitation.

One conversation.

One act of obedience at a time.

Six years ago a group of people sacrificed so Northside could be planted.

Today, we have the privilege of making sacrifices so someone else can find the hope we've found in Christ.

Because healthy churches continually make room for people who are not here yet.

May that always be true of Northside.

Communion:

Every week we provide the opportunity to take communion… Jesus started it.

He took the disciples up into the upper room…

Jesus told them to do this (bread and cup)… remembering me… my life, my death, my teaching, my priorities… and most of all… that my life, death, and ressurection… made room for you.

We do this… as worship… remembering Jesus… the greatest act of love that made room for even me.

People in the back that would love to pray with you about anyth

Pray