CCA Pastors' & Leaders' Conference 2021
Troy Warner Teaches at CCA International Pastors’ & Leaders’ Conference
Story by Katie Bass
Photos by Tom Price and Josh Larson
This week, follow along with Calvary Chapel Magazine as we publish summaries of the teachings at the CCA 2021 Calvary Chapel International Pastors' & Leaders' Conference at CC Golden Springs, CA.
In this installment, Pastor Troy Warner of Calvary Chapel Lynchburg, VA, urges pastors to step out in trust and obedience to the call of God.
Watch this teaching in its entirety at Day 3 / Troy Warner
Pastors Troy Warner (left) and David Guzik greet each other warmly at the CCA conference on Wednesday.
“We have nothing to lose when we’re following the voice of the Lord. The scariest thing to do is to stop hearing and remain seated when the Lord is saying, ‘Go … and watch what I am going to do,’” Pastor Troy Warner declared in Session 7 on Wednesday. Full of energy and passion, he shared stories from his own life and that of his church, while relaying a call to action.
His message titled “A Church on the Go” was based in Acts 13 with this main point: “We are a movement and movements move!”
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
Setting the scene for Acts 13, Troy noted that believers in the preceding chapters of Acts were jumping right in to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) by going to Antioch: the heart of the Gentile world. He recognized the likely challenges and fears of these believers—but also how they had to remember that God had called them to go and all the amazing works He had done before to bring Gentiles into the family of Christ. Troy imagined them saying, “Sounds crazy … but let’s step out and see what the Lord will do.”
Listening for the Voice of God
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Acts 13:2
Troy defined “ministering to the Lord” by quoting 1 Chronicles 6:32a, 16:4, and 2 Chronicles 31:2. “Ministering to the Lord was worshiping the Lord,” he explained. Comparing these passages and the start of Acts 13 to an afterglow service, Troy stressed, “These services are so important where we take the time to sit and hear that fresh Word from the Holy Spirit. Lord what do You have now? What do You want us to do this year? What is on Your heart?”
Honestly admitting that most, including himself in the past, don’t particularly want to go to prayer meetings, he asked these questions: Is that the way it’s supposed to be? Should meeting with God and pouring our hearts out, waiting for the Holy Spirit to speak to us ... be the dread of our life or our ministry experience? Troy challenged pastors with what he felt God speak to him regarding these services: “If you come and you meet with Me and you encounter Me, that’s the meeting worth having.” He rounded out the thought by sharing practical steps that he’s put into practice in his own fellowship to make these services look more like what they did in Acts 13.
“To the Ends of the Earth”
Further dissecting the passage, Troy shared how we must be willing to listen for, and then obey, what the Lord speaks to us. “Take the time to hear what the Lord is saying. If you haven’t sat and heard the voice of the Lord in a while, why not? Does God want to speak to us? Does He want to lead and guide us? Does He care about the 3.28 billion people on planet earth who have not heard the Gospel? Does He care about those that are in our cities [who] aren’t being raised with a Christian influence anymore?” He continued, “We need to know how the Lord wants to reach our towns, how He wants to reach the Samaria’s, but also the ends of the earth! We want to be an Antioch movement.”
Our fellowships are not just to be “Jerusalem churches”—only focused on the needs in their particular cities—but are also to respond to the call of God to go to the ends of the earth. Encouraging his hearers with two stories from the Old Testament (1 Samuel 14:1-7, 2 Kings 7:3-16), he stated that “… faith is just a strong maybe.” Admitting that we won’t always have assurances when God calls us to step out, Troy warned, “If you’re the person who has to have it all lined [up] and all the resources [first], you may miss what God’s wanting to do.”
Final Encouragement
Troy ended his teaching with a prayer time for those who felt a stirring of the Lord to be sent out, wherever that might be. As many stood to their feet, those around them prayed over them.
“As you go back …, as you pray, have those afterglows and just seek the face of God for whatever He’s placed on your heart. Expect that He’s going to hear you and answer you. … Don’t you think the Lord wants to answer that which He’s already told us to do? I think He does.”
Watch this teaching in its entirety at Day 3 / Troy Warner
View CCA International Pastors' & Leaders' Conference Schedule
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Visit the website of Pastor Troy Warner's church at: cclburg.com
Assistant pastors pray for each other at a workshop designed to address their unique questions and needs.
All verses above are quoted from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.
© 2021 Calvary Chapel Magazine (CCM). All rights reserved. Articles or photographs may not be reproduced without the written permission of CCM. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.® Used by permission.