WEBVTT

NOTE
Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver
Episode: Apostolic Believers
Publishing Date: 2022-07-10T06:00:44-07:00
Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca
Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/apostolic-believers/

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And then texted me and asked me to, yeah, go ahead and ask God what he would like to

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say to the church.

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And my immediate response to her was like, I'm not very good at hearing, but I'll be

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open.

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And yeah, as I was praying, the word unity kept coming.

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And I thought it was strange because as a church we are doing very well.

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That's what I thought.

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But then I was reminded of Tuni and I, we are a family of just two people for now.

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But how like sometimes it's hard to even complete a grocery shopping when we are not united.

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That came to my mind.

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And what God has given us as a church is a big movement, the love sound movement that

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God has given us to do like to the nations.

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It's a big movement and we need to be united.

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That's what came to my mind.

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And this was last year, one Monday evening when Tuni and I were here, we were praying

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and I was prompted to sing this song over our church.

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And the last few verses, the last verse, this came to my mind this morning.

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So I'll just read out the song.

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We are the family of God.

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We are the promised divine.

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We are God's chosen desire.

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We are the glorious new wine.

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Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken.

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Bind us together, Lord, bind us together in love.

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This last verse came back to my mind.

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So I just sing that over our church again.

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Let me pray.

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Father S, you have chosen us.

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I pray that we will be united in our worship, united in our going, united in our sending,

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united in our giving, be time or wealth, so that your actual plan will be fulfilled through

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us, in us, for us and for the nations that you have prepared.

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In Jesus' name I pray.

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Amen.

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Okay, so these kids can go down for Sunday school.

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I believe it's Erin and Fidisha teaching.

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Phoebe, it's time for Sunday school.

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Yeah!

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Woohoo!

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Woohoo!

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Okay, can you go down with Haida?

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All right, see you!

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Okay, so today's teaching will be a three-part.

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It will be with Sheldon and Jillian and myself will each teach a part of it.

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So I'll give it to Sheldon first.

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Try to make it a number?

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Applause

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Applause

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Sorry guys, this is too weird.

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This is a little more comfortable because house church and stuff we get together, this

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is what I use and I'm really nervous so at least this is some comfort for me.

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The clapping made it worse.

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So thank you everybody.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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How's it seeing the Janus, I think yesterday night?

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I'm like, I do house church, I do the hub stuff, you know, there's people there but

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this is not the same.

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Oh yeah, sorry.

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Okay.

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Sheldon, you can go down.

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Okay.

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You will be good.

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Very good.

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I will try to speak slow.

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Okay.

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So when Jesus went to, when he ascended, one of the things he said to the disciples were

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go, go, go and bring the message of the gospel, go to the nations, go.

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The word go we've talked about before is a characteristic of an apostolic people and

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today we're going to look at, we're going to look at what makes an apostolic person

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or an apostolic disciple because whether you like it or not, we are all one of those, we

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are all one.

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Whether you agree with it or not, whether you agree with wanting to do these things

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or not, that's okay but you are, you are an apostolic person, you are an apostolic disciple,

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you have been sent to go.

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I'm not talking about go like, you know, go here, go there, go everywhere.

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I'm talking about there are certain things about you that will set you apart as a disciple

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of Jesus Christ.

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If you look at every ambassador to every nation, they carry with them certain characteristics

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of that nation, of the kingdom that they're from.

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They carry with them certain things that you know they are not of the land that they are

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presently an ambassador of or in but they are from a land of wherever they are representing

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and you and I are disciples of a different kingdom, a kingdom that is in the future but

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a kingdom that is already here.

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Jesus says the kingdom of God is here.

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So this kingdom is here and you and I, as I slow down, you and I are representative

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of this kingdom on this earth.

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So there are certain things about how we are that will show the world, set us apart and

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show the world that we belong to a different kingdom.

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So we're going to talk about that today.

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We're going to talk about what it looks like to be a disciple or an ambassador, a representative

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and an envoy of this kingdom that is of the future and of the present because the kingdom

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has broken already into this world.

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It broke when Jesus came and it broke into each of our lives in mine.

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So this is what, so we're going to look at a passage from John 9 and we're going to take

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from there characteristics of what it looks like to have a lifestyle of an apostle.

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And this applies both for the individual and as a church.

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So if I look at John 9, I'm going to read a short part of that.

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This is the story of a man who was healed of his blindness.

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And it's such a cool story before I go into it that from this story, one of the things

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that we've been called to do is to open the eyes of the blind.

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And through this story, as this man's eyes get opened, he becomes a representative of

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Christ in how he suddenly changes and how his whole life changes, where he becomes

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unrecognizable and yet he is still the same man, where some people are questioning,

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are you really the man born blind?

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And then the other says, but he is, but how is he seeing now?

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So there's two things that are really cool about this is that on one hand, after he is

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healed, he starts to carry an apostolic trait in his being at the very moment.

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And at the same time, it shows us that this is what an apostolic believer does.

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We go and open the eyes of the blind.

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And we're not talking about just the healing, although that absolutely applies.

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But we're talking about opening the eyes of the blind so they can now see what is the truth.

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What is Christ brought onto this earth to show us?

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What does his kingdom look like?

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So that they can make this choice to say, I want to, I don't want to.

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All right?

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This is what it looks like.

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So if we look at John chapter 9, I'm just going to look at...

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I'm going to read the first seven verses.

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So as he, as in Jesus passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

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And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

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Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents,

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but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

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We must work the works of him who sent me while at his day.

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Night is coming when no one can work.

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As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

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Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva.

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Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him,

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Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means scent.

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So he went and washed and came back seeing.

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I love how Jesus like does these things where even like the name of the pool where he told them to go wash is the name.

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It means scent, scent ones.

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I am sending you to be, to go there to be healed of your blindness so that on one hand you see and then you actually see.

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And then you go and now I'm sending you to go and open the eyes of the rest of the world.

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I love how he used somebody who was blind to open the eyes of the ones who can see.

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It is such a cool story.

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So we're going to take this entire chapter today.

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Well, the three of us will to look at what it looks like.

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What is it? What does it look like when I being called now an apostolic believer?

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What does my life start to look like now?

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Now that I carry not not a Canadian characteristics, not a maybe my culture Chinese heritage, none of that stuff, but a kingdom culture.

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What does it look like to carry a kingdom culture on this earth where I am still in a country in Canada?

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I still have my ethnic background, but I am first and foremost one who carries a culture of this future kingdom that is present on this earth.

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That this world so desperately, so desperately needs and wants to see.

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So the first thing that we're going to look at that we notice here is in verse eight and nine.

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So in verse eight and nine says the neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar was saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg?

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Some said it is he. Others said no, but he is like him.

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He kept saying, I am the man. I am the man.

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Something about when I become a believer and as I start to walk around, I carry of I will start to carry a different lifestyle in how I how I am, how I behave in my speech, in my thought patterns, in my in my I can't read this.

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Oh, in my mindset.

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My lifestyle changes. That's something that is so important that as a believer, if if I'm a believer, but nothing about me changes.

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It is as if Christ never died for me.

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I said this to my house church. If I don't show any any gifts of the spirit in my life on a regular basis, I am basically saying Christ never died.

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Christ never rose from the dead and Christ never ascended because when he ascended, he gave me the spirit.

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And if if that is true, and I absolutely believe that is true, I have to see the life of the spirit within me that the gifts of the spirit must be present on a daily basis.

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It has to show. Otherwise, I am saying Christ never died.

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Really? Because this is evidence of Christ's death and resurrection and his ascension.

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So there must be changes in who I am and how I think, how I react to things, how I behave, how I speak.

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One of the things that I've been so challenged to do, I think the last couple of years has been I remember God saying to me, you need to change the way you talk now.

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You cannot talk the same way you used to talk. You kind of stop making some of the jokes you used to make the way you treat people, the way you speak to them, though you might think it was just all joking and all funny and whatnot.

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And I might say, oh, it is just, you know, fun and games. But he says you need to start changing how you talk to them.

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You need to start changing how you are with anyone because you carry with because I carry with me my mouth as a mouthpiece of my God and my father in heaven.

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And what I say is a reflection of what my father says.

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And if I say certain things where even though it might just be joking, but it brings them down, that is a reflection on the per to the person from me who my father is.

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And it is absolutely not correct. Like I said, as an ambassador of any country when you are in, let's say the ambassador of X, Y, Z that happens to be in this country, they will speak of the country of X, Y, Z.

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They will not speak of maybe a Canadian way because that is not who they represent.

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And for me, if I don't represent my father in my speech, I am not...

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In a sense, I am washing away, I am nullifying, I am diminishing what Christ has done for me.

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So my lifestyle must change. It must change from not who I am anymore, but who is in me and has redeemed me.

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It must change from not... It has to move from not who I am because we all want identity.

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It's just a world thing. We all want to be identified by something.

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But a lifestyle transformation that happens with this man is it's not about who I am anymore, but it is about who is in me.

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This man says, it is me, it is me. But he says, it is Jesus who has opened my eyes to see.

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That's changed. He is not the same man. He is not the beggar that was on the streets.

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He wasn't the one who was blind and asking people for help.

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He was the one who was now suddenly walking around with his confidence and saying, I am he, but I can now see.

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And it is somebody who has now opened my eyes. That's who he is. His life changed.

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To the point where people almost couldn't recognize him. They're saying, is this really him? Is this really him?

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I think this is absolutely, for me, it's such a god thing because there are people that have known me for such a long time.

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And when I first heard this, not from them directly, but I heard it from Jane, I was very, very... I was very blown away.

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One being a sister-in-law who said, he's changed. And I'm talking about in the last four years or so.

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So she's known me. We've known each other for a long time. 20 years, something like that.

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We've known each other for a while. And so her sister also happens to have known me for that same amount of time.

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But for her to say, after 15 years, after 17 years, Sheldon's changed. Says a heck of a lot about what God has done in my life.

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And what kind of change is happening in my life. The thing is, I don't even sometimes realize it's happening.

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But I have been saying to God, here I am, change me. I've been saying to him, I am like...

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You know those... what do they call those statues? You know David, the statue in Italy, or this one? Or whatever he is?

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What's that thing called? Is it just called statue? Sculpture. Yeah, that's the word, not statue. Sculpture.

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I always like... I sometimes say to God, God, here I am, a sculpture. It's getting there, but keep chiseling.

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Keep going at it. Keep making it more and more perfect so it more and more is like Jesus.

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So sometimes I say this to him, I don't even realize he's been chipping away, chipping away.

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But what happens is people start to see it. So to have my sister-in-law, who's like I said, known me now for what, 20 years or so.

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To say in the last couple years, Sheldon's changed. I was shocked.

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It says to me, God is doing something in my life. And he is doing something in my life.

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It says to me, God is doing something in my life. And he is doing it like full force.

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Because how could it be that in 20 years, suddenly only in a couple years, this starts changing like this, this, this.

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Another person that... that one, this one also really, really caught me off guard was my mother.

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She says, again, not to me directly, I don't know my son anymore. He is not the Sheldon I've always known.

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We're talking 30... 30 something years.

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All right. But to have my own mother say that he is not the son I know, it was very shocking to me.

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To say that I don't know what he's like anymore. He doesn't do things I've always known him to do.

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He doesn't behave the same way. He doesn't think, he doesn't react the same way. He doesn't live the same way anymore.

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So, because... and some of the things maybe may not be of God, but I know some, a lot of the things are of God.

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A lot of things he is transforming in my life. And it's to a point where people are noticing and saying,

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this is my son, this is Sheldon, but he's changed. I don't know him anymore.

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And yet, what is it that I, what is it that my hope is, is that what they're seeing is not me anymore, but it is who is in me.

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It is Christ. That Christ's character is in me. So that people, when they see me, they say, but you are different.

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I remember there was a piano student. This is going to go along. Okay.

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I had a piano student. Don't have them anymore, but we used brief, but it was such a fun lesson.

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Partly because we talked a lot.

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But this was, this was the really neat thing is to say, when we had our lessons, he would come,

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I'd want to play because I knew if we don't start playing, it'd be 45 minutes later and we'll like play like one song.

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And it feels almost like I'm not doing my job anymore. I'm being paid to just chit chat with him.

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But here's the thing, when we talked, it was always a things of life, of God.

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I would always bring up God with him and he would always be wondering, oh, but why do you do it this way?

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Why do you do it like that? Why like this? Why like that? And I'd say, oh, because there is a father.

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It was such a cool thing that he's even in our conversation. He says, oh, that's not how most people do it.

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I'm like, you're right. But this is how the kingdom of God looks like. This is the kingdom of God that is here.

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And it's in my life. So it was such a, such a neat thing to, to just, we worked together at the bank for a little while.

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And then we had piano lessons. That was after I stopped working. But for him to know me a little bit then and then to really get to know me and go,

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oh, this is not who I thought he was. I thought it was such a cool thing that there is changes in my life that reflects he's noticing things.

00:19:30.020 --> 00:19:37.020
So, like I said, yeah, it changes. You know, it goes from who I am, who I was,

00:19:37.020 --> 00:19:43.020
and it goes, but now moves to it is, but who is in me and has redeemed me.

00:19:43.020 --> 00:19:49.020
Here's another neat thing about this, this change in a life that when we get, when we start to change our walk changes,

00:19:49.020 --> 00:19:55.020
we walk differently. Like the blind man, he wasn't walking like a blind man, but he was walking as one who sees.

00:19:55.020 --> 00:20:01.020
So as I was changed and as I was redeemed, suddenly realizing that my life's changed,

00:20:01.020 --> 00:20:09.020
so as I was changed and as I was redeemed, suddenly realizing that my life suddenly became a lot more purposeful,

00:20:09.020 --> 00:20:17.020
that my walk became directed, that my purpose in life wasn't about,

00:20:17.020 --> 00:20:23.020
it wasn't about, you know, having a good home, good jobs, beautiful family, having, you know,

00:20:23.020 --> 00:20:28.020
a good life until I save up for retirement and then I spend my retirement and then I'm gone.

00:20:28.020 --> 00:20:33.020
It wasn't about those things where, you know, making myself meaningful in life, you know, doing good things for people.

00:20:33.020 --> 00:20:40.020
It wasn't about that. My life now has only one purpose and we've talked about this from other teachings.

00:20:40.020 --> 00:20:50.020
There's three M's. Does anybody remember? Yeah, make the Father known, make disciples and multiply churches.

00:20:50.020 --> 00:20:56.020
That is the purpose given to me and us because we are, because Jesus is in us now.

00:20:56.020 --> 00:21:01.020
That's the only thing he was about. He said the Kingdom of God is here and I'm here to make the Father known.

00:21:01.020 --> 00:21:05.020
And since the Kingdom of God is here, I'm here to bring those into the Kingdom.

00:21:05.020 --> 00:21:09.020
So the three M's. Make the Father known. That's my purpose. Make the Father known.

00:21:09.020 --> 00:21:13.020
In everything that I do, I make the Father known. Number two, I'm here to make disciples.

00:21:13.020 --> 00:21:17.020
And number three, I'm here to multiply churches. So suddenly I have purpose.

00:21:17.020 --> 00:21:23.020
As my life was changed, my purpose in my life also changed.

00:21:23.020 --> 00:21:29.020
And then he directed my walk now. And here's a really, this is the hard part of it too.

00:21:29.020 --> 00:21:35.020
That being directed means I let someone else lead me. I let someone else guide me.

00:21:35.020 --> 00:21:41.020
That it is not me who chooses how to go about things. Even though maybe I know the purpose, the three M's.

00:21:41.020 --> 00:21:45.020
I have to make the Father known. I'm here to make disciples. I'm here to multiply churches.

00:21:45.020 --> 00:21:50.020
It is so easy then to say, ah, now that I have my purpose, let me decide how it's going to happen.

00:21:50.020 --> 00:21:56.020
But my lifestyle, we know it changes because suddenly it is not me who directs my walk anymore.

00:21:56.020 --> 00:22:00.020
But I am directed by someone else. And it is directed by God himself.

00:22:00.020 --> 00:22:03.020
He's saying, I will show you how to do this. I will show you how it gets done.

00:22:03.020 --> 00:22:07.020
I need somebody to go do it on my behalf to represent the Kingdom.

00:22:07.020 --> 00:22:12.020
But will you let me direct it for you? So that it is not you who decides how things go.

00:22:12.020 --> 00:22:18.020
And it's such a hard thing. I, growing up in this culture society where it's about independency.

00:22:18.020 --> 00:22:23.020
It's about independency. It's like, if I look at Phoebe, when she was in her early, early stages.

00:22:23.020 --> 00:22:27.020
It was like, she was like, I'm going to do it myself.

00:22:27.020 --> 00:22:32.020
And it was so hard to watch her and say, no, yes you can.

00:22:32.020 --> 00:22:39.020
But let us show you how it can be done so that you can do it a certain way that will be beneficial for you.

00:22:39.020 --> 00:22:42.020
It would be better for you. It would be easier for you.

00:22:42.020 --> 00:22:47.020
And this just happens in my teaching too. I see so many of my students trying so hard to do something.

00:22:47.020 --> 00:22:54.020
And I'm like, if you would just listen to me and just follow what I say, your life will be so much easier.

00:22:54.020 --> 00:22:57.020
And it will be done so much faster.

00:22:57.020 --> 00:23:00.020
And this point I will bring back later on, okay?

00:23:00.020 --> 00:23:09.020
But, yeah, so often I find myself going, sometimes going, okay, this is my purpose. Away I go.

00:23:09.020 --> 00:23:16.020
But one of the changes in my life that will happen is, as a man was, was that suddenly he had to do something.

00:23:16.020 --> 00:23:19.020
Suddenly he had purpose. He was directed in how to walk.

00:23:19.020 --> 00:23:25.020
There was, there was a visible change. He wasn't walking like a blind man anymore, but he had purpose.

00:23:28.020 --> 00:23:34.020
So I'm saying to us right now that if you continuously connect to Christ and the body, and this is a key,

00:23:34.020 --> 00:23:36.020
it's not just Christ, but Christ and the body.

00:23:36.020 --> 00:23:39.020
Because Christ and the body are one. You can't separate them.

00:23:39.020 --> 00:23:45.020
It's like any marriage. The two, it says, just like it says in the Old Testament, the two become one.

00:23:45.020 --> 00:23:49.020
Christ has Christ, me and the church, my body is one. It's not separate.

00:23:49.020 --> 00:23:54.020
So don't think that you can say, I'm going to be connected to Christ without the body.

00:23:54.020 --> 00:23:59.020
It's not happening. It's Christ and the body. It's two that becomes one.

00:23:59.020 --> 00:24:03.020
So if you're connected to Christ, you're connected to the body. It can't be separate.

00:24:03.020 --> 00:24:11.020
But if you do that, it is impossible for your life not to change. It is absolutely impossible.

00:24:11.020 --> 00:24:22.020
And yeah, one last story about this part is there were things in, I'm using you, is that okay? Cool.

00:24:25.020 --> 00:24:27.020
So we've been married about 10, 10 and a half years or so.

00:24:29.020 --> 00:24:33.020
I remember it was, oh gosh, six years in, seven years in.

00:24:33.020 --> 00:24:42.020
Because we had started coming, we started coming to Acts, we started learning, our eyes were open, we started to see.

00:24:42.020 --> 00:24:46.020
And I had a desire to say, I want to be connected to Christ. I need my life to change.

00:24:46.020 --> 00:24:51.020
One of the things that took place was that how I was as husband to Jane changed.

00:24:51.020 --> 00:25:00.020
And I remember Jane saying this to me one time. She said, for six, seven years, I've been trying so hard to get you to change so many things in your life.

00:25:00.020 --> 00:25:04.020
How is it that suddenly you just changed? How?

00:25:04.020 --> 00:25:11.020
And it's simply because of this one thing that, and it wasn't, it was Christ, but it was Christ in the body.

00:25:11.020 --> 00:25:20.020
Because I did have the body who also guide, was a guide for me, directed me and saying, these things must change.

00:25:20.020 --> 00:25:27.020
And because I understood that Christ and his body are one, and that Christ uses his body to do this work too,

00:25:27.020 --> 00:25:34.020
I was able to change so quickly that Jane says, how is it after all these years?

00:25:34.020 --> 00:25:39.020
I've been waiting, I've been waiting, I've been waiting, I've asked you, I told you, I wanted this, I wanted that.

00:25:39.020 --> 00:25:45.020
You give none of it to me. And suddenly it just all came. How is it?

00:25:45.020 --> 00:25:51.020
So this is what, this is the, my lifestyle must transform, it must change.

00:25:52.020 --> 00:26:02.020
And if that hasn't happened, please, please, please, please, please, just take a look again at your life and say, am I connected?

00:26:02.020 --> 00:26:07.020
Because if you're connected, it's impossible not to start changing. It's impossible.

00:26:07.020 --> 00:26:12.020
I'm talking about connected to the church and the body, one that is living this life.

00:26:12.020 --> 00:26:16.020
Because if you find one who doesn't live this life, I will be just like that.

00:26:16.020 --> 00:26:26.020
If I want to get better at piano, if I found somebody who was equal or lesser than me, I will not become any more than what I am right now.

00:26:26.020 --> 00:26:30.020
A couple years ago I, I'm sorry I said that was the last story, here's another one.

00:26:30.020 --> 00:26:33.020
A couple years ago I decided that I need to get better at piano.

00:26:33.020 --> 00:26:39.020
And I had to find somebody who was better than me.

00:26:39.020 --> 00:26:44.020
Because if I found somebody who was similar or same, I would become the same or even lesser.

00:26:44.020 --> 00:26:54.020
I had to find somebody who knew more, who played more, who was better, who was way above me, who was more experienced, who understood things.

00:26:54.020 --> 00:27:00.020
So that when I go to them, I get to go up. I get to be more like what I need to become.

00:27:00.020 --> 00:27:05.020
And this is again a God-directed thing. Hey, if you ask me, do I really want to go to take piano lessons?

00:27:05.020 --> 00:27:12.020
It's going to cost me an arm and a leg because, because I mean piano lessons is, it's expensive when you go to really high up people.

00:27:12.020 --> 00:27:20.020
But I just, I just knew, I knew I had to do it. So I went looking for it, I asked around and I found somebody and they were willing to take me on.

00:27:20.020 --> 00:27:27.020
But my goodness, in a matter of what, two years, I learned more in that time than I had my entire time learning piano.

00:27:27.020 --> 00:27:40.020
That's crazy, but that's what it looks like. It is so quick when you somebody can, when I start getting connected to somebody who knows things, who are, who are better off than I am, who have walked the walk before me and can get me there.

00:27:40.020 --> 00:27:46.020
That's how it is with anything, right? As parents or even as if you teach anyone anything like, I know I keep talking about teaching.

00:27:46.020 --> 00:27:54.020
It's just I happen to be a piano teacher and that's all I know. But I mean, even as a parent, right? You don't want your kid to learn things slower than you.

00:27:54.020 --> 00:28:01.020
Your goal is that, I mean, for us, I hope Phoebe becomes a piano genius at the age of five.

00:28:03.020 --> 00:28:07.020
It's probably not going to happen because I understand that it needs time. But I mean, at six months I start teaching her.

00:28:07.020 --> 00:28:24.020
I tried to at least and she didn't want any of it. Right? But the thing is, one of the things I wanted her so, so I really want for her is to that if she decides to learn music that she learns it from a place of can I enjoy it first before I start to become disciplined and to work on things and to get better.

00:28:24.020 --> 00:28:33.020
Can I enjoy it first? Because that I never learned. It took me until I went to that teacher for about two, two and a half years that I suddenly started to enjoy music lessons.

00:28:33.020 --> 00:28:39.020
I never did. I mean, I don't know about most of you guys. A lot of you guys might have had lessons in music and maybe didn't like it.

00:28:39.020 --> 00:28:47.020
But I did. I sure wasn't one of those who were like, I love piano. I just really was obedient and I just practiced.

00:28:47.020 --> 00:28:56.020
But yeah, when I did it a couple of years ago, I was surprised how much I enjoyed music.

00:28:56.020 --> 00:29:00.020
And it was a redemption that God wanted for me and he did it for me through my university days.

00:29:00.020 --> 00:29:06.020
But he really took it to a new level when I went and did some music lessons again.

00:29:06.020 --> 00:29:15.020
Anyway, yeah, so you will go fast. You will run fast if you go to somebody who are someone and go to Christ in the body that has walked this before you.

00:29:15.020 --> 00:29:25.020
And that happened for me here. Second thing. I guess we'll make it to one o'clock today. One thirty. OK.

00:29:25.020 --> 00:29:28.020
The second thing about this man in verse eleven.

00:29:34.020 --> 00:29:36.020
He answered.

00:29:39.020 --> 00:29:45.020
Oh, sorry. Let's go to verse ten. So they said to him, Then how were your eyes open? And the man answered,

00:29:45.020 --> 00:29:53.020
The man called Jesus made mud and anoint in my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and received my sight.

00:29:55.020 --> 00:30:13.020
As a apostolic people, I'm talking about this church, but also individually, what we see here is that this man, the moment he saw,

00:30:13.020 --> 00:30:17.020
he became a witness and he was ready to talk about Jesus.

00:30:18.020 --> 00:30:24.020
The only difference between ambassadors of this world and us is that the message of the world are there for the interest of their country,

00:30:24.020 --> 00:30:33.020
but they keep it within their role in their embassy and whatnot. For us, we get to do this really cool thing.

00:30:33.020 --> 00:30:41.020
We get to invite everybody who's not part of this club to join the club. That's what we get to do. And it is such a backward club.

00:30:42.020 --> 00:30:49.020
Clubs are usually, you stay out, we're going to keep it private. This club or this kingdom says, You're not in here? Come. Come.

00:30:49.020 --> 00:30:55.020
Come all you who are thirsty. Come. Because this place is for you. This is for everyone.

00:30:55.020 --> 00:31:04.020
He became a person ready to talk and testify of Jesus at any given moment. And he did it to his own neighbors immediately.

00:31:04.020 --> 00:31:14.020
Immediately. He carried, the thing about him is that because of such a change in his life, people noticed it.

00:31:14.020 --> 00:31:20.020
Then they asked him and he was able to talk about Jesus immediately. And the thing is he could have been like, Oh, you know, I can see now.

00:31:20.020 --> 00:31:26.020
This is great. But no, he says, I can see because there was this man, Jesus. There was this man, Jesus.

00:31:34.020 --> 00:31:49.020
I remember talking to Don a couple of years ago. And this just illustrate what this looks like. Don, as in the one who's going to get married tonight or in the morning.

00:31:49.020 --> 00:31:53.020
That Don. Shout out Don. Woo.

00:31:54.020 --> 00:32:07.020
So I've been dealing with eczema on my hands for a very long time. And it would like, you know, go through and break open and bleed and whatnot.

00:32:07.020 --> 00:32:17.020
So I'm hearing that Don used to have as a kid and he said that one day some preacher or someone prayed and he said it was healed like, like healed.

00:32:17.020 --> 00:32:25.020
And I remember saying to him, I'm like, Don, I need that preacher to pray for me too. But Don's response was, but why? It's Christ who heals.

00:32:25.020 --> 00:32:32.020
Why do you need that preacher? He says, I'm like, you're right. Why do I need that preacher? Because Christ is the one who heals.

00:32:32.020 --> 00:32:39.020
So he was able to direct me back to it wasn't this amazing prophet or anything, but it was the power behind it, which is Christ.

00:32:39.020 --> 00:32:45.020
And he was saying it is Christ who heals. It is Christ who heals. And I was like, oh, how could I think such thoughts?

00:32:45.020 --> 00:32:52.020
This is terrible. But he reminded me that. And you know what? What's really, really cool? I have no eczema anymore because Christ healed me.

00:32:52.020 --> 00:33:03.020
Yeah, I 10 years and I was what? 18, 19. Okay. Maybe a little more than that. 12 years, 13 years.

00:33:04.020 --> 00:33:12.020
All right. But I tried everything. I tried every lotion on the rack. I tried medication. I tried this. I tried that.

00:33:12.020 --> 00:33:20.020
And I Christ, I was talking to God one day and he said, watch, watch as I heal everything you put down in a list.

00:33:20.020 --> 00:33:26.020
And in a matter of less than a year, I started to notice this change in my hands where I'm like, hey, it's starting to go away.

00:33:26.020 --> 00:33:36.020
And I used to use like the thickest cream or this and that. And then I just felt God saying, go grab this one and just use that for now because, you know, I said, okay, obedience.

00:33:36.020 --> 00:33:43.020
That's it. Don't need to know why I did that. And I couldn't believe it because before I knew it and it wasn't the cream.

00:33:43.020 --> 00:33:52.020
It was just you don't need to use this stuff anymore. It was about summer last year or something like that.

00:33:52.020 --> 00:33:59.020
I suddenly noticed that my hands are, it's all gone. Like the dryness is gone. My skin is all back.

00:33:59.020 --> 00:34:05.020
Like there used to be like little funny lines on it because it healed, but it wasn't really, really healed. But that was all gone.

00:34:05.020 --> 00:34:14.020
And in my mind, I happened once before and then I like used it so hard. I bash my hands. Not bash. I worked it really hard.

00:34:14.020 --> 00:34:21.020
I started like making bread. I started doing this and everything. And then like tore open like a couple months after that.

00:34:21.020 --> 00:34:28.020
But this time for some reason I just knew healing is mine. Christ has healed me. The power of God has done this already.

00:34:28.020 --> 00:34:35.020
It's dealt with already. And so I had this new confidence that I will take care of my hands, but I will not shy away from using it.

00:34:35.020 --> 00:34:43.020
And I can say to this day, as in today, my hands are still good. Like still good. So hallelujah.

00:34:43.020 --> 00:34:52.020
So yeah. Yeah. So I mean, thanks Don. That was really important for me to remember.

00:34:52.020 --> 00:35:00.020
Another story would be our brother Nick over there. Yeah. I'm going to talk about you. Yeah.

00:35:00.020 --> 00:35:07.020
So we had some, we went for lunch last week and I found out that one of the things he does is he goes to this dumpling place.

00:35:07.020 --> 00:35:15.020
And he'll eat there and he'll chit chat with the owner. And then he'll chit chat with them and instantly start talking about Jesus.

00:35:15.020 --> 00:35:22.020
And then now he says, the dumplings were okay, but he keeps going back because he wants to talk to his owner.

00:35:22.020 --> 00:35:27.020
He wants to be a witness for Jesus. He wants to show him this kingdom. And it's such a cool thing.

00:35:27.020 --> 00:35:33.020
Like this is, that's what Nick does. That's what it looks like. Hey, someone who's willing to, I think the dumpling is actually pretty good.

00:35:33.020 --> 00:35:42.020
I think it was just a bad day. But here's a man who was willing to spend money and to go regularly for what?

00:35:42.020 --> 00:35:47.020
Yeah. To fill his stomach. But there was a greater cause. There's a greater purpose. He wants to chit chat with the owner.

00:35:47.020 --> 00:35:52.020
And it doesn't mean he gets to talk to him every time. Sometimes the owner is busy. He has to cook or the, I'm sorry.

00:35:52.020 --> 00:35:58.020
Owner. He's the owner, right? Yeah. Owner and chef. So he has to, he's not like, he's just going to come out of the kitchen and be like, Hey, let's talk.

00:35:59.020 --> 00:36:06.020
So Nick will have to keep going back and keep spending money just to have an opportunity to talk to this chef, this owner.

00:36:06.020 --> 00:36:12.020
But he's doing that. Hey, that's a ready, that's someone who's willing to witness and ready to witness at any given moment.

00:36:12.020 --> 00:36:26.020
I look at, you look in the Bible, you look at someone like Legion who after casting out, having cast out all the demons, Jesus says, you stay.

00:36:26.020 --> 00:36:33.020
Don't come with me. Why? Because he became a witness for Christ. He certainly was. And the whole entire village gets saved because of this.

00:36:33.020 --> 00:36:43.020
You look at the man who was at the pool of Bethesda who couldn't get in. Again, Jesus goes and heals him. And what happens?

00:36:43.020 --> 00:36:49.020
He goes and saves. He goes and becomes a witness of what Christ had done in his life. So it's impossible.

00:36:49.020 --> 00:36:59.020
I can't imagine that none of us has a story. We all have our stories. Maybe it may not be as, or at least in our minds, because I think this sometimes.

00:36:59.020 --> 00:37:09.020
I think I have to look at Paul Vann's story. I'm like, man, look at what Christ has done in his life to take him from this lifestyle to like such a different lifestyle.

00:37:09.020 --> 00:37:19.020
How, that's amazing. I don't have a story like that. How can I be effective? But man, sorry. But come on, guys. You guys have stories.

00:37:19.020 --> 00:37:28.020
You guys have stories. You have stories that will influence the sphere you're in. Mine just happens to be piano students. So I keep talking about my piano students.

00:37:28.020 --> 00:37:38.020
You know, just a couple months ago, I started in-person lessons. I had a kid who showed up. And I mean, this is like COVID, you know, still kind of hanging out.

00:37:38.020 --> 00:37:48.020
And he comes to my lessons just like sniffling and blowing his nose like nonstop. And I'm like, uh, this isn't really, I don't know if this is the best way to go about this.

00:37:48.020 --> 00:37:55.020
Hey, guys. So I asked him, hey, what's going on? They told me, you know, his parents are like, oh, he has allergies. It's just causing that.

00:37:55.020 --> 00:38:02.020
I'm like, oh, no big deal. But then because of who I know Christ to be, who I know what he's done in my life, I said, hey, you know what?

00:38:02.020 --> 00:38:10.020
Crisis healed me of things in my life from an ankle that was so busted. And one day it went from sprain to jumping and running.

00:38:10.020 --> 00:38:17.020
It's impossible to a point where I know I have a new ankle in my right ankle. I've never sprained it since. And we're talking seven years since then.

00:38:17.020 --> 00:38:22.020
All right. I used to sprain it like once every year, maybe once every half year. I'll play some hockey. I'll sprain it. It happened all the time.

00:38:22.020 --> 00:38:33.020
And I knew I could tell from the how how bad the pain was. I could tell how badly I sprained it like or like, yeah, I knew how bad sprains were just because I had done it so many times.

00:38:33.020 --> 00:38:41.020
But I said to them, I'm like, I have a God who heals. And I said, will you let me pray for you? And they were kind of I think they were believers.

00:38:41.020 --> 00:38:49.020
I'm not sure. So he said, sure. And so I prayed simple words because, hey, I say, I can't I don't have much.

00:38:49.020 --> 00:38:55.020
I only have the power of Christ in me, which is everything I need. I prayed for them. And I just said, yeah, see you later.

00:38:55.020 --> 00:39:01.020
A week later, I noticed that nothing was going on. And I forgot to ask. So the second week I asked, hey, what's going on with your nose? How is your allergies?

00:39:01.020 --> 00:39:09.020
And he they said to me, so the day you pray, the next day it was all gone. And I was like, ah, awesome.

00:39:09.020 --> 00:39:16.020
I said, please be a witness. He was a little skeptical. They're in grade six. So I understand.

00:39:16.020 --> 00:39:21.020
So I tell you the 11 year old, now go tell your students. I said to him, like, you should go tell all your friends in your class,

00:39:21.020 --> 00:39:27.020
in your class, in school, about what God has just done in your life. He was like, ah.

00:39:27.020 --> 00:39:33.020
But this is what Christ does. And I have to be ready. I will have stories.

00:39:33.020 --> 00:39:40.020
Like I said, it may not be a Pauvin type story, but I have stories and I am ready to share. I am ready to share.

00:39:40.020 --> 00:39:49.020
And here's the coolest part, hey, is that in John 13 20, God says that Christ says that when anyone who receives you receives me,

00:39:49.020 --> 00:39:56.020
and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. Christ is saying I will enter into your situation if they receive you.

00:39:56.020 --> 00:40:03.020
When they receive you and what you're saying or what you have to share, I will enter into it because those who receive you have received me.

00:40:03.020 --> 00:40:07.020
And those who have received me, as in Christ, has received the one who has sent me, who is the Father in heaven.

00:40:07.020 --> 00:40:12.020
So be an active witness and a representative ready to make this Father known.

00:40:12.020 --> 00:40:19.020
Ready to make the Father known. Ready to make what he has done through Christ for all of humanity and what he has done in your life.

00:40:19.020 --> 00:40:26.020
I promise you, the smallest story you think you have will make the biggest impact on the nobodies that you don't think would make an impact on.

00:40:30.020 --> 00:40:31.020
Third point.

00:40:31.020 --> 00:40:39.020
Verse 14. It goes on to say, again, sorry, 13.

00:40:39.020 --> 00:40:46.020
They brought to the Pharisee the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

00:40:46.020 --> 00:40:56.020
And all we want to grab from here is this really simple, but probably one of the most difficult characteristics of an apostle.

00:40:56.020 --> 00:41:02.020
That everything we do is in rest. That we have to be in rest.

00:41:02.020 --> 00:41:11.020
Jesus purposely chose to do things on the Sabbath to show that on the day of rest, it is where God does things.

00:41:11.020 --> 00:41:15.020
No, no, sorry. That it is in rest that God can do.

00:41:15.020 --> 00:41:21.020
The moment I am out of rest, I will, even if it's the smallest, the 1%, I am exerting myself in it.

00:41:21.020 --> 00:41:28.020
But in rest, Christ does it all. In rest, it's all done. I don't do any of it.

00:41:28.020 --> 00:41:34.020
And ascent people, their lives are characterized by this rest.

00:41:34.020 --> 00:41:43.020
That we are resting all the days in God. That everything is done out of the rest, out of his rest.

00:41:43.020 --> 00:41:49.020
That I do not have to use any of my strength. I don't have to exert any of my human thinking or wisdom.

00:41:49.020 --> 00:41:57.020
But it is sheerly done. Sheerly. By the presence of God. By the Spirit. Sheerly. Nothing else.

00:41:57.020 --> 00:42:00.020
That's what rest looks like. And it is one of the hardest things to do.

00:42:00.020 --> 00:42:07.020
Where I cease from any of my work and I enter into his rest and go from his rest.

00:42:07.020 --> 00:42:10.020
It is one of the hardest things to do.

00:42:10.020 --> 00:42:16.020
But when we do that, what happens is that things that normally would have taken a person years and years and years to do,

00:42:16.020 --> 00:42:21.020
and we've all heard this, can be done in a matter of a moment.

00:42:21.020 --> 00:42:25.020
And I look at stories like Joshua and how he took down Jericho.

00:42:25.020 --> 00:42:31.020
I mean, seven days without even having to do anything. They just walked.

00:42:31.020 --> 00:42:38.020
Maybe that's hard to do. I don't know. But if God says walk, I'll walk.

00:42:38.020 --> 00:42:44.020
But seven days. And then the last day they just walked silently. It's such a weird thing.

00:42:44.020 --> 00:42:50.020
Like, it's so restful. It is so not humanly wisdom.

00:42:50.020 --> 00:42:53.020
Walk around, but don't say a word. Just nothing.

00:42:53.020 --> 00:42:57.020
I can't imagine what the guys on the wall are looking at. What are they doing?

00:42:57.020 --> 00:43:00.020
They were making noise maybe the days before, but why are they so silent?

00:43:00.020 --> 00:43:09.020
You know? We look at Jesus. Why was Jesus only around for three years? Why not more?

00:43:09.020 --> 00:43:14.020
Because in John 17, 4 he says, I've done all that I've been brought here to do. He's done it all.

00:43:14.020 --> 00:43:17.020
He did it in three years. Three years.

00:43:17.020 --> 00:43:23.020
We look at this building here. We literally got this building in a matter of a few days.

00:43:23.020 --> 00:43:27.020
I'm a witness to it because I was around when the contact happened,

00:43:27.020 --> 00:43:32.020
and then I was around when we saw the owners of this building and did everything.

00:43:32.020 --> 00:43:37.020
I'm a witness to this. This building, I mean, some churches might be looking for years

00:43:37.020 --> 00:43:43.020
trying to find the right place. And then here we are in a matter of days saying,

00:43:43.020 --> 00:43:47.020
here's a building for you. Rest. Rest. Rest.

00:43:47.020 --> 00:43:51.020
And I said earlier with Jane and things that she wanted to see in me as a husband

00:43:51.020 --> 00:43:56.020
that it was, it literally happened overnight. It was so quick.

00:43:56.020 --> 00:44:01.020
How is it that I spent so many years wanting, and I'm not saying she was exerting anything, hey.

00:44:01.020 --> 00:44:06.020
I think Jane was super patient. She endured.

00:44:06.020 --> 00:44:11.020
And that she knew that she couldn't force my will,

00:44:11.020 --> 00:44:15.020
but she could only have one hope in hope in God.

00:44:15.020 --> 00:44:20.020
So thanks for waiting.

00:44:20.020 --> 00:44:25.020
Yeah. So. Cool.

00:44:25.020 --> 00:44:30.020
Questions?

00:44:30.020 --> 00:44:35.020
Thanks for waiting for Jane. Yeah. But any questions?

00:44:35.020 --> 00:44:40.020
It's okay. At least you guys got all I got to see you off at all.

00:44:40.020 --> 00:44:45.020
Sorry.

00:44:45.020 --> 00:44:50.020
So.

00:44:50.020 --> 00:44:55.020
So.

00:44:55.020 --> 00:45:00.020
So.

00:45:00.020 --> 00:45:05.020
So.

00:45:05.020 --> 00:45:10.020
So.

00:45:10.020 --> 00:45:15.020
So.

00:45:15.020 --> 00:45:20.020
So.

00:45:20.020 --> 00:45:25.020
But even as our lifestyles being transformed, even as we're already witness,

00:45:25.020 --> 00:45:30.020
we have to do it from a place of rest. If we're not operating from a place of rest,

00:45:30.020 --> 00:45:35.020
then our lifestyle may look chaotic. If we're not operating from a place of rest,

00:45:35.020 --> 00:45:40.020
then we miss the opportunities where we can witness.

00:45:40.020 --> 00:45:45.020
So next I want to talk about clarity of message.

00:45:45.020 --> 00:45:50.020
And in some ways when we look at the story of this man in John 9,

00:45:50.020 --> 00:45:55.020
we see that he knew one thing. He'd been blind his whole life.

00:45:55.020 --> 00:46:00.020
He didn't know how to read, most likely, because he'd been blind. He couldn't see words. He didn't know how to read.

00:46:00.020 --> 00:46:05.020
He was a beggar. Everybody knew him because he sat and begged.

00:46:05.020 --> 00:46:10.020
Because he didn't have the ability to make an income any other way.

00:46:10.020 --> 00:46:15.020
He had people telling him what to do his whole life.

00:46:15.020 --> 00:46:20.020
He was somebody who most people considered. Even the disciples said to Jesus at the very beginning,

00:46:20.020 --> 00:46:25.020
who sinned? His mother or his father?

00:46:25.020 --> 00:46:30.020
He was an outcast from the city. He was somebody who everybody, even the disciples who

00:46:30.020 --> 00:46:35.020
maybe were at a different place than everybody else in the Jewish community,

00:46:35.020 --> 00:46:40.020
would have just sent here, what's happened to this guy? He would have been an outcast.

00:46:40.020 --> 00:46:45.020
He would have been somebody who was put aside. Hey, this is somebody who's a sinner.

00:46:45.020 --> 00:46:50.020
His life was born out of sin.

00:46:50.020 --> 00:46:55.020
And so maybe he didn't have the background of everybody around him.

00:46:55.020 --> 00:47:00.020
But throughout the chapter you see one thing. Everybody asks him what happened.

00:47:00.020 --> 00:47:05.020
He put clay on my eyes. I washed and I see.

00:47:05.020 --> 00:47:10.020
That was the entirety of his message. There was this man named Jesus.

00:47:10.020 --> 00:47:15.020
He put clay on my eyes. I washed and I see.

00:47:15.020 --> 00:47:20.020
He didn't have anything beyond that. He didn't have, oh well then this happened and then

00:47:20.020 --> 00:47:25.020
because of he has power or because he's so and so or because of...he didn't have any of that.

00:47:25.020 --> 00:47:30.020
He had the simple truth. He put clay on my eyes. I washed and I see.

00:47:30.020 --> 00:47:35.020
That's all he knew. But he had clarity in what he knew.

00:47:35.020 --> 00:47:40.020
And so often we don't have a clear message.

00:47:40.020 --> 00:47:45.020
So often we get hung up on the unimportance. Well, what did he do with the clay?

00:47:45.020 --> 00:47:50.020
How did he put the clay on your eyes? How did you wash the clay off your eyes?

00:47:50.020 --> 00:47:55.020
Did you say anything? What happened here? There must be more to the story.

00:47:55.020 --> 00:48:00.020
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I would think there must be more to the story. You could have put clay on your eyes a million times

00:48:00.020 --> 00:48:05.020
throughout the last how many years of your life and you never saw then.

00:48:05.020 --> 00:48:10.020
So what's so special about today? But he never once gets hung up on the unimportance.

00:48:10.020 --> 00:48:15.020
He never once starts saying, oh well maybe he did this. He never starts adding to it. He never starts diluting what happened.

00:48:15.020 --> 00:48:20.020
He goes back to the same simple message. He put clay on my eyes. I washed and I see.

00:48:20.020 --> 00:48:25.020
That's all he knows. This man named Jesus did this and now I see.

00:48:25.020 --> 00:48:30.020
And so sometimes we need to stop trying to figure out all the little pieces.

00:48:30.020 --> 00:48:35.020
But can I simply walk in obedience?

00:48:35.020 --> 00:48:40.020
So often a clarity of message is walking in foolish simplicity in obedience to our faith.

00:48:40.020 --> 00:48:45.020
Am I willing to foolishly say, hey I don't know all the details, but this is what I know.

00:48:45.020 --> 00:48:50.020
I know the nature of my God. I know who my God is.

00:48:50.020 --> 00:48:55.020
Sheldon was talking earlier about the three M's.

00:48:55.020 --> 00:49:00.020
We as believers have to have a singularity and an intentionality of our vision.

00:49:00.020 --> 00:49:05.020
If we don't have a singularity and we don't have a singularity of our vision,

00:49:05.020 --> 00:49:10.020
we don't know what our vision is.

00:49:10.020 --> 00:49:15.020
Our vision can be this today and this tomorrow and it can be over here the next day.

00:49:15.020 --> 00:49:20.020
But do I actually know what it is? Can I not explain it in a church?

00:49:20.020 --> 00:49:25.020
Can I explain what does it mean to make the Father known?

00:49:25.020 --> 00:49:30.020
What does it mean to make disciples? What does it mean to multiply churches?

00:49:30.020 --> 00:49:35.020
Do I actually understand, hey this is really what my purpose is?

00:49:35.020 --> 00:49:40.020
Or do I think, hey well this is what my purpose is, but then I'm also really good at this and I'm really strong over here.

00:49:40.020 --> 00:49:45.020
Okay, but let's go back.

00:49:45.020 --> 00:49:50.020
What's a singularity and what's the intentionality?

00:49:50.020 --> 00:49:55.020
What's the purpose of every person's life on the planet? Not just in this room.

00:49:55.020 --> 00:50:00.020
Why did he create us?

00:50:00.020 --> 00:50:05.020
He created us to make his Father known, to make disciples, and to multiply his church, his kingdom, his body here on earth.

00:50:05.020 --> 00:50:10.020
And so one thing I was thinking Father, but so often we want to know, okay how do I do it?

00:50:10.020 --> 00:50:15.020
Sheldon was saying sometimes we have purpose and then we dive right into it.

00:50:15.020 --> 00:50:20.020
And the Father loves to have a relationship with us.

00:50:20.020 --> 00:50:25.020
That's how we get clarity in what his message is.

00:50:25.020 --> 00:50:30.020
That's how we understand his intentionality into every situation.

00:50:30.020 --> 00:50:35.020
But how do I approach him? Something when I was looking through these notes, I was thinking, okay Father how does this look?

00:50:35.020 --> 00:50:40.020
And one thing he said is, you can approach me as Mary or you can approach me as Zachariah.

00:50:40.020 --> 00:50:45.020
They both had a question. An angel came and saw them and they both had a question.

00:50:45.020 --> 00:50:50.020
One, their questions were different. Zachariah's question was, how do I know this?

00:50:53.020 --> 00:50:58.020
Mary's question was, how can this be?

00:50:58.020 --> 00:51:03.020
Mary maybe couldn't understand how this could be, but she knew, hey this is an angel from God who's coming and talking to me.

00:51:03.020 --> 00:51:08.020
This must be. How it may be, I don't know.

00:51:08.020 --> 00:51:13.020
Zachariah's response was, how do I know this?

00:51:13.020 --> 00:51:18.020
And he knew from the fact that an angel of God was standing there talking to him.

00:51:18.020 --> 00:51:23.020
I need another backup. I need to know this some other way.

00:51:23.020 --> 00:51:28.020
And in that, the results still happened, but he added stumbling blocks to his next nine months.

00:51:28.020 --> 00:51:33.020
He could have walked it with ease. Instead he walked it not being able to speak.

00:51:33.020 --> 00:51:38.020
So sometimes when it comes to clarity of message, as walking as an apostolic people,

00:51:38.020 --> 00:51:43.020
we have to start removing the unimportance.

00:51:43.020 --> 00:51:48.020
Are we willing to say, okay but God this is what you said so maybe I don't understand it.

00:51:48.020 --> 00:51:53.020
But am I willing to step out in obedience and start figuring this out?

00:51:53.020 --> 00:51:58.020
Am I willing to step out in obedience and start letting you transform my life?

00:51:58.020 --> 00:52:03.020
Start letting you bring me into situations where will I be a ready witness or will I be an unready witness?

00:52:03.020 --> 00:52:08.020
Is this something that I'm going to walk from rest or am I going to try and figure out,

00:52:08.020 --> 00:52:12.020
okay what is this message, how do I make this message work, how does this all work?

00:52:12.020 --> 00:52:17.020
Or can I walk and ask, okay Father in this situation how do I respond?

00:52:17.020 --> 00:52:22.020
I know this is what you've placed me on the earth to do. To make you known.

00:52:22.020 --> 00:52:27.020
To make disciples, to multiply churches. And then we can take it a step further.

00:52:27.020 --> 00:52:32.020
So we know those three things. But what is something that this church has been called to do?

00:52:32.020 --> 00:52:39.020
We've been called to ignite a revival among the 20s and 30s that will spread across the globe.

00:52:39.020 --> 00:52:44.020
But it has to start here. It has to start with us.

00:52:44.020 --> 00:52:48.020
Is this a purpose? Is this something we think of throughout our day?

00:52:48.020 --> 00:52:52.020
Is this something that we're clear on? That we actually believe?

00:52:52.020 --> 00:53:00.020
Hey with singularity, with intentionality, we are going to start a revival that will ignite across the globe.

00:53:00.020 --> 00:53:05.020
That is what God has told us that will start here. It will start with us here.

00:53:05.020 --> 00:53:08.020
But are we intentional about it?

00:53:12.020 --> 00:53:18.020
And then it comes to our next point. And this one can seem a little bit odd.

00:53:18.020 --> 00:53:26.020
But to be an apostolic people has a component that brings about a ministry of division.

00:53:26.020 --> 00:53:30.020
And in some ways you can go back to what Anila was saying at the very beginning.

00:53:30.020 --> 00:53:35.020
That we have to talk about unity. And yes there is unity.

00:53:35.020 --> 00:53:40.020
So how does if we're called to walk in unity, how does division come into this?

00:53:40.020 --> 00:53:43.020
How is division even in play in this?

00:53:44.020 --> 00:53:55.020
And so I'm just going to read from starting at verse 13.

00:53:55.020 --> 00:53:57.020
So John 9 verse 13. It says,

00:53:57.020 --> 00:54:02.020
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

00:54:02.020 --> 00:54:06.020
Now was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.

00:54:06.020 --> 00:54:09.020
So the Pharisees again asked him,

00:54:09.020 --> 00:54:13.020
How has he received his sight?

00:54:13.020 --> 00:54:18.020
And he said to them, He put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see.

00:54:18.020 --> 00:54:23.020
Some of the Pharisees said, This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.

00:54:23.020 --> 00:54:28.020
But others said, How can a man who is a sinner do such things?

00:54:28.020 --> 00:54:30.020
And there was division among them.

00:54:30.020 --> 00:54:35.020
So they said again to the blind man, Why, what do you say about him?

00:54:35.020 --> 00:54:37.020
Since he has opened your eyes.

00:54:37.020 --> 00:54:40.020
He said, He is a prophet.

00:54:40.020 --> 00:54:45.020
The Jews did not believe him that he had been blind and had received his sight.

00:54:45.020 --> 00:54:49.020
Until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them,

00:54:49.020 --> 00:54:53.020
Is this your son who you say has been born blind?

00:54:53.020 --> 00:54:56.020
How then does he see?

00:54:56.020 --> 00:55:01.020
And his parents answered, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.

00:55:01.020 --> 00:55:04.020
But how he now sees, we do not know.

00:55:04.020 --> 00:55:06.020
Nor do we know who opened his eyes.

00:55:06.020 --> 00:55:11.020
Ask him. He is of age. He can speak for himself.

00:55:11.020 --> 00:55:15.020
And so here we see something interesting.

00:55:15.020 --> 00:55:20.020
He came in and he went back to he had one truth.

00:55:20.020 --> 00:55:25.020
He put clay on my eyes, I washed and I see.

00:55:25.020 --> 00:55:27.020
The Pharisees want to know more.

00:55:27.020 --> 00:55:29.020
The Pharisees are highly educated.

00:55:29.020 --> 00:55:31.020
They are skilled at the top of the line.

00:55:31.020 --> 00:55:35.020
I was looking up something and to be considered a rabbi in Jerusalem,

00:55:35.020 --> 00:55:37.020
they are trained from infancy.

00:55:37.020 --> 00:55:42.020
And something is that by the age of 10, they are expected to know the first five books of their Torah.

00:55:42.020 --> 00:55:45.020
Do you know what the first five books of their Torah are?

00:55:45.020 --> 00:55:48.020
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

00:55:48.020 --> 00:55:53.020
Who of us, we might even skip through reading those books, let alone actually have them memorized.

00:55:53.020 --> 00:55:57.020
They knew all the details.

00:55:57.020 --> 00:55:59.020
They knew every little nuance here and there.

00:55:59.020 --> 00:56:04.020
But yet they missed who the creator was.

00:56:04.020 --> 00:56:06.020
They knew the law.

00:56:06.020 --> 00:56:12.020
But they were so encompassed in religiosity, in legalism,

00:56:12.020 --> 00:56:16.020
in everything has to function this way, this way and this way.

00:56:16.020 --> 00:56:21.020
That as soon as somebody came and said, oh, I can see, they didn't know what to do with it.

00:56:21.020 --> 00:56:23.020
It didn't fit into their book of things.

00:56:23.020 --> 00:56:24.020
So they are divided.

00:56:24.020 --> 00:56:25.020
They are divided.

00:56:25.020 --> 00:56:27.020
They are saying, well, he must be a sinner.

00:56:27.020 --> 00:56:33.020
And then they are saying, no, but sinners aren't supposed to be able to make other people see.

00:56:33.020 --> 00:56:39.020
So apostolic believers bring division into the house of religion.

00:56:39.020 --> 00:56:51.020
And in Matthew 10, 34 to 36, we see what Jesus says, why he came to earth.

00:56:51.020 --> 00:56:55.020
Do not think that I came to bring peace to the earth.

00:56:55.020 --> 00:56:59.020
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

00:56:59.020 --> 00:57:05.020
For I have come to set a father, a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,

00:57:05.020 --> 00:57:08.020
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

00:57:08.020 --> 00:57:11.020
And a person's enemy will be those of his own household.

00:57:11.020 --> 00:57:13.020
And this seems like such a strange verse.

00:57:13.020 --> 00:57:14.020
We think of God as love.

00:57:14.020 --> 00:57:21.020
We think of God as somebody who's coming to bring peace, make everything as it should be.

00:57:21.020 --> 00:57:24.020
But yet God's saying, I didn't come to bring peace.

00:57:24.020 --> 00:57:25.020
I came to bring a sword.

00:57:25.020 --> 00:57:26.020
And what was that sword?

00:57:26.020 --> 00:57:28.020
The sword was to divide his kingdom out.

00:57:28.020 --> 00:57:32.020
The sword is to say, hey, these are actually my people.

00:57:32.020 --> 00:57:34.020
I'm not here to bring rules and laws and legalism.

00:57:34.020 --> 00:57:35.020
That's not me.

00:57:35.020 --> 00:57:36.020
That's not my heart.

00:57:36.020 --> 00:57:39.020
That's not who I am.

00:57:39.020 --> 00:57:41.020
So it's time that you stop diluting.

00:57:41.020 --> 00:57:44.020
It's time that you stop adding to what I'm saying.

00:57:44.020 --> 00:57:50.020
So often, I think, sometimes we get stuck and think that, oh, we're supposed to be peacekeepers.

00:57:50.020 --> 00:57:53.020
An ambassador isn't a peacekeeper.

00:57:53.020 --> 00:58:00.020
An ambassador is somebody who's come to ambassad for his country so that his country gets what his country needs.

00:58:00.020 --> 00:58:07.020
And so often, we want to be peacekeepers.

00:58:07.020 --> 00:58:09.020
But we're not called to be peacekeepers.

00:58:09.020 --> 00:58:12.020
We're called to display the Prince of Peace.

00:58:12.020 --> 00:58:14.020
The Prince of Peace is a mighty God.

00:58:14.020 --> 00:58:17.020
The Prince of Peace is a wonderful counselor.

00:58:17.020 --> 00:58:19.020
But he is Lord.

00:58:19.020 --> 00:58:20.020
He is God.

00:58:20.020 --> 00:58:25.020
He is someone who has come and said, hey, there are ways you are to live.

00:58:25.020 --> 00:58:28.020
You need to start letting me transform your life.

00:58:28.020 --> 00:58:33.020
Without transforming my life, you just become a religion.

00:58:33.020 --> 00:58:34.020
Am I living?

00:58:34.020 --> 00:58:37.020
Am I active inside of you?

00:58:38.020 --> 00:58:44.020
The message of the cross, we talked about this a number of months ago, the message of the cross is simple.

00:58:44.020 --> 00:58:46.020
But often, we try and complicate it.

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Often, we try and add to it.

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Because the nature of the apostolic message conflicts with places where laws and traditions are exalted above Christ.

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Thus, division is inevitable.

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Because when we break the Word of God, when we break the bread, it reveals the responses of everybody sitting around the table.

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When Jesus broke bread, it revealed how Judas responded.

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It revealed how John responded.

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It revealed how Peter responded.

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And God also says that when you go into the world, people will hunger after what you have, or they will hate you.

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But can we walk into the world in that context that I will still walk in with the message he has, even though some people are not going to like it?

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I can't be neutral in my message.

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I can't be neutral in the Father.

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I can't be neutral in this kingdom.

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But as I'm in this kingdom, as I'm displaying Christ, am I willing to be neutral to everything that's happening around me?

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Or do I have clarity? Do I have intentionality? Do I have singularity?

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In this is who my God is, and this is what he has sent me to do.

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So will I let him start affecting my life?

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Because God didn't come to bring peace, but to establish his kingdom through us, his people.

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So that we can be set apart and have transformed lifestyles and start transforming the lives of those around us.

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So that brings us to our sixth point.

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Rapid upgrade.

01:00:33.020 --> 01:00:35.020
Sheldon's laughing at me because I'm going so fast.

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Rapid upgrade.

01:00:39.020 --> 01:00:41.020
This one I think is so cool.

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Going back to who was this man?

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What was his background? What was his knowledge?

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What type of foundation did he have?

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He was probably blind. He probably hadn't really gone to school.

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He probably had people direct his life, his whole life.

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They'd lead him here, lead him there. He couldn't see.

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They'd put him down at the pool. They'd go collect him in the evening. They'd bring him back.

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But yet, he had the ability. He had the desire.

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He had the hunger. He had the realization of, hey, this is what has happened.

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To contend for more.

01:01:18.020 --> 01:01:24.020
And so in verse 11, when he's talking to his neighbors, we hear him call the man named Jesus.

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In verse 17, when he's talking to the Pharisees, he says, well, I think he's a prophet.

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Because the reality is, he's never even seen Jesus.

01:01:38.020 --> 01:01:42.020
It wasn't like he went searching for Jesus saying, hey, I'm blind. I need somebody to come and heal him.

01:01:42.020 --> 01:01:48.020
The disciples are walking back and having a conversation with Jesus about this blind guy on the side of the road.

01:01:48.020 --> 01:01:53.020
And Jesus says, hey, no, this guy, there's a reason for this.

01:01:53.020 --> 01:01:55.020
He's part of our day to day.

01:01:57.020 --> 01:02:00.020
We're going to change his life. It's going to change his whole community.

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It's going to display the father to this whole community, this one man.

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He has a purpose.

01:02:06.020 --> 01:02:09.020
He's not just some sinner sitting there on the side of the road.

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Even if he is some sinner sitting there on the side of the road, he has a purpose.

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He is to display the father.

01:02:15.020 --> 01:02:18.020
But then we see what happens in verse 38.

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So I'm going to continue from 22 where I left off.

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Verse 24. We're going to start at verse 24.

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They said to him, what did he do to you?

01:03:10.020 --> 01:03:12.020
How did he open your eyes?

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He answered them, I told you already and you would not listen.

01:03:16.020 --> 01:03:18.020
Why do you want to hear it again?

01:03:18.020 --> 01:03:20.020
Do you also want to become his disciples?

01:03:20.020 --> 01:03:26.020
And they reviled him saying, you are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

01:03:26.020 --> 01:03:28.020
We know that God has spoken to Moses.

01:03:28.020 --> 01:03:32.020
But as for this man, we don't know where he comes from.

01:03:32.020 --> 01:03:34.020
The man answered, well, this is amazing.

01:03:34.020 --> 01:03:36.020
You do not know where he comes from.

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And yet he opened my eyes.

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We know that God does not listen to sinners.

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But if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

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Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.

01:03:55.020 --> 01:03:59.020
If this man was not from God, he could do nothing.

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They answered him, you were born in utter sin.

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And would you teach us?

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And they cast him out.

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Jesus heard this, that they had cast him out and found him and said, do you believe in the Son of Man?

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He answered, and who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?

01:04:19.020 --> 01:04:25.020
Jesus said to him, you have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you.

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And he said, Lord, I believe.

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And he worshipped him.

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And so here we see that in one day, this man goes from, maybe it is even one afternoon,

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this man goes from this man who I do not know.

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I could not even see him.

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I was blind.

01:04:45.020 --> 01:04:49.020
Then probably when I saw him, his first recollections maybe were not of who was standing around him,

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but the fact that he could actually see.

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So does he even remember what Jesus looked like?

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So we have this man who, all he was was a man named Jesus.

01:04:59.020 --> 01:05:00.020
I do not know who this man is.

01:05:00.020 --> 01:05:02.020
I just know he is a man named Jesus.

01:05:02.020 --> 01:05:08.020
Then in his conversation with the Pharisees, he is astounded that the Pharisees do not know who this man is.

01:05:08.020 --> 01:05:09.020
He is saying, well, he must be a prophet.

01:05:09.020 --> 01:05:11.020
He made me see.

01:05:12.020 --> 01:05:16.020
But then when he starts talking with Jesus and he realizes who Jesus is,

01:05:16.020 --> 01:05:24.020
all of a sudden he recognizes and acknowledges that Jesus is the Messiah and he worships him.

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So we as an apostolic people need to have an accurate response to difficult questions.

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And are we actually able to contend for faith on our own?

01:05:36.020 --> 01:05:40.020
This man did not have all of a sudden, he could not go to the Pharisees and say,

01:05:40.020 --> 01:05:42.020
teach me who this man is.

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They are telling him that no, he is a sinner and they have cast him out.

01:05:45.020 --> 01:05:48.020
All he knows is that this man made him see.

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But yet in a short time he recognized, hey, this man who made me see, he is the Messiah.

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He is who this entire country is searching for, yet they do not see him.

01:05:59.020 --> 01:06:01.020
But I have seen him.

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He opened my eyes.

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I see him not just with my physical eyes, even though he is now standing here speaking to me.

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But there was a recognition that he was a man who made me see.

01:06:14.020 --> 01:06:17.020
Even though he is now standing here speaking to me.

01:06:17.020 --> 01:06:22.020
But there was a recognition of, hey, I know who this man is.

01:06:22.020 --> 01:06:27.020
Who we have searched for for the last 2,000 years is standing in front of me.

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I know who this man is.

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He was not dependent on some prophet.

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He was not dependent on a rabbi to say, hey, this is who this man is.

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He knew one thing.

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Who I have been searching for.

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I watched and now I see.

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He had to go back to the only truth he knew.

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I could not see, but now I can see.

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And this man is the King of Kings.

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And so are we able to rapidly upgrade?

01:06:58.020 --> 01:07:02.020
Are we able to say, okay, Father, this is who you are.

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Maybe I have learned you as Father, but am I continually contending for more of you?

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Or am I happy to depend on those around me?

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Maybe Jane is great at leading worship.

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So am I happy to just come to church on Sunday and say, oh yeah, worship will be great.

01:07:22.020 --> 01:07:26.020
Or when I go home during the week, am I contending for more?

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Am I saying, Father, this is something more I need to break into.

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This is something more that I want.

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I need to grow in intimacy with you here.

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Maybe I know God as Father, but have I started to learn him as warrior?

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Have I started to learn him as mighty King?

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Am I dependent on just coming and having others teach me?

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Or during the week, in my moments, am I contending for more?

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Am I saying, Father, I need more than you?

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This is what I've grasped. This is what I know.

01:07:57.020 --> 01:07:59.020
But I can't stay here.

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Because I need to be continually discovering who you are.

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Because my life can't be transformed when I accept Christ and then stay there.

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My life has to be continually being transformed.

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So can we discover more of him?

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Can I learn to catch the wind of the Spirit so that throughout my day, God is saying, go here.

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Now he's saying, go here.

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Yeah, but God, I had plans to do all of these things today.

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Now you're telling me to go here.

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Now you're telling me to go here.

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This doesn't fit into any of my plans of things to do for the day.

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But am I contending for more?

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Am I saying, hungering? Is my desire, Father, I want more of you?

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Father, how do I operate by hearing your voice and stepping into it?

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How do I be willing to throw out all of my plans and say,

01:08:48.020 --> 01:08:51.020
okay, Father, this is what you're saying. This is how I'm going to go?

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Because I don't want to settle down for just a good Father.

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Because if I settle down for I have a good Father, then I miss out on who my Father is.

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I can know that my Father is good, but not discover that, hey, he really loves cars or he really loves planes.

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Or this is something that makes his heart tick.

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Am I discovering the nuances of God?

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Am I discovering, hey, this is something that God's really interested in right now.

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So if he's really interested in this right now, I want to be really interested in this right now.

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But if I'm not contending for more of him, I'll miss out that today, at this time, this is what he's interested in.

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Because I'm still stuck on what he was interested in last week.

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So I want to encourage us that are we rapidly upgrading our lives?

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Are we contending for more?

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Because I don't want to miss out.

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I want more.

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And yes, we can say, no, we don't miss out, we have God.

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Yes, you're right, we have a ticket to heaven.

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We have the end.

01:09:58.020 --> 01:10:02.020
But in each day, am I living with, okay, God, what do you have here?

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How do I live this?

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How do I do this?

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Okay.

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They were worried about taking the time by that.

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All right.

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I have a cheat sheet, but I thought, well, I just want to review quickly through, because I have the notes.

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But we're talking here about what are traits of an apostolic people?

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That's us.

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Any believer, actually.

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Any church.

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What do we need to look like?

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What should people notice about us?

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These are the kind of traits we're talking about.

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And so Sheldon went through one, there should be a lifestyle transformation.

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Life should look different.

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There should be a readiness to witness at any time, at any place.

01:10:56.020 --> 01:11:00.020
Are you ready to be a witness for God?

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And then the third was, do you operate out of rest?

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And then Jillian went through and talked about, is there a clear message?

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Do you have a clear message of the gospel?

01:11:16.020 --> 01:11:17.020
Yeah.

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And then the next one she talked about was, they should notice a ministry of division.

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And that when you speak, it actually exposes.

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It's not about making us feel nice, but it actually exposes.

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Where are you at presently?

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And the third is a rapid upgrade.

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That you should notice some quick changes that actually, like Sheldon was talking about,

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wouldn't be possible without the life of Jesus and his Holy Spirit in you.

01:11:46.020 --> 01:11:50.020
So that brings us to, we have three more points.

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And I think mine will go through it a little bit quicker maybe.

01:11:54.020 --> 01:12:00.020
So another trait that people should notice, and we should notice of each other actually,

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is that there's a clear distinction between past and present.

01:12:04.020 --> 01:12:07.020
And really, when does this start?

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We get born into the world, and then we talk about there's another process of being born again.

01:12:12.020 --> 01:12:16.020
So when does this life as an apostolic believer start?

01:12:16.020 --> 01:12:19.020
We get launched into it when we receive Christ.

01:12:19.020 --> 01:12:23.020
We get baptized, we repent, and we get baptized.

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And when that happens, we get launched into this new life called being a believer.

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And so it starts when you turn from your old ways, your old self, your old life,

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and you turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and you're baptized.

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And baptism marks the end of me, myself, and I.

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And it's the beginning of Christ in me.

01:12:49.020 --> 01:13:00.020
So has there been a moment for each of us where we decided that the me who just lived up to one second ago is actually dead?

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I know we've been actually talking about this the last few weeks,

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but have we had that moment where we really actually made that conscious decision that the me that lived a second ago is dead?

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And that a new me is stepping out, full of the Spirit, full of...

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There's a song that we talked about, I'm alive and well because your Spirit is within me.

01:13:26.020 --> 01:13:30.020
Is this something that we say is true for me?

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Because his Spirit is in me.

01:13:32.020 --> 01:13:40.020
And do I live today as if it was actually the present, or do I live today as a prisoner of the past?

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I.e. I live today, I go through the life today like I would have before.

01:13:46.020 --> 01:13:48.020
No, it should look different.

01:13:48.020 --> 01:13:50.020
Do I see that in my life?

01:13:50.020 --> 01:13:52.020
Do I see that in your lives?

01:13:55.020 --> 01:14:05.020
And even more, one thing I wanted to highlight was do I live today continually sentencing myself to the life that I deserved before?

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I'll just read that one more time.

01:14:08.020 --> 01:14:14.020
Do I live today sentencing myself to the life I deserved before?

01:14:14.020 --> 01:14:16.020
Because we don't have that anymore.

01:14:16.020 --> 01:14:20.020
If it's dead, we don't live that sentence anymore.

01:14:20.020 --> 01:14:24.020
If you're a prisoner, you die, you don't live out that sentence anymore.

01:14:24.020 --> 01:14:25.020
It's gone.

01:14:25.020 --> 01:14:31.020
So do we live today as if whatever you may have deserved in the past is gone?

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It's a done deal.

01:14:33.020 --> 01:14:38.020
Do you give yourself that restart, that new chance to try again?

01:14:38.020 --> 01:14:51.020
Maybe my surroundings might be new, maybe clothing might be new, jobs or relationships might be new, but do I actually walk and talk like I'm new?

01:14:51.020 --> 01:15:00.020
And that's actually part of what we talked about just even last week where Jacob was saying it's one thing to be set free, it's another to walk free.

01:15:00.020 --> 01:15:03.020
What does it actually look like to walk and stay free?

01:15:03.020 --> 01:15:10.020
And that's that newness, walking in that newness, that what I deserved before is done.

01:15:10.020 --> 01:15:16.020
And so I get that opportunity to try again, to try new.

01:15:16.020 --> 01:15:24.020
And the best example I have is something that Phoebe does, and I don't know if you've ever watched Dragons Den.

01:15:24.020 --> 01:15:29.020
There's a dragon called Kevin O'Leary, and one of his pet phrases is, you're dead to me.

01:15:29.020 --> 01:15:38.020
So if you make a pitch to Kevin O'Leary and he gives you an offer and you say no and you reject him, then he says you're dead to me.

01:15:38.020 --> 01:15:45.020
It's pretty cruel, but actually it really sticks to me.

01:15:45.020 --> 01:15:52.020
And so one of the things Phoebe does is, and I think it's a toddler thing too, but they can't hold two things at the same time.

01:15:52.020 --> 01:15:56.020
You can't. It's impossible. Their brains just can't handle it.

01:15:56.020 --> 01:16:01.020
And so she'll be holding one thing, and then when she sees something better, she'll drop it like it's dead.

01:16:01.020 --> 01:16:04.020
Literally. That's what it looks like. It's dead dead.

01:16:04.020 --> 01:16:12.020
And she's straight beelining for that new thing. Maybe it's cheese. Maybe it's one of you. She wants to say hi, whatever it is.

01:16:12.020 --> 01:16:17.020
But she drops it like it's hot. In no second thought, and she doesn't look back.

01:16:17.020 --> 01:16:22.020
And I think that's such an awesome example of what that looks like. Can I treat it like that?

01:16:22.020 --> 01:16:26.020
That's kind of like the recklessness that when we say reckless, that's kind of what it looks like.

01:16:26.020 --> 01:16:34.020
Can I drop it like it's dead? My old habit, maybe until even if I did it until two seconds old, can I drop it like it's dead?

01:16:34.020 --> 01:16:39.020
Because Jesus said I could and because the spirit is in me.

01:16:39.020 --> 01:16:46.020
Another part of having a distinction between past and present is that we refuse to live in the past.

01:16:46.020 --> 01:16:51.020
So things people have said I am, ways I might have been in the past.

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And then the other way is by living off of words spoken by God in the past.

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And so maybe that was a word that was for me five years ago.

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But am I still living under that and not looking for it and not holding, taking hold of what he's saying today for my life?

01:17:12.020 --> 01:17:19.020
And because one of the things about being an apostolic believer is like Sheldon and Jillian were saying is we're sent ones.

01:17:19.020 --> 01:17:23.020
What do sent ones do? They move. And you can't move unless you go forward.

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You can't move. We're not moving backwards. Right?

01:17:26.020 --> 01:17:31.020
So we need to be looking and asking God, what is the word that you have today for me today?

01:17:31.020 --> 01:17:37.020
Can we expect that? Because when he, you know, when Jesus is saying man shall not live on bread alone,

01:17:37.020 --> 01:17:43.020
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God, the choice of bread is very specific.

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Bread is not like a once in a while thing. You don't eat bread once in a while to survive.

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You eat it every day. And so this is like an everyday dependence.

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Can we grow that everyday dependence on his word to sustain us and show us how we need to go things and tell us where to go and be sent?

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And then another part of making a distinction between the past and the present is that we don't let old circumstances, loyalties,

01:18:09.020 --> 01:18:16.020
our surroundings stop us or slow us down from pursuing what God is saying and doing right now.

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The next trait that we want to talk about is boldness.

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And I actually really like how the man responded in the, it's kind of cheeky in a way what he's saying.

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You know, he's like, I already told, like the Pharisees are asking him again, well, how did it happen? They already asked him, right?

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He's like, well, I told you already, you're not listening. He had some guts to say that.

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I don't know if I have the guts to say that. Right?

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He's like, I don't want to bother telling you again. You're not going to believe me anyways.

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It's like that's kind of how firm he was. Like this is my story. Take it or leave it. Right?

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And so that's kind of the goal that we actually kind of have to have.

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That this is what I'm saying. You take it or leave it. Right? I'm not backing down.

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You can say whatever you want. I'm not backing down.

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And so they have, we as apostolic believers have to have the boldness and a capacity to stand before antagonistic religious spirits or falsehoods when people speak falsely of Jesus.

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And Jesus talks about it. And actually one of the things, you know, reasons why we can stand boldly because we're well taken care of.

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Jesus is not asking us to go and be bold because, you know, I just told you so. So just go do it.

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No, he's like, I am telling you to do it. But also I'm giving you all you need to go do it. You're well taken care of.

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And in Matthew 10, 16, Jesus says, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves.

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Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard.

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Because on my account, you will be brought before local councils, synagogues, governors, kings.

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And then just actually in the same paragraph, just a bit further down, Jesus follows it by saying,

01:20:12.020 --> 01:20:19.020
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your father's care.

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And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid. Your worth way more than sparrows.

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So it's actually all in the same package. He's saying, go. This is what's going to happen.

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I came to bring not peace, but a sword. This is going to happen. But when it happens, I've got you.

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I've got your back. I've hemmed you in on every side. I've got you.

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And when necessary, apostolic believers can be confrontational and know how to deal with intimidation.

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And the one thing I just want to highlight about that is that expect the spirit to speak through you and rely on him to show you how to go about it.

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When Jesus is saying, be as true as a snake, it's not like, it is partly use worldly things that you have at your hands.

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But above that, it's saying, rely on the spirit to show you how to use it. It's always going back to let the spirit show you the strategies.

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He's the one who has to come up with it. You don't have to come up with it. You just do it. You speak it.

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And so expect the spirit to speak through. In Matthew 10, 20, it says, at that time, Jesus is saying, at that time you will be given what to say,

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for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your Father speaking through you.

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And this was when he was telling the disciples, you'll have to come up against people. You'll have to speak about me.

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But don't worry. I'll tell you exactly what to say. And in Luke 12, 12, it's the same thing.

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Jesus says, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.

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And the other thing I want to highlight is it's not up to us to convince people. It's just about speaking.

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It's not up to us to convince, but it's up to us to speak and to stand our ground without backing down.

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And that's a lot of what Jillian was talking about earlier.

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And the next point is similar to what Jillian was saying, is as an apostolic believer and being bold in it,

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we also have to understand that there is tact that we can use. There is wisdom that we need to use.

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And there's gentleness and compassion. But diplomacy is not a fruit of the spirit.

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Diplomacy is not a fruit of the spirit. And that's what Jillian was saying about we're not here to be peacekeepers.

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We're not here to make everybody happy. We're here to present life and life to the fullest.

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We're here to present the one who brings that life, and that's Jesus.

01:23:00.020 --> 01:23:06.020
So the last trait we want to talk about this morning or afternoon is...

01:23:06.020 --> 01:23:11.020
apostolic believers recognize their identity and others recognize it too.

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And the example is when the Pharisees are saying, oh, so you're his disciple.

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Saying, oh, you're Jesus' disciple. What you're saying means that you must be his disciple.

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So apostolic believers are recognized as disciples.

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And they're demonstrators of two things. Divine life and spiritual life.

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And they're demonstrators of two things. Divine life and divine ownership.

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And John 3.30 is a verse that I often remember.

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And it's really just the line that John the Baptist was saying.

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He must become greater. I must become less. He must become greater. I must become less.

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It's not about me. And that's exactly what Sheldon was saying about when Don was pointing that out to him.

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It's not the prophet. It's Jesus.

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And so how do we live that out? That he must become greater and I must become less.

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It comes through divine life. Showing divine life and showing divine ownership.

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How do we show divine life? It shows by letting ourselves be circumcised by Christ.

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And so Colossians too... well, in the Old Testament they had a physical circumcision to mark their identity.

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But in the New Testament we have divine life that is displayed by a circumcised life.

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And in Colossians 2.11 it says,

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Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised with Christ.

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And the thing that stood out to me about circumcision is, aside from it being a physical mark,

01:24:46.020 --> 01:24:51.020
was that actually circumcision left the Israelite camp very vulnerable.

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They couldn't do anything for days, days on days. They were very vulnerable.

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They could be attacked. They were just pretty much resting. They couldn't do anything.

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And so that's actually exactly where God wanted them to be.

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Because that means when they were vulnerable, they were primed to see and display his power.

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His life and his protection. And it's actually exactly the same with us.

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When we allow God through his spirit to circumcise our lives, it leaves us vulnerable.

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Because we're not using the same protection. We're not using the same coping.

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We're not using our same weapons, defense strategies, you know,

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the ways we go about things that are like well-oiled machines.

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When we don't have those, we feel vulnerable.

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But what that does is it primes us to display him.

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There's actually no other way we could describe it, but actually this was not my idea.

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This was actually his idea.

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And then divine ownership.

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It's displayed by joining the master in building what he's building and advancing,

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not what I'm building and advancing, which really is the church and his kingdom.

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Divine ownership means I know I am not my own. I don't belong to myself anymore.

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I belong to Christ.

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His desires become my desires and his business is my business.

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Just like Jesus saying, it's about the Father's business.

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I am about my Father's business.

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So if his business is my business, that means my everyday concern actually needs to be his church and his kingdom.

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Is that true of us?

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Can we say that that's actually something we're working towards?

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That that's our main everyday concern?

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Is there a constant reshuffling of our priorities, our life, our days to reflect that?

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That our business is our Father's business and that our priority is the church and his kingdom.

01:26:54.020 --> 01:26:58.020
Do others see you and what you want?

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Do others see that you and what you want are the ones calling the shots in your life?

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Or is it evident that you willingly give God the free rein to call the shots in your life?

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And are you viably connected to the body and the church,

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just like a vine is to the branches where there is both inflow and outflow.

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There needs to be both inflow and outflow.

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So I want to encourage us, it was a lot to go through,

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and I want to encourage you to go listen to it again.

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Or at least go back and remember, were there distinct traits that stood out to you?

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And it's not about, this is not like a shaming session, it's not any of that.

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It's really just God asking, there's always more that we need to grow.

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And what's the area right now that I want to show you and help you to grow in?

01:27:56.020 --> 01:28:01.020
Because he's not like citing us to do it by yourself, he's doing it with us.

01:28:01.020 --> 01:28:04.020
And we get to do that together.

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And so I'm just going to pray and then I think close us off for today.

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Sorry?

01:28:13.020 --> 01:28:15.020
It's still early.

01:28:18.020 --> 01:28:20.020
Goodness.

01:28:21.020 --> 01:28:26.020
Father, we want to remember that we are set apart to set others apart.

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All of these traits actually are part of us being set apart and in setting others apart.

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All of these traits are necessary for that.

01:28:38.020 --> 01:28:43.020
Father, we want to make your business our business.

01:28:43.020 --> 01:28:46.020
Would you help us with that, Holy Spirit?

01:28:46.020 --> 01:28:48.020
To make your business our business.

01:28:48.020 --> 01:28:54.020
So that when people see our lives, they'll see more and more that I am about my Father's business.

01:28:54.020 --> 01:28:56.020
And what's my Father's business?

01:28:56.020 --> 01:29:00.020
His church, His bride, and His kingdom.

01:29:00.020 --> 01:29:10.020
Holy Spirit, would you just show us through the week one area, one trait, or maybe one part of a trait.

01:29:10.020 --> 01:29:14.020
Highlight that for us so that we can start working on it.

01:29:14.020 --> 01:29:18.020
Because we want to look more like Christ.

01:29:18.020 --> 01:29:23.020
Being set apart, you, is...

01:29:25.020 --> 01:29:26.020
We need it.

01:29:26.020 --> 01:29:29.020
There's no other way to set others apart.

01:29:29.020 --> 01:29:32.020
But to be first set apart.

01:29:32.020 --> 01:29:37.020
So would you show us, Holy Spirit, this week?

01:29:37.020 --> 01:29:42.020
And I pray that we be open to really be open to that.

01:29:42.020 --> 01:29:47.020
And I pray that we be open to receiving, even if it might sting a little bit.

01:29:47.020 --> 01:29:53.020
That we just kind of drop it like it's dead the old way in that area.

01:29:53.020 --> 01:29:58.020
And just recklessly go to you because there's no shame and there's no condemnation.

01:29:58.020 --> 01:30:03.020
There's only more in you.

01:30:07.020 --> 01:30:10.020
So would you help us, Holy Spirit?

01:30:10.020 --> 01:30:13.020
In Jesus' name, Amen.

01:30:13.020 --> 01:30:16.020
So if you want prayer, you can come on up.

01:30:16.020 --> 01:30:18.020
I asked a few.

01:30:18.020 --> 01:30:21.020
There will be people up here praying.

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Otherwise, have a great week, everyone.