WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Beyond Publishing Date: 2022-12-11T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/beyond/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.100 All righty, guys. If you want a title for today, it's Beyond. Beyond. And we'll talk 00:00:10.100 --> 00:00:20.520 about Beyond what? Partly Beyond 2022. What does it look like? Am I on? What's your name, 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:27.660 Brandon? Okay. Yeah. So what does the Beyond look like? So that's what we want to talk 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:36.300 about. So guys, before you call to something, you call to someone. In 2023, in 2023, before 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:46.220 you call to something, before you call to something, you call to someone. You call to 00:00:46.220 --> 00:00:57.620 someone who has a purpose and a plan, who has a purpose and he has a plan that he wants 00:00:57.620 --> 00:01:09.220 to accomplish through you in 2023. Okay? So before you call to something, you call to 00:01:09.220 --> 00:01:15.600 someone who has a purpose and it was ordained before the foundations of the earth and who 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:20.720 has a plan specifically tailored for you before the foundations of the earth and it 00:01:20.720 --> 00:01:31.880 all falls within the parameters of M3, which is make the Father known, make disciples, 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:44.120 multiply churches. It falls within this. This is a mandate for every Christian on the face 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:48.600 of the earth. Make the Father known, make disciples, multiply churches. So none of us 00:01:48.600 --> 00:01:55.360 are purposeless. We already have purpose. But within this purpose, God still has a plan that 00:01:55.360 --> 00:02:01.160 is for you to accomplish, is for this church to accomplish in 2023. But before we are called to 00:02:01.160 --> 00:02:09.200 something, we are called to someone. What happens with most of us is we know how to write down things 00:02:09.200 --> 00:02:15.680 to do. We know how to write down goals. But sometimes we struggle with writing down God's 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:26.120 vision for us. And the simplest way to describe God's vision for us is his dream for your life 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:50.360 in 2023 that becomes like an overarching canopy and has portions you are to discover. 00:02:50.760 --> 00:03:01.280 Once you discover it, you can then possess it. And once you possess it, you can build on it. And 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:11.120 you have to try that in appointed timeframes. Think like that. Think of a Father who has a 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:18.800 dream. His as in the Father's dream. Think like that. It makes it much more fun. Doesn't make it 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:24.720 something that the director of the universe has a role for me to play. No, every Father has a dream 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:31.640 for his child. What is the Father's dream for me in 2023? Discover it, possess it, build it, 00:03:31.640 --> 00:03:45.560 and try doing it in appointed timeframes. I like the way you jumped over the pew. I could try it, 00:03:45.560 --> 00:04:00.320 but I might fall. Any questions on those two simple things? Accept it and receive it with faith. 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:06.160 Because the dream will be much bigger than you and what you can do. So you have to receive it 00:04:06.160 --> 00:04:13.640 with faith. Only then can you possess it. He doesn't dream like you and I. His dreams are way 00:04:13.640 --> 00:04:22.680 too stretchy. So possess it as in receive it, embrace it with absolute faith early on. Because 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:27.200 if you can do that early on, then it's easier to dispel fear. And when you can't do that early on, 00:04:27.200 --> 00:04:32.000 it becomes hard to dispel fear because fear is going to come in. Doubt is going to come in. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.840 Pressure is going to come in. Mistakes are going to happen. But if I can embrace it early, then it 00:04:38.840 --> 00:04:48.360 becomes a little easier to handle all that. And he'll give you portions of it. He won't give it all 00:04:48.360 --> 00:04:53.240 in a shot. He'll give portions of it. And then it begins to develop. Build on it in appointed 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:57.280 timeframes. That's important too. And one of the things that's really helpful is remember, 00:04:57.280 --> 00:05:05.960 he's not reluctant to reveal. He's not reluctant to reveal. He's not reluctant to reveal his dream 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:22.400 for you. He's not reluctant to reveal his dream for you. He's not reluctant. He's not reluctant 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:31.800 to reveal his dream for you. Like any father. But, and it's not a bad but, he expects you to wrestle 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:45.360 and extract it. He expects you to wrestle for it and extract it. Because he's God. What he has to 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:53.760 give is precious. It's treasure. Do you want the treasure? Well then, come wrestle me a little and 00:05:53.760 --> 00:06:05.320 extract it from me. Jesus used to do this with his disciples. Who do they say I am? Why take them 00:06:05.320 --> 00:06:10.920 through it? Why can't he just tell them who he is? No. Who do you say I am? And then you get these 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:16.440 different responses. Why? Because he's trying to extract one thing that he knows his father is 00:06:16.440 --> 00:06:20.840 going to give someone. I don't know whether he knows who it's going to come through. But he knows 00:06:20.840 --> 00:06:26.840 it's going to come. He's asking them and some say you're Elijah the prophet. Some say you're John 00:06:26.840 --> 00:06:31.880 the Baptist. Some say this and that. And then one man just says you are Jesus Christ, the Son of the 00:06:31.880 --> 00:06:36.280 Living God. And then he says but this revelation did not come to you by any other means but through 00:06:36.280 --> 00:06:48.680 the Father. So he wants you to wrestle so that you can extract it. So we can write down things to do. 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:56.960 We can write down goals. But that is the something. Before being called to something in 2023, 00:06:56.960 --> 00:07:06.280 we are called to someone. And part of the being called to someone will require us to go beyond 00:07:06.280 --> 00:07:17.800 a few things. Go beyond one, our individuality. And all of us will have to deal with this. It 00:07:17.880 --> 00:07:30.080 is no one exempt from it. Starting with me. Meaning go beyond the natural. Go beyond my 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:44.840 personality. And go beyond my desire to secure the future. Before being, and this is particularly 00:07:45.320 --> 00:07:51.960 applicable to us as a church. Not because we are special but because he's been at this for a while 00:07:51.960 --> 00:08:00.000 so he'll demand more. Like sometimes you treat your older child unfairly because the older child has 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:06.560 gotten more attention over the last many years. And so you can demand a little extra. That's kind 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:14.160 of how it is. So God wants to go beyond. He wants us to go beyond. If he says you're coming to me 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:20.560 and you want to change and you want the dream I have for you, then I want you to go beyond. He 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:25.760 wants us to go beyond our individuality. Go beyond our natural. Go beyond that which is natural. Go 00:08:25.760 --> 00:08:31.520 beyond our personality. And go beyond our desire to secure the future. And these four things are 00:08:31.520 --> 00:08:38.320 critically important to man. They're super important to us. We so don't want to go beyond 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:48.080 this because none of this is really bad but after the fall things get distorted. God is the one who 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:53.480 created us with our individuality, with our personality, giving us natural things, giving 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:59.520 us things for life. So when he says go beyond it's because many of these things get distorted. So 00:08:59.520 --> 00:09:06.640 let's take on this and then we can come back. So go beyond individuality. Since the fall, 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:28.240 individuality, I'll just call it I, individuality has become self-assertive and independent. So the 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:41.240 more I assert my individuality, the more I assert my individuality, the more I hinder growth. 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:58.120 And sometimes what happens is individuality can pretend to be spiritual. Spirituality can pretend 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:11.000 to be spirituality. And this is one religion where it does not work. Christianity cannot be 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:19.640 lived individually and independent. Cannot. So individuality can pretend to be spirituality 00:10:19.640 --> 00:10:27.280 because personal growth is happening. Jesus and me. And yet Jesus did not start off the prayer 00:10:27.280 --> 00:10:33.880 saying my father. Jesus started with a prayer saying our father. Jesus did not say I was a 00:10:33.880 --> 00:10:43.360 little Christ. He said you are a little part of the body of Christ. There is nothing in Christianity 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:52.760 that does not match up with, that does match up with individuality. It got distorted at the fall. 00:10:52.760 --> 00:11:18.080 Tension. Yeah. Yeah. So you'll have to hold it in tension because we can't, I mean it's still 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:24.120 prevalent in many tribal, when I say tribal nations what I mean is nations who are being part of a clan 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:29.440 or a tribe is important. Where if the head of a tribe accepts Christ everybody just automatically 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:34.480 accepts Christ. That's not how it works. Each of us makes an individual decision to enter into the 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:40.440 kingdom. But the moment we enter a kingdom something changes. The moment we enter a kingdom it is not 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:45.160 that individuality should be despised. It is that my personality, we'll get to personality later, 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:55.320 my individuality secondary now to the body. Yeah. But you can't enter it without individual decision 00:11:55.320 --> 00:12:07.080 making. It is when it's a question that your dad used to phrase it this way. Eddie used to say that 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:12.360 someone approached Eddie's dad and said I'm very spiritual and Eddie's dad responded saying who are 00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:21.200 you spiritual with? Because it's very easy to be very spiritual. Most of the rishis and gurus in 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:26.760 India are very spiritual. They sit alone on top of a mountain freezing their backsides off. But 00:12:26.760 --> 00:12:36.560 who are you spiritual with? Every gift guys just think of this. You cannot practice any of the fruit 00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:43.520 of the spirit on your own. Hey Ruth. Hi Korean. Walk right in. Now that I've announced it this is 00:12:43.520 --> 00:13:02.960 going to be embarrassing as you walk in. Okay. Guys this is Korean and that's his wife Ruth. 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:15.400 Ruth is my mother's brother's daughter so she and I are first cousins. So now that I've exposed them 00:13:15.400 --> 00:13:22.200 you can be at peace. Now it's all okay from here on. Yeah. Okay so back to the what is the question? 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:32.360 Yeah how does it pretend to be spirituality? Guys there's not a single fruit in the none of 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:41.280 the fruit of the Holy Spirit can be practiced in isolation. None. Just imagine that. The only 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:45.320 gift in the of the Holy Spirit that can be practiced in isolation is the gift of tongues. 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:51.280 None of the gifts can be practiced in isolation. That's why it's sometimes the gift of tongues is 00:13:51.280 --> 00:13:58.240 the lesser of the gifts. And Paul says desire the gifts that are better. And what does it mean by 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:02.680 better? All he means is can you go after the gifts that benefit others? Because the Corinthians 00:14:02.680 --> 00:14:06.480 were stuck with this idea of the gift of the tongues gift of tongues being the most thing. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:10.120 But that is the lesser of gifts because it doesn't do anyone else any good except you. 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:18.880 So it is easy for individuality to pretend to be spirituality. Me and my God. And it starts when 00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:27.520 you're a kid. Me and my toy. That is my toy. And that just continues. So if I want to go beyond 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:37.200 and if I want to begin to discover, possess, build within timeframes the dream that God has for me in 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:42.880 2023. These are some of the changes that will have to happen. So individuality can pretend to be 00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:48.360 spirituality. So here are some of the things the Spirit of God keeps doing continuously. The Spirit 00:14:48.360 --> 00:15:11.040 is grafting me always into imperfect branches of a perfect tree so he can flow. Individuality 00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:20.720 resists this. The Spirit is always at work grafting me into an imperfect branch. So let's assume I 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:29.520 become part of this body. I'm being grafted into an imperfect branch meaning you. Off a perfect tree. 00:15:29.520 --> 00:15:39.920 Meaning Christ. Why? So that by doing this he can flow. That's the other thing with the Spirit of 00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:48.080 God. That I mean when you read I think it's in Colossians it says and we have one Father we drink 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:56.320 of one Spirit. And he's not saying I drink of one Spirit. He says we drink of one Spirit. It is this 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:02.000 idea of drinking from one common source. Go back to the Old Testament it says the same thing. And 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.720 then there was a rock out of which water flowed in the desert. And that rock it talks about this 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:14.080 in 2 Corinthians. And that rock was Christ. There is this need for people to drink out of a common 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:21.600 source. It's not you and God. It is this idea of us and God. Very hard to get through our heads even 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:25.680 after all these years because we live such highly individualized Christian lives right. 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:32.400 A shift to say because otherwise. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:45.520 Nope. Yeah. I'm not saying no we don't have a person. Jesus had a personal relationship with God. 00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:55.600 But I relate to him personally as part of a body. It's like the different parts of my body relating 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:04.480 to the head. They relate. I mean my finger feels pain. But it cannot be separate because then it 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:22.320 does not feel any pain. Yeah. Yeah. So we begin this way. I 00:17:22.320 --> 00:17:33.280 when I receive Christ as first my savior because I need saving from sin and then my Lord because 00:17:33.280 --> 00:17:40.240 you can't accept him as Lord till you accept him as Savior. I then enter according to 1 Corinthians 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:55.760 12 13 a body called the body of Christ which is universal. But that's like saying that I'm 00:17:55.760 --> 00:18:04.160 part of mankind. You don't survive by being part of mankind. You survive by being part of a family. 00:18:04.320 --> 00:18:09.760 And that family happens to be the local body that you are part of. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:18.640 So are there many different vacuum companies. Yes. But can you be a vacuum that belongs to the 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:23.360 universal company of vacuums. No. You'll have to be Hoover or you'll have to be dirt devil or you'll 00:18:23.360 --> 00:18:28.320 have to be this or you'll have to be that. And that's where then you get customer service. That's 00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:33.280 where they decide whether you pass the test whether your parts qualify whether there are spare parts 00:18:33.280 --> 00:18:38.160 whether you need to be fixed whether you need to be emptied unless you're a Roomba which just goes 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:42.560 and empties itself. Well let's not go there. I already talked about that last week and got into 00:18:42.560 --> 00:18:52.560 a lot of trouble with Bahrain. Yeah. So one of the things the Holy Spirit is continuously doing is 00:18:52.560 --> 00:18:58.400 hey can I keep working on you so I can graft you into an imperfect branch of a perfect tree. 00:18:58.560 --> 00:19:06.560 A day will come and even the branches will be just amazing but till then you and I are stuck. 00:19:07.760 --> 00:19:12.400 So that's one of the things he's trying to and so individuality then begins to resist it. So you 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:17.520 don't abandon your individuality but you but it is secondary. Hey we do this continuously. 00:19:17.520 --> 00:19:26.800 We do this continuously. Aaron no let me pick on Derek and no even that's useless. 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:35.120 Okay here's what happens. We enter sorry I didn't mean useless in that sense. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:40.000 Sorry I take that back. Derek is very useful. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.960 What I mean is it's surprising how we do not have a problem when it comes to leaving our father's 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:55.280 house and cleaving to our spouse and suddenly you don't even sometimes carry the name of the 00:19:55.280 --> 00:20:01.440 home you used to belong to. You become one with somebody else and then you change your names 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:06.160 sometimes so that you're starting a new family. Now many of the traditions you used to have from 00:20:06.800 --> 00:20:10.800 your old family are washed away because you hated them anyways but didn't have the guts or the 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:15.280 audacity to say it and now you come into a new place and you start your own traditions. 00:20:17.360 --> 00:20:23.280 Derek used to meet me every Tuesday with dinner. Jacob I'd love to have dinner with you. It's been 00:20:23.280 --> 00:20:29.280 many Tuesdays since that happened. There are new traditions now that he's married. I go hungry on 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.440 Tuesdays nowadays. So how I long for those days. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:37.440 Now it explains why you said what you said. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:46.400 That he's useless. So it's fascinating how the very things that we hold on to preciously as 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:53.440 individuals begins to change when new mergers are formed. You must understand that you're being 00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:59.040 merged into someone called Christ and you're merged into him by the spirit and in being merged 00:20:59.040 --> 00:21:05.040 into Christ you're merged into the body of Christ. It's not possible to exist as a Christian without 00:21:05.040 --> 00:21:15.840 this. And into an imperfect branch. So there should be complaints in a church. If there are no 00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:18.080 complaints in the church pinch yourself you might be in heaven. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:25.040 Tell me about it. And then he sends some people who become pruners themselves just by being in the 00:21:25.040 --> 00:21:27.840 church and just continuously asking questions or interrupting things. 00:21:35.040 --> 00:21:37.040 Sorry go ahead Sophie. 00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:50.880 No it cannot hinder because the gifts that we have and of will benefit you 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:56.160 and the fruit that we have can only be practised in relationship with you. So if you 00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:03.920 obviously need to be independent of what you've recently had in the past but in allreach 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:10.920 in relationship with you. So if you, it is impossible to be kind to isolate it. I mean 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:19.000 how kind can I be to myself? Like comb my hair. Yeah, that's not kindness, it's very 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:28.000 unkind. So kindness, long suffering, love, joy, these things cannot be practiced in isolation. 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:35.000 I just like my joke. Okay. Yeah, so Jesus, so Paul writes, as much as possible live 00:22:38.320 --> 00:22:45.320 in peace with those that pursue Christ. So Jesus, he says, he says, he says, he says, 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.860 I guess something is not right. I'm not 00:23:00.860 --> 00:23:21.840 for you, because you are for me, but if you are, 00:23:21.840 --> 00:23:27.000 with you. Everything doesn't have to be together. So guys, I know it's getting a 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:30.440 little absurd when we take examples like this, but we must understand that it is 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.600 possible to live peaceably. But there are certain things that are specifically 00:23:33.600 --> 00:23:38.280 ours to do and sometimes there may not be much give and take in the mandate 00:23:38.280 --> 00:23:43.720 that has been given to you. Because can two walk together except they be agreed? 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:51.680 The question then has to be what can we agree on with those that pursue Christ? 00:23:52.840 --> 00:23:56.840 Go ahead if you have a second question. 00:24:08.840 --> 00:24:14.760 Yeah, so the thing is belonging must be provided by a family not by the 00:24:14.760 --> 00:24:19.000 individual. The individual can choose to belong or not, but I must provide a place 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:26.840 to belong. So this whole idea of membership requires that you belong. But 00:24:26.840 --> 00:24:31.320 what if you remove that requirement and kept it as you and I will try and make 00:24:31.320 --> 00:24:35.360 this place a place where someone belongs, not belong so that they have a family, 00:24:35.360 --> 00:24:39.200 but belong so that they become like Christ. Critical, just think of that for 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:43.520 a second. Our intent is not to belong so that people have a happy fellowship. 00:24:43.520 --> 00:24:49.240 That you can get at the Lions Club. The intent is can I provide a place for 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:53.840 people to belong so that they become like Christ? And that is required upon 00:24:53.840 --> 00:25:00.480 us. When a person wants to they can either choose or not to, but they should 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:06.440 not be robbed of the option to. And they should be told that the reason you will 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.200 be the reason we provide a place for belonging is so that you get to know 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:14.040 Christ and become like him. Not so that you become a member. Not so that you 00:25:14.040 --> 00:25:17.880 feel like you belong. Because anyone who feels like they belong today can also 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:25.080 begin to not feel like they belong tomorrow. We're not trying to provide a 00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:30.680 happy place. We're trying to provide a place where people grow. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:41.000 Another thing the Spirit of God will keep pushing you when it comes to 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:50.240 individuality is he'll keep pushing you. Spirit of God pushes you to a point 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:58.520 where you'll have to surrender. Where you'll have to make a choice. Where you'll 00:25:58.520 --> 00:26:03.280 have to make a choice or surrender individuality for someone else's benefit. 00:26:03.280 --> 00:26:13.440 Or surrender individuality for someone else. For the benefit of someone else. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:17.240 He's always pushing you for that. Why? Because this is the definition of 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:23.640 love. There is no love unless there is a surrender for the benefit of somebody 00:26:23.800 --> 00:26:33.280 else. I mean you newly married guys know it. How quickly you got to adjust. 00:26:33.280 --> 00:26:39.400 How quickly you have to adjust. And if you don't things begin to fall apart early. 00:26:43.600 --> 00:26:50.320 So one of the things the Spirit of God will push you in the church is hey I'm 00:26:50.360 --> 00:26:54.560 going to try and use people sometimes use leaders sometimes use people to push 00:26:54.560 --> 00:27:01.280 you where you begin to surrender your individuality or your choice which would 00:27:01.280 --> 00:27:06.000 serve yourself for the sake of another. I mean some of the demands that 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:12.240 Jesus makes in Matthew chapter 5 he says hey if Aaron has a problem with you and 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:18.000 Aaron is at fault Jacob you still need to make sure that you lay down your gift at 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:22.120 the altar and go fix things with him. But my question is why should I go fix 00:27:22.120 --> 00:27:26.360 things with Aaron when he's at fault? If he's at fault he should come and fix it 00:27:26.360 --> 00:27:30.200 with me because he's the one who harmed me. And yet Jesus is demand this in 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:36.200 Matthew 5 23 24 if Aaron is has a problem with you and even though he's 00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:39.720 the one who's caused the problem you Jacob must leave your gift at the altar 00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:44.240 and you should go and fix things with him. That is what I mean by surrendering 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:50.800 my individuality. Another thing Jesus says in Matthew 16 24 is listen Jacob if 00:27:50.800 --> 00:27:55.920 you can't give up your right to yourself you cannot follow me. Crazy huh? If you 00:27:55.920 --> 00:28:02.160 cannot give up your right to yourself what is it attacking? My individuality. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.440 And yet like Jill said it is through my individuality that I actually come to 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.880 Christ and yet after I come to Christ I must surrender it for your sake. 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:22.400 We become like this and 2023 becomes a year where it's easy to flow with the 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:28.560 wind. Any questions? 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:39.760 I'll come and sort things out later. 00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:53.120 You go and ask them hey really feel like things are broken down just want to fix 00:28:53.120 --> 00:29:03.360 things can we talk? Yeah then you might have to work at a relationship first or 00:29:03.360 --> 00:29:10.160 get over the harm. Yeah. 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:20.800 And do you know why he asks us to go fix it? Because if he does me harm and 00:29:20.800 --> 00:29:27.080 continues to stand in that wrong place God will begin to have to judge him so 00:29:27.080 --> 00:29:31.200 to prevent him from being judged I must go fix it so that God can show him 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:39.280 mercy. This is nuts. When he does me harm he's done wrong. Now he stands in a place 00:29:39.320 --> 00:29:44.600 where he can be judged therefore to prevent him being judged Jacob go fix it 00:29:44.600 --> 00:29:51.280 so that I may lavish on him mercy and kindness. This is the kind of God we 00:29:51.280 --> 00:30:05.560 serve man it's a crazy thing. This is why individuality then has to be. I still 00:30:05.560 --> 00:30:09.400 remember Pawan writing to his dad or calling his dad and speaking to his dad 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:14.520 about things that had happened. Remember you sharing it up front here? 00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:20.760 Doesn't matter whether it was his dad who wronged him it was important for him to 00:30:20.760 --> 00:30:27.560 call and fix it. Individuality mustaker must take precedence for the benefit of 00:30:27.560 --> 00:30:32.440 others. Let's go on to the next one. Go beyond the naturally for us to begin to 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:38.880 partake in God's dream and when I say God's dream I mean 2023 should be should 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:43.320 be a year where I get to participate in the father's dream for me that he had 00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:47.480 planned before the foundations of the earth before I was born he liked the 00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:51.840 father that he is like any good father has a dream for his son or daughter and 00:30:51.840 --> 00:30:55.240 he's saying hey I want you to walk in this dream and I want you to be able to 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:58.840 possess it I want you to be able to discover it I want you to be able to 00:30:58.840 --> 00:31:02.840 then build with it I want you to do it in a point at time frames but if you 00:31:02.840 --> 00:31:06.680 make these changes it becomes much easier because every dream that I had 00:31:06.680 --> 00:31:11.080 for half for you is so beyond you so beyond you but that's because I'm God 00:31:11.080 --> 00:31:16.080 and you are you so the next thing that we have to go beyond is we got to go 00:31:16.080 --> 00:31:24.840 beyond the natural go beyond the natural one of the things we don't realize is 00:31:24.840 --> 00:31:36.040 things that are right that are natural that are valid and that are good how the 00:31:36.040 --> 00:31:49.160 very things that keep us back from God's best crazy it's things that are good 00:31:49.720 --> 00:31:56.960 that are natural things that are valid things that are right that actually keep 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:03.160 us from God's best and so the only way to work with this because all this is 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:08.520 valid these are not bad things they they got given things to despise this and 00:32:08.520 --> 00:32:12.560 set it aside to live is to live a monastic life and a monastic life does 00:32:12.560 --> 00:32:16.560 not match with Christianity monastic life again takes us back to 00:32:16.560 --> 00:32:21.120 individuality always remember that a monastic life takes you right back into 00:32:21.120 --> 00:32:26.800 individuality because it is a life between you and God if there was anyone 00:32:26.800 --> 00:32:30.200 who should have lived a monastic life it should have been Jesus after all he's a 00:32:30.200 --> 00:32:35.040 son of God he should have example does it for us but to go into a monastery for 00:32:35.040 --> 00:32:38.920 six months and remain silent and not talk to anybody and commune with God is 00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:41.880 a really bad idea 00:32:46.600 --> 00:32:51.120 get a get up a little early spend an hour like that if you want quietly and 00:32:51.120 --> 00:32:54.760 then meet people for the rest of the day man this is what Jesus would do we'd go 00:32:54.760 --> 00:32:58.280 up a mountain spend two three hours Peter would look for him couldn't find 00:32:58.280 --> 00:33:02.280 him he'd return and then from morning to evening he'd be with people because 00:33:02.280 --> 00:33:07.080 there's nobody that God is interested more than the apex of his creation which 00:33:07.080 --> 00:33:17.160 is man so when it comes to going beyond the natural these are valid things we 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:27.520 are not asked to give up on it but for the natural hey where's Joan okay for 00:33:27.520 --> 00:33:35.680 the natural Joan I asked about you for the natural to be turned into the 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:47.360 spiritual it can be done only through obedience or through sacrifice let's 00:33:47.360 --> 00:33:53.920 let's look at that a so you got two two boys one school is male one is called 00:33:53.920 --> 00:34:00.120 Isaac is male is the son through natural birth Isaac is the son of promise for 00:34:00.120 --> 00:34:06.000 Isaac to prosper ishmael must be sent away and for Isaac to really prosper 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:10.160 Isaac must be sacrificed so that sounds too abstract so let's look at it this 00:34:10.160 --> 00:34:17.480 way everything natural in my life if I don't place it in the on the altar will 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:25.800 rob me of walking in God's best everything natural in my life meet my 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:34.040 house beat my family beat my spouse wow that sounds poetic yeah rhymed beat 00:34:34.040 --> 00:34:38.160 money beat my house beat my family beat my spouse I need a third line before the 00:34:38.160 --> 00:34:47.720 rap is done Derek can you rap oh one day we were driving in the car even dawn 00:34:47.720 --> 00:34:54.320 Derek me and Derek starts rapping it was amazing hey I still not gotten over it 00:34:54.360 --> 00:35:00.440 Iris is getting pieces of information she never heard before yeah so offering 00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:05.240 up spiritual sacrifices without offering up the natural is like giving Isaac up 00:35:05.240 --> 00:35:09.400 without giving Ishmael up you cannot offer spiritual sacrifices without 00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:16.760 offering up the natural Romans 12 verse 1 2 hey this is our spiritual worship 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:23.360 that we lay down ourselves on the altar let's spend some time on this otherwise 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:30.380 it'll sound too abstract I cannot offer anything spiritual to God unless I 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:37.440 first lay down the good natural things I have like my time like my treasure like 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:42.200 my talent like my strength if I don't lay that down on the altar willingly I 00:35:42.200 --> 00:35:49.120 will not be able to be spiritually effective for God we want to be 00:35:49.120 --> 00:35:53.640 spiritually effective for God without laying down things that are naturally 00:35:53.640 --> 00:36:00.480 good and it is not possible so the Bible is full of examples Hannah bring Samuel 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:08.960 a son is a valid thing she's been crying for this boy and yet what does she do 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:15.160 she goes brings him to Samuel and says brings him to Eli and says here's my boy 00:36:15.160 --> 00:36:23.280 and then suddenly that with his natural becomes spiritual Ishmael has to be 00:36:23.280 --> 00:36:27.760 sent away to the desert and here's the thing guys every time you give something 00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:33.760 natural away God provides an oasis in the desert to feed you just think of 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:38.440 that for a second every time you give anything natural away you place it on 00:36:38.440 --> 00:36:43.240 the altar God will provide an oasis for you to drink from you send Ishmael off 00:36:43.240 --> 00:36:47.200 into the desert out of nowhere in the middle of burning sand there is enough 00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:53.960 water to take care of the boy it's a win-win thing you never lose on this man 00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:58.280 but it is so hard to think that we will win so therefore we hold on to it like 00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:02.400 crazy and because we hold on to it like crazy our spiritual adventures are so 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:11.760 limited break it in 2023 so that you can step into it what is it that is so 00:37:11.800 --> 00:37:15.920 precious to you that every time you think of laying down this good natural 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:21.480 thing it freaks you out it frightens you what are the two or three things perhaps 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:26.360 that are like that in your life it doesn't matter how many promises God 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:30.480 sends how many times he confirms it you are scared to let it go because it's a 00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:37.960 valid good thing is it your visa is it your work is it your money is it your 00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:41.240 home is it your time is it your talent is your treasure is it your strength 00:37:41.240 --> 00:37:46.880 what is it the moment you laid on the altar two things will happen one it'll 00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:51.880 come back to life or two you will be provided an oasis where there will be 00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:57.200 enough water both for Hagar and for Ishmael to drink but as long as you 00:37:57.200 --> 00:38:01.800 hold on to it saying I will not let go I guarantee you spiritual adventures will 00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:07.600 be limited you will have Groundhog Day again with 2022 repeating itself in 00:38:07.600 --> 00:38:25.440 2023 and that sucks and nobody here doesn't apply to a any questions 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:39.600 it's natural to have time treasure talent strength it's natural to have 00:38:39.600 --> 00:38:47.200 and desire being loved and having someone to love it is natural to have a 00:38:47.200 --> 00:38:51.600 family and it is natural to have good things in life it's natural to have 00:38:51.600 --> 00:38:57.120 desires and dreams it is natural to live a good life and God is saying hey 00:38:57.120 --> 00:39:04.480 this is something that I provided Adam it is my desire for man to have this 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:08.880 they are all valid they're not supposed to be despised they're not supposed to 00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:15.080 be shoved aside this isn't a God who is a taskmaster who says everything good 00:39:15.080 --> 00:39:18.440 that I have given you give it back to me or I'll take it away because that's 00:39:18.480 --> 00:39:23.600 another way of thinking it there are mothers who and husbands who won't let 00:39:23.600 --> 00:39:27.160 go who are scared that if they love their child or husband too much the God 00:39:27.160 --> 00:39:34.680 will take it away what kind of cruel God is that I don't want to love my child 00:39:34.680 --> 00:39:38.640 too much because God may take my God and this is why I dislike that song that one 00:39:38.640 --> 00:39:42.720 line in the song the rest of the song is over he gives and takes away that is 00:39:42.720 --> 00:39:51.160 Job's understanding of God it ain't the God that Jesus presented he gives and 00:39:51.160 --> 00:39:56.640 makes away he's not a taker there's one who steals skills and destroys and it 00:39:56.640 --> 00:40:05.140 ain't God and yet to now willingly that is the crazy thing about Christian 00:40:05.140 --> 00:40:09.840 sacrifice Christian sacrifice is exactly what parents do for their children or 00:40:09.840 --> 00:40:14.280 children do for their parents when parents are getting older it is a 00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:19.080 willing happy voluntary sacrifice you somehow manage to tie both your hands 00:40:19.080 --> 00:40:22.340 and legs and crawl up on the altar and decide not to leave though you have the 00:40:22.340 --> 00:40:26.400 power to leave what fascinates me about Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah is 00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:31.520 simply this Abraham is 99 or close to that Isaac is a young kid who can outrun 00:40:31.520 --> 00:40:37.600 his father and they both go up and Isaac is allowing Abraham to tie him up he 00:40:37.600 --> 00:40:46.920 knows what's gonna happen and he doesn't run this wasn't some dumb kid who was 00:40:46.920 --> 00:40:50.560 saying oh is this my new bed no he knew an altar that he was going to be 00:40:50.560 --> 00:40:59.120 sacrificed on and he waits as he's tied up that's why Romans 12 makes so much 00:40:59.120 --> 00:41:04.600 sense present your bodies as a living sacrifice and then it ends with such a 00:41:04.600 --> 00:41:11.120 simple line that is so powerful it says this is your reasonable act of worship 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:20.480 lay down the natural guys because if you don't if you don't the natural will 00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:27.560 resist the demands of God's spiritual adventures the natural will resist the 00:41:27.560 --> 00:41:34.200 demands that God makes and it robs us of spiritual adventures they and now I 00:41:34.200 --> 00:41:41.160 can't I can't give this up if you ever want to see a man leaving an adventure 00:41:41.160 --> 00:41:48.320 sadly always think of the rich man and Jesus says to him a sell all your goods 00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:54.400 and follow me I just picture it for a second here is a man who knows he's 00:41:54.400 --> 00:42:00.120 beholding someone who is in his mind he calls him good teacher but he knows he's 00:42:00.120 --> 00:42:02.920 more than a good teacher he's asking him profound questions about eternal life 00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:07.000 and then when he hears that line it's a natural thing that he has to give up and 00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:10.400 I assure you had he given up he'd have said the same thing that Peter said Lord 00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:13.760 we've laid down everything and Jesus says back to him in this life you will 00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:16.880 get back this and this and this and this and this and this and this and 00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:22.560 persecution and eternal life but this man walks away and you can imagine the 00:42:22.560 --> 00:42:26.160 sadness in his heart caught between two tussles you think it ain't happening to 00:42:26.160 --> 00:42:32.360 us every time you struggle with something praise God that there is a 00:42:32.360 --> 00:42:36.360 struggle man you're alive and you're trying to make a choice if there is no 00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:46.480 struggle use those paddles on yourself if you can't get those paddles ask Heidi 00:42:47.360 --> 00:42:54.520 if there is a struggle it's a good thing never be afraid of struggling in terms 00:42:54.520 --> 00:42:59.480 of making choices it is a good thing something is alive in you and he who is 00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:04.720 alive in uses spirit of God and he's causing this struggling you're supposed 00:43:04.720 --> 00:43:09.760 to struggle with these things it shows your human and moving towards becoming a 00:43:09.760 --> 00:43:13.000 matter of woman of God 00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:22.840 I hate the struggle but I love the struggle I hate the fact that I'm 00:43:22.840 --> 00:43:31.560 struggling but I love the fact that I'm struggling I'm not talking about sin I'm 00:43:31.560 --> 00:43:37.040 talking about these kind of struggles therefore the natural must be set aside 00:43:37.040 --> 00:43:40.480 if you want to fully grasp the spiritual you've got to set it aside if 00:43:40.480 --> 00:43:44.880 you've got a fully grasp the spiritual if not after a while dullness will creep 00:43:44.880 --> 00:43:49.920 in it after a while dullness will creep in you'll get so used to having held on 00:43:49.920 --> 00:43:57.440 to something that it loses its value and your heart gets dull it becomes harder 00:43:57.440 --> 00:44:06.280 to chase after the things of God and as long as I pamper my natural self God is 00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:12.720 limited in his ability to engage with me as long as I pamper it because he gave 00:44:12.720 --> 00:44:18.680 it to me it's not something evil but when I pamper my natural life he's 00:44:18.680 --> 00:44:28.160 limited in his engagement with me okay 00:44:28.160 --> 00:44:36.960 there's a two more in the end go beyond personality go beyond personality go 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:41.880 beyond personality hey we got different personalities they and you have all 00:44:41.880 --> 00:44:46.520 those bricks and distinct test in that test and some of us are very into some 00:44:46.520 --> 00:44:50.600 of us are very natural some of us are very sensitive some of us are very 00:44:50.600 --> 00:44:55.040 active some of us are traditionalists some of us are caregivers some of us 00:44:55.040 --> 00:44:58.920 are intellectuals some of us are contemplatives some of us are ascetics 00:44:58.920 --> 00:45:06.120 forget all that I just put that down just to show you that I know a little so 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:14.120 so go beyond personality and what I mean by that is a personality is again 00:45:14.120 --> 00:45:19.240 uniquely given to you by God so remember that it is according to our 00:45:19.240 --> 00:45:24.240 personalities that sometimes we connect with God some of us during and this is 00:45:24.240 --> 00:45:30.240 why it's important that when you worship you be genuine and yet go beyond your 00:45:30.240 --> 00:45:36.240 personality so start with your personality some of us are romantics it 00:45:36.240 --> 00:45:40.760 will be very easy to get really keyed on with a song that talks about loving God 00:45:40.760 --> 00:45:48.840 some of us are contemplative you'll need a song where most of the others in 00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:51.720 church don't know what it means but they're still singing it but you're 00:45:51.720 --> 00:45:59.680 thinking it so depending on the kind of personality you have yes that's where we 00:45:59.680 --> 00:46:06.280 start our connect with God and it was uniquely given to you everybody cannot 00:46:06.280 --> 00:46:15.280 be like me everybody cannot be like Jill different personalities but my God the 00:46:15.280 --> 00:46:18.760 way I connect with God it's so unique and her way of connecting is so unique 00:46:18.760 --> 00:46:24.400 and both are brilliant but when I don't see her jumping it does not necessarily 00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:35.600 mean that oops she's cold nor when you see me jumping ah he's hot no it doesn't 00:46:35.600 --> 00:46:43.400 work that way it doesn't work that way so the point is this guys that at the 00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:48.040 end of the day your personality is how you uniquely connect with God but one 00:46:48.040 --> 00:46:51.680 must go beyond it because one of the things that's happened is because we are 00:46:51.720 --> 00:46:55.000 so highly individualized one of the things that happens to us is we decide 00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:58.920 that this is how God made us therefore this is the personality I'll stay with 00:46:58.920 --> 00:47:08.920 him and that then becomes an obstacle I am doing nothing should I turn this off 00:47:08.920 --> 00:47:25.480 and use the other mic I'll take the other one wax on wax off 00:47:38.920 --> 00:47:41.000 you 00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:59.280 hey the question the question is not what personality type makes the best 00:47:59.280 --> 00:48:03.400 Christian the question is not what personality type makes the best question 00:48:03.480 --> 00:48:18.240 Christian the question is how do I with my personality grow in godly character 00:48:18.240 --> 00:48:29.560 how do I with my personality grow in godly character how do I not be abrasive 00:48:29.560 --> 00:48:33.160 how do I not be loud I'm just talking about myself how do I not be a 00:48:33.160 --> 00:48:39.040 bracer how do I not be persuasive how do I not be pushy how do I not be loud 00:48:39.040 --> 00:48:48.160 how do I not be reckless with someone who has a different personality how do 00:48:48.160 --> 00:48:51.840 I grow in godly character what is godly character very simple the fruit of the 00:48:51.840 --> 00:49:00.600 spirit when my personality gets in the way of godly character I need to change 00:49:00.600 --> 00:49:10.920 my personality when my personality gets in the way can I have a little more 00:49:10.920 --> 00:49:16.680 volume guys when my personality gets in the way of godly character and remember 00:49:16.680 --> 00:49:20.640 godly character is so that I can be a benefit to others when my personality 00:49:20.640 --> 00:49:25.700 gets in the way of being a benefit to others then personality must take a back 00:49:25.700 --> 00:49:29.200 seat it doesn't matter whether it's in a marriage doesn't matter whether it's in 00:49:29.200 --> 00:49:33.160 your relationships outside of marriage in terms of friends and family doesn't 00:49:33.160 --> 00:49:37.560 matter whether it's in a church it must change because if it persists I am no 00:49:37.560 --> 00:49:41.960 longer a benefit to you because my personality has become far more 00:49:41.960 --> 00:49:47.880 important far more important and in a church for the first six or seven years 00:49:47.880 --> 00:49:52.000 the church should be built around the personality of the person leading it but 00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:55.840 after the first six or seven years that person must begin to step back because 00:49:55.840 --> 00:50:02.320 otherwise the church will become a one personality church so that's why I'm 00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:05.120 for the first six or seven years yes this church should have the stamp of 00:50:05.120 --> 00:50:08.520 Jacob even though it's built on Christ it should carry the stamp of Jacob it's 00:50:08.520 --> 00:50:12.800 natural every family is built that way but at some point you've got to step 00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:19.960 back so that the diverse splendor of people in the church begins to come up 00:50:19.960 --> 00:50:23.960 so that we're not singing all the old songs that I love from the 70s and the 00:50:23.960 --> 00:50:31.480 80s like we did today I mean Tony got one in 00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:56.680 Heidi cut his pay in half it wasn't that funny and remember one of the ways we 00:50:56.680 --> 00:51:02.120 change personality one of the ways we grow in godly character is not by 00:51:02.120 --> 00:51:06.120 self-improvement hey unfortunately Christians are stuck in this place 00:51:06.120 --> 00:51:11.080 where you think you can I must love more Jesus I'm really sorry I didn't love I 00:51:11.080 --> 00:51:15.480 must love more I must love more self-improvement is not the way it's 00:51:15.480 --> 00:51:23.240 first by faith man that this already exists I know that I can love more I 00:51:23.240 --> 00:51:27.320 believe it or God because you have supplied me what I need and now that I 00:51:27.320 --> 00:51:31.840 know it by faith I will begin to step into it and then you begin to practice 00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:38.760 it it's not self-improvement Christianity is not self-improvement 00:51:38.760 --> 00:51:44.600 because we got the improver living within us right otherwise self-improvement 00:51:44.600 --> 00:51:59.840 was valid last one hey remember because of the fall our personalities have one 00:51:59.840 --> 00:52:08.320 chief aim control because of the fall our personalities have one chief aim 00:52:08.520 --> 00:52:16.640 control because of the fall before that we had amazing person God given all of 00:52:16.640 --> 00:52:20.680 us have God given personalities but it is flawed and flawed and distorted so 00:52:20.680 --> 00:52:24.080 one of the things that happens to our personalities we want to control that 00:52:24.080 --> 00:52:28.560 becomes a chief aim can I make my spouse like me can I make the church like me 00:52:28.560 --> 00:52:32.040 can I make my workplace like me can I make my environment like me can I make 00:52:32.040 --> 00:52:36.600 my dog like me cats don't count and so it's this it's this whole thing that 00:52:36.640 --> 00:52:45.320 happens because cats cats have personalities that do not change so so 00:52:45.320 --> 00:52:51.000 that's how it works with the chief aim of distorted personalities can I control 00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:56.560 can I can I have you do things that will please my personality and the chief aim 00:52:56.560 --> 00:53:05.160 of God's personalities can I serve with love can I serve with love not can I 00:53:05.160 --> 00:53:11.280 just love can I serve with love we always think God is love God is a loving 00:53:11.280 --> 00:53:17.040 servant is it's almost blasphemous to put those words together but God is a 00:53:17.040 --> 00:53:24.000 loving servant that's his nature Jesus repeated that over and over and over 00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:32.560 again God is a loving servant it's part of his personality men last one go beyond 00:53:32.560 --> 00:53:42.280 securing the future go beyond securing the future if you want to step into 00:53:42.280 --> 00:53:47.520 God's dreams and adventures for 2023 you have to go beyond securing the future 00:53:47.520 --> 00:53:55.960 you have to go beyond securing 2023 and that's how you break into what God wants 00:53:56.120 --> 00:54:05.920 when you secure the future when you secure the future I hate this you step 00:54:05.920 --> 00:54:25.080 into predictable outcomes and you opt out of you opt out of permission 00:54:26.680 --> 00:54:32.960 when you secure the future when you are planning to secure 2023 stabilize 2023 00:54:32.960 --> 00:54:37.840 get everything lined up for 2023 work everything's out for 2023 and you're 00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:41.360 doing with your own skill and you become the architect of your future you begin 00:54:41.360 --> 00:54:47.240 to operate in a place of predictable outcomes manageable outcomes 00:54:47.240 --> 00:54:52.400 predictable outcomes because you're trying it a that's one thing that itself 00:54:52.600 --> 00:54:57.200 is so dull the second part is you opt out of permission as in there are things 00:54:57.200 --> 00:55:01.320 God wants to ask you to do he wants to give you permission for it but because 00:55:01.320 --> 00:55:07.840 securing the future is more important you opt out of permission into adventures 00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:13.080 that God has for you any questions on that one 00:55:13.080 --> 00:55:23.760 not according to Matthew chapter 6 let me only quote Jesus's words to you look 00:55:23.760 --> 00:55:28.600 at the birds of the air look at the leaves of the field your father knows 00:55:28.600 --> 00:55:35.280 before you even ask if I can trust God's goodness to take care of my life I can 00:55:35.480 --> 00:55:45.440 my life doing the things that God wants let's assume Sheldon was my dad I'm far 00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:50.960 too good looking to be your son but let's just assume that for a second so 00:55:52.960 --> 00:55:59.640 good one okay so let's assume Sheldon was my dad if I can begin to trust that 00:55:59.640 --> 00:56:04.480 Sheldon's goodness is sufficient to take care of me which is what all kids do 00:56:04.480 --> 00:56:13.360 then kids can run and be kids children behave the way they do because they know 00:56:13.360 --> 00:56:17.360 that they can trust the goodness of their dad or mom that is why they that 00:56:17.360 --> 00:56:23.560 is why they behave the way they do if I can trust the goodness of God to take 00:56:23.560 --> 00:56:31.160 care of securing my future then the other part takes care of which is why 00:56:31.160 --> 00:56:58.600 God said hey listen why don't you just seek after me in my ways and I'll take care of the rest what's he trying to say my goodness is sufficient my father knows your needs before you even know them the birds know how to do this the lilies of the fields like I said like I always say it's highly irresponsible advice but this is Jesus so what can you do and so he gives his advice and he says now come into it and our minds are screaming saying this is irrational of course it is 00:57:02.040 --> 00:57:07.080 but we talk about this every week so what question can you ask you'll get the same 00:57:07.080 --> 00:57:15.680 answer so what is permission permission is God calling you permission is God 00:57:15.680 --> 00:57:25.120 calling you or God inviting you into greater measure into greater measure 00:57:25.120 --> 00:57:46.000 because of how he sees you not because of who you presently are or think you love 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:50.000 it what is permission what what does permission look like for 2023 00:57:50.000 --> 00:58:19.960 permission is God inviting you into greater measure as in hey I know you've done enough this year but I want to invite you into something much greater that you and I can do together and when you look at yourself you might think can't do that or you just can't imagine you stepping into things like this but he's not inviting you because of how you think of yourself he's inviting you because of how he sees you and it's impossible to step into this if I'm consumed by 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:46.560 securing or stabilizing my future because it'll clash Prashant I'll read it out permission Prashant is squinting he can't see it permission is calling or inviting you into greater measure because of how he sees you and not because of who you oh my god this is really bad of who you presently are or think you are it's not Prashant's fault 00:58:46.920 --> 00:59:14.240 yeah last two lines permission comes with promise guys permission comes with promise permission comes with promise permission comes with presence permission comes with provision because of what's the provision it's a consequence of promise believed is the consequence 00:59:14.240 --> 00:59:21.600 of promise believed. Just think of that for a second guys, it's brilliant. 00:59:21.600 --> 00:59:27.000 Permission comes with promise. Every time God says I give you permission for 00:59:27.000 --> 00:59:34.160 something, He'll give you a promise with it. Hey Abraham, look at the promises 00:59:34.160 --> 00:59:38.280 given Abraham, look at the promises given Moses, look at the promises given David. 00:59:38.280 --> 00:59:42.800 With every, every time God gives permission, He gives you a promise from 00:59:42.800 --> 00:59:47.280 the word or from His nature. And then after He gives you the promise, He then 00:59:47.280 --> 00:59:55.440 says okay I'll give you my presence. Moses was so smart eh. Okay God you gave 00:59:55.440 --> 00:59:58.040 me a promise but if you ain't going I ain't going because if your presence 00:59:58.040 --> 01:00:05.240 does not go I will not go. How that man thought that? You know what the problem 01:00:05.240 --> 01:00:08.800 is with the faith movement or with sometimes charismatic Christianity is 01:00:08.840 --> 01:00:13.600 they are happy with the promise and the provision and they do without the 01:00:13.600 --> 01:00:24.600 presence. You take any one of these things away and it's like trying to 01:00:24.600 --> 01:00:31.680 balance on a two-legged stool. Every time God gives you permission for something 01:00:31.680 --> 01:00:35.400 He's saying let me first give you a promise out of my nature, out of the word 01:00:35.400 --> 01:00:40.120 that you can stand on. Now that you've stood on it, hey let me give you my 01:00:40.120 --> 01:00:44.480 presence and give you a taste of what it'll be like for the rest of 2023. Aha! 01:00:44.480 --> 01:00:53.080 So you got a taste, great this will keep increasing. And then the third thing is 01:00:53.080 --> 01:00:56.760 because you have believed the promise as a consequence of believing the promise 01:00:56.760 --> 01:01:03.360 let me give you what it looks like to provide for you. Guys follow this order 01:01:03.400 --> 01:01:10.560 and once you get here don't go here, go for this. You get a taste of this you're set. 01:01:10.560 --> 01:01:18.920 I'm done any questions? 01:01:33.360 --> 01:01:49.200 Yeah one like you said it is God's desire, it's God's desire to give us our 01:01:49.200 --> 01:02:06.880 desires because we delight in Him and are beginning to have the same thoughts, 01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:20.080 likes, dislikes. Psalm 37 verse somewhere between verse one and four. Two can 01:02:20.080 --> 01:02:36.400 always go and verify it with God and man. Three started this place called what 01:02:36.400 --> 01:02:47.200 does my last year, last year's life scape look like? What did God mark my 01:02:47.200 --> 01:02:55.720 life with last year? If I look at the past, if I look at the past it'll 01:02:55.720 --> 01:03:02.720 give me an idea of what God setting me up for, what God is setting me up for. And 01:03:03.200 --> 01:03:09.320 on the other hand is what are the promises that kept being repeated 01:03:09.320 --> 01:03:17.720 throughout 2022 which gives me an idea of God's forward-moving direction. And 01:03:17.720 --> 01:03:31.040 then the last one is who have I been associated with in the last 12 months or 01:03:31.160 --> 01:03:39.360 influenced by? 12 months. It'll give me an idea of whether I need to change 01:03:39.360 --> 01:03:56.440 relationships or not. Non-Christians as well. It'll give you an idea. Sometimes 01:03:56.440 --> 01:04:00.840 God sets you up with influencers, investors that are not Christian but you 01:04:00.840 --> 01:04:05.840 realize our shucks spend 12 months with guys who are brilliant in investing. Why? 01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:10.440 And while I spend time with them I also notice my bank account is growing. Why? 01:04:10.440 --> 01:04:17.080 And sometimes you realize oh my god I spent time with some really not so good 01:04:17.080 --> 01:04:20.960 characters and here is the past and here is a promise I better let them go. 01:04:20.960 --> 01:04:32.560 Cool. I think Sunday school teachers have returned. This is kind of not good. 01:04:32.560 --> 01:04:37.480 All good? 01:04:37.480 --> 01:04:44.720 Heidi will pass on communion. I think it was Evan's fault. He took so much time. 01:04:45.560 --> 01:04:48.560 Let's pray. 01:04:54.560 --> 01:05:00.840 Father, a couple of things to pray for. One, could you just watch over Jillian and 01:05:00.840 --> 01:05:06.640 Aerie and Mae and Jane as they return over the next two days. Long flights home from 01:05:06.640 --> 01:05:14.640 Bangladesh and from the UK as they finish their mission there, Father. 01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:20.360 Father, let tiredness not hit them. Let exhaustion not hit them. Let them go with 01:05:20.360 --> 01:05:26.000 John chapter 4 verse 31ish where it says my food is to do the will of the Father. 01:05:26.000 --> 01:05:30.920 Let them know what that means physically and spiritually so that they don't come 01:05:30.920 --> 01:05:37.760 back exhausted. Physical draining is okay but not spiritually drained of us so 01:05:37.760 --> 01:05:44.840 that's one thing. Father, the second thing is that you'd give us time to go over 01:05:44.840 --> 01:05:49.240 these four things. What does it look to go beyond my individuality, my 01:05:49.240 --> 01:05:55.520 personality, all the natural things that I hold on to and my desire to secure the 01:05:55.520 --> 01:06:05.800 future. Father, the third thing is I go to on this next trip to the places I mentioned 01:06:05.800 --> 01:06:13.600 earlier. I just put Derek in charge so I called Derek up. This is important, Father. 01:06:13.600 --> 01:06:18.600 I never get over it. Father, so I just lay hands on him and I pray that this is 01:06:18.680 --> 01:06:27.680 your flock. You paid a price for it. It's your principle that when someone goes 01:06:27.680 --> 01:06:32.160 that you place someone who can look after the flock. So what we ask is that 01:06:32.160 --> 01:06:40.480 Derek will have a heart like yours. That the church he'll carry like you would 01:06:40.480 --> 01:06:47.040 carry. That he'd become aware. That you Holy Spirit would show him things that 01:06:47.080 --> 01:06:50.440 are happening before they happen so that he can head them off. That you would give 01:06:50.440 --> 01:06:54.480 him the wisdom. Have you, Father, recognize him right now as the one in 01:06:54.480 --> 01:07:03.600 charge. Father, make my trip fruitful. I go not in my name but in the name of 01:07:03.600 --> 01:07:10.120 Jesus Christ sent by this body to different places. Have you already 01:07:10.280 --> 01:07:19.280 planted churches or are going to plant churches? Spirit of God, anoint. So we ask all this in Jesus' name. 01:07:19.280 --> 01:07:24.800 And guys, if anyone needs prayer, there'll be people up front to pray for you. 01:07:24.800 --> 01:07:29.840 So feel free to come up. Otherwise, I'll see you on the 25th. I won't be here next 01:07:29.840 --> 01:07:31.560 Sunday. Cool. 01:08:10.120 --> 01:08:12.120 You will do again. 01:08:14.120 --> 01:08:16.120 Cause there's no prison. 01:08:16.120 --> 01:08:22.120 While you can't break through the mountains, you can't move. 01:08:22.120 --> 01:08:26.120 All things are possible. 01:08:27.120 --> 01:08:33.120 There's no broken body. You can't raise no...