WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Chadwick_mohan_HouseChurch_July_3_4 Publishing Date: 2019-07-07T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/chadwick_mohan_housechurch_july_3_4/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 opportunity. I want to thank Jacob and the entire church. When I say entire church at this point of 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:14.320 time, but if you are part of the two evenings, you have come to understand that when I mean church, 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:23.120 I meant it as not the Sunday evening gathering that happens at Inverness Pilgrim's Church Building, 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:30.320 but the six households that are gathering together in the Greater Vancouver area. Is that okay? 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:34.640 When we are talking about a church, we are talking about a community of disciples, 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:40.240 and these communities of disciples are growing up in the teachings of Jesus. How do they grow up in 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:45.280 the teachings of Jesus? They learn the teachings of Jesus. They live out the teachings of Jesus, 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:51.360 and they teach the teachings of Jesus, and by one another, they grow to become a true authentic 00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:58.480 family of Christ, exhibiting Christ to the watching world. And while they're exhibiting 00:00:58.480 --> 00:01:03.360 Christ to the watching world, the whole picture of Christ is painted by this community. And as we 00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:08.640 are painting this wonderful picture of Christ to the community, people are getting attracted and 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:13.760 saying, hey, this is the family that I want to be part of. This is the life that I want to live. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:20.880 And that we would be able to create that in Greater Vancouver. That's when the true mission 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:26.720 for which a church exists begins. Why does the church exist? God is setting apart a people, 00:01:26.720 --> 00:01:31.760 a community for himself, for all eternity. And the reason he's setting apart a community for 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:36.640 himself for all eternity is that we would be his people. That he would be our God. We would be his 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:42.000 people. He would come and dwell amongst us, and his presence will be so manifest amongst us. And 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.960 not only that, that we would be his people, that we will cooperate with him and collaborate with him 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:53.520 to set apart more people for himself for all eternity. That means six households can't remain 00:01:53.520 --> 00:02:00.320 six households forever. That means if you truly participate in the mission of the church, 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:07.120 and truly participate in the mission of God, right from the beginning in the garden till the end in 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:11.760 Revelation chapter 22, you see the same thing. That there will be more people that are set apart 00:02:11.760 --> 00:02:16.240 for himself for all eternity. Because the purview of God is that none should perish, 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.440 but all should come to repentance. That none would be lost to the deception of another father 00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:28.240 who's a liar. They are all God's children because they originated out of the will and the plan and 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:33.680 the pleasure of God. Every human being born. But they're deceived that they have the option and 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:39.440 the choice to follow one of the two fathers. One father is a liar, and he wants to deceive. He 00:02:39.440 --> 00:02:45.360 wants to kill. He wants to destroy. He wants to take life away. There is death that is ordained 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:51.680 through him. And the life that you can live under that father is sure death and eternal. But this 00:02:51.680 --> 00:03:00.560 father offers life and life abundance. That's the whole picture that is at play. And here, 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:07.040 God is setting apart six households in the beginning to be an Antioch type base along 00:03:07.040 --> 00:03:14.320 with an apostolic leader such as Jacob and a team that God is actually building up with Jacob 00:03:14.320 --> 00:03:20.240 for a worldwide mission. And that's the starting premise at which we are actually looking into the 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.240 seven important aspects from the New Testament of what we are trying to call as the way of Christ 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:35.680 and his apostles. In other words, it's called church-based apostolic missions. And so we are 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.320 outlining CBAM and we are taking the base as... 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.760 We have an apostolic team. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:54.560 Aisha? 00:03:57.840 --> 00:03:59.120 Who's in charge of the markers? 00:03:59.120 --> 00:03:59.760 This? 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:05.040 Tonight, if you can see through this and throw some out. 00:04:10.480 --> 00:04:18.640 And here is an apostolic team in the making, Jacob and his team. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:26.000 We still do not know the full picture of what this is going to be. But we know that there is a man 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:31.200 ordained of God and we have seen evidence over a period of time. How many years you have seen 00:04:31.200 --> 00:04:42.240 Jacob leading this? 14 years now. You've seen him over a considerable period of time to recognize 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:49.920 that this man has giftedness from God that Christ has given that is beyond the local church. 00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:55.680 That's the only thing that I want to define apostolic at this point of time is that there 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.960 is giftedness in the person that helps this person along with a team go beyond the local church 00:05:02.960 --> 00:05:08.880 to be involved with many local churches, not just in one locale, but is able to transcend 00:05:08.880 --> 00:05:14.640 geographical regions and is able to progress the gospel plan churches and multiply them across a 00:05:14.640 --> 00:05:22.240 larger, wider area than the Greater Vancouver. And that's the reason why we are able to recognize 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:29.040 Jacob as an apostolic leader. And it's important that we continue to do as churches and elders of 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:34.800 the churches that we continue to support and continue to lay our hands on. In fact, the Antioch 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:39.200 Church laid hands on. And therefore it's very strange that an apostolic leader may be the one 00:05:39.200 --> 00:05:44.560 who's actually teaching it and investing into a local church, but the local church actually rises 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:50.160 up with their elders and then lays hands on the apostolic team. It's a very important partnership 00:05:50.960 --> 00:05:55.360 that goes on between local churches, which are authentic. When I say local churches, 00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:00.880 it's not congregations, it's not denomination, structured institutionalized Christianity, 00:06:00.880 --> 00:06:05.360 religion that we follow. No, these are authentic Christ communities that are led by 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:10.960 wise elders who have spiritually matured. They are age-wise matured, they are gift-wise matured and 00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:17.200 experience matured and they lay hands on Jacob and say, Jacob, we know that you have invested your 00:06:17.200 --> 00:06:24.720 time, energy, money into this six house churches, which are an Antioch base in greater Vancouver. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:31.040 It is time that we recognize that we would be able to rise up and yes, we need your help and 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:38.160 continuous input, but we would actually be a support base for you to go on this apostolic mission. And 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:43.600 whoever you need as people from this base will be given to you whatever is needed at this point 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:49.680 of time for the progression of the gospel will be given to you. We want you to continue to do what 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:56.000 Christ has called this team to do that has riced up from this Antioch base. And therefore, we have 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:08.880 this settled with six households that are networked together. And this is a network of churches 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:12.160 in greater Vancouver 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:21.120 that is partnering along with an apostolic team. And this is the purview with which we are going to see 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:26.080 the seven important things. Okay, I'm actually taking from the New Testament, but at the same time 00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:33.040 going to be intertwining it with a plan of what Christ wants for us as a church to. So number one, 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:41.280 the apostolic team usually has been given a sphere to offer. 00:07:43.760 --> 00:07:47.600 Now what we would call as an apostolic map. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:56.720 I don't know whether Jacob has shown you the apostolic map that is that a place that we can project 00:07:57.200 --> 00:08:02.480 that you have a sense of an idea where God is calling Jacob and a team to be ministering across 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:09.040 the different geographical regions of the world. Can we project it so that okay, so let's go to 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:18.080 second Corinthians and chapter 10 I started off with this and we couldn't proceed further for 00:08:18.080 --> 00:08:26.080 past two days, or we hope to proceed second Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, and verse 14, 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:33.280 and then verse 15 to 16, Paul is still struggling with the Corinthian church. Corinthian church is 00:08:33.280 --> 00:08:39.120 a church that Paul has established. He's the apostolic leader over the church. It's a network 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:44.880 of churches in the region of Corinth. There are sins that have plagued the church. There are many 00:08:44.880 --> 00:08:49.520 questions and divisions and a lot of things that are happening. But now there are other apostles 00:08:49.520 --> 00:08:54.480 that have come which are called the super apostles who are not really bringing the right teaching and 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:59.280 cooperating with Paul, but they are actually bringing a strange teaching and there is an 00:08:59.280 --> 00:09:05.200 overemphasis of spiritual gifts to the under emphasis of love which is the essence of the 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:10.800 churches. And so Paul is writing first Corinthians chapter 12, chapter 13, chapter 14. Yes, you can 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:17.040 speak in tongues, but I speak in tongues more than all of you guys. We can prophesy, but what you are 00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:22.640 doing in churches is disorder and what is happening is that you are losing out the essence on which the 00:09:22.800 --> 00:09:26.800 church must be built, which is love. And then he goes on to say love is patient, love is kind, 00:09:26.800 --> 00:09:31.440 love is all of those things. And he comes to the end and then goes on to the second Corinthians and 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.280 he keeps emphasizing you can have a thousand guardians, but you cannot have an apostolic 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:44.400 father such as me because I gave birth to you guys. It's important that you follow me. 00:09:44.400 --> 00:09:51.200 Follow what I'm bringing as an important revelation into the body. And I'm going to 00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:54.320 introduce you to the second Corinthians chapter 10. And then he goes down to the second Corinthians 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:00.160 chapter 10 and he talks about how there are arguments and there are strongholds that are 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:09.200 rising up against and it's been destroyed. The strongholds are destroyed because our weapons 00:10:10.560 --> 00:10:19.760 or warfare are not carnal. We pull down every stronghold, we pull down every 00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:26.560 pretension that rises itself up. And then he goes on to talk about fear and he's not talking 00:10:26.560 --> 00:10:32.960 it out of a direct reference, but in all these contexts he is actually giving this idea. And so 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:38.480 let's read the second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 and then verse 15 and 16. I'm reading for you. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:44.720 We however will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:51.680 service God himself has assigned to us. The sphere that also includes you Corinthian church. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:59.280 Then I read verse 15 and 16. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. 00:10:59.280 --> 00:11:06.240 Our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:12.240 expand so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:17.520 about work already done in someone else's territory. And therefore in a side note, 00:11:17.520 --> 00:11:22.160 it's not the main point that Paul is talking about, but while he is defending his apostleship, 00:11:22.160 --> 00:11:29.600 he is saying, guys there is a sphere, there is a field that God himself has assigned to us as an 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:46.960 apostolic team. And therefore we got to understand that God assigns, God assigns. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:54.320 So 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:03.920 what Paul is saying is this field includes you Corinthian church. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:13.680 Therefore if Jacob would come and say, guys, God has assigned a field to this team. 00:12:13.680 --> 00:12:21.040 This mission needs to continue beyond this place, but that field includes greater Vancouver. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:34.640 And that if you guys do extremely well, if you guys do extremely well, then God will give us 00:12:34.640 --> 00:12:41.520 the capacity to increase the field. So you read that portion of scripture, verse 15 and 16. Neither 00:12:41.520 --> 00:12:47.120 do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others because there are other apostolic 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:53.120 leaders that are having fields too. There are other apostolic leaders that are having fields too. And 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:58.640 we may intersect with other apostolic leaders in different places and across the countries and 00:12:58.640 --> 00:13:05.520 across the nations. Others have fields assigned by God to them, but you Corinth church, you actually 00:13:05.520 --> 00:13:12.720 belong to our field. Then he goes on to say, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:19.200 so that we can preach the gospel and regions beyond you. While our hope is that your faith 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:27.760 continues to grow. As the greater Vancouver's faith continues to grow, we have the greater 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:32.800 capacity to expand this field that God has given us or assigned to us. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.560 Any questions? 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:53.040 Your base here growing is critical to the expansion of what God is going to do through the 00:13:53.040 --> 00:13:58.640 mission of the apostolic team. There's an apostolic team right here. There's a network of churches 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:06.000 as you continue to grow, as your faith continues to grow, that's going to be almost directly 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:14.160 proportional to the sphere growth in the rest of the world. And that's what Paul is trying to say. 00:14:14.800 --> 00:14:19.840 All that we can get is two important main principles. Number one, there is a sphere 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:26.720 assigned by God to apostolic teams. Number two, it really, really includes churches. 00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:31.760 And as the churches in the local churches, the network of churches begin to grow and be established 00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:39.440 in the faith and as they begin to expand in their own locations and locality, it gives the apostolic 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:45.840 team credibility. It gives apostolic team with resources and resources is not finances. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:51.440 Resources is primarily is about people who will be able to rise up from within the local congregation 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:56.960 to join teams and sub teams to fill and replenish the entire field that God has given. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.960 Put the picture on that. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.440 We need to include New York. The old picture. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:47.200 You have Vancouver, you have Cardiff, you have what is that? 00:15:47.280 --> 00:15:54.800 You have Baran, you have Chennai there and or Nandigama. You represent Nandigama or Chennai. 00:15:54.800 --> 00:15:59.840 One of Chennai, Brazil, Hanoi, Hong Kong. 00:16:05.680 --> 00:16:10.160 Okay and these are not just dots out there. These are regions that 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:17.920 that Jacob believes that God has assigned the apostolic team to be operating in. 00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:22.800 Are you getting the picture or? 00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:42.800 Okay. 00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:56.000 Multiply and replenish the earth. And so when it comes to Chennai out there, there would be 00:16:56.560 --> 00:17:03.360 this partnership, the circles that are intersecting amongst apostolic leaders and at one point of time, 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.440 if you truly are establishing people in the right teaching and the same teaching, 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:12.960 there will be seamless flow between one another. Maybe there are some personality clashes that may 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:19.600 rise up like Apollo and Barnabas. It would be very human but if we are truly establishing them in the 00:17:19.600 --> 00:17:24.560 way of Christ and his apostles or if we are truly establishing them in the teaching delivered by the 00:17:24.560 --> 00:17:30.800 spirit through the apostles, that is from Jesus, that is from the New Testament, there shouldn't be 00:17:30.800 --> 00:17:36.800 any because myself and Jacob when we operate in certain places that we co-labor together, 00:17:37.600 --> 00:17:44.160 no issues. You can just halfway through what he's teaching, I can just stand up and continue on 00:17:44.800 --> 00:17:50.480 because it's almost a sane thing. Maybe we use a little different vocabulary and it's perfectly fine 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.960 if it's a different vocabulary but it's almost the essence of it is the same and then you see 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.560 that there is greater unity and oneness that is developing across the churches, across the world 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:10.560 where that true plea of Christ before he ascended in John chapter 17, 00:18:10.560 --> 00:18:18.720 oh that they may be one even as we are one. Father and son are one, that beige also be one so that 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:22.560 the world will know that the father sent the son and therefore the true understanding of how the 00:18:22.560 --> 00:18:28.320 gospel is made known to the world is only through this family of love that is bringing about this 00:18:28.320 --> 00:18:32.880 oneness and unity because we are one in that teaching and if you really follow John chapter 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:39.440 17 to the T you would actually come to this understanding we don't belong to this world, 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:46.240 we are being taken from this world and we are sanctified by the truth, the word is truth 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:55.440 and then sent into this world. Therefore the way by which we have to be in sync is in the truth 00:18:55.840 --> 00:19:01.760 and being sanctified by the truth which is the faith, this is the faith that we need to be growing 00:19:01.760 --> 00:19:06.080 in, which is the teachings that we need to be growing in, what is the truth that sets you free, 00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:11.680 it's the teachings of Christ that sets us free. We have the same spirit that is in operation, 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:16.960 we have the same truth that is in operation and because of the truth lived out in our life we are 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:22.160 able to reflect the nature of Christ as a beautiful picture not as an individual. The greatest problem 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.800 of Christianity is we have followed the way of the world and the way of the world is individuals 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:32.240 and therefore I need to be projecting Christ, no you cannot project Christ, it's the body that 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:37.360 projects Christ together and if we shift our understanding from individuals wanting to serve 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:41.840 Christ and being impact for the kingdom that's the greatest challenge even with all of the 00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:47.680 parishes and all of the ministries and Christian ministries it's about the individual I want to 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:52.960 impact the world for Christ. Sorry that is not the New Testament, you are not supposed to be 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:59.760 impacting the world for Christ. We as a community need to impact the world for Christ and it can't 00:19:59.760 --> 00:20:05.360 be done as an individual, the more we try we project the world's order of man and more and more and 00:20:05.360 --> 00:20:11.920 that's why ministries and Christian ministries with individual giftedness rejected as super super 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:14.560 guys are going to be detrimental to the way of Christ. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:24.960 It's this communities 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.920 and these apostolic teams come in form those communities and fade away. 00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:38.880 They are like a crescendo that comes in as an effect, yes they have their impact, they have 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:43.280 all of that and then they fade away, they are not there, they are not the mainstay. 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:50.880 The communities become the mainstay, true love becomes the mainstay, the truth sanctified 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:56.800 through life lived out becomes the mainstay, good lives become the mainstay, good works become the 00:20:56.800 --> 00:21:03.920 mainstay or good families and authentic families become the mainstay and good news that is shared 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:10.560 through good lives, good works, good homes becomes the mainstay that that is the beauty of what Christ 00:21:10.560 --> 00:21:12.720 has revealed. 00:21:17.520 --> 00:21:24.560 Now it's all opposite, I have done extremely well in business, see me what God has done, 00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:29.440 what the good good father has done in me and he will do that for you, that is the push of the 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:35.520 Christian world today. See my ministry, what God can do through me, God can do through you too as 00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:37.920 an individual, sorry that's not found in the New Testament. 00:21:45.840 --> 00:21:52.240 So Jacob is not the highlight of Greater Vancouver, Jacob has come and slogged 14 years to build the 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:58.160 six households, it's time that we shift into the way of Christ, these six communities actually 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:04.480 become the beauty of Christ revealed to the world, to the watching world. It's how you interact with 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:09.120 the community in your own neighborhood, that is going to be the mainstay, that is going to be the 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:14.880 main focus, that's going to be the beauty of Christ revealed. While Jacob fades, 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:25.920 yeah Jacob's fat goes thin but would come only on July 17th and up here, July 17th. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.400 That's Jacob's day, Memorial Day. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:40.400 In India it would be called Jacob Jayanti. 00:22:46.800 --> 00:22:56.000 You're getting the idea? Well the first idea we got to understand is that we have a field offered 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:03.920 to Jacob and a team, that field does not belong to Jacob alone, that field's ownership is taken by 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:12.720 the initial Antiochian church base until we have other bases come because there may be a sharing 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:16.960 of this load and co-working that can take place amongst the various bases across the city, 00:23:17.520 --> 00:23:24.160 across the nations but at this point of time our responsibility is that we would say we are with 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:29.200 you Jacob and commission you to do what God has handed over as a field. Are you getting the idea 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:37.520 of the field? And therefore in order to see this field, one of the things that we were clarifying 00:23:37.520 --> 00:23:45.600 more and more is that Jacob although has an origin from within the nation of India, the field 00:23:45.600 --> 00:23:54.480 seems more of non-Indian ethnos, like how Peter would be to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles, 00:23:55.040 --> 00:24:00.240 not that Peter would not do anything about the Gentiles or Paul would not do anything about the 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.560 Jews but the shift or the emphasis would be a certain kinds of people, a certain kind, one of 00:24:06.560 --> 00:24:12.720 the things that we've been discussing and thinking about is that the main essence of where Jacob would 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:21.120 be operating is a non-Indian kind of people, kind of people groups. As we go on those things will 00:24:21.120 --> 00:24:27.200 become more and more clear about the field. So this is work in progress, this is initial revelation, 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:34.320 this is something that we have initial small little specs that God is giving us with regards to the 00:24:34.320 --> 00:24:41.120 the field that this entire church will be involved in. Are you getting it? Am I making sense? I need 00:24:41.120 --> 00:24:46.320 to have some questions from you to clarify a little better, if not it's going to be, I do not know 00:24:46.320 --> 00:24:58.080 whether you're getting it. That's true? 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.200 Get me two questions that will help me understand how much you're getting. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:18.720 It's working? You're getting it? May you have any questions? Steven, Derek, 00:25:20.800 --> 00:25:31.760 Mark, who's going to the leaders? Dano, who else should I, Heidi? 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:44.800 Any questions? Not yet, let's go on. So there's a sphere to operate, there's an apostolic map 00:25:44.800 --> 00:25:50.000 and we have put this apostolic map. For us, at this point of time the sphere is 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.200 the 00:27:23.280 --> 00:27:29.600 all that the Assemblies of God as a denomination can think about is who is the 00:27:30.560 --> 00:27:36.560 district superintendent, who is the secretary, and that is the leadership and now you are a local 00:27:36.560 --> 00:27:40.480 church and therefore you don't have apostolic understanding within the Assemblies of God. In 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:44.960 fact, you've got to understand when there was a straying of this new movement called the 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:50.720 Apostolic Reformation that Wagner started, North American Assemblies of God wrote a paper saying 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:57.440 we don't subscribe to the Apostolic. Because of the abuses and excesses that were found in that 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:05.600 movement of the Apostolic Reformation, they call it the NAR. I don't know what this stands for but 00:28:05.600 --> 00:28:10.960 it's a new apostolic Reformation, NAR. It was a group of people there and so Assemblies of God 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:17.760 rejected it in that sense. So sometimes it's the greatest challenge because we at this point of 00:28:17.760 --> 00:28:24.640 time would have under one church now as an apostolic team would plant Assemblies of God churches, 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:29.040 would plant non-Assemblies of God churches, would cooperate with any denomination 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:37.040 because the church and the network of churches has accountability to the Assemblies of God but 00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:44.640 the apostolic team is not Assemblies of God. There's a little, we confuse everything now 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:50.560 and that's why we call it complex apostolic network of churches. It's very complex. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:29:14.240 And so for example the places that the Spirit of God will prevent Paul from entering, he's actually 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:21.120 starting his second missionary journey. He would want to go into Cappadocia, he would want to go 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:27.840 and the Spirit of God would prevent him and then take him on to Philippi and then go on to Ephesus. 00:29:27.840 --> 00:29:34.080 While those places that the Spirit of God prevents Peter to enter in, you see that Peter when he's 00:29:34.080 --> 00:29:39.520 writing his letters, he has a set of places. So let's go to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1. 00:29:39.520 --> 00:29:46.560 You see very strangely that those are the places that Paul was prevented to go by the Spirit. 00:29:46.560 --> 00:29:56.000 That is an assignment to Peter and his field. So 1 Peter chapter 1, the set of people that Peter is writing to. 00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:08.720 Those who are elect exiles of dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:15.520 according to the full knowledge of God. So this is a field assigned to Peter and he's writing to them. 00:30:15.520 --> 00:30:22.000 Paul has assigned a field and he's writing to them. John is at the end of it, is actually taking Paul's 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:29.120 network because he is at least 30 years beyond Paul and he's writing to the seven churches by 00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:35.120 the assignment. He's writing Revelation chapter 2 and 3. He's writing to a circular letter to seven 00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:39.600 churches out there and these seven churches are written the same materials from Revelation chapter 00:30:39.600 --> 00:30:48.080 4 to 22. But the covering letter is what is for each church specific. Each church specific 00:30:49.040 --> 00:30:54.800 assessment of what Jesus is thinking about the church in Ephesus, church in Philadelphia, 00:30:54.800 --> 00:31:03.200 church in Sardis. And these are the churches that were started out of Ephesian base that Paul stayed 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:09.680 for two to three years, night and day, in the hall of tyrannous. And these are the churches that 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:15.920 have started out of his work in three years. And now John is actually overseeing those network of 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:22.800 churches and he's writing to the seven churches on the Asia Minor. It is a road. You start in one 00:31:22.800 --> 00:31:27.200 place, you can actually follow the same road and that's how they carried those letters. Messengers 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:33.200 carried those letters and they gave a covering letter specific to the church and then a general 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:44.080 material from Revelation chapter 4 to 22. So this is a field assigned to Peter which was 00:31:44.080 --> 00:31:52.640 predominantly Jewish. And so in certain places like Antioch where the network actually intersected or 00:31:53.120 --> 00:31:58.560 spheres intersected, there was clashes because Paul and Peter would have clashes based on 00:31:59.280 --> 00:32:06.640 dice. Because Peter is more oriented to the Jews and Paul is more oriented to the Gentiles that 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:11.200 Paul would bring the Gentile concerns. And where the Gentiles and Jews are mixing up when two 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:17.360 apostolic leaders are there, that Paul had to confront Peter and say, hey guys, this is not 00:32:17.360 --> 00:32:23.120 the gospel. You are trying to downsize and tailor make it only for the Jews. You are so frightened 00:32:23.120 --> 00:32:30.720 of the Jews. He goes to Galatia which is predominantly taken over by Jewish kind of Christianity that he 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:37.200 is saying, guys, when I first came to you and opened up the gospel that is more to the Gentiles, 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:43.120 also included, who has be pitched to you? Why is that you are becoming more and more Jewish in your 00:32:43.120 --> 00:32:49.360 orientation and following what you touch and see? No, that is not the gospel that I brought in. 00:32:56.240 --> 00:33:01.360 You're getting the ideas? 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:16.880 Mark, any questions? Shall we go on to the second one? So in the field that God has assigned, 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:24.320 they went about the great commission that Jesus commissioned them. 00:33:24.320 --> 00:33:28.000 Now what did Jesus commission them? To go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:34.000 Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:40.240 teaching them to observe all things that which I have commanded. 00:33:43.280 --> 00:33:49.200 So they bent, they were not able to do that. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:34:04.640 They made disciples by baptizing them. Those who accepted the gospel were baptized and included 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:11.760 into the community because the idea of baptism is not a Baptist idea of dipping someone in the water. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:17.440 The idea of baptism is that when someone comes to Christ, he is actually saying from now on, 00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:22.560 I don't belong to the world community, but I am actually immersing myself in water. 00:34:23.200 --> 00:34:28.960 Water rite that was so prevalent in the Middle Eastern world where they dipped themselves in and 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:36.160 said from now on I subscribe to this rabbi. From now on I subscribe to this person alone 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:44.080 and they belong to that community. So they have rabbinical schools. Jesus is saying, 00:34:44.080 --> 00:34:50.480 you got to follow my teachings to the T and now you're baptized to be part of my community. 00:34:50.480 --> 00:34:56.080 Therefore this idea of the great commission is to evangelize them with the gospel which is the 00:34:56.080 --> 00:35:02.160 good news of Jesus Christ and when they come they are baptized into a community and this community 00:35:02.160 --> 00:35:13.920 becomes a learning, living and teaching community. That is what Paul and Peter and 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:19.440 all the apostles in the through the book of Acts continue to do and if you really see the 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:26.320 cycle that comes as they did not just evangelize in every place. They evangelized and made sure 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:34.160 that they were strategic in nature. So they evangelized strategic cities. They established 00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:42.560 and through baptism and teaching established 00:35:44.720 --> 00:35:54.800 local churches. While there were people who were established in the local church they were developed 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:04.640 and matured in order to identify potential leaders and appoint them as elders and they entrusted it 00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:12.720 to elders and the apostolic team continued to do this cycle again and again which is the great 00:36:12.720 --> 00:36:20.400 commission cycle or David Heselgrave calls it the Pauline cycle because Paul it's very clear in the 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:29.840 book of Acts through Acts chapter 13 verse 1 to 14 28. You see this Pauline cycle in place in the 00:36:29.840 --> 00:36:34.640 first missionary journey. You see the same thing happen in the second missionary journey. 00:36:38.320 --> 00:36:45.360 You see the same thing happen with Philip going into Samaria or a panabas after something the 00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:51.520 spirit does goes into Antioch. Same cycle happens. They evangelized strategic places. 00:36:52.160 --> 00:36:58.240 They established local churches. They entrusted to elders and therefore after we have had the 00:36:58.240 --> 00:37:06.080 field if you really see Paul's field. Paul's field is the then known Gentile world. It was not 00:37:06.080 --> 00:37:08.640 primarily Jerusalem but Antioch became the base. 00:37:14.560 --> 00:37:17.520 And so you see the Roman world it's Antioch. 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:29.760 From here three small places of Iconium, Lystra, Derby. He goes to Philippi. 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:37.120 He goes into Philippi then into Thessalonica, 00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:46.880 Barai and this becomes the Macedonian network of churches. 00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:56.160 And you come into Corinth and Athens and becomes the Achaean network of churches. 00:37:56.960 --> 00:38:08.800 Then he hits Ephesus with 11 other churches on that circular road 00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:15.120 and it becomes the Ephesian network of churches. 00:38:15.120 --> 00:38:31.280 And Paul is hell bent on being arrested even though arrested in Jerusalem. He is hell bent on going to Rome. 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:51.520 And this is Paul's map. It was Paul's field and he hits strategic locations. So there were four major 00:38:51.600 --> 00:39:02.160 strategic cities of the Roman world. Antioch on the eastern side, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome. 00:39:02.160 --> 00:39:08.960 These are five. Philippi because it was on the northern front of the Roman world. They made sure 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:14.480 that they had the army containment there on the northern side and the Macedonian regions became 00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:21.840 very important for defending the northern side. Corinth was like the business capital. It would 00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:26.400 be like Mumbai of India or if it's Canada which would be the business capital. 00:39:29.600 --> 00:39:31.280 Which is the political capital? 00:39:33.120 --> 00:39:41.760 Toronto. So that would be more like the Rome of Canada. 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:48.480 So that would be the business that may be spread across. But these are strategic locations. So if we 00:39:48.480 --> 00:39:53.280 really take Canada as a whole, there are strategic locations that we may have to do. So when God 00:39:53.280 --> 00:40:03.520 spoke to us in 2015 about it was a very strange process. 2012 there was a man whose name was 00:40:03.520 --> 00:40:10.640 Lorenzo who came brought in by my friend whose name was Prem Nath and he came to preach in our 00:40:10.640 --> 00:40:18.880 church. He couldn't preach. I was so disappointed with him because he stood up and he was trying to 00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:27.040 say something and here is a big service that is going on and suddenly I felt like I was almost 00:40:27.040 --> 00:40:32.720 because my friend also had come in between. I spoke to him and said I think the next time you please 00:40:32.720 --> 00:40:39.120 let me know whether a guy can preach before you bring them to the church. And so at the end of it 00:40:39.200 --> 00:40:45.440 he said I'm sorry the spirit of God really wanted me to deliver this word only and sit 00:40:45.440 --> 00:40:50.720 but because of the pressure of preaching I had to preach. And so I'll read to him read to you what 00:40:54.800 --> 00:41:00.000 at the end of maybe 15-20 minutes of scrambling through its notes and not able to preach he said 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.880 this is what the spirit of God wanted me to write this morning. I saw a picture and he wanted me to 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:10.800 deliver this to you. A great great lake vast in size abundant with resources a beautiful resting 00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:16.000 place a powerful providing place providing drinking water for many. This was like the peak 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:21.760 2012 was a peak where the English service was growing and we had shifted from three services 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:28.560 to five services because the congregation was like flooding in. We had already set up a new 00:41:28.560 --> 00:41:34.560 place on top wonderful beautiful air-conditioned place with a lot of media equipment in it and 00:41:34.560 --> 00:41:39.600 then I saw a stirring on the waters which became a mighty swirling mighty clouds gathered and the 00:41:39.600 --> 00:41:44.800 wind began to blow mightily thunder and lightning the waters rose and thrashed about and suddenly 00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:51.840 overflowed their banks and began to flow out of out to other places. This lasted for a while until 00:41:51.840 --> 00:41:57.120 the lake was half full then the sky cleared and the sun shone and a great peace a calm came over 00:41:57.120 --> 00:42:02.400 the whole lake. There were fresh trees with new fruit and new birds singing new songs and new 00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:07.680 people enjoying the lake. God had done a new thing for his great glory and then I looked beyond the 00:42:07.680 --> 00:42:13.680 lake and where the water had flowed what once was dry and dead ground had come to life because the 00:42:13.680 --> 00:42:18.880 water from your lake had brought the gospel and God's kingdom to places that previously were dead. 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:24.000 God told me that he has heard the cry of the dry and dead land and he would save them and give them 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:29.600 life and he has chosen you to bring them what they need. My own feeling is that God will use this 00:42:29.680 --> 00:42:35.280 church in middle east to accomplish things for him that even governments have not been able to 00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:40.560 accomplish. When our Lord Jesus tells us to do something for him why do we not simply obey and 00:42:40.560 --> 00:42:46.800 do exactly what he tells us? We obey because the Lord needs it and then he closed the iPad and he 00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:54.400 sat down and I was disappointed because he said the lake will be half full because half the lake 00:42:54.400 --> 00:43:01.200 will disperse. I did not give attention to this prophetic word. 2015 we were playing together 00:43:01.200 --> 00:43:06.480 as a team asking God what we must be doing and then God dropped in two important statements. One 00:43:06.480 --> 00:43:14.320 was we had no idea what black maps were and black maps was something that came out to me while we 00:43:14.320 --> 00:43:19.440 were praying. The other prophetic word that came while we were praying together as a team was one 00:43:19.440 --> 00:43:27.680 of the team members said where Satan is causing the maximum havoc that's where my greatest harvest 00:43:27.680 --> 00:43:34.960 is going to be in the next season. So I go into the office, google out black maps and what throws 00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:42.080 out was the shocking thing which was the black maps of ISIS. If you really see the black maps 00:43:42.080 --> 00:43:48.640 of ISIS, it's the eastern Europe, it's central Asia, northern Africa, it goes all the way into 00:43:48.640 --> 00:43:57.520 into Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and it moves into Malaysia, Singapore down to Jakarta, Indonesia. 00:43:57.520 --> 00:44:01.840 So all of this is what is called as Islamic Caliphate that they wanted to establish and they 00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:08.400 were at the peak of it when in 2015 and God said this is one of the regions that we want you to 00:44:08.400 --> 00:44:16.080 work as a as an apostolic team and then in response to that. But then Jacob comes into 00:44:16.560 --> 00:44:22.720 into our church and there is a guy whose name is Theo. Theo, he halfway through the service he's 00:44:22.720 --> 00:44:30.000 saying Theo your ship is parked, is anchored, there is a storm that is coming to your life 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:36.160 unless you pull out the anchor you will not be you will be destroyed and so remove your anchors 00:44:36.160 --> 00:44:45.680 and be ready for sail. And then Theo goes through a major storm that happens and it all comes together 00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:51.360 in 2016 that we say God if this is the region that God wants us to do what is the strategic 00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:59.120 location that we need to hit and then we decide Dubai would be a strategic location that would 00:44:59.120 --> 00:45:04.720 help reach out into central Asia, into eastern Europe, into northern Africa and the middle eastern 00:45:04.720 --> 00:45:12.160 regions and that's the reason why we sent you and Falong to go into Dubai to be starting out. 00:45:12.240 --> 00:45:16.560 And while we are talking right now that this is the first mission trip after three years the 00:45:16.560 --> 00:45:22.720 church has become four households in Dubai that are meeting together in four different places 00:45:22.720 --> 00:45:28.160 and are gathering together on a Friday for one-mindedness and now this church is slowly 00:45:28.160 --> 00:45:34.800 taking up this cause of central Asia and have gone on a first mission trip into Kazakhstan. 00:45:36.720 --> 00:45:42.000 So when you're talking about these things you're talking about authentic communities 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:46.800 you're not talking about great things that you're doing it's not about big meetings and you can 00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:53.040 flash out in the social media no these are simple things about how small communities of Christ 00:45:53.040 --> 00:45:59.920 are catching up the vision of what God wants us to do and move into strategic locations to do 00:45:59.920 --> 00:46:04.880 this four-line cycle or what is called as the great commission cycle again and again and again. 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:14.080 So that's my second thing. While we have a field we identify strategic locations we know the timings 00:46:14.080 --> 00:46:20.480 of the Lord we move to those locations and we do Pauline cycle or the great commission cycle 00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:25.600 which is evangelizing strategic cities establishing local churches entrusting to elders and therefore 00:46:25.600 --> 00:46:31.520 in those locations there are times for example even before you evangelize there are times that 00:46:31.520 --> 00:46:35.040 we need to really work on with regards to pre- 00:46:39.600 --> 00:46:40.080 Thank you. 00:46:53.200 --> 00:46:54.080 Who's water in charge? 00:46:54.240 --> 00:46:56.240 Who's water in charge? 00:46:59.920 --> 00:47:07.360 You're getting the idea we have a field and after that we have a field we are in sync with the 00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:13.680 spirit to understand when and where is the first place so for example it's not like Paul 00:47:14.720 --> 00:47:19.840 after he finished in Coneyallister Derby his next progression was more Ephesus or somewhere in this 00:47:19.840 --> 00:47:25.520 area but the spirit of God would not allow and take him to a Macedonian call and if you really 00:47:25.520 --> 00:47:32.320 read Philippians letter you see that these guys were strategic partners right from the beginning 00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:39.600 till the very end and so it's not about what we want although that doesn't mean that Paul was 00:47:39.600 --> 00:47:45.360 just seated in Antioch and waiting and waiting and waiting no Paul was moving Paul was moving 00:47:46.160 --> 00:47:52.560 but the spirit of God will open and close doors and will lead sometimes what we think is strategic 00:47:52.560 --> 00:47:58.480 may not be the timing of the Lord sometimes what we think is what we need to do next is so for 00:47:58.480 --> 00:48:04.720 example we wanted to we have chosen what is called the new Roman road which is within India 00:48:04.720 --> 00:48:12.160 and it's called the golden quarter lateral okay Chennai Mumbai Delhi and Kolkata would be the 00:48:12.160 --> 00:48:17.280 strategic locations within India that we need to really replenish these communities so that the 00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:23.360 cities will be taken but so we were making our road into Mumbai and hitting into Mumbai 00:48:24.160 --> 00:48:29.680 we felt that that's the next strategic city that God spoken had spoken in 2003 about Mumbai being 00:48:29.680 --> 00:48:34.720 one of the second cities that I would be living and dwelling in as I was moving towards that 00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:41.120 the there was a great great opposition with regards to the assemblies of God 00:48:41.120 --> 00:48:47.200 church pastor there and the leader there he said if you come in we are going to complain all over 00:48:47.200 --> 00:48:53.760 in the denomination and he opposed vehemently he said we are not doing an assembly we will not use 00:48:53.760 --> 00:48:58.480 our brand name because he was saying there's a big church coming in and therefore that NLAG brand 00:48:58.480 --> 00:49:02.640 will spoil all the work that we have done and everyone would go to your church and therefore 00:49:02.640 --> 00:49:09.280 we don't want you to come while we were actually pressing and confused about this opposition 00:49:10.240 --> 00:49:17.200 the spirit of God said Pune just open up in Pune and you see Pune Pune is just all the churches 00:49:17.200 --> 00:49:24.240 are concentrated on the camp area which is the old Pune but Pune has grown massive because of the IT 00:49:24.240 --> 00:49:31.760 that has been happening out there and therefore in 2018 last year we started out in Pune and in a 00:49:31.760 --> 00:49:36.960 place called Banner and when you're starting a church we're not thinking about music we are 00:49:36.960 --> 00:49:41.280 not thinking about worship leaders we are not thinking about who's going to be doing just three 00:49:41.280 --> 00:49:51.280 people last year June 10th three people Ramin rich family a young couple who are true family to me 00:49:51.280 --> 00:49:55.520 along with Jerry who was part of our team Jerry was sent along with these three people started 00:49:55.520 --> 00:50:01.840 out in a home and this is actually a growing and it grew out of the home into a larger space that 00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:06.800 we had to hire up a hall on a Sunday but there is a household that meets together in Praveen 00:50:06.800 --> 00:50:12.160 Richard's house and while we were still doing that God was speaking about another church in 00:50:12.160 --> 00:50:17.760 30 kilometers away and this so even before this church is fully established and growing and 00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:22.160 self-sufficient this church has planted another church and when you're thinking of a church plant 00:50:22.160 --> 00:50:27.200 we are not thinking about how do we have a worship leader how do we have a space how do we have 00:50:27.200 --> 00:50:29.920 speakers how to know this is about another house 00:50:33.120 --> 00:50:40.160 and there are two churches and around 70 people who are out there in a year's time not great 00:50:40.160 --> 00:50:47.840 success stories but true authentic loving communities and I believe that we will be able to 00:50:47.840 --> 00:50:54.560 saturate and fill whole of Pune and the approach that God has given strategically is to not come 00:50:54.560 --> 00:50:58.640 into camp because the moment you come into camp the greatest opposition will be from the religious 00:50:59.360 --> 00:51:06.400 Christianity and therefore you actually hit in all the corners of where the IT world has been 00:51:06.400 --> 00:51:13.440 planting huge buildings and IT offices and are inviting all of India to come and live and work 00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:27.920 there. You hit strategic locations, evangelize, establish Christ communities which are authentic, 00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:33.760 truly established in the teaching and you raise up leaders and elders and appoint them 00:51:35.280 --> 00:51:38.240 and you continue to do continue to replenish. 00:51:43.520 --> 00:51:55.920 Long haul and sometimes you can't measure everything on the way. It's not about measuring success in this 00:51:57.200 --> 00:52:01.920 it's about measuring of whether this is true communities that's our only measure 00:52:01.920 --> 00:52:05.360 through communities that would impact society. 00:52:05.360 --> 00:52:15.280 Questions? 00:52:35.440 --> 00:52:39.280 Questions are arising now. 00:52:49.280 --> 00:52:55.760 So it's not about major investment that we need to when we think of New York it's not a we need 00:52:56.160 --> 00:53:02.160 we need a family we need a few families. 00:53:02.960 --> 00:53:06.560 So we 00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:31.120 um the Jerry who was sent is um Jerry was someone that I started off he was in the Saturday afternoon 00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:38.480 community that I was investing in in 2010. Uh 2012 this family actually shifted because of work 00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:47.040 to Chicago but I would not I would not leave them in a sense like I I would check on whether they 00:53:47.040 --> 00:53:53.360 are going to come back so it was like a short period of four years in Chicago and therefore 00:53:53.360 --> 00:54:00.320 anytime I flew into North America Chicago would be my place where I put my bags. Their home is where 00:54:00.320 --> 00:54:07.440 I would stay continue to pursue Jerry and Zesha continue to invest into them and sometimes we have 00:54:07.440 --> 00:54:13.200 our Saturday afternoon groups at the two three of three three thirty which means Chicago time is 00:54:13.200 --> 00:54:18.400 like four thirty in the morning and sometimes winter times in Chicago Jerry and Zesha would have 00:54:18.400 --> 00:54:24.640 all kinds of winter clothing on them and sit in front of Skype to be or zoom call to be part of 00:54:24.640 --> 00:54:30.560 this process never allowed them to stay away from the teaching at one point of time they had to come 00:54:30.560 --> 00:54:37.440 back when they came in they were in sync with what was happening at the base floored in and at the at 00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:43.520 one point of time asked Jerry Jerry would you uh I I think there is a call of God upon him Jerry would 00:54:43.520 --> 00:54:50.000 say I want to hear God I want to hear God if I have to make the move and I would say it's not about 00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:56.480 hearing it's about believing and following and so he left a very high paying job to be joining 00:54:56.480 --> 00:55:03.920 with the team and within the next year he was part of the OMR church plant and growing and investing and 00:55:05.200 --> 00:55:11.840 Raffol was part of that congregation or part of the households there and Jerry 00:55:13.040 --> 00:55:16.160 I asked Jerry hey there's a immediate need to go to Pune would you go 00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:24.400 Zesha was pregnant and they asked that after they deliver in three months time I'm not talking to you 00:55:24.400 --> 00:55:30.480 after they deliver three months time Zesha said give me three months time I would be willing to move 00:55:31.360 --> 00:55:35.520 and they went to Hong Kong oh they went to Pune oh sorry 00:55:35.520 --> 00:55:44.880 okay 00:55:52.960 --> 00:55:58.000 but Jerry is a highly invested tenure tenure project 00:55:58.640 --> 00:56:00.640 uh 00:56:03.600 --> 00:56:10.480 highly invested relationship I walked Richard down the aisle to get her married because of her family 00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:16.640 rejected that they would not stand with her she was from a Hindu background so it was like a father 00:56:16.640 --> 00:56:22.160 to her who walked I I interviewed the guy who she wanted to marry and gave him a hard time before 00:56:22.160 --> 00:56:27.600 getting married and now that's the relationship so whenever I went to Pune I lived in the house 00:56:28.320 --> 00:56:34.880 ate with it so it's a combination of an invested leader uh proven which I have not invested on a 00:56:34.880 --> 00:56:39.440 leadership leadership but as a invested in a relationship because they always lived far away 00:56:39.440 --> 00:56:48.080 from me but there was a click out there and then the church starts and then you see 70 people 00:56:48.800 --> 00:56:54.560 blossoming out and the greatest joys you go there you it's not it's not you but you have invested 00:56:54.560 --> 00:56:59.040 into some people's lives you have strategically understood and it's not apostolic leaders work 00:56:59.840 --> 00:57:07.920 when Jerry last time he came and asked this new place in Karate there was another guy who was 00:57:07.920 --> 00:57:12.880 grooming up well and then suddenly he pulled himself off and went off to another place we 00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:17.760 were talking about how there is a spirit that is at work in that location that does not allow 00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:24.400 the stability of the churches and so then Jerry is asking so give us insight give us insight 00:57:25.040 --> 00:57:31.120 say Jerry you pray you get more insight but we will come and stand alongside and so I've committed 00:57:31.120 --> 00:57:37.280 myself for the next two times within this year to be going along with Jerry and a team to be praying 00:57:37.280 --> 00:57:42.960 to dismantle certain things Jacob has been praying and feeding in certain aspects of what needs to be 00:57:43.440 --> 00:57:50.560 dismantled and therefore it is also when when you just before pre-evangelism of a certain place an 00:57:50.560 --> 00:57:59.120 area there's also spiritual dismantling of of what do you call you have a terrorized tea 00:58:04.240 --> 00:58:11.200 okay tame nations tyrannize the rulers so there are certain activities that go before it to 00:58:11.200 --> 00:58:15.600 dismantle certain spiritual forces of darkness and there are certain times when 00:58:16.720 --> 00:58:21.360 like last year or last year we went into utharkand which is on the top mountains 00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:28.720 there are four important it's called the char dhams where the rulership of this nation of india is 00:58:28.720 --> 00:58:34.880 out there so when modi has to actually be elected he goes there before being elected he before the 00:58:34.880 --> 00:58:41.680 parliament starts he goes there and that's where and so we go there to unplug certain things 00:58:42.640 --> 00:58:46.000 it's a war it's it's truly strategic war 00:58:50.640 --> 00:58:52.560 over territories and nations and nations 00:58:52.560 --> 00:59:03.440 is 00:59:03.440 --> 00:59:10.560 that okay can we go on thirdly we got to equip a whole leadership base 00:59:11.360 --> 00:59:16.320 and all of these needs are whole set of leaders and there are two new testament leadership 00:59:17.040 --> 00:59:20.000 types that are needed for this to work 00:59:27.360 --> 00:59:34.000 so while you are doing the while you are doing the poline cycle or the great commission cycle 00:59:36.560 --> 00:59:45.120 you are in this space where there are establishing the local church and entrusting to elders you are 00:59:46.080 --> 00:59:48.160 beginning to identify potential leaders 00:59:53.360 --> 00:59:54.720 you would call l2l3s 01:00:00.960 --> 01:00:08.400 and these l2l3s that you identify and while they are identified you are looking into certain 01:00:08.400 --> 01:00:17.440 aspects so i'm just going to lay down certain things that i look for number one and it's and 01:00:17.440 --> 01:00:22.880 it's part of the teaching in the scriptures too they have a desire to serve that's the first thing 01:00:23.520 --> 01:00:30.720 do they have a desire to serve number two they are making themselves available not forced and 01:00:30.720 --> 01:00:35.840 forced and forth they are making themselves available for every opportunity to be invested into 01:00:39.360 --> 01:00:44.080 they have a desire to serve they're making themselves available for investment into their 01:00:44.080 --> 01:00:50.560 lives they're beginning to number three they are beginning to grasp the teaching and are making 01:00:50.560 --> 01:00:58.560 church central to their life and family their life does not revolve around their work their 01:00:58.560 --> 01:01:03.840 life does not revolve around their family no their life is revolving around christ community 01:01:04.800 --> 01:01:09.360 in which they are rallying and managing their work they are rallying and managing their family 01:01:09.360 --> 01:01:16.160 to actually make church central to their life's plan they're beginning not that they are mastered 01:01:16.160 --> 01:01:20.640 that they are already doing they're beginning to grasp the teaching and are making church 01:01:20.640 --> 01:01:27.680 central to their life and family number four they are managing their own families well unable to 01:01:27.680 --> 01:01:31.040 extend their relationship beyond their individual family 01:01:34.800 --> 01:01:40.560 they're managing their own families well able to extend their relationship beyond their family 01:01:45.920 --> 01:01:50.320 number five they are people who show early signs of influence 01:01:51.280 --> 01:01:56.320 and are beginning to be respected by more than their own family within the household 01:01:57.680 --> 01:02:00.320 so 01:02:13.280 --> 01:02:17.920 they have a desire to serve they're making themselves available for investment into their lives 01:02:18.640 --> 01:02:22.480 they're beginning to grasp the teaching and are making church central to their life 01:02:22.480 --> 01:02:29.120 and family they're managing their own families well and are able to extend their relationship 01:02:29.120 --> 01:02:35.760 beyond their family they are people who show early signs of influence and are beginning to 01:02:35.760 --> 01:02:41.280 be respected by more than their own family these are our potential leaders 01:02:42.480 --> 01:02:47.120 and we have a base of potential leaders that we begin to work 01:02:52.480 --> 01:02:55.120 with 01:03:07.040 --> 01:03:13.440 yeah you you've got the idea of the l2 and l3 that we are beginning to they're beginning to emerge 01:03:14.160 --> 01:03:20.240 while they are beginning to emerge we have to slowly identify what 01:03:20.480 --> 01:03:25.040 we we don't have to name them immediately we don't have to one of the things that we have 01:03:25.040 --> 01:03:30.960 understood is that we can't lay hands on and commission them too quickly because we see them 01:03:30.960 --> 01:03:38.000 through a period of time before we recognize their service rather than he's my favorite so he's a 01:03:38.000 --> 01:03:44.880 leader no or he's is someone that is showing giftedness alone some people show a lot of 01:03:44.880 --> 01:03:50.080 giftedness but have not built the character base with it and therefore we have to be 01:03:50.560 --> 01:04:01.280 make sure that we do our sam well with them spiritual formation 01:04:05.680 --> 01:04:06.960 which is the character base 01:04:11.520 --> 01:04:12.560 academic skills 01:04:14.880 --> 01:04:19.760 what do we mean by academic skills academic skills is that their ability to master 01:04:21.200 --> 01:04:21.920 scripture 01:04:25.200 --> 01:04:37.600 master culture and are able to bridge scripture to context and culture 01:04:41.040 --> 01:04:41.760 to provide 01:04:45.440 --> 01:04:47.680 the mind of christ solution 01:04:50.240 --> 01:05:03.360 and therefore the church must i would say jacob's teaching on sunday evenings with his sporadic 01:05:03.360 --> 01:05:09.360 visits is not going to be the way by which we have an academic skill developed amongst the potential 01:05:09.360 --> 01:05:18.160 leaders because this needs to be ongoing continuous layer on layer a pathway to the 01:05:18.960 --> 01:05:25.040 of a pathway that needs to be truly laid over a period of two to three years where where where 01:05:25.600 --> 01:05:32.000 spiritual formation is is very much of a mentoring and and shaping up of life and character but 01:05:32.000 --> 01:05:38.960 the academic skills is a process that at least three to five years of a very clear pathway led 01:05:39.040 --> 01:05:47.040 within our churches to to really master scriptures so so at one point why i 01:05:48.800 --> 01:05:52.560 you at one point of time you must be able to score through and at this point of time i can 01:05:52.560 --> 01:05:57.120 tell i can score through new testament left right and center amongst all of the 01:05:58.800 --> 01:06:04.240 gospels and the epistles the 27 books i'm still not mastered the old testament the way i've 01:06:04.240 --> 01:06:10.160 mastered the new testament but the moment you actually are confronted with the with the with 01:06:10.160 --> 01:06:16.720 an issue a leader who's becoming a master craftsman from being an apprentice should be able to process 01:06:17.360 --> 01:06:23.520 all of the life's issues through the base of the scriptures and be bringing about 01:06:24.160 --> 01:06:28.160 the mind of christ solutions to the issues that are faced in a culture 01:06:28.160 --> 01:06:32.240 and that's how we really develop wisdom base this is not a knowledge base we develop what is called 01:06:32.240 --> 01:06:45.120 as a wisdom base and the spirit actually broods over the wisdom base and takes the words of christ 01:06:45.120 --> 01:06:50.560 and is able to apply if you don't have this wisdom base the spirit is not able to 01:06:50.560 --> 01:06:53.760 wisdom base the spirit is not able to 01:06:56.400 --> 01:06:59.760 he uses profits to warn or advice 01:07:02.560 --> 01:07:07.440 but over a period of time the wisdom base that is developed through an academic skill and it's 01:07:08.000 --> 01:07:13.120 it's an academic skill that you have to at the end of it it's going to be on paper it's going to be 01:07:14.160 --> 01:07:18.560 certain times we got to put them on paper if you don't put them on paper it's just vapor 01:07:19.520 --> 01:07:24.960 you'll have great thoughts that the spirit would be able to take the words but you got to do some 01:07:24.960 --> 01:07:34.640 level of studying and are able to handle the scriptures with confidence 01:07:40.880 --> 01:07:44.880 so that we will not be arguing with words that is meaningless 01:07:48.560 --> 01:08:04.480 so we must help people identify their life work their gifts abilities skills 01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:14.880 and help them understand their gift mix and that ministerial skills you will be able to 01:08:14.880 --> 01:08:23.680 distinguish them over a period of time whether they are a local eldership material or an apostolic 01:08:23.680 --> 01:08:33.920 team material over a period of time and through through practical applications in ministry 01:08:33.920 --> 01:08:38.320 when you you identify ministerial skills because you are able to see them on the job 01:08:39.280 --> 01:08:48.880 in service while in community that's why jacob taking jeven to hanoi or evan to evan have i got 01:08:48.880 --> 01:08:56.640 your name evan evan to hanoi helps jacob understand whether whether you're a local church 01:08:56.640 --> 01:09:01.920 eldership or an apostolic team does not make any difference with regards to what christ wants 01:09:01.920 --> 01:09:07.040 because one does not function or apart from the other one is a failure if the other does not 01:09:07.040 --> 01:09:13.600 function and therefore these are equally important weightages with the priority of the apostolic 01:09:13.600 --> 01:09:18.320 ministry because of the progression and the spearheading and the pioneering aspects that are 01:09:18.320 --> 01:09:24.960 needed but apart from that whether you're here or here it depends on the gift that god has given you 01:09:24.960 --> 01:09:33.120 and you must be fully fully be satisfied with what god has invested in but jacob on these trips will 01:09:33.120 --> 01:09:39.360 be able to assess or over a period of time there will be a senior eldership that rises up from 01:09:39.360 --> 01:09:44.800 amongst the elders will be able to assess on a on a two-tier system where where there are local 01:09:44.800 --> 01:09:50.800 elders identifying hey this guy is apostolic in nature or this guy is the ability to teach and 01:09:50.800 --> 01:09:55.920 defend the gospel this guy has this particular computer skills so that he can be on a deacon 01:09:55.920 --> 01:10:02.080 team to help the teaching of the church be established as true proper teaching this is 01:10:02.080 --> 01:10:08.800 an entrepreneur who has the ability to to to bring solution as a benefactor to the society or 01:10:09.600 --> 01:10:16.160 as a as a health as as this giftedness to make money in order for the progression of the god 01:10:16.800 --> 01:10:23.920 all these giftedness will be able we need to be so these are three major blocks as from from first 01:10:23.920 --> 01:10:29.440 timothy and second timothy that we these these three major blocks of a well-rounded leader 01:10:29.600 --> 01:10:35.760 that we need to shape up this this from first timothy second and second timothy paul as is in 01:10:35.760 --> 01:10:41.840 second timothy is reviewing paul's training of timothy and telling this is how you got to be 01:10:41.840 --> 01:10:46.560 training others and that is when he gives the commission in second timothy chapter two verse 01:10:46.560 --> 01:10:52.960 two that which you have heard in the presence of many witnesses and this review of what i'm doing 01:10:52.960 --> 01:10:58.560 with regards to the training of you timothy you've been with me in anchoque you've been in 01:10:58.560 --> 01:11:03.200 anchoque you've been with me in different places in ephesus when i've gone through persecution 01:11:03.200 --> 01:11:07.840 you've seen my life you've learned things from my life you have learned things from your grandmother 01:11:07.840 --> 01:11:12.480 you have learned things from your mother you have learned things from the scriptures on from 01:11:12.480 --> 01:11:19.680 infancy but now is your base of and the process of training that i have taken you through now this 01:11:19.680 --> 01:11:25.040 is the good deposit that i have invested into your life timothy now god this with the help of the 01:11:25.040 --> 01:11:31.040 holy spirit and pass it on to faithful men that is second timothy chapter two and verse two passes 01:11:31.040 --> 01:11:37.600 on to faithful men who will also be able to do this to others and therefore second timothy chapter 01:11:37.600 --> 01:11:42.960 two verse two is not a multi-level uh multi-level leadership developmental strategy no this is a 01:11:42.960 --> 01:11:49.600 long-haul 12-year process of investment of the good deposit over a period of time and paul is 01:11:49.600 --> 01:11:55.680 reviewing that training process and he says hey flee from sexual immorality flee from all these 01:11:55.680 --> 01:12:01.680 kinds of things make sure that you are a man of character and then second timothy chapter two 01:12:02.640 --> 01:12:08.960 verse 14 and 15 you need to be an authentic approved minister of the gospel uh that means 01:12:08.960 --> 01:12:15.440 you need to handle the word of god with confidence do not argue about meaningless words because it 01:12:15.440 --> 01:12:21.280 does not help anyone and when you are arguing you don't have to argue because somehow some way when 01:12:21.280 --> 01:12:26.720 people oppose you in the teaching leave it to the spirit and you don't get agitated in your 01:12:26.720 --> 01:12:30.640 arguments and all those things are the academic skills part that paul is talking about in the 01:12:30.640 --> 01:12:35.840 training process and then the minister do the work of the evangelist give yourself to the public 01:12:35.840 --> 01:12:43.840 reading of the scriptures a be instant in season um rebuke all all of those things are the 01:12:43.840 --> 01:12:50.080 ministerial skills that that that paul is talking to timothy and so these are we call the same 01:12:52.000 --> 01:12:54.080 encyclopedia 01:13:14.480 --> 01:13:16.080 yes 01:13:24.080 --> 01:13:31.600 i i would say apostolic leaders need to choose the apostolic teams and therefore there are some 01:13:31.600 --> 01:13:38.640 people from within the churches that the apostolic leader would invite in in consensus with the local 01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:44.960 church elders to be brought them to team as an apprentice and then the apostolic leader takes the 01:13:44.960 --> 01:13:51.600 responsibility of helping him through his life work but generally life work needs to be done 01:13:51.600 --> 01:13:56.880 within the communities there's a set of good what is life work is a set of good works that 01:13:56.880 --> 01:14:02.960 god has prepared in advance for a person to be doing in his lifetime which could be parenting 01:14:02.960 --> 01:14:08.720 which could be fathering it could be husbanding it could be um it could be certain gifts abilities 01:14:08.720 --> 01:14:14.320 and skills that god has given that person in it could be entrepreneurial it could be certain gifts 01:14:14.320 --> 01:14:19.760 of playing instruments all of this is a set of good works that christ is prepared in advance for 01:14:19.760 --> 01:14:28.000 a person to do and then we help them explore it so when it comes to life work 01:14:33.360 --> 01:14:38.000 we help people explore conceptualize 01:14:39.760 --> 01:14:40.960 and realize 01:14:44.560 --> 01:14:50.880 but they are regards to gifts abilities in a lot of people actually can play guitar 01:14:52.160 --> 01:14:54.000 but they are not guitarists 01:15:02.960 --> 01:15:15.040 so they explore we need to really help people realize their their set of good works the crisis prepared in advance for them to do 01:15:19.840 --> 01:15:22.880 and the church as a whole is god's good work to the world 01:15:26.000 --> 01:15:32.480 he's a master craftsman doing his masterpiece which is the church which has individuals and families 01:15:32.480 --> 01:15:38.720 with individual life work and family life works together and god the way he puts families together 01:15:38.720 --> 01:15:45.120 because he's the one who puts families together because of our hardness we mess up families but 01:15:45.120 --> 01:15:49.760 he's the one who puts families together because there's a greater purpose in harnessing what god 01:15:49.760 --> 01:15:55.920 has already invested into your life and the family and an individual is part of a family of god which 01:15:55.920 --> 01:16:01.440 is the community of disciples and god has a unique way by which he shapes a community too because of 01:16:01.440 --> 01:16:06.240 the individual and the family life works that's how the community is formed that's not the full 01:16:06.240 --> 01:16:12.400 picture that's why we need to join along with the communities but what a great picture would be if 01:16:12.400 --> 01:16:17.520 all of Vancouver is actually moving in the same direction with regards to what Christ wants for 01:16:17.520 --> 01:16:24.720 the church and that would be the picture that Christ wants for a city the church of Vancouver 01:16:24.720 --> 01:16:31.200 my body that reflects christ watching work no force of hell can ever stand against that 01:16:32.640 --> 01:16:35.760 i'm talking utopic but i'm not saying it's not possible 01:16:36.480 --> 01:16:44.000 this is possible when you take a long haul 30 year period you can impact a city and a nation 01:16:44.000 --> 01:16:51.280 so 01:16:54.320 --> 01:17:01.920 what should we do one one more i'm i'm skipping down to i i think these are the three things that 01:17:01.920 --> 01:17:10.400 we need to continue to uh linger around through a few more visits or jacob can further it down 01:17:10.400 --> 01:17:16.800 number one god has given jacob and a team a map which includes greater vancouver 01:17:18.160 --> 01:17:21.760 the greater vancouver network of churches becomes the apostolic base 01:17:22.720 --> 01:17:27.120 or an anti-okine base in which jacob and the team are residing 01:17:30.160 --> 01:17:37.840 and this church partners together with jacob and his team in planting establishing and multiplying 01:17:37.840 --> 01:17:47.040 churches worldwide in that we need to make sure that the base has clear understanding of of 01:17:47.760 --> 01:17:54.960 enabling its leadership and the leadership are twofold one is of the apostolic nature 01:17:54.960 --> 01:18:01.120 who will be joining along with jacob in the apostolic visits across the globe and 01:18:01.120 --> 01:18:05.920 and that's a local eldership team that is 01:18:09.840 --> 01:18:11.440 this is the apostolic team 01:18:16.320 --> 01:18:19.200 this is the local church 01:18:22.080 --> 01:18:24.640 elders and deacons 01:18:25.280 --> 01:18:30.160 this is more this outward 01:18:36.960 --> 01:18:40.160 this is global focus 01:18:42.560 --> 01:18:45.120 this global focus 01:18:47.600 --> 01:18:50.160 local participation 01:18:55.120 --> 01:18:58.160 this is local focus 01:19:01.040 --> 01:19:04.160 but global participation 01:19:16.800 --> 01:19:22.160 outward this is outward and mobile 01:19:25.600 --> 01:19:28.480 this is more 01:19:28.560 --> 01:19:32.160 outward mobile with primary focus on extending reach 01:19:38.720 --> 01:19:40.880 this is more stable and local 01:19:46.480 --> 01:19:50.160 with the focus on shepherding and equity 01:19:55.040 --> 01:20:01.200 you're getting the two basic leadership 01:20:04.160 --> 01:20:07.600 and there's another group of people over a period of time of maturing 01:20:07.600 --> 01:20:10.880 would raise up what is called as the senior eldership 01:20:13.280 --> 01:20:21.120 who are matured guys who rise up within the network of churches who solve the issues that 01:20:21.360 --> 01:20:25.360 beyond the local church there are certain times the local elder is not able to solve the issue 01:20:25.360 --> 01:20:29.760 that the senior eldership of a particular city will come into play with regards to counseling 01:20:29.760 --> 01:20:35.840 and advising and things like that and also they resolve the tensions between the local church 01:20:35.840 --> 01:20:41.600 eldership team and the apostolic team because the apostolic team will always want to pull things out 01:20:43.440 --> 01:20:49.360 and the local church elders will always pull the team to the local focus and how it's important 01:20:49.360 --> 01:20:53.600 to shepherd and how it's important to establish these people there's much need here and senior 01:20:53.600 --> 01:20:58.880 eldership over a period of time will resolve issues like the Jerusalem council where it was 01:20:58.880 --> 01:21:05.280 a local Jerusalem church and the teaching with Paul being wanting to extend it to Gentiles that 01:21:05.280 --> 01:21:10.720 they James the elder was sitting down and helping Paul along with the local church elders in Jerusalem 01:21:10.720 --> 01:21:18.160 to solve major issues of theology and this is the picture of the New Testament leadership 01:21:19.360 --> 01:21:26.960 while while this is completely wiped off this has become today's 21st century this has become 01:21:26.960 --> 01:21:33.760 Parachurch nothing to do with church but they are focused on on catalyzing movements of causes 01:21:35.760 --> 01:21:40.640 because the church is not doing it therefore we have to do it and so it's a it's a it's a 01:21:40.640 --> 01:21:46.720 it's a network of causes and this has become denomination lies institutionalized 01:21:46.720 --> 01:21:49.760 christianity and that's how we have lost the plot 01:21:51.760 --> 01:21:56.000 we've got to go back to the New Testament understanding of leadership and how they function 01:21:56.000 --> 01:22:01.200 and really reconstruct apostolic teams and local church elders 01:22:04.000 --> 01:22:09.680 and one final thing with i'm just jumping and going down to the sixth point which is 01:22:09.680 --> 01:22:13.000 a 01:22:22.720 --> 01:22:26.880 multil Gas Holy exposal 01:22:32.160 --> 01:22:32.880 Is there any question? 01:22:33.360 --> 01:22:34.460 T 01:22:34.960 --> 01:22:37.800 C 01:23:09.680 --> 01:23:18.720 You look into the New Testament, you have four important blocks for funding spontaneous 01:23:18.720 --> 01:23:19.720 expansion. 01:23:19.720 --> 01:23:21.580 What is funding spontaneous expansion? 01:23:21.580 --> 01:23:28.860 Spontaneous expansion is the spirit is actually wanting to take the apostolic teams to continue 01:23:28.860 --> 01:23:34.380 to plant and establish and multiply churches in a greater field that God has handed over 01:23:34.380 --> 01:23:35.780 the apostolic team. 01:23:35.780 --> 01:23:42.020 That means the moment you actually leave Greater Vancouver into another place, there are finances 01:23:42.020 --> 01:23:45.480 that are needed for causes in other places. 01:23:45.480 --> 01:23:53.060 How does the Antioch Church continue to collaborate and partner with the apostolic teams? 01:23:53.060 --> 01:23:56.460 And that's the entire picture of the letter to the Philippines. 01:23:56.460 --> 01:24:01.000 If you really see the letter to the Philippines, it is about, in the essence of it, it is about 01:24:01.000 --> 01:24:04.500 funding spontaneous expansion that Paul has been doing. 01:24:04.500 --> 01:24:09.740 Now the Philippian Church has forgotten for a period of time to fund Paul. 01:24:09.740 --> 01:24:14.020 Now Paul is saying, don't worry guys, I have learned to be content whether you give or 01:24:14.020 --> 01:24:16.420 not, I still continue. 01:24:16.420 --> 01:24:22.180 But please do understand that this is a call of the partnering churches to fund spontaneous 01:24:22.180 --> 01:24:26.540 expansion and to help the apostolic teams continue to progress the gospel. 01:24:26.540 --> 01:24:30.900 And therefore Paul says he who has begun a good work in you, chapter 1 verse 6, this 01:24:30.900 --> 01:24:33.420 is about the partnership to the progression of the gospel. 01:24:33.420 --> 01:24:36.380 He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it. 01:24:36.380 --> 01:24:39.660 We have been using that verse in all different contexts, it's perfectly fine. 01:24:39.660 --> 01:24:43.420 But from now on you need to understand that when he has begun a good work, it's about 01:24:43.420 --> 01:24:47.500 this good work of the progression of the gospel and the planning of the churches. 01:24:47.500 --> 01:24:49.100 Persecution is actually disturbing it. 01:24:49.100 --> 01:24:53.460 Paul's chains are not hindering the progress of the gospel. 01:24:53.460 --> 01:24:57.020 Persecution to the Philippian Church is not hindering the progress of the gospel. 01:24:57.020 --> 01:25:01.740 But what is hindering the progress of the gospel is the lack of one-mindedness inside 01:25:01.740 --> 01:25:03.500 the church. 01:25:03.500 --> 01:25:09.500 And then he is actually breaking open what is happening within the church. 01:25:09.500 --> 01:25:15.700 Two members of the apostolic team that Paul has left behind in Philippi who has eodia 01:25:15.700 --> 01:25:20.900 and syntyche, they have a problem with one another and this is slowly spilling over and 01:25:20.900 --> 01:25:24.280 the one-mindedness within the church is getting spoiled. 01:25:24.280 --> 01:25:29.100 And therefore Paul is rallying the entire church of Philippi to come back to this mind 01:25:30.100 --> 01:25:34.700 which is to consider the other better, to take care of the interests of others better. 01:25:34.700 --> 01:25:40.260 And he gives four important examples of Jesus who actually took care of us, that is why 01:25:40.260 --> 01:25:42.940 he left from heaven and came down to earth. 01:25:42.940 --> 01:25:48.220 Number two, Paul himself who squeezes his life to the end, that there's nothing more 01:25:48.220 --> 01:25:50.220 to squeeze as a drink offering. 01:25:50.220 --> 01:25:54.180 And number three, Timothy who has a genuine concern for others, follow his example. 01:25:54.260 --> 01:26:01.260 An epiphrotist who you guys sent to help with gifts, he almost died in order to serve me. 01:26:01.260 --> 01:26:03.860 And these are the examples that you've got to follow. 01:26:03.860 --> 01:26:11.020 Don't let the false judizers, those mutilators of flesh, those words that Paul uses are these 01:26:11.020 --> 01:26:16.260 dogs, the mutilators of flesh, they are coming and actually spoiling things. 01:26:16.260 --> 01:26:20.380 If I have to boast, I have to boast about many things of the Jewish world but I don't 01:26:20.580 --> 01:26:26.420 consider them important because they are garbage and rubbish because I have set my mind to 01:26:26.420 --> 01:26:31.300 press on towards this upward call which is the progression of the gospel, the planning 01:26:31.300 --> 01:26:33.060 and the multiplication of churches. 01:26:33.060 --> 01:26:35.140 You guys, I have learned to be content. 01:26:35.140 --> 01:26:38.340 I am not the one who is going to be worried whether you guys are going to continue to 01:26:38.340 --> 01:26:43.820 partner or not but God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory. 01:26:43.820 --> 01:26:45.660 Thank you for the renewed partnership. 01:26:45.660 --> 01:26:47.300 Thank you for reminding, renewed. 01:26:47.300 --> 01:26:50.020 You have already sent some gifts again and thank you guys. 01:26:50.020 --> 01:26:55.340 Continue this partnership because he who's begun a good work in us is faithful to complete. 01:26:55.340 --> 01:27:00.980 So that's the letter of Philippians that Paul writes to the Philippian network of churches. 01:27:00.980 --> 01:27:06.740 And so funding of Spontaneous Expansion actually includes four major pillars. 01:27:06.740 --> 01:27:21.460 The first one is that churches collect regular offerings and the churches need to bracket 01:27:21.460 --> 01:27:33.980 off their expenses in order to set aside funding for mission. 01:27:33.980 --> 01:27:51.460 I think the church can continue on to keep expenses going on because there's no limit. 01:27:51.460 --> 01:27:56.820 If you say, for example, the church needs a Mac computer and two years down the line 01:27:56.820 --> 01:28:00.780 we need another Mac because an upgrade came. 01:28:00.780 --> 01:28:05.540 The church needs to see whether, because we can keep buying gadgets, we can keep expansion 01:28:05.540 --> 01:28:10.140 of the church and keep producing and spending. 01:28:10.140 --> 01:28:14.740 The churches actually have money. 01:28:14.740 --> 01:28:22.180 To be honest and true, churches have money but the church money does not go into this. 01:28:22.180 --> 01:28:30.060 I'm actually struggling and fighting because there is a building that New Life Assemblies 01:28:30.060 --> 01:28:35.300 of God already have invested into building. 01:28:35.300 --> 01:28:40.900 That means it's taking off a major chunk of the church money into building and I'm trying 01:28:40.900 --> 01:28:47.180 to work out finances to say even if you have to maintain this building after, you don't 01:28:47.180 --> 01:28:51.980 use it, you don't do anything with it but you've got to continue to pay for the building. 01:28:51.980 --> 01:28:53.620 You've got to continue to pay for the air conditioning. 01:28:53.620 --> 01:28:55.780 You've got to continue to pay for the maintenance. 01:28:55.780 --> 01:29:00.460 Something wrong with buildings when you have such a large congregation gathering together 01:29:00.460 --> 01:29:03.500 with around 70,000 people on a celebration day. 01:29:03.500 --> 01:29:08.580 Yeah, you may need a building but we fought hard to say can we reduce the number of the 01:29:08.580 --> 01:29:09.580 size of the building. 01:29:09.580 --> 01:29:13.820 They were planning to build a 50,000-seater auditorium, fought through for five years 01:29:13.820 --> 01:29:16.820 to bring it down to 20,000-seater auditorium. 01:29:16.820 --> 01:29:25.740 This means it really brings down half of the budget. 01:29:25.740 --> 01:29:29.740 Churches actually spend a lot of things on a lot of things, a lot of money on a lot of 01:29:29.740 --> 01:29:30.740 things. 01:29:30.740 --> 01:29:36.580 That may not be really truly formation of authentic communities of Christ. 01:29:36.580 --> 01:29:42.620 I'm not against buildings, I'm not against investments of churches but churches need 01:29:42.620 --> 01:29:47.860 to really understand that the main reason for which the church exists is not itself. 01:29:47.860 --> 01:29:52.820 Churches exist for the mission. 01:29:52.820 --> 01:29:59.500 So the churches need to set aside money for apostolic themes to progress the gospel. 01:29:59.500 --> 01:30:08.420 Number two, there are individual benefactors and family benefactors. 01:30:08.420 --> 01:30:16.620 These are high net worth individuals, high net worth families. 01:30:16.620 --> 01:30:22.380 They have old money because some of them have actually inheritances that have come. 01:30:22.380 --> 01:30:25.700 They have inherited businesses, they have inherited properties, they have inherited 01:30:25.700 --> 01:30:29.780 because this is not like this new generation struggle to make it. 01:30:29.780 --> 01:30:36.020 No, they are a third to fourth generation down the line, rich people who need to really 01:30:36.020 --> 01:30:42.020 set aside amounts into investment. 01:30:42.020 --> 01:30:46.900 So these are benefactors who are truly not people who give money and control money. 01:30:46.900 --> 01:30:50.780 These people need to be fully sold out to the way of Christ as a apostle, fully sold 01:30:51.180 --> 01:30:55.580 out to the understanding that hey, this is what Christ is doing in this earth right from 01:30:55.580 --> 01:30:56.580 the beginning. 01:30:56.580 --> 01:30:59.460 He's setting apart authentic communities for himself and we need to collaborate with him 01:30:59.460 --> 01:31:01.780 to set apart more communities for himself. 01:31:01.780 --> 01:31:07.020 And for that, God has actually set up a group of leaders who have been gifted by Christ 01:31:07.020 --> 01:31:13.260 himself to progress and therefore we want to be benefactors to the progression of the 01:31:13.260 --> 01:31:14.260 gospel. 01:31:14.260 --> 01:31:18.180 And this is not the church as a whole but there are high net worth individuals who are 01:31:18.180 --> 01:31:19.180 called benefactors. 01:31:19.580 --> 01:31:27.420 Therefore, Paul is saying about these kinds of people who are Phoebe, who is a deaconess 01:31:27.420 --> 01:31:32.420 in the church in Sanctria who is a benefactor to me and to many. 01:31:37.420 --> 01:31:47.300 Lydia, she opened a home, but she's a merchant, she's a businesswoman and she opens a home, 01:31:47.420 --> 01:31:51.380 invites Paul, there's a house date that's happening in Philippi with Lydia, but she 01:31:51.380 --> 01:31:55.780 is also a benefactor to Paul and the Pauline team. 01:31:55.780 --> 01:32:02.900 So there are benefactors that are found in the New Testament that continue to supply 01:32:02.900 --> 01:32:04.340 for the progression of the gospel. 01:32:04.340 --> 01:32:06.460 Number three, special collections. 01:32:06.460 --> 01:32:09.940 This is a regular. 01:32:09.940 --> 01:32:15.300 There are special collections depending on special needs that the apostolic team would 01:32:15.300 --> 01:32:20.580 come up with, hey in Hanoi we need to do this and therefore the house church is gathered 01:32:20.580 --> 01:32:26.180 together on special collections that are set apart like how Paul would do because of the 01:32:26.180 --> 01:32:27.780 famine in Jerusalem. 01:32:27.780 --> 01:32:32.300 That he went to the entire network of judges that he was in the Gentile world and saying 01:32:32.300 --> 01:32:37.780 listen guys, the Jewish people were the people who blessed us spiritually. 01:32:37.780 --> 01:32:45.100 If we could actually get their spiritual blessings we need to supply for them materially. 01:32:45.900 --> 01:32:51.620 It's very interesting the way Paul positions this collection and he says we have received, 01:32:51.620 --> 01:32:56.060 we have not received any support, in fact they have been opposing us, but if you truly 01:32:56.060 --> 01:33:00.780 understand Jesus came through them and they are a spiritual base and a spiritual blessing 01:33:00.780 --> 01:33:04.740 for us it's important that we support the churches in Jerusalem. 01:33:04.740 --> 01:33:12.740 So there will be causes and there will be many needs that we raise up in the larger 01:33:12.820 --> 01:33:18.020 field that the apostolic leaders may come and request the local church elders to be 01:33:18.020 --> 01:33:20.740 doing special collections for. 01:33:20.740 --> 01:33:27.740 Four, enterprising apostolic team. 01:33:30.740 --> 01:33:35.860 The apostolic team itself is enterprising so that they are not a burden to the churches. 01:33:35.860 --> 01:33:37.620 That's one of the things that Paul had to model. 01:33:37.620 --> 01:33:42.260 He said I'm not going to be a burden to your churches but thank God for Achille Prisla. 01:33:42.780 --> 01:33:48.860 Achille Prisla are my co-workers who are fully on fire with all the qualities of being a 01:33:48.860 --> 01:33:55.420 co-worker in the apostolic team but they also run a leather tannery business. 01:33:55.420 --> 01:34:01.500 And so they are able to shut shop in Corinth and move on to Ephesus or shut shop in Ephesus 01:34:01.500 --> 01:34:07.700 with Paul and go to Rome because now in Rome Paul is arrested in a house, he's under house 01:34:07.700 --> 01:34:14.700 arrest but they would be somewhere around him doing business, selling those things 01:34:16.460 --> 01:34:21.980 and so when Paul is not busy with other things he is not sleeping in his room but he is actually 01:34:21.980 --> 01:34:27.700 engaged in the business too so that you guys don't have to support us because we have 01:34:27.700 --> 01:34:30.660 modeled out enterprising apostolic teams. 01:34:30.660 --> 01:34:36.260 These are things that needs to be fully seen, not yet seen in the kingdom as yet but these 01:34:36.260 --> 01:34:42.300 are things that are found in the New Testament and we got to develop these four things that 01:34:42.300 --> 01:34:46.820 we find in the New Testament for the progression of the possible landing and multiplication 01:34:46.820 --> 01:34:47.820 of churches. 01:34:47.820 --> 01:34:57.820 And the ability, I know this is pushing a little further in the 21st century context 01:34:57.820 --> 01:35:04.820 but would finances and lands be placed at the apostles feet because that was the significance 01:35:06.460 --> 01:35:07.460 of the things that they did. 01:35:07.460 --> 01:35:12.220 They believed in what the mission of Christ was that they would actually come to the apostles 01:35:12.220 --> 01:35:19.220 feet to sell lands and finances, put it there and say use it for the sake of the gospel. 01:35:19.220 --> 01:35:24.340 That's the level at which I hope in the days to come that that kind of authentic spirit 01:35:24.340 --> 01:35:25.780 moves will begin to happen. 01:35:25.780 --> 01:35:32.780 It's not about funding a person, it's about funding this most important heart of God issue 01:35:33.220 --> 01:35:39.900 which is the planting, establishing, multiplication of authentic Christ communities that replenish 01:35:39.900 --> 01:35:44.020 the entire world so that we would reflect Christ to the watching world, that that watching 01:35:44.020 --> 01:35:50.180 world would be attracted to and we'd be part of being this community so that they can be 01:35:50.180 --> 01:35:53.180 part of God's big family. 01:35:53.180 --> 01:36:00.020 We'll further these things as we continue on but I believe that God is doing something 01:36:00.020 --> 01:36:06.020 in this church which is six house churches with an apostolic theme which is a wonderful 01:36:06.020 --> 01:36:09.940 model that can be harnessed because it's smaller in size. 01:36:09.940 --> 01:36:15.780 You come to New Life Assembly of God, I struggle with all kinds of issues and all kinds of 01:36:15.780 --> 01:36:22.340 things because you are in a huge mass that you want to dis, it's a titanic that cannot 01:36:22.340 --> 01:36:24.380 shift its course. 01:36:24.380 --> 01:36:29.740 Even if you want to shift its course, it's not as easy, it's just moving an inch to the 01:36:29.740 --> 01:36:32.420 left. 01:36:32.420 --> 01:36:38.220 Here is a greater possibility, you have both the features of leadership intact and in place. 01:36:38.220 --> 01:36:44.140 We know that Jacob is sensitive to the Spirit and ready for what God wants to do in and 01:36:44.140 --> 01:36:49.540 through him and his team but we need to ready these six house churches in full-fledged, 01:36:49.540 --> 01:36:54.220 thriving, authentic communities so that we have a proper base and so that's what we need 01:36:55.220 --> 01:37:01.820 and building these six homes that will be naturally breathing and moving and multiplying 01:37:01.820 --> 01:37:02.820 and replenishing. 01:37:02.820 --> 01:37:09.340 The rest of the things, August and September, one of those days, somewhere we will work 01:37:09.340 --> 01:37:10.340 it out. 01:37:10.340 --> 01:37:18.340 I want to ask guys whether they were impacted by what you said over the last three days. 01:37:18.340 --> 01:37:21.340 Let's see if we really liked it. 01:37:21.340 --> 01:37:22.460 Jeevan, you want to say something?