WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Church Central – Essentials Publishing Date: 2020-11-22T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/church-central-essentials/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 So guys, today we start with a new series. 00:00:06.520 --> 00:00:08.720 We start with a new series today. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.640 Not telly-os, but we start with a new series. 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:16.640 And it's called Church Central. 00:00:20.360 --> 00:00:22.440 It's called Church Central. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:26.720 I think we'll be talking about it for the next five weeks. 00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:29.880 So you know what your Christmas message will be? 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:30.920 No, I'm kidding. 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.480 We might take a break in between. 00:00:32.480 --> 00:00:35.560 But that's what we'll be talking about 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.040 for the next five weeks, Church Central. 00:00:41.680 --> 00:00:45.160 And it's based on Ephesians 1.22. 00:00:48.120 --> 00:00:52.720 The message version is one of the versions I like, 00:00:52.720 --> 00:00:54.960 but let's read it from the NIV first 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:58.920 so that we just don't go straight to the paraphrase. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.920 So let's read Ephesians 1.22 and 23 from the NIV first. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.880 Ephesians 1.22 and 23. 00:01:14.880 --> 00:01:16.120 And here's what it says. 00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:24.320 And God placed all things under his feet 00:01:24.320 --> 00:01:28.400 and appointed him to be head over everything 00:01:28.440 --> 00:01:31.400 for the church, which is his body, 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:36.400 the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. 00:01:36.800 --> 00:01:40.680 Now if we look at the message, 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:46.800 it sticks with the meaning of it, 00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:51.680 but gives it such a cool phraseology. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:56.680 So it says in 1.22, message. 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:04.200 It says, he is in charge of it all, 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:06.960 has the final word on everything. 00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:11.800 At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. 00:02:13.640 --> 00:02:16.840 The church you see is not peripheral to the world. 00:02:16.840 --> 00:02:19.800 The world is peripheral to the church. 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:24.640 The church is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:27.920 and by which he fills everything with his presence. 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:32.960 So the idea of this new series called Church Central 00:02:34.160 --> 00:02:38.360 comes from this particular verse. 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.160 And the intent is to show you that the church is central 00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:44.040 and not peripheral to the world. 00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:47.200 And at the center of the church is Christ. 00:02:47.200 --> 00:02:51.280 And Christ is he who speaks through the church, 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.000 acts through the church, 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:55.520 fills the church with his presence 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.640 and rules through the church. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:58.880 And we've talked about this before, 00:02:58.880 --> 00:03:01.400 but this is where we'll be for the next five weeks. 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:06.400 The odd thing is Ephesians 1.22 draws its source 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:09.960 from Psalm 8 verse 6. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:11.560 Psalm 8 verse 6. 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:13.440 If you go to Psalm 8 verse 6, 00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:17.600 you'll find that God actually through Christ 00:03:17.600 --> 00:03:21.520 is doing what he always meant man to do. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:26.520 So if you go to Psalm 8 verse 6, verse five onwards, 00:03:28.040 --> 00:03:29.480 it's talking about man. 00:03:29.480 --> 00:03:31.560 You've made them a little lower than angels 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:33.720 and crowned them with glory and honor. 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:36.400 You made them rulers over the works of your hands. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.400 You put everything under their feet. 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.160 So here was God's intent. 00:03:42.160 --> 00:03:46.920 And Psalm 8.6 draws its source from Genesis 1.28. 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:48.920 So if you go back to Genesis 1.28. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:52.320 Genesis 1.28. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:55.800 And so in Genesis 1.28, you see him say, 00:03:57.200 --> 00:03:59.000 this is the Adamic mandate. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:01.400 And it says, God bless them and said to them, 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:03.240 be fruitful and increase in number, 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:04.920 fill the earth and subdue it, 00:04:04.920 --> 00:04:07.600 rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky 00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:11.320 and over every living creature that moves on the ground. 00:04:11.320 --> 00:04:14.080 So that was the original mandate given to man. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:15.400 Man failed at it. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:18.040 The mandate hasn't been rescinded, 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.600 but the mandate can no longer be a mandate. 00:04:20.640 --> 00:04:21.440 Man failed at it. 00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:22.680 The mandate hasn't been rescinded, 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:27.200 but the mandate can no longer be fulfilled by sinful man. 00:04:27.200 --> 00:04:32.200 Psalm 8.6 is a reiteration of Genesis 1.28. 00:04:32.200 --> 00:04:34.440 But in Ephesians 1.22 and 23, 00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:37.800 we see that the second Adam or the last Adam, 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:41.760 Jesus Christ now steps in and is able to fulfill the mandate 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:44.040 and now comes and lives amongst the people 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:45.840 so that through that people, 00:04:45.840 --> 00:04:49.440 he can act, speak, fill with his presence and rule 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.040 what Adam was supposed to rule at the beginning. 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:55.800 So over the next five weeks, 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:58.880 we are going to look at why is the church so central 00:04:58.880 --> 00:05:01.720 and how can it influence the earth 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:06.480 and specifically what Acts 29 can do about it 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:08.120 and anybody else who's listening. 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:14.160 Guys, the church is not a rescue boat or an ark in a flood. 00:05:14.840 --> 00:05:18.280 The church is not an ark or a rescue boat in a flood. 00:05:18.280 --> 00:05:19.640 That's how we picture the church. 00:05:19.640 --> 00:05:22.360 Oh, there's a flood and there's this boat 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:25.480 and people are getting saved as we pull them into the ark. 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.280 Not the exact picture. 00:05:28.280 --> 00:05:31.040 The church is definitely not a cruise liner 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:32.960 because that's how some of the mainstream churches 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:34.080 think of themselves. 00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:35.880 As long as we can cater to people, 00:05:35.880 --> 00:05:37.960 give them a six course buffet, 00:05:37.960 --> 00:05:39.560 take care of their children, 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:41.840 provide good music and dance, 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:43.720 the church will continue to thrive. 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.040 It is not a cruise liner for sure. 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:47.640 Then the next place we go to is 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:52.680 perhaps it's a battleship that fights on the stormy sea. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:53.960 Not really. 00:05:53.960 --> 00:05:54.840 It's not a battleship. 00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:58.280 I've been watching on the Smithsonian channel. 00:05:58.280 --> 00:06:01.160 I've been watching this series called Super Carriers 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.840 and these are just these amazing series 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:05.720 on aircraft carriers. 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.320 And the church must be pictured as an aircraft carrier 00:06:08.320 --> 00:06:12.840 because it sends planes to carry the battle outward 00:06:12.840 --> 00:06:16.600 and thereby rescue or do whatever is required outward. 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:18.000 The fight is never in here. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.680 The fight is always there. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.600 It is always an outward movement. 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:26.400 You send to fight outward. 00:06:28.760 --> 00:06:31.920 So Acts 29 is supposed to do a few things. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.240 It's supposed to display the privileges of the kingdom. 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:39.040 Acts 29 is to display the privileges of the kingdom 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:40.840 and the better show in your life. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.680 Acts 29 is to display the privileges of the kingdom. 00:06:51.640 --> 00:06:54.720 Acts 29 is to tear the veil for others. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.120 Christ has already torn it, 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:59.680 but you are to tear the veil over people 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:01.800 and over their understanding. 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:06.800 Tear the veil for others so they can bow before your king, 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.720 so they can kiss your king. 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:20.760 Acts 29 is to smash satanic resistance. 00:07:20.760 --> 00:07:25.000 Acts 29 is to smash satanic resistance 00:07:25.960 --> 00:07:27.560 because there's plenty of that. 00:07:33.320 --> 00:07:38.320 And Acts 29 is to release restorative shalom 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.400 one life at a time, affecting the nations, 00:07:45.400 --> 00:07:48.440 to the nations one life at a time, 00:07:48.440 --> 00:07:51.200 to the nations one life at a time. 00:07:55.200 --> 00:07:57.800 I'm deliberately using the words Acts 29 00:07:57.800 --> 00:07:59.080 instead of saying church 00:07:59.080 --> 00:08:01.040 because it makes it more personal to me 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:06.040 and perhaps that may help in conveying the truth I want to. 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:07.880 So you can apply it to your church. 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:13.640 Let me reiterate again what we are trying to accomplish here. 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:17.040 We are saying that according to Jesus Christ 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.480 and according to what Paul has written 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.400 in Ephesians 1, 22 and 23, 00:08:21.400 --> 00:08:24.920 that the church is not peripheral to the world. 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.400 The church is central and at the core of the church is Christ. 00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:30.040 And the reason the church is central, 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:32.880 the reason Acts 29 is central 00:08:32.880 --> 00:08:34.680 and not peripheral to Vancouver 00:08:34.680 --> 00:08:36.480 or to other nations in the world 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:39.640 is because Christ fills with his presence, 00:08:39.640 --> 00:08:44.560 Acts speaks and rules through Acts 29. 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:49.320 And therefore Acts 29 can no longer think of herself 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.240 as a church that is peripheral to the world 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:55.160 that perhaps may or may not affect things. 00:08:55.160 --> 00:08:56.000 No, no, no, no. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.360 Because before Ephesians 1, 22, if you look at 20 and 21, 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:04.040 it says Jesus Christ is above all powers and authorities. 00:09:04.040 --> 00:09:05.560 It talks about rule there. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:13.760 And so these are some of the things that Acts 29 00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:16.960 will have to actually practically display. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:20.120 Any practical display of any principle takes time 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:24.200 because it has to be like a vaccine, 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.160 tested, proven as effective. 00:09:27.160 --> 00:09:30.160 And so this may take a while, but so what? 00:09:30.160 --> 00:09:33.480 There are so many things that we've proven as real 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:35.160 through a period of time. 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:37.280 And so once it's proven, 00:09:37.280 --> 00:09:40.000 it can be distributed very easily, very quickly 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:44.080 without storing it at minus 70 degrees. 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:45.760 It can be distributed immediately. 00:09:48.640 --> 00:09:50.120 If you didn't get that, 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:51.040 I'm not talking about the Bible, 00:09:51.040 --> 00:09:53.040 I'm talking about the vaccine, 00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:54.920 the Pfizer vaccine in particular. 00:09:57.080 --> 00:10:00.840 Guys, the news flash that I want you to be aware of 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:04.840 or the bulletin that came out 2000 years ago or more 00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:07.960 was the nations are Jesus Christ's inheritance. 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.680 The nations are Christ's inheritance. 00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:13.680 The nations are, is that Dawn? 00:10:14.680 --> 00:10:16.600 Okay, surprising. 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:19.200 The nations are Christ's inheritance. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:21.600 Psalm two, verse six. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.600 The nations are Christ's inheritance. 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.040 There's no question to this. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.240 It's a given, it's already done. 00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:33.560 The nations are Christ's inheritance. 00:10:33.560 --> 00:10:36.360 Psalm two, verse six to 12 talks about that. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.840 Psalm two, verse six to 12 talks about that. 00:10:41.080 --> 00:10:45.080 Secondly, there will be no end. 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:48.560 In fact, there will be unlimited increase 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:56.360 to his rule and to his peace. 00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:59.160 Rule and to his peace. 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:01.640 Where do we see that? 00:11:01.640 --> 00:11:04.120 Isaiah nine, verse six and seven. 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:07.280 Isaiah nine, seven. 00:11:07.280 --> 00:11:09.120 It says in Isaiah nine, seven, 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.600 and the government shall be upon his shoulders 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.600 and there shall be no end to the increase of his government 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:18.920 and the increase of his peace. 00:11:18.920 --> 00:11:20.080 So these are given. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.560 It doesn't matter what is happening around you. 00:11:23.560 --> 00:11:24.560 This is real. 00:11:24.560 --> 00:11:26.320 It is already a done deal. 00:11:27.280 --> 00:11:30.360 History is heading towards a point that Christ has ordained. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:36.400 History is not heading the way despots, tyrants, 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:38.560 democracies and republics are going. 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:40.800 History is going the way of the Lord of the Lords 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:43.480 and the King of Kings and he's already set it up. 00:11:45.760 --> 00:11:47.480 We're not lost of floundering. 00:11:48.520 --> 00:11:50.440 When the church follows the agenda 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.720 that has been set by the kingdoms of the world, 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:54.840 that is when the church flounders. 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:58.080 When the church is able to steward God's prophetic agenda 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:00.640 and speak into the kingdoms of the world, 00:12:00.640 --> 00:12:02.400 then the church is effective. 00:12:05.640 --> 00:12:08.200 What is happening in the US very often 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:09.200 is the other way around. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.400 The kingdoms of the world and the governments of the world 00:12:11.400 --> 00:12:13.640 are determining how the church should respond. 00:12:13.640 --> 00:12:14.480 Yes? 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.480 You said the US, but Canada? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.520 No, Canada is not very different. 00:12:20.520 --> 00:12:23.000 It is just that in the US at present, 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:28.000 everything is determined by who's gonna be in power, 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:29.000 which government will come, 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:30.920 which government should or should not come. 00:12:30.920 --> 00:12:32.600 And that then is beginning to determine 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:33.920 how Christians respond. 00:12:33.920 --> 00:12:36.480 And that is the way that the church is going. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.720 And that is the way that the church is going. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:40.880 And that is the way that the church is going. 00:12:40.920 --> 00:12:42.520 And that then is beginning to determine 00:12:42.520 --> 00:12:44.160 how Christians respond. 00:12:44.160 --> 00:12:46.760 And Christian response should not be triggered 00:12:46.760 --> 00:12:49.560 by the governments and the power struggles of the world. 00:12:50.560 --> 00:12:52.760 And in Canada, it's a little less. 00:12:52.760 --> 00:12:53.800 Yeah. 00:12:53.800 --> 00:12:56.000 But it's all across the earth. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:56.840 Yeah. 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.280 And to the church, and here's the thing. 00:13:05.280 --> 00:13:08.680 God says that to the churches that do his will, 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.220 to the churches that do his will, 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:13.860 Revelation 2, Verse 26 to 28. 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:15.960 to the churches that do his will, 00:13:16.760 --> 00:13:19.380 to the churches that do his will, 00:13:19.380 --> 00:13:21.340 God will give them, 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:25.440 God gives them power over the nations, 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.680 God gives them authority and power over the nations. 00:13:29.680 --> 00:13:32.120 God gives them authority over the nations. 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:37.920 God gives them authority over the nations. 00:13:37.920 --> 00:13:46.400 Revelation 2, verse 26 to 28 talks about that. If Acts 29 does God's will, if Acts 29 does 00:13:46.400 --> 00:13:52.540 God's will, not if Jacob does God's will. If Acts 29, please understand guys, that God 00:13:52.540 --> 00:13:57.960 does not work through individuals effectively, God works through our people effectively. 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:05.480 Why? Because he has chosen to do so. In the Old Testament, it is very often individuals, 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:10.480 but in the New Testament, he uses individuals to step into the gap to clear the pathway 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:15.800 as forerunners, but then he expects others to join, to be raised alongside, to accomplish 00:14:15.800 --> 00:14:27.000 things as a people. So if Acts 29 does God's will, then Acts 29 will have authority and 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:34.320 power over the nations to either raise them up or to smash them like pottery. Really Jacob? 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.480 Yeah man, Revelation 2, verse 26 to 28 read it. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:56.920 So Acts 29 can be church central and can be Christ unlimited on the earth. Acts 29 can 00:14:56.920 --> 00:15:04.240 be church central, as in the world being peripheral, and Acts 29 can be Christ unlimited 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:15.680 on the earth. Because Christ unlimited always happens through people. But to get there, 00:15:15.680 --> 00:15:26.120 Acts 29 needs to think and practice five essentials. Think and practice five essentials. 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:37.240 Think and practice five essentials. And those five essentials are what I think we will be talking 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:42.120 about for the next five weeks. I'll start them off today giving you a rundown on each one, 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:48.360 but I think each one needs to be elaborated over the next five weeks. Here is a possibility 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:55.600 that exists. That if Acts 29 actually understands, grasps, begins to think, and then begins to 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:05.240 practice these five essentials, then Acts 29 can become church central and Christ unlimited on 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:13.080 earth, not for her own sake, but so that it becomes a prototype that other churches can use too. This 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:20.880 should be our desire. We must have example models on earth so others can copy, not copy replicate, 00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:25.600 because this is not something we can duplicate. This is Christ replicating it, but there's 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:37.200 something to look and improve. People should always improve on what we do. Any questions? 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:50.280 I miss you guys. There's nobody here. Yeah. Liji, I miss you walking past the camera. Happy birthday, 00:16:50.680 --> 00:17:13.680 Liji. It was your birthday yesterday. Diana, I don't miss your questions. Okay. Is there a way I can move 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:21.840 this here? If I move this here, Mike Barnes says move it there, but who cares about Mike? So let's 00:17:21.840 --> 00:17:30.920 move on. Yeah. If he ain't playing the sax, we don't care. Yeah. So here are the five essentials 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:46.400 that...Pardon? Diana sad face. I'm happy. Okay. So here are the five...the thing is with the 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:51.880 mask on, you don't know whether someone has a sad face or happy face anyways. Yeah. So here are the...I 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:57.760 hope you guys are wearing your masks at home listening to me. So here are the five essentials 00:17:57.760 --> 00:18:16.240 that Acts 29 needs to think, understand, grasp, practice. First one. First one. It's a recognition, 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:25.360 and we'll spend a week on each of these in the future, a recognition of Christ's absolute 00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:36.440 sovereignty and authority. Sovereignty and authority over the earth, over the world. 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:54.400 Michael says, I knew all I was good at was sax playing. So the first thing that Acts 29 needs 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:01.800 to do to become this kind of a church, like every church should, church central and Christ unlimited 00:19:01.800 --> 00:19:10.840 on earth, the world being peripheral so that Christ can act, speak, rule, and fill with his 00:19:10.840 --> 00:19:15.560 presence and through his presence affect the nations of the earth one life at a time. For a 00:19:15.560 --> 00:19:19.840 church to become like that, the first thing is a recognition of his absolute authority and sovereignty 00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:28.360 over this world. So I want you to look at scriptures. Guys, this is so hard for us to even begin to think 00:19:28.360 --> 00:19:38.960 is true. All authority and all things have been handed to him by God. All authority. As in everything 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:44.480 that happens and all things have been handed to Jesus Christ by God. If we actually believe that, 00:19:44.480 --> 00:20:01.080 we would live restful lives. Matthew 28 18. Matthew 28 18. Matthew 28 18. What? Matthew 28 18. 00:20:01.080 --> 00:20:10.800 Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. All 00:20:10.840 --> 00:20:27.000 authority. There is nothing outside of his purvey. Matthew 11 27. Matthew 11 27. Matthew 11 27. All 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:33.640 things have been committed to me by the father. All things. Nothing is left out. There's nothing 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:46.600 on earth that hasn't been given into the hands of Jesus Christ. John 3 35. John 3 35. John 3 35. 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:57.720 The father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands. Everything in his hands. No 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:03.520 exceptions. Everything. We do not believe this guys. If you believe this, your life would 00:21:03.520 --> 00:21:10.640 be such an ocean of peace. We'd have to give you the middle name of serendipity or something 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:16.600 like that. A shalom or something like that. No not serendipity. Serenity. Sorry. My bad. 00:21:16.600 --> 00:21:35.280 John 13 3. John 13 3. It says that Jesus knew that the father had put all things under his power and 00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:40.160 that he had come from God and was returning to God. There is nothing outside his purvey. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:49.000 Nothing. Everything is subject to him. Let's look at another scripture. All things were made 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:53.720 through him and upheld by his word. Everything that has been made is made through him. That we 00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:59.320 already knew. But everything that exists is upheld by his word. Which means that if he chooses they 00:21:59.320 --> 00:22:06.040 exist, if he chooses not, they cease. That is how much power he has. Look at John 1 3. John 1 3. 00:22:06.040 --> 00:22:22.720 John 1 3. Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. What a 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:28.880 cool scripture. Through him all things were made. Without him nothing was made that has been made. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:44.520 Hebrews 1 3. Hebrews 1 3. I think it says he is a visible image, visible radiant image of the 00:22:44.520 --> 00:22:54.320 invisible God and upholds all things by his word. Hebrews 1 3. The Son is the radiance of God's glory 00:22:54.520 --> 00:23:01.760 and the exact representation of his being. Listen to the next part. Sustaining all things by his 00:23:01.760 --> 00:23:07.880 powerful word. Let's look at another scripture to show his absolute authority and sovereignty. 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:20.880 Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2 verse 21. Daniel chapter 2 verse 21. Daniel chapter 2 verse 21. 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:31.480 Praise be to the name of God forever and ever. Wisdom and power are his. Listen to the next bit. 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:40.640 He changes times and seasons. He sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:47.640 knowledge to the discerning. He sets up kings and he deposes them. He changes times and seasons. It 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:52.600 is not in the control of man. It is not in the control of man. It's not in the control of 00:23:52.600 --> 00:24:04.200 democracies. It is not in the control of tyrants, despots, dictators. It is not. Look at Daniel 4 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:17.200 verse 17. Daniel 4 verse 17. The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:23.560 the verdict so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men 00:24:23.560 --> 00:24:31.400 and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets them over the lowliest of men. He gives as he pleases. 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:41.600 That's with the earth. Let's look at the cosmic powers or the spiritual powers. Ephesians 1 20. 00:24:41.600 --> 00:25:00.680 Ephesians 1 20. Ephesians 1 20. Ephesians 1 20. Which he exerted in Christ when he raised 00:25:00.760 --> 00:25:07.160 him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule, 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:13.640 all authority, all power, all dominion and every title that can be given not only in the present 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:21.800 age but also in the one to come. All things, all powers serve him. Remember this guys. Satan at the 00:25:21.800 --> 00:25:29.240 end of the day serves Jesus Christ even right now at this moment. Colossians 1 16. Colossians 1 16. 00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:36.440 We don't think, we think Satan is in opposition to God. How can he be serving at this very moment? 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:44.040 And I know he hears this even as I speak. At this very moment the devil actually serves the purposes 00:25:44.040 --> 00:25:53.240 of God. Colossians 1 16. It says, starting at 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the first 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:58.680 born over all creation for by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible, 00:25:58.760 --> 00:26:04.840 invisible, thrones, powers, rulers, authorities, all things were created by him and all things 00:26:04.840 --> 00:26:14.840 were created for him. And then in 1 Corinthians 15 24 we find that all these powers are going to be 00:26:14.840 --> 00:26:23.560 destroyed by Christ again. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 24. 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:37.960 And it says, then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:44.920 destroyed all dominion, all authority and all power. This is the absolute sovereignty and 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:50.840 authority of Christ and Acts 29 has definitely not grasped it to a point where we live and breathe it 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:56.600 but the hope is that we will because this is critical to our existence as church central 00:26:56.600 --> 00:27:02.120 in Christ Unlimited so that the church is no longer peripheral to the world but the world is 00:27:02.120 --> 00:27:06.520 peripheral to the church. This is not about politics of power. We'll talk about what it is. 00:27:08.600 --> 00:27:14.920 Revelation 17 14 says he will always triumph because he is the Lord of Lords and the King of 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:21.080 Kings. He will always triumph because he has always been the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. 00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:30.200 Matthew 16 says that this church that he has built cannot be prevailed against. It cannot be 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:34.840 prevailed against. The world can be prevailed against. The world is fading away but the church 00:27:34.840 --> 00:27:36.840 is only growing stronger. 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:47.960 1 Corinthians 15 says that even the enemy death which has enslaved the world has been conquered. 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:55.080 Genesis 3 before even the earth was populated said and Jesus Christ the seed of the woman crushed 00:27:55.080 --> 00:28:01.800 Satan's head, the serpent's head under his feet and the best thing of all is he is so victorious 00:28:01.800 --> 00:28:05.080 that anyone who is living on the earth at this moment can be saved. 00:28:07.320 --> 00:28:13.560 I find that one of the most triumphant things that ever exists that anyone at present that is 00:28:13.560 --> 00:28:18.520 living on earth can be saved because of what Christ has done. What kind of victory is that? 00:28:18.520 --> 00:28:24.200 All-encompassing, nothing left out. Anyone who wants to be saved can be saved regardless of 00:28:24.840 --> 00:28:33.960 their sins. Anyone. That is amazing victory man. Since Satan's death. 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:47.720 Now you can see why Jesus said all authority has been given to me therefore now go. Why? 00:28:47.800 --> 00:28:54.840 Because anyone on the earth can be now saved. Before there were rulerships. There was a 00:28:54.840 --> 00:28:58.680 rulership of the devil. There was a rulership of idolatry. There was a rulership of Baal. There was 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:04.280 a rulership of Astoria. There were different rulerships but those rulerships are subservient. 00:29:04.280 --> 00:29:09.400 They no longer have the command they used to have. There was a rulership of death. No longer anyone 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.640 can be saved because I have all authority and since I have all authority go. 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:21.000 The second thing that Acts 29 will have to 00:29:25.800 --> 00:29:32.600 Acts 29 as a church is pretty good at the second point but we have to make sure that everyone 00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:38.280 participates in this beautiful second point that God has created for us 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:44.040 and that if you are not that you would choose to because otherwise guys here's the thing that'll 00:29:44.040 --> 00:29:48.920 happen the people of God will move on and you will be a straggler 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:56.280 and you'll miss out on the adventure of a lifetime and will have to give account to God. 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:09.000 So second point that we need to practice as an essential if we are to become church central 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:17.080 and Christ unlimited is that we need to continuously go further into the fact that 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:34.920 we are members of his body and we belong to each other. 00:30:35.320 --> 00:30:41.080 We are members of his body and we belong to each other. This is not some kind of a trade-off 00:30:41.080 --> 00:30:45.400 where you say okay Jacob first you commit to me and then I'll commit to you. You're not committing 00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:49.960 to me or me committing to you. First we are committing to this thing called the body of Christ 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:56.680 and in the process we learn how to commit to each other. Romans 12 5 Romans 12 5 00:30:58.840 --> 00:31:00.840 Romans 12 5 00:31:00.840 --> 00:31:02.200 Romans 12 5 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:15.240 Here's what Romans 12 5 says so in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:23.000 all others. How stark is this? How stark is this? Each member belongs to one another. 00:31:23.560 --> 00:31:31.800 So here's what we are saying. We are saying that I follow Christ in the body and I belong to Christ 00:31:31.800 --> 00:31:38.600 and the body. Think of what we're saying. I follow Christ in the body 00:31:42.120 --> 00:31:46.440 and I belong to Christ 00:31:47.080 --> 00:31:47.800 to Christ 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:51.480 and the body. 00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:06.200 During COVID times it is critical that we follow Christ in the body as we even as we sit and watch 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:13.080 individually that we are aware of what we are a part of. I follow Christ in the body and I 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:19.640 belong to Christ and the body. If you've been at Acts 29 long enough you know these truths 00:32:19.640 --> 00:32:25.320 and if you're resisting these truths then you will be held accountable. If you haven't been 00:32:25.320 --> 00:32:29.080 at Acts 29 long enough then learn this 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:40.360 because you and I cannot afford to build the bride of Christ the way we want to because it's his bride 00:32:40.360 --> 00:32:43.000 because it's his bride not mine not yours. 00:32:50.120 --> 00:32:57.400 I know we have gone over this so I won't go over this right now. My family, your family, 00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:09.160 my work, your work, my money, your money and my possessions, your possessions, 00:33:10.360 --> 00:33:15.160 your possessions, your possessions, your possessions, your possessions, 00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:31.960 they are centered, all this is centered around serving Christ and the body. 00:33:32.520 --> 00:33:39.560 And if this is not true then we should work towards it but if it's being deliberately resisted 00:33:41.080 --> 00:33:48.600 then you need to understand that you are a straggler on the outside because you're actively 00:33:48.600 --> 00:33:55.880 resisting it. I have to call this out guys because if we are going to become Church Central 00:33:56.760 --> 00:34:01.000 because if we are going to become Church Central and if you're going to become 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.600 Christ Unlimited then these are essentials that we cannot detour, skirt around. 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:20.920 I have to constantly work towards this that my family, my work, my money and my possessions 00:34:21.480 --> 00:34:23.960 are centered around saving Christ and the body. 00:34:31.480 --> 00:34:33.640 Now people who know me well know that this is true 00:34:35.560 --> 00:34:40.440 and when I say know me well people who know the insides and outside of my life know that this is 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:44.680 true so I'm not asking you to do something I'm not doing. 00:34:51.560 --> 00:34:56.680 Ruth 1, 15 and 16 just sum it up for me so brilliantly. 00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:04.120 To be members of his body and to belong to one another 00:35:06.520 --> 00:35:17.160 requires abiding relationship, requires abiding relationship, abiding relationship, 00:35:17.160 --> 00:35:24.600 abiding relationship. During COVID times, during times when we can't meet, you know there's 00:35:24.600 --> 00:35:29.080 something much superior to meeting face to face for two hours called abiding relationship 00:35:31.480 --> 00:35:40.440 when Ruth says to Naomi wherever you lodge I will lodge. The next thing is even more serious, it is 00:35:40.920 --> 00:35:48.120 relational ownership, relational ownership 00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:57.240 that you own me because of my relationship with you, relational ownership. 00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:04.520 It is not my place to say I own you, it is my place to say you own me just as it is your place 00:36:04.680 --> 00:36:11.800 just as it is your place to say to me you own me. This is not an exertion of ownership, this is a 00:36:11.800 --> 00:36:18.840 willingness to be owned relationally by others. We belong to each other, relational ownership 00:36:18.840 --> 00:36:23.480 where Ruth says to Naomi that your people shall be my people. 00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:31.880 The next one is divine ownership, divine ownership. 00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:43.640 Where even though we may vary and differ over the minor things and the unimportant things, 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:49.800 when it comes to certain things of God these are a people that have one-mindedness about it 00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:54.520 which is what Paul is trying to drive in the book of Philippians saying can you be one-minded, 00:36:55.160 --> 00:36:59.000 can you be one-minded just as Christ was, can you be one-minded. 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:06.920 It's divine ownership, we are owned by one God and let us therefore agree with regard to what we know 00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:12.440 about this God and have no variance on it and if you do have variance on it then let the Holy Spirit 00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:13.960 make it clear. 00:37:18.280 --> 00:37:27.160 But not hold on to positions that are dogmatic and have no reason or have no reason to be one-minded. 00:37:27.160 --> 00:37:37.080 Have no reason or haven't migrated over the last 20 years and Ruth says to Naomi your God shall be my God. 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:46.600 And the last part of this kind of relationship is lifelong relationship, lifelong relationship, 00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:53.720 lifelong relationship where it's not something on a Sunday, it's not something for a couple of years, 00:37:53.720 --> 00:37:59.480 it is something that will go on forever, lifelong relationship. You know there are people that have 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:10.120 deviated completely from what Axe-Feninon believes and what I believe and so we've had to part ways 00:38:11.240 --> 00:38:18.520 doctrinally and in terms of being able to walk together with them but even as it was happening 00:38:18.520 --> 00:38:24.040 in my mind I was thinking but this is a relationship I've invested years in and it must remain a 00:38:24.040 --> 00:38:30.920 lifelong relationship and I must check in on these people every so often because Ruth says to Naomi 00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:39.880 where you die I will die and there I will be buried, where you die I will die and there I will be buried. 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:43.720 The third thing, 00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:45.320 the third thing 00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:55.480 that we must practice, we must grasp, we must understand, we must think like, the third thing, 00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:06.280 pens are playing with me, the third thing is that we must grasp Christ's unstoppable mission 00:39:06.520 --> 00:39:13.960 and this is an area that Axe 29 really needs to 00:39:16.120 --> 00:39:23.240 excel at and hasn't gotten to where it needs to get. He has an unstoppable mission 00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:31.080 that again like I said earlier will come to pass, it will come to pass and the unstoppable mission 00:39:31.080 --> 00:39:40.920 was initially mentioned in John chapter 10 verse 16, John 10 verse 16, John 10 verse 16 00:39:44.520 --> 00:39:51.320 and John 10 verse 16 Jesus said I have other sheep that are not of the sheep men, 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:59.400 I must bring them also, they too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and one 00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:06.680 shepherd. There is this unstoppable mission that God has which is to gather his sheep from the 00:40:06.680 --> 00:40:14.200 unreached of the world and his mission will not fail in Matthew 24 verse 14 he said this gospel 00:40:14.200 --> 00:40:21.240 will go out to the ends of the world before the end comes. Matthew 24 verse 12 00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:29.000 this mission will succeed, the question is whether I'll be a part of it or not. Matthew 24 verse 14 00:40:29.000 --> 00:40:34.360 and it says there and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony 00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:40.360 to all nations and then the end will come. So there is an unstoppable mission and Axe 29 00:40:41.560 --> 00:40:47.240 hasn't come to a point as a church where the fear of the Lord as the judge and the love of Christ 00:40:47.240 --> 00:40:54.920 as the savior compels us to engage in this. In 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 11 and 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 14 00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:00.760 Paul says two things, one he says the fear of the Lord drives us to persuade men 00:41:00.760 --> 00:41:04.040 that there is a judgment coming and they need to turn to Christ 00:41:05.560 --> 00:41:11.480 and so on one hand there is a fear of the Lord as judge who will one day judge the world that persuades 00:41:11.480 --> 00:41:16.600 Paul to do what he's doing going from city to city preaching and then he says in verse 14 00:41:16.600 --> 00:41:22.440 the love of God compels or constrains us as in the love of God drives us and the love of Christ as a 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:28.840 savior must compel and as your pastor and as a church I find that there's a dearth in this. 00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:37.800 2nd Corinthians 5 20 sums up what a church that wants to be church central must do and 00:41:37.800 --> 00:41:43.800 that this church must display, God has given us a task of showing everyone what he's doing 00:41:43.800 --> 00:41:48.840 so that they may enter into his work of making things right so that they may understand that 00:41:48.840 --> 00:41:53.320 listen become friends with God because God is already your friend. This is something we haven't 00:41:53.320 --> 00:42:00.040 done yet. We've done the other part, Ephesians 4 12, we are learning how to perfect the saints, 00:42:00.040 --> 00:42:06.120 we are learning how to be one in the work of the saints and we are learning how to be one in the 00:42:06.120 --> 00:42:11.160 work of ministry. We are learning how to grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. We are learning 00:42:11.160 --> 00:42:17.880 how to mature in Christ but I'm afraid that as a church we do not understand what it is to be 00:42:17.880 --> 00:42:25.080 driven by the fear of God as judge and the love of Christ as savior to reach out to the sheep that 00:42:25.080 --> 00:42:30.280 need to be gathered from unreached parts of the world and brought in and a church that does not 00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:39.320 engage in this can never be church central. Never be church central. When a church doesn't see this 00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:45.880 as critical to the existence then that church will go after influencing places of power, 00:42:46.760 --> 00:42:52.200 affecting charity and stuff like that but all that is good but this is critical. In Acts 29, 00:42:52.200 --> 00:42:58.440 if there is a place that we score really low at, the weakest link, it would be this. 00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:03.000 Maybe you do it as an individual. As I talk, don't think to yourself but I do. 00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:08.760 It's really not about you doing it, it is about us doing. 00:43:09.480 --> 00:43:13.720 Hear this with ears of a church not with ears of an individual. 00:43:29.080 --> 00:43:41.240 The fourth one is a church that wants to be church central. It wants Christ, whose presence fills the 00:43:41.240 --> 00:43:46.200 church, to act, speak and rule through it so that the church is no longer peripheral to the world 00:43:46.200 --> 00:43:51.640 but the world is affected by the church because it's central and at its core Christ begins to 00:43:51.640 --> 00:43:59.240 relish being Lord and King. That kind of church needs to understand what it is to follow him 00:43:59.960 --> 00:44:06.760 wherever he tells them to go at whatever cost. Follow him, follow me, follow him. 00:44:06.760 --> 00:44:13.240 Luke 9, 57-62. I know it's a familiar passage. Luke 9, 57-62. 00:44:13.240 --> 00:44:15.400 Luke 9, 57-62. 00:44:43.640 --> 00:44:48.760 But first let me go back and say goodbye to my family. Jesus replied, no one who puts his hand 00:44:48.760 --> 00:44:53.560 to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. The point being each of these 00:44:53.560 --> 00:45:00.760 persons found an excuse to delay the going out till later, till conditions were right. A church 00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:08.840 that wants to be the kind of church we are talking about must follow him at cost. Occasionally giving 00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:19.560 offense to the ones who think you shouldn't. It is to leave your home and to go to a place of greater 00:45:19.560 --> 00:45:24.440 need for the fame of Christ and for the sake of others. It is to leave your home, whatever you 00:45:24.440 --> 00:45:29.080 call your home. Maybe it's your place of education, maybe it's your place of work, maybe it's your 00:45:29.080 --> 00:45:37.160 actual home, maybe it's your bank account. To leave your home and go to a place of greater need for 00:45:37.160 --> 00:45:43.240 the fame of Christ and for the sake of others. What if Acts 29 could become a church where 00:45:43.240 --> 00:45:48.920 everybody actually thinks like this? Where even though you've come from India, you've come from 00:45:48.920 --> 00:45:55.560 Brazil, you've come from Finland and Denmark and Iceland and the Arctic, you've come to Canada and 00:45:55.560 --> 00:46:01.240 you've found great life here and yet you've come to this place where after having found a great life 00:46:01.240 --> 00:46:06.120 you're saying I'm willing to go wherever there's a place of greater need for the fame of Christ and 00:46:06.120 --> 00:46:18.760 for others at cost. And by at cost I don't mean an air ticket. Genesis 12, one set the precedent 00:46:18.760 --> 00:46:26.280 for us long ago. Genesis 12 verse one and two set the precedent for us long ago. The Lord said to 00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:32.360 Abraham leave your country, your people, your father's household, your ministry at Acts 29, 00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:37.880 your pastoring at Acts 29, your comfort in terms of your home and go to the land I will show you. 00:46:38.680 --> 00:46:42.760 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I'll make your name great, you will be a great 00:46:42.760 --> 00:46:47.320 blessing, I'll bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and so on. I will make 00:46:47.320 --> 00:46:51.640 you into a great nation and I will bless you. It didn't mean that Abraham ever lived in a house again. 00:46:51.640 --> 00:46:55.960 He lived in tents throughout and he never saw the land he was being sent to but he 00:46:56.840 --> 00:46:59.080 paved the way for others to walk into that land. 00:47:01.160 --> 00:47:08.040 There is an apostolic nature to being church central. And what do I mean by apostolic nature? 00:47:08.040 --> 00:47:15.320 The condition of the heart must be I will follow. The condition, the heart condition must be 00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:20.280 I will follow wherever you tell me to go. Now here's the catch though. 00:47:20.280 --> 00:47:24.680 Sometimes the command to follow will come from someone else, not directly from God. 00:47:24.680 --> 00:47:28.680 Because what if you're not able to hear God? You may never go because you didn't hear him, 00:47:28.680 --> 00:47:33.800 not because he didn't speak. Happened to Samuel, God called him three times, he didn't know 00:47:33.800 --> 00:47:40.280 the first two times that it was God, he thought it was Eli. Sometimes the command to go comes from 00:47:40.280 --> 00:47:47.400 someone else and then what do you do? You've got to verify it, check it out, validate it with God. 00:47:47.400 --> 00:47:52.840 But you can't say no I won't go till God speaks to me directly. 00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:07.880 So the heart condition is I will follow. The mind must become a student and say I will go. 00:48:07.880 --> 00:48:19.240 The heart must say Jesus I will follow. You say follow me I will follow. Even if I don't know where 00:48:19.240 --> 00:48:24.120 I'm going I will follow. Even if I don't know what's awaiting I'll follow. The mind must begin to 00:48:24.120 --> 00:48:31.160 prepare saying I am meant to go, I am meant to go. The very nature of the great commission is I am 00:48:31.160 --> 00:48:37.880 meant to go, go therefore, go therefore, go. At Acts 29 this is very normal, it should be normal 00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:44.120 for everybody. See I understand that not everyone is called to go but everyone is called to go, 00:48:44.120 --> 00:48:50.840 it doesn't have to be Mongolia or Timbuktu. But there is a go nature to the apostolic and this 00:48:50.840 --> 00:48:57.800 church must have it always. If that dies this church has lost its mandate and then the feet, 00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:08.280 the feet must say send me, send me, send me, send me, send me, send me, send me. And as the feet say 00:49:08.280 --> 00:49:13.720 send me the heart will say I will follow and the mind will say I must go and the feet will say send 00:49:13.720 --> 00:49:19.240 me. There must be a desire to be sent. There are people like that at Acts 29 who've come up to me 00:49:19.240 --> 00:49:26.680 multiple times and said I'm ready, I'm retired, send me. And a time will come when they will be sent. 00:49:27.880 --> 00:49:33.160 But have the desire send me. You know every morning almost I get up and say father COVID or 00:49:33.160 --> 00:49:38.360 no COVID, quarantine or no quarantine, returning 14-day quarantine or no quarantine, you tell me 00:49:38.360 --> 00:49:43.720 to go and I will go tomorrow morning, I want you to know that father. Send me, send me, send me. 00:49:43.720 --> 00:49:48.440 And it has to be something I train my heart and mind and my feet to because otherwise like it says 00:49:48.440 --> 00:49:54.040 in Ecclesiastes 11 I'll keep looking at the wind and the clouds to see when the conditions would be 00:49:54.040 --> 00:49:57.160 right. 00:50:04.600 --> 00:50:18.440 In John 21 verse 17 and 18, this is horrible verse. John 17, John 21 sorry, John 21 verse 17 and 18. 00:50:19.400 --> 00:50:21.320 John 21 verse 17 and 18. 00:50:27.240 --> 00:50:32.200 I tell you the truth when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted like 00:50:32.200 --> 00:50:38.200 Phoebe does but when you're old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you 00:50:38.200 --> 00:50:40.120 and lead you where you don't want to go. 00:50:40.200 --> 00:50:47.240 The beginning of an intimate relationship with jesus is the end of self determination. 00:50:47.400 --> 00:50:49.640 The beginning of an intimate relationship with jesus 00:50:49.720 --> 00:50:54.840 is the end of self determination. The beginning of an intimate relationship with jesus 00:50:54.840 --> 00:50:59.000 is the end of self determination. You give up your right, determine yourself. 00:50:59.000 --> 00:51:02.000 You give up your right to determine yourself. 00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:13.000 You increasingly become so united with Christ that you're dead to any other will than His. 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:36.000 You get to a point where you want what your will does not want because you love someone more than life itself. 00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:41.000 You get to a point where you want what your will does not want. 00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:52.000 That is such an amazing place to be, which is just completely exemplified in Jesus' statement, 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:54.000 not my will but yours be done. 00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:57.000 Can this cup pass but not my will but yours be done? 00:51:59.000 --> 00:52:06.000 Where you want what your will does not want because you love someone else more than life itself. 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:12.000 I plead with you, I plead with you, end self-determination. 00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:16.000 Christianity does not have room for self-determination. 00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:23.000 And at the end of the day, after having done everything, we still come and say, but we are unprofitable servants. 00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:33.000 Any questions before I go to the final one? 00:52:33.000 --> 00:52:38.000 And we'll expand each of these because we need to. 00:52:38.000 --> 00:53:00.000 Okay, last one is, how do we as Church Central execute selfless judgment? 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:05.000 How do we execute selfless judgment? 00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:12.000 It is one of the hardest things to discern, to practice, to audit, to correct, to persist, to model 00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:17.000 because most of our judgments are filtered through ourselves. 00:53:17.000 --> 00:53:28.000 When I hear you speak, when I hear you sing, when I look at your actions, I judge you through the filter of self. 00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:41.000 But if you want to be Church Central, you have to be able to look at something and be able to execute judgment without self. 00:53:41.000 --> 00:53:45.000 It'll have to be selfless judgment. 00:53:45.000 --> 00:53:49.000 And this is critical to our existence as Church Central. 00:53:49.000 --> 00:54:11.000 If we are to arbitrate the affairs of the world, we have to learn, discern, practice, habituate ourselves to check, correct, model what it is to hold the sector of justice that Jesus Christ holds that is perfect. 00:54:11.000 --> 00:54:16.000 Jesus put it this way in John 5, verse 30. 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:25.000 I only judge as I hear my Father, and my judgment is just because I do not desire my own will. 00:54:25.000 --> 00:54:28.000 John 5, 30. Just go to it. 00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:34.000 John 5, 30. Yeah. 00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:43.000 I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me. 00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:46.000 It is such a hard thing to arrive at, guys. 00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:48.000 It's one of the hardest things to do. 00:54:48.000 --> 00:55:00.000 To be able to judge things so, so perfectly because you no longer have any dog in the fight and you have no desire to please yourself. 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:09.000 But your intent is I hear and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me. 00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:15.000 See, Jesus Christ's Scepter of Justice carries mercy and restoration, 00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:29.000 but at the same time it is also a scepter that violently removes corrupting leaven and dislocates oppressive wickedness. 00:55:29.000 --> 00:55:35.000 It does both. The church still hasn't learned how to do that. 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:44.000 The church so quickly swings from side to side depending on the most recent prophetic trend. 00:55:44.000 --> 00:55:50.000 Either it's judgment in brimstone or it is mercy unlimited. 00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:53.000 That's not the way it is supposed to be. 00:55:53.000 --> 00:56:00.000 Executing selfless judgment is so difficult and the church has to learn it. 00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.000 It requires seeking James 3.17 kind of wisdom. 00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:07.000 But see, seeking wisdom is the easy part. 00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:10.000 Can you be responsible for the wisdom that has been given to you? 00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:13.000 Seeking wisdom is the easy part. 00:56:13.000 --> 00:56:19.000 James 3.17, the wisdom from above is pure, is noble, is peaceable, is kind. 00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:25.000 There's a definition to God's wisdom, but having sought wisdom and the Bible says in James Chapter 1 00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.000 that if you, Jacob, seek wisdom, I will give it to you ungrudgingly. 00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:33.000 But the question is having received the wisdom that has been given without grudging, 00:56:33.000 --> 00:56:40.000 does Jacob have the ability to handle it responsibly or will he again default to pleasing himself 00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:43.000 or seeing things through the filter of self? 00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:49.000 Because if I do that, God cannot use me to affect the earth as a church. 00:56:55.000 --> 00:57:03.000 What when a community practices these five essentials in accordance with the Holy Spirit? 00:57:03.000 --> 00:57:06.000 What do you think will happen? 00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:12.000 I'm done, so let me just summarize it. 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:16.000 According to Ephesians 1, 22 and 23, 00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:20.000 because Jesus Christ fills the church with his presence, 00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:25.000 because he speaks through the church, acts through the church, and rules through the church, 00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:31.000 because he has been made head over all powers and authorities for the church, 00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:37.000 therefore the church is central and not peripheral to the world. 00:57:37.000 --> 00:57:44.000 The world is actually peripheral to the church and the church can affect the earth. 00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:51.000 But to be a church that is central and to be a church that allows Christ to be unlimited through her, 00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:54.000 the church needs to understand these five essentials. 00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:58.000 Acts 29 needs to become these five essentials. 00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:04.000 And the essentials are one, recognize the absolute sovereignty and authority of Jesus Christ 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:07.000 and how everything is actually going according to his plan. 00:58:07.000 --> 00:58:12.000 And to dive into his Kairos every year to know this is what we are supposed to do 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:16.000 because this is your plan working out and this is how we are to respond. 00:58:16.000 --> 00:58:20.000 To see and recognize his absolute sovereignty and authority. 00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.000 Two, to be members of his body and to belong to one another. 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:30.000 That I can follow Christ only in the body. 00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:32.000 Please be sure of this. 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:36.000 COVID is going to drive people to follow Christ without being in the body. 00:58:36.000 --> 00:58:42.000 It's going to be one of the toxic side effects of this plague. 00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:46.000 Members of the body and belonging to one another. 00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:51.000 That I follow Christ in the body and I belong to Christ and the body. 00:58:51.000 --> 00:58:56.000 I follow Christ in the body and I belong to Christ and the body. 00:58:56.000 --> 00:59:03.000 Third, that God has an unstoppable mission 00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:08.000 and if the church does not absolutely embrace that mission 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:12.000 and make it part of its core reason for existence 00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:14.000 that the church will never be church central. 00:59:14.000 --> 00:59:16.000 And the unstoppable mission is simple. 00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:20.000 I have many more sheep that I want to gather from unreached places 00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:23.000 and bring them into the flock under one shepherd. 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:29.000 And that the love of God as Savior and the fear of God as Judge 00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:35.000 must compel and persuade us to reach and fulfill this mission. 00:59:35.000 --> 00:59:42.000 Fourth, there is the requirement to follow Christ. 00:59:42.000 --> 00:59:47.000 To go, to be sent, to follow at cost. 00:59:47.000 --> 00:59:48.000 It will cost. 00:59:48.000 --> 00:59:51.000 But there should be the desire that I will leave my home. 00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:53.000 Whatever you want to term as home. 00:59:53.000 --> 00:59:57.000 All I mean by home is a place that is safe and stable and secure. 00:59:57.000 --> 01:00:01.000 I will leave my home and go to a place of greater need 01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:03.000 for the fame of Christ and for the sake of others. 01:00:03.000 --> 01:00:05.000 This must be constant. 01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:09.000 Where I get to a point where I want what my will does not want 01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:16.000 because I love someone more than life itself. 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:20.000 And the last one, I must learn how to execute selfless judgment. 01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:24.000 Where my judgment is not colored by my thinking, 01:00:24.000 --> 01:00:29.000 by my nationality, by my ethnicity, by my offense, 01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:33.000 by my doctrine, by my denomination, by my preferences, 01:00:33.000 --> 01:00:38.000 by my prejudices, by my liking you, not liking you. 01:00:38.000 --> 01:00:40.000 Whether I like your package or not, 01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:44.000 that is not what determines my judgment. 01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:47.000 And the only way one can judge like that is when one thinks along 01:00:47.000 --> 01:00:51.000 the lines of John 5.30, I judge as I hear and my judgment is just 01:00:51.000 --> 01:00:54.000 because I have no desire to seek my own will, 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:58.000 but I only have here to do the will of the one who sent me. 01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:00.000 This is called selfless judgment. 01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:03.000 And when a church begins to carry the scepter of justice 01:01:03.000 --> 01:01:07.000 with wisdom, responsibly, knowing how to on one hand 01:01:07.000 --> 01:01:11.000 bring mercy and restoration, and on the other hand 01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:16.000 dismantle oppressive wickedness and sweep the floor of corrupt leaven, 01:01:16.000 --> 01:01:20.000 then God says, aha, she's ready. 01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:28.000 And he begins to act, speak, and rule through her whom he fills. 01:01:28.000 --> 01:01:32.000 Yeah? Let me just pray. 01:01:41.000 --> 01:01:44.000 Father, I just want to read out the words of So Will I 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:48.000 as a benediction, the last verse. 01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:55.000 Do you have the words? 01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:58.000 Okay. 01:02:02.000 --> 01:02:05.000 So here's the benediction. 01:02:09.000 --> 01:02:17.000 God of salvation, you chased down my heart through all of my failure and pride. 01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:22.000 On a hill you created, the light of the world abandoned in darkness to die. 01:02:22.000 --> 01:02:27.000 And as you speak, a hundred billion failures disappear, 01:02:27.000 --> 01:02:30.000 where you lost your life so I could find it here. 01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:33.000 If you left the grave behind you, so will I. 01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:36.000 I can see your heart in everything you've done, 01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:40.000 every part designed in a work of art called love. 01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:44.000 If you gladly chose surrender, so will I. 01:02:44.000 --> 01:02:47.000 I can see your heart eight billion different ways, 01:02:47.000 --> 01:02:51.000 every precious one, a child you died to save. 01:02:51.000 --> 01:02:54.000 If you gave your life to love them, so will I. 01:02:54.000 --> 01:02:56.000 Like you would again a hundred billion times, 01:02:56.000 --> 01:03:00.000 but what measure could amount to your desire? 01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:04.000 You're the one who never leaves the one behind. 01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:13.000 You know, pastors get excited about the ones that are saved. 01:03:13.000 --> 01:03:16.000 I think God gets excited about the ones that are lost, 01:03:16.000 --> 01:03:23.000 which is why the angels start dancing like crazy when one person gets saved. 01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.000 Father, we have started this new series. 01:03:29.000 --> 01:03:32.000 I just want to commit the church to it. 01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:40.000 It's an odd prayer to pray, but I pray a breaking of hardened hearts. 01:03:41.000 --> 01:03:44.000 I pray a breaking of sluggish hearts. 01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:48.000 I pray a breaking of proud hearts. 01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:52.000 And then I pray a breaking of my heart. 01:03:54.000 --> 01:03:58.000 So that in this church there will be no barrier 01:04:01.000 --> 01:04:08.000 to you being able to teach us to practice these five essentials. 01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:12.000 So that this church that you alone paid for, 01:04:12.000 --> 01:04:15.000 that you love, that you water, that you guard, 01:04:15.000 --> 01:04:17.000 that you dot over, 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:23.000 will be able to become church central and Christ unlimited. 01:04:23.000 --> 01:04:30.000 Which simply means that you will fill with your presence acts we can rule through us. 01:04:32.000 --> 01:04:34.000 Not for the sake of power. 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:43.000 But so that others may experience the freedom and the love that we experience today. 01:04:44.000 --> 01:04:54.000 Institutions, nations, cities, lives, governments being touched by an ordinary people. 01:04:55.000 --> 01:04:58.000 You heard that prayer, Father, break hardened hearts. 01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:04.000 Break hearts that are distant and standing at a distance and don't want to be membered 01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:07.000 and don't want to be relationally owned. 01:05:10.000 --> 01:05:12.000 Break hearts that are sluggish. 01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:22.000 And break my heart so that I don't stand in the way with flaws. 01:05:22.000 --> 01:05:27.000 And break my heart so that I don't stand in the way with flaws. 01:05:31.000 --> 01:05:36.000 Encourage us this week so that we come ready next Sunday to begin this process. 01:05:36.000 --> 01:05:38.000 Holy Spirit, you must shape. 01:05:39.000 --> 01:05:41.000 You must shape. 01:05:43.000 --> 01:05:49.000 I declare us as molten iron, malleable. 01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:54.000 Bendable, shapeable. 01:05:56.000 --> 01:05:58.000 You must shape. 01:05:59.000 --> 01:06:01.000 In Jesus name I ask.