WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Fools for the Kingdom Publishing Date: 2022-03-27T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/fools-for-the-kingdom/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.760 All right, let's pray and we'll continue on. Abha, we thank you that your presence is here. 00:00:06.760 --> 00:00:10.600 We thank you that you've been leading us a certain way for the last few weeks, Father. 00:00:10.600 --> 00:00:16.800 And we want to continue in that direction because you are preparing us, shaping us, 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:24.240 molding us. You're chipping stuff off of us so that we are how we need to be for you. 00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:30.960 I thank you Abha that tonight or today you're going to move our hearts in the direction that 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:36.600 you want us to go. So help us to see everything that you're showing us. Help us to hear everything 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:44.640 that you are speaking. We need you as we said before in Jesus name. Amen. I want to read out 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:54.120 a few lines from one of my favorite songs. Here it goes. There are roads that are still untouched, 00:00:54.120 --> 00:01:04.440 that have yet to receive your love. And all creation is crying out for the cross. There 00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:11.640 are hearts that have yet to see the power of Christ that has set them free. For such a love, 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:21.880 you have sent your son to save what's lost. So there are roads that are still untouched by the 00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:29.880 good news of Jesus Christ. There are hearts that haven't yet seen what the power of God can do for 00:01:29.880 --> 00:01:36.720 them. There is a picture that I wanted up, Brandon, if you can bring up. It's just a simple picture, 00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:42.760 but sometimes we've got to look at it, look at our city, look at our nation, look at the countries 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:50.920 that we go to with a different perspective. There are roads that are still untouched. And this one 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:56.040 here on the map, BC, it's only showing you the main roads. There are plenty of other roads, 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:03.960 all leading to different lives, all leading to different people. I want you to just think about 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:13.200 that. Roads that are still untouched. There are lives that have yet to see what the power of God 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:20.840 can do for them. We have seen it, we've experienced it, we rely on it on a daily basis, but there are 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:27.400 people out there who haven't seen. And all through the last few weeks, what God has been doing in us 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:36.040 is this commission that he is sending us on. Go, Matthew chapter 28, 18 to 20, go therefore and 00:02:36.040 --> 00:02:41.560 make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:47.320 Holy Spirit, commanding them to, teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. And I'll 00:02:47.320 --> 00:02:53.960 be with you until the very end of age. So we go. That's where we start from. But there is one thing 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.480 that we are going to look at today, which is in our going, as God sends us, there is one thing 00:02:59.480 --> 00:03:07.360 that is critical. We've got to be very foolish. We've got to be fools for the kingdom. And when 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:14.000 I say fools, all of a sudden there are so many ideas that come to our mind. Am I asked to be 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:22.080 silly? No. You're wise when you're a fool. So we'll touch on that verse first. Let's read 1 Corinthians 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:30.960 chapter 4, 10. This is a requirement for us to go. If we are to go, we have to follow the pattern 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:37.160 that Jesus set for us already. We have to follow the pattern that the apostles have set already. 00:03:37.160 --> 00:03:46.200 And in our going, in our praying, in our preparation for what is to come, we are saying we want to be 00:03:46.200 --> 00:03:54.200 fools for Christ's sake. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 10. It says, We are fools for 00:03:54.200 --> 00:04:00.760 Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. This is Paul speaking to others. We are weak, but you are 00:04:00.760 --> 00:04:08.800 strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. Disrepute. What does it say? You did not know Christ 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:16.120 before, but I came to you with a foolish message as far as the world is concerned. I came to you 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:26.200 being a fool for the sake of Christ, but as I became a fool for you, you became wise in God. As I became 00:04:26.200 --> 00:04:34.440 weak, you became strong in God. And that's the verse we're going to look at today. Being fools for the 00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:41.760 kingdom, emptying us for the sake of the kingdom. Because we've been speaking, we've been hearing 00:04:41.760 --> 00:04:49.280 this idea that the kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God is here. It is waiting to break into 00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:55.680 lives. And one of the prerequisites for us to walk in it, to walk in the ways of Christ, is to know that 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:03.400 the world and the systems and everything that we see outside is the exact opposite of the ways of 00:05:03.400 --> 00:05:11.040 Christ. It's actually very misleading when we have this image that we sometimes say there is a road 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:16.320 and then a person has to take two ways, right? It's like a Y-shaped road. It never is. It's the 00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:24.280 exact opposite. You either follow Christ and everything that Christ says is opposite to the 00:05:24.280 --> 00:05:32.360 systems of the world. It's the exact opposite. There is no hybrid. There is no overlap of those 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:42.520 ways. They are exactly opposite. And the ways of Christ will look foolish to the world outside. 00:05:42.520 --> 00:05:51.200 And Paul says, and we say, we want to be foolish for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the kingdom. 00:05:51.200 --> 00:05:59.000 So we'll touch on that today. So our king, let's first talk about our king then. So our king, who 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:07.280 is the king of this kingdom, who we follow after, he is the all-powerful, good, creator God. He's all 00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:12.600 powerful. He's good. He's creator God. That's the king we are preaching to the world. But God chooses 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:22.200 it this way, that this king was the same humiliated king on the cross. This king was the same king who 00:06:22.200 --> 00:06:32.520 died. This king was butchered. This king was accursed. This king was beaten upon, spit upon. And this 00:06:32.520 --> 00:06:44.000 king, as Sue said, is hung on a cross. And this message is the message of the cross, that if you 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:50.140 are to follow Christ, you have to look at the cross, which is a foolish message as far as the 00:06:50.140 --> 00:06:56.740 world is concerned. But anyone who is preaching the message of Christ, anyone who is preaching the 00:06:56.740 --> 00:07:05.060 message of the king cannot separate themselves from the cross. You cannot. Christianity is not a 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:11.340 religion of self-improvement. It is not a religion of this is how God can make you better. This is 00:07:11.340 --> 00:07:17.380 not something which is one of the ten different ways to God. This is the only way to God. And 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:27.900 Christianity is a religion of rescue and salvation. Christianity is a religion of rescue and salvation. 00:07:27.900 --> 00:07:38.580 In other words, if you do not want rescue, if you do not want salvation, Christianity is all about 00:07:38.580 --> 00:07:46.660 it. You cannot preach Christianity. You cannot preach Christ without preaching rescue, without 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:55.480 preaching salvation. So our king is all powerful. He is kind. He is glorious. He is the owner of the 00:07:55.480 --> 00:08:01.380 universe. Colossians chapter 1-16, it says, for in him all things were created, things in heaven, 00:08:01.380 --> 00:08:07.100 things on earth, all things that are visible, all things that are invisible, all authority, 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:15.020 all thrones, all kingdoms, all kings, they all bow down to Jesus. So that's the Jesus we know. 00:08:15.020 --> 00:08:21.940 But the Jesus that we talk about is not just that Jesus. The Jesus we proclaim, the Jesus we 00:08:21.940 --> 00:08:30.820 announce, the kingdom that we speak of has a king who also died. A brutal death on the cross. For what? 00:08:30.820 --> 00:08:37.220 To save me. For what? To save you. And so we cannot speak of Christianity. We cannot speak of this 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:45.860 message unless we speak of the crucified Christ. And Christianity is a religion of salvation and 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:51.380 rescue. I remember meeting a guy in Starbucks two or three years into my stay in Vancouver. 00:08:51.380 --> 00:09:00.500 We started talking and he seems to be really knowledgeable of the Bible. He really knows it. 00:09:00.500 --> 00:09:06.300 He is speaking things from the Bible and then he proceeded on to tell me it's just one of the 00:09:06.300 --> 00:09:14.540 different ways to God. And Bible is something that I use, I read on a daily basis to improve myself. 00:09:14.540 --> 00:09:21.020 And this world unfortunately because we don't speak enough, because we don't proclaim enough, 00:09:21.020 --> 00:09:27.660 it is one of the ways as far as some people are concerned. The roads that are still untouched, 00:09:27.660 --> 00:09:34.020 the lives that haven't seen the power of Christ need to know the real message of Jesus Christ, 00:09:34.180 --> 00:09:39.380 which is a message of rescue and salvation, which is a message that says this is the only way back 00:09:39.380 --> 00:09:46.180 to the Father. There is no other way. There is no other way. And I'm going all over but it's okay. 00:09:46.180 --> 00:09:54.140 I wanted to say this later. But I want to say it now. One of the things that's stopping us 00:09:54.860 --> 00:10:00.060 from progressing the gospel of Christ in Canada is political correctness. 00:10:06.060 --> 00:10:12.780 For Paul and the apostles it was something else because the Jews demanded science. The Greeks demanded wisdom. 00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:23.020 But for us in this day and age, one of the things we have to go past, break down, 00:10:23.020 --> 00:10:29.740 is political correctness. It absolutely is. There is still a question of wisdom. There 00:10:29.740 --> 00:10:36.940 is still a question of wisdom. There are still questions for science. But there is in Canada, 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:42.620 in the places we live, places we work, our schools, our colleges, our universities, 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:49.500 our neighborhoods, there is still one thing which is blocking, stopping, trying to 00:10:50.140 --> 00:10:55.820 impede the progress of the gospel, which is political correctness. I want to read out the 00:10:55.820 --> 00:11:00.860 definition because I was looking this up when I thought about this. Political correctness 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:06.860 is a term used to describe language, policies or measures that are intended to avoid offense 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:14.220 or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. It's intended to avoid offense. 00:11:14.380 --> 00:11:19.340 But then the word that we read, the message of Christ is 00:11:20.540 --> 00:11:30.460 a stumbling block to the Jews. And it is not politically correct. But it is the message that 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:37.340 we carry. And so I don't want us to go from here after this, after these weeks thinking 00:11:37.340 --> 00:11:43.260 there is the kingdom, it's at hand. And I don't want us to go from here after this, after these 00:11:43.260 --> 00:11:49.820 weeks. It's at hand. But practically for us, we have to look at the system that has been built up. 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:58.380 For different countries, it's different because in India, if you go, it's not this, I can tell you. 00:12:00.380 --> 00:12:03.740 It's not political correctness. There it's a different thing. 00:12:03.820 --> 00:12:08.700 But here it is something that stands up against the ways of God. 00:12:09.900 --> 00:12:15.980 And we have to recognize that and break it down because it stands against the ways of God. 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:20.460 We have to recognize it. We see it and we say I am opposing it. 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:28.700 Christians are people who go in the opposite spirit of the world. The world goes a certain way. 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:35.340 The world goes a certain way. The Holy Spirit in us, the excellent spirit in us that was in Daniel, 00:12:35.340 --> 00:12:41.820 it goes the opposite way. It doesn't conform to the ways of the world. It goes in the exact opposite 00:12:41.820 --> 00:12:47.820 ways. So if the world says you need to be politically correct, the kingdom says the word of my father, 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:56.220 our father says, you speak what I've given you. It is going to look foolish. It is going to look 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:03.820 not sophisticated. It is going to be an offense to someone but that ain't stopping us. 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.340 And so the message today 00:13:10.540 --> 00:13:15.340 for us is to practically look at our lives and say what's stopping us? 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:22.060 Because sometimes it's political correctness. I'll list down three other things. Avoidance is another one. 00:13:22.060 --> 00:13:27.980 Avoidance because sometimes it's easy just to avoid. It's easy just to not talk about it. 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:42.700 It's easy not to talk about it because if you just avoid certain parts of the discussion, 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:48.460 certain parts of the gospel, it's not offensive anymore. God loves you is a great starter. But 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:54.140 then if you go into the cross into what Jesus did and what Jesus commanded, then that becomes an offense. 00:13:56.380 --> 00:13:57.420 Avoidance, 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:07.260 political correctness. Let's see our as I'm talking, let's look at our lives. What's stopping us? 00:14:08.300 --> 00:14:15.260 What's stopping us? Is it the need to be sophisticated? Because sometimes what happened, 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:21.420 the world does to us is it works in a way to conform us to the ways of the world which is 00:14:21.420 --> 00:14:30.140 it needs sophistication. It needs a certain way of saying things. And Paul in one of the 00:14:30.140 --> 00:14:39.180 epistles, I'm going to read this from 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 1 to 5. Let's read that. 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:46.700 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 1 to 5. Let's read that. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 1 to 5. 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:54.620 This is Paul who is speaking. The guy we read all the time and we wonder how can he write like this? 00:14:57.020 --> 00:14:58.300 Sentences that never end. 00:14:58.300 --> 00:14:59.580 And he said this, 00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:38.940 This is Paul speaking. So we speak like him in that 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:48.220 I know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I know nothing else 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:55.500 except Jesus Christ and him crucified. He knew more but he knew that everything he knew was 00:15:56.460 --> 00:16:02.700 not significant at all. When it came to the gospel, this gospel in itself was the power of Christ. 00:16:05.020 --> 00:16:10.540 Nothing else needed to be added to it and therefore Paul is saying and therefore we are to say 00:16:11.180 --> 00:16:18.700 I'm here. No and I know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I do not come 00:16:18.780 --> 00:16:25.820 with lofty speech and wisdom. I don't have big words. I don't have sophistication. 00:16:29.660 --> 00:16:35.340 And when I was with you, I came to you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:41.180 Because when we read what Paul has written, when we think of what happened, we don't think of it 00:16:41.180 --> 00:16:51.820 like this. But he came in much fear, in trembling. He was unsure, not very impressive, 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:57.340 but the message he carried, the gospel he carried was the power of God that was unto salvation. 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:00.300 So one of the things that 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:06.300 so we talked about political correctness. 00:17:11.340 --> 00:17:11.980 Avoidance. 00:17:19.260 --> 00:17:26.060 Dilution. That's another thing. Dilution because you're diluting the message by, 00:17:26.620 --> 00:17:33.020 you can easily dilute the message of Christ by skipping a few parts in it where it's not offensive 00:17:33.020 --> 00:17:40.300 anymore. Where it's not, where the person listening to it will not feel like you're an odd 00:17:40.300 --> 00:17:46.220 guy or how can he speak like that? It's not politically correct. It's just how can that be? 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:51.500 But this message has always been a message like this to which we are not to add anything, 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:55.580 to which we are not to remove anything, from which we are not to remove anything. 00:17:55.580 --> 00:18:02.380 We are to speak it as it is. And then what we also do is 00:18:02.380 --> 00:18:11.020 we accessorize the simple truth. That's when you feel like you need to add something more 00:18:11.020 --> 00:18:20.300 to the message of the cross so that people can be interested. More accessories, more to the message. 00:18:21.260 --> 00:18:24.780 And this is very prevalent in our age and day to day. 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:32.700 Where we feel like we need to add more to the gospel. Add a little bit more about if you do it 00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:41.340 then this. We don't need to. This message in itself is the power of God. I know I'm spending 00:18:41.340 --> 00:18:48.540 a few extra minutes here but we really need to think about this. And we have to, we have to 00:18:48.780 --> 00:18:51.900 but we really need to think about this. 00:18:54.060 --> 00:19:00.460 And we have to practically apply this in our lives. To see these roads that are 00:19:02.060 --> 00:19:08.700 for me to take, that are still untouched. I want to go with the gospel message. 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:15.900 As you send me. And when I go, I don't want to be sophisticated. I don't want to know anything 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:24.300 except Christ and Christ crucified. Nothing else. I carry the message of Jesus Christ. 00:19:26.300 --> 00:19:31.980 I'm not going to dilute it. I'm not going to avoid anything. I'm not going to accessorize it with 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:37.100 other things. The simple truth and the gospel of Christ is what I carry. 00:19:37.100 --> 00:19:52.060 And this gospel that is to save the world which is a message of great salvation. What does it save 00:19:52.060 --> 00:20:03.500 people from? It saves people from death, disease, 00:20:08.860 --> 00:20:16.060 sin, shame, guilt, loss of identity. 00:20:22.060 --> 00:20:36.380 Unforgiveness, bitterness, separation from father. 00:20:41.260 --> 00:20:46.940 Anything that the world needs the gospel provides. Because this message is anyone who 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:53.020 is faced with death, who doesn't know what is next. This gospel says there is life after that. 00:20:53.020 --> 00:20:58.540 There is eternal life after that. And you get to spend your life with God. And there is death here 00:20:58.540 --> 00:21:04.700 on earth even from which not for your entire life but when there is disease spreading, when there is 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:09.900 healing required, this gospel comes in, storms in and heals and delivers. 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:14.540 With respect to sin, there is forgiveness of sins. You may have done so many things in your past, 00:21:14.540 --> 00:21:20.540 but I have seen that for myself, my God has healed me and he looks at me as if he looks Jesus. 00:21:20.540 --> 00:21:27.340 And this forgiveness of sin is for you too. Shame and guilt. 00:21:27.340 --> 00:21:30.780 Shame and guilt. 00:21:35.820 --> 00:21:41.740 I lived in shame, I lived in guilt. But you know what? Now I don't have shame and guilt anymore. 00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:47.580 Because I know that I am righteous. I know that I am forgiven. That's the message I carry. 00:21:48.060 --> 00:21:52.700 Loss of identity. I walked around not knowing who I am. 00:21:52.700 --> 00:21:58.300 But now I am a son. Let me show you what living like a son looks like. 00:21:58.300 --> 00:22:03.500 It's from my life. I've been living like this for the last 10 years now. 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.580 And it has changed me. It changes me every day. 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:14.780 I struggle with identity, not knowing where I belonged, not knowing who I am. 00:22:14.780 --> 00:22:20.940 I struggle with my God, not knowing who I am. But now when I walk the streets, I know who my father is. 00:22:21.660 --> 00:22:26.860 I know my God and I walk fully knowing that he is with me and I'm his son. 00:22:28.460 --> 00:22:32.140 Do we need this? This is the only way. This is the only way. 00:22:35.020 --> 00:22:39.900 Do you feel unforgiven? Do you feel bitter to others? My father can release you. 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:47.020 He forgives you and then he puts a spirit in you that allows you to forgive others and not be bitter to others. 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:55.260 And as soon as you receive him, receive Jesus, you're not separated from the father anymore. 00:22:56.780 --> 00:23:02.060 You're close to him anytime, any day, 24-7. You live in presence. 00:23:02.060 --> 00:23:12.940 So freeing. You're adopted. So freeing for the world. 00:23:17.260 --> 00:23:24.700 So our mandate is clear. Our mandate is from Luke chapter 24, 46-48. 00:23:25.340 --> 00:23:41.340 Luke chapter 24, 46-48. It reads, Jesus told them, this is what is written, the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. 00:23:41.340 --> 00:23:48.380 You are witnesses of these things. And so the church that does not proclaim, her feet is pulled back. 00:23:48.380 --> 00:24:00.620 The church that does not proclaim, her feet is pulled back. Its progress is impeded from becoming Isaiah 52-7. Read Isaiah 52-7. 00:24:05.580 --> 00:24:16.860 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns. 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:26.140 The feet, the beautiful feet that is to go. Go. The beautiful feet. 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:34.780 So when I don't proclaim this message, it impedes the progression of the church is impeded. It's pulled back. 00:24:35.900 --> 00:24:46.380 The beautiful shoes that we've been given to travel these roads, to go to houses, to meet people, to change their lives because the power of the gospel can do it. 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:49.180 That progression is pulled back when I don't proclaim. 00:24:51.100 --> 00:25:08.380 So without diluting the message, without accessorizing the truth, without political correctness, without adding anything to the truth, I preach this gospel, the simple message of the crucified Messiah who lived, who died, who resurrected, who is now at the right hand of the father. 00:25:09.020 --> 00:25:14.220 I preach it with boldness because I live it. It has changed my life and it can change yours. 00:25:16.380 --> 00:25:33.980 Mark chapter 16, one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Why? Because everything that Jesus said was for all of us. It wasn't for the disciples alone. Go, go and you preach this gospel and those who believe to them these things will happen. 00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:50.940 He didn't say you go and when you preach these things will happen. He said you go preach and when you preach people will believe and to those who will believe, meaning us, they will cast out demons. 00:25:52.220 --> 00:25:53.020 They will 00:25:53.340 --> 00:26:00.620 Heal the sick, clean the lepers, raise the dead and this is what we've been praying for. 00:26:02.380 --> 00:26:03.900 This is what our hearts are after. 00:26:07.820 --> 00:26:16.620 And we speak, we proclaim, we don't stop. So I want us to in response to what God is telling us today, think about Abba. 00:26:16.620 --> 00:26:39.180 In the circles that I'm in, in the places that I belong to, work wise, neighborhood wise, schools that you go to, grocery stores, wherever I come across people because everyone has been paid for. 00:26:39.740 --> 00:26:57.740 There is not a single person on the face of earth who hasn't been paid for. They're all rescued. They just don't know. So who can I, who can I go to? Access, I don't need anything. Just put, you've given me the shoes on my feet. I'm going to travel. I'm going to go. 00:26:57.740 --> 00:27:17.260 And this doesn't mean that we need to go to nations. When God sends us to nations, we'll go to nations. But there is so much here. So much here. It's simple. This message is simple. There is nothing more to it. But I go with this message. 00:27:17.260 --> 00:27:37.660 Jesus changed my heart that I don't stay away from it because you've given me everything I need for me to speak this. I live it. I can speak it. You changed my life around. And so I will boldly proclaim in the circles, in the spheres of influence that you've given me, I'll speak it. 00:27:37.660 --> 00:28:06.060 And we'll be amazed what happens when we speak. Because sonship and everything we know about is all about obedience, obeying the father. The results are not for us to calculate. The results are not for us to worry about. That's, he takes care of that. We expect a lot in terms of what he wants to do. 00:28:06.860 --> 00:28:09.300 So every time we speak, we expect him to move. 00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:35.620 I want to read Romans chapter 116, but from the message, if you have it on your iPhones or Samsung or whatever you use. Romans chapter 116. Romans chapter 116. But read it this time from the message because it, you'll see something, you'll read the verse in different light. 00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:47.900 It says, it's news I am most proud to proclaim. This extraordinary message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with the Jews and then right on to everyone else. 00:28:49.340 --> 00:28:52.260 This is the same verse in other translations. It says, 00:28:53.420 --> 00:29:01.100 I'm not ashamed of the gospel. But read it this way. Rather than reading it as I'm not ashamed of the gospel, read it this way. 00:29:02.100 --> 00:29:16.540 It is news that I'm most proud to proclaim. This extraordinary message of God's powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with the Jews and right on to everyone else. So from a place of I'm not ashamed. 00:29:18.540 --> 00:29:22.420 I am proud and I live to speak and proclaim this message. 00:29:22.540 --> 00:29:32.420 This is what I live for. This is what we live for. I want to look at three or four different things that are characteristics of a fool and then we'll close. 00:29:34.340 --> 00:29:36.820 I promise today we'll finish before one. 00:29:40.260 --> 00:29:44.780 So what are the characteristics of a fool? 00:29:45.300 --> 00:29:47.380 A fool finds strength in his weakness. 00:29:48.980 --> 00:29:51.460 A fool finds strength in his weakness. 00:29:54.380 --> 00:30:04.100 So my strength comes into its own says God in your weakness. My strength says God comes into its own in your weakness. 00:30:04.180 --> 00:30:13.460 My strength comes into its own says God in your weakness. My strength says God comes into its own in your weakness. 00:30:14.540 --> 00:30:33.900 So with respect to what God is asking us to do, we go, Abba, we need you. Direct me. Change me. I don't have what it takes, but I have everything it takes at the same time. I don't have it in me by myself. But because you're with me, I have everything I need. 00:30:35.100 --> 00:30:42.220 You've given me power. You've given me authority. You've given me the words. You've given me your spirit. I don't need anything else. 00:30:43.540 --> 00:30:58.340 But at the same time, Abba, I can't do this alone because I am so weak. I don't. I can't. I've tried. It just doesn't work. I need you. I need you to fully come into me. I need you to lead me. I want to be zero percent Derek, 100 percent God. 00:30:59.140 --> 00:31:02.780 Because then it's you and you only. I am weak. I need you. 00:31:04.580 --> 00:31:09.460 And when we operate like this, where we go, I don't have what it takes, but I have everything that takes. 00:31:10.860 --> 00:31:31.140 I don't have it in my flesh. I don't have it in me. But with God, I have it. Everything I need. Then I'm able to move in the direction God is saying because I'm not reliant on my power, my limited words, my limited strength anymore. Because in my weakness, his strength becomes its own. 00:31:32.100 --> 00:31:50.180 So the weaker I get in that my flesh being reduced in the plans that God has for me, the stronger I become. 00:31:51.820 --> 00:31:58.860 Second thing, Matthew chapter 7, 13 to 14. Matthew chapter 7, 13 to 14. 00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:13.140 If fool chooses the narrow when the world goes for the wide or broad path. If fool chooses the narrow when the world goes for the wide or broad path. 00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:22.140 You choose that is not popular and that which could cause you to be mocked upon and you operate in an opposite spirit. 00:32:22.140 --> 00:32:38.140 If fool challenges what the world conforms to. If fool despises what the world esteems. And if fool esteems what the world despises. 00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:54.140 Guys, if you think about this, you'll soon realize, I don't, sometimes when I watch TV, in these like talk shows or whatever, you always hear people clapping. Yeah. It's like someone will say something and there'll be claps. 00:32:54.140 --> 00:33:01.140 What's fascinating is most of the thing I believe in when someone says there's no clap. 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:17.140 When someone says there's no clap. It's true for you too. It's true for you too. Because if we are to chase the applause of man, we will never speak what God wants us to speak. 00:33:19.140 --> 00:33:24.140 If we are to chase the applause of man, we will never speak what we are to speak. 00:33:24.140 --> 00:33:37.140 We speak exactly what, because it's so much from a relationship. This is my father. I am so in love with him. He is with me every day. Here's the message he has given me. 00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:48.140 I know who you are in Christ. I am here to deliver this message. I don't care about anything else. This is all about him and me. And now you're included in this because he loves you and he has a plan for you. 00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:54.140 That's the message. I don't need you to clap. I don't need you to approve. This is what I speak. 00:33:56.140 --> 00:34:06.140 This is possible. This is how they lived. This is how the people in the book of Acts lived. And God added to their numbers daily. 00:34:06.140 --> 00:34:17.140 But somehow over the course of time, things have come up. And now without us even knowing, there is a system all around us that prevents us from speaking. 00:34:17.140 --> 00:34:26.140 And the man or the woman who believes in Christ and has the Spirit of God living inside them are to wake up every day and look at the systems of the world. 00:34:26.140 --> 00:34:33.140 And they are to say, I will oppose you because my God lives in me and his Spirit is opposing the ways of the world. 00:34:33.140 --> 00:34:45.140 100%. This is how it works. And if we are not intentional about it, if you don't think about it, we soon lose what we have been given. 00:34:45.140 --> 00:34:58.140 The opposite of fool. Do you know what that is? It's cool. You don't want to be cool. The opposite of fool is cool. 00:34:58.140 --> 00:35:16.140 And a bishop wants to be cool, but sorry, bro. Be a cool fool. You can't be cool. We love fool more than cool. 00:35:16.140 --> 00:35:27.140 And actually the cool word act also means not hot anymore. That's what these systems of the world wants to do. 00:35:27.140 --> 00:35:45.140 So a fool challenges. If we can wake up every day like this about your spirit in me, operates in an opposite way to the way the world performs, the way the world contacts. 00:35:45.140 --> 00:35:54.140 Number three, a fool happily chooses obedience and obscurity when the world chooses fame. 00:35:54.140 --> 00:36:04.140 A fool happily, happily out of relationship chooses obscurity and obedience rather than fame. 00:36:04.140 --> 00:36:13.140 The world wants fame. The world wants to be known. But a fool chooses Abba. This is just between you and I. 00:36:13.140 --> 00:36:22.140 You put me as part of the body. I know what your plan is. I just want to be obedient. And I am happy with obscurity. 00:36:22.140 --> 00:36:32.140 No one knowing. No one knowing anything. Whereas you send me, I will go. 00:36:32.140 --> 00:36:57.140 A fool chooses obscurity and obedience or fame. A fool chooses obscurity and obedience or fame or recognition because fame may feel like it's just too far out there or recognition or approval. 00:36:57.140 --> 00:37:07.140 And there is no selfish ambition involved. A fool disregards the applause of man for the voice of heaven. 00:37:07.140 --> 00:37:16.140 If we can be a people like this, where what we cherish and put so close to our heart is the voice of heaven. 00:37:16.140 --> 00:37:30.140 Well done son. Well done daughter. Over everything else. Each day, every day. 00:37:30.140 --> 00:37:44.140 Next one. A fool is willing to walk on water when the master says step out. 00:37:44.140 --> 00:37:58.140 I believe that God is asking us on my drive here. What I sense and what I believe is this. God is saying move. God is saying move. 00:37:58.140 --> 00:38:07.140 God is saying I want you to move. I will move among you and I will cause you to move from where you are to this new place that I'm calling you to. 00:38:07.140 --> 00:38:28.140 It's here. It's available. It's for you to walk in right now. You don't have to wake up tomorrow to walk into it. It's right now. As soon as you go out, wherever you're going, in your house tonight, you can move into this space that I have created for you where your shoes, where your feet are shoed with the gospel of good news. 00:38:28.140 --> 00:38:38.140 That you have to go onto roads, cities, nations, carrying my power, carrying my word, carrying my love for other people. And it's right now. 00:38:38.140 --> 00:38:49.140 And when I ask you to step on, step out from the boat onto water, you do it. And one of the things that God will do with us, he'll stretch you. 00:38:49.140 --> 00:39:04.140 He'll stretch us only for us to say, aha, this is a better way of living. He'll stretch us as we are obedient to him. Only for us to say, wow, Abba, I never knew I could live like this. 00:39:04.140 --> 00:39:18.140 I never knew I could walk like this. I never knew this could happen. But because with a simple obedience when you say, when he says come step out, when I say, I don't know, but because you said I'll step out. 00:39:18.140 --> 00:39:30.140 When he says, I want you to go to this person and say this with simple obedience when I say, okay, Abba, I don't know that person, but I will go and say exactly what you said. 00:39:30.140 --> 00:39:45.140 You're walking on water. And a fool will do that. Because he's in a relationship with a father the world cannot see yet. But as soon as they see it, as soon as they see him, they will know. 00:39:45.140 --> 00:39:58.140 And the last one. A fool proclaims what the world considers as foolish and is brave hearted in the face of resistance. Brave hearted. 00:39:58.140 --> 00:40:11.140 It is in us. The spirit of God makes us brave. Brave hearted in the face of resistance. 00:40:11.140 --> 00:40:23.140 This is why you can see Paul and Silas Acts chapter 1625. They had a pretty long day. 00:40:23.140 --> 00:40:31.140 They were at a trial, got beaten up, are in a jail now. Past midnight. 00:40:31.140 --> 00:40:37.140 A good day to have an excuse and say Abba, I'll continue tomorrow. Today was a long day. 00:40:37.140 --> 00:40:47.140 It was pretty bad, pretty long. Got beaten up, had to stand all the time. Tomorrow, I'll get back to it. 00:40:47.140 --> 00:40:55.140 No. They said, we're going to sing. Clamorously foolish. There's a song like that. Clamorously foolish. 00:40:55.140 --> 00:41:03.140 In the face of adversity, in the face of resistance, brave hearted. 00:41:03.140 --> 00:41:13.140 Because this God, this Jesus who met me on the way to Damascus, he, I saw him and he's not going to leave me. 00:41:13.140 --> 00:41:20.140 I know him fully well. I am still to go to different places. So I ain't sleeping tonight. I am worshipping tonight. 00:41:20.140 --> 00:41:30.140 Because I know that there is more for me. There is more. There is a more. There is incredible adventures waiting for me. 00:41:30.140 --> 00:41:39.140 And it's a yes from me to my father. And so in the face of resistance, I am brave hearted. 00:41:39.140 --> 00:41:55.140 David in 2 Samuel 6, 16, when people despised him, including his wife, he did not stop leaping and dancing before the Lord. 00:41:55.140 --> 00:42:04.140 Shadrach, Meshech, Abednego, Daniel chapter 3, 16 to 18. 00:42:04.140 --> 00:42:12.140 They said, we are not careful to answer you in this matter, King. Brave hearted. 00:42:12.140 --> 00:42:22.140 In the face of opposition, in the face of resistance. Stephen, Acts chapter 7. 00:42:22.140 --> 00:42:29.140 The question that the high priest asked Stephen is, are these things true? He made a mistake by asking a question. 00:42:29.140 --> 00:42:38.140 Because there is a passage full of what God did with the Israelites, what God did with Christ and who Christ is as a response. 00:42:38.140 --> 00:42:44.140 The question that the high priest asked Stephen is, are these things true? They brought you here and they want you killed. 00:42:44.140 --> 00:42:52.140 Are these things true? His response is the gospel. Proclamation. 00:42:52.140 --> 00:43:04.140 Brave hearted because Christ lives in us. Because he is who he said he is. 00:43:04.140 --> 00:43:11.140 And so maybe have lives that articulates the gospel. 00:43:11.140 --> 00:43:20.140 And the ways of Jesus at work, in business, in schools, in communities that we are part of. 00:43:20.140 --> 00:43:27.140 Maybe have lives that articulate. Lives, not words. Words great, that's what we have talked about. 00:43:27.140 --> 00:43:34.140 But lives as well. Where people will look at our lives and our very lives articulate the gospel. 00:43:34.140 --> 00:43:42.140 The goodness of God, the kindness of God, the healing nature of God, the deliverance of God. 00:43:42.140 --> 00:43:51.140 Maybe have lives that articulate it. And then when we speak, 00:43:51.140 --> 00:43:57.140 a life that engages the world and challenges its way of thinking without being accommodated by it. 00:43:57.140 --> 00:44:04.140 We engage the world. We don't, we're not in the corner. You're right there. 00:44:04.140 --> 00:44:16.140 We engage the world. And when we do this, the kingdom becomes delightfully visible. 00:44:16.140 --> 00:44:23.140 When we do this, the kingdom becomes delightfully visible to the world around us. 00:44:23.140 --> 00:44:31.140 To prostitutes, to Pharisees, to tax collectors, to friends, family. 00:44:31.140 --> 00:44:38.140 The kingdom becomes visibly delightful. 00:44:38.140 --> 00:44:54.140 So, we'll close. I want us to, in our minds, respond to what God has been saying. 00:44:54.140 --> 00:44:59.140 So Abba, we have heard everything that you have said. 00:45:00.140 --> 00:45:08.140 We carry with us a message that is old, but at the same time new. 00:45:08.140 --> 00:45:21.140 That the world hasn't heard. There are lives that are untouched, roads that have not seen this message. 00:45:21.140 --> 00:45:34.140 So Jesus, you've been calling us. And Abba, we give our minds, our hearts, our lives, our bodies in obedience to your word. 00:45:34.140 --> 00:45:47.140 We look at our lives and we do not see people who cannot. We see a spirit of God who is in us and therefore makes us fully prepared for the task at hand. 00:45:47.140 --> 00:45:53.140 Every one of us in this room, fully prepared for the task at hand. 00:45:53.140 --> 00:46:00.140 Jesus, we've been hearing that we are to follow what you said. That your kingdom is here. Proclaim it. 00:46:00.140 --> 00:46:11.140 So, whenever we meet people, Abba, and there is a need and people are asking for help, we will see the invisible where your kingdom is ready to break in. 00:46:12.140 --> 00:46:17.140 And Abba, when we proclaim, these are not going to be just words being spoken. 00:46:17.140 --> 00:46:23.140 These are going to be seeing the invisible, believing in you and then speaking. 00:46:23.140 --> 00:46:30.140 Jesus, we don't want sophistication. We don't want to add to your gospel. We don't want to dilute it. 00:46:30.140 --> 00:46:40.140 We want to preach it as it is. Jesus, clothe our feet with your shoes. The shoes of the gospel. 00:46:40.140 --> 00:46:45.140 Jesus, just like Paul heard a Macedonian call. 00:46:47.140 --> 00:46:55.140 As a church, we right now say, we want to hear you leading us to different places in our cities. 00:46:55.140 --> 00:47:02.140 We're supposed to go to the grocery store, but then God said, take a left. 00:47:02.140 --> 00:47:08.140 There is this employee in the office who I have not talked before, but God said, write a card. 00:47:09.140 --> 00:47:14.140 And then God began to speak to me and I wrote down everything that he said. 00:47:14.140 --> 00:47:19.140 And I did not stop from doing it because I was afraid. 00:47:19.140 --> 00:47:23.140 Because God said this, I send it. I gave it. 00:47:23.140 --> 00:47:27.140 Because God said this, I send it. I gave it. 00:47:29.140 --> 00:47:35.140 I was on the way to church. It was supposed to be at 10.30 and I saw something. 00:47:35.140 --> 00:47:42.140 And because my life is given to the kingdom expanding and I am on the front line, I stopped. 00:47:42.140 --> 00:47:52.140 And because God is asking me to move into a new place, not just for me, but for the church, we go two by two. 00:47:52.140 --> 00:48:02.140 Where there are places where there is no one with us, it's just me. I know that the Spirit of God is always with me. 00:48:02.140 --> 00:48:10.140 I rely on the fact that God said, anytime you're speaking to someone and you don't know how to respond, ask. 00:48:10.140 --> 00:48:14.140 I'll put words on your mouth. I rely on that promise. 00:48:16.140 --> 00:48:21.140 So Abba, we are ready. We want to do this with you. 00:48:21.140 --> 00:48:25.140 You have brought us thus far for this cause. 00:48:25.140 --> 00:48:28.140 And we will be a people who proclaim. 00:48:28.140 --> 00:48:39.140 Abba, we are ready to make sure that we not just talk about the Gospel, but we live the Gospel every day Abba. 00:48:39.140 --> 00:48:43.140 And we think of how this Gospel has changed us and is changing us. 00:48:43.140 --> 00:48:47.140 That is the one thing that gives us the conviction to speak it. 00:48:49.140 --> 00:48:55.140 The Gospel is not a thing that we take from the shelf and we articulate and we share with others. 00:48:55.140 --> 00:48:57.140 This is the story that we live. 00:48:58.140 --> 00:49:01.140 And because I live it, I have full conviction of it. 00:49:02.140 --> 00:49:06.140 I see him every day and when they say, why do you know? How do you know? 00:49:06.140 --> 00:49:10.140 How can be so sure? I say I know because I talked with him this morning. 00:49:11.140 --> 00:49:14.140 And this is the lifestyle you're calling us to. 00:49:14.140 --> 00:49:17.140 Because sonship is about my father's business. 00:49:17.140 --> 00:49:21.140 And my father is in the business of rescuing others. 00:49:21.140 --> 00:49:24.140 They may not know it, but I am here to tell them. 00:49:25.140 --> 00:49:27.140 So we thank you Father. 00:49:27.140 --> 00:49:32.140 As we go, we look at, I want us to look at our legs, our feet right now. 00:49:33.140 --> 00:49:35.140 I want us to look at our feet. 00:49:35.140 --> 00:49:41.140 Father, you are saying that you are putting new shoes, new shoes on our feet. 00:49:41.140 --> 00:49:43.140 That make us prepared. 00:49:44.140 --> 00:49:48.140 Someone said we are on a rock now and we are standing firm. 00:49:49.140 --> 00:49:52.140 And now that as you are sending us, we go. We are ready. 00:49:52.140 --> 00:49:54.140 We have new shoes Father. 00:49:54.140 --> 00:49:56.140 We thank you for these new shoes. 00:49:56.140 --> 00:49:59.140 Shoes of the Gospel of Proclamation. 00:49:59.140 --> 00:50:01.140 And we carry this message. 00:50:01.140 --> 00:50:04.140 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 00:50:05.140 --> 00:50:08.140 I told you we will finish before one.