WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Fuelling Faith Publishing Date: 2025-08-10T06:04:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/fuelling-faith/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Straight into the teaching, and then take a break later. The kids can go for a church 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:18.760 school. Kids' church. Yep. Sheldon, can I have the table? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.000 If you want to stretch, you can stretch. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.000 What's that? Sure. Two. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:38.000 Hey, Brandon, what's the Wi-Fi? Okay. 00:01:51.800 --> 00:01:58.800 Thanks Sheldon. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Hey, so till last week we were talking about culture, and we'll continue with that next 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:22.680 week, but just felt as we do so often in this church that every now and then we've got to 00:02:23.200 --> 00:02:30.200 go back to the construct of faith because someone asked me, so when are we moving to 00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:37.200 Richmond? And we'll be moving, God willing, in a month, and if not a month, then a month 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:42.480 and a half, because we have a lease here till October, but if they allow us to get out of 00:02:42.480 --> 00:02:47.560 it earlier or if we think we need to go to Richmond in September, we will. 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:54.560 And that aside, I've always noticed this, that two or three times a year in this church, 00:02:54.760 --> 00:03:01.080 for whatever reason, we need to revisit faith. And every time we do, we've learned something 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:06.360 about it that we haven't learned before. So it's not even a repeat of what we've taught 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:13.360 before. It's things that we learn in addition to what we have learned before. So today we'll 00:03:14.200 --> 00:03:21.200 try and wrap our heads around how do you fuel faith? How do you fuel faith? So let me start 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:29.560 with this definition first. Faith is entering into what God wants to do. So, how do you 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:50.520 fuel faith? Faith is entering into what God wants to do. With you, for you, through you. 00:03:57.160 --> 00:04:04.160 And so in a sense, it's a risky embrace. It's a risky embrace of supernatural intent or 00:04:05.160 --> 00:04:12.160 divine intent. Think of it that way. I know you have definitions of what Hebrews 11 says 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:23.160 and stuff like that, but just for a moment, think of faith like this. So faith is entering, 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:30.160 as in he invites you into something that he is putting together. So faith is entering 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:37.160 into what God wants to do. It's what he wants to do. Because otherwise we limit faith to 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:45.160 Hebrews 11.1. I mean, we limit our definition of faith. But what if you defined it this 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:52.160 way? And what if this was something you looked forward to every day? What if you worked for 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:59.160 a boss who you really liked or a coach you really liked? And what if you were a boss 00:04:59.160 --> 00:05:05.160 you really liked or a star player or a star singer you really liked? Wouldn't you want 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:12.160 to enter into what they want to do? Faith is entering into what God wants to do on three 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:18.160 levels. He wants to do it with you even though he doesn't have to. He just enjoys it. He's 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:24.160 a father. He likes doing things with his children. He does not need you, but he wants you there. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:29.160 So faith is entering into what God wants to do with you, for you, and then through 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:37.160 you. And so it's a risky embrace of supernatural intent or divine intent. There's nothing about 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:44.160 it that's logical, that's human, that's common sense. Because if it was human, if it was 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:49.160 logical, if it was common sense, then you would not require faith because you have those 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:55.160 three things anyways. So it's a risky embrace of supernatural or divine intent. Define it 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:05.160 this way and it broadens the scope of what God is inviting you into and what you can 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:11.160 enter into. This is by invitation most of the time. Entering is by invitation. And God 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:17.160 has enough and more for us to do every day. Every day. And God has enough and more for 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:26.160 us to do every day. So in the process, in the process of entering in, in the process 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:38.160 of entering into what God is doing, I please him. In the process of entering into what 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:44.160 God is doing, I please him. And that's why Hebrews 11.6 says, without faith it is impossible 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:50.160 to please him. In the process of entering into what God is doing, I please him. I please 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.160 God. And when I please God, I come into sync, I come into sync with his plans. And when 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:07.160 I come into sync with his plans, he credits it to me and invites me further. And so that's 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:21.160 why I'm here. So try to undo this thinking that faith has to do with getting a job, faith 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:25.160 has to do with getting a promotion, faith has to do with getting money, faith has to 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:32.160 do with healing or a visa. Stop thinking that faith is for those things. Faith is for everyday 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:41.160 living. It's in the process of entering what God is doing. So today, Tooni took a small 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:48.160 step of faith in not preparing a list of songs. It's not easy. It's scary. Because you don't 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:52.160 know whether the team can play all the songs that come up on the spur of the moment. You 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:56.160 don't even know if Brandon can pull up or Sen can pull up the songs. You don't know 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:00.160 whether it will go north or south. It seems like a very small thing. But faith in small 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:05.160 things is what leads to faith in big things. So it's an everyday process. When we take 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:11.160 it as an objective, as a visa or a job or a promotion or wealth or a house, then it 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:16.160 becomes an object. It's not an object. It's a daily alive thing where you're entering 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:23.160 into stuff. The outcome may be a job or a visa or a healing or this or that or small 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:29.160 or big, but the process is everyday. And so in the process of entering into what God is 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:34.160 doing, the intent is, can I please God? It's trusting someone and letting them know that 00:08:34.160 --> 00:08:39.160 listen, all you need to say is just a word and I'll trust you. You don't know how much 00:08:39.160 --> 00:08:44.160 that pleases somebody when you trust them. Parents know that. When their child sometimes 00:08:44.160 --> 00:08:49.160 comes and says, Mama, I trust you. As in, I've given it to you. You'll take care of it. 00:08:49.160 --> 00:08:55.160 Trust. It pleases God. And when it pleases God, you come into sync with his plans. And 00:08:55.160 --> 00:08:59.160 it's again, step by step. It doesn't happen all of a sudden, all at the same time. Bit 00:08:59.160 --> 00:09:03.160 by bit, you come into sync with his plans. And as soon as you come into sync with his 00:09:03.160 --> 00:09:10.160 plans, he credits it to you as, hey, here's some new cryptocurrency called faith in your 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:19.160 crypto account. And then once he credits it to you, he invites you further. Any questions 00:09:23.160 --> 00:09:30.160 thus far? Any questions? This is the process. This is how it works on a daily basis. Any 00:09:31.160 --> 00:09:38.160 questions? Hey, can I have some more volume? Go ahead. Yeah. The Bible says that when Abraham 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:48.160 believed God, God credited it to him. Credited it to him. What did God credit to him? God 00:09:48.160 --> 00:09:55.160 credited a right relationship. The thing with God is everything works on this basis of faith 00:09:56.160 --> 00:10:02.160 because he's invisible. He's inaudible. And yet, he himself sometimes is amazed. Jesus 00:10:02.160 --> 00:10:07.160 would walk around saying to a few people, I was amazed at their faith. Because whenever 00:10:07.160 --> 00:10:12.160 you trust someone who's inaudible, invisible, and you take him for his word, and you trust 00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:18.160 him, the Bible says it was credited to Abraham as righteousness, as in God credited to him 00:10:18.160 --> 00:10:23.160 right relationship with God. He entered into a relationship that was unlike any of us to 00:10:23.160 --> 00:10:30.160 the point where in James chapter 2, verse 23, it says he was called a friend of God. 00:10:30.160 --> 00:10:37.160 That was a credit to him, as in it was credited to him. Nobody on earth had ever been called 00:10:37.160 --> 00:10:44.160 a friend of God. Jesus said to his disciples, you are my friends, but nobody got the title 00:10:45.160 --> 00:10:52.160 friend of God. We call him father of faith. That's our own making. What he really was 00:10:52.160 --> 00:10:58.160 was friend of God. And that's why then God begins to invite you deeper. What does invite 00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:05.160 you deeper look like? Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Which is nuts, eh? It's 00:11:05.160 --> 00:11:10.160 not that God needs advice from Abraham, but God wants to involve Abraham. Then you're 00:11:10.160 --> 00:11:15.160 not praying to get answers. You're praying because you have conversations with God. It's 00:11:15.160 --> 00:11:22.160 just nuts, man, how far we can enter into this. Once you know what God is doing, and 00:11:27.160 --> 00:11:34.160 once he invites you this way, and once you know what God is doing, I know how to spell 00:11:35.160 --> 00:11:42.160 through what and words like that, yeah, just so you know. Once you know what God is doing, 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:52.720 you can accelerate it, you can hold it up, or you can prolong what he's doing. That's 00:11:58.520 --> 00:12:02.960 up to you. Once God invites you into something, you can accelerate what he's doing, you can 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:08.960 hold on to it and just keep it stagnant, or you can prolong what he's doing. One of 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:15.960 the classic examples is in Joshua chapter 10, verse 11 to 14, Joshua 10, 11 to 14, where 00:12:17.520 --> 00:12:23.680 Joshua enters into what God is doing. And what is God doing? He's decimating the armies 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:30.680 of Canaan that were opposing Joshua. And Joshua realizes that this is God's intent, to clear 00:12:30.920 --> 00:12:37.920 the land. But the sun is setting. And so what does Joshua do? He turns to God and says, 00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:45.720 can you have the sun stand still so that I can complete the conquest? And for the first 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:50.440 time in the history of the earth, and never later, never before, God listened, the Bible 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:56.880 puts it this way, God listened to the words of a man and he had the sun stand still. Never 00:12:56.880 --> 00:13:03.880 happened before. This is the extent to which you can go away. We haven't even scratched 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:09.400 the surface of faith. How does an ordinary man who did not have the Holy Spirit, who 00:13:09.400 --> 00:13:15.000 was in the Old Testament, how does he come to a point where he has the ability to say 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.880 after checking with God, sun stand still till the slaughter is complete, and the sun stood 00:13:19.880 --> 00:13:26.880 still for an entire 24 hours? This is so unreal that we think it might be an exaggeration 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:35.360 because it should throw the whole planetary system out of whack. I pray, God, that some 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:42.280 of us begin to take, here's the thing, guys, you can't take ridiculous steps of faith 00:13:42.280 --> 00:13:49.280 without knowing that there's this possibility that you might really fail, that you might 00:13:49.880 --> 00:13:56.880 fail badly. The reason we don't embrace these kind of risks is because there are people 00:13:57.880 --> 00:14:04.880 watching and you're scared that it won't work out. We just need two or three people 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:12.720 every four or five years and it changes an entire congregation. Something so ridiculous 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:20.720 if someone in this church dared do. Any questions, any comments, anyone who volunteers? If you 00:14:28.920 --> 00:14:35.920 volunteer, I'll give you a task. Here's the flip side, Romans 14.23. 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:49.720 Anything that does not originate or proceed from faith is sin. Crazy, eh? We hardly read 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:11.600 the scripture. It's in the second part of Romans 14.23. Anything that does not originate 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:19.000 or proceed from faith is sin. Every act, every process that I start has to come from a place 00:15:26.280 --> 00:15:31.640 where either it originates from or proceeds from a place of faith because when I don't, 00:15:31.640 --> 00:15:38.640 it is sin. I don't know if you've heard of the phrase 00:15:42.280 --> 00:15:49.280 sin. Why? Because whatever is done without faith, whatever is done without faith, one, 00:15:55.680 --> 00:16:02.680 does not need God. Two, does not participate in God's action. Three, does not participate 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:18.600 in God's action. And three, produces that which comes out from human wisdom and strength. 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:25.600 Any questions on that? That's a harsh one, eh? Because it suddenly paints us or puts 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:41.000 us in a place where you begin to examine most of the things you do and you really don't 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:55.640 know what to do. It doesn't originate or proceed from a place of faith. A lot of things 00:16:55.640 --> 00:17:02.640 are just done through human wisdom and human strength and doesn't come from this place. 00:17:02.640 --> 00:17:09.640 What if everything I begin to do has a question next to it? Does this originate from faith? 00:17:13.560 --> 00:17:18.720 Is this proceeding from faith? Because if it doesn't, it does not need God. It does 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:24.160 not participate in God's actions. And three, it produces that which comes from human wisdom 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:31.160 and strength and then it becomes a golden calf. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:39.640 Everything. If you have a head that thinks a lot, like sometimes our heads are reasoned 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:47.160 like crazy, like a head that thinks a lot, take a week, chop it off, stick a cabbid and 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:54.560 see if it works. Because sometimes so much reasoning is done in here that it becomes 00:17:54.560 --> 00:18:01.560 very hard to live like this. Any questions? 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:09.640 Should we all be like hippies? That's a question from someone who is old. Only Dilla and I 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:23.000 would compare anything to hippies. And maybe Mike. Should we all be like hippies? Let me 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:30.000 read you something and you tell me. I'm not asking Dilla, I'm asking all of us whether 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:43.200 this sounds hippie-ish. Okay, here goes. I'm not asking Dilla. I'm 00:18:53.000 --> 00:19:00.000 reading from the message. Look at the birds. Free and unfettered. Not tied down to a job 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:10.840 description. Careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. 00:19:10.840 --> 00:19:15.560 Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller? Not me. By so much as 00:19:15.560 --> 00:19:21.520 an inch. All this time and money wasted on fashion. Do you think it makes much difference? 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:26.240 Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:31.880 They never primp or shop. But have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:36.800 best dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such 00:19:36.800 --> 00:19:41.160 attention to the appearance of wildflowers, much of which are never ever seen, don't you 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:45.920 think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:51.020 here is to get you to relax. To not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond 00:19:51.020 --> 00:19:55.780 to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things. 00:19:55.780 --> 00:20:02.780 But you know God and how he works. Steep your life in God reality. God initiative. God provisions. 00:20:03.540 --> 00:20:08.140 Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:12.740 Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now. And don't get worked up about 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:16.660 what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:23.380 up when the time comes. That sounds totally hippie. But that just happens to be Jesus. 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:30.380 In Matthew 6, verse 24 to 34. It's a very different way of living guys. Nobody lives 00:20:35.340 --> 00:20:42.340 it so nobody knows what it looks like. But Dilna and I are going to show how this is 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:53.660 done. You know faith is not so much a possession. Faith isn't a possession as much as it's a 00:20:54.820 --> 00:21:01.820 faith is not a possession. As in it's not some quantity that you have. Faith is not 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:08.940 a possession. It's a disposition. Or it's like a living seed that you can eat. It's 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:23.660 a seed that lives in you. This is why Jesus at one point when they asked him about faith, 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:31.740 his response was if you have as much faith as a mustard seed. What he was trying to say 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:38.740 is hey it's not quantity. I'm not looking for greater faith or lesser faith. It's not 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:45.980 a possession. It's a disposition. It's how I function. And a seed if not a seed is not 00:21:46.660 --> 00:21:53.660 lived daily will begin to dry up. And so it's this constant approach to life. Listen to 00:21:56.140 --> 00:22:02.020 me it's a constant approach to life. To everything in life. It's a constant approach to everything 00:22:02.020 --> 00:22:09.020 in life. Everything in life. Take anybody here. Take Aaron. How does he approach his 00:22:10.580 --> 00:22:14.020 business? Take Tooney. How does he approach his provisions? He doesn't have a job. He 00:22:14.020 --> 00:22:20.740 sings here for free. But we'll double your salary anyways. Take Kezia. How does he approach 00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:27.740 a pregnancy? Take Don. How does he approach his looks? Poor guy has been. I mean we all 00:22:28.540 --> 00:22:35.540 need faith Don. Every time we look at you. Well the point is this. How do you. Everything 00:22:35.900 --> 00:22:42.900 in life has to be met with faith. Everything. And that's when the living seed. It's a discipline. 00:22:44.020 --> 00:22:48.580 It's a disposition. That becomes. You know something about people who have faith? People 00:22:48.580 --> 00:22:53.980 who have faith are people that are faithful. One of the easiest ways to spot people who 00:22:53.980 --> 00:23:00.980 have faith is to not look for people who have great exploits but people who exhibit faithfulness 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:08.180 in whatever they do. They always have faith. And when you see someone who cannot be faithful 00:23:08.340 --> 00:23:13.740 you also know that this person may occasionally have a burst of faith. And you'll clap your 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:18.620 hands and applaud them. Bad idea. If they're not faithful and they have exploits of faith 00:23:18.620 --> 00:23:24.460 just don't say anything. Because it sometimes stirs them up thinking they're great men of 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:31.460 faith and they're really poor men of faithfulness. Don't applaud them. Because there's a direct 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:40.140 correlation between having faith and faithfulness. The church has been way too encouraging. We 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:47.140 kind of dumb it down from now on. Really you did that? Does Jesus do that? Yes. Luke 00:23:51.540 --> 00:23:57.860 17 verse 6. You should read it. The disciples come to him in Luke 17 and 6 and say increase 00:23:57.860 --> 00:24:04.860 our faith. Luke 17 and 7. Jesus says that listen does a servant who comes and does something 00:24:05.860 --> 00:24:11.540 for you after he does it wait for a pat on his back where you say to him great job well 00:24:11.540 --> 00:24:15.980 done thank you for serving me. No. He does what he has to do and he goes about his business 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:22.980 and he says to his master I'm but an unprofitable servant. Sometimes in our desire to encourage 00:24:26.300 --> 00:24:31.580 people it's like giving everybody a certificate for participating in the marathon even though 00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:38.700 you came last. You don't need to do that. I would always come second last day. My only 00:24:43.080 --> 00:24:49.500 intent when I had to run in school is I got to beat someone. It is the same. If there 00:24:49.500 --> 00:24:55.180 was a dog chasing three of us I had to be second. And there was always a guy who was 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:59.300 slower than me. I would start praising the Lord saying oh my god the dog's going to get 00:24:59.340 --> 00:25:04.140 him or he's going to be last. I would never get the last thing. As long as you're second 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:11.140 last you're good guys. Sorry that had nothing to do with this teaching. Faith. Try figuring 00:25:15.860 --> 00:25:22.860 this out. Dead faith believes. Dead faith believes. I'm not saying that you should 00:25:29.300 --> 00:25:35.820 be second. While I was writing this line down I was reminded of something May said which 00:25:35.820 --> 00:25:42.820 took me about two minutes to figure out. Bad drivers never miss exits. Bad drivers never 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:53.140 miss exits. You'll find them all over the world. They miss an exit and it's a highway 00:25:54.140 --> 00:26:00.060 and they'll start reversing back. Or they'll drive over the grass. Or they'll turn in real 00:26:00.060 --> 00:26:07.060 traffic and get back into the exit. Bad drivers never miss exits. How do you know a bad driver? 00:26:07.620 --> 00:26:12.060 When you see him having mixed the exit reversing slowly in oncoming traffic going over the 00:26:12.060 --> 00:26:19.060 grass. In the same way dead faith believes. Why do I say that? Because faith that believes 00:26:20.060 --> 00:26:27.060 and does not show itself in action is dead. James chapter two. You say you have faith 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:37.100 show me your works. And if faith does not have works faith is dead. Dead faith believes 00:26:38.520 --> 00:26:45.520 but dead faith doesn't do anything about what they believe. Dead faith believes. Faith that 00:26:45.520 --> 00:26:52.520 is alive believes and then it'll show in action. So ask yourself the question. Ask 00:26:54.760 --> 00:27:01.760 myself the question. Jacob if you believe it is there action to prove it? We know this 00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:10.640 next sentence. Faith acknowledges facts. Faith acknowledges facts. It's not an ostrich that 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:17.980 hides its head in the sand. Faith acknowledges facts but disallows thoughts that contradict 00:27:23.840 --> 00:27:30.840 the truth of God. Faith acknowledges facts but disallows thoughts that contradict the 00:27:30.840 --> 00:27:37.840 truth of God's word. It acknowledges facts. It's not an ostrich. It knows things are going 00:27:48.760 --> 00:27:55.200 wrong. I know you've heard me say this before. Abraham didn't pretend that he was Genghis 00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:01.680 Khan. He knew that he was 99, that he was important. He acknowledged it. Now after 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:08.680 acknowledging it he then goes on to say this is the fact but this is the truth. These are 00:28:08.840 --> 00:28:13.840 habits we learn. These are habits we learn. And if I don't learn this habit I only have 00:28:13.840 --> 00:28:19.660 one choice guys. If I don't learn faith I must operate by human strength and wisdom. 00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:26.660 Please understand that. There's no neutral ground here. In any situation that I'm in 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:34.260 if I do not work that out from a place of faith that has an entering with God into what 00:28:34.260 --> 00:28:40.180 he has then the only other option I have is to work it out of human wisdom and strength 00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:47.180 and God will help you in that. I'm not saying he won't but it won't have the aroma of Yahweh. 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:56.060 And it's a habit. If I don't create the habit 20 years from now when your kids are grown 00:28:56.060 --> 00:29:03.060 up they're behaving just like you. That's the scary part. Any questions? Everything 00:29:03.060 --> 00:29:10.060 about this word is extreme. Everything about this word is extreme. I wish there was a second 00:29:23.300 --> 00:29:30.300 gear that faith has. It doesn't have such a gear. Everything about this word is extreme. 00:29:30.820 --> 00:29:36.100 You can't even dilute it. You can't find a middle road because there is no middle road 00:29:36.100 --> 00:29:43.100 when it comes to this. Show me a middle road of faith in the Bible. Just one. I beg you. 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:53.220 Given what awaits us guys be it going to Richmond or be it going beyond I love it when God says 00:29:53.220 --> 00:30:00.220 okay talk about faith again even though you've spoken about it once before this year. 00:30:00.300 --> 00:30:07.300 So some of the things we can quickly learn. Faith operates out of love. Faith operates 00:30:14.420 --> 00:30:21.420 out of love and what do we mean by that? We mean that what we believe, what we are invited 00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:30.220 to believe in, what we are invited to believe in, is the truth. What we believe in is the 00:30:30.300 --> 00:30:37.300 truth. Faith is a promise or promises from a father to his son or daughter. You forget 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:52.140 that and there's a Greek word called screwed. You were screwed. 00:31:01.140 --> 00:31:07.660 This is critically every promise I receive must be a promise that comes from a father 00:31:07.660 --> 00:31:12.780 to a son. You miss that out you're finished. If you're receiving a promise from God you're 00:31:12.780 --> 00:31:19.540 finished. I'll explain that. If you're receiving a promise from your savior, your redeemer, 00:31:19.540 --> 00:31:26.100 your God, your promise keeper, way maker, miracle worker, you're finished. You have to receive 00:31:26.100 --> 00:31:33.100 it from your father. I can't hear you. Can you repeat the last? The seven heaven virtues 00:31:46.180 --> 00:31:53.180 don't coincide with what Christ thought and because Christ is Lord and because he created 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:58.780 you for instance, I'll have to go with what Christ says and the seven heaven virtues really 00:31:58.780 --> 00:32:05.780 don't fit when it comes to faith because they're so limited, aren't they? No, I'm responding. 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:12.420 Aren't they limited? They're so limited. They're actually not supernatural. Everything is within 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:18.820 the scope of man when it comes to the seven heaven virtues. Aren't they? Okay, there. 00:32:18.820 --> 00:32:24.020 You answered your own question. Thanks. So at the end of the day faith operates out of 00:32:24.020 --> 00:32:29.220 love and if you don't receive the promise from someone who is your father you will not 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:36.220 be able to trust it when the going gets tough. Only when I receive it from the father can 00:32:37.100 --> 00:32:42.540 I as a son begin to realize that the channel through which these promises have been given 00:32:42.540 --> 00:32:47.100 are promises that have come to me from someone who loves me and I can trust them. A child 00:32:47.100 --> 00:32:54.100 can trust his father. So the moment you receive any promise from God, be it from the word, 00:32:54.660 --> 00:33:01.100 be it from God directly, be it from a prophetic word, go to the simple equation, father I 00:33:01.100 --> 00:33:07.500 want to hear this as coming from a father to a son, a father to a daughter and no other 00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:14.500 way. Once you have that you're safe. Any questions on that one? Otherwise, you're not going to 00:33:17.420 --> 00:33:22.180 have to hold on to it desperately. Once it's from a father to a son or a father to a daughter 00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:29.180 becomes easy because you trust your dad. Any questions? Faith requires fluency. This one 00:33:29.180 --> 00:33:36.180 is important. Faith requires fluency in truth and in honesty. One who is dishonest is a 00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:06.180 liar. Usually won't be able to walk in faith. One who is dishonest won't be able to walk 00:34:06.540 --> 00:34:13.540 in faith because doubt is basically the enemy telling you lies about God. Now when I begin 00:34:17.100 --> 00:34:22.820 to participate in lying, when I begin to participate in dishonesty, it becomes very hard to walk 00:34:22.860 --> 00:34:29.860 in faith because one who is dishonest cannot then participate in faith. So one of the things 00:34:29.860 --> 00:34:36.860 required for faith is truth and honesty. Any questions? So if you're not an honest person, 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:44.480 if you're given to dishonesty, if speaking lies is either normal for you or is something 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:50.240 that's commonplace, know that at times when you will have to exert faith it will be difficult 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:57.320 for you because faith is based simply on the truth and doubt is based in lies about God. 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:05.960 Numbers 23 verse 9 or thereabouts, God does not lie. If he says it, he will do it. And 00:35:08.200 --> 00:35:15.200 so the matrix for faith to operate is actually my honesty too. Dishonesty is like weeds that 00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:22.200 will eat away at faith. So just be aware of that. Be it a business deal, be it something 00:35:25.120 --> 00:35:31.320 else, stick to honesty and you will see your faith produce huge results as opposed to when 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:38.320 I'm dishonest. Here's another one. Faith is based on the truth. So if you're not honest 00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:52.320 faith, these are things we haven't talked about before guys, faith takes thoughts captive 00:35:55.120 --> 00:36:02.120 to the word. So what we do when we lack faith is we go to the word and we start going over 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:08.240 promises and we repeat promises and we trust in those promises, change the way you do that. 00:36:08.240 --> 00:36:15.240 Faith takes captive. Faith takes captive. Thoughts. Takes thoughts captive to the word 00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:22.240 as in instead of trying to go and grab a promise and hold on to it, use the word to undo the 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:29.360 fear or the doubt. Faith takes thoughts captive to the word. That's part of what faith does. 00:36:31.720 --> 00:36:37.520 Has the ability to take a fear or a lie or a doubt and then bring it in submission to 00:36:37.520 --> 00:36:44.520 the word. You do that first and you won't have to chant a verse like one chants a mantra. 00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:54.480 You won't have to hold on to it. Take it captive. Take back your thoughts and you take back 00:36:54.480 --> 00:37:01.480 your emotions. Take back your thoughts and you take back your emotions. When you are 00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:08.480 in difficult circumstances, practice or learn how not to meet the expectations of the world. 00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:23.920 You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You can't 00:37:32.080 --> 00:37:39.080 that circumstance with your emotions. Move from feelings to the truth. Move from feelings 00:37:53.240 --> 00:38:00.240 to the truth using words. I know I've said this many times before, but it's brilliant 00:38:00.240 --> 00:38:04.640 but it's brilliant in Habakkuk 3, verse 17 to 19. 00:38:04.640 --> 00:38:05.840 It talks about this. 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.680 It says, hey, though the fig tree has not blossomed, 00:38:08.680 --> 00:38:12.520 though there is no cattle in the stall, 00:38:12.520 --> 00:38:15.440 listen, I know that is how you feel about stuff. 00:38:15.440 --> 00:38:16.920 There's nothing to show for it. 00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.160 When I use words, begin to rejoice, do cartwheels 00:38:20.160 --> 00:38:22.960 so that you move from feelings to the truth. 00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:25.400 And what do you do to move from feelings to the truth? 00:38:25.400 --> 00:38:26.880 You use words. 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:28.360 What words do you use? 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.480 Not the words that have caught you up in the situation, 00:38:31.480 --> 00:38:33.640 but words that agree with God. 00:38:33.640 --> 00:38:36.680 One of the things, faith loves agreement. 00:38:36.680 --> 00:38:38.400 Faith loves agreement. 00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:40.200 Faith loves agreeing with God. 00:38:40.200 --> 00:38:42.600 Faith loves agreeing with the Word. 00:38:42.600 --> 00:38:45.760 Faith loves agreeing with people that are of like faith. 00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:48.680 And faith likes agreeing with your spirit 00:38:48.680 --> 00:38:52.000 because your spirit knows what God wants. 00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:53.640 Faith loves agreement. 00:38:54.680 --> 00:38:58.040 As soon as situations come that begin to undo stuff 00:38:58.040 --> 00:39:01.680 in your life, try and pull out even one of these points 00:39:01.680 --> 00:39:03.640 and you have a starting point. 00:39:03.640 --> 00:39:06.040 Faith loves agreement with God. 00:39:06.040 --> 00:39:08.400 Faith loves agreement with the Word. 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:11.640 Faith loves agreement with others of like faith. 00:39:11.640 --> 00:39:15.000 And faith loves agreement with your spirit. 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:15.840 Loves it. 00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:18.640 Amos chapter three, verse three, 00:39:18.640 --> 00:39:20.760 can two walk together except they be? 00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:21.600 Agreed. 00:39:23.760 --> 00:39:25.880 Go to these places immediately. 00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:26.720 Don't pray. 00:39:26.720 --> 00:39:28.680 Go to these places first. 00:39:29.560 --> 00:39:32.880 It's good for the kids to cry out help, 00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:36.360 but at some point it should move from help to something else. 00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:41.560 So instead of going straight to prayer when you're scared, 00:39:41.560 --> 00:39:43.880 go to this place where you can develop 00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:46.520 this relationship with the Father 00:39:46.520 --> 00:39:49.000 out of the channel of which everything flows. 00:39:49.000 --> 00:39:52.440 There is no distrust when things flow to you from the Father. 00:39:52.440 --> 00:39:55.960 There is no distrust when things flow to you from the Father. 00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:58.280 That's your first place. 00:39:58.280 --> 00:40:00.280 Anytime anything goes wrong, 00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:02.680 go to that place where you now have a channel 00:40:02.680 --> 00:40:05.200 that the Father can flow to you through 00:40:05.200 --> 00:40:08.000 and there is no distrust when that happens. 00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:11.800 Everything becomes so easy. 00:40:12.680 --> 00:40:14.120 It's what kids do. 00:40:14.120 --> 00:40:16.160 In trouble, first place they run to, 00:40:17.720 --> 00:40:18.560 dad or mom. 00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:21.680 There's no distrust there. 00:40:21.680 --> 00:40:23.040 Once they run to dad and mom, 00:40:23.040 --> 00:40:25.880 now they know that whatever dad or mom does 00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:28.160 will be sufficient to take care of the hurt, 00:40:28.160 --> 00:40:29.920 the shame, the fear. 00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:31.640 It'll be taken care of. 00:40:31.640 --> 00:40:33.320 The first channel to establish. 00:40:35.520 --> 00:40:38.040 The moment you do that, faith is easy, eh? 00:40:38.040 --> 00:40:38.960 It's not a problem. 00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:43.640 It's not an effort. 00:40:43.640 --> 00:40:45.680 And if you haven't made that a habit, 00:40:45.680 --> 00:40:47.000 then you're left to your own 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:49.400 and you become an architect of your own future. 00:40:51.680 --> 00:40:53.160 And never ends well, 00:40:53.160 --> 00:40:54.520 because there are other architects 00:40:54.520 --> 00:40:55.840 that want to build your house 00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:58.560 and the only one who's supposed to build it well is God. 00:41:14.640 --> 00:41:18.520 Disengage, disengage, 00:41:18.520 --> 00:41:19.360 disengage. 00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:20.200 Disengage. 00:41:21.200 --> 00:41:26.200 Disengage from internal and external conversations. 00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:35.880 Internal and external conversations, 00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:40.160 but instead draw your narrative from scripture. 00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:49.280 Or from stories in the Bible. 00:41:51.200 --> 00:41:53.640 So the moment things begin to scare you, 00:41:53.640 --> 00:41:55.920 disengage from the conversation, 00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:58.000 both internal and external. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:41:59.160 Just disengage from it, 00:41:59.160 --> 00:42:01.040 because it's like an echo chamber, 00:42:01.040 --> 00:42:03.880 it repeats, doubts begin to magnify. 00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:05.800 And when doubts begin to magnify, 00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:08.400 it just is like an echo chamber. 00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:11.240 Learn how to disengage from internal and external 00:42:11.240 --> 00:42:13.440 conversations that haven't happened inside you, 00:42:13.440 --> 00:42:14.880 had happened inside your heart, 00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:16.720 and sometimes happens with Vibi, 00:42:16.720 --> 00:42:18.680 or happens with Fuyo, 00:42:19.640 --> 00:42:22.200 where they begin to feed the doubt and the fear. 00:42:22.200 --> 00:42:23.360 I'm not saying they do, 00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:24.680 but they begin to feed the doubt and fear. 00:42:24.680 --> 00:42:25.720 Disengage from it. 00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:27.880 It's critical. 00:42:27.880 --> 00:42:30.160 In every situation you're presently going through, 00:42:30.160 --> 00:42:34.640 there will be contrary voices, guaranteed. 00:42:34.640 --> 00:42:37.400 It does not matter what anyone is going through here. 00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:39.800 In every one of your situations, 00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:42.600 there will be a contrary voice. 00:42:42.600 --> 00:42:44.840 There's a full-time job called Satan. 00:42:46.440 --> 00:42:47.560 This is all he does. 00:42:49.680 --> 00:42:52.440 So it doesn't matter whether it's Vibi's work, 00:42:52.440 --> 00:42:54.800 it doesn't matter whether it's Kezia's pregnancy, 00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:58.080 it doesn't matter whether it's my going somewhere, 00:42:58.080 --> 00:43:01.880 it doesn't matter whether it's Shalene's dental stuff, 00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:05.280 it doesn't matter whether it's Tunis worship. 00:43:05.280 --> 00:43:08.840 Every situation will have a contrary voice, 00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:11.800 and to be able to disengage from internal 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:14.920 and external conversations that begin to create 00:43:14.920 --> 00:43:17.800 an echo chamber of doubt, of fear, of shame, 00:43:18.200 --> 00:43:20.720 of what ifs, if you don't disengage, 00:43:20.720 --> 00:43:23.640 it begins to burst what it's supposed to burst. 00:43:28.600 --> 00:43:30.160 And what's the process? 00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:32.800 It's a discipline, man. 00:43:33.800 --> 00:43:34.720 It's a discipline. 00:43:34.720 --> 00:43:38.240 You learn the discipline of disengaging. 00:43:38.240 --> 00:43:40.240 And one thing that does not help 00:43:40.240 --> 00:43:45.240 is mindless Instagram and Facebook watching 00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:49.280 from seven to 10 p.m. or nine to 12 p.m. 00:43:49.280 --> 00:43:51.160 That doesn't help at all, eh? 00:43:55.040 --> 00:43:56.280 That doesn't help at all. 00:43:58.560 --> 00:44:00.280 Almost every face looks guilty. 00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:05.280 Make time your ally, guys. 00:44:16.040 --> 00:44:18.680 Make time your ally. 00:44:21.080 --> 00:44:23.160 What do we need time for? 00:44:23.160 --> 00:44:24.360 Mark 11, 23. 00:44:26.440 --> 00:44:28.120 There's an immediacy to faith. 00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:31.880 And there's patience required 00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:34.480 while you wait to see it happen, 00:44:34.480 --> 00:44:39.480 which is why Mark 11, 23 says that you already have 00:44:42.720 --> 00:44:47.720 what you asked for while you wait for it. 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:52.400 That's basically what it's saying. 00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:55.400 You already have what you asked for while you wait for it. 00:44:58.080 --> 00:45:01.400 If God has invited you to enter into something 00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:04.440 that he wants to do with you, for you, through you, 00:45:04.440 --> 00:45:06.760 then on one hand, there's this immediacy, 00:45:06.760 --> 00:45:09.120 as in God has already said it. 00:45:09.120 --> 00:45:12.320 On the other hand, there's this patient waiting. 00:45:13.160 --> 00:45:17.160 I both have to plow in tandem if you want to see it happen. 00:45:17.160 --> 00:45:18.920 And God has already said it. 00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:22.000 I both have to plow in tandem 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:25.320 if you are to walk through this well. 00:45:26.360 --> 00:45:28.480 So what very often happens is someone gets a promise, 00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:31.760 but they don't have the patience to wait. 00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:33.320 When you don't have the patience to wait, 00:45:33.320 --> 00:45:34.680 you produce Ishmael. 00:45:34.680 --> 00:45:37.280 When you have the patience to wait, you produce Isaac. 00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:42.520 Make time your ally. 00:45:43.960 --> 00:45:45.120 Abraham did. 00:45:45.120 --> 00:45:47.960 When he didn't, it went sideways, 00:45:48.160 --> 00:45:51.800 but all the time he did, he produced laughter. 00:45:51.800 --> 00:45:55.320 When he stopped, he produced chaos that lasts till this day. 00:45:58.080 --> 00:46:00.720 What time does is it begins to push you 00:46:00.720 --> 00:46:03.240 into reacting out of human wisdom and strength. 00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:07.800 Make time your ally. 00:46:11.800 --> 00:46:14.960 Let it play out, because in the playing out of your patience 00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:17.840 as you wait faithfully, the Bible says, 00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:20.000 it creates character and hope. 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:23.360 Listen, one of the ways faith increases 00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:25.040 is only through testing. 00:46:25.040 --> 00:46:26.840 Five things that increases your faith. 00:46:26.840 --> 00:46:28.960 One, serving. 00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:30.400 Luke 17 verse six. 00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:32.760 Faith increases when you begin to serve. 00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:35.000 If you want faith to increase without serving, 00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:35.960 ain't gonna happen. 00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:39.200 Serving as in serving others. 00:46:39.200 --> 00:46:42.040 In the process, you will end up in a place 00:46:42.040 --> 00:46:43.880 where you got two loaves and five fish, 00:46:43.880 --> 00:46:45.400 and you got 3,000 people. 00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:47.440 It's in the serving that it multiplies. 00:46:50.320 --> 00:46:51.800 Faith increases by serving. 00:46:53.320 --> 00:46:58.320 Second, faith increases by hearing the word 00:46:59.160 --> 00:47:00.640 and seeing its power. 00:47:00.640 --> 00:47:02.360 You know Romans 10, 17? 00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:05.680 It says faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. 00:47:05.680 --> 00:47:07.600 You know where they got that from? 00:47:07.600 --> 00:47:09.400 Isaiah 53 verse one. 00:47:09.400 --> 00:47:11.440 What does Isaiah 53 verse one say? 00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:12.520 Here's what Isaiah is saying. 00:47:12.520 --> 00:47:14.120 Who has heard our report? 00:47:14.160 --> 00:47:16.240 Who has seen your power? 00:47:17.320 --> 00:47:19.160 When we talk about faith comes by hearing 00:47:19.160 --> 00:47:20.360 and hearing the word of God, 00:47:20.360 --> 00:47:22.640 we're not just talking about hearing the word of God 00:47:22.640 --> 00:47:25.240 as in turning on your radio so you can hear the word. 00:47:25.240 --> 00:47:28.120 It's can you hear the word and can you see it? 00:47:28.120 --> 00:47:30.840 The word must be demonstrated in power. 00:47:33.680 --> 00:47:35.600 If you read Romans 10, 17, 00:47:35.600 --> 00:47:38.000 the verse above it is Romans 10, 16. 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:40.560 It says, as it says in Isaiah 53, one, 00:47:40.560 --> 00:47:42.240 who has heard our report? 00:47:42.240 --> 00:47:43.600 Who has seen your power? 00:47:44.160 --> 00:47:46.400 It's not just hearing the word, guys. 00:47:50.080 --> 00:47:52.800 It's hearing the word and the demonstration of power. 00:47:54.920 --> 00:47:55.760 It's both. 00:47:57.280 --> 00:47:58.760 That's how faith increases. 00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:00.880 The third way faith increases, 00:48:00.880 --> 00:48:04.080 faith increases by you coming into agreement. 00:48:04.080 --> 00:48:08.160 Whenever people agree with each other, faith increases 00:48:08.160 --> 00:48:10.680 as in concerning things of God. 00:48:10.680 --> 00:48:13.840 Faith increases through agreement, 00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:16.040 agreement with God, agreement with word, 00:48:16.040 --> 00:48:19.080 agreement with others, faith increases. 00:48:19.080 --> 00:48:22.400 Fourth way faith increases, faith increases through testing. 00:48:25.080 --> 00:48:28.160 Faith increases through first fighting the lion, 00:48:28.160 --> 00:48:30.640 then fighting the bear, then fighting Goliath. 00:48:33.800 --> 00:48:37.760 A church that does not provide its people opportunity 00:48:37.760 --> 00:48:41.040 or occasions to go beyond what they have ever gone, 00:48:41.040 --> 00:48:42.960 do their people a disservice. 00:48:47.600 --> 00:48:51.240 If you aren't pushed beyond where you presently are, 00:48:52.680 --> 00:48:55.600 you will never experience what it is to walk in faith. 00:48:57.520 --> 00:49:00.560 And you can't decide what is good for you. 00:49:00.560 --> 00:49:03.240 Rarely do you go to the doctor and say, I've got a cough. 00:49:03.240 --> 00:49:08.240 I'd suggest that you give me a hysterectomy or whatever. 00:49:10.160 --> 00:49:13.440 You don't go and recommend to the doctor 00:49:13.440 --> 00:49:16.280 what you need for your cold or your cough. 00:49:18.400 --> 00:49:19.240 That's another thing. 00:49:19.240 --> 00:49:22.680 People wanna grow, but they tell you how they want to grow 00:49:22.680 --> 00:49:25.120 and what you should do for them so they can grow. 00:49:25.120 --> 00:49:27.320 What do we push beyond your borders of faith? 00:49:28.480 --> 00:49:32.120 Come and ask and then get pushed into places 00:49:32.120 --> 00:49:34.880 that you will fear to tread. 00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:39.480 That's how this works. 00:49:41.520 --> 00:49:44.120 And the church must provide opportunities like this, 00:49:44.120 --> 00:49:46.120 not by throwing you into the deep end, 00:49:46.120 --> 00:49:47.880 but by throwing you into the deep end. 00:49:49.880 --> 00:49:51.320 And that's how you can do it. 00:49:51.320 --> 00:49:52.920 You can't just go to the doctor and say, 00:49:53.600 --> 00:49:55.400 but by throwing you into the deep end. 00:49:59.680 --> 00:50:03.320 Slowly, with a rope, and then slowly you remove the rope. 00:50:07.680 --> 00:50:09.920 I thought my dad was holding my bicycle 00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:12.040 when I was learning to bike, and suddenly I looked 00:50:12.040 --> 00:50:14.120 and I panicked because I was biking on my own 00:50:14.120 --> 00:50:17.080 and he was standing far away and I fell immediately. 00:50:17.080 --> 00:50:19.680 But the point was at some point you have to let go. 00:50:23.560 --> 00:50:26.600 The other thing that increases faith is by... 00:50:32.240 --> 00:50:34.280 One, two, three, four, five. 00:50:34.280 --> 00:50:37.440 Yeah, faith increases as you get friendly with God. 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:39.880 Faith increases when you become a friend of God. 00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:42.520 Faith increases when you become a friend of God. 00:50:42.520 --> 00:50:44.520 Friendship with God increases your faith. 00:50:45.400 --> 00:50:48.800 Hey, very simply put, let's assume that Vivek 00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:53.840 was the head of a revolutionary battery company 00:50:53.920 --> 00:50:55.480 that is changing the world. 00:50:57.240 --> 00:51:01.240 You stick close to him, your friendship with him 00:51:01.240 --> 00:51:04.600 will cause you to increase in your faith in batteries. 00:51:06.600 --> 00:51:09.400 Because you're now friends with a guy who invents batteries, 00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:13.000 who makes batteries, who markets them. 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:16.200 Friendship with him will increase your trust in batteries. 00:51:16.200 --> 00:51:18.840 You might even end up buying an electric car. 00:51:22.720 --> 00:51:25.440 I don't know why you bought one, but... 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:29.760 Friendship with God increases faith. 00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:31.400 Any questions before we conclude? 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:39.240 Some people use faith and trust interchangeably. 00:51:39.240 --> 00:51:42.160 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:51:42.160 --> 00:51:46.040 Some people use faith and trust interchangeably. 00:51:46.880 --> 00:51:48.280 Can you, and then I walked away. 00:51:49.200 --> 00:51:50.200 Sorry, Dilna. 00:51:51.680 --> 00:51:52.520 Yeah. 00:51:55.040 --> 00:52:00.040 Faith is in what, this might be way too simplistic, 00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:01.680 but it helps. 00:52:01.680 --> 00:52:06.680 Faith is when you believe what someone says 00:52:17.040 --> 00:52:22.040 or in someone's word or promise. 00:52:25.720 --> 00:52:30.720 Trust is when you rely or rely on 00:52:39.920 --> 00:52:44.920 or are expectant of what others say. 00:52:47.040 --> 00:52:52.040 Or easily take for granted. 00:52:56.880 --> 00:53:01.880 Summons nature and therefore 00:53:05.800 --> 00:53:10.800 don't even need a promise. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:11.840 Beautiful, eh? 00:53:14.840 --> 00:53:18.840 This was one of the things that undid the faith movement 00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:21.320 in the 1980s and 90s. 00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:24.040 People wanted a promise and they would hold onto the promise. 00:53:24.040 --> 00:53:25.440 They would chant the promise. 00:53:25.440 --> 00:53:26.600 They would name it and claim it. 00:53:26.600 --> 00:53:28.080 They would do this and that. 00:53:28.080 --> 00:53:29.320 There was holding onto the promise. 00:53:29.320 --> 00:53:30.720 It was, I'm gonna stand on the word. 00:53:30.720 --> 00:53:32.680 The word will not fail me. 00:53:32.680 --> 00:53:34.840 There was a place beyond that, which was, 00:53:34.840 --> 00:53:37.920 I know the nature of this God my Father saw 00:53:37.920 --> 00:53:39.880 that I know this is how he responds. 00:53:39.880 --> 00:53:41.840 I don't even need him to say anything. 00:53:44.280 --> 00:53:47.320 Your kids know certain parts of you 00:53:47.320 --> 00:53:50.040 where they don't even need you to promise them something. 00:53:50.040 --> 00:53:51.760 They just know. 00:53:51.760 --> 00:53:53.360 None of your kids go to bed saying, 00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:56.120 Dad, promise me you'll give me breakfast tomorrow. 00:53:58.080 --> 00:53:58.920 They know. 00:54:02.320 --> 00:54:03.840 There are people in this room 00:54:03.840 --> 00:54:06.320 who are not even aware of what they're saying. 00:54:06.320 --> 00:54:09.680 There are people in this room who I know your nature 00:54:09.680 --> 00:54:13.600 where I don't have to get a signed word from you. 00:54:13.600 --> 00:54:17.040 I don't have to have you to stamp a promise. 00:54:17.040 --> 00:54:19.800 No, your very nature makes it easy 00:54:19.800 --> 00:54:21.240 to trust you for something. 00:54:22.800 --> 00:54:25.160 Once one has trust, faith is easy. 00:54:27.920 --> 00:54:30.920 The downfall of the faith movement was they had faith, 00:54:30.920 --> 00:54:33.240 but they did not know the nature of God. 00:54:33.240 --> 00:54:35.240 So they were holding onto the promise. 00:54:35.280 --> 00:54:36.920 I mean, the promise would take time. 00:54:36.920 --> 00:54:39.200 They would begin to question whether it was true 00:54:39.200 --> 00:54:42.000 and question the nature of God, and it was disastrous. 00:54:42.240 --> 00:54:43.080 Oh. 00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:53.200 Ah. 00:55:03.400 --> 00:55:04.600 Who do not have? 00:55:07.400 --> 00:55:09.200 Yeah, what do you do with people who do not have 00:55:09.200 --> 00:55:13.320 do with people who do not have an experience of having a good father, then I would begin 00:55:13.320 --> 00:55:18.320 with having a good teacher, having a good coach, having a good mentor, having a good 00:55:18.320 --> 00:55:25.320 friend who's older. We start from a place where we know someone we could trust and the 00:55:25.600 --> 00:55:30.000 strange thing is everybody on earth at some point in their lives has someone that they 00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:37.000 looked up to and they can trust. Often it's a teacher, it's not a parent, it's not a pastor. 00:55:37.520 --> 00:55:44.520 But we always have a starting point. Yep. Can you speak louder, Nick? These fans are 00:55:48.280 --> 00:55:55.280 loud. Yeah, if you go to Isaiah 53, 1, it talks about two things in one verse, that 00:55:59.520 --> 00:56:04.880 who has believed our report, who has believed the power that you have. It's both. So God's 00:56:04.880 --> 00:56:09.600 words are not just words. God's words carry power. And when we don't demonstrate that 00:56:09.600 --> 00:56:16.080 or the word, or we're not able to convey that, like Jesus himself said, words are easy. So 00:56:16.080 --> 00:56:23.080 I say to you, pick up your mat and walk. That's how he heals the paralysed man. He says, it's 00:56:23.080 --> 00:56:27.600 easy to say forgive, right? You guys think words are easy? Well, let me show you that 00:56:27.600 --> 00:56:31.480 it's not just words. And he turns to the man and says, pick up your mat and walk and now 00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:38.360 you've got words and you've got power. It's both. And when we don't demonstrate that, 00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:44.440 it becomes harder to convince people that faith comes by hearing and this kind of hearing 00:56:44.440 --> 00:56:51.440 also sees what you're hearing. 00:57:02.240 --> 00:57:09.240 Guys, all realms... Yeah. When it comes to faith, this should be your favorite line, 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:20.000 Luke 5, 5, "'Cause you said so." Don't try to understand when, what, how, what, how, 00:57:31.560 --> 00:57:38.560 why. You go with this. Luke 5, 5, "'They're fished all night. Peter says to him, we are 00:57:40.680 --> 00:57:47.680 fished all night. But because you say so.'" And that's the attitude of an obedient person, 00:57:52.200 --> 00:57:59.200 son, servant, whatever you want to call it. That's what leads to great exploits of faith. 00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:07.120 If not, if this is not how you operate, then you'll make a big deal of faith when you actually 00:58:07.120 --> 00:58:12.400 do something. But when it's because you said so. So ask yourself this question tonight 00:58:12.400 --> 00:58:17.800 when you go home. What have you said, oh God? What have you said that I'm holding back on 00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:23.600 because I'm scared? What have you said that I'm holding back on because I need something 00:58:23.600 --> 00:58:30.600 more before I take this step? What have you said that I'm holding back on because it will 00:58:31.160 --> 00:58:38.160 mean months or years of a different way of living which I'm not ready for? What have 00:58:38.160 --> 00:58:45.160 you said? And these are realistic conversations to have with God because God will calm your 00:58:47.600 --> 00:58:54.600 fears. He's not out there to bamboozle you through it. But the point is this. Can you 00:58:54.600 --> 00:59:00.840 go tonight and ask the Lord, because you said so, what have you said? And I almost 00:59:00.840 --> 00:59:07.840 think 80% of the church will have something that you have in your back pocket because 00:59:09.280 --> 00:59:16.280 you said so. Start there and develop the timeline from there. The timeline, what do I mean by 00:59:17.280 --> 00:59:24.280 timeline? When do you step out and walk on? Water. I assure you every time you drown, 00:59:31.920 --> 00:59:38.920 he'll pull you out. All you get is wet. Every time a person decides cause you set to die, 00:59:46.280 --> 00:59:53.280 they do. And they step out and walk on water. Every time you do that, if you panic or if 00:59:56.800 --> 01:00:03.800 you mess up or if you get frightened, all that happens is you get wet. He pulls you 01:00:04.360 --> 01:00:11.360 out. You must see that he is a parent and it is how kids learn how to swim, how to bike, 01:00:12.360 --> 01:00:19.360 how to eat, how to sit on a pot. Everything is learned this way. The channel is always 01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:32.280 father and son. And then your heart swells up with the possibilities that exist in God. 01:00:35.240 --> 01:00:38.840 And try to dream of things when you wake up, not when you go to sleep, because I'm always 01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:43.640 brave when I go to sleep. It's when I wake up that I realize, oh my God, what was I thinking 01:00:43.640 --> 01:00:50.640 about? One of the things we have to do is practice Psalm 92, verse 2. Psalm 92, verse 01:00:53.080 --> 01:01:00.080 2. It says, I will sing of your faithfulness in the morning and I will give thanks at night. 01:01:00.080 --> 01:01:07.080 Psalm 92, verse 2. Start that day. It sets you up for faith. Start that way. Oh God, 01:01:10.680 --> 01:01:17.680 I know you're faithful. Oh God, I know what I read when Dilna said, you were hippie-like. 01:01:19.680 --> 01:01:24.680 Oh God, this is how you are. And you begin to list the things that God is. Faithfulness 01:01:25.680 --> 01:01:32.680 in the morning, thankfulness in the evening. There are people in this church who in the 01:01:32.680 --> 01:01:38.080 last one week have been meditating on scriptures. And you know how they're meditating on scriptures? 01:01:38.080 --> 01:01:45.080 One verse. One verse. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's all. Just one verse. 01:01:47.120 --> 01:01:52.480 It can last you a week, but they're doing it for a day. The next day, the second verse. 01:01:52.480 --> 01:01:56.680 You don't know what it does to your head when you take one verse and meditate on it throughout 01:01:56.680 --> 01:02:03.680 the day. Imagine someone who has no provision or does not have a job meditating on Psalm 01:02:06.600 --> 01:02:13.600 23, verse 1, for two days. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. They begin to 01:02:17.040 --> 01:02:21.720 do things with their provision and money that they have that none of us would dare, even 01:02:21.720 --> 01:02:28.720 when we have money. Why? Because they begin to trust in someone who is creator, provider. 01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:39.320 Guys, we want to live this extreme life, eh? This is not faith in faith. This is faith 01:02:39.680 --> 01:02:46.680 in a Father who wants to do exploits on earth through us, with us, for us. Go home today 01:02:46.680 --> 01:02:53.680 and ask God, because you said so. Because you said so. And from there on, develop a 01:02:56.240 --> 01:03:03.240 timeline. If you're going through a difficult situation, find joy first. Find joy first. 01:03:03.240 --> 01:03:10.240 Find joy. It's easier to handle situations if you can enter into joy. Because doubt and 01:03:12.280 --> 01:03:19.280 joy aren't compatible. Find joy or find people with it. Get joy before doubt gets you. There 01:03:22.480 --> 01:03:29.480 was a lady who said, I'm going to find joy. I'm going to find joy. I'm going to find joy. 01:03:33.320 --> 01:03:39.240 That couple who used to come from Kerala for the last two weeks, the one that introduced 01:03:39.240 --> 01:03:43.760 them to me, when they lost their job, I remember I didn't have a job at that time, when they 01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:47.360 lost their job, they called me over, they said, bring your guitar, went there with my 01:03:47.360 --> 01:03:54.360 guitar, and we would just sing from dawn to dusk. That's all. Not sing praise, sing songs 01:03:55.600 --> 01:04:01.560 that were joyful, kids songs. Why? Because the one thing that faith, doubt is just not 01:04:01.560 --> 01:04:08.560 able to work with is joy. Doubt and joy don't go together. So get to joy early if you're 01:04:10.480 --> 01:04:17.480 going through a difficult situation, because doubt is looking for you anyways. Once you 01:04:17.680 --> 01:04:24.400 get in there, it's very safe. It's almost impenetrable. Why? Because what is the strength? 01:04:24.400 --> 01:04:31.400 What is your strength? The joy of the? Is your stronghold. Is your stronghold. It's 01:04:31.560 --> 01:04:37.200 where God lives. It is where God lives. I want you to know this. The ultimate expression 01:04:37.200 --> 01:04:43.960 of heaven is a place that is joyful. What a shame if you miss out on it because of your 01:04:43.960 --> 01:04:50.440 own convoluted thoughts, or because of your own traditions or religions, or because of 01:04:50.440 --> 01:04:57.440 some silly book you read, written by human hands. To miss out on it? 01:05:02.040 --> 01:05:09.040 God lives in joy. Enter into that stronghold and you will find everything you need there. 01:05:09.040 --> 01:05:16.040 Last point. All realms use sight and sound to their advantage. All realms use sight 01:05:16.040 --> 01:05:23.040 and sound to their advantage. The demonic realm does, the heavenly realm does, the earthly 01:05:23.300 --> 01:05:30.300 realm does, entertainment does, Facebook does. All realms use sight and sound to their Lars 01:05:38.860 --> 01:05:45.860 Kuhn advantage. All realms use sight and sound to their advantage. The demonic realm does, 01:05:46.040 --> 01:05:53.880 sight and sound to their advantage. Make sure what you feed your heart and head 01:05:55.480 --> 01:06:00.680 are sights and sounds that reinforce what God wants to do and not one not what. 01:06:02.680 --> 01:06:08.440 Either the earth wants you to engage in or indulge in or what the enemy wants to plant in terms of 01:06:08.440 --> 01:06:18.600 fear. There are guys in this room that still go and read conspiracies about everything from COVID 01:06:19.560 --> 01:06:26.440 to Tesla to Trump. Drop it. It's not worth it. 01:06:30.760 --> 01:06:35.880 Because in this echo chamber, you're now being used Philippians 4.8 as your filter. Philippians 01:06:36.840 --> 01:06:41.960 4.8, whatever is noble, whatever is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is lovely, 01:06:41.960 --> 01:06:47.880 begin to meditate on those things because remember this, 2 Corinthians 3.18, 01:06:47.880 --> 01:06:51.880 whatsoever you behold, that you become. Whatever you behold, that you become. 01:06:51.880 --> 01:06:55.960 Whatever you behold, that you become, either to your restoration or to your ruin. 01:06:55.960 --> 01:06:57.480 Whatever you behold, that you become. 01:06:57.480 --> 01:07:04.920 And so sight and sound is important, eh? 01:07:14.600 --> 01:07:18.120 One of the things that's wrong with Singapore, and maybe no one in Singapore will hear this, 01:07:18.120 --> 01:07:25.800 so it's okay. One of the things that's wrong with Singapore is once you get stuck in a certain 01:07:25.800 --> 01:07:32.840 strata of society in Singapore, you stay in that strata forever. People have gone there, 01:07:32.840 --> 01:07:38.280 some of them get to operate in a high strata, you stay there. Others get caught in the middle, 01:07:38.280 --> 01:07:42.600 others get caught in the bottom, and depending on the strata that your parents enter into, 01:07:42.600 --> 01:07:47.400 it's almost impossible to escape that social structure for years on end. 01:07:47.400 --> 01:07:56.840 You stay in the same places. You either have money to drive a car because the licenses are 01:07:56.840 --> 01:08:03.000 super expensive. There are structures put into the Singaporean system where you end up in certain 01:08:03.000 --> 01:08:09.720 social strata, and it's impossible to break out of that. Occasionally, you'll have one or two 01:08:09.720 --> 01:08:15.240 children that are so brilliant that they get such high marks that they break out of that strata 01:08:15.240 --> 01:08:20.120 and they move into the next social structure. And their parents and their relatives and everyone 01:08:20.120 --> 01:08:24.920 now moves into the next structure. Otherwise, you get stuck. Why use Singapore as an example? 01:08:24.920 --> 01:08:32.120 In our lives, we have these faith strata that we are stuck in. We had faith when we came. We had 01:08:32.120 --> 01:08:38.760 faith when we first started, and now we are stuck there. And we're quite happy because we are still 01:08:38.760 --> 01:08:44.680 living there by faith. I'm saying to you, Dennis, I'm saying to you, Ashish, I'm saying to you, 01:08:44.680 --> 01:08:49.960 Vivek and Charlene and Sheldon, break out of the strata. I'm just picking names. Break out of the 01:08:49.960 --> 01:08:58.280 strata that, or maybe one of the names is deliberate, regardless. Break out of the strata that you are 01:08:58.280 --> 01:09:05.960 stuck in. It's been too long. And the only way you can break out of it is by the sheer perseverance 01:09:05.960 --> 01:09:13.160 of faith. Not by a helping hand, not by prayer, not by a break that you're waiting for. It's simply 01:09:13.160 --> 01:09:18.680 through faith. When you refuse to look at the image you see every day in your mirror, and you 01:09:18.680 --> 01:09:28.600 say, no more. I've spent so much time here. I've got to escape this. Not escape this. I want to climb 01:09:28.600 --> 01:09:35.800 out of this. It happens overnight, eh? You see that in Gideon's life. 01:09:35.800 --> 01:09:55.640 His father is a priest. He has an altar in the garden. Gideon is scared, but he knows the hand of God is upon him. Now he has a choice. Do I do this at night or do I do this during the day? He decides first to do it at night. He goes and breaks down the altar that his father has built. Imagine doing that, eh? 01:09:55.640 --> 01:10:11.080 And then he goes up and says, no more. And he breaks out of it. And Gideon is mentioned in the Hebrews 11, Book of Faith. Break out of it, guys. Yeah? 01:10:11.080 --> 01:10:41.000 Tunian has an announcement. No, you share. If you need prayer, feel free to come up for prayer, and people will pray with you. Just a simple note for those that are praying and those that get prayed. Because God likes responding to you because you're his son or daughter, he doesn't mind using anyone to meet you. 01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:58.920 So if I call Ali up to pray, she may think, why call me up to pray? I don't know anything. I'm just a kid. Don't call me up. It doesn't matter. At times when God wants to do something and you come up for prayer, it doesn't matter whether you put Ali or you put Eden or you put... 01:10:58.920 --> 01:11:28.840 When someone prays, God will do it anyways. He's not waiting to respond based on the finesse of your words. Remember, there used to be a lady in this church. She was praying for someone's ear, and I believe it got healed. But she was instead of praying for the eustachian tube in the ear, she laid hands on the person's ear and started praying for her fallopian tubes, which is in the overall. 01:11:28.840 --> 01:11:56.760 She got the tubes wrong. So she's saying, oh, Father, I pray that you would heal this fallopian tube so that she hears better. Strangely enough, the person still heard, but the organ was wrong. God is not waiting to get the organ right. God is just waiting for people to step up and come to him in faith and people that are praying to say clumsy, lousy prayers that God still does things for. 01:11:56.760 --> 01:12:09.680 That's present in this house. We've always thought of God as a God who loves healing, who loves answering prayer. So it is present in this house. So it doesn't matter who's praying. Come up and get your fallopian or eustachian tubes healed.