WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Restore Publishing Date: 2018-10-28T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/restore/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.840 series called Restored. 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:06.640 Wanna start a new series called Restored. 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:09.200 Does anyone know where Derek hides the pens? 00:00:11.200 --> 00:00:12.040 Pardon? 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.080 Oh, his brother should know it's not necessary, so sorry. 00:00:21.400 --> 00:00:22.600 You know where it is, Marcus? 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.520 Yeah, I think they're in the right. 00:00:29.200 --> 00:00:30.360 Thanks. 00:00:30.360 --> 00:00:31.880 Yeah, of all the places. 00:00:33.800 --> 00:00:34.640 That's enough? 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:35.460 Yeah, that's enough. 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:40.620 Okay, so starting a new series called Restored. 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.620 Yeah, kinda excited about this. 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:48.560 And this is just the intro. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:54.280 So if you could think of God having a master plan, 00:00:56.160 --> 00:00:59.200 then this is what God's master plan has been 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.040 for the last little while. 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:05.000 And his master plan is, I, God, am bringing, 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.520 I, God, am bringing back, 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:15.760 I, God, am bringing the world back, 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.840 I, God, am bringing the world back. 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:24.560 Into a forgiven relationship with myself, 00:01:26.960 --> 00:01:31.960 into a forgiven relationship with myself. 00:01:35.880 --> 00:01:39.680 Each line that I write today is so potent 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:43.720 that I have been going over these notes 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:46.160 without exaggeration about 10 or 11 times 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:48.200 and I still can't wrap my head around it. 00:01:49.160 --> 00:01:50.060 Why am I telling you that? 00:01:50.060 --> 00:01:53.040 Because if you can spend time wrapping your head around it, 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:54.600 it'll really help the church. 00:01:56.440 --> 00:02:00.280 So write, perhaps this is one of those times 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.440 when you can write and learn, 00:02:02.440 --> 00:02:04.040 because sometimes that's easier. 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:07.400 I, God, am bringing, if God has a master plan 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.600 that he's been engaged in for the last while, it is this. 00:02:11.600 --> 00:02:14.460 That I, God, am bringing the world back 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:16.660 into a forgiven relationship with myself. 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:19.540 And I'm putting away, or setting aside, 00:02:20.380 --> 00:02:21.420 and I'm putting away 00:02:27.420 --> 00:02:32.420 everything that alienates, 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:36.380 that alienates or makes an enemy of man. 00:02:36.380 --> 00:02:37.620 Alienates or makes 00:02:41.220 --> 00:02:43.620 man an enemy. 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:49.180 And in the process, I give multiple opportunities 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:50.300 for people to respond. 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:03.460 I don't think he calls us folks. 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:07.380 For people, or maybe he does, people to respond. 00:03:07.380 --> 00:03:12.380 So that's his master plan, 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:17.860 and that has been what he's been doing for a while. 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.820 Second Corinthians 5, 17 to 20, 00:03:20.820 --> 00:03:24.260 speaks of it as not reckoning 00:03:24.260 --> 00:03:26.060 or counting their sins against them. 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:31.440 And so, sorry, I'll repeat these lines a few times, 00:03:31.440 --> 00:03:33.380 but the master plan of God for the last little while 00:03:33.380 --> 00:03:36.940 has been, I, God, am bringing the world 00:03:37.900 --> 00:03:40.700 back into a forgiven relationship with myself. 00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:42.860 With myself, put in a with there. 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:46.420 And I'm putting away everything that alienated them, 00:03:46.420 --> 00:03:51.100 that was meant, that caused enmity. 00:03:51.100 --> 00:03:52.980 I'm putting it away, and I'm giving man 00:03:52.980 --> 00:03:54.820 multiple opportunities to respond. 00:03:56.220 --> 00:03:57.420 This is God's plan. 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:06.100 Now here's what God wants of the church 00:04:06.100 --> 00:04:07.300 in terms of this plan. 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:11.980 God's plan for the church calls us 00:04:11.980 --> 00:04:15.180 to be a microcosm of this. 00:04:16.900 --> 00:04:20.060 If this is God's plan, he wants the church 00:04:20.940 --> 00:04:22.220 or the people of God 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:27.220 to be a microcosm 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:31.980 and a demonstration 00:04:31.980 --> 00:04:36.980 of what a people who are forgiven and restored look like. 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:58.900 That's how the church fits into this plan. 00:04:58.900 --> 00:05:00.380 God's plan calls for the church 00:05:00.380 --> 00:05:03.140 to become a microcosm of and a demonstration 00:05:03.140 --> 00:05:05.860 of this cosmic reconciliation that he has worked 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:07.620 through the death of Christ. 00:05:09.140 --> 00:05:10.460 All things have been made new. 00:05:10.460 --> 00:05:12.940 The old has passed away, the new has come. 00:05:14.060 --> 00:05:17.380 Creation groans for the day when even all 00:05:17.380 --> 00:05:21.380 that has been subjected to futility will become new. 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:24.900 That the sons of God will be manifested. 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:27.860 That the old heaven and earth will pass away. 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:29.100 Everything will become new. 00:05:29.100 --> 00:05:32.300 But while we wait for that, God's plan is, 00:05:32.300 --> 00:05:34.060 I've been calling a people to myself, 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:36.420 and let's just take this body now. 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:37.740 I've been calling a people to myself 00:05:37.740 --> 00:05:40.460 who on Sundays meet under this roof 00:05:40.460 --> 00:05:44.420 and I want them to be a microcosm of or a sample of 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:48.420 and a demonstration of what it would look like 00:05:48.420 --> 00:05:53.420 when a people are bought, washed, forgiven, and restored. 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:55.740 What would that look like? 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:56.980 That is God's intent with the church 00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:58.500 and it isn't a new intent. 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:03.500 If you go to Exodus 16, sorry, Exodus 19, 00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:07.220 verse three and verse six, it says that 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:09.660 God is speaking to Israel ages ago, 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:11.220 thousands and thousands of years ago. 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:14.700 He says to them, listen, I bore you up on eagle's wings 00:06:14.700 --> 00:06:17.580 and I brought you out of the bondage of Egypt 00:06:17.580 --> 00:06:22.580 so that I could call you to myself as a kingdom of priests. 00:06:23.940 --> 00:06:26.220 And then in 1 Peter 2, 9, he says 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:30.820 that, but you are a peculiar people, 00:06:30.820 --> 00:06:33.660 a holy nation, a royal priesthood, 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:37.260 so that you may show forth my praises. 00:06:37.260 --> 00:06:40.380 The whole intent is, can I present to the world 00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:42.940 a microcosm or a sample that they can come and taste 00:06:42.940 --> 00:06:45.500 and see, ah, so this is what a community 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:46.860 of believers looks like. 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:50.380 And that's why I'm calling this series Restored, 00:06:50.380 --> 00:06:53.660 because what are the characteristics of a restored people? 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:56.540 The problem is the world is looking 00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:59.500 or seeking to find God's address 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:01.460 and they're not finding it, 00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:03.420 cause he is invisible in the people 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:05.820 that he happily resides in. 00:07:05.820 --> 00:07:08.580 And the people that he resides in expect them 00:07:08.580 --> 00:07:11.780 to come to the church for two hours on a Sunday to find him. 00:07:11.780 --> 00:07:13.100 And that ain't gonna work. 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:17.460 People are seeking, eh, people are seeking God, 00:07:17.460 --> 00:07:21.380 but they're not finding him in the community 00:07:21.380 --> 00:07:24.020 that he actually resides in 24-7. 00:07:24.020 --> 00:07:25.580 He's invisible amongst them. 00:07:27.060 --> 00:07:29.980 And so they are expected then to come for two hours 00:07:29.980 --> 00:07:31.940 to Pilgrim at 1.40 on a Sunday, 00:07:31.940 --> 00:07:35.700 which is a highly inconvenient time for anybody on any day, 00:07:35.700 --> 00:07:36.940 particularly Sundays. 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:43.060 When God has always desired the church 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:45.220 to be a microcosm and a demonstration 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:48.660 of what a people who are forgiven and restored look like. 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:50.100 Any questions before we call? 00:07:51.900 --> 00:07:54.780 People won't come into a building to find him 00:07:54.780 --> 00:07:56.940 when he actually resides in a community, 00:07:56.940 --> 00:07:58.580 but unfortunately he's invisible. 00:08:00.460 --> 00:08:01.860 Any questions before we call? 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:08.220 Hey, Marcus, any chance that you can locate the eraser too? 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:10.100 It was? 00:08:14.820 --> 00:08:15.660 Yeah. 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:18.220 Any questions guys? 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:22.260 This is super important to understand, eh, 00:08:22.260 --> 00:08:23.660 that this is the master plan. 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:28.380 Okay. 00:08:42.300 --> 00:08:46.740 So to accomplish God's plan, to accomplish God's plan, 00:08:48.220 --> 00:08:53.220 the church must first show, 00:09:00.180 --> 00:09:04.140 the church must first show what it is. 00:09:08.020 --> 00:09:11.860 The church must first show what it is, 00:09:13.140 --> 00:09:18.020 as in we are a restored, 00:09:19.180 --> 00:09:23.540 community made up of, 00:09:23.540 --> 00:09:24.660 community of people, 00:09:29.180 --> 00:09:31.100 you know, restored community of God, 00:09:31.100 --> 00:09:33.180 or community of people, whatever the word be. 00:09:33.180 --> 00:09:35.780 The church must first show what it is, 00:09:35.780 --> 00:09:38.500 and then the church must 00:09:42.100 --> 00:09:43.140 show what it does. 00:09:43.140 --> 00:09:48.140 What it does is good works. 00:09:54.300 --> 00:09:56.500 So if you want to accomplish this plan, 00:09:56.500 --> 00:09:58.980 if God wants to accomplish this plan through Acts 29, 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:03.100 Acts 29 will have to first show the world around it 00:10:04.380 --> 00:10:05.860 what it is. 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:08.900 We will have to show the world that this is the sample 00:10:08.900 --> 00:10:13.020 or the taste of a restored, redeemed people of God. 00:10:13.060 --> 00:10:14.380 This is what we taste like. 00:10:14.380 --> 00:10:17.740 This is the demonstration of all the things 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:21.100 that were accomplished when Jesus said it is finished. 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.380 Come into any of our houses, 00:10:23.380 --> 00:10:25.380 check any of our marriages, 00:10:25.380 --> 00:10:27.260 check any of our parenting, 00:10:27.260 --> 00:10:30.940 check any of our widows, our singles, our spinsters, 00:10:30.940 --> 00:10:34.500 our divorces, and you will see 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:37.060 what it is when a restored people 00:10:37.060 --> 00:10:41.140 who are in relationship with the living God are like, 00:10:41.140 --> 00:10:45.260 this must be what I aim for that we aim for. 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:49.860 When God was taking Israel to the wilderness, 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:52.180 his intent was, can I show them 00:10:52.180 --> 00:10:54.940 that this is what a nation chosen by God looks like? 00:10:56.180 --> 00:10:57.420 Doesn't matter where I take them, 00:10:57.420 --> 00:10:59.820 this is what a nation chosen by God looks like. 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:05.180 And so that is the focus of God, 00:11:05.180 --> 00:11:07.100 that should be the focus of the one 00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:08.380 who's leading the church, 00:11:08.380 --> 00:11:10.860 and that should be the focus of the church itself. 00:11:11.260 --> 00:11:14.980 First, what we are, and second, what we do. 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:16.940 And this is where Jesus actually says, 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:18.780 and we always claim the scripture for ourselves 00:11:18.780 --> 00:11:20.860 when actually Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:24.820 and he says, you are God's workmanship created for? 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:25.660 Good works in Christ. 00:11:25.660 --> 00:11:28.020 We quickly take it and make it our own little purpose, 00:11:28.020 --> 00:11:31.180 because we live in a highly individualized Christian society. 00:11:31.180 --> 00:11:34.340 Sure, your good works and purpose is important, 00:11:34.340 --> 00:11:35.860 but it is so insignificant 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.620 if it isn't part of the larger picture. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:41.940 And so we are God's workmanship, 00:11:41.940 --> 00:11:45.980 we are God's workmanship prepared for good works 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:47.740 before the foundations of the earth. 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.740 First, the church must show who we are, 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:54.540 what it is that we are, and second, what it is we do. 00:11:56.940 --> 00:11:58.340 I mean, when you actually look at it, 00:11:58.340 --> 00:11:59.900 what does a restored community look like? 00:11:59.900 --> 00:12:01.820 What should a restored community look like? 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:02.820 Just imagine these things, 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:04.780 I'm just throwing out a few things. 00:12:04.780 --> 00:12:07.340 Do we still have a problem with forgiveness, 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:09.540 with being forgiven, not even forgiveness? 00:12:09.540 --> 00:12:12.140 Do we still have a problem with being forgiven? 00:12:12.140 --> 00:12:15.540 We sing these songs, but when we do things wrong, 00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:17.220 how do we handle guilt and sin? 00:12:18.420 --> 00:12:20.060 How do we handle being forgiven? 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:24.940 How about knowing the Father 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:27.500 and behaving like sons and daughters? 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.100 How far have we gotten in that? 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:33.300 What does a grace-filled life look like? 00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.500 What does Spirit-Empowered mean for Acts 29? 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:41.260 What is it to be living the life 00:12:41.260 --> 00:12:43.220 of the Holy Spirit here on earth? 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:45.420 What does servanthood look like? 00:12:45.420 --> 00:12:47.140 What does joy look like? 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:53.220 How well do we process things of the world, of life, 00:12:53.860 --> 00:12:55.980 and of all other things through the word? 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:58.540 How much does the word affect the way we think? 00:13:00.420 --> 00:13:02.660 How about signs and miracles? 00:13:02.660 --> 00:13:04.140 How are we doing in that? 00:13:04.260 --> 00:13:06.220 These are characteristics of a people 00:13:06.220 --> 00:13:10.180 that have been restored and have a living relationship with God. 00:13:10.980 --> 00:13:13.140 What it is must first be presented 00:13:13.140 --> 00:13:14.780 before we indulge in good works, 00:13:14.780 --> 00:13:18.020 because what we do normally is head for good works, 00:13:18.020 --> 00:13:19.660 but we forget that there is another thing 00:13:19.660 --> 00:13:21.740 that is more important, which is what, 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:25.740 or what the community should become like. 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:27.980 Christ will never use the church as a tool. 00:13:29.420 --> 00:13:31.700 We keep saying that church is a primary vehicle 00:13:32.180 --> 00:13:33.420 that Christ wants to use on the earth. 00:13:33.420 --> 00:13:37.180 God never used Jesus as a primary vehicle or a tool. 00:13:37.180 --> 00:13:38.820 Jesus simply loves the church. 00:13:38.820 --> 00:13:40.300 He will never use the work. 00:13:40.300 --> 00:13:41.740 He will never use the church as a tool 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:43.100 to accomplish his tasks. 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:47.060 He is so interested in us becoming a certain kind of people 00:13:47.060 --> 00:13:49.220 before he will use us for good works. 00:13:51.420 --> 00:13:53.660 Ephesians 4, 11 to 17 talks about this 00:13:53.660 --> 00:13:54.900 again and again and again, 00:13:54.900 --> 00:13:58.340 that we may attain the full stature of Christ. 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:01.980 What does this relationship of a restored people 00:14:01.980 --> 00:14:03.860 with the living God look like? 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:08.860 How do I, I can't even say I, because it has to be us. 00:14:08.860 --> 00:14:11.380 How do we, do we walk as ones forgiven? 00:14:11.380 --> 00:14:16.380 I mean, there's that song, what's it called? 00:14:16.380 --> 00:14:19.780 I then shall live, and I shall live again. 00:14:19.780 --> 00:14:21.580 I will never walk again. 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:23.180 I will never walk again. 00:14:23.180 --> 00:14:24.780 I will never walk again. 00:14:24.780 --> 00:14:26.420 I will never walk again. 00:14:26.420 --> 00:14:27.260 What's it called? 00:14:27.260 --> 00:14:31.020 I then shall live as one who's been forgiven. 00:14:31.020 --> 00:14:32.220 What does that look like? 00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:35.860 How much guilt and shame and fear do we carry? 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:38.420 That's just basic 101. 00:14:38.420 --> 00:14:40.940 I remember I had these huge debts 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:43.180 till about eight or nine years ago. 00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:44.940 And I remember going to this lady's house 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:48.060 and she used to keep a tab of all the money 00:14:48.060 --> 00:14:49.620 that I had to pay them back. 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:53.860 And this was in the other church I used to be at. 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:57.220 And finally one day, I paid off the last dollar 00:14:57.220 --> 00:14:58.740 and she called me home. 00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:00.700 I didn't even know that I'd paid the whole thing up. 00:15:00.700 --> 00:15:02.660 And so she and her husband called me home 00:15:02.660 --> 00:15:04.660 and she pulled out this paper and showed me 00:15:04.660 --> 00:15:07.140 that I'd paid everything off, I'd paid extra. 00:15:07.140 --> 00:15:08.580 And she said, Jacob, just wanted to call you 00:15:08.580 --> 00:15:10.420 so that we can tear this up together. 00:15:10.420 --> 00:15:13.260 And as she tore it up, you didn't know the relief I felt 00:15:13.260 --> 00:15:15.460 at a debt being completely paid off. 00:15:17.780 --> 00:15:20.180 I then shall live as one who's been forgiven. 00:15:21.020 --> 00:15:25.780 I'll walk with joy knowing that my debts are paid. 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:30.460 That alone would make this community look different. 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:33.220 The way we handle guilt, shame, fear, pain 00:15:33.220 --> 00:15:34.820 is still lacking. 00:15:35.660 --> 00:15:38.140 My hope is that over the next few weeks, 00:15:38.140 --> 00:15:40.700 we can try and understand that a restored community 00:15:40.700 --> 00:15:43.380 should look a certain way so that it becomes a sample, 00:15:43.380 --> 00:15:45.980 so that someone can lick the ice cream and say, 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.660 aha, so that's vanilla. 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:50.300 Which I dislike anyways. 00:15:52.660 --> 00:15:54.180 That should be what it is. 00:15:54.180 --> 00:15:56.260 Both a demonstration and a microcosm. 00:15:57.180 --> 00:15:58.820 This was what Paul was trying to do 00:15:58.820 --> 00:16:01.700 when he was writing his epistles to the different churches 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:03.820 saying, church, you've got to be this way. 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:07.540 Most of his letters would be what? 00:16:07.540 --> 00:16:10.020 You've been rescued from an old way. 00:16:10.020 --> 00:16:11.780 This is the new way of living. 00:16:11.780 --> 00:16:13.060 Put on Christ. 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:14.780 Parents, this is the way you need to behave. 00:16:14.780 --> 00:16:16.340 Young people, this is the way you need to behave. 00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:17.980 Old people, this is the way you need to behave. 00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:19.420 Marriages, this is the way you need to behave. 00:16:19.420 --> 00:16:21.420 Servants, this is the way you need to behave. 00:16:21.420 --> 00:16:24.900 He actually used to say old people in a nicer way. 00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:27.660 He had these segments for everybody, 00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:28.500 and then he would say, 00:16:28.500 --> 00:16:30.380 this is how you overcome the devil too. 00:16:31.380 --> 00:16:32.860 And then he would end up with, 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:33.820 if you're suffering now, 00:16:33.820 --> 00:16:35.220 know that these sufferings are temporary 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:38.460 because there is a new life waiting. 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:39.500 His intent was always, 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.500 can I build a community here in Ephesus, 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:43.700 here in Lystra, here in Derby, here in Colossus, 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:45.900 so that anyone comes and tastes and they'll know, 00:16:46.540 --> 00:16:49.500 this is such a cool alternative to what Caesar is offering. 00:16:53.060 --> 00:16:57.220 And it starts, surprisingly not with the individual. 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:00.060 It starts as a church, 00:17:00.060 --> 00:17:02.260 then it trickles down to each family, 00:17:02.260 --> 00:17:04.500 and then it trickles down to the individual. 00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:06.980 We've got it in our heads that this is a democracy, 00:17:06.980 --> 00:17:09.820 so it starts from the person and builds itself up. 00:17:09.820 --> 00:17:11.860 It never builds itself up from one person. 00:17:11.860 --> 00:17:14.380 Because we've relied so heavily on, 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:16.460 let's start with the individual and build up. 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:18.300 This is why we only have superstars. 00:17:24.860 --> 00:17:25.700 Forgiveness. 00:17:26.740 --> 00:17:27.740 How about righteousness? 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:29.540 What does righteous living look like? 00:17:30.540 --> 00:17:32.340 What does spirit-empowered living look like? 00:17:32.340 --> 00:17:33.380 I'm not talking about one person. 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:35.580 I'm not talking about a Diana or a Sue 00:17:35.580 --> 00:17:37.220 or a Dano or a Aaron. 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:39.300 No, I'm talking about what does it look like 00:17:39.300 --> 00:17:41.140 when a whole sample can be taken? 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:44.020 I mean, the cool thing with taking water 00:17:44.020 --> 00:17:45.340 from four different parts of the ocean 00:17:45.340 --> 00:17:47.100 is that the composition of the water 00:17:47.100 --> 00:17:49.460 you take in four different buckets will be the same. 00:17:50.860 --> 00:17:52.140 And if you think it's not, don't argue, 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:54.660 because I'm not scientific and I might lose the argument. 00:17:56.260 --> 00:17:57.780 But basically, if you pull out water 00:17:57.780 --> 00:18:00.660 from four different parts of the ocean, 00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:02.980 you'll find that they all have the same composite. 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:03.820 Why? 00:18:03.820 --> 00:18:05.620 Because that's the way it is. 00:18:07.060 --> 00:18:08.860 And the earth is flat. 00:18:08.860 --> 00:18:09.700 So, 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:13.700 so what does it look like when, 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:16.300 Chad taught about this at the women's conference, 00:18:16.300 --> 00:18:18.540 and it is such an important point. 00:18:18.540 --> 00:18:21.740 Guys, what sanctifies us is the word. 00:18:21.740 --> 00:18:23.460 What sanctifies us is the word, 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:27.260 meaning what separates us is the word of God. 00:18:27.260 --> 00:18:29.460 How does the word of God separate us? 00:18:29.460 --> 00:18:31.860 The word of God separates us this way. 00:18:31.860 --> 00:18:35.820 We become a people who process everything through the word. 00:18:35.820 --> 00:18:38.220 Not through Jacob's interpretation, 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:41.060 not through some organization, 00:18:41.060 --> 00:18:43.540 not through Greek, not through Hebrew, 00:18:43.540 --> 00:18:45.860 but by looking at the tapestry of scripture, 00:18:45.860 --> 00:18:47.500 we realize, ah, shucks, 00:18:47.500 --> 00:18:50.220 this is how we need to think about this particular thing. 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:53.380 We start processing the world, the things of life, 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:55.460 and things around us through the word. 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:56.780 And the moment we do that, 00:18:56.780 --> 00:18:59.260 we become a people who are united, 00:18:59.260 --> 00:19:00.900 set apart by the word. 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:03.580 And here's what Jesus says will happen if you do that. 00:19:03.580 --> 00:19:05.500 The world will hate you. 00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:10.340 Because the world hates anything and anyone and anybody 00:19:10.340 --> 00:19:11.940 who does not think like them. 00:19:17.260 --> 00:19:19.500 Sanctify them by the word, Jesus says, 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:20.940 and then as he goes on, he says, 00:19:20.940 --> 00:19:22.420 and the world will hate you, 00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:24.860 because you have started processing and thinking 00:19:24.860 --> 00:19:27.460 along the lines of the word, 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:30.780 not along some of your own fancy interpretations. 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:32.300 Suddenly, it doesn't matter whether you're living 00:19:32.300 --> 00:19:36.100 in India, Africa, South America, or Canada, 00:19:36.100 --> 00:19:37.620 the word applies the same. 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:44.020 What does a restored community look like 00:19:44.020 --> 00:19:46.220 in terms of sacrificially loving? 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.180 What does it look like? 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:51.260 Ah, here's another one, fear banishing love. 00:19:51.260 --> 00:19:52.940 What does a community look like 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:54.940 when they know they are perfectly loved 00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:56.380 and there is no fear? 00:19:56.380 --> 00:19:58.020 And they know that they are perfectly loved 00:19:58.020 --> 00:19:59.660 and they know that they are perfectly loved 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:01.980 and there is no fear and there is no torment. 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:03.780 What would that even look like? 00:20:06.100 --> 00:20:07.540 None of this will be reached in a day, 00:20:07.540 --> 00:20:10.260 but can we progressively mature towards it? 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:13.020 Together. 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:17.500 Fear banishing love would be a characteristic 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:19.820 of this community because it very clearly says 00:20:19.820 --> 00:20:22.180 that perfect love casts out fear 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:23.580 and I have loved you perfectly, 00:20:23.580 --> 00:20:27.380 therefore you should not be continuing in fear, Jacob, 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.300 because fear carries in it torment 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:31.860 and anyone who has fear in his relationships 00:20:31.860 --> 00:20:33.540 or in his relationship with God 00:20:33.540 --> 00:20:35.820 has not been perfectly loved 00:20:35.820 --> 00:20:37.820 or has not recognized it or realized it. 00:20:39.940 --> 00:20:41.220 So what would it look like? 00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:43.740 These are the things that the world has. 00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:46.940 We are only slightly better and it ain't good enough. 00:20:48.060 --> 00:20:49.460 C.S. Lewis put it this way, 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:51.340 God is not interested in getting a horse 00:20:51.340 --> 00:20:53.860 that can run fast and whip it to run faster. 00:20:53.860 --> 00:20:56.460 When he makes us, he gives us wings 00:20:56.460 --> 00:20:59.260 so that we are like unicorns that have the ability to fly. 00:21:00.260 --> 00:21:01.620 It ain't a fair race. 00:21:01.620 --> 00:21:03.940 Being better than the world ain't Christianity. 00:21:04.860 --> 00:21:08.660 It's self-help positive thinking Tony Robbins. 00:21:15.100 --> 00:21:17.300 That's why I have a problem 00:21:18.300 --> 00:21:21.140 with some of the guys who appear on TV 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:24.340 promoting a self-help you are wonderful message 00:21:24.340 --> 00:21:26.580 because all that makes you is a little more wonderful 00:21:26.580 --> 00:21:27.940 than the rest of the world. 00:21:29.300 --> 00:21:34.300 How can you settle and I settle for that Christianity? 00:21:38.100 --> 00:21:38.940 Ouch. 00:21:40.380 --> 00:21:42.020 What does it look like not to chase after 00:21:42.020 --> 00:21:43.900 what was guaranteed in the Garden of Eden? 00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:47.460 What does it look like when a people become proclaimers 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:48.300 of the gospel? 00:21:48.300 --> 00:21:50.500 What does it look like when they are exhibitors 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:52.020 of life and godliness? 00:21:52.020 --> 00:21:53.940 What does it look like when they are servant like? 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:56.020 What does it look like when they are joyful? 00:21:56.020 --> 00:21:57.980 What does it look like when signs and miracles 00:21:57.980 --> 00:22:00.460 are not unusual or unexpected? 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:03.500 What does it look like when a body continuously matures? 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:06.420 What does it look like when the community is apostolic 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:08.620 in terms of it being sent out to different places? 00:22:08.620 --> 00:22:10.780 What does it look like when they are generous? 00:22:10.780 --> 00:22:12.620 What does it look like when they have authority 00:22:12.620 --> 00:22:13.540 over the devil? 00:22:13.540 --> 00:22:16.500 What does it look like when they engage in good works? 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:18.780 This is what a restored community should look like. 00:22:18.780 --> 00:22:22.900 What if two years from now we get somewhere? 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:25.580 It's a long process, but what if two years from now? 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:34.420 I always tell Blessy that I wish kids were born 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:37.100 at the age of nine, because they would be easy to handle. 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:40.340 Like they get born as babies and then overnight 00:22:40.340 --> 00:22:41.420 they grow up into nine. 00:22:42.580 --> 00:22:46.660 And she always says that you would miss out 00:22:46.660 --> 00:22:49.420 on the growing years and that those years are precious. 00:22:49.420 --> 00:22:50.820 I still can't understand. 00:22:50.860 --> 00:22:52.060 And that those years are precious. 00:22:52.060 --> 00:22:55.780 I still can't understand it, but I believe it. 00:22:55.780 --> 00:22:56.940 Yeah, I've heard. 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:03.420 And so this will take time. 00:23:05.780 --> 00:23:09.100 But there must be absolutely no doubt 00:23:09.100 --> 00:23:11.660 as to where we are heading with this. 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:14.420 It got to keep treading this way. 00:23:14.420 --> 00:23:15.820 Because if this is God's plan, 00:23:15.820 --> 00:23:17.980 and please challenge me if it is not, 00:23:21.820 --> 00:23:25.180 if this is God's plan, then this is the only heading we have. 00:23:26.780 --> 00:23:30.140 That he wants to build a people who are a microcosm 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:33.580 or a demonstration of what a people in relationship 00:23:33.580 --> 00:23:36.100 with the living God actually look like. 00:23:36.100 --> 00:23:37.740 This was the whole idea of Israel. 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:39.580 This is the whole idea of the church. 00:23:41.020 --> 00:23:42.900 It has really nothing to do with you 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:44.660 and everything to do with the world. 00:23:45.500 --> 00:23:50.500 For someone else we exist, not for ourselves. 00:23:55.900 --> 00:23:58.980 So the hope is over the next few months 00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:01.620 that God will give us the wisdom to discover 00:24:01.620 --> 00:24:06.620 and somehow begin to live the life of the restored. 00:24:07.620 --> 00:24:09.060 Any questions before we go on? 00:24:10.820 --> 00:24:11.860 Any questions, guys? 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:18.660 You know, there's a question, but in order, 00:24:21.660 --> 00:24:24.660 in the heart, what God expects of us 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:30.660 is for the seven years of our Israel 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:35.660 put the life of Jesus into our heart. 00:24:37.660 --> 00:24:41.660 Whatever he said, he meant that he gave a change 00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:45.660 and practices in his therapist. 00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:49.220 The problem with what would Jesus do 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:50.900 was we didn't know what he would do 00:24:50.900 --> 00:24:55.580 because we didn't know what the word said or meant. 00:24:55.580 --> 00:24:58.980 So what would Jesus do became a slogan 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:01.860 that didn't help because we didn't know what Jesus does. 00:25:01.860 --> 00:25:04.220 So we came up with our own versions 00:25:04.220 --> 00:25:05.740 of what would Jesus do. 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:08.060 But when you look at the scriptures like Gisela's saying, 00:25:08.060 --> 00:25:09.900 then you understand this is what would Jesus do 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:12.340 and that is how you begin to process your thinking 00:25:12.340 --> 00:25:14.660 so that you see life through the word. 00:25:14.660 --> 00:25:17.420 Then it doesn't matter what your opinion is. 00:25:19.260 --> 00:25:20.620 You don't have a choice. 00:25:22.260 --> 00:25:23.780 That's the cool thing about this. 00:25:23.780 --> 00:25:26.540 I love the fact that we don't have choices. 00:25:26.540 --> 00:25:29.980 I mean, try ordering a coffee at Starbucks, man. 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:35.220 We don't have choices. 00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:40.220 I asked Aaron to get me, what did I ask you to get me? 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:42.060 A corducio. 00:25:42.060 --> 00:25:47.060 I drank it in Mexico and it's this mix of espresso 00:25:51.060 --> 00:25:52.460 and chocolate. 00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:56.460 But he got me a mocha because there is no corducio 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:59.460 in Vancouver. 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:02.540 But I love the fact that we don't have choices. 00:26:02.540 --> 00:26:04.460 I love the fact that we don't have choices. 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:07.180 This is how the word asks me to process and think 00:26:07.180 --> 00:26:09.020 this is my only choice. 00:26:09.020 --> 00:26:11.180 I have a choice in terms of disobeying it 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:12.500 but I don't have any other choice. 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:14.540 This is how the word asks me to think. 00:26:14.540 --> 00:26:17.540 And as you begin to read it again and again and again, 00:26:17.540 --> 00:26:20.220 and one of the things that I've learned from Chad 00:26:20.220 --> 00:26:23.140 is not to read my little portions 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:26.740 but to read the entire book 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:28.180 and then come into little portions 00:26:28.180 --> 00:26:30.940 because it gives you a better idea of what is happening 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:33.060 because most of the scriptures we personalize 00:26:33.060 --> 00:26:35.060 to a point where they become pointless. 00:26:39.420 --> 00:26:40.260 Yep. 00:26:45.420 --> 00:26:46.260 True. 00:26:49.780 --> 00:26:50.620 13. 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:54.260 But if you ask Chris, she might say 14. 00:27:01.780 --> 00:27:03.900 I just, I think you're totally right. 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:05.620 I just think that a whole lot of things we were doing, 00:27:05.620 --> 00:27:07.620 we were doing because we stumbled into it. 00:27:07.620 --> 00:27:10.380 Now it's beginning to make sense. 00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:12.820 So it's like Christopher Columbus. 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:15.100 Didn't know where he was going 00:27:15.100 --> 00:27:17.020 but now we have a sense of where we're going. 00:27:17.020 --> 00:27:18.580 I think it's kind of like a reason. 00:27:18.580 --> 00:27:20.180 If you just read all the little bits and pieces 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:21.940 of the idea and you don't necessarily, 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:24.980 if you're not creative, you don't know exactly what to do. 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:25.820 Yeah. 00:27:25.820 --> 00:27:28.220 Come out of it and know it's from our patient. 00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:29.980 Yeah, I hate using this word 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:31.780 which is why I'm avoiding using it 00:27:31.780 --> 00:27:33.940 but I have to use it now. 00:27:33.940 --> 00:27:35.900 And so I won't say it, I'll write it 00:27:35.900 --> 00:27:37.500 because this word's been used so often 00:27:37.500 --> 00:27:39.260 I don't like using it anymore. 00:27:39.260 --> 00:27:40.100 We are more. 00:27:44.620 --> 00:27:47.660 What, will I have to pronounce it Sue or can you read it? 00:27:51.860 --> 00:27:52.700 Oh, sorry. 00:27:53.620 --> 00:27:54.460 Intentional. 00:27:55.860 --> 00:27:57.460 Yeah. 00:27:57.460 --> 00:27:59.860 A few other things about this community that we're building 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:02.340 because I used to hear about the church being a community, 00:28:02.340 --> 00:28:05.260 church being a community and I think, 00:28:05.260 --> 00:28:07.860 shucks, there comes a community word again 00:28:07.860 --> 00:28:10.060 because it was as common as intentional 00:28:10.060 --> 00:28:15.060 and it seemed to mean that everybody has to be really nice 00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:16.700 to each other and help each other out 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:18.940 and help people move if you have a pickup 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:20.940 and thank God I didn't buy one. 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:21.900 But the point was, 00:28:23.700 --> 00:28:27.180 there's much more to the idea of community than that. 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:29.940 So here are a few things that this community must be. 00:28:31.020 --> 00:28:34.220 One, it is a community, 00:28:39.780 --> 00:28:44.780 it is a community that learns to process life, 00:28:44.860 --> 00:28:49.540 learns to process life, 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:55.980 things of life and the world. 00:28:57.700 --> 00:29:02.220 Through the word. 00:29:03.980 --> 00:29:07.940 That is a distinctive factor of this community. 00:29:07.940 --> 00:29:08.780 Why? 00:29:08.780 --> 00:29:13.300 Because that will then allow the watching world 00:29:16.140 --> 00:29:21.140 to have an undistorted picture of Christ 00:29:28.180 --> 00:29:33.180 when they encounter his claims. 00:29:40.540 --> 00:29:42.020 Jesus heals, show me. 00:29:42.020 --> 00:29:43.940 Jesus loves, show me. 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:46.740 Jesus gives, show me. 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:48.940 Jesus answers prayer, show me. 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:51.180 Jesus thinks pure, show me. 00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:52.940 Jesus forgives, show me. 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:54.740 Jesus gives joy, show me. 00:29:58.180 --> 00:30:00.180 It is a community that learns 00:30:00.180 --> 00:30:03.100 and it's a long process of learning 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:05.580 and it never ends 00:30:05.580 --> 00:30:08.580 because we're constantly progressing towards maturity. 00:30:09.820 --> 00:30:12.460 It is a community that learns to process life, 00:30:12.460 --> 00:30:14.980 the things of life and the world. 00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:17.700 And this is where we can be absolutely confident 00:30:17.700 --> 00:30:21.140 as it says in 1 Peter, 2 Peter 1, 00:30:21.140 --> 00:30:24.380 it says that God has given us precious promises 00:30:24.380 --> 00:30:27.860 that are sufficient for life and godliness. 00:30:27.860 --> 00:30:32.140 That every situation I deal with in terms of life 00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:35.780 and the way to live it godly is provided for me 00:30:35.780 --> 00:30:39.220 in the word where I can begin to think a certain way, 00:30:39.220 --> 00:30:42.180 think like God, think like God. 00:30:42.180 --> 00:30:44.020 And in thinking like God, 00:30:44.020 --> 00:30:46.820 be able to handle life, be able to handle the things of life, 00:30:46.820 --> 00:30:48.180 be able to handle the world. 00:30:48.180 --> 00:30:50.140 And in the process, be hated 00:30:50.140 --> 00:30:53.780 because now I do not think anymore like the world. 00:30:53.820 --> 00:30:55.460 In the process become one 00:30:55.460 --> 00:30:57.060 because the one thing that unites us, 00:30:57.060 --> 00:30:59.060 sanctifies us and sets us apart 00:30:59.060 --> 00:31:01.180 and unites us is the word. 00:31:04.460 --> 00:31:06.740 You might think it is love but it is not. 00:31:06.740 --> 00:31:09.100 It is through the word that even that happens. 00:31:13.180 --> 00:31:14.180 Because it is through the word 00:31:14.180 --> 00:31:16.300 that I understand what love looks like. 00:31:16.300 --> 00:31:18.940 This is what Jesus tried to come and do. 00:31:18.940 --> 00:31:22.820 He was saying, hey, let me first show you what it is like 00:31:22.820 --> 00:31:25.180 and then I will show you what you must do. 00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.340 And therefore everything that his father said 00:31:28.340 --> 00:31:30.940 in terms of the word, he began to show. 00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:35.020 And after he showed them, he said, now go do likewise. 00:31:35.020 --> 00:31:36.820 And he helped them do the works too. 00:31:38.140 --> 00:31:41.340 And since we are the body of Christ and follow the head, 00:31:41.340 --> 00:31:42.740 this is the same principle. 00:31:44.820 --> 00:31:46.500 Then the watching world begins to have 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:48.220 an undistorted picture of Christ 00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:50.460 when they encounter his claims. 00:31:50.460 --> 00:31:51.700 Questions, thoughts? 00:31:52.820 --> 00:31:53.660 Questions? 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:04.020 So when you have a situation that is unnegotiable, 00:32:04.020 --> 00:32:07.140 come and throw it at me just so I can go 00:32:07.140 --> 00:32:10.060 and look for an answer and not give you a pat. 00:32:10.060 --> 00:32:12.220 This is what I sense the Holy Spirit saying. 00:32:12.220 --> 00:32:14.980 Guys, we've got to move now from this is what I sense 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:17.660 the Holy Spirit saying to this is what the word of God says 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:19.420 and this is what I sense the Holy Spirit saying. 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:20.380 It's gotta be both. 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:24.300 Because this is what I sense the Holy Spirit saying is great. 00:32:24.300 --> 00:32:26.660 It's super important, it's spontaneous. 00:32:26.660 --> 00:32:29.020 It is re-ma, but there is also the logos 00:32:29.020 --> 00:32:31.220 that now we have to develop things out of. 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:34.500 Where I'm going through this situation in my life, 00:32:34.500 --> 00:32:35.340 what should I do? 00:32:35.340 --> 00:32:36.580 And I ask the Holy Spirit, 00:32:36.580 --> 00:32:37.820 the Holy Spirit says this is the key. 00:32:37.820 --> 00:32:39.940 Great, that is the key that'll help you open the door. 00:32:39.940 --> 00:32:41.380 But what if it happens again? 00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:44.020 So that it should not happen again. 00:32:44.020 --> 00:32:46.940 Here is what the word says, here is how you process it. 00:32:48.060 --> 00:32:49.380 Then you have both. 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:54.140 And so even what we teach in the house churches 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:58.100 has to change because I think given this context, 00:32:58.100 --> 00:32:59.220 it's not effective enough. 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:00.460 It has to be more systematic. 00:33:00.460 --> 00:33:04.620 I hate systematic, but who cares? 00:33:04.620 --> 00:33:05.820 You don't have a choice. 00:33:10.740 --> 00:33:12.460 I'm glad that I can keep changing. 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:15.380 I pray that it still continues when I'm 60 and 70 and 80. 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:24.860 The next thing this community is, I got three of them. 00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:27.780 The next thing this community is, 00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:34.460 it is a community that provides a context 00:33:36.020 --> 00:33:41.020 for the individual, for the individual. 00:33:41.220 --> 00:33:46.220 For the individual and the body to mature, to mature. 00:34:01.140 --> 00:34:04.580 In the sense that this doesn't mean that we abandon 00:34:04.580 --> 00:34:09.340 what God has uniquely created you for in the body. 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:10.500 We don't abandon that. 00:34:10.500 --> 00:34:13.340 That keeps increasing, that keeps growing. 00:34:13.340 --> 00:34:17.140 There must be, it must be a community 00:34:17.140 --> 00:34:22.140 that loves moving together, but also looks at each person 00:34:22.420 --> 00:34:23.540 just as Christ does. 00:34:23.540 --> 00:34:26.820 One of the things, I don't know who said it in Sao Paulo, 00:34:26.820 --> 00:34:28.940 we looked at this mass of people doing drugs 00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:30.900 and I think it was Sheldon who said, 00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:33.900 and the way Jesus looks at them is he calls them by name. 00:34:33.900 --> 00:34:35.260 He has a special name for them. 00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:36.180 He had plans for them. 00:34:36.180 --> 00:34:37.980 He had written their days down 00:34:37.980 --> 00:34:40.220 before they were even formed. 00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:43.780 He hopes, loves, and expects the best of them 00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:45.380 every day when they wake up. 00:34:46.740 --> 00:34:50.140 That I formed you before your, 00:34:50.140 --> 00:34:55.140 before your whatever, parts were even formed, 00:34:55.580 --> 00:34:56.900 it still holds true. 00:34:56.900 --> 00:35:00.060 It has to be a community where the individual still matures 00:35:00.060 --> 00:35:02.860 and there's room for corporate maturity. 00:35:02.860 --> 00:35:06.740 It is also a community that is a base 00:35:06.940 --> 00:35:11.940 for penetrating other communities 00:35:17.100 --> 00:35:17.940 and nations. 00:35:21.900 --> 00:35:24.700 As we mature, the intent is now that we mature, 00:35:24.700 --> 00:35:29.220 we must now use Acts 29 as a base to go to, 00:35:29.220 --> 00:35:33.140 to send people into other communities and other nations 00:35:33.140 --> 00:35:36.380 so that what we've experienced can be a reality. 00:35:37.020 --> 00:35:38.260 And that what we've experienced 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:40.220 can now be sampled by others. 00:35:40.220 --> 00:35:41.700 This must be how we think. 00:35:41.700 --> 00:35:43.900 When you go on a holiday, when you go on a business trip, 00:35:43.900 --> 00:35:45.300 think like this. 00:35:45.300 --> 00:35:47.660 I'm a sample, I'm a sign, I'm a pointer. 00:35:50.220 --> 00:35:51.540 It takes time to think like this, 00:35:51.540 --> 00:35:53.980 but if we continuously wake up every morning 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:55.780 and think like this, it becomes habitual. 00:36:00.540 --> 00:36:02.260 One of the things that's been happening in my life 00:36:02.260 --> 00:36:04.780 over the last little while is I'm less and less, 00:36:07.060 --> 00:36:10.420 I'm becoming more and more confident of who Jacob is, 00:36:12.780 --> 00:36:13.900 who Jacob really is. 00:36:13.900 --> 00:36:17.740 And so my inadequacy, my external inadequacies 00:36:17.740 --> 00:36:19.980 are not bothering me as much. 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:21.340 They haven't gone away, 00:36:21.340 --> 00:36:22.620 but they're not bothering me as much. 00:36:22.620 --> 00:36:26.500 And it helps tremendously, guys. 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:28.780 All of us have external inadequacies. 00:36:28.780 --> 00:36:31.500 Some of them are imagined, some of them are real. 00:36:31.500 --> 00:36:34.140 All of us have external defects and flaws. 00:36:34.180 --> 00:36:36.740 And by external, I mean anything outside of the spirit, 00:36:37.980 --> 00:36:39.020 of your spirit. 00:36:39.020 --> 00:36:41.140 All of us have external defects and flaws, 00:36:41.140 --> 00:36:44.940 and we use coping mechanisms to hide them. 00:36:44.940 --> 00:36:49.100 And maybe get to a point where this idea of maturity 00:36:49.100 --> 00:36:51.740 is where you begin to realize inside you 00:36:51.740 --> 00:36:54.300 that this is who I am becoming. 00:36:54.300 --> 00:36:56.420 And the external defects and inadequacies 00:36:56.420 --> 00:36:58.060 become less important. 00:36:58.060 --> 00:37:00.420 And as that happens, you will find that you become 00:37:00.420 --> 00:37:04.220 less limited, and more becomes possible. 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:07.620 Otherwise, our external defects and inabilities 00:37:07.620 --> 00:37:10.900 will always stop us from taking the next big step. 00:37:10.900 --> 00:37:11.940 You will always hesitate. 00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:15.020 You will dream at night that you will be a warrior tomorrow. 00:37:15.020 --> 00:37:16.500 You get up in the morning, 00:37:16.500 --> 00:37:18.260 and you go back into the winepress. 00:37:21.580 --> 00:37:23.180 Because your name is just Gideon. 00:37:23.180 --> 00:37:26.180 Do you credit this body of maturity to tell? 00:37:26.180 --> 00:37:28.260 Or do you think it's more than that? 00:37:28.260 --> 00:37:29.860 To be mature at the end of the day 00:37:29.860 --> 00:37:32.180 is to conform to the stature of Christ, 00:37:32.180 --> 00:37:37.180 who in his external persona was very non-handsome, 00:37:37.420 --> 00:37:42.420 non-attractive, nobody, comes from a poor family, 00:37:44.100 --> 00:37:48.900 works on stone and wood, has no sense of self-esteem, 00:37:48.940 --> 00:37:52.860 comes from a poor family, works on stone and wood, 00:37:52.860 --> 00:37:55.420 has a huge family to take care of, 00:37:55.420 --> 00:37:59.700 spends 30 years in absolute hiddenness. 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:02.580 Nothing about him is attractive. 00:38:02.580 --> 00:38:04.780 Nobody came to him because of his charisma. 00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:09.980 There was nothing about him that was worth looking at. 00:38:11.020 --> 00:38:13.340 Isaiah 52 and so on talk about it. 00:38:14.380 --> 00:38:17.580 To be mature is to be conformed to the stature of Christ 00:38:17.580 --> 00:38:20.820 somewhere inside me so that the externals now don't matter. 00:38:20.820 --> 00:38:23.660 My externals as a result of the sins of the world, 00:38:23.660 --> 00:38:26.220 my internal person is so because of the death 00:38:26.220 --> 00:38:28.260 and resurrection of Christ. 00:38:28.260 --> 00:38:30.180 I have a brand new spirit, man, 00:38:30.180 --> 00:38:32.420 and I got the Holy Spirit living in my spirit. 00:38:34.620 --> 00:38:35.900 And the more I mature there, 00:38:35.900 --> 00:38:37.860 the more I understand the enormity 00:38:37.860 --> 00:38:40.180 of what Paul says in Ephesians 1, he says, 00:38:40.180 --> 00:38:41.980 may your eyes be open, may you be enlightened 00:38:41.980 --> 00:38:44.220 so that you can see the width and the breadth and the depth 00:38:44.220 --> 00:38:47.060 of what Christ and his resurrection power has done for you. 00:38:47.060 --> 00:38:49.420 The more you grasp it, and I don't even know how to grasp it, 00:38:49.420 --> 00:38:52.900 but a daily pushing towards it allows you to grasp it. 00:38:52.900 --> 00:38:54.900 That's a strange thing with children you see this, 00:38:54.900 --> 00:38:58.100 with children you see this, you hang a little toy over them, 00:38:58.100 --> 00:38:59.340 and day after day after day, 00:38:59.340 --> 00:39:00.980 and I'm sure you've seen this with Shiloh, 00:39:00.980 --> 00:39:02.180 he'll reach towards it, reach towards it. 00:39:02.180 --> 00:39:04.300 One of the videos I still carry on my phone 00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:07.060 is the one of Matt standing, sitting at the top of the steps 00:39:07.060 --> 00:39:09.140 and Shiloh making his way up the steps. 00:39:09.140 --> 00:39:11.580 I showed some parents that and they said this is very normal. 00:39:12.660 --> 00:39:14.340 What do I know? I thought it was fascinating, 00:39:14.380 --> 00:39:17.580 this little kid going up the steps finally into his father's arms. 00:39:17.580 --> 00:39:19.540 They keep reaching, keep reaching, keep reaching. 00:39:19.540 --> 00:39:22.380 The way to maturity is to keep reaching. 00:39:22.380 --> 00:39:26.580 Where we lose out on maturity is we stop reaching. 00:39:26.580 --> 00:39:29.380 I just can't understand why we adults lose that. 00:39:29.380 --> 00:39:31.220 We stop reaching. 00:39:31.220 --> 00:39:34.580 We put a circle around us and say, we have reached, 00:39:34.580 --> 00:39:38.020 this is good, one day perhaps more, but this is it. 00:39:38.020 --> 00:39:41.380 And the moment you stop reaching, maturity stops, 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:43.580 regardless of how great the teaching is. 00:39:44.340 --> 00:39:51.340 It's a falling back, it's like the beach 00:39:56.860 --> 00:39:58.860 where the sand goes from under your feet. 00:40:00.380 --> 00:40:02.740 You've got to keep reaching guys. 00:40:02.740 --> 00:40:04.020 You must die reaching. 00:40:04.020 --> 00:40:06.700 All of us should die with the hands stretched out like this. 00:40:06.700 --> 00:40:10.140 And rigor mortis sets in and they have to build a new coffin for you. 00:40:10.140 --> 00:40:11.460 I'll put a hole in the coffin. 00:40:11.460 --> 00:40:12.460 Yeah. 00:40:20.460 --> 00:40:22.060 Don't stop reaching. 00:40:22.060 --> 00:40:23.460 It is the end of maturity. 00:40:28.460 --> 00:40:30.460 Do you guys remember Hulk Hogan? 00:40:34.460 --> 00:40:38.460 Just when he's completely out, a little hand will come out 00:40:38.460 --> 00:40:41.460 and the finger will stop moving and you know Hulk Hogan's back. 00:40:41.460 --> 00:40:43.460 Keep reaching out man. 00:40:43.460 --> 00:40:47.460 You're on the floor, there's Andre the Giant sitting on you 00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:49.460 and your hand starts moving. 00:40:51.460 --> 00:40:53.460 If those terms are not familiar, read your Bible. 00:41:00.460 --> 00:41:02.460 One last time. 00:41:02.460 --> 00:41:05.460 It's a community and this is the last point for now. 00:41:05.460 --> 00:41:07.460 And I think we'll end now because it's too heavy. 00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:10.460 I've got another set to go but we'll do it next time. 00:41:16.460 --> 00:41:20.460 It is a community that, it is a community that, 00:41:20.460 --> 00:41:25.460 it is a community that, I'll write the rest of it. 00:41:25.460 --> 00:41:30.460 It is a community that, it is a community that, 00:41:30.460 --> 00:41:32.460 I'll write the rest out properly. 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:36.460 That engages, it is a community that engages 00:41:36.460 --> 00:41:38.460 in the ministry of reconciliation. 00:41:38.460 --> 00:41:45.460 Engages in the ministry of reconciliation. 00:41:45.460 --> 00:41:49.460 I'll explain it, these are big words 00:41:49.460 --> 00:41:52.460 but they're actually very simple in their meaning. 00:41:52.460 --> 00:41:54.460 And the message of reconciliation. 00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:05.460 And the message of reconciliation. 00:42:05.460 --> 00:42:10.460 So if you want to turn to 2 Corinthians 5, 17 to 20. 00:42:10.460 --> 00:42:15.460 2 Corinthians 5, 17 to 20, if someone can read that. 00:42:31.460 --> 00:42:36.460 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:42:36.460 --> 00:42:39.460 The old is gone, the new has come. 00:42:39.460 --> 00:42:44.460 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ 00:42:44.460 --> 00:42:47.460 and gave us the mystery of reconciliation. 00:42:47.460 --> 00:42:51.460 That God would reconcile the world with himself in Christ, 00:42:51.460 --> 00:42:54.460 not count the men and women together. 00:42:54.460 --> 00:42:59.460 And he has committed to us a message of reconciliation. 00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:02.460 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, 00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:06.460 as though God would make his appeal to us. 00:43:06.460 --> 00:43:10.460 We implore you what Christ we have, he reconciled to God. 00:43:10.460 --> 00:43:13.460 Okay, Nick, one more time. 00:43:13.460 --> 00:43:15.460 Even louder. 00:43:15.460 --> 00:43:21.460 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:43:21.460 --> 00:43:25.460 The old is gone, the new has come. 00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:31.460 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ 00:43:31.460 --> 00:43:36.460 and gave us the mystery of reconciliation. 00:43:36.460 --> 00:43:40.460 That God would reconcile the world with himself in Christ, 00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:44.460 not counting men and women against them. 00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:48.460 And he has committed to us a message of reconciliation. 00:43:48.460 --> 00:43:51.460 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, 00:43:51.460 --> 00:43:55.460 as though God would make his appeal to us. 00:43:55.460 --> 00:44:00.460 We implore you what Christ we have, he reconciled to God. 00:44:00.460 --> 00:44:02.460 Yeah. 00:44:02.460 --> 00:44:07.460 It is a community that engages in the ministry of reconciliation. 00:44:07.460 --> 00:44:09.460 And what is the ministry of reconciliation? 00:44:09.460 --> 00:44:16.460 Letting people know that God has been for the last 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years 00:44:16.460 --> 00:44:27.460 been in the business of bringing a people into a forgiven relationship with him through Christ. 00:44:27.460 --> 00:44:32.460 This is the ministry of reconciliation, and it is a very, very simple ministry. 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:37.460 Everything else that happens in today's charismatic Christianity 00:44:37.460 --> 00:44:43.460 is supposed to be a follow-on, an add-on to this main message. 00:44:43.460 --> 00:44:47.460 But all the add-ons have taken on center stage, 00:44:47.460 --> 00:44:52.460 and the ministry of reconciliation has gone out of the window. 00:44:52.460 --> 00:44:53.460 It is very simple. 00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:59.460 I have been trying for 2,000 or 3,000 years, particularly since my son said it is finished, 00:44:59.460 --> 00:45:03.460 I have been trying to bring the world into a forgiven relationship with myself, 00:45:03.460 --> 00:45:07.460 forgetting their alienation and the reasons for the alienation, 00:45:07.460 --> 00:45:12.460 forgiving their enmity, and giving them multiple opportunities to respond. 00:45:12.460 --> 00:45:17.460 This is what I have been doing, and this is what I have raised the people up for, called the church. 00:45:17.460 --> 00:45:20.460 This is what I use you for. 00:45:20.460 --> 00:45:25.460 Therefore, this is the ministry of reconciliation, and this is the message of reconciliation. 00:45:25.460 --> 00:45:28.460 You cannot do the ministry of reconciliation without the message of reconciliation. 00:45:28.460 --> 00:45:32.460 And the message of reconciliation is, I do not count your sins against you anymore. 00:45:32.460 --> 00:45:36.460 But given that I don't reckon your sins anymore, 00:45:36.460 --> 00:45:41.460 I still want you to take the personal choice of responding. 00:45:41.460 --> 00:45:45.460 And when you respond, you become part of this restored community 00:45:45.460 --> 00:45:49.460 that lives in a forgiven relationship with the living God. 00:45:49.460 --> 00:45:52.460 But how will they know it if they have not seen it? 00:45:52.460 --> 00:45:54.460 And we thought it was about going out and preaching. 00:45:54.460 --> 00:45:56.460 How will they go if you do not? 00:45:56.460 --> 00:45:57.460 Send. 00:45:57.460 --> 00:45:59.460 Remember that Roman sent thing? 00:45:59.460 --> 00:46:04.460 But it is also, if I am sent, you must taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:46:04.460 --> 00:46:06.460 Not just hear and see that the Lord is good. 00:46:06.460 --> 00:46:09.460 Taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:46:11.460 --> 00:46:16.460 Now you understand what apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and evangelists are supposed to do. 00:46:16.460 --> 00:46:19.460 Ephesians 4.12 puts it this way. 00:46:19.460 --> 00:46:25.460 To equip the saints for the work of ministry. 00:46:25.460 --> 00:46:29.460 And what is the work of ministry? 00:46:29.460 --> 00:46:31.460 This. 00:46:31.460 --> 00:46:33.460 My job. 00:46:33.460 --> 00:46:35.460 And we'll talk about my job next week. 00:46:35.460 --> 00:46:40.460 Because there are a list of things you must expect of me for the next three to five years. 00:46:41.460 --> 00:46:45.460 One of my main jobs is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. 00:46:45.460 --> 00:46:51.460 That I must get us to be well versed in the ministry of reconciliation and the message of reconciliation 00:46:51.460 --> 00:46:59.460 under all circumstances, amongst all kinds of people, Greek, Scythian, Barbarian, Jew, Gentile. 00:46:59.460 --> 00:47:01.460 And this is not about crusades and preaching. 00:47:01.460 --> 00:47:05.460 The days of crusades are really, really over. 00:47:05.460 --> 00:47:07.460 It is one on one. 00:47:07.460 --> 00:47:13.460 In your streets, in your sphere of influence. 00:47:13.460 --> 00:47:15.460 In your social network. 00:47:15.460 --> 00:47:17.460 In the places you frequent. 00:47:17.460 --> 00:47:19.460 In the stage of life you are in. 00:47:19.460 --> 00:47:22.460 This is where the ministry of reconciliation happens. 00:47:22.460 --> 00:47:27.460 Because Jesus has always been relational. 00:47:27.460 --> 00:47:29.460 And a crusade is not relational. 00:47:29.460 --> 00:47:34.460 It worked for a people who had still an idea of their Christian roots. 00:47:34.460 --> 00:47:42.460 There's no country left on the earth where they have an idea of their Christian roots. 00:47:42.460 --> 00:47:45.460 Everything Jesus does is relational. 00:47:45.460 --> 00:47:50.460 Why should he stop in this one main thing that he has been trying to accomplish for years? 00:47:50.460 --> 00:47:57.460 Why would he make it impersonal? 00:47:57.460 --> 00:47:59.460 I'm not saying don't participate in a crusade. 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:05.460 I'm just saying choose the more excellent way. 00:48:05.460 --> 00:48:07.460 I used to be so frightened of this part. 00:48:07.460 --> 00:48:09.460 Because I used to think I'm not very good at it. 00:48:09.460 --> 00:48:12.460 I don't know how to do this crusade thing. 00:48:12.460 --> 00:48:16.460 I don't know how to stand on a soap box in Hyde Park and preach to people. 00:48:16.460 --> 00:48:19.460 It would scare the heebie-jeebies out of me. 00:48:19.460 --> 00:48:27.460 And yet to find out finally that the ministry of reconciliation is sitting with one or two in my social network, 00:48:27.460 --> 00:48:29.460 I don't know how that I can do. 00:48:29.460 --> 00:48:35.460 Till they beg to leave and I won't let them go till they get born again. 00:48:35.460 --> 00:48:40.460 But the point is this is what we're aiming at. 00:48:40.460 --> 00:48:42.460 This is the reason for our existence, guys. 00:48:42.460 --> 00:48:45.460 This is the reason for our existence. 00:48:45.460 --> 00:48:50.460 And these are the things that we will be rewarded for. 00:48:50.460 --> 00:48:52.460 Well done, good and faithful servant. 00:48:52.460 --> 00:48:57.460 A good and faithful servant is one who figures out what his master is doing. 00:48:57.460 --> 00:48:59.460 Not one who works hard. 00:48:59.460 --> 00:49:02.460 Not one who achieves much. 00:49:02.460 --> 00:49:06.460 It is simply about what is my master doing? 00:49:06.460 --> 00:49:07.460 Am I doing that? 00:49:07.460 --> 00:49:09.460 That is a good and faithful servant. 00:49:09.460 --> 00:49:11.460 So we'll stop there. 00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:16.460 But I want us to go over the whole thing without me preaching. 00:49:16.460 --> 00:49:28.460 So let me just ask questions and answer in your own stammering, unsophisticated, mistake-filled way. 00:49:28.460 --> 00:49:29.460 And I meant that as a compliment.