WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Stewarding the Impossible Publishing Date: 2025-11-02T02:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/stewarding-the-impossible/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.000 So, stewardship, we defined it last time. To summarize it, it's the responsibility of managing 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:23.600 God's agenda, God's intent, God's purpose, and God's property in a way that causes it 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:31.600 to increase with accountability but without ownership. We can't own it, we can't exert 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:41.600 control over it, but we will be accountable for it. And so it's managing the responsibility 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:47.600 of managing God's agenda, His intent, His purpose, His property in a way that causes 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:53.200 it to increase with accountability. And sometimes the accountability has to be to the person 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:58.200 who gave you the responsibility. Sometimes it's not an invisible God, it's a visible 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:05.600 person but without ownership. So that's how we defined it last time. And so when it comes 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:14.200 to stewarding the impossible, we start with Jeremiah 12.5. Jeremiah 12.5 says, if men 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:20.280 wear you down, how will you compete with horses? If men wear you down, how will you compete 00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:28.160 with horses? As in, if things that are in the realm of the seen, of the visible, of 00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:33.960 the tangible, if that is something you can't handle, then how are you going to handle doing 00:01:33.960 --> 00:01:40.560 the impossible? And so these are statements we made long ago but I just wanted to bring 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:47.160 them out again. Because we are made in the image of God and because He's supernatural, 00:01:47.160 --> 00:01:52.080 here's a strange statement which we find hard to believe but which is true. Because 00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:58.400 we are made in His image and because He's supernatural, it is unnatural for a believer 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:05.400 to not have an appetite for the impossible. That's not how we think, that's who we are. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:14.360 It's unnatural, meaning it's not natural for a believer to not have an appetite for 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:21.520 the impossible. Because that's the realm that He operates in. He's supernatural, we are 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:28.040 made in His image, so it is unnatural for a believer to not have an appetite for the 00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:34.200 impossible. That we avoid it, that we don't think like this is different, but it's not 00:02:34.200 --> 00:02:40.440 the truth about us. And he pushed back on that, anything you want to challenge on that 00:02:40.480 --> 00:02:46.240 statement. Because it goes against the grain of everything that we humans believe about 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:53.240 ourselves. But as believers, like it or not, you're a different species. And if that statement 00:02:55.760 --> 00:03:00.920 is true, then the next statement applies too. What impossible divine enterprise are you 00:03:00.920 --> 00:03:07.920 presently engaged in? What impossible divine enterprise are you presently engaged in? Not 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:14.640 necessarily on a solo trip, but even corporately. The word engaged is important there. One 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:21.640 can be in a boxing arena and not be engaged. You can be sitting on the sidelines or one 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:29.000 can be court-side and, I mean, you're going this way too. Yesterday, when you were watching 00:03:29.160 --> 00:03:33.960 baseball, there were moments when you were engaged and then it would be up and down. 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:40.360 The point being, what impo... And so here's the question we all have to ask. What impossible 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:47.360 divine enterprise are you presently engaged in? And the question is just meant to unearth 00:03:54.120 --> 00:04:00.280 sometimes the fact that we are not, or we are, or we aren't really engaged, we are on 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:07.280 those sidelines. But that truth must be faced. Any questions? Go ahead. How do you know that 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:25.000 there's a divine enterprise appointed to you? Either it's appointed to a people that you 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:32.000 belong to, or it's appointed to you through a dream, a prophetic word, God saying it 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:39.000 to you in some fashion or the other, or it's part of what people are doing together. Can 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.600 you imagine being one of the Gideons, one of Gideon's 300? I mean, all you were doing 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:51.600 with Gideon's 300 was carrying the extra ammo. You weren't even fighting, but you were one 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.600 of the 300. But now you were engaged in something that was a divine enterprise that was impossible. 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:04.600 What about Erin and her? All they had to do was prop up Moses' arms, but if those arms 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:10.820 are not propped up, an entire nation loses a battle. So sometimes it's not the role, 00:05:10.820 --> 00:05:17.820 but it's the degree of engagement in something impossible. And to not have an appetite for 00:05:17.820 --> 00:05:24.820 it is unnatural for a believer. It's there because we are made in his image. How do you 00:05:35.820 --> 00:05:42.820 distinguish living like this versus living in denial? That's the rest of the sermon. 00:05:43.820 --> 00:05:51.820 Yeah, honest, I'm not trying to avoid the question. Yeah. How do we know that it's a 00:05:51.820 --> 00:05:58.820 divine enterprise? So that it's not our own little whimsical rabbit trail that we're going 00:05:59.960 --> 00:06:06.960 down. Yeah. So stewarding the impossible, stewarding the impossible, is the way that 00:06:12.820 --> 00:06:19.820 stewarding the impossible requires putting what God reveals to work. Stewarding the impossible 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:38.280 requires putting what God reveals to work. Because if you don't move into the experience, 00:06:43.080 --> 00:06:48.580 if you don't move into the experience, because very often we kind of know God has spoken 00:06:48.580 --> 00:06:54.200 to us, there have been things that have been said to us or said to us as a body, we know 00:06:54.200 --> 00:07:00.920 what's afoot. But if you don't move into the experience of it, if you don't move into the 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:07.920 experience of it, then the revelation that you have received or the promise you have 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:15.920 received or the enterprise you have received from God remains locked in your mind. But 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:27.980 we have the tendency to think it's active in our lives. This is a dangerous place to 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:34.980 live. There are many people, and I've been in this funk often, where there's, you know 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:49.600 the divine enterprise or the, you know the revelation that God has given you for something 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:56.600 that you need to do either as a church or as a couple or as a group or as leaders or 00:07:57.500 --> 00:08:04.500 as individuals, however it be, you know it and you understand it. But the revelation remains 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:11.680 locked in your mind. You talk about it. You're able to explain it. You're able to write it 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:17.400 out but you won't step into it. And in not stepping into it, it gets locked in your mind. 00:08:17.400 --> 00:08:21.740 But you actually think you're being active about it when it's not. It's just an idea. 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:28.740 Do you know how many ideas people have that never see dragons then or get paid money? 00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:39.440 Unless an idea takes form, it's just an idea. It would be wonderful if God thought, hmm, 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.600 would be a good idea to send my son down to die for them. Great idea, the Holy Spirit 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:50.600 says. How would they leave it at that? An idea that does not at least attempt to get 00:08:52.680 --> 00:08:59.080 sent, feed, you think it's active but it's not. And whenever an idea or a revelation 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:05.640 is locked in one's mind, it begins to rust and it loses its power. It begins to rust 00:09:05.640 --> 00:09:12.640 and it loses its power. Some of the richest places on earth, and this is not my quote, 00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:21.320 it was quoted by someone else. Some of the richest places on earth are graveyards because 00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:28.700 you'll find tons of people with tons of ideas that are now dead. So when a revelation or 00:09:30.900 --> 00:09:37.040 when something God has said to you is not actually worked out but remains locked in 00:09:37.040 --> 00:09:44.040 your mind, it begins to rust and it begins to lose power. Hearing without doing locks 00:09:45.040 --> 00:09:52.040 or rusts power. But when you put it to practice, when you put it to practice, when you put 00:09:59.580 --> 00:10:06.580 it to practice, the impossible begins to look logical. The impossible begins to look logical. 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:13.580 Logical. Beautifully. You have to put it into practice. And you're never too old to not 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:31.320 begin. Let's say you're 85 and you're beginning now with something God gave you when you were 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:38.280 45. That's okay. Someone else will take and run with what you have started, but it will 00:10:38.280 --> 00:10:45.280 be completed. And if you look at Matthew 13, 19, when God gives me something, when God 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.960 gives the church something, when God gives the group of people something that they are 00:10:55.960 --> 00:11:02.960 supposed to sow or run with or dig and practice, if you don't, then Matthew 13, 19 says, some 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:11.680 seed was strewn on the soil and the birds come and took it away. So what is given to 00:11:11.680 --> 00:11:18.200 you is robbed. You're robbed of what could happen with it because nothing was done about 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:25.200 it. And as much as we like saying that the gifts of God are not just for the sake of 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:30.800 God are irrevocable, which is true, you're running out of time. And at some point, even 00:11:30.800 --> 00:11:37.800 though the gifts may be irrevocable, you don't have time to cultivate it. I just went looking 00:11:41.160 --> 00:11:48.160 for chocolates last week and I did find them, about five boxes of chocolates, but even chocolates 00:11:49.040 --> 00:11:56.040 have an expiry date. Like, it's more than one Christmas ago. They look different now. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:09.160 So some things that God gives, one must put into practice and if you haven't, start because 00:12:09.160 --> 00:12:16.160 someone else will finish it. Any questions? You're talking about stewarding, you're talking 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:25.600 about impossible. Go ahead. Yeah, so if I let something lie, there's a timeframe that 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.120 God does most things in. He loves working with this thing called kairos. Kairos is the 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:45.680 fullness of time. In the fullness of time, if someone responds, it's great. If not, the 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:51.520 moment when it... There's a window of time that he points to you. He'll bring it back 00:12:51.520 --> 00:12:58.520 later, but if you don't, a perfect example is Israel. Israel was asked to go up out of 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:06.120 its camp and go into the promised land, but they say they will not. And so they stay. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.880 When they stay, God says to them, well then we'll take you around a circuitous route. 00:13:11.880 --> 00:13:16.760 It's not going to be two months anymore. It's going to take 40 years. Guess what they do? 00:13:16.760 --> 00:13:21.440 They decide, nope, we're going to go. Sorry, Lord. We really repent and they begin to go. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:25.480 What happens? They get beaten. Let's forget that. Let's go to the New Testament. In the 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:32.320 New Testament, we hear Peter saying that it didn't matter that Esau repented with tears. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:37.440 There was a timeframe appointed to Esau to get things right. When he missed that, it 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:43.920 didn't matter that he repented with tears. There was no recourse for him. So at the 00:13:43.920 --> 00:13:49.080 end of the day, things lose their power in terms of this is the window through which 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:53.440 this should happen. Are you going to step up, Jacob, or are you going to let it go? 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:59.440 And if I let it go, it might come back years later because God loves giving you a second 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:06.440 chance, but it is not as if the perfect time was not to be capitalized on. And in that 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:13.320 sense, it loses its... Then he has to take the clay, put it back on the potter's wheel 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:18.880 and make another vase. The vase will still be beautiful, but there was the first option 00:14:18.880 --> 00:14:22.600 and then there is a second option. The second option is still as beautiful, but the first 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:29.600 one was first. That's the amazing thing. God knows... You know, more than a thousand 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:43.480 of us, most of the time we are his second or third choice. Yeah. You were supposed to 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:50.480 have an amazing pastor for this church. Guy didn't turn up. You got stuck with me. We 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:55.840 are usually the second or third choice. But guys, another example, Moses and Aaron. Aaron 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.200 was not supposed to be part of the equation. He got dragged into the equation and he ended 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:08.200 up building a golden calf that destroyed a huge part of Israel. King Saul, King Solomon. 00:15:19.280 --> 00:15:25.920 You know, in God being father and God being gracious, we've now decided that he has to 00:15:25.920 --> 00:15:32.920 be some kind of a domesticated cat. He's a blooming lion with fangs. And there are 00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:42.920 things that he wants done at certain times. He's particular about that. It doesn't mean 00:15:42.920 --> 00:15:48.720 he loves me less, but he also has to say, take up... There was a time. Move on. I mean, 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:53.480 you should hear the words he says to Moses. I said this two or three Sundays ago. Moses 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:57.600 says, but God, I really want to go into the promised land. I brought them all the way. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:03.640 I did everything you said. Please, can I go into the promised land? And God's response 00:16:03.640 --> 00:16:10.640 is, enough of that, Moses. Let's move on. And he was as much a father then as he was 00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:19.400 when he would meet Moses and see him face to face. Any other expression of the father 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:27.280 that exists in your mind is convoluted because you'll end up raising brats, not young men 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:34.600 and women. Hey, do you know that 6-7 was actually in the Bible? I just found out. 6-7? It's 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:41.600 in scriptures. Proverbs 6, verse 16. Go figure. Everyone's turning to Proverbs 6, verse 16. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:57.240 Okay, please come back. Okay, send, read it out. I'm going to read it out. I'm going 00:17:04.600 --> 00:17:11.600 to read it out quickly. Either 6-16 or 16-6. Go ahead. 6-7. There you go. All right, moving 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:30.440 on. The principles of stewarding the impossible are very different from managing the natural. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:42.200 So let's look at that now. When you steward the impossible, and just so we have an idea 00:17:45.120 --> 00:17:52.120 of the impossible, what do we mean by stewarding the impossible? So let me give you a quick 00:17:53.600 --> 00:17:59.120 run through impossible situations. Nehemiah, chapter 1. Derizalem's walls are burnt out. 00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:06.120 He's just a cup bearer in the king's court. He ends up being provided all the means to 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:16.080 rebuild the walls of Jerusalem sent by the king who notices that his face is sad and 00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:20.560 provides him everything. He faces opposition, but it doesn't matter the opposition. He ends 00:18:20.560 --> 00:18:27.560 up building the walls of Jerusalem. Esther. Esther is a woman who's been selected into 00:18:27.760 --> 00:18:32.280 the harem of a king whose intent is to sleep with her and then decide whether he wants 00:18:32.280 --> 00:18:38.520 to sleep with her again or just get rid of her. That Esther then goes on to become someone 00:18:38.520 --> 00:18:44.160 to whom provision is given, even though there are obstructions and obstacles, she's able 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:50.360 to convert it and bring it to a place where she's able to save the Jewish nation, so much 00:18:50.360 --> 00:18:56.400 so that Purim is celebrated even today. Ezra. When you read Ezra, chapter 4, chapter 5, 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:01.920 chapter 6, his task is can you rebuild the temple? Can you rebuild the most precious 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:08.320 thing to the Jewish nation? And what does he have? Squat. And then he goes about through 00:19:08.320 --> 00:19:15.320 dreams, through a king saying, I found records saying Cyrus said that he will help you rebuild 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:22.440 the temple, so here is everything you need. Joshua at Jericho, he's a new commander. He 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:27.520 has to take a city. It's a closed city. It's a fierce city. It's not easy to take. It's 00:19:27.520 --> 00:19:34.040 impossible. And Joshua has the ability, as you know in Joshua 6 and 7, to take Jericho. 00:19:34.040 --> 00:19:41.040 You go to this place called Gerar. There's a guy living in Gerar. His name is Isaac. 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:50.720 Isaac is living in Gerar. In Genesis 26, it says, a famine hit Gerar. And here is, that's 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:57.320 verse 1, verse 2, and God said to Isaac, stay in Gerar. Do not go to Egypt. Isaac stays 00:19:57.320 --> 00:20:02.520 in Gerar. The impossible happens. In verse 12, it says, he had a hundred fold in a time 00:20:02.520 --> 00:20:09.520 of famine. Moses, is there an end to the impossible that he did? He takes the blood of bulls and 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:17.480 goats, puts it on doors, and the death passes them. He opens up the Red Sea. He strikes 00:20:17.520 --> 00:20:24.520 a rock and water comes. He promises manna. Stewarding the impossible, if there was anyone 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:30.760 who pastored the impossible almost to perfection, it was Moses. Other than striking the rock 00:20:30.760 --> 00:20:37.760 when he was told not to, that man did amazingly. And he was in the Old Covenant. Gideon, I 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:47.080 mean, isn't it bad enough that you're going up 30,000 against 200,000? Do you really have 00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:54.080 to whittle me down to 300? And then from that place, he begins to move and steward 00:20:54.680 --> 00:21:01.680 the impossible for God where they win. Caleb, 84, give me those hills where the Anak dwell. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:09.160 We talk about David having slain one Goliath. Caleb took on an entire nation of giants. 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:16.880 The Anak were giants. We write songs about David. We never write songs about Caleb. 00:21:17.080 --> 00:21:24.080 Caleb defeated a tribe of giants. Elijah, Elisha, stewarding the impossible for a nation 00:21:27.520 --> 00:21:34.520 that was away from God and drowning in apostasy, and then he brings them back to God. Tuesday, 00:21:34.520 --> 00:21:41.520 who you will serve? Yahweh or Baal? Paul, stewarding the impossible in a storm where 00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:45.360 a ship will be wrecked. But he says to them, listen, I'll tell you something. This ship 00:21:45.360 --> 00:21:51.360 may go down, but not one soul will be lost. There's so many stories of stewarding the 00:21:51.360 --> 00:21:56.360 impossible. Why? Because the God we serve is supernatural. And it is unnatural for us 00:21:56.360 --> 00:22:02.640 not to have an appetite for the impossible. As those words are heard, may it stir up something 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:09.640 within you and I saying, I will not live another day without you. I will not live another day 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:16.640 without you. And I'm saying, I will not live another kind of life. You see Peter in prison. 00:22:21.040 --> 00:22:27.880 How in the world does gate after gate in a prison open? Can you imagine what that did 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:33.720 for a church? You want to talk about real life stories in the last little while? The 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:40.280 two old ladies, 80 plus, on an island called Hebrides, and they began to pray. And God 00:22:40.280 --> 00:22:44.720 provided them one man who wasn't very famous. His name was Campbell, started the Hebrides 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:50.480 revival. Another guy called Reece Howell. Some of you may have read his book. Amazing 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.320 intercessor. He would go specifically to places where the Catholics would be trying to get 00:22:55.320 --> 00:22:59.940 land to build a church. And God would send him there and say, hey, I want you to go up 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:03.580 against them and get the land that they're paying more for. You make sure you pay at 00:23:03.580 --> 00:23:10.580 least 3000 less and I'll make sure you get it. Everywhere he would go, he would pay 3000, 00:23:10.780 --> 00:23:17.220 4000, 5000 less than what was being offered for property. And every time God would grant 00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:24.220 him that property. Want to come to our own stories? Mongolia, a man who does not know 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:31.220 us, does not know me saying, you know, two years ago, someone came to our church and 00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:38.340 said, there will be a guy coming from a city that's on the same latitude as Ulaanbaatar. 00:23:38.340 --> 00:23:44.860 When he comes, do whatever he tells you to. Indonesia, a man sitting in a room being prayed 00:23:44.860 --> 00:23:51.580 for, prophesied on, everything that is prophesied on comes true. And he then begins to fund 00:23:51.740 --> 00:23:58.260 everything we did in Indonesia for four or five years. Hebrides 2.0, a tiny church like 00:23:58.260 --> 00:24:02.220 this, look at yourself, just hold your head and hand like this and look at yourself. And 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:09.220 you realize how totally in equipped and inadequate you are. And we are being asked to revive 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:16.740 the earth in terms of 20s and 30s coming back to life. 20s and 30s behaving like Prosper, 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:23.740 like Ali, like Chirmi, crazy. This is what stewarding the impossible looks like. It's 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:40.980 not so much about getting my life together, it's so much bigger than that. 00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:53.740 Gosh, man, you better have, we better have something that's so impossible to do. So it's 00:25:03.900 --> 00:25:07.900 sensible to count the cost when you steward the impossible, it's sensible to count the 00:25:07.900 --> 00:25:13.060 cost. It's sensible to count the cost, but realize that if you count the cost, you're 00:25:13.060 --> 00:25:20.060 doing it for two reasons. One, you quickly conclude you can't pay it. And two, you recognize 00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:38.660 or you gauge what God will have to do. When Jesus said count the cost, he wasn't 00:25:43.260 --> 00:25:47.060 saying count the cost and decide if you want to follow me. He was saying count the cost 00:25:47.060 --> 00:25:53.700 and realize you don't have what it takes. And once you realize you don't have what it 00:25:53.700 --> 00:26:00.700 takes, look at me and see what I can give you. Have an idea of what you want from me. 00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:08.740 These are precious truths, guys. Counting the cost is not so that we step back. Counting 00:26:08.740 --> 00:26:14.700 the cost is to see that it's impossible to do this. I don't have what it takes. Now that 00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:18.540 I don't have what it takes, let me look at you, O God, because you're the only one who 00:26:18.540 --> 00:26:25.540 can give me what I need and here are the things that I think I need. It's like a child coming 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:34.220 to their dad. They had a bike, the chains come off. Do chains still come off on bikes? 00:26:34.340 --> 00:26:41.340 Okay. The chains come off and the child doesn't know how to fix it. Each divine enterprise 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:53.980 that you're given will have its share of impossibilities. Each divine enterprise you're given will have 00:26:53.980 --> 00:27:00.980 guaranteed its share of impossibilities. How do you smell whether something is God? There'll 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:08.980 be something in it which is impossible. A few things in it that will be impossible. 00:27:10.340 --> 00:27:17.340 Each divine enterprise will have its share of impossibilities. And God is very interested 00:27:18.180 --> 00:27:25.180 in showing you how to convert that into something that he and you can work on. And so here are 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:34.900 a few things we need to know. Dreams and impossibilities are not fulfilled by the divine enterprise 00:27:47.540 --> 00:27:54.540 by sensible, conventional thinking. Conventional thinking is not sinful. It's not a sinful thing 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:10.140 to think conventionally. It's not sinful. It's not kingdom either. 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:17.140 Hello, Ax 29. Is the only way to go about this? Conventional thinking is not sinful, 00:28:31.580 --> 00:28:37.580 but it's not kingdom either. Conventional thinking wants to receive everything in advance. 00:28:37.580 --> 00:28:44.580 Conventional thinking, conventional thinking, let's call it CT, wants everything in advance. 00:28:44.580 --> 00:28:51.580 Ain't gonna happen. You can even pray for it, eh? Ain't gonna happen. So what it does 00:28:56.620 --> 00:29:03.620 is conventional thinking can take an invitation from God and reduce it to rational deduction. 00:29:04.620 --> 00:29:10.980 How does this work? What can I do? What do I have in my hand? Okay, a little bit of oil. 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:15.420 This won't work. So the woman says, all I have is a little bit of oil and this shouldn't 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:19.340 work. Elijah says, oh, you got some little bit of oil. Go get vessels from all over. 00:29:19.340 --> 00:29:26.340 Let me show you what I can do. This is what we are heading for or aiming for. So sometimes 00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:33.740 it's better to just cut your head off and stick a cabbage there because it gets easier 00:29:35.340 --> 00:29:42.340 to think then. Because sometimes we're so used to thinking a certain way it becomes 00:29:42.460 --> 00:29:49.460 difficult. Any questions? All invitations from God, all invitations from God, all invitations 00:29:56.340 --> 00:30:03.340 from God will be divine enterprises that will involve the impossible. Always. So either 00:30:10.060 --> 00:30:17.060 we end up partaking in it or we will reduce it, compromise it, dilute it and make it doable 00:30:18.060 --> 00:30:25.060 without God. Don't be discouraged by this guys. It may be missing in your life but all 00:30:28.020 --> 00:30:32.620 you have to do is start tomorrow and say, oh God, please, too many things that I have, 00:30:32.620 --> 00:30:38.820 almost everything I have I can do. Everything I have, I have enough resources to at least 00:30:38.820 --> 00:30:45.820 start. Give me something that is impossible. Please, oh God, include me in who you are. 00:30:45.820 --> 00:30:52.820 Oh God, stir within me that which is so desirous of the supernatural that I don't even know 00:30:54.900 --> 00:31:01.900 it though it's still a part of me. And if we don't, this God can become quite uninteresting. 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:08.900 Yep. The right way of going forward would be first an admission that, oh God, I seem 00:31:21.860 --> 00:31:27.060 to step away from things that, I'm talking about myself now, I seem to step away from 00:31:27.060 --> 00:31:33.060 things that are impossible. It's not like I'm running towards it. So could you change 00:31:33.060 --> 00:31:38.020 how I am? Second, oh God, you're a God who, when I look at the Bible, any story in the 00:31:38.020 --> 00:31:44.580 Bible, you're a God who had divine enterprises, all of which had enough obstacles and enough 00:31:44.580 --> 00:31:51.580 impossibilities. Oh God, please give me a taste of what it is like. Start there. Once 00:31:52.580 --> 00:31:59.580 you start there, the rest of the sermon will help. What is the point of reasoning? The 00:32:07.420 --> 00:32:12.620 reasoning came in, rational and reasoning came in only after the fall, man. They didn't 00:32:12.620 --> 00:32:16.860 have any problem with faith and obedience before that. They didn't even need faith. 00:32:16.860 --> 00:32:22.300 They just knew how to obey. And once their eyes were open, rational kicked in, reasoning 00:32:22.300 --> 00:32:29.300 kicked in, skepticism kicked in, ways of thinking kicked in. Before it wasn't a problem. The 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:36.420 moment doubt entered, reasoning and rational had a role to play. We're trying to trace 00:32:39.500 --> 00:32:44.300 our way back and we'll never get there fully, but we want to get back to a place where it's 00:32:44.300 --> 00:32:51.300 natural to function and think like God. Yes, but just because I have a friend who may take 00:32:56.460 --> 00:33:02.500 me down a rabbit trail, am I to abandon the adventure of a lifetime with my father, who 00:33:02.500 --> 00:33:09.500 is far more powerful than the devil? I mean, I had one bad McDonald's burger 18 years ago. 00:33:14.460 --> 00:33:21.460 You think that stopped me? It should have. Sorry. Mike, talk to your wife. Okay, bad 00:33:29.540 --> 00:33:36.540 analogy. Yes, Satan can deceive. It's not like he can deceive at will. Yes, he can deceive, 00:33:39.100 --> 00:33:44.260 but my God, why would I miss out on an adventure with my father because I'm scared of a creator 00:33:44.420 --> 00:33:51.420 lesser being than God deceiving me? He would throw everything out then. We are trying to, 00:33:57.300 --> 00:34:04.300 while we wait for everything to be made new, we keep going back to the beginning. As in, 00:34:04.300 --> 00:34:11.300 what was it like when God walked with Adam before the fall? What was it like? Because 00:34:18.060 --> 00:34:21.260 that's where God is going. There will be a tree there and that tree will have leaves 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:26.540 for the healing of the nations. There will be a tree there and that tree will give life. 00:34:26.540 --> 00:34:31.820 There will be a God there and we will see him face to face. His dwelling will be with 00:34:31.900 --> 00:34:37.060 his people. There will be no sorrow. There will be no tears. There will be no pain. There 00:34:37.060 --> 00:34:44.060 will be no fears. If that's where we are heading, then how does the world taste it before it 00:34:44.460 --> 00:34:50.820 happens except through us? How can a God be shown as powerful and amazing and able and 00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:57.820 willing if there is nothing to prove that, that doesn't smell and taste like God? You 00:34:58.820 --> 00:35:05.820 know people should have, off view people should have the aroma of Yahweh. He didn't ask them 00:35:10.580 --> 00:35:14.100 to row across the Red Sea. He didn't ask them to build a bridge across the Red Sea. He blew 00:35:14.100 --> 00:35:20.900 me part of the Red Sea. Why? Because he's Yahweh. When he does something, it's so obviously 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:27.900 him. And you have no doubts. If guys like Musk and Steve Jobs can do stuff like that, 00:35:29.260 --> 00:35:36.260 surely God can put on the riz. God loves obstacles. This is unfortunate about our God, but here 00:35:36.260 --> 00:35:43.260 are three things He likes that you don't like. God loves obstacles, impossibilities, risks. 00:35:43.260 --> 00:35:50.260 Hallelujah. Not a whisper. God loves obstacles, impossibilities, and risks. He loves it. You 00:35:53.180 --> 00:36:00.180 know, if you're a Christian, you're a Christian, you're a Christian, you're a Christian, you're 00:36:00.180 --> 00:36:07.180 a Christian. Hallelujah. Not a whisper. God loves obstacles, impossibilities, and risks. 00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:18.980 He loves it. You know why He loves it? Because in the process, you get to discover Him. Everything 00:36:20.020 --> 00:36:27.020 that God does is not functional. It's relational first. Everything God does is relational. 00:36:31.180 --> 00:36:38.180 It's functional second. It's relational first. God loves obstacles. God loves impossibilities. 00:36:41.300 --> 00:36:48.300 God loves risks. Because that is where we discover what He wants to be. In heaven's 00:36:48.460 --> 00:36:55.020 language, risk must be present if fate is to grow. In heaven's language, risk must be 00:36:55.020 --> 00:37:02.020 present if fate is to grow. In heaven's language, risk must be present if fate is to grow. If 00:37:04.780 --> 00:37:11.780 there is no risk, there is no need for faith, and there is no need for growth. How can we 00:37:11.780 --> 00:37:18.780 get into this place except it be a divine enterprise that is beyond you? Crazy, eh? 00:37:27.180 --> 00:37:34.180 What a God. You half want to applaud Him and then you think, no, don't encourage Him. 00:37:41.780 --> 00:37:48.780 Guys, you know, we have this amazing thing called passion. And one of the ways passion 00:37:54.940 --> 00:38:01.940 is killed is when it partners with conventional thinking. Passion does not partner with conventional 00:38:02.100 --> 00:38:09.100 thinking. But when we force it to, we begin to lose our passion. So passion is not a thing 00:38:12.780 --> 00:38:19.780 that we can control. Often when I think of Dennis' wife Sharon, she's a woman with passion. 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:27.860 So can we just stretch our hands towards her and pray for her right now? Father, we just 00:38:27.860 --> 00:38:34.460 declare upon Sharon that the passion that is within her, that the passion that attracted 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:39.740 Dennis to her, that the passion that might be dormant now, today in the name of Jesus 00:38:39.820 --> 00:38:46.820 Christ, that it be stirred up not by us but by the Holy Spirit as we pray, that this volcano 00:38:47.100 --> 00:38:53.860 that has been dormant begin to now start brewing above, for the time has come for it to once 00:38:53.860 --> 00:38:59.540 again become active. So in the name of Jesus Christ right now, we stir up the passion with 00:38:59.540 --> 00:39:06.540 this woman today in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. You know, one of the things I remember them 00:39:09.820 --> 00:39:14.540 telling me, Dennis and Sharon telling me is that when I met their pastor in Dubai some 00:39:14.540 --> 00:39:21.540 time ago, same guy who pastored Jonathan also, one of the things that was prayed over them 00:39:21.700 --> 00:39:27.180 when they were sent to Vancouver was, I tithe you to Canada. And so they came here that 00:39:27.180 --> 00:39:30.780 way. Well then, you know what Elisha did with the tithe, right? He took it and he multiplied 00:39:30.780 --> 00:39:37.780 it and he fed a lot. Time to multiply these two fellows and distribute them. So I think 00:39:39.940 --> 00:39:46.940 that's the way it is. So let's define three things. Passion, trust, faith. Passion is 00:40:00.860 --> 00:40:07.860 a strong delight in the nature of God. And the second thing is that passion is a strong 00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:17.420 delight in the nature of God that governs you in your connection with him in certain 00:40:26.540 --> 00:40:33.540 areas or in all areas. In your relationship or your friendship or connection with God 00:40:34.220 --> 00:40:41.220 in areas or in all areas. Trust. Trust is confidence in the very words of God that he 00:40:48.140 --> 00:40:52.340 has spoken to you through the written word or through Ramah. Confidence in the very words 00:40:52.340 --> 00:40:59.340 of God. You have such confidence. That's trust. Then there's faith. Faith is the expectation 00:41:03.740 --> 00:41:10.740 and the certainty. Expectation and the certainty you have that his words are true. That his 00:41:23.340 --> 00:41:30.340 words are true even though there's no visible evidence. Even though there is no visible 00:41:33.620 --> 00:41:40.620 evidence, no evidence. Passion is a strong delight in the nature of God. Some of us have 00:41:45.660 --> 00:41:50.460 the ability to strongly delight in the entire nature of God. Some in a certain area. Some 00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:57.460 may have a strong delight in the healing of God. Some may have a strong delight in the 00:41:57.660 --> 00:42:04.660 provision of God. Some may have a strong delight in the generosity of God. Some may have a 00:42:05.260 --> 00:42:11.180 strong delight in many different areas. That's passion. You combine that with conventional 00:42:11.180 --> 00:42:18.180 thinking and it begins to die. It's like sucking the oxygen out of your passion. And then there's 00:42:19.100 --> 00:42:23.780 trust. Trust is the words that God has spoken to you. Words that he's spoken to you through 00:42:23.780 --> 00:42:27.860 the word. Words that he's spoken to you in dreams. Words that he's spoken to you prophetically. 00:42:27.860 --> 00:42:32.540 Words that he's spoken to you directly. However it be. Be the written word or words that you 00:42:32.540 --> 00:42:37.300 have received. It's the words that have been spoken to you. And you have real confidence 00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:44.300 in them. And then faith. Faith is the expectation or the certainty that the words he spoke are 00:42:46.820 --> 00:42:52.500 absolutely true. And you begin to do things even though there is no evidence of it. Here's 00:42:52.500 --> 00:42:57.220 a crazy thing about Abraham. Abraham believed his inheritance and began to go looking for 00:42:57.220 --> 00:43:03.500 it even though he did not know where he was going. That's crazy man. Abraham believed 00:43:03.500 --> 00:43:09.540 his inheritance. Hebrews 11 verse 8. God told him I'm giving you an inheritance. Abraham 00:43:09.540 --> 00:43:14.420 believed his inheritance and then went out to find it even though he did not know where 00:43:14.420 --> 00:43:21.420 he was going. Something's wrong with that sentence. How do you believe something and 00:43:21.820 --> 00:43:28.820 start going out to find it even though you're not, you don't know where you're going? That's 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:37.940 a principle of stewarding the impossible. Someone put it this way. I love this little 00:43:40.260 --> 00:43:47.260 line that someone wrote. If you do before you get it, you have to be a good steward. 00:43:51.420 --> 00:43:58.420 If you do before you get it, what you would do if you had it, you will be sure to get 00:44:14.220 --> 00:44:21.220 it. That's basically what Mark 11.23 says in other words. Whatever you ask for, you 00:44:21.420 --> 00:44:27.220 ask in prayer. Believe that you have received it and it shall be yours. This is just another 00:44:27.220 --> 00:44:33.420 way of saying it. If you do before you get it, what you would do if you had it, you will 00:44:33.420 --> 00:44:39.900 be sure to get it. Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it shall 00:44:39.900 --> 00:44:46.900 be yours. This is what Abraham did. He believed his inheritance and then went out to find 00:44:51.420 --> 00:44:58.420 it even though he did not know where he was going. But he found it. Come on man, we've 00:45:00.740 --> 00:45:06.540 got to live like this. Where we begin to show evidence of the faith we have even before 00:45:06.540 --> 00:45:13.540 we receive it because we know what's going to happen. Any questions? 00:45:22.060 --> 00:45:29.060 Developing faith, developing trust into faith is crucial to you and crucial to the Father. 00:45:31.180 --> 00:45:36.820 Every time he gives you a large enterprise to deal with, be it Hebrides 2.0, be it Richmond, 00:45:36.820 --> 00:45:41.180 every time God gives you something big to deal with, it is crucial to him and crucial 00:45:41.180 --> 00:45:48.180 to us that the words he speaks go from trust to faith even though there is no evidence 00:45:49.140 --> 00:45:54.540 for it. Because now that we know that we have been moved into Richmond to affect the city, 00:45:54.540 --> 00:46:00.380 we must therefore go and find it even though we do not know where we are going. And it's 00:46:00.380 --> 00:46:04.860 in that process that you stumble across maybe Trinity Western University or you stumble 00:46:04.860 --> 00:46:10.540 across a mayor or a former mayor who then opens up another door. It's in the going out 00:46:10.540 --> 00:46:17.540 that this happens. Any questions? 00:46:18.580 --> 00:46:23.700 This is the life you are being invited to. There is no other life besides this that God 00:46:23.700 --> 00:46:30.700 is inviting you to. We can settle for another life but it ain't got nothing to do with God. 00:46:33.860 --> 00:46:40.860 Any questions? Any difference of opinion, challenges? Or, yeah, do something like growl 00:46:40.860 --> 00:46:47.860 or something just so I know you are receiving. I can teach you. The growl or the teaching? 00:47:00.820 --> 00:47:07.820 Okay, thanks. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry, Diana, go ahead. Stop it. 00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:17.860 Yeah, if God has asked us to do something and we decide not to, here is the way a father 00:47:32.180 --> 00:47:35.700 deals with things. There are children who don't do something because they are scared. 00:47:35.700 --> 00:47:38.900 The children who don't do something because they didn't understand. The children who don't 00:47:38.940 --> 00:47:42.140 do something because they did not have someone else to walk with. And then there are children 00:47:42.140 --> 00:47:46.620 who don't do something because they were disobedient. It's the last category that usually misses 00:47:46.620 --> 00:47:53.620 out on stuff. Every other category usually finds something that can be redeemed, recovered, 00:47:55.260 --> 00:48:01.740 restored and restarted. But there is that fourth category of people that are stubborn 00:48:01.740 --> 00:48:08.740 and refuse out of disobedience, laziness. Those are the reasons that usually miss out. 00:48:09.460 --> 00:48:16.460 Not the other four or the other three categories. It's like any parent, right? And so if there 00:48:18.860 --> 00:48:23.460 are things that I have squandered, I go back and say, Father, can I have another shot at 00:48:23.460 --> 00:48:30.460 it? And I wait to see what he will say. And my, one of my responsibilities as the one 00:48:30.460 --> 00:48:37.460 shepherding this church is, can I make sure we don't miss it? And can I not care what 00:48:41.180 --> 00:48:48.180 people may say about the ridiculous things we take on? Because there are enough people 00:48:48.180 --> 00:48:55.180 saying that, saying other stuff. Okay, let's conclude. The vision of the church is to be 00:49:00.460 --> 00:49:07.460 vision is always bright and shiny. But it's in the process that you find confusion and 00:49:11.460 --> 00:49:18.460 chaos. Process can be confusing and chaotic. God is not the author of confusion or chaos, 00:49:18.460 --> 00:49:25.460 but it can still feel that way. The vision is always bright and shiny, but the process 00:49:28.740 --> 00:49:35.740 can be confusing and chaotic. And so in that process, he has one intent. Can I cultivate 00:49:35.740 --> 00:49:42.740 the joy of dependency in you? And so, in that process, he has one intent. Can I cultivate 00:50:05.740 --> 00:50:12.740 the joy of dependency in you? So one of the things I have to learn, I have to learn to 00:50:12.740 --> 00:50:19.740 receive under pressure. When things are being subtracted, to still receive under pressure. 00:50:36.740 --> 00:50:43.740 Instead of being discouraged. You know, we all know Exodus 33. In Exodus 33, there's 00:50:50.660 --> 00:50:57.100 an amazing conversation between Moses and God. But we don't realize that in Exodus 32, a 00:50:57.100 --> 00:51:04.100 golden castle is built. That the golden castle is torn down. That God is really upset. That 00:51:04.300 --> 00:51:09.380 he is saying to Moses, listen, I'm not even going with you. Or he's making statements 00:51:09.380 --> 00:51:15.180 to Moses like, Moses, let me start a new group of people through you. Let's just not deal 00:51:15.180 --> 00:51:19.700 with these stiff neck people. That's what God is saying. I'm not going with you. And 00:51:19.700 --> 00:51:26.700 Moses, instead of coming under pressure, that our shucks, everything is broken. Everything 00:51:27.120 --> 00:51:33.540 is undone. I was up the mountain and Israel was worshiping an idol. Instead of being undone, 00:51:33.540 --> 00:51:39.820 look at what he does. He begins to, he still is in a place where even under pressure, he's 00:51:39.820 --> 00:51:44.860 receiving from God. And what is he saying? He goes further. When things are being subtracted 00:51:44.860 --> 00:51:49.020 from him, he goes further. He says, it's not enough that you come with me. I'm glad that 00:51:49.020 --> 00:51:51.780 you're coming with me, but I want to push it a little further. Can you show me your 00:51:51.780 --> 00:51:58.780 glory? Who does that at a time like that, man? Believers do. When things are being taken 00:51:58.900 --> 00:52:03.900 away from me, when the very vision that was bright and shiny is not looking shiny. In 00:52:03.900 --> 00:52:08.380 fact, it's looking exactly the opposite. Things are not working out. Things are being taken 00:52:08.380 --> 00:52:13.620 away. Everything that was supposed to be glorious is being subtracted. At that time, know how 00:52:13.620 --> 00:52:19.500 to receive under pressure and say, oh God, now I am not satisfied with you just coming 00:52:19.500 --> 00:52:23.980 with me. Please, can I have a glimpse of your glory also? It's an increase instead of a 00:52:23.980 --> 00:52:29.500 decrease. Even the circumstances are decreasing. Man, if we had two or three people like that 00:52:29.500 --> 00:52:36.500 and if I could be one of those three people, this church would change. Which is to say 00:52:36.660 --> 00:52:43.660 I'm not, but I want to. But why would we have pressure if we don't have an impossible task? 00:52:53.980 --> 00:53:00.980 I'll stop in eight or nine minutes. I'm going to ask Matt to come up and share something. 00:53:09.260 --> 00:53:16.260 Guys, when you receive an initial idea from God, it's seldom the real one. The initial 00:53:17.260 --> 00:53:24.260 idea will excite you, but it's actually preparation for more. He does this very often. He'll give 00:53:26.060 --> 00:53:31.420 you an initial idea and it'll really be amazing, but just know that that's just drawing you 00:53:31.420 --> 00:53:38.420 in because it's much bigger than that. Israel had no clue that leaving Egypt on Passover 00:53:39.420 --> 00:53:46.420 would end up with so much land being given to them. They had no clue. Gideon did not 00:53:47.300 --> 00:53:52.260 know that if he tore down the altar of Baal in his father's garden that he would end up 00:53:52.260 --> 00:53:59.060 leading Israel into victory after victory after victory. Saul did not know that when 00:53:59.060 --> 00:54:06.060 he was struck off the horse that what awaited him was going to be very different. Yes, Ananias 00:54:06.220 --> 00:54:13.220 came and prophesied over him, but even that was not the end of it. Whatever we think we 00:54:15.780 --> 00:54:22.780 have right now is an invitation into more. So we want a plan forward whenever God invites 00:54:22.780 --> 00:54:29.780 us to do something, we want a plan forward. Here's the plan we need. We want a plan forward. 00:54:39.740 --> 00:54:44.980 Is there a God enterprise in the life of this church or in your life right now? Here's the 00:54:44.980 --> 00:54:51.980 plan. Plan Thanksgiving, plan rejoicing. We want a plan forward. We want a plan forward. 00:54:53.420 --> 00:55:00.420 Plan prayer. These three things will keep you at the center of its affection. It's the 00:55:01.660 --> 00:55:08.660 safest place when you're taking on a big divine assignment. We want a plan forward. Every 00:55:15.780 --> 00:55:21.580 time I want to plan a service at X-Many on a Sunday, I always remember this, that I don't 00:55:21.580 --> 00:55:25.460 want to plan forward that will make the service look good. My God, if I planned the service, 00:55:25.460 --> 00:55:29.300 do you think I'd call up Prosper and Chomi and these two girls and all these other young 00:55:29.300 --> 00:55:36.300 people? I wouldn't. God knows what they'll say. The plan is Thanksgiving, rejoicing and 00:55:39.780 --> 00:55:44.460 prayer because it brings you into alignment with God and puts you at the center of his 00:55:44.460 --> 00:55:51.460 affection. Anyone at the center of his affection functions well with him. Anyone at the center 00:55:52.060 --> 00:55:59.060 of God's affection functions well with him. That's what you should aim for. That's what 00:56:04.260 --> 00:56:09.860 Tuneer should aim for when he goes for his conference. That's what anybody going to do 00:56:09.860 --> 00:56:14.180 anything should aim for. Oh God, can you keep me at the center of your affection? A high 00:56:14.180 --> 00:56:20.140 plan, not how I'm going to schedule things. That can come second. What I plan is Thanksgiving, 00:56:20.300 --> 00:56:27.300 rejoicing and prayer. When you're at the center of the affection of God, it's very hard for 00:56:37.700 --> 00:56:44.700 people to shake you away. Two more principles. See the end from the beginning. If you want 00:56:44.700 --> 00:56:51.700 to steward the impossible, see the end from the beginning. What does that mean? Guys, 00:56:59.580 --> 00:57:03.900 miracles will only occur on the way. Moses did not need the Red Sea to open till he got 00:57:03.900 --> 00:57:10.900 to the Red Sea. Israel did not need manna till they got to the desert. But what normally 00:57:10.900 --> 00:57:17.900 happens is obstacles that appear at the beginning are threats to keep you from starting. Obstacles 00:57:18.860 --> 00:57:24.980 that appear in the beginning are threats to keep you from starting. Don't fall for it. 00:57:24.980 --> 00:57:31.980 Miracles happen after you begin to walk. They don't happen before. Conventional thinking 00:57:32.300 --> 00:57:39.300 wants things in advance. But miracles happen as you begin to walk. When you get to the 00:57:40.300 --> 00:57:47.020 Red Sea, then it will part. But the fear of the Red Sea not parting is what freezes me 00:57:47.020 --> 00:57:51.620 where I am. I freeze where I am because I can see the Red Sea at a distance. I have 00:57:51.620 --> 00:57:55.020 no guarantee that it will part. Give me a guarantee that it will part and I'll begin 00:57:55.020 --> 00:58:02.020 my walk. It does not work that way. These external threats are meant to prevent us from 00:58:02.020 --> 00:58:09.020 stepping out. In the Book of Proverbs it says, the lazy man does not go out because he thinks 00:58:15.260 --> 00:58:22.260 there's a lion in the streets. As you step out, it's not like the Red Sea will disappear. 00:58:32.020 --> 00:58:39.020 It will become even more real. Don't think that because you step out, the obstacle will 00:58:39.020 --> 00:58:46.020 disappear. No, the obstacle will become very real, but so will the provision. That's the 00:58:46.060 --> 00:58:53.060 crazy thing. It's not that the obstacle disappears. It's that the provision appears. You look 00:58:54.980 --> 00:59:01.980 at Elijah's life. Brook, Cherith dried up. It's not like water started flowing again. 00:59:02.700 --> 00:59:09.700 He was sent to a woman. There was a famine. It was not like the famine recovered. Ravens 00:59:12.780 --> 00:59:19.780 came with meat. Last point. The Red Sea is not part of the Red Sea. It is part of the 00:59:32.020 --> 00:59:39.020 Red Sea. Learn to exchange stuff. If you want to attempt the impossible, which is the only 00:59:41.580 --> 00:59:48.580 way God fortunately works, then learn to exchange things. When fear is present, because that's 00:59:51.820 --> 00:59:56.900 the one thing that is always present when we take risks, when we have obstacles, when 00:59:56.900 --> 01:00:03.900 things are impossible, when fear is present, know that God is waiting to attach you to 01:00:08.260 --> 01:00:15.260 perfect love. That's John 4.18. He's waiting to attach you to perfect love. Why? Because 01:00:15.260 --> 01:00:22.260 faith is a consequence of being loved. Anyone who is loved trusts easily. Where do you go 01:00:22.860 --> 01:00:29.860 when you're afraid? Return to first love. So what are we saying? Don't fight fear. Don't 01:00:36.660 --> 01:00:43.660 fight fear. Don't fight fear. Don't fight fear. Don't fight fear. Don't fight fear. 01:00:46.260 --> 01:00:53.260 Embrace his love. Isn't this what kids do always? What do you do when your kid is scared? 01:00:54.900 --> 01:01:00.580 You say, stop being scared. Psalm 139. It says that it doesn't matter that arrows fly 01:01:00.580 --> 01:01:06.020 at the right and the pestilence flies at the... Why are you so scared? You don't do that. 01:01:06.020 --> 01:01:11.580 As soon as the child is scared, what do you do? You help the child be embraced by love 01:01:11.660 --> 01:01:18.100 so that the fear begins to disappear. In impossible situations, always go for the exchange. Always 01:01:18.100 --> 01:01:25.100 go for the exchange. Whatever is said, if they say, ah, you're acting proud and pompous, 01:01:26.780 --> 01:01:33.780 exchange it for humility. If they say you're inadequate, go for 2 Corinthians 12. When 01:01:33.780 --> 01:01:40.780 I'm weak, then I'm strong, exchange it. There's plenty to exchange. When it's fear, he's waiting 01:01:43.700 --> 01:01:48.340 and here's the strange thing. God is waiting with the attachment. You just lost your arm, 01:01:48.340 --> 01:01:52.340 he's going to put a bionic arm on you. And it just so happens that the bionic arm is 01:01:52.340 --> 01:01:57.060 from 1 John 4, 18, which says, perfect love casts out fear. Come, Jacob, come into first 01:01:57.060 --> 01:02:03.620 love again. And as I go into first love, it's not even like I'm fighting fear. I'm embracing 01:02:03.620 --> 01:02:10.620 someone who now I'm able to trust because faith is a consequence of being loved. To 01:02:14.820 --> 01:02:21.820 walk in faith without being loved is so strenuous. Love is what makes someone able and willing. 01:02:21.820 --> 01:02:28.820 Without love, you only know he's able. You're not sure he's willing. Cool, we'll stop here. 01:02:32.540 --> 01:02:39.540 At the end of the day, my deep prayer is that, oh God, could you turn this church into a 01:02:39.780 --> 01:02:46.780 church that only does things that are impossible enterprises sent by you? And when you send 01:02:46.780 --> 01:02:53.780 them, is there a way, oh God, that I, Jacob, and other leaders here can get everybody, 01:02:57.420 --> 01:03:04.420 everybody engaged in tasting a supernatural God and the impossible so that we don't know 01:03:05.900 --> 01:03:12.900 any other way of living, but this becomes a preferred method of living. Go home, and 01:03:12.900 --> 01:03:19.900 take a hammer, shatter conventional thinking. Don't hit yourself on the head. It could 01:03:23.340 --> 01:03:30.340 be dangerous, but just shatter conventional thinking. Repent of it. Actually, don't repent 01:03:34.540 --> 01:03:41.060 of it. Exchange it. It's not sinful, but it's not kingdom. You know what happens when a 01:03:41.060 --> 01:03:48.060 group of people begin to march and some resist by preserving conventional thinking? It becomes 01:03:48.060 --> 01:03:48.300 a drag.