WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Wilderness Forty – Essential Service Publishing Date: 2020-08-23T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/wilderness-forty-essential-service/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 So we've been talking about Wilderness 40, 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:06.320 I think for the last three weeks, 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.600 and I think we've got another 20 days 00:00:08.600 --> 00:00:11.140 or three weeks left on the same topic. 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:13.760 So today, if you want a title for it, 00:00:13.760 --> 00:00:16.940 it's Wilderness 40 Essential Service. 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:20.500 Wilderness 40 Essential Service. 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:22.260 That's the title. 00:00:22.260 --> 00:00:24.680 Wilderness 40 Essential Service. 00:00:24.680 --> 00:00:27.580 So we were saying three weeks ago 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:32.580 that this is that time when the church needs to prepare 00:00:32.580 --> 00:00:35.020 for a post-COVID landscape. 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:37.340 Businesses are doing it, airlines are doing it, 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:39.480 nations are doing it, 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:41.700 but perhaps the only institution 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:44.140 that isn't necessarily planning for it, 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:46.780 because we are really enamored with Livestream now, 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:47.700 is the church. 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:50.300 And so we were saying that the post-COVID landscape 00:00:50.300 --> 00:00:51.860 has to be prepared for, 00:00:51.860 --> 00:00:53.620 and one of the ways we prepare it 00:00:53.620 --> 00:00:57.480 is by withdrawing into the wilderness like Jesus did. 00:00:58.320 --> 00:00:59.160 Where he spent 40 days and nights, 00:00:59.160 --> 00:01:01.880 and so if he followed the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:04.880 we drew aside, and like I said last week, 00:01:04.880 --> 00:01:08.200 it's fascinating how you guys have been taking time 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:11.720 to either fast or to draw aside 00:01:11.720 --> 00:01:14.580 in ways that I quite marvel at. 00:01:14.580 --> 00:01:16.080 And so why do we draw aside? 00:01:16.080 --> 00:01:18.600 We draw aside so that God can be revealed 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:20.600 like we've never seen him before, 00:01:20.600 --> 00:01:23.020 and that after these next three weeks, 00:01:23.020 --> 00:01:28.020 we return with power to seed or restore 00:01:28.580 --> 00:01:30.500 the post-COVID landscape that awaits. 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:35.500 Our intent is to seed the post-COVID landscape that awaits. 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:41.340 And different churches across the earth are doing this. 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:43.460 In India, in South Africa, in UK, 00:01:43.460 --> 00:01:44.820 I've been talking to the leaders there, 00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:47.260 and they are going down the same road. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:49.660 So we withdrew, 00:01:50.620 --> 00:01:55.620 because we were led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 00:01:55.900 --> 00:02:00.900 and we return with a fresh revelation of God. 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:09.420 We return with power. 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:15.180 We return to seed the post-COVID landscape 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:17.700 with what God wants. 00:02:17.700 --> 00:02:19.860 So what I wanna ask today, 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:24.860 or what I wanna plan for us as both a local church 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:26.460 and for churches around the earth, 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:28.180 what I wanna plan for us today 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:31.660 is when the next COVID comes along, 00:02:31.660 --> 00:02:34.500 how can we be an essential service? 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:36.820 Why is it that the church has labeled 00:02:36.820 --> 00:02:39.700 a non-essential service during a global crisis? 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:43.540 Why is it that the church has been labeled 00:02:43.540 --> 00:02:47.200 a non-essential service during a global crisis? 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.520 We should be an essential service, but we are not. 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:54.280 Anywhere on the earth, the church is a non-essential service. 00:02:56.160 --> 00:02:57.960 Doesn't matter which nation you take. 00:02:59.320 --> 00:03:01.960 And so why is the church labeled a non-essential service 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:04.840 during a global crisis? 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:08.920 And perhaps part of the reason can be found, 00:03:08.920 --> 00:03:11.400 and both the reason and the solution can be, 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:13.440 oh, Anne just texted saying, 00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:16.440 Dagmar is very happy to watch the service online, 00:03:16.440 --> 00:03:18.880 and thrilled that you mentioned that she came home. 00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:22.760 She says she had so many CD scans, PET scans, X-rays, 00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:25.560 three COVID tests, blood work, and still I made it. 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.000 She says thank you, Jesus, and thank you church 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:30.960 for praying for me, blessings. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:37.280 Okay, hey Anne, you didn't hear the church respond. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:42.280 It was very loud, and I can get away with it online. 00:03:46.720 --> 00:03:48.880 So why is the church a non-essential service? 00:03:48.880 --> 00:03:52.080 If you go to Matthew 5, turn to the message version, 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.200 Matthew 5, verse 15 and 16, 00:03:56.200 --> 00:03:58.640 perhaps that's one reason why the church 00:03:58.640 --> 00:03:59.880 is a non-essential service. 00:03:59.880 --> 00:04:03.240 In those scriptures, you perhaps have both the reason 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:04.640 and the solution. 00:04:04.640 --> 00:04:09.160 Matthew 5, 15 and 16, I'm reading from the message. 00:04:10.160 --> 00:04:14.160 And it says in Matthew 5, 15, 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:17.200 if I make you light-bearers, 00:04:17.200 --> 00:04:20.120 you don't think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket, do you? 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:22.640 I'm putting you on a light stand. 00:04:22.640 --> 00:04:24.560 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.600 on a light stand, shine. 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:29.640 Keep open house. 00:04:29.640 --> 00:04:32.080 I mean, it goes back to that Graham Kendrick song, 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:33.800 Shine Jesus, that we just sang. 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:35.320 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, 00:04:35.320 --> 00:04:36.880 on a light stand, shine. 00:04:36.880 --> 00:04:37.920 Keep open house. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.680 Be generous with your lives. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.840 By opening up to others, you'll prompt people 00:04:42.840 --> 00:04:45.720 to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:46.880 One more time. 00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:48.720 Matthew 5, 15 and 16 from the message. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:50.480 If I make you light-bearers, 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.080 you don't think I'm gonna hide you under a bucket, do you? 00:04:53.080 --> 00:04:55.160 I'm putting you on a light stand. 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:56.880 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, 00:04:56.880 --> 00:04:58.840 on a light stand, shine. 00:04:58.840 --> 00:04:59.840 Keep open house. 00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:01.600 Be generous with your lives. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:02.840 By opening up to others, 00:05:02.840 --> 00:05:05.120 you'll prompt people to open up with God, 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.680 this generous Father in heaven. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.720 So the thing is, guys, part of the reason 00:05:09.720 --> 00:05:11.880 that I believe the church is a non-essential service 00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:14.240 is because we are a light on a hilltop, 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:15.880 but we are covered with a bucket. 00:05:15.880 --> 00:05:17.440 I'm quite happy with that. 00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:20.840 And one of the ways we can prepare 00:05:20.840 --> 00:05:24.920 for a post-COVID landscape is by making sure 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:29.920 that we no longer, yep, sorry, use a different pen, okay. 00:05:30.280 --> 00:05:33.280 So that we no longer are hidden 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:38.720 and that we have open houses, 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:43.720 open lives, generous living, 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.720 shining light, light-bearers, 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:56.720 shining light, light-bearers. 00:06:00.280 --> 00:06:02.800 And we'll talk about all this, but here's the thing, guys. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.400 Whenever a church, whenever God talks about a church, 00:06:05.400 --> 00:06:08.620 he's talking about people, which then means 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.320 that we're not looking at an institution 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:11.480 that behaves this way. 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.040 We are looking at a group of people 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.120 who collectively behave this way. 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:20.920 And when a group of people collectively begins 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:25.920 to behave this way, you become essential 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:29.280 in your workplace, in your neighborhood, 00:06:29.280 --> 00:06:32.840 to your extended family, to your relatives, 00:06:32.840 --> 00:06:36.040 to the streets you live in, to the spheres you occupy, 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.520 to the strata in society that you hold, 00:06:38.520 --> 00:06:43.040 in the spheres of your influence, you become essential. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.680 That is how the church continues to be essential. 00:06:45.960 --> 00:06:48.360 That is how the church continues to be essential. 00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:53.480 What's happening now is a church will decide 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.480 through its pastors and through its ministries 00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:01.200 and professionals that we will distribute food out there, 00:07:01.200 --> 00:07:05.300 or we will take care of a few sick, or we will send money. 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:07.040 It's an institution that does that. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.280 The church will remain non-essential 00:07:09.280 --> 00:07:12.720 as long as it is not the saints that do the work. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.600 And where the church has failed 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:21.080 and is so unlike the New Testament church 00:07:21.080 --> 00:07:24.720 is that people don't necessarily recognize 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.800 that there is someone who follows Christ, 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.400 who is now essential to my life, 00:07:28.400 --> 00:07:29.600 who I cannot do without. 00:07:34.200 --> 00:07:36.520 I will never meet Mike and Karen's neighbors. 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:40.640 But Mike and Karen must begin to live their lives 00:07:40.640 --> 00:07:43.800 in a way that makes them absolutely essential 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:45.240 to their immediate neighbors. 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.680 I'll never meet the people who walk up 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:53.680 to Laurieann's desk at Lufthansa. 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:58.960 But in little things, she now becomes 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:00.960 absolutely essential to their lives. 00:08:02.440 --> 00:08:03.840 This is how the church moves 00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:06.000 from being non-essential to essential. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.440 Where we got stuck is that everything happens 00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:14.480 within these walls for two or three hours 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.920 on a Sunday run by professionals or run by clergy 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.600 or run by ministries that are paid 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:22.520 and nobody else participates. 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:25.400 Everybody just funds it or volunteers occasionally. 00:08:25.400 --> 00:08:28.080 And that will not cut it in today's world. 00:08:28.080 --> 00:08:28.920 It won't. 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:35.880 And so what we want to look at is, 00:08:35.880 --> 00:08:39.520 Father, what are the six or seven different things 00:08:39.520 --> 00:08:42.080 that we can begin to do so that we become 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:44.880 an absolutely essential service going forward 00:08:44.880 --> 00:08:47.280 that no one will ever label as non-essential? 00:08:48.680 --> 00:08:49.520 Any questions? 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:56.280 Any questions, guys? 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:04.040 Hey, it's okay for people to become highly dependent on you 00:09:04.040 --> 00:09:05.840 till they meet Christ and still continue 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:07.800 to be dependent on you as they grow. 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:09.520 Don't point them to Jesus immediately. 00:09:09.520 --> 00:09:10.640 Let them come to you. 00:09:13.640 --> 00:09:14.960 There's this thing we have in our heads 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.600 that if anybody comes to us, point them to Jesus. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:18.960 Jesus is invisible. 00:09:20.040 --> 00:09:20.920 You are visible. 00:09:20.920 --> 00:09:22.000 Let them come to you. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.040 Let them become heavily dependent on you. 00:09:24.040 --> 00:09:26.240 Let them meet Jesus and let them begin, 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.560 then begin to shift the weight of the person 00:09:28.560 --> 00:09:30.640 on your shoulder onto Jesus. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.840 Let them ask you for counsel. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.040 Let them ask you for help. 00:09:35.040 --> 00:09:36.360 Let them ask you for help. 00:09:36.760 --> 00:09:38.360 Let them ask you for counsel. 00:09:39.560 --> 00:09:41.040 You know what Malachi said? 00:09:41.040 --> 00:09:43.040 He said that knowledge should be found 00:09:43.040 --> 00:09:44.640 on the lips of the priests. 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:50.600 That it mediates between. 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.480 This is right, I won't take it back. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.900 I won't take it back. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:56.320 Yeah, so knowledge is found on the lips of the priest. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:57.680 Make people dependent on you. 00:10:57.680 --> 00:10:59.100 Don't shy away from it. 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:02.980 And then after they get dependent on you and you keep introducing Jesus to them, shift 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:03.980 them onto Jesus. 00:11:03.980 --> 00:11:09.220 It's the right way to go about stuff. 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:11.660 Let them come to you for healing. 00:11:11.660 --> 00:11:13.140 It's Jesus who wheels through you. 00:11:13.140 --> 00:11:14.700 Let them come to you for counsel. 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:17.020 It is the Holy Spirit who counsels through you. 00:11:17.020 --> 00:11:19.220 Let them come to you for help. 00:11:19.220 --> 00:11:20.860 You are God's gift to mankind. 00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:28.740 Sounds ridiculous, but it is true. 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:34.580 So let's look at a few ways that we can make ourselves an essential service to people around 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:35.580 us. 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:47.860 The first one is, guys, decide that we will reveal the Father's goodness and the zest 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:54.140 and His zest for life in all circumstances. 00:11:54.140 --> 00:11:59.700 That's where we start. 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:02.560 And this does not happen within the church. 00:12:02.560 --> 00:12:05.260 This happens outside the church. 00:12:05.260 --> 00:12:06.740 This does not happen within the church. 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:08.660 This happens outside the church. 00:12:08.660 --> 00:12:13.220 Every day, decide, guys, these are things we must covenant with because we're not playing 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:14.220 the fool here. 00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:19.900 We said that the Holy Spirit is leading us into the wilderness to prepare us for a post-COVID 00:12:19.900 --> 00:12:20.900 landscape. 00:12:20.900 --> 00:12:21.900 Businesses take it seriously. 00:12:21.900 --> 00:12:23.820 Air Canada is taking it seriously. 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:26.860 Trudeau's government is taking it seriously. 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:32.180 There is a time coming when things are going to be set right and it's a new world that 00:12:32.180 --> 00:12:34.420 is going to come up after COVID. 00:12:34.420 --> 00:12:36.700 And so how do you plan for it? 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:37.700 Sorry? 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:45.020 And a zest for life in all circumstances. 00:12:45.020 --> 00:12:47.340 And so we need to plan thoughtfully. 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:48.980 We need to plan with urgency. 00:12:49.020 --> 00:12:58.580 We need to plan with literally covenant in saying, Oh God, for this we have come. 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:07.060 Decide in your heart that in all your circumstances, and some of you have difficult circumstances, 00:13:07.060 --> 00:13:13.620 and that on a daily basis in all your circumstances, the Father's goodness, the Father's goodness 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:20.220 and his zest for life will be displayed by you in all circumstances. 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:24.660 That we will reveal the goodness and the zest of life that the Father has in all our circumstances. 00:13:24.660 --> 00:13:37.740 Remember guys, we've said this before, but he is unadulteratedly, intentionally, extravagantly 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:59.900 good and seeks opportunities every day to be that to me. 00:13:59.900 --> 00:14:02.900 This is hard to wrap our heads around, eh? 00:14:02.900 --> 00:14:04.680 This is not where we live. 00:14:04.680 --> 00:14:08.600 This is not where I live. 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:13.000 There are times during the day when circumstances begin to affect me that I do not think of 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.920 God like this. 00:14:15.920 --> 00:14:23.960 How I think of God is what the world sees of God. 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:28.880 The world does not need a God who may or may not be there in times of trouble. 00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:33.100 The world does not need a God who may or may not be behind a disaster. 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:36.700 The world does not need a God who may be good or may be bad. 00:14:36.700 --> 00:14:39.160 The world does not need a God who is neutral. 00:14:39.160 --> 00:14:48.700 There are plenty of institutions that offer the world that. 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:55.000 I have to wrap my head around this fact that, oh God, you as a Father are unadulteratedly, 00:14:55.000 --> 00:15:00.120 intentionally, extravagantly good to me, and you look for opportunities throughout the 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:07.780 that to me. 00:15:07.780 --> 00:15:11.900 When you read Matthew 7 verse 9 to 11, and I know you know these verses, but it is so 00:15:11.900 --> 00:15:14.220 important to keep going back to them. 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:18.460 Would you as a father give your son a stone when he asks for bread? 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:22.880 Would you as a father give your daughter a scorpion when she asks for an egg? 00:15:22.880 --> 00:15:27.820 Would you as a father give your child a serpent when he asks for a fish? 00:15:27.820 --> 00:15:33.260 If you being as evil as you are refuse to do that to your children, then why would I 00:15:33.260 --> 00:15:36.520 not give you good gifts? 00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:37.820 How many times? 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:40.160 As many times as is required. 00:15:40.160 --> 00:15:46.680 He has both an ability and a willingness to be good. 00:15:46.680 --> 00:15:49.360 It is not something he is because he is a father. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:54.900 It is something he is because he is. 00:15:54.900 --> 00:15:56.960 He did not have to have us to be good. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:15:58.860 He was good before he had us. 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.460 He did not need to have us because he needed fellowship. 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:06.200 He is a self-existent one who was quite happy, and as I often say, would have been as happy 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:14.260 as he is now if he had created just a walnut. 00:16:14.260 --> 00:16:15.260 Any questions? 00:16:15.260 --> 00:16:16.260 Any thoughts on that? 00:16:16.260 --> 00:16:17.700 Guys, you've got to wrap your heart around this. 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:21.400 It's very difficult to think of a God like this. 00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:26.620 One of the most successful ploys of the enemy is can we question God's goodness? 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.880 It started in the garden with Eve. 00:16:28.880 --> 00:16:30.100 Really? 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:31.780 You think he is that good? 00:16:31.780 --> 00:16:37.060 Don't you realize that what he is doing is just so you don't get to become like him? 00:16:37.060 --> 00:16:42.300 Suspicion cast on the face of God is an old trick. 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:46.720 The intent is always, can I whisper in your ear and convince you that he is not all that 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.720 he says he is? 00:16:51.720 --> 00:17:04.880 Yeah, how does it work that Christians are starving because of COVID? 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:13.320 Guys, like I always refer you to one of Jeevan's little boys in Nandigama, where he asked me 00:17:13.320 --> 00:17:19.480 a question, and this is a really poor kid who has a shirt with two buttons and a safety 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:21.240 pin. 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:25.200 He asks me, I'm telling them about how good God is, and he turns it on and says to me, 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:32.420 why is it that a good God has such poor, desperate children? 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.280 I told him I'd get back to him the next day because I didn't have an answer. 00:17:35.280 --> 00:17:41.960 It was a simple but ridiculously theological question. 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:47.360 The next day, I hear the story of what happened with this kid. 00:17:47.360 --> 00:17:50.240 He goes back to his room because it was a camp. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:52.360 A young kid, must be this small. 00:17:52.360 --> 00:17:53.360 How old was he, Jeevan? 00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:55.960 Eight, nine, ten? 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:56.960 Nine years old. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:58.920 So he has two shirts. 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:06.040 He gives one of his shirts to his friends who has a shirt that has absolutely no buttons. 00:18:06.040 --> 00:18:10.520 He gives his shirt with two buttons to his friend who has a shirt with no buttons because 00:18:10.520 --> 00:18:12.320 he has an extra shirt. 00:18:12.320 --> 00:18:19.960 Then he says to the child, the reason that God's children are poor is because God's rich 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:28.440 children do not share what they have with their poor children. 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:37.160 I always think that, and we'll come to that later, if I empty myself, there will be many 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:39.840 who will have enough. 00:18:39.840 --> 00:18:49.760 If we forgo one aircraft carrier, if we forgo three F-18s, if we forgo the Oculus Quest, 00:18:49.760 --> 00:18:55.720 if we forgo driving a decent car, there's no limit to how much can be provided. 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:57.400 I'm not asking that you forgo it. 00:18:57.400 --> 00:19:03.000 I'm just saying there are ways that the entire earth can be taken care of very easily. 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:08.640 Day before yesterday, the earth reached what is called, I forgot the name, it's something 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:16.240 like a zero point where the earth exceeded in consumption what it produces. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:18.760 It was on August 23rd. 00:19:18.760 --> 00:19:20.600 Last year it was on July 27th. 00:19:20.600 --> 00:19:24.040 In 1980, it was December 29th. 00:19:24.040 --> 00:19:25.040 Why? 00:19:25.040 --> 00:19:29.040 Because the earth is consuming more than it produces. 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:30.880 And they measure it every year. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:36.960 This year, two days ago, the earth had already consumed more than it produces. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:41.240 Because of COVID, we managed to eke out an extra month. 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:45.840 The point being that there will be no dearth. 00:19:45.840 --> 00:19:48.840 The New Testament church functioned like this, guys. 00:19:48.840 --> 00:19:52.280 Acts chapter two, verse 42, Acts chapter four, what does it say? 00:19:52.280 --> 00:19:54.000 They had no poor amongst them. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.280 Why didn't they have any poor amongst them? 00:19:56.280 --> 00:20:02.440 Because those that had brought their property, brought their monies together, and they laid 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.920 it at the apostles' feet so that it could be distributed. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:08.160 So that 2 Corinthians 8 may come to pass. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.240 And what does 2 Corinthians 8 say? 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:15.160 Those that went out to collect manna, nobody had too much, nobody had too less. 00:20:15.160 --> 00:20:19.680 And then it goes on to say that Paul says, listen Aaron, today let your plenty supply 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:26.120 Jacob's lack so that tomorrow Jacob's plenty will supply your lack. 00:20:26.120 --> 00:20:35.520 There is an economy in the New Testament that is crafted by God that can solve at least 00:20:35.520 --> 00:20:38.120 problems of poverty within the church. 00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:41.560 Whether the world will take it on is out of question, as far as I know. 00:20:41.560 --> 00:20:46.520 But in the church it can work. 00:20:46.520 --> 00:20:52.760 Guys, besides being good, God has a zest for life. 00:20:52.760 --> 00:20:54.960 God has a zest for life. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:59.000 Participate in the glorious aliveness of the Father. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.560 Participate in the glorious aliveness of the Father. 00:21:01.560 --> 00:21:05.120 We don't, we don't. 00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:07.600 Participate in the glorious aliveness of the Father. 00:21:07.600 --> 00:21:13.040 This is the only way that a post-COVID world will see that God is different from what he 00:21:13.040 --> 00:21:16.600 used to be before COVID hit. 00:21:16.600 --> 00:21:20.800 John 1, 4 says that in him was life and that life was a light of man. 00:21:21.280 --> 00:21:26.760 It should show there's an aliveness that comes when you participate with the Father. 00:21:26.760 --> 00:21:27.840 He's a life giver. 00:21:27.840 --> 00:21:30.280 You have no idea how much God loves life. 00:21:30.280 --> 00:21:33.800 How much he loves beetles, how much he loves birds, how much he loves colors, how much 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:36.800 he loves sky, how much he loves leaves. 00:21:36.800 --> 00:21:42.040 When he began to create the morning stars began to sing and the angels sang, he loves 00:21:42.040 --> 00:21:43.040 life. 00:21:43.040 --> 00:21:45.640 This is something about Tate that I always think of. 00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:52.440 Whenever I think of Tate, the first thing that comes to mind is that boy loves life. 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:58.320 And that if he steps into a forest, the birds will start to sing. 00:21:58.320 --> 00:22:01.160 Will the trees clap their hands and will the birds begin to sing? 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:06.400 Will the animals do cartwheels when you enter a forest? 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:11.120 Because there is something about God's life that if it is in you and you begin to explore 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:16.560 and express will cause nature to resonate. 00:22:16.560 --> 00:22:21.240 Participate in the aliveness, in the glorious aliveness of the Father. 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:25.080 He has such a zest for life. 00:22:25.080 --> 00:22:33.120 C.S. Lewis in his book, The Magician's Nephew, writes about Aslan the lion standing and 00:22:33.120 --> 00:22:35.280 beginning to sing. 00:22:35.280 --> 00:22:42.760 And as he begins to sing, when he has deep tones in his singing, suddenly you see trees 00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:46.000 begin to spring up on the edge of the hills. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:50.840 And then when there are these lilting tones in Aslan's voice, roses begin to spring up. 00:22:50.840 --> 00:22:53.240 And then Aslan makes this amazing statement. 00:22:53.240 --> 00:22:59.760 He says, creatures, I give you yourselves, said the strong happy voice of Aslan. 00:22:59.760 --> 00:23:02.200 I give to you forever this land of Narnia. 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:03.200 I give you the woods. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:04.200 I give you the fruits. 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.200 I give you the rivers. 00:23:06.120 --> 00:23:07.120 I give you the earth. 00:23:07.120 --> 00:23:12.880 And I give you myself. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.480 I give yourself. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.560 I give you yourselves. 00:23:16.560 --> 00:23:20.480 The greatest gift you have guys is your life. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.680 Just imagine it because I have life. 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:28.600 I can discover the Father and I can discover him to the same extent that Jesus discovered 00:23:28.600 --> 00:23:31.600 him. 00:23:31.600 --> 00:23:36.840 It is the greatest gift you can get. 00:23:36.840 --> 00:23:39.600 Life itself is such a precious gift. 00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:44.040 At some point he said, Jacob, I give you Jacob. 00:23:44.040 --> 00:23:45.200 And he released me. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.400 He willed me into existence. 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:52.880 And when I turned away from him, he went to Ezekiel 16, 6, found me lying in my blood 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.800 and he looked at me, picked me up and he said, live. 00:23:55.800 --> 00:23:58.640 And I began to live again. 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:07.120 There is a zest to God's life that we possess that the earth must begin to see. 00:24:07.120 --> 00:24:11.880 They must begin to see it guys. 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:19.640 And then the creatures and the mountains and the hills begin to respond back to Aslan. 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:20.640 I give you yourself. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:24.200 Jacob, I give you Jacob. 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:28.840 That I exist is a gift because I am able to know the Father like the Son knows him. 00:24:28.840 --> 00:24:34.120 You should read Matthew 11, 28 from the message. 00:24:34.120 --> 00:24:36.160 It kind of gets you the meaning of it. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:42.640 Matthew 11, 28 from the message. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:47.720 Sometimes the message captures certain things that are so beautiful. 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.920 Verse 27, sorry. 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:57.080 Jesus resumed talking to the people but now tenderly. 00:24:57.080 --> 00:25:00.520 The Father has given me all these things to do and say. 00:25:00.520 --> 00:25:04.040 This is a unique Father-Son operation. 00:25:04.040 --> 00:25:07.360 Coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. 00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:11.080 No one knows the Son the way the Father does nor the Father the way the Son does. 00:25:11.080 --> 00:25:13.840 And I love this next line but I'm not keeping it to myself. 00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:17.560 I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen. 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:24.560 So that we begin to taste, savor, enjoy for the rest of eternity the discovery of the 00:25:24.560 --> 00:25:27.560 life of the Father. 00:25:27.560 --> 00:25:37.560 Begin to express or reveal the goodness of God. 00:25:37.560 --> 00:25:44.560 But first begin to walk in the presence of the Father. 00:25:44.560 --> 00:25:49.560 You cannot ever display anything that isn't working in your lab. 00:25:49.560 --> 00:25:54.560 And your circumstances really don't matter guys when it comes to these things. 00:25:54.560 --> 00:25:59.560 The unadulterated intentional extravagant goodness of God and his ability and willingness 00:25:59.560 --> 00:26:02.560 to do it again and again and again and again. 00:26:02.560 --> 00:26:05.560 Second, his zest for life. 00:26:05.560 --> 00:26:06.560 His zest for life. 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:07.560 You must capture it. 00:26:07.560 --> 00:26:08.560 It is within you. 00:26:08.560 --> 00:26:14.560 I sometimes think that decay and death is brought into our lives through two things 00:26:14.560 --> 00:26:15.560 since the beginning of time. 00:26:15.560 --> 00:26:19.560 Through rebellion and through distorted sexuality. 00:26:19.560 --> 00:26:22.560 It has always been the case. 00:26:22.560 --> 00:26:23.560 First there was rebellion. 00:26:23.560 --> 00:26:26.560 I mean can you imagine what life in Eden was? 00:26:26.560 --> 00:26:27.560 Can you imagine it? 00:26:27.560 --> 00:26:32.560 If things were in Eden, if things were in the West, if things were in the West, if things 00:26:32.560 --> 00:26:37.560 were in the West, if things were in the West, if things were in the West, if things were 00:26:37.560 --> 00:26:46.560 in the West, if things are as beautiful as they are right now, what was it in Eden? 00:26:46.560 --> 00:26:57.560 What did BC look like before the fall if it looks as stunning as it is now? 00:26:57.560 --> 00:27:06.560 If you can't handle my handsomeness now, imagine what it was like before the fall. 00:27:06.560 --> 00:27:09.560 You're supposed to laugh at that. 00:27:09.560 --> 00:27:13.560 I'll hold up a gun. 00:27:13.560 --> 00:27:20.560 So guys, rebellion and distorted sexuality always has the ability to mutate the essence 00:27:20.560 --> 00:27:23.560 of who God made you. 00:27:23.560 --> 00:27:29.560 Rebellion was used in Genesis 1 and it just mutated the essence of who Adam was, the essence 00:27:29.560 --> 00:27:30.560 of who Eve was. 00:27:30.560 --> 00:27:35.560 And then in Genesis 6, there's such a distortion of sexuality. 00:27:35.560 --> 00:27:41.560 And by the, I mean, I'm talking about, it doesn't matter whether it's heterosexual, 00:27:41.560 --> 00:27:44.560 bisexual, homosexual, it doesn't matter. 00:27:44.560 --> 00:27:51.560 Once sexuality was distorted in Genesis 6, it somehow damaged the essence of man. 00:27:51.560 --> 00:27:53.560 And with it comes such decay. 00:27:53.560 --> 00:28:00.560 And decay is one thing, but the abject sadness that descends upon a human when that happens 00:28:00.560 --> 00:28:03.560 is unfathomable, guys. 00:28:03.560 --> 00:28:12.560 And the only way to deal with that is to disguise it in falsehoods and expressions that supposedly 00:28:12.560 --> 00:28:15.560 make a few nerves in your body feel better. 00:28:15.560 --> 00:28:17.560 That's about it. 00:28:21.560 --> 00:28:24.560 Hey Christians, you're a different species, man. 00:28:24.560 --> 00:28:30.560 You've got to recapture the zest for life that God as Father has given you. 00:28:30.560 --> 00:28:32.560 We must show it, eh? 00:28:32.560 --> 00:28:37.560 And please don't show it in here, because I already know you belong to him. 00:28:37.560 --> 00:28:39.560 Show it out there. 00:28:40.560 --> 00:28:43.560 I mean, show it here, but it's only for two hours. 00:28:46.560 --> 00:28:51.560 I knew a preacher, I could never stand it, and I'd usually be sitting in the front row 00:28:51.560 --> 00:28:54.560 because I was a guest speaker, and he would have the entire church go, 00:28:54.560 --> 00:28:56.560 all right now, let's be joyful. 00:28:56.560 --> 00:28:59.560 And then everyone gets ready. 00:28:59.560 --> 00:29:01.560 And then he would go, repeat after me. 00:29:01.560 --> 00:29:04.560 And so everybody had to repeat, ha ha. 00:29:07.560 --> 00:29:10.560 And then I'd be sitting in the front row, and the cameras are usually on you 00:29:10.560 --> 00:29:11.560 if you're the guest speaker, right? 00:29:11.560 --> 00:29:13.560 So you have to go, ha ha. 00:29:13.560 --> 00:29:15.560 And then, ha ha ha ha ha. 00:29:15.560 --> 00:29:18.560 And then the entire church will go, ha ha ha ha ha. 00:29:18.560 --> 00:29:19.560 And this is the joy of the Lord. 00:29:19.560 --> 00:29:22.560 That is not what this means. 00:29:24.560 --> 00:29:26.560 Thank God I don't try it here, eh? 00:29:26.560 --> 00:29:30.560 Guys, this week, can you decide? 00:29:30.560 --> 00:29:32.560 I mean, every week we've had homework. 00:29:32.560 --> 00:29:33.560 This is your homework this week. 00:29:33.560 --> 00:29:36.560 Can you this week hear him sing over you? 00:29:36.560 --> 00:29:39.560 Can you this week hear him sing over you? 00:29:39.560 --> 00:29:43.560 When you get up in the morning, can you turn to Zephaniah 3.17 00:29:43.560 --> 00:29:47.560 and allow God to do what he says in Zephaniah 3.17? 00:29:47.560 --> 00:29:50.560 I know it's a very popular verse. 00:29:50.560 --> 00:29:55.560 Zephaniah 3.17, it says there, 00:29:55.560 --> 00:30:00.560 Your God is present among you, a strong warrior, there to save you, 00:30:00.560 --> 00:30:01.560 happy to have you back. 00:30:01.560 --> 00:30:04.560 He'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs, 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:08.560 or he'll sing over you with delight. 00:30:08.560 --> 00:30:10.560 Can you this week, every morning, 00:30:10.560 --> 00:30:12.560 I always have a head start on you guys, 00:30:12.560 --> 00:30:15.560 because I know what I'm going to preach. 00:30:15.560 --> 00:30:18.560 So this week, can you hear him sing over you? 00:30:18.560 --> 00:30:21.560 Go and ask him, Father, so what are you singing over me today? 00:30:21.560 --> 00:30:24.560 Go and ask him, Father, so what are you singing over me today? 00:30:24.560 --> 00:30:28.560 I had the strangest thing that he sang over me today. 00:30:28.560 --> 00:30:33.560 He sang over me saying, Jacob, you're faithful. 00:30:33.560 --> 00:30:36.560 I'm thinking to myself, but that's what I say to you, 00:30:36.560 --> 00:30:39.560 that you are faithful, and here is God saying to me, 00:30:39.560 --> 00:30:41.560 hey, Jacob, you are faithful. 00:30:41.560 --> 00:30:44.560 Faithful you are, and faithful you've been all these years. 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:45.560 You are faithful. 00:30:45.560 --> 00:30:48.560 You know what that does to you when God begins to say stuff like that? 00:30:48.560 --> 00:30:51.560 It does the same thing to you that a parent does to a child 00:30:51.560 --> 00:30:53.560 when the parent looks at the child and says, 00:30:53.560 --> 00:30:56.560 you're the best thing that happened to me. 00:30:56.560 --> 00:30:59.560 Rips your heart off, polishes it, puts it back, 00:30:59.560 --> 00:31:04.560 and you become like the Iron Man with a new thingy. 00:31:04.560 --> 00:31:08.560 That was a bad example, but it was supposed to go the right way. 00:31:08.560 --> 00:31:10.560 Go ahead. 00:31:10.560 --> 00:31:11.560 Yep. 00:31:11.560 --> 00:31:13.560 You want to use the mic? 00:31:13.560 --> 00:31:15.560 Yeah, you do, because you usually say, please use the mic. 00:31:15.560 --> 00:31:18.560 Come, use the mic. 00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:30.560 No, you have to come and stand here, because otherwise people won't hear. 00:31:30.560 --> 00:31:34.560 Yeah, I mean, do it for the sake of others. 00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:37.560 Bless you is going to come and stand with me. 00:31:37.560 --> 00:31:40.560 All right. 00:31:40.560 --> 00:31:45.560 When we were singing earlier, your presence is heaven to me, 00:31:45.560 --> 00:31:49.560 because Jacob was talking about God singing back, 00:31:49.560 --> 00:31:54.560 and the fact that you're singing in the same way that I am, 00:31:54.560 --> 00:31:57.560 and I'm not saying that you're singing in the same way that I am, 00:31:57.560 --> 00:32:00.560 but I'm saying that you're singing in the same way that I am, 00:32:00.560 --> 00:32:03.560 and I'm talking about God singing back, 00:32:03.560 --> 00:32:11.560 and God repeated that right back, like your presence is heaven to me, 00:32:11.560 --> 00:32:15.560 and I wasn't quite sure what to do with that, 00:32:15.560 --> 00:32:19.560 so I'm still working on that, but that was what it was. 00:32:19.560 --> 00:32:21.560 Thank you. 00:32:21.560 --> 00:32:24.560 Guys, whenever someone makes a statement like this, 00:32:24.560 --> 00:32:28.560 you have to go and see, is there a scripture to substantiate it? 00:32:28.560 --> 00:32:31.560 There are so many places in the Bible where God turns to his people, 00:32:31.560 --> 00:32:34.560 and he says, you are my portion. 00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:37.560 We always think he is our portion, and it is true, 00:32:37.560 --> 00:32:40.560 but he so many times turns to us and says, but you are my portion. 00:32:40.560 --> 00:32:46.560 You are my inheritance. 00:32:46.560 --> 00:32:51.560 So this week, every morning, get up and ask, not get up and ask, 00:32:51.560 --> 00:32:53.560 get up and hear what he's singing over you. 00:32:53.560 --> 00:32:55.560 Write it down. 00:32:55.560 --> 00:32:57.560 Don't be surprised if it is really good, 00:32:57.560 --> 00:33:04.560 because he has a better opinion of me than I do of myself. 00:33:04.560 --> 00:33:08.560 And as you go through this process over the next seven days, 00:33:08.560 --> 00:33:15.560 you'll find that it stirs up in you the aroma of life that Yahweh has given you. 00:33:15.560 --> 00:33:19.560 It stirs up in you the aroma of life. 00:33:19.560 --> 00:33:24.560 When God begins to do this, it's literally like stirring up the aroma of life in you. 00:33:24.560 --> 00:33:29.560 If you go to 2 Corinthians 2.15, it talks about that, 2 Corinthians 2.15. 00:33:29.560 --> 00:33:32.560 Again, unless I tell you I'm reading from the message, 00:33:32.560 --> 00:33:36.560 not because it's my favorite version, but it's just clicking today. 00:33:36.560 --> 00:33:38.560 2 Corinthians 2.15. 00:33:38.560 --> 00:33:42.560 Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, 00:33:42.560 --> 00:33:45.560 which is recognized by those on the way of salvation, 00:33:45.560 --> 00:33:50.560 an aroma redolent, how do you pronounce R-E-D-O-L-E-N-T? 00:33:50.560 --> 00:33:52.560 Redolent with life. 00:33:52.560 --> 00:33:57.560 Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, 00:33:57.560 --> 00:34:00.560 which is recognized by those on the way of salvation, 00:34:00.560 --> 00:34:02.560 an aroma redolent with life. 00:34:02.560 --> 00:34:04.560 Beautifully. 00:34:04.560 --> 00:34:09.560 The second thing is we will reveal the Son. 00:34:09.560 --> 00:34:14.560 The first is we will reveal the Father's goodness and a zeal for life. 00:34:14.560 --> 00:34:18.560 The next one is we will reveal the Son. 00:34:18.560 --> 00:34:26.560 We will reveal the Son, displaying His works by the Spirit. 00:34:26.560 --> 00:34:34.560 We will reveal the Son, displaying His works, displaying His... 00:34:34.560 --> 00:34:37.560 Hey, Derek, we need new pens, man. 00:34:37.560 --> 00:34:42.560 Displaying His works by the Spirit. 00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:44.560 We will reveal the Son. 00:34:44.560 --> 00:34:45.560 What are we saying? 00:34:45.560 --> 00:34:46.560 We will reveal the Son. 00:34:46.560 --> 00:34:47.560 What are we saying? 00:34:47.560 --> 00:34:51.560 Hey, for a post-COVID landscape, the church has to behave differently. 00:34:51.560 --> 00:34:53.560 It must reveal the works of the Son. 00:34:53.560 --> 00:34:55.560 It must reveal the works of the Son. 00:34:55.560 --> 00:34:59.560 Words ain't enough. 00:34:59.560 --> 00:35:05.560 And anyways, all of Jesus' words were backed up by His works. 00:35:05.560 --> 00:35:08.560 We will reveal the Son, displaying His works by the Spirit. 00:35:08.560 --> 00:35:11.560 Luke chapter 7, 19 to 22. 00:35:11.560 --> 00:35:14.560 Luke 7, 19 to 22. 00:35:14.560 --> 00:35:15.560 Here's what's happening. 00:35:15.560 --> 00:35:17.560 John the Baptist is in prison. 00:35:17.560 --> 00:35:21.560 He sends two of his disciples to check with Jesus, 00:35:21.560 --> 00:35:25.560 because he's hearing things about Jesus that aren't fitting with his Jewish mindset. 00:35:25.560 --> 00:35:29.560 And so he sends two people to ask Jesus, are you the real Messiah? 00:35:29.560 --> 00:35:31.560 And so here is Jesus' reply. 00:35:31.560 --> 00:35:35.560 He says, tell John what you have seen and heard. 00:35:35.560 --> 00:35:40.560 The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised. 00:35:41.560 --> 00:35:44.560 The poor have God's salvation, hospitality extended to them. 00:35:54.160 --> 00:35:55.560 One more time. 00:35:55.560 --> 00:35:58.560 Tell John what you have seen and heard. 00:36:07.560 --> 00:36:09.560 The post-COVID world must see. 00:36:09.560 --> 00:36:13.320 world must see through this church and through other churches the works of God 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:17.000 by the power of the Spirit of God. The only way to let that happen is to 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:21.640 actually risk it and to be foolish. If you're not foolish it will not happen. 00:36:21.640 --> 00:36:27.220 That's what happens when you play cricket. If you're not foolish it does 00:36:27.220 --> 00:36:36.840 not happen. Hey, pray over anything that moves that has a disease. Ask but pray. 00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:48.880 Your batting average goes up like crazy when you bat more. Whenever I come to 00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:54.800 this verse I look at Marcus and I think to myself, my God I don't need proof. 00:36:54.800 --> 00:37:13.120 God can do anything. She started already I got another 20 minutes to go. I mean 00:37:13.120 --> 00:37:20.320 Marcus was lying dead outside the pavement and God raised him back to life 00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:27.200 after three, three and a half minutes. After seeing that anything is possible. 00:37:32.080 --> 00:37:36.520 Go to Matthew 10 verse 7 and 8. Hey Marcus do you share it with people? What 00:37:36.520 --> 00:37:43.040 happens to them when you share it? Like when you when you say to people what is 00:37:43.040 --> 00:37:47.560 the reaction? I've never been there when you're talking to somebody about it. 00:37:47.560 --> 00:38:00.320 It's crazy man. 00:38:17.560 --> 00:38:25.440 I know that's special treatment only for you Diana. So Matthew 10 I just want to 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.600 go through some scriptures that reveals the Sun and how we reveal the Sun by 00:38:30.600 --> 00:38:33.440 displaying his works because these are commands given to us in the Bible. 00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:42.600 Matthew 10 verse 7 and 8. As you go preach this message. The kingdom of 00:38:42.600 --> 00:38:48.280 heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead. Cleanse those who have leprosy. 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:53.760 Drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. It is not a 00:38:53.760 --> 00:39:00.640 suggestion, it's a command. As you go preach this message. The kingdom of 00:39:00.640 --> 00:39:05.080 heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead. Cleanse those who have leprosy. 00:39:05.080 --> 00:39:11.880 Drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Mark 16, 17 and 18. 00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:23.200 Mark 16, 17 and 18. Familiar passage. And these signs will accompany those who 00:39:23.200 --> 00:39:27.040 believe. In my name they will drive out demons. They will speak in new tongues. 00:39:27.040 --> 00:39:30.560 They will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison 00:39:30.560 --> 00:39:34.760 it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on sick people and they will 00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:43.320 get well. Everything is a will not a perhaps. They will get well. This is how 00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:48.520 you show a post-COVID world a church or a people that become essential to 00:39:48.520 --> 00:39:55.480 livelihood and living. Let's look at another scripture. Acts chapter 10 verse 00:39:55.680 --> 00:40:08.800 38. Another familiar passage. Acts chapter 10 verse 38. How God anointed 00:40:08.800 --> 00:40:14.120 Jacob of Vancouver with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing 00:40:14.120 --> 00:40:18.200 good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with 00:40:18.200 --> 00:40:24.780 him. Do you doubt that? I don't. How God anointed Jacob of Vancouver with the 00:40:24.780 --> 00:40:30.060 Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing good and healing all who 00:40:30.060 --> 00:40:34.740 were under the power of the devil because God was with him. You have to 00:40:34.740 --> 00:40:38.420 take that scripture and put your name there because of the Christ who lives in 00:40:38.420 --> 00:40:45.060 you. Go over these scriptures again and again so that in your heart you know 00:40:45.060 --> 00:40:49.140 that aha I must reveal the Son by displaying his works done through the 00:40:49.140 --> 00:40:55.940 Holy Spirit. Let's look at another one. Acts 26 verse 17 and 18. Acts 26 verse 17 00:40:55.940 --> 00:41:06.460 and 18. Acts 26 17 and 18. I will rescue you from your own people and from the 00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:10.660 Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from 00:41:10.660 --> 00:41:14.580 darkness to light from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive 00:41:14.580 --> 00:41:18.600 forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. 00:41:18.600 --> 00:41:22.640 These are some of the mandates given us and the next one I really like because 00:41:22.640 --> 00:41:27.320 it follows right after Jesus finishes 40 days in the wilderness. Luke chapter 4 00:41:27.320 --> 00:41:34.040 verse 18 and 19. Luke chapter 4 verse 18 and 19. It's drawn from Isaiah 61 with a 00:41:34.040 --> 00:41:38.400 few changes because it's the year of God's favor. Luke chapter 4 verse 17 00:41:38.400 --> 00:41:42.600 onwards. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it he found 00:41:42.600 --> 00:41:47.760 the place where it is written. The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has 00:41:47.760 --> 00:41:52.520 anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom 00:41:52.520 --> 00:41:56.480 for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to 00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:59.960 proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it 00:41:59.960 --> 00:42:06.280 back to the attendant and sat down. These are the works of God. They reveal the 00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:10.980 Son. What happens when we go down this route guys is that in the process of 00:42:10.980 --> 00:42:14.680 revealing the Son through the works of God, men are drawn to Jesus Christ 00:42:14.680 --> 00:42:19.960 because he is lifted up. The Spirit of God begins to flow because he's been 00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:24.440 pleading saying Jacob out of you shall flow rivers of living water. Can you go 00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:29.500 and do something? And then the third thing is in the process of revealing the 00:42:29.500 --> 00:42:33.240 Son you always reveal the Father because it's in the revealing of the Son that 00:42:33.240 --> 00:42:38.840 the Father is revealed. Any questions? 00:42:39.680 --> 00:42:45.560 Any questions? Guys we've got to be really... 00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:54.200 It's like being a salesman who's so convinced about what he's selling and 00:42:54.200 --> 00:43:01.280 he'll do anything to prove to people that this product works. It's not because 00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:05.940 he's getting a commission, not because his father happens to have invented the 00:43:05.940 --> 00:43:14.780 product. Anything that is damaged, diseased, demonized, decaying or dying 00:43:14.780 --> 00:43:24.820 requires your touch. Anything that is damaged, diseased, decaying, demonized or 00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:30.940 dying requires your touch. Why? Because you now participate in the glorious 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:35.620 aliveness of the Father and you have become a life-giver because you draw 00:43:35.620 --> 00:43:41.220 your life from him. You become the reservoir through which he flows. 00:43:48.060 --> 00:43:55.700 You're trying to say something Betty? Was that a worldly song? 00:43:55.700 --> 00:44:11.580 Okay, moving on. The next thing is guys we need to learn to think, inhabit and 00:44:11.580 --> 00:44:20.860 display the keeping power of God. We need to learn to think, inhabit and display the 00:44:20.860 --> 00:44:32.340 keeping power of God. We need to think, learn, inhabit and display the keeping 00:44:32.340 --> 00:44:41.860 power of God. Oh man I wish the church had learned this before COVID. We've 00:44:41.860 --> 00:44:48.540 always been a people who are supposed to keep others. We are people who have been 00:44:49.540 --> 00:44:53.900 One of the favorite things that God would say throughout the Old Testament is, 00:44:53.900 --> 00:44:57.580 I will keep you, I will keep you, I will keep you. We were supposed to be ones 00:44:57.580 --> 00:45:01.740 that keep God. The Old Testament and the New Testament have stories of being kept 00:45:01.740 --> 00:45:09.900 by the people of God. You go to Goshen, Exodus 822. How do we do this? We do it 00:45:09.900 --> 00:45:16.300 by the word of a mouth, by faith, by practice. Not word of a mouth, by the word. 00:45:16.300 --> 00:45:21.740 It is possible to become a people that others run to in times of trouble 00:45:21.740 --> 00:45:27.500 because in you is refuge because of the one who is the great refuge. In you is a 00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:32.940 hiding place because you have made him your hiding place. People come to use for 00:45:32.940 --> 00:45:52.580 safety. Exodus 822. But on that day I will deal differently with the land of 00:45:52.580 --> 00:45:56.940 Goshen where my people live. No swarms of flies will be there so that you will 00:45:56.940 --> 00:46:05.820 know that I the Lord am in this land. Where is that God man? Look at the words 00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:23.260 he's using. I will make a difference and I will show you I am in the land. A place 00:46:23.260 --> 00:46:35.380 of safety. But the church has been rendered almost as fearful as any other 00:46:35.380 --> 00:46:43.540 institution. It's common sense not to pick up a rattlesnake but it doesn't 00:46:43.540 --> 00:46:48.500 mean that we don't when venture out because there are snakes. You don't pick 00:46:48.500 --> 00:46:54.340 it up unless you're told to. So there might be there are places where you 00:46:54.340 --> 00:46:58.740 exert that kind of sense but not at the I don't know if you remember what we 00:46:58.740 --> 00:47:03.580 preach in March. Resist some of the things that are happening at present 00:47:03.580 --> 00:47:08.220 regardless of how many times they happen. Learn how to live by the law of the land 00:47:08.220 --> 00:47:18.420 but resist fear. Here's another scripture. Daniel chapter 6 verse 20. Daniel 6. 00:47:18.660 --> 00:47:33.980 What happened? Phoebe what's happening? Daniel chapter 6. 00:47:33.980 --> 00:47:43.340 Daniel chapter 6 verse 20. When he came near the den he called to 00:47:43.340 --> 00:47:47.580 Daniel in an anguished voice. Daniel servant of the living God has your God 00:47:47.580 --> 00:47:52.660 whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions. And then go 00:47:52.660 --> 00:48:00.620 to verse 26. He realizes what has happened because Daniel replies and then 00:48:00.620 --> 00:48:05.940 he says I issue a decree. Verse 26. I issue a decree that in every part of my 00:48:05.940 --> 00:48:10.740 kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel for he is the living 00:48:10.740 --> 00:48:14.620 God and he endures forever his kingdom will be will not be destroyed his 00:48:14.620 --> 00:48:19.580 dominion will never end he rescues and saves he performs signs and wonders in 00:48:19.580 --> 00:48:25.220 the heavens and the earth he has rescued Daniel from the power of lions. This is 00:48:25.220 --> 00:48:29.300 the story that people begin to write that Jacob's God rescues people from the 00:48:29.300 --> 00:48:35.620 power of lions. Ruth's God rescues people from COVID. Lydie's God rescues people 00:48:35.620 --> 00:48:41.820 from disease but these are the ways that we become a people who keep and we got 00:48:41.820 --> 00:48:47.660 to prove it eh. Saying it ain't enough it must be proven. And proving requires 00:48:47.660 --> 00:48:57.300 taking a risk. Let's look at another one. Paul Acts chapter 28 verse 2 to 9. Acts 00:48:57.300 --> 00:49:07.900 chapter 28 verse 2 to 9. The islanders showed us unusual kindness they built 00:49:07.900 --> 00:49:11.460 fire and welcomed us because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of 00:49:11.620 --> 00:49:16.540 brushwood and as he put it on the fire a viper driven out by the heat fastened 00:49:16.540 --> 00:49:20.180 itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand they 00:49:20.180 --> 00:49:23.980 said to each other this man must be a murderer for though he escaped from the 00:49:23.980 --> 00:49:27.740 sea justice is not allowed him to live but Paul shook the snake off into the 00:49:27.740 --> 00:49:31.500 fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or 00:49:31.500 --> 00:49:35.340 suddenly fall dead but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual 00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:39.420 happened to him they changed their minds and they said he was a God. There was an 00:49:39.420 --> 00:49:43.500 estate nearby that belonged to Publius the chief official of the island he 00:49:43.500 --> 00:49:47.380 welcomed us to his home and for three days entertained us hospitably. His 00:49:47.380 --> 00:49:50.900 father was sick in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see 00:49:50.900 --> 00:49:54.380 him and after prayer placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened 00:49:54.380 --> 00:49:58.260 the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many 00:49:58.260 --> 00:50:02.140 ways and when we were ready to sail they furnished us with the supplies we need. 00:50:02.140 --> 00:50:15.940 Essential service, essential service. We got to go down this route man got to go 00:50:15.940 --> 00:50:19.500 down this route. I'm not even going to touch Psalm 91 because we read about 00:50:19.500 --> 00:50:24.780 Psalm 91 when you read Psalm 91 4 to 10 you see that we are a people who keep 00:50:24.780 --> 00:50:28.660 and a people who must keep sorry a people who are kept and a people who 00:50:28.660 --> 00:50:40.780 must keep. Okay any questions? Guys even if this is not your experience yet even 00:50:40.780 --> 00:50:49.300 if you don't see God this way yet prove him prove him tomorrow prove him but 00:50:49.300 --> 00:50:52.580 Jacob what if I fail get up day after tomorrow and try prove him again 00:50:52.780 --> 00:51:10.940 because he is faithful. My circumstances don't determine who God is. Just because 00:51:10.940 --> 00:51:14.700 while I was praying my dad died in my arms while I was praying and reading 00:51:14.700 --> 00:51:18.180 scripture does not mean that prayers are not powerful or the scriptures don't 00:51:18.180 --> 00:51:22.500 give life doesn't mean that the next person's dad will die it means that my 00:51:22.500 --> 00:51:26.740 dad died period I do not know why but that doesn't color the face of God I 00:51:26.740 --> 00:51:34.300 will not listen to whispers that caused me to cast suspicion on the glorious 00:51:34.300 --> 00:51:40.260 aliveness and the goodness of a God who lives in the zest of life and has always 00:51:40.260 --> 00:51:51.860 been that way. Your circumstances don't count I don't know how much ruder to get 00:51:52.500 --> 00:51:58.380 they don't they don't count in terms of who God is I'm not saying your 00:51:58.380 --> 00:52:00.820 circumstances don't count your circumstances really matter because 00:52:00.820 --> 00:52:04.340 they are your circumstances but they don't count in terms of who God is 00:52:04.340 --> 00:52:15.380 that's what I'm trying to say. Next one we'll be a people of the spirit that 00:52:15.380 --> 00:52:21.620 gather to scatter we will be these are all ways to prove ourselves essential 00:52:21.620 --> 00:52:25.180 services in the future we will not be labeled a non-essential service it's 00:52:25.180 --> 00:52:32.180 such a sad thing we will be a people of the spirit we will be a people of the 00:52:32.180 --> 00:52:44.700 spirit who are gathered to scatter who are gathered to scatter who are gathered 00:52:45.140 --> 00:52:54.260 A church that doesn't scatter dies strong A Church that doesn't scatter dies strong 00:52:54.260 --> 00:52:59.940 A church that scatters empties itself out and reproduces 00:52:59.940 --> 00:53:07.000 A Church that doesn't scatter dies strong. You don't want to be a church that helicopes 00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:11.560 you want to be a church or a people that when they come 00:53:11.560 --> 00:53:17.940 and are going to throw you into a grave, they realize that there's nothing to 00:53:17.940 --> 00:53:23.860 rob from you because you emptied yourself out, that you poured yourself out, 00:53:23.860 --> 00:53:35.120 that there is nothing left. I've been covenanting with God literally saying, 00:53:35.120 --> 00:53:41.120 Oh God, do not allow me to make Acts 29 a church that is strong, but allow me to 00:53:41.120 --> 00:53:45.080 make Acts 29 a church that is continuously emptying itself out, pouring 00:53:45.080 --> 00:53:49.560 itself out in terms of its monies, in terms of its best, in terms of its people, 00:53:49.560 --> 00:53:54.480 in terms of its gifts and talents, empty itself out so that it reproduces because 00:53:54.480 --> 00:53:58.200 at the end of the day all multiplication is the result of the scattering of seed. 00:53:58.200 --> 00:54:02.680 All multiplication is the result of the scattering of seed. You know how a farmer 00:54:02.680 --> 00:54:07.840 scatters seed, he just puts his hand into the sack, he pulls out whatever comes in 00:54:07.840 --> 00:54:14.720 his hands and then he goes whoosh. He doesn't go hmm gifted one, not gifted one, 00:54:14.720 --> 00:54:19.720 good singer, good worshipper, no he doesn't do that. He just puts his hand in, 00:54:19.720 --> 00:54:24.440 gathers a whole lot and scatters it this way and they fall where they need to 00:54:24.440 --> 00:54:30.940 fall and if the ground has been dug well they grow because the seed that is in us 00:54:30.940 --> 00:54:39.980 is Christ himself and he can grow. Genesis 1 28 if it must come to pass 00:54:39.980 --> 00:54:46.460 will only come to pass when people scatter. If you want to be fruitful, if 00:54:46.460 --> 00:54:49.580 you want to increase in numbers, if you want to subdue the enemy it is required 00:54:49.580 --> 00:54:53.540 that you go forth and multiply which is the scattering. Churches that do not 00:54:53.540 --> 00:55:03.700 scatter cannot fulfill the mandate of Genesis 1 28. I mean Mark and Rhonda and 00:55:03.700 --> 00:55:09.700 the kids will be going by September 10th or so. Next week we were supposed to do 00:55:09.700 --> 00:55:13.860 it this week but decided to move it on to next week where we'll send them off. 00:55:14.020 --> 00:55:24.220 Scatter them. I pray God that I prepare my heart to let you be scattered so that 00:55:24.220 --> 00:55:29.820 we'll have to find some new guy to do sound. We'll have to find another 00:55:29.820 --> 00:55:40.060 worship leader. It's the only way to multiply, it is the only way to fulfill 00:55:40.060 --> 00:55:43.780 the Genesis mandate. If you want to subdue the enemy, if you want to multiply 00:55:43.780 --> 00:55:48.860 if you want to increase in fruit, if you want to be fruitful increase and subdue 00:55:48.860 --> 00:55:55.700 the enemy it is impossible to do without being scattered. Starting next month we've 00:55:55.700 --> 00:56:00.580 been on this route for a while but I covenant with God that oh God for the 00:56:00.580 --> 00:56:05.340 post-covid landscape make us a people of the spirit that only gather to be 00:56:05.340 --> 00:56:15.340 scattered because there is no other reason for the existence of a church and 00:56:15.340 --> 00:56:20.860 in this our house churches have failed. We don't reproduce we just get stronger. 00:56:20.860 --> 00:56:25.340 I'm looking forward to sitting on zoom this week with a few of you are going to 00:56:25.340 --> 00:56:29.620 get a zoom link saying hey wanted to tell you I got something new for you to 00:56:29.620 --> 00:56:33.900 do so that you get scattered. Look forward to it. Wally, Wally awaits us. 00:56:33.900 --> 00:56:38.020 We'll think about it next week. You know what God is saying literally to us 00:56:38.020 --> 00:56:43.020 through this through this point. Guys he's saying that he'll open up ancient 00:56:43.020 --> 00:56:48.260 doors for us if we as a church decide we live to be scattered. Open up ancient 00:56:48.260 --> 00:56:55.540 doors for us in different parts of the world if we choose to be scattered. 00:57:04.900 --> 00:57:13.820 I think I'll take eight minutes more. You got any questions? I love the fact that 00:57:13.820 --> 00:57:17.660 some of you are willing to go and settle in Wally. I love the fact that you're 00:57:17.660 --> 00:57:30.900 looking for property to start businesses in Wally. You guys are nuts. Who does 00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:37.620 stuff like that? But for this reason we live right? 00:57:45.220 --> 00:57:52.260 Next one be like the sons of Issachar. Be like the sons of Issachar. Be like the 00:57:52.260 --> 00:57:56.380 sons of Issachar in the post-covid landscape. Be like the sons of Issachar. 00:57:56.380 --> 00:58:01.420 They had the ability to reveal times and seasons and then do what was necessary 00:58:01.420 --> 00:58:06.160 in those times and seasons. They knew what time they were in. They knew the 00:58:06.160 --> 00:58:10.460 season they were in and then they had the ability to do what was required. 00:58:10.460 --> 00:58:17.500 What happened? I mean I question Acts 29. We are supposedly a prophetic church. What 00:58:17.500 --> 00:58:22.300 happened to the prophetic church? What happened to the prophets in Christendom? 00:58:22.300 --> 00:58:28.420 How come nobody saw the COVID thing coming? Now everybody is grasping for 00:58:28.420 --> 00:58:35.580 straws. I had said two years ago that a dark time will come. Really? How come an 00:58:35.580 --> 00:58:49.580 event that literally froze the earth was not known by the church? God is not 00:58:49.580 --> 00:58:54.700 nebulous in his speaking. He doesn't speak in vague riddles. He actually says 00:58:54.700 --> 00:59:00.300 that in Isaiah. I don't speak in vague riddles. In Amos chapter 3 verse 7 he 00:59:00.300 --> 00:59:05.900 says that I like telling my prophets what is going to happen, what I'm planning 00:59:05.900 --> 00:59:10.660 to do. God likes to tell what he's planning to do. In the Old Testament he 00:59:10.660 --> 00:59:15.020 used to say through prophets. Now he still uses prophets but he prefers 00:59:15.020 --> 00:59:18.780 speaking through a prophetic people. What happened to us? How come we didn't hear 00:59:18.780 --> 00:59:27.060 this? We heard about different nations. May we have that ability to be like the 00:59:27.060 --> 00:59:31.780 sons of Issachar who know their times and seasons because our ears are tuned not 00:59:31.780 --> 00:59:41.300 just to how God will do well for us but how God will do well on the earth. 1st 00:59:41.300 --> 00:59:45.840 Chronicles 12-27 is where we hear about Issachar. They knew their times, they 00:59:45.840 --> 00:59:49.560 knew how to position themselves, they knew what to do. Is this uncommon in the 00:59:49.560 --> 00:59:54.680 Bible? You read Psalm 105 verse 17 to 22 and you see that there was a man called 00:59:54.680 --> 00:59:59.040 Joseph that he was shackled, that a word was given to him and the word came to 00:59:59.040 --> 01:00:03.920 pass and that he became the Prince of Egypt, that he was one who governed over 01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:09.520 its nobles, he was the one who caused the children of Jacob to survive, a man sent 01:00:09.520 --> 01:00:13.480 before the famine. That's in the Old Testament. You look at the New Testament 01:00:13.480 --> 01:00:18.440 in Acts chapter 11 you find a man called Agabus, a prophet who knew that 01:00:18.440 --> 01:00:22.000 there was a famine coming during the time of Claudius and the famine came and 01:00:22.000 --> 01:00:26.000 he prepared the church to collect what was necessary for the poorer churches 01:00:26.000 --> 01:00:34.600 of Judea and Samaria. This was common. What happened to us? 01:00:34.600 --> 01:00:45.000 Guys, sometimes you know when the church deviates from being the pillar and the 01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:51.720 foundation of truth and you can't afford it now, Acts 29 and other churches that 01:00:51.720 --> 01:00:57.880 go down this road have to like 2nd Timothy 3.15 says become a pillar and the 01:00:57.880 --> 01:01:07.960 foundation of truth in an environment that is combative. When I say combative I 01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:15.920 mean one of the things the church faces today is power, wealth and heresy and you 01:01:15.920 --> 01:01:22.800 can't stand drawn by power, wealth and heresy and then prophesy accurately. You 01:01:22.840 --> 01:01:29.200 cannot stand prophesying power, wealth and heresy and have your ears open to hear 01:01:29.200 --> 01:01:33.880 what God is doing on the earth. It is one or the other. 2nd Timothy 3.15 says 01:01:33.880 --> 01:01:37.480 that the church must be the pillar and the foundation of truth. Once a church 01:01:37.480 --> 01:01:45.720 decides that it doesn't matter what, we will stand for the sheer truth of God and 01:01:45.720 --> 01:01:50.360 wrestle with it, grapple with it and will not fall for the seduction of power, 01:01:50.360 --> 01:01:56.840 politics, money, mammon, wealth or heresy that tickles the ears of people. Those 01:01:56.840 --> 01:02:05.240 people will begin to hear God well. American Christianity lies at the feet 01:02:05.240 --> 01:02:12.520 of power and wealth and heresy and a heresy that tickles the ears of people. 01:02:12.520 --> 01:02:23.560 Begin to walk like that and you will hear, you will become, not hear, you will 01:02:23.560 --> 01:02:28.880 become the voice from the wilderness that prepares the way of the Lord. Last 01:02:28.880 --> 01:02:34.760 point, be a people who provoke a response, be a people who provoke a response. Why? 01:02:34.760 --> 01:02:40.520 Because God is with us. Be a people, become a people, become a people during 01:02:40.520 --> 01:02:46.680 this post-COVID era. Stand as a people in this post-COVID landscape who provoke a 01:02:46.680 --> 01:02:58.200 response, who provoke a response. Why? Because God is with us. What do I mean by 01:02:58.200 --> 01:03:02.880 that? Guys, if you look at the New Testament or look at Jesus's life, you'll 01:03:02.880 --> 01:03:08.960 find, I mean before I go there, 1 Kings 18 verse 21. 1 Kings 18, 21, here's what 01:03:08.960 --> 01:03:14.680 happens. I know you know this. Elijah says, who will you serve? Will you serve Yahweh 01:03:14.680 --> 01:03:27.080 or will you serve Baal? And guess what the people said? Nothing. Somehow we've 01:03:27.080 --> 01:03:31.080 neutered ourselves so badly that it doesn't matter what the church will say, 01:03:31.080 --> 01:03:36.120 nobody responds. Because the first five points that I wrote down or we've written 01:03:36.120 --> 01:03:41.000 down have not been met. Why should anyone listen? And then you go to 1 Kings 01:03:41.000 --> 01:03:48.400 18, 39. What has happened by now in the last 18 verses? Fire fell and now Elijah 01:03:48.400 --> 01:03:54.520 asks the same question. Who will you serve? Yahweh or Baal? We'll serve Yahweh, we'll serve Yahweh 01:03:54.520 --> 01:04:00.240 and they slaughter all the prophets of Baal. But 18 verses ago the guys did not 01:04:00.240 --> 01:04:08.400 say a word. The thing with the church in the New Testament was it was either 01:04:08.400 --> 01:04:23.720 feared, favored or hated. But no one was neutral. It was feared, favored or hated. 01:04:23.720 --> 01:04:29.920 We don't have any such problems. We are not feared, we are not favored, we are not 01:04:29.920 --> 01:04:40.080 hated. The only favor we get is a charitable receipt. Feared, favored, hated. 01:04:40.080 --> 01:04:54.600 Feared, you see it in Acts chapter 19 verse 17. Acts chapter 19 verse 17. It 01:04:54.680 --> 01:05:01.880 says that this is after the seven sons of Sceva were beaten up. Verse 17, when this 01:05:01.880 --> 01:05:06.400 became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized 01:05:06.400 --> 01:05:12.720 with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who 01:05:12.720 --> 01:05:15.940 believed now came and openly confess their evil deeds. A number who had 01:05:15.940 --> 01:05:19.480 practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When 01:05:19.480 --> 01:05:23.240 they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachmas. In 01:05:23.400 --> 01:05:26.360 this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. There was 01:05:26.360 --> 01:05:32.360 sufficient reverence of fear for the church. Next, the church was favored. You 01:05:32.360 --> 01:05:39.480 read that in Acts chapter 2 verse 47. Acts chapter 2 verse 47. Acts chapter 2 01:05:39.480 --> 01:05:47.560 verse 47. It says that they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad 01:05:47.560 --> 01:05:52.240 and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. And 01:05:52.520 --> 01:05:55.800 every time there was fear or favor, look what would happen. And the Lord added to 01:05:55.800 --> 01:06:00.320 their numbers daily those who were being saved. See all these these three things 01:06:00.320 --> 01:06:07.720 always add numbers. If they fear you, numbers will be added. If they favor you, 01:06:07.720 --> 01:06:11.840 numbers will be added. If they hate you, numbers will be added. If they are neutral 01:06:11.840 --> 01:06:16.480 about you, numbers stay where they are. You have to have people come with babies 01:06:16.480 --> 01:06:25.680 before the church begins to grow. Hated. You go to Acts chapter 7 verse 54. You'll 01:06:25.680 --> 01:06:31.280 see there was sheer hatred that spills over into Acts chapter 8 verse 1. 01:06:31.280 --> 01:06:35.840 Acts chapter 8 54. When they heard, this is Stephen speaking about Jesus Christ, 01:06:35.840 --> 01:06:40.080 when they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. Acts 01:06:40.080 --> 01:06:44.120 chapter 8 verse 1. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church 01:06:44.120 --> 01:06:47.960 in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered through a Judea and 01:06:47.960 --> 01:06:52.000 Samaria. But you read at the end of Acts chapter 8 that the church again begins 01:06:52.000 --> 01:07:00.560 to grow because in the hatred was scattering. Plead with God saying, Father, 01:07:00.560 --> 01:07:06.160 in the coming year could you please make sure that Acts 29 is either favored, 01:07:06.160 --> 01:07:12.440 feared or hated but that it is not accepted neutrally. Jesus put it very 01:07:12.440 --> 01:07:18.920 clearly in John 17 when he said, if you begin to think like me you will be hated. 01:07:20.360 --> 01:07:24.840 He actually says that, Father, I give them to your hands. The world will hate them 01:07:24.840 --> 01:07:36.680 just as the world has hated me because I have given them your word. So make sure 01:07:36.680 --> 01:07:43.680 as individuals that you banish complacency. That might be a little easy 01:07:43.680 --> 01:07:49.400 for Acts 29 but here's the other tough one, banish self-preservation. Banish 01:07:49.400 --> 01:07:56.960 self-preservation. Banish self-preservation. Try everything in your power not to 01:07:56.960 --> 01:08:02.400 preserve yourself. Preserving self never ends up with empty. Preserving self 01:08:02.400 --> 01:08:07.640 always ends up with gaining. Self-preservation has never been the secret 01:08:07.640 --> 01:08:16.400 to emptying or pouring out. I honor and respect some of you guys. I marvel at how 01:08:16.400 --> 01:08:23.960 you empty yourself out, how you do not preserve, how you give away. Sometimes I'm 01:08:23.960 --> 01:08:28.840 jealous of the way you've done it. May you keep increasing and may the rest of us 01:08:28.840 --> 01:08:34.880 join you in banishing self-preservation because these are the two things that 01:08:34.880 --> 01:08:41.320 have the ability to neuter or render us non-essential. Whenever the church decides 01:08:41.320 --> 01:08:45.800 to be complacent and does not take an extreme position, whenever the church 01:08:45.800 --> 01:08:50.720 engages in self-preservation so that they become fat cats and fat pews, it 01:08:50.720 --> 01:08:56.000 always renders the church non-essential and it neuters the church, it castrates 01:08:56.160 --> 01:09:18.440 the church. This is horrible scripture in Zephaniah 1.12. Zephaniah 1.12. You're going and 01:09:18.440 --> 01:09:28.240 looking at books we never look at. Zephaniah 1.12. Oh man, may this not be said of us. 01:09:28.240 --> 01:09:35.880 I'm reading it from the message. On Judgment Day I'll search through every 01:09:35.880 --> 01:09:42.800 closet and alley in Vancouver. I'll find and punish those who are sitting it out, 01:09:42.800 --> 01:09:49.240 fat and lazy, amusing themselves and taking it easy, who think God doesn't do 01:09:49.240 --> 01:09:54.160 anything good or bad. He isn't involved so neither are we. 01:09:54.160 --> 01:10:15.840 Instead, in the post-COVID landscape that awaits us and we only have to go down this 01:10:15.840 --> 01:10:20.960 road for another three weeks then the 40 days are over, may you continue fasting, 01:10:20.960 --> 01:10:25.120 may you continue drawing aside, may you continue doing whatever it takes to have an encounter 01:10:25.120 --> 01:10:29.920 with God and get a fresh revelation of him. But in the post-COVID landscape that awaits, 01:10:29.920 --> 01:10:36.120 I pray God that Ruth the Moabitess will seek you out and say, your God will be my God, 01:10:36.120 --> 01:10:41.040 your people will be my people, where you go I will go, where you die I will die. This must 01:10:41.040 --> 01:10:46.520 happen on an individual basis amongst your neighbors so that the Moabitess comes out 01:10:46.520 --> 01:10:52.600 and seeks you and says take me to your God. The church functions through the people, 01:10:52.600 --> 01:11:01.520 through its saints and every saint must have what Zechariah 8.23 puts as and ten Jews will 01:11:01.520 --> 01:11:08.280 come and tug at the sleeve, tug at your sleeve saying take us with you because we have heard 01:11:08.280 --> 01:11:13.080 that God is with you. You should read that Zechariah 8.23, it's such a cool scripture. 01:11:13.080 --> 01:11:27.640 Zechariah 8.23. This is what the Lord Almighty says, in those days ten men from all languages 01:11:27.640 --> 01:11:32.320 and nations, it's a typical Vancouver like city, this is what the Lord Almighty says, 01:11:32.320 --> 01:11:39.240 in those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the 01:11:39.320 --> 01:11:45.400 hem of his robe and say let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you. 01:11:45.400 --> 01:12:05.240 What a resounding scripture man. Cool? If you don't say cool I'll go on. Cool? Oh my God, 01:12:05.240 --> 01:12:16.760 what a response. So remember guys, I keep going over this. Goodness of the Father, 01:12:16.760 --> 01:12:26.960 works of the Son, kept by God, scattered by the Spirit, Issachar generation, returning with truth. 01:12:26.960 --> 01:12:46.120 Goodness of God, goodness and life of God, works of the Son displayed, kept by God and therefore 01:12:46.120 --> 01:13:13.560 keepers of men, scattered by the Spirit, Issachar generation returned with truth, 01:13:13.560 --> 01:13:23.520 the Moabiters. Or in other words, let them say your God, could your God be my God, could your God 01:13:23.520 --> 01:13:36.120 be my God. Learn it, go over it again and again. Let these things settle in your head and remember 01:13:36.120 --> 01:13:41.480 this week make sure you go and ask, hey Father what are you singing over me today? Listen to it, 01:13:41.480 --> 01:13:48.800 write it down. Let it stir up the zest for life that he has and the zest for life that you should 01:13:48.800 --> 01:13:56.960 have because his life is in you. Yeah? The only other thing I want you to do, I won't do it now, 01:13:56.960 --> 01:14:08.560 no I won't do it now, is go read Zechariah 80. It was given to us in September of last year as an 01:14:08.560 --> 01:14:16.320 inheritance passage. We were at Josh and Charlene's house and I read it out the first time and at that 01:14:16.320 --> 01:14:22.240 time there were a few of us there and I felt a lot saying that listen, this is an inheritance passage 01:14:22.240 --> 01:14:31.120 for you Acts 29 and in hindsight when you read it you see so many lines of hope in Zechariah 8, 01:14:31.120 --> 01:14:38.680 given our present context. I know I've read it before but some of the lines are, this is what 01:14:38.680 --> 01:14:43.040 the Lord Almighty says, once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of 01:14:43.040 --> 01:14:48.040 Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age. The city streets will be filled with boys and 01:14:48.040 --> 01:14:54.120 girls playing there. This is what the Lord Almighty says, it may seem marvelous to the remnant but will 01:14:54.120 --> 01:15:00.720 it seem marvelous to me? And then he goes on to say, before this time there were no wages for man 01:15:00.720 --> 01:15:05.680 or beast, no one could go about his business safely because of the enemy but now I will not 01:15:05.680 --> 01:15:09.920 deal with you that way. The seed will grow, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce 01:15:09.920 --> 01:15:15.240 its crops, the heaven will drop to you. Go read Zechariah 8 a couple of times during the week and 01:15:15.240 --> 01:15:21.920 we'll talk about it next week perhaps and see what God wanted to say in September and what we 01:15:21.920 --> 01:15:38.480 probably didn't see and what we need to see. Yeah, that's great. Father, I think some of the stuff 01:15:38.480 --> 01:15:48.080 that we are talking about is really you. It's not even like a sermon or a teaching. It's like a 01:15:48.080 --> 01:15:56.120 current word or a present truth that you want to enrich our hearts with and so we receive it, 01:15:56.120 --> 01:16:11.840 Abba. We receive it. I receive it, Lord. And having received it, I ask for faith to believe 01:16:12.000 --> 01:16:25.720 it is something that you want us to explore, work at, display. Spirit of God, I believe the 01:16:25.720 --> 01:16:35.440 soil in this room is really good so I disallow birds from taking away the seeds that have been 01:16:35.440 --> 01:16:43.360 sown. I chase them away in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that we won't let this 01:16:43.360 --> 01:16:55.520 word just lie but that we'll water it by going over it perhaps once or twice. Go over this acronym 01:16:55.520 --> 01:17:02.480 or whatever the thing is called. It's not but you know what I mean, Abba. And that it would take 01:17:02.480 --> 01:17:08.800 root and that we would begin to show the world that we are an essential group of people because 01:17:08.800 --> 01:17:15.760 God is with us so that what happened this time will never happen again, never happen again. 01:17:15.760 --> 01:17:23.080 These things are beyond me, beyond us, but these things are absolutely doable. This is the desire, 01:17:23.080 --> 01:17:29.480 the yearning of the Holy Spirit and this is your pleasure, your pleasure to give us a kingdom. Do 01:17:29.480 --> 01:17:39.520 that, Spirit of God, do that. So I thank you now as we go. Father, let none of us die with things 01:17:39.520 --> 01:17:48.120 intact but completely emptied and poured out. Let that be said of the people of Acts 29. There 01:17:48.120 --> 01:17:57.920 was nothing to take from them because they were empty. In Jesus' name, Amen.