1 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:12,880 Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South 2 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,560 Australia. We're going to hear from Hilary, 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,920 I believe first this morning just from her time in the Global 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,160 Equip. Global Equip recordings are 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:25,480 actually available online as well. 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,440 So I think there's a QR code that will flash up on the screen 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,960 later. We'd encourage you to go listen 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:35,560 to those as well because you can catch Revelation, the beauty of 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,040 recordings, the beauty of technology. 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,360 Hey, though you don't actually, we would love everyone to go 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,040 there because you catch something from the atmosphere, 12 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,280 but you can still catch Revelation from what has been 13 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,960 shared through recordings. So head online, the video to the 14 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,120 YouTube and stuff. So I'd encourage you to go 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:52,480 listen to those. We're going to hear from Hillary 16 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:56,080 this morning around some of the stuff that she got for us and 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,120 she got personally. So somebody want to pray for 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,360 Hillary as she comes and shares? OK, Craig's going to come. 19 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:11,640 Father, thank you for the gift that you've laid on Hillary, 20 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,120 Lord, and thank you for who you made our Lord. 21 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,040 Father, you hold a special place in your heart for her as you 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:27,160 hold a special place for us all. Father, this morning just pour 23 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,360 out that blessing. Pour out that love through her 24 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,240 and honor Lord and Lord, open our ears and our hearts to hear 25 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:34,640 what you've got to say through her. 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,120 Your humble servant. Lord, we thank you for in Jesus 27 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,080 name, Amen. Oh, you want that? 28 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:43,400 Yep. We'll need that. 29 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:44,920 Thank you. Awesome. 30 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:46,560 Thank you. Cool. 31 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,760 Well, thank you for having me. Speaking in front of people 32 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,560 doesn't like scare me, but I don't do it very often. 33 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:02,160 So lucky you all love me. Hey, and as I mentioned this 34 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,080 morning, there was a point this morning where I'm like, I don't 35 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,040 even think I should be sharing because my heart is just all 36 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,759 sorts of wrong right now. But I've applied some of the 37 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,680 things that I'm talking about this morning and here we are. 38 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,960 So yes, so we went to the Global Equip before we left, we 39 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,360 expressed that we had a bit of trepidation against about doing 40 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:25,640 it with the family. And what I've been saying to 41 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,440 people since we got home was that it was equal parts 42 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,720 beautiful and crazy hard all at the same time. 43 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,480 Many of you would know our flight from Perth to 44 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,960 Johannesburg got cancelled. And so we had 24 hours in Perth, 45 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,440 which was fun. And we got to catch up with a 46 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,200 girl that we used to know closely at Kingdom Life. 47 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,120 She's living in Perth now and that was a real treat. 48 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:55,400 But young kids, hotel rooms, late nights, hotel food, it was 49 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:57,760 just, it was a bit of a rocky start to the trip. 50 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,320 And then we landed in Johannesburg and Dave Progress 51 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,280 proceeded to get sick. And so it was just it was a 52 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,880 great first 48 hours was like I went to one of the other moms at 53 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,400 the Equip and I think the first thing that came out of me was 54 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:19,200 like, what have we done? But thankfully it got better 55 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,080 from there and I've come home and I would do it all again. 56 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:28,600 All things taken into account and part of the beautiful part 57 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,800 of it was yes, travelling as a family, like our cellular 58 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,360 family, but then travelling as a family. 59 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,040 I got to watch my kids press into Chantelle and Daniel and 60 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:47,040 Justin and and build those friendships. 61 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,920 You know, Chantelle held Aiden for ages. 62 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,040 She fell asleep on her. She, you know, it was just one 63 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,080 of those things where the the family of the white church that 64 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,640 was there, I feel grouped closer together in the process. 65 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:02,720 And it was really, really lovely. 66 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,680 And it's a part of the reason why us spending time together 67 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,440 meaningfully. And it's substantially knits us 68 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:10,080 together. Yeah. 69 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,560 And then throughout the equip, throughout the sessions, there 70 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,600 was just this constant through the prophetic words and through 71 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,800 the worship and through the messages, just this constant 72 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,400 encouragement just to keep on persevering, which I really felt 73 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,040 for us as a church. I can remember at one point 74 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,440 looking to Chantel and just being like everyone today has 75 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:37,200 been speaking into our context. It was just constant, like, you 76 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,800 know, keep on building, keep on persevering it, you know, it 77 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,120 might not look the way you expected it to at this point, 78 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,880 but keep going, don't lose, lose heart. 79 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,960 Just keep on keeping on, which was awesome. 80 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,880 I've just really felt so encouraged in that. 81 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,800 And then of course, it is personal things as well, one of 82 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,200 the things that grabbed my attention and has left me 83 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:07,840 pondering for myself personally and for us as a local church and 84 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:12,840 beyond. One of the speakers spoke about 85 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:18,520 being captivated by Jesus. I realized because I listened to 86 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,760 it again, I've been waiting for the podcast to come up so I 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:22,680 could catch up. And I realized that I actually 88 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,240 missed the first half of his message because I was out with 89 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,840 the baby realities. And the whole message is really, 90 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,320 really good. I would encourage you. 91 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,000 It was session 12 if you want to go and listen to the whole 92 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:35,320 thing. It was really, really good. 93 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,560 And then I sort of got a bit derailed because I was just 94 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,560 like, oh, I'm emphasizing something was emphasized to me 95 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,480 that wasn't his emphasis. And then I sort of felt God to 96 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,280 say, like, I knew I knew you weren't going to catch the first 97 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:52,640 half of it. I knew what you were going to 98 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,320 catch and you caught what you needed to catch. 99 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:02,640 So here we are. And So what he said was that he 100 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:04,920 was talking about being captivated by Jesus. 101 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,160 And he said he referred to the scripture where John says, if 102 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,440 you love me, you will keep my commandments. 103 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,880 And then he said, we've reduced love to obedience. 104 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,200 Do we have a lot of good obeyers in the room? 105 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,760 And I was like, oh, and you know, obedience is good. 106 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,320 And this is what he said. But we cannot forget that God 107 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,120 commands obedience, but he also commands our affection and our 108 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,560 love. And so I've spent a lot of time 109 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,120 pondering this for myself, and I can see that I do have a 110 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:45,240 tendency towards doing what I'm told in the word versus loving 111 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:50,720 and walking with my Heavenly Father who wants to know me and 112 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,800 for me to know him. So I, I think that I flip this 113 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:59,680 scripture in my brain and I say, if I obey Jesus, then I love him 114 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,440 or I prove my love for for Jesus by obeying him. 115 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:13,520 But The thing is this is that Jesus, God born of a woman to 116 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:20,960 live a life on earth, a sinless life, to take the the sins of 117 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:30,040 the world to the cross and and in doing so pay the price for us 118 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:34,720 that we could come back into relationship with God, that we 119 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,720 may have eternal life. But The thing is with eternal 120 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,600 life is that it's not about, it's not all about heaven. 121 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:48,080 It is about heaven. But God defines eternal life. 122 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:54,520 In John 17 he says eternal life is this, that we would know the 123 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:59,120 Father and Jesus Christ his Son. And so when we forget that part 124 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:04,520 of the gospel that what he paid for was that we could come back 125 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,920 into the presence of God and enjoy him and know him and walk 126 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:13,680 relationally with him, we're just missing the beauty of the 127 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,520 gospel. And we can't share the gospel 128 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:22,160 correctly if we don't have that revelation of relationship with 129 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:27,240 God. So we we can get to enjoy a part 130 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,520 of eternity right here in our day-to-day lives. 131 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,000 Paul says in Philippians 3, he says, indeed, I count everything 132 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,559 as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing 133 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,240 Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake. 134 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,680 I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish 135 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:51,640 in order that I may gain Christ. So our first fundamental goal in 136 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,160 our faith is to know and love our Saviour. 137 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,120 Jesus says in Matthew 22 that the greatest commandment is to 138 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,520 love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and 139 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:10,640 then love others as yourself. So Jesus does command our 140 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,160 obedience, and he also commands our love and affection. 141 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,160 And being mindful of the fact that I have a tendency towards 142 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,880 obedience, I've been reading the word a bit differently and 143 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,200 trying to swing myself the other way. 144 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,160 But what I've noticed is, is that love and obedience are 145 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,840 closely intertwined all the time. 146 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:40,040 So practically then, how do we grow in our love for God? 147 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,040 Well, first of all, I think that we need to have faith. 148 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,000 We have faith even just to proclaim that Jesus is our Lord 149 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,320 and Savior. But we have to have faith that 150 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,600 knowing God, loving God, him loving us, that it's even a 151 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,880 possibility and that it's available to us. 152 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:08,480 In Hebrews 11, it says without faith it is impossible to please 153 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:13,320 God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists 154 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,680 and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 155 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,200 So we've got to have faith that this is even a possibility for 156 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,680 us. So the second thing that I think 157 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:29,880 we need to do is to delight in his word and his ways. 158 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:36,120 See, we come to know someone truly when we see what they do. 159 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,040 And that presents a bit of a problem when we Jesus is not 160 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:46,240 physically in front of us, but we have his word and we can see 161 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,040 his life in the in the New Testament, but we can also see 162 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,080 the nature of God throughout the Old Testament. 163 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:56,120 And so we can see in there what he loves, what he hates, what 164 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,560 hurts his heart, the things that makes him happy, the things that 165 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:03,120 makes him angry. And so through all of that, when 166 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,760 we switch our lens and say, God, I want to see you Jesus, I want 167 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,680 to see who you are throughout the whole scripture, then we 168 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,080 understand that we have an opportunity to come to know him 169 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,360 better. And, and, and the question is as 170 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,720 well, because sometimes when I'm reading the word, I go, I don't 171 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:27,760 understand that at all or God that doesn't match in my head 172 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,600 with who you are. Like I can't compute that. 173 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,640 And those things aren't contradictions. 174 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:42,080 They're opportunities for us to ask God questions and to grow in 175 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,440 our understanding and love for him. 176 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,400 I love Psalm 119. I feel like it's just, it's, I 177 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,400 think the biggest Psalm in the in the Bible. 178 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,720 And it, it goes on and on and on and, and the heartbeat of it is, 179 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:02,160 is really beautiful. And so I just want to pull out. 180 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:03,640 I mean, honestly, it's impossible. 181 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:05,840 You could read the whole thing and it would just drive this 182 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:07,360 point home. But I've just picked out a few 183 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:12,840 verses from the beginning. In verse 10 of Psalm 119, it 184 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,480 says with my whole heart I seek you. 185 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,160 In verse 11 it says, I have stored up your word in my heart 186 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:21,800 that I might not sin against you. 187 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,200 Blessed are you. Lord, teach me your statutes. 188 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,560 It's such a relational Psalm and it's amazing because it's Old 189 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:34,440 Testament in the ways of your testimonies. 190 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:40,120 I delight as much as in all riches to we delight in, in 191 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,640 God's ways his testimonies more so than the riches of this 192 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,200 world. It's challenging. 193 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:53,280 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 194 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,920 How much time do we spend meditating on who God is and His 195 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:02,240 ways and how it affects us because we're created in His 196 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:07,960 image, My soul. This is verse 20. 197 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,880 My soul is consumed with longing for Your rules at all times. 198 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:17,160 Verse 24. Your testimonies are my delight. 199 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:22,160 They are my counsellors. And so I would encourage you to 200 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:23,920 go on. I mean that Psalm. 201 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,960 You can pull out a section of it and pray it over yourself. 202 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,680 Because if this isn't in our heart, Lord, let it be My heart. 203 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,000 Lord, transform me into Your image. 204 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,000 This is how I want to long for You. 205 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:40,880 It's so beautiful. Psalm 37 says delight yourself 206 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,760 in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. 207 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,920 We like that one. I think that it's a whole. 208 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,440 It has a whole different meaning. 209 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,760 I believe that when we delight ourselves in Lord, then He 210 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,800 shifts out the desires of our hearts so that His desires are 211 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:58,800 our desires and then He can pull them out. 212 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,400 He can pull them out. Goes on to say commit your way 213 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,600 to the Lord, trust in Him and He will act. 214 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,960 I caught this when I was preparing he will bring forth 215 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,920 your righteousness as the light and the just and your justice as 216 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,880 the noonday. I just I realized that when you 217 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:21,120 commit your way to the Lord, this is committing to obey him 218 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,480 and this is what I'm when we trust in him, he will bring 219 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,840 forth our righteousness that I mean that's just incredible. 220 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,320 That's to me, that's saying when you trust me and you point your 221 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,960 path towards my ways, I will transform you. 222 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,240 I will make you like me incredible. 223 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,480 And so that leads me to my next point is that we do need to obey 224 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,760 love and obedience. They go hand in hand. 225 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,800 And so you know, I could have walked away from the trick from 226 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:54,520 the equipped going, Oh, stop being so obsessed with obeying 227 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:58,320 God and just love him. But but they're not you can't 228 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,680 have one without the other. They go hand in hand. 229 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,440 So it's a part of our process of growing in our love for God that 230 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,520 we obey him. In Colossians one verse 9, it 231 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,480 says for this reason, we also since the day we heard it, do 232 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,840 not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with 233 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,520 the knowledge, filled with the knowledge of his will in all 234 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,640 wisdom and spiritual understanding that you may work 235 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,000 walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in 236 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,520 every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 237 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,920 So every good work increasing in knowledge, it's just they go 238 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,280 hand in hand. And so we cannot emphasize one 239 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,720 over the other. It's got to be both always. 240 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,840 And so I'm a pretty practical person. 241 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,360 I know lots of you in this room are very well versed in this, 242 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,480 but we've got a lot of young believers along the way with us 243 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,240 and we're trusting for more. And so we've got to understand 244 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,880 that when we're talking about obedience to God, some people 245 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:02,760 might just be like, what are you actually talking about? 246 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,320 And so I just wanted to bring some really practical examples 247 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,360 that we've that we've applied, I guess throughout our lives. 248 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,840 We will have heard Dave speak about some of these in the past, 249 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:17,560 so I'm not going to repeat some of them. 250 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,640 But when we first came back to God, there were major things in 251 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,840 our lives that we had to shift. One of them was the choice to 252 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,880 come to church. And that might seem pretty 253 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,200 obvious. Most people go like, I'm 254 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,960 pursuing God and church goes hand in hand with that. 255 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:42,840 But I was working at the time at at a service station and my boss 256 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,160 had just rosted me on the coffee shift for Sunday mornings. 257 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,360 And so, you know, I'm like, I've gone to my boss. 258 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,040 I'm like, I'm really sorry, but those shifts that I said that I 259 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:58,120 can do, I can't do anymore. And, and I explained to him why 260 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,200 and thankfully he was very gracious and he was like, that's 261 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,480 important, that's fine. And I'll make adjustments. 262 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:09,560 But the point is, is that when we're convicted in our hearts, 263 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,560 sometimes we have to make sacrifices. 264 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,480 And so, and for us and for me personally, that was one thing 265 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:21,480 that I had to sacrifice and God honoured me and and I was well 266 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,720 looked after, but that was just a reality. 267 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,520 Sometimes, you know, there are things that are important to us, 268 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:33,800 whether it be important to us because of God and we have to be 269 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:38,600 willing to go, this is your way. And God, if I have to sacrifice 270 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,280 something to be a part of this, then I'm going to trust you to 271 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:46,400 honor me and and provide for me because I'm honoring you first. 272 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,760 Another thing that's this is an ongoing work in progress, but 273 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:56,040 was just the understanding of love and any one of you who 274 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:00,120 knows me knows that first Corinthians 13 is like a life 275 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:03,800 scripture for me, but it's constant throughout my 276 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,040 relationship with my husband, with my kids, with the people 277 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,840 around me that I love. The constant reminder. 278 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:16,600 See the 1st Corinthians 13 isn't a commandment, but it is a 279 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,160 definition of who God is. And so when we read, when we're 280 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:24,800 reading, love is patient, love is kind, love bears no record or 281 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:31,920 wrongs, love endures. These are things that we, when 282 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:34,640 we're as we're reading the word, we align ourselves to them. 283 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:39,920 And so when I'm dealing with my husband, sorry, babe, all my 284 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:47,800 kids am, am I being patient? You know, am I being kind? 285 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,200 Am I keeping record? Am I keeping score? 286 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:57,160 It and, and again, it's not that's an easy relationship for, 287 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,640 for you to apply it to, but it actually applies to all 288 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,440 relationships. And so, and this is just I'm 289 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,360 trying to bring examples of how we align ourselves with God's 290 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:10,800 word throughout our daily lives. Another one for us was our 291 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,480 finances. We've been following God since 292 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:22,240 2015 and probably about 18 months ago we finally got on 293 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,080 board with His way of doing our money. 294 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,200 And now I'm not talking about giving. 295 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,280 Giving was something that we started way back from the 296 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,080 beginning and we've consistently done that for as long as we've. 297 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,400 That was one of the things that we changed in the beginning. 298 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:38,800 But I'm talking about breaking up with the idea that credit 299 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:44,280 cards are OK, breaking up with the idea that that debt is a 300 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,680 part of our life. We still have a mortgage, but we 301 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,040 have eliminated all other debt from our life. 302 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,600 We don't. I don't do after pay. 303 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,960 We don't do credit cards. We don't do personal loans. 304 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,600 If we don't have the cash for something, we don't do it. 305 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:04,320 And that is one of God's ways. In Deuteronomy, God lays out all 306 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,040 the blessings and all the curses for his people. 307 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,640 They will borrow, they will lend, but they will not borrow 308 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:17,280 is a blessing and a curse is that they will borrow and not 309 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,480 lend. And so when we understand that 310 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:27,200 this is God's way and I want to do life God's way, then we align 311 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,720 ourselves to things. And it's a process. 312 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,960 It's a growing process. As we read the Word, we might 313 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,480 change one thing today and then we come back to that same 314 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,280 scripture and we change another thing. 315 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,760 But God speaks to us and we submit our lives to him and we 316 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:50,080 put him first and we trust him with all the details and and as 317 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,520 I said before, when we commit our way to the Lord, trust him, 318 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:56,760 he will bring forth our righteousness. 319 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:04,080 Amazing. So as I close, I kind of walked 320 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,880 away from what I was feeling to share. 321 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,880 And I'm just like God. We've spoken about obedience so 322 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:14,000 much over the last few years. Like, is it just me that's not 323 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,360 getting this? Like, do I need to share this to 324 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:19,520 the whole church? And the thing that stuck out to 325 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:24,240 me was that this was emphasized message after message at the 326 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:29,920 Global Equip. And so it makes me wonder, maybe 327 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,800 God's bride needs to grow in her love and obedience. 328 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,960 God's ways are radical in today's culture. 329 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:43,600 Like fancy telling anyone that you don't do after pay. 330 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,920 Fancy telling anyone that I won't borrow money to buy a car, 331 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,520 or whatever the case may be. People will look at you like 332 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,160 you've got 2 heads. Fancy telling people that I 333 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,080 choose not to bear any record of wrong? 334 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:06,320 God's ways are radical, and when we submit ourselves to the ways 335 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:11,720 of the world around us, we lose our saltiness, we lose our 336 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,720 light, we lose the thing that sets us apart from everything 337 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,360 else around us. And so we need to come back to 338 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:23,320 loving God, loving His ways, and being obedient to them. 339 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,120 But it's got to be from a place of love. 340 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:32,320 If you are coming to God's word like a rule book of things that 341 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,920 you have to do, you're not living in joy and peace and 342 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,800 freedom, you're bound. So we've got to love God 1st and 343 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:46,520 obey him freely and cheerfully. And yeah. 344 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:53,240 And so my final question, well statement I guess is in Matthew 345 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:56,640 6, Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart 346 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,840 will be also. And so can I encourage us. 347 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:07,640 Let us treasure Jesus and let us love him and follow him, and 348 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,440 from that place change the world around us. 349 00:23:16,590 --> 00:23:18,110 Good job. I'll give you a kiss later. 350 00:23:23,110 --> 00:23:27,790 Oh, so good. Yeah. 351 00:23:27,790 --> 00:23:31,120 Like I feel like I've been talking about obedience for, you 352 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,720 know, I talk about it all the time, but then you hear someone 353 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,800 else talk about it and you're just like, oh, I just got to 354 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:40,600 start reapplying some of these things, you know, like we need 355 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,800 to hear other voices. We need to, you know, if we hear 356 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,200 the same thing over and over from the same person, we get 357 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,440 dull of hearing. And so, yeah, it's it's good to 358 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:51,680 have other voices speaking. And I'm not going to take a 359 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,280 whole lot of time here. You know, we're just going to go 360 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,680 over the same ground. But you know, some of the things 361 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,840 that we've, we've spoken about, we've heard in the last couple 362 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,880 of weeks, our takeaways from, from, you know, me personally 363 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,200 from being away. You know what Hillary shared 364 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,160 this morning about, you know, coming back and, and just, you 365 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,960 know, manning the the wall again and just continue to build and, 366 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,600 and keep pushing in and don't be discouraged. 367 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,120 And all of those things like I've come back, you know, just 368 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:24,160 with a, with a new, new, another freshness, just a ready to go 369 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,720 for another season. And so, you know, where we're 370 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,720 building it, We're still building, we're still pushing 371 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:31,760 in. We're still trusting that God is 372 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,400 faithful. And you know, obedience and 373 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:40,960 fruitfulness huge, just, you know, huge themes in all of the, 374 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,880 the equip, all of the meetings and fruitfulness for us is 375 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,560 something that we, we, we're dreaming of seeing. 376 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,760 We are pushing in. We are trusting God for we are 377 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,680 seeing, you know, we're seeing a little bit of it. 378 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,560 And we're like, Lord, come on, show us. 379 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,440 Show us your mighty hand. Lord, show us your mighty hand 380 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,680 to save. And so expecting into this 381 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,760 coming season that we're going to see more and more 382 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,720 fruitfulness. We're going to see more and more 383 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,800 people coming to know him. Like I've said this before, we 384 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,400 want this church, we want to see this church grow through 385 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,280 salvations. We don't want to see this church 386 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,120 just grow through Christians coming from other places. 387 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,000 We want to see the gospel do its thing. 388 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,640 We want to see the Lord do he sing. 389 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,920 And that's what we're hungry for, that people would come to 390 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,440 know him and how good he is and know his ways and step into his 391 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,760 ways and sacrifice and, and give it all up for him and for his 392 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:37,520 Kingdom. Amen. 393 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,920 This is a king and the Kingdom that we're a part of, that we 394 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:47,040 celebrate, that we lift higher. You know, So one of the things 395 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,640 that Ty had said during one of these meetings, and he said it 396 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,640 before, I've taken note of it before. 397 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:57,080 He said something about, I'm not going to quote him word for 398 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:03,760 word, but it's just like God works in you to work through you 399 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,560 and it as he works through you. So it's all happening at the 400 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:09,720 same time. It's not this one first and then 401 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,800 that first. God doesn't just, you know, you 402 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,440 have to work and work and work and work so that you can be 403 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,120 used. It's like someone that is saved 404 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,840 is equipped to be able to share what they just received and, and 405 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,840 what saved them with the next person in the moment. 406 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:27,320 You know, you don't have to go through the the course to become 407 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,800 this and that to be able to be effective in sharing the gospel. 408 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,840 You know the gospel, you receive the gospel, the gospel saved 409 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,120 you. You've got something to share. 410 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,840 Now it's the gospel that saves it not it's not, you know your 411 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,720 testimony, it's not your the way that you're walking in and out. 412 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,440 It's none of those things. It's the gospel, the gospel that 413 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,600 saves. So we're all equipped to share 414 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:55,080 the gospel and God's working in US so that he can work through 415 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,040 US. And the in US is, is 416 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,360 sanctification. You know, this is this is like 417 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:03,880 the being obedient. This is like The Walking this 418 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:05,800 thing out. This is like taking on God's 419 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,960 ways and allowing your own ways to wash away. 420 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,520 So, you know, we might have to continue to talk about 421 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,040 sanctification because we do have new believers in our midst 422 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:17,800 now. And we're going to have to teach 423 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,160 them how to walk this thing out. But all of us need a good 424 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,720 reminder of that we're being sanctified and that we haven't 425 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,480 made it. You know, I certainly need to 426 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:32,560 hear that, but Jesus, like, why, you know, why did Jesus come? 427 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:38,680 Can I ask the question of you guys, why did Jesus come anyone? 428 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,560 Because this is what we would say, right? 429 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,800 For salvation, for restoration, that we would be saved. 430 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,800 But that's not necessarily why why Jesus came. 431 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,000 It's one of the reasons Jesus came. 432 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,760 It's certainly what the gospel is about. 433 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:58,720 Jesus came to reveal the Father. He came to reveal God so that we 434 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,280 would know who God was, so that we could be reconnected with 435 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:02,920 God. That's what salvation is. 436 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:07,600 It's the reconnecting with God. Jesus came to reveal the Father. 437 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,960 Jesus restores us and puts His Spirit in US. 438 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,480 Why? Why does God save us, put his 439 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:22,960 spirit of in US and leave us here on the planet to reveal the 440 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:29,080 Father, to reveal Jesus? That's the reason, you know that 441 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,480 that's huge. It's why Jesus came. 442 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,080 It's why we're here. It's why we're being conformed 443 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:36,600 into his image, All of those things. 444 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,200 Jesus doesn't just conform his US into his image so that we 445 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,280 become good again, so that others can see him. 446 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,680 God is Jesus is all about revealing God. 447 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,200 And so This is why we gather. This is why we're here today, 448 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,520 that Jesus would be revealed in US and through us. 449 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,400 This is why we come together in our homes. 450 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,760 This is why we share the gospel that Jesus would be revealed. 451 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,560 All of those things. I love that. 452 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:05,960 It's a pretty simple truth, isn't it? 453 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:08,400 Like Lord, I just want to reveal you. 454 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:12,040 I, I don't want to be obedient for the sake of just following 455 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,480 the law. I want people to see you. 456 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,960 I want people to know who you are, you know, and that's why we 457 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,360 can get excited about being obedient and following his ways, 458 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,280 because when we follow his ways, people see his ways. 459 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:29,840 It's pretty cool. I love how, you know, we come 460 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,680 together, the global equip, we come together. 461 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,840 You know, our time of worship and praise is a special thing 462 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,520 when there's thousands of people in a room. 463 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,520 But can I say that it's not just because of the number of the 464 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,520 amount of people in the room, There is a commitment to 465 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:53,200 praising him in that room. And I was pondering that over 466 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,360 over the last week or even at our time there. 467 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,960 Why is it that when we come together for the global equip, 468 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,760 when we come together in a larger context, you know, our 469 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,360 national elders time when we come together for our national 470 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,800 equips and stuff like that. Why is it that it seems like 471 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,120 when we stand together and we worship, it just seems like the 472 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,680 presence of God is there in a really powerful way. 473 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,760 Why is that? And I was thinking about that 474 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:26,160 and I think, you know, I you know, I think part of the reason 475 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:31,480 that that is manifest in those places is because we have 476 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,240 sacrificed something to be there. 477 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,880 And I was reminded of two Samuel 24, verse 24. 478 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:45,360 It says the king said to Ara Nana, I did not pronounce that 479 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,920 right. Anyway, this is David. 480 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:53,960 King David says this. He says nor will Ioffer burnt 481 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,200 offerings to the Lord my God, that which did not cost me 482 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,040 anything. So we're talking about this, 483 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,280 this place where the Temple Mount's going to be. 484 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,560 And King David says I will buy it. 485 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,640 I will buy the oxen. I will buy the things for the 486 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,040 temple because this guy was going to just going to give it. 487 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,440 He was just like, oh, you, you God take it. 488 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,320 It's for the Lord, you take it. And this is what David says. 489 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,720 He says I will not offer anything to the Lord that 490 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,960 doesn't cost me anything. And there is a really cool 491 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,400 glimpse into the heart of not only David, but the heart of God 492 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,920 because we know that this is 1 after my own heart in David. 493 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,840 So we wouldn't want to offer God anything that doesn't cost us 494 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,840 anything. And so when we get on a plane 495 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,680 and when we travel over to the other side of the earth and when 496 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,080 we give up finances, when we give up time, when we take time 497 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,320 off of our jobs, when we load all the kids up and take them in 498 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,160 a plane, all of these things, you know, it costs us something. 499 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,840 It costs us something. And, and it's a very special 500 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,120 thing because when it costs us something, it means something to 501 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:04,360 us. We are there to offer something 502 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,320 to him because he's worthy. We are willing to take the take 503 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,600 the hit. We're willing to pay the price. 504 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,760 You know, the value, there's value when we worship him. 505 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,680 You know, you can measure the how much you worship God in your 506 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:24,480 life by how much it costs you. That's a that's a real truth 507 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:28,680 glass. If you coming to be church to at 508 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,600 church if you coming to be a part of the family of God, if 509 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:37,440 you you know, sacrificing to to follow the Lord cost you 510 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:42,600 something that is demonstrating his value to you. 511 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,080 But you know who sees that? Everyone, right? 512 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,120 The people that you're witnessing to at each other in 513 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,320 this room. When we look at the sacrifices 514 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,240 you and I are willing to make, we see that God is worthy. 515 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,120 It's a powerful thing. And so This is why people are 516 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,240 looking at our lives. You know, it says that, you 517 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,280 know, like people read our lives, especially the unsaved 518 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,120 people. They're looking at you and I and 519 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,520 they're trying to work out whether what we say is true or 520 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:14,960 not. And it's not just through the 521 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,240 words that we speak. It's not through quoting the 522 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,800 scripture that we know is true. Mate, let me just read you this 523 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,200 scripture because it's the Word of God. 524 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:22,360 It's true. They don't know that. 525 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,760 So how are they measuring whether what you say is true or 526 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,880 not? Through your willingness to 527 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,240 sacrifice, through your willingness to walk this thing 528 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,680 out, right? Isn't that cool? 529 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:38,360 My gosh. So I don't have too much more to 530 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,840 say other than that, but we got things coming up guys. 531 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,400 You know, there's there's there's a together night that is 532 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,720 going to be a time for us to come together at Kingdom Life. 533 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:51,720 We're going to come together as different churches, NCMI 534 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,680 partnering churches in our city. We're going to come together. 535 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,760 We're going to come together and worship. 536 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,760 It's going to take some sacrifice for us to get down 537 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,040 there and do that. I think it's going to be a 538 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,800 Sunday night, Sunday PM. You know, we're going to be 539 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,000 potentially, we're going to be tied from from our day and all 540 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,440 of those things we might have to sacrifice together. 541 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,560 Why is it important to be there? Because we want to be a part of 542 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,679 what God's doing in our city. We're this church is a global 543 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:21,520 church. We're partnered with churches 544 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,880 all around the world, but we're partnered with churches in our 545 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:26,920 city. And it's important for us to 546 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:31,480 come together as the church in our city and hear what God's 547 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:35,159 saying and worship the Lord together, be a part of the 548 00:34:35,159 --> 00:34:38,280 bigness and national elders. Time is in Adelaide. 549 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,159 Wow, that's a relief, isn't it? We don't need to get in a plane 550 00:34:41,159 --> 00:34:44,000 and go somewhere like you don't, But there's an opportunity to 551 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,159 come and serve at this thing, you know, because like this, 552 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:49,800 that's quite a big event. There's passes and and stuff 553 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,280 from all over our country. They're going to come together. 554 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,800 There's got to be opportunities for us to sacrifice and to and 555 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,840 to serve and and to play our part. 556 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,000 You know, these, I'm just, I'm highlighting some of the ways 557 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:08,080 that we can get, get, you know, involved in the bigger church. 558 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:13,280 There is opportunities for us. Obviously there's later next 559 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,240 year, there's going to be our, our national equip, our 560 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:20,880 Australia equip, you know, in Sydney, a bunch of us. 561 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,320 I'm sure we're going to get on a plane. 562 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,680 We're going to go over there. I would encourage everyone. 563 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,920 Tony's going, Tony's nodding. Tony's going. 564 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,560 Good on you, Tony. Tony's coming along, you know, 565 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,240 Christian, his son's going. He's so you're excited about 566 00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:34,800 that, right? It's going to be a good time. 567 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:38,400 There is an opportunity for us to to come and, and, and go 568 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,960 somewhere together. Even like Hillary was sharing 569 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:42,600 today. It's like when we go away 570 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,200 together and when we, like, you know, live our lives in another 571 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,680 place and have to look after each other and take care of each 572 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,240 other, we grow. We grow in our friendship, we 573 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:53,360 grow in our relationship. It's very special. 574 00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,720 Such an opportunity to be a part of that. 575 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:59,920 OK, the, the final thing that I'll just say is that, you know, 576 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:04,600 I was thinking about our, you know, our community groups and, 577 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:10,000 you know, quite often I think about, you know, we, we have 578 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,320 this understanding that we go for ourselves. 579 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,840 Like I go to the community group because you know, like we're 580 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,680 going to, it's just like what I can get, you know, like I can 581 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,120 grow in that place. You know, we're going to unpack 582 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:23,920 the word together. We're going to pray together. 583 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,840 I can get a lot out of that. And it's true, I get a lot out 584 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,600 of our time together at the community, right? 585 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:32,280 But it's bigger than that. And it's getting bigger than 586 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,080 that because we're seeing people that are unsaved coming and 587 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,640 sitting in these rooms. And that means that we're 588 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,240 required to be there, not for your sake, for their sake. 589 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:47,320 You know, I've really enjoyed like seeing us interact with 590 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,760 these people and sharing and, and speaking about what God's 591 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,360 doing in our lives and stuff like that. 592 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,440 And that's not coming through the leadership, that's coming 593 00:36:55,440 --> 00:37:00,400 through us as a people. And so put AI just I'm trying to 594 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:04,920 stir us up to know that you've got something inside of you that 595 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,240 the Lord has put something in each and every one of us that he 596 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:12,320 wants to come out. He wants to reveal himself in US 597 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:14,960 and through us. So we have to come together. 598 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:20,000 We have to be together so that what God's put in US can flow in 599 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,720 US and through us because you know, when we're when we are, 600 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:27,880 when we're the words just left my brain. 601 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:32,360 When you use what God's given you, God gives you more. 602 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,120 When you're faithful with a little, God gives you more. 603 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,960 This is the principle when you hold back what the Lord's put in 604 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,800 you because you know, for various reasons, some are real, 605 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,440 you might be tired and all of the busy week, whatever, when 606 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:50,960 you hold back from going and pouring out, you're missing an 607 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,160 opportunity for God to put more in. 608 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:58,760 We are being conformed into the image of our God and that just 609 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,280 doesn't happen. You know, that just doesn't 610 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:06,720 happen through just time, you know, like, you know, if, if 611 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:09,000 there's just a lot of time, then I'll become like him. 612 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:10,440 That just doesn't happen like that. 613 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:14,000 You know what it reminds me of when when they say, you know, 614 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:16,600 evolution and stuff like that. Yeah, if we can just say that it 615 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:18,880 took a really long time, then it can make sense. 616 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:23,480 Things just don't happen, right. It's going to take us being 617 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,640 actually diligent and pushing in and doing the things that God's 618 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:31,840 calling us to do and, and using the muscle, you know, using the 619 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,320 muscle that God's put in US. And then and then he is formed 620 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:36,560 in US and through US. Amen. 621 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:38,880 Amen. So I'm just going to hand over 622 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,000 to Justin and hopefully you can land this thing and thank you, 623 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:47,000 bro. Yeah, but we give him give both 624 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,680 of them a round of applause. Hey, I was thinking just like 625 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:56,440 how how do we respond to what these guys have shared and Dave 626 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,440 sharing on sacrifice. So I was just thinking about 627 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,280 what you were sharing, Hillary, around love and obedience. 628 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:03,960 And you know that both take sacrifice. 629 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:07,600 Yeah. It it cost me something to buy 630 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:12,960 flowers for my wife. It cost me my preferences when I 631 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,640 want to spend time with her, when I want to show an interest 632 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,400 in her, it cost me something and also cost me something to show 633 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,960 obedience to God. And so both love and obedience 634 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:27,280 cost us something. And the reward it's is amazing. 635 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:29,440 But in the moment, it cost us something. 636 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:35,000 I'll just we're just going to respond just to one of those two 637 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,520 camps. I just feel even in me just God 638 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,400 has highlighted to us as individuals, whether it's your 639 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,800 love for him or whether it's your obedience to him, his and 640 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,280 God just threw what Hillary was sharing is just kind of going 641 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:53,000 hey, like love, love me, love me, love me. 642 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,880 Or maybe you're in the camp where God is just pinpointed an 643 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,560 area, or even as some of the practical areas that Hillary was 644 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:02,440 mentioning or some of the areas that Dave was mentioning where 645 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:06,240 God's kind of going, hey, this, this needs some obedience. 646 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:09,240 This needs to just line up again with my word. 647 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:14,160 So if we take a moment just to bow our heads and just to honor 648 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,520 the work of the Holy Spirit in this place, Father, we come 649 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:22,120 before you, we offer our hearts on the back of these words. 650 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,960 As Dave said, you're working in us as you work through us. 651 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,840 And so we just open our hearts to you, Lord, if there's an area 652 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:36,440 where our affection has waned, where we haven't put you first, 653 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:42,000 where we're not sacrificing to show you a love for you, we pray 654 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:46,040 would you show us that area? And we repent and we said, Lord, 655 00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:49,080 we will make you our first love again. 656 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,240 We make you our first love again. 657 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:58,320 And Lord, that area that you've highlighted in our life that 658 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:03,640 doesn't quite line up with your words, with your commands, we 659 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:07,520 surrender it to you. And we've just asked, would your 660 00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,760 Holy Spirit come and center us again? 661 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:16,080 Would your Holy Spirit come and realign and cause us to obey? 662 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:25,760 And so we lay our hearts before you, we lay our thoughts before 663 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:32,000 you and we pray, Holy Spirit, would you do a work in us as we 664 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:39,600 go out from this place in Jesus name, God's people said Amen. 665 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,880 Awesome guys. Thank you again Dave and Hillary 666 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:44,520 for sharing. That was great. 667 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:46,800 Thank you for joining us for today's message. 668 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:49,720 For more information about The Way Church, please visit 669 00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:52,680 ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot AU. 670 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:54,040 Have a blessed day.