1 00:00:00,650 --> 00:00:03,530 Thank you so much Pastor John for your prayers. 2 00:00:03,540 --> 00:00:07,670 Thank you for your invitation to come here and to continue in 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,310 this amazing series called Multiply. 4 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:14,830 The last two Sundays Pastor John brought a message on the topic 5 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,250 of Multiply and two more Sundays after this. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,010 Just an amazing topic. And here we are right in the 7 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:22,850 middle. So thank you for that. 8 00:00:22,860 --> 00:00:28,690 And it's, we wanna get rid of that word multiply in terms of 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,350 multiplication. Maybe you've got a bad memories 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,670 from high school or something or whatever it is. 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,570 We're we're not just talking about mathematical, but it's 12 00:00:37,580 --> 00:00:41,210 spiritual reproduction that we're talking about here. 13 00:00:41,260 --> 00:00:45,250 That as followers of Jesus, we can make more followers of 14 00:00:45,260 --> 00:00:49,090 Jesus, who in turn will make more followers of Jesus and so 15 00:00:49,100 --> 00:00:51,050 on. If we're leaders in the church, 16 00:00:51,060 --> 00:00:54,100 we want to train up a new generation of leaders, who in 17 00:00:54,110 --> 00:00:56,110 turn, they'll also train up new leaders. 18 00:00:56,170 --> 00:00:59,760 And as churches are planted, they would have the DNA to plant 19 00:00:59,770 --> 00:01:02,400 new churches. So let's multiply. 20 00:01:02,470 --> 00:01:07,480 In this spring season, some of you have heard about the 21 00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:14,630 elephant, how it reproduces, that the elephant has trouble 22 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,670 reproducing. Actually, all of you mothers 23 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,810 know how difficult a nine month pregnancy is. 24 00:01:21,820 --> 00:01:24,830 How would you like to have a 22 month pregnancy? 25 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:30,650 That's how long the elephant mom elephant has to wait until that 26 00:01:30,660 --> 00:01:33,850 baby is born. And then after all of that, 27 00:01:34,020 --> 00:01:37,770 there's only one baby elephant after almost two years of 28 00:01:37,780 --> 00:01:39,690 pregnancy. Oh my goodness. 29 00:01:39,700 --> 00:01:42,130 And then the baby doesn't want to come out. 30 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,960 It tries and tries and labour is very difficult for elephants. 31 00:01:46,110 --> 00:01:49,700 In fact, it has to go search in the jungle for this very special 32 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:54,440 kind of leaf that it eats in order to induce the pregnancy. 33 00:01:54,510 --> 00:01:59,620 And it is so hard for that mother elephant to give birth to 34 00:01:59,630 --> 00:02:03,300 that one baby elephant that sometimes it takes four to five 35 00:02:03,310 --> 00:02:07,840 years to recover just so that that mom can give birth to one 36 00:02:07,850 --> 00:02:12,010 more elephant. Now I wanna compare the elephant 37 00:02:12,020 --> 00:02:17,920 this morning to the mouse. OK, The mouse gives birth 21 38 00:02:17,930 --> 00:02:21,100 days after conception. Isn't that crazy? 39 00:02:21,430 --> 00:02:25,580 And not just one mouse, but 6 to 12 mice all at once. 40 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:30,380 It's crazy. And then a few days later, no 41 00:02:30,390 --> 00:02:34,940 kidding, a few days later, the mouse is ready to conceive 42 00:02:34,990 --> 00:02:37,210 again. Amazing. 43 00:02:38,870 --> 00:02:44,120 So the mice, these baby mice that are born, these baby mice 44 00:02:44,180 --> 00:02:49,100 that are born are ready to give birth again 5 weeks, 5 weeks 45 00:02:49,110 --> 00:02:53,740 later to another 6 to 12. Let's do the math for just a 46 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:56,280 minute. When you have one male mouse and 47 00:02:56,290 --> 00:03:01,060 one female mouse, they are capable of producing at least 48 00:03:01,450 --> 00:03:05,980 six generations of mice in one year, with each generation of 49 00:03:05,990 --> 00:03:09,280 them producing after just a few short weeks. 50 00:03:09,550 --> 00:03:13,560 So picture this, the mother mouse, maybe the dad mouse puts 51 00:03:13,570 --> 00:03:16,120 on a birthday party for his wife. 52 00:03:16,130 --> 00:03:20,570 OK, the wife is 1 year old. OK, and all the relatives, 53 00:03:20,580 --> 00:03:24,180 assuming none of them have died because yes, there are natural 54 00:03:24,190 --> 00:03:27,210 predators in the world, including humans, but let's 55 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:30,400 assume there aren't. Then mom and dad mouse after one 56 00:03:30,410 --> 00:03:34,540 year they can invite thousands and thousands of their own 57 00:03:34,550 --> 00:03:36,720 offspring to the one year birthday party. 58 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:44,980 That is the power of exponential multiplication and it's actually 59 00:03:44,990 --> 00:03:49,190 the mouse fulfilling God's command in Scripture in chapter 60 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,910 1 of Genesis first, first of all, verses 21 and 22. 61 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:54,770 This is a command to the animals. 62 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,330 God created a great creatures of the sea, every living thing 63 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:02,540 which the water teams and that moves about in in it according 64 00:04:02,550 --> 00:04:05,690 to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind. 65 00:04:05,700 --> 00:04:09,620 And God said that it was good. God blessed them and said to the 66 00:04:09,630 --> 00:04:14,390 elephant, to the mouse, be fruitful and increase in number 67 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,649 and fill the water in the seas. Let the fill the land and let 68 00:04:18,660 --> 00:04:24,620 the birds increase on the earth. Friends, God wants to bless the 69 00:04:24,630 --> 00:04:28,120 world, bless the nations through multiplication. 70 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:33,070 But before there were nations, before there were families of 71 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,230 nations, there were just two people, Adam and Eve. 72 00:04:35,300 --> 00:04:39,250 And God gave these directions. And we've heard these verses a 73 00:04:39,260 --> 00:04:43,310 couple weeks ago as well from Pastor John, from Genesis 74 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,570 chapter 1, verses 26 to 28, first few pages of the Bible. 75 00:04:48,410 --> 00:04:52,540 Then God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our 76 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:55,800 likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the 77 00:04:55,810 --> 00:04:58,360 birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild 78 00:04:58,370 --> 00:05:01,120 animals and over the creatures that move along the ground. 79 00:05:01,130 --> 00:05:05,680 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God. 80 00:05:05,690 --> 00:05:07,690 He created them, male and female. 81 00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:12,110 He created them. God blessed them and said be 82 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,960 fruitful and increase in number. In other words, multiply, fill 83 00:05:16,970 --> 00:05:20,780 the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea 84 00:05:20,790 --> 00:05:24,270 and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that 85 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,550 moves on the ground. Thank you Heavenly Father for 86 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,440 this directive, for this command, for this blessing from 87 00:05:30,450 --> 00:05:32,470 your word. And we pray, Lord, that we would 88 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,170 also in turn be able to multiply as you have taught us from the 89 00:05:36,180 --> 00:05:41,110 Scriptures in Jesus name, Amen. Now when we think of 90 00:05:41,180 --> 00:05:43,830 commandments in the Bible, we think of the 10 commandments, 91 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:45,590 right? We think of that's the the first 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,870 command from God, but it's not actually, this is the first 93 00:05:48,940 --> 00:05:51,690 command that God gives to people. 94 00:05:51,700 --> 00:05:54,430 It's actually the first words that come out of God's mouth. 95 00:05:54,500 --> 00:05:59,410 And God says, be fruitful. God says multiply. 96 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,530 God says fill the earth. And today, as we have in the 97 00:06:02,540 --> 00:06:05,090 last couple Sundays, we're reminding you that this is not 98 00:06:05,100 --> 00:06:08,650 just a physical command or directive, but it is a spiritual 99 00:06:08,660 --> 00:06:10,760 one. It's very important for each one 100 00:06:10,770 --> 00:06:14,800 of us today, whether we're single or married or younger or 101 00:06:14,810 --> 00:06:17,480 older, each, each of us has this command. 102 00:06:17,490 --> 00:06:20,480 But don't forget, it's also a blessing. 103 00:06:20,710 --> 00:06:23,780 And it's the first thing that God did after he created men and 104 00:06:23,790 --> 00:06:25,940 women. The first thing that he did was 105 00:06:25,950 --> 00:06:29,420 to bless them. And the first words that came 106 00:06:29,430 --> 00:06:32,200 out of his mouth was a blessing and a Commission. 107 00:06:32,250 --> 00:06:35,160 Now we hear the word Commission, we think of Jesus Great 108 00:06:35,170 --> 00:06:37,660 Commission, go into all the world and preach the gospel, 109 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:42,070 make disciples of every nation. That's the command, but also a 110 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,170 Commission. And so I want you to see these 111 00:06:44,180 --> 00:06:48,570 verses as a blessing and a Commission to each one of us. 112 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,150 We see this meaning throughout the Bible. 113 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:58,290 We see, for example, marriage as a picture of the love that 114 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:02,520 Christ has for his church. We see parenting as following 115 00:07:02,530 --> 00:07:05,290 the example of our loving heavenly Father. 116 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,730 And in the same way, I want all of you to see this command to be 117 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:13,990 fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, as also a spiritual 118 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,170 Commission to each one of us today. 119 00:07:16,180 --> 00:07:20,330 This is God's word. This is God's desire for each 120 00:07:20,340 --> 00:07:22,210 one of us. And you know what? 121 00:07:22,220 --> 00:07:25,090 It's not about us, it's about God. 122 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,470 It's about his glory. It's about spreading his fame 123 00:07:29,550 --> 00:07:33,010 throughout all the nations of the earth, Habakkuk says. 124 00:07:33,020 --> 00:07:36,040 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory 125 00:07:36,050 --> 00:07:38,730 of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 126 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:43,360 And we want to increase the knowledge of God everywhere. 127 00:07:43,430 --> 00:07:48,020 We wanna shout how amazing God really is and invite other 128 00:07:48,030 --> 00:07:50,940 people to follow him, to worship him. 129 00:07:50,990 --> 00:07:54,380 And yes, we want to reach others who don't know about Jesus. 130 00:07:54,390 --> 00:07:57,900 We want to share with them the good news as they become 131 00:07:57,910 --> 00:08:01,160 followers of Jesus who want to train them to be good disciples 132 00:08:01,170 --> 00:08:03,950 of him. And as we see emerging leaders, 133 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,800 we want to help them to lead others. 134 00:08:05,850 --> 00:08:10,530 And yes, we want to also see new churches planted go and make 135 00:08:10,540 --> 00:08:13,440 disciples. Jesus says of all the nations, 136 00:08:13,510 --> 00:08:19,190 be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and it's wonderful be into 137 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,510 addition 1 + 1 + 1. It just takes a lot longer, 138 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,810 doesn't it? But God is into multiplication, 139 00:08:26,820 --> 00:08:30,370 be fruitful and multiply. You know, this was not just a 140 00:08:30,380 --> 00:08:34,230 one-off statement in the 1st chapter of Genesis. 141 00:08:34,419 --> 00:08:37,929 Three more times in the book of Genesis we see the same thing. 142 00:08:38,179 --> 00:08:41,970 God destroyed the earth because of man's sin and disobedience. 143 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,680 And once again in the time of Noah, God blessed to know, it 144 00:08:45,690 --> 00:08:50,430 says in Chapter 9 and his sons and said to them, guess what, be 145 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,650 fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 146 00:08:52,660 --> 00:08:57,100 He repeated that command again. I don't know about you, but I 147 00:08:57,110 --> 00:08:59,740 think God is trying to make a point here. 148 00:09:01,810 --> 00:09:04,380 God wants his people to multiply. 149 00:09:04,870 --> 00:09:07,190 How? By being fruitful. 150 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:09,780 We hear the fruit of the Spirit. And that's what we want to see 151 00:09:09,790 --> 00:09:11,900 in our lives. And that our lives would 152 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,080 naturally attract others to have what we what they don't have, 153 00:09:16,090 --> 00:09:18,380 but what we have, and to ask us questions. 154 00:09:18,450 --> 00:09:21,560 And then we can explain to them the love of God through Jesus 155 00:09:21,570 --> 00:09:25,320 Christ, that we can display this fruit of the Holy Spirit, and 156 00:09:25,330 --> 00:09:30,420 that we can multiply what we have by blessing others just as 157 00:09:30,430 --> 00:09:36,300 God has blessed us. Pastor John asked me to not only 158 00:09:36,970 --> 00:09:39,620 bring the message, but also a few personal reflections. 159 00:09:39,630 --> 00:09:42,440 And at this point, I want to share just a personal reflection 160 00:09:42,450 --> 00:09:46,370 as we've been there for 30 years, hard to believe, but 161 00:09:46,380 --> 00:09:49,450 maybe around 2012, you know, what's that? 162 00:09:49,460 --> 00:09:52,710 Maybe 14 years ago, it kind of struck us and we had been into 163 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,250 addition very much. We planted one church and then 164 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:58,420 we moved and planted another church and another and praised 165 00:09:58,430 --> 00:10:00,290 the Lord. Those churches are continuing to 166 00:10:00,300 --> 00:10:04,530 grow and add new people. And then we, we witnessed and 167 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:06,750 saw one person and baptized another. 168 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,670 And this was the addition model of ministry that we were 169 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:12,720 involved in. And praise the Lord for that. 170 00:10:12,730 --> 00:10:14,770 That's better than no ministry at all, right? 171 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:19,830 But we kind of recognized this principle of multiplication from 172 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:25,970 the Bible, and it was a shift in our ministry around maybe 10-12, 173 00:10:25,980 --> 00:10:30,060 fourteen years ago from addition to multiplication and what we 174 00:10:30,070 --> 00:10:33,310 saw that we can come alongside and help other church planters 175 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,490 in what they're doing, other disciples to train those 176 00:10:36,500 --> 00:10:41,200 disciples and also leaders to not only train them, but train 177 00:10:41,210 --> 00:10:44,010 them to train leaders. And it was like something 178 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:45,760 happened that it wasn't up to us. 179 00:10:46,450 --> 00:10:50,740 It's always up to God. But he is showing us the power 180 00:10:50,790 --> 00:10:54,980 of exponential multiplication. And it's still very, very hard. 181 00:10:54,990 --> 00:10:58,100 It's a difficult mission field. In fact, many missionaries quit 182 00:10:58,110 --> 00:11:00,380 after four years or eight years or 10 years. 183 00:11:00,450 --> 00:11:03,450 And so we're thankful that we can still be there after 30 184 00:11:03,460 --> 00:11:05,510 years. But maybe it's because some of 185 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:11,240 them and no fault to them, but in a, in an addition mindset, it 186 00:11:11,250 --> 00:11:14,500 just isn't working. But shifting to a multiplication 187 00:11:14,510 --> 00:11:18,700 mindset opens up so many doors. And so we're thankful that not 188 00:11:18,710 --> 00:11:22,130 only ministry to check, but God is opening up ministry to ethnic 189 00:11:22,140 --> 00:11:25,930 minorities, not only to helping new missionaries adjust to the 190 00:11:25,940 --> 00:11:30,250 Czech Republic, but sending out checks to the nations, not only 191 00:11:30,300 --> 00:11:33,070 planting churches directly, but indirectly as well. 192 00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:37,050 And so we see this shift from addition to multiplication. 193 00:11:37,380 --> 00:11:41,240 And when we see this happen, what are the characteristics of 194 00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:44,050 this happening? We see disciples who make 195 00:11:44,060 --> 00:11:47,510 disciples, churches that plant churches, leaders who train new 196 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:53,270 leaders, and it's God who is the catalyst behind this exponential 197 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:58,270 multiplying of movements. We cannot make it happen by the 198 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,250 force of human will. We need to join in what God is 199 00:12:02,260 --> 00:12:05,930 doing and recognize that God is the one who is into 200 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:10,010 multiplication and we need to join Him in His work, trusting 201 00:12:10,020 --> 00:12:14,270 in God, trusting in His promises, relying on the Word, 202 00:12:14,340 --> 00:12:18,490 and expecting great things through the power of the Holy 203 00:12:18,500 --> 00:12:21,100 Spirit. Friends, we have no other 204 00:12:21,110 --> 00:12:24,060 authority than the authority of God's Word. 205 00:12:24,130 --> 00:12:28,160 That is what sends us out and that is what reminds us over and 206 00:12:28,170 --> 00:12:32,650 over again that God is with us. He is fulfilling His promises. 207 00:12:34,460 --> 00:12:38,330 And thirdly, it's the result of fervent, fervent prayer, and 208 00:12:38,340 --> 00:12:41,480 that's where you come in as well as God is calling you to be in a 209 00:12:41,490 --> 00:12:45,660 ministry of prayer for this church, for the people who are 210 00:12:45,670 --> 00:12:48,880 here, for this neighborhood, for the community, for the region, 211 00:12:48,950 --> 00:12:52,580 for our country of Canada, and yes, for the nations of the 212 00:12:52,590 --> 00:12:56,260 world. When the church prays, the earth 213 00:12:56,310 --> 00:12:58,580 shakes. Just read through the book of 214 00:12:58,590 --> 00:13:02,160 Acts and you can see what happens when the church begins 215 00:13:02,170 --> 00:13:06,320 to begins to pray. Even before Jesus told his 216 00:13:06,330 --> 00:13:09,500 disciples to go, what did he tell them to do? 217 00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:13,780 He told them to pray. Pray earnestly to the Lord of 218 00:13:13,790 --> 00:13:17,860 the harvest, to send out laborers into his harvest. 219 00:13:17,930 --> 00:13:21,640 So often we try to go ahead of God and try to do that work, but 220 00:13:21,650 --> 00:13:25,380 yet it starts with prayer. And Jesus said to his disciples, 221 00:13:25,390 --> 00:13:30,060 first of all, pray. And since that day 2000 years 222 00:13:30,070 --> 00:13:34,720 ago, the Church of Jesus Christ has grown exponentially. 223 00:13:34,820 --> 00:13:37,520 Jesus said I will build my church. 224 00:13:37,570 --> 00:13:40,890 Even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 225 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,170 There were 12 disciples. We read later that there were 226 00:13:45,180 --> 00:13:47,590 70. Then there were about 500. 227 00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:50,310 Soon we get to the book of Acts and we don't see hundreds 228 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,510 anymore. We read about thousands. 229 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,590 There were 10s of thousands of people. 230 00:13:54,660 --> 00:13:57,370 Soon after 300 years, Christianity became the 231 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,230 predominant faith in that part of the world. 232 00:14:00,340 --> 00:14:04,560 But to understand the global significance of this exponential 233 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,650 multiplication of believers in Jesus, we need to go back again 234 00:14:08,660 --> 00:14:13,190 to Genesis, this time to chapter 12, where God gave Abraham a 235 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,800 sevenfold blessing and a promise. 236 00:14:16,810 --> 00:14:21,410 Genesis 12, one to three, the Lord had said to Abraham, Go 237 00:14:21,420 --> 00:14:25,550 from your country, your people, and your father's household to 238 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,280 land. I will show you first promise I 239 00:14:30,290 --> 00:14:32,040 will make you into a great nation. 240 00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:35,860 Secondly, I will bless you. Third, I will make your name 241 00:14:35,870 --> 00:14:38,020 great, and you will be a blessing. 242 00:14:38,030 --> 00:14:39,820 I will bless those who bless you. 243 00:14:39,870 --> 00:14:42,320 Whoever curses you, I will curse. 244 00:14:42,390 --> 00:14:47,560 And here the greatest of all the 77 promises God says to Abraham 245 00:14:47,710 --> 00:14:50,640 in verse 3. And all peoples or people groups 246 00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:54,460 on the earth will be blessed through you. 247 00:14:54,470 --> 00:14:58,180 Yes, physically, but most importantly spiritually, The 248 00:14:58,190 --> 00:15:00,980 greatest of all promises to Abraham. 249 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,260 All peoples, all nations, all people groups will be blessed 250 00:15:05,270 --> 00:15:07,950 through you. Just to stress how important 251 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:12,090 this is, God repeated that same promises promise over in chapter 252 00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:14,270 22. He said to Abraham, I will 253 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,250 surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the 254 00:15:18,260 --> 00:15:23,810 stars in the sky and as the sand in the seashore. 255 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:27,450 I don't know if any of you tried to count the stars, to count the 256 00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:29,870 grains of sand. It's impossible. 257 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,270 But God said, your descendants will take possession of the 258 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,910 cities of your enemies, and through your offspring all 259 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:41,610 nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed 260 00:15:41,620 --> 00:15:45,650 me. The promise of spiritual 261 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:49,990 multiplication was repeated again through his Son Isaac, 262 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,850 then through Jacob, through the 12 sons. 263 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,000 Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. 264 00:15:57,140 --> 00:16:01,690 And from this line, God would supernaturally unfold His plan, 265 00:16:01,820 --> 00:16:06,210 His purpose for all of mankind, by sending His Son, the Lord 266 00:16:06,220 --> 00:16:10,170 Jesus Christ, the sinless, the perfect Son of God, who would be 267 00:16:10,180 --> 00:16:14,360 born of a virgin, who would live and walk among us, who would 268 00:16:14,370 --> 00:16:19,340 suffer and who would die to take upon Himself the curse of sin 269 00:16:19,350 --> 00:16:23,900 and guilt and shame. Past, present, future, once and 270 00:16:23,910 --> 00:16:27,970 for all. It is finished and to make us 271 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:33,930 right again with a just and holy God to restore that relationship 272 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,400 that was broken in the Garden of Eden. 273 00:16:39,340 --> 00:16:44,850 And all who would receive Him by faith, just like Abraham, all 274 00:16:44,860 --> 00:16:47,260 who would believe in the promises and the plan of God, 275 00:16:47,270 --> 00:16:49,520 the power of God's provision of God. 276 00:16:49,930 --> 00:16:54,390 God gives them the right to become the children of God, just 277 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:56,620 as John says. Not, not children, not born out 278 00:16:56,630 --> 00:17:01,900 of natural descent or of human decision or husband's will, but 279 00:17:01,910 --> 00:17:05,540 born of God. This is the promise that's 280 00:17:05,550 --> 00:17:08,690 available to you and to me today. 281 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,349 If you haven't already, I encourage you to take this 282 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,790 promise to heart and to receive Jesus as the greatest gift of 283 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,930 all into your heart, into your life, and He will transform you 284 00:17:20,020 --> 00:17:25,260 by the power of the Holy Spirit. And now this promise has taken 285 00:17:25,270 --> 00:17:29,910 on a worldwide scope, a global scope, not just to the nation of 286 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,590 Canada or to the ethnic groups of our country, but to the 287 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,890 nations of the world, to all peoples of all, to all nations, 288 00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:41,740 language groups and tribes. Through this one act of 289 00:17:41,750 --> 00:17:47,780 obedience of a man named Abraham from the land of earth, God said 290 00:17:47,790 --> 00:17:53,120 go and Abraham went. Later on, Moses got a call to 291 00:17:53,130 --> 00:17:55,640 go, and he went. And others. 292 00:17:55,930 --> 00:17:59,220 Daniel, he went. Jonah. 293 00:17:59,650 --> 00:18:02,670 Well, not right away, but eventually he went. 294 00:18:03,270 --> 00:18:07,540 And Jesus has told us in the Great Commission to go into all 295 00:18:07,550 --> 00:18:10,990 the world and to preach the gospel to all creation, to go 296 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,810 and to make disciples of all nations. 297 00:18:14,610 --> 00:18:19,170 Wow, the early church, as we read in Acts, they really took 298 00:18:19,180 --> 00:18:23,730 this Commission to heart. And as we read in the book of 299 00:18:23,740 --> 00:18:27,270 Acts, the first few chapters record addition growth. 300 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,220 Isn't that interesting. The Word of God even says that 301 00:18:30,230 --> 00:18:33,130 the Lord added 3000 to church in one day. 302 00:18:33,140 --> 00:18:35,570 Amazing. And then a few chapters later we 303 00:18:35,580 --> 00:18:39,190 heard that 5000 were added to the church. 304 00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:43,620 But then in chapter 6 of the book of Acts, something happens. 305 00:18:43,630 --> 00:18:46,870 We don't hear as much about addition, and guess what? 306 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,030 We start hearing about multiplication. 307 00:18:50,420 --> 00:18:56,650 Multiplication and the language of Acts begins to change as the 308 00:18:56,660 --> 00:19:00,710 number of disciples was multiplied and God's 309 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,030 multiplication of disciples resulted in exponential growth 310 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,470 for the church. And as it happens, that also 311 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,130 resulted in persecution. So we need to be aware that 312 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:15,030 multiplication and persecution in the Bible are often hand in 313 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,780 hand. The church was scattered. 314 00:19:17,790 --> 00:19:20,160 They hadn't thought about going to other places. 315 00:19:20,170 --> 00:19:24,160 They wanted to stay together, but God had greater plans and 316 00:19:24,170 --> 00:19:28,150 through persecution that none of us would ever wish upon anyone. 317 00:19:28,220 --> 00:19:29,850 And yet they received persecution. 318 00:19:29,860 --> 00:19:33,790 They fled, they scattered and everywhere they went, they told 319 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,990 the wonderful and amazing news of Jesus Christ. 320 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,670 And if we go to Acts chapter 16, we read an amazing verse here. 321 00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:44,130 The churches were strengthened their faith and they it's not 322 00:19:44,140 --> 00:19:48,400 specific they increased numbers daily, but yet when you look at 323 00:19:48,410 --> 00:19:50,520 the verse, what does that they mean? 324 00:19:50,530 --> 00:19:53,440 Not necessarily the believers who increased in numbers daily, 325 00:19:53,450 --> 00:19:57,310 but the number of churches increased in numbers daily. 326 00:19:57,980 --> 00:20:00,850 Exponential growth of the Church. 327 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:05,240 Explosive growth. How is that possible? 328 00:20:06,310 --> 00:20:09,760 How can that be? The Apostle Paul planted 329 00:20:09,770 --> 00:20:15,190 churches, trained leaders, and then moved on rather quickly so 330 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,410 that they would stay behind and reach their region for Christ. 331 00:20:18,650 --> 00:20:22,550 In fact, in Romans Paul says so. From Jerusalem all the way 332 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,510 around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the Gospel of 333 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:28,460 Christ. Did Paul actually preach to 334 00:20:28,470 --> 00:20:31,390 every single person? Did every person receive Christ? 335 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,580 No, but he felt they fully done the job that God called him to 336 00:20:35,590 --> 00:20:41,540 do and it was time to move on. This movement is continuing to 337 00:20:41,550 --> 00:20:43,780 this day. We look around in Canada, we 338 00:20:43,790 --> 00:20:46,460 don't see it happening necessarily in the United 339 00:20:46,470 --> 00:20:49,860 States, especially in Europe, it just seems like things are 340 00:20:49,870 --> 00:20:53,790 stagnating that we're glad when we have at least addition, but 341 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,740 we don't see this multiplication happening. 342 00:20:56,690 --> 00:21:02,100 But yet in other parts of the world, Asia, Africa, Latin 343 00:21:02,110 --> 00:21:06,280 America, the church is growing literally exponentially. 344 00:21:06,330 --> 00:21:10,790 It is just amazing to see and we can, we can understand that this 345 00:21:10,850 --> 00:21:13,890 biblical concept of multiplication is happening 346 00:21:14,030 --> 00:21:18,240 among the nations of the world. So many times we're happy and 347 00:21:18,250 --> 00:21:23,480 we're satisfied when we can be in an addition model of ministry 348 00:21:23,490 --> 00:21:27,380 and praise the Lord for that. But yet the question is, is God 349 00:21:27,390 --> 00:21:31,550 calling us to the next level? Is God calling us to, for this 350 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:36,090 holy dissatisfaction of we don't want just addition ministry, we 351 00:21:36,100 --> 00:21:40,140 want multiplication ministry. And how can we do it? 352 00:21:40,430 --> 00:21:44,640 We don't want to just add more people, add more programs, add 353 00:21:44,650 --> 00:21:47,120 more stuff, but we want to start sending. 354 00:21:47,130 --> 00:21:51,220 It's not just a seating capacity, but it's a sending 355 00:21:51,230 --> 00:21:53,620 capacity. And what are we going to rejoice 356 00:21:53,630 --> 00:21:57,260 about how many people we have sent out of our seats, out of 357 00:21:57,270 --> 00:22:00,820 our chairs into the community, into the regions of province, 358 00:22:00,830 --> 00:22:03,560 the country, and yes, to the farthest corners of the world. 359 00:22:03,570 --> 00:22:05,720 And we could praise the Lord for that. 360 00:22:05,790 --> 00:22:09,010 And that's why we're thankful that we are your ambassadors. 361 00:22:09,020 --> 00:22:11,690 We are your ministers in the Czech Republic. 362 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,350 We are an extension of what you are doing here and we are so 363 00:22:16,420 --> 00:22:20,390 pleased to be able to do that. As I said, we got to know some 364 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,850 Mongolians in the Czech Republic and we understood that there 365 00:22:23,860 --> 00:22:28,320 were no Christians in 1989. In 1990 there were 4. 366 00:22:28,390 --> 00:22:32,160 Then in 1991, there were 10 Christians in the whole country 367 00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:38,360 of 3 million people. And today 2% of Mongolians are 368 00:22:38,370 --> 00:22:42,370 Christians, 100,150 thousand believers. 369 00:22:42,380 --> 00:22:44,710 It's amazing. And when they go to another 370 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,690 country as immigrants, 98% of them don't know Christ, but 2 of 371 00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:51,130 2% do. And they want to reach their 372 00:22:51,140 --> 00:22:54,410 countrymen with the gospel and say, hey, we have a service in 373 00:22:54,420 --> 00:22:57,950 your language, we have music, we have a meal together, why don't 374 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,290 you come? And so many people who are new 375 00:23:00,300 --> 00:23:03,850 to the Czech Republic but from Mongolia, they hear about this 376 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,400 when they come and they receive the gospel. 377 00:23:06,690 --> 00:23:10,380 One of our evangelist friends, a check guy, he says he he 378 00:23:10,390 --> 00:23:13,680 witnesses to about 100 people and only one of them react 379 00:23:13,690 --> 00:23:18,300 positively to the gospel. 99% react negatively in the Czech 380 00:23:18,310 --> 00:23:21,700 Republic. But yet our pastor, Munku, she 381 00:23:21,710 --> 00:23:26,310 said he if he shared the gospel to 100 Mongolians, about 50 of 382 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,870 them, half would express interest in hearing more. 383 00:23:29,940 --> 00:23:32,600 Isn't that amazing? So God is at work among the 384 00:23:32,610 --> 00:23:37,090 Mongolian population of the Czech Republic and we get to 385 00:23:37,100 --> 00:23:39,570 provide space for them at Skolka Church. 386 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,330 We get to partner with them in different outreach events and I 387 00:23:43,340 --> 00:23:47,730 get to come alongside of this wonderful man, Pastor Mukesh, 388 00:23:47,740 --> 00:23:51,970 who is full time ministering to the Mongolian population of 389 00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:55,830 Prague, the Czech Republic, and yes, to the many nations of 390 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,130 Europe. Multiplication. 391 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,570 I want to just reflect how sometimes it's also painful. 392 00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:05,210 Multiplication can be painful. And that leads to our Third 393 00:24:05,220 --> 00:24:08,050 Point. Multiplication involves leaving, 394 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:10,610 cleaving and receiving. I like that point because it all 395 00:24:10,620 --> 00:24:12,410 rhymes. I, I kind of proud of that 396 00:24:12,420 --> 00:24:15,290 little point there leaving, cleaving and receiving. 397 00:24:15,300 --> 00:24:17,750 You can actually walk out today and you can remember that 398 00:24:17,820 --> 00:24:21,010 because they all rhyme. But especially remember, be 399 00:24:21,020 --> 00:24:25,620 fruitful, multiply, fill the earth in a spiritual sense. 400 00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:27,790 And you're saying, well, hold on Mark, you don't understand. 401 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,680 This is still talking physically, you know, having 402 00:24:30,750 --> 00:24:33,380 babies and raising kids and all that kind of thing. 403 00:24:33,450 --> 00:24:37,600 And yes, you are right, physical multiplication is very important 404 00:24:37,610 --> 00:24:40,140 and God wants us to disciple in our families. 405 00:24:40,470 --> 00:24:43,960 That's the first context of what we read in creation. 406 00:24:44,050 --> 00:24:48,280 And yet we see God's plan for marriage as well. 407 00:24:48,290 --> 00:24:52,510 Therefore a man shall leave his father, the Bible says, and his 408 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,150 mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. 409 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:58,550 In other word. For cleave is to join or be 410 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,890 united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 411 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:04,610 I love that word cleave because it's the only word in the 412 00:25:04,620 --> 00:25:06,940 English language that has two opposite meanings. 413 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,950 Cleave means to join together 2 parts that were one and yet to 414 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:13,650 cleave. If you have a cleaver at home, 415 00:25:13,700 --> 00:25:16,330 you can also take an apple and you can cleave it in half. 416 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,700 Isn't that interesting? One word, 2 completely opposite 417 00:25:19,710 --> 00:25:23,190 definitions, but this one, it means to cleave, to join 418 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,440 together, to make one from 2 separate parts. 419 00:25:26,540 --> 00:25:30,080 And that's an important concept that we find in Genesis. 420 00:25:30,150 --> 00:25:34,000 Jesus repeated that in the gospels in Mark, and then Paul 421 00:25:34,050 --> 00:25:36,540 teaches it again in Ephesians chapter 5. 422 00:25:36,590 --> 00:25:41,500 Very important as it relates to multiplication, leaving, 423 00:25:41,550 --> 00:25:45,400 cleaving and receiving. So in order for them to be, for 424 00:25:45,410 --> 00:25:49,260 there to be multiplication, there must be a leaving. 425 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,810 There's a going. And we hear this call of God, 426 00:25:52,820 --> 00:25:55,130 go, go, go. Old Testament, New Testament, 427 00:25:55,140 --> 00:25:59,160 go. Sometimes that means physically 428 00:25:59,210 --> 00:26:03,840 moving from the place where the gospel is known to the place 429 00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:06,380 where the gospel is known. There are many barriers to the 430 00:26:06,390 --> 00:26:08,680 gospel. It could be geography a a 431 00:26:08,690 --> 00:26:11,060 mountain range. It could be a language that we 432 00:26:11,070 --> 00:26:15,330 can't speak. It could be political, maybe a 433 00:26:15,340 --> 00:26:17,790 dictatorship that doesn't allow Christians. 434 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,420 It could be even a war situation. 435 00:26:20,540 --> 00:26:24,490 It might be cultures that are so different that we just can't 436 00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:29,930 manage to cross a cultural, linguistic or geographical 437 00:26:29,940 --> 00:26:32,590 barrier. But God is still calling us to 438 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,230 go. And that first Commission, 1st 439 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,650 century Commission of Go, is still as applicable as it is 440 00:26:39,660 --> 00:26:42,740 today. And that is the process of 441 00:26:42,750 --> 00:26:46,580 multiplication. First step is going or leaving, 442 00:26:46,810 --> 00:26:49,160 leaving our nation, leaving our country. 443 00:26:49,230 --> 00:26:53,400 But also it means crossing the street or crossing the hallway 444 00:26:53,410 --> 00:26:57,820 at work or crossing somewhere in our hearts, a barrier that we 445 00:26:57,830 --> 00:27:00,220 have against someone who's not a believer. 446 00:27:00,690 --> 00:27:04,180 But Paul didn't do it alone. And multiplication is not a Lone 447 00:27:04,190 --> 00:27:06,540 Ranger sport. In fact, it always takes at 448 00:27:06,550 --> 00:27:09,480 least two people. And the 1st century believers 449 00:27:09,490 --> 00:27:11,500 knew that they went out two by two. 450 00:27:11,510 --> 00:27:13,880 And Jesus sent out the 12 and the 72. 451 00:27:13,930 --> 00:27:18,110 But also often in in Acts we read that they go out in teams 452 00:27:18,260 --> 00:27:21,360 or two by two or they join teams that already exist. 453 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,490 And so this is the part of cleaving. 454 00:27:23,500 --> 00:27:26,370 So we leave, but we don't do a Lone Ranger sport. 455 00:27:26,460 --> 00:27:30,000 We cleave are we join with other like minded believers who are 456 00:27:30,010 --> 00:27:32,950 doing that. And also we joined the local 457 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:34,430 Christians who are in that place. 458 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,800 If there are believers, we join them in what they are doing. 459 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:42,970 And this is that part of cleaving or joining what God is 460 00:27:42,980 --> 00:27:43,850 doing. Why? 461 00:27:44,530 --> 00:27:47,800 So that we can better reach others for Christ, so we can be 462 00:27:47,810 --> 00:27:51,660 more effective. The cord of three strands is not 463 00:27:51,730 --> 00:27:53,540 easily broken. Broken. 464 00:27:53,870 --> 00:27:59,000 And we also follow the example of Jesus, who left his Father's 465 00:27:59,010 --> 00:28:05,790 home in heaven, and he joined what was going on here. 466 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:12,250 He became one of us. He shared our sorrows and also 467 00:28:12,530 --> 00:28:16,560 shared with us our joys, and we are called to leave and to 468 00:28:16,570 --> 00:28:19,000 cleave, to go and identify with the people. 469 00:28:19,010 --> 00:28:23,080 And this third step in multiplication is receiving. 470 00:28:23,310 --> 00:28:27,410 Take a look at Mark chapter 10, verses 27 to 31. 471 00:28:28,090 --> 00:28:33,020 Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible, but 472 00:28:33,030 --> 00:28:36,810 not with God. All things are possible with 473 00:28:36,820 --> 00:28:38,170 God. That's an important verse to 474 00:28:38,180 --> 00:28:40,710 remember when we think about multiplication. 475 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,330 Oh, that's that's not gonna work. 476 00:28:43,110 --> 00:28:46,250 Hmm. Sure, humanly it's impossible, 477 00:28:46,340 --> 00:28:50,240 but Jesus himself said with God all things are possible. 478 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,670 Then Peter spoke up. Oht Peter, Oht Peter, I love 479 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:56,670 Peter. He just pipes up and says 480 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,450 something off the top of his head, Peter said. 481 00:29:00,100 --> 00:29:01,870 We have left everything to follow you. 482 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,030 Little did Peter know what it was really gonna take to enter 483 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:07,790 into this multiplication ministry. 484 00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:12,940 And I'm sure Jesus just sighed. He said, Ohhh Peter, truly I 485 00:29:12,950 --> 00:29:17,530 tell you, not just Peter, but to all the 12 no one who has left 486 00:29:17,540 --> 00:29:23,190 home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or 487 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:30,220 lands for me and for the gospel will fail to receive 100 times 488 00:29:30,230 --> 00:29:33,640 as much in the present age. Holmes brothers, sisters, 489 00:29:33,650 --> 00:29:38,960 mothers, children and lands along with persecutions and in 490 00:29:38,970 --> 00:29:43,960 the age to come, eternal life. And then just to summarize, 491 00:29:43,970 --> 00:29:47,570 Jesus says, but many who are first will be last, and the last 492 00:29:47,580 --> 00:29:51,110 will be first. And here we're at the amazing 493 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:57,080 result of multiplication, yes, leaving, yes, cleaving, but 494 00:29:57,090 --> 00:30:02,600 receiving a hundredfold in this life and in the life to come. 495 00:30:04,550 --> 00:30:07,940 And as Pastor John asked me to for a moment, just be personal 496 00:30:07,950 --> 00:30:12,160 and share from our own heart. Yes, it was wonderful to grow up 497 00:30:12,170 --> 00:30:15,160 as a family in the Czech Republic with our four children. 498 00:30:15,230 --> 00:30:18,540 And we always used to tell our kids home is wherever we are 499 00:30:18,550 --> 00:30:21,960 together as a family, whether it's Chech Republic, Minnesota, 500 00:30:21,970 --> 00:30:24,700 Ontario, at least we're all together and we can just take 501 00:30:24,710 --> 00:30:26,650 our turtle shell and we can move. 502 00:30:26,730 --> 00:30:29,620 And then our first kid went back to Canada, our second or third 503 00:30:29,630 --> 00:30:31,660 or fourth. And now we're empty nesters in 504 00:30:31,670 --> 00:30:34,500 the Czech Republic and we can't say that anymore. 505 00:30:34,570 --> 00:30:37,050 We can't date to our kids. Home is wherever we are together 506 00:30:37,060 --> 00:30:39,750 as a family, cause we're not together anymore. 507 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:43,090 And so we had read this verse, as many of you have, 100 times, 508 00:30:43,100 --> 00:30:45,870 and we checked off the boxes. Yeah, we left our land. 509 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,790 We left our home. We left our mother, our father. 510 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,750 We left our brothers, our sisters, and then we looked back 511 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,390 this first. And after we had left our 512 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,010 children and they had left us, we said, oh, there's a word in 513 00:30:57,020 --> 00:31:02,520 here, children. And we realized that sometimes 514 00:31:02,530 --> 00:31:04,920 it's painful. I'm not saying leave infants or 515 00:31:05,010 --> 00:31:07,960 or a preschool or elementary school children behind. 516 00:31:07,970 --> 00:31:10,780 I'm not saying that. But sometimes there comes a 517 00:31:10,790 --> 00:31:12,190 point. And many of you know as well, 518 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:15,000 they're off to college or off to their different places. 519 00:31:15,010 --> 00:31:17,200 They move and we're a little bit sad. 520 00:31:17,210 --> 00:31:22,040 And our children did that too. But for the gospel, it's worth 521 00:31:22,050 --> 00:31:24,310 it. And so when our children left, 522 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:26,230 yes, it was painful. And that's the point when many 523 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,670 mysteries say, OK, we're gonna keep our family together. 524 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,870 We're gonna call it quits and move back to North America 525 00:31:31,940 --> 00:31:34,210 because we wanna stay together. And they do that. 526 00:31:34,220 --> 00:31:36,570 And sometimes their kids still move different places. 527 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,340 So you can't change that. But God gave us a real peace 528 00:31:40,350 --> 00:31:43,610 that it was not time for us to finish the ministry just because 529 00:31:43,620 --> 00:31:46,450 our children were leaving. But this is one of the verses 530 00:31:46,460 --> 00:31:50,930 that really spoke to us as well, that yes, part of multiplication 531 00:31:50,940 --> 00:31:57,210 is also leaving, but yet in the very same breath, Jesus says, 532 00:31:57,220 --> 00:32:00,830 receiving a hundredfold. And we look at the land of the 533 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,390 Czech Republic, the land of Ukraine, the land of Mongolia, 534 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,870 lands that we never really knew much about. 535 00:32:07,260 --> 00:32:12,470 And yet God has given us these lands spiritually, children who 536 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,990 are being baptized. And you saw just last year three 537 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,690 of them wonderful conversion stories that we don't have time 538 00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:22,590 to share with you and others who will be waiting for baptism when 539 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:29,260 we return in May and in June. And receiving families, families 540 00:32:29,270 --> 00:32:33,060 of believers that didn't even exist 10 years ago, 20 years 541 00:32:33,070 --> 00:32:36,420 ago, 30 years ago. And they are now churches that 542 00:32:36,430 --> 00:32:40,800 are on their own, receiving even more believers and reaching out 543 00:32:40,890 --> 00:32:44,000 even more to their communities and yes, to the world. 544 00:32:44,110 --> 00:32:48,160 And so we've seen this Bible verse come true in our own 545 00:32:48,170 --> 00:32:50,420 lives. How about you? 546 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,810 Are you ready to take these streets three steps to leave, to 547 00:32:56,820 --> 00:33:02,210 cleave, and to receive for God's glory and for the purposes that 548 00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:05,040 God has ordained for us through multiplication? 549 00:33:05,820 --> 00:33:09,050 And you might say, oh, I'd rather just stay put. 550 00:33:09,060 --> 00:33:12,710 I can give some money and I can pray, but I'm called to stay 551 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:13,660 put. And that's fine. 552 00:33:13,670 --> 00:33:17,570 Not all of us are called to go to another country, but yet 553 00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:22,030 we're called to go across the street to reach out to our 554 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:26,230 Muslim neighbor. We're called to go across the 555 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,080 hallway to our Buddhist coworker. 556 00:33:30,310 --> 00:33:35,440 We're called to reach out to our classmates at school who live a 557 00:33:35,450 --> 00:33:40,900 secular atheist lifestyle. God is calling us to join 558 00:33:41,110 --> 00:33:44,640 ministries that exist here at Forest View that are looking for 559 00:33:44,650 --> 00:33:48,290 people who will be able to do the work of the ministry. 560 00:33:48,300 --> 00:33:50,670 Why? So that ministry can expand and 561 00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:54,180 grow and multiply. And yes, maybe God has put a 562 00:33:54,190 --> 00:33:58,100 burden on you to start a new ministry right here in Grimsby 563 00:33:58,110 --> 00:34:01,380 or in this region, A ministry that doesn't even exist yet. 564 00:34:01,490 --> 00:34:04,760 But yet you have that holy dissatisfaction in your heart 565 00:34:04,770 --> 00:34:06,460 that you know there's something more. 566 00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:11,270 And that is this calling of God. But beware, just like we read in 567 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,870 this verse, along with persecutions. 568 00:34:15,550 --> 00:34:19,340 And Tertullian once said that one of the early Church fathers, 569 00:34:19,350 --> 00:34:23,650 he said the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. 570 00:34:24,860 --> 00:34:28,670 And friends, I know that as we see the day of the Lord coming 571 00:34:28,739 --> 00:34:33,170 closer and closer, I believe that we will experience more 572 00:34:33,179 --> 00:34:37,679 persecution, that people who are now just indifferent to the 573 00:34:37,690 --> 00:34:40,280 gospel will be openly hostile to the gospel. 574 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,330 People who maybe now tolerate Christians will become more and 575 00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:49,389 more intolerant of Christians. But what is the hope of the 576 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:51,270 world? The hope of the world is the 577 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:57,320 Church of Jesus Christ that will grow and multiply and his cross 578 00:34:57,330 --> 00:35:00,580 cultural missionaries reaching out to different people groups 579 00:35:00,590 --> 00:35:02,780 who have not yet the gospel, heard the gospel. 580 00:35:02,910 --> 00:35:05,940 We can't do it without the prayers of the Saints, without 581 00:35:05,950 --> 00:35:10,360 that partnership that exists because we know that missions is 582 00:35:10,370 --> 00:35:13,400 only temporary. Evangelism one day will end, but 583 00:35:13,410 --> 00:35:16,500 worship will continue for all of eternity. 584 00:35:16,730 --> 00:35:20,470 Jesus himself said the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in 585 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,820 the whole world as a testimony to all nations. 586 00:35:23,830 --> 00:35:29,260 And then Matthew 2414. And then the end will come, 587 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:34,170 missions will end, evangelism will end, but worship will 588 00:35:34,180 --> 00:35:37,030 continue. And we are here to to call 589 00:35:37,110 --> 00:35:39,970 people from every tribe and tongue and people of nation to 590 00:35:39,980 --> 00:35:41,950 join that great and glorious day. 591 00:35:42,020 --> 00:35:46,520 That brings us to our fourth point, that worship is God's 592 00:35:46,530 --> 00:35:48,840 great plan and purpose for the nation. 593 00:35:49,190 --> 00:35:53,360 And the apostle John in Revelation gives us this vision 594 00:35:53,370 --> 00:35:57,520 of white hot worship for all eternity in heaven before the 595 00:35:57,530 --> 00:36:01,280 throne of God, before Jesus, the Lamb of God. 596 00:36:01,350 --> 00:36:04,930 Let's look at Revelation Chapter 7 starting at verse 9. 597 00:36:05,650 --> 00:36:08,850 And John says in his vision as after this I looked and there 598 00:36:08,860 --> 00:36:12,900 before me was a great multitude that no one could count. 599 00:36:12,970 --> 00:36:17,070 You see that word multitude and multiply, a multitude that no 600 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,250 one could count from every nation and tribe and people and 601 00:36:21,260 --> 00:36:24,580 language. Rep redeemed representatives 602 00:36:24,590 --> 00:36:26,920 from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 603 00:36:26,930 --> 00:36:30,570 Not every single person in the whole world, but every nation, 604 00:36:30,580 --> 00:36:33,420 tribe, and tongue would be represented before the throne of 605 00:36:33,430 --> 00:36:36,240 God, the fulfillment of missions, and then the end will 606 00:36:36,250 --> 00:36:38,940 come. What were they doing standing 607 00:36:39,050 --> 00:36:40,820 before the throne and before the Lamb? 608 00:36:40,830 --> 00:36:43,620 They were wearing white robes and they were holding palm 609 00:36:43,630 --> 00:36:48,070 branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud 610 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,600 voice. Salvation belongs to our God who 611 00:36:52,610 --> 00:36:55,250 sits on the throne and to the land. 612 00:36:56,410 --> 00:36:59,500 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the 613 00:36:59,510 --> 00:37:02,800 elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on 614 00:37:02,810 --> 00:37:07,160 their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying Amen, 615 00:37:07,850 --> 00:37:13,360 Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks, power and strength be to 616 00:37:13,370 --> 00:37:17,640 our God forever and ever. Amen. 617 00:37:18,170 --> 00:37:22,000 Friends, this is the future reality that awaits us in 618 00:37:22,010 --> 00:37:24,060 heaven. Together with redeemed 619 00:37:24,070 --> 00:37:27,640 representatives from every tribe and tongue and nation, we will 620 00:37:27,650 --> 00:37:32,900 be gathered before the throne. But until that day comes, we are 621 00:37:32,910 --> 00:37:37,760 on a mission to win worshippers from every people group on the 622 00:37:37,770 --> 00:37:41,070 face of this earth. Jesus had a mission. 623 00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:45,670 Jesus had a vision and he gives that to us as his disciples. 624 00:37:46,140 --> 00:37:49,720 God had a God sized vision. It was through His Son our Lord 625 00:37:49,730 --> 00:37:57,500 Jesus Christ 30 * 60 * 100 * 1,000,000 of times more fruit 626 00:37:58,130 --> 00:38:02,270 and for us the call is to be fruitful and multiply and fill 627 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:06,730 the earth. Did we know 30 years ago that 628 00:38:06,740 --> 00:38:10,130 God would lead us to not only plant Czech churches, but come 629 00:38:10,140 --> 00:38:13,330 alongside of brothers and sisters whose languages we don't 630 00:38:13,340 --> 00:38:17,030 even understand and help them to plant churches for their people? 631 00:38:17,730 --> 00:38:22,470 No. Did we know that we would meet 632 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,590 Mongolians in the Czech Republic? 633 00:38:25,020 --> 00:38:28,830 No. Did we know that a horrible war 634 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:32,970 would break out just four years ago, causing unspeakable 635 00:38:32,980 --> 00:38:37,650 suffering and death and destruction in Ukraine, causing 636 00:38:37,660 --> 00:38:42,730 a humanitarian crisis? No, we didn't know, but that God 637 00:38:42,910 --> 00:38:45,880 would come alongside of them and that new churches would be 638 00:38:45,890 --> 00:38:48,580 planted. We realized that at the current 639 00:38:48,590 --> 00:38:52,150 rate of growth of 0.5% evangelical in the Czech 640 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:56,560 Republic, it would take 125 years just to get to 1%. 641 00:38:56,910 --> 00:39:01,380 And then within three weeks, 3 weeks, friends, the evangelical 642 00:39:01,390 --> 00:39:04,720 population bumped from 1/2 to 3/4 of 1%. 643 00:39:04,810 --> 00:39:09,140 Because Ukraine is such a relatively evangelical country, 644 00:39:09,150 --> 00:39:13,840 5% of of Ukrainians are following Jesus Christ as their 645 00:39:13,850 --> 00:39:16,320 savior, and they've come to the Czech Republic. 646 00:39:16,390 --> 00:39:20,070 Who could have anticipated that anything is possible with God? 647 00:39:20,930 --> 00:39:24,480 Could we have anticipated that? No, of course not. 648 00:39:25,910 --> 00:39:29,680 Did we know that I would meet a wonderful Korean pastor in 649 00:39:29,690 --> 00:39:33,070 Prague named Pastor Lee who desires to reach out to the 650 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,030 Koreans in Prague but also has a heart for the nations and wants 651 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:38,760 to partner with the Czech churches? 652 00:39:39,050 --> 00:39:43,250 No, we didn't know that. Did we know that we would meet 653 00:39:43,260 --> 00:39:47,260 this wonderful group of people, this people group called Roma, 654 00:39:47,430 --> 00:39:50,960 who have gone through suffering and discrimination for 1000 655 00:39:50,970 --> 00:39:53,040 years? They call them the Wanderers. 656 00:39:53,050 --> 00:39:57,060 They're a nation without a country and yet to see this 657 00:39:57,070 --> 00:39:59,910 revival happening, even in the time that we've been there, 658 00:40:00,150 --> 00:40:02,860 could we have anticipated that? No. 659 00:40:03,970 --> 00:40:06,880 And did we know that we would not only be part of a missions 660 00:40:06,890 --> 00:40:10,620 receiving process of helping new missionaries to get acquainted 661 00:40:10,630 --> 00:40:15,130 and acculturated, but they would help checks to be sent back out 662 00:40:15,140 --> 00:40:18,600 to the nations just as that great Moravian mission movement 663 00:40:18,610 --> 00:40:21,220 of 300 years ago would be reawakened? 664 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,760 Could we have anticipated that? No, we were praying for that, 665 00:40:24,830 --> 00:40:28,160 but now it's a reality. These are all things that we 666 00:40:28,170 --> 00:40:32,600 could not have anticipated, and yet God has orchestrated great 667 00:40:32,610 --> 00:40:35,890 things in our lives, in our ministry. 668 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:39,550 And we look forward to hearing some of the ways that God is 669 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,490 orchestrating in your lives, in your ministry, in your church, 670 00:40:43,500 --> 00:40:47,670 in your community, and your region as you also experience 671 00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:51,610 the power of exponential multiplication in your lives. 672 00:40:52,140 --> 00:41:00,210 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 673 00:41:00,220 --> 00:41:06,580 for this great and yet difficult calling for us to not only add 674 00:41:06,650 --> 00:41:10,340 new believers to, but to multiply, to multiply ourselves 675 00:41:10,350 --> 00:41:14,350 and to reach others with the gospel, to multiply ourselves 676 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,350 and help believers to grow in their faith and to be the 677 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,040 disciples that will train even new disciples. 678 00:41:21,570 --> 00:41:24,550 We thank you that we can encourage leaders who will in 679 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:28,440 turn also train new leaders and yes, be part of a church 680 00:41:28,450 --> 00:41:32,980 planting movement that will see new churches planted across our 681 00:41:33,070 --> 00:41:34,800 country and yes, around the world. 682 00:41:35,210 --> 00:41:40,770 Or I ask a blessing on Forest View Community Church on Pastor 683 00:41:40,780 --> 00:41:45,690 John on Gale, all the the staff here, the leaders and volunteers 684 00:41:45,700 --> 00:41:48,890 of this church, Lord, that we would experience the power of 685 00:41:48,900 --> 00:41:52,990 the Holy Spirit as we recognize this exponential multiplication 686 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,430 power that you offer to us. We pray a blessing on the next 687 00:41:56,500 --> 00:42:00,770 two Sundays as we continue to experience what multiplication 688 00:42:00,780 --> 00:42:03,150 means from a biblical perspective. 689 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,090 And we pray that you would encourage us by your word and by 690 00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:09,290 your Holy Spirit in the power of Jesus Christ, in whose name we 691 00:42:09,300 --> 00:42:11,030 pray. Amen.