1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,200 It's great to see you, it's great to be back at 40 years ago 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,680 if you can mind standing, Lee if you don't mind standing and Mel, 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,320 you don't mind standing 40 years ago. 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,200 These two girls, who are now getting closer to their 60s, 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,800 were students in Durban 40 years ago and they lived in 15 and 16 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,000 Katembe Flats in Durban. There were students that lived 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:35,200 next to each other. Come and go from university, 8 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,840 come and go from university, come and go from university. 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:46,480 And now of you, 2 can stand, that's her daughter and that's 10 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,840 her son. And when Clint said, you don't 11 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,520 know who you're sitting next to today, You really don't know who 12 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,160 you're sitting next to today because you do not know the 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,240 miracle of the person that God has put you next to and what 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:00,920 that could look like in 40 years time. 15 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,440 And somehow God put them next to each other. 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,320 And through that putting next to each other, we constantly stayed 17 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,600 in touch, serving God in completely different parts of 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,160 the world. But it ended up in a marriage 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,000 that both families are deeply happy with. 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,640 I met this girl. I just walked in today. 21 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,360 I said hi, I'm Rory, said I'm Cindy. 22 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,560 I'm Nasia's neighbor. So that's how she is going to be 23 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:32,640 known for me for I may forget your name. 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,560 I say you Nasia's neighbor. Nasia is my daughter, husband 25 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,000 and her bought a house. And because they bought a house, 26 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,240 they happened to have you as a neighbor. 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:40,360 Because they have you as a neighbor. 28 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,080 We're going to serve God together for the rest of our 29 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,160 lives. You're not here by chance today. 30 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,280 And the person you're sitting next to was chosen by God. 31 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:50,680 And I was thinking of every one of those people who got baptized 32 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,920 and I thought, I want, I saw Kevin baptizing someone. 33 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,720 I thought, I wonder how their paths crossed with Kevin. 34 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,880 The guy on the drums said he came here and the next week he 35 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,880 went in to a Home group with Joel. 36 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,120 And then he met a best friend that also goes to that Home 37 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:08,800 group. And that best friend and him 38 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,640 share a flat now. And you think God is so 39 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,800 unbelievably involved in our lives and we are not here by any 40 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,360 form of accident or by any form of chance. 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,360 We are here by the design of God. 42 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,760 Yes, Amen. We spent this time in Portugal. 43 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,200 I mean, we spent some time in dodgy places, but we spent this 44 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,120 time in this magnificent place overlooking the Agaw Sea. 45 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,960 And that came about because I used to build the church with a 46 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,080 very prominent CEO of a very big company. 47 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,040 And when we built the church, he never participated. 48 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,160 And he said I'm not going to. He just said his wife's heart. 49 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,480 He said these church guys are clowns and they shouldn't be 50 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,280 building churches and actually I'm not going to participate in 51 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,120 him. And his mates decided they 52 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:51,920 weren't going to give Megabe a little bit of money, but they 53 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,080 never participated in the building of the church. 54 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,440 And when we opened that church bond free by the sacrifice of 55 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,040 God's people. When he walked in, he heard an 56 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,640 audible voice say to him, I will build my church with you or 57 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,560 without you. You must decide. 58 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,600 And he was the CEO Clintonized good friend of ours, you'll see 59 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:12,400 of a big company. And he came to me and he said, 60 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,760 Rory, I want to build the church together with my family. 61 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,360 I don't know how that happens. That what happened in that 62 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,280 baptism pool. I don't know how that happens. 63 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,000 But I don't know if it's a coffee, I don't know if it's a 64 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:25,600 follow up. I don't know if it's the next 65 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,040 door neighbor that got you here. But I do know this God doesn't 66 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,280 do anything by mistake. He's busy constantly building 67 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,400 the church. And that guy came to me and he 68 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,120 said, I want to say sorry and I want to build a church, and I'm 69 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,480 going to resign for my job as CEO and I'm going to ask God to 70 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,240 bless me so that I can build the church. 71 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,080 And when he listened to us online and heard we're going to 72 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,600 Portugal, he said, hey, by the way, raw, I've got a house in 73 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,800 Portugal overlooking the Argov. Would you like to use it for 74 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,440 five days? And I sat in that house looking 75 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,320 over the sea in the Argov, over the harbour. 76 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,680 And I thought this came because 25 years ago a man decided I'm 77 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,840 going to build the church. I'm going to build the church. 78 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:13,880 Crooked defaulted. One of my friends came to me the 79 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,959 other day and he said God spoke to me raw and he said this is 80 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,360 your life. This is just how God has taken a 81 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,880 crooked stick and somehow used it with your friends to build 82 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:28,600 the church. And he said this is the first 83 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,480 part of your life. This was Glenridge Church. 84 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,560 And he said then there was a transition and then you came up 85 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,360 to three CR Church. I thought it's my time finished. 86 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,480 He said, now I love genuine leather. 87 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,600 He said, I feel God is giving you a genuine leather handle so 88 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,360 you can take hold of the next season and lead the people into 89 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,600 what a preferred future looks like for all of us. 90 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:54,760 And I just, I've just been sitting with this thing for the 91 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:59,400 last while and you think God, how do you use crooked sticks to 92 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:04,360 lead people straight? You can't unless God comes in, 93 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,640 inhabits the sticker. I mean, you think of Moses 94 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,760 standing on the mountain with a staff in his hand, and when you 95 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,560 lift the staff, there's victory. And when he dropped the staff, 96 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,080 there was defeat. And you think, where was the 97 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:16,280 power? Was it in the staff? 98 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,120 Well, of course not. It is in God. 99 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,400 It's in God and it's in the, it's in the carrying of the 100 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,000 staff of three CI. Somehow we have to lift the 101 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,520 staff high so that God can have victory. 102 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,440 Is that not true? I think, Gloria, you're going to 103 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:31,640 get to the Bible. I hope so. 104 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:39,800 Nice to see you, though. I was in Port Alfred and it's 105 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,040 the first time a guy asked me if I'd preach at his conference. 106 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,120 And I said yes, but I meant no. I don't know if you ever get 107 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:47,560 like that. When the guy's crying, I'll 108 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,320 preach and he's crying, will you preach at my conference? 109 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:53,360 And I said yes, but I've been, everything is like, no, no, no, 110 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:54,680 I don't want to preach at your conference. 111 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,960 And then I get these posters overseas with my face on them. 112 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:02,760 Rory Dyer, the apostle of Pretoria, is preaching in Port 113 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,960 Alfred. I think, oh, dear Jesus, what am 114 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,240 I going to do? And, and I think I said, I said, 115 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,440 what is the theme? He said it's Nehemiah 4. 116 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:11,880 Think, ah, I've written a book on that. 117 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,400 I get there. There's a lady who's speaking 118 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,720 before me the night before. She speaks for one and a half 119 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,160 hour and every point of Nehemiah 4 you've ever heard in your 120 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,320 whole life. So I've got nothing to preach 121 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,480 on. This little boy, Indian boy, 122 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,080 comes to me as I arrive and he says, hi, Rory, my name is Ziad. 123 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,120 I'm your armor bearer. And I said, Gee, thanks, Ziad. 124 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,160 What is what does an armor bearer do? 125 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,480 He said, I do everything for you. 126 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,400 You're the guest of honor, and I'm your servant. 127 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,600 And I thought, oh, OK, that's lacquer. 128 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,040 We should introduce that in our church. 129 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,920 I mean, I feel quite at night. I mean, I as anybody. 130 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,000 We're going to open applications tomorrow for armor bearers. 131 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,640 It's a remarkably badly paid job, high responsibility and all 132 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,880 those things. So Ziad, I said, what do you do, 133 00:06:57,880 --> 00:06:59,760 Ziad? He said, I carry your bag, Sir, 134 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:02,720 and I look after you and I bring you coffee and tea and I'll 135 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,560 serve your food and say for the whole weekend, Ziad is working 136 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,240 with me. He's got no dad, never met his 137 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,320 father. And I think actually, is Ziad 138 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,160 going to serve me or am I going to serve Ziad? 139 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,280 And we've developed this. I go to the toilet and Ziad 140 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:24,480 follows me. He stands at the door. 141 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,560 I'm a boarding school. But I cannot we when anybody is 142 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:31,400 anywhere near me, I cannot we. So I'm standing and thinking 143 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:32,640 here. Please go away. 144 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,040 Somewhere, anywhere is yet. But I can't finish what I meant 145 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,760 to do as yet. I'm standing. 146 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,160 Bind us together, Lord. Bind us together, Lord. 147 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,520 And I get up to preach and we had this funny game. 148 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:57,760 Sorry, I've got tomorrow, not yet, but it doesn't matter. 149 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,080 I just want you to catch my heart today. 150 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,760 Our family, we're having dinner together the other night, and 151 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:09,040 I'm not the AI specialist or ChatGPT, but they started, I'm 152 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,600 not sure, mocking, loving something, whatever. 153 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,040 But we started this game called Let's ask ChatGPT. 154 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,200 Hey ChatGPT, what are Rory Dyer's faults? 155 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:27,160 Ha ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba baa ba ba ba ba ba? 156 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,520 What is Rory Dyer's most famous sermon? 157 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,039 Ah, thank you for asking question. 158 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:38,360 The most famous preach Rory Dyer has ever preached is called Go 159 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:43,679 Boki from Hillsong Conference. Go Boki. 160 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,160 So. They've taken Boiki and they've 161 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:53,320 made it a boki. So it's a it's goboki. 162 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,760 Let's put our bottoms into this thing and give it a go for 163 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:58,480 Jesus. Goboki. 164 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,920 Rory is famous for Goboki. He's had so many downloads from 165 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,520 this particular preach. Now that is my most famous 166 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:07,640 preach. If you haven't been here, if 167 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,320 you've joined in the last three months, I've actually been here 168 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,040 for a long time, but Goboiki is the foundation of my preaching. 169 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:17,120 So foundation. It's the father heart of God. 170 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,640 We we had coffee the other day and Clint said to me, he said 171 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,560 role make sure that everything that you've taught us about the 172 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:25,480 Father heart of God lives deep in our hearts. 173 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:29,120 Go boykie. But that story started with a 174 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,000 man who dropped me from a rugby team in 1985. 175 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:38,200 It's 40 years ago and I haven't seen him for 38 years and he 176 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,800 never knows the story. But in Port Alfred that man 177 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,200 walked up to me and said hello, Rory Dyer, do you Remember Me? 178 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,360 I said, yes, you Steve Ferguson, my rugby coach, he dropped me in 179 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:53,080 under 15 and he's serving God and I'm serving God. 180 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:58,080 And so every, and we just and I told the go boy key story and 181 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,520 then he came to me and he just hugged me and we held each other 182 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,000 together as the very darkest time of my life became the 183 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,480 formation of the ministry that God had called me to. 184 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,160 And I want to say to you today, if you're in the very darkest 185 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,560 time of your life, the person you're sitting next to or the 186 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:17,640 person that you'll meet at the coffee shop or the one you'll 187 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:22,560 meet next door can become the very foundation of the ministry 188 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:25,920 that God has called you to. And that's why we sit in the 189 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,360 same room together because if we had to put together the miracles 190 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,520 that put us into this room and the physical personal contact, 191 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,440 follow up phone call or supernatural encounter at a 192 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:42,080 shop, we would just get on our knees and weep at the goodness 193 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,600 of the intersections of God. Welcome to this church. 194 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,720 Welcome here this morning. So as I was preaching, I 195 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,720 realized Ziad. And so every time I looked 196 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,040 around to find my Bible, my Bible was gone. 197 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:58,760 And I'd say, Ziad, where's my Bible? 198 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,920 He says don't worry Pastor Rory, I've got your Bible. 199 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:02,680 So I said, well, I need to go and preach. 200 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,320 He says don't worry pastor. So I'd get up and preach and 201 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:09,280 Ziad would bring my Bible, open it to the Scripture, open my 202 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,280 notes, which are really poor as you can see, open my notes. 203 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,680 And then he'd go and sit down. And as I was preaching, I 204 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,120 thought I've got to bless Ziad. I have to bless Ziad. 205 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,400 I've got mainly I got 3000 and in my wallet and as I'm 206 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,640 preaching, I'm thinking I've got to bless, I've got to give Ziad 207 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,800 something he's never had a dad. I'm preaching about go boycott. 208 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:32,920 I've got to give him something that's valuable to me. 209 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,360 And as I'm preaching, I'm trying to think about Ziad. 210 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,160 And you've seen my Bible. I've taken it all over the 211 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,440 world. It's crossed everywhere. 212 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,320 It's got references. I can't live without my Bible. 213 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,400 And as I'm preaching, I feel God say you must give your Bible to 214 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,200 Ziad. I thought that's the Bible I 215 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:53,400 wanted to give to my first born son, that when I retire from 216 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:55,800 ministry one day I'll give it to my first born son and say, son, 217 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,080 this has been the run that I've had with God. 218 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,640 You must take it further Now just put it in your drawer and 219 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,280 remember your old man, how he's crossed this all out. 220 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,160 And I felt God's sake, give this Bible to Ziad. 221 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:09,600 He doesn't need money. He needs something that's 222 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:15,240 important. And I gave this Bible to this 223 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:21,200 little Indian boy. At 12:00 that night he SMS Mr. 224 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:25,080 Pastor Rory, did you organize for somebody to give me money? 225 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:28,920 I said no Zia, I didn't. What happened? 226 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:31,960 He said when we left the building, a man walked after me, 227 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,440 said God spoke to him and said he must put money in an envelope 228 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,920 for me, must give it to me for my future. 229 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:49,240 He said Pastor Roy was $3150, 54,000 Rand. 230 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,360 God didn't ask me to give Ziad my money. 231 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,040 He asked me to give him my Bible. 232 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,320 He had somebody else in the church that would give him the 233 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,480 money. Somebody else would give him the 234 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,880 money. And sometimes we end up stepping 235 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,680 in where we're not meant to step in because we can only build the 236 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:13,400 church together. Some will give their Bible, some 237 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,760 will give their time, some will give their songs, some will give 238 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:17,840 their money. But that's how we build the 239 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,840 church. And I want to tell you that my 240 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:25,440 Bible's gone out of print. And so I had, I bought a second 241 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,480 hand one and my daughter and son-in-law bought me a new one. 242 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,480 They unbelievably expect they're out of print now. 243 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:35,200 You can't get them anymore. So I decided that I would read 244 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,520 the Bible from cover to cover. And I won't tell you how far 245 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:41,880 I've got with that. And my friend Anthea bought me a 246 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:43,880 book and I wrote down all the promises of God. 247 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,600 But my book is called this Bible is completely untouched. 248 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:48,720 Completely and utterly untouched. 249 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,320 But I want to tell you the gift of Zeed was not me giving the 250 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:55,040 Bible. The gift of Zeed was that I 251 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,720 could have a Bible that had no markings. 252 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,640 And I've read it, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus, 253 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,040 Isaiah. And I just asked God for one 254 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,560 verse. I said I'll read the whole Bible 255 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:10,600 if I have to, Lord God, but I just want one verse. 256 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,000 And this is the verse that God gave me, Isaiah 41, verse 8. 257 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:29,200 But here, Israel, my servant Jacob, who I have chosen you, 258 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:37,040 descendants of Abraham, my friend, and I just stopped dead 259 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:44,640 in my tracks. And I thought I had 15 years 260 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,960 years there. I've had 13 years here and I 261 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:49,640 don't know how long I've got left here, but there's 262 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:56,160 definitely a season. I want to journey with you on 263 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:02,160 how to be called the friend of God, Abraham. 264 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:10,960 Keep it up there, you descendants of Abraham, my 265 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,080 friend. It's the other way around. 266 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:21,200 God's my friend, one says. God says you are my friend, you 267 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:27,200 are my friend. And I thought so how does it go 268 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,160 on my on my tombstone? Rory Dyer, friend of God? 269 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:38,280 Or does it go Rory Dyer, my friend in brackets? 270 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,360 God, do you understand the difference? 271 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,640 Yeah, sure. Beautiful. 272 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:52,120 And I thought, I want to spend the rest of my life being known 273 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:58,120 as God's friend from the mouth of God, not from the mouth of 274 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,960 human beings, not then somebody says he's God's friend. 275 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,040 I want to know deep in my honor, a sonship. 276 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,440 I know obedience. I know the King, I know the 277 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,400 Lord, I know the Savior. I know all of those things. 278 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,480 And Abraham is the father of our faith. 279 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:14,680 And as I read Genesis, I realized he's also the father of 280 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:19,440 our doubt. But friendship comes over a long 281 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:23,240 period of time, dealing with very deep things inside of our 282 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,960 heart and. So. 283 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:33,000 I think I've come back for this season to teach us. 284 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,800 How to be friends? With God and God to be friends 285 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:43,440 with us, I turned to Genesis 15 in the scripture that I want to 286 00:16:43,440 --> 00:17:00,060 preach on. Got Genesis? 287 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:06,619 15 You got it, Ricks. Just keep the word. 288 00:17:06,619 --> 00:17:11,180 Up there, say after this and you can, you can read the text 289 00:17:11,180 --> 00:17:13,099 beforehand and, and all of those things. 290 00:17:13,099 --> 00:17:15,420 But you know what happens when you get to the end of the year, 291 00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:18,240 everybody gets tired. And so you just keep the 292 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:19,920 scripture. I want to say after this, 293 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,000 whatever this is, because I was talking to Damian the other day, 294 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,760 the staff were meant to go away together for a, for an evening 295 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,440 for, for a conference. And because there's so many 296 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,640 funerals, the staff had to actually cancel it because we 297 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,320 are doing so many memorial services after this. 298 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,560 I, I heard today that there's some people that have got some 299 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,600 proper illnesses in the life of the church and, and families are 300 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:46,840 journeying this. And so if I'm a friend of God, 301 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,920 then I've got to go and try and find out how that friendship 302 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,800 developed. And one of the. 303 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,080 Things happens that we all have circumstances in life, but after 304 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,520 this, after all this stuff, God is still intimately involved in 305 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,640 our lives, intimately involved in our lives. 306 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,480 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision. 307 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,560 Do not be afraid. At the end of this year, I just, 308 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,120 I just had this, this is the first time in the Bible that God 309 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:22,440 says do not be afraid. And he goes on and says it 180 310 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,920 times. And most. 311 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:30,080 Of us, probably 90% of the people in this room are actually 312 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,840 called to to live out the rest of our lives in South Africa. 313 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:36,720 And so if. We're going to do that. 314 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,160 We've got to understand that friendship with God does not 315 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,280 involve fear, so we have to settle the fact. 316 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:47,720 That we can. Actually live in this country 317 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:53,520 without being scared after this, after this retrenchment. 318 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,080 I married a. Couple in in I think just before 319 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,120 I went to a September he had just been retrenched. 320 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:05,800 Now you imagine, Can you imagine the in laws thinking we're about 321 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,040 to give our daughter to a son-in-law who doesn't have a 322 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:09,520 job? They've got both beautiful, 323 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,480 beautiful families. I met them at both beautiful 324 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,280 families. It's been retrained and it's 325 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,840 remarkably tender. And we're having time counseling 326 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,600 together and we're just weeping and praying and trusting God. 327 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:21,080 And you know what that young man did? 328 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,120 He said they've got a conference AT3CI and I'm going to come and 329 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:26,400 serve. And he came to serve at the 330 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,120 conference here, the GLS conference, and he met me in the 331 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:30,800 past. I said, you know, Rory, I came 332 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,160 to serve at that GLS conference and I met a man there. 333 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:41,600 I met a man there that told me about his company and he 334 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:43,920 interviewed me and he said now I've got a job. 335 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,240 From what? Just from carrying coffee in the 336 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,360 House of the Lord, you don't have to be afraid. 337 00:19:58,120 --> 00:19:59,920 And when you go? Through times like this. 338 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,200 One of my friends, this story goes on, one of my friends 339 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,960 called Anton Sonipouli sitting up on the side there the time 340 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,320 when my dad was was sick and there was transitions and I was 341 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,920 afraid. And he found me. 342 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,360 One night, things quite late, nine, 10:00 at night, about 10 343 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:21,040 years ago, he found me, said, hey, Rhodes Antonia, he was the 344 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,440 first Afrikaans guy who came up to me, said I'll be your friend. 345 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,240 So he said, he said to me, I'll be your friend while you're in 346 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,160 Pretoria. And it's been true. 347 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,880 He's been my friend and he came to my house. 348 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,000 He said, I want to pray with you as you go through this fear. 349 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,520 I said thank you, Anthony. He arrived at my house. 350 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:39,720 I thought he was praying my office. 351 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:41,400 I said, where would you like to pray, Anthony? 352 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:42,960 He said I'd like to pray outside, Rory. 353 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,160 I thought outside. Why Anthony? 354 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,120 He said because there. Was a time that I was scared and 355 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:54,640 he said I just went outside and I got on my knees and I looked 356 00:20:54,640 --> 00:21:00,560 into the stars. So 2. 50 year old. 357 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:07,000 Men went outside, got on our knees at 10:00 at the night and 358 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,040 we looked into the stars and he took my hand and he just prayed 359 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,800 for me and he said this. Do not be afraid, Rory. 360 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:18,560 Remember that. Anton. 361 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,960 Why don't you stand? Thank you, Anton. 362 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,480 Thank you, Anton. Thank you for that. 363 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,760 Day you walked into my garden, you see what God says to 364 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,080 Abraham. And the reason why I couldn't 365 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:37,560 put the tents up is God said to Abraham, you must come outside 366 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,920 the tent. No, you must come out of the 367 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,240 tent. You must look up and you must 368 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:49,040 count the stars after this, whatever you're going through in 369 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,680 your life now. Whatever the. 370 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,200 Situation of your life is. This is the. 371 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:00,360 Title of my priest, Come out of your tent, your circumstance. 372 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,960 Look. Up and count the stars. 373 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:10,560 God never answered Abraham's question. 374 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:13,720 He just showed him His magnificence. 375 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:19,480 He never answered the question. He's answered asking questions. 376 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:22,560 We've asked many questions over these last three months. 377 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:23,720 Many. Is our time up? 378 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:25,200 Do we go forward? What must we do? 379 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,280 What has God called us to? How do we work? 380 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,760 What is the emphasis? All of these questions, You know 381 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,400 what God hasn't answered 1 He just said. 382 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,360 Will you come outside? Lift up your head. 383 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,800 And look at the. Stars. 384 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,480 And I thought. And the answer? 385 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,320 God, he says it's there. The answer is there. 386 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,120 It's in the stars. The answers and the. 387 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,840 Stars. Did you give me a? 388 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:59,200 Picture Ricks. Just turn all the. 389 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:07,350 Lights off if you can. After this? 390 00:23:10,630 --> 00:23:15,110 After what? Rory, after retrenchment after 391 00:23:15,110 --> 00:23:21,790 your divorce. After the loss. 392 00:23:21,790 --> 00:23:24,840 Of your partner. Or your dad. 393 00:23:32,290 --> 00:23:33,730 Will you come outside? Of your tent. 394 00:23:35,330 --> 00:23:36,890 Will you just come? Outside of your tent. 395 00:23:40,930 --> 00:23:42,850 Because you can't see. The stars in the daytime, when 396 00:23:42,850 --> 00:23:46,570 everything goes right, it has to be dark to understand the 397 00:23:46,570 --> 00:23:50,770 magnificence of God. Will you just come? 398 00:23:50,770 --> 00:23:54,250 Outside when you've pleaded with God. 399 00:23:55,570 --> 00:23:58,570 And you don't. Have the answers you're crying 400 00:23:58,570 --> 00:24:00,880 out. We'll just come. 401 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,440 Outside, lift up your head and look at the stars. 402 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:12,400 That's how we develop friendship with God when he's magnificent, 403 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:17,800 overwhelms our circumstances, and we can settle on unanswered 404 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,640 questions, knowing that God is good even when we don't 405 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:27,080 understand. And turn the lights. 406 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,080 On please. I'll tell you about. 407 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,680 Two stars that I met. One was in India. 408 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:37,880 You can put that little video on the one in the slums. 409 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:44,440 The two videos, the shorter one. So they're just dropped? 410 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,480 Off at the Super slumber area let's. 411 00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:24,850 See. This is one of. 412 00:25:24,850 --> 00:25:30,210 The deep slum areas of India. And. 413 00:25:30,210 --> 00:25:35,730 I went in there and a little boy like this went up the offering 414 00:25:35,730 --> 00:25:38,410 and I saw he put some coins in. I wish there were two, but that 415 00:25:38,490 --> 00:25:40,490 fits the Bible story. But he just put some coins in 416 00:25:40,490 --> 00:25:45,760 the box and I had the Indian 500 grand in my pocket. 417 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:47,320 I don't know, they call it lack or something. 418 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,040 And I said, can you get an interpreter and bring that 419 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:53,520 little boy to me? OK, When I gave him the 500 420 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,240 grand and I said tell this boy if he serves God with his money. 421 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,560 God will bless. Him and open doors for the rest 422 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,760 of his life. And that little boy took that 423 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,480 money to put it into the offering basket. 424 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,000 And his grandpa said no, no boy, this is God speaking to you 425 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,280 about your future. And you? 426 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,640 Can see it's a very tight space and all of a sudden you start to 427 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,520 really love this air conditioned, unbelievable space. 428 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,760 But know that there are Indian people serving God in slum areas 429 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,600 and basements that are hot. And I couldn't wait for the 430 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,760 meeting to end so I could get out and get some air. 431 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,920 So I raced out and Mel came out and that little boy. 432 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:48,840 He came and he stood next to me. With his body. 433 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,560 Touching my body didn't say a word. 434 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:56,360 We can't speak the same language, but I just felt like I 435 00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:01,880 was outside and looking at the stars, thanking God. 436 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,600 He took a 57 year old preacher from Praetorian and air 437 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,720 conditioned building into a slum basement to show me that they're 438 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,240 little stars. They're just little stars that 439 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:23,920 make it all worth it, that make my questions disappear as I sit 440 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:29,600 with these stars. Jeff and Jane have done the most 441 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,360 remarkable job in Portugal. Could not be more proud of them, 442 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,000 but as Clint said, these tents have been given because of your 443 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,920 finances and that church exists because of your faithfulness. 444 00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:43,720 And your. Generosity, it exists. 445 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,800 I mean their bravery, their obedience, they all those, those 446 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:48,960 things and they could not be better. 447 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:56,200 And I have little knowledge of what happens financially in 448 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,120 terms of who gives what. But I got a message from our 449 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:03,040 accountant that says, from this church, it says 2000 Rand 450 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:08,880 obedience test. So there's somebody in this 451 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:11,880 auditorium this morning that is going through a massive wrestle 452 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,800 with God around obedience financially, and they put 2000 453 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:20,680 Rand into our account. And I'm sitting in Portugal. 454 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,640 There's two meetings. It's in a basement that's 455 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,800 packed, 400 people in this tiny little building. 456 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,520 It's just packed. It's absolutely exploding. 457 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,000 And. Jeff, instead of introducing me 458 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,520 to the church, he said, he says, well, I could get up and tell 459 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,320 the church about you, he said. But what I'm going to do is I'm 460 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,080 going to tell you about the church. 461 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:43,680 So I'm. Standing. 462 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,160 I have the full. Knowledge that your 463 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,600 faithfulness. Has led. 464 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,520 And helped to lead to the establishment of that church. 465 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,360 Many partners, but one of them is your faithfulness. 466 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:04,600 And he goes and he says this man Igor is from Russia and he left 467 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,120 Russia when the war started. And then he went to the man next 468 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,200 to him. He said, and this man and 469 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:16,000 tonight is from the Ukraine. And I thought that partnership 470 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,320 was birthed in the generosity of three CR people, friends of God, 471 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:27,120 friends of God, sowing into the purposes of God so that the 472 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:32,440 stars of God can start to shine. And he went around the building 473 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:40,040 introducing people, weeping, weeping at the knowledge of how 474 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,240 some of those people came to be. But again, sitting in this 475 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,240 basement, I felt completely confined. 476 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,160 So I ran upstairs to get some air between meetings. 477 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,320 And the lady came to me weep. He said, hi, Rory. 478 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,600 Lady Borders said this is Tammy, she's 53 years old, she's from 479 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,040 America. She's never set foot in church 480 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:07,200 in her life. She has never set foot in church 481 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:14,440 in her life and she's just listened to me preaching about 482 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,520 God, He said I've never heard of the God you spoke of today. 483 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,400 So Mel comes out, the meeting goes and spends time with Tammy, 484 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,240 leads her to Jesus, and Tammy is now going to church. 485 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,280 And I sat and I thought, there's a man. 486 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,280 Or a woman. Or a student who's wrestling 487 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:40,520 with the obedience of 2000 Rand and there's Tammy in Portugal 488 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:49,760 and they linked somebody here is paying for the salvation of 489 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:54,120 somebody there. And I have to. 490 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:02,800 Just look at the stars if we can do that again and turn the 491 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:11,680 lights off. And you're 1 of. 492 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:19,160 Those stars, Cindy, who stays next to my daughter. 493 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,520 You are one of. Those stars, those seven people 494 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,480 who got baptized because you met Kevin, who runs a Home group and 495 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:32,560 a gym and got trained by Chad, who got You're also one of those 496 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,000 stars. And when we have. 497 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,920 Questions. We don't know what to do with 498 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,240 them. God. 499 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:45,160 Comes he doesn't say. Do not be afraid you. 500 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,760 He says do not. Be afraid, Abraham. 501 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,080 He calls him by. Name because he was his friend. 502 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,640 This is my. Pray over the next season of our 503 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,920 lives. Is that we would. 504 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,440 Understand the relationship of Abraham, our father. 505 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:07,120 Not. Just so they were going to obey 506 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:14,040 God and we need to so that we can friends of God and link our 507 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,800 stories. Come out of the building, come 508 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:18,880 out of your house, come out of your little office. 509 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,120 You don't. Have to go to India to do it or 510 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,800 to Portugal. Anton did it in my backyard. 511 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,960 Tonight. Just come out of your house, get 512 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,320 on your knees. Look. 513 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:39,200 Up and count the stars. And then?