1 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:05,680 What a joy. I mean, I'm so happy to be with 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,320 three CI. I'm living the dream. 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,000 What a privilege to be able to be with you this evening. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:13,640 Experience Jesus with you. Can you tell the person next to 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,200 you? It's a blessing to be here. 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,080 It's a blessing to be here. I want to tell you something 7 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:22,800 about about 3 CI. Three CI. 8 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,240 You do not know what you did to us. 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,400 My wife and I 2007 felt the call of God to go and plant a church 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,360 in Clarkstorp. We had two babies and a third 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:44,280 one on the way and we came and you hosted us for the for a week 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,000 in 2007. Many of you were not here. 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,240 The still, the tent was just built, tent was like a two years 14 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,920 or three years old. I don't know if Peter and 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,080 Amarinda is still here, but we lived in Peter and Amarinda. 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:58,800 Where are they, Peter and Amarinda? 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:00,880 They're still in the church over here this morning, I suppose. 18 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,200 We stayed in Peter and Amarinda's house. 19 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,440 We attended one of the home groups. 20 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,640 There were 42 people in the Home group, Peter and Amarinda's 21 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,200 house. And you shout us with gifts, 22 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,400 gave our children's gifts. You invested in US, and we're 23 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,080 living in the benefit of men and women like you, Faithful 2007. 24 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,520 And still today we're benefiting from a week of impartation and 25 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,280 input that we received in this church on this property. 26 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,920 Can you give God thanks for faithful men and women that came 27 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,640 before us? I want to honor you for your 28 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:38,240 generosity. I want to honor you for the 29 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,800 privilege of being able to pray for you, but also praying for 30 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:43,800 us. You do not know what happened 31 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:47,000 like a few weeks we were like, we just heard God that we needed 32 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,840 to transition the leadership of our church in Clarksville. 33 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:51,840 We, we were leading a church in Clarksville. 34 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,240 So can we give God thanks for these guys? 35 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,200 They came all the way from Clarksville tonight to be here 36 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,880 with us. It's a real privilege, but we 37 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:01,440 just heard God. God spoke to us. 38 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:02,520 We didn't know where we're going to go. 39 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:03,920 We were still praying. We're in. 40 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,120 We just like God just said, America. 41 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,479 We were like, we're in America. We were like, we would even go 42 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,120 to Florida because Ellen's kids are so parents are sorry. 43 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,080 Ellen's parents are there. And we were like, we'll go 44 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,440 anywhere God tells us to go. And then we went out for dinner. 45 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:20,880 Clint prayed for us and you guys prayed for us here at an evening 46 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,080 celebration and we went out for dinner that night. 47 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,160 And that week we made contact with the church in Charlotte, 48 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,520 NC, that needed a leader. They didn't have a leader for 49 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,960 two years. That dwindled down to about 60 50 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,480 or so people. And and it was kind of COVID. 51 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,040 And we were like, hey, maybe Charlotte. 52 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,360 And then Rory said to me, listen, Nasir just got a puppy 53 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:43,800 puppy this week. Guess what's the name of the 54 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:49,920 puppy? The next moment we are in 55 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,360 Charlotte, NC leading a church in Charlotte. 56 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,240 Isn't that awesome? Can we give God thanks? 57 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,240 I want to clearly show you show you a few pictures if you don't 58 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,760 mind just the privilege of being with you. 59 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,120 This was in the middle of the building project. 60 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,400 I want to tell you what Marie and I used to do. 61 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,920 This was covert time. You see the the masks there and 62 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,040 we used to come and pray here on the property because Rory said 63 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,040 to us because we built and we experienced it. 64 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,400 And I was like, Lord, I'm so excited because God loves paying 65 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:19,720 for buildings and I remember us praying together and this was 66 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,600 like a well of life for us. Can we look at the next next? 67 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:25,440 There we go. Now do you see the Rockstar 68 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,360 caps? I don't know if you guys 69 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,800 remember the Rockstar that season of of of three CI, but 70 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,360 those Rockstar caps. Listen to this friends. 71 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,320 Andrew, which was he was on staff here, drove through on a 72 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,920 Friday afternoon and brought us Rockstar caps from for me and 73 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,480 Marie and my whole family. And that's that's our family is 74 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,360 our three kids and the oldest is 21 in January and the youngest 75 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,960 will be 18 in January. In the middle one is 19 years 76 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,400 old, El Manet, Joshua and John. Mark is the youngest. 77 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,560 And that's me and Marie. Can we look at the next one? 78 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,080 This is when your staff came to have lunch with our staff in 79 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:00,640 Clarkson. Can you give it up for the three 80 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,680 DI staff? There we go. 81 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,520 You can see Mitch then Damian was there. 82 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:06,960 I've got another picture of Damian. 83 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,160 This was life changing for us because we used to come here to 84 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,560 learn from you and you guys would go there generously just 85 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,920 to come and encourage us in a very, very tough time. 86 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,880 And we were also in a building, we were building a kids building 87 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:20,800 at that point in time. Can we give God thanks for just 88 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,160 faithfulness? Isn't that awesome? 89 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,080 One more, one more picture. I think it's on. 90 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,240 This was that breakfast that we had. 91 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,880 Clint, I want to tell you my life changed on that breakfast. 92 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,400 Sacrifice releases power. If you remember only one thing, 93 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:40,640 this is 1 powerful word. Sacrifice releases power, and 94 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,440 Clint imparted God imparted something through Clint in my 95 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,280 life that morning. It was so powerful to be able to 96 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:50,400 spend that, those two hours with Clint and Rory and just just 97 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,160 drinking from the well of of the Father through them. 98 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,680 And then I remember just how God, I just came back filled 99 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:58,480 with faith. Honestly, friends, we've 100 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,280 experienced such a transformation in Charlotte, and 101 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:03,120 it's because of these partnerships that God has used. 102 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,600 It's really, really powerful. And Clint, I just want to say 103 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:07,120 this of you just in front of everyone. 104 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,720 I just want to say that you're a mighty warrior and you're a 105 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,320 breath of fresh air. You make deep deposits that 106 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,720 feeds the soul. You make deep deposits that feed 107 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,400 the soul. And every single time when I Hoy 108 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,000 that little spice that you gave me on my bright lace, it's sort 109 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,200 of like a because you just don't get spiced like South African 110 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,000 spice. There's some some love from 111 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:30,960 Clint. Is that right? 112 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,120 And then I want to tell you one thing. 113 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,080 I was I was going through a little bit of a tough patch and 114 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:37,560 I'll get this voice note in the middle of nowhere out of the out 115 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,760 of the blue by Damian and he and he starts blessing me, praying 116 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,000 for me over over voice note friends, never underestimate the 117 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,720 power of just sending someone an encouragement being being Holy 118 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,840 Spirit lead and sensitive to the Holy Spirit and Damian, I don't 119 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:55,400 know where you are can't see you, but I just want are you are 120 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:56,280 you somewhere? There we go. 121 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:00,280 Damian, Damian, you don't you don't understand the seeds of 122 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:02,920 hope that you sowed into my heart by being faithful. 123 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:04,680 And I want to say that's an example. 124 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,640 I believe that this church carries that, but you express 125 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:09,000 it. And so thank you for expressing 126 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:09,560 that. My brother. 127 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,920 Bless you abundantly. Amen. 128 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,280 Are we ready to get into God's Word? 129 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:15,880 It's 47 seconds. There we go. 130 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,000 I've loved this Romans 8 series. It's really impacted my life in 131 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:22,120 a big way. So thank you. 132 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,160 I love just how Terence spoke. Chad, you blessed my socks off. 133 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,680 Hello. How powerful was that word just 134 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,280 about being forgiven, forgiven by God and just this reality of 135 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:36,320 just literally you, you are not your mistakes. 136 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:39,680 It was really, really powerful. And then when Mitch spoke about 137 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,200 sonship, I was so blessed by the fact that we come to God as a 138 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,400 son. And then last week, Wendy spoke 139 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,720 so powerfully about this reality of suffering. 140 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,960 Who do you remember that? And I thought, wow, Wendy, this 141 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:52,720 is great because she did not know. 142 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,240 I mean, none of us knew, but I had prepared already and I was 143 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,400 like, Lord, this is so good because we're going to go into 144 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,760 Romans 826. So if you're, if you've got your 145 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,600 Bible, let's go to Romans 826. So Father, I want to pray as we 146 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,440 come into your words, speak to us by your spirit, Lord, here we 147 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:10,600 are. We want to hear what you have to 148 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,600 say. We want to hear your heartbeat 149 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:18,920 in Jesus name, Amen. Likewise, the Spirit also helps 150 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:22,680 us in our weaknesses. Can you say weaknesses? 151 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:29,480 For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but 152 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,000 the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with 153 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,040 groanings which cannot be uttered. 154 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:35,880 Have you ever felt weak through CI? 155 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,680 If you ever gone through times when you're like, listen Lord, 156 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,960 there's not enough of me. I don't know. 157 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,160 I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. 158 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,920 There's not just I just don't have the strength. 159 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,880 I'm here to say to you that God specializes in weak people. 160 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:55,000 God specializes because he says, let the weak say I'm strong, let 161 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,400 the poor say I'm rich, let the blind say I can see by. 162 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,200 Why? Because God is the God that 163 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,040 strengthens the weak. And when you and I are weak, 164 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,800 that's when we are strong. When you and I are at a place 165 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,600 where we just don't have enough, that's when God is more than 166 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,280 enough. Come on, isn't that exciting? 167 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,800 And so even when we battle to connect with God, even sometimes 168 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:18,240 when I struggle to pray, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 169 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,640 Have you ever wanted to give up? I believe that our strength in 170 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,640 life comes from our relationship with God. 171 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,960 Everything flows from your relationship with God. 172 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,120 Three CI and I believe that God wants you and me to be able to 173 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,400 draw strength from Him. Have you ever heard of a man 174 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,440 called David? He was one of the greatest kings 175 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:37,960 that ever lived. David. 176 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,240 King David And so in first Samuel chapter 30, he was not 177 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,320 yet king. They came back to Ziklag, which 178 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,360 was like their house, their, their homestead. 179 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,880 And when they got back, they saw that literally all their wives 180 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,800 and their children, all their wealth, all their livestock was 181 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,800 taken. And so these people start, start 182 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,280 literally they, they, they're in despair. 183 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,120 They're so weak. The Bible says that they were 184 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,720 not even, they did not even have strength to cry anymore. 185 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,000 They were so weak. They were at such a have you 186 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,840 ever been that low when you don't even have the strength to 187 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,640 cry And then verse 6, the Bible says that now David was greatly 188 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,680 distressed for the people spoke of stoning him. 189 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,240 So his own people Speaking of stoning him. 190 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:22,880 His own people are rejecting him. 191 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,040 And what happens is the Bible says because the soul of all the 192 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,480 people was grieved every man for his sons and his daughters. 193 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:36,520 I love this light in the Bible says, but David strengthened 194 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,520 himself in the Lord. He's God. 195 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:47,160 In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness, but David 196 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:54,080 strengthened himself in the Lord. 3 CI want to say this is 197 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,960 that living whether you live in South Africa or in America, it's 198 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,120 tough. Life is not easy. 199 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:03,440 You go if you're raising one child, you're rising 4 kids. 200 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,400 I don't know if you're married to a wife or you marry to a 201 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,600 husband, It's going to be tough. It's not always easy, but you 202 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,720 can strengthen yourself in the Lord. 203 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,040 You can strengthen yourself. Psalm 46 there's one to two says 204 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,800 God is our refuge and our strength, our very present. 205 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:26,080 Can you say present our very present help in time of trouble 206 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,600 or in time of need? Sees Lewis said this. 207 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,200 He said that the presence of God is found, found in the present. 208 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,600 The present is the place where you find the presence of God. 209 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,080 And so God when he made Moses at the burning Bush, he didn't say 210 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,480 I will be or I was, even though God will always be and he was 211 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,520 because he's today, yesterday and forever. 212 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:48,680 But the way that God introduced himself to Moses, the way that 213 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:53,360 God Moses found God was. I am because God is in the 214 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:59,160 present and His presence is in the present, because God is our 215 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:04,280 refuge and our help and our strength in a present time. 216 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,480 He says, therefore I will not fear, even though the earth be 217 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,480 removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the 218 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,240 sea. Remember in 2004 I ran the 219 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,360 Comrades Marathon. I only did it twice, the 1st and 220 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,280 the last time. Now I'm just joking. 221 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,200 I still want to do it one more time if I can. 222 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:23,400 I've only done it. Sorry, I've only done it in 223 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,240 2004, but I'll never forget this. 224 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,360 My wife is a psychologist. And so. 225 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,400 So the night before we ran the Comrades, we were praying and I 226 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,320 was like, Lord, how do I prepare myself for this thing? 227 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:37,880 Because it's a mental race as much as it's a physical race. 228 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,800 And notice those of you do not know if you've run. 229 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,480 Anyone run the Comrades? OK, I'll see. 230 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,480 I see that hand. Respect. 231 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:46,440 Respect. Right. 232 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:48,440 There we go. Thank you, Gene. 233 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,000 That's awesome. So what happens is I went to 234 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,600 Glen Reach Church on the Sunday because this was our custom. 235 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,920 Maria and I, we were, we were in the, we were in the Methodist 236 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:58,600 Church, we were in another Pentecostal church. 237 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,760 And Glen Ridge Church was like this well, that we would always 238 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,360 go to whenever we were on holiday, even if we stayed in 239 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,920 Nivongo, we'd be driving or we stayed in Belito, we're driving 240 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:09,880 to Glen Ridge because Glen Ridge, we want to be there at 241 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:11,600 Glen Ridge. So we went to Glen Ridge the 242 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,560 Sunday before, comrades, this was the highlight. 243 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:16,680 Go a few days early, go to Glen Ridge. 244 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,000 And so we go to Glen Ridge and they sing the song Jesus, Son of 245 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,800 God. What is your name? 246 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,600 I am having the most amazing time with God. 247 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,920 It feels like in the worship, my spirit gets strengthened. 248 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:30,440 Have you ever experienced that in worship? 249 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,080 I sent some of that tonight. They said God breaks into your 250 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,360 life. You know what I'm talking about. 251 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:37,640 And so I have this moment with God. 252 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,120 It's so powerful. And Marie helps me with a 253 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:44,800 pressure point on my leg to connect that memory when I ever 254 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,440 it's like pressing play. So I'm like pressing my my leg 255 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,760 here and then I go back to that moment. 256 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:57,720 Jesus, Sir, Awesome. So I run the Comrades first 257 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,120 study cases, the easy, then it became hard. 258 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,840 Then I hit Drummond and when I came to halfway I saw them 259 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:07,240 putting ice on people's legs. I thought, that looks very nice. 260 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,800 Never done it before. If you would like doing it, I 261 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,960 don't know who you are, but they put ice on my legs and then all 262 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:17,440 of a sudden I'm like, I can't, I can't run. 263 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:19,880 And I remember, I want to give up. 264 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,080 I'm looking for the bus that picks you up, the truck that 265 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,600 picks you up. And I put my, my hand on my 266 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,560 finger, my finger on my leg like this. 267 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:35,200 And I go back to Jesus, son of God, worthies. 268 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:37,520 And my weakness becomes strength. 269 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,200 And I'm like, what's happening with me? 270 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,000 I can't believe that I'm, I'm, I'm actually running. 271 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:49,800 What? Hello, I don't know, you might 272 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:51,920 not be running a comrade, but the marathon you're running at 273 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,320 work tomorrow morning. I don't know the marathon you're 274 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:57,600 running with that child that is struggling with their addiction. 275 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:00,320 I don't know the marathon that you're running with your 276 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,960 finances and the date, the whole of date that you've got to get 277 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,160 out of. I don't understand the marathon 278 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:06,800 you're running. You've maybe you've got a cancer 279 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,120 diagnosis and I don't know the the process that you've got to 280 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,080 persevere through. But I want to say this to you, 281 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,960 Jesus, Son of God, worthy is his name, because God will give you 282 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,480 strength in the midst of your pain, give you strength in the 283 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:23,920 midst of your weakness. Is that OK? 284 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:28,240 I mustn't talk about the comrades. 285 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,720 It's like, you know, you meet other people on that day, right? 286 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,440 So anyway, but in in in Isaiah chapter 40, it speaks about 287 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:37,840 giving strength to the weak. Have you ever experienced that? 288 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,640 So in Isaiah 40, it says, but those who wait on the Lord, can 289 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,440 you say wait? Those who wait on the Lord? 290 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,800 So this is what I experienced in the Comrades is I experience 291 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:51,280 what it means to wait on the Lord will renew their strength. 292 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,440 The Bible says those who wait on the Lord will renew their 293 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,960 strength. They'll mount up on wings like 294 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,960 eagles. They'll run and not be weary. 295 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,360 They'll walk and not faint. So those who wait on the Lord 296 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,280 get strength. Can you say strength? 297 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,720 So waiting unlocks strength, but something happens and I want to 298 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,040 unpack that tonight for us to explain what that word wait 299 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,320 means. Because what often happens to us 300 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,280 is we like, Lord, I need strength and you say wait on me. 301 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:34,400 And often we think wait is it's like waiting, like passively. 302 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,080 That word wait is not a passive word. 303 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,360 It's an active word. The Hebrew understanding of that 304 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,200 word is to plat yourself into God. 305 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,240 I'm abboud, my mass Afrikaans. It's from yourself. 306 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:52,760 The flak I'm yourself and hot and the flak we hot as who he is 307 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,000 and what he's done for you is to say, Lord, I'm going to wait on 308 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,400 you. I'm going to weave myself into 309 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,320 you. I'm going to, I'm going to 310 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:05,080 plaque myself into God and the promises of God, the person of 311 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,320 Christ and the promises of Christ. 312 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,040 I'm going to weave myself into God. 313 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:10,680 Something happens in your spirit. 314 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,560 Something happens in your heart when you weave yourself into 315 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,600 God. That's what that word wait 316 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,920 means. And how do I wait on God? 317 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,400 Because what that word wait does to me is it does a few things. 318 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,400 It helps me to mount up on wings like eagles. 319 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,160 You know what an eagle's got? The ability to rise above a 320 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,120 storm so it doesn't take the storm away. 321 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,920 See, we think that when we sing these worship songs, then we 322 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:37,320 don't have to get pain anymore. The pain doesn't go away The, 323 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,560 the, the, the challenges. Like Wendy said last week, the 324 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:44,240 suffering doesn't go away, but the way we experience and go 325 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:45,720 through the suffering that changes. 326 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,000 See our our perspective on the storm moves from being under the 327 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:54,480 storm to rising above the storm. There's something that happens 328 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,320 that you no longer the storm is not away, but your place or your 329 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,440 positioning or your posture in the midst of that season 330 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,319 changes. You move from being literally 331 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:09,520 overwhelmed into a place where you see above the storm. 332 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,000 You know what you see above the clouds? 333 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,599 You see the rays of sunshine. It's so bright up up there. 334 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,720 It's dark under here. It's bright over there. 335 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,960 And that's why an American eagle, I come from America now 336 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:29,000 I'm an African American. There we go. 337 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,240 Oh yes, thanks African Americans, there we go. 338 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,280 And so on. American eagles got 2 eyelids. 339 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,040 You know that. You can go and Google it today. 340 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,120 Ask Chatty PD. They'll tell you 2 eyelids. 341 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:45,880 Here's the thing, the one eyelids, like you're on my 342 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,120 eyelid. It's the physical, it's the 343 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:50,800 natural one. The other one is like 344 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,320 sunglasses. It's like having built in 345 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,320 Oakleys. Why does it have built in 346 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,000 Oakleys? Do you know why it has built in 347 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,200 Oakleys? Because when it gears above the 348 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,680 storm, the only way it can see, because it's so bright, the only 349 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,880 way it can see. Look into it can look into the 350 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,800 sun, it can look into the sun and it can actually have that 351 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,520 perspective, a brand new perspective. 352 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,840 You know, when you and I wait on God and He gives us strength, 353 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,720 we're able to see Jesus, the sun of righteousness, and we can 354 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,960 look fully to his wonderful face, and we can turn our eyes 355 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,680 upon Jesus and we can look fully to His, and the things of the 356 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,280 earth can grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and 357 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,240 grace. Can you give God praise for the 358 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,200 fact that He's calling us to rise above the storm? 359 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,280 Now what's amazing for me is that waiting gives strength. 360 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,880 But Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10 says do not grieve for the joy 361 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,560 of the Lord Israel. OK, whoa, this is exciting 362 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,240 because you say to me, wait, So what does it mean? 363 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,400 How do I plant myself into God? How do I connect with God and 364 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,840 the person of God? How do I weave myself into God? 365 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,880 Here's the key. The joy of the Lord is your 366 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,120 strength. Waiting on God is your strength. 367 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,000 So that means joy and waiting must be connected. 368 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,720 Hello. So that means that if I rejoice 369 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,880 in God, what does it mean? To rejoice is to revisit, to 370 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:25,360 reconnect, to re mind myself of who God is and what he's done 371 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:29,520 for me on the cross and who he is in character and in hope. 372 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,520 So guess what happens? I rejoice in Him. 373 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,320 And so when I rejoice in him, that's how I wait on him. 374 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:37,640 That's how I plaque myself into God. 375 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,480 I rejoice in him. That's why it says in 376 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,120 Philippians 4 says rejoice in the Lord just every now and then 377 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,120 when the interest rates are lower. 378 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:56,240 Hello, always rejoice in the Lord always and again I say 379 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,560 rejoice. Hello man, isn't that exciting? 380 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:06,080 Now watch what happens when you rejoice something happens inside 381 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,760 of you. You go from being stressful to 382 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,040 being gentle. Verse 5 says let your gentleness 383 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,720 be known to all men. The Lord is. 384 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,840 The Lord is near in an atmosphere of rejoicing, 385 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,600 atmosphere of waiting, an atmosphere of remembering. 386 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:36,040 The Lord is near because the Bible says God inhabits the 387 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,000 praises of his people. So when you're going through 388 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,360 weak seasons of your life and the Spirit helps you, this is 389 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:45,120 how the Spirit helps you. You rejoice in God. 390 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,720 You remember who God is. You remember what he's done, You 391 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,360 remember his character, you remember his promises. 392 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:53,880 And as you rejoice in Him, you become gentle. 393 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,480 And as you become gentle, guess what happens? 394 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,600 He's close to you. Then it says, be anxious about 395 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,760 nothing, But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with 396 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:06,560 Thanksgiving, present your request to God. 397 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,480 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, 398 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:14,520 will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 399 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,760 So when I weave myself into God, I remember who he is. 400 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:23,360 I'm rejoicing him and his joy becomes my strength. 401 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,520 And that's what I do is that I behold him because as I behold 402 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,720 him, I become like him. As I behold him, I experience 403 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:33,160 him. Tim Keller said this. 404 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:34,880 I need to share this quote with you. 405 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,320 It's not in the notes, but I just quickly, I got it this 406 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,920 yesterday morning to behold the beauty of the Lord. 407 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,280 Listen, what it means is to dwell on the perfection of His 408 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:53,760 character until our hearts are full of love and joy and rest. 409 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,080 That's what it means to behold the beauty of the Lord. 410 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:03,680 It's a place of waiting on God. It's a place of experiencing His 411 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,080 presence because when we connect, the presence of God is 412 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,240 in the present and it's in the present. 413 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,040 It's in the season of pain. It's in the season of 414 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:12,680 hopelessness. It's in the season where I'm 415 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,280 saying, Lord, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on You. 416 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,040 It's in that place where I find His strength. 417 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,320 It's in that place where I experience even close to me 418 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:25,120 because He never leaves me nor forsakes me. 419 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:27,160 But I sometimes struggle to experience it. 420 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:29,800 And it's in that place where I experience it. 421 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:33,200 It's that place where I go from being weak to being strong. 422 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,640 It's in that place where the promises that were dead in my 423 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,640 life become alive. It's in the place of of his 424 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,960 presence where my fearfulness becomes boldness. 425 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,720 Hello. Where idols in my life start 426 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,720 falling down. CS Lewis said the following. 427 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,480 He said the moment you wake up, you should begin to take refuge 428 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:58,360 in the presence of God, for he's always near, always available. 429 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,600 Isn't that awesome? It's by the Spirit that we live 430 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,840 this. If you ever heard of a guy 431 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:10,840 called Manny Pereira, Manny and Dawn Pereira, you know, Jeff and 432 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:12,320 Jane used to be on eldership. Yeah. 433 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,680 Yeah, Jane used to be Manny, Benny, Dawn's daughter. 434 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,320 Jeff and Jane moved to Portugal. You guys supported them, sewed 435 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,160 them into the nations. Can you give God thanks for a 436 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,280 generous church like this? Just amazing what you guys have 437 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,480 done. I went to Florida and I heard a 438 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,520 guy called Paul Alexander, which is he's the, he's the president 439 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,360 of Trinity Bible College in in the US and in Florida. 440 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:37,160 We were at this gathering and he tells a story about this couple 441 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:39,760 called Manny and Dawn Pereira. I'm like, wow, I know them. 442 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:42,240 And he says, listen to what they did. 443 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,360 They went to the UK and they went to go and preach at a 444 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:49,200 church and the church didn't give them any, any anything like 445 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,080 to thank them. But someone in the church came 446 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,000 and brought them a guitar. They said, Lord, what do I do 447 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,680 with the guitar? I mean, this is nice, Thank you 448 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,000 very much. But we need to now get it back 449 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,640 to South Africa. And so Manny's praying and he's 450 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,640 saying, Lord, I want to worship you with my life because that's 451 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,640 how Manny lived. And so Manny ends up taking the 452 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,240 guitar, leaves it in the rental car, goes and books into like a 453 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,360 little bed and breakfast. And as him and dawn wake up the 454 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:13,560 next morning, they smell English. 455 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:15,400 Breakfast is waiting for them downstairs. 456 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,320 And as they come downstairs, the the couple sit there and say, 457 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,120 you know what? We know that you're believers 458 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,320 and we just, we've been praying and we've today want to bless 459 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:25,840 you. We don't want you to pay for the 460 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,400 place to say and we want to bless you with breakfast. 461 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,280 Manny and daughter's like, wow, this is so over the top 462 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,680 generous. They trusted God to go there and 463 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,520 yeah, God blesses them. And as they sit there, Manny 464 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:37,840 says, Lord, how can I worship you? 465 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:39,240 How can I glorify you? Yeah. 466 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,400 And you know what Manny does, the Holy Spirit tells him to go 467 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,000 and get the guitar out of the car and to bring the guitar and 468 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,520 give it to the couple as a gift, not knowing anything. 469 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,800 And the couple start crying when they open the guitar and the 470 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:54,880 wife saying you don't understand what you just did. 471 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,800 They said what happened. Now our 16 year old boy for his 472 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,160 16th birthday wanted a guitar for his birthday. 473 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,120 But the kind of guitar that he wanted, he took us to the guitar 474 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:07,840 shop and we could not afford the guitar he wanted. 475 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,040 It was too expensive for us and we thought we don't want to buy 476 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,480 him a cheap 1 so let's give him a card for his birthday with a 477 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,480 guitar on the card and in the card we said an IOU we will buy 478 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,320 you your right guitar. But you don't understand, the 479 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:26,760 guitar you just gave us is the exact guitar that my son said I 480 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,040 want to be able to get from the guitar shop. 481 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,800 See, when you live your life for the glory of God, miracles 482 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:46,080 happen, life's changed, Jesus gets praised. 483 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,240 It's an awesome way to live. I remember when I was almost 484 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,160 four years old, my grandfather died and I didn't have many 485 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,080 memories of my grandfather. But one good, very interesting 486 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,920 memory I had is he used to drive a Mercedes-Benz. 487 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,520 And what he would do is he would put that little armrest on the 488 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:05,800 backseat and I would sit on the backseat like a lacquer bootman 489 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,320 here, you know what I'm talking about. 490 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,840 And my Gran and I'll never forget that. 491 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,680 And I always said to myself, one day I want to own an old 492 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,840 Mercedes-Benz, one of those classics like my grandfather's. 493 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,760 And so guess what happens? A friend of mine phones me one 494 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,280 morning and I'm actually we busy ministering in the South Coast 495 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,800 and he phones me up and he says God spoke to me this morning, I 496 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,360 need to give you my Mercedes-Benz. 497 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:29,440 I said he lives here in Pretoria. 498 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,520 He says to me, my Mercedes-Benz, the name of my Mercedes-Benz is 499 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,400 unto him. The name is on the on the number 500 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,760 plate, the number plate of the Mercedes-Benz unto him unto 501 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,880 Jesus. He says it's a collector's item. 502 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,280 It's been put professionally evaluated. 503 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,160 It's collectors. I'm putting the thing in your 504 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,520 name. Send me your details. 505 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,640 I get here to a parking lot here in this area. 506 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,640 I get my Mercedes-Benz. My wife drives home with the 507 00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,360 other guy. I get the Mercedes-Benz. 508 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,120 I'm driving a Mercedes-Benz that I didn't pay a St. for. 509 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,520 I'm thinking I'm crying on my way home, it's late at night, 510 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,880 I'm crying. I'm saying, Father, why are you 511 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,480 blessing me like this? I don't deserve it. 512 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,880 Why do you bless me like this? The father says to me, I want 513 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,720 you to experience. I want you to experience my 514 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,240 love. I want you to experience my 515 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,320 generosity so that you can turn it back to praise because that's 516 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,360 what it means to wait on God is you turn the experience of the 517 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:31,640 Father's love back to praise team. 518 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:33,320 And I remember just praising him. 519 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,560 And I used to drive that Mercedes-Benz every single 520 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,240 Sunday to church. And after church, sometimes I 521 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,240 would feel a little bit down because I don't always preach 522 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,840 well. I know, I know. 523 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:44,960 Yeah, they've always preached well. 524 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,640 But there with me, ask these guys. 525 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,880 I didn't always preach well. And I'd feel a little bit down 526 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,200 and then I would just sit in my car with my daddy, my heavenly 527 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:55,120 Father, and he would just love on me. 528 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,280 And for years, I just drove that Mercedes-Benz until we were in a 529 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,200 building project. And Marie and I, we prayed and 530 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,160 God said to us, it's time to let go, to give because we didn't 531 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,560 pay for it anyway. Let's sell the Merc to a 532 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,920 collector. And then we put the money in the 533 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,240 building. So a collector went with me to 534 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,120 Nedbank and he put the money across. 535 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,560 He had the keys. And when we got outside of 536 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,240 Nedbank, guess what happened? He gave the keys back to me. 537 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:21,560 He said. He said God told me he wants to 538 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:30,200 give it to you twice. So you know what we did when we 539 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:31,560 built the kids ministry building? 540 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,960 We gave it twice, we got given it twice and we gave it away 541 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:38,760 twice. And God said to me, every single 542 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:40,640 opportunity you have. For instance, we don't only 543 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,000 worship with our lips, We worship with our lives. 544 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,040 We worship with what what the Father blesses us as we receive, 545 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,560 we give. The Bible says in Romans 8 verse 546 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,480 5 to 6, for those who live according to the flesh, set 547 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,760 their hearts, set their minds sorry on the things of the 548 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,720 flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set 549 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,320 their minds on the things of the Spirit. 550 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,640 For them to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the 551 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,000 mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 552 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,520 That's what it means to wait on God. 553 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,200 That's what it means to rejoice is I set my mind on the things 554 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,400 of the Spirit. Psalm 84 verse 5 says blessed 555 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:22,120 are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on 556 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,560 pilgrimage. Tim Keller said this. 557 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,800 He said faith is not the absence of fear, It is confidence in the 558 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,760 presence of God when we see him rightly. 559 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,280 Everything else else takes its proper size. 560 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,960 Lachlan said when half of our church left, I was praying with 561 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,760 Jesus. I said, Jesus, please take me to 562 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,320 heaven right now. But if you can't do that, please 563 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,240 take me back to South Africa because I just, I'm done with 564 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:51,880 America. Like I'm just being honest with 565 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,560 you. I was like, and you know what my 566 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,240 father said to me? He said, he whispered to me, He 567 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,000 said, I'm with you, my boy. I'm with you my boy. 568 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,480 So when we need strength in our lives, friends, this is what God 569 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,760 is calling us to do is to engage with God's strength by rejoicing 570 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,280 in him no matter every single part of our lives. 571 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,120 Lord, if there's an area of my life that that I'm weak at, it's 572 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,720 in that area where I need to rejoice. 573 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,360 If you're weak and you're struggling with unforgiveness 574 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,320 and bitterness, it's in that place where you rejoice in him 575 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,800 and you say, Lord, thank you for your forgiveness in my life. 576 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,640 Because as you rejoice in his forgiveness in your life, you 577 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,160 get strengthened to extend forgiveness to other people. 578 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,520 If you're struggling with your finances and you're saying, 579 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,680 Lord, I just don't have enough, God is saying it's in that way 580 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,360 that you say, Lord, how do I honor you with my finances? 581 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,160 How do I put you first in financially because you loved me 582 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,240 first and I want to rejoice in you and I want to give to you 583 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,360 first because I trust you and that's how you rejoice. 584 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,680 You bring the strength of God into your finances by honoring 585 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:53,600 him. It's like Lord, when I'm not 586 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,480 enough as a parent or a spouse, then I go to God and I say, 587 00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:59,560 Lord, thank you that you're more than enough for me. 588 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,080 And when God's more than enough for me, I overflow, and He 589 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,360 becomes more than enough for them through me. 590 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,600 And when I'm fearful about my future, I rejoice in Him, that 591 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,200 He holds the future, that He's faithful and He'll never leave 592 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,440 me nor forsake me. Is that right? 593 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,200 I rejoice in who God is and I rejoice in what God has done. 594 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,480 That's what I love doing. So what I do is sometimes when I 595 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,000 feel, I don't know if you ever feel like you're not good enough 596 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,800 or you're not worthy, when I don't feel righteous, you know 597 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:29,920 what I do? I rejoice in Jesus that became 598 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:34,040 sin for me on the cross because he became sin so that I can be 599 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,120 the righteousness of God in Christ. 600 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,320 And so when you don't feel like you're good enough, go and 601 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:42,160 rejoice in the one that became sin for you on the cross. 602 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,480 When you experience, you say, Lord, I feel fearful of curses 603 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,760 and of crime. The Bible says that he became 604 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:50,960 cursed for us. Cursed is any man that hangs on 605 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:52,920 a tree. He became cursed so that we can 606 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,200 be blessed. Our blessing is not determined 607 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,640 by our circumstances. Our blessing is determined by 608 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,280 the one that hung on the cross for us. 609 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,040 When I feel sometimes friends, when I feel ashamed and I feel 610 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,720 like I'm not, I'm not worthy and sometimes I'm ashamed of things 611 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,800 I've said or done, I go to Jesus and I say, you became naked on 612 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,880 the cross. You became ashamed so that I 613 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,520 never have to be ashamed. And sometimes, friends, when you 614 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,000 feel rejected because I felt rejected by people in the 615 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,800 States, I went there, I poured my life out for them and they 616 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,200 just rejected me. And when they rejected me, I 617 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,520 went back to God and I said, Jesus on the cross. 618 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,840 When you hung on the cross, you said, my God, my God, why have 619 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,240 you forsaken me? And I said, Jesus, you became 620 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,920 rejected so that I could be accepted. 621 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:34,720 And now, no, I rejoice because it brings me strength. 622 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,680 And then when I feel rejected, I go to the Father and he accepts 623 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,400 me and I don't need your acceptance because I have his 624 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:47,360 acceptance in Jesus name, Amen. I'll never forget this. 625 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,640 John Wesley. John Wesley went as a 626 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:51,800 missionary, but he was did not really know God. 627 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,240 He was a religious man. He did not have the Holy Spirit. 628 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,320 And in his book on the on experiencing the baptism and the 629 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:59,960 empowering of the Holy Spirit, he says what changed his life 630 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:03,080 was they were in a life threatening storm with Moravian 631 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,360 believers and they were going to die. 632 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,200 Everyone knew that they weren't going to die. 633 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,000 It was dire straits. They were they were desperate 634 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:14,520 and he knew he was going to die and he saw these Moravians 635 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:20,680 worshipping these Moravians going going for it, Holy, holy, 636 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,320 holy. They were just worthy is your 637 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:25,600 name. They were worth worshiping God, 638 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,840 singing songs of worship while they were busy dying. 639 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,680 And John Wayne looked at them and he's like, what if you guys 640 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,400 can worship God? There's something that you have 641 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,680 that I don't have. And he started seeking God and 642 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,680 he got empowered by the spirit and the race is history. 643 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,400 We've got the Methodist Church today, millions upon millions of 644 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,520 people's lives impacted because a man saw Moravian people 645 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,440 worship in the storm. Will you worship God in the 646 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,480 midst of the storm? I want to tell you my last 647 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:55,000 story. I'm a Methodist youth pastor and 648 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,640 I'm at a four way stop in my mind. 649 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,640 But it was actually a two way stop, which meant that Wagner 650 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:06,320 and Valdu fainter crashed right into me and smashed my car so 651 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,679 badly that the guy that was next to me could not get out of the 652 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:10,880 door. And the first thing I did was I 653 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,360 was in a car crash and I thought, this is the end. 654 00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:16,040 Candace, I'm sure you remember the story, but this was the 655 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:18,040 sorry Candace and Chad. But you, I mean, what a 656 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:19,360 blessing. They they come from clocks. 657 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:20,679 Oh, Candace comes from clocks store. 658 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,760 And So what happened was I remember experiencing, oh, I 659 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,840 don't have insurance. Whoa, this is the end of the 660 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:28,880 world. And I had a chauffeur in my 661 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,920 door. And the first thing I did was I 662 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,080 took a chauffeur out of my door and I started walking around the 663 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:38,960 car. Jesus, you're so awesome. 664 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:40,440 Jesus, I'm so thankful. Whoa. 665 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,360 You're going to work all things together for the good of those 666 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,000 who love you. Jesus, You, you're with me. 667 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,679 Ah, Jesus. Then the guys come out. 668 00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:48,679 They're these Breakers. They they come out there. 669 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:49,960 They're holding me. They're like, hey, what? 670 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:51,120 I said, don't worry, I've got money. 671 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,719 Don't worry. Jesus is awesome. 672 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:56,120 Most of Jesus. Jesus, I was a broke youth 673 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:57,640 bastard. I didn't have any money. 674 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,560 I didn't have a place to stay. This car was given to me by my 675 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:01,840 dad. I didn't have anything. 676 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:03,560 Jesus. Poop, poop, poop. 677 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,280 I go to the police station. The police tells me who is The 678 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,920 Who bumped into you? I said Wagner and Val Defender. 679 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:14,640 They said Wagner and Val Defender. 680 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:16,480 They said didn't. Why didn't they hit you? 681 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,040 I said what? They said they hit everyone in 682 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:24,520 town even for no reason. You gave them a reason and they 683 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,160 didn't hit you. I said they didn't hit me. 684 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,160 The police are like, yo, you were very lucky. 685 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:33,120 I said no, I'm blessed. Vanna involved who phones me on 686 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,600 the phone. He sways at me, he screams at 687 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,080 me. He says to me he wants that 688 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,600 insurance sorted out now. I was broke, I didn't know what 689 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:43,560 to do. 3 days later I pray for Vanna. 690 00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:47,240 He comes, he brings me a handful of PS chocolates. 691 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,560 He worked for Cadbury's. He gives me PS chocolates. 692 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,040 Sorry for the way I spoke to you. 693 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:56,120 Sorry for the way I spoke to you on the phone. 694 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:02,200 You won't be. This is the best. 695 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:05,800 The best is I did not have money to fix the car. 696 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:10,560 I hosted a Christian band, 1000 kids came to the Christian show 697 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,720 and the the band that was the biggest show in South Africa. 698 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:18,280 The band said to me, we're going to give you 25% of the money we 699 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,560 made the 25% paid all the repairs on my car. 700 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,640 But the best news is that Van and Valdo came to the Christian 701 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:28,760 show and Van and Valdo gave their lives to Jesus and they 702 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,360 committed their lives to Christ and Jesus changed their lives. 703 00:36:36,690 --> 00:36:39,330 Now I'm not saying it's because I I blew the shofar, but one 704 00:36:39,330 --> 00:36:44,210 thing I do know is that sometimes in the crashes of life 705 00:36:45,010 --> 00:36:47,810 and the disappointments and the mistakes that we make, we can 706 00:36:47,810 --> 00:36:51,690 invite the strength of God in and the pain can actually be 707 00:36:51,690 --> 00:36:55,810 redeemed because God is involved in your life. 3 CR Let's stand 708 00:36:55,810 --> 00:36:59,720 together. I want to pray for us, Jesus. 709 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:01,840 I want to thank you for every man, woman, and child in this 710 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,120 room. I want to thank you, God, that 711 00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:05,920 you never leave us nor forsake us. 712 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,520 I want to thank you that when the storms come, we can be like 713 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,760 those Moravians and we can sing worship songs. 714 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,960 We can sing holy forever, Lord, because we have a God that is 715 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,600 faithful. And Lord Jesus, we want to thank 716 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:19,080 you for what you did on the cross today. 717 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,440 We want to thank you that we can meditate on your character and 718 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:26,760 that your joy and your peace and your race can flood our souls. 719 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,080 And Lord, thank you that we will rise up on wings like eagles. 720 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,080 And so right now, God, I want to thank you for every man and 721 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,240 woman. And if you're standing here this 722 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:38,000 evening and you under the age of 16, Marie really felt like God's 723 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,960 got to got something for you. If you're under the age of 16, 724 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:42,280 just put your hand up there where you are. 725 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,600 And if you're under the Angel of 16, God just this morning wants 726 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:49,160 to say to you this evening wants to say to you that you are mine. 727 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,960 And I'm calling you this evening, calling you and I'm 728 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,840 calling you home. And the Father says, come and 729 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,080 experience me. I'll never leave you nor forsake 730 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,840 you. I hold your future in the mighty 731 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:03,600 name of Jesus. And Father, I want to speak your 732 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,200 blessing upon this beautiful church. 733 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,040 I want to thank you, Lord, for Rory and Mel and the eldership 734 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:09,760 team. I want to thank you that this 735 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,040 church is a Church of worship, the Church of your presence, and 736 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:17,200 that we are strengthened by your presence, by your closeness in 737 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,760 our lives. In Jesus name, Amen.