1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,240 Fantastic. Well it is great to be with you 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,480 and thanks for having me guys. I really do appreciate it. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,120 I am here with my lovely wife. Do you want to quickly stand up 4 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,440 and just give everyone a wave? This is my lovely wife. 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,600 I do have a family photo, is that OK? 6 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,240 If I show family photos, is that OK? 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,080 This is our family, so This Is Us. 8 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:27,720 We have three children. We have three children. 9 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,120 We have Jordan there in the black and she married an 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,760 incredible young man in in Nathaniel and they are both 26 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,120 years of age. Obviously, there's myself and 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,440 then there's my wife and then there's our youngest there, 13 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,240 Bailey. We call her BJ. 14 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,200 She's doing her last year of high school, which is just 15 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,600 awesome. And then we have our middle son 16 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:52,360 Mitchell, and he married an incredible keyword girl called 17 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,680 Caitlin, which is just amazing. So our family just continue to 18 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,280 grow over the years. But the core thing is, 10 weeks 19 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,920 ago we became grandparents for the very first time and we got a 20 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:09,200 little baby. Girl, Oh, stop it. 21 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:11,120 Look. Look at that. 22 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,800 My gosh. And you know what? 23 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,960 When I when I saw this little baby for the very first time, I 24 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:22,400 wept. I didn't weep for my other three 25 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,360 kids. I didn't. 26 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,040 I did not cry. I did not cry when our first 27 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:35,000 three were born, but when this little grandbaby came along and 28 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,440 I found myself saying what every grandparent out there has said 29 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,960 before and has felt deeply. It just hits. 30 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:48,000 Different when your. Kids have kids and every cliche 31 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,080 that every grandparent has ever said. 32 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:55,240 Came out of my mouth. With tears to my eyes. 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:56,720 And they're. Just as stupid. 34 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:01,840 They're so cute. But look at that and her name is 35 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,320 Benny. BE double NI. 36 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,039 That's cute, huh? And because my son and his wife 37 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:11,320 live in New Zealand because he married a Kiwi girl, the middle 38 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,200 name is reference to his hometown, Adelaide. 39 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:17,360 So Benny, Adelaide Rainbow. That awesome. 40 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,840 Fantastic. I could just stare and look at 41 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,440 that phrase. She's so cute. 42 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,160 Oh my goodness, me. Anyways, better keep moving on. 43 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,960 Hey, got to preach. It's like, got to focus, focus, 44 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,160 Tony, got to preach. Well, this is a very special 45 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,400 year for us because we are celebrating 2 incredible 46 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:39,160 milestones. The first one is that me and my 47 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:44,640 wife, we've been together this year for 40 years 4. 48 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:47,360 Zero, I mean. That's crazy. 49 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:56,800 Way back in March 17, 1984 at roller skating. 50 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:02,760 What's roller skating? For all you young people who 51 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,560 don't know what roller skating is, I want you to think of the 52 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,160 coolest thing to do right now. Roller skating was cooler than 53 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:12,200 that. That's all I'm saying. 54 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,680 And so I skated up to this young lady on the 17th of March and I 55 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:25,640 grabbed her by her hands and in a couple skate, because skating 56 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:26,960 always finished with a couple skate. 57 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,600 So at 10:25 we were skating hand in hand. 58 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,760 I was going backwards. Why? 59 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:46,330 Because I can. You're welcome. 60 00:03:48,690 --> 00:03:54,720 And I looked you in the eyes and I don't know how you ask one 61 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,240 another out in this day and generation, but back in the day 62 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,040 we would ask a girl out this way. 63 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:07,320 Will you go out with me and she? Said yes. 64 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:10,960 And we've been together ever since. 65 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:21,040 Isn't that awesome? And on top of that, this year 66 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,160 marks 30 years since we planted our church in Adelaide. 67 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,120 And so we've had long service leave, which is the last six 68 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,280 months. We've just been able to have a 69 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:37,080 sabbatical and enjoy each other's company. 70 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:39,720 And we've been travelling around the world for the last six 71 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,440 months as love struck teenagers just enjoying each other's 72 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,760 company. And in that time we've had the 73 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,160 opportunity to have some incredible God conversations. 74 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,560 It's, it's just been an amazing time celebrating these two 75 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,400 incredible milestones. And as we started talking to 76 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,120 people because we just, we are people, people. 77 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,880 I'm sorry, hashtag not sorry. I, we just, I just love people, 78 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,080 which is amazing. 30 years of ministry and we still love 79 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:07,280 people. That's a miracle. 80 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,800 And we would talk to people and we would get to know each other. 81 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:16,520 And that asked me, why are you traveling? 82 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,920 I'm, I'm so glad you asked. And I'd say we're celebrating 83 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,000 two major milestones. And I'd tell them we've been 84 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:23,840 together for 40 years and everyone's surprised. 85 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,520 Everyone's shocked, one, because I don't think they think we're 86 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:27,880 old enough to be together for 40 years. 87 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,520 But the other thing is no one stays together for that long. 88 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:34,200 And so we got in people's worlds and in their lives. 89 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,240 And, and then I'd say, and the other thing we're celebrating is 90 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:42,600 the fact that we started a church 30 years ago and people 91 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,400 were shocked about that. They were more shocked about the 92 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,880 fact that we were pastors and they were saying what? 93 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,520 There was one particular woman, she was 77 years of age, and 94 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,360 Amy's jam. We met her on the cruise as she 95 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,360 was going around the Greek islands, which was amazing. 96 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,040 And she goes, Tony, you need to know I'm an atheist. 97 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:05,080 And I said, Jan, that's incredible because we started a 98 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:15,160 church for atheists. And she said, ah, if I came into 99 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:16,640 your church, the roof would cave in. 100 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,320 I said Jan, that's amazing because when we build our 101 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,440 building, we put extra reinforced. 102 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,520 Steel in the ceiling. And she says, Tony, you've got 103 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:26,920 me. I'm so intrigued. 104 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,760 Jan actually lives in Brisbane in Australia. 105 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,760 We didn't know that at the time. And she said I'd love to come to 106 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:34,800 Adelaide. I've always wanted to visit 107 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:35,920 Adelaide. I said you can come and stay 108 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,400 with us, said that'd be wonderful. 109 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:39,840 I said, I'd love to go to your church. 110 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,680 Met another man. His name was Trevor. 111 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,720 I met him in Bali and we were chatting away. 112 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,040 Told him for 30 years, 40 years. And he goes, oh, look, you know, 113 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,840 I've been, I've been kind of toying with Buddhism and 114 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,520 Christianity and I've kind of, I've kind of decided to have 115 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,600 both of them in my life. He looked at me. 116 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:08,600 He said, is that OK? And I said, Trevor, I said, are 117 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,040 you married? He said, yes, I am. 118 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:12,560 I said, let me ask you a question. 119 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,920 If you went home tonight to your wife with a girlfriend on your 120 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,400 arm, would she be happy? And he said, you're saying, I 121 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,320 can't have both, aren't you? And I said, Trevor, I haven't 122 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:27,520 said a word. You said that. 123 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:31,640 And I told him about a great church in Bali. 124 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,120 Friends of ours lead want to get along to that. 125 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,920 Met another young couple in the pool. 126 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,480 They were drinking cocktails. That's what you do in Bali. 127 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,120 And we got chatting, talking away. 128 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:48,320 Told him about 40 years together. 129 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,880 Wow. Told him about 30 years leading. 130 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:55,000 He said hang on, you're pastors. He said we are. 131 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,280 As we start talking, I find out about this man's life and he's 132 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,600 got a young 5 year old daughter. They've been together a year. 133 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:04,000 She wants to get married. She's a little bit skeptical. 134 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,920 We start, we're in the pool, cocktails in hand, and she 135 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,800 starts weeping. We went out to dinner that 136 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:13,760 night, continued the conversation, became good 137 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,400 friends. They're actually going to come 138 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,040 over in November and stay with us for a week. 139 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,360 We're going to take them to church and just enjoy their 140 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,360 company and get to know them a whole lot better. 141 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:27,200 And essentially all these conversations, and there's many, 142 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,360 many more at the crux of all these conversations. 143 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,919 See what we did? We just talked about how good 144 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:35,200 God is. We just talked about the 145 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,760 goodness of God. Turn to the president and say 146 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:47,480 God is good. And I think it's important that 147 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,440 we know that. And I think it's important that 148 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,200 we tell our stories as to how good God is, because that's the 149 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,200 thing. The enemy always attacks the 150 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,720 very first attribute that was attacked way back in the Garden 151 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,960 of Eden. Adam and Eve were there and the 152 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:09,840 serpent just appears out of nowhere. 153 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,000 And they say, why don't you eat from this tree? 154 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,640 And essentially what he was doing is attacking the goodness 155 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,000 of God. They say we can't do that. 156 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:25,440 We've been told we're not allowed to do that. 157 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:30,120 It's interesting to me that the enemy, the serpent for that day, 158 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,840 didn't try to deny the existence of God. 159 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:39,280 He didn't say God doesn't exist. He didn't say God's not real. 160 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,240 Essentially what he was saying is God's not real nice, God's 161 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,840 not real kind, God's not real good. 162 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,840 That's essentially what was going on in the garden that day. 163 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:58,440 And that is the challenge of every father in this room, 164 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:00,480 indeed every parent in this room. 165 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,080 We have to combat this challenge that comes our way from our 166 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,720 beloved young ones. So if you loved me, you would 167 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:13,240 let me. And that's what the enemy threw 168 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,480 at Adam and Eve. If he loved you, he would let 169 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:21,800 you. If God was good, he wouldn't 170 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:28,000 withhold anything from you. He was defying, He was 171 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:34,880 challenging the goodness of God. But what I've learned is loving 172 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,680 a child is not always giving them. 173 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:44,440 Everything they want. We had three kids in our home 174 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:49,560 growing up and in those early years they tested us 175 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:57,600 particularly around bedtime, and we had set bedtimes and was very 176 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,120 strict about our bedtimes for our kids. 177 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,400 And invariably they would push back. 178 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,680 And it was usually the middle kid, Mitchell, who'd push back. 179 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:09,320 As a dad, I'm not tired, I said. That's funny, Mitchell, because 180 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:10,680 I'm tired of. You go to. 181 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:17,760 Bed. End of discussion. 182 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:22,200 Go to your room. Can I get an Amen out there? 183 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:31,400 Hey, I don't know about you. I am grateful that I've been 184 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,800 around long enough and I'm old enough to be able to say thank 185 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:40,640 God that he didn't give me everything I ever wanted. 186 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,440 The fact that he doesn't give me everything I want is the 187 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,360 evidence of just how good he is. Because I prayed and asked some 188 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,280 of the dumbest things. I thought they were good and 189 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,200 smart at the time. But with time I look back and 190 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,080 think, oh Lord, I'm so glad you are so good. 191 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,040 You are so kind. Thank you for saying no. 192 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:04,320 Sometimes God didn't even say no to me. 193 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:11,240 Sometimes He just ignored me. That's how good He is. 194 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:16,440 That's how kind He is. Because every father in this 195 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,560 room knows if you really love your kids, you cannot give them 196 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,880 everything they want because they are too young and too dumb 197 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:28,280 to know what is good for them. And I don't care how old you are 198 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,480 in this place today, we are still in the economy of God's 199 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,920 eyes. Still too young and too dumb to 200 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:41,080 know what is best for us. And so God says no. 201 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,080 God doesn't always allow us to have our own way. 202 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,280 Not because he's not good, On the contrary, It's because He is 203 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,320 incredibly good. He's incredibly kind and He 204 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,800 loves us so much. And I believe This is why the 205 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,760 role of fathers is so important. Why? 206 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:06,760 Because so many of today's issues stem back to what I call 207 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:13,520 daddy issues, the way we see our biological father and also the 208 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:17,560 view we have of our Heavenly Father. 209 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:25,720 Every time I preach, I desire to be biblical, practical, and 210 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,040 inspirational. I'm here today. 211 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,040 With the help of the Holy Spirit to help us put the word of God 212 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:40,360 into practice so that we can be with Jesus, become like him, and 213 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,800 ultimately do the things that Jesus did. 214 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:46,160 Sound good? So if you have your Bibles, turn 215 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:47,480 with me. The one Corinthians chapter 4 216 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,080 verse 15. This is Paul the apostle 217 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,240 writing. He says even if you have 10,000 218 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,480 guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. 219 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:01,560 For in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 220 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:02,960 I love this passage of scripture. 221 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,560 It's one of my go to passages. Paul talks about all these 222 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,200 guardians. What would a guardian represent 223 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,000 in today's economy? It represents all those 224 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:13,680 podcasts. It represents all those 225 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:15,480 conferences. It represents all the 226 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,800 information that technology throws at us, all of which are 227 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:22,200 not bad. But the thing about all of those 228 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:27,320 things is there's not the personal, intimate knowledge of 229 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:30,680 who you are for them to speak into your situation. 230 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,120 I thank God for the times I've been blessed at conferences. 231 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,200 I thank God for the Word. I thank God for the things I've 232 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,160 learned. And maybe you've got your 233 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,800 favorite keynote speakers and all those things, but this is 234 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:44,680 what I know. They don't know you and so as a 235 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,960 result, they don't pray for you. And I think one of the things 236 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,680 that puts the church under attack is that we are enamoured 237 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:52,760 with the guest speakers. We're enamoured with the 238 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:54,720 podcast. We're enamoured with social 239 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,440 media. And we neglect and get familiar 240 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,240 with the local pastors and the local church family that pray 241 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,560 for you, that weep over you, that stand with you, that lose 242 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,240 sleep because of the situation and the circumstances that you 243 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:13,160 are going through. Never ever allow familiarity to 244 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,400 get in the way of those that we are closest. 245 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:21,160 Two, Christianity in it's purest, simplest form is a 246 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,080 relationship that can be had with Jesus. 247 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,280 Isn't that awesome? See, Paul saw his old mission 248 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:29,920 through relationship, not structure. 249 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:32,800 The gospel is founded on relationship. 250 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,400 John chapter 3 verse 16, one of the most well known verses in 251 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,760 scripture says God so loved the world that he sent his Angel, 252 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:54,640 that he sent to cherubim. He sent his Son. 253 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,520 Jesus saw his whole mission through relationship. 254 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,120 There was this one time when Jesus went to the temple and he 255 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,600 was disturbed by what he saw. There were people buying and 256 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,440 selling and it just got him mad. Now, he didn't get mad because 257 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,280 he didn't have a he had a bad night's sleep. 258 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:19,440 He didn't get mad because he had an upset stomach. 259 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:29,080 He got mad because they turned his father's house into a den of 260 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,240 thieves. He was motivated. 261 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,560 He was inspired. He was indignant. 262 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:37,920 He turned over the tables. Why? 263 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:44,480 Because this is not what we do in my dad's house. 264 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:51,320 We don't do that here. Inspired by relationship. 265 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,360 Inspired by his love for his father. 266 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,640 See, the devil's strategy, I believe, is to distort the 267 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,680 relationship with fathers in order to destroy the potential 268 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:11,359 of sons and daughters. Because he knows that the more 269 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:18,520 we know God, the closer we get to Him, and the closer we get to 270 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:26,760 Him, the kinder he becomes. Now, I know God does not change. 271 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000 God doesn't get kinder. He's kind, but our understanding 272 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:32,880 of how kind he is. Grows. 273 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:37,040 When I got saved, I knew God was good. 274 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,720 I gave my life to a good God, but over the years I've learned 275 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:48,200 he's much better, He's much kinder, he's much nicer. 276 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,760 And so my understanding of the goodness of God has grown. 277 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,040 God didn't change, but my understanding of Him has. 278 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:59,240 And I'm here to tell you categorically this morning, 3 CI 279 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:04,200 that we have an incredibly good God. 280 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:08,480 And so today in the remaining time that I have, I want to just 281 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,480 look at very quickly 4 characteristics of the father 282 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,240 heart of God. Why? 283 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,720 Because he's not only worthy, he's not only a worthy father to 284 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:23,400 be honoured, but he's also a great example to be followed. 285 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,480 And I realized not everyone in this room had a good father role 286 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,520 model. And if that is you in this place 287 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,720 today, I'm so glad you're here. You're not here by accident. 288 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,320 You're not here by chance. You're here by the goodness and 289 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:44,880 the grace of God. I'm one of those incredibly 290 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,720 privileged people that grew up with an incredible father. 291 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:56,120 But the amazing thing is that my dad didn't have a good dad, but 292 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:02,080 coming into a relationship with Jesus changed his life forever 293 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,640 and he adopted this sort. My father showed me what not to 294 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,600 do. So I'm going to do the opposite 295 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,240 of what my dad did, and he came into being an incredible dad for 296 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,840 me. Such a redemptive story. 297 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:17,280 So we're going to read from Psalm 103. 298 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:19,880 If you have your Bibles, follow along or look on the screen. 299 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:24,840 Psalm 103 verse 8 says this. The Lord is compassionate, He's 300 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:30,240 gracious, He's slow to anger, He's abounding in love. 301 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,880 He will not always accuse normally harbour His anger 302 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,720 forever. He does not treat us as our sins 303 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:41,560 deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. 304 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:47,120 As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love 305 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:51,640 for those who fear Him as far as the east is from the West. 306 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,080 So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 307 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,600 As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has 308 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,560 compassion on those who fear Him. 309 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,320 Today we're going to look at 4 attributes, 4 characteristics. 310 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,240 There's many, many more. But today, for the sake of time, 311 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:10,840 4 things. And I hope it brings us into a 312 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:16,440 deeper understanding and greater appreciation of who God is and 313 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,520 what He has done for us and just how good He is. 314 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:24,320 How does that sound? Point #1 Father God has a long 315 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,400 fuse. He has a long fuse. 316 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:32,440 Verse 8 says he has compassion, He is compassionate, he is 317 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:36,920 gracious, and he's oh so slow to anger. 318 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,200 Do you know each and every one of us in this room are the 319 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:47,960 beneficiaries of his long fuse? The question that begs to be 320 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:54,200 asked is why is he so patient? Why is he so patient? 321 00:20:55,120 --> 00:21:00,440 And I believe he's so patient because he wants us to make it. 322 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:03,800 He doesn't want anyone to perish. 323 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,440 He wants us to make it. And every good dad in this place 324 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,880 today wants their kids to make it. 325 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,240 They want their kids to to have a great life. 326 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,000 As a dad, I've had to. Teach all three of our kids to 327 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,320 drive a car. One of the worst jobs in the 328 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:30,440 world for a dad to do. Those sleepless nights when the 329 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:32,520 baby's nothing on teaching them how to drive. 330 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:39,120 I'm just saying. But our oldest, Jordan, she was 331 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:44,920 the first cab off the rank and she learned to drive in a manual 332 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:52,080 car. Big mistake, and I'll never 333 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,680 forget this one particular day telling her all the things she 334 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,440 needs to do. Turn the car on, check your 335 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:03,200 blind spots, pull out gently, make sure you indicate. 336 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:10,120 And so she turns on the car, she checks a blind spot, she 337 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,120 indicates, she goes to take off, the car stalls. 338 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:21,160 And we do that again. And again and again and again 339 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:31,000 and again and again and again to the point she's in tears because 340 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,200 that how am I meant to go parking and. 341 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:34,920 How am I meant to do this and how am I meant to do? 342 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:36,360 Hill starts. And how am I meant to do all 343 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,440 these others? And all the stuff that she had 344 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,520 to do into the future just got in the way of what we needed to 345 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:50,400 do right here and right now. And I looked her in the eyes, 346 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,640 said Jordan, look at me, you've got this. 347 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:05,200 Take a few deep breaths. You can do this, I said. 348 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:11,160 Now let's turn the car on again because that's what we needed to 349 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,320 do. And I was able to meet Jordan 350 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:19,040 where she was at. Because that's what God did for 351 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,360 me. And maybe there's some here in 352 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:27,720 this room today. You feel like your life has 353 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:33,600 stalled. Maybe you feel upset and 354 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,680 overwhelmed with all the things you know you've got to do, but 355 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:36,960 you can't even do the basic things. 356 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,040 This is what I know. God is kind and he's good and 357 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:46,520 he'll meet you where you are at. And I say this over you, if that 358 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:51,160 is you today, you've got this because God has got you. 359 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:53,960 You've got this because God has got you. 360 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,160 He meets you where you're at. Can I tell a personal story 361 00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,760 which doesn't take me in a great? 362 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,200 Life like it. It makes me sound very 363 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,360 superficial. Anyone want to hear this story? 364 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:12,400 Story at my expense, He goes. So I'm at roller skating at a 365 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:14,480 youth event. Our pastor comes and joins us 366 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,240 and he says to me, hey, let's chat. 367 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,000 And I'm like mate, I don't want to chat with my pastor at roller 368 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,560 skating. This is my zone. 369 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,120 Long story short, he starts talking about our future 370 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,120 possibility of ministry and I, I've got to be honest with you, 371 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,480 my my response was not good. I just dismissed him. 372 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,600 I said I'm not interested. No thank you. 373 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,080 Love what you do, but I love the fact that you're doing it, not 374 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:39,200 me. That's it. 375 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:42,840 The thing about roller skating, when you skate off, you go in 376 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:44,520 circles and guess what? I caught him up again. 377 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:50,520 So, So what about anymore? Anyway, so we go home that night 378 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,520 and I'm lying in bed and I can't get to sleep because I feel like 379 00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:00,720 I've just been rude. I've been dismissive not only to 380 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,640 our pastor, but also to the possibility of what God may have 381 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:10,360 for me. And so we have this chat with 382 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:13,360 God and I've never heard the audible voice of God, but I 383 00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:20,320 just, I just know God's voice. And I hope God say to me, what's 384 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,800 your problem? Kind of like when he met Adam 385 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,440 and said, Adam, where are you? Where are you at? 386 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:33,120 What's going on? And so I'm like, what is the 387 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:35,640 problem? This is where it gets a little 388 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:46,120 bit superficial on my part because I said, well, I loved 389 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:49,880 our pastor, but our pastor represented all the pastors that 390 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,440 I knew back in the late 80s there. 391 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,600 And again, no disrespect if you fall into either one of these 392 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,520 categories, but this is this is a young man, a teenager talking, 393 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,440 OK, so please, no, no disrespect, please no offense 394 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:06,440 taken. But I said, well, I suppose I'm 395 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:07,840 just thinking, well, I don't know, I want to go into 396 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:08,920 ministry. And I thought, you know why? 397 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,160 Because all the pastors were for my liking as a young man. 398 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,400 They were overweight and they had no hair. 399 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:23,720 So bad, so superficial. Oh, so wrong. 400 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,720 And as I. Verbalize that you kind of go 401 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:36,740 for the and I kid you not, the kindness of God. 402 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:48,000 I felt him say to me, hey Tony, if you look after your body, 403 00:26:49,120 --> 00:27:02,090 I'll look after your hair. That's the relationship I've had 404 00:27:02,090 --> 00:27:06,490 with my Heavenly Father. That's why I. 405 00:27:06,490 --> 00:27:10,130 Refuse to get into debates about tattoo. 406 00:27:10,130 --> 00:27:12,730 I just. I just think it's not the God I 407 00:27:12,730 --> 00:27:18,680 know if he could meet me this young, superficial, ridiculous 408 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:24,760 request and he meets me where I'm at and he will meet you 409 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,520 where you're at. Just like I was able to meet 410 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,600 Jordan, our daughter, when she was learning to drive a car 411 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:36,720 where she was at. I knew at that moment it's 412 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,480 pointless talking about hill starts. 413 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:40,840 It's pointless talking about reverse parking. 414 00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:43,360 She wasn't ready for that. So what did I do? 415 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,160 Let's just start where she's at. Let's turn the car on. 416 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:52,520 The car's incredibly good. He's incredibly kind. 417 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:54,600 We see it over and over again in the scriptures. 418 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:56,880 Jesus told the story about the prodigal son. 419 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,560 This son goes to his dad and says, Dad, I want my 420 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:00,800 inheritance. Do you know when you receive an 421 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,800 inheritance? It's when you're dead. 422 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,800 Do you know what this son was saying to his dad? 423 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:07,600 Dad. I wish you were. 424 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,440 Dead. I don't know about you, but if 425 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,400 my kid said that to me, I'd be gutted. 426 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,560 I didn't raise our kids so that one day they could look me in 427 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:19,960 the eye and say, dad, I wish you were dead. 428 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:25,400 That's got to hurt. And the father in this story 429 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,760 gives him his inheritance. And the young kid goes and does 430 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:35,320 what all young kids do, goes waste his money, comes to his 431 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:37,840 knees. And while he's on his knees, he 432 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,120 comes to his senses, has a revelation he was better off 433 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,920 back home. And then he comes home and guess 434 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:47,360 who's waiting? The dad. 435 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,760 Just looking. I wonder if today's a day 436 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,840 patient, patiently waiting. And when he saw his son walk 437 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,360 toward him, he ran towards him. And he wouldn't have any of this 438 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,880 nonsense about punishment. He says it's great to have you 439 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:06,440 back. This one time Jesus was doing 440 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,200 his thing and the Pharisees bought a woman caught in the act 441 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:10,760 of adultery. No man, just a woman. 442 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,000 I don't know how you can do that without a man. 443 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,960 But anyway, just shows the agenda. 444 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:25,280 And this woman is caught in the act of adultery and they bring a 445 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:31,800 challenge to test Jesus and Jesus basically says OK, fair 446 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,280 enough. The person here who is without 447 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:40,080 sin, they can be the first to throw a stone and it says oldest 448 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,960 to youngest they left. The old ones are smart enough to 449 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:47,640 realize actually that's not me. Until it was just Jesus and this 450 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:51,640 woman and Jesus offered this woman something that everyone in 451 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:53,760 this room, including myself wants from him. 452 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,360 He offered her forgiveness. You want that? 453 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,360 I do. Who preferred the forgiveness of 454 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:05,720 God rather than the judgement of God. 455 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,480 That's what He gave this woman this day. 456 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,680 And the second thing he gave her is a second chance to get it 457 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:17,760 right, another opportunity, an opportunity to say, lift your 458 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:22,000 head. Let's do this again, Jordan. 459 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,520 Let's do it one more time. Let's turn the key one more 460 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:26,720 time. Let's start the car one more 461 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:35,080 time. We serve a good God who is slow 462 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:36,640 to anger. He has a long fuse. 463 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:41,000 I am so glad that God is not like us and our short fuse. 464 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:45,080 He has a long fuse because He's patient and kind. 465 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,880 Amen. Second thing, Father, God has a 466 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:54,080 short memory, is a long fuse and He has a short memory. 467 00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:00,080 Verse 9 and 12 says God removes our transgressions and He 468 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:05,720 remembers our sin no more. I love this thought that God is 469 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:11,560 not holding our sins against us. When we repent of our sins, when 470 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:16,480 we ask for His forgiveness, He forgives us, and not only does. 471 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:22,640 He forgive us, he. Forgets, you know, I did my 472 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:23,920 apprenticeship years with my dad. 473 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,600 I learnt to be a sign writer, an old school sign writer with 474 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,360 brush and paint and not the stick on letters, but the the 475 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,320 real old school deal. And they were happy days. 476 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:36,120 I loved those days working with my dad. 477 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,640 It's just a beautiful, beautiful time and we did many jobs 478 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,840 together around our city. I was that annoying guy driving 479 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,120 down the road. I did that, I did that, I did 480 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:47,880 that, see that? I did that, I did that. 481 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:49,240 Entertaining, we know you did that. 482 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:50,560 I said guess what did you know I did that one. 483 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,360 So there was this one day we were doing a car yard and dad 484 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,760 said set the Tressel up, paint out the old signage, I'll go 485 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,400 talk to the boss, see the new signage that's got to go up. 486 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:08,920 And so OK, done fressel's up, planks there, got the roller. 487 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,560 I'm rolling out all the old signage, you know the old 488 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:22,480 roller. What I didn't allow for that day 489 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,920 was the wind factor in a car yard. 490 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:30,720 I don't know if you know this, but when you roll paint on a 491 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,240 roller there's little flecks of paint that come off of it, which 492 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:35,600 is not a problem if it's not windy. 493 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,240 Becomes a very big problem if it is windy. 494 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:44,000 Very big problem, and unbeknownst to me, I was so busy 495 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,360 doing my job. Dad comes out about 20 minutes 496 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,440 later. Half an hour later, talking to 497 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:50,560 the boss, this is a New Scientist. 498 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,760 Then I see my dad's face. He's like, stop. 499 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:01,120 And for me, time slowed down. My dad's running to me in slow 500 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:24,110 motion. Now you'd think if paint was 501 00:33:24,110 --> 00:33:27,670 coming off my roller and the wind, you'd think God would 502 00:33:27,670 --> 00:33:29,630 allow those little bits of paint to land on the grass. 503 00:33:29,630 --> 00:33:38,640 No 50 cars. I knew it was serious, but I 504 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,720 thought I'd kind of lighten the moment with the British humour. 505 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,560 I said hey Dad, we should charge them extra for that. 506 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:51,360 That didn't go down well. Young people do dumb young 507 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:55,480 things anyway. We had a a big clean up job to 508 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,640 do after that. There was a consequence to my 509 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,360 actions and we had to fix it and all risk it. 510 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,120 But but you know what? My dad never did hold that 511 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:08,120 against me. He's like, now you're fired, get 512 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:15,920 out of here, get another job. We laughed about it later, a lot 513 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:24,159 later became a great blessing to the point I'm sharing that story 514 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,600 today. God redemptively using my 515 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:33,080 stupidity to help us understand something of just how good God 516 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,239 is. I'm so glad that my dad was 517 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:43,920 there that day to this, not holding that moment against me. 518 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:51,600 You know, this is the whole idea behind what the Old Testament 519 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:57,360 calls the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was one day 520 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:05,280 a year that was set aside to empty your buckets. 521 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:13,360 What was in those buckets? Hurt, regret, disappointments, 522 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,760 the things that you've done that you find really hard to forgive 523 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:22,200 yourself. And every year God created this 524 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:27,440 moment for the people to come and just pour out the bucket 525 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,640 with all of its funk and junk in it. 526 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:37,320 But if you didn't take advantage of that and you went into the 527 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:38,680 next year with that bucket, guess what? 528 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:41,760 The next year is going to have more regret, more hurt. 529 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:45,680 You can't avoid it. And so if you don't get rid of 530 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:47,920 your bucket, you go into the next year and you pick up 531 00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,920 another one. And so after two years, you've 532 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,120 got 2 buckets. And if you don't, take advantage 533 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,480 of the Day of Atonement. And you go into the third year 534 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,840 and do the same thing. Now you've got 3 buckets. 535 00:36:08,900 --> 00:36:12,340 And if you don't deal with that, pretty soon you've got to 536 00:36:12,340 --> 00:36:15,100 consolidate all that funk and junk and put it in a barrel. 537 00:36:18,420 --> 00:36:20,940 And you've got to grab the barrel, put it on your back, 538 00:36:21,660 --> 00:36:27,420 start walking around. I'm a Christian. 539 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:35,280 Follow me. It's not very appealing, is it? 540 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,320 And if you don't deal with that barrel, pretty soon you're going 541 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,480 to have to get a crane to carry your funk and junk around for 542 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:48,240 the rest of your life. But God and His kindness created 543 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:50,360 a day where we could just. Pour it all out. 544 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:56,680 And have a fresh start. Years later, one of the psalmist 545 00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,240 wrote, hey, it's even better than that. 546 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:05,320 God's mercies are new every day. You don't even have to wait once 547 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:09,040 a year. You can have a fresh start every 548 00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,120 day because his mercies are new every morning. 549 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:18,480 How good's that? And then Jesus comes along, the 550 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,920 revolutionary that he is and forever will be. 551 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:29,480 He says guys, you can forgive yourself and others not just 552 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:36,200 every day, but 70 * 7 in a day. Now some of you are thinking. 553 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,000 Whoa. That's a heel start for me. 554 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,160 That's just too much. That's OK. 555 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,760 If you can't take on board what Jesus said, at least take on 556 00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,680 board what the psalmist said every morning. 557 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,960 And if you can't take on board what the psalmist said, at least 558 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:57,840 go back to the book of Leviticus and take on the once a year and 559 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:02,480 let go of your funk and junk. And if your God is meaner than 560 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:05,640 the book of Leviticus, you need to find a new God. 561 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:18,640 God is kind, He's good and he's gracious and he loves us and he 562 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:22,440 wants the best for us. The third thing Father God has. 563 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,080 Is a thick skin if I say thick skin? 564 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:31,560 Verse 10 says God does not treat us as our sins deserve. 565 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:38,680 If God punished us every time we deserved it, we would be in a 566 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:43,800 perpetual state of punishment. You just think about it. 567 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,640 Just selfish attitudes, hurtful words, prideful responses, 568 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:53,600 materialism. That sounds like my day and 569 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:58,000 God's thick skin. He doesn't jump on every little 570 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,440 thing that we face. You know, this is what I've 571 00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:05,960 learnt as being a dad is that your kids will let you down and 572 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:10,360 make you look bad. I certainly did that to my dad. 573 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,080 I think the church has certainly done that when it comes to God. 574 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,880 We make him look bad and I'm so glad that God doesn't come and 575 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:22,960 just rid us all. I remember when I was 12 years 576 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,880 of age and I did something that did not make my dad look like a 577 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,360 good dad because I made a decision that I was going to 578 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:36,320 steal something and I stole a packet of bubble gum, got 579 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,320 caught. I was with my mum, she was not 580 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:44,560 happy. She drove us home and she said 581 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,960 wait till your father gets home. Ever heard those words? 582 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,840 And you know what? When my mom said that, I did not 583 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:01,160 want to see my dad again. Which was interesting because 584 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,720 only the night before I couldn't wait for my dad to get home 585 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:07,320 because in the summer months dad would come home from work. 586 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:09,680 He'd grab us. Boys and all the friends in the 587 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,840 street and we'd go down to the paddocks and play cricket. 588 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:16,280 I couldn't wait for him, but that particular night I didn't 589 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,280 want to see him again and I was taken right back to the Garden 590 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:23,000 of Eden when Adam and would walk and talk in the call of the 591 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:28,480 evening with God until he just did something he shouldn't have 592 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:30,840 done and then he went into hiding. 593 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:36,840 And so I went into hiding and went to my room and I was hoping 594 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,920 I'd never see my dad again. This is so crazy. 595 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,880 It's funny where we run, isn't it, When we've done the wrong 596 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:50,520 thing. Day before I ran 2 my dad after 597 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:52,640 stealing, doing the wrong thing, I ran away and hid. 598 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:58,160 When we read the Bible, let's not read it with the eyes of 599 00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:00,720 divinity because we know the end of the story. 600 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:02,680 Let's read it with the eyes of humanity. 601 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:04,440 Let's put ourselves in Adam's shoes. 602 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,200 Let's put ourselves in the disciples shoes. 603 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:11,160 So why were they so afraid in the boat? 604 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:14,800 Because you would be too. Just because we know the end of 605 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,920 the story doesn't mean we'd have acted any differently. 606 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,680 And so here I am, 12 years of age, hiding in my bedroom, which 607 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,440 is no different than hiding behind a Bush all those years 608 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,280 ago with Adam. Then I hear the car rock up. 609 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:29,880 Oh, that's my dad. He's coming home. 610 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:33,840 Mum shouts. Tony, come down. 611 00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:40,920 Tell your father what you did. With tears in my eyes, I managed 612 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:43,080 to get the words out. I was a hysterical managed to 613 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:47,160 get the words out that I've got caught shoplifting and I and I 614 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:53,360 tensed my butt cheeks. You young ones won't know what 615 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:57,720 that reference is to. We grew up in a different world 616 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,800 and I'm not. I'm just like and he says, Tony, 617 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:13,840 look at me. He says, Tony, you should have 618 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:32,760 been quicker. Now I knew two things that day. 619 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:36,280 My dad was not condoning shoplifting, but he was meeting 620 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:45,400 me where I was at and he was modeling something that Jesus 621 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:49,920 models to us, unconditional love, Beautiful. 622 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:53,840 He didn't make that moment about him. 623 00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:59,160 What I'm so appreciative of that moment was he didn't punish me 624 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:03,000 according to what I deserved. He didn't give me what I 625 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,680 deserved. I did not deserve what he said 626 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:06,640 to me. I didn't deserve that. 627 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:11,640 That was kind. And he didn't tell me off out of 628 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:14,000 anger or embarrassment as to how I made him look. 629 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,600 Because let's be honest, when your kid steals as a parent, you 630 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,520 don't come off looking good. And he parked all of those 631 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,280 thoughts, parked all of those emotions, said I'm going to give 632 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,320 you what you need. He didn't give me what I 633 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:30,280 deserved. He gave me what I needed. 634 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,480 And what I needed was the reassurance. 635 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:38,000 What I needed was the unconditional love. 636 00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:45,800 What I needed was no matter what you do, no matter where you go, 637 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:52,400 I will never stop loving you. You'll never stop being my son. 638 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:58,040 Stealing a packet of bubble gum doesn't change your last name. 639 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:01,880 He told me all that as we went for a walk afterwards. 640 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:11,520 I'm glad my dad has a thick skin and I trust that as we grow in 641 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:17,840 Christ our skin gets thicker while our heart remains soft, 642 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:24,920 that we might continue to display the goodness of God. 643 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,520 Which brings me to my last point, and that is Father God 644 00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:35,760 has a big heart. Verse 13 says that God's 645 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,440 compassion so that he has compassion on His children. 646 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:42,680 Why? Because God is love. 647 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:47,360 Doesn't say God. Loves it says he is love. 648 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:53,440 For God to stop loving would mean he stops being who he is. 649 00:44:56,000 --> 00:45:00,440 And because he loves us, we can love. 650 00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:09,000 And the call today is for us to be in a loving, living 651 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:14,800 relationship with Him. If you are not a Christian in 652 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,280 this place today and you're in a relationship with him, that's 653 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:20,440 the invite. But if you are, it's to go 654 00:45:20,440 --> 00:45:25,000 deeper in that relationship with Him. 655 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:31,080 You know, we've been taught about the 10 commandments 656 00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:33,640 growing up in church many, many times. 657 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:37,680 I'm sure most of us here have heard of the 10 commandments, 658 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:41,360 but what you may not know is that the word commandments is 659 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,520 not the word that the Jewish people used. 660 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:47,160 It wasn't a word that existed for them. 661 00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:58,400 The word that they used was katuba and the 10 commandments 662 00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:03,480 was a ten word katuba. And a katuba was like a a 663 00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:08,400 marriage proposal. It was an offer of relationship. 664 00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:13,600 I love this thought. And the question with any 665 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:20,240 ketubah or any relationship is what are the expectations in 666 00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:24,280 this relationship in other words? 667 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,160 They're not a list of 10 rules and 10 things that you have to 668 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:35,640 do in order for God to love you, but they are 10 proofs that He 669 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:40,640 already does. When Kat and I decided to get 670 00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:45,280 married, we talked about what that would look like, the 671 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:49,440 expectations. But we talked about those 672 00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:51,520 expectations because we were. Already in love. 673 00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:56,160 And we just wanted to make sure that that love was sustainable 674 00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:58,160 over the years. So what are the expectations? 675 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:02,440 It wasn't I don't love you, but if you do these things, I might 676 00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:05,120 love you. Can you, Can you imagine that? 677 00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:09,760 Can you imagine me looking at a case of, hey, look, can you do 678 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:12,000 this, this, this, this and this? And if you do all those things, 679 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:15,000 I might love you. It's not very romantic, is it? 680 00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:21,200 Imagine the sun setting, the beach, the candles and having 681 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:22,520 that conversation. Not very romantic. 682 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:31,280 And this was the the heart behind these ten word Ketubah of 683 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:33,920 gods. So God's saying, if we're going 684 00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:37,680 to be in a relationship, if we're going to be married, let's 685 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:42,960 have no other idols. Hey, hey, let's have no other 686 00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:45,800 partners. How about we delete the old 687 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:47,520 boyfriends, the old girlfriends off social? 688 00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:49,640 How about we get rid of them? Can you imagine going to 689 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:50,720 someone's house and you've got all these? 690 00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:54,960 These are my old boyfriends. That's not going to work. 691 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:00,000 And God's saying, I love you, but for this to work, we need to 692 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:04,000 get rid of some of that stuff. Why? 693 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:08,800 Because He loves us. And how's this one? 694 00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,120 He says, hey, if we're going to do this together, how about we 695 00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:14,000 have one day a week where it's just you and me, Let's have a 696 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:19,160 date day. I would encourage every married 697 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:25,480 couple in this place to set aside a day, half a day, a 698 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:30,680 couple of hours once a week where you can just have no kids, 699 00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:37,200 no friends, no extended family. It's just you and your spouse. 700 00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:43,640 Because a happy house or so a happy spouse makes for a happy 701 00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:46,840 house. It's not a happy wife, happy 702 00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:48,160 life. That's too one sided. 703 00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:52,240 That doesn't work. When does a relationship ever 704 00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:53,480 work? When it's one sided. 705 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:56,960 Happy wife, happy life. You're kidding me. 706 00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:01,600 No for a. Relation to work. 707 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:03,560 I have to go both ways. Happy spouse. 708 00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:06,640 I have a responsibility to her, she has a responsibility to me. 709 00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:11,040 Makes for a happy house. So how about we have a day off? 710 00:49:13,560 --> 00:49:20,320 Call it the Sabbath. Oh, game changer. 711 00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:27,040 Now, Can you imagine hearing this from the perspective of a 712 00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:32,880 Jewish slave? That if I'm to receive God in my 713 00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:36,360 life, a life with God, we get a day off. 714 00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:45,800 Jewish slave never had a day off in their life, I get a day off. 715 00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:52,360 Are you telling me that the biggest, strongest people can't 716 00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:56,880 kill the weakest people? Are you? 717 00:49:56,880 --> 00:50:00,600 Are you telling me that this new life with God, this new God's 718 00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:04,920 world, I'm not going to have my stuff taken? 719 00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:11,840 I don't have to have my wife. She's not going to be slept with 720 00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:16,240 by other men. I tell you, no slave is hearing 721 00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:18,520 this thinking. Don't put all these rules on me. 722 00:50:24,660 --> 00:50:29,380 The biggest, strongest people can't rape our wives in God's 723 00:50:29,380 --> 00:50:35,280 new world. Our life, our wife and our stuff 724 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:40,120 is protected. And on top of that, we get a day 725 00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:43,800 off. This is the best news ever. 726 00:50:53,450 --> 00:51:03,890 If the band come up, our view of our Heavenly Father needs to 727 00:51:03,890 --> 00:51:08,440 change. That we our eyes might be opened 728 00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:15,720 to just how good our God is. He's not waiting for us to get 729 00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:20,640 our life in order in order to have a relationship with Him He 730 00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:21,520 loves. US. 731 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:29,280 As we are, I mentioned that we became grandparents 10 weeks ago 732 00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:36,480 and when we had the opportunity. Just to hold her. 733 00:51:39,240 --> 00:51:47,120 I found ourselves just staring at her, absolutely besotted, in 734 00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:54,080 love with this young child. Do you know what this young girl 735 00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:58,040 has done for me? Nothing. 736 00:52:03,640 --> 00:52:07,120 It's so bad. Then I looked at her and said 737 00:52:07,120 --> 00:52:11,800 smile, smile. Come on, give us a smile. 738 00:52:14,200 --> 00:52:20,480 Give us nothing. And yet I love her. 739 00:52:21,680 --> 00:52:29,440 I love her, I love her. I hand it to my wife, she does 740 00:52:29,440 --> 00:52:32,760 the exact same thing. At least she got a smile. 741 00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:39,440 Who's staying with me this morning? 742 00:52:54,940 --> 00:52:56,380 Just close our eyes, just for a moment. 743 00:53:01,220 --> 00:53:03,500 Holy Spirit, we're so grateful you're in this room right now. 744 00:53:07,740 --> 00:53:10,740 You never draw attention to yourself, but you point us to 1. 745 00:53:15,820 --> 00:53:18,420 He's been so good and so kind, so gracious. 746 00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:23,440 So loving and so strong. And we take this moment right 747 00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:33,720 here, right now, just to honour you, just to worship you. 748 00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:42,560 My prayer this morning is that every eye would be opened to the 749 00:53:42,560 --> 00:53:44,640 goodness and the greatness of our God. 750 00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:53,080 How kind, how loving, how forgiving is our God? 751 00:53:57,720 --> 00:54:11,630 Holy Spirit, won't you come open our eyes afresh to your 752 00:54:11,630 --> 00:54:24,120 goodness, your kindness, your greatness, and your love as 753 00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:25,960 every eyes close this place? I just want to make a quick 754 00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:28,440 appeal. I mentioned early in the service 755 00:54:29,760 --> 00:54:32,920 that there are some here who maybe you feel like your life is 756 00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:36,400 stalled. You're overwhelmed with all the 757 00:54:36,400 --> 00:54:38,920 things that you know you need to do, but you just can't even do 758 00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:41,680 the basics. I want you to know God sees you, 759 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:44,600 God knows you, God loves you, and I'd love this moment just to 760 00:54:44,600 --> 00:54:46,800 pray with you and for you. If that is you, can you just 761 00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:48,000 raise your hand wherever you might be? 762 00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:49,560 Say that's me. You pray for me. 763 00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:53,360 You pray for me right now. God bless you guys and girls. 764 00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:56,320 That's awesome. Father, we thank you that you 765 00:54:56,320 --> 00:55:04,320 see us and you know us. And I pray, Father, that where 766 00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:08,800 lives have seemingly been stored, where lives are 767 00:55:08,840 --> 00:55:12,200 overwhelmed with what's not happening, that you would come 768 00:55:12,200 --> 00:55:16,120 in right here, right now, like a flood and overwhelm people with 769 00:55:16,120 --> 00:55:20,240 your goodness, your grace. I pray for a spirit of rest, the 770 00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:23,480 spirit of hope to fall in this place. 771 00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:26,720 Touch people's lives and hearts afresh today. 772 00:55:29,160 --> 00:55:34,360 Won't you come, gracious God, gracious God, come and saturate 773 00:55:34,360 --> 00:55:37,200 us with your love. Come and saturate us with your 774 00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:40,360 brave. Come and saturate us with your 775 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:43,360 hope in Jesus mighty name.