1 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,360 One of the amazing things the Bible says, you should recognize 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,360 the voice of your leaders. And actually those voices should 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,640 be safe voices. And we're doing a series through 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:14,880 the book of Titus. It's an amazing book. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:17,840 And there's some challenges in the church. 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,600 There's some guys who are legalists, and there's some guys 7 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,160 that think the grace of God says you can do anything. 8 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:25,240 And I've been preaching so much grace. 9 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:27,560 There's some people in our home we think, well, Rory says we can 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,200 just do anything. And I said, I'm going to preach 11 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:32,439 until the place where people think they can do anything. 12 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:34,000 And then we're going to preach on Titus. 13 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,520 It says you're actually not allowed to do anything when I 14 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,520 said no. So we're going to call this 15 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:44,280 series Titus in November. So but I think this series would 16 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,120 be would be the word no. So God is a God of big yes and 17 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,040 small no. And when he says no, he means 18 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,200 no. And it's because he's good, not 19 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,320 because he's bad. And say no to a second bowl of 20 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:56,800 ice cream. And they say, Rory, you've got 21 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,480 to carrying a few extra KGS, but I'm carrying less than I was a 22 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,280 few years ago. And so we're just on a journey 23 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,320 of trying to build a community that honours God so we can put 24 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:07,480 those four trees up. Please. 25 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,440 I'll try and explain titles to you if you've got that video. 26 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,760 Top left hand side is just the way the world works. 27 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,760 There's a root system or a belief system or a OTS, and that 28 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,280 root system affects the roots or a UTES that we take. 29 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,040 So on the left hand side, Christian root system, we have a 30 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,560 belief system. It's what Jesus has done for us. 31 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,200 It's what we believe. We are saved. 32 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,200 We are saved by grace, we are born again, we've been redeemed, 33 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,680 we've been adopted, we are loved and sort of a wholeness develops 34 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,040 in that place so we don't have to walk around wounded for the 35 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,360 rest of our lives. That belief system produces 36 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,200 roots and it produces fruit on the second one on the top. 37 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,120 That's what happens when Christians start judging the 38 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,000 world for their behaviour. So we believe in a certain 39 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,560 amount of things, but we judge the world for their behaviour. 40 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,040 That that's actually, that's why people get crossed with the 41 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,040 church. They said don't put your stuff 42 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,360 on me. They don't behave like we behave 43 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,199 because they don't believe what we believe. 44 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,240 Our job is to deal with the tree on the left. 45 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,680 Titus is dealing with the tree on the left and so instead of 46 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,680 what we see in the bottom left hand side, instead of judging 47 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,920 people, we start to witness to them. 48 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:23,560 We show that by our lifestyle, we witness to people. 49 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:27,960 That's what takes place. And then in the last one, and 50 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,520 this is where the book of Titus is written, the book of Titus is 51 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,360 written here. This is what we believe about 52 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,400 Jesus. This is what he's done for us. 53 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:40,240 And because of that, we draw on this root system and we start to 54 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,840 produce a set of fruit and that witnesses to the world. 55 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,840 And then the world looks at us and say, why do you behave as 56 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,320 you do? And what Peter says, we behave 57 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,080 as we do because we believe that God has done this for us. 58 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:04,880 So the book of Titus is written here, The book of Romans in the 59 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,080 beginning is written here. The book of Ephesians in the 60 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,160 beginning is written here. Ephesians 123 is written here. 61 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,200 Ephesians 456 is written here. Romans 126 is written there. 62 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,440 Romans 7 to 16 is written here. Titus is written here. 63 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,360 Because what Titus has noticed is a couple of oranges appearing 64 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:28,280 on the apple tree and he's saying it seems like there's a 65 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,440 little root that is shut off down there somewhere and you're 66 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,800 drawing on something and and you're not representing Christ 67 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:36,400 in everything that you should be doing. 68 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,400 Christ has done a full job here. We start to live it here in 69 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,920 every way from our marriages to our sexuality. 70 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:47,840 We start witnessing to the world. 71 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,840 We get grab their attention. They look at us and when they 72 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,000 look at us, we say we do it because of this, not because 73 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,280 we're some kind of religious group of people that meet at 74 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,480 church on a Sunday. Amen. 75 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,120 Does that make sense to you? So that's the book of Titus. 76 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:07,520 It's a very beautiful book. And, and one of the things that 77 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,000 God says is if you want this thing to work properly, you've 78 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,600 got to actually get good leadership. 79 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,160 And so when God gives us list, it's not some list of a very 80 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:18,959 powerful group of people at the top. 81 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,040 It's actually a list of eldership that will take God's 82 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,280 people into the fullness of what God has for them. 83 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,120 I had a friend who said to me, I don't want to go to heaven. 84 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,000 I said, why not? He said, because they're 24 85 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,120 elders there now. Now that's a people have got a 86 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,280 very cynical or sometimes a hurtful perspective on 87 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,440 leadership in the life of the church. 88 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,360 But leadership in the life of the church are not meant to be 89 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,720 domineering over people's lives. Leadership in the life of the 90 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:47,200 church are meant to serve people. 91 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,480 And so the reason that I get a salary is so that I can spend 92 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,480 time during the week preparing the Word and praying so that I 93 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,840 can come to you and feed you, hopefully with gentleness and 94 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:59,520 grace. Yes, we've got to take on false 95 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,640 teachers. Yes, we've got to set direction. 96 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,280 Yes. But actually my task is to serve 97 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:07,800 you. And so the best way to describe 98 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,720 leadership in the church is we are your servants, but you are 99 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,560 not our bosses. And and so this is amazing power 100 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,000 struggle between the church and leadership, but it's not meant 101 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,120 to be like that. We're meant to serve each other. 102 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,280 And as we serve each other, we start to build a New Testament 103 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:27,320 committee where the world in Pretoria looks and thinks, wow, 104 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,880 there is actually a community on this earth that represents 105 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,960 something different. And we can buy into it and we 106 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,400 can and we can enjoy it and we'll grow there. 107 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,560 And we should be set free there. And one of the things it talks 108 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,520 about is marriage. I've been married to this woman 109 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,000 for 31 years. And, and the and the, and the 110 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,080 marriages of the pastors are important. 111 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,320 And the question asked Westfield got asked me is, does she still 112 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,000 take your breath away? And the art of good husbanding 113 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,440 is to love a woman who's aging as her art is to love a husband 114 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,960 who's aging and to love a church that is aging. 115 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,480 This time next year, this church is 30 years old. 116 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,200 I've been in the church for 46 years and the question that God 117 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,480 always asks me is, does she still take your breath away? 118 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,560 And I've got to say, yes, she still takes my breath away. 119 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:20,240 I love her. I was sitting at a funeral in 120 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:21,960 Durban. I sent her a message. 121 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,120 I said, I want to tell you, my babe, you've got pretty as 122 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,360 you've got older. I love your softness. 123 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,040 I love your gentleness. I love the fact that you never 124 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,840 slander or gossip about anybody. I love these things about you. 125 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:36,000 I love the way you look at me. I love the way that you hold my 126 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,680 hand in public. I love the way that you bless me 127 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,560 every time I get up to preach. And then the question is, does 128 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,120 the church still take your breath away? 129 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,720 Now, the problem in a church this size is many of you would 130 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,600 have been hurt by the church and even hurt by dominant leaders 131 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,400 and maybe even hurt by me. But the reality is that the 132 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,120 church is still God's number one vehicle on the earth to bring in 133 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,480 his Kingdom. The Kingdom is much bigger than 134 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,000 the church, but the church is the primary vehicle of the 135 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,520 Kingdom. And can God bring his Kingdom in 136 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:07,920 through US? Does the church still take your 137 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,680 breath away? I've got to say, when I stand at 138 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,360 the front of the church and I see young people and old people 139 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,760 and black people and white people and rich people and poor 140 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,800 people and, and married people and single people and educated 141 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,360 people, and walking into the same room, yes, it does take my 142 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,240 breath away. It completely and utterly takes 143 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:28,360 my breath away. You take my breath away. 144 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,840 And I know some of your stories and you are deeply broken, and 145 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,320 some of you are going through really difficult times, and you 146 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,760 could have chosen to be anywhere today, but you chose to come and 147 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,160 represent this apple tree that somehow in the midst of your 148 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,520 crisis, you still chose to come and worship. 149 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,160 And Adele is standing on the stage. 150 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,760 And Adele has been leading worship in the church from the 151 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:56,120 very, very beginning. For nearly 30 years, she's LED 152 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,400 worship in this church. And she's still standing in 153 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,960 leading worship. And standing next to her is my 154 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,440 son who arrived here 12 years ago. 155 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,280 And somehow he's also leading worship. 156 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:10,320 And I sit and think 30, a veteran, six month veteran, and 157 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,440 Kevin Cochlin, who's this grey haired man who's been here since 158 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,520 the very beginning, he still loves Jesus, he still loves his 159 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,560 wife, he still loves the church. And we say, hey, guys, it 160 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,200 doesn't matter what your experience is. 161 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,280 If we go back into the vortal system, if we go back into the 162 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,720 root system and we start to draw on the nutrients of the finished 163 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,280 work of Christ, we can actually start to produce a tree where 164 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:36,960 people look and think, wow, wow, it actually works. 165 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,080 I can tell almost everyone of your stories. 166 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,840 That guy's name is Carl. He came here. 167 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,680 He had not been in the church for 10 years. 168 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:51,040 We used to have a meeting in the 10th. 169 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,160 The building was straight down like that. 170 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,520 About 2/3 of the way down, maybe 3/4 of the way down, this man 171 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:58,920 walked in. Do you remember that Sunday, 172 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:00,160 Carl? You walked in. 173 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:01,880 You had not walked into the church for 10 years. 174 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:04,640 I remember standing up and preaching and I looked at you 175 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,960 and I thought, God, God, thank you. 176 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:14,840 How many years ago is that? 7201820186 years ago God knit 177 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,920 him into our family and, and, and now he's one of the apples 178 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,560 on our apple tree. And so this is the book of Titus 179 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,480 and God wants to introduce leadership to you today. 180 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:29,000 He does three things. He says this is how good leaders 181 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000 operate. He says then it's going to 182 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,560 outwork itself in family. So there's a lot of no's. 183 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:42,040 No to overbearing leadership, no to slander ladies, no to giving 184 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:49,280 up old men, no to retirement, no to sin and wickedness, no to 185 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:54,560 that stuff, No to the law, No to circumcision, no, no, no to that 186 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,920 stuff. And we're going to produce 187 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,600 families that actually look different. 188 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:07,280 No to false teachers, No to greed, no to sin, no to porno, 189 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,080 no to drunkenness. I was going to say a whole lot 190 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:15,560 of nose over November. It's the whole lot of nose so 191 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:17,760 that the grace of God can come and touch our lives. 192 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,240 Amen. So let's have a look. 193 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,960 It breaks into three parts. Chapter 1 is about leadership, 194 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,760 so let's read it. Paul, the servant of God and the 195 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,440 apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God's elect and the 196 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,720 knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, Say 197 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,880 godliness. He wants us to produce apples. 198 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,400 A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, say 199 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,280 eternal life. I don't know the way Paul 200 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,240 operates. The Bible is, is the way you and 201 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:49,880 I operate in the world. We have a childhood and we have 202 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,320 an adulthood and we spend the childhood asking what you're 203 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,040 going to do and you spend the adulthood doing what you said 204 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:00,560 you wouldn't do. You stand up in class and they 205 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,720 say what you're going to do. I'm going to be a fireman. 206 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,720 What are you going to do? I'm going to be a policeman. 207 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,440 What are you going to do? I'm going to be AI want to be 208 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,520 Elon Musk. God bless you with the children 209 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:17,160 of the of the thousand hills. I want to be and, and, and we, 210 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,960 and we, we kind of say what we want to be. 211 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,560 And then it's very difficult, Hey, when you leave school 212 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:24,960 because you still don't know what you want to be. 213 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,240 And then you go and study medicine, then you end up as a, 214 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 it's just weird. Hey, this transition somehow 215 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,120 between childhood and adulthood are the two ages that we 216 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,960 wouldn't live in. And they don't often compare. 217 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,280 I wanted to be a fireman and I and I'm a preacher. 218 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,440 But Paul says there are also two ages. 219 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:51,720 There's this present age and there's an eternal age and he 220 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:56,280 says what Jesus has done is his he's made this eternal age break 221 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:01,440 into the present age so we can actually be children in Christ 222 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,080 and yet start to live as adults because the eternal world breaks 223 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,560 into our present world and this present world is evil. 224 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,360 It says in Crete, he's preaching in, in Crete. 225 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,560 The Cretans, we said it last week, they are liars. 226 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,920 They are licentious, they're sleeping around and they're 227 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,360 lazy. But we but we have this eternal 228 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,840 world where God is not a liar. He's trustworthy and he's 229 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,840 faithful and he's honest and he's pure and he's diligent and 230 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,400 he actually starts to break into our world. 231 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,520 And so instead of living with what the poets and the 232 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,280 philosophers say about Pretoria, we start to live with the 233 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:43,720 eternal world breaking into our present world and we start to 234 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:49,120 represent God on earth. Now, are you with me, guys? 235 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,000 That's the book. That's how you got to wrestle 236 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,120 through Titus. And and Titus is actually 237 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,880 written to every one of us because what happens is we 238 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,960 develop habits in every relationship. 239 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,640 We develop habits in our marriage, we develop habits. 240 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,120 And then God comes and he speaks Titus and he says, no, Rory, you 241 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,440 can't say that to Mel. No, it's not acceptable. 242 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:16,640 She is my daughter. And you cannot get frustrated. 243 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,440 We're opening two things the other day with plastic handles 244 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,520 and with plastic coverings, and Mel had a knife in one hand and 245 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:26,680 a glass of water in the other hand. 246 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,960 I said, just put that blooming water down. 247 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,800 Oh, yeah, It doesn't. It doesn't happen in your house. 248 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:36,120 Yeah. Yeah. 249 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,320 Never happens in your house. Yes, I know. 250 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,400 It's just me. It's only me blooming. 251 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,600 I don't know where blaming comes from, but it's the it's it's the 252 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,320 it's the age appropriate swear. It's still it's comes from the 253 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:53,400 same place as other words come from. 254 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,480 And I went and sat on the veranda, I think, give me tea, 255 00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,120 you know, And then she came and I said, you know what, babe, I'm 256 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,640 so sorry. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry that 257 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:07,840 just for those seconds, I just I, I say no to that behavior, my 258 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,160 babe, I'm so sorry. I say no to you don't have to 259 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,240 live under that. And in her graciousness, he 260 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,880 said, I know you're under pressure, my babe, I said, but 261 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,320 under pressure doesn't change the fact that that should not 262 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,960 come into my home with me friends. 263 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:24,600 So we've got this very big church and we're saying, but 264 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,600 it's a lounge actually. We belong together and we're not 265 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,800 going to let people get away with stuff that's going to 266 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:34,760 affect the family. We've got this unbelievable 267 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,920 church and, and, and we've got a gardener who works here full 268 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:39,680 time. And then you can see the gardens 269 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,160 are absolutely beautiful because if you look in the book of 270 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,840 Genesis, it starts in a garden. And we're trying to create this 271 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,480 garden in, in Pretoria, E that when people come here, they feel 272 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,640 alive and they can see the birds and the bees and they can see 273 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:53,960 creation. And we put, we put colorful 274 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,720 umbrellas up because so many people's lives are boring. 275 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:58,760 And when you come into the church, you should see the 276 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,560 creativity of garden. You should be inspired that 277 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:05,960 actually when God designed the sign, he made a rainbow and so 278 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,320 that we could express color and that color is meant to 279 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:11,120 infiltrate into every single one of our relationships. 280 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,800 Now, the problem with this street is that it's one of the 281 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,760 major thoroughfares of Pretoria East. 282 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,680 So it's absolutely covered in litter, absolutely covered. 283 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:24,560 Every week there is just tons of litter that gets thrown just in 284 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,480 the street here. And I get so grieved by that. 285 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,400 And I think, how do people take their litter and throw it into 286 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,120 my street when I'm trying to build something that represents 287 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,720 presents God and take it from you into the city. 288 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,360 We can't even affect the road 100 meters from us. 289 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,280 And you realize that litter gets so not every one of us has got 290 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,480 litter in our hearts. Every one of us has got history. 291 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:47,520 Every one of us has got disappointment. 292 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,680 Every one of us has got disqualification. 293 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:52,480 Every one of us has got a story with the church leader. 294 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,120 But let God take your litter so that you don't Chuck it into the 295 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,680 heart of the person next to you, and we can actually start to 296 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,240 gather something that looks like the scriptures instead of being 297 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,040 littered with other people's rubbish. 298 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,440 So we go into the belief system. We let God deal with our 299 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,080 brokenness, we let God deal with our abuse. 300 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,840 We let God deal with that thing which has disappointed us. 301 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,600 We let him heal it. You are adopted. 302 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,280 You have every spiritual blessing in Christ. 303 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:25,440 You are loved, you are chosen. If your dad rejected you, God 304 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,880 chose you. That becomes the belief system. 305 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,880 And so you're not producing fruit of rejection, you're 306 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:36,240 producing fruit of being chosen. Are you with me, friends? 307 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:48,480 Which God who does not lie? Which God who does not lie, 308 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,360 Elniki with God who does not lie. 309 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,000 As you are wrestling the disease inside of your blood and inside 310 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,800 of your hormones, a God who does not lie, who has given you many 311 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,000 promises, and some of you are sitting here, you must remember 312 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,480 the book of Acts takes about 40 years to write. 313 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,040 So some of your children have walked away from God. 314 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:17,680 Sitting in this room today. Your kids have walked away from 315 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,800 God, but God promised you that your kids will come back to him. 316 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:26,079 God does not lie. God does not lie. 317 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,520 That means we can trust Him and His faithfulness forever. 318 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:35,000 And ma'am, you too can trust God because he does not lie. 319 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:39,040 He does not lie. And I don't know the patience of 320 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,560 God. And if I was God, I would be a 321 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:45,760 little bit more. But God who does not lie. 322 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,000 You see, the Cretans were known for lie. 323 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,000 The God of Crete was Zeiss, Zeiss Zedeus. 324 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,680 He was and he was known for deceitfulness. 325 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,120 And now the one that is penetrating into their ranks is 326 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,360 a God who doesn't use deceit to get his own way. 327 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,720 God who does not lie, you can trust him. 328 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,000 I had one of my very dear friends in my office this week 329 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,480 and he said it feels like God has left me. 330 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,880 God cannot leave you. It is impossible. 331 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:22,120 Hebrews 13 tells us God will never leave you and he will 332 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:25,600 never forsake you. And if that's all you have to 333 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,400 hear today, God will never leave you and he will never forsake 334 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,760 you. And I've been serving him for 46 335 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,760 years and I've always seen the faithfulness of God. 336 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:46,280 We're not getting very far away. Read this book and let God speak 337 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:51,640 to you families, let God speak to you society, let God speak to 338 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:58,680 us promised before the beginning of time that his appointed 339 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,360 season. He brought His word to light 340 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,320 through the preaching and trusted to me by the command of 341 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:06,680 God our Savior. Say Savior three times. 342 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,800 You'll see in the book of Titus you'll see this word Saviour. 343 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,720 Say Saviour. When you see the word Saviour, 344 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,840 you must ask two questions. What has He saved me from and 345 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,720 what has He saved me for? He always saves me from 346 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,960 something and He always saves me for something. 347 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:28,960 I went to a funeral this week of a young beautiful man. 348 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,000 You probably saw his story in the news. 349 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,880 It was all over the news. His name was Dingo Dinkleman. 350 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,000 The Steve Irwin of South Africa. The snake handler, Crocodile 351 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,840 Hunter. Steve Irwin. 352 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,360 I say the Dingo Dinkleman. Dingo Dinkleman I met as a 353 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,280 preacher when he was on a youth campus, 16 years old. 354 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:50,240 I met him and he became my friend. 355 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,080 He's a rebel. He fought with everybody. 356 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,920 He loved life. He had this quest for freedom. 357 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,760 He was an unbeliever. Everything he touched turned to 358 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,240 gold. He became an insurance salesman. 359 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,400 He was top 3IN old Mitchell as a 20 something year old. 360 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,040 He's one of the top three insurance. 361 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,480 And every time I used to meet, he used to fight with the church 362 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,800 and fight with me and he was this most unbelievable man. 363 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,440 But he said, you know, Rory, I don't want to sell insurance. 364 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,480 I want to handle snakes. I want to. 365 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,000 I was not designed got to save me from my Wretch. 366 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,120 I got to say but he has saved me for something. 367 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:30,600 He saved me. He saved me to handle snakes. 368 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,600 And six weeks ago he wrote a letter to his wife. 369 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,600 He said on my memorial service, I do not want people to mourn. 370 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,440 I want them to rejoice whether I die by accident or by whether I 371 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,880 die from a wild animal. And he was bitten by green mamba 372 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,760 a month ago and he died. He wrote his own memorial 373 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,240 service, but he knew why he was designed. 374 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:55,560 His job was to handle snakes and to take away the stigma of wild 375 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,920 animals and people. He lived his life to the full. 376 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,520 Why are you saved? You have not been saved as I say 377 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:16,840 to collect shells and Neisner and I tell you this, what I get 378 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,680 saved into is more important than what I get saved out of 379 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,920 because for God to forgive my sin is not difficult for Him. 380 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:26,120 He does it like his boof. It doesn't matter how dark, how 381 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:29,760 dirty or how debauched you are. God can save you from your sin 382 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,760 and from the curse of death and from the power of the law. 383 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,800 He saves me from it. But to know what he saved me for 384 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,320 is more because I have to work with him. 385 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,480 He saved me for a purpose. God, I got born in the Free 386 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,600 State and I went grew up in the towel and I knew a little bit of 387 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,800 Afrikaans because God actually knew that he saved me for 388 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:52,000 Pretoria. I'm, I'm doing what God called 389 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,200 me to do. And some of you need a cheeky 390 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,600 Englishman just to remind you of a few things that you don't have 391 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,440 to fulfill the law in order to please God. 392 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,880 Jesus fulfilled the law. But actually you do have to 393 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:05,760 treat your wife. It affects the way that you do 394 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,640 life. Amen. 395 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,360 So whenever you see the word Saviour, say, what am I saved 396 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:16,080 from and what am I saved for? Some of you need to open your 397 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,480 homes. Some of you need to open your 398 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:20,640 heart. Some of you need to open your 399 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:25,640 wallets because you weren't saved to collect cars. 400 00:22:32,470 --> 00:22:37,710 Amen to Titus my true Son, and our common faith. 401 00:22:37,710 --> 00:22:40,350 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our 402 00:22:40,350 --> 00:22:41,230 Lord. Say grace. 403 00:22:41,990 --> 00:22:44,790 And the very last verse in chapter 3 says grace be with 404 00:22:44,790 --> 00:22:46,950 you, grace to you, and grace with you. 405 00:22:46,950 --> 00:22:52,710 So you've got this amazing brackets of grace and 7 * 7 406 00:22:52,710 --> 00:22:56,120 times. Say 7 times between these two 407 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:59,760 graces it says, and you must produce good works and you must 408 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,480 produce good, and you must be good, and you must good and good 409 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,080 and good. And you think, oh, Rory's 410 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,200 preaching the law, Good, good, good, good, good, good, good, 411 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,640 good, good. No, no grace, Grace 7 times 412 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:11,760 good. When we understand grace 413 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:18,800 properly, it affects our lives. The reason I left you in Crete 414 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,480 was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and 415 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,080 appoint elders in every town as I directed You and elder must be 416 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:26,960 blameless. The husband of but one wife, a 417 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,840 man whose children believe and are not. 418 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:32,320 There's a first no, not open to the charge of being wild and 419 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,120 disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted 420 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:38,320 with God's work, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not 421 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,160 quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not 422 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,200 pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, 423 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,960 one who loves what is good, first good, who is self 424 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:48,880 controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 425 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:52,280 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has 426 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,720 been taught, so that he can be encouraged others by sound 427 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,480 doctrine and feud those who oppose it. 428 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,160 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and 429 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,280 deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group, the 430 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,360 legalists. They must be silenced because 431 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:09,040 they're ruining whole households by teaching things they ought 432 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,360 not to teach, and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 433 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,720 Even one of their own prophets has said Cretans are always 434 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:17,920 liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons. 435 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,680 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply. 436 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,440 Who must do that? The church leader, so that they 437 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,240 will be sound in the faith. And pay no attention to Jewish 438 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,360 myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. 439 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,080 All sorts of religious rubbish comes into the church and God 440 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,920 has given leaders to deal with that. 441 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,920 To the peer all things appear. They've tried to objectify 442 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,520 things and say food is dirty and decisions are dirty and it says 443 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,440 no, no, no. Dirtiness comes from the heart. 444 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,680 Food is clean. But to those who are corrupted 445 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,320 and do not believe nothing is pure. 446 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,040 In fact, both their minds and their conscience are corrupted. 447 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,640 They claim to know God, but by the actions they deny him, 448 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,040 they're detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything 449 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,160 good. The elders can stand, please. 450 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,040 And the elders and wives, if you can stand. 451 00:25:11,650 --> 00:25:16,290 God says if we're going to live this life properly, I need good 452 00:25:16,290 --> 00:25:18,330 leadership to come into the life of the church. 453 00:25:18,610 --> 00:25:22,250 Good leadership, number one, is not overbearing. 454 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,080 You should not be controlled by leadership. 455 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,080 I think the leadership in the church plays too much influence 456 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,120 in people's lives. That's not my job. 457 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:34,680 I must have an influence in your life, but not too much influence 458 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,200 must not be overbearing. I should not be forceful in my 459 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,400 character and nature. The job of the leaders to serve. 460 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,080 And if you've been in this church for any length of time, 461 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,520 you might not even know some of these people, the guys who don't 462 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,440 preach. But this is Robert and Suzanne. 463 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,000 They've been in this church for many years. 464 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,520 They were about to leave. They were going to go to tour a 465 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:53,360 few. They bought a house. 466 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,280 They were going to retire and do business and ministry down there 467 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,360 in December, 2 years ago. And in my heart, I nearly died 468 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,960 because I felt like God had given them to as a gift to this 469 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:03,560 church. This is Robert and Suzanne, 470 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,440 they've been in this church for 26 years. 471 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,800 Every year they've asked God this question when they go on 472 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,520 holiday, must we stay in this church? 473 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,200 And every year God has said yes, you must stay in this church. 474 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,120 Why? To love you, to look after you, 475 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,160 to teach you the truth, to bring into the wholeness, to teach you 476 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,360 to say nose to some things, yes to other things, and to love 477 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:22,400 you. They have a beautiful Home 478 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,080 group. They have an incredible picture 479 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:25,960 of serving God. They've been married for how 480 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,200 many years? 22 years? 481 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,200 He loves his wife, He honors her. 482 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,840 She loves him and honors him. A gift to Theresia. 483 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,520 This is not like this, She keeps saying. 484 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:41,760 This is Clinton Ellen. There's an American girl. 485 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,880 She came out as a missionary. She went into deep, dark Kwazulu 486 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:47,160 Natal. She stayed in a really dangerous 487 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,400 place. This guy who was in our church 488 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,760 found her, haunted her down, married her. 489 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,480 She left her family behind. She's an American missionary to 490 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,480 Africa. Why did God choose an American 491 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,680 girl to Africa To remind your friends in this church that we 492 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,640 are saved not just from something, but we're saved for 493 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,680 something. Every one of you has got a 494 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,680 purpose on your life When God designed you designed you with a 495 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,360 purpose. Some of you it's to be really 496 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,120 rich. Some of you is to control the 497 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,040 financial institutions of this country. 498 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:25,640 Some of you is to be in governance. 499 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,040 Some of you is to be lecturers. Some of you are to be 500 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,000 unbelievable entrepreneurs providing jobs for people and 501 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,920 opportunity. Some of you are to be teachers 502 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,080 and nurses. But this girl was designed, 503 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:38,280 there's A to go to Africa to show people that you can 504 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:41,320 actually leave your family and be radical for Jesus. 505 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:45,400 And sometimes it's painful. And every time I see her parents 506 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:48,400 leave here or every time she comes back from America, it 507 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,440 takes her about two or three weeks to reorientate herself. 508 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,560 But this is the kind of leaders that God sends to the church to 509 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,040 look after the church. And this guy and I worked 510 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:00,520 together. He bought me a coffee. 511 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:01,960 This is how we got became friends. 512 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,360 Are you with me, guys? I'm just trying to teach you how 513 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:08,920 tight this works. He's an Afrikaner, he's an 514 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:14,360 English folks, he's an American. And he bought me a cup of we 515 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,440 were in the same church but didn't really know each other. 516 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,880 And I was preaching at a conference in America and he 517 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,120 bought me a cup of coffee. And my spiritual father said to 518 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:23,720 me, he said, you must make that guy an elder in the church. 519 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,840 You and him will serve God together for the rest of your 520 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,560 lives. And so we did that. 521 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,880 He did an amazing job. And when I moved up to Pretoria, 522 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,880 I said, Clint, there are these most, there's this, there's this 523 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,080 word in Pretoria called, What's that like care? 524 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,200 That word doesn't exist anywhere else. 525 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,560 And if you ask a guy to explain it, you can't explain it. 526 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,200 It's so deep and big. And it's, it's, it's you arrive 527 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,760 at a guy's house and you care. And at about 11:00, he takes 528 00:28:53,760 --> 00:29:01,040 this frozen meat out of his. And then, and then you see this 529 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,840 frozen meat in the middle of the night and you think, what is 530 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,920 this? He says, Kayur, I said, but how 531 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:08,880 long is it going to take? He says, not important. 532 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,240 Time is not important. It's Kayur. 533 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,760 He's the Kayur king. He's the guy that puts the glue 534 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,000 into the relationships of, of, of belonging in the life of the 535 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,720 church. And this girl is, is the girl 536 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:26,560 who lost her dad, whose dad was murdered on a farm and by God's 537 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,080 grace, through a good dad, my dad saw sister saw her and my 538 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,880 dad included her And God knit our hearts together and we'd be 539 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,880 married for 31 years and and and we're trying to work tied this 540 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,000 out together that I honor my wife and my wife honors me. 541 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,400 And and this is what this is what I this is this is what I 542 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,080 give to say my sweet, I promise you, I promise you I will never 543 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,880 watch pornography. I will never compare you to 544 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:56,640 another person because the Bible says that when they wrote the 545 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,160 Song of Solomon, he never compared his wife to anything he 546 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,080 said. He said your waste is like a 547 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,160 bundle of wheat and your breasts are like the fruit of a palm 548 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,920 tree and your teeth are like the sheep of Lebanon. 549 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,680 And it's just that it's just this unbelievable. 550 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,280 And I said please, I pray I'll never compare you to anything or 551 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:20,000 anybody or any horrible ugly image that I might see in a book 552 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,480 or on TV so that I can love you. Because if I love you like that, 553 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,160 then I will be able to stand up in front of the people on Sunday 554 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,680 and I'll be able to love them with integrity, without 555 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,560 comparing them to another bride, without comparing them to 556 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,680 another church, without being frustrated because the hip is 557 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,480 not exactly in place. But love them unconditionally. 558 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:49,040 And this is Pitt and Amarinda. This is the lady who started the 559 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,640 prayer meeting with some of her friends sitting here in 560 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,520 Watercliffe High School that has seen the revival that is taking 561 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,520 place. And while we're walking through 562 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,240 the journey with the headmaster and his wife sitting there, it 563 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,120 started with a seed of prey that came through a group of mothers. 564 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:08,560 And this guy's one of the Doyens of the society, the Linda Keys, 565 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,400 one of the, and, and, and somehow when we arrived here, 566 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,640 they just sort of embraced us and said, Hey, we'll make you 567 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,200 feel safe here. And when we have an elders 568 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,040 meeting, we like to eat together and pray together. 569 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:21,840 And every time we say we're having an elders meeting, they 570 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:23,200 say, can we have it at our house? 571 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,360 And then we go to their house and they just serve us. 572 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:27,000 They just love us. They just care for us. 573 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,440 They just put food on for us. And when you eat an Afrikaner 574 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,560 home, it's not the same as an English home. 575 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,920 It's different when you think you've finished. 576 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:49,880 That's just auster ovaries. That's just hors d'oeuvres oster 577 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:51,720 uberries. And you think, well, now it's 578 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,520 done and they think, no, no, no, but now, now we're going to 579 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,760 bring out the fat and cough and and you know, the Bible says it 580 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,520 says elders must be hospitable and that word hospitable is 581 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:03,160 where we get the word hospital from. 582 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:04,960 But it's not actually just the hospital. 583 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,160 It's like you come into my house and I will care for you. 584 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,040 So that's what they like. They just cared for this church 585 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:13,920 for 25 years. They just cared for the church. 586 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,920 You see, friends, this is not charismatic shouting. 587 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,600 This is just a group of people that God has called to love the 588 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,880 church so that the church can fulfill what God has called us 589 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:27,280 to do Amen. This is Matt and his wife Jess 590 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:32,600 is at the back, I think, with their three children, Pierce, 591 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,160 Alexander, Campbell, Juliet, and Heath. 592 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,000 How do I know that? Because I pray for them every 593 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:42,760 day. him and I had nothing in common except he went to the 594 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,880 same school. But then we found Jesus together 595 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,280 in the same church. He's a highly intelligent, 596 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,800 highly qualified engineer. He gets headhunted every second 597 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,680 here because he's so clever. And yet he's chosen many times, 598 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:57,640 he's been offered jobs all over the world. 599 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,760 But him and his wife who is a top financial advisor in this 600 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,280 country, a highly qualified girl. 601 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,920 Him and his wife feel God has called him to love this group of 602 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,000 people. And so many times he's turned 603 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,080 down jobs to move because he felt God told him to be an elder 604 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:11,880 in this church and to love this church. 605 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,640 Love and appreciate. You taken many people into his 606 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,080 home. Many, many people. 607 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,520 Many have got discipled and saved in their home. 608 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,760 Their Home group is full of young aspiring doctors. 609 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,440 They've produced more doctors in their Home group then Tookie's 610 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:32,840 University. You see, friends, this is not 611 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,920 people in the stage. This is not a hierarchical 612 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:36,560 process. We're going through the book of 613 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:40,280 Titus to say, can I trust these people to make sure that my 614 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,640 family will be safe and we will present something that looks 615 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:48,680 like Jesus? This is Damian and his wife, 616 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,560 Cherise. He's a teacher at Hatfield. 617 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,800 He's been the director of our music for many, many, many 618 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:56,520 years. He's actually an unbelievable 619 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,720 musician. He was the guitarist for 620 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,360 Rihanna, Nell. That was his claim to fame. 621 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,840 But actually, yeah. Yeah. 622 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,280 She came from this church. The daughter of this church sent 623 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,719 me an SMS this morning, said, hey, Rory, listen to this song. 624 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,360 Rihanna said. Thanks, Rihanna. 625 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,719 He said it go well. If you preached it, I said I am 626 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:14,760 preaching. He said bless you. 627 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,440 He runs our staff, he runs our teams and everything that 628 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:21,480 happens in the life of the church is run by him. 629 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,360 But he's a humble, gracious, kind guy. 630 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:26,840 He has no temper. Well, I haven't seen it. 631 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:33,520 They're very safe pair of hands. His sons are Luke and Andy. 2 632 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:40,480 beautiful guys this little guy, this naughty little like 633 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:44,080 beautiful guy. It remind me of Dingo Dinkleman 634 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,480 the snake handler. I remember one day I was praying 635 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,199 and I felt God say I had a motorbike. 636 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:52,880 My dad bought a motorbike for my nephew and then all our kids 637 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,239 learned how to ride on this little motorbike and I thought I 638 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,640 wonder where that motorbike is and I found it on one of my 639 00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,320 neighbor's farms in the back thing. 640 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:02,600 I found this motorbike and I felt like God said I must bless 641 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,200 him with the motorbike. So I went and picked it up in 642 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:07,480 the towel and I bought it back and I dropped it off and I said, 643 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,720 hey Andy, I'll come tomorrow to teach you how to ride the 644 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:13,040 motorbike. I don't have time right now to 645 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:14,600 teach you. When I came the next day, he had 646 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:19,920 just Googled how to ride a motorbike and he'd already gone 647 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:24,000 through 3 tanks of petrol. They live on the property. 648 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,560 They, they, they're a gift to us and and I trust we're a gift to 649 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:28,840 you. And Lukey. 650 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:30,920 I'm delighted by the way you're growing up young man. 651 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,360 Your man is like exceptional. And when I look at the 652 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,800 scripture, wild and disobedient, you are wild, but that's not the 653 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:38,960 picture. You're meant to be free. 654 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,960 You're meant to love God. You're meant to grow up in the 655 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:45,760 church, but you're meant to have this unbelievable dislike. 656 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,720 You've got the zest for life. I always see you hitting a golf 657 00:35:48,720 --> 00:35:52,760 ball or kicking a stone or chasing a rabbit or something. 658 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,200 It's it's the way you're meant to be. 659 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,000 And so Reese, I think you're an unbelievable teacher. 660 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,920 Everybody wants you because when people are under your care, 661 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,760 they're safe and and you're this amazing teacher. 662 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:06,840 You've got amazing patience with children. 663 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,120 And for 20 years you were sort of in the background that kids 664 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,320 ministry and and our God has called you. 665 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,320 You're an amazing gift to this church. 666 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,840 Yeah. And this is kind of my preaching 667 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:19,880 partner, but this girl is from Belgium. 668 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:24,240 Her dad is the guy who invented that bypass in the heart 669 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:26,960 angiogram. Her dad developed it. 670 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:32,600 He's in Belgium, but when their little daughter was sick last 671 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:37,800 year, I saw the church rally. When Gemma was in hospital, I 672 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,360 saw them rally around her and I saw her dad, who doesn't know 673 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,040 Jesus, fly from Belgium and come and be with them to love his 674 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,040 daughter because family is important. 675 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,080 And that's from the orange tree. What about the apple tree? 676 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,080 And you've heard me say this many times, he's an introvert. 677 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,800 I'm an extrovert, he's an intellect. 678 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:01,000 I'm dumb but but but we've formed this amazing partnership 679 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,440 of preaching. We have never in all the years 680 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,160 of being ever had a preaching meeting. 681 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,800 But he is the greatest preaching partner I've ever had. 682 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,000 And and I think he'll preach next week and and I won't speak 683 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,760 to him about Titus and God will speak to him about Titus and, 684 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,560 and together as as as he preaches and I preach and other 685 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,320 guys preach, the church starts to find like a wholeness and a 686 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,440 healing and a are you with me? You can be seated, please. 687 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,200 And I know we've gone over time, but Titus is written and it 688 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,000 says, hey guys, what I want you to do is I actually want you to 689 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:39,680 draw on the roots that you have and start to produce a kind of a 690 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:43,240 New Testament Christianity. And one of the ways we're going 691 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:45,640 to do that, we're going to appoint some elders that are 692 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:51,520 going to look after you and serve you. 693 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,680 They are not to be overbearing. They are not to be quick 694 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:00,720 tempered and I hope I never ever lose my temper with you. 695 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:05,400 Ever. The picture of a cross pastor 696 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,840 and a pulpit shouting and telling people they are not to 697 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:14,640 be greedy for money. There's far too much emphasis on 698 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,200 church and money. Far too much. 699 00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:20,640 The church is not a financial institution. 700 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:22,320 The church is a spiritual institution. 701 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:24,480 You shouldn't be ripped off for money. 702 00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:31,920 Anybody is welcome to have a look at my salary at any time. 703 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,360 My salary is set from outside. I've been here for 12 years. 704 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:39,600 I've never had a salary increase because when I came here I 705 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:45,760 managed to pay for my house. I have a really nice car and I 706 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:47,680 walked out of church the other day and somebody had stuck a 707 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:52,160 really rude sticker on my car. I felt like a sword went through 708 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:54,920 my chest. My car was bought for me by my 709 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:56,200 friends. When you entered this building 710 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,560 project, I gave my car away. When this building project was 711 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:03,880 over, my friends gave me a car. I trust I'll never RIP the 712 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,280 church or financially. And when I leave here, there 713 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,000 will never, ever be anybody. You can say he took advantage of 714 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,480 the people and not to be greedy for money. 715 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:18,680 That guy's the CEO of a really big business. 716 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:21,480 Massive, massive, massive business. 717 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:29,760 He just lives within his means. I watch this guy's got his own 718 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,960 business. Besides being in the Chase, he's 719 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,400 got a coffee business. All I do see him is just going 720 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,600 and delivering coffee left, right and center. 721 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:43,120 I watch this guy meet with businessman after businessman 722 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:44,800 after businessman after businessman. 723 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:48,960 I don't know how much this guy gave to the building project, 724 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,680 but one day we were praying and I felt God say, bulls our boy, 725 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,120 you've hit the bulls. Our boy, you've led the way in 726 00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,120 generosity. This is the kind of leadership 727 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,880 that God wants for the church. Not charismatic, powerful 728 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:11,120 people, just people that will serve the Church and teach you 729 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,360 to say no when you have to say no. 730 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,160 Teach you say yes when you have to say yes. 731 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:18,680 God bless you.