1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:04,480 Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:07,280 Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,280 take hold of. So we hope this message inspires 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,560 you and build your faith, but it helps you have more of a God 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,880 perspective for your day. Enjoy. 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,320 Let's open God's Word, shall we? Can read along on the screen to 7 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:28,480 send us Mark 1615 and it reads. And then he told them going to 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,600 all the world and preach the good news to everyone. 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,840 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,160 anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 11 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:43,480 These miraculous signs will accompany or follow those who 12 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:46,400 believe. They will cast out demons in my 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,400 name and they will speak in new languages. 14 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:53,680 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they 15 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,160 drink anything poisonous, it's not going to hurt them. 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,240 They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,440 be healed. When the Lord Jesus had finished 18 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,840 talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in 19 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,040 the place of honor at God's right hand. 20 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,680 And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the 21 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,400 Lord worked through them, confirming what they had said by 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,640 many miraculous signs. As a church at the moment we are 23 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,440 looking at the book of Acts. You might go, well, why are you 24 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,160 in Mark? That was in Mark. 25 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,440 It's a bit awkward. You didn't get the memo. 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:36,120 Now we're in Acts and Mark 16 and Acts 1 is a bit of an 27 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,560 overlap. It's talking about the same 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,680 scenario. And so I want to overlap here 29 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:49,160 and, and read now about what Jesus did in these last days 30 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,680 just before he left the disciples and he gave the Great 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,720 Commission. And so in Matthew 18, sorry, 32 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,120 Matthew 2818, there was this version that said, therefore go 33 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,760 and make disciples of all nations baptizing, just like 34 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,760 Pastor TJ was announcing for next week, baptizing them in the 35 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,600 name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 36 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:18,560 And so let's bring up Acts, Acts 11, it says in my first book, I 37 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,000 told you, let's just call him Theo because I'm Australian and 38 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,600 big names get shortened. So Theo, about everything Jesus 39 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,720 began to do and teach them until the day he was taken up to 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,720 heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions 41 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,320 through the Holy Spirit during the 40 days after he suffered 42 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,880 and died, that was Jesus. Now I've lost my spot. 43 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,520 He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and then he proved 44 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,920 to them in many ways that he was alive. 45 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:52,680 That was great news. He died and then he rose again. 46 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,720 So he's walking around with them and talked to them about the 47 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,120 Kingdom of God, his favorite subject. 48 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,880 And once he was eating with them, he commanded them. 49 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,160 So this is really important information, right? 50 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,880 If you can imagine like someone is on their deathbed and and 51 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,680 then they outcome with this really important they they, they 52 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:13,400 talk about the really important stuff. 53 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,040 I love you and I love the kids. I believe in you. 54 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:17,800 Whatever comes out in those moments. 55 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,600 This is Jesus last moments with his disciples. 56 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,880 Very important information. So he comes out. 57 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,880 So once he was eating with them, He commanded them, do not leave 58 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,120 Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised. 59 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,680 As I told you before, John baptized with water. 60 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,080 But just in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy 61 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,360 Spirit. So Jesus is giving the disciples 62 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,280 their next steps. We love next steps here. 63 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:46,440 He's like, he's got the Commission. 64 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,840 Go into all the world, preach the gospel, baptize people, wait 65 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,240 for a few days. You're going to get this gift of 66 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,160 Holy Spirit. It's going to be awesome. 67 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:02,280 And so when the apostles, this is verse 6, when the apostles 68 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:08,400 were with Jesus, they kept asking him, Lord, has the time 69 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:14,160 come for you to free Israel and restore our Kingdom and you go. 70 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:20,959 That's a little bit off topic. The name of Jesus actually means 71 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:26,040 Yahweh, which is Jesus saves. But our beautiful disciples, 72 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:27,480 they were a little bit distracted. 73 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,680 They were actually a bit distracted by the name of his 74 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:38,840 meaning because they were waiting for Jesus who saves to 75 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,200 come and save them from Roman dictatorship. 76 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,000 And, and we've kind of look back on, on the story of the gospel 77 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,920 of Jesus and the fact that he died with hindsight and go, yes, 78 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,720 he came to die to restore us back into relationship with God. 79 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,840 He came to set us free from the bondage of sin and all of its 80 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:01,000 oppression. And he set us free. 81 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,560 He saved us. And we understand what that 82 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:05,680 means. But the disciples at this moment 83 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,240 were still a little bit confused. 84 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,880 They're like, well, when's this big army coming? 85 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,400 Like, when are you going to overthrow Israel? 86 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,400 Like, when are you going to overthrow the Roman Empire so 87 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,960 that Israel can thrive again? They were just a little bit off, 88 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,560 off topic. Hang on. 89 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:28,440 Has anyone ever, is anyone here a, a, a nautical navigator, like 90 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,760 with boats or ships? Do you want to like, has anyone 91 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,200 got a boat license? No, you do. 92 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,960 OK, So correct me if I'm wrong. Oh, OK, we've got another one 93 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,320 over here. If you've got a, a boat and your 94 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:47,200 navigation is off by this much, what's the impact in the long 95 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,840 run of your destination? I feel like it's, it's not this 96 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:55,560 much, of course, like if you're this much off a navigation and 97 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,680 you're, you're planning to land on the jetty in, in let's say 98 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,560 Peru, it's not like you get this far off the jetty. 99 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,680 I feel like you land in another country. 100 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:11,800 Is that right? Yeah, what I like. 101 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:16,600 Jesus loves his disciples. He loved these apostles poured 102 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,160 in, but they were just a little bit off. 103 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,960 And so Jesus has to come in and go, guys, grab their attention 104 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,600 and bring it back to the really important directive. 105 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,760 So Jesus replies, and he says the Father alone has the 106 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,760 authority to set those dates. Chill out guys and times and 107 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,080 they are not for you to know, OK? 108 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,880 Then he comes back and brings them right back off their 109 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,760 little, you know, tiny little off off point. 110 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,120 And he says, but you will receive power when the Holy 111 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,520 Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling 112 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,760 people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in 113 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:57,920 Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 114 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,640 And so he grabs their attention and he and he redirects it and 115 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,280 goes, here's the directive, here's the Commission, here's 116 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:08,760 what you're supposed to do. This is the really important 117 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:10,880 information. I know you want to talk about 118 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,120 this and you feel like it's the relevant thing to be talking 119 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:15,920 about. I know it's important to you, 120 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,680 but can you just come back here? This is the focus. 121 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:23,240 This is what's important. So let's see how they went. 122 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,000 That was Acts 8. Let's go to the very next verse 123 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,800 in Acts 19. After saying this, he was taken 124 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,520 up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no 125 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,800 longer see him. As they strained to see him 126 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:42,400 rising into heaven, 2 white robed men suddenly stood among 127 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:47,440 them, men of Galilee. They said, why are you staring 128 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,440 into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you 129 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,840 into heaven. I can, I can kind of imagine the 130 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,920 scenario here of all of the disciples gathered and looking 131 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:00,640 up into heaven. And then these angels, they come 132 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:08,640 around to the crowd and they're like, what? 133 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:15,240 What are we looking at? Are we checking the rain? 134 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:25,640 Like what? What are we trying to see, guys? 135 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:28,920 He's gone. He's in heaven. 136 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,400 What was the last thing he told you to do? 137 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,400 What's the directive? Come on back. 138 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,760 Come on back to directive. Come on back to mission. 139 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,920 The title of the message this morning is on mission. 140 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:51,080 Do we live on mission? So as we open up the book of 141 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,880 Acts, which I do encourage everyone here to be reading this 142 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:59,320 month, we see the early church spring into action. 143 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,640 And so I thought it would be a good thing to do this morning to 144 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:06,840 ask three questions of ourselves. 145 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,480 Can we have a nice big, you know, self reflection? 146 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,120 This morning we're going to ask three questions of ourselves 147 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:17,920 about how we do mission, the purpose of our mission mission, 148 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,680 our why. And so we're going to start with 149 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,600 question number one. But you're going to have to wait 150 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,640 for it because I need a drink. I can feel the anticipation. 151 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,160 Question one, does your mission point to Jesus? 152 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,000 In John 14/6, Jesus declares this about himself. 153 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,040 I am the way, the truth, and the life. 154 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,440 No one comes to the Father except through me. 155 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:54,960 That's a big statement. Jesus came to earth on mission 156 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:57,560 and his assignment was you and I. 157 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:03,040 His assignment was humanity. God is obsessed with humanity 158 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:07,960 and he loves us so much that he brought Jesus to come in and 159 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,720 bridge that gap so that we can come back into relationship with 160 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,880 Him. He came, He died, He rose again 161 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:20,600 so that we may experience abundantly life here with Him 162 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,680 and experience eternal life with Him in heaven. 163 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:31,280 Jesus is the hero of every story, so does your mission 164 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:38,240 point to Him? Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 11 165 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:44,240 to Eve was fooled by the snake in the Garden of Eden. 166 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:50,320 In the same way, I'm afraid that you will be fooled and LED away 167 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:55,960 from your pure love for Christ. You see, Paul had a bit of a 168 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:00,280 battle on his hands. False doctrine was starting to 169 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:05,320 enter the church and it was leading people's hearts away 170 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,880 from Jesus. Here's the problem with false 171 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,640 doctrine. It looks Christian. 172 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:21,760 It can sound Christian. It often has lots of good points 173 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,200 and you can hear it and it will just be this far off. 174 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:37,600 It can present as righteous in 2nd Corinthians 1113 to 14, Paul 175 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,800 says, but they make themselves look like true missionaries of 176 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,600 Christ. It is no surprise the devil 177 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,640 makes himself look like an Angel of light. 178 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:59,440 Jesus mission is Jesus focused. Jesus mission is Jesus focused, 179 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:04,680 but we have to be careful to check what we're listening to 180 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,760 because we can just be a little bit off. 181 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,600 There's so much information out there. 182 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,280 There's so much. So we've got to filter it 183 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:23,160 through Jesus word, the Holy Bible and go, are we on mission? 184 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:27,720 Is this purely about Jesus? Is this the gospel of Jesus 185 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:29,400 Christ? Is this the good news? 186 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,840 Or is it more focused on maybe empathy for others? 187 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:39,800 Sounds good, sounds Christian. Sounds like a a great thing to 188 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,280 to jump on. It often comes as a misguided 189 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:47,720 form of empathy. Have you ever heard a God of 190 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,920 love wouldn't allow that to happen? 191 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:56,080 God's grace is so rich we don't even need to repent or confess 192 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:59,760 any sin. There is no need for 193 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,600 transformation or spiritual growth because God loves me the 194 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:09,760 way I am. God is love, so I don't believe 195 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,640 people will go to hell. These are half truths. 196 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,080 The problem with a half truth is that you're missing the whole 197 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,800 picture. It's still a lie. 1/2 truth is a 198 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,560 lie. It's this much off, but it's 199 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,000 going to land you in Pakistan instead of Peru. 200 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,280 I love Pakistanian people, by the way. 201 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,360 I love all people, all nations. That was not a reference. 202 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,640 Thank you. We love Israel, we love 203 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,640 Pakistan, I love God's people. The gospel is for every nation, 204 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:50,160 every person under the sun, every colour, every diversity. 205 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,560 The gospel of Jesus is for every person breathing. 206 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,120 But that's why we got to have this gospel message, gospel like 207 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,520 pointing to Jesus because God is love and he doesn't want to 208 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:10,800 experience any nation, any person, any diversity group, any 209 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,280 individual. He doesn't want to be separate 210 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,680 from them. He doesn't want to be separate 211 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:19,960 from you, He wants to be back in relationship with you. 212 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:25,720 That's why God sent Jesus. It's why he, he brought him here 213 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,480 to be the sin for us, so that when God looks at us, He sees 214 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,720 the purity of that beautiful spiritual blood. 215 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,600 He wants that for us, but we have to choose Him back. 216 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,600 It's not enough that he just died. 217 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:45,400 We we have to choose him back. We have to accept God's love. 218 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:47,920 We have to accept his forgiveness. 219 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:53,560 That's gospel, that's the Bible. This is true. 220 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:57,920 That's the message of Jesus. He does love you the way that 221 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,840 you are. Come, come as you are. 222 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,880 He loves you so much that he removed every barrier so that 223 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:10,000 you could have access to him, can be forgiven, set free, 224 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,640 delivered whole, restored. And I'm going to throw this word 225 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:21,520 out that I read in here and transformed and transformed. 226 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,680 Repentance is actually a very normal part of Christian life. 227 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,600 It doesn't mean you walk around feeling terrible about 228 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,960 everything. No, there's so much good news in 229 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,280 Jesus. Do you know what repentance 230 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,480 looks like? If Jesus was standing here, I'm 231 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,960 facing him. That's what repentance looks 232 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,800 like. It's all about walking towards 233 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:48,200 Jesus. But repentance is a normal part 234 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,840 of a Christian life. It's focused on Jesus. 235 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:57,480 We got to read this Bible. 2nd Corinthians 2 two says I made-up 236 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,880 my mind that while I was with you I would speak nothing except 237 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,240 Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 238 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:12,280 So in your mission, is it Jesus? It might sound passionate, it 239 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:17,760 might sound good, you might empathize with it, but does it 240 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,640 point to Jesus? Is it gospel? 241 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,200 Is it found in His Word? Because this word, His word, 242 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,600 meeting Jesus will bring about life to your soul. 243 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,920 It brings about freedom, restoration, it will bring you 244 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:37,200 into a place of hope in His beautiful name. 245 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,120 Is your mission, your reason centred in Him? 246 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:48,560 Question 2. Does your mission support or 247 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:56,640 uphold God mission? What's God's mission in the 248 00:16:56,640 --> 00:17:00,040 establishment of the early church like we just read about 249 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:05,480 in Mark 16 and in Acts 1, Jesus is is with his disciples, his 250 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,760 chosen crew and and the mission for them was to go into the 251 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:17,000 world and preach the gospel out of that was the establishment of 252 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:23,720 Church of the early church. Church is God mission. 253 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:28,880 The local church is God mission and he loves this place and he 254 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:33,120 moves in and through it in Mark we read earlier that these 255 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:36,520 miraculous signs will follow those who believe they will cast 256 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:40,320 out demons in my name and they will speak in new languages. 257 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,440 They will be able to handle snakes with safety and if they 258 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,680 drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. 259 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,040 They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will 260 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,400 be healed. I'm going to throw a scenario 261 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,720 out to you. We just had our healing services 262 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:59,160 a couple of months ago, and in that I believe someone was 263 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,840 prayed for and they just left their crutches there because 264 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,960 they didn't need them anymore because they got healed. 265 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:05,560 Who was it that prayed for that person? 266 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,720 Do we know? No, let's just imagine it was 267 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,760 Pastor Graham for a moment. So in that moment, you've got a 268 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,680 man who's receiving healing because Pastor Graham has just 269 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:18,480 prayed for him. And so we just heard what 270 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,720 accompanies or what follows those who live on mission. 271 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,240 Let me ask you a question. Is it following Pastor Graham 272 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:32,080 and the person who's giving up their crutches, or is it 273 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:37,280 following all of us? Hands up if you think it's just 274 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,920 Pastor Graham and the person who received healing. 275 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:42,080 Show of hands. Oh, you're also scared. 276 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,120 Show of hands if you think it's all of us. 277 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,560 I would argue that it follows all of us. 278 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:01,840 I would argue that we as a body and an entity and an Organism, 279 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:03,560 Is that right? Did I say that right? 280 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:13,640 Risky word. As a body of believers, it 281 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,880 follows all of us. You know, the conversations that 282 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,560 happen after a moment like that when someone throws away their 283 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:25,800 crotches is we. It's guess what we experienced 284 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,240 as a church this week. Guess what we saw? 285 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,680 It's not guess what Pastor Graham did. 286 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,800 It's we. And we as a body of believers 287 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:42,120 are experiencing and walking in godly mission and we all have 288 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:45,040 partnership with that. Josh Pennisi was here. 289 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,640 He came to the one of the miracle services. 290 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,120 The reason his family came who did not know Jesus was because 291 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,840 someone put a pamphlet in his letterbox. 292 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,840 The person who put a pamphlet in his letterbox was a girl from 293 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:08,120 youth. If I've got the story right, she 294 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:11,600 put one pamphlet. She delivered one pamphlet 295 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,320 because she wanted to be involved in what we were doing 296 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,480 as a body. The reason that she knew to put 297 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,200 something in the letter box is because we have a youth program. 298 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,160 She attends one service, one service a week. 299 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,640 The only one she can get to is a youth service. 300 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,480 We have a youth service because we have beautiful volunteers and 301 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,360 leaders in this place who sacrificed their their time, 302 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,760 their talent, their money. Teenagers are expensive men. 303 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,400 They sacrificed it. The only reason we have an 304 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,480 established youth group is because someone over here has 305 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,880 done the legal leg work to make sure that we're allowed to. 306 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,640 Someone's organized blue cards, someone's made phone calls, 307 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,080 someone's organized training, someone has actually trained it. 308 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:02,400 We are a body, we are many members, and we get to 309 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,920 celebrate. When God is actively moving in 310 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:13,480 our church, it follows us. It follows us, those who believe 311 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:20,120 Holy Spirit moved upon us. We speak in other languages. 312 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,680 Demons are cast out in Jesus name. 313 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,720 They are. We lay hands on the sick and 314 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,000 they do recover. And no matter what kind of 315 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,360 poison is thrown at us, we remain. 316 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,720 Give yourself the pat on the back and go. 317 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,960 I'm nailing this mission thing. I'm totally supporting and 318 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:42,120 upholding God's house. Well done you these things 319 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:47,360 follow us. It says if one member if sorry, 320 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,960 if one member of the body suffers, all of the other 321 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,000 members suffer with it. And if one member is honoured, 322 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:57,000 all the members rejoice in it with it. 323 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,720 We are one body of believers partners. 324 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,720 So here's a question for you. Are you partnered with God 325 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:15,600 Mission? Do you uphold and support the 326 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:21,280 local church? Jesus calls it his bride. 327 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,320 He loves his place. And yes, it's flawed. 328 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,520 It's run by humans. Of course there's going to be 329 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,200 flawed. But God moves in and through his 330 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:37,920 local church and he loves it. Are you a supporter? 331 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,840 Are you partnered here? Do these signs and wonders? 332 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,080 Do they follow you because you're partnered and are 333 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:58,920 supporting this place? I often hear people leave church 334 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,560 because they're offended and out will come out of their mouths. 335 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,520 The church hurt me. There's a lot of things that 336 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,920 people have to say about how the hurt church hurt them. 337 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:16,080 You know what I don't hear very often is anyone in a repentant 338 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,840 reflective moment going, wow, I hurt the church. 339 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:31,000 Paul did normal part of his Christian life would often 340 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:36,840 reflect and go wow, I really did some damage there murdering 341 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:43,440 threats, actually murdering Christians and God had a moment 342 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,000 and just put his hands on him and goes I love the passion, but 343 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:51,600 you're off you're off. I just need to bring you into 344 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,040 alignment. I need to bring you into truth 345 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:59,120 because my heart's for this. I'm in this and if you are 346 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:06,360 fighting in opposition. God's church, you're actually 347 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,240 fighting in opposition with what God is trying to do. 348 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,480 Take everything else off the table and just have you and God 349 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:18,360 in here for a moment. What does he say? 350 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,840 He loves this place. He's for it. 351 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:32,320 The local church are you? Does your mission uphold and 352 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,360 support the local church? Paul's statement actually in one 353 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,520 Timothy 112 to 13. He says in my insolence I 354 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:45,160 persecuted his people, but God had mercy on me because I did it 355 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:52,640 in ignorance and unbelief. Question 3 And me as if you want 356 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:53,800 to come join me, that'd be great. 357 00:24:56,360 --> 00:25:08,080 What follows you? What follows you in Matthew 716? 358 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:14,440 It says you will know them by their fruit, what they produce. 359 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:22,040 Time is a great revealer. It's a lousy healer, but it is a 360 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:27,960 good revealer. What are you actually about? 361 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:40,760 What follows you? Chaos, conflict, trauma, gossip, 362 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:51,600 drama, rage or violence. The latest conspiracy theory. 363 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:57,360 You know what I don't see in conspiracy theories? 364 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:05,000 I don't see any faith. I don't see any faith. 365 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:15,200 I see it fueled by fear, sowing seeds of distrust, but I don't 366 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,840 see faith. Proverbs 31 says that she laughs 367 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:25,520 for fear of her future. She's back on track, going to be 368 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,960 over here, come and speak about the things that are important. 369 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,080 I know you think that this matter is so important and 370 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,800 everyone should know, is it going to be fruitful? 371 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:38,520 Is it going to lead people to Jesus? 372 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:42,560 Just come back. You might think it's so 373 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,880 important. The disciples got this mixed up. 374 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:46,960 They're like, this is so important. 375 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:52,400 And Jesus goes, oh, just come back to what's important, to 376 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,720 what's going to bring life to what's going to bring hope to 377 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,760 what's going to restore to what's going to deliver, to 378 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,680 what's going to pour out my love. 379 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:06,880 You will find identity and confidence when you're centered 380 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:11,440 in Jesus. What are you actually about? 381 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:21,280 What do people read on you? What follows you is a testimony 382 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,840 of the goodness of Jesus. Do disciples follow you? 383 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:30,920 Are we discipling people? Does His love and grace follow 384 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,240 you? I pray I walk in it. 385 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:42,520 His favor. Provision, peace, sound mind, 386 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:57,840 miracles, healing, deliverance, freedom, authority, it's all 387 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:03,480 available to you and it's found in Jesus alone. 388 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:08,560 It's found because of what He did. 389 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,400 It's found because of His great love. 390 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:21,520 Summing up, when I think of mission, there's a verse that I 391 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,800 always come back to you that always encourages me. 392 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:29,720 It always locates my why, and it's in one Corinthians 924 to 393 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:35,080 26 and it says, don't you realize that in a race everyone 394 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,880 runs, but only one person gets the prize? 395 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,720 So run to win. All athletes are disciplined in 396 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,080 their training. They do it to win a prize that's 397 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,240 going to fade away, but we do it for an eternal price. 398 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,040 So I've run with purpose in every step. 399 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:05,120 Can we even begin to comprehend what lays before us? 400 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,760 Are our minds set on the Kingdom of God? 401 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:16,960 On eternity? Eternity does not start when you 402 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,600 die. Eternity starts right now. 403 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,760 If you've got a line, let's imagine that this is the line of 404 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,320 your life, right? It starts here, continues to go 405 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,040 there. Your death might be here. 406 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,440 It doesn't stop when you die. You're not going to have a 407 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,680 moment where you go to sleep and don't wake up. 408 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:46,640 There is an eternity to look forward to with Jesus if you 409 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,880 just want to choose Him back. Do you know how much He loves 410 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,040 you? John 316 said He loved you so 411 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,800 much. God loved you so much that He 412 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:04,480 gave His only begotten Son that if He would just believe in Him, 413 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,640 then you're not going to perish. You will experience that eternal 414 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,240 hope. You will experience that eternal 415 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,080 joy. You will experience purification 416 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,120 where you feel clean, where you feel whole, where you are 417 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:25,000 restored. Nothing will do it for you like 418 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:26,120 Jesus.