1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,360 Welcome. It's great to have you here 2 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:02,240 today. My name is Richard. 3 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,440 I'm the exec pastor here, and it is a privilege to be baptized in 4 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:07,920 people today. I cannot wait. 5 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,840 I promised Claire, who overseas the preaching and everything 6 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,120 here, that I will preach on topic today and then I will get 7 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,920 out the way and then we will baptize some people, which will 8 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:24,240 be incredible, right. First of all, you are joining us 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,440 in a midst of a press series which we have been doing for a 10 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,680 few weeks now. Claire started off a few weeks 11 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,440 ago talking about digging holes brought to spade and everything 12 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:35,360 else. Great imagery. 13 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,600 Then there was this incredible talk the following week. 14 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,800 It was amazing. It really spoke to me deeply. 15 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,920 I did write it, but it was really for me and I, I'm glad 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,440 you guys got to listen to that. And then just to bring things 17 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,480 down, Claire then followed with the topic of fasting, which 18 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:56,280 really kind of hit a bummer, but it's a great topic and it was a 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,600 great talk. And off at the back of that, 20 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,240 we've now been fasting. We've invited you, the church, 21 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,519 to fast every Wednesday morning, whatever that looks like for you 22 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,080 with a particular topic and focus every single week. 23 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:12,600 And so this week's focus is praying for our youth and our 24 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,480 children. So we lift them up. 25 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,720 We have some amazing, incredible young people in this building 26 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:22,000 and it is a privilege to to walk with God with them. 27 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,400 But why don't you lift them up and pray for them this week? 28 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:29,160 I'm going to wave. You are one and and it is an 29 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,400 absolute privilege. So pray with them, pray for them 30 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,400 and join us as the church and we pray on Wednesday morning for 31 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,200 God's blessing over them. And then we've had Jenna Pritt 32 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,280 did a great talk last week. All I remember is him talking 33 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,080 about brushing his teeth. But it's about that persistence 34 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,800 and obedience in following God on a regular basis. 35 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,840 And he used that example of brushing his teeth, landed him a 36 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:51,960 wife because I don't think she would have accepted him without 37 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,720 it. But also just the simplicity of 38 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,880 prayer, just doing that thing on a regular basis this week, 39 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,320 today, this morning, I'm going to talk about listening prayer. 40 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,280 Now, to get us started on this, I'm going to do a little bit of 41 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,160 a survey. I need your interaction on this, 42 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,600 right? Communication. 43 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,600 It's a conversation. OK, You have a phone in your 44 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,040 hand. We're not talking about family. 45 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,360 Oh, some of you do. You are really involved in this. 46 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,080 I need you up here. Like demonstrating this. 47 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,880 Anyway, you've got a phone in your hand. 48 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:21,960 You've got a friend you need to reach out to. 49 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,320 How do you reach out to them? Who were here in the room is 50 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,360 like, I'm going to text them. I'm going to send them on 51 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,440 WhatsApp. Just a text message, a few 52 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:31,640 words. That's all they need. 53 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:33,160 They don't need anything else. Put your hands up. 54 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,760 If that's you, that is me. Thank you. 55 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,880 Gen. XS and Millennials like don't 56 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,360 disturb me, I don't want to be disturbed with anything more 57 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,480 like you are my people. We can text each other. 58 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,720 I'll give you my number afterwards we can just message 59 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:47,920 and then about 3 days later I'll reply to you. 60 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,800 That is us now. OK, moving up now. 61 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,200 Who loves a good long drive? Because you know that when you 62 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,120 want to drive, you can hit that call button and have a good 63 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,560 hour, 2 hour conversation with someone who's a phone caller who 64 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,000 likes a phone call. Oh man, you, you guys sometimes 65 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:13,000 call me and I'm I'm busy basically I see, I see a phone 66 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,920 call. I'm like, just don't want to see 67 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:16,760 that. But some of you are wired that 68 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,560 way. You love a phone call that 69 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,200 tricks your box. OK, right. 70 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,640 I need AI, need I need to know who are the sickos in the room 71 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:38,280 who enjoys a video call. Be ashamed of yourselves. 72 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,000 Why? I have three daughters in the 73 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,200 house and inevitably at some point I'll walk past and find 74 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,600 that I am suddenly on a camera talking, looking. 75 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,200 I'm like, Bella, can you tidy up your room? 76 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,520 Oh, hi various friends that can see me. 77 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,280 This is wrong. Just no. 78 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,160 Meet up with a person. You don't need to see their face 79 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:02,680 all the time. You don't need to see where 80 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:03,960 they're at. You don't need to see what their 81 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:05,240 bathroom looks like. Come on. 82 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,760 It's just inappropriate. OK. 83 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:09,720 Right. We've moved past the sickos now. 84 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,440 Now it's confession time. OK? 85 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,880 I need to know. I need to know who in this room 86 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,160 And and we do prayer. My right, your left afterwards. 87 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,520 Who in this room does voice notes? 88 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:29,680 Oh come on, A surprising amount of you strange people. 89 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,640 Why? I'll tell you what happens with 90 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,560 a voice note is you. You hit that button, you've got 91 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,120 this vague idea of what you're trying to say, and then you 92 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,160 start by saying something along those lines. 93 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,160 You say hello, you, you kind of get to the point. 94 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,840 About 3 minutes later, you're on a completely different topic. 95 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:52,840 You're talking about something else. 96 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,120 I'm on the other end of that call listening to this at 1 1/2 97 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,760 speed because I haven't got a clue what you're talking about. 98 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,320 And then for some reason you expect a response like just 99 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,080 wrong. Anyway, thank you for that. 100 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,320 That was confession time. Anyway, going back to those 101 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,040 texters, if you want to, if you want to talk with me, that's 102 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,280 fine. Everyone else, you've got 103 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,040 Claire, you've got Yasmin. Talk to those guys. 104 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:19,880 Let's just just know. All right, next question and 105 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,960 taking it into our talk, how do you approach prayer? 106 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,400 How do you talk to God? How do you engage with him? 107 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,120 How do you move in that area? Because prayer is fundamentally 108 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,080 and simply a conversation with God. 109 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,360 And so how do you approach that is is a is a question is what 110 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:38,840 we're asking as we go through this. 111 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,040 I mean, anyone can do this. Anyone can talk to God. 112 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,560 And yet so many of us will turn around and say, yeah, I can 113 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,320 leave a voice note, a 5 minute voice, I can FaceTime, but I'm 114 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,280 not very good at prayer. And so many of us kind of hit 115 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:53,880 that challenge. And it's almost like we see it 116 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,960 as a completely different thing. And what we often mean is that 117 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,200 we don't know if we've said the right things, if we've 118 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:01,520 communicated it in the right way. 119 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:04,840 And the reason why we say that is simply that we don't always 120 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:09,120 hear a response. We don't always get something in 121 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,040 return. Often one of the reasons why we 122 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,040 pray and we don't feel like we hear anything in return. 123 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,720 Why it feels one way is simply because we approach it like a 124 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,240 voice note or voicemail prayer. You see, what do you do when you 125 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,360 leave a voicemail or leave a voice note? 126 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,040 You, you leave one. It's short, it's a, a little bit 127 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:29,560 of ram and it's a whole lot of awkward. 128 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,640 And when I became a Christian, that's pretty much how I 129 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,720 approached prayer. So I became a Christian in my 130 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:36,120 20s. I've never been taught how to 131 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,000 pray. I'd never really grown up with 132 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,520 it. It was a whole new concept to 133 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,680 me. And so when I prayed, I'd often 134 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,600 do this thing while driving around the city and I just had 135 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,040 it on. I kind of desire burning desire 136 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,040 to pray for the city 'cause this is where I live. 137 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,720 This is where I want to see God move in the same way they've 138 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,120 moved him life, my life. I wanted him to meet with 139 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:55,600 others. And so my prayer would be 140 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:03,040 something like this. God, hi, can you, can you just 141 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,160 listen to me for a second? I've, I've got a few things to 142 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,040 say now. I don't really know what to say. 143 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,000 I don't know how to say it, but I need help with this thing. 144 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,440 And if you're willing to help with this thing, God, I I 145 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,440 promise I'll be good. OK, I won't do that. 146 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,240 I promise. I'll try to be good. 147 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,360 And yeah, but ultimately, if you could just help with this thing, 148 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,920 that would be amazing. Thanks. 149 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,320 And then it'll be super awkward. A little bit more awkward 150 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:33,600 silence. I'll try praying in songs. 151 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,280 That was, that was fun. And then inevitably at some 152 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,080 point I'd hit the radio and just sing along the way the rest of 153 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,960 the way. You know, I didn't really know 154 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,360 how to pray. And I've got to be honest, that 155 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,640 was a really good effort for someone with no experience of 156 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,280 praying. And I give myself absolute 157 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,520 credit and points for that because that was the best I 158 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,640 could do and I was super proud of it. 159 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,480 But my hope, my way of praying, was the hope that God was 160 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,880 possibly going to respond to that message and he was going to 161 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,840 reply to that rather than the expectation that he was on the 162 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,400 other end of the phone. And I think this is how some of 163 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,720 us approach prayer is We're willing to leave a message, 164 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,560 we're willing to pray and hand it out there, but we're not 165 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,840 always expecting that response. You know, there are other people 166 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,720 that have prayed. And, you know, if you've grown 167 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,920 up around Christians, if you've been around church for a long 168 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,680 time, you know, you've probably got some awesome prayers in the 169 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,640 back pocket. You can just like start nice and 170 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,440 easy and you can talk about how good God is and how amazing. 171 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,560 And now halfway through your prayer, you're pretty much 172 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:33,520 shouting, screaming your, your Pentecostal style. 173 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,000 You're amazing at prayer and it sounds incredible and honestly, 174 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,400 it lifts the faith in the room and honestly, it's it's full of 175 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,280 truth and it's an amazing way of praying. 176 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,360 But at the end of it, you just hang up and you're finished, 177 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,200 you're done. And it can sound articulate, it 178 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:54,040 can sound powerful and it's all true, but you just hang up once 179 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:55,920 you've finished. Now some of us out of difference 180 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:59,160 will also tag on the little if it's in your will or God, would 181 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,360 you do this? And then we hang up again and 182 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,000 that's pretty much how many of us can approach prayer. 183 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,520 Basically we're saying, God, I've done my part, I've prayed, 184 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,880 I've left a message with you and my request, and now it's up to 185 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,680 you. And if something changes, if I 186 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:17,080 get that job, if that person's healed, if revival comes, then 187 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,240 praise and glory and honour be to God. 188 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,960 Most I. But if it's not, you know, 189 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,880 you're always mysterious. And, you know, I know you use 190 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:26,280 all things for the good of those who love you. 191 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,800 And this is hardly the way that we read in the Bible about the 192 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,080 disciples speaking to their Jesus and to their God. 193 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,920 And I think that there's a different way of doing it. 194 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,840 And, you know, there's some great verses. 195 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,640 I'm literally just gonna throw up some verses just to reorient 196 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,360 our our thinking. One of them is Isaiah 30. 197 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,760 And he says this. How gracious he will be when you 198 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,640 cry for help. As soon as he hears, he will 199 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,640 answer you, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your 200 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:03,720 ears will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way. 201 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,480 Walk in it. Or Isaiah 50. 202 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:13,160 He wakens me morning by morning and wakens my ear to listen like 203 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,320 one being instructed in Jeremiah 33. 204 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:22,160 Three call to me and I will answer you and I tell you great 205 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,160 and unsearchable things that you do not know. 206 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,600 You know, God always has something to say. 207 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,160 And if we're willing, more so if we're willing to respond, we 208 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,680 will start to hear those things. I was talking to my kids as I 209 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,320 often do. And, and so hey, we've got some 210 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,240 friends coming around. We need to do some things. 211 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,400 We need to wash up. We need to tidy up. 212 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,560 Could you do that? Silence. 213 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,040 Hey guys, I literally just asked you if you could just tidy the 214 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:50,640 house a little bit. Could you just help me do that? 215 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,320 Silence. OK, guys, can you turn off the 216 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,320 TV? Can you even hear me? 217 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,040 And one of them responded, Yeah, Dad, we can hear you. 218 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:06,600 We're just not listening. Some of your parents have just 219 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:12,840 hit the rage point of view. The truth is, we can all hear. 220 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,440 We just don't all listen. Listening is different because 221 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,920 it requires a response. And see, that's the difference 222 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,720 between a voicemail prayer and listening prayer. 223 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,840 See, a voicemail prayer is, hey God, here's my request in the 224 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,280 best way I can articulate, and now it's over to you. 225 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,360 Whereas listening prayer is God, here's my request. 226 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,920 Now tell me, what do you want to do about this request? 227 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,000 And more importantly, how can I respond? 228 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,640 How can I join in? And what I'm going to do for the 229 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,880 rest of my time talking is I'm going to give you 10 ways that 230 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,120 you can hear from God. And each and every one of you 231 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,000 can do this and respond to this. And you can turn these ten ways 232 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,760 of hearing from God into listening to God and responding. 233 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:02,120 OK, sound good? All right, First way is 234 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,560 invitation, right? Who we are in the room. 235 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,200 Confession time again is a swifty. 236 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:11,880 Come on you. It's it's no, it's not a place 237 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:13,360 of shame. She's a talented woman. 238 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,800 OK, Now if you went to the Eras concert or whatever concert, if 239 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,400 you just got into her presence, does anyone in this room think 240 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,120 that you could make such a great impression if you got some face 241 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,800 to FaceTime with her? So much so that she would be 242 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,680 like, Oh my gosh, you're literally the most amazing 243 00:12:28,680 --> 00:12:30,840 person I've ever met. Can I give you my number? 244 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,280 Can I take yours? Can we like start a friendship? 245 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:36,360 Can I, you know, 2 weeks later, I'm really sorry Beyoncé, I 246 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,080 can't meet with you because I've just met this amazing person and 247 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,800 I'm going to spend time with them and Oh my gosh, me and 248 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,560 Travis are expected and you're the first person I want to call. 249 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,560 I know way too much about Taylor Swift, but for the point of 250 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:53,960 this, this is really exciting. Who here really thinks they can 251 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,840 make that kind of impression on someone and get that kind of 252 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,280 response, that kind of invitation? 253 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,800 And yet somehow we come before God as if it's absolutely 254 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,920 nothing. And yet the God of the universe, 255 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:12,640 the God who created heaven and earth has invited us, has 256 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:15,400 basically said here's my number, call me. 257 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,920 Here's my invitation to reach out and speak to me. 258 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,720 Jeremiah 33. If you call me, I will answer. 259 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,360 I'm better than Richard who I knew my replies to text. 260 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:27,840 I will speak to you. I will listen. 261 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,320 You know, the absolute first way that we hear from God is this 262 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,160 invitation. Now, I would say that every 263 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,880 single person in this room has had some kind of invitation, 264 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,480 whether it's AI wonder if there's something to this God 265 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,760 thing or hey, I feel like going to church today or I want to 266 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,440 have a chat with my Christian friend because there's something 267 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,440 different about them. Basically what you're saying is 268 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,440 there's some part of your heart, some part of your being that's 269 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,920 gone. I feel like I want to go in that 270 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:55,200 direction. I want to move over there. 271 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:59,680 You've been invited by the living God to come and spend 272 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:03,080 time with him. The first way we respond, the 273 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,920 first way we hear from God is by being invited. 274 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,520 You know, it's at this point we respond to it and we decide how 275 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,240 to RSVP to that. And today we are going to 276 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,640 baptise 6 people in this service, eight people in the 277 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,600 next service who have not just responded to that initial call, 278 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,880 but they've said yes. This is the response that I want 279 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,440 to make for the rest of my life. This is how I'm going to respond 280 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,760 to this invitation that God has shared with me. 281 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,400 It is an incredible, incredible invitation that God speaks and 282 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,680 it's one of the first ways that He speaks to every single one of 283 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,200 us. Secondly, through others, you 284 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,680 can hear from God through reading a book, you can go to a 285 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,400 verse of group, you can even hear from God watching TV. 286 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,440 I've seen some crazy programmes and God has spoken so directly 287 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,120 to me and He's spoken through my kids. 288 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,720 Not in the last example I gave, but other times if we're willing 289 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,600 to listen. You know, each and every single 290 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,160 Sunday you come and hear a talk and I'm not asking that you 291 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:00,960 remember every single part of this talk. 292 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,680 I'm asking as you sit there to go, God, here I am. 293 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:05,760 Speak to me. What do you want to say to me 294 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,440 today? I'm going to discount 95% of 295 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,160 what Richard says, but what is that one thing that you want to 296 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,120 say that I can go away and think about because God is speaking to 297 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,400 you every single time you say here I am, I'm listening. 298 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,440 You know, we had the Alpha Holy Spirit day yesterday and it was 299 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:22,760 tremendous. We've only heard stories. 300 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:24,640 I haven't spoken to Andrew and Joanne, whoever they are, 301 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,680 wherever they are. Sorry, I know who they are and, 302 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,040 and got the direct feedback. But I remember running these 303 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:37,840 Alpha courses and we had, we had this one session where someone 304 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,840 was doing a talk and then someone on the course came up to 305 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,720 the speaker afterwards and says, I'm so angry with you. 306 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,440 I'm so angry with my friend. How dare, how dare my friend 307 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,880 tell you everything that's going on in my life right now, all the 308 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,000 things I'm struggling with. How dare my friend be so like 309 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,760 carefree and share all of this stuff. 310 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,840 And the speaker politely listened and said, I'm really 311 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,360 sorry. I've no idea who you are and I 312 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,800 have no idea who your friend is. This is just a talk that I 313 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,840 prepared is sometimes we come into the situation, we come into 314 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:11,600 a talk. Maybe you were here last week 315 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:13,680 listening to Prince talk, and you were like, oh, my gosh, that 316 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,920 man is speaking directly to me. And what I'm saying to you is, 317 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,240 yes, prepared a good talk. But God was the one that was 318 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,800 speaking to you. And you were hearing what he was 319 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,560 saying and deciding whether you wanted to respond to that or not 320 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:34,120 #3 worship. Yeah. 321 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,360 Fair, fair, fair. Worship is an incredible way. 322 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,000 I mean, I've encountered people that have come out of worship 323 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:43,000 and they've just been bawling their eyes out and crying. 324 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,200 And I remember approaching someone after the service once 325 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,120 and going up to them and saying, Hey, just tell me what's going 326 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:50,520 on. Like, you know, why are you 327 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:51,640 crying? Are are you OK? 328 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,040 And they're like, I have no idea. 329 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,480 All I know is I was in that space of worship and I just felt 330 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:00,560 like I, I was being like hit with wave after wave of love. 331 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,960 And it was in that space, through that aspects of worship 332 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,560 that God was speaking to them. God was talking to them. 333 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,400 God was moving in them, not through audible words, but 334 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,280 through this incredible sense of his presence, reminding them 335 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,240 that they're never alone. They absolutely loves them, that 336 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,599 he's absolutely for them, that he's absolutely never going to 337 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:23,240 give up on them. And in that space just spoke to 338 00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,280 them over and over again. And they can put it into words, 339 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,280 but they felt what God was saying. 340 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:31,000 They heard what God was saying. Number four impressions. 341 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:37,040 OK, bring it down a little bit. My that horrible time of COVID 342 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,880 and there was a lot going on. And I was remember, I remember 343 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,480 the story the other day when we were doing introductions, but my 344 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:50,640 friend, his, his brother was hit with COVID pretty hard and was 345 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,200 in a coma, had been in a coma for about a month by this point. 346 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,000 And I, I said to my friend, like who's a atheist, he has no 347 00:17:58,000 --> 00:17:59,480 interest in God. Like he loves having 348 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,840 conversations. It's not antagonistic, but just 349 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:04,240 that doesn't fit in his worldview. 350 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,480 And I remember praying with him, talking with him, just trying to 351 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,800 offer words of comfort. And I remember one day when I 352 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,800 was praying for him, I just felt like God said he's going to be 353 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,960 OK. And I was like, that's like, I 354 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,040 want to tell my friend this. And I'm honestly like a little 355 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,520 bit scared because I don't want to mess my friend around. 356 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,360 And I just, I just, and I remember God saying to me, look, 357 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,200 I'm saying this, I know you don't feel like this, but I'm 358 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,960 saying it. Why don't you tell him that I'm 359 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,320 saying it. His problem can be with me, not 360 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,960 with you. I said, OK, fine. 361 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,960 And I spoke to my friend and I said, look, I know this sounds 362 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,160 really hard and it's hard to hear, but I really, as I was 363 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,200 praying, I just got the sense that your brother's going to be 364 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,120 OK now. You know, I, I really want him 365 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,920 to be OK. I think that's part of my hope. 366 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,320 But I really felt like God was saying that he's going to be OK. 367 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:56,160 And I remember my friend just going, OK, thanks. 73 days. 368 00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:00,640 His brother was in a coma 73 days like, and that was an 369 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,560 emotional journey for him. Every single moment of that. 370 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,440 No idea whether his only brother was going to live. 371 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,040 But when he came back to life, I mean, it was still a 372 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,520 tremendously long recovery and he's back to relatively normal 373 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,200 now. But I remember speaking to my 374 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:21,040 friend afterwards and, you know, crying with him, being really 375 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,320 happy with him. And he said, you know what? 376 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:27,000 I, I remember that time when you told me that God said he's going 377 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,200 to be OK. And if I'm honest, I, I, I 378 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:31,960 didn't want to believe it, but I, there gave me something to 379 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,880 hold onto. I just want to say thank you for 380 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:36,680 praying and thank you for giving me the encouragement. 381 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,040 That was bold. But God spoke and the difference 382 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,160 was I didn't just pray my prayer and leave it. 383 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,840 I was ready to respond and share boldly that moment. 384 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,200 And what wonderful way of turning it out. 385 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,880 Absolutely thank God for that. Impressions #5 a burden for 386 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,880 others, keeping it again, a little bit more real. 387 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:05,240 I remember one of my friends, he, he, he was just at home, he 388 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,600 was off work for a little bit and he reached out to a friend. 389 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:09,760 He just said, hey, this is really strange, but like, you've 390 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,280 literally just come to mind. I just thought I'd reach out, 391 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,040 see what you're doing. And his friend was like, hey, 392 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,160 I've got nothing on. I, I can always, you know, we 393 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:17,880 can hang out. So he came over and hang out 394 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,400 with his friend for a few days. They play music together, they 395 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,560 watch loads of movies together. They went walks, absolutely 396 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:28,240 nothing special. And his and my friend was just 397 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,440 going, I don't understand. But hey, yeah, it's nice to 398 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,040 connect with a friend. Anyway, the time together 399 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:38,560 finished and and he and his friend left and he went into the 400 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:40,920 room to tidy up. And he saw this little note on 401 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:44,360 the bed. And on the bed he looked at it 402 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:48,320 and it said, hey, I just want to say thank you for inviting me 403 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:54,840 round on that day you called me. I was pretty much set to to hurt 404 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,600 myself but you called me literally right at the right 405 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,520 time and gave me an alternative. And I just want to say thank 406 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:02,560 you. I really think you've made a 407 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:05,240 difference in my life. And all that happened was my 408 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,600 friend got a random thought, a prompting and responded to him. 409 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,640 A burden for others. And he reached out. 410 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,600 Maybe you have a burden for others today. 411 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:18,000 Maybe someone comes to your mind and you just need to FaceTime 412 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,720 them or something. Send him a voice note. 413 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,520 Please don't do whatever you need to do, but maybe you just 414 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:28,160 need to reach out promptings. A very quick story. 415 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,200 We used to do Christmas Day here, a meal here and, and 416 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:37,160 someone came up to my wife and she said this lady said, Hey, 417 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,040 this is really random, but God has just said the word ovens. 418 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,720 Like how random is that? And, and my wife was like, 419 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,000 that's really crazy because we've just put a list together 420 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,640 of things that we need for Christmas Day. 421 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:49,160 And one of them is like ovens. And so my friend was like, what 422 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:49,960 do you need? Show me the list. 423 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:54,400 And so two days later, 1500 lbs later, they got everything they 424 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,360 needed to provide for Christmas Day. 425 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,840 Real simple response, response and, and prompting. 426 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:03,840 And sometimes we listen to those prompts and go, no, I don't want 427 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:05,960 to part with my money. I don't want to part with my 428 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:06,840 time. But do you know what? 429 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,800 That can genuinely amazingly change someone's life. 430 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,000 OK, before I carry on, quick pause, quick interlude. 431 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,320 How do we know if this is God speaking or how do we know if 432 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:21,240 this is just our mind? You don't Simply put, I, I went 433 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:24,120 to Chicago once and we were walking around. 434 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,000 I sorry, I was walking around. I got off the train and I 435 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,520 literally just walked around the city as I got off the train. 436 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,240 Like I was feeling challenged at the time to, to be gracious, to 437 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,200 be kind, to be practical. And so I stepped out and there's 438 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:36,760 this homeless girl on the street, a veteran. 439 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,040 And I walked up to him. I said, hey, you know, just 440 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,040 talking to him. Is there anything I can get you? 441 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:43,600 And he goes, well, I'm really hungry at the moment. 442 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,000 If I can have some money. I was like, I'm not giving you 443 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,760 money, but I can go and pay for you and get some food. 444 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,440 It was like, yeah, that's fine. So we wanted to the station and 445 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,400 he went to this chicken place, $30.00 worth of chicken. 446 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:02,280 Later he walked out very happy. I was very bitter. 447 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,440 I was like, God, surely this wasn't you. 448 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,760 No man needs $30.00 worth of chicken. 449 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,640 Doesn't count. Don't matter how hungry you are. 450 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:18,600 That's ridiculous. And, and I bless him, I walked 451 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:20,240 off. I was so frustrated, like, God, 452 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,080 that clearly wasn't you. I'm never going to listen to 453 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,400 this again unless I'm 100% sure. And like Karen, I'm walking down 454 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,320 the road kicking the floor and everything else. 455 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,160 And then I came across another guy who was homeless. 456 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:36,440 Hey, can I, can you help me? And I said, well, what's wrong? 457 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,000 He goes, I'm really hungry. I was like, hold on a second, 458 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,920 come with me. And so I walked him back to the 459 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,200 first guy and I was like, this guy has $30.00 worth of chicken. 460 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,440 Have a party, enjoy yourselves. And I walked off. 461 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,240 Now I don't know if God was in that or not, but it's either 462 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,240 going to be God or it's going to be a great story. 463 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,240 All I'm encouraging you is just to respond and see what happens, 464 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,080 OK? It's not a faith building 465 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,240 message, is it? But it's, it's reality #7 466 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:12,480 conviction of right and wrong, genuine conviction of sin, comes 467 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:15,520 with a message of encouragement. You see, when God comes into 468 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,840 your life, and when I first encounter God when I was 20 469 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,680 something, it wasn't, hey, you're messed up, you're screwed 470 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,160 up, you've got no chance, you need my forgiveness, otherwise 471 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,520 you're dead. It was, I can see that you're 472 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:32,640 making so many mistakes, but if you're willing, I'm willing to 473 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,840 help you said God. That's what I was reading 474 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:36,640 through this. That's what I felt God was 475 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:38,040 saying. You see that? 476 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,960 It's so easy to hear the first part. 477 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,200 You're messed up, you're wrong, you've done wrong, you're 478 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,800 guilty, you feel you. That's condemnation. 479 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,120 That's not what God is about. God says you're struggling, let 480 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,720 me help you. And that's the invitation that 481 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,960 he's saying. And that's a conviction of right 482 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:55,920 and wrong. And that's how we hear from God, 483 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,160 by knowing that there's something that we're not quite 484 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,560 right in or with and we need to help. 485 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,760 Dreams is number 8. Some of you guys have had the 486 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,680 most tremendous God dreams and your whole life is written on. 487 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:11,520 When you wake up in the morning and you have the seven hour 488 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,080 stories to share with your partner, Please wait for them to 489 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,720 have coffee first. I don't have these dreams but I 490 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,960 did lose my glasses for five days once and I looked 491 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,920 everywhere and then I had a dream that they were in my car 492 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,480 under the seat and I went to my car and they were under the 493 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,560 seat. I am literally a prophet. 494 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,000 Like come five days, a lot of prayer and some dream, a lot of 495 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,480 sleep. I will give you the answer you 496 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:40,480 need. Or you can do it #8 #9 visions. 497 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,960 You just go through the Bibles, especially the book of Acts, 498 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:48,880 Saul, Cornelius, Peter, and Anias amazing visions of God. 499 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:51,080 And sometimes God speaks in those ways. 500 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,120 Just be ready. That's one of the ways and #10 501 00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:57,360 audible voice speak Lord for your servant listening is one of 502 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,920 the most amazing quotes. We often pray and sometimes he 503 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:02,600 speaks audibly just as a show of hands. 504 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,160 Has anyone in this room heard the audible voice of God? 505 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:08,280 I expect way. I expect five hands. 506 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,640 There's at least 1012. Not everyone has this 507 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,240 experience. What a privilege it is. 508 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:17,360 Ask those guys if you shorthand and there's one huge one that 509 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:19,760 doesn't deserve to sit in a list, but it's really important. 510 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,960 Does anyone know what it is? Of course you all said the Bible 511 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,880 and scripture like God speaks so practically and tangibly through 512 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:32,080 scripture all of the time. This is AI haven't got Bible 513 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:33,480 with me. This is a powerhouse. 514 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,640 Imagine me holding up. This is a powerhouse of wisdom, 515 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,480 guidance, instruction. No, I've missed the point. 516 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,000 Now it is absolutely worth listening to. 517 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,160 I tell you. What I do on a daily basis is I 518 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,200 open up the Bible wherever I have a bookmark in the Old 519 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,520 Testament, New Testament, and then the Psalms, Proverbs area, 520 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:54,160 and I literally just pick one of them. 521 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,240 I read a chapter and I write down whatever stands out and it 522 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,960 could be utterly random, and then I spend time just thinking 523 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:02,160 about those. Sometimes it's just interesting. 524 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,720 Often God speaks to me through the day and I end up using that 525 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,680 quote either for myself or someone else. 526 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,160 God speaks so powerfully through scripture. 527 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:13,760 We have 6 people in the room this morning who have read the 528 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,120 scripture and responding to the scripture be baptised. 529 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,840 You see, what they've done is they've made a decision for, to 530 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,120 follow God and they've come to church and they've lived and 531 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,720 walked with Jesus and they, they have this response to say, now 532 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,520 I'm ready to respond and be baptised. 533 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,240 And it says in Romans 6, skipping all of my talk at this 534 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,280 point, sorry. Now actually let me say this, 535 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,200 what they're making, they're making this absolute, incredible 536 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,480 decision to make Jesus their Lord. 537 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,480 I, they're saying, you're in charge. 538 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,760 I trust you. I want what you want from me. 539 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,680 Cos I know it's way better than I could ever have imagined or 540 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,600 dreamed for myself. And I know because you are Lord 541 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,360 God that you can get me there and I can trust you every step 542 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:56,120 of the way. Secondly, they're they're making 543 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,320 this decision. Say I want him to be my saviour. 544 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,920 I am gonna mess up. I am gonna make mistakes. 545 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,240 I don't want to, but it happens. Life is challenging, but I know 546 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,240 and thank God that He's gonna save me, that He has saved me 547 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,200 through sin on the cross and He has made a way for me even to 548 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,880 have access to God, that He is saving me. 549 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:16,840 He's transforming me from the inside out. 550 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,760 He is rewriting my narrative. He is rewriting my life. 551 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,520 He is changing the way I see things, think about things, 552 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,640 approach things, act in certain situations. 553 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,320 And one day He will utterly save me. 554 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,000 He will do away with this heaven enough that is broken, that is 555 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:36,040 selfish, that is unrighteous, and He will take me into His 556 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,640 presence, into a place of heaven where absolutely he rules. 557 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,520 There's no healing, sorry, no healing. 558 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,400 There's no tears, there's no suffering, there's no pain and 559 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,000 there is absolute redemption. And that is the promise. 560 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,960 There's six people this morning are buying into when they say 561 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,280 yes, I am ready to respond to what God has done. 562 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,760 I am ready to be baptized and say my life belongs to God and 563 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,840 in front of my church friends, in front of my family, in front 564 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,200 of everyone that I could possibly invite. 565 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,920 And they responded and came here this morning or you just came to 566 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,720 the service. I am saying before you that this 567 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,880 is my God and I'm choosing Him forever more. 568 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,800 And today we are going to celebrate with these six people 569 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,280 and we're going to give them a huge round of applause and we 570 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,520 are going to stop listening to me and we're going to move down 571 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,000 there and we're going to baptize them. 572 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:20,720 Does that sound good?