29th January 2023 Celebration Service - Dave Food - Free to start again

Father, in the name of Jesus, we just want to pray for your

Holy Spirit to cover every single word that Dave is going to share with us.

You have placed in his heart, Lord, a word for us to

hear today. There is a purpose. There is someone today or perhaps all

of us, that will be transformed and touched by what we are going to

be listening today. So Father, I just want to pray to open hearts,

open minds, and allow the Word of God to penetrate fully into our

minds, our souls, our hearts. This morning. Father, thank you

for Dave as he has been preparing for this moment. So thank you,

Lord and bless him. In the name of Jesus. We pray, Amen,

thank you. Let's say thank you church. Those listening online. I'm

just gonna be really honest and open, you know, not that I'm not,

but I think sometimes when you share the journey, people realize what the

journey is. And so, you know, Derek had faithfully prepared all the

worship songs and they're all in the system ready to go. And then the

computer got upgraded and the week some various bits of software upgraded, and I

came in this morning, plugged everything in and every sound file sounds like you're

underwater. So that's what we were struggling with this morning. And I understand

from doing some research and a rapid pace of things that it's something to do

with some drivers on the computer. I'm going to have to try and resolve

it, but didn't know about it till this morning. That's why we went

to live worship this morning. But do you know what my heart is that

we will be able to get step into live worship on a more regular basis.

So maybe God's going go on, go on with it, get on

with it, you know, not through any concern or activity. But we

pressed into live worship unintentionally. But God has a plan, and we've been

exploring a new start, a new day. As we come to the end

of January, the end of the first month of the year. We've been

talking about a new start, and I want to talk about free to start

again this morning. So let me pray. And I really do want to

pray because I just said that there's a battle going on. Why otherwise would

we struggle with these things? And I just Father, I pray that your

word would clearly speak to those Lord who need more of you other particularly pray

for the recording and the things that go out later. Lord that there would

be a seed that is sown, a plant that takes root, and Lord,

something of you that is glorified in all we study today in Jesus' name.

Amen, how many people have got it wrong this week? And I'm

going to ask you to put hands up. I'm not going to ask you

what it is. And really, you know, maybe more than once,

maybe more than once. My hand went up some people. Some people have

both hands up. Yes, we got it wrong from time to time.

Maybe we said something inappropriate, Maybe we we did something that we're not proud

of. Maybe you know, we've probably all experienced this. And this didn't

happen for me this week, but it's happened this year. Was I got

a little envelope in the post, A little envelope in the post, Save

Davey. You were driving a little bit too fast, you know, so,

yeah, yes, quite right. I was camera camera evidence, so

I don't deny it. I wasn't doing stupid speeds, but I was still

over the speed limit, you know, And that's the law of the land,

and I have to take that consequence. There is a consequence for doing

things wrong. And I know some of us kind of think, well,

this road feels like it should be a sixty, but it's got a thirty

on it. Well, okay, that's the law, and when we break

it, there's a consequence. And if somebody takes a picture of it,

then I thought, if the authorities take a picture of it, you get

a little invitation to pay something or go to naughty school. Now, those

are the kind of things that happen. But you know, we do get

it wrong. We do make mistakes. We do things that we shouldn't do.

And when we do those things that we shouldn't do, then often we

will find ourselves there are consequences. But sometimes there are things we feel I've

done something wrong, but I don't know what to do to put it right

now. Maybe we've got a broken relationship with a friend. Something's happened,

words have been said and no one's picking up the phone and no one's talking,

and everybody's kind of feeling a little uncomfortable. Yeah, that's when it's

great to pray. That's when it's great to repent and say, Lord,

I'm sorry for saying the things I shouldn't have said. I don't know whether

you've ever thought about this, but if you've ever had a speeding ticket,

have you ever take in a bit of time to repent. I was challenged

by it when I got the alert through the place. I just thought,

I know I've got it wrong, and i know I'm getting told off,

but I'm going to say sorry, lord, and so I did. I'm

not saying I'm got to be perfect and always drive out of the speed lit

it again, because it's so easy. But in Proverbs it says this,

anyone who hides his sin doesn't succeed, but anyone who admits his sins and

gives them up finds mercy. Finds mercy mercy from the Father. And one

of the things that it's fascinating when you've ever been through an annual review and

you sit down with your boss and that they talk about the things you should

have done, and they talk about the things you've done well, and then

there's a bit of a kind of that sandwich that goes on. They tell

you something good, they tell you something you need to improve, and then

they tell you something good again, And that bit in the middle sometimes is

uncomfortable. Maybe it's something you haven't done or I haven't done, and the

boss just goes, do you know what, you really need to work a

bit harder at this, And yeah, it always feels a bit awkward because

you want to defend yourself and say what I did my best or this or

that or the other. Do you know what I think? Sometimes it's just

good to say you're probably right, Yes I could have done better. That

was certainly on my school report a couple of times in the years when I

was in primary school could do better. In two Corinthians seven, verse ten,

it says this godly sadness causes us to turn, causes us to turn

away from our sins and be saved. And we are certainly not sorry about

that. But worldly sadness brings death. Sometimes there are things that we do

that do not break the law, but God is saddened. The spirit in

us is sadden. You know, have you ever been grieved by something that's

happened. You think I need to do something there, Maybe I need to

be more positive, Maybe I need to speak into the situation for godly sadness,

that spirit within us to turn us away from our sins so that we

might be saved. At what point on the journey, do we realize we're

lost. We have sat NAB, now we have the technology about press buttons,

say turn left here, turn right here. I don't know whether you've

done this recently. And then your sat Nav's gone off for whatever reason,

maybe the signal's broken and you can't and suddenly you're lost. Suddenly it's oh

my goodness, I don't know where I am because we hadn't looked at the

map. You know, in times past, we would have looked at the

mat, we would have memorized something, we would have had an idea,

and we said, okay, I'm heading towards Darby, and then I'm heading

in this direction, and maybe we're looking at for certain key roads. But

now we just pressed the buttons and then when it fails, suddenly we're lost.

And I think about some of the times when I got lost, and

that there was a particular place where I was going to visit a client a

number of years ago. Now I wasn't using the sat NAV. I got

confident that I kind of knew where I was going, and I headed down

this road and then there was a road closure, so I had couldn't go

down the way I was planning to go. So I turned left and turned

right and kind of had a bit of a guess, and I've got a

bit more lost and a bit more lost and a bit more lost, And

eventually I got there. But here's the thing, I came to go back

to the same place again. And now when I got to certain junctions and

I wasn't using the sat nab again, I thought, okay, I'm going

to turn left here, I'm going to turn And what I didn't know was

whether I was on the right track and on track or whether I was on

the wrong track that I've made before, because I remember, both routes would

be familiar, both routes would be ah, something that we need to think

about, and so I didn't know whether I was off track or not.

And so I just stopped and I took a breath, and I thought,

and I thought, okay, what do I remember? And then suddenly there

was a fish and chip shop on the corner. I thought, yes,

this is the one. I'm back on track. And I want to encourage

you when we feel maybe we're a bit off track, maybe we need to

kind of take a note, take a breath. In Philippians, three verses

thirteen and fourteen. It says this, brothers and sisters, I don't consider

that I have taken hold of it yet. But here is the one thing

I do. I forget what is behind me. I push hard towards what

is ahead of me. I moved towards the goal to win the prize.

God has appointed me to win in it. The heavenly prize is Christ,

Jesus himself. Let's be more like him. Let's be more like our savior.

Brothers, sisters, I haven't got a yet. I'm working progress.

Maybe you're working progress too, and so in not having taken hold of it

yet, There's one thing I do. I'm going to keep on moving.

I'm going to keep on taking steps. I'm going to press on. You

know, it's so easy to think, well, I'm going to put my

feet up, I'm going to give I'm going to take a pause. But

why do we keep on? We move on because the goal is to win

the prize, and win it well, to be more like Christ and to

know him fully. Paul's letter to the Romans I found I find fascinating.

I love the exploration of the Roman road, and in Romans chapter eight,

verse twenty eight, it says this. We know that in all things God

works for the good of those who love him. He appointed them to be

saved in keeping with His purpose. And I wonder sometimes whether we could that.

There are days, and I'm sure we've had this where I think,

is anybody listening. One of the things that I often have to do at

work is I have to do a presentation, record it and send it out

to everybody around the world, and they need to listen to it, and

they're required to listen to it. And then I get people asking me questions.

I think, have you watched the video? Because you're asking me questions

that I've already told you the answer to. Do you know what? We

need to be persistent, We need to press on, We need to press

in. And sometimes you and I will visit a friend, will love a

friend, will speak to a friend, and we'll think I've had this conversation

before. I remember visiting some friends the other side of town many years ago

now, and they come to church from time to time, and I've been

to visit them and I shared with them and prayed about a particular situation.

And this was now about three years later, and I got to visit them

again. Was having a coffee with them, and we had the same conversation.

We were talking about the same thing. And do you know what,

I said, Can I use your bathroom? And I went into the bathroom

and I wanted to cry, We've been here, We're here again. Why

are we here again? And I took a big, deep breath, and

then I went back into the room and I said the same things that I

said three years previously, maybe in a different way, but the same things.

We prayed about the same things. And I think we had to have

patience like he has patients. We have to have persistence like he has persistence.

We need to press in and we need to press on. Hebrews is

a great book, a great letter. Hebrews eleven is that great book of

faith, that great chapter on faith, and then that leads to Hebrews twelve.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of

witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares

us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for

the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and

has set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider

him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself. Lest you become weary and

discouraged in your soul, just think about what Christ has done for us.

Just think about what He went through for us. And I'll go back to

this because I do want to unpack some things here. Therefore, we are

surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Have you ever been to a

conference? Have you ever been to an event HTV to a conference in the

Albert Hall? If you ever been in the Albert Hall with thousands of people

whereship can go, You've ever been in a crowd, whether it's just like

being in heaven. You can stop singing and you can listen to the singing

around You just just almost be transported to another place. And then we read

laying aside every weight, every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles

us. Julius brought a new rug for the office, and it's one of

the It arrived or rolled up, and it was laid out. When she

unrolled it, all the corners curled up, and she said well, I

can't put this down because everybody's going to it's a trip hazard, and so

turn it upside down and put some weights on it, and it's getting flatter.

You know, some little tiny things, just a little thing can cause

us to trip. It doesn't have to be a great, big step.

Sometimes it can just be a few millimeters. You've probably walked down the pavement

somewhere and tripped over the edge of a paving slab, and you think,

how did I trip over that? And then you realize it was just something

very small. So let's lay aside the weight of those things, and let's

run the race with endurance to win the prize. Now, what is the

price the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus, who set before him

and did not and endured the cross for you and me, despite the shame,

despite the spitting, despite all the other things, despite the crown of

thorns and the scourging of his back. In Galatians chapter five, it says

this, the one who chooses you does not keep you from obeying the truth.

You should know that just a little yeast works its way through the whole

batch of dough. Know what, we can be catalysts for change. We

can be light in dark places. But do you know what. I've got

a torch and it's got recharge It's rechargeable, and so when I come to

use it, I can press the button and it's all fine. But if

I don't plug it in to charge it up the moment that I need it,

I'll come to press the button and it'll be flat and there'll be no

use at all. It's meant to bring light, but it doesn't bring light.

You and I are meant to bring light into dark places. We're meant

to bring clarity into confusing situations because we are light. We are hope.

You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth.

And this, this scripture says, a little yeast lightens the doe.

I want you and I to realize that we are catalysts for change. But

we still need to be plugged back into the power source. If we are

that rechargeable torch, then we've got to go back to the power soot and

plug ourselves in. The Holy Spirit empowers us, enables us, and facilitates

us to be able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. And

so I'm going to kind of bring this to a closers. As was written

in Timothy, I want to encourage us that we can all say this,

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have

kept the faith. This is not just something to think about for the end

of our lives, for the end of a day, the end of a

week, the end of a year, maybe even the end of a situation.

Maybe sometimes we actually feel like we're in a fight. Well, have

we done the best that we could do? Have we brought grace and tenderness?

Have we brought consideration and mercy into the conversation? When I was student

many many many years ago. Now, I was reminded of this because I

was talking to some students that I was teaching on Wednesday this week, and

I was telling a story. I was telling them a story. And these

are not Christian students, students from all around the world, studying a particular

topic. And I said to them, how, yeah, sometimes once you

know something, you've got to keep on saying it, You've to keep on

declaring it. They were talking about how in their group they were trying to

make something happen, and in making that something happen, they weren't agree,

and then a number of people in the group said like, well, I

just gave up because nobody seemed to be listening. I said, and did

you come up with the right answer? And they went no. He said,

we should have kept on, kept on, And then I quoted a

film that I've only ever seen in black and white, Twelve Angry Men.

You may remember this film where there are twelve jurors and they come to vote

on a particular situation, and one man disagrees, and he tells them why

he disagrees, and everybody goes, oh, well, yes, it's obvious,

isn't it. And he tells them again why he disagrees, and then

a second person in the jury goes, I've never thought about that. He

said, I agree with this disagreement. So two and ten, and then

three and nine, and then four and eight, and slightly but surely till

eventually it was eleven and one and they needed any unanimous decision, and the

chairman of the jury eventually turned around and said, well, okay, I'll

go with you. And so it went from eleven to one to twelve to

zero. But it came out of persistence. It came out of perseverance,

and I want you to be able to say this, I have fought the

good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

There is an opportunity for a new start every day, every moment, any

moment we want to reset, we can press the butt say Lord, I'm

sorry, and from that wrongdoing that I've just done. Father forgive me.

And he is gracious and just to forgive us our sins and the consequence and

the price of sinful choices has been paid at the cross by Christ. So

let me pray, Father God. I firstly want to thank you. There

is a way to be part of your kingdom and is to believe and trust

and know that Jesus, your son, was sent to be our savior,

to save us, to set us free. And so, Father God,

we thank you for sending your son, your one and only son, that

whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Other I pray

for all those who are listening, whether they're listening now, in the room,

online, listening later. Father, I pray that each one of us

would know where our destiny is. Our destiny is heaven, an eternity with

God, not an eternity without it, and so we want to choose Jesus.

Well, say, I'll put our trust in Jesus, put our faith

in Jesus, your one and only son. But Father, even believing in

Christ, from time to time, we still get it wrong. And so

Father, help us to keep short camp, help us to turn from the

things that we're not proud of, the things that we shouldn't do, because

we will find grace and mercy at the foot of your at the foot of

your throne. You're a just God, but you're a gracious and merciful God.

Receive these prayers and receive our our conversation of God, as we talk

to you, as we press into you, as we trust you in Jesus'

name. Amen.