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Okay, good morning everyone.

Good morning.

If you don't know me, my name is Chris.

I'm the teaching pastor here at Watermark.

It's great to see so many of you coming out.

Who's coming for the walk?

Great.

If you haven't put your hand up,

somebody will press gang you into coming on the walk with us.

Again, kids are going to be staying in this morning,

so they've got something to color in with.

If your kids are kind of running around going crazy, it's fine.

Feel free to kind of take them around to the back.

We're family, so it's cool.

Okay.

If you've got a bulletin with you,

I would like you to take out your bulletin.

If you don't have a bulletin,

has someone not got a bulletin?

Could somebody go and grab some for us so that everyone can get one?

If you look on your bulletin,

you will see inside there is a little rectangle with a cross and a dot there.

Can everyone see that?

Yes?

Okay.

What I would like you to do is,

I would like you to close your right eye.

Okay?

And I'd like you to look at the cross.

Okay?

Still keep the dot in focus,

but keep your eye on the cross.

And I'd like you to move the sheet of paper as close to you as you can

until you see the dot disappear.

Has everyone found it?

Okay.

Some of you, it's like not disappearing.

Just, okay.

Close your right eye.

Look with your left eye.

Okay?

Bring it closer.

Bring it further away until you find that.

Some of you are going,

I don't know what's going on here.

Who hasn't managed to work it out?

Okay.

A few of you haven't managed to work it out.

Okay.

We'll spend a special session with you afterwards in how to do it.

What you should realize is that every single one of us actually has a blind spot.

Where if you focus in a certain way at a certain point,

there are things which are actually there,

which at some point,

physically your eye actually doesn't see them.

Okay?

We all have blind spots.

Not just physical blind spots,

but blind spots in our lives.

And I know some of you are like,

the rest of the sermon,

you're not going to hear this

because you're just kind of going in and out.

I know, it's terrible to start like that.

Control yourselves.

Okay.

We all have blind spots in our lives.

We all have things which are there,

which we don't always see

because we are focusing on certain things so deeply

that actually we miss some of the reality of what's going on around us.

And one of those great blind spots in our lives

is the people around us.

People in need around us.

And you know,

Hong Kong is such a crazy place

because it really just draws your focus

with all the pressure that we're under in this city

so that if you're a student,

where does your focus get drawn?

It's all on your exams coming up,

all on your studies.

If you are a worker,

where does your focus get drawn?

It gets drawn on those deadlines,

those projects,

those annoying colleagues,

the desire for career promotion.

If you're a parent,

where does your focus get drawn?

It gets drawn all onto the demands of parenting,

health, education,

all these things which are necessary

and realities in our lives.

But the thing is,

often what Hong Kong does for us

is it pressures us into seeing

the things and focusing more on the problems we have in life

rather than the blessings that we have in life.

We focus more on what we don't have

than on what we do have.

And all the resources and the things

that God has given us

that are available to us

that he uses

so that we might bless other people.

You see,

I was talking to a guy a while ago

and he says to me,

initially he was looking for a job

and he couldn't find a job

and then finally he found this job

and I came to him and I said,

congratulations,

it's amazing.

And he said,

yeah,

but I've only got 10 days holiday.

I went to somebody else

and I said,

hey,

it's bonus time coming up.

And this guy,

he got a great bonus from his work

and he was really happy

and then he looked over to his colleague

who got a bigger bonus than him

and I met up with him

and he was depressed

because he didn't have as much

as the other person had.

You see,

our minds are often focused

on what we don't have

more than the blessings of what we do have.

And when we're like that in Hong Kong,

what happens is

we tend to focus more on ourselves

and we don't see

the people around us

who we could bless

with what he has given us.

You know,

120 years ago,

there was a lady called Martha Polster.

She was a German Christian missionary.

She came to Hong Kong

and she saw

four visually impaired girls

that nobody else saw,

that everybody else ignored

because they were wrapped up

in their problems

and their issues.

But she saw them.

And she did what love always does.

Love sees

and then love reaches out.

Love sees

and love reaches out.

And she knows

she started this school

120 years ago.

Ebenezer School.

And since then,

hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds

of children

and adults

have been transformed

through this school

bringing hope,

bringing dignity,

bringing life

into them.

And the reason

that her eyes

were open

to this

was because

she saw

what this Advent season

is all about.

She saw

that Advent

was about

the coming

of Jesus Christ,

the coming

of hope,

the coming

of the one

who in this passage

we read

said this,

the spirit

of the sovereign Lord

of the Lord

is upon me

and he's anointed me

to proclaim

good news

to the poor,

to the prisoners,

to the blind,

to the oppressed.

Do you notice

he didn't say

I've come

to proclaim

good news

to those

that I kind of

feel comfortable with.

he didn't say

I've come

to proclaim

good news

to those

who are kind

of like me

because he wouldn't

have had many people

then to proclaim to.

He didn't say

I've come

to proclaim

good news

to those

who haven't

made any

poor choices

in their life.

He said

I've come

to proclaim

good news

to the poor,

to the prisoner,

to the blind,

to the oppressed,

to the people

on the margins

of society

that everyone

else doesn't

see.

And we know

he didn't just

come,

he was sent

because that

was his mission

in a world

which is broken

and filled

with injustice

and pain.

But we know

that we

are the recipients

of that

because poverty

is spiritual,

economic,

relational,

emotional,

it covers

all of that.

We are all

blind in many

ways

because we're

blind to God.

We are blind

and we are

poor in love

towards other

people and

towards God.

We are prisoners

to our own

ambitions and

our own desires

and yet Jesus

came down

to reach out

to us

because he saw

us and he

reached out

because love

sees and love

reaches out.

one of the

great desires

of our hearts

is that someone

would take an

interest in us,

that someone

would see us

in spite of

what we're like

and they would

show grace to

us.

That is what

Jesus has done

for each one

of us if we

are believers

and trust in

him.

But he also

says,

Jesus says,

as I was

sent so I

send you.

I send you

to go.

in this

city where

we have,

we mentioned

one in five

people live

below the

poverty line.

Every time

you go to

work you

are walking

past people

who are

hopeless,

suffering and

in despair.

And God

wants to

open our

eyes to see

who is it

that he's

calling us

to.

We are not

the savior

of the world,

Jesus is,

but he wants

to open our

eyes to see

the people

he has put

around us

and to

reach out

to them.

I read

this story,

a biography,

it's a

biography called

Guailo,

about an

English boy

who grew

up in

Hong Kong

called

Martin.

And one

day his

mom found

out that

there was a

leper colony

in Hong Kong.

Did you

know there

used to be

a leper

colony in

Hong Kong?

Did you

know Hayling

Tao,

near Land

Tao,

used to

have a

leper

colony

until the

1970s,

where the

lepers were

basically,

they were

pushed onto

this island

because nobody

wanted to be

around them

because they

could be

contagious,

it could be,

it was just

awkward in

society.

And so they

were put onto

this island

and kind of

left there.

And the

mother of

this boy

found out

that there

was this

island there.

And she

said,

I want to

go and

find out

what this

is about.

I want to

go and

see these

people.

And do

you know

what her

husband said?

Her husband

said,

don't you

dare go.

Because if

you go,

like,

you don't

speak

canto.

If you

go,

like,

you might

get something,

it might

be dangerous.

If you

go,

well,

why should

we bother

about those

guys?

We've got

enough

issues of

ourselves.

But the

mum went

with the

whole family.

And the

dad actually

went kind

of following

on behind

because,

you know,

the mum

was pretty

strong.

And he

got to

the point

where they

got to

the island.

Everybody

gets off

the boat.

Dad stays

in the

boat.

He's not

getting off.

But they

get off and

they see

that these

people who

were this

leper colony,

they actually

realized these

are real

people.

These are

not just

lepers.

They're human

beings who

are real.

people.

And they

walked up

to them

in a

frightened

way because

they were

scared of

stepping out

of their

comfort zone

to these

unknown

people.

At one

point,

they walked

up to

one and

one of

the lepers

reached out

and touched

the head

of the sun.

And they

looked into

each other's

eyes and

there was

this moment

of saying,

you have

dignity and

you have

worth and

you have

value.

I wonder

how many

of us see

things in

Hong Kong

and yet

we're not

willing to

reach out

because we're

afraid.

How many

of us are

more like

the dad

who wants

to stay

in the

boat?

But the

call of

the gospel

is not

that we're

called just

to have

human

compassion

on people.

It's that

we have

an incredible

message of

hope and

life,

of forgiveness

and grace

and mercy

to bring

hope to

the hopeless,

to bring

light to

those who

are poor,

prisoners,

blind,

oppressed.

That's why

we're here

as a church

and that's

one of the

reasons why

we're doing

this walk

today because

we want to

see what

would it

look like

with us

who tend

to focus

so much

on what

we don't

have to

remember how

much God

has given

us and

then to

look out

and see

what is it

that the

people God

has placed

around us.

That's partly

why we're

starting this

love offering.

So over the

next four

weeks we're

going to be

sharing about

the partners

who are

reaching out

into Hong

Kong in

different ways

to think how

we can get

involved in

supporting them

financially,

in supporting

them even by

saying,

well, could I

just go and

see?

Could I just

go and see?

Some of you

are already

involved and I

encourage you to

just keep sharing

with other people

what you're seeing.

But the spirit of

the Lord is not

just on Jesus.

The spirit of the

Lord is on us

as Christians.

God has sent

us into this

world to

proclaim good

news to

people.

There is a

real cost in

going.

There is a

cost that

Jesus paid.

There is a

cost, but

Jesus paid it

for us because

he saw us.

So my question

is, who do

you see?

Who do you

see?

And my prayer

is that God

would open our

eyes, that we

would pray, God

open my eyes to

see who you

want me to see

this morning.

Who you want

me to see so

that you might

show me how I

might reach out.

If your kids

and you focus on

your kids'

education

completely, and

that's all that

wraps up your

mind, your kids

are going to

grow up with

huge blind

spots in

their lives.

If you're a

worker and all

you focus on is

just your work in

everything in

your life and

you never see

something bigger,

you will live a

life which is

shrunk down like

this.

Jesus calls us

to be part of

something bigger,

which is his

mission.

He wants us to

see his people

that he's called

us to reach out

to.

And he will go

with us with his

power and his

spirit.

He wants us

to make him

moving forward and

driving

the

core.

He wants us to

probe your

office to

see himself and

he is quiere

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as he knows you

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