Our Hope Lived Out: Pentecost

Good morning, great to see you all this morning. It's sunny at last. I felt a bit like I was back in the UK these last couple of days with the weather.

We're coming to the end of our series, as Tobin said, of God's story, our story.

I don't know if you've been looking around the world, but God is up to something at the moment.

As you look around the world, things seem to be pretty chaotic.

There's ISIS, there's terrorism, there's immigration issues, there's corruption.

My wife and I, next week, we're going to Kosomui to a wedding next week.

I just found out there's just been a bomb explosion in Kosomui.

You think, where in the world can you get away from the chaos and the craziness that's going on in the world?

I wish we'd booked tickets later because they're probably very cheap now.

But the issue is, as we look around, we think, what is going on?

The world seems crazy, it seems out of control, but the Bible tells us something really different.

The Bible tells us that God has got a story.

God is up to something.

God is doing something in the world at the moment, and he has been from the beginning of history to the end of history.

And what is God doing, even in the craziness of everything that you see around?

Well, God is actually, he's on a mission.

God is on a global mission.

He's doing something in this world, and he always has been.

And the Bible's story is a story about what God has been doing from the beginning until now,

and then when he comes back again, how he'll complete the story.

And if you remember some of the story, we looked in the Garden of Eden at how God created Adam and Eve's relationship with him,

and how he created them in his image to be people united together in community,

but who would go out and who would fill the earth and multiply.

We saw that God came to Abraham, and he gave Abraham this promise, and he said,

I'm going to give you a land and this people and a blessing which is going to go to all the nations.

It was global.

And then he says to Israel, he calls them to be his distinctive people.

He says, you are my people.

You are to be the way that you love each other.

You love me.

You love those around you.

That is to be this light to all the nations so that when they see it,

they will come and they will see just how amazing God is.

That's what God was up to.

But as you look through, and Tobin said earlier, as you look through the story,

and then you think, how did the people respond to what they were called to be?

Well, you see that while God was faithful, they were completely unfaithful.

And they didn't want to be God's unique, special people.

They wanted to be different.

Well, they didn't want to be different.

They wanted to be like everybody else.

They wanted to have kings like everybody else.

They wanted to follow idols and gods like everybody else.

They wanted to do what everybody else did.

They chased after money.

They chased after power.

They chased after pleasure.

They chased after comfort.

They chased after everything else that everybody else chased after.

And God kept chasing after them.

He kept being faithful, and they kept running away and being unfaithful.

they were adulterers, like in the story of Hosea and Goma,

if you remember that story we looked at a few weeks ago.

But the story of the Old Testament, in one sense, is quite a depressing story

because it's a story of our powerlessness.

Our powerlessness to obey, our powerlessness to be the people that God has called us to be.

God is the amazingly faithful God, but we are powerless to be who He's called us to be.

Romans 5 says this,

Just when we were completely powerless, while we were still at that point of weakness,

Christ came and He died for us.

While we were still ungodly, still couldn't do what God had called us to be,

Christ died for us.

He died to recreate this people who would be those communities of light

which would shine throughout the world in every dark place.

He died to recreate this people.

Now, that's all very nice.

That's all very well.

The problem is, if you think about the people Jesus chose for this mission,

Jesus had been three years with His disciples.

He's given them the best seminary you could ever have,

three years of the most amazing teaching with Jesus.

And after three years, what are His students like?

Are they the brightest of the bright?

Well, no.

Let's think about it.

After three years, one of them betrays Jesus.

One of them denies in front of the lowliest servant girl that He even knew Him.

All the others flee and run away.

And then even after Jesus has risen from the dead,

the disciples, the women come to the disciples and say,

Jesus has risen.

And they say, we don't believe you.

They're locked themselves inside a room because they're afraid of everybody else finding out

that they're followers of Jesus.

That's not a very good track record for Jesus.

If I was that teacher, I would feel a bit disappointed with my students.

And if that's not enough, Jesus then comes back.

For 40 days, He's teaching the disciples.

And for 40 days, He's given this kind of top-up class,

you know, the kind of revision of everything He's done,

all of God's plans and purposes, you know.

And after this amazing top-up course,

the disciples come with a fascinatingly penetrating question.

They say, Jesus, that's great.

Love what you're up to.

Are you going to bring about kind of a political revolution here in Israel?

And when are you going to do it?

And I think Jesus probably did laugh.

Or He might have even cried, I think, at that point.

Because Jesus is like, you guys, you still haven't got it, have you?

You still haven't got it that I'm actually part of something so much bigger.

I've got this global perspective.

And all you can think about is your own little politics.

And the Bible is really saying to us, up to this point,

God's plans and God's purposes for making us the people who we're meant to be

don't seem to be looking very good.

And the Bible is telling us this.

If you are relying on education or good moral teaching

to be able to make you the people that God has made you to be,

to sort out the world's problem, to sort out ISIS,

to sort out all the terrorism, just educate them a bit more.

If you think that's what's going to help you,

well, the people in the Old Testament had some of the world's greatest teachers.

They had Moses.

Then the disciples had Jesus, teaching them like nobody else.

And after 2,000 years, do you know the reason why the Old Testament is so long?

Is because, you know, it starts off and it's, okay, obey me.

Okay, and they don't.

Obey me, they don't.

Obey me, they don't.

And time and time again, and you have to go through 37 books of it

before finally you get the message, oh, maybe they're not able to obey him.

That's why the Old Testament is so long,

because education is not the thing which is going to save you,

which is going to change you.

Teaching is good, but it doesn't deal with your hearts and our powerlessness.

Because you can know all the right doctrines,

you can know all the right theology,

you can know all the right Christian stuff,

but actually you can be as disobedient and dead as anybody else.

Because what we need to be able to be the people God has called us to be

is power to live as he wants us to.

Because of ourselves, we are powerless to obey.

The disciples knew that very well.

And relying on your own willpower can only get you so far.

You know, you think about it, you say,

I'm not going to eat that chocolate, I'm not going to eat that chocolate,

I'm not going to eat that chocolate.

And then five seconds later, it's just, well, maybe just one.

Or if you manage to say, and you know, you feel really guilty afterwards,

you're, oh, I blew it.

And then you do exactly the same thing the next week.

Or even if you manage to succeed with your willpower

at thinking you're doing the right thing,

what happens is you say,

oh, I didn't eat the chocolate.

Aren't I disciplined?

Aren't I strong?

And then you look down at everybody else who ate the chocolate,

and you think, wow, I am so good at being disciplined.

You should be like me.

And I'm an expert at this.

I've done this so many times, I can assure you.

And you know what the Bible calls that?

Pride.

So if you rely on your willpower solely to obey God,

if you succeed, you'll become proud.

If you fail, you'll become guilty.

And so either way, before God, you're basically screwed.

Okay?

If I can say that.

And in Cantonese, there's a phrase which says,

which is like, what shall we do?

What do we do?

And God has brought the disciples down to this point on their knees,

and I think Peter particularly knows this.

He's just denied Jesus.

And Peter knows that he is completely powerless to obey and follow God,

but he wants to follow him.

And it's at the point where God has brought,

Jesus brought them to their knees to see,

I can't do this by myself.

And as he does that with all of us and the church to bring us to the point of saying,

I cannot in my own strength,

through my own will path,

through my own cleverness,

through my own planning,

be the person,

be the church that God wants us to be.

When you get to that point,

that's the beginning,

the starting point for gaining true spiritual power.

We're powerless without God.

So let's then look at the,

how God says,

how Jesus says,

I'm going to give you power.

So we're going to look at the coming of power,

and then we're going to look at plugging into the power.

So in this coming of power,

Jesus tells the disciples,

okay,

I'm not here for politics and political kingdom at this moment.

That's not now.

Later,

yes,

not now,

but you will receive power to do my mission,

power from the Holy Spirit,

and you will be witnesses,

my witnesses in Jerusalem,

Judea,

Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth.

It's going to start right where you are,

and it's going to spread outwards.

And I want you to be part of this movement of Christian communities,

which are multiplying,

and which are testifying to me in every area of the globe.

In a world which is so dark and broken in so many ways,

God wants communities of light to shine in every place.

That's what we as Watermark want to be about.

That's what when we talk about church planting,

that's what we want to be about,

because that is the mission that God has called us to be as his people.

That's what Jesus tells us to do.

And it's interesting,

as Jesus gives them this commission,

and then he ascends to heaven,

and Jesus tells them to wait,

and he tells them to wait until the day of Pentecost.

Now, the day of Pentecost is actually a festival.

It's also called the Feast of Firstfruits.

And in chapter 2, verse 1, it says,

when the day of Pentecost,

in your translation, it says arrived,

the word actually means when it was fulfilled.

And this festival,

people will come from all over to Jerusalem

to celebrate the ingathering of the barley harvest,

because the barley harvest was the first harvest of the year

before the wheat harvest and the olives and the grapes

and all the other harvests.

So here is the time of celebrating

the incoming of the first harvest

and it's no accident that God chooses this time

to bring his spirit

because God had his human harvest

that he was harvesting that day.

3,000 people from around the nations

on that global mission that God is doing

began to come into his kingdom.

That was the first harvest in Jerusalem.

It's going to go out to Judea.

The rest of Acts is how it goes out to Judea,

Samaria, and then the rest of the earth.

But that's what God's up to.

Pentecost.

And the thing was, for most people,

it's an ordinary day.

You know, it's an ordinary festival day.

Everyone was enjoying themselves.

But the disciples were gathered there

in this room together, praying.

We don't know where the room was.

It might have been near the temple.

And everywhere around,

there's thousands of people gathering.

And then suddenly, there's a sound of a violent,

rushing wind fills the entire house.

And what appears to be fire comes down

and rests on the heads of the people in that room.

And it's not a problem with the air conditioning unit.

Something comes.

The Holy Spirit comes, and they start speaking in other languages.

And 3,000 people that day come to faith in Christ.

And what's going on here in this theme?

Because the imagery is a little bit weird,

but it comes from the Old Testament as well.

Because the word wind is the same word as spirit.

And the fire in the Old Testament

was always a symbol of God's presence.

You remember the burning bush, Mount Sinai?

It's always a symbol of God coming to be with his people,

his presence being there.

And so when the tongues of fire divide and rest on everybody,

what is it saying?

It's saying everybody,

the Spirit, God's presence,

comes upon every believer in that room.

In the Old Testament,

the Spirit only came upon certain individuals,

certain priests could go into God's presence.

Certain prophets had the Spirit.

But here, it's not just restricted to a few.

Everybody has it.

Which means that if you are a Christian,

if you are a Christian today,

because he says it later on in the verse,

he says, you know,

the promise of the Spirit is for you

and for your children

and for all who are far off.

He says,

for people like you and me who are powerless,

God's power has come upon us

and has come inside of us

to live with us and to dwell with us.

God himself has come to dwell with you.

Now the Spirit is a person.

God is a personal God.

And he wants to come and empower each one of us

for his mission to do what we cannot do apart from him.

I think it would be a bit like,

last week I was trying to,

we had a barbecue.

I was trying to light this barbecue

with just some newspaper.

I am terrible at lighting barbecues.

And I spent 40 minutes with this newspaper

trying to get some fire going.

And every time the fire started,

I was hopeful,

then suddenly it just disappeared.

And after 40 minutes,

I was thinking I was going to be eating raw chicken,

which didn't sound fun.

And then somebody came up and said,

hey, you know you can get some fire lighters,

some fire starters from nearby.

So we went and bought one and we came.

And then suddenly,

the moment we had the fire starter,

the whole thing just took off.

And what I'd been trying frustratingly to do

for 40 minutes,

suddenly became so much easier,

so much better,

because there was a new power.

The Holy Spirit is to be that new power

to enable us to do what we ourselves cannot do,

which is to be the people God has called us to be

and to do the things that God has called us to do,

to love people,

to love Him,

to love the world,

love the lost.

Now, when you start talking about the Holy Spirit and power,

some of us get a little bit nervous.

Some of us get a little bit too excited.

Because some of us think power is just about miracles,

spectacular kind of glory,

which flies around the room and does amazing things.

Some of us,

the supernatural kind of things,

freak us out a little bit.

And I'm not really going to talk a lot about the tongues and things,

but basically just to see,

in the history of the church

and in the history of the Bible,

we see God does do extraordinary things at specific times.

We have a mighty,

extraordinary God.

Sometimes in history,

they're called revivals,

where God does amazing things in people's lives.

Healings.

He does do things where He changes the way that we normally think about

the ordinary things that happen.

He does touch people's hearts in dramatic ways.

And I don't want to be,

and I know this is so often what I do,

I box God into my little way of,

I think He should operate.

And I don't want to be like the people who say,

they've simply just had too much wine.

But here's the thing,

the book of Acts is actually,

when it talks about power,

it's not primarily talking about miracles

and all that kind of stuff.

Because the tongues and the things that are going on here,

they're actually the trailer to the movie,

they're not the movie itself.

It would be very weird if I said to Fiona,

hey, let's go down Friday night to the cinema,

and let's watch a trailer together.

And then we'll leave before the movie starts.

Or if you go to direct to the film and you say,

hey, I loved your trailer, it's so good.

And he says, have you watched the movie?

And you say, no, but the trailer was fantastic.

You've missed the whole point.

Because actually here,

nobody is actually saved through the tongues in this story.

The tongues are actually that trailer

which is pointing to something greater.

They're real languages here in this story

which is speaking to people from different nations,

speaking their heart language,

attracting them to what the main message

of what Peter is about to tell them.

And that main message,

which Peter then goes and talks about,

and we've only got a short section here in your text,

is the gospel.

That is the main movie that God is about.

Because that's why when Peter gets up,

he starts preaching.

Do you know what he starts preaching?

He starts preaching Jesus.

He just says, Jesus is amazing.

Jesus died.

Jesus rose again.

It's all about Jesus.

And conviction of sin comes upon people

because he's talking about Jesus.

That's what gets people saved.

It's the gospel.

It's the message of truth

which saves and delivers and captivates people.

And that's what they're witnesses to.

That's what should excite us the most

is that gospel.

Pentecost only happened once.

Pentecost doesn't happen again.

So if you're thinking that tongues of fire

are going to come down this morning,

it may be the AC unit.

Okay?

But the Holy Spirit's power

is for everyone at all times,

every believer.

And when that Holy Spirit comes

and fills you with his power

throughout the Bible

and throughout history,

there's a number of things which happen.

I'm just going to mention three things

which happen.

In this story,

when the people are filled with the Spirit,

they're filled with joy-filled praise

at the gospel.

Because you see,

they're declaring,

when the Spirit fills them,

they start declaring the wonders of God.

They burst forth in praise

at how amazing God is.

And as we've said,

Peter's sermon,

as Peter gets up,

what is he full of?

He's just full of Jesus.

And he can only talk about Jesus

because it's so amazing.

God's word has just become alive in his heart

and it just bursts forth in praise.

It's a bit like,

somebody once said,

when the Spirit's power comes on you

and you're filled with him,

it's like you're a child

walking with your father

and you know your father loves you,

but then your father picks you up,

hugs you,

kisses you,

and embraces you.

And now it's not just you know in your head

you know theoretically that God loves you.

You experience right deep in your soul

just how much he loves you.

You know it.

And it's not just that the gospel

kind of is some thing,

yeah, I know Jesus died,

he forgave my sins,

la la la la la,

great, thank you.

It's, wow,

he died for my sins.

He died for what I did yesterday.

He's freed me from all of that stuff

that I've been trying to do,

all that shame and that fear in the past.

He's freed me

and that's just so liberating.

That's the gospel.

That's what the Spirit is doing.

It's always pointing to Jesus

and getting you excited about what his death,

what his resurrection has done.

Because you see what they do,

even as a community later on,

you see they're constantly praising God.

And it's not they're having to tell them,

you've got to praise God now.

It's because it's just erupting inside of them.

Because Jesus is that amazing for them.

And I wonder,

as I just think about this,

when did you,

and this is the question I ask myself,

have I experienced

the presence of God

in a real way,

a tangible way,

in this last week?

Has the gospel

and that assurance

that I'm his child,

that I'm loved by him,

has it

thrilled my heart

in this last week?

So I just want to

release in thanksgiving and praise.

Because often when I look at my own life,

I would say,

yep, sometimes,

but often a lot of the time

I just go through the motions.

And what the passage

calls us to do is

we're powerless to change

by ourselves.

We need to get on our knees

and start praying

and asking God

to give us

that

his spirit's

filling

so that we just

are just

full of Jesus.

but it's not just

that the gospel

becomes beautiful

so that we praise,

it's also that the spirit

makes you bold

and boldly proclaiming

this gospel.

So it doesn't just stay,

you know,

the disciples don't just stay

in the upper room

having a little

Holy Spirit moment

together.

You know,

they actually,

it releases them out

to proclaim Jesus.

You know,

some people

are naturally braver

than other people,

right?

Some people

are more cowardly

than other people.

Peter thought

he was brave

but God showed him

that he was a coward

when he denied

Jesus in front

of the servant girl.

But what the spirit

does

in our lives

is he turns a chicken

into a lion.

He turns

someone who denied

Jesus

into someone

who wanted to

proclaim him.

And Peter stands up

in the midst

of all the people

and he proclaims to them.

If you look in verse 23

he says to them,

you,

with the help

of wicked men,

put Jesus to death.

It was you

who did it.

And if he hasn't

offended people enough

by that,

because that's not

very politically correct,

he then,

in verse 36,

he repeats it.

He says,

this Jesus

whom you crucified

has been made

Lord and Messiah

because he's risen

from the dead.

Now that's bold

because you think

about where he is.

He's right in the temple

where seven weeks earlier

Jesus was also teaching

and what happened,

the priests

and all the people around,

they were plotting

to kill him.

And from cowards

who locked themselves

in a room

fearful

just a few weeks earlier,

afraid of these priests

again

and these people

who might attack them

and kill them

to unashamed boldness,

that's the Holy Spirit.

That's nothing

you can work up.

And it's the right word

at the right time

because 3,000 people

are cut to the heart

and say,

what should we do

to be saved?

And they also

experience that joy

of the gospel.

And I don't know about you,

do you want

that kind of boldness?

Because I do.

And if you think about it,

if you think,

well,

they're just the disciples,

you know,

they had a bit of Jesus,

they saw Jesus,

it was different from them.

Well, you see,

two chapters later

they're arrested

and they're told

not to speak

and when they're released

they come out

and the first thing

they start doing

is they start praying.

And what do they

start praying?

They say,

pray,

God,

please give us boldness

to keep praying.

Why do they have to pray that?

Because they're afraid.

Because they can't do it.

And they know they can't.

They know they're weak.

And I know that

I'm naturally not bold

in many situations.

And sometimes

sharing the gospel for me

is a bit more like

burping.

Okay?

You know,

because burping

is something that's unpleasant

but you know

it's got to come out

at some point.

And you just hope

you can kind of

release it silently

with nobody else noticing

if possible.

or you try and

you try and work

for an appropriate moment

to be able to release

but then

sometimes that moment

never really comes.

Or if you're in Hong Kong

then

you can just feel it

rising.

It's like,

you know,

you've got to share it,

you know,

you've got to say it,

you know,

you feel it rising.

It's like,

you just kind of

splurge it all out.

And you feel great about it

but everyone else

feels terrible.

They're like,

what hit me?

And so often

because I'm relying

on my own strength

that's what sharing

the gospel is like

for me.

And yet it's when

I realize that I'm weak

that I,

that's what I'm like

and I say,

God,

I cannot do this.

I cannot obey you

unless you come

and give me your power

and your ability

and your strength

because I'm just going

to be burping the gospel.

I'm not going

to be sharing it.

And when you do that,

you see,

I've seen it in my life

so many times

where I start praying

and I say,

I don't know what to say.

I don't know how to say it.

And God just

gives you the words.

He promises you will.

So do you dare

to get on your knees

today

and ask God

to give you the courage

and the opportunities

this week

to be able to share

that gospel

with the people around you?

And not just pray one,

but just keep praying

again and again

and again.

Because the Spirit

delights you

in the gospel.

The Spirit makes you bold.

And the Spirit

also leads you

to be devoted

to Christian community.

Because

the Holy Spirit's power,

you see what this happens

and I won't spend

a long time on this,

but it leads to a desire

to meet with God's people.

Do you see what happens

in verses 42 to 47?

Suddenly,

they're just

all the time,

they're just spending

all the time together

with each other.

They can't get enough

of each other.

You see that?

They're in the temple,

so they've got the formal

meetings together,

but then afterwards,

they're in each other's homes.

They just can't get enough

of each other.

And it's not as if

they're all the same

kind of people,

because they're people

from every kind of background.

And you know,

so often we're preoccupied

with,

well,

they're not my kind of person.

They're just

different personality.

They don't lead

the Bible study

as well as I'd like them to.

But those are not

the issues

that they're struggling with,

because there's a spontaneity,

and the Spirit

is exciting them

about Christian community.

And so often,

I know,

my tendency

and our tendency

can be when people

are different from you,

when things are difficult,

when things are not quite

the way we want them to be,

what our tendency

can often be

is to withdraw

from Christian community.

And when we begin

to hold back,

when we begin

to withdraw,

what you see

is actually,

that's a sign

that you're not relying

on the Spirit,

but you're relying

on your own strength

to be able to do

and be who you think

you should be.

The Spirit

always pushes you

into Christian community.

It never pushes you away.

So you see

what the Spirit does?

Gospel.

It thrills you

with the gospel.

Mission.

It gives you a heart

and a desire

to reach out

to those around you.

Community.

It pushes you back

into community.

Do you see,

that's why these are our values,

because they're right

at the heart

of what it means

to be God's people.

And we can't do it

by ourselves.

We need God

to come and give us grace.

So if this is what

we are called to be,

and I don't know

if you think about this,

but as I think about

some of those things

and I look at my own life,

I see this gap.

I see I'm not always

what I'm meant to be.

I'm not always bold.

I'm not always passionate

about the gospel.

I'm not always passionate

about community.

So how do we

plug in

to that power?

Because if the Holy Spirit

lives,

I mean,

if you thought about it,

if the Holy Spirit

really lives inside of me,

why do I not experience

that thrill all the time?

Why do I have to be filled again?

Because Ephesians tells us

keep being filled

with the Spirit.

So if I've already got it,

why do I have to keep

being filled?

Well,

Spurgeon,

who was a 19th century preacher,

he once said,

the reason we need to

constantly be filled

with the Spirit

is because we leak.

Now,

what he meant by that,

the Spirit's not

this kind of liquid

that you need to top up

like the oil

in your car or something.

That's not what

he's talking about.

The analogy is

we stop,

we leak

because we stop

looking

to the person

of the Spirit

for our power

to live

as God wants us to be

and we start relying

on another power source

and we just leak away.

And how do you depend

on the Spirit?

Well,

I think one of the main ways

is through prayer.

Regular,

persistent prayer

which knows

your need of God.

Because

if you see

in between Jesus'

ascension and resurrection,

what are the disciples doing?

Praying.

In the communities,

from house to house,

what's one of the things

they're doing?

Praying.

When they are persecuted,

what do they start doing?

Praying.

When they're about to,

before they ever think

about sending people

off the mission

and Paul,

what do they start doing?

They're praying.

All the time

because they know

that they are powerless

and they know

that they need God.

And so often

I know in my life,

what I do

is I do

all my planning,

all my preparations,

all the things

that I think I should do

and then I say

a little quick prayer

at the end,

oh please bless this,

Lord,

amen.

And then I go off

and do what I want to do.

But if we as a church

want to be about

church planting,

want to be about

reaching this city,

want to be about

encouraging people

to go into

all the nations,

if we want to be

that kind of people,

we cannot be

that kind of people

unless we're

a prayerful people.

You know,

you get desperate

in prayer

when you know

you need it.

like before

a job interview,

before an exam,

yes,

before a difficult

conversation,

before preaching

a sermon.

You know,

it does amazing

things for your

prayer life

and then you

forget about it.

Because why do we

sometimes not pray

with that sense

of desperation?

It's because the rest

of the time

we think we don't

need it.

And because I'm

self-reliant

and what keeps

me self-reliant

is often

I'm fueled

by distraction.

I'm distracted.

Because prayer

is communication

with God.

If we want to have

that His power

and His presence

experienced in our life,

prayer is that

communication with God

and yet we spend

like more than

any other time

in the whole of history,

we are communicating

more than any other time.

You know,

like 24-7,

right?

You know,

we're on Facebook,

we're tweeting,

we're emailing,

we're Whatsapping,

we're Instagramming,

we're doing all kinds

of things all the time.

And you know,

you take your phone

away from somebody

and it's like

taking drugs away

from an addict.

I mean,

suddenly you're so insecure,

but what if I miss

that message?

You know?

And I think

sometimes what we're like

is,

we're like,

you know,

you've been to those

restaurants where

you see a couple

opposite each other,

you know,

it's a nice romantic

restaurant,

beautiful scene,

and what is the couple,

you know,

a great time just

to spend time

with each other

and just enjoy

that intimate fellowship

with each other

and what are they doing?

And both of them

seem to be having

some kind of connection

through cyberspace.

I don't know

what they're doing,

but it must be

a really healthy relationship.

And I think

that's a little bit

about how we treat

God often.

God is like the spouse

on the other side

saying,

hey,

I want you to enjoy

my presence.

I want you to empower

for you to just

delight myself in me.

And what we're doing,

we're saying,

hold on,

I've just got one message.

Give us a second.

Sorry,

this is important.

Okay.

Or,

I've just got to get

this one.

And God is there

saying,

you've forgotten

that I am the source

of the power

to be who

you and we

as a church

are called to be.

Because I am that source

and you're so distracted

and every other thing

you think is what's

going to make you,

make your life successful.

And we say,

and we are,

we're so busy.

And we say,

because we're so busy,

we don't have time

to pray.

But,

Kathy Keller,

who is Tim Keller's wife,

puts it like this.

He said,

if the doctor told you

that you had a fatal condition,

and unless you take

this medicine

every night

from 11 to 11.15

and swallow these pills,

you'll be dead

by morning.

If that was the case,

she says,

you would never miss.

You would never say,

I was too tired

or I didn't get it

or I was watching a movie

and I didn't have time.

you wouldn't do that.

But we say,

I don't have time to pray

because the Bible would say

and I think Kathy Keller

would say,

maybe it's not we don't

have time to pray,

it's we don't feel

the need to pray.

Because we rely

on everything else

to satisfy

and fill our lives

and we stop running

to the one who says,

I am the source

of your power to live

and to be

who you're meant to be.

And that's what God

calls us

as his people to be.

Because when you pray,

when you reach

that point of saying,

I need you, God.

I need to be

the people

you have called us to be,

we need you.

Then you will start

to pray.

And not just once,

but again and again

and again

until you see

God doing this work

in our lives.

When you pray,

it's not just that you

begin to get

direct answers,

although I believe you do.

When you pray,

God changes

your perspective

and you begin

to get God's story,

God's picture,

God's vision

of the world.

I remember once,

I had a boss once,

not now,

but in the past.

Got to make that clear.

God's vision

and I used to want

to hang her

from the gallows

and torture her

mercilessly.

Just being real.

And I would be

outwardly polite to her

but inwardly cold.

And I would tell

everybody else

how mean she was

but I would never

pray for her.

And one day,

God kind of

convicted me of this

and just said,

because I realized

I just didn't want to love her.

I couldn't care less

about her,

if I'm honest.

And God convicted me

and said,

I want you to start

praying for her.

Not praying for her

agonizing death

but praying

for her

to come to know

the beauty

of the gospel.

Come to know her

to know

just how amazing

Jesus is.

And for me

to have a boldness

to be able to reach out

to her

with the gospel,

with a love,

with that sense

of mission to her.

And do you know

what began to happen

as I prayed over time?

It didn't happen instantly

but over time,

I began to see her differently.

She was no longer

Godzilla in my mind.

She began to,

I began to see her

as a hurting,

fearful,

insecure woman

who needed the gospel

of grace

in her life.

And that began

to change the way

I responded to her

and I started to look

for ways that I could

bless her

and that I might be able

to share something

of the love of God

with her.

Because that's what

the Holy Spirit does.

We can't be the people

we're called to be

unless

we're relying

on a power source

other than

the things

that we rely on

by ourselves.

And if we as a church

want to be

this church of gospel,

community,

and mission,

we're never going

to be that

unless we start

getting on our knees

saying,

God,

unless you do it,

we cannot be that people.

We're powerless

but God has given us

His power.

It's not a weird,

wacky thing in the air.

It's His personal presence

to excite us about Himself,

to excite us about

His Christian community,

to give us boldness

to reach out

where we have no idea

how to reach out

to the people in us,

people around us.

That's where God's story

has got to.

That's why we're here

in Hong Kong

as His people.

We have opportunities,

Toby mentioned them,

to begin to pray together.

Tonight,

there's a chance

to pray together

at the community center.

There's a class afterwards

on learning how to pray

using the Psalms.

In your CGs,

why don't you start

making prayer

something which is not

just about getting

what I want

but a start about us

being who we were

made to be

because that is

where God's story is.

We're not the perfect people.

That's the end

of the story.

We will keep messing

up.

That's why the grace

of the gospel

has got to thrill us again

because we will

keep messing up

but then we come back

again and again

and again

to saying,

God,

we need you

and you will begin

to see God

do amazing things

because that's the kind

of God He is.

Let's pray.

Father,

I just

I'm just so aware

of the gap

between

who you have

called me,

who you've called us

as a church to be

and

where I am

and where we are

and I know

that it's not

by trying harder

that I'm going

to close that gap,

that we're going

to close that gap.

It's not by

lots of great planning

and all those other things,

good those are,

Lord.

Please give me,

please give us

that sense

of just how much

we need you.

Please give us

that desperation

for you

that unless you come,

unless you change us,

unless you work

in our church,

in our lives,

in our families,

in our colleagues,

in every area

of this city,

Lord.

We cannot be

the people

you call us to be.

But thank you,

you have not left us

alone as orphans.

You have given us

your spirit

because you want

to be beside us.

You want us

to enjoy you.

And I pray,

Lord,

that your gospel,

that your word

would become

living in our lives.

I pray that we

would get

excited about you.

I can't work up

excitement,

Lord,

but give us

that passion

to pray,

that passion

to be people

who just keep

coming back to you,

knowing that you

are our hope,

you're our salvation,

you're our joy,

you are the one

who is our only one

who can make us

the people

we're made to be.

Thank you so much

that you're so good

to us.

May you get the glory

through this.

in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Come on.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.