IN THE WILDERNESS | SUNDAY 22ND FEBRUARY | PS AARON MORE

It's great. We uh Yeah, perfect.

We've just uh had 72 hours of prayer. Uh

anyone go to the prayer room? How good

was that? Wasn't that an awesome? And uh

uh Sarah did an amazing job just

preparing that area. Um she although she

did need my help um at one point because

um she said to me um there's a wasp in

the prayer room. And I said, "What do

you mean?" And she said, "Well, someone

was obviously clever enough to capture

the wasp, but then they wrote on top of

the cup, be careful. There is a wasp

under this cup as they had caught it."

and she said, "Um, I'm um too scared to

lift the" And so I was on later that day

and I realized there might have been

prayer warriors in the house, but no one

was going to lift the cup. Like, you

know, I was like, man, uh causing demons

to flee, but scared of a wasp

apparently. And so I um got up there and

thankfully uh there was uh Eley and

Sunny G who um were looked like men

equipped for the job. And I said, "Hey,

is there a wasp under there?" And Aussie

said, "I think it might be a trick to

see who lifts the cup." And I was like,

"Okay." Well, I'm like, "Well, who's

going to do it?" And he's like, "So, he

lifted it and there was a dead wasp

under the cup." So, um Oh. Oh, I didn't

realize that would be a sad moment. Some

some of you like wasps more than me. I

thought that was a moment of rejoicing,

but um apparently not. Um please don't

call uh SPCA. It's okay.

I'm really surprised that some people

gave an awe for a wasp. Man,

I hate wasps. Anyway, uh next week uh as

uh Paul said, we will be uh two service

times, 9 and 11:15.

And uh part of the reason uh why we did

9 and 11:15 is um we really want the

freedom that we have like uh we we we

don't want to uh radically change who we

are in the name of going to two

services. we actually believe God's um

doing something in our midst and we want

that to continue but we realize that

going to to so so some people were like

well why is it 9 and 11:15 and one of

the reasons why it's good that it's 9

and 11:15 is it actually forces everyone

to choose a new service time cuz if we

did one at 10:30 everyone would just go

oh I'll just come to that cuz that's

really uh convenient so this this will

actually mean uh you know it'll be a new

service time for everyone and uh we're

really excited about what God is doing.

But we have been in uh we've just

started a season of Lent. And I'm not

going to ask you to cheer for that

because uh Lent is a season of prayer

and fasting and it is a rich time, but

it can also be a challenging time. And I

remember uh you'll see the picture

behind me. Uh I mean, it's a great thing

when you're believing for church growth.

you start talking about a wilderness

like that's a that that's a a

crowdleaser right there. But this

morning we're going to start our our

Lent series uh called the wilderness

which is going to look at Jesus' journey

in Luke chapter 4. And uh Sarah and I um

Luke 4 · chapter mention

uh moved to Alexandra

uh in what year? I can't even think 2014

something like that. Um down to

Alexandria. And the thing about

Alexandra is it the hills around

Alexandra look pretty similar to that

photo. It's actually almost like as

close to a desert type climate as you

can get in New Zealand. It is uh the

hottest part of New Zealand in summer.

It is the coldest part of New Zealand in

winter, but it's actually the driest

year round. And so, um, we would have

this dry, um, uh, uh, culture and around

the around the hills there would just

be, uh, just total barrenness. And one

time we had, uh, a guest speaker come

and he was like, uh, afterwards I was

chatting with him and he's like, "Yeah,

you know, um, I understand the Lord's

called you to a dry place and, you know,

I realize that this place is dry." And I

was like, "That's not very encouraging."

And he was like, you know, but I just

think if you can keep pursuing and you

can keep and um I was kind of like, oh,

I don't actually see what you're seeing.

You see, we can say the words wilderness

and it can produce certain thoughts in

our mind. But it is actually just like

God to choose places where we think

things die to actually bring new life,

to bring fresh joy, to bring all kinds

of things that we need. And so, uh, as

we talk about the wilderness, it will be

a challenging season. Yes. But it's also

an invitation of heaven into what God

wants to do in our lives.

>> And so, uh, we're going to be talking

about, uh, Jesus' journey through the

wilderness. But, uh, before we get to

Luke 4, it's actually Luke chapter 3,

Luke 3 · chapter mention

uh, verse 21 when Jesus is baptized. And

it says this, uh, when all the people

were being baptized, Jesus was baptized,

too. And as he was praying, heaven was

open and the Holy Spirit descended on

him in bodily form like a dove and a

voice came from heaven saying, "You are

my son whom I am well pleased." So here

we have Jesus having his baptism. And so

for 30 years there's a little bit of

obviously we have a lot of the story of

his birth. Then we have a few mentions

of him as a child and then at his

baptism he has this encounter with the

Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit comes

upon him in the form of a dove. And I

love the story does my Pentecostal heart

good that like there was a presence of

God falling on Jesus. And we need to be

people that create space for encounters

with the presence of God. We need to be

people that believe the Holy Spirit will

turn up and and change lives and that

encountering him can change everything

in a moment. Like that is foundational

to who we are. We believe that the

spirit pours out on people and he

changes things.

And I could tell you of a number of

stories in my life where I've had

dramatic encounters with God that have

changed the course and the direction of

my life. Uh I would say one of the

interesting things is though sometimes

what happens is we actually tell the

story of a dramatic encounter as if we

live there every day. So we take our

highlight story of what God did and it

is powerful and we should want more and

we should hunger for that. But sometimes

we almost pretend like well this is what

happens to me every single day. And you

know um some people u may experience

them as I've said before. I'm jealous of

those people also skeptical but um but

but but ma mainly jealous um but you

know we we we do believe that there is a

place where the spirit of God comes upon

people in a moment of encounter and

lives are transformed where where bodies

are healed where drug addictions are

broken in an instant where where

something happens where the Holy Spirit

comes upon people and there is

transformation and We absolutely need to

be a church and a people that pursue

that.

>> If you're like me, maybe you get

frustrated with the term like we're in a

season of preparation. Anyone ever kind

of I was like, man, I realized when I

was growing up in church, it was like

anytime God wasn't doing what we wanted

him to do, people would be like, oh,

we're just in a season of preparation.

I'll be like, ah, I'm actually kind of

sick of being in a season of

preparation. And then I'd hear people

say like, then God turned up and messed

everything up and we weren't even ready.

And I was like, so even when we think

we're prepared, we're not prepared. Cuz

if we're prepared, it's like, man, it's

probably not what he's going to do. And

so, I don't know about you, but I was

like, "Oh, I'm really sick of always

being in a season of preparation." Like,

it would be really nice to progress from

the season of preparation into what God

has for us.

And so, Jesus had lived 30 years. The

spirit descends upon him like a dove. He

hears the voice of the father. This is

my son in whom I am well pleased. So

here we have this amazing moment and and

so the spirit is on him in the form of a

dove and and the voice of heaven, the

Holy Spirit's like, "Wow, what's going

to happen next?" Like 30 years. It's

like finally the season of preparation

is over. Jesus has spent 30 years and

it's like wow I wonder what will happen

next. If you didn't know the story I

think for most of us it would be a bit

bit of a plot twist that in Luke 4:1 it

Luke 4:1

says Jesus full of the spirit left the

Jordan and was led by the spirit into

the wilderness.

It's like 30 years of preparation for

ministry. the Holy Spirit descends on

him and then the first function of the

Holy Spirit is to lead him into the

wilderness. I'm like, well, that doesn't

really I'm like, I thought that all the

preparation was gone. Now he's full of

the spirit and and and then the spirit

says, no, what I'm going to do is lead

you into the wilderness.

My goodness, that's not what I expected.

And uh

it's interesting because I think the

Greek word will come up on the screen.

It is to lead by implication to bring or

to even drive. And so you have one

member of the Trinity driving another

member of the Trinity into uh the

wilderness. And if you're wondering if

you've got questions about the theology

of that, Clinton would love to meet you

afterwards. Uh I think he done his

dissertation on that. So he will explain

to you how one member of the trinity can

be driving the next member of the

trinity into the wilderness and how that

works with the picture of the godhead.

Um

but we have

the spirit driving Jesus into the

wilderness. Isn't it amazing that the

first act that we read of of the spirit

in Jesus' life, obviously he was born of

the spirit. We know that like uh I mean

but the first after the spirit coming

upon him the first thing that actually

happened was he was driven to the

wilderness. Like that doesn't meet my

narrative of what it means to be

Pentecostal. I've never had an altar

call where they said who wants to

receive the Holy Spirit? You receive the

Holy Spirit and they say right now go to

the wilderness. Like I've never

encountered that before. But that's what

happened to Jesus that he received the

spirit then he was driven to the

wilderness.

And it's a pattern that doesn't match

exactly but you can actually see it in

many of the biblical heroes. You see a

similar pattern of this wilderness

space. You know, Paul after he has his

Damascus road experience actually goes

and spends years in the Arabian desert.

Like he's finally uh um been transformed

and then he just when you think, well,

wow, he's going to carry the gospel. He

no, he actually gets drawn into this

private place. And it's interesting

because I believe we need to be people

that are hungry to encounter the spirit.

But I also believe we need to be people

that allow the spirit to lead us into

spirit uh into seasons of

transformation.

Actually, that there are seasons of

formation that the Holy Spirit wants to

do in our lives. And there are things

that will only happen through encounter.

And there are things that will only

happen through seasons.

And uh in leadership we we teach this as

a principle that sometimes one of the

worst things you can do is try and fix a

process problem with an event. You know

like you have a workplace that has low

morale and they go we've got low low

morale. No one likes each other. I know

what we'll do. We'll have a team

building day. We'll grab all of the

people who are disconnected and make

them sit around and put stickers on and

talk about feelings for eight hours and

that will fix it. A and the problem is

they're trying to fix a problem that is

actually a process problem with an

event, right? It's like no, actually

people saying good morning to each other

and smiling might do a whole lot better

for the culture than actually a team

building day that no one wants to go to.

And

>> sometimes what happens is we have the

encounter, it's so powerful, we need it

and then we think, well, what I need now

is another encounter. Well, I guess that

was so powerful. Just let me have

another encounter. And yes, we do need

another encounter. And I believe we

actually need other power encounters as

well. But we also need to know what it

is to be led into a process where God

begins to form us. And that obviously

happens in our daily routine. That

happens through reading the word,

through praying, through setting aside

time. But I believe it also happens

through seasons that the Holy Spirit

invites us into. Seasons of formation

where we actually experience what might

be called a wilderness, but we actually

realize that in the kingdom great things

grow in the wilderness. that we have

daily patterns, but we also have seasons

of leaning in and allowing things to

grow.

>> And so, part of the reason why we do

Lent as a church is that probably about

six years ago, I felt the spirit leading

me into a season. I was like, uh, I'll

be honest, I was kind of like, h, not

totally what I want. I mean, um, Lent

isn't always fun. I mean, Jesus

practiced 40 days in the wilderness and

the devil turned up, right? So, like, if

you struggle to pray sometimes, think,

"Man, my prayer time's hard." Well, just

think of Jesus, the son of God. His

prayer time, his time of fasting, the

flipping devil turns up. So, um, that

kind of made me feel a little bit better

about getting hangry when I'm fasting,

right? I was like, "Okay, well, at least

the physical devil isn't here."

But Jesus

started, the spirit led him to this

place. And I believe we need deep

encounters.

But I do believe there is something that

sometimes happens uh within some

charismatic circles where people are

like, I just want the next encounter. I

just want the next encounter. I just

want the next encounter. Just give me an

encounter. Just give me an encounter.

And it's almost like a drug addict just

going, just hype me up so I can get

through the next week. And I believe we

need encounters. I I burn for you to

encounter the Holy Spirit. But I also

believe that sometimes post the

encounter, what he actually does is lead

us into a season where he's like, I am

going to form you into a person that can

carry what I want you to carry. You see

the desert, Jesus did not live the rest

of his life in the desert. He was led

out for divine purpose.

But there is this place that he came to.

So I felt my own challenge to um to

begin to um practice Lent and I was

like, "Oh, that's not really my

tradition. Um you know, I'd rather do

something else." Um and then um I really

felt challenged to um to uh fast coffee

for the 40 days. And um uh at that stage

I was drinking probably four to five

cups of coffee a day. That was 425, not

45, but still four to five cups of

coffee a day. On the odd occasion it was

a triple shot. So it was I was feeling

humming. Like you can imagine if I'm

like this on two coffees a day, you can

imagine back then I'm peing pretty good.

And uh

Sarah was very very grateful for Lent,

but not the first few days as I um had

the headaches and crashed and but one of

the things that had happened to me um

that our local coffee shop in Alexandria

um after Alexandra got power then got

the internet and then we actually got an

app that you could download and you

could order coffee off the app and um it

was good coffee. And I certainly

wouldn't do it every day, but maybe like

a couple of times a week, I'd be like,

"I'm going to work. I can order a

coffee." And what I realized was like I

would order this coffee. I would um go

in. It was wonderful cuz you didn't have

to wait. You didn't even really have to

talk to the person. It's just kind of

sitting there with your name. And uh so

like you order it, you pay for it

without doing anything. You walk in, you

pick it up, you go to your car, and then

by the time you've got work, got to

work, the coffee is gone anyway. You not

really thought about it. Just medicating

yourself with caffeine, right? And so I

was kind of like, I don't know if this

this is actually that healthy. Like, let

me get my coffee and let me avoid people

while I do it. Just give me the

caffeine. I'm happy to pay someone to

make me a cup of coffee that I will

maybe enjoy or maybe I'll just drop down

the hatch before I've even thought about

it. And so I realized in the midst of

that as I gave up coffee, what the Lord

was actually saying to me is there is a

consumer uh mindset attached to that

that is in your life that is not healthy

for you. And so I am inviting you into a

season and yes it is a season of fasting

but it's actually a season of fasting

that because I have something better for

you. It's not transactional that well

would you give up this so you can get

something. It's more like would you give

up this so you can become something?

Would you would you give up that so that

you actually my work in your life you

begin to become a different person. And

I can tell you the first few days of no

coffee, I did become a different person.

It just wasn't one that you wanted to be

around. I had headaches. I began to

dream in the night. I began to do um the

I I Googled it. Google told me that um

because I had withdrawn so much

caffeine, I was actually sleeping

properly. Imagine that. And they're

like, "You're having dreams because

you're sleeping." And uh what was

amazing was I 100% would have told you,

"Oh, caffeine does not affect me." No,

it doesn't. I can drink five a day. It

doesn't affect me at all. Then I go off

it and I'm like, "Oh, wow. I'm actually

sleeping like really deep." I'm like,

"Wow, this is what it looks like when

you don't medicate yourself with

caffeine." By the way, this is not a

judgment to anyone who enjoys coffee. I

drink coffee. I enjoy coffee. It's good.

But like all things, it's good to have

it in its right place. You're probably

mature enough that it is in its right

place. In my life, it wasn't. And so, I

was like, man, I need to have a reset.

Actually, the next year I did the 40

days for Lent. I went on and actually

did a year without coffee. And uh it

came to the following Lent. And I was

like, I don't know what I can sacrifice

because I'm going to start having coffee

again. And anything that I sacrifice is

going to beat pale into the

insignificance that I can actually drink

coffee again. Cuz even after a year, I

was like, uh, I still want a coffee. And

so, yeah, it was a really weird Lent

that one cuz I'm like, I'll sacrifice

something, but it doesn't really matter

because the first day of Lent was

actually me getting a cup of coffee and

I'm like, yes, the year is over. Lent is

a joyous season this time. as I partake

in coffee.

And so I believe we need encounters with

the spirit.

And I deeply believe we also need not

just moments. We do need moments every

day. We need disciplines every day. But

I also believe we need seasons in our

life where we turn aside.

And one of the things I've realized is

um as I began to practice Lent, I kind

of didn't intend to, but I I I begin to

began to found this dual thing that

would happen where, you know, as a

pastor, you go to conferences and I like

going to conferences, would usually go

to conferences that were aimed around

being filled with the spirit and those

kind of things. And I would continue to

go to those. What I began to feel was I

was like beginers just drawing to like

hey take a few days and go to a retreat

center. Hey go to a a a a monastery and

and spend some time there. And so I

began to feel this this thing began to

rise up where it was like not just uh uh

conferences or encounters even though it

was still that. There was also this

invitation like will you put times of

sight of your life aside where it is a

different season because you are wanting

to form I'm wanting to form you in a

different way and uh pastor Trevor

encouraged our men so well in that um at

the at the beginning of the year the

men's breakfast where he shared about

just you know he was going to go to a

conference and then all of a sudden the

Holy Spirit convicted him and he was

like not that conferences are bad we

both go to conference We both went to

conferences after that. But he was

actually like, "No, I just need to go

aside. I just need to go to a quiet

place. I just need to go to a place

where God is going to form something in

me." So this Lent season is an

invitation for us to be formed into the

people that Jesus wants us to be. And my

prayer is actually that just like I

found where I started off, I did Lent

once and thought, "Oh, that's good. I've

done it. Tick the box." And then I

actually began to feel the spirit

leading me. Wow. Will you take a season

aside here? Hey, will you go to this

place? Hey, will you do that? Will you

make space? Will you be led into seasons

where you are formed? And so here we

have Jesus full of the spirit. And the

first thing that the spirit does is pull

him aside. Can I tell you if we are to

be true Pentecostals,

to be led by the spirit, then we

actually need to know what it is for the

spirit to lead us into seasons of

formation. And I think sometimes what

has happened is that the encounter has

been so powerful that we've thought, I

don't actually need that season of

formation, man. I was just so filled. It

was so amazing. I had such breakthrough.

I I I I don't need that season. I'll

just uh go straight out. But here we

have the son of God, sinless for 30

years,

born of the spirit, never done one thing

wrong. Then the spirit falls upon him.

He hears the voice of the father and

then the very first thing the spirit

does is drive him out to a place where

he would pray and fast. If the spirit

wanted to drive the son of God into a

season of formation, can I suggest to

you it is probably foundational for us

to allow seasons in our life where the

spirit drives us into something maybe

something we wouldn't choose. And in

that place, we realize that there is so

much life. Yes, it can be hard, but

there's life and growth and there is

something. I heard Judas Smith say this

prayer that he'd been praying. He said

he he said he'd been praying, "God,

would you save me from what I think I

want?

God, would you save me from what I think

I want?" You see, in the desert, in the

wilderness, many times what we find is

our appetites actually the thing that we

thought we wanted was actually not what

we wanted. A and that the human heart

actually burns

to know him in an intimate way

>> and we get these invitations

to turn aside for a season. So my prayer

is that um this Lent season is not

simply something where you go hey I gave

up something and whether you give up

something or not I couldn't really care

less in one sense because the goal is

not to give up something. The goal is to

have the spirit lead us into seasons of

formation. The goal is actually to have

a season where it's like wow. But can I

tell you giving something up really

helps. It's like, man, that daily thing

of, oh, I was going to do that. Now I

have a choice. Lord, would you be formed

in me? Wow, now I have this constant

reminder of, wow, I'm not doing that.

So, Lord, would you do a work in me?

God, would you produce something in me?

And I think many times,

I know in my life, I've felt like I'm

not really growing how I want to. I

mean, I don't know if anyone else would

identify where they would be like,

"Flip, I don't feel like I'm really

growing in God the way I want to." And

um I think I would still say that uh you

know, to a to to to a definite extent.

In fact, Joy on uh uh Wednesday night

kicking off our 72 hours of prayer, they

um done the song um

uh what's the song called? Give me

Jesus. And uh within the song there's

these words that say um I don't want

anything else. And I was like I was kind

of reminded of that quote that

Christians don't tell lies, they sing

them. And I'm kind of like I don't want

anything else. I'm like

feeling a little bit of conviction

as I'm like, "Oh, I I do want Jesus,

but there are at least one or two

hundred other things that I want as

well." I'm like, "Man." And um I was

like singing that and I was feeling

really convicted. I was like, "Oh, God."

Um, and then Joyce said, "Hey, maybe

you're singing that and it's not true

for you." And I'm like,

>> "Yes." I'm like, "Oh, Lord, please don't

make don't make me go to the altar."

And then she said the beautiful words

that during this Lent season would a

grace be released over you where what

you where that would become true for

you. And I don't know if that I don't

know if you ever get to the place of

arriving where you're like where you can

honestly say now I know all I want is

Jesus. But I believe we can grow in the

journey of that.

>> And that so blessed me joy ministering

that. And you know, I I got into the

prayer room the next mo uh early hours

of the next morning and as I came to the

end of my prayer time, I was like, "Oh,

wow. I I feel like I want you more than

I did before.

>> I I haven't arrived, but I feel like I

want you more than I did before." And my

prayer is for each of us that as we do

this Lent season

that it would not be about the mechanics

but it would be about our hearts and it

would actually maybe be where some of us

are have felt stuck and we're like wow I

just don't feel like I'm growing. We

would feel an invitation. Well maybe the

invitation is to formation.

You know, I also believe that some of us

are going to have radical encounters in

Lent. That there will be transformation

that will happen in an instant. But I

also believe that maybe one of the

miracles will be someone who felt like

they were stuck, just plateaued at the

same level with God for a long time,

that they'd actually come into a new

season, that I would come into a new

season, that we would be blessed by him.

And so we're going to finish in a way

that I don't usually finish this

morning. I'm actually going to read uh

what is called a doxology overview from

Jude 1:24 and then uh Pastor Paul will

Jude 1:24

come after that and close the service.

But why don't you close your eyes,

place your hand on your heart,

Lord, as we come into this season as a

church. Lord, I say

over us

to him who is able to keep you from

stumbling

and to present you before his glorious

presence without fault and with great

joy.

Lord, I speak that over each person,

Lord, that you are able to keep us from

stumbling.

And Lord, to come before your glorious

presence without fault and with great

joy. Lord, I speak that over each

person. And Lord, the reason is for the

only God our savior that he would have

glory, majesty, power, and authority

through Jesus Christ our Lord before all

ages now and forever more. Lord, I bless

each person,

Lord, whether uh it's the first time

taking a season like this, whether

they're even still not sure of whether

they want to partake in it. Lord, I pray

we would be a church that would be

formed in the fire of encounter. And

Lord, we would also be formed in the

fire of the desert as we pursue you in

Jesus