| SUNDAY 21ST DECEMBER | PS AARON MORE

and wonderful. You can grab a seat. Wow,

wasn't that uh a great time of worship.

So good to be back together

even if we are uh only for one week and

then uh

I reckon we might have a few Sundays in

a row after that. Awesome.

As we uh come into a new year, it's

always interesting because um the mantra

of the world um during uh this I guess

current season we live in in humanity uh

tends to be very focused on self, right?

Like we have uh self-c care and then you

know you have uh like yeah self-help and

the self-help sections in a book and uh

sorry in a bookstore and then you know

you get a little bit more out there and

they're like uh selfactualization

whatever the heck that means. And then

uh you know if you're like maybe uh not

a boomer you might be like self-branding

or uh there's just like all of these uh

things that are uh geared to have us

focused on self and uh Mark says when he

talks about uh secular humanism which is

really describing the cultural landscape

we live in what he actually says is this

is that there is an alternative gospel

of secular humanism. And so the

alternative gospel is the good news. The

way you flourish according to a secular

humanist worldview. And what he says

within this framework is salvation is

rediscovering your inner self. So the

moment of salvation is when I become

aware of who I was really meant to be.

And so it might be that there were

oppressive structures on the earth that

robbed me of the true me that I was

supposed to be. But now I'm able to

throw off those oppressive structures

and I discover who I really was meant to

be. And salvation comes from just

discovering the real me. There is a very

small element of truth in that but a lot

more uh falsehood. And uh in 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 3:2

3:2 it says this that people will be

lovers of themselves in the end times.

And I know people look for all kinds of

ways to work out if we're in the end

times. And I don't know how big we are

in the end times, but I can tell you

something. I'm not sure what the sun,

the moon, the stars, all of that stuff

mean, but I can certainly tell you this.

If one of the signs is the end of the

end times is that we would become lovers

of ourselves, we are in that very

moment. Isn't it true? And so the danger

we have as believers is that because

this is the water we're swimming in, we

actually come into something where we

are encouraged to choose a spirituality

that matches the true us. Just find the

way you work with God. Find the way that

you're supposed to be and and just be

you. And the reality is, as my good

friend Eminem says, the kingdom is more

actually about losing yourself. It's

actually not about discovering the true

me in and of myself. It's about losing

myself, discovering the true me, who I

am when Christ comes into my life. And

so this morning I want to share an area

that I believe is an area that we're

call to step into that is contrary maybe

to some of the patterns of what we might

be used to. It's an area that for some

of us it is not natural,

but it is natural to our new man when

we're born again.

And so this morning I want to talk about

finding your voice. Why don't you turn

to your neighbor and say, "Find your

voice."

If your neighbor was silent, turn back

and say, "HE SAID, FIND YOUR VOICE."

I had a disgusting experience. Every I

can gross everyone out. I was in Oakland

airport toilets and I went on my phone

in in in a public toilet. I don't know

why, but as I go on my phone in the

public toilet, gross, my phone slips out

of my hand.

>> Don't worry, it didn't go in the toilet

bowl. Although maybe arguably something

worse happened. The phone drops. It

bounces.

I look down. I go to grab the phone. As

I go to grab my phone, a hand comes

under the stall.

100% true story. This hand comes under

the stall. I'm already reaching towards

it. And so I push this hand away.

But the problem is as I push the hand

away, I let out an involuntary sound. I

go,

they were after my phone.

And then I hear a voice say, "Oh, sorry.

Was that your phone?"

>> And so I said, "Uh, yeah, yeah, it was."

And so I sat in the bathroom stall

waiting to hear the door next to me open

and leave because there is no way I want

to see this person in uh the handwash

area. But after about 2 minutes, I

realize they're doing the same cuz as

embarrassed as I am, they invaded my

private space. And so I'm embarrassed,

but I'm like, man, they're more

embarrassed. And I'm like, oh, I just

need to get up really noisy to make sure

we don't time it at the same time. Like,

what happens if we both give up at the

same moment and then we have to see each

other? That would not be good. And so,

uh, I will forever remember what that

hand looked like, but thankfully I did

not see the person.

But here's the thing. In that moment, it

was an involuntary reaction to cry out.

Like, I kind of wish I hadn't. I wish I

was more reserved. But there are moments

when actually making noise is required

of us. That wasn't one of them. But

there are moments in our life that live

like this. You see, Psalm 100 says this,

"Shout for joy to the L." Uh, "Shout for

joy to the Lord, all the earth." Do you

notice it doesn't say, "Shout for joy to

the Lord all you extroverts."

It it doesn't say do a personality test

and then work out whether you're

comfortable shouting to the Lord or not.

And if you're a Kiwi who's reserved,

then you're allowed to not shout. You

can kind of whisper. But if you're um

someone who is a bit more outgoing than

shout to the Lord. It doesn't give that

kind of commentary. And over and over

again in the Psalms, we have this

commandment to shout to the Lord. And

and I get that sometimes shouting or

whatever can seem like hype or it can

seem like it's something that we're

manufacturing. But can I tell you

something this morning? I hope 2026 is a

year where you find your voice.

I hope 2026 is a year where you find

your voice. You see, all of us are

called to find our voice at times. And

there are moments where things will

actually shift dependent on our ability

to speak and move something. And it's so

vital for us that we realize that there

are actually moments. Now on the flip

side, uh can I say there are also times

where actually quietness shifts

something. Lamentations 3:20 says the

Lamentations 3:20

Lord is good to those who whose hope is

in him and to the one who seeks him. It

is good to wait quietly for the

salvation of the Lord. You see, there

are moments where quietness shifts

something. And there are moments where a

shout shifts something. And and for some

of us who are noisier, sometimes that

doesn't disqualify us from having to

learn that there are moments where

silence shifts something. There's

moments where be still and know that I

am God. Do you know what the next part

of the verse is? I will be exalted in

the nations. What is the result of us

being still? God gets exalted. So there

are moments for silence. But there are

also moments when we need to discover

our voice. And constantly in the area of

praise in the Bible, it it talks about

shouting, about declaring, about finding

our voice.

And this morning, I really hope for some

people that there's actually a a shift

in the beginning of a fresh journey.

Like I realize as a pastor, um, one of

the things is that I get paid to pray.

And so, um, that's that's good. And so,

I get used to praying and praying out

loud, but uh, I know a lot of people are

like, "Man, I just get so nervous when I

have to pray in front of people." And I

understand that. But can I suggest to

you that's not supposed to be the place

that you stay in? God actually wants you

to find your voice. God actually wants

you to have a confidence and realize

that there are moments where the sound

of your voice will shift something. We

see it all through the scriptures. We

see um in Joshua when they marched

around Jericho in Joshua 6, it says,

"Shout for the Lord has given you the

city. Shout." Now, God could have

decided that they didn't need to shout.

Good God give them the city without

shouting. Of course, he could. But for

whatever reason, he chose, "Hey, you're

going to need to shout."

And you know, I don't know if you've

ever been somewhere where you've tried

to encourage people to shout and they've

been like, "Not going to happen." I used

to go into uh uh into um town in Christ

Church on a Friday night and there was a

a worship group that would worship on a

Friday night in the square. And so we

would go into the square, there would be

worship time. And uh what would happen

is some nights you would just sense it

was heavy. And sometimes the leader was

like, "Hey, I think we just need to give

a Jesus shout." And um we would just

shout out the name of Jesus into the

city. And uh it was awesome. And so I

remember this one night I went along. I

was only like 15 at the time. I went

along, the main leader wasn't there who

normally led it. Someone else was

leading worship. And it was just a heavy

night. And so 15year-old me says, "Hey

guys, what I think we need to do is just

shout the name of Jesus."

I'm like on number on three one two

three and I shouted the name of Jesus

and everyone else is dead quiet and I

WAS LIKE COME ON THERE'S A TIME WHERE we

need to find our voice because shout

does change things. We see again in

Judges 7 uh where they are encouraged to

shout as they're fighting the

Midianites. Shout for Gideon and the

Lord. And they do this shout. You see in

uh where are we

in Isaiah 54? It says this, "Sing barren

woman, you who have never bore a child,

burst into song, shout for joy, you who

were never in labor, because more are

the children of the desolate woman than

that of those who has a husband." What's

interesting is here this command comes

to someone who is barren and they are

told to shout

like you are barren but the first thing

I want you to do is understand the

promise of God and begin to shout

according to that

there's a bit of an imp implication

there that if she is not going to shout

her barrenness may continue but there's

actually an invit ation to partner her

language with the language of God. Now,

we all understand some people take this

way too far. We might call it name it

and claim it, blab it and grab it,

declare it and wear it, whatever you

want. I don't know. Just But, you know,

where they're like, "Hey, my words

actually actualize stuff and I'm just

speaking and that can be taken too far."

But there is a truth in it. When we are

aligning ourselves to God's reality and

we are choosing that we will declare

that which God is declaring before we

have seen it that we actually begin to

shout. And can I suggest to you this

morning, maybe some of us have been

going around the same mountain over and

over again, and it has been because

we've only been willing to be quiet. And

there is a moment where raising our

voice shifts something. And maybe some

of us have got a little bit complacent

with raising our voice and being willing

to shout that which God is shouting so

that we can see breakthrough.

What would change in 2026 if we found

our voice Aresh?

In Isaiah 61, it says that that uh

speaking of Jesus uh that he will give a

garment of praise instead of the spirit

of despair. That he will give a garment

of praise instead of the spirit of defe

of fear. Some translations would say,

"Put on the garment of praise for the

spirit of heaviness." And so what we

realize is there is something that

happens when we learn to praise God out

loud

that actually shifts atmospheres.

There is something that will shift an

atmosphere

when we learn to praise God. The good

news is it actually says he gives us the

garment of praise. So, so even if you're

like, "That's not my personality type."

Don't worry, it's a gift. You just have

to partner with it and be willing to

raise your voice. And so, what happens

is you have this picture of people that

begin to

uh praise, put on this garment of

praise, and the spirit of heaviness

goes. And that's something amazing. And

I'm sure many of us would have

experienced uh times of prayer or

worship where we were heavy and we

praised and something shifted and God

broke through. And isn't that amazing?

But it goes on in Isaiah 60 to say this,

sorry, Isaiah 61, they will rebuild the

ancient ruins and restore the places

long devastated. They will renew the

ruined cities that have been uh

devastated for generations.

Who are the people that actually see

cities restored? They are the people who

have learned how to shift an atmosphere

over their life. They have learned how

to shift a spirit of heaviness over

their own life. And now they are

actually able to go into a different

environment. and they know what it takes

to shift a spirit of heaviness.

As I said earlier in my Christian walk,

I went to uh into the square uh sort of

every Friday night for a year or two and

worshiped and would declare the name of

Jesus and uh a couple of years after

that, it was a Friday night, Sarah and I

went to the movies and uh we came out of

the movie theater. We'd watched I don't

even know what we watched, but we'd

watched something. And when we came out,

there was this uh circle of people in

the foyer of the movies. And I looked

and it literally looked like we'd walked

into the uh movie set of a kung fu

fighting scene. Uh so uh they were um

all of some Asian descent and they were

in a big circle and there were two in

the middle that were having a kung fu

fight. Like I'm talking a literal actual

kung fu fight. I'm like, "Oh my

goodness." And then I realize one of

them is trying to get out and everyone

is telling him he has to fight the other

person. And I'm walking through and

there's probably about 14 people in a

circle. And I'm kind of like, oh, like

what do you do when 14 people are

deciding that um going to have a fight?

And so I'm walking and Sarah and I look

and uh

I all of a sudden just go.

and they all stop. And then I realized

that I'd yelled oi, but I hadn't thought

of what I was going to say next.

So now I've got 14 triad gangsters

looking at me.

And I said the amazing phrase, "You

can't do that here."

And then looked

And in that moment, something actually

shifted just in the atmosphere. It was

just like there was a break of of like

the tension. It was like and everything

dropped down and and the the fight

stopped and they were kind of murmuring

and I think uh it was in Chinese, but I

think they were wondering what kind of

human being I was. Like man, compared me

back then, I was like 65 kilos ringing

wet. Like I would have been destroyed if

they decided that they wanted to turn on

me. I mean, of course, now I'm clearly

bulked up a bit. So, you know, probably

would have been fine these days, but

back then, my goodness, it was

intimidating.

And you know, I didn't shout something

spiritual in that moment, but what I did

realize is that something had happened

through my times of going and declaring

over our city of worship. something had

happened through being in that

environment that I I'd learned something

that there is actually a time louder

doesn't always mean authority but

sometimes it does like it doesn't always

mean authority to be louder. I think we

all know people who get loud and they

have no authority and the reason they

get loud is because they have no

authority. But that does not negate the

principle that there is a time where we

begin to raise our voice. There is a

time where willing to push past our

reserved nature actually brings

spiritual breakthrough.

And it's actually our inheritance. You

know, one day it will be what all of us

will do. In Revelation 19:1, it says,

Revelation 19:1

"After this, I heard what sounded like

the roar of a great multitude in heaven

shouting." The roar of a great

multitude.

Wow. In heaven shouting. And what were

they shouting? They were shouting,

"Glory.

Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and

power belong to our God." You see,

something had shifted. And you know, I

never want us to be a church of of hype

for the sake of hype. I never want us to

be a church of just being loud for the

sake of being loud. But I do want us to

be a church that are willing to push

past our reserved nature when it is

appropriate. Understanding that some

things only happen when we find our

voice. and that actually finding our

voice in this space

is a great training ground for finding

it when we're out there.

And so we need to learn to push past our

reserved nature. You know, we used to

sing that song like and it would say um

when all the world has seen the light,

they'll dance with joy like we're

dancing now. And you would look around,

particularly in white congregations, and

you're like, "Are you even aware of what

you're singing?" I was like, they're

going to dance with joy like I'm dancing

now. I mean, at best it was a knee tap.

IT WAS LIKE, MY GOODNESS, WHEN THE WORLD

SEES THE LIGHT, THEY'RE GOING TO TAP

their knee. I don't think so. And

sometimes we take this imagery like

shout to the Lord and we make it poetic

and we begin to neglect it instead of

realizing it's actually a command that

there are times where I need to raise my

voice. There are times where I need to

find my voice in the place of prayer

that I might shift something. And my

hope for us as a church in 2026 is that

we would discern the moments when we

need to break out of New Zealand

conservatism

where we need to push through that which

makes us comfortable in the pursuit of

the promises that God is declaring over

our lives, over our church, over our

city, over our families, over our nation

that we would begin to learn what it is

to shift things. And when we need to

shift things with silence, we would be

silenced. And when there needs to be a

roar, it would be like Revelation 19

that there would be a great multitude

>> sounding like a roar giving praise and

glory to Jesus.

You know, James says that uh without uh

that the word without action is dead.

And you know this morning I wonder if uh

in just a moment I'm going to invite you

to stand to your feet and we are just

going to begin to give Jesus an almighty

praise. I really hope it is the sound of

a great multitude.

See, we need to make sure for our

spirituality that we don't look inside

ourselves to determine what is

comfortable

and reflect that, but instead we look to

the word of God and we actually begin to

uh do what the word says. And that

doesn't mean it's always shouting, but

it does mean there are moments where

finding our voice

is so important. And my prayer for some

of us is that 2026 would be the year

that you would find your voice.

It's not everything, but it is something

and that you would find that your voice

matters. And so I'm going to ask the

worship team to come. If you guys want

to uh come now and uh just as I come,

why don't we stand to our feet? And uh

Lord, I bless each person here.

Lord, I bless you that

Lord, you have put something on each

person's life. Lord, a declaration that

only they can make. Lord, Lord, a shout

that uh pushes past convenience and

shifts atmospheres.

And Lord, I pray this year

that when your name is is worthy of

being praised in a loud voice that all

of us would respond

in such a way past what makes us

comfortable

and into what you have for us. Lord, I

bless each person, Lord, who maybe

through childhood or through some other

circumstances has has Lord, their voice

has been minimized.

Lord, maybe someone laughed when they

prayed or or or something happened that

minimized their voice. Lord, in the name

of Jesus, I break off the power of that

stronghold of the mind. Lord, in the

name of Jesus, I curse that thought. And

Lord, I release the truth that you have

equipped them, Lord, with words that

will shift atmospheres in the name of

Jesus. So Lord, I break off every false

limitation in the mighty name of Jesus.

And what we are going to do on the count

of three, we are going to uh release an

almighty shout. Now, please do not leave

me like the square on a Friday night

where I'm shouting, "Man, I hope we're

in a faithfilled house that are going to

shine like a great multitude and then

the worship team are going to lead us in

a final song." So, on the sha on the

count of three, three, Joy, you reckon?

Yeah, I can see Joyy's excited.

On the count of three, we're going to

give an almighty SHOUT TO JESUS. ONE,

TWO, THREE. YES. JESUS.