Sermon

Now Walk in What You See

Highlife Church

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  1. Now, as we come round the communion table, can you give me a little bit of,

  2. can you let me do something?

  3. I want to speak for just a few moments from a father to fathers,

  4. okay? I want to speak to the fathers in the house, but also to anyone who is a son or daughter.

  5. I reckon that covers everyone, doesn't it? I reckon just, you know, my way of thinking.

  6. But today is the day that we focus on and honour fathers.

  7. We honour the dads who worked hard, who worked hard, who sacrificed,

  8. who provided, who protected, who encouraged,

  9. who corrected, who had a father who corrected, who had a father who maybe corrected

  10. a little bit too harshly.

  11. Fathers who prayed, fathers who worried,

  12. fathers who stayed up late, fathers who woke up early for children,

  13. for their children, Fathers who carried responsibilities that some people maybe not even knew about.

  14. And as a father, as myself, and as a father, I know there are times when you

  15. wonder this, when you wonder, am I getting it right?

  16. And fathers, you can relate to that, I know. Am I getting it right?

  17. Because none of us are perfect fathers. No one in this room is a perfect father.

  18. We make mistakes we lose patience who's there we lose patience we sometimes

  19. wish we'd handled things differently,

  20. there are moments we're proud of but there are moments also where we wish we

  21. could go back and change what happened,

  22. But today, I want to remind every father here that we have a perfect example to look to.

  23. We have God, our Father, and He is the perfect one.

  24. Jesus said in Matthew 7, verse 11,

    Matthew 7:11

  25. Now.

  26. Notice, we're going to, obviously, communion is about Jesus.

  27. Jesus constantly revealed God as a father.

  28. As a father, our father, his father, we are all God's children.

  29. Not a distant father, not a father who was uninterested in what was going on,

  30. not a father who was unavailable, but a father who loves his children, each and every one of us.

  31. A father who knows us, a father who provides for us, A father who corrects us.

  32. Why? Because he loves us.

  33. A father who runs toward the prodigal when the prodigal comes home.

  34. That's our father God. And ultimately, a father who was willing to give what

  35. was most precious to him so that we could become part of his family.

  36. John 3.16.

  37. For this is how we, John 3.16 says, for this is how God loved the world.

  38. He gave his one and only son. That's our father God.

  39. And that's where communion brings us today to the love of the father.

  40. Sometimes when we think about communion, we quite rightly focus upon Jesus giving

  41. us, giving his life for us.

  42. His body broken, his blood shed, his suffering, his sacrifice.

  43. But behind the cross, we see the heart of a father.

  44. Can you imagine the heart of the father seeing his son on the cross?

  45. The father loved us so much that he gave his son to bring us home.

  46. The cross tells us something extraordinary about the Father's heart.

  47. He wanted us as part of his family. That's what he wanted. Romans 8.15 says.

  48. Through Jesus, we don't just receive forgiveness, but we receive a father.

  49. We are adopted into his family. We become sons and daughters of God.

  50. And I think there is something important in that for every father here today.

  51. Our greatest responsibility as fathers is not simply to provide a house or food

  52. or education or opportunities for our children.

  53. As important as those things are It is our greatest privilege to somehow reflect

  54. the heart Of our Heavenly Father to our children.

  55. To let them see something of His love through us.

  56. Our children don't need perfect fathers.

  57. What they need is fathers who know a perfect God.

  58. That's who our children need. Fathers who can pray. Fathers who can admit when they're wrong.

  59. Fathers who can forgive. Fathers who can say, I love you.

  60. Fathers who can point their children towards Jesus.

  61. And today, I want to honour every father who is doing their best to do exactly

  62. that, to point his children to Jesus.

  63. I honour the biological fathers this morning. I honour the adoptive fathers this morning.

  64. I honour the foster fathers this morning. I honour the stepfathers.

  65. I honour the grandfathers. Yay! I honour the spiritual fathers this morning

  66. We're all spiritual fathers,

  67. And today before we take the bread and the cup I want every father to hear this,

  68. You are loved by your heavenly father,

  69. Before you're a father You are first his son His son So as we hold the bread

  70. this morning We remember Jesus, the son of God whose body was broken for us.

  71. And as we hold the cup, we remember his blood that was shed so that our sins

  72. could be forgiven and we could be brought into the family of God.

  73. Today, I honour fathers.

  74. And before we receive and take the communion, I want to pray specifically over

  75. our fathers and the father figures in the house this morning.

  76. Father God, in the Name of Jesus, I speak strength over every father today.

  77. Where there is weariness, Lord, I pray for fresh strength over fathers.

  78. Where there's been discouragement, release fresh hope over fathers.

  79. Where there's been regret, let grace speak louder than that.

  80. Where there's been confusion, release wisdom over our fathers.

  81. Where there's been pressure, Lord, I pray for peace.

  82. Where there's been fear for children or family, remind every father that you

  83. love their children even more than they do.

  84. Holy Spirit, fill the fathers in the house this morning.

  85. Fill them afresh. Make us men of prayer, Lord. Make us men of integrity. Make us men of courage.

  86. Make us men who know how to deeply love, forgive, stand firmly and lead humbly.

  87. I pray for fathers this morning, Lord. Let there be a fresh anointing upon fathers this morning.

  88. Fathers who lead their homes in the ways of God.

  89. I declare that our homes will be places of peace, places of prayer,

  90. places of grace, places where Jesus is honoured.

  91. I declare that fathers will rise with spiritual courage,

  92. that they will not be absent in heart, that they will not be silent when encouragement

  93. is needed, that they will not surrender their God-given influence.

  94. I declare that the next generation, Lord, will know what it is to be blessed

  95. by fathers who pray over them.

  96. Believe in them, speak life over them and point them towards Jesus.

  97. And today, Father, I pray for restoration where relationships have broken.

  98. I pray for reconciliation between fathers and children.

  99. I pray for healing over wounds.

  100. I pray that what the enemy intended to divide families, you would turn around

  101. for redemption in Jesus' name.

  102. To every father, I speak this over you this morning. May the Lord strengthen your hands.

  103. May he give you wisdom in every season. May he guard your home.

  104. May he bless your children and your children's children.

  105. May he give you courage when the road is difficult. May he remind you that your

  106. prayers matter, your presence matters, your example matters,

  107. your faith matters and perhaps more than you realise God is using your life

  108. to shape future generations.

  109. So I bless you fathers.

  110. Now as we receive communion Lord we remember the one who made all of this possible Jesus Christ.

  111. His body was broken for us. His blood was shed for us and because of Him,

  112. we have been brought home to the Father.

  113. Because of Jesus, we are forgiven.

  114. Because of Jesus, we are adopted.

  115. Because of Jesus, we can cry out, Abba, Father.

  116. So, Father God, we honor You today. We thank You that You are the Father we can trust.

  117. We thank You that You are the Father who will never walk away.

  118. We thank you that you are the Father who never gives up on his children,

  119. the Father whose love never fails.

  120. And as we receive the bread and the cup, let every one of us know again that

  121. we are loved, that we are forgiven, that we are accepted, that we are home in Jesus' name.

  122. Amen. Go ahead and eat and drink in your own time. Thank you.

  123. Amen. Amen.

  124. Very good. I hope Dad's got something special planned to know.

  125. I hope you do. Whatever you do.

  126. What did you say earlier, Karma? Happy Father's Day to Abraham.

  127. Father Abraham. Admanis. Exactly. Father Abraham, Admanis.

  128. Father Abraham.

  129. Very good very good all righty you guys let me see thank you for staying up

  130. there so long take your future father's day chocolates with you guys as well there is,

  131. all right i know i uh i mentioned last week and i i've told everyone this morning

  132. that we're not live streaming because of the simpler setup ready for next week for josh,

  133. this week we are recording last week it didn't work all i could hear last week's

  134. recording were kids kids,

  135. make happy which was fine but unfortunately not much of anything else so so

  136. i didn't share that if anyone wants my notes from last week's sermon i'm happy

  137. to share them with you because i'm going to be

  138. actually continuing on a little bit from last week as well so

  139. if you want them in fact i'll just forward them out to everyone so you've got them.

  140. So 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, the title of my message is, Now Walk in What You See.

  141. Now walk in what you see. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7 says, For we live by believing

  142. and not by seeing. Now there's a contradiction for you. The title of my message is,

  143. is now walk in what you see, but that scripture says, for we live by believing and not by seeing.

  144. That's referring to spiritual vision, what we see in the spirit.

  145. Last week, I prayed a simple but powerful prayer over every person here,

  146. and it was this prayer. Lord, open our eyes.

  147. Open our eyes. Open our eyes. I open my eyes to what you are doing,

  148. Lord God. I open my eyes to what I've been missing.

  149. Open my eyes to your presence. Open my eyes to the spiritual reality that exists

  150. beyond what I can see in the natural.

  151. Open my spiritual eyes.

  152. And I believe God does answer that prayer. I believe he has and is answering that prayer.

  153. I believe that there is a moment, though, there comes a moment when God says,

  154. now that I've opened your eyes, now that I've opened your eyes,

  155. what are you going to do with what I see?

  156. That's the question that God wants to ask us this morning. Now that I've opened

  157. your eyes, what are you going to do with what you see?

  158. Because revelation always demands a response from us.

  159. God reveals something to us. What is our response to that?

  160. It's one thing to see differently, but it's another thing to live differently because of what you see,

  161. Paul says for we live by believing and not by seeing now again that sounds contradictory,

  162. to what I'm talking about last week we were asking God to help us see and now

  163. Paul says don't live by sight.

  164. But Paul is talking about two different kinds of sight.

  165. There is what you see with your natural eyes, and there's what your spiritual eyes see.

  166. Your natural eyes might see something and go, there is no way, there is no way.

  167. Faith says, but God, but God is involved in this.

  168. My natural eyes or your natural eyes might see that nothing is changing.

  169. But faith says God is still working. God is working.

  170. Your natural eyes, as we read last week, might say, I'm surrounded by the enemy. I'm surrounded.

  171. Faith says there's more of us than against us. That's faith.

  172. Your natural eyes might see the diagnosis.

  173. Your natural eyes might see the bank balance, the broken relationships,

  174. the closed doors, the opposition, and the impossibility.

  175. But when you allow God to open your spiritual eyes, you begin to realize,

  176. what I actually physically see in front of me is not the whole story.

  177. And church, once you've seen that, you need to learn to walk in that.

  178. Does that make sense? Yeah. Good.

  179. So, last week we looked at that incredible moment in 2 Kings and verse 6.

  180. Elisha and his servant woke up to discover that an enemy army had surrounded the city.

  181. They woke up and they were completely surrounded. The servant looked outside and panicked.

  182. 2 Kings 6 verse 15 said, When the servant of the man of God got up early the

    2 Kings 6:15

  183. next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses and chariots everywhere.

  184. And he said, oh, sir, what will we do now?

  185. Elisha cried out. Oh, sorry, the young man cried out to Elisha.

  186. And I love how honest that is.

  187. It's honest. It's honest. He didn't pretend to have faith.

  188. He didn't say, he didn't wake up, walk outside, see that he was surrounded and go, praise God.

  189. He didn't. And I love that. He didn't say that. He looked at the situation and

  190. said, what are we going to do?

  191. What are we going to do? Have you ever been there where you've looked at a situation

  192. and gone, what am I going to do or what are we going to do?

  193. And suddenly the only prayer you can manage is this, God, what am I going to do now?

  194. But Elisha, same place, right next to his son, Elisha was looking at exactly the same situation,

  195. but had a completely different response to Kings 6 and verse 16,

  196. as we read last week, said,

  197. don't be afraid, Elisha told him, for there are more on our side than on theirs.

  198. Same army, same city that he was looking at, same problem.

  199. But different perspective. And Elisha prayed in 2 Kings 6, 17,

  200. Lord, open his eyes and let him see.

  201. Open his spiritual eyes and let him see. And suddenly the servant saw the hills

  202. filled with horses and chariots of fire.

  203. The army had been there the entire time. The chariots of fire and God's army

  204. had been there the entire time.

  205. God didn't suddenly send them when Elisha prayed. They were already there.

  206. The servant simply became aware of what was already there. He opened his spiritual

  207. eyes and saw that God was protecting them.

  208. And here's where I want to touch this morning.

  209. Once his eyes were opened, the young man could never look at the enemy the same way again.

  210. We need to open our eyes.

  211. The circumstances hadn't changed. The enemy was still standing there,

  212. but something inside the servant had changed.

  213. And sometimes the first miracle that God performs isn't changing your circumstances.

  214. Sometimes the first miracle is changing the way you see them,

  215. just as Dorothy said this morning.

  216. It's seeing it differently.

  217. It's seeing that you are healed. it's seeing that you have the breakthrough

  218. and please keep reminding me of that and I know you will.

  219. Okay, there are some things that once God reveals them to you, you can't go back, okay?

  220. Once you really understand the grace of God, you can't go back to trying to

  221. earn his love. It's love that's given by grace.

  222. Once you really understand that you are a child of God, you can't keep living like an orphan.

  223. Once you understand that God is with you, you can't keep facing every battle

  224. as though you are alone, because there's more on your side than the battle that you are facing.

  225. Once you've experienced his faithfulness, the next storm should look different to you.

  226. Not because storms aren't real. Storms in our lives are very real.

  227. Not because Christians never struggle, because Christians struggle.

  228. But because you know something now that you didn't know before.

  229. David could stand before Goliath because he remembered the lion and the bear.

  230. He'd already seen God move, and past revelation became his present courage.

  231. David essentially said, I've seen God do this before.

  232. I've seen him do it, and he will do it again. Sometimes you've got to remind

  233. yourself, I've seen God provide to me before.

  234. I've seen God heal before. I've seen God restore before. I've seen God make a way before.

  235. Or I've seen God carry me through things I thought that I would never survive.

  236. And if he is faithful then, he is faithful now.

  237. He hasn't suddenly stopped being faithful because God is the same yesterday,

  238. today, and forevermore.

  239. He is the same. He is faithful.

  240. Think about Peter. Think about the apostle Peter, the disciple Peter.

  241. The disciples are in a boat in Matthew 14, and Jesus comes towards them walking on the water. Wow.

  242. They're terrified because there's a storm. Matthew 14, 27 says,

  243. but Jesus spoke to them at once.

  244. Don't be afraid, he said. Take courage. I am here.

  245. Peter says to him, Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water.

  246. And Jesus says one word, yes, come to us. Yes, come.

  247. Now Peter has a revelation. He has a revelation.

  248. What is he going to do with that revelation? He knows where Jesus is.

  249. He's standing in the middle of the lake on the water.

  250. He has heard the words of Jesus, yes, come.

  251. But there is still one thing that Peter needs to do. He's got to get out of

  252. that boat. He's got to get out of that boat.

  253. Imagine if Peter has said this. Imagine if Peter had have said,

  254. that's amazing, Lord. I received that word.

  255. I'm going to write that in my journal. I'm going to underline it in my Bible.

  256. I'm going to tell everyone what that Jesus told me to come and then stay in the boat.

  257. Nothing happens. There comes a time when you've got to pick up your foot and

  258. put it outside of the boat and take a step of faith towards Jesus.

  259. Last week we said, Lord, open my eyes.

  260. This week I reckon God is saying this, start walking then.

  261. I've opened your eyes. You've prayed that I open your eyes. Now start walking.

  262. You said God showed you, you might be thinking this or you might think this

  263. from last week. You know, God might have said that there's somebody you need to forgive.

  264. Walk in it and forgive. Walk in it.

  265. God showed you maybe that you

  266. needed to make a phone call to your dad on Father's Day, reverse charges.

  267. God said, make that phone call. Well, walk in it.

  268. Walk in it. God showed you perhaps that you need to step into something that

  269. he's been calling you towards.

  270. Walk in it. if God calls you to do something walk in it,

  271. God's maybe showed you something last week that needs to change in your life. Walk in it.

  272. It's time. Because there are people who continually ask God for another word.

  273. Lord, give me a word when they haven't walked in the word that he's already given them.

  274. Sometimes we don't need another revelation. We need to be obedient to the revelation

  275. that we've already received. I was talking to someone this morning.

  276. So Peter steps out of the boat. He steps out and amazingly, he walks on the water.

  277. He walked on the water.

  278. But then Matthew tells us in Matthew 14, verse 30, but when he saw the strong

    Matthew 14:30

  279. wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. Save me, Lord, he shouted.

  280. Notice that language. Notice what he said. When he saw God.

  281. When he saw, his eyes shifted from Jesus and looked at the circumstances around

  282. him, looked at the waves, looked at the storm around him, looked at the storms around him.

  283. The wind had been there before he got out of the boat.

  284. The waves hadn't suddenly appeared. What changed though? His focus changed.

  285. His focus changed. He started looking at the problems.

  286. He went from looking at Jesus to looking at the storm, and what filled his vision,

  287. eventually filled his heart.

  288. That's why what you continually look at matters in our lives.

  289. If you look at the bad news, eventually fear will start preaching to you.

  290. If all you look at is problems, your problems will start looking bigger than God.

  291. If all you rehearse is what went wrong disappointment will become your expectation,

  292. But when you turn your eyes back to Jesus, perspective comes back. Faith comes back.

  293. Peace comes back into your life. Hope comes back into your life.

  294. It doesn't mean that we're pretending that the storm doesn't exist.

  295. Peter wasn't walking on imaginary waves in an imaginary storm. They were real.

  296. Faith isn't denying reality. faith is recognizing that Jesus is bigger than reality. Amen?

  297. Think of driving in a car. Who drives here? Just about everyone,

  298. except for maybe a couple up the back to this.

  299. So think of driving. When you're driving in a car, think about how big the windscreen

  300. is in front of you compared to how big the rear vision mirror is in front of you.

  301. Windscreen is all that you can see in front of you. But then in the middle of

  302. the windscreen, there's a little rear-vision mirror.

  303. And there's a reason for the size difference there.

  304. You glance at the mirror because it matters where you've been and what's happening behind you.

  305. But you don't drive permanently looking in the rear-vision mirror.

  306. You look through the windscreen at what's ahead of you.

  307. Some people are trying to enter their future while staring into their past. I don't know.

  308. What somebody did to you, what you lost, the mistake that you made.

  309. The opportunity perhaps that you missed, the season that didn't work out.

  310. And God is saying to you this morning, I've opened your eyes,

  311. look forward, look forward.

  312. You don't have to forget where you've been though.

  313. You can learn from where you've been. You can testify about where you've been,

  314. but you can't keep living there.

  315. You can't keep living there. Isaiah 43 verses 18 and 19 says this,

    Isaiah 43:18

  316. but forget about all of that.

  317. It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do for you for I'm about to do something new.

  318. See, I've already begun. Don't you see it?

  319. I love this. I will make a pathway through the wilderness I will create rivers in the dry wastelands.

  320. There's that word again. Do you not see it? God's saying, look at what I'm doing for you.

  321. It's nothing compared to, I'm about to do something new.

  322. See, I've already begun. He's

  323. asking us to look with our spiritual eyes about what he is doing for us.

  324. God says, I'm doing something.

  325. It's already beginning, he's saying. The question is whether you're going to

  326. recognize it and move with it.

  327. We need to open our spiritual eyes to what God's doing in our lives.

  328. One of my favorite examples.

  329. Is the fact that faith often moves before there's evidence, okay?

  330. And one of my favorite examples is Israel crossing the Jordan River.

  331. I spoke about this briefly last week. In Joshua 3, the Jordan River is in flood. It's flooded.

  332. And on the other side of the Jordan River was the promised land that God had promised.

  333. But the river was in flood.

  334. God tells the priests carrying the ark to walk towards the river,

  335. that river in flood, walk towards it. But notice something important.

  336. The water doesn't stop while they're standing safely on dry ground,

  337. thinking about whether God's word can be trusted or not.

  338. Joshua chapter 3 tells us that when the priest's feet touched the water,

    Joshua 3 chapter mention

  339. the river stopped flowing. It talks about the fact that it backed up all the

  340. way from where it backed up to.

  341. Where did it back up to? What was the name of that place? Jericho? Or Aoi or something?

  342. Anyway, wherever it was. It backed right up.

  343. And it backed right up to the Dead Sea as well. It backed up.

  344. That's, where did it back up to, Sue? Come on.

  345. Adam. Adam. Yeah, that's right. Exactly.

  346. There is a faith that says, God, stop the river and then I'll walk.

  347. But sometimes God says this, put your feet in and see what I will do.

  348. We want confirmation before obedience sometimes, don't we? God,

  349. I will step into that river if you would just stop it first for me.

  350. God often gives confirmation through our obedience.

  351. Yep. God often gives confirmation through our obedience.

  352. There are things you won't experience while standing on the riverbank.

  353. There are testimonies waiting for somebody to put their foot in before it comes

  354. into being there are doors that open as you walk towards them you like to maxwell smart,

  355. you know where i'm going with this don't you if you think of all those doors

  356. that as he walks towards they open they open and he goes through and he turns

  357. around and the doors are still open and he goes walking around and slams it.

  358. Forget the past. Forget the past.

  359. There are doors that open as you walk towards them.

  360. There is provision that you discover when you're on the journey.

  361. There is a strength that comes when you need it.

  362. But God doesn't always give you tomorrow's strength today.

  363. But when tomorrow's does come, his grace is there. that's our God.

  364. Think about driving on a dark country road at night time.

  365. Who's done that before? I know some people aren't allowed to do that anymore.

  366. Not allowed to drive at night time. But think about driving along a dark country road at night time.

  367. Your headlights don't illuminate the entire journey to you, do they? Okay?

  368. You might have another 100 kilometers to travel, but your lights only show you

  369. maybe 100 meters in front of where you're going, okay?

  370. Yet, that's enough. It's enough. As you move forward, more road becomes visible.

  371. You don't stop the car and say, I'm not moving until I can see the entire journey.

  372. Do you? You don't say that. You drive with the light that you've been given.

  373. And that's how God often leads us.

  374. Psalm 119 verse 105 says, Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

    Psalms 119:105

  375. A lamp doesn't show you everything.

  376. It shows you enough for the next step. And someone may need to hear this today.

  377. Someone may need to hear this today.

  378. Stop waiting for God to show you the entire journey.

  379. Stop waiting for God to show you the entire plan that he has for you.

  380. Maybe he's already shown you the next step. Take it.

  381. Take that next step. Then there will be a light for the step after that and

  382. the step after that and the next one.

  383. One day you'll look back and realize that God was leading you the whole way,

  384. providing a lamp to your feet if you will just walk.

  385. Maybe God isn't asking us to understand it all either, okay?

  386. We like to understand, don't we?

  387. Who likes to understand what's going on in their life? We like plans, don't we?

  388. Ange and I, when I cooked dinner.

  389. When I cooked dinner, I had a menu in front of him and I follow it to a T.

  390. If it says, put it in a 180 degree oven for 15 minutes, then I wait for that

  391. oven to get to 180 degrees and I put the food in there for exactly 15 minutes.

  392. And Ange goes, it'll probably take longer.

  393. But the menu, the instructions, it says 15 minutes.

  394. We like to know. We like to see what's ahead. We like to know the menu.

  395. But Proverbs says this.

  396. When I'm cooking, whenever I cook next day, lunch today, barbecue day today,

  397. Father's Day barbecue, I cook my own meat.

  398. Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6. Have a listen to this.

    Proverbs 3:5

  399. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding.

  400. Seek his will in all that you do, and he will show you which path to take. Awesome.

  401. Notice it doesn't say this. Notice it doesn't say, understand everything and then trust God.

  402. It doesn't say that. It says, trust God, even when you don't understand.

  403. There's a difference between saying, I understand God and I trust God.

  404. There are things I still don't understand. There are prayers I don't understand

  405. why there weren't answers the way I expected them to be answered.

  406. There are seasons where I couldn't see what God was doing.

  407. But I can still say, I trust his character. I trust his goodness.

  408. I trust his faithfulness.

  409. I trust his word. And I trust he sees what I cannot see. Church, it's time to walk.

  410. It's time to take some steps. I feel the Holy Spirit wants to move some people,

  411. from observation into participation.

  412. That's what I feel this morning. You've been watching. You've been praying.

  413. You've been thinking. You've been waiting.

  414. And some waiting is biblical. There's no doubt about that. The Bible says to wait.

  415. But sometimes waiting can become hiding in our lives.

  416. Don't wait to the extent that you're hiding. There came a moment when Israel

  417. had to cross the Jordan River.

  418. There came a moment when Peter had to leave the boat.

  419. There came a moment when Abraham had to leave his homeland.

  420. There came a moment when David had to walk towards Goliath.

  421. There came a moment as well when the disciples had to leave the upper room after

  422. Pentecost and take the gospel into the streets.

  423. Eventually, faith moves. James 2 verse 17 says, So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.

    James 2:17

  424. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

  425. Faith has feet.

  426. Faith gets up. Faith steps out. Faith obeys.

  427. And faith says, God, I don't see everything, but I see enough to trust you.

  428. Now, I believe this morning that there are people here who are entering or listening in.

  429. When I submit or send out the recording, there are people who are entering a

  430. season where you're going to have to trust God.

  431. You're going to have to trust what God has shown you more than what the circumstances are telling you.

  432. The natural picture may not yet match the promise, but don't throw away what God has shown you.

  433. Don't abandon what he spoke because the wind got stronger. How?

  434. Wasn't it windy yesterday? when that comes.

  435. Don't assume God's absence because the road has become difficult.

  436. Sometimes resistance isn't evidence when you're on the wrong road.

  437. Sometimes resistance comes because you're moving.

  438. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep listening. Keep walking.

  439. And when fear says, look at the size of your enemy, remember there's more with you than against you.

  440. When fear says you're going to sink, remember who called you out of the boat.

  441. Jesus called you out of the boat.

  442. When fear says the river is too deep, put your foot in anyway.

  443. Put your foot in anyway. When fear says you can't see far enough ahead,

  444. remember, you don't need a light for the entire journey.

  445. You only need a light for your next step, and God's providing that to you.

  446. So I'm going to finish a little bit differently to what I finished last week. Come on up, Josh.

  447. Last week, our prayer was, Lord, open my eyes.

  448. Today, our prayer is, Lord, give me courage to walk in what you've shown me.

  449. Maybe God has been speaking to you about something for weeks or months.

  450. Maybe there's a step you've been avoiding. Maybe fear has kept you in the boat.

  451. Maybe you started walking, but the storm has captured your attention and you

  452. need to get your eyes back on Jesus. We need to get our eyes back on Jesus.

  453. Maybe you've simply reached a place where you can't see far enough ahead and

  454. God is asking you to trust him with the next step.

  455. I want you to bring that before him today as I pray.

  456. I'm going to pray for everyone this morning, and I want you to receive it,

  457. and I want you to bring it before God yourself as I pray.

  458. Let's pray. Hallelujah.

  459. Hallelujah.

  460. Father, thank you that you are a God who sees what we cannot see.

  461. Thank you that you go before us. Thank you that even when we cannot see the

  462. whole road, you already know the end from the beginning.

  463. Lord, last week we asked you to open our eyes.

  464. Today, we ask you to strengthen our feet.

  465. Us courage to walk in what you've shown us. Where fear has paralysed us, Lord, bring us faith.

  466. Where disappointment has made us hesitant, Lord, I pray that you would restore hope.

  467. Where circumstances have taken our eyes off Jesus, Lord, I pray that you turn

  468. our attention back to Him.

  469. Holy Spirit, show us the next step.

  470. Not necessarily the next 10 steps, but show us the next step.

  471. Just the next one. And give us the courage to take it this morning.

  472. We declare today, we will not live controlled by what our natural eyes can see.

  473. We will walk by faith. We will trust Your Word.

  474. We will trust your leading when you say, come.

  475. We will trust you.

  476. We will step out of the boat when you say, move.

  477. We will move. When you say, trust me, we will trust you.

  478. Hallelujah. In Jesus' mighty name we pray this morning.

  479. Lord, as we've opened our eyes, now give us the faith and the trust and the

  480. courage to move in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.

  481. Amen, amen, amen. Now walk in what you see.

  482. Walk in what you see with your spiritual eyes. Amen.

  483. Hallelujah. Bless you guys. We're going to have some morning tea.

  484. We're going to have a cake for Andrew.

  485. It's going to be a great day, isn't it? Happy Father's Day again.