Sermon
Valley Ready
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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He's not on yet.
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Check.
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Hello, check.
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We will sing These Are The Days Of Elijah.
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These are the days of Elijah,
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Bearing the word of the Lord.
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And these are the days of your servants,
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Moses, righteousness being restored.
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And these are the days of your servants,
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Moses, righteousness being restored.
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And these are the days of your servants,
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And these are the days of your servants,
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Of famine and darkness and sores,
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Still with voice in the desert,
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Crying, prepare ye the way of the Lord.
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Behold he comes,
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Riding on clouds, shining like the sun,
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At the trump record,
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To lift your voice to hear of him lead,
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Out of Zion's hill salvation comes.
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These are the days,
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These are the days of Ezekiel,
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The dry bones becoming a splash.
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And these are the days of your servant,
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Rebuilding the temple of praise.
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Oh these are the days of the harvest,
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Of fields that are white in the world,
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And we are the neighbors
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In your dominion,
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Declaring the word of the Lord.
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Behold he comes,
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Riding on clouds, shining like the sun,
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At the trump record,
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To lift your voice to hear of him lead,
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Out of Zion's hill salvation comes.
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Behold he comes,
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Riding on clouds, shining like the sun,
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At the trump record,
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To lift your voice to hear of him lead,
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Out of Zion's hill salvation comes.
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Out of Zion's hill salvation comes.
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Alright, we have a few guests.
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Tuni, you want to introduce your friends?
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So we have Ken, we have Karen,
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They're from Singapore, and they have a friend,
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Ruth, right? Yes.
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From China, that's right.
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Welcome.
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Jeremy, you want to introduce your friend?
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Hi Mika.
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Today, as you can see, I'm very well behaved, very well dressed.
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That's because my mother-in-law is here.
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And her name is Salome.
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Oh, welcome.
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Alright, let's pray.
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Abba,
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What you've given me today is
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not a teaching or preaching, it is
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for us to prepare ourselves for the work in hand.
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What we've been talking about, Abba, over the last few weeks is
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you directing us to Victoria
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and Nanaimo, and you building
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churches there.
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And so we come tonight, or this afternoon,
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with hearts willing to learn,
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with ears that are attentive,
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with a vision of the future,
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with ears that are attentive to prepare ourselves for the work
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at hand. That's what we're doing today. So the
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next 30 minutes, 45 minutes is meant to prepare
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ourselves. Because we have heard enough,
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the time is nearing, and we need to be ready for the work at hand.
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So Holy Spirit, I pray that you put the right words on my tongue,
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that you give us ears to
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listen and hearts to receive. In Jesus' name,
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Amen.
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So, if you have missed out the last two or three weeks of teaching,
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Jacob has been talking about us going to Victoria
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Nanaimo
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with the intent of making the Father known,
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making disciples, multiplying churches.
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That's what we've been talking about. And what I have
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for us today is really prepping us for that work.
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So there are a few things I want to talk about. But it's very important
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for us to not look at Victoria and Nanaimo as
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wow, we're going to Victoria and Nanaimo. And Jacob said
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this is about training us and preparing us for the life ahead.
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And it's easy to just look at these two places and
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think about Acts 29, think about all of the desires of your
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hearts and be zoomed in on that.
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But it is a danger if we go that way. So I want us to
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first step out of it, because we need to
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go back to Matthew 28
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19. And we need to start reading
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Matthew 28 19 a certain way. Now when we read over
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the next few weeks, we have to read it as, what did Jesus say?
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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations
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in Victoria and Nanaimo.
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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations in
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Victoria and Nanaimo, baptizing them.
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In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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And teaching them to observe everything that commanded you.
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It is very important for all of us to go back to this
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before we delve into this. We have to know why
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we're doing it. We're doing it because we're following the commission
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of Christ that is for us. And right now, over the next
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little while when you read these verses, you have to put Victoria and Nanaimo
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into it. Because we are following a direct
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command from our King
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to go into these cities. So when you do that, it helps
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because now we remove from it anything else, because there is something
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that's been taught here, which is a purity of purpose. Before
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anything, this is the reason why we are doing it. Because we have a Savior
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who died for us. We have a King who has commissioned us for a work.
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And we now follow Him into what He is doing. And then
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comes everything with respect to what's happening at Acts 29.
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And with respect to the leading into
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these cities to do specific work there. But we cannot take
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this out of the equation. It's very important.
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Now, I want us to read
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Psalm 126, verse 1.
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It says, When the Lord
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brought back the captives out of Zion,
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we were as those who were dreaming.
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And it says, their mouths were filled with laughter
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in the tongues, songs of joy.
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So it's very important for us also then
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to look at what will happen in Victoria and Nanaimo.
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And look at that and go, that is exactly what God is doing.
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He is restoring the fortunes of a people in Victoria
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and Nanaimo through us. And
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it is incredibly important to know what the end result is.
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Before we proceed into the work, before we jump into the work at hand,
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we already know the end picture. Because He is in the business
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of rebuilding cities. And He is using us then
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to follow Him into these two cities.
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So the large canvas is important
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before the specifics of Nanaimo and Victoria.
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And I can't tell you how important it is. Because the reason I'm saying
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this is because we can be very quickly going and doing
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things without this. We cannot
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afford to.
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Yeah? Jeremy's friend,
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what's your name? Mika? One of the things that
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Mika, you're someone that
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doesn't matter where you sit, doesn't matter where you are,
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God will always call you out.
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And it's like the story of Siqueus.
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Siqueus was in a certain place. He just wanted to see what was happening. But Jesus
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came calling. Like with Peter, like with
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Andrew, like with the disciples, He'll come calling.
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And you're called out, man. You're called out by Him.
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So it is very difficult. It will be very difficult for you
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to be
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in the fringes. You will always be
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in front. Meaning with respect to what God is doing,
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there are things that have been called and named
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and spoken upon in your life that you have to walk into.
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And I'm just speaking out loud today.
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Yeah? Because you are someone who He calls out
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always. He will not allow you
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at all to be anywhere else. You will be called out until
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you're like, oh, this is who I am. Until you wake up one day
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and recognize that it doesn't matter where I go, what I do, I'm always
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called out by Him for His things. Until
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the day you wear that cap, He'll keep on doing it.
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So we bless you.
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Where were we?
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Yeah, we talked about Psalm 126.1.
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So let's go. What I want to do today is really not a teaching.
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It's really prepping us for the work.
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And why don't we start with a few things.
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So I have probably ten different things.
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The first three things, we'll go into a little more detail. And then once those
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three things are done, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and then
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it's up to us to practice it, live it, walk in it, and
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God is readying us for the work. So number one.
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Count the cost. Before we step out and do
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anything, we have to sit and count the
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cost. Because following Jesus comes with a price,
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we have to pay a price. And before we pay a price,
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you've always got to count it. Jesus said it this way
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in Luke chapter 14. Because this is not something we are
Luke 14 chapter mention
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dreaming up. This is His command or His commission for us
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to follow Him. And so Jesus said it this way in Luke chapter 14.
Luke 14 chapter mention
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If you are building a house,
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you have to count the cost of what it will take you before you build it.
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Lest the building will be incomplete and
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you're like, oops, wasn't planning.
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Wasn't counting. You have to build it that way.
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And then He proceeds. I want to say if a king is going to battle
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with 10,000 troops and the other
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king he's battling has 20,000 troops, he's got to think
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about how this battle is going to be. He's got to have planning,
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strategies. He's got to count the cost. And then
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for us then to go into Nanaimo and Victoria,
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we have to count the cost. We have to, guys, spend
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time to think about the cost
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that we are willing to pay. It's very important.
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And I can tell you, there will be a difference between those who
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count the cost and those who do not. There will be a
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difference. Iris and I were
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shopping yesterday, a few things for the baby.
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And so we are at the store and we buy quite a few things
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including the stroller and the, now I know the car seat and all of that.
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So we bought all of these things.
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We need to pay now. And I take my debit card
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out and I'm like, okay. And I find out I have
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got a thousand dollar limit on my debit card. So whenever
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I took the debit card ten years ago, eleven years ago, I had
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said my limit for a daily transaction is a thousand bucks.
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I didn't think then that it will come a day when a baby is going to
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come and I have to buy a stroller
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and the stroller itself is eight hundred bucks or whatever. I didn't know.
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So, oh! And the
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lady goes, oh, it's not working. And I'm like, okay. I got it covered
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so I take my credit card out and realize that, oh, I don't have my credit
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card but I have my Apple Pay. So I go Apple Pay and there is a limit on the
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Apple Pay. You can only do a hundred at a time.
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So to pay the whole thing you have to do a few rounds of Apple Pay
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and now there's a third problem. The machine
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will only accept Apple Pay from one mobile once.
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So you can't do it again. So now I ask Iris
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and finally we even had to get a gift
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card from Baby Zara's because I can purchase it online and then
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use that and that took about forty minutes. So we're waiting there for forty minutes to make a transaction
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happen. Why? Because we did not count
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the cost. It's a funny story. Oh my
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goodness. When it comes to Nanaimo and Victoria,
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we have to count the cost.
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It can be different things for different people.
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It can be, see the thing is, for us
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it's not the money that's the cost because often times when we think about it
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money comes to the forefront but money is not the thing.
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Because going to Victoria, coming back for a trip like this,
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multiple times as we go, money will come. But it is all of the other
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things that you have to lay down. It can be, and we'll touch on those
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things. I want to be very practical about what we are to do.
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So we have to count the cost.
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If we don't count the cost, we will find ourselves in
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places where we are not ready.
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So the purpose of me sharing, going through these points
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today, the purpose is that we'll take time offline
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to sit down, think, ready ourselves.
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Because if I am following the words of Jesus,
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Jesus said, you've got to count it before you say yes.
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Saying yes because others are saying yes, or saying
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yes because Jacob is saying, hey let's go, it's good
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but it's not good enough. Good enough would be yes, receiving it
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and then saying, I have to pay a cost. And I'm
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willing to pay this cost no matter what.
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And therefore I am ready.
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When it comes to big decisions in our life, we do it.
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There is nothing more important than this.
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And I say that because Matthew 28, 19,
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that there is nothing more important than that in any believer's life.
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That is the most important thing. That is the overarching call
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of God over all of our heads. There is nothing
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more important than that. So if I'm just remembering what
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we were taught way back, remember this?
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So at the center we have
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there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. The right way to do it is
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Christ and his church is at the center. And then my family,
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my work, my positions, my wealth, all of those things go into
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that. So those things that we talked about, that we learned,
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now we have a new opportunity to practice it. Because at the center
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of everything that we are doing is Christ and his bride.
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And all of these things fall in place
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for us to live our lives in alignment
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with what God is asking us to do. So we have to count the cost.
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Go to
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chapter 1, it talks about this
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one of the fascinating things there is God is saying
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you're living in houses that are fully roofed. It's perfect. But you haven't
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built anything for me. I need you to build me a temple.
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And before he says that, he says consider your ways. It's so
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important for us to sit down and when we sit down and not just
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think of the cost or count the cost, but also consider
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our ways. Again, I'm telling you,
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there will be a difference between those who consider their ways
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and those who do not. Some things are some things as
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he established. We can't change it. It's
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up to us then to take time and do this. So consider
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your ways, he said. And I want to add
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two things to that. Number one, it is dangerous for me
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to rank or esteem myself higher
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than where I'm rightfully at. So one thing that I need to and you need
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to be careful about is do not esteem yourself
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higher than where you're at in life.
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And it is foolish to
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overlook everything that God has been doing in your life and what he has
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been doing to prepare you. Two things. One, I
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cannot esteem myself higher than where I'm at in life.
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So I'm able to do everything through Christ, but Christ
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has also been training me up, has also been prepping me
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up for the things of life. And if I go and
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try to lift, okay, we don't need to go into that story, but if you go to the gym and try to
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if I try to go with Powen and there is a, I don't know,
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100 kilo stuff and Powen is going there and lifting it up and I try to do
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that, I'll be pretty, I'll be dangerous.
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On the other hand, if I've been prepped
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and if God has been doing things, there is a tendency
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that I can overlook everything that he has been doing.
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And you shouldn't do that either. It's important for you
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to also take into account what he has been doing in you.
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So when it says consider your ways, consider what he has
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been doing. Think about the last three months, the last six months,
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the last year. What has he been doing? It is
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important to find a relationship between everything that he has been doing
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and the work at hand. Yeah? You're tracking me?
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Yeah? Yeah?
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Good. So it's important. Once we do
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that, then we know where we stand and
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we know the task at hand and there will also come a very quick
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understanding of, aha, I need to dive right into
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everything that God is using to prepare me for my life.
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If you don't do it, you don't see what is happening, you have not thought
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about where you're at and there is a gap
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that you're completely ignoring. We don't want to do that.
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We want to count our costs, but we also need to consider
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our ways. So a few questions. What are some
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changes required of me to ready
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myself for the full work? What are some
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changes required of me to ready myself for the work
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at hand? And by that I mean the work in Victoria and Nanaimo.
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And you need to answer these questions.
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Not now, but because we're going to count the costs
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and because we're going to consider our ways, we have to do it
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in a different setting. Think, ponder with God,
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answer these things.
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Second question,
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what are some things in terms of my thinking that needs to change
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in terms of my thinking that needs to change?
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What are some things
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in terms of my thinking that has to change?
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God can reveal it to you,
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people around you can reveal it to you.
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Number two, what are some changes with respect to my relationships
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within the body where I need to change? Don't think about
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family right now, think of this family here.
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What are some things that I need to change with respect to my
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relationships with this family right here?
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As I prepare.
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And you have to have answers for these things, guys. If we try
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to answer them and you go, oh, I can't really think of anything, everything is so beautifully perfect.
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It's not the case. Then you're
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probably blinded to it. There are things
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that I have to know. Because when I think about it, there are two or three things that
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at least two things that
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come right at me. So I have to then
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sit down and think about, okay, Abba, you're bringing these things
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to mind. I need to change in these things. And I'm
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willing, I need help.
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Now when I do it, I'm becoming ready for the work at hand.
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I'm not interested today in
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speaking something that's not going to be helpful for us, guys.
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I know for a fact that if we go down this path, it will be so
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helpful for us when we are in those cities. So helpful.
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So it's relationships inside the body
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is important. My thinking is important. Those are two things
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as we go out that we cannot take lightly.
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And then third question or fourth
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question. You need to also look at what
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the devil has been doing over the last little while
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with your life to trip you up.
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Are there things that are recurring? And I'm not talking about
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habitual sins.
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I'm talking about think. Be aware. Look
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back at your life in the last three months, six months. See what are the
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things that are tripping you. They keep coming up.
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What are the things that keep tripping you?
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What are the things that keep pulling you back? It's almost
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like you hit your stride and then you keep walking and then all of a sudden
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you're back. What are those things?
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This is where the body can be so helpful. Because if you take
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the time to think, to count the costs, to consider
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your ways, as God reveals these things, as others who are with you
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that you walk with, as they help you, you'll see a big
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change happening. Big change happening. This is
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life on life. This is living out everything we've been hearing.
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Number two.
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And maybe here I'll answer
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Sade's question.
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We need to prepare in abundance
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and give in plenty. Prepare
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in abundance and give in plenty.
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I want to take us to 1 Chronicles 22. You don't have to read it.
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No, you can read it later. But the picture is
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David wants to build this temple. And he knows that. God has told
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him he's not going to be the one building it. His son is going to be the one building it. So he knows
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that already. But you find David still
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preparing in abundance. And I'm using those words straight out of
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1 Chronicles 22. Preparing in abundance
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for the building of the temple that was to come. You see him
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thinking about the gates, the doors of the gates.
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You see him thinking about the nails. And him knowing that these
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nails are going to be needed by Solomon later, he
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puts them together. He brings them. He gathers them. He knows that
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iron and bronze are needed. So he gathers them in plenty.
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He knows that cedars are going to be needed. Timbers are going to be
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needed. So he brings them. He prepares in abundance
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for the work in hand.
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When we think of Nanaimo and Victoria,
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I pray that as a family we look at this as
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not a side thing we're doing
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along with everything else we're doing. But I wish I had
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the drawing here before. This is central to what God is doing in our
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lives. And if, and I know that
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in a church like this, we all know each other, but we're also
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in different stages of our lives. So it is possible
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because I was reminded as I was writing this of someone here who asked me, hey,
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I want to find out my purpose. I want to find out what my
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life is about. I want to find out my purpose. And let me answer you
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with this. If you are able to look at what God is doing
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and delve right into it and say, I'm going to
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obey you Jesus into these things, then
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your purpose will follow you. You don't wait
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for your purpose. As God opens up things
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and He says, here is the path, walk in it. You jump
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right into it and you walk. Your purpose will follow you.
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The specifics of it will be opened up to you.
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The gift will be unwrapped. But you've got to do it.
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Because sometimes we look at our
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life and we go, okay, I really need to know the purpose.
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What am I really supposed to do in life?
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I know I'm going to Acts 29. I know I'm doing this
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and I know I'm doing that. But what's the real purpose? So the specifics
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regarding your purpose will unravel as you obey Him
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fully and you're fully committed to it.
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Watch my words. It will happen to you. Because He's a good Father.
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And when you say, it doesn't matter where, it doesn't
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matter how, it doesn't matter what, I am in it.
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If you say, go, I will go fully. I'll give
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prepare in abundance and give in plenty. That's where you start.
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Leave the rest to Him. He'll take care of it.
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So I want to... Yes, Diana.
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So you already said that the work in Victoria will be central
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to our lives as a body. But the work that He gives us, there
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might be something personal for us as well. So how do we balance that
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out? Or could there be two completely separate things
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that we're doing? Everything comes under
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Matthew 28-19. Everything that we do comes under
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Matthew 28-19. And then under this are specifics.
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So God may ask you very specifically to do something in
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Burnaby that none of us here are being invited into
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or called into. And so this is part of counting the cost
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and considering the waste. Because the answer for you may not be
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the answer for me. It could be different. But because God is
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doing this with Acts 29, we cannot
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as... We should not as individuals, because we can't.
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We should not as individuals take a step back and say, well, it's for the rest
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of those guys. They'll do it. Because one of the things that Jacob kept hammering
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initially was this idea that this is not for house church
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leaders or a few people. This is for all of us. My
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goodness, man. Matthew 28-19 is for all of us.
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All of us.
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And we should be so excited about
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living the word. Living the word.
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So, yeah.
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There are different things that we may be doing.
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But we have to sit down and weigh things and then decide.
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So,
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we talked about conspiring with the Holy Spirit earlier on. Not today, but
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in one of the sessions before.
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We need to conspire with the Holy Spirit also as we do
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this exercise to reorganize our schedules
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and our time commitments. We need to sit down
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to conspire with the Holy Spirit. So, if I need to
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do these things, I need to sit down with the Holy Spirit
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and say, Holy Spirit, this will demand
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of me to spend time outside of work,
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outside of this thing and that thing and this thing.
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And you know what? I really need your help.
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So, between you and I, I'm committing to this.
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And I'm prepared to pay this price.
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And I'm also prepared to re-prioritize the things
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in my life to make it happen. Conspiring
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with the Holy Spirit is also useful in your
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preparation for the work at hand. So, you sit
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down and conspire with Him. As a family, sit down and conspire with
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Him. It's going to be so good. Because even
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before you're there, you have sat down with Him and you've talked
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to Him. You've let Him know already, hey, here's what this looks like.
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You know my heart. I want to give it all. Because, guys, there are going to be days when
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it's not easy. And when you do this, you're prepared.
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So, a few things we need to do.
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We need to already start thinking about what we're
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going to be doing. Plan your time, your schedule.
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Because this is a real place
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that real people need to go to using the 24 hours that we
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have every day. So, we need to plan.
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Prepare. So, start looking at your summer holiday
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plans and start looking at when your days are off. And
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in all honesty, we have to now think of our days
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off this year. I'm going to say even to that extent. When we take time off
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this year at work, think about how that's going to align
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with this.
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Think about how that will align with this. Super important.
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Number two, organize your finances.
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What do I mean by that?
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Father, counting the cost, even the dollars are not
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the most important thing when it comes to counting cost.
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I am also prepared to spend. Because this money
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you gave me. This money I want to give for you.
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Three.
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Trade everything that he has given you.
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Be a good steward. Trade everything that he has given you.
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Don't put it under your bed.
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It's the story of the
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guy who was given talents that he traded.
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He made a lot of money.
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He made a lot of money.
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He made a lot of money with these talents that he traded.
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He multiplied it. So you have to look at your life
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and go, when it comes to these things, what are the things that are
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so innate to me, so me. Because you've built
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me that way that I need to trade, use.
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Because we're a body. Diana is good at certain things
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that I'm not good at. And she's good at
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us and therefore she has to trade it use it for the benefit of all of us and for
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the benefit of those in Nanaimo and Victoria we have to trade the talents
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trade the gifts that have been given to us and this goes without saying but when
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I look at my life I find a gap that I need to fill prepare by feeding on the
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word this is very important prepare by feeding on the word like never before may
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this church now as we prepare may there be such a wind of the Holy Spirit
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amongst us that all of us are spending way more time here than ever before so
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important
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prepare by feeding on the word
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next prepare by setting up
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godly disciplines it's part of considering your ways what are the
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things that I need to change habits that are not fruitful what are the habits
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that I really need to have in my life to be able to accomplish what God is saying
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set up godly disciplines I was talking with Emily K a few weeks ago and Emily
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was saying how she's been waking up at a particular time and she's sitting down
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in this one area in our house where she spends time with God no one else just
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herself and God and that's a place that she has to encounter him every day so
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what are other disciplines other godly disciplines that you need to cultivate
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that you need to set up as you prepare
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another thing I would add and this is really when it comes to give in plenty
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be prepared to give all of yourself to this work what does that really mean
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don't be tight-fisted give all of yourself for this don't be tight-fisted
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don't jump into this with we'll see how it goes give it all give it everything
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and I'm not talking about money because when we talk about being tight-fisted it's very easy
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to think about money I'm not talking about money is one thing but don't be
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tight-fisted when it comes to how much of yourself you give to others don't be
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tight-fisted with your time with your words with your attitude don't be
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tight-fisted give all of yourself to others so the thing is guys what Jesus
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accomplishes on earth is not done by superstars it is done by a people by a
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community of ordinary people what Jesus accomplishes on earth is done by a
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community of ordinary people it happened 2,000 years ago it started 2,000 years
-
ago with a group of 12 it continues today with ordinary people living a
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certain way weighing everything that he has said and placing it over our heads
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and saying I bow down to no one else but him and his words it will dictate how I
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live it will dictate everything that I do my words my passions my my my my
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disciplines my life my work everything will bow down to how the king wants me
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to live and maybe we need to talk about it because none of us are pastors like
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Jacob we're all regular people Jacob is a pastor sorry Jacob if you're watching
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hello and he has trained us up well to know that the royal priesthood belongs
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to all of us if you if you've been here long enough you know that you belong to
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the royal priesthood so how how dare we step into something without recognizing
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who we are we are a royal priesthood
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one more thing I want to take a little bit more time on and then we'll go
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through it real fast number three repair rebuild restore as per I say 58 6 to 12
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that turn I know it's quite long well let me tell you tell you this way over
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the next little while one of the passages that we should go to read again
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and again and again understand with the Holy Spirit I say a 58 6 to 12 58 6 to
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12 yeah one of the passages where we need that we need to give our time to
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and learn with the Holy Spirit is this I had great plans to hooking up my iPad
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with this thing to to point out a few things but I'll try to do it without it
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because it ain't working good do I say 58 6 to 12 we'll spend a few minutes there
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rebuild repair restore after I say a 58 pattern so the first verse that I want
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us to read is I say a 58 verse 12 here is how it says and your ancient ruins
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shall be rebuilt you shall raise up the foundations of many generations you
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shall be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of streets to dwell
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in read that again it's about us I say a 58 verse 12 and your ancient ruins shall
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be rebuilt X 29 you will raise up the foundations of many generations X 29 you
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shall be called the repairer of the breach in Victoria and Nanaimo and you
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acts 29 you are the restorer of streets to dwell in that is them that is how
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God sees us already okay so we we're starting from the very bottom and then
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we'll make work our way up so I say a 58 12 spend time over it go over this
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again and again and again until this is so inside you that even at night you'll
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wake up I'll be like you'll say just like that it's important we need to we
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need to see ourselves how God sees us before we go right into it and start
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doing stuff so let's read that again X 29 you shall raise up the foundations of
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many generations so what does that mean see one of the things even as Jacob
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mentioned remember you talked about the the women the Salvation Army women in
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Victoria the work that they did there have been others too after the fact who
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worked there and there are things that he started in one generation that in
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his timing he has already placed it for others to finish okay so there are
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things that he started in Victoria Nanaimo he started it he did it things
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happened and then he sometimes keeps certain things for the next generation
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or the generation after to come and complete it's so scriptural Abraham
-
this is what is going to happen to you by the way it's going to take 400 years
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there is something that I this is amazing there is something that the
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father really loves when he looks at us and he sees the generations like it's a
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view that we don't have but he enjoys that view he loves it that he starts
-
something and then he leaves something and same with us there will be things
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that we start that Phoebe and others will continue and finish it's the way he
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works he's a god of generations and so x29 you shall raise up the foundations
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of many generations you shall be called the repairer of the breach the
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restorer of streets to dwell in so we'll do we we have to do these things as we
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follow him in the cities but if you look at Isaiah 58 6 to 12 I want to divide
-
that into two sections it's it's like an if-then statement Jeremy will know it
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it's like if you do this then the rest of it I'll do right if you do it then
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the rest of it works yeah if you do it the rest of it I'll do and and for today
-
okay just for today let's not even let's read it once we'll read once what he
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says he'll do and the for today just forget it why because what he says he'll
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do he'll do yeah so let's just read it let's read together I say a 58 8 to 12
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so I said we're gonna divide that into two sections let's start with 6 and 7
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this is our part okay this is where we come in as a body is not this the fast
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that I choose to lose the bonds of wickedness to undo the straps of the
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yoke to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke that's for us we're
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seven again for us is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the
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homeless poor into your home when you see the naked to cover him and not to
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hide yourself from your own flesh again for us now he responds then with things
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that he will do which will read once and then we're just gonna put it on the side
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and what I mean by that is things that he says he'll do he'll do it he's so
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good at it then shall you light x29 break forth like the dawn and your
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healing shall spring up speedily x29 your righteousness shall go before you
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the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard remember where we started from
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presence to go before that his presence with us before that she kind of his
-
presence is with us the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard then you
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shall call and the Lord will answer you shall cry and he will say here I am
-
today we are only reading it once we just gonna put that on the side because
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he'll do what he says next our part if you x29 take away the yoke from your
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midst the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness if you pour
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yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted that's for
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us then his part shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the
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noonday and the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in
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scorched places and make your bones strong and you shall be like a watered
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garden like a spring of water whose waters do not fail and your ancient
-
ruins shall be rebuilt you shall raise up the foundations of many generations
-
you shall be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of streets to dwell
-
in so we started from verse 12 because that is the work at hand and we went
-
back up and there are two things number one and this is so important for us a
-
when we go to Victoria Nanaimo can we do it this way can we be a shepherd king
-
can we on one hand recognize the evil at play the bondage that people are in the
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traps that they are in and the need for people to be loosened for captives to be
-
set free all of which cannot happen with our power but can absolutely happen
-
with his power in us that is essential and then on the same token can we also
-
see the homeless and you can you can say well it's the same no it's different can
-
you also see the homeless and the poor and the needy and give all of what you
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have so that their things are taken care of there are people who are in verse 7
-
go back because this is important go back is is it not to share your bread
-
with the hungry so when it comes to seeing a hungry man giving bread just do
-
it
-
don't discern just do it
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sometimes we can be discerning and I understand the discerning part but when
-
you see a hungry man he said give food you're tracking me
-
bring the homeless poor into your house when you see the see the naked cover
-
him when you see a man or a woman who is naked don't wait for discernment the
-
discernment is already given to you to use this word and obey just do it and
-
not to hide yourself from your own flesh we can spend more time on it but let's
-
just leave it there so there is that that we need to do but we should not be
-
we should be careful not to be specialists specialists in one thing now
-
what I'm a specialist in feeding the homeless and covering the nakedness of
-
people when it comes to loosening bones that's I'm gonna leave that with a
-
couple of others or my thing is that I really like loosening the bones and
-
setting captives free but I'm not going to really do this part because that's
-
really not no do both if all of us start doing both how rich will we be if all of
-
us look at this and say Jesus we want to follow you into what you're doing we're
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gonna fulfill all of this I'm not going to say that I am a certain type so I
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can't do certain things I will show the desire to show everything and do
-
everything I may not be able to do some stuff as good as person a but that's
-
okay I want to do it all and this is important otherwise we will
-
compartmentalize and specialize which is not in the kingdom
-
so prepare yourself for both were six and were seven train my hands for war my
-
fingers for battle and the reason I said shepherd King is because on one hand
-
you got to take care of the poor and the hungry and the naked and being a
-
shepherd helps but you also got to be a king that he has placed on earth to
-
stand in his authority and say come out both both important so when the father
-
his children into a city or a nation they are to tear down what needs to be
-
torn down and you cannot build in fact what do we read this Jeremiah chapter
-
one verse 10 Jeremiah chapter one verse 10 I'll read it see I have set you this
-
day over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and to break down to destroy
-
and overthrow to build and plant so we have to do that and then we have to take
-
were seven from Isaiah chapter 58 and hold it on the other hand man it'll be
Isaiah 58 chapter mention
-
so fun because I think and not I think all of us has to grow in it and what an
-
amazing opportunity to follow Jesus to be obedient to his call and to do exactly
-
what he's asking us to do few more things cities and lives will be contested
-
by giants and they must be overcome cities and lives will be contested by
-
giants and they must be overcome I like this verse Isaiah 49 even the captives
-
of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible be delivered
-
for I will content with him who contends with you and I will save your children
-
so I'll just wrap it up by saying rebuilding is not about feeding the poor
-
is not just about feeding the poor and clothing the needy it is the progression
-
and expansion of an upside down rule the rule of Christ it changes everything and
-
one of the things that came up and just I'll just say this and then we'll move
-
on one of the things that came up one of the days when we met for an encounter
-
metering is we will have to rename people and rename things work with the
-
father and prepare yourself above as we go we know there are people who will
-
meet who will need to be renamed there are things that will need to be renamed
-
because we are digging wells like Isaiah sorry like Isaac we are re digging and so
-
there are things that we will rename but that's just on the side will we'll do
-
that later and then a few more things we will wrap up in five minutes number four
-
shut down the voices of send ballot and Tobiah and others like them comes from
-
Nehemiah chapter four
-
it's important and for today I'll only talk about one thing if there are voices
-
that try to make you feel that you're so inadequate that you can't do this and
-
you know look at look at these guys and they maybe they can do it and I don't
-
feel like I can do it this is what you're dealing with you read the
-
Hama chapter 4 God said rebuild Nehemiah and his people started rebuilding
-
there comes and ballot and Tobiah and you know what they're saying you guys are
-
building look at this wall all that will take is for a Fox to run across and this
-
wall you're building will come down you're so feeble so weak what are you
-
building almost sounds like how dawn and Xavier talks to you in here on a soccer
-
ground that's how they speak but jokes aside if you if you hear that you've got
-
not just now but even as you do things it is because these voices it's a it's an
-
old trick played by the devil to make you feel inadequate for the task at hand
-
and you've got to as you hear it shut it down shut it down you cannot afford to
-
give it room shut it down
-
ok now three four points we don't have time to go into the details of I'll just
-
read it you write it or think it think about it
-
obedience is way more important than perceived results results are important
-
but obedience is way more important than perceived results when it comes to some
-
of the stuff we're talking about which is an invisible enemy we cannot go by
-
perceived results we have to go by obedience and then leave it to him
-
because all of the stuff that I said let's just put it on the site what a
-
confidence we have to be able to do that that are good good father when he says
-
something he'll do it
-
next do not forget the significance of one soul because we could be doing
-
things and this is important for me but for us because when we do things guys
-
there are going to be times when in a few of us are going to be doing stuff
-
that's going to involve 10 and 15 people and a few of us are going to be doing
-
things one-on-one with someone never forget the significance of one soul
-
never forget it
-
next I want to spend too much time here expect creative solutions to difficult
-
problems expect creative solutions from the Holy Spirit for difficult problems
-
reference second Kings to chapter 19 or 21 verse 19 this is when the men of the
-
city came to Elisha and said you know what this place is no good the water is
-
bad the land is unfruitful what do we do Elisha says this is what you do come
-
with a bowl of salt and a creative solution was given to him by the Holy
-
Spirit that he did so be attended to the spirit for creative solutions to
-
difficult problems and then the last thing I want to say as we as he
-
prepares us is go back and read Ephesians chapter 6 Ephesians chapter 6
Ephesians 6 chapter mention Ephesians 6 chapter mention
-
that's the whole armor of God the full armor of God we've got to read that and
-
I know I'm not saying read it but meditate on it ask the Holy Spirit
-
conspire with him conspire with the Holy Spirit as we read it the helmet of
-
salvation the breastplate of righteousness readiness for the gospel
-
the belt of truth conspire with him sit down with him wear it
-
it is important as I said earlier on for us to think about what happened in the
-
past and to look at and consider our ways so that mistakes that we made or
-
things attempted against us are brought to light it is important it's it's not
-
exactly similar but there's a story that comes to mind I think World War two or
-
something the Royal Air Force they found out that the planes that were coming
-
back after going to Germany and thereabouts the planes that were coming
-
back most of them were hit in certain locations bullets fired at them in
-
certain locations and so they decided that you know what all of these planes
-
they have the same pattern it's the same locations that they get a lot of hit so
-
we need to reinforce those areas and make sense yeah but then one guy said
-
uh-huh no I don't think you're doing it right because what if the planes that
-
are not coming back are getting hit in other spots and we don't even see it and
-
that changed the way they build planes so conspire with the Holy Spirit we all
-
need to do this a we need to sit down and read through that passage and
-
conspire with him prepare okay let's pray in close
-
Abba you know our hearts you know our desires you know everything about us you
-
know this body this is your people we are your people we come to you today and
-
we we've been hearing we've been learning we want to prepare ourselves
-
for the work at hand we really want to prepare ourselves about and this
-
preparation is not a preparation where we just go and think about a few things on
-
no all of this is with your Holy Spirit we don't have to lift weights that we
-
aren't supposed to lift because you said I'm gonna give you a helper I'm gonna
-
give you a friend I'm gonna give you a comforter so Holy Spirit we come to you
-
we want to do this with you and all of us want to take time to count the cost to
-
consider our ways we want to take time we're gonna give ourselves to you so use
-
us Holy Spirit take all of us take this body and break it so that others can be
-
fed take this body like it was done with your son father and break it so others
-
can benefit father I pray protection and blessing over everyone here and those
-
who can't be here with us and those who are traveling and Jacob and May as well
-
in Jesus name amen that's it guys see you later