Unstopable II - Representation

point where it's now unstoppable. That, and we talked about this last week, that

something has transpired in this life of this, in the life of this church where

it's no longer stoppable. Even if ten of the leaders from this church disappeared

tomorrow, this church is unstoppable. And that that unstoppable nature that this

church has, has permeated deep enough into the life of each person here that

it is not possible to stop the continuance of this church. It'll go on

for years on end. I'm not talking about the Ax 29 entity, I'm talking about what

has started here will not be able to be extinguished. That's a big claim we are

making, a big boast, because even the churches in the book of Revelation,

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, 2 and 3, ceased at some point. But this thing will continue because

it's become unstoppable. If you want to listen to the teaching on the

unstoppable nature of this church, leave alone the fact that the church in

general will prevail. This has become a prevailing unstoppable church. It's nothing

that can now prevent it from flowering. When each seed becomes potent, how can

you stop? So listen to that from last week's thing. So this time, this week

we talk about, okay if it's unstoppable, what are some of the things that we can

now begin to focus on? And the first one we want to focus on is the idea of

representation. It is the one thing that God has desired right from the beginning.

When he placed Adam on the earth, he was supposed to represent God. It was

normal for kings in the ancient Near East to set up images of themselves at

the borders of their nation so that anybody crossing the border would

recognize, aha, that's the image of the king. We have now entered into a different

territory. And so when Adam was placed on the earth, it was the same thing. He was

made in the Selim, T-S-E-L-E-M, or the image of God. And that was the image. Hey,

you can shut off the monitor. That way there won't be an echo. I think. So he

was put on the earth as a Selim or the image of God and this idea of

representation is very dear to the heart of God. It's the one thing that he's

always wanted to do from the beginning. And so we have the fearful privilege. And

I want to say fearful because it is not a privilege to be taken lightly. Why am I

still getting an echo, guys? Okay, fearful privilege of representing the king. We

have the fearful privilege of representing the king of glory. The

fearful privilege. It's not to be taken lightly. The strange thing though is I

can't represent God. I can't represent God, but I can intentionally, I can

intentionally give myself to him so that he can represent himself through me. So

if you think you can represent God saying, okay, I want to represent you, God,

it doesn't work that way. It is this idea of, father, you are looking for

representation here on earth. That's why you created man. When you placed him here

on earth, you said that, made in my own image and likeness. Go forth, multiply.

You know, the strange thing is the idea of multiplication in the book of Genesis

is only because when God made Adam, he made him after his image and likeness

and said, you have the right to multiply because you will represent me. And Christ

coming and buying back to himself, his people is his idea of let me continue the

representation. And so, the idea of the idea of the idea of the idea of the

And so, I can't represent God, but I can intentionally give myself to him. The

whole idea of living sacrifice that we were practicing during the time of

worship. I can sacrificially and intentionally give myself to him so that

he can then represent himself through me. Saying, okay, you're placing yourself on

the altar Jacob, good, let me in this area use you to represent me. So why does

God work through representation? One, because he's utterly transcendent. He's

utterly transcendent. So he likes having representation here on earth. What do you

think he was doing with Jesus? He sent Jesus to represent him. Take on flesh.

Yahweh, unapproachable. Jesus, absolutely approachable.

Who lives beyond our present time and our realm. He can enter this realm at

will, but he is transcendent in the sense beyond. This is how Christianity is so

different from other religions. In all other religions, God can become

stone and tree and wood. He can become like man. He can polytheism and all those

religions are based on this idea that God is not transcendent. That he can as

well fit here as in a stone or a rock or a person or in heaven. But we are talking

about a God who is far beyond. So one of the reasons he likes representation is

because he's utterly transcendent. Two, because we are his likeness. God thinks

highly of this. So we don't. He likes representation because he actually

thinks I am now restored to his image and likeness. He likes representing

himself through me. Ephesians 4 talks about it. That we have been redeemed and

now our minds are being renewed so that we become his image and likeness. Restored

to his image and likeness. God desires, likes, yearns representing himself through

me. And when you and I begin to think like that, that God likes representing

himself through me, you begin to want him to represent himself through you.

Third, this is a very odd one. He trusts. I mean look at Genesis 5 3. God is

taking us back in a sense. Genesis 5 3 and then look at Genesis 5 1. Genesis 5 3.

It says when Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness

after his image and named him Seth. Now look at Genesis 1. This is the book of

generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.

What a difference. There was a fall and now there's a restoration. Adam's son was

made in his likeness but when God made man, he made him in his own likeness. And

God is saying, listen, one of the reasons I like having you represent me is because

I'm restoring you back to my likeness. You no longer carry Adam's likeness. There

is the last Adam that has come and you now belong to that likeness. There was

once an earthly man, 1st Corinthians 15, but now there is a heavenly man and you

take after him. The Bible actually says that. One was a living soul, one becomes a

life-giving spirit. One is a living soul, one is a life-giving spirit. This is what

it means for God when you and I step up and say, okay, I'll sacrificially,

intentionally give myself to you so that you can, if you so choose, O King,

represent yourself through me. That aside, 1st Peter 1.23 says that we have not been

born again of mortal sperm but of immortal seed. Our genetics is just

ridiculous, man. Third, I always struggle with this. He trusts us. He trusts us.

Faithfulness makes it much easier for God to trust you because faithfulness

develops a pattern in my life. Faithfulness is good habits. At the end

of the day, faithfulness is good habits continuously. Unfaithfulness is

succumbing to bad habits and not rising up from it. Faithfulness makes it easier

for God to expand my dominion. But even though he knows my past and my future, he

still is willing to trust me at this present moment. You know, he trusts me

with giving you this word. You know how that helps? As I'm teaching this

word, things will begin to come that I don't have in my notes and I always

marvel at that. I go back home and I think to myself, where did that come from?

And I know it's scriptural. He trusts you. But what if you're faithful? If you're

faithful, then he not just trusts you but he has now the ability to expand your

dominion or influence. Faithfulness is good habits. Unfaithfulness is bad

habits that you don't want to fight against because you like them.

And then fourthly, he can't help be someone who looks for representation

because he named himself

Emmanuel, God with us. He's forever chosen to dwell with the people and his glory is

carried by a people. His splendor, his brilliance, his weight, his magnificence is

displayed by a people. He has chosen this. He doesn't write things in the sky

anymore. He doesn't use a rainbow anymore. He has surprisingly, I mean think of it,

God's plan is going to succeed. God's plan is going to succeed through man.

God's plan is going to succeed through his people. Just imagine that. There is

no way that the biblical plan will not succeed. The biblical plan is only going

through work through man. The biblical plan is only going to work through God's

people. That is how confident he is. That is not how confident I am. That is how

confident he is. This whole idea of Emmanuel, God with us, he's decided that

this is how it's going to work. Plan A, Genesis chapter 1. Ain't going to change.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

That aside, he's the only God and this is where representation gets a little

scarier. He's a living God. He's a holy God and so that's why I said fearful

privilege of representing him. Who is he sending us to represent him to? To your

innocent child, to your cynical neighbor, to an atheist, to a Republican, to a

Democrat, to a Buddhist, to an Islamist, to a communist, to an academic, to a

colleague. These are the ones he sends us to. Why? Very simple. Why does he need us

as representatives to go to them? Very simple. Because he is Lord and they

all belong to him. This is important. They try to wrap your head around it at

home. One of the reasons he sends us to people is because he is actually the Lord

of all and they belong to him. They belong to him. They may not know it, they may not

know him, but he has bought them. He created them. They walked away. He paid

the price. They belong to him. Therefore, he needs representation here on earth so

he can send those that are willing to step up as representatives to go to

them because they belong to him. Any questions?

Any questions, guys?

No? Okay. Pardon? No. It's just a separate thing. So, to be able to represent well, we

start with courage, then we go to love, and then we go to signs. So let's start

with courage. If you want to represent, you must be seen and heard. If you want

to represent, you must be seen and heard. If you're not seen and heard, you cannot

represent. And unfortunately, our fear of man is suffocating representation.

Suffocating our ability to represent him, our fear of man. Where does our fear of

man come from? It comes from the spirit of the age. We talked about this about

two years ago. It comes from the spirit of the age. We'll just touch on it and

I'll explain it. And what does the spirit of the age do? It fits you into the mold

of prevalent culture. One of the things we have to realize is just because

someone rebels doesn't mean he's rebelling against the spirit of the age

because the spirit of the age is different in different places. It

fits you into the mold of prevalent culture. It makes sin, makes self, makes

majority opinion the norm. And it makes God's ways archaic, academic, or opposed

to progress. And it is political. It is demonic. It is intimidating. It has been

around for centuries. There's not a century where this hasn't happened. And

lastly, it castrates the courage to confront. It castrates the courage to

confront and it forces compliance. Why am I saying all this? Because we've got to

recognize what we are operating against. Every Christian is born into this. Every

Christian is born into this. And this is why representation is being suffocated,

distorted, diluted. Because you must realize that if you're a believer and we

mentioned why God wants us to represent him and why he uses this method, but we

need to understand the matrix or the petri dish that we are operating in. One,

it is the spirit of the age. And what is the spirit of the age? It doesn't matter

which nation you take, which era you take. The spirit of the age tries to fit you

into the mold of prevalent culture. Sometimes the spirit of the age works

through churches, works through religion, but it tries to fit you into the mold of

culture. It makes sin, self, and majority opinion the norm. It makes God's ways

archaic, academic, or opposed to progress. It is political, it is demonic, it is

intimidating, and it castrates the courage to confront and it forces

compliance. This is the environment that you are being sent into. This is the

environment you're being sent into.

Yeah, every person is born into this. Yeah, but because we are a different

kingdom, we are now entering, what's it, M-I-L-I-E-U, milieu, however you pronounce

that word, you're entering a milieu that is so alien to who you really are. But

because it has this tremendous power, it actually prevents Christians from

opening their mouths or doing anything of any damaging significance. It is like

a wet blanket that is so wet that it is impossible to but suffocate. And if I

don't decide to either die to this or realize that I must tear through this

blanket, one or the other, either I must die to it because it doesn't matter

anymore or I must have the moxie to take an aggressive, abrasive stance against

it, one or the other. Otherwise, this is smothering representation. This is what

step into every day, guys. This is why it is war.

Any questions? Any comments? This is why most of us are not able to breathe what

we really want to breathe.

So by dying to it, what I mean is you're willing to lose what is important. That's

what I mean by dying to it. Or you are willing to take such an aggressive

stance against it that it frightens the other party. Either die to it because

then you don't care about what you lose or take such an aggressive stand

against it that it begins to put the enemy on the defense. But we don't take

either. Most Christians don't. Western Christianity certainly doesn't. I find

it so, as I was writing this, I was pleading with the Lord, Father, in this

area, help me to show how this is done because I don't do it well.

Martin Luther, I love this quote. Such a cool quote. If I profess with the

loudest voice every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that point

which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking. I'm not confessing

Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Let me read that again.

If I profess with the loudest voice every portion of the truth of God, except

precisely that point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking.

Then I'm not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.

One last time. If I profess with the loudest voice every portion of the truth

of God, except that point which the world and the devil are at the moment

attacking. I'm not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.

So it's easy to speak about love, man.

But then talk about the love of Christ, that's a whole different thing.

Because then you'll have to bring up the cross.

Yeah, it's easy to speak about God. Then you bring up Jesus Christ and it becomes a problem.

And that was Paul's central creed. First Corinthians 2.2.

I have decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I have decided to know nothing amongst you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And so the first thing we want to deal with when we deal with representation,

and this is essential for an unstoppable church, because one of the ways an unstoppable church

dies is when nobody else is added to it. One of the ways an unstoppable church dies

is when there is no birth. There's addition through transfers, but there's no real

birth. That's one of the ways an unstoppable church dies. That's one of the ways that most

churches in the book of Revelation died. They either were tolerant or they accommodated,

or they did not go out for it, or they were too Jewish or too ethnic in one area.

Don, should I move you to another pew or you okay there?

You're okay there, huh? Okay, if Jeevan's too much of a distraction, let me know.

Let me see...

Everything okay there?

Yeah, I'm okay there bro!

Okay!

Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.

Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.

Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved.

I pray God that this church begins to prove their loyalty in the areas where the battle

rages.

And one of the areas that in Vancouver the battle rages is in the area of how do we deal

with the name of Jesus Christ, that He is the only way, that there are things that are

not biblical, that are not godly, regardless of what Trudeau says.

Where the battle rages, there the soldier proves his loyalty.

And the scorn of the world is reserved only for churches that proclaim Christ and repentance.

The scorn of the world is only reserved for churches that proclaim Christ and repentance.

So don't get co-opted by side shows and don't waste precious social currency taking stances

for things that maybe protest but don't really matter.

Don't spend precious social currency on things that don't matter because there's something

else that matters much more.

Any questions?

So that's the courage part of it eh?

So I'm going to ask a couple of people to pray for courage for this church right now.

I'm going to ask someone to pray for courage for me.

Then someone else can pray for the church.

I have all the time eh?

You're the ones who may have to go home.

So that's for me, then for the church.

Wow, this could be a late afternoon.

I'm going to ask people for courage.

That's pretty daunting for the rest of us.

I'm going to ask how courageous he is already.

Father, I pray that you would build his courage to be like Daniel in the line of Dan, where

he's courageous and totally at peace.

Where he can take on the tries of the church without any hesitation.

Father, I pray that when you walk into situations that you blame them in because that's where

you want them to be, that he would be totally invincible and totally at peace and totally

courageous.

There's nothing that he has to take about no cause for him to be hesitating.

Father, if he hesitates, he would set himself pretty quickly to do this.

Do this, come and help him get work to do.

Not encourage him to self-prevention.

Father, I pray that he would come to the point where he can recognize himself and be able

to walk forward in the direction of cause.

And I thank you for your father and I ask that you have a team of staff that may be

following in kind and ready for it.

Thank you.

Father, because I know myself, I just ask to have the courage of Daniel, not in the

lion's den, some other thing I can manage the lion's den, but I need courage to open

the doors and pray five times a day.

That I ask for.

That I have the courage to open the doors and pray five times a day knowing that the

lion's den may await.

That is what I ask for, Father.

Courage in simpler things too.

Can someone pray for the church?

Father, please grant these requests so we got nowhere else to go to.

So please, when we ask for these things, please do it for your sake.

It's your representation.

I'm not irritated, I'm just desperate.

Someone pray for the church in the same area.

Father, we ask that you restore courage to the heart of the man who built the church.

Father, that you would create this hatred for fear.

Let our voices be released, Father.

Thank you, Father.

Yeah, Jesus.

A hatred for fear.

We're not tolerated in any form.

We're banded together.

It casts out fear with your perfect love.

We're not tolerated in any form.

We're banded together.

It casts out fear with your perfect love.

Yeah.

I'm afraid, Father.

I'm afraid.

It would be as gross as David grabbing the lantern back from the mouth of the tree.

Knock it and break the grip.

Yeah.

Let it be strong and courageous.

And let it be land that you set your foot on, our prayer for you.

But be strong and courageous.

So Father, we speak that power and that we put Peter in the state to stand up mighty warrior.

So let's hope for the Holy Spirit to stand up and say,

Let it be so, Father, in this church.

Let it be so, Father, in this church.

We're carried over by that power of the manufacturer.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

We pray you that.

We pray for the power of now in the hands of your spirit.

We would not be afraid to just die without any thought.

Without any thought.

Just because of them we're alive, only God knows.

Yeah.

That's how I would pray for the courage to go back.

And it seems like there's a need of God.

It's not that it's going to go back.

It has to go back again, of God.

We ask for the courage to persevere, the courage to continue, of God.

The courage to encourage each other and not give up, O Lord.

O God, you say that the victory is ours.

The victory is yours, O God.

And you go before us, O Lord.

Thank you, O God.

Father, please answer these prayers, okay?

Guys, after courage, the next thing if you want to represent well is love.

And this is a very sad statement.

If it rings true, then hold on to it and do something about it.

Lost people are a low priority.

Lost people are a low priority.

Lost people are a low priority.

It's not like I make sacrifices or find intentional time to interact, invite, or intercede.

It's not like I sacrifice or make intentional time to invite, interact, or intercede.

Lost people are a low priority.

It's terrible, eh, when a church gets there?

Or when a church has that attitude?

One of the reasons I believe God wants us to hear this today is so that we don't get trapped in it,

because it's already quicksandish.

The scary thing about a strong church is that it can be quite happy with itself.

So on one hand, God is saying, you are unstoppable.

It's not possible to stop you anymore.

But unstoppable doesn't mean inevitable somehow, because you can still destroy good seed.

Or you can hold seed from being planted.

Then you have a blooming garden that is no use to anybody.

I don't think, I mean, in the good old days, give me that old time religion.

There were many things really wrong with the old time religion.

But one of the things that wasn't wrong with the old time religion was this awareness of 2 Thessalonians 1, 8, and 9,

where it says that those that refuse Christ or do not obey the message of the gospel will suffer destruction,

will be cut off from the splendor and the presence of God.

That is not something that modern day churches necessarily think of.

It does not bother me much that those who aren't saved will suffer destruction.

I'm not speaking for you, I'm speaking for myself.

It does not bother me much, and that is why I don't think about it much,

that those that refuse to receive the gospel and those that do not obey the message,

that's how 2 Thessalonians put it,

but it doesn't bother me much that they will suffer destruction and will not see the presence of the splendor of God.

And that is bothersome, that it doesn't bother me much.

It bothers me enough, but not much.

And if you're not in that boat, man, blessed are you.

And I'm sure some of you don't have this problem,

but one of the things that this teaching does is it exposes where you're at, right?

The other thing is, I don't think, hey, can you make this work, Jeevan?

It's going away.

Make this work, no?

Derek, make it work.

Hey, someone make it work.

Guys, so here's the other question I want to ask with regard to love.

Do you comprehend, do you really comprehend love for sinners?

I don't comprehend this deep love for sinners that Jesus has.

Part of the reason I don't comprehend it is because I don't spend enough time thinking about it.

Paul had the ability to say, love compels me.

Paul had the ability to say, love compels me.

I cannot but help it.

So the question I'm asking you is, is it that way with you?

Because I'm finding out that it is not that way with me.

I hate this thing about love because I'm not coming out good, but it is the truth.

I don't comprehend love for sinners.

Even though I received it, it doesn't free flow through me.

I don't comprehend love for sinners.

And even though I was one and have received it and thoroughly enjoyed it,

every time we have a song during worship that reminds me of where I was and where I am, I thrill at it.

But having received it, I don't comprehend God's love for sinners and it doesn't free flow through me.

The prophetic free flows through me.

Teaching free flows through me.

Other things free flow through me.

But love for sinners, unfortunately not the same way.

It's not a free flow.

It doesn't compel me.

Representation is hollowed out if courage is missing and then the next thing is this idea of love.

Any questions, any thoughts, anything you want to add?

I think one of the ways we do it is we do it together.

This cannot be.

You try this on your own, you'll have some success.

But if you do this together, it'll work.

And what do I mean by doing it together?

One of the things is, okay, what if we correct it together?

In HC, Xani in hubs.

What if we began to combat gospel amnesia?

I mean, if I were to just call you up on the spot and say, okay, so what's the gospel?

You'll be surprised at the number of variations we get.

And some of them will be distortion, some of them will be true, many of them will be variations.

Very few will be absolutely essence of the gospel.

Because that's not part of our equation nowadays, right?

So what if in our HCs and in our hubs we start combating gospel amnesia?

What if we recall the gospel?

And when I say what if, what I'm saying to you Jeevan is better make sure this happens.

What if we recall the gospel?

Here's another one that really got me.

What if we believe in its sufficiency?

That for some strange reason God will use a naked man hanging on a cross as the foolish way to save the world.

And that is the power of God unto salvation.

That anything else you try to sell will not save.

To believe in its sufficiency.

To believe in its sufficiency.

To pray for specifics, to start praying in HCs and hubs for specific areas, neighborhoods, peoples.

So all you HC and hub leaders and Jeevan better make sure this happens.

And then to find ways to apply the gospel.

As in, okay now that we know this, let's try it out for real.

To apply the gospel boldly.

It's when we do this that the Spirit of God suddenly translates you to Azotus to meet the Ethiopian eunuch.

It is then that you end up at Cornelius' house and have what happened with Peter happen.

It is then that you realize, aha, now I understand what 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 and 8 says.

2 Timothy 1:7

That do not be afraid, I have given you a spirit that is not timid but is bold and full of love and has a sober way of approaching things.

And you don't need to be afraid. Be bold from now on Timothy.

2 Timothy 1, 7 is quoted so often but is rarely tried out because it can only be tried out and experienced in the context of intimidation and fear.

I mean when you read it you recognize the context.

2 Timothy 1, 7 and 8.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power, love and self-control.

Why is Paul saying it? He goes on to explain in verse 8.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor me of His prisoner,

but share in the suffering of the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling.

It is in that context that the scripture comes alive.

It is in this context that we will become as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves and as bold as lions.

Guys, witnessing is dangerous and difficult frontline work.

Find a good reason for it.

One of the best reasons that you can have for it is I want to let you know of the brilliance of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

At least for me that is something that makes it easy for me to step out and say to a total stranger,

Hey, let me tell you about the brilliance of the Son Jesus Christ and the ridiculous way the Father can be and of the Holy Spirit.

Find a reason because witnessing is frontline, difficult, resisted work.

Why would the glory of God be a good reason or the brilliance of God be a good reason?

Because that has been a motivating factor through the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Jesus came to display the glory of the invisible God.

That is a good motivating factor.

This is why I'm willing to step out because I want to tell you about the brilliance of the Father,

the brilliance of the Son and the brilliance of the Spirit through words and through works.

Find a reason that you can die for.

These things, the thing with Christianity is most things work only if you're willing to die for a certain thing.

Otherwise, you can always withdraw.

You can always withdraw.

I know that I will die if necessary for raising a generation or multiple generations.

I know that I will die for it.

It has gotten to a place where it is worth giving life up for.

And when we find things in Christianity that you're willing to lay your life down for,

it must live because you are willing to die for it.

If Cain's blood still speaks, you think yours won't?

It is what brings change, eh?

Find the plot of land you want to die for.

And that land will produce crops.

It will produce such a harvest.

Derek, you want to share that story?

So, every week, Manoj and, not Manoj, Pawen and, sorry bro.

That is prophetic, Manoj. Now you'll have to turn up every week.

I think so too. I think starting this Thursday, you're up for something in Wally.

And no excuses like, no Jacob, I have to work at the lab till 5 o'clock. That's gone. Yeah.

So every Thursday or Friday, Pawen and James and Mark and I meet in Wally

to continue to do what God has been calling us to do there.

Two weeks ago, when we met, we prayed for a bit and we split in two groups.

So, Pawen and Mark went to one side of Wally and then James and I went to the other side.

We, Mohini had given us sandwiches that she had prepared.

So we had bottles of water and sandwiches with us.

Our intent is to walk the streets and to see what God has for us, for the people that we are to meet.

So as we were walking, the first couple of people that Bishop and I met,

we sat down with them or talked with them and there was much resistance.

There was this one person that we talked to.

He wasn't really interested in hearing anything that we had for him.

We even offered him a sandwich and he took that, but he was like, just get going from here.

So we moved on and we felt that we should go and sit down somewhere.

So we sat down again and we started praying.

And as we were praying, one of the things that God had said a few months ago is that for Wally,

one of the things that he has is a message of hope.

Three words, message of hope.

And so we started going back to that and we said, Father, this is what you've asked us.

There is a message of hope for Wally and we are here.

Where do you want us to go?

And so God said, I'm bringing you back to what I said a few months ago.

Keep this in mind.

And now as you go, you're going to meet someone and all you have to carry with you is this message of hope.

And when you're there, you'll know what to do.

And that's all that needs to happen.

So Bishop and I, we started walking again.

And as we were walking, we see a man sitting down.

He's not a homeless person.

He's just sitting down doing his thing.

He's reading his book.

Am I taking too much time?

No.

Okay.

So he's reading his book and we felt that's the person we are supposed to go and talk with.

So we go there and we, it's like bodyguards.

I sit on one side and Bishop sits on the other side.

And we just look at him and we say, hey, how are you doing?

So Bishop starts the conversation.

We start talking with him only to realize that he is absolutely not interested in talking with us.

He's reading his book and it's an ICBC test thing that he's reading.

And he's not interested in talking.

So we know though that God has sent us to him.

We know that.

And we know what we carry.

We carry the message of hope that God has given us.

So we work through the first two very awkward minutes.

And we look at him and he's reading his book.

And then we start conversing with him again.

And as we begin to converse with him, he is now attending.

So all of a sudden, the man who was absolutely not interested in hearing us or seeing us begins to open up.

And now we know what we carry, the message.

So we start talking to him and we tell him, God sent us your way.

And we know we are absolute strangers and we carry this message.

God told us very specifically that he has a message of hope for you.

So he now opens up.

He's interested in listening.

And all of a sudden, God told me, talk about the prodigal son.

So I stood up.

I just felt like I should stand up because we were sitting down.

And I stood up and I started talking about this.

I told him there is a story I want to share with you.

I didn't tell him what.

Start talking about the prodigal son story.

And towards the end, Bishop and I realized that this person was born in a Christian family.

And everything that we said is what had happened to him.

And he ended up praying to God.

And in his prayer to God, one of the lines he said is, you sent these two guys to me so that I can see a new start for me.

And that's what happened.

We now have his name, his phone number.

We will be in touch with him.

But that's how God works.

Thank you, Derek.

Guys, one of the things we need to do is start perhaps calling Derek up and saying, hey, this week can I come?

Begin to experience this in a place that you're not familiar.

And then perhaps you can begin to experience it in a place that you're familiar.

But there is something happening every week.

If this must have feet, this is something you have to do.

If 20 of us turn up, people will run.

But let him schedule you.

But this is something that we need to do.

I'm sure some of us are doing it on our own.

But let's try this together and see if this thing will give me.

I want to read out another story from someone called Anne in Bahrain.

She sent me this one because they began doing the same thing there.

And listen to this story.

This is so cool.

So this she's got pictures and all this.

So they actually painted cards like hand painted cards.

And so we went out a couple of days ago.

We went to a place called Rifa.

We've never gone to the mall there, never needed to.

We went to the mall.

We walked around for a bit looking for people we could just talk to.

Most of them were Arabs.

I went up to one almost and she walked into the cinema.

All the while I'm realizing how scared I am, worried that they might think I'm cuckoo.

We saw a Starbucks on the ground floor.

So we thought, okay, let's go there.

I saw a girl walking towards the Starbucks.

So I told Jaren, I sense I need to talk to her.

She comes in, is waiting in line for her order.

And I take these two card paintings that we had made with specific words.

And I sensed God saying, they are for her.

I go up to her and ask her, are you doing takeaway or are you going to be here?

She gives me the most bewildered look, almost about to come at me asking, why are you asking?

Why do you care?

What do you need?

I told her that my husband and me thought that we'd drive by Rifa and step into this mall and give these cards away.

I told her that these words that I've written on the card, I believe,

will speak to us, present situation that you're going through.

I told her that God is here and he's listening.

She looked at the cards.

She paused, stunned.

And then she breaks down, Jacob.

She starts crying inconsolably.

I ask her if there is anything I can pray for her.

And she says, yes, yesterday she had a really bad fight with her husband.

She's still dealing with it.

She says she wants to talk more.

We grab a seat.

I pray for her.

She records me praying and then asks me if I can make a video so she can share it with her friends.

I say, yeah, sure.

Scary face. Emoji.

And Jacob, I asked her about her kids and they are at the same school I work at.

So now she wants to catch up.

A local lady from Bahrain was so cool, Jacob, had asked God to give us a people as a sign of the first fruits of the revival.

I'm so glad God honored that, Jacob.

So thrilled.

So encouraged.

Let these stories begin to come in, guys.

Let these stories begin to come in.

So, Father, we just pause right now and we give you praise, Aba.

We just give you praise, Father.

Some of these stories are revealing your heart, Father.

And your heart being revealed always touches our hearts.

We live for you, Father.

You lived and died for the rest.

You said, I've got more sheep that I need to bring into the flock.

Representation.

Jesus, let me not go away leaving this feeling behind.

Let me take this feeling, turn it into truth and walk it.

Keep revealing your heart to us, Father, with regard to people.

With this Arab lady, with this man, a prodigal who came back.

Keep revealing your heart for people so that my heart is affected.

And I begin to experience what Paul says when he said, his love compels me, Father.

I want your love to compel us.

That it becomes an ache I cannot avoid.

It's 1.06, man.

I won't be able to finish what I had.

But that's the way to go.

That's the way to go.

And now we wait for the life.

And we wait for the life.

It's 1.06, man. I won't be able to finish what I had, but that's okay.

This one I touched on the last one, I won't finish it. We'll do it some other time.

The third thing for representation is signs. The first one was love. Sorry, the first one was courage.

The second one is love. The third one is signs.

The Gospel cannot be preached without signs and wonders.

You take Acts chapter 6 verse 7, you take Acts chapter 12 verse 24, you take Acts chapter 13 verse 49, you take Acts chapter 19 verse 20,

Acts 6:7 Acts 12:24 Acts 13:49 Acts 19:20

and you find the same thing being said, that the word of God increased.

The word of God increased. And in three of those cases, signs would happen.

And so signs are basically God's, signs are God's way, signs are God's way, God's work of restoring broken creation.

So begin to dare, we'll talk about it next time, begin to dare to think of God's absolute desire to restore in Superstore,

or at Best Buy, or by the side of the street. Begin to dare to think of God's desire to restore through signs and miracles and wonders, broken creation.

Walk with an expectation, because once this expectation grabs your heart, it'll trigger, once this expectation grabs your heart,

it'll trigger unsolicited action, as in you won't ask, you won't wait to be asked.

You won't wait to be asked by the person. It triggers unsolicited action.

I said I won't go into it, so I can't, because we'll run out of time.

But John 14-12, I'm on my way to the Father, I'm giving you the same work to do that I've been doing.

John 14-11, if you can't believe me, that the Father is in me, believe what you see.

Signs and wonders are God's witness to his word, but we'll deal with that another time.

Any questions? These three have to combine for representation.

First one, courage. Second one, love. Third one, signs. It must be an expectation.

That kind of expectation triggers unsolicited action.

And usually it has thus far centered around a person or a ministry, but when 20-30 people have this expectation, then something breaks.

So being to cultivate this expectation so that in Superstore, on the side of the road, you will take the most foolish action of praying for someone who's lame, crippled, blind, sick, coughing, fever, headache, and you won't be able to help them anyways.

Anyways, you're not going to be able to help them.

But representation can. Yeah? Tate, you want to come up?