Shekinah 7 – Planting the Gospel _ Day 6

So one of the things I felt God would do is enlarge our tent because of what's going to happen.

And so I'm going to ask Heidi to come up and pray that we get ready to enlarge our tent.

What that looks like, I'm not sure. I don't know whether it's a physical enlargement, a spiritual enlargement, a financial enlargement, or all three.

But we need to prepare for what we are speaking, believing, and expecting.

Usually when people know they're going to have a second or third child, they usually move from a one bedroom flat to a two bedroom flat.

And stuff like that. So physically, spiritually, financially, relationally, mentally, we have to prepare for what God is doing.

So I'll ask Heidi to read the scripture and then pray as she feels led. And then I'll come and teach.

Okay, this is from ICF 54, verse 1 to 4.

Sing, O barren woman, who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud.

You who have not been in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out.

Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.

And your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.

Can you read it again, Heidi?

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear. Break forth into singing and cry aloud.

You who have not been in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out.

Do not hold back. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.

And your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.

Fear not, for you will not be ashamed. You will not be confounded, for you will not be disgraced.

For you will forget the shame of your youth and the reproach of your widowhood. You will remember no more.

So Father, I remember how over these last 16 years you gave us this promise again and again as a body.

And now it is actually coming to fruition.

Father, you compared us to a woman that never experienced childbirth, just as you're saying it in these verses in Isaiah.

You're reminding us again of what you spoke to us this week,

how you will draw young men and women from the north and the south and the west and the east,

from the ends of the earth adding to those that are already here so that our tents are not large enough to contain them.

Father, I ask you to help us to move quickly in enlarging your tent, to be prepared to receive what you have promised.

We are rising up now to lengthen our courts and to putting in the stakes deeply enough in anticipation of the ones that are coming.

They will thrive and flourish and mature to dispossess nations and settle in desolate cities.

You said, don't be afraid. So we will step out in boldness. We will not be in fear but walking in your promise.

Thank you that you have removed the shame and the reproach and that we can rejoice in the many children that you're giving to us.

We are full of joy and praise because you, our Heavenly Father, are with us.

So come, Holy Spirit, move, Father, move, Holy Spirit, because your word is yes and amen. Amen.

Hallelujah. Thank you, Heidi.

Praise God, every prayer recorded in heaven, prayed in the will of God, shall be answered.

Like Heidi was saying, this was a scripture that was given to us since 2006, 2009, 2016.

It just keeps coming back and I believe the time for its fruition, like she said, is now.

Today, if you want a title for the topic, it's Shekinah and Shekinah Planting the Gospel.

Shekinah Planting the Gospel, that's the title.

But before we go down that road, always remember, guys, throughout history, revivals are the Holy Spirit's way of awakening human hearts towards God, which are otherwise turning dull and are dying.

So revivals throughout history are the Holy Spirit's way of awakening human hearts.

He does this himself, he does this because he knows that if he doesn't, then hearts will go so dull, so cold, they'll get stolen by the enemy of our souls.

And so to avert what awaits, he just breaks through.

And throughout history, he's done this at different times, we just happen to be in one of those times.

And during the process, like we said over the last many days, God makes his greatness and his nearness known, pouring water on dry and thirsty ground.

God makes his greatness and nearness known.

Try memorizing that line, that in a revival, God makes his greatness and his nearness known.

And the first person that should know it is me and you, so that in our conveying what we need to convey, we don't forget that he does make his greatness and nearness known in times like this, through you and sometimes despite you.

And in the process, he pours water on thirsty dry ground, pours water on thirsty dry ground, pours water on thirsty dry ground, pours water on thirsty dry ground, pours water on thirsty dry ground.

Our part then is to seed with wisdom the soil that he now softens and ploughs.

Our part then is to seed with wisdom the soil that he ploughs and softens.

He'll give us a seed, but we have to use it with wisdom so that the soil that he's now softening and ploughing across the earth, across nations, across this city, will get the seed that he wants us to plant according to his wisdom.

In Isaiah 28, we realize that there's wisdom in seeding. Once we have seed in our hands, we need to use wisdom to seed it.

If you go to the last few words of Isaiah 28, there's this beautiful scripture there, and God will give us that wisdom, because he's in that kind of mood right now.

Isaiah 28, verse 25 and 26 says...

Isaiah 28:25

No, let's start at verse 23.

Listen and hear my voice, pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and harrowing the soil?

When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.

His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Whenever there's a revival, and there is a revival here, God will begin to move men and women into places for divine encounters.

That's another thing God does during a revival. He moves men and women into certain places so that they have divine encounters through his people or sovereignly through his direct intervention, one or the other.

I have to walk in this awareness because my fear in situations like this, and it's a well-founded fear, is that when the meetings end, we think what God is doing has ended.

Which is why in the house churches and in our conversations, we have to remind each other of what God is doing, and God will keep a record of it like it says in Haggai or Malachi, that God heard what they were saying and he wrote it down.

We have to spend the next three, four, five weeks conversing about what God is doing on the earth and in our midst because it would be a shame if we forgot it because there are no meetings in the evenings.

God is not going to sustain a revival through meetings. It's a sovereign work of God sustained through his people. If we keep in conversation for the next four to five weeks, it will become natural for us.

It will be like the Canucks making the playoffs. You then talk about it for the next many days, and then after they lose or win, you talk about that for the next few weeks.

It's literally like that. It becomes part of the conversation we are having. This is what we need to do. Every year from say April to September, the only thing the guys in Toronto talk about is how the Maple Leafs lost to Boston again in the playoffs.

That's all they talk about. Let's not go too far with that point.

So because there's a revival here, men and women will be moved into place for divine encounters.

And when they're moved into place for divine encounters, you need to be aware of something else too.

You need to be aware of something stirring in their hearts that they are unable to define, but there is an awakening happening. There is an awakening happening. We don't realize it.

The unfortunate part about most of us who have now been saved is that we don't realize it.

We have forgotten that stirring in our heart, the awakening that we could not put a finger on, that we could not define, but that was there.

The unfortunate part about most of us who have now been saved for more than three days is that we've forgotten that stirring in our heart, the awakening that we could not put a finger on, that we could not define, but that was there.

There's someone at the door, but let it be. Evan, don't. Yeah, let it be.

So I want to read you a passage from the Hebrides' revival just to emphasize this point.

On one evening, a group of between two and three hundred persons pressed with this awareness of eternal realities journeyed to the police station in town.

They had to find relief from the internal strain that they were experiencing, and they knew that there was a policeman there who was a strong, committed Christian.

In our case, it might be an environmental engineer or an energy engineer or an electrician or a professor at Langara or a nurse at BGH or a pianist near Boundary.

People will suddenly realize that they have to find relief from the internal strain that they were experiencing, and they knew that there was a policeman who was a strong, committed Christian.

And so pressed with this awareness of something that was happening within them, their journey to the police station in town.

Duncan Campbell was informed of this gathering and proceeded there himself.

On the way, he continued to witness unusual scenes.

One of the scenes was that of four men praying by the roadside, overwhelmed with a sense of their need for God.

Arriving at the police station, Campbell could hear people crying to God for mercy.

One man in the crowd, seeing his wretched condition, repeatedly exclaimed, Hell is too good for me.

Hell is too good for me.

Another man was seen on his knees with his mother crying out beside him, Willie, are you coming home at last?

Willie, are you coming at last?

Campbell stood in awe at such scenes of deep conviction.

People not only gathered in churches and at the police station, but on one occasion, a crowd of seekers was found waiting in a field.

Campbell went to them and was moved to see two teenage girls who had recently been converted, counseling a deeply distressed older man who was crying out to God in prayer.

The man happened to be the school headmaster, and the girls were encouraging him to persevere in his seeking for God.

One of them could be heard saying to the schoolmaster, the Jesus that saved us last night can save you now.

And so these were different scenes in just a day where things were beginning to happen.

Guys, this is a sovereign move of God. Because we have not experienced it, we do not expect it.

But unfortunately, faith does not work based on whether you have experienced it or not.

Faith is based on an expectation that this is what God will do.

And as you begin to step into that expectation, you experience what you're supposed to experience.

And then you pass it down to the next generation, and the next generation cannot embrace it and hold on to that as the only way it will happen.

But you must expect it, and I'll do my best to remind us every day that there are divine encounters waiting to happen.

So with regard to what we want to talk about today, here's a question that someone asked me and that I'm conveying to you.

If you were the last Christian on the earth, and the final command you received was plant a church,

would Christianity die with you or would it thrive? And how would you go about it?

If you were the last Christian on earth, and the final command you received was plant a church,

would Christianity die with you or would it thrive? How would you go about it?

Here's a catch with this question. If you're the last Christian on earth,

you can't go get a few more Christians to start a church.

You can't go tell some other believers that, listen, I'm starting a church.

Our music team is better or our preacher is Cracker Jack. Come and Cracker Jack is such an old world word.

I don't think anyone uses it anymore. Sorry. Our preacher is Jacob. How about that? That's modern.

So you can't do that because you're the last Christian on earth.

And yet there are thousands of people left on earth.

So if you were the last Christian on the earth, and the final command you received was plant a church,

would Christianity die with you or would it thrive? How would you go about it?

Our present Kairos, as in the present time we are in, our present Kairos demands that the way we go about it,

that the way we get to be the way we go about it, and the way we enlarge our tent

and fill in the tent with sons around a world in which we stay is what our God said.

enlarge our tents and fill in the tents with sons and daughters from all over.

The way we go about it is by planting the gospel and if we do, we will harvest churches.

The present Kairos we are in demands this. It demands it.

It demands it. So if you were the last Christian on earth and the final command you received was

plant a church, would Christianity die with you or would it thrive? How would you go about it?

Our present Kairos demands that we go about it by planting the gospel. We cannot go about it the way

we've been going about it because all we'll do is add to our numbers those that are already believers.

We cannot do that anymore. Our present Kairos demands that the way we go about it is by planting

the gospel so that we may harvest churches. Because this is what you would have to do if

you were the last Christian on earth. I want to be like this. Guys, the thing with sovereign

moves of God is you can't amend it. You can only contaminate it if you don't do it right.

If you amend it, you're contaminated. And it happens in every revival, eh? Because either

something is really difficult to do or because something is really wonderful or something is

in greater demand, we go down that route instead of staying on the straight and narrow of the

Spirit of God. We have to be like that cloud in Job chapter 37 where God loads up the clouds

Job 37 · chapter mention

with water and then he makes them go through their paces. Sometimes this way, sometimes that,

to deliver upon the earth extravagant love, discipline, correction, whatever is required.

We cannot amend this. And so I say to Acts 29 and then I take out the label of Acts 29 and I say

church, wherever you're listening to this, if we want to be continuous participants in what God is

going to be doing on the earth for the next two or three years, this is our only choice.

For us to go back to the way we were building, would be building out of time, would be building

according to a preceding word and not according to a proceeding word. House church leaders,

house church assistant leaders, pay attention. Thus far it was okay to gather towards us

believers who wanted more. And I'm not saying we don't do that anymore, but the emphasis must shift

to this. This is now the focus. The other thing becomes peripheral, this becomes central.

So blessed are you if you've just started a house church,

because you don't have the baggage that the others have.

And so when we talk about planting the gospel, I think we need to just define the gospel again.

Because if people are being awakened out of their slumber, which is what happens,

if like the incidents I mentioned in the article I read from the Island of Lewis,

there were people by the side of the road and I love what those girls said to their schoolmaster,

the Jesus that saved us lives, the Jesus that saved us lives, the Jesus that saved us lives.

I love what those girls said to their schoolmaster, the Jesus that saved us last night can save you

now. The cop at the police station where 300 gathered, can you imagine 300 people marching to

Derek's workplace? I mean he loses his job, but he saves 300.

The mother saying, Willie, you're coming home at last.

These stories did not happen in two days, it happened over a period of five to six to seven

months. When they were happening, people probably thought maybe this is a one-off incident. It is in

hindsight that you realize, oh shucks, look at what happened. Collect stories, guys. I'm already

collecting stories of what God is doing. The advantage of being the pastor is people text you

telling what's happening in their lives and I'm chronicling them.

Things that are happening while some of these live streams are being watched,

people being freed, manifestations happening.

So planting the gospel, so let's just talk about the gospel. The gospel is the gospel of the

world. Just talk about the gospel. The gospel simply means good news. So let's not complicate

it with Greek or Hebrew. Let's just go with good news. And this good news was announced, celebrated

and lived. Good news was announced, celebrated, lived. So it is not just announcement. I mean if

you have a baby, you announce it, you celebrate it and then you live it because now you don't have

a choice. The baby has arrived. It's a joyful living of course, but good news is always announced,

celebrated and lived. So at its heart, the gospel simply means good news and it was announced,

celebrated and lived. And so there are three distinct usages of the gospel in the Bible,

three distinct usages. So the first one was gospels as in the

biography of Jesus written by the four, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And by the way, Sue, Mark was

written by Mark in case you have that question right now. So gospels were the four biographical

accounts of Jesus's life

written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So that's one way to talk about it. Second, when Jesus was on earth,

when Jesus was on earth, both John the Baptist and Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God.

They preached the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the kingdom of God.

So you often hear even today this argument about, oh are we preaching the gospel of the

kingdom of the gospel of grace? The gospel of the kingdom was simply this. It was this moment in

history where the long-awaited messiah broke through time and space and arrived in Jesus.

That was the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God that they had been waiting for

ages for this messiah to come. The long-awaited messiah

now had arrived on earth. He had broken into history. He had arrived on earth and with his

arrival, the rule of God was here. That was the good news of the kingdom of God.

So that's the second usage. But those are not what we are concerned with. We're just going to look at

we're just going to look at the good news that Paul begins to talk about.

I know we know this. I'm just putting it together in a capsule so that we can swallow it easily.

So by the time Paul wrote his letters, it became the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It became the good news of Jesus Christ.

It became the good news of Jesus Christ. What would fall into the good news of Jesus Christ?

It would be his origin, his life, teachings,

interactions with people. I love his interactions with people. It gives you such an insight into

God's nature. Interactions, his healings and miracles.

And then crucifixion,

resurrection,

ascension. And the final one is his sending of the spirit.

This then became the good news of Jesus Christ. And how can you exclude any of this?

His origin was critical. His life, I still, I mean who tires of reaching reading the gospels?

Who tires of reading the gospels? Nobody. You've read it so many times. How many Christmases have

some of you been through? How many times have you heard the birth of Jesus? Why is it that your

heart is still grabbed by it? Who tires of it?

His origins, his teaching, his life, his teachings, brilliant. Still can't wrap our heads around the

Beatitudes, leave alone the rest of it. His interaction with people, be it Levi, be it Zacchaeus,

be it the prostitute, be it the tax collector, be it Peter, be it Nicodemus, brilliant interactions.

Brilliant interactions. Each so different, each so specific and personalized. Learn from this guys.

The good news teaches us how to interact with people. We need this in times of revival.

It is still the same Jesus flowing through his body into the lives of people and the same response

is to be expected.

Same Jesus, unchanging one. When we say unchanging one, we think he was king of kings before, he is

the king of kings now and he'll be king of kings forever. True, but the unchanging one is also that

what I was when I was here on earth is the same I was that is now presently operating through you

and will be tomorrow when you step out further. There is that unchangingness about him.

His healings and miracles, revivals must expect healings and miracles.

I was praying that to the Lord saying, dry ground, one of the things I wrote down in terms of dry

ground is father, what I have seen in terms of healings and miracles on a large scale is very

limited, not satisfied. It is an area that is dry in my life, pour water on it.

His crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension and the sending of the Spirit and that then becomes

the heart of the proclamation that the good news of Jesus Christ is about because that alone saves.

So all this gives us an insight into why it is good news but at the end of the day, it is not.

It is not the good news. It is the good news. It is the good news. It is the good news.

So all this gives us an insight into why it is good news but at the end of the day,

if there is a heart to the gospel of Christ, it is this. And guys, write this down so that you

don't forget this in your interactions. Through the death, resurrection,

through the death, resurrection of Jesus, through the death and resurrection of Jesus,

there is

A. Forgiveness

A. Forgiveness

Of sin, forgiveness of sin. B. Friendship with God

Friendship with God. C. Entry into eternal life

Friendship with God.

And there's a bit more and I'll add it after we just go over this. The good news of Jesus Christ

that must be conveyed, that must be proclaimed in our interactions either initially or eventually

is that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is the forgiveness of sin,

there is friendship with God and there is entry into eternal life. This cannot be diluted, this

cannot be diminished. This must come true. Heidi and I were meeting with someone who came from

marital counseling, not a believer and even though what we were saying to the person had nothing to

do with this part, we had to bring in this part and I was explaining to her that this is important

if you want your marriage to succeed. Was not a believer but you can't have anything succeed

without this because even if you succeed, what's the point? And in a revival guys, please, this is

critical. The second part of this is

all these three things, forgiveness of sin, friendship with God and entry into eternal life

is for any sinner who repents and trusts God.

Unfortunately, even this cannot be amended.

If we are passionate Christians, we can go this far but if we are obedient Christians,

we have to go here. These things are available for those who will repent of their sins and trust in

God. Who will repent of their sins and trust in him.

If you go to 1st Corinthians 15,

1st Corinthians 15, Paul never skirted this. Paul never skirted this.

1st Corinthians 15,

1st Corinthians 15, verse 1 to 4.

Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which

you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached

to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of

the first importance that Christ died for us sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried,

that he was raised and on the third day according to scriptures and that he appeared to Peter and

then to 12. So here again he's saying, listen guys, you can't amend this. What I received I passed on

to you as of first importance. As in, guys, you cannot dilute, diminish, amend this. You cannot

skirt around it. That Christ died for us sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day according to scriptures. That is the good news. Anything else

that is done to change this is no longer good news. It is news. It is even pleasing to the ears.

It is acceptable, but it does not save.

So tell your stories. Tell your stories. I mean one of the coolest things about Jesus was most

everything he conveyed, he conveyed through stories. Tell your stories. But sometimes what

happens with us as believers is that in our telling of stories we witness, but we don't

necessarily go to the heart of the gospel. Go beyond witnessing about what Jesus did for you

to the heart of the gospel. That is what I find myself skirting around. I'll tell them what Jesus

did for me, how Jesus benefits me, but I must lead or I must go on to who Jesus is from what

he did for me. And if I don't, people cannot be saved. Tell your stories, but go beyond witnessing

about what Jesus did for you to who Jesus is. And to tell people who Jesus is, we'll have to go here

because if you don't go there, then people cannot be saved.

I wish I could say any questions and then you could ask questions.

So please tell your stories. It's one of the coolest ways to convey any truth and we learn

it from our master Jesus. So don't avoid stories, but after you tell your story, take them from

how you benefited and what Jesus did for you to who Jesus is. And then as you present who Jesus is,

that is when people get saved. And at a time like this, Jesus put it this way to I think Nicodemus,

maybe to Nicodemus, you look at the clouds and you know it is raining. Why don't you know the times?

Maybe he said it to the Pharisees. The point being, hey church, look at the sky. You know there are

clouds and so you know it's going to rain. Well then why don't you know that there's a sovereign

move of God upon the earth right now, Jacob? There's a revival at hand. I'm plowing up ground,

I'm pouring water on thirsty land. Go sow seed with wisdom. Tell your stories. Tell them,

I'm setting up people, bringing them into places where they might have divine encounters,

some directly, sovereignly through me, some through you. But as they come into your presence,

you cannot now step back from who my son is because that alone saves. And that is how young

men and young women who thus far may have been entertained by Jesus will know who Jesus is.

Romans 1 16 to 17 says that we are not ashamed of the gospel and I really believe that for all of

us, that none of us are ashamed of the gospel. None of us are ashamed of the gospel. But

we aren't, we are not ashamed of the gospel. We are not ashamed of the gospel.

We are not ashamed of the gospel but we are not, but we are not persuaded,

we are not persuaded that it is sophisticated enough

for

the young men and women of today.

That is way too simple or way too unreasonable or way too foolish that there has to be some kind of

apologetics behind it, that there must be a way to explain it. Go ahead, Don.

Say that again.

Yeah, what is the way we can convey the worth of achieving eternal life with God? I would say

the focus or emphasis should be on achieving relationship with him who is of unsurpassing

worth. Eternal life just happens to be something that comes with it. So rather than focus on

eternal life, we focus on the eternal one who is of unsurpassing worth, that we pursue him not because

he's a purpose giver, not because he'll give me healing, not because he's a healer,

not because he's a history maker, not because he's a sin remover,

not because he's a comforter. We pursue him and tomorrow when God begins to tell us who he wants

us to present him as, you'll realize that the one thing he's looking for in young men and young

women is pursue me not for any other reason, not because I'll give you purpose, not because

I'll give you a destiny, not because I'll make you a history maker, not because I'll take away

your sin, not because I will make your life prosperous. Pursue me because I am simply so

worth it because I'm of unsurpassing worth. There is a purity he's going to bring upon the earth

amongst young men and young women where their only reason to pursue him is you have the words

of eternal life. Where can we go? That is how this revival is different.

That we get eternal life is important because if we don't present that we also are not able to say

that there is another place that you go to if you do not receive eternal life.

But it is the one of eternal worth, unsurpassing worth as Paul says I think in Colossians that we

are focusing on. There is no soft pitching in this. There's just very simple.

There's no costuming the cross in this revival.

There's no costuming the cross in this revival.

So even though we're not ashamed of the gospel, we are not persuaded that it is sophisticated enough

for today's young man or today's young woman and that is why we then try skirting around the issue

because we think we might lose them if we tell them how foolish and simple it is.

And it's not a new struggle guys. It's a very very old struggle. Paul said that listen

in 1st Corinthians 1.23 he said I know this. I know that 1st Corinthians 1.18 to 23 he talks about

I realize guys that to the Jews this is a stumbling block and to the rest of the people

when he says Greeks he meant everybody else to the rest of the people it's foolish. The message

of the cross is very hard for Jews to look at and it is absolute foolishness to the rest of the world.

He struggled with it 2020 years ago and we are still struggling with it

because we don't think it's sophisticated enough.

In a world where there's apologetics and there is presentations and there's dramatic ways of

doing things and there's smoke and there's light and there are moving stories and celebrity stories

and all of these things that we use as bait and hook to draw people in sometimes what just gets

lost in the whole thing is Jesus Christ died for you and then rose again and if you as a sinner

repent and trust in that you will have your sins forgiven. You will become friends with God and

you will gain eternal life. My god that sounds so not sophisticated.

And so what I want to do right now before we go further is nail sophistication to the cross.

Let us nail sophistication to the cross. 1st Corinthians 1.23 what does it say? 1st Corinthians 1.23

This is something Chad spoke on December 31st. He said oh god as your glory comes to disrupt

oh god we no longer want to be Christians that are cool.

Today we end cool Christianity

because it's been highly unsuccessful. 1st Corinthians 1.23

1st Corinthians 1.23

starting at verse 20. Where is the wise man?

Starting at verse 18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing

but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent

I will frustrate my god man how we try to be intelligent to convey a truth.

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise forgive us lord forgive us Jesus forgive me lord

forgive me

you want us to use our intelligence but to depend on it would be so

counter-crossish

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate

go ahead Don

how do we convey the

how do we convey the connection between need to pursue and someone of worth

the only way to convey it is to show it through our lives that I am in pursuit of someone of

infinite worth I want to present him to you and I can show you how to both pursue and why he is

worth pursuing because we are talking about an invisible inaudible and the truth is that

he is worth pursuing because we are talking about an invisible inaudible

person and the only way we can convey it is through the word becoming flesh we have to do

what Jesus did he came to the earth to show the father he came to reveal what it is when man is

in relationship with God he came to do what Adam lost we have to do the same

Christ has to be pinched touched his nail scarred hands have to have

people put their fingers in it and you are now that body

and you will either be rejected received or stoned

and to those that are perishing the cross is anathema but to those who are being saved

it is the power of God and to salvation and thank God we are not in that group that things

okay since only a few are being saved why bother now we do not know we leave that with God

where is the wise man verse 20 where is the scholar where is the philosopher of this age has

not God made foolish the wisdom of the world for since in the wisdom of God the world through its

wisdom did not know him God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached God was

pleased they remember this every time we return to the simple message of the death and the

resurrection of Jesus Christ God is pleased sometimes that is reason enough if that is

what comes to my mind I will choose it every time than looking cool or sophisticated or

intelligent or wise God is pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those

who believe because that's the only way people get saved Jews demand miraculous signs Greeks look for

wisdom but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to the Jews foolishness to Gentiles but to

those whom God has called were Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God

for the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than

man's strength guys we must remember who's writing this Paul a brilliant guy

talk about intelligent talk about the ability to take the word and tie your

shoes in a knot the point being guys that here is a guy who was brilliant he could have used

every argument he occasionally did so let us nail sophistication to the cross let's pray against

the fear of being uncool fools let us pray against the fear of being uncool fools let's pray now

uncool fools let's pray now

Jesus

we want to transact things with you

we don't want to think about this message later on we want to do it now

we want to lose the fear of being uncool and foolish I want to lose the fear today for the

rest of my life of being uncool and foolish it pleases you and it saves people that is enough

it pleases you and it saves people that is enough so today I nail all forms of

coolness all forms of sophistication all forms of being a Christian in the know a Christian who is

cool and worldly and yet has an in with God I despise it I spit on it

I say with Paul that I counted as dog dung

forgive me Lord if there are people who have religious education we lay it down

if there are people that are more intelligent than others and it's been proven we lay it down

if there are people with great oratorial skills we lay it down

if there are people with great oratorial skills we lay it down if there are people that have

risen in life and have a reputation amongst people as a good savvy Christian we lay it down

if there are people that think of us as man he's a Christian but boy you should see him he's

he just knows how to walk both we laid down today oh God we go and say with Paul that we despise it

and we look at it as dog dung we're actually going to look at the scripture from the message

because dog dung sounds horrible but that is what I am going to consider sophistication

and cool Christianity from now on it ain't for me

so we're going to go to that message version

it's in Philippians 3 8 Philippians 3 8 reading from the message

Philippians 3 8 reading from the message

I'm going to change the word so it applies to me and you can change it according to your preference

the very the very credentials that I have been waving around as something special

as something special

the very credentials that I have been waving around as something special

I'm tearing up and throwing it out with the trash

along with everything else I used to take credit for and why because of Christ

yes all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life

one of them being sophisticated or being a cool Christian no longer compared to the high privilege

of knowing Christ Jesus as my master firsthand everything I once thought I had going for me

everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant dog dung

I've dumped it all in the trash so that I may embrace Christ and be embraced by him

so father today and for years on end as people listen to this teaching

maybe hear the sound of hammer on nail as sophistication is nailed to the cross

and people return to the foolishness of Christ hung on a cross and Christ risen from the dead

which alone is the power of God unto salvation

which alone is the power of God unto salvation

so guys this foolish grace that we will begin to preach will produce a wave of awakened inquirers

of converted sinners of spiritually renewed believers this foolish grace that we will begin

to preach that we will speak into divine encounters that we will weave into our stories is going to now

across the earth raise a group of awakened inquirers who we can then lead of solidly

converted sinners and of renewed believers before we end I want us to recount our salvation

I want us to take time to recount our salvation that despite your intellect despite your sophistry

despite your sin-soaked pleasure how come you turn to him how come you turn to him how come

it worked for you or why is it that we are not convinced that it'll work for others

so just take a moment think of how you got saved I'm actually saying take two three minutes to

think of it just ponder on it

think of the books you used to read the ideology you had

the sin-soaked pleasure that you thoroughly enjoyed that you didn't want to move away from

your life

think of the callous self-centered existence that you lived

or think of the good life you had a good religious life where there was no need for anything more

because you were so much better than most people

think how intellectually sound you were

to use an old phrase but the hound of heaven was pursuing you

wouldn't let go

didn't matter where you went you would hear a song you would hear an annoying pre-destruction

didn't matter where you went you would hear a song you would hear an annoying pre-test

about salvation

you would remember that there is a god but not today

you did that a thousand times but he would turn up again

there were times when the rug was pulled from underneath you and you would turn to him

begging him for mercy and he would do what you asked to and then you would turn your back on him

and the next morning he'd be there again

you

some of us worshiped idols false gods ancestral gods

some of us couldn't stand the gods of our mums and dads and the religious rituals be it christianity

or other religions but there he was again

rituals be it christianity or other religions

but there he was again

and then one day something happens and your heart turns and you don't fully understand it

but something happens

and you know even though you don't know you know that he died for you and that he likes you

and you call out to him

and you don't know how it will work but you ask him to forgive your sins and as you say that

you somehow know something is changing

and you give him your life and you invite him into your life and

sometimes with tears sometimes with absolutely no emotions

you get up and that's it the rest of your life changes for all eternity

and we worship you jesus for what you've done we worship you if i were to write the stories

before people got born again if i were to take the stories of each person listening be fascinating

we worship you jesus if you could do it with my life surely you can do it with

the lives of someone else caught up in drugs

why is it that i think you can't

and we worship you jesus father we want to recover the joy and the freshness of salvation

before we leave this place the joy and the freshness of salvation we want to go back to

the story that you wrote that day for some of us three months ago for some of us 20 30 40 years

ago and we want to just with hearts brimming with joy say oh god you saved me oh god you saved me

oh god you saved me

god you saved me

want to stand next to the school master who's weeping want to stand next to 200 300 at the

police station crying out the same that we cry out now oh god you saved me

amazing grace oh god how we've forgotten

how we've forgotten oh god

how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me

so

that day is present before you as freshest today oh god

and the angels sang and celebrated

and you rejoiced at the return of a son and a daughter how many more father how many more

to come in how many more father help me help us to recover the freshness and the joy of salvation

as it says in isaiah 12 that don will put up on the screen isaiah 12 it says i will draw to the

wells of salvation buckets full and now pour it out i will tell of what god has done i will

boast of his reputation i will sing songs about what he has done

jesus it was your death and your resurrection that saved me

it was the forgiveness of my sins

and my friendship with god that sustains me surely

my mouth will be full of this as we go forward

so father as we sing this simple song that says my chains are gone i've been set free and then we go

into amazing grace i just pray that one of the things you do in our midst holy spirit

is to help us recover the freshness and the joy of salvation

the freshness and the joy of salvation the freshness and the joy of salvation

isaiah 12 3 to 6 from the message says joyfully now we will pull up buckets of water from the

wells of salvation and as you do jacob you'll say give thanks to god call out his name ask him

anything shout to the nations tell them what he's done spread the news of his great reputation sing

praises to god he's done it all let the whole earth know what he's done raise the roof sing your

hearts out of zion the greatest lives among you the holy of israel father this is what we want to

do we just don't want to tell our stories we want to tell your story it has benefited our lives but

we want to tell your story we go from the benefits in our life to who you are that is what your

reputation is about that is the good news thank you for reminding me that you saved me

i'm eternally grateful will be eternally grateful so now come holy spirit do only what you can do

do what my words can never do bring back to us the joy and the freshness of our salvation

help us recover our first love so you can sing and talk about it in jesus name amen

um

so

Amazing grace.

Amazing grace.

How sweet this saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now I'm found.

Was blind but now I see.

Twas grace.

Twas grace that taught my heart to pain.

And graced my fears with relief.

How precious did that grace appear.

The hour I first believed.

My chains are gone.

I've been set free.

My God, my Savior has rest on me.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns.

Unending love.

Amazing grace.

The Lord has promised.

The Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secured.

He will my shield, and portion me.

As long as life can yours.

My chains are gone.

I've been set free.

My God, my Savior has ransomed me.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns.

Unending love.

Amazing grace.

The earth shall soon.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow.

The sun bore bare to shine.

But God who called me here below.

Will be forever mine.

Will be forever mine.

You are forever mine.

You are forever mine.

My chains are gone.

My chains are gone.

I've been set free.

My God, my Savior has ransomed me.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns.

Unending love.

Amazing grace.

My chains are gone.

I've been set free.

My God, my Savior has ransomed me.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns.

Unending love.

Amazing grace.

And like a flood, His mercy reigns.

Unending love.

Amazing grace.

I want to share a very quick story that happened yesterday and then we'll pray and close.

So the last, Pawan and I, we've been talking about God sending us out for encounters.

And so just yesterday we were driving in Wally.

And during the drive, Pawan says, God just told me that there is a man who is wearing a red jacket and he has a cart with him.

We need to meet him.

So we said, Father, if this is what you want us to do today, we are in for it.

Two minutes driving through Wally and we see this man.

And we step out.

We start talking with three young men.

And this guy that we were talking with, the guy with the red jacket, he was 24 years old.

And initially for the first three to four minutes, I can't even begin to explain to you how difficult he was.

Because he just, there was spiritual elements to it too.

But then God asked us to pray. We prayed.

Just like a mountain melts, things began to change.

And he was open to us, Pawan particularly, Pawan talking about Christ to him.

And Pawan said, I used to be someone who dealt with drugs.

I know you are in it. And he said, yes.

And he heard about Jesus. He was open to us praying for his mom, for him.

And things changed so quickly in a span of three to four minutes as we prayed to God.

And we are talking about lives being touched because God has already started doing this.

He has already started doing this.

So I just shared that story only because he is so active.

He has so many lives he wants to touch through all of you listening to this.

All of us under this roof.

And this is happening right now.

So let's pray.

In line with what we have been hearing today.

Let's surrender to God for that which he has for us.

And let's lay aside everything that stands in the way.

Because God wants to use us, simple people like us, to influence and change the world.

So Father, we come to you.

I just thank you, Abba, because of your grand plan for the world.

Abba, this is for the world, for nations, continents.

You are changing lives, Abba.

And you, for some reason, you are saying, all of us here, all of us listening to this,

all of us under this roof, you are saying, I want you to start running with this.

So Father, as a body, we come together and we lay aside all sophistication.

We lay aside all sophistication, Abba.

We want your simpleness.

Jesus, you were so simple, you hung out with fishermen who no one wanted to hang out with.

Jesus, your simplicity exposed the foolishness of the world.

So I want simplicity. Father, we want simplicity.

Father, as Jacob reminded us today, we are not ashamed of the Gospel,

but many a time we don't believe in the power of the Gospel.

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, but then it says, it is the power of God unto salvation.

And so Father, as a body we recognize that your Gospel, your story, your redemptive work,

your birth, your life, your death, your resurrection, that is what we will proclaim.

That is what we will shout out to the world.

It is your story, your redemptive work. It is what saved us.

It is what changed our lives. It is what is changing our lives today.

It is what saved Pawan. It is what saved many of us here, Abba. All of us here, Abba.

It is what saved us. And so I will not be ashamed.

We will not be ashamed of the Gospel, but we will also believe in the power of the Gospel.

So Abba, you're saying that there are new births happening.

You're saying that there are new births happening right now.

So church, let's pray into that right now.

This is just beginning. There is a wave after wave after wave of God's redemptive work,

God's new birth occurring across the face of the planet.

And so Father, you're showing new births. And we say, yes, we welcome you in.

We welcome you in from the north, from the south, from the east, from the west,

people who are in your homes. Look to the surrounding areas.

Look, speak life into those areas. Speak into the lives that are going to be born again right now.

Speak to the lives that are going to be changed for eternity over the next few days.

Do it right now because God is saying there are new births.

Father, I believe that even right now in this area, there are new births happening

because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God, you are saying,

I will give them dreams. I will give them visions. I will visit them.

I will speak to them. And then we will go out to you, Father, with your story, with your gospel.

We thank you. We are just waiting for more of you, Father, more of you.

We're just getting started. We know. We thank you. Amen.