Pentecost – Receive to Release

Guys, so we continue talking about the year of release, which has been where we've been

parked and where I hope we'll be parked for a while.

And so what you received, you must release.

What you received, you must release.

The Holy Spirit was given to us and is continuously being poured out into our lives.

And what we received must be released.

Because I've said this before, inflow is prompted by outflow and outflow is provoked by foolishness.

Inflow of the Spirit of God is prompted by outflow.

Meaning, if living waters are flowing into you, Jesus made it very clear in John 7 37

that living waters were supposed to flow out of you too.

And so having received the fullness of the Holy Spirit and having him just seek to just

keep filling us to overflowing every day as we yield to him, inflow of the Spirit of God

is prompted by outflow.

And so if there's no outflow, you can come for prayer and speak in tongues and have a

few experiences, but nothing really happens because the Spirit of God was not given to

us so that we become fat, spirit-filled Christians.

But he was given to us so that an inflow will prompt an outflow.

And the outflow is always provoked by foolishness.

If you're not foolish, there is no outflow.

If you're not foolish, it's impossible for the Holy Spirit to flow through us if you're

not foolish.

This is why we need situations like this where we start dancing foolishly or shouting foolishly

or doing something foolishly because till something unfamiliar and foolish happens,

outflow is limited.

Remember that for the rest of your life.

That till you do something unfamiliar, till you do something foolish, outflow is not provoked.

You take the Bible and look from the Old Testament or the New Testament, you will find that the

greatest acts of God happened when people took on impossible things and behaved illogically

and foolishly.

Until they did that, those events would not have transpired.

Take any of the guys in Hebrews chapter 11 and you will see that.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And if you're hoping that God will send you to Timbuktu first, he would like you to do

the Timbuktu here.

And what I did was a Timbuktu.

That hop that I was doing is called the Timbuktu hop.

And if you don't do the Timbuktu here, he ain't sending you to Timbuktu.

So release is always transformative, meaning when the Holy Spirit says, I want you to,

as a church or churches, begin to step into a year of release where you bring release

to people, where I am able to release through you.

Release is always transformative, as in release always transforms.

And the word transform actually means a change in appearance, a change in form and a change

in structure.

So when we are talking about the year of release and when we are talking about God's word to

us that, listen, I'm bringing you guys into a place where over the next two and a half

years I'll show the earth tremendous kindness, I'll restrain evil so that you can practice

Isaiah 61.

We are talking about release.

Ah, shucks.

I've got to just pray for, let's just pray for Jackson.

He just passed away.

Father, we were praying for life.

But Jackson just passed away.

For us it's a loss, for you it's, he was always before you.

He was before you, before he was placed in his mother's womb, he was there over the last

twenty-three weeks and he is with you now.

Wasn't what we were desiring, it wasn't what we were hoping would happen.

Father, we just pray for Romesh and Quinn right now.

Father, we pray peace over this family.

And we pray that, Father, you were there when we lost our baby.

So you will be there for this family to give comfort that you understand their heart and

that this is not from you.

So I pray that they will be able to see you in this tough time and I pray tremendous peace

over this family in the name of Jesus.

Yeah, Father, so,

give them double recompense, Father.

Give them double recompense.

Like you did with Job, restore to them double, Father.

And so we thank you that there's absolute confidence that we'll see Jackson Cato.

That he's a person, that he was with you, he came here on earth for a short while and

he is with you.

And we will see him.

Teach us how to pray, Father, to see these things come through victoriously.

Not victoriously, victorious is the wrong word.

To come to see the will of heaven pass here on earth.

We'd like to see that.

We'd like to see that.

Because somehow in my mind, Jesus, if you were here in real, I don't see any other

outcomes, so it's very hard to settle for anything else.

That's the problem.

If you were here and you had to go to Richmond, we see women's and you touch that baby,

the baby would recover.

So that's our struggle.

How can we settle for anything less?

Teach us how to over the next few months and years so that we may bring your life here

on earth in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Change, release always transforms.

How am I segueing so easily?

Very intentionally and deliberately.

So release always transforms.

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news

to the poor.

Everything you see in Isaiah 61 is transformative.

So bring good news to the poor.

Who are the poor?

The morally and spiritually poor.

The poor, the morally and spiritually oppressed.

To bring, to cause the blind to see, transformative.

To cause prisoners to be free, transformative.

To cause captives to be released, transformative.

To bring beauty where there is ugliness, transformative.

To bring joy where there is depression, transformative.

Everything about release is transformative.

It transforms.

So when you look at Isaiah 61, every outcome of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is transformational.

And in a sense, isn't that what Jubilee is?

Jubilee or release was basically a time when God would cause everything to revert to its original state.

As he intended it to be.

And this is what God is asking us to pronounce over the earth for the next two and a half years.

Release or Jubilee was transformational because it would revert life to God's intent

and it was the work of the Holy Spirit where the Holy Spirit would come and he would begin to change things.

Go to Isaiah 61. Let's read it together.

Isaiah 61.

Isaiah 61.

Isaiah 61. Reading from verse one.

I just want to show you how the idea of release always requires transformation.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives,

release from darkness for prisoners.

Just think of that.

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives,

release from darkness for prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, the day of the vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who grieve in Zion,

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair.

All these are exactly changing the appearance, the form and the structure.

Why am I just continuing to bear down on this point?

Because as we go forward into the year of release,

we cannot settle for that which is just skin deep.

It has to be transformational.

What you do and what I do has to actually transform appearance, form and structure.

Don't settle for anything less.

In your business, when you're praying for someone who's sick,

when you're praying for someone whose baby is 23 months old,

when you're praying for a city,

when you're praying for anything,

the intent of God is,

can you discover what I really wanted to do when I first made this

and can you cause things to come to a place

where they are released into that stage?

We'll never see the fullness of it till Christ comes.

But my God, we'll give the earth a taste of what it sounds like

or feels like and tastes like.

One of the words Acts 29 should get used to

without becoming revolutionaries

is this word liberate.

Get used to the word liberate.

Churches rarely use the word liberate

unless they are out on the streets marching.

But the word liberate is a word that is very special to God

and very much a part of biblical vocabulary.

And so, he liberates.

The Holy Spirit liberates.

What do you think happened to you?

What did he do to you?

He liberated you.

Can you even take stock of what he liberated you from

and how much more he wants to liberate you?

Freedom? My God, he dances.

Every time freedom happens, he dances.

Because Christ put it this way,

for freedom I have set you free, Jacob.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

Liberty from all the past ordinances,

liberty from legalism,

liberty from the limitations that you put

through your culture, your soul and body upon yourself.

Liberty so that you can be free.

Jesus was the freest man on the face of the earth.

A part of the reason he was free was because he had zero self-regard.

Zero self-regard.

Knowing where he came from and knowing where he was going,

he had zero self-regard.

He liberates. He destroys the enemy.

This is all part of release.

The Holy Spirit liberates.

The Holy Spirit destroys the enemy.

The Holy Spirit establishes the ways of God.

In individuals, in church, in your city, in the spirit world and in the environment.

These are important. If you write down all five, good for you.

The Holy Spirit liberates.

Get used to that word because if the Holy Spirit liberates,

then the church must also liberate.

The Holy Spirit liberates.

The Holy Spirit destroys the enemy.

The Holy Spirit establishes the ways of God.

What has happened to the church is that we receive this with absolute willingness,

but just for our lives.

But he does this for individual lives.

He does this for the church.

He does this for your society or your city.

He does it in the spirit realm.

And then he does it for the environment or he is ecologically concerned.

Because after all, he was the one who put this world together

and made it look as beautiful as it presently is.

So he is really invested in this.

I cannot choose to stay out of some of these areas

because when I choose to stay out of some of these areas,

I am not being the church man.

Any questions?

What we are talking about today, what we are going to attempt today,

is the most ambitious thing this church has ever attempted.

I am just priming you because as we get towards the end of this teaching,

we are going to attempt something that we have never attempted.

And it will not be done by one or two because it is impossible to do.

It will have to be all the house churches, the entire church,

working together towards an end that God has in mind for us.

I have spoken to the leaders about it.

I am looking forward to seeing how it will outwork.

There will be no one who is not involved.

I was going through the list of vocations you have and I thought,

my God, how did you get these different people with all these different vocations

together for a time such as this?

I am going to conclude the sermon here and we can...

No, I am just kidding.

I hate disappointing you with short sermons.

Red pen.

Who was it? Just so I know.

Oh, that was you.

Guys, so what is the Holy Spirit's mission?

His mission is to send the church

to preach, love, serve, to preach, love, serve, heal,

and my most recent favorite word, liberate.

This is the mission of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit's mission is I am going to send the church,

I am going to send Acts 29, into the world

to love, to serve, to preach, to heal, to liberate.

Romans 8.21, it says that creation is longing to be set free

or liberated from the bondage of decay into the freedom

and the glory of the sons of God.

Just listen to the music of that verse again.

Creation is longing to be set free or liberated

from the bondage of decay into the freedom

and the glory of the sons of God.

One of the easiest ways to do away with this verse

is to just say creation, that means trees, mountains,

rivers and waters.

Or to deal with the verse this way.

Oh, the sons of God, as in when they were born,

or to deal with the verse this way.

Oh, the sons of God, as in when we one day become perfect.

Sure, everything will be consummated only then,

but we've got to start showing it now, man.

What is the point of being a kingdom people

if a kingdom people don't show the life of a future kingdom

in the present earth that is decaying?

We were left as a taste, a sample,

so that others can say,

if this is what Jesus tastes like,

I'd like two scoops.

His movement, as in the Holy Spirit's movement,

oops.

Colorado will lose at this rate.

I mean, if you threw it back at me, I'd catch it.

Okay.

Too much pressure was building up suddenly.

His movement, what is the Holy Spirit's movement?

If you look at the Old Testament and the New Testament,

especially the New Testament,

which would be our model to follow,

you would find that the way the Holy Spirit went about

sending the church to preach, love, serve, heal and liberate,

his movement was by affecting

strategic cities

affecting strategic cities

affecting strategic cities at strategic times,

affecting strategic cities at strategic times.

That's why you have the Holy Spirit going to Antioch.

Then he prevents Paul from entering some places,

but he allows Paul to go to Philippi.

He knows that Rome is the center of the universe

and that the Romans had built amazing buildings

and the Romans had built amazing road systems

at a strategic time.

Rome was influenced and from there on it went.

Then he figured out that Ephesus was a hub

where things used to happen and so then Ephesus.

These were critical hubs

established in critical cities

strategically at strategic times by the Holy Spirit

so that the word would spread forth from those places.

This wasn't invented by some businessman

in a dinky little office writing a book.

These strategies came out of the mind of the Holy Spirit long ago.

If that is his movement, what is his method?

His method differs.

With every city his method would differ.

In Nineveh in the Old Testament,

his way of bringing a city to a place where they recognize Yahweh

was through preaching.

It's said in Jonah chapter 3 verse 4 it says,

Jonah 3:4

and Nineveh was a large city.

It would take three days to cover it.

And what did Jonah do?

Jonah traveled one day into the city

and he stood there and he began to say,

in 40 days the city will be destroyed.

And Nineveh turned.

His way of doing it in Nineveh was preaching.

When you look at Lydda, I was fascinated with this.

I've read this story many times,

but I never saw these lines.

In a place called Lydda and you're saying,

really is that a place in the Bible?

Yes, Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 9, here's what happens in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention Acts 9 · chapter mention

I bet you didn't know it.

Acts chapter 9 verse 32, Acts 9, 32.

Acts 9:32

As Peter traveled about the country,

he went to visit the saints in Lydda.

There he found a man named Aeneas,

a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years.

Aeneas Peter said to him, Jesus Christ heals you.

Get up and take care of your math.

That part I knew.

Immediately Aeneas got up.

This is what I didn't know.

All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him

and turned to the Lord.

I didn't know that all those, all those,

let's assume Luke was exaggerating

and he counted 10 too many.

But all those in Sharon and Lydda saw this miracle

and they turned to the Lord.

Sometimes the strategy the Holy Spirit uses is preaching,

sometimes it's healing.

And then look at what happens in Ephesus, Acts 19.

Acts 19.

Hey guys, I know you know this,

but it's worth repeating it.

We cannot aspire for a standard that is lower than Jesus.

We cannot aspire for a standard lower than Jesus.

Any standard lower than Jesus is pathetic

for Christians to aspire for.

May you die attempting it

than live settling for less.

In Ephesus, Acts 19, verse 17 onwards,

Acts 19:17

you'll see how what the enemy did became a strategic entry into that city.

Acts 19, verse 17, and here's what happens.

Acts 19:17

If you read from verse 14,

Seven sons of Skiwa, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

They were casting out demons.

One day the evil spirit answered them,

Jesus I know and I know about Paul, but who are you?

Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them,

overpowered them all.

He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

When this became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in Ephesus,

they were all seized with fear

and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.

Meaning the city suddenly became aware

that this Jesus Christ that Paul was preaching in Ephesus

was a city steeped in magic.

There are still scrolls that are called the Ephesus letters

where there are chants and magic spells that you can find in museums.

Here was a city full of magic

and they suddenly realized that this Jesus that Paul is preaching

is a name that cannot be trifled with.

The very thing that the enemy did now becomes a strategy

that the Holy Spirit uses to open up a city.

Read on.

And then it says,

Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.

A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together,

burned them publicly.

When they calculated the value of the scrolls,

the total came to 50,000 drachmas.

One drachma was a silver coin, so it must be a little expensive.

In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

I don't know what method he is going to use

with us as we go and speak to the nations.

As we go and cause strongholds to bow.

And I assure you, these are not theory.

This will happen.

Why will it happen? Because Jacob said so?

Nope. It will happen because God is bringing us into that place.

Fourteen years he spent laboriously chipping away,

sculpting us for a time such as this.

Like I said a couple of weeks ago,

the church is the only organization that exists solely for the benefit of its nonmembers.

The church is the only organization that exists solely for the benefit of its nonmembers.

This is what we've been sculpted for all this time.

My dad used to say to me when I was young,

because he fed me really well and I was growing sideways.

And so I remember him once calling me and saying,

Ramane, meaning dear son, I just want you to know I have fed you so much,

you better be taller than me.

It was like, because I wasn't growing this way.

I don't know what happened, but once he spoke that, I started growing tall.

I mean this is what I mean by tall.

But you can imagine what short was then.

The point was that 14 years he's fed you.

Not so that we can be fat cats sitting in the pews.

These cities guys, Antioch, Philippi, Rome, Ephesus, and you can add more to these,

were transformed and yet this isn't very often seen today.

We don't see an entire city transformed.

Aren't you itching to know what God is going to do with us?

Say yes, no. Yeah.

Okay, so how do we transform cities?

This is a Pentecost message.

This is what the Holy Spirit poured himself onto believers for.

Holy Spirit is tired of us teaching ourselves who he is.

He's saying, haven't you taught that 14 years now?

Every Pentecost you talk about who I am.

Now will you go and do who I am?

A city will transform only when there is an integration of the good news

and the good works of Jesus.

Because that is ultimately what will bring spiritual transformation or change.

And this will bring societal or community transformation or change.

You can't leave out one or the other for some strange reason.

Churches are either interested in the spiritual transformation or the spiritual transformation

or the spiritual transformation of the church.

You can't leave out one or the other for some strange reason.

Churches are either interested in the spiritual transformation of people

or interested in the societal transformation of people.

But very rarely do you see a church able to do both.

And I'm saying why not?

Any questions?

Spiritual, societal.

Which one are you looking at, Heidi?

The first one?

Integration of the good news and the good works of Jesus.

Any questions?

Anything online, guys?

Ah, I know why there are no questions online.

Tuni is here.

So where does this start?

It starts with what we've always talked about and what we kind of know.

The planting, the proclamation, or the progression of the gospel.

That's where it starts.

So it starts with the planting of churches.

It starts with the proclamation and the progression.

The P3.

Proclamation, penetration, and progression of the gospel.

That's where it starts.

But it does not stop there.

It does not stop there, and that's what I'm excited about.

It starts with the gospel.

It starts with the planting of churches.

It starts with the proclamation.

It starts with the penetration and it starts with the progression of the gospel.

But it does not stop there.

It's a critical part, guys, but it doesn't stop there.

You know, we've learned this part really well.

So what do we need to do?

The whole church, as in all of us, not a few pastors, not a few leaders, not a few house church leaders,

not a few really passionate young adults or old adults,

the whole church has to take the whole gospel.

What do you mean whole gospel?

Not just a little bit of healing or a little bit of deliverance

or a little bit of preaching the salvation message or a little bit of social work.

No, no, no, no.

The whole church has to take the whole good news.

Jesus was absolutely interested in the entire person.

He was always interested in the entire person.

I mean, in the middle of preaching one of his most brilliant sermons,

his thing is, man, these guys haven't eaten.

Let's feed them fish sandwiches.

But then the problem is there's not enough bread and fish for the sandwich.

So then let's have a miracle done.

And after they've eaten our shucks, but there are a lot of people who don't have food enough to take home.

So let's make sure that they collect all the scraps.

And by the way, there's a demoniac that the Holy Spirit told me is across the waters in Gadrin.

And his soul and spirit are being ripped apart.

So let's cross the waters.

But you guys go ahead because I'll take care of the crowd being dispersed.

Because I'm not one of those preachers that comes preachers and leaves.

I want to spend some time with the people.

So he spends time dispersing the people.

But I realize how tired you 12 are because you haven't been doing as much work as I, but you look tired.

So why don't you go ahead?

And as they go ahead, he then decides, hmm, time for me to go through.

He says, but let me just spend some time with my father.

He spent some time with his father.

And then he decides, how shall I go?

The boats have left.

Let's walk across the water.

So he walks across the water, finds them.

They're really panicky.

So he brings peace to their soul first.

He says, do not fear.

He doesn't calm the waters first.

He brings peace to their soul.

Why am I going down this route?

I'm just trying to show you how absolutely interested he is in the entire person.

He brings peace to their soul.

Then he stills the waters.

And then he says, let's go over to the other side.

When they get to the other side, there's a man who's been ravaged by a demon, not one demon, 600 or 6000 demons, a legion.

And they've been destroying him.

He breaks chains.

If he can break chains, imagine what he's doing to his own body.

And they see him and they fear.

And the demons say, why have you come to torment us before our time?

And Jesus casts out those demons.

The man goes completely normal and docile and sits at Jesus's feet.

Jesus has raised him up.

And now, instead of sending him back to tell his family, instead of calling him and saying, hey, now you can be a disciple of mine and talk about this wonderful testimony and it shall be a great meeting.

He says, no, go back to Decapolis.

Because they need you there.

The point being, we as a church now have to get interested in much more than the spiritual side of things.

And you are well equipped for this.

You are well equipped for this.

You need a wound specialist.

We have a wound specialist.

You need a nurse.

We got a nurse.

You want to examine the skin under your toenail.

We got someone who can research that.

You want to fix a light bulb.

We've got one engineer who does not know how to.

You.

No, see there are four of you.

So you don't know which one I'm referring to.

The point being, guys, as we as we as we step into what God has for us, you'll be fascinated at how each of us will have a role.

Each of us.

Each of us.

So looking forward to it.

It's a whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole person.

To the whole person in the whole city.

It's a whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole person in the whole city, meaning it's not limited to those that come to Acts 29 or those that come to the house church.

And it ministers to the entire person.

This is God's desire, body, soul, spirit.

So basically, it will be the power of God through the church, which I like calling the community of the spirit.

It will be the power of God through the community of the spirit.

If we go down this route, guys, then imagine what we're going to have to deal with.

It is easier dealing with getting people saved, casting demons out, healing the sick.

But now we'll have to deal with poverty.

We'll have to deal with crime.

You'll have to deal with violence.

You'll have to deal with deal with divorces.

We'll have to deal with.

Addictions.

You'll have to deal with gangs.

That's one side of it.

But on the other side, it will also result in the dramatic increase of mercy.

Dramatic increase of giving.

The dramatic increase of justice.

Dramatic increase of beauty.

Dramatic increase of prosperity, particularly for the poor.

The dramatic increase of compassion.

Hallelujah.

Wouldn't this be beautiful?

Wouldn't it be awesome to set up a model for others to look at and say,

Okay, we'll go do this in our cities across the earth.

Where on one hand, once we decide that the whole church, and this is why the Holy Spirit came.

This is why the Holy Spirit came.

When the whole church begins to take the whole gospel, which takes care of body, soul and spirit,

to the whole person in the whole city, to the whole community,

to the whole person in the whole city, then the whole church will have to deal with things

that we don't have to deal with within these walls, or have to deal with minimally,

poverty, crime, violence, divorce, addictions, gangs.

We don't have to deal with it.

The only gangster we have to deal with is Don, and nobody else.

Oh sorry, not Don, Profo.

I'm kidding, Profo.

And so, on the other hand, there'll be an increase of mercy, of giving, of justice, of beauty, of prosperity, for the poor.

When was the last time you heard about God prospering the church,

and what he meant by prospering the church is God prospering the poor through the church?

That's a strange prosperity message.

I mean, I would start, I could start drooling right now.

I'm glad I'm not getting too much reaction today.

So what will happen when we go down this road, guys, is that in an area that God gives us,

if God says, in and around pilgrim, if we actually did this over a sustained period of time,

you would find two things happening, which lies at the heart of the Gospel.

People will love the Lord more with their heart, their mind, their soul, their strength,

and people will love their neighbors more.

And in that is the summation of the law and the prophets.

It doesn't happen through a token event, like a barbecue or a food distribution.

It happens over a sustained period of time of two and a half years,

where all your different abilities and skills are brought together.

Time, talent, treasure, strength.

Don't leave Acts 29 yet, huh? Leave in 2022.

No, no, no, don't leave, meaning if you leave.

And if you want to bring new people, bring them now.

They get all the goodies without doing any work.

Any questions, guys? Any questions?

So where do we start? Where do we start?

Because this is impossible, we start with Zechariah 4 verse 6.

Zechariah 4:6

And Zechariah 4 verse 6 says this, and then the Lord says to Zerubbabel,

Zechariah 4:6

it is not by might, it is not by power, but it is by my Spirit, says the Lord.

This is so impossible to do, that my God, we'll have to lean back so heavily,

which is why I say, the more aware you will become of the Holy Spirit

over the next two and a half years, the more you will be able to depend

and draw from its presence, the more you will be able to be able to do it.

The more you will be able to depend and draw from its presence,

an awareness that it becomes as natural as breathing in a little while.

I mean, when we talk about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit,

and the river of God and stuff like that, I mean, when you really look at it,

you look at Revelation 22 verse 2, and what do you see?

Revelation 22:2

You see in Revelation 22 verse 2, a river that flows from the throne of God

Revelation 22:2

through the main street of the city, bringing healing.

The three scriptures that I'm going to give you right now,

all talk about the Holy Spirit, but in all of the scriptures that I give you,

you will find that the Holy Spirit is saying to Israel,

or the Holy Spirit is saying to the church,

or the Holy Spirit is saying to the individual Christian,

listen, the reason I live in you is to make you like Christ, yes,

and I'm doing that every day, but the other reason I live in you

is so that I can flow through you into people around you,

into the city around you.

So in Revelation 22 verse 2, you see a river that flows from the throne of God

Revelation 22:2

down the center of the street of the main street of the city,

and it brought healing to the nations.

You go to Ezekiel 47 verse 9, and you find a river that flows from the temple of God,

Ezekiel 47:9

and it flows through the land, and as it flows through the land,

wherever it goes, it begins to bring life, bring fresh water,

making salt water teem with fish.

And then you see Jesus during the feast of tabernacles,

in John chapter 7 verse 38 saying,

John 7:38

come to me all you that are hungry, and I will give you food free of cost.

And then he goes on to say, hey, by the way,

I want you to know that Jacob, out of you, out of your belly,

out of your insides will flow rivers of living water.

For what? For the benefit of others.

Rivers of water flowing from within you,

so that the thirst of people in your city can be slaked.

So that's where we start. We start where?

Because this is an absolutely impossible task.

We start with Zechariah 4.

Now do you see why Acts 10 verse 36 to 38 makes so much sense?

Acts 10:36–38

Acts 10, 36 to 38 says that Jesus Christ went about,

so he went about in the area that was appointed to him.

Man, he could have started the synagogue and have the Pharisees eat out of his hand.

Instead, he went about doing good and setting free those that were harassed by the devil.

Why? Because the Spirit of God had anointed him for this very purpose.

Everywhere that the Spirit of God begins to arrive, dwell, abide,

there's only one purpose. Can I make you witnesses? Can I send you out?

I have gathered you so that you may be scattered.

Acts 10, 36 to 38. Acts 10, 36 to 38.

Then Peter began to speak, and then it goes on to 36.

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel,

telling the good news of peace to Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee,

after the baptism that John preached.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,

and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil,

because God was with him. Doing good and healing.

That's the first point. Where do we start? That's what we first do.

Again, if you want to transform the city that God is appointing to you,

the second thing is you'll have to begin with a burden for the city.

We don't have that yet, but we will have it.

You have to begin with a burden for the city.

In Luke chapter 13, verse 34, you find Jesus looking at Jerusalem,

Luke 13:34

and he says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I have longed to gather you

as I would gather children, just like a hen gathers her chicks.

So I have longed to gather you under my wings.

This is someone who had a burden for a city that he spent

a large part of his ministry in.

One of the verses that really affected me when I was going through this was Nehemiah.

In Nehemiah, chapter 1, verse 4, Nehemiah gets news,

Nehemiah 1:4

and here's the news he gets, that the condition of the city is appalling,

that the walls have been torn down, that the gates have been burnt,

that the people are in distress.

in distress and Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 4 begins like this and Nehemiah began to

Nehemiah 1:4

weep, he began to fast, he could not bear the thought of what had happened to the

city. This is not something that we can fabricate, this is something that God

can place. God has done this many many times where he places such a burden on a

person's heart. I'm not even talking about the Bible, I'm talking about since

the Bible was written. He places such a burden on a person's heart that the

burden now begins to become a passion. You know you cannot have passion without

burden, you cannot have a passion without having a burden. Nehemiah started with a

burden that developed into a passion to rebuild the city. Nehemiah started with a

burden that developed into a passion to rebuild the city. Once you have the

passion, passion then gains you favor. Wherever you are, passion will gain you

favor. Once you have passion, it begins to attract resources. Once you have

passion, it begins to increase your influence. Once you have passion, it

begins to fuel your compassion. Once you have passion, you'll see an increase in

your perseverance where you'll stick through something because you're so

passionate about it that you will learn it. I've seen kids who suddenly decide

that they have a passion to learn how to cycle. Never cycled before. Some kids

give up. My dad had to send three people to train me and I think he fired all of

them because I didn't have a passion for cycling. Anything that had to do with

feet, I preferred not to exert. But the point is there were other kids who would

learn so quickly. I've seen people pick up the guitar, such passion, they learn so

quickly. Passion gains you favor. Passion attracts resources. Passion increases

influence. Passion fuels compassion. Passion gives spine to perseverance. But

to get passion, it can only be developed from a place of burden when it comes to

transforming a city. I mean you all have heard of William Booth, the guy who

started the Salvation Army and I read this quote which I thought was such a

litmus test when volunteers used to come to London to help him with helping the

cities downtrodden. His question to the volunteers was, can you weep for them if

you can't weep we cannot use you. Can you weep for them if you can't weep we

cannot use you. And so I'm praying that today before we leave we begin to ask

God for a burden that will cause the city that God is giving to us to begin

to become a heavy thing on our heart because with that will come the passion

that is necessary.

The third thing is from Jeremiah 29 7 and Jeremiah 29 7 says seek the peace

and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. Seek the peace and the

prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. So when we begin to talk

about the city that God is saying hey not even a city he'll start us with what

is manageable. When he gives us the area that we are supposed to now focus on

seek the peace and the prosperity of the city to which I have carried you. I just

want to take a detour here because you know what's happening with Floyd George

and the fallout across the US right. And so it fits in here when we talk about

seeking the peace and the prosperity of the city to which I've carried you even

though it's not something that's happening in Canada. Guys with situations

like Floyd George and his death always remember Psalm 85 10 or Zechariah 8 16

Psalm 85 10 says peace and justice need to embrace. Peace and justice need to

embrace. In some versions it says peace and justice need to kiss. Justice and

peace must embrace. And so here's what that means then. If the nature of justice

if the nature of justice is devoid of truth and mercy then the peace then the

peace that people are seeking or the nature of peace then the nature of peace

then the nature of peace will be forced false or seething with fury.

The reason I'm saying this is because when people ask us what so what do you

think of what is happening in the US we can't do this dance of yeah you know

that was a terrible thing had that happened but you know at the same time

people should not protest because it's not right what they're doing. We can't

do that sounds that's called diplomacy and it's not a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Yeah so what we need to understand is that at the end of the day God himself

said that peace and justice need to embrace but peace and justice if they

need to embrace and it has to have a certain quality if the nature of justice

is devoid of truth and mercy and the nature of justice for Floyd George was

devoid of truth and mercy. When that man had the knee of an officer on his neck

it was devoid of mercy and truth doesn't stand alone truth has always had mercy

in it. So if the nature of justice is devoid of truth and mercy then the

nature of peace will be forced will be false or will be seething with fury

underneath waiting to explode and that has been the condition of the racial

dialogue in the US and in the West or wherever you see discrimination that has

been the nature. Strangely enough guess who has a name that incorporates both

justice and peace it was someone called Melchizedek the king of Shalom or Salem

and so you have these two words Sedeq and Shalom one means justice the other

means peace and so forth Sedeq and Shalom to embrace for peace and justice

to embrace the only guys who actually have an ability to do this are the

people of God but the people of God choose diplomacy over speaking and so

what does this look like when the church begins to speak maybe this is I was just

thinking of so what does it look like Lord do you want me to go and stand out

and protest no if I were to take this church and this were happening here then

I pray God that if this were ever to happen in Vancouver that this would be

a stance that one or two of us would teach about this let's say Jacob would

teach about it Emily would write about it Diana Panton would actually organize

a protest and take a stance Heidi would Josh would Dano would Mark would invest

money into it even would actually act upon it do something to bring justice

and peace this is what it looks like when an entire community begins to take

up the need in a city to bring Sedeq and Shalom together it can't be done by one

person but when I teach you will listen when Emily writes we will read when

Jeevan acts we will help when Heidi invests we will contribute when Diana

organizes a protest we will go now you begin to see how the only people who

actually understand Sedeq and Shalom begin to do something in the area that

they are appointed to the whole gospel going to the whole city so that whole

persons can be made whole

this is very difficult to do as long as I have self-regard because when I write

what if you don't like my writing and you send me 40 comments calling me a

racist pig now what happens now how am I going to react what happens when you go

for a protest and you get arrested though you know you're standing for

Sedeq and Shalom now self-regard becomes a critical issue my god man if you

write make sure that you have the thick skin to take comments or not take any

comments both are very not helpful I used to tweet and I used to wake up every

morning seeing if anyone liked my tweet when I realized that nobody likes my

tweet I decided this tweeting is not for me and the really bad tweets I used to

put up used to get circulated and the really intelligent ones would never get

a comment self-regard bury it

the only amazing thing about most celebrities is I don't know how they

handle bad publicity

and a million people tell you you suck it must hurt man

I just wanted to take this this is a very difficult issue to deal with

I just wanted to take this diversion because I don't think what we will be

doing in the future will be devoid of this

any questions

you

you know Isaiah 58 verse 6 know what it says verse 7 know what it says verse 12

Isaiah 58:6

you know what it says let's turn to it

Isaiah 61 is the great passage on release but Isaiah 58 6 7 and 12 give us

the substance or the skeleton on which that passage stands and so if you read

it as they have 58 were 6 and 7 this is again the whole idea of release and

transformation of a group is this not the kind of fasting I've chosen to lose

the chains of injustice untie the cords of the yoke set the oppressed free to

break every yoke is it not to share your food with the hungry to provide the poor

wanderer with shelter when you see the naked to clothe him and not turn away

from your own flesh and blood verse 12 your people will rebuild the ancient

ruins they will raise up age-old foundations you will be called repairer

of broken walls the store of streets to dwell in if I could give you a picture

of the Holy Spirit right now it would be him rubbing his hands that glee saying

Jacob get to the main point get to the main point

but then he'll also say but knowing you Jacob you're going to take your own

sweet time

as they're 58 6 7 12 is critical to the release that we read about in Isaiah 61

and and guys when you look at Isaiah 61 do you realize the kind of people that

the Holy Spirit is going for first he's not going for the learned he's not going

for the rich he's not going for the educated he's not going for the middle

class wealthy of acts 29 he's going for categories that are usually the least of

them you know how you measure progress in a society of progress in racial

discrimination I heard this from this guy who I don't agree with fully but

there are some things that he says that really grab me his name is Cornell West

he's a professor and he said you can always measure progress in any area even

in racial inequality what happens is we have a tendency to measure progress by

citing a few cases that have been going well and he says in any society you

measure progress by measuring how well the least of them are doing and when I

heard that the first thing I thought was our shucks Holy Spirit when I look at

Isaiah 61 you're talking about the least of them you're talking about the blind

you're talking about the prisoner you're talking about the captive you're talking

about the ugly you're talking about the depressed you're talking about the

morning you're talking about the ones that are broken-hearted you're always

taking categories first he's not leaving out anyone but he starts with the least

of them

this is why I appreciate what D1 does in Nandigama

but not everybody can go to Nandigama and not everyone can see what's happening

in Nandigama on a daily basis so what Nandigama is God releasing to us and if

we go down this route guys to follow Jesus in the city then would mean

mean that these are things that I don't want to do I don't want to care about

but we will have to care about government we will have to care about

government we will have to care about business we will have to care about the

welfare of people we will have to care about the conditions that degrade humans

in a city

we will have to care about justice we will have to care about fairness my god

life used to be so easy why go down this route this is a really bad idea

you'll have to care about the voiceless you'll have to eliminate the conditions

that degrade people

like country just ask the question of what is the right way to do it and what

is the right way to do it

like country just ask the Holy Spirit to come and make us jump during a service

isn't that radical enough come on that was difficult you really want to go down

I can see from your loud amens that this is something you absolutely desire to do

right

I noticed the ones who said amen

the challenges will be huge the time required will be long the cost will be

heavy and the dark powers that oppose will be strong the challenges will be

huge because it's unfamiliar stuff or it's stuff that we know how to read and

write and theorize the challenges will be huge the time required will be long

because it's not an event the cost will be high both financially and otherwise

and the powers that we will face in opposition will be strong but citizens

of the kingdom are supposed to affect the city that they live in according to

Jeremiah 29 7 and they are supposed to affect the city with the benevolent rule

and the ways of their king this is when the city on a hill becomes the salt of

the city this is when the city on a hill becomes the salt in the city the city on

a hill becomes a salt in the city

so now for the big reveal

where shall we start so one of the ways the Holy Spirit dustings is he'll pick

an area that is manageable and pick an area that is manageable as in he knows

our strength and our weaknesses he knows what we are capable of and he won't

cater to that he'll make it a little more difficult than your present ability

so it'll stretch us but it will pick a he'll pick an area that is manageable

you'll pick an area that actually needs transformation

he'll pick an area that is forsaken or abandoned by most systems and people

and he'll pick an area that requires more faith than we presently have

and so for the next two and a half years till the end of 2022 we'll be focusing on just one small area in Surrey called Wally

the next two and a half years God will show us how to transform Wally not just

spiritually financially physically business-wise with regard to eliminating

conditions that are degrading with ethnicity with discrimination with

poverty to begin to focus on this area and this area I haven't done any

statistics or anything of that sort this is not based on any statistical

data though I've heard stuff but this is an area that the Holy Spirit is giving

us because he thinks it's manageable he thinks it needs transformation he thinks

it's forsaken or abandoned and he thinks it requires faith and so for the next

two and a half years this church and the house churches will do everything in

their power or a period of 30 months to begin to change their locality by the

spirit of God it is the most ambitious impossible God thing I have attempted

or I have asked us to attempt but it is the year of the Holy Spirit part of me

is so thrilled I've been sitting on this for so long I want to empty my stomach

so I can eat more it's that kind of a thing like it's like one of those horses

that knows it's not ready yet but the paddock is too small and you start doing

this is that kind of a sense and I don't even know how we are going to do this I

don't know the resources we have I don't know our ability ability all I know is

my god if we get a burden for this and we begin praying for it today that the

burden will turn into a passion and that passion will attract resources passion

will fuel perseverance and compassion passion will translate into favor and

that we will begin to show the earth and God is giving us favor across the earth

will begin to show the earth that you can do this in Bahrain you can do this

in Australia you can do this in India you can do it in different parts of the

world but finally we know what transformation looks like without

making a video

you

it's like a Luke 19 13 moment where in Luke 19 13 the master comes and gives

up ten minas to all his servants he calls ten servants gives them a minar

each and he says to them hey I want you to put this to work I want you to

operate with this I want you to prove your trustworthiness I've taught you

enough now go do show me what you can do with your minar

we'll focus on it till the end of 2022 and God is probably

what I love about this is I am absolutely helpless about this it's not

like standing before you an expert now this is I can pray man I can't do this

but my God I know the time has come

do you know that feeling where you know that your favorite dishes before you and

you just want people to go away so that you can't don't even need to use a spoon

or a fork but you can take your entire hand and just gobble it that is the

sense

or you haven't felt that

this is a Luke 19 13 moment and so focus on it till the end of 2022 God will

show his kindness God will restrain evil he said he'll do that and God will then

cause other people and churches that are connected with us to replicate it.

What is our intent our intent is Psalm 104 verse 4 to 7 Psalm 104 verse 4 to 7

Psalms 104:4–7 Psalms 104:4–7

it says in Psalm 104 4 to 7 says this and there were wanderers who were

wandering around in distress looking for a city to settle in but they could

not find a city to settle in they were hopeless they were thirsty they were

hungry they had nowhere to go and then I God led them to a city and I settled

them and so the intent of God is can you church by the spirit bring the

spiritually and physically hungry the thirsty the straggling the exhausted

the desperate out of trouble to a city that they can settle in this is what God

is saying Psalm 107 verse 4 to 7

Psalms 107:4–7

So how do we start?

Guys whenever you get an opportunity till we get to understand what we need to do next

whenever you get an opportunity go to the corner of 108th and 136th

108th and 136th that's Wally for you it's right at the northwest corner of Surrey

Whenever you get an opportunity when you're driving to drop off food for

Derek or stuff like that I'm going to show you how to do that

or stuff like that just stop at the corner of 108th and 136th

once you stop there pray the father give me a burden give the church a burden

father I pray for this area that you are giving to us to transform it by your

spirit father I begin to open to Psalm 24 verse 4 to 7

Psalms 24:4–7

open up your ancient gates lift up your doors for the King of Glory shall now

come in who is the King of Glory but he who is mighty in battle go stand there

and read out Zechariah 8 as you read out Zechariah 8 which was given to us in

September October of 2019 you will see the Zechariah 8 so fits into what God

wants to do where God is saying hey this was a land where there were no old or

young that could sit out on the benches and have a good time young men and women

had stopped dancing and playing around that wages were not being paid there

was crime on the streets but I want to tell you that the fasts of the 4th 5th

7th and 11th month are now being changed into the feast and a time will come

where people from different cities will come and tug on the sleeves of one Jew

and say take us to your God because we want to see how this is done

hmm

that's what we're talking about there is room and a role for each of us a as as

to your questions what to do next how to counter things how what wells to dig who

to connect with other people doing this there do we join with them do we not

join with them what are the powers that need to be dismantled the standard

answer is don't know but we shall find out the part of Wally is now Surrey City

Center and but that is not really considered part of Wally it is seen as

Surrey City Center so we're talking about the rest of Wally so on Pentecost

2020 here's what I want to say to you I was looking at the lyrics of that song

there is no one like our God for greater things have yet to come greater things

are still to be done in this city there is no one like our God greater things

are yet to come greater things are yet to be done in the city that's what I'm

looking forward to so here's what we're gonna do as we end one ask for an

outpouring of the spirit on us for this task so that we can be his witnesses in

Wally

yeah and then to ask for a burden and a passion and a weeping for the city yeah

so let's do that