Sermon
Chadwick_mohan_HouseChurch_July_3_4
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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opportunity. I want to thank Jacob and the entire church. When I say entire church at this point of
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time, but if you are part of the two evenings, you have come to understand that when I mean church,
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I meant it as not the Sunday evening gathering that happens at Inverness Pilgrim's Church Building,
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but the six households that are gathering together in the Greater Vancouver area. Is that okay?
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When we are talking about a church, we are talking about a community of disciples,
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and these communities of disciples are growing up in the teachings of Jesus. How do they grow up in
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the teachings of Jesus? They learn the teachings of Jesus. They live out the teachings of Jesus,
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and they teach the teachings of Jesus, and by one another, they grow to become a true authentic
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family of Christ, exhibiting Christ to the watching world. And while they're exhibiting
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Christ to the watching world, the whole picture of Christ is painted by this community. And as we
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are painting this wonderful picture of Christ to the community, people are getting attracted and
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saying, hey, this is the family that I want to be part of. This is the life that I want to live.
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And that we would be able to create that in Greater Vancouver. That's when the true mission
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for which a church exists begins. Why does the church exist? God is setting apart a people,
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a community for himself, for all eternity. And the reason he's setting apart a community for
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himself for all eternity is that we would be his people. That he would be our God. We would be his
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people. He would come and dwell amongst us, and his presence will be so manifest amongst us. And
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not only that, that we would be his people, that we will cooperate with him and collaborate with him
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to set apart more people for himself for all eternity. That means six households can't remain
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six households forever. That means if you truly participate in the mission of the church,
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and truly participate in the mission of God, right from the beginning in the garden till the end in
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Revelation chapter 22, you see the same thing. That there will be more people that are set apart
Revelation 22 chapter mention
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for himself for all eternity. Because the purview of God is that none should perish,
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but all should come to repentance. That none would be lost to the deception of another father
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who's a liar. They are all God's children because they originated out of the will and the plan and
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the pleasure of God. Every human being born. But they're deceived that they have the option and
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the choice to follow one of the two fathers. One father is a liar, and he wants to deceive. He
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wants to kill. He wants to destroy. He wants to take life away. There is death that is ordained
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through him. And the life that you can live under that father is sure death and eternal. But this
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father offers life and life abundance. That's the whole picture that is at play. And here,
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God is setting apart six households in the beginning to be an Antioch type base along
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with an apostolic leader such as Jacob and a team that God is actually building up with Jacob
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for a worldwide mission. And that's the starting premise at which we are actually looking into the
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seven important aspects from the New Testament of what we are trying to call as the way of Christ
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and his apostles. In other words, it's called church-based apostolic missions. And so we are
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outlining CBAM and we are taking the base as...
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We have an apostolic team.
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Aisha?
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Who's in charge of the markers?
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This?
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Tonight, if you can see through this and throw some out.
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And here is an apostolic team in the making, Jacob and his team.
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We still do not know the full picture of what this is going to be. But we know that there is a man
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ordained of God and we have seen evidence over a period of time. How many years you have seen
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Jacob leading this? 14 years now. You've seen him over a considerable period of time to recognize
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that this man has giftedness from God that Christ has given that is beyond the local church.
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That's the only thing that I want to define apostolic at this point of time is that there
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is giftedness in the person that helps this person along with a team go beyond the local church
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to be involved with many local churches, not just in one locale, but is able to transcend
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geographical regions and is able to progress the gospel plan churches and multiply them across a
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larger, wider area than the Greater Vancouver. And that's the reason why we are able to recognize
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Jacob as an apostolic leader. And it's important that we continue to do as churches and elders of
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the churches that we continue to support and continue to lay our hands on. In fact, the Antioch
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Church laid hands on. And therefore it's very strange that an apostolic leader may be the one
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who's actually teaching it and investing into a local church, but the local church actually rises
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up with their elders and then lays hands on the apostolic team. It's a very important partnership
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that goes on between local churches, which are authentic. When I say local churches,
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it's not congregations, it's not denomination, structured institutionalized Christianity,
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religion that we follow. No, these are authentic Christ communities that are led by
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wise elders who have spiritually matured. They are age-wise matured, they are gift-wise matured and
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experience matured and they lay hands on Jacob and say, Jacob, we know that you have invested your
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time, energy, money into this six house churches, which are an Antioch base in greater Vancouver.
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It is time that we recognize that we would be able to rise up and yes, we need your help and
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continuous input, but we would actually be a support base for you to go on this apostolic mission. And
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whoever you need as people from this base will be given to you whatever is needed at this point
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of time for the progression of the gospel will be given to you. We want you to continue to do what
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Christ has called this team to do that has riced up from this Antioch base. And therefore, we have
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this settled with six households that are networked together. And this is a network of churches
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in greater Vancouver
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that is partnering along with an apostolic team. And this is the purview with which we are going to see
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the seven important things. Okay, I'm actually taking from the New Testament, but at the same time
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going to be intertwining it with a plan of what Christ wants for us as a church to. So number one,
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the apostolic team usually has been given a sphere to offer.
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Now what we would call as an apostolic map.
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I don't know whether Jacob has shown you the apostolic map that is that a place that we can project
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that you have a sense of an idea where God is calling Jacob and a team to be ministering across
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the different geographical regions of the world. Can we project it so that okay, so let's go to
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second Corinthians and chapter 10 I started off with this and we couldn't proceed further for
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past two days, or we hope to proceed second Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, and verse 14,
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and then verse 15 to 16, Paul is still struggling with the Corinthian church. Corinthian church is
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a church that Paul has established. He's the apostolic leader over the church. It's a network
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of churches in the region of Corinth. There are sins that have plagued the church. There are many
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questions and divisions and a lot of things that are happening. But now there are other apostles
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that have come which are called the super apostles who are not really bringing the right teaching and
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cooperating with Paul, but they are actually bringing a strange teaching and there is an
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overemphasis of spiritual gifts to the under emphasis of love which is the essence of the
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churches. And so Paul is writing first Corinthians chapter 12, chapter 13, chapter 14. Yes, you can
1 Corinthians 12 chapter mention
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speak in tongues, but I speak in tongues more than all of you guys. We can prophesy, but what you are
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doing in churches is disorder and what is happening is that you are losing out the essence on which the
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church must be built, which is love. And then he goes on to say love is patient, love is kind,
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love is all of those things. And he comes to the end and then goes on to the second Corinthians and
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he keeps emphasizing you can have a thousand guardians, but you cannot have an apostolic
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father such as me because I gave birth to you guys. It's important that you follow me.
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Follow what I'm bringing as an important revelation into the body. And I'm going to
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introduce you to the second Corinthians chapter 10. And then he goes down to the second Corinthians
2 Corinthians 10 chapter mention 2 Corinthians 10 chapter mention
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chapter 10 and he talks about how there are arguments and there are strongholds that are
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rising up against and it's been destroyed. The strongholds are destroyed because our weapons
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or warfare are not carnal. We pull down every stronghold, we pull down every
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pretension that rises itself up. And then he goes on to talk about fear and he's not talking
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it out of a direct reference, but in all these contexts he is actually giving this idea. And so
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let's read the second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 and then verse 15 and 16. I'm reading for you.
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We however will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of
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service God himself has assigned to us. The sphere that also includes you Corinthian church.
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Then I read verse 15 and 16. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others.
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Our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly
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expand so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast
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about work already done in someone else's territory. And therefore in a side note,
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it's not the main point that Paul is talking about, but while he is defending his apostleship,
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he is saying, guys there is a sphere, there is a field that God himself has assigned to us as an
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apostolic team. And therefore we got to understand that God assigns, God assigns.
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So
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what Paul is saying is this field includes you Corinthian church.
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Therefore if Jacob would come and say, guys, God has assigned a field to this team.
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This mission needs to continue beyond this place, but that field includes greater Vancouver.
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And that if you guys do extremely well, if you guys do extremely well, then God will give us
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the capacity to increase the field. So you read that portion of scripture, verse 15 and 16. Neither
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do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others because there are other apostolic
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leaders that are having fields too. There are other apostolic leaders that are having fields too. And
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we may intersect with other apostolic leaders in different places and across the countries and
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across the nations. Others have fields assigned by God to them, but you Corinth church, you actually
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belong to our field. Then he goes on to say, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand
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so that we can preach the gospel and regions beyond you. While our hope is that your faith
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continues to grow. As the greater Vancouver's faith continues to grow, we have the greater
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capacity to expand this field that God has given us or assigned to us.
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Any questions?
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Your base here growing is critical to the expansion of what God is going to do through the
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mission of the apostolic team. There's an apostolic team right here. There's a network of churches
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as you continue to grow, as your faith continues to grow, that's going to be almost directly
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proportional to the sphere growth in the rest of the world. And that's what Paul is trying to say.
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All that we can get is two important main principles. Number one, there is a sphere
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assigned by God to apostolic teams. Number two, it really, really includes churches.
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And as the churches in the local churches, the network of churches begin to grow and be established
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in the faith and as they begin to expand in their own locations and locality, it gives the apostolic
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team credibility. It gives apostolic team with resources and resources is not finances.
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Resources is primarily is about people who will be able to rise up from within the local congregation
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to join teams and sub teams to fill and replenish the entire field that God has given.
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Put the picture on that.
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We need to include New York. The old picture.
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You have Vancouver, you have Cardiff, you have what is that?
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You have Baran, you have Chennai there and or Nandigama. You represent Nandigama or Chennai.
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One of Chennai, Brazil, Hanoi, Hong Kong.
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Okay and these are not just dots out there. These are regions that
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that Jacob believes that God has assigned the apostolic team to be operating in.
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Are you getting the picture or?
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Okay.
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Multiply and replenish the earth. And so when it comes to Chennai out there, there would be
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this partnership, the circles that are intersecting amongst apostolic leaders and at one point of time,
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if you truly are establishing people in the right teaching and the same teaching,
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there will be seamless flow between one another. Maybe there are some personality clashes that may
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rise up like Apollo and Barnabas. It would be very human but if we are truly establishing them in the
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way of Christ and his apostles or if we are truly establishing them in the teaching delivered by the
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spirit through the apostles, that is from Jesus, that is from the New Testament, there shouldn't be
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any because myself and Jacob when we operate in certain places that we co-labor together,
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no issues. You can just halfway through what he's teaching, I can just stand up and continue on
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because it's almost a sane thing. Maybe we use a little different vocabulary and it's perfectly fine
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if it's a different vocabulary but it's almost the essence of it is the same and then you see
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that there is greater unity and oneness that is developing across the churches, across the world
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where that true plea of Christ before he ascended in John chapter 17,
John 17 chapter mention
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oh that they may be one even as we are one. Father and son are one, that beige also be one so that
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the world will know that the father sent the son and therefore the true understanding of how the
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gospel is made known to the world is only through this family of love that is bringing about this
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oneness and unity because we are one in that teaching and if you really follow John chapter
John 17 chapter mention
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17 to the T you would actually come to this understanding we don't belong to this world,
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we are being taken from this world and we are sanctified by the truth, the word is truth
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and then sent into this world. Therefore the way by which we have to be in sync is in the truth
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and being sanctified by the truth which is the faith, this is the faith that we need to be growing
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in, which is the teachings that we need to be growing in, what is the truth that sets you free,
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it's the teachings of Christ that sets us free. We have the same spirit that is in operation,
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we have the same truth that is in operation and because of the truth lived out in our life we are
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able to reflect the nature of Christ as a beautiful picture not as an individual. The greatest problem
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of Christianity is we have followed the way of the world and the way of the world is individuals
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and therefore I need to be projecting Christ, no you cannot project Christ, it's the body that
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projects Christ together and if we shift our understanding from individuals wanting to serve
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Christ and being impact for the kingdom that's the greatest challenge even with all of the
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parishes and all of the ministries and Christian ministries it's about the individual I want to
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impact the world for Christ. Sorry that is not the New Testament, you are not supposed to be
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impacting the world for Christ. We as a community need to impact the world for Christ and it can't
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be done as an individual, the more we try we project the world's order of man and more and more and
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that's why ministries and Christian ministries with individual giftedness rejected as super super
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guys are going to be detrimental to the way of Christ.
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It's this communities
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and these apostolic teams come in form those communities and fade away.
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They are like a crescendo that comes in as an effect, yes they have their impact, they have
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all of that and then they fade away, they are not there, they are not the mainstay.
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The communities become the mainstay, true love becomes the mainstay, the truth sanctified
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through life lived out becomes the mainstay, good lives become the mainstay, good works become the
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mainstay or good families and authentic families become the mainstay and good news that is shared
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through good lives, good works, good homes becomes the mainstay that that is the beauty of what Christ
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has revealed.
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Now it's all opposite, I have done extremely well in business, see me what God has done,
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what the good good father has done in me and he will do that for you, that is the push of the
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Christian world today. See my ministry, what God can do through me, God can do through you too as
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an individual, sorry that's not found in the New Testament.
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So Jacob is not the highlight of Greater Vancouver, Jacob has come and slogged 14 years to build the
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six households, it's time that we shift into the way of Christ, these six communities actually
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become the beauty of Christ revealed to the world, to the watching world. It's how you interact with
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the community in your own neighborhood, that is going to be the mainstay, that is going to be the
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main focus, that's going to be the beauty of Christ revealed. While Jacob fades,
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yeah Jacob's fat goes thin but would come only on July 17th and up here, July 17th.
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That's Jacob's day, Memorial Day.
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In India it would be called Jacob Jayanti.
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You're getting the idea? Well the first idea we got to understand is that we have a field offered
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to Jacob and a team, that field does not belong to Jacob alone, that field's ownership is taken by
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the initial Antiochian church base until we have other bases come because there may be a sharing
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of this load and co-working that can take place amongst the various bases across the city,
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across the nations but at this point of time our responsibility is that we would say we are with
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you Jacob and commission you to do what God has handed over as a field. Are you getting the idea
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of the field? And therefore in order to see this field, one of the things that we were clarifying
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more and more is that Jacob although has an origin from within the nation of India, the field
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seems more of non-Indian ethnos, like how Peter would be to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles,
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not that Peter would not do anything about the Gentiles or Paul would not do anything about the
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Jews but the shift or the emphasis would be a certain kinds of people, a certain kind, one of
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the things that we've been discussing and thinking about is that the main essence of where Jacob would
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be operating is a non-Indian kind of people, kind of people groups. As we go on those things will
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become more and more clear about the field. So this is work in progress, this is initial revelation,
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this is something that we have initial small little specs that God is giving us with regards to the
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the field that this entire church will be involved in. Are you getting it? Am I making sense? I need
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to have some questions from you to clarify a little better, if not it's going to be, I do not know
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whether you're getting it. That's true?
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Get me two questions that will help me understand how much you're getting.
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It's working? You're getting it? May you have any questions? Steven, Derek,
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Mark, who's going to the leaders? Dano, who else should I, Heidi?
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Any questions? Not yet, let's go on. So there's a sphere to operate, there's an apostolic map
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and we have put this apostolic map. For us, at this point of time the sphere is
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the
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all that the Assemblies of God as a denomination can think about is who is the
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district superintendent, who is the secretary, and that is the leadership and now you are a local
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church and therefore you don't have apostolic understanding within the Assemblies of God. In
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fact, you've got to understand when there was a straying of this new movement called the
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Apostolic Reformation that Wagner started, North American Assemblies of God wrote a paper saying
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we don't subscribe to the Apostolic. Because of the abuses and excesses that were found in that
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movement of the Apostolic Reformation, they call it the NAR. I don't know what this stands for but
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it's a new apostolic Reformation, NAR. It was a group of people there and so Assemblies of God
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rejected it in that sense. So sometimes it's the greatest challenge because we at this point of
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time would have under one church now as an apostolic team would plant Assemblies of God churches,
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would plant non-Assemblies of God churches, would cooperate with any denomination
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because the church and the network of churches has accountability to the Assemblies of God but
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the apostolic team is not Assemblies of God. There's a little, we confuse everything now
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and that's why we call it complex apostolic network of churches. It's very complex.
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And so for example the places that the Spirit of God will prevent Paul from entering, he's actually
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starting his second missionary journey. He would want to go into Cappadocia, he would want to go
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and the Spirit of God would prevent him and then take him on to Philippi and then go on to Ephesus.
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While those places that the Spirit of God prevents Peter to enter in, you see that Peter when he's
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writing his letters, he has a set of places. So let's go to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1.
1 Peter 1 chapter mention
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You see very strangely that those are the places that Paul was prevented to go by the Spirit.
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That is an assignment to Peter and his field. So 1 Peter chapter 1, the set of people that Peter is writing to.
1 Peter 1 chapter mention
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Those who are elect exiles of dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
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according to the full knowledge of God. So this is a field assigned to Peter and he's writing to them.
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Paul has assigned a field and he's writing to them. John is at the end of it, is actually taking Paul's
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network because he is at least 30 years beyond Paul and he's writing to the seven churches by
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the assignment. He's writing Revelation chapter 2 and 3. He's writing to a circular letter to seven
Revelation 2 chapter mention
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churches out there and these seven churches are written the same materials from Revelation chapter
Revelation 4 chapter mention
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4 to 22. But the covering letter is what is for each church specific. Each church specific
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assessment of what Jesus is thinking about the church in Ephesus, church in Philadelphia,
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church in Sardis. And these are the churches that were started out of Ephesian base that Paul stayed
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for two to three years, night and day, in the hall of tyrannous. And these are the churches that
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have started out of his work in three years. And now John is actually overseeing those network of
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churches and he's writing to the seven churches on the Asia Minor. It is a road. You start in one
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place, you can actually follow the same road and that's how they carried those letters. Messengers
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carried those letters and they gave a covering letter specific to the church and then a general
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material from Revelation chapter 4 to 22. So this is a field assigned to Peter which was
Revelation 4 chapter mention
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predominantly Jewish. And so in certain places like Antioch where the network actually intersected or
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spheres intersected, there was clashes because Paul and Peter would have clashes based on
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dice. Because Peter is more oriented to the Jews and Paul is more oriented to the Gentiles that
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Paul would bring the Gentile concerns. And where the Gentiles and Jews are mixing up when two
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apostolic leaders are there, that Paul had to confront Peter and say, hey guys, this is not
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the gospel. You are trying to downsize and tailor make it only for the Jews. You are so frightened
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of the Jews. He goes to Galatia which is predominantly taken over by Jewish kind of Christianity that he
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is saying, guys, when I first came to you and opened up the gospel that is more to the Gentiles,
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also included, who has be pitched to you? Why is that you are becoming more and more Jewish in your
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orientation and following what you touch and see? No, that is not the gospel that I brought in.
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You're getting the ideas?
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Mark, any questions? Shall we go on to the second one? So in the field that God has assigned,
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they went about the great commission that Jesus commissioned them.
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Now what did Jesus commission them? To go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.
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Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit,
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teaching them to observe all things that which I have commanded.
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So they bent, they were not able to do that.
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They made disciples by baptizing them. Those who accepted the gospel were baptized and included
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into the community because the idea of baptism is not a Baptist idea of dipping someone in the water.
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The idea of baptism is that when someone comes to Christ, he is actually saying from now on,
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I don't belong to the world community, but I am actually immersing myself in water.
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Water rite that was so prevalent in the Middle Eastern world where they dipped themselves in and
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said from now on I subscribe to this rabbi. From now on I subscribe to this person alone
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and they belong to that community. So they have rabbinical schools. Jesus is saying,
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you got to follow my teachings to the T and now you're baptized to be part of my community.
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Therefore this idea of the great commission is to evangelize them with the gospel which is the
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good news of Jesus Christ and when they come they are baptized into a community and this community
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becomes a learning, living and teaching community. That is what Paul and Peter and
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all the apostles in the through the book of Acts continue to do and if you really see the
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cycle that comes as they did not just evangelize in every place. They evangelized and made sure
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that they were strategic in nature. So they evangelized strategic cities. They established
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and through baptism and teaching established
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local churches. While there were people who were established in the local church they were developed
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and matured in order to identify potential leaders and appoint them as elders and they entrusted it
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to elders and the apostolic team continued to do this cycle again and again which is the great
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commission cycle or David Heselgrave calls it the Pauline cycle because Paul it's very clear in the
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book of Acts through Acts chapter 13 verse 1 to 14 28. You see this Pauline cycle in place in the
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first missionary journey. You see the same thing happen in the second missionary journey.
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You see the same thing happen with Philip going into Samaria or a panabas after something the
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spirit does goes into Antioch. Same cycle happens. They evangelized strategic places.
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They established local churches. They entrusted to elders and therefore after we have had the
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field if you really see Paul's field. Paul's field is the then known Gentile world. It was not
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primarily Jerusalem but Antioch became the base.
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And so you see the Roman world it's Antioch.
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From here three small places of Iconium, Lystra, Derby. He goes to Philippi.
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He goes into Philippi then into Thessalonica,
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Barai and this becomes the Macedonian network of churches.
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And you come into Corinth and Athens and becomes the Achaean network of churches.
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Then he hits Ephesus with 11 other churches on that circular road
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and it becomes the Ephesian network of churches.
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And Paul is hell bent on being arrested even though arrested in Jerusalem. He is hell bent on going to Rome.
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And this is Paul's map. It was Paul's field and he hits strategic locations. So there were four major
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strategic cities of the Roman world. Antioch on the eastern side, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, Rome.
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These are five. Philippi because it was on the northern front of the Roman world. They made sure
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that they had the army containment there on the northern side and the Macedonian regions became
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very important for defending the northern side. Corinth was like the business capital. It would
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be like Mumbai of India or if it's Canada which would be the business capital.
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Which is the political capital?
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Toronto. So that would be more like the Rome of Canada.
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So that would be the business that may be spread across. But these are strategic locations. So if we
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really take Canada as a whole, there are strategic locations that we may have to do. So when God
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spoke to us in 2015 about it was a very strange process. 2012 there was a man whose name was
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Lorenzo who came brought in by my friend whose name was Prem Nath and he came to preach in our
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church. He couldn't preach. I was so disappointed with him because he stood up and he was trying to
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say something and here is a big service that is going on and suddenly I felt like I was almost
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because my friend also had come in between. I spoke to him and said I think the next time you please
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let me know whether a guy can preach before you bring them to the church. And so at the end of it
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he said I'm sorry the spirit of God really wanted me to deliver this word only and sit
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but because of the pressure of preaching I had to preach. And so I'll read to him read to you what
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at the end of maybe 15-20 minutes of scrambling through its notes and not able to preach he said
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this is what the spirit of God wanted me to write this morning. I saw a picture and he wanted me to
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deliver this to you. A great great lake vast in size abundant with resources a beautiful resting
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place a powerful providing place providing drinking water for many. This was like the peak
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2012 was a peak where the English service was growing and we had shifted from three services
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to five services because the congregation was like flooding in. We had already set up a new
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place on top wonderful beautiful air-conditioned place with a lot of media equipment in it and
-
then I saw a stirring on the waters which became a mighty swirling mighty clouds gathered and the
-
wind began to blow mightily thunder and lightning the waters rose and thrashed about and suddenly
-
overflowed their banks and began to flow out of out to other places. This lasted for a while until
-
the lake was half full then the sky cleared and the sun shone and a great peace a calm came over
-
the whole lake. There were fresh trees with new fruit and new birds singing new songs and new
-
people enjoying the lake. God had done a new thing for his great glory and then I looked beyond the
-
lake and where the water had flowed what once was dry and dead ground had come to life because the
-
water from your lake had brought the gospel and God's kingdom to places that previously were dead.
-
God told me that he has heard the cry of the dry and dead land and he would save them and give them
-
life and he has chosen you to bring them what they need. My own feeling is that God will use this
-
church in middle east to accomplish things for him that even governments have not been able to
-
accomplish. When our Lord Jesus tells us to do something for him why do we not simply obey and
-
do exactly what he tells us? We obey because the Lord needs it and then he closed the iPad and he
-
sat down and I was disappointed because he said the lake will be half full because half the lake
-
will disperse. I did not give attention to this prophetic word. 2015 we were playing together
-
as a team asking God what we must be doing and then God dropped in two important statements. One
-
was we had no idea what black maps were and black maps was something that came out to me while we
-
were praying. The other prophetic word that came while we were praying together as a team was one
-
of the team members said where Satan is causing the maximum havoc that's where my greatest harvest
-
is going to be in the next season. So I go into the office, google out black maps and what throws
-
out was the shocking thing which was the black maps of ISIS. If you really see the black maps
-
of ISIS, it's the eastern Europe, it's central Asia, northern Africa, it goes all the way into
-
into Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and it moves into Malaysia, Singapore down to Jakarta, Indonesia.
-
So all of this is what is called as Islamic Caliphate that they wanted to establish and they
-
were at the peak of it when in 2015 and God said this is one of the regions that we want you to
-
work as a as an apostolic team and then in response to that. But then Jacob comes into
-
into our church and there is a guy whose name is Theo. Theo, he halfway through the service he's
-
saying Theo your ship is parked, is anchored, there is a storm that is coming to your life
-
unless you pull out the anchor you will not be you will be destroyed and so remove your anchors
-
and be ready for sail. And then Theo goes through a major storm that happens and it all comes together
-
in 2016 that we say God if this is the region that God wants us to do what is the strategic
-
location that we need to hit and then we decide Dubai would be a strategic location that would
-
help reach out into central Asia, into eastern Europe, into northern Africa and the middle eastern
-
regions and that's the reason why we sent you and Falong to go into Dubai to be starting out.
-
And while we are talking right now that this is the first mission trip after three years the
-
church has become four households in Dubai that are meeting together in four different places
-
and are gathering together on a Friday for one-mindedness and now this church is slowly
-
taking up this cause of central Asia and have gone on a first mission trip into Kazakhstan.
-
So when you're talking about these things you're talking about authentic communities
-
you're not talking about great things that you're doing it's not about big meetings and you can
-
flash out in the social media no these are simple things about how small communities of Christ
-
are catching up the vision of what God wants us to do and move into strategic locations to do
-
this four-line cycle or what is called as the great commission cycle again and again and again.
-
So that's my second thing. While we have a field we identify strategic locations we know the timings
-
of the Lord we move to those locations and we do Pauline cycle or the great commission cycle
-
which is evangelizing strategic cities establishing local churches entrusting to elders and therefore
-
in those locations there are times for example even before you evangelize there are times that
-
we need to really work on with regards to pre-
-
Thank you.
-
Who's water in charge?
-
Who's water in charge?
-
You're getting the idea we have a field and after that we have a field we are in sync with the
-
spirit to understand when and where is the first place so for example it's not like Paul
-
after he finished in Coneyallister Derby his next progression was more Ephesus or somewhere in this
-
area but the spirit of God would not allow and take him to a Macedonian call and if you really
-
read Philippians letter you see that these guys were strategic partners right from the beginning
-
till the very end and so it's not about what we want although that doesn't mean that Paul was
-
just seated in Antioch and waiting and waiting and waiting no Paul was moving Paul was moving
-
but the spirit of God will open and close doors and will lead sometimes what we think is strategic
-
may not be the timing of the Lord sometimes what we think is what we need to do next is so for
-
example we wanted to we have chosen what is called the new Roman road which is within India
-
and it's called the golden quarter lateral okay Chennai Mumbai Delhi and Kolkata would be the
-
strategic locations within India that we need to really replenish these communities so that the
-
cities will be taken but so we were making our road into Mumbai and hitting into Mumbai
-
we felt that that's the next strategic city that God spoken had spoken in 2003 about Mumbai being
-
one of the second cities that I would be living and dwelling in as I was moving towards that
-
the there was a great great opposition with regards to the assemblies of God
-
church pastor there and the leader there he said if you come in we are going to complain all over
-
in the denomination and he opposed vehemently he said we are not doing an assembly we will not use
-
our brand name because he was saying there's a big church coming in and therefore that NLAG brand
-
will spoil all the work that we have done and everyone would go to your church and therefore
-
we don't want you to come while we were actually pressing and confused about this opposition
-
the spirit of God said Pune just open up in Pune and you see Pune Pune is just all the churches
-
are concentrated on the camp area which is the old Pune but Pune has grown massive because of the IT
-
that has been happening out there and therefore in 2018 last year we started out in Pune and in a
-
place called Banner and when you're starting a church we're not thinking about music we are
-
not thinking about worship leaders we are not thinking about who's going to be doing just three
-
people last year June 10th three people Ramin rich family a young couple who are true family to me
-
along with Jerry who was part of our team Jerry was sent along with these three people started
-
out in a home and this is actually a growing and it grew out of the home into a larger space that
-
we had to hire up a hall on a Sunday but there is a household that meets together in Praveen
-
Richard's house and while we were still doing that God was speaking about another church in
-
30 kilometers away and this so even before this church is fully established and growing and
-
self-sufficient this church has planted another church and when you're thinking of a church plant
-
we are not thinking about how do we have a worship leader how do we have a space how do we have
-
speakers how to know this is about another house
-
and there are two churches and around 70 people who are out there in a year's time not great
-
success stories but true authentic loving communities and I believe that we will be able to
-
saturate and fill whole of Pune and the approach that God has given strategically is to not come
-
into camp because the moment you come into camp the greatest opposition will be from the religious
-
Christianity and therefore you actually hit in all the corners of where the IT world has been
-
planting huge buildings and IT offices and are inviting all of India to come and live and work
-
there. You hit strategic locations, evangelize, establish Christ communities which are authentic,
-
truly established in the teaching and you raise up leaders and elders and appoint them
-
and you continue to do continue to replenish.
-
Long haul and sometimes you can't measure everything on the way. It's not about measuring success in this
-
it's about measuring of whether this is true communities that's our only measure
-
through communities that would impact society.
-
Questions?
-
Questions are arising now.
-
So it's not about major investment that we need to when we think of New York it's not a we need
-
we need a family we need a few families.
-
So we
-
um the Jerry who was sent is um Jerry was someone that I started off he was in the Saturday afternoon
-
community that I was investing in in 2010. Uh 2012 this family actually shifted because of work
-
to Chicago but I would not I would not leave them in a sense like I I would check on whether they
-
are going to come back so it was like a short period of four years in Chicago and therefore
-
anytime I flew into North America Chicago would be my place where I put my bags. Their home is where
-
I would stay continue to pursue Jerry and Zesha continue to invest into them and sometimes we have
-
our Saturday afternoon groups at the two three of three three thirty which means Chicago time is
-
like four thirty in the morning and sometimes winter times in Chicago Jerry and Zesha would have
-
all kinds of winter clothing on them and sit in front of Skype to be or zoom call to be part of
-
this process never allowed them to stay away from the teaching at one point of time they had to come
-
back when they came in they were in sync with what was happening at the base floored in and at the at
-
one point of time asked Jerry Jerry would you uh I I think there is a call of God upon him Jerry would
-
say I want to hear God I want to hear God if I have to make the move and I would say it's not about
-
hearing it's about believing and following and so he left a very high paying job to be joining
-
with the team and within the next year he was part of the OMR church plant and growing and investing and
-
Raffol was part of that congregation or part of the households there and Jerry
-
I asked Jerry hey there's a immediate need to go to Pune would you go
-
Zesha was pregnant and they asked that after they deliver in three months time I'm not talking to you
-
after they deliver three months time Zesha said give me three months time I would be willing to move
-
and they went to Hong Kong oh they went to Pune oh sorry
-
okay
-
but Jerry is a highly invested tenure tenure project
-
uh
-
highly invested relationship I walked Richard down the aisle to get her married because of her family
-
rejected that they would not stand with her she was from a Hindu background so it was like a father
-
to her who walked I I interviewed the guy who she wanted to marry and gave him a hard time before
-
getting married and now that's the relationship so whenever I went to Pune I lived in the house
-
ate with it so it's a combination of an invested leader uh proven which I have not invested on a
-
leadership leadership but as a invested in a relationship because they always lived far away
-
from me but there was a click out there and then the church starts and then you see 70 people
-
blossoming out and the greatest joys you go there you it's not it's not you but you have invested
-
into some people's lives you have strategically understood and it's not apostolic leaders work
-
when Jerry last time he came and asked this new place in Karate there was another guy who was
-
grooming up well and then suddenly he pulled himself off and went off to another place we
-
were talking about how there is a spirit that is at work in that location that does not allow
-
the stability of the churches and so then Jerry is asking so give us insight give us insight
-
say Jerry you pray you get more insight but we will come and stand alongside and so I've committed
-
myself for the next two times within this year to be going along with Jerry and a team to be praying
-
to dismantle certain things Jacob has been praying and feeding in certain aspects of what needs to be
-
dismantled and therefore it is also when when you just before pre-evangelism of a certain place an
-
area there's also spiritual dismantling of of what do you call you have a terrorized tea
-
okay tame nations tyrannize the rulers so there are certain activities that go before it to
-
dismantle certain spiritual forces of darkness and there are certain times when
-
like last year or last year we went into utharkand which is on the top mountains
-
there are four important it's called the char dhams where the rulership of this nation of india is
-
out there so when modi has to actually be elected he goes there before being elected he before the
-
parliament starts he goes there and that's where and so we go there to unplug certain things
-
it's a war it's it's truly strategic war
-
over territories and nations and nations
-
is
-
that okay can we go on thirdly we got to equip a whole leadership base
-
and all of these needs are whole set of leaders and there are two new testament leadership
-
types that are needed for this to work
-
so while you are doing the while you are doing the poline cycle or the great commission cycle
-
you are in this space where there are establishing the local church and entrusting to elders you are
-
beginning to identify potential leaders
-
you would call l2l3s
-
and these l2l3s that you identify and while they are identified you are looking into certain
-
aspects so i'm just going to lay down certain things that i look for number one and it's and
-
it's part of the teaching in the scriptures too they have a desire to serve that's the first thing
-
do they have a desire to serve number two they are making themselves available not forced and
-
forced and forth they are making themselves available for every opportunity to be invested into
-
they have a desire to serve they're making themselves available for investment into their
-
lives they're beginning to number three they are beginning to grasp the teaching and are making
-
church central to their life and family their life does not revolve around their work their
-
life does not revolve around their family no their life is revolving around christ community
-
in which they are rallying and managing their work they are rallying and managing their family
-
to actually make church central to their life's plan they're beginning not that they are mastered
-
that they are already doing they're beginning to grasp the teaching and are making church
-
central to their life and family number four they are managing their own families well unable to
-
extend their relationship beyond their individual family
-
they're managing their own families well able to extend their relationship beyond their family
-
number five they are people who show early signs of influence
-
and are beginning to be respected by more than their own family within the household
-
so
-
they have a desire to serve they're making themselves available for investment into their lives
-
they're beginning to grasp the teaching and are making church central to their life
-
and family they're managing their own families well and are able to extend their relationship
-
beyond their family they are people who show early signs of influence and are beginning to
-
be respected by more than their own family these are our potential leaders
-
and we have a base of potential leaders that we begin to work
-
with
-
yeah you you've got the idea of the l2 and l3 that we are beginning to they're beginning to emerge
-
while they are beginning to emerge we have to slowly identify what
-
we we don't have to name them immediately we don't have to one of the things that we have
-
understood is that we can't lay hands on and commission them too quickly because we see them
-
through a period of time before we recognize their service rather than he's my favorite so he's a
-
leader no or he's is someone that is showing giftedness alone some people show a lot of
-
giftedness but have not built the character base with it and therefore we have to be
-
make sure that we do our sam well with them spiritual formation
-
which is the character base
-
academic skills
-
what do we mean by academic skills academic skills is that their ability to master
-
scripture
-
master culture and are able to bridge scripture to context and culture
-
to provide
-
the mind of christ solution
-
and therefore the church must i would say jacob's teaching on sunday evenings with his sporadic
-
visits is not going to be the way by which we have an academic skill developed amongst the potential
-
leaders because this needs to be ongoing continuous layer on layer a pathway to the
-
of a pathway that needs to be truly laid over a period of two to three years where where where
-
spiritual formation is is very much of a mentoring and and shaping up of life and character but
-
the academic skills is a process that at least three to five years of a very clear pathway led
-
within our churches to to really master scriptures so so at one point why i
-
you at one point of time you must be able to score through and at this point of time i can
-
tell i can score through new testament left right and center amongst all of the
-
gospels and the epistles the 27 books i'm still not mastered the old testament the way i've
-
mastered the new testament but the moment you actually are confronted with the with the with
-
an issue a leader who's becoming a master craftsman from being an apprentice should be able to process
-
all of the life's issues through the base of the scriptures and be bringing about
-
the mind of christ solutions to the issues that are faced in a culture
-
and that's how we really develop wisdom base this is not a knowledge base we develop what is called
-
as a wisdom base and the spirit actually broods over the wisdom base and takes the words of christ
-
and is able to apply if you don't have this wisdom base the spirit is not able to
-
wisdom base the spirit is not able to
-
he uses profits to warn or advice
-
but over a period of time the wisdom base that is developed through an academic skill and it's
-
it's an academic skill that you have to at the end of it it's going to be on paper it's going to be
-
certain times we got to put them on paper if you don't put them on paper it's just vapor
-
you'll have great thoughts that the spirit would be able to take the words but you got to do some
-
level of studying and are able to handle the scriptures with confidence
-
so that we will not be arguing with words that is meaningless
-
so we must help people identify their life work their gifts abilities skills
-
and help them understand their gift mix and that ministerial skills you will be able to
-
distinguish them over a period of time whether they are a local eldership material or an apostolic
-
team material over a period of time and through through practical applications in ministry
-
when you you identify ministerial skills because you are able to see them on the job
-
in service while in community that's why jacob taking jeven to hanoi or evan to evan have i got
-
your name evan evan to hanoi helps jacob understand whether whether you're a local church
-
eldership or an apostolic team does not make any difference with regards to what christ wants
-
because one does not function or apart from the other one is a failure if the other does not
-
function and therefore these are equally important weightages with the priority of the apostolic
-
ministry because of the progression and the spearheading and the pioneering aspects that are
-
needed but apart from that whether you're here or here it depends on the gift that god has given you
-
and you must be fully fully be satisfied with what god has invested in but jacob on these trips will
-
be able to assess or over a period of time there will be a senior eldership that rises up from
-
amongst the elders will be able to assess on a on a two-tier system where where there are local
-
elders identifying hey this guy is apostolic in nature or this guy is the ability to teach and
-
defend the gospel this guy has this particular computer skills so that he can be on a deacon
-
team to help the teaching of the church be established as true proper teaching this is
-
an entrepreneur who has the ability to to to bring solution as a benefactor to the society or
-
as a as a health as as this giftedness to make money in order for the progression of the god
-
all these giftedness will be able we need to be so these are three major blocks as from from first
-
timothy and second timothy that we these these three major blocks of a well-rounded leader
-
that we need to shape up this this from first timothy second and second timothy paul as is in
-
second timothy is reviewing paul's training of timothy and telling this is how you got to be
-
training others and that is when he gives the commission in second timothy chapter two verse
-
two that which you have heard in the presence of many witnesses and this review of what i'm doing
-
with regards to the training of you timothy you've been with me in anchoque you've been in
-
anchoque you've been with me in different places in ephesus when i've gone through persecution
-
you've seen my life you've learned things from my life you have learned things from your grandmother
-
you have learned things from your mother you have learned things from the scriptures on from
-
infancy but now is your base of and the process of training that i have taken you through now this
-
is the good deposit that i have invested into your life timothy now god this with the help of the
-
holy spirit and pass it on to faithful men that is second timothy chapter two and verse two passes
-
on to faithful men who will also be able to do this to others and therefore second timothy chapter
-
two verse two is not a multi-level uh multi-level leadership developmental strategy no this is a
-
long-haul 12-year process of investment of the good deposit over a period of time and paul is
-
reviewing that training process and he says hey flee from sexual immorality flee from all these
-
kinds of things make sure that you are a man of character and then second timothy chapter two
-
verse 14 and 15 you need to be an authentic approved minister of the gospel uh that means
-
you need to handle the word of god with confidence do not argue about meaningless words because it
-
does not help anyone and when you are arguing you don't have to argue because somehow some way when
-
people oppose you in the teaching leave it to the spirit and you don't get agitated in your
-
arguments and all those things are the academic skills part that paul is talking about in the
-
training process and then the minister do the work of the evangelist give yourself to the public
-
reading of the scriptures a be instant in season um rebuke all all of those things are the
-
ministerial skills that that that paul is talking to timothy and so these are we call the same
-
encyclopedia
-
yes
-
i i would say apostolic leaders need to choose the apostolic teams and therefore there are some
-
people from within the churches that the apostolic leader would invite in in consensus with the local
-
church elders to be brought them to team as an apprentice and then the apostolic leader takes the
-
responsibility of helping him through his life work but generally life work needs to be done
-
within the communities there's a set of good what is life work is a set of good works that
-
god has prepared in advance for a person to be doing in his lifetime which could be parenting
-
which could be fathering it could be husbanding it could be um it could be certain gifts abilities
-
and skills that god has given that person in it could be entrepreneurial it could be certain gifts
-
of playing instruments all of this is a set of good works that christ is prepared in advance for
-
a person to do and then we help them explore it so when it comes to life work
-
we help people explore conceptualize
-
and realize
-
but they are regards to gifts abilities in a lot of people actually can play guitar
-
but they are not guitarists
-
so they explore we need to really help people realize their their set of good works the crisis prepared in advance for them to do
-
and the church as a whole is god's good work to the world
-
he's a master craftsman doing his masterpiece which is the church which has individuals and families
-
with individual life work and family life works together and god the way he puts families together
-
because he's the one who puts families together because of our hardness we mess up families but
-
he's the one who puts families together because there's a greater purpose in harnessing what god
-
has already invested into your life and the family and an individual is part of a family of god which
-
is the community of disciples and god has a unique way by which he shapes a community too because of
-
the individual and the family life works that's how the community is formed that's not the full
-
picture that's why we need to join along with the communities but what a great picture would be if
-
all of Vancouver is actually moving in the same direction with regards to what Christ wants for
-
the church and that would be the picture that Christ wants for a city the church of Vancouver
-
my body that reflects christ watching work no force of hell can ever stand against that
-
i'm talking utopic but i'm not saying it's not possible
-
this is possible when you take a long haul 30 year period you can impact a city and a nation
-
so
-
what should we do one one more i'm i'm skipping down to i i think these are the three things that
-
we need to continue to uh linger around through a few more visits or jacob can further it down
-
number one god has given jacob and a team a map which includes greater vancouver
-
the greater vancouver network of churches becomes the apostolic base
-
or an anti-okine base in which jacob and the team are residing
-
and this church partners together with jacob and his team in planting establishing and multiplying
-
churches worldwide in that we need to make sure that the base has clear understanding of of
-
enabling its leadership and the leadership are twofold one is of the apostolic nature
-
who will be joining along with jacob in the apostolic visits across the globe and
-
and that's a local eldership team that is
-
this is the apostolic team
-
this is the local church
-
elders and deacons
-
this is more this outward
-
this is global focus
-
this global focus
-
local participation
-
this is local focus
-
but global participation
-
outward this is outward and mobile
-
this is more
-
outward mobile with primary focus on extending reach
-
this is more stable and local
-
with the focus on shepherding and equity
-
you're getting the two basic leadership
-
and there's another group of people over a period of time of maturing
-
would raise up what is called as the senior eldership
-
who are matured guys who rise up within the network of churches who solve the issues that
-
beyond the local church there are certain times the local elder is not able to solve the issue
-
that the senior eldership of a particular city will come into play with regards to counseling
-
and advising and things like that and also they resolve the tensions between the local church
-
eldership team and the apostolic team because the apostolic team will always want to pull things out
-
and the local church elders will always pull the team to the local focus and how it's important
-
to shepherd and how it's important to establish these people there's much need here and senior
-
eldership over a period of time will resolve issues like the Jerusalem council where it was
-
a local Jerusalem church and the teaching with Paul being wanting to extend it to Gentiles that
-
they James the elder was sitting down and helping Paul along with the local church elders in Jerusalem
-
to solve major issues of theology and this is the picture of the New Testament leadership
-
while while this is completely wiped off this has become today's 21st century this has become
-
Parachurch nothing to do with church but they are focused on on catalyzing movements of causes
-
because the church is not doing it therefore we have to do it and so it's a it's a it's a
-
it's a network of causes and this has become denomination lies institutionalized
-
christianity and that's how we have lost the plot
-
we've got to go back to the New Testament understanding of leadership and how they function
-
and really reconstruct apostolic teams and local church elders
-
and one final thing with i'm just jumping and going down to the sixth point which is
-
a
-
multil Gas Holy exposal
-
Is there any question?
-
T
-
C
-
You look into the New Testament, you have four important blocks for funding spontaneous
-
expansion.
-
What is funding spontaneous expansion?
-
Spontaneous expansion is the spirit is actually wanting to take the apostolic teams to continue
-
to plant and establish and multiply churches in a greater field that God has handed over
-
the apostolic team.
-
That means the moment you actually leave Greater Vancouver into another place, there are finances
-
that are needed for causes in other places.
-
How does the Antioch Church continue to collaborate and partner with the apostolic teams?
-
And that's the entire picture of the letter to the Philippines.
-
If you really see the letter to the Philippines, it is about, in the essence of it, it is about
-
funding spontaneous expansion that Paul has been doing.
-
Now the Philippian Church has forgotten for a period of time to fund Paul.
-
Now Paul is saying, don't worry guys, I have learned to be content whether you give or
-
not, I still continue.
-
But please do understand that this is a call of the partnering churches to fund spontaneous
-
expansion and to help the apostolic teams continue to progress the gospel.
-
And therefore Paul says he who has begun a good work in you, chapter 1 verse 6, this
-
is about the partnership to the progression of the gospel.
-
He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it.
-
We have been using that verse in all different contexts, it's perfectly fine.
-
But from now on you need to understand that when he has begun a good work, it's about
-
this good work of the progression of the gospel and the planning of the churches.
-
Persecution is actually disturbing it.
-
Paul's chains are not hindering the progress of the gospel.
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Persecution to the Philippian Church is not hindering the progress of the gospel.
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But what is hindering the progress of the gospel is the lack of one-mindedness inside
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the church.
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And then he is actually breaking open what is happening within the church.
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Two members of the apostolic team that Paul has left behind in Philippi who has eodia
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and syntyche, they have a problem with one another and this is slowly spilling over and
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the one-mindedness within the church is getting spoiled.
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And therefore Paul is rallying the entire church of Philippi to come back to this mind
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which is to consider the other better, to take care of the interests of others better.
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And he gives four important examples of Jesus who actually took care of us, that is why
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he left from heaven and came down to earth.
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Number two, Paul himself who squeezes his life to the end, that there's nothing more
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to squeeze as a drink offering.
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And number three, Timothy who has a genuine concern for others, follow his example.
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An epiphrotist who you guys sent to help with gifts, he almost died in order to serve me.
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And these are the examples that you've got to follow.
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Don't let the false judizers, those mutilators of flesh, those words that Paul uses are these
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dogs, the mutilators of flesh, they are coming and actually spoiling things.
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If I have to boast, I have to boast about many things of the Jewish world but I don't
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consider them important because they are garbage and rubbish because I have set my mind to
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press on towards this upward call which is the progression of the gospel, the planning
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and the multiplication of churches.
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You guys, I have learned to be content.
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I am not the one who is going to be worried whether you guys are going to continue to
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partner or not but God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory.
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Thank you for the renewed partnership.
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Thank you for reminding, renewed.
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You have already sent some gifts again and thank you guys.
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Continue this partnership because he who's begun a good work in us is faithful to complete.
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So that's the letter of Philippians that Paul writes to the Philippian network of churches.
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And so funding of Spontaneous Expansion actually includes four major pillars.
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The first one is that churches collect regular offerings and the churches need to bracket
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off their expenses in order to set aside funding for mission.
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I think the church can continue on to keep expenses going on because there's no limit.
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If you say, for example, the church needs a Mac computer and two years down the line
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we need another Mac because an upgrade came.
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The church needs to see whether, because we can keep buying gadgets, we can keep expansion
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of the church and keep producing and spending.
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The churches actually have money.
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To be honest and true, churches have money but the church money does not go into this.
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I'm actually struggling and fighting because there is a building that New Life Assemblies
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of God already have invested into building.
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That means it's taking off a major chunk of the church money into building and I'm trying
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to work out finances to say even if you have to maintain this building after, you don't
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use it, you don't do anything with it but you've got to continue to pay for the building.
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You've got to continue to pay for the air conditioning.
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You've got to continue to pay for the maintenance.
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Something wrong with buildings when you have such a large congregation gathering together
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with around 70,000 people on a celebration day.
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Yeah, you may need a building but we fought hard to say can we reduce the number of the
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size of the building.
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They were planning to build a 50,000-seater auditorium, fought through for five years
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to bring it down to 20,000-seater auditorium.
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This means it really brings down half of the budget.
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Churches actually spend a lot of things on a lot of things, a lot of money on a lot of
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things.
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That may not be really truly formation of authentic communities of Christ.
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I'm not against buildings, I'm not against investments of churches but churches need
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to really understand that the main reason for which the church exists is not itself.
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Churches exist for the mission.
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So the churches need to set aside money for apostolic themes to progress the gospel.
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Number two, there are individual benefactors and family benefactors.
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These are high net worth individuals, high net worth families.
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They have old money because some of them have actually inheritances that have come.
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They have inherited businesses, they have inherited properties, they have inherited
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because this is not like this new generation struggle to make it.
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No, they are a third to fourth generation down the line, rich people who need to really
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set aside amounts into investment.
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So these are benefactors who are truly not people who give money and control money.
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These people need to be fully sold out to the way of Christ as a apostle, fully sold
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out to the understanding that hey, this is what Christ is doing in this earth right from
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the beginning.
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He's setting apart authentic communities for himself and we need to collaborate with him
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to set apart more communities for himself.
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And for that, God has actually set up a group of leaders who have been gifted by Christ
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himself to progress and therefore we want to be benefactors to the progression of the
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gospel.
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And this is not the church as a whole but there are high net worth individuals who are
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called benefactors.
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Therefore, Paul is saying about these kinds of people who are Phoebe, who is a deaconess
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in the church in Sanctria who is a benefactor to me and to many.
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Lydia, she opened a home, but she's a merchant, she's a businesswoman and she opens a home,
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invites Paul, there's a house date that's happening in Philippi with Lydia, but she
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is also a benefactor to Paul and the Pauline team.
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So there are benefactors that are found in the New Testament that continue to supply
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for the progression of the gospel.
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Number three, special collections.
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This is a regular.
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There are special collections depending on special needs that the apostolic team would
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come up with, hey in Hanoi we need to do this and therefore the house church is gathered
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together on special collections that are set apart like how Paul would do because of the
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famine in Jerusalem.
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That he went to the entire network of judges that he was in the Gentile world and saying
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listen guys, the Jewish people were the people who blessed us spiritually.
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If we could actually get their spiritual blessings we need to supply for them materially.
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It's very interesting the way Paul positions this collection and he says we have received,
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we have not received any support, in fact they have been opposing us, but if you truly
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understand Jesus came through them and they are a spiritual base and a spiritual blessing
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for us it's important that we support the churches in Jerusalem.
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So there will be causes and there will be many needs that we raise up in the larger
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field that the apostolic leaders may come and request the local church elders to be
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doing special collections for.
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Four, enterprising apostolic team.
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The apostolic team itself is enterprising so that they are not a burden to the churches.
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That's one of the things that Paul had to model.
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He said I'm not going to be a burden to your churches but thank God for Achille Prisla.
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Achille Prisla are my co-workers who are fully on fire with all the qualities of being a
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co-worker in the apostolic team but they also run a leather tannery business.
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And so they are able to shut shop in Corinth and move on to Ephesus or shut shop in Ephesus
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with Paul and go to Rome because now in Rome Paul is arrested in a house, he's under house
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arrest but they would be somewhere around him doing business, selling those things
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and so when Paul is not busy with other things he is not sleeping in his room but he is actually
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engaged in the business too so that you guys don't have to support us because we have
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modeled out enterprising apostolic teams.
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These are things that needs to be fully seen, not yet seen in the kingdom as yet but these
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are things that are found in the New Testament and we got to develop these four things that
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we find in the New Testament for the progression of the possible landing and multiplication
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of churches.
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And the ability, I know this is pushing a little further in the 21st century context
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but would finances and lands be placed at the apostles feet because that was the significance
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of the things that they did.
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They believed in what the mission of Christ was that they would actually come to the apostles
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feet to sell lands and finances, put it there and say use it for the sake of the gospel.
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That's the level at which I hope in the days to come that that kind of authentic spirit
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moves will begin to happen.
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It's not about funding a person, it's about funding this most important heart of God issue
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which is the planting, establishing, multiplication of authentic Christ communities that replenish
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the entire world so that we would reflect Christ to the watching world, that that watching
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world would be attracted to and we'd be part of being this community so that they can be
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part of God's big family.
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We'll further these things as we continue on but I believe that God is doing something
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in this church which is six house churches with an apostolic theme which is a wonderful
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model that can be harnessed because it's smaller in size.
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You come to New Life Assembly of God, I struggle with all kinds of issues and all kinds of
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things because you are in a huge mass that you want to dis, it's a titanic that cannot
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shift its course.
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Even if you want to shift its course, it's not as easy, it's just moving an inch to the
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left.
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Here is a greater possibility, you have both the features of leadership intact and in place.
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We know that Jacob is sensitive to the Spirit and ready for what God wants to do in and
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through him and his team but we need to ready these six house churches in full-fledged,
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thriving, authentic communities so that we have a proper base and so that's what we need
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and building these six homes that will be naturally breathing and moving and multiplying
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and replenishing.
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The rest of the things, August and September, one of those days, somewhere we will work
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it out.
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I want to ask guys whether they were impacted by what you said over the last three days.
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Let's see if we really liked it.
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Jeevan, you want to say something?