Prevailing church : Overcomers (July 1)

We've been talking about the prevailing church and that God wants to build a prevailing church

on earth.

And we've been talking about that for the last, I think, four months.

And so today we talk about how if God wants to build a prevailing church, God wants to

build a people who have the capacity to overcome.

That overcoming is an essential part of being a prevailing church.

To go back just one or two steps, why do we say God wants to build a prevailing church?

Because it says in Matthew 16 that I will build my church and the gates of hell shall

not prevail against this church.

And then we talked about how prevailing means that there needs to be contention.

There needs to be engagement.

There needs to be contention.

There needs to be overcoming.

A church that does not engage with the world and with the enemy does not need to contend.

And a church that does not contend will never overcome.

The very nature of the church is that of engaging, of contending, and of overcoming.

And today we just begin talking about what it means to overcome.

So if we are building, the thing is, guys, we're not trying to build something that is

not biblical.

This is God's desire.

God desires to build a prevailing church.

It is his desire.

It is not yours.

It's not mine.

We're not trying to build an empire.

We're not trying to build something strong.

We're just building his desire.

And his desire must prosper amongst us.

And his desire is, can I build a church that engages, contends, and overcomes?

And what does he mean when he says church?

He means us.

So here's the whole thing rephrased.

Can I build you up?

Asks Jesus, the head of the church.

Can I build you up to become a people that engage, that contend, and that overcome?

He's not asking that I build a few leaders.

He's asking that I build an entire people.

You, me, us.

It's his desire.

And so what should be my response, your response?

We should be jostling, jockeying for position literally.

Jostling, shoving each other out of the way in a nice kind manner like Canadians do.

Jostling to present ourselves as living stones to him.

As in me, me, me, me, me, me, me.

This is the one place where you get so selfish that you try to push yourself to the front

of the line saying, I'm a living stone.

Put me in place.

Make me part of this prevailing church you're building because at the end of the day, you're

a living stone and you are just desperate to be built into this thing called the prevailing

church.

Any questions on that?

There should be an eagerness, guys.

This is not something that happens to a passive people.

It's his heart's pleasure.

This is what he wants.

We cannot be passive about this.

And it's an active 24-7, every day of the week attitude that, oh God, will you build

us into a people that are continuously asking to be engaged in the lives of others in the

world against opposition.

The easiest thing to do is come to church on Sunday and pretend that it is church.

But it's not.

I mean, we know that.

So ask for it.

It must be an active asking.

It must be a hungering.

It must be a hunger that is beyond your hunger for your family, your children, your wife,

your work.

It actually doesn't compare.

Your silence just means that you fully agree, right?

Good.

So no, I'm realizing that your silence speaks volumes and I'm very happy when I know you

agree, even if you don't say anything.

A prevailing church takes on the nature of its head, the Christ.

That's the beauty of it.

Who is the church to look like?

Who should it take after?

It should take after the head.

What is the nature of Christ, the head of the church?

He was someone who contended.

Oh boy, did he contend.

Did he contend?

Of course he did.

He contended with everything that needed to be contended.

He did not back down, nor did he jump into a fight that was not his.

He contended.

And if you don't contend, you never learn endurance.

How can you learn endurance without contending?

Hey, by the way, never get into arm wrestling with Renny.

Just a quick word of advice.

Derek did and he lost bad.

I had much more wisdom.

So you cannot endure until you contend.

It's when you contend that endurance kicks in.

Anything that is forged by God upon his anvil.

Prashanth, you've just been promoted to fourth associate pastor.

Yeah.

Thanks, man.

Where did these come from?

Pardon?

I doubt it.

I'm making the second associate pastor then.

So guys, if you don't contend, you cannot endure.

If you don't engage, you cannot contend.

If you don't contend, there is no need to endure.

My God, we are forged on the anvil of contention against things that may come our way, but

that is where we learn to endure.

And the scriptures are full of this progression.

I'm not asking God to send us trouble, but I'm asking God to invite us into places where

we have to contend, where backbone has to be shown.

When you endure, then you overcome.

It's when you endure that you overcome.

There is no overcoming without enduring.

If Christ didn't contend with the Pharisees and legalism that was prevalent in Israel,

he would never have had to endure the cross.

And if he did not endure the cross, he would not have to overcome sin, death and Satan.

He could have gone back to heaven and been Lord, but he would never be savior.

He would be Christ the Son.

Just think of this for a moment.

He would be the sovereign head of the universe, Christ the Son of the living God, equal with

God, but he would not be Lord and he would not be savior.

For because he made himself obedient unto death, therefore God has exalted him and given

him a name that is above every name, and he is savior too.

So prevailing church just takes on the nature of its head.

We're not being asked too much.

We are being asked to be like the head.

Otherwise, a headless body is useless.

It usually runs around for a while and then falls dead.

I mean, my dad used to slaughter, instead of going to the market and buying it, he would

sometimes slaughter chicken.

You should see a headless chicken.

It is the funniest, saddest sight in the world because it's running around like a normal

chicken and you're laughing your head off, not realizing that its head is off and it's

running around and it's an odd thing, man.

It is a grotesque, funny, sad thing.

And so Jesus contends, Jesus endures, Jesus overcomes.

He overcomes sin, he overcomes Satan, he overcomes death by living, dying and rising again.

And that is the nature of the church he wants to build.

And if that is not where we are going, we might as well pack up and go home.

There are really nice churches around that do much better music, much better worship.

I don't know about the teaching, but those two things surely do well.

Sorry, they do much better teaching too, I'm just kidding.

The point is this, guys.

Overcomer implies, the moment you use the word overcomer, it implies battle.

It implies engaging in the battle.

It implies contending, it implies enduring, it implies overcoming.

This is what, I pray God, happens to Acts 29.

I'm not wishing it, I'm praying it.

I'm praying it that, oh God, make us a prevailing church by bringing us into this.

Not from the devil, but from the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the Holy Spirit was led into

the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, led by the Holy Spirit.

I pray this for us.

And I pray God that when it happens, one thing that will not happen is strife, contention

between us.

We must raise disciples that are overcomers, because it's that kind of disciple that fulfills

the mission that Christ has for us.

And what is Christ's mission for us?

What's the mission of the church?

Just remind me guys, because we reminded ourselves that most churches forget their mission once

every three weeks.

So what's the mission of the church?

I mean, you don't have to fall for the three week thing, you know.

What's the mission of the church?

Oh, come on.

Okay.

Make disciples.

Make disciples of all nations.

We have been set aside by Christ to assist him in setting others aside.

Guys, we've got to learn this so well that there should be no hesitation.

The mission of the church is very simple.

I have been set aside by Christ to assist him in setting others aside.

Do not forget this.

There is no other mission.

Everything else is gravy.

This is the centerpiece.

I have been, we have been set aside by Jesus Christ.

We have been set apart by Jesus Christ to assist him in setting others apart.

And how do we do this?

We do this through making disciples of all nations.

How do we go about making disciples of all nations?

By proclaiming the gospel, by demonstrating it, by going into places, penetrating places

that people haven't gone to, and by causing the gospel to progress.

Proclamation, penetration, progression.

We talked about this.

And in the process, once we make disciples, we build credible communities of Christ.

It's so worth going over it again.

What is the mission of the church?

The church keeps forgetting once every three weeks.

In our case, from now on, it will be once every five weeks.

What is the mission of the church?

The mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations.

How do we go about this?

We go about this through the proclamation of the gospel, through the penetration of the

gospel, because we don't want to take it to the same places where people have given their

lives to the Lord 14 times in the last three months.

And the progression of the gospel, where the gospel progresses, affecting lives.

In the process, we now have disciples that need to be raised in this thing called the

church.

So we call it credible communities of Christ.

Credible communities of Christ.

Not communities that just gather around and don't live the way Christ wants, but credible

communities of Christ.

This is the mission of the church.

The church forgets its mission.

It forgets.

It does not have a reason to continue.

This is why we have house churches.

This is why we have outposts.

Don't forget this, guys.

You must learn this by heart.

Even if you don't understand it, learn it by heart.

The understanding will come later.

And it'll come out of you anyways.

You know where contention and battle and engagement come in?

Here.

This is why the western church loves making disciples.

After every Indian, African, Asian, Mongolian, Czechoslovakian and North Korean has spilled

their blood, now come Jacob and his team from Acts 29 to make disciples after they have

spilled the blood.

Now we go make disciples, teach them discipleship courses.

That is the easy part.

Making disciples by doing courses in foreign nations is easy.

The hard part where the battle, the contention, the engagement and the overcoming, that happens

here.

That is the hard part.

This is where you will be opposed.

And as long as we can avoid this, we are good.

Avoid proclamation, avoid penetration, avoid the progression of the gospel and you will

be fine.

You will go to heaven unscathed.

That's a good deal.

Any questions, thoughts, comments, disagreements?

The reason we need to learn this is if we don't learn this, we won't remind ourselves.

If we don't remind ourselves, we can continue living the Christian life that we presently

live.

And we won't even realize that Cinderella's shoe is missing because she doesn't even remember

that she wore shoes.

And we continue in amnesia.

When Prince Charming arrives with the shoe, you sell it in the market because it doesn't

belong to you anymore.

You have forgotten.

Any questions?

So what are we overcoming?

If we are supposed to be overcomers, what are we overcoming?

Here are the things that we are overcoming.

What do overcomers overcome?

We overcome the seduction of the world.

Powerful stuff does it say.

Seduction of the world.

We overcome the opposition of the world, of the world or the enemy.

Both.

We overcome persecution, which only happens if you engage and contend.

We overcome the culture of the world.

These are the four things that overcomers overcome.

And we are all exposed to it.

It is a subtle inroad that these things make.

What do overcomers overcome?

They overcome the seduction of the world, the opposition of the world, which is spiritual,

the persecution of the world, which is physical.

And then finally, what you overcome is the culture of the world.

Why?

Because the world, it says in Ephesians 2,2, is presently under the sway of the prince

of the power of the air.

And so these are the things offered to you.

So what does seduction look like?

Seduction looks like variations of mammon, hubris, cronos, pathos and a fifth one.

Money, pride, time, passion.

These are the things that the world will seduce us with.

Pathos, though it means passion, is more, carries a sense of a lust after fulfilling

a feeling or a desire you have.

These are the seductions of the world.

They are offered at every level, from grade one to the CEO of the biggest companies in

the world are offered variations of this.

This is, guys, the strange thing is, this is what was offered to Jesus in the wilderness.

If you bow down to me, I will give you all this.

The seduction of the world.

Opposition is from the enemy.

And the enemy does not oppose till you engage in three things, proclamation, which is both

the profession and the demonstration of the gospel, penetration, which is to take the

gospel into places where it is not making much of an inroad and progression, where after

the gospel is proclaimed, you do something with your story that has been affected by

Christ's story.

You use your story to influence.

Now it begins to progress.

The gospel begins to progress because it is the only thing that changes people.

There is nothing else in the face of the world that can change a man than the power that

is present in the story of Jesus Christ, of which you have a part.

It's odd, eh?

My story is such an important part of Jesus's story.

It just stuns me that my story is such an important part of Jesus's story.

Because he is the author, the chapter he has written into my life now becomes the chapter

through which he displays himself.

And the more I'm yielded to him, the more I'm available to him, the more he writes into

that chapter and it begins to tell of who he is through my life.

It's marvelous what God has done, including me in his metastory.

So when you are going through tough times, who has the final word?

He.

Why?

Because like Reni was saying, he's the author and the finisher of your story.

Endure!

Because there is good that is going to come out of this.

Not to you.

The good that happens to you is a testimony that you share in church.

But the good that happens to the ones that are watching and waiting just creates ripple

effect after ripple effect where it just spreads.

Who cares about you?

I do.

But it's really not about you.

It's really not about you.

Persecution comes when spiritual opposition turns into physical resistance or physical

aggression.

That is when persecution comes.

So that's a physical element of opposition.

We have not faced it.

I'm not asking for it either.

But spiritual opposition will come the moment you begin proclaiming, penetrating and progressing

the gospel into the world.

And then that is usually followed by physical opposition, which takes the form of persecution.

And finally, there is that word culture, which is the collective thinking of a people.

Culture is the collective thinking of a people.

And if there is one thing that Satan and the world fight for, it is can I influence the

collective thinking of the church at large?

Can I influence the collective thinking of all the kids in Finn's class?

Can I influence the collective thinking of young adults in churches?

Because there is a certain way each group behaves.

Can I influence that?

And the way it influences that is through edutainment.

And the only opposition to this culture comes in places like this, through the teachings

of Christ.

Why did Paul write the letters?

If you look at the letters really to the churches, usually the last two chapters of every letter

is dedicated to the changing of thinking.

That you live in the midst of Rome where Caesar is worshipped.

You live in the midst of Rome where pagan deities exist.

You live in the midst of Corinth where you cannot trade if you do not belong to a guild

that declares Caesar as Lord.

Now then, since you live in this pagan atmosphere, let me tell you what it is to be a counterculture

in the world.

And then Paul begins to say, this is how you need to behave.

At the end of the day, be Jesus's beatitudes or Paul's epistles, they point towards one

thing.

There is a way that people of the kingdom live.

And there is a culture that belongs to the people who declare Christ as king.

Will you now behave like that or not?

And that is what we are taught in places like this.

This is what Sunday church is about.

Sunday we come and chisel away so that our sculptures don't look like the sculptures

of the world, but they have a certain way.

That is what happens on Sundays.

That is the only thing that we are meeting together for.

Everything else we can do without a building like this, without a pastor, but with leaders.

Yes.

It's not the only thing.

It's one of the main things.

These are the four things we are supposed to overcome.

Any questions guys?

Thoughts, questions?

I mean I sometimes listen to bits of my teaching later on in the week.

I think to myself, man you shout so much.

But guys please understand, I am not shouting because of any other reason, but because these

things need to be shouted out man.

They are so powerful, so potent.

How can you say this in a whisper?

You know, there is a culture that we need to cultivate called the kingdom culture.

It doesn't carry the same thing man.

Questions?

Pride?

The pride of life?

They are the fifth one.

I keep forgetting the fifth one.

Mammon is variations of security and money.

Hubris is pride where the pride of life takes over.

Chronos is time where if mammon doesn't get you, time will try to rob you.

Blind because you have just figured out that oh I am not very interested in money and I

walk humbly, but I am going to dedicate all my time to this particular pursuit or this

particular business and you just lose the one critical thing that God has given you

to use well.

Time.

Or you get so passionate about things that are valid, legit, but replace Christ.

If I get passionate about Acts 29, I will replace Christ.

If I get passionate about worship, I will replace Christ.

If I get passionate about prosperity, I will replace Christ.

If I get passionate about healing, I will replace Christ.

And whatever replaces Christ, in that area you will find depletion.

So if you put prosperity at the center and put Christ alongside it or to the side, you

will find that you will begin to have a lack.

If you put the church at the center, you will find that your church will begin to dismantle

because whatever is placed at the center will cause depletion in that very area.

Strange how this works.

Put security at the center and Christ to the side or Christ as your security giver.

Here's the other thing churches do.

We decide that Christ is security giver, Christ is healer, Christ is this, Christ is that.

And the moment you do that, in that area you begin to see lack because Christ is someone

of unsurpassing worth and he stands alone.

And you lay yourself down saying you can be whatever you want to be to me right now and

today and tomorrow.

You be what you want me to be.

I don't demand you to be something to me.

You know it is because the church in the book of Revelation fell for these things that Jesus

to the church of Philadelphia, he was very, his letter was very, I mean it was full of

commendation.

But to the other six churches, the reason he had to write is because they succumb to

one or the other of these.

And so he had to write to them.

Personal letters, personal letters.

Hey church in Pergamum, I know you have love and faith and perseverance, but you have begun

to tolerate that woman Jezebel and you have begun to tolerate idolatry.

And so he would write to all of them because they succumb to one of these.

You think we won't.

You think we aren't.

You know there's a lady called Yvonne, most of you haven't met her.

She, long ago when she had come to this church, she had this dream and God has added to this

dream ever since.

And she talked about how there was this beautiful bride who's on a float in a parade and she's

not a float, one of those, yeah, I think the truck that takes you down the parade route

like it does today.

And she's decked in beautiful white.

And at some point while people are cheering and saying this is beautiful, someone offers

her stuff to eat that she knows she shouldn't eat, but she decides it's a parade, things

are going well, she'll just take a bite of what is offered to her.

So she takes a bite and it's tasty, she takes another bite.

And now while the parade route is snaking itself through the city, her stomach begins

to feel upset.

So she gets off this truck that's taking her down the parade and she runs into the fairgrounds

because she needs to go to the toilet.

She goes to the toilet, but when she comes out, her white gown is spattered with all

kinds of refuse and stuff.

And now she is back on the truck and people don't know whether to cheer for her or cheer

at her because here is this beautiful bride, but her dress is spoiled with all kinds of

yuck.

And at some point, people decide that there are still spots left on her.

So they take mud balls and they begin to throw it at her.

Initially she ducks, but then she begins to enjoy the game and allows people to throw

stuff at her and it begins to stick.

And there is this beautiful bride whose dress is now completely ruined from pure white to

just yuck.

Yvonne saw this ages ago, 13 or 14 years ago, and since then God has added to this vision.

And it's a vision of the church sometimes.

And yet in Zechariah 3, God turns that around on its head and he says, listen, Zechariah,

you see Joshua the priest there, let's look at him.

And so when you open to Zechariah 3, you see God doing something and this is what we must

aim to as Jesus, could you do this with Acts 29, where we've contaminated ourselves first

with food we should not eat.

Then we've allowed ourselves to go into a toilet where we were just completely besmirched

with stuff that is yuck.

And then somehow we think it's a funny thing.

Actually we were ashamed of what we looked like.

And now we allow others to put more stuff on us because it's become a game.

And then in Zechariah chapter 3, God says, listen to what I'm going to do.

Zechariah 3 · chapter mention

Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and

Satan standing at his right side and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.

The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you Satan, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke

you.

Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?

Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.

The angel said to those who were standing before him, take off his filthy clothes.

And he said to Joshua, see I've taken away your sin.

I'll put rich garments on you.

Then I said, put a clean turban on my head.

So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood

by.

And then the angel of the Lord says, if you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements,

then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts.

And I will give you a place among those standing here.

This is what we will pray for tonight, this evening before we go that, Oh God, would you

give us a clean turban and clean clothes?

The first three weeks I will pray that God give us purity and holiness.

Last week we prayed that God, we're not looking to be filled with faith.

We are looking to be fearless people.

Today we'll pray that, Oh God, could you now give us a passion for your bride?

Be zealous for the purity of the church, guys.

Be zealous for the purity of the church.

How can we build a church that prevails if we don't have a zeal for the purity of the

church?

Be zealous for the purity of the church.

It'll be shown in many different ways, many different ways, which I won't go into right

now, but be zealous for the purity of the church.

Jesus was when he cleansed the temple.

What do you think grasped him when he takes a whip and he goes chasing moneylenders out

of the temple?

He's saying, this is my father's house.

There is a way this house must be.

Be zealous for the purity of the church.

And by purity of the church, what do I mean?

Our corporate purity.

Our desire to have a bride decked in white, spotless and clean and doing everything in

our power so that we can then stand and be a prevailing church.

Because I keep taking us back to Psalm 24.

Who shall ascend his holy hill?

Who shall stand and say, lift up your ancient gates, lift up your doors.

But he whose hands are clean, who he whose heart is pure and he who has not slandered,

he shall stand.

And then the king of glory says, aha, I'll come.

It's always that way.

We made this grace message so accommodating that it doesn't matter how you live, God will

turn up.

But you see again and again and again, Isaiah says, whoa, I'm a man of unclean lips.

God has to come and change that.

Joshua stands there with clothes that are dirty.

God has to come and change that.

He is the one who points it out.

But if we are willing, he's the one who then takes the coal to cleansers.

And then if we are willing, he will give us a clean turban and new clothes.

Why?

Because it's his heart's desire.

The strange thing about repentance is he initiates it.

He helps you with it.

And he's looking forward to finishing it.

All he wants from you in repentance is, will you admit to me what I already know?

Will you tell me what I already know?

And sometimes he doesn't let you get through that either.

Like the prodigal son's father wouldn't let him even finish his confession.

I am here to tell you that I have done wrong.

You can treat me as a servant.

Shush!

I saw your repentance a mile away.

Be zealous for the purity of the church.

Jesus was when he cleansed the temple in John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

And the Holy Spirit was zealous.

See, it's odd when God gets zealous, better watch out, eh?

One of the disadvantages of being in this church is that I have a strange feeling that

God, if he really gets zealous about this church, it won't be good for us to continue

the way we are.

I'll have to change in whatever area he requires me to change.

Because when Jesus got zealous about the temple, what did he do?

Took a whip and cleansed it.

When the Holy Spirit got zealous about the church, what did he do?

Decided that Ananias and Sapphira were in the way.

And who can give you the zeal?

Only one, God.

This zeal cannot be fabricated, it cannot be stirred, it can't be rarad, I can't make

it happen.

The only one who can initiate it, fire it up, pour oil into it, make it a burning inferno,

is God.

But there is one thing I need to do.

Oh God, I want it.

Someone asked me recently, I'll come there later.

Guys I am zealous for the bride of Christ.

Because love for the bridegroom must be seen in your passion for the bride.

Love for the bridegroom must be seen in passion, in your passion for the bride.

If you say that you are in love with the bridegroom, then show me your passion for the bride and

I will agree.

But if you say you're passionate about, that you love the bridegroom and I don't see your

passion for the bride expressed, then I have a right to call you a hypocrite.

As you do me.

Four distortions that you must resist at Acts 29 or in any church that you are at,

four distortions that you must resist is one, following Christ without flowing in the body,

following Christ without flowing with the body.

This is a distortion.

You cannot love the bridegroom and not have a passion for the bride.

You cannot.

Two, flowing with the body without pursuing Christ, flowing with the body without pursuing

Christ.

That's another thing that can happen where the body or the denomination or the doctrine

or the movement becomes so important that it is all consuming.

It is all consuming.

And Christ and his will no longer matter because the movement, the revival, the new thing that

God is doing is all consuming.

Three, following the leader at the expense of Christ and the body, following the leader

of Christ and the body.

Where because the leader is charismatic or because the leader is intimidating or has

an imposing presence or because the leader is brilliant, you begin to now follow the

and you are benefiting, you are getting better, but it is at the expense of Christ and the

body.

And the last one.

Where let's assume someone thinks I'm brilliant.

We won't debate whether they are right or wrong because we are short of time.

But let's assume someone thought I was brilliant.

And now they want to spend time with me, learn from me.

They want everything that I've got.

They want me to prophesy on them, help their grace come out and all that and all that is

fine.

They don't really learn of the rest of the body.

They don't seek anybody else out.

Everyone else becomes secondary.

And I begin to speak for Christ into that person's life.

And the person now only has me as reference point, not Christ as reference point.

This happens easily when the leader is charismatic or has a certain gifting.

It's very easy to go down this road guys.

And is a ruin of many leaders in many churches.

Because all it takes if Aaron was doing that is for me to do something that hurts him so

badly that it will dismantle his life.

Because he put everything into this relationship.

And I hurt him once and he will turn his back on Christ.

Because he never had Christ to begin with as a solid foundation.

He had me.

And fat good that will do to him.

And the last one is following Christ in the body and the leader.

This applies to Acts 29.

Following Christ and the body and the leader.

This seems such a cool thing to do.

You got all things right but not willing to lose your life.

Acts 29 is a church that is willing to follow Christ.

Willing to flow with the body.

Willing to listen to the leader and leaders.

But Acts 29 is nowhere near willing to lose their life.

As in deny life itself.

And how do you deny life?

By refusing self preservation.

By refusing self exaltation.

That's how you deny yourself.

Self preservation is something that's so deep rooted in our culture.

And in us as people at Acts 29.

That if this doesn't go, we ain't going anywhere near a prevailing church.

So if you fall into one of these categories.

Then admit to God what he already knows.

I definitely fall into this category.

Questions, comments, thoughts?

I'm zealous for your ways.

You don't know how much zeal I have for you.

You don't know.

I want to say this.

I want to quote Paul from 2 Corinthians 6.

If you don't know how zealous I am for you.

It is not because my love for you is small.

But because your heart is not open to me.

Let me say that again.

I am zealous for you.

It is easy to be zealous for a small number of people.

It is within my capacity to be zealous for you.

I am zealous for you.

Zealous not that you give more to the church.

Zealous not that you stay in this church.

But I'm zealous for you in terms of you becoming everything God needs you to become.

And if you don't think I'm zealous towards you.

It is not because of a lack of love on my part.

A lack of zeal on my part.

It is simply because your heart is too small to receive what I have to give.

2 Corinthians 6 talks about it.

And I quote Paul.

Because I'm zealous for you.

I'm zealous for myself and I'm zealous for this thing called the bride of Christ.

And one must, if he or she loves the bride group, one must have a passion for the bride.

I'm going to ask Ralph to come up and share something he wrote about what a church would look like.

What a church would look like.

Hey, he speaks softer than me so turn up the volume a little.

Hi.

Hi.

Something I wrote a few weeks ago.

Oh by the way, sorry, before he starts, I'm not done.

I'll continue after this.

That's in part, in case you've heard this or haven't heard it.

This is something I wrote about three weeks ago at half past one in the morning.

I couldn't sleep and I sensed the Holy Spirit wanting to speak to me.

And for years people have been telling me to write a church that you can see leaders and people I know.

And I ignored them.

Because I didn't feel ready.

But I knew I needed to write something that evening so I wrote it and I shared it with Jacob.

So this is what I wrote.

I said, in these moments, it is in these moments that great choices are made to defy the status quo, the safe path,

the well-trodden road where expectations are placed upon you.

To choose an alternative line that only makes sense in your heart, a logic-defying moment of clarity.

This is the path to be chosen, to push away from the safety of the shore and venture out into the turbulences of the deep.

Where you have no safety other than the assurance that you'll be okay because you are with him.

It is this path that I am compelled to choose.

In my heart resonates a cry for more, for something more.

I see a church filled with happy people, where the gospel is preached and lived,

where the law of love is followed, where less is more, where the common priesthood is celebrated,

where women have a voice and are released into their destiny,

where the gospel of inclusion filters into an inclusive church,

where anyone and everyone can find the glorious redemptive hope of Christ,

where generosity is celebrated over percentages,

where we gather to glorify and celebrate him, not to get our weakly spiritual fix,

where going out to make disciples trumps the allure of meetings, where we gather to go,

where devotion is championed over discipline,

where diligence and faithfulness are desired more than excellence,

where children are part of the life of the church,

where fathers raise sons, demonstrating this by laying their lives down for their sons,

where we hold on to people loosely and celebrate their going out to fulfill their call,

where people are more important than programs and buildings,

where prayer is heartfelt communion with God, contemplative and active,

and embraces the practice of listening,

where rest is valued and resting in him is seen as something to be desired,

where the church actively seeks to build bridges inroads into society,

where the aim is to equip believers to be disciple makers who go out,

where we stand with those on the outskirts of society,

where prayer prevails because we seek to see things through,

where honor is practiced mutually,

where submission one to another becomes culture,

where order is respected,

where suffering is not seen as failing but part of learning,

where the gospel of grace is proclaimed,

where our desire to be a people of faith that goes beyond money, jobs and healing

but reflects the faith we read in Hebrews 11,

where we desire truth but guard against becoming exclusive

because we have cornered all truth, a closed-hand, open-hand approach,

where we are always celebrating the beautiful dance of the Trinity

and continue to invite others into the same dance.

For us, this is a moment to decide if we are willing to build this church

that Jesus desires for us to build.

This is Happy Church, a place of intoxicating joy,

where happiness and joy are synonymous because of our uniqueness in Him.

Each week is a joyful celebration of Him,

expressed through His gifts and the creative gifts He has given to the church,

where households are the lifeblood of church,

where open lives are cultivated,

where people will see and discover what it means to have good homes,

good lives and good works, the bedrock of discipleship.

Go listen to it, guys.

I've now heard it three times and it's marvelous.

Go listen to it.

We'll just talk about how do we overcome and then we'll end

because I've got how overcoming,

overcomers will be rewarded, we won't be able to do that today.

You'll have to wait for two weeks.

How do we overcome? How do we overcome?

We'll talk about that now.

How do we overcome?

Because we are led by...

Hey, remember that song, Take Me to Your Leader, Son?

No.

You guys.

Do you know a group called DC Talk?

Do you know a group called Audio Adrenaline?

OK, Charlene, you must have been born before.

We'll leave it at that.

OK, so we'll talk about that.

We'll leave it at that.

You know, most of you guys were born at a time when music was declining.

You're already on probation, so I don't know what to do with you, Mark.

OK, how do we overcome?

Because Christ is the Overcomer,

He left us some very, very useful ways of overcoming,

which I would suggest we just take and run with

because there's no need to interpret it.

One of the ways Christ said you overcome

is you hear what the Spirit is saying.

Hear what the Spirit is saying.

Hear what the Spirit is saying.

Hear what the Spirit is saying.

In Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3,

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

Revelation 2, 7, 11, 17, chapter 3,

one of the things He keeps saying is

hear what the Holy Spirit is saying,

and if you hear what the Spirit is saying,

you will overcome.

Hear what the Spirit is saying.

Someone asked me yesterday,

Hey, Jacob, how come every Sunday,

and every time I've met you,

and I've known you for five or six years now,

every time I meet you, and every Sunday,

or every time you're talking to somebody,

how come you can do it as passionately as you do it?

Because I've never seen you not doing it with a passion.

And my only response was,

because when I do what I'm doing,

when I do what I'm doing,

I do it after hearing what the Spirit of God says,

and if I have heard what the Spirit of God says,

it is life and spirit.

So what else can you do but do it passionately?

What else can you do?

And therefore it is required that I hear,

and you hear, and we hear the Spirit

very clearly for everything,

and the Spirit of God will change the background,

the backdrop, the scenery, the environment

every three or four months,

or less sometimes.

The only predictable thing about Jesus

was his unpredictability,

because he did not know

what the Spirit of God would do next,

so he did not know how he would heal,

how he would travel,

when he would go, when he would not,

what he would say,

whether he should say the same thing

or whether he shouldn't.

Hear what the Spirit is saying,

because it's absurd

and it will be consequential

if you hear what the Spirit is saying

and then choose not to participate

in what the Spirit of God wants to do

in his community.

By the way, you are the community of the Spirit.

You are not Acts 29 first.

You are not whatever denomination

we belong to every other week.

You are not a church that is pastored by Jacob.

You are not the people that you are with.

First and foremost, you are the community of the Spirit,

which is why Tony Mark, Patsy,

Charlene and Catherine, Kathy, right,

can come from anywhere they want

and find absolute location,

inheritance in any place they go to

in the body of Christ

because we are the community of the Spirit.

We are not Acts 29 first by a mile.

And therefore, it is absurd

if you sense the Spirit of God speaking here

and inviting the church to do something.

And it is both absurd and consequential to your life

if after you hear it and know it is the Spirit of God

if you don't participate

and still continue to be a part of his community.

That's like saying, I'm part of this house

but I don't care what you say,

I just want to live here.

That's called friends with benefits.

It's not sons and daughters.

How do we overcome?

Jesus said, hear what the Spirit is saying.

Second,

be of good cheer.

Hard thing, eh?

Hard thing to do when things are not going well.

Some of us have made it a habit of being not in good cheer.

Be of good cheer in tribulation.

John 16 verse 33, Jesus says,

John 16:33

be of good cheer, Jacob,

when you're going through really difficult times

because I have overcome the world.

In this world, Jacob,

I assure you, you will have trials and tribulations.

If you didn't want it,

you should have stayed in the world.

It was a pleasanter place to stay.

But because the Prince of the Power of the air at present

holds sway over the world,

you will have trials and tribulations.

But be of good cheer, Jacob,

because I have overcome the world.

In James chapter 1,

James 1:3

verse 3 or 4,

in James chapter 1,

James 1:3

verse 3 onwards, it says,

testing forces your faith life into the open.

It makes you mature so that you lack nothing.

One of the things that should be taught in the prosperity gospel

is that testing is going to come.

And when testing comes,

you will be made mature and you will lack nothing.

Testing forces your faith life into the open.

Beautifully said in the message.

Jacob, testing forces your faith life into the open.

Be of good cheer.

That's the second part.

Third part,

it says, your faith.

Your faith helps you to be mature.

It's not just about your faith.

It's about your faith.

Your faith helps you overcome.

It says in 1 John, chapter 5, verse 4,

1 John 5:4

your faith endures and conquers

and it brings the world to its knees.

In other versions, it says,

your faith overcomes.

Your faith overcomes.

It's such a beautiful progression

if you want to be an overcomer

and if you want to be an overcoming church.

The first is,

hear what the Spirit is saying.

Even when He says,

I am taking you into the wilderness

to be tempted by the devil.

Hear what the Spirit is saying.

Now that you hear what the Spirit has said,

be of good cheer.

Even though you're going through trials and tribulations,

be of good cheer because I have overcome.

As in, Jacob, I've already engaged what you're going to engage.

I have already contended with what you're going to contend with.

I've already overcome or prevailed over it

and I assure you I have the final word in this.

So please, Jacob, be of good cheer.

Hold my hand. I will be what I need to be to you through this.

Comforter, rescuer, butt kicker,

whatever you want me to be,

I will be so that you can get through this.

I take back the kicker thingy

because it might be offensive to some.

What I meant is someone who is not your comforter

but someone who suddenly wants to really kick the backside

of opposition.

Backside kicker, that's what I really wanted to say.

Your faith overcomes.

Now that you're of good cheer, show me your faith, Jacob.

I've been teaching you so long about how to stand in faith.

Now show me your faith.

What kind of faith?

The Hebrews 11, 33-35 faith.

Hebrews 11, 33-35 faith.

Worth reading again.

Hebrews 11, 33-35.

I hope you do turn to the Scriptures when I call them out

because you really don't know these Scriptures by heart

because they never talked about.

At least I don't.

Who threw faith?

Chapter 11, 33-35.

Hebrews 11, 33-35.

Who threw faith, conquered kingdoms,

administered justice, gained what was promised,

who shut the mouths of lions,

quenched the fury of flames,

escaped the edge of the sword,

whose weakness was turned to strength,

who became powerful in battle,

and routed foreign armies.

Women received back their dead, raised to life again.

Others were tortured and refused to be released.

So that they might gain a better resurrection.

Some faced years and flogging

while still others were changed and put in prison.

They were stoned, they were sawed in two,

they were put to death by the sword.

They went about in sheepskin and goatskins,

destitute, persecuted, mistreated.

The world was not worthy of them.

They wandered in deserts and mountains

and in caves and holes in the ground.

They were all commended for their faith.

Wow.

That is the nature of a prevailing church.

Now you see how far we are from it

and how we have to work at this for a while.

And the last one, and then we'll end with that,

is the assurance of his love.

The assurance of his love.

These seem like simple ways to overcome,

but Jesus was always simple.

So that comes from Revelation 2 and 3,

that comes from John 16, 33,

and James 1, 3 to 5,

that comes from 1 John 5,

1 John 5, 4,

and Hebrews 11, 33 to 35,

and this one comes from Romans 8, 37,

where it says that

we are more than conquerors through what?

We are conquerors through the Lord.

We are conquerors through the Lord.

Through what?

We are more than conquerors through Christ,

who loves us.

The verse before that says,

who can separate us from the love of God?

We are more than conquerors through him who loves us.

So there is the assurance of his love

and his presence that makes you an overcomer.

Assurance of his love and presence

is something that makes you an overcomer.

Because in all these things,

as in all what things,

in the face of the seduction of the world,

in the face of opposition from spiritual forces,

in the face of persecution by agents of,

human agents of the enemy,

in the face of the culture of the world

that is insidiously making its way into the church,

in the face of all this,

know that you, Acts 29,

can be more than conquerors

because I love you and you cannot be separated from me.

I love you and you cannot be separated from me.

I love you and you cannot be separated from me.

This is why it's critical to practice

locating yourself in him.

Critical to practice locating yourself in him.

Locate yourself.

Practicing the presence is so often used now,

I don't even know what it means.

But I kind of understand locating him.

Ashaqs, there you are.

Now I've got you in my line of vision.

I'm within your earshot.

I got you.

Locate him.

To stay located in him

will take you through the worst times of trouble

because you know you're not star.

You know you're not star.

You know he's there.

Children live like this.

Children dare things like this.

Children take risks like this.

Children experiment with things like this

and they are safe

and they grow stronger and stronger and stronger

because the one thing they look for

is can I locate dad or mom?

And if I can see their face,

if I'm within their line of vision

and within earshot,

I am safe.

Locate him.

And the strange thing with locating him that way

is you will behave a certain way too.

Children behave.

Children use the right words.

They don't say wrong words

when their parents are within earshot.

You will behave properly.

A man is betrayed by the words he speaks.

Locate him.

Or else you will be like Jacob at Bethel

where he says God is in this place

and I did not even know it.

Why?

Because he didn't live locating God.

God had to locate him continuously.

When he was in the womb,

God had to locate him.

Saying stop fighting with Esau.

You'll come out in due time

and I'll make you bigger than your brother.

God had to locate him

and he's cheating his father.

God has to locate him in Bethel.

God has to locate him at Peniel.

If you don't locate God,

here's what happens.

You miss out.

You don't realize he's there

till you wake up in the morning.

Or you locate him.

Yes, you find him.

You find him but you find that you're limping

because he just dislocated your hip.

That's not the best way to locate him.

Or you find that you panicked in the boat

and he was there all along.

But what if that wasn't the way we did things?

I think with me and Dan,

I'm going to have Derek and all the other guys

I called up front except Dano.

Dano can take care of the kids

and Blessy can come up to pray for people.

And if you need prayer,

feel free to come up

and we'll pray for you.

Hey Ryan, can you put up oceans?