The Power of Authority

Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning

into our podcast.

Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will

change your life.

And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Well it's such a privilege to be here.

Church plants, am I right?

Yes, you're in the honeymoon phase.

But just lean into it.

Guys, did you know this is my hood?

This is where I grew up.

I grew up two streets that way.

I'm a Grange Primary School alum.

I used to ride my bike.

My brother and I smoked our first cigarette out the back, actually out the back here.

And anyway, the tech said to take notes.

So what a time.

Well I'll tell you what, yes.

So my name's Katie and I bring lots of love and kisses from Journey United Church which

is where I hail from.

And about six weeks ago I finished up as their associate pastor and having spent sort of

15 years on team there.

So we're still attending.

All good.

We still love no moral failure.

It felt like I owed it to the church.

I felt like I owed it to the church to leave well just to prove that it could be done.

So I just felt, you know, like I'm no less committed to ministry or to harvesting the

gifts and karats than God's entrusted me with.

But just felt that I just couldn't shake that there was something afoot.

So yeah, with the help of a lot of good friends, Tex and Cara included, I just spent some time

discerning and decided that it was time to move out of, I suppose, a vocational partial

ministry.

Which means I can say whatever I want now and there's no paperwork.

So no paperwork for me.

Lol jokes.

Guys, chill.

So yes, I'm a third generation preacher.

My grandfather was an Anglican archdeacon.

My daddy was an apologist and evangelist and pastor.

And then there's me who has a journalism degree.

So go figure.

So yes, it is always a great joy to bring the word of God.

It's my favorite thing to do in the world.

Now I have started operating as a consultant.

Everyone says that.

What do you do?

I'm a consultant.

What do you want it to mean?

I don't.

Like, it means whatever it means.

But a lot of my work is in social research.

So I spend time doing a lot of trend analysis, looking at demographics, looking at anything

from consumer trends through to location trends, through to cultural trends, through to generational

trends and how society is growing and changing so that we can best position ourselves for

success and for growth and for vitality and all those good things.

So that's a lot of what I do.

And now I do a lot of coaching as well, one-on-one and also with businesses and churches around

this joint.

So that's what I'm doing.

So I'm going to bring a little bit of that in today if that's okay.

So yes.

Now, how many of you have come into this church plant from a different church tradition?

Would you mind just giving me a little wave?

One, two, baku ma shu, three, four, close the door.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

So quite a few.

This is, that worked quite well.

You all did it in like, dun dun.

I mean, see, God's at work.

That's interesting.

How many of you came from the mothership at Prospect?

Hands up.

Yeah, all right, calm down.

So Mike and Jen, Mike and I grew up together.

We went to school together.

He's one of my best mates and he and my husband are best mates and that's all I have to say

about that.

But it's probably helpful for context.

So that's part of the reason why we love you guys so much and we're so excited for what

you've chosen to do.

So for those of you who are traveling a distance to be here and serve and carry culture and

to invest and do the hard yards, just really, really thankful.

And what that means for your pastoral team for Tim and Ash and Tex and Co. can't be understated.

So for whatever it's worth as a fellow, well, formerly known as Pastor, can I just say thank

you and please keep going.

Okay, you are going to get mad.

You're going to get real frustrated.

You're going to get sick of it.

You're going to feel like what you're doing is getting you nowhere.

You're going to feel like sometimes things aren't changing until they do.

And so can I just encourage you to just stick with it?

Yes?

Imagine if Jesus got halfway to the cross and he's like, oh, this is such a drag.

I don't want to carry this anymore.

Oh, I could be making tables with this.

What am I doing?

You know, imagine.

So stick with it.

Can I get an amen?

Okay, you guys are the greatest.

Now, Tim asked me to preach on spiritual authority.

All right.

Well, if we are going to spend some time in the Word of God, can I just encourage you

to just arrest your attention right now?

Can I encourage you to arrest your tradition, even possibly your expectation aside from

God, would you speak to me today?

He'll use your word to speak to me.

What can I learn today?

If we can have that learning posture, then that's going to change everything.

Amen.

So why don't we just take a minute?

And I just want you to be quiet, to be still, to close your eyes and just to invite God

to speak to you through His word today.

Can I leave you to do that?

You don't need me for this part.

I don't need any ra ra prayer.

You do the ra ra prayer.

Well, God, we humble ourselves before you.

We acknowledge that you are God and we are not.

We acknowledge that you are the King of kings.

You are the Lord of lords.

You are the maker of the heavens and the earth and yet you choose to be to us.

You are greater than a brother.

So Holy Spirit, presence of God, would you soften us, illuminate, vitalise and bring

your word to life to us that we might become shaped and formed for yet more effective ministry

in Jesus' name.

Can we say amen?

Amen.

All right.

So I'm going to read you a bit of the Bible.

If you like to follow along in the pews, it's from Matthew 8.

I'm going to read from the NIV because, you know, it's the vanilla Bible and we're there

for it.

I think it's also on the screen.

I'm terrible at PowerPoint.

So whoever I was supposed to send that to and didn't, you're welcome.

Anyway, very good.

So basically what we've got here is Jesus is in public ministry, okay?

And He's going around the place doing really cool things.

He's just healed a leper.

He's done the sermon on the mount.

Things are escalating in all the good and amazing ways.

And then suddenly we have a Roman centurion who rolls up to Jesus and says, Jesus, will

you come and heal my slave?

He's real sick.

He's dying.

Only you can heal him.

Now this is extraordinary on a number of levels.

Number one, because this guy was a centurion, we can automatically deduce that he was Roman

and not Jewish.

The Romans were the occupying force in Israel at that time, which meant that the Jews had

been systematically oppressed, displaced.

They were taxed by the Romans and it was kind of a shucks in the jets, bloods in the crypts,

kind of a vibe.

It wasn't super fun if you were a Jew.

But did you know, I just found facts.

I looked this stuff up for you guys.

Centurions are mentioned seven times in the Bible and they are men of high rank in the

army.

They are a land battalion.

And they are only ever mentioned as honorable men.

Isn't that interesting?

Like, because there were so many Roman soldiers who were corrupt.

They were an occupying oppressive force.

And yet the centurions described in the Bible each time are described as honorable men.

So you know, fun facts.

So anyway, this guy, we can deduce as an honorable man and he comes to advocate to Jesus himself

for the life of a slave.

What does that tell you about the character of this man and the way that he treated those

in his household?

It tells you a lot.

So that's the context we have.

So let's have a read.

We've got a Roman, a Gentile, a non-Jew, and a Centurion.

And his slave is dying and he's come to Jesus.

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, which is where Jesus lived by the way, a Centurion came

to him asking for help.

Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.

Jesus said to him, oh, shall I come and heal him?

It's like, oh, of course, I'll be right over.

What is this?

And then the guy, listen to this, says, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my

roof.

Now, this is on a twofold.

This is a double threat here.

First of all, he's humbling himself before Jesus.

And secondly, he's saving face because in that culture, it was unheard of for Jews and

Gentiles to mix.

The Jew would never go to the home of a Gentile.

And so he's kind of offering Jesus an easy out.

You know, it's like, oh, no, no, no, you have to worry about that.

I don't want the parents to be talking about you down at the market when they're buying

their flatbreads.

You know, just let's just get this done in a different way.

But Jesus, who doesn't care about this?

So that wasn't in God's law.

It was a cultural norm that was just accepted and Jesus didn't care.

It's like, yeah, I'll come right over.

So Jesus says, shall I come and heal him?

The Centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say

the word and my servant will be healed.

For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me.

I tell this one, go and he goes.

And I tell that one, come and he comes.

I say to my servant, do this and he does it.

In other words, the Centurion had not over complicated the way things work in the kingdom

of God.

And that for you, some of you is going to be all you need to hear today.

Let's not over complicated.

There is a chain of command.

There is a chain of authority that is designed to produce a specific result.

And he just got this.

He's like, I myself am a man under authority.

I do what I'm told people that I'm responsible for do what I told.

So you just have to say the word and it's going to happen.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed.

He was amazed.

So immediately my thinking is, why is he amazed?

Why is this statement?

Why is this attitude?

Why is this interaction the thing that Jesus is like?

Whoa.

So think about that for a minute.

Be curious about that.

Why is he amazed?

He said to those following him, truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in

Israel, brackets, any Jew with such great faith.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their place

at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside into darkness where they will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

Then Jesus said to the centurion, go, let it be done just as you believed it would.

And his servant was healed at that moment.

What a wild story.

Amen.

In our church we say this is the word of the Lord and then you say thanks be to God.

Yes.

Amazing.

So Jesus is like going, I am flabbergasted at the faith and the simple faith which is

inspired such hope and confidence in a man who hasn't engaged with me in any spiritual

way but understands who I am spiritually regardless.

He's obviously heard about what Jesus has done.

Jesus' fame is growing rapidly.

His followership is growing massively.

And this guy has bowed up to Jesus and had the audacity to say, would you heal my slave?

It's not even my wife or my dad or my whatever, my king, my boss.

He's like, will you heal my slave?

And he says, no, no, no, don't come.

It'll just happen if you just say the word because you're a man under authority.

I'm a man under authority.

And Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, Matthew 28.

All authority in heaven and not partial authority, not like seasonal authority, you know, during

the summer months Jesus is out and about but in the winter months, we shot up shot, all

authority.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And somehow this centurion got it when the Jews themselves were still like, oh, Jesus,

I don't know.

We thought you would look different, be different, sound different, make us feel the way we

wanted to feel.

We like church this way.

I don't think you should prioritize that.

Like the Jews, God love them.

We're a whiny little bunch.

It took a lot.

Did you have to wander around the desert in a circle for 40 years before God's like, I'm

just trying to give you your own country to occupy.

And they're just like, yeah, but yeah, but it's like my children on the first week of

school holidays.

That's what it must be like leading the Jews to the desert for 40 years.

I feel so bad for them, like as if it wouldn't have been us.

You know what I mean?

Like, but you know, that was then this is now so we can throw shade if we want to.

What an incredible story.

So let's talk about spiritual authority, understanding spiritual authority.

And I want to catch it in two ways for you.

I want to catch it from a personal sort of formation and discipleship sort of perspective.

And I also want to talk about it from a neurobiological perspective, if you will stay with me.

So some people are like, okay, take notes.

So what are we talking about spiritual authority?

As a pastor, well, as a former pastor, there was a lot of things that were recurrent.

You would see patterns, you would see the same thing happen repeatedly among people.

So people are people, no matter where you go.

One of my biggest, I suppose, revelations over 15 years of pastoring was that everything

would change in the church.

Everything would change in your life if we were to have a full, uncomplicated, fully

realized revelation of Jesus.

Is God who he says he is?

Is it true?

Is it not?

Because if it's true, if I can put my weight, if I can put my trust, if I can put my hope,

if I can hem myself in with what Jesus says about who he is, then what will happen next?

And I find that most people fall down where there is some sort of blockage in that process.

And it is a process.

It's not a binary state with forever plumbing the depths of that revelation, amen.

Yes, a thousand days in your court would not be enough.

You know, it's that kind of a vibe.

So I want us to think about how a Roman centurion who's never met Jesus before but has just

heard about who he is, has enough confidence to ask for Jesus to save the life of one of

his slaves.

I want us to think about that.

And I want us to think really carefully about why that impacted Jesus so profoundly.

And I want us to think about who we are and where we are in that story because we've got

something to learn there, amen.

All right, so let's talk about authority and responsibility.

In the church, I don't know if you've noticed this, but sometimes, all the time, people

have very strong opinions.

Amen.

People have preferences.

Amen.

People have, how do I say this, a very entitled kind of attitude that they can bring sometimes.

Am I right?

Not obviously here.

They're full back of prospect.

Right?

We have this thing when I was started as our creative pastor and I used to say to our

team, is this a problem or a preference to very different things but very clarifying

things?

Hang on, is this me getting my bum in my hand because my preference isn't being accommodated

or is this an actual problem that we've got the opportunity to solve?

Okay?

Challenge yourself with that.

Interrogate your own premise.

It'll help you.

It'll help the church plan.

Is it a problem or is it a preference?

We want to think about authority and responsibility.

Has anyone ever heard that saying, responsibility without authority is merely slavery but authority

without responsibility is tyranny?

And I can't, if I had a dollar for the amount of times that there would be people in the

church who want all the authority while taking none of the responsibility, let me give you

an example.

I think the church should provide this for families.

Would you like to help with that?

Are you kidding?

Is it important?

We should be doing more for married couples.

I'm causing feedback.

Sorry, that's me.

You.

Right?

Anyone with me?

Authority without responsibility.

You should do this with your life.

I really am going to need your help with that because I'm an addict.

That feels like a you problem.

Authority without responsibility at best makes you annoying.

That worst makes you a tyrant, which is why we haven't been given authority.

Amen?

Responsibility is a beautiful thing.

Responsibility literally means your ability to respond.

It's a capacity kind of concept.

Your ability to respond, your responsibility.

If we have responsibility, if we're taking responsibility because we're diligent and we

want to make a difference and we want to do good and to be good and to do all of those

things and we're trying to do that in Jesus' name, but we're not doing it out of the authority

that Jesus has, but we're doing it out of our own strength because we're so desperate

to do the right thing and to be the right person and to get it all done and it's a church

plan.

I've got to do all that's going to do is lead to burnout.

Not because you are misguided or perhaps it is misguided.

I would say it's incomplete because in the kingdom of God, Jesus has the authority and

he gives us the responsibility to operate within his authority in order to see his kingdom

come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So when Jesus is talking to his disciples, he says, all authority in heaven on earth

has been given to me, so go and make disciples.

Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And so because I have this authority, I am now delegating you, I am giving you responsibility

to operate under my authority for this specific purpose.

Amen?

How good?

So let's be very, very clear that we need to understand the role of authority and the

role of responsibility and how they work together, not necessarily just in a human sense because

we can talk about chains of command and reasonable leadership infrastructure and all that sort

of thing.

So I want to talk about what it looks like when Jesus, who is the head of the church,

who is the name above all names, who is the prince of peace, who is the one who is able

to open the scroll, the one who tore the curtain into the one who defeated sin and death, his

authority which was given to him by God, all authority in heaven on earth has been given

to me, which means God bestowed it upon him for a reason because he wants you to make

disciples.

And because he knows you can't do that in your own strength, he says, I'm going to give

you my authority so that you can take responsibility so that we can create an alchemy of sorts

that's going to fundamentally change the fabric of history.

Because Jesus himself, in that scripture, he references hell.

We don't talk about hell in the West because honestly, it bums me out.

I mean, we don't like to talk about it, but the reality is, is that Jesus says here, he

says, many will come from the east and the west and will take their place at the feast

in the kingdom of heaven, but the subjects of the kingdom, he's saying, but not everyone

who thinks they're going to get a place is going to get a place will be thrown outside

into darkness where they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

He's talking about the fact that this Roman centurion who is not a Jew, who doesn't know

the Torah back to front, is going to have a seat next to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because

of his faith in Jesus in a way that people who have assumed that because they've grown

up in a certain culture or tradition or expression of faith that that somehow qualifies them

to sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He says they will be finding themselves outside in the darkness in hell, which is literally

just think about a life without anything of the goodness of God anywhere to be found.

What a bleak prospect.

But that's the reality that we're talking about.

So we want to understand how we can tread this earth under the authority of Christ,

empowered by the authority of Christ, but taking responsibility to serve, right?

Let me read you a couple of quick fire scriptures.

I always like to do this because it kind of gets me up and about for what I'm actually

talking about.

Matthew 28, 18, All Authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me.

Matthew 11, 27, Jesus says, All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

John 3, 35, The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

John 13, 3, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that

he had come from God and was going back to God, what did he do?

He knelt down and he washed the apostles feet.

The one with all authority in heaven and on earth knew he was about to go back to God

to complete his assignment and go back to God.

So what did he do?

He didn't just say, now you go and do the things that I'm going to do.

He gave them an example to follow and he knelt down and he washed their feet.

Jesus says, I only do the things I see my Father doing.

I only say the words I hear my Father saying.

And so he was showing his disciples the posture with which he wanted them to take responsibility

under his authority.

He was with me because that creates alchemy.

Do you know what alchemy is?

Great word.

Science, is that like the nerdy version of saying Jesus as the answer in Sunday school?

Science because science, technically it is the ability of two or more elements to come

together to create an entirely new thing.

It's often referred to in the making and creation of gold, right?

So we want alchemy, the process of alchemy.

If we can figure that out, then we can create gold.

Yes?

If we have authority and responsibility understood and outworked in the way of Jesus, then we

will have an alchemy that becomes acts to level irresistible.

God added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Why?

Because the church was acting like the church.

Are you with me?

Right, so good.

Ephesians 1, 20 to 21, God raised him, Jesus, from the dead and seated him at his right

hand in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above

every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come, establishing

yet again the authority of Jesus Christ.

John 17, 2, Jesus is praying, Father the hour has come ahead of his crucifixion.

Glorify your son so that the son may glorify you.

Again, setting the example.

Once you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom you

have given him, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

So therefore go and make disciples.

Are you catching this today, church?

Incredible.

A couple of things.

Again, the centurion didn't over complicate it.

He wasn't trying to be Jesus.

He wasn't trying to earn Jesus.

He wasn't doing anything other than recognizing Jesus.

Recognizing Jesus, going, I have this need.

I want to take responsibility for this need but I don't have the authority or the capacity

to make the change.

So what do I do?

I've got to the one who can.

So the centurion taking responsibility was acknowledging the limit of his capacity and

bringing his plea before God, Philippians 4, therefore pray and petition God.

Don't be anxious for anything but in everything through prayer and petition present your request

to God.

That's exactly what the centurion did.

Well, I'm not the paralysis guy, I'm the let's dig a trench and conquer the goals kind

of a guy.

I didn't know that the goals were French.

Explains a lot really.

So this is a really important thing.

So I want you to understand that.

So from a discipleship or a formation perspective, I want you to start to ask yourself questions

about where you are in that story.

Have I understood the complete fullness of Jesus' authority?

And have I allowed my confidence and my hope and my posture to respond appropriately to

all that God is, to all that God is revealed in Jesus because that my friends is what has

got changed the earth for multiple millennia since the church became the church in Jesus'

name.

Are you with me?

Okay, so take that, marinate on that, chat about that in your connect groups, life groups,

gather groups, what do you call them here?

Hindley Hanks.

Tell me you're a Christian without telling me you're a Christian.

What are you doing tonight?

Oh, I've got Hindley Hanks.

I love it.

Now, I want to talk to you about something that God has placed inside of you, that it's

in your literal DNA, that is within your neurobiological capacity to help this process be more effective

and efficient.

Do you wish to know what it is?

So what I love about God is that He doesn't let us off the hook by going, oh, it happens

like this, it works like this, but He puts within us the mysteries of heaven.

He puts within us so much intricacy, order, complexity, ingenuity.

There it is, that we can't actually wrap our heads around it, but that's a gift to us,

right?

If me being able to hold the same posture as that centurion to go, me taking responsibility

means bringing this need to Jesus, Jesus exercising His authority on my behalf through

me so someone's life can be impacted, yes?

Then I need to understand what it looks like and how I can best position myself, to position

my thinking, to position my emotions, to position my soul, the very essence of who I am, to accurately

perceive and understand and ultimately know Jesus.

Not the idea I have about who I want Jesus to be, who I think Jesus should be to me.

Have you ever heard someone say, well, I couldn't believe in a God who?

I'm not sure he asked your opinion about what he should be because that would make you God

and he would just be not.

Do you know what I mean?

We have to think about it like that.

What are we coming to God saying, well, you should be like this.

If you're God, you should be like this.

God's like, and from which making of the creatives of the heavens and the earth and the raising

of the dead and the healing of the sick and the knowing of the mysteries of the universe,

from what authority are you wishing to hold that position?

You have self-pointed yourself smarter than me.

Honestly, we are so audacious sometimes and God is like, well, God, you should do this.

Jesus, why haven't you?

Not that they're not natural human experiences.

I've been there myself, but ultimately my job, the Bible says this, the work of those

who are redeemed is to believe in the one that God has sent.

In order to do that, I have to know the one that God has sent and to help me unto that

end, God has gifted us with a neurobiology with a capacity for awe and wonder.

Now, I've been studying like you, awe and wonder.

Ha-ha, I have not been studying that, Katie.

I'm shocked.

Let me tell you about it because it's going to blow your literal mind.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

Guys, it's really hot here.

You were nearly falling asleep.

I saw it.

Someone opened a door.

It's happening.

All right, let me pull this research out for you.

I made text read this the other day.

Bless you, texts.

Okay.

Now, you think that God created us.

Isn't that incredible?

It's incredible.

But we have a neurobiology.

In other words, we have a biological system which is driven by our brain.

The way our brain operates affects how our biological self operates.

Essentially, it's the physiology and the psychology coming together in one fun little package that

we call neurobiology.

Taking notes.

No one's taking notes.

I'm trying not to be offended.

It's fine.

Text, that was a joke.

You don't have to take notes.

I appreciate it.

Text plus, you're a great guy.

Isn't he though?

Now, listen.

Let's take spirituality out of there for a minute and let's just look at raw data.

Let's look at raw, heathen, bog standard, garden variety, CSIRO level data.

Okay?

In God we trust all others must bring data.

Yes?

Because otherwise we're trapped into this realm of our own opinions and we get these

feedback loops.

We become our own algorithm and then we create a monster.

Yes?

So, there are a literal smorgasbord of psychological benefits when we actively engage and build

our capacity for awe and wonder.

Who has ever, who's the person who's like, oh, music's not really my thing.

I'm not really, I'm more of a cerebral kind of a thinker.

Is that you?

I mean, God bless you.

Anyone?

I'm a real creative artsy feeling deeply like solving the problems of the, wow.

Well, that's great.

That makes this law easier.

So, how many people are moved when they find themselves in nature?

Somebody just call out to me something that you've seen, a place that you visited that

has just flawed you.

Yes?

The what's right?

Where's that?

Is it on the Air Peninsula?

Yeah, love it.

So beautiful, right?

The Outback, that really narrows it down.

But the Gula Rangers, someone else?

Mount, what?

Where's that at?

Japan.

Japan.

You.

Someone else, what else you got?

At the beach?

Henley Beach.

Am I right?

Come on, someone else.

Adelaide Hills.

Oh, crisp winter day, crisp autumn day.

What else has absolutely moved you?

Talk to me.

When you've beholden something.

Birds, birds freak me out.

Do you want me to quickly side by her too, an amazing story?

How much time do we have?

When are we supposed to finish?

Tim's shaking his head and you're saying go.

Tim's got the day off.

All right.

Just real quick.

I don't like birds.

Not because I don't appreciate birds.

I just find them stressful and unpredictable and just in my face.

Stop it.

Not interested.

Anyway, there came a point where I was like, there are crows that live near my house and

they sit on top of our trampoline thing and I'm like, hello crows.

And I don't know about you, but I've watched enough Game of Thrones to be like, I'm not

about this life.

So anyway, I decided to myself, well, what if instead of going, oh my gosh, it's the devil

come to visit in crow form.

What if I conduct an experiment whereby I befriended these two crows who might have named

Andre and Magda.

Andre and Magda.

You can write that down.

Anyway, so what I do is that I have been feeding them at this, just a little treat.

It's not a full thing, I want them to still be able to hunt and do all the things that

they do, but just a little something, something.

And I've given it to them on the top lead of our red bin because I learned that crows

can see colour and they can recognise faces.

And I was like, well, I need these guys to be on my side because they're big enough to

really cause some damage if they decided they wanted to revolt.

So I've just been doing this, right?

And so every day when I see them, I can hear them because they're so heavy, they thud onto

the gutter or they come outside my window in my study where I work.

And I'm like, oh, hello, Magda, hello, Andre.

And then I will go out the back and I hold it up like this so they can see what it is.

And I say, this is for you.

It's so great to see you, blah, blah, blah.

Then I put it on the red bin and then I go inside and I wait for them to come and they

hop on the fence and they look at me like this and they eat it and then they fly off.

Now, I've been doing this for months, months, my friends.

Why?

Who would know?

But this is the things that I do.

I quit my job.

I had time to kill.

So anyway, today we're going to Uluru tomorrow and my husband bought these long range walkie

talkies so that we could go off with the kids and if they wanted to go off somewhere, then

it was like, hey, how's it going?

Oh, cool.

And so Sammy, my youngest, you just saw him, decided he was going to run over to the oval

and I stayed in bed and we were walkie talking the whole way.

And at one point Sammy's like, mum, I'm getting swooped by magpies.

Who's been swooped by a magpie?

It's horrifying.

It's actually the worst.

I'm like, you want to get a PR campaign?

We'll sort that out, mate, because there's no way of spinning that attitude.

And Sammy's like, I'm getting swooped by magpies, but it kept cutting out.

And then a couple of minutes later, he comes back on.

He's like, mum, you won't believe what happened.

These two crows came and started attacking the magpies so that the magpie left me alone.

Andre and Magda.

Tell me that's not the best story you've heard in the last 10 years.

Tell me, it's honestly now one of my proudest achievements and I once fit 33 pieces of hubba

bubba in my face at the one time.

Andre and Magda rescued my eight year old son from the scourge of magpies because I

made friends with them.

So take that game of thrones.

Isn't that incredible?

Okay.

Now guys, focus.

Or and wonder.

People who actively and intentionally build a capacity to engage in awe and wonder and

not necessarily just in the big, magnificent sunset.

It could be that you're singing together as a group.

It could be that you're listening to an aria, you're at a Coldplay concert listening to

fix you for the first time.

You know, something you're holding a new born baby, you're looking at the intricacy of something,

you're learning something and you're like, wow, this is incredible.

But you actually don't just go, oh yeah, that's great.

Next.

But you're actually sitting in it because your brain is designed for you to sit in that

space.

Why?

Because people who engage in awe and wonder or activities that produce wonder have lower

rates of depression, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's.

They are far more likely to volunteer because when they participate regularly in activities

that produce awe and wonder, their brain perceives time more slowly.

Tell me is that not counter cultural?

That when you allow yourself to experience wonder, your brain perceives time differently.

You don't get more time because you can't.

Time just is or it's not.

But they felt as though time slowed down, which meant that they were like, well, I've

got time to volunteer.

They wanted to volunteer because they felt this connection with something.

Now this is going to knock your socks off beyond themselves.

And in our society where rampant individualism has made us smaller and snarkier, there is

a neurobiological setup within each and every one of us that is an antidote for that.

But we don't get it.

So I'm going to help you get it because if we can build our capacity for awe and wonder,

then suddenly when we come to things like sitting under the word of God, coming to worship,

reading God's word in our own time, beholding God's creation, suddenly we are going to have

this experience where we can more fully comprehend the fullness of all that God is revealed in

Christ Jesus.

It's unbelievable.

So Socrates, the philosopher 400 BC, maybe you've heard of him, he said, the beginning

of all wisdom starts in wonder.

The beginning of all wisdom starts in wonder because wonder brings you to the edge of what

you don't know.

You don't have the answer to that.

You can't.

This is so far beyond you.

And so it postures you for learning.

It postures you in humility.

It postures you in curiosity.

People who regularly practiced awe and wonder were more comfortable asking questions about

things they didn't have the answer to or sitting in the tension, but in an unresolved space.

Instead of cancelling or going to the far left or the far right, they were able to sit

with it, hold the space for it and be curious about it purely because they had tapped into

what God has gifted each and every one of us in our DNA, which is this capacity for awe

and wonder, which will ultimately slow our minds down, help us to feel more connected

to the world around us, help us to realize that there is so much vastness beyond us that

is good for us and that is good for stop, that we then want to engage with it.

And it postures us for learning and creativity, which then leads to contribution and generative

ways of walking the earth, which is exactly what the church must be because we have to

provide the positive alternative to what culture is offering.

And we have it all here and it is a revelation of Jesus and his authority, which he sends

with us as we take responsibility for the great command and the great commission so

that every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue

will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.

The Father of Philippians 2, come on now.

So we need to develop a culture and a permission and fight fiercely for a culture in ourselves,

in our families, in our workplaces, in our connect groups, handling hangs, whatever you

want to call them, where you are actively holding space for awe and wonder.

It is not woo-woo, it is a foundational principle that will help you to perceive Jesus.

And when we see Jesus, everything changes.

Amen.

Come on, let's stand and we pray.

Henley, encounter Henley.

Beautiful church.

God is waiting.

Waiting for us to see him, perceive him and respond.

And he wants to reach out to us and to minister to our ability to respond to all that he

is.

So we're going to sing for a little minute and I just want to let that marinate for you

because it's a lot.

So can I just ask you, would you just close your eyes for a little minute?

And if you're not used to being led in this way or expressing yourself in this way, that's

totally fine.

But I would just love to encourage you to posture yourself in humility and openness.

So Holy Spirit, would you help us to see Jesus, the one to whom all authority in heaven

and on earth has been given, who knelt down and washed the disciples feet?

God I pray that there will be a supernatural, almost like a supercharging of everyone in

this room's capacity to see Jesus and respond in the hope and confidence that comes from

knowing who he is, why he is and what he wants for us.

So God will you come and do a work in us?

If there's anything that needs to be reconfigured or perhaps aligned in a new way, if there's

anything that we need to let go of or ask forgiveness for or set down at the foot of

the cross, I pray God that you will by your Holy Spirit show each and every one of us

what that might be so that we can take responsibility for the things that you have made possible

in your authority.

To calm Holy Spirit and have your way, Jesus name.