276 ~ REKINDLED ~ LIVED LOVE ~ PART 8

We welcome you to the VI Zion Sermon Podcast.

We are a church based out of Chennai, India.

We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will

be refreshed, revived and energized by what you hear.

Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of

purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus.

The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess

our promise. We start a new sermon series

called Rekindled where we look closer at our own lives and ask

the Holy Spirit to revive and restore things that have gone

dormant in the dry seasons of our souls.

We pray that this series will help you dive deeper into

yourself and see where you need more of God.

Hi, it's such a joy and a privilege for us to get into

God's Word even as we continue on with this rekindled series.

We are here to look at the second part of what we've been

seeing with regard to love. Last week, I hope you were able

to listen to the sermon podcast and I pray that as you listen to

that you would have been able to experience the limitless love

that we receive from God. This entire series of rekindle

for us. What we've been seeing over the

last few weeks is 1 where our faith is rekindled, where our

hope is rekindled. And over the next last week and

this week and the following week, we'll be looking at what

does it look like when our love is rekindled.

You know, many a times we are placed in this world to do the

life that God's called us to do, set apart living for him, called

by him, chosen and we are shedding of things that we've

taken from this world. And but many a times when we we

are showcasing and being ourselves in the world as Christ

wants us to be, we tend to get hurt and, you know, surrounded

by all that's happening, we tend to kind of shield ourselves

away. We tend to protect ourselves

away. We tend to, you know, isolate

ourselves. And this series is so that we'll

be rekindled to not just live the life that we are called to

live, but also be able to possess the promise.

The entire theme for this year is for us to go, to be

positioned to possess the promise.

And as we position ourselves, God wants us to go and conquer

all these giants that the enemy has already claimed and is kept

dead because he wants us to fight that out, fight and be

overcome us. And the Word of God is so clear

that in Christ we are more than conquerors.

So last week when he was looking through limitless love, there

were two key things that Tina, she was speaking, brought to our

conclusion. 1 is we need to keep a constant check on our routing

because if you're not rooted correctly, we cannot produce

what God's calling us to produce.

And in fact, in the area of love, if you're not rooted in

God himself through his Son Jesus, we won't be able to

produce the love that he wants. We in fact, will be producing

the love from somewhere else because our roots are completely

set in a different place. So I pray that we'll be able to

have a constant check on our routing.

The second thing, we also were asked to have a constant check

at who is seated on our table. Many a times we've, we've become

so bitter, we've become so in tune with what's happening that

we've we've allowed the enemy to have a seat at the table and

dictate some of the things that God is trying to rewrite so that

we'll be image bearers for him. And I pray that we'll be mindful

of who we allow to be seated at the table.

What we saw last week is where love is limitless.

We receive it from God. But today we're going to see

what it looks like to be lived out.

So the title that I've given for my entire sermon today is lived

love. You're not called to just

receive, but you're also called to live in the love that we've

received. I just want to turn our

attention to Colossians chapter 3 verses one to four.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And Paul goes on to say this. He says, therefore, if you have

been raised with Christ to a new life, sharing in his

resurrection from the dead, keep seeking the things that are

above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above

the heavenly things, not on things that are on the earth,

which have only temporal value. But you died to this world, and

your new real life is hidden with Christ in God.

In fact, when you're doing our youth service, one of the

passages was this and it the the speaker was talking specifically

on the likes of what it looks like for us to be hidden in

Christ, where we are conformed in Christ.

And even as I've taken this passage today, the reason is if

we have to live this love out, we need to know that we can't do

it on our own. We need the resurrection power

of Jesus. And that comes when we are aware

that we can tap into His resurrection power.

Many a times today when you and I are called to love people in

this world, love and do life, do life every day from the Monday

to the Sundays, God is asking us, would you use my

resurrection park? Because when we use this

resurrection park, we will start seeking things that are above,

not the temporary things. We're just not looking at

people, OK? Will they just benefit me for

the next few years or for the time that I'm in the city?

Whatever it is, we won't have a short term you.

We would have an eternal perspective and we see that this

doesn't happen with just us thinking about it.

This is something we constantly have to go back and say, no God,

This is what I want to rewrite and go back to him saying, Lord,

help me. Let your resurrection part help

me through this day. That's why it's important that

we daily seek God to ask Him for his help so that we'll be able

to take that step of faith so that when we live here in this

world, we are not ones who are living lives by ourselves, but

we are hidden in Christ. We are shielded by Christ, we we

have his covering. And so today, what does this

look like? What does this look like?

It looks like where I am not allowing my old life to dictate

what my present life has to be. So which means when I've

received this limitless love, I am not going to allow my old

pattern of life dictate how it has to stream through my life.

I'm going to say God, the resurrection power.

Would you start working in me? I no longer see things with a

dead filter because my dead filter is 1 where I have

bitterness, I have hurt, I have circumstantial upbringing.

I have things that have formed me which dictates how I need to

love people. But this is where I'm like God,

I need you and I invite the resurrection power into my life.

When I say God, I want to live by the resurrection power.

I am living out this lived love the Bible continuously keeps

talking about. In fact, when you look at the

parable of the talents, it looks like it is about monetary

things. But you can put that across all

the different things. What the master gave it's like

God giving us, he says if I give 5, would you put the five to

work? And so even God has called us to

partake of this limitless love. Are we going there and just

saying no God, I'll bury it because I the world will hate

it. The world doesn't know your

love. No.

Or are we willing to take the risk and saying, God, you've

given it to me. I'm willing to put it to use the

gospel framework is of the same pattern where we see the Father

who loved us so much so he gave his only begotten son.

There is an element of giving because of the love that is

being exhibited. So I pray that even as you focus

today on this lived love, we will move from realizing of just

not knowing God's love from what limitless love looks like, but

we move into living this God's love.

A lot of us are exhibiting this love of God where we try to

showcase it through our experiences, as I mentioned

earlier. But God wants to rewrite that.

God wants to rewrite that to a place where it will be activated

in and through US. You know last week what we saw

was limitless love. And one of the words that we saw

in the Greek was it's the love of agape where it calls and it's

reckoned to as a love feast where it's this huge banquet

when where each one gets to exhibit a nature of God

according to what their background is according.

And so when they go to the table, the Father's like here,

this is what all that you have and many times you're picking

and choosing. And I pray that as we partake of

his limitless love, when it coincides with the resurrection

power, it can be lived out. And so this limitless love is

what we put in. The resurrection power activates

it, and it enables us to give out this love as we live our

daily lives. And So what happens for those of

us who are in a perpetual state of denial, for those of us who

are in a perpetual state of doubt, of fear, of trying to

understand God, other hidden motives and other things, we are

going to say, God, we're going to invite you in.

You're going to invite you in. Because when we invite you in,

you raise us above to see what you want us to see.

Many a times we think the love that we showcase and give out

has to be reciprocal. But the more we move in the

knowledge and understanding of Christ, we don't.

It's not an outcome based love where we think, OK, if I do

this, they will do this for me. No, we do it because we love

Him. Whether they choose to respond

to what we're doing is a secondary thing.

But the primary thing is I do it because I love God.

I do it because this connection is more important than this.

So today, as we look into this, I pray that we will rise above

with His help. This entire thing that we're

looking through with regard to rekindle happens only when we've

understood Him, happens only when we've allowed Him, happens

only when we've given focus to Him alone.

Focus to Him alone. So even as we continue on, there

are three things that I want us to keep in mind as we're called

to live out God's love today. The first thing is this love

that has been lived out needs God's shielding.

It needs God's shielding more. Contrary to the love that we

exhibit, we all have our own shielding.

If I have to ask you, how do you protect yourselves, you'll have

different ways in explaining, you know, I don't if, if I find

this a bit more like a toxic environment, I, I shield it this

way, I can avoid this. I do this.

We all have our parameters and things in place to protect us so

that our love is guarded. But today, when we partake of

this limitless love, we also are realizing that when we are

called to showcase it through His resurrection power, it's not

my shielding, but it's God shielding that comes into play.

What is our shielding look like? Our shielding looks like an

experiential shielding. We'll make sure that the

outworking of our faith is all about ourselves.

And as I was thinking about this, I was meditating on the

book of File Men. And this is what Paul, who's

writing to Fileman. Fileman is one of his friends

who's from the Church of Colossae.

And as he's writing to him, he's talking to him and he's telling

him to participate in this love. And mind you, this love that we

are we are talking about here is all the agape love where it is

centered around God. It's one where we partake of the

Lord's feast. And what what Paul is asking

Philemon to do is a little bit more.

He's like that. There's this response that

you've done all this while, but would you allow God's love to

permeate more? Would you allow God's love to

shield you more? And let's just move to Philemon

Philemon 1:4–7

chapter 1, verses 4 to 7. And this is what it says.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers

because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your

faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership

with us and the faith may be effective in deepening your

understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of

Christ. Your love has given me great joy

and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the

hearts of Lord's people. Even as we've read this, we see

Paul is telling Philemon that your love is a blessing to the

people of God and it's an evidence of your faith in Christ

Jesus. He also goes on to say it's a

great joy and encouragement because something he talks about

that call, it's refreshes the hearts of the Lords people.

Something that we partake of when we showcase refreshes

others. It's not depleting of others.

It's not tolerating. I know how many, how many of

you? But I know many times we have

those friends. We're like, oh man, I can't do

this. I just had to put up with them

for the next couple of hours. Oh man, they've invited us for

lunch. Do we really have to go?

And you know, we struggle our way through it, but when we are

showcasing God's love, the evidence of it is seen because

others are refreshed. The evidence of this is seen

because those who are refreshed refresh others.

And I pray that we all who are in this journey, probably you

just are starting this faith journey with Jesus or some of

you are probably seasoned Christians where you've you've

given off yourself, you've gotten hurt, and you've taken a

step back. I want to invite you in here.

This love. That's God's calling us to live

it out now because you've received it from his table is 1

where we need to allow God shielding and not our shielding.

And I believe this is where Paul is encouraging him saying your

love is evident, your love is seen by people, your love is

being attested by people. Your love is that you're showing

is evidently seen and people are talking about it.

And this is what moves us towards maturity.

You know, maturity in Christ happens.

It just chooses when it all comes down to us, whether we

choose to mature today or whether we choose to mature

tomorrow or a year later. I pray that we will make this a

time where we will be able to willingly mature saying God, I'm

ready to measure today. I want to grow in this area.

I want to I for far too long I've shielded because God didn't

shield himself away. God was willing and so if you

partake of his, you will have that very nature where you'll be

like God. I commit myself to you.

So when I say that because when Jesus walked here on this earth,

He did everything the Father had instructed him, and today we are

walking in the same footsteps that Jesus is calling us to walk

in. We need to realize that we will

have to walk with his shielding. The shielding that God wants to

do with us today is that agape love where we trust Him and we

keep showing love, we also keep. This will also keep us from

doing things that will break His heart, that will move us away

from His love. In fact, as we read from

Colossians 3, if you continue on reading that it says put to

death. Therefore, whatever belongs to

earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil

desires, greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming.

You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but

now you must also rid yourself of all such things such as

anger, rage, malice, slanted filthy language from your lips.

Do not lie to each other, since you've taken off your old self

with its practices and put on new self which is being renewed

in the knowledge, in the image of the Creator.

Here is therefore no Jew or Gentile, circumcised or

uncircumcised, barbarian, citian, slave or free, but

Christ is all and in all. I pray that as we read this we

will be able to put to death this love that has to be lived

out when we are living it on our terms.

If we are trying to shield, I believe a lot of this will be

activated in US, anger, malice, jealousy, because we would have

these Shields up to protect us. But God's saying when you're

putting on my nature, when you're partaking at my feast,

when you put that in, and when my resurrection park gets

activated in you, I am the one that Shields you.

I am the one that Shields you. Why is it important for us to be

shielded by God? Because only God can make sure

that the fire in our belly, the fire in our heart doesn't die

down. The fire in our very own lives

doesn't die down. In Matthew 24 verses 9 to 14,

Matthew 24:9–14

when you read in the NLT, it says then you will be arrested,

persecuted and killed. You will be hated all over the

world because you are my followers.

And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.

And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many.

People's sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many

will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved

and the good news about the Kingdom will be priests

throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it.

And then the end will come. Sin will be rampant everywhere

and the love of many will grow cold when it says love here is

those who've tasted the love at the Father's table.

That love will grow cold because of everything that's happening,

because of the arrest, because of the persecution, because of

the killing, because of the hatred.

And I believe we're living in a time and age today where if we

are not living with God's shield, our own Shields won't be

able to handle all that's happening.

And sooner or later, the cold mist of unbelief, the cold winds

of wanting to shake our faith will come in and it'll disrupt

us. It'll shake us up.

So I pray today that we will allow God's shield to work in

and through our lives. In James chapter 4 says 7 to 8,

James 4 · chapter mention

it says in the Passion, it says, so then surrender to God.

Stand up to the devil and resist him, and he will flee in agony.

Move your heart closer and closer to God and he will come

even closer to you. But make sure you cleanse your

life, you sinners, and keep your heart pure and stop doubting and

stop doubting. It says here 3 three things

we're supposed to surrender God. Stand up to the devil, we resist

him and in turn he will flee. When we surrender to God, it

comes to a place where you're like Lord.

We're surrendering to you, to your protection, to your, to

your sovereignty. We stand up to the devil.

We say devil no more. We don't want any of this.

This was my identity way in the back, but not anymore.

And resist him because he'll keep throwing those darts.

He'll be throwing those darts saying you're not good enough.

You're not. This is not you who you are.

These are the things that you've done.

But would you when when you rise up and you resist him because

you're loving God to walk in and through you.

When we confess our sins, he is able to forgive us.

He's willing to journey with us and I pray the important thing

of why we have to be shielded is because when we shield this love

all by ourselves, we make it all about ourselves.

We think it's all about us. Oh, the wounding is about us.

Oh, this is we failed to understand that we didn't allow

God in the mix. Even as I was preparing this

week at we at our home, we had a small renovation thing

happening. It's been 7 years since we moved

in and one of the cupboards that we've installed in each of our

rooms is not the one where you open the door to the cupboards

inbuilt cupboards. It's more like sliding doors.

And one of the things that the railing that they had actually

put the track slider for the doors seems to be of version

one. Let's say 7 years back was

version 1. And there were a lot of problems

with that. Like when you move it a little

faster, the track the the door because of the weight of the

mirror that's there on it will dislodge and it'll move and

it'll get stuck and then we'll be unable to move both doors.

And in fact, So what happened is this week we had our interior

where people come, and I just wanted to show you what this

track system looked like. So this is the track which is in

the bottom one, and you can see the creases so that we had two

doors for this, one in the back, one in the front.

And you see, when this is me, when I'm trying to shield what

happens, it's all about me. It's all about me.

And so as I was preparing and as I'm watching these workers work

because I was interacting with them on and off, this reminded

me that this is what I'm trying to do with regard to my love

with the love that I'm trying to live out.

I'm making it all about myself. And so this door, which is my

life, when when struggles happen, when when, when I'm

asked to do things, when God's asking me do heavy things or

when people irritate me and like it really pisses me off.

I push it. And what happens is because of

me striving, I, I am unable to have because I'm not, I'm trying

to shield it, it, the door just moves away and gets latched on.

And suddenly I'm stuck and I'm unable to move.

I'm stuck. I, I get lodged with bitterness.

I get lodged with the discernment.

I get lodged in feeling that God doesn't care for me anymore.

And to top it all, this is the, the, the piece that goes on top.

So this is the top railing. And if you notice here we have

these two stoppers. Because of my constant

irritation with the way things are not panning out, I'm unable

to protect my heart. My mind is in a bad place and I

keep banging. This eventually starts moving

because of the constant bombarding that happens,

constant bombarding that happens.

It keeps moving. And before we know it, we I'm

spilling that out to others because the minute when the door

shuts, there's a noise because it's not stopping anymore.

It just goes and hits. And this is what we had got 7

years back as version one. But even as you're working to

this time, they came and said this is what version 2 looks

like. And if you notice it, this is

when I understood what God shield looks like.

You see, there is an indentation here where it's writing said,

and this is where the wheels go and sit.

And it's, it's, it's sitting in between, it's shielded on both

sides. So there's no way for me to move

out as long as I'm allowing God to work in and through me.

So as a partake of the love feast, as a partake of God's

love, I'm also living it out through God being my shield, not

being me, my shield. So people who hurt me anymore,

it's like I'm God, you're seeing it.

I'm not going to, I'm not going to go back in offence.

No, I'm not going to go say this Lord, you're watching it, You'll

take care and eventually everything shifts.

Everything shifts because I put to death.

I'm also saying God renew me, work in and through me, as we

read in Colossians 3 and you see right here on top, the mechanism

is such in a way that when it comes closer to being shut, it's

automatically slows down and it goes and hits.

And I feel that's why God constantly is reviving us to

sing. You can still showcase my love.

You can still showcase even when you don't feel like it because

it's all about me. I'm shielding you.

But thank you for being there for doing this, because you are

an extension of me. And so I want to remind us, what

does this shield look like? Because if you're going to

operate out of the shield of just ourselves, we will always

look at love as an investment. One of our members made a

comment to me saying I've invested myself in the church

for these many years. And I had to remind them saying,

no, that's a wrong statement. You were able to partake and be

part of something that God was doing.

When you look at it as an investment, you're obviously

looking for a return. And the understanding of church

is completely messed up because today, let's face it, a lot of

us are doing our due diligence of subscriptions and investments

so that we'll have a place to lay our dead body.

But I pray we would rise up about that.

We would rise up Navy realize that we're partaking of the

Lord's table every day. We're partaking of God's love,

that love feast every day. And we're also called to live it

out with God being our shield, with God being our shield record

and says it's beautiful. He says it.

God's love is like an ocean. You can see it's beginning, but

not it's end. You can see it's beginning and

not it's end. And I pray that as we allow God

to be our shield, we will realize we do not wait for

people's appreciation. We are not expecting people's

appreciation. We are not wanting to be

applauded for what we are called to do.

We will still keep showing up. We'll still keep doing it.

We will do all that God's called us to do because our love for

Him is far more than what God's calling me to do because our

love for him is this is far bigger.

He's saying I'll shield you, I'll shield you.

Keep doing it. People will hurt head butt will

happen all that. That's what sheep will do.

That's what will happen. But keep doing it.

Losses will be there. You will, you will, you'll find

your patience growing dry. You'll find your it'll be

depleting, but just keep doing it.

I'll shield your heart. And I pray and believe for the

next season that God's calling us.

This is what God's calling us to.

For far too long we've lived with our shield and made it all

about ourselves. And we've moved a step back.

You've said, Oh no, the church has hurt me.

Oh no, this has happened. One of the very people who

follow Christ are the one. It's because we've made it all

about ourselves. God's saying if you allow me to

be a shield, I will protect you. You will see things far bigger.

You won't see things temporarily.

You will start seeing things with an eternal perspective.

And I pray that we'll be able to do that today.

The second thing that God wants us to live this love out is that

this love that's needs to be lived out needs our hands and

feet. It needs our hands and feet.

So today you can't participate in showing this love out just by

an e-mail, just by a text. No, it needs your hands and

feet. And so today, where is God

asking you to really put your hands and feet in?

We are an extension of Jesus today here on this earth for all

those who believe in him, for all those who are operating in

his resurrection power. In fact, when we see from here

in the book of Philemon, Paul's asking Philemon to take this

extra step of allowing honestness back.

He was a slave and he obviously had taken some money.

He has run away. And then he meets Paul.

He becomes a fervent follower of Jesus, and he's aiding Paul in

this ministry journey. And he wants to send Onsimus

back so that they'll encourage. And this is what Paul says as

he's writing it out. It's a little bit of a longer

scripture, but I would love for us to read.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to

do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the

basis of love. It is as none other than Paul,

an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus, that I

appeal to you for my son Onissimus, who became my son

while I was in changed. Formally he was useless to you,

but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him who is my very heart back to you.

I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take

your place in helping me while I'm in the chains for the

gospel. But I did not want to do

anything without your consent, so that any favour you do would

not stem forced, but would be voluntary.

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little

while was that you might have him back forever, no longer as a

slave, but better than a slave as a dear brother.

He is very dear to me, but even dearer to you, both as a fellow

man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome

me. But if he has done you any wrong

or owes you anything, charge it to me.

I Paul, I'm writing this with my own hand.

I will pay it back. Not to mention that you owe me

your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may

have some benefit from you in the Lord.

Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I

write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask

today. This love that has to be lived

out constantly will be Jesus hands and feet.

It won't be Geshom's hands and feet.

If it's Geshom's hands and feet, it'll be manipulative.

If it's Geshom's hand and feet, it'll be it'll be, it'll be

it'll operate of insecurity. If it's Geshom's hands and feet,

it'll operate out of jealousy. If it's Geshom's hands and feet,

it'll operate out of what will benefit me on the long run.

But God is doing this. Will you love on people because

you are an extension of my arms and my feet?

Because with that what happens is we will allow purposes to

flourish. When we see people, we will move

them towards the God-given purpose in their life, not the

God-given person purpose of via Zion.

Because via Zion may exist today, may not exist tomorrow,

but people's lives and the purpose that God's called them

will exist and God will want them to live it out because

generations have to start following in that.

And So what we see Paul doing here is he's asking, he says, if

you would consider this, how is he asking this?

He's just not saying, would you just do this?

He's saying out of love. Would you do this out of love?

And I pray that love is 1 of agape love where he's telling

him you partake of the table. But could you also extend it

because, and this is where in Colossians, he and Paul

constantly writes about masters and slaves, because there'll be

a point of time and those who are working under you will be at

the same level as you or they'll be doing far bigger things than

you. But would you be able to still

be the hands and feet of Jesus, Hands and feet of Jesus as Paul

took the liberty today, God's taking the liberty with us.

I love how Paul says in one Corinthians, he says follow my

example as I follow the example of Christ.

And today, what is Paul doing here?

When you see Paul closing the letter of Philemon, you'll see

that he mentions a name called Mark.

In fact, Paul and Barnabas had a sharp disagreement over Mark

because he left the midway. He was unwilling to show him

grace. But because Paul is constantly

feasting at the Lord's table of this agape love, what happens?

He starts allowing that love to be lived out and eventually,

when he's actually writing Philemon, he mentions Mark in

that letter, which means he has already done this entire work.

He's saying I've already done this.

You too can do it. And so today, pray that we will

be people who will be able to move into spaces by be able to

make mend relationships. You know, there was a season in

my life two years back when I had to make certain decisions

with you got my own personal relationships that I was going

through and out of that, some of the things that happened where I

had to really, I love God to work.

You know, so many things I didn't understand.

So many things were hidden in bitterness and in anger.

And when I allowed God to move in and through that, I could see

God giving wisdom, God giving clarity, and God sustaining the

relationships. One of the things that God wants

us to do as we showcase his love out through his through our

hands and feet is the fact that he wants us to grow in this

space. It's not to be stunted, but to

grow in one. Philippians chapter 1 verses 9

Philippians 1:9–11

to 11 in the passion it says I continue to pray for a love to

grow and increase beyond measure, bringing you into the

rich revelation of spiritual insight in all things.

This will enable you to choose the most excellent way of all,

becoming pure and without offense until the unveiling of

Christ, and you will be filled completely with the fruits of

righteousness that are found in Jesus, the anointed One,

bringing great praise and glory to God.

Paul's asking the Philippine church here that this will cause

them to have more increase in knowledge and depth of insight.

I believe a lot of us lack discerning and a lot of us are

thinking, oh, I somehow will green it of others.

No, it'll only happen when we keep doing it.

We'll be able to discern. I wish there was a book where we

can just go pick off saying discerning for dummies, but

there's nothing like that because until unless you

showcase it, you won't be able to discern it.

And so this is where God wants us to grow.

There's no playbook for discerning.

I pray we'll be able to go back to our own tables of

experiencing. Now we'll start hearing God and

saying, God, what do you want me to do in this?

And this is where when we continuously allow God, he will

allow us to grow in this area. If for Paul it took 20 years

over the course of his ministry cycle to see things happen, it

will take time. And us, and I pray that we'll

allow, because the hands and feet that God is calling us to

extend is His is His. The resurrection part is in US.

And wherever we go, it's the same hands and feet.

A lot of us today are trying to protect ourselves.

We are trying to say, God, you, you can mean my heart, but don't

allow me to be in my hand. Don't be in my hands and feet

because this is where I need to be in control.

You might be like, but this is where I can be.

I'll be you. I'll be used by people.

But God's saying that's what I came here into this so that I

can be of earthly use. God wants us to be of earthly

use to people. Today here, I'm back from my 7th

or 10th grade in school. I used to play keyboard.

And so I had this keyboard and I was going to different places,

but many of times I was taken advantage of.

The older people will just invite me and then they'll be

playing for the bigger, they'll be playing for the shows.

And I decided to be sitting down on the sides as much as they

were using it. And sometimes it felt like, you

know, what am I doing there? I ended up building such strong

relationships with people around of different age groups of

different life situations, circumstances, different homes

they were coming from. And I got a wider perspective of

what each one's life was. And mind you, I didn't just stay

in a shelf to say or by myself to say, this is, oh, I don't

have community. We made community right by that.

It, it felt like being used, but community happened.

And I thank God for that because that became like a stepping

stone for eventually building relationships.

So today, even if you have to drop me in a place, I can still

be able to make friends with people and find that.

And that happens. And so it, it, it comes to a

place where you're seeing God. Here's my hands and feet.

I'll go to the place. I'll do what it takes.

I'm not going to be holding back.

Oh, yeah, if I have to pick up garbage and if I have to serve

in this place, I'll do it. This is not just a place of

significance. And so today, don't treat

anything only if I do. This is of significance.

It's interesting that today many of us are wanting to serve God

only when there's something significant attached to it.

It's sad that we don't see people just voluntarily coming

and saying, hey, I would love to clean the chairs.

I would love to put the chairs. I would love to set things up.

I would like to stay a little extra and make sure I can clean

that. A lot of us are thinking, oh,

I'm doing that in the house or in the church.

Why should I do it? Oh, I have to wall in.

If you love God, this will automatically happen.

If you love God, your hands will stretch.

If you love God, your feet will move.

If you love God, you will show up.

And so this love that I partake at the at the love feast causes

me to participate with my hands and feet.

And the problem with us where we are unable to do this is many a

times, because our hands and feet are all ours, we fail to

understand that when we say Lord, we want to be your hands

and feet, we are his hands and feet.

And I was listening to Glenn Parkham and he said this, this

hands and feet. If you're saying we have to be

the hands and feet of Jesus, we need to also have the markings

of Jesus. His hands and feet were nailed.

Which means you and I cannot make it all about ourselves or

the instrument I'm playing, or the preaching I'm doing, or the

serving I'm doing, or the caring I'm doing or the food that I'm

cooking and giving. It cannot be about myself.

Let us not use the things that we have and do to control

people. Rather, let them enjoy, let them

flourish. Let them be refreshed in God and

in God's community of people. What we offer to do out of the

love that we have for Christ is nothing about us, but it's

everything about God. It's nothing about us, but

everything about God. Opposite happens Of this love

may abound more and more as we read and the knowledge and the

depth of insight so that you may be able to discern what is best

and pure and blameless. It is marked by His blood,

always. It's marked by the cross today,

when you and I always are going back to the cross, when we

become aware that we've walked away or done something, it's

because something is at work in US.

And that extension is always a one God.

I get to do this. I'm thankful that I get to do

this. The beautiful things about the

hands and feet being the hands and feet of Jesus is you get to

experience it. You get to experience it.

You don't need an invitation. You don't need, you know, a

person identifying you and saying, oh, I found this gifting

in you. If you feel this is the place

God's called you to do, if you're in constant communion

with them, you will serve. You will serve because your love

for God is far bigger than what this is.

Many a times in this day and age, a lot of us have this

trying to go so much where you're wanting to do so much,

but this is not there. A lot of us are wanting to do

the good works, but we aren't aligned to what God is doing.

And so we make it all about ourselves and God is saying I

want to heal, I want to do things differently, else things

will look different. It's going to be 7 years since

we started church and we constantly go back to the

drawing board saying God we love you so much.

Even if you're not doing this, we would still do all that

you've called us to do. And so today when we do this, we

realize everything that happens here has nothing about us.

But it's all about Him. We aren't doing anything here to

sustain this. It's all about Him.

He's doing it as much as that. What is God calling us to do

today? Because a lot of us are stuck in

so many places because we are unwilling to move our hands and

feet. We're like, you know what?

The world uses me. And so I don't think God has to

use me. Try it out.

Try it out because this is where you'll be able to see God's

goodness over your life. A lot of us claim that we have

God's hands and feet, yet are abusing our wives, abusing our

children, are yet being are doing the wrong things with the

hands and going to the wrong places with our feet.

I pray God's love would convict us, would shape us, would move

us to a place where you'll be able to hold, embrace and love

and showcase that. I pray you'd be able to repent

and find God's comfort and healing and restoration through

this entire process. But for all of us who've been

struggling and saying God, I've made my hands and feet all about

myself with the resurrection part that's working in me.

And when me partaking of the Lord's table of that agape love

feast, I become his hands and feet, one which is marked

because every time I do it. I'm doing it because I'm

grateful that God did it for me and I get to do it back for Him.

That's all. I get to do it back for God.

That's the equation that matters, that will sustain us.

The third thing is this lived love needs us to operate with

margin. It needs us to operate with

margin. The ask for every Christian is

that we will create margin in our lives.

What is a margin for those of you who are in the business

world will realize if I buy, let's say an article for ₹100,

the wholesaler would have given it to the shopkeeper for

probably 75, the shopkeeper would have given.

Or let's say ₹80. He's kept, he got from the

wholesaler. He's kept a margin of ₹20.

And so he's selling it to us at 100, but he, the shopkeeper's

making 20 out of it. And so in this Christian walk,

God's asking us, would you start keeping margins so that you can

do a little bit more? Every year you'll be able to do

a little bit more because this love that you receive has to go

out somewhere. If you can't, it's just becoming

a store house. And before you know it, things

that are just stored, DK, things that are stored just aren't

useful anymore. It becomes a stench.

And so today, as we receive it, we need to create margin enough

so that that outlet increases. What is this margin looking

like? For some of us, we are like, you

know what we are. Some of us give our tithes, some

of us don't give our tithes. And I pray for those of you are

still struggling that space, you'll be able to trust God in

that space. But some of us are diligently

giving that tide. But God's like, could you also

create a margin so you can do a little bit more, which means

probably in a week, would you be able to take someone else out

for dinner or for lunch, spend time with them, love on them,

get to know them, no agenda, do life with them that maybe it

might require time of your schedule, time of things that

you think are important. But because God starts working,

I would say test it. Fulfillment will come when you

allow God into the margins. When you allow God into the

margins, deadlines get met. When you allow God into the

margins, doors open. When you allow God into the

margin, miracles happen. When you allow God into the

margin, you will see a family flourish.

I am a testimony of that and I pray that you will be able to

see that because what happens when you create margin, you

allow for God's mission to go through your life.

You allow for God's mission to come through your life.

You allow for God's mission to be manifested through the things

that you do in and through your life.

A lot of us are guarding, a lot of us guard our family time God

so much that there's no room, anything but God saying I'm not

called you to preserve here in this world.

I'm called you to live it out in this world.

Live it out, which means you create room, create room, create

that margin in one Thessalon chapter 3 verses 11 to 13.

This is what it says in the message.

May God our Father himself and Master Jesus clear the road to

you, and may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives

and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from

us to you. May you be infused with strength

and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of

God our Father. When our Master Jesus arrives

with all his followers, Jesus clears the road.

He poses love on us. He fills our life in turn, when

he's filling, it splashes onto others.

That margin is important. That margin is important.

We learn from the life of Paul of how to create margin.

What does that look like for Paul?

He constantly did that. He constantly did that.

What does it look like in my life?

I still remember, you know, when I was in college, I used to, I

used to save my monthly allowance that I get just so

that weekends I get to spend some time with my church friends

and sit, eat, fellowship with them.

That was important for me because there weren't people

around. In fact, there was one instance

where a church family invited us or a whole bunch of us and they

ended up talking, you know, literally bad things about the

church and things like that. And we stopped going to the next

peak on. Be mindful of places where

people use things to control the narrative and tell you things.

I love God to give you discernment in those areas.

But I still remember early on when things like this started

happening, when things like this where you create margin within

yourself, which means I am able to discomfort myself a bit for

the sake of what God has to be doing in and through my life.

I'm able to give up on certain luxuries just so that I can

enjoy it with others because that's what I see.

God's love. I'm able to live with this and

create a margin like this so that they I can accommodate a

bit more. I pray that we'll be able to

create margin because it's out of our free will.

God does not force this on us. But when you create that margin,

you will automatically see communities happen.

You will automatically see people thrive.

You will automatically see others refreshed because you've

created that margin. I pray we will all have those

margins. I have certain margins in my

work area where I love God to come so that I can bless someone

else extra with some skill set that I have.

I have that margin in our in in our marriage there so that we'll

be able to spend some time for the things God brings in, in

terms of Kingdom, things which are far beyond this.

These are not connections which we've which we've which we've in

which we've made it happen. These are probably connections

which are just got dropped. And I pray those will happen

only when we allow that margin in our in with regard to a

marriage margin with regard to a family and our extended family.

It happens time and again because we see God come through.

And so today, I pray that we will see this in our lives

because he wants us to fulfil his mission.

Margin is not for me to fulfill my mission.

Margin is to fulfill his mission.

In college, in Hillsong College, I remember Pastors Julia and

Joel, they were talking to us and they're telling how they've

created margin in their marriage, how outside of their

tides, they accept money up so that they can help someone in

need that month. They can do something extra for

someone. And I pray that they also said

how they create time so that they can spend with new people.

They could also create time so that they can do things which

they didn't do the previous month.

Margin opens up our house, opens up things in the church, opens

up our homes, our personal lives, so that we'll be able to

do it with people that God's bringing in Acts 18 verses one

to four says After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

There he's met a Jew named Akilah, a native of Pontus, who

had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla.

Because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome, Paul

went to them, went to see them. Paul went to see them, and

because he was a tent maker, as they were, he stayed and worked

with them. Every Sabbath he reads in the

synagogue trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

He was a tent maker that says here, it says he wasn't just

freeloading. In fact, one of the studies with

regard to what Paul continuously keeps telling us to work with

your hands, Work with your hands.

You create margin in the spaces that God's placed you in.

You create spaces in the places, but God's calling you.

Yeah, I still remember when people around me, especially in

my area of work, when, when, when they start creating

margins. It's interesting because they

are starting to pour out what they have received.

And so today what we see here, Paul went worked with them.

They in fact became an A key couple in his ministry.

You spend time, you do things in Acts 20 versus 33 or 35.

You see, he says I have not coveted anyone silver or gold or

clothing. You yourselves know that these

hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my

companions and everything I did. I showed you that by this kind

of hard work, we must help the weak, remembering the words of

Lord Jesus himself. It's more blessed to give than

to deceive. It says that in what's of my own

needs and the needs of my companions.

Margin allows you to take care of those who are around you,

allows you to bless those who are around you.

A lot of times people will be around you who will only want to

receive. But I pray those who've already

partaking of the Lord's love, that love feast, because we've

taken it, we will learn to give off it.

That's the only equation. If you just keep taking and

we're not giving, the equation doesn't sit.

I pray God will allow us to move to that place.

It won't start when we have a lot of anything.

For some of us, they're thinking, well, if if only my

marriage was different like that person, or if only my kids were

like that, like that other person, say, oh, only if I had a

lot of money, I can create margin.

No, if you can't create margin with 100, you won't be entrusted

with 1000. You won't be interested with

10,000 because in that 100, if you don't tithe, you won't be

blessed with the thousand, you won't be blessed with the

10,000. And I pray that we will learn to

allow that margin to work in an area of work so that we will

realize that the influence that we have on one person, on the

other art and another journey will start expanding as a

couple, that will start expanding as a family, that will

start expanding. What is the margin I'm willing

to give for the community and the people that I do life with

because this love that I have access to in terms of limitless

has to be lived out. The margin will create and give

us a deep purpose to why God is placed here here on this earth,

why He's created us for a time such as this.

Why is he placed me in a city today right here?

Why is he sustaining us with the fire that is burning within us?

It moves us closer to God and in turn closer to the God-given

purpose right here, right here. I came across this quote.

It says love is the root of missions.

Sacrifice is the fruit of missions.

Love is the root, sacrifice is the fruit.

And so today, as we are living out this love, this love that we

deceive, this limitless love, there's one which is of a love

feast. I pray that we won't be

shielding it by ourselves, but with God.

We'll allow God to shield it. We won't be just doing it with

the work of our hands and our feet, but we'll allow his nail

pierced hands to be our hands and feet because when we say

we're doing it, it's, it's Jesus hands and feet.

It has to be nail pierced that we'll have repentance etched to

this, to our hands and feet. There will always be repentance

because the love for Him is greater and the love that we're

doing is this is far bigger than what we're actually doing out.

And the third thing is we will operate with margin in our

lives. We'll operate with margin.

I pray that as you put this into practice, God will start

expanding you. For 10 pigs to be pulled and to

plugged in and to drive deeper in comes only when you allow

this to be put into practice. Else you'll be content with the

10 picks being so narrow just just just in your own world.

But God saying I want you to move to a place because you're

going into a season, 7 years of church, you're going into a

newer season of new wine, new wine skin, and I want to know

what God's been doing in and through your life.

I believe the purposes are only getting more refined and

clearer. The ask is big, but God's

sharpening us as a tool so that we'll be effective.

And I pray that, O you, that even as you step out this week,

that you'll be able to step out strength, grace, love, His peace

and His joy will be overflowing in you.

And I pray, Lord, that you would be with each and everyone of us

even as we step out, that your, your guidance will guide us,

Lord, You will take charge of us, be with us, go before us,

Lord. We want to give you the glory

and honor, Lord. Thank you for all that you're

doing. Lord Jesus, we just pray that

you'll be magnified. You'll be glorified.

Lord. I pray especially, Lord Jesus,

in this day and age, Lord Jesus, that Lord, we won't shy away,

but we will press forward. Lord, thank you that we can

partake of your love. I pray we'll be people who even

give it off much easily, Lord Jesus, so that you'll be

glorified, be with us. I pray, Lord, for your blood

covering over us lives, Lord, be with us, not going out, coming

in. I pray for all those who are

listening that you'd strengthen them and be with them.

Your most holy name be pray. Amen.

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