What Are You Listening To?

So can I just begin today by asking a very, very simple question of us all, and

I want this question to be held within your mind as I share this message today.

And the question is this, what are you listening to?

What are you listening to?

About seven years ago, the

business I started, had begun to take off.

we were experiencing

a season of quite substantial growth within

our business, and, it was genuinely a

really fun

time, to be honest.

it felt like no matter

what we did, we were kicking goals.

And it was really enjoyable.

It's really enjoyable when you

have wins, isn't it?

people in the industry,

our peers were taking notice of us and were coming and asking for advice.

Oh, made us feel really good.

Like we knew what we were doing.

And then almost out of nowhere, over a three month period,

we lost 25% of our business.

And there were

various reasons for it.

some of our clients

actually shut, closed down.

others sold to companies.

I remember supplying quite a large client that sold to a company that had

an internal roasting division, so they just began to roast for themselves.

So my business is a

coffee roastery and, it felt incredibly

strange and

unsettling that season.

And, I must admit, I must

confess that both my business partner and

I reacted in fear.

we immediately went hard, on the streets, knocking

on doors, trying to get some sales happening.

We spent months and months doing this, and we got nowhere.

We got no sale.

It was confusing.

How do you go from.

Seeing some substantial growth, having so much wins to then going

backwards so quickly as a business.

Eventually, by the grace of God, he led us to stop our running

around trying to fix everything, and I remember my business and partner

and I came to a place of actually purposefully waiting upon the Lord.

In stillness listening to his voice and sensing his presence.

And I vividly remember saying to each other one night as we were

locking up the warehouse, if the Lord is still here, then we are okay.

We don't.

Maybe we don't need that extra business.

Maybe we just need to trust that he'll continue to provide for us.

And in that season he did.

As soon as we confess that to each other and let it go, all that lost

business began to came, come back.

Not through our own effort.

Not not through anything we did.

People were literally calling and emailing us, going, Hey, we

want to use you as a provider.

People were ringing us asking for supply.

We did not do a single cell call that got any of that business back.

None of our efforts made a difference.

It all came back freely.

And can I say that was incredibly humbling, that experience.

Today we begin this teaching series on discernment for the month of

January, and this morning I just wanna concentrate on what is discernment.

So I'm gonna start by reading our scripture together, which is colo

Colossians one verses nine through to 12.

And it says this, and Paul is speaking here for this reason since

the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the

wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy

of the Lord and please him in every way.

Bearing fruit in every good work knowing, growing in the knowledge

of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious mind,

so that you may have great endurance.

And patience and giving joyful thanks to the father who has qualified

you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom

of light, endurance and patience.

I don't know about you, but I have tasted in this life, this tension

between enduring and being patient.

Do you feel that the pressure to sustain and push, even when it's hard to work

harder to make something of ourselves in this life to endure, whether it's

a workplace that's hard work to be at, but you've gotta remain there to provide

for your family or your household yet?

In another vein, Christ is inviting us also to come and trust, to be still,

to wait upon him to live in patience.

And this tension right here of endurance and patience is where the work of

discernment helps us walk through life in faithful love towards Christ.

So let me ask you that question again.

What are you listening to?

Our world is filled with so many voices.

It's so noisy.

Friends, family, neighbors, social media, news, advertisement, books, TV

shows, movies, other church members, health advice, even our own inner voice.

The fears of when businesses and hopes start to slide, it's all noise.

The most valued commodity today in our world is our attention as Christians.

When we think about this, I think we can sometimes feel irresponsible or even.

Un Christlike if we remove ourselves from the noise of the word world, because

I think in some sense there's good intentions within our hearts that we

want to be present, we wanna be informed, we wanna be engaged with the world.

But the world, lemme tell you, well, the world's agenda is to

continually encourage us to remain in the noise, to sell our attention

to the loudest voice and the enemy.

The Satan hates the idea of human beings communing in stillness and quietness to

hear the living word himself speak to us.

You see, discernment isn't a thing.

We go and just go and do.

No.

It's actually a life that can be lived in Christ with Christ and by its

very nature, therefore, discernment is deeply and richly relational.

Now, before we move on, let me be incredibly clear about my working

definition of discernment in scripture.

And what I've done is I've just given three quick examples 'cause we don't

have enough slides to fill it up.

With the word discernment or discern both in the Hebrew and also the Greek, and I've

taken just three passages in Psalm 119 66, the word discernment in the Hebrew there

means to taste, to examine, or compare.

In Philippians one, nine, this is really interesting because in the Greek

here, there's a similar emphasis in the meaning for discern or discernment,

it means perception, not only by the senses, but by the intellect.

So discernment in the biblical understanding of discernment

is to involve all of ourselves.

Yes.

And then thirdly, in Matthew 16, the word discern means to

separate, to make distinction, to discern what truly matters.

And this is what I have written as my working definition of discernment.

Discernment is a practice that leads to spiritual understanding and experiential

knowledge that draws us into an awareness of how God is active in our daily lives.

Did you get that end bit?

It's really important that we remember that.

An awareness.

Discernment is an awareness of how God is active in our daily lives.

You see, discernment forms us as people to perceive, to examine or remain

faithful to Christ in love, and this is not something that we can do alone.

The sermon reminds us that this life is not a life to live.

By ourselves as individuals know it's a life of dependency upon God himself.

But why does this matter for us here at Red Door?

We've got three reasons why we as a community in 2026, should lean into

cultivating lives of discernment.

Firstly, discernment matters because it helps us see clearly.

See without discernment.

This is the good news.

We're spiritually deaf, unfaithful, disobedient creatures.

That sounds reasonably confronting, doesn't it?

But it's actually true.

Walter Brigman says this in Old Testament scholar.

He says that right?

Discernment of life.

With obedient, attentive attentiveness to God, begin, sorry.

With obedient, attentive attentiveness to God the creator.

Living faithfully with God requires discernment because it awakens us to

the reality that we are not alone.

God is with us and he is waiting for us.

You see, noise distracts us and it creates chaos in our lives.

We found ourselves less sure of everything.

When we are taken up by the noise, we cannot see or hear clearly in the noise.

We begin to cry out.

God, where are you?

But when we practice discernment in stillness.

In silence.

We begin to discover that he's always been waiting there for us, ready to guide,

help, strengthen, and give us his peace.

Discernment isn't required to find God, but so that we may discover

he has been with us all along.

A life of discernment, of stopping to notice how God is active in our

daily lives becomes a great teacher.

Even in the mundane, even in the interruptions.

Even in the tensions of life, even in the pain of life.

A life without discernment, I would argue is a life lived unconsciously or blind.

Cs Lou, CS Lewis writes through his character, screw tape the demon.

This, the more often he feels without acting, the less he

will be able ever to act.

And in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.

Discernment guards us from these evils, which is a lie of a forgery to enslave us.

And what discernment does is it keeps us connected to ourselves, others,

and God, so that we can remain feeling not unconscious, so we can remain

seeing and acting in the ways that are true, not forgeries in life.

Is everyone following me?

Maybe you're just all tired from the Christmas break.

I know I am.

Discernment awakens us from spiritual, slumber and blindness and teaches us how

to live a life of purpose and delight.

A conscious life, A life where we can see clearly.

Secondly, discernment is relational.

It's not mechanical.

Spiritual discernment is not a formula to make God act.

It is a practice of discovering where God is already at work.

Paul reminds us in two Timothy two that even when we are

faithless, he remains faithful.

Even when we are not participating, he is participating.

Even when we have said we are not at work with you, God, he remains at work with us.

Oh, this is good news.

Hear this, God is both the I am which is to mean he is the all efficient one.

He's in need of nothing else yet.

He is also the same God that desires to be with you.

He desires to be with us, yet being all self-sufficient.

He desires to be close to us in relationship with us

and in his ness, he cares.

He heals, he guides, he directs, he challenges and he confronts.

Our call then is ultimately in discernment, is to pay attention,

to give him our attention.

To respond in relational obedience to him so that we may join him what in what

he's already doing within our lives.

Not because he requires it, but because he desires it.

And thirdly, the reason why we should be practicing this together as a family this

year is discernment forms our vision.

So after the, over the last week or so, I haven't been sitting

margaritas and laying in the sun.

I've actually

been hard at work, building something

at our house and I've got some photos here of us building stuff.

And what we're building is an outdoor office, so that I can.

Be with Christ so that I can study, so that I can be present with him.

and also to give our children their own bedrooms.

So that currently that last photo there is where we're up to now.

You can see Ethan, he's, to be honest, he contributed very, where is he?

It was, he contributed good times, good times.

Now.

What I wanna say, and the reason why I show this is it actually became

this great metaphor of what I was speaking about coming up this Sunday.

So on day one, go back to the first photo on day one.

That's kind of where we got to.

And yep, that is summer.

I'm trying to reach up.

She's pretty little.

and we got there and the thing that we came to the end of day one is now there's

some chippies here, so please forgive me.

We're working with Raw Pine, okay?

And what I've discovered is working with Raw Pine, it's barely,

it, barely ever is it straight.

And so we're following these guides.

And these guides are, are really in depth.

You get this big booklet, you get a video, a step-by-step video on how to do it.

And by the end of day one, guess what's happening.

It's not square.

And we're standing back there and dad and I are like, oh geez, this is not good.

And anyway, so bit of a sleepless night that first night.

But we woke up and we went, you know what?

We're just gonna stay faithful to the instructions.

Right.

Man, there was a great deal.

Temptation not to follow those instructions.

Great deal.

But then on day two, if you could skip to the next one in.

See, we're starting to put the framing on.

We've got the beams,

beams coming along for, the roof.

As soon as

we put those beams up, guess what happened?

It's squared up.

It squared up.

Our vision had to remain on the voice.

Who knew?

It had to remain on the voice in you, which was the instructions in John three.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of

God unless they're born again.

What God is doing in and through his people is this, he's

literally giving us new eyes.

He's giving us new vision.

He is.

Creating an opportunity for us to be reborn and in some way what that

means is we've been using the wrong instruction manual to live this life.

His work isn't to help us escape from the world, but it's to see it in the light

of Christ, in his vision for the world.

To have a vision for creation, others, and events with that

heavenly kingdom of God perspective.

When we devote ourselves to stillness and listening to being truly seen

and known by Christ, we begin to see and seek his desires to be known.

And to know Christ does a deep work in us.

As we abide in him, guess what happens?

We begin to bear much kingdom fruit

at the end of chapter one.

In Colossians, Paul gives us the goal in mind for discernment, for seeking

understanding, for seeking God's wisdom.

And it's this, that we might be presented.

What?

Mature in Christ by how?

By what means, by Christ's strength in us.

So let me end with just answering this question.

How do we practice discernment?

How do we do it?

Now for some of you, you are gonna be like, oh, Luke, that's the worst news

of this morning, what I'm about to say.

Is because discernment and cultivating a life in discernment

begins in silence and solitude.

It begins in silence and solitude.

Silence creates space.

It removes us from that noise, and it gives our full attention back to God.

And this space of silence and solitude has got nothing to do

with being pro, pro productive.

It's all to do with being in his presence.

It's all always about being with him.

Now, I know this discipline for many of us can feel confronting.

Some of you think, oh gosh, I can't do that.

My mind races.

What if God doesn't speak?

What if I just think I'm wasting time sitting here?

Well, I understand that because my mind races as well, and I sometimes sit with

Christ thinking I'm wasting my time.

But a simple practice that I've used that has helped me continually enter

into these periods of time, whether it's 10 minutes or hours, is I purge myself.

Now, some of you have heard me talk about this.

What I do is I get a pen and a pad out and I literally write everything down,

all my worries, all my concerns, all my to-do lists, all my grand plans.

'cause I'm a bit.

I'm a bit of, I love thinking about starting businesses, like business idea.

I write everything down.

I write things that I find funny.

I think things that I'm finding sad, I write, I read, literally write, and

I'll have pages of notes, and then when I'm finished writing, I then give them

to him and then say, Lord, this is me.

I give it to you and I trust you in this moment of time.

To just be with you.

The time is about being aware of his presence and because you're aware of

his presence, we begin to be more open to what he might be up to in our lives.

Again, it's not about getting something done in that moment with Christ.

It's about being with him, trusting that he will do the work.

Solitude ultimately with God helps us reengage with life more rightly,

even 10 minutes.

I can confess of stillness of being with Christ renews.

My vision helps me see a little bit more clearly,

but the thing about solitude, and particularly throughout scripture.

Is it always leads somewhere.

It always leads back to community.

You see, the spiritual life is a communal life and that reflects God's love,

obviously, but it also reflects who he is, that he is communal in nature.

Father, son, and spirit.

That when we face trials, fears, and struggles, the community of God's

people can become a great gift to us.

We walk together, we confess, we test.

We encourage one another to listen to God with each other.

Sunday gatherings, house churches provide spaces to practice

discernment together and wisdom.

What I have found, wisdom is found in the council of many.

Amen.

Oh man.

How unwise can you be by yourself?

A helpful test, a litmus test of going, how am I going with living

a life of discernment is to ask, how do I relate to God's church?

You see, if critique has replaced listening.

Or distance has replaced love.

It may reveal that your vulnerability, your ness with God

being still with him has faded

those who practice faithfulness to God in being with him even through hard times.

I have discovered tend to be more gracious, patient, and deeply attentive

to others because what have they found in that time of being still with God, that

God is so attentive to them, and what more could you want to give to another?

Is your attention in love.

So let us press into this gift of discernment together, remaining rooted and

protected in love through the Holy Spirit.

Lemme just quickly recap.

Discernment is not a technique to master, but a way of life

rooted in relationship with God.

It helps us see clearly.

It recognizes where God is already at work and live with new eyes shaped by Christ.

Where do we grow in discernment, we grow in discernment through

stillness and listening in solitude, but we are sustained in

it through the community of Christ.

So in 2026.

In 2026, let us be a family that presses into this gift together, remain rooted and

protected in love through the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

All right, I did 25 minutes.

Praise the Lord.

You gotta celebrate these things, don't you?

Beautiful.

Well, let us pray.

I don't think we'll end.

Is it okay if we don't end on a song team or do you really want to No,

we have discerned Luke that we will not.

Well, let us pray and and please stay around for coffee and tea.

as we mentioned, Mandy's

gonna be back in the

new people's corner.

but if you need to head off, then head off.

Oh,

Lord, Lord, we thank you, father, that you are gracious God.

But Lord, you are a generous God.

In fact, all of scripture has displayed your generosity.

From the very start, you

gave us the garden, to the very end.

You

give us yourself so that we may have everlasting life with you.

Lord, the the nature of who you are is one who gives and does not take the

one who loves, the one who is generous.

Oh Lord, you are so faithful to us.

And so this morning we just asked Lord that you would guide us, not just

individually, but also communally to escape in moments of time throughout

our lives this year, from the noise,

from the distractions to come and be with you and to be reminded

of your goodness towards us.

Lord, we ask that we would become people that would wait instead of react, that

would listen instead of talk first.

Lord, Lord, that we would be a people that would remind each other to, ah,

let's go to the Lord and wait on him,

Lord.

Not because you demand it, because you desire it.

Because you love us, you wanna be with us.

And so maybe that's the prayer.

The prayer is, Lord, remind us of your great love and faithfulness

in this year, Lord, just pray that you'd be with everyone today.

Let 'em go out and rest.

Let 'em go out in peace.

Bless 'em with your joy.

Fill them with your vision, Lord of who you have made them to be.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.