Freedom City

What are we in for today? I don't know if you know the

name Chris Venance. He preached here a little while

ago. He's the man who planted

Glenridge Church in Durban, which in turn planted 3 CR 25

plus years ago. And he preached a while back on

Revelations Chapter 2. It's the it's a part of

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

revelation where Jesus is writing to his bride and he says

in the you know, he says you've done this well, you've done this

well, you've done this well. The one thing that I want to

address is that you've lost your first love.

And Chris spoke about how it's not that we need to go back to

this you know, woman, fuzzy googly bear first love of our

relationship with our heavenly Father.

Because the next verse says return to those things you did

at 1st. And it came as a word that is

very much a Plumb line according to us as a community to hold to

that very thing that God established this lampstand in

the city for. And the primary reason why 3CI

exists is to be a base church and to resource and plant

churches. And so this morning we don't

have a pulpit but we you're going to hear the loudest sermon

you've ever heard in your whole entire life because we want you

to cap be captivated by the culture of three CR.

The very reason why God planted this lampstand in the city and

that is to be a base church that resources and planted plants

churches around the world. And for that, I have the

privilege of sitting with the VVRPS this morning, Jeff and

Jane, Kirsten, why don't you come up.

So we're just going to, we're going to cross for traffic

report quickly man. It is so good to have you here

who here by show of hands have never met this couple before and

you look at that. Yo.

Hello, everyone. Well, that's Jeff and that's

Jane. Why don't you just quickly

introduce yourself? Jeff introduced Jane the way

you've always wanted to introduce her.

That's. So cool.

Well, should be on. There we go. 1/2 I love that I

haven't met so many of you. This is why we were this is the

only, this is the reason we were part of this.

And this is on my journey with Jesus, the Most Gracious.

I know he gave me salvation and the cross and all that stuff,

but then he gave me Jane. I don't know if it's an upgrade

or part of it or like it's part of the package, but it's an

upgrade on me. Yes, but I can't give an upgrade

on the on the cross. But I want to tell you I'll say

something today. But you can listen to this lady,

because she is the most gracious gift that has ever been given to

me. But also, I believe, one of the

gracious gifts of God to this church.

She was an important so I married her into the church.

But I don't think any of you, even those who know her, will

never know the powerful woman that she is because of what she

can carry. And I just want to say to you

like I want to ask you, not because she's my wife, but

because I think she carries the DNA on three CR.

Could you open up your hearts to what God's done in her and wants

to do through her? Beautiful.

She's. Done it for days.

Can we just in the lights a little, Jamie, do the same.

And then also tell us about your children.

OK, come on. There we go.

Yeah. So we have three beautiful

children. Taylor, Travis and Kylie.

Taylor and Trevor sitting in the front.

Just raise your hands, guards. I won't get you to stand.

OK, here we go. But and then Kylie was Adam as

she's going down to Super City today which is, yeah, maybe

she'll come back. We don't know.

That's yeah, the the kids are they're amazing.

They are literally the Champions of the story.

They have gone through the most insane challenges and

difficulties and they have overcome so many things and they

have come out flying. I mean we are incredibly,

incredibly proud of them and it's you know, whenever you do

an international move or any move for that matter, there's

challenges. But you always as a mother and

as parents you worry about your children.

What are they going to, you know, what's going to happen to

them? How are they going to respond?

And it wasn't easy at all. I think the biggest challenge is

being our children and just what they've faced and what they've

gone through. But they have come out flying

and they are incredible. So take us to the beginning.

How did you guys know that you were called to plant a church or

wanted to plant a church? So the moment of like knowing

we're going to plant in Lisbon, it's probably at the end of the

journey, like now it's done. That was the end of the journey.

I think it was probably we both grew up in in spaces and homes

where the gospel got hold of us. I think sometimes in our

intellectual world, and especially because we're all

exposed to so much media and availability to the gospel, in

some ways we can take hold of the gospel, but for us, the

gospel got hold of us. It got hold of us at a young

age, and then we came into three CR and we didn't realize that

that was just the taste. And then the gospel got hold of

us, the Kingdom of God, when Jesus was introduced, like the

Kingdom is at hand. The Kingdom was at hand.

Once we built, it was like there was something about the DNA of

this church that got hold of us, and part of that was that we

existed for others. I remember clearly on that

corner of the property where there's an exit myself.

Grant asked him. Who leads the bridge?

George who leads Highway The three of us stood at the bottom

there with Nick Davis who was leading the church.

And Nick looked up at this property.

It was just long grass, a pigsty where the toddler's area is, a

little pump house and a farmhouse that was full of

termite hills inside the house and it was pink and some strange

humans living inside of it and I don't know how.

And we stood there and Nick looked over the land and he

said, let's build an army to change the world.

Let's let's what? What did he say?

He said, let's build an army that'll take the gospel to the

nations. And I think that day God got

hold of me even more. I I remember clearly we were

looking up at the grass. He said, let's build an army

that'll take, they'll take the gospel to the nations.

And so I think there was a, there was something that stirred

inside of me. I think we got married.

We there was a people were speaking that into our lives

that we would plant a church. There was an excitement and a

fear, but essentially I think what got us to the point was we

learnt that you don't plant a church because it needs to

happen. You plant a church because God

is prepared to humans. And we realized there's a lot of

preparation. And so how did we know we called

plant a church. How did it happen?

Well, I got welcomed in like a lot of you 23 years ago into

this church. The church was smaller than this

group of people on the stage at that stage.

And at that moment, God just infused his mission into my

heart and he got hold of us and he shook us and that's how we

planted a church. So by the time I walked into

Rory's office and it all just happened, we had said yes to

loving our friends in this church.

We had said yes to older couple that we didn't.

I didn't really know that someone said, well don't you

want to go visit them once a week?

I said yes to leading a lot, many life groups.

I said yes to leading the youth when there was no leader, but he

said yes to starting a a student ministry.

He said yes to and then we were petrified and said yes to coming

onto eldership, and we just said yes to a whole bunch of stuff.

And so when God spoke, He had prepared us, He taught us how to

say yes, and I think He built something into us.

It was just the next natural step.

Sure. So who raised it first?

Yeah. So it actually it happened at

the beginning of 2019 where the the first mention of Lisbon came

about and that was Dan and Starla.

And Starla is Ashley Bell's daughter who planted through CR

and we were having lunch with them after having been here for

a meeting and and out of the blue, I mean it was the most

random thing anyone could ever say.

I mean, we're talking about, I don't know, children and

something else and whatever cheer bites of bread.

What we were eating, I don't know, it was like, it was so

left wing when she said she just looked at us, suddenly she

stopped and she's like, have you ever thought of planting a

church in Lisbon? And we're just like Lisbon,

where is that? And she actually didn't know

that. So I'm half, 40 years, but my

family comes from the island of Madeira.

And so I've never been to mainland Portugal before.

I'd never been to Lisbon, but I'd been to Madeira very often

to see my family and Star didn't know that.

And and that actually is more the reason I was like, hell no,

I'm not going anywhere near there.

Not because I didn't, you know, it was just, it was so different

with the culture, so different. I wasn't raised Portuguese, I

don't speak the language. It was just, but I had the

passport and so did our kids and and so we left that thought

completely like we were. We left that conversation.

We were like, there's no way, absolutely not.

We're not going to, we're not even going to consider it.

We laughed about. We'd just bought our home like

we were here. We were on team.

We'd yeah, we were going into a building project almost.

Yeah. And and then it just didn't stop

two months later. There's too many things to tell

right now of how God spoke to us and how he moved our hearts and

and at the same time, it wasn't just us that he was speaking to.

And I think that was what was so beautiful is it was a collective

of people. It was it's where that scripture

says it's it was good between US and the Holy Spirit and it was

Ru and Mao felt something. I mean, there were so many

others that came with us that had their own stories, that of

remarkable, remarkable things, of how God opened up Portugal

for them to come so. So the first whisper in 2019,

you're in Portugal in 2020. I wonder where you're going to

be. You're going to.

It's the This is why we've stopped everything for this

because we are trusting that God awakens something of this call

of three CR in our midst. Bloom Fontaine is calling.

OK, so you started just as lockdown started.

Hey, what is the first year like locked up in a foreign country?

Well, your. Firstly, I mean, S Africans,

come on, we are brave people. People.

We have been through a lot. And so when we heard the

rumblings of COVID, we're like, Nah, seen nothing.

Europe, we've seen it all. So we were very like, yeah, we

were brave. That's not going to hit.

We were brave for a for a short while very confident for a short

while and then it hits but it's it doesn't matter thing because

to be honest I don't know how we did it.

That guy you mentioned Chris Vena and said he knew of at

least 40 or 50 church plants at the same period as us and not

one of them decided to carry through the all just went back

to where they came from. So that's that idea like that's

scarier to look and I'll probably just pride inside of me

and need to prove something. I don't know.

But it's that South African thing inside of us.

And and I got to say I think Covid's a good example because

everywhere we go in the world you find South Africans leading

churches. And I just thought I don't want

us to be the last generation of. So that's that learned to say

yes when the rest of the world says no.

And and there was something to that COVID came and it was like

COVID was in our face and it was almost like a taunting.

Are you the last. Was that the last generation of

South Africans to be bold, to be brave, be full of faith, to be

people that believe the father. And I was like no like.

No. It became, it became and she was

like, maybe, yes, we're the weak generation.

No, but. Did you ever did you ever think

of packing it in? Over the last few years even.

Was it hard? Was it the worst season of our

life? Absolutely.

Was it? Did we almost die?

Absolutely. Was it?

But that's the thing. We didn't feel like Jeff and

Jane were trying to do anything in Portugal.

We didn't go there thinking like, yes, we're going to do

something for the Kingdom. I meet lots of young people who

want to do something amazing for the Kingdom, and then I yawn and

wait for them to get over it. And then until they actually

realized they're part of something greater.

And I think we realized that we were part of God's church plant

in Lisbon, that he had a heart for those people, that Isaiah

4243, that section of scripture was very, very much part of this

church plant. And he says there, you worship

me and I will bring my sons and daughters from the north, the

east, the South and the West. And so I stood in a meeting with

well, on a day with hundreds of people.

And I just said there was a Day in History where I walked the

streets of Lisbon and God said, I want you to plant a church

here. I said, But that same day he was

busy working in your lives and orchestrating that you would be

here. So I don't know which of those

calls, which of those moments, which of those whispers was more

important. I actually think yours was

because I could be like speaking to an empty room, but actually

God's busy building an army of people that could go to the

nations, like, like, what's his name?

Nick Davis said. And so I I think being in the

middle of COVID, we realized we're not trying to accomplish

anything. God's busy doing something.

He's going to do it. He's got a role for us to play

for a season in the life of this church in Lisbon.

And it's like, it is almost like an invitation.

It wasn't a taunt and it's just like, will it be you or will it

be someone else? And I think like when you

realise, when we realise we could be some part of something

so huge and global in what he's doing, this is part of the

history of the church. It's like we could do no other.

And so I think that it ties into like this wasn't a decision from

Jeff and Jane. This is a life.

This is a we learned to hear, we watched people, and then we

realised, like we can do no other.

He got hold of us, the gospel got hold of us.

So we were just like, on this journey with Jesus and a bunch

of crazy people. So tell us.

Tell us about Freedom City. How's she doing?

We hear such good reports. We have people coming back with

bunches and bunches of grapes. Tell us some stories.

You can get tissue. No, it's honestly what God is

doing is absolutely mind blowing and it's not an isolation.

That's the first thing. Like it's it's happening all

over the world in very, very different ways.

And sometimes you you kind of reject it because you think it's

not in the packaging that you used to or the way that we've

been taught or the way we we see things in scripture.

And and so we have met the most incredible people, the most

remarkable people, but also the most lost and the most broken

and the most far from God people I've ever met in my life.

I mean, we're talking witchcraft, tarot cards, spells,

crystals, psychedelic drugs, orgies, you name it.

We've seen it all. We've heard it all.

It's just we haven't watched those.

But well, not, I mean we saw one happening above.

Yeah. In a in an apartment building

and just close the windows. But no, it's just it's crazy.

I mean it's it's it's so different that it's hard to

describe, but the people are beautiful.

The people are incredible, and yet they don't.

They don't know God. The majority do not know God at

all. You do not meet a Christian on

the street. You do not hear a prayer parade

in a restaurant. It it isn't like, yeah, there

are so many churches all over the place that are full on

Sundays. There are churches all over the

place but they're empty and they're ancient and but yet

something is happening and there is rumbles all over the place,

the Catholic Church included. It's like unbelievable what

we're seeing. So we've yeah we've there's so

many stories I don't even know if we.

OK so I have a a dear friend. Well, she's a dear friend now

and we met her through Jeff, one of the the, so Portugal kind of

did lockdowns differently. Things were never fully closed

for long periods of time. So they would close for a

certain period of time, then they would open up and then we

just had a whole bunch of regulations we had to adhere to.

And then we're just you know, locked down again for when it

got tough again. And so there was always this

period of like open, close, open, close.

And so in one of the open moments, coffee shops were open

and Jeff would go and just sit in a coffee shop and work and

and one day a guy from the UK was sitting across him and he he

just happened to say to Jeff, hey, I I like your kicks, which

Rory had given to to to Jeff his shoes and and and just like, oh,

cool, you know, and then they kind of got chatting and

whatever and then he he asked you what you did.

I was tired. Of making.

A story. And Jeff was very tired of, of

telling your stories about like kind of the long way round so

that we didn't get sworn at all, you know, told that we were

there to steal people's money and hurt their children and all

those crazy things. And so So he he, he started a

conversation. He just blurted out like, you

know, maybe you should tell that part of the story because.

I I said I'll try and explain stuff.

And I was like, we're planning a Christian Church, but it's like

we're having a conversation across the coffee shop, so

there's people in between US. And then he swore at me across

the people and then I carried on.

He carried on and then eventually he came and sat next

to me. He's like tell me more and we

started chatting and he's like, I hate I I want, I want nothing

to do with Christianity and stuff.

I just find it interesting that you can be that dumb.

So I want to find out why. So anyway everyone's listening

to our conversation. Long story short we became

really, really good friends. He was big in the music industry

and we. I eventually invited him over

for dinner and said bring your girlfriend with.

So so we meet her and she is honestly, I mean immediately we

connect but not on like any other level than other than just

kind of we just connected on on friendship level.

And anyway it's it's a long story but basically by the end

of the evening she was crying and Jeff had been explaining how

like just marriage because marriage is such a foreign thing

to a lot of people and especially the kind of way we do

it and and they've been asking us because they were dating and

and yeah they just got asking questions around how does he see

me and and all that and the next minute she's just sobbing and

sobbing and sobbing and sobbing. Anyway, Long story short.

Basically he moves across the table for the distances himself.

He couldn't handle the the pressure.

And she went back and then just said to him, listen, what is

this relationship like? What is this like?

We're living together. Like I can't do this if it

doesn't mean it's going to end in that.

And and so anyway, they broke up and she gave her life to Jesus

about six months later at on Christmas Day and she has been

radically, radically transformed.

I mean, absolutely. She's one of our worship leaders

now. She's leading our dinner, one of

our dinner parties. She is just she's become such a

dear friend and she doesn't look the part of a Christian girl.

And so she has experienced incredible rejection and even

within Christian circles and people that she's now met and

and and she often refers to herself as the woman at the wall

and and how God redeemed her and he has he has redeemed her and

we will fight for her. We love her.

We will no matter what she looks like.

No matter what she says like we love her so much.

And she has been so transformed over the three years that we've

known her to the point now where I mean she's leading others to

God. She is just, it's absolutely

amazing what's happened with her life.

I hear, Rubens, that your worship leader got saved at

Freedom City. Is that right?

Yeah. Yeah.

So Mitesh also Mitesh got sent the song Waymaker by someone

else in our community and and he was running down the promenade

listening to it because he loves music down by the river and the

next minute he just felt this overwhelming presence of God and

he ran literally straight to death.

He was at the the venue where we meet and he just ran in and he

just slammed the table down like this is I believe, I believe, I

believe. And he was a complete atheist,

hated the church, hated Christians, hated any form of

institution and he was radically transformed.

Loves music, loves people, loves food, everything that we honour

about. And he just him, his whole

family, they've got a little little boy now and oh, it's just

incredible to see this. Guy had one story so it's just

the well, I could tell you so many stories and I could tell

you about a Danish man that was on a 25 year journey looking for

God. He sold his business,

Distinguished Danish Man on a journey around the world, living

with shaman, living in caves, living in temples, living every

part of the world, looking for God.

His last stop before his kids had his children, had kids was a

Lisbon, his last stop. He sat on a couch like this and

he just said I still haven't found God and he heard an

audible voice say how long. I won't mention his name but I

just the stories are sacred and it's like how long will you keep

running from me all the way and who are you?

He said my name is Jesus so he's googled.

Jesus came up with obviously all sorts of weird things on the on

the Internet and so he thought, I don't know how to.

So he said Jesus in Lisbon and we had just finished doing a

YouTube series called Jesus in Lisbon and he watched every

single episode. So one day I got to church and

this very distinguished man walks up to me and he says good

day Jeff. This is my name, I'm part of

your church. I know everything.

I said, do I know you? He said no.

But I know everything about you, all your stories.

TV Evangelists I. Was freaked out and he went

downstairs and we were starting a series in the book of Jonah.

And I said before we start this series, I want to ask you one

question. So I don't know any of this yet.

I said how long will you keep running from God.

He just as you this distinguished branches broke and

it's like we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of

stories, most of them with people that have never been into

the church. I can tell you about the cafe

and how people have come in and none of them are Christians.

And sitting on the couch, a girl asking this girl saying, I know

you won't know this, but do you know anyone who might know who

might know where to find Jesus? An Australian girl asks this and

she says I found him, I can, I can show you anywhere.

And then she says no, I I found I bought this book that that

they call the Bible. She's like really?

You got one? She pulls it out of her bag.

It's this big purple thing. She was like, where did you get

that? She says I have to order it in

Germany because you can't get Bibles in Portugal in English.

And so she says that's my Bible and she pulls it out.

She the exact same Bible, same colour from the same supplier in

Germany that ordered it in the same week that didn't even know

each other. It's like, I can tell you story

after story after story after story about it's like just

seeing these baptisms. We've had that many people in

the last two months fly from other countries, buy

international tickets to fly to Lisbon to be baptized in this

church because they met Jesus on holiday in Lisbon or they met

him in their period that they were living in Lisbon because

it's super transient, like half our church won't be living in

our city probably in the next four months to six months.

So it's like it's a very different dynamic.

It's hard because of that, but the reality is people are

meeting Jesus for the first time.

And because they're meeting him, they then go back.

And we had, we had a girl fly from Barcelona.

She was moving to India. She said I have to be baptized

before. It's a crazy story.

I won't get into of how she knew she had to get baptized and she

flew. She had one day left.

She flew from Barcelona to Lisbon.

Duncan baptized a whole bunch of our guys.

A girl flew last two weeks ago. She flew from Norway to be

baptized because I met her in the coffee shop and it's like we

had people fly from Germany. A couple who also went on this

new age journey and we were in Bali and they found a Bible and

they started reading it. They read the whole thing on

holiday. They came to Lisbon on the way

back to Germany, the first time they ever walked into a church

on Easter last year, Easter last, that that meeting that you

watched, there was the was the meeting that they were at.

And they just wept and wept and wept.

I walked them off to us and said what's going on?

And they said we read about it, but now we've seen it.

They've never seen anything like this.

So I can tell you about people that are flying international

tickets and then they flew back from Germany to be baptized.

It's just people are flying in to be baptized.

And yeah, there's a pool right there and no one in Pretoria has

to go anywhere to find Jesus because of 3C high.

And I was like, this is radical. You don't realize what we've got

because the whole of Europe doesn't have this and.

So, so if you were to look at your church, guesstimate how

many of them were saved into the church versus how many of them

came already as born again believers.

But where would you land that slider?

It's so hard because of the transient nature, but I'd say

more than half. More than half getting saved in

the. Church.

Yeah, something was still being saved.

Ashley Bell, we planted this church, had a phrase I'll never

forget, he said. People are waiting on the other

side of your obedience, and on behalf of three CR and the

elders and all your friends, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for being obedient, because people are waiting on

the other side of your obedience as people are waiting on the

other side of ours. In closing, how can we how can

we get behind you guys as a couple?

How can we get behind your family?

And how can we get behind the church?

Is there something you're going like?

Yo, if you can send us 100 people a month to do that, tell

us so. I mean, we always need prayer,

so Please remember us in your prayers.

But actually a story comes to mind.

A few years ago, Jeff and a couple of the elders got to go

into the Sunnyside to see the underworld, and they spoke to a

police officer there who wasn't a Christian.

And I mean everything inside of the guy's hearts.

We like, how can we help? How can we, how can we get

behind what you're doing? How can we make trafficking go

away or the drug scene go away or whatever and all?

She said. She said if you can just carry

on loving Jesus, loving people and keeping people from becoming

the problem that are causing the problems, the human problem, the

the, the, the human decay. If you can, if you can teach

people the truth, the the ways of God, this is an unbeliever

speaking, she said. Because that changes, That

changes the the, the demand. It changes everything.

And I think what I would love to say is that actually what we

need is people to to continue to be radical for Jesus, because it

doesn't matter where you are, God will God.

God is busy. And I know that's not a direct

thing to us. I'm talking very broadly here,

but I think it does have a ripple effect because everyone

of you knows someone in Europe. Everyone of you knows someone

here, even that God is working in their lives.

And I think if we can just remain in a place of freedom, if

we can remain in a place where we know that we are accepted and

we are redeemed, and then we can be secure in who we are and

authentic and real in who we are, and then just love people,

it will have an exponential ripple effect.

And I think that's our greatest cry, is actually that people

will really love one another in our church.

And because it's it's one thing to say it like I love you.

But when you're confronted with someone who doesn't look like

you want them to look and you think you need to fix them or

you or they speak in a certain way.

And it's not fitting your paradigm or there's a a conflict

or there's an offence and you need to forgive.

And it's very easy to say I love people but when it comes to the

nitty gritty, it's not easy. And so that's what we're

trusting for is that people get a radical, radical revelation of

the love of God, Jeff. If yeah, if you had to leave us

with a charge, what would that be?

I'm thinking of the 400 people who just joined today. 2 1/2

thousand that are part of the furniture.

You say something. To the. 400, yeah, I think.

I see a hospital pass here to Jane.

That's what's happening. I think again, it's that, it's

that thing of becoming secure, becoming a son and daughter of

God firstly and then the house, this home, this place.

When you become family, there should be a freedom to make

mistakes. There should be a freedom to be

yourself. There should be.

But then there's also that that time where the children grow up

and they start to take responsibility and they they

started to to move into the things of God and to partner

with him and what he's doing. And and I think as as people

coming into this church, don't let it just be a dutiful Sunday

Sunday attendance. Let it be something that.

And the church is way more than just these walls and this

building. The church is everywhere.

It's everywhere you are. The church is and and so carry

the gospel. Carry the message of of the

Kingdom with you and and and and really let God change you.

Let God just move through everything in your life and and

and and redeem you. Yeah, I'd.

Say this place, this place is amazing.

Look at this building. It's like this place is amazing.

This church is incredible. Like, I trust the leaders of

this church with my life, with my children's lives.

I trust Freedom City with this church.

We don't feel like Jeff and Jane Brenton planted a church, 3 CR

planted a church, and we just see it as an extension of this

there. We feel like it's one church in

some ways. And I'll say that because as

amazing as this is, if you're a consumer in this place, you're

going to get bored quickly. Even in such amazing place,

you're going to get bored. You're going to get up to

nonsense because you're going to get bored.

But if you're a contributor, it is so much more exciting to be

part of the contribution of God's forward momentum in

something as exciting as this. And then you start to be part of

it. You get pulled into it.

And like that thing that I started with where the gospel

takes hold of you, that's uncontrollable, Then you find

yourself in places with people that you never dreamed possible.

You find yourself doing things that you like in the scripture

said. You go before kings, and you

find yourself saying things that you never thought possible,

doing things you never dreamt of.

They're beyond your dreams. And so I want to say to you,

like, don't be a consumer in this place, be a contributor in

any little way, like I said, of our own lives, towards the step

of obedience of saying yes to God, like any little place,

inconvenience, silly, just do it.

Just say yes. I want to also just say to those

of you who have been here for a long time, the whole journey of

God with his people. We don't have to look far

through the book of Exodus. The whole journey of God with

his people is that he takes them and he says, OK, we're going to

do this. We're going to run away from

Egypt. And then I'm like, the Red Sea

is going to open like this, and this is what's going to happen.

And then they think, OK, cool, we know how God works.

And so Nick Davis leads this church.

One or two other people lead the church.

We see the goodness of God. I walked into that and I'm like,

OK, I know how God works. The problem is the next time God

works, he doesn't do the same thing.

And things start to change. And so we have to walk with God.

We don't have to walk. We can't create a picture of

what God's doing and then serve that picture.

He's not serving that picture. The Holy Spirit is moving

forward and he's taking a people on a journey.

And so if you've been here for a while, you think you know how

God's working in this church. You think you know the DNA of

this church, how God, no, no, no.

He's never going to work the same again.

And so when God decides to take another step, now it's going to

be the Jordan, then it's going to be this, then we're going to

go over a mountain. And you're like, why a mountain?

What's up with these leaders? Why they're taking us over a

mountain? Last time we just walked through

a Red Sea. It's like, could you walk with

Jesus? Could you open your eyes?

The criticism of the people was that you have eyes but you do

not see. You have ears but you do not

hear. The people of God always felt

trapped saying we want a king not a priest and it's like no

God's given. You priests, people that would

hear the voice of God lead you in a direction.

I want to say to you that have been here for a while, could you

also, You're the whispers of God.

Could you realize that when God moves differently to how he has

in the past, this is the most exciting season that this church

has ever walked into. And it's like you're about to

enter into something. You're one more step closer to

the promised land Kevin and Carolina are serving today.

I saw that lanyard over there over their necks.

I saw them carrying stuff. And I just thought, well done

for saying yes again and again and again.

And Tim Gillis says this. You, you have to cross the

betrayal barrier of moving from the past successes into the

future victories that God has for you, these battles that he

has for you. And if God, if Nick Davis was

right on that corner saying let's train up an army of

people, that'll take the good news of the gospel to the

nations, you're going to cross many betrayal barriers and say,

I have to say yes to God often and you have to sit next to

someone, you're going to have to inconvenience yourself.

The real hero, as Jane said it. I can tell you all the stories,

but those two kids over there, Kylie's amazing, but she'll do

anything fun. Those guys, they didn't choose

it, but they're choosing it and they're saying yes and we did

everything wrong that parents shouldn't do by doing this.

And they have had no sleep for 4 1/2 years and they have been

inconvenienced. And they've.

But they are strong. They can carry anything.

And I'm telling you when I look around, even in our church, the

children look weak compared to them.

And I want to say to your parents, do not, do not forfeit

your kids inheritance because of the inconvenience or causes for

you. You know how inconvenient it is

for us to like for have crying kids because they're tired?

You know how inconvenient it's been to make our kids do things

and feel like a a bad parent? Because parenting styles have

changed and we still want to stick to biblical truths and to

follow Jesus when he says follow me and to keep doing that, but

I'll keep doing it because it's made them stronger.

And like parents don't want to say, like, don't steal the

inheritance because it's easier for you to stick to rhythms and

do this and make sure we never inconvenienced and stretched

because they the ones that will suffer.

And look around the church world today, young people want to be

part of something great, but they don't want to carry the

responsibility. And I'm like, let us not be the

cause of another generation that will not carry responsibility

because we protected them too much.

Sorry, that was like that's. Very good.

Very good. I know you've asked for prayer,

but in closing, can we ask for prayer?

You know, you see in scripture the laying on of hands where

this impartation of a gift. And I can I ask you, would you,

would you pray for us? Would you stretch out your

hands? Something of this fire that

you've found that's been forged in the nations would come upon

us, upon this church, upon her call, upon her role and

responsibility in the city and in the nations, and then rules

going to close. Lord, we want to say like David,

we want to say with fear and trembling.

Yeah, we are. Lord, send us, send us into

three CI. Send us amongst the people.

Send us into the rattling hearts.

Send us into the lonely. Send us to the children of this

Church. Lord, send us in prayer.

Send us into the city of Pretoria.

Send us into this nation that desperately needs hope.

And then, Lord, send us into the nations that are barren and

bare. Lord, 45 church plants in Lisbon

in the last four years and 44 are closed, Lord, because cities

are waiting, desperately waiting for the hope of Jesus to come.

They're not waiting for institutions.

They're waiting for love, for people to be loved.

And I pray in this church, as I know the leaders of this church

have pointed everyone in this building towards the Father in

heaven that loves dearly. I pray that that love would

permeate in our hearts. I pray, Father, that not only

would we get a grasp of who you are, not only would we start to

understand how you work, but I pray the gospel would take hold

of us, Lord, The Kingdom of God that is forcefully advancing

would take hold of our hearts, Lord, that we could do no other.

That we would find ourselves taking steps of faith in our in

our jobs, taking steps of faith in our families there, taking

steps of faith in our relationships.

Lord, because we can do no other.

I pray that you would take hold of us.

A ruggedness would beset this Church, Lord.

An abandonment of our own possessions, an abandonment of

our own ideas and plans would take hold of us, Lord, where

there's something greater that takes hold of us.

Something that demands more but gives us the delight of our

souls. I pray that you would come over

to this Church, that you would love these people in a way that

changes their decision making. I pray that this church would

always be a place like it is right now that sows into the

nations, that the nations of this world will be blessed

before you come back with love, with generosity, with faith,

with with people of peace. And I pray God that you would

raise up men and women in this place with fire in their eyes

and a burning belly, saying I can do no other Jesus name.

I'm not sure if Andres and Zeli also here.

Are you here this morning? And they come morning and

sometimes evening? Are they here?

Andres and Zeli, Where are you? Zeli, What are you?

Anisa Kan yose na kani Zeli Sini.

Where vaaz Zeli says da komisa ko ko Zeli.

I just want you to to look at become Satya Zeli.

But next to Mel just put your hand, your the camera on Jeff's

right arm and Jane's left arm. Just put that there come Satya

Zeli. You know what those mocks are?

You know them. You think we will just sit here

and think like a really radical couple counting for God?

And they like, they dress trendy and they're all tattooed up.

And it's it's really cool. But Zelle's gonna tell you what

those tattoos mean. Oh, let me just stand here with

you. OK, so seven years ago, this

beautiful couple had the privilege of receiving a baby

with Down syndrome, not knowing what it meant, scared of what

the future holds. And God chose them to be the

parents. And he chose those two kids to

be the siblings of an incredible, incredible gift.

And this statue, it's 3 arrows showing up and it it means the

lucky few. It's a symbol of the lucky few,

and it resembles parents worldwide who are lucky to have

a child in their homes with Down syndrome.

So and it's just incredible how the world looks at kids and

people with Down syndrome and God wants to change that and and

he considers us lucky to have a child with special needs and and

I just want to honour you the way that you you carry this mark

and if people ask you about it then you have the privilege to

share. Yes.

And may your may your daughter know the day that she was born,

we celebrated her birth where when my son was born with Down

syndrome, we received sympathy cards the day of his birth,

flowers and cards which said we we sympathize with the birth of

your son. And when I hear a baby with Down

syndrome born into a family, I say yes, yes.

How lucky you are. So, so yeah, this is just

incredible. We love you.

So what's stopping you going? Because their whole support

system is in South Africa. And Jane comes from a family

where her sister had Down syndrome and her parents never

stopped at serving Jesus. And so she knew when she had a

Down syndrome child, it could completely affect the whole way

they do life. I just looked at those tattoos

and I thought, those are marks of unbelievable faith.

You are heroes of this church, Jeff and Jane.

And they go, well, why did you come today?

Because we honor people. We glorify God, but we honor

people. I love you.

I really, really love you. I pray for you every day.

And I'm so proud of you. And it's incredible just to stop

everything sometimes and just say, hey, hey, this is what it's

about. It's about our family and our

friends. I want to put a a picture up on

the. It's called Lisbon is on.

This is in Harry Smith. My business is in Harry Smith.

And for those who don't know, when Jeff and Jane came and

spoke to me the following day, I went to Harry Smith on business

and I was driving through town. And you can see the L of the

window at the bottom is broken and the B is broken and it just

says Lisbon is on. You say, how did God speak to me

like that in a Portuguese fruit and veggie shop in Harry Smith?

I don't know, just keep it up there.

I don't know what the top part of it of your story is, but I

want to tell you the bottom part.

It's on. It's on.

Your healing is on. Your redemption is on.

Your baptism is on. Can you imagine how God used

stones or something to break the L and the B?

To just speak to a dumb pastor from Pretoria in Harry Smith

about the beautiful DNA that he's given to you?

I want to say we're so proud of you, but today is like you're

standing on the stage with a yes in your heart to every person

here. And you might say to say, God,

how can I ever get healed? Healing is on.

Healing is on. Restoration is on those little

tattoos. God knows your children better

than you do. He knows them better than you

do. Heavenly Father thank you for

Jeff and Jane for Tay Tay for Kylie travel.

Lord God, thank you for this family.

Thank you for every person in this church that has made it

possible for us to plant churches.

Thank you for your generosity to us over many, many years.

Thank you for three stripes and an arm.

And thank you for a Portuguese passport.

What passport have you got? Why are you here this morning?

I just want to say these two words over your life.

It's on. It's on.

It's on.