Skin in the Game | Ps Melanie Politanski

Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast.

Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to

take hold of. So we hope this message inspires

you and build your faith, but it helps you have more of a God

perspective for your day. Enjoy.

I know what you are feeling because I'm feeling it too.

There's been multiple opportunities in this service

already to respond, am I right? This is a service of activation.

Maybe just tell the person beside you, Are you ready to

respond? Justine, when she let out in

that beautiful song of consecration a moment where we

got real with the Lord and said, I'm desperate for you and you

are the only thing I'm seeking could have said at that moment,

come on everybody, shoes off. This place is holy ground

because the Spirit of the Lord is here.

And when Pastor Rach came and LED, she could have literally

finished the meeting there for it warranted a response from us

that each and every one of us are called to serve all of us.

There are no spectators in this building today, I promise you,

although they're wonderful to attend, today is not a

basketball game. I as a church do not want to be

deemed as a sport because we're only as good as our last game.

We as a church are participants and partners with God with what

He wants to do. And I can tell you now that God

is not finished with us yet. He is not finished with our

great nation of Australia. For it is a prophetic

declaration over us that we are the great Southland of the Holy

Spirit. And so Pastor Nicole could have

also literally had us respond and say I will commit.

But I promise you, if you had any of those moments this

morning and you were like, I wish they would have just called

us forward, there will be an opportunity yet because you and

I were not supposed to sit down. I am tempted to leave you there.

Tempted. But I too have also got a little

bit of a thing happening on the side of my back right here.

So I have grace because that is the Lord grace and truth

together. So you may take your seats this

morning, but don't get comfortable.

Don't get comfortable this morning.

Because I can tell you this morning warrants a response.

It warrants a response not just from me, not just from the team,

not just those who have passed it before their name, not just

for the young people because they've got energy and maybe

time, but it warrants a response for each and every one of us.

You were born for such a time as this.

You are not an accident. And somebody needs to hear that

this morning. You were never an accident.

You were formed and planned by God for this moment in history.

You are here for a purpose. I am here for a purpose.

And what I want this morning for you to catch, as I share this

morning, just for a few minutes, what God is about to do in our

region through this church. I want you to think for a

moment, is there a possibility he's going to use me, not just

me, but you. I wonder if even before we start

this, this morning, if you'd be brave enough, whether it be out

loud or under your breath to say, God, are you seriously

calling me? Are you commissioning me?

Is there a purpose for me in this plan?

Would you right now, just right where you are, Why don't you

close your eyes? I want you to put the challenge

out. If you're brave this morning and

ask the question of the Lord, have you called me?

Lord, have you called me? Am IA part of this plan?

I could answer this for you this morning with a simple yes,

because every single person on planet earth has been created

for a purpose and not just to exist, but to leave a mark on

this world for Jesus to leave a legacy of people who follow in

the faith because of your faith. But I wanted to create a moment

this morning before I started to allow you to ask the Holy Spirit

because I trust the Holy Spirit speaks and He can speak to you.

And way better than hearing words from me this morning that

might lift your spirit or put a fire in your belly.

One word from the Lord and you'd be unstoppable.

So I wonder if for those of you who take notes, if right at the

beginning, your notes before my title comes out, would you ask

that question in your notes? God, what part of this plan is

for me? Would you put it up there and

seek the Lord over that this week?

Because there is something for us to do as a church and I can

tell you now we've all got to be part of it for us to see it come

to pass. Church, we are not here by

accident. God has positioned this church,

City Point, Caboolture and the churches that we have impact

over City Point Bribie. He has placed us here in this

city for a 'cause that is greater than comfort.

You and I have been called to bring spiritual and social

transformation to this city. Not someday, not in a few years

time, not just for the young ones when they grow up and they

rise up and they do something. But right now, say right now,

right now is our time in our city.

And God has given us a cause and it that's in this time that we

the church say we the church are to partner with him to see it

become a reality. There is a cause burning in the

heart of God for this city. Does anybody else here this

morning believe that God is for our city?

Does anybody else here believe that God has a plan for this

city? Now, here's a really honest

question. Do you think we are living in

the reality of it today or is there still work to do?

There is still work to do. We are not called to be

spectators. In his story that he is writing

for this city. We, you and I say I, I have been

called to pass Patna in the mission that God has entrusted,

say entrusted me, say entrusted me, He's entrusted you with for

this sitting. And God today is asking you and

I, every single one of us, if you, if I would put skin in the

game for his purpose, for this sitting skin in the game.

I'm going to read this morning or I'm going to share this

morning from a passage of scripture in one Samuel 17.

And in this chapter, it is a story about a young boy called

David. He's just a youth.

In actual fact, he's a shepherd. I was pondering on this this

morning because I like to put myself actually into the Bible

story and either create an additional character called Mel,

Mel and David, or sometimes try to picture what it would be

like. But that's a bit awkward because

I am not a David. But I do have a fairly good and

vivid imagination. And so I was thinking about

this, and I'm wondering today why we don't have Staffs,

shepherd Staffs. Do you know when Joshua said,

like Pastor Rachel said today, As for me, in my house, we will

serve the Lord. He would have had a staff.

So when he drew a line in the sand, he could literally draw a

line in the sand. I love this literal stuff.

I would be a shepherd and have a shepherd's staff just so that I

could go here and no father to the enemy.

Does anybody else feel like that sometimes where you go, there it

is. Don't try and cross it.

This land, this space, this thing that we have been called

to possess, we are going to do spiritual warfare in and we're

going to see victory. And the enemy can come this far

and no father. Come on, Who else wants a staff?

Staffs for everybody in church next week now this young man

David, he, he's just a shepherd. His job, his day job is not at

the KFC drive through. It's looking after the animals

before they get there. But it's an important job

because the quality of the meat is important.

We care about this today, right? So his job is to look after

this. And of course, in this space,

nobody would have called him a warrior.

Nobody would have called him a soldier, right?

But in this particular chapter, in chapter 17 in Juan Samuel,

David's father sends him to the battle lines where the rest of

the brothers are now. Daniel is the runt of the

family. He's the youngest.

Anybody any other runts in the family here?

I'm not. I'm the eldest.

So I am about to be heard in the Bible as the bossy older

brother. All right.

In this particular passage, he gets sent to the battle lines

with food just to give them food because the battle has been

going on a long time, 40 days, in fact, right now.

I think it's interesting that the Bible calls it a battle

because in reality it's a camp and quite an uneventful game.

It doesn't look like youth camp. There are no young men and women

with a fire in their belly who say we can take this city in

this camp. There is a lot of people sitting

around campfires having a whinge about the other camp and about

the terrible things that are happening in the life of that

camp. And they are in actual fact,

being influenced and impacted by the other camp.

It's a significant story. But we come down to this

particular part of the story where David gets into camp.

He actually hears this big dude. His name is Goliath.

If you were here in our Christmas season, you would have

seen our epically amazing Christmas trees on the edge of

the stage. They were Goliath sized

Christmas trees. Gives you a little bit of

context with his helmet and all, he would have got pretty close

to the top. But he wasn't just triangle

shaped. He was built like a brick.

All right. When the when you read this

passage, it describes what his armor had to be like, what his

spear had to be like, the weight of them.

It was significant. And so the Israelites, the camp

that David is going to, because his brothers are part of this

army, are listening to the taunts of this giant and are

sitting around the camp immobilized.

They are afraid. And David rolls into camp, and I

love this because he's just such a great young punk.

He says things like, has anybody heard what he's saying?

Who's is anybody going to do something about it, send

somebody out who's going to do something about this and his Big

Brother. So this would have been my role.

OK. His Big Brother comes out and

goes, would you shut up? Who are you?

I know exactly who you are and where you should be.

Go back and look after your little sheep.

That's all you're good for. All right, Go back.

You have no business getting involved in this.

And David says this statement, well, I'd love, I actually love

it because it is not a complete statement by just saying, is

there not a 'cause he actually says, what have I done now?

Typical little brother statement.

What have I done now to the Big Brother?

And then then he goes like a receiving interaction with the

brother and then a beautiful big spiritual slap.

Is there not a cause? What David is actually saying

is, is there not a man who can see what is before us and whom

we stand with? Is there not something greater

than this thing that is taunting?

Is there not ground and land to possess over here?

Has the Lord not said this is the great S land of the Holy

Spirit? Then why do we sit here and go,

SH, I know exactly who you are, Go back to KFC, serve your

chicken. This, you're out of place.

You're not a warrior, you're a shepherd.

But David asks this poignant question.

He says, is there not a 'cause now I need to tell you, church,

that this scenario we don't see often, that I, I haven't

actually witnessed a David and Goliath slingshot moment in my

life in the last 44 years, but I see the scenario every day over

and over and over and over and over.

There are modern day Goliaths that you encounter, that I

encounter, maybe you even experience every single day of

the week. And it echoes this same story.

They are circumstances that taunt God's people today, and

they leave us immobilized and they have us sitting around in

circles in the cafe or at camp talking about consumed by these

Goliaths. Can I just give you a few?

Maybe you have seen these in our city.

Maybe you're experiencing them. I want to tell you this morning

what God says about them and your part to play in it.

Here are some of the modern Goliaths, the Goliath of fear.

Fear that whispers you are not enough, you cannot overcome, you

cannot win, and God will not come through.

We see the Goliath of anxiety and mental health and exhaustion

in this region, and it says that the constant mental war thou

shouts louder than God's peace. This is a lie.

It is a false lie, but it stands in our region like a Goliath.

We have the Goliath of family breakdown that says the enemy is

taunting people with generational patterns.

It's taunting that division in a family unit is OK and that

hopelessness in homes is normal. Another modern Goliath is the

Goliath of addiction, that substances and screens and

habits and cycles that say you will never be free.

Come on this morning, let's get real.

These Goliaths are not just found in our city.

They're often found in our lives and many of you this morning as

I am even saying them out might go.

That's my Goliath has been taught in me for long enough.

I wonder if you were this morning as I go through them

would have the courage to say is there not a cause, A cause great

enough to face Goliath? The Goliath of financial

pressure, bills, debt, rising costs, yelling God cannot

provide, you must provide. The Goliath of isolation and

loneliness, the lie that says no one sees you, no one cares, you

are on your own. The Goliath of identity

confusion that has a generation hearing daily you are whatever

culture says you are. God doesn't define you.

The Goliath of cultural pressure, a world that mocks

holiness, purity, conviction, taunting believers, saying why

stand for God? Just blend in.

The Goliath of broken dreams, the ache of disappointment,

saying it's too late, nothing will ever change.

And the Goliath of sickness, oh, this is a one that loves to be

glorified. And it taunts and it shouts.

It says diagnosis and uncertainty shout louder than

the promises of God. Come on.

The Goliath of shame and past mistakes.

The voice that says you can't be used, God can't redeem that.

The Goliath of spiritual apathy, the subtle taunt that says just

stay comfortable, don't give, don't serve, don't grow, don't

change, stay comfortable. 13 The Goliath attacking our children

and our young people. This huge.

Dark influences, peer pressure, screens and confusion.

Mocking God's plan for the next generation to carry the Spirit

of God across this nation #14 the the Goliath of division.

This one loves to taunt the church.

Conflict, offense, church hurt and relational fractures.

Saying God's people can never walk in unity.

It's a lie. I wonder if you believe that

this morning. It's a lie.

God's people can can we can, we can walk in unity.

The Goliath over our city, the brokenness, addiction, violence

and poverty and spiritual darkness that taunts us.

And here's what this Goliath shouts.

The church can't change anything.

The city is too far gone. I can tell you now, church, that

our God is greater than any Goliath.

And you know, he partners with us like he partnered with a

teenage boy to deal with Goliaths.

That means he partners with you and I.

He didn't partner with a seasoned soldier.

He partnered with a boy who was willing and out of fire in his

belly in the faith to go, my God is bigger than this giant.

He didn't not see the giant. He didn't not hear the taunt,

but he had the fire in his belly enough to say, Is there not a

cause like Goliath? These situations mock God's

power, imitate God's people, paralyze believers, defy God's

promises, and challenge the identity of the church.

But today, with my hypothetical staff, I draw a line in the

sand. And I say for us, As for me and

my house, we're going to do something different.

We're going to serve the Lord, say we're going to serve the

Lord. And when we do, it's going to

actually have an impact. And we're going to see things in

our city that is not happening in other cities around

Australia. Does anybody here have the faith

to believe that we could be the epicenter for revival in this

nation? Not so that we hit the news, but

that so our city comes to Jesus and our discipled and have an

impact all over this world. I've got the faith for it.

I live for it. It's the reason I get up in the

morning. It's the reasons you came in to

open doors today. I know you thought it was air

con in relief of the heat, but I promise you there is a fire in

here that is greater than the heat outside and I pray this

morning that it touches you, even if just a little bit sets

you on fire. I can't sit still, I can't

remain comfortable because there are Goliaths who are taunting,

taunting the next generation, taunting our city, taunting your

workmates, taunting the people in your schools.

And all it takes is a young man who says, is there not a cause?

Or a young woman, a man or a woman who says, is there not a

cause? Do you know the same spirit that

empowered David dwells in us, in the church today.

He dwells in you. That is what His Word says.

And these Goliaths only fall when God's people stop standing

on the sidelines and they ask the same question asked.

Is there not a 'cause this question by David was on a

battlefield long before he ever became a king?

This. This wasn't poetic, it wasn't

reflective, and it wasn't gentle.

This was confrontational. It's confrontational.

If you go away after the service today and read through that

chapter so that you get the fullness to what is happening in

this book, you will see it as a confrontation to the people

sitting around him. David doesn't just say it once.

He leaves the conversation with his brother and he goes and

continues to have the conversation with others in the

camp. And I believe the Holy Spirit is

asking the same question of us in this church today.

Is there not a cause? Because God has placed us in

this region not by accident, but for a reason, for a purpose.

He has a plan and that plan, that purpose is to see spiritual

and social transformation for this whole region.

That it would be unrecognizable in the statistics when you do

your senses that it will not have the same statistics.

I am tired of watching and reading the same statistics.

I am tired of watching some of the infrastructure in our area

have to grow larger and larger and larger to support Goliaths.

And so church, I ask you today, would you get ready to respond?

Because we're going to respond because God is calling each and

everyone of us to be part of this.

Is there not a 'cause it's not a slogan.

This is a mandate for you and I. It is our mission walking

forward from today. And it is a cause worth living

for. That is the the the title of my

message this morning for those of you who love to take notes is

skin in the game. This is our part to play in this

'cause that God has for us at his skin in the game.

Why does it require skin in the game from you and I?

Number one, it's very simple. God never moves without

partnership. He never moves without your eye.

He moves with us. From the beginning, God has

invited His people into mission. He could have saved Noah and his

family, but he asked him to build an ark.

He could have delivered Israel without Moses.

Truthfully, he could have just smited it.

Wait, right? But he didn't.

He asked Moses to confront Pharaoh.

Jesus could have fed 5000 people without anybody's help.

But he asked the disciples, what do you have?

What do you have, Dan? What do you have, Wayne?

That's what he asked. Now I have a full confidence.

I know how many people I can feed on my own.

That's pretty good. But he didn't do it alone.

He literally said to his disciples, what do you have?

Elijah said to the woman with the jars.

How many jars do you have? Now go and get them from others.

He partners with us. Why?

Because relationship always requires partnership.

We use the church. We love God's promises.

We love to stand on them, We love to clean them.

But we often hesitate at God's processes, but the Kingdom of

God advances through people who say God whatever you ask I'm in.

I wonder if that could be the cry of your spirit even right

now in this message. OK go on.

I'm in and Church of our vision is truly to bring social and

spiritual transformation to our city.

It's not going to be fulfilled by good ideas, good ideals, or

good intentions. It's also not going to be

completed by gathering in this beautiful place and sitting.

It's going to require an active and alive a serving,

participating with God group of people who decide this is the

cause. And He's called me to it.

It will be fulfilled by people who carry the weight, who show

up, who serve, who sacrifice, who say God, you can use me.

That's skin in the game. And if God always invites us

into partnership, then what he, what does he have if that's what

he always does first? Why does He do this before he

sends us? What does he do before he sends

us? Has anybody figured it out?

Who's done anything at all significant for the Lord?

Who has witnessed to somebody and seen them come to Christ?

Incredible. Who has had the opportunity to

lay hands on somebody and see them recover from sickness?

Come on, these things that we do when God partners with us

require something to happen first.

Say first, God is a God of order.

He's not a God of chaos. I promise you that.

When we say we just want to invite the Holy Spirit to come

and do exactly what He's going to do, I promise you He's going

to do exactly what He wants to do because he's not me.

If we really want the Holy Spirit to come and do exactly

what He wants to do, it starts at a place.

It starts at a place of consecration.

And so if God always invites us into partnership, then what He

does before he sends us, before advancement, before we take

ground, before there is a breakthrough, He brings each and

every one of us to a place of consecration.

And I want to talk about this a little bit this morning because

if we are truly going to have an impact in our region, and if

we're going to grab a hold of the cause, don't be surprised if

God calls you first to consecrate your life to Him, not

just in salvation, but a laying down of everything.

Because before advancement comes consecration.

I want to talk a minute, just for a minute, about one of the

strongest partnership moments in Scripture.

It's in Joshua 5. It's quite a wild story, right?

Joshua and the Israelite camp have travelled their distance,

their 40 years in the in the desert, and they have finally

crossed and they are standing in the promised land.

But before them stands Jericho, a fortified city, another

external expression of Goliath. All right.

And they're standing right here in Joshua 5, right?

Israel's crossed the door, and they're standing in their

promise, but they don't have full access to it.

There is a fortified giant in front of them.

Jericho is ahead. Victory is close, And God says

something completely unexpected to Joshua.

You ready? It's not charge and it happens

before. Walk around the city and I'll

cause it to fall. A faith journey, he says.

It's a skin in the game moment. You ready?

He says. Circumcise the men again.

I'm not trying to be crass. I promise you there is something

significant to be found here for you and I.

This is, it's not just the weird gore and the stuff in the Bible

that we go, oh, that's not for me.

Everything is there for a reason and it teaches you and I

something. He says.

God says to Joshua, circumcise the men again.

They are standing in front of a fortified city that literally is

a threat to the nation. God says, circumcise the men

again. This was painful.

This was vulnerable and it was costly.

Now this had been done. The reason why it says again,

this had been done many, many years before.

This command was given to Moses in the desert and the men who

had left Egypt. This had taken place.

But for those who had been born along the way, those who had

come upon come into the journey and had learnt from the men

before them, this had not been done.

And so God asked for consecration to deal with what

had come before, before He advanced them forward.

Some of you today are wondering why that door is not swung wide

open before you and ground has not been able to put been

possessed. But He's been calling you to

consecration. First, allow me to deal with

what has come before. I know that you love me, and I

know that you've accepted me, and I know that I am your Lord

and Savior, but I actually want to do in you a work that will

deal with you, deal in you what has come before, so that when

you take on the promises, you don't take the old man with you.

And so he brings us to this place of consecration.

This particular thing would have put them at great risk, for they

could not fight or defend themselves for a series of time.

It's a vulnerable place, and yet it is a journey God takes each

and every one of us on if we're going to possess what He wants

for us in the future, if we're going to take that ground, why

would God do that? Why?

Because God refuses to advance a people who are not consecrated

to Him. He didn't want warriors with

swords in that moment. He wanted followers with

surrender. Circumcision in Scripture is so

significant for you and I today. Circumcision in Scripture is so

significant because it actually represents covenant.

It is a marking, a setting apart and a declaration that I fully

belong to the Lord. We fully belong to the Lord in

this passage. That's exactly what these men

were declaring. We fully belong to the Lord.

No covenant, no conquest, no consecration, no Jericho, no

skin in the game, no promised Land.

It's significant. God calls each and every one of

us into this consecration time, this consecrated space, this

consecrated attitude in covenant with Him so that we are poised

and ready to possess all that He has for US.

Church. If we want to see spiritual and

social transformation in our city, if we want to see soul

saved, families restored and together, if we want to see

young people disciple, addiction broken, and the name of Jesus

Christ lifted up in this city all over this region, then it

starts with us and it starts in a place of consecration.

And God is asking us today, will you be consecrated?

Will you be marked by me? Will you let me prepare you

before I send you? If consecration comes before

conquest, then what does ownership look like for us

facing a giant or a fortified city in front of us?

David exhibited this in the passage where he says, is this

not a cause? David owned the situation and he

made it his own. He made it his responsibility.

I believe for the last number of years, God has been calling men

and women all over this house and in this region and been

asking them to take responsibility for this region.

And it's not just leaders and it's not just people in ministry

right now. I honestly believe that that

call has been going out by the Holy Spirit for about 5 years

now and that seeds have been planting and been planted in

people's spirit. And he's been fanning that flame

and saying, come on, come on, I'm inviting you to partner with

this. You're going to see something so

extraordinary in your lifetime. But would you come be

consecrated before me and then take responsibility for what

I've entrusted you with? Don't sit on your hands any

longer, but rise up and take responsibility.

Because the difference in David's statement compared to

the rest of the camp was ownership.

When David arrived at the battlefield, he saw the same

giant that Israel saw, but he had something different than

what they had. He had ownership.

Israel said someone else should deal with this, soul should deal

with this. David said this is my battle and

there is a cause. Israel saw danger, David saw

responsibility. Israel said it's not my problem,

it's not my season, I'm not equipped.

The leaders should handle it, the next generation should

handle it. And David says this.

Who was this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies

of the living God? He speaks out who ultimately he

stands with, Who is partnered with him, who he is consecrated

to? Who's this uncircumcised

Philistine? Who is this Goliath that taunts?

I am in covenant with the Lord. I am in partnership with the

Lord and he will go with me. David invoked covenant, the mark

of ownership. He understood God is with me, so

I'm stepping in. And so David when moved.

So when David moved, heaven moved.

When David stepped forward, God stepped in in the most unlikely

ways, but that's exactly how God does it so that he gets the

glory church. The difference between passive

Christianity. And a transformer.

Transformer can't even say it. Transformational Christianity is

very, very simple. It's ownership.

We say, I will take responsibility.

When we, the church, carry ownership, revival can break

out. When we, the church, carry

ownership, this city gets transformed.

When we, the church, carry ownership, giants in this region

get slain. Come on, church.

When we, the church, carry ownership, the enemy is defeated

here. This is why our vision cannot be

something that we admire. It must be something that we

carry. We exist to bring spiritual and

social transformation to the city.

I wonder if you would say it with me this this morning.

I exist to bring spiritual and social transformation to the

city. Let's say it again, I exist to

bring spiritual and social transformation to the city.

If you are taking responsibility and have ownership for this,

this morning, I wonder if you would stand to your feet in this

moment and say with me, I exist to bring spiritual and social

transformation to this city because church, it requires a

response. It requires a response from you

and I. It requires a movement, an army

of people that exist to bring. That means to serve, that means

to be involved in. That means not to sit around and

talk about, but engage in and say where do you need me?

What do you want of me, Lord? How can I help?

Here I am, Lord. Send me in this moment right

now. I believe it elicits a response.

Not just the standing 2 feet, but before God sends us, before

there is ground taken, there is a moment of consecration.

And so in this beautiful atmosphere and presence of the

Holy Spirit, I wonder if if you truly are saying this morning, I

exist. This is my purpose.

This is why God has got me here for such a time as this.

I will not stand by or sit by and watch my region be torunted

by Goliath anymore. I exist to partner with the Lord

and just marvel at what He does when in a place of consecration.

I give my life to Him wholeheartedly, fully

sacrificially and say here I am. Use me.

I'm not going to leave this earth and have not partnered

with you and seen transformation all over the city, if that is.