Week 1 ABLE 2

Hey, Go Church Family, welcome back to part one out of three for our July series titled

Able to.

Able to.

I am able to.

I am able to as well.

That is true about me.

Such a play on words.

You know, I was just thinking about our grow groups.

I love the Go Church as a groups centered church.

And I wanted to just say this.

You know, if you have someone in your life and you're thinking, I would love to introduce

them to first my church family, but also I really just want them to get to know Jesus,

bring them to a grow group.

You know, we have Alpha and Alpha is a great place for people that have no church background,

don't know Jesus.

We have basics that is a great place for people to learn about what we believe.

But grow groups are a great place to learn about who we are as a church family.

And you know, one of the reasons why we do the welcome at all of our grow groups is so

that it's a safe place for new visitors to come for us to always invite our friends and

family.

And I just want to encourage you, you know, think about people that you could bring to

a grow group so they could get to know us and more than get to know us, get to know

Jesus.

And right along with that, if you know someone that needs a miracle, needs healing in their

body, needs a miracle in their life, bring them to grow group.

The Bible says pray one for another.

The Bible says that the effective prayer of a righteous person makes tremendous power

available.

And you know, our grow groups are full of righteous people.

Because Jesus has made them righteous.

That's 2 Corinthians chapter five verse 21.

So as we, you know, we do it every grow group, we pray one for another.

Let's not forget that and you know, bring people in and pray one for another.

Amen.

That's absolutely right.

And we lean on the word of God.

We lean on His promises.

We lean on who He is.

That's what's so special at Go Church Beirut is that, you know, thank God for our leaders,

thank God for the people who volunteer and every single person who plays a role.

But in these kind of things, we don't rely on people.

We rely on the word of God.

So all we need to do is lean on the word of God.

This is what the word of God says concerning your situation or concerning this part of

your life.

And we're just going to believe that what the Lord says is more true than what you're

dealing with.

And that thing must change.

And we can have great confidence in that because the Lord is not through blessing you.

That's right.

Amen.

I've just been singing that to myself.

You should sing it to us as well.

Well, I don't know that you would enjoy that near as much.

So I also do want to say that in case you missed the message at the big Sunday, you can listen

to it right here on our podcast that's available.

We like to make all these things available on podcasts so you can not only hear it for

the first time in case you missed it, but so that you can go back and listen to it again

and again and again.

Because we don't only believe that it is Pastor Matt preaching or someone else preaching.

We believe that we are drawing by faith the things that the Holy Spirit is trying to tell

us as a church.

So by believing for utterance through the speakers and through what the different ministry teams

are doing in the church, we can hear personally directly from the Lord.

Praise God.

And so I encourage you to go back and listen to the podcast and hear what not what Pastor

Matt said on Sunday, but what the Holy Spirit is saying to you through Pastor Matt.

Amen.

So let's get right into the series.

We are able to, and that's what we're talking about all month.

So let's talk about the purpose of our series.

We want everyone in the Go Church family to know that through God's supernatural ability,

we are able to see, able to say and able to do things that the world around us cannot.

We are able to break down limits to emerge into the place God has called us individually

and as a church.

Yeah.

And that word emerge there is key because it refers to a prophetic word or what we would

say just, you know, to define that and inspired by the Holy Spirit utterance that came to

Go Church at the end of April and you can actually go back on the same podcast channel

and listen to that.

It's just titled Emerge by Pastor Joel Sims and I would encourage you if you haven't listened

to that recently, I would listen to it again.

Yeah, that's right.

So we're still on the same key scripture.

We're still in the same key scripture that we've been looking at since the beginning

of June in this series that we called able and now able to and the scripture is second

Corinthians chapter nine verse eight and God is able to make all grace abound towards

you that you always having all sufficiency of all things may have an abundance for every

good work.

You know, just and we're going to talk more about this in our groups, but I would encourage

you.

Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthians, not in chapters and verse, but like you would

write a letter, you know, he would, he wrote it along themes in paragraphs and really the,

the, this verse eight is part of a larger, you know, text about the same subject.

And if you want to kind of get the context of this, go back to chapter eight verse one

and start reading from there and read through, through the end of chapter nine or, you know,

down past.

That's right.

First 13 maybe.

But I would just encourage you to get the context of that.

That's right.

I mean, when I, when I read those, those chapters, I really get the themes of the ability to

give to God's things, the ability to do more and the ability to have more financial

potentially for purpose and for a Godly life.

Yeah.

Cause we're applying the able to message generally, but this verse specifically is, is talking

about finances and it certainly applies to finances.

You know, if you are afraid of speaking publicly, I'm telling you that God has made you able

to overcome that fear.

But these verses specifically are talking about financial provision.

That's right.

This month.

So we're, we're, we're in basically week one of week three for our discussion on able

to, and we are focusing on able to see.

So Pastor Mark, tell us what you mean by able to see.

Well, when we were talking about, you know, able, it automatically lends itself to able

for what, for what is the, what is the something that we are now enabled in.

So I, when I was looking at this, I thought about three different, three different things

that we could look at from the scripture.

And the first one is we're able to see and that purpose, you know, we want everyone to,

to start with seeing, because I think from the scriptures, we can see this pattern that

the people that are able to see something that others can't can do things that others

can't and they can receive things that others don't.

There are so many amazing examples in the Bible.

Exactly.

And when we talk about them, because we're about to talk about a couple, I find this

so interesting, especially that it flows from last month's discussions and last month's

discussions in week three, we talked about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

And we talked about two key components, which is the wisdom of God and the power of God.

So wisdom is what the Lord gives us concerning knowing where to go or what to do for in line

with His will, His purposes.

And a corresponding action means that we position ourselves to see the power of God in operation.

And I think that able to see is really, really, really close in line with able to do something

with the wisdom of God.

That's exactly right.

And I find that so interesting because it takes us, this is where we get to work with

the purpose of God.

So think about it, think about the language of when you're struggling with a concept,

for example, and then suddenly you understand it.

You often hear someone say, ah, I see that now.

I see it.

And that's the seeing that I'm talking about.

There are just some people, like they can't see a way out of their situation.

They can't see a way out of their diagnosis.

They can't see a way out of living and surviving on prescription medicine or a particular kind

of care.

They can't see themselves living free from that.

I want, I want us to move to a place where we're able to see.

We're able to see the inheritance that we have received in Christ made ours.

Praise God.

Pastor Matt, you have a story that you wanted to share about Jesus.

I really liked this when you shared it with me initially about what happened here and

as a result, Jesus reveals the purpose behind the action.

So we're referring to Mark chapter 14, which takes place following the resurrection of Lazarus.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And Mark chapter 14, I'm just going to read this from verses three through six, and then

Mark 14 · chapter mention

I'll read verses eight and nine.

As Jesus sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil.

And the scripture defines what kind of oil that was.

It was a spiked art.

But what it is is very costly.

Why is it very costly?

Well, it's costly because it's precious.

It's costly because it's scarce.

It's costly because other resources were invested to make it and to make it hers.

Then she, this is Mary, the sister of Lazarus.

Then she broke the flask and poured it on Jesus head.

Verse four says, but there were some who were indignant among themselves indignant.

So a funny word, actually, it means they didn't act right.

That's literally the simple definition of that.

They didn't act right.

And those that some those people, those are the disciples of Jesus.

Why was this fragrant oil wasted?

Notice that the scripture says that that question is not right.

So this lady, Mary breaks a very costly flask of oil over Jesus and the disciples, they

don't act right.

And they ask this question.

Why was this fragrant oil wasted?

Notice that they saw waste in her giving.

Verse five, for it might have been sold for more than 300 denarii and given to the poor,

300 denarii is about a year's wage for a working adult.

And they criticized her sharply, verse six, but Jesus said, let her alone.

Why do you trouble her?

She has done a good work for me.

She has done what she could.

Notice that she has done what she could.

She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial.

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this

woman has done will be told as a memorial to her.

Look at the look at the setting there in someone's house and Mary brings this very costly oil

and breaks it over Jesus.

It's obviously an act of worship.

She's doing this from a place of love.

In essence, she's saying that everything, everything about Jesus is worth more than this

precious thing that I have.

And so I'm going to take this thing that I have, which is according to the world standards,

precious, which is scarce, which is finite.

And I'm going to invest it in something eternal and unlimited.

Why that's so big for me is everyone that's there.

And if you're there, you're probably there for a reason, right?

You're there because you are also very invested in what Jesus is doing, right?

The other people there, Peter, John, Bartholomew, these are the fellows that are around the table

and Judas.

You know what?

It says in verse three, the beginning of verse three, it says they were at the house of Simon,

the leper.

Yeah.

Who's he?

I'm pretty sure he's not a leper anymore.

He was the leper, right?

So they're actually at a dinner of the miraculous.

It's all about miracle power.

And in that setting, the disciples, they only see waste in what she's doing.

But Jesus revealed meaning in what she gave.

He opened up seeing for her that, Hey, this thing that you did, it's tied to my eternal

purpose.

It's so big.

It's so big.

And then these words just stand off to the page to me, stand off to the, you know, stand

up off the page to me.

I tell you, Jesus said, I tell you wherever this gospel is preached, this will be told

as a memorial to her.

It's not a memorial to Jesus.

Her giving created a memorial for her.

We're talking about able to see something.

The disciples of Jesus starting with Judas.

And this is significant because immediately after this, Judas went and made the deal to

turn Jesus over to the Pharisees.

Interesting fact, he agreed on a price that was 10% of the value of this offering.

That's how that's how blind Judas had become.

And this is something that I think everyone should recognize because if there's one place

to see truth, it's living and walking with Jesus.

And yet here he's in a place where he doesn't see it.

But she saw so much value in who Jesus was that she gave what she could.

Notice that notice that in there in the text, he, he, Jesus said she has done what she could.

He didn't say that she did something that she could not.

He didn't say she did something that was too much for her.

She did what she could.

And in doing that, she connected her natural and her finite with his eternal and his

unlimited, his able.

Praise God.

It's so big because what other people saw as unusual, what other people saw as waste,

he saw differently.

And she saw differently too.

And as, as you were sharing his notes with me and I was looking through this, you, you,

you wrote this and you just said it, that she saw eternal value and also eternal purpose

in this action.

And I wrote this to add to that.

I saw that her willingness to give unlocked her ability to see that value.

Man, that's good.

She was willing to give.

She was willing to do something.

And because she was willing to do it, she saw the purpose behind it.

She saw the size of the thing behind it.

So I want to, in, in like with the same flavor, I want to share something that, you know,

we were just talking about at our worship meeting not long ago.

And we were just talking about, you know, the testimonies that we might know about and

the testimonies that we might not know about.

And I saw this and I realized it.

And on one hand, these things that we're doing could seem a bit monotonous or repetitive.

We're meeting, we're just practicing the same songs.

We're learning how to sing.

We are, you know, we got to plug in unplug cables countless times and we got to just set

up here and prepare sets and make sure we don't mess up notes and make sure we don't

mess up lyrics.

But on the other side to it, the eternal significance of doing that is there might be someone who

walks into that meeting one of the Fridays and it's so impacted that this changes their

lives.

And that's a testimony that you might never hear until you get to heaven.

That's a fact.

So your willingness to give through that team or your willingness to do something somewhere

will unlock your ability to see further that there is an eternal purpose to what you're

doing in this team.

There's an eternal purpose to what you're willing to give to Jesus.

And that unlocks the ability for you to see what he's trying to do so that it gets clearer

and you go further in that direction.

So what you're saying about this ability to see, it's connected to the wisdom of God.

This is what we were talking about in week three in June where it's important that we

receive the wisdom to go in the right direction.

And with that to some degree, you start seeing the pattern and what the Lord is trying to

accomplish and what he's showing you that he's trying to accomplish.

I think it's so powerful.

I don't mean to move on so quickly, but I really wanted to talk about that story in

first Chronicles in chapter one about King Solomon.

He was the son of King David.

And at some point King David said, Lord, I desire to build a temple for you.

And what did the Lord tell him?

He told him that your son's going to build it.

And so when Solomon comes into this position, you see this in first Chronicles chapter one

verses eight through the 12, which I do want to read here.

I apologize.

It's actually second Chronicles chapter one verses eight through the 12.

And Solomon said to God, you have shown great mercy to David, my father, and have made me

King in his place.

Now, oh Lord God, let your promise to David, my father be established for you have made

me King over people, life, the dust of the earth and multitude.

Now give me wisdom and knowledge that I may grow out and come in before this people for

who can judge this great people of yours.

Then God said to Solomon, because this was in your heart and you have not asked riches

or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked a long life, but you've

asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge my people over whom I've made

you King.

Wisdom and knowledge are granted to you and I will give you riches and wealth and honor

such as none of the Kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the

like.

You see Solomon's heart.

He wasn't looking after his own.

He was willing to give something to the Lord.

He was saying, give equipped me to do something for you.

He had a willingness to give to the Lord and in return he got the ability to see, but also

the ability to do.

Yeah.

And looking at that, you know, taking that one step further and you see the request for

wisdom, the ask for wisdom, which by the way aligns with his dad's instruction of in

all of your getting get wisdom and get understanding.

What is that that's seeing?

Yeah.

Ultimately, wisdom and understanding.

We that's that's what I mean by seeing because it's it's that site is the ability to understand

to discern and to move in a direction.

And that is critical.

This is the part that's missing in Mark 14 for all the disciples, even though they're

in the place to see they don't.

A couple of years ago, we were, you know, just starting to do meetings, group group meetings.

And so we wanted to make the group meetings easy and try to make it repeatable.

And you you remember some of these discussions, of course.

Well, we were, you know, buying different things to try to build a box to, you know,

make the group successful.

And someone came to me and they said, Why, why should the why should Go Church provide

the the cookies and biscuits and tea, the people in their their house, they can do that

themselves.

And I made the comment then, you know, we talked about making things repeatable and

building a system.

But I said, What's what's it worth if someone, you know, comes to one of these group meetings

and they give their heart to the Lord?

And wouldn't that be worth the price of a package of Lotus cookies?

And of course, the person I was talking to, they said, Yeah, yes, but they were looking

at it just from the just from the the finance side.

Well it happened that week that a person came to a group meeting and both myself and the

person I was talking to was there.

And at the end of the group meeting, this person raised their hand and said, I would

like to receive Jesus.

We weren't even talking about that.

Honestly, they just just, Hey, is this okay?

Can I do this now?

I turned and looked at him and we were like, Yes, yes, I understand.

Seeing value where Jesus sees value.

This is the the point here in Mark 14.

Jesus, his focus was on his purpose.

And he saw Mary's gift lined up with his purpose.

Yes.

And she got there not with an expensive gift, but with the demonstration of faith.

Because ultimately, all she was doing was she was doing what she had ability for.

This is something that she was able to do.

There are some some people are able to, you know, maybe pay for we talk about Reema experience

Reema day.

We talked about that last week.

Someone might be able to pay for their entire school fees and not take a scholarship.

Other people, maybe they can barely make the payment of the module payment.

First Corinthians or second Corinthians chapter nine is very clear that our giving is not

based on what we don't have.

It's based on what we do have here.

Jesus said she did what she could.

But what she did wasn't just an like a transaction.

What she did was she responded to something she saw.

And in that action, she saw something more.

She got more light.

So and and that's what I think when we step out in the what we see Solomon, he could see

man, I'm in charge of all these people.

I need to know what to do.

And so he saw a little bit.

The Lord said, I'm going to show you more.

That's right.

He did show him more and the Lord showed him more.

And this is this is what's what's amazing about this subject and about this, this truth

right now that we're talking about is that he asked for wisdom.

Wisdom is like seeing grace.

Right.

That's that's literally what it is.

It's the grace to see the planet of the purpose of God, of God, the will of God.

So the Lord showed him more.

This is it.

Like he was willing to step out in faith and the Lord showed it more.

And based on that ability to see the Lord put the plan of the temple in Solomon.

And he had so much grace to see that he spared no expense to accomplish the plan of God, no

matter the cost.

That's right.

So the in modern value, the gold alone in the temple in modern day prices is a hundred

and ninety four billion dollars of gold.

The silver was twenty two billion dollars.

And that's that's nothing to Solomon compared to what he saw in terms of the eternal purpose

of what the Lord was trying to accomplish.

Yeah.

The message there is not just, you know, incredible big numbers.

It's that we are the temple.

Yes.

There is nothing too precious for you.

Nothing.

In fact, the most precious thing was already given for you.

And that's the precious blood of Jesus.

And I want you to see that and I want you to see that you are able not to just live

up to maybe what your parents said, not maybe to what your community says, but you're able

to do and be who he said.

Yeah.

And I want to go back to the series on crazy faith.

Let's circle back and look at that for a minute and let's just open up that subject up that

we can carry through the whole month and maybe in our discussions.

The ability to see directly impacts what we're able to believe for.

Right.

Right.

And we talked in crazy faith that we need to unlock our imagination so that we can see

more happen.

So how does this tie in with what we're talking about right now?

Well, that's unlocking our imagination is saying the limits that maybe my natural circumstances

have set up are not my limits.

In fact, what I should do is say, Lord, show me like Solomon.

I want the wisdom to see how to, you know, Solomon said, how should I govern your people?

Lord show me because I'm part of Go Church Beirut.

What am I supposed to be doing?

Where am I supposed to be serving?

Instead of saying, well, I'm limited because of my time.

I'm limited because of my ability to just fill my tank with gas to get to meetings.

Lord show me what I'm supposed to be doing and show me the truth about tithing.

Show me the truth about your generous heart.

You know, these are scriptural prayers.

And if we pray this way, you know what he's going to do?

Show you.

He's going to do that because he's made us able to see.

Yeah.

I would just challenge you.

Do that.

Say, Lord, show me, show me where I'm limiting you.

It's big.

Praise God and Go Church family were out of time for this week.

Yeah.

But we're looking forward to our discussions in the grow groups this week.

I am looking forward to this for the next two weeks.

I am looking forward to it.

Well, if no one told you, God bless you.

We love you and we're praying for you.

Thank you for listening to this message.

We want everyone to experience the unconditional love of God growing his love and go with his

love to the rest of their world.

We invite you to connect with us at one of our groups or our next gathering.

And if no one told you yet today, we love you and believe God's very best for you.