12+1 Core Values: Christ Centered | Pr Daniel Chong

You're listening to a message to go from acts Church.

We hope this message will light.

Up your day. So what is the second value in

the twelfth plus one core value series? Christ Centered. If

you have your Bibles, turn them to the Book of X,

chapter two, verse thirty six. Chapter two, verse thirty six. Amen,

God bless the reading of His word.

Yeah.

So let's prepare our hearts as we read scripture Book

of X, chapter two, verse twenty thirty six.

How many of you there already? All right, let's read.

Let's read.

Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God

has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Amen,

both Lord and Christ. God bless the reading of His word.

Now let me open you with a problem. Okay, can

I have the next night? This is the problem, or

rather a statement. Yeah, The issue with most of us

is that we do not drift from Christ all at once.

We drift from Him one good substitute at a time.

Can I repeat that we don't drift from the idea

or the worship of God straight away, but we drift

one good substitute at a time. I call this the

decentralized problem. Many of us. Sometimes we may not realize

what is happening in our lives until it's too late.

Most of us here would never say, I don't know

how many of you here would straight up say maybe

some of you are perhaps in more danger. But you

would never raised up your hand and say that, Hi.

I tell you what.

From this day onwards, I no longer believe in Jesus.

H I no longer love Jesus. But the truth is this,

that drift doesn't come knocking at your front door. It

doesn't just come like you stop believing now. Yeah, drift

comes very very slowly, very quietly. I don't know why

you have ever watched James Bond movies before. When you

just watch the movie and suddenly you enter your house

and then sitting in the dark corner of the chair

you can see his James Boonde is sitting at the corn.

It just appears and out of sudden you just realize that, Hey,

you mean you have been here all this time? You

mean you have been here, you know, taking away my focus,

taking my attention. You don't even realize that that's the problem,

that's the problem that we want to tackle this morning. Yeah,

you know, can I the next light.

This is the danger.

Yeah, the danger of the church today is not attissium. Yeah,

it's it's not being an atheist, it's not It's not

people outright rejecting God and in fact the enemy. He's

not even interested in you rejecting him altogether at one goal. No, Right,

the danger is something more subtle. It's something more subtle. Yeah,

and I want to introduce this term to you. It's

called almost Jesus. Hey, almost Jesus. You look like Jesus,

you sound like Jesus, you talk like Jesus, you breathe

like Jesus, but you do not walk like him. Ouch,

it's almost Jesus. Sometimes we live our lives almost Jesus.

Yeah.

People look at you and like, actually you look like him,

but as one part of your life that even you

don't recognize that you do not look like him and

you do not talk like him. A version of the

church where Jesus is present. I pray that this is

not the case for ex Goda Communaia. We do not

just want Jesus to be present, We do not just

want the Holy Spirit to present. He's mentioned, right, we

sing the name of Jesus, we pray in the name

of Jesus. We declare the name of Jesus, but he

is no longer the one thing that everything else revolves around.

Sometimes it may revolve around your family, and you make

decisions because of your family. You make decisions because of

your career, you make decisions because of your desires. But

you forget to us where is Jesus in this picture?

Amen?

When you want to make the decision about your furthering

of your studies, where is Jesus in this equation? You know,

I like math. I wasn't great I did, but I

like it. I like it the most. When you do

this thing called simplification, how many of you like to

work on problems where the problems is like a million

algebras and finally I know the students? It will say, Amen,

you would simply simplify imps Sally, you get X. It

goes the tree, hardly personal. It feels so good, right

you see X here s X here? Okay, okay, if

only you get one equation and the equation remains the solution, Amen,

But we we forget sometimes where is Jesus? I want

to encourage you this morning, keep asking yourself where is Jesus?

In my conversations. Where is Jesus in my prayers?

Sometimes you notice that you never mentioned Jesus' name even

once in your prayer until the final line, in the

name of Jesus, Amen. But before that, it's like I

want this la, I want de la Why not this la?

Why not de la la de lah? Please help? No,

no Jesus, no God, not like you will be done

that your kingdom come on this on this earth, as

he says in heaven, don't have but appears at the end.

Sometimes at the end, if you have been paying attention

to Buzzercada's message, we fast forward that parazo. Yeah, in

the name of and I don't even know who you

are praying to. Sometimes the Jesus name is so ge

then that's it, I know, gen z. Now they's like

to simplify us name, right, like then Daniel become then

like all John becomes like this, but Jesus become Jay. Yeah,

so I don't know. Hey, hey, hey, he j I

know you hear my praise Jay. Come on, let's remember that, right,

he's the room.

He's in the room, but he's not running it.

Did you know that Jesus can be in the room

but he's not the one steering the ship. There is

somewhere in your life he's there, and that's not good enough. Friends,

that's not good enough because he's not the main focus.

Can have the next line I wear abroad? Recently, I

just came out from Beatas raised a lot. It was

a mission trip. I did a slack off last week. Okay,

I wasn't doing something funny me and my wife. Even

the last time I played pickaball was Monday. I didn't

even touch the pedal. I threw balls la but he

didn't really play much. Okay, But however, I have this fear.

Can I can I share a view of fear. I

have a fear of commute, especially on the air and

on the sea, because I don't know. I just maybe

I watched too many movies.

Right.

Every time I go on a plane, I always pray.

I always pray across my eyes, but I won't even

open my eyes until the plane lift off. Uh and

uh land. But this time around, we have very good pilots.

They didn't feel the plane lifting off, didn't even feel

the plane landing.

So very good, real good. Praise the love for good pilots. Amen.

So I want to do some research about travels on

both planes and ships. So I found a picture of

a nice picture of a ship. And did you know

one thing about driving or steering a ship? Did you

know that every pilot and every captain of a boat,

they will have a course.

Do you know that when you watch the plane lift off.

And then there's that line from kl all the way

to Osaka or Japan? Do you know that line is

not for fun? Did you think that you can just

lift off and just go in a straight line all

the way to your destination. No, Actually, there is the

path to follow. There's the path to follow. There's also

altitude to follow, right, longitude, latitude, There is all of

this follow right. Did you know that if a plane

even deviate by one degree, it will not reach its destination.

Did you know that if a plane drive a pilot

even deviate by one degree, it increases the risk of

that plane crashing into another plane.

There's a lot of planes in the air. Sometimes you

in the.

Airplane, have you ever wondered where's all the other aeroplanes are?

Have you ever wondered.

You look out the window of your aeroplane, you go like, actually,

why the whole sky only you alone.

Have you ever wondered?

But if you go and look at the flight radar,

it's like a million planes in the sky, thousands at once.

But even wonder like, where's the other planes work? Why

can I see a single plane? Because each in every

plane has its course and the enemies action or the

enemy's plan is very very simple. He just wants you

to deviate by one degree. Let me, it looks the same.

You know.

This morning I came to church and I was so

tempted to just not you know, let me just tell

you the story.

Okay.

I I dressed up, I did my tie, I did

everything nicely. I got into the car. I said, oh,

we are all time, you know, we are, we are

We're early right. We su was reshire by seven forty.

I was sealed by seven thirty five at the cup

and I was like, oh, they know. Everything was nice

and and and I get I get to breathe, I

do have to run. I get to slowly walk and

enjoy the morning sky. Today morning was beautiful. The weather

was so nice. I saw the people running. It was

so nice.

And then I look at my wady h that's the jacket.

I'm like, oh, I need to check it.

I was like half think out till Richelle, Uh, try

go and borrow somehow was first thing? Okay, why is Elbert?

And I'm like, actually, after I realized that maybe we didn't.

We don't wear the same size.

You know, he's a bit a bit more, he's a

bit more bigger than me now because of his muscles.

I don't think I can fit into his muscles, but

I can definitely fit.

Into his muscles. But uh, I thought, okay, let's let's

let's go and get me borrow something, you know.

But I realized that, hey, there is a stand there's

a standard you know, when children are children parents, when

you're raising your kid right, you would you be happy

if your child deviates off course by a few degrees

and you go like, now mine is o kayla today

you don't do your homewook It's okay. No.

I feel that every parent wants the best for their child.

And even if your child goes off tangent by a

little bit, you won't needglad it.

You won't compromise because you love a man. You won't compromise.

You won't say that you know what child, go and

do whatever you want.

Go and try whichever.

Guy you want, then only come back and tell me no,

you will not do that because there's a standard, and

you will not comp on your standard.

So this morning I woke up, I mean, I was

at the car, and.

I decided to myself, consequences are consequences, Just go and

do it.

So I dropped my wife off.

My wife went and do her stuff, and I rushed

back like a like a I thought it was going

to be a day where there's no rushing, and I

have to rush all the way just to get a jacket.

By the way, Sunday in a row. I don't know

what God is trying to tell me. Right, the first

Sunday is I forgot the what gift? I forgot something?

Communion were particular communion. We had no communion, praised the Lord.

So I had to rush all the way back to

something to get the community.

Yeah. Maybe the lot ones to tell me to be

more prepeller. Okay, be more prepared, prepare well.

But that's the danger, right, The danger is that the devil,

the enemy just wants to distract this and sometimes having

Jesus in our lives, that idea of Jesus being Jesus

and Jesus being in the room, and you're going like,

as long as he's here. No, the question is not

as long as he's here. The question should be is

he running it? Is he running your decisions? Is he

shaping your thoughts?

Amen? Amen, Church, So let's not.

Be distracted because if we are distracted, it's going to

be very catastrophic.

Amen.

Planes will crash into planes, ships will go into nowhere.

I want to encourage you Church, right that we got

to remember now x two that is six. Doesn't just

call Jesus our savior, Amen. It calls him Lord and Christ.

Lord means he is the one in charge. Christ means

he's the one that God appointed.

Amen.

Peter is not just giving Jesus a title. He's describing

his entire being. He's and he's describing who he is.

He's both Lord and Christ. So Jesus is not just

the door you true to get safe. Some of us

treat him that way. But he is the room that

you are men to live in.

Amen.

He is the room that you are men to leave him.

Abide in me and I in you. Amen, Abide in him.

Allow Jesus to live in your hearts. And when you

do that you open the door for the Holy Spirit

to come and dwell in your hearts. I hope you

remember the first core value that elder can bridge last week.

It is called spirit failed. Amen, So I pray that

he is the room. So Church, I wanted to ask

you to open you with a question before we go

into the meat of it. Right when it's the last

time you made a decision, both big or small. Where

Jesus it's the first person you went to and not

just the last one.

You ask to bless what you already decided. And that's

a prayer.

You pray, pray, pray, pray, play and say in the

name of Jesus, you pray, Amen, really decided you want

that blessing. You already decided, you want that job, You

already decided you want to eat that food, and you

and then you go like pray, pray, pray, pray, pray,

and at the nally you blessed the name of Jesus,

the name or Jesus. I pray, Amen, when it was

the last time we actually came to him. Lord, I

know you saved me. I know I've sinn and thank

you Lord for saving. But you are not just a Savior.

You are also Lord. The Lord means that I have

to bring every decision to you.

Amen. So when was the last time we had this?

Can I have the next slide? Thank you? XTV.

So I go into first the first key teaching, which

is in your books, so that you're not you can

follow along.

Right.

So the first question of for the first key point

is this what pulls us away from Christ? What pulls

us away from Christ? And I guess another sub title

over there, right, what pulls us off center? Okay, off set?

The first thing that pulls us off center is the externals.

Let's tackle the externals first, right, the outside stuff.

This is the first point.

The outside stuff, or rather the good things, the good

things in your life that takes over, right, that takes over.

Let us be honest about this.

Blessings, finances, technology, programs, food, travels. None of these are wrong. Yeah,

none of this are wrong. But this is the dangerous

thing for the church today. How the church goes off

center is when we put our focus on things that

are not Him creativity. I don't know how many of

you saw Albert worshiping worship leading today.

He he would have easily.

Actually, you don't know the backstory he wanted to look

for kahnis so anyone or you know not how to

break Ah? Please step up or else. He will continue

to beat the drum with one leg. But he can

easily say you know what, I tell you what?

Then? Why why can't you worship lead today?

Because I had to play the drums and without the

drums it won't be full. And he can He can

go on and on, and he can caught scripture, give

your best under the Lord, serve with all your heart,

praise the Lord with clashing of symbols. Come on, where

are the symbols?

He can do that. And sometimes we can focus on

on so many other things, like I tell you what.

The visitor came to the church room. We talk to him.

Yet important important, community building is important. But yet sometimes

we forget that God wants your attention to Then sometimes

he becomes the last thing in your program. But everything

has to flow first. Oh you know what, Father's Day

video five minutes already? Come on, We've got to cut

five minutes from the world of God. We've got to

cut five minutes from there because of Father Fatherest Day video.

We we talk about a lot a lot of these things,

But yet we forget that the key, most important thing

is Christ.

This thing works, Church works.

It draws people in right and slowly without meaning to

Let me, let me, let me be clear, we didn't

mean it.

We didn't mean it.

Right, we can start to chase after the thing that

works rather than the one that we are supposed to

work for.

We chase after the thing that works.

We chase after the lights, We chase after the atmosphere,

We chase after the community. We forget that it is

God that we are supposed to follow. It is Christ

that we are supposed to follow. Amen, I'm gonna give

you a more subtle list. Yeah, how we do things?

How we do things. We fall in love with a

style of worship, a preaching format. If the speaker doesn't

engage me in the first minute, I will not listen.

Before in love with the idea that a preacher cannot

be monotonous, cannot now says the Lord God is good,

and it's mercy and yours forever. If I appreciate it

for the whole one hour, I think I don't know

how many we can to hand. But did you know

I found out that the Rabbi is tiahed like that

in the olden days of Israel, when you go into

the synagogue, you think they tell you jokes. You think

the rabbis stand up there and tell you jokes, keep

you entertained. No, his head is down the whole time,

reading the word of the Lord, reading the Torah, reciting

the Torah.

And that's how they preach. They just preach, They just

read scriptures.

I just want you to I just want you as

church to be really just so attentive that when you

come here the idea is not a good preacher.

The idea is what Christ is telling you. It's what

the Lord has to tell you this morning.

When someone suggests changing the status call, you know, from

today onwards.

We will no longer start with worship. We have to

open our hearts to the Lord. You know.

They must be lie there, it must be light. There,

must sing praise song first day on need two worship song.

The prayer time must be in between the two worship

songs come on. Then the PC will say like, hey,

come on bus it. Then quickly quickly it's it's time up,

times up, and it times up. We suggest changing and

say why not we just come to church this morning,

we just do nothing and just sit and receive from

the Lord. Are you open to do that? Are you

open as our hearts open to be ready and ready

for change, especially the Lord demands of it or ask

for it. Results and numbers? How many have been affected

by this before? You know, last last last praise report?

Me and Rachel will be like checking out, like how

many people is baptized?

And we go like I do they how KPI fail

to k p I? You think this is what.

Keep some Christians thing like that, some Christians thing like

and you give KPI to God God if you don't

fulfill this, this, this by this, this this, therefore you

are not this this this dangerous, very dangerous social media rich.

You're just gotment follower Your ministry got how many for oh,

your ministry got how many followers?

I heard before? You know, I'm like, you know, ever

since you.

Took over the ministry, you're never up in followers, like

that's what happened to Jesus though.

All the disciples left things.

So I would rather people believe that doesn't believe, Amen,

I want to see the real ones, those that really believe,

Just say stay scripture retells us that many will fall

away from God, only few will remain. So why are

you so Why are you so surprised? Why are we

chasing after numbers? And this one may touch a lot

of you. It touched me to community and belonging. Community

and belonging people can love church. And I tell you

I love church community. I love it so much. Yeah,

so much so that when friendships are taken away, I

repeat myself, when friendships are taken away, they no longer

find a reason to come to church. How many of

you decide to come to church because your friend is

coming to church? You know, you know, life without Elbert

and Rachel will be very tough. I don't know whether

Albert and Rachel will say the same. Life without me

and Rachel will be very tough. Did you feel anything

last week? It felt like nothing changed? Right?

Amen? Praise the Lord?

Nothing changed, no difference, better person then and rasial around.

It's okay?

So can we can we be released and go and

plant something? And Albert will be the new CBC of

A fifteen Hallelujah, Praised the LORDE declaring by faith? But community,

can I say this is the gift from God? It

is not meant to be a replacement of God.

Amen.

Community is not meant to be a replacement of God.

That means when you come into his presence, he should

be the one that you're focusing on. I'm going to

give you an illustration. And many of us notice this

is the story, or rather the occurrence of the transfiguration.

Can we turn to the next light? I believe I

have it.

Next light. Sorry, I didn't realize I got all these pictures. Yeah. Community.

By the way, Yeah, in case you're wondering, what picture

is that? Thank you? XTV.

Can we read some scriptures? We'll read Luke chapter nine,

verse twenty eight to thirty six. It's gonna be a

bit long, but we're gonna read this story. Okay, it's

on the slide. You can follow if you want to.

You can take it down and read it when you're

at home.

Says now.

It came to pass about eight days after these sayings

that he took Peter, John and James and ran up

to the mountain to pray.

As he prayed, this is the resurrector Savior. Yeah, Jesus.

Yeah, the one with holes in his hands ran up

the mountain to prey, and as he preyed. The appearance

on his face was altered, and these robes became white

and glistening. Wow, whooa glistening in at shiny, sparkling, and behold,

two men talked with him, who were Moses and Elijah,

who appeared in glory and spoke of his disease which

he was about, which she was about. My eyes can

see she was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter

and those with him were heavy with sleep. And when

they were fully awake they saw his glory and the

two men who stood with.

Him, and then this Peter, John's and James. Right, they

like to sleep.

One, I tell you what they like to sleep, because

when Jesus asked them to stay awake and be alert,

they also fallows sep three times during the transfiguration, also

fall awsip. They like to fall asleep. So those of

you like to fall asleep, man, don't worry sleep, it's

not wrong. Yeah, but please please wake up in time.

Wake up in time? Right, they won't get his whoa

three shining figures. Then it happened when they are partying

for him. Then Peter said to Jesus, Master, is it

good for us to be here, and let us make

three tabernacles, one for you Jesus, first for you, you know,

one for you I mean for you, one for Moses,

and one for Elijah. Not knowing what he said. While

he was saying this, a cloud came and always shadowed them,

and they were fearful.

Why were they fearful?

When they entered the cloud and the voice came out

of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son.

Hear him, okay.

And when the voice that sees Jesus was found, where's

Moses and Elijah? Then they kept quiet and told no

one in those days all the things that he has seen.

Can let me demonstrate something to you in your lives.

It's good, it's good. Let me repeat it. It's good

to have Moses and Elijahsus in your life.

It's good.

It's good to have these figures that you respect passed

the Kenneth, your husband, your wife, your spouse, your to

say O cat, but you're you're Yeah. It's good to

have mentors in your life. It's good to have people

that you look up to in your life, but they

are not God.

Amen.

Can you see where the Lord is? Where the where

our Father in heaven? Was trying to get to that

God appeared in the cloud. He was saying that, hey,

keep your eyes on so much so that he had

to remove the good things the Moses and Elijah's away,

so that they see only Jesus.

Not almost.

They get so caught up with let's prepare a tabernacle

for both you, Moses and Elijah, with alred realizing what

they've said. You see that they don't even realize what

he has said. We forget sometimes that Jesus deserves the

highest praise and only praise.

Amen. He deserves all the glory.

And that's why our father in heaven, the Lord God,

opened up and he said, this is my beloved son.

The Father didn't say that Moses and Elijah was irrelevant.

He did not say that.

He said, among everything you see here, there's only one

voice that you should hear.

There's only one voice that you need to center your

life on.

When the clouds cleared, the Bible says they saw no

one else but Jesus, only Amen. That means the elijahs

the Moses. I can replace it with the ministries in

your life, the ex kids, the extreme, the ex whatever right,

the x TV. Everything else does not matter. When it

comes to just Jesus, He should be our focus. Whatever

we are doing, we're doing and to the Lord. We're

not doing it because we want to say. I tell

you what, let's bless the community of ex church because

someone's espresso. You know, when they do their wonderful spread.

I pray that in their hearts they know that they're

not doing it because the fatherest deserve love and care.

They're doing it because they want to give honor and

glory to God. What is the motive of our servanthood?

What is the motive of what.

We are doing? Is it Jesus? I pray it's just Jesus. Amen.

So sometimes we may feel that way. The second thing

that will pulls off center we tackle the external. The

second thing is the internal, and this one is the

more important ones. Yeah, one thing people that like someone here,

like to be liked, who doesn't like to be like?

Who doesn't like to be liked? The outside distractions are

very easy to spot. Yeah, the easy insight ones are harder.

One of the biggest things is this. As a church planter,

I can attest to this. We won't be able to stay.

And every time we find out that people leave church

or leave your community. Sometimes it's very hard to accept

because as a whole you wonder like, is there anything

that I did wrong? You know, I want to want

to share a testimony if you, but I can't take

too much time because we had to focus on this.

But last year January, we had the privilege or the

opportunity to enter into a school.

It's a very beloved school.

It's not my personal to me so much, but it's

personal to my wife because she grew up in this school.

She went to this school and it's called SMK Cordac

com Morning. Yeah, we have been praying for this school

for the longest time. Goddess who is calling me, We

have been giving. We have been given the opportunity to

go in, and we all wonder like, okay, uh when

when Rachelle managed to open the door and they go like, wow,

this must be this must be the Lord.

We went in.

Long story short, we offered our services and what we

have to offer, which is true lynettes, Yeah, suicide prevention.

And they go like, hey, we like you, we love you,

we love what you're doing, and we want you here.

But but there are this this this disese is that

you're to fulfill and.

We went like, I tell you what, if that's the case, right,

then we can't because it's not easy to get approval

from the commentsary and it's not easy. So our approval

was for shuban Jaya only right the schools is hwang Jaya.

And when they went when they asked us for these

other approvals, we go like, okay, So the door was

was closed and we will we learned that perhaps it's

not in the Lot's timing. The quick testimony is that

we went to this school again by the grades of God.

There was a principle that Linettes was very used to

be working with. And then that principle got transferred and

guess what he got transferred to SMBA got the community,

and that principle on.

The first day of his transfer, called doctor Jul and said,

I need you here. I tell you what.

The testimony is that the Lord just opened the door

for for for Lynettes to come back into this school.

And I tell you what, now, it's just overflowing. Now.

Why why did I Why did I share this?

Because sometimes we we we work so hard and we

want people to stay and we want people to like

what we are doing.

So. Last year we went over there, we go like,

why why don't you want us?

We had to really ask ourselves a question. Are we

there because of a kpi? Are we there because of

an external pressure? Or are we are we there because

we want our work to be seen? But that's not

the case, and the Lord knows, and the Lord opens

the door in his timing. So are we making decisions

based on what the crowd wants? Are we making decisions

out of what the crowd wants? Or rather what Jesus asking? Yeah,

when we do church, are we making decisions where we

do life, where we do our jobs in our marketplace?

Are we doing it because of what people want? Or

is it what Jesus wants in your life? John sixty

six says this, from that time many of his disciples

went back and walked with him no more.

Ouch. This is one of the hardest verses in the gospel.

Yeah, Jesus had just fed the five thousand, He done

so many miracles, he walked on the water, given one

of his most teachings on the mound, but people still left.

Not because Jesus failed, Yeah, not because Jesus failed, but

because he refused to become what they wanted him to be.

Did you know?

That's why people left him because they expected Jesus to.

Be the Messiah, and he is.

But they expected Jesus to come and to reign and

to be king and to lead them so that they

will no longer be in bondish and slavery, so that

they will no longer be stepped on.

No, so that they will also rule together him.

But when that wasn't accomplished, when that wasn't the case,

because Jesus came to show something else, say no, you

need a savior and I'm here to save you, to

die for your sins. They will not satisfied with that,

and then they walked away. They walked away from him.

So this raised a question for us as a church

to make and especially as individuals. Are the decisions that

we make or making it's because we're afraid of what

people may think about us.

In our lives.

Because if that's the case, it's a question that we

have to ponder on are we keeping the things? Are

we keeping things in our heart because Jesus asked us

to or because people like them? So this is the

danger when we start deviating, when the church starts debating

when your life starts deviating from putting Christ in the center.

Amen. So I pray that you will you would you

would you would feel that? Yeah? You know, I just shed.

Earlier that a year ago. Uh my dad Stephen, he

left because of an illness.

Right, But I I I.

Just can't share this without being really transparent view so

I will, Okay.

I that season was not easy? Can I share this?

That season was not easy.

I came to church not feeling like I want to

be at church, but yet cp SEMA church plank coordinator.

Must you know who's going to run the church? But

I came.

I came, and I had a season of my life

that I I just didn't want to be here. Can

I just be real with you? I just didn't want

to be here. I just didn't want to face anyone.

I didn't want to preach, I didn't want to worship,

lead and talking about the heartler. I didn't want to

do anything, and I felt like what's the point. And

on top of that, sometimes you hear things that make

you go like what is the point? Everything you say,

everything you do, even it's out of a good heart.

As leaders, and I want to encourage all the leaders

in the house, the fathers in the house. Sometimes you

get misunderstood. Sometimes your good actions are labeled as trying

too hard, and you go like, what's the point. So

on top of everything that's happening, a couple of days,

I went like, I tell you what, I want to

give up. I don't want to come here anymore. But

the Lord just ministered to my heart. And you know,

the amazing thing about Lord is this. He walks with you.

He puts his hand on your shoulder and say, I

tell you what. I'm not going to each you where

to go. I'm going to walk with you. He's not

expecting you to just come back and just be the

dynamic self you were and then back to normal. No,

he takes you along with the journey. He takes you

along with the journey because he knows that I tell

you what, it's okay to grieve, But as long as

you're a grieving with me, I'm going to bring you along.

And I felt that love of Christ on my shoulders,

and day after day it got easier, it got better,

and from a from a painful memory became a more

like a memory that I reminisced now, and I go

like that. I I I wish you were here to

see all this. He had a dream, My dad had

a dream to go to Gotta Baloo. And as I

was flying into go by the way first time to

the second time, the stub never seen Mount ky in

my life. I actually told a lot, please let me

see Mount kay Please let me see Mound K, not

Mount kay K. So you call Mount kay K, they

will kill you. It's not Mount kay Ca. It's Mount

k Mount King Balo. There's no Mound gott Yeah, Mount

k Yeah. And I and and and and and as

I was flying didn't see.

Guess what.

As we were flying out, I saw it. The Lord

answers the desires of your heart. Is such a small thing,

such a small day. The Lot answers that, and he

walks with you. And I tell you what, It's very

real because despite losing some someone so important, and sometimes

some of you may go through there as well, you

lose something so important, you go. I tell you, I

give up for three months past that I want three

months break. But do you know that in that three

months break, other people will suffer Because you took that

three months break, someone else.

Will have to step in.

Can you imagine if I just told again enough, I

just lost my dad, give me a two months sabbatical.

Albut is gonna poor Alboum is gonna wor she read

every single Sunday, Rachel, and poor Rachel is going to

preach every single Sunday. Me and my wife had to

take up preaching. And I tell you what you want

her to You want her to preach because you preach

us very well better than me, way better.

Yeah. But but but I just I just feel like

I just need your strength to carry on.

And the Lord just carried me on day after day,

day after day, and today there is a release.

There's a release. Amen.

Second thing, second key teaching, Next, bitch. So first one

is external and eternal. I hope you have taken that down.

We're gonna talk about what Christ senteredness really looks like.

All right, what does it really look like? It looks

like this.

The first point I have is to listen, to listen

to the Sun and not just talk about him. Yeah,

listen to the Sun and not just talk about him.

I draw us back to Luke Chapter nine or thirty

five is five. The Lord says, this is my belived son.

Hear him amen, hear him. There's a difference between talking

about Jesus and actually listening to him. There's a difference. Yeah,

a lot of us, we call Christian activity talking about Jesus.

We come to church, we talk about Jesus. We speak

about Jesus, and we think that that is enough.

We talk to him. We talk about him.

We talk about him in our sermons, we sing about

him in our songs, we pose about him in our

social media posts about the Lord, how good the Lord is.

We talk about Jesus, we speak Jesus. It's even a

song that says I speak Jesus. Yeah, we keep talking

about him.

And that's good.

Keep it up. But question, friends, are we just talking

about him or are we also opening our ears to listen?

He who has a year let them so.

A smart elect once once told me, but but once

then I got no year. Okay, I want a bitter

dropped it Offler, Yeah, careful when you say no year,

Peter is going to come and drop it off. There's

a difference, Yeah, talking about him and actually listening to him.

But God's instruction was very clear on the mountain to

not just talk about him but listen. In fact, in fact,

His instruction was just to listen a man, this is

my son, my beloved son.

Here him.

In the Old Testament, the word shima, I think Rachel

preach about this before, stands for hear all Israel. It

does not mean just using your ears. Yeah, it doesn't

mean just using your ears. It means that you haven't

truly heard something unless unless it changes what you do.

What does that mean?

The Lord God Almighty says that you shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind,

all your soul, all your strength. And you have not

loved him with all your mind, all your soul, all

your heart, all your strength. That means you have not

heard him. The word shima is to hear and to two,

to hear and to put into action.

Amen. Amen. Church.

That's in Hebrew right to hear something with the intention

of doing it. The modern day language is show me

your actions. Yeah, no action, no talk. You haven't truly

heard something unless it changes when you do.

Church.

Jesus is not just looking for an audience. He's looking

for people who will let him be the audience of one.

He meant he is our only audience. He's looking for

people who will let him say do and rearrange whatever

that he pleases in your life?

Are you willing to accept that?

Here?

Oh, it's you.

The second thing that Christ's sddenness looks like is to

keep his commandments. To keep his commandments Jesus said, if

you love me, keep my commandments John fourteen fifteen is

something that you should be familiar with, teaching them to

observe all things that I've commanded you, And lo I

am with you always, even to the ends of the age. Observe,

observe all things that I've commanded you. The word observed

in Matthew twenty eight twenty in Greek means sterariel sarrio

means to watch over something carefully. Oh, to watch after

something so carefully, not just observing it from a final.

Observe. Sometimes you go like, yeah, you just.

Said to observe, right, to observe all things that commanded you. No,

it's not to observe it from afar, it's to guard it,

to guard it so carefully, the way a soldier stands

in its post. I don't know how many of you

have been in contact with a British soldier in your life.

Right.

The original one where you try to book him and

he's not changing at all.

His facial expression not change. You take a him, it

does not change.

He's just sending God because he's just That's the observe

observation that the Lord is telling us to stand God

and watch it.

Observe it. Keep it, Amen, men Church, Yeah, keep it.

You can have a week where you feel very little

warmth towards Jesus but still love him. You can have

weeks in your life, Caesus in your life where it's

just dry, but you still keep observing, you still keep guarding.

You still tell yourself, I'm going to choose. I'm going

to choose, because if we do not do that, we

live on this life very dangerously. Based on our feelings.

We go like that is word God? This week you

are so good. But what about the weeks that he's

just silent? Is he still good? Is he still God?

Because by keeping us, by keeping him at the center,

means that even in the downs of your life, you

still believe.

Amen, even in the answered prayer. You still believe, even

in the unanswered prayer.

Due to your physical condition, maybe it's your lung condition,

Maybe is your migrain that hasn't been going away.

Maybe is that pain.

You still believe, Amen, You still believe, you still keep

his commandments, You still love him, you still love one another,

You still give your best under the Lord, even though

you are not receiving the best from other people. You

go like, I'm serving, I'm serving, I'm serving, I'm serving,

but nobody is giving me back what I deserve. What's

the point of serving anymore? No, you keep going on,

You keep pressing on because that's what the Lord commands

us to do.

Amen. To love one another, not just because you receive

that love back. No, you forgive others because you know

that you have been forgiven. Amen.

You know that Christ for forgive your sins, and you

forgive others not because they deserve to be forgiven, No,

because you forgive.

Amen.

So do not measure your actions based on your feelings alone.

Measure your actions based on your choice. Choose choose to

keep your commandment, the Lord's commandments.

Amen.

The last key teaching that we have this morning is

to how how do we constantly keep Christ at the center?

How do we constantly keep Christ in the center? How

do we keep them there? How do we keep Him there?

What's the ongoing practice I'll share if you a few practices. Yeah.

The first practice is to keep looking at him, To

keep looking at Jesus, to keep your eyes on Jesus.

Hebrews twelve Versus one of.

The two says this, therefore we also, since we are

surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us

lay aside every weight. Amen, are you doing that? Lay

a side every weight? And the sin we're so easily

and stares us, And let us run with and during

is the race that is set before us. Verse two says,

looking to Jesus, the adser and the finishing of our

faith for the joy that was set before him. And

there the cross, despising the shame, and sat down the

right hand of the throne of God. The writer of

Hebrews uses a very specific word for looking. Yeah, very

specific word for looking. Do I have it on the

next light? This is the word that the Bible used

to describe looking. It's called apharah. Right, you can be looking.

Can I tell you this? How many of you have

been in.

This place before where you are in a conversation with

someone and he's looking at you, but you know he's

not looking at you.

You can be seeing something but you are not actually

looking at something. How many have you been? Therefore, don't

raise your hands.

You can be looking at your husband and your husband

is talking to you, but you didn't even hear a

single word. Actually, I should use the opposite example. It's

more than wife's talking and the husband. Yeah, because wives

hear everything, and they hear everything. They are very good husbands.

We gotta level out a game. We've gotta thrown down

the volume when it comes to listening to our wives

when they talk, especially when Liverpool is playing. You got

to turn the volume down. You got you have to

listen here to listen, I just heard this from yesterday

at the wedding. Right, we're gotta keep our eyes fix

say that on Jesus. And but what the word apharaoh

in Greek? It means to look away from everything else

looking onto Jesus. Yeah, then I look at Jesus. Man

look at Jesus so much so that he's still hanging

on the cross. I found a cross in Subbad that

he's still hanging there. Yeah, just a very interesting thing, right,

the cross and still hanging no resurrected ready, Right, he's

no longer on the cross.

But I get it. I get it.

Yeah, it's it's cool. It's cool to fight him that way,

but look looking onto him the awesome profect your face.

Not just looking friends, because Afarah doesn't. Doesn't just mean

to look a pharaoh means to look away from everything else.

It's like a husband or a bridegroom waiting for his

bride at the owl, and the only thing that he

fixed his eyes on is the bride.

I pray that's the case.

When Rochelle was walking in, I didn't even realize the

other bridespin walking ready, you know, because I was just looking,

even though there was people walking in. I didn't even

know who was walking in, even to all my friends.

But the moment she stepped in, I saw Shall John

so dashing stand away beside beside, beside her. I didn't

even realize, God, I'm looking just so happy. And the

moment he came and shake my hand down here, oh

got someone else here, it's John, and John handed over

Rachelle to me, and I go like, wow, this this

the one.

This is the one.

There's the one and only. But if you don't keep looking,

what happens five years in marriage? Are you still looking

at the same person that walks in the the same

person that you look across and set your vows for

me and Rachelle's baby, baby, baby marriage five years. Just

started walking in there, crawling, maybe speaking, maybe thought the

whole terrasa yeah, how.

Many years a day?

Burning fire, still bomb on, still bomb on, keep it bombing, guys,

merry couples in his face, keep it bombing, not merry couples.

Please don't bomb Just chill that fire down to wait

for the right one. Yeah, don't go, try try all please,

but when you married and he bombing, Yeah, keep it fire,

keep it fire, keep it keep it burning, keep it burning, burning, burning,

keep it fresh, keep it new. Surprise your other half

is something because you are looking at that person, that

same case, that same look. Keep it onto the odds

and perfect of your faith. Amen, afarroh. Not just looking

but focusing.

Amen. Amen. Church. It's not just the.

Passive, dreamy looking so handsome. Wow, that house I wish

to have that house. It's not just that kind of

me looking is looking. It's active. It's a deliberate choice.

Can you imagine this? Let me illustrate this, Let me

illustrate Thissa, Jesus, you full of Jesus. Let me just

choose something to be Jesus. Yeah, I think I better

choose the Bible. I was about to take the shaker,

yeah Jesus. Yeah, oh then yeah, yes, yes, yes, no,

no no no, there there go wash the dishes that

is falling after him, because sometimes we do this. Then

the economic not no carder lover huh oh, not calling

naver and they're gonna play all and forget, forget that

you're supposed to be folding. Keeping your eyes on Jesus.

Looking also means that you you do not let it

this disappear from your sight. It is at the corner

of your eye. Even even if it's at the corner

of your eye, He's still there. How many of you

have been lost in the mall before? As a small kid,

I have very scary feeling, very scary feeling. Yeah, with

awful whevery scary feeling. I was not in the old

subway premium Marning before. I was in the place where

you look up when you see all the planets. I

don't know how many of you know that place. Yeah,

the planets. They was painted all this the old cinema,

that's all their planets.

And I was like so scared. That's where are you? Daddy?

Keep your eyes.

If you can keep your eyes on your child, keep

that same eyes times tend towards Jesus and you will

never go wrong. Keep it there because God has already

given you the ability to focus. You can focus if

you want to. You can stay away if you want to.

When rubber hits the road, you can.

You can. How many of you have ever been asleep

trying to drive a car?

Micro sleep very dangerous. Please talk and sleep. Yeah, but

if you want to stay away, you do whatever it takes.

You put slive on your eyes, yo, no lave, I'm

sure how you did it before I tried lie because

Jesus took sliver sweet and put in the eye right,

and then you're skilled. Right, So I think it works

like it works kends loving Kett's love because.

Can daddy, Oh yeah, can Dundy await Sally away?

You do? You would do whatever it takes. Friends, you

couldn't take a dumb no toilet paper. You will do

whatever it takes. And trust me, I've been there.

Leaves h.

You stoilet paper on the floor. I can't forget the

incident shell petro station. Oh my pants also made a

new all gone walked out with that underwear because I

flashed that back.

Life it down. No choice, man, no choice, no choice. Right,

you gotta do it. When you gotta do it, you

gotta do it. So that's same, no choice, Keep it

on Jesus, keep that same. No choice. I have no

choice but to look at Jesus. I choose, I choose.

How many of you know that you so chose your

wife and your husband. I choose you, not pokemona. You choose,

you choose, make that decision. It's an active decision. It's

not easy.

I'm not saying it's easy.

It's not easy to be on a narrow road. You

know how many of you have been ever tried to

to to walk on a narrow road before? How many

of you have tried? You prefer white road or narrow road? No,

it's easy, but you have to white. How do you

keep yourself on a narrow narrow path? Have you ever

asked yourself this question? You need to have a good balance,

because if you start wondering, you're the fall.

The fall. Give your balance, amen, mhm.

The phrase look at it very carefully for the joy

that was set before him Jesus also looked forward. Some

of us always have this question, and you asked himself

this question. How did he even endure the pain? Oh,

of course, he's a man. It's unimaginable, you know, the

the type of pain that he had to suffer, it's unimaginable.

In fact, I don't know whether when Peter tried to

win up him by hanging upside down on the cross,

I don't know whether he ever experienced the same pain

as Jesus. No, I don't think so. I think he Jesus,

that was the ultimate sacrifice, sort of death that just

happens at one go. No, it's a continuous pain that

he had to experience. Well, I just saw custom walking

in your full suit and tie and as a host,

Praise the Lord.

Did I see correctly? Oh my gosh, you look great. Boy.

We take a look at him later, praise the lot. Amazing.

Keep your eyes fixated on him. Jesus himself looked forwards.

Second point before we close is to hold to hold

the good things in your life loosely. Hold it loosely, okay,

which is also translated to surrendering the nice things in

your life. Surrendering the nice things in your life, John

ten Then I came. I have come that they may

have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

It meant life in Greek is zoe. Do you know

that if you have a friend called Zoe? That is

what he means life. This verse is often used to

say that Jesus he wants us to have good things

in our life.

He wants us to have life. That is true, but

in the context that.

Is spoken the abundant life that Jesus is talking about,

it's not mainly about just the good things.

The word that John uses Greek In Greek soo, he.

Refers to the quality of life that comes from being

conducted to Jesus himself. It is a phoness that comes

from being joined back to the sauce a man, I

don't know how many of you have Mac in your life.

I found out that my phone there was Once I

bought a cheap charger because cheip plummer, I want to

buy cheap stuff.

Three ring it from Shoppy.

I bought these USB C charger fast charging so called

yeah forty what first judging my phone died. I use

this fig charger. It didn't power my battery up, so

Apple very very smart. I don't know how they do it,

but you need original MacBook charger, from original Apple charger

to actually put up your phone when it really dies.

Apple phone has a way of dying. It's not it's

not the real kind of death. It's fake death. You

think it diety, but I haven't died yet. But when

it really really died, gong, like really gong, you need

the original charges to put it back up. That's why

I realized that about my phone. I don't know about yours.

But however, we also have a sauce. Amen, and I

pray that we do not just simply go and pluck

ourselves into different sources thinking that that can refresh us. No,

bring our strength, our weaknesses to the original sauce. Pluck

it back in to the original sauce, which is Gone's Christ,

and he will empower us a man, He will lift

us up. Is this something in your life right now

that if God asks you to let go of it,

you'll find yourself trying to negotiate with him rather than

simply obeying him. Francis, there's something in your life right

now that you have to let go, surrender even the

nice things, because the problem is not having nice things.

The problem is when we begin to need them, when

their presence becomes where we find our confidence, and when

the thing is no longer there, we begin to panic.

I pray that if there are such things in your life,

you begin to surrender it unto the Lord. Amen, surrender

it unto the Lord. Whoever the next light or is

that it? Yeah, this is my closing slight. I'm going

to ask Extus to extreme the cart and we're going

to close very quickly. No everything orbits around something. Yeah,

it's a picture of the universe that I can find.

A solar system, planets orbit the Sun, a family or

bids its values, a church, orbits something as well, its

values and its thoughts. Even when it's never said out loud,

you can feel it in the room what you're orbitting around.

The question was never really where? Never really where? There

is a center in your life. There is always a center.

Think about it.

There is always a center. The question is who is

at the center, all right, Not about whether you have

a center in your life. That's not a question today.

The question is who is residing in the center. But

Jesus is truly at the center. Everything else finds its

right place.

Amen.

When the Sun is at the center of the Solar system,

the planet finds its right place. Without the Sun, planets

won't be able to orbit around it. It is the

gravity of the Sun that is pulling the planets in

its orbit. And likewise, without the Sun of God in

our lives, we will never be able to find that

bulling factor that comes from the Lord that keeps us

on our course. And the only way that we can

deviate is when we decide that I'll tell you what,

I am no longer going to stay on this course.

I am no longer going to allow this gravity to

pull me in. Because there's a difference between the Sun

and the.

Son of God.

The Sun has the gravity, and the planets cannot escape

the gravity. But the difference with the Son of God

is that we can choose to escape their gravity, and

he will not standing our way. He will be said,

it's like a father losing a child. But yet it

gives us of our own free will to make a choice.

How many of us today will continue to choose to

follow Jesus. How many of us today will choose to

continue to orbit around him and allow him to take over,

allow him to take over. Did you know that the

planets don't have to work hard in order to orbit,

They just orbit because of the characteristics of the Sun,

the gravity of the Sun.

Likewise, if we choose to just orbit around God and.

Let him take over, let the Holy Spirit just take

over every part of your life.

You don't even have to change who you are. You

just have to let go.

And as you let go of all these other thoughts

around you, you will just naturally follow the path that

He has intended for you. You just have to make

choices along the way. Choose choose to follow Jesus. Amen,

choose to follow Him in your life.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, visit Axchurch dot org. We are

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week is going to be a good week, a hit

for you. God bless