THE SECOND DAY | SUNDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER | PS KRISTEN WILLIAMS

Good morning. Good morning, everybody.

>> Thank you, worship team. I really I like

that last song. Boy, that was good,

wasn't it? Well, it's nice to be with

you this morning. Uh I've got my lovely

wife here in the front row, which is

excellent. And it's great for me since

uh uh two years ago, the church was

finally delivered from my attempts to be

a pastor. And so these days, I'm I

travel from place to place. And it's

nice to uh it's nice to uh have a Sunday

that doesn't involve a long drive in the

car or an aeroplane ride. So it's great.

I I when when uh when Aaron said, "Hey,

would you come to Toadong Elim?" I was

like, "That's like eight minutes from my

home." So I was pretty excited about

that. So I'm probably more excited to be

here than you are.

Um, I was thinking actually as I was

driving here this morning, actually,

well, from early this morning, I was

thinking about the uh the Brownsville

revival that began on Father's Day. I

think back in like 1995 or something.

And this was a revival that happened in

a church in Florida where suddenly on

Father's Day, the Holy Spirit broke out

in a way that was sovereign and

surprising. And so, I was thinking about

that all morning. And then I arrived

this morning and during the team time uh

Aaron puts a video on the screen about

the Brownsville revival. And you know

there are there are times when the Lord

will move sovereignly and surprisingly.

There are times of awakening and these

times of awakening usually surprise the

church or sometimes even offend the

church. You know, one of my favorite

ones is there's a story of an awakening

that happened off the coast of Scotland

in a place called Lewis Island. And it

began like the population was incredibly

hard-hearted and opposed to the things

of God. It was a very tough place to

preach the gospel. And there were these

two older ladies. I I won't say their

ages because you always get in trouble

if you declare a certain age as old,

don't you? And also as you get older,

have you noticed that like like when I

was 18, I thought the age I'm at now

was, you know, problematic.

And and now now I look and I'm like,

well, it's not so bad. Um, but these two

older ladies, let me say, let me say

this, uh, older than I. Uh, and they

were they were praying and one of them

set herself to pray at one end of the

town and another one set herself to pray

at the other end of the town. and they

prayed and suddenly there was this day

where suddenly the entire population

became uh open to the things of God to

the point where one of the only known

overt Christians in the whole town was

the local police officer. And he turned

up at his constabularary at his police

station early in the morning for his

regular shift to find 600 people waiting

in the darkness.

And the reason they were there is

because they'd suddenly become aware of

their need for God. And the only place

that they knew to go to get answers to

find out what to do with what they were

feeling was to go to the one well-known

Christian in the town. They went to the

police station and they had a revival

meeting under the stars at 6:00 in the

morning in front of the constabularary.

I believe that for New Zealand,

something is coming.

Can you feel it? It's like something is

coming. Something is up. And and these

days, uh, because I'm in a different

town, like literally every weekend, you

can check with my wife. I'm not

exaggerating. I'm in a different town

every weekend. And there are green

shoots of revival all over the land. I I

got invite I got invited a little while

ago to Tokoa. And when I got invited to

Tokidoa, I this is going to sound

terrible, but I didn't have a great deal

of enthusiasm to go to Tokoa. Like, you

know, the pastor was saying, "Come to

Tokada." And I was like, "Oh, really? Do

I want to go there?" Because it was

always just one of those places you

drive through, you know what I mean?

Like, and I went there. Did you know I

had the best time? And so, three times

since then when I've had to go places,

I've deliberately driven through driven

driven through Tokoa because I now have

this totally different view. And you

know what we saw? We saw God moving.

Particularly, there's a large Filipino

community in Tokoa. We had a revival

meeting in Mangakino. I'd never been to

Mangakino in my life. And yet we had

this revival meeting filled with these

Filipinos. And you know what was out?

What the Filipinos? Man, do they do

food? If I had to spend too much time in

Tokido, none of my clothes would fit me.

So something is coming. Uh, can I have

the the picture, please, of the plaque

from my son's wall? The picture from my

son's wall. So, you see up there on the

screen there, this is a picture that my

daughter, our daughter, made for our

youngest son. And it hangs still hangs

on the well, it doesn't right now

because I'm renovating the room, but it

hangs on the wall in his room. And

obviously, it says, "The two most

important days of your life are the day

you're born and the day you find out

why."

Every human being that is alive has had

the first day. Every human being has had

the first day. And on that day, every

human being, including us in this room,

we were born into a world where if we if

we're a little bit, if we're a little

bit honest about it, it seems like

something is broken.

It seems like it's a world filled with

pain and filled with sickness and filled

with despair. It feels like something

has gone horribly wrong somewhere. Would

you agree? Like if we look at like I

like to be positive but if you look at

the world it feels like something's gone

horribly wrong. And this is humanity's

normal. This is what we are used to. If

we live in the world created by only

knowing the first day,

there can be many voices that are

shouting at us. And those voices often

seem like they are pulling us in dark

and destructive directions. They say

things like this. We are all alone.

There is no God. There is no higher

power, no accountability, no legitimate

authority. No one is watching. Nothing

matters. So go wild. There are no

consequences.

Sort of sort of uh uh playing on that.

Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 15. He

he he quoted this. Let us eat and drink

for tomorrow we die. It's like it's like

pointless.

Voices, if you only know the first day,

say things like this. There is no

purpose to your life. There is no reason

that you're here. And so, as a result,

people tend to drift aimlessly without

motivation.

The Bible puts it this way. Proverbs

Proverbs 29:18

29:18, where there is no revelation,

people cast off restraint. If we don't

have a revelation, if we don't have a

sense that there is a purpose and a

meaning to our human existence, then we

become literally like a train at high

speed running off the tracks and going

wild. And this can be a pathway for many

to to meaningless and hopelessness. And

it can be a pathway to substance abuse

and addiction, suicide, depression,

self-destructive behavior. I remember

hearing this uh years ago whack back

when I was a youth pastor. Someone said

this. They said, "People that don't

value their future will throw away their

present."

I was in a difficult situation once when

I was a youth pastor. I know I know that

you can't imagine that, Brody, but I was

put in a difficult situation as a youth

pastor when this mom brought her teenage

daughter along to see me and said, "She

needs some help. Talk to her." And and

she brought her in, sat her down, and

then she left. And this 14, 15 year old

girl, she was sitting there and boy, she

she she wanted to be there probably even

less than I did at that moment.

And so I'm sitting there and the mom's

gone out and closed the door saying,

"I'll wait outside." And you know, the

implication was, "Do something, fix

her." And so I'm sitting there going,

"Oh my word, what on earth am I going to

do?" And so, you know, you're

multitasking. You're like looking at

this young lady and going, "Okay, I'm

trying to talk to you, but you're also

going, "Help me, Jesus." Have you ever

been in that situation? Get used to that

because there's probably more of that

coming. And I'm sitting there and I'm

like, what should I do? And the this

thought dropped into my head. Ask her if

she wants to get married one day. And

I'm like, really? That's what you got?

Is that really? So I said to her, I

said, "So do you do you plan do you plan

to get married one day?" And she looked

at me like, "What is wrong with you, you

buffoon?"

And I said, "Just humor me for a minute.

Do you want to get married to someday?

Not not to me, obviously. Do you want to

get m just to be clear, you know, there

wasn't that going on. Um, do you want to

get married to someone someday? And she

said, "Oh, well, I suppose." I said,

"Well, tell me tell me about the guy

that you would marry." And at first, she

was not really into it. She was just

like looking at me like she wanted me

dead. And but as she got into it, she

started she started to perk up. She

started to get enthusiastic. She started

to describe who she wanted to marry,

what she wanted to wear, where the

wedding would be. And by the end of that

brief conversation, her whole demeanor

had changed. Why? Because she suddenly

saw something back in her future.

Prior to that, she she'd been dark and

suicidal, but she saw something in her

future.

The good news is friends that we don't

just live with the first day because

there is another day. And the other day

is a day where you start to hear a

different voice. And you know this, but

I want you to think about this in terms

of well, I'm I'll talk to you about that

in a minute. I want you to think about

this in terms of of our city.

How different would Tadonga be if

everybody knew what we're going to talk

about now? There's another voice. This

voice says, "You're not alone. I made

you." Psalm 139:14, "You are fearfully

Psalms 139:14

and wonderfully made. You are not a

chance evolutionary accident. You were

carefully and purposefully

created."

The voice goes on and says, "I made

you." And it says, "I made you to know

me. Not just to be religious, not just

to be churchy. I made you to know me, to

hear my voice. Matthew 4:4 says, "Men

Matthew 4:4

and women do not live by bread alone. We

live by hearing every voice that

proceeds from the mouth of God." We were

made to hear his voice. He says this. He

says, "I made you to hear my voice. I

made you to feel my presence." Psalm

Psalms 46:10

46:10, "Be still and know that I am

God." Which doesn't mean just sit still

and think happy thoughts about Jesus. It

means sit, wait, stay until you

encounter him. We were made to know him,

to know him personally. And I would even

say tangibly. So he said, "I made you. I

made you to know me." And then he goes

on and says, "I made you to be like me."

Romans 8:29 says this, that God is

Romans 8:29

conforming us into the image of his son.

That doesn't mean you have to you have

to start wearing a Jesus garb like you

know as you travel around you you know

you probably can't imagine this but

there are some there are some believers

that are a little odd in various places

and sometimes they think you know

sometimes they think to to be like Jesus

I've I've got to you know I've I've got

to wear a robe and grow a long bed.

Nothing wrong with a long bed. Nothing

long wrong with a robe you know and I've

got to wear sandals. That's That's not

what he's talking about. He's talking

about I'm going I'm going to conform you

to what he's actually like.

I'm I made you I made you to know me.

And he says, I made you to be like my

son. I was so encouraged the other day.

I had a I had a a young young lady and

she was asking me all sorts of curly

questions.

And uh at the end of the curly question,

she she wanted to give me a compliment,

but she didn't know how. And so she was

just like, "Oh, you're just, you know,

you're you're duck." And she she popped

out with, "You're just so Jesusy."

And I was like, "Wow, that's amazing."

Because I don't know about your story,

but I look at my life. And boy oh boy,

if I'm Jesusy,

I wasn't. Can anyone relate to that? Can

any, you know, you look and you go,

"Wow, Lord, what a work of

transformation you are doing in my

life."

I made you. I made you to know me. I

made you to be like me. And then he says

this, I made you to carry my Holy

Spirit. I made you to carry my power.

Acts 1:8, but you will receive power

Acts 1:8

when the Holy Spirit comes on you and

you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the

earth. That you know that word ends of

the earth, it's it's a Greek word

esqueto. It means the furthest most

point.

Interestingly enough, Acts 18 was spoken

in a place called Jerusalem. And you

know, literally the furthest most point

from Jerusalem is to

just saying

you will be my witnesses. You I will you

will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes on you and you will be my

witnesses. Your lives will be living

proof.

of the the the life and death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Can I can I tell you in uh with I'm not

going to go into any details, but uh my

wife and I, we have we have uh two

grandsons and another grandchild on the

way because of the Lord's power in our

daughter's life. We have uh uh we have

three nephews and a niece because of the

Lord's healing power in my sister's

life.

He made us and he says, "I I made you. I

made you to know me. I made you to be

like me and I made you to carry my

power." And then he says this, "I didn't

make you to be a spectator. I made you

to be a part of my mission. I made you

to be a part of my mission." You know

this Matthew 28:18, "All authority in

Matthew 28:18

heaven and on earth has been given to

me." Jesus said, "Therefore, go and make

disciples of all nations."

There's nothing in there about, "Oh,

well, I would, but I'm too young."

It's amazing when you travel. I'm I'm

not talking about you. This church would

never make excuses like this. I'm

absolutely sure of that. I'm sure that

none of you have ever made these

excuses. But there are some people they

say, "Well, you know, I I I would serve

the Lord, but I'm too young."

And then there's another group that say,

"Well, I would serve the Lord, but you

know, I'm a bit old."

And then there's another group that say,

"Well, I would serve the Lord, but I've

got a mortgage and a job and I'm too

busy." And the question becomes, well,

when you going to do it? When are you

going to do it? Obviously, I'm not

talking to you. So I'm obviously talking

to some pe I won't point in any

direction because in toadong everywhere

you point there is a church.

He says I made you to be a part of my

mission. Your life is not meaningless. I

have a purpose for you. You are not here

to watch from the sidelines.

You are here. Ephesians 2:10 says and

Ephesians 2:10

you are God's workmanship created in

Christ Jesus to do good works he planned

in advance for you to do. Hello. You got

a little bit quiet there. You right.

Imagine every believer. Imagine every

believer doing their part in making

Jesus known to everybody.

It's not going to be one sizefits-all.

The way that you will do it will be

different from the person beside you.

You won't you won't all do it like like

the overt 10 feet tall and bulletproof

evangelists.

But every p imagm Imagine every p imag

imagine how different toadonga would be

if everybody knew

you know we we are in uh you know our

city has this uh this week that no other

city uh in our nation has minivan week

you know what minivan week is e like for

the next seven days toonga is a traffic

jam of minivans jammed with 11 12 and 13

year olds as games as I pulled up I Glad

I was early because it looked like there

was the potential for a parking

catastrophe outside because Ames Games

came to this part of the city.

Imagine how different it would be if

every one of those intermediate school

kids knew.

>> If every one of those intermediate

school kids knew, not just day one, but

day two. Imagine how different it would

be. Imagine how different New Zealand

would be if everybody knew.

So God says,

"I made you.

I made you to know me. I made you to be

like me. I made you to carry my power. I

made you to be a part of my mission."

And then I believe he says this. Psalm

Psalms 139:16

139:16 says, "All the days ordained for

us were written in his book before one

of them came to be." He says this. He

says, "I didn't just make you, but I

planned exactly the time that you would

live in. I planned for you to be the

exact age that you are right now on this

date at this time."

I meet a lot of people that are like,

"Oh, well, brother,

don't you wish you lived back in the

Jesus revolution?" They go, "No, you

know, or this one. Oh, brother, don't

you don't you wish you were 21 again?

And I go, "No, I was." And you don't

want me to be 21 again either. Remember

that work of transformation I just

referred to? Let's You know,

there's a lot of believers who wish they

live in another time, but God says, "I

planned and ordained the days that you

would live in."

So, in these days chosen for us to live,

I believe this. I believe the Lord is

going to do something that is going to

shake the world. I believe that we have

one more great awakening ahead of us.

And I I believe that these green shoots

that are all over the place are signs of

that great awakening coming. And I

believe this great awakening will go

something like this. Matthew 24:12 says

Matthew 24:12

this. Because of the increase of

wickedness, the love of most will grow

cold. The love of most who? People who

had a measure of love. This is talking

about Christians who are looking at the

world around and going, "Wow, this isn't

getting better and better like I was

told it was going to all my problems

didn't go away. This is this is looking

a bit dodgy." And it says their love

grows cold. Why? Because they were told,

"Don't worry. Come to Jesus. All your

problems will go away. And it's just

going to get better and better. You're

going to get younger and fitter and

healthier and better looking and richer

and etc etc. Verse 12, because of the

increase of wickedness, the love of most

will grow cold. Verse 13, but the one

who endures to the end shall be saved.

And verse 14, and this gospel of the

kingdom shall be preached in all the

earth as a testimony to all nations, and

then the end, literally the goal shall

come.

Imagine two churches.

Verse 12, church,

love of people growing cold. Oh no,

what's happening in the world? I'm just

I I'm freaking out.

Verse 14, church.

Jesus is coming soon. Everything

happening in the world is pointing to

the fact that this is coming towards the

end of the age. There I am so on fire. I

can't help but share the gospel. If I

don't share the gospel, I'm going to

explode.

Imagine the difference between those two

churches. Hello.

Who wants to join? verse 12.

Who wants to join verse 14?

>> The challenge is you can't join verse

14. You got to be it.

>> You can join that one. That church, you

can join that one, but you can't join

this one. You got to be it.

>> People that want to join churches, they

talk like this. They go, "Oh, well,

brother, I hope I hope you got a good

message today." I don't know why I do

that voice when I do that. I just I

can't It just comes out. I can't help

it. They talk like this. They go, "Well,

brother, I hope I hope you got a good

message today because I I just need a

little boost."

And the reason they need a little boost

is because they never spent any time in

the word or with the Lord during the

week. And so, they come along to church

and saying, "Hit me." Or they're like

this. Well, worship team,

I hope you've chosen all the right

songs. By golly, I need I need a little

I need a little I need a little bit of

worship boosting.

I remember once talking to a lady who

said this to me. She said, she said, "I

I quite like your church, but far out.

The worship's so long."

And I remember thinking, "Boy, you're

going to hate heaven, aren't you?"

And I was like, "Why?" And I was I was

asking the Lord about it afterwards,

like, "Why does she hate worship so

much?" And it reminded me of that

passage in James that salt and fresh

water can't flow from the same spring.

that she'd spent all her week perhaps

gossiping and criticizing and never

never any worship. And so when she came

to worship, it was a foreign language

and it didn't flow out of her.

You can join that church, but you got to

be this church. Don't come to church to

get on fire.

You come because you are on fire.

And I believe that for this revival

right now, the Lord is at work raising

up a nameless,

faceless tribe of humble, burninghearted

champions.

And they will be a generation of

believers like none that we have seen.

They're going to be like Josiah

in two kings who turn to the Lord like

no one before him or after him. They're

going to be like young Mary. And

remember young Mary, the archangel turns

up and says to her, "You are going to be

the mother of the son of God." And young

Mary, even though this was a costly and

dangerous proposition for her, she said,

"May it be to me as the Lord has said,

they're going to be this." Revelation

Revelation 12:11

12:11,

they overcame him. So John, the apostle

John, John the Beloved, don't you like

that term John the Beloved? Anyone like

the term John the Beloved? Don't you

love that that term John the Beloved

only appears in the writings of John the

Beloved?

John's an old man. He's the only one of

the apostles that lived to be an old

man. Judas hung himself. 10 of them were

martyed and John was the only one who

lived to be an old man. and he only

lived to be an old man because a Roman

emperor tried to boil him in oil and he

swam around in it like a jacuzzi and

continued to preach the gospel.

The same Roman emperor tried to poison

him and it had no effect. So he stuck

him on the island of Patmos to shut him

up and on the island of Patmos he saw

the Lord and and he transcribed the book

of Revelation, the last book in our

Bible.

And there is an old man

peering into the future.

It seems to me like he saw a final

generation, a generation that would be

alive in the days overshadowed by the

return of the Lord. And he said this,

"They, that future generation, overcame

him, the evil one by the blood of the

lamb,

by the word of their testimony, and they

love not their lives so much as to

shrink back from death. by the blood of

the lamb, Jesus on the cross.

Friends, you and I, we brought nothing

to the table. It was all him. It was all

his mercy.

>> I don't know about you, but I brought

nothing to the table. Nothing at all.

The word of our testimony, the effect

that his work has had on our lives.

and they love not their lives so much as

to shrink back from death, which didn't

mean they live with some sort of a some

sort of a death wish.

It means that they found the king Jesus

to be worth more than even their lives

and they held nothing back.

I believe this is the generation that

the Lord is raising up. I believe right

now around the land that many of them

not not all of them but I believe in the

early days particularly many of them are

young and I believe that many of them

are new believers but that is not to say

that you are if you are not young and if

you are not a new believer you are

excluded I'm just saying in the early

days particularly that's what is

happening

you say well why are you talking to us

about this well to be honest this was

not my plan I rewrote this last tonight.

The reason that I'm talking to you is

because I believe that some of this

nameless, faceless tribe of humble,

burninghearted champions are in this

room.

I believe this is why you're like you

are.

I believe this is what you were born

for. Some of you, you're in this room

and deep down there's like a

restlessness.

You can't seem to settle for what others

seem to settle for.

There's a feeling of like something is

coming. I know something is coming and

it's different from what I've known to

this point. There's this there must be

more. You can't settle.

You see, the day you were born, that was

the day you began your earthly life,

right?

Like everyone,

you and I, we were born into shame and

confusion and oppression and fear and

addiction and ultimately into a life

with a countdown timer that finishes

with death.

But that was never the Lord's plan for

humanity.

The day you find out why

is the day you are born again.

Now, born again is not some weird

crackpot term used by religious nutters.

Oh, you one of those born again

Christians.

Well, guess what? If you're not one of

those born again Christians, you're not

a Christian. Because you can't be a

Christian unless you're born again. What

does it mean to be born again? It

doesn't mean to dress up in weird

clothes and act odd.

It's the day that you and I, because of

what Jesus did on the cross, got a fresh

start.

that we were born again into

forgiveness. We were given a clean

slate. We were given hope and life and

freedom and purpose. And he says, "This

is your new normal."

Actually, I wasn't planning to do this

now, but Mr. Mr. Techman, have you got

can you put one of my pictures with a

face? There are some pictures with faces

on there up where where is the Yep. Yep.

Uh can I have can I have the one up the

top there? That Yep. That one. that one

that you put up. Can I have that one,

please? Look at that lady.

She's uh part of a church that I go to

pretty regularly. And um her story is

this. She lived on the streets addicted

to drugs for seven years. She was

raising uh her son, who I got to know.

He's now 14. She was raising her son on

the streets and she was pregnant with

her daughter. And right around the time

of the pandemic, she encountered in the

middle of the street, she encountered a

church that sent out a team to do

worship. And she became a follower of

Jesus.

She got set free. She got delivered. She

got unaddicted.

You know, when I first met her, she was

always shaking because she was still,

even though she was she was clean now,

she was still detoxing from the effects

of all those years on the

methamphetamines.

Now look at her. Look at the joy. You

know, now she's a part of the evangelism

and deliverance team in the church that

she got born again into.

She'd had day one, but this is what it

looked like when she got day two. You

know, one John 3:8 says, "The reason the

John 3:8

son of God appeared was to destroy

Satan's work." That's what it looks like

when he destroys Satan's work. Do you

want to see one more face? Who wants to

see one more face?

>> Nobody. Okay, no more faces for you.

Anybody want to see one more? Okay,

let's have one more.

>> Yep. that one there. Look at that young

fella. Little white guy. Used to be a

very angry rap musician. And uh one day

uh I was visiting the church that he's a

part of and I was sitting in the front

row and he came in. He's on the worship

team and he came in sat beside me

puffing and he said, "Why are you

puffing?" He says, "I can't use my car

right now. I had to ride my bike." I

said, "Why can't you use your car?" He

says, "Ah, still got a DUI to deal with

from before I became a believer, you

know." And anyway, cut a long story

short, that young fell,

he had to go to jail for 33 days in a

American federal penitentiary

for his DUI, his drunk driving charge.

He got out in 31 days for good behavior

while he was in the jail. Not one word,

not one word of an exaggeration. He led

47 men to Christ.

This is what it looks like when Jesus

destroys Satan's works. On the first

day, you were born. On the second day,

you were born again. On the first day,

you hear voices like there is no hope,

there is no purpose, there is no

meaning. On the second day, you hear a

different voice. And on the second day,

that's when you and I begin to encounter

the Lord for real. You know, he says,

"Taste and see that the Lord is good."

Means you don't have to take my word or

Aaron and Sarah's word or anybody's word

for it. Taste and see that the Lord is

good. When you meet him, he'll you'll

experience his reality. You'll feel his

presence. You'll hear his voice. And he

will come. And where you are marked with

shame and purposelessness and

hopelessness, he'll mark you with

forgiveness and freedom and power.

You know, the experience changes you and

I forever.

There's this cool story in Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4 that tells the story of Peter and John

who were preaching the gospel and they

were getting some opposition from the

religious leaders, the religious elites.

The religious leaders, they were

threatening them and telling them to

shut up, but they wouldn't shut up. And

Acts 4:13 says this. When they saw the

Acts 4:13

courage of Peter and John and realized

they were unschooled ordinary men, they

were astonished

and they took note that they'd been with

Jesus.

Doesn't say they took note that they

knew lots about him. Doesn't say they

took note at how religious they were. It

says they took note they'd been with

him.

You know what I think the key is? I

don't I don't think the key for this

awakening is that we all necessarily

become more religious.

I think it's that we

be with Jesus

because just like these men were

transformed by being with him, so we are

transformed.

Wouldn't it wouldn't it be awesome if

one day

the city of Toadonga was so abl ablaze

with revival

that when we get the

minivan invasion

that the Lord sets an ambush for every

one of those 11, 12, and 13 year olds

where they come into the city and as

they drive into the city, they suddenly

become aware

of the tangible lifechanging presence of

God. And wouldn't it be amazing if they

drove into our city only knowing day

one, but they drove out knowing day two?

>> Friends, every one of you, all of us, me

included,

the Lord wants to do a work in our

lives.

Not just here and now, but let's talk

about here and now. He wants to do a

walk at work in our lives so that by the

time we walk out the doors that we

walked in, things have changed and

shifted.

Here's the last thing. Worship team,

would you like to reappear?

That sounds dodgy, doesn't it? Like,

here's the last thing.

In Revelation 3:E 16, Jesus talking to

his church, he says this, "Behold,

I stand at the door and I knock."

To me, this is very confronting.

He says, "I stand at the door and I

knock."

The door of his own church, his own

house, he's outside.

At what point did they not notice that

he'd gone?

At what point did they did they figure

that they could just get on with things

without him being front and center?

He stands at the door of his church and

he knocks and he says, "Hey, I want in."

But then also we need to realize that

church is not this.

This is not a church. This is a

building. It's a nice building.

It's a purpose purposed

building.

This is the church.

It's this.

And he says, "Behold, I stand at the

door and I knock. If anyone hears my

voice and opens the door, I will come

in. I will have fellowship."

Now, Revelation 3:16 is written to a

Revelation 3:16

particular church at a particular time.

But I believe that the same principle

applies where Jesus doesn't stand at the

door of our lives and say, "I'm going to

huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your

door down." He says, "I'll knock

and if you hear my voice and open the

door, I will come in." And that can be

the beginning of your journey, the day

when you move from day one to day two.

But I believe it's also a daily thing.

It's also a daily thing where the Lord

says, "I'm not going to demand that you

spend time with me,

but I'm here

and I'm waiting

and I'm ready."

And I believe as if if you are here as a

believer and you you start deliberately

staring yourself more into his presence

where you're not going I'll go to church

on Sunday and I'll probably pray a pro

few emergency prayers during the week.

But where you start saying Lord you're

going to see me tomorrow and the next

day and the next day and I'm going to

keep coming back and keep coming back.

He'll begin to transform you. He'll make

your life like his. You'll start to be

light shining in the darkness. People

around you will start to see the word of

his testimony in your life.

You'll stop living with that sense of

hopelessness and doom. And you'll start

you'll start living with with with this

overflow of his presence and his life.

Oh, my time is gone.

Can I ask you, would you close your

eyes, please, just for a moment?

How do you know when he's knocking?

You'll feel strangely drawn. You'll feel

interested, stirred. You might even feel

a little bit irritated.

Maybe you're here today and he's drawing

you for the first time.

It's time to make peace with God. It's

time to be right with God. Jesus paid

the price on the cross

so that you and I could be right with

God.

Maybe you're here and you're you're a

believer, but you've been drifting into

a little bit of lukewarmness.

And maybe today is the day to say, "Lord

Jesus,

I refuse to live without a burning

heart. Light a fire on the inside of me

again. I don't want to sit on the

sidelines and watch. I want to be who

you made me to be and I want to do what

you made me to do.

Or maybe you're here and you were on

fire long before church started today

and you just need to say, "Lord, I can

always have more fire."

Holy Spirit, I ask that you would move

across this room.

I pray Lord that you would come and that

you would draw close to every one of

these people, both these ones in this

room, the ones upstairs in the mezzanine

and any who might be watching this or

listening to this.

Holy Spirit, we long

to do the good works that you planned in

advance for us to do. We long to see

revival sweeping

through our land. We long to see rivers

of healing and deliverance and revival

and salvation flowing through the city

of Toadonga

that everybody would know.

Lord Jesus, we thank you and we honor

you with all our hearts for what you

have done, the price that you paid so

that we can draw near to you and you

will draw near to us.

Just keep your eyes on the Lord for a

few more seconds.

In just a moment, I'm going to invite

you

to stand up. If

if you are needing to make peace with

God for the first time,

if you are

wanting to ask the Lord to rekindle

fresh fire in your life, recognizing the

fire has been growing dim,

or if you are radically burning and on

fire today, and you're just saying,

"Lord, I want more fire.

I want I want to be an inferno of your

love and your presence.

Friends, in about 10 seconds, I'm going

to invite you to stand if if you want to

say yes to any of those things. And

we're going to pray for you. But I want

you to decide right now whether you're

going to stand so that you your your

decision to stand is not affected by who

does or doesn't.

If your decision is yes to stand to any

one of those three things, would you

immediately stand to your feet right

now?

And as you stand there, I want you to

imagine you're standing before the Lord.

Not standing before me, not standing

before the worship team, standing before

the Lord.

Standing before him and saying, "Lord

Jesus, I receive what you have given me,

what you purchased for me. I thank you.

And Lord, I give to you everything that

I have. Lord, I hold nothing back. Have

all of my life today. Have all of my

life.

Have all of my life.

Have all of my life in Jesus name. I

give it to you. I freely give it to you.

I offer it to you. It is my delight to

surrender and offer to you my whole

life. have all of me in Jesus name.

Just keep your eyes on the Lord. And now

I'm asking Holy Spirit that you would

meet every person

with a humble willing heart,

particularly those standing. I ask in

the name of Jesus, Holy Spirit, that you

would come and that you would begin to

light the fire in them that only you can

light.

I ask in the name of Jesus that you

would wrap them up in your presence.

that Lord you would that you would begin

to stir something on the inside of them

in Jesus' name.

Holy Spirit, we're asking for more.

Lord, we leave behind the days of just

asking you for a good church service. We

are asking you for a nationwide revival.

We are asking you Lord that there would

be so much of your presence and your

fire and your hope and your life in

these lives of ours

that people around would see you in us

in Jesus name.

Come on as you stand there right now the

Bible says you can receive the Holy

Spirit.

So right now as you stand there by faith

receive the Holy Spirit.

Don't be namby pamby about that. Don't

be passive. Receive him.

I receive you Holy Spirit. I receive you

Holy Spirit in Jesus name.

But you will be clothed with power from

on high when the Holy Spirit comes on

you. And you will be my witnesses, my

living proof in Jerusalem, Judea,

Samaria, and to Toadonga.

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,

Holy Spirit,

Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit.

Friends, in just a a moment or two, I'm

going to hand this microphone back to

the captain here, and he's going to give

us instructions. We're going to open up

the front for those of you that would

like prayer. But just before we do that,

couple of very quick things. Uh this

young lady back here, yes, you standing

there. God bless you. I see I see uh I

see the presence of God around you. I

see God's hand on your life.

I feel like uh I feel like he is saying

that he has been stirring some things up

in you. I don't know if you felt

restless or stirred recently, but it's

like he's been stirring some things up

in you. And the things that he's

stirring up in you are his invitation to

you. Okay? I don't know where you're at

or what you're doing or or what you do

or don't know about your life, but I

believe right now it's like the Lord is

saying, "If you will make room and you

will listen, I will show you what I made

you for and where I want to take you."

And I see I see a picture of a book and

I see a page turning and this page is

blank and it's a different color and I

believe like the Lord is saying that

what I will show you is going to be so

radically different from what you have

known in the past. It's like he's saying

I have something for you. It's something

new. It's something different. And it's

it's like I see him looking and it's

like I see him saying come on let's go.

Come on. Does that make sense for you?

Have you felt a stirring on the inside?

Good. You're not just being polite

because I'm Yeah. Good. Well, God's

hands on your life.

Uh Gordon, I felt very blessed to uh to

to see you again today. And my prayer

for you is that you would see with your

with your human eyes what you have

longed to see for all these years of

ministry and walking with the Lord and

serving him. I pray that you would live

to see that that revival sweeping

through our land would be something that

you would see not from the ground the

cloud of great witnesses, the great

cloud of witnesses, but that you would

see in the here and now. That you would

find yourselves surrounded by a

nameless, faceless tribe of humble,

burninghearted champions.

I see this picture. I see this picture

in my mind. I see you laying hands on

them. I see them being baptized in the

Holy Spirit and demons coming out of

them. And I Lord, I pray that you would

cause this man and is is this is this

your is this your other half? God bless

you. I pray, Lord, that this couple

would see with their natural eyes, Lord,

what they have longed to see and prayed

for for decades of faithful service.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. How we

doing on this side?

Good. Good. Yeah. Uh this young man here

in the front row. Yeah. You with the

casual look on your face. Yeah. You

Yeah. Yeah. Uh uh what I see with you is

uh you have a you have a leadership call

on your life. And I see this picture of

like all these jigsaw pieces all over a

table. And I see the jigsaw pieces.

They're all chaotic. And I I'm not

trying to tell you your life's a mess.

But sometimes life can feel like that.

There's all these bits. You don't know

how they all fit together. And I see the

Lord working diligently in putting them

all together. He's putting them all

together and he's getting you ready to

be what he made you to be, which is

radically different from the plans that

other people had for you. Feel like the

Lord says to you, you are going to be a

sign and a wonder. And there are times

when you are going to be a shock and an

offense to people. Not that you're going

to be offensive, not that you should aim

to be offensive, but the Lord is going

to he is going to shock people through

you if you let him. He's going to

arrange those pieces of the jigsaw and

he's going to make what uh what you

could never have made of yourself and

he's going to use you. I believe that

you will stand as one of the great

generals in this emerging tribe of

revivalists that he's raising up

now. I see this picture of you with with

a bucket and I just see you pouring out

water. It's like the Lord's saying you

cannot pour out too much of your life.

Pour it out. Pour it out to him. Give it

to him. Hold nothing back. Just keep

pouring it out. And no matter how much

you pour you out, you'll never run dry.

Because the more you pour out, the more

he'll pour in. Because the Bible says,

"The one who sws sparingly will reap

sparingly. But the one who sws pours out

generously will reap generously."

You're not made for the middle of the

road. The middle of the road is not

where you are made for. You you you you

are you are made to be full on

full on fullon after the Lord.

Right, I'll stop there. But I just it's

like I could just Oh, I just want to

keep going. Okay,

good, good, good, good, good, good,

good. All right, I'll hand this back to

you. Do you want to come and give some

instructions

and then we can pray for people up the

front?

Awesome.