Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

So many Christians it seems are content to just get by in their Christian life. They ask Jesus into their life, they go to church, they learn a few hymns and read the Bible occasionally, but they never really amount to anything in the Kingdom of God. They are content to be average.

MR AVERAGE?

The average Australian man is 36 yo, 178 cm tall and weighs 85kg. He has 2 kids and earns $65,000 a year. His life expectancy is 81.5, women get 4 years more, are 14cm shorter and weigh only 68kg. Statistics can tell you a lot of things, but it cannot tell you who will become great, who will impact the lives of others or who will lay down their life for someone they love.

The average Christian over 35-40 years will attend 1600 church services, hear 1600 sermons, sing more than 20,000 worship songs and lead zero people to faith in Christ.

But average is where many Christians aim, and they hit it! They are content to be ordinary, to live what they think is an adequate Christian life.

They believe that if they go to church, read their Bible occasionally, and say their prayers once in a while, they will be all right with God. Occasionally, they may be inspired to go above and beyond their normal routine and volunteer to serve others as an usher, a member of a church committee, or even go on a short-term mission trip.

So many Christians, especially after the disruption of COVID, are simply going through the motions of being “good Christians.” They do not enjoy the power, the fullness, peace, and joy that should come with the abundant life Jesus promised.

John 10:10 (ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Eventually, this ordinary, average Christian life they are living becomes a burden and does not comfort them when the storms of adversity assail. There’s a disconnect between what we say we believe and what we actually experience. Why are so many Christians content to be ordinary?

WE GET FOCUSSED ON THE WRONG THING

So many Christians are simply focussed on the wrong thing. They are chasing the right career, the right business, the right partner, the right kids, the right church. They concentrate on getting, getting money, houses, hobbies or any number of things except Christ.

Let me ask you, what are you focussed on? Here’s a hint… What do you think about most? Do you spend more time or invest more energy into business, money, home making, even leisure that you invest into reading the Bible, coming to church and prayer. Your time and heads pace is a good indicator of your focus.

Matthew 6:32-33 (ESV)

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

WE GET DISTRACTED

Another reason our Christian lives are ordinary is that we get distracted. We start well, the seed of an extraordinary life is sown, but as Jesus explains in the parable of the sower, we get distracted by worldly things which choke life and fruitfulness.

Matthew 13:22 (ESV)

As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

When I came to Christ I wanted to do something great, something world changing for Him. I was so young, so full of enthusiasm and drive, but then came starting a career, business, homes, family. None of these are bad, but I noticed they pressured me to take my eyes of Christ. God has shown me that if I seek Him I can serve Him better, and live a more extraordinary life to boot.

Colossians 3:2 (ESV)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

WE GET FOOLED

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The devil knows he has lost your soul to heaven, so the next best thing is to stunt your effectiveness as a servant of God. He uses deceit, lies, distractions, pain, and especially fear to blunt your service for Jesus. He is actively trying to bring you down.

We have to be vigilant. Sober minded means calm and collected in spirit. Watchful means staying awake, being aware.

Look at your life right now. Are you being fooled by the enemy, hoodwinked by Satan? Are you being sold the lie that your business or house or car or family or anything else is more important that your life in Christ?

Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last… CT Studd.

WE GET WEARY

So often we serve the Lord, we focus on Him, we desire to live an extraordinary life for Him, but we just get weary. This is huge for me, and for many of us. Paul said,

Galatians 6:9 (ESV)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

It’s not about how you start the Christian race, it’s about how you finish. If you grow weary and fail, you slip back into ordinariness.

Folks, we need to be continually inspired towards love and good works. We need to hold fast to the Word of the Lord and wait on Him. He promises..

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

So how do we guard against becoming weary and discouraged? The answer is one simple word… Fellowship.

Fellowship with yourself, take a break, have a few days away and recharge the batteries.

Fellowship with God, quiet times, reading the Bible, worshipping Him

Fellowship with friends, have a few laughs, go out to dinner, watch a fun movies, play some crazy game like bananagrams.

Fellowship with believers. Church needs to be something that builds us up and replenishes us when we get weary. You can be a Christian and not go to church, just like you can be married and not live together, but it’s not the norm. Most Christians who are not linked with a church family achieve little if anything for God.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Ignite is a great place to open opportunities for fellowshipping with believers, serving the Lord and replenishing your reserves so you can soar with the Eagles, even if you have to deal with turkeys in your life.

JESUS NEVER CALLED US TO BE AVERAGE

Life and life to the full is not ordinary, mundane existence! I cannot believe that God called you to become an boring also-ran when Paul says

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith

God has been showing me that if I aim at nothing, I’ll hit it every time. But if I aim at the moon, I might miss but hit a star.

The world constantly tells you to live a life of your own value and worth, but they define value and worth in cars, houses, stocks, jobs and appliances. None of these have any value in eternity. You can be less than average in society, but full of value and worth in eternity, because your value is not in what you do but in who you are. You are a saved, redeemed sinner, set free from sin and death by His grace, and set on fire to impact the world by His Spirit! You are of value regardless of what you do.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

We could stay right there, valued by useless. But why should we be content with being average, garden variety Christians? Why should we be happy with an ordinary life? I might sound like an infomercial, but wait, I believe there is more!

Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

That’s not a mundane, average verse! God can and will give us not just the ordinary, not even abundance, but far more, exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or think. The secret is in seeking Him first, not seeking the others things. We must seek God’s face, not just His hand.

The great news is that, when we honestly seek the Lord with all our heart, He promises that He will live in us by His Spirit. Christianity is not about living our best for God; it is about dying to self and about Christ living His best in us. Our great weakness in serving Christ is self confidence. The choice is simple: either we deny self or we deny Christ.

Psalms 37:4 (ESV)

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

HOW TO LIVE AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE

As believers, we should desire a life that’s beyond average. But too often we settle for a life that’s “just okay” instead of extraordinary. I guarantee you that right now there are people here who are settling for being ordinary. Settling for what is safe, what is comfortable or what is familiar, not what is right or what is extraordinary.

We shouldn’t settle for a good marriage when we could have a great marriage. We shouldn’t settle for an average Christian walk when would could affect the world around us for Jesus, please our Father in Heaven and build gold silver and costly stones instead of wood hay and straw.

You see, we can settle for mediocrity with mundane jobs and minimal ministries – or we can take action to escape apathy and live life in ways that are beyond our wildest imaginations.

You don’t have to be talented or smart or good looking or gifted to be extraordinary. I can think of many people with those characteristics amounting to zero in God’s Kingdom. It is not about your ability, it’s about your availability!

So how do we become more active, passionate, and joyful followers of Jesus Christ? How do we ramp up our Christian life to serious put a dent in eternity?

Are you even available for God to use?

Here’s three virtues that will help you move your life beyond average to Holy Spirit led awesomeness, and an extraordinary life…

CHOOSE TO BE OBEDIENT

Every day we face a choice… Obedience to Christ, or our own desires. So how do you know what you need to obey God about? Reading His Word draws you to Him, and allows the Holy Spirit to speak to you. He speaks through His Word.

Remember what Jesus said? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Obedience to God and His Word will move you from apathy to action!

We’re commanded to be witnesses, faithful worshipers, and prayer warriors; to give generously to the work of Christ; and to love God’s Word. We’re commanded to live holy lives for Christ (not just happy, but holy). Are you living in obedience to God’s instructions?

God has placed you where you are to be a witness for Him. When you’re obedient to God in everything you do, He’ll use you in powerful, meaningful ways for His Kingdom.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Obeying Christ is life and life to the full, both for you, and for your wife or husband, and your kids, and their kids, and those around you. Blessings and cursing,

Life and death… Now choose extraordinary life!

CHOOSE TO BE DILIGENT

Choose to be diligent in serving God wholeheartedly.

Romans 12:11 (ESV)

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Frankly, some Christians are slothful, slack and apathetic, which is being pathetic and having an app for that! Christians should not be apathetic, because the world is watching you, at school, at the shops, at work or in the home. Apathy is the enemy of extraordinary.

We may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings. – Helen Keller

Christians should be relied upon as being diligent, resourceful people, not those who squeak by doing the bare minimum. We should in all areas be excellent.

Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

People are watching not what you say, but your deeds, what you do. If you long to live and extraordinary life, be diligent

2 Peter 1:10 (ESV)

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

CHOOSE TO BE RESILIENT

Which means, keep going. There are times in life that it all just seems to be too much, we are overwhelmed, we are weary and down and despondent. I’ve been right there this week, so have many of you. But whatever happens to you, I’m speaking prophetically to someone here today, I implore you in the Lord, keep going. If you’re walking through he shadow of death, don’t stop, don’t camp there, don’t set up your life there, keep on going!

I want to have resilient faith that remains constant and unmoved against all odds, because people are dying, people are broken, and we’ve been called to help.

Proverbs 21:21 (ESV)

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour.

Pursue is the Hebrew RADAP, which means pursue, chase after or run after. It means to chase down. And the one who pursues righteousness and kindness, who pursues God and His Kingdom, they chase it down and pay any cost, and they never give up!

YOU CAN CHOOSE THE LIFE YOU LIVE

You have the power this very day to choose the life you want to live. You can choose an ordinary, mundane, just squeaking by existence, or you can choose an extraordinary life, and life to the full.

As you choose to keep pursuing true obedience, tenacious diligence, and tough resilience, you’ll go from living an ordinary life to living an extraordinary life that will impact the people around you – and the world!

Every great life lived for Jesus Christ and impacting the world for God starts with a choice. I choose not to be average,I choose not to be ordinary. I choose abundant life, I choose Jesus and I choose to be obedient to Him and live an extraordinary life.

Many people believe that the key to living the Christian life starts with pious acts, but they are wrong. It really begins with a deep, intimate relationship with Him.

God did not create you to live a marginal Christian life characterised by chores and rituals. He desires to have a daily relationship with you where you experience His presence and trust Him for wisdom, courage, and strength in all situations.

With every step you take, decision you make, conversation you have, and thought you entertain, the Lord wants to glorify Himself through you. He desires to shine in your life—with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control illuminating your unique talents, traits, and personality as you walk in obedience to Him.

People think that Jesus Christ came to earth to make bad men good. He didn’t. He came to make dead men live! That’s why Paul writes,

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

All it takes is a choice. I can’t live a victorious life, you can’t live a victorious life, only Jesus can, by His Spirit within us. He lives life to the full, but only when we choose to give Him our life. Choose now whom you will serve! The church, the world, religion or Jesus Christ. Choose an extraordinary life that both you and your descendent might live!

In other words, to live an extraordinary Christian life is to allow Jesus to live in and through you. Your old self dies, and your new self is handed to Him. That is why Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

This morning I’m asking you to choose. If you choose to be ordinary and average, you front up and tell the Lord right now. But if you choose to become all He desires for you, if you choose extraordinary life and ministry, tell Him now. If that’s you, you’re in the right place!

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What would you think of a farmer who had his best field, with rich black soil and adequate irrigation, fertile and lush, but he never planted anything there? Imagine a huge paddock, with the best soil, and best rainfall, yet he leaves it fallow, and all that grows is weeds. You’d say he was an irresponsible farmer.

But it’s his choice, isn’t it. You and I are that farmer! Every day we are given a gift, and most often we squander it.

If I told you that your bank called, and they said they will deposit $864 every day into your account. This amounts to $6000 a week or over $300K a year. But there's a catch… you have to spend it all… or they take it back. Every day! No problem, say the ladies, right?

This is all of us. We all get 86,400 seconds each day. Do you spend yours wisely. It’s a fertile field, do you plant it for maximum yield, or let weeds grow.

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Last week we talked about the calling of God, and many of you responded to that call. You know God has something special in your life, something unique that He wants to do in your life, and through your life to others.

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Coming up to Halloween, it’s a great time to recognise that it is not a cute festival of dressing up, it is a macabre celebration of evil and the demonic. Today I want to offer a Biblical and balanced view of the supernatural world.

So let’s start with this… The spiritual world exists. We know it, Hindus know it, so do new agers, Muslims, satanists, almost every tribe on earth knows it. Scientists ignore it, because they say they can’t see it or measure it. They have their own fantasies, like aliens and big bangs, but as Christians, frankly, we mostly ignore it too! But the Bible says…

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Christianity is Monotheistic, which means we believe in only one true God, not three Gods. Isaiah 43:10-11 - “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.

Isaiah 44:6 - “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. Deuteronomy 6:4 - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! Whenever you see the word “LORD” or “GOD” in all capital letters in your English Bible, it is to distinguish it from the generic Hebrew word for God or Lord (Master). LORD is recorded in place of the Hebrew consonants YHWH, which is often pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah. This is the divine name of God and appears over 6,500 times in the Old Testament. Yahweh alone is God.

The two foundations that make Yahweh unique is that he is eternal and he is the creator. HE IS THE UNCREATED CREATOR, which is why we worship Him.
Psalm 90:2 - Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 95:6 - Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. God alone created the universe. No one else helped him create the world.

Isaiah 45:18 - For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Isaiah 44:24 – Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,

Yahweh alone created humanity, but there was more than one person involved. Genesis 1:1-2 - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:26-27 - Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; … 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 2:7 - “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Prior to his incarnation, Jesus was Yahweh who created the universe. John 1:1-3, 14 - 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made… 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Colossians 1:15-18 - “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the supremacy.” (Col. 1:15-18)
But how can Jesus be Yahweh in human flesh when Jesus said, “I can of myself do nothing” (John 5:30), and “My father is greater than I” (John 14:28)? Jesus relied on the Father in prayer for his whole life on earth, so how can he be God? Jesus willingly became a servant when he took on our humanity. Philippians 2:5-8 - Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. John 6:38 - “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
Prior to the creation of the world, and prior to his existence on earth, Jesus existed in heaven with the Father and shared the glory of Yahweh.

John 17:5 - And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Isaiah 42:8 - I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.”

The prophet Isaiah saw the glory of Jesus prior to his incarnation.

John 12:41 - These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. Isaiah 6:1-3 - In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

After his resurrection, Jesus ascended back into heaven, and he is again sharing the glory of Yahweh and being worshiped by angels. Revelation 5:11-14 - 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
The whole Bible proclaims Jesus as Yahweh and Saviour. John 5:39 – Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
In Psalm 23, Yahweh is our shepherd. In John 10, Jesus is the good shepherd of the sheep of Israel who gives them eternal life. “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” (John 10:33). See also John 5:18 – “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
All four Gospel writers claim that John the Baptist was preparing the way for Yahweh (Jesus). Isaiah 40:3 – “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:1-3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23.
We are witnesses of Yahweh, and the name of Jesus brings salvation. Acts 1:8 – Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” However, Isaiah 43:10-11 10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.” – See also Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; 4:12; Romans 10:13. Jesus is the name that brings salvation because Jesus is Yahweh.
Jesus is “the first and the last”, which is an Old Testament title of Yahweh. See Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:17-18; 22:12-17 ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Yahweh. Isaiah 61:1 - “The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” See also, Matthew 3:16-17.
The Holy Spirit is separate from the Father and the Son. 2 Corinthians 13:14 – “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” John 16:13 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
In order to prove personhood, the Holy Spirit must be shown to have personal attributes such as a mind, will, emotions, actions and communication.
The Holy Spirit can be grieved – Ephesians 4:30 – “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
The Holy Spirit can be insulted. Hebrews 10:29 – “Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?”
The Holy Spirit can be lied to. Acts 5:3-4 - But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
The Holy Spirit can speak and issue commands. Acts 8:29 – “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” Acts 13:2 – “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
The Holy Spirit is the one who decides who receives various gifts of the Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:11 - “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
The Holy Spirit makes prayerful intercession for the saints according to the will of Yahweh. Romans 8:26-27 - 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit teaches. John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
The Holy Spirit is in relationship and communication with the Church. Acts 15:28 – “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:”

For further information on the Trinity, I recommend the book “The Forgotten Trinity”, by James R. White.

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Although the pandemic has eased and lockdown is over, many Christians are deciding to stay home and not come back to church. They prefer to avoid getting dressed, fighting traffic and interacting with real people and instead sit at home in their PJs eating breakfast and watching a sermon on YouTube.

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Every family has struggles, has conflict, has some kind of drama. We can’t choose who is in our family, and while we love family, we don’t always like them, but we need family.

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Church is a family as we discussed last week. Like any family, we have our quirks, our weirdness, or as James puts it, we are “a peculiar people”, some more peculiar than others.

There are people running around saying we need to do church in a Biblical way and I agree. But what does the Bible actually teach about how a church family should behave?

Acts 2:42-47 (ESV Strong's)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

The early church was known for four activities that should be foundational for every kingdom-minded local church. These 4 activities are a blueprint for churches today, no matter the form they take, where they meet, the people they embrace or the country they are in.

These are…

TEACHING

First, they had devotion to the apostles’ teaching. Thus, believers learned God’s perspective (based on his inerrant Word) on every matter so that they could obey him, experience spiritual growth, and make kingdom impact. They were not led by whims, feelings, vague words or even by rules, the direction of the early church was solidly built on the teaching of the apostles and leaders. That’s why James warns,

James 3:1 (ESV Strong's)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Teaching is an essential part of church. God wants education for His family. These early Christians grew in the knowledge of the Word and the apostles’ doctrine. You can’t grow beyond what you know. Doing church without Bible based teaching is a recipe for heresy, because we all need godly Biblical teaching to know God properly, and to grow and prosper in the Christian faith.

Colossians 3:16 (ESV Strong's)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Without Bible based teaching a group will always drift into error. Most cults start with a group of people sincerely seeking God, but they head off track without Bible based teaching. As the family of God we need the Word of God to be central, hence the Bible reading plan, and right from the beginning in Acts, the church needed strong and Bible based teaching. Not human wisdom, God’s Word…

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV Strong's)

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Word of God cuts through the mess of our lives, penetrates the soul and spirit, and discerns or separates the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The teaching of the Word is central to our Christian lives, and this church family.

FELLOWSHIP

Second, they devoted themselves to fellowship—mutually sharing the life of Christ within the family of God. Ps Tony Evans said, A disconnected Christian is a disobedient and unfruitful Christian, because we are made to be together.

The Acts church experienced fellowship, and describes believers’ connection with one another, their mutual sharing of the life of Christ with each other. After months of isolation, most of us crave fellowship. Now their fellowship was really deep…

Acts 2:44-45 (ESV Strong's)

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Fellowship is not chatting about the football, or talking about houses, cars, money or politics. Fellowship talks about the things of God. Fellowship is deep, it’s helping each other, caring for each other, praying for each other, serving selflessly. It is not the reserve of the pastor and leaders alone, it is something all of us should be involved in.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Fellowship is unity, bearing with one another’s faults, caring for each other. Sadly many churches and many believers think their God given spiritual gift is criticism. It should be encouragement.

WORSHIP AND PRAYER

Third, the church regularly prioritised worship, reflected in the breaking of bread (i.e., the Lord’s Supper) and prayer (2:42). Worship involves the recognition of God for who he is, what he has done, and what we are trusting him to do. The Bible says,

Psalms 22:3 (ESV Strong's)

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

God inhabits the praises of his people, and Worship is central to spiritual growth. Jesus said,

John 4:23-24 (ESV Strong's)

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

True worship is in spirit and in truth. It’s not fake, it’s not trumped up or hyped, and it doesn’t need laser lights or smoke machines. The Greek word for worship is PROS-KY-NEO, which literally means to kiss or lick the hand like a dog would affectionately lick his master’s hand. So much for COVID protocols! Worship is intimate, it is vulnerable, it is genuine.

The Word for Truth is ALETHEIA, meaning the genuine truth regardless of consequences. Spirit is PNEUMA, meaning breath or a current of air. It implies the Spirit or the soul of man, the very being of a person.

So Spirit and truth is a term that means genuine, wholehearted, soul wrenching worship, without tradition, without constraint, without embarrassment. It is King David,

2 Samuel 6:14 (ESV Strong's)

And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.

So often worship in church is controlled, it’s something that you do to a point, but you make sure you’re not embarrassing yourself. True worship in spirit is without constraint, without embarrassment, without fear. You lose yourself in worship.

OUTREACH

Fourth, they were engaged in evangelistic outreach because every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (2:47). Everyone was involved in evangelism; they weren’t merely letting the apostles take care of it.

The church started with Peter’s sermon and 3000 converts, but the the daily additions were not through preaching, they were because the people were being salt and light in their communities. They were meeting peoples’ needs, loving them and sharing their faith and God was adding to the church daily. Their outreach was not handing out tracts or having evangelism campaigns, it was the natural overflow of their lives. They lived in the world, they shined in the world, and when asked why they behaved as they did, they replied,

1 Peter 3:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

The early church family lived genuine, honest lives shining in the darkness of their world. St Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” I don’t agree. Preach the gospel with your life and with your works but also with your words. Good works are just that without your telling people about Jesus.

On a plane to Wagga.

TIME TO RE IGNITE!

Early believers committed themselves to follow the teaching of the apostles, to fellowship together, to sharing in the Lord’s Supper (worship) and to pray together. They then out reached to their community. They helped those in need by sharing their food, clothing and even their homes. The faith, joy and loving support of the early believers were so contagious that large numbers soon joined them.

Spiritual growth does not take place in isolation. We need people to walk along with us, encouraging us when we become discouraged and holding us accountable when we stray. This common bond helps us preserve our spiritual gains, and binds us together as a church family.

If we concentrate on obeying, God will concentrate on expanding.

Coming out of COVID most churches are either confused or running scared. Ignite is not. We have a clear, exciting vision for the future.

We are going to build more community because that’s what God is doing right now. Things are changing, and while government might try and restrict us, they can’t stop us obey the Lord.

As we reignite church, I have to tell you that this week I have been savagely and viciously attacked by the enemy. Those closest to me tell me I should rejoice because I just be on the right track, but it still batters and bruises you.

The devil is hell bent on disrupting unity, and spreading disunity among our church family. Things that divide and split churches, no matter how legitimate they may appear, are generally not of God. God loves unity in His family.

But I believe that God has called us together as a family, we are better together, and I am prepared to lay my life down for the church family I love, and am dedicated to leading.

I believe we are better together. This is our moment to close ranks and stand for the Lord in a nation that desperately needs direction. So my challenge to you this morning is will you stand with us? I believe God is about to do something remarkable, and that unity is where He bestows a blessing, so let’s pray and commit ourselves to the Lord and to each other.

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When you come to Christ, you become part of the greatest family on earth…

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Romans 5:1-5 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Pray

I have to tell you that after this week I feel like the grace by which I stand sees me barely standing. There’s been a lot of horrible stuff going on, culminating in the absolute worst bit… the loss of a dear and valued friend, Dave Mallet. It’s times like these that we, in our confusion, struggle to make sense of life, and struggle to rejoice in the hope of God.

IS IT OK TO ASK WHY?

If we get what we want our faith is built up, and we are ok with that. When we believe God and He makes it happen, we celebrate our faith, and rightly so. But can we have faith in the dark times, when people attack, when tragedy strikes, when we don’t get the answers we wanted?

We can. God has taught me that this is a greater and deeper faith.

When tragedy strikes, is asking God why an anti faith act? I believe it’s ok to be honest with God. So if you have the question “why God” it is not sinful if it comes from a genuine heart of faith. God is ok when we honestly share our doubts and struggles, but He’s not ok with our disobedient disbelief.

Habakkuk was honest with God,

Habakkuk 1:2 (ESV Strong's)

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?

Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?

He’s asking why, Lord, why? So am I. A man in a stolen car killed our friend this week, and we have every right to ask the question like Habakkuk, why the righteous suffer because of the unrighteous. Consider Job…

God gave permission for Satan to severely test Job, and in his suffering Job asked God questions too! His questioning and doubts were understandable, but his faith is astonishing.

Job 1:21-22 (ESV Strong's)

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

At times like this, it’s ok to honestly and openly ask God why. But it’s not ok to walk away from your faith, as many do, and it’s not ok to charge God with wrong and sin. The act is, sin is in our world, Sin produces suffering, Suffering produces pain, and we humans don’t like pain, so we avoid it at all costs. Yet through the prism of God’s promises, pain can produce gain.

THE DARK ROAD OF THE SOUL

I cannot tell you why Dave was killed, and why his beautiful wife Julie and his beloved family have to suffer through this tragedy. I can’t tell you why babies die, or why sometimes even Christian marriages fail. I can’t give you a reason why strong believers suffer death, sickness or financial loss and ruin. Look around.., There’s no shortage of loss, tragedy and pain in this fallen world, and one thing I have learned is that much of it you just can’t fix! You just have to walk the dark lonely road somehow.

Experts tell us that grief and loss goes through 5 stages…

DENIAL: Denial is not just a river in Egypt. The first response to tragedy is often, no, that can’t be right.

ANGER: God, how can you let this happen, it’s not fair!

BARGAINING: If only I’d have done this, that wouldn’t have happened, or God, if you make this work I promise I’ll be obedient and do whatever You want

DEPRESSION: Life is a mess, I can’t go on, life’s not worth living

ACCEPTANCE: God, I don’t know why this happened, but I trust You no matter what.

Tragedy is beyond reason. It is simply a road we have to walk, and it is better to walk it with God, and with others who love you. I love how King David describes it…

Psalms 23:4 (ESV Strong's)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The rod and the staff represent God’s protection and God’s guidance. The rod is a short, heavy club, and the staff is the one we picture shepherd with, with a hook on the end, used to guide and rescue sheep. David says they comfort him in the valley, and as we go through the valleys of life, we can be comforted and assured of God’s protection and also His guidance.

And remember, death has no sting for the believer, and Dave and Julie have loved and served the Lord all their life. There’s pain, there’s loss, but Paul writes,

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (ESV Strong's)

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s not that death and separation doesn’t hurt, of course they do, but we know with absolute surety that we will see Dave’s beaming smile again. As the KJV says,

2 Corinthians 5:8 (KJV Strong's)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Right now Dave is in a better place with Jesus, but we who remain suffer loss. Julie suffers loss right now, and all who love Dave suffer loss, but the Bible says this suffering is not in vain!

THE PRODUCT OF SUFFERING

There is a product, a point to suffering. Romans reveals to us a progression that develops us towards becoming like Jesus.

Romans 5:3 (ESV Strong's)

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

The Greek for rejoice is kauch-ao-mai, which means literally to boast or glory in something. When we suffer tragedy and loss, Paul is not suggesting that we be happy about it. It hurts, it may even devastate, and it’s hard to rejoice in that. Yay I’m in pain! Yippee, I’ve lost everything! That’s not what he is saying.

What he is saying is that through the lens of the tragedy we can see the bigger picture, we see the hand of God, and rejoice and even glory in the fact that God will bring good though it, and will develop us to become more Christ like through it. We rejoice not because of the suffering of the moment, but because of what the suffering opens for us in the long run.

We live in a fallen world. God doesn’t make us suffer, sin causes suffering, but God allows this because He has a higher plan. Suffering is the start of a glorious road towards becoming like Jesus. Here’s the path…

SUFFERING PRODUCES ENDURANCE

James 1:2-3(ESV Strong's)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Romans 5:3 (ESV Strong's)

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Endurance is the Greek word HYPOMONÉ, meaning patient, steadfast and even cheerful waiting, and it implies a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety, by even the greatest trials and sufferings.

Endurance is not passive, and it’s not fatalistic, it’s not sitting back and saying, Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. It is staying the course, keeping on keeping on, it’s holding to your Saviour and never letting go of your trust in the Lord, no matter how you suffer. And it gives rise to…

ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER

Romans 5:4 (ESV Strong's)

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Character is DOKIMÉ, which means a proven specimen of tried worth. Tested, and found worthy.

A great analogy is tempered steel. Steel is heated almost to melting point, then quickly cooled. This creates a far stronger alloy, and a far less brittle product. It’s the heat, the fire, that produces the strength, just as it’s the trials that produces the strength of character.

CHARACTER PRODUCES HOPE

Romans 5:4 (ESV Strong's)

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Character produces hope. Hope is ELPIS, meaning a Joyful and confident expectation. We misuse the word hope in English. I hope it all works out, I hope you’re OK. There is a possibility it could go either way. But Biblical hope is not like that. It’s a sure thing, it is an absolute surety. Hebrews says…

Hebrews 6:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

A believer’s hope doesn’t change with circumstances, it is firmly grounded, anchored by a strong character, developed by long-suffering.

HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT US

Romans 5:3-5 (ESV Strong's)

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We rejoice in and through and out the other side of our sufferings, not because we are suffering, but because what suffering produces in our lives is beyond value. We have hope, no matter what! Hope stands, despite circumstances, despite hardships, and it is our source of true joy.

When we have descended into a pit of despair, when we are surrounded by trials and tests and suffering, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can come forth with incredible hope, tapping into the strength that comes by faith. This is a resource beyond our understanding or ability to cope, within a divine plan for hope and a future. So this week of all weeks I ask, Are you living that truth?

JOYFUL HOPE

True joy is not what the rest of the world thinks it is. In their mind, when things are going well we are happy. When we get what we want, we are happy. When people love us, when we get a job promotion, we are happy. But that’s not joy.

Joy is based not in what we get, or what we experience, it is based in who we are. A few verses after Paul talks about joy in suffering and hope, he writes this…

Romans 5:8 (ESV Strong's)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Our joy is based on God’s immense, unconditional and sacrificial love for us, not on what befalls us. Today we all feel loss, especially Julie and the family. But no matter the circumstances, God’s love and therefore our joy can be unchanged!

These last few weeks and months have been full of doubt, uncertainty, pain, loss and confusion. I wish I could skip straight to next year, maybe the one after that. This last week I’ve cried, I’ve felt loss, I’ve been attacked and criticised, I’ve been threatened and frankly, I’ve been discouraged and miserable. But God said,

Nehemiah 8:10 (ESV Strong's)

do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

My joy, your joy, should not depend what happens to us or what we get… It depends on who we are. In suffering, we have joy, because we belong to Him. If we pray and we don’t get what we want, we have joy, because we belong to Him. If my heart is broken, I can take those pieces to the Lord with an unquenchable hope, because I have joy, because I belong to Him.

TRUE JOY IS INEXTINGUISHABLE

This week, as we reel from the loss of a dear friend, as we stand with Julie and the family in their pain, as we don’t understand and ask the question, why, Lord, we have a joy that no one and nothing can extinguish. As the Psalmist wrote…

Psalms 94:18-19 (NIV-WS)

When I said, “My foot is slipping,”

your unfailing love, LORD, supported me.

When anxiety was great within me,

your consolation brought me joy.

It’s ok to ask why. It’s ok to hurt and feel down. But how much better is it to rejoice in something that death, pain, fear and loss can never erase. Our joy, our hope our faith is in the Lord, and in the fact that we are His children. As an old hymn by Oswald Smith says,

Joy in the face of sorrow, peace in the midst of pain

Jesus will give, Jesus will give

He will uphold and sustain

Whatever pain, whatever fear, whatever hurt or doubts you face today, you are God’s beloved child, and in that you can have everlasting joy. Suffering is a stepping stone, pain is a paver, loss is a lane way to everlasting hope and joy.

Habakkuk started questioning God, full of fear, full of doubt, miserable and in pain. But let me read the last few verses to show where he ended up…

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (ESV Strong's)

Habakkuk Rejoices in the LORD

Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

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This year of 2020 has seen in unprecedented changes, never before seen in history.

The corona virus pandemic has afflicted the world for months now, causing a near shut down of life as we know it, social isolation and a climate of fear that still persists. Don’t believe me? 37 new infections 2 states away, and suddenly there’s a run on toilet paper!

We might sing Advance Australia Fair, but the question right now is Advance Australia Where? Where do we go from here, as a nation, as a church, as a people?

Here’s what I know…

GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL

The world is out of control, and leaders, governments, even the media have no idea how to manage it! They are passing laws and handing out money, but honestly, no one has a clue. Human wisdom is failing us.

But in a world where people won’t shake your hand, and football is played to a crowd of cardboard cut outs, I declare to you this day, God is still in control, and still in the throne. None of this was a surprise to Him, and He says,

Isaiah 46:9-10 (ESV Strong's)

for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

If you are fearful or confused, it’s time to put your faith in the one who knows the beginning from the end. So where we go depends not on us as a church, not on our government and their crazy decisions, ultimately it depends on obedience to God.

William Carey said, The future is as bright as the promises of God!

SUCH A TIME AS THIS

So why have we gone through this pandemic, why us, why now and why are we even here? I believe God has you here for such a time as this. The message is the same as Esther heard fro, her uncle Mordachai…

Esther 4:14 (ESV Strong's)

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

God has great plans for His people post COVID, but many will stay silent, stay isolated from church and thereby miss out on being great and part of His plans.

What we do as a church is so important right now. We have a golden opportunity to shine into our dark nation like never before, if we are willing to listen to Him, to change and to be obedient.

Isaiah 1:19-20 (ESV Strong's)

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

THE WHOLE WORLD COUNTS THE COST

The cost of this unprecedented pandemic is horrendous. The Asian Development Bank predicts that the economic cost of the slowdown due to the pandemic could reach $8.8 trillion (1000 times a billion) US dollars, with one Cambridge study suggesting it could cost up to $82 trillion over 5 years! Australia is losing $4 Billion a week according to the ABC.

The social cost? The AMA is predicting and increase in suicides as a result of the pandemic of between 25 and 30%, and reports of domestic violence, what is now called intimate terrorism, have sky rocketed.

Even in the church, with draconian laws being made against it, the numbers of attendees are predicted to fall significantly post virus.

Romans 1:21-22 (ESV Strong's)

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Look at the way the world has tried to handle this pandemic… trying to be wise they haven’t really handled it well. Human reason is limited. They’ve tried to do the right thing, but honestly no one has a clue! So they change laws every 5 minutes.

THE CHURCH UNDER ATTACK

State government laws tell us we can have up to 100 people attend church, but must allow 4 sq m per person, or 7 sq m per person if singing is involved. Name a church that doesn’t sing. Sporting events can have up to 2000 people screaming and spitting, and social distancing is only 2 m. Where is the sense in that? Pubs playing music, you don’t think anyone is going to sing?

The Bible says,

Romans 13:1-2 (ESV Strong's)

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Yes, Ignite will be obedient to our government, but I call upon our government to stop persecuting churches with targeted, more restrictive laws for Christians only. If you have integrity, make the laws the same across pubs, clubs, sports and churches. Suicide, mental health and domestic violence rates are far less in the church, so for the mental and spiritual

wellbeing of all Australians, government, treat churches with respect and give us a level playing field!

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

But whatever happens, change is here to stay for the church. I wish change was easy.

An old man from the mountains took a trip to the big city. For the first time in his life he found himself standing outside an elevator. He watched as an old, haggard woman hobbled on and the doors closed behind her. A few minutes later the doors opened and a young, attractive woman marched smartly off. Amazed, but realising the possibilities, the old man turned to his son and said, “Boy, go home and get your mamma so I can run her through that thing.”

But sadly, genuine change is not instantaneous, but a process. All of the changes we see around us make us uncomfortable.

No one likes change. Mark Twain said, The only person who likes a change is a wet baby.

David Bowie sang, ch-ch-changes, turn and take the strain. Changes make us strain, they hurt, but sometimes they are necessary, and I believe right now we need to embrace changes and the strain like never before, and do so without fear, for the one who is within us is greater.

Psalms 91:9-11 (ESV Strong's)

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

Changes might be uncomfortable, even unwelcome, but you should not face these changes with any fear. Our God is our refuge, and our provider, so we in the church can accommodate changes with confidence.

THESE CHANGES ARE HERE TO STAY

911 was a pivotal time in history. After 911, things changed forever especially in the world of security. No longer are kids asked up into the cockpit, and we now allow lengthy time for security at airports. It’s all changed, and now we are use to it… It’s the new norm.

COVID will change how we live forever. Many of the changes are most likely here to stay, including meetings via zoom, working from home and probably some aspects of social distancing. I guessing football in front of cardboard cut outs and toilet paper shortages will go.

So I have said to the Lord, I am not interested in changing how we do church for a month, or 6 months or whatever it takes to overcome the restrictions. I’ve asked God for keys as to how we can do church into the future. Are there things we can learn now that will last, and things that can improve our effectiveness as a church?

THE UP SIDE OF THE DOWNTURN

There’s no doubt the corona virus is responsible for many bad things, including people dying, economies collapsing, businesses ceasing and mental health, who even knows!

Romans 8:28 (ESV Strong's)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

I believe God can make lemonade out of lemons. He can bring tremendous good out of a really bad things. So what is the upside of the downturn due to corona for Ignite?

We are going live online with Facebook, and downloads of sermons far exceed the numbers we use to get in the building. We are reaching more people.
Sparks give me as a pastor a chance to speak into people’s lives daily. A lot of work, but we get hundreds of downloads every day. Is this a key of how we can reach our community and beyond online?
Small groups have formed in homes that are going very well, and the Holy Spirit is moving in them wonderfully. Participants report closer fellowship, and seeing visions and prophetic words among the attendees.
We have ground to a halt as far as “normal” church is concerned. I believe that we now have the opportunity to makes changes we probably couldn’t have made before.
Everything is different. Never before have people in general and church people in particular been open to change to this extent. Normally it takes 2.5 miles to turn the Titanic 90 degrees. It’s harder to change a church culture. COVID has caused a reset that stopped us and our long term preferences, and we can now start afresh in a new, Spirit led direction.
People are not so much hungry for preaching or worship, they can get that online. But people are hungry for fellowship.

So how can we capitalise on these trends to become a stronger, more powerful church, reaching more people and setting more lives free in our community?

THE WAY FORWARD IN THE NEW NORM

God spoke to me yesterday in my Quiet Time and said,

Isaiah 42:9 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

I said, great Lord, please show me and tell me about these new things.

If you are waiting for things to get back to normal, you could be waiting a really long time, years in fact. They tell us that most of us will not be travelling overseas any time this year. We can’t even travel to Victoria. And church may not get back to what it was pre corona until next year, if ever!

So we need a new way if doing church, that complies with heavy handed, abusive government laws, but still connects our people.

After much prayer and seeking the Lord, I believe God has given us a plan to move forward as a church, and to restart church, call it reignite, so that there will be something for everyone going forward. At the present time, and possibly for a long time to come, restrictions on the numbers of people in the church auditorium remain, and we have no idea when they will cease.

So as we always do, we turn to the Word of God for guidance. The early church faced severe restrictions too, and they grew through it…

Acts 2:46-47 (ESV Strong's)

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

That’s our plan… Some attending the temple, and some breaking bread in homes. I believe this is God’s blueprint for us to grow and prosper as a church in this moment, and maybe even long into the future.

SO WHERE DO YOU FIT?

I believe there’s a place at Ignite for you, every one of you. If you want to attend a church and experience church live, we have limited spots, but you can. If you want to experience close fellowship, you can attend a house party, watching the first part of the service on the big screen, then fellowshipping in the small group.

So here are 3 positive decisions I am going to ask you to make today…

RESET YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Above all I want to urge you at this time to reset your relationship with God. Some of you have just let it slip. You are still a Christian, but in all the upheaval, in all the isolation, it’s just quietly slipped out of your reach.

Now is the time to reset your relationship with God, starting with your quiet time. Read His Word, join us in the Bible reading plan, and come join us at church, in some form or other. Prioritise Jesus.

COMMIT TO IGNITE AS YOUR CHURCH COMMUNITY, NO MATTER HOW IT LOOKS

If you are willing and have an open heart, I believe the Lord will give us insight and principles that will enable us to be closer than ever before, and to grow more than ever before. God did it in Acts, and He will do it again at Ignite…

Acts 2:42-44 (ESV Strong's)

So we will have a time of teaching, a time of fellowship, a time of breaking of bread which is eating together and a time of prayer and worship. I think church at Ignite is going to be more exciting and engaging than ever before.

BE PATIENT WITH US AND EACH OTHER, GOD’S NOT FINISHED YET

I am asking you to be patient with us as we learn and understand what the Lord is saying, and I’m asking you to be committed to Ignite, believing God is growing something truly powerful and profound in these dark times.

I don’t have all the answers. Our worship team is learning new ways to enter into deeper worship. Our group leaders are learning how better to facilitate discussion, how to pray more effectively. We are all learning how to hear God more, how to move in the Spirit more, how to see more lives transformed, more miracles, more healings, more marriages restored, everything. So please be patient.

I read a meme, Lord, bless me with patience, not the opportunities to be patient, I’ve had plenty of those and they don’t seem to be working, I mean the actual patience.

I believe we are about to see church change as it has never changed in history, and in it Ignite will discover incredible keys, keys that will enable us to reach our community more effectively than ever before.

Come with us, stand with us, believe with us and together we can build the church God has destined us to be!

Jesus is still praying His high priestly prayer

John 17:21 (ESV Strong's)

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Lord, make Ignite my home. I join hands and join hearts with Ignite to build the church You want in such a time as this.

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Judges 4:1-2 (ESV Strong's)

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died. And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera,

We live at a time in history when ordinary people can become heroes, and today I want to look at a team that rescued Israel from Canaanite oppression.

JUDGE JUDY?

In ancient Israel, much like today, sexism was alive and well. Women were essentially 2nd class citizens, considered inferior to men, and the property of men. This is common throughout history, and while in most areas of society today women now have equal rights, this prejudice is still common among some in the church today. While I don’t want to enter into a debate about the value or otherwise of women, and I believe every life matters, Deborah was the only woman judge Israel had. Can a woman be a judge?

Judges 4:4-5 (ESV Strong's)

Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

This lady was a judge, that is a leader in Israel. I don’t believe it’s because God couldn’t find a decent man to do the job, it’s because she was uniquely gifted and anointed. Her role was similar to Samuel later, she was a prophetess but also a leader. She heard from God, and she lead the people.

Now before you get all uppity towards me, and God, for putting a woman in a position of authority, stop and recognise that God raises up both men and women, uniquely gifted for specific roles. Most judges were warriors. Deborah wasn’t.

A DREAM TEAM

Deborah formed part of a dream team, so she summoned the other side of the partnership, the commander of the army, Barak…

Judges 4:6 (ESV Strong's)

She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.

In an incredibly sexist society, what I want you to see here is that God used an anointed man and an anointed woman together in unity to deliver His people. When we read this, we want to debate about who was in charge of whom, but we need to see that this was 2 people with 2 different skill sets working together in unity. Each was in charge of their own area of gifting, Deborah hearing from God and setting the direction for the people, and Barak actually getting it done. She didn’t fight the battle for him, and he didn’t try to hear from God for her.

Deborah was perceived by the entire nation, and Commander Barak, as having a hotline to God. But she couldn’t fight or lead the army. This is not about who was in charge of whom, this is about 2 complimentary skillsets pulling together.

Romans 12:4-5 (ESV Strong's)

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Instead of debating who is in charge, we should pull together in unity, each person shining in the role and gifting that God has given them. Deborah sough the Lord, Barak fought the fight, and the two formed a dream team.

It’s like that in life too. I am in charge of my household, responsible to the Lord. But Fiona is in charge it the cooking, and groceries. Each of us have a specific area we are gifted for, but in he end we pull together. Am I greater than her, or her than I? No, we’re a team. The church should be a team. Zac in finances, Tania in admin. Was Jesus inferior to the other parts of the God head? No, but to get the job done he chose to become submissive. Deb and Barak were a team, and each had a unique role to play!

IT’S TIME TO JOIN HANDS TOGETHER

There is too much division in churches today, over all kinds of perceived Biblical interpretations, most of which are not our core beliefs. We need to put our prejudices and preferences aside, but not our principles, and stand together in unity. I can tolerate people disagreeing with me, unless it is a salvation issue, then I don’t bend! We can disagree on matters of doctrine, interpretation and preference but still be in unity. Unity did not mean we see eye to eye on everything, but we can still walk hand in hand. Unity is more important than your preferences.

A Canadian farmer lost his 2 year old boy in a corn field, so he called neighbours to search for the child. He told them to be careful not to trample the corn, as it was ready to harvest. After several hours of fruitless searching and with temperatures dropping below freezing, he gathered the men together and said, let’s join hands, trample the grain, but find my son!

Eventually they found him curled up, frozen to death on the ground. The farmer said, gentlemen, we should have joined hands sooner.

Now, perhaps more than ever before in history, is the time to join hands in unity, bringing our strengths and gifts to the table to serve together, just as Barak and Deborah did… Deb said,

Judges 4:7 (ESV Strong's)

And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?”

Draw is Hebrew MASAK, which means to sow, to drag or draw down. Deborah’s role was to seek God and God’s plan for luring Sisera, the opposition general, out into battle. Barak’s role was to fight that battle, but he had reservations. Barak didn’t want to do it alone. He needed to know Deborah was with him.

Judges 4:8-9 (ESV Strong's)

Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Barak was scared. He needed to know the prophetess, God’s representative, went with him into battle. Deb agreed, but said because of his lack of faith the glory will go to a woman. That wasn’t an insult, or a threat, it was a consequence.

It’s ok to be scared. John Wayne said, “Courage is being scared to death and mounting up anyway.” If you’re fearful as you look ahead, that’s ok, just do not give up. God has a destiny for you, just keep going…

Galatians 6:9 (ESV Strong's)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

This COVID thing has dragged on for too long. It’s hard yakka, it’s restrictive, but let’s stay the course. Don’t give up on church. Ignite is changing into what we believe God wants us to become, all of us in unity, so let’s covenant to see it through together. We may not all agree on how church should be done in these challenging times, but I want you to be in unity. We leave no man or woman behind.

THE BATTLE… ANYBODY PLUS GOD IS A MAJORITY!

Barak’s heart must have melted as he saw 900 chariots of iron in the valley. The details of the battle form the basis of Deborah’s song in Judges 5. But he heard thunder, turned around and saw torrents of rain sweeping across the slopes, turning the valley to mud. Now the 900 chariots became 900 stuck in the mud coffins, and Barak’s 10,000 men swept forward. The enemy army was defeated, the remnant including the commander Sisera fled on foot, with Barak in hot pursuit, because he wanted his enemy as his prize.

Judges 4:15 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.

BEWARE A WOMAN WITH A TENT PEG

So Sisera fled to the only ally he had anywhere close, Heber the Kenite. Heber’s wife Jael offered him sanctuary…

Judges 4:18 (ESV Strong's)

And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.

She gives him sanctuary and a nice glass of milk, and hides him. He directs her,

Judges 4:20 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”

OK, Sisera can relax now, and exhausted he falls asleep. But Jael had him pegged…

Judges 4:21 (ESV Strong's)

But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.

Something went through Sisera’s head than had never gone through it before. By the time Barak arrived, Jael had made her point… she, not Barak, nailed Sisera!

Judges 4:22-23 (ESV Strong's)

And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.

So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.

SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT

The next chapter, Judges 5, is a song about this event, composed and sung by the dream team, Deborah and Barak… it starts this way…

Judges 5:2 (ESV Strong's)

“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the LORD!

Judges 5:12 (ESV Strong's)

“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break out in a song!

Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam.

Jael features in the song, even though she was the lowly wife of a lowly nomad. It was her who was the one who did something big for God. She shows that God will use anyone willing to be used by Him, it doesn’t matter who gets the credit, as long as He does.

While some are busy debating who was in charge over whom, I believe God gives us a huge key here… God was in charge over the whole nation, and he used a man and a woman bringing their unique gifts together in unity to serve Him. In an age of protests against prejudice, the church should lead the way by standing in unity, shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, black and white, men and women, old and young, we are one in the Spirit.

IT’S TIME TO STAND TOGETHER

In the lockdown, the enemy has done his best to divide us and separate us and isolate us, because he knows the real strength of our witness comes when we stand in unity together. We may not agree all the time, but we can be in unity.

Psalms 133:1 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

1 Peter 3:8 (ESV Strong's)

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Jesus Himself said a house divided will not stand, and the enemy is trying to divide us right now. Already some have fallen away, saying they want to stay home and worship God their own way. But this plays into the hands of the devil. He’s doing everything he can right now to divide the church.

So now is the time to let our petty grievances go and instead stand together in unity. You might think you’re right, that God and the Bible are on your side, but listen, most controversies in the church are argued from both sides using Scripture!

Unless it is a core value, like salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone, can we not lay our preferences and interpretations aside and stand together? If you think you’re truly Biblical, stop concentrating on verses that support your pet doctrine and concentrate on the ones that are about unity, and there’s loads of them!

1 Corinthians 1:10 (ESV Strong's)

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

It is time to stop our preferences becoming prejudices, and celebrate what unites us, not what divides us.

This moment in history is ours if we are willing to be obedient and stand in unity. Come and be part of a dream team here at Ignite, because when we stand together the enemy shakes in fear.

Ryuno Satoro said, Individually we are one drop, but together we are an ocean.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV Strong's)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Prayer for commitment to unity.

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We’ve been looking at heroes from the book of Judges. Last week we met Jephthah, who went from zero to hero, but today’s judge went from hero to zero, then made a late comeback. This hero he blew it. It’s a story of destiny lost, yet God used him despite himself. Lets take a fresh look at a story most of you would be familiar with: Samson.

Judges 13:1 (ESV Strong's)

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

Once again, Israel strayed and suffered the consequences of their sin, then the cried out to God. And God sent this amazing man who would really fit into the 21st century world today. He was strong, charismatic and successful for a time, but his arrogance and self centred lifestyle caught up with him. Charisma without character leads to catastrophe! Greed, sex, power, infidelity, egomania, revenge, this story has it all in spades! This is Arnold Swartzenegger meets Jason Mamoah meets Jeffrey Epstein meets OJ Simpson, all in one man called Samson.

Samson was an ego maniac with dirty linen that would keep a laundromat going for a year. He was famous, larger than life, a he-man with a she-weakness. He was a hero, a freedom fighter, a troublemaker, a playboy and a miscreant. Samson was dedicated to God before he was born, but never dedicated to God in His behaviour, a hero who blew it all by a never ending litany of bad choices. His story is amazing, but at the same time perplexing.

He should have been a godly man … but he wasn’t. He shouldn’t have been in Hebrews 11 … but he was. So what went on here?

A GREAT START

Samson had the best of starts, better than almost any other Bible hero. I won’t read all the passages out, but let me highlight the advantages he had set up for him…

1 — His birth was announced by the angel of the Lord. (2-3)

# 2 — His mission in life was declared by God before he was born. (3-5)

Judges 13:5 (ESV Strong's)

for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

Interestingly the Hebrew word for “begin” is HALAL, which means to bore in or open a wedge, but it also means to profane or pollute. Interesting, almost prophetic word.

# 3 — He was raised by godly parents. (8)

# 4 — He was blessed by God as a young man. (24)

# 5 — He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. (25)

Judges 13:24-25 (ESV Strong's)

And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

No hero ever had so much going for him. Compare Samson to the other great heroes of the Bible. Which of them ever had advantages like this?

Which begs the question: Where did Samson go wrong? It can be summed up in one word… Selfishness.

WRONG PLACE, WRONG PEOPLE, WRONG DECISION

Samson displays a stunning ability to make ridiculously bad decisions, and he constantly flirted with and opened himself to ungodliness. He was supposed to be anointed and set apart to serve God as a Nazarite, but he only ever served himself. Today we would probably classify him as a a narcissistic psychopath.

Judges 14:2 (ESV Strong's)

Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.”

He went to an enemy town, Timnah, not on a shopping trip or sightseeing tour, he went to check out the chicks. He saw an enemy girl, who looked sexy but was all wrong for him, and decided to lust after her, and so ordered, not asked, his parents to get her for him. His parents rightly object,

Judges 14:3-4 (ESV Strong's)

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

Samson from the off was all about satisfying his own fleshly desires, particularly sexually, doing what was right in is own eyes. He went to the wrong place with the wrong intentions, to get him a wife from the wrong people. How many people today are prepared to throw away what is important for what is a temporary satisfaction of their flesh? Money, sex, power, is all going to burn! How many sacrifice their homes, families, relationships with God, finances, etc for temporary LUST or satisfying temporary needs?

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV Strong's)

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

SAM, YOU LITTLE FLIRT!

What we see in Samson is someone who loves to flirt with sin. Sometimes we are the same… We love the thrill of being close to the edge, then act all surprised when it sucks us in!

The Bible doesn’t command us to flirt with sin, it commands us to flee from it. Paul advises Timothy,

2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV Strong's)

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

So many like Samson open the door to sin by a little seemingly innocent flirting. Humans gain a bazar satisfaction from dancing across the mouth of the lions cave. A suggestive conversation, a shoulder to cry on, a connection here and there over a coffee and before long there’s that physical attraction. Then the affair.

The world says what you do is your business, and no one can tell you not to.

If it feels good, do it. It says. But that’s not valid, you can’t rely on what feels ok or seems OK…

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

Samson was empowered by God’s Spirit, but he wasn’t controlled by God’s Spirit!

CONTROLLED BY SELFISHNESS

Samson was all about Samson, not God. God gave him strength, an incredible gift, and instead of using it to serve God and set his people free he used it for his own amusement, and to satisfy his own lusts.

I don’t have time to go through all of the exploits of Samson, but he constantly flirted with the Philistines. He amused himself by playing with fire. For example, Judges 14, he posed a riddle to them, and they couldn’t figure it out, so his Philistine wife whined and nagged him into revealing it…

Judges 14:16 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson's wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.”

She nags him, he tells her, she tells the people, so Samson loses his bet, and does his lolly and takes revenge.

Judges 14:19 (ESV Strong's)

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.

CONTROLLED BY LUST

Samson had a real chink in his armour… He lusted after women. They played the manipulation game with him, and he played back, posing riddles and games, then exacting revenge if he didn’t win!

Samson was completely consumed by sex, much like most of our society. From car ads to movies, TV shows and porn, sex is luring millions of people, men and women, to their destruction, and we’re told it’s normal and even healthy!

After numerous liaisons with various women and often prostitutes, the Philistines recognised that Samson had a consuming problem… Lust. So the most famous part of Samson’s story involves a stunningly beautiful babe called Delilah.

Judges 16:5 (ESV Strong's)

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

CONTROLLED BY ANGER AND REVENGE

So Samson played games and riddles with the enemy, and when thwarted by his own lusts, he doesn’t forgive he always seeks revenge.

Judges 15:7 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”

They say, Revenge is a dish best served cold. Revenge is what drives so many world conflicts and wars, and revenge is a prison you place yourself into. If you’ve been wronged by someone, you face a choice… Forgive or resent. If you choose to hold onto Unforgiveness, if you seek revenge for what has been done to you, then you are slowly killing yourself.

And Big Sam only had himself to blame…

Samson married the girl. Samson made the riddle. Samson set the wager. Samson gave in to the girl’s nagging, Samson revealed the answer and Samson lost the bet, because of his own foolish behaviour. Then he blames the other guys and exacts revenge on innocent people.

How many of us make stupid mistakes, then blame God, when He never wanted that outcome for our lives?

Proverbs 19:3 (ESV Strong's)

When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

Some here are still raging against God. Listen, don’t rage, repent! Until we stop blaming God we will never move into our destiny. We need to man up and take responsibility for our own foolish decisions, repent and come back to God.

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

I remember visiting limestone caves, where huge pieces of limestone have been worn and shaped and formed by what? The constant, little drips of water. The Chinese water torture, where water is dripped onto the same place until it’s pounding through your head. That is how the Bible describes nagging…

Proverbs 27:15 (ESV Strong's)

A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

So Samson was set up and his weakness for women exploited by a paid Hooker called Delilah. She was beautiful, sex, flirty and more cunning than Samson, and she was more loyal to his enemies. By incessant and constant nagging, She found out that while God was the secret of his strength, his Nazarite vow of not cutting his hair represented this strength.

Judges 16:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. He was literally nagged to death. One guy I know said, my wife is an angel, she’s always harping on about something!

So he was nagged into revealing the truth by a woman he lusted after. How the early hopes for this man of God have faded, tainted by selfishness and sin.

Judges 16:20-21 (ESV Strong's)

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

GOING OUT WITH A BANG!

But God wasn’t done with Samson.

Judges 16:22 (ESV Strong's)

But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

As his strength returned, his masters unwittingly played into his hands. They called him out to gloat a a bug party, and Samson, blinded and oppressed, seized his last chance.

Judges 16:28 (ESV Strong's)

Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

Again, what’s the motivation? Revenge. Samson is still a selfish, vengeful, heavily flawed individual, but a old Jewish proverbs says, God can strike a big blow even with a crooked stick.

Judges 16:30 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

DESTINY LOST

As I look at Samson, the one thing that stands out in this hero is a man full of promise, full of strength, full of God given gifts… Who lost his destiny because of selfish choices.

D L Moody once said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

Samson was not that man. He had talent, had gifts, had opportunities to serve God but he chose to serve himself, and lost his destiny. I wonder how great a man he could have been had he been obedient.

Some listening to this message have blown it, just like Samson. You had promise, you had chances to do something great, but because of foolish decisions you blew it. You might have married the wrong person, you might have done the wrong thing, and all that potential just slipped through your fingers. Samson was given chances time and time again, but he refused to change his selfish, self serving ways.

This needs to be a lesson to us! All the talent, all the gifts, all the opportunities given to us amount to nothing if we miss God’s will for our lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s still time, whatever your history, whatever you’ve done, there’s time for you to repent and regain your destiny.

Samson represents destiny lost, but this morning God stands with open arms saying, Come, and experience destiny rediscovered. He says,

Matthew 6:33 (ESV Strong's)

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Samson thought he was free to do what he wanted, but he was in bondage to his own uncontrolled emotions. He couldn’t face the truth. We can be like that. Jesus said

John 8:32 (ESV Strong's)

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

As one counsellor added, the truth will set you free, but it will hurt you first. Most of us know the truth, we hear it preached and taught and read it in God’s Word. It’s not that we don’t know the truth, it’s that it hurts sometimes to confront it, and to obey it, and to live it. But the rewards for obedience are worth the pain.

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

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We’ve been looking at some of the heroes of the book of Judges, and in an hour in our nation where the world is seeing ordinary people as heroes, I think there are lessons we can learn to help us become heroes in our generation too.

So today I want to look at a social reject who became a hero… JEPHTHAH. And after the latest cycle of sin oppression and repentance in Israel, they needed a hero.

His is a classic story of someone who goes from hero to zero, from rags to riches.

Oprah Winfrey, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo Di Capri born in tough gang neighbourhoods, Haley Berry lived in a shelter, Ed Sherwin slept on a friend’s couch.

FAMILY TIES?

It has long been a habit of people trying to insult each other to infer infidelity in the others mother. Well, in Jephthah’s case it was true. His birth was the result of an illegal liaison between his reputable father and a disreputable prostitute. Poor JEPHTHAH, he couldn’t choose his mother, or his family, but he suffered for it.

Some of you listening to this feel that way. Maybe you were born to a single mum, or had dad walk out on you. Perhaps your family is blended family and you’re the black sheep or the reject. Maybe yours was the poor family and others rejected you for that.

For JEPHTHAH his half brothers, the ones born legitimately, hated him…

Judges 11:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

JEPHTHAH was a reject.

Kids can be cruel (Is they your real face, or did your neck just throw up). But adults can be even crueler when money and inheritance is involved. This kid was a public disgrace, to the family and the entire town, so they drove him out of town, and he found a home among a bunch of other misfits, because bird of a feather flock together.

And somehow in all that JEPHTHAH managed to mould the rejects into a formidable fighting force.

Most kids who run away from home congregate with other rejects. They may be worthless fellows, but at least I’m part of a motley crew that loves me for who I am! Brothers and sister, the church should be such a motley crew, loving the rejects and misfits and giving them a family. If you have felt rejected elsewhere, you can find a home here at Ignite.

Listen, if you have faced rejection in your life, God knows how you feel. In fact, Jesus faced His own Father turning away from Him as He bore our sins on the cross. If you’ve been rejected by people who should have loved and accepted you,

Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

Jesus has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

If you’ve felt the rejection of men’s tongues, then JEPHTHAH has a lesson for you.

THE TABLES TURNED

Judges 11:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.”

When faced with a national crisis, the city panicked and they turned to the best fighters around, who sadly for them were led by none other than the harlot’s son.

Time for a healthy slice of humble pie. And JEPHTHAH was not about to let them forget it….

Judges 11:7-9 (ESV Strong's)

But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.”

If he can rescue the people, then he will become their judge. It’s a zero to hero story, rags to riches, rejection to election. So the only problem now is winning the fight!

FIGHTING SMART

There’s fighting, and there’s fighting smart. I remember watching Mohamed Ali fighting. In 1974, his famous “Rumble in the Jungle” fight with George Foreman, he introduced a tactic of wearing the opposition out by having them throw ineffective punch after punch, before turning and finishing them off. It was called “Rope a dope,” and Ali won using this tactic.

JEPHTHAH tactic was to negotiate, not just charge into action. He would talk, negotiate, reason, and when all else failed, strike and strike hard.

Judges 11:12 (ESV Strong's)

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”

The opposition said the Israelites had stolen their land, and JEPHTHAH countered with a history lesson debunking what was a commonly held misbelief in Ammon.

We face the same today. People don’t check facts, they just argue on Facebook and attack those who disagree. They throw their brains away, saying my mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts, and they follow the crowd, blindly but faithfully.

John 8:32 (ESV Strong's)

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So JEPHTHAH tried negotiation, explaining truths and discussing claims, but to no avail, so he led his troops to war!

Judges 11:27-28 (ESV Strong's)

I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU VOW

JEPHTHAH, desperate for victory, made a foolish vow.

In JEPHTHAH day, a vow to God was considered a very serious thing, and not to be broken. Today vows, even to God Himself, seem to be throw away. People make wedding vows, then break up if it happens to suit them, or if they change their mind or fall out of love or find someone better.

When I promised God I would love, honour and cherish Fiona as my wife, I considered that a promise to God, not to be broken. And in any difficulty we have had in marriage, divorce was never on the table.

Someone asked Fiona if she’d ever thought of divorce, and I was so happy she replied, “Divorce… No, I’ve never thought of it… I’ve thought or murder plenty of times!”

So JEPHTHAH makes a rash and foolish vow…

Judges 11:31 (ESV Strong's)

then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

But, if you know the story, you will know the tragedy he brought on himself after he won victory…

Judges 11:34 (ESV Strong's)

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

God had empowered JEPHTHAH by His Spirit, and destined him to victory. There was no need of such a rash vow. It was stupid and impulsive, but

Judges 11:35 (ESV Strong's)

And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”

Human sacrifice was forbidden under Jewish law, and God would never have granted victory based on such wickedness.

Most commentators believe he didn’t murder his beloved daughter, but she became dedicated to the temple, and would therefore never marry or bear children... His genealogy finished with her.

It was a sad and unnecessary end to this rags to riches story.

JEPHTHAH… FROM ZERO TO HERO

The main lesson I want to draw from this story is this - We may come from very difficult and painful circumstances…. circumstances that no one should have to go through it seems. We might be rejected by our families or others about us. We may be told, whether in words and/or actions, that we are worthless rejects.

But, God has a way of taking those whom people reject and making something of them.

Something beautiful, something good, all my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life!

When others do not love and accept us, God loves us and accepts us as His own. In God’s eyes, everyone has worth… Every life matters! We may feel like outcasts, but we can be assured that God loves us. Thousands are protesting that black lives matter, but in God all lives matter!

Jephthah’s life teaches us that we can rise above our circumstances.

When we feel shattered, forsaken and lacking, we learn that the approval of others isn’t what keeps us going—we need first and foremost God’s approval to achieve true success in life. Jephthah finally gained the respect of his family…but first, he had to believe in God and in himself. He had to believe that God had a destiny for him that went beyond his being the son of a harlot!

What is in your past? What pain holds you back from God’s destiny in your life? Is it something your parents said or did, is it someone you let down? Maybe it’s a broken vow, a divorce, maybe it’s a sin you can never shake, that makes you think you’re worthless and will never amount to much.

JEPHTHAH stands as testimony to God’s power to make something out of seemingly nothing. Whatever sin, whatever pain, whatever hurt you carry, it’s time to lay it aside and trust God for your future.

THE TIME IS NOW

In this pandemic time, the church has been forced to abandon services. We should have just protested and we’d be able to have as many as we want at church!

But I believe that after the restrictions lift, God is going to open unique and incredible opportunities, some never seen before. Why can’t He raise you up to new and unique ministries, why can’t He use you to impact lives like never before? Now is the time to clear the decks, to let the past be past at last and to step up into greatness, to become the person God has called you to be!

And don’t put this off. The moment is here. With God’s help, we can learn to heal the pain of the past. The past doesn’t have to weigh us down. With God, we can become winners in a big way…just like Jephthah.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

CS Lewis said, “Getting over a painful past is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

Let go of your past, and look ahead towards the Lord this morning. Give Him your life, He can do more with it than you can.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

At this pivotal time in history, heroes will be made, and greatness will be birthed in the heart of many whom life had previously written off.

And God wants you to be that one. Pray with me now, let’s leave he past behind. It’s time to Let go of the past so that God can open the door to your future.

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Today we live our heroes, on the sporting field, in politics and in movies. I was watching TV recently and saw an ad with a montage of the various stars of Discovery channel shows and they start to applaud and when the shots pull back they are applauding doctors, nurses and first responders in this pandemic.

Suddenly we see the fact that real heroes are very often ordinary people who, through adverse circumstances, rise to do extraordinary things. Today want to examine the life of an ordinary, discouraged, oppressed even timid guy who became a judge, a leader and a conqueror. His name is Gideon.

SIX LESSONS ON FAITH FROM A FAITHLESS GUY

In Judges, we see the cycle of the nation of Israel’s fortunes. They rebel against God, God allows Adversity and oppression, in their pain they cry out to God, and God in His love sends a hero to rescue them. They repent, then fall away again and the whole cycle continues. Maybe this is how your life looks?

That’s where we meet an ordinary guy called Gideon, who has something to teach us about faith. He’s as oppressed and scared as the next guy with his situation, not an impressive hero at all, and I for one relate to that!

GOD USES TOUGH TIMES TO GET OUR ATTENTION

This pandemic has driven some people away from God, and some of us towards Him. Either way, for the first time in a long time, He has our attention. People are not thinking about cars, houses, things, football or food, they are thinking about life, family and what really is important in this world.

But the end of Judges 5, we find the nation at peace, at ease and, as often happens, complacent and apathetic about God… Many of us just a few months ago. They had it all, and as it tends to happen to us all in such times, Israel forgot God. They became self-sufficient. They didn't need God.

So the Lord thought He’d shake things up a bit by rousing an enemy against them to show them how hard life can be without Him.

Judges 6:1-2 (ESV Strong's)

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

So God sends these evil Midianites to oppress them for 7 years. The Midianites were a terrifying and warmongering tribe who raided and stole all the produce on the land, forcing the Israelites to live in fear and even retreat to caves to survive. And although these Israelites had largely forgotten God, and were back into idolatry by this stage worshipping Baal, in a pinch they turned back to the true God…

7 years, you might ask why they waited so long to turn back to the Lord? Because they're a lot like us - they waited until every other possible option played out and they couldn't take it any longer.

Judges 6:6 (ESV Strong's)

And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.

How many times have hard circumstances come to us, and we never stop to ask what God is planning for us in those circumstances? Instead we hold out, thinking that we can handle it on our own. Learn this from Gideon: every experience in life is a test. And every trial in the lives of God's people is tailored to draw us closer to God, and grow faith in our hearts.

Here's the point: When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is punishing you, instead of whining and complaining about how tough life is, try to see them as God's gift of grace. A test, even a blessing to grow your faith.

C.S. Lewis said it like this, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It's His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Right now God is shouting to a unbelieving world, and to us who are Christians, and we need to hear Him and respond by turning to Him.

Hebrews 12:11-12 (ESV Strong's)

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

GOD’S VIEW IS BIGGER THAN OURS

God sees far more than we do, and He is waiting for us to turn to Him. He sends an unknown prophet to call the people back to repentance, then He raises up an unknown and unlikely hero, called Gideon.

Gideon’s name actually means, “One who cuts down tress and destroys stuff,” But he was anything but that! He was frustrated, timid and scared.

Judges 6:11 (ESV Strong's)

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

Winnowing wheat should be done in a breezy area, not a hole in the ground. But so scared were the Israelites of Midian they resorted to compromise. And the angel of God, with ironic humour, says this…

Judges 6:12 (ESV Strong's)

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

God sees things inside us when we cannot. Here’s Gideon, threshing in a wine press, and he is greeted not as who he sees himself as, but as who God sees him becoming!

One of the biggest lies the devil sells us is that God only uses special people. If you are a born-again believer, you are God's child, royalty, a prince or a princes, and God says He has plans to prosper you. He says you are His workmanship, His masterpiece, and He is out there preparing opportunities for you to become the mighty man or woman of God you are destined to be!

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong's)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God sees not who you are right now, but who you can become in Him.

GOD CONFIRMS HIS PRIORITIES WITH HIS PRESENCE

Gideon felt like God had long abandoned them…

Judges 6:13 (ESV Strong's)

And Gideon said to him, “Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Some of you feel like that right now. Isolated, lonely, socially distanced, many feel disconnected from the church, and from God. Gideon felt like that. It’s ok to feel like that, it’s just not ok to stay there. God looked him full in the face,

Judges 6:14 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

Gideon then throws up his upbringing.

Judges 6:15 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”

Listen, whatever your family, your background, your failures or your past, destiny is determined not by circumstances, but by choices. If the devil tries to remind you of your past, try reminding him of his future! God’s reply was

Judges 6:16 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

When God calls you, He empowers you and even better, He walks the road with you. You are never alone. People ask where is God in all this COVID stuff, and I tell them I know where He is… Right here with me, walking the road!

God confirms His priorities with His presence. He says, I will be with you, and He doesn’t lie…

Numbers 23:19 (ESV Strong's)

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?

But Gideons lack of faith began to shine through in his next words…

Judges 6:17 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

Many of us are like this, we doubt the promises of God. Gideon is talking directly to God, and has nothing but doubts and excuses. Here’s the thing… God didn’t zap him! God loved him, and showed grace by slowly building his faith. But once built, Gideon needed a test to prove to himself that God can use him to rescue his people.

PERSONAL FAITH PRECEDES PUBLIC USEFULNESS

How could Gideon leads his people to victory when his own family were idolators. God isn’t God to Gideon’s people, Baal was!

So the first assignment from the Lord was to take his dad's prized bull and tear down the idols. Then, Gideon was to sacrifice said bull using the wood from the destroyed idol. Gideon did it, passed the test and kicked up a huge storm of reaction.

Why would this detail be in the Bible? To show us that, if we want to become great for God, we must first set our own house in order.

Before God can use you mightily, He must be magnified in your own life, in your own home. Private faith prepares us for public power from God, and there are no short cuts… Holiness is holiness.

Judges 6:27 (ESV Strong's)

So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

So there was still fear, but he stepped out and did it, scared or not. So is there anything you've been holding on to? Is there any sin that you're clinging to? Knock down your idols today. Confess your sin. Deal with it and return to full obedience to God and the God will use you to impact the world!

Will it stir things up when you do this? You bet, but God will honour those who honour Him! It happened for Gideon, and even his idolatrous father Joash began to change and stand up for his son and the Lord.

Judges 6:31 (ESV Strong's)

But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”

GOD IS PATIENT WITH OUR FAITH

Now despite Gideon being touted in Hebrews as a hero of the faith, his story shows anything but a hero for a long time. He passed the personal test of faith, and now people rallied to the cause of fighting Midianites, 32,000.

Judges 6:34 (ESV Strong's)

But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.

If this were a movie, he’d come up with a rousing speech, “We will fight them on the fields, on the ground, in the mountains, this is our finest hour, this is our Independence Day. But no, Gideon was busy doubting.

I’m like that as a pastor. You’re called, God has anointed you, but some days your faith just has the wind sucked out of it. It only takes a few words of criticism, a questioning glance, and suddenly you doubt that God’s even called you at all.

Even after his encounter with Almighty God, even though he had been obedient to clean shop at home, and even though the Holy Spirit was empowering him, Gideon still struggled with doubts. He knows that God has promised to save Israel through him, but he's looking in the mirror and the reflection he sees doesn't look encouraging.

God still doesn’t zap him. God doesn’t even chastise him for lack of faith. God loves him, and extends grace to him and meets his bizaar request about fleeces.

Judges 6:37-38 (ESV Strong's)

behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

A fleece is not faith, but it is faith building. Faithful people don’t need to put out a fleece, but sometimes some of us do.

Great… Fleece put out, God comes through, I’m ready to go Lord! Oops, maybe not…

Judges 6:39 (ESV Strong's)

Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

Again God does it to prove He is with him in power. I love how loving, tender, and patient God is with us. Gideon is making a deal with God. He wants a confirming sign. I bet most of us are no different.

Why did God bother? Why not just say, I’ve had enough of your doubting attitude Gideon, I’m going to empower Joshua down the road instead of you. That’s how we think God is with us, but when we genuinely have doubts, God loves us enough to persist… Not forever, but until our faith is stronger.

Our Lord was developing this man into a fully invested man of faith, matching each doubt with a kind reassurance. God will show you the same patience as well as you seek His face, dealing with each of your fears to grow you into a man or woman of God.

VICTORY IS OBTAINED BY GOD’S POWER, NOT OURS

Gideon is good to go, it’s game on, and he heads off to war with his 32,000, knowing God is empowering him. But God has other plans. We think we know best, we have ideas and opinions, but sometimes God just trumps them.

Judges 7:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

Brilliant God, just chop our numbers by 2/3. Why? Because God doesn’t want us to take the glory for ourselves, thinking we did it all! And God knows us so well. Pastors think they are great because they have a big church. Business people who are successful praise their skills and hard work. Families where kids turn out good praise their parenting. Yes, our actions and abilities influence it, but no matter how good we think we are, it is all, every bit of it, a blessing from the Lord.

James 1:17 (ESV Strong's)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Only 10,000, but still God says that’s too many. Really God? Yes, He culls the army down by 9,700 men who stoop to drink from a river, leaving only those 300 who lapped water from their hands. Now God’s happy, and Gideons faith is stretched but holds…

Judges 7:7 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

God does this to us as He builds our faith. Little by little He teaches you to rely solely on Him. Ignite Church is scattered and stretched in this COVID time. My faith is stretched, and trying to restart live church is scary. It’s an unknown, and perhaps God is stripping us back to teach us to trust Him more. Jesus said,

Luke 18:27 (ESV Strong's)

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

God created an impossible situation of human weakness to exalt His own strength. This is His specialty!

Accomplishing God's purposes is not determined by the bottom line on a finance sheet, or the size of our congregation, or the efficiency of our plans, or our skills, talents or determination. We need to attend to all those things, sure.

But the truth is, God is looking to glorify Himself on earth through people who are fully dependent on Him, who believe He is with them and are ready to charge the enemy in the name of the Lord!

God doesn't need a majority vote from us on this. He doesn't need us at all. But He loves us so much He invites us to join Him in doing His will. When we do, we reap the blessing and He gets the glory. D. L Moody said: "Give me ten men who fear nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and I shall change the world."

So Gideon led the 300 out with trumpets, torches, and jars to meet the crazy killers. God sent confusion into the ranks of the enemy so that they began attacking each other. When it was over, 120,000 Midianites had killed one another and the other 15,000 fled. God had answered Israel's prayers, and He did it all using a fearful, normal bloke who decided to trust God.

SO WHAT ABOUT US?

Gideon shows us that you don’t have to be a super Spiro to be used by God. You don’t need a Bible degree, a ton of money or extreme talent.

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and in this extraordinary time, I believe God wants to use you. You don’t need anything special, just a heart for God, a phone, a Facebook account and it also helps to have a church who believes in you.

But you need 2 things… A heart devoted to God, and I mean really devoted, not just “Hey God, can you get me this,” But, “I’ll serve with everything I have no matter what.” And the second thing you need is faith, faith to step out and believe God, faith to stand when others fall, faith no matter if you get what you want or not.

I know many of you watching want to be used by God. Maybe you struggle with faith. Pray with me and let’s commit ourselves to the Lord to use us as a church over the next many months to shine God’s love.

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I’ve been sharing a series on resetting your life in this Corona virus period. We’ve looked at resetting faith and Holiness, priorities and love, and today I want to round it out by looking ahead. How can you reset your destiny?

People talk about destiny like it is an external force that moves onto your life, but that is simply not true. Destiny can be influenced by circumstances, but it is not determined by them. Destiny is determined by choices.

God has a destiny for every one of us, but the truth is that in the hustle and bustle of life, through the changes and decisions we face, most of us lose this destiny to a large degree. This unusual time in history is the perfect moment to reset your destiny.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

So rather than trusting circumstances, or swallowing whatever life hands you, let’s pause right now and choose to trust the Lord who said He has plans fit you, to prosper you and give you hope…

Prayer… Lord, I choose to take my eyes off circumstances, off my past, my upbringing, my failures, my pain and what everyone says I should be, and I place my eyes on You, my Creator, my my Sustainer and my Lord! Lord I seek Your destiny for my life.

YOU HAVE A DESTINY

You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. God has a destiny for you, with all your hang ups, screw ups, handicaps, challenges and fears. God has a plan, and you’re it! God told Jeremiah,

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV Strong's)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

You may look at yourself and see failure. You might see a rough start in life, a disability, fears, lack of self esteem or lack of opportunity, but I’m telling God has a plan and a destiny for you. It’s been established from before you were born, and this destiny involves you conforming to the image of His Son.

Romans 8:29 (ESV Strong's)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So what does discovering your destiny depend on? Here’s 7 things…

DESTINY DEPENDS ON IDENTITY

A key step in discovering your God ordained destiny is to know who you are, your identity.

Prince Harry caused such controversy because he married an actress, moved away from England and has forsaken his duties and his destiny as a prince. It was just assumed that he would act a certain way and follow a certain destiny because he was who he was, but he decided no. His identity dictated his destiny, until his choices changed it.

So, who are you really? What’s your identity, and hence your destiny?

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV Strong's)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

We are a royal priesthood, and we need to live like it, and move towards our royal destiny, and maybe avoid marrying an actress.

DESTINY TAKES FAITH

God has a plan and a destiny for you, but you play a huge part in it. To follow your destiny takes courage and faith.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV Strong's)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

It takes faith to move towards a destiny you cannot see, but if you keep reading Hebrews 11 you will read about the many Bible heroes who moved into their destinies, by faith.

Hebrews 11:8 (ESV Strong's)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Discovering your destiny takes faith, because God generally doesn’t reveal your full destiny, he asks you to trust Him for each step. Destiny requires faith for every step.

DESTINY COSTS YOU

And destiny costs you. Moving into your destiny isn't a cruise through a comfortable life, it’s you stepping out in faith and it costs you. Every decision costs something, time, effort, money or lost opportunity.

Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Anything worthwhile costs you. The question is, are you willing to pay the price? Whatever you decide, you will reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow. God has a destiny, but will you pay the cost even up to your very life?

DESTINY IS DETERMINED BY GOD

You cannot pick what you want, you need to trust God to do what He wants.

Ephesians 1:11 (ESV Strong's)

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

I’m sick of people telling God what He needs to do for them. What right do we have to order the God who created the universe around? Surely we should trust Him that His will for us is best, because He created us, knows us and…

Romans 8:28 (ESV Strong's)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

God arranges and works all things to bring about our destiny and His good purpose.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong's)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

YOUR DESTINY IS NOT FOR YOU ALONE

Your destiny is not for you alone, because others around you bear the consequences too, good or bad. When God called Abram he said,

Genesis 12:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Your choices, good or bad, affect others around you, and generations to come. So decide now to choose God’s way, not just for your sake, but for the people you love and your children, and their children and their children!

DESTINY CAN BE LOST OR FOUND

Destiny is not set, written in stone, it is not immutable. Fulfilling your destiny depends on you and your obedience.

Sadly the Bible has many stories of people with great destinies, great potential, which they lost because of their disobedience.

King Saul was Israel’s first king. He was tall, handsome and initially successful. At first he was obedient, but then he repeatedly disobeyed, culminating in his not waiting for God, and disobeying God’s direct order. God had had enough.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (ESV Strong's)

And Samuel said,

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

he has also rejected you from being king.”

Samson in Judges 13-16, was full of strength, anointed of God, powerful, strong, but continually made bad decisions regarding women. Eventually he went too far with a chick called Delilah, and when his hair was cut, he was weakened, captured and enslaved. He lost his destiny.

King Uzziah, King Hezekiah,

Solomon, the wisest man ever lost his destiny towards the end of his life when his foreign wives turned his head…

1 Kings 11:4 (ESV Strong's)

For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

So many people of faith lose their destiny. I bet many of you have lost your destiny too. You once had such potential, you once stepped out in faith for God, you had a dream of serving Jesus and making a difference, and knew He had a great destiny for you but somewhere along the way you’ve lost it.

This reset is your opportunity to get it back.

YOUR DESTINY DEPENDS ON YOUR CHOICES

You see, ultimately your destiny depends not on circumstances but on your choices. I meet people all the time who blame God for their lot in life, when they have never been obedient to His Word. Your choices carry destiny within them, and not just for you but for generations to come…

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV Strong's)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

I see it all the time, people who turn away from God and their kids follow suit. If you truly love your kids, make God honouring choices and lead them to Him.

If you refuse to obey God, why should He bother leading you into the awesome destiny He has planned for you.

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO RESET YOUR DESTINY

Sometimes it takes a seismic event to shake your life to help you see the truth. Sometimes it takes a catastrophic event to make you consider things bigger than or beyond what’s right in front of you.

This can happen in your life with a death, a divorce, a financial loss or church split, all of which are painful, but they get your attention.

The world wide corona virus pandemic is such a seismic event, so this is one of the greatest opportunities you have to discover, or discover again your destiny.

You’re never too old or too young. Whatever you’ve done in the past, this can be your moment to regain the destiny, the potential that was once there. God has a destiny for you, and it’s time to get back on track.

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV Strong's)

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

This is your moment. Ignite can help you regain your destiny, because we believe everybody has a unique and wonderful destiny. But we are just servants, God holds your destiny, and if you turn and repent right now you can and will rediscover your destiny.

Psalms 138:8 (ESV Strong's)

The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

REACH OUT TO HIM NOW

God hasn’t forsaken you and He has plans for your life, as we saw at the beginning of this message,

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Those words were written to a generations of exiles, torn from their homes, loved ones killed or separated from them. They were slaves, without freedom, without money or wealth and without hope. But God said He had plans to prosper them, and give them a future.

He says the same to you right now!

Pray for your destiny

Ask Him to reveal the next step

Pledge to be obedient

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Welcome to the craziest Mothers Day ever, set as it were against the background of the corona virus. You can’t see your mum, or touch your mum, but you can zoom her, FaceTime her, Skype her and even telephone her.

I even heard that babies born in this year, in 13 years time will not be called generation X, Y, Z, etc, but quaran-teens.

Today we celebrate mothers. Becoming a mother is a biological process, and it takes only a moment. Being a mother is not so easy, because it is a lifelong commitment for which there is no preparation, no training and often very little help.

One woman’s said, “Before I got married I had 3 theories on how to raise children. Now I have 3 children, and no theories!”

Exodus 20:12 (ESV Strong's)

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

So today, although we cannot be physically together, I want to honour the mothers here, and give you a virtual COVID 19 hug.

Being a great mum is a calling, and God has great plans for you mums. They say, The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. What that means is that mums have a disproportionate and amazing influence on their children, their grandchildren, and hence the whole of society.

2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV Strong's)

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. What w3 deposit with our children and grandchildren lives forever.

MOTHERHOOD- OVERVALUED BUT UNDERPAID

Men, you go out to work and expect to get paid for a job well done. Motherhood has been jointly described as the world’s most underpaid job, or the most highly paid job if you count love and goodwill instead of just money…

Salary.com conducted a survey in 2010 that attempted to place a monetary value on the work of a stay-at-home mom. They determined that if mothers were to be paid for their ten most common tasks in the home (including cleaner, janitor, taxi driver, computer operator, housekeeper, teacher, cook, chief executive officer, psychologist, and facilities manager) they would be paid over $120,000 per annum, much of it overtime.

Milton Berle once quipped, “If evolution is real, how come mothers only have 2 hands!”

To every mum today, God has given you an unique calling… You are…

GROWER

Psalms 127:3 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Mums, you have given birth to and nurtured your children, some fairly recently, some a long time ago. As a grower, you get to see them grow from a tiny baby into mature, and sometimes not so mature, adults.

Yours is the great challenge, and the great joy of seeing potential realised. But the challenge is, while you may have dreams of what you’re growing, you don’t actually know what you’re growing! If a farmer plants wheat, he gets wheat. If he plants corn, he doesn’t get cucumbers, he gets corn.

But mums, you could be growing a prime minister, or a doctor, or a pastor, or another mum, or you could be growing C criminal, a drug dealer or possibly even worse, a politician. You have no idea, right? For this you have to trust God and obey His directions, and when you do you need to trust Him for the fruit of your labours.

TEACHER

As many of you have found out, in this Corona virus pandemic, you’ve all suddenly been elected teachers! But mum, you’ve always been a teacher…

Proverbs 1:8 (ESV Strong's)

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,

At the other end of proverbs, the excellent, praiseworthy wife is describes like this…

Proverbs 31:26 (ESV Strong's)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

So mums, we honour you today for your teaching, and pearls of wisdom, like…

Silence is golden, unless you have kids… Then it’s suspicious

Parenting tip- If you don’t know where your kids are in the house, turn off the internet and watch them magically appear

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shovelling the sidewalk before it stops snowing." —Phyllis Diller

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them."

COMFORTER

Isaiah 66:13 (ESV Strong's)

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;

Whether it’s a skinned knee, a shattered dream, a broken heart or compulsory isolation, great mums are there to comfort you. Even if they felt their mums never comforted them, great mums still comfort those they love.

ADVISOR

Even today at my age my mother is able to advise me, and I listen. Why? Because she has earned the right to speak into my life, and that’s what great mums do!

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV Strong's)

Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Mothers, like it or not, tend to have advice on everything. Now we all know the kind of advice mothers give, but I found a list of things you will likely never hear your mother say…

“Just leave all the lights on...it makes the house look more cheery.”

“Let me smell that shirt—Yeah, it’s good for another week.”

“Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad to feed and walk him every day.”

“I know I said no, but if Timmy’s mom says it’s OK, that’s good enough for me.”

“Come home when you like, the curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s not like I’m running a prison around here.”

“I don’t have a tissue with me...just use your sleeve.”

How many of you know that, when facing choices in your life, many times your mother’s advice comes to mind. So mums, be careful what you advise your children, because they take it all in, even if they don’t appear to act upon it.

COUNCILLOR

Proverbs 31:26 (ESV Strong's)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Mothers, you have wisdom. It might be worldly wisdom from beneath, or it might be godly wisdom from above. As mums, you want to give the right wisdom to your kids.

ERMA BOMBECK said

When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.

—

Many great people, from Abraham Lincoln to Michael Jordon to Liza Minnelli attribute their success to advice their mums gave them.

STEWARD

Great mums realise that they don’t own their children, they steward them. Many of you older mums are at this point right now. You bring children up the best you can, maybe teach them all about the Lord, but at some point you need to let them go, and they make their own choices, many of which you may not agree with.

I don’t agree with all the decisions my kids make, but I make sure whthernibagreebowhtbthemmor not never diminishes how much I love them. One of the fallacies of our modern world is that people say if you love me you’ll let me. Listen, you can love someone and still disagree with them.

Mothers, you need to be stewards of your kids, then release them to the Lord. Samuel’s mother, Hannah, who had waited so long for a child, prayer so fervently for a child, when she had her first she dedicated him to God…

1 Samuel 1:27-28 (ESV Strong's)

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

Mothers, many of your hearts are breaking for kids gone astray, kids who have rejected Christ. 2 things, first stop blaming yourself. At some point your children make their own decision, and it’s not your fault. But secondly, never stop praying and believing for your children!

PRAYER

A mother’s prayer has saved many a soul, so whatever you do, never give up on your children. Never stop praying for your children…

1 John 5:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Mothers, your prayers are powerful and I know myself, when I was rebelling against my parents, I believe it was the prayers of my mother that kept me from harm and brought me back to God.

The prayer of mothers protect their children. Augustine, John and Charles Wesley, Hudson Taylor, Billy Graham and many other great men who changed the world for Christ had praying mothers.

BELIEVER

And finally, never stop believing for your children.

Galatians 6:9 (ESV Strong's)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Mums want to believe in you, whether you believe in you or not. Mums see the good in their children, even if no one else does.

For example, Hitler’s mum Klara took him to church and wanted him to be a civil servant. Napoleon’s mum was married at 13 and accompanied him into exile on the island of Elba. Osama Bin Laden’s mum wanted him to stop fighting the west and come home to Saudi like a good boy. Donald Trump described his mum as smart as hell and he said he's had trouble finding women to marry who compared to his her!

I read about Ted Bundy’s mother Louise, who loved her son so much that she refused to believe he was a killer, until a series of death row confessions of 36 murders put the matter beyond doubt. These mums saw the best in their children even when others saw them as tyrants and killers.

Mums believe in us when others give up on us. Mums always want the best for their kids and grandkids, as I bet every mum listening to this message does.

So mums, we honour you this day, in the midst of the greatest crisis most of us have known in our lifetimes, we honour you mums, and I ask you mums, please don’t give up on your kids, no matter how bad you might think they have become.

One of the greatest church fathers in history owed his ministry and life to his mother’s faithfulness…

St Augustine’s mother was a godly woman who lived around 350AD. She loved her wayward son, and the young Augustine lived with a girl and had an illegitimate child, then followed this by joining a heretical sect for 9 long years. He refused to listen to her, and she was so distraught she prayed and prayed and God gave her a dream that settled her heart, and then a mother's faith checked in.

A short time after the dream Augustine came to Christ, and became one of the most significant church fathers of his generation! He was once lost, but then through a mother's faith and love, he was found.

My mother was a believer for me too! She believed that the Lord would use me, even when I was wandering far from His ways, and she prayed and believed even when I had hurt her and when she was discouraged!

Lord Shaftesbury was correct in his famous utterance, “Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months.”

MUM, YOU’RE PRICELESS! Let me finish by reading you the words of a Tammy Wynette song from 1974

My little girl came into the kitchen this evenin', While I was fixin' supper, And she handed me a piece of paper she'd been writin' on, And after wipin' my hands on my apron, I read it - and this is what it said:

For mowin' the yard - five dollars, And for makin' my own bed this week - one dollar, And for goin' to the store - fifty cents, An' playin' with little sister, while you went to the store - twenty-five cents, Takin' out the trash - one dollar, Gettin' a good report card - five dollars, And for rakin' the yard - two dollars, Total owed - fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents.

Well, I looked at her standin' there expectantly, And a thousand mem'ries flashed through my mind, So I picked up the pen, turnin' the paper over, This is what I wrote:

For the nine months I carried you, Growin' inside me - NO CHARGE, For the nights I've sat up with you, Doctored you, prayed for you - NO CHARGE, For the toys, food and clothes. And for wiping your nose, there's NO CHARGE, When you add it all up. The full cost of my love is NO CHARGE.

Well, when she finished readin', She had great big old tears in her eyes, And she looked up at me and said, "Mama, I sure do love you." Then she took the pen, And in great big letters, She wrote: "PAID IN FULL."

When you add it all up, The cost of real love is - NO CHARGE

We can learn that lesson from Jesus. He laid His life down for you and for me, and the cost of real love was simply this… NO CHARGE.

You can’t buy salvation, and you can’t earn it. This Mother’s Day and every day, Jesus love and sacrifice is freely given… NO CHARGE.

Whether you are a mum today, or a child, you can have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour. It’s a gift, it’s at no charge, but it’s a life changing event.

Mums, you need Jesus to be the mother He’s called you to be. And some of you children, you’ve broken you mum’s heart long enough! It’s time to ask Jesus into your life, it’s time to make your mother’s prayers be answered!

John 3:16 (ESV Strong's)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

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We’ve been sharing a series on how to reset your life. This current situation in which we live is the perfect time to hit the reset button, to clear the decks and start again and get back to basics. Sometimes we are forced to do this as a hard reset, where we face devestation and pain and loss to reset our lives, but right now we can do a soft reset, not back to factory default settings but by making a conscious choice to reset important values in our lives.

ACTIONS REFLECT PRIORITIES

Surprised to see an empty seat at the football grand final, a diehard fan remarked about it to a man sitting nearby. “It was my wife’s,” the man explained, “But she died.” “Oh! I’m very sorry to hear that,” said the man. “Yet I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for her.” “Beats me,” he said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.”

One of the key things for me in this pandemic is resetting priorities. Our expose our, and our priorities expose our values. We might say something is important, but our priorities expose the truth as to whether it is truly that important to us.

Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Truly we have seen that days are evil right now with this pandemic. We are not sailing along blissfully ignorant in our contented, brain numbed stupor, suddenly we have to reset what is truly important in our lives, and this reset must be reflected in our actions.

WHAT PRIORITIES WERE BEFORE

Just a few months ago, our priorities were so different. As Christians, we might claim to want to serve Jesus, but we spent much of our time living, working, investing, getting friends, getting things, getting money, getting ahead in life. We were comfortable, but we were complaining and confused about what really is important in life.

Then came the corona virus, and everything was turned in its head. Many of us lost jobs, incomes and businesses, we all lost freedom as we knew it before, can’t touch, can’t hug, can’t stand closer than 1.5 metres, and toilet paper suddenly became a precious commodity.

Our priorities, which reflect our values and what’s really important to us, have changed. This is our opportunity to reset them. Jesus spoke about this…

Luke 12:15-21 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

WHAT PRIORITIES CAN BE

Priorities reflect values, and we have before us a golden opportunity to reset our values, to reset what is truly important in life.

I was in a store this week and lent on a counter top, and the sales assistant nearly had kittens! The climate of fear is alive and well for the general population out there. She wouldn’t even let me touch the eftpos machine to put my pin in for fear I might infect the keypad.

But our priorities can reflect something greater than this climate of fear.

Psalms 91:9-11 (ESV Strong's)

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

We can have values and confidence that others don’t!

For years our priorities have been pushed and pulled and squeezed into the mould the world dictates to us, but today we have the chance to reset them.

WHAT FORMS YOUR PRIORITIES?

Every person has their own priorities and values in life. Our values set our priorities. It determines where you spend your effort and time. We pick up our values basically from what we are constantly exposed to – like our childhood experiences, our family upbringing, our education, our friends, our neighbourhood, our workplace environment, TV, the media, etc.

But at the end of the day it is we who choose and decide the source of our values.

Job 34:4 (ESV Strong's)

Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.

Every one of us are at different stages of life, and accordingly our priorities and values are different. What was important at age 15 is not the same as age 40 or age 70. We have to sift through and decide what’s number 1 in importance, then number 2 and so on.

So how are you going to decide what is really important & what is not? Well, the key here is how long is this important thing going to last in your life? If your priority is going to last for eternity, then it is really important. If it is going to last 60 years, that’s still pretty important. If it is going to last a few minutes or days, that’s shouldn’t be prioritised in the s a me way.

WHAT ARE THE WORLD’S PRIORITIES?

The world is trying to influence your priorities, to squeeze you into its mould.

Romans 12:2 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Here’s some things the world would tell you to prioritise…

PLEASURE

The world tells us that our pleasure, doing what we want, is our divine right. The whole entertainment industry is build around our pleasures. Advertising is about stimulating and satisfying our pleasures. People often say, God wants us to have a happy life, so if sin makes me happy, if sex and drugs and booze and video games please me, then God must be ok with it.

That is simply not true. Last week we saw God is really ok with holiness, but not ok with your sin. So much so, He died to win you back from the consequences of your sin. Moses was described like this,

Hebrews 11:24-25 (ESV Strong's)

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

Sin is pleasurable, otherwise no one would do it! But we must not prioritise sin over holiness, our fleeting pleasure over standing for what is right.

There are consequences for everything we do and say.

Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

There are consequences for everything we do and say. Solomon observed this…

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (ESV Strong's)

And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

The world says prioritise your own pleasure, but it is foolish vanity. It’s time to reset it.

POSSESSIONS

Another thing the world says is a priority is possessions, getting stuff. We have to have the best, the latest, the coolest. We don’t repair things any more, we toss them and get the new model. Those darned socks never get darned any more!

1 Timothy 6:7-10 (ESV Strong's)

for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

Pursuing money and possessions might seem important in this life, and we all do it, but ultimately you are on a never stopping treadmill. Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat!

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV Strong's)

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

2 boys watching a funeral procession, and one asks whose funeral it was. The other said, why it’s the local millionaire. Really, said the first bit, how much did he leave. The other boy replied, all of it. Shrouds don’t have pockets!

POWER AND PRESTIGE

We all want influence, we all want popularity, for people to love us, but again, this is a fleeting, vane pursuit.

Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, showing us that the rich influential successful man finishes in hell for eternity. His wealth, power and influence meant nothing in eternity.

Mark 10:31 (ESV Strong's)

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

You can pursue and prioritise being popular, gaining influence and power here on earth, but ultimately in God’s economy it will be worthless!

Let’s talk about HOW TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

This Corona virus pandemic is our chance to soft reset our priorities in life. Remember, a soft reset is a choice to change with minimal pain, not a hard reset which results in devastating pain and loss. COVID 19 is a great time to reset our priorities… and our perspectives…

Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams and grandson of President John Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: “Went fishing with my son today—a day wasted.”

His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father—the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. It was a difference in priorities and values.

The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one’s ultimate purpose in life and to prioritise accordingly.

So here are some steps towards resetting your priorities in this moment…

CHOOSE THE SOURCE OF YOUR VALUES

Destiny is not something that randomly happens to you, it is a series of choices. Make bad choices, you mess up your destiny. Make wise choices, God unroll the most incredible destiny for your life. It’s all your choice!

So the first step is to decide to see life from God’s perspective, and make His Word the source of your values, and basis of your priorities. Your choice…

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV Strong's)

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

So decide first to choose life, choose God’s way, God’s perspective, God’s priorities.

TURN AWAY FROM THE WORLD’S VALUES

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV Strong's)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The world is constantly trying to conform you into its image, what it wants from you, and what it thinks you should want from life.

Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

‘Turn my eyes away from worthless things’ would be a good verse to put on your TV set or computer screens.

WEIGH THE CONSEQUENCES

As you determine your priorities, a great thing to do is to step back and get a wide angle rather than a telescopic view. You can then clearly see and weigh the consequences of your priorities.

Galatians 6:7 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Let’s look at a few examples of consequences. Having an affair for example. A few moments pleasure, a small amount of time sampling forbidden fruit. Weight that up against losing your wife, your children, your friends, your ministry, half of your fortune, most of your self respect.

Stopping coming to church. You get to sleep in. Maybe catch up with a friend. But you lose spiritual connection with God, the ministry He has for you, the destiny He has for you. Eternal consequences in exchange for a sleep in.

MAKE THE CHOICE TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

Having done this, all that remains is a simple choice… I choose to realign my priorities with God. I choose life, God’s life, God’s priorities!

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV Strong's)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Don’t walk away, don’t turn this recording off without making a decision. To delay, to think about it later, is a decision to choose your own way, not God’s.

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?

Our priorities reveal what we value or treasure. Much of what the world prioritises is really dross or rubbish in eternity.

Don’t tell me Jesus is most important if you spend your whole life pursuing money. Don’t tell me you love your family if you have affairs and destroy it. Don’t tell me God is number 1 in your life if you never open His Word or pray. Our actions reflect our priorities, and right now we have the chance to reset those priorities and get them right, for now, for the future even for eternity!

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV Strong's)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If you treasure something you will prioritise it. We concentrate on what we treasure.

IT’S TIME TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

Luke 16:15 (ESV Strong's)

God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

So what is really important to us? Let me list some priorities most if us would agree on.

My first priority is God, because God and God’s work will take me all the way into eternity. The second in my case is my family. The third in my case is church, and after that is work, finances, the home and so on. You can work your own priorities.

But right now is the opportunity it reset our priorities and get them right for the long run, for all of our lives and into eternity. And as we reset, we must ensure that our actions reflect what we say are our priorities, and we need to give more time to what is really important. This is not about asking you to make a mental ascent, we need a total change in lifestyle.

IT’S TIME TO RESET YOUR LIFESTYLE

This pandemic is your golden opportunity to reset your lifestyle. You can change your lifestyle according to your priorities, and what is the most important should get your maximum time while what is the least important should get your least time, otherwise you are going no where.

If I ask you is God important to you? Everyone will say yes to this. Then do you schedule time to be with God? Do you read his word? “Well, no pastor, I’m so busy, I can’t.” Do you give God’s work at least 10% of your income? “No, I need that for myself.” Do you spend time in the Word? Do you spend time praying, talking to God, developing a relationship with Him? “No, I am much to busy to do any of that.” You see, we say one thing but we do something else.

If your family is really important for you then you should think about spending more time with your spouse and children.

If your health is really important then how much time do you exercise, do you eat right?

Is financial security important for you? Everybody will say yes. Are you a materialistic person? Oh, no! I’m not a materialistic person at all.” Really? Is your debt load getting deeper & deeper? Are you buying things that you can’t afford? Do you have credit card charges that you can’t pay? Are you saving money? “No, I spend it all,” you say.

You see we all want a changed outcome but we do not want a changed lifestyle. As we reset priorities, we need to change our lifestyle! So as we finish, if you’re really serious about changing your lifestyle, here’s 3 areas that you are going to have to work on.

Work on your schedule. Is your schedule consistent with what you say is important? Do you prioritise time for the things you say are really important, or are you spending time on things that you say aren’t important? You’re going to have to reevaluate your schedule.
Work on your budget. “Am I spending the most money on the things that are really important, or am I spending the most money on things that I think are not important, on things that only last for a brief period of time? Are you tithing.
Work on your Responsibilities. “Am I spending my time and effort with the responsibilities of my life or am I spending all my time being involved with things that aren’t that important to me?”

Ephesians 4:17-20 (ESV Strong's)

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

This opportunity to reset our priorities means we must stop living like worldly people whose thinking is futile and values and priorities are misplaced. Understand what is important, put first things first, and change your lifestyle.

So, what is priority 1,2 and 3 in your life right now? I want you to pray with me and reset your priorities to a God’s priorities.

Matthew 6:33 (ESV Strong's)

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

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Last week I began a series on resetting your life. The corona virus pandemic has provided us with an unexpected chance to actually hit the rest button, to not face the devastation of a hard reset but to soft reset our lives.

Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Usually we run our lives at a pace, but for the first time in a long time many of us are forced to slow down and even rest a little. Forced to step back and take stock, and get back to basics.

Today I want to highlight 2 areas I believe God is asking us to reset, as individuals and as a body of believers… Faith and Holiness.

NOW FAITH IS…

Faith is something we Christians talk a lot about, but often do not get the opportunity to actually engage. This pandemic is an opportunity to reset this important, even pivotal area of our lives. The Bible defines faith like this…

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV Strong's)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Everyone places his or her faith in something or someone. The Moslem puts his faith in the Koran and in Mohammed. The humanist put his faith in himself, a religious person in his own good works. None of these can save, not because they don’t have strong enough faith, but in each case the object of faith is wrong.

Our faith is only as good as the object in which we place our faith. Our faith needs to be in Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

True faith is simple obedience to and believing God’s word in spite of circumstances or consequences.

In Hebrews, Faith is described in a two-fold way. It is the “substance of (assurance of) things hoped for,” and “the evidence of (conviction of) things not seen.”

Substance is in Greek HYPOSTASIS, meaning “sub stance”, literally ‘to stand under or to support.’ So Faith is the foundation that gives the believer the confidence to stand. “faith is the confidence of things hoped for.” And it undergirds our entire life and experience.

George Muller ran orphanages for Street orphans in the early 1800s, and he lived by true faith. One breakfast time there was no food. Müller confidently said grace, thanking God for food that simple wasn’t there. Immediately there was a knock at the door. It was the local baker who had woken in the night with a feeling that God was telling him the orphans had no bread. So he had risen at 2.00am to bake some bread for them. Shortly after this came another knock at the door. The milkman’s wagon had broken down outside the orphanage. He asked if he could give them his milk, so as to be able to empty and repair his wagon.

It’s this undergirding that gives us the unshakable conviction.

WHAT FAITH HAS BEEN

But the reality is, we live in a real world, a blessed world, and here in Australia we rarely have to exercise true faith. We have social security, governments that care for us, health provision, food and shelter.when we feel sick we take a pill, we don’t start to pray.

But in this pandemic our comfortable lives have been turned upside down. Comfortably successful businesses are in disarray, social behaviour has been morphed, and now all of a sudden we have to step out of our comfortable, cerebral version of faith into a true walk of faith. Suddenly faith becomes practical, real and in our faces as God uses these times to allow us to reset.

James 2:17-18 (ESV Strong's)

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

He’s not saying works save you, he’s telling us that faith has to have substance… It has to be exercised to be real, otherwise it’s just theory.

Huge crowds gathered to see Charles Blondin walk on a quarter mile tightrope across Niagara Falls. He did it even on stilts, blindfolded, on a bicycle and even took a stove to the middle and cooked an omelet. On one occasion, Blondin asked the assembled crowd if they believed he could carry a person across Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow. The crowd enthusiastically yelled, “Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!”

Ok he replied, who wants to hop in the wheelbarrow right now. No one did.

Faith has been largely theoretical for many Christians up until now. But because of this pandemic, suddenly we have the opportunity to step out in faith like never before.

WHAT FAITH CAN BE

You never know how valuable your faith is until it is tested.

In 1799, Conrad Reed discovered a seventeen-pound rock while fishing in Little Meadow Creek, North Carolina. He liked it and took it home and his family used it as a doorstop for three years. In 1802, his father, took the rock to a jeweller who identified it as a lump of pure gold, one of the biggest ever found east of the Rockies.

Until its composition was determined, its value was unknown. Our faith is like that… God allows trials and tests and times like right now to determine the strength of our faith. Trials are not designed to hurt us, but too strengthen and prove our faith.

1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Abraham showed genuine faith, and it was sorely tested. God promised him a son and an heir, but he and his wife Sarah were old. But look at what Romans says about his faith…

Romans 4:19-22 (ESV Strong's)

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

What we need now is to reset our faith. We don’t need fake it till you make it, and we don’t need religious theory. Right now we need practical, powerful faith, faith that's real, faith that isn’t full of fear and hysteria, and faith that doesn’t ignore facts but looks them in the eye and says, you might be bit, but my God is bigger!

FAITH AND WORKS

An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the old man had carved on one oar the word faith, and on the other oar the word works. Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man said, “I will show you.”

He dropped one oar and plied the other called works, and the boat went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again.

After this demonstration the old man picked up faith and works and plying both oars together, sped swiftly over the water, explaining to his inquiring passenger, “You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and faith without works is dead. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing.”

James 2:17-18 (ESV Strong's)

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

It’s time to reset our faith and trust totally in the Lord.

IS HOLINESS A DYING COMMODITY?

For years now Christians have watered down God’s standards of holiness. We’ve let holy living slip, we’ve compromised our morals, and we have stood by silent as our society has celebrated blatant sin.

Romans 1:32 (ESV Strong's)

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Holiness is way out of vogue today… Tolerance and compromise are what’s being demanded. But I believe this Corona virus pandemic is our opportunity to reset holiness in our lives to what God calls holy!

WHAT HOLINESS HAS BEEN

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV Strong's)

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

The Greek word for holiness used here is HAGIASMOS, which means consecrated, purified, and set apart for a noble use.

For too long we as believers have watered down our definition of holiness and lived nice, upright, reasonable and tolerant lives. But have we really been holy?

Our nation certainly hasn’t, and it has passed laws completely contrary to Scripture, with most of us barely raising a whimper. We have been told to be tolerant, to be accepting, to be fair. Any voice raised against the powerful media and lobby groups is labelled hate speech.

Listen, you can love people without agreeing with them. You can love a homosexuality without agreeing with their lifestyle. You can be holy and you can love at the same time.

But for t by e last several years we have been focussed on so many things in life that are not really God honouring. We talk about money, investments, tolerance, what we want in life, but we rarely talk about how we can become more holy and more Christ like.

2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV Strong's)

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

WHAT HOLINESS CAN BE

This is our moment. It’s time to get serious about holiness, starting with our own lives!

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV Strong's)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

In this pandemic, we can be the ones shining in the darkness. But we cannot shine if we are impure, sinful and compromised. If we have as much fear as the rest of the country, we simply look the same!

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV Strong's)

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

We can stand for what is right and true, and loves others even if we disagree with their lifestyle choices. We must have tolerance for people, but we mustn’t have tolerance for bad or evil or ungodly ideas!

We have before us a unique opportunity to reset our moral compass, and become once again a godly and holy nation. Sinful man who was strutting around promoting ungodliness only a few months ago is now cowering in isolation and fear.

At this moment the world doesn’t need a weak, insipid, spineless, watered down church compromising it’s values to keep the peace. Right now this terrified world needs a church that stands up and proclaims the Word of the Lord, not in compromise, but in all of its holiness!

Now, more than ever, we need to lead exemplary lives before our communities, lives that shine purity and light, not selfishness and insipid compromise.

HOW DO WE RESET FAITH AND HOLINESS?

So in this incredible moment in history, how do we reset faith and Holiness?

You cannot reset holiness if you don’t know what holiness is. And you can’t reset faith, if you don’t know who God is, because He is the object of our faith. So resetting these two areas depends on one thing… You need to know God and His Word more!

And what a time to draw near to Him! Most of us are isolated, we have time alone we never had before, and we have the Bible, and loads of great teaching online.

Listen, your faith and Holiness will increase in direct proportion to how close you are to the Lord. Holiness involves learning God’s standards and making a conscious decision to live by them, not the world’s standards…

Romans 12:2 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The more you know God, the more your mind is renewed and the more you will know and experience God’s perfect will in your life.

And faith is the same… It’s directly proportional to how well you know God.

Romans 10:17 (ESV Strong's)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

This pandemic is your opportunity to open the Bible and read it and get to know God more intimately. You get to know God by reading His Word. Take the time to read and study and learn, because the closer you draw to Him,

James 4:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

See in that verse how it works together? Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts, and as you reset holiness you draw closer to the Lord. And the closer you are to Him, the greater your faith.

So this morning I’m going to challenge you to stop right now and reset these 2 areas of your life. Faith and Holiness.

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV Strong's)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV Strong's)

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

HIT THE RESET BUTTON NOW!

If you’ve never asked Jesus into your life, then this is the greatest opportunity you’ve ever had to do so.

The Bible says we have all sinned, and we need a Saviour, and Jesus is the only way to God. Take the opportunity now, wherever you are, whether you’ve done it before or not, to ask Jesus into your life. To forgive your sin, to give you eternal life and to give you a level of faith and Holiness in your life you’ve never seen before.

Come on, church, let’s reset these 2 pivotal areas together, right now.

Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV Strong's)

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

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The climate of fear created by the Covid 19 pandemic is in full swing, but today at Ignite we are in for a isolated, but wonderful treat!

How to Live the Victorious Christian Life

That's right, we have 3 exciting preachers from our own congregation, bringing a message of hope and challenge in a tough time for us all.

So settle back and listen to three excellent and very wise preachers as they share their heart, and their insight, into the incredible journey that is living the victorious Christian life.

Or if you prefer to listen while in isolation, click the link below...

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Join Dr Chas Gullo for a timely and challenging look at the panic and hysteria associated with the corona virus, and our response as Christians...

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Over the last week we have seen fear run riot across our society. The corona virus, COVID 19, has ruined my potential holiday to Italy, but it has also single handedly plunging Europe, and indeed the world, into a recession.

In my life time I cannot remember hysteria like we have seen in the last few weeks. I’ve lived through 911, and I flew to Europe in September 11th 2001 in defiance of the fear of those around me. Today, in what is a genuine pandemic and global emergency, we have seen unprecedented levels of fear in the media and among governments worldwide.

Major sporting events have been cancelled, with no football in Europe, Asia or America. Concerts and festivals cancelled. In some places like Italy, schools, churches and museums are closed. Fear is everywhere, disrupting and controlling the lives of 7 billion people. But the Bible says,

Psalms 27:1 (ESV Strong's)

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Make no mistake, the world is enslaved right now. A few thousand will die of the corona virus, but billions will suffer financially as a result of the fear and hysteria created around it. So today I want to look at a Christian response to the corona virus pandemic…

THE WORLD USES FEAR TO CONTROL

Let’s make it clear we are seeing a worldwide tragedy unfolding.

Fears about the corona virus have wiped out nearly 4 trillion dollars in the US stock market, with the biggest weekly loss since 2008. Many countries are in total lockdown, and cruise ships are floating Petri dishes. Many are afraid to go out of their homes. Life appears to be grinding to a halt! Fear controls us. But,

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV Strong's)

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

So let’s exercise a sound mind and look at the facts, so we can shine a light of hope into a world plunging into darkness. In all the mess, the hysteria, the fear mongering, this is our moment to shine!

Matthew 5:16 (ESV Strong's)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

FACTS ABOUT COVID 19

Here are some facts you need to know about COVID 19…

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. In rare cases, particularly among those who are elderly, have compromised immune systems or severe respiratory conditions, it can be fatal. It’s rare, but if you’re the one, it’s bad.

Spread of the disease can be limited by washing hands, staying home when sick and avoiding infected people.

I understand the role of hand sanitiser in this, but I am still unsure of the role of toilet paper.

The corona virus is a mild flu. It’s not the plague, or a flesh eating microbe. Because it is hard to tell how many are actually infected, the ratio of deaths to infections is high, around 3.4%. But epidemiologists agree this is grossly over estimated due to the lack of testing and confirmed cases. They believe it is under 1%.

Let’s talk numbers. Around 5,000 people have died of the COVID 19 so far. In the last 12 months it is estimated that 650,000 died of the common flu, for which we have a vaccine. 33 times more died of common flu. The largest pandemic in history was the Spanish flu of 1918, which infected 1/3 of the planet’s population and killed between 20-50 million people worldwide, double what world war 1 killed.

But the media, seizing and sensationalising figures like 3.4% death rate have driven this incredible fear within which we now live. While some fear is healthy, much of it today is destructive.

What does fear actually do?

FEAR PARALYSES

Psalms 143:4 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

New Living Translation

I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.

The devil uses fear to paralyses you. Many people are so fearful they cannot act. Agoraphobics cannot go out of the house, clostrophobics have fear of small spaces, , acrophobics have fear of heights. Pediophobics have fear of dolls, decidophobics fear making decisions. Omphalophobia is fear of belly buttons, arachi-butero- phobia is fear of peanut button sticking to the roof of your mouth, and one we can all relate to is nomophobia, fear of being without mobile phone coverage. A moment’s silence for those on Vodaphone. My favourite fear of phobia is called Hippo-poto-monstro-ses-quippe-dalio-phobia: Fear of Long Words.

Fear can paralyse you and control and ruin your life.

FEAR CONTROLS

People with phobia are controlled by their fear. The enemy wants to control peoples lives, and He uses fear to do it. Fear stopped me travelling to where I wanted to go, it may stop all travel. It’s stopped sporting and cultural events, and it is controlling how people live. It makes people buy toilet paper.

Romans 8:15 (ESV Strong's)

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

People right now are slaves to fear, because fear is controlling their behaviour. Fear does not set you free, it enslaves you. Right now the whole world is being enslaved by fear.

FEAR LIMITS POTENTIAL

Fear stunts your progress and growth. If you are fearful, you are afraid to step out and try something, so you miss opportunities to develop.

Joshua 1:9 (ESV Strong's)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

When you live enslaved to fear, your potential is limited. When you come to Christ, why should you fear, because your life is in His hands?

2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV Strong's)

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

People who let fear control and limit them are walking by sight, but we are called to walk by faith.

FEAR CHANGES OUR FOCUS

What you’ll notice right now is that peoples focus is completely absorbed by fear. What is everyone talking about? What is Facebook full of? Fear causes us to focus on earthly, immediate, fearful things, not one long term or important stuff. In a years time. Will you be afraid to shake hands or walk past toilet paper without buying it?

In this fearful climate, this is your opportunity to

Colossians 3:2 (ESV Strong's)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

To focus on loving and caring for people, not on your own preservation. Much of what people are currently focussed on is not fact, it’s sensationalised fear.

FEAR ITSELF

At the start of his presidency, Franklin D Roosevelt faced the Great Depression. People were starving, unemployed, destitute and without hope. At his inaugural speech he said these words, “We have nothing to fear except fear itself.” I think these words are appropriate for right now, don’t you?

Yes, fear is powerful as we are currently seeing. It is terrifying, it is destructive but it is not our master, Christ is! People in this world fear dying, but they also fear living. People fear not having enough money, but they also fear losing the money they have. They fear the virus, but also fear a recession.

A few might be infected with COVID 19, but all of us are infected with fear!

Peter experienced fear when he stood by the fire while Jesus was being tried.

Elijah had a mighty victory against the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, then ran in fear of Jezebel.

Fear respects no one! Anyone can fall victim to fear. Even Timothy, with the Christian upbringing in the home, his training at the feet of Paul, and spiritual his gifts, fell victim to fear. Yet through it all God says,

Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV Strong's)

It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The phrase “fear not” is used more than 80 times in the Bible, because God knows the enemy uses fear to decrease our hope and limit our victories.

So I believe that right now God is calling us to stand without fear in a climate of fear! And as Steven Wright once quipped, “What happens if you get scared half to death twice?”

HOW CAN WE OVERCOME FEAR?

This world calls sinful behaviour normal, and attacks Christians without mercy. But this same world is now running scared, and I believe we have a unique opportunity to shine into their darkness…

Philippians 2:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

We can shine and overcome fear when others are victimised by it. How?

WE HAVE GOD’S FAITH TO SEE THINGS CLEARLY

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV Strong's)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith sees differently. Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there. Without downplaying the seriousness of a pandemic, you do not have to swallow the sensationalised fear mongering that the media is peddling. The eyes of faith can see the long term, eternal and important things. Faith doesn’t lurch from crisis to crisis, it believes for greater things to come, and it offers what the others cannot offer… Hope!

WE HAVE GOD’S POWER TO CONFRONT FEAR

An experienced paratrooper was asked how many jumps he had to his credit. He responded, "Twenty‑five." Then, with his head held low he added, “Actually, it was only one jump.” … “I only jumped once, the other twenty-four times I was pushed.”

Sometimes God will push us in order to help us overcome our fear. He wants us to know that the power to overcome is present not because we are great or better than anyone else, but because He is present in our lives.

Psalms 112:6-8 (ESV Strong's)

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

Why be fearful? We can face our fears with His faith and trust God. Others have nothing, others can be consumed by fear, but we can have faith!

God is like a father standing in the pool beckoning his child to jump into His arms. The child is reluctant. At last, the child sees the father’s large, strong arms and smiling face, and jumps. There is no way that father is going to let the child drown! That is how God wants us to trust Him in every situation.

God willing, Fiona and I are headed back to Fiji, where I did my scuba diving ticket. I’m going to meet the same people again. In my course, on my 4th dive, the locals had failed to clean a valve and it seized up, causing my air to stop when I was 18m underwater. I nearly died. But an hour later I went back to another dive. I chose to confronted my fear, and I will do so again this week.

WE HAVE GOD’S LOVE TO CAST OUT FEAR

1 John 4:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

We have love to cast our fear. But this is not our love for God - it is His love for us. You need not fear; He loves you!

You see, it is not just God’s strength that causes us to trust Him, it is His love! He loves us and even if we are going through hardships, He is working behind the scenes to bring about a good purpose.

Romans 8:28 (ESV Strong's)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

All things, even the tough ones, even the scary ones! When you truly know the God of all creation loves you, and cares for you, and will never let your foot slip, then you can face anything, any virus, any persecution, any fear!

Psalms 121:1-4 (ESV Strong's)

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

If you can trust Him to save your soul, you ought to be able to trust Him to take care of you. You are His beloved child.

WE HAVE GOD’S SOUND MIND TO CONTAIN FEAR

Sometimes we know God, we eve trust God but our mind runs riot. As I plunge into the Emerald water and dive lower and lower, my mind imagines death and destruction, sharks coming out of the gloom, all kinds of fears! They’re not real, they are my imagination.

A large, old Bible, frequently used by Abraham Lincoln during the critical years of the Civil War, falls open easily to Psalm 34. One page of that Bible has a smudge where the President placed his finger often. It’s this verse…

Psalms 34:4 (ESV Strong's)

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

We face fear, just like the rest of the world, but let not your mind be troubled.

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV Strong's)

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Let me finish by examining this verse in the Greek, because we can gain valuable insight into how we should behave right now.

God gave us a spirit not of fear. The Greek word for fear used here is not the usual PHOBE, but it is DEILIA, which means timidity or cowardice. It is a call to, when faced with a fearful situation, choose courage over cowardice. To confront, stand firm and defeat the enemy, and not cower back in this climate of fear.

But what of the three descriptions of the Spirit we do have?

Power. The Greek for power is DYNAMIS, which is strength and power due to an inherent ability. It is used to describe powerful influence by wealthy people, the power of having and army or huge resources behind you and the power to perform miracles. It’s the word from which we get the English DYNAMITE. Explosive power. The power is not of your own doing, but you channel the power.

LOVE. The Greek here is AGAPE, unconditional, unrelenting, all triumphing love that knows not limits and no bounds. Perfect love comes from God and casts our fear.

Sound mind. In Greek SOPHRONISMOS, meaning self control or control of one’s behaviour and thoughts. It means being sensible, not foolish, being balanced not alarmist and being Christ centred not crisis centred.

IT’S TIME TO STAND

When the world is running in fear, we can stand against the fear with power, love and a sound mind.

So, we must be sensible. Ease up on handshakes, hugs and missing, but let’s not fall into line and fall victim to the fear tactics of the enemy. The corona virus is big, but my God is bigger, and we can show the world how to live by faith when they are cowering in fear.

Now, there is one type of person here in this service, or out in the world, that has a right to be afraid. If you have never trusted Christ, you are one heartbeat from meeting God.

Hebrews 9:27 (ESV Strong's)

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Without Christ fear has free reign, you are it’s slave and it is your master, but when you come to Jesus, His love and power creates a sound mind that does not live in fear.

1 John 4:4 (ESV Strong's)

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you don’t know Jesus, I want to give you the chance to come to Him right now and begin to conquer your fears whatever they may be.

Sometimes, even when you love God, you need reminding that He is greater, He is in you and He will protect and lead you. Whether you are fearful of the coronavirus, or struggling with fear of loss, loneliness, failure or any other fear, this is for you. Some of you in business look ahead with fear.

I have asked God for a special Anointing to conquer fear today. If you are fearful, come and let’s triumph over fear together. Let’s lay our fears aside and trust God completely.

So let’s finish with a promise from God, for you and I today as we face the threat of the corona virus…

Psalms 91:1-11 (ESV Strong's)

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

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We’ve been studying the Exodus, and relating it to the journey of life. I was going to look at murmuring, whining and complaining, but after the week I’ve had it might be a little too raw. So I want to talk about another aspect of the journey: weariness. 40 years is a long time to wander aimlessly in the wilderness, but many of us do this for years in our lives too!

Some of you here are weary. Feeling small. When tears are in your eyes, I’ll dry them all. I’m on your side, when times get rough . And friends just can’t be found, like a bridge over troubled waters.

THE JOURNEY IS LONG

Most journeys seem long, like a long and winding road, usually longer than you want. The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, which is around 39 years 11 months longer than they should have.

In our family, our long journeys started with a familiar refrain… “are we nearly there yet” before we reached the top of the driveway.

We are impatient to arrive, all of us. The length of a journey is entirely subjective. Kaileigh considers a drive to Buderim too long, and going to Sydney seems like a long journey until you go to Europe. Life is long, the journey is long, and so along the way we get weary, but remember compared to eternity this life is actually short.

James 4:14 (ESV Strong's)

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Psalms 90:10 (ESV Strong's)

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty;

yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

THE JOURNEY HAS CHALLENGES

Every journey has challenges. There are highs and lows, mountain tops and valleys, sunny days and stormy. Some here are going fine, but many I feel are facing dark, difficult times.

Psalms 23:4 (ESV Strong's)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

If you are facing challenges, even big challenges, remember that the Lord goes with you, leads you, guides you, upholds you and will ultimately bring you through.

THE JOURNEY HAS SETBACKS

Kira and I were in Munich, and it snowed. Our flight was so delayed, we missed our connecting flight in London, and had to overnight there. They could not get us a flight to Brisbane, but they said they could fly us to Tokyo. We’ll take it! In Tokyo they could get us to Brisbane, but could get us to Cairns. We’ll take it! There were no seats to Brisbane, but if we went to Melbourne we might get some. We’ll take it! Finally in Melbourne we got a flight to home!

Many times we face setback in our journeys. Sometimes these setback are of our own doing, or someone close to you! That’s what the Israelites discovered. They sent spies into the Promised Land, but then chose to believe the 10 who brought a bad report. So they decided to form a coup against Moses, stone him and go back to slavery in Egypt. Had they believed Joshua and Caleb, they could have taken the land right then and there, but they refused, and rebelled. God said,

Numbers 14:32-34 (ESV Strong's)

But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

Some of you have suffered setbacks in your journey because of someone else. It’s not fair, but it is life. Maybe you had a rough start in life, abused by parents, or maybe you married someone and it didn’t work out. Some have sinned, ignored God, or walked away.

If you’ve had setbacks in life, either because of circumstances, someone you loved and trusted or your own foolish, sinful decisions, then I have great news this morning. You can get those wasted years back!

Joel 2:25 (ESV Strong's)

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,

A set back is just a set up for a come back if you trust Jesus!

THE JOURNEY HAS PROVISION

A long journey requires provision. On any journey need food, water, fuel. You need sleep. Today as your travel you need other essentials, like masks, gloves and toilet paper. You need a phone to get GPS and updates on the corona virus, which has killed 0.005% as many people as the common flu last year, so you can panic and fret like everyone else.

In the Exodus, they had no phone. No GPS. No toilet paper. But when the people were thirsty, God gave them water from the rock. When they were hungry, God gave them manna. When they got sick of that, God gave them quail. They didn’t say thank you, they complained and whinged and whined while they dined.

Numbers 11:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

They said, Slavery wasn’t that bad… We use to eat leeks and onions and meat. Now all we have is manna breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s coming our of my ears. I have manna toast for breakfast, with manna mite spread, manna hotcakes, manna burgers, manna curry, pad manna, fillé of manna, and with my Chai latte I have bamanna bread. Hey man-na am I sick of manna.

If you’re tired on life’s journey, stop wasting your time complaining about what you don’t have and start rejoicing in what you do have. We have more stuff than ever before, yet we are the most ungrateful people ever.

Colossians 4:2 (ESV Strong's)

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

WEARINESS MAKES YOU…

The Israelites faced a long, wearying journey, made longer and wearier by their constant whining and complaining and by their own foolish decisions.

When you get weary you open yourself to a variety of emotions. When you get weary and tired you get stressed, overwhelmed and depressed. Weariness opens you to making bad decisions, and changes how you see things. You look back with rose coloured glasses and don’t see things properly.

Numbers 14:2 (ESV Strong's)

And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

When you get tired and weary, sometimes death looks like a better deal than your life. Listen, it never is… Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. 40 years was a long time to wander because of sin, but they did eventually make it through to the Promised Land. The Bible says, and it came to pass, it didn’t come to stay.

PERCEPTION AFFECTS EVERYTHING

Perception affects everything. How you see life, the journey, the troubles, the challenges, the highs and the lows, all are primarily affected by your perception.

They did an experiment one time… 2 boys, one an optimist, one a pessimist. The pessimist was locked in a room with ice cream, a TV and playstation. After an hour, he cried about ice cream melting, the game is too hard and TV just has news about the corona virus.

The optimist was locked alone in a room with a huge pile of horse poo. After an hour he was throwing poo a lover the room. With all this poo, there must be a pony in here somewhere.

Perception. That’s why Paul says,

Philippians 4:8 (ESV Strong's)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

You can choose how you see things. You can choose to see the good or the bad. You can choose whether to

Colossians 3:2 (ESV Strong's)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

As you journey, you can choose to see the lack of food, water, or see the blessings…

Deuteronomy 29:5 (ESV Strong's)

I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.

40 years without a new pair of shoes might sound awful for some women, by God provides.

In your troubles, in your weariness, God provides for you. Stop doing your own thing, stop pulling away from God, draw near to Him and see, perceive the blessings and goodness you have already.

Hebrews 4:16 (ESV Strong's)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

YOU HAVE CHOICES

One of the most pivotal parts of the Exodus occurred in the wilderness of Paran, where 12 spies were selected to check out the Promised Land. When they returned, they all agreed it was beautiful, productive, everything God had promised, but 2 said let’s go, but 10 chose to bring a bad report.

Now, when you hear a bad report, you face a choice… believe it, or not!

Numbers 13:32-33 (ESV Strong's)

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

See what they are focussed on… Not the Lord, not His promise, but their own observations and fears. We seemed like grasshoppers, tiny, easy to stomp on, we predict disaster, the world falling in, corona virus, quick, buy up all the toilet paper!

But the people had a choice. Who to believe?

Numbers 14:2 (ESV Strong's)

And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!

CHOICES HAVE CONSEQUENCES

Be aware that every choice you make, good or bad, has a consequence. You can choose to believe the lies, believe the worst, give up, say you can’t take this any more. You can leave the marriage, the church, the job, but there are consequences. The right choices bring life, they bring blessing. That’s God’s preference for you. The wrong choice brings curses and death.

Going into the Promised Land a generation later, Moses said this…

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV Strong's)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

HOW TO OVERCOME WEARINESS

So here’s the bottom line… Obey God, seek God, make the right changes and you can overcome weariness.

You can overcome weariness and make it. Even if the road is long, with many a winding turn.

Psalms 55:6 (ESV Strong's)

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;

So let’s look at some practical steps to overcoming weariness, and many of you here are weary and flat and over stressed. So how do you beat weariness?

GET SOME REST

My life has been overwhelmingly stressful of late. Finances, holiday, family, work and especially church, have drawn all of my energy, filled my entire headspace and sapped all my joy. I’m tired, I’ve slept 3 hours a night, I was miserable and almost ready to quit being a pastor. Then God reminded me of His call for Ignite, and simply said, GET SOME REST!

Matthew 11:28 (ESV Strong's)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

If you need rest, take a day off, take a caravan trip, take a holiday to Coronoville, or maybe just get an early night or two.

Sometimes when you are weary, the most spiritual and obedient thing you can do is to sleep and rest.

GET SOME INSPIRATION

Over the last several months, under the most intense pressure and attacks of my ministry career, I needed sleep, yes, but even more I needed inspiration. That’s when I turned to the Word of God, the Bible reading plan, I read it, studied it, prayed it and I lived it. As the Lord said to Joshua,

Joshua 1:8-9 (ESV Strong's)

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

GET SOME SUPPORT

Get inspired. Listen to sermons, podcasts, read Christian books, speak to strong believers, read God’s Word. What’s kept me going over the last few months of intense weariness is those around me encouraging me, believing in me.

My wife, our team here at Ignite, other pastors, friends new and old, what keeps me going is their encouragement and support.

Proverbs 27:9 (ESV Strong's)

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (ESV Strong's)

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Friends standing with you, like Aaron and Hur, can support your arms and hold you up when you need it. So reach out.

GET PRACTICAL, TAKE IT STEP BY STEP

When you get weary you tend to hit overwhelm. Everything seems amplified. Generally the devil won’t hit you once then let you rest and recover, he hits you again and again while you’re down.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV Strong's)

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

When you are weary and facing overwhelm, take each problem one at a time. Take each day one at a time. Don’t try and do it all at once, seek God and take on one giant at a time.

GET FOCUSSED ON JESUS

What you focus on determines what you see, and what you see determines where you are going. The spies that gave a bad report only saw troubles, they saw giants, they saw themselves as grasshoppers.

Colossians 3:2 (ESV Strong's)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

If you are weary right now, start to take your eyes off the hassles and soul sapping troubles you have and fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.

Welly

GET SERIOUS WITH GOD ABOUT YOUR FUTURE

God promises you that He has a plan and a future for you. Pray like you believe it! Live like it!

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

But people forget the next 2 verses,

Jeremiah 29:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

So in your weariness, in your weakness, seek God with all your heart for your future. He’s on your side when darkness comes!

COME TO ME

Galatians 6:9 (ESV Strong's)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Some of you here, you love God, you want to serve the Lord, but you’re tired, you’re down, you’re flat, you’re just plain weary. And if you get enough knocks, enough set backs, enough criticisms, you can get tired of doing good. Today I’m like that… I’m tired, and I need a touch from the Lord. Maybe you do too!

Jesus knows you feel this way. He says,

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV Strong's)

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus calls you today… If you are weary, sad, tired, fading, discouraged, down, then that’s the promise of Jesus right now.

Maybe you’ve been believing for a loved one to come to Christ, for a breakthrough, or a healing or a job. You still love God, you still believe, you’re just tired and weary. Jesus says, Come, come and be refreshed.

Acts 3:19-20 (ESV Strong's)

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

When you come to Christ, it’s not all peaches and cream, unicorns and rainbows. There are still burdens, still trials, still attacks that can cripple you and depress you and make you tired and weary and just about ready to give up. Many give up on their dreams just before their big breakthrough.

But when you come to Jesus, your burden, your yoke, which once was ill fitting, rubbing, scaring, hurting, tiring, He now fits for you. His yoke is made for you. It’s still a yoke, there are still burdens, but they no longer rub or hurt or drain you. His burden is easy and light, and allows you rest for your soul.

So today, I know some of you, myself included, are weary. You’re not in sin, you’re not far away from the Lord, you’re just tired and weary.

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We’ve been looking at the journey of life through the Exodus, and I want to stop along the way and more closely examine a fascinating story, concerning a prophet by the name of Balaam. This is a case study in how people, including us, attempt to manipulate God…

BALAK’S INSURANCE POLICY

The children of Israel are wandering through the desert, and have just successfully beaten up, killed, and plundered the Amorites. Balak, the king of Moab, has just seen all of this, and he is worried that his people might be next in line. What he is looking for is an insurance policy, and he sees his chance in a guy called Balaam. He sends a load of what’s called “fees for divination,” read a healthy bribe, and says this…

Numbers 22:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

“Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me. Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

Balaam had a reputation as someone who knew God, could hear God and could curse or bless people and it would stick. He also had a reputation as a prophet for profit, dispensing God’s blessing or curses as he desired to the highest bidder.

When first approached, Balaam does the right thing, he goes to God…

Numbers 22:8 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

The Lord clarifies who these men are, and what they were asking Balaam.

Numbers 22:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your own land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

GRUDGING OBEDIENCE

I’d have thought that was a pretty clear answer… Do not go with them. You can't get any clearer than that! Now, God doesn't always tell you why. He might just say “No.” But apparently Balaam had such a good relationship with God that He even told him why he wasn't supposed to go. “You shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”

This is where we start to see sin crouching at the door, the slow, subtle decline into disobedience. Balaam could have said, “I can’t curse these people, because God says they are blessed,” But he didn’t. Notice what he did say… Verse 13… the Lord has refused to let me go with you.

What does that mean? He means that he wished he could go, but “God won't let him.” Remember, he expected to be paid for his work. “I’d love to do it guys, but that big old mean God won’t let me!”

How many of us are like that? We know God wants us to be obedient, and we are, but grudgingly. See where Balaam’s heart is pointing right now? How often, when we know what God wants us to do, do we go through the motions, not out of love but out of duty or fear.

DISOBEDIENCE MASQUERADING AS OBEDIENCE

So Balak, sensing a opportunity to bend Balaam and hence God to his will, sends more princes, more numerous and distinguished than the former.

Numbers 22:17 (ESV Strong's)

for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’”

Notice once again Balaam’s answer revealing his reluctant obedience…

Numbers 22:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more. So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”

Let’s recap… Balak asked Balaam, Balaam asked God, God said no. Then Balak asked Balaam again, Balaam again grudgingly said no, then added, let me just ask God once more. Balaam is trying manipulate God into giving him what he wants, and he does it in a very pious and religious sounding way!

So what about you? When God says no, how do you respond? Do you demand a reason? Do you try another method to manipulate God?

There's a big difference between just obeying God on the outside, and obeying from a thankful, joyful, loving heart. I don’t obey God because I have to, or because I’m afraid He will zap me with lightening if I screw up. I obey Him because I love Him.

DEAR LORD I WANT IT…

Let’s look at an example… you’re looking for a husband or wife. Along comes a nice girl or guy, kind, pretty, smart. Problem is, they’re not a Christian. So you say, “I’d love to date you, but God says I can’t.” That is a green light for them to try plan B, or C, until they find a way to win you over. They will often pretend to get saved just to get you!

And the start of this decline comes when God says no and you say, let me just check in on that again and see if maybe God has changed His mind.

When you want a job, a ministry, a spouse, a house or anything else that bad, you need to understand how wicked that actually is, and realise that you're opening yourself up for all kinds of attack. You’re saying, not what you want from me God, I demand this!

If the devil knows you're convinced that God is the wisest, and that you know it's best to follow His counsel, that you trust Him no matter the result, then he doesn't have a point of attack. But if he knows you lack conviction, then all he's got to do is get you to believe that your desires or opinions are better, smarter, or more pleasing than God's principles.

WHAT’S YOUR PRICE?

Balaam sees the entourage coming, and it’s not just the messengers, it’s the corporate VP and general manager, and he thinks, “hmmm, I really want this, I might just go and work on God some more. This is a one time offer I need to take no matter what.”

A poll was taken in the US asking men and women how much money it would take for them to agree to sleep with a stranger. The average amount for the men was $10.00. The average for the women was $10,000. But as the dollar amount got higher, almost everybody at some point said, “Yes, I'd sleep with a stranger for a million dollars.”

But what I'd say to all of them is - you're all prostitutes! All you're changing is the price. You're willing to set aside your convictions for money. If you can be bought at any price, then God doesn't care about the price. He only cares that you can be bought.

At what point are you willing to disobey God? What is there that can buy you? Are you for sale? Is God for sale in your life? Is obedience for sale?

James 4:17 (ESV Strong's)

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

2 Corinthians 1:17 (ESV Strong's)

Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?

The flesh vacillates, it changes according to whims and fashions and social norms, but the Word of God stands forever. We need to be obedient, not trying to manipulate from God the answers we want!

LET ME PRAY ABOUT IT

If you’re going to disobey God and sin, do it in a Christian way. Say, let me pray about it. But if you are asking God, and God says no, but you keep asking until He seems to allow it, beware!

Numbers 22:19-21 (ESV Strong's)

So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam should have said, I asked, God, He said no, that’s the end of it!

James 4:7 (ESV Strong's)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Balaam didn’t resist the devil, he entertained him. He invited the devil in for tea and scones! He should have told the messengers to go, but he essentially said, “let me go talk to God. Let me pray about it. Maybe God will change His mind by the morning.”

How many people have gone to hell “praying about it”? How many people have disobeyed God saying, “Well, I really have a burden for this,” or “I really feel led to do that.” I’ve seen dozens of people claiming God told them to leave a church, and they go nowhere, and achieve nothing for God!

I can't believe the number of people that say, “Well, I've really prayed about it...” I don’t care what you’ve prayed, I want to know what God said, not what you’ve convinced yourself you’ve manipulated Him into doing for you!

Christianity is not a tool to get what you want. We need to pray with open, honest hearts, ready to obey, not trying to manipulate God. Some preach

Mark 11:24 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Some teach this means you can get God to do your bidding if you just believe hard enough. God can be your celestial Santa Clause giving you whatever you want if you ask and believe for it. They completely overlook what it means to pray according to God’s will. If means trusting God even if you don’t get what you want!

GIMME, GIMME, GIMME

God answered Balaam, and Balaam appeared to get his way. God had said no, but as some spouses know, nagging can get results.

God says “No” to Balaam one time, and the next time He just tells him, “All right, go,” without giving any reason. Beware. If God says “No,” and then you keep asking, He may just say, “All right, if you're not going to be obedient, go ahead. Do what you want.”

Numbers 23:19 (ESV Strong's)

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Watch out - if you keep whining and whimpering to God about that thing you want after He's already told you “No,” you'd better be very careful...you just might get what you're after. He may finally say “Yes,” and you will have to live with the disastrous results.

WISDOM FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE

Now for a spot of comedy.

Numbers 22:22 (ESV Strong's)

But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.

3 times the donkey disobeyed his master, and Balaam beat him. Then, weirdly,

Numbers 22:28 (ESV Strong's)

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

Now Balaam should have stopped and thought, that’s odd, a talking donkey. But he was so intent on sinning, he never stopped to see the obvious. Sometimes we are so intent on getting what we want we miss the obvious warning signs!

Numbers 22:29-31 (ESV Strong's)

And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”

Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.

God gave Balaam what he wanted, which led directly to death, but his donkey saved him… The angel said,

Numbers 22:33 (ESV Strong's)

The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.”

THE LONG SLIDE

This is where Balaam’s words get really interesting.

Numbers 22:34 (ESV Strong's)

Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”

Let’s analyse this. I have sinned… OK, he acknowledges his sin, that’s a nice start, you might even think he is repenting, turning around and heading home. But no, look at what he says. He’s not sorry he’s sinned, he’s just sorry for the consequences. But his next statement sounds pious but is really very, very wicked… Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” It means, “If it displeases you, I will turn back.”

What more do you need, Balaam? Your donkey is talking to you, and you've got the angel of the Lord Himself standing there with a drawn sword ready to kill you, and you're saying, “If it displeases you, I will turn back”!

When you disobey and then dull your conscience, beware… You are headed to destruction. Balaam wanted the rewards so bad, even in the face of disaster, he still paid lip service to repentance without actually repenting.

THE ATTITUDE GOES DOWNHILL

So Balaam gets his wish and goes with the men, and Balak expects him to curse the people of Israel. Balaam points out the following…

Numbers 22:38 (ESV Strong's)

Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you! Have I now any power of my own to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.”

Balaam is saying, I’m here, but God has me over a barrel, and I’m not happy about it, but sadly, I have to obey God. Reluctant obedience!

Listen, no one gives up anything for God. Serving God is the greatest privilege and joy I know, but I’m sick of hearing people who say I’ve given up this career or that guy or this opportunity for God.

The Apostle Paul had power and prestige and respect, but he said this

Philippians 3:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Count them as rubbish, which in Greek literally means dung or poo. It means all the things I could have in life are like pieces of poo next to knowing and serving Jesus. I don’t give up my garbage, I throw it away. If you put God first, unlike Balaam, then He will raise up in you potential you probably don’t even know is there, and you can impact this world for Jesus!

STOP, AND LET IT GO!

So over the next few chapters, Balak takes Balaam to different locations hoping to get a good curse out of him, but all Balaam can do is bless the people of Israel. Why is Balaam still there? Why is Balaam following him? Balaam just won’t let this thing go. Maybe it’s a word to someone here to stop pursuing your own way and turn back to God while you still can.

Balaam tries everything. He makes loads of sacrifices, prays a lot, inquires of the Lord, gets all religious, but in the end all he does is bless instead of curse, and Balak is getting really mad at him.

Numbers 23:12 (ESV Strong's)

And he (Balaam) answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

That’s a religious Spirit right there. He claims to be speaking the words of God, but he sure hasn’t been obedient… It’s just lip service. Balak drags Balaam from mountain to mountain, offering more and more money, and Balaam keeps following him because his eyes are on the loot!

Well, Balak has had enough and is so angry he says

Numbers 24:11 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.”

In other words, you’d better get out of here before I wipe you out!

WHERE THERE’S A WILL, WE FIND A WAY!

Numbers 24:14 (ESV Strong's)

And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”

At first glance you might think Balaam has come to his senses, but hidden in Balaam’s words are more than oracles of blessing upon Israel. After he leaves,

Numbers 25:1-2 (ESV Strong's)

While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

Balaam couldn’t get his way by manipulating God, so he found another way. As a result 24,000 Israelites died of plague.

Balaam could not curse Israel, but he offered Balak a little friendly advice, probably to get the fee he was after: “If you want to know how to get them, send your hookers, send your daughters, own there to entice them and tempt them and intermarry with them. Then invite them over to your religious services, to your gods, and you'll steal their hearts away from their God.”

Balaam was pretty smart, you know. He said, “I can't curse them because God won't let me. But sin will curse them. If you can get them to sin, you won't need me to curse them. Sin will do it for you.” Here’s proof of his advice…

Numbers 31:16 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

Revelation 2:14 (ESV Strong's)

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

Balaam got his way eventually, but he also got his comeuppance!

Joshua 13:22 (ESV Strong's)

Balaam also, the son of Beor, the one who practiced divination, was killed with the sword by the people of Israel among the rest of their slain.

You cannot manipulate God and get away with it. I bet when they parted, Balaam, left a rich man, but he was really a fool…

Mark 8:36 (ESV Strong's)

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

What does it profit you if you manipulate God into giving you your own way but compromise your relationship with Him?

2 Chronicles 16:9 (ESV Strong's)

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

OBEDIENCE OR BUST

Balaam error was twofold: 1. He used the gift and calling of God for his own selfish gain, and 2. When God said clearly no, he kept asking. He did his best to look religious and pious while finding a way around actually being obedient to God. He spoke God's words, but he didn't have God's heart.

And if you don't share God's heart, you might think you're doing what He wants you to do, but you may in fact only be going through outward motions of obedience. You might read your Bible and say your prayers and keep the rules, yet in your heart be can be a wicked, wicked servant.

You must know His heart and His attitudes; share His hatred toward sin, and His love for souls... His love for others and His love for you.

How many want something specifically right now?

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Any great journey has, built into it, various kinds of tests. Any great voyage faces some kind of trial. Some time of choppy water or tempest before we make it safely into the harbour.

We’ve been looking at Exodus, and like any other epic journey, Moses and the people of Israel faced many tests along the way. If you know anything about tests, if you’ve sat any tests before, you would realise that the purpose of these is to examine you, what you know and how you perform. A test is something you can either pass or fail. If you pass, you get another round of tests. If you fail, you get to resit the test.

Moses led the people on a journey that lasted 40 years, and right at the end as they were about to enter the Promised Land, he told the people this…

Deuteronomy 8:2 (ESV Strong's)

And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

Tests in life come that He might know what’s in our hearts.

Lord speak to us now, and if we face tests right now, speak into those very situations, we pray in Jesus’ name.

THE PURPOSE OF TESTS

Unless you test something, you can never be sure it works properly. Imagine what our roads would look like if all we had to do to get a licence as say how good a driver we are? Imagine how confident you would be in a surgeon who studied but never passed a test in medical school, but did drive a Lexis? Imagine if you came to me with a vision problem and without testing your eyes I prescribed a random lens I hoped would help you see? Wouldn’t you look at me and say, “Should’ve gone to the other guys?”

TESTS PROVE YOUR COMPETENCY AND CHARACTER

Tests are not bad or evil, they are necessary to prove to your examiners and to yourself that you are competent, able to do the task, and also that you have the character, the ability and integrity perform the task wisely.

Moses was tested many times. He failed when he murdered the Egyptian, or when he struck the rock in anger, but he passed the plagues and the Red Sea showdown with flying colours!

If you are facing a test right now, don’t get discouraged; it’s not an affliction, it is an opportunity to shine! Tests prove competency and character.

James 1:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

TESTS ALSO DEVELOP YOUR COMPETENCY AND CHARACTER

Testing places you under pressure, and it also causes you to develop in both competency and character. As you pass one test, your confidence and faith to face and pass the next test increases.

Joseph looked back on a life of unbelievable tests with God’s perspective

Genesis 50:20 (ESV Strong's)

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

He saw that God had used the tests he had faced to develop his character and abilities for such a time as this. Tests are not bad, they are good.

Hebrews 12:11 (ESV Strong's)

For the moment all discipline (Greek, tutoring, testing, training) seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

TESTS ARE NORMAL

1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

Some Christians are shocked when God tests their faith, but we should not be. If our faith is tested in a fiery crucible, we should not be surprised, we should rejoice.

Some people teach that if God is in something it all becomes easy, so if it is hard, is can’t be God. That’s not my experience, and I’m pretty sure Moses, Joseph, Abraham, David, Paul and Jesus would disagree. If you’re tested, if you’re challenged, if you’re stretched it’s very often a sign of being in God’s will, not put of it! If you’re sailing through life without problems, chances are the devil has neutralised you and you are no threat to him!

YOU CAN PASS OR FAIL

Even the Blessing of God can be a test, and with any test you can pass or fail.

Exodus 16:4 (ESV Strong's)

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Moses actually faced the same test twice, with massive consequences and a different result…

Exodus 17:6-7 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Meribah means test, and so it became a test for the people and Moses himself.

Later on in the journey, the people again complained and moaned about the lack of water, at the same place of testing, Meribah, and God said this…

Numbers 20:8 (ESV Strong's)

“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.

But then Moses and Aaron got angry, and note the words…

Numbers 20:10-12 (ESV Strong's)

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

Huge test, huge failure. God is going to test you, but beware of being too arrogant and confident in yourself that you fail the test!

TESTS IN LIFE COME FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES

God allows testing in our lives, and it comes from many sources. People we love will often test us. Circumstances will test us. Sometimes temptations test us. Let me share some of the categories of testing Moses faced

MORAL TESTS

When Moses killed the Egyptian overseer he failed a moral test. He committed murder. When David looked over the fence at Bathsheba he failed a moral test as well. Some tests are tests of our character, and we need to pass them to grow in the things of God.

A moral test might look like it’s about you and another person or persons, but it is really about you and God. David confessed his sin of adultery, but he said to God,

Psalms 51:4 (ESV Strong's)

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

If you face temptation or some kind of moral test, remember that a moral test is not about them, it’s really about you and the Lord, and if you fail you let God down number one.

OBEDIENCE TESTS

Most tests you face in life come down to one simple thing… obedience. The options you face might both be moral, but only one is obedience, and partial obedience is actually disobedience!

When Moses decided to obey God before the burning bush in Exodus 3, he set out for Egypt with his wife and child, and immediately faced an obedience test.

Exodus 4:24-25 (ESV Strong's)

At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

When you face a test of obedience, it’s best to do it with godly people. That’s why all decisions made in this church I make with my team. Moses had a good helper in his wife, and godly spouses can make all the difference when we face tests of obedience.

Most questions of morality are also tests of obedience. Whether you take that pen at the bank is not about pens or how many the bank has, it’s a test of obedience.

TESTS FROM WITHOUT

Many tests come from outside of ourselves and are beyond our control. A tragedy, a death, a fire or flood or drought may be a test, but you didn’t cause it, nor did you seek it, nor is there any moral question. It is just life, and life throws up tests for us.

No sooner had the people of Israel escaped the Egyptians through the Red Sea but they faced an attack from the Amalekites. Amalek was a descendant of Esau, so this attack came from people they were distantly related to.

God allows tests from outside of ourselves to give us a chance to shine

1 Peter 1:6-7 (ESV Strong's)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

TESTS FROM WITHIN

Perhaps even more difficult are tests from within. People around us, close to us, can often be a test for us. Moses found this when the very people he rescued, and some he trusted, grumbled and complained about his leadership.

Exodus 16:8 (ESV Strong's)

the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

Grumbling, complaining, criticising… These are tests from within, and this kind of test often pushed Moses and God to the brink! Those closest to you can provide incredible support, or diabolical testing, so be careful what you say.

HOW TO FACE YOUR TEST

Let me wrap it up with a brief discussion on how you can pass the tests of life. Moses did a phenomenal job serving God and leading he people. He faced and passed test after test, and saved his people time and again.

Deuteronomy 9:14 (ESV Strong's)

Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

Deuteronomy 9:18 (ESV Strong's)

Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.

So how should you face the tests life throws at you?

FOCUS ON THE LORD, NOT THE PROBLEM

Whatever test you face seems big, it seems like a giant, but I’m telling you now that your God is bigger! Whenever you face a problem, however big it seems, fix your eyes on Jesus!

Colossians 3:2 (ESV Strong's)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

1 Samuel 17:45 (ESV Strong's)

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

When you face a test, don’t focus on the challenge, focus on God, and let Him fight for you, let Him lead you to victory in the test! How do you do that? The best way to start to focus on the Lord in a test is to have a thankful heart.

God spoke to me from my quiet time just a week or two ago about a test faced. I wanted to answer the allegations, I wanted to fire up and fight for what I thought was right, to correct the lies, but God told me otherwise…

Exodus 14:13-14 (ESV Strong's)

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

In any test, if you focus on the problem you see only problems. If you focus on Jesus, you see only Jesus, and He sorts your problems and He passes every test!

FOCUS ON THE REWARD, NOT THE LOSS

Fear is one of the strongest emotions you can experience. It can occupy every space in your mind, causing sickness, sleeplessness and failure. Fear of loss paralyses people and stops them from moving ahead.

Moses faced the test at the Red Sea. More than a million people, backs to the sea, facing the oncoming army of Egypt and facing certain annihilation.

Exodus 14:21 (ESV Strong's)

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Exodus 14:27 (ESV Strong's)

So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

Yet no sooner had they seen this great miracle but they started looking back with rose coloured lenses and the so called good things in Egypt.

Later on, after experiencing this great miracle and many more like it, the people faced the prospect of the dream coming true. God told them the Promised Land was awesome, but rather than take Him at His word by faith, they decided to check it out, and Moses sent 12 spies into the land. 10 focussed on the problems, the enemy, the giants, and 2 focussed on the Blessing…

Numbers 13:30-31 (ESV Strong's)

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.”

When you walk by faith, the future is your friend, and every enemy is defeated. It’s your choice as to what you focus on, but the consequences are dire!

Don’t let fear rob you of passing the test. I’m speaking directly to someone here, don’t let your fear stop you stepping out in faith!

FOCUS ON ONE PROBLEM AT A TIME

I find tests come in groups, and that’s part of the devil’s tactics. He loves to overwhelm you, so face each problem, each test one by one if you can.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV Strong's)

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Step by step. Test by test. Stop worrying about what may or may not result, take every test to the Lord and let Him worry about that. You have enough. 99% of what we worry about never happens, so why waste energy on them?

FOCUS PERIPHERALLY ON THE BIG PICTURE

This sounds paradoxical, but as you focus on the test you currently face, keep in mind the overall picture. As I faced many tests and exams at Uni, I focussed on the test, but my peripheral vision, what kept me going in the toughest times, was on the prize of qualifying in my profession.

That what makes footballers great, they see the ball and the player coming at them but they are aware of every player around them. Peripheral vision makes a good player great, and so it is with us.

As you face your tests, take them one by one, focus on Jesus not the test, but never lose sight of the big picture. God has a plan and destiny for you. He has plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Even though you face a severe test right now, He has you in the palm of His hand, and you can trust Him and you will pass this test!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV Strong's)

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

The Weaving

My life is but a weaving

Between my God and me.

I cannot choose the colors

He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;

And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas

And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful

In the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives the very best to those

Who leave the choice to Him.

You can’t see the whole picture, but you know the guy who sees the whole picture!

TESTS ARE YOUR MOMENT TO SHINE!

Tests are not to be feared, they are your chance to shine, to show the Lord your faithfulness and trust in Him.

Right now some of you are being tested. As Moses was so often. Some are tested by circumstances, some by health, by finances, by people close to you. Whatever the source of the test, the aim is to pass it, and to move further into what God has for you.

Proverbs 17:3 (ESV Strong's)

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.

Silver is put in the crucible, it’s heated and the dross, the impurity rises to the top. The silversmith scoops it away, then heats it again, even more intensely. In this test, more dross rises and it removed, then he heats it again, and again.

Up to 7 times. Someone asks, how do you know when the silver is pure, when it is refined. The silversmith replies, when I look into it and see my own image.

God is testing, He is refining, and if you are faithful, if you pass the test, He will see His own image reflected in you.

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We’ve started a series on the journey of life, and I’m taking some lessons our of the Exodus. Today want to zero in on the hardening of the heart, as we see so clearly in Pharaoh.

WHAT IS A HARD HEART?

A hard heart is defined by Merriam Webster as “to stop having kind or friendly feelings for someone or caring about something.” Look around at our world today and you’ll see that peoples hearts are harder than ever. Even Christians seem to tolerate a hardening of hearts, and if they get hurt or upset, so instead of opening up to God when hurt, they harden up to minimise the pain. It’s a protective response.

In a physical sense, human hearts can calcify or become sclerosed, which means they become harder, less flexible and less able to pump blood and sustain life. Picture a rubber-band, initially stretchy but over time becoming hard and snapping instead of stretching.

Your heart in Scripture is the seat of soul, which is your mind, will and emotions. It’s the you that lives forever, and that’s why you need to guard it…

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV Strong's)

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Spiritually it is the same. Having a hard heart towards God means you toughen up, stop connecting to, listening to or obeying God. We can all of us experience a hardened heart.

HARDENING IS A PROCESS

Much like a hair care product, it doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen! The hardening of a heart is a process, one that feeds itself and gathers momentum, and if we are not careful we can all experience this. Paul’s describe unbelievers in this way

Ephesians 4:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

When I first started playing the guitar my fingers hurt so badly! The pressure of my finger tips on the strings was immense, but as I persisted, I developed callouses and soon I couldn’t feel anything. Hardening is a process, and the more you do it, the less you feel.

Jesus describes this

Matthew 13:15 (ESV Strong's)

For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

The Greek word for dull is pachyno, which means fattened, thickening and insensitive. A hard heart is insensitive to God. And we can all go there if we make wrong decisions and resist God in our lives. So let’s look at Pharaoh…

WHO’S HARDENING WHO?

So, the question is did God harden Pharaoh’s heart, or did Pharaoh? As I searched to understand who is hardening who here, I came upon an analogy that helped.

Think of God as an author. He writes a book with characters. The characters in the story makes decisions, but did they make the decision, or did the author? The answer is, both, isn’t it? The characters caught up in the plot make decisions that affect their lives, but the author is still guiding the overall plot and not forcing them to make the decisions. Paul talks of Pharaoh,

Romans 9:18 (ESV Strong's)

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

So heart hardening is a process involving our free will decisions plus God’s sovereignty. It is fascinating to examine the hardening process in Pharaoh, because it gives us clues as to how human hearts in general can become hardened towards God.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN

Exodus 4:21 (ESV Strong's)

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

And we could leave it at that general level and simply affirm and celebrate the truth that God is sovereign over the human heart. Exodus goes deeper describing hard hearts, but it is all under the banner of God’s sovereign will.

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

In the Exodus account there are 10 plagues inflicted on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, starting with

Blood: Pharaoh’s heart “became hard” (7:22)

Frogs: Pharaoh “hardened his own heart” (8:15)

Gnats: Pharaoh’s heart “was hard” (8:19)

Flies: “Pharaoh hardened his own heart” (8:32)

Livestock die: Pharaoh’s heart “was hard” (9:7)

Boils: “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (9:12)

Hail: Pharaoh “hardened his own heart” (9:34)

Locusts: God announces that he has “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (10:1,10:20)

Darkness: God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (10:27)

Death of the firstborn: God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (11:10)

In the first 5 plagues, either Pharaoh is said to have hardened his heart (plagues 2 and 4), or the source of the hardening is ambiguous, (plagues 1,3 and 5). In plagues 6-10 something changes, we hear four times that God has hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so there is a change, a progression in the process.

THREE MEANINGS OF HARDENING

The are 3 distinct Hebrew words used for hardening.

QASHAH, k-shar

This means to stiffen, make hard or stubborn, and it is only used in Exodus 7:3, which is before the plagues actually begin.

Exodus 7:3 (ESV Strong's)

But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

How many of us have resisted God and stiffened our hearts. Like when someone punches you in the stomach, but you stiffen or harden your abs to resist the force.

CHAZAQ, shaz-ack

This word means "to strengthen, prevail, harden, become strong, firm, or resolute.” It shows up 12 times throughout the Exodus account, sometimes in the ambiguous sense, and sometimes God actively doing it. It seems to indicate a strengthening in whatever direction you’re already going.

So while ambiguous as to who is doing it, it implies that it is simply a strengthening of the state of the heart Pharaoh already had.

KABED, ka-bed

This 3rd form of hardening means “to make heavy” or “to deaden.” Both Pharaoh and God are said to deaden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh’s heart is described as heavy in 7:14, and then beginning in 8:15, Pharaoh makes his heart heavy, or he deadens his heart. This really implies the end product of the progression, which is a heart that is totally deadened towards God.

So here’s how it unfolds.

AT SOME POINT PHARAOH CROSSES A LINE

God promises that he will strengthen and stiffen Pharaoh’s heart. During the initial plagues, we’re told that Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened. Pharaoh is a wicked tyrant, so initially all that happens is that God simply strengthens Pharaoh in the direction he’s already going. He lets him do what he wants to do. He doesn’t have to turn Pharaoh’s heart; he just has to let the water take the course that’s before it.

Proverbs 21:1 (ESV Strong's)

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

God us like that with us at times… His punishment if you like is to actually let us do what we want y ok do, even though He knows that ultimately it will destroy us!

Next, in 7:14 it literally says “Pharaoh’s heart was heavy/dead.” It’s a rock, stone. Then as we move past the second plague (frogs), we’re told that Pharaoh deadened his heart (8:15). He dug in. He doubled down. And for the first six plagues, we jump back and forth between Pharaoh deadening his own heart, and God strengthening Pharaoh’s heart [to do what it’s already doing].

Then in chapter 10, as the eighth plague approaches, we’re told for the first time that God deadened Pharaoh’s heart. And from then on, there’s no ambiguity. From chapter 10 through to 14 we see God is strengthening Pharaoh’s heart in the direction that indicates God had deadened Pharaoh’s heart. Why is this significant? Well, just before plague 7 (the first in the final cycle of three plagues), God tells Pharaoh:

Exodus 9:14-17 (ESV Strong's)

For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself (Heb lit: your own heart), and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

In other words, at this point, we’ve crossed a line. The plagues have escalated to the point that, even if Pharaoh refuses to acknowledge God and love Him, you would think that to save himself the pain, he would relent. God desires at this point to bring the full weight of his judgment on the Egyptians, so he deadens Pharaoh’s heart to the point that Pharaoh won’t turn, even out of self-preservation.

In fact, after the seventh plague, Pharaoh’s servants urge him to do that. “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go. Don’t you get that Egypt is ruined?” (10:7). Pharaoh tries to negotiate with Moses and God, but Moses insists on full obedience, but so Pharaoh, because his heart has now been fully deadened, says, “No!” (10:11) and finally drives Moses and Aaron from his presence.

SUMMARY OF THE SLIDE INTO A HARD HEART

So to summarise, at the beginning, Pharaoh is a sinner. He’s a rebel. He’s determined, unrepentant and does not honour God.

God sends plagues that initially inconvenience him, but he stubbornly refuses to budge, because and he and God strengthen his heart to do what it’s already wanting to do. But as time goes on, and as Pharaoh is strengthened in his rebellion, he begins to deaden his own heart towards God.

At some point he eventually he crosses a line so that God brings the full weight of his judgment down on Pharaoh; the plagues come on Pharaoh’s heart, causing pain to him personally, and now God himself actively deadens Pharaoh’s heart so that he is completely blinded to the situation and persists in the insanity of disobedience, which ultimately leads to his utter ruin at the Red Sea.

IT’S TIME FOR A HEART CHECK

So what does this mean for us today?

Pharaoh is the poster child for a hard heart, but there are many instances in the Bible concerning hard hearts. Paul looks back on the Pharaoh incident in Romans 9, he also describes unbelievers as having hardened hearts in Ephesians 4:18. Jesus describes religious people as having hard, calloused hearts in Matthew 13, and the people of Israel are described as having hard hearts in Hebrews 3:8, Psalm 95 and other places.

How interesting that hardened hearts are often used to describe those who claim to love and serve the Lord. Just because we are believers doesn’t make us impervious to a hard heart, in fact the more religious and judgemental seem to be more prone to hardening their heart to the God they claim to serve!

GUARD YOUR HEART, DON’T BARGAIN FOR IT

The reality for all of us is that we must guard our hearts vigilantly. Any of us can suffer a hard heart, towards people who’ve hurt us and especially towards God. The same downward spiral affects us.

Someone hurts you, and you feel pain. Usually, the more you love that person the more pain you feel. Right at the start we could take our pain to the Lord,

Psalms 34:18 (ESV Strong's)

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalms 147:3 (ESV Strong's)

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

But we don’t want to let it go! We take it to the Lord, but inside we feel wronged, unjustly treated, and we feel like we need to not let it go but fight for what we see is right. So to continue that, and protect ourselves from more pain, we harden our heart just a bit.

What we don’t realise is that as we harden our heart towards others who’ve hurt us, we also harden it towards the Lord. It’s a slow process, over some time, and like the frog in the pot of boiling water, we don’t feel it, we just fry.

If you allow pain, anger and bitterness space in your heart, you will harden your heart for your own protection. If you keep hardening, before long you will harden your heart towards God, and once you build up that crusty, calloused exterior, you will drift away from God, away from the church, away from your destiny!

Along the way, so many of us, like Pharaoh, think we can bargain with God. Look at what Pharaoh said…

He started off with outright, arrogant rejection…

Exodus 5:2 (ESV Strong's)

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

Next, he offered to let Israel sacrifice to their God in Egypt…

Exodus 8:25 (ESV Strong's)

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”

Then it was, ok sacrifice, but don’t go too far…

Exodus 8:28 (ESV Strong's)

So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.”

Unable to bear the plagues (8th, locusts) , Pharaoh next tried this one…

Exodus 10:11 (ESV Strong's)

No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

By the 9th plague he was desperate, but still not broken…

Exodus 10:24 (ESV Strong's)

Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.”

Until finally God won, and Pharaoh lost, but he still remained stubbornly defiant because his heart was so hardened.

WE NEED TO SOFTEN OUR HARD HEART TOWARDS GOD

So we have seen that the hardening of the heart starts with us, but if we do not change the Lord allows our heart to grow more and more hardened. Hardening of the heart kills more people than hardening of the arteries!

It’s a gradual process, very subtle and extremely dangerous, and is accompanied by feeble attempts to bargain, which Pharaoh did with God, to try and relive the consequences without repenting.

If we’re honest, all of us do this from time to time, so we must be vigilant. But if you are finding your heart is growing harder towards the Lord, or someone else, I have some great news for you. Ezekiel tells the hard hearted of Israel,

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (ESV Strong's)

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

The hurt, the bitterness, the hard heartedness can be broken right now. You need to make a decision to obey, to repent, to forgive whomever you feel has wronged you. We can start the softening of your heart right now.

Hosea 10:12 (ESV Strong's)

Sow for yourselves righteousness;

reap steadfast love;

break up your fallow ground,

for it is the time to seek the Lord,

that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

When you decide to seek the Lord, He promises that your heart will be softened towards Him, and towards others.

If you feel your heart has become hardened, even a little bit, I want to open the altar here at the front and have our team pray with you, and together we will believe for a softening of your heart.

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Last week we talked about what is really important in life. For all of us, life is a journey. Some are at the start, many in the middle, and for some the journey draws to an end.

I want to start a series on the journey of life, because we all are in it. And when you talk journeys in the Bible we need to go straight to the big one… The Exodus. We’re going to start today looking at the call of God.

ONLY ONE LIFE

The first point to make is that you have only one life. You don’t get 2 or 3 lives, you’re not doing the Buddhist thing repeating life again and again, the Bible says you get one life…

Hebrews 9:27 (ESV Strong's)

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

If you mess this one life up, you can’t replay it. I saw a sign which said, I’m a computer gamer. Don’t tell me to get a life, I have dozens of lives. But that’s fake, folks, it isn’t real. If you mess your one life up, if you waste years, if you invest you life into the wrong thing, you can’t die and start again.

After his death, Martin Luther was found to have written 2 phrases in the margin of his Bible… "Born once - die twice; Born twice - die once". What he was saying was that, everyone is born once, then they die a physical death, followed by eternal death. But if you are born twice, that is born again, you only face physical death and receive eternal life.

But we all will die, and we all get one shot at life. Maybe you think you’ve blown your shot at life. Maybe you’ve messed up or missed opportunities.

Joel 2:25 (ESV Strong's)

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,

It’s not too late, you can rediscover God’s calling on your life today, right here, and begin the journey, knowing your God is for you and can restore anything you’ve squandered so far on the journey. It’s not too late for you!

YOU HAVE BEEN PREPARED

Looking back at my life I see the hand of God preparing me to serve Him in my calling. I see things that have happened, good and bad people I have met, some who helped and some who hindered. I see Scriptures confirming, despite what others might say, the gift and call of God as a pastor.

And God has been preparing you too, as was said to Esther…

Esther 4:14 (ESV Strong's)

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Everything you’ve gone through, the success, the failures, the times you’ve let God and those who love you down. The pain of rejection, failure, loneliness, even foolish decisions, God can use it all for good ultimately when we obey Him…

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Moses was called of God to lead the people on a great journey. You might say, well that was him, he’s was a great man, but I’m just me. I have this problem, this family, this disability, this hurt. But right at the start, when God called Moses for this great task, He was well aware of Moses’ failings.

Moses had a rough upbringing, but he got a break when he was brought up in the Pharaoh’s palace. Then he lost his temper and killed a man, then ran away. He spent 40 years in the wilderness, and some of you here have spent years wandering away from God or church in a wilderness of your own. That doesn’t disqualify you, it just prepares you for the moment when God calls again.

YOU ARE CALLED

Exodus 3:2-4 (ESV Strong's)

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

God often uses something to capture of attention. What’s your burning bush. Maybe it is the loss of someone you love, perhaps a poor medical diagnosis. Maybe you’ve come to Ignite this morning with a sense in your heart that God has something for you. Today He is capturing your attention.

And fair play to Moses, when God called he replied, “Here I am.”

So what are you going to say right now to God? Lord, can’t fit You into my schedule. Lord, I’m not worthy. Lord, I’m offended by what the pastor did, or what this or that person said. Why not just put all that aside and say, here I am listening.

(Lord speak to us about your calling upon our lives).

THE RESPONSE TO THE CALL

The Lord called Moses using a burning bush, but after initially being open to the voice of God, Moses pulled away when he caught a glimpse of what God was calling him to take on. Instead of offering obedience, he offered excuses, and most of us offer the same thing when God calls us. Here’s 5 he offered…

WHO AM I?

Exodus 3:10-11 (ESV Strong's)

Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

Moses first response to the call for leadership was, who am I? He doubted himself, he doubted that God could use someone like him.

Moses struggled with his identity. He just didn’t feel qualified; he thought God had picked the wrong leader.

And some of you here are like that… you doubt that God can use someone like you. You have hang ups, fears, failures. You’ve done things you are ashamed of, you’ve hurt people you were supposed to love. You’ve failed.

Well Moses did all that, plus murder! What ever has happened in the past, whatever you feel towards yourself, you need to stop and recognise that God is God. He made you, He has a plan for you and He doesn’t make mistakes! All you need to do is walk with Him in obedience.

Isaiah 29:16 (ESV Strong's)

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

If you are a Christian, the Spirit of God lives in you, so you can’t use the excuse, who am I. Moses doubted who he was, wondering if God can use a screw up like him. But history shows God does use the base things of this world to confound the wise. Stop doubting the Potter and let Him shape you!

God’s response was:

Exodus 3:12 (ESV Strong's)

He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

God said,

It doesn’t matter who you are. I am with you…

WHO ARE YOU?

So Moses countered with a second excuse: Who are You?

Exodus 3:13 (ESV Strong's)

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

It’s one thing to doubt yourself, but another entirely to doubt God! Moses felt a lack of intimacy. He didn’t know God well enough to describe him to the people and lacked convictions concerning his relationship with God.

God’s response was:

Exodus 3:14 (ESV Strong's)

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

I AM WHO I AM. I AM ever present. I AM everything you need…

Destiny is not something that happens to you. Destiny is a series of choices, and the first step towards your destiny in God is to decide to get to know Him. Do the Bible reading plan, come to church, hunger and thirst for righteousness.

WHO ARE THEY?

Exodus 4:1 (ESV Strong's)

Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”

Moses doubted himself, and God, and now he moves on to doubting the people, and how they will respond. When God calls us one of our big fears is how others will respond.

Moses felt intimidated. He was worried about the people’s reaction to him. He was fearful of what others would say. And we are no different today. Our world today is full of opinion, and every feels they can have their say no matter the consequences. People fire up and speak and hurt others all the time, and yes even in church. Listen, someone’s opinion is not more powerful than the call of God.

God’s response was: When I’m finished, they’ll listen. In Exodus 4:2-9 God outlines 3 signs to confirm Moses’ calling as leader of the people… A staff that turns into a snake, skin that turns leprous then heals again, and water that turns into blood.

Whatever anybody says, whatever they think of me, I know the calling of God on my life, I know my integrity and I see the fruit.

I DON’T HAVE THE SKILL

Exodus 4:10 (ESV Strong's)

But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

Moses fretted about his inadequacies. Who would listen to him if he couldn’t even speak well? He looked at his skills and said, hey, I’m not equipped to minister like You’re calling me to, Lord!

Many of you here look around and compare yourself with others. If they’re worse than you, you feel pride. If they’re better, you feel inadequate. Comparisons are deadly and never productive.

God has placed within you skills, talents and abilities some of which you don’t even yet know about. If He calls you, He equips you, because He never calls you to fail and ruin your life.

God’s response was: Guess who made your mouth? (4:11-12).

Exodus 4:11-12 (ESV Strong's)

Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

That’s why church is important if you want to serve the Lord… It equips you. My role as a pastor is to equip you to fulfil your destiny.

Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV Strong's)

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

So if you feel inadequate, take a number and stand in line because we all do. But then get equipped and trained the best way you can and watch God lead you into the most exciting destiny you could ever imagine.

FIND SOMEONE ELSE

So finally, after all the excuses, we get to the truth…Moses felt inferior. He compared himself to others—even his brother—and decided that he came up short. Then he told God to find someone else… This made God angry…

Exodus 4:13 (ESV Strong's)

But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

God has a destiny on your life. God is calling you to serve and make a difference, to do something significant, something that will last for eternity… but are you saying, “No, Lord, send someone else?”

There will always be more talented, better qualified, more attractive people out there.

1 Corinthians 1:27 (ESV Strong's)

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

And He chooses you. With all your hang ups, sins, feelings of inadequacy, he chooses you. Why? No idea, it’s His decision.

There are many beautiful women in the world, movie stars, models and Kardashians. But I choose Fiona. I see in her something that all the others girls, for all their glamour, don’t have. She’s the one that I want, oo-oo-oo, honey. And in the same way, God chooses you.

God’s response to Moses’ final excuse was: OK, I will let Aaron go with you . . . but I’m still calling you…

Exodus 4:16 (ESV Strong's)

He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.

I will speak to you, you to him and him to the people. But you’re still it, Moses.

FIX YOUR EYES ON THE CALL

So at the start of this great journey of faith, Moses heard the call of God. He made excuses, he ducked and weaved, but in the end, he decided to be obedient. And this call was important, because the burning bush and the call of God remained with him all his life, even in the tough times.

When Pharaoh attacked, he could fix his eyes on the call. With his back to the Red Sea, he could fix his eyes on that call. When the people moaned, when they rebelled, when they sent him nasty emails and texts, when those closest to him, people he trusted actually rebelled against him… he stood through it all, because he had a call.

So what is God calling you to today? Maybe it’s a call you thought long dead, but it has only been dormant. Maybe your searching right now for a place to fit, and a ministry to pursue. And when you know you’re called, doesn’t matter what they say, doesn’t matter what they do, you know in your heart of hearts that God has called you.

WALK INTO YOUR DESTINY

Robert Krulwich, science correspondent for NPR, believes it is impossible for humans to walk in a straight line

Jan Souman, a scientist from Germany, conducted an experiment, where he blindfolded his subjects and then asked them to walk for an hour in a straight line. Without exception, people couldn’t do it.

Of course, everybody thinks they’re walking in a straight line, until they remove the blindfolds and see their crooked path.

According to this research, there’s only one way we can avoid our normal crooked course and actually walk in a straight line: if we fix our eyes on something ahead of us. Kurlwich concluded, “Without external cues, there’s apparently something in us that makes us turn [from a straight path].”

Isaiah 30:21 (ESV Strong's)

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

To move towards our destiny, we must fix our eyes on Jesus, and listen because He is calling us. We must press on, and unless we fix our eyes on Jesus and His calling upon our lives, we will stray.

Philippians 3:14 (ESV Strong's)

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Some of you here today have lost your way, but I want to give you he opportunity right now to refocus on the calling of God in your life. Are you tired, weary, hurt or discouraged? Some of you here believe the calling is lost forever, but it’s not. God is patiently waiting for you to stop giving excuses and start giving obedience.

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Over the course of this week I have found myself pondering what is really important in life. I have been dealing with many situations around Ignite which seem terribly important to those involved. I’ve been dealing with plans, extensions, programs, finances, relationships.

But this week we’ve had the passing and celebration of Lorna’s life, and frankly it put things into a rather stark perspective!

Here us running around like cooks without heads, full of energy, full of action, pursuing what we think it’s important… but God stopped me for a time…

Jesus sobered Martha up when she complained…

Luke 10:41-42 (ESV Strong's)

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

WHAT BENDS YOU OUT OF SHAPE?

Most people die with regrets. Many of the things we have blown up about and ruined relationships over, most of what we fight doggedly for today, has no meaning in eternity. Some of you thought rock music was satanic, and that dancing was of the devil. Some thought women wearing make up or shorts was offensive, or going to the cinema was sinful...

Styles change, opinions change, preferences change, but Jesus is a constant…

Hebrews 13:8 (ESV Strong's)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

But we get so steamed up about things that ultimately, in eternity, don’t matter, in fact, they don't even matter in a month or two. We get mad because the traffic was bad, someone charged me too much, she said this about me! We fight traffic, fight each other, fight for our rights. In our affluent society, where we have more stuff than ever before, everybody fights for their so called rights.

I’ve said before, We have land rights, gay rights, women’s rights, adopt a tree, save the whale, save the koala, we need to wrap them all up and have land rights for gay whales and be done with it. Instead we fight doggedly for what we want!

Ask yourself… are these things really important? In one year, 5 years, 10 years you won’t even remember that has you so angered or offended right now!

HOW DO WE GET A TRUE PERSPECTIVE…

Philippians 2:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

We are so blessed in Australia, but we always manage to find something to whine and complain about, don’t we. Listen here’s a perspective…

If you have had an education and know how to read, then you are more blessed that over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won’t survive the week.

If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change lying in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.

And if you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, You are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.

It’s amazing how humbling this realisation is…to know that the poorest of us in this room are richer than most of the rest of the world, and yet we never have enough?

So let me begin this message on what’s really important in life by asking the reverse…

WHAT’S NOT IMPORTANT IN LIFE?

I want to mention some things that you might think are important right now, that the world tells you are important, but when you get to the end of your life and are ready to face judgement, they simple aren’t important at all!

RELAXATION, RECREATION, CONVENIENCE AND ENJOYMENT

We joke about 1st world problems!

Recently my niece visited and didn’t get a joke I made. I was ordering a pizza, and tracking it on my phone, and feigned outrage that it was 3 minutes overdue. She thought I was serious and told me about people in the world with not enough to eat…

Most of our life is spent in the pursuit of comfort and convenience. We have instant gratification, instant coffee, microwaves and TV dinners. They even invented a microwave TV, so you can watch the show 60 minutes in just one minute.

People say they just want to have a good, fun life. You can, but the fun you’ve had, the experiences, the sin, it all is worthless in eternity!

We have so much! We have air conditioning for when it gets too hot, heating if it gets too cold. We don’t cultivate our food, we don’t plant and reap it at harvest time, we pick things off a supermarket shelf.

Jesus didn’t die to give you a good time and a comfortable

Iife.

The symbol for Christianity is a cross not a cushion. Comforts, convenience… we’ve never had so many in history before, but people are more miserable than ever because they are selfish!

Christianity is not a life of self, it’s a life of sacrifice. It’s not about convenience it’s about conviction. We don’t seek good times we seek God’s glory.

Romans 8:18 (ESV Strong's)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

RICHES

Money is what we all strive for all of our lives, money so we can buy all the things we want. But in the end, money and possessions cannot buy happiness, you can just be miserable in comfort. Ultimately, it’s is just not important at all in life and especially in eternity. Solomon observed this…

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV Strong's)

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

The world tells us, markets to us, that money and what it buys are the most important things in life. Saw the dumbest bumper sticker ever… He who dies with the most toys wins. Utter rubbish, but most people live by it!

We strive all our life for bigger houses, cars, TVs, dining tables and computers. Do you think any of that matters one iota the second you die?

Heard of a rich man who was dying and asked his butler to pack a suitcase of gold bars. Miraculously as his spirit departed he grabbed the bag, and arrived in heaven with his precious bag. St Peter said, what’s in the bag, and he proudly opened it and displayed the contents. Peter asked, why did you bring a suitcase of road base? Jesus said,

Luke 12:15 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Jesus told the rich young ruler, who asked how to be saved, the following…

Mark 10:21-22 (ESV Strong's)

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jesus wasn’t saying we can’t have money or nice things. But this young man didn’t have riches, riches had him. If possessions possess you, then God can’t. And shrouds DON’T have pockets, so in the end, on the day you die, in the light of eternity, all your possessions and riches simply don’t matter!

REPUTATION AND POSITION

2 kids watched a funeral procession go by. One asked, who’s funeral, and the other replied, the local millionaire. Wow, said the first boy, how much money did he leave, and the second replied, all of it.

Position, reputation, like riches, they seem important but in the long run, in reality, they are worthless! They’re not really important. Many whom the world celebrates and champions right now will find their celebrity, fame, power and prestige worthless when they stand before God to be judged. Jesus said

Mark 10:42-43 (ESV Strong's)

You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

In eternity, servanthood matters, humility matters but position and reputation matters not at all.

REGRETS AND PLANS

Proverbs 19:21 (ESV Strong's)

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We make our plans, our great dreams of doing something awesome, and most people step into eternity with plans either unfulfilled, or completely messed up by things we did do?

In eternity our plans mean nothing. If you’re too busy, too absorbed in something to serve the Lord, standing before Jesus one day saying, “Well Lord, I intended to ask You into my life. I intended to serve You.” Means nothing.

Guilt and regret consume some of us right now, both for things we have done, and the things we knew we should have done but haven’t. We’ve all done things we regret, but we need to remember that when we confess our sins He forgives us. Don’t let regret rob you of what’s important. I don’t want to face the judgement seat of Christ with regrets, knowing I squandered what God asked me to do, or I was so paralysed by guilt and shame I did nothing.

2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV Strong's)

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Don’t let guilt and regret tie you up and convince you they are really important in the long run.

RELIGION AND LEGALISM

Time for a bit of controversy, but this one affects many people in churches, even ours… Legalism! I read Galatians this week, and Paul pulls no punches.

Galatians 5:7-9 (ESV Strong's)

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

And it does…legalism is man’s rules instead of relationship, and it spreads like cancer in the church. But in the end, religion can’t save you, it only enslaves you. Only Jesus can save you!

Legalism is when people afflict upon you man made rules, usually in a pseudo spiritual guise. They will tell you God demands this or that, but beware because these are usually not true Biblical principles but that person’s preferences. In Paul’s day the legalistic debate was about circumcision, but today it could be any number of legalistic, religious rules.

Max Lucado describes legalism as Jesus +. Jesus + evangelism, Jesus + giving, Jesus + rituals, Jesus + anything!

2 Timothy 2:14 (ESV Strong's)

charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

Jesus describes the legalism of the religious leaders of His day as

Matthew 23:4 (ESV Strong's)

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Matthew 23:24 (ESV Strong's)

You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Legalism sucks the life and the joy out of people, but ultimately it too will be worth nothing in eternity. You cannot get the heaven by following a set of rules, you need a relationship with Jesus, plus nothing!

WHAT LASTS FOREVER?

So these things aren’t really important in life, but let me summarise what really is important eternity. 3 things,

Psalms 90:2 (ESV Strong's)

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

God is eternal, never starts, never ends.

GOD’S WORD

Isaiah 40:8 (ESV Strong's)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

God says His Word is Eternal… It stands forever, long after fashions, opinions, philosophy, and worldly wisdom fades, it still stands. That’s why I want you to join us as we read the Bible reading plan, because God’s Word never fails!

Isaiah 55:11 (ESV Strong's)

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

I have chose to build my life upon the Word of God, not money, not fame, not success or prestige or your opinion of religious things we must or must not do, just God’s Word.

THE SOULS OF MEN AND WOMEN

The souls of men and women live forever. Either in heaven or hell, but they exist forever. Therefore anything we can do that invests into people for eternity is valuable.

Relationships are valuable. I hate seeing people fight over things that aren’t important and compromising relationships that are. How dare we doggedly pursue our opinions of things and drive people away from God! Is our opinions, our interpretation, our comfort, our desires worth more than a soul lost to an eternity in hell?

And church is a classic battleground. How many have been hurt or offended by people in church and left church to wander sometimes for years away from God? Church, we need to get serious about this, because harsh rules and judgement won’t win people to Christ, but love and holiness will.

Romans 14:13 (ESV Strong's)

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.

The soul is so important, because it’s eternal. Either in heaven or hell. All the money, prestige, fame, success, comfort or legalism in the world amounts to nothing if we lose our soul!

Matthew 16:26 (ESV Strong's)

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN ETERNITY?

Jesus told a parable that sums this all up…

Luke 12:16-21 (ESV Strong's).

And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Only one life, t’will soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Are you willing to lay aside whatever is holding you back from true greatness in God? What is it you need to let go of? What is it you currently concentrate on that seems important, but that on the day you die you’ll realise it was never that important at all?

2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV Strong's)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Ps Darin Browne @ Ignite Christian Church: Recent Episodes

Darin Browne

All four Gospel writers claim that John the Baptist was preparing the way for Yahweh (Jesus). Isaiah 40:3 – “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:1-3; Luke 3:4-6; John 1:23.

1 — His birth was announced by the angel of the Lord. (2-3)