0:00 appreciate um all the musicians practice and coordination and um it's really a blessing. So, thank you guys. Yeah, Brent, you started the slow clap. Um, I wanted to start uh briefly before 0:16 um before we uh share. I just wanted to affirm and uh and appreciate a few of the things that were shared over the last couple of weeks because I thought I I was personally tremendously blessed by what was shared. And um I just wanted to 0:33 remind of a few things I thought were really um which really stood out to me as a by way of encouragement and appreciation for the for the folks who shared. But um a couple of weeks back, Paul shared he just he said this phrase 0:46 almost in closing at the end. He said um meeting together changed my week because it changed my heart. And he was talking about having fellowship with some of the brothers earlier in the week. And that really touched me just that the reminder 0:59 that uh I think you mentioned Hebrews 10:24 and 10:25, but just let us not give up meeting together and uh what an encouragement was and that blessed me. son shared um I was really touched by the reminder that if I fall into sin, 1:14 yes, I don't have enough humility and grace, but I also didn't depend on the body enough. I hadn't really seen Romans 12 in that light before. So, I really appreciated that. And um Linda shared um that believing that God loves us with a 1:31 boundless everlasting love is an act of faith. And that really touched me. You also said that you reminded us of uh Philippians 5 where he says God who called you is faithful and he will bring it to pass and and I was really uh 1:45 blessed by that. And then Seren shared um that our spiritual life should influence all of our worldly decisions rather than earthly things influencing our spiritual life. And I was uh touched by that reminder as well. And then last 2:00 week, um, George George reminded us of, um, that God often uses trials to get our attention and to help us come to our senses like the prodical son did. And and, um, I also really appreciated the exhortation you shared at the end where 2:19 you said, "If we're not experiencing trials, we should be asking why." Because we know God's purpose is to make us like Christ. And if we're not being tried, that's the cause for concern. Um, and and I really appreciated that 2:34 Arnaldo um emphasized replacing David's in the Psalms, replacing David's complaints about physical enemies with a new covenant hatred of sin and my own flesh. I was tremendously blessed by that. I had already resolved to read 2:50 through the Psalms. I I don't I don't know if I've read every psalm and and that's that was one of my resolutions over the last couple weeks. And so I was really blessed, Arnaldo, by that um reminder to have a new covenant lens 3:02 even on some of the things that seem um worldly in some of those psalms. Um Renshu shared, which was mentioned earlier by someone during prayer, but God so loved this little part of the world so much, whatever little part of 3:16 the world you're in, that he sent you. I was really encouraged by that. Thank you for sharing that. And then Winhigh shared that um oh I love this. He shared it was it's encouraging to him hearing that he needs to love the Lord 3:32 with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength that he can ask God for help to obey. I really love that. He said, "I can absolutely know this is God's will. So I can have absolute certainty that God will hear me when I ask him for 3:45 help." I thought, what an amazing thing to ask God, help me love you with all my heart, soul, and strength. It's not even in me, but you can help me, and I know I'll have it because it's his will. I love that. So, all that to say, we were 3:59 tremendously blessed as a church over the last couple weeks by the diligent service and preparation of lots of uh people. So, thank you for um for the blessing and your preparation and thoughtfulness and really depending on 4:13 God. It's clear We as a church and individuals in the church are really depending on God in our daily lives and it's a blessing to all of us whether we're here or not. It's a blessing to us. So, thank you. So, with that, we want to have some time 4:27 um to hear from folks this week. I know it was a surprise, I think, two weeks ago. We probably should have sent an email. I apologize. It's a surprise a couple weeks ago that there were only four people sharing. So, if you've been 4:36 holding back for a couple weeks, you have something that you've prepared or if you have something fresh this week that you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you. So, can I get a show of hands of the people who'd like to share? 4:45 Roger, I hear you, brother. Okay, Roger. Anyone else? Come. Okay, great. Anyone else? I know Michelle has something she wants to share in the back. So, we'll go. Roger. Kaml, Michelle, Paul. Is it only I don't want to take? No, no, no, 5:01 no. Of course. No, no. Anyone else who didn't get a chance to share the last couple weeks? Okay. Paul and George. Okay, great. So, let's go in that order. Roger, you start. It's funny because I actually had 5:32 a something to share two weeks ago and then God sort of changed it in the interviewing time. So, it was a a good delay, but um I think it was like last Thursday, Friday, something like that, or maybe a couple weeks ago, I was like, "Lord, 5:48 what's wrong?" You know, what do I really need to know? And he directed me to Psalm 16. Um and it really grabbed me. Verse six, the middle, the beginning of it, it says, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places." And I was 6:03 just like sort of not wanting to read that because I knew that he was talking to me and it it was speaking to and my wife can tell you she knows all about this but sort of a victim attitude self-pity like complaining like the circumstances 6:22 are not exactly what I want them to be and there's these things that I just like wish weren't there. Um, but the scripture says the lines are falling to me in pleasant places. And so I was like wrestling with like how do I 6:37 receive that because it doesn't seem like that. You know, just like that's not the way I'm thinking. And and I went down to verse 11, the middle of it says in thy presence is fullness of joy. And so I started to sort of work through 6:53 that whole business like Lord, you know, how do I get this? How do I accept that the lines are falling to me in pleasant places cuz it's not by what I see because that's not what I see. And so in kind of working through that, I think 7:09 there was like four things that he was trying to tell me and probably more, but those are the ones I could see for the moment. And I also saw that he's starting to tie together a whole bunch of things that he's been trying to get 7:21 to me for a long time. Um so the first point is that it's by faith you know that it's not by what you see that the lines are fallen in pleasant places. It's by faith. So um of course you know Hebrews 11 says it's you know things hope of 7:39 things unseen and the substance of things that are you know we can't see yet. So the first part of it is the lines are fallen in pleasant places by faith. It's not by what I can see. The second point is ties in with acts 17 7:53 where he in verse 26 where he says you know god has chosen beforehand the places where we should live in verse 27 is to the intent that we should seek him and maybe find him. So these difficulties and these things that I don't like about you know 8:12 circumstances and various things God is specifically designed so that I would not be complacent so that I would seek him and maybe find him because that's a good thing. So that's a pleasant place you know that these circumstances would 8:25 drive me to God in whose presence is fullness of joy and he specifically designed it for that. And then the third thing actually we went to a a play um u San Jose Saturday night from CS Lewis called The Great Divorce. But that was speaking to 8:43 me too about having a heavenly eternal perspective. So more than just these circumstances driving me to seek God, but to see by faith the heavenly perspective that he has has a much bigger plan. So it's not just about me 8:59 and my, you know, things. He's got this whole plan where he's fitting me for heaven, but also there's a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory to be had than I could see. And in the play, you can read the book if you want, 9:18 but it the it's kind of an allegory where people were being taken on from the edges of the outskirts of hell to the outskirts of heaven and the difference between the two. And as they got to the outskirts of heaven, it's 9:31 like they realized they were insubstantial compared to the reality of what heaven was. And so it hurt just walking on the grass. The grass was more solid than they were. And so I get to thinking about that in terms of that. 9:43 It's like you can take that and say this is really hard, God. You know, how can it be that this is a pleasant place because everything hurts. Just walking hurts. Um, but the eternal perspective is that the more you hang out there, the 9:57 more solid you get and the the more it's pleasant and you're able to deal with it. You're able to actually live there and and it's pleasant and in his presence is fullness of joy. So this all kind of tying together. And then the 10:13 last point is that instead of being a victim in that place, there's something that I can do because Ephesians 2:10 says that we've been created for good works. And then it also tied back to another verse that's been kind of a life 10:27 scripture for me which is the end of Habach probably all know this chapter 31 17 18 and 19 but it says to begin with you know there's no food in the stall and there's no cattle and you know it's like barren and yet verse 18 I will 10:44 rejoice in the Lord. So it's like yet the lions are fallen to me in pleasant places. So it's by faith and it's a decision something I can do about it. I can put my eyes on heaven. I can put my eyes on the Lord. I can rejoice in him 10:57 even though the circumstances are not what I would like necessarily. Then it was funny. We were watching kind of a silly movie last night, but it got another point to me and that is that I can either like stew in my brew in the 11:14 situation or I can roll up my sleeves and like do something about it. And he's chosen us. He's he's in the verse, you know, the God so loved my little world that he sent me. There's some there's a purpose for that I have. And part of 11:29 that purpose is to actually change the circumstances. You know, I can do something to affect the things that I don't like in God's power. And so I don't have to sit there and just like, you know, woe is me. It's just, you 11:44 know, I can rejoice in the Lord. I can see things from a heavenly perspective and actually change do something change things and fulfill God's will because that's what he made me for. So and oh one other thing I actually changed my attitude at work 12:03 this week too because part of the circumstances I didn't like is the way things are going with this project that I'm in. And I chose this beginning of the week like, okay, it's not about me and you know, there's something God's 12:17 doing here and I'm just going to surrender my grumbling. And it changed my whole week. My boss was here for planning sessions and um is different than it could have been. So, I've never shared my testimony. So I'll 12:42 take couple of minutes uh to share it. Um this is really to share um what a new covenant did to me. What God what what what it what what exactly is new covenant which God is leading me to. Um there there are a couple of script 12:57 scriptures that I'm going to show you. I'm not going to go detail into it but um Ezekiel chapter 16 is uh is I would really uh think there is that is one chapter that speaks about my life before new covenant uh it talks about an 13:14 amazing grace of God um when um when the when the is when Israel you know didn't deserve it absolutely everybody despised the the the baby in the But um umbilical cord wasn't cut. It's it's a pretty gory 13:33 picture. But Jesus, you know, walks by and says live. And then uh it talks about an unfaithful wife, God making Israel his wife, making a covenant with with her. And then she rejecting him, despising him, goes on to idolatry and 13:49 all that. So honestly that would I've looked at some scriptures but that would that chapter would I think is the is the right chapter for me uh before coming to new covenant but that's that's not where it ends. God brought me to Luke chapter 14:03 7 which is where we see a sinful woman who uh who shows um who shows such a amazing faith and worship towards her lord that she walks directly into Pharisees house uh uh with faith that her lord is not going to reject her no 14:20 matter what and she sits at his feet doesn't say a word in all throughout the time and uh she finds peace at the end finds forgiveness at land and finds that her lord uh received her, right? And it's been true. So the and and she 14:38 became so close to her lord and to his feet that uh um you know she wasn't seeing anybody else, right? She was seeing his feet um and that's about it, right? Um so that that to me honestly that's um I'm not there yet, but uh God 14:55 is leading me in that direction. That's what new covenant has been to me. uh where um uh turning an an unfaithful wife to to uh to a faithful worshipper in that direction and have been I've been abundantly blessed by it. 15:12 And uh brother God used brother Zach uh to uh open my eyes and and and several of you all the family to to walk in that truth, learn that truth and um be be an example to to myself, my own family and to to others uh in as Rich said in my 15:31 world that God has put me. So Hi 16:18 everyone. So good to be back. We missed you guys so much. Um I do have to say kind of what Jeremy was sharing. um even though we heard all these amazing messages at the conference, we were equally blessed when we got to listen to 16:33 the um church that we missed. Um so I want you all to know that you're so blessed to have these words of life that everyone shares week after week and I don't ever want to take that for granted. Um you don't have to go across 16:47 the world to hear these little nuggets of truth. So thank you. Um we learned so much um not only through the conference, through our travels, but through the people that we met and the conversations we got to have um that hopefully over 17:03 the next few weeks we can kind of share um little pieces. Um I think the term conference to me was kind of redefined. Um I've always had for some reason a bad taste in my mind of what a conference was. um to me and I've actually never 17:21 been to a conference here in the US besides the one our church has put on but um it's always been this as I've understood it um a time where lots of people come together and it's more of a kind of consumer mentality of I want to sit and listen to 17:36 all these messages and I want to hear this amazing worship and or songs and um where the people who are speaking are getting paid a lot of money and it just I don't know, it just kind of got under my skin when I hear that word. And so 17:52 being there, um, it really was redefined to me because instead of all those things I just said, it was really more like a family reunion where literally people from all over the world were coming together and sharing what God has 18:08 been doing in their lives and their hearts and um, encouraging one another to keep pressing on and to um, walk with God in a bold way and to continue making sacrifices and continuing to love him more. And that was just amazing to me 18:25 cuz I um I mean people came from Italy and Norway and all parts of India, traveled 24-hour bus rides and train rides to get there. And um at first I was kind of like why do people make this journey like come and listen to these messages? And then just 18:42 being there understanding a lot of these people they don't have other Christians in their lives. they don't have a church that they belong to. And so this is like the one time in their year that they get to come and be encouraged with people 18:56 who are like-minded and um who also want those truths to be real in their life. Um part of the experience that was so encouraging to me was just getting to meet others who shared our same beliefs and our same convictions. Um, I think 19:14 sometimes here it can feel a little alone. Um, and in our even at our conferences, I never know if people are more um uh curious about the message or if they're very sold out about what's being taught. Um, but there I felt like 19:31 and and this could just be my experience, but person after person that I talked to was so gripped by truths of the Holy Spirit filling us every day and the the desire to overcome sin and um really know their God as loving 19:47 father. All these things that we talk about so much were really real to these um other brothers and sisters. So I was so encouraged to just kind of extend our family network. Um, we also got to meet so many people that watch our church. 20:01 Um, and I mean there was this family that live in they live in Italy. They're Indian, but they live in Italy. They have no fellowship. And so they watch our church and that's like such an encouragement to them. Um, so it was 20:13 really cool cuz I know on YouTube or whatever you stream, I'll see like, you know, 30 views or something. I was like, who who is who are these people watching our our church? So, it was really cool to um get to put some faces to that. Um 20:30 there there were two things that stood out. Lots of things, but two things I'll talk about today. It was one the um amount of sacrifice that people made for their for the church and for their faith. Um it spurred me on for my 20:45 relationship with Christ. Compared to others, I have such small obstacles to overcome to become closer to the Lord. Um, it made my obstacles feel so much smaller and conquerable. Like when you're on a hike and you're on this big 20:59 hill and then you see a giant mountain in front that you're about to climb. The hill that you're on all of a sudden feels very small. It was kind of like that when I would hear these stories of people and it was like, "Wow, they are 21:11 climbing that huge mountain and I'm on this hill. Like I can do this, you know, with God's help." And that was um that was great. And then the second thing um kind of what I already mentioned is so many people didn't have fellowship um 21:26 from you know where they were and um or if they did it was very small. It was a small body. Um so it helped me grow in my love and devotion for our church. I've grown in thankfulness for our body that we have this many people to meet 21:40 together is such a blessing. Um, I also feel like we got to see a church CFC that is ahead of ours in many ways. Seeing how everyone served together, they helped and loved each other as kids. It was unbelievable to see this mom be talking to this kid and 21:58 the kids watching out for each other. I think Eevee grew in her older brothers by like tenfold. They were all, "Evie, no, no, no, don't go that way." And, you know, they'd bring her to me constantly if she fell down and was crying. And um 22:11 it was just really cool to see their love for one another and there was this feeling that there was nowhere else that these people would rather be. They just wanted to be together and um they knew that and it wasn't a social thing. It 22:26 was let's encourage each other. Let's talk about where we've been, what God has to brought us through. And um and even we heard some people say I don't want this time of fellowship to ever end. And I just love that. I I think I 22:39 can really grow in that instead of me rushing out and wanting a nap or wanting lunch or whatever. I I really want to be more present here. Um so lastly, our father used so many things from our trip to reveal sin in my own heart. Um especially after, you 22:57 know, I we talked to all these people, I felt like, man, I need to start writing down these stories and everything I'm learning because it's all going to just escape from me. There was so much. And as I was writing them down, the things 23:07 that people shared with me, I had to start making a note or another list on the right side of areas that I my heart is full of sin because as these people were their faith was so big and so great that I was just seeing how small mine 23:21 was and how much I could grow and all these areas. And so I made this list of sins basically of my life and where the light of Christ has yet to shine. And um then God led me to 1 John 1:9 that says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful 23:38 and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And I've read that verse many times, but um just having made a list of these things that I want to grow in. I felt the new definition of confessing my sin 23:52 to God. It was more than just telling God about the sin in my heart and asking for forgiveness. It was truly humbling to see this list. honestly and brought me to a place of great need. I was so encouraged to claim this promise that 24:06 not only are we forgiven, but he is faithful to clean it all out of my heart as long as we are asking him to do so. So to me, this verse became if we can tell our heavenly father about the areas I struggle with, about my desire 24:19 to grow and change, he's faithful to forgive me and clean it all out. So, praise God for that promise that when we can admit to and come to that place of need that that he he wants to clean it out and that's that's such a a promise 24:37 to claim. Um, so I'm so thankful to be back. It was a long trip and thank you all for your prayers. None of us got sick, which is a miracle. Um, and PS, the uh the little light of mine video was quite a hit. People were 24:56 clapping very loud and it was really fun. So, anyways, good to be back with you. If you want to turn to 25:21 John 6 uh verse 40, join me there. You can. John 6 uh verse 40. For this is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds the son and 25:40 believes in him will have eternal life. And I myself will raise him up on the last day. Early on in my Christian life, I I think for most of my Christian life, uh the word believe was more u of a 25:58 something to trust in. um John 3:16, right? Uh and 1 Corinthians uh 15 that gives the gospel account really emphasize belief and uh so that was one important part and then as I've come here what 26:16 belief is to depend on him uh through all my things as we heard from Roger. But I think in this verse, God was telling me, you need to behold more, to do both, to behold and to believe and to trust. And and so I'm just going to share a few 26:34 things of what beholding is briefly. [Music] Uh so the meaning of the I didn't really what does it mean to be whole? I think just briefly uh looking into the actual 26:49 word um in Greek it's just to know to see um to behold literally be sure to see don't miss this it's like it's saying don't miss this what I'm about to 27:06 tell you right now Jesus said behold and I found myself it's not easy to do that with um I think George was praying there's there's so many other priorities I can have that are good 27:23 Christian work um that can put that prior priority of beholding on the second shelf and um I can find myself getting caught up in busyness of work or whatever it may be. 27:38 But another meaning of the word is to observable. And so to me beholding was to apply that was to observe with intent to say Lord I want to behold you Jesus and I want to trust you which I 27:57 think where the intent comes in to do something about it as we heard earlier as well to trust you. So, as Jeremy shared earlier, it's something that God has been making me 28:15 more uh uh what's the word? Having more intent or whatever in meeting with people. Um but I I can find myself who have I scheduled this week or what am I doing in the body? Am I am I doing enough? And what can I do all this? It's 28:33 a great thing to ask, but I think I can do all that stuff without sitting with Jesus. And when I'm with the people, I'm am I beholding him in their circumstances? Michelle, that was so wonderful that she's able to make a list 28:51 of sins and things. And I thought, man, that's truly beholding because she's beholding Jesus and these other people of what they lack and what they're growing in, and they're on a higher mountain than she believes she is. and 29:01 she's being intent on writing it down. I'm going to do this. So, I thought that was a good picture of of beholding and depending which is this verse says that everyone who beholds the son and believes in him has eternal life. You 29:16 know, uh so going back, you know, growing up and and looking at this, you got to, you know, it it was this prayer that I was relying on that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life. you know, uh, believing in Jesus was buried, 29:32 died, rose again. Wonderful, great, awesome. How's it affecting your life? And then not only that, but how's it affecting your life? Can put me into a law thing. Okay. Well, I got to do this, this, and this. But Jesus was 29:45 saying, I want you to sit with me more and behold him with me. And and it doesn't have to happen with a Bible in my lap or on my phone. It could be these things that he's teaching me of himself through others or through the word of God that I can say, 30:01 "Lord, I want to behold your beauty, how wonderful you are, and how patient you are, how full of mercy you are, how loving you are, and how much of a friend you are as you walk with me amidst all these 30:19 things." And so that was just some those were just some little examples of beholding Jesus and others just beholding him on my own and saying, "Lord, I want to observe you." And I think the result of 30:36 that is 2 Corinthians 3:18. 2 Corinthians 3:18 shows me what will happen as I behold him, as I observe him, as I say, Lord, I don't want to miss you in 30:53 life, in my daily dealings with people at work or with others, my brothers and sisters. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord," and the glory of the Lord just real short to me, 31:11 a verse came to my head. I can't remember exactly where it is, but it it says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." So to me, it was beholding as in a mirror, Christ in me, Christ in others, the hope of glory. And what and 31:29 it says and being transformed into that image in glory. What image? The image of Jesus. The image of him in our daily lives. The image of him in the circumstances and the intent of my heart when I'm being faced by temptation of 31:48 sin. Am I going to behold him or am I going to choose the temptation? I think as I'm beholding him, this word says, "Nope. You're not going to be transformed to the devil, the evil, you're going to be transformed into Jesus. So, 32:08 um, lastly, it's just, so that was just one way as it says here, verse 40, this is the will of my father. Father, I know a way that I can absolutely know for 32:25 sure that I can do your will and that is to behold your son and to believe in him. Praise God. He's going to raise us up in the last day. You know, when I was reading this verse there, there's two verses here. They say, "And you will be 32:40 raised up in the last day." And I saw your faces. You will be raised up in the last day. You will be raised up in the You'll be raised up in the last day. and uh it just brought me joy and power in this. It was something else but uh I 32:54 hope it uh continues. Thank you guys. Hi. Thank God for everything that 33:12 we could hear this morning. I want to read a few verses from Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3 uh 8 to 12. Paul saying to the Ephesians, to me the very least of all saints. This grace 33:30 was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathom unfathomable riches of Christ. and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things in order that the manifold 33:45 wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness 34:00 and confident access through faith in him. I acknowledge this is a very very hard sounding few verses and what I what I have received I mean what I want to share is something very simple that God 34:17 has decided to use the church uh which means you and me I mean to show forth his wisdom I mean to the heavenly places referring to the devil and his kingdom he he wants to use the church. I mean 34:35 and that humbled me. Uh you know God knows that we are we are so I mean prone to error. I mean we are so weak in ourselves and that's why he had to do so much to bring us back to himself and and now he has put his name 34:53 and his glory on the line with us being the being the means through which he said I will show forth and uh I know I have shared about this in the past but when I read about it I I felt rebuked in my heart about you know the seriousness 35:10 with which we should be living because I And God has decided that it is through you I am going to show to others what my glory is like. You know when it says that he is going to show his wisdom and glory to the heavenly places in and the 35:27 rulers and authorities and we can easily think about devil and his angels and that will cloud our mind in terms of how we should live today here because you know we we know that the vast majority of people around us are in the grips of 35:40 the devil and and they are looking for who who God is. I mean knowingly or unknowingly I mean they are looking for it and and we are the ones in whom they should see and and God has you know just like people refer to Renu today but the 35:55 little world that he has put us in it is so true I mean those people I mean who belong to his kingdom today because they are not belonging to the Lord Jesus. So they are the I mean they are the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places 36:09 because in their hearts the ruler ruler of the uh devil ruler the devil is at work and and and we are the ones through which God is going to show you know what is the glory of this life that I have come to give you and and and it is 36:25 through you and me and and and and that is why Paul says in earlier verse 8 to me the very least of all saints this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. I I just take what I understand 36:39 from there. He says, I want you people to know what is that unimaginably precious and glorious riches that you have you have been given in Christ. And and I was asking myself, I mean, do I know really all that I am I am given? Do 36:56 I know that, you know, God considers me so precious? I mean, yeah, I have I have the words. I I have I mean we we know it all in words and theory but uh does it reflect in our lives? I mean you know he he he's saying that we are made rich I 37:13 mean God has made rich being God has been made rich by us and we are and we are given so many things by God. I mean he is with us all the time. He has given us his word. He has given us his saints. I mean the brothers and sisters and the 37:27 church and and his holy spirit and whatn not and his promises and and and we we are made rich and I mean I didn't make a list of it but I I wish we should and uh and then we should ask ourselves I mean are we really living in perspective of 37:42 that and that I felt rebuked in my heart about that that we can talk about all these things but we can live like a popper and we we can live like an orphan and I and and struggling to make each day and that puts God to shame and that 38:00 put really put God to shame because he wants to show to this world I mean to the to the the subjects the people who are in devil's grip what is the glory that I can make out of out of us we who have been called into his kingdom and I 38:16 I just pray that that in the remaining time that we have on this earth and I I don't think that we have much time and I will not be surprised urpris that if he if he get the privilege I mean to see the Lord coming back on onto this earth 38:31 I mean I'm not making any prediction but I mean that's something that I'm thinking about and and I pray that we will not be found wanting we will not have a regret and say Lord I didn't know that you would come so soon I mean I 38:45 didn't really take to heart all that you spoke to me and I I find myself wanting and I'm I'm regretting that I wasted so much of my time May not may may it not be the situation and and like it says when we are I mean in 2 Corinthians 39:01 there's a verse it says while there is yet time 2 Corinthians 6 um he says for he says at the I mean 6 verse1 2 Corinthians 6 at working together with him we also urge you not to receive the 39:20 grace of God in vain and what it means receive the grace of God in vain. Meaning I I the grace is available to me but I don't use it. I just I just ignore it. I just live a very very casual normal life. I mean life as a Christian 39:35 not as a worldly man but as a Christian but but living at a very very low standard. I mean not having not showing for the riches that God has lavished upon me. me not walking with my head high and not I mean not having that you 39:50 know glory shining from my face to show that I am the son of the heavenly king and that is not that that's not coming forth and then I just say yeah I'm a Christian I mean I'm saved I'm on my way to heaven what what it I mean what does 40:05 it convey to people who are looking for the truth and who looking for things that will change their mindset and then he says not to receive the grace of God in vain and and And he says at acupable time verse two I listen to you on the 40:19 day of salvation I helped you behold now is acceptable time and now is the day of salvation and I pray that that shall be true. Yeah. When when we have still time I mean Jesus said that night is coming then no one can work. Yeah. It will be 40:35 late for us to think then and to think back Lord I wish I had taken it more seriously. No, I mean we are we are given opportunity now to to listen and to understand and to and to act on it and may we do our due diligence and may 40:50 we seek the Lord more more fervently you know so that it will be it will be a joy for us to stand before him on that day and not to hang our head in shame. I mean just because yeah we just made it but we missed a lot. May it not be true 41:05 that but we can stand there you know just as he said I want to show forth the manifold wisdom of I mean I'm speaking God's I want to show my manifold wisdom through the church through you to the angel and his demons and may it be true 41:22 today we don't have to wait you know on the day that Jesus comes back coming. I heard um it was at the 41:42 conference actually Santos was speaking. He said something that reminded me of what you're saying, George, that um the angels are jealous of us because we get to go through trials and adversity and by those partake of the divine nature and they even though 42:01 they're before the throne of God singing praise to him, they're jealous because we his manifold glory can be manifested through us which is a that really brought soberness ness to me and remind me of what you're sharing 42:18 um with a few minutes left in our prophecy time I'll share some things a bit of my experience over the last few weeks um in India uh I learned I feel like I learned so much it's going to take weeks Sarin and I were joking it's going to take 42:34 months to kind of digest um but you you all can watch the videos as as well so I won't um I won't focus most much on the substance of the sessions just because you can you you'll get your own food from that. Um but I would like to talk 42:50 about the essence or the spirit of the conference. Um one thing I would say before before I mention that talk about the spirit of the conference one thing I would say is um the trip wasn't all rosy as Michelle mentioned as you might imagine. It 43:06 wasn't all rosy. Uh there were a lot of difficult moments for us as a family and for me personally. And I was reminded the week before we left, the Sunday before we left, I was standing right here and I said, "My prayer is that the 43:18 life of Christ would be manifested in our flesh." And you all laughed. A lot of you laughed. Um I'm not saying that's a bad thing. You laugh because maybe it was a preposterous uh hope, but God reminded me of that prayer. What was in 43:32 store? Yeah, exactly. You're Yeah. It's called wisdom experience. Um God reminded me of that prayer many times and he uh that's that uh that phrase is actually from 2 Corinthians 4 uh in verse 11 it says the second part 43:47 of it so that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our flesh. Um but one thing that God shown me as I look back on that is that the only way that the life of Jesus can be manifested in our flesh is if we die with Jesus. 44:04 And uh it's actually in both verses 10 and 11 here. If we look at that in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 10, it says, "Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." Then he says 44:17 it again, "For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh." Um, so important. Paul wrote it twice. But I've learned to appreciate that the 44:33 moments of dying to myself and all of my fleshly desires are the pathway to my true desire being realized, which is that the life of Christ would be manifested in my flesh. So, it's funny that the second part of that verse is 44:45 what I was praying. And all through the trip, God was reminding me, hey, unless you're experiencing the dying of Christ, you aren't going to experience um his life being manifested in you. So, all that to say, don't even mind that it 44:59 wasn't Rosie. In fact, as George said last week, I should be worried if it was. Maybe I'd be worried if there weren't neutrons. Um, but on to the conference. Um, I remember once, maybe it was our first or our second conference as a church, one thing 45:13 brother Zach shared is, um, that watching a conference online is great. Um, and you can get all the teaching, but what you miss is the spirit of Christ in the fellowship in the conference hall. Do you remember that? He said that. And he said, "That's what 45:25 we should really cherish here. You can go back and watch all the sermons, but relish the spirit of Christ that we share here in the hall. And um so I want to share some of my impressions. You you guys can watch all the wonderful 45:37 wonderful sermons um online, but some of the some of the my impressions of the spirit of the conference I wanted to share. Um the first is there was I I really felt that the overarching aroma of the conference was true love. True 45:54 love for one another. their true love for the brethren. Um it's I got the sense that people wanted to be there and that they expected to encounter God as they interacted with each other. Expected to encounter God as they interacted with 46:08 each other. Um the second thing I felt an utter devotion to Jesus Christ in every conversation I had. I and I tried to seek out as many interactions as possible and um this is just one example. Uh one uh brother told me that 46:25 um when he was saved, he said he didn't have a job and he and he was single. He didn't have a wife. And he said when he was saved, he felt it was such a glorious change in his life that his only prayer was, "God, I don't want a 46:38 job. I don't want a wife. All I need is one meal a day so that I can live for you." And that just really struck me. All I need is one meal a day so that I can have life to continue to enjoy knowing you. And um and that's just one 46:55 that's just one small quote, but the idea of just utter devotion to Jesus being paramount being that Jesus is the best thing we can experience. Um really stood out to me. Uh the third thing I felt like every conversation 47:11 which is related to my second point, every conversation was a chance to share a story of God's faithfulness. every time we interacted, it's like people really only had one um agenda. It's like what can I get of God's goodness from 47:25 you and what can I communicate of his goodness to you? And that there was just there was such a a an intentionality as Paul was saying there was such almost an economy of interaction that I was really blessed and it reminded me Romans 47:40 15 there's a verse that it kind of reminded me of which says in uh verse 18 15 says I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me. And I just had that sense that people that was the 47:58 agenda. I will not presume to speak of anything but what Christ has accomplished through me. And it was it was so palpable after you know 30 plus interactions where people just all they want to do is communicate God's goodness 48:10 and faithfulness and they want to hear about it that I that really struck me. And um and that leads me to my last point. The fourth thing is that oh sorry actually I'll shift the order of my points because it's better order. Um, 48:25 there was a sense of righteous urg urgency like we don't have any time to waste. I might only have 30 seconds with you, so tell me something. I got to hear something of God's goodness. Um, and I I felt like I had that urgency, too. Um, 48:41 and I really appreciated that, this sense of righteous urgency and and not feeling like we there's no time for small talk. Like, let's talk. Let's get real right now. Um, and then the last thing I would say, and I saw this in a 48:54 number of ways, but part of the spirit of the conference was there's no such thing to any person as inconvenience. I can't it's it would be impossible to inconvenience someone. I say that because I experienced so many times where I felt like I was 49:09 inconveniencing someone and they just were bending over backwards to be accommodating, to be helpful. One time, uh, Zealand, our baby, fell off the bed. It's not a big deal. she's fine. Um but before we could even do anything, 49:23 somebody was in a car going to get medicine just cuz they they thought they knew of a topical ointment that would help. And you know, um one mom of small kids saw that some of our kids uh didn't have any toys. She left the conference 49:36 and went to a store and bought some toys and brought them back and so unnecessary, right? I mean, wonderful and necessary, but unnecessary for her to bear that burden. And I just got the sense no one could be inconvenienced. it 49:48 was impossible for me to ask someone something that would put them out because they're just available, you know, and they want to serve. So anyway, so those are so but what I what I really want to share so that's kind of the spirit of 50:02 the conference I got. But as I reflected on that and as I meditated on that, what I really wanted to share is that I believe or I feel that our church in CCF should be known for and experienced as by us a church which 50:19 surpasses the CFC conference spirit. Um that's that's my hope for our church that we would be that we would have a present experience which surpasses the experience of a conference. Um because we have a a really big advantage over a 50:37 conference. We um we see each other every single week where every single week we get to be here. Um and so our love for one another should be exponential hopefully and should be compounding and growing as we interact with one another as we grow in love and 50:54 uh sharing each other's burdens. And um it just made me think why should I be more open to people that I don't know than to those I do. You know as I thought about my even my own attitude and eagerness and openness and I think 51:06 the truth is it's easier to love people that you don't know very well. It's easy to, you know, like it's easy to think about loving my enemy as some like random person in another country instead of the co-orker who's just like mildly 51:19 irritating, you know, that's not my enemy. Some guy with like a Scud missile is my enemy, you know, and I can love him in theory, but the irritating coworker, he's not really an enemy, so I don't really love. And I think that's an 51:30 extreme example, but I think it's easy to love people that you don't really know. But the more we know each other, I think the but that's the big opportunity. And the the thing that God laid on my heart is that the true 51:40 opportunity and the true testimony that God is interested in is for those who know one another well, us in CCF, that we uh would see each other to love one another deeply and to manifest the kind of spirit of a conference in 51:56 our midst every single time we come together, whether it's fellowshipping at church, whether it's fellowshipping in our homes over coffee, that we would manifest that spirit in even more profound way than all the wonderful 52:10 people who are at the CFC conference experienced it. And so I want to reread the spirit of the conference list again, but this time instead of imagining Bangalore and CFC, I want you to imagine NCCF and imagine if we could 52:23 all say this of our church um and our times of fellowship in our homes. Could we say of NCCF we have a that the the overarching aroma of our interaction is true love for one another. The overarching uh aroma is true love for 52:39 each other and that we expect to encounter God when we interact with each other. We actually expect to meet with God when we meet each other. That um at NCCF people would be struck by our utter devotion to Jesus that we would all get the sense that 52:57 there's nothing else we want. Just give me a meal a day so that I can have more. And he oh this brother, I didn't say this earlier. He said just for 6 months that's all I wanted and then I go to heaven. But I said, "God, just give me 53:07 six months of at least one meal a day because this life is so good. Six months is all I want. I don't want a job. I don't want a wife. One meal a day to experience his goodness for 6 months. You could take me to heaven." Could we 53:19 could we say that about each other and and and genuinely have that um devotion to Christ for NCCF that could we say that every conversation is a chance to share a story of God's faithfulness? that anytime we interact there's a 53:34 righteous urgency. I've got to know something about God's faithfulness to you and I I got to share something of God's faithfulness to me with you. And then lastly, that there's no such thing as an inconvenience. There's 53:45 nothing that we could ask of or uh or or or go out of our way for each other that would be an inconvenience because we're family. Because we it's born of true love for each other. Um there are a few verses that that I uh 53:59 as I was thinking about this I'll just share um I don't have big commentary on them or anything but a few verses kind of related to this. The first one's Romans 15 um verse 6 I think. Yes. Romans 15 6 and 54:18 7. With one accord you may or sorry starting verse 5 I guess. Uh now may God, the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus so that with one accord you 54:32 may with one voice glorify God and the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore accept one another just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Can we accept how just think about how Jesus has accepted you personally? 54:48 Can we accept one another with that kind of love? That kind of blindness to each other's past and to willingness to overlook faults, willingness to reach all the way to the other person, accepting one another that way. Ephesians 55:03 5 verse one and two. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant robot. Walk in love just as Christ loved you. 55:22 Similar to that, um just as Christ accepted you. And then again, um five, Ephesians 5:21 says, "Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Am I willing to subject myself to each and every person here to be subject to one another in the fear of 55:42 Christ? And lastly, Romans 12 10. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one 56:00 another in honor. And this one, one thing that I want to say about this verse is being devoted. I see here, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. Being devoted means prioritizing the church. I I had thought 56:17 that giving preference to one another. I kind of when I've read this before, I thought it means no, really, you go first. I'm giving preference to you. No, you you go first in the potluck line. Um, which is good. I I don't think that 56:28 that's bad to do. But the thing that God laid on my heart this time is it's preferring the church over other things in my life and pref and giving preference to members of the church over other people in my life. But that I 56:42 would prioritize the church family. I'd prefer the pursuit of building the church over other pursuits. And that I would and that in that way I would give preference to you guys as a church to my church body. that in that way I'd be 56:57 devoted to one another in brotherly love that I prefer the pursuit of building the church above other pursuits. So two things I would say as I uh wrap up on the some of my thoughts from the spirit of the conference. It's 57:11 by no means comprehensive by the way. Those are just the first things that came to my mind as I was meditating on my experiences. I'm sure that there will be more. But um two things. One I feel and Michelle kind of mentioned this in 57:24 passing. I feel that um this is a high standard and it and I was called to a lot of things uh personally which feel like a very high standard too and I I think I feel almost a little intimidated by it. I don't know if it's intimidating 57:36 to you to think about some of these things but to really be a church that exemplifies the spirit of a CFC conference every week is can feel kind of intimidating and um because I feel like I just saw how high the bar is. You 57:50 know, it's it's a lot higher. there's we have a lot further to go and um I was encouraged it's funny in two separate interactions completely unrelated to each other um during the conference brothers I guess were led to share the 58:03 word with me one day at a time and so I would say that in light of this kind of intimidatingly high bar being set I've I have found a lot of peace and comfort in that kind of um exhortation to take one day at a time I don't have to get all the way there 58:21 overnight. I don't have to become perfect immediately, but really say, "I'll do this for today. I don't know if I can do it tomorrow. I don't know if I can do it the next day. But God, your grace is sufficient for me today to do 58:34 what you reveal and show me that I need to do today to accomplish your purpose, to obey you." And I really appreciate that phrase, one day at a time. And I thought it was funny that two separate people mentioned use that phrase in 58:48 separate interactions. And then the second thing, um, I was reminded of the utter necessity of being filled with the Holy Spirit. If we're going to be a church which gives this aroma of true love, which has this sense of righteous 59:05 urgency, which is which is impossible to be inconvenienced, we have to be filled with the Holy Spirit as a church individually and as a church over and over and over again. Um we heard at the conference one thing which really struck 59:19 me which was that even Jesus himself dare not enter his ministry without being filled with the spirit and uh brother Zack I think it was brother Zach who was sharing this. He said suppose I knew the scriptures better than anyone 59:32 and suppose I had lived the best life imaginable for decades. Do I think this qualifies me to serve God? It did not qualify Jesus to serve God. Live knowing the scriptures better than any of his contemporaries, living a better life than any of his 59:51 contemporaries. And even then, he was not qualified to serve God. He was not qualified to build the church. Um what did he do in um Luke 3 specifically when he's being baptized 1:00:11 in 3:21? It says, 'Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he was praying, heaven was opened. And one thing, brother Zach shared is we don't know what he was praying, but we know that Jesus always got whatever he 1:00:27 asked for. So, and he got it immediately. So, see what happens immediately next, and we'll know what he's praying for. And it says, "And the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from 1:00:39 heaven, you are my beloved son. In you I'm well pleased." And so Jesus while he was being baptized, he was praying for the heavens to be open, for the Holy Spirit to fall on him, aresh and for God's um for for a word that he was pleasing 1:00:58 to God. And those three things happened immediately. And so we also as a church, we must consider uh as we consider growing in the spirit as a church, I think we'd do well to remember, take it one day at a time and every single day 1:01:11 pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this seemingly impossible thing in our midst right here in Militus, California. Amen.
