WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.820 Good morning. Good, that's good. Okay, just checking you're awake. Let me put this up a little bit. 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:21.100 I'm afraid I've grown. Good morning, everybody. It's just amazing to see you this morning. I feel 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:27.339 like the weather, my parents are in town and they're enjoying summer weather. You know, in 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:33.980 England, we never experienced the sunshine. So it's kind of, I'm showing them what the sun really 00:00:33.980 --> 00:00:42.840 does exist. So it's been great. If you've, we've had a few of these booklets downstairs. It's not 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:48.240 enough for everyone because there are online copies as well. So if you haven't got a printed 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:55.340 copy, go online. You can see some of what God's been doing this year through the church. And it's 00:00:55.340 --> 00:01:01.780 just been, just exciting thing to see what God's up to. Today, we're going to take a little break 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:08.420 from the Faith and Work series. And I'm just going to give you a little bit of what I think is a theme 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:15.760 that I think God wants us to think about and to be going through this year as we seek Him and we 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:21.700 seek His face this year. Because I don't know about you, but this year has been one of those crazy years, 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:27.640 both in the life of the church and in many different ways. You know, we've had, we had to 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:34.520 move from the community center. We have to move from Cyberport. The Millers have left. There's been a lot 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:41.640 of craziness over this year all at once. And it's been busy as well. Personally, it's been busy. I've 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:46.359 been busy with a lot of different things. And Hong Kong is kind of like that, isn't it? It's kind of a 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:57.299 busy, busy place. But one thing I've noticed in myself this year is I can be very busy. I can be 00:01:57.299 --> 00:02:05.180 busy doing a ton of things even for God. But you know, busyness doesn't mean that I'm necessarily 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:13.180 growing spiritually. Do you know that? I can be doing great, excellent, godly things, but that doesn't 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:21.659 necessarily mean that I'm growing in my relationship with Christ. Busyness doesn't equal godliness. 00:02:22.980 --> 00:02:32.140 Busyness doesn't automatically equal obedience. And this year, I think, one of the questions for us 00:02:32.140 --> 00:02:41.240 as a church is not how much more activity can we cram into our calendars. It's actually how much do I 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:49.260 want to grow in my faith to know God and to love Him and to be more like Him in my life? How much 00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:57.120 do I want Jesus more than anything else? That's the question. And so I want to take just a few minutes 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:03.080 this morning just to kind of look at this story of Peter to give us, and Jesus walking on the water, 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:08.260 and give us just a couple of things that I think it tells us about what it can look like to begin to 00:03:08.259 --> 00:03:15.939 grow in faith with Christ, okay? So have your bulletin open. We're kind of going to skim 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:20.819 through it, and I'll bring out just a couple of things of where we think we want to go just over 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:30.620 this next few months. Matthew 14, Jesus has been busy, very busy, kind of Hong Kong kind of busy, 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:37.620 you know? He's been healing, teaching, ministering to all kinds of people, and Jesus has just been 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:41.460 trying to get a break. He's been trying to get away on holiday somewhere. He's gone over to the other 00:03:41.460 --> 00:03:47.120 side of the lake to get a little kind of staycation, and then what's happened is all these people have 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:53.219 just arrived, and He's had to spend the whole day again teaching and feeding 5,000 people, 00:03:53.219 --> 00:04:00.060 which is pretty exhausting, and at the end of the day, basically, He's exhausted, disciples exhausted, 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:04.939 they escape, and Jesus says to the disciples, okay, now you guys go over to the other side of 00:04:04.939 --> 00:04:11.740 the lake, get a break over there. I'm going off to have a bit of me time, you know, put my feet up, 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:18.360 watch a bit of TV. No, no, He doesn't say that. He goes off to a desolate place to pray. 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:25.680 Do you notice that? He goes to pray. Do you know how long He prays? He prays all night. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:34.620 Basically, it says He prays until the fourth watch of the night, which is actually between 3 and 6 a.m., 00:04:34.620 --> 00:04:41.680 okay? That's pretty intense prayer from the whole evening. He's praying, and then Jesus kind of looks 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:46.500 out over the lake, and He sees that His disciples are in the midst of this storm, and they're being 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:52.019 battered by the wind, and they're just not getting anywhere. So, Jesus walks out to the disciples, 00:04:52.860 --> 00:05:02.480 and the disciples are just scared stiff. They're like, who is this? Is this a ghost coming towards us? 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:11.959 And Jesus says to them, take heart, or it actually means take courage. It's me. I'm here. 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:19.359 Peter, don't be afraid. I'm with you. Don't be afraid. Do you notice then what Peter's response is? 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:30.279 Peter then says, if it's you, okay, so he's not quite sure, but in the Greek, it says, since it might be you, 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:36.279 I want to know, so call me, command me to come out of the safety of this boat onto the water, 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:45.779 because Peter wants to imitate Jesus. Peter, if Jesus is doing it, Peter wants to be doing it. 00:05:46.539 --> 00:05:55.139 Peter wants to do what he sees his master and his Lord doing, but he knows it's impossible. 00:05:56.219 --> 00:06:01.239 So, he says, Jesus, you've got to call me because I can't just get out of this boat. 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:08.540 You've got to call me. What does Peter do? Well, Jesus says to him, okay, come. 00:06:09.379 --> 00:06:16.300 Peter then gets out of the boat and does what in a million years I don't think he could possibly have imagined, right? 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:23.120 He actually starts walking on the water, and he doesn't have armbands or floats to hold him. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:33.899 And he sees the power of Jesus as he keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus, and he walks towards him. 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:40.860 It's beautiful, right? Wouldn't you like to do that? Maybe. 00:06:42.220 --> 00:06:45.680 Practice in your bath tonight. I'm sure you won't get anywhere. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.379 But we could just kind of stop the story there. 00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:55.240 But the story doesn't kind of end with Peter the hero, you know, kind of walking on. 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.519 It's like, wow, Peter, what an amazing job you did. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:02.180 The story goes, and I love this part, because I can just really relate to this bit. 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:06.500 Peter, eyes fixed on Jesus, walking on the water. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.860 All the other disciples must think, wow, what a great guy. 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:14.100 Suddenly, he sees the wind, verse 30, and he panics. 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:15.580 He's like, what am I doing? 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:17.900 Am I nuts? 00:07:19.280 --> 00:07:22.160 And I can imagine what the rest of the disciples were looking as they saw him. 00:07:22.400 --> 00:07:26.500 They kind of, Peter walking confidently, and suddenly, straight down into the water. 00:07:27.780 --> 00:07:32.540 Because his perception has changed. 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:34.660 You see, the crazy thing is the wind was always there. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:36.960 The wind was always there. 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:40.720 His circumstances hadn't changed. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:44.260 It was just his perception changed. 00:07:45.140 --> 00:07:53.160 You see, when he had his eyes fixed on Jesus, the wind was nowhere near as significant in his life as when he saw, 00:07:53.640 --> 00:07:55.120 was when he started looking at the wind. 00:07:56.100 --> 00:08:00.960 You see, and as he starts looking at the circumstances around him, seeing the waves that come up, 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:02.120 because you can't actually see wind. 00:08:02.220 --> 00:08:03.840 You can just see the effects of the wind. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:07.299 He sinks, and he's going, Jesus, save me. 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:09.459 And he's dropping down into the water. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:16.139 Jesus reaches down this strong hand, grips him with an unshakable grip, 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:22.459 picks him up, waves crashing all around him, and says, there, there, it's okay. 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:23.579 No problem, Peter. 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:25.159 No, he doesn't. 00:08:25.659 --> 00:08:26.299 Do you get what he said? 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:35.580 He leads him back to the boat, and he lovingly rebukes Peter, saying, you of little faith, why did you doubt? 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:43.399 Now, he's not saying, stupid Peter, I only got to level three on your faith. 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:45.460 You know, if you'd been level 10, you'd have made it. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:46.659 He's not saying that. 00:08:46.659 --> 00:08:54.059 You see, because Jesus later on says, if you have just a mustard seed of faith, you can move mountains. 00:08:54.959 --> 00:08:56.360 You just need a mustard seed. 00:08:56.939 --> 00:09:01.339 What he's saying here is, he's saying, that word doubt means divided in two. 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:05.360 He said, you started looking in two directions. 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.259 You stopped looking at me, but you also started looking at the waves. 00:09:09.259 --> 00:09:12.379 And when you start looking in two directions, do you know what? 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:15.000 You forget who I am. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.799 You forget. 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:24.179 And he says to Peter, listen, you should be looking at me, because don't you see who I am? 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.840 Don't you know who I am? 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:38.000 When you look at your circumstances, rather than looking to me, we forget just who Jesus truly is. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:50.139 And I think even as we're thinking about, I just think about all the things that go on in life and go on in the craziness of Hong Kong. 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:57.399 And it's so easy, isn't it, to get just distracted by our circumstances, by all the stuff we're trying to fix in our lives. 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:01.039 All the things that are going on in the craziness of life. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:10.299 And even as a church, we've been going through this kind of period where it may feel like, for some of you, it may feel like the wind is hitting us. 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:12.240 For some of us, it doesn't feel like that. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:19.720 But some of us feel the wind in both personal circumstances, in all the aspects of our lives. 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:23.340 And sometimes it can feel difficult. 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:25.200 Sometimes it can feel real. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:31.340 But Jesus comes to us and says, don't you know that I'm here with you? 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:33.160 Don't you know? 00:10:33.280 --> 00:10:34.879 Take heart, it's me. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.600 Whatever's going on in your life, if you're afraid, I'm your peace. 00:10:41.160 --> 00:10:43.900 If you're lonely, I'm your friend. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:51.240 If you are worried and anxious or concerned, if there are things which are holding you down in your life, 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:57.620 I am the source of strength, I am the source of comfort, I am the source of joy, I am the source of peace, 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:04.060 whatever is going on in your life, whatever circumstances are happening to you, do you know who I am? 00:11:05.560 --> 00:11:07.080 Do you know who I am? 00:11:07.460 --> 00:11:08.480 I'm with you. 00:11:09.060 --> 00:11:10.060 I'm with you. 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:18.200 And it's amazing because as Peter goes back in the boat, his shaky faith has grown 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:22.320 because actually he's seen something of the power of Jesus, right? 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:23.800 He's seen something. 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:26.780 And Peter gets back in the boat. 00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:32.180 Peter's looking a little bit wet, but Jesus is looking awesome, right? 00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:36.840 And isn't that what the Christian life is all about? 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:42.240 That we don't necessarily look great, but we make Jesus look awesome. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:49.100 That when we see the power of God at work in our lives, whatever is going on, we focus on him 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:53.220 and we see he comes through when we fix our eyes on him. 00:11:55.980 --> 00:12:01.779 And so the question for us as a church, as Watermark, we've always said we always want to be used by God 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:05.080 to help people take the next step on their spiritual journey, 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:07.620 and this to be for the glory of God. 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:14.580 And the question for us is, do I want Jesus? 00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:18.200 Or will I be looking in two directions? 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.340 Do I really want Jesus in our life? 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.440 As a church, do we really want Jesus? 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:29.659 Or do we simply just want circumstances to change in our lives? 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:36.000 Do we simply want to go back to being comfortable with whatever we're used to in our lives? 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:42.000 And so I think there are two things this story shows me and shows us as a church 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.440 and shows each one of us on our individual journeys with him. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.000 There are two things that this shows us. 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:52.840 The first thing is how do we get to actually want Jesus? 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.940 One is there is hungry prayer, okay? 00:12:57.580 --> 00:12:58.700 Hungry prayer. 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:01.379 Look at Jesus. 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:07.000 Jesus, in his busyness, why does he need to pray? 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:08.860 Did you ever think about that? 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:10.580 Jesus is God, okay? 00:13:11.539 --> 00:13:13.299 He's kind of pretty good at doing miracles. 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:18.120 He can just click his fingers and stuff happens. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:21.019 You know, he can put food on the table, pay his bills. 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:22.740 He can get it all just like that. 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:23.700 He doesn't have to do anything. 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:25.720 Why does he pray? 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:32.060 You see, even in his busyness, he finds time to pray. 00:13:32.300 --> 00:13:35.000 And do you know how he makes time in his busyness? 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:35.960 Do you see what he does? 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:40.759 He actually takes time out of sleep even. 00:13:41.160 --> 00:13:46.080 You see, he fasts from his sleep because he wants his father that much. 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:51.920 He wants that relationship with his father because he knows that's the only source that I can go to. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:14:00.539 That's the only place that I can run to which is really going to give me the power, the strength, the peace, the joy, the hope that I really crave in my life. 00:14:01.839 --> 00:14:03.059 That's where we need to look. 00:14:03.059 --> 00:14:22.299 And if Jesus, though he's God, runs to his father in desperation, knowing that he can only do, he can do nothing apart from God, do you not think that we might have to do the same? 00:14:23.359 --> 00:14:25.559 Are we better than Jesus in that? 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:40.539 And so one of the things we want to do as a church over the next month is we want to start at a time where we fast and pray. 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:43.279 Now, we have never done this before as a church. 00:14:43.359 --> 00:14:46.939 Some of you may be thinking, man, that sounds just weird. 00:14:47.359 --> 00:14:50.059 I don't know how many of you have ever fasted. 00:14:51.819 --> 00:14:52.219 Okay? 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:53.439 One or two people. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:01.060 But do you know, actually, in the history of the church, it is actually abnormal not to fast. 00:15:01.880 --> 00:15:02.440 Did you know that? 00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:06.880 Do you know the early Christians, Wednesday and Friday were fast days. 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:09.780 There was regular fasting. 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:10.540 Why? 00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:16.980 Because people knew that there was something about we need to rely on God for everything. 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:22.980 Jesus, when he goes into the wilderness, he fasts. 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:25.500 You know, after he's baptized, he goes into the wilderness. 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:27.340 He fasts for 40 days. 00:15:28.580 --> 00:15:30.240 We're not going to fast for 40 days. 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:30.700 It's okay. 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:33.659 At least I'm not, because I'm going to waste away. 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:36.519 But 40 days, he's there. 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:37.600 He's tempted by the devil. 00:15:38.100 --> 00:15:40.060 And he's hungry. 00:15:40.059 --> 00:15:45.959 And the devil comes along and says, turn some stones into food, because you know you can do it. 00:15:47.479 --> 00:15:49.819 And Jesus, I mean, that's tempting when you're hungry. 00:15:50.199 --> 00:15:51.339 You know, cheeseburger. 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:54.859 You know, that's tempting. 00:15:54.860 --> 00:16:08.620 But he says, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word of God, every word that comes from the mouth of God. 00:16:09.180 --> 00:16:12.180 What he's saying is, food sustains us. 00:16:13.680 --> 00:16:16.519 But ultimately, it's God who sustains me. 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:24.600 It's God who, in fasting and praying, Jesus is saying, I need you, Father, more than I need food. 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:29.200 I need you, I need you, more than I need food. 00:16:29.560 --> 00:16:30.519 That's what he's saying. 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:35.039 When the tiredness comes, you know, Jesus fasts from sleep. 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:38.960 He's saying, I need you more than I need my sleep at this moment. 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:49.000 When the tiredness comes, when the hanger pangs come, Jesus is saying, this is how much I want my Father. 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:50.039 I want you more. 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:51.639 I want you more. 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:53.039 I want you more. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:00.959 Someone once said, fasting is the physical action that comes at the end of the sentence, God, I need you. 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:07.779 Now, in Hong Kong, we're very self-sufficient. 00:17:09.019 --> 00:17:12.339 You know, we say, God, I need you when my world collapses. 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:13.759 Otherwise, I'm fairly okay. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:14.420 Right? 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:19.980 Oh, God, I quite like my comfort, you know. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:24.140 The thought of being uncomfortable just sounds a little bit, you know. 00:17:24.340 --> 00:17:26.440 The thought of being hungry. 00:17:26.700 --> 00:17:33.759 The thought of being, doing anything which requires sacrifice sounds awkward, doesn't it? 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:40.059 Except, if you remember, we do that for the things we really want. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:46.519 For the promotion, the money we want, the kids we want to get in a certain school. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.819 Then we'll be very uncomfortable. 00:17:48.700 --> 00:17:50.400 We'll do, we'll stay up all night. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:53.440 We'll do whatever it takes to get what we want. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:18:03.080 And the challenge for us as a church is, do we want Jesus enough to be willing to set aside time to pray and to seek him and to run to him? 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:04.100 Okay? 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:11.100 So what we're going to do, and what we want to call and challenge us as a church to do, 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:19.460 starting in a couple of weeks, is to set aside some times where we will take one meal of the week, 00:18:19.460 --> 00:18:22.279 and we will fast in that meal. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.420 Or maybe some of you can't do that. 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:28.680 Maybe there'll be other ways for sleeping for an hour less. 00:18:29.120 --> 00:18:36.400 Or something which will cause us to say, not I'm just going to give that up, but I'm going to use that time to pray. 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:41.680 And we'll put on Facebook and we'll put on some other things, some tools and aids to help us. 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:47.480 But one of the amazing things is when God's people start to pray, 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.259 then God shows up. 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:56.559 And the very things that we were craving originally, the peace, the joy, that life, 00:18:56.860 --> 00:18:58.720 he actually begins to provide. 00:18:59.779 --> 00:19:03.380 And that's when it gets exciting following Jesus. 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:06.860 Because then he looks awesome when he begins to provide. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:08.460 And it's not about us. 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:15.079 You know, we're looking for, we're seeking a new senior pastor as a church. 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:21.159 Do you realize it's impossible to find anybody who's going to be the right person unless we pray? 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:24.500 So are we praying for that? 00:19:25.939 --> 00:19:26.839 Are we praying? 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:34.559 You know, we need to pray for God to provide in that area. 00:19:34.659 --> 00:19:40.740 We need to pray for our own hearts to go from kind of medium cool with Jesus to go to hot. 00:19:40.740 --> 00:19:43.799 That's what's called revival in the Bible. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.559 When people's hearts get changed and we start wanting Jesus more than anything else. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:57.460 Do you know, in Scotland in the 1950s, two old ladies, they were 82 and 84, one was called Peggy, 00:19:57.599 --> 00:19:58.720 I can't remember the name of the other one. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:05.420 But they suddenly saw that they needed to come to God and pray. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:07.740 And so they did. 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.819 And they called the pastor and said, hey, every Tuesday night we want you to pray. 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:15.360 And the pastor was like, I'm not going to, like, these were kind of feisty ladies. 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:16.279 These were strong ladies. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:21.700 And they came out and they went out to just start praying every Tuesday night. 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:23.400 Prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed, prayed. 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:32.780 At the end of a year, I think it was about a year, a guy turns up, starts preaching outside the church. 00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:35.320 They open the gates. 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:40.900 A hundred people are waiting outside the church who just turned up because they were like, we know we need God. 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:46.280 In two years, 22,000 people on that island, pretty much the whole island got saved. 00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:48.440 It's called the Hebridean revival. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:52.860 You go to Korea, the same thing happened at the beginning of the 20th century. 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:55.439 Because people started saying, God, we need you. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:03.419 And when they started saying, God, we need you, suddenly hundreds and hundreds of people turned to Christ. 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:11.000 Who knows what God can do if we take the time as a church to seek Him and pray. 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:13.019 So that's the first challenge. 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:19.939 We need to pray and we'll be fasting and we'll be sending out in the next couple of weeks some of the things of how we're going to do that. 00:21:19.940 --> 00:21:20.420 Okay? 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:25.860 Second thing is stepping out. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.880 You see, you've got Jesus and you've got Peter here. 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:34.900 God sometimes gives seasons of stability and comfort. 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.759 But God never wants to leave us safe in the boat. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:39.740 Do you get that? 00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:42.300 You don't grow to be an athlete by sitting on the sofa. 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:43.420 Right? 00:21:43.780 --> 00:21:44.640 Some of you know that. 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:50.500 Growing Christians don't grow by sitting in church just listening to sermons. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:52.540 Did you know that? 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:55.339 You need to use the food that you're being given. 00:21:56.379 --> 00:22:06.539 And what happens is, like Peter, when they see Jesus, that Jesus is with us, and they call out and say, okay, Jesus, call me to come to you. 00:22:06.639 --> 00:22:07.720 Call me to step out. 00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:09.599 Show me how you want me to step out. 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:18.019 When God's people start to pray that, start stepping out of the boat, they hear God's voice saying, okay, step out. 00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:22.659 And then when we respond, you see the power of Jesus, like Peter did. 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:26.619 So how do we want to step out? 00:22:26.699 --> 00:22:30.099 There's a lot of different ways I think we can talk about. 00:22:30.099 --> 00:22:39.299 One of the big dreams that we would want to do, we're in a venue at the moment where we are at 80% capacity pretty well every week. 00:22:39.699 --> 00:22:50.919 You know, statistics show, and we have been for a while, statistics show that you cannot grow as a church unless you start looking beyond that. 00:22:52.659 --> 00:22:56.279 We know that we cannot increase more people in this place. 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:59.919 Our prayer is that we might be able to start a second service. 00:23:00.719 --> 00:23:02.439 We have a new community center. 00:23:02.839 --> 00:23:04.019 We have new opportunities. 00:23:06.539 --> 00:23:10.000 We don't want to be a cruise ship, but a lifeboat. 00:23:10.500 --> 00:23:12.759 We want to be called to reach out to the lost. 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:16.799 But the thing is, we're not at that point yet. 00:23:17.579 --> 00:23:21.759 We can't do that today, but we want to be able to do that tomorrow. 00:23:22.819 --> 00:23:25.119 So where is it going to take us to get there? 00:23:25.879 --> 00:23:29.579 This year is not a year just for us to stay in the boat, stay comfortable. 00:23:29.579 --> 00:23:33.519 It's a year for us to step out and to say, God, where are you calling me? 00:23:35.099 --> 00:23:40.819 Let me give you one example of how I think God has been working in this in the life of our church. 00:23:40.819 --> 00:23:47.539 We've been praying for a venue for a long time as a church. 00:23:48.899 --> 00:23:51.899 And on this journey, God has brought us to Ebenezer. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:57.339 He's brought us here for this next season of our journey. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.419 Cyberport hasn't welcomed us back yet. 00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:01.420 Right? 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:03.060 So we're here. 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:06.480 But we're talking to the principal of the school. 00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:09.380 And you know this school is a school for the visually impaired, right? 00:24:10.180 --> 00:24:13.279 And we saw this as just an amazing charity. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:17.140 That's an amazing organization just helping many, many people in this area. 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:24.840 And the banner, which is missing, it's ironic that it's missing. 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:31.000 Because that should never be missing from the church, right? 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:32.920 It should never be missing. 00:24:33.820 --> 00:24:38.140 And so the elders asked Ebenezer, how can we partner with you in any way? 00:24:38.820 --> 00:24:40.240 And they said, 11th of December. 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:46.540 11th of December, we have an open day and a fundraiser where we blindfold people, do people on a blindfold walk. 00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.880 And we'll take, there'll be guide dogs and things. 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:51.860 And it's a great way for people just to understand what it's like to be blind. 00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:57.259 And so we were like, and you can't use the venue normally on that day in the same way. 00:24:57.640 --> 00:24:58.660 We're like, what do we do? 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:02.960 But it seemed like God was opening up an opportunity. 00:25:03.180 --> 00:25:04.740 So we start praying, okay, what do we do? 00:25:04.920 --> 00:25:05.759 God, what do we do? 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:12.039 And so the vice principal comes to us and says, okay, let's arrange some stuff together. 00:25:12.460 --> 00:25:13.779 And how about you guys? 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:16.000 Would you like to do something on the open day? 00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:19.859 And it's like, yeah, like what kind of thing? 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:22.359 Oh, you know, you do songs and a message, that kind of thing. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.799 And we're like, do you mean like a Christian message? 00:25:26.019 --> 00:25:27.019 Like the gospel? 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:29.740 And he's like, yeah, that sounds great. 00:25:29.740 --> 00:25:36.880 Like how many times do you ever have a charity at their fundraiser inviting you to share the gospel? 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:41.260 But this is a great opportunity. 00:25:41.780 --> 00:25:44.760 11th of December, we're going to do something we've never done before. 00:25:44.840 --> 00:25:46.200 We're not going to have normal service. 00:25:46.540 --> 00:25:50.400 We're going to have the opportunity to go and join them on the walk. 00:25:50.840 --> 00:25:53.200 Invite your non-Christian friends to come. 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:58.660 Let it be something where we raise some sponsorship to help them. 00:25:58.940 --> 00:25:59.880 Invite your friends to come. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:01.980 And afterwards, we're going to just share the gospel with people. 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:07.260 What a great way that God does what you would never even think of doing. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:09.520 God is at work. 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:11.260 That's exciting. 00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:14.940 So will you step out of the vote and invite your friends and get involved? 00:26:19.140 --> 00:26:23.120 There are so many other things that we as a church need. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:29.320 But God needs us to call out to him first and then to open our eyes to see where are the needs? 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:30.700 Where are you calling me to? 00:26:30.899 --> 00:26:32.200 It's not just to get more busy. 00:26:32.899 --> 00:26:35.259 Listen, we would like to start an alpha course this year. 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:41.659 We would like to, we lack a natural forum for non-Christians and new Christians to come and discuss the faith. 00:26:42.339 --> 00:26:43.439 We want to be able to do that. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:46.819 But we need people to step up and help with that. 00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:50.179 To say, yeah, I hear the call of God. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:52.599 I want to step up and get involved in that. 00:26:52.659 --> 00:26:53.519 I'll provide food. 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:54.740 I'll help lead a group. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:55.759 I'll bring people. 00:26:55.899 --> 00:26:56.939 I've never done it before. 00:26:56.939 --> 00:26:59.200 But Jesus, you're with me. 00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:00.159 Would you help me? 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:07.200 With our new community center, we would love to start a play group to reach out to families which are here. 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:11.099 Because there are so many opportunities there to reach people for the gospel. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:15.939 But we need people who are willing to say, hey, I'm willing to step out and be involved. 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:31.920 At the moment, with the women's ministry and the men's ministry, we have gaps where we need to be stepping up and seeing the needs for loving people around us, supporting each other around us so that we're truly a community involved in each other's lives. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:38.720 So if you see a need, maybe God is calling you to be the one. 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:40.779 Don't look around and just say, oh, they're going to do it. 00:27:40.820 --> 00:27:41.920 Somebody else is going to do it. 00:27:42.360 --> 00:27:45.400 This is a year where we say, I'll step out. 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:47.700 God, what is it you're calling me to do? 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:51.400 I'll step out and do what you call me to do. 00:27:51.400 --> 00:28:06.700 Because when we see this, when we see that we come to God first and say, God, we want you more than anything else, then he begins to open our eyes to see where he wants to use us. 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:10.240 Not in a 50,000 different ways, but maybe in one way. 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:17.779 And when we begin to do that as a church, when we get desperate for him, then God shows up. 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:21.740 And when God shows up, it's exciting. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:28.180 It's exciting to follow and walk with Jesus and we will grow in our faith. 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:33.740 And we will look back at the end of the year and say, look what God has done. 00:28:34.180 --> 00:28:35.660 And he will get the glory. 00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:37.420 So let's pray.